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REPORTS  OF  THE  COMMITTEES 


THE  BOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES 


FOR    THE 


FIRST    SESSION   OF  THE   FORXY-THIRD   CONGRESS. 


1873-'74. 


IN  FIVE  VOLUMES: 

Volame  1 No.  1  to  No.  262,  inclasive. 

Volame  2 No.  263  to  No.  434,  inolaaive. 

Volume  3 No.  435  to  No.  611,  part  2,  inclasive. 

Volume  4 No.  612  to  No.  770,  inclusive. 

Volume  5 No.  771  to  No.  843,  inclusive. 


WASHINGTON: 

GOVERNMENT    PBINTINO    OFFICE. 

1874. 

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p^ 


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I  isrr>  E  X 


HEPOETS  OF  THE  COMMITTEES 

FOR 

THE  FIRST  SESSION  OF  THE  FORTY-THIRD  CONGRESS. 


Subject. 


No. 


A. 

Abbott.  Nancy .♦ 

Acknowledfrment  of  God  aud  the  Christian  religion  in  the  Constitution.. 

Adams,  Adelaide , 

Adams,  C.  W .' 

Agricaltare,  Committee  on — 
Cain — 

Production  of  rain  by  artillery-firing 

Hays- 
Exchange  of  cotton-seed  with  Egypt 

Ahern,  John 

Alabama,  middle  judicial  district  of 

Testimony  in  above  case part  2.. 

Albert,  Foreign  Affairs — 

James  Rea 

Albright,  Military  Affairs — 

WilberF.  Chamberlain 

Genenil  Samuel  Crawford 

JohnW.  Duff's  heirs 

Pat.  O.  Hawes 

George  H.  Hickman 

Foster  A.  Hixon 

Indian  hostilities,  Washington  and  Oregon 

Edward  P.  Johnson 

Promulgation  of  Army  regulations 

Samuel  £.  Rankin 

William  A.  Snodgrass 

John  B.  Weber 

Henry  D.  Wharton 

Matthias  Whitehead 

Alcoholic-liquor  traffic 

Aldridge,  John 

Allen,  B.  D.,  &  Co 

Allen,  John  M 

Amending  pension  act  of  March  3, 1873 

American  Institute  of  Homeopathy 

American  ship-building 

Anderson,  Elias 

AcdeiBon,  Joseph 

Andrews,  Ingalls  B 

Anthony,  Susan  B 

Anthony,  Susan  B 

Digitized  by 


356 
143 
'247 

784 


786 

195 
756 
611 
611 

109 

823 

153 

821 

97 

72 

8h 

837 

8 

592 

83 

159 

3 

822 

85 

250 

314 

303 

726 

253 

526 

782 

836 

800 

522 

608 

64^ 


Google 


IV 


INDEX. 


Subject. 


Appropriations,  Coraiuitteo  on — 
Com  in  go — 

Choctaw  award 

Garfield- 
Boston  poBt-office 

Deficiencies  in  appropriations 

Deficiency  appropriation  bill "... 

Indian-service  appropriations 

Legislative,  executive,  and  judicial  appropriations  . . 

Legislative,  executive,  and  judicial  appropriations  . . 

Sundry  civil-expense  appropriations 

Hancock — 

Steamer  Clara  Dolson 

Parker,  Isaac  C. — 

Award  in  favor  of  the  Choctaw  Nation  of  Indians  . . . 

James  A.  McCullah  ^ 

Wheeler — 

Appropriations  for  the  support  of  the  Army 

Appropriations,  executive,  legislative,  and  judicial 

Appropriations,  executive,  legislative,  and  judicial 

Appropriations,  deficiencies  in 

Appropriations,  sundry  civil  expenses 

Appropriations  for  the  Indian  service 

Arkansas,  condition  of  affairs  in 

Armstrong,  James  B.,  heirs  of 

Armstrong,  Robert • 

Army,  appropriations  for  the  support  of  the 

Army  Medical  Museum,  purchase  of  property  a^oining  the 

Army  of  the  United  States,  reduction  of : 

Army  regulations,  promulgation  of 

Asbburu,  Martha  A 

Asiatic  Commercial  Company 

Askins,  John  K.,  Lieut 

Atkins,  James 

Austin,  Sophronia 

Averill,  Indian  Affairs — 

Siloma  Deck 

Investigation  of  the  management  of  Indian  affairs  . . 
Ayres,  Tread  well  S 

B. 

Bache,  Maria  D.  C 

Bacon,  George  A.... 

Bacon,  Sarah 

Bagley,  Joab 

Basley,  Letta 

Bailey,  Christiana 

Bailey,  B.C 

Baker,  John 

Baldwin,  Anch-ew  J 

Banking  and  Currency,  Committee  on — 
Farwell — 

First  National  Bank  of  Washington 

Maynard — 

Banking  and  currency.  House  bill  No.  1572 

Banking  and  currency,  amendments  of  House  bill  No.  1572 

Banks  of  Frederick  City,  Maryland 

Banning,  Foreign  Affairs- 
Edward  O'Meagher  Condon 

SethDriggs 

John  Graham 

Enoch  Jacobs , 

William  Walker 

Bannon,  Michael 


Vol. 


No. 


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INDEX. 


Subject. 


Vol.      No. 


Barber,  War-Claims — 

Robert  Armstrong 

William  Chenaalt*s  heirs 

John  Wangh 

Baniea,  David 

Karues,  James  W 

Bamett,  James,  heirs  of 

Barracks  at  Atlanta,  Ga 

Barrere,  Private  Laad-Claims — 

Issue  of  patents  in  certain  cases  of  private  land-claims.. 

Barrett.  Andrew  J 

Barry,  Invalid  Pensions — 

Nancy  Abbott 

I/Ctta  Bagley 

Michael  Baunon 

Henry  B.  Berger 

Bridget  Collins 

Peter  J.  Cratzer 

John  Downey , 

Hannah  B.  Eaton 

Ezra  H.Foster 

8amuel  Henderson 

Washington  A.  Holloway , 

Elizabefli  P.  HuU 

Louis  Margraf ^ , 

Fanny  Newcomb 

Mary  W.  Shirk 1 

John  F.Smith 

Samuel  Taylor ! 

O.  G.  Vanbasen 

John  W.  Wright 

Bartlctt,  William  P , 

Bauman,  John  £ 

Baury,  Frederick  F 

l^an,  Nancy  M 

lieck, Jamea  Preston, administrator, &;c...-. 

Beck&  WMrtb 

lieeler,  Margaret 

Belfield,  Mary  B 

B*-ll,  Llewellyn 

Bennett,  Gilmon 

Bennett,  Susan 

Berger,  Henry , 

Bernard,  Francis 

Berry,  Charles  W 

Blackistone,  William  J 

Wackwell,  Joseph  R 

Wair.  William  H 

K:and,  Revolutionary  Pensions  and  War  of  1812 — 

Robert  Hardie 

Charity  Hurd 

Anna  Taylor 

BlisH.C.C.,elai , 

Bl<KKl.MaryJ 

Boise  Basil!  Bed-Rock  Fluming  Company 

Bolder,  Alfred 

liombcjiinel,  Charles 

}^nd,  John  R 

Bond,  William  E 

Boston  post-office,  report  of  Committee  on  Appropriations  relating  to  the. 

I{4)*> well,  James  W.  and  Benjamin  Cooley 

l^ttger,  John  J 

Boweo.  James  W 

lV>yd,  William  D 

Boyer,  l.«onis  J 

Krackett,  Ann  M 


4 
4 
4 
3 
3 
3 
3 

1 
4 

2 

3 

3 

4 

4 

1 

3 

2 

1 

3 

4 

3 

2 

3 

3 

3 

3 

4 

2 

1 

5 

1 

4 

1 

1 

3 

3 

2 

1 

1 

4 

1 

2 

2 

1 

3 

3 
3 
3 
4 
1 
1 
1 
3 
1 
2 
1 
4 
3 
2 
1 
2 
1 


7(56 
7G4 
765 
450 
571 
510 
605 

185 

66« 

356 
533 
456 
684 
730 
241 
4C8 
282 
240 
534 
729 
536 
283 
455 
604 
457 
535 
731 
286 
168 
794 
107 
752 
95 
198 
588 
447 
361 
163 
2:w 
684 

2:^ 

334 

398 

14 

556 

449 
531 
532 

741 

12:< 

255 
199 
498 
187 
374 
1 
663 
4.54 
370 
119 
339 
125 


Digitized  by 


Google 


VI 


INDEX. 


Subject. 


Bradley,  Public  Lands — 

Green  Bay  and  Sturgeon  Bay  and  Lake  Michigan  Sbip-Canal 

Ottawa  and  Chippewa  Indian  lands  in  Michigan 

Wisconsin  Central  Railroad  Company 

Bradley  r«.  Hynes 

Brady,  £lizabeth 

Bramhall,  Moses  S ^ 

Branson,  Altamirah 

Brashear,  William  C,  heirs  of 

Brashears,  Sciotha 

Brasel,Anna 

Braunix,  Elizabeth 

Breckenridge,  Joseph  C 

Breed, Olive  S i 

Bremmer, Sheridan  O '---. 

Brennan,  John 

Brewer,  Elizabeth 

Brewster,  Victoria  L 

Bridge  across  the  Eastern  Branch  of  the  Potomac 

Bridge  across  the  Eastern  Branch  of  the  Potomac 

Brinard,  Josiah ; 

Brixey ,  Martha  E 

Brombergi  Commerce — 

Contagious  and  infectious  diseases 

Brower,  Mary  K 

Brooks,  Nancy,  Mrs 

Brown,  Rice  M 

Brown,  Penelone  C 

Brown,  Randall *. 

Brown,  Mortimer  H 

Brown,  Daniel 

Brown,  Anne  Eliza 

Broyles,  Perry 

Bruckner,  Henry 

Buck,  Charles  E 

Buck,W.H.H 

Buckner,  R.  H _ 

Buckner,  Private  Land-Claims —  | 

Confirmation  of  land  entries  in  Missouri ' 

Private  land-claims  in  Missouri 

Jacques  Clamorgan,  Peter  Provenchere,  J.  B.  Valid,  and 

Francis  Valid 

BuflS  11  gton,  Francis  C 

Bundy,  Public  Lands — 

Memphis  and  Kansas  City  Railroad 

Burchard,  Ways  and  Means — 

John  Henderson 

Smith  &  Matthews I 

Burchell,JohnT i 

Burke,  John i 

Burke  and  Gunkle ■ 

Burleigh,  Naval  Affairs —  i 

John  R.  Bond | 

Burns  vs.  Young,  J.  D ' I 

BuruM.  Sarah j 

Burris,  James i 

Burrows,  Claims — 

James  Atkins 

William  J.  Blackistoue 

Mortimer  H.  Brown 

Perry  Broyles 

Census-takers  of  1860 

DeWitt  C.  Chipman 

William  Green 

J.  E.  Ingalls 

George  W.  Keyes 


1 

42 

1 

l^y 

1 

261 

4 

64(> 

1 

20t) 

4 

757 

2 

332 

1 

191 

2 

363 

2 

362 

3 

553 

2 

337 

1 

160 

2 

404 

1 

152 

3 

550 

4 

693 

1 

257 

3 

596 

1 

202 

1 

171 

2 

392 

3 

501 

2 

289 

1 
1 

2 
2 
3 
4 

I 
1 
3 

?  I 
^  I 

2 

2  I 

4  I 
5 


HI 
170 
320 
423 
438 
728 
225 
210 
489 
709 
802 

350 
407 

635 

801 

189 

135 
G44 
576 
381 
228 

187 
384 
466 
697 

422 

398 

423 

52 

52 

496 

495 

494 

15 


Digitized  by 


Google 


INDEX. 


VII 


Sabject. 


No. 


BoirowB,  Claims- 
Abel  M."  Lewis , 

DaDcan  Mar.. ^ 

Metropolitan  Police 

W.A.Sayler 

George  S.  Wright,  administrator,  &c 

Bnrtcby  Alexander 

Biisteed,  Richard,  Judge,  impeachment  of 

Bntler,  B.  F.,  Judiciary — 

Acknowledgment  of  God  and  the  Christian  religion  in  the 

Constitution 

Susan  B.Anthony , 

George  Chorpenning 

George  Choi^enning 

Geneva  award 

Laws  of  Dakota 

Nicholas  Fonqn<$  and  Marc  Antonio  Fonqud,  heirs  of 

Nicholas  Jos^  Merrimet 

Boiler,  R.  R.,  Indian  Affairs- 
Creek  orphan  fund 

D  wight  J.  McCann 

Byers,  James,  €^  a! 


C. 

Cain,  Agriculture — 

Production  of  rain  by  artillery-firing 

California,  rights  of  parties  in  possession  of  certain  lands  in 

California  Indian-war  bonds 

Calvert,  George 

Campbell,  L.  8 

Campbell,  Peter 

Caoal,  Rock  Island  and  Hennepin 

Carl,WiUiam 

Carlin,  Charles  J 

Carpenter,  James  N 

Carr,  Letitia 

Carter,  Charles  M.,e/aZ 

Cartwright,  Joseph  y 

Case,  Jackson 

Cass,  William 

Census-taken  of  1860 

Central  Branch  Union  Pacific  Railroad 

Cenn^  Judiciary — 

Impeachment  of  Judge  Richard  Bnsteed,  (minority) 

Rights  of  parties  in  possession  of  certain  lands  in  Cali- 
&rnia,  &c 

Chaffee,  Territories- 
Admission  of  Colorado  as  a  State 

Chamberlin,  Wilbur  F 

Chandler,  Martin  D 

Chantry,  Margaret  A 

Cheuanlt.  William,  heirs  of 

Chester,  William 

Childs,  William  E 

Chipman,  Select,  on  the  Washington  National  Monument — 

Washington  National  Monument 

Chlproan,  De  Witt  C 

Cboctaw  aw^ard 

Chorpenning,  George 

Chorpenning,  George 

Christie,  Ennice — 

Chute,  Mary  A 

Citadel  in  Charleston,  S.C 

Claims,  Committee  on — 
Burrows — 

James  Atkins 


1 

16 

2 

308 

1 

227 

1 

226 

1 

51 

1 

88 

5 

773 

1 

143 

3 

608 

4 

622 

4 

653 

4 

C28 

1 

142 

4 

621 

4 

620 

4 

640 

2 

417 

4 

760 

5 

786 

3 

527 

4 

669 

2 

327 

1 

20 

4 

696 

4 

643 

2 

403 

5 

839 

2 

368 

3 

460 

5 

792 

4 

683 

3 

573 

3 

499 

1 

52 

4 

615 

5 

773 

3 

527 

4 

619 

5 

823 

4 

711 

3 

464 

4 

764 

1 

151 

1 

90 

3 

4a5 

3 

496 

5 

799 

4 

622 

4 

653 

3 

585 

1 

164 

1 

70 

422 


Digitized  by 


Google 


vm 


INDEX. 


Subject. 


Vol 


Claims,  Committee  on — Continued — 
Burrows — Con  tinued — 

William  J.  Blackistoue 

Mortimer  Brown ^ 

Perry  Broyles 

De  Witt  C.  Chapman  .- 

Ceusus-takers  of  1860 

William  Green 

J.  E.  Ingalls 

George  W.  Keyes 

Abel  M.  Lewis 

Duncan  Marr 

Metropolitan  police 

William  A.  Sayler 

George  S.  Wright,  administrator,  &c 

Dunnell— 

James  B.  Armstrong's  heirs 

Beck&  Wirth , 

William  J.  Coite 

James  A.  Drew  et  al 

Susan  L.  Galloway  

Gustavus  F.  Jockinck 

Martin  Kalbfleisch's  sons 

Anna  Osborne 

Montraville  Patton 

Pennsylvania,  citizens  of  Alleghany  County 

Peters  &  Reed 

Joseph  J.  Petrio 

Oliver  Powers 

Joseph  San  Roman  

Eden- 
William  E.  Bond 

Jacob  P.  Clark 

Henry  Fulenevider 

Jacob  Harding 

Col.  E.  McCarty 

Mrs.  Louisa  P.  Molloy 

William  Pelham 

Charles  J.  Sands 

F.A.Stone 

James  R.  Young 

Hamilton — 

R.  W.Clark 

Richard  Dillou 

James  Glover 

Julius  Greiseubeck 

John  Henderson 

P.  Hornbuook 

Oliver  P.  Mason 

Simon  M.  Preston 

Henry  K.  Sanger 

William  Saunders 

F.  B.  Stewart  

Hawlev,  John  B. — 

D.  B.  Allen  &  Co 

,  Ada  A.  Andrews,  owners  of  the  behuouer. .. 

Martha  A.  Ashbum ^ 

Joseph  R.  Black  well 

Charles  E.  Buck 

James  N.  Carpenter 

R.  W.Clarke 

Willarrt  Davis 

Richard  H.  Duttou  

Abner  Y.  Ellis 

J.G.  Fellt'ffl/ 

Reeves  B.  Fulhjr 


2 

1 
3 

1 
3 
3 
1 
1 
2 
1 

1  I 

4 
1 
4 

2  ' 
1  ' 
4  , 
1  • 
4 

4  ' 

3 

2 

I 

1 

4 

2 
ti 
2 
1 
1 
1 
2 
2 
2 
2 

2 
2 

i! 

2 
4 
2 

1 

2 
1 

1 
1 
1 
2 
1 


Digitized  by 


Google 


INDEX. 


IX. 


Subject. 


Vol.      No. 


Claims,  Com  m  it  tee  on — Continued — 
Hawlcy,  J.  B. — Continued — 

Gilbert  &  Gerrish 

Will  R.  Hervey 

Rafael  Madrazo 

Robert  N.  McMillan 

Joseph  Montanari 

Eliza  T.  Morebead 

8arab  Morrison 

William  H.  Reid,  William  Barnes,  et  al 

Alonzo  Snyder 

Richard  H.  Swift 

Pardon  Worseley 

Hays— 

W.  H.  McKinney 

Howe — 

Andrew  J.  Barrett 

James  Coats .» 

A.  G.Collins 

California  Indian-war  bonds 

J.  C.  Hannum 

S.  D.  Hicks 

Danford  Mott 

Norman  H.  Ryan 

Henrv  C.  Smith 

Dabuey  E.  Walker 

Lansing — 

Asbury  Dickens's  heirs 

J.  G.  Fell  ital,  (minority) part  2 

C.  N.  Felton. 

Joseph  S.  Read - 

Sarah  F.Wilson 

Nuiin — 

John  Clinton , 

Hamnfl  Highlyman 

John  N.  Reed 

Shoemaker- 
James  W.  Boen 

C.  W.  C.  Dunningtim 

James  Lillie 

Joseph  B.  Rothchild 

8iiiitb,  John  Q. — 

John  Bronnan 

William  Chester 

Charles  Clinton , 

•  Benjamin  Cooley  and  James  Boswell , 

Thomas  T.  Crittenden 

Timothv  D.  Crook 

W.W.  Elliott 

B.  W.  Hanis 

James  G.  Harrison , 

Thomas  Lynch  et  al 

Peter  M.  Marrion 

John  K.  Mayo 

Jo8e])h  Nock 

Poverty  Island  light- ho  use,  workmen  at 

C.  E.  Rogers 

J.L.  Tedrow 

Lafayette  Ward 

B.  F.  West  &  Co 

Williams,  John  M.  8.— 

Willard  Howe 

Climorieany  Jaqnes,  Peter  Provinchere,  J.  B.  Vall<5,  and  Francis  Vall^  . 
tUrk,  Eli2ail>etb 


4 
1 
2 
4 
3 
2 
2 
4 
1 
2 

1 
2 
2 
2 

1 

I 
1 
3 

2 

I 
1 
1 

1 

1 
1 
4 
1 
3 
1 
3 
4 
4 
4 
1 
2 
4 
3 
2 
1 
1 

1 
4 
2 


Digitized  by 


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INDEX. 


Subject. 


Clarke,  Freeman,  Foreign  Afifiurs — 

Ralph  King 

Clavk,  Jacob  P 

Clark,  R.  W 

Clarke,  R.W : 

Clements,  Patents — 

Encouragement  of  new  and  useful  inventions 

Norman  Wiartl 

Clinton,  Charles 

Clinton,  John 

Clothing  to  certain  enlisted  men 

Clymer,  Public  Lands — 

Lands  in  Michigan 

Coats,  James 

Cobb,  Clinton  L.,  War-Claims— 

A.  L.  Crenshaw 

Tbomaa  Hord 

Sarah  Hntcbins  ....  ..^... 

Joseph  H.  Maddox \ 

Thomas  Niles's  heirs 

Leopold  R.  Straus 

Mary ville  College,  Tennessee 

Baker  White,  children  of ^ 

Coburn.  Military  Affairs — 

Army,  reduction  of  the 

Clothing  for  certain  enlisted  men , 

John  S.  Dickson 

Charles  Hoffman 

Peter  J.  Knapp , 

William  H.  Pilkinton 

Ephraim  P.  Showalter    

Thom<as  Simms 

A.  H.  Von  Luettwitz 

Coffey,  C.  R 

Coite,  William  J , 

Colby,  A 

Colby,  Samuel  B 

Cole,  Sarissa  B 

Coleman,  Hester , 

Collins,  A.  G 

Collins,  Bridget 

Collins,  James  L 

Colorado,  additional  land-district  in 

Colorado,  admission  of,  as  a  State 

Columbus,  Fayette  and  Decatur  Railroad  Company 

Commager,  Frank  Y 

Commerce,  report  of  the  Committee  on  Railways  and  Canals  on  bill  to 

regulate,  by  railroads  among  the  several  States  , 

Commerce,  Committee  on — 
Bromberg — 

Contagious  and  infectious  diseases 

Conger — 

Asiatic  Commercial  Company 

Henry  S  Welles 

Holman — 

Lonisville  and  Portland  Canal  Company 

Negley — 

American  ship-building 

Parsons — 

Marine  hospital  at  Cleveland,  Ohio 

Couiingo,  Indian  Affairs — 

James  Preston  Beck,  administrator 

Choctaw  award 

John  Fletcher 

William  Hughes 

Jumes  L.  Johnson 


Digitized  by 


Google 


INDEX. 


XI 


Subject. 


Vol.      No. 


Commissioners  of  Claiins 

Condon,  Edward  O'Meagher 

Conger,  Commerce — 

Asiatic  Commercial  Company 

Henry  S.  Welles 

Conly,  Mary 

Conner,  K.  B.,  &  Bro 

Connor,  Selden 

Consalate  at  St.  Michael,  Azores — 

Report  of  Committee  on  Foreign  Affairs  on 

Contagions  and  infections  diseases 

Cooley,  Benjamin,  and  James  W.  Boswell 

Cooper,  Fannie  A.,  Mrs 

Cooper,  Sarah  I 

Cooper,  Stanley  and  Sarah 

Copeland,  Elizabeth 

Corbett,  SneU  B 

Corlett,  John  8 , 

Co0B,  Jolin 

Cotton-seed,  exchange  of,  with  Egypt 

Cowles,    George 

Craig,  Belinda 

Craigmi  Her,  Pleasant  M 

Crane,  Mrs.  Ann 

Crane,  Charlotte 

Cimtzer,  Pet^r  J 

Crawford,  Benjamin 

Crawford,  General  Samuel  W 

Creek  orphan  fund 

Crenshaw,  A.  L 

Crist,  Benjamin  R 

Critteuden,  Thomas  T.. 

Crittenden,  Invalid  Pensions — 

Cornelia  M.  Arthur 

Sophronia  Austin 

Sarah  Bacon 

Andrew  J.  Baldwin 

Eunice  Christie 

Sarissa  B.Cole 

Elizabeth  Copeland 

Lucy  Ann  Cummings 

Oliver  C.  Deuslow 

Charles  T.  Drumwright 

Charles  Fitchett 

A.  F.  Griffin,  deceased 

Charles  C.  Haight 

Calvin  Hess 

Enoch  Jacobs 

Xancy  C.  Marlette 

William  May,8r 

Sarah  McAdams 

Charles  McCarty 

John  Mich 

Harrison  Mitchell 

Ezra  C.Owen 

Nancy  Parkhnrst 

Willie  Parks 

Jacob  Parrott 

George  W.  Pomeroy 

Zebina  F.  Rawson 

George  H.  Reynolds . : 

James  Roach 

.Sarah  Shackelford 

Mary  B.  Triple tt 

Hugh  Wallace 


1 
2 

2  . 
1 

tj 

3  ' 

1  ' 
2 

I 

4  I 
4  i 

1  I 
4 
3 

V 

3 
1 

1 
1 

2  ' 
1 
4  ! 

•1 

I 

v. 

4  ' 
1 

3  i 
4 

1  I 
1  I 

ii 

1  I 
1  I 

4  ' 
4  I 
4 

1 

1 

4 

1 

4  I 

3 

4 

1 

3 

3  , 

3 

1 ; 

1 

1  ' 
1 
1 


91 
342 

208 
64 
57U 
755 
437 

29 
372 
663 
769 
713 
753 
178 
744 
578 
826 
195 
428 
700 
500 
161 
115 
241 
382 
158 
640 
566 
736 
221 

717 
175 
715 
213 
585 
651 
178 
246 
177 
131 
179 
254 
719 
649 
650 
130 
245 
716 
173 
652 
590 
720 
176 
591 
469 
471 
244 
470 
174 

leo 

214 

215 


Digitized  by 


Google 


XI 


INDEX. 


Subject. 


Crittenden,  Invalid  Pensions — Continued — 

Fannie  B.  White : 

Matthew  B.  Whittaker 

Nathan  Winters 

Crook,  Timothy 

Crossland,  Elections- 
John  M.  Burns  r«.  John  D.  Young 

Cultivation  of  timber  and  the  preservation  of  forests. 

Cummings,  Lucy  Ann 

Currie,  HannahE 

Curry,  Nancy 

Cutbusli,  James  8 *- 


D. 


Dakota,  laws  of 

Dallas,  Mary  B 

Darby,  John  W 

Darling,  Flora  A.,  Mrs 

Davis,  Jefferson  W 

Davis,  Mark 

Davis  V8.  Wilson,  West  Virginia,  contestants 

Davis,  W.  C 

Davis,  Willard 

Day,  Thomas 

Dayspring,  George 

Dearing,  L.  »S. .  - 

Debates  of  Congress,  cost  of  publishing  the 

Deck,  Siloma 

Deficiency  appropriation  bill 

Delaware  Indians 

De  Long,  James ^.. 

Denniston,  W.  H 

Denny,  William  N 

Denslow,  Oliver  C 

Department  of  Justice,  contingent  fund  of  the 

Desilva,  Dwight 

Des  Moines  River  grant 

Dickins's,  Asbury,  heirs 

Dickson,  John  S 

Dike.Abby  A 

Dillon,  Daniel  R 

Dillon,  Richard 

District  of  Columbia  and  the  United  States,  legal  relations  of  the. 
District  of  Columbia,  Committee  on  the — 
Eldredge — 

Bridge  across  the  Eastern  Branch  of  the  Potomac. . 

Bridge  across  the  Eastern  Branch  of  the  Potomac . . 
District  Columbia,  Joint  Select  Committee,  on  Aftairs  of  the — 
Wilson,  Jeremiah  M. — 

Government  of  the  District  of  Columbia 

Interest  on  the  bonds  of  the 

Safe  burglary 

District  of  Columbia,  government  of  the 

District  of  Columbia,  interest  on  the  bonds  of  the 

Divine,  Dr.  John  W 

Docks,  Magdalena 

Dodge,  Francis 

Dodson,  Bigsby  E 

Doerr,  Casper .^ 

Donnan,  Military  Aftairs — 

Elias  Anderson 

Ingalls,  B.  Andrews 

Sheridan  O.  Bremmer 

Alexander  Burtch 

Frank  Y.  Commager 


Vol. 

No. 

1 

13 

4 

71b 

4 

679 

3 

493 

2 

.385 

1 

259 

1 

240 

4 

6H1 

4 

692 

4 

7:u 

142 
117 
(W5 
321 
111 
.319 
7 
701 
136 
322 
296 
530 
641 

96 
634 
7:i9 

62 

21 
841 
177 
610 

99 
344 

50 
349 
727 
520 
424 
627 


257 

59(> 


(>47 
774 

7.*?5 
647 
774 
157 
242 
512 
305 
IHl 

836 
522 

404 
88 
74 


Digitized  by 


Google 


INDEX. 


XIII 


Subject. 


Vol. 


No. 


Donnan,  Military  Affairs— Continued — 

Alfred  Frye ,.. 

James  A.  Hile 

Lieut.  H.  A.  Kelly 

James  C.  Livingston 

Adam  Miller 

J.  Scott  Payne 

Hiram  Prather 

Cossius  C.  Roberts 

Robert  Sutherland 

Simeon  J,  Thompson 

Matthew  Woodruff 

F.  O.  Wyse 

Donuan,  Printing — 

Cost  of  publishing  the  debates  of  Congress 

Douney,  John 

Donthard,  Ira 

Downs,  Davenport 

Doyle,  Ellen  N 

Drake,  William  M 

Drew,  James  A.,  et  al 

Driggs,  Seth 

Drum  Wright,  Charles  C 

Drysdale,  Henry  I 

Duff,  John  W.,  heirs  of 

Duncan,  Caroline 

Dnlaney,  Jane 

Dulany,  Daniel  F 

Dnnnell,  Claims— 

J.  B.  Armstrong's  heirs 

Beck&  Wirth 

William  J.  Coite 

James  A.  Drew  et  al 

Susan  L.Galloway 

Gnstavus  Jocknick 

Martin  Kalbfleisch's  sons 

Anna  W.  Osborne 

Montraville  Patton 

Pennyslvania,  citizens  of  Allegheny  County 

Peters  &  Reed 

Joseph  J.  Petrie 

Oliver  Powers 

Joseph  San  Roman 

Dnnnell,  Public  Lands — 

CnltivatioR  of  timber  and  the  preservation  of  forests 

Growth  of  timber  on  the  western  prairies 

Edward  Savage 

Benjamin  W«  Reynolds 

Dunnington,  C.  W.  C 

Dnnphe,  N.  H 

Dnrell,  E.  H.,  Judge 

Durham,  Expenditures  in  the  Department  of  Justice — 

Contingent  fund  or  the  Department  of  Justice 

Middle  district  of  Alabama 

Middle  district  of  Alabama,  (testimony) part  2. . 

DattoD,  Richard  H 

Dyer,  Capt.  A.  B 

E. 

# 

Eames,  Patents— 

H.  S.  Van  De  Carr  and  Elsie  M,  Revnolds 

Eaton,  Banna  P " 

Eaton,  Mary  Ann 

Edelen,  Robert  J 


3 

442 

5 

B2() 

1 

73 

1 

87 

3 

r>24 

3 

523 

3 

525 

5 

835 

3 

441 

1 

1.38 

1 

8l> 

2 

405 

4 

641 

3 

458 

3 

407 

3 

5.8a 

3 

544 

4 

688 

2 

385 

3 

609 

1 

131 

5 

8:58 

5 

821 

3 

463 

2 

297 

2 

427 

4 

659' 

1 

198 

4 

642 

2 

386 

1 

47 

4 

6G1 

1 

48 

4 

6r>8 

4 

660 

3 

491 

2 

305 

1 

49 

1 

6l9 

4 

662 

1 

259 

1 

66 

1 

67 

2 

328 

1 

149 

3 

.  508 

4 

732 

3 

610 

3 

611 

3 

611 

1 

44 

1 

78 

3 

486 

2 

282 

4 

724 

5 

795 

Digitized  by 


Google 


XIV 


INDEX. 


Subject. 


Eden.  Claims — 

William  E.  Bond 

Jacob  P.  Clark 

Henry  Fulenwider , 

Jacob  Harding 

Mrs.  Louisa  P.  Molloy 

William  Polbam 

Cbarles  J.  Sands 

F.A.Stone 

James  R.  Young 

Eden,  War- Claims — 

Col.  E.  McCarty 

Edwards,  Margaret ". , 

Edwards,  William  H 

Eigbt-bour  law,  violation  of  tbe 

Eldis,  Louisa.  Mrs 

Eldredge,  District  of  Columbia — 

Bridge  across  tbe  Eastern  Brancb  of  tbe  Potomac 

Bridge  across  the  Eastern  Branch  of  tbe  Potomac , 

Eldredge,  Judiciary,  (minority) — 

Alleged  misgovernment  in  South  Carolina part  2. 

Elections,  Committee  on — 
Crossland — 

Burns  r«.  John  D.  Young 

GeiTy  W.  Hazelton — 

George  R.  Maxwell r«.  George  Q.  Cannon,  contested  election. 

Territory  of  Utah 

Hyde- 
Sloan  V8,  Rawls 

Pike- 
Bradley  V8,  Hynes 

Robinson,  James  W. — 

Gunter  t'«.  W^ilshire 

Smith,  H.  Board  man — 

Davis  V8,  Wilson 

Hagans  r«.  Martin 

Sheridan  vs.  Pinchback 

Thomaa— 

Gnntcr  V8,  Wilsbire 

Elliott,  James  S 

Elliott,  W.W 

Ellis,  Abner  Y 

English,  Anne  M 

Epler,  Jacob  H 

Espuita,  Susanna 

Evans,  John  S 

Evans,  John  H.,  heirs  of 

Evans,  John  H.,  heirs  of 

E wing,  Elizabeth  J - 

Expenditures  in  the  Department  of  Justice,  Committee  on — 
Durham — 

Contingent  fund  of  the  Department  of  Justice 

Middle  district  of  Alabama 

Sener — 

James  McPherson,  clerk  of  the  United  States  court,  south- 
ern district  of  Georgia 

Western  district  of  Arkansas 

F. 

Farley,  Benjamiu 

Farnham,  John3,C 

Farwell,  Banking  and  Currency — 

First  National  Bank  of  Washington 

Fell,  J.  G.,  c<  al 


2 
2 
2 
1 
1 
2 
2 
2 
2 

1 

1 
1 
2 
2 

1 
3 


Digitized  by 


Google 


INDEX. 


XV 


S  abject. 


Fell,  J.G.,  et  aJ,,  (minority) part  2 

Felton.  C.  N 

Fife,  Henry  M 

Fines  imposed  npon  inmates  of  Soldiers'  Home 

Fink,  JoDD 

First  National  Bank  of  Washington I 

Fisher,  John  A I 

Fisher,  George,  heirs  of • | 

Fisher,  George  P • 

Fitchett,  Charles i 

Fitzhngh,  Edwin  C | 

Fletcher,  John 

Florida,  purchase  of  a  piece  of  land  in ! 

Folj^r,  John j 

Fouqn^,  Nicholas  and  Marc  Antoine,  heirs  of. ! 

Fori)e8,  C.  H i 

Foreign  Affairs,  Committee  on —  I 

A-lbert—  I 

James  Rea I 

Banning —  I 

Edward  O'Meagher  Condon 

SethDriggs 

John  Graham I 

Enoch  Jacobs ' 

Henry  Savage 

William  Widker 

Clarke,  Freeman — 

Ralph  King 

Myers — 

James  De  Long 

Orth- 

Sir  Lambton  Lorraine 

Mrs.  Mary  J.  Orr 

Ward,  Marcns  L. — . 

Robert  Harrison  eial 

William  B.  West 

J.  &W.R.Wing 

WiUard,  Charles  W.— 

Alexander  Thomson 

Williams,  Charles  G. — 

Consulate  at  St.  Michael,  Azores , 

Fort,  Sugg 

Foster,  Ezra  H 

Foster,  Ira 4 

Foster,  Ways  and  Means — 

Discovery  and  collection  of  moneys  withheld  from  the 
Government 

Supplemental  testimony  in  above  case part  2 . 

Freeman,  Private  Land-Claims — 

David  Barnes 

French,  Henry  S 

Fry,AliTed 

Fry,  Judiciary — 

Harper's  Ferry,  property  at 

Kentucky,  eastern  Judicial  district  of 

Railroad,  Central  Branch  Union  Pacific 

Railroads,  indebtedness  of  certain  southern 

Tennessee,  relief  of  the  State  of 

Virginia,  Judicial  districts  of 

Virginia,  district  court  ^t  Fredericksburgh 

Folen  wider,  Henry , 

Fuller,  Reeves  B , 


G. 


No. 


420 
421 
169 
654 
721 
300 
35 
330 
105 
179 
r>15 
7fe0 
329 
275 
621 
76S 


109 

342 

609 
A&i 
560 
60 
4ya 

776 

62 

781 
663 

816 
40f^ 
409 

108 

29 

im 

240 

44tt 


559 
559 

450 
tf05 
442 

610 
141 
615 
101 
100 
617 
618 
375 
46 


Gaddis,  Thomas  B.,  guardian  of  minor  children  of  Jackson  A.  Brewer ,        3  1      555 


Digitized  by 
• 


Google 


XVI 


INDEX. 


Subject. 


Vol.  ,  No 


Gallagher,  Oathariue  H 

Gallagher,  Edward - 

(Jallowaj^  Susan  L 

Garfield,  Appropriations — 

Boston  post-office 

Amendments  of  the  Senate  to  the  legislative,  executive, 
&c.,  appropriation  bill 

Legislative,  executive,  and  judicial  appropriations 

Deficiencies  in  appropriations 

Deficiency  appropriation  bill 

Indian  appropriation  bill 

Sundry  civil  expenses 

Garrett,  Richard  H 

Gebhart,  Charles 

Geneva  award 

Georgia,  barracks  at  Atlanta 

Geojrraphical  and  geological  surveys  west  of  the  Mississippi 

Gernsh,  Caroline  P 

Gibbons,  Francis  A 

Gibbons,  Francis  A.,  (minority) part  2.. 

Giddings,  Indian  Affairs — 

Depredations  on  the  Texat»  frontier 

Ella  P.  Murphy 

Protection  of  the  frontier  of  Texas 

Henry  Warren 

Gilbert  &.  Gerrish ^ ." 

Glassie,  D.  W.  and  Minnie  U.,  and  Joseph  C.  Nash 

Glover,  James  \V 

Gooch,  Naval  Affairs— 

Dr.  Holmes  Wikoff 

Gould,  Charles  C 

Gowers,  John 

Graham,  John i ^ 

Crrant,  Isaac  M 

Graves,  Almon  P - 

Graves,  R.  F..  jr 

Greaner,  William 

Green  Bay  and  Sturgeon  Bay  and  Lake  Michigan  Ship-Canal 

Green,  J.  &T 

Green,  William 

Greene,  Marie  B 

Greer,  Nathaniel  S 

Gregorie,  Ferdinand 

Griesenbeck,  Julius 

Griffin,  H.  F.,  deceased 

Griffin,  J.  C 

Grigg,  G.  W.,  e«  aZ 

Grosch,  Jacob 

Growth  of  timber  on  the  w^esteru  prairies 

Gunkel,  Military  Affairs- 
Barracks  at  Atlanta,  Ga 

Maj.  C.  S.  Underwood 

Gunter  vs.  Wilshire 

Gunterf«.  Wilshire 


H. 


I 


Hackleman,  Elizabeth 

Halfords,  William 

Hagans  V8,  Martin,  West  Virginia,  contestants 

Haggard,  D.  R 

Haight,  CharlosC 

Haines,  Harriet 

Hale,  Jonathan  D 

Hall,  Crawford  M 

Hall,  Juliett 

Hamilton,  John  R.,  Rev 


Digitized  by 


Google 


INDEX. 


XVII 


Subject. 


Vol.     No. 


HamUton,  Claims — 

R.  W.Clark 

Richard  Dillon 

James  W.  Glover 

Julius  Griesenbeck 

John  Henderson 

P.  Hombrook 

Oliver  P.  Mason 

Simon  M.  Preston 

Henry  K.  Sanger 

William,  Saunders 

F.B.  Stewart 

Haomond,  Angelica 

Hancocky  Appropriations — 

Steamer  Clara  Dolson 

Hanks,  TberoQ  W 

Hannom,  J.  C 

Haidie,  Robert 

Hardin,  Moses  B .' 

Harding,  Elizabeth ' 

Hardwick,  Thomas  R 

Hardini;,  Jacob 

Harper's  Ferry,  purchasers  of  property  at 

Harris,  B.  W.,  Indian  Affairs — 

A.  Colby,  V.  B.  McCoUum,  and  H.  A.  Webster. 

Nez  Perc^  Indian  reservation,  Idaho 

Seneca  Indians  of  New  York 

Harris,  B.  W 

Harris,  Isaac 

Harris,  J.  G^eorge 

Harris,  John  T..  War-Claims— 

Treadwell  S.  Ayres 

Daniel  Brown '. . 

R.  H.  Bnckner 

Burke  &  Kunkel 

George  Calvert 

Selden  Conner. 

Benjamin  Crawford ! 

Henry  S.  French 

D.R.Hagcard 

R.  J.  Henderson 

John  M.  Lamb 

Seth  Lamb's  heirs 

James  L.  McPhail 

John  McLaughlin  and  William  South 

James  Robinson 

Washington  and  Ohio  Railroad 

Tarns,  ]>TiH 

^rrifl,  Mary  G 

Harrison,  James  G 

Harrison,  Robert,  et  al 

Hareiis,  Henry  B 

HawesPat.  O 

Havlev,  John  B.,  Claims— 

D.  B.  Allen  &  Co 

Ada  A.  Andrews,  owners  of  the  schooner , 

Martha  A.  Ashburn 

Joseph  R,  Black  well 

Charles  £.  Buck 

James  N.  Carpenter 

R.  W.  Clark 

Willard  Davis 

Richard  H.  Dntton 

Abner  Y.  Ellis 

J.  G.  Fell*/ a/ 

Beeves  B.  Fuller 


2 
2 

1 
1 
4 
1 
1 
4 
2 
2 
4 
2 

1 
4 
3 
3 

4 
3 

1 
1 
4 

3 
1 
3 
3 
4 
3 

3 
3 
5 
1 
2 
3 
2 
5 
3 
5 
2 
1 
2 
5 
3 
5 
3 
2 
4 
5 
1 
1 

2 
4 
2 
1 
3 
2 

1 
I 

1 
1 
2 
1 


310 
424 
18 
147 
672 
193 
146 
674 
311 
309 
671 
291 

182 
689 
519 
449 
714 
554 
37 
155 
616 

439 
63 

478 
492 
736 
497 

517 
438 
802 
228 
327 
437 
382 
805 
518 
803 
326 
57 
325 
806 
438 
804 
541 
294 
665 
816 
234 
.07 

302 
657 
302 

14 
489 
368 
145 
i:?6 

44 

9 

420 

46 


2  H  K 


Digitized  by 


Google 


XVIII 


INDEX. 


Subject. 


Vol. 


Hawicy,  John  B.,  Claims — Continued — 

Gilbert  &  Gerrish 

WillR.  Hervey 

Rafael  Madrazo 

Robert  N.  McMillan 

Joseph  Montanari 

Eliza  T.  Morehead 

Sarah  Morrison 

William  H.  Reid  and  William  Barnes  et  al 

Alonzo  Snyder 

Richard  fl.  Swift 

Pardon  Woreeley 

Hawloy,  John  B.,  Military  Aflfairs — 

George  A.  Bacon 

Walter  D.  Plowden 

Haw  ley,  Joseph  R.,  Military  Affairs- 
George  H.  Herring 

Hawley,  Richard,  &  Sons 

Hayden,  John  J 

Hays,  Agriculture — 

Exchange  of  cotton-seed  with  Egypt 

W.  H.McKinney 

Hays,  Naval  Affairs — 

Iron-ship-building  yards 

Hazelton,  Gerry  W.,  Elections —  ] 

George  R.  Maxwell  vs,  George  Q.  Cannon,  contested  elec-  | 

tion.  Territory  of  Utah i 

Hazelton,  Gerry  W.,  War-Claims — 

B.  C.Bailey ! 

C.R.  Coffey I 

Daniel  F.  Dulauey I 

Ann  M.  English | 

Harriet  Haines j 

Rev.  John  B.  Hamilton , 

Evan  S.  Jeffries  i 

John  L.  T.  Jones I 

Naval  contractors,  relief  of  certain 

William  F.  Peake  et  al 

Mary  E.  Purnell 

Robert  Tillson  &  Co 

Harriet  Tubman 

M.  W.  Venning 

John  S.  Wadsworth 

Daniel  Wormer ! 

Heald,  Penelope  T ! 

Heberer,  John 

Heddinger,  John 

Heidelman,  Frederick/. 

Heinzel,  Edward 

Henderson,  John 

Henderson,  John 

Henderson,  R.  J 

Henderson,  Samuel 

Hendrie,  John 

Herbert,  Charles  

Herndon,  Public  Lauds — 

Columbus,  Fayette  and  Decatur  Railroad  Company 

Interuatioual  Land  and  Immigration  Company 

Taxation  of  railroad-lands 

Herring,  George  C 

Hervey,  WillR 

Hess,  Calvin 

Hicks,  S.  D 

Hickey,  Patrick 

Hickman,  George  H 

Highlyman,  Samuel  L 


1 
4 
2 
1 
1 
2 
4 
3 
1 
1 
3 

3 

1 

1 
3 
2 

1 

1 


2 
5 
2 
2 
5 
3 
5 
3 
2 
1 
5 
2 
5 
2 
5 
2 
1 
2 
3 
5 
4 
1 
4 
5 
3 

2 

1 

2 

3 

1 

4 

4 

2  I 

1 

1 

1 


Digitized  by 


Google 


INDEX. 


XIX 


Subject. 


Hile,  James  A 

Hine,  Adam 

Hineley,  Lewis 

Hixon,  Foeter  A 

Hoar,  £.  Rockwood,  Foreign  Affairs — 

Henry  Savage 

Bobson,  John 

HflC  Martin 

Eoffinan,  Charles 

Hoiloway,  Washington  A 

HolmaDy  War-Claims — 

Joseph  Anderson 

Francis  C.  Bufflngton 

Mrs.  Fannie  A.  Cooper 

C.H.  Forbes 

John  J.  Hayden 

William  F.  Kerr 

EmUy  Miller 

Clara  Morris 

Francis  Priest ^ 

Lemuel  C.  Risley 

Lieut.  Sidney  Tinker 

Holman,  Commerce — 

Lonisville  and  Portland  Canal  Company 

Holmes,  Charles  £.  H 

Holmes,  George 

Homesteads  to  actual  settlers 

Hooeycntt,  Stephen 

Hooper,  John  H 

Herd,  Thomas 

Honibrooky  P 

Homer,  K.Q.,etal 

Hot  Springs  reservation,  Arkansas 

HoDgfa,  Amy  A 

Hovre,  Claims — 

Andrew  J.  Barrett 

California  Indian-war  bonds 

James  Coats 

A.  G.  Collins 

J.  C.  Hannum 

S.D.  Hicks 

Danford  Mott 

Norman  H.  Kyan 

Henry  C.  Smith 

Dabney  H.  Walker 

Howe,  Maiy  S 

Howe,  Wilfard 

Haeat^A,  David 

anxhes,  AaronB 

Hugtaea,  i;Vimam 

Hull,  Elizaheth  P 

Humphreys,  Ann 

HontoD,  Military  Affairs— 

Altamirah  Branson 

John  Barke 

L.  S.  Campbell 

Charles  !y.  Carlin 

William  E.  Childa 

Citadel  in  Charleston,  South  Carolina 

Henry  I.  Drysdale 

John  S.  Evans 

Geoi^e  Fisher's  heirs 

George  A.  Miller 

fielief  of  certain  settlers  on  the  military  reserv^ation  of 

Fort  Bndger 

WiUis^m  Rood 


5 

820 

3 

513 

1 

243 

1 

85 

1 

60 

5 

807 

1 

181 

5 

819 

4 

729 

5 

800 

r. 

801 

4  ' 

769 

4  : 

767 

2 

378 

1 

38 

4 

770 

4 

767 

2 

323 

1 

229 

2 

324 

1 

218 

5 

834 

1 

121 

1 

41 

3 

575 

5 

812 

3 

506 

1 

193 

4 

742 

2 

263 

2 

^2 

4 

$68 

4 

669 

1 

153 

2 

400 

3 

519 

2 

312 

2 

313 

4 

670 

1 

^4 

2 

399 

2 

279 

1 

19 

3 

567 

4 

699 

5 

779 

3 

536 

1 

203 

2 

332 

2 

381 

1 

20 

5 

839 

1 

90 

1 

70 

5 

838 

2 

331 

2 

330 

5 

830 

3 

521 

2 

379 

Digitized  by 


Google 


XX  INDEX. 


Subject. 


Hanton,  Military  Aifairt — Continaed — 

David  W.  Stockstill 

Jiiliu8  W.  Ulrich  

George  W.  Voorhees 

Peter  M.Ward 

Hurd.  Charity 

Hard,  Thomas 

Hnnlle«  Barbara 

Hurlbut,  Railways  and  Canals — 

Double  track  frei^^ht-railway  from  tide-water  on  the 
Atlantic  to  Council  Bluffs  on  the  Missouri  River 

Rock  Island  and  Hennepin  Canal 

Hutchins,  Sarah 

Hyde,  Elections- 
Sloan  V8,  Rawls 


Illinois,  public  buildings  at  Springfield 

Indian  Affairs,  Committee  on — 
Ave  rill — 

Investi^tion  of  the  conduct  of  Indian  Affairs 

Siloma  Deck 

Butler,  Roderick  R. — 

Creek  orphan  fund 

Dwight  J.  McCann 

Comingo — 

James  Preston  Beck,  administrator,  &c 

John  Fletcher ^ 

William  Hughes 

James  L.  Johnson 

Giddings — 

Depredations  on  the  Texas  frontier 

Ella  P.  Murphy 

Protection  of  the  frontier  of  Texas 

Henry  Warren 

Harris,  Benjamin  W. — 

A.  Colby 

V.  B.McCoUum 

Nez  Poro6  Indian  reservation  in  Idaho 

Seneca  Indians  of  New  York 

H.A.  Webster 

Lawson — 

Upper  and  Lower  bands  of  Sioux  Indians 

Lowe — 

Joab  Spencer  and  James  R.  Mead 

Joab  Spencer  and  James  R.  Mead 

Richmond — 

Delaware  Indians 

L'Anse  and  Vieux  de  Sort  bands  of  Chippewa  Indians 

Navi^jo  Indian  reservation 

Removal  of  certain  Indians  from  Wisconsin 

Indian  Affairs,  investigation  into  the  management  of 

Indian  appropriations 

Indian  hostilities  in  Washington  and  Oregon  in  1855  and  1856  

Indian  reservation,  Navc^o -^. 

Indians,  Upper  and  Lower  bands  of  Sioux 

Indians,  award  in  favor  of  the  Choctaw  Nation  of « 

Indians,  L'Anse  and  Yieux  de  Sert  bands  of  Chippewa 

Indians,  Seneca,  of  New  York 

Indians,  removal  of  ctwtain,  from  Wisconsin 

Indians,  the  Delaware 

Ingalls,  J.  E 

Ingram,  H.  P.,  Capt 

Inman,  Henry,  Capt 

Inspector-General's  Department,  promotion  in  the 


Digitized  by 


Google 


INDEX. 


XXT 


Sabject. 


International  Land  and  Immigration  Company 

Invalid  Peosions,  Committee  on — 
Barry- 
Nancy  Abbott 

Letta  Bagley 

Michael  Bannon 

Henry  B.  Berger 

Bridget  Collins 

Peter  J.  Cratzer 

John  Downey 

Hannah  B.Eaton 

Ezra  H.  Foster 

Samuel  Henderson 

WasbingtonA.  HoUoway 

Elizabeth  P.  HnU 

Louis  Margraf 

Fanny  Newcomb 

Mary  W.  Shirk 

John  F.Smith 

Samuel  Taylor 

O.G.Van  Dasen 

Frederick  Vogel 

John  W.Wright 

Cobb,  Clinton  L.— 

A.  L.  H.  Crenshaw 

Crittenden — 

Sopbronia  Austin 

Sarah  A.  Bacon 

Andrew  J.  Baldwin 

Eunice  Christie 

Sarissa  B.  Cole 

Elizabeth  Copelaud 

Lucy  Ann  Cummings 

Oliver  C.Denslow 

Charles  T.  Drum  Wright 

Charles  Fitchett 

H.  F.  Griffin,  deceased 

Charles  C.  Haight 

Calvin  Hess 

Enoch  Jacobs 

Nancy  C.Marlette 

William  May,  sr 

Sarah  McAdams 

Cornelia  McArthur 

Charles  McCarty , 

John  Mich , 

Harrison  Mitchell , 

EzraC.  Owen - , 

WiUie  Parks 

Nancy  Parkhnrst 

Jacob  Parrott 

Pensions  to  representatives  of  soldiers  killed  at  Centralia, 
Missouri , 

George  W.  Pomeroy 

ZebinaF.  Rawson 

George  H.  Reynolds 

James  Roach 

Sarah  Shackelford 

Jonathan  R.  Spencer. 

Mary  B.  Triplett , 

Hugh  Wallace 

Fanny  B.White 

Matthew  B.  Whittaker 

Nathan  A.  Winters 

Martin — 

Llewellyn  Bell 

Anna  Brasel 


2 
3 
3 
4 
4 
1 
3 
2 
1 
3 
4 
3 
2 
3 
3 
3 
3 
4 
3 
2 


Digitized  by 


GoogU 


XXII 


INDEX. 


Subject. 


invalid  Pensions,  Committee  on — Continued — 
Martin — Continued — 

Elizabeth  Brewer 

Henry  Bruckner 

Hester  Coleman 

Benjamin  R.  Crist 

Mary  B.  Dallas 

IraDoutbart 

Davenport  Downs 

Ellen  N.  Doyle 

Margaret  Edwards 

James  S.  Elliott 

Jacob  H.  Epler 

Susanna  Espnita 

Elizabeth  J.  Ewing 

Jacob  Grosch 

Juliet  E.  Hall 

Isaac  W.  Harris 

LeviH.  Harris 

Mary  S.  Howe 

Mary  V.  B.  Joice 

Lucinda  Jones 

James  Kile 

Arthur  M.  Lee 

Catharine  Lee 

Mary  A.  S.  Loomis.... 

George  McNeeley 

David  Mead 

Mary  E.  Naylor 

Jennet  H.  ^isbet 

Frederick  W.  Nye 

Armstrong  O'Hara 

Nancy  Patton 

Margaret  Pittinger 

Alice  Roper 

Michael  Shields 

Russell  Smith 

Mary  E.Stewart ..- 

Sarah  Summerville 

Deborah  A.  Swan 

William  Swanzie 

Colonel  Ezra  Taylor 

Louisa  Thomas 

Elizabeth  F.  Thompson 

General  A.  C.  Voris 

Eunice  Wilson 

Martha  Wold 

Orson  Young 

McJunkin — 

Maria  D.C.  Bache 

Alfred  Bolder 

Josiah  Brinard 

Sarah  Bums 

James  Burris 

Letitia  Carr 

Margaret  A.  Chantry 

Elizabeth  Clark 

Belinda  Craig 

William  C.  Davis 

Magdalena  Docks 

Caroline  Duncan 

Elizabeth  Harding 

John  Heddinger 

Lewis  Hiueley 

Aaron  B.  Hughes 

Ann  Humphreys 


Digitized  by 


Google 


INDEX. 


XXIII 


Subject. 


No. 


Inralid  Pensions,  Committee  on — Continued — 
McJankin — Continued — 

Samnel  P.  Kemp 

Harriet  Leonard 

John  G.  Parr 

Franklin  Stoner 

Margaret  E.  We«t 

Harriet  W.  Wilkinson 

Angnstus  S.  Yeager 

Melliah— 

Charlotte  Crane 

BetHie  Lewis 

Michael  Wiesse,  minor  children  of 

O'Brien- 
Adelaide  Adams 

John  M.  Allen 

George  Dayspring 

Jane  Dnlaney 

Mary  Ann  Eaton 

John  Fink  

Catharine  H.  Gallagher 

ITathaniel  S.  Greer 

Angelica  Hammond 

Mary  G.  Harris 

Charles  Herbert 

Mary  Logsden 

Susan  W.  Marshal , 

Elizabeth  McCluney 

W.  D.  Morrison 

Michael  Quarry 

Emily  L.  Slanghter 

Gnadalonpe  Torres 

Ann  B.  Yoorhees 

Ellen  Wilson 

Rusk— 

Francis  Bernard 

Olive  S.  Breed 

John  S.  Corlett 

Jefierson  W.  Davis 

John  W.  Darby 

William  M.  Drake 

Benjamin  Farley 

John  Folger 

William  Haffords 

Theron  W.  Hanks 

Henry  B.  Havens 

Penelope  T.  Heald 

Amy  A.  Hough 

William  H.  Johnson 

Arious  Kennedy 

Martin  Laflin 

Mary  A.  Lowe<.. 

Mary  S.  Moore 

National  HomOi  fines  imposed  on  soldiers,  inmates  of  the.. 

Martha  E.  Northrup 

Edward  O'Driscoll 

Pensions  to  totally  disabled  soldiers  and  sailors 

Pension  act  of  March  3, 1873,  amending  the  

Ell  Persons 

Rachel  Phillips 

W.E.  Prince 

James  Qnigley 

RosannaQuinn 

Melissa  Rankin 

George  A.  Schreiner 

Julia  A.  Smith 


3 
3 
2 
2 

1 
4 
1 

1 
1 
1 

1 
4 
2 
2 
4 
4 
4 
2 
2 
2 
2 
4 
1 
2 
1 
4 
1 
2 
1 
1 

1 
1 
3 
1 
4 
4 
2 
2 
1 
4 
1 
1 
2 
5 
1 
2 
1 
1 
4 
1 
2 
1 
1 
3 
3 
1 
2 
1 
4 
4 
2 


4621 
552 
358 
,•157 
201 
698 
200 

115 
128 
114 

247 
72& 
29&- 
297 
724 
721 
725 
290 
291 
294 
295 
722 
132 
293 
133 
723 
248 
292 
249 
12 

2a 

160- 
578 
111 
685 
688 
354 
275 
llO* 
689' 
234 

3a 

352 
772 
236 
270 
235 
237 
654 
112 
271 
252 
253 
679 
577 
22 
272 
232 
690 
691 
353 


Digitized  by 


Google 


XXIV  INDEX. 


Sabject. 


Invalid  Pensions,  Committee  on— Continued — 
Rusk — Continued — 

Helen  M.Stansbnry 

Isaac  Stevens 

Benjamin  C.  Skinner 

William  R.  and  Jasper  A.  Strunk 

Josephine  D.  Thomas 

William  J.  Uhler 

E.Caroline  Webster 

Cordelia  Wilkins 

Harriette  A.  Woodruff..* 

Small- 
John  Baker 

William  P.  Bartlett 

Gilnion  Bennett 

Marv  J.  Blood 

William  D.  Boyd 

Ann  M.  Brackett 

W.H.H.Buck 

Martin  D.  Chandler 

Mary  A.  Chute ^.. 

Hannah  E.  Curry i-. 

William  H.  Edwards 

John  C.  Farnham 

Henry  M.Fife 

Caroline  P.  Gerrish 

Elizabeth  Haekleman ..••.. 

Thomas  R,  Hardwick 

George  Holmes 

Jane  La  Font 

Eliza  Maxham 

Barbara  McGlenn 

Th om as  J.  Mc  I  n  ty  re 

Henry  C.Mills 

Timothy  Paige 

Emily  Phillips 

Mary  8.  Prince 

Mary  J.  Raymond 

Martha  R.  Robinson 

StiUman  C.  Spaulding 

Edgar  L.  Spencer 

Mary  Storrs 

Clarissa  Swain 

Caroline  E.  Thomas 

Cornelia  A.  Washburn 

Catharine  A.  Winslow 

Thomas,  Christopher  Y. — 

Christiana  Bailey 

Margaret  Beeler 

William  H.  Blair 

Elizabeth  Brannix 

John  H.Evans,  heirs  of i 

Thomas  B.  Gaddis,  guardian  of  the  children  of  Jackson  A. 
Brewer 

JohnHendrie 

Robert  D.  Jones 

Salem  P.  Rose 

Sarah  A.  Timmons 

Elizabeth  Tipton 

Elizabeth  Wolf 

Wallace- 
Susan  Bennett.,  i 

John  J.  Bottger , 

Elizabeth  Brady 1 

Victoria  L.  Brewster 

Peter  M.  Campbell 


Digitized  by 


Google 


INDEX. 


XXV 


Subject. 


Invalid  Pensions,  Committee  on — Con  tinned — 
Wallace— Continued — 

Salmon  B.  Colby 

Mrs.  Ann  Crane 

Nancy  Curry 

John  A.  Fisher 

Isaac  M.Grant 

Almon  P.  Graves 

Caleb  A.  Lamb 

Rosalia  C.  P.  Lisle 

W.O.Madison 

Dennis  McCarthy 

John  B.  Miller 

Bernard  Sailer 

William  Whit« 

Young,  John  D. — 

Sciotha  Brashears 

Martha  £.  Brixey 

Mrs.  Nancy  Brooks 

Penelope  C.  Bro w  n 

Sarah  I.Cooper 

Bigsby  E.  Dodson 

Moses  B.Hardin 

Patrick  Hickey 

Elizabeth  J.  King 

Ade  H.  McDonald 

Capt.  Thomas  McKinster 

SaUy  Oatly 

Elizabeth  Prindle,  guardian,  &c 

Henry  B.  Ryder 

Inventions,  encouragement  of  new  and  useful 

Inventors  and  patentees,  encouragement  and  relief  of. 
Iron-flhip-building  yards 


J. 


Jacobs,  Enoch 

Jacobs,  Enoch 

Jeffrey,  Rosa  Vertner 

Jeffiiee,£van  8 - 

Jocknick,  Gnstavns  F 

Joiee,Mary  V.B 

Johnson,  Edward  P 

Johnson,  H.,  €i  al 

Johnson,  James  L 

Johnson,  William  H 

Jones,  John  L.  T 

Jones,  Lucinda 

Jones,  Mary  W , 

Jones,  Robert  D , 

Jones,  Tnmey 

Judicial  district,  eastern,  of  Kentucky , 

Jadiciary,  Committee  on  the— 
Batler,  Benjamin  F.— 

Susan  B.Anthony 

Award  of  the  Geneva  arbitration 

George  Chorpenning 

George  Chorpenning 

Dakota,  laws  of 

Nicholas  Fouq^  and  Marc  Fouq6 

God  and  the  Christian  religion,  acknowledgment  of,  in  the 
Constitntion 

Nicholas  Jos6  Merrimet .*. . 

Cessna — 

Rights  of  parties  in  x>os8e8sion  of  certain  lands,  &c.,  in 
California 


3 
1 
4 
1 
1 
1 
2 
2 
4 
2 
1 
4 
4 

2 
1 
2 
1 
4 
2 
4 
1 
2 
2 
2 
1 
1 
1 
2 
2 


3 
4 
4 
5 
4 
3 
1 
4 
I 
5 
3 
2 
5 
3 
5 
1 


Digitized  by 


Google 


XXVI  INDEX. 


Sabject. 


Judiciary,  Committee  on  the — Cod  tinned — 
Eldredge — 

Alleged  misgovemment  in  South  Carolina,  (minority,) 

part  2 

Frye — 

District  court  at  Fredericksbnrgh,  Virginia 

Central  Branch  Union  Pacific  Railroad. 

Eastern  iudicial  district  of  Kentucky 

Indebtedness  of  certain  Southern  railroads 

Judicial  districts  of  Virginia 

Property  at  Harper's  Ferry 

Relief  of  the  State  of  Tennessee 

Poland— 

Alcoholic-liqnor  traffic 

Affairs  in  the  State  of  Arkansas 

Legal  relations  ot  the  District  of  Columbia  and  the  United 
States 

Charles  O'Hara  e«  ai 

Potter- 
Alleged  migovernment  in  South  Carolina part  3. . 

Edmund  Randolph 

Tremaine — 

Susan  B.Anthony 

Alleged  misgoverument  in  South  Carolina 

Ward,  Jasper  D. — 

James  L.  Collins 

George  P.  Fisher 

Crawford  M.  Hall 

White— 

Joab  Bagley 

Oath  of  loyalty 

Wilson,  Jeremiah  M. — 

Judge  Richard  Busteed  . 

Judge  E.  H.  Durell 

K. 

Kalbfleisch's,  Martin,  sons 

Kansas  Indian  lands,  sale  of 

Kelley,  Ways  and  Means — 

Relief  of  the  builders  of  the  steamers  La  Portena,  Edward 

Everett,  F.  W.  Lincoln,  Azalia,  and  N.  P.  Banks 

Kellogg,  War-claims — 

Charles  W.  Adams 

James  Barnet,  deceased,  heirs  of 

George  Cowles 

Francis  Dodge 

N.  Hunphe 

Louisa  Eldis 

Jonathan  D.  Hale 

Adam  Hine 

John  H.  Hooper 

W.J,  Mclntyre 

Charles  J.  McKinney 

Methodist  Episcopal  Church  South,  book-agents  of,  (mi- 
nority)  part  2. 

Samuel  Ruth,  F.  W.  E.  Lohman,  and  Charles  M.  Carter.. . 

Cora  A.  Slocumb  et  at • 

William  Stoddard ,... 

Mrs.  Mary  A.  Thayer 

John  T.Watson 

James  Madison  Wells 

Norman  Wiard 

John  S.  Williams 

Pleasant  M.  Williams 

Issacher  Zacharie 


Digitized  by 


Google 


INDEX. 


XXVII 


Sabject. 


Kelly,  Lient  H.  A 

Kemp,  Samnel  P 

Keuds^I,  Mines  and  Mining — 

Obtaining  water  for  mining  and  agricultural  purposes  in 

Nevada  

Kennedy,  Arions 

Kentucky,  eastern  jndicial  district  of 

Kerr,  WiUiam  F 

Keyes,  George  W..— 

Kile,  James 

Killinger,  Public  Buildings  and  Grounds — 

Violation  of  the  eight-hour  law 

King,  Elizabeth  J 

King,  Kalph 

Kirby,  Jusiah 

Kleim.  David 

Kaapp,  Peter  J 


Lafltn,  Martin 

La  Font,  Jane 

Lalond,  Joseph 

Lamb,  Caleb  A 

Ldunb,  James  M 

Lamb,  Seth,  heirs  of 

LamiBon,  Naval  Affairs — 

Correction  of  errors  in  prize-lists 

Land-district,  additional,  in  Colorado 

Land-district,  the  Bismarck,  in  Dakota 

Land-district,  additional,  in  Idaho 

Land-districts,  two  additional,  in  Kansas 

Land<OflSce,  General,  re-organization  of  the 

Lands  in  Michigan 

Lansing,  Claims — 

Asbnry  Dickins,  heirs  of 

J.  G.  Fell  et  a^,  (minority) part2. 

Sarah  F.  Lincoln 

Joseph  S.  Read 

Lawrence,  War-Clamis — 

John  Aldredge 

Nancy  M.  B^n 

C.  C.  Bliss,  W.  L.  Schenck,  and  John  Mills 

Charles  Bombonnell 

Mary  K.  Brower '.. 

Commissioners  of  Claims 

Stanley  Cooper  and  Sarah  Cooper 

Sewell  B.  Corbett 

William  Coss 

Pleasant  M.  CraigmiUer 

Edward  Gallagher 

Richard  H.  Garrett 

Francis  A.  Gibbons part  2. 

D.  W.  and  Minnie  H.  Glassie  and  Joseph  C.  Nash 

R.F.  Graves,  jr 

William  Greaner 

J.  and  T.Green 

J.George  Harris 

Rosa  Vertner  Jeffrey 

Maryland,  banks  of  Frederick  City 

J.  L.  McPhailj  V.  Randall,  and  E.  G.  Homer 

Methodist  Episcopal  Church  South,  book-agents  of 

Mount  Vernon  Manufacturing  Company ^ 

William  H.  Newman  and  L.  A.  Von  Hoofmau 

Thomas  J.  Peacock 

Gideon  J.  Pillow 


Digitized  by 


Google 


XXVI U  INDEX. 


Subject. 


Lawrence,  War-Claims — Continaed — 

Robert  H.  Staploton 

J.  B.  Sullivan 

War-claims  and  claims  of  aliens 

Lawson,  Indian  Affairs — 

Upper  and  Lower  Bands  of  Sioux  Indians 

Lee,  Arthur  M 

Lee,  Catharine 

Legislative,  executive,  and  judicial  appropriations,  amendments  of  the 

Senate  to , 

Leonard,  Harriet 

LePage,  Emile 

Lewis,  Abel  M 

Lewis,  Betsie 

Lillie,  James 

Lincoln,  Sarah  F 

Lisle,  Rosalia  C.  P 

Livinston,  James  C 

Logsden,  Mary 

Lohman,  F.  W.  E.,  ft  al 

Long,  James 

Loomis,  Mary  A.  S - 

Lorraine,  Sir  Lambton , 

Louisiana,  contested-election  case  of  Sheridan  vs.  Pinchback 

Louisville  and  Portland  Canal  Company 

Lowe,  Indian  Affairs — 

Joab  Spencer  and  James  R.  Mead 

Joab  Spencer  and  James  R.  Mead 

Lowe,  Mary  A 

Lull,  Harvey • 

Lumphrey,  Oliver 

Lyncn,  Thomas,  et  al 

M. 

MacDongall,  Military  Affairs- 
American  Institute  of  Homeopathy 

John  Coss 

Dwight  Desilva 

John  Heberer 

Frederick  Heidelman 

•  Capt.  Henry  Inman 

Benjamin  Penny 

Private  property  of  certain  soldiers  destroyed  by  fire 

Isaac  Riseden 

William  J.  Scott 

Amanda  M.  Smith 

Adolph  Von  Haacke 

Eldridge  Weaver 

George  L.  Yount 

Maddox,  Joseph  H 

Madison,  William  O 

Madrazo,  Rafael 

Mail-contracts  and  temporary  mail-service 

Mann,  Jonathan  L 

Margraf  Louis 

Marine  Hospital  at  Cleveland,  Ohio 

Marlette,  Nancy  C 

Marr,  Duncan 

Marrion,  Peter  P 

Marshall,  Susan  W 

Martin,  Invalid  Pensions — 

Llewellyn  Bell 

Anna  Brasel 

Elizabeth  Brewer 

Henry  Buckner 


Digitized  by 


Google 


INDEX. 


XXIX 


Subject. 


Vol.  I    No. 


Martin,  Invalid  Peosions — Continued — 

Hester  Coleman 

Benjamin  R.  Crist 

Mary  B.Dallas 

Ira  Doatbart 

Davenport  Downs 

Ellen  L.  Doyle 

Margaret  Edwards 

James  S.  Elliott 

Jacob  Epler 

EUzabetb  J.  Ewing 

Susanna  Espaita 

Jacob  Groscn 

Juliet  E.  Hall 

Isaac  Harris 

LeviH.  Harris 

Mary  S.  Howe 

Mary  V.  B.  Joice 

Lucmda  Jones 

James  Kile 

Arthur  M  Lee 

Catharine  Lee 

Mary  A.  S.  Loomis 

George  McNeeley , 

David  Mead , 

Mary  E.  Naylor 

Jennet  H.  Nisbet 

Frederick  W.  Nye 

Armstrong  CHara I. 

Nancy  Patton 

Margaret  H.  Pittinger 

Alice  Roper 

Michael  Shields 

Russell  Smith 

Mary  E.  Stewart , 

Sarah  Snmmerville 

Deborah  A.  Swan 

William  Swanzie 

Col.  Ezra  Taylor 

Louisa  Thomas , 

Elizabeth  F.  Thompson 

General  A.  C.  Voris 

Eunice  Wilson 

Martha  Wold 

Orson  Young 

Mftiy  ville  College,  Tennessee 

Mmry  Washington  Monument 

Haeon,  Oliver  P 

¥«Thain,  A.  Eliza 

Maxwell,  George  R.,  re.  George  Q.Cannon 

Maxwell,  Jemima ' 

May,  William,  sr 

Mayo,  John  K 

Maynard,  Banking  and  Currency — 

Banking  and  currency 

McAdams,  Sarah 

McArihar,  Cornelia 

McCann.Dwight  J 

McCarthy,  Dennis 

M£Carty,Col.  £ 

MeCarty,  Charles 

HoCollum.y.  B 

XeCrary,  Railways  and  Canals— 

Commerce  by  railroad  among  the  several  States  . 

McCallah,  James  A 

MeCiiUafa^JauiesA 

McDonald,  AdeH 


3 

4 

1 

3 

3 

3 

1 

1 

3 

3 

3 

3 

1 

4 

3 

2 

3 

2 

3 

4 

4 

2 

3 

3 

2 

2 

3 

3 

1 

4 

4 

1 

3 

4 

1 

2 

1 

1 

4 

2 

2 

4 

4 

3 

5 

4 

1 

1 

3 

3 

1 


549 
737 
117 
467 
580 
544 

31 
33 
540 
5:38 
542 
46b 
116 
736 
541 
279 
546 
276 
547 
706 
704 
281 
545 
5.39 
412 
277 
581 
551 
118 
707 
703 

11 
543 
705 
211 
278 

32 

.34 
687 
360 
280 
708 
680 
548 
791 
625 
146 

24 
464 
465 
245 

53 

600 
716 
717 
417 
284 
4 
173 
439 

28 
487 
594 
364 


Digitized  by 


GoogU 


XXX  INDEX. 

Subject. 


McGlenau,  Barbara 

Mclntire,  Thomas  J 

McIntyre,W.J 

McJankin,  Invalid  Pensions — 

Maria  D.Bache 

Alfred  Bolder , 

Josiah  Brinard 

Sarah  Bums 

James  Burriss 

LetitiaCarr 

Margaret  A.  Chantry 

Elizabeth  Clark 

Belinda  Craig 

William  C.  Davis 

Magdalena  Docks 

Caroline  Duncan 

Elizabeth  Harding 

John  Heddinger 

Lewis  Hindley «... 

Aaron  B.  Hughes 

Ann  Humphries 

Samuel  P.  Kemp 

Harriet  Leonard 

John  G.  Parr 

Franklin  Stoner 

Margaret  E.  West 

Harriet  W.  Wilkinson 

Augustus  8.  Yaeger 

3lcKee,  Territories — 

Admission  of  New  Mexico  as  a  State 

McKinney,  Charles  J 

McKinney.W.  H 

McKinster,  Capt.  Thomas 

McLaughlin,  John,  and  William  South 

McLunev,  Elizabeth 

McMillan,  Robert  N 

McMurray ,  Robert 

MoNeeley,  George 

McPhail,  James  L 

McPhail,  James  L.,ef  al 

McPherson,  James  A.,  clerk  of  the  United  States  court,  southern  district 

of  Georgia 

Mead,  David 

Mead,  James  R 

Mea<),  James  R.,and  Joab  Spencer 

Mcllish,  Invalid  Pensions — 

Charlotte  Crane 

Betsie  Lewis 

Minor  children  of  Michael  Weisse 

Mellisb,  War-Claims — 

Michael  MulhoUand 

Emma  Porch 

C.C.  Spaids 

Robert  F.  Winslow | 

Mtiuiphis  and  Kansas  City  Railroad 

Merrimet,  Nicholas  Jos<S 

Methodist  Episcopal  Church  South,  book-agents  of 

Methodist  Episcopal  Church  South,  book-agents  of part  2. 

Methodist  Episcopal  Church  South,  book-agents  of part  3. 

Metropolitan  police 

Mich,  John 

Michigan ,  Ottawa  and  Chippewa  Indian  lands  in 

Milins,  Victor 

Military  Academy  band 


Digitized  by 


Google 


INDEX. 


XXXI 


Subject. 


MiliUiy  Affairs,  Committee  on — 
Albright— - 

Army  regulations,  promolgation  of , 

Wilber  F.  Chamberlain , 

Samuel  C.Crawford , 

John  W.  Dnff's  heirs 

Pat.  O.Hawes 

George  H.  Hickman , 

Foster  A.  Hixon , 

£dward  P.Johnson 

Indian  hostilities  in  Washington  and  Oregon 

Bamnel  £.  Rankin 

William  A.Snodgra6S , 

John  B.  Weber 

Henry  D.  Wharton 

Matthias  Whitehead 

Cobnm — 

Army,  rednction  of  the 

Army,  clothing  for  certain  enlisted  men  of  the 

John  S:  Dickson 

Charles  Hoffman 

Peter  J.  Knapp 

VTilliam  H.  Pilkinton 

£phr»ini  P.  Sho  waiter 

Thomas  Simms 

A.H.yon  Luettwitz 

Donnan — 

Elias  Anderson 

Ingalls  B.  Andrews , 

Sheridan  O.  Bremmer 

Alexander  Bnrtch , 

Frank  Commager ^, 

Alfred  Fry 

James  A.  Hile 

Lient.H.A.Kelly 

James  C.  Livingston , 

Adam  Miller 

Hiram  Prather 

J.  Scott  Payne , 

Cassias  C.  Roberts , 

Robert  Sutherland 

Simeon  J.Thompson , 

Matthew  Woodruff 

F.O.Wyse [[_[, 

Ganckel— 

Barracks  at  Atlanta,  Georgia 

M^j.  C.  8.  Underwood 

Hawley,  John  B.— 

George  A.  Bacon , 

Walter  D.  Plowman !!...!.!. 

Hawley,  Joseph  R. — 

George  H.  Herring , 

Hon  ton — 

Altamirah  Branson 

John  Burke 

L.  S.Campbell 

Charles  J.  Carl  in , 

Citadel  in  Charleston,  South  Carolina 

William  E.  Childs 

Henry  I.Drysdale , 

John  S.  Evans ' 

George  Fisher,  heirs  of , 

Fort  Bridger,  relief  of  certain  settlers  on  the  military  res- 
ervation of,  in  Wyoming  Territory 

•Ge  )rge  A.  Miller 

William  Rood 


No. 


3 
5 
1 
5 

1 
1 
1 
1 
5 
1 
1 
1 
5 
1 

5 
2 
5 
3 
1 
1 
2 
3 

5 
3 
2 
1 
1 
3 
5 
1 
I 
3 
3 
3 
5 
3 
1 
1 
2 

3 
2 

3 
3 


592 

823 

15« 

821 

97 

72 

85 

8 

837 

83 

159 

3 

822 

84 

384 

818 
349 
819 
440 
59 
68 
402 
569 

a36 

522 

404 

88 

74 

442 

820 

73 

87 

524 

525 

523 

835 

441 

138 

89 

405 

605 
383 

445 

444 

69 

332 

381 
20 

8:^9 
70 
90 

838 

:«i 

330 

521 
830 
379 


Digitized  by 


Google 


XXXII  INDEX. 


i> 


Military  AtTairs,  Committee  on — Continaed — 
Han  ton— Continued — 

David  W.  Stockstill 2 

JnliuB  W.  Ulrich 1 

Georf^e  Yoorheee 

Peter  M.  Ward 

MacDougall— 

American  Institae  of  Homeopathy 

John  Coes 

D wight  Desilva 1 

John  Heberer 2 

Frederic  Heidelman 5 

Capt.Hen^  Inman 5 

Benjamin  Fenny 5 

Private  property  of  certain  soldiers  destroyed  by  fire 5 

Isaac  Riseden 3 

William  J.  Scott 1 

Amanda  M.  Smith 2 

Capt.  Adolph  Yon  Haacke r> 

Eldridge  Weaver 

George  L.  Yount 1 

Nesmith— 

Charles  W.  Berry 2 

John  T.  Burchell 3 

Jackson  Case 3 

William  N.  Denny 5 

John  H.  Evans's  heirs 5 

John  Gowers 5 

Marie  B.  Greene 1 

Charles  £.  Holmes 5 

Stephen  M.  Honeycatt 3 

James  Long 1 

Robert  McMurray 3 

Capt.  James  M.  Robertson 2 

Lucius  A.  Rountree 1 

John  F.  Wheeler 2 

Thornburgh — 

Joseph  C.  Breckenridge 2 

Louis  J.  Boyer 2 

Rice  M.  Brown 1 

W.  H.  Denniston 1 

Jonathan  L.  Mann 1 

John  N.  Newman 1 

Lieut.  A.  V.  Richards 2 

J.  R.  Wagoner 2 

William  N.  Williams 1 

Young,  Pierce  M.  B. — 

Lieut  John  K.  Askins 2 

William  Carl 2 

Mary  Couley 3 

Capt.  A.  B.  Dyer 1 

Florida,  purchase  of  a  piece  of  land  in 2 

John  C.  Griffin 3 

Capt.  H.  P.  Ingram 

Oliver  Lumphrey 2 

Military  Academy  band 3 

Promotion  in  the  Inspector- General's  Department 1 

Property  adjoining  the  Army  Medical  Museum    3 

Kerry  Sullivan 2 

Military  reservation,  Fort  Bridger,  Wyo.  T.,  relief  of  certain  settlers 

on  the 3 

Mill,  John,  etal 4 

Miller,  Adam 3 

Miller,  Emily 4 

Miller,  George  A r^ 

Miller,  John  B 1 

Mills,  HenryC 4 


*> 


Digitized  by 


Google 


INDEX. 


XXXIII 


Subject. 


No. 


Mines  and  Mining,  Committee  on — 
KendaU— 

Obtaining  water  for  mining  and  agrionltural  porposes  in 

Nevada - 

Ifississippi  Levees,  Select  Committee  on  the — 
Morey — 

Levees  of  the  ACississippi 

Miflsonri,  lands  in  Soott  County 

Missouri,  confiimation  of  land-entries  in 

Missouri,  private  land-claims  in 

Mitchell,  Harrison 

Moieties,  Ways  and  Means  on 

Moneys  withheld  from'  the  Government,  discovery  and  collection  of 

Moneys  withheld  from  the  Government,  discovery  and  coUection  of, 

supplementary  testimony part  2 . 

Montgomery,  R.  H.,  and  J.  W.  Bnrbridge 

Montanari,  Joseph 

Monument,  Wasnington  National 

Mooie,Mary  8 

Moore,  Jesse  F.,  and  Charles  W.  Lewis 

Motehead,  Eliza  T 

Morey,  Mississippi  Levees— 

Levees  of  the  Mississippi 

Morey,  Public  Lands — 

Railroad  from  Texas  State  line  to  Vicksburgh 

Morris,  Clara 

Morrison,  War-Claims— 

R  B.  Conner  &  Brother 

John  Hobson 

Tnrney  Jones » 

Victor  Milins 

Augustus  Spragne 

John  B.  Tyler 

Charles  Valier 

Morrison,  Sarah , 

Monison,  William  D 

Morsell,  Richard  T 

Mott,  Danford 

Mount  Vernon  Manufacturing  Company , 

Mover,  Joseph  D 

MulhoUaod,  Michael , 

Mnlloy,  Louisa  P 

Murphy,  BUaP 

Murphy,  Mary  E 

Myers,  Foreign  Affairs — 

James  DeLong < 

Myers,  Naval  Affairs- 
Relief  of  the  officers  and  crews  of  the  Wyoming  and 
Ta-kiang , 


N, 


Nav^o  Indian  reservation 

Xaval  Affairs,  Committee  on-^ 


Burleigh — 

J<mn  R.  Bond 


Gooch— 

Dr.  Holmes  Wikof 

Hays — 

Iron-ship  building-yards » 

Lamison — 

Correction  of  errors  in  priee-lists 

Myers- 
Relief  of  the  officers  and  crews  of  the  Wyoming  and 
Ta-kiang 

Scndder,  Henry  J. — 

Frederick  Banry , 

3HB 

Digitized  by 


418 
183 
350 
407 
590 
645 
559 

559 
514 
192 
485 
237 
419 
301 

418 

43 

767 

755 
807 
810 
39 
565 
602 
808 
655 
133 
798 
313 
740 
809 
431 
154 
632 
298 


343 


638 


1 

187 

3 

451 

2 

345 

1 

188 

2 

343 

1 

107 

Google 


XXXIV  INDEX. 


Sabject. 


Naval  Affairs,  Committee  on — Continued — 
Whitthome— 

Heirs  of  William  C.  Braahear 

Naval  contractors,  relief  of  certain !.... 

Naylor,  Mary  E 

Negley,  Commerce — 

American  ship-building 

Nesmith,  Military  Affairs- 
James  W.  Barnes 

Charles  W.  Berrv 

John  T.  Burchell 

Jackson  Case 

William  N.  Denny 

John  H.  Evans's  heirs 

John  Gowers 

Marie  B.  Greene 

Charles  E.H.Holmes 

Stephen  M.  Honeycntt 

James  Long 

Robert  McMurray 

Capt.  James  M.  Robinson 

Lncins  A.  Ronntree 

John  F.  Wheeler 

Newcomb,  Fanny 

Newman,  John  N 

Newman,  William  H.,  and  L.  A.  Van  Hoofman 

New  Mexico,  admission  of,  as  a  State 

New  State,  War,  and  Navy  Department  bnilding 

Nez  Percd  Indian  reservation  in  Idaho 

Niblack,  Ways  and  Means — 

James  A.  McCullah 

Niles,  Thomas,  heirs  of 

Nisbet,  Jennet  H 

Nock,  Joseph 

Nolen,  John,  et  at 

Northedge,  Jane,  widow  of  Col.  William  Northedge,  deceased. 

Northrnp,  Martha  £ 

Nunn,  Claims — 

John  Clinton 

Samael  L.  Highlyman 

John  N.  Reed 

Nye,  Frederick  W 


O. 


Oath  of  loyalty 

Oatly,  Mrs.  Sally 

O'Brien,  Invalid  Pensions — 

Adelaide  Adams 

John  M.  Allen 

Georee  Dayspring 

Jane  Dalaney 

Mary  Ann  Eaton 

John  Fink 

Catharine  H.  Gallagher. 

Nathaniel  S.  Greer 

Angelica  Hammond 

Mary  G.  Harris 

Charles  Herbert 

Mary  Logsden 

Susan  W.  Marshal 

Elizabeth  McClnney 

William  D.  Morrison . . . . 

Michael  Quarry 

Emily  L.  Slaughter 

Guadaloupe  Torres 


Digitized  by 


Google 


INDEX. 


XXXV 


Subject. 


O'BrieD,  Invalid  Pensions — Con  tinned — 

Ann  R.  Yoorhees 

Ellen  WiUon 

O'Drisooll,  Edward 

O'Hara,  Armstrong 

(mara,  Charles,  et  (U 

Onr,  Mrs.  Mary  J 

Orr,  Pnblic  Lauds — 

Boise  Basin  Bed-Rock  Flaming  Company 

Des  Moines  Biver  grant 

Tide-flats  in  Duwamish  Bay,  Washington  Territory  ... 

Tide-flats,  Budd's  Inlet,  Washington  Territory 

Orth,  Foreign  Afiairs — 

Sir  Lambton  Lorraine 

Mrs.  Mary  J.  Orr 

Osborne,  Anna  W 

OweUyEzraC 

P. 

Pacific  Mail  Steamship  Company , 

Packard,  Private  Land-Claims — 

Jotham  Sewell , 

Hut  Springs  reservation,  Arkansas 

Titles  to  lauds  in  the  Northwest  and  Indian  Territories 
Packer,  Post-Office  and  Post-Roads— 

Mail-contracts  and  tempory  mail-service , 

Paige,  Timothy  

Parker,  Hosea  W.,  Patents — 

John  Young , 

Parker,  Isaac  C,  Appropnations — 

Award  in  favor  of  the  Choctaw  Nation  of  Indians 

James  A.  McCnllah , 

Parkharst,  Nancy 

Parks,  Willie 

Parr,  John  G 

Parroct,  Jacob 

Parsona,  Commerce— 

Marine  Hospital  at  Cleveland,  Ohio 

Patents,  Committee  on — 
Clements — 

Encouragement  of  new  and  useful  inventions , 

Norman  Wiard , 

Eames — 

H.  8.  Van  De  Carr  and  Elsie  M.  Reynolds 

Parker,  Hosea  W.— 

John  Young 

Sayler,  Henry  B. — 

Harvey  Lull , 

Josiah  Kirby , 

Smith,  William  A.— 

Encouragement  and  relief  of  inventors  and  patentees. 

Patton,  Montraville 

Pattouy  Nancy 

Payne,  J.  Scott 

Peacock,  Thomas  J 

Peake,  William  F.,  e<  «Z 

PeUiam,  on  the  Washii^gton  Monument,  (select)— 

Mary  Washington  monument 

Pelham,  William 

Penny,  Benjamin 

Penny,  Joseph 

Pennsylvania,  citizens  of  Allegheny  County 

Pensions  to  totally  disabled  soldiers  and  sailors 

Pensioo  act  of  March  3, 1^3,  amending  the 


Vol. 


1 

249 

1 

12 

2 

271 

3 

551 

4 

614 

4 

623 

1 

255 

2 

344 

2 

416 

1 

256 

5 

781 

4 

623 

4 

656 

4 

720 

No. 


598 

106 
263 
184 

775 
124 

473 

391 
594 
176 
591 
358 
469 

197 


388 
595 

486 

473* 

601 


660 
118 
523 
749 
230 


371 
829 
528 
491 
253 
253 


Digitized  by 


Google 


XXXVI 


INDEX. 


Subject. 


PeosioDs,  to  widows  and  children,  motliers  and  fathers,  of  soldiers  killed 

at  Centralia,  Missouri A 

Persons,  Eli , 

Peters  &  Reed 

Petrie,  Joseph  J , 

Phillips,  Public  Lands- 
Two  additional  land-districts  in  Kansas 

Bismarck  land-district,  Dakota 

Additional  land-district  in  Idaho 

Sale  of  Kansas  Indian  lands 

Additional  land-district  in  Colorado 

Phillips,  Emily 

Phillips,  Rachel  W 

Pike,  Elections — 

Bradley  vs,  Hynes 

Pilkinton,  William  H 

Pillow,  Gideon  J 

Pitchlyn,  P.  P.,  relating  to  the  Choctaw  award , 

Pittinger,  Margaret  H 

Piatt,  James  H^  jr..  Public  Buildings  and  Grounds — 

New  State,  War,  and  Navy  Department  building 

Piatt,  Thomas  C,  Post-Offlce  and  Post-Roads— 

Pacific  Mail  Steamship  Company 

Plowden,  Walter  D 

Poland,  Judiciary — 

Alcoholic-liquor  traffic 

Affairs  in  the  State  of  Arkansas 

Judge  E.  H.  Durell,  (minority) 

Legal  relations  of  the  District  of  Columbia  and  the  United 
States 

Charles  O'Hara  e<  a? 

Poland,  Revision  of  the  Laws  of  the  United  States — 

Zadock  Williams  e<  al 

Pomeroy,  George  W 

Porch,  Emma  A , 

Post-Office  Department,  management  of  the 

Post-Office  and  Post-Roads,  Committee  on  the» 
Packer — 

Mail-contracts  and  temporary  mail-service 

Piatt,  Thomas  C— 

Pacific  Mail  Steamship  Company , 

Stowell— 

Management  of  the  Post-Offlce  Department 

Williams,  John  M.  S.— 

WillardHowe 

Potter,  Judiciary- 
Alleged  misgovernment  in  South  Carolina,  (minority,) 
part  3 

Edmund  M.  Randolph 

Poverty  Island  light-house,  workmen  on  the 

Powers,  Oliver 

Prather,  Hiram 

Pratt,  Private  Land-Claims — 

Lands  in  Scott  County,  Missouri 

Mission  of  Saint  James,  Washington  Territory 

Preston,  Simon  M , 

Priest,  Francis 

Priuce,  Mary  8 ■- 

Prince  W.E 

Prindle,  Elizabeth,  guardian,  &c 

Printing,  Joint  Committee  on — 
Donnan — 

Cost  of  publishing  the  debates  of  Congress 

Private  land-claims,  issue  of  patents  in  certain  cases  of 

Private  land-claims  in  Missouri  • , 


3 
3 

1 
4 
4 

4 
4 

2 
3 
2 
5 


Digitized  by 


Google 


INDEX. 


XXXVII 


Sabject. 


Private  LaDd-Claims,  Committee  on — 
Barrere — 

Issae  of  patents  in  oases  of  private  land-claims 

Backner — 

Confirmation  of  land-entries  in  Missonri 

Private  land-claims  in  Missouri 

Jaques  Clamorsan,  Peter  Provenobere,  J.  B.  Vall^,  and 

Francis  Valle. 

Freeman — 

David  Baities 

Packard— 

Hot  Springs  reservation  in  Arkansas 

Jonatnan  Sewell 

Title  to  lands  in  tbe  Northwest  and  Indian  Territories 

Pratt— 

Lands  in  Scott  County,  Missouri 

Mission  of  Saint  James,  Washington  Territory 

Townsend — 

Homesteads  to  actnal  settlers • 

Private  property  of  certain  soldiers  destroyed  by  fire 

Prixe-lists,  correction  of  errors  in 

Promotion  in  the  Inspector-GeneraPs  Department 

Public  Buildings  and  Grounds,  Committee  on — 
KilliDger— 

Violation  of  the  eight-hour  law 

Piatt,  James  H.,  jr.— 

New  State,  War,  aod  Navy  Department  building 

Wells- 
Martin  Hoff,  Casper  Doerr,  and  George  Gebhart 

Public  baildings  at  Springfield,  Dlinois 

Pablic  Lands,  Committee  on  the — 
Bradley — 

Green  Bay  and  Sturgeon  Bay  and  Lake  Michigan  Ship- 
Canal 

Ottawa  and  Chippewa  Indian  lands  in  Michigan 

Wisconsin  Ceutnu  Railroad  Company 

Bandy — 

Memphis  and  Kansas  City  Railroad 

Clymer — 

Lands  in  Michigan 

Dnnnell— 

Cultivation  of  timber  and  the  preservation  of  forests 

Growth  of  timber  on  the  western  prairies 

Benjamin  W.  Reynolds 

Edward  Savage 

Herndon — 

Columbus,  Fayette  and  Decatur  Railroad  Company 

International  Land  and  Immigration  Company 

Taxation  of  railroad  lands 

Morey — 

Railroad  from  Texas  State  line  to  Vicksburgh 

Boise  Basin  Bed-Rock  Pluming  Company 

Des  Moines  River  grant 

Tide-flats,  Budd's  Inlet,  Washington  Territory 

Tide-flats  in  Duwamish  Bay,  Washington  Territory 

Phillips- 
Colorado,  additional  land-districts  in 

Dakota,  Bismarck  land-ilistrict  in 

Idaho,  additional  land-district  in 

Kansas,  two  additional  land-districts  in 

Kansas,  sale  of  Kansas  Indian  lands 

Townsend — 

Geographical  and  geological  surveys  west  of  the  Mississippi . 

Homesteads  to  actual  settlers 

Re-organization  of  the  General  Land-Office 

Pnmell,MaryE 

Digitized  by 


185 

350 
407 

635 

450 

263 
106 
184 

183 
630 

41 
824 

188 
196 


390 

629 

181 
202 


42 
186 
261 

189 

258 


259 

66 

328 

67 

140 

394 

474 

43 

255 

344 

256 

2 

416 

3 

593 

2 

264 

2 

266 

2 

265 

2 

267 

4 

612 

1 

41 

1 

251 

5 

789 

Google 


XXXVIII  INDEX. 

Snbject. 

Q. 

Quarry,  Michael 

Qnigley,  James 

QuiDD,  Rosanna 

R. 


Vol. 


Rain,  production  of,  by  artillery-firing 

Railroad  from  Texas  State  line  to  Vicksburgh | 

Railroad,  Memphis  and  Kansas  City I 

Railroad  lands,  taxation  of \ 

Railroads,  indebtedness  of  certain  southern | 

Railway,  double-track  freight,  from  tide-water  on  the  Atlantic  to  Coun-  ' 

oil  Bluffs,  on  the  Missouri  River I 

Railways  and  Canals,  Committee  on — 
Hurlbut^ 

Double-traek  freight-railway  from  tide-water  on  the  At- 
lantic to  Council  Bluffs,  on  the  Missouri  River 

Rock  Island  and  Hennepin  Canal 

McCrary— 

Commerce  by  railroad  among  the  several  States 

Randall,  v.,  e*oi 

Randolph,  Edmund  M 

Rankin,  Melissa 

Rankin,  Samuel  E 

Rawson,  Zebina  F 

Raymond,  Mary  J 

Rea,  James 

Read,  Joseph  8 

Reed,  John  N 

Reed,  Lieut.  Paris  L 

Reid,  William  H.,  William  Barnes,  etaZ 

Re-or^anization  of  the  General  Land-Offlce 

Revision  of  the  Laws  of  the  United  States,  Committee  on — 
Poland— 

Zadock  Williams  et  al :. 

Revolutionary  Pensions  and  War  of  1812,  Committee  on — 
Bland- 
Robert  Hardie 

Charity  Hurd 

Anna  Taylor 

Vance — 

Mary  B.  Bellfleld 

Ira  Foster ' 

Mary  W.  Jones 

Joseph  Penny , , 

Williams,  WilUam  B.— 

L.  S.  Dearing 

Daniel  Suddarth... 

Reynolds,  Benjamin  W 

Reynolds,  Elsie  M.,  and  Van  De  Carr 

Reynolds,  George  H 

Richards,  Capt.  A.  V 

Richmond,  Indian  Affairs — 

Delaware  Indians 

L'Anse  and  Vieux-de-Seret  bands  of  Chippewa  Indians  — 

Navajo  Indian  reservation 

Removal  of  certain  Indians  from  Wisconsin 

Riseden,  Isaac , 

Risley,  Lemuel  C 

Roach,  James 

Roberto,  Ellis  H.,  Ways  and  Means — 

Moieties , 

William  B.Thomas , 

Roberts,  Cassius  C , 


Digitized  by 


Google 


INDEX. 


XXXIX 


Subject. 


No. 


Kobeitson,  Capt.  James  M 

RobiuaoTi,  James  W.,  Elections — 

Gnnter  vs.  Wilshire 

Robinson,  James 

Robinson,  Martha  R 

Rock  Island  and  Hennepin  Canal 

Bof^ers^C.E 

Rood,  William 

Roper,  Alice 

E««,SalemP 

Sotbcbild,  Joseph  B 

Rono tree,  Lucius  A 

Bosk,  Invalid  Pensions — 

Francis  Bernard 

Olive  S.  Breed 

Jefferson  W.  Davis 

Henry  B.  Havens 

Penelope  T.  Headle 

Arious  Kennedy 

Martin  Laflln 

Mary  A.Lowe 

Mary  8.  Moore 

Martha  E.  North mp 

Edward  0*Driscoll 

Pensions  to  totally  disabled  soldiers  and  sailors 

Pension  act  of  March  3, 1873,  amending  the 

James  Quigley 

Rosanna  Quinn 

John  8.  Corlett 

John  W.  Darby 

William  M.  Drake 

Benjamin  Farley 

Fines  imposed  on  inmates  of  8oldiers'  Home 

John  Folger 

William  Uaffords 

Theron  W.  Hanks 

Amy  A.  Hough 

William  H.  Johnson 

Eli  Persons 

Rachel  W.  Phillips 

W.E.  Prince 

Melissa  Kankin 

George  A.  Schreiner 

Benjamin  C.  Skinner 

Julia  A.  Smith 

Helen  M*  Stansbury .- 

Isaac  Stevens 

William  R.  and  Jasper  A.  Strunk 

Josephine  D.Thomas 

William  J.  Uhler 

E.  Caroline  Webster 

Cordelia  Wilkins 

Harriette  A.  Woodruff 

Roth,  Samuel,  ef  al 

Ryder,  Henry  B 

RjoD,  Norman  H 

8. 

Safe  burglary 

^ler,  Bernard - 

^nbom  and  other  contracts,  supplementary  testimony  in part  2. 

Sands,  Charles  J 

^Mi|5or,  Henry  K *- 

San  Roman,  Joseph 

sSumderSy  William 


4 
3 
3 
4 
4 
2 
4 
3 
1 
1 

1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
2 
1 
1 
1 
2 
1 
1 
2 
1 
3 
4 
4 
2 
4 
2 
1 
4 
2 
5 
3 
3 
1 
4 
4 


3a^ 

631 
438 
582 
643 
475 
379 
703 
587 
150 
76 

23 
160 
111 
234 

30 
236 
270 
235 
237 
112 
271 
252 
253 
272 
232 
578 
665 
688 
354 
654 
275 
110 
689 
352 
772 
579 
577 

22 
690 
691 
351 
353 
113 
273 
452 
411 
274 
2.33 
453 
410 
792 
134 
670 


785 
695 
559 
425 
311 
662 
309 


Digitized  by 


Google 


XL  INDEX. 


Subject. 


Savage,  Edward 

Savage,  Henry 

Sayler,  W.  A 

Sayler,  Henry  B.,  Patents — 

Josiah  Kirby 

Harvey  Lull 

Schenck,  W.  L.,  et  al 

Schooner  Ada  A.  Andrews,  owners  of 

Scbreiner,  George  A 

Schreiner,  George  A 

Scott,  William  J 

Scudder,  Henry  J.,  Naval  Affairs — 

Frederic  F.  Baury 

Scudder,  Isaac  W.,  War-Claims — 

John  £.  Bauman 

Dr.  John  W.  Divine 

Robert  J.  Edelen 

Edwin  C.  Fitzhngh 

Sngg  Fort 

Charles  C.  Gould 

H.  Johnson  et  al 

Emile  LePage 

R.  H.  Montgomery  and  J.  W.  Bnrbridge 

Richard  T.  Morsell 

George  A.  Schreiner 

Dr.  Mary  E.  Walker 

Robert  H.  Watts 

Nolan  S.  Williams,  executor  of  Alfred  Williams 

Albert  F.  Yerby,  administrator,  &c 

John  Zumstein 

Sener,  Expenditures  in  the  Department  of  Justice — 

James  McPherson,  clerk  of  the  United  States  court,  south- 
em  district  of  Georgia 

Western  district  of  Arkansas 

Sewell,  Jotham 

Shackelford,  Sarah 

Shaffray,  William 

Sheridan  w.  Pinchback 

Shields,  Michael 

Ship-building,  American 

Shirk,  Mary  W 

Shoemaker,  Claims- 
James  W.  Bowen 

C.  W.  C.  Dunnington 

James  Lillie 

Joseph  B.  Rothchild 

Showalter,  Ephraim  P 

Simms,  Thomas 

Skinner,  Benjamin  C 

Slaughter,  Emily  L 

Sloan  r«.  Rawls 

Slocumb,  Cora  A.j  et  al 

Small,  Invalid  Pensions — 

John  Baker 

William  P.  Bartlett 

Gilmon  Bennett 

Mary  J.  Blood , 

William  D.  Boyd 

Ann  M.  Brackett 

William  H.  H.  Buck -.. 

Martin  D.  Chandler 

Mary  A.  Chute 

Hannah  E.  Curry 

William  H.  Edwards : 

John  C.  Farnham 

Henry  M.Fife 


Digitized  by 


Google 


INDEX. 


XLI 


Subject. 


Small,  Inyalid  Pensions — Continued — 

Caroline  P.  Gerrish 

Elizabeth  Hackelman 

Thomas  R.  Hardwick 

George  Holmes 

Jane  La  Font 

Barbara  MoGlenan 

Thomas  J.  Mclntyre , 

Henry  C.MiUs 

Timothy  Paige 

Emily  Phillips 

Mary  S.  Prince 

Mary  J.  Raymond 

Martha  R.  Robinson 

Stillman  C.  Spaulding 

Edgar  L.  Spencer 

Mary  Storrs 

Clarissa  D.  Swain 

Caroline  £.  Thomas 

Cornelia  A.  Washburn 

Catharine  A.  Winslow 

Smart,  Invalid  Pensions — 

Ann  Eliza  Brown 

Joseph  V.  Cartwright 

James  8.  Cutbnsh 

Abby  A.  Dike 

Edward  Heinzel 

Joseph  Lalond 

Jemima  Maxwell 

Mary  £.  Murphy 

Eugene  Smith 

Stephen  Weatherlow 

Beauford  Webb 

Smith,  A.  Herr,  War-Claims — 

John  Ahern 

Moses  S.  Bramhall 

James  Byers,  G.  W.  Griggs,  and  John  Nolen 

Ferdinand  Gregorie 

David  Huestiss 

Barbara  Hurdle 

Joseph  D.  Moyer 

Liient.  Paris  L.  Reed 

William  Shaffiray 

W.B.  Waldron 

Smith,  H.  Boardman,  Elections — 

Sheridan  vs,  Pinchback,  Louisiana 

West  Virginia  contested  elections 

Smith,  John  Q.,  Claims — 

John  Brennan 

William  Chester 

Charles  Clinton 

Benjamin  Cooley  and  James  W.  Boswell 

Thomas  T.  Crittenden 

Timothy  D.Crook 

W.W.Elliott 

C.  N.  Felton 

James  G.  Harrison 

B.  W.Harris 

Thomas  Lynch  et  al 

Peter  P.  Marrion 

John  K.  Mayo 

Joseph  Nock 

C.E.Rogers 

J.  L.  Tedrow 

Lafayette  Ward 

B.F.  WestdsCo 

Workmen  at  Poverty  Island  light-house 

Digitized  by 


No. 


165 
207 

37 
121 
120 

10 
126 
710 
124 
583 
122 
584 
582 
712 
209 

25 
166 
167 
208 
686 

728 
683 
734 
727 
735 
450 
465 
208 
413 
682 
733 

756 
757 
760 
759 
567 
797 
809 
231 
568 
758 

597 
7 

152 
151 
5 
663 
221 
493 
220 
421 
665 
492 
664 
667 

53 
307 
475 
306 
222 

54 
666 


Google 


XLII 


INDEX. 


Subject. 


Smith,  William  A.,  Patents — 

Encouragement  and  relief  of  inventors  and  patentees 

Smith,  Eugene 

Smith,  Henry  C 

Smith,  John  F , 

Smith,  Julia 

Smith  &,  Matthews , 

Smith,  Russell , 

Smyth,  Amanda  M 

Snodgrass,  William  A , 

Snyder,  Alonzo 

South  Carolina,  alleged  misgovemment  in 

South  Carolina,  alleged  misgovemment  in part  2 

South  Carolina,  alleged  misgovemment  in part  3 

South,  William,  and  John  McLaughlin 

Spaids,  C.  C 

Spaulding,  Stillman  C 

Spencer,  Edgar  L 

Spencer,  Joab 

Spencer,  Joab,  and  James  R.Mead 

Spencer,  Jonathan  R 

Sprague,  Aiigustns 

Stansbury,  Helen  M 

Stapleton,  Robert  H 

Steamer  Clara  Dolson 

Steamers  La  Portena,  Edward  Everett,  F.  W.  Lincoln,  Azalia,  and  N.  P. 

Banks,  relief  of  the  builders  of  the 

Stevens,  Isaac 

Stewart,  F.B 

Stewart,  Mary  E 

Stockstill,  David  W 

Stoddard,  William 

Stone,  F.  A 

Stoner,  Franklin 

Storrs,  Mary 

Stowell,  Post-Office  and  Post-Roads— 

Management  of  the  Post-Office  Department 

Straus,  Leopold  R 

Strunk,  William  R.  and  Jasper  A 

Suddarth,  Daniel 

Sullivan,  J.  B - 

Sullivan,  Kerry 

Summerville,  Sarah 

Sutherland,  Robert.... 

Swain,  Clarissa  D 

Swan,  Deborah  A 

Swanzie,  William 

Swift,  Richard  H 

T. 

Taylor,  Anna 

Taylor,  Col.  Ezra 

Taylor,  Samuel 

Tedrow,  J.  L 

Tennessee,  relief  of  the  State  of : 

Territories,  Committee  on  the — 

Chaffee— 

Admission  of  Colorado  as  a  State 

McEee — 

Admission  of  New  Mexico  as  a  State. 

Texas,  protection  of  the  frontier  of 

Texas  frontier,  depredations  on  the 

Thayer,  Mrs.  Mary  A 

Thomas,  Caroline  E 


Digitized  by 


Google 


im)Ex. 


xLiri 


Sabject. 


No. 


Thomas,  Charles  R.,  Elections — 

Gnnter  r».  Wilshire 

Tbomasy  Christopher  T.«  Invalid  Pensions — 

Christiana  BaUey 

Margaret  Beeler 

William  H.  Blair 

Elizabeth  Brannix 

John  A.  Evans 

Thomas  B.  Gaddis,  guardian,  &c 

John  Hendrie 

Robert  D.  Jones 

Pensions  to  representatives  of  soldiers  killed  at  Centralia, 
Missouri 

Salem  P.Rose 

Jonathan  R.  Spencer 

Sarah  A.  Timmons 

Elizabeth  Tipton , , 

Robert  M.  Thompson,  guardian,  &.c 

Elizabeth  Wolf 

Thomas,  Josephine  D 

Thomas,  Louisa v 

Thomas,  William  B 

Thomson,  Alexander 

Thompson,  Elizabeth  F , 

Thompson,  Simeon  J 

Thomburgh,  Invalid  Pensions — 

Lonis  J.  Boyer 

Rice  M.  Brown 

Joseph  C.  Breckenridge 

Jonathan  L.  Mann 

Eliza  A.  Mazham 

John  N.  Newman 

Lieut.  A.  y.  Richards 

J.  R.  Wagoner 

William  N.  Williams 

Tide-flats,  Bndd's  Inlet,  Washington  Territory 

Tillson,  Robert,  &,  Co.,  Qnincy,  Illinois 

Timber,  cultivation  of,  and  the  preservation  of  forests 

Hmmons,  Sarah  A 

Tinker,  Lieut.  Sidney ^ 

TIptoD,  Elizabeth 

Titles  to  lands  in  the  Northwest  and  Indian  Territories 

Torres,  Guadalonpe 

Townsend,  Public  Lands — 

Geographical  and  geological  surveys  west  of  the  Mississippi . 

Homesteads  to  actual  settlers 

Re-organization  of  the  General  Land-Office 

Tremain,  Judiciary — 

Alleged  misgovemment  in  South  Carolina 

Susan  B.  Anthony 

Judge  E.  H.  Durell,  (minority) part  3. 

Triplett,  MaryB 

Tobman,  Harriet 

Tyler,  John  B 


U. 


Uhler,  William  J 

Ulrich,  Julius  W 

Underwood,  Mnj.  C.  S 

Utah,  contested-election  case  of  Maxwell  vs.  Cannon . 


Yalier,  Charles. 


3 
3 
3 
3 
3 
2 
3 

3 
3 
3 
3 
3 
4 
2 
2 
4 
1 
1 
2 
1 

2 

1 
2 
1 
1 
1 
2 
2 
1 
1 
2 
1 
3 
2 
3 
1 
2 

4 

1 
1 

3 
4 
4 

1 
5 
3 


92 

366 
588 
556 
553 
637 
555 
414 
586 

477 
587 
589 
472 
557 
637 
367 
411 
687 
190 
108 
360 
138 

339 

81 

337 

80 

24 

79 

336 

338 

82 

256 

341 

259 

472 

324 

557 

184 

292 

612 

41 

251 

481 
648 
732 
214 

787 
602 


274 

71 

383 

484 


808 


Digitized  by 


Google 


XLIV 


INDEX. 


Snbject. 


Vance,  Revolutionary  Pensions  and  War  of  1812 — 

Mary  B.  Bellfield 

Ira  Foster 

Mary  W.Jones 

Joseph  Penny 

Van  De  Carr,  H.  S.,  and  Elsie  M.  Reynolds 

Van  Dusen,0.  G ^ 

Van  Hoofman,  L.  A.,  and  William  H.  Newman 

Venning,  M.  W 

Virginia,  jadicial  districts  in 

Virginia,  district  court  at  Fredericksbnrgh 

Vogel,  Frederick 

Von  Haacke,  Adolph. 

Von  Luettwitz,  A.  H 

Voorbees,  Ann  R 

Voorhees,  George  W 

Voris,  General  A.  C 


W. 


Wadsworth,  John  S 

Wagoner,  J.  R 

Waldron,  Ways  and  Means- 
Richard  Hawley  &,  Sons 

Lewis  &  Moore 

Waldron,  W.  B 

Walker,  Dabuey 

Walker,  Dr.  Mary  E 

Walker,  William 

Wallace,  Invalid  Pensions— 

Susan  Bennett 

John  J.  Bottger 

Victoria  L.  Brewster 

Elizabeth  Brady 

Peter  M.  Campbell 

Mrs.  Ann  Crane 

Nancy  Curry 

John  A.  Fisher 

Isaac  M.  Grant 

Almon  P.  Graves 

Charles  A.  Lamb 

Rosalie  C.  P.  Lisle 

William  O.  Madison 

Dennis  McCarthy 

JohnB.  Miller 

Bernard  Sailer 

WMlliam  White 

Wallace,  Hugh 

War-Claims,  Committee  on — 
Barber- 
Robert  Armstrong 

William  Chenault's  heirs 

John  Waugh 

Cobb,  Clinton  L. — 

A.  L.  H.  Crenshaw 

Thomas  Hord 

Sarah  A.  Hutchius 

Maryville  College,  Tennessee . 

Joseph  H.  Maddox 

Thomas  Nile's  heirs 

Leopold  R.  Straus 

Baker  White,  children  of 

Harris,  John  T.— 

Tread  well  S.  Ayres 

Daniel  Brown 

R.  H.  Buckner 


Digitized  by 


Google 


INDBX. 


XLV 


Sabject. 


No. 


War-Claims,  Committee  on — Continued — 
Harris,  John  T.— Continued— 

Burke  &  Kunkel 

George  Calvert 

Selden  Conner 

Beigamin  Crawford 

Henry  S.  French » • 

R.  J.  Henderson 

John  M.  Lamb 

Seth  Lamb's  heip 

John  McLaughlm 

James  L.McPhail 

James  Robinson • 

Washington  and  Ohio  Railroad 

Haselton,  Gerry  W.— 

B.  C.  Bailey , 

C.R.Coffey 

Daniel  F.  Dulaney 

Anna  M.  English 

Harriet  Haines < 

Rev.  John  R.  Hamilton 

Evan  S.Jeffries 

John  L.  T.  Jones 

Emily  Miller,  (minority) parts 

William  F.  Peake  «« al 

Mary  E.  Pumell 

Relief  of  certain  naval  contractors 

Robert  Tillson  &  Co 

Harriet  Tubman 

M.W.Venning , 

John  S.  Wadsworth ...» 

Daniel  Wormer 

fiolraan— 

Joseph  Anderson 

Francis  C  Bnffingtoa , 

Mrs.  Fannie  A.  Cooper 

C.H.  Forbes , 

John  J.  Hayden 

William  F.  Kerr 

Emily  Miller 

Clara  Morris ., 

Francis  Priest 

Lemuel  C  Risley 

Lieut.  Sidney  Tinker 

Kellogg — 

James  Bamett's  heirs 

George  W.  Coles 

Mark  Davis ^.  — 

Francis  Dodge 

K.  H.  Dunphe 

Mrs.  Louisa  B.  Eldis ., 

Jonathan  D.  Hale 

Adam  Hine 

John  H.  Hooper 

W.J.  Mclntyre 

Charles  J.  McKinney 

Samuel  Ruth,  F.  W.  £.  Lohman,  and  Charles  Carter 

Cora  A.  Slocnmb  etal 

William  Stoddard 

Mrs.  Mary  A.  Thayer 

John  T.Watson 

James  Madison  Wells 

Norman  Wiard 

John  S.  Williams 

Pleasant  M.Williams 

lasacher  Zacharie • 


1 
2 
3 
2 
5 
5 
2 
1 
5 
2 
3 
5 

2 
5 
2 
2 
5 
3 
5 
3 
4 
1 
5 
2 
2 
5 
2 
5 
3 

5 
5 
4 
4 
2 
1 
4 
4 
2 
1 


3 
2 
2 
3 
3 
2 
3 
3 
6 
2 
1 
5 
2 
1 
3 
1 
5 
2 
3 
5 
5 


228 
327 
437 
382 

805 
803 
326 
67 
806 
325 
438 
804 

377 
815 
427 
397 
788 
503 
813 
502 
770 
230 
789 
269 
341 
787 
426 
814 
437 

600 
801 
769 
768 
378 
38 
770 
767 
323 
229 
324 

510 
428 
319 
512 
508 
401 
511 
513 
812 
317 

56 
792 
429 

40 
509 

65 
793 
430 
507 
811 
817 


Digitized  by 


Google 


XLVI 


INDEX. 


Subject. 


War-Claims,  Committee  on—Continaed— 
Lawrence — 

Charles  W.  Adams,  (minority) part  2 

John  Aldridge . .  .* , 

Banks  of  Frederick  City,  Maryland 

Nancy  M.  Bean 

C.  C.  Bliss,  W.  L.  Schenck,  and  John  Mills 

Charles  Bombonnell 

Mary  K.  Brower , 

William  Cass .^ , 

Commissioners  of  Claims .* 

Pleasant  M.  Craij^miller , 

Stanley  and  Sarah  Cooper 

Sewell  B.  Corbett 

Edward  Gallagher 

Richard  H.  Garrett 

Francis  A.  Gibbons,  (minority) part  2. 

R.  F.  Graves,  jr 

D.  W.  and  Minnie  H.  Glassie  and  Joseph  Nash 

William  Greaner 

J.  &  T.Green 

J.  George  Harris 

Rosa  Vertner  Jeffrey 

James  L.  McPhail,  V.  Randall,  and  E.  G.  Horner 

Methodist  Episcopal  Chnrch  South,  book-agents  of 

Mount  Vernon  Manufacturing  Company 

William  H.  Newman  and  L.  A.  Van  Hoofman 

Thomas  Peacock 

Gideon  J.  Pillow 

Robert  F.  Stapleton 

J.  B.Sullivan 

War-claims  and  claims  of  aliens 

Mellish— 

Michael  MulhoUand 

Emma  A.  Porch • 

C.  C.  Spaids 

Robert  F.  Winslow 

Morrison — 

B.  B.  Conner  &  Brother 

D.  R.  Haggard 

John  Hobson 

Turney  Jones 

Victor  Milius 

Augustus  Sprague 

John  B.  Tyler 

Charles  VaUer 

Sondder,  Isaac  W. — 

John  E.  Bauman 

Dr.  John  Divine 

Robert  J.  Edelen 

Edwin  C.  Fitzhugh 

Sugg  Fort 

Charles  C.  Gould 

H.  Johnson  et  al 

Emile  LePage t 

R.  H.  Montgomery  and  J.  W.  Burbridge 

Richard  T.Morsell 

George  A.  Schreiner 

Dr.  Mary  E.  Walker 

Robert  H.  Watts 

Nolan  S.  Williams,  executor  of  Alfred  A.  W.  Williams,  de- 
ceased  

Albert  F.  Yerby,  administrator,  &c , 

John  Zumstein 


4 

4 
4 
3 
3 
3 
1 
3 
4 
4 
4 
4 
4 
4 
4 
4 
2 
3 
4 
4 
5 
4 
4 
4 
4 
4 
4 
I 


2 
1 

1 

4 
3 
5 
5 
I 
3 
3 
5 

5 
1 
5 
3 
4 
5 
4 
2 
3 
5 
2 
5 
4 

3 
2 
3 


Digitized  by 


Google 


INDEX. 


XLVII 


Subject. 


No. 


War-Claims,  Committee  on — Continaed — 
Smart — 

Ann  Eliza  Brown 

Joseph  V.  Cartwright 

James  S.  Cntbnsb , 

Abby  A.Dike 

Eliza  HeiDzel 

Joseph  Lalond 

Jemima  Maxwell 

Mary  E.  Mnrphy , 

Eugene  Sniltn 

Stephen  Weatberlow 

BeaufordWebb 

Smith,  A.  HeiT— 

John  Ahem 

Moses  S.  Bramhall 

James  Byers,  Q.  W.  Griggs,  and  John  Nolen , 

Ferdinand  Oregorie , 

David  Henstiss , 

Barbara  Hurdle 

Joseph  D.  Moyer , 

Lieut.  Paris  L.Beed 

William  Shaffray , 

Wilson,  James — 

Randall  W.  Brown , 

Mrs.  Flora  A.  Darling , 

Thomas  Day , 

D.R.  Dillon 

David  Klelm 

Mrs.  Jane  Northedge , 

War-claims  and  claims  of  aliens 

W'ard,  Jasper  D.,  Judiciary — 

James  L.  Collins ^ 

George  P.  Fisher - , 

Crawford  M.  Hall , 

Ward,  Lafayette 

Ward,  Marcns  L.,  Foreign  AflEJairs — 

Robert  Harrison  and  others , 

William  B.  West 

J.  and  W.  R.  Wing 

Ward,Peter  M 

Warren,  Henry , 

Waahbom,  Cornelia  A , 

Wasbington  National  Monument,  Select  Committee  on  the — 
Chipman — 

Washington  Monument 

Pelham— 

Marv  Washington  monument 

WashiDgton  and  Ohio  Railroad 

Waahmgton  Territory,  mission  of  Saint  James 

WaabingCoQ  Territory,  tide-flats,  Budd's  Inlet 

Washington  Territory,  tide-flats  in  Duwamish  Bay 

Water  for  mining  and  agricultural  purposes  in  Nevada 

Watson,  John  T 

Watts,  Robert  H • 

Waagh,  John 

Ways  and  Means,  Committee  on — 
Borchard — 

John  Henderson 

Smith  &  Mothers 

Foster- 
Discovery  and  collection  of  moneys  withheld  £rom  the 
Government /. 

Supplementary  testimony  relating  t6  the  above.,  .part  2.. 
Kell^— 

Relief  of  the  builders  of  the  steamers  La  Portena,  Edward 
Everett,  F.  W.  Lincoln,  Azalia^  and  N.  P.  Banks 

Digitized  by 


4 

728 

4 

683 

4 

734 

4 

727 

4 

735 

3 

459 

3 

465 

2 

298 

2 

413 

4 

6H2 

4 

733 

4 

756 

4 

757 

4 

760 

4 

759 

3 

567 

5 

797 

5 

809 

1 

231 

3 

568 

2 

320 

2 

321 

2 

322 

3 

520 

2 

318 

1 

156 

1 

262 

1 

104 

1 

105 

1 

103 

1 

222 

5 

816 

2 

408 

2 

409 

5 

831 

4 

633 

2 

208 

2 

485 

4 

625 

5 

804 

4 

630 

1 

256 

2 

416 

1 

260 

1 

65 

4 

762 

4 

765 

1 

135 

4 

644 

3 

559 

3 

559 

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XLVIII 


INDEX. 


Subject. 


Ways  and  Means,  Committee  on— Continued-^ 
Niblack— 

James  A.  McCallah 

Roberts,  Ellis  H.— 

Moieties « 

William  B.  Thomas 

Waldron — 

Richard  Hawley  6l  Sons * 

Lewis  &,  Moore , 

Weatherlow,  Stephen , 

Weaver,  Eklridge 

Webb,  Beauford 

Weber,  John  B 

Webster,  E.  Caroline , 

Webster,  H.  A 

Weisse,  Michael,  minor  children  of 

Wells,  Public  Buildings  and  Grounds— 

Martin  Hoff,  Casper  Doerr,  and  George  Gebhart 

Welles,  Henry  S 

Wells.  James  Madison , 

We8t,B.F.,&Co 

West,  Margaret 

West  Virginia  contested-election  cases,  Davis  vs.  Wilson  and  Hagans  vs. 

Martin - 

West,  William  R 

Whartou,  Henry  D , 

Wheeler,  Appropriations — 

Appropriations  for  the  support  of  the  Army 

Wheeler,  John  F 

White,  Judiciary — 

JoabBagley 

Oath  of  loyalty 

White,  Baker,  children  of 

White,  Fannie  B 

White,  William 

White^head,  Matthias 

Whittaker,  Matthew  B 

Whitthorne,  Naval  Affairs- 
Heirs  of  William  C.  Brashear 

Wiard,  Norman 

Wiard,  Norman 

Wilkins,  Cordelia 

Wilkinson,  HatrietW 

Wikoff,  Dr.  Holmes 

Williams,  Charles  G.,  Foreign  Affairs- 
Consulate  at  St.  Michael,  Azores 

Willard,  Charles  W.,  Foreign  Affairs- 
Alexander  Thomson 

Williams,  John  M.  S.,  Post-Office  and  Post-Roads — 

Willard  Howe 

Williams,  William  B.,  Revolutionary  Pensions  and  War  of  1812 — 

L.S.  Dearing 

Daniel  Suddarth 

Williams,  John  S 

Williams,  Nolan  S.,  executor  of  Alfred  A.  Williams 

Williams,  Pleasant  M 

Williams,  William  N 

Williams,  Zadock,  et  a{ 

Wilson,  James,  War-Claims — 

D.R.  Dillon 

Wilson,  Jeremiah  M.,  on  Affairs  of  the  District  of  Columbia,  (select) — 

Government  o{  the  District  of  Columbia 

Interest  on  District  of  Columbia  bonds 

Safe  burglary *. : 

Wilson,  Jeremiah  M.,  Judiciary — 

Judge  E.H.Durell 

Impeachment  of  Judge  Richard  Bosteed 


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INDEX. 


XLIX 


Subject. 


WilsoD,  Jamos,  Wjir-Claiuis — 

R;iud!ill  Brown 

Salmon  «.  Colby 

Mrs.  Flora  A.  Durliug 

Mark  Davis 

TboinaN  Day 

David  Kleira 

Mrs.  Jane  Nortbedge,  widow,  &e 

Wilson,  Ellen 

Wilson,  Eunice 

Wing^J.and  W.R 

WinsloWfCarbarioe  A 

Winslow.  Robert  F 

Wint«»rB,  Nathan  A 

Wisconmn  Central  Railroad  Company 

Wold,  Martha 

Wolf,  Elizabeth 

Woodrn  If,  Matthew 

Woodmff,  Harriette  A 

Wormer,  Daniel 

Woreeley,  Pardon 

Wright,  Ge<irge  8.,  administrator  of  John  T.  Wright,  deceased  . .. 

\^  right,  John  W 

Wyoming  and  Ta-kiang,  relief  of  the  officers  and  crews  of  the  . . 
Wy8e,F.O 

Y. 

Yaeger,  Augustus 

Yerby,  Albert  F.,  administrator 

Young,  James  R 

Young,  John  

Young,  John  D.,  Invalid  Pensions — 

Sciotha  Brashears 

Martha  E.  Brixley 

Mrs. Nancy  C.Brooks 

Penelope  C.  Brown 

Sarah  I.  CtMiper 

Bigsby  E.  Dodson 

Moses  B.  Hardin 

Patrick  Hickey 

Elizabeth  J.  King 

Ade  U.  McDonald 

Capt.  Thomas  McKinster 

Mrs.  Sally  Oatly 

Elizabeth  Priudle,  guardian,  &c 

Henry  B.  Ryder 

Young,  Orson 

Young,  Pierce  M.  B.,  Military  Affairs — 

Lieut.  John  K.  Askins 

William  Carl 

Mary  Couly 

Capt,  A.  B.  Dyer 

John  C.  Griffin 

Capt.  H.  P.  Ingram 

Oliver  Lumphrey 

Military  Academy  band 

Property  adjoining  the  Army  Medical  Museum  . . . 

Promotion  in  the  Inspector-GeneraFs  .Department 

Parchase  of  a  piece  of  land  in  Florida 

Kerry  Sullivan 

Y'oant,  George  L • 

Z. 

Zacbarie,  Issacher 

Zumstein,  John 


No. 


.320 
558 
321 
319 
322 
318 
156 

12 
708 
409 
686 
217 
679 
261 
680 
367 

89 
410 
433 
490 

51 
286 
343 
405 


200 
315 
415 
473 

363 
171 
289 
170 
713 
305 
714 
212 
287 
364 
288 
172 
26 
134 
548 

:)AS 
403 
570 

78 
446 
348 
346 
606 
607 
196 
329 
347 

86 


817 
672 


4  H  B 


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43d  Conobess,  )      HOUSE  OP  REPRESENTATIVES.      (  Report 
lit8e»9%on.     i  >  No.  203. 


HOT  SPRINGS  RESERVATION,  ARKANSAS. 


Xakcr  26, 1874. — Recommitted  to  tbe  Committee  on  Private  Land-Claims  and  or- 
dered to  be  printed. 


Mr.  Packard,  from  the  Committee  on  Private  Land-Claims,  submitted 

the  following 

REPORT: 

[To  accompany  biU  H.  R.  606.] 

The  Committee  on  Private  Land-ClaimSj  to  which  teas  referred  the  bill 
(H.  B.  608)  extending  the  time  for  filing  suits  in  the  Court  of  Claims  to 
establish  title  to  the  Hot  Springs  reservation^  in  Arkansas^  report  thereon 
as  foUetPs :  * 

The  descendants  of  Don  Jaan  Filhiol  claim  title  to  a  tract  of  land 
kiu)wn  as  the  Hot  Springs  tract,  situated  in  the  State  of  Arkansas.  Their 
memorial  shows  that  there  are  missinff  links  of  title,  or  at  least  such  a 
dood  upon  the  title  that  they  are  inauced  to  ask  Congress  either  to 
eonfinn  their  title  or  to  allow  them  thirty  days  to  bring  their  suit  in  the 
Coart  of  Claims  to  establish  it. 

A  former  act  of  Congress,  June  11, 1870,  gave  these  parties  two  years 
within  which  to  bring  their  suit.  They  failed  to  bring  it  within  the 
time ;  hence  their  application  for  the  further  extension  of  time. 

In  support  of  their  claim,  they  say  that  their  ancestor,  Don  Juan  Fil- 
hiol, was  an  officer  in  the  Spanish  army  in  the  war  between  Spain  and 
Bngland,  and  acted  as  the  commandant  of  the  post  of  Ouchita,  in  the 
province  of  Loaisiana,  then  belonging  to  Spain ;  that,  as  a  recompense 
for  this  and  other  military  services,  sundry  grants  of  land  were  made  to 
bim,  among  the  nnmber  the  Hot  Springs  tract,  by  Don  Estovan  Miro, 
then  Spanish  governor-general  of  the  province  of  Louisiana,  and  who 
was  authorized  to  make  such  grants :  that  the  grant  to  the  Hot  Springs 
tract  bears  date  12th  December,  1787,  but  the  original  grant  is  not  pro- 
daced  before  the  committee.  The  reason  given  for  its  non-production 
Till  be  allnded  to  in  another  connection. 

The  memorial  further  states  that  Don  Juan  Filhiol  sold  said  Hot 
^ngs  tract  to  his  son-in-law,  Narcisso  Bonrjeat,  by  deed  dated  No- 
Tember  25,  1803,  and  a  copy  of  such  deed  is  exhibited.  That  said 
Boo^eat  resold  said  land  to  Don  Juan  Filhiol,  by  deed  bearing  date 
'^Qly  17, 1806,  and  a  copy  of  such  deed  is  produced. 

It  is  further  stated  that  Don  Juan  Filhiol  was  married  in  1782;  had 
three  children }  that  his  wife  died  before  he  died,  and  that  he  died  in  the 
year  1821,  about  eighty-one  years  of  age,  and  that  memorialists  are  his 
lineal  descendants. 

They  further  state  that  Grammont  Filhiol,  son  of  Don  Juan  Filhiol, 
ha«,  from  time  to  time,  for  the  last  fifty  years,  employed  different  agents 
and  attorneys  to  prosecute  their  claim,  but  that  they  had  either  ueg- 


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2  HOT   SPRINGS   RESERVATION,    ARKANSAS. 

lected  to  do  so,  or  they,  by  collusion  with  others,  endeavored  to  secure 
the  land  for  themselves. 

The  deed  from  Don  Juan  Filhiol  refers  to  a  grant  from  Don  Estovan 
Miro,  as  the  basis  of  the  claim  of  Don  Juan  Filhiol.  This  recital, 
however,  would  only  be  e\idence  as  between  parties  and  privies  to  the 
deed,  and  would  not  be  evidence  to  establish  the  existence  of  the  orig- 
inal grant  as  against  strangers  and  adverse  claimants. 

The  original  grant  remains  unaccounted  for,  except  by  a  probability 
that  is  raised  by  circumstantial  statements  that  it  was  burned  at-  the 
time  the  old  St.  Louis  Hotel  was  burned,  in  New  Orleans,  in  1840,  or  that 
it  was  sent  to  the  governor-general  of  Cuba,  or  was  sent  to  the  home 
government  of  Madrid. 

The  memorialists  have  filed  with  the  committee  a  paper  purporting 
to  be  a  copy  of  a  copy  of  a  grant  answering  the  description  of  what 
they  allege  was  the  original.  There  is  also  a  copy  of  a  certificate  and 
figurative  plan,  accompanying  the  supposed  copy  of  the  grant,  made  by 
Don  Carlos  Trudeau,  surveyor-general  of  Louisiana,  under  the  govern- 
ment of  Miro  and  Carondelet. 

The  evidence  of  Lozare  shows  that  Don  Juan  Filhiol  during  his  life 
claimed  the  land.  Other  evidence  shows  that  he  leased  the  springs  to 
one  Dr.  Stephen  P.  Wilson  about  the  year  1819 ;  but  there  is  no  evi- 
dence bejpre  the  committee  to  show  that  Don  Juan  Filhiol,  or  any  one 
claiming  under  him,  ever  had  the  actual  possession  of  the  land. 

By  the  report  of  the  Hon.  Thomas  Ewing,  the  Secretary  of  the  Inte- 
rior, June  24, 1850,  Senate  Executive  Document  No.  70,  Thirty -first  Con- 
gress, 1849-'50,  vol.  14,  it  appears  that  the  Interior  Department  had  the 
whole  subject  of  the  Hot  Springs  before  it,  and  to  which  reference  is  made 
for  the  detailed  history. 

We,  however,  may  allude  to  the  leading  facts  presented  in  the  report : 

One  Francis  Langlois  claimed  title  to  the  **  Hot  Springs"  by  virtue 
of  a  Few  Madrid  location  certificate,  dated  November  26, 1818,  pursu- 
ant to  the  act  of  Congress,  February  17, 1815,  for  the  relief  of  the  citizens 
of  New  Madrid  County,  Missouri  Territory,  who  suffered  by  the  earth- 
quake. 

S.  Hammond  and  Elias  Rector  applied  to  the  surveyor  of  public  lands 
for  the  State  of  Illinois  and  Territory  of  Missouri  for  an  entry  or  dona- 
lion  of  land  to  include  the  Hot  Springs,  on  the  27th  January,  1819. 

The  widow  and  children  of  John  Perceval,  filed  in  the  oflSce  of  the 
Interior  Department,  in  1838,  or  some  year  prior  thereto,  a  caveat  to 
suspend  the  issuance  of  a  patent  to  any  other  claimants,  and  setting  up 
a  claim  for  themselves  under  the  pre-ejnption  act  of  1814,  and  showing 
by  proof  that  John  Perceval  had  possession  of  land  as  early,  per- 
haps, as  1814,  and  held  the  possession  to  the  time  of  his  death ;  and 
that  his  widow  and  children,  by  themselves  or  tenants,  had  held  the 
possession  up  to  the  filing  of  their  caveat. 

About  the  year  1841  Ludovicus  Belding  and  William  and  Mary  Davis 
set  up  a  claim  to  the  land. 

On  the  1st  March,  1841,  Congress  passed  ''An  act  to  perfect  the  titles 
to  the  lands  south  of  the  Arkansas  Kiver,  held  under  New  Madrid  loca- 
tions and  pre-emption  rights,  under  act  of  1814." 

These  lands  had  not  been  subject  to  location  and  pre-emption  prior 
to  24th  August,  1818,  the  date  of  the  Quapaw  treaty  which  extin- 
guished the  Indian  title. 

On  the  26th  April,  1850,  Hon.  S.  Borlan,  as  agent  of  Grammont  Fil- 
hiol, set  up  a  claim  of  title  to  the  Hot  Springs,  based  upon  the  Spanish 
grant  before  alluded  to,  and  applied  to  the  Department  for  time  to  pre- 


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HOT   SPRINGS   RESERVATION,    ARKANSAS.  3 

pare  and  present  the  claim.  This  was  the  first  time  the  claim  was 
brought  legally  to  the  notice  of  the  Government. 

On  the  20th  April,  1832,  Congress  passed  an  act  reserving  the  Salt 
and  Hot  Springs  from  entry  or  location,  or  for  any  appropriation  what- 
ever. 

The  Department  of  the  Interior  was  much  embarrassed  in  the  dispo- 
sition of  these  conflicting  claims.  The  opinion  of  the  Attorney-Gen- 
eral was  invoked.  He  decided  in  favor  of  the  Langlois  claim,  on  the 
29th  April,  1850,  but  it  does  not  appear  that  the  Filhiol  claim  was  pre- 
pared lor  his  action  at  the  time.  But  before  the  patent  could  issue 
caveats  were  filed  and  suspended  the  issuance;  and  no  patent  has 
issued  from  the  Government  since  that  time. 

It  does  not  appear  that  any  steps  were  taken  for  the  settlement  of 
these  claims  from  the  year  1850  to  1870.  In  1870  Congress  passed  the 
«act  anthorizing  the  different  claimants  to  have  their  titles  adjudicated 
in  the  United  States  Court  of  Claims,  and  allowing  them  two  years  to 
bring  suits. 

On  the  26th  day  of  Maj',  1824,  (4  U.  S.  Stat.,  p.  52,  sec.  1,)  Congress 
aathorized  claimants  to  lands  in  Missouri,  under  any  French  or  Spanish 
grants,  concession,  warrant,  or  order  of  survey,  legally  made,  granted, 
or  issued  before  the  10th  March,  1804,  and  which  was  protected  or  se- 
cured by  the  treaty  between  the  United  States  and  France  on  3d  April, 
1803,  might  petition  the  district  court  of  Missouri  and  have  such  claims 
established. 

By  the  fourteenth  section  of  this  act  the  same  provision  was  applied 
to  similar  claimants  in  the  Territory  of  Arkansas,  and  was  to  continue 
in  force  until  1830. 

This  act  was  revived  by  section  one,  act  of  June  17, 1844,  (5  U.  S.  Stat., 
676,)  and  continued  in  force  five  years  from  date  of  its  passage. 

The  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  held  these  acts  only  con- 
ferred jurisdiction  on  the  courts  to  hear  and  determine  upon  imperfect 
grants.    (9  Howard,  p.  127 ;  11  Howard,  p.  609.) 

It  is  contended  that  the  Filhiol  grant,  assuming  the  existence  of  such 
grant,  did  not  fall  within  the  jurisdiction  of  the  court,  as  it  was  not  an 
*'  imperfect  grant,"  but  a  perfect  grant  which  had  been  lost,  mislaid,  or 
suppressed.  The  jurisdiction  of  the  court  being  limited  by  statute,  it, 
perhaps,  would  not  have  stretched  the  jurisdiction  far  enough  to  have 
set  up  and  established  the  existence  of  the  missing  grant  so  as  to  give 
effect  to  it  The  whole  train  of  decisions  on  kindred  questions  show 
that  the  courts  of  the  United  States  have  confined  themselves  quite 
rigidly  to  the  authority  conferred  by  act  of  Congress. 

On  the  22d  June,  1860,  Congress  passed  an  act  for  the  final  adjust- 
ment of  private  land-claims  in  the  States  of  Louisiana,  Florida',  and 
Missonri,  but  by  a  singular  omission  did  not  include  Arkansas.  This 
act  authorized  the  courts  to  determine  the  cases  according  to  equity  and 
justice. 

In  1801  Spain,  by  the  treaty  of  Saint  Ildefonso,  ceded  the  territory 
of  Louisiana  to  France.  By  treaty  of  April  30,  1803,  France  ceded 
Loaisiaua  to  the  United  States,  the  United  States  claiming  the  river 
Perdido  as  the  eastern  boundary,  while  the  Spaniards  claimed  the  Mis- 
sissippi as  the  western  boundary,  and  held  possession  to  the  Mississippi, 
except  the  island  of  New  Orleans,  until  1810,  when  the  United  States 
took  possession  by  force. 

Spain  continued  to  make  grants  and  concession  of  lands  to  persons 
W4thin  the  disputed  territory  until  1810,  but  both  Congress  and  the 
courts  declared  all  such  grants  made  after  the  treaty  of  Saint  Ildefonso 


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4  HOT   SPRINGS   RESERVATION,    ARKANSAS. 

in  1801  actually  void.  These  parties  claimed  also  that  the  United  States 
were  bound  to  perfect  any  incomplete  titles  according  to  the  stipula- 
tions of  the  treaty  of  cession  of  the  Floridas  by  Spain  February  22, 
1819.  But  Congress  and  the  courts  in  like  manner  held  that  this  treaty 
did  not  embrace  the  disputed  lands. 

After  Gcmgress  and  the  courts  had  been  worried  more  than  a  hi£if  cen- 
tury with  these  claims,  and  the  mind'  of  Congress  being  affected  with 
the  idea  that  many  of  these  claims  rested  upon  a  well-gronnded  equity, 
by  the  act  of  June  22, 1860,  enlarged  the  jurisdiction  of  the  courts  to 
cases  of  equity  as  well  as  law. 

Parties  came  in  nnder  this  act  and  had  their  claims  adjudged  valid 
which  had  been  previously  adjudged  void. 

The  case  of  the  United  States  vs.  Lynd  (11  Wallace  R.,  632)  embodies 
the  history  of  the  congressional  and  judicial  proceedings  in  these 
cases. 

This  committee  has  been  unable  to  perceive  any  reason  why  Congress 
did  not  extend  the  provisions  of  the  act  of  1860  to  private  land-claims 
in  the  State  of  Arkansas.  To  remedy  the  omission,  however,  Congress 
passed  the  act  of  1870,  which  opened  the  doors  of  the  Court  of  Claims 
to  claimants  fh>m  Arkansas,  and  within  the  two  years  allowed  by  the 
act  the  claimants  have  all  commenced  their  proceedings^  except  the 
Filhiol  heirs. 

The  committee  might  indulge  in  some  criticisms  on  the  want  of  due 
diligence  on  the  part  of  the  Filhiol  heirs;  but  the  want  of  diligence  is 
more  apparent  than  actual. 

From  necessity  their  appearance  in  court  must  be  by  attorney.  They 
w^ere  timely  in  the  employment  of  such  attorney ;  but  their  attorney,  as 
charged  by  them,  was  delinquent.  Whether  this  delinquency  of  the  at- 
torney was  ftom  accident  or  design,  we  do  not  think  ought  to  be  visited 
upon  the  claimants  as  a  forfeiture  of  their  rights,  whatever  they  may  be. 

There  have  been  great  embarrassments  from  the  want  of  proper  tri- 
bunals to  determine  the  various  perplexing  questions  growing  out  of 
private  land-claims.  The  claimants  could  not  be  held  responsible  for 
the  defects  of  these  tribunals.  Ancestors  have  spent  their  lives  pursu- 
ing their  claims  through  land-offices,  through  cabinet-offices,  through 
Congress,  and  through  the  inferior  and  appellate  courts  without  suc- 
cess, and  have  left  their  descendants  to  renew  the  contest  nnder  the 
disadvantage  of  loss  or  weakening  of  evidence  from  lapse  of  time. 

After  the  purchase  of  the  Floridas,  in  1819,  and  the  extinction  of 
all  the  asserted  claim  of  Spain  to  any  part  of  the  territory  between  the 
Perdido  and  Mississippi  Rivers,  and  the  extinction  of  Indian  titles,  Con- 
gress has  manifested  a  liberal  disposition  by  the  passage  of  different 
remedial  acts,  (even  extending  to  cases  previously  adjudicated,  as  in 
the  Lynd  case,  11  Wallace.) 

Your  committee,  keeping  in  the  line  of  this  liberal  policy,  feel  war- 
ranted in  recommending  the  passage  of  the  bill.  They  do  so  the  more 
readily  as  the  contest  is  still  pending  in  the  Court  of  Claims,  where  the 
rights  of  all  parties  may  be  finally  settled  by  the  judgment  of  the 
court 


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43d  Congress,  >      HOUSE  OF  EEPEESENTATIVES.     R  3?  03    T 
1st  SeiHan.     i  ^x  23   4. 


BISMARCK  LANDDISTRICT,  DAKOTA. 


XIarch  26, 1874.— CommittM  to  the  Committee  of  the  Whole  House  on  the  state  of  the 
Union  and  ordered  to  be  printed. 


Mr.  Phillips,  from  the  Committee  oq  the  Public  Lands,  submitted 

the  following 

REPOKT: 

[To  accompany  bill  H.  R.  994.] 

The  Committee  on  the  Public  Lands,  to  whom  was  referred  the  bill  (H.  B. 
994)  to  establish  the  Bismarck  land-districty  in  the  Territory  of  Dakota, 
beg  leave  to  submit  the  following  report: 

The  bill  is  necessary  for  the  public  business  and  the  interests  of  the 
settlers.  To  this  rei)ort  is  appended  a  letter  from  the  Commissioner 
of  the  General  Land-Office  recommending  the  passage  of  the  bill. 

Department  of  the  Interior,  General  Land-Office, 

WoBhingtm,  D.  C,  March  10, 1874. 
Sib  :  B«ferring  to  my  letter  to  jron  of  the  26th  ultimo,  in  regard  to  bill  H.  R.  994,  to 
establish  the  Bismarck  land-distnct,  in  Dakota,  I  have  to  state  that,  upon  examination, 
I  find  that  the  jMwer  to  discontinue  a  land-district  is  vested  in  the  President;  conse- 
qnently,  it  will  not  be  necessary  to  include  in  said  bill  the  clause  providing  for  the 
difloonti&uance  of  the  Springfield  land-district,  as  suggested  in  my  letter  of  tne  above 
date. 

I  wonld  further  state  that  said  bill  No.  994  meets  with  my  approval,  and  I  therefore 
reeommecd  that  it  become  a  law. 

Very  respectfuHy,  your  obedient  servant, 

WILLIS  DRUMMOND, 

Commisnoner, 
Hon.  W.  A.  PiniJ.iP8, 

House  of  Bepresentatives, 

The  committee  report  the  same  back,  and  recommend  its  passage. 


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43d  Govoress,  \     HOUSE  OF  EEPEESENTATIVE8.      (  Eepoet 
lit  8e98um.     I  t  No.  265. 


TWO  ADDITIONAL  LAND-DISTRICTS  IN  KANSAS. 


March  26, 1874.— Committed  to  tbe  Committee  of  the  Whole  House  on  the  State  of  the 
Union  and  ordered  to  be  printed. 


Mr.  Phillips,  from  tbe  Committee  oa  the  Public  Lands,  submitted  the 

following 

REPORT: 

[To  accompany  bill  H.  B.  203.] 

The  Committee  on  the  Piiblic  Lands^  to  whom  was  referred  the  bill  {H.  R. 
203)  to  create  two  new  landrdistricts  in  Kansas^  have  had  the  same  under 
consideration  and  make  the  folUncing  report: 

This  bill  is  to  create  two  new  additional  laud-districts  in  Kansas. 
Each  of  these  will  be  about  one  hundred  and  sixty  miles  long.  There 
are  two  railroads  running  through  Kansas  from  east  to  west.  Each  of 
these  traverses  the  center  of  one  of  the  proposed  districts,  thus  placing 
the  business  of  the  settlers  in  the  most  accessible  shape.  No  arrange- 
ment save  this  can  prevent  long  and  expensive  overland  journeys  from 
being  taken.  As  matters  now  are,  it  often  costs  the  settler  as  much  to 
travel  to  the  land-office  with  his  witnesses  and  attend  center  cases,  as 
the  whole  minimum  price  of  the  land. 

The  creation  of  these  districts  entails  no  expense,  as  no  rents  are  paid, 
and  the  emoluments  are  from  fees,  which,  when  in  excess  of  a  certain 
amount,  lapse.  These  offices  should  be  created  solely  for  the  convenience 
of  the  settler.  Tbe  settlement  of  the  country  included  has  just  actively 
commenced,  and,  from  indications,  will  be  mostly  taken  in  the  next  few 
years. 

Your  committee,  therefore,  report  the  bill  favorably  and  recommend 
its  passage  with  the  following  amendment:  Insert  after  line  11,  ''and 
shall,  ia  addition,  include  the  district  of  land  lying  in  Eice  and  Eeno 
Counties  as  at  present  organized." 


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43d  Govobess,  )     HOUSE  OF  EBPEESENTATIVES.    /  Eepobt 
lit  Session,     f  \  No.  266. 


ADDITIONAL  LAND-DISTEIOT  IN  IDAHO. 


BIargh  26, 1874.— Ordered  to  be  printed. 


Mr.  Phillips,  from  the  Committee  on  the  Pablic  Lands,  submitted  the 

following 

REPORT: 

[To  accompany  bill  H.  B.  1167.] 

Your  committee,  to  whom  was  referred  the  bill  (H.  E.  No.  1167)  to 
create  an  additional  land-district  in  the  Territory  of  Idaho,  direct  me 
to  report  the  same  back  to  the  House  adversely. 


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43d  Congress,  \      HOUSE  OF  EEPEESENTATIVES,     (  Report 
Ui  Seuion.      )  \^o.  267. 


SALE  OF  KANSAS  INDIAN  LANDS. 


March  26, 1874. — Recommitted  to  the  Committee  on  Public  Lands  and  ordered  to  be 

printed. 


Mr.  Phii  UPS,  from  tlie  Committee  on  the  Public  Lands,  submitted  the 

following 

REPORT: 

[To  accompany  bill  H.  R.  2665.] 

Your  committee,  to  whom  was  referred  Executive  Document  No.  20, 
from  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  beg  leave  to  report  a  substitute  for 
the  draught  of  bill  contained  therein,  and  recommend  its  passage. 

The  bill  is  to  provide  for  the  sale  of  the  remaining  lands  of  the  Kan- 
sas tribe  of  Indians.  These  Indians  agreed  to  dispose  of  their  lands  in 
the  vicinity  of  Council  Grove,  several  years  ago,  and  under  former 
legislation  they  were  partially  opened  to  settlement,  and  to  some  ex- 
tent settled.  They  were  appraised  some  time  ago,  but  did  not  sell,  as 
the  appitiisement  was  too  high,  and  have  not  yet  been  sold.  Last  season 
a  fresh  commission  was  appointed  to  re-apparalse  them,  but  a  question 
arising  as  to  the  legal  {lower  to  re-appraise  without  fresh  legislation, 
the  matter  was  referred  to  the  House  by  the  Secretary. 

The  lands  were  formerly  appraised  at  from  $4  to  $7  per  acre,  averag- 
ing close  ujHm  $5  per  acre,  and  was  much  more  than  the  commercial 
value  of  the  landA. 

As  the  Indians  have  been  removed  for  some  time  to  a  reservation  in 
the  Indian  Territory,  it  is  indispensable  that  the  matter  be  dispose^l  of 
at  once. 

The  bill  reported  directs  the  Secretary  to  inquire  into  the  correctness 
of  the  appraisement,  and,  if  it  be  found  to  be  above  its  market-value, 
either  to  appoint  a  fresh  commission  to  reappraise,  or  to  reduce  the 
former  appraisement,  if  that  be  more  economical,  not  to  exceed  twenty- 
five  per  cent. 

Under  the  recommendation  of  the  Secretary  time  was  given  on  the 
payments  for  four  years,  and  which  is  increased  with  the  approval  of 
the  Commissioner  to  six  years,  the  land  being  held  to  secure  payment, 
and  the  notes  bearing  six  per  cent,  interest. 

Bond  is  required  to  be  given  to  protect  the  timber  until  the  land  is 
paid  for.  A  letter  of  the  Commissioner,  accepting  the  modification  of 
the  substitute,  accompanies  this  report. 

Your  committee  recommend  the  passage  of  the  bill. 


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2  SALE    OF    KANSAS   INDIAN   LANDS. 

Dkpartmeni  op  tiik  Interior, 

Office  of  Indian  Affairs, 

JFaahingtanj  D.  6\,  March  13,  1874. 

Sir:  I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  a  copy  of  the  draught  of  a  bi 
submitted  to  the  honorable  Stfcretary  of  the  Interior  by  this  Office,  under  date  of  Novem- 
ber 26, 1873,  providing  for  the  Hale  of  the  Kansas  Indian  lands  in  Kansas  to  actual  set- 
tlers, and  for  the  disposition  of  the  proceeds  of  sale,  and  to  which  you  propose  certain 
additions  and  changes. 

In  returning  the  same,  I  have  respectfully  to  say,  that  inasmuch  as  the  changes  and 
additions  suggested  by  you  do  not  materially  affect  the^general  provisions  of  the  bill 
recommended  by  this  Office  under  date  above  referred  to,  I  shall  urge  no  objection 
thereto. 

Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

EDW.  P.  SMITH, 

Commi99ioner, 
Hon.  W.  A.  Phillips, 

House  of  Representatives. 


AN  ACT  providiog  for  tho  sale  of  the  Kansas  Indian  lands  in  Kansas  to  actual  settlers,  and  fur  the 
di8ix)Bition  of  tho  proceeds  of  sale. 

Whereas  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  in  pursuance  of  an  act  approved  May  8,  1872, 
has  caused  to  be  appraised  the  lands  heretofore  owned  by  the  Kansas  tribe  of  Indians, 
in  the  State  of  Kansas,  which  by  the  terms  of  the  treaty  made  by  the  United  States 
and  said  Indians,  and  prochiinied  November  17, 1860,  were  to  be  sold  for  the  benefit  of 
said  Indians ;  which  appraisement  also  includes  all  improvements  on  the  same,  and  the 
value  of  said  improvements ;  distingnishing  between  improvements  made  by  members 
of  said  Indian  tribe,  the  United  States  and  white  settlers ; 

And  whereas  said  Secretary  has  also  caused  to  be  appraised,  in  the  manner  provided 
for  in  said  act,  the  diminished  reserve  of  the  said  Kansas  Indians,  including  lands  held 
in  severalty  and  in  common  by  them,  in  the  manner  prescribed  by  said  act :  Therefore, 

Be  it  enacted  hy  the  Senate  and  House  of  RepreeentaHves  of  the  United  States  of  America  in 
Congress  assembled^  That  each  bona-fide  settler  on  any  of  the  trust-lands  embraced  in 
said  act,  heretofore  reported  as  such  by  the  commissioners  appointed  to  make  said  ap- 
praisement, and  the  rejected  claimants  as  bona-lide  settlers,  who  were  recommended  as 
such  by  Andrew  C.  Williams,  acting  under  instructions  to  Superintendent  Hoag,  from 
the  Indian  Office,  dated  October  SM,  1872,  be  permitted  to  make  payment  of  the  ap- 
praised value  of  their  lands  to  the  local  land-office  at  Topeka,  Kansas,  under  suck 
rules  as  the  Commissioner  of  the  General  Land-Office  may  adopt,  in  four  equal  aonnal 
installments ;  the  first  installment  payable  on  the  1st  of  April,  1874^  and  the  remaining 
installments  payable  annnally  from  that  time,  and  drawing  iatorest  at  six  per  centum  per 
annum  until  paid :  Provided,  That  each  settler  on  asking  his  first  payment  shall  enter 
into  bond  with  adequate  security,  on  conditaoD  that  he  will  commit  no  waste  by  the  de- 
struction of  timber  or  otherwise  on  said  land  until  the  last  payment  is  made,  and  give 
his  notes  with  adequate  security  fbr  the  deferred  payments  on  the  terms  aforesaid. 

Sec.  2.  All  the  remainder  of  the  trust-lands  and  of  the  undisposed  portion  of  the 
diminished  reserve  siiall  be  subject  to  entry  at  the  local  land-office  at  Topeka,  Kansas, 
in  tracts  not  exceeding  one  liundred  and  sixty  acres,  unless  a  legal  subdivision  of  a 
section  shall  be  fractional  and  found  to  contain  a  greater  number  of  acres,  by  actual 
settlers,  under  such  rules  and  regulations  as  the  Commissioner  of  the  General  L^nd- 
Office  may  prescribe.  And  the  parties  making  such  entries  shell  be  required  to  make 
payment  ofthe  appraised  value  of  the  land  entered  and  occupied  by  each,  in  the  fol- 
lowing manner  :  One-foi  r^h  at  the  time  the  entry  is  made,  and  the  remainder  in  three 
equal  annual  payments,  drawing  interest  at  six  per  cent,  per  annum,  which  payments 
shall  be  secured  by  notes  payable  to  the  United  Stat-es,  satisfactorily  indorsed  by  re- 
sponsible parties.  And  the  person  making  such  entry  shall  also  be  required  to  give 
bond  with  adequate  security  to  commit  no  waste,  by  the  destruction  of  timber,  or 
otherwise,  on  the  premises  until  final  payment  for  the  tract  has  been  made ;  and  the 
Secretary  of  the  Interior  shall  cause  patents  in  fee-simple  to  be  issued  to  all  parties 
who  shall  complete  purchases  under  the  provisions  of  this  act :  Provided,  That  if  any 
person  or  persons  applying  to  purchase  laud  under  the  provisions  of  this  act  shall  fail 
to  make  payment  or  to  peifonu  any  other  conditions  required  b^  the  provisions  of  this 
act,  or  by  rules  and  regulatiuns  that  may  be  prescribed  in  the  execution  hereof,  within 
ninety  days  after  such  payiiioiit  shall  become  due,  or  performance  be  required  by  the 
terras  hereof,  or  by  the  rules  and  regulations  which  may  be  prescribed  in  the  execution 
hereof,  such  person  or  persons  shall  forfeit  all  rights  under  tho  provisions  of  this  act. 


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SALE   OF   KANSAS   INDIAN   LANDS.  3 

aod  all  claim  or  right  to  rc-imbursement  or  compeasation  for  previous  action  or  pay- 
ment by  said  person  or  persons  under  the  provisions  liereof ;  and  the  land  x^roposed  to 
be  purchased  by  such  person  or  persons  shall  again  bo  subject  to  sale  as  though  no 
action  had  been  had  in  regard  to  the  same. 

Sec.  3.  That  the  net  proceeds  arising  from  such  sales,  after  defraying  the  expenses  of 
appraisement  and  sale,  which  have  heretofore  or  may  hereafter  be  incurred,  and  also 
the  outstanding  indebtedness,  principal  and  interest,  of  said  Kansas  tribe  of  Indians, 
which  has  heretofore  been  incurred  under  treaty  stipulations,  shall  belong  to  said  tribe 
io  common,  and  may  be  used  by  the  Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs,  under  direction  of 
the  President  of  the  United  States,  in  providing  and  improving  for  them  new  homes  in 
the  Indian  Territory,  and  in  subsisting  them  until  they  become  self-sustaining,  and 
the  residue,  not  so  reouired,  shall  be  placed  to  their  credit  on  the  books  of  the  Treasury, 
and  bear  interest  at  the  rate  of  five  per  centum  per  annum,  and  be  held  as  a  fund  for 
their  civilization,  the  interest  of  which,  and  the  principal,  when  deemed  necosary  by 
the  President  of  the  United  States,  may  be  used  for  such  purpose. 


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43d  Conoeess,  1    HOUSE  OP  EEPEESENTATIVES.       f  Eepoet 
Ut  Session,     f  )  No.  268. 


ASIATIC  COMMERCIAL  COMPANY. 


March  26, 1874. — Becommitted  to  the  Committee  on  Commerce  and  ordered  to  be 

printed. 


Mr.  CoNOEB,  from  the  Committee  on  Commerce,  submitted  the  foUowiDg 

REPORT: 

[To  accompany  biU  H.  R.  193.] 

The  Committee  on  Commerce^  to  ichich  was  referred  a  bill  to  incorporate 
the  Asiatic  Commercial  Company^  respectfully  report : 

That,  baying  carefully  examined  the  said  bill,  it  has  conclnded  to  sab- 
mit  the  same  with  an  amendment,  (which  will  be  indicated  when  the 
House  shall  be  pleased  to  consider  it,)  and  recommend  the  adoption  of 
the  amendment  and  Uie  passage  of  the  bill. 

The  facts  relative  to  this  bill,  the  importance  of  its  enactment,  the 
results  which  are  reasonably  expected  to  inure  to  the  advantage  of  this 
country  from  its  passage,  are  very  clearly  set  forth  in  a  communication 
addressed  to  Congress  by  the  proposed  incorporators  of  the  said  com- 
pany, and  which  are  here  quoted,  viz : 

A  Tery  large  part  of  the  trade  in  Japan  is  carried  on  through  agents  authorized  by 
the  gOYemment  of  that  country.  The  principal  articles  of  export  are  tea,  silk,  copper, 
etc^  and  the  trade  in  these  is,  to  a  yery  large  degree,  controUed  by -three  English,  one 
French,  and  one  German  house,  in  aU  fire  mercantile  firms.  The  most  extensire  of 
tibese^  is  known  as  a  branch  of  the  Oriental  Banking  Company,  London,  but  whose 
~^cipal  place  of  business  is  in  Yokohama.    Each  of  these  five  companies  is  chartered 

r  its  own  goyemment,  and,  in  its  dealings  with  the  Japanese,  acts  apparently  by  an- 

mity  irom  home. 

For  many  generations  the  only  external  dealings  of  the  Japanese  haye  been  through 
their  ^yemment  officials  operating  with  other  goyernments,  and,  on  that  account, 
there  is  a  natural  and  firmly-estabfished  reluctance  on  the  part  of  their  authorities 
about  dealing  with  the  mere  citizens  or  subjecto  of  other  countries.  For  this  reason  the 
Americans  there  haye  labored  under  ^^reat  dieadyantages.  Their  comjietitioa  has  been 
with  authorized  firms,  and,  so  far  as  it  has  appeared  to  the  Japanese,  it  has  been  with 
the  authorized  agents  of  other  countries  or  coyemAents.  So  great  has  been  this  disad* 
yantage,  that  the  leading  American  firm  in  Yokohama  has  been  compelled  to  admit  as 
head  of  its  house,  and  principal  aotiye  partner,  an  Englishman.  This  resort  was  found 
Bceesaaiy  in  order  to  obtain  a  reasonable  share  of  the  business  of  that  port ;  and  now 
the  business  of  American  houses  in  .Japan  is  transacted  largely  through  foreign  com- 
panies or  firms.  All  exchange  is  conducted  through  Earopean  cities,  and  the  Ameri- 
cans haye  no  altematiye  but  to  snbmirto  the  most  exorbitant  exactions.  The  adyan- 
t|^pes  which  the  English,  French,  and  Germans  eiHoy  in  being  indorsed,  as  it  were, 
hy  their  respeotiye  ffoyemments,  giye  them  the  entree  into  man^  branches  of  business, 
nich  as  building  £y-docks,  railroads,  mining,  &c.,  from  which  Americans  are  ex- 
claded.  Their  charter  of  authority  inspires  confidence  with  the  Japanese ;  without 
that  they  would  be  regarded  as  mere  indiyidnal  adyentnrers.  The  remedy  for  this  eyil 
is  sMight  at  the  hands  of  Conness  in  the  passage  of  the  biU  incorporating  the  Asiatic 
Commercial  Company.  That  hiU  is  belieyed  to  be  so  framed  as  to  diyest  it  of  eyery 
oonceiyable  obj^ion.  It  merely  incorporates  the  company,  and  nothinf^  more  is  asked 
of  Couj^resfl.  While  it  may  seem  like  a  simple  and  almost  senseless  thing,  it  must  be 
borne  in  mind  that  it  is  intended  to  operate  solely  upon  a  people  who  are  not  quite  so 


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2  ASIATIC   COMMEBCUL   COMPANY. 

boaatfal  of  their  oivilization  as  we,  but  who  are,  nevertheless,  imbaed  with  prejndices 
of  long  standing.  Thongh  it  is  of  little  moment  to  the  United  States  Government,  it 
is  of  considerable  interest  to  certain  of  its  citizens  who  are  desirous  of  being  placed 
on  an  eqnal  footing  with  the  subjects  of  other  countries.  The  advantage  to  the  peo- 
ple of  this  country  in  general  resulting  ftom  such  a  bill  will  not  be  inconsiderable,  for 
it  will  bring  trade  ana  business  to  our  shores  which  now  are  diverted  in  other  direc- 
tions. It  will  put  us  on  a  level  in  that  interesting  country  with  the  jieople  of  Europe, 
who  now  occupy  a  platform  far  above  us.  It  will  relieve  all  Americans  from  the 
humility  of  being  compelled  to  transact  business  therethrough  foreign  houses  exclas- 
ively.  It  will  give  the  Americans  (and  it  is  the  only  thing  that  it  wiU  give  them)  the 
superior  position  in  Japan  to  which  they  are  justly  entitled. 

In  the  recent  changes  that  have  taken  place  in  the  government  of  Japan,  a  class  of 
liberal-minded  persons  have  come  into  power,  and  it  is  not  too  much  to  assert  for  them 
a  kindly  disposition  toward  this  country,  which  should  not  be  jeopardized  by  a  fail- 
ure to  pass  this  simple  act.  Persons  with  ample  means  stand  ready  to  embark  in  busi- 
ness in  that  country,  the  moment  the  prejudices  of  that  people  are  overcome,  as  they 
would  be  by  the  incorporation  of  this  oompanv.  Without  such  indorsement  capital 
cannot  be  enlisted,  ana  American  enterprise  will  continue  to  flag  in  Japan. 

An  act  of  incorporation  by  any  one  of  the  United  States  would  not  nave  the  same 
effect,  for  only  the  United  States  Government  is  known  in  that  distant  country.  Any 
act  of  les8  authority  would  be  turned  into  ridicule  by  the  more  fortunate  but  envious 
English,  French,  and  German  houses,  who  are  reaping  nearly  all  the  fraits  of  commerce 
in  these  beautiful  and  rich  islands.  The  rivalry  of  the  United  States  is  much  dreaded 
there  by  these  fortunate  Europeans ;  for  it  is  understood  that,  upon  an  equal  footing, 
our  merchants  would  outstrip  all  opposition.  Having  the  advantage  in  location,  they 
onl^  need  this  apparent  sanction  of  t<heir  own  Government  to  make  them  permanently 
successful. 

The  thing  asked  costs  the  Government  nothing;  neither  will  it  or  can  it  ever  be- 
come, in  any  sense,  in  the  least  degree  burthensome  to  our  Government.  In  granting 
this  act  of  incorporation  Congress  is  proceeding  not  without  precedent.  Only  five 
years  ago  a  similar  company,  to  operate  in  South  America,  was  incorporated  by  act  of 
Congress.  The  circumstances  in  the  case  of  Japan  are  peouUar,  and  are  not  likely 
ever  to  arise  again. 

Mainly  by  our  exertions  thst  country  has  been  opened  to  the  commeree  of  the  world, 
which  had  been  sealed  up  to  all  but  one  nation  for  centuries.  Other  governments,  in 
pursuance  of  a  policy  which  does  not  hesitate  to  conform  to  the  notions  of  that  pecu- 
liar people,  are  reaping  the  rewards  which  were  fairly  won  by  us.  It  is  believed  there 
is  enough  of  enlightened  statesmanship  in  the  Unitea  States  to  prevent  a  oontinuation 
of  this,  or  at  least  to  afford  to  its  citizens  the  opportunity  of  frustrating  it.  The  pas- 
sage of  the  bill  incorporating  the  Asiatic  Commercial  Company  will  assuredly  accom- 
plish the  desired  end.  But  if  it  were  only  an  experiment,  it  certainly  could  do  no 
harm.  It  is  a  matter  in  which  the  country  at  large  is  hardly  less  interested  than  its 
immediate  promoters,  and  it  therefore  appeals  directly  to  the  patriotism  of  this  coun- 
try. The  influence  and  prominence  of  our  country  with  the  Japanese  is  involved  in 
this  measure,  and  that  alone  should  remove  all  hesitancy  about  its  passage. 

•  The  importance  of  the  Asiatic  and  Japanese  trade  to  this  country 
cannot  be  wisely  overlooked  by  the  Congress  of  the  United  States. 
The  bill  reported  proposes  no  monopoly.  It  expressly  provides  that 
^  Congress  shall  have  power  to  alter  or  amend  this  act  at  any  time." 

And  then,  to  save  the  United  States  from  any  possibility  or  liability 
on  account  of  its  passage,  it  expressly  provides  that,  "in  no  event  shall 
the  United  States  be  liable  to  any  person,  corporation,  or  foreign  power 
for  any  matter  or  thing  growing  oat  of  the  passage  of  this  act." 

The  case  is  simply  this:  Shall  citizens  of  the  United  States  be  placed 
on  an  equal  footing  with  the  citizens  and  subjects  of  other  countries 
with  respect  to  the  commerce  and  trade  of  Asia  and  Japan! 

A  passage  of  this  bill  will  effect  this  equality.  A  refusal  to  pass  it 
surrenders  to  other  nations  the  trade  of  that  quarter  of  the  globe. 

In  the  Union  Pacific  and  the  Central  Pacific  Railroad  of  California 
the  Government  has  now  invested  over  $60,000,000.  The  trade  of  Asia 
and  Japan  once  secured,  will  assure  the  return  of  this  entire  invest- 
ment. The  bill  reported  by  the  committee  well  assures  this  result  It 
opens  the  way  to  the  control  of  the  commerce  of  Asia  and  Japan.  It 
gives  to  our  citizens  the  status  now  occupied  by  the  subjects  of  other 


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ASIATIC   COMMERCIAL  COMPANY.  3 

nations.    Equality  of  national  recognition  gives  to  as  the  fall  advan- 
tage of  the  present  leaning  of  Asia  and  Japan  toward  the  United 


We  want  the  control  of  the  commerce  of  the  Pacific  Ocean.  This 
bill  is  a  substantial  step  toward  the  accomplishment  of  that  end,  and 
while  it  commits  the  United  States  to  no  pecuniary  liability  in  any  i)os- 
sible  event,  it  gives  to  the  companies  chartered  the  dignity  of  a  national 
institution. 

Beyond  this  nothing  is  desired.  The  good  faith  of  trade  which  every 
company  or  association  of  individuals  would  enforce  in  their  own  interest 
is  all  the  guarantee  that  ought  to  be  guaranteed  under  this  bill. 

For  the  interest  of  the  United  States  and  all  parties  concerned,  we 
recommend  the  passage  of  the  bill  with  the  amendment  which  the 
Boose  suggested. 


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43d  Congress,  J     HOUSE  OF  REPEESENTATIVES.      /  Report 
lit  SessUmT  f  .  >  No.  269. 


.  vM. 


RELIEF  OF  CERTAIN  NAVAL  CONTRACTORS.  X? 


_    ,i  • 


Mjibch  27, 1674.— Recommifcted  to  the  Committee  on  War-Claims  and  ordered  to  be 

printed. 


Mr.  G.  W.  Hazelton,  from  the  Committee  on  War-Claims,  sabmitted 

the  following 

REPORT: 

[To  accompany  biU  H.  R.  217.] 

The  Committee  an  War-ClaimSj  to  whom  was  referred  the  bill  {H.  B.  217) 
for  the  relief  of  certain  contractors  for  the  construction  of  vessels  of  war 
and  steam-machinery^  having  considered  the  same^  submit  the  following 
report  : 

By  an  act  of  Congress,  approved  Angnst  3, 1861,  the  Secretary  of  the 
Navy  was  authoriz^  and  directed  *'  to  appoint  a  board  of  three  skillful 
naval  officers  to  investigate  the  plans  and  specifications  that  may  be  sub- 
mitted for  the  construction  or  completing  of  iron  or  steel  clad  steamships 
or  steam-batteries,  and,  on  their  report,  should  it  be  favorable,  the  Secre- 
tary of  the  Navy  will  cause  one  or  more  armored  or  iron  or  steel  clad 
steamships  or  floating  steam-batteries  to  be  built." 

Under  and  pursuant  to  this  law,  a^  board  was  appointed,  consisting  of 
Commodore  Joseph  Smith,  chief  of  the  Bureau  of  Yards  and  Docks  of 
the  Navy  Department  ]  Commodore  H.  Paulding,  tftien  waiting  orders ; 
and  Capt.  Charles  H.  Davis,  superintendent  of  the  Nautical  Almanac, 
who  entered  npon  the  work  assigned  them,  and  subsequently  made  a 
report,  a  copy  of  the  material  parts  of  which  is  appended  to  and  made 
a  part  of  this  report,  and  marked  Appendix  A. 

Afterward,  on  the  13th  day  of  February,  A.  D.  1862,  the  Secre- 
tary of  the  Navy  was  ^^  authorized  an4  empowered  to  cause  to  be  con- 
structed, by  contract  or  otherwise  as  he  shall  deem  best  for  the  public 
interest,  not  exceeding  twenty  iron-clad  steam  gun-boats  for  the  use  of 
the  Navy  of  the  United  States,"  and  the  sum  of  $10,000,000  was  ap- 
propriated to  carry  out  the  provisions  of  the  act 

Under  the  authority  thus  conferred,  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy  entered 
into  contracts  with  divers  ship-builders  in  the  difierent  parts  of  the  coun- 
try for  the  construction  of  these  vessels.  Part  of  these  contracts  were 
made  in  1862 ;  others  were  made  in  1863,  and  some  as  late  as  1864. 

The  construction  of  this  class  of  war- vessels  was  necessarily  experi- 
mental, as  nothing  of  the  kind  had  ever  been  attempted  or  was  known 
to  naval  warfiare  prior  to  the  late  war  of  the  rebellion.  The  Government 
needed  such  vessels  or  boats  for  service  on  the  coast  and  along  the  rivers, 
where  the  proximity  of  rebel  batteries  rendered  wooden  vessels  of  little 
or  no  value. 


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IJ  KELIEF   OP   CERTAIN   NAVAL   CONTRACTORS. 

The  Committee  ou  the  Conduct  of  the  War  refer  to  this  fact  in  the 
following  langaage : 

'*  During  the  year  1862,  the  necessity  for  some  light-draught  armored 
vessels  for  operations  on  our  western  rivers  and  the  shallow  bays  and 
sounds  upon  the  Atlantic  and  Gulf  coasts  became  so  urgent  that  the 
Navy  Department  determined  to  provide  some  for  that  purpose,  if  pos- 
sible. 

"Application  was  made  to  Mr.  John  Ericsson,  the  inventor  of  the  orig- 
inal monitor,  for  a  plan  of  a  light-draught  monitor,  to  carry  one  turret, 
and  to  have  a  draught  of  from  six  to  six  and  a  half  feet.  On  the  9th  of 
October,  1862,  Mr.  Ericsson  submitted  to  the  Department  a  plan,  which, 
to  use  his  own  words,  tcds  not  intended  as  a  working  plan^  yet  it  defined 
with  clearness  and  precision  the  general  principle  and  mode  of  building 
the  vessel,  engines,  boilers,  and  mode  of  propelling  them.'' 

The  preparation  *of  calculations  and  working  plans  was  confided  to 
Chief  Engineer  Stimers,  of  the  United  States  Navy.  These  completed, 
the  Department  advertised  for  proposals,  and  thereafter,  to  wit,  in  the 
months  of  March,  April,  and  May,  1862,  contracts  for  the  construction 
of  twenty  light-draught  monitors,  upon  the  plan  furnished  by  the  Gov- 
ernment, were  entered  into.  The  bidders  were  limited  to  those  who  had 
all  the  needed  preparations  for  entering  upon  and  prosecuting  the  work, 
and  it  was  required  that  a  time  should  be  stated  with  in  which  the 
bidders  would  agree  to  complete  their  contracts. 

This  statement  of  facts  will  apply  substantially  to  all  the  contra<5ts 
entered  into  by  the  Navy  Department  for  the  construction  of  iron-clad 
vessels,  except  that  the  later  contracts  contained  a  provision  not  in  the 
earlier  ones,  to  the  effect  following : 

That  the  parties  of  the  second  part  shall  have  the  privilege  of  making 
alterations  and  additions  to  the  plans  and  specifications  at  any  time 
during  the  progress  of  the  work,  as  they  may  deem  necessary  and 
proper,  and  if  said  alterations  and  additions  shall  cause  extra  expense 
to  the  parties  of  the  first  part,  they  will  pay  for  the  same  at  fair  and 
reasonable  rates,  and  should  such  changes  cause  less  work  and  expense 
to  the  parties  of  the  first  part,  a  corresponding  reduction  to  be  made 
from  the  contract-price,  and  in  each  case  the  cost  of  the  alterations  to 
be  determined  when  the  changes  are  directed  to  be  made. 

It  turned  out  that  the  plans  and  specifications  of  the  Navy  Depart- 
ment were  in  whole  or  in  part  worthless,  in  consequence  of  which  it  be- 
came necessary  to  make  radical  changes  in  the  plans  and  method  of 
construction. 

Mr.  Stimers  himself  says,  in  speaking  of  one  of  the  contracts,  ^'Acts, 
therefore,  which  I  performed  which  affected  Mr.  Bestor,  and  affect  his 
case,  were  to  direct  him  to  make  a  different  vessel  from  the  one  we  con-, 
tracted  to  do.'' 

What  is  true  of  this  particular  case  is  also  true  of  all  the  cases  cov- 
ered by  the  aforesaid  bill.  The  naval  officers  and  engineers  doubtless 
did  the  best  they  could.  TUe  simple  truth  is,  they  did  not  know,  and 
could  not  know,  what  would  be  the  result  of  their  endeavors.  The 
effort  was,  as  we  have  said,  an  experiments— just  as  much  an  experiment 
as  the  trials  made  with  the  Dahlgren  and  Winrd  guns,  upon  which  vast 
sums  of  money  were  expended. 

The  parties  making  these  contracts  were  not  acting  on  plans  and 
specifications  of  their  own;  they  were  essaying  to  carry  out  the  plans 
of  the  Government,  and  this  under  the  supervision  of  an  engineer  of  the 


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RELIEF  OF  CERTAIN  NAVAL  CONTRACTORS.  3 

Navy  Department.  They  did  not,  therefore,  occnpy  the  attitude  of 
parties  who  had  procured  contracts  from  the  Government  on  plans  and 
propositions  submitted  by  themselves  upon  the  implied  understanding 
tbat  the  work  would  prove  a  success. 

The  changes  made  by  the  Navy  Department  necessarily  occasioned 
delay  in  the  execution  of  the  contracts,  during  which  a  large  advance 
occurred  in  the  cost  of  all  or  nearly  all  the  materials  used  and  in  the 
value  of  labor  required  for  the  completion  of  the  contracts. 

Certain  allowances  were  made  to  these  contractors  by  the  Navy 
Department,  but  it  is  claimed  that  these  allowances  were  predicated  in 
every  instance  on  the  scale  of  prices  embraced  in  the  several  contracts, 
the  Department  not  feeling  authorized  to  go  any  further  than  that  in 
aflfording  relief;  and  that,  in  point  of  fact,  no  compensation  has  been 
made  for  losses  growing  out  of  the  large  advance  in  the  cost  of  materials 
and  labor,  and  the  fair  rental-value  of  the  premises  and  machinery  of 
the  contractors,  which  remained  idle  and  entirely  unavailable  while 
awaiting  the  orders  of  the  Navy  Department. 

These  constitute,  as  it  is  und^erstood,  the  items  on  which  these  claims 
are  predicated.  The  ground  of  these  claims  may  be  rendered  plainer, 
perhaps,  by  statement  in  another  form. 

When  the  contracts  were  entered  into  iron  was  worth,  say,  $65  per 
ton,  and  skilled  labor,  say,  $2.50  per  day.  Pending  the  delays  caused 
by  the  officers  of  the  Government,  changing  and  rechanging  the  plans, 
iron  advanced  to  $220  per  ton  and  labor  to  $4  per  day. 

It  is  claimed  that  the  allowance  made  by  the  Department  for  addi- 
tional iron  and  labor  was  limited  to  the  scale  of  prices  first  mentioned, 
and  that  no  allowance  was  made  for  increase  in  cost  of  materials  and 
labor,  or  for  the  use  of  yards,  shops,  machinery,  &c.,  while  idle  and 
unemployed. 

If  so,  then  it  \|^ould  seem  clear  that  the  parties  have  a  just  and  meri- 
torious claim  upon  the  Government  for  relief,  but  it  is  not  necessary  to 
decide  that. 

The  bill  under  consideration  does  not  decide  that.  It  only  provides 
that  these  parties  may  go  into  the  Court  of  Claims,  a  court  eminently  qual- 
ified to  make  the  investigation,  and  to  see  that  no  wrong  is  practiced  upon 
the  Government,  and  have  these  matters  judicially  and  fairly  investi- 
gated and  determined,  subject  to  the  right  of  appeal  to  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  United  States.  There  the  evidence,  pro  and  con,  can  be 
submitted,  and  the  several  claims  left  to  abide  the  result.  It  seems  to 
us  the  Government  can  do  no  less.  If  the  parties  have  an  honest  and 
meritorious  demand,  they  should  have  the  right  to  show  it ;  if  not,  let 
it  be  so  adjudged,  and  the  controversy  ended. 

We  ought  not,  perhaps,  to  close  this  report  without  stating  that  some 
of  this  class  of  claimants  have  already  received  specific  relief  by  act  of 
Congress,  and  that  the  action  of  Congress  and  the  committees  of  each 
branch  of  Congress  has  been  uniformly  and  without  exception  favorable 
to  the  principles  of  this  bill. 

In  this  connection  we  may  be  pardoned  for  a  brief  statement  on  this 
behalf. 

Oq  the  9th  of  March,  1865,  the  Senate  adopted  the  following  resolu- 
tion: 

Eesoletd,  That  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy  be  requested  to  organize  a  board  of  not  lees 
than  three  competent  persons,  whose  duty  it  shaU  be  to  inquire  into  and  determine 
k&w  Allied  the  ve$Bel»  of  tear  and  steam  machinery  contracted  for  by  the  Department  in 
the  yean  18G2  and  ltJ63  co$t  the  oontractora  over  and  above  the  contract  price  and  aHow- 
aoce  for  extra  work,  and  report  the  same  to  the  Senate  at  its  next  session.  None  but 
those  that  have  given  satisfaction  to  the  Department  to  be  considered. 


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4  RELIEF  OF  CEKTAIN  NAVAL  CONTRACTORS. 

Under  the  foregoing  resolution  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy  organized 
a  board  of  naval  officers,  known  as  the  Selfridge  board,  which  convened 
at  the  navy-yard  in  New  York  June  5, 1865,  and  thoroughly  investigated 
the  whole  subject,  concluding  their  examination,  after  seven  months 
session,  when  they  made  report  thereof  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy. 

The  Senate  Committee  on  Naval  Affairs  of  the  Thirty-ninth  Congress 
reported  a  bill  which  adopted  in  full  the  awards  of  the  Selfridge  t^ard 
as  a  basis  of  relief.  The  Senate,  after  long  discussion,  adopted  an 
amendment  paying  all  contractors  12  per  cent,  over  and  above  their 
contract  price.  The  House  Committee  on  Claims  unanimously  rejected 
this  Senate  bill  upon  the  ground  that,  while  certain  of  these  contractors 
would  receive  the  amount  claimed,  and  in  some  cases  more,  other  con- 
tractors would  receive  less  than  the  amount  of  their  loss^  and  that, 
consequently,  the  Senate  bill  was  not  an  equitable  basis  of  relief. 

It  therefore  reported  a  substitute  for  the  Senate  bill  and  a  conference 
committee  finally  agreed  upon  a  bill  which  became  the  act  of  March  2, 
1867. 

That  act  directed  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy  to  investigate  the  claims 
of  all  contractors  for  building  vessels  of  war  and  steam  machinery  under 
contracts  made  after  May  1, 1861,  and  before  January  1, 1864,  upon  tlie 
following  basis: 

He  was  to  ascertain  the  additional  cost  which  was  necessarily  incurred 
by  each  contractor  in  the  completion  of  his  work  by  reason  of  any 
changes  or  alterations  in  the  plans  and  s^iecifications  required  and 
delays  in  the  prosecution  of  the  work  occasioned  by  the  Government, 
which  were  not  provided  for  in  the  original  contract ;  but  no  allowance 
for  any  advance  in  the  price  of  labor  or  material  was  to  be  considered 
unless  such  advance  occurred  during  the  prolonged  time  for  completing 
the  work  rendered  necessary  by  the  delay  resulting  from  the  action  of 
the  Government  aforesaid,  and  then,  only  when  such  advance  could  not 
have  been  avoided  by  the  exercise  of  ordinary  prudence  and  diligence 
on  the  part  of  the  contractor;  and  from  such  additional  cost,  to  be  ascer- 
tained as  aforesaid,  was  to  be  deducted  the  sum  previously  paid  each 
contractor  for  any  reason,  over  and  above  the  contract  price. 

Under  that  act  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy  con\'^ned  the  "  Marchand 
board,''  which  held  its  sessions  in  Washington.  It  reviewed  the 
report  and  evidence  before  the  "  Selfredge  board"  without,  however, 
permitting  the  contractors  to  be  heard  in  their  own  behalf,  or  to  rebut 
the  adverse  testimony  or  report  of  any  Government  official. 

Had  this  *'  Marchand  board"  conducted  such  an  inquiry  as  was  in  our 
judgment  contemplated  by  that  act  and  according  to  the  well-settled 
and  established  principles  of  law  governing  such  investigations,  a  set- 
tlement of  this  matter  would  doubtless  have  been  reached,  equitable 
alike  to  the  Government  and  these  claimitnts,  and  Congress  thereby 
relieved  of  the  trouble  and  expense  of  subsequent  investigations  by 
various  committees. 

Pursuing  the  investigation  in  the  manner  which  the  *•  Marchand 
board"  prescribed  for  itself,  awards  were  made  to  but  seven  of  the 
forty-nine  claimants,  and  these  were  paid  under  the  act  of  July  13,  1868. 

A  bill  passed  the  Forty-first  Congress  for  the  relief  of  these  claimants, 
which  was  properly  vetoed  by  the  President  on  the  ground  that  it  was 
a  departure  from  the  basis  fixed  by  the  act  of  March  2, 1867. 

The  bill  reported  by  your  committee  as  amended  obviates  the  ob- 
ections  raised  to  that  bill,  and  simply  authorizes  a  judicial  investigation, 
upon  the  basis  of  the  act  of  March  2, 1867. 

In  the  Forty-second  Congress  these  cases  were  again  considered  by 


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BELIEF  OF  CERTAIN  NAVAL  CONTRACTORS.  5 

committees  of  both  Houses  and  received  favorable  action,  the  House 
Committee  on  Claims  reporting  upon  each  case  separately,  instead  of 
making  provision  for  all  by  a  general  bill. 

Seven  of  these  cases  passed  the  House  in  the  latter  part  of  the  Third 
session,  one  only  passing  the  Senate  and  becoming  a  law,  and  that  case 
is  now  under  investigation  by  the  Court  of  Claims. 

The  last  Congress  also  passed  a  bill  to  pay  the  heirs  of  George  C. 
Bestor,  of  Illinois,  the  sum  of  $125,000,  "  for  extra  work  done,  delays, 
and  damages  and  expenses  caused  by  such  delays,  on  the  part  of  the 
Navy  Department,  in  the  completion  of  his  contract  for  the  construction 
of  an  iron-clad  steam-battery,"  (see  vol.  17,  Statutes  at  Large,  page 
733,)  and  as  illustrating  the  narrow  scope  of  investigation  to  which  the 
^^Marchand  Board"  held  it  was  restricted,  it  may  be  stated  that  it 
awarded  Mr.  Bestor,  whose  claim  was  before  it,  nothing. 

The  committee,  therefore,  report  back  the  bill  with  the  following 
amendment,  ^^  Provided^  That  this  act  shall  not  be  construed  to  apply  to 
the  claims  of  Secor  &  Co.,  Perrine,  Secor  &  Co.,  Harrison  Loring,  Miles 
Greenwood,  and  George  C.  Bestor,  who  have  already  received  specific 
relief  by  act  of  Congress,"  and,  as  thus  amended,  recommend  its  passage^ 


Appendix  A. 

"Distrustful  of  our  ability  to  discbarge  this  duty,  which  the  law  re- 
quires should  be  performed  by  three  skillful  naval  officers,  we  approach 
the  subject  with  diffidence,  having  no  experience  and  but  scanty  knowl- 
edge in  this  branch  of  naval  architecture. 

*'The  plans  submitted  are  so  various,  and  in  many  respects  so  entirely 
dissimilar,  that  without  a  more  thorough  knowledge  of  this  mode  of 
construction  and  the  resisting  properties  of  iron  than  we  possess,  it  is 
very  likely  that  some  of  our  conclusions  may  prove  erroneous. 

"The  construction  of  iron-clad  steamships  of  war  is  now  zealously 
claiming  the  attention  of  foreign  naval  powers.  France  led  off;  Eng- 
land followed,  and  is  now  (September  16,  1861)  somewhat  extensively 
engaged  in  the  system ;  and  other  powers  seem  to  emulate  their  exam- 
ple, though  on  a  smaller  scale.  Opinions  differ  among  naval  and  scien- 
tific men  as  to  the  policy  of  adoping  the  iron  armature  for  ships  of  war. 
For  coast  and  harbor  defense  they  are  undoubtedly  formidable  adjuncts 
to  fortifications  on  land.  As  cruising  vessels,  however,  we  are  skeptical 
as  to  their  advantages  and  ultimate  adoption.  But  while  other  nations 
are  endeavoring  to  perfect  them,  we  must  not  remain  idle.  The  enor- 
mous load  of  iron,  as  so  much  additional  weight  to  the  vessel,  the  great 
breadth  of  beam  necessary  to  give  her  stability,  the  short  supply  of 
coal  she  will  be  able  to  stow  in  bunkers,  the  greater  power  required  to 
propel  her,  and  the  largely  increased  cost  of  construction,  are  objections 
to  this  class  of  vessels  as  cruisers,  which,  we  believe,  it  is  difficult  suc- 
cessfully to  overcome.  For  river  and  harbor  services  we  consider  iron- 
clad vessels  of  light  draught,  or  floating  batteries  thus  shielded,  as  very 
important;  and  we  feel  at  this  moment  the  necessity  of  them  on  some 
of  our  rivers  and  inlets  to  enforce  obedience  to  the  laws.  We,  however, 
do  not  hesitate  to  express  the  opinion,  notwithstanding  all  we  have 
heard  or  seen  written  on  the  subject,  that  no  ship  or  floating  battery, 
however  heavily  she  may  be  plated,  can  cope  successfully  with  a  prop- 
erly constructed  fortification  of  masonry.  The  one  is  fixed  and  immov- 
able, and  though  constructed  of  a  material  which  may  be  shattered  by 
shot,  can  be  covered,  if  need  be,  by  the  same  or  much  heavier  armor 


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BELIEF  OF  CERTAIN  NAVAL  CONTRACTORS. 

than  a  floating  vessel  can  bear,  while  the  other  is  subject  to  disturbances 
by  winds  and  waves,  and  to  the  powerful  elfects  of  tides  and  currents. 

"Armored  ships  or  batteries  maybe  employed  advantageously  to  pass 
fortifications  on  land  for  ulterior  objects  of  attack,  to  run  a  blockade,  or 
to  reduce  temporary  batteries  on  the  shores  of  rivers  and  the  approaches 
to  our  harbors. 

"Wooden  ships  may  be  said  to  be  but  coffins  for  their  crews  when 
brought  in  contact  with  iron-clad  vessels,  but  the  speed  of  the  former, 
we  take  for  granted,  being  greater  than  that  of  the  latter,  they  can 
readily  choose  their  position,  and  keep  out  of  harm's  way  entirely. 

"It  has  been  suggested  that  the  most  ready  mode  of  obtaining  an  iron- 
clad ship  of  war  would  be  to  contract  with  responsible  parties  in  Eng- 
land for  its  complete  construction ;  and  we  are  assured  that  parties  there 
are  ready  to  engage  in  such  an  enterprise  on  terms  more  reasonable, 
perhaps,  than  such  vessels  could  be  built  in  this  country,  having  much 
greater  experience  and  facilities  than  we  possess.  Indeed,  we  are  in- 
formed there  are  no  mills  or  machinery  in  this  country  capable  of  roll- 
ing iron  4ti  inches  thick,  though  plates  might  be  hammered  to  that 
thickness  in  many  of  our  work-shops.  As  before  observed,  rolled  iron 
is  considered  much  the  best,  and  the  difficulty  of  rolling  it  increases 
rapidly  with  the  increase  of  thickness.  It  has,  however,  occurred  to  us 
that  a  difficulty  might  arise  with  the  British  government  in  case  we 
should  undertake  to  construct  ships  of  war  in  that  country,  which  might 
complicate  their  delivery ;  and,  moreover,  we  are  of  opinion  that  every 
people  or  nation  who  can  maintain  a  navy  should  be  capable  of  con- 
structing it  themselves. 

"Our  immediatcdemands  seem  to  require,  first,  so  far  as  practicable, 
vessels  invulnerable  to  shot,  of  light  draught  of  water,  to  penetrate  our 
shoal  harbors,  rivers,  and  bayous.  We,  therefore,  tavor  the  construc- 
tion of  this  class  of  vessels  before  going  into  a  more  perfect  system  of 
large  iron-clad  sea-going  vessels  of  war.  We  are  here  met  with  the 
difficulty  of  encumbering  small  vessels  with  armor,  which,  from  their 
size,  they  are  unable  to  bear.  We  nevertheless  recommend  that  con- 
tracts be  made  with  responsible  parties  for  the  construction  of  one  or 
more  iron-clad  vessels  or  batteries  of  as  light  a  draught  of  water  as 
practicable,  consistent  with  their  weight  of  armor.  Meanwhile,  availing 
of  the  experience  thus  obtained j  and  the  improvements  which  we  believe 
are  yet  to  be  made  by  other  naval  powers  in  building  iron-clad  ships, 
we  would  advise  the  construction,  in  our  own  dock-yards,  of  one  or 
more  of  thes6  vessels  upon  a  large  dnd  more  perfect  scale,  when  Con- 
gress shall  see  fit  to  authorize  it.  The  amount  now  appropriated  is  not 
sufficient  to  build  both  classes  of  vessels  to  any  great  extent.'" 


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RELIEF   OF   CERTAIN   NAVAL   CONTRACTORS, 


VIEWS  OF  THE  MINORITY. 


Messrs,  Laicrence^  Solman^  James  Wilson,  and  A.  Herr  Smith,  from  the 
Committee  on  War-Claims,  to  tchom  was  referred  bill  {R.  E.  217)  for 
the  relief  of  certain  contractors  for  the  construction  of  vessels  of  war 
and  steam-machineryj  submit  the  following  a^  the  views  of  the  minority  : 

The  execatioD  and  completion  of  the  several  contracts  for  the  con- 
straction  of  the  vessels  and  machinery  referred  to  in  the  pending  bill 
coversa  period  extending  from  the  16th  day  ofMay,1862,  tothe  ddday  of 
February,  1865. 

It  appears  that  while  the  contracts  in  each  case  provided  for  the  pay- 
ment of  a  specific  sum  of  money  to  the  contractors  by  the  United 
States,  modifications  were  subsequently  made  of  the  plans  of  construc- 
tion of  the  several  works,  which  in  some  degree  delayed  the  completion 
of  the  contracts  and  the  cost  of  the  work,  and  the  duty  devolved  on  the 
Government  not  only  to  pay  the  original  sum  stipulated  for  in  each  con- 
tract, but  such  additional  sum  as  the  contractors  should  be  fairly  en- 
titled to  in  consequence  of  such  modifications.  These  contracts  were 
made  under  the  laws  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  were  to  be  fulfilled 
under  the  supervision  and  inspection  of  the  Kavy  Department,  and  upon 
that  Department,  from  the  nature  of  the  contracts,  the  experience  and 
the  intimate  knowledge  of  its  officers  in  the  details  of  the  work,  and 
their  constant  supervision  of  its  execution,  devolved  the  duty  of  adjust- 
ing the  claims  of  these  contractors  upon  the  Government,  on  the  com- 
pletion of  their  contracts. 

The  undersigned  find  that  each  of  these  contractors  submitted  to  the 
Secretary  of  the  Navy  claims  for  extra  compensation  for  the  work  done 
by  them  in  fulfilling  these  contracts ;  that  upon  each  contract  an  extra 
compensation  was  allowed  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  less,  however, 
than  the  amount  claimed,  and  that  the  original  sum  stipulated  for  in 
each  contract  and  the  additional  sura  which  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy 
decided  each  of  the  contractors  entitled  to  was  paid  by  the  Department 
to  the  respective  contractors  and  was  received  by  them. 

The  aggregate  sum  contracted  to  be  paid  to  these  several  parties  for  the 
vessels  and  machinery,  the  contracts  for  the  construction  of  which  are 
covered  .by  the  pending  bill,  is  the  sum  of  $14,201,000,  and  the  aggre] 
gate  of  the  extra  sums  allowed  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy  on  these 
contracts  is  the  sum  of  $5,302,847.91. 

These  parties  now  ask  the  passage  of  an  act  to  confer  upon  the  Court 
of  Claims  jurisdiction  to  open  up  and  readjust  their  respective  claims 
for  extra  compensation  under  these  contracts. 

The  undersigned  believe  that  common  justice  to  the  whole  people  re- 
<IQiresthat  the  jurisdiction  of  a  tribunal  organized  to  determine  questions 
of  law  or  fact  between  citizens  and  their  Government  should  be  uniform 
aod  equally  applicable  to  all ;  and  that  if  exceptions  should  be  allowed 
to  this  general  rule  it  should  be  to  enable  the  citizen  and  the  Govem- 
ffient  to  obtain  the  legal  interpretation  of  an  ambiguous  contract  or  the 
determination  of  questions  of  fact  and  of  law  where  the  subject-matter 


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8  HELIEF  OP  CERTAIN  NAVAL  CONTRACTORS. 

was  Dot  withiu  the  immediate  sapervision  of  either  of  the  Departments 
of  the  Government.  The  contracts  involved  in  this  inquiry  are  clear 
and  specific,  and  the  facts  connected  with  the  execution  of  each  con- 
tract yoar  committee  find  were  in  detail  before  the  Navy  Department, 
when  the  claims  for  the  extra  allowances  were  considered  by  the  Secre- 
tary of  the  Navy  and  the  extra  allowances  made.  Each  contract  was 
under  the  sapervision  of  an  agent  of  the  Department  who  made  bi- 
weekly reports  on  the  progress  of  the  work  to  the  Department. 

The  undersigned  are  impressed  with  the  belief  that,  under  ordinary 
circumstances,  a  Department  of  Government  is  the  proper  tribunal  to 
adjust  the  claims  of  citizens  growing  out  of  contracts  made  throngh 
such  Department  in  matters  which  by  law  are  placed  under  its  control, 
and  for  which  its  chief  and  his  subordinates  are  held  responsible.  With 
this  view  and  to  aid  in  securing  justice,  alike  to  the  citizen  and  the  Gov- 
ernment, the  Department  of  Justice  is  charged  with  the  duty  of  advising 
the  heads  of  the  other  Departments  touching  the  law.  In  the  determi- 
nation of  such  matters,  a  Department  of  the  Government  has  the  same 
motive  for  good  faith  and  impartiality  that  should  actuate  a  court  of 
justice. 

On  account  of  the  magnitude  of  these  transactions,  after  the  adjustment 
of  these  claims  by  the  Navy  Department,  Congress  thought  proper  to 
require  a  re-examination  of  them  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  and  passed 
the  following  act  which  was  approved  on  the  2d  day  of  March,  1867 : 

AN  ACT  fur  tbe  relief  of  eertain  ooatractora  for  the  oonstnietioa  of  vessels  of  wmr  and  stesmma' 

chinery. 

Beit  enacted  hy  the  Senate  andHovseofJRepreeentativet  of  the  United  Statee  of  America  in 
Congress  assembled,  That  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy  is  hereby  authorized  and  directed 
to  inveHtigat^  the  claims  of  all  contractors  for  baildins  vessels  of  war  and  steam-ma- 
chinery for  the  same  under  contracts  made  after  the  first  day  of  May,  1861,  and  prior 
to  the  first  day  of  January,  lo64,  and  said  investigation  to  be  made  upon  the  following 
basis  :  He  shall  ascertain  the  additional  cost  w-uichTsas  necessarily  incurred  by  each 
contractor  in  the  completion  of  his  work,  by  reason  of  any  changes  or  alterations  in 
the  plans  and  specifications  required  and  delays  in  the  prosecution  of  the  work  occas- 
ioned by  the  Government,  which  were  not  provided  for  in  the  original  contract ;  but  no 
allowance  for  any  advance  in  the  price  of  labor  or  mat«rial  shall  be  considered,  unless 
such  advance  occurred  during  the  prolonged  time  for  completing  the  work  rendered 
necessary  by  the  delay  resulting  from  the  action  of  the  Grovernment  aforesaid,  and  then 
only  when  such  advance  could  not  have  been  avoido<l  by  the  exercise  of  ordinary  pru- 
dence and  diligence  on  the  part  of  the  contractor  ;  and  from  such  additional  cost,  to  be 
ascertained  as  aforesaid,  there  shall  be  deducted  such  sum  as  may  have  been  paid  each 
contractor  for  any  reason  heretofore  over  and  above  the  contract  price  ;  and  shall  re- 
port to  Congress  a  tabular  statement  of  each  case,  which  shall  contain  the  name  of  the 
contractor,  a  description  of  the  work,  the  contract  price,  the  whole  increased  cost  of 
the  work  over  the  contract  price,  and  the  amount  of  such  increased  cost  caused  by  tbe 
delay  and  action  of  the  Government  as  aforesaid,  and  the  amount  already  paid  the  con- 
tractor over  and  above  the  contract  price  :  Provided,  That  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy, 
under  the  resolution,  shall  investigate  the  claim  of  W.  H.  Webb  for  constmcting  the 
steamer  Dunderberg,  applying  the  provisions  of  this  resolution  in  such  investigation, 
except  that  proper  consideration  shall  be  given  to  the  increased  cost  incurred  by  said 
Webb  by  reason  of  any  alteration  in  the  plans  and  specifications  for  the  Dunderberg 
made  during  the  progress  of  the  work,  whether  such  alterations  were  provided  for  iu 
the  original  contract  or  not,  when  payment  for  the  same  was  not  embraced  in  the  con- 
tract price. 

Approved  March  2, 1867. 

To  carry  this  act  into  effect  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  on  the  6th  of 
July,  1867,  appointed  a  board  consisting  of  three  officers  of  the  Navy, 
including  its  chief  engineer. 

These  claims  were  before  the  board  in  detml,  as  also  such  information 


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RELIEF  OF  CERTAIN  NAVAL  CONTRACTORS.         9 

as  the  records  of  the  Department  fdrnlshed,  inclading  correspondence 
and  the  reports  made  from  time  to  time  to  the  Department  by  its  agent 
charged  with  the  superintendence  of  each  work  of  the  progress  of  the 
same.  One  member  of  the  board  at  least  was  personally  familiar  with 
the  facts  involved  in  these  inquiries  by  reason  of  his  official  relations 
mth  the  execntion  of  the  several  contracts. 

The  important  inquiry,  being  the  same  raised  in  the  first  instance  and 
on  which  the  extra  allowances  had  been  made,  was  '<  what  was  the  in- 
creased cost  of  the  vessel  or  machinery  catted  by  the  action  of  the  Gov- 
ernment f  This  was  clearly  the  proper  inquiry.  These  parties  were 
certainly  entitled  to  demand  and  receive  from  the  Government  the  con- 
tract price  for  their  vessels  and  machinery,  and  any  increase  of  the  cost 
to  them  of  the  vessels  or  machinery  occasioned  by  the  action  of  the 
Government,  the  Government  was  bound  to  pay.  This  was  the  real 
inquiry  which  the  act  of  March  2, 1867,  directed  the  Secretary  of  the 
NaTy  to  make.  It  furnished  the  basis  on  which  the  Secretary  of  the 
Navy  had  in  the  first  instance  allowed  and  paid  the  extra  compensation 
to  the  amount  of  $5,302,847.91. 

This  board  made  their  report,  which  was  transmitted  to  Congress  by 
the  Secretary  of  the  !Navy,  and  which  is  embodied  in  the  following 
table  : 

L^ier  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  communicating  report,  of  the  hoard  (pointed  July  6, 1867, 
to  "  fxantine  ike  claims  of  certain  contractora  for  Ike  construction  of  vessels  of  war  and 
tteam-machinery,*^  under  act  of  Congress  approved  March  2, 1867. 

December  4,  1867.— Read,  referred  to  the  Committee  on  Naval  Affairs,  and  ordered  to 

be  printed. 

Navy  Departmknt, 

December  4, 1867. 
Sir  :  An  act  of  Congress  approved  on  the  2d  of  March  last  directs  the  Secretary  of 
the  5avy  *'  to  investigate  the  claims  of  all  contractors  for  building  vessels  of  war  and 
steam-machinery  for  the  same,  under  contracts  made  after  the  first  day  of  May,  eight- 
een hundred  and  sixty-one,  and  prior  to  the  first  day  of  Jan  nary,  eighteen  hundred 
and  sixty-foor,"  and  to  *^  report  to  Congress  a  tabular  statement  of  each  case,  which 
shall  contain  the  name  of  the  contractor,  a  description  of  the  work,  the  contract  price, 
the  whole  increased  cost  of  the  work  over  the  contract  price,  and  the  amount  of  such 
increased  cost  caused  by  the  delay  and  action  of  the  Oovemment  aforesaid,  and  the 
amount  already  paid  the  contractor  over  and  above  the  contract  price." 

To  comply  with  the  requirements  of  this  act,  it  became  necessary  to  convene  a  board 
of  officers  for  the  examination  of  the  several  claims  presented.    Commodore  J.  B.  Mar- 
chaod.  Chief  Kngineer  J.  W.  King,  and  Paymaster  Edward  Foster,  were  assigned  to 
this  duty,  and  their  report  is  herewith  transmitted. 
I  have  the  honor  to  be,  very  respectfully, 

GIDEON  WELLES, 
Secretary  of  the  Navy. 
Hon.  BKNJ>iF.  \Vai>e, 

President  of  the  Senate  pro  tempoj'e. 


Navy  Department, 

November  26, 1867. 
Sir  :  We  have  the  honor  to  report  that,  in  obedience  to  your  order  of  July  6, 1867, 
ve  have  carefully  scrutinized  each  of  the  claims  presented  under  the  act  of  Congress 
approved  ^larch  2, 1867,  "  to  investigate  the  claims  of  certain  contractors  for  building 
vtaaelsof  war  and  steam-machinery,''  and  respectfully  beg  leave  to  inclose,  herewith, 
the  tabular  statement  called  for  by  said  act  of  Congress. 

Messrs  Harlan  &  HoUingsworth,  of  Wilmington,  Del.,  did  not  present  a  statement 
of  their  claim  for  delays  occasioned  by  the  Government  while  constructing  the  harbor 


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10         BELIEF  OP  CERTAIN  NAVAL  CONTBACTOBS. 

and  river  monitor  San^B  and  lif^bt-draught  monitor  Napa ;  but,  in  a  letter  to  yon, 
under  date  of  October  12,  tbey  claim  to  be  entitled  to  the  same  sum  for  the  Saugus 
tbat  tbe  board  may  award  to  tbe  Tecumseh,  and  also  to  tbe  same  sum  in  case  of  the 
Napa  that  may  be  awarded  to  tbe  Casco. 

After  examination,  tbe  board  finds  tbat  Messrs.  Harlan  &  HoUingswortb  are  entitled 
for  tbe  Saugus  to  tbe  same  sum  that  was  awarded  to  Mr.  Harrison  Loring  in  case  of 
tbe  Canontcus,  viz,  $38,513,  but  do  not  find  anything  due  in  case  of  tbe  Napa. 
We  have  the  honor,  sir,  to  be,  very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servants, 

J.  B.  MARCHAND, 

Commodore  and  President 
J.  W.  KING, 

Chief  Engineer  and  Member, 
EDWARD  FOSTER, 

Paymaster  and  Memher 
Hon.  Gideon  Welles, 

Secretary  of  the  Treasury. 


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RELIEF    OF   CERTAIN   NAVAL   CONTRACTORS. 


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RELIEF   OP   CERTAIN   NAVAL   CONTRACTORS. 


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RELIEF   OF   CERTAIN   NAVAL   CONTRACTORS. 


13 


It  will  be  seen  that  this  board  found  that  there  was  no  .increase  of 
the  cost  of  constructing  the  vessels  and  machinery  involved  in  this  in- 
qaiiy  occasioned  by  the  action  of  the  Government,  except  in  seven 
instanoeSy  and  Congress  in  the  passage  of  the  act  entitled  '* An  act  for 
the  relief  of  certain  Government  contractors,''  approved  July  13, 1868, 
(Statutes  at  Large,  vol.  15,  page  379,)  seems  to  have  ratified  the  action 
of  the  board. 

It  is  proper  that  the  undersigned  should  bring,  in  this  connection,  to 
the  attention  of  the  House  the  fact  that  prior  to  the  passage  of  the  act 
of  March  2, 1867,  under  which  the  said  board  was  organized,  the  Senate 
had  on  the  9th  of  March,  1865,  passed  the  following  resolution,  viz : 

hmlved^  That  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy  be  reqaested  to  organize  a  board  of  not  less 
than  three  competent  persons,  whose  duty  it  shall  be  to  inanire  into  and  determine 
how  moch  the  vessels  of  war  and  steam-machinery  contracted  for  by  the  Department 
in  the  years  1862  and  1863  cost  the  contractors  over  and  above  the  contraot^price 
sod  allowance  for  extra  work,  and  report  the  same  to  the  Senate  at  its  next  session. 
None  bat  thoee  that  have  given  satis&ction  to  the  Department  to  be  considered. 

Under  this  resolution  of  the  Senate  a  board  of  three  officers  of  the 
Navy,  inclndingitschiefenginer,wasappointed,  whose  action  is  embodied 
in  the  following  tables  submitted  with  their  report,  viz : 

December  23, 1865—10  o'clock  a.  m. 

The  board  met  pnrsnant  to  adjonmment :  all  the  members  present. 

The  proceedings  of  yesterday  were  read  over. 

The  board,  after  a  critical  examination  of  the  bills  of  cost  presented  by  the  several 
contractors  for  vessels  and  steam-machinery  contracted  for  in  the  years  1862  and  1863, 
who  have  appeared  and  made  sworn  statements,  has  determined  the  excess  of  cost  in 
the  several  cases,  over  and  above  the  contract-price  and  allowance  for  extra  work,  to 
be  as  foUowfl : 

DOUBLE-EXDRRS,  WOODEN  HULLS. 


Name  of  vessel. 

Contractor. 

Excess  of  cost 
determined 
by  board. 

Iosco - 

Larrabee  &.  Allen .. 

111,708  »7 
8,610  77 
8.610  77 
4  128  29 

Agawam  ...... ............... 

G.  W.  Lawrence 

Pontoosnc  - 

do 

M^^m^it 

Cnrtis  &  Tilden 

Oaceola ', 

do 

4,128  29 
4  128  39 

Paul  Curtis ..  _ 

Hsttabesett 

A.  Sl  G.  S.  Samnson 

4,015  38 
16,351  36 
16,441  81 
18,576  52 
14,473  84 

Thomas  Stack  iCo 

Chenaniro 

J.  Simonson  ..............  . 

Lenapee 

Ed.  Lnpton 

MendoU 

F.Z.  Tucker 

MmjEoe 

D.  S.  Mershon 

11,500  00 
3,831  93 

WyiJuBing 

Eataw 

C.  H.  &  W.  M.  Cramp 

J.  J.  Abrahams  ...... ...... .......... 

12,576  10 
5,041  22 

Pontiac 

Hillman  ^ Streaker  ................. 

Total 

144,123  84 

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14 


RELIEF  OF  CERTAIN  NAVAL  CONTRACTORS. 

WOODEN  DOUBLE-EKDEBS—MACHINRRY. 


Name  of  vessel. 

Contractor. 

Excess  of  cost 
determined 
by  board. 

Iosco  

Globe  Works 

$29,789  00 
29,788  99 
40,433  73 
40, 433  73 
25, 119  07 

Massasoit 

do 

Acrawani  .  %..... .... ...... 

Portland  Locomotive  Company 

do 

Pontoosuc 

Mattabesett 

Allaire  Works 

Shamrock 

do 

25, 119  06 
20,331  81 
20, 331  80 
25,826  34 
25, 826  33 
22, 386  61 
30, 617  75 
30,617  75 

Cbickopee ...- 

Neptune  Works. ..................... 

Tallapoosa --.. 

Ascutney 

Morgan^Works- 

CheDango - 

i  -  - . . .  do .• ...... ...... .... .... 

Otsego 

Fulton  Works 

Metacomet ..-. 

Soutb  Brooklyn  Works 

Meodota 

do 

Lenai>ee 

Wasbington  Works 

29, 161  24 
5, 817  38 
5, 817  37 
22,434  50 
44,015  84 
20,513  73 
20,513  72 
61,752  51 
38,325  74 

Miugoe - 

Pose  v.  Jones  &.  Co 

Wyalusing 

do 

PoDtiac 

Neafie  &  Levy. ...................... 

Mackinaw 

Poole  &  Hunt 

Osceola 

Atlantic  Works 

Sassacus 

do 

Peoria 

Etna  Works 

Pawtuxet 

Gardner  &,  Lake 

Total 

614,974  91 

IRON  DOUBLE-ENDERS— HULL  AND  MACHINERY. 


Suwanee 

Reanv. Son  &  Arcbbold.............. 

$28,974  18 
34,161  6:3 

Wateree 

do 

Sbamokin 

do 

33,992  97 
82,460  95 
63,715  41 

Muscoota 

T.  F.  Rowland 

Winnipec 

Harrison  Loring 

Mobongo 

Zeno  Secor  &,  Co. 

113,543  78 

Total 

356,848  92 

IRON-CLAD — MACHINERY. 


IRON  TUG-BOATS— HULL  AND  MACHINERY. 


Pilgrim 
Triana . , 
Maria.  . 


Posey,  Jones  &,  Co  . 
William  Ferine  .... 
do 


Total.. 


$4,793  38 
52,472  81 
43,586  98 


100.853  17 


IRON-CLAD  PROPELLERS— HUIX  AND  MACHINERY. 


Milwaukee . 
Winnebago. 


James  B.  Eads 
do 

Total  ... 


130,438  84 
29,174  20 


59,613  04 


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RELIEF  OF  CERTAIN  NAVAL  CONTRACTORS. 

IRON-CLAD— HULL  AND  MACHINERY. 


15 


Name  of  vessel. 

j                        Contractor. 

1 

Excess  of  cost 
determiD  e  d 
by  board. 

OnoDdaga 

...,  G.  W.  Quintard 

$85,203  91 

HARBOR  AND 

Rn^ER  MONITORS— HULL  AND  MACHINERY. 

Teenmseh .. 
Mahopac  . . . 
Manhattan . 
Catawba... 

Ooeota 

Manaynnk  . 


Z.  &F.  Secor 

do 

W.Perine,Z.F.  Secor. 

Alex.  Swift  &  Co 

do 

Snowden  &  Mason . . . . 

Total 


1119,020  57 
119,020  57 
119,020  57 
114,009  94 
114,009  94 
71,569  42 


656,651  01 


LIGHT-DRAUGHT  MONITOR—HULL  AND  MACHINERY. 


Comanche. — Donabne,  Ryan  &  Secor,  $179,993.80. 

Id  the  case  of  the  Comanche  there  is  an  additional  sum  of  $96,550  now  in  the  courts, 
which  the  contractors  consider  as  a  part  of  the  cost  of  the  yessel,  bat  which  the  board 
have  not  embraced  in  their  award. 


All  of  which  is  respectfully  submitted. 


Hon.  Gideon  Wells, 

Secretary  of  ike  Navjf. 


THOS.  0.  SELFRIDGE, 

Commodore  and  President  of  Board. 
MONTGOMERY  FLETCHER. 

Chief  Engineer. 
CHAS  H.  ELDREDGE, 

Paymaster. 


It  will  be  observed  that  this  resolation,  noder  which  this  board  waa 
organized,  required  the  board  ^^  to  inqaireinto  and  determine  how  much 
the  vessels  of  war  and  steam-machinery "  cost  '^  the  contractors  over 
and  above  the  contract  price  and  allowances  for  extra  work." 

The  andersigned  submit  that  the  information  and  conclusions  fur- 
nished on  this  basis  were  of  no  practical  value ;  and  that  for  that  rea- 
son the  true  and  just  basis  of  adjustment  was  laid  down  by  the  act  of 
Harch  2,  1867,  viz,  ^^  the  increased  cost  occasioned  by  the  action  of  the 
Government^ 

To  indicate  the  nature  of  the  inquiry  under  the  Senate  resolution,  the 
committee  submit  all  the  testimony  taken  by  this  board,  as  reported  by 
them,  touching  certain  of  these  claims,  viz  : 

Appeared  before  the  board  Gastavns  Ricker,  resident  of  Cincinoati,  Ohio,  and  author- 
ized agent  of  Alexander  Swift  &  Co.  and  the  Nilee  Works,  on  the  part  of  said  firm  and 
works,  contractors  for  the  harbor  and  river  monitors  Catawba  and  Oneota.  Under 
oath  states,  that  the  contracts  for  these  vessels  were  dated  by  the  Navy  Department, 


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16         BELIEF  OF  CERTAIN  NAVAL  CONTRACTORS. 

respectively,  September  15, 1862,  and  October  13, 1862,  in  which  they  were  allowed  six 
<6)  mouths  from  the  date  of  contract  to  complete  and  deliver  them  to  the  Government ; 
bnt  thev  were  not  so  completed  and  delivered  until  on  or  about  the  1st  of  Jane,  1865. 
This  delay  was  caused  by  alterations  being  made  by  order  of  the  Department  and  the 
scarcity  of  labor.  The  excess  of  cost  is  accounted  for  in  being  obliged  to  raise  the  ves- 
sels eighteen  inches,  extensive  alterations  in  turrets,  and  increased  size  of  boilers  over 
stipulations  of  contract;  that  the  total  cost,  including  bill  for  extra  work  paid  in  full 
by  the  Government,  viz,  $322,849,  was  $1,470,868.88 ;  that  the  contract-price  paid  for 
both  vessels  was  (920,000 ;  received  for  extra  work,  (332,849 ;  totol  received,  (1,242,849— 
leaving  a  balance,  the  excess  of  cost  to  them  over  and  above  the  contract-price,  of 
(228,019.88 ;  that  there  is  no  charge  in  the  bill  (annexed  to  this  record,  marked  No.  26) 
for  any  condemned  material  or  faulty  workmanship,  and  that  it  shows  the  actual  cost 
of  labor  and  material. 

Appeared  before  the  board  Zeno  Secor,  one  of  the  firm  of  Secor  &  Company,  and 
Penne,  Secor  &  Company,  contractors  for  the  iron-clads  Mahopac,  Tecumseh,  and 
Manhattan ;  and  also  appeared  James  F.  Seoor,  employ^  of  said  firms.  Under  oath 
they  state  that  the  contracts  for  these  vessels  were  dated  by  the  Navv  Department 
September  1, 1862,  in  which  they  were  allowed  six  (6)  months,  or  until  March  1, 1863. 
to  complete  and  deliver  them  to  the  Government,  but  the  Tecumseh  was  not  so  com- 
pleted and  delivered  until  March  28, 1864 ;  the  Manhattan  until  May  23, 1864,  and  the 
Mahopac  until  August  20, 1864.  The  cause  of  this  delay  was  owing  to  alterations  and 
additions  to  original  specifications  required  by  the  Departmeut.  That  the  total  cost 
of  hull  and  machinery,  including  bills  of  extra  work,  was  (2,270,447.63 ;  received  from 
the  Department  on  contract-price,  (1,371,836.55 ;  reserved  by  Government  on  contract, 
for  patent  fees,  (8,163.45 ;  received  for  extra  work,  (516,218.41 ;  total  amount  received, 
(l,8i88,054.96 ;  leaving  a  balance,  excess  of  cost  to  them  over  and  above  contract- 

Srice,  of  (382,392.67.  That  the  excess  of  cost  over  and  above  contract-price  is  mainly 
ue  to  alterations  and  additions  made,  and  the  rise  in  price  of  material  and  labor. 
That  there  is  no  charge  in  the  bills  annexed  to  tiiis  record,  marked  No.  33,  for  any 
condemned  material  or  faulty  workmanship,  and  that  it  shows  the  actual  cost  of  labor 
and  material. 

The  undersiged  have  not  deemed  it  necessary  to  inquire  whether  on 
the  one  hand  these  contracts,  as  finally  executed  and  fulfilled,  were  of 
value  to  the  Government,  or  on  the  other  whether,  independent  of  the 
action  of  the  Government,  the  contracts  resulted  in  loss  to  the  contrac- 
tors. While  it  is  to  be  regretted  that  any  enterprise  involving  the  in- 
dustry of  the  country,  whether  entered  upon  under  contract  with  the 
Government,  or  otherwise,  should  result  in  loss,  the  undersigned  are  of 
the  opinion  that  the  Government,  like  other  contracting  parties,  should 
only  be  expected  to  carry  out  its  contracts  in  good  faith,  and  your  com- 
mittee submit  that  this  rule  is  imperatively  demanded  by  a  sound  public 
policy.  They  further  submit  that,  while  to  enforce  contracts  against 
itself,  it  was  clearly  the  part  of  a  wise  and  just  government  to  open  to  its 
citizens  a  tribunal  of  justice,  at  the  same  time  a  law  of  limitation  of 
actions — a  statute  of  repose,  such  as  would  be  deemed  reasonable  as  be- 
tween citizens — should,  for  obvious  reasons,  be  applied  in  behalf  of  the 
Government. 

Among  the  reasons,  therefore,  against  these  claims,  are  the  following: 

I.  These  claimants  have  already  been  heard,  their  demands  investi- 
gated again  and  again  by  the  officers  authorized  by  law,  in  the  mode 
prescnlK3d  when  their  claims  originated,  and  since,  in  pursuance  of  a 
special  act  of  Congress  in  their  favor,  in  the  mode  which  they  accepted. 

The  awards  made  in  their  favor  cannot  be  disregarded  and  new  de- 
mands sanctioned  without  impeaching  the  intelligence,  fidelity,  or  jus- 
tice of  the  officers  who  have  already  passed  on  these  claims. 

II.  These  contractors  and  claimants  are  men  of  more  than  ordinary 
intelligence  and  business  capacity.  They  had  a  right  by  law  to  sue  in 
the  Court  of  Claims,  when  all  the  facts  could  be  readily  ascertained. 
They  did  not  do  so.  Now,  Government  officers  who  may  be  presumed 
to  have  had  full  knowledge  of  the  facts,  have  in  part  died,  or  gone  out 
of  office,  or  are  no  longer  accessible,  or  have  forgotten  many  facts  which 


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RELIEF  OP  CERTAIN  NATAL  CONTRACTORS.         17 

may  be  material  to  protect  the  Government.  Where  this  is  the  case, 
there  is  much  more  reason  and  justice  for  saying  claims  barred  by  the 
statnte  of  limitations  should  remain  barred,  than  in  actions  between 
living,  individual  persons,  whose  interests  will  more  certainly  secure 
the  memory  and  evidence  of  material  facts  better  than  in  the  case  of  a 
Government  whose  officers  are  too  frequently  changing.  And  it  cannot 
l)e  denied  that  there  is  a  vigilance  in  watching  private  interests  which 
is  rarely  ever  secured  for  the  Government. 

These  claims  are  barred  by  the  statute  of  limitations,  and  now  to 
open  them  up  to  a  suit  will  put  the  Government  at  a  great  disadvantage 
and  give  the  claimants  a  great  advantage. 

III.  These  intelligent  claimants,  with  a  full  knowledge  of  their  rights, 
not  only  declined  to  sue  the  United  States  when  they  had  a  right  to  do 
so,  but  they  actually  settled  all  disputed  matters  with  the  proper  officers 
and  gave  a  receipt  in  full  to  the  United  States  of  all  the  claims  which  they 
wnx)  seek  to  recover. 

Congress  should  be  just,  but  it  has  no  right  to  surrender  the  rights  of 
the  United  States,  violate  the  limitation  laws  made  for  the  protection 
of  the  people  and  to  secure  the  ends  of  justice,  and  tax  the  whole  public 
to  pay  stale  claims,  the  payment  of  which  no  law  sanctions,  and  full 
satisfaction  of  which  has  already  been  acknowledged. 

IV.  If  a  special  privilege  is  now  given  to  these  claimants  to  sue  the 
United  States  it  will  invite  a  multitude  of  other  claims,  and  great  injus- 
tice may  and  doubtless  will  be  done  to  the  Government.  There  should 
be  an  end  to  all  demands  of  this  kind.  Claims  should  not  be  immortal 
while  men  are  only  mortal  in  this  sphere  of  action. 

V.  In  the  case  of  Choteau  vs.  The  United  States,  decided  in  the  Court 
of  Claims,  involving  a  claim  in  one  of  the  so-called  ^'  iron-clad  claims," 
the  court  has  already  decided  against  the  claimant. 

There  are  other  considerations  against  some  of  the  claims  which  may 
be  worthy  of  consideration,  but  it  seems  to  us  enough  has  already  been 
said  to  show  that  th^  claimants  have  no  rightful  demand  on  the  Gov- 
ernment. 

The  undersigned,  therefore,  after  a  very  careful  examination  of  all  the 
facts,  are  of  opinion  that  the  bill  should  not  pass,  and  recommend  its 
indefinite  postponement. 
Eespectfully  submitted. 

WM.  LAWKENCE. 
WM.  S.  HOLMAN. 
JAMBS  WILSON. 
H.  leep.  269 2 


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43d  OoTOBESSy  \     HOUSE  OF  BBPBESENTATIYfiS.     /  BbpobT 
UiBdfum.     §  t  No.  270. 


MARTIN  LAPFIN. 


March  97,  1874.— ComiDitted  to  a  Committee  of  the  Whole  House  Aud  oidereu  «o  be 

printed. 


Mr.  Busk,  from  the  Committee  on  Invalid  Pensions,  submitted  the  fol- 
lowing 

REPORT. 

[To  accompany  biU  H.  R.  1145.] 

Tkf  Committee  on  Invaiid  PenHons^  to  whom  was  referred  the  petition  of 
Martin  Laffin^  late  a  private  in  Company  JB,  Ninetieth  Regiment  lUinots 
Volunteers  J  having  considered  the  same^  make  the  following  report : 

The  claimant  in  his  petition,  under  oath,  says  that  previous  to  his 
enlisting  in  the  United  States  service  was  sound  in  bodily  health,  and 
had  never  been  afflicted  with  rheumatism  or  rheumatic  complaint  until 
after  he  entered  the  service;  that  he  is  unable  to  furnish  medical  evi- 
dence in  support  of  this  idlegation,  for  the  reason  tiiat  he  had  never  been 
sufficiently  out  of  health  to  require  the  attendance  of  a  physician  pre- 
vious to  enlistment;  that  he  has  made  diligent  inquiry,  but  is  unable  to 
obtain  the  address  of  either  the  late  surgeon  or  assistant  surgeon  of  the 
regiment  in  which  he  served  in  order  to  avail  himself  of  their  evidence 
in  support  of  his  claim. 

Dr.  N.  P.  Strong,  examining  surgeon,  in  his  examination  of  the  claim- 
ant July  2, 1873,  describes  his  condition  as  follows : 

"  ELad  flesh-wound  of  left  hip  and  shoulder,  of  right  shin  and  under 
light  eye.  By  reason  of  the  wound  the  sight  of  the  eye  has  been  con- 
siderably impaired,  and  the  wound  of  the  muscles  of  the  shoulder  has 
produced  troublesome  rheumatism  about  the  joint.  Aside  firom  these, 
the  wounds  do  not  disable  him  seriously.  Has  rheumatism  about  the 
hips  and  back  mostly,  which  disable  him  from  manual  labor  a  portion 
of  the  time.  Disability  by  rheumatism,  one-half;  by  loss  of  sight,  one- 
fourth.''  • 

The  sworn  testimony  of  Philip  Keeley  and  Thomas  Savage  shows  that 
they  were  personally  acquainted  with  the  claimant  for  eighteen  years 
and  more  prior  to  his  enlistment,  and  that  said  claimant  was  always  a 
man  of  sound  bodily  health  up  to  the  time  of  his  going  into  the  service, 
80  far  as  known  to  them,  and  that  from  their  intimate  acquaintance  with 
him  would  have  known  it  had  the  contrary  been  the  case. 

M.  W.  Mnrphey,  late  captain  of  Company  B,  Ninetieth  Begiment  Illi- 
nois Volunteers,  duly  sworn,  says  that  he  was  well  acquainted  with  the 
claimant,  and  that  it  is  his  opinion  he  was  a  man  of  sound  bodily  health ; 
a  most  faithful  soldier,  doinggallant  duty,  as  the  number  of  battles  he  was 
engaged  in  and  wounds  received  abundantly  testify,  and  that  he  has 
implicit  confidence  in  the  statement  of  claimant  set  forth  in  the  petition  ; 


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2  MABXIK  LAFFIK. 

and  that  while  in  the  varions  hospitals  was  treated  for  woands,  general 
debility,  and  rheumatism,  caased  by  the  excessive  daty  p^ormed, 
hardships,  and  exposure. 

Patrick  Flynn,  late  mi^or  of  the  same  regiment,  says  in  his  affidavit 
that  he  is  well  acquainted  with  the  claimant,  and  swears  positively  of 
his  own  personal  knowledge  that  the  wounds  and  disability  for  which 
petitioner  claims  an  invalid  pension,  were  received  and  contracted  while 
in  the  United  States  service  and  in  the  line  of  duty. 

The  facts  set  out  in  the  petition  are,  in  the  opinion  of  the  committee, 
abundantly  proven,  and  that  the  claimant  presents  a  good  and  merito- 
rious case,  and  are  therefore  unanimous  in  recommending  the  passage 
of  the  bill. 


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43d  CoifGBESS,  >     HOUSE  OP  EEPEESEKTATIVES,       i  Eepobt 
lit  8es9unu     f  \  No.  271. 


EDWARD    O'DBISCOLL. 


March  27, 1874.— Ordered  to  be  printed. 


Mr.  EusK,  from  tba  Committee  on  Invalid  Pensions,  submitted  the  fol- 
lowing 

REPORT: 

[To  accompany  bill  H.  R.  25.] 

The  Committee  on  Invalid  PenaionSy  to  whom  was  referred  the  hill  {H.  R. 
25)  restoring  Edward  CPDriacoll  to  the  pension-rolls^  report  as  follows  : 

The  applicant  fails  to  fhmish  evidence  that  wonld  jnstify  the  Com- 
mittee iu  coming  to  a  oonclnsion  adverse  to  the  raling  of  the  Commis- 
sioner of  Pensions.  •  The  committee  consider  the  provisions  of  existing 
law  sufficient  to  govern  this  case,  and  therefore  report  adversdy  on  the 
bilL 


O 


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43d  Ookobess,  I     HOUSE  OF  EEPEESENTATIVES.     (  Eepobt 
iMt  Session.     §  \  No.  272. 


JAMES  QUIGLEY. 


March  27, 1874.— Ordered  to  be  printed. 


'Ml.  SusK,  irom  the  Gommittee  on  Invalid  Pensions,  submitted  the  fol- 
lowing 

REPORT: 

The  Committee  on  Invalid  PensionSy  to  whom  was  referred  the  petition  of 
James  Quigleu^  father  and  guardian  of  Patrich  J.  Quigley^  late  a  private 
in  Company  0,  West  Virginia  Light  ArtUlery^  now  insane^  maJce  thefoU 
lowing  report: 

The  evidenoe  presented  in  this  case  shows  that  insanity  was  caused 
by  a  blow  upon  the  head  while  in  a  fight  with  a  comrade,  and  not  while 
in  the  line  of  duty.  The  committee  therefore  report  adversely  on  the 
petition. 


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43d  Congress,  )     HO[JSE  OF  KEPEESENTATIYES.      j  Keport 
1*^  Session.      J  (  No.  273 


ISAAC  STEVENS. 


March  27, 1S74. — Committed  to  a  Committee  of  the  Whole  House  and  ordered   to 

be  printed. 


M .  Rusk,  from  the  Committee  on  Invalid  Pensions,  submitted  the  fol- 
lowing 

REPORT: 

[To  accompany  bill  H.  R.  1673.] 

The  Committee  on  Invalid  Pensions^  to  whom  was  referred  the  hill  (H.  R. 
1613 J  granting  a  pension  to  Isaac  Stevens^  maJce  the  following  report : 

The  claimant,  Isaac  Stevens,  was  seventeen  years  old  at  the  time  he 
enlisted  in  Company  D,  Thirty-seventh  Regiment  Indiana  Volunteers, 
September  18, 1861,  and  at  that  time  was  a  stoat  and  healthy  young 
man.  While  at  Elizabeth,  Ky.,  he  had  an  attack  of  diarrhoea,  and  dur- 
ing the  ^eater  portion  of  his  enlistment  suffered  from  the  effects  of  this 
disease,  and  received  treatment  for  the  same :  and  owing  to  the  hard- 
8hips  and  exposures  incident  to  a  soldier's  life,  the  disease  assumed  an 
aggravated  nature,  and  is  physician  states  he  his  now  unable  to  perform 
any  manual  labor,  and  entirely  dependent  upon  his  wife  (who  is  also  in 
poor  health)  and  public  charity  for  support.  He  was  wounded  in  the 
arm  at  the  battle  of  Stone  River,  and  the  testimony  is  that  the  wound 
has  rendered  his  arm  weak,  and  interferes  with  its  usefulness  to  a  con- 
siderable extent. 

The  committee  having  examined  the  papers  in  this  case,  and  in  view 
of  the  numerously  signed  petition  of  responsible  citizens,  fully  setting 
forth  the  facts  and  praying  for  his  relief,  and  that  the  claimant  has  be- 
<!Ome  a  public  charge,  are  of  the  opinion  that  the  claim  is  a  meritorious 
one,  and  therefore  recommend  the  passage  of  the  bill. 


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43d  Conobess,  \     HOUSE  OF  REPBESENTATIVES.       )  Report 
Ut  St9sion.     i  }  No.  274. 


WILLIAM  J.  UHLER. 


Marc  H  27, 1874. — Committed  to  a  Committee  of  the  Whole  House  and  ordered  to 

be  printed. 


Mr.  Rusk,  from  the  Committee  on  Invalid  Pensions,  submitted  the  fol- 
lowing 

REPORT: 

[To  accompany  biU  H.  K.  2668.] 

The  Committee  on  Invalid  Pen^iona^  to  whom  was  referred  tlie  petition  of 
Abraham  Keil^  guardian^  for  a  pension  to  the  minor  child  of  Nelson  M. 
Uhlerj  late  a  private  in  Company  B^  Twenty-first  Ohio  Volunteers^  hav- 
ing considered  the  same^  make  the  following  report : 

It  appears  from  the  evidence  in  this  case  that  Nelson  M.  Uhler,  with 
three  other  soldiers  of  the  same  company,  were  captured  by  the  enemy 
while  on  a  foraging  expedition  by  implied  permission  only,  and  held 
prisoners  of  war  from  November  10,  1864,  to  the  24th  day  of  March, 
18G5,  at  which  time  they  were  sent  to  Yicksburgh  and  released.  At  this 
point  they  embarked  in  the  ill-fated  steamer  Sultana  to  go  North,  which 
exploded  on  the  trip,  killing  Uhler,  while  the  other  three  escaped.  It 
also  appears  that  the  charge  of  desertion  was  entered  against  these 
soldiers,  l>nt  on  proper  presentation  of  all  the  facts  in  the  case,  the 
charge  of  desertion  against  the  surviving  soldiers  was  removed  by  order 
of  the  War  Department,  with  pay,  bounty,  and  honorable  discharges. 
On  September  15, 1865,  Miza  E.  Uhler,  widow  of  Nelson  M.  Uhler,  ap- 
plied for  x>ension,  but  was  refused  on  the  ground  that  her  husband  was 
charged  with  desertion.  Efforts  were  then  made  to  have  the  charge  re- 
moved, and  was  granted  August  20,  1870.  Pending  this  action,  the 
widow  died.  Abraham  Keil,  guardian,  then  made  application  for  pen- 
sion for  the  minor  child,  William  J.  XThler,  but  was  refused  on  the  ground 
that  the  soldier  was  not  in  the  line  of  duty  when  captured  by  the  enemy. 

In  view  of  all  the  proof  and  facts  in  this  case,  the  committee  are  of 
the  opinion  that  it  is  a  meritorious  one,  and  recommend  the  passage  of 
the  accompanying  bill. 


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43d  Congress,  >     HOUSE  OF  EEPKESENTATIVES.      (  Repobt 
Ut  Session,      i  \  No.  275. 


JOHX  FOLGER. 


March  27,  1874. — Committed  to  a  Committee  of  the  Whole  Hoase  and   ordered  to 

be  printed. 


Mr.  Rusk,  from  tbe  Committee  on  Invalid  Pensions,  submitted  the  fol- 
lowing 

REPORT: 

[To  accompany  biU  H.  R.  1439.] 

The  Committee  on  Invalid  Pensions^  to  wlwm  was  re/erred  tJie  Mil  {H.  B. 
1439)  granting  a  pension  to  John  Folger^  late  a  private  in  Company  if, 
One  hundred  and  twenty-second  Regiment  Ohio  Volunteers^  having  con- 
sidered the  samcj  maJce  the  following  report : 

Tbe  claimant  was  a  drafted  man,  and  mustered  into  service  on  or  about 
tbe  18th  day  of  May,  1864.  In  his  statement,  under  oath,  he  says  that 
vhile  the  regiment  was  on  the  march  from  Bolivar's  Heights,  Virginia, 
to  Frederick  City,  he  became  worn  out  from  marching  and  excessive 
heat,  and  was  therefore  unable  to  keep  up  with  the  company ;  that  he 
received  a  pass  from  the  surgeon  of  the  regiment  to  allow  him  to  pass 
the  provost  guards,  and  ordered  him  to  follow  the  regiment  as  fast  as 
possible,  and  did  so.  That  on  the  31st  day  of  July,  1864,  near  Peters- 
viile,  Md.,  be  stepped  out  of  the  road,  over  which  troops  were  passing, 
and  while  resting  under  the  shade  of  a  tree  with  his  gun  unloaded  rest- 
ing on  his  shoulder  fell  asleep,  when  he  was  shot  in  the  left  arm,  shat- 
tering it  to  such  an  extent  as  to  make  amputation  necessary. 

These  facts  are  clearly  proved  by  well-authenticated  testimony,  and 
the  only  difficulty  in  the  way  of  his  receiving  a  pension  is  that  his 
absence  from  the  command  at  the  time  is  regarded  by  the  Pension-Office 
as  not  being  by  proper  authority,  and  hence  they  rejected  the  claim. 

Tbe  testimony  bearing  directly  upon  the  point  of  absence  by  compe- 
tent authority  is  given  by  Rev.  Joseph  Trap  well,  who  found  the  claim- 
ant when  first  wounded,  and  who  took  him  to  his  own  house,  where  the 
amputation  was  performed.  Mr.  Trapwell  says  that  claimant  did  have 
a  pass  from  the  surgeon  of  the  regiment,  allowing  him  to  follow  the 
regiment  as  fast  as  possible,  and  to  pass  the  guard. 

W.  M.  Houston,  regimental  surgeon,  states  that  while  he  has  no 
recollection  of  giving  the  claimant  a  pass,  nor  any  record  of  such  a  pass 
on  his  books,  he  thinks  it  very  likely  that  he  did  do  so. 

The  committee  are  clearly  of  the  opinion  that  the  preponderance  of 
testimony  is  on  the  side  of  claimant,  and  that  the  passage  of  a  bill  for 
bis  relief  would  only  be  an  act  of  justice.  We  therefore  recommend 
tbe  passage  of  the  bill. 


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i3D  Congress,  >     HOUSE  OP  REPRESENTATIVES.      (  Report 
iMt  Session,     f  \  No.  276. 


LUCINDA  JONES. 


Xarch  27, 1874. — Committed  to  a  Committee  of  the  Whole  House  and  ordered  to  be 

piloted. 


Mr.  Martin,  from  the  Committee  on  Invalid  Pensions,  submitted  the 

following 

REPORT: 

[To  accompany  hill  H.  R.  1843.] 

The  Committee  on  Invalid  Pensions^  to  whom  was  referred  the  petition  of 
Ludnda  JoneSj  make  the  following  report: 

Thompson  M.  Jones  was  a  private  in  Company  G,  commanded  by 
Capt.  James  S.  Jackson,  Twenty-second  Regiment  Illinois  Volunteers, 
and  was  seriously  wounded  in  the  left  arm  on  the  7th  November,  1861, 
in  the  battle  of  Belmont,  Missouri.  The  wound  was  so  serious  that  the 
arm  had  to  be  amputated  between  the  elbow  and  shoulder.  After  the 
amputation  Mr.  Jones  was  discharged  from  the  service,  and  returned 
to  his  home  in  Marion  County,  Illinois,  where  he  died  on  the  9th  day  of 
November,  1865. 

On  the  9th  day  of  February,  1874,  a  bill  was  introduced  into  Con- 
gress granting  a  pension  to  Lucinda  Jones,  the  widow  of  Thompson  M. 
Jones,  late  a  private  of  Company  G,  Twenty-second  Regiment  Illinois 
Volunteers. 

The  marriage  of  Lucinda  McCoy  to  Thompson  M.  Jones  on  the  13th 
August,  1835,  is  clearly  proven  by  a  certified  copy  of  the  license  and 
certificate  of  marriage,  also  by  the  affidavits  of  witnesses  who  knew 
of  their  cohabitation  as  man  and  wife  for  many  years,  some  of  whom 
were  present  at  the  birth  of  their  children. 

It  is  also  clearly  proven  by  five  of  the  acquaintances  and  neighbors  of 
Thompson  M.  Jones  that  at  the  time  of  his  enlistment  in  the  service,  and 
np  to  the  date  of  his  wound,  he  was  a  strong,  healthy,  robust  man,  and 
after  the  wound  and  amputation  of  the  arm  his  general  health  was  so 
Berionsly  impaired,  his  constitution  so  wrecked  and  his  nervous  system 
soruioed,  that  he  passed  into  a  constant  and  gradual  decline  up  to  the 
time  of  his  death.  Mrs.  Jones  asks  for  a  pension  for  herself  and  chil- 
dren, upon  the  grounds  that  her  husband  lost  his  life  in  the  line  of  his 
doty,  in  consequence  of  the  gunshot  wound  received  four  years  prior 
to  his  death.  Is  that  the  case  f  If  so,  the  applicant  is  clearly  entitled  to 
the  pension  for  herself  and  three  children  under  the  age  of  sixteen.  Dr. 
J.  A.  Irwin,  onder  oath,  says  he  was  well  acquainted  with  Mr.  Thompson 
M.  Jones,  now  deceased;  became  acquainted  with  him  in  August,  1865; 
he  then  had  no  impaired  constitution,  the  immediate  result j  to  use  the 
physician's  own  language,  of  the  wound  and  loss  of  (he  arm.  The  doctor 
further  says,  ''His  constitution,  so  impaired,  rendered  him  an  easy  prey 
to  any  disease;  and  having  been  his  attending  physician  in  his  last 


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2  LUCINDA   JONES. 

illness/'  he  says,  ^^  bad  Jones's  constita tion  been  unimpaired,  be  would  bave 
survived  tbe  attack  of  tbe  disease  witb  wbicb  be  died."  Does  not  this 
language  show  tbat  he  died  by  reason  of  the  wouud,  however  remote 
the  day  of  tbe  wound  ?  It  may  not  bave  been  the  approximate  cause  of 
the  death,  yet  the  wound  bad  so  impaired  bis  whole  physical  system, 
from  tbat  of  eutire  souuduess  to  tbat  of  eutire  prostration,  that  he  was 
made  tbe  easy  prey  of  tbe  disease  of  wbicb  be  nominally  died.  Tour 
committee,  believiug  tbat  Mr.  Jones  lost  bis  life  in  tbe  line  of  bis 
duty,  or  by  a  cause  occurriug  at  tbe  time  be  was  engaged  in  the  line  of 
duty,  recommend  tbe  passage  of  the  bill. 


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43d  Congress,  >     HOUSE  OF  EEPRESENTATIVES.     (  Eepoet 
1^  Session,     f  \  Ko.  277. 


JEXNET  H.  NISBET. 


3iARCH  27,  1874. — Committed  to  a  Committee  of  the  Whole  Hoase  and  ordered  te  be 

printed. 


Mr.  SlAETiN,  from  the  Committee  on  Invalid  Pensions,  submitt^  the 

following 

REPOET: 

[To  accompany  biU  H.  B.  2161.J 

The  Committee  on  Invalid  Pensions,  to  whom  teas  referred  the  petition  of 
Jennet  H.  Nishet^  mother  of  Thomas  Nisbetj  late  a  musician  in  the 
Forty-fourth  Begiment  Ohio  Volunteers,  respectfully  report : 

That  we  find  Thomas  Nisbet  was  a  musician  in  the  Forty-fourth 
Begiment  Ohio  Yolnnteers;  that  he  died  in  camp-hospital  at  Meadow 
Blnffs,  West  Virginia,  on  the  24th  day  of  Jnly,  1862.  It  is  shown  by 
the  proofs  on  file  that  petitioner  was  dependent  on  her  said  son  for 
rapport ;  that  she  is  now  sixty-seven  years  of  age,  in  feeble  health,  and 
entirely  withont  the  means  of  support;  therefore,  your  committee  report 
favorably  and  recommend  the  passage  of  the  accompanying  bill. 


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43d  Congress,  •    HOUSE  OF  EEPRESENTATIVES.    j  Eeport 
1st  Session,     f  \    No.  278. 


DEBORAH  A.  SWAN. 


Mabcu  27, 1S74.— Committed  to  a  Committee  of  the  Whole  Iloase  and  ordered  to  be 

printed. 


Mr.  Martin,  from  the  Committee  on  Invalid  Pensions,  submitted  the 

following 

REPORT: 

[To  accompany  bill  H.  R.  2G69.] 

The  Committee  on  Invalid  Pensions^  to  whom  teas  referred  the  petition  of 
Dthorah  A,  Sican^  widow  of  Levi  Swan^  private  Company  E^  Fifty- 
eiyhth  Regiment  Illinois  Infantry  Volunteers^  respectfully  report : 

That  said  soldier  enlisted  on  the  20th  day  of  December,  ISGl,  and 
(lied  in  hospital  at  Camp  Donglas,  Illinois,  on  the  13th  day  of  January, 
18G2.  Report  of  War  Department  fails  to  show  cause  of  death.  It  is 
shown  by  the  sworn  statements  of  two  comrades,  who  were  in  the  hos- 
pital with  said  Swan  at  the  time  of  his  death,  that  he  died  of  l^ng  fever, 
and  that  the  same  was  contracted  in  the  service  and  in  line  of  duty.  It  is 
farther  shown  by  the  evidence  that  petitioner,  Deborah  A.  Swan,  is  the 
iridow  of  said  deceased  soldier,  and  that  she  applied  for  a  pension  on 
the  1st  day  of  March,  18G4,  which  was  rejected  on  the  grounds  that  the 
claim  was  not  completed  within  three  years,  as  provided  by  act  July  4, 
1864.  Your  committee  are  clearly  of  the  opinion  that  the  evidence  on  file 
faUy  establishes  the  claim,  and  therefore  report  favorably. 


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43d  Conotess,  )     HOUSE  OP  EEPRESBNTATIVES.      /  Report 
Ut  SesHon.     f  )  No.  279. 


MARY  S.  HOWE. 


March  27, 1874.— Com  mi  t  ted  to  a  Committee  of  the  Whole  Hoase  and  ordered  to  be 

printed. 


Mr.  Maktin,  from  the  Committee  on  Invalid  Pensions,  submitted  the 

following 

REPORT: 

[To  accompany  biU  H.  R.  2670.] 

The  Committee  an  Invalid  Pensions^  to  whom  teas  re/erred  the  petition  of 
Mary  S.  Hotce^  widow  of  David  Hoice^  late  special  agent  provost-marshaVs 
office,  fourth  district  of  Massachusetts^  respectfully  report: 

That  said  David  Howe  was  a  special  agent  of  the  provost-marshal's 
office  for  the  fourth  district  of  Massachusetts,  from  July  6,  1863.  to 
April  21, 1865.  That  he  was  severely  iujured  by  a  mob  on  the  14th  day 
of  July,  1863,  while  engaged  in  his  official  duties  as  such  special  agent, 
distributing  drafts.  The  injuries  were  of  such  a  nature  as  to  render 
him  totally  unfitted  to  perform  manual  labor,  and  from  which  he  died 
on  the  22d  day  of  July,  1869.  From  the  date  of  his  injuries  to  the  date 
of  his  death,  he  required  the  constant  care  and  attention  of  another  per- 
son. He  was  pensioned  by  special  act  of  Congress,  February  28, 1868, 
at  the  rate  of  $25  x>er  month,  same  to  commence  April  25, 1865.  It  is 
represented  that  i>etitioner  i»  in  destitute  circumstances  and  unable, 
through  feeble  health,  to  support  herself  by  manual  labor.  She  asks 
that  her  name  be^placied  on  the  pension-rolls,  and  your  committee,  in 
view  of  all  the  facts  in  the  case,  report  favorably  and  recommend  that 
the  name  of  petitioner  be  placed  on  the  pension-rolls  at  the  rate  of  eight 
dollars  per  month,  to  commence  from  the  passage  of  this  act. 


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43d  Oongbess,  »     HOUSE  OF  EEPEE3ENTATIVES.     /  Report 
Ui  Sessian.     f  \lSo.  280. 


GEN.  A.  C.  VOEIS. 


MAKCa  87,  1874.— Committed  to  a  Committee  of  the  Whole  Honse  and  ordered  to  be 

printed. 


Mr.  Martin,  from  the  Committee  on  Invalid  Pensions,  submitted  the 

following 

REPORT: 

[To  accompany  bill  U.  R.  2671.] 

The  Committee  on  Invalid  Pensions,  to  ichom  was  referred  the  petition  of 
Gen.  A.  O.  Voris,  late  colonel  of  the  Sixty  seventh  Regiment  Ohio  Volun- 
teersj  beg  leave  to  report : 

"  That  Gen.  A.  C.  Voris  entered  the  service  in  January,  1862,  as  lieu- 
tenant-colonel of  the  Sixty-seventh  Regiment  Ohio  Volunteer  Infantry; 
received  promotion  for  gallant  and  distinguished  service  until  he  reached 
the  rank  of  brevet  major-general.  He  was  severely  wounded  on  the  18th 
day  of  Jnly,  1863,  in  an  assault  on  Fort  Wagoner,  So.uth  Carolina,  by 
a  gun-shot  wound  in  the  abdomen.  The  ball  struck  his  sword-belt  ring 
and  divided  into  unequal  parts,  the  smaller  part  lodging  in  the  muscles 
that  support  the  abdomen,  the  larger  portion  passing  downward  and 
backward,  and  lodging  in  the  upper  surface  of  the  bladder,  where  it 
remained  until  about  the  1st  of  November,  1872,  when  it  broke  through 
the  walls  of  the  bladder,  and  there  remained  until  removed  by  surgical 
operation  on  the  24th  day  of  November,  1873. 

General  Yoris  states  that  he  was  entirely  deceived  by  finding  the 
smaller  piece  of  lead  shortly  after  he  was  hurt,  and  did  not  know  from 
what  cause  he  was  suffering  until  the  bullet  was  found  in  his  bladder. 
GenenJ  Voris  states  that  he  has  suffered  great  pain  at  times  from  the  date 
of  his  wound  up  to  the  operation,  and  supposed  he  was  suffering  from 
paralytic  rheumatism;  further  states  that  he  has  expended  at  least  $500 
for  medical  services,  and  asks  that  he  be  granted  a  pension ;  that  he 
has  never  applied  for  a  pension,  for  the  reason  that  he  could  not  deter- 
mine his  disease  and  did  not  know  that  he  was  so  clearly  entitled  until 
after  the  surgical  operation. 

Dr.  Thomas  McEbright,  of  Acton,  Ohio,  United  States  pension  sur- 
geon, states  that  he  has  attended  General  Yoris  for  some  months,  and 
assisted  in  the  operation  for  stone  in  the  bladder.  He  fully  coroborates 
the  statements  of  General  Yoris.  His  affidavit  is  herewith  filed  and  made 
part  of  this  report 

In  view  of  all  the  facts  in  the  case,  the  distinguished  services  of 
General  Yoris,  his  great  suffering  from  the  wound  received  in  the  ser- 
vice and  in  the  line  of  duty,  your  committee  report  favorably,  and 
recommend  the  passage  of  a  special  act  granting  a  pension  at  the  rate 
of  $30  per  month,  same  to  commence  from  the  date  of  the  discharge  of 
General  Yoris  from  the  service  of  the  United  States, 


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2  GEN.   A.    C.   VOBIS. 

Ths  State  of  Ohio^ 

Summit  County,  ss: 

Thomas  McEbrieht,  of  the  city  of  Akron,  and  State  of  Ohio,  being  first  duly  sworn,  upon 
his  oath  says  that  he  has  been  a  practicing  physician  and  surseon  for  the  last  twenty-two 
years;  that  he  is  now  a  pension-surgeon  by  appointment  of  the  Pension  Bureau,  and  was 
surgeon  of  the  Eighth  OhioYoluntem  forovar  two  years }  that  affiant  has  been  intimately 
acquainted  with  Alvin  C.  Yoris,  late  colonel  of  the  Sixty-seventh  Ohio  Volunteers  and 
brevet  mijor-general  United  States  YolnnteerSy  since  his  final  discharge  in  December, 
1865.  Affiant  says  he  also  attended  said  Voris  as  his  physician  and  surgeon  for  several 
months  last  past,  and  had  charge  of  the  preliminary  treatment  of  said  Yoris  prepara- 
tory to  the  operation  hereinafter  stated,  and  was  his  attending  physician  from  th^  time 
of  said  operation  to  this  date ;  was  thus  employed  for  a  period  of  more  than  four  months. 
Said  Yoris  was  operated  on  for  stone  in  the  bladder  by  Dr.  J.  W.  Hamilton,  of  the  city 
of  Columbus,  Ohio,  and  myself,  on  the  25th  of  November,  1873.  From  the  time  of  his 
final  discharge  to  the  fall  of  1872  he  was  afflicted  more  or  less  with  trouble  and  incon- 
venience in  his  lower  extremities,  pain  and  lameness  in  his  back,  by  times  incapacitat- 
ing him  for  business  of  any  kind.  His  legs  at  times  were  enfeebled  to  a  degree 
amounting  to  paralysis,  with  a  great  deal  of  pain  above  the  bulus  or  pubic  bone;  tiiat 
for  about  eighteen  months  prior  to  the  said  operation  he  had  ^reat  distress  in  the  region 
of  the  bladder,  accompanied  by  frequent  and  exceedingly  painful  calls  to  urinate.  He 
had,  in  fact,  all  the  symptoms  of  stone  in  the  bladder.  On  the  25th  of  November,  1873, 
he  was  operated  on  for  stone  by  the  lateral  operation.  We  found  and  removed  a  for- 
eign body  from  the  bladder,  which  proved  to  be  a  leaden  bullet — a  minie  ball,  less 
a^ut  one-fourth  part  thereof,  of  irref^ular  form,  with  sharp  angles,  and  weighing  one 
and  one-eighth  ounces,  with  slightly  increased  weight  from  earthy  deposits  thereon. 

Affiant  says  that  during  the  &st  eighteen  montl^  the  disability  amounted  to  total, 
and  since  December,  18r>5,  to  the  fall  of  1872,  to  nearlv  the  same  degree. 

THOMAS  McEBRlGHT,  M.  />. 

Sworn  to  before  me  and  subscribed  in  my  presence  this  2d  day  of  March,  A.  D.  1874. 

R.  P.  MABYIN, 
V  yotary  PnWic. 


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43d  Congress,  >     HOUSE  OF  REPEE8ENTATIVBS.     i  Report 
Ut  SMion.      i  \  No.  281. 


MARY  A.  S.  LOOMIS. 


HincH  27,  1874.— Committed  to  a  Committee  of  the  Whole  House  and  ordered  to  be 

printed. 


Mr.  Martin,  from  the  Cominittee  on  Invalid  Pensions,  submitted  the 

following 

REPORT: 

[To  accompany  bill  H.  R.  2672.] 

The  Committee  on  Invalid  Pe)mo)i8,  to  tchom  was  referred  the  petition  oj 
Mary  A.  S.  Loomis^  widow  of  Col.  Oustavus  LoomiSj  of  the  United 
States  Army  J  respectfully  r^ort : 

That  we  find  that  said  Gnstavns  Loomis  served  in  the  United  States 
Army  for  sixty -one  years  with  marked  distinction  and  great  efficiency ; 
that  he  died  of  old  age  on  the  5th  day  of  March,  1872,  leaving  petitioner, 
his  widow,  who  is  now  seventy  one  years  of  age,  in  indigent  circum- 
stances. 

In  view  of  the  distinguished^  long,  and  faithful  services  of  said  soldier, 
of  the  helpless  condition  and  circumstances  of  his  aged  widow,  your 
committee  report  favorable,  and  recommend  the  passage  of  a  special 
act  granciDg  petitioner  a  pension  at  the  rate  of  $30  per  month  from  the 
passage  of  the  same. 

Attention  is  called  to  the  military  record  of  said  soldier,  hereto 
attached,  which  is  made  part  of  this  report : 

Adjutant-General^s  Office, 

Washington,  April  8,  1872. 

Military  history  of  Qnstavns  Loomis,  late  of  the  United  States  Army,  as  shown  by 
the  files  of  this  Office : 

Gradaated  at  the  United  States  Military  Academy  and  appointed  second  lieutenant 
Light  Artillery,  March  1, 1811 ;  captain  and  assistant  denuty  quartermaster,  April  19, 
1613;  first  lieutenant  Light  Artillery,  May  5, 1813;  transferred  to  Corps  of  Artillery, 
May  12,  1814;  captain,  April  7,  1819;  transferred  to  First  Infantry,  Jnne  1,  1821; 
major  Second  Infitntiy,  July  7, 1838 ;  lieutenant-colonel  Sixth  Infantry,  September  22, 
1^;  colonel  Fifth  Infiintry,  March  9,  1851;  retired,  June  1, 1863;  brevetted  migor 
April  7, 1829,  for  faithful  service  ten  years  in  one  grade ;  brigadier-general,  March  13, 
1%5,  for  lone  and  faithful  services  in  the  Army. 

Serrioei.— In  garrison  at  Fort  Columbus,  New  York  Harbor,  1811-12 ;  in  the  war  of 
1B12-'15  with  Great  Britain,  in  garrison  in  New  York  Harbor,  1812-13,  and  on  the 
Niagara  frontier,  1813,  being  engaged  in  the  capture  of  Fort  George,  Upper  Canada, 
May  27,  1813,  and  was  taken  prisoner  at  the  surprise  of  Fort  Niagara,  N.  Y.,  De- 
cember 19,  1813;  on  ordnance  duty,  1815-17;  in  garrison  at  New  York  Harbor, 
l^i7-'19;  on  coast  survey,  1819-^^;  on  recruiting  service,  1820;  in  garrison  at  Fort 
Gadsden,  Florida,  1820^1,  and  Baton  Rouge,  La.,  1*821-^25 ;  in  Creek  Nation,  1825-'26 ; 
io  garrison  at  Cantonment  Clinch,  Fla.,  1826-^,  and  New  Orleans,  La.,  1827-'28 ;  on 
rncraiting  service,  182d>'30;  in  garrison  at  Fort  Crawford,  Wisconsin,  1830-'32,  and 
1832-'33,  during  the  Black  Hawk  campaign ;  on  detached  service,  February  8,  to  June 
19,1833;  on  retsmiting  service,  183;^^;  on  frontier  duty  at  Fort  SneUing,  Minn., 
1834-^,  Fort  Crawfom,  Wisconsin,  I836-'37,  and  Jefferson  Barracks,  Missouri,  1837  ; 
ia  the  Florida  campaign,  1837-42,  participating  in  the  battle  of  Okee-cho-bee,  Decem- 


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2  MARY  A.   S.   LOOMIS. 

ber  25, 1837 ;  on  frontier  duty  at  Fort  Towaon,  Indian  Territory,  1843-'43 ;  Fort  GibeoD, 
Indian  Territory,  1843-'44 ;  Fort  Towbod,  Indian  Territory,  184&-'46 ;  and  Fort  Gibaon, 
Indian  Territory,  1846-'48 ;  in  the  war  with  Mexico,  1848 ;  in  garrison  at  Jeflfersou 
Barracks,  Missonri,  1848;  Fort  Crawford,  Wisconsin,  1848;  and  Saint  Louis,  Mo., 
1848-'49;  on  frontier  duty  at  Fort  Suelling,  Minn.,  l84d-'50,  and  Fort  Liaramie,  Dak., 
1850 ;  superintendent  general  recruiting  service  October  1, 1850,  to  July  15, 1^1 ;  on 
frontier  duty  at  Fort  Belknap,  Texas,  1852-'53;  Fort  Mcintosh,  Texas,  l853-'54 ;  and 
Ringgold  Barracks,  Texas,  1854-^55 ;  in  Florida  hostilities  asainst  the  Seminole  In- 
dians, 1856-^58,  being  in  command  of  the  Department  of  Florida,  April  27, 1857,  to  July 
16,  1858 ;  on  leave  of  absence,  185&-'61 ;  on  volunteer  mustering  duty,  April  18  to 
August  19, 1861 :  superintendent  of  general-recrnitiitg  service  at  Fort  Columbus,  New 
York,  August  19, 1861,  to  August  10, 1864 ;  on  court-martial  duty,  1864,  to  June,  1869; 
unemployed  to  March  5,  1872,  when  he  died  at  Stratford,  Conn. 

E.  D.  TOWNSEND, 
Adjutau  t'  Generxil. 


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4Sd  Congress,  )     HOUSE  OF  EEPRESENTATIVES.      (  Report 
Ut  Seman.     ]  \  No.  282. 


HANNAH  B.  EATON. 


ILlrch  27, 1874. — Committed  to  a  Committee  of  the  Whole  Hoase  and  ordered  to  be 

printed. 


Mr.  Babbt,  from  the  Committee  on  Invalid  Pensions,  submitted  the 

following 

REPORT: 

[To  accompany  bill  H.  R.  2673.] 

The  Committee  on  Invalid  Pensions^  to  whom  teas  referred  the  petition  of 
Mrs.  Hannah  B.  Eaionj  of  Kingsvillej  OhiOj  to  have  her  name  restored 
to  the  pension-rollsy  have  had  the  same  under  consideration^  and  beg  leave 
to  report : 

That  on  July  3, 1871,  a  pension  was  allowed  the  petitioner  at  the  rate 
of  $8  per  month,  from  the  1st  day  of  Jaly,  1865,  the  date  of  the  soldier's 
death,  to  December  4, 1872,  when  the  Pension-Office  learned  that  the 
deceased  soldier,  Charles  Eaton,  was  the  adopted  son,  and  therefore 
properly  dropped  the  name  of  the  mother  from  the  pension-rolls.  It  ap- 
pears that  Mrs.  Eaton  adopted  Charles  when  he  was  three  weeks  old,  in 
the  place  of  an  infant  lost  by  her;  that  the  parents  of  Charles  both  died ; 
that  he  took  the  name  of  Eaton  and  was  treated  always  in  all  respects  as 
aa  own  son,  and  supported  Mrs.  Eaton  as  his  own  mother,  giving  her 
his  bounty-money  and  sending  her  his  wages  as  a  soldier ;  also,  that 
there  is  no  other  person  entitled  to  a  pension  on  acconnt  of  this  soldier's 
death ;  that  there  is  no  evidence  of  attempt  at  frand  in  the  case,  the 
mother  having  informed  the  agent  when  making  the  application  that 
her  sou  was  adopted  when  an  infant,  and  was  informed  that  it  was  all 
the  same ;  and  that  the  mother  is  in  very  needy  circumstances. 

Your  committee  therefore  recommend  that  the  name  of  Hannah  B. 
Eaton  be  restored  to  the  pension-rolls  to  date  from  December  4, 1872,  the 
date  when  her  name  was  dropped. 


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43d  Cokgeess,  I     HOUSE  OF  EEPEESENTATIVES.      (  Keport 
Ut  Smion.      i  \  Ko.  283. 


LOUIS  MAEKGEAF. 


March  27, 1874.— Ordered  to  be  printed. 


3Ir.  Babry,  from  the  Committee  on  Invalid  Pensions,  submitted  the 

following 

REPORT: 

The  Committee  on  Invalid  Pensions^  to  whom  was  referred  the  petition  of 
Louis  Markgraf  captain  Uighth  Ohio  Battery^  for  a  pension^  liave  had 
the  same  under  consideration^  and  heg  leave  to  make  the  following  report : 

That  the  letter  from  the  Commissioner  of  Pensions,  transmitting  the 
papers  in  this  case,  states  that  it  ^<  was  rejected  upon  record-evidence 
that  the  hernia  for  which  pension  is  claimed  existed  prior  to  enlistment." 

It  appears  that  the  evidence  on  file  had  been  referred  to  the  Adjutant- 
General  at  the  request  of  the  attorney  of  record,  and  returned  with  the 
following  report : 

^^A  careful  examination  of  the  case  of  Captain  Louis  Markgraf,  of 
tbe  Eighth  Ohio  Battery,  shows  him  to  have  had  inguinal  hernia  of  the 
left  side  when  he  entered  the  service. 

'*Thi8  is  admitted  by  himself  in  his  letter  of  July  9, 1862,  transmit- 
ting his  medical  certificate  whereon  to  base  his  discharge. 

*^  His  discharge  was  granted  in  view  of  that  and  other  facts  which 
proved  his  physical  disqualification  for  servixse,  and  is  evidence  superior 
to  any  that  can  now  be  presented. 

^'  No  change  can  be  made  in  his  record  that  will  show  his  disability 
to  have  been  contracted  while  in  the  military  service  of  the  United 
States.'* 

In  view  of  the  foregoing  official  statement  of  the  admission  of  the 
petitioner  vrhxle  in  the  service,  that  disability  existed  prior  to  his  enlist- 
ment, your  committee  believe  that  the  petition  should  not  be  granted, 
and  we  therefore  report  adversely. 


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43d  CoifGEBSS,  I    HOUSE  OP  EEPEESENTATIVES.      j  Eepobt 
IttSestian.     §  \   1^0.284. 


DENNIS  McOAETHY. 


March  27, 1874.— Committed  to  a  Committee  of  the  Whole  House  and  ordered  to  be 

printed. 


Mr.  Wallace,  from  the  Committee  on  Invalid  Pensions,  submitted  the 

following 

REPORT: 

[To  accompany  biU  H.  R.  1866.] 

The  Committee  an  Invalid  Pensions^  to  whom  was  referred  the  petition  of 
Dennis  McCarthy ^  having  had  the  same  under  consideration^  report: 

That  tlie  petitioner  was  a  private  of  the  Pirst  Begiment  of  Virginia 
Yolonteers,  in  the  Mexican  war,  and  was  discharged  at  Baena  Vista, 
Mexico,  Ifovember  19, 1847,  on  surgeon's  certificate  of  disability.  He 
was  recently  examined  by  a  board  of  surgeons  appointed  by  the  Oom- 
missioner  of  Pensions,  and  pronounced  ^^ totally  incapacitated"  by 
reason  of  the  disease  contracted  in  the  service,  and  on  account  of  which 
he  was  discharged.  Your  committee,  therefore,  report  the  accompany- 
ing bill,  find  recommend  its  passage. 


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4,3d  Congress,  >      HOUSE  OP  EEPRESENTATIVES.      (  Report 
Ut  Session,      J  \  No.  285. 


liOSALIE  C.  P.  LISLE. 


Masch  27, 1874.— Committed  to  a  Committee  of  the  Whole  llouse  and  ordered  to  be 

printed. 


Mr.  Wallace,  from  the  Committee  on  Invalid  Pensions,  submitted 

the  following 

REPORT: 

[To  accompany  bill  H.  R.  580.] 

The  Committee  on  Invalid  FensionSj  to  whom  teas  referred  the  claim  of 
Rosalie  C.  P.  Lisle^  have  examined  the  same,  and  submit  the  following 
report: 

The  proof  shows  that  Joseph  T.  Lisle,  a  son  of  the  petitioner,  was  an 
assistant  paymaster  in  the  Navy  of  the  United  States,  and  that  he  died 
of  yellow  fever  on  the  26th  of  September,  1863,  at  the  hospital  in  the 
city  of  New  Orleans ;  that  the  disease  of  which  he  died  was  contracted 
vhile  in  the  service  and  while  in  the  line  and  performance  of  dnty ; 
that  the  husband  of  the  petitioner  is  not  able  to  support  his  family ; 
that  her  son  Joseph,  while  serving:  on  the  Braziliera,  allotted  to  the 
petitioner  for  her  support  $250 ;  and  that  while  serving  on  the  United 
States  steamer  Pensacola,  the  vessel  to  which  Joseph  was  attached  when 
hedied  as  aforesaid,  he  allotted  to  her  for  her  support  $50  per  month  for 
twelve  months,  (first  payment  in  July,  1863,)  upon  which  allotment  the 
>um  of  $180  was  paid,  and  that  he  died  in  about  three  months  after  this 
last  allotment  was  made. 

From  the  evidence  submitted,  and  after  a  careful  examination  of  the 
Tbole  matter,  the  committee  are  impressed  with  the  jnstice  of  this 
Haim,  and  recommend  the  passage  of  the  bill  with  the  following  amend- 
ment: Strike  out  all  after  the  seventh  line  thereof,  and  insert  ^M'romand 
after  the  passage  of  this  act." 


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43d  Cokgress,  >      HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES.      (  Report 
Ut  Sesrion.     f  \  No.  286. 


JOHN  W.  WRIGHT. 


Habch  27, 1674. — Committed  to  a  Committee  of  the  Whole  Hoase  and  ordered  ta  be 

printed. 


Mr.  Barbt,  from  the  Committee  on  Invalid  Pensions,  submitted  the 

following 

REPORT: 

[To  accompany  biU  H.  R.  2674.] 

The  Committee  on  Invalid  Fensions^  to  whom  was  re/erred  the  petition  of 
John  W.  Wright^  now  in  the  National  Home  for  disabled  veteran  soldiers 
near  Da^n^  Ohio^  for  a  pension^  have  had  the  case  under  consideration^ 
and  beg  leave  to  report ; 

That  the  petitioner  enlisted  October  13, 1861,  in  Company  E,  Seven- 
teenth Regiment  Kentacky  Volunteers,  and  was  discharged  January 
13, 1865,  on  the  expiration  of  his  term  of  enlistment. 

That  at  the  battle  of  Lovejoy  Station,  in  Georgia,  September  5, 1864, 
he  received  a  gun-shot  wound  in  the  left  hand,  but  not  severe  enough 
to  be  treated  in  hospital,  or  to  be  reported  among  the  casualties. 

That  the  fact  of  his  being  thus  wounded  is  testified  to  by  his  com- 
manding officer  and  by  two  of  his  comrades.  His  captain  testifies  that 
be  has  lived  a  near  neighbor  to  Wright  since  he  left  the  Army,  and 
knows  that  the  wound  he  received  in  battle  caused  the  loss  of  his  arm. 

That  two  of  his  neighbors  testify  that  the  hand  and  arm  continued 
to  swell  from  the  time  he  left  the  Army  in  January,  till  the  next 
October,  and  he  carried  his  arm  in  a  sling  for  the  most  of  the  time,  and 
was  unable  to  use  it  in  any  work  or  labor. 

That  in  October,  1865,  the  petitioner  placed  himself  under  the  care 
of  physicians,  and  from  that  time  till  May,  1868,  when  the  arm  was  am- 
putated, he  was  treated  by  three  physicians,  who  testify  to  making  every 
effort  to  save  it,  previous  to  resorting  to  amputation.  They  also  testify 
that  they  believe  that  what  was  thought  to  be  a  gunshot  wound  was 
the  direct  cause  of  the  amputation. 

That  Uie  evidence  shows  that  .Wright  was  a  brave  and  faithful  soldier, 
and  a  sound  man  when  he  entered  the  Army;  that  he  was  twice 
wounded  in  battle ;  and  that  he  preferred  duty  in  the  field  to  going  to 
hospital  when  slightly  wounded. 

F^m  all  the  evidence  in  this  case,  your  committee  believe  that  the 
wound  received  in  battle  by  the  petitioner  was  the  direct  cause  of  the 
loss  of  his  arm,  and  we  therefore  recommend  the  passage  of  the  accom- 
panying bill  for  his  relief. 


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43d  Congeess,  »     HOUSE  OF  EEPRESENTATIVES.      /  Bbpoet 
UtSeuion.     §  )  No.  287. 


ELIZABETH  J.  KING. 


HiBCH  27, 1874. — Committed  to  a  Committee  of  the  Whole  House  and  ordered  to  be 

printed. 


Mr.  John  D.  Young,  from  the  Committee  on  Invalid  Pensions,  sabmitted 

the  following 

REPORT: 

[To  accompany  biU  H.  B.  2675.] 

The  Committee  on  Invalid  Pensions,  to  wliom  was  referred  the  petition  of 
Mizaieth  J.  King^  submit  the  following  report : 

Capt  Herbert  Kiug,  the  hnsband  of  the  applicant,  was  captain  of 
Company  F,  Third' Kentacky  Infantry;  entered  the  Union  Army  in  the 
fall  of  1861 ;  was  at  the  battle  of  Shiioh,  and  from  exposure  took  sick 
and  was  for  some  time  unable  to  do  duty,  and  was  permitted  to  go  home. 
Not  getting  any  better,  in  the  fall  of  1862  he  tendered  his  resignation, 
bat  before  its  acceptance,  and  while  on  his  way  back  to  the  Union  Army 
with  fifteen  men  whom  he  had  enlisted,  including  two  of  his  sons,  he  was 
set  upon  by  the  rebels  under  Morgan,  his  house  burned,  his  property 
destroyed,  and  himself  and  men  taken  prisoners.  They  were  taken  to 
Danyille,  and  from  there  to  Camp  Dick  Bobinson,  and  kept  there  until 
after  the  battle  of  Perry ville.  The  rebels,  on  being  forced  to  retreat, 
chained  him  to  a  wagon,  and,  with  the  others,  including  his  two  sons, 
took  him  to  Cumberland  Gap,  where  they  were  all  hung,  and  because 
they  knew  him  to  be  a  Union  soldier.  The  acceptance  of  his  resigna- 
tion did  not  arrive  until  May,  a  week  after  his  murder.  The  Depart- 
neot  could  not  grant  a  pension,  on  account  of  his  resignation*  The  case 
is  an  extremely  hard  one,  leaving  the  widow  destitute  and  in  want. 

The  committee  think  it  a  meritorious  case,  if  ever  there  was  one 
requiring  a  special  act.  The  committee  report  favorably,  and  ask  the 
passage  of  the  bill,  giving  her  a  pension  according  to  his  rank. 


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43d  Conosess,  )     HOUSE  OP  EEPRESENTATIVBS,      (  Bbpobt 
lit  Seman.     f  \  No.  288. 


CAPT.  THOMAS  McKIKSTER. 


MiscH  27, 1874. — Committed  to  »  Committee  of  the  Whole  House  and  ordered  to  be 

printed. 


Mr.  J.  D.  TouNO,  from  the  Committee  on  Invalid  Pensions,  submitted 

the  following 

REPORT: 

[To  accompany  biU  H.  R.  2676.] 

The  Committee  an  Invalid  Pensions^  to  whom  teas  re/erred  the  petition  of 
Capt,  Thomas  McKineter^  asking  to  he  pkiced  on  the  pension-rolls j 
heg  leave  to  make  the  following  report : 

The  proof  shows  the  facts  to  be  as  follows :  He  was  enrolled  on  the 
I'Oth  day  of  October,  1861 ;  mustered  in  as  captain  of  Company  D,  Four- 
teeoth  Eentacky  Volunteers,  United  States  Army,  December  14, 1861 ; 
honorably  discharged  June  8, 1862.  The  petitioner  alleges  that  while 
in  the  service  of  the  United  States,  and  in  line  of  duty,  during  the 
month  of  November,  1861,  at  or  near  Paintsville,  Kentucky,  he  was 
taken  sick  with  cold  and  measles,  settling  on  his  lungs,  causing  x)er- 
manent  disability.  He  was  treated  by  Dr.  Swetnam,  at  a  house  used 
as  a  hospital  by  the  United  States,  while  his  regiment  was  on  duty  at 
Iva  Mountain,  Kentucky,  and  he  has  since  treated  him.  Dr.  E.  Y.  Ferer 
proTes  he  is  three-fourths  incapacitated  from  obtaining  his  subsistance 
by  manual  labor  from  disability,  resulting  from  disease  of  the  lungs,  and, 
in  bis  judgment,  from  his  condition,  and  from  the  evidence  before  him, 
bis  disability  originated  in  the  service  of  the  United  States,  and  while 
in  the  line  of  duty. 

The  evidence  of  Dr.  J.  D.  Kincaid,  examining  surgeon  of  the  Four- 
teenth Kentucky  Begiment  Volunteers,  shows  him  to  have  been  sound 
^d  free  from  disease  at  date  of  his  enlistment.  Bupel  T.  Thompson, 
late  lieutenant  of  Fourteenth  Kentucky  Volunteers,  proves  the  fact  of 
bis  aickness  from  exposure  while  at  Paintsville,  Kentucky,  causing  him 
to  resign ;  was  present,  and  knows  the  facts  to  be  as  alleged. 

In  view  of  all  these  facts,  the  committee  recommend  the  passage  of  the 
accompanying  bill  giving  him  a  pension  according  to  his  rank ;  and 
tbev  ask  to  l^e  discharged  from  the  further  consideration  of  this  bill. 


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43d  CoNOBESfiL  )     HOITSB  OF  BBPBESENTATIYES.    /  BSPOST. 
lit  Setrian.     i  \  ^o.  289. 


MES.  NAITCY  BROOKS. 


March  27, 1874.— Ordered  to  be  printed. 


Mr.  John  D.  Tottng,  firom  the  Committee  on  Invalid  Pensions,  sub- 
mitted Ijiefollowing 

REPORT: 

He  Committee  on  Invalid  Pefuians.  to  whom  was  referred  fke  petition  of 
Mrs.  Nancy  Brooks,  submit  the  following  report; 

His.  'Ssikey  Brooks,  mother  of  Stephen  P.  Brooks,  asks  to  be  allowed 
a  pension  as  dependent  mother.  I  find  the  evidence  is  not  sufficient  to 
establish  that  &ct,  but  upon  the  contrary  is  conclusive  she  is  not  de- 
pendent. 


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43d  Ck>NaBESS9 »      HOUSE  OP  EEPRESENTATIVES.     i  Eeport 
Ui  SestUm.     j  \  No.  290. 


NATHANIEL  S.  GREER. 


March  27, 1874.— -Ordered  to  be  printed. 


Mr.  O'BBiENy  from  the  Committee  on' Invalid  Pensions,  submitted  the 

following 

REPORT: 

The  Committee  an  Invalid  PeiuioTMj  to  whom  was  re/erred  the  petition  of 
Ifathaniel  8.  Greer ^  make  the  following  report: 

The  Committee  on  Invalid  Pensions  would  recommend  a  pension  to 
Nathaniel  S.  Greer,  father  of  six  sons,  who  served.in  the  late  war,  three 
of  whom  were  killed  in  line  of  duty,  if  he  were  not  entitled  to  relief 
mider  the  general  law.  Your  committee  think  that  as  the  mother  of  the 
three  sons  of  petitioner,  who  were  kiUed  in  battle  is  drawing  a  pension 
on  aoooant  of  dependence  on  one  of  them,  the  petitioner,  being  the 
&ther,  may  rest  his  claim  of  dependence  on  either  of  the  others,  if  his 
case  can  be  shown  by  proof  to  be  such  as  will  entitle  him  to  a  pension  on 
tliat  aoooant.  Further,  it  appears  that  no  application  has  ever  been 
made  to  the  Pension-Office  by  petitioner;  therefore  the  committee  report 
unfavorably. 


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43d  CtoNGBESS,  I      HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES.      (  REPORT 
Ut  Sessum.     i  \  No.  291. 


ANGELICA  HAMMOND. 


>Llsch  27, 1874.— -Committed  to  a  Committee  of  the  Whole  Honse  and  ordered  to  be 

printed. 


Mr.  O'Ebien,  from  the  Committee  on  Invalid  Pensions^  submitted  the 

following 

REPORT: 

[To  accompany  bill  H.  R.  1799.] 

The  Committee  an  Invalid  PemionSj  to  whom  was  re/erred  the  petition  of 
Angelica  Hammond  for  a  pension^  report: 

That  the  petitioner  is  the  widow  of  William  Z.  Hammond,  late  a  pri- 
Tate  in  Company  E,  First  Maryland  Cavalry,  who  died  of  disease  con- 
tracted in  the  service,  about  six  months  after  his  discharge  therefrom. 
The  application  of  the  widow  was  rejected  at  the  Pension-Office  for  the 
reason  that  the  absence  of  her  husband  fi:om  his  command  from  Decem- 
ber 1, 1862,  to  February  17, 1863,  was  not  satisfiEtctorily  accounted  for. 
The  committee  are  satisfied,  however,  by  the  evidence  of  two  well- 
known  citizens  of  Baltimore,  that  the  husband  of  Uie  petitioner  was 
nnder  medical  treatment  during  that  period,  and  unable  to  join  his 
command;  and  therefore  report  the  accompanying  bill. 


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43d  Congress,  )     HOUSE  OF  EEPRESENTATIVES.      i  Eeport 
Ift  Session.      ]  \  lS[o.292. 


GUADALOUPE  TORRES. 


March  27, 1874.—  Comniitted  to  a  Committee  of  the  Whole  House  and  ordered  to  be 

printed. 


Mr.  Q'Brien,  from  the  Committee  on  Invalid  Pensions,  submitted  the 

following 

REPORT: 

rXo  accompany  biU  H.  R.  1335.  J 

The  Committee  on  Invalid  Pensions,  to  whom  was  referred  the  petition  of 
Guadaloupe  Torres,  having  considered  the  same,  respectfully  report: 

From  the  evidence  it  appears  that  Cruz  Torres  was  the  hnsband  of  the 
said  Gaadaloupe  Torres,  and  while  on  line  of  dnty  as  corporal  of  Com- 
pany C,  First  Cavalry  New  Mexico  Volunteers,  was  murdered  by  Juan 
Madrid,  a  private  of  said  company,  on  the  night  of  July  13, 1865,  and 
that  said  murderer  was  convicted  by  court-martial.  Therefore  the  com- 
mittee recommend  the  passage  of  the  bill  granting  a  pension  to  his 
'idow,  Ooadalonpe  Torres. 


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43d  Congbess,  (    HOCSE  OF  EEPEESENTATIVES.         (  Eeport 
Ut  Seman.     ]  I  Ko.  203. 


ELIZABETH  McCLUNEY. 


HiBCH  27, 1874.— Committed  to  a  Committee  of  the  Whole  House  and  ordered  to  be 

printed. 


Mr.  O'BBiENy  from  the  Committee  on  Invalid  Pensions,  submitted  the 

following 

REPORT: 

[To  accompany  bill  H.  R.  2119.] 

The  Committee  on  Invalid  PensionSj  to  whom  teas  referred  the  petition  of 
Elizabeth  McCluney^  having  had  the  same  under  consideration^  beg  leave 
to  make  thefollotcing  report : 

The  petitioner  is  in  receipt  of  a  pension  of  $30  per  month,  but  as  her 
hQsband,  Commodore  McGlaney,  died  of  disease  contracted  in  service 
prior  to  4th  March,  1861,  his  case  does  not  come  within  the  act  of  Jaly 
II,  1862.  The  records  show  that  Commodore  McGlnney  died  of  disease 
contracted  while  he  was  in  command  of  home  squadron.  He  was  de- 
tached from  service  in  May,  1860,  on  account  of  disability.  We  think 
that  as,  by  the  laws  in  force  prior  to  act  of  1862,  he  would  have  been 
entitled  to  a  x>ension  of  $50  per  month,  taken  in  connection  with  his  high 
rank  in  the  service,  the  petitioner  should  receive  the  pension  provided 
in  the  accompanying  bill. 

The  committee  recommend  the  passage  of  the  accompanying  bill,  as 
the  husband  of  petitioner  held  a  high  rank  in  the  Navy,  and  the  prece- 
dents are  in  her  favor. 


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iSD  CONGBESS,  >     HOUSE  OF  REPEESENTATIVES.     /  Ebpobt 
Ut  Session.     )  \  No.  294. 


MARY  G.  HARRIS. 


)LkRCH  27, 1874.— Committed  to  a  Committee  of  the  Whole  House  and  ordered  to  be 

printed. 


Mr.  O^Brien,  from  the  Committee  on  Invalid  Pensions,  submitted  the 

following 

REPORT: 

[To  accompany  liiU  H.  R.  2677.] 

The  Committee  on  Invalid  Pensions^  to  whom  was  re/erred  the  petition  of 
Mary  O.  Harris^  having  considered  the  same,  make  the  following  report: 

The  committee  recommend  an  increase  of  pension  to  $50  per  month, 
to  Mary  G.  Harris,  widow  of  John  Harris,  colonel  commanding  Marine 
Corps,  Id  Tiew  of  precedents.  He  served  in  Marine  Corps  from  1814  to 
1857,  when  he  contracted  disease,  resulting  in  his  death  in  1864.  Under 
the  laws  in  force  at  the  time  of  his  disability,  his  widow  would  be  enti- 
tled to  pension  of  $50  per  month^  as  his  rank  was  equal  to  that  of  cap- 
tain in  the  l^avy.  She  is  in  receipt  of  pension  of  $30  per  month,  under 
act  of  Jaly  14,  1862,  but  on  account  of  long  service,  high  rank,  and  his 
right  to  come  under  laws  prior  to  the  act  of  1862,  your  committee  rec- 
ommend the  passage  of  accompanying  bill. 


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«D  (Congress,  I     HOUSE  OF  EEPEBSENTATIVES.     /  Report 
lit  SeaHon.     §  \  No.  295. 


CHARLES  HERBERT. 


MiBCH  27, 1874. — Committed  to  a  Committee  of  the  Whole  House  and  ordered  to  be 

printed. 


Mr.  OnSBiBN,  from  the  Committee  on  Invalid  Pensions,  sabmitted  the 

following 

REPORT: 

[To  accompany  bill  H.  B.  2678.] 

The  Committee  on  Invalid  Pensions  report,  in  case  of  Charles  Her- 
bert, that  his  cane  comes  within  the  spirit  of  the  law,  as  he  is  unable  to 
«M  an  artificial  leg,  and,  therefore,  recommend  an  increase  of  pension 
to  the  amoant  allowed  to  cases  of  amputation  above  the  knee. 


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43d  Cokobbss,  )      HOUSE  OF  BBPBESENTATIYES,     i  Bepobt 
Ut  Be99um.     ]  \  No.  296. 


QEOBGE  DAYSPEING. 


Mabco  27, 1674. — Committed  to  a  Committee  of  the  Whole  House  and  ordered  to 

he  printed. 


Mr.  O'Brikn,  from  the  Committee  on  Invalid  Pensions,  submitted  the 

following 

REPORT: 

[To  accompany  hiU  H.  R.  2G79.] 

The  Committee  on  Invalid  Pensions  report  that,  in  the  case  of  Oeorge 
Dayspiinify  on  account  of  the  character  of  his  injuries,  nnfltting  him 
for  labor,  the  pension  should  be  increased  to  115  per  month. 


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«D  COVOBXBB,  \     HOUSE  OF  BEPBESBNTATIVES.       (  Repobt 
Ut  Seaum.     f  )  No.  297. 


JANE  DULANEY. 


MiKCH  27, 1874.— Committed  to  a  Committee  of  the  Whole  House  and  ordered  to  be 

printed. 


Mr.  O'Brien,  from  tlie  Committee  on  Invalid  Pensions,  submitted  the 

following 

REPORT: 

[To  accompany  bill  H.  R.  2680.] 

The  Committee  on  Invalid  Pensions j  to  whom  was  referred  the  'petition  of 
Mrs.  Jane  Dulaney^  having  considered  the  same^  submit  the  following 
report : 

Jane  Dulaney,  applicant,  is  the  widow  of  William  Dulaney,  colonel 
United  States  Marine  Corps,  who  died  on  the  4th  of  Joly,  1868.  The 
proof  shows  that  he  entered  the  corps  Jane  10, 1817,  as  second  lieu- 
tenant ;  served  continuously  on  shipboard  and  at  different  naval  stations, 
(having  been  promoted  during  the  period  to  first  lieutenant,  captain  by 
brevet,  and  captain ;)  was  on  the  Brandy  wine  with  La  Fayette,  (1825,)  and, 
commanded  the  guard  of  United  States  frigate  Constitution  December, 
1825,  to  July,  1828  j  was  the  first  officer  of  the  Marine  Corps  to  volun- 
teer his  services  for  field-duty  in  co-operation  with  the  Army  at  the  break- 
ing out  of  the  Florida  war;  that  he  served  with  conspicuous  gallantry  and 
nntinng  devotion  throughout  that  war,  1836,-'37-'38,  commanding  the 
marines  and  a  portion  of  the  Army ;  that  Fort  Dulaney  was  named  in  his 
honor,  and  he  was  complimented  by  Major-General  Jesup  in  General 
Orders  102,  and  tendered  the  thanks  of  the  country  therein,  General 
Persifor  F.  Smith  also  testifying  in  the  highest  terms  to  the  Navy  De- 
partment his  appreciation  of  his  brilliant  services ;  that  during  these 
campaigns  he  was  prostrated  by  disease,  and  advised  by  surgeon's  cer- 
tificate that  to  remain  longer  in  that  malarious  climate  would  endanger 
his  life;  he,  notwithstanding,  continued  in  the  field  until  the  close  of  the 
war,  when  he  returned  in  command  of  his  force. 

That  while  in  command  of  Fort  Pickens,  Florida,  (1846,)  he  was 
again  the  first  marine  officer  to  tender  his  services  for  the  Mexican  war ; 
that  in  this  war  he  likewise  commanded  the  marines  with  marked  gal- 
lantry, and,  (having  in  the  mean  time  been  promoted  and  commissioned 
major  by  brevet  and  major,)  for  gallant  and  meritorious  conduct  at  the 
storming  and  capture  of  the  castle  of  Chapultepec,  and  the  capture  of 
the  Belen  Gate  and  the  city  of  Mexico,  received  the  brevet  of  lieuten- 
ant-colonel. 

That  after  the  close  of  the  Mexican  war  he  served  continuously  in 
command  of  the  marine-barracks  at  New  York,  Boston,  and  Portsmouth, 
N.  H. ;  that  he  was  a  native  of  Virginia ;  that  at  the  firing  of  the  first 
gun  on  Fort  Sumter  he  telegraphed  his  services  for  duty  in  the  field ; 


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2  JANE   DULANEY 

that  he  was  commissioned  a  colonel  of  the  corps  by  President  Lincoln, 
(to  rank  from  Jaly  26, 1861,)  and  in  command  of  the  marine  battalion 
at  Norfolk,  Ya.,  from  October  1, 1862,  until  November  8, 1865,  having 
been  placed  on  the  retired  list  June  6, 1864,  under  the  act  of  Congress 
retiring  officers  of  forty-five  years'  service.  That  he  died  in  service  as 
above  stated,  July  4, 1868,  and  has  left  a  widow  of  advanced  age,  la 
very  indigent  circumstances,  and  with  a  large  family  of  children. 

In  consideration  of  the  gallant  and  valuable  service  rendered  to  the 
country  by  her  husband,  covering  a  period  of  half  a  century,  (aside 
from  the  fact  that  he  was  a  volunteer  in  the  war  of  1812,  while  yet  a 
boy,)  your  committee  are  of  opinion  that  the  venerable  widow  is  entitled 
to  and  should  have  relief  in  her  need.  They  therefore  recommend  the 
passage  of  the  accompanying  bill. 


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43d  Conobess,  >     HOUSE  OP  EEPBESENTATIVE8.       (  Report 
Ut  8e$9i<m.     ]  i  No.  298. 


MARY  E.  MURPHY. 


March  27, 1874.— Committed  to  a  Committee  of  the  Wliole  Honse  and  ordered  to  be 

printed. 


Mr.  Smabt,  from  the  Committee  on  Invalid  Pensions,  submitted  the 

following 

REPORT: 

FTo  accompany  biU  H.  R.  870.] 

The  Committee  on  Invalid  Pensions j  to  whom  was  re/erred  the  case  of  Mrs 
Mary  E.  Murphy^  on  application  for  increase  of  pension^  {bill  H.  R,  870,) 
having  considered  the  samcj  would  respectfully  report : 

That  Richard  J.  Morphy,  the  hnsband  of  petitioner,  who  was  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Thirty-ninth  Regiment  New  YorkVolnnteers,  died  from  con- 
somption  contracted  in  the  service  while  in  the  discharge  of  his  duty. 
The  Pension-Office,  when  the  case  was  before  it  for  adjnScation,  deter- 
mined the  date  of  the  origin  of  the  disease  on  16th  of  September,  1861, 
since  at  that  time  he  was  treated  for  ^inflammation  of  the  lungs,"  con- 
tracted wliile  on  picket-duty  near  Alexandria.  It  appears,  however, 
from  the  record  that  he  served  afterward  with  his  regiment,  and  waa 
wounded  May  2, 1863,  at  Chancellorsville,  a  piece  of  shell  striking  him 
at  the  lower  part  of  left  chest.  From  that  time  the  hnsband  of  the  peti- 
titioner,  as  is  fully  shown,  gradually  declined.  The  probability  is  that 
the  date  of  disease  should  have  been  May  2, 1863.  This  would  have 
entitled  his  widow  to  a  captain's  pension.  The  relief  asked  for  is  that  she 
be  accorded  the  pension  which  her  hnsband's  rank  as  second  lieutenant 
would  entitle  him  to,  that  being  the  x>osition  he  was  actually  holding 
September  15, 1861,  at  the  time  the  origin  of  the  disease  is  dated  by 
Pension-Office.  The  office  was  unable  to  allow  the  claim,  since  the  offi- 
cer, thoogli  actually,  serving  was  not  mustered  till  October  15, 1861,  but 
was  borne  on  the  rolls  as  first  sergeant.  The  failure  to  muster  was 
through  no  fault  of  the  officer. 

Your  committee  recommend  the  passage  of  the  bill  for  the  relief  of  his 
widow. 


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43d  Congress,  I    HOUSE  OF  EEPEESENTATIVES.      /  Eepobt. 
lit  Seitim.     i  \  No.299. 


JOSIAH  KIRBY. 


March  27,  1874. — Ordered  to  be  printed. 


Mr.  Henby  B.  Sayleb,  from  the  Committee  on  Patents,  submitted  the 

following 

REPORT: 

The  Committee  on  Patents  report  on  the  memorial  of  Josiah  Eirby, 
of  Cincinnati,  that  letters-patent  were  granted  to  said  Earby  on  the  20th 
day  of  September,  1859,  on  an  implement  with  which  to  ream  and  bore 
holes  in  barrels ;  that  on  the  19th  day  of  Jane,  1872,  said  Earby  filed 
his  petition  for  an  extension  tiiereof,  showing  among  other  things  th 
his  expenses  in  and  about  hjs  said  invention  amounted  to  $200,  and  that 
his  receipts  therefrom  amounted  to  $13,589.53 ;  that  on  the  19th  day  of 
September,  1873,  said  application  for  extension  was  refused  by  the  Com- 
missioner of  Patents  on  the  report  of  the  examiners-in-chief  of  the  Pat- 
ent-Office, because  there  was  not  a  sufficient  showing  of  diligence  by  the 
said  Eirby  to  introduce  said  invention  to  the  public,  or  of  effort  to  real- 
ize a  greater  compensation,  ^^and  because,  so  far  as  appears,  he  has 
been  reasonably  remunerated  for  all  the  time,  ingenuity,  and  expense 
which  he  could  have  expend^  on  so  simple  a  device." 

The  want  of  proof  as  to  the  want  of  diligence  in  his  attempt  to  intro- 
duce said  invention  to  the  public  has  been  fully  supplied  to  the  com- 
mittee, bat  no  showing  has  been  made  as  to  the  other  two  grounds  of 
refosal  aforesaid,  either  of  which  in  the  opinion  of  the  committee  is  suf- 
ficient to  be  fatal  to  the  prayer  in  the  memorial. 

The  committee  therefore  rexK>rt  adversely  and  recommend  that  the 
said  memorial  do  lie  uxK>n  the  table. 


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<3d  Congbbss,  »    HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES.       (  Report 
lit  8e$»um.     i  \  No.  300. 

FIRST  NATIONAL  BANK  OF  WASHINGTON. 


Mabcb  27,   1874.— Kecommitted  to  the  Committee  on  Banking  and  Currency  and 

ordered  to  be  printed. 


Mr.  Fabwell,  from  the  Committee  on  Banking  and  Currency,  submit- 
ted the  following 


REPORT: 

[To  accompany  biU  H.  R.  2681.] 

WASHiNaTON,  March  16, 1874. 

Sib  :  Yonr  sub  committee  appointed  to  examine  into  the  condition  of 
the  affairs  of  the  First  National  Bank  of  Washington,  D.  G.,  at  the  time 
of  its  failure,  and  into  its  prior  transactions  and  general  management, 
uoder  a  resolution  of  the  House  of  Bepresentatives,  under  date  of 
February  10, 1874,  beg  leave  to  present  herewith  a  statement  in  the 
form  of  a  balance-sheet,  showing  the  condition  of  its  affairs  at  the  close 
of  its  business  operations  on  the  18th  day  of  September,  1873. 

Balanoe^keet  Fir^t  NatUmal  Bank  of  WaMngUm,  SepUmher  16, 1673. 


Potted  State*  bonds  deposited  u  se- 
caritj  for  circalstion 

rnitodrStates  bonds  deposited  ss  se- 
curity for  United  SUtes  deposiU. . 

raited  States  bonds  on  hsnd  and 
preBlnm  on  Mune 

raited  States  bonds  with  First 
CooptnUer  of  tbe  Tressoiy,  in 
litigsttoQ , 

BMlertsts.bsnkbaUding 

KmI  (State  in  snd  sbont  Washing- 
ton  7. 

City  sad  other  bonds  and  stocks  . . . . 

AMoat  doe  from  banks  failed  and 
iabandsof  iec«iTen 

Orfrdrsfts   , 

L«sDt  sod  dlsooonts 

J»$Cookeft  Co 

Anooiita  doe  firom  solyeni  banks 
•nd  bankers 

Carreacy  sad  checks  on  band 

^>«4esab  items  oo  hsnd 

Btd  sad  donbcftil  cash  items 

OoM 

Vntilsted  cnireney  on  hsAid , 

btHcit  in  mntilAted  cnrrency,  ac- 
ewrnt 

piAnnee  in  deposit  ledger 

i'«s«l  currency  seised  by  United 
autesTki 

Totsl 


1500,000  00 

100,000  00 

6,440  00 


30.000  00 
99,924  85 

84,087  56 
8,603  04 

4.858  95 

48,303  00 

667.525  88  I 

748,960  67  j 

150,215  65 
116,131  77 
8,863  41 
11, 776  45 
.  4, 613  89 
878.485  95 

46,398  05 
86  81 

4,685  98 


Capital  stock 

Sarplns 

Profit  and  loes  scconnt 

Circolation,  #450,000,  less  amount  on 
hand,  16.145 

Amount  due  to  Treasurer  of  the 
United  States 

Ontotanding  drafts  unpaid 

Ammxntdae  to  indlTidnal  depositon 

Amount  deposited  by  First  Comp- 
troller of  the  Treasury  for  interest 
collected  on  bonds  in  litigation. . 

Amount  due  to  banks  and  bankers  . 


8,906,839  53 


Total 2,906,829  53 


$500,000  00 
108,000  00 
36, 218  03 

443,855  00 

287, 782  45 
46,803  55 
380,738  53 


10, 116  00 
1,153,916  97 


This  bank  was  organized  under  the  provisions  of  an  act  entitled,  ^'An 
act  to  provide  a  national  currency,  secured  by  a  pledge  of  United  States 
stocks,  and  to  provide  for  the  circulation  and  redemptiofl  thereof," 
approved  February  25, 1863,  the  articles  of  association  providing  that 
tbe  capital  of  the  bank  should  be  $500,000. 


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2  FIRST   NATIONAL   BANK   OF   WASHINGTON. 

On  the  15th  day  of  July,  1863,  a  first  payment  of  $150,000  was  made 
on  its  stock  by  the  following-named  persons,  each  paying  the  sum 
set  opposite  to  their  names : 

Henry  D.Cooke $28,500 

H.  C.  Fahnestock 27,000 

W.  T.  HantingUm 750 

B.B.  French 750 

J.  A  WiUa 3,000 

W.  G.  Morehead .52,500 

Jay  Cooke 37,500 

150,000 

On  the  16th  day  of  July,  1863,  the  bank  was  duly  authorized  by  the 
Comptroller  of  the  Currency  to  commence  business. 

On  the  15  th  day  of  September  following  a  further  payment  of  $350,000 
to  the  capital  stock  was  made  as  follows : 

Henrv  D.Cooke 66,500 

H.C.*  Fahnestock 63,000 

W.  T.  Huntington 1,750 

B.B.  French 1,750 

J.  A.  Wills 7,000 

W.G.  Morehead 122,  .500 

Jay  Cooke 87,500 

350,000 

The  books  show  that  active  business  operations  were  commenced 
shortly  after  this  last  payment.  Its  failure  occurred  on  the  18th  day 
of  September,  1873. 

The  principal  stockholders  were  members  of  the  banking  firm  of  Jay 
Cooke  &  Co.,  and  as  far  as  the  books  show  the  members  of  that  firm 
were  still  its  principal  stockholders  at  the  time  of  it«  failure. 

During  the  whole  course  of  its  existence  the  bank  has  been  a  depos- 
itory of  public  moneys,  established  as  such  under  the  following  section 
of  the  national  currency  act : 

Sec.  45.  And  he  it  further  enacted^  That  all  associations  under  this  act,  when  designated 
for  that  pnrpose  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  shall  be  depositories  of  public  money, 
except  receipts  from  customs,  under  such  regulations  as  may  be  prescribed  by  the  Secre- 
tary ;  and  they  may  also  be  employed  as  financial  agents  of  the  Government ;  and  they 
shall  perform  all  such  reasonable  duties,  as  depositories  of  public  moneys  and  financial 
agents  of  the  Government,  as  may  be  required  of  them.  And  tne  Secretary  of  the  Treasury 
shall  require  of  the  associations,  thus  designated  satisfactory  security  by  the  deposit  of 
United  Stat-es  bonds  and  otherwise  for  the  safe-keeping  and  prompt  payment  of  the 
public  money  deposited  with  them,  and  for  the  faithful  performance  of  their  duties  as 
financial  agents  of  the  Government :  Provided^  That  every  association  which  shall  be 
selected  and  designated  as  receiver pr  depository  of  the  public  money  shall  take  and 
receive  at  par  all  of  the  national  currency  bills,  by  whatever  association  issued,  which 
have  been  paid  into  the  Government  for  internal  revennei  or  for  loans  or  stocks. 

And  has  been  largely  employed  at  times  as  financial  agent  of  the  Gov- 
ernment. It  has  acted  as  such  agent  in  the  conversion  of  the  seven- 
thirty  notes,  and  in  the  negotiation  and  funding  of  various  Oovernment 
loans,  in  connection  with  the  several  syndicates  formed  for  that  par- 
pose.  Its  transactions  as  Government  financial  agent  have  been  of 
great  magnitude,  and  large  profits  have  been  derived  from  them  and 
from  dealings  in  United  States  securities  of  all  kinds. 

Another  large  branch  of  the  business  liaa  been  the  conversion  of  mnti- 
latcd  currency  for  banks  and  bankers  through  the  country,  and  aeting 
as  agent  for  the  redemption  of  mutilated  bank-notes  for  such  of  the 
national  banks  as  kept  a  redemption  deposit  with  the  institution.  This 
Avas  to  be  kept  np  to  a  certain  fixed  sum,  varying  in  proportion  to  the 


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FIRST   NATIONAL    BANK    OF    WASHINGTON.  3 

capital  of  the  banke.  At  the  time  of  its  failure,  this  fund  amounted  to  some 
8750,000,  and  formed  a  large  part  of  its  indebtedness  to  banks  and 
bankers. 

From  small  beginnings  this  part  of  the  business  had  grown  to  enor- 
mous proportions.  We  find  that  in  its  management  there  was  great  re- 
missuess  and  neglect  on  the  part  of  the  officers  of  the  bank  in  failing  to 
establish  and  carry  out  a  proper  system  for  the  management  of  its  de- 
falk No  adequate  checks  were  established  to  insure  correctness  and 
accuracy ;  the  mutilated  currencj^  did  not  enter  into  the  general  cash 
iiccount  of  the  bank,  but  was  kept  separate  and  apart  and  under  the 
control  of  a  special  corps  of  clerks,  and  was  a  department  by  itself.  Ko 
record  is  found  of  any  cash  settlement  having  been  made  in  this  so-called 
mutilated  currency  department  to  prove  the  accuracy  of  the  count  or 
rtitries,  and  to  verify  whether  the  amount  of  currency  actually  on  hand 
was  what  it  should  be.  The  books  of  that  department  were  simple  mem- 
oranda. 

When  the  mutilated  currency  was  received  it  was  entered  on  one  of 
tLe memorandum-books;  from  these  books  the  remittances  were  made; 
when  amounts  were  remitted  for,  which  occurred  daily,  the  drafts  were 
credited,  on  the  general  books,  to  the  bank  on  whom  they  were  drawn, 
a  debit,  in  bulk,  being  made  to  an  account  denominated  ^^  mutilated  cur- 
rency." A  large  amount  of  the  currency  received  was  that  of  banks 
ieeping  no  redemption  deposit  with  the  institution,  which  had  to  be 
assort^  and  sent  off,  in  round  sums,  to  cities  w  here  those  notes  were 
redeemable,  for  collection  and  returns ;  when  thus  sent  off,  the  amounts 
so  sent  were  debited  to  the  banks  to  whom  sent,  and  the  amount  cred- 
ited, in  bulfe,  to  "mutilated  currency." 

Ah  to  the  notes  of  banks  keeping  a  redemption  deposit  with  the  bank, 
they  were  assorted  and  held  until  they  accumulated  to  $500,  or  more, 
when  the  amounts  were  taken  to  the  Comptroller  of  the  Currency  for 
cancellation  and  burning.  Large  amounts  were  sent  over  daily,  and  the 
amoant  so  sent  was,  in  bulk,  debited  to  an  account  called  "burning  ac- 
count," and  credited  to  the  "mutilated  currency"  account. 

For  the  currency  burned  and  canceled  by  the  Comptroller  of  the  Cur- 
rency, he  issued  certificates  of  burning,  and  the  banks  whose  notes  had 
been  burned  were  entitled  to  an  issue  of  a  like  amount  of  new  notes. 

These  certificates  were  forwarded  to  the  different  banks  whose  notes 
had  been  canceled,  with  a  request  for  the  remittance  of  the  amount  to 
make  good  the  deficit  thereby  created  in  their  redemption  deposit  fund, 
to  which,  however,  the  amounts  were  not  debited,  but  to  the  "burning 
acconnt,"  as  heretofore  explained,  thus  leaving  the  balance  at  the  debit 
of  that  accoant  to  represent  the  amounts  due  from  banks  for  currency 
rvdeemed  and  destroyed  for  their  account. 

It  was  agreed,  on  the  part  of  the  bank,  that  returns  for  mutilated  cur- 
i^ncy  should  be  made  on  the  day  following  its  receipt,  but  the  practice 
^  been  to  remit  in  from  one  to  five  days  after  receipt,  and  even  later, 
in  cases  of  special  agreement,  the  average  being  three  and  four  days ; 
a  large  amoant  of  currency  was  thus  always  on  hand  which  the  general 
^ks  of  the  bank  shocked  no  account  of.  At  the  time  of  the  failure  the 
^u%nmalation  of  currency  not  remitted  for  and  not  entered  on  the  general 
^ks  of  the  bank  amounted  to  nearly  $340,000 ;  this  amount  has  since 
Wn  entered,  and,  of  coiurse,  comes  in  in  its  proper  place  in  the  balance- 
»heet  submitted  herewith.  At  the  same  time  there  had  also  been  sent 
to  the  Comptroller  of  the  Currency  for  burning  some  $97,000,  without 
any  entry  of  the  same  having  been  made  on  the  general  booiis ;  the 


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4  FIRST  NATIONAL  BANK  OF  WASHINGTON. 

proper  amounts  have  since  been  charged  to  the  proper  banks,  and  also 
have  their  proper  place  in  the  balance-sheet. 

This  balance-sheet,  it  will  be  readily  secD,  is  very  different  from  the 
statement  actually  shown  by  the  books  on  the  18th  day  of  September, 
but  shows  its  actual  condition  at  that  time  in  as  close  a  manner  as  can. 
be,  as  almost  all  the  accounts  have  been  verified,  and  the  differences 
which  may  be  found  hereafter  cannot  be  of  any  particular  moment. 

We  have  explained  this  "mutilated  currency'^  business  at  great 
length,  in  order  to  elucidate,  as  far  as  it  is  in  our  power  to  do  so,  the  item 
in  the  Dalance-sheet  under  the  head  of  "deficit  in  mutilated  currency 
account,"  $46,398.05.  As  banks  were  credited  with  the  mutilated  currency 
which  had  not  been  remitted  for  at  the  time  of  the  failure,  "  mutilated 
currency  account"  was  debited  with  the  amounts  so  credited  5  the  same 
account  was  credited  with  the  amount  of  currency  burned,  and  charged 
to  the  banks;  it  was  further  credited  with  the  amount  of  mutilated 
currency  actually  found  to  be  on  hand ;  the  account  should,  of  course, 
have  been  balanced  by  this  amount  of  currency  on  hand  so  credited, 
but  the  credit  failed  to  balance  the  account  in  the  sum  of  $29,309.05. 
The  "burning  account"  should  likewise  have  been  balanced  by  the 
amounts  received  from  banks,  or  charged  to  them,  but,  although  we 
cannot  find  that  anything  is  due  from  any  bank  on  this  account,  it  fails 
to  be  so  balanced  in  the  sum  of  $17,089,  thus  showing  a  deficit  or  short- 
age of  $46,398.05  in  the  two  accounts. 

A  thorough  examination  of  these  accounts  has  been  made  with  the 
view  of  accounting  in  some  plausible  way  for  this  deficit,  but  without 
success.  We  are  at  a  loss  to  account  for  it ;  we  present  the  fact,  bat 
offer  no  explanation. 

This  whole  "mutilated  currency"  business  was  transacted  in  a.loose 
manner,  and  a  lack  of  system  and  of  proper  checks  in  accounting  has 
brought  about  its  inevitable  results.  As  no  account  appears  to  have 
ever  been  taken  of  the  actaal  amount  of  mutilated  currency  on  hand,  it 
may  be  possible  that  this  deficiency  did  not  exhibit  itself  in  a  palpable 
shape  until  after  the  failure  of  the  bank. 

Of  the  United  States  bonds  owned  by  the  bank  $30,000  are  held  by  the 
First  Comptroller  of  the  Treasury  for  the  security  of  a  claim  made  by 
the  State  of  Texas  against  the  bank,  now  in  litigation  before  the 
Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States,  and  subject  to  the  final  decision 
to  be  rendered  by  that  court.  On  these  bonds  the  First  Comptroller 
has  collected  interest  to  the  amount  of  $10,116,  which  were  deposited  by 
him  with  the  bank  and  appear  as  a  liability.  Both  the  asset  and  liabil- 
ity mentioned  are  contingent  on  the  decision  of  the  court. 

The  $500,000  in  United  States  bonds  deposited  as  security  for  circu- 
lation are  of  the  class  known  as  ten-forties,  bearing  five  per  cent. 
interest. 

The  $100,000  deposited  as  security  for  deposits  are  Pacific  Railroad 
bonds,  generally  known  as  currency  sixes,  issued  under  acts  of  Congress 
approved  July  1, 1862,  and  July  2, 1864,  and  are  applicable  to  the  can- 
cellation of  part  of  the  indebtedness  of  the  bank  to  the  Treasurer  of  the 
United  States.  • 

The  large  indebtedness  of  this  bank  to  the  G-overnment,  over  and 
above  the  amount  of  securities  deposited,  has  been  looked  into  by  your 
sub-committee  with  special  attention,  and  we  find  that  the  modus 
operandi  through  which  this  large  indebtedness  arose  was  as  follows :  As 
designated  depository  the  First  !National  Bank  of  Washington  issued 
its  certificates  in  favor  of  the  Treasurer  of  the  United  States  for  frac- 
tional  currency  to  be  forwarded  to  different  banks  and  bankers  in  the 


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FIRST  NATIONAL   BANK   OP   WASHINGTON.  5 

coantry  desiring  it,  and  who  made  their  orders  through  them.  In  the 
natoral  coarse  of  business  such  certificates  would  not  be  large,  and  the 
balances  in  bank  would  be  kept  down  to  a  proper  amount  by  transfer 
orders  made  as  soon  as  the  weekly  transcripts  or  reports  of  the  bank 
received  at  the  Treasury  Department  could  be  examined  and  looked 
into. 

On  the  23d  day  of  August,  1873,  the  balance  at  the  credit 
of  the  Treasurer  on  the  books  of  the  bank,  and  reported  to 
him,  was $133,108  45 

During  the  following  week  certificates  were  issued  by  the 
bank  and  cashed  by  the  Treasurer  amounting  to 118, 750  00 

Bunning  the  balance,  on  the  30th  of  August,  up  to.    251, 858  45 
In  the  mean  time  no  transfer  orders  were  paid.    During 
the  following  week  certificates  were  issued  to  the  amount 
of 40,524  00 

292,382  45 
Ami  transfer  orders  were  paid  to  the  amount  of 145, 000  00 

Leaving  the  balance  on  September  6.  at 147, 382  45 

From  the  8th  to  the  17th  of  September,  inclusive,  certifi- 
cates were  issued  to  the  amount  of 185, 400  00 

332, 782  45 
And  on  the  13th  of  September  a  transfer  order  was  paid 
for 45, 000  00 

Leaving  balance  on  the  18th 287, 782  00 

Of  the  certificates  issued  .daring  the  last  week,  $125,000  were  for 
fractional  currency,  to  be  shipped  to  Jay  Cooke  &  Co.,  Philadelphia. 
At  the  time  that  these  large  sums  were  forwarded  on  the  strength  of 
the  certificates  of  the  First  National  Bank,  that  bank  was  already 
indebted  to  the  Treasury  of  the  United  States  for  a  sum  larger  than 
the  amount  of  its  securities  on  deposit  with  the  Treasurer,  and  the 
proper  course  would  seem  to  have  been  to  require  the  bank  to  furnish 
carrency  in  lieu  of  its  certificates. 

^  We  fibad  that  the  manner  through  which  Jay  Cooke  &  Co.  were  per- 
mitted to  thus  obtain  from  the  Government  what  might  be  called  a 
temporary  loan  of  a  large  amount  of  money  on  the  dimple  indorsement 
or  certificates  of  the  First  National  Bank  of  Washington  was  due  to  a 
laxity  in  former  Treasury  regulations,  of  which  they  took  advantage 
ia  an  attempt  to  bolster  up  tiieir  failing  fortunes. 

Immediately  after  the  failure  of  the  bank  the  present  Secretary  of 
the  Treasury  promptly  took  effective  steps  and  measures  through 
which  he  has  been  enabled  to  obtain  full  and  ample  guarantees  and 
security,  by  which  the  Government  will  be  saved  from  loss  in  the  prem- 
ises. We  have  examined  into  the  character  of  the  guarantees  and 
security  obtained  by  him,  and  feel  confident  that  any  deficiency  which 
may  arise  in  the  payment  of  this  debt  out  of  the  assets  of  the  bank  will 
be  fully  met  and  collected  from  another  source. 

It  is  deemed  proper  to  state  that  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  in- 
forms us  that  he  was  not  personally  aware  of  the  existence  of  this 
indebtedness  until  after  the  bank  was  closed. 

Proper  regulations  have  been  made  by  him  which  he  deems  sufficient 


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6  FIRST   NATIONAL    BANK   OF    WASHINGTON, 

to  prevent  a  recarrenco  of  a  like  condition  of  affairs,  and  to  farther 
protect  the  interests  of  the  Government  in  its  dealings  with  banks 
designated  as  depositories. 

We  now  come  to  the  general  management  of  the  bank  and  the 
causes  for  its  failnre. 

Of  its  loans  on  the  18th  of  September  we  find  that  there 

were $83, 383  46 

Of  past-due  paper,  mostlj'^  old,  and  in  demand  notes 72, 838  93 

Total 156, 222  39 

These  demand  notes  were  accommodation  loans  of  long  standing,  which 
should  be  called  past  due  as  well;  some  of  them,  in  fact  the  majority, 
have  run  for  years  in  one  shape  or  another.  The  bank  is  carrying 
some  $84,000  in  real  estate  other  than  its  banking  house,  to  secure 
indebtedness  which  has  also  been  carried  for  years.  We  further  find 
that  during  its  existence  a  sum  amounting  to  over  $130,000  has  been 
charged  to  profit  and  loss  account  for  bad  debts.  A  statement  of  these 
few  facts,  we  deem  it,  is  sufldcient  to  show  that  the  management  of  the 
bank  has  been,  to  say  the  least,  unfortunate. 

From  the  commencement  of  its  business  to  the  present  time  the  bank 
seems  to  have  paid  no  attention  to  the  law  limiting  loans  to  one-tenth 
of  its  capital,  as  expressed  in  the  following  section  of  the  national 
currency  act: 

Sec.  29.  And  he  it  further  enacted.  That  the  total  liabilities  to  any  association,  of  any 

Eerson,  or  of  any  company,  corporation,  or  firm,  for  money  borrowed,  including  in  the 
abilities  of  a  company  or  firm  the  liabilities  of  the  several  members  thereof,  shall  at 
no  time  exceed  one-tenth  part  of  the  amount  of  the  capital  stock  of  each  association 
actually  paid  in :  Providid,  That  the  discount  of  hona-fide  bills  of  exchange  drawn 
against  actually  existing  values,  and  the  discount  of  commercial  or  business  paper 
actually  owned  bv  the  person  or  persons,  corporation,  or  firm  negotiating  the  same, 
shall  not  be  considered  as  money  borrowed. 

That  provision  of  law  has  been  repeatedly  trangressed  both  in  letter 
and  spirit,  and  the  failure  to  comply  with  the  provisions  and  the  spirit 
of  that  law  is  the  cause  to  which  the  failure  of  the  bank  is  directly 
traceable.  Technically,  it  might  be  said  that  the  large  amount  due 
from  Jay  Cooke  &  Co.  was  in  the  nature  of  a  deposit,  but  in  face  of  the 
facts  such  an  assertion  is  preposterous. 

On  the  18th  day  of  September  and  at  the  date  of  its  failure 
the  house  of  Jay  Cooke  &  Co.  was  indebted  to  the  bank, 
in  current  account,  in  the  sum  of $748, 960  69 

They  were  further*  indebted  as  indorsers  on  paper  of  the 
Northern  Pacific  Railroad 100, 000  00 

And  Henry  D.  Cooke,  the  president  of  the  bank  and  one  of 
the  members  of  the  same  firm,  was  indebted  in  the  sum 
of  (on  a  note  carried  by  the  bank  in  some  shape  or  other 
since  January,  1868) 49,978  42 

Total  198, 930  11 

The  Northern  Pacific  Railroad  indebtedness  has  been  carried  b3'  the 
bank  since  the  17th  day  of  July,  1872. 

From  the  1st  day  of  August  to  the  18lh  day  of  September  the  current 
account  of  the  firm  of  Jay  Cooke  &  Co.  was  increased  from  $238,682.76 
to  $748,960.69,  without  security,  over  half  a  million  of  dollars ;  nearly 
$300,000  of  this  increase  was  after  the  1st  day  of  September,  and 
$240,000  of  that  was  on  the  loth  and  16th  of  September.  These  facts 
and  figures  are  sufficient  evidence,  in  view  of  the  events  which  hap- 


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FIRST   NATIONAL   BANK   OF   WASHINGTON.  7 

))ened  soon  thereafter,  that  these  large  transfers  of  moneys  were  really 
loans  made  to  bolster  up  and  strengthen  a  firm  in  difficulties,  and  were 
not  legitimate  deposits. 

Thus  was  the  whole  capital  of  the  bank,  its  whole  surplus  and  a  part 
of  its  deposits,  used  by  one  firm,  and  that  firm  composed  of  the  prin- 
cipal stockholders  of  the  bank.  Too  severe  terms  cannot  be  used  in 
coDdemnation  of  such  an  abuse  of  public  and  private  funds  intrusted  to 
a  national  bank  for  safe-keeping  and  legitimate  uses. 

We  are  pleased  to  find  that  the  OomptroUer  of  the  Currency  was, 
some  time  ago,  enabled  to  pay,  out  of  the  assets  of  the  bank,  a  dividend 
of  thirty  per  cent,  to  its  creditors,  and  that  he  is  now  preparii^  the  pay- 
ment of  another  dividend  of  twenty  per  cent. 

We  present  herewith  amendments  to  sections  29  and  53  of  the  national 
currency  act  for  your  consideration,  which,  in  view  of  the  facts  presented 
Id  the  case  before  us,  we  deem  it  advisable  to  incorporate  in  the  law. 

0.  B.  FARWELL. 
C.  L.  MERRIAM. 
M.  J.  DURHAM. 
Hon.  HOBACE  Matnabd, 

Chairman  of  Committee  an  Banking  and  Currency^ 

House  of  Representatives^  Washingtoriy  D.  C. 


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43d  Congbess,  (     HOUSE  OF  KEPRE8ENTATIVES.       (  Report 
lit  Session.     ]  \  No.  301. 


ELIZA  T.  MOORHEAD. 


March  27, 1874.— Ordered  to  be  printed. 


3Ir.  John  B.  Hawley,  from  the  Committee  on  Claims,  submitted  the 

following 

REPORT;* 

The  Committee  on  Claims^  to  whom  was  referred  the  petition  of  Mrs.  Eliza 
T.  3£ordieady  praying  compensation  for  the  loss  of  certain  slaveSy  eman- 
Hpated  under  the  act  approved  April  16, 1862,  and  entitled  ^^An  aotfor 
the  release  of  certain  persons  held  to  service  or  labor  in  the  Djstrid  of 
ColunMa^  having  had  the  same  under  consideration^  present  the  foUow- 
ing  report : 

The  committee  are  of  the  opinion  that  whatever  may  have  been  the 
rights  of  the  claimant  under  the  said  act  of  April  16. 1862,  such  rights 
were  taken  away  by  virtue  of  the  fourth  section  of  tne  fourteenth  ar- 
ticle of  amendment  to  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States* 

That  section  reads  as  follows :  ^^  But  neither  the  United  States  nor 
any  State  shall  assume  or  pay  any  debt  or  obligation  incurred  in  aid  of 
insurrection  or  rebellion  against  the  United  States,  or  any  claim  for 
the  loss  or  emancipation  of  any  slaves;  but  all  such  debts,  obligations, 
and  claims  shall  be  held  Illegal  and  void." 

Your  committee  do,  therefore,  ask  to  be  discharged  from  the  further 
eonsideration  of  said  claim,  and  recommend  that  said  petition  do  lie  on 
the  table. 


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43d  Congress,  \    HOUSE  OF  EEPEESENTATIVES.      /  Eepobt 
l8t  Okssion.     i  \  Ko.  302. 


MARTHA  A.  ASHBURN. 


MiR(:n27»  1874. — Committed  to  a  Committee  of  the  Whole  House  and  ordered  to  be 

printed. 


3fr.  John  B.  Hawley,  from  the  Committee  oa  Claims,  submitted  the 

following 

REPORT: 

[To  accompany  bill  H.  R.  2682.] 

The  Committee  on  Claims^  to  whom  teas  referred  the  petition  of  Martha  A. 
Ashburn^  widow  of  Oeorge  W.  Aahburnj  present  the  following  report : 

The  committee  find  that  this  claim  was  originally  presented  to  Con- 
gress by  George  W.  Ashborn,  and  that  he  died  in  1868,  leaving  as  his 
widow  the  said  Martha  A.  and  several  small  children,  then,  and  now, 
in  great  pecuniary  embarrassment.  In  the  Thirty-ninth  Congress  the 
Committee  on  Claims,  of  this  House,  reported  a  bill  for  the  relief  of  the 
said  George  W.,  providing  for  the  payment  to  him  of  the  sum  of 
♦3,838.37. 

Your  committee  adopt  the  report  accompanying  said  bill,  as  it  con- 
tains a  full  statement  of  the  facts.    That  report  is  as  follows : 

The  Comnitiee  on  Clainu,  to  whom  was  referred  the  memorial  of  George  W,  Ashbum,  praying 
for  relief,  have  had  the  same  under  consideration^  and  make  thefoUowing  report : 

That  in  October,  1882,  the  petitioner  detected  a  Mr.  Fred.  Staart,  a  British  sabject, 
following  the  retreat  of  General  BaelFs  army,  and  engaged  in  the  purchase  of  goods, 
to  ship  soath,  and  thns  to  give  aid  to  the  rebellion  against  the  Government,  and  at  his 
own  expense  he  placed  a  detective  upon  the  track  of  said  Stuart,  and  ascertained  that 
M  bad  parchai»ed  a  large  quantity  of  goods  and  deposited  the  same  in  the  warehouse 
of  a  disloyal  citizen,  with  the  view  of  shipping  them  south. 

The  said  goods  were  seized,  and  the  facts  which  induced  the  seizure,  together  with 
tbt;  location  of  the  same,  were  duly  reported,  and  were  in  February,  1863,  delivered  to 
tbe  United  States  marshal  for  the  middle  district  of  Tennessee.  The  claimant  also 
farouhed  the  evidence  to  the  district  attorney  of  the  United  States  by  means  whereof 
"^id  goods,  except  some  brandy  and  whisky,  were  libeled  for  adjudication  before  the 
Tnited  States  district  court,  at  Nashville,  Tenn. 

A  portion  of  said  property,  to  wit,  nine  hundred  and  sixteen  gallons  of  brandy  and 
whisky,  was  used  for  the  benefit  of  the  sick  and  disabled  soldiers  of  the  United  States 
•"•pon  the  battle-fields  of  Stone-River. 

It  farther  appears  that  the  name  of  the  claimant  was  not  used  in  said'proceedings 
in  court,  whereby  said  goods  were  ordered  to  be  sold,  for  the  reason  that  at  the  time 
ttid  prooeedin|^  were  had  he  was  on  active  duty  in  the  army  of  the  Cumberland,  and 
n4  wounded  in  front  of  the  enemy. 

By  an  act  of  Congress  of  August  6,  1861,  any  person  may  file  an  information  to  in- 
<itQt«  proceerlings  of  condemnation,  and  in  sucn  case  the  proceedings  shall  be  for  the 
^^  of  the  United  States  and  the  informer,  in  equal  parts. 

The  said  property,  with  the  exception  of  the  brandy  and  whisky  aforesaid,  was 
condemned  and  sold,  and  the  proceeds  paid  into  the  Treasury  of  the  United  States. 

The  one-half  of  said  property  amounts  to  the  sum  of  $3,838.37. 

Though  the  claimant  did  not  file  the  information,  but  was  prevented  therefrom  by 
active  military  service,  yet  as  his  zeal  and  activity  detected  the  property,  and  as  he 
famiBhed  all  the  necessary  evidence  for  its  seizure  and  condemnation,  the  committee 
think  that  he  is  entitled,  in  equity,  to  the  one-half  of  the  proceeds  of  the  same ;  and 
therefore  they  report  the  accompanying  bill  and  recommend  its  passage. 


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2  MARTHA   A.    ASHBURN. 

Toar  committee  also  refer  to  the  following  letter  of  the  Secretary  of 
the  Treasury,  and  make  it  a  part  of  their  report  herein : 

Treasury  DEPARTHfENT,  Juljf  16, 1666. 

Sir  :  I  have  examined  yonr  petition^  and  the  eyidence  filed  iu  its  support,  reqaestin^ 
the  payment  to  yoa  of  ooe-half  the  proceedR  of  certain  goods  condemned  as  forfeited 
to  the  United  States  by  decree  of  the  district  court  for  the  middle  district  of  Tennes- 
ssee,  npon  information  or  libel  filed  by  the  district  attorney  under  the  act  of  Congress 
approved  August  6, 1861,  entitled  *^An  act  to  confiscate  property  nsed  for  insnrrectioo- 
aiy  purposes? 

By  your  petition  and  the  evidence,  it  appears  that  in  the  year  1662  you,  at  that  tim« 
being  a  private  citizen,  and  not  an  officer  uf  the  Government,  detected  one  Stewart, 
who  claimed  to  be  a  British  subject,  in  attempting  to  cross  the  military  linos  of  the 
United  States  Army,  in  the  State  of  Tennessee,  with  goods  from  the  North,  for  the  par- 
pose  of  sale  within  the  insurrectionary  States ;  that  having  ascertained  his  purpose 
and  the  locality  of  the  goods,  and  obtained  the  necessary  evidence,  yon  caused  them  to 
be  seized  by  the  chief  of  police  of  the  Army  of  the  Cumberland,  in  whose  custody  they 
were  kept  until  you  were  appointed  president  of  a  military  customs  board,  which  was 
organized  by  order  of  General  Rosecrans  for  the  purpose  of  securing  captured  and  con- 
fiscable property  to  the  use  of  the  United  States,  when  they  were  placed  in  charge  of 
the  boai^.  Afterward,  in  January,  1863,  a  portion  of  the  goods,  valued  at  the  sum  of 
f 2,154,  were  taken  for  hospital  use  by  the  chief  commissary  of  the  Army,  for  which 
vouchers  were  given  to  you,  and  the  goods  were  taken  up  and  accounted  for  in  his  re- 
turns; and  in  February  following  the  remainder  of  the  goods,  by  order  of  General 
Rosecrans,  were  turned  over  by  you  to  the  United  States  marshal  that  proceedings 
might  be  instituted  for  their  condemnation  under  the  acts  of  Congress.  In  June  fol- 
lowing you  also  turned  over  to  the  marshal  the  vouchers  representing  the  goods,  with 
all  the  evidence  for  the  prosecution  of  the  libel ;  but  being  attached  to  the  Anny  in 
the  capacity  before  named,  and  the  Army  having  been  removed  from  Nashville,  and  re- 
maining absent  while  the  proceedings  were  pending,  you  were  not  present  thereat, 
and,  therefore,  your  name  does  not  appear  in  the  proceedings  as  informer  against  said 
goods,  although  you  detected  the  desicns  of  Stewart,  gave  the  information  upon  which 
the  goods  were  seized,  and  procured  the  evidence  which  secured  their  condemna- 
tion. The  net  proceeds  of  that  part  of  the  goods  turned  over  by  you  to  the  marshal, 
amounting  to  the  sum  of  $5,522.95,  were  afterward  ^aid  by  the  clerk  of  the  court  to 
W.  D.  Gallagher,  United  States  depositary  at  Louisville,  Ky. 

In  consideration  of  the  facts  stated,  you  now  ask  that  that  portion  of  the  proceeds  of 
the  property  which  by  the  provisions  of  the  act  of  August  6, 1861,  might  have  been 
given  to  the  person  filing  the  information,  may  be  paid  to  you  by  my  order  out  of 
moneys  in  the  Treasury. 

In  answer  to  your  request,  I  would  say  that  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  has  no 
Ijower  to  institute  proceedings  under  the  act  of  August  6,  or  to  control  or  modify  them 
while  pending.  In  connection  with  them  he  has  no  other  power  or  duty  than  to  re- 
ceive into  the  Treasury  such  sums  derived  from  the  property  condemned  as  are  paid  to 
him  in  acoonlance  with  the  decree  of  the  court.  These  sums  he  receives  for  the  benefit 
of  the  United  States  and  cannot  divert  them  to  the  use  of  others.  The  legal  right 
of  the  person  giving  information  to  share  in  the  property  condemned  is  dependent 
upon  his  appearing  as  the  informer  in  the  record.  The  proceedings  having  been 
finally  concluded,  and  the  fund  paid  into  the  Treasury,  however  meritorious  may  be 
your  claim,  it  would  appear  that  it  can  only  be  recognized  and  satisfied  by  an  act  of 
Congress. 

Respectfully, 

H.   MCCULLOCH, 
Secretary  of  the  Treasurij. 

Col.  G.  \V.  ASHBURX, 

Washingtotij  D.  C. 

In  the  first  session  of  the  Fortieth  Congress  a  joint  resolution  passed 
this  House  providing  for  the  payraeut  to  the  said  George  W.  of  the  sum 
of  $3,838.37. 

The  committee  are  of  opinion  that  the  case  is  fnlly  sustained  by  the 
evidence,  and  recommend  the  passage  of  the  accompanying  bill  provid- 
ing for  the  payment  to  the  said  Martha  A.,  as  the  widow  of  the  said 
George  W.,  of  the  said  sum  of  $3,838.37. 


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4Sd  OONOBE8&  >     BOUSE  OF  EEPEESENTATIVE8.      (  Ebpoet 
Ui  Se99um.     f \  No.  303, 


D.  B.  ALLEN  &  CO. 


ttARCH  97, 1874. — Committed  to  a  Committee  of  the  Whole  House  and  ordered  to  be 

printed. 


Mr.  J.  B.  Hawlet,  from  the  Committee  on  Claims,  submitted  the 

following 

REPORT: 

[To  accompany  bill  S.  439.1 

The  Committee  on  Claims^  to  whom  was  referred  the  hill  {8. 439)  to  provide 
for  the  payment  of  />.  B.  Allen  &  Co.  for  services  in  carrying  the  United 
Stales  mails^  have  had  the  same  under  consideration,  and  now  present  the 
following  report : 

The  Senate  Committee  on  Post-Offices  and  Post-Boads,  for  the  pres- 
ent Congress,  have  submitted  a  report  in  this  case,  which  was  adopted 
by  the  innate,  and  which  your  committee  here  adopt  in  the  following 
words : 

The  Committee  on  Poet-Offices  and  Post-Roads,  to  whom  was  referred  the  memorial 
of  D.  B.  Allen  A.  Co.,  representing  the  Atlantic  Steamship  and  the  Pacific  Mail  Steam- 
ship Companies,  for  compensation  for  carrying  the  United  States  mails  during  the 
eospension  of  the  orerland  mail  service  in  1864  and  1865,  beg  leave  to  report : 

The  saspension  of  the  overland  mail  service,  by  reason  of  Indian  hostilities  on  the 
^ns,  took  place  in  1864;  that  the  amount  paid  for  said  service  annually  was 
9840,000,  while  $160,000  annually  was  paid  to  said  steamship  companies  for  carrying 
fnmUA  matUr  and  such  letters  as  might  be  marked  to  be  specially  sent  that  wa^. 

When  the  suspension  occurred,  leaving  the  entire  Pacific  dope  without  maUs,  the 
Postmaster-General  applied  to  said  steamship  companies  to  carry  the  entire  mails 
darfng  the  interruption  of  the  overland  route.  The  companies  cheerfully  complied, 
and  lor  a  period  of  about  four  montl^B  aU  mails  of  the  United  States  for  the  Pacific 
were  safely  and  expeditiously  thmsported  by  them.  For  this  service  compensation  is 
daimed. 

The  matter  has  been  submitted  to  the  Postmaster-Qeneral,  who  reports  that  there  is 
justly  due  D.  B.  AUen  &  Cot  the  sum  of  twenty-one  thousand  five  hundred  and  forty- 
three  doUarSy  (|21,543^)  in  strict  conformity  to  the  spirit  of  the  law. 

Tour  committee  believe  that  said  parties  are  Justly  entitled  to  a  much  larger  sum ; 
but  that  sum  having  been  stated  by  the  Postmaster-General  as  du6,  and  as  the  parties 
msotioned  prefer  to  take  that  sum  rather  than  to  provoke  controversy  and  Incur  dela^, 
wiU  accept  the  sum  in  fuU  discharge  of  the  claim,  report  a  bill  for  said  sum.  This 
daim  would  have  been  paid  at  the  time  the  services  were  rendered  if  the  Department 
had  been  in  possession  <n  ftinds  with  which  to  pay  the  same.  A  bill  passed  the  Senate 
during  the  li»t  Congress  for  the  same  purpose. 

Toifr  committee  also  report  the  additional  fact  that  the  same  bill 
passed  the  Senate  during  the  Forty-first  Congress,  and  received  the 
ftvorable  action  of  the  House  CommiH;ee  on  the  Post-Office  and  Post- 
BoadS|  and  the  bill  that  passed  the  Senate  during  the  last  Oongress  re- 
ceived the  fiEivoiable  action  of  the  House  Committee  on  Claims. 

Tour  committee  report  back  the  bill  and  recommend  that  it  do  pass. 


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43d  Congress,  )     HOUSE  OF  EEPEESENTATIVES.      (  Report 
lit  SesHon.     f  \  Ko.  304. 


JOSEPH  S.  READ. 


M.iROi{  27, 1874. — CoDi milted  to  a  Committee  of  the  Whole  House  and  ordered  to  be 

printed. 


Mr.  Lansing,  from  the  Committee  on  Claims,  submitted  the  following 

REPORT: 

[To  accompany  bill  H.  R.  2463.] 

The  Committee  on  Claims^  to  whom  was  referred  the  claim  of  Joseph  S. 
Read  far  services  as  assistant  doorlceeper  of  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives from  August  1, 1868,  to  November  10, 1868,  report : 

TYiat  it  appears  &om  the  statement  of  said  Read,  C.  E.  Lippincott^ 
William  Moore,  M.  C,  and  Edwaxd  MePherson,  Clerk  of  the  House  of 
BepresentatiTes,  that  said  Read  was  discharged  as  assistant  doorkeeper 
on  the  25th  day  of  July,  1868,  said  discharge  to  take  effect  after  the 
adjoamment  of  the  then  session  of  Congress  j  that  said  Congress  took 
a  recess  on  the  1st  day  of  August,  and  again  from  time  to  time,  and 
finally  adjourned  on  the  10th  day  of  November,  1868 ;  and  that  the  said 
Bead  remained  at  the  House,  in  the  actual  discharge  of  his  duty  as  as- 
sistant doorkeeper,  until  said  adjournment,  and  has  received  no  pay 
therefor  from  August  1, 1868,  to  Kovember  10, 1868,  a  period  of  three 
and  a  half  months,  an  account  for  which  Edward  Spicer,  superintendent 
of  the  House  folding-room,  certifies  to  be  correct  for  $395.72,  at  the 
rate  of  $1,440  per  annum ;  that  the  reason  why  said  account  was  not 
l)aid  is  that  the  money  appropriated  for  that  purpose  was  exhausted. 

The  committee  therefore  recommend  the  passage  of  the  accompany- 
ing bill  giving  to  said  Reed  the  said  sum  of  $395.72  in  payment  of  said 
service.H. 


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43d  CoNaBESS,  \     HOUSE  OF  EEPBESENTATIVES.      (  RbpoeIt 
Ui  SemoTi.     f  \  No.  305. 


PETERS  &  EEED. 


1Cajigh27,  1874.— Committed  to  a  Committee  of  the  Whole  House  and  ordered  to  be 

printed. 


Mr.  DuNNELL,  from  the  Committee  on  Claims,  sabmitted  the  following 

REPORT: 

[To  accompany  hill  H.  R.  565.] 

The  Committee  on  Claims^  to  whom  was  referred  the  bill  (H.  R.  565)  for 
the  rdie/of  Peters  &  Reed,  naval  contractors  at  the  Norfolk  navy-yard 
in  the  year  I860,  have  had  the  same  under  consideration^  together  with  the 
papers  and  vouchers  in  the  case,  and  respectfully  report : 

The  chairman  of  the  sub-committee  from  your  committee  addressed  a 
letter  to  the  saperintendent  of  Bareau  of  Tards  and  Docks  of  the  Navy 
Department,  and  received  the  following  reply  : 

Bureau  of  Yards  and  Docks,  Navy  Department, 

Washington,  D.  C,  February  9,  1874. 

Sir;  The  Bnreaa  has  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your  letter  of  the  24  th 
ultimo,  incloeing  certain  papers,  and  asking  information  in  reference  to  the  claim  of 
Peters  &,  Reed,  as  attorney  for  F.  W.  Parmenter  and  Jphn  E.Mc Williams,  contractors 
for  work  at  Norfolk  navy-yard. 

The  remote  period  at  which  this  claim  originated,  and  the  incompleteness  of  the 
record,  caused  b^  the  destruction  of  the  yard  daring  the  late  war,  have  caused  some 
deUy  in  answering  your  inquiries.  The  records  of  this  Bureau  have  been  carefully 
examined,  with  the  following  results : 

On  the  Ist  of  July,  1859,  a  contract  was  made  by  the  Bureau  with  John  £.  Mc Will- 
iams as  principal,  and  A.  M.  H.  Peters,  Washington  Reed,  and  Holt  Wilson  as  sureties, 
all  of  Portsmouth,  Va.,  for  the  work  necessary  to  complete  the  masonry  of  the  victual- 
ling establishment  at  the  Norfolk  navy-yard.  The  price  to  be  paid  was  $10  per 
thousand  for  laying  the  bricks,  to  be  paid  to  John  E.  Mo  Williams  or  his  attorney. 

On  the  86th  of  August,  1859,  a  contract  was  made  by  the  Bureau  with  F.  W.  Par- 
menter, of  Troy,  N.  Y.,  as  principal,  and  Sidney  D.  Roberts  and  Julius  H.  Kroehl,  both 
of  New  York,  as  sureties,  for  the  construction,  erection,  and  completion  of  an  iron  roof 
to  the  said  victualling  establishment.  The  sum  to  be  paid  for  this  roof  was  $18,000,  to 
be  paid  to  F.  W.  Parmenter  or  his  attorney. 

In  both  cases  Peters  and  Reed  were  recognized  as  the  agents  and  attorneys  of  the 
contracting  parties. 

With  regard  to  the  payments  made  on  McWiHiams*s  contract,  it  appears  from  the 
records  of  the  Burean  that  bills  to  the  amount  of  $13,30S.25  were  made  and  paid,  ex- 
cept a  reservation  of  $2,661.65,  and  subsequently  one-half  of  this  reservation,  $1,330.83, 
yas  paid.  There  is  no  evidence  oti  the  files  of  the  Bureau  that  the  bills  for  $2,758.73, 
i2.^63,  or  the  reservation,  $1,330.83,  have  ever  bean  paid. 

The  aggregate  amount  of  Mc  Williams's  contract  is  not  stated,  the  price  being  $10 
per  thousand  for  laying  the  bricks,  while  the  number  is  not  stated ;  nor  is  there  any 
information  in  the  Bareau  by  which  it  could  be  ascertained,  as  all  the  books  and  papers 
in  the  yard  were  destroyed  when  the  navy-yard  was  burned. 


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2  PETEBS   &   REED. 

The  only  payments  on  Parmenter's  contract  for  the  roof  on  record  in  the  Bureaa 
are  one  of  $7,200  and  one  of  $3,600,  making  $10,800,  and  leaving  a  balance  of  $7,200  to 
make  the  $18,000. 

It  also  appears  from  the  records  of  the  Bureau  that  the  bill  of  $777.99,  and  one  of 
$175,  both  for  extra  work  on  the  roof,  were  authorized  by  the  Bureau  to  be  paid, 
but  there  is  no  evidence  that  either  of  these  last  three  bills  were  paid. 

The  bill  for  $661.71,  in  favor  of  Peters  &  Reed,  for  bricks,  is  noticed  on  the  books  of 
the  Bureau,  but  there  is  no  evidence  of  it  having  been  paid. 

In  February,  1860,  the  appropriation  for  this  work  was  exhausted,  and  the  contract- 
ors, through  the  commandant,  applied  for  permission  to  go  on  and  complete  their  work 
and  wait  for  payment  until  Congress  should  make  appropriations  to  pay  their  bills. 
To  this  the  Bureau  interposed  no  objection  and  the  parties  proceeded  with  the  work 
and  completed  their  contracts  in  a  satisfactory  manner. 

In  the  annual  report  of  1860  the  Bureau  asked  for  an  appropriation  to  pay  outstand- 
ing liabilities,  on  account  of  the  victualling  establishment  and  to  complete  the  build- 
ing ;  the  aitpropriation  was  made  on  the  21st  of  February,  1861,  for  payment  of  liabili- 
ties and  completing  the  building,  but  it  was  not  available  until  the  1st  of  July,  1861, 
prior  to  whicn  time  the  act  of  secession  was  passed,  and  the  navy-yard  at  Norfolk  was 
taken  possession  of  by  the  insurgents  in  April,  1861,  and  the  Navy  Department  ceased 
to  have  a  disbursing  officer  at  Norfolk. 

The  United  States  again  came  in  possession  of  the  yard  in  the  latter  part  of  May, 
1862 ;  the  buildings  in  uie  yard  had  been  destroyed  by  fire  and  the  dry-dock  disabled, 
and,  under  the  emergency  created  bv  the  exigencies  of  the  war,  it  became  necessary  for 
the  Department  to  avail  itself  of  all  the  unexpended  balances  of  appropriations  to  the 
credit  of  the  Norfolk  navy-yard ;  these  balances  are  all  condensed  in  one  sum,  and 
the  money  expended  where  needed  without  regard  to  former  special  allotment.  The 
dry-dock  was  repaired  and  put  in  working  order,  and  such  buildings  and  wharves  as 
were  indispensably  necessary  to  meet  the  demands  of  the  service  during  a  state  of  war 
were  put  in  order;  these,  with  other  objects  of  most  imperative  necessity,  were  paid 
for  out  of  this  general  fund. 

The  above  is  all  the  information  this  Bureau  has  on  this  subject.  It  has  no  knowl- 
edge of  the  payment  of  or  the  correctness  of  the  copies  ot  those  bills.  If  any  of  them 
have  been  paid  it  is  probable  that  a  reference  to  the  books  of  the  Fourth  Auditor's 
Office  would  show  it. 

The  papers  are  herewith  returned. 

I  have  the  honor  to  be,  very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

C.  R.  P.  BODGBSS. 

Hon.  Mark  H.  Duxnell,  of  Minnesota, 

House  of  BepresentaUve^f  member  of  Commitlee  on  Clalme. 

Oil  receipt  of  the  above  cotumanication  from  the  Kavy  Department, 
a  letter  was  seut  to  the  Fourth  Auditor  of  the  United  States  Tre^ory, 
to  whicli  the  following  reply  was  made : 

Treasury  Department,  Fourth  Auditor's  Office, 

February  11, 1874. 
Sir  :  I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledf^e  the  receipt  of  your  letter  of  yesterday  inclos- 
iujc  the  papers  in  the  claim  of  Peters  &.  Reed,  witu  a  report  thereon  from  the  Bureau 
of  Yards  and  Docks  of  the  Navy  Department.    The  papers  and  report  are  herewith  re- 
spectfuUy  returned. 

An  examination  of  the'rccords  of  this  Bureau  shows  the  same  result  as  the  report 
above  mentioned,  viz :   There  has  been  paid  on  account  of  work  and  material  on  the 
yictualling  establishment  at  Norfolk  the  sum  of  $24,108.25  only ;  and  the  bills  now 
presented,  amounting  to  $15,170.89,  do  not  appear  to  nave  been  paid. 
I  am,  very  respectfully,  &c., 

WM.  B.  MOORE, 

Acting  Auditor. 
Hon.  Mark  H.  Dl'xkell, 

House  of  Bepresentativesy  member  Committee  on  Claims, 

The  amount  found  due  and  unpaid  in  the  above  communications,  as 
well  as  the  items  therein  given,  exactly  agrees  with  the  sworn  vouchers 
found  among  the  papers  in  the  case ;  and  (ilso  exactly  agrees  with  the 
amount  named  in  the  bill. 

Your  committee  find  that  there  was  due  from  the  Government  to  the 
claimant,  on  the  first  day  of  January,  1861,  on  contracts  made  in  1859 


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PETERS    &    EEED.  6 

and  1860,  the  sum  of  $15,170.89,  and  farther  find  that  this  sum  remains 
unpaid. 

This  indebtedness  existed  prior  to  the  rebellion.  While  the  claimants 
took  no  part  in  the  rebellion,  and  voted  against  the  ordinance  of  seces- 
sion^ it  is  not  claimed  that  they  were  free  from  sympathy  in  the  rebel- 
lion; yet  as  this  claim  had  been  recognized  by  the  executive  and  legisla- 
tive departments  of  the  Government,  and  m  view  of  the  policy  adopted 
by  Congress  in  making  payment  of  the  claims  of  the  census-takers  of 
1860,  your  committee  recommend  the  payment  of  the  claim.  Your  com- 
mittee deem  it  the  better  policy  to  pay  individual  claims  well  sus- 
tained in  fact  and  equity,  than  pass  a  general  law  at  the  present  time 
which  shall  admit  a  whole  class  irrespective  of  the  merits  of  the  several 
cases  in  the  class. 


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43d  Congbess,  )    HOUSE  OP  EEPRESENTATIVES.      /  Eepoet 
Ut  Sessifm.     f  \  l^o.  306. 


J.  L.  TEDROW. 


March  27, 1974. — Committed  to  a  Committee  of  the  Whole  House  and  ordered  to  he 

printed. 


Mr.  J.  Q.  Smith,    from   the  Committee  on   Claims,  sabmitted  the 

following 

REPORT: 

[To  accompany  bill  H.  R.  955.] 

Tke  Committee  on  Claims^  to  whom  was  referred  the  bill  {H.  B.  955)  for  the 
rdiefof  J.  L.  Tedrow^  of  Clarice  County ^  lowa^  report  as  follows : 

J.  L.  Tedrow  was  postmaster  at  Ottawa,  Clarke  County,  Iowa.  Mr. 
Tedrow  makes  oath  that,  on  the  night  of  the  22d  of  December,  1872, 
barglars  blew  open  his  iron  safe,  and  took  from  it  $34.50  worth  of 
postage-stamps  belonging  to  the  United  States. 

Thomas  S.  Harding  testifies  that  he  was  employed  at  the  post-office 
as  assistant  postmaster,  at  Ottawa.  That  on  the  morning  of  the  23d  of 
December,  1872,  he  was  early  at  the  store  of  Mr.  Tedrow,  "  and  saw  the 
appearance  of  the  door  having  been  violently  broken  open,  the  safe  lying 
OQ  the  floor,  with  the  appearance  of  having  been  struck  by  a  heavy  tool 
and  then  blown  up  by  powder."  He  also  testifies  that  ^'  the  stamps 
lost  had  been  handed  by  me  to  the  postmaster  some  short  time  before 
this  occurrence,  and  that  he  saw  him  lock  them  up." 

Thomas  Adams  testifies  that  he  was  early  at  the  store  of  Mr.  Tedrow, 
and  saw  the  door  of  the  store  had  been  forced  open  and  some  consider- 
able injury  done  to  it.  The  safe  was  lying  on  the  floor  with  its  door 
blown  off  and  some  of  its  contents  scattered  around. 

The  committee  recommend  the  passage  of  the  accompanying  bill. 


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43d  CoNaEESS,  \     HOUSE  OF  EEPEESENTATIVES.     (  Eepoet 
lit  Session,     j  \  No.  307. 


JOSEPH  NOCK. 


March  27, 1874. — Ordered  to  be  priuted. 


Mr.  John  Q.  Smith,  from  the  Committee  on  Claims,  submitted  the 

following 

REPORT: 

[To  accompany  biU  H.  R.  962.] 

The  Committee  on  Claims^  to  tchom  teas  referred  the  hill  {H.  B.  962)  for  the 
relief  o/  Joseph  Nock,  have  considered  the  same  and  report  as  follows: 

The  bill  is  to  authorize  the  payment  to  Mr.  Nock  of  the  sum  of  815,000 
for  the  use  by  the  United  States  of  his  patented  improvement  in  ink- 
stands for  the  last  seventeen  years. 

Mr.  Nock  alleges  that  on  the  13th  of  December,  1853,  he  obtained 
a  patent  for  "  improved  inkstands  and  inkwell  covers  "  for  the  period  of 
fourteen  years ;  that  on  the  13th  of  December,  1867,  these  letters-patent 
having  expired  by  limitation  of  law,  they  were  extended  for  the  further 
period  of  seven  years.  Mr.  Nock,  in  his  petition,  asserts  that  he  has 
been  greatly  wronged  by  various  persons  infringing  his  patent.  This 
may  or  may  not  be  true.  But  whether  true  or  untrue,  it  is  not  properly 
within  the  province  of  the  committee  to  inquire.  He  had  his  remedy 
in  case  of  an  infringment  of  his  patents  in  the  courts.  He  alleges 
that  on  account  of  poverty  he  could  not  defend  his  rights.  That  surely 
makes  no  claim  against  the  Government.  He  claimed  his  patent  from 
the  Gfovemment,  under  the  law,  just  as  every  other  citizen  does,  or  did, 
and  it  was  his  privilege  to  defend  his  rights  to  all  the  profits  and  ad- 
vantages of  that  patent,  just  as  any  other  citizen  must.  It  will  not  do 
to  assert  that  it  is  in  law,  or  equity,  the  duty  of  the  Government  to  de- 
fend what  is  claimed  to  be  the  legal  rights  of  a  citizen  in  the  courts, 
whether  that  citizen  be  rich  or  poor,  or  to  compensate  him  when  he 
fails  to  make  good  what  he  supposes  to  be  his  legal  right  to  any  prop- 
erty. 

But  Mr.  Nock  claims  that  the  Government  purchased  his  inkstands 
from  manufacturers  who  were  violating  his  patent-rights.  Whether 
this  be  true  or  not  true,  the  agents  of  the  Government  must  have  pur- 
chased its  inkstands  in  open  market,  and  simply  occupied  the  position 
of  any  other  purchaser.  Mr.  Nock's  rights  were  not  infringed  by  the 
Government,  and  consequently  the  Government  is  in  no  way  responsible 
to  Mr.  Nock. 

The  committee  can  see  no  shadow  of  reason  for  the  passage  of  this 
bill,  and  recommend  that  it  do  not  pass. 


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43d  Gongbess,  \     HOUSE  OP  BEPEESENTATIVES.      j  Report 
lit  Seuian.     i  1  No.  308. 


DUNCAN  MARE. 


March  27, 1874. — Commilted  to  a  Committee  of  the  Whole  Hoase  and  ordered  to  be 

printed. 


Mr.  BuBBOWS,  from  tbe  Committee  on  Claims,  sabmitted  the  following 

REPORT: 

[To  accompany  biU  H.  R.  2683.] 

Tke  Committee  on  Claims^  to  whom  was  referred  the  hill  (H.  B.  640) /or  the 
reUef  of  Duncan  Marr,  a  loyal  citizen  of  Montgomery  County j  TennesseCj 
submit  the  following  report: 

On  the  2d  day  of  December,  1870,  the  claimant,  Dancan  Marr,  made 
oath  to  the  following  claim  against  the  Government  of  the  United 
States,  yiz: 

Thk  U17ITED  States  to  Duncan  Mark,  Dk. 

December  25, 1862,  to  September  20, 1863,  for  six  thousand  five  hundred  cords 
of  wood,  at  |2  per  oora $13,000 

September  20, 1863,  to  Jaly  1, 1865,  for  eight  thousand  five  hnndred  cords  of 
wood,  at  $2  per  cord 17,000 

Total 30,000 

Sabseqaently,  and  on  the  31st  day  of  July,  1871,  the  claimant  made 
oath  to  the  following  additional  claim,  to  wit: 

That  on  and  aboot  the  years  1864, 1865,  and  1866,  at  or  near  Clarksville,  Tenn.,  Capt. 
William  Brant,  Sixteenth  United  States  Colored  Infantry,  superintendent  freedmen  and 
Kting  assistant  quartermaster,  took  from  affiant — 
Seren  thousand  five  hundred  cords  of  good  wood,  lying  near  the  Cumberland 

lodRed  Rivers,  valued  at  |2  per  cora $15,000 

Seventy-eii^ht  thousand  brick,  at  $9  per  thousand 702 

One  hundred  and  twelve  thousand  brick,  at  $9  per  thousand 1, 008 

Tbe  use  and  occupation  of  one  hnndred  and  eighty  acres  of  land  from  Jan- 

Qsry,  1864,  to  January  1, 1866,  at  $540  per  year 1,080 

Total  amount  of  second  claim 17,790 

Hskiog  the  entire  demand  of  the  claimant  against  the  Government  the  sum  of.    47, 790 
Sobseqnently  the  claimant  withdrew  so  much  of  his  second  claim  as  had  ref- 
erence to  wood,  reducing  the  demand  the  sum  of 15,702 

LeaTluf^  a  balance  claimed  to  be  due  of. 32,088 

For  wood,  brick,  and  use  of  premises. 

These  claims  have  been  presented  to  the  proper  department  of  the 
Government  for  examination  and  settlement. 

These  claims  arose  from  the  use  by  the  Federal  troops  and  freedmen 
of  the  premises  of  the  claimant,  and  the  wood  growing  thereon,  during 
and  since  the  rebellion  of  1861. 

The  first  of  these  claims,  for  $30,000,  was  filed  December  2, 1870,  and 
the  second  claim  was  filed  with  the  Department  July  31, 1871. 


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2  DUNCAN   MARR. 

Upon  the  presentation  of  the  first  claim,  and  in  July,  1871,  the  chief 
quartermaster  of  the  Department  of  the  Soath,  Maj.  A.  li.  Eddy,  under 
the  direction  of  the  Qnartermaster-General,  investigated  this  claim,  and 
August  7, 1871,  made  the  following  report : 

Headquarters  Department  of  the  South, 

Chief  Quartermaster's  Office, 

Lauiwille,  Ky,,  Augu$t  7, 1871. 
General:  I  haye  the  honor  to  return  herewith  the  claim  ot  Dancan  Marr,  of  Mont- 

g ornery  Coanty,  Tennessee,  amoantin^  to  $30,000,  for  qnartermaster  stores  taken  from 
im  during  the  war  hy  the  Federal  Army,  with  the  information  that  upon  an  inves- 
tigation made  hy  James  C.  Wheeler,  qnartermaster  agent,  it  is  found  that  the  wood, 
for  which  claim  is  made,  was  used  hy  the  troops  stationed  at  Clarksville,  Tenn.,  from 
1862  up  to,  and  for  some  time  after,  the  close  of  the  war.  It  consisted  of  standing 
timher,  cut  and  hauled  by  the  troops. 

The  land  from  which  this  timher  was  removed  ia  situated  within  three-fourths  of  a 
mile  of  the  city  of  Clarksville,  and  consisted  of  three  di£ferent  tracts,  which  were  sur- 
veyed under  the  direction  of  the  agent  making  the  investigation,  hy  which  it  is  shown 
that  one  tract,  lying  on  the  north  side  of  BmL  River,  opposite  Clarksville,  contained 
161f  acres,  which  averaged  50  cords  per  acre,  (8,087^  cords.)  One  twenty-five  (25) 
acre  tract  adjoining  the  corporation -line  averaged  30  cords  per  acre,  (750  cords.)  The 
wood  from  the  above-mentioned  tracts  was  all  removed.  One  other  tract,  containing 
100  acres,  one-fifth  of  which  belonged  to  claimant,  was  also  cleared  by  the  troops; 
this  averaged  50  cords  per  acre,  and  claimant's  share  was  1,000  cords,  making  a  total 
of  9,637i  cords  of  wood  taken  from  this  claimant  and  used  by  the  Army,  mostly  for 
fuel  and  lumber,  a  portion  bcin^  used  in  constructing  and  repairing  the  bridges  and 
trestles  on  the  Louisville,  Clarksville  and  Memphis  Railroad.  A  camp  of  freedmen 
was  established  on  claimant's  land,  under  the  direction  of  the  Bureau  of  Refugees, 
Freedmen  and  Abandoned  Lands.  This  camp  remained  upon  claimant's  land  for  some 
time  after  the  close  of  the  war,  and  all  the  fuel  used  at  tne  camp  was  obtained  from 
this  land.  From  the  situation  of  the  timber,  its  nearness  to  the  camps  of  the  troops, 
and  the  general  information  obtained  from  the  citizens  of  Clarksville  and  vicinity,  it 
is  evident  the  amount  of  wood  stated  above  as  taken  from  this  claimant  is  not  too 
large.  Wood  standing  in  the  tree  in  that  locality  was  worth  $1  per  cord,  which 
would  be  a  just  price  to  be  allowed  for  this,  making  a  I'eductiou  in  the  claim  to 
$9,837.50,  which  would  be  ample  payment  for  the  wood  taken. 

Mr.  Marr  remained  at  Clarksville  during  the  war,  availed  himself  of  the  first  oppor- 
tunity that  offered  to  take  the  oath  of  allegiance,  amnesty,  &c.,  and  faithfully  ob- 
served them.  He  was  a  law-abiding  citizen,  and  was  never  known  to  express  other 
than  loyal  sentiments.  Federal  officers  who  knew  him  intimately  from  the  first  occu- 
pation of  Clarksville  until  the  close  of  the  war  do  not  hesitate  to  pronounce  him  as  a 
loyal  citizen.  He  took  no  part  against  the  Government,  but  exerted  his  influence  on 
the  part  of  law  and  order  at  all  times. 

Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

A.  R.  EDDY, 

Chief  Quartermaster, 

Brig.  Gen.  M.  C.  Meigs, 

Quartermaster-General  U.  S.  A.f  Washingtoi^f  D,  C. 


CTpon  presentation  of  the  second  claim,  a  second  investigation  was 
ordered,  as  appears  by  the  following  letter  of  the  Quartermaster-General, 
indorsed  on  the  foregoing  report : 

Quartermaster-General's  Office, 
December  19,  ltJ71. 
Respectfully  returned  to  Maj.  A.  R.  Eddy,  chief  quartermaster  Department  of  the 
South,  Louisville,  Ky.,  for  re-investigation  and  report  in  connection  with  another 
claim  in  favor  of  the  same  person,  recently  filed  in  this  Office. 
By  order  Quartermaster-General : 

M.  I.  LUDINGTON, 
Quartermaeter,  United  States  Army, 


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DUNCAN   MARK.  3 

Upon  sach  second  investigation  tbe  following  report  was  made : 

Nashville,  Jane  6, 1872. 

Colonel:  The  two  claims  in  favor  of  Dancan  Marr,  of  Montgomery  County,  Tennes- 
see, and  all  papers  pertaining  thereto,  are  herewith  returned,  and  tbe  following  report 
rtfspectfnlly  submitted : 

Claim  No.  1,  for  $30,000,  was  filed  December  2,  1870,  to  recover  pay  for  15,000  cords 
of  wood,  at  |2  per  cord.  In  July,  1871,  this  claim  was  investigated  by  James  C.  Wheeler, 
quartermaster  agent,  for  Ms^.  A.  R.  Eddy,  who  had  a  survey  made  of  all  the  land  from 
which  wood  or  timber  was  cut  by  the  Federal  authorities,  and  on  August  7, 1871, 
Major  Eddy  filed  a  report,  herewith  inclosed,  marked  A,  (before  quoted,)  which  I  re- 
spectfully ask  to  be  made  a  part  of  this  report.  I  went  upon  the  land  from  which  the 
wood  and  timber  was  taken,  and  am  satisfied  that  the  allowance  made  by  Agent 
Wheeler  of  50  cords  per  acre  on  181f  acres,  and  of  25  cords  per  acre  on  20  acres,  is  a  lib- 
eral allowance;  and  that  the  price  awarded  ($1  per  cord  for  standing  wood,)  is  also  a 
liberal  price  for  wood  in  that  locality  at  that  time. 

Claim  No.  2,  for  f  17,790,  was  filed  July  31, 1871,  as  claimant  says,  against  his  judg- 
ment, so  far  as  relates  to  wood  and  timber.  Attention  is  invited  to  the  affidavit  of 
claimant,  herewith  inclosed,  marked  B,  in  which  he  expresses  a  wish  to  withdraw  the 
irt'cond  claim  so  far  as  relates  to  wood  and  timber,  bnt  that  the  papers  be  retained  to 
corroborate  claim  No.  1,  which  was  investigated  by  Captain  Wheeler. 

The  items  for  brick  and  rent  of  land  mentioned  in  the  second  claim  the  claimant 
deaires  should  be  considered  in  connection  with  claim  No.  1,  before  mentioned. 

[Here  follows  a  report  as  to  the  bricks,  which  will  be  considered  in  briefing  claim 
Xo.  2.] 

By  reference  to  the  first  statement  of  Capt.  William  Brunt,  of  the  Sixteenth  United 
States  Colored  Infantry  and  acting  assistant  quartermaster,  herewith  inclosed,  and  at- 
tached to  the  second  claim,  marked  D,  it  will  be  seen  that  he  estimates  the  quantity  of 
wood  and  timber  u6ed  by  him  for  the  benedt  of  freedmen,  for  fuel  and  building  pur- 
poses, from  May  28, 1864,  to  about  January  1, 1866,  at  7,500  cords,  the  number  of  freed- 
men being  6,000  or  more. 

The  last  statement  in  reference  to  wood  is  ^iven  as  answering  the  inqiiiry  of  the 
Quartermaater-General,  of  December  19,  lti71,  indorsed  on  the  back  of  claim  No.  2,  in 
pencil. 

Also  claimant  and  witnesses  estimate  that  300  cords  of  wood  taken  from  claimant's 
land  Of  put  into  cord-wood)  was  used  in  the  construction  of  fortifications,  block-houses, 
and  defenses. 

The  merits  of  the  two  claims  collectively  then  stand  as  follows :  9,837^  cords  of 
fltanding  wood  and  timber  as  awarded  by  James  C.  Wheeler,  and  approved  by  Maj.  A. 
B.  Eddy,  Aognst  7, 1871,  as  covering  all  wood  and  timber  taken  by  Uie  Federal  authori- 
ties from  tbe  commencement  to  the  close  of  the  war,  and  until  the  winding  up  of  mili- 
tary operations  at  Montgomery  County,  Tennessee,  in  1866,  at  |1  per  cord  for  standing 
wood,  $9337.50. 

If  tbe  Quartermaster-General,  United  States  Army,  cannot  pay  for  the  stores  taken 
and  used  for  freedmen  and  refugees,  nor  for  timber  used  in  the  construction  of  fortifi- 
cations, block-houses,  &o.,  then  deduct  the  following  from  the  above  amount : 

7,500  cords  of  wood  taken  by  Capt.  William  Brunt,  and  used  for  the  benefit 

of  freedmen  and  refugees |7, 500  00 

300cordsoftimber  put  in  fortifications,  at  |1 300  00 

Total 7,800  00 

Very  respectfully, 

J.  E.  STEVENS, 
[  In  doplicate.]  Quartermaster  Agent, 

Lieot.  Col.  Jambs  A.  Ekik, 
Dtp.  Q.  M.  Gea.,  U.  8.  J.,  and  Chief  Q,  M,  Dep,  South,  Louievillef  Ky. 

Upon  these  reports  being  made  to  the  Qaartermaster-General  of  the 
United  States,  he  referred  the  same  to  the  Third  Auditor  of  the  Treas- 
arfy  with  the  following  recommendation : 

War  Department, 
Quart£RMASTBR-General's  Office, 

Waehington,  D.  C,  March  10,  1873. 
fin:  I  hare  tbe  honor  to  inclose  herewitb  two  claims  of  Duncan  Marr,  a  citizen  of 
MootgDmery  Coanty,  Tennessee,  presentedfto  this  Office  under  the  act  of  July  4, 1864, 
40d  Stated  as  follows : 


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4  DUNCAN  MABB. 

Claim  No.  1. 

For  6,500  cords  of  wood,  at  $2  per  cord $13,000  00 

For  6,500  cords  of  wood,  at  (2  per  cord 17,000  00 

Total 30,000  00 

Clium  Xo,  2. 

For  7,500  cords  of  wood,  at$2perc<yrd $15,000  00 

For78,000brick,  at$9perthoiifland 702  00 

For  112,000  brick,  at  $9  per  thousand 1,008  00 

For  rent  of  180  acres  of  land,  from  January  1, 1864,  to  January  1, 1866. . .  1, 060  00 

Total 17,790  00 

So  much  of  claim  No.  2  as  is  for  timber,  has  been  withdrawn  by  the  claimant,  it 
beini;  a  duplicate  of  claim  No.  I. 

The  charge  for  rent  in  claim  No.  2  has  not  been  considered,  this  Office  hayini;  no  ja- 
risdiction,  under  the  law  of  1864,  in  oases  of  rent  arising  in  the  State  of  Tennessee  dahog 
the  rebellion. 

An  examination  of  the  claims  has  shown  that  the  larger  portion  of  the  timber  proved 
as  t^en,  was  used  for  the  comfort  of  freedmen,  and  that  some  of  the  brick  charged  for 
were  put  to  a  like  use.  A  statement  showing  the  quantity  of  timber  and  brick  proved 
as  taken,  embracing  both  claims,  and  distinguishing  that  chargeable  to  freedmen  from 
that  chargeable  to  the  Army,  has  been  prepared,  and  is  inclosed,  marked  X. 

This  Office  has  no  power  to  settle  claims  for  wood  and  brick  used  by  the  Freedmen's 
Bureau. 

The  evidence  establishes  the  loyalty  of  the  claimant,  and  I  resi^tfnlly  recommend 
for  settlement  under  the  act  of  July  4, 1864,  entitled  *' An  act  to  restrict  the  Jorisdic- 
tion  of  the  Court  of  Claims,  and  to  provide  for  the  payment  of  certain  demands  for 
quartermasters'  stores,  &c,,^^  the  following  described  property  taken  for  the  use  of,  and 
used  by,  the  United  States  Army : 

On  claim  No.  1. 
For  2,037i  cords  of  wood,  at$l  per  cord $2,037  50 

On  claim  No.  2. 
For  112,000  brick,  at  $8  per  thousand 896  00 

Making  a  a  total  of 2,933  50 

I  am,  very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

M.  C.  MEIGS, 
QitartermuBter-GeneraL 
The  Third  AuDrroR, 

United  States  Treasurtf,  Waahingtony  D.  C. 

X. 

The  United  States  in  account  with  Duncan  Mark. 

(1.) 

The  Quartermaster* 8  Department. 

Claim  No.  1. 

2,037i  cords  of  wood,  at  $1  per  cord $2,037  50 

Claim  No,  2. 

112,000  brick,  at  $8  per  thousand 896  00 

2,933  50 


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DUNCAN   MARB.  5 

(2.) 

The  Freedmen^i  Bureau, 

Claim  Xo.  1. 

7, 500  cords  of  wood,  at  |1  percord |7,500  00 

Claim  No,  2. 
•2?.  000  brick,  at  |8  perthoaaand 224  00 

7,724  00 

Toacoompaoy  letter  of  Qoarteroiastcir-GeDeraly  of  March  10, 1673,  to  the  Third  Auditor. 

By  the  foUowini^  letter  from  the  Third  Aaditor's  Office,  it  will  appear 
that  80  much  of  this  claimant's  demand  as  relates  to  qaartermaster  stores 
has  been  paid  in  fall : 

Trkasury  Depabtmbkt, 

TiiiBO  AumTOK'8  Office, 
Wathingtony  V.  C,  February  5, 1874. 
Sir  :  In  pnrsoanoe  of  request  by  yoor  committee,  per  George  C.  Smithe,  clerk,  I  here- 
with transmit  the  papers  pertaining  to  the  claim  of  Dancan  Marr. 

By  Treasary  settlement  No.  2,494,  of  March,  1873,  there  was  allowed  and  paid  upon 
tills  claim  as  follows : 

For  2,037}  cords  wood,  at  $1  per  cord (2,037  50 

For  112,000  brick,  at  $8  per  thousand,  (used  by  Quartermaster's  Department) . .        896  00 

2,933  GO 
Very  respectfully, 

ALLAN  RUTHERFORD, 

Auditor, 
Hon.  JoiiK  B.  Hawijcy, 

CkairmoM  CommUtee  on  Claims,  House  of  Representatives, 

From  the  report  of  the  Qaartermaster's  Department  it  appears  there  is 
jastlj  dae  the  claimant  the  sam  of  $8,024,  as  follows: 

On  Claim  No,  I, 

For7,500  cords  of  wood,  at|l  per  cord |7,500 

For.'ieOcordsof  Umber  tor  fortifications,^ 300 

On  Claim  Ko,  2. 

*>X(M)  brick,  at  |8  per  thousand 224 

Total 8,024 

On  the  2d  of  April,  1873,  this  claim  was  referred  to  the  Adjutant- 
General,  U.  S.  A.,  and  by  him  referred  to  the  Third  Auditor  of  Treas- 
ary and  by  the  Third  Auditor  to  the  Second  Comptroller,  as  will  appear 
by  the  following  letters : 

Treasury  Department, 

Third  Auditor's  Office, 
Washington,  D.  C,  April  22,  1873. 
Sib  :  I  have  the  honor  herewith  to  transmit  the  papers  in  the  claim  of  Duncan  Marr, 
f  >r  scttoQ  upon  so  much  thereof  as  pertains  to  the  Freedmen's  Bureau.    By  settlement 
\n.  2,494,  (March,  1873,)  the  sum  or  $2,933.50  has  been  paid  to  the  claimant. 
Please  return  the  papers. 

I  am,  very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

ALLAN  RUTHERFORD, 

Auditor. 
Brig.  Gen.  £.  D.  Townsend, 
Adjutant-General,  U,  S,  J. 

H.  Bep.  308 2 


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b  DUNCAN    MARK. 

War  Department, 
Adjuiant'General'8  Offifle^  May  2, 1873. 
Respectfully  rtjtumed  to  the  Third  Anditor,  United  States  Treasary,  with  the  infor- 
mation that  this  Office  has  no  jurisdiction  over  claims  of  this  character,  and  no  fands 
from  which  payment  can  he  made. 

It  is,  therefore,  unnecessary  at  this  time  to  consider  the  justice  of  the  claim  or  to 
consult  the  records  of  the  late  Freedmen's  Bureau  for  veridcatiou  ther«M)f. 

E.  D.  TOWNSEND, 

AdjatanUGentraX. 

Treasury  Department, 
Third  Auditor's  Office^  November  20, 1873. 
Respectfully  referred  to  the  Second  Comptroller  for  his  decision  on  so  much  of  the 
within  claim  as  refers  to  the  7,500  cords  of  wood  at  $1  per  cord,  $7,500 ;  and  28,000 
bricks  at  $8  per  thousand,  $224 ;  making  the  aggregate  sum  of  $7,724. 

These  items  were  not  considered  by  the  Quartermaeter-General  in  bis  recommenda- 
tion for  the  settlement  of  the  quartermaster's  stores,  indnded  in  the  claim,  for  the 
reason  that  the  wood  and  bricks  above  mentioned  were  appropriated  to  the  use  of  the 
Freedmen's  Bureau. 

There  is  a  small  balance,  abont  $300,  standing  on  the  books  of  this  Office  to  the  credit 
of  the  "  Bureau  of  Refugees,  Freodmen  and  Abandoned  Lauds,''  prior  to  the  1st  of 
July,  1870. 

A.M.GANGEWER, 

AcHng  Auditor, 

Respectfully  returned  to  the  Third  Auditor.  There  appears  to  be  no  proyision  of  law 
for  the  payment  of  claims  ot  this  character.  The  act  of  July  4, 1864,  authorizes  pay- 
ment only  for  such  quartermaster's  stores  as  were  "  actually  received  or  taken  for  the 
use  of,  and  used  by,  said  Army." 

As  the  stores  for  iKhichpay  is  claimed  were  not  taken  for,  or  used  by,  the  Army,  thi« 
law  does  not  apply. 

Even  if  there  were  no  legal  objections,  there  is  no  appropriation  available  out  of  which 
payment  can  be  made. 

I  therefore  see  no  other  remedy  for  claimant  than  an  application  to  Congress  for  re- 
lief. 

J.M.BRODHEAD, 

Comptroller. 
Second  Comptroller's  Office, 

Xovemher  22, 1873. 

The  evidence  in  the  case  fnlly  establishes  the  loyalty  of  the  claimant, 
and  the  report  of  the  Quartermaster-General  is  fully  sustained  by  abund- 
ant proofs,  and  your  committee  are  clearly  of  opinion  that  there  is  justly 
due  the  claimant  the  sum  of  eight  thousand  and  twenty -four  dollars, 
($8,024,)  and  therefore  report  the  bill  for  his  relief  back  to  the  House, 
with  recommendation  that  the  accompanying  substitute  be  passed. 


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43d  CoNassss,  >     HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIYES.      j  Report 
lit  Semon.     I  I  No.  309. 


WILLIAM  SAUNDERS. 


March  27, 1874.— Ordered  to  be  printed. 


Mr.  Hamilton,  from  the  Committee  on  Claims,  submitted  the  following 

REPORT: 

[To  accompany  bill  H.  B.  1030.] 

The  Committee  oh  Claims  have  had  nnder  consideration  the  bill  (H. 
B.  1030)  for  the  relief  of  William  Sannders,  and  respectfully  report  that 
the  claimant,  who  at  the  time  the  services  were  rendered  was  a  clerk  in 
the  Department  of  Agricnltare,  claims  for  extra  services  for  com- 
piling 38  pages  of  matter  for  the  report  of  1870-71,  at  $8 

per  page. $304 

And  for  drawings  for  said  report 25 

Together. , 329 

By  the  act  of  Congress  of  July  12, 1870,  it  is  declared  that  no  moneys 
appropriated  for  contingent,  incidental,  or  miscellaneous  purposes,  shall 
be  expended  or  paid  for  official  or  clerical  compensation.  This  act  was 
evidently  intended  to  cut  off  any  allowance  for  extra  services,  and  the 
claim  was  not  paid  by  the  Department  by  reason  of  said  act.  This  foil* 
ing  as  well  within  the  letter  as  the  policy  of  the  act  of  Congress,  the 
committee  cannot  recommend  its  allowance,  but  recommend  that  the 
bill  do  lie  on  the  table. 


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43d  Gongbess,  I     HOUSE  OF  REPKBSENTATIVBS.      j  Eepobt 
Ut  SesHon.     f  I  No  310. 


E.  W.  CLARK. 


March  27, 1874.— Ordered  to  be  printed. 


Mr.  Hamilton,  from  the  Committee  on  Claims,  sabmitted  the  following 

REPORT: 

[To  accompaDy  bill  H.  R.  1972.] 

The  Committee  on  Claims^  having  had  under  consideration  the  InU  {H.  R. 
1972)  for  the  relief  of  B.  W.  Clarkj  respectfully  report :     . 

The  claimant  asks  to  have  the  snm  of  $110  paid  to  him,  being  that 
amoant  dedacted  from  his  pay  while  a  clerk  in  the  Post-Office  Depart- 
ment, for  absence  while  sick.  It  appears  that  the  Third  Assistant  Post- 
master General,  in  whose  department  he  was  serving,  notified  him  that 
the  work  of  the  office  required  a  sabstitate,  and  that  a  substitute  would 
he  employed  in  his  place  at  $40  per  month,  the  lowest  amount  for  which 
his  place  could  be  filled,  and  that  his  place  was  supplied  at  that  rate 
by  a  substitute,  and  the  amount  thus  paid  for  a  substitute  was  deducted 
from  the  pay  of  the  said  B.  W.  Clark,  for  which  he  now  asks  Congress 
to  make  him  an  allowance. 

The  committee  cannot  see  that  there  is  either  merit  in  the  claim,  or 
propriety  in  coming  to  Congress  with  it.  It  was  but  just,  if  he  was  un- 
able to  perform  the  duties,  and  fiailed  to  procure  a  substitute,  that  the 
cost  of  a  supply  should  be  deducted  from  his  pay;  besides,  this  was 
properly  a  matter  for  the  regulation  of  the  Department,  or  for  the  de- 
tennination  of  the  Court  of  Claims.  In  consideration  of  the  whole  mat- 
ter the  committee  report  adversely  to  the  claim,  and  that  the  bill  do 
lie  on  the  table. 


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43d  CowaBESS, )     HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES,      i  REPORT 
1^  Session.     §  \  No.  311. 


HENRY  K.  SANGER. 


March  27,  1874.— Ordered  to  be  printed. 


Mr.  Hamilton,  from  the  Committee  on  Claims,  submitted  the  following 

REPORT: 

The  Committee  on  ClaitnSj  to  tohofn  was  referred  the  claims  of  the  estate  of 
Benry  K.  Sanger^  deceased^  and  of  his  son^  Henry  P.  Sanger,  have  had 
the  same  under  consideration,  ana  respectfully  report : 

The  claim,  on  the  part  of  the  estate,  is  for  additional  compensation 
while  United  States  depositary  at  Detroit,  Mich.,  from  July  1, 1861,  until 

Juiie30,1864 $1,600  00 

For  the  amount  short  in  his  postal  currency  account  covering 

said  period 1^500  00 

For  office-expenses 300  00 

For  Carlisle  overdraft 65  00 

3,365  OO 
And  the  claim  of  the  son,  Henry  P.  Sanger,  is  for  clerk-serv- 
ice rendered  his  father  during  said  term 4, 462  50 

In  all 7,827  50 

The  committee,  upon  request  made  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury, 
Lave  received  the  following  communication : 

Trkasury  Departmemt, 
WasKingUm,  D.  C,  March  11, 1874* 
8ut :  In  reply  to  yonr  letter  of  the  7th  instant,  tranflmittinf?,  for  such  infonnatiozi 
respeeting  them  as  I  might  be  able  to  give,  the  daime  of  the  estate  of  Heniy  K.  Sanger^ 
deceased,  and  of  his  son,  Henry  P.  Sanffer,  I  have  the  honor  to  state  that  the  reeords 
of  the  Department  bhow  Mr.  Henry  KT  Banger  to  have  held  the  office  of  receiyer  of 
pnblie  moneys,  at  Detroit,  Mich.,  and  that  as  snch  he  was  designated  a  United  State» 
de|wsitary,  under  the  act  of  Angnst  6, 1846,  performing  the  duties  pertaining  to  that 
position  irom  Jnly  1, 1861,  nntil  Jane  30, 1864 ;  that  daring  that  time  there  was  paid 
oim  as  reoeiTer,  on  acoonnt  of  salaries  and  commissions,  as  shown  by  the  letter  of  tho 
CommissioDer  of  the  General  Land-Office,  of  March  15, 1865,  on  file  in  the  Department,, 
the  som  of  $2,216.09,  and  as  United  States  depositary,  on  accoant  of  commissions,  nnder 
the  act  of  March  2, 185:),  the  snni  of  |3,910.30,  being  the  entire  amonnt  of  compensa- 
tion to  which  he  is  entitled  as  depositary  nnder  that  act.  I  farther  find  that  there  wa» 
allowed  him,  as  receiver,  for  "  incidental  expenses,''  $291.11,  and  as  United  Statesi 
depositary,  for  '*  contingent  expenses,"  the  sam  of  $114.50.  I  do  not  find  that  Mr.  H* 
K.  Sanger,  as  United  States  depositary,  was  ever  anthorized  to  employ  any  clerk^book- 
keeper,  or  teller,  or  that  he  ever  asked  for  each  aathority.  The  amoantof  Mr.  Henry 
P.  Sanger's  bill,  therefore,  is  not  a  proper  charge  npon  the  Treasnrv. 

Of  the  other  items  mentioned  in  the  claim  of  Henry  K.  Sanger,  I  can  find  no  record! 
and  know  nothing.    In  view  of  the  facts,  as  herein  stated,  had  either  or  both  of  these 
claims  been  presented  to  the  Department,  which  it  appears  they  have  not,  they  wonld 
doabtiess  have  been  rejected. 
The  claims  are  respectfully  returned. 

I  have  the  honor  to  be,  sir,  very  reepectfully,  yonr  obedient  servant, 

WM.  A.  KICHARD80N, 

/$ecrcfar?» 
Hon.  Robert  Haioltx^n, 

C<mmitt€e  on  Claims,  Houw  of  Bepreeentatitei, 


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HENRY   K.   SANGER. 


The  committee^  ia  view  of  the  information  tbas  acquired  from  the 
Department,  cannot  find  anything  in  the  evidence  or  merits  of  the 
claims,  or  either  of  them,  that  in  their  opinion  would  jastify  a  Fecom- 
mendation  for  their  allowance,  and  they  recommend  that  the  bill  and 
claim  lie  on  the  table. 


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I 


43d  Congress,  )     HOUSE  OF  EBPRESENTAT17ES.    /  Report. 
Ut  Sesgian.     )  (    No.  312. 


S.  D.  HICKS. 


Hjrch  27,  1874.— Referred  to  a  Committee  of  the  Whole  House  and  ordered  to  be 

printed. 


Mr.  Howe,  from  the  Committee  on  Claims,  sabmitted  the  following 

REPORT: 

[To  accompany  bill  H.  R.  2332.] 

The  Committee  on  Claims^  to  whom  was  referred  the  hill  (H.  B.  2332)  for 
the  relief  of  8.  />.  Hicke^  administrator  of  B,  M,  Harvey j  beg  leave  to 
submit  the  following  report : 

In  Janaary,  1868,  the  United  States  seized  a  lot  of  manafactored 
tobacco,  tools,  &c.,  at  the  factory  of  Hicks  &  Crosby  at  Richmond, 
Va.,  for  violation  of  the  internal-revenue  laws,  and  the  same  were  sold 
by  order  of  the  United  States  district  court  for  the  eastern  district  of 
Virginia. 

K.  31.  Harvey  presented  his  petition  to  the  court,  showing  that  a  part 
of  the  tobacco  seized  and  sold  was  his  property,  having  been  stored  by 
bim  in  the  factory  of  Hicks  &  Crosby,  and  it  being  satisfactorily 
proved  to  the  court  that  said  tobacco  was  not  liable  to  seizure,  the  reg- 
ister of  the  court,  by  a  decree  dated  June  19, 1868,  was  ordered  to  pay 
to  B.  M.  Harvey  $355.25,  the  proceeds  of  said  tobacco  thus  sold.  Har- 
vey was  taken  sick  and  died,  and  never  received  the  money  due  him  un- 
der the  decree,  and  the  same  was  by  error  of  the  register  paid  into  the 
Treasury  of  the  United  States  with  the  balance  of  the  money  due  the 
United  States  from  the  proceeds  of  this  sale  and  an  order  of  distribu- 
tion dated  May  26^  1869. 

These  facts  are  very  clearly  stated  in  a  decree  of  said  district  court, 
dated  Richmond,  February  18, 1874,  which  makes  the  following  order : 

^^  It  is  therefore  adjudged,  ordered,  and  decreed  by  this  court  that 
tbe  amount  hereinbefore  stated,  to  wit,  three  hundred  and  fifty-five  and 
uo  dollars,  is  justly  and  lawfully  due  to  the  said  Samuel  D.  Hicks,  ad- 
ministrator, &c.,  of  the  estate  of  R.  M.  Harvey,  deceased,  and  is  charge- 
able as  against  the  funds  covered  into  the  Treasury  of  the  United  States 
by  the  said  decree  of  distribution  of  May  26, 1869,  and  ought  to  be  paid 
oat  of  any  money  in  the  Treasury  of  the  United  States  not  otherwise 
appropriated  under  and  by  virtue  of  the  provision  of  the  act  of  Congress 
approved  July  23, 1866^  section  12,  United  States  Statute  XIV,  page 
208." 

Under  this  decree  the  case  was  presented  to  the  Treasury  Depart- 
ment for  payment,  and  payment  refused  by  the  First  Comptroller  on  the 
ground  that  the  case  did  not  come  within  the  law. 

In  view  of  these  facts  it  is  the  opinion  of  your  committee  that  the  claim 
ought  to  be  paid,  and  we  therefore  recommend  the  passage  of  the  bill. 


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43d  Congress,  (     HOUSE  OF  EEPEB8ENTAT1VES.      (  Eepobt 
Ut  SuHan.     §  \  No.  313. 


DANFORD  MOTT. 


March  t27,  l874.>-ReferTed  to  a  Committee  of  the  Whole  Hoose  and  ordered  to  be 

printed. 


Mr.  Howe,  from  the  Goinmittee  on  Claims,  submitted  the  following 

REPORT: 

[To  accompany  biU  H.  R.  2664.] 

The  Committee  on  Claims^  to  tchom  teas  referred  the  hill  (IT.  E.  851)  for 
the  relief  of  Danford  Mott,  have  examined  the  same^  and  beg  leave  to 
make  the  following  report  : 

Ibis  claim  was  first  presented  to  the  Court  of  Claims,  which,  after  a 
careful  and  lengthy  examination,  reported  to  Congress,  in  April,  1860, 
iu  favor  of  Mr.  Mott,  to  the  amount  of  $2,707.92,  the  amount  named  in 
the  bill  before  the  committee,  $2,829.92,  being  the  sum  asked  for  by  the 
claimant.  Before  Congress  acted  on  the  report  the  war  came  on  and 
matters  of  this  sort  had  to  lie  over. 

Judge  Hnghes,  in  delivering  the  opinion  of  the  court,  among  other 
things,  says: 

'^The  claimant  was  the  deputy  collector  of  customs  for  the  district  of 
Vermont,  on  the  7th  day  of  November,  1838,  when  the  transaction  on 
which  his  claim  is  founded  took  place,  and  for  some  time  before  and 
since. 

"The  civil  commotions  then  existing  in  Canada,  commonly  called  the 
•Patriot  War,^  had  arrayed  a  portion  of  the  people  of  that  province 
10  arms  against  their  government,  and  the  citizens  of  the  United  States 
along  the  border  sympathized  with  the  insurgents  and  furnished  them 
aid  in  men  and  munitions  of  war. 

"  Congress,  by  the  act  of  March  10, 1838,  prohibited  the  interference  of 
the  people  of  the  United  States  in  the  civil  war  in  Canada,-  and  both 
the  President  and  the  governor  of  Vermont  issued  their  proclamations 
respectively  enjoining  upon  the  citizens  of  the  United  States  obedience 
to  law. 

^'A  vessel  called  the  General  McComb,  belonging  to  DeClancey 
StooghtoD,  and  laden  with  arms  for  the  rebels  in  Canada,  was  seized 
at  Souse's  Point,  on  Lake  Cbamplain,  by  the  officers  of  the  United  States 
Army  stationed  at  that  point,  and  the  arms  taken  out  of  the  vessel. 
The  claimant  in  this  case,  in  his  capacity  of  deputy  collector  of  Vermont, 
at  the  request  of  the  officers  of  the  Army  and  in  pursuance  of  his 
official  duty,  had  to  some  extent  participated  in  the  seizure  of  the 
vessel.  For  this,  Stoughton,  the  owner  of  the  vessel,  sued  him  in  the 
State  conrt  of  Vermont.  The  suit  began  in  1839,  and  ended  in  1856. 
The  suit,  however,  finally  resulted  in  a  judgment  in  favor  of  the  de- 
fendant, who  is  the  claimant  in  this  case.    In  defending  this  suit  for* 


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Z  DANFORD    MOTT. 

seventeen  years  in  the  various  courts,  the  claimant  employed  two 
lawyers,  Messrs.  Adams  and  Beardsley.  Upon  their  application,  the 
district-attorneys  of  the  United  States  in  office  during  the  pendency  of 
the  litigation  by  direction  of  the  proper  department  rendered  their  pro- 
fessional assistance.  The  Government  also,  upon  the  application  of  the 
claimant,  ordered  certain  officers  of  the  Army  cognizant  of  the  facts 
attending  the  seizure  of  the  vessel  to  attend  the  trial  and  give  evidence.'^ 

Claimant  in  the  bill  now  asks  relief  for  his  expenses  and  time  in 
defending  the  suit  brought  against  him  for  the  discharge  of  his  official 
duty  as  an  officer  of  the  Government  in  enforcing  an  act  of  Congress. 

The  bill  of  particulars  shows  that  if  the  amount  claimed,  $1,505.28,  is 
for  counsel-fees  paid  and  assumed  to  Messrs.  Adams,  and  Beardsley, 
and  Brown,  whose  respective  accounts  are  proved,  the  remainino; 
amount  of  the  sum  originally  claimed,  $1,324.64,  is  for  costs  incurred 
in  the  State  courts,  expenditures,  and  personal  service.  Of  this  latter 
amount  the  court  disallowed,  for  reasons  set  forth,  $122. 

Your  committee,  after  a  careful  examination  of  the  case,  being  satis- 
fied said  Mott  has  incurred  a  loss  of  the  amount  claimed  in  the  bill, 
because  of  having  performed  a  duty  incumbent  upon  him  as  a  United 
States  officer,  and  believing  that  in  justice  he  should  not  be  compelled 
to  personally  sustain  the  loss  because  of  having  been  faithful  to  the 
Government,  and  not  seeing  in  any  of  the  charges  which  make  up  the 
aggregate  of  the  amount  claimed,  any  that  are  unreasonable  or  exor- 
bitant, are  of  the  opinion  that  the  claiih  of  Mr.  Mott  is  a  just  one,  and 
therefore  report  the  accompanying  bill  back  to  the  ITouse  as  a  substitute, 
with  the  recommendation  that  it  do  pass. 


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43d  Congress,  )     HOUSE  OF  EEPRBSBNTATIVES.      (  Report 
Ut  Session,     f  \  TSo.  314. 


JOHN  ALDREDGE. 


March  27,  1874. — Committed  to  a  Committee  of  the  Whole  Honse  and  ordered  to  be 

printed. 


Mr.  Lawrence,  from  the  Committee  on  War-Claims,  submitted  the 

following 

REPORT: 

[To  accompany  bill  H.  R.  1104.] 

The  Committee  on  War- Claims j  to  whom  was  referred  the  bill  (JT.  B,  1104) 
fortkereliefofJohn  Aldredge^  having  had  the  same  under  consideration^ 
^  ask  leave  to  report : 

That  they  find,  from  the  evidence  submitted  with  the  bill,  that  there 
was  an  irregular  force  of  rebel  troops  made  a  raid  upon  Henderson  Sta- 
tion, Tennessee,  on  or  about  the  25th  of  November,  1862,  and  captured  the 
poBt^with  the  garrison,  and  destroyed  a  largeamount  of  public  and  private 
property,  and  that  there  was  an  assessment  made  by  proper  military 
authority  of  the  United  States  upon  certain  disloyal  citizens  living  in 
the  vicinity  of  said  military  post  to  re  imburse  the  Government  and  loyal 
citizens  that  had  suffered  by  said  reBel  raid;  and  that,  upon  proper  in- 
vestigation, John  Aldredge's  loss  was  alleged  to  be  $9,606.36,  and  that 
the  money  was  collected ;  and  that  part  intended  to  re-imburse  the  Gov- 
ernment went  into  and  was  used  in  the  military  railroad  department, 
and  the  remainder,  or  that  part  intended  to  indemnify  the  loyal  citizens 
who  had  suffered  loss  by  said  rebel  raid,  went  into  the  Quartermaster's 
Department,  as  shown  by  evidence  obtained  from  the  Third  Auditor's 
and  Quiu-tennaster-General's  Offices,  and  was  accounted  for  and  turned 
over  to  the  Treasury  of  the  United  States.  The  evidence  shows  Mr. 
Aldredge,  the  claimant,  to  have  been  a  loyal  citizen  of  the  United  States 
daring  the  late  rebellion,  and  your  committee  are  therefore  of  the  opinion 
that  he  is  entitled  to  the  amount  so  collected  for  him  and  covered  into 
the  United  States  Treasury,  and  accordingly  report  back  the  said  bill 
H.  B.  No.  1104  with  a  substitute,  and  recommend  the  adoption  of  the 
said  substitute. 


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43d  Congbess,  >     HOUSE  OP  EEPEESENTATIVES.     /  Eepobt 
Ut  Session,     f  \  No.  315. 


ALBEET  F.  YEEBY,  ADMINISTEATOE. 


Habch  97 f  1874. — Committed  to  a  Committee  of  the  Whole  Hoase  and  ordered  to  be 

printed. 


Mr.  Isaac  W.  Scxtddeb,  from  the  Gommittee  on  War-Claims,  submitted 

the  following 

REPORT: 

[To  accompany  H.  B.  2688.  ] 

The  Committee  on  War-Claims^  to  whom  was  referred  the  claim  of  Albert 
F.  Yerbyj  administrator  of  Addison  0.  Yerby^  deceased^  submit  the  fol- 
lowing  nport : 

Addison  O.  Yerby  was  a  citizen  of  the  United  States,  residing  in  the 
county  of  Bichmond  and  State  of  Virginia,  and  said  to  be  a  loyal  citizen 
of  the  United  States.  He  was  the  owner  of  a  saw-mill,  situated  on  his 
fann  od  Dividing  Greek,  in  the  county  of  Northumberland  and  State 
of  Virginia,  and  had,  as  he  by  his  representative  claims,  at  said  mill 
one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  feet  of  lumber,  worth  at  the  time  $25  per 
thousand  feet,  and  which  was  valued  at  $3,750.  This  lumber  was  taken 
by  the  Government  of  the  United  States,  in  the  year  1863,  and  trans- 
ported by  steamers  to  Point  Lookout,  in  the  State  of  Maryland,  and 
there  ns^  in  the  construction  of  wharves  and  other  building  purposes. 

He  had  also,  as  is  claimed,  an  ox-beef,  which  was  slaughtered  on  his 
fann  by  the  oitler  of  the  commander  of  the  gun-boat  Gnrrituck,  which 
gun-boat  was  a  guard-boat  of  the  transport  steamers,  by  which  the  lum- 
ber was  carried  away,  which  beef  was  valued  at  $50,  as  stated. 

The  claim  also  covers  two  mules  and  four  horses,  which  were  valued, 
as  stated,  at  $1,260,  which  were  seized  and  taken  by  the  Eighth  Illinois 
and  Twelfth  New  York  Eegimeuts,  and  which  were  taken  to  the  Army 
of  the  Potomac,  then  under  the  command  of  General  Joseph  Hooker. 
This  seizure  took  place  in  the  latter  part  of  May  or  the  fore  part  ot 
June,  1863. 

Addison  O.  Yerby  died  on  the  1st  day  of  January,  1866,  leaving  a 
▼idow  and  two  children.  Letters  of  administration  have  been  granted 
00  his  estate. 

The  claims  for  the  lumber  and  the  ox-beef,  and  the  horses  and  mules, 
voald  come  within  the  equity  of  the  act  of  Gongress  of  3d  March,  1871, 
Thick  made  provision  for  the  payment  of  stores  or  supplies  which  were 
taken  from  loyal  men. 

It  is  therefore  requested  that  the  claim  for  the  ox-beef  and  lumber, 
horses  and  mules,  be  refeired  to  the  commission  of  claims  for  adjudi- 
cation, and  that  Gongress  shall  confer  jurisdiction  to  that  effect,  should 
any  doubt  or  difficulty  from  any  cause  exist. 


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43d  Congress,  >      HOUSE  OP  EEPEESENTATIVES.      (  Kepobt 
l$t  SesHan.     |  t  No.  316 


EMILLE  LEPAGE. 


March  27, 1874.— Committed  to  a  Committee  of  the  Whole  House  aud  ordered  to  be 

printed. 


Mr.  I.  W.  ScuDDER,from  the  Committee  on  War-Claims,  submitted  the 

following 

REPORT: 

[To  accompany  biU  H.  B.  2689,] 

The  Committee  on  War-Claims^  to  whom  teas  referred  tlie  memorial  of 
Emille  Lepage,  of  Xorfolkj  Va.,  surviving  partner  of  the  firm  of  Lepage 
Brothers,  havijhg  had  the  same  under  considerationj  report : 

That  it  appears  from  the  evidence  that  on  or  about  the  first  day  of 
January,  1865,  the  said  Lepage  Brothers  were  in  possession  of  twenty-five 
bales  of  cotton  at  Pitch's  Landing,  in  the  State  of  North  Carolina ;  that 
MajorGeDeral  Butler,  commanding  the  department,  being  satisfied  as  to 
the  loyalty  of  the  said  Lepage  Brothers,  aud  that  they  were  the  owners 
of  said  cotton,  issued  an  order  permitting  them  to  remove  said  cotton 
from  said  landing;  but  that  before  they  could  remove  it  a  naval  expedi- 
tion seized  the  same  as  the  property  of  the  so-called  Confederate  States, 
and  it  was  subsequently  libeled  in  the  prize  court  for  the  eastern  dis- 
trict of  Pennsylvania.  It  further  appears  that  the  cotton  was  con- 
demned and  sold,  and  the  proceeds  paid  into  the  Treasury  of  the  United 
States,  without  prejudice,  however,  to  the  claim  of  the  memorialists, 
and  that,  in  consequence  of  the  fact  that  the  cotton  was  under  the  con- 
trol of  and  subject  to  the  order  of  the  said  prize  court,  which  did  not 
render  its  decision  in  the  case  until  July,  1867,  the  memorialists  were 
unable  to  prosecute  their  claim  in  the  Court  of  Claims,  as  provided  by  the 
act  of  March  12, 1863. 

Your  committee  are  of  opinion,  in  view  of  these  facts,  that  the  said 
Emille  Lepage,  surviving  partner  of  the  firm  of  Lepage  Brothers,  is 
equitably  entitled  to  the  relief  prayed  for,  and  to  that  end  report  the 
accompanying  bill  authorizing  the  said  Emille  Lepage,  surviving  part- 
ner of  the  firm  of  Lepage  Brothers,  to  institute  suit  in  the  Court  of  Claims 
for  the  recovery  of  the  proceeds  of  said  cotton  paid  into  the  United 
States  Treasury,  and  recommend  its  passage. 


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43l>  GoNaEESd,  (      HOUSE  OP  EEPEESENTATIVBS.     /  Report 
Ui  BmiMi.     f  \  No.  317. 


W.  J.  McINTYRE. 


Uabch  27, 1874.~Committed  to  a  Committee  of  the  Whole  Honse  and  ordered  to  be 

printed. 


Mr.  Kellogg,  from  the  Committee  on  War-Claims,  submitted  the  fol- 
lowing 

REPOKT: 

[To  accompany  bill  H.  B.  311.] 

The  Committee  on  War-Claims^  to  whom  teas  referred  the  bill  {H.  R.  311) 
for  payment  for  services  performed  by  William  J.  Mclntyre^  having  had 
the  same  under  consideration^  ask  leave  to  report : 

That  the  claimant,  William  J.  Mclntyre,  was  on  the  7th  day  of  August, 
1864,  Gommissioned  by  the  governor  of  Illinois  a  second  lieutenant  in 
Company  G,  Eleventh  Regiment  Illinois  Infantry,  and  immediately 
assamed  command  of  his  company,  the  captain  and  first  lieutenant 
being  absent,  and  continued  in  command  of  the  company  for  several 
months  thereafter. 

At  the  time  he  received  his  commission  as  second  lieutenant,  on  the 
Tth  of  August,  the  mustering  officer  of  his  command  was  absent,  and 
Teiy  soon  thereafter  his  command  was  ordered  to  join  that  of  Major- 
General  Herron  at  Port  Hudson,  and  participated  in  the  campaign  that 
followed  in  Western  Louisiana,  the  claimant  commanding  his  company 
and  participating  in  as  well  as  leading  the  advance  at  the  battles  of 
Jackson  and  Clinton.  It  was  not  until  the  30th  day  of  October  that  an 
opportunity  presented  itself  to  the  claimant  to  be  mustered. 

The  claimant  is  indorsed  by  the  Hon.  George  C.  McKee,  of  Mississippi, 
and  the  Hon.  William  T.  Jones,  of  Wyoming  Territory,  as  a  gentleman 
of  the  highest  character,  both  as  a  soldier  and  a  citizen. 

The  committee  finding  that  the  claimant  not  only  did  perform  the 
duties  of  second  lieutenant  as  alleged  during  the  time  intervening  be- 
tween the  7th  day  of  August  and  the  30th  day  of  October,  1864,  but 
that  he  was  in  actual  command  of  his  company,  participating  in  several 
dangerous  engagements,  and  that  his  failure  to  be  mustered  was  through 
no  fault  or  negligence  of  the  claimant,  are  of  the  opinion  that  he  has  a 
JQ6t  and  equitable  claim  against  the  Government,  which  ought  to  be 
paid,  and  for  that  purpose  report  back  the  bill  (H.  R.  311)  and  recom- 
mend its  passage. 


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43d  Congbess,  I     HOUSE  OP  EEPEESBNTATIVES.     /  Report 
Ut  Sesrian.     J  (  No.  318. 


DAVID  KLEIM. 


March  27, 1874.— Ordered  to  be  printed. 


Mr.  James  Wilson,  from  the  Committee  on  War-Claims,  submitted  the 

following 

REPORT: 

The  Committee  on  War-Claims^  to  whom  was  referred  the  petition  of  David 
Kleimj  praising  compensation  for  the  use  by  the  Oovemment  of  his  inven- 
tioHj  having  had  the  same  under  consideration^  report  : 

That  the  petitioner  claims  to  be  the  inventor  of  a  certain  ponton- 
bridge  for  nse  by  armies  in  crossing  rivers ;  that  at  the  breaking  out  of 
the  rebellion  he  was  residing  in  Canada,  and  was  advised  to  send  his 
ioTention  to  the  Federal  Government  at  Washington,  which  he  did,  and 
soon  afterward  visited  Washington  in  person ;  that  on  his  arrival  he 
ascertained  that  his  said  invention  was  being  used  by  the  Oovemment; 
that  he  has  frequently  attempted  to  obtain  compensation  for  such  use, 
without  saccess,  from  the  War  Department,  and  also  by  order  of  the 
President. 

Your  committee  are  unable,  from  the  evidence  presented,  to  find  any- 
thing substantiating  the  claim  made  byMr.Kleim,  and  therefore  report 
back  the  petition  and  ask  that  it  be  laid  upon  the  table. 


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43d  Congress,  >     HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES.      (  Report 
Igt  Session,     i  \  No.  319. 


MARK  DAVIS. 


March  27, 1874. — Committed  to  a  Committee  of  the  Whole  House  and  ordered  to  be 

printed. 


Mr.  KELLOGa,  from  the  Committee  on  War-Claims,  submitted  the  fol- 
lowing 

REPORT: 

The  Committee  an  War-OlaimSj  to  whom  teas  referred  the  petition  of  Mark 
DaviSj  having  had  the  same  under  consideratiouj  report  : 

That  the  petitioner,  Mark  Davis,  is,  and  always  has  been,  a  loyal  citi- 
zeo  of  the  United  States  ;  that  during  the  rebellion,  and  for  many  years 
prior  thereto,  he  resided  at  Petersburgh,  in  the  State  of  Virginia. 

He  was  formerly  a  merchant  carrying  on  business  in  Virginia  and  at 
Xew  Orleans,  but  some  years  before  the  rebellion  retired  from  business, 
and  was  living  at  Petersburgh,  his  place  of  residence,  mainly  on  the  in- 
come of  the  real  estate  described  in  his  petition,  which  he  owned  in  the 
city  of  New  Orleans,  and  whidh  was  in  the  charge  of  his  agent,  Mr.  Ed- 
ward Barnett,  who  leased  it  and  received  rents  on  account  of  Mr.  Davis. 
Mr.  Davis  is  an  aged  man  and  an  invalid,  and  during  the  entire  rebel- 
lion was  confined  to  his  domicile  in  Petersburgh.  On  the  14th  of  Feb- 
rnary,  1863,  the  following  requisition  was  made  upon  Mr.  Edward  Bar- 
nett, the  agent  of  Mr.  Davis,  at  New  Orleans : 

Office  of  Chief  Quartermastep, 

departacent  of  the  golk, 

Neic  Orleans^  February  14,  1863. 
1>DWAED  Baaxett,  Esq. : 

Sir  :  Yoa  are  herehy  ordered  to  pay  to  Colonel  Holahird,  or  to  me,  at  this  office, 
forthwith,  all  money,  notes,  hills,  or  other  funds,  and  all  evidence  of  debts  due  to  or  be- 
loogioff  to  one  Mark  Davis,  of  Virginia,  now  in  your  hands,  or  in  any  way  under  your 
coDtrol. 

Respectfiilly,  yonrp, 

JXO.  W.  McCLURE, 
Asiistant  Quartermaster. 

in  compliance  with  this  requisition,  Mr.  Barnett,  who  had  been  the 
agent  of  Mr.  Davis  for  over  thirty  years,  delivered  to  the  military 
aathorities  the  possession  of  two  stores,  then  under  lease  at  the  rate  of 
17,500  per  annum  ;  two  other  stores  then  underlease  at  the  rental  of 
1166.66  per  month,  and  certain  other  real  estate  then  under  lease  at  $30 
a  month,  together  with  forty-one  promissory  notes,  each  for  six  hundred 
and  twenty -five  f625)  dollars,  and  maturing  monthly  from  the  first  of 
July,  1862,  until  the  first  of  November,  1865,  given  by  H.  Hollander  and 
H.  Weber,  the  first  note  being  credited  with  five  hundred  (500)  dollars, 
paid  thereon  on  the  9th  of  August,  1862;  and  also  fourteen  other  prom- 
issory notes,  each  for  $166.67,  made  by  Booth  &  Co.,  and  matur- 
ing monthly  from  the  30th  of  September,  1862,  until  the  31st  of 
<)ctober,  1863,  the  first  note  being  credited  with  the  seventy-five  (75) 

•  Digitized  by  VjUUSJ  iC 


2  MAKK   DAVIS. 

dollars  paid  thereon.  These  notes  amoant  in  the  aggregate  to  $27,958.24 
-without  interest.  They  were  all  good,  and  were  paid  by  the  makers  at 
maturity. 

Possession  of  the  real  estate  was  restored  to  Mr.  Davis  some  time  in 
the  year  1865. 

Mr.  Davis,  believing  that  his  residence  within  a  State  in  rebellion 
rendered  it  proper  that  he  should  apply  for  and  obtain  a  pardon,  did  so 
apply,  and  obtained  a  pardon  from  the  President  of  the  United  States 
on  the  29th  day  of  July,  1865. 

Annexed  to  the  memorial  of  the  petitioner,  together  with  certain  ex- 
hibits and  proofs,  are — 

An  aflSdavit  of  sundry  citizens  of  the  State  of  Virginia,  marked  Ex- 
hibit A } 

Kequisition  upon  Edward  Barnett  by  John  W.  McClure,  assistant 
quartermaster,  marked  Exhibit  B; 

Affidavit  of  Edward  Barnett,  marked  Exhibit  C  ;  and  the 

Keceipt  of  S.  B.  Holabird,  colonel  and  chief  quartermaster,  for  tlie 
property  seized,  marked  Exhibit  D. 

Exhibit  A. 

We,  the  undersif^Ded,  citizeDS  respectively  of  Petersburch,  in  the  State  of  Virginia' 
having  been  severaHy  sworn,  do  depose  and  say  we  have  Known  Mark  Davis,  senior 
for  many  years;  that  previous  to  the  year  Iti43  he  was  engaged  in  active  bnsiuew 
partly  in  this  city  and  partly  in  New  Orleans,  his  home,  however,  beiu^  here.  Since 
about  the  time  last  aforesaid  the  said  Mark  Davis,  senior,  has  li^ed  retired  from  busi- 
ness, and  without  occnpation.  From  the  proceeds  of  his  business  a  large  portion  of  his 
property  was  invested  in  real  estate  in  the  city  of  New  Orleans,  the  rents  and  profits 
of  which  constituted  a  like  proportion  of  his  income. 

Mr.  Davis  has  always  been  an  exemplary  citizen^  and  a  truthful  and  honorable  man. 
He  took  no  part  whatever  in  the  rebellion,  directly  or  indirectly,  but  to  manifest,  either 
by  words  or  acts,  sentiments  of  loyalty  to  the  Oovemment  of  the  United  States  duriug 
the  rebellion  would  have  subjected  him  to  every  annoyance  and  a  very  fa^reat  peril, 
both  in  person  and  property.  He  was  protected  both  by  age  and  infirmity  from  be 
ing  called  upon  to  serve  the  Confederate  States,  or  promote  the  rebellion  in  any  way- 
whatsoever,  and  led  a  life  of  entire  repose  and  quiet  seclusion  from  aflf<iird  from  the  be- 
ginning to  the  end  of  the  rebellion.  We  do  not  hesitate  to  sav  that  any  statement  Mr. 
Davis  may  make  is  entitled  to  implicit  confidence  and  belief. 

D.  AVERY  PAUL. 

A.  G.  McILVANE. 

C.  A.  YOUNG. 

JAMES  N.  DONNAN. 

REUBEN  RAGLAND. 

T.  T.  BROOKS. 
City  of  Petershurghf  to  wit : 

I,  Drury  A.  Hinton,  notary  public  for  the  corporation  aforesaid,  in  the  State  of  Vii- 
ginia,  do  certify  that  D.  Avery  Paul,  A.  G.  Mcllvane,  R.  A.  Young,  James  M.  Donuan? 
Keuben  Ragland,  and  T.  T.  Brooks,  whose  names  are  signed  to  the  writing  above, 
this  day  personal! V  appeared  before  me  in. said  corporation,  signed  their  names  to 
the  same,  and  made  oath  respectfully  to  the  truth  of  the  statements  therein  contained. 
Given  under  my  hand  and  national  seal  this  2otb  day  of  April,  anno  Domini  1172. 

DRURY  A.  HINTON, 

Notary  FuhUc, 

Exhibit  B. 

Office  of  thk  Chief  Quartermaster, 
Dbpartmrnt  of  the  Gulf, 

yew  Orleans,  Ftftruary  14,  1663. 
Sir  :  You  are  hereby  ordered  to  pay  to  Colonel  Holabird  or  to  me,  at  this  office,  forth- 
with, all  money,  notes,  bills,  or  otner  and  all  evidence  of  debts  dne  to  or  Itelongiog  to 
one  Mark  Davis,  of  Virginia,  now  in  your  hands,  or  in  any  way  under  control. 
Respectfully,  yours, 

JOHN  W.  McCLURE, 
A99i$tani  QuarttrmaaUr, 


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MARK   DAVIS.  3^ 

Exhibit  C. 

Affidavit  of  Edward  Bamett 

Elward  Btfiiett,  notary  pmblic  and  eomnliiaioner  of  deeds,  IBBoyal  strdet,  Merchants  and  Auction- 
eers' Sxcbanfse.J 

New  Orleans,  November  22^  1H71. 
State  of  Louisiaxa, 

•   Citff  of  Xew  Orlean$ : 

I,  Kdward  Barnett,  of  the  city  of  New  Orleans,  do  hereby  certify  and  declare  that, 
ts  the  acent  and  attoniey  in  fact  of  Mark  Davis,  senior,  of  Peterebnrgh,  Va.,  under 
power  of  attorney  from  him  dated  April  4, 1851, 1  was  in  possession  of  the  following 
desciihed  improved  properties,  rights,  and  credits  belonging  to  him  in  this  city,  viz : 

Flnit  Two  stores  m  square  i>onnded  by  Saint  Charles,  Camp,  Common,  and  Qravier 
ftreets,  both  fronting  on  Saint  Charles  street,  and  forming  the  corner  of  Common  street, 
Talaed  at  |60,000,  and  rented  to  Hollander  and  Weber  at  $7,500  per  annum,  payable 
monthly. 

Second.  Stores  Nos.  34  and  36  Magazine  street,  in  square  bounded  by  Magazine, 
Tchonpitonlas,  and  Qravier  streets  and  Natchez  alley.  No.  34  rented  at  |65  per  month, 
No.  36  rented  at  |166.66f  per  month,  and  valued  at  $55,000. 

Third.  Property  No.  244  Tchoupitoulas  street,  in*  square  bounded  by  Tchoupitoulas, 
Delard,  Pearl,  and  Louisa  streets,  rented  at  $30  per  month,  valued  at  $5,000. 

Together  with  the  following  rent-not«8,  cash,  &c.,  viz : 

Forty-one  notes  for  $625  each,  of  H.  Hollander  and  A.  Weber,  tenants  of  said  stores 
corner  of  Saint  Charles  and  Common  streets,  maturing  monthly  from  1st  July,  1862,  to 
the  Ist  of  November,  1865,  the  first  note  credited  with  $500,  together  with  the  lease  of 
said  stores. 

Also,  fourteen  not«s  for  $166.66  each,  signed  by  Booth  &  Co.,  maturing  monthly  from 
the  30th  of  September,  1862,  to  the  31st  of  October,  1863,  the  first  note  credited  with 
Vh  for  rent  of  said  store  No.  36  Magazine  street,  together  with  lease  of  same  to  said 
Booth  Sl  Co. 

Also,  one  lease  of  said  store  No.  34  Magazine  street  to  H.  Spiro  &  Co.,  at  $65  per 
moDth  in  advance. 

Also,  lease  to  W.  Zimmerman  for  premises  No.  244  Tchoupitoulas  street,  at  $30  per 
month. 

Also,  $1,085  in  Confederate  States  notes. 

Also,  $275.30  in  currency. 

All  which  was  seized  under  military  orders  by  onler  marked  A,  and  identified  by  me, 
of  John  W.  McClure,  captain  and  assistant  quartermaster  Department  of  the  Qulf, 
ander  date  of  February  14, 1863,  as  will  also  appear  by  his  receipt  to  me,  marked  fi, 
and  also  identified  by  me,  dated  the  23d  day  February,  1863. 

That  the  above-described  real  estate  only  was  returned  to  me  by  W.  B.  Armstrong, 
oaptain  and  assistant  quartermaster,  on  the  Slst  of  October,  1865,  as  per  order  dated 
14th  October,  1865,  as  appears  by  document  marked  C,  also  identified  by  me,  the  said 
Annstrong  refusing  to  account  to  me  for  said  notes,  ready  money,  or  rentaJs  of  said 
property,  but  referring  me  for  same  to  the  Government  at  Washington. 

lu  witness  whereof  1  hereto  set  my  hand  at  the  city  of  New  Orleans,  parish  of  Or- 
leans and  State  of  Louisiana,  on  the  twenty-second  day  of  November,  in  the  year  of 
unr  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  seventy-one. 

EDWARD  BARNETT. 

Sworn  to  and  subscribed  before  me  this  twentv-second  day  of  November,  A.  D.  1871. 
S      LR.8.      ?  '  A.  BARNETT, 

i  Five  cents.  S  Notary  public. 

Exhibit  D. 

The  receipt  referred  to  is  as  follows : 

'*  Received,  New  Orleans,  February  23, 1863,  from  Edward  Bamett,  esq.,  forty-one 
(41)  notes  for  six  hundred  and  twenty-five  dollars  each,  signed  by  H.  Hollander  and 
H.  Weber,  to  mature  monthly  from  1st  July,  1862,  until  1st  November,  1865.  The  first 
note  la  eredited  with  five  hundred  dollars  paid  9th  August,  1862,  for  rent  of  Mr.  Davis's 
property,  comer  Saint  Charles  and  Common  streets,  as  per  lease,  before  £.  Bamett, 
notary  public,  dated  Febraary  16,  1860. 

**Aiio,  fourteen  notes  for  one  hundred  and  sixty-six  dollars  and  sixty-seven  cents,, 
•igned  by  Booth  Sl  Co.,  to  mature  monthly  from  30th  September,  1862,  until  31st  Octo- 
btf,  1863.  The  first  note  is  credited  with  seventy-five  dollars  for  rent  of  store  36  Maga- 
zine street,  as  per  lease,  also  received. 

"Also,  one  lease  for  store  No.  34  Magazine  street,  to  H.  Spiro  Si  Co.,  at  $65  per  month 
in  advance. 


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4  MABE   DAVIS. 

"Also,  one  lease  to  Mr.  Zimmerman  for  store  244  Tchoupitoulas  street,  at  $30  per 
month. 
"Also,  one  thousand  and  eighty-five  dollars  in  Confederate  States  notes. 
"Also,  two  hundred  and  seventy-five  dollars  and  twenty-five  cents  in  cash,  halance 
as  per  account  rendered  this  day.    The  interlineation  on  revei^se  side  is  two  hundred 
and  seventy-five  dollars  and  twenty-five  cents. 

"S.B.HOLABmD, 
Col,  Chief  Q.  MoBier. 
"  Per  J.  W.  McCLURE, 

"  Capt,  A.  Q,  M, 

Upon  the  facts,  the  committee  find  and  are  of  opinioD,  upon  well- 
settled  principles  of  law  and  equity,  that  the  petitioner  is  entitled  to 
redress  and  proper  compensation  for  the  property  so  seized  and  appro- 
priated, and  the  committee  therefore  report  and  recommend  the  passage 
of  the  accompanying  bill. 


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43d  Congeess,  >     HOUSE  OP  EEPBESBNTATIVES.     /  Report 
lit  SeuUm.     i  \  No.  320. 


RANDALL  BROWN. 


]£akch  27, 1874. — Committed  to  a  Committee  of  the  Whole  House  and  ordered  to  be 

printed. 


Mr.  James  Wilson,  from  the  Committee  on  War-Claims,  sabmitted  the 

following 

REPOET: 

The  Committee  on  War-Claims^  to  whom  was  re/erred  the  bill  (H.  B.  633) 
for  the  relief  of  BandaU  Brown^  of  Nashville^  Tenn.j  having  had  the 
$ame  under  oonsiderationy  report : 

That  the  said  Randall  Brown  is  a  colored  man,  resident  of  Nashville, 
Tenn.;  that  daring  the  late  rebellion,  in  the  year  1863,  he  was  the  owner 
of  thiee  teams,  wagons,  &c.,  and  was  employed  with  said  teams,  wagons, 
&c.,  on  the  forts  then  being  constructed  for  the  defense  of  Nashville,  by 
the  Quartermaster's  Department  of  the  United  States  Army,  with  a 
promise  or  guarantee  of  protection  against  capture  by  the  enemy;  that 
daring  the  month  of  July,  1863,  while  engaged  with  his  teams  in  haul- 
ing wood  to  Overton's  Station,  on  the  Tennessee  and  Alabama  Railroad, 
on  the  3d  of  July,  the  rebel  forces  made  a  raid  upon  the  hands  engaged 
in  hauling  wood  to  said  station,  taking  them  prisoners  and  capturing 
several  teams,  among  others  the  teams,  wagons,  &c.,  of  the  said  Randall 
Brown. 

The  committee  are  of  opinion  that  the  claimant  was  entitled  to  the 
protection  pledged  him,  and  that  the  capture  of  said  horses,  wagons, 
&c,  were  without  fault  or  negligence  on  the  part  of  the  said  Brown ;  that 
the  said  horses,  ten  in  number,  were  worth  the  sum  of  $125  each,  the 
price  paid  for  horses  for  the  military  service  of  the  United  States  at  that 
time ;  that  the  wagons  and  harness  were  worth  the  sum  of  $250,  and 
these  facts  are  clearly  established  by  satisfactory  evidence. 

Yoor  committee,  therefore,  report  back  the  foregoing  bill  with  the 
recommendation  that  the  same  be  amended  by  inserting  in  line  five  the 
word  ^^flve"  in  place  of  ^^six,"  and  that  as  thus  amended  the  bill  do 
pass. 


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4Sd  Congeess,  >      HOUSE  OP  KEPEESENTATIVES.       /  Repobt 
Irt  Session.     J  (  Xo.  321. 


MRS.  FLORA  A.  DARLING. 


Makch  27, 1874. — Commit td<l  to  a  Committee  of  the  Whole  Hunae  and  ordered  to  be 

printed. 


Mr.  James  Wilson,  from  the  Committee  on  Wai^-Claims,  submitted  the 

following 

REPORT: 

The  Committee  on  War-Clams^  to  wlwin  was  referred  the  memorial  of  Mrs. 
Flora  Adams  Darling^  having  had  the  same  nnd^^r  consideration,  askleave 
to  report: 

That  the  memorialist  is  a  native  of  New  Hampshire ;  that  in  1S59  she 
was  married  to  Edmond  A.  Darliuf?,  of  New  Orleans,  La. ;  that  daring 
the  late  rebellion  her  husband  was  a  general  in  the  confederate  army, 
and  was  killed  in  battle  near  Franklin,  Tenn.,  in  November,  1863  j  that 
in  the  month  of  December  following,  having  cl9sed  up  the  estate  of  her 
said  deceased  husband,  so  far  as  possible,  she  applied  to  General  Dab- 
ney  Maury,  the  confederate  commander  ^t  Mobile,  Ala.,  for  permission 
to  return  to  her  home  in  the  North,  there  to  remain  permanently  with 
her  father  and  mother  and  her  only  child ;  that  General  Maury  acceded 
to  her  request,  and  applied  to  Maj.  Gen.  N.  P.  Banks,  then  in  com- 
mand of  the  Department  of  the  Gulf,  for  permission  to  go  north  under 
the  protection  of  a  flag  of  truce ;  that  such  permission  was  granted,  and 
during  the  month  of  December,  1863,  the  memorialist  was  received  on 
hoard  a  United  States  flag-of-truce  boat,  by  Capt.  Thomas  Tileston, 
United  States  Volunteers,  then  a  flag-of-truce  oflBcer  in  the  United  States 
service,  who  then  delivered  to  her  a  passport  signed  by  Major-General 
Banks.  Captain  Tilestoq's  sworn  statement  is  herewith  appended,  and 
made  a  part  of  this  report : 

'*T  4TE  ov  New  York, 

CUjf  and  Count jf  o/Kew  York,  $8 : 
Thomas  TileetoD,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says : 

I  reside  in  the  city  of  New  York ;  my  oceopatton  is  a  broker.  Daring  the  months  of 
I>efember,  1863,  and  Janoary,  1864, 1  was  flag-of-trnce  officer  in  the  service  of  tbe  United 
States,  on  the  schooner  Alice  Magaigen,  plying  between  Pascagoula,  Miss.,  and 
Xew  Orleans. 

On  or  about  the day  of  December,  1863,  as  said  officer,  I  received  Mrs.  General 

Y'  A.  Darling,  and,  by  direction  of  General  Banks,  commanding  general  of  the  Depart- 
nicDt  of  the  Gulf,  I  delivered  to  the  said  Mrs.  General  Darling  a  permit  to  enter  New 
Orleans,  nnder  said  flag  of  tmce.  I  heard  her  remark  that  she  had  no  United  States 
money,  but  had  fnpds  she  intended  to  exchange  when  she  arrived  in  New  Orleans.  She 
ftlBO  stated  her  intentions  to  proceed  directly  to  New  York  and  Join  her  family  in  the 
North.  I  know  of  her  arrest  and  the  taking  possession  of  her  trunks  by  a  sergeant  in 
the  United  States  Army,  nnder  the  direction  of  the  provost-marshal-general  of  the  De- 
psTtment  of  theGnlf,  on  board  the  said  flag-of  tmce  boat^  bat  I  do  not  know  the  name 
of  the  terseant  who  made  the  arrest  and  seizure.  I  considered  Mrs.  Darling  then,  as  I 
do  now,  a  lady  who  was  entitled  to  the  protection  that  had  been  guaranteed  to  her  by 


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2  MRS.   FLORA   A.    DARLING. 

her  passport.  She  was  under  my  care  daring  the  passage,  and  I  heard  nothiDg  and 
obtained  no  impression  that  led  me,  for  one  moment,  to  believe  she  would  be  subjected 
to  other  treatment  than  that  accorded  to  all  other  ilag-of-tnice  passengers. 

THOMAS  TILESTON, 

Late  Captain^  U,  S.  F. 
Sworn  to  before  me  this  24th  da}'  of  January,  1874. 

J.  CLINTON  GRAY, 
Xotary  Public^  Sew  York  Citg. 

Your  coDimittee  further  find  that  the  memorialist,  Mrs.  Darling,  pro- 
ceeded to  New  Orleans  on  said  flag-of*truce  boat  j  that  while  said  vessel 
was  lying  at  the  wharf  in  said  city,  with  a  flag  of  truce  flying  from  her 
mast,  a  sergeant  of  the  United  States  Army,  acting  under  the  direction 
and  orders  of  General  Bowen,  an  officer  on  duty  at  New  Orleans  as  provost- 
marshal -general  of  the  Department  of  the  Gulf,  took  possession  of  her 
trunks,  and  in  her  presence  took  therefrom  a  package  alleged  to  contain 
five  thousand  dollars  in  State  bank  notes,  (then  at  par,)  and  ten  thou- 
sand dollars  in  confederate  cotton-bonds ;  that  she  was  then  taken  by  the 
sergeant  to  the  Julia-street  prison,  wiiere  she  was  confined  eight  days 
without  money  and  without  a  change  of  clothing,  and  for  three  months 
thereafter  was  under  arrest,  endeavoring  during  that  x>eriod  to  obtain  an 
interview  with  General  Banks,  but  without  success ;  that  after  that  period 
of  time  she  obtained  an  interview  with  General  Banks,  who  sent  a  stafiT- 
officer  with  her  to  General  Bowen's  headquarters ;  that  the  said  General 
Bowen  expressed  entire  ignorance  as  to  what  had  been  taken  from  her 
trunks,  and  that  every  officer  to  whom  she  applied  informed  her  that  they 
knew  nothing  of  the  matter. 

Your  committee  further  find,  from  the  statement. of  the  memorialist, 
that  when  her  trunks  were  returned  to  her,  everything  of  value  had  been 
taken  therefrom,  includitig  the  cotton-bonds  and  State  bank  notes,  and 
some  silver  and  gold  coin  and  diamonds ;  that  she  made  further  effort 
to  obtain  redress,  but  failed,  and  that  soon  afterward  she  was,  by  order 
of  General  Bowen,  taken  on  board  a  military  transport  and  sent  to  New 
York  City. 

Your  committee  further  find  that  Mrs.  Darling  applied  to  President 
Lincoln  for  redress,  who  directed  an  investigation  to  be  made  by  the 
Bureau  of  Military  Justice;  that  report  thereon  was  made  by  Judge- 
Advocate-General  Holt,  under  date  of  July  19, 1866,  who  had  only  the 
application  or  statement  of  Mrs.  Darling  before  him,  and  from  which 
report  the  following  extract  is  taken : 

The  application  of  Mrs.  Darling  having  been  referred  to  the  military  anthorities  at 
New  Orleans  for  investigation!  no  trace  of  the  property  and  no  information  whatever 
in  regard  to  its  seizure  has  been  found  possible  to  be  obtained.  This  is  probably  owing 
in  great  part  to  the  long  period  which  has  intervened  since  the  proceeding  complained 
of,  and  to  the  laches  of  tne  applicant  in  prosecuting  her  claim. 

The  Judge-Advocate-Gkneral,  in  conclusion,  says  : 

As  to  the  merits  of  the  claim  in  respect  to  its  other  items,  it  is  impossible,  ia  the  ab- 
sence of  any  evidence  whatever  in  support  of  the  statements  of  tne  applicant,  to  ar- 
rive at  any  final  conclusion. 

It  is  clear,  however,  that  after  a  careful  investigation  none  of  these  moneys  can  be 
found  in  the  hands  of  any  officer  of  the  Government,  and  that  there  is  thus  no  existing 
property  of  the  party  which  can  be  restored  to  her  in  specie.  In  any  event,  therefore, 
the  military  department— whose  power  would  be  limited  to  such  a  restoration — won  hi 
be  wholly  without  the  means  or  authority  to  grant  any  relief  in  the  case. 

From  the  foregoing  extracts  it  appears  that  Mrs.  Darling's  claim  was 
considered  by  the  War  Department  upon  the  statement  only  of  Mrs. 
Darling.  As  to  the  charge  of  laches  in  prosecuting  her  claim,  it  appears 
that  Mrs.  Darling  had  placed  it  in  the  hands  of  the  late  Hon.  Bobert  J. 


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MRS.    FLORA    A.    DARLING.  3 

Walker,  and  that  Mr.  Walker^s  illness  and  subsequent  death  account 
for  whatever  delay  or  neglect  has  occurred,  which,  however,  your  com- 
mittee consider  an  immaterial  matter. 

Yoar  committee  are  of  opinion  that  the  Government  is  in  strict  law 
boaad  to  re-imbnrse  Mrs.  Darling  for  losses  sustained  by  her  through 
the  acts  of  a  military  subordinate,  whether  the  same  were  authorized 
by  the  rules  and  regulations  of  war  prescribed  by  it  or  not,  while  she 
was  under  the  protection  of  a  flag  of  truce  with  a  proper  passport  or 
8afe-condact  from  United  States  military  authorities.  On  this  point 
Chancellor  Kent  defines  the  general  rule  with  regard  to  flags  of  truce 
as  follows: 

He  who  promises  security  by  a  passport  is  morally  bound  to  afford  it  aguiost  any  of 
his  sabjects  or  forces  aud  make  good  any  damaj^es  the  party  might  sustain  by  violation 
of  the  passport.  The  privilege  being  so  far  a  dispensation  from  the  legal  effects  of  war , 
it »  always  to  be  taken  strictly,  and  must  be  confined  to  the  purpose  and  place  and 
time  for  which  it  was  granted.  A  safe-conduct  generally  includes  the  necessary  bag- 
gage and  servants  of  the  person  to  whom  it  is  granted.    (Kent's  Com.,  vol.  1,  p.  161.) 

Yonr  committee  are  further  of  opinion  that,  in  point  of  equity,  the 
Government  is  bound  to  make  reparation  for  the  wrong  done  Mrs. 
Darling  by  the  acts  of  its  subordinates,  at  least  so  far  as  may  be  prac- 
ticable. As  to  the  recovery  of  the  value  of  the  confederate  securities, 
00  claim  is  made.  That  their  being  found  in  Mrs.  Darling's  possession 
wavS  a  justification  of  the  seizure  of  her  baggage  cannot  be  maintained. 
As  to  the  character  of  confederate  notes,  the  Supreme  Court  says,  in  the 
case  of  Thoringtou  vs.  Smith,  8  Wallace,  p.  11 : 

They  most  be  regardod,  therefore,  as  a  currency  imposed  on  the  commnnity  by  irre- 
fistiblo  force.  It  seems  to  foUow  as  a  necessary  consequence  from  this  actual  suprem- 
4ey  of  the  insurgent  government  as  a  belligerent  within  the  territory  where  it  cir- 
nikted,  and  from  the  necessity  of  civil  obedience  on  the  part  of  aU  who  remained  in 
tt,  tbst  this  carrency  must  be  considered  in  courts  of  law  in  the  same  light  as  if  it  had 
Wq  iasned  by  a  foreign  government  temporarily  occupying  a  part  of  the  territory  of  the 
I'Dited  SUtetf. 

The  possession  of  the  confederate  cotton-bonds  by  Mrs.  Darling  was 
therefore  a  lawful  possession,  and  no  possible  benefit  could  inure  to  the 
confederate  government  by  such  possession,  either  in  the  South  or  North. 
Coder  the  law  of  nations  the  possession  of  the  currency  or  securities  of 
one  belligerent  cannot  be  regarded  as  a  violation  of  the  flag  of  truce  by 
the  other. 

They  are  not  contraband.  Wildman,  in  a  chapter  in  his  work  on  the 
iav  of  nations,  includes  every  species  of  contraband  known  to  modern 
nations,  and  mentions  only  official  communications  as  contraband  under 
a  flag  of  trace. 

if  one  belligerent  does  not  wish  to  receive  the  person  or  efifects  of  one 
vho  holds  a  passport  under  a  flag  of  truce,  he  may  refuse  to  receive  the 
Iierson  or  hi8  efifects ;  but  to  enter  upon  a  flag-of- truce  boat,  and  seize 
^od  confiscate  the  moneys  and  securities  of  a  person  who  has  been 
2:tianinteed  protection,  is  denominated  by  the  law  of  nations  an  act  of 
I^rfidy. 

As  to  the  diamonds,  which  the  petitioner  values  at  $1,000,  they 
ninnot  be  regarded  otherwise  than  as  personal  efifects.  For  the  detention 
^t  New  Orleans  at  her  own  expense,  while  under  arrest,  for  three  months, 
vith  other  expenses  incidental  to  the  prosecution  of  her  claim  against 
the  Government,  your  committee  believe  that,  in  strict  equity,  she  should 
^  reimbursed. 

Your  committee  believe,  in  conclusion,  from  all  the  evidence  before 
them,  that  Mrs.  Darling  was  in  possession  of  the  property  specified  in 
her  petition  ;  that  it  was  taken  from  her  by  a  sergeant  of  the  United 


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4  MRS.   FLORA   A.   DARLING. 

States  Army,  acting  under  the  color  of  aathority  of  the  provost-marshal 
general  at  New  Orleans;  that  she  was  subjected  to  detention  and  conse- 
quent expense,  as  well  as  considerable  expense  since  in  the  prosecution 
of  her  claim  for  redress,  and  that,  both  in  law  and  equity,  she  is  entitled 
to  re-imbursemeut  for  the  losses  incurred  while  under  the  special  protec- 
tion of  the  United  States  Government. 

Wherefore  your  committee  report  the  accompanying  bill  appropriating 
thesnmof  $5,000asre-imbursement  for  theState  bank  notes  taken  from 
her,  for  loss  of  personal  effects,  and  re-imbursement  of  necessary  expenses 
incurred  in  procuring  redress,  and  recommend  its  passage. 


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43d  Congbess,  >    HOUSE  OF  EEPRESENTATIVES.        (  Report 
Ut  Session.  '  i  )  No.  323. 


THOMAS  DAY. 


March  27, 1874. — Committed  to  a  Committee  of  the  Wliole  House  aad  ordered  to  be 

printed. 


3Ir.  James  Wilson,  from  the  Committee  on  War-Claims,  submitted  the 

following 

REPORT: 

[To  accompany  biU  H.  R.  1283.] 

The  Committee  on  War-Claims,  to  whom  was  referred  the  bill  {H.R.  1283) 
far  the  relief  of  Thomas  Ddy,  of  Indiana^  having  had  the  same  under  con- 
sideratioHj  report : 

That  the  said  Thomas  Day  is  a  citizen  of  New  Marion,  Ripley  County, 
lod.,  and  a  nurseryman  by  occupation;  that  during  the  late  war  it 
became  necessary  for  the  United  States  to  occupy  his  grounds  as  a 
military  post  for  barrack  and  hospital  purposes;  that  in  establishing  or 
erectiug  the  same  his  nursery,  embracing  a  valuable  collection  of  trees 
and  plants,  was  destroyed;  that  an  estimate  of  the  value  of  the  same 
was  made  at  the  time,  which  was  duly  approved  by  the  military  com- 
mander of  the  said  post,  Capt,  C.  N.  Golding,  a  copy  of.  which  is 
lierewith  appended: 

600  peach  plants,  1  cent  each $6  00 

^ peach  trees,  Scents  each 52  00 

i  000  apple  trees,  half  price,  15  cents  each 300  OO 

'AdOO  apple  trees,  7  cents  each 175  00 

60O  currant  trees,  5  cents  each 30  00 

100  gooseberries,  5  cents  each 5  00 

1 000  j^pe  plants,  2i  cents  each 25  00 

200qninoe  tr^w,  ten  cents  each 20  00 

ffiplnm  trees,  15  cents  each 3  75 

24  evergreen  trees,  |1  each.. 24  00 

Total :....    640  75 

This  estimate  is  sworn  to  by  Mr.  Day,  who  is  indorsed  by  leading 
citizens  of  Bipley  County  as  a  gentleman  of  truth,  morality,  and  integ- 
rity, and  is  indorsed  by  Captain  Oolding,  in  January,  1865,  when  the 
facts  were  fresh  in  his  mind,  as  follows:  ^'From  my  knowledge  of  the 
man  who  makes  this  claim^  and  from  the  fact  that  the  grounds  1  took 
possession  of  were  set  out  m  fruit  trees,  &c.,  I  have  no  doubt  the  above 
claim  is  a  just  one." 

Your  committee  are  of  opinion  that  the  claim  of  Mr.  Day  is  a  just  one, 
aod  that  it  ought  to  be  paid,  and  therefore  report  back  the  bill  with  the 
recommendation  that  it  do  pass. 


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43d  Congbess,  \     HOUSE  OF  llEPRESEXTATIVES.      )  Report 
Itt  Session,     f  \  No.  323. 


FRANCIS  PRIEST. 


March  27, 1874. — Ordered  to  be  printed. 


Mr.  HoLMAN,  from  tbe  Committee  on  War-Claims,  submitted  the  fol- 
lowing 

REPORT: 

The  Committee  on  War-ClaimSj  to  whom  was  referred  the  peiilion  of  Francis 
Priestjfor  relief  have  considered  thesame^  and  report  as  follows  : 

The  claimant  was  a  loyal  resident  of  a  loyal  State ;  his  property  dam- 
aged was  situated  in  an  insarrectionary  State ;  was  real  estate ;  was 
used  and  occupied  by  United  States  troops,  and  while  so  occupied  was 
damaged.    These  facts  afibrd  no  claim  against  the  United  States. 

Tour  committee  would  further  report  that  the  evidence  submitted  in 
support  ot  the  claim  is  wholly  insufficient.  It  consists  mainly  in  the 
report  of  a  board  organized  by  order  of  Brevet  Brigadier  General  McKib- 
ben,  July  22, 1865,  to  '^  assess  damage  done  by  the  armies  of  the  United 
States  and  the  so-called  Confederate  States  to  property  of  loyal  citizens 
in  the  subdistrict  of  the  Blackwater,  Virginia.'^  The  report  of  this  so- 
called  board  is  of  no  value  whatever  and  proves  nothing,  and  is  without 
any  authority  whatever.  Your  cx)mmittee  recommend  the  indefinite 
IK)stponement  of  the  claim. 


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43d  Congeess,  )      HOUSE  OF  EEPKESENTATIVES.     /  Report 
Igt  8es9um.     ]  .       )  No.  324. 


LIEUT.  SIDNEY  TINKER. 


MiRCii  27,  1874. — Committed  to  a  Committee  of  the  Whole  House  and  ordered  to  be 

printed. 


Mr.  HOL3IAN,  from  the  Committee   on  War-Claims,   submitted    the 

following 


REPORT: 

[To  accompany  bill  II.  R.  1840.] 


The  Committee  on  War-Claims,  to  wJiom  teas  referred  the  bill  (If.  R,  1840) 
for  the  relief  of  Lieut.  Sidney  Tinker^  beg  leave  to  report : 

That  it  appears  from  the  evidence  submitted  to  the  committee  that 
Lieut  Sidney  Tinker  was  commissioned  by  the  governor  of  Indiana 
second  lieutenant  in  Company  D,  Ninety-third  Regiment  of  Indiana 
Volanteers,  and  actually  entered  on  duty  with  said  regiment  on  the  15th 
day  of  June,  1863,  but  was  not  mustered  into  the  service  until  the  10th 
day  of  September,  1863;  that  during  the  whole  period  from  June  15  to 
September  10, 1863,  Lieutenant  Tinker  was  actually  on  duty  as  such 
lieatenant;  that  the  reason  why  he  was  not  'mustered  in  at  the  time  he 
entered  ou  duty  was  that  his  regiment  was  in  the  field  in  Mississippi  in 
active  military  operations,  remote  from  the  headquarters  of  the  Army, 
and  his  commission,  which  had  previously  been  sent  to  him,  did  not 
and  could  not  reach  him  until  the  return  of  his  regiment  to  the  body 
of  the  Army,  near  Vicksburgh,  Mississippi,  shortly  after  which  time  he 
▼as  mustered  in.  It  appears  that  there  was  some  delay  in  consequence 
of  an  order  in  regard  to  mustering  in  persons  commissioned  after  the 
20th  day  of  July,  1863;  but  the  fact  clearly  appears  that  during  the 
period  named  Lieutenant  Tinker  actually  performed  duty  as  such  lieu- 
tenant  in  the  field.  This  appears  from  the  affidavit  of  Colonel  Thomas, 
of  that  regiment,  and  of  other  officers  who  were  in  the  service  with 
Lieatenant  Tinker. 

The  committee,  following  the  uniform  practice  in  such  cases,  recom- 
mend the  passage  of  the  accompanying  bill,  paying  Lieutenant  Tinker 
as  lieutenant  for  the  period  mentioned,  deducting  the  sum  paid  to  him 
for  that  period  as  a  private  soldier. 


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43d  Congeess,  )      HOUSE  OP  EEPRESENTATIVES.     §  Report 
lit  Sestion.     |  \  No.  325. 


JAMES  L.  McPHAin. 


March  27, 1874.— Ordered  to  be  printed. 


Mr.  J.  T.  Harris,  from  the  Committee  ou  "War-Claims,  submitted  the 

following 

REPORT: 

The  Committee  on  War-ClaimSj  to  whom  was  referred  the  memorial  of 
James  L.  McPhail  and  others^  praying  compensation  for  alleged  services 
in  planning  and  effecting  the  arrest  of  Samuel  B.  Arnold  and  Michael 
McLaughlin,  two  of  the  conspirators  in  the  assassination  of  President 
Lincoln^  having  had  the  same  under  consideration,  ask  leave  to  report : 

That,  at  the  time  of  said  assassination,  the  said  McPhail  was  provost 
marshal  of  the  State  of  Maryland,  and  the  other  claimants  were  a  por- 
tion of  his  detectiye  force ;  that  there  seems  to  be  no  donbt,  &om  the 
evidence,  that  these  claimants  were  instrnmental  in  cansing  the  arrest 
of  the  said  Arnold  and  McLaughlin,  by  giving  information  and  advice, 
i>efore  the  offer  of  reward  was  made  by  the  Secretary  of  War,  and  that 
vhile  the  Committee  on  Claims  of  the  39th  Congress  commended  the 
^Qoos  and  meritorious  services  of  these  claimants,;they  did  not  recom- 
mend anything  to  be  paid  to  them. 

Xoor  committee  are  of  the  opinion  that  these  claimants  did  no  more 
than  they  were  boand  to  do  as  officers  of  the  Government,  and  there- 
fore report  back  their  petition,  and  recommend  that  the  same  do  lie  on 
tbe  table. 


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43d  Conobess,  )      HOUSE  OF  EEPEESENTATIVES.      (  Kepobt 
Ut  Senion.     f  t  ^0.326. 


JOHN  M.  LAMB. 


March  27, 1874.— Ordered  to  be  printed. 


Mr.  John  T.  Harris,  from  the  Committee  on  War-Claims,  submitted 

the  following 

REPORT: 

The  Committee  an  War-  Claims j  to  whom  teas  referred  the  bill  (H.  E.  981)  for 
the  rdief  of  John  M.  Lambj  of  Saint  Paul^  Minn.y  having  had  the  same 
uhder  considerationy  report: 

That  the  claim  is  for  re-imbnrsement  of  the  snm  of  tl9,654,  the  amount 
of  tax  paid  by  him  to  the  medical  department  of  the  army  of  the 
Potomac  for  the  privilege  of  supplying  newspapers  and  x>eriodicals  to 
the  soldiers  of  said  army ;  that  the  claimant  Toluntarily  agreed  to  pay 
said  som,  and  that  there  was  no  compulsion  whatever  used  in  collecting 
fiaid  tax  from  him,  and  that  at  the  time  other  parties  were  endeavoring 
to  procure  the  same  privilege  upon  the  same  terms  prescribed  to  be  paid 
by  Lamb. 

Tour  committee  are  of  opinion  that  he  has  neither  a  legal  nor  equita- 
ble claim  against  the  Government  for  the  re-imbursement  of  the  money 
80  paid,  and  accordingly  they  report  back  the  bill  with  recommendation 
tbat  it  do  lie  on  the  table. 


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43d  CON0RBSS, )     HOUSE  OF  EEPEESENTATIVES.       (  Report 
Ut  Semon.     ]  \  No.  327. 


GEOKGE  CALVERT. 


March  27, 1874. — Ordered  to  be  printed. 


Mr.  John  T.  Harris,  from  the  Committee  on  War-Claims,  submitted 

the  following 

REPORT: 

The  Committee  on  War-Claims^  to  whom  was  referred  the  memorial  of  Oeorge 
Calvert,  of  Prince  George's  County  j  Maryland,  praying  for  relief  and  com- 
pensaiionfor  the  loss  of  his  ferry-boat  at  the  viUage  of  Nottingham,  in 
Mid  State,  and  of  an  indentured  servant,  having  had  the  same  under  con* 
iideration,  submit  thefollounng  report : 

That  the  memorial  of  the  said  Calvert  above  referred  to  was,  on  the 
16th  day  of  January,  1872,  referred  to  the  Committee  on  Military  Affitirs, 
vhich  committee  reported  adversely  thereon,  and  asked  to  be  discharged 
from  its  farther  consideration,  which  was  so  ordered  by  the  House. 
Yoar  committee  adopt  the  report  of  the  Committee  on  Military  Affairs, 
which  is  made  a  part  of  this  report,  and  ask  to  be  discharged  from  the 
farther  consideration  of  said  claim. 


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43d  Congbess,  )      HOUSE  OF  BEPllESENTATIVES.      (  Report 
l$t  Session,      i  \  No.  328. 


BENJAMIN  W.  REYNOLDS. 


Makch27,  1874. — Committed  to  a  Committee  of  the  Wtiole  House  and  ordered  to  be 

printed. 


Mr.  DuKNELL,  from  the  Committee  on  the  Public  Lands,  submitted  the 

following 

REPORT: 

[To  Mcompany  bill  H.  B.  2694.] 

Ike  Committee  on  the  Public  Lands  ha/»e  had  under  consideration  the  bill 
[H.B,  581)  for  the  relief  of  Benjamin  W.  Reynolds^  and  respectfully 
report: 

That  said  Reynolds,  of  La  Crosse,  Wis.,  was  appointed  receiver  of 
public  moneys,  at  Falls  Saint  Croix,  in  that  State,  March  28, 1861,  and 
entered  upon  the  duties  of  his  office  May  16,  1861 ;  he  was  also  disburs- 
\\\^  agent  and  timber  agent  in  the  Saint  Croix  district ;  he  was  also 
United  States  depositary.  His  bond  as  disbursing  agent  was  $5,000 ; 
iis  receiver,  $50,000 ;  and  as  depositary,  $200,000. 

He  satisfactorily  discharged  his  several  duties  till  July  15, 1864.  It 
appears,  from  a  letter  received  from  the  Commissioner  of  the  General 
Land-Office,  under  date  of  Febraary  28, 1872,  that  during  that  period  the 
public  money  received  by  him  amounted  to  the  sum  of  $30,599.93,*  viz  : 

From  proceeds  of  sales  of  public  lands $24, 805  02 

From  $10  Government  fees  on  homesteads. .         2, 850  00 

$27, 055  02 

I'w^s  for  locating  military  warrants 858  00 

And  commissions  on  homesteads 580  78 

Both  paid  over  to  register  and  receiver 1, 438  78 

From  timber  depredations,  covered  into  the  Treasury  to 
credit  of  judiciary  fund 1, 506  13 

30, 599  93 
His  receiver's,  disbursing,  and  timber  accounts  appear  to  have  been 
>^ttled.  During  the  i;)eriod  he  was  in  office  his  entire  compensation  as 
rweiver,  including  salary,  commissions,  and  all  other  fees,  amounted 
to  $2,403.61,  while  from  vouchers  on  file  it  appears  that  during  the  same 
period  he  paid  as  extra  clerk-hire  $2,175.30.  It  will  thus  appear  that 
be  received  less  than  $800  per  year,  and  was  under  bonds  to  the  aggre- 
gate amount  of  $255,000.  He  received  no  compensation  for  his  services 
as  United  States  depositary  or  as  timber  agent.  As  already  stated  by 
the  Commissioner  of  the  General  Land-Office,  he  paid  for  extra  clerk- 
bire  $2,175.30. 

During  his  term  283  homestead  entries  were  made  in  his  office.  They 
^ere  ordinarily  160-acre  or  80  double  minimum  entries.    For  these  entries 


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2  BENJAMIN   W.    REYNOLDS. 

but  half-fees  were  then  allowed.  Now  the  land-offices  receiv-e  full  fees 
for  this  class  of  enties.  Mr.  Reynolds  made  a  full  statement  to  your 
committee  of  the  nature  and  amount  of  work  performed  by  him  ;  and 
also  declared  himself  ready  to  make  oath  that  he  received  no  other  fees 
than  those  given  in  the  foregoing;  statement. 

It  appears  that  by  act  of  March  3, 1863,  the  receiver  of  pnblic  moneys 
at  Santa  F6  was  granted  (2,000  as  depositary ;  also,  in  18(k  and  in  1865, 
and  by  act  of  July  28, 1866,  $1,000  was  granted  to  depositary  at  Santa 
F^,  and  by  act  of  1868,  $4,000  was  granted  to  receiver  acting  as  depos- 
itary  at  Santa  F6,  viz :  $2,000  as  salarj',  balance  for  clerk-hire.  Other 
precedents  exist. 

It  appears  that  iDongress  paid  him  for  clerk-hire  $2,175.30,  by  act  ap- 
proved June  8, 1872.  This  amount  was  for  disbursements  made.  The 
claimant,  therefore,  received  for  his  entire  services  only  the  amount 
stated,  viz :  $2,403.61,  or  less  than  $800  per  annum,  and  at  a  period  in 
the  history  of  public  land  matters  when  the  greatest  care  and  vigilance 
were  called  for  and  seem  to  have  been  exercised  by  the  claimant.  As 
he  has,  moreover,  never  had  any  compensation  for  his  services  and 
large  responsibilities  as  a  depositary  of  public  moneys,  appointed  under 
act  of  Congress  approved  August  8, 1849,  and  as  he  still  continues 
to  hold  public  moneys,  including  those  received  from  other  sources 
than  the  sale  of  public  lands,  or  by  virtue  of  his  office  as  receiver  of 
public  moneys  after  he  ceased  to  be  receiver,  your  committee  recommend 
that  the  claimant  be  allowed  the  sum  of  $400  per  annum  for  the  x>eriod 
in  which  he  served  as  United  States  depositary,  from  October  26, 1861, 
to  November  21, 1864,  four  years,  one  month,  and  twenty -five  days,  and 
report  back  the  accompanying  substitute  for  the  amount  of  $1,233.33. 


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43d  Cowgbess,  )      HOUSE  OP  BEPEESENTATIVES.      (  Report 
Ut  Session.     §  \  No.  329. 


PURCHASE  OF  A  PIECE  OP  LAND  IN  FLORIDA. 


ILlech  2/,  1874. — Committed  to  the  Committee  of  the  Whole  House  on  the  state  of 
the  Union  and  ordered  to  be  printed. 


Mr.  P.  M.  B.  Young,  from  the  Committee  on  Military  Affairs,  submit- 
ted the  following 

EEPORT: 

[To  accompany  bill  H.  B.  2245.] 

The  committee  are  informed  by  the  officer  in  command  at  Key  West, 
through  the  department  commander  and  the  Quartermaster-General, 
that  there  is  a  necessity  of  enlarging  the  military  cemetery  at  Key 
West,  Florida.  It  appears  that  the  ground  set  apart  for  cemetery  pur- 
poses has  all  been  used;  also  a  piece  of  private  property  taken  in  1862 
for  same  uses  has  been  exhausted,  and  that  the  burials  that  are  now 
being  made  are  too  near  the  barracks.  The  report  of  Oen.  James 
A.  Hardie  goes  to  show  <<  that  the  garrison  limits  cannot  be  contracted 
by  the  withdrawal  of  the  bodies  interred  in  the  private  property  refer- 
red to,  and  that  sinks  should  not  be  brought  into  the  garrison  limits ;" 
the  unhealthiness  of  the  climate  in  the  summer  season  forbids  the  pro- 
pmquity  of  causes  deranging  to  health. 

The  evidence  before  the  committee  goes  to  show  that  a  piece  of  land, 
three  hundred  feet  deep  and  seven  hundred  and  fourteen  feet  long,  con- 
tigQons  to  and  south  of  the  reservation,  including  within  its  limits  the 
private  property  taken  in  1862 — ^now  filled  with  graves — ^the  said  piece 
of  land  containing  five  acres,  can  be  purchased  for  the  sum  of  one  thou- 
sand dollars. 

The  committee  recommend  the  passage  of  the  accompanying  bill. 


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«D  Congress,  >      HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES.      (  Report 
lit  Sessim.     ]  \  No.  330. 


HEIRS  OF  GEORGE  FISHER. 


^LiRCH  27, 1 tf74.— Committed  to  a  Committee  of  the  Whole  House  and  ordered  to  be 

printed. 


3rr.  HuNTON,  from  the  Committee  on  Military  Affairs,  submitted  the 

following 

REPORT: 

[To  accompany  bill  H.  R.  1253.] 

The  Committee  on  Military  Affairs^  to  whom  was  referred  the  hill  (JT.  U. 
l2o3)  for  the  relief  of  the  heirs  of  George  Fisher^  having  had  the  matter 
under  consideration^  beg  leave  to  submit  the  following  report : 

In  1813  the  property  of  Col.  George  Fisher  was  taken  and  used,  or 
destroyed,  by  the  troops  of  the  United  States  in  the  then  Territory  of 
Mississippi,  during  the  war  with  the  Creek  Indians. 

Colonel  Fisher  applied  to  the  Fourteenth  Congress  for  indemnity, 
and  continaed  to  make  this  application  till  his  death,  in  1841.  This 
tlaim  has  been  prosecuted  by  his  legal  representatives  since  his  death. 
Bj-  reference  to  the  first  volume  of  private  claims  in  the  House,  page 
<>30,  it  will  be  peen  this  claim  was  presented  to  the  House  nine  times. 

On  12th  April,  1848,  Congress  passed  a  bill  directing  the  Second 
Aaditor  of  the  Treasury  ^'  to  examine  and  adjust  the  claims  of  the  legal 
representatives  of  George  Fisher,  deceased,  on  principles  of  equity  and 
jastice,  and  having  due  regard  to  the  proofs  of  the  value  of  property 
taken  or  destroyed  by  the  troops  of  the  United  States  engaged  in  sup- 
pressing Indian  hostilities  in  the  year  1813,  and  that  said  legal  repre- 
sentatives be  paid  for  the  same  out  of  any  money  in  the  Treasury  not 
otherwise  appropriated." 

In  the  second  section  of  said  act  it  was  provided,  if  it  could  not  be 
decided  as  to  the  specific  quantity  of  property  taken  or  destroyed  by 
the  troops  and  by  the  Indians,  the  said  officer  was  directed  stntuf..t  Lxr,e. 
"  to  apportion  the  losses  as  he  may  think  just  and  equitable,  """^  *• "  ''* 
*o  as  to  afford  a  full  and  fair  indemnity  for  all  losses  and  injuries  occa- 
mned  by  said  troops^  and  allow  the  claimants  accordingly,^ 

Under  the  provisions  of  this  law  the  then  Second  Auditor,  McCalla, 
made  a  partial  settlement  of  this  case,  which  was  predicated  on  the 
e\idenoe  of  only  three  witnesses  out  of  six.  The  witnesses  whose  tes* 
timony  was  allowed  were  R.  G.  Hayden,  H.  L.  Revier,  and  Absalom 
Presnel.  The  testimony  of  Wiley  Davis,  James  Turner,  and  Samuel 
Harrison  was  rejected,  because  the  Auditor  said  their  depositions  were 
not  i>roi)erly  authenticated  by  the  governor.  Upon  the  testimony 
thus  admitted  he  estimated  the  value  of  the  property  destroyed 
at  $17,946,  and  presuming  that  the  Indians  had  destroyed  one-half, 
allowed  $8,973,  or  by  mistake  of  $100  in  addition,  $8,873,  without  inter- 
est  Id  December  fallowing,  the  attention  of  the  Auditor  was  called  to 
the  language  of  the  second  section  of  the  act;  and  interest  was  claimed 

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2  HEIRS   OF   GEORGE   FISHER. 

under  said  section.  The  Auditor  affected  to  consider  the  case  de  novoj 
but  upon  examination  it  will  be  found  he  only  considered  the  same  evi- 
dence, and  paid  no  attention  to  the  testimony  of  the  three  last-named 
witnesses.  The  Auditor  on  this  second  examination  awarded  the  same 
sum  (correcting  the  error  of  8100)  of  $8,973,  with  interest  from  1832 
to  1848. 

These  rejected  depositions  were  of  great  importance,  because  they 
disproved  the  presumption  that  one-half  the  property  was  destroyed  by 
Indians,  and  established  that  the  whole  of  it  was  used  or  destroyed  by 
the  troops  of  the  United  States. 

The  claimant  proceeded  to  perfect  the  rejected  depositions,  and  asked 
of  the  Auditor  an  allowance  upon  them,  but  Clayton,  the  new  Auditor, 
refiised  to  entertain  the  further  claim  on  the  ground  that  the  case  was 
closed. 

By  act  of  Congress  approved  December  22, 1B54,  the  Second  Auditor 
of  the  Treasury  was  directed  ^^  under  the  provisions  of  the  act  of  12 
April,  1848,  to  re-examine  this  case  and  to  allow  the  claimants  the  bene- 
fit of  the  rejected  testimony,  provided  the  same  is  now  properly  authen- 
ticated." This  act  was  supplementary  to  the  act  of  April  12, 1848.  This 
supplementary  act,  which  gave  directions  to  the  Second  Auditor  alone, 
was  never  executed,  James  Guthrie,  then  Secretary  of  Treasury^  having 
intervened  to  prevent  its  execution,  on  the  unwarranted  assumption 
that  the  claimants  had  already  had  the  benefit  of  the  rejected  testimony. 
This  assumption  is  disproved  by  the  testimony  of  George  M.  Bibb,  to  be 
found  in  fifth  volume  Reports  of  Committees,  page  22,  and  the  identity  of 
both  of  the  awards  of  Auditor  McCalla.  By  a  joint  resolution  approved 
3d  of  June,  1858,  "  the  duties  imposed  or  required  to  be  performed  by 
the  said  act  of  Congress  were  to  be  discharged  by  the  Secretary  of  War!" 

Under  this  resolution  the  Secretary  of  War  allowed  the  claimants 
$18,104,  with  interest  from  date  of  destruction  of  the  property.  This 
was  substantially  the  same  in  amount  as  that  made  by  the  Auditor. 

With  a  full  knowledge  of  all  these  facts,  Congress,  on  June  1, 1860, 
passed  a  joint  resolution  requiring  the  Secretary  of  War  to  re-examine  the 
whole  case,  to  give  effect  to  all  the  evidence  on  file,  and  to  make  such 
further  allowances  as  in  his  opinion  justice  to  the  claimants  required. 

The  Secretary  of  War,  acting  under  this  last  resolution,  says,  *^  It  is 
iieeEi.Doc.ii.  vcry  plalu,  from  the  language  of  the  resolution  and  reports 
3ethconi.,jd«:.;  of  committees,  that  it  was  considered  necessary  to  require  a 
revision  of  the  account  in  detail,  and  that  Congress  regarded  the  estimate 
of  value  of  the  property  made  by  the  Auditor,  and  substantially  the 
same  ns  my  own,  as  being  much  less  than  the  evidence  required. 

<'  I  find,  on  careful  examination  of  the  depositions,  substantial  ground 
for  such  assumption." 

The  Secretary  then  awarded  to  the  claimants,  as  the  fair  value  of  the 
Fee  Mm.  D«c,  p.  a.  property  destroyed,  the  sum  of  $34,952,  with  interest  on 
$22,202  from  July,  1813,  and  on  $12,750  from  September,  1814,  aggre- 
gating principal  and  interest,  November,  1860,  $133,323.18. 

Under  these  various  awards  the  claimants  have  been  paid  the  follow- 
ing sums,  to  wit : 

April  28,  1848 $8,773  00 

December  31,  1848 8,797  94 

May  12,  1849 10,004  81) 

October  12,1858 22,681  28 

November  6, 1858 16,346  22 

Aggregating 66,803  33 

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HEIRS   OF   GEORGE   FISHER.  3 

It  will  appear  by  calcalation  that  these  various  payroeuts,  properly 
applied,  will  only  discharge  the  sum  of  $18,104,  with  interest  from  1813, 
the  amoant  of  the  first  award  of  the  Secretary  of  War,  leaving  the 
balance  of  $16,868,  with  interest  as  aforesaid,  still  due  to  the  claimants. 

Before  this  balance  was  paid  Congress,  by  joint  resolution,  approved 
March  2, 1861,  rescinded  the  former  joint  resolution  of  June  1, 1860, 
atd  DO  farther  action  was  taken  for  some  time,  by  reason  of  the  civil 
war  which  soon  thereafter  ensued. 

Is  the  sum  of  $16,848,  with  interest  from  1813  to  1814,  still  due  the 
representatives  of  George  Fisher  ?  Two  objections  have  been  taken 
a^mst  paying  the  same.  The  first  is  that  the  resolution  under  which 
this  sum  was  awarded  having  been  rescinded  the  award  was  a  nullity. 

This  is  a  new  and  not  very  creditable  way  of  paying  old  debts.  If 
that  award  is  wrong,  if  any  mistake  has  been  found  in  it,  then  there 
would  be  some  equity  in  correcting  it ;  but  it  appears  to  the  committee 
to  be  fair  and  just,  and  manifestly,  in  the  opinion  of  the  Congress  that 
passed  the  resolution  of  June  1, 1860,  these  claimants  had  not  received 
what  the  law  of  1848  contemplated,  <'  fair  and  full  indemnity  for  all 
losses.^  But  it  is  believed  that  the  award  of  the  Secretary  of  War 
Qod^  the  resolution  of  June  1, 1860,  was  binding  on  the  Government, 
and  unless  the  claimants  have  released,  this  sum  (principal  and  inter- 
est) is  still  due  them. 

It  is  a  principle  too  old  and  well  established  to  be  controverted  that 
after  an  award  or  judgment  has  been  regularly  obtained  under  a  valid 
and  existing  law,  a  repeal  of  the  law  cannot  impair  the  validity  of  such 
award  or  jadgment 

In  Fletcher  vs.  Peck,  the  court  held  that  a  grant  by  the  legislature  of 
the  State  of  Georgia  could  not  be  annulled  by  a  subsequent  repeal, 
although  the  grant  had  been  improperly  obtained.  (6  Granch,  87-185,  &c.) 

State  of  Pennsylvania  vs.  the  Wheeling  Bridge  Company,  18  How- 
ard, 421-i31.  Justice  Nelson,  delivering  the  opinion  of  the  court,  say  s : 
^It  is  urged  that  the  act  of  Congress  cannot  have  the  effect  and 
operation  to  annul  the  judgment  of  the  court  already  rendered,  or  the 
tight  thereby  determined  in  favor  of  the  plaintiff.  This,  as  a  general 
proposition,  is  certainly  not  to  be  denied." 

An  award  stands  upon  same  ground  as  a  judgment  (3  Bl.  Com.,  16, 
Ifi0tol64.) 

Many  other  adjudicated  cases  might  be  cited  to  sustain  the  proposi- 
tion laid  down.  But  this  view  of  the  question  has  been  more  than  once 
sanctioned  by  this  House  in  the  last  few  years. 

On  2d  March,  1867,  when  the  House  was  in  Committee  of  the 
^'hole  on  the  appropriation  bill,  Mr.  Schenck  moved  the  insertion  of  a 
.action  containing  a  provision  on  this  claim,  in  many  respects  similar  to 
this  bill.  Mr.  Stevens,  of  Pennsylvania,  was  then  chairman  of  the  com- 
mittee on  appropriations  and  examined  the  papers  on  ^  *^°x»d*Sl.  »^coa 
which  thiH  claim  was  founded.  The  section  was  adopted  JT^ri.'* 
in  Committee  of  the  Whole  and  passed  the  House,  but  was  struck  out 
in  the  Senate,  because  the  friend  of  the  bill  was  absent  and  no  one 
present  to  explain  it. 

On  4th  June,  1868,  Mr.  Stevens,  from  the  same  com-  congr*.M«aai  oiob* « 
mittee,  reported  a  special  appropriation  bill  containing  "*-..wthcoi».p.8«8. 
provisions  similar  to  this  bill,  which  passed  the  House. 

This  bill  again  failed  in  the  Senate,  it  is  believed  because  there  was 
not  time  of  the  session  left^to  consider  it. 

It  will  be  seen  that  the  justice  of  this  claim  has  been  acknowledged 
hj  this  House  repeatedly,  and,  notwithstanding  the  repeal  of  the  resolu- 

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4  II£IRS   OF    GEORGE   FISHER. 

tioD,  the  propriety  and  obligation  to  pay  this  claim  has  never  been  seri- 
ously  contested  in  this  Hoase. 

The  other  objection  to  this  claim  is  that  interest  should  not  be  paid. 

It  may  be  proper  to  advert  to  the  circumstances  -which  attended  the 
actual  preparation  of  the  award  in  question. 

It  appears  to  have  been  prepared  not  at  the  War  Department,  or  \)^ 
the  Secretary  of  War.  We  have  the  official  letter  of  the  then  Assistant 
Attorney-General  of  the  United  States,  addressed  to  the  Hon.  Edwin 
M.  Stanton,  Secretary  of  War,  that  the  whole  case  was  transmitted  to 
the  Attorney-GeneraPs  Office,  requesting  that  all  the  facts  might  be 
inquired  into,  and  an  award  made  in  accordance  therewith.  We  sub- 
mit the  letter  of  the  Hon.  A.  B.  McCalmen,  addressed  to  the  Secretary 
of  War,  which  shows : 

The  terms  of  the  act  of  1848  indicate  clearly  that  the  intention  of  the 
legislature  was  to  pay  interest.  The  damages  accrued  in  1813  and  1814, 
and  in  1848  Congress,  by  its  act,  commanded  that  the  claimants  shall 
be  <'  afforded  a  fair  and  full  indemnity  for  all  losses  and  injuries."  This 
could  not  be  done  by  allowing  less  than  the  value  of  the  property  de- 
stroyed, and  interest  from  date  of  destruction. 

The  Supreme  Court  has  decided  that  '<  the  prime  cost  or  value  of  the 
property  lost,  and  in  cases  of  injury,  the  diminution  in  value,  by  reason 
of  the  injury,  with  interest  thereon,  affords  the  true  rule  for  estimating 
damages  in  such  cases,  (5  Wheaton,  385.) 

I.  Toucey,  Attorney-General,  gave  an  opinion  in  this  case,  in  which 

F.nh volume  «f  opin.o«.  ^c  statcs  that,  uudcr  the  terms  of  the  bill  of  1848,  "it 

p»f«n.        '  would  seem  to  follow,  of  course,  that  the  interest  should 

be  computed  from  the  time  when  the  property  was  taken  or  destroyed." 

Fifth  voi.me,       Attomey-Gcneral  Johnson,  to  whom  this  question  was  sub- 

i«.««97.  '  mitted,  said  the  opinion  of  Mr.  Toucey  was  conclusive  in  this 
case. 

The  claim  has  been  acknawledged  to  be  just  so  often  that  it  is  useless 
for  your  committee  to  go  further  into  the  details  of  the  case,  and  year 
committee  sees  no  reason  to  doubt  that  the  sum  of  $34,952,  with  interest, 
according  to  the  award  of  the  Secretary  of  War,  subject  to  sums  of 
money  paid,  is  still  due  the  claimants  in  this  case.  But,  in  view  of  the 
almost  invariable  practice  of  the  Government  in  such  cases  established 
in  the  last  few  years  and  of  the  large  amount  of  interest  due  in  this 
case,  your  committee  recommend  a  proviso  to  this  bill,  limiting  payment 
under  it  to  $16,848,  the  principal  sum  due,  and,  with  this  proviso,  they 
recommend  the  passage  of  the  bill. 


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43d  Congress,  )      HOUSE  OF  EEPEESENTATIVES.      (  Report 
Ut  Session.     ]  \  No.  331. 


JOHN  8.  EVANS. 


March  27, 1874.— Ordered  to  be  printed. 


Mr.  HuNTON,  from  the  Committee  on  Military  Aflfiiir.^,  submitted  the 
•  following 

REPORT: 

The  report  of  the  Committee  on  Military  Affairs  on  th^  petition  of  John  N. 
EvanSy  late  private  of  Company  E,  Tvcenty-seventh  Regiment  Ohio  Vol- 
unteers. 

Your  committee,  after  careful  consideration  of  the  evidence  in  this 
case,  find  the  following  facts  established : 

On  the  16th  of  July,  1863,  John  S.  Evans,  then  a  private  in  said  com- 
pany, was  tried  before  a  military  court-martial  convened  in  the  city  of 
Memphis,  Tenn.,  on  the  following  charge  and  specitlcations : 

Charge. — ^Yiolation  of  7th  Article  of  War. 

Specification  1.  In  this,  that  private  John  S.  Evans  did  excite,  and, 
by  words  and  acts  and  general  conduct,  induce  his  comrades  in  said  regi- 
ment to  take  their  arms  and  by  force  resist  the  lawful  military  rules  and 
authority  governing  and  controlling  them.    This  on  11th  July,  1863. 

Specification  2.  In  this,  that  said  Evans,  near  Memphis,  July  11, 1863, 
(lid,  at  about  10  o'clock  p.  m.,  at  the  camp  of  said  Twenty-seventh  Ohio 
Itegiment,  in  comi)any  with  other  comrades,  and  as  one  of  their  leaders, 
take  his  arms  and  by  force  pass  out  of  said  camp  and  attempt  to  dis- 
perse an  assembly  of  oflBcers  belonging  to  Fullers  Brigade,  who  were 
assembled,  with  proper  permission,  at  a  dwelling-house  near  the  camp 
of  said  Twenty-seventh  Regiment. 

The  court  found  him  guilty  of  the  charge,  and  both  specifications. 

The  evidence  sustains  the  charge,  and  is  not  met  by  any  counter  evi- 
dence for  Evans. 

The  punishment.  "  That  he  should  be  confined  in  the  military  prison 
at  Alton,  111.,  at  hard  labor,  during  the  remainder  of  his  term  of  enlist- 
ment, and  forfeit  all  pay  and  allowances  due  or  to  become  due." 

The  term  of  imprisonment  has  expired,  and  the  petitioner  prays  to 
be  relieved  from  residue  of  said  senteifte.  To  be  honorably  discharged 
with  pay,  bounty,  &c. 

The  only  mitigating  circumstance  urged  and  proved  in  behalf  of  the 
said  Evans,  is  that  some  thirty  or  more  were  engaged  in  the  riot,  and 
only  himself  and  one  Cecil  were  tried  and  punished.  This  may  prove 
that  others  ought  to  have  been  punished ;  it  certainly  shows  the  neces- 
sity, then  existing,  of  enforcement  of  discipline.  Besides,  it  appears 
these  two  were  leaders  in  this  disgraceful  proceeding.  Your  committee 
see  no  reason  to  interfere  with  the  sentence  of  the  court,  and  report 
against  the  prayer  of  petitioner. 


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43d  CoNaEESS,  >     HOUSE  OP  EBPEBSBNTATIVES.      (  Ebpobt 
Ut  Beision.     i  \  No.  332. 


ALTAMIRAH  BRANSON. 


March  27, 1874.— Ordered  to  be  printed. 


Mr.  HuNTON,  from  the  Committee  oq  Military  Affairs,  submitted  the 

following 

REPORT: 

The  Committee  on  Military  Affairsy  to  whom  was  referred  the  petition  of 
Mrs,  Altamirah  Branson^  claiming  to  he  the  widme  of  Enoch  Branson^ 
asking  iha;t  arrears  of  pay  and  bounty  be  allowed  her  deceased  htubandj 
Cc/mpany  J>,  First  Tennessee  Light  Artillery j  beg  leave  to  maJce  the  fol- 
hieing  report  : 

The  petitioner  claims  that  her  husband  properly  belonged  in  Com- 
pany D  of  Baid  regiment,  but  that  Company  E  was  mustered  in  as  Com- 
pany D,  and  by  reason  of  this  confusion  her  husband's  name  does  not 
appear  on  the  muster-rolls  of  Company  D,  and  that  her  husband  did 
lot  draw  his  pay  and  allowance. 

By  reference  to  a  communication  from  the  Second  Auditor's  Office,  it 
will  be  seen  that  the  name  of  Enoch  Branson  does  not  appear  on  the 
moflter-roll  of  either  D  or  E  company  of  said  regiment;  and  that  if 
^tisfactoiy  proof  is  adduced  that  the  muster-roll  of  either  company  is 
iQoorreet,  it  will  be  corrected  by  the  Adjutant-General. 

It  does  Bot  appear  that  this  man  was  ever  entitled  to  any  pay  or 
allowance  as  a  soldier,  and  if  he  was,  his  widow  can  draw  it  from  the 
War  Department,  upon  satisfactory  proof. 

Your  committee  therefore  report  against  the  prayer  of  the  petitioner. 


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43d  Congress,  )     HOUSE  OF  EEPEESENTATIVES.      (  Kbport 
l8t  Session,     f  \  No.  333. 


JOHN  F.  WHEELED. 


Makcii  27,  1874.— Committed  to  a  Committee  of  the  W^iole  House  and  ordered  to  be 

printed. 


Mr.  Nesmitii,  from  tbe  Committee  on  Military  Aft'airs,  submitted  the 

following 

REPORT: 

[To  accompany  bill  H.  R.  26W.] 

The  Committee  on  Military  Affairs^  to  tchom  was  rejhted  the  bill  {U,  R, 
2917)  for  the  relief  of  John  F.  Wheeler,  having  had  the  same  under  con- 
sideration^ submit  the  following  report: 

It  appears,  from  the  proofs  submitted  iu  this  case,  that  Johu  F. 
Wheeler  was,  on  the  7th  day  of  May,  1864,  appointed  and  commissioned  a 
second  Hentenant  in  the  One  hundred  and  forty-ninth  Eegiment  of  New 
York  Volunteers,  but,  owing  to  continued  fighting  from  Chattanooga  to 
Atlanta,  he  could  not  be,  and  was  not,  mustered  into  the  service  as  such 
second  lieutenant.  By  order  of  Lieut.  Col.  C.  B.  liandall,  commanding 
his  regiment,  the  petitioner  was  placed  in  command  of  Company  D  of 
said  regiment,  and  continued  in  command  of  the  company  up  to  the 
20th  day  of  July,  1864,  at  which  time  he  was  captured  at  the  battle  of 
Peach-Tree  Creek,  and  taken  to  the  prison  at  Andersonville.  He  sub- 
sequently made  his  escape  and  rejoined  his  regiment,  when  he  was  mus- 
tered in  as  second  lieutenant  of  Company  A,  on  May  20, 18G5. 

Petitioner  having  faithfully  rendered  the  service  of  a  second  lieu- 
tenant, and  bearing  the  commission  of  such,  it  would  appear  but  simple 
justice  that  he  should  be  paid  for  said  service.  The  fact  of  his  not  hav- 
ing been  mustered  in  was  no  fault  of  his,  and  ought  not  to  deprive  him 
of  a  just  compensation  for  his  services.  The  committee  recommend  that 
the  bill  do  pass. 


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43d  Congress,  )     HOUSE  OF  EEPRESENTATIVES.      (  Report 
l8t  Session.     J  (  No.  334. 


CHARLES  W,  BERRY. 


March  27,  lS74.~Com mitred  to  a  Committee  of  the  Whole  House  and  ordered  to  be 

printed. 


Mr.  Xesmith,  from  the  Committee  on  Military  Affairs,  submitted  the 

following 

REPORT: 

[To  accompany  bill  H.  R.  1219.] 

The  Committee  on  Military  Affairs^  to  whom  was  referred  the  bill  {H.  R. 
1219)  for  tJie  relief  of  Charles  W.  Berry,  having  had  the  same  under 
consideration^  submit  the  following  report : 

It  appears  from  the  testimony  in  this  case  that  the  petitioner,  Charles 
W.  Berry,  enlisted  as  a  private  in  Company  E,  Thirty-sixth  Regiment 
Wisconsin  Volunteers,  on  the  24th  of  February,  1864,  and  served  until 
the  22d  day  of  May,  1865,  when  he  was  .regularly  discharged,  at  Madison, 
io  the  State  of  Wisconsin. 

While  said  petitioner  was  stationed  with  his  regiment  at  Madison, 
Wis.,  and  before  going  intx)  active  service  in  the  field,  he  left  his 
command  and  was  absent  without  leave  for  the  period  of  two  days,  dur- 
ing which  time  he  was  engaged  in  making  preparations  for  the  support 
of  his  wife  and  family,  who  were  very  poor,  and  wholly  dependent  upon 
bim  for  their  support.  On  account  of  the  said  absence  he  was  arrested, 
tried,  and  convicted  of  the  crime  of  desertion.  The  testimony  shows 
that  he  evidently  had  no  intention  of  deserting  his  command,  though 
under  the  strict  rules  of  military  law  he  was  liable  to  the  charge,  and 
actnally  convicted  of  that  crime.  It  appears  that  his  act  was  more  the 
result  of  the  ignorance  of  the  raw  recruit,  than  of  any  purpose  to  com- 
mit the  crime  of  desertion.  Subsequently  the  petitioner  maintained  by 
his  exemplary  conduct  the  reputation  of  a  good  soldier  until  the  period 
of  his  discharge,  and  was  severely  wounded  in  action.  The  committee 
heh'eve  that  this  is  a  case  wiiere  the  severe  rules  of  the  service  ought  to 
be  relaxed  in  favor  of  a  soldier  who,  though  technically  guilty,  subse- 
^jaently  rendered  good  service. 

Your  committee  therefore  recommend  the  passage  of  the  accompany- 
ing bill. 


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43d  Congress,  )    HOUSE  OP  EEPBBSENTATIVES.       (  Eepobt 
Ut  Segfion.     f  \  No.  335. 


CAPT.  JAMES  M.  EOBEBTSON. 


Mabch  27, 1874.— Committed  to  a  Committee  of  the  Whole  House  and  ordered  to  be 

printed. 


Mr.  Nesmtth,  firom  the  Committee  on  Military  Affairs,  submitted  the 

following 

REPORT: 

[To  accompany  bill  H.  R.  2697.] 

The  Committee  an  Military  Affairs^  to  whom  were  rejerred  the  petition  and 
paper9  of  Capt.  James  if.  Bobertson^  Second  Regiment  of  Artillery^  and 
bretet  brigadier-general  United  States  Armpj  have  considered  the  same^ 
and  report: 

That  said  ofBcer  first  entered  the  service  as  a  private  in  the  Second 
United  States  Artillery  December  8,1833,  served  daring  the  Mexican 
war,  and  was  appointed  second-Ueatenant  of  Second  Artillery  June  28, 
1848,  and  that  he  has  continued  in  the  service  of  the  Army  since  that 
data 

On  May  14, 1861,  he  was  made  a  captain  in  the  same  regiment,  having 
reached  that  graile  of  commission  by  regular  promotion,  and  in  that 
grade  he  serv^  dnring  the  entire  war  of  the  rebellion. 

His  record,  as  shown  by  the  official  statements  of  the  Secretary  of 
War,  and  many  letters  from  the  most  distinguished  generals  of  the 
Army,  under  whom  he  served,  is  exceptionally  excellent,  establishing 
one  of  the  very  best  in  the  Army. 

On  July  28, 1866,  by  a  law  of  Congress,  an  additional  major  was  added 
to  each  of  the  four  existing  regiments  of  artillery,  and  he  was  at  that 
date  the  fourth  captain  in  regimental  rank  by  date  of  commission. 

On  February  5, 1867,  these  four  additional  vacancies  in  the  grade  of 
majors  of  artUlery  were  filled  by  the  appointment  by  the  President  of 
two  captains  of  artillery,  senior  to  Captain  Bobertson,  and  two  his 
janiors  by  date  of  commission. 

Captain  Bobertson  now  claims  that,  by  the  law  of  Congress  and  Beg- 
nlations  of  the  Army,  he  should  have  been  promoted  to  fill  one  of  these 
four  vacancies,  and  that  the  appointment  of  two  juniors  over  him  was 
in  violation  of  his  rights,  a  wrong  and  an  injustice  he  now  invokes  Con- 
gress to  redress. 

Without  deciding  upon  the  validity  of  the  appointments  by  the  Pres- 
ident of  two  junior  officers  of  Captain  Bobertson's  arm  of  service  over 
him,  and  giving  him  the  benefit  of  the  doubt  as  to  the  lawfulness  of 
those  appointments,  the  committee,  in  consideration  of  the  meritorious, 
gallant,  distinguished,  and  loyal  record  of  this  officer,  commencing 
thirty-six  years  ago  and  running  through  the  entire  Mexican  war  and 
the  war  of  the  rebellion^  recommend,  as  an  act  of  justice  to  him,  the 
passage  of  the  accompanying  bill. 


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43d  Oongeess,  \    HOUSE  OP  EEPEESENTATIVBS.      (  Eeport 
Ut  Seuion.     S  \  No.  336. 


LIEUT.  A.  V.  EICHAEDS. 


Mabch  27, 1874. — Committed  to  a  Committee  of  the  Whole  House  and  ordered  to  be 

printed. 


Mr.  Thobnbubgh,  from  the  Committee  on  Military  Affairs,  snbmitted 

the  following 

REPORT: 

[To  accompany  bill  S.  100.] 

The  Committee  on  Military  Affairs^  to  whom  was  referred  the  bill  {S.  100) 
for  the  relief  of  Lieut  Alonzo  V.  Richards^  submit  the  following  report: 

The  committee  find  that  this  claim  was  before  this  committee  at  the 
third  session  of  the  Forty-first  Oongress,  and  Eeport  Ko.  16  of  said 
committee  at  that  session  is  fnll  and  complete,  and  warranted  by  the 
proof!  Hiis  committee,  therefore,  adopt  said  former  report  as  their 
report,  and  recommend  the  passage  of  the  bill. 


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43d  Congrbss,  >    HOUSB  OF  BEPBESENTATIYES.      (  Bbpobt 
Ut  Se$non.     f  }  No.  337. 


JOSEPH  0.  BREOKEOTtlDGE. 


MiRCH  27,  1874.— Committed  to  a  Committee  of  the  Whole  Honse  and  ordered  to 

be  printed. 


Mr.  Thobnbubgh,  from  the  Committee  on  Military  Affairs,  submitted 

the  following 

REPORT: 

[To  accompany  biU  H.  B.  2698.] 

The  Committee  an  Military  Affairs^  to  wham  was  referred  the  joint  re- 
$olutUm  (H.  Bes.  50)  far  the  relief  of  Joseph  0.  Brechenridge,  far  services 
in  the  Army  of  the  United  States^  submit  the  following  r^^ort : 

lieutenant  Wilson,  of  the  United  States  Navy,  was  sent  to  Kentucky 
in  186L  with  the  rank  of  brigadier-general  of  volunteers,  for  the  pur- 
pose or  ^<  organizing  into  regiments  such  of  the  citizens  of  Middle 
Eentneky  as  were  disposed  to  defend  the  integrity  of  the  Oovemment.'' 
The  evidence  of  Gen.  George  H.  Thomas  shows  that  General  Wilson 
was  '<  authorized,  either  directly  or  indirectly,  by  the  President  of  the 
United  States  to  appoint  a  sufficient  number  of  staff-officers  to  assist 
him  in  efficiently  executing  the  trust  committed  to  him." 

Oenend  Wilson,  acting  under  said  authority,  on  the  30th  of  August, 
1861,  did  appoint  Joseph  0.  Breckenridge  assistant  adjutant-general, 
with  the  rank  of  first  lieutenant,  and  assigned  him  to  duty  on  his  staff, 
where  he  remained  until  General  Wilson  was  relieved  by  Gen.  George 
H.  Thomas,  who,  on  the  28th  of  September,  1861,  issued  an  order  as- 
signing Lient.  Joseph  0.  Breckenridge  to  duty  on  his  (General  Thomas's) 
staff,  where  he  remained  discharging  the  duties  of  a  first  lieutenant  and 
staff-officer  until  the  5th  day  of  June,  1862,  when  he  first  received  a  com- 
miasion  in  the  United  States  Army,  and  commenced  to  draw  pay. 

The  committee  report  the  accompanying  bill  as  a  substitute  for  said 
joint  resolution,  and  recommend  its  passage. 


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4Sd  Ck>KOBES&  >     HOUSE  OF  BEPBESENTATIVES.       i  Befobt 
la  BeuUm.     ]  \  No.  338. 


J.  R.  WAGONEE. 


March  27, 1874.— Ordered  to  be  printed. 


Mr.  Thobnbxjbgh,  from  the  Committee  on  Military  Affairs,  submitted 

the  following 

REPORT : 

The  Committee  on  Military  Affaire^  to  whom  toae  re/erred  the  petition  of 
Joe.  jK.  Wagoner j  submit  the  foUovoing  report: 

Petitioner  is  the  &fher  of  J.  J.  Wagoner,  deceased,  late  a  captain  in 
the  Nineteenth  United  States  Infantiy,  ana  brevet  m%jor,  who,  as  act- 
ing assistant  qnartermaster  in  1863,  '64,  '66,  became  responsiSle  for  cer- 
tain qoartermaster-stores,  for  some  of  which  he  never  acconnted  with 
the  proper  ofBcers.  For  this  reason  some  of  the  pay  of  said  officer  was 
retained  and  unpaid  nntil  he  should  make  settlement  for  said  stores. 
It  appears  that  before  the  death  of  Captain  Wagoner  he  had  ample 
time  to  make  said  settlement  of  his  acconnts  with  tiie  Government,  and 
that  he  failed  to  do  so.  The  committee,  therefore,  request  that  they  be 
discharged  from  further  consideration  of  this  petition. 


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43d  GON0BESS, )      HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES.      (  Report 
l8t  Session,      i  \  No.  339. 


LOUIS  J.  BOYER. 


>L\Rcn  27, 1874.— Ordered  to  be  printed. 


Mr.  Thor^burgh,  from  the  Committee  ou  Military  Affairs,  submitted 

the  following 

REPORT: 

[To  accompany  bill  H.  R.  1022.] 

The  Cammittee  on  Military  Affairs^  to  whom  was  referred  the  bill  (H.  jB. 
1022)  yin-' the  relief  of  Louis  J.  Boyer^  submit  the  following  report  thereon: 

Louis  J.  Boyer  wafi  a  sergeant  in  the  First  Nebraska  Cavalry,  and 
on  tfae  1st  day  of  May,  1864,  was  assigned  to  duty  as  second  lieutenant 
of  Company  E,  by  the  lieutenant-colonel  commanding  the  regiment,  but 
was  not  and  could  not  be  mustered  as  second  lieutenant  of  said  com- 
pany, because  it  was  reduced  below  the  minimum  number  required  by 
law.  Serjeants  frequently  commanded  companies  during  the  war,  in 
the  absence  of  commissioned  officers,  and  such  service  performed  in  this 
case  did  not  entitle  Boyer  to  any  other  pay  than  that  of  sergeant,  there 
being  no  vacancy  which  could  be  filled  according  to  law  in  said  com- 
pany*    The  committee  therefore  recommend  that  the  bill  do  not  pass. 


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43d  Congbbss,  \      HOUSE  OF  REPEESENTATIVES.     )  Report 
lit  BesHon.      i  \  No.  340. 


JOHN  HEBBRER. 


March  27,  1874.— Committed  to  a  Committee  of  the  Whole  House  and  ordered  to  be 

printed. 


Mr.  MacDougall,  Irom  theCommitte3  oa  Military  Affairs,  submitted 

the  following 

REPORT: 

[To  accompany  bill  H.  R.  1844.] 

The  Committee  on  Military  Affairs^  to  whom  was  referred  the  claim  of 
John  Heberer,  of  Monroe  County^  in  the  State  of  lUinoiSy  asking  compen- 
Mtionfor  services  as  enrolling  officer^  and  eoepenses  incurred  in  the  dis- 
charge of  his  duties  as  such,  make  the  following  report : 

The  claimant,  John  Heberer,  alleges  that  in  the  month  of  May,  1864, 
be  was  duly  appointed  enrolling  officer  of  subdistrict  No.  42,  Monroe 
County,  Illinois,  by  Geo.  Abbott,  provost  marshal  of  the  twelfth  con- 
gressional district  of  Illinois ;  that  in  pursaance  of  said  appointment 
he  entered  on  his  duties,  and  completed  said  enrollment  in  the  months 
of  May  and  June. 

That  about  the  first  of  August  of  the  same  year  he  was  ordered  to 
make  a  second  enrollment,  under  new  instructions,  upon  which  duty  he 
entered  at  once  and  completed  the  same  in  September. 

That  in  October  thereafter  he  was  ordered  to  serve  draft-notices,  and 
employ  assistance  if  necessary,  and  that  the  same  did  become  necessary, 
and  that  he  employed  several  persons  to  assist  therein,  and  paid  them, 
oat  of  his  own  money,  three  dollars  per  day,  and  for  which  services  and 
mouey  by  bioi  so  paid  he  presents  the  following  account,  to  wit : 

United  States  to  John  HeheTer,jr.,  Dr, 
To  Mnrices  as  enrolling  officer  snbdistrict  No.  42,  Monroe  County,  Illinois, 

from  May  14,  1864,  to  Jane  25, 1664,  34  days,  at  $3  per  day $102  00 

Toaerrioeii  as  enrolling  officer  same  district,  from  August  16, 1664,  to  Sep- 
tember 23,  1864,  30  days,  at  |3  90  00 

To  distributiiiff  circulars,  patting  up  advertisements  from  September  23  to 

September  1^,  1664,  4  days,  at  |3  per  day 12  00 

To  postage  aiid  paper 2  43 

To  Berriog  first-draft  notices,  19  days,  from  October  14,  1864 57  00 

To  smonnt  paid  Geo.  Grossman .  assistant,  in  serving  6  days 18  00 

To  uDonnt  paid  Nicholas  Wrink,  9  days 27  00 

To  amount  paid  Fred.  Scbrader,  6  days 18  00 

To  ttDonnt  paid  John  V.  Freliegh,  7  days 21  00 

To  smoont  paid  John  Heberer,  2  days 6  00 

To  d  days'  servioe  with  Captain  Needham  and  squad  in  hunting  up  drafted 

men  and  deserters 24  00 

F&r  smoont  paid  John  Weber  for  same  service,  7  days 2100 

Tosmoant  paid  Geo.  Qossman,  6  days 18  00 

From  December  13, 1864,  to  serving  notices  first  supplementary  draft,  16  days, 

sttSper  da^ 48  00 

To  smount  paid  Geo.  Grossman,  assistant,  in  serving  8  days 24  00 

To  amonnt  paid  John  Weber,  10  days 30  00 


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2  JOHN   HEBERER. 

To  amonoi  paid  Nicholas  Mink,  10  days $30  00 

To  amount  paid  Fred.  Schrader,  6  days 18  00 

To  amount  paid  John  V.  Freleigh,  5  days 15  '^^O 

From  Decomber  27, 1864,  serviug  notices  of  draft,  second  supply,  5  days 15  00 

To  amount  paid  John  Weber,  a88istant,5  days 15  00 

"             "    Fred.  Schrader,  5  days 15  00 

"            *•    Geo.  Grossman,  2  days 6  00 

Making  in  all  the  sum  of |665  43 

ClaimaDt  farther  allep^es  that  in  December  and  January  following 
there  was  another  supplementiiry  draft  ordered,  and  that  in  the  dis- 
charge of  same  duties  it  became  necessary  to  employ  assistants,  which 
he  did  and  paid  them,  as  formerly,  out  of  his  own  money,  and  for  which 
he  presents  the  following  itemized  account,  to  wit : 

United  SUitca  to  John  neherer,  jr,,  Dr. 

From  January  1, 1865.    To  service  in  serving  draft-notices,  second  supple- 
mentary, 7  days,  at  $3  per  day $21  00 

To  amount  paid  Geo.  Grossman  in  serving  6  days, 

at  $3  per  day 18  00 

To  amount  paid  John  Weber,  6  days,  at  83  per  day  18  00 
To  amount  paid  Fred.  Schrader,  6  days,  at  $ii  per 

day 18  00 

To  amount  paid  Nicholas  Mink,  6  days,  at  $3  per 

pay 18  00 

To  amount  paid  John  V.  Freleigh,  5  days,  at  |3  per 

day 15  00 

January               8,  lt{65.  To  expenses  going  to  Alton  and  return. ., 27  50 

January  13  to   18,  lS(>i>.   To  correcting  enrollment  list  at  Alton,  4  days 12  W 

January             14,  1865.  To  services  in  serving  draft-notices,  third  supple- 
mentary, 4  days 12  00 

To  amount  paid   George  Grossman,  assistant,  in 

serving  third  supplementary,  8  days 2400 

To  amount  paid  Joun  Weber,  8  days 24  00 

To  amount  paid  Nicholas  Mink,  8  days 24  00 

To  amount  paid  Fred.  Sorader,  8  days 24  IK) 

To  amount  paid  John  V.  Freleigh,  7  days 21  00 

January  18  to  26,  1865.  To  hunting  up  and  serving  drafted  men  who  were 

hiding  out  and  skcdadling,  8  days 24  00 

January             24,  1865.  To  amount  paid  for  postage  and  paper 2  85 

26,  1865.  To  expenses  of  trip  to  Alton  and  retnrn 14  (H) 

28,  1865.  To  expenses  of  trip  to  Alton  and  return 14  00 

29,  1865.  To  expenses    transportation,   guards,    board   and 

lodging  incurred  in  arresting  and  delivering  of 

Peter  MiUer,  deserter,  at  Alton 36  00 

Making  the  sum  of ^t77  35 

To  which  add  first  account 665  43 

Making  a  total  of $1,042  78 

Claimant  avers  that  he  has  never  received  any  part  of  the  said  sum, 
l)ut  that  the  same  is  due  and  unpaid. 

It  seems  that  through  some  oversight  or  omission  the  name  of  claim- 
ant was  never  borne  on  the  monthly  pay-roll  in  the  oflSce  of  the  provost- 
marshal  of  the  district. .  Captain  George  Abbott  proves  that  claimant 
was  appointed  by  him,  under  and  by  authority  of  the  provost-marshal 
general;  that  he  enrolled  the  twelfth  district  of  the  State  of  Illinois; 
that  he  divided  the  same  into  sub-districts,  and  appointed  Jobt 
Heberer,  the  claimant,  enrolling  officer  of  the  forty-second  sab-district 
Captain  Abbott  farther  swears  "  that  John  Heberer,  jr.,  was  in  his  em 
ploy  as  enrolling  officer  and  for  ser\ing  draft-notices,  as  stated  in  bis 


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JOHN    HEBERER.  6 

account  herewith,  and  from  the  best  of  his  knowledge,  information,  and 
beJief,  said  account  is  just  and  correct."  He  also  states  that  '^General 
Orders  required  activity  in  service  by  all  subordinates.  It  was  required 
of  drafted  persons  to  report  in  ten  days;  and  in  sub-district  forty-two, 
in  Monroe  County,  there  was  a  large  draft,  and  a  large  territory. 
Heberer  was  ordered  by  me  to  procure  necessary  assistance,  and  this 
order  was  communicated  to  me  by  the  provost-general  of  the  State. 
•  ♦  •  •No  other  case  than  Heberer's  has  occurred  within 
mj  knowledge  in  which  payment  has  not  been  made,  and  the  only  rea- 
SOD  he  was  not  carried  on  the  monthly  rolls  was  that  he  did  not  re- 
port monthly  the  number  of  days  employed.  There  might  have  been  some 
fault  or  neglect  on  the  part  of  my  chief  clerk,  but  I  know  oX  none. 
Justice  demands  that  he  should  be  paid,^ 

Sharon  Tyndal,  secretary  of  state,  says :  "  He  served  faithfully  in  that 
capacity,  and  was  vigilant  and  fearless,  and  brought  many  a  sneak  to 
bi8  dnty." 

Claimant  presents  here  the  receipts  of  the  parties  to  whom  he  paid 
the  money,  as  charged  in  his  account,  to  wit : 

rt<y)rge  Grossman t $108 

Joho  Weber 141 

Xich.Minck 99 

T.  H.  F.  Schracler 9:^ 

John  Heberer,  8r (> 

JohoB.  Freleigh,  (dead  aad  proof  of  paymeat) TZ 

Making  a  total  of 519 

The  committee  are  of  the  opinion  that  the  claimant  was  duly  ap- 
lK)inted  by  the  proper  authority :  that  he  rendered  the  services  and  paid 
oat  his  money  in  good  faith,  and  that  the  claim  as  presented  is  just  and 
should  be  paid.  They  therefore  report  back  to  the  House  the  accompany- 
ing bill,  with  the  recommendation  that  it  do  pass. 


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43d  Congress,  i     HOUSE  OP  EEPEE8ENTAT1VES.      (  Eepobt 
Ut  BetBion.     i  \  Ko.  341. 


ROBERT  TILL80N  &  CO.,  OF  QUINCY,  ILL. 


March  27, 1874. — Committed  to  a  Committee  of  the  Whole  House  and  ordered  to  bo 

printed. 


Mr.  Geeby  W.  Hazelton,  from  the  Committee  on  War-Claims,  sub- 
mitted the  following 

REPOKT: 

[To  accompany  bill  H.  R.  2699.] 

The  Committee  on  War-Claims^  to  tchom  was  referred  the  petition  of  Robert 
Till9on  &  Co.y  of  Quincy^  llL^for  relief  for  damages  sustained  by  them 
in  fulfilling  certain  contracts  during  the  late  war^  having  had  the  same 
under  consideration^  submit  the  following  report : 

That  it  appears  from  the  evidence  on  file  that  Robert  Tillson  &  Co. 
entered  into  a  contract  with  the  Oovernment  on  the  15th  day  of  Septem- 
ber, A.  D.  1862,  to  make  three  thousand  sets  of  horse-equipments  com- 
plete ;  that  subsequent  orders  were  made  by  the  Government,  covered 
by  the  specifications  of  the  contracts  "  except  in  the  different  priqes 
paid  for  horse-equipments  and  infantry-accouterments,''  on  Messrs.  Till- 
son &  Co.  for  fourteen  thousand  three  hundred  and  sixty-three  sets  of 
horse-equipments  and  twenty  thousand  sets  of  infantry-accouterments; 
that  Messrs.  Tillson  &  Co.  strictly  and  promptly  complied  with  all  their 
obligations  as  specified  by  the  contract ;  that  the  Government  were  by 
the  terms  of  the  contract  obligated  to  pay  to  Messrs.  Tillson  &  Co.  full 
amount  of  the  contract-price  of  the  articles  on  their  delivery,  but  failed 
so  to  do,  through  which  default  Messrs.  Tillson  &  Co.  were  damaged, 
and  claim  $33,^)0  as  direct  damages  resulting  from  such  non-payment, 
and  that  they  lost  largely  on  the  contract  as  a  result  of  advanced  price 
of  materials,  the  payment  of  w^hich  cannot  be  allowed.  Therefore,  as 
the  amount  of  damages  involved  is  a  matter  of  computation,  the  com- 
mittee respectfully  recommend  the  passage  of  the  accompanying  bill, 
submitting  the  determination  of  the  amount  to  the  Court  of  Claims. 


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43d  Congress,  )     HOUSE  OF  EEPEESENTATIVES.       (  Eepobt 
l8t  Session,     i  t  No.  342. 


EDWARD  O'MEAGHER  CONDON. 


Mjuich  27, 1874.— Eecommitted  to  the  ComDiittee  on  Foreign  Affairs  and  ordered  to  be 

printed. 


Mr.  Banning,  from  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Affairs,  submitted  the 

following 

REPORT: 

The  Committee  on  Foreign  Affairs^  to  whom  was  re/erred  the  following pe- 
tion  of  Oovemor  Edward  F.  Noyes,  the  Eight  Rev,  J.  B.  Purcell^  Arch- 
hxkhop  of  Cincinnati^  and  other  citizens^  of  OhiOj  with  the  letters^  state- 

•  mentSj  and  testimonials  accompanying — . 

STATEMENT. 

The  case  of  Edward  CMea^her  Condon,  now  confined  in  Portland  Convict  Prison, 
Eoi^Und,  convicted  for  complicity  in  the  killing  of  a  policeman  in  Manchester. 

Edwaixl  CVMeagher  Condon,  a  citizen  of  the  United  States,  late  a  resident  of  Ciooin- 
Dati,  Ohio,  was  sent  over  to  Ireland  from  Cincinnati  in  the  spring  of  1867  to  attend  to 
Mme  property  left  to  his  father  by  an  uncle.  He  was  instructed  to  call  at  Manchester 
on  his  return  to  see  two  relatives  residing  there.  While  in  Manchester  he  was  arrested 
for  complicity  in  the  kiUing  of  the  aforesaid  policeman,  under  the  following  oiroum- 
utMoes : 

Two  BQBpected  Fenians,  named  Kelley  and  Deacy,  were  being  sent  to  Jail  in  a  prison 
Tin  with  other  prisoners.  The  van  was  stopped  about  half  way  between  the  oourt- 
bouae  and  jail  by  a  party  of  forty  men,  who  demanded  the  release  of  the  two  suspected 
Feoians.  They  ordered  the  policeman  inside  the  van  to  open  the  doors.  He  had  the 
keys,  but  refused  to  comply.  The  party  then  proceeded  to  break  open  the  van  with 
»toQea,  dtCy  but  failing,  one  of  them  fired  a  pistol  into  the  key-hole  to  burst  the  lock. 
The  bullet  accomplished  the  object,  and  shot  the  policeman  inside.  There  was  no  in- 
tirntion  to  injure  the  man.  It  might  as  well  be  one  of  the  prisoners  who  would  get 
hart ;  but  he  was  in  the  course  of  the  bullet,  and  ^ot  killed. 

Condon  waa  arrested  the  same  evening  three  miles  away  from  the  place  of  the  acci- 
dent. The  affair  created  the  wildest  excitement  and  great  alarm  throughout  England, 
ptrticularly  in  Manchester;  and  in  the  midst  of  this  popular  panic  a  special  commission 
was  appointed  to  convict  the  prisoners.  They  were  triea  in  batches  of  fives,  and  Condon, 
ao  American,  was  included  in  the  first  batch.  Tbey  were  all  convicted  of  murder  in 
the  first  degree,  and  sentenced  to  be  hanged.  Twenty -five  witnesses  swore  against 
cDe  man,  fifteen  against  two  more,  ten  against  the  fourth,  and  five  against  Condon. 
Th«  pereon  who  had  ten  witnesses  against  him  was  liberated  on  the  application  of  the 
reporters,  who  declared  that  he  did  not  have  a  fair  trial.  Five  of  the  witnesses  who 
had  him  convicted  were  those  who  swore  against  Condon.  Three  of  those  witnesses 
vere  proetitntes,  confined  in  the  van  at  the  time  of  the  riot,  one  a  detective,  and  a 
finh  a  bystander. 

The  evidence  of  Ibis  last  witness  was  that  he  recognized  Condon  by  seeing  him  hit 
by  a  stone,  which  cut  his  head,  and  ho  knew  him  by  the  wound.  The  policeman  who 
urested  Condon  swore  that  he  inflicted  the  wound  on  Condon's  head  at  the  time  of 
the  arreat,  and  a  surgeon  swore  that  the  wound  was  not  inflicted  by  a  stone. 

lo  the  preliminary  investigation  not  one  of  the  witnesses  identified  Condon  aa  pros- 
*^i  at  the  breaking  of  the  van  until  the  detective,  who  afterward  swore  against  liim, 
took  the  three  proatitutes  and  pointed  Condon  out  to  them  through  a  window.  After 
this  they  swore  that  he  was  one  of  the  rioters.  Yet  upon  such  evident  perjury  he  was 
convicted. 
Immediately  after  his  conviction  he  wrote  to  Mr.  Low,  American  consul  at  Manches- 


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2  EDWAND    O  MEAGHER   CONDON. 

ter,  who  directed  him  to  write  a  statement  of  his  case  to  him,  and  he  would  send  it  to 
Minister  Adams,  who  immediately  applied  for  and  got  a  respite  by  directions  seut  by 
telegraph  by  Mr.  Seward. 

From  the  statement  of  Daniel  Redden,  just  published,  who  was  confined  for  th^-same 
cause,  it  is  greatly  feared  that  Condon  cannot  long  survive  such  terrible  cruelty.  He 
is  accused  of  murdering  a  man  he  never  saw.  A  petition  signed  by  all  the  members  of 
the  citv  council  of  Cincinnati  and  indorsed  by  President  Grant  had  no  effect.  A  kind 
letter  u*om  Chief-Justice  Chase,  in  which  he  said,  **  As  three  had  been  put  to  death  for 
the  murder  of  one,  surely  Justice  ought  to  be  satisfied,  and  mercy  take  place  in  Con- 
don's case,''  aJso  failed.  The  chivalrous  General  Sherman  requested  his  release  as  a 
special  favor  upon  himself,  for  the  many  times  he  was  instrumental  in  getting  Eng- 
lishmen out  of  trouble  in  this  country.  Home-Secretary  Bruce  has  all  those  Tetteni, 
together  with  one  from  Judge  Fitzgerald,  of  Dublin,  in  which  he  told  the  home  secre- 
tary that,  after  an  examination  of  Condon's  trial,  he  would  not  convict  him  on  such 
evidence. 

The  case  of  Condon  is  peculiar.  Ten  witnesses  convicted  the  man  who  was  set  free, 
and  only  five  of  the  same  witnesses  appeared  against  him,  yet  he  is  still  in  prison. 

To  the  Congress  of  the  United  States : 

Your  petitioners,  residents  of  the  city  of  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  respectfully,  but  earnestly, 
ask  that  you  will,  by  proper  resolution  or  otherwise,  interpose  in  behalf  of  Edward 
O'Meagher  Condon,  a  citizen  of  this  State  and  city,  now  in  confinement  in  the  Port- 
land convict  establishment,  in  England,  for  the  alleged  murder  of  a  policeman  in  Man- 
chester. 

Your  petitioners  state  that  young  Condon  was,  in  1867,  a  resident  of  this  city,  and 
was  a  good,  industrious,  and  honest  young  man,  respected  by  all  who  knew  him ;  that 
in  that  year  he  was  sent  over  to  Ireland  from  Cincinnati  to  attend  to  some  property 
left  his  father,  Thomas  Condon,  of  this  city,  and  was  also  instructed  on  his  return  to 
call  on  two  relatives  living  in  Manchester,  England ;  that  while  near  said  Manchester 
he  was  arrested  for  alleged  complicity  in  the  murder  of  a  policeman  of  Manchester ; 
that  he  was  hurriedly  tried,  ana,  as  we  fully  believe,  by  false  testimony  of  perjured 
witnesses,  condemned  to  death ;  that  thereafter,  upon  ropresentations  made  bj  Mr. 
Adams,  the  American  minister  to  the  British  government,  his  sentence  was -commuted, 
or  a  reprieve  granted ;  that  he  haa  since  then,  now  moro  than  five  years,  been  impris- 
oned in  England,  and  still  lies  thero  in  Jail ;  and  we  state  that  he  had  ever  been,  while 
in  the  United  States,  a  young  man  of  exemplary  character. 

That  his  long  confinement  has  worn  upon  his  health,  and  must  ultimately,  added  to 
the  keen  sense  of  the  injustice  of  his  condemnation,  kill  him,  unless  he  is  released. 
That  he  was  the  main  hope  and  stay  of  his  parents,  Thomas  Condon  and  wife,  who  are 
old,  and  that  his  sad  condition  has  brought  untold  sorrow  and  distress  upon  his  family. 
That  his  release  is  demanded  by  justice  and  meroy  both.  That  his  trial  was  hasty  and 
imperfect,  and  he  was  made  a  victim  to  falsehood  and  excitement. 

That  we  have  no  doubt  if  the  British  government  would  authorize  a  new  trial  in  his 
case  it  would  be  clearly  shown  that  he  is  innocent  of  the  great  crime  imputed  to  him. 
And  we,  his  parents,  neighbors,  and  friends,  earnestly  ask  your  honorable  bodies  to 
take  such  action  as  will  be  consistent  with  your  honor  and  that  of  our  country,  and 
also  as  will  afford  the  English  government  the  opportunity  to  show  to  American  citi- 
zens that  justice  which  no  government  is  more  constant  and  energetic  in  demanding 
for  her  own  subjects  than  she  is. 

THOMAS  CONDON, 

His  Father. 
ELLEN  CONDON, 

His  Mother. 

I  recommend  and  re'inest  that  a  new  trial  be  grant(  d  if  possible. 

EDWARD  F.  NOYES, 

Governor  of  Ohio. 
J.  B.  PURCELL. 

Jrchhishop  of  Cincinnati, 
M.  H.  TILDEN, 

Judge  of  Superior  Court, 
W.  8.  GKOESBECK. 
ALFRED  YAPLE, 
Judge  of  Superior  Court  of  Cincinnati,  State  of  Ohio. 


I  cheerfully  concur  in  the  request  of  Governor  £.  F.  Noyes. 


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EDWARD  o'mEAGHER  CONDON. 


I  am  not  acqaainted  witlAbo  facts  of  the  oase  or  the  laws  ander  which  Condon  was 
tried,  hat  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Condon  are  worthy  people,  their  son  is  their  stay,  and  his  re- 
lease wonld  be  a  mercy  and  a  blessing  to  them. 

M.  T.  FORA, 
'  Judge  Hamilton  Comman  Pleas, 
CHA8.C.  MURDOCH, 
Judge  Hamilton  Common  Fleae. 

WM.  L.  AVERY, 
Judge  Hamilton  Common  Pleas, 
T.  A.  O'CONNOR, 
Judge  Superior  Court  of  CiwdnnaU, 
J.  BURNETT, 
Judge  Hamilton  Common  Pleas, 
WILLIAM  TILDEN, 
Judge  of  Prolate  Court,  HamiUon  CoutilM,  C^io. 
N.  H.  VAN  V0RHE3, 
Speaker  Ohio  House  of  Representatives, 

The  petition  is  also  signed  by  tbe  following  members  of  the  Ohio  State  senate : 


Joseph  F.  Wright. 
H.  D.  McDopnell. 
A.  W.Patrick, 
John  Schiff. 
Charles  Boesel. 
J.  8.  Gardner. 
Peter  Mnrphy. 
L.  B.  Leeds. 


P.  W.  Hardesty 
W.H.Holden. 
Arome  C.  Wales 
J.  H.  R.  Anon. 
W.  Morrow  Beach. 
John  G.  Thompson 
John  W.  Morris, 
James  Sayler. 


W.  0.  Packer. 
L  Q.  Smith. 
D.W.H.  Howard. 
S.  Knox. 
J.T.Updejnff. 
Wm.  Nash. 
H.S.Gage. 


C.  H.  BABCOCK, 
Speaker  pro  tempore  HoMe  of  Representative', 


Ohio. 


The  petition  is  also  signed  by  the  following  members  of  the  Ohio  honse  of  repre- 
wntatives : 


John  Little. 
W.C.Cooper. 
T.  Miltenberger. 
J.M.Haag. 
Wm.  Bell,  jr. 
Milt  McCoy. 
0.  Chase. 
B.  C.  Blackburn. 
H.  M.  Chapman. 
J.  M.  Cochran. 
John  M.  Wilson. 
J.  R,  Conrad. 
Charles  P.  Taft. 
W.C.McFarland. 
8.  B.  Berry. 
John  Seitz. 
H.Weible. 
William  Adair. 
8.N.Titn8. 
William  G.  Ways. 
R.  C.  Thompson. 
H.W.Cnrtw8. 
J.Scott. 
Isaiah  Pillars. 
W\  P.  Rowland. 


8.R.Mott. 
Thos.  H.  Armstrong. 
John  C.Waldron. 
Ira  Ferguson. 
Henry  Chapman. 
Thomas  D.  Stiles. 
Levi  Colly. 
Eagene  Powell. 
George  Nokes. 
William  L.  Ross. 
Clark  White. 
Joseph  Bradbnry. 
James  E.  Chase. 
A.  Armstrong. 
H.  F.  Brashear. 
H.  Beckstresser 
Geo.  Nokes. 
A.  R.  VanCleaf. 
S.£.Blakes]ee. 
Lewis  Green. 
W.Stillwell. 
J.  M.  Bmnswick. 
JohnT.Fallis. 
John  Shank. 
Charles  Oesterlein. 


David  Cunningham. 
George  W.  Wilson. 
C.  F.  Kirkland. 
Albert  Mnnson. 
William  Milligan. 
Henry  Schoenfeldt. 
A.  H.  Brown. 
Elias  Blliss. 
Benjamin  F.  Sprigs. 
N.  E.  Leland. 
Isaac  Austin. 
J.  R«  Conrad. 
J.  J.  Moore. 
M.  McCoy. 
J.  Connt. 
C.  B.  Smith. 
Samuel  C.  Bowman. 
Henry  Weible. 
Thomas  Peckinpany. 
John  Kisor. 
Guido  Mare. 
T.  A.  Corcoran, 
H.  C.  Whitman. 


7  Merrion  Square,  East  Dublin, 

Februarg  14,  1873. 

Sir  :  I  have  re3eived  yonr  letter  of  the  22d,  and  in  reply  take  leave  to  assure  yon 

that  I  did  not  write  to  Mr.  Secretary  Bruce.    I  did  not  receive  from  him  the  reply 

which  yon  describe.    My  position  as  a  jndge  prohibits  me  from  interfering  in  any  case 

ot  tried  before  me,  and  even  then  only  when  called  on  by  government  tor  a  report. 


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4  EDWARD   o'mEAGHER   CONDON. 

Mr.  Kenslin  Disby.  member  of  Parliament  for  the  QueeiUp  Connty,  is  a  connection  of 
mine,  and  a  valaed  friend,  whoae  opinion  I  very  much  respect.  He  was  deeply  inter- 
ested in  your  son's  case,  and  he  has  frequently  conversed  with  me  about  him  and  his 
trial.  I  learned  from  Mr.  Digby  that  he  has  studied  the  case  carefully,  and  had  come 
to  the  conclusion  that  your  son,  Edward  O'Meagher  Condon,  or  Shore,  had  taken  no 
part  in  the  homicide  of  the  constable  of  Manchester,  and  was  implicated  by  taking 
part  in  the  riot,  and  bv  stone-throwing  only ;  that  he  was  unarmed,  and  that  there 
was  no  proof  asainst  him  of  any  previous  design.  I  had  no  knowledge  whatever  of 
the  case  mvself  Mr.  Digby  felt  very  much  for  one  so  young  and  prepossessing  as  yoar 
son,  but  felt  more  for  you  and  the  family.  I  am  aware  of  the  great  exertion  he  has 
made  to  procure  your  son's  release,  and  I  would  have  aided  him  if  I  had  the  power  to 
do  so. 

I  have  no  doubt  that  Mr.  Digby  will  not  be  deterred  by  previous  failures  from  con- 
tinuing his  efforts,  and  I  most  sincerely  hope  that  zeal  and  efforts  may  soon  prove  suc- 
cessful. 

I  can  only  express  my  feelings  for  you  and  your  afflictions,  and  remain  your 
&ithful. 


Mr.  Thomas  Condon. 


J.  D.  FITZGERALD. 


Cincinnati,  January  28,  1874. 

Sir  :  When  in  England,  I  took  special  pains  to  get  the  facts  in  relation  to  the  case 
of  Condon,  alias  Shore,  convicted  of  murder  in  Manchester,  with  three  others.  The 
others  were  executed.  On  account  of  well-grounded  donbto  of  the  participation  of 
Shore  in  the  murder,  his  sentence  was  commuted.  Mr.  Moran,  our  secretary  of  lega- 
tion at  the  Court  of  Saint  James,  was  very  much  interested  in  the  case,  and  after  a 
thorough  investigation,  came  to  the  conclusion  that  Shore,  alias  Condon,  was  entirely 
innocent.  I  conversed  with  Jacob  Bright,  M.  P.,  Mr.  Potter,  Sir  Wilfred  Larson,  and 
other  members  of  Parliament,  who  expressed  much  interest  in  behalf  of  the  accosed. 
Young  Condon  is  a  worthy  son  of  most  worthy  parents  in  your  district,  and  every  effort 
possible  should  be  made  to  secure  his  liberty  from  confinement  and  his  return  to  his 
family 

Mr.  Moran  can  furnish  all  the  facts  in  the  case  if  written  to. 

I  send  you  copy  of  petition,  &^c.,  and  a  letter  from  one  of  the  most  eminent  judges 
of  Ireland,  to  the  father.    The  latter  you  will  please  preserve. 
Yours,  &c. 

S.  F.  CARY. 

Hon.  H.  B.  Banning,  M.  C— 

Have  had  the  same  under  advisement^  and  after  careful  investigation  of  the 
cause  and /acts  connected  with  the  conviction  of  Edward  O' Meagher  Con- 
don, make  the  following  report  to  the  Hottse  of  Representatives  : 

Edward  O'Meagher  Condon  is  of  Irish  parentage ;  a  citizen  of  Cin- 
cinnati, Ohio,  of  respectable  family  and  assoclation,'and  has  always  borne 
a  good  character. 

in  the  year  1867  he  was  on  a  visit  to  some  of  his  rehitives  in  Man- 
chester, England.  While  there  he  became  involved  in  a  mob  which  had 
collected  for  the  purpose  of  rescuing  some  Fenian  prisoners. 

From  the  evidence  brought  out  in  a  trial  subsequent  to  the  affray,  it 
seems  that  the  prisoners  were  being  conveyed  in  a  van  through  the 
streets,  the  door  of  which  was  not  only  locked  but  guarded  by  a  police- 
man on  the  inside.  A  shot  was  fired  for  the  purpose,  as  asserted,  of 
forcing  the  door.    This  shot  unfortunately  killed  the  policeman. 

For  this  offense  Condon  and  four  others  were  convicted  of  murder, 
and  sentenced  to  be  hanged.    Three  of  these  were  executed,  one  was 


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EDWARD    O  MEAGHER   CONDON.  6 

discharged,  while  Condon's  sentence  was  commnted  to  imprisonment 
for  life  at  hard  labor. 

This  occarred  daring  the  intense  excitement  of  the  Fenian  straggle, 
after  invasion  of  Canada  from  the  United  States,  and  the  battle  of 
Ridgway. 

It  woald  be  seen,  therefore,  that  a  trial  under  the  circnmstances  might 
be  iolSaenced  by  the  feeling  pervading  the  community  where  the  offense 
occarred. 

This  woald  be  intensified,  of  cotlrse,  by  the  fact  that  one  of  the  defend- 
ants was  an  American  citizen,  and  held  responsible  as  a  prime  mover 
in  the  original  trouble. 

Without  questioning  the  justice  of  the  verdict,  we  are  of  the  opinion 
that  executive  clemency  could  go  further  than  in  a  mere  commutation  of 
the  sentence  to  hard  labor  for  life. 

It  is  not  claimed  that  the  unfortunate  Condon  fired  the  shot  which  re- 
sulted so  fatally,  and  the  very  cause  that  led  to  the  swift  punishment 
pleads  with  irresistible  force  in  his  favor. 

In  the  excitement  of  the  moment  he  possibly  encouraged  the  violence 
meant  to  break  a  lock,  which  resulted  in  a  death  without  having  the 
fMlice  prepense  necessary  to  make  it  murder.  On  this  ground  his  sen- 
tence was  commuted,  as  we  have  stated,  and  on  this  ground  we  claim 
he  might  well  be  pardoned. 

We  are  well  aware  of  the  fact  that  Condon's  offense  was  aggravated 
in  the  eye  of  the  law  by  his  being  an  American  citizen.  At  the  same 
time  we  ought  to  remember  that  Condon's  Irish  descent  and  Irish  con- 
nections prompted  the  feeling  that  caused  him  to  interfere,  and  under 
all  circumstances  we  believe  the  Government  of  the  United  States  would 
be  justified,  if,  indeed,  it  is  not  a  duty,  to  use  every  legitimate  influence 
to  procure  his  release.  In  this  we  are  strengthened  by  the  influential 
character  of  our  American  citizens  praying  for  such  release,  to  say  noth« 
ing  of  the  letter  in  Condon's  behalf,  written  by  Judge  Fitzgerald,  of 
Ireland,  and  a  report  of  an  investigation  made  by  Hon.  S.  F.  Cary,  M. 
C,  while  in  Manchester,  immediately  after  this  lamentable  occurrence. 

In  view,  therefore,  of  the  prevailing  interest  felt  in  the  prisoner's  be- 
half throughout  the  country,  and  in  behalf  of  his  innocence  of  the  of- 
fense with  which  he  is  charged,  or,  if  guilty  of  an  indiscretion  in  his 
acts,  that  he  has  already  endured  sufficient  punishment,  your  committee 
deem  it  proi)er  that  action  shoald  be  had  by  Congress  tending  to  secure 
iotercession  on  the  part  of  the  President  for  his  release,  and  hence  re- 
port the  accompanying  joint  resolution,  and'  respectfully  ask  its  pas- 
sage. 

RESOLUTION. 

Besolved  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of  the  United  States 
in  Congress  assembled^  That  the  President  of  the  United  States  be  re- 
qoested  to  intercede  with  Her  Majesty  the  Queen  of  Great  Britain  and 
Ireland  for  the  purpose  of  securing  the  speedy  release  of  Edward 
CMeagher  Condon,  of  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  who  was  convicted  on  a  charge 
of  murder  in  Manchester,  England,  and  is  now  confined  in  prison. 
H.  Eep.  342 2 


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43d  Congress,  (      HOUSE  OF  EEPEESENTATIVES.      i  Rbpoet 
lit  Sesiion.     J  )  No.  343. 


RELIEF  OF  THE  OFFICERS  AND  CREWS  OF  THE  WYOMING 

AND  TA-KIANG. 


March  31, 1874.— Committed  to  a  Committee  of  the  Whole  House  and  ordered  to  be 

printed. 


3Ir.  ilYERS,  from  the  Committee  on  Naval  AjQfairs,  sabmitted  the  following 

REPORT: 

[To  accompany  bill  H.  B.  782.] 

This  bill  proposes  to  pay  from  the  Japanese  indemnity  fand  125,000 
dollars  to  the  officers  and  crew  of  the  Wyoming,  and  the  officers  and 
crew  detached  from  the  United  States  ship  Jamestown,  who  manned 
the  Ta-Kiang.  As  this  fand,  amounting  with  interest  to  $842,226.33,  is 
mainly  the  resnlt  of  the  services  of  these  men,  in  the  naval  engage- 
ments which  took  place  in  the  straits  of  Simonoseki  in  Jnly,  1863,  and 
September,  1864,  year  committee  believe  the  appropriation  to  be  an 
act  of  nndonbted  jnstice,  and  recommend  it  as  in  conformity  with  the 
practice  and  precedents  heretofore  established. 

The  history  of  these  engagements,  with  the  caases  which  brought  Ihem 
aboat,and  the  excellent  resnlts  attending  them,  will,  it  is  believed,  fully 
exhibit  the  propriety  of  passing  this  bill. 

In  1863,  when  nearly  all  our  available  naval  forces  were  actively  en- 
gaged in  the  patriotic  struggle  for  the  maintenance  and  preservation  of 
the  Union,  an  edict  was  issued  by  the  Mikado  of  Japan  excluding 
foreigners  from  the  empire,  excepting  at  certain  ports.  In  pursuance  of 
this  edict,  one  of  the  Daimios,  the  Prince  of  Nagato,  erected  shore  bat- 
teries on  his  side  of  the  narrow  and  dangerous  strait  of  Simonoseki,  and 
nndertook  to  suppress  all  commerce  and  capture  or  destroy  all  merchant- 
vessels  attempting  to  pass  through  this  strait ;  through  which,  it  must 
be  remembered,  nearly  all  the  commerce  between  China  and  Japan  is 
carried  on. 

Accordingly,  in  June,  1863,  the  Pembroke,  an  American  steamer, 
bound  from  Yokohama  to  Shanghai,  when  passing  through  the  strait  of 
Simonoseki,  was  attacked  by  armed  Japanese  vessels  bearing  the  ensign 
of  the  empire.  At  the  same  time  the  shore  batteries  opened  fire  on  the 
Pembroke.  The  attack  was  made  on  the  Pembroke  in  the  night-time 
and  while  she  was  lying  at  anchor,  with  her  guns  lashed.  Her  topmast 
was  cut  away  and  she  was  otherwise  damaged,  and  only  escaped  capture 
or  total  destruction  by  weighing  anchor  and  steaming  through  ^'Bungo 
Channel,  a  narrow  and  unfrequented  strait." 

The  Hon.  Robert  H.  Pruyn,  then  United  States  minister  resident  in 
Japan,  made  known  to  the  State  Department  the  piratical  outrage  that 
bad  been  committed  upon  the  Pembroke  by  the  Prince  of  Nagato,  under 
the  Japanese  ensign,  and  in  the  execution  of  the  anti-national  edict  of 
the  Mikado,  and  asked  for  instructions. 


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2  BELIEF   OP   CEETAIK   OFFICERS,    ETC. 

Mr.  Seward  evidently,  after  a  full  consnltation  with  President  Lincoln, 
in  reply  to  the  official  dispatch  of  the  resident  minister,  gave  him  large 
discretionary  power,  as  the  following  extract  will  show : 

If,  in  yonr  jadcment,  it  should  be  necessary  for  the  Wyoming  to  nse  her  gnns  for 
the  safety  of  the  legation  or  of  Americans  residing  in  Japan,  thm  her  commander  will 
exnploy  all  necessary  force  for  that  purpose. 

The  Secretary  of  the  Navy  will  give  i^  necessary  instructions  to  the  commander 
of  the  Wyoming  in  harmony  with  the  views  of  the  President  expressed  in  this  dis- 
patch.   (See  Ex.  Doc,  vol.  2, 1863''64,  No.  43,  page  1127.) 

In  pursuance  of  the  foregoing  authority  and  instructions,  the  min- 
ister resident  issued  the  following  orders : 

Legation  op  the  United  States, 

TokohavMy  July  15, 1863. 

I  indulge  the  hope  that  hy  the  time  this  reaches  you  their  piratical  vessels  will 
have  been  destroyed  or  captured.  If  so,  you  may  have  been  attacked  by  the  batteries, 
and  have  doubtless  demolished  them.  Should  their  ships  unfortunately  have  taken 
the  alarm  and  escaped,  I  would  recommend  that  you  do  not  return  without  vindicating 
our  flaff  and  taking  full  satisfaction  for  the  outrages  upon  it. 

And  I  beg  you  to  co-operate  with  Admiral  Juaris  in  the  destruction  of  the  batteries 
and  forts  in  the  territories  of  the  prince,  thus  giving  a  lesson  which  wiU  not  soon  be 
forgotten,  and  which  will  put  a  stop  to  the  acts  of  lawless  violence  which  the  hostile 
Daimios,  encouraged  by  the  humane  forbearance  of  the  treaty  powers,  are  so  ready  to 
commit. 

I  am,  very  respectfully,  your  most  obedient,  humble  servant, 

ROBERT  H.  PRUYN, 

Minister  Resident  in  Japan. 
Capt.  D.  McDouGAL, 

United  States  Steamer  Wjfoming,  j'c. 

In  obedience  to  the  orders  of  the  properly  constituted  authorities  of 
the  United  States  Government,  the  Wyoming  weighed  anchor  at  Kana- 
gawa  on  the  13th  of  July,  1863,  and  set  out  on  her  voyage  to  the  strait 
of  Siraonoseki.  She  entered  the  bay  of  Simonoseki  on  the  morning  of 
the  16th  of  July.  •  When  she  approached  the  entrance  of  the  bay  the 
fort  next  to  her  fired  a  signal  gun,  which  was  answered  by  all  the  forts 
and  by  the  ships  in  harbor.  At  this  time  the  Wyoming  had  no  flag  ap, 
but  upon  the  signals  being  fired  she  hoisted  her  fiag  and  proceeded  into 
the  bay,  keeping  as  close  as  she  could  to  the  northern  shore,  contrary  to 
the  expectations  of  the  Japanese.  The  first  fort  immediately  opened  a 
heavy  fire  upon  her,  and  so  did  all  the  others,  as  she  moved  slowly  on, 
shelling  the  forts  with  such  an  effect  as  to  silence  such  of  them  as 
receiv^  her  fire.  The  men  in  the  forts  which  received  shells  from  the 
Wyoming  were  observed  to  rush  off  and  to  jump  from  the  heights  in 
suck  a  precipitate  manner  as  to  lead  to  the  belief  that  the  shells  must 
have  told  with  greater  effect  and  done  more  damage  than  the  Japanese 
anticipated. 

The  bark  and  the  brig  Lanrick — the  two  vessels  which  fired  oa  the 
Pembroke — were  still  there,  and  another  vessel  also,  the  steamer  Lance- 
field.  Those  vessels  lay  close  under  the  town,  the  bark  being  inside, 
the  Lanrick  next  to  her,  and  the  Lancefield  outside,  with  steam  np,  and 
a  great  number  of  men  on  board,  apparently  making  preparations  to  ap- 
proach  and  board  the  Wyoming.  Captain  McDongal  ordered  the  Wy- 
oming to  be  taken  between  the  Lancefield  and  the  Lanrick,  and  prepared 
to  give  each  of  them  a  broadside  in  passing.  The  Lanrick  fired  first, 
but  immediately  after  the  Wyoming  delivered  her  broadside  on  the  two 
Japenese  vessels  and  sent  a  ball  through  the  stern  of  the  Lanrick  in  such  a 
way  as  to  leave  her  apparently  sinking.  The  Wyoming  moved  on 
slowly,  firing  into  the  forts  of  the  town  as  she  went,  and  making  a 
curve  to  enable  her  to  return  fire  on  the  ships  again ;  but,  as  she  was 


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BELIEF   OP   CERTAIN   OFFICERS,    ETC.  3 

turning,  the  Lancefield  moved  on  across  the  track  of  the  Wyoming, 
farther  into  the  bay,  to  escape  at  the  western  outlet,  bat  the  Wyoming 
while  carving  brought  her  great  pivot-gan  to  bear  on  the  Lancefield  in 
her  new  position,  and  sent  a  ball  right  through  her  boiler,  causing  her 
to  blow  up,  and  scattering  destruction  through  every  part  of  the  ves- 
sel ;  steam,  cinders,  &c.,  were  blown  oat  in  all  directions,  and  such  of 
the  crew  as  were  not  immediately  overwhelmed  jumped  overboard. 
The  Wyoming  returned  under  a  slack  fire  from  the  forts,  and  having 
done  all  that  she  decrined  necessary  for  that  time,  she  returned  to  Kana- 
gawa  to  report  what  had  taken  place.  She  arrived  here  about  2  a.  m.  on 
the  20th  of  July.  The  engagement  lasted  an  hour  and  ten  minutes. 
The  Wyoming  received  eleven  shots,  and  had  four  men  killed  in  action 
and  seven  wounded,  one  of  whom  died  on  the  passage  back. 

This  is  sabstantially  the  description  of  the  engagement,  as  it  appears 
in  the  Japan  Commercial  News  of  July  22, 1863. 

For  a  time  the  punishment  inflicted  on  the  Prince  of  Nagato  seemed 
to  be  all  that  could  have  been  desired,  but  he  rebuilt  his  forts,  and 
fresh  insults  were  offered  to  the  flags  of  several  nations.  This  conduct 
was  evidently  inspired  from  higher  authority,  the  edict  of  the  Mikado 
against  foreigners  being  its  main  instigation,  and  Great  Britain,  France, 
and  the  Netherlands  sent  fleets  to  the  bay  of  Simonoseki  to  open  the 
passage  of  the  straits,  inviting  the  United  States  to  give  the  moral 
force  of  their  presence  and  to  participate  in  the  action.  We  had  at 
Yokohama  at  the  time  but  one  ship,  the  Jamestown,  a  sailing-vessel, 
and  as  the  carrent  in  the  straits  was  very  rapid,  it  was  deemed  best  to 
charter  a  small  steamer  called  the  Ta-Kiang,  which-,  with  the  vessels  of 
the  powers  named,  participated  in  the  naval  engagement  against  the 
shore  batteries  of  the  Daimio  on  September  4,  5,  6,  7,  and  8, 1864. 

Lieutenant  Frederick  Pearson,  of  the  Jamestown,  was  placed  in  com- 
mand of  the  chartered  steamer  Ta-Kiang  by  Captain  Price,  commanding 
the  Jamestown,  under  the  following  orders : 

United  Statrs  Stkamkr  Jamestown, 

Yokohama,  Japan,  August  11, 1864. 

SiK :  You  are  hereby  ftppoiated  to  the  command  of  the  chartered  steamer  Ta-Kiaog, 
aod  wUl- proceed  in  her  to  the  straits  of  Simonoseki  to  act  in  concert  with  the  treaty 
powers,  who  wiU  appear  in  larve  force  at  that  place. 

The  oMeet  of  sending  the  Ta-kiang  is  to  show  the  American  flag  there,  and  to  mani- 
fest to  ^e  Prince  ef  Ragato  that  we  are  in  accord  with  the  otiier  treaty  powers,  and 
equally  demand  with  them  the  passage  through  the  straits  without  let  or  iiinderance. 

As  the  steamer  under  your  command  is  not  a  man-of-war,  or  prepared  to  attack  the 
forts,  yon  wiU  render  any  and  every  other  aid  in  your  power  to  promote  the  common 
objeet-*-8nch  aa  towing  boats,  landing  men,  and  receiving  the  wounded  on  board  of 
you  if  required  to  do  so.  To  this  enf  you  will  consult  the  senior  officer  present,  par- 
ticularly the  British  admiral,  who  will  be  senior  officer  of  the  expedition,  and  who 
win  have  the  largest  force  there.  •  •  •  • 

Lientenaut  Pearson,  uot  satisfied  with  these  orders,  obtained  permis- 
sion to  take  the  Ta-Kiang  under  fire.  With  three  officers  and  fifteen 
men,  armed  with  a  Parrott  gun,  or  howitzer,  and  Sharps  rifles  for  each 
man,  the  Ta-Kiaug  went  into  the  battle. 

The  engagement  continued  five  days,  and  ended  in  victory  to  the 
fleets,  the  Japan  prince  making  an  unconditional  surrender,  and,  accord- 
ing to  Minister  Pruyn,  "  agreed  to  pay  such  sum  as  the  ministers  of  the 
treaty  powers  might  demand  for  the  expenses  of  the  expedition.'^  And 
Mr. Pruyn  also  pays,  (Dip.  Cor.  1864-'65,  Part  3,  page  553,)  "Ensign 
Pearson,  of  the  Jamestown,  who  was  placed  in  command  of  the  United 
States  chartered  steamer  Ta-Kiang,  I  am  happy  to  say,  conducted  him- 
self so  as  to  receive  the  special  written  thanks  of  Admiral  Kuper,  com- 


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4  BELIEF   OF  CERTAIN   OFFICERS,   ETC. 

manding  the  combined  fleet,  and  a  lar^e  bronze  32-poaDder  gun  was 
assigned  to  said  ship  as  a  trophy.  The  30-poander  gun  of  the  James- 
town was  used  by  him  with  such  precision  and  efficiency  as  to  command 
universal  admiration.''  And  the  diplomatic  correspondence  of  J.  Hume 
Bruraley  to  Mr.  Seward  (Dip.  Cor.  1865-'66,  Part  2,  page  17)  shows  the 
warm  appreciation  of  the  services  of  the  TaKiang  by  the  <' lords  com- 
missioners, for  the  ready  cooperation  which  that  gallant  officer  afforded 
to  the  British  admiral  during  the  whole  of  the  operations  in  question. 

The  result  was  that  the  Tycoon,  being  forced  to  acknowledge  and  re- 
cognize the  active  hostilities  of  his  subject  prince  as  acts  of  piracy,  was 
constrained  to  enter  into  a  conventional  treaty  with  the  diplomatic  au- 
thorities of  the  United  States  of  America,  Great  Britain,  France,  and 
the  Netherlands,  which  was  concluded  on  the  22d  day  of  October,  A.  D. 
1864,  and  afterward  accepted  and  ratified  by  all  the  aforementioned 
powers ;  the  public  proclamation  of  all  which  was  formally  made  by  the 
President  of  the  United  States  on  the  9th  day  of  April,  A.  D.  1866. 

Article  I  of  said  treaty  stipulates  and  provides  that  the  Japanese 
government  shall  pay  to  the  other  four  powers  the  sum  of  $3,000,(M)0  as 
indemnity  for  piratical  depredations  of  '^  Movi  Daizen,  Prince  of  Ne- 
gate and  Smoo."  This  sum  was  to  be  paid  in  quarterly  installments  of 
$500,000  each.  Part  of  it  was  so  paid, received,  and  accepted,  and  divided 
by  and  between  the  four  powers  mentioned,  the  United  States  Govern- 
ment receiving  the  sum  of  $586,125.87  in  gold,  which  was  afterward 
converted  into  United  States  Government  Ix^nds,  that  are  still  in  the 
custody  of  the  Secretary  of  State,  under  the  designation  of  the  ^<  Japan- 
ese indemnity  fund,^  and  now,  as  above  stated,  amount  to  the  sum  of 
$842,226.33.  The  unpaid  installments,  of  one-half,  at  the  request  of  the 
Japanese  minister,  and  in  order  still  further  to  promote  friendship  be- 
tween the  United  States  and  Japan,  it  has  been  proposed  to  remit,  and 
a  bill  for  that  purpose  passed  the  House  of  Representatives  on  May  29, 
1872,  was  reported  favorably  by  the  Senate  Committee  on  Foreign  Af- 
fairs, and  was  pending  at  the  adjournment  of  the  last  Congress. 

Tho  Japanese  vessels  in  the  engagement  of  1863  were  destroyed  or 
sunk,  and  not  taken  as  prizes.  Again,  as  these  ships  were  not,  strictly 
speaking,  "  enemy's  ships,''  the  bounty  of  $200  allowed  by  the.  act  of 
July  17, 1862,  for  each  person  on  board  of  "  any  ship  or  vessel  of  war 
belonging  to  an  enemy"  sunk  or  otherwise  destroyed  in  an  engagement, 
if  of  equal  or  superior  force,  cannot  be  claimed  as  an  absolute  right. 

These  vessels  were  treated  as  piratical,  and  their  hostile  character 
not  recognized  by  the  Japanese  government.  Yet  the  Prince  of  Nagato 
was  powerful  enough  to  set  that  government  at  defiance,  and  had  he 
not  been  finally  subdued,  there  is  little  doubt  that  not  only  would  the 
Straits  of  Simonoseki  have  been  closed  to  commerce,  but  several  of  the 
ports  which  had  been  opened  under  our  treaties ;  and  that  the  government 
of  Japan  would  have  openly  assumed  a  hostile  attitude  toward  foreigners. 

The  officers  and  crew  of  the  Wyoming  are  entitled  to  no  less  credft 
for  their  brave  and  meritorious  service  than  if  they  had  sunk  or  brought 
in  as  prize  the  vessels  of  an  enemy. 

A  letter  of  the  United  States  consul  at  Yokahama  at  that  time,  Hon. 
George  S.  Fisher,  to  an  officer  of  the  Navy,  thus  speaks  of  the  value  of 
these  ships : 

Tbe  vessels  destroyed  by  the  Wyoming  were  tbe  British  bri/(  Alert,  clipper-bnilt, 
twelve  goDS,  and  a  very  superior  sailing-vessel.  She  was  sold  to  the  Japanese  govern- 
ment for  $45,000,  Mexican  money. 

The  British  steamer  (iron)  Lancefield,  sold  bat  a  few  weeks  previoosly  ostensibly  to 
the  Japanese  government,  but  really  to  or  for  the  Prince  of  Negato,  for  $160,000,  Mexi- 


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RELIEF   OP   CERTAIN   OFFICERS,    ETC.  5 

ean  money,  and  the  American  bark  Daniel  Webster,  also  sold  to  the  Japanese  govern - 
meat  for  $22,000,  Mexican  money. 

These  vessels,  with  the  batteries  placed  npon  the  Lancefield  and  Webster,  and  the 
other  pnblic  property  of  the  enemy  upon  the  three  destroyed,  amounted  in  value  to  f  nil 
$300,000  or  1350,000  of  onr  money.. 

The  engagement  iu  September,  1864,  in  vfhieh  the  Ta-Kiang  took  so 
gallant  a  part,  was  entirely  with  shore  batteries.  It  ended,  however,  not 
only  in  silencing  them  and  opening  the  straits  to  unimpeded  commerce, 
but  in  the  capture  of  the  town  of  Simonoseki,  part  of  the  indemnity 
stipulated  for  in  the  treaty  being  for  the  ^< ransom"  of  that  town,  and 
the  sum  to  include  also  all  ^^  past  aggressions  on  the  part  of  Nagato," 
which  dearly  covers  the  attack  on  the  Pembroke  and  the  fight  with 
the  Wyoming.  ^Vhile  the  facts  stated  in  relation  to  these  two  ships^ 
the  Wyoming  and  Ta-Kiang,  do  not  technically  bring  them  within  the 
principles  of  our  prize-laws,  yet  the  value  of  the  vessels  sunk  by  the 
Wyoming,  two  of  which  were  afterwards  raised  and  sold  by  the  Prince 
of  KagatOy  who  was  forced  by  the  Tycoon  to  pay  the  indemnity  subse- 
quently received  by  us,  and  the  very  large  ransom  and  indemnity  which 
the  actions  of  both  these  vessels  were  so  instrumental  in  obtaining,  fully 
entitle  their  officers  and  crews  to  the  sum  named  in  the  bill  reported, 
the  passage  of  which  your  committee  earnestly  recommend. 

As  there  are  no  other  parties  who  have  an  equitable  claim  upon  the 
Japanese  indemnity  fund,  the  committee  recommend  that  it  be  trans- 
ferred to  the  Treasury  and  the  bonds  canceled. 
H.  Bep.  343 2 


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43d  Congress,  )      HOUSE  OF  EEPRBSBNTATIVES.      (  Report 
lit  Session,      f  )  No.  344. 


DES  MOINES  RIVER  GRANT. 


MA.RCH  31, 1874.— Recommitted  to  the  Committee  on  the  Pablic  Lands  and  ordered  to 

be  printed. 


^Ir.  Obr,  from  the  Committee  on  the  Public  Lands,  submitted  the 

following 

REPORT: 

[To  accompany  biU  H.  R.  1142.] 

The  Committee  on  th€  Public  Lands,  to  whom  teas  referred  the  hill  {S.  R, 
1142)  beg  leave  to  submit  the  following  report : 

The  following  is  a  copy  of  the  bill : 

A  BILL  to  aatkorise  tbe  Secretary  of  the  Interior  to  indemnify  the  holders  of  preemption  and  home- 
pU'ftd  09rtiflc«t«a  and  certificates  of  entry  and  paten ta  upon  tanda  in  Iowa  within  the  so-oalled  Des 
Moines  River  grant  on  account  of  failure  of  titlea,  and  to  procure  a  relinquishment  of  the  paramount 
titles  to  the  United  States. 

Be  it  enacted  hy  the  Senate  and  House  of  Bepresentativea  of  the  United  Slates  of  America 
in  CongreM  aseemUed,  That  the  som  of  $404,228,  or  eo  much  thereof  aa  may  be  neces- 
fary,  be,  and  the  same  is  hereby,  appropriated,  out  of  any  money  in  the  Treasury  not 
otherwise  appropriated,  to  be  nsed  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior  for  the  purpose  of 
seenring  a  relinquishment  of  the  title  to  the  lands  lyiuj;  north  of  the  Raccoon  Fork  of 
the  Des  Moines  River,  in  the  State  of  Iowa,  which  may  be  held  by  the  Des  Moines 
NsTiffation  and  Railroad  Company,  or  persons  claiming  title  under  it  adversely  to  per- 
sons holding  said  lands,  either  by  entry  or  under  the  pre-emption  or  homestead  laws  of 
the  United  states  in  accordance  with  the  report  of  the  commissioners  appointed  by  the 
President  of  the  United  States,  nuder  the  act  of  March  3,  1873,  entitled  ''A.n  act 
to  authorize  the  President  to  ascertain  the  value  of  certain  lauds  in  the  State  of  Iowa, 
north  of  the  Raccoon  Fork  of  the  Des  Moines  River,  held  by  settlers  under  the  pre-emp- 
tion and  homestead  laws  of  the  United  States.'' 

Skc.  2.  That  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior  shall  require  the  persons  whose  names  are 
embraced  in  the  report  of  said  commissioners,  or  the  persons  who  may  be  found  by  ex- 
amination to  be  entitled  to  the  benefits  of  this  act  by  reason  of  the  failure  of  title  to 
the  several  parcels  of  land  embraced  in  said  report,  to  furnish  proof  of  the  character  of 
the  claim  or  title  to  each  of  said  parcels  of  land ;  and  when  such  proof  shows  to  the 
«atisfaction  of  the  Secretary  that  the  party  making  the  same  has  complied,  so  far  as  it 
was  in  his  or  her  power  to  do,  with  the  laws  and  regulations  for  the  acquisition  of 
lands  of  the  public  domain,  and  under  which  the  said  parties  would,  in  the  absence  of 
any  conflictiog  claim,  be  entitled  to  receive  an  absolute  title  thereto,  he  shall  cause  to 
be  paid  a  sam  not  to  exceed  in  amount  the  appraised  value  thereof,  to  the  owners  in 
cases  where  a  relinquishment  to  the  United  States  of  their  title  can  be  procured  for 
that  amount,  but  otherwise  the  same  amount  shall  be  paid  to  the  persons  entitling 
themselves  to  the  same  by  making  the  proofs  as  aforesaid,  taking  the  receipts  of  the 
Mill  parties  for  the  same :  Prorided,  That  a  patent  duly  issued  in  the  regular  form  by 
the  President  of  the  United  States  shall  be  conclusive  evidence  of  a  compliance  with 
the  provisions  of  this  section  relating  to  proof:  And  provided  further,  That  in  making 
payments  ander'the  provisions  of  this  act,  in  all  cases  where  the  Government  price  has 
not  been  paid  by  the  purchasers  at  the  tame  of  or  subsequent  to  the  entry  of  the 
same,  that  amovnt  shall  be  deducted  from  the  amount  at  which  such  land  is  appraised 
by  said  oommissioners,  and  payment,  when  made  under  the  provisions  of  this  act,  shall 
be  only  of  the  amount  of  such  difference. 

The  legialation  asked  for  by  this  bill  is  upon  the  grounds  whieh  can 
be  properly  anderstood  only  by  a  brief  recital  of  the  history  of  the 
transaotions  in  thia  case. 

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2  DES   MOINES   KIVER   GRANT- 

On  the  8th  day  of  August,  1846,  (9  St.  at  Large,  pp.  77, 78,)  Congress 
granted  to  Iowa  one-half  of  the  unsold  public  land  lying  in  a  strip  ten 
miles  wide  adjacent  to  the  Des  Moines  River,  to  be  selected  in  odd- 
numbered  sections  to  aid  in  the  improvement  of  the  navigation  of  the 
river  to  the  Eaccoon  Forks  thereof.  The  river  enters  the  State  a  short 
distajuce  east  of  the  northwest  corner,  and  runs  thence  diagonally  across 
it  to  the  southeast  comer.  The  capital  of  the  State  (Des  Moines)  is 
about  mid-length  of  the  river,  and  is  situated  at  the  confluence  of  the 
Raccoon  and  Des  Moines  Rivers.  The  lands  in  question  lie  in  the  strip 
north  and  west  of  the  capital. 

The  act  of  August  8,  1846,  above  referred  to,  is  as  follows : 

AX  ACT  granting  certain  lands  to  the  Territory  of  Iowa  to  aid  in  the  improvement  of  the  navigation 
*      ol  the  Des  Moines  Kiver  In  said  Territory. 

Be  it  ena^iied  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Bepreaentatirea  of  the  United  States  of  America 
in  Congress  assembled^  That  there  be,  aud  hereby  is,  grauted  to  said  Territory  of  Iowa, 
for  the  purpose  of  aiding  said  Territory  to  improve  the  navigation  of  the  Des  Moinei» 
River  from  its  mouth  to  the  Raccoon  Fork,  (so  called,)  in  said  Territory,  oue  equal 
moiety,  in  alternate  sectious,  of  the  public  lands,  (remaining  unsold  and  not  otherwise 
disposed  of,  incumbered,  or  appropriated,)  in  a  strip  five  miles  in  width  on  each  side  of 
said  river,  to  be  selected  within  sa*.d  Territory  by  an  agent  or  agents  to  be  appointed 
by  the  governor  thereof,  subject  to  the  approval  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  of 
the  United  States. 

Sec.  2.  And  be  it  farther  enacted,  That  the  lands  hereby  granted  shall  not  be  conveyed 
or  disposed  of  by  said  Territory,  nor  by  any  State  to  be  formed  out  of  the  same,  except 
as  said  improvement  shall  progress;  that  is,  the  said  Territory  or  State  may  sell  so 
much  of  said  lands  as  shall  produce  the  sum  of  thirty  thousand  doUan*,  and  then  the 
sales  shall  cease  until  the  governor  of  said  Territory  or  State  shall  certify  the  fact  to 
the  President  of  the  United  States  that  one-half  ot  said  som  has  been  expended  upon 
said  improvements,  when  the  said  Territory  or  State  may  sell  and  convey  a  quantity 
of  the  residue  of  said  lands  sufficient  to  replace  the  amount  expended,  and  thus  the 
sales  shall  progress  as  the  proceeds  thereof  shall  be  expended,  and  the  fact  of  sach  ex- 
penditure shall  be  certified  as  aforesaid. 

Sec.  3.  And  be  it  further  enacted^  That  the  said  river  Des  Moines  shall  be  and  forever 
remain  a  public  highway  for  the  use  of  the  Oovernment  of  the  United  States,  free 
from  an3'  toll  or  other  charge  whatever,  for  any  property  of  the  United  States  or  per- 
sons in  their  service  passing  through  or  along  the  same :  Provided,  always,  That  it  shall 
not  be  competent  for  the  said  Territory,  or  future  State  of  Iowa,  to  dispose  of  said 
lands,  or  any  of  them,  at  a  price  lower  than,  for  the  time  being,  shall  be  tne  minimum 
price  of  other  public  lands. 

Sec.  4.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  whenever  the  Territory  of  Iowa  shall  be 
admitted  into  the  Union  as  a  State,  the  lands  herobv  granted  for  the  above  purpose 
shall  be  and  become  the  property  of  said  State  for  the  purpose  contemplated  in  this 
act,  and  for  no.other :  Provided,  The  legislature  of  the  State  of  Iowa  shall  accept  the 
said  grant  for  tne  said  purpose. 

Approved  August  8,  1846. 

This  bill  was  passed  in  the  Twenty -niiith  Congress,  and  the  Com- 
mittee on  the  Public  Lanas  in  the  House,  to  whom  the  same  had  been 
referred,  made  the  following  report: 

Mr.  McClernamd,  from  the  Committee  on  the  Public  Lands,  made  the  following  report : 

The  Committee  on  the  Public  Lands,  to  whom  was  rrferred  the  petitUm  of  certain  dtigens  of  Iowa 
for  a  grant  of  land  for  the  improvement  of  the  Des  Moines  Biver,  and  also  a  hUl  introduced 
on  that  subject  by  Hon,  A,  C.  Dodge,  Delegate  from  Iowa,  ask  leave  to  report : 

That  the  Des  Moines  Biver  is  one  of  the  largest  and  most  important  tributaries  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi above  the  Missouri.  It  rises  in  the  Shetek  Lakes,  on  a  ridge  of  land  in  latitude  44^ 
3'  north,  and,  flowing  through  a  lake  country  and  through  swampy  gronjbds,  in  its  upper 
course,  it  subsequently  receives  Lizard  and  Raccoon  Rivera  on  the  right  and  Suuka- 
kee  and  Boon's  Rivers  on  the  left ;  all  considerable  streams.  Its  watera  are  rolled 
through  a  highly  fertile  and  beautiful  re^on,  nearly  all  of  which  is  now  in  possession 
of  the  United  States,  and  the  lower  portion  of  which  is  pow  occupied  and  improved 
to  the  Raccoon  River  by  a  hardy  and  industrious  population,  who  are  testing  the  pro- 
ductiveness of  the  soil  by  well-directed  labor,  ana  brinfjing  out  the  resoaroes  of  the 
country,  and  daily  adding  value  to  the  public  domain  m  this  q.nArter.    Portions  of 


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DE8   MOINES   RIVER   GRANT.  3 

thit  stream,  in  its  coarse  of  upward  of  five  handred  miles,  have  already  been  visited 
by  boats  on  several  occasious,  and  proved  to  be  adapted  to  steainboat-naviji^ation  for 
cousiderable  distances  without  any  improvement.  Other  portions  intermediate  require 
that  improvumeut  should  be  made  by  the  removal  of  existing  obstructions,  in  order  to 
have  a  clear,  uninterrupted  navigation.  An  expenditure  not  great,  compared  with  the 
object,  will  make  this  stream  navigable,  for  a  small  class  of  nteamboats,  for  upward  of 
three  hundred  miles.  It  is  now  navigable  for  such  boats,  during  a  portion  of  the  year, 
in  the  spring  floods,  as  high  tis  the  Buffalo  Fork,  which  is  two  hundred  miles  from  its 
mouth.  Over  this  portion  some  expenditure  will  be  necessary,  however,  to  render  it 
navigable  at  ail  times. 

The  grunt  of  land  provided  by  the  bill  which  accompanies  this  report  is  similar  in 
it«  character  and  object  to  many  heretofore  made  by  Congress  to  several  of  the 
Western  States  and  Territories,  and,  at  the  same  time,  is  less  in  amount,  but  it  is 
believed  will  be  sufficient  to  accomplish  the  desired  improvement.  This  river  has 
Wen  examine<l  by  Captains  Guion  and  Fremont,  of  the  topographical  engineers,  and 
their  reporte  on  the  subject  are  referred  to  for  a  clearer  understanding  of  the  character 
of  the  river  and  conn  try,  its  susceptibility  of  improvement,  and  the  advantages  thereof. 
Many  of  the  difficulties  in  the  navigation  of  this  stream  are  caused  by  ripples,  and 
may  be  overcome  by  making  slack  water;  others  uniy  be  removed  by  taking  away 
rocks,  and  by  other  means,  such  as  the  removal  of  simgs  and  trees.  Captain  Guion. 
who  examined  it  from  it>s  mouth  to  seventeen  miles  above  Raccoon,  suggests  the 
several  m«Hles  last  named,  and  adds:  "The  Des  MoiucM  is  a  beautiful  river,  220  feet 
wide  wli«'re  I  ceased  operations,  and  increasing  in  width  from  440  below  the  mouth 
of  Raccoon  Fork  to  630  at  the  trading-house,"  (this  is  one  hundred  miles  from  the 
moath,)  **  while  its  banks  present  one  of  the  most  fertile  and  lovely  countries  nature 
ever  presented  to  the  view  of  man,  abounding  in  immense  fields  of  bituminous  coal 
from  Raccoon  Fork  nearly  to  its  month.  Iron,  too,  I  found  scattered  along  the  banks 
of  the  river.*'    (Ex.  Doc.  Vrtb  Congress,  3d  session,  Doc.  38.) 

Captain  Fremont  says:  "From  the  Raccoon  Fork  to  its  mouth  the  Des  Moines 
winds  a  circuitous  length  of  two  hundred  and  three  miles  through  the  level  and  rich 
allaviuni  of  a  valley  one  hnndred'and  forty  miles  long,  and  varying  in  breadth  from 
one  to  three  and  sometimes  fonr  miles.  Along  its  whole  conrse  are  strips  of  dense 
wood,  alternate  with  rich  prairies  entirely  bevond  the  reach  of  the  highest  waters, 
which  seldom  rise  more  than  8  feet  above  the  low  stage.*' 

*' Steamboats  drawing  4  feet  water  may  run  to  the  month  of  Cedar  River  from  the 
l»t  of  April  to  the  middle  of  June ;  and  keel-lniats  drawing  2  feet,  from  the  20th 
of  March  to  the  Ist  of  July  ;  and  those  drawing  20  inches,  again  from  the  middle  of 
October  to  the  20th  of  November.  Mr.  Phelps  ran  a  Mississippi  steamer  to  this  post,  a 
distance  of  oighty-aeveu  miles  from  the  mouth.  From  these  observations  it  will  be 
seen  that  this  river  is  highly  susceptible  of  improvement,  presenting  nowhere  any 
obfttacles  that  would  uot  yield  readily  and  at  slight  expense.  The  removal  of  loose 
stone  at  some  pointa,  and  the  construction  of  artificial  banks  at  some  few  others,  to 
destroy  the  ahmpt  bends,  wonld  be  all  that  is  required.  The  variable  nature  of  the 
bed  and  the  velocity  of  the  current  would  keep  the  channel  constantly  clear."— (Ex. 
Doc.  3H,  27 tb  Congress,  3d  8e.««iion.) 

The  relation  of  the  Des  Moiues  with  the  Saint  Peter's,  and,  through  that,  its  con- 
nection with  other  waters,  presents  a  consideration  not  to  be  overlooked  in  deciding, 
on  the  expediency  of  improving  its  navigability.  Ou  this  point  the  following  inter- 
esting fact  is  communicated  by  Mr.  Nicollet: 

''The  hydrof^raphical  relations  of  the  Des  Moiues  with  the  Manhato,  Saint  Peter's, 
and  Missiaaippi  Rivers  present  a  geographical  incident  of  some  interest.  By  referring 
to  the  map,  in  latitude  43^  45',  longitude  95°  12',  it  will  be  seen  that  there  is  a  lake, 
very  near  the  Des  Moines,  named  Tchanshetcha  or  Dry- wood  Lake.  The  Watanwon 
River,  which  is  a  tributary  to  the  Manhato,  that  empties  itself  into  the  Saint  Peter's, 
has  its  aonrce  in  this  lake.  Now  the  tou^e  of  land  separating  the  Des  Moines  from 
Tchanshetcha  Lake  is  not  more  than  a  mile  to  a  mile  and  a  half  broad ;  so  that  were  a 
canal  cat  across  the  waters  of  the  Des  Moines  would  be  made  to  communicate  with 
the  Sains  Peter's.^ 

Od  a  carefhl  examination  of  this  subject,  and  confiding  in  the  reports  above  referred 
to,  the  committee  have  concluded  to  report  the  accompanying  bill,  with  a  recommend- 
ation that  it  do  1 


AccompaDjiDg  said  report  of  the  committee  the  following  letter  of 
the  Oomuissiotier  of  the  General  Land-Office,  in  reply  to  inquiries^ 
toaching  the  effect  and  scope  of  the  legislation  asked  for  by  the  bill;, 
was  also  submitted,  and  is  as  follows : 

General  Land-Office,  May  5, 1846. 

Sir  :  lu  answer  to  yonr  inqairy,  I  have  the  honor  to  state  that  the  amount  of  nnsold 
land  within  five  miles  on  each  side  of  the  Des  Moines  Biver,  from  its  mouth  to  the 


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4  DES    MOINES   RIVER   GRANT. 

RiiccooD  Fork,  proposed  to  "be  granted  to  tbe  Territory  of  Iowa  by  House  bill  No.  106, 
is  estimated  at  26l,(K)0  acres. 

Tliere  have  been  sold  in  the  Territory  of  Iowa,  to  the  1st  of  January,  1846, 
1,730,050  acres,  and  the  amount  of  purcbase-moooy  received  by  the  United  States,  to 
the  Hj,mt5  date,  i'i:iJi,l64,lO*2. 

Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

JAS.  SHIELDS,  Commissioner. 
Hon.  A.  C.  DoDGK, 

House  of  Hepreseniatives. 

On  the  17tlr  day  of  October,  1846,  Mr.  James  H.  Piper,  Acting  Com- 
missiouer  of  the  General  Laud-Office,  addressed  the  following  lett4?r  to 
the  register  and  receiver  of  the  laud-office  at  Iowa  City  relating  to  this 
grant :  [ 

General  Land  Office,  October  17,  1846. 

Gentlemen  :  By  the  first  section  of  the  act  of  Confjress  approved  ftth  of  Angust, 
1846,  entitled  "An  a<5t  granting  certain  lands  to  the  Territory  of  Iowa  to  aid  in  the 
inipiovenient  of  the  navigation  of  the  Des  Moines  River,  in  said  Territory,"  it  is  en- 
acted that  there  be,  and  hereby  is,  granted  to  the  Territory  of  Iowa. for  the  purpose  «)f 
aiding  said  Territory  to  improve  the  navigation  of  the  Des  Moines  River  from  its 
month  to  the  Raccoon  Fork,  (so  called.)  in  said  Territory,  one  equal  moiety,  in  alter- 
nate sections  of  the  public  lauds,  (remaining  unsold  and  not  otherwise  disposed  of, 
encumbered,  or  appropriated,)  in  a  strip  five  miles  in  width  on  each  side  of  said  river, 
to  be  selected  within  said  Territory  by  an  agent,  or  agents,  to  be  appointed  by  the 
governor  thereof,  suliject  to  the  approval  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  of  the  United 
States." 

This  grant,  you  perceive,  affects  the  land  five  miles  in  width  on  each  side  of  the 
Des  Moines,  from  thn  southern  boundary  of  your  district  to  the  Raccoon  Fork  of  the 
Des  Moines,  as  shown  by  the  inclosi^d  diagram.  No  action  can  be  had  by  you  in  this 
matter,  however,  till  you  are  advined  by  the  governor  whether  he  will  select  the  sec- 
tions with  the  odd  or  those  with  the  even  numbered.  As  soon  as  you  are  so  advised 
you  will  please  reserve  from  sale  or  entry  of  any  kind  all  the  unsold  and  unappro- 
priated lauds  in  the  sections  .selected  by  him  till  further  orders  from  this  office. 
Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

JAMES  H.  PIPER, 

Acting  Commissioner, 

Regthtkr  and  Receiver, 

Iowa  Citfff  lotca. 

On  the  0th  of  Jannary,  1847,  the  legislature  of  Iowa  accepted  the 
grant,  and  appointed  agt*nts  to  select  the  lands  embraced  in  the  grant, 
under  the  direction  of  Mr.  Piper,  Acting  Commissioner  of  the  General 
Land-OflBce.  No  hinds  were  selected  north  and  west  of  the  Raccoon  Fork 
at  this  time.  This  <M)natrnction  of  the  grant- was  acquiesced  in  for  some 
time,  and  the  country  north  of  Raccoon  Fork  was  occupied  by  settlers. 

On  the  23d  day  of  February,  1848,  Richard  M.  Young,  Gommissiooer 
of  the  General  Land-Office,  wrote  the  board  of  public  works,  which  had 
been  created  by  a  joint  resolution  of  the  general  assembly  of  Iowa,  ap- 
proved January  9,  1847,  for  the  purpose  of  carrying  out  the  trust  and 
improving  the  Des  Moines  River,  in  which  he  placed  upon  the  grant  of 
1846  a  construction  different  from  that  of  Acting  Commissioner  Piper. 
The  letter  of  Mr.  Young  is  as  follows  : 

A  question  has  arisen  as  to  tbe  extent  of  the  grant  made  to  Iowa  by  the  act  ot  8th 
August.  1846,  and  the  opinion  of  this  Office  haa  been  requested  on  that  point. 

H.v  the  terms  of  tbe  law  the  grant  is  of  au  equal  moiety  in  alternate  sections  of  tbe 
pub  ic  lands  remaining  unsold  and  not  otherwise  disposed  of,  inoumbered  or  appro- 
priated, in  a  strip  hve  miles  in  width  on  each  side  of  the  river,  to  be  selected  within 
said  teiTitory,  &o.,  and  the  proceeds  are  to  be  applied  in  the  improvement  of  the 
navigation  of  that  river  from  its  mouth  to  the  Raccoon  Forks.  Hence  the  S^Ate  is  en- 
titled to  the  alternate  sections  within  tive  miles  of  the  Des  Moines  River,  throughont 
•the  whole  extent  of  that  river,  within  the  limits  of  Iowa. 
Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

RICHARD  M.  YOUNG, 

GotNmwMoiier. 
Charles  Corkury,  Esq., 

Secretary  Board  of  Public  WorkSj  Fairfield^  loxoa. 


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DES   MOINES   RIVER   GRANT.  5 

Notwithstanding  the  opinion  expressed  in  tbe  above  letter  of  the 
Commissioner  as  to  the  extent  of  the  grant,  tlie  President,  on  the  19th 
day  of  June,  1848,  proclaimed  the  lands  for  sale  at  the  Iowa  City  land- 
office,  the  sale  to  take  place  on  the  16th  d<ay  of  October,  1848.  The 
usnal  notice  was  given  to  pre-emptors  to  make  the  required  proofs  and 
pay  for  their  lands,  and  many  of  them  did  so,  and  these  titles  had  not 
been  questioned  for  many  years. 

On  the  18th  day  of  September,  1848,  the  board  of  public  works  wrote 
the  Commissioner  of  the  General  Land-Office,  remonstrating  against  the 
Side  as  public  lands  of  any  lands  above  the  Raccoon  Fork  which  he  had 
by  liis  letter  of  Febru«nry  23, 1848,  decided  were  inchnled  in  the  grant  of 
1846.  This  remonstrance  is  as  follows,  and  signed  by  the  secretary  of  the 
board: 

Office  of  thk  Board  of  Pitbltc  Works, 

Keokuk,  loica,  September  18,  1848. 
Sir:  The  attention  of  thin  office  has  been  called  to  the  proclamation  of  the  President 
of  the  United  St-ates,  bearing;  date  the  lUth  of  June  last,  for  the  sale  of  lands  in  Iowa, 
by  which  I  perceive  that  lauds  donated  to  this  State  for  the  iniprowment  of  the  JDea 
Moines  River,  are  to  be  offered  for  sale  at  I(»wft  City  on  Monday,  the  16th  October  next. 
The«e  lands  are  situated  above  the  Raccoon  Fork  of  the  Dfs  Moines  River,  in  town- 
ships Noe.  79,  yO,  range  Nos.  25,  :i6,  &c.,  and  a  sale  by  the  United  States  will  be  in  con- 
flict with  yonr  opinion  expressed  to  nie  in  yonr  letter  of  the  23d  of  Febrnary  last,  in 
which  yon  say  that  the  $tate  is  entitled  to  the  alternate  sections  within  five  miles  of 
the  I>e8  Moinee  River  throngfaont  the  whole  extent  of  that  river  within  the  limits  of 
Iowa. 

Your  very  liberal  opinion  has  inflnenced  this  board  to  place  sixty  miles  of  the  con- 
templated improvement  under  contract,  in  addition  to  the  thirty  miles  Hrst  let.  and  the 
State  would  now  be  greatly  embarrassed  by  any  impediment  to  her  favorable  prospects 
in  this  regard.  We  believe  that  the  fact  of  having  those  lands  embraced  in  the  pro- 
clamation was  an  oversight,  without  any  intention  to  curtail  the  resources  of  the  State, 
aod  that  it  will  ba  corrected  on  being  discovered. 
Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

CHARLES  CORKERY. 
Hon.  R.  M.  Young, 

€k>mmi99ioner  General  Land-Office, 

On  the  8th  January,  1849,  the  Senators  and  Representatives  of  Iowa, 
then  in  Washington,  addressed  a  letter  to  the  Hon.  R.  J.  Walker,  Sec- 
retary of  the  Treasury,  also  remonstrating  against  the  action  of  the  Com- 
missioner of  the  General  Land-Office  in  limitiug  the  extent  of  the  grant 
to  the  Raccoon  Forks,  which  he  had  doue  negatively  by  issuing  the  proc- 
lamation of  June  19,  1848,  although  he  had  not  formally  promulgated 
any  opinion  different  from  that  exi)re8sed  in  his  letter  of  February  23, 
1848,  In  answer  to  this  letter  of  the  delegation  from  Iowa,  the  Secre- 
tary made  the  following  response : 

Treasury  Department,  March  %  1849. 
Gextlemkn:  I  have  the  botior  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  yonr  communication 
of  8th  January  last,  and  accompanying  papers,  on  tbe  construction  of  tbe  act  of  Con- 
jcnrss  **(;;ranttng  lands  to  the  Territory  of  Iowa  to  aid  in  the  impnivement  of  the  navi- 
gation of  the  Des  Moines  River,  in  said  Territory,"  approved  8fch  August,  1846.  I  con- 
car  with  yoa  in  the  views  contained  in  yonr  coiiimnnication,  and  am  of  the  opinion 
that  the  grant  in  qaeetion  extends,  as  therein  stated,  on  both  siden  of  the  river  from  its 
9ource  to  U$  mouthy  bnt  noli  to  lands  on  the  river  in  the  State  of  Missouri.  I  have  trans- 
mitt«4  your  cnmmnnication  and  accompanying  papers,  with  a  copy  of  this  letter,  to  the 
Comniiaaioner  of  the  General  Land-Otflce. 
I  have  the  honor,  Slc., 

R.  J.  WALKER, 

Secretary  of  Treasury, 
Messrs.  A.  C.  DoDGB,  and  others. 


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6  DES   MOINES   RIVER   GRANT. 

On  the  same  da}^  the  Secretary  also  addressed  to  the  Commissioner 
of  the  Geueral,  Land-Office  a  letter  as  follows : 

Treasury  Department,  March  2,  1849. 
Sir  :  For  yonr  ioformatioD  and  government  on  tbe  subject  to  which  it  refers  I  incloHe 
a  copy  of  a  letter,  adtlressed  by  me  under  this  date,  to  members  in  both  Houses  of 
Conjjress  from  the  State  of  Iowa,  with  reference  to  the  constniction  of  the  act  of  Hth 
of  Aujrugt,  1846,  granting  certain  lands  to  the  Territory  of  Iowa  to  aid  in  the  improve- 
ment of  the  navigation  of  the  Des  Moines  River.  I  also  inclose  a  letter  to  which  the 
within  is  a  reply,  and  accompanying  papers. 
Very  resi»ectfully, 

R.  J.  WALKER. 
R.  M.  Young,  Cammisnoner. 

On  the  1st  day  of  June,  1849,  Mr.  Young,  the  Commissioner,  wrot^ 
the  register  and  receiver  at  Iowa  City  the  following  letter : 

General  Land-Oi^i-'ice,  June  1,  1849. 
Gentlemen  :  The  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  having  decided  that  the  grant  to  tbe 
State  of  Iowa  under  the  act  of  the  8th  of  Augnst,  1846,  extended  along  the  Des  Moines 
River  to  its  source,  and  that  it  did  not  stop  at  the  Raccoon  Fork,  as  this  office  had  pre- 
vionsly  decided,  you  are  hereby  directed  to  withhold  from  sale  all  lauds  situated  on 
the'  odd-numbered  sections  within  five  miles  ou  each  side  of  that  river  aUove  the 
Raccoon  Fork.  Inclosed  I  send  yon  a  diagram,  uiK>n  which  the  State  selections  above 
that  point  are  colored  yellow. 

I  have  also  to  request  that  you  will  make  out  a  list,  showing  the  sales  and  locations 
which  have  been  made  within  those  selections,  as  it  is  designed  tti  endeavor  to  procure 
some  legislative  action  on  the  part  of  Congress  confirmatory  of  them.  The  diagram 
inclosed  extends  83  north,  26  west,  being  as  far  as  the  surveys  have  progressed  in  that 
direction. 

I  am,  yery  respectfullv,  yonr  obedient  servant, 

R.  M.  YOUNG, 

CommiHition  cr. 
Register  and  Receiver, 

/oira  6't<^,  lo\oa. 

This  conakiiction  was  sustained  by  the  opinion  of  the  Attorney -Gen- 
eral, and  we  submit  a  copy  of  the  syllabus  of  the  opinion  of  Attorney- 
General  Johnson  addressed  to  the  President,  of  date  July  19,  1850,  re- 
ported in  volume  5,  page  240,  Opinions  of  Attorneys-General : 

The  grant  of  alternate  sections  of  land  on  the  Des  Moines  River  to  Iowa  by  the  act 
of  8th  August,  1846,  extends  the  entire  length  of  the  stream,  as  well  above  as  below 
the  Raccoon  Fork.  The  purpose  ot  the  grant  was  to  aid  Iowa  to  improve  the  navirra- 
tion  of  the  said  river  from  its  mouth  to  tbe  Raccoou  Fork,  but  the  graut  itself  is  not 
limited  to  the  section  to  be  thus  improved. 

But  the  question  was  disposed  of  by  a  former  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  while  th« 
Land-Office  belonged  to  his  D<)partmeiir..  and  the  subject  in  now  r<»  ad;iu2tcafa  and  be- 
yond the  control  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior.  (Bank  of  the  Metropolis  v«.  Tbe 
United  States,  15  Peters,  401.) 

This  construction  being  questioned,  a  case  was  made  before  Mr.  Ewin^, 
Secretary  of  the  Interior,  and  upon  the  6th  day  of  April,  1850,  he  re- 
versed the  ruling  of  Mr.  Walker,  and  held  that  the  grant  was  lirnitetl  to 
Raccoon  Fork,  and  on  the  same  day  he  wrote  the  Commissioner  of  the 
General  Land-Office  the  following  letter: 

Department  op  the  Intehior, 

WoMhingUm^  April  6,  1^50. 
Sir  :  Having  considered  the  question  submitted  to  me  connected  with  the  claim  of 
the  State  of  Iowa  to  select  nnder  the  act  of  Augnst  8, 1846,  lauds  for  the  improvement 
of  the  Des  Moines  River,  I  am  clearly  of  the  opinion  that  you  cannot  recognize  tbe 
graut  as  extending  above  the  Raccoon  Fork  without  the  aid  of  an  explanattiry  act  of 
Congress.  It  is  clear  to  my  mind,  from  the  language  of  the  act  of  August  8, 1846,  itself, 
that  it  was  not  th<^  intent  of  the  act  to  extend  it  farther.  My  construction  is  confirmed 
by  the  report  of  the  committee  and  the  accompanying  papers.  If  in  any  report  to 
Congress  you  huve  recognized  the  grant  as  extending  to  the  sonroe  of  the  river,  it  'wiU 
be  proj>er  to  correct  it,  that  Congress,  if  they  see  fit,  may  extend  the  graut.     The 


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DES   MOINES   RIVER   GRANT.  7 

opinioD  expressed  by  the  late  Secretary  of  the  Treasary  on  the  subject  is  entitled  to 
j^T^t  respect,  but  I  cannot  concur  in  it,  and  the  law  not  having  been  carried  into  effect 
%  him,  his  opinion,  merely  expressed,  is  open  for  reversion. 

The  lists  of  selections  and  other  papers  submitted  with  your  letter  of  the  13th  ultimo 
are  herewith  returned. 

As  Congress  is  now  in  session,  and  may  take  action  on  the  subject,  it  will  be  proper, 
in  my  opinion,  to  postpone  any  immediate  steps  for  bringing  into  market  the  lands 
embraced  in  the  Staters  selections. 

I  am,  sir,  very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

T.  EWING,  Secretary, 

The  Commissioner  of  ike  General  Land-Office. 

Mr.  Ewing's  successor,  Mr.  Stuart,  held  a  different  opinion,  and  on 
the  29th  day  of  October,  1851,  he  ruled  that  the  grant  of  August  8,  1840, 
extended  to  the  north  line  of  the  State  of  Iowa.  The  following  is  his 
letter  to  the  Commissioner  of  the  General  Land-Office  upon  that 
subject : 

Department  of  the  Interior, 

WashingiOHj  October  29,  1851. 

Sir  :  I  herewith  return  all  the  papers  in  the  Dee  Moines  case,  which  were  recalled 
from  your  office  ahout  the  first  of  the  present  month.  I  have  reconsidered  and  care- 
fnlly  revised  my  decision  of  the  26th  of  July  last,  and  in  doing  so  find  that  no  decision 
which  I  can  make  will  he  final,  as  the  question  involved  partakes  more  of  a  judicial 
than  of  an  executive  character,  which  must  ultimately  he  deternfined  by  the  judicial 
trihanals  of  the  country  ;  and  although  my  own  opinion  on  the  true  construction  of 
the  grant  is  unchanged,  yet,  in  view  of  the  ^reat  confl^ict  of  opinion  among  the  execu- 
tive officers  of  the  Government,  and  also  in  view  of  the  opinion  of  several  eminent  jiv- 
rists  which  have  been  presented  to  me  in  favor  of  the  construction  contended  for  by 
the  State,  I  am  willing  to  recognize  the  claim  of  the  State,  and  to  approve  the  selec- 
tions withont  prejudice  to  the  rights,  if  any  there  be,  of  other  parties,  thus  leaving  the 
qaestion  as  to  the  proper  construction  of  the  statute  entirely  open  to  the  action  of  the 
judiciary. 

You  will  please,  therefore,  as  soon  as  may  be  practicable,  submit  for  ray  approval 
such  lists  as  have  been  prepared,  and  proceed  to  report  for  like  approval  lists  of  the 
alternate  sections  claimed  by  the  State  of  Iowa,  above  the  Raccoou  Fork  as  far  as  the 
sorveys  have  progresm^d  or  may  hereafter  be  completed  and  returned. 
I  am,  sir,  very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

ALEX.  H.  H.  STUART,  Secieiary. 

The  CoM3kfi!:»8ioNER  of  the  General  Land-Office. 

Mr.  Stuart  had  also  requested  the  opinion  of  the  Attorney-General, 
and  we  submit  a  copy  of  the  syllabus  of  the  opinion  of  Attorney- Greu- 
eral  Crittenden,  delivered  to  Secretary  Stuart,  of  date  June  30,  1851, 
reported  in  volume  5,  Opinions  of  Attorneys-General,  page  390  : 

The  act  of  Congress  of  8th  Augnst,  1846,  granting  to  the  Territory  of  Iowa,  for  the 
purpose  of  aiding  to  improve  the  navigation  of  the  Des  Moines  River  from  its  mouth 
u>  the  Raccoon  Fork,  one  equal  moiety  in  alternate  sections  of  the  public  lauds  in  a 
strip  five  miles  in  width  on  each  side  of  said  river,  to  be  selected,  &c.,  subject  to  the 
approval  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  did  not  include  the  land  above  Raccoon 
Fork. 

The  opinion  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  on  this  subject,  expressed  on  the  2d  of 
March,  1849,  has  no  obligatory  effect  on  the  power  of  his  successor  to  reject  the  selec- 
tions made  under  it  in  the  event  of  a  disagreement  as  to  the  proper  construction  of  the 
act. 

Nor  was  the  opinion  of  Attorney-General  of  Jnly  19,  1850,  more  than  advisory.  No 
law  makea  it  binding  upon  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior. 

Under  this  ruling  of  Secretary  Staart  the  lands  north  of  Raccoon 
Pork,  for  a  distance  of  eighty  miles,  were  certified  as  inuring  to  Iowa 
under  the  act  of  1846,  and  the  following  is  Mr.  Stuart's  approval 
thereof: 

Department  of  the  Interior, 

October  30,  1851. 
The  selections  emhraced  in  the  within  list  (No.  3)  are  lierehy  approved,  in  accord- 
ance with  the  view  expressed  in  my  letter  of  the  ^th  instant  to  the  Commissioner  of 


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8  DES   MOINES   RIVER   GRANT. 

tbe  General  Land-Office,  subject  to  any  ri^ts  which  may  have  existed  at  the  time  the 
selections  were  made  known  to  tbe  land-office  by  the  agents  of  tbe  State,  it  beinj;  ex- 
pressly nnderstood  that  this  approval  conveys  to  tbe  State  no  title  to  any  tract  or 
tracts  which  may  have  been  sold  or  otherwise  disposed  of  prior  to  the  receipt  by  the 
local  land-officers  of  the  letter  of  the  Commissioner  of  the  General  Laud-Office  cora- 
mnnicating  the  decision  of  Mr.  Secretary  Walker,  to  the  effect  that  the  grant  extended 
above  the  Raccoon  Fork. 

ALEX.  H.  H.  STUART,  Secretary. 

And  these  are  the  lands  embraced  in  the  bill  under  consideration. 

Again,  on  tlie  25th  day  of  March,  1856,  the  Commissioner  of  the 
General  Land  OflBce.  in  a  case  before  him,  decided  that  the  grant  of 
1846  did  not  extend  above  Raccoon  Fork.  On  appeal,  Mr,  McClelland, 
Secretary  of  the  Interior,  sustained  the  Commissioner,  but  he  referred 
the  matter  to  the  Attorney-General,  Mr.  Cashing,  who  under  date  of 
May  10,  1856,  in  an  elaborate  opinion  sustained  the  Commissioner  upon 
the  questions  of  law  and  fact  involved,  but  in  view  of  the  former  contliet- 
ing  rulings  of  the  Department  touching  the  question,  he  suggested  con- 
formity to  the  ruling  of  Mr.  Stuart,  if  the  State  of  Iowa  would  agree 
to  release,  &c. 

We  copy  the  syllabus  of  the  opinion  reported  in  volume  7,  page  691, 
Opinions  of  Attorneys-General. 

Congress  in  1846,*  for  the  purpose  of  improving  the  navigation  of  the  Des  Moines 
River  from  its  month  to  the  Raccoon  Fork,  granted  to  the  Territory  of  Iowa  alternate 
sections  of  land  in  a  strip  five  miles  in  width  on  each  side  of  said  river. 

As  construed  by  tbe  Government  at  the  time,  and  as  accepted  by  the  State  of  Iowa, 
this  grant  extended  only  to  the  Raccoon  Fork. 

Subsequently  to  this,  the  Secretary  for  the  time  being  (Walker)  expressed  an  opin- 
ion that  the  grant  extended  up  the  river  to  its  source,  but  went  out  of  office  the  next 
day  without  this  opinion  having  received  execution.  The  succeeding  Secretary 
(Ewing)  entertained  a  different  opinion,  and  refused  to  approve  selections  above  the 
fork. 

Reference  being  made  to  the  Attorney-General,  (Johnson,)  he  expressed  opinion  that 
the  grant  extended  to  the  source  of  the  river,  but  the  Secretary  did  npt  act  on  that 
opinion. 

Reference  was  then  made  to  the  succeeding  Attorney-General,  (Crittenden,)  who  held 
that  the  grant  did  not  extend  above  tbe  fork. 

The  Secretary  (Stuart)  entertained  and  officially  expressed  the  same  opinion  ;  but 
withrut  changing  his  opinion,  and  in  his  order  expressly  saying  it  was  unchanged,  he 
ordered  selections  to  be  allowed  above  the  fork  up  to  the  north  boundary  of  the  State. 

On  question  of  duty  of  the  present  Secretary,  (McClelland,)  it  is  held — 

I.  The  true  construction  of  the  act  and  its  intention  were  to  grant  lands  from  the 
mouth  of  the  river  to  Raccoon  Fork  and  no  farther. 

II.  Even  if  by  construction  heretofore  the  grant  extended  above  the  fork,  it  cannot 
pass  beyond  the  limits  of  the  State  of  Iowa  iut-o  Minnesota. 

III.  The  opinion  expressed  by  Secretary  Walker  being  opinion  only,  did  not  conclude 
any  of  bis  successors  or  bind  the  Government. 

IV.  The  action  of  Secretary  Stuart  cannot  be  reversed  by  his  successor  in  so  far  as 
regards  selections  made  and  approved  by  him,  but  is  not  obligatory  any  further  ou 
himself  or  his  successors. 

V.  The  opinion  of  the  Attorney-General  for  the  time  being  is  in  terms  advisory  to 
the  Secretary  who  calls  for  it ;  but  it  is  obligatory  as  the  law  of  the  case,  unless,  on 
appeal  by  such  Secretary  to  the  common  superior  of  himself  and  the  Attorney-General, 
namely  the  President  of  the  United  States,  it  be  by  the  latter  overruled. 

VI.  In  the  present  state  of  this  question  the  actual  Secretary  is  free  to  elect  either 
to  act  on  the  opinion  of  Secretary  Walker  as  construed  by  Secretary  Stuart,  and  approve 
up  to  the  northern  boundary  of  the  State,  but  no  higher,  or  to  return  to  the  true  and 
original  construction  of  the  act,  refusing  to  allow  further  selections  above  Raccoon  Fork. 

VII.  But  the  Secretary  cannot  lawfully  acquiesce  in  and  abide  by  the  rule  of  action 
of  Secretary  Stuart  unless  that  rule  be  also  acccpte<l  by  the  State  of  Iowa ;  it  no  more 
binds  one  than  the  other,  and  unless  the  State  relinquishes  all  claim  to  land  above  its 
north  boundary  the  Secretary  is  bound  to  refuse  to  permit  selections  above  Raccoon 
Fork. 

It  appears,  however,  that  Mr.  McClelland  did  not  follow  the  advice  of 
the  Attorney -General,  because  on  the  10th  day  of  Kovember,  185G,  when 


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DES   MOINES   RIVER   GRANT.  9 

requested  to  certify  the  remaining  portion  of  the  land  as  inuring  to 
Iowa  under  the  act  of  1846,  he  declined  to  do  so. 

His  letter  upon  the  subject  was  addressed  to  Hon.  Eeverdy  Johnson, 
of  which  the  following  is  a  copy  : 

Department  of  the  Interior, 

November  10,  1H56. 

Sir  :  Having  daly  oooBidered  the  subject  brought  to  my  attention  personally  a  few 
days*  ginee,  and  specially  referred  to  in  yonr  letter  of  this  date,  I  have  not  been  able  to 
satinfy  myself  that  the  Department  has  any  power  to  issne  patents  where  the  law  not 
only  does  not  authorize  it  to  be  done,  bnt  provides  another  mode  for  the  passing  of  the 
title  to  the  lands  in  question ;  and  the  practice  having  been  in  accordance  with  this 
view  of  the  absence  of  authority,  I  deem  it  proper  to  adhere  to  it. 

In  the  opinion  of  the  Attorney-General  of  the  29th  May  last,  in  the  Des  Moines  River 
case,  it  is  so  stated :  In  so  far  as  regards  selections  already  approved,  .wh«itber  by 
yoorself  or  by  Mr.  Stuart,  it  is  clear  that  the  Government  cannot  undo  that.  What 
Mr.  Stuart  did  in  this  respect  with  deliberation,  what  you  did  without  the  question 
involved  bein^;  suggested  to  you,  was,  in  each  case,  done  by  the  competent  legal  au- 
thority, and  binds  the  Government.  One  Secretary  has  no  more  lawful  power  to  undo 
a  thing  lawfully  done  by  his  predecessor  in  a  matter  of  grant  than  in  a  matter  of  ac- 
count— no  more  right  where  a  settlement  is  in  favor  of  a  third  party  than  where  it  is 
in  favor  of  the  United  States.  Where  a  thing  is  decided  and  done  by  the  head  of  a 
Department  acting  within  the  scope  of  his  lawful  authority,  it  can  be  revised  by  his 
snceesAor  only  on  the  ground  of  mistake  in  a  matter  of  fact  on  the  discovery  and  pro- 
daetion  of  material  new  testimony.^ Mr.  Crittenden's  opinion  of  December  25,  1852, 
U.  S.  See  also  Bank  of  Metropolis  vs.  United  States,  15  Peters,  p.  400 ;  ex  parte  Ran- 
dolph. 2  Brocken,  p.  470.)  If  the  acts  of  Mr.  Stuart  and  yourself  in  this  respect  had 
undertaken  (as  they  do  not)  to  dispose  of  any  contending  rights  of  third  parties,  the 
latt4'r  would  have  had  their  remedy  at  law.  But  what  you  have  done  is  final  as  re- 
spects the  United  States. 

In  the  foregoing  views  of  the  Attorney-General  I  have  concurred ;  and  for  the  reason 
that  the  acts  of  approval  by  Mr.  Stuart  and  myself  have  divested  the  United  States  of 
the  title,  I  can  see  still  further  ground  to  decline  issuing  a  patent  or  patents,  as  that 
^onld  be  assuming  that  the  title  had  not  yet  passed,  and  the  question  would  be  yet 
o]»en  for  adjustment,  like  selections  not  yet  approved. 
Respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

R.  MCCLELLAND, 

Seoretarif, 

Hon.  R.  J0HN8ON, 

Baltimore,  Md. 

Mr.  JohnsoD  was  acting  as  attorney  for  the  Des  Moines  Navigation 
and  Railroad  Company,  upon  which  the  State  had  confirmed  the  grant. 
Hence  there  remained^  not  certified,  the  lands  in  a  belt  near  one  hun- 
dred miles  long. 

In  January,  1849,  the  State  of  Iowa  created  a  board  of  public  works, 
and  undertook  the  improvement  of  the  navigation  of  the  river  through 
the  board,  and  did  an  amount  of  labor  thereon  and  sold  portions  of  the 
laud. 

On  the  9th  day  of  June,  1854,  the  State  contracted  with  a  corporation, 
known  as  the  Des  Moines  Navigation  and  Railroad  Company,  to  com- 
plete the  improvement,  estimated  to  cost  $1,300,000,  and  agreed  to  con- 
vey to  the  company  all  the  land  then  or  thereafter  to  be  certified  to 
Iowa  for  improvement  pnriH>ses. 

When  the  Commissioner  of  the  Greneral  Land  Office  and  the  Secretary 
of  the  Interior,  on  the  10th  day  of  November,  1856,  declined  to  certify 
any  more  lands  under  the  grant,  the  company  declined  to  proceed  with 
the  work,  and  dispute  arose  between  the  State  and  the  company,  which, 
by  joint  resolution  of  the  Iowa  legislature,  approved  March  22, 1858, 
was  settled ;  the  State  conveying  to  the  company  all  the  lands  certified 
to  the  State  at  that  date,  under  the  act  of  184i5,  in  payment  of  all  claims 
of  the  company  against  the  State  on  account  of  the  improvement,  and 


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10  DES   MOINES   EIVER   GRANT. 

the  improvement  of  the  navigation  of  the  river  was  thereafter  aban- 
doned. 

The  following  is  a  copy  of  the  joint  resolution  of  the  Iowa  legislature 
respecting  the  settlement,  future  grant,  &c.: 

JOINT  RESOLUTION  containing  propoBitions  for  a  settlement  with  the  Des  Moines  NaTigation  and 

Railroad  Company. 

Wliereas  tbe  Des  Moines  Navigation  and  Railroad  Couipauy  have  heretofore  claimed, 
,  and  do  now  claim,  to  have  entered  into  certain  contracts  with  the  State  of  Iowa,  by 
its  officers  and  agents,  concerning  the  improvement  of  the  Des  Moines  River  in  the 
State  of  Iowa;  and  whereas  disagreements  and  misunderstandings  have  arisen,  and 
do  now^  exist,  between  the  States  of  Iowa  and  said  company,  and  it  being  conceived  to 
be  the  interests  of  all  parties  concerned  to  have  said  matters  and  all  matters  and 
things  between  said  company  and  the  State  of  Iowa  settled  and  adjusted :  now, 
therefore,  . 

Be  it  resolved  hy  the  general  assembly  of  the  State  of  lowa^  That  for  the  purpose  of  such 
settlement,  and  for  that  purpose  only,  the  following  propositions  are  made  by  the  State 
to  said  company :  That  the  said  company  shall  execute  to  the  State  of  Iowa  full 
releases  and  discharges  of  all  contracts,  agreements,  and  claims  with  or  against  the 
State,  including  rights  to  water-rents  which  may  have  heretofore  or  do  now  exist,  and 
all  claims  of  all  kinds  against  the  State  of  Iowa  and  the  lands  connected  with  the 
Des  Muines  River  improvement,  excepting  such  as  are  hereby  by  the  State  secured  to 
the  said  company,  and  also  surrender  to  said  State  the  dredge-boat  and  its  appurte- 
nances, belonging  to  said  improvement;  and  the  State  of  Iowa  shall,  by  its  proper 
officer,  certify  and  convey  to  the  said  company  all  lands  granted  by  an  act  of  Congresn, 
approved  August  8,  1846,  to  the  then  Territory  of  Iowa,  to  aid  in  the  improvement  of 
the  Des  Moines  River,  which  have  been  approved  and  certified  to  the  State  of  Iowa  by 
the  General  Government,  saving  and  excepting  all  lands  sold  or  conveyed,  or  agreed  to 
be  sold  or  conveyed,  by  the  State  of  Iowa  by  its  officers  and  agents  prior  to  the  23d 
day  of  December,  1853,  under  said  grant ;  and  said  company,  or  its  assignees,  shall  have 
right  to  all  of  said  lands  so  herein  granted  to  them  as  fully  as  the  State  of  Iowa  could 
have,  under  or  by  virtue  of  said  grant,  or  in  any  m:Anner  whatever,  with  fnll  power  to 
settle  all  errors,  false  locations,  omissions  or  claims  in  reference  to  the  same,  and  all 
pay  or  compensation  therefor  by  the  General  Government,  but  at  the  cost  and  cliarges 
of  said  company;  and  the  State  to  hold  all  the  balance  of  said  lands,  and  all  rights, 
powers,  and  privileges  under  and  by  virtue  of  said  grant,  entirely  released  from  any 
claim  by  or  through  said  company;  audit  is  understood  that  among  the  lauds  ex- 
cepted and  not  granted  by  the  State  to  said  company,  are  25,487.87  acres  lying 
immediately  above  Raccoon  Forks,  supposed  to  have  been  sold  by  the  General  Gov- 
ernment, but  claimed  by  the  State  of  Iowa;  and  it  is  further  agreed  that  said 
company  release  and  convey  to  the  State  of  Iowa,  or  its  representatives,  all 
materials  of  every  kind  and  description,  prepared  for  or  intended  for  the  construction 
of  locks  or  dams  in  said  improvement,  wheresoever  the  same  may  be,  and  the  State 
shall  take  the  existing  contracts,  but  no  other  liabilities  of  any  name  or  nature  except- 
ing as  herein  provided,  for  constructing  or  repairing  the  works  on  said  improvement 
at  Keosauqua,  Bentonsport,  Plymouth,  and  Croton,  and  no  other  or  dilferent,  with  all 
liabilities  and  advantages  arising  upon  said  contracts  and  percentage  retained  therenu, 
excepting  that  the  company  shall  pay  all  estimates  for  work  done  or  material  prepared 
up  to  this  date,  beyond  the  percentage  retained  from  the  contractors  under  their  a^^ree- 
ments  |  and  the  said  company  shall  be  discharged  from  all  claims  against  the  State  or 
the  said  improvement,  or  any  of  its  officers  or  agents,  arising  from  or  growiug  out  t)f 
any  agreement  or  liability  prior  to  the  9th  day  of  June,  1854;  and  said  company  shall 
be  discharged  from  all  liability  for  the  claims  of  the  officers  of  the  State  for  services  or 
salaries.  The  said  company  hereby  agree  to  pay  the  State  the  snm  of  twenty  thousand 
dollars,  which  sum  shall  be  paid  to  the  order  of  the  commissioner  of  the  Des  Moiaes  River 
improvement  as  fast  as  he  may  require  the  same,  to  liquidate  existing  liabilities  again.st 
said  Des  Moines  River  improvement,  on  thirty  days'  notice  given  to  said  company  at 
their  office  in  the  city  of  New  York ;  and  any  bonds  or  certificates  of  indebtedness 
agaist  said  improvement  not  exceeding  in  amount  the  sum  of  eleven  thousand  dollars, 
which  are  now  due  and  unpaid,  are  to  be  received  in  part  payment  of  said  sum  of  twenty 
thoasand  dollars:  Provided^  That  no  liabilities  assumed  by  the  State  in  this  contract 
shall  be  a  charge  against  the  State  in  her  sovereign  capacity,  but  all  such  liabilities,  if 
any,  shall  be  chargeable  upon  and  payable  out  ofthe  remaining  lands  belonging  to  the 
Des  Moines  River  grant :  And  provided  also.  That  if  Congress  shall  permit  a  diver- 
sion of  the  lands  of  said  Des  Moines  River  grant,  or  the  title  thert)to  shall  become 
vested  in  the  State,  so  as  to  become  subject  to  grant,  the  said  remaining  lands,  after 
the  payment  of  all  the  liabilities  as  aforesaid,  against  said  improvement  and  tbe  com- 
pletion of  such  locks  and  dams  in  the  Des  Moines  River  as  the  legislature  shall  direct, 
shall  be  granted  to  the  Keokuk,  Fort  Des  Moines  and  Minnesota  Railroad  Comxmny ,  to 


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DES  MOINES  EIVER  GRANT.  11 

aid  in  the  constraction  of  a  railroad,  up  and  along  the  valley  of  the  Des  Motues  River, 
upon  snch  teniis  and  in  such  manner  as  the  legislature  may  provide ;  one-fourth  of 
which  said  lands  shall  he  applied  by  said  company  to  aid  in  the  construction  of  said 
road  above  the  city  of  Des  Moines:  And  provided  farther  ^  That  if  the  Des  Moines  Navi- 
gation and  Railroad  Company  shall  ratify  and  accept  these  propositions  for  a  contract 
by  filing  a  written  acceptance  thereof  in  the  office  of  secretary  of  state  within  sixty 
days  from  the  passage  of  this  joint  resolution,  then  this  contract  shall  be  in  force  and 
bind  both  of  the  parties  thereto. 
Approved  March  22,  1658. 

In  pursuance  of  this  resolution  the  governor  conveyed  to  the  naviga- 
tion company,  during  1858,  all  the  lands  then  certified  to  it  as  belong- 
ing to  the  grant  of  August  8, 1846,  by  several  deeds,  and  the  following 
is  the  form  of  such  conveyances : 

This  indenture,  made  this  I6th  day  of  May,  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  fifty- 
eight,  by  and  between  the  State  of  Iowa,  party  of  the  first  part,  and  the  Des  Moines 
Navigation  and  Railroad  Company,  parties  of  the  second  part,  witnesseth,  that  the  said 
party  of  the  first  part,  for  and  in  consideration  of  one  dollar  paid  by  the  parties  of  the 
second  part,  and  in  pursuance  of  the  contracts  and  agreements  between  the  State  of 
Iowa  and  the  said  Des  Moines  Navigation  and  Railroad  Company  for  the  improvement  of 
the  navigation  of  the  Des  Moines  River  in  the  State  of  Iowa,  and  in  pursuance  of  a 
joint  resolution  of  the  General  Assembly  of  the  State  of  Iowa,  approved  the  22d  day  of 
March,  1^58,  does  hereby  sell,  grant,  bargain,  and  convey  to  the  said  Des  Moines  Nav- 
igation and  RiMlroad  Company  the  following-described  lands,  to  wit :  All  lands  granted 
by  an  act  of  Congress  approved  August  8,  1846,  to  the  then  Territory  of  Iowa,  to  aid 
in  the  improvement  of  the  Des  Moines  River,  which  have  been  approved  and  certified 
to  the  State  of  Iowa  by  the  General  Government,  saving  and  excepting  all  lands  sold 
•nd  conveyed,  or  agreed  to  be  sold  or  conveyed  by  the  State,  by  its  officers  and  agents, 
prior  to  the  23d  day  of  December,  1B53,  under  said  grant;  and  said  company  or  it«  as- 
sies shall  have  right  to  all  of  said  lands  so  herein  granted  to  them  as  fully  as  the  State 
of  Iowa  could  have  under  or  by  virtue  of  said  grant,  or  in  any  manner  whatever,  with 
fall  power  to  settle  all  errors,  false  locations,  omissions,  or  claims  in  reference  to  the 
Mm«%  and  all  pay  or  compensation  therefor  by  the  General  Government,  but  at  the  costs 
and  charges  of  said  company,  and  the  State  to  hold  all  the  balance  of  said  lands,  and 
all  rights,  powers,  and  privileges  under  and  by  virtue  of  said  grant  entirely  released 
fnmi  any  claim  by  or  through  said  company.  And  it  is  understood  that  among  the 
Und»  excepted  and  not  granted  by  the  State  to  said  company  are  25,487,t:J7  acres  lying 
immwliately  above  Raccoon  Fork,  supposed  to  have  been  sold  by  the  General  Govern- 
ment, but  claimed  by  the  State  of  Iowa. 

To  have  and  to  hold  the  above  described  lands  and  each  and  every  parcel  thereof, 
vith  all  the  rights,  privileges,  immunities,  and  appurtenances  of  whatever  nature  there- 
auto  belonging  or  appertaining  unto  the  Des  Moines  Navigation  and  Railroad  Com- 
I»any,  their  successors  and  assigns  forever  iu  fee-simple. 

Id  testimony  whereof  I,  Ralph  P.  Lowe,  governor  of  the  State  of  Iowa,  have  caused 
tb«  };reat  seal  of  the  State  of  Iowa  to  be  hereunto  affixed. 

Given  under  my  hand,  at  the  city  of  Das  Moines,  the  day  and  year  first  above  writ- 
tm,  and  of  the  State  of  Iowa 

[L.  s.]  RALPH  P.  LOWE. 

By  the  Governor : 

Elijah  Sklls,  Secretary  of  Slate, 

By  Jno.  M.  Davis,  Deputy. 

The  25,4S7.87  acres  excepted  are  the  lands  sold  by  the  United  States 
at  the  Iowa  City  land-office  in  1848,  and  which  have  never  been  cerlifled 
t<i  the  State  nnder  the  grant  of  184G.  These  titles  have  never  been  seri- 
ously questioned. 

In  May,  1856,  Conjj^ress  granted  lands  to  the  State  of  Iowa  to  aid  in 
coostructi  ug  four  railroads  across  the  State,  from  east  to  west.  Three 
of  the  lines  crossed  the  land  in  question  at  and  above  Eaccoon  Fork. 
The  law  granting  the  land  (11  United  States  Statutes  at  Large,  pp.  9 
and  10)  is  aa  follows : 

AS  ACT  Btaklflg  a  grant  of  lands  to  the  State  of  Iowa  in  alternate  sections  to  aid  In  the  construction  of  cer- 
tain railroads  In  said  State. 

Be  \t  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of  the  United  States  of  Atneriea 
iB  f'ongress  assembled.  That  there  bo,  and  is  hereby,  granted  to  the  State  of  Iowa,  for 
the  purpose  of  aiding  in  the  uonBtruction  of  railroads  from  Burlington,  on  the  Missia- 


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12  D£S   MOINES   RIVER   GRANT. 

sippi  River,  to  a  point  on  the  MiKsouri  River,  near  the  mouth  of  the  Platte  River ;  from 
the  city  of  Davenport,  via  Iowa  City  and  Fort  Des  Moines,  to  Council  Bluffs;  from 
Lyons  City  northwesterly  to  a  point  of  intersectioj;i  with  the  main  line  of  the  Iowa 
Central  Air- Line  Railroad,  near  Maquoketa,  thenee  on  said  main  line,  running  as  near 
as  practicable  to  the  forty-second  parallel  across  the  said  Btate  to  the  Missouri  River^ 
from  the  city  of  Dubuque  to  a  point  on  the  Missouri  River  near  Sioux  City,  with  a 
branch  from  the  mouth  of  the  Tete  Des  Morts  to  the  nearest  point  on  said  road,  t'O  be 
completed  as  soon  as  the  main  road  is  completed  to  that  point,  every  alternate  section 
of  land,  designated  by  odd  nnmbers,  for  six  sections  in  width  on  each  side  of  each  of 
said  roads.  But  in  case  it  shall  appear  that  the  United  States  have,  when  the  liue^  or 
routes  of  »nn\  roads  are  definitely  fixed,  sold  any  sections,  or  any  parts  thereof,  granted 
as  aforesaid,  or  that  the  right  of  pre-emption  has  attached  to  the  same,  then  it  shall 
be  lawful  for  any  agent  or  agents,  to  be  appointed  by  the  governor  of  said  State,  to 
select,  snbject  to  the  approval  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  from  the  lands  of  the 
United  States  nearest  to  the  tiers  of  sections  above  specified,  so  much  land  in  alternate 
sections  or  parts  of  sections  as  shall  be  equal  to  such  lands  as  the  United  States  have 
sold  or  otherwise  appropriated,  or  to  which  the  rights  of  pre-emption  have  attached  as 
aforesaid ;  which  lands  (thus  selected  in  lieu  of  those  sold  and  [to]  which  pre-emption 
rights  have  attached,  as  aforesaid,  together  with  the  sections,  and  parts  of  sections, 
designated  by  odd  numbers  as  aforesaid,  and  appropriated  as  aforesaid)  shall  be  held 
by  the  State  of  Iowa  for  the  iise  and  purpose  aforesaid :  Promdedy  That  the  laud  to  be 
so  located  shall,  in  no  case,  be  further  than  fifteen  miles  from  the  lines  of  said  roads, 
and  selected  for  and  on  account  of  each  of  said  roads:  Provided  further^  That  the  lands 
hereby  granted  for  and  on  acconnt  of  said  roads  severally  shall  be  exclusively  applied 
in  the  construction  of  that  road  for  and  on  account  of  which  such  lands  are  hereby 
granted,  and  shall  be  disposed  of  only  as  the  w;ork  progresses,  and  the  same  shall  be 
applied  to  no  other  purpose  whatsoever:  And  provided  further  ^  That  any  and  all  lands 
heretofore  reserved  to  the  United  States,  by  any  act  of  Congress,  or  in  any  other 
manner  by  competent  authority,  for  the  purpose  of  aiding  in  any  object  of  internal 
improvement,  or  for  any  other  purpose  whatsoever,  be,  and  the  same  are  hereby,  re- 
served to  the  United  States  from  the  operation  of  this  act,  except  so  far  as  it  way  be 
found  necessary  to  locate  the  routes  of  said  railways  through  such  reserved  lands,  in 
which  case  the  right  of  way  only  shall  be  granted,  subject  to  the  approval  of  the  Pres- 
ident of  the  United  States. 

Sec.  2.  And  he  it  further  enacted^  That  the  sections  and  parts  of  sections  of  land  which, 
by  such  grants,  shall  remain  to  the  United  St-ates  within  six  miles  on  each  side  of  said 
roads,  shall  not  be  sold  for  less  than  double  the  minimum  price  of  public  lands  when 
sold ;  nor  shall  any  of  said  lands  become  subject  to  private  entry  until  the  same  have 
been  first  offered  at  public  sale  at  the  increased  priee. 

Sec.  3.  And  he  it  further  enactedj  That  the  said  lauds  hereby  granted  to  the  said  State 
shall  be  subject  to  the  disposal  of  the  legislature  thereof,  for  the  purpose  aforesaid, 
and  no  other;  and  the  said  railroads  shall  be  and  remain  public  highways  for  the  use 
of  the  Government  of  the  United  States,  free  from  toll  or  other  charge  upon  the  trans- 
portation of  any  property  or  troops  of  the  United  States. 

Skc.  4.  And  he  it  further  enactedy  That  the  lands  hereby  granted  to  said  State  shall 
be  disposed  of  b^  said  State  only  in  manner  following :  that  is  to  say,  that  a  quantity  of 
land  not  exceeding  one  hundred  and  twenty  sections  for  each  of  said  roacU,  and  in- 
cluded within  a  continuous  length  of  twenty  miles  of  each  of  said  roads,  may  be  sold; 
and  when  the  governor  of  said  State  shall  certify  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior  that  any 
twenty  continu6us  miles  of  any  of  said  roads  is  completed,  then  another  quantity  of  land 
hereby  granted,  not  to  exceed  one  hundred  and  twenty  sections  for  each  of  said  roads 
having  twenty  continnous  miles  completed  as  aforesaid,  and  included  within  a  oon- 
tinuous  length  of  twenty  miles  of  each  of  such  roads,  may  be  sold,  and  so  from  time  to 
time  until  said  roads  are  completed ;  and  if  any  of  said  roads  are  not  completed  within 
ten  years,  no  further  sale  shall  be  made,  and  the  lands  unsold  shall  revert  to  the  United 
States. 

Sec.  5.  And  he  it  further  enacted^  That  the  United  States  mail  shall  be  transported 
over  said  roads,  under  the  direction  of  the  Post-Office  Department,  at  snch  price  as 
Congress  may  by  law  direct :  Provided^  That  uutil  such  price  is  fixed  by  law,  the 
Postmaster-General  shall  have  the  power  to  determine  the  same. 

Approved  May  15,  1H56. 

The  State  of  Iowa,  by  an  act  of  the  legislature  approved  July  14, 1856, 
conferred  the  lands  granted  by  this  act  of  Congress  npon  four  railroad 
companies,  and  the  Mississippi  and  Missouri  River  Railroad  Company, 
the  Central  Air-Line  Railroad  Company,  and  the  Dubuque  and  Pacific 
Railroad  Company  received  the  grants  touching  the  land  under  consid- 
eration.   These  companies  claimed  the  odd-numbered  sections  within 


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DES   MOINES   RIVER   GRANT.  13 

five  miles  of  the  Des  Moines  River  within  their  limits  (fitlteen  miles  of 
their  location)  as  iuuriug  under  the  grant  of  May  15,  1856,  for  railroad 
purposes,  and  at  the  Decemb^T  term,  1859,  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
United  States,  the  question  came  before  the  court  in  the  case  of  Litch- 
field against  the  Dubuque  and  Sioux  City  Kailroad,  and  the  court  unan- 
imously held  that  the  grant  of  1840  was  limited  to  the  Raccoon  Fork, 
and  that  the  selection  and  certiticatiou  of  lands  above  that  point,  under 
that  act,  were  unauthorized  and  passed  no  title  to  Litchfield,  who  was 
grantee  of  the  Des  Moines  Navigation  and  Railroad  Company.  The  case 
is  reported  in  23  Howard  Reports,  66. 

In  this  case  the  court  did  not  pass  upon  the  defendant's  title;  it  sim- 
ply held  that  the  plaintiff  had  no  title,  and  dismissed  his  bill.  Yet, 
npon  the  belief  that  the  defendant  took  title  by  virtue  of  the  railroad 
grant  of  May  15,  1850,  and  the  action  of  the  Iowa  legislature,  and  that 
8uch  WHS  the  determination  of  the  court,  the  Land  Department  treated 
these  lands  as  falling  to  the  railroads  crossing  the  grant,  as  the  subjoined 
copy  of  the  following  corre8[M)ndence  will  show: 

Dkpartment  of  thk  Intkrior, 
General  Lamd-Office,  n'aghiwgton,  D.  C,  February  23,  1863. 
Sir:  Herewith  I  have  the  honor  to  lay  before  \oo  a  map  exhibiting  that  portion  of 
tb«  ronie  of  the  Des  Moines  improvement  iutereut  as  chiiraed  north  of  the  Raccoon, 
Dnder  the  ori^nal  fj^nxit  by  act  of  8tb  August,  184H,  (vol.  9,  page  77,)  and  also  ihe  Lines 
of  three  railroads  which  traverse  the  same  from  east  to  west,  iu  virtue  of  the  railroad 
{H^nt  to  the  State  by  act  of  ir)tb  of  May,  1856,  (vol.  11,  page  9,)  and  in  reference  to  the 
matter  respectfully  submit  the  following : 

1st.  Under  a  construction  given  to  the  Des  Moines  grant  of  8th  August,  1846,  there  was 
certified  conditionally,  by  your  predecessors  tracts  above  the  Raccoon  Forks  amount- 
ing in  the  aggregate  to  acres 271, 572. 24 

But  in  the  case  of  the  Dnbuque  and  Pacific  Railroad  Company  vs,  Litch- 
fifld,  S3  Howard,  the  Supreme  Court  settled  the  principle  whereby  the 
Des  Moines  improvement  claim  above  the  Raccoon  Forks,  under  said  act 
of  8th  August,  1846,  was  set  aside  and  rejected.  2d.  The  State  of  Iowa 
therea|>on  came  forward,  under  the  railroad  grant  by  act  of  15th  May, 
1856,  (vol.  11,  page  9,)  and  selects,  of  the  same  lands  mentioned  under 

the  first  bead,  the  quantity  of  acres 202,509.44 

Leaving  aa  area  of  acres  of  said  Des  Moines  selections  not  interfered  with 
by  the  railroads 69,062.80 

The  railroad  selections  thus  made,  and  entered  in  lists  Nos.  33  to  42  inclusive,  here- 
with, embrace  "sections  iu  place''  and  "  ii'demnity''  selections  for  the  Dubuque  and 
Sioux  City,  the  Iowa  Central  Air-Line,  the  Mississippi  and  Missonri  Railroads,  accord- 
ing to  Schedule  B,  heiewith. 

The  conflict  of  these  railroad  selections  with  the  Des  Moines  was  presented  to  your 
predecessor  in  report  dated  March  18,  1862,  in  connection  with  the  joint  resolution  ap- 
proved March  2,  1861,  (Statutes  1860>'6U  page  251,)  which  declares  *'  that  all  the  titles 
which  the  United  States  still  retain  in  the  tracts  of  land  along  the  Des  Moines  River, 
and  above  the  mouth  of  the  Raccoon  Forks  thereof,  in  the  State  of  Iowa,  which  have 
Wen  certified  to  said  State  improperly  by  the  Department  of  the  Interior  as  part  of 
the  grant  by  act  of  Congress  approved  August  eight,  eighteen  hundred  and  forty-six,  and 
which  is  now  held  by  bona-fidn  purchasers  under  the  State  of  Iowa,  be,  and  the  same  is 
hereby,  relinquished  to  the  State  of  Iowa.'' 

Secretary  Smith,  npon  said  report,  ruled,  under  date  10th  April,  1862,  that  "  such  of 
the  lands  as  are  embraced  iu  the  aot  making  the  railroad  gravity  approved  May  15. 1856. 
are  to  be  disposed  of  according  to  the  terms  of  that  act,  and  that  without  auy  regard 
to  the  fact  of  their  having  been  certified  under  the  act  of  8th  August,  1846,"  and  fur- 
ther directed  that "  after  carefully  satisfying  the  demands  of  the  State,  embraced  by  that 
act,  so  much  of  the  residue  of  the  lands  north  of  the  month  of  the  Raccoon  Forks  as 
were  certified  under  the  supposed  grant  of  August  Q,  1846,  and  which  the  State  of  Iowa 
had  sold  to  bona-fide  purchasers  prior  to  2d  March,  1861,  will  be  also  certified  to  the 
SUte  of  Iowa." 

Now,  in  regard  to  this  latter  part  of  Secretary  Smith's  ruling,  it  is  proper  to  invito 
attention  to  the  fact  that  the  sales  thns  alluded  to  by  him,  and  referred  to  in  the  Joint 
reaolntioD  of  2d  March,  1861.  as  made  by  the  State  of  Iowa  to  certain  purchasers  under 
the  transcripts  certified  nnaer  said  erroneous  oonstmction  of  the  act  of  dth  August^ 


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14  ,  DES  MOINES   BIVEE   GRANT. 

1846,  for  land  above  the  Raccoon  Forks,  are  reported  as  embracing  all  the  lands  thns 
''  improperly "  certified  for  the  Des  Moines  improvement  above  the  said  Raccoon 
Forks. 

In  this  connection  it  will  be  observed  that  In  thS  act  of  12th  July,  186*2,  (Statutes, 
page  54.%)  extending  the  Des  Moines  improvement  to  the  northern  boundary  of  Iowa, 
and  providing  for  iudemniiy  to  that  improvement  interest  where  the  land  bad  been 
sold  by  the  United  States,  there  is  an  exception  made  to  those  released  to  the  vendees 
of  Iowa  by  said  joint  resolution,  coupled  with  an  express  stipulation  to  this  effect : 
**  that  if  the  said  State  shall  have  sold  and  conveyed  any  portion  of  the  lands  lying 
within  the  limits  of  this  grant,  ^by  act  of  12th  July,  1862,)  the  title  of  which  has 
proved  iuvald,  any  lands  which  shall  be  certified  to  said  State  in  lien  thereof  by  vir- 
tue of  the  proviHions  of  this  act,  shall  iunre  to  and  be  held  as  a  trust-fund  for  the 
benefit  of  the  person  or  persons  respectively,  whose  titles  shall  have  failed  as  afore- 
said." Now,  in  submitting  these  railroad-lists  for  your  consideration,  in  ^iew  of  the 
application  ifor  your  approval  thereof,  the  question  arises  whether,  under  the  said 
ruling  of  your  predecessor,  these  lists  shall  be  approved  to  the  State  of  Iowa  as 
railroad-lands,  without  reference  to  said  sales,  for  which  the  said  aust  12th  July,  1862, 
provides  an  indemnity  fund  where  they  prove  invalid,  or  shall  terms  of  saving  and 
exception,  in  respect  to  said  sales,  be  inserted  in  said  transcripts. 

Should  it  be  determined  by  you  that  such  terms  are  not  required,  in  view  of  the 
indemnity  stipulation  above  mentioned,  the  lists,  as  they  now  stand,  are  before  you 
for  approval ;  but  if  otherwise,  it  is  respectfully  suggested  that  you  direct  the  inser- 
tion of  such  terpis,  before  approval,  as  the  nature  of  the  case,  in  your  judgment,  may 
require. 

Third.  There  is  another  important  matter  to  be  considered  in  the  premises,  and  that 
is,  the  force  and  effect  of  the  said  act  of  12th  July,  1862,  in  so  far  as  the  legid  require- 
ment is  concerned,  commanding  the  Department  t«  grant  indemnity  to  that  improve- 
ment for  lands  sold  or  disposed  of  by  the  United  States  prior  to  the  passage  of  said  act, 
the  Iowa  sales  excluded.  The  mode  of  dealing  with  this  matter  is  presented  in  the 
report  from  this  office  dated  October  27,  1862,  as  approved  by  Secretary  Smith,  Novem- 
ber 3,  1862,  and  the  principles  laid  down  in  that  report  and  ruling  will  consequently 
govern  this  office  in  the  a4ljustmen(  of  the  extension  interest  by  said  act  of  12th  July, 
1862,  unless  otherwise  directed  by  you. 

With  great  respect,  yonr  obedient  servant, 

-rj.  M.  EDMUNDS, 

Commi89ioner. 
Hon.  J.  P.  Usher, 

Secretary  of  the  Interior. 

Dbpartmrnt  op  the  Intkrior, 

WoBhingtont  April  7, 1863. 
Sir  :  Yonr  report  of  23d  February  last,  in  regard  to  the  proper  measures  for  carrying 
into  effect  the  act  of  Congress  approved  July  12, 1862,  by  which  the  grant  for  the  im- 
provement of  the  Des  Moines  River  was  extended,  has  been  carefully  considered  in 
connection  with  yonr  report  of  27th  of  October  last  upon  the  same  subject. 

The  Secretary  instructs  me  to  state  that,  after  mature  deliberation  and  examination 
of  the  additional  exhibits  filed  sinoe  your  report  was  received,  be  concurs  in  the  views 
you  have  expressed.  He  has  accordingly  approved  the  lists  of  lands  inuring  to  the 
State  of  Iowa  under  the  act  of  Congress  of  15th  May,  1856,  which  accompanied  yonr 
report,  and  the  same  are  now  returned  to  your  office  that  the  usual  transcripts  may  be 
furnished  to  the  govenior. 

The  argument  of  Mr.  Mason,  and  the  communication  of  Mr.  Steiger  and  its  inclo- 
sures,  which  have  been  received  here  while  this  matter  has  been  pending,  are  also  here- 
with transmitted. 

I  am,  sir,  very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

W.  T.  OTTO, 

Aggistant  Secretary, 
The  Commissioner  of  the  General  Land-Office. 

Follomng  this  construction  the  lands  Tfere  listed,  certified,  and  ap- 
proved to  the  State  as  inuring  under  the  railroad-grant  of  May  15, 1856, 
saving  the  rights  of  settlers  thereon. 

On  the  2d  day  of  March,  1861,  Congress  passed  the  following  joint 
resolution  relating  to  these  lauds : 

(12  Stat  at  Large,  251.) 

JOINT  BESOLUTION  to  qidt  title  to  lands  in  the  State  of  Iowa. 

Resolved  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Reprteentativee  of  the  United  States  of  America  in  Con- 
greee  aasemhledy  That  all  the  title  which  the  United  States  still  retain  in  the  traota  of 


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DE8   MOINES   EIVER   GRANT.  15 

land  along  the  Dee  Moines  RiTer,  and  above  the  mouth  of  the  Raccoon  Fork  thereof, 
in  the  State  of  Iowa,  which  have  been  certified  to  said  State  improperly  by  the  Depart- 
ment of  the  Interior,  as  part  of  the  grant  by  act  of  Congress  aproved  August  8,  1846, 
aud  which  is  now  held  by  bona-fide  purchasers  under  the  State  of  Iowa,  be,  and  the  same 
is  hereby,  relinqnished  to  the  State  of  Iowa. 
Approved  March  2, 1661. 

On  April  10, 1862,  Hon.  Caleb  B.  Smith,  Secretary  of  thft  Interior, 
addressed  the  following  letter  to  the  Commissioner  of  the  General  Land- 
Office,  being  the  letter  referred  to  in  the  above  letter  of  the  Commis- 
sioner : 

Department  op.  the  Interior, 

Washington,  Apnl  10,  1862. 

Sir:  In  answer  to  your  communication  of  the  18th  of  March  last,  making  certain  in- 
qniries  respecting  the  proper  disposition  of  lauds  in  Iowa,  granted  to  the  State  bj"  act 
of  CoDgress  of  15th  of  Aiay,  1856,  aud  by  joint  resolution  approved  March  2,  1861,  I 
am  of  opinion  that  they  are  to  be  disposed  of  as  said  act  and  resolution  direct,  with- 
oac  any  regard  to  the  act  of  August  8,  1846,  referred  to  in  your  letter. 

It  appears  that  the  action  of  this  Department  in  construing  the  last-named  act  has 
be«Q  io  no  respect  uniform ;  not  sufficiently  so  to  form  a  precedent  for  its  present 
direction ;  and  if  it  had,  there  are  now  other  considerations  which  will  control  its  action. 
The  Sapreme  Court  has  decided,  in  the  case  of  the  Dubuque  and  Pacific  Railroad  Com- 
paoy  r$.  Litchfield,  (23  Howard,  p.  66,)  that  the  act  of  8th  of  August,  1846,  did  not  cede 
any* lands  to  the  State  above  the  Raccoon  Fork,  and  the  before-mentioned  Joint  resolu- 
tion declares  that  the  lands  above  the  Raccoon  Fork  *were  improperly  certified  as  a 
portion  of  the  grant  of  8th  of  August,  1846. 

It  foUowSy  then,  that  such  of  those  lauds  as  are  embraced  in  the  act  making  the  rail- 
road-grant, approved  May  15,  la'Se,  are  to  be  disposed  of  according  t-o  the  terms 
of  that  act,  and  that  without  any  regard  to  the  fact  of  their  having  been  certified 
under  the  act  of  August  8,  1846. 

After  completely  satisfying  the  demands  of  the  State,  embraced  by  that  act,  so  much 
of  the  residue  of  the  lands  north  of  the  mouth  of  the  Raccoon  Fork,  as  was  certified 
QDder  the  supposed  grant  of  August  8, 1846,  and  which  the  State  of  Iowa  had  sold 
to  bona-fide  purchasers  prior  to  the  2d  of  March,  1861,  will  be  also  certified  to  the  State 
of  Iowa. 

The  act  of  15th  of  May,  1856,  granted  lands  to  the  State  for  railroad  purposes,  ex- 
cept such  lands  as  the  rights  of  pre-emption  have  attached  thereto.  This  last  remark  is 
made  because  it  affects  the  case  of  Crilly,  and,  may  be,  others  claiming  pre-emption  on 
uid  lands. 

Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

CALEB  B.  SMITH, 

Secretary, 

The  Commissioner  General  Land-Office. 

Od  the  same  day  the  Secretary,  ia  the  case  of  George  Crilly,  held  that 
the  lands  were  sabject  to  pre-emptioii,  and  the  following  is  a  copy  of  his 
letter  relating  thereto : 

Department  of  the  Interior, 

Washinglony  April  10, 1862. 

Sir  :  George  Crilly  claims  to  be  entitled  to  a  pre-emption  in  the  southeast  quarter 
section  29,  township  89,  range  28,  in  Iowa,  which  right  has  been  rejected  by  the  Com- 
missioner of  the  General  Land-Office  because  the  land  is  supposed  not  to  have  l>een 
the  Aubject  of  pre-emption  under  the  laws  of  Congress. 

The  reason  assigned  is  that  the  same  had  been  certified  to  the  State  of  Iowa  by  this 
Department  as  a  portion  of  the  lands  granted  to  that  State  for  the  river  Des  Moines 
improvement,  per  act  August  8,  ISjU). 

It  is  to  be  observed  that  althongn  the  lands  were  certified,  yet  that  the  action  of  this 
Department  has  by  no  means  been  uniform  as  to  the  construction  of  the  law  under 
which  they  were  so  certified,  sometimes  it  being  held  that  the  grant  covered  these 
lands,  and  on  other  occasions  it  has  been  strenuously  resisted.  The  Supreme  Court  of 
the  United  States,  in  the  case  of  the  Dubnque  and  Pacific  Railroad  Company  vs,  Litch- 
field, (23  Howard,  p.  66,)  upon  the  direct  question,  have  decided  that  the  grant  did  not 
include  these  lands.  And  moreover.  Congress,  by  the  Joint  resolution  of  March  2, 1861, 
has  declared  that  the  lauds  were  improperly  certified.  It  appears,  then,  that  the  cer- 
tifying of  these  lands  was  an  illegal  act,  and,  so  far  as  it  affected  the  right  of  Crilly, 
was  void. 

The  railroad-grant,  by  its  terms,  does  not  embrace  any  tracts  to  which  the  ri|^ht  of 
pre-emption  has  attached ;  and  as  it  appears  to  be  conceded  that  Crilly  made  his  set- 


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16  DE8   MOINES   RIVER   GRANT. 

tlement  in  Jnly,  1855,  and  offered  to  file  his  declaratory  statement  in  the  proper  office 
witbin  tlie  time  prescribed  by  law,  bis  right  is  antecedent  to  that  of  the  State  nnder 
the  railroad-grant. 

If  the  facts  supporting  a  pre-emption  claim  are  established  to  the  satisfaction  of  the 
local  officers,  Mr.  Crilly  should  now  be  permitted  t<o  complete  his  entry  of  the  qnarter- 
section  claimed,  as  all  the  impediments  to  the  consummation  of  his  right  have  been 
removed. 

Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

CALEB  B,  SMITH,  Secretary. 

The  CoitfMissioNSR  of  the  General  Lani>-Offick. 

On  the  15tli  day.  of  April,  1862,  Hon.  J.  M.  Edmunds,  Commissioner 
of  the  General  Land  Office,  addressed  the  following  letter  to  Hon.  J.  W, 
Grimes,  Senator  from  Iowa : 

Gknerajl  Land-Offick, 

April  15,  1862, 
Sir:  I  have  the  honor  to  inclose  herewith  a  copy  of  the  decision  of  the  Secretary  of 
the  Interior  of  the  10th  instant,  in  the  coHe  submitted  to  the  Department  in  our  letter 
of  the  18th  nltimo,  a  copy  of  which  was  furnished  you  in  a  latter  of  the  same  date. 

Pursuant  to  said  decision,  it  is  proposed  to  make  out  the  list-s  of  lands  inuring  to  the 
State  for  railroad  purposes,  nnder  the  act  of  I5th  of  May,  1856,  in  so  far  as  the  6  and 
15  miles  limits  of  certain  routes  under  that  grant  traverse  the  region  which  bad  been 
claimed  by  the  State  of  Iowa,  under  the  act  of  dth  of  August,  1846,  for  the  Des  Moines 
Hiver  improvement,  above  the  Raccoon  Fork,  irrespective  of  the  certified  list«  to  the  lat- 
ter, which  are  held  to  be  invalid  under  the  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States,  at  its  December  t«rm,  1859. 

With  great  respect,  your  obedient  servant, 

J.  M.  EDMUNDS, 

ComnUenoner, 
Hou.  J.  W.  Grimes, 

UnUed  Statee  Seiuite, 

The  intent  of  this  legislation,  (joint  resolution  of  March  2, 1861,)  was 
evidently  to  quiet  the  title  to  such  lauds  lying  above  Raccoon  Fork  as 
had  been  sold  by  the  State  to  resident  purchasers,  settlers.  As  evidence 
of  that  intent  we  quote  from  the  Congressional  Globe,  the  discussion  on 
its  passage  in  the  House: 

[Febnmry  8, 1861.— Cong.  Globe,  part  let,  2d  seaaion  36th  Congress,  page  710.] 
TITLK  TO  CKRTAIN  LANDS  IN  IOWA. 

Mr.  Trimble.  By  tbe  instruction  of  the  Committee  on  Pnblic  Lands,  I  desire  to  re- 
port a  joint  resolution  to  quiet  title  to  certain  lauds  in  the  State  of  Iowa,  and  to  ask 
that  the  same  be  considered  no w^  and  put  upon  its  passage. 

The  bill,  which  was  read,  provider  that  all  the  title  which  the  United  States  atill  re- 
tains in  the  tracts  of  lands  aloug  the  Des  Moiues  River,  above  the  mouth  of  the  Rac- 
coon Fork  thereof,  in  the  State  of  Iowa,  which  have  heretofore  been  certified  t.o  that 
State  improperly  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  as  part  of  the  grant  approved  nnder 
the  act  of  August  8,  1846,  be  relinquished  to  the  State  of  Iowa. 

Mr.  Thimble.  If  there  is  any  objection  made  to  it,  such  objection  may  be  removed  by 
an  explanation  which  will  not  occup3'  more  than  two  minutes. 

Mr.  Thomas.  I  would  like  to  have  the  bill  explained. 

Mr.  Trimble.  In  184Gthe  Congress  of  the  Uniteii  States  made  a  grant  of  land  to  the 
State  of  Iowa  to  aid  in  the  improvement  of  the  navigation  of  the  Des  Moinea  River. 
The  Secretary  of  the  Interior  certified  to  that  State  some  four  hundred  thousand  acres 
of  laud  above  the  mouth  of  the  Raccoon  Fork  of  tiat  river.  It  haa  been  decided  by 
the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  that  those  lands  were  improperly  certitied. 
A  subsequent  grant  made  by  Congress  to  the  State  of  Iowa,  for  railroad  purposes, 
covers  the  whole  of  these  four  hundred  thousand  acres,  with  the  exception  of  about 
one  thousand  acres.  These  lands,  therefore,  do  not  revert  to  the  Qovernment  of  the 
United  States  in  consequence  of  that  decision,  but  are  still  to  be  retained  by  the  St«te 
for  railroad  purposes.  These  lands  have  been  sold  to  actual  settlers,  who  have  paid 
their  money  for  them.  They  are  now  occupied,  and  there  are  three  or  four  towns  built 
npon  them.  There  are,  to  my  actual  knowledge,  lands  among  them  worth  from  filty 
to  sixty  dollars  per  acre.  The  settlers  want  their  titles  confirmed.  The  State  sold  and 
patented  the  lands  to  the  present  occupants ;  and  all  this  resolntion  asks  is,  that  their 
titles  may  be  confirmed.  This  resolntion  is  drawn  up,  and  its  adoption  recommended, 
by  the  Secretaiy  of  the  Interior. 


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DE8   MOINES   RIVER   GRANT.  17 

Mr.  PnrLTPS.  If  I  am  not  mistaken,  thia  qnestion  was  before  the  lato  Secretary  of  the 
Interior  for  his  decision  ;  and  there  has  recently  been  some  action  upon  it  by  that  De- 
partment.    Is  not  that  so  ? 

Mr.  Trimblr.  It  is.  I  have  had  the  matter  in  my  hands  since  the  last  session  of 
CongresM,  and  during  the  present  session.  The  resnlt  of  the  deliberations  of  the  In- 
ttrior  Department  is  the  recommendation  of  the  adoption  of  this  resolution,  which,  as 
I  suiid  before,  was  drawn  up  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior. 

31r.  PiiKLPS.  Then  it  m«t  with  the  approval  of  the  Commissioner  of  the  General  Land 
Office,  and  of  the  late  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  Mr.  Thompson. 

Mr.  Trimble.  Accompanying  the  resolution  is  a  communication  from  the  Secretary 
of  the  Interior,  giving  his  reasons  for  recommending  its  paHsa:;e. 

No  objection  being  made,  the  resolution  was  received,  rea<l  a  tirst  and  second  time, 
and  ordered  to  be  engrossed  and  read  a  third  time ;  and,  being  engrossed,  it  was  accord- 
ingly read  the  third  time  and  passed. 

Mr.TRiMBLK  moved  to  reconsider  the  vote  by  which  the- resolution  was  passed;,  and 
abx)  moved  to  lay  the  motion  to  reconsider  on  the  table. 

The  latter  motion  was  agreed  to. 

From  Senate  proceedings  we  qnote  the  following: 

[Cxtnct  of  debate  in  U.  S.  Senate,  February  93, 1861.— Coug.  Globe,  part  11,  3d  eeaalon  36th  Congress, 

page  1130.1 

Mr.  Harlan.  I  now  renew  my  motion  to  take  up  House  joint  resolution  No.  70. 

Mr.  Laxr.  What  is  the  joint  resolution  T 

Mr.  Hakuin.  a  joint  resolution  to  quit  title  to  lands  in  the  State  of  Iowa. 

Mr.  (iKKKN.  I  hope  that  will  not  be  taken  up  now.  It  involves  a  great  deal  more 
than  would  be  supposed  from  its  face.  It  involves  some  five  or  six  hundred  thousand 
aeros  of  land. 

Mr.  Harlan.  It  will  appear  from  the  reading  of  the  report  of  the  House  committee 
that  the  Seuator  from  Missouri  is  entirely  mistaken.  It  involves  the  title  to  but  a 
very  small  quantity  of  land  that  would  not  be  conveyed  to  Iowa  under  other  grants. 
My  colleagtie  and  myself  do  not  propose  to  debate  the  question  ;  but  we  desire  to  have 
s  vote. 

The  motion  was  agreed  to ;  and  the  joint  resolution  (H.  R.  No.  70)  to  quit  title  to 
lands  in  the  State  of  Iowa  was  considered  as  in  Committee  of  the  Whole.  It  proposes 
to  relinquish  to  the  State  of  Iowa  all  title  which  the  United  States  still  retains  in  the 
tracts  of  laud  along  the  Des  Moines  River,  and  above  the  mouth  of  the  Raccoon  Fork 
thereof,  which  have  been  heretofore  certified  to  the  State  im])roperly  by  the  Depart- 
ment of  the  Interior  as  part  of  the  grant  by  act  of  Congress  approved  August  8,  184G. 

Mr.  Green.  I  regard  it  as  my  dnty  to  make  a  little  explanation  of  this  joint  resolu- 
tion. The  title  of  it  reads,  ''A  joint  resolution  to  quit  title.'^  Such  a  title  to  a  bill, 
or  joint  resolution,  I  have  never  seen  before.  ''Quit  title  I''  It  means  to  surrender 
all  the  title  the  Government  of  the  United  States  has.  Now,  I  will  give  the  Senate  a 
little  history  of  this  Des  Moines  grant. 

In  lr^46,  the  first  grant  was  made  to  make  a  slack-water  navigation  on  the  Des 
MniBe«  River,  from  its  mouth  to  Raccoon  Fork.  About  sixty  milei  that  river  makes  a 
cftnimou  boundary  with  the  State  of  Missouri ;  and  if  the  slack-water  navigation  had 
been  made  according  to  the  terms  of  the  grant,  Missouri,  having  a  town  at  the  mouth, 
and  being  contiguous  for  about  sixty  miles,  would  have  participated  largely  in  its 
benefits.  Bat  instead  of  that,  they  went  to  work,  and  every  supertnt'Cndent  who  has 
toQched  it  haa  become  immensely  rich ;  the  lands  granted  have  been  wasted  away, 
SDd  the  navigation  of  the  Des  Moines  is  absolutely  injured.  Instead  of  coming  down 
to  the  month,  when  they  got  down  t«  Saint  Francisyille  they  undertok  to  cut  a  canal, 
and  diverge  from  the  Des  Moines  River  around  to  the  town  of  Keokuk.  That  was  in 
vioUtion  nf  the  true  intent  and  purpose  of  the  grant.  Next,  the  questiou  came  up, 
bow  much  land  passed  under  that  grant  T  Mr.  Stuart,  according  to  my  recollection — 
or  [lerhaps  it  was  Mr.  Ewing;  I  am  not  certain  which— decided  that  it  went  up  to  the 
northern  line  of  the  State ;  and  a  small  portion  of  land  was  certified  to  it  lying  north 
of  the  Raccoon  Fork.  The  language  of  the  grant  is  so  express  that  I  do  not  see  how 
any  one  could  misunderstand  it.  That  grant  extended  only  to  the  terminus  of  the  im- 
provement. The  terminus  of  the  improvement  was  the  Racco<in  Fork.  Iowa  was 
again  diaaatisfied,  and  claimed  it  up  to  the  source  of  the  river,  up  into  the  State  of 
Minnesota.  The  Des  Moines  River  rises  in  Minnesota,  and  Iowa  claimed  the  land  all 
the  way  up  to  the  head  spring  of  the  river.  Mr.  Thompson,  Secretary  of  the  Interior, 
said  he  was  willing  to  abide  by  the  act  of  his  predecessor,  if  Iowa  would  be  content 
with  it.  Iowa  said  she  was  not  content,  and  insisted  on  going  to  the  head  springs  of  the 
river,  away  up  into  the  State  of  Minnesota,  where  no  navigation  could  possibly  be  had 
of  the  river.    An  agreed  case  was  made.    The  Secretary  of  the  Interior  said,  '*  If  you 

H.  Bep.  311       2 

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18  DES-  MOINES    RIVER   GRANT. 

will  take  the  question  before  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States,  I  will  make  my 
decision  conform  to  the  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court."  They  brought  up  tlie  case; 
and  Judge  Mason  argued  it.  It  was  decided  by  the  Supreme  Court  that  tlie  grant  did 
not  go  one  inch  above  the  Raccoon  Fork,  which  is  about  the  middle  of  the  Stat«  of 
Iowa.     There  it  ends. 

Now,  The  object  is  to  get  the  lamls  lying  above  the  Raccoon  Fork.  If  it  goe^  up  U) 
the  State  line,  it  will  bo  about  four  hundred  and  tifty  thousand  acres.  If  it  goes  up  to 
the  source  of  the  river,  it  will  be  about  six  hundred  thousand  acres.  That  is  the  ca-se 
we  an^  acting  on.  It  is  true,  I  would  rather  let  Iowa  have  the  land  than  throw  it  away 
in  useless  homestea<ls;  but  the  true  policy  of  the  Government  is  to  Administer  the 
lands  iu  that  manner  which  will  best  promote  the  public  interest;  and  I  thiuk  that 
this  is  not  a  fair  modeof  disposing  of  the  public  lands.  I  am  willing  that  Iowa  should 
have,  and  she  now  has.  the  alternate  si.'Ctions  on  each  side  of  the  river,  six  miles  in 
widtli,  up  to  tlie  Raccoon  Fork. 

There  is  another  difficulty.  North  of  the  Raccoon  Fork  land-grants  have  been  made 
to  railroad  companies,  ruuniug  ea«t  and  west  from  the  Mississippi  River,  jioross  to  the 
Missouri.  Under  the  decision  of  the  Suprenu^  Court,  the  original  grant  did  not  inclu;Ie 
anything  north  of  the  Raccoon  Fork.  These  railroads  do  cross  north  of  the  Raccoon  F«»rk : 
and  grants  have  been  made  in  good  faith,  permaneut  and  binding,  to  those  railroad 
companies.  They  can  hold  them,  therefore,  in  spite  of  the  United  States ;  and  1  do 
not  want  to  be  engaged  in  the  folly  of  undertaking  to  say  I  will  quit  title  where  there 
is  no  title.  Wherever  these  lauds  fall  within  the  limits  of  railroad  grants,  we  have  no 
title  ;  and  wherever  they  are  outride  of  these  railroad  grants,  Iowa  has  no  right  to 
them.    That  is  an  end  of  the  case. 

Mr.  Haulax.  As  an  answer  to  the  speech  of  the  Seua tor  from  Missouri  I  ask  that  the 
report  of  the  House  committee  may  be  read. 

The  Secretary  read  as  follows : 

"  The  Committee  on  Public  Lands,  to  whom  was  referred  the  bill  *  for  the  relief  of  the 
State  of  Iowa  and  for  other  purposes,'  beg  leave  to  report: 

"  That  by  the  act  of  Congress  of  August  8,  1846,  the  alternate  sections,  in  a  strip  ten 
miles  in  width,  lying  along  the  Des  Moines  River,  were  granted  to  the  State  «jf  Iowa, 
to  aid  in  improving  the  navigation  of  the  said  river  from  its  mouth  to  the  Raccoon 
Fork.  This  grant  was  made  on  certain  conditions,  which  were  assented  to,  and  the 
State  undertook  the  execution  of  the  trust. 

*'  Not  long  afterward  doubts  were  raised  as  to  the  extent  of  the  grant;  whether  it 
was  limited  to  lands  lying  below  the  mouth  of  the  Raccoon  Fork,  or  whether  it  ex- 
tended to  the  source  of  the  river.  The  case  was  carried  before  the  then  Secretary  t»f 
the  Treasury,  who  decided,  on  the  2d  of  March,  1849,  in  favor  of  the  more  extended 
grant,  and  the  State  proceeded  to' plan  the  work  iu  correspondence  with  the  means  thus 
provided  for  its  execution. 

'-After  the  lapse  of  something  more  than  a  year  the  same  question  was  again  raised. 
The  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  before  whom  the  matter  was  brought,  held  that  the  grant 
did  not  extend  above  the  Raccoon  Fork  ;  but  after  an  appeal  had  been  carried  before 
the  President,  and  twice  referred  to  two  different  Attorneys- General,  by  whom  the 
subject  was  carefulVy  considered,  it  was  determined,  on  the  29th  of  October,  1851,  that 
the  claim  of  the  State  should  be  allowed  and  that  the  lands  should  be  certified  whi«li 
lay  above  the  Kaecoon  Fork.  Within  two  years  from  that  date  above'  four  hundred 
thousand  acn'S  of  land  lying  above  the  Raccoon  Fork  wen^  certified  to  the  State  by 
tht  Interior  Department.  This  land  hjis  all  been  sold  by  the  State,  and  the  proee«Mis 
applied  to  the  improvement  of  the  Des  Moines  River  in  compliance  with  the  comli- 
tions  of  the  grant.  A  large  proportion  of  these  lands  are  now  occupied  by  acMial  set- 
tlers, all  holding  under  patents  from  the  State,  which  are  founded  on  certificates  from 
the  Secretary  of  the  Interior. 

**  Within  the  past  year  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  haa  decided  against  the 
construction  put  upon  the  act  of  August,  1846,  by  the  Secretaries  of  the  Treasury  and  In- 
terior, and  the  Attorney-General,  that  the  titles  by  which  the  lands  are  now' held  are 
wholly  nugatory,  and  that,  notwithstanding  the  «ertificates  and  sale^,  they  would  still 
remain  the  property  of  the  United  States.  But  on  the  15th  of  July,  1856,  Cougress  made 
another  grant  of  land  to  the  State  of  Iowa  to  aid  in  the  construction  of  certain  railroatU 
herein  specified.  This  grant  covers  all  but  about  one  thousand  acres  of  the  samelaiul 
which  had  been  certified  and  sold  under  the  act  of  August,  1846,  and  is  therefore  be- 
yond the  reach  and  control  of  the  Government  of  the  United  States.  That  portion  not 
covered  by  the  grant  of  July,  1856,  would  revert  to  the  United  States;  but,  in  tlu^ 
judgment  of  your  committee,  it  would  be  an  act  of  gross  ii^justicefor  thisGovemniiMit 
to  repudiate  the  acts  of  its  own  highest  otficers,  and  thus  deprive  tbosQ  persons  of  tht* ir 
possessions  who  have  paid  their  money  on  the  faith  of  the  Government.  They  propose, 
however,  nothing  more  than  a  relinquishment  of  the  title  held  by  the  United  States  iu 
the  lands  which  have  been  certified  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  under  the  Uvs 


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DE8   MOINES    RIVER   GRANT.  19 

Moiues  River  frrsknt,  and  afterward  sold  to  bona  fide  purchasers.  For  this  purpose  your 
cojiiujiltr*-  rcciiiniiiciid  tho  adoption  of  the  following  joint  resolution,  propostid  and  ap- 
provetl  by  the  -Secretary  «»f  the  Interior." 

Mr.  (Jkkkn.  I  believe  that  is  the  report  of  the  committee  of  the  Honse  of  Represent- 
atives, not  of  the  conunittee  of  the  Senate. 

Ml.  11ai:1-an.  It  is  the  report  of  the  House  Committee  on  tie  Pahlio  Lands. 

Mr.  (i^KKN-  The  coniniittoe  of  the  Houho  of  Representatives  anj  a  little  at  fault. 
Tiny  uiidttriukc  t<»  say  that  we  cannot  repudiate  the  a<3t  of  our  own  officer.  Iowa  re- 
\»u(llat'd  It,  wniild  not  stand  by  it,  and  claimed  the  lancl  up  to  the  source  of  the  river. 
Tnen  lh»-  St«Tetary  said,  "I  will  re-open  the  case  and  submit  it  to  tiui  court." 

Mr.  (iuiMK.s.  The  Senator  from  Mits^ouri  is  mistaken,  I  think.  Mr.  Rt>bert  J.  Walker, 
wjirii  In*  was  S^'CH'tary  of  the  Tren**nry,  some  tiiree  or  four  d.iys  before  he  left  that 
<'rtne.  the  Land  Department  then  l>einfj  under  his  general  superintendence,  decided 
that  this  j;iant  exteiuled  to  the  source  of  the  river,  and  that  was  the  tirst  decision  that 
wan  ever  iiiad«»  by  any  of  the  Departments  here  on  the  subject.  Upon  the  strength  of 
iiiat  lie  \>um  the  Government  of  the  Uniteil  States  has  certified  to  the  State,  or,  in  other 
wonl-s.  c.Miveyed  (for  that  is  the  manner  which  the  United  States  ndopt  in  conveying 
their  UiimIh)  these  lands  to  the  State,  and  the  State  has  sold  to  settlers  and  to  others,! 
tui.ik,  e\ery  liMit  of  the  lands.  Now,  all  that  this  joint  resolution  proposes  is,  that  tlie 
Feileral  (.J<ivernmeut  shall  confirm,  or.  in  the  language  of  the  resolution,  "  relinquish  " 
to  the  State  those  lands,  and  those  lauds  only,  that  have  heretofore  been  certified  by 
it»4  own  offirers  as  belonging  to  the  State,  and  which  the  State,  placing  implicit  conti- 
tlriiee  in  that  certificate,  has  conveyed  to  third  parties  for  a  valuable  consideration. 

Mr.  (iitKKX.  The  Senator  is  a  little  mistaken.  Mr.  Robert  J.  Walker,  who  was  t-lien 
St-eretary  «»f  the  Treasury  before  the  Interior  Dep«artmeut  was  created,  ha<l  charge,  but 
he  took  no  action,  except  to  give  an  opinion  ;  an<i  wIkmi  the  Department  of  the  Interior 
waK-ereated,  I  think  it  was  first  mit  under  Mr.  Thomas  Ewing;  and  he  decided,  when 
Tiie  qutstion  was  brought  before  Dim,  against  this  claim.  He  said  the  grant  only  went 
to  the  Stale  line. 

Mr.  (iKi.MKs.  Who  did? 

Mr.  (ii:KKN.  Mr.  Ewiug. 

Mr.  Ukimks.  Ye.s. 

Mr.  <»KKKN.  And  so  did  Mr.  Stuart. 

Mr.  Orimks.  But  Mr.  jDhu«on,  when  he  was  Attorney-General,  decided  that  it  went 
to  the  source  of  the  river.  We  had  conflicting  opinions.  Mr.  Crittenden,  when  he  was 
Ar'.iru'V-G  -neral,  decided  that  it  only  went  to  the  Riccoon  Fork. 

Mr.  (tUKKX.  Mr.  Crittenden  was  right.    He  decided  according  to  the  law. 

Mr.  (iiiiMKs.  I  think  so  myself.  I  think  the  grant  originally  never  extended  above 
tb-  Raec-(x>ti  Fork  ;  but  the  gra:it  was  construed  by  your  own  authorities  as  extending 
to  the  siMirce,  and  we  acted  upon  it ;  we  acted  upon  your  decision  in  good  faith  ;  we 
received  tb;-.  certificates;  we  have  conveyed  the  laud  for  a  valuablo consideration  :  and 
•low  we  oidy  a.sk  yon  to  indemnify  us  for  what  we  have  dotie.  My  own  individual 
ujjiition  i-»,  ilijit  the  grant  origiually  did  not  extend  above  the  Raccoon  Fork. 

Mr.  Gkkf.n.  There  \h  no  difficulty  at  all  about  this.  The  law  is  very  clear,  ft  only 
Vent  to  the  Raccoon  Fork.  The  Supreme  Court  has  so  decided.  Attorney-General 
<:iftenileMj  has  so  decided.  All  these,  however,  were  nothing  but  opinions,  except  the 
;««l;ru)ei»T  of  the  cotirt ;  and  that  was  on  an  agreed  cvse  made  bi^tween  the  State  ami 
*he  S«-<retary  of  the  Interior,  Mr.  Jacob  Thompson.  He  was  willing  to  stand  by  what 
*.Ir.  Stuart  did,  and  to  say  that  it  might  go  up  to  the  northern  line  of  Iowa,  but  not 
into  MiiineM>ta.  Now,  so  far  as  the  grant  to  those  lateral  roads  running  through  it 
are  coueerned,  we  cannot  interfere  with  them. 

Mr.  Ghimrs.  They  have  not  been  certified  as  belonging  to  the  State  under  that  grant. 

Mr.  (;uKKN.  Yes,  sir. 

Mr.  Gi;iMKS.  No.  sir;  not  a  foot  of  them,  as  I  understand. 

Mr.  (H:kkn.  Yes,  sir :  someof  them  were  certified  before  the  railroad  grant  was  madt- ; 
m  that  there  ia  a  conflict  between  claimants,  even  if  we  make  this  (luit-claim,  as  it  is 
•  alle*!-  Nr»w,  I  Jim  willing  to  go  thus  far;  Iowa  has  sold  lands  that  she  had  no  right 
to ;  I  do  not  want  to  interfere  with  the  private  citizens;  I  will  not  interfere  with  pub- 
lic grants;  but  to  the  extent  that  it  affects  private  citizens,  and  does  not  interfere  with 
poblic  grants,  I  am  willing  to  go.  I  am  not  willing  to  cover  all  this  immense  tract— 
to  grant  thi.H  iniiuen?4e  amount  of  land,  e<[ual  to  six  hundred  thousand  acres — in  addi- 
tion to  what  they  have  already  received  up  to  the  mouth  of  the  Raccoon  Fork, 

Mr.  P01.K.  My  colleague  will  allow  me  to  interrupt  him.  Perhaps  an  amendment 
whieh  I  propoiM*  to  offer  will  meet  his  views ;  to  insert  the  words ; 

And  by  the  said  State  sold  to  actual  settlers. 

Mr.  GitKEN.  Say,  **and  not  interfering  with  any  other  public  grant." 

Mr.  (;i:iME.<i.    What  is  that  amendment  T 

Mr.  I'oLK.  To  insert: 

And  by  the  said  State  sold  to  actual  settlers. 


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20  DES   MOINES   RIVER   GRANT. 

Mr.  Grimks.  If  the  Senator  will  change  it  so  that  it  shall  apply  to  any  purchaser,  or 
any  grantee  of  the  State  of  Iowa,  it  will  he  entirely  satisfactory. 

Mr.  Polk.  The  only  ohjecti«n  to  that  is,  that  I  du  not  like  to  fr\ve  this  congressional 
bounty  to  land-Kpeculators. 

Mr.GHEKX.  That  is  just  what  it  is. 

Mr.  Poi.K.  But  to  the  actual  settlers,  I  am  willing  to  give  it. 

Mr.  Ghimeh.  It  would  cost  a  great  deal  of  trouble  for  ns  to  determine  who  hapi>eued 
to  be  actual  settlers  at  any  particular  date,  or  at  the  passago  of,  this  resolution,  or 
wbelher  it  should  apply  to  those  who  are  actual  settlers  now,  or  those  who  were  actual 
settlers  at  the  time  they  purchased. 

Mr. Grekn.  All  that  can  be  guarded  hy  saying,  "any  actual  hona-fide  settler,  who,  or 
whose  grautor,  actually  settled  on  the  laud." 

Mr.  GuiMES.  The  man  who,  by  virtue  of  your  own  action,  the  action  of  your  own 
officer,  went  there  and  obtained  the  land,  if  he  be  not  an  actual  settler,  is  morally 
and  politically,  and  in  every  way  just  as  much  entitled  to  receive  justice  at  the  hand's 
of  the  Senate  as  the  man  who  is  an  actual  settler.  He  is  a  hona-fide  purchaser.  If  the 
Senator  will  insert  the  words,  '*  any  hona-fide  purchaser  from  the  State  of  Iowa,*'  I  shall 
be  satisfied. 

Mr.  Polk.  The  objection  to  that  is,  that  it  would  shut  out  the  speculators. 

Mr.  Gkeen.  The  ouly  objection  to  that  is  this :  that  rich  grant  of  land,  the  best  bcnly 
of  land  in  the  West,  was  fooled  away  to  a  New  York  company,  who  never  performed 
the  work,  but  have  actually,  by  the  construction  of  their  rlanis,  injured  Missouri. 
They  iirst  applied  to  the  State  of  Missonri  to  give  them  leave  to  build  their  dams  to 
our  bank,  and  we  gave  them  leave.  They  then  constructed  them  so  that  the  overflow 
of  water  would  wash  right  in  and  destroy  private  property,  and  thousands  on  thou- 
sands of  dollars  have  been  destrpyed  by  the  misconstruction  of  this  work.  Again, 
every  dam  built  and  every  lock  pnt  down,  is  a  greater  obstruction  to  navigation  than 
if  it  had  not  been  done.  I  want  another  condition  pnt  in  ;  and  if  we  do  give  them  this 
land,  I  want  the  State  of  Iowa  to  remove  all  these  obstructions,  and  leave  th^  river  as 
it  was.  This  New  York  c<mipany  have  a  speculation  on  hand.  They  want  to  claim 
that  they  are  bona-fide  purcha^sers;  but  I  want  actual,  resident,  citizen  purcluisers. 

Mr.  Hahlan.  It  would  be  unjust,  in  my  judgment,  to  tulopt  the  auiend:»>ent  sug- 
gested by  the  Seuator  from  Missouri,  (Mr.  Polk.)  I  wish  to  state  an  important  faet, 
•which,  I  think,  in  misapprehended  by  the  other  Senator  from  Missouri, ( Mr.  Green.)  The 
State  of  Iowa  did,  as  he  suggests,  claiui  about  twelve  hundred  thousand  acres  of  land 
under  this  original  Des  Moines  grant,  lying  above  the  Raccoon  Fork  <»f  that  river;  bnt 
much  less  thau  one-fourth  of  that  amount  was  certified  to  the  State  by  the  officers  oi 
the  General  Government.  So  far  as  this  land  has  been  certitii^d  to  the  State,  the  State 
has  accepted  the  laud,  and  attempted  to  apply  the  proceeds  of  thn  grant  in  the  improve- 
ment of  the  river.  A  part  of  this  land  has  been  sold  by  the  State  directly  to  actual 
Hettlers.  A  part  of  the  grant  has  been  sold  to  the  gentlemen  who  were  applying 
their  money  in  putting  in  locks  and  dams,  to  which  reference  has  been  made,  and  they 
in  turn  have  sold  to  other  parties.  Some  of  them,  perhaps,  are  not  improving  the 
land ;  bnt  many  of  them  are  actual  settlern.  The  purpose  of  the  amendment  he  pro- 
poses is  t4>  cut  out  all  those  who  may  have  bought  those  lands  of  the  Des  Moines  River 
Improvemeut  Company.  That  would  be  unjust  to  the  company,  and  unjust  to  the 
pun  hasers  from  the  company.  All  that  we  claim  is  that  the  General  Government 
shall  qnit-chiini  to  Iowa  the  amount  of  lands  conveyed  to  Iowa  by  the  officers  of  the 
General  Government,  although,  as  alleged,  wrongfully  conveyed,  or  without  sufficient 
Jegal  ground.  We  do  not  claim  one  acre  above  the  Raccoon  Fork,  which  has  not  been 
certified  to  the  Stat« ;  and  the  whole  amount,  as  I  understand,  is  one-fourth  less  than 
is  claimed  by  the  State,  and  for  which  she  derived  a  clear  title  under  the  original  Des 
Moines  graxrt. 

Mr.  Poi>K.  The  view  I  take  of  it  is  this  :  There  is  no  claim  in  law  or  in  equity  against 
the  United  States  for  the  granting  of  this  land ;  but  I  am  willing  that  the  United 
States  should  reliuquish  the  title  where  an  actual  settler  has  bought  the  land,  and 
gone  on  it ;  hut  I  am  not  willing  to  do  that  favor  to  persons  who  have  bought  as  specn* 
iators.  Where  persons  have  bought  for  actual  settlement,  and  have  gone  on  the  land, 
1  am  willing  to  vote  to  relinquish  to  them,  and  I  am  willing  to  vote  for  the  bill  with 
iihat  amendment.  I  will  offer  the  amendment,  and  take  the  sense  of  the  Senate  opon 
it,  to  insert  the  words, ''  and  by  the  said  State  sold  to  actual  settlers,  and  not  interfering 
with  public  grants.'' 

JMr.  DooLiTTLE.  I  will  move  an  amendment  to  the  amendment,  and  then  I  think  I 
shall  siiNtaiu  it  "  by  the  State  or  grantee  of  the  State  to  any  actual  settler." 

Mr.  Gheex.  That  is  the  same  thing.     It  is  already  implied. 

Mr.  DoOLiTTLK.  I  think  not.    It  says  "  sold  by  the  State  to  actual  settlers." 

Mr.  Polk.  As  I  understand,  that  is  to  include  any  grantee  of  the  State. 

Mr.  Doolittle.  Some  person  may,  honafide^  have  purchased  the  land  from  this  csom- 
pany. 

Mr.  Polk.  I  liave  no  objection.    I  will  accept  that  amendment. 


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DES   MOINES   RIVER   GRANT.  21 

The  Presiding  Offickr.  The  amendment  bo  the  araeudmont  is  accepted ;  aud  the 
qQe-stion  will  lie  on  the  amendment  proposed  by  the  Si3nator  from  Minsoari,  as  modified. 

Mr.  CRiriKXDEN.  I  will  snggest  to  gentlemen,  as  there  is  some  difliculty  about  the 
pn»ridiou  in  reference  to  actual  settlement,  to  say,  "  all  bona-fide  purchasers  deriving 
title  under  the  Stafee."    It  seems  to  me  that  would  cover  everything. 

Mr.  Grimks.  That  will  be  entirely  satisfactory-  to  me.  It  seems  to  me  to  be  just  to 
all  partita     I  understand  it  is  satisfactory  to  the  Senator  from  Missouri. 

Mr.  Polk.  I  agree  to  it. 

Mr.  Johnson,  of  Arkansas.  Mr.  President,  I  do  not  care  what  course  is  taken  in  ref- 
en;nce  to  the  amendment,  nor  do  I  feel  any  personal  interest  in  this  matter  at  all.  The 
joint  resolution  certainly  covers  a  very  large  amtmnt  of  laud  ;  and  I  feel  it  my  duty  to 
make  a  statement  to  the  Senate  in  regard  to  what  h:is  transpired  with  reference  to  it. 
Tbis  is  a  very  large  grant  of  land  that  is  now  proposed  to  be  made  t-o  the  State  of 
luwa,  and  it  is  a  pure,  entire,  unmixed  donation.  It  is  without  any  consideration  at 
all.  I  forget  how  much  it  is;  but  it  is  stated  at  six  hundred  thonsand  acres  by  some. 
It  se«niH  to  nif.  that  is  more  than  it  is;  but  it  is  a  very  large  amount  at  any  rate.  I  for- 
get now  the  precise  amount.  This  matter  was  considered  under  a  law  of  the  United 
States  granting  alternate  sections  for  the  improvement  of  the  Des  Moines  River  by 
oue  of  the  Departments,  and  under  the  extraordinary  pressure  that  was  brought  upon 
the  Department  by  our  friend,  no  longer  a  member  of  this  body,  (Senator  Jones,)  aud 
SQch  a  pressure  as  scarcely  any  other  Senator  could  bring  upon  any  Department  of  the 
Goveninieiit,  they  obtahied  a  wrong  decision  here  which  ran  the  grant  above  the  Rac- 
C(Km  F«»rk  for  hundreds  of  miles.  They  obtained  that  decision,  and  under  it  got  certifi- 
cates to  the  State  of  Iowa  to  that  effect ;  but  the  subject  has  since  been  before  the 
courts,  aud  the  courts  have  decided  that  the  law  makes  no  such  grant  at  all.  That 
decision  of  the  court  sustains  a  decision  which  was  rendered,  I  believe,  by  a  Senator 
now  here  from  Kentucky.  (Mr.  Crittenden;)  and  the  Whole  of  the  grant  itself  is 
purely  gtatnitous  upon  our  part,  if  the>decisiou  of  the  Supreme  Court  is  at  all  correct. 

Now,  this  matter  here  seems  to  be  mixed  up  with  actual  settlers,  with  speculators, 
with  coodicting  interests  under  grants  that  we  ourselves  have  made  of  railroad  land. 
I  think  it  had  better  be  left  without  any  legislation  at  all  from  us,  at  least  in  this  direc- 
tion; and  so  the  Committee  on  Public  Lands  seem  always  to  have  regarded  it.  It 
never  was  reported  back  from  the  Committee  on  Public  Lands,  until  very  recently; 
and  I  have  no  idea,  if  I  had  been  present  in  the  committee  at  that  time,  that  it  would 
have  been  done  then.  I  do  not  believe  it  could  have  been  carried.  I  never  saw  the  day  in 
the  Cooiniittee  on  Public  Lands  when  this  measure  could  get  the  sanction  of  that  com- 
mittee. I  regard  the  whole  thing  as  wrpng,  as  an  attempt  to  make  us  responsible  for 
wrong  aet-s  that  were  brought  aliout  by  the  personal  influence  of  the  Representatives 
of  the  State,  for  which  it  i  now  sought  to  make  the  Government  of  the  United  States 
n^ponsilde:  and  out  of  which  it  is  attempted  to  create  a  title  such  as  compels  us  to 
rtuder  to  them  the  lejj^al  title. 

Without  any  intention,  Mr.  President,  to  interfere  with  this  matter  any  further,  with 
no  dispos«ition  to  make  any  factions  opposition  to  the  joint  resolution — for  I  do  not  care 
one  cent  which  way  it  goes — but  simply  in  the  discharge  of  my  duty  as  chairman  of 
the  comiuittee,  I  state  to  yon  my  conviction,  ft»r  myself,  and  I  believe  the  majority  of 
the  committee,  that  this  thing  is  all  wrong,  and  no  part  of  the  resolution  ought  to  be 
passed  at  all. 

The  Prksiding  .Officer.  The  Secretary  will  read  the  amendment  as  now  modified 
by  the  Senator  from  Missouri. 

The  S«»<!retary  read  it,  to  insert  in  line  nine,  al^er  the  word  "  six  "  the  words  "  and 
which  is  now  held  by  bona-fide  purchasers  under  the  State  of  Iowa ;  so  that  the  resolu- 
tion will  read : 

^'That  all  title  which  the  United  States  still  retain,  in  the  tracts  of  land  along  the  Des 
Moines  River,  and  alwve  the  mouth  of  the  Raccoon  Fork  thereof,  in  the  State  of  Iowa, 
which  have  been  heretofore  certified  to  said  State  improperly,  by  the  Department  of 
the  Interior,  as  past  of  the  grant  by  act  of  Congress  approved  August  8. 1846,  and  which 
is  now  held  by  hona-fide  purchasers  under  the  State  of  Iowa,  be,  and  the]same  is  hereby, 
relinqaisbexl  to  the  State  of  Iowa.'' 

The  amendment  was  agreed  to. 

The  joint  resolution  was  reported  to  the  Senate  as  amended;  and  the  amendment 
was  concurred  in,  and  ordered  to  bo  engrossed,  and  the  resolution  to  be  read  a  third 
time. 

Sir.  HtrNTER.  I  desire  to  have  the  yeas  and  nays  on  the  passage  of  the  joint  resoln- 
tion. 

The  yeas  and  nays  were  ordered ;  and  being  taken,  resulted — yeas  30,  nays  7 ;  as 
follows : 

Yeas* — Messrs.  Anthony,  Bigler,  Bingham.  Bright,  Chandler,  Clark,  Collamer,  Crit- 
tenden, Dixon,  Douglas,  Durkee,  Fessendeu,  Fitch,  Foot,  Foster,  Grimes,  Johnson  of 
Tennessee,  Lane,  Lathani,  Morrill, Nicholson,  Polk,  Powell,  Simmons,  Sumner, Ten  Eyck, 
Trambull,  Wade,  Wilkinson,  and  Wilson-— 30. 


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22  DES   MOINES    RIVER   GRANT. 

Nays — Messrs.  Bragp:,  Doolittle,  Green,  Hunter,  Johnson  of  Arkansas,  King,  and 
SeV»a«tiari — 7. 

So  the  joint  resolntion  was  passed. 

Mr.  Lane  subsequently  said  :  I  rise  to  a  privileged  question.  I  move  to  reconsider 
tl.t'  \«it<-  ni-on  the  ]>assucTt»  of  thf  House  joint  resoluticni  quit-claiininj;  to  Iowa  the  IVs 
Moines  grant.  I  want  to  say  to  Senators  who  ft*el  an  interest  in  the  joint  resolution, 
that  I  do  it  in  all  kindness.  I  have  heard  some  suggestions  in  relation  to  the  report 
and  the  facts,  that  ])erhaps  I  had  not  very  carefully  examined.  I  examined  the  papt-rs 
to  some  extent,  and  made  up  my  mind  that  the  joint  resolntion  was  right  ;  but  on 
hearing  some  sugg<-stions,  I  have  concluded  to  makii  this  motion,  that  I  ma  hav#»  an 
(►])portunity — and  I  shall  not  lose  much  time  in  doing  it — to  look  over  all  the  pajH^rs 
and  facts  connected  with  the  subject. 

The  Pj{ksiihn(;  Officer,  (Mr.  Fostkr  in  the  chair.)  The  Chair  will  state  io  the 
Senator  from  Oiegon,  that  the  resolution  to  which  he  refers  is  not  in  the  possession  of 
the  Senate.     It  has  b  en  sent  to  tlie  House  of  Rsjpresontatives. 

Mr.  Laxk.  Then  I  believe  it.is  competcjjt  to  move  that  the  House  of  Representatives 
be  requested  to  rciuin  the  joint  resolution. 

The  Pi;ksii>ing  Okfickr.  The  usual  motion  is,  to  direct  the  Secretary  to  request  the 
return  of  the  joint  nis<dntion. 

Mr.  Lane.  I  make  that  mr)tion. 

The  Presiding  Officer.  It  is  moved  thai}  the  Secretary  of  the  Senate  be  directed  to 
n<iucht  tlir  House  of  Representatives  to  return  the  joint  resolution  indicated  by  the 
Senator  from  Oregon. 

The  motion  wa«  agreed  to. 

When  the  governor  of  Iowa  was  called  upon  to  certify  a  list  of  lands 
above  Kaccoon  Fork  erroneously  certified  and  sold  by  the  State  to  bona- 
fide  purchasers,  he  submitted  a  list  of  sut  h  lands  only  as  the  State  had 
sold  to  individuals  during  the  time  it  had  conducted  the  imi)roven]ent, 
and  did  not  certify  the  lands  it  had  released  to  the  Des  Moines  Naviga- 
tion and  Railroad  Company  by  the  deeds  above  set  out.  That  company, 
however,  did  forward  to  the  Commissioner  of  the  General  Ljind-Office 
a  list  of  lands  it  had  sold  to  actual  settlers,  which  appears  to  have 
nceived  no  action  in  the  Department. 

Congress  must  have  also  thus  interpreted  the  joint  resolution,  because 
in  response  to  the  joint  resolntion  of  the  general  assembly  of  Iowa, 
April  7,  18G2,  above  quoted,  it  is  enacted: 

That  the  grant  of  lands  to  the  then  Territory  of  Iowa,  for  the  improvement  of  the 
DiS  M<Mnes  Kivrr,  nuwle  by  the  act  of  August  8,  1846,  is  hereby  exteiuled  so  a«  to  in- 
clude tlie  alternate  sections,  (designated  by  odd  numbers,)  lying  within  five  miles  of 
said  river,  Initwe^n  the  Raccoon  Fork  and  the  northern  boundary  of  said  State  ;  such 
lands  aro  to  be  held  and  applied  in  accordance  with  the  provisions  of  the  original  grant, 
except  that  the  consent  of  Congress  is  hereby  given  to  the  application  of  a  portion 
thereof  to  anl  in  the  construction  of  the  Kttokuk,  F^ort  Des  Moines  and  Minnesota  Rail- 
road, in  accordun(!e  with  the  provisions  of  the  act  of  the  general  assembly  of  tbt*  Stat* 
of  Iowa,  appn)ved  March  22,  IBo"^.  And  if  any  of  said  lands  shall  have  been  sold  or 
oiherwiso  di.^po.si'd  of  by  the  United  Scat«  s  before  the  passage  of  this  act,  excepting 
those  released  by  tin*  United  States  to  the  grantees  of  the  State  of  Iowa  under  joint 
resolution  of  March  2,  iHtU,  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior  is  hereby  direct<Hl  to  set  apart 
an  equal  amount  of  lands  within  said  State  to  be  certified  in  lieu  thereof:  Provided, 
That  if  the  State  shall  have  sold  and  co:iveyed  any  portion  of  the  lauds  lying  within 
the  limits  of  this  grant'  the  title  of  which  hivs  proved  invalid,  any  larnls  wliich  shall  be 
certified  to  said  State  in  lieu  thereof  by  virtue  of  the  provisions  of  this  act,  shall  inure 
to  and  be  held  as  a  trust-fund  for  the  benefit  of  the  person  or  persons  respectively 
whose  titles  shall  have  failed  as  aforesaid. 

Approved  July  12,  1802.     (United  States  Statutes  at  Large,  18f)2,  p.  — .) 

Yet  it  was  still  believed  that  the  lands  under  consideration  inured  to 
Towa  under  the  railroad  grant,  and  that  the  United  States  had  .sold  or 
otherwise  disposed  of  these  lands  in  contemplation  of  the  above  act. 
In  pursuance  of  chapter  79,  acts  of  the  eleventh  general  assembly  of 
Iowa,  IS.jO,  an  adjustment  or  settlement  of  matters  arising  out  of  these 
several  grants  was  liad  by  the  United  States  and  the  State  of  Iowa,  and  a 


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DJES    MOINES   RIVER    GRANT.  23 

full  report  made  by  Mr.  Harvey,  agent  of  the  State,  to  the  census  board 
of  Iowa,  is  herewith  submitted  : 

Washington  City.  D.  C,  Mat;  23,  1806. 
T)  ike  honorable  Ctmui  Board  of  the  State  of  loica,  Des  Moines  : 

Ptirsjiaut  to  the  rt*quiremeiits  of  chapter  79  of  the  acts  of  the  eleventh  general 
i»>^-ii»lily,  I  have  the  honor  to  report : 

That  i  have  consuuiriiated  an  adjnstmeut  with  the  United  States  of  the  excess  ol 
1;»ihI.s  rrt-eived  by  the  State  under  tlie  grant  of  September  4,  1H41.  Also,  the  hinds  con- 
rmiied  to  the  State  by  the  joint  resolution  of  March  2,  18(51,  and  the  lands  falling  to 
iln-  Slate  iuhUt  the  act  of  Congress  of  July  12,  \S()2;  and  transmit  herewith  for  your 
approval  a  copy  of  the  ngreement  containing  the  terms  of  said  adjustment. 

It  will  Ikj  observed  that  the  State  in  this  settlement  is  credited  with  the  whole 
r.niimnt  of  land  in  o<ld  sections,  aud  lying  within  five  miles  of  the  Des  Moines  River 
ir.mi  the  Raccoon  Fork  to  the  northern  boundary  of  the  State,  determined  (by  the 
D.  partmrnt)  to  be  5r>H,004.0fi  acres. 

The  State  is  then  charged  with  the  several  quantities  of  land  following,  to  wit : 

Xcroa. 
1st.  Indemnity-land  selected  under  special  certificate  dated  April  25, 1803..  297, 603. 74 

•i-l.  Remaining  lands  in  place  yet  to  be  certified 167,109.02 

'M.  Lands  in  place  confirmed  by  the  joint  resolution  of  March  2,  1861 44,838.64 

4th.  Lands  selected  and  heretotbre  certified  on  the  East  Fork  of  the  Des 

Moines  River,  and  more  than  five  miles  from  the  Western  or  main  branch.  11, 661.  80 
r»tb.  The  excess  selected  and  approved  to  the  State  as  a  part  of  the  500,000- 

acre  grant  under  the  act  of  September  4,  1841 35, 473. 54 

Making  in  all 556,686.74 

And  leaviug  <lue  the  State  to  balance  the  whole  amount  of  the  grant 1, 317.  3*2 

For  this  a  speci^il  certificate  will  be  issned. 

The  11,G*)1.80  acres  on  the  East  Branch  of  the  Des  Moines  River  heretofore  approved 
t«the  State  as  a  part  of  the  Des  Moines  River  grant,  and  disposed  of  by  the  State  as 
Mich,  are  held  by  the  Department,  under  the  decision  of  the  Attorney-General,  to  be  a 
l>rop<?r  and  legitimate  ofiset  to  so  much  of  this  grant.  Hence  they  are  charged  to  the 
.State  in  this  settlement. 

The  :C>,473.r>4  acres  charge<l  as  excess  under  the  500,()00-acre  grant  (act  1841)  include 
tbr  •i5,(ii>0.03  acres  oven*  and  above  the  500,000  acres  which  are  embraced  in  the  book  of 
«.i:»;;rams  approved  and  certified  to  the  State  on  the  12th  of  Se])tember,  1K')4,  and  which 
li.ive  hitherto  been  considered  the  excess;  and,  also,  the  12,813.51  acres  which  were  ouco 
ai>i»roved  as  a  part  of  the  .')00,000-acre  grant  and  aiftcrward  rejected  and  approved  and 
<eriitli''d  as  a  part  of  the  Des  Moines  River  grant.  These  lands  have  been  known  as 
the  "  river  school-lands." 

Xotwithstaudiug  that  they  have  been  disposed  of  by  the  State  as  a  part  of  the  Des 
Moines  River  lands,  said  chapter  79  requires  that  they  shall  bo  included  and  certified 
as  »  part  of  the  grant  of  1841. 

iK'eming  it  my  duty  to  carrj'  out  the  provisions  of  the  law,  regardless  of  my  per- 
uoiial  opinion  as  to  their  correctness  or  propriety,  I  have  thus  included  these  lands, 
tliTeby  increasing  .said  excess  to  35,475.54  acres,' and  allowed  them  to  be  <leducted 
Uum  the  amount  of  the  Des  Moines  River  grant  due  the  State,  iis  the  Department  had 
determined. 

The  proper  and  necessary  lists,  according  to  the  terms  of  this  adjustment,  will  be 
made  and  approved  by  the  Secretary  and  delivered  to  me  or  sent  to  the  State. 

In  the  preparation  of  these  lists  all  lands  which  a]>pear  at  the  General  Land-Office  as 
having  been  selected  as  swamp,  under  act  of  September  28, 1850,  and  all  tracts  to  which 
pre-einption  rights  had  attached  prior  to  July  12,  1862,  will  be  excluded.  If,  however, 
any  of  the  tracts  thus  listed  aud  certified  shall  be  found  to  have  been  duly  selectrd 
nmlersaid  act  of  September  28,  l.<)0,  and  shall  be  shown  by  legal  investigation  to  b« 
^wanip  or  overfiowed,  or  to  belong  to  the  State  by  said  act,  the  Gnvernuient  will 
apjirove  ami  certify  other  lands  of  like  quantity  in  lieu  thereof. 

This  adju.stmeut,  which  I  think  is  fair  and  just,  and  should  be  satisfactory  to  the 
?>tate,  will,  when  approved  by  you,  be  a  final  settlement  between  the  State  of  Iowa  and 
the  United  States  of  all  claims  under  the  Des  Moines  River  grant,  as  well  as  of  the  act 
of  W4l,  except  as  far  as  valid  aud  legal  subsisting  adverse  rights  may  be  found  to  exist 
U>  any  of  the  tracts  thus  approved  to  the  State. 

The  excess  of  the  500,000-acre  grant  (35,475.54  acres)  thus  deducted  is,  by  an  agree- 
ment between  the  State  and  the  Des  Moines  Valley  Railroad  Company,  (the  beneficiary 
el' the  grant,)  to  be  credited  to  said  company  at  tije  rate  of  one  dollar  aud  twenty-five 
Cents  p^-r  acre,  in  the  satisfaction  of  claims  against  the  State  on  account  of  the  im- 
provement of  the  Des  Moines  River.  Said  company  should  therefore  be  credited  ou 
the  claims  they  are  under  obligations  to  satisfy,  with  the  sum  of  §44,341.67. 


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24  DES   MOINES   RIVER   GRANT. 

My  authority  extends  only  to  settlement  with  the  General  Government ;  I  have  no 
power  to  carry  out  this  agreement  between  the  State  and  the  company.  It  is  but  just, 
however,  for  uio  to  say  that  this  settlement  hasrbeeu  made  with  the  United  States  with 
the  full  understanding  that  this  arrangement  should  be  carried  out. 

The  company,  through  it-s  agents,  has,  for  a  long  time,  been  laboring  to  this  end. 
The  opinion  and  decision  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  (acopy  of  which,  accompany- 
ing Mr.  Kilbonrn^s  report  made  last  winter,  is  herewith  transmitted  for  your  examina- 
tion in  connection  with  this  adjustment)  is  the  result  of  their  efforts. 

The  labor  of  these  agents,  (Messrs.  Kilbourn  and  Mason,)  heretofore  in  the  premises, 
has  greatly  relieved  liie  and  enabled  me  to  close  up  the  settlement  thus  early.  It  is 
due  the  company  that  this  credit  be  given  as  soon  as  possible. 

I  hope,  therefore,  that  this  entire  agreement  will  meet  with  your  approbation,  and 
that  you  will,  as  I  think  you  have  a  right,  and  may  safely  do,  fully  consummate  and 
eurry  it  out,  by  giving  said  company  the  benefit  of  said  credit  against  said  claims 
without  delay. 

Very  respectfully  submitted. 

J.  A.  HARVEY,  Commissioner, 

Adjustment  of  ths  Iowa  Des  Moines  River  grant j  under  the  act  of  July  12,  1862,  and  Joint 

resolution  of  March  2, 1861. 

DEBIT. 

Acres. 
The  State  of  Iowa  with  the  quantity  of  indemnity-land  selected  under 

special  certificate  dated  April  25, 1863 297,603.74 

The  lands  in  place  to  be  certified , 167,109.02 

The  lands  in  place  confirmed  by  joint  resolution  of  March  2,  1861 44, 83:^.  64 

The  quantity  selected  on  the  East  Fork  of  Des  Moines  River  and  certified 

to  the  State  under  the  original  law  of  August  8, 1846 11, 661.  SO 

The  excess  selected  And  approved  to  the  State  under  the  500,000  grant  of 

1841 35,473.54 

556, 666. 74 
Remaining  indemnity  due  to  the  State 1,317.  :i2 

558,004.06 

CRKDIT. 

Acres. 
The  State  of  Iowa  with  the  whole  ai*ea  of  the  grant  above  the  Raccoon 
Fork 558,004.06 

558,004.06 

J.  M.  EDMUNDS, 
Commissioner  General  Land-Office. 
General  Land-Office,  May  21, 1866. 

Washington  City,  May  21,  1866. 
Pursuant  to  the  anthority  conferred  by  the  act  of  the  State  of  Iowa,  approved  March 
30,  lfr(56,  **for  the  ad^justment  of  certain  land-claims  with  the  General  Gov^ernmeut,"  I, 
Josiah  A.  Harvey,  register  of  the  State  laud-office,  and  as  commissioner  on  behalf  of 
the  State,  do  hereby  assent  to  the  adjustment  as  herein  stated,  the  said  adjustment  to 
be  held  as  binding  and  conclusive  on  the  said  State  as  provided  in  said  act. 

JOSIAH  A.  HARVEY, 
Register  of  the  State  Land-Office^ 
and  Commissioner  on  behalf  of  the  State  of  Iowa. 
State  op  Iowa,  ss  : 

The  within  adjustment  as  stated  is  hereby  approved  bv  ns  for  the  State  of  Iowa. 

W.  M.  STONE,  Governor, 
[SEAL.]  JAS.  WRIGHT,  Secretary  of  5tete, 

JOHN  A.  ELLIOTT,  Auditory 
W.  H.  HOLMES,  Treasurery 

Census  Board. 
June  20,  1866. 

Department  of  the  Interior,  May  22,  ia66. 
The  adjustment  as  herein  stated  is  hereby  approved. 

JAS.  HARLAN,  Secretary, 


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DES   MOINES   RIfER    GRANT.  25 

Department  of  thk  Intrrior, 
General  Land-Office^  December  29,  1868. 
I,  Joseph  S.  Wilson,  Commissioner  of  the  General  Land-Office,  do  hereby  certify  that 
the  annexed  copies  are  a  true  and  literal  exempli  flea  tiou  of  the  originals  on  file  in  this 
office.  • 

In  t4^tiniony  whereof,  I  have  hereunto  subscribed  my  name  and  caused  the  seal  of 
this  office  to  be  affixed  at  the  city  of  Washington  on  the  day  and  year  above  written. 
LSEAL.J  JOS.  S.  WILSON. 

CommUsioner  of  the  General  Land-Office. 

At  the  December  term,  1866,  in  tlie  case  of  Walcott  against  the  Des 
MoiDe8  Navigation  and  Ilailroad  Company,  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
United  States  held  that  the  defendant  held  the  title  to  the  lands  in  suit 
therein.  This  tract  was  of  the  same  character  as  to  title  as  the  whole 
of  those  above  Raccoon  Fork,  in  odd-numbered  sections,  within  five  miles 
of  the  Des  Moines  Eiver,  now  under  consideration.  The  court  bases 
the  title  upon  the  grant  of  August,  1846,  and  the  subsequent  legislation 
of  Congress,  above  shown. 

This  opinion  was  announced  by  Mr.  Justice  Nelson  May  13, 1867,  and 
we  submit  a  copy  of  the  opinion  in  the  case  reported  in  5th  Wallace, 
p.—. 

SUPREME  COURT  OF  THE  UNITED  8TATE8~No.  204. 

December  Term,  1666. 

Samael  G.  Walcott,  plaintiif  in  error,  vs.  The  Des  Moines  Navigation  and  Railroad 
Company.  In  error  to  the  circait  court  of  the  United  States  for  the  southern  district 
of  New  York. 

Mr.  JuHtice  Nelson  delivered  the  opinion  of  the  conrt. 

This  is  a  writ  of  error  to  the  circuit  conrt  of  the  United  States  for  the  southern  dis- 
trict of  New  York. 

This  is  an  action  by  the  plaintiff,  Walcott,  against  the  defendants  for  breach  of  cov- 
enant. 

The  defendants  conveyed  by  deed-'poU  to  the  plaintiff,  on  Ist  August,  1859,  the  east 
half  of  section  17,  township  8H^  range  27,  situate  in  Webster  County,  State  of  Iowa, 
containiui;  three  hundred  and  twenty  acres,  for  the  consideration  of  $3,040,  and  war- 
ranted the  title.  It  is  charged  in  the  declaration  that  the  title  has  failed,  which  is 
denied  on  the  part  of  the  detendants.    This  presents  the  main  issue  in  the  case. 

On  the  8tli  of  August,  1H46,  Congress  passed  an  act  by  which  they  granted  to  the 
Territory  of  Iowa,  for  the  purpose  of  aid  in  the  improvement  of  the  navigation  of  the 
Des  Moines  River,  from  its  mouth  to  the  Raccoon  Fork,  in  said  Territory,  an  equal 
moiety,  in  alternate  sections,  of  the  public  lands,  in  a  strip  of  tive  miles  in  width  on 
each  side  of  said  river,  to  be  selected  within  said  Territory  by  an  agent  of  the  gov- 
ernor, subject  to  the  approval  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  of  the  United  States. 

The  second  section  provided  that  the  lands  so  grant4)d  should  not  be  sold  or  con- 
veyed by  the  Territory,  nor  by  any  State  to  be  formed  out  of  it,  except  as  the  improve- 
ments progressed — that  is,  sales  might  be  made  so  as  to  produce  the  sum  of  thirty 
thousand  dollars,  and  then  cease,  until  the  governor  or  State,  as  the  case  might  be, 
should  certify  the  fact  to  the  President  of  the  Uuited  States  that  oue-half  of  this  sum 
had  been  expended  on  said  improvements,  when  sales  again  might  bo  made  of  the 
remaining  lands  sufficient  to  replace  this  amount,  and  the  sales  were  thus  to  progress 
as  the  proceeds  were  expended,  and  the  expenditures  so  certified  to  the  President. 
Agents  were  appointed  by  the  governor,  who  selected  the  section  designated  by  odd 
Dombers,  throughout  the  whole  extent  of  the  grant,  which,  as  claimed,  extended  from 
the  month  of  the  river  to  the  northern  boundary  of  the  State. 

The  lot  in  question  is  one  of  the  sections  thus  selected  and  approved  by  the  Sec- 
retary of  the  Treasury,  and  duly  certified  by  the  governor  of  the  State  to  the  Presi- 
dent, according  to  the  second  section  of  the  act,  and  was  sold  and  conveyed,  among 
other  parcels  of  land,  by  the  State  to  the  defendants.  The  section  of  land  of  which 
the  lot  in  question  is  a  part  was  situated  above  the  Raccoon  Fork. 

Some  year  and  a  half  after  the  paasage  of  this  act  a  question  arose  before  the  Com- 
missioner of  the  Land-Office  whether  the  grant  of  the  odd  sections  within  the  five  miles 
extended  above  this  fork.  He  determined  that  it  did,  and  that  it  extended  through- 
o;it  the  whole  line  of  the  river  within  the  limits  of  Iowa.  It  appears,  however,  that 
he  afterward  changed  his  opinion,  and  on  the  19th  Juno,  184H,  a  proclamation  was 
iasaed  by  the  President,  countersigned  by  him,  ordering  a  sale  of  some  of  these  odd 


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26  DES   MOINES   BIVER   GRANT.  * 

soctions,  anionp:  other  lands,  lyint^  above  tbo  fork,  and  which  was  to  take  place  in  the 
f()llowiuj4  (3ctoboi\  On  the  attention  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  being;  called  to 
the  snbji'ct,  he,  jufter  an  examination  of  the  act,  determined  that  upon  a  trne  construc- 
tion of  it  the  «;rant  extended  above  the  Raceoon  Fork,  and  directed , that  the  odd  sec- 
tion8  sliould  be  reserved  froiy  the  nale,  which  was  done  accordingly,  and  the  State  of 
Iowa  duly  notitied.  This  was  on  the  IGth  June,  1849.  On  the  fith  April,  I'^.M),  the 
Secretary  of  the  Interior,  whose  department  had  in  the  mean  time  be«xn  established, 
and  to  which  the  snpervisioii  and  control  of  the  General  Land-Ollico  had  been 
assigned,  reversed  the  previous  decisu)n  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  and  deter- 
mined that  the  grant  did  not  extend  beyond  the  Raccoon  Fork.  But  he  directed  that 
the  lands  should  be  reserved  from  sale  which  were  eud)raced  within  the  State's  selec- 
tions. The  question  was  then  brought  before  the  President,  and  was  referred  by  him 
to  the  Attorney-General,  wlio  dilfered  with  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  and  concurred 
with  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury.  But  before  thQ  promulgation  of  this  decis- 
ion the  President  (Taylor)  died,  and  a  new  cabinet  coming  in— and  among 
others  a  new  Attorney  General — he  overruled  the  decision  of  his  predecessor,  and 
affirmed  that  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior.  The  cause  was  then  brought  before  the 
new  President  and  cabinet,  and  the  result  is  stated  by  the  then  Secretary  of  the  Inte- 
rior, under  date  of  October  29,  1851,  which  was  "  that  iu  view  of  the  great  conliict  of 
opinion  among  the  executive  officers  of  the  Government,  and  also  in  view  of  the  opin- 
ion of  several  emiiuMit  jurist.s  which  have  been  presented  to  me  in  favor  of  tlie  con- 
struction contended  for  by  tlie  State,  I  am  willing  to  recognize  the  claim  of  the  8tat*N 
and  to  api)rove  of  the  selections,  without  prejudice  to  the  rights,  if  any  there  be,  of 
other  parties."  Under  tliis  arrangement  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior  ap]>rovod  of  the 
odd  sections  above  the  fork  as  certitied,  according  to  the  act  of  Congress,  till  iu  Decem- 
ber, IH.'ni,  the  number  of  acres  amounted  to  over  271.572.  On  the  21st  March,  lK>r),  the 
Commissioner  of  the  Land-Otlice  again  decided  that  the  grant  wa«  limiti'd  to  the  Rac- 
coon Fork,  and  the  qiiestion  was  again  referred  to  the  Attorney-General,  whf>  advised 
the  Secretary  of  the  Interior  to  ac<iniesce  in  the  views  of  his  predecessor,  (a  change 
having  taken  place  as  to  the  incumbent,)  and  to  continue  the  api>roval  of  the  lands  as 
certitied  to  him  under  the  law,  which  was  done  iiccordingly.  Iu  the  mean  time  the  im- 
provement of  the  Des  Moines  River  had  been  carried  on  by  the  State  and  by  the  Des 
Moines  Navigation  and  Railroad  Company,  who,  on  the  9th  June,  1854,  had  entered 
intaau  engagement  with  the  State  to  finish  the  improvements,  as  contemplated  by  the 
act  of  Congress,  and  to  expend  for  that  purpose  some  §1,300,000. 

The  question  :is  to  the  true  construction  of  this  grant  of  8th  August,  1846,  and  iu 
respect  to  which  such  great  diversity  of  oi)inion  existed  among  the  executive  officers  of 
the  Government,  came  l>efore  this  court,  and  was  deeided  at  the  December  tc^m,  J8u9- 60. 
The  court  held  that  it  was  limited  to  the  Raccoon  Fork,  and  did  not  extend  above  it. 
(23  How.,  66,  Dubu(iue  and  Paciiic  Railroad  Company  r«.  Litchfield.) 

Whereupon  on  the  2d  March,  1861,  Congress  passed  a  joint  resolution  providin«5  that 
"all  the  title  which  the  United  States  still  retain  in  the  triw^ts  of  land  along  the  Des 
Moiufrs  River,  and  above  the  Raccoon  Fork  thereof,  in  the  State  of  Iowa,  which  have 
bctsu  certitied  to  said  State  improperly  by  the  Department  of  the  Interior,  as  part  of 
the  grant  by  act  of  Congress  approved  August  8,  1846,  and  which  is  now  held  by  bona 
fide  purchasers  under  the  State  of  Iowa,  be,  and  the  same  is  herel^y,  relinquished  to  the 
State."  And  on  tlie  12th  July,  1862,  Congress  enacted  "that  the  grant  of  lauds  to  the 
then  Territory  of  Iowa  for  the  improvement  of  the  Des  Moines  River  by  rhe  act  of 
August  8,  1846,  is  hereby  extended  so  as  to  include  the  alternate  sections  (designated 
by  odd  numbi'is)  lying  within  five  miles  of  said  river,  between  the  Raccoon  Fork  and 
the  northern  boundary  of  said  State.  Such  lands  are  to  be  held  and  applied  in  accord- 
ance with  the  provisions  of  the  original  grant,  except  that  the  consent  of  Congress  is 
hereby  given  to  the  application  of  a  ]>ortiou  thereof  to  aid  iu  the  construction  of  the 
Keokuk,  Fort  Des  Moines  and  Minnesota  Railroad,  iu  accordance  with  the  provisions 
of  the  act  of  the  general  assembly  of  the  State  of  Iowa,  approved  March  22,  1858. 

If  the  case  stopped  here  it  would  be  very  clear  that  the  plaintiff  could  not  recover; 
for,  although  the  State  possessed  no  title  to  the  lot  in  dispute  at  the  time  of  the  con- 
veyance to  the  Des  Moines  Navigation  and  Railroad  Company,  yet,  having  an  after- 
acquired  title  by  the  act  of  Congress,  it  would  inure  to  the  benefit  of  the  grantees,  and 
so  in  respect  to  their  conveyance  to  the  plaintifl'.  This  is  in  accordance  with  the  laws 
of  the  State  of  Iowa. 

But  another  act  of  Congress  is  relied  on  by  the  plaintiff,  passed  May  15,  185G,  as 
showing  that  the  United  States  had  already  parted  with  the  lauds,  of  which  the  lot  in 
question  is  a  part,  previous  to  ^his  act  of  12th  July,  1862.  It  becomes  necessary,  there- 
lore,  to  examine  this  act.  It  grants  to  thi»  State  of  Iowa,  for  the  purpose  of  aiding  in 
the  construction  of  certain  railroads  specified,  every  alternate  section  of  land,  (desig- 
nated by  odd  numbers,)  for  six  sections  in  width  on  each  side  of  said  roads,  with  the 
following  proviso:  "That  any  and  all  lands  heretofore  reserved  to  the  United  States 
by  any  act  ot  Congress,  or  in  any  other  nMiiner  by  competent  authority,  for  the  purpone  of 
aiding  in  any  objects  of  internal  iniprovenienis,  or  for  any  purpose  whatsoever,  be,   and 


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DES    MOINES    RIVER    GRANT.  27 

the  8ame  is  liereby,  reserved  from  tbe  operation  of  this  act,  except  so  far  as  it  may 
lie  fuuiul  iiecehHary  to  locate  the  routes  of  the  said  railroads  throiij^h  such  n-served 
land,  in  which  eas«»  the  ri^^ht  of  way  shall  be  granted,  subject,  to  the  approval 
of  tbe  President."  This  jrTant  to  the  State  for  Ihe  benefit  of  the  niilrojids,  it  is  adnnt- 
ted.  c'ovtTs  the  tract  vvithin  which  the  h)t  in  question  is  sltiiat^j,  unless  exclniled  by  tbe 
pruviso.  Tbt'  question  turns  upon  the  construction  of  this  proviso,  and  in  reading  it 
in  c<jinn'ction  with  the  act  of  1.^40,  granting  lands  to  the  State  of  Iowa  for  tlic  im- 
provement of  the  Des  Moines  River,  and  in  connection  with  the  serious  and  jirolonged 
conflict  of  opini(m  that  arose  among  the  executive  officers  of  the  Government,  extend- 
ing ovtT  a  peri(Hl  of  some  eight  years,  and  which  related  to  the  title  abov^i  the  Ra«'coon 
Fork,  in  respect  to  which  this  act  of  lH,'i()  was  dealing  in  the  grant  for  th«^  benefit  of 
the  railroads,  we  think  it  difficult  to  resist  tbe  conclusion  that  Congress,  in  the  pas- 
sage of  the  proviso,  had  specially  in  their  minds  this  previous  grant,  and  conflict  of 
opinion  c*>ncerning  it,  and  intended  to  reserve  the  lands  for  future  disposition,  if  the 
title  uniler  tbe  first,  grant  should  turn  out  to  be  (h?feetlve.  Tbe  decision  <jf  this  court 
bad  not  then  taken  jdace,  though  the  litignti(ui  wjis  probably  pending  in  tbe  court  be- 
low, in  I  lie  district  of  Iowa.  Tbe  words  of  the  proviso  point  almost  directly  to  this 
grant,  and  to  tbe  dis])ute  arising  out  of  it  among  the  public  authorities — "All  lands 
lieret«^ftire  reserved."  ifcc.,  "  by  any  act  of  Congress,  or  in  any  other  manner  by  compe- 
tent authority,  for  the  purpj)se  of  aiding  in  any  objects  of  internal  imiirovements,"  «&c. 
The:*e  improvements  of  tbe  Des  Moines  Kiver  were  then  in  progress.  Now,  if  it  bad 
turned  out  that  tbe  true  construction  of  tbe  act  carried  the  grant  above  tbe  Raccoon 
Fi>rk,  then  the  lands  would  have  been  reserved  by  act  of  Congress,  and  no  further  legis- 
1ati<»n  n«ces,sary.  But,  not  satisfied  with  this,  :is  if  to  provide  for  any  nsults  in  re- 
spect to  the  titU'  to  thiMU,  if  reserved  in  any  other  manner  by  competent  authority,  for 
the  ooject  of  internal  improvemeuts,  then  the  enacting  clause  should  not  operate  to  carry 
them  nnder  tbe  new  grant. 

It  ba,s  bi-en  arguecl  that  these  lands  bad  not  been  reserved  by  competent  authority, 
and  hen«*e  that  tbe  reservation  Wiis  nugatory.  As  we  have  seen,  they  were  reserved 
from  sale  for  the  spepial  purpose  of  aiding  in  tbe  improvement  of  the  Des  Moines  River 
— lirHt,  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  when  the  land  department  was  under  his 
8upervi«ioi»  and  control,  and  again  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  after  tbe  6fttablish- 
nient  of  this  Department,  to  which  tbe  duties  were  a'isigned,  and  afterward  continued 
by  this  Department,  under  instructions  from  tbe  President  and  cabinet.  Besides,  if 
thia  power  was  not  competent,  which  we  think  it  was  ever  since  tbe  establishment  of 
the  land  department,  and  which  has  been  everciscjd  down  to  the  present  time,  the 
grant  of  r^th  August,  184fi,  carried  along  with  it,  by  necessary  implication,  not  only  tbe 
jK>w*-r.  but  the  duty,  of  the  Land-OfTice  t«)  leserve  fn)m  sale  tbe  lands  embraced  in  the 
grant.  Otherwise  its  object  might  be  utterly  defeated.  Hence,  immediately  upon  a 
grant  biMug  made  by  Congress  for  any  of  the'<e  public  purposes  to  a  State,  notice  is 
given  by  tbe  Coujmissioner  of  tbe  Land-Ofiice  to  tbe  registers  and  receivers  to  stop  all 
t^ales,  either  public  or  by  private  entry.  Su<*b  notice  was  given  thesanieday  thegrant 
wa-*  njade.  in  ISHfi,  for  the  benefit  of  these  railroads.  That  there  was  a  dispnto  exist- 
ing as  t«>  the  extent  of  this  grant  of  184(»  in  no  \>ay  affects  the  qnestion.  Tbe  serious 
conflict  of  o])inion  among  the  public  authorities  on  the  subject  made  it  the  duty  of  the 
land-<3flicer8  to  withhold  the  sales  and  reserve  them  to  the  United  States  till  it  was 
ultimately  dispositd  of. 

It  shonld  be  stated,  also,  in  connection  with  this  proviso,  that  the  improvements  of 
tbi»  river  were  in  progress  at  tbe  time  of  the  passage  of  the  act  of  1>^5(),  and  had  been 
for  yearn,  but  was  suspended  soon  after,  on  account,  of  the  refusal  of  tbe  land  depart- 
ment to  certify  any  more  sections  under  tbe  act  of  18  6 ;  and,  as  appears  from  the  cer- 
tificate of  the  governor  of  Iowa,  the  sum  of  .*j:V.J*i,t  34.04  bad  already  been  expended  by 
tbe!«*  defendants  under  their  contract. 

Jndiruient  of  the  court  below  atiSnn^d. 

Iniiiietliately  followinj^  this  decision  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior  ruled 
that  the  hinds  under  consideration  were  a  i^art  of  the  public  domain  and 
subject  to  the  pre-emption  and  h(miestead  laws.  In  the  case  of  Herbert 
Battiu,  a  srttler  upon  a  tract  of  this  land  undt^r  date  of  May  9,  18(i8,  he 
revii'wed  the  legislation,  departmental,  and  decisions  of  the  court  touch- 
ing the  same,  and  on  the  satne  date  ad<lressed  a  letter  to  the  Coinmis- 
8iouer  of  the  General  Land-Office,  which  we  copy  as  follows: 

Depaktment  of  the  Interior, 

JVaahbujton,  IJ.  C,  May  9,  1868. 

Sir  :  I  have  received  your  report  of  the  9th  October  last,  and  the  accompanying 
papers,  in  the  case  of  Herbert  Battin,  from  tbe  Des  Moines  office,  Iowa,  claiming  tbe 
ri;;ht  of  pre-emption  to  the  southwest  rjuarter  3,  township  8^^,  range  27,  bj  reason  of  a 
settlement  luade.thereon  October  2,  1857. 


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28  DE8   MOINES    RIVER   GRANT. 

It  appears  from  yonr  report  that  on  the  6th  December,  IB66,  yoa  awarded  the  land 
to  Battin,  but  as  it  had  been  previously  certified  to  the  State  of  Iowa,  iiuder  the  rail- 
road ^niiit  of  May  15,  1856,  you  required  a  relinquish ruent  im  the  part  of  the  State  be- 
fore issuintr  patent.  That  on  the  23d  July,  181)7,  you  re-examiueil  the  case  and  decided 
to  caucel  the  entry  of  Battio,  upon  the  j^round  that  his  settlement  commenced  after 
the  rif^ht  of  the  railroad  company  had  attached. 

From  this  decision  Battin  appeals.  The  reqnired  relinqnishTuent  under  the  railroad 
grant  was  received  at  your  office  after  you  had  made  the  second  tleciston. 

This  tract  of  land  is  a  part  of  an  odd  numljered  section,  sitnated  above  the  Raccoon 
Fork,  within  live  mtles  of  the  Des  Moines  River,  and  claimed  as  a  part  of  the  grant  to 
Iowa  to  aid  in  the  improvement  of  said  river.  It  is  also  within  the  six-mile  limit  of 
the  railroad  grant  and  was  approved  and  certified  to  the  State  under  both  grants. 

In  view  of  tliese  grants,  the  general  decisions  of  the  Department  and  of  the  Supreme 
Court  in  reference  to  their  extent  and  validity,  it  becomes  necessary  to  review  the 
whole  matter  in  order  to.  a  correct  determination  of  the  case  under  consideration. 

Ist.  Tiie  act  of  Congress  approved  August  H,  1846,  (9  Stat.,  777,)  granted  to  the  Terri- 
tory of  Iowa,  "  for  the  purpose  of  aiding  said  Territory  to  improve  the  navigation  of 
the  Des  Moines  River  from  its  mouth  to  th'e  Raccoon  Fork  (so  called)  in  said  Territory, 
one  equal  moiety,  in  alternate  sections,  of  the  public  lands  remaining  nusold  and  not 
otherwise  disi>osed  of,  encumbered,  or  appropriated,  in  a  strip  live  miles  in  width 
on  each  side  of  said  rivei;''  to  be  selected  within  said  Territory  by  an  agent  or 
Agents,  &;c. 

The  proper  State  authorities,  Februirv  15,  1851,  formally  notified  your  office  that 
they  selected  the  odd  sections  above  the  Raccoon  Fork  to  the  source  of  the  Des  Moines 
River;  and  on  the  10th  March,  1852,  certain  lands,  among  which  was  the  tract  in  ques- 
tion, were  approved  to  the  State  by  Secretary  Stuart,  in  view  of  the  decision  of  Secre- 
tary. Walker  that  the  grant  extended  above  said  Fork.  Prior  to  this  last  date,  several 
contlieting  decisions  had  been  made  as  to  the  limits  of  this  grant,  some  extendiugr  it 
only  to  the  mouth  of  the  Raccoon  Fork,  other.-i  to  the  northern  boundary  of  the  State. 

At  the  D(;cember  term,  1859,  the  Supreme  Conrt  of  the  United  Slates,  in  the  case  of 
the  Dubuque  and  Pacific  Railroad  Company  vs.  Litchfield,  (23  Howard,  66,)  decided 
that  this^rant  did  not  extend  above  the  Raccoon  Fork. 

The  action  of  the  Executive  Departments,  awarding  and  transferring  to  the  State, 
under  this  grant,  lands  situate  above  the  said  fork,  was  regarded  by  the  court  as  un- 
authorized and  void. 

They  were,  therefore,  approved  to  the  State  for  railroads,  under  said  act  of  May  15, 
1856,  so  far  as  snch  lands  were  situate  within  the  prescribed  limits  of  the  line  of  the 
road. 

The  attorney  of  the  Des  Moines  Navigation  and  Railroad  Company,  in  a  very  elabo- 
rate brief,  contiMids  that  under  the  grant  of  1846  this  land  was  withdrawn,  and  that 
the  original  decision  of  the  court  could  not  operate  to  restore  it.  Ho  refers  to  the  in- 
structions issued  by  the  Commissioner  of  the  General  Land-Office,  of  June  1,  1849,  to 
the  register  and  receiver  at  Iowa  City,  Iowa,  for  evidence  of  withdrawal.  Upon  look- 
ing at  these  instructions,  it  is  found  that  the  withdrawal  only  extended  up  to  towu- 
fihip  83  north,  range  26  west,  that  being  as  far  as  the  public  surveys  had  pro- 
gressed in  that  direction.  This  tract  is,  consequently,  not  within  the  limits  of  that 
withdrawal. 

Besides,  the  court  held  that  the  act  of  Congress  "  was  a  grant  to  Iowa  of  an  undi- 
vided moiety  of  the  lands  below  the  Raccoon  Fork,  and  the  officers  of  the  Executive  De- 
partment had  no  further  anthority  than  to  make  partition  of  these  lauds.  Having^  ex- 
tended their  acts  to  lauds  l^ing  butside  of  the  boundaries,  their  attempts  to  make  par- 
tition were  merely  nugatory." 

The  grant  being  thus  restricted  to  lands  below  the  Raccoon  Fork,  Congreas.by  res- 
olution approved  March  2,  1861,  relinquished  to.  the  State  of  Iowa  all  the  title  the 
United  States  then  held  in  the  tracts)  of  land  above  the  said  fork,  which  had  beea  im- 
properly certified  to  said  State  under  the  grant  of  1846,  and  which  were  then  held  by 
bona  fide  piirchasers  under  the  State. 

It  is  also  claimed  that  the  Des  Moines  Improvement  Company  was  a  bona  fide  pur- 
chaser from  the  State,  and  consequently  that  the  defect  of  title  was  cured  by  said  res- 
olution. After  it  had  been  approved  the  State  was  caUe<l  upon  to  furnish  a  list  of  the 
tracts  improperly  certified  to  her  which  she  had  sold. 

This  tract  is  not  found  in  the  State's  list,  although  it  appears  in  a  list  of  tracts  said 
to  have  been  sold  by  the  company. 

Said  resolution  not  covering  all  the  lands  claimed  for  the  Des  Moines  River  grant, 
Congress  passed  the  act  approved  July  12,  1862. 

This  act  makes  a  new  grant  to  the  State  of  those  lauds  above  the  Raccoon  Fork,  **  to 
be  held  and  applied  in  accordance  with  the  original  grant,"  except  a  portion  thereof, 
which  are  to  be  used  to  aid  in  constructing  a  railroad,  and  it  is  provided  that "  if  any 
of  said  lauds  shall  have  been  sold  or  otherwise  disposed  of  l^y  the  UnHed  States,  ex- 


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DBS   MOINES   RIVER   GRANT.  29 

cepting  iLose  released  under  the  joint  rcsolatiou,^  an  equal  amount  of  lands  within 
the  State  are  to  be  set  apart  and  certitied  in  iieu  therof. 

Referring  to  the  original  grant  it  is  found  to  include  only  public  lands  "  remaining 
ausold  and  not  otherwise  disposed  of,  encumbered  and  appropriated.''  The  new  grant 
gives  indemnity  fur  any  of  such  lands  above  the  said  fork  disposer!  of,  except  those 
released  by  the* resolution.  In  view  of  this  legislation  it  became  necessary  to  ascer- 
tain what  indemnity,  if  any,  was  due  the  State.  The  Commissioner  of  the  General 
Land-ODice,  therefore,  stated  an  acconnt  between  the  United  States  and  the  State  of 
Iowa,  dated  May  21,  l^fGG,  The  State  was  credited  with  the  amount  of  the  odd  num- 
))ered  sections  within  five  miles  of  the  Des  Moines  River,  above  the  Raccoon  Fork, 
being  a  total  of  55^,004.06  acres,  and  debited  as  follows : 

Acres. 

1st.  Land  selected  under  special  certificate ....a 297, 603. 74 

2d.    Laud  in  place  to  be  certitied 167,109.02 

lUl.    Land  confirmed  by  resolution 44,838.64 

4th.  Landcoo6rmed  on  East  Fork 11,661.80 

5th.  Excess  selected  and  approved  under  the  act  of  1841 :^,  473. 54 

556,686.74 
Leaving  dne  the  State 1,317.32 

558,004.06 

This  a^nstment  was  accepted  by  Josiah  A.  Harvey,  ^'  register  of  the  State  land-office 
and  coiiiuiissioner  on  behalf  of  the  Stut:)  of  Iowa,*'  and  approved  by  Mr.  Secretary 
Harlan,  May  29, 1866.  The  1,317.32  acres  were  subsequently  selected  and  approved  to 
the  Scat^;.  The  State,  by  the  deliberate  and  recorded  admission  of  her  authorized  agentp, 
has  thus  received  all  the  lands  to  which  she  wiis  entitled  on  account  of  the  improve- 
ment of  said  river.    The  adjustment  is  conclusive  and  final. 

As  the  State  received  iud«'mnity  for  this  identical  tract,  her  claim  on  behalf  of  the 
Des  Moines  Company  must  be  rejected  without  regard  to  adverse  claims. 

2d.  Having  disposed  of  the  claim  under  the  river  grant,  I  proceed  to  consider  that  of 
the  railroad.  I  premise  by  saying  that  while  it  appears  the  railroad  company  were 
notified  of  the  appeal  taken  by  Battin,  they  have  failed  to  put  m  an  appearance. 

The  i^rant  to  the  State  for  the  purpose  of  aiding  in  the  construction  of  railroads  bv 
said  act  of  1856,  granted  every  alternate  odd-numbered  section  for  six  sections  in  width 
on  each  side  of  each  oi  the  roads,  with  the  right  to  select  indemnity  for  such  sections 
or  parts  thereof  disposed  of,  with  a  proviso,  reserving  from  the  operation  of  the  grant 
any  and  all  lands  reserved  for  the  purpose  of  aiding  in  any  of  the  internal  improve- 
ments, &c. 

The  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  at  the  December  term,  1866,  (5  Wallace,  681,) 
rendered  a  decision  to  the  effect  that  said  proviso  operated  to  exclude  from  the  rail- 
r»ad-grant  the  odd-numbered  sections  within  five  miles  of  the  Dea  Moines  River,  above 
the  Kacco  )n  Fork,  and  that  the  same  passed  to  the  Stat  3  under  the  acts  granting  lands 
to  aid  in  improving  said  river. 

At  the  date  of  that  decision  the  Des  Moines  River  grant  had  been  finally  adjusted. 

The  State  had,  as  before  remarked,  received  all  the  land  to  which  she  was  entitled 
on  account  thereof,  and  she  is  thus  estopped  from  setting  up  a  claim.  Although  this 
fact  <lot's  not  apf>ear  in  the  record  of  the  case,  I  have  shown  that  it  is  incontrovertibly 
established  by  the  records  of  your  office.  It  is  the  duty  of  the  Department  in  admin- 
ititeriug  the  acts  of  Congress  to  give  full  effect  to  the  settlement,  otherwise  the  State 
would  first  obtain,  in  lieu  of  lands  which  she  alleged  had  been  "otherwise  disposed 
of,^  au  indemnity  amounting  to  an  equal  quantity  of  such  lands,  and  then,  when  her 
right  to  laud  selected  by  way  of  indemnity  had  been  recognized  and  confirmed  to  her, 
abe  conld  assert  hei  title  to  the  lands  she  alleged  had  beeu  disposed  of.  The  effect  of 
this  would  give  her  more  than  she  originally  claimed.  The  effect  of  that  decision  is, 
therefore,  only  to  exclude  from  the  rail  road- grant  lands  lying  north  of  the  fork,  and  to 
restore  them  to  the  public  domain,  at  least  so  far  as  to  subject  them  to  the  operation  of 
the  pre-emption  and  homestead  laws.  Further,  by  act  of  June  2,  1864,  (13  Stat.,  98,) 
amendatory  of  the  grant  of  18'^6,  additional  lands  were  granted  to  the  State,  and  new 
provisions  were  ingrafted  upon  the  original  law.  One  of  these,  the  last  proviso  to  the 
fourth  section,  excludes  from  the  railri>ad -grant  any  land  **  settled  upon  and  improved 
in  good  faith  by  a  bona-Jide  inhabitant  under  color  of  title  derived  from  the  United 
States  or  the  State  of  Iowa,  adverse  to  the  grant,''  and  the  railroad  company  are  au- 
tborizetl  to  select  other  laud  in  lieu  of  tracts  so  settled  upon  and  improved.  These 
boma-fide  inhabitants  need  not  necessarily  be  pre-emption  settlers,  but  they  must  be 
hona-fide  uelthrn  claiming  from  the  United  States  or  the*  State  of  Iowa.  Consequently, 
the  btate  c<mld  have  no  valid  claim  under  the  railroad-grant  to  any  tract  settled  upon 
and  improved  iu  good  faith  by  a  bona-fidt  inhabitant.    Furthermore,  it  is  certified  by 


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30  DES   MOINES    RIVER   GRANT. 

the  oxoeiitive  of  the  State,  that  the  State  lias  not  transferred  this  tract,  and  he  relin- 
quiHheB  any  title  or  color  of  title  to  it  by  virtue  of  its  haviiij;  bueii  approved  aud  cer- 
litied  iiiuler  that  ^raut. 

;id.  The  reniaiuin^  question  to  he  di^termined  is  whether  Battiu'H  claim  can  be  al- 
lowed. It  is  not  material  to  consider  whether  this  laud  has  ever  been  reserved  so  as 
to  exclude  it  from  the  operation  of  the  pre-emption  laws.  Even  if  such  had  been  the 
case,  the  ditlieulty  would  be  removed  by  the  proviso  in  the  act  of  1854,  and  it  is  only 
necessary  to  ascertain  whether  he  is  a  "  bona-fide  settler,"  &c. 

From  the  evidence,  it  would  appear  that  Battin  settled  upon  the  land  in  {jowl  faith, 
in  October,  LSo?,  having  purchased  the  improvements  of  a  prior  settler,  and  has  com- 

fdied  with  the  requirements  of  the  pre-emptiou  law  and  been  allowed    to  euier  the 
and. 
That  entry  is  in  accordance  with  law,  aud  will  be  carried  into  patent. 
.1  am,  sir,  very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

O.  H.  BROWNING. 

Secretary. 
Hon.  JosKPii  S.  Wilson, 

Commisfsioner  of  the  General  Land-Office, 

This  ruling  was  sustained  in  numerous  cases  before  the  Secretary 
soon  alter  tlie  date  of  the  above  letter. 

On  the  20th  of  Ma^^,  1868,  the  Commissioner  of  the  General  Land- 
Office  addressed  a  letter  to  the  register  and  receiver  of  the  Des  Moines, 
Iowa,  land-office,  in  which  district  most  of  the  lands  under  considera- 
tion were  situate.    The  following  is  a  copy  of  that  letter : 

Department  of  the  Interior, 
General  Land-Office,  May  20,  186S. 
Gentlemen  :  Under  date  of  the  9th  instant  the  Hon.  Secretary  of  the  Interior  re- 
versed the  decisiouof  tins  office  of  July  23,  1867,  rejecting  the  claim  of  Herbert  Battin 
to  the  southwest  quarter,  Beetion  3,  township  m  north,  range  27  west,  aud  awarding 
the  same  to  the  Iowa  Central  Railroad  Company,  aud  from  which  ruling  au  appe^il 
was  taken  hy  J.  Browne,  esq.,  representing  the  Des  Moines  River  Navigation  Company. 
In  view  of  this  decision  of  the  Hon.  Secretary,  the  Des  Moines  company  will  not   Im 
regarded  as  iiaving  an  interest  touching  any  pre-emption  or  homestead  claim  to  lands 
upt  embracetl  in  tl»e  settlement  of  May  21-29,  I86B,  with  the  State  of  Iowa  on  sutcount 
.  of  the  various  grants  of  laiul  for  the  improvement  of  the  Des  Moines  River.     A  copy 
of  the  decision  of  the  Secretary  is  herewith  inclosed  for  your  information  and  that,  of 
all  persons  interested  in  this  or  similar  cases. 

The  i»re-emi)tion  cash  entry  No.  21,240  of  Herbert  Battin,  covering  the  tra<it«  de- 
scribed, has  this  day  been  relieved  from  suspension,  ai)proved  and  filed  for  paten  ting. 
Very  respectfully, 

JOS.  S.  WILSON, 

Commissioner, 
Registku  and  Receiver, 

Des  Moiuesj  Iowa. 

On  the  10th  day  of  Jnue,  18G8,  the  Gouiinissioner  wrote  the  same 
officers  another  letter,  of  whicli  the  following  is  a  copy  : 

Department  of  tub  Intkrior, 

General  Land- Office,  June  JO,  18GS. 
Gentli:mi*:n  ;  I  am  in  receipt  of  the  register's  letter  of  the  3d  instant  inclo.sing  the 
apt)lication  of  Jeremiah  Elliott,  who  applies  to  enter  the  northeast  fractional  one- 
quarter  aud  northeast  quarter  southeast  quarter,  section  3,  township  83  north,  range 
27  west,  aud  stating  that  Mr.  Elliott  had  filed  D.  S.  No.  3,215  for  said  tract  under  the 
pre-emption  act  of  \H4l. 

In  reply  I  have  to  state  that  said  tracts  are  of  the  same  class  of  lands  awarded  to 
Herbert  Battin  hy  the  Hon.  Secretary's  decision  of  May  9,  1H68,  a  copy  of  which  was 
transmittal  to  your  office  on  the  20th  ultimo,  and  is,  iu  fact,  a  part  of  the  same  aec- 
ticm  approved  to  Battin  under  said  decision. 

You  will,  therefore,  allow  Mr.  Elliott  to  prove  up  and  pay  for  said  tracts  uuder  the 
pre-emptiou  act  of  l5<41,  if  you  are  fully  satisfied  that  he  has  a  valid  pre-emption 
claim  thereto  and  come»  within  the  purview  of  decision  above  referred  to. 
Verv  respectfullv, 

JOS.  S.  WILSON, 

C<immia8ioner. 
Register  and  Receivkr, 

Des  MoineSf  loica. 


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DES   MOINES   RIVER   GRANT.  31 

In  the  mean  time  the  Des  Moines  Navigation  and  Railroad  Coinpany 
enjoined  the  h)eal  officers  from  carrying  out  the  order  of  the  Secretary, 
by  suit  in  the  district  court,  antl  on  the  17th  day  of  June,  18()S,  the 
Si*cretary  o\  the  Interior  wro^eto  theOommissioner  of  the  General  Land- 
Office  the  following  letter  relating  thereto  : 

Department  of  the  Intkhior, 

Washingtony  D.  C,  June  17,  1668. 

Sir:  I  have  received  your  letter  of  tbe  lotli  instant,*  and  acconipjiiiyinj^  papers, 
wlierfby  it  appears  that  the  rnited  States  district  court  for  the  diHtrict  of  Iowa  has 
isNiied  an  injunction  against  tlie  regist^ir  and  receiver  of  the  local  laud-oflice  at  Des 
Moines,  lowii,  to  re>traiu  tl  o^e  officers  from  carrying  out  the  decisions  of  this  Depart- 
ment in  the  case  of  Hurliert  Hattin  and  others. 

Vou  will  direct  the  register  and  receiver  to  employ  comjietent  counsel  to  answer  for 
anddef.Mul  the  action  of  this  Department  in  the  cases  referred  to.  You  will  stat'C  to 
them  tljat  copies  of  any  papt;rs  from  the  files  of  this  Department,  which  may  be 
required  for  that  purpose,  win  be  furnished  upon  application.  Said  counsel  will  be 
employeil  at  the  expense  of  the  United  States,  and  the  bill  will  be  sent  to  your  otlice 
for  eetf  lenient.     I  return  the  pjipers. 

Very  n  s  >et  tful]3%  your  obedient  servant, 

A.  H.  BROWNIN^i, 

Stcreiary, 
Hon.  Jos.  8.  Wilson, 

Commissioner  of  the  General  Land  Office. 

This  information  was  communicated  to  the  local .  land-officers,  and 
counsel  was  employed  and  defense  made  in  the  suit. 

On  the  28th  day  of  August,  18(>8,  the  Commissioner  of  the  General 
Laud-Ottice  wrote  the  register  and  receiver  at  Des  Moines,  Iowa,  the  fol- 
lowing letter,  instructing  them  to  disregard  theinjanction  proceedings: 

Department  of  the  Interior, 

General  Land-Office^  Augmt26,  ISGS. 
Gentlemen  :  On  the  9th  of  May  last  the  honorable  Secretary  of  the  Interior  decided 
in  favor  of  the  right  of  Herbert  Battin  to  enter  as  a  pre-emptorthe  southwest  quarter 
of  section  3,  township  83,  range  27,  in  the  Des  Moines  land-district,  Iowa,  an<l  you 
were  accordingly  instructed  to  be  governed  by  that  decision  in  all  cases  within  the 
ruling  therein  made. 

For  carrying  out  these  instnictions  yon  were,  on  the  nth  of  June  last,  served  with  a 
writ  of  injunction,  issued  from  the  United  States  circnit  court  for  the  district  of  Iowa, 
<fnjoining  you  from  proceeding  under  said  instructions.  By  direction  of  the  acting 
Secretary,  this  day  ree«'ived,  yuu  are  now  instructed  to  proceed  in  the  duties  required 
by  the  decision  in  tbe  Battin  case,  regardless  of  the  injunction,  and  receive  and  lile 
<It'<-laratory  stati-ments  from  actual  settlers  in  all  cases  strictly  falling  within  the 
ruling  nia<le  in  the  Battin  case,  a  copj'  of  which  decision  has  been  transinittiMl  to  von, 
Mmply  tiling  in  the  circuit  court  an  answer  .lenyiug  its  power  to  control  your  otHuial 
action,  and  a  motion  to  dissolve  the  injunction  for  want  of  such  power,  at  the  same 
time  filing  with  the  answer  tbe  argument  herewith  transmitted,  presenting  the  views 
of  tbe  Department  in  reference  to  the  action  of  the  court.  Having  already  retained 
counsel,  \ou  \>ill  advise  him  of  the  position  taken  by  the  Department,  and  that  the 
only  defense  contemplated  is  that  indicated  above. 

\ou  will  advise  this  ollice  of  all  action  taken  under  these  instructions,  and  all 
fan  her  proceedings  in  court. 

Very  respei'tfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

JOS.  S.  WILSON, 

Commissioner. 
Register  and  Receiver 

United  States  Land- Office,  Des  Moines j  lotca. 

In  the  mean  time,  by  order  of  the  Commissioner  of  the  General  Land- 
OflBce,  under  direction  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  the  officers  of 
the  land-offices  at  Fort  Dodge  and  Des  Moines  opened  their  offices  to 
admit  preemption  and  homestead  applications  upon  these  lands. 

The  action  of  Secretaries  Smith  and  Browning  was  brought  before 


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32  DE8   MOINES   RIVER  GRANT. 

the  Supreme  Court  at  the  December  term,  1869,  in  the  case  of  William 
B.  Welles  vs.  Ilauuah  Riley,  not  reported. 
A  copy  of  the  opinion  is  appended,  arS  follows : 

December  term,  1869. 
Hannah  Rilky,  appellant,  i    j^^  ^     ^^^^^^  ^^^  ^^^  ^: ^^^.^  ^^^^  ^^  ^^^  Uoited 
William  b!  Welles.        S    '  ^^***^*  *'°'*  ^^^  ^^*^"°*  °^  ^^^*- 

Mr.  Justice  Nelson  delivered  the^pinion  of  the  coart : 

This  is  an  appeal  from  the  circuit  court  of  the  United  States  for  the  district  of  Iowa.  . 

This  case  is  iiot  distinguishable  from  that  of  Wolcott  vs.  The  Des  Moiues  Company, 
(5  Wall.,  6H1.)  Welles,  the  plaintiff  below,  derives  his  title  by  deed  from  this  com- 
pany, the  same  as  Wolcott  in  the  former  case.  The  suit  in  that  case  was  brought  to 
recover  back  the  consideration-money  fiom  the  Des  Moines  Company,  the  grantors,  on 
the  ground  of  failure  of  title.  The  court  held  that  Wolcott  received  a  good  titlo  to  the 
lot  in  question  under  his  deed. 

In  that  case  it  was  insisted  that  the  title  was  not  in  the  Des  Moines  Company,  bnt 
in  the  Dubuque  and  Pacific  Railroad  Company. 

In  the  present  case  the  defendant  claims  title  under,  and  in  pursuance  of,  the  pre- 
emption act  of  September  4,  1841. 

Her  husband  took  possession  of  the  lot  in  1855,  and  she  was  permitted  by  the  re^s- 
tcr  to  prove  up  her  possession  and  occupation  May,  1862.  The  patent  was  issued  Oc- 
tober 15,  18t>3. 

It  will  appear  from  the  case  of  Wolcott  vs.  The  Des  Moines  Company  that  the  tract 
of  land,  of  which  the  lot  in  question  was  a  part,  had  been  withdrawn  from  sale  and 
entry  on  account  of 'a  difference  of  opinion  among  the  officers  of  the  land  department 
as  to  the  extent  of  the  original  grant  by  Congress  of  lands  in  aid  of  the  improveinent 
of  the  Des  Moines  River,  from  the  year  1846  down  to  the  resolution  of  Congress  of 
March  2y  1861,  and  the  act  of  July  12,  1H62,  which  acts  we  held  confirmed  the  title  in 
the  Des  Moines  Company.  As  the  husband  of  the  plaintiff  entered  upon  the  lot  in 
1855  without  right,  and  the  possession  was  continued  without  right,  the  permission  of 
the  register  to  prove  up  the  possession  and  improvements,  and  to  make  the  entry  under 
the  pre-emption  laws,  were  acts  in  violation  of  law,  and  void,  as  was  also  the  issuing 
of  the  patent. 

The  re;uK)ns  for  this  withdrawal  of  the  lands  from  public  sale  or  private  entry  are 
stated  at  large  in  the  opinion  in  the  case  of  Wolcott  vs.  The  Des  Moines  Company,  and 
need  not  be  repeat-ed.  The  point  of  reservation  was  very  material  iu  that  case,  and  we 
have  seen  nothing  in  the  present  one,  either  in  the  facts  or  in  the  argument,  to  dis- 
tinguish it. 

The  decree  below  affirmed. 

Also,  in  the  case  of  Jesse  C.  Williams  vs.  William  Baker  etal.,  X)e- 
cember  term,  1872,  the  Supreme  Court  say : 

We  therefore  re-affirm,  first,  that  neither  the  State  of  Iowa  nor  the  railroad  conipa- 
uies,  for  whose  benetit  the  grant  of  18.~>6  was  made,  took  any  title  by  that  act  to  the 
lands  then  claimed  to  belong  to  the  Des  Moiues  River  grant  of  1846;  and,  second,  that 
by  the  joint  resolution  of  1861  and  the  act  of  1862  the  State  of  Iowa  did  receive  the 
title  for  the  use  of  those  to  whom  she  had  sold  them  as  part  of  that  grant,  and  for  snch 
other  purposes  as  had  become  proper  under  that  grant. 

By  reference  to  the  act  of  July  12,  1862,  it  will  be  seen  that  au  eqnal 
amount  of  lauds  is  authorized  to  be  selected  by  the  State  as  indemnity 
"  for  any  lands  which  shall  have  been  sold  or  otherwise  disposed  of  by 
the  Unite<l  States  before  the  passage  of  that  act,''  which  provision  was 
added  under  the  supposition  that  the  lands  within  the  railroad  limits 
had,  under  the  decision  in  the  Litchfield  case  above  cited,  inured  to  the 
State  under  the  railroad  grant  of  1856. 

This  opinion  beiufr  maintained  by  the  land  department,  an  equal 
amount  of  lands  was  set  apart  in  lieu  of  lands  so  supposed  to  be  held 
by  the  State  as  railroad  lands. 

The  act  of  July  12,  1862,  also  authorizes  a  diversion  of  a  portion  of 
the  improrvement  grant  to  railroad  purposes,  and  by  the  act  of  settlement 
between  the'  State  and  the  navigation  company,  and  iu  accordance  with 


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DES   MOINES   RIVEK   GRANT,  33 

tbe  joint  resolation  of  the  legislature  of  Iowa  approved  above  set  out, 
the  Keokuk,  Fort  Des  Moines  and  Minnesota  Railroad  succeeded  to  all 
the  rights  of  the  State  in  and  to  the  lands  not  used  by  the  State  in  the 
settlement  aforesaid,  to  aid  in  the  constraction  of  a  railroad  ^'  upon  and 
along  the  river."  But  as  the  Supreme  Oonrt  in  tbe  Walcott  case  held 
that  the  lands  for  which  indemnity  was  selected  inured  to  the  State 
under  the  original  act  of  1846,  and  that  the  title  thereof  had  not  failed, 
hence  the  selection  of  the  indemnity  lands  w  as  erroneous,  and  no  title 
passed  to  the  State  by  reason  of  such  settlement  and  selection.  But  on 
the  3d  day  of  March,  1871,  Congress  passed  an  act  confirming  the  Har- 
vey settlement,  and  confirming  the  indemnity  lands  to  Des  Moines  Val- 
ley liailroad  Company,  successors  of  the  Keokuk,  Fort  Des  Moines  and 
Minnesota  Railroad  Company  by  the  following  act : 

AN  ACT  coDflrmiDS  the  tiUo  to  certain  lands. 

Be  it  enacUd  bjf  Ike  Senate  and  , House  of  Repreeentatlvee  of  the  United  States  of  America 
in  Congrees  aeeembled,  That  tbe  title  to  the  land  certified  to  tbe  State  of  Iowa  by  tbe 
CommiMioner  of  tbe  General  Land-Office  of  tbe  United  States,  under  an  act  of  Con- 
gresB  entitled  "An  act  confirming  a  land  claim  in  tbe  State  of  Iowa,  and  for  other  pnr- 
yoeet,"  approved  Joly  twelve,  eigbteen  hundred  and  sixtv-two,  in  accordance  with  tbe 
adjostment  made  by  tbe  authorized  agent  of  tbe  State  of  Iowa  and  tbe  Commissioner 
of  tbe  General  Land-Office,  on  tbe  tweuty-fiivt  day  of  May,  anno  Domini  eighteen 
hundred  and  sixty -six,  and  approved  by  the  Secretary  of  tbe  Interior  on  tbe  twenty- 
second  day  of  May,  anno  Domini  eighteen  hundred  and  sixty-si;c,  and  wbicb  atUust- 
ment  was  ratified  and  confirmed  by  act  of  tbe  seneral  assembly  of  tbe  State  of  Iowa, 
approved  March  thirty-one,  eigbteen  bundred  and  sixty-eigbt,  be,  and  tbe  same  is 
hereby,  ratified  and  confirmed  to  tbe  State  of  Iowa  and  its  grantees  in  accordance 
with  said  adjustment  and  said  act  of  the  general  assembly  of  the  State  of  Iowa :  Pro- 
rided,  Tbat  nothing  in  this  act  sbaU  be  so  construed  as  to  affect  adversely  any  exist- 
ing legal  rights  or  tbe  rights  of  any  party  claiming  title  or  tbe  right  to  acquire  title  to 
Any  part  ofsaid  lands  under  tbe  provisions  of  tbe  so-called  homestead  or  pre-empted 
laws  oi  the  United  States,  or  claiming  any  part  thereof  as  swamp  lands. 

Approved  March  3, 1671. 

This  act  was  construed  by  tbe  Sapreme  Goart  in  tbe  case  of  Tbe  Iowa 
Homestead  Company  vs.  Tbe  Des  Moines  Navigation  Company,  Wolcott 
et.  alj  December  term,  1872,  a  copy  of  tbe  opinion  is  as  follows: 

SUPREME  COURT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

Dkcembkr  term,  1672. 

Thk  Iowa  Homestead  Company,  Afpsllamts,        "j 

The  Des  Moines  Navigation  and  Railroad  Company,  f  ^  *  ^^' 
Samnel  O.  Wolcott,  et  al.  J 

Appeal  from  tbe  circuit  court  of  tbe  United  States  for  tbe  district  of  Iowa. 

Mr.  Justice  Davis  delivered  the  opinion  of  the  oonrt : 

This  case  presents  another  phase  of  the  Des  Moines  River  land  litigation. 

Tbe  main  question  iuvolved  in  this  case  is  tbe  question  of  title  to  tbe  Des  Moines 
River  lands,  which  was  settled  several  years  ago  by  tbe  decision  in  tbe  cases  of  Wol- 
cott dc.  Burr,  (5  Wallace,  681,)  and  in  the  subsequent  and  unreported  case  of  Wells  ««. 
Riley,  adversely  to  the  title  set  up  by  the  appellants.  At  the  present  term  of  this 
court  tbe  principles  involved  in  these  decisions  were  reconsidered  and  reaffirmed. 
(See  Williams  r«.  Baker,  and  the  Cedar  Rapids  and  Missouri  River  Railroad  Co.  r«. 
Martindale  and  others.)  It  is,  therefore,  no  longer  an  open  question  that  neither  tbe 
State  of  Iowa  nor  tbe  railroad  companies,  for  whose  benefit  tbe  grant  of  1856  w/is 
made,  took  any  title  by  that  act  to  the  lands  then  claimed  to  belong  to  tbe  Des  Moines 
River  grant  of  1846^  and  that  the  joint  resolution  of  2d  of  March,  1861,  and  act  of  12th 
of  July,  1862,  transferred  the  title  fVom  tbe  United  States  and  vested  it  in  the  State  of 
Iowa  lor  tbe  use  of  its  grantees  under  the  river-grant.  If  so,  the  claim  of  title  by  the 
appellants,  who  are  grantees  under  one  of  these  railroad  companies,  to  the  lands  certi- 

H.  Eep.  .344 3 


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34  DES   MOINES   RIVER   GRANT. 

fied  to  the  State  of  Iowa,  under  the  act  of  Aogust  8, 1846,  above  the  Raccoon  Fork  of 
the  Des  Moines  River,  has  no  foundation  to  rest  upon.  Bat  the  appellants  insist  if 
they  cannot  recover  these  lands  they  are  cestui  que  trust  for  a  portion  of  the  indemnity 
lands  obtained  by  the  State  under  the  act  of  July  12, 1862.  Congress  by  this  act  ex- 
tended the  grant  originally  made  to  the  State  in  1846,  for  the  improvement  of  the  Des 
Moines  River,  so  as  to  include  the  alternate  sections  of  land,  (designated  by  odd 
numbers,)  between  the  Raccoon  Forks  and  the  northern  boundary  of  the  Stale,  and 
consented  that  a  portion  of  these  lands  should  be  applied  to  the  constructiou  of  a 
railroad,  which,  by  change  of  name,  is  called  the  Des  Moines  Yalle^  Road. 

This  legislation  was  intended  to  put  the  State  in  exactly  the  position  it  would  have 
been,  if  there  bad  been  no  dispute  as  to  the  extent  of  the  grant  in  1846,  and  accord- 
ingly the  Secretary  of  the  Interior  was  directed,  if  any  of  the  lands  within  the  granted 
limits  should  have  been  sold  or  otherwise  disposed  of  by  the  United  States  before  the 
passage  of  the  act,  to  set  apart  an  equal  quantity  elsewhere  in  the  State  in  lieu  thereof. 
In  case  the  State  also  had  sold  and  conveyed  any  of  these  lands,  the  title  to  which 
had  proved  invalid,  the  act  directed  that  the  land  set  apart  by  the  Secretary  of  the 
Interior  should  be  held  in  trust  for  the  benefit  of  those  persons  whose  titles  hiad  tbos 
failed.  This  latter  provision  was  rendered  necessary  by  the  conflict  in  opinion  which 
had  for  a  series  of  years  existed  concerning  this  river-grant.  The  State  had  always 
maintained  that  the  original  grant,  properly  construed,  extended  above  the  Raccoon 
Forks,  while,  on  the  contrary,  the  United  States  had  at  different  times  both  denied  and 
admitted  the  claim  of  the  State.  It  was  to  be  expected  in  this  condition  of  the  dis- 
pute that  both  the  State  and  General  Government  bad  disposed  of  a  portion  of  these 
lands.  If  so,  and  the  title  of  the  grantees  of  the  State  had  proved  invalid,  it  was 
eminently  proper  that  they  should  be  protected,  and  there  was  no  better  way  to  do 
this  than  to  require  the  State,  in  the  first  instance,  to  use  the  indemnity  lands  for  this 
purpose. 

It  is  admitted  in  the  record  that  the  State  has  conveyed  to  the  Des  Moines  Valley 
Railroad  Company,  one  of  the  defendants  in  this  suit,  for  good  and  valuable  considera- 
tions performed  by  the  company,  all  the  lands  received  by  the  State  under  the  act  in 
question,  except  those  only  which  had  been  conveyed  by  the  State  under  the  act  of 
August  8, 1846,  and  the  legislation  pursuant  thereto. 

The  inquiry  arises,  whether  the  State,  at  the  time  of  the  passage  of  the  act  of  12tU 
ot  July,  1862,  had  conveyed  to  the  grantor  of  the  appellants  aoy  portion  of  the  lands 
lying  within  the  river  grant.  If  not,  they  are  not  within  the  purview  of  the  act,  for 
they  have  not  suffered  any  loss  by  reason  of  any  transaction  with  the  State,  and  are. 
therefore,  not  in  a  position  to  claim  compensation.  The  Iowa  legislature,  by  act  of 
July  14,  1856,  conveyed  to  the  Dubuque  and  Pacific  Railroad  Company,  the  grantor  of 
the  appellants,  the  lands  granted  to  the  State  by  the  act  of  Congress  of  May  15, 1856. 
The  conveyance  did  not  specify  any  particular  lands,  but  in  a  general  way  transferred 
to  the  company  all  the  rights  and  interests  which  the  State  received  from  the  United 
States  under  this  grant.  If,  therefore,  the  river  lands  were  not  granted  to  the  State 
by  the  act  in  question,  they  were  not  embraced  in  the  conveyance  which  the  State 
made  to  the  company,  and  the  State,  therefore,  has  not  broken  its  engagement  with 
the  company.  This  court  having  decided  and  re-a£Brmed  the  decision  that  the  grant  of 
1856  did  not  include  the  lands  claimed  by  the  State  to  belong  to  the  ri  ver  improvement, 
it  is  difficult  to  see  on  what  grounds  the  appellants  can  rest  their  right  to  indemnity 
under  the  act  of  July  12,  1862,  for  they  cannot  be  cestui  que  trusts,  as  they  never  had 
any  title  which  has  proved  invalid. 

But  the  appellants  insist,  if  they  are  not  the  holder  of  any  titles  which  have  failed 
within  the  meaning  of  the  act  of  July  12,  1862,  they  are,  nevertheless,  entitled  to  a 
portion  of  the  iodenmity  lands  certified  to  the  State  under  that  act,  because  they 
were  certified  upon  the  assumption  that  the  river  lands  had  been  granted  by  the  act 
of  May  15,  1856.  It  is  undoubtedly  true  that  in  1866,  on  this  theory)  the  State  of 
Iowa,  through  its  authorized  agent,  made  an  adjustment  with  the  Commissioner  of  the 
General  Land-Office,  by  which  a  large  quantity  of  lands  were  certified  to  the  State  as 
indemnity  for  the  lands  which  it  was  claimed  had  been  disposed  of  by  the  United 
States  by  the  grant  for  railroad  purposes  in  1856.  It  is  equally  true  that  the  con- 
struction by  these  officers  of  the  different  acts  of  Congress  relating  to  this  subject,  by 
which  this  result  was  obtained,  was  erroneous,  as  we  have  held  in  three  different 
cases.  But  the  decision  in  Wolcott's  case,  the  first  of  the  three,  was  not  then  an- 
nounced, and  the  adjustment  was'  doubtless  induced  by  the  decision  in  Litchfield's 
ca«e,  (23  How.,  66,)  that  the  river  grant  did  not  extend  above  the  Raccoon  Fork. 
Whatever  may  have  caused  the  adjustment,  it  is  quite  apparent,  as  the  lands  were 
erroneously  certified  under  the  act  of  July,  1862,  that  something  more  was  needed  than 
the  action  of  the  Land-Commissioner,  fortified  as  it  was  by  the  approval  of  the  Secre- 
tary of  the  Interior,  to  pass  a  valid  title  to  the  State  and  its  grantees.  That  which 
was  requisite  to  accomplish  this  object  was  obtained  by  the  legislation  of  the  State 
and  of  Congress.  The  legislature  of  Iowa,  in  March,  1868,  on  the  performance  of  cer- 
tain conditions,  directed  a  conveyance  to  be  made  to  the  Des  Moines  Valley  Railroad 


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DES  .MOINES   RIVER   GRANT.  35 

for  all  the  lands  embraced  in  the  act  of  Congress  approved  the  12th  of  July,  1862,  and 
ratified  the  adjastment  made  with  the  Commissioner  of  the  General  Laud-Office.  In  ac- 
cordance with  this  legislation,  the  lands  in  controversy  were  patented  by  the  State  to 
the  company,  the  conditions  imposed  upon  the  company  before  this  could  be  done 
having  been  complied  with.  Although  the  ratification  of  the  adjustment  add  the 
grant  to  the  Valley  Railroad  would  seem  to  be  inconsistent  acts,  yet  Congress,  with  full 
knowledge  on  the  subject,  on  the  3d  of  March,  1871,  confirmed  the  title  to  the  State 
and  its  grantees.  It  is  trne  the  law  by  which  this  is  done  says  it  is  in  accordance  with 
the  adjastment,  and  the  act  of  the  general  assembly  of  Iowa,  but,  as  we  have  seen, 
this  act  not  only  ratified  the  adjustment,  but  also  granted  the  lands  to  the  Valley 
Road. 

Indeed,  the  main  purpose  of  the  act  was  to  secure  the  construction  of  the  road,  by 
the  txanrfer  to  it  of  the  lands  obtained  under  the  adjustment.  Whether  the  State  of 
Iowa,  in  the  disposition  which  it  made  of  these  lands,  conformed  to  the  acUoBtmeut,  is 
not  a  question  for  us  to  consider. 

This  consideration  was  properly  addressed  to  Congress,  who;  with  full  knowledge 
that  tiie  legislature  had  parted  with  the  lands  to  the  Valley  Road,  chose  to  confirm  the 
title  to  "the  State  and  its  grantees.^' 

If  Congress  had  withheld  its  consent  to  what  the  State  had  done,  neither  the  State 
nor  the  road  would  have  taken  anything  by  the  action  of  the  officers  certifying  the 
landa.  This  was  also  known  to  Congress,  because  the  decision  in  Wolcott's  case  was 
then  before  the  country. 

Congress,  therefore,  with  full  information  that  the  State  of  Iowa  was  not  entitled  to 
these  indemnity  lands  by  reason  of  any  previous  legislation,  thought  proper,  neverthe- 
less, to  give  them  to  the  State,  knowing  at  the  time  that  they  were  to  be  used  in 
building  a  railroad  alon^  the  line  to  the  Des  Moines  River.  It  had  already  consented  that 
a  part  of  the  lands  originally  designed  for  the  improvement  of  this  river  by  locks  and 
dama  should  be  applied  to  the  construction  of  this  road,  and  was  doubtless  induced 
to  give  the  direction  it  did  to  the  indemnity  lands  because  it  was  satisfied  that  fur- 
ther aid  was  necessary  to  secure  the  completion  of  the  Valley  Road,  while  the  east  and 
west  roads  were  either  completed  or  nearly  so.  If  we  are  correct  in  these  views,  there 
ia  an  end  of  this  controversy,  because  Congress  had  the  undoubted  right  to  dispose  of 
these  lands  for  such  purposes  as  in  its  judgment  might  best  subserve  the  public  inter- 
ests, and  having  decided  this  question  for  itself,  the  homestead  company  is  not  in  a 
poeition  to  question  the  authority  of  that  decision.  As  the  grant  in  1856  did  not  cover 
the  river  lands  in  place,  this  corporation  is  not  within  the  terms  of  the  act  of  July  12, 
IS&iy  and  has,  therefore,  no  rights  which  either  the  State  or  Congress  were  bound  to 
respect. 

It  must  be  conceded  that  its  expectation  to  share  in  the  result  of  the  adjastment 
eoDcloded  between  the  authorized  agent  of  the  State  and  the  land  department  of  the 
General  Government  was  reasonable  under  the  circumstances ;  bat  this  expectation 
was  not  founded  on  any  legal  right,  and  cannot,  therefore,  be  the  subject  of  judicial 
inquiry. 

it  seems  that  the  appellant,  during  this  litigation,  paid  the  taxes  on  a  portion  of 
le  lands,  and  claims  to  be  re-imbursed  for  this  expenditure  in  case  the  title  is  ad- 
B^ed  to  be  in  the  defendants,  on  the  ground  that  they  paid  the  taxes  in  good  faith 
.  in  ignorance  of  the  law.  But  ignorance  of  the  law  is  no  ground  for  recovery,  and 
the  element  of  good  faith  will  not  sustain  an  action  where  the  payment  has  been  vol- 
untary, without  any  request  from  the  true  owners  of  the  land,  and  with  a  full  knowl- 
edge or  all  the  facts.  It  is  an  elementary  proposition,  which  does  not  require  support 
from  adjudged  cases,  that  one  person  cannot  make  another  his  debtor  by  paying  the 
debt  of  the  latter  without  his  request  or  assent. 

It  is  true,  in  accordance  with  our  decision,  the  taxes  on  these  lands  were  the  debt  of 
the  defendants,  which  they  should  have  paid,  but  their  refusal  or  neglect  to  do  this, 
did  not  authorize  a  contestant  of  their  title  to  make  them  its  debtor  by  stepping  in  and 
paying  the  taxes  for  them,  without  being  requested  so  to  do.  Nor  can  a  request  be 
implied  in  the  relation  which  the  parties  sustained  to  each  other.  There  is  nothing 
to  take  the  case  out  of  the  well-established  rule  as  to  voluntary  payments.  If  the 
appellants,  owing  to  their  too  great  confidence  in  their  title,  have  risKed  too  much,  it 
is  their  misfortune,  but  they  are  not  on  that  account  entitled  to  have  the  taxes  volun- 
tarily paid  by  them  refunded  by  the  successful  party  in  the  suit. 

The  decree  of  the  circuit  court  is  affirmed. 

Mr.  Justice  Miller  took  no  part  in  this  decision. 

D.  W.  MIDDLETON, 
Clerk  Supreme  Court  United  States, 

Hence  it  will  be  seen  that  settlers  claiming  title  ander  the  United 
States  have  lost  these  lands  by  reason  of  the  subsequent  legislation  of 
Congress  and  the  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court.    Justice  Davis,  in 


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36  DES   MOINES   RIVER   GRANT. 

the  opinion  in  the  case  of  R.  S.  Barrow  vs.  George  Crilly,  Supreme 
Court,  December  term,  1872,  used  this  language : 

We  have  already  decided  that  the  Des  Moines  River  lands  were  reserved  from  sale ; 
snd  this  reservation  continued  until  Congress,  by  the  joint  resolution  of  1861,  released 
to  the  State  for  the  use  of  its  grantees  the  legal  title  still  in  the  General  Grovemment, 
withont  any  saving  clnase  in  behalf  of  settlers  or  those  who  might  claim  under  the 
pre-emption  laws  of  the  United  States.  This  might  have  been  a  "  casus  omUsiu  "  on 
the  part  of  Congress,  but  this  court  has  no  power  to  supply  the  omission.  We  are 
unable  to  see  in  this  case  any  principle  which  has  not  been  already  passed  upon  by 
this  court  in  some  one  of  the  suits  relating  to  this  protracted  litigation. 

Looking  to  the  relief  of  this  class  of  persons,  a  bill  was  passed  in  the 
Forty-second  Congress  as  follows : 

AN  ACT  to  anthoriBe  the  Presideot  to  ascertain  the  value  of  eertaia  lanils  in  the  State  of  Iowa,  north 
of  the  Raccoon  Fork  of  the  Dee  Moinee  Kiver,  held  by  settlers  ander  the  pre*emption  and  homestead 
laws  of  the  United  States. 

Beit  enacted  hjf  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of  the  United  Slates  of  America 
in  Congress  assembled,  That  the  President  of  the  United  States  shall  be,  and  he  is  hereby, 
authorized  to  appoint  three  commissioners,  who  shall  ascertain  the  number  of  acres, 
and,  by  appraisement  or  otherwise,  the  value  thereof  exclusive  of  improvements,  of  all 
such  lands  lying  north  of  Raccoon  Fork  of  the  Des  Moines  River,  in  the  State  of  Iowa, 
as  may  now  be  neld  by  the  Des  Moines  Navigation  and  Railroad  Company,  or  persons 
claiming  title  under  it  adversely  to  persons  holding  said  lands,  either  by  entry  or 
under  the  pre-emption  or  homestead  laws  of  the  United  States,  and  on  what  terms  the 
adverse  holders  thereof  will  relinquish  the  same  to  the  United  States ;  and  that  they 
report  the  facts  at  the  commencement  of  the  next  session  of  Congress ;  but  nothini; 
herein  contained  shall  be  held  to  affect,  in  any  manner,  the  question  of  title  to  any  of 
said  lands. 

Sec.  2.  That  the  compensation  of  said  commissioners  shall  be  eight  dollars  per  diem 
during  the  time  they  shall  be  engaged  in  said  service. 

Approved  March  3, 1873. 

In  porsaaDce  of  tliis  act  a  commission  was  appointed  by  the  Presi- 
dent, who  have  made  their  report,  and  the  same  was  presented  to  Con- 
gress at  the  commencement  of  the  present  session,  and  is  Ex.  Doc.  No. 
25,  Forty-third  Congress. 

The  bUl  under  consideration  proposes  to  relieve  such  persons  in  ac- 
cordance with  that  report  by  purchasing  the  outstanding  superior  title, 
or,  if  that  cannot  be  done,  by  indemnifying  them  for  their  losses  by 
reason  of  the  failure  of  title. 

'    Your  committee  find  that  the  theory  of  this  bill  is  in  accordance  with 
the  former  action  of  the  Oovernment. 

In  1814  (3  Stat,  at  L.,  p.  16)  Congress  passed  "  a  bill  to  quiet  title 
to  certain  lands  in  Mississippi."  The  lauds  were  a  portion  of  the  lands 
ceded  to  the  General  Government  by  the  State  of  Georgia,  and  they 
were  sold  by  the  United  States  by  release  and  quitclaim  only.  In 
Fletcher  vs.  Peck,  7  Cranch,  166,  the  Supreme  Court  held  these  titles 
void.  The  adverse  title  was  purchased,  at  a  cost  of  $5,000,000,  by  the 
United  States  and  confirmed  to  the  settlers. 

In  1820  Congress  passed  a  similar  bill  in  favor  of  Philip  Barbour. 
(6  Stat,  at  L.,  p.  236.) 

In  1824  a  case  in  all  respects  like  the  one  under  consideration  came 
before  Congress  for  adjustment.  This  grew  out  of  the  Virginia  ces- 
sion of  public  lands,  that  State  having  reserved  the  lands  lying  be- 
tween the  Little  Miami  and  Scioto  Rivers,  in  Ohio,  to  satisfy  warrants  ot 
the  State  issued  to  her  soldiers  of  the  continental  line.  The  streams 
being  of  difterent  length,  when  the  public  surveys  were  made  aline  was 
run  from  the  source  of  the  shorter  parallel  to  longitude  to  intersect  the 
other  a  distance  below  its  source,  and  following  this  survey  the  lands 
above  the  line  were  sold  by  the  United  States.  In  the  case  of  Doddridge 
Lessees  vs.  Thompson  and  Wright  (9  Wheaton,  469)  the  Supreme  Court 


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I-.'-' 


DE8   MOINES   RIVER   GRANT.        ^.     '  37 

held  that  the  trae  line  was  from  the  head  of  one  stream  to  the  head  of 
the  other,  whereby  the  titles  of  the  United  States  failed.  Congress, 
realizing  its  daty  to  protect  these  purchasers,  passed  an  act  providing 
for  a  commission  in  all  respects  as  the  one  in  this  case.  (4  Stat,  at  L., 
p.  70.)  The  adverse  owners  agreeing  to  release,  an  appropriation  was 
made  to  purchase  the  land.  (4  Stat,  at  L.,  p.  405.)  Aboat  $80,000  was 
reqnired  to  perfect  all  the  titles  thus  failing. 

So  when  a  portion  of  New  Madrid  County,  Missouri,  was  destroyed 
or  damaged  by  an  earthquake,  the  United  States  released  persons 
holding  its  title  to  the  land  thus  destroyed  or  damaged.  (3  Stat,  at 
L.,  p.  211.) 

This  bill  has  the  approval  and  recommendation  of  the  Commissioner 
of  the  General  Land-OflBce,  and  his  letter  to  Hon.  W.  S.  Herndon,  of 
the  committee,  we  copy  in  full,  as  follows : 

Department  of  the  Interior, 

Ghkkral  Land-Office, 
Washington,  J).  C,  March  16, 1874. 

•Sir:  I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  receipt,  by  yonr  reference  of  6th  instant, 
of  House  biU  1142,  "To  authorize  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior  to  indemnify  the  hold- 
ers of  pre-«mption  and  homoHtead  certificates  and  certificates  of  entry  and  patents  upon 
lands  in  Iowa  within  the  so-called  Des  Moines  River  grant,  on  account  of  failure  of 
titles,  and  to  procure  a  relinquishment  of  the  paramount  titles  to  the  United  States/' 

This  bill  seems  to  be  intenaed  as  a  measure  of  relief  to  actual  settlers,  ascertained  by 
a  conmviBsioneT  authorized  by  act  of  Congress  last  session,  as  beneficially  entitled,  on 
account  of  having  been  allowed  to  acquire  and  make  valuable  improvements  upou 
lands  actually  embraced  in  a  grant  to  the  State,  through  the  conflicting  and  unstable 
rulings  of  the  executive  officers  of  the  Government,  and  the  obscure  and  doubtful 
phraseolocy  of  the  laws  enacted  by  Congress. 

It  woold  require  too  much  labor  and  space  to  enter  upon  a  detail  of  the  matters  con- 
nected with  this  subject.  They  have  been  spread  upon  the  records,  not  only  of  the 
Executive^  but  of  the  Judicial  Denartment ;  no  less  than  six  cases  having  been  already 
carried  to  the  Supreme  Coni-t  of  the  United  States  for  settlement. 

The  ori^nal  grant  of  August,  1846,  was  variously  construed  as  running  above,  and 
as  restricted  to,  the  Raccoon  Fork  of  the  Des  Moines  River.  In  1 859  the  Supreme  Court 
enforced  tlie  latter  construction. 

It  was  then  held  by  this  Department  that  the  lands  above  the  said  fork,  so  far  as 
tbey  fell  within  railxtiad  limits,  were  embraced  by  the  railroad  grants  of  May  15, 1856. 
and  they  were  certified  accordingly,  with  the  exception  of  those  previously  settled 
npon  by  pre-emptors,  whose  claims  were,  subsequently,  under  this  ruling,  allowed  to  be  • 
carried  into  entry  and  many  of  them  into  patent. 

The  inclosed  copy  of  a  decision  of  Mr.  Secretary  Smith,  dated  April  10, 1862,  will 
folly  explain  this  point.  I  have  also  furnished  Hon.  J.  Orr,  of  your  committee,  a  copy 
of  the  Department  decision,  of  same  date,  in  an  individual  case,  that  of  George 
Crilly,  which  will  further  elucidate  it.  These  will  be  sufficient  respecting  those  claims 
having  inception  prior  to  the  act  of  July  12, 1862,  to  which  you  refer. 

The  view  taken  by  the  Department  respecting  that  act  and  its  relation  to  the  previ- 
ous grants  will  best  appear  Irom  the  inclosed  copy  of  a  report  of  Mr.  Commissioner 
Edmunds,  dated  February  23, 1863,  and  of  the  reply  of  Mr.  Secretary  Usher,  dated 
April  7, 1863,  accompanying  his  approval  of  the  railroad  lists. 

In  1866  the  whole  matter  was  opened  for  final  settlement  and  adjustment,  between 
the  State  and  the  General  Government,  through  an  arrangemeut  by  which  an  account 
was  stated  by  the  Commissioner  of  this  Office,  allowing  the  certifications  to* stand  in 
favor  of  the  railroad  grants  and  giving  the  State  indemnity  for  the  same  on  account 
of  the  river  grant.  The  State  accepted  this  settlement,  and  the  matter  was  con- 
sidered adjusted. . 

Bat  a  case  was  already  before  the  courts  between  the  several  assignees  of  the  State, 
and  at  the  December  term  the  well-known  Wolcott  decision  was  rendered,  declaring 
the  title  of  the  railroad  companies  void,  on  account  of  express  reservation  in  their 
grant. 

Then  followed  a  clamor  for  the  recognition  of  settlement-claims  upon  the  lands, 
based  upon  the  allegation  that,  as  the  State  had  taken  indemnity  for  them  under  the 
river  grant,  she  was  estopped  from  taking  them  in  place. 

This  resulted  in  a  decision  by  the  Department  to  the  same  effect,  under  which  claims 
were  again  admitted,  and  the  lands  were  virtually  thus  thrown  open  to  homestead 
and  pre-emption  entry. 


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38  DES   MOINES   RIVER   GRANT. 

A  copy  of  the  decision  of  Mr.  Secretary  Browning,  dated  May  9, 1868,  in  the  case  of 
Herbert  Battin,  was  furnished  Hon.  Mr.  Orr  on  the  10th  instant,  which  will  more  fully 
explain  the  view  entertained. 

In  1869  the  Supreme  Court  declared  the  patent  issued  to  Hannah  Riley,  October  15. 
1863,  void,  thus  disposing  of  alleged  pre-emption  righte  prior  to  the  act  of  1862 ;  her 
settlement  having  commenced  in  1855. 

In  1871,  March  3,  Congress  legalized  the  selection  of  indemnity  taken  by  the  State 
as  recognized  in  the  Harvey  adjustment. 

Under  this  act  the  Supreme  Court,  at  the  December  term,  1872,  has  decided  that  the 
entire  interest  relating  to  all  the  lands  has  passed  to  the  State. 

Thus  the  settlers  are  without  remedy  to  save  their  homes,  which  they  have  been  prac- 
tically invited  by  officers  of  the  Government,  acting  in  their  official  capacity,  to  rear 
upon  these  lands. 

It  would  require  long  time  and  labor  for  me  to  follow  the  records  page  by  page,  to 
ascertain  the  particulars  of  each  individual  case,  with  date  of  settlement,  value  of 
improvements,  &c.,  as  requested  by  you. 

Congress  has  assigned  to  a  proper  commission  power  to  make  the  inquiry  upon  the 
ground,  and  their  report  has  been  presented.  From  a  hasty  examination,  I  am  satis- 
fied the  work  has  been  faithfnily  performed. 

The  commissioners  say  :  "  Thtf  persons  whose  names  we  have  listed  either  hold  pat- 
ents or  the  usual  receipts  from  the  local  land-offices  at  Fort  Dodge  and  Dee  Moines, 
showing  that  they  had  tiled  their  declaratory  statements,  and  that  the  regular 'fees  for 
the  same  had  been  paid  to  and  accepted  by  the  Government." 

The  bill  before  me  provides  for  a  still  further  examination  into  the  merits  of  each  case 
that  shall  be  presented,  if  it  becomes  a  law.  No  probable  opportunity  for  fraud  seems 
to  be  afforded.  In  my  opinion,  some  compensation  is  due  these  settlers  for  the  material 
injury  inflicted  upon  them  by  the  agents  of  the  Government. 

what  shall  be  the  meaaure  of  this  reparation  is  for  Congress  to  determine.  As  yon 
will  see  from  the  foregoing,  this  is  a  case  upon  which  the  most  profound  jurists  of  the 
country  have  differed  in  judgment.  These  settlers  took  the  law  from  the  Government 
officers  after  anpeal  to  the  highest  departmental  authority,  and  had  a  right  to  repose 
confidence  in  their  decisions.  Yet  we  have  seen  the  courts  steadily  denying  those  con- 
clusions, and  in  the  final  result  the  poor,  unlearned  settler  is  still  further  impoverished ^ 
and  his  labor  is  swallowed  up  by  an  enriched  corporation. 

Considering  the  fact  that  these  settlers  have  acted  in  good  faith,  rolying  upon  the  de- 
cisions of  the  government  officers,  who  wero  supposed  to  Know  the  law,  I  think  they  are 
entitled  to  relief;  and  although,  under  ordinary  circumstances,  and  in  cases  involving 
less  extreme  and  peculiar  hardship,  I  would  not  be  willing^  to  rocommend  compensa- 
tion in  money  for  losses  sustained  by  settlers  upon  lands  which  Congress  granted  away, 
I  think,  in  this  instance,  as  the  Government  cannot  perfect  the  titles  wnich  it  under- 
took to  confer  upon  these  settlers  without  an  appropriation  of  money,  and  as  the 
settlers  in  going  upon  the  lands  had  a  right  to  believe  that  their  titles  would  be  per- 
fected in  the  ordinary  manner,  and  have  invested  their  labor  and  means  in  improve- 
ments which  they  cannot  abandon  without  ruinous  loss,  an  exception  to  general  rules 
'  and  practice  should  be  made  in  their  favor,  and  therofora  I  approve  and  recommend 
the  passage  of  the  bill  under  consideration,  as  the  only  practicable  measure  of  relief 
under  the  circumstances  and  at  this  late  day. 

In  the  act  of  March  31, 1814,  a  precedent  for  re-imbursement  in  money  for  failure  of 
title  to  public  lands  was  established.  To  what  extent  it  has  been  followed  in  subse- 
quent legislation,  I  have  not  had  time  to  ascertain  by  examination  of  succeeding 
statutes ;  that  being  a  matter  not  necessarily  connected  with  the  administration  of 
this  Office. 

Very  respectfully, 

WILLIS  DRUMMOND, 

C<nAmi99ioner. 

Hon.  W.  S.  Herndon, 

Committee  on  the  Fvblic  Lands,  House  of  liepi-esentaiivcs. 

Your  committee,  in  recommetidiDg  the  passage  of  this  bill,  cannot 
find  better  words  than  those  of  the  committee  of  this  House,  to  whom 
was  referred  the  bill  in  the  Ohio  case  above  cited,  which  we  amend  only 
to  suit  the  facts  attending  this  bill. 

"  This  land  is  divided  into  small  farms,  generally  in  a  high  state  of 
cultivation  and  improvement,  owned  by  individuals  in  moderate  circum- 
stances, who  are  unacquainted  with  litigation,  fearful  of  being  dragged 
into  a  court  of  justice,  at  much  expense,  where  no  doubt  can  bo  enter- 
tained of  their  ultimate  failure  and  defeat." 


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DES   MOINES    RIVER   GRANT.  39 

It  is  also  a  matter  of  regret  aud  a  misfortune  that  the  legislation  now 
asked  by  this  bill  should  be  rendered  necessary  by  the  conflicting  rul- 
ings $ind  decisions  of  the  Land  Deparment,  by  the  decisions  of  the 
Supreme  Court,  and  by  the  subsequent  acts  of  Congress  in  disposing  of 
these  lands  without  making  any  reservation  in  favor  of  settlements 
made  under  these  rulings  and  decisions,  as  referred  to  by  Justice  Davis 
io  the  case  of  Crilley,  above  quoted. 

In  view  of  the  many  decisions  made  in  this  case  it  is,  in  the  opinion 
of  your  committee,  useless  to  expect  that  these  decisions  will  be  re- 
versed, and  hence  impossible  to  confirm  the  title  in  these  x)ersons. 

The  only  relief  in  the  power  of  the  Government  to  afford  them  is 
8uch  as  is  proposed  by  this  bill,  which  your  committee  believe  good 
faith  on  the  part  of  the  Government  requires;  and  we  recommend  that 
the  bill  do  pass. 


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43d  Congress,  •     HOUSE  OF  EEPEESENTATIVES.     (  Repobt 
Ut  Sessian.     §  \  No.  345. 


rBONSHIPBTJILDING  YARDS. 


April  2, 1874. — Becommitted  to  the  Committee  on  Naval  Affairs  and  ordered  to  be 

printed. 


Mr.  Hays,  from  a  sab-committee  of  the  Committee  on  Naval  Affairs 
BQbmitted  the  following 

REPORT: 

[To  accompany  bill  H.  B.  589.] 

The  svb-committee  appointed  by  the  chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Kaval  Af- 
fairs to  consider  the  proposals  of  the  International  Steamship  Company 
to  establish  an  ironship-building  yard  on  the  waters  of  the  Atlantic^  arid 
the  proposal  of  tlie  Western  Iron-BoatBuilding  Company  to  establish  one 
of  similar  character  on  the  waters  of  the  Mississippi^  made  to  the  Navy 
Department^  submit^  without  recommendation^  for  the  consideration  of 
the  whole  Committee  on  Naval  Affairs^  the  following  statement : 

These  yards  are  measures  of  economy,  required  by  the  Government 
and  by  the  entire  country,  to  sustain  its  prosperity.  Their  establish- 
ment under  these  proposals  calls  for  no  expenditure  of  the  people's 
money,  but  afford  the  means  of  saving  several  millions  of  dollars  yearly 
in  naval  appropriations. 

They  answer  in  a  practical  manner  the  demand  of  the  farmers  and 
planters  of  the  West  and  the  South,  by  providing  the  only  immediately 
available  resources  from  which  the  means  of  cheap  transportation  can 
be  obtained,  and  by  which  corn,  wheat,  cotton,  and  other  products  of 
the  West  and  the  South,  can  be  borne  to  the  sea-board,  and  thence,  with 
other  industrial  productions  of  the  Eastern  States,  be  carried  to  foreign 
maikets  under  our  own  flag,  at  vast  savings  to  the  industries  of  our 
whole  country. 

They  provide  sources  from  which  the  ship-builders  throughout  the 
United  States  can  draw  ready-shaped  material  and  machinery  for  ship- 
bailding  promptly,  at  the  lowest  productive  cost,  thus  providing  in  the 
most  practical  manner  for  reviving  those  nearly  ruined  industries ;  and 
they  provide  certain  and  reliable  facilities  to  regain,  hold,  and  sustain 
our  ocean  carrying-trade — the  only  means  by  which*our  exports  can  be 
increased  to  form  the  sure  and  permanent  basis  upon  which  we  may  re- 
sume and  sustain  specie  payments. 

The  creation  of  these  yards  will  give  to  the  United  States — as  similar 
creations  have  given  to  Great  Britain — prosperity  to  its  manufacturing 
and  mechanic  industries,  the  broadest  and  most  economical  means  of 
cheap  transportation  for  the  productions  of  the  farmer  and  planter,  and 
secure  constant  employment  to  labor  at  remunerative  wages. 

These  building-yards,  though  costly  beyond  the  ability  of  individual 
enterprise,  cost  the  Government  nothing,  involve  it  in  not  a  dollar  of 
liability  to  loss,  because  it  holds  security  at  all  times  beyond  theaniount 
of  possible  involvement,  and  has  secured  to  its  use  without  the  cost  of 


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2  lEON-SHIP-BUILDING   YARDS. 

maintenance  facilities  which  it  could  not  create  for  use  in  any  reasona- 
ble time  or  at  any  reasonable  outlay  of  money. 

The  respective  companies  ask  no  subsidy,  no  money-aid,  no  money- 
advance.  The  plan  is  one  of  integrity  and  practicability.  The  Govern- 
ment acts  as  trustee.  To  it  is  conveyed  in  trust  all  the  property  as  it  is 
created,  as  security  for  payment  of  the  respective  bonds  of  each,  which 
bonds  are  deposited  in  the  United  States  Treasury.  None  of  these 
bonds  can  be  drawn  therefrom  until  property  is  created  to  represent 
their  value,  and  this  value  is  certified  to  by  Government  inspection.  An 
assessment  or  tax,  to  form  a  sinking  fund,  is  imposed  by  the  bill,  of  5 
per  cent,  upon  all  commercial  work,  and  of  10  per  cent,  upon  all  Gov- 
ernment work  which  may  be  done  in  the  yards  in  each  year.  This  tax- 
fund  rate  is  collected  and  held  by  the  Government  to  meet  the  interest 
and  liquidate  the  bonds,  which  it  will  no  doubt  do  in  half  their  matur- 
ing term. 

Each  company  builds  its  own  works  with  its  own  money,  step  by  step, 
and  as  property  is  created  or  acquired  its  value  is  certified  to  by  the 
Government  inspection,  and  upon  the  certificate  of  this  each  company 
may  respectively  draw  its  own  bonds  to  the  certified  amount  only,  and 
upon  each  bond  is  indorsed  the  statement  that  property  has  been  created 
to  its  value,  is  held  in  trust  by  the  Government  to  secure  the  interest 
and  principal,  the  tax  to  be  collected  therefor,  and  that  this  collec- 
tion and  payment  is  guaranteed  by  Government.  It  amounts  to  noth- 
ing more  to  the  Government  than  a  guarantee  of  its  own  integrity  in 
performing  this  trust,  for,  if  it  is  performed,  the  money  will  always  be 
in  the  Treasury  in  advance  of  any  maturity  of  interest  or  of  bonds. 
The  proceeds  of  bonds  drawn  go  to  further  creations  in  the  general 
plan,  as  the  works  progress  under  like  inspection  and  control. 

The  Government  secures  in  the  deed  of  trust  and  contract  the  right, 
in  time  of  peace,  to  the  entire  efficiency  of  the  yards  upon  any  work 
which  an  exigency  may  demand,  and  in  time  of  war  their  absolute  con- 
ttoL  For  these  advantages,  almost  invaluable,  it  gives  as  a  legal  con- 
sideration for  binding  effect  the  use  of  the  amount  of  interest,  if  any 
become  due,  while  the  yards  are  in  progress  of  construction  ;  but  this 
amount  is  returnable  |7ro  rata  from  the  money  which,  respectively,  each 
company  places  in  the  United  States  Treasury,  and  which  is  under  con- 
trol of  the  commission  appointed  in  the  bill.  Thus,  not  a  dollar  of  lia- 
bility is  incurred,  not  a  dollar  expended  which  the  Government  is  not 
fully  protected  in  against  loss,  and  every  dollar  of  money  expended  by 
either  company  is  tor  the  positive  benefit  of  Government  and  of  the 
people,  and  to  stimulate  the  re-growth  of  that  great  art  and  indrntry — 
shipbuilding — which  has  in  all  ages  and  in  all  countries  been  thefounda- 
tion,  the  source  of  power  and  of  prosperity  to  the  countries  having  the 
'  wisdom  to  avail  of  it. 

The  proposition* is  safe  beyond  any  ever  made  to  the  Government 
It  is  a  pledge  of  property  of  vast  creative  power,  of  absolute  value  tar 
beyond  the  amount  of  guaranteed  bonds,  yearly  increasing  in  that 
value,  while  the  guaranteed  amount  is  yearly  decreasing  by  payments 
from  its  earnings  into  the  United  States  Treasury.  All  that  Govern- 
ment gives  is  a  loan  of  its  credit,  upon  a  collateral  of  greats  valae 
than  the  amount  of  credit  loaned,  and  if  there  should  be  a  failure,  of 
which  there  appears  no  possibility,  it  can  take  a  property  of  almost 
inestimable  value  for  a  mere  balance  which  may  then  be  outstanding. 
The  advantages  proposed  to  be  secured  are,  however,  mutual.  The  com- 
panies obtain  cheap  money  by  the  high  credit  ol  the  trustee.  The 
Government  by  being  trustee  risks  nothing,  and  obtains  facilities  for 


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lEON-SHIP-BUILDING  YARDS.  3 

economy  in  naval  expenditares  which  it  does  not  possess  in  its  navy- 
yards,  and  extends  these  facilities  to  all  ship-builders,  thas  preventing 
monopoly  and  permitting  all  to  share  in  the  benefit  of  these  yards. 

This  subject  was  plac^  before  the  Forty-second  Congress  in  a  com- 
mnnication  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy  to  the  Senate,  in  which  he 
gives  the  following  explanation  and  commendation : 

The  proposals  of  the  oompany,  which  are  herewith  transmitted,  offer  to  erect,  at  a 
suitable  place  satisfactory  to  tbe  Governinont,  a  yard  for  bailding  iron  ships,  which 
shall  have  within  itself  all  tbe  facilities  of  blast  and  puddling  furnaces,  rolling-mills, 
and  workshops,  for  the  conversion  of  ores  into  superior  iron,  and  working  it  into  ships 
aod  machinery,  so  that  an  Iron  vessel  of  the  largest  size  can  be  there  built,  completed, 
and  floated  from  her  building-bed  in  the  dock  to  the  water,  without  the  expense  and 
risk  always  incurred  in  launching  from  ordinary  building-  ways. 

It  being  evident  that  the  cost  of  creating  such  an  establishment,  with  all  the  neo- 
eaaary  appliances,  including  costly  docks  of  sufficient  capacity  for  large  iron-clads  and 
commercial  steamers,  will  require  more  capital  than  can  oe,  at  tkut  time,  aggregated  at  the 
eammuind  of  individual  bnildera,  and  that  this  can  only  be  obtained  by  an  aaaodation  of  capital 
upon  a  well  formed  and  secure  financial  basiSj  the  plan  proposed  by  the  Intematioaal 
Steamship  Company  to  secure  this  is  as  follows : 

'*  The  company  are  to  erect  all  the  furnaces,  fonnderies,  rolling-mills,  workshops, 
machinery,  tools,  docks,  piers,  and  appurtenances  necessary  for  making  superior  iron 
from  ores,  and  the  working  of  this  iron  into  naval  and  commercial  vessels  ;  agreeing 
to  give  preference  to  the  work  of  the  Navy  for  construction  or  repair  at  all  timeSf  and  the  ab- 
BoUtie  control  of  its  yards,  dockSy  and  works  to  the  Government  in  time  of  war, 

''It  is  proposed  that  the  cost  of  the  yards,  docks,  and  all  the  works  is  to  be  paid 
for  out  of  the  earnings  of  the  company  in  the  following  manner,  viz  :  The  company 
are  to  issue  and  deposit  in  the  United  States  Treasury,  five  thousand  bonds  of  $1,000 
each,  aoionuting  in  all  to  $5,000,000.  These  are  only  to  be  drawn  from  the  Treasui-y  as 
property  is  shown,  and  certified  under  Government  inspection,  to  have  been  accumulated  to 
seemre  tkdr  ra/ve,  and,  as  drawn,  are  t-o  have  certified  on  each  that  the  Government 
gnaraotees  the  coUection  of  the  tax-fund  established  to  secure  their  payment,  and  the 
payment  of  the  interest  aud  principal  therefrom.  To  create,  collect,  and  control  the 
land  for  the  payment  of  these  bonds,  the  Government  is  asked  to  fix  and  collect  a  tax 
of  5  per  cent,  upon  all  the  work  done  annually  in  the  yards,  and  in  addition^  thereto  10 
per  cent,  to  be  reserved  from  the  amount  of  all  work  done  tor  the  Government.  These 
amounts  are  to  be  deposited  by  the  Government  officers  in  the  Treasury  of  the  United 
States  for  tbe  payment  of  interest  and  principal  of  these  bonds.  The  tax-rate  and  10 
per  cent,  reservation  are  to  continue  uotil  the  sinking  fund  in  the  United  States  Treas- 
ury amounts  to  the  sum  of  the  outstanding  bonds,  aud  it  is  proposed  that  Government 
shall  advance  the  interest  for  the  first  three  years.  A  mortgage  upon  all  the  property 
is  to  be  executed  to  the  Government,  to  secure  the  conditions  named,  with  authority  to 
foreclose  or  take  possession  at  any  time  upon  default.  The  company  proposes  to  build 
forthwith  frogi  its  own  resources  twelve  first-class  steamers,  to  form  a  semi-weekly 
line  for  postal,  passenger,  and  freight  service  between  the  United  States  and  Europe, 
receiving,  as  compensation  for  the  mail-service,  the  postages  now  allowed  by  law  upon 
the  mail-matter  transmitted. 

The  steamers  for  this  line  are  to  be  constructed  upon  such  plans  as  will  make  them 
available  both  for  commercial  and  naval  purposes,  to  be  earned  out  under  inspection 
of  the  Government,  and  with  internal  arrangements  adapted  for  the  convenience  andprotec- 
ti&m  of  immigrant  families.  Should  these  plans  be  successfully  carried  out,  it  will  certainly  be 
«  §roat  step  forward  in  the  interest  of  the  commercial  marine  and  the  naval  service  of  the  coun- 
^#f  y^  ^  ^^  1^1^  ^^  **^  economical  means  exist,  nor  have  we  anywhere  the  requisite  docks, 
tools,  and  machinery  for  the  construction  of  large  naval  or  commercial  iron  vessels  ;  the  esiab- 
Utkmtnt  and  control  ofsudi  works  as  those  proposed  would  be  of  great  advantage  to  the  Gov- 
entuMsl,  aud  their  successful  prosecution  would  be  a  great  practical  step  toward  the  restora- 
tUm  amdpermanent  estiUfUshment  of  our  ocean  commerce.  One  such  building-^ard  operating 
saccessAlIy,  with  large  facilities  concentrated,  and  its  work  economized  in  each  depart- 
ment, would  demonstrate  our  ability  to  compete  successfully  in  iron-ship  building  with 
oar  commercial  rivals,  and  afford  at  once  practical  encouragement  to  the  revival  of  ship- 
bnildiog  throughout  the  country,  and  thence  to  the  re-establishment  of  commerce.  As 
it  is  largely  the  want  of  these  facilities  (made  necessary  by  the  changed  material  for 
ships)  which  retards  our  ocean  commerce,  their  creation  is  necessary  to  give  it  vitality 
and  permanence. 

We  have  in  our  own  country  ores  which  will  produce  iron  of  much  greater  power  of 
resistance  and  tensile  strength  than  the  iron  of  Great  Britain,  and  at  no  greater  expense 
except  from  the  difierenoe  of  labor,  and  this  excess  of  strength  in  each  kind  of  iron, 
reducing  very  materially  the  quantity  used  in  any  ship  or  piece  of  machinery,  wiU  go 


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4  IRON-SHIP-BUILDING   YARDS. 

far  toward  equalizing,  if  it  does  not  entirely  do  awav  witb,  the  difference  in  tbe  co8t  of 
labor  in  its  production.  By  means  of  tbis  gain  and  tbe  farther  economy  of  building 
in  docks,  if  tbe  necessary  facilities  for  this  are  offered,  the  cost  will,  it  is  estimated,  be 
equalized  between  our  own  and  foreign  steamers  of  about  3,000  tons,  and  give  us  an 
advantage  in  those  of  larger  sizes.  But  these  advantages  can  only  be  arrived  st  by 
concentrating  tbe  material  at  one  place,  to  be  there  worked  into  its  several  conditions, 
freed  from  the  costs  of  transportation  and  many  separate  profits  which  must  otherwiw 
be  borne  in  converting  ore  from  its  original  state  into  plate  and  bar  iron  fit  for  use. 

The  objects  thus  proposed  to  be  accomplished  are  snch  aa  present  themselves  most 
favorably  to  the  Navy  Department.  By  the  erection  of  bnildin^-yards  for  iron  ships, 
and  docks  of  large  capacity  sufficient  for  the  building  of  large  iron  steamers  adapted 
for  conmiercial  and  war  purposes,  and  in  giving  the  Government  preference  in  time  of 
peace  and  absolute  control  in  time  of  war,  they  promise  to  supply  a  great  want  to  the 
naval  service  particularly,  as  well  as  to  the  country  at  large.  These  things  are  ftecessary 
to  our  respectability  and  security  in  peace  and  our  safety  in  tear.  How  they  can  be  pructi- 
caliy  secured,  at  the  smallest  cost  and  with  tbe  least  risk,  is  a  subject  which  asks  the 
consideration  of  our  thoughtful  statesmen.  The  requirements  of  this  company  seem  to 
me  to  be  moderate  in  amount  for  the  purposes  to  be  obtained,  and  tbe  plans  they  propose 
seem  to  be  such  as  will,  if  carefully  guarded  and  properly  executed,  entail  little  ri^k 
of  loss  to  the  Government.    (See  £x.  Doc.  No.  10,  nrst  session  Forty-second  Congress.) 

This  communication  was  referred  to  the  Senate  Committee  on  Naval 
Affairs,  received  careful  and  attentive  consideration,  evidenced  by  an 
able  and  unanimous  report,  which  is  appended  hereto  for  the  valuable 
information  it  affords. 

In  the  last  Executive  message  the  President,  in  speaking  of  this  sub- 
ject, says: 

In  previous  messages  I  have  called  attention  to  the  decline  in  American  ahip-bnild- 
mg,  and  recommended  snch  legislation  as  would  secure  ^o  us  our  propoHiou  of  tbe 
carrying  trade.  Stimulated  by  high  rates  and  abundance  of  freight,  the  progress  uf 
tbe  last  year  has  been  satisfactory.  There  has  been  an  increase  of  about  one  per  cent, 
in  the  amount  transported  on  American  ships  over  the  amount  of  last  year.  With  tbe 
reduced  cost  of  material  which  has  taken  place,  it  may  reasonably  be  hoped  this  i)rog- 
ress  will  be  maintained,  and  even  increased.  However,  as  we  pay  about  $80,000,0(M)  per 
annum  to  foreign  vessels  for  the  transportation  of  our  surplus  products  to  a  marketj  thus 
increasing  the  balance  of  trade  against  us  to  this  amountf  the  subject  is  one  worthy  of  your 
serious  consideration. 

The  accompanying  bill  contains  a  provision,  asked  for  by  the  companies, 
that  it  shall  be  obligatory  on  each  to  supply  to  all  the  shipbuilders  of 
the  country  such  material  of  superior  iron  and  machinery  at  cost  as 
will  enable  them  to  enter  successfully  into  iron-ship  and  iron-boat  build- 
ing along  the  entire  coasts  or  upon  the  rivers ;  and  further,  that  any  or 
all  ship  and  boat  builders  of  the  country  shall  have  the  right  secured 
to  them  of  subscribing  to  the  shares  of  the  company  at  any  time  within 
two  years  after  the  completion  of  the  respective  yards.  These  provi- 
sions are  so  ample  against  monopoly,  and  so  open  to  a  common  benefit, 
that  remark  upon  or  explanation  of  them  seem  needless. 

A  communication  made  to  the  committee  by  the  president  of  the  In- 
ternational Steamship  Company,  showing  the  value  which  these  yards 
will  prove  to  the  country  by  supplying  means  for  transportation  of  its 
surplus  products,  together  with  a  statement  of  the  quantity  of  these  pro- 
ducts, the  present  rates  of  transportation,  and  the  rates  which  may  be 
obtained,  and  savings  gained  to  the  producers  by  improved  river,  canal, 
and  ocean  carriers,  is  appended  hereto,  with  copy  of  the  proposals  as 
made  to  and  communicated  by  the  Navy  Department,  that  all  the  in- 
formation may  thus  be  in  the  possession  of  the  House  of  Hepreseutii- 
tives : 

Washingtox,  February  2.5,  1874. 
To  the  Chairman  and  Committee  on  Naval  Affairs  of  the  House  of  Representatives  : 

Gentlemen  :  The  importance  and  magnitude  of  the  subject  of  this  letter,  embrac- 
ing the  totals  of  our  agricnltural  products,  the  quantities  of  these  consumed  by  the 
population,  the  quantities  exported,  the  enormous  quantities  still  left,  the  high  rates 


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IRON-SHIP-BUILDING   YARDS.  O 

of  freig^ht  which  retard  the  moveroent  of  this  surplas,  preventinp:  its  farther  export  or 
sale,  tbe  conseqaeat  lose  to  the  farmers  and  to  the  conntry ;  the  indebtedness  on  im- 
port and  export  account  against  as  in  Enrope,  which  could  not  exist  if  this  surplus 
could  reach  foreign  markets ;  the  absolute  necessity  for  relief  from  these  disabling 
conditions  by  the  re-establishment  of  our  ocean-carrying  trade,  and  the  means  to  pro- 
duce better  ships  therefor  than  those  of  our  competitors,  invite  attention  from  the 
thooghtful  to  the  facts  herein  stated ;  facts  which  are  taken  from  Government  and 
other  official  reports,  and  therefore  recjuire  no  vouching  for  their  authority  or  correct- 
ness. 

Our  country  at  this  time  presents  the  strangely  anomalous  condition  of  being  the 
richest  in  tbe  world  in  all  products  useful  toman,  and  yet  one  of  the  poorest  in  proper 
facilities  of  distribution  of  these  products  for  man's  benefit. 

In  tbe  Western  States  agricultural  industry  draws  from  the  soil  such  vast  stores  of 
products  that  many  decay  unused  or  are  burned  for  fuel.  In  the  Atlantic  or  £2asteru 
States,  and  especially  in  their  large  cities,  teeming  with  mechanic  industry  and  man- 
nfacturing  product.  labor  is  nnemploy(^;  honest,  hard-working  men  in  the  cold  ot 
wiater  are  seen  at  the  street-corners  telling  in  beseeching  words  that  they  have  been 
diiys  without  food,  and  that  their  wives  and  children  are  starving. 

The  West  in  its  abundance,  and  the  East  in  its  want,  each  requiring  the  products  of 
the  other,  do  not  make  the  exchange  in  sufficient  quantity,  notwithstanding  there  are 
traversing  railroads  and  the  cheapest  of  nature's  meaus  for  transportation,  lakes  and 
rivers,  and  these  connected  by  canals. 

From  Europe  we  have  a  constant  demand  for  breadstnffs  and  meats  in  larger  quan- 
tities than  we  supply,  while  more  than  the  whole  of  that  demand  lies  comparatively 
nsel«)S8  or  rotting  in  the  West. 

From  the  East  Indies  there  is  now  a  cry  of  famine,  a  waut  of  wheat  and  corn,  which 
California,  aa  nearest,  might  well  supply  from  her  great  abundance,  but  does  not.  Why 
in  this  stagnation  in  the  moving  means  not  only  to  sustain  but  to  make  life  enjoya- 
ble f  It  is  soon  told.  In  the  annual  report  of  the  New  York  Produce  Exchange,  is- 
sued last  October,  it  is  stated  that  California  required  for  the  current  year  five  hun- 
dred ships  to  transport  her  surplus  of  wheat  only  to  her  existing  markets.  Oregon 
re([aired  nearly  a  hundred  more.  Neither  of  these  are  yet  fully  supplied,  and  hence 
these  States  are  powerless  to  aid  India,  and  rendered  powerless  to  secure  fair  profits 
opon  these  products  to  their  people  by  their  inability  to  reduce  the  high  ocean 
freights. 

In  the  Western  States  railroads  have  caused  a  vast  reduction  in  the  river  trade  ;  the 
vrooden  boats  which  sustained  it  were  unfit  to  contend  with  these  roads,  because,  lightly 
boilt,  they  were  subject  to  and  were  destroyed  in  numbers  by  fires,  explosions,  and 
other  casualties.  They  were  not  replaced  in  the  face  of  such  a  contest,  and  the  rail- 
roads control  the  bulk  of  transportation  on  their  owu  terms.  These  terms  of  freight, 
though  apparently  excessive,  cannot  be  much  reduced  by  the  railroads,  because  uoue 
of  them  are  equipped  with  proper  rolling-stock  for  economical  carrying  of  grain. 
Hence  the  West  cannot  aid  in  giving  that  impulse  to  the  exchange  of  products  which 
would  quicken  industry  by  fulidevelopment  to  labor  in  the  East. 

The  demand  for  wheat,  corn,  and  meats  from  Europe  is  not  supplied  by  us  to  any 
Urge  extent,  because  of  the  high  rates  of  interior  and  ocean  freights.  Previous  to 
1^1,  when  our  ships  held  fair  competition,  the  ocean-freight  rates  upon  grain  averaged 
13  cents  per  bushel.  Now,  when  our  ships  have  been  driven  from  the  trausatlantic 
trade,  foreii^  ships  exact  from  'ZS  to  30  cents  per  bushel,  the  latter  during  the  shipping 
season,  and  this,  added  to  our  high  interior  freight-rates,  raises  the  cost  of  our  products 
io  Europe  to  such  high  prices  as  nearly  to  exclude  us  from  its  markets,  except  in  periods 
of  short  crops,  and  renders  It  unreasonable  for  us  to  rely  upon  any  contiuuous  large  de- 
mand therefrom  until  freight-rates  shall  be  reduced  by  new  and  better  forms  of  carriers. 

The  control  of  the  transtlantic  carrying-trade  is  practically  the  control  of  the 
West  India  and  South  American  trade.  Hence,  these  foreign,  economic,  trausatlantic 
iron  steamships,  by  absorbing  our  transatlantic  carrying,  have  broken  down  the  em- 
ployment of  our  wooden  ships  and  of  our  wooden  ship-builders,  and  seized  npon  these 
nearer  markets  by  throwing  the  bulk  of  the  carrying-trade  controlled  by  them  into 
foreign  vessels,  and  this  has  reacted  upon  and  seriouslv  affected  our  coasting-trade. 

Tbe  immediate  and  only  remedy  for  this  adverse  condition  of  our  commerce  and  shiji- 
bailding  would  seem  clearly  that  of  providing  for  the  production  of  better  and  safer 
ships  by  sources  of  supply  of  materials,  open  to  all  ship  and  steamboat  builders,  and 
from  which  they  could  draw  these  materials,  whether  of  wood  or  iron,  at  the  lowent 
cost  that  science  and  mechanic  art  can  devise  to  create.  The  first  necessity,  the  first 
material,  is  irot»,  of  perfect  homogeneity  throughout,  and  of  greater  tensile  strength 
than  is  used  in  foreign  steamships.  We  possess  the  ores  for  making  this  iron,  and 
steamships  built  of  it  will,  from  their  superiority  and  safetv,  regain  and  command  the 
transatlantic  carrying-trade.  This  trade  again  controlled  to  us  by  tbe  only  means 
which  can  control  it — thoroughly  adapted  iron  steamships — will  concentrate  that  con- 
stant freightage  necessary  to  sustain  a  general  ocean  trade,  such  as  caused  our  former 


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6  IR0N-8HIP-BUILDINQ  TABD8. 

nnprecedented  prodaction  of  wooden  ships,  for  long  Tojages,  for  the  West  Indies, 
and  for  the  coasting-trade,  and  will  revive  those  trades,  and  with  them  the  indaa- 
tries  and  employ  men  ts  in  the  wooden-ship  huilding,  which  long  ago  huilt  up  oar 
now  lost  man  time  reputation.  But  new  conditions  to  secure  successful  oompetition 
bv  wooden  bottomB  are  now  required,  and  which  cannot  be  fulfilled  by  wooden-ehip 
builders  alone.  Iron  frames  have  taken  the  place  of  wooden  '*  ribs/'  and  these  iron- 
framed  wooflen  vessels,  designated  in  England  as  "  composite  ships,"  are  stronger, 
more  durable,  lighter,  therefore  larger  carriers  in  proportion  to  tonnage,  hence  more 
economical  and  profitable,  than  vessels  all  of  wood  can  be.  To  produce  them  the 
wooden-ship  builders  must  have  a  source  from  which  to  obtain  ready-shaped  iron  uia- 
terial.  With  this  essential  general  source  of  supply,  the  ship-builders  throughout  this 
country  can  pro<luce  any  class  of  vessels  to  regain  and  make  our  ocean  commerce  anc- 
cesHful,  and  to  reduce  freight-rates,  to  the  exteusion  and  benefit  of  our  export  products. 
lu  the  trausatlantic  service,  upon  the  lakes,  rivers,  and  canals,  the  buoyant  and 
economic  steamers,  built  from  strong  homogeneous  iron,  specially  made  for  this  object, 
and  perfectly  atlapt^d  to  transportation  purposes,  will  reduce  the  freight-rates  to  less 
than  one-fourth  of  the  average  of  winter  and  summer  railroad-rates,  and  to  less  thau 
one-half  of  the  present  water-rates  between  Chicago  and  New  York,  and  to  one-third 
the  ocean  freight-rates  exacted  by  the  foreign  steamships.  This  will  be  better  under- 
stood by  a  comparison  of  the  exact  rates  to  be  attained  by  these  new  American  iron 
vesm^ls  with  the  existing  rates. between  Ciiicago  and  New  York,  and  thence  to  Liver- 
pool, including  storage,  handling,  and  shortage.    These  existing  rates,  by  railroads,  are  : 

Per  toa. 
Winter  rate,  Chicago  to  New  York,  per  bushel,  54 f  cents;  New  York  to  Liver- 
pool, .30  cents,  making  from  Chicago  to  Liverpool  84f ;  or,  for  the  ton -rate 

through  from  Chicago  to  Liverpool $28  21 

Sunimer  rate^  Chicago  to  New  York,  per  bushel,  42f  cents ;  New  York  to  Liver- 
pool, 30  cents,  making  from  Chicago  to  Liverpool  72|  cents ;  or,  ton-rate,  Chi- 
cago to  Liverpool 24  21 

Avernge  of  winter  and  summer  rates,  Chicago  to  New  York,  per  bushel,  48|  cents. 
Average  ofwinteraudsnmmer,Chicago  through  to  Liverpool,  per  bu8hel,78|  cents. 

Average  of  winter  and  summer  ton-rate  through,  Chicago  to  Liverpool 26  62 

Water-ronte — lakes,  canal,  and  river— Chicago  to  New  York,  per  ton,  $7.23,  or, 
per  bushel,  21iV<^^nts;  New  York  to  Liverpool,  30  cents,  making  Chicago 
to  Liverpool,  per  bushel,  bl-^  cents;  or,  for  the  ton-rate,  through  from  Chicago 

to  Liverpool 17  23 

By  new  American  iron  carriers  over  same  water-routes — Chicago  to  New  York, 
^3.25  per  ton,  or,  per  bushel,  9f  cente ;  New  York  to  Liverpool,  10  cents,  making 
Cliictigo  to  Liverpool,  per  bushel,  19f  cents;    or,  for  the  ton-rate,  through 

from  Chicago  to  Liverpool 6  58 

There  will  thus  be  a  saving  by  these  new  iron  carriers  of,  per  bushel,  2S-f^  centa 
on  the  average  of  the  winter  and  summer  railroad-rate  from  Chicago  to  New- 
York,  and  a  saving  of,  per  bushel,  b^-y^  cents  on  the  bushel-rate  from  Chicago 
to  Liverpool,  and  a  saving  on  ton-rate,  per  ton  of  $19.64  on  each  ton  betweeu 
Chicago  and  Liverpool. 
The  saving  on  the  present  water-rate — being  the  present  low  est  price  at  which 
firoduce  can  be  tran8t»orted  to  New  York — is  llf*Mj  cents  per  bushel  betweeu 
Chicago  and  New  York,  and  a  saving  per  ton  on  the  ton-rate  between  Chi- 
cago and  Liverpool  of 10  65 

The  lowest  present  rate  from  Saint  Louis  to  New  Orleans  and  thence  to  Liverpool  is 
$17.84  per  ton,  or,  per  bushel,  b^^fo  cents.  It  is  generally  a  higher  rate  than  this, 
but  no  lower  has  been  reached.  By  the  now  and  completely-adapted  iron  steamers 
wheat  and  corn  can  be  carried  from  Saint  Louis  to  New  Orleans  at  less  than  3  cents 
)»er  bushel,  or  from  Saint  Louis  to  Liverpool  for  the  whole  through-rate  of  $6.17  per 
ton,  a  saving  of  $11.67  per  ton,  or  l&to%  cents  upon  each  bushel  to  Liverpool. 

Between  the  existing  rates  and  the  rates  which  can  be  fij*mly  established  by  thor- 
oughly-adapted iron  carriers,  the  difference^  which  is  the  /om,  is  enormous  when  consid- 
ered either  as  to  a  State  or  to  the  United  Stat-es.  The  people  of  the  West  have  learned 
partly  the  cause  of  this  loss  from  their  own  experience,  but  not  all,  and  it  is  the  part 
they  liave  learned  which  is  exciting  them  to  action  for  cheap  transportation. 

Taking  the  entire  products  of  some  of  the  most  prominent  States,  as  given  in  the 
Agricultural  Report  for  1872,  and  calculating  the  quantity  required  for  the  whole  popa- 
lation,  as  well  as  for  all  the  live-stock  of  each,  the  following  is  their  surplus  production 
in  tons  weight.  The  surplus  consists  mostly  of  corn,  wheat,  oats,  potatoes,  batter, 
cheese,  merits,  tobacco,  flax,  and  wool. 

Illinois  has  a  surplus  of. k 7,175,727  tons. 

Indiana  has  a  surplus  of ^....  2,500,3^)  tons. 

Michigan  has  a  surplus  of 851,206  tons. 

Ohio  has  a  surplus  of 2,187,422  tons. 


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IBON-SHIP-BUILDING   YARDS.  7 

HiaDMoU  has  a  snrplas  of 938,243  tons. 

WiscoQ^iu  has  anurplasof 1,286,513  tons. 

Io7ahac»  a  surplus  of 3,290,638  tous. 

Nebraska  has  a  surplus  of 292,345  tons. 

Kansas  has  a  surplus  of. 946,328  tons. 

Miasonri  has  a  surplus  of 2,833,892  tons. 

Takine  nitnots  and  Iowa  as  more  clearly  illustrating  the  loss  which  the  Western 
States  nHatiTel^  sustain,  even  at  the  lowest  existing  rates,  when  compared  with  rates 
which  are  attainable  by  well-adapted  iron  carriers,  the  following  is  the  result: 

To  /Minoi*— The  lowest  average  rate  by  water  from  Chicago,  as  alreaily  stated,  has 
been  $7.23  per  ton  for  the  last  six  years.  By  properly-adaptM  iron  carriers  the  rate, 
including  all  handling,  can  be  reduced  to  $3.25  per  ton.  The  saving  of  the  difference, 
if  Illinois  shipped  only  to  New  York,  would  in  each  year  be  $27,698,306,  but  if  she 
shipped  the  whole  quantity  to  Liverpool  at  the  through  price  stated  of  $6.58  per  ton, 
this  saving  annually,  at  the  present  ratio  of  population  and  production,  will  amount 
tor>9,261,5U5. 

ioira  illustrates  the  costs  and  savings  by  the  Mississippi  River  to  New  Orleans  and 
thence  to  Liverpool.  The  present  lowest  price  from  Dubuque  to  Saint  Louis,  and 
thence  to  New  Orleans  ana  Liverpool,  amounts  to  $22  per  ton.  By  the  proposed 
iron  carriers  the  freight  between  Dubuque  aud  Liverpool,  including  transshipments, 
can  be  carried  at  a  satisfactory  and  paying  rate  of  $8.12  per  ton.  The  difference  on 
the  whole  of  their  surplus  products,  which  can  thus  be  saved  to  the  people  of  Iowa,  at 
the  present  ratio  of  production  and  population,  would  be,  yearly,  $45,681,303. 

To  give  all  the  States  separately  would  take  t-oo  much  space,  but  as  the  above  ratably 
represent  the  West,  so  may  Tennessee,  Georgia,  and  Virginia  represent  the  South. 

TeHtie99e4^9  surplus  consists  principally  of  wheat,  corn,  tobacco,  cotton,  and  wool,  all 
desirable  in  Europe.  Her  cheapest  route  is  by  the  Cumberland,  the  Tennessee,  and 
the  Mississippi  Rivers  to  New  Orleans,  and  thence  to  Liverpool.  The  difference  be- 
tween the  present  rates  and  those  to  be  obtained  by  the  new  iron  carriers  is  $11.67  per 
ton,  and  this  saves  to  the  people  of  Tennessee  annually  the  sum  of  $8,676,.'>47. 

Georgia. — Until  the  projected  canal  connecting  the  Tennessee  River  with  the  Ocmul- 
f;ee  River  is  made,  Georgia,  North  and  Sooth  Carolina,  and  Alabama  are  more  or  less 
Babjected  to  the  high  rates  now  existing  upon  tbeir  supplies,  and  at  all  times  subject 
to  the  high  rates  to  Europe  which  foreign  companies  establish,  and  will  rule  until  we 
ahall  have  our  own  ocean  carriers  for  competition.  These  rates  now  apply  nearly  the 
Bsme  as  for  New  York.  Georgia  would  save,  therefore,  by  the  facilities  contemplated 
OQ  the  short  supplies  which  she  must  obtain  from  the  West.  $318,629,  and  on  her  sur- 
plos  products  $1,041,680,  or  a  total  annual  saving  of  $1,360,309. 

FlrtfiHia  is  short  in  various  supplies  37,384  tons,  while  she  has  an  excess  of  wheat, 
eom,  and  tobacco  of  190,002  tons,  and  upon  both  her  savings  will  amount,  by  the  new 
carriers,  to  $1,612,293. 

Taking  the  three  States  of  New  York,  Pennsylvania,  and  Maryland  to  repiesent 
others  which  are  manufacturing  and  commercial— 

yew  York  is  short  in  subsistence  supply:  in  wheat,  7,002,696  bushels;  in  corn, 
24,258,350  bnshels;  and  in  meats,  778,010,319  pounds.  On  these,  the  excess  of  freight 
which  she  now  pays  over  what  would  be  paid  if  proper  iron  carriers  were  on  the  lakes, 
canals,  and  rivers,  and  which  would  thus  be  saved  in  each  year,  is  $9,881,359. 

Penn9jflifania  would  in  like  manner  save  on  her  short  supplies  $2,221,625,  and  on  her 
•orpins  in  shipping  freights  to  Europe,  $4,346,930,  or  a  total  annual  saving  of  $6,568,555. 

MarylaHd  is  short  in  certain  subsistence  supplies  90,608  tons,  aud  has  a  surplus  of 
others  of  202,301  tons  for  export,  and  would  save  in  like  manner  to  Pennsylvania  an- 
nually $1,712,4«9. 

Talung  the  three  States  of  Maine,  Massachusetts,  and  Rhode  Island  to  illustrate  the 
Bavings  to  the  manufacturing  States — 

Maine  is  short  in  her  supplies  of  wheat,  com,  oats,  meats,  &c.,  251,258  tons,  and  has 
a  surplus  of  other  products  to  the  extent  of  274,342  tons,  and  on  these  combined  the 
savings  to  her  people  by  these  new  iron-carriers  will  be  annually  $1,942,224. 

ManachusetU  has  no  surplus  of  any  consequence  in  her  agricultural  products,  but  is 
short  in  wheat,  corn,  oats,  potatoes,  meats,  &c.,  571,713  tons,  and  pays  an  excess  ou 
transportation  from  the  West  over  what  she  would  pay  if  these  iron-carrying  facilities 
were  established,  of  $4,419,341  annually. 

Rhode  I$land  has  no  surplus,  and  requires,  in  wheat,  corn,  oats,  barley,  butter,  and 
meats,  80,016  tons,  and  loses  in  like  manner  by  excess  in  freight,  and  which  she  could 
save  annually  by  the  pn»posed  new  forms  of  iron  carriers,  $618,523,  which  is  equal  to 
au  annual  tax  of  $2.85  upon  each  man,  woman,  and  child  in  that  State. 

These  stated  results  are  not  deduced  from  theories ;  they  are  not  mere  estimates,  hut 
they  are  substantial  facts.  The  statement  of  freight-rates  as  existing  is  from  published 
prices  of  railroad  companies  and  from  official  reports  of  boards  of  exchange.  The 
reduced  rates  of  freight  to  be  obtained  are  established  by  the  known  weights  of  mate- 
rial in  the  hulls  of  the  new  forms  of  carriers  upon  the  waters ;  by  the  cubic  font  the 
interior  of  each  of  these  will  contain,  by  the  cost  of  moving  each  carrier  a  mile,  or  any 


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8  IRON-SHIP-BUILDING   YARDS. 

namber  of  miles.  The  qnantities  of  a^icaltaral  prodncts  in  each  State  are  from  the 
Report  of  the  DepartmeaC  of  Agricaltare  for  1872.  The  qaautities  reqaired  for  sup- 
port of  the  population  aad  support  of  the  live-stock  are  carefully  calculated  apon  the 
Known  quantities  of  food  required  fir  each  person  and  for  each  lower  animal.  There- 
fore, large  as  the  quantities  and  amounts  may  appear  to  minds  not  accustomed  to  look 
at  great  aggregates,  they  are  not  the  less  true ;  and  it  is  in  their  truth,  and  in  the 
severe  experience  of  its  teachings,  that  the  farmers  of  the  West  have  cause  for  the 
united  exertions  they  are  now  making  to  secure  fair  rates  of  transportation,  not  only 
to  the  sea-board,  but  thence  npon  the  oceans  to  foreign  markets.  How  far  they  are 
justified  in  this  exertion,  and  with  what  gathering  strength  they  will  enforce  it,  'may, 
perhaps,  be  better  understood  by  the  following  aggregates  of  production,  oonsamptioa, 
export,  and  residue  of  the  entire  dry  crops  of  the  whole  United  States  and  Territories, 
as  stated  in  the  official  returns  of  1872,  the  population  being  stated  at  its  known  ratio 
of  increase  since  1870,  and  which  fixes  it  at  40,303,:^  persons ;  and  the  quantity  con- 
sumed by  this  population  established  in  the  manner  previously  stated;  the  quantity 
of  export  of  each  article,  taken  from  the  Government  returns  o^  exports ;  the  residue, 
being  the  quantities  which  appear  as  unused  or  lost  to  the  farming  interests  of  the 
country,  in  its  individuality,  for  that  year;  and  the  annual  avera^  amount  probably 
lost  to,  or  materially  reduced  in,  the  national  wealth  by  the  neglect  of  Congress  to 
understand  the  country's  necessities  and  to  legislate  properly  to  relieve  them. 

Total  produoU  of  the  United  Stales  and  Territories ^  for  the  year  1S72,  showing  the  quantities 
produced,  consumedf  exported,  and  remaining  over  unsold  and  unused. 

Products.  How  disposed  ol  Boshels.        TJnnaed. 

Corn Total  prodnot  of  the  year 1,0^719,000 

Cousamed  by  the  population 130.910,011    

Consumed  by  live  stock 416,83^^00   

Export  corn  and  corn  meal 36,036,450 

573,768,861 


Leavinfl(frtfm  subsistences  and  export 518,930,139 

In  the  internal  revenue  reports  the  capacity  of  the  whisky  dis- 
tilleries is  ziven  at  730,741  bushels  of  grain  per  year,  but  it  is 
probable  illicit  distilling  triples  this,  therefore  deduct. %  193, 233 


516,  757, 916 


Wheat...   Total  products  of  theyear 849,997,100 

Consumed  by  the  people \ 100, 151, 668 

Exported  wheat,    iiour,  and  bread,  reduced  to  the 

equivalent  bushels  of  wheat 76,473,193 

176, 633, 861 


Rye Totalproduct 14,888,600 

Consumed  by  the  people 13,434,413 

This  residue  of  1,454,188  bushels  was  no  doubt  used  for  purposes 
of  distillation,  though  not  so  accounted  for,  and  therefore  is 
not  included  in  seneral  surplus. 

Oats Totalproduct 371,747,000 

Courtumed  by  live  stock 807,528,075 

Exported 863,975 


73,373,839 


807, 791, 050 


Fototoes.    Totalproduct 63,955.950 

Consumed  by  population 67,178,338      113,516,000 

Exported 681,537 


67, 793,  765 

Meats.  ..  Beef;  Pounds. 

Beyond  live  stock  for  reprodncUoD 6,555,530  000 

Consumed  by  population 6,420,556,995 


45,793,835 


Leaving  as  surplus 134,963,005 

Total  export  of  aU  kinds 86,658.094 


Mutton : 

Total  amount  produced,  all  of  which  consumed  by  population .     685^  000, 000 


108,310.911 


Hoe  products : 

Fork  and  bacon,  total  pn 

Consumed  by  popuUtion .'. 3,608,023,535 


Pork  and  bacon,  total  products 4,484,973,334 


Leaving  surplus  for  sale 876,349,799 

Exported  of  all  prodncU  of  the  hog 503,039,381 


373,390,478 


The  total  cereal  and  meat  products  of  the  entire  country,  as  shown  b^  the  official 
reports,  is  here  given  ;  the  total  consumption,  and  the  total  exports,  as  evidenced  also 
by  Government  official  reports ;  and  beyond  all  these,  there  is  a  surplus  of  663|81 1,340 


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ntON-SHIP-BUILDING  YAED8.    .  9 

bushels  in  the  aggre^te  of  thi^  varied  prodaots.  Some  of  this  aggregate  doubtless  is 
otilized  ;  if  so,  there  is  no  data  or  return  anywhere  to  shciw  it.  Special  inquiry  ob- 
tains from  farmers  and  producers  only  replies  that,  from  season  to  season,  when  not 
bamed,  it  lies  over,  deteriorating  and  wasting  until  all  hopes  of  sale  fail.  It  is  then 
applied  to  some  inferior  purpose,  or,  decayed  and  rotten,  it  goes  to  manure.  Scattered 
over  the  whole  countiy,  on  the  small  and  large  farms,  its  enormous  aggregate  is  un- 
known, till  found  by  the  test  of  recorded  facts  of  product,  of  export,  and  the  quantity 
required  for  the  support  of  the  population  and  live  stock.  In  it-s  united  volume  it 
seems  too  great  to  be  credited;  but  to  discredit  it,  is  to  discredit  the  recorded  facta  of 
the  Government.  Besides  these  cereal  prodnct-S,  there  are  also  481,531,389  pounds  of 
meats  in  excess,  and  whether  this  be  in  the  living  or  slaughtered  state,  is  equally  a 
waste.  These  products,  taken  at  the  cash  prices  given  in  the  official  returns  of  Gov- 
ernment as  the  export  values,  amount  to  the  vast  sum  of  |517,935,405  for  the  year 
1872. 

Taming  from  this  waste  of  surplus  to  the  indebtedness  of  the  country,  held  and  ac- 
cming  abroad,  by  the  interest  to  be  paid  thereon — and  which  could  be  more  than  paid 
by  this  waste  alone,  if  properly  utilized — it  is  found  to  be  estimated  at  the  following 
ainoants,  which,  though  believed  to  be  in  excess  of  the  reality,  no  reliable  data  or 
standard  to  correct  errors  in  the  amounts,  if  such  exist,  can  be  found.    These  amounts 


National  bonds  held  i  n  Europe,  $900,000,000 ;  in  terest  at  6  per  cent $54, 000, 000 

State,  city,  town,  railroad,  and  other  corporate  bonds  held  in  Europe, 

♦1,500,000,000 ;  interest  at  7  per  cent 105,000,000 

In  addition  to  these  amounts  of  annual  interest,  the  balance  of  trade 
against  us,  being  the  di£ference  between  our  imports  of  foreign  goods 
and  oar  exports  of  American  products,  excluding  bullion,  and  re-exports 

of  foreign  goods,  is 137,112,771 

And  the  amount  paid  to  foreign  steamships,  consisting  of  freighti-money 

paid  in  1872 $106,158,371 

Paasage-money,  American  first-class  passengers 10, 792, 320 

Passage-money,  foreign  first-class  passengers 2, 987, 520 

Passage-money  from  immigrants 14,804,230 

Oor  proportion  of  this  total  amount  of 134,742,441 

previous  to  1861  was  71  per  cent. ;  now  we  have  none,  but 
really  pay  all,  except  the  amount  paid  by  the  first-class 

foreign  passengers:  which  deduct,  is 2,987,520 

131,754,921 

Making  a  total  drain  of  gold  or  its  equivalent  yearly  of 427, 867, 692 

from  08,  which  we  fail  to  provide  against  in  a  sensible  business  way,  by  regaining  our 
ocean  carrying-trade,  which  would  reverse  a  part  of  the  amount  to  us,  control  the  re- 
mainder, and  really  more  than  pay  it  by  exports  of  the  wasting  products  just  before 
shown. 

We  have  thus  the  extraordinary  spectacle  of  a  conn  try  producing  everything  re- 
paired to  keep  it  rich  and  free  it  from  debt ;  to  draw  into  it  increasing  wealth  from 
it«  yearly  augmenting  surplus  products  ;  the  existing  surpluses  to  the  vast  quantity 
alr^y  stated  wasting  and  rotting  unused,  while  hundreds  of  thousands  of  its  people 
in  one  section  can  find  no  employment  and  are  starving,  when  a  fractional  part  of  this 
vaste  would  relieve  their  distress ;  and  the  remainder  of  this  wasting  surplus  is  in  de- 
mand by  other  peoples,  and  would  command  a  money-return  equal  to  the  whole 
amount  of  gold  which  is  annually  required  for  ihe  trade-balance  against  us,  and  for  the 
interest  on  our  indebtedness  abroad,  if  we  would  provide  cheap  means,  under  our  own 
control,  by  which  it  could  reach  their  markets. 

Looking  into  this  abnormal  condition  of  the  country,  can  any  one  doubt  its  cause, 
or  doubt  that  the  cause  is  the  loss  of  the  transatlantic  carrying-trade  T  Or,  can  any 
one  question  the  truth  of  historical  facts,  proving  that  the  ocean  carrying- trade  quick- 
ens industry  and  adds  to  the  pros|>erity  ot  every  country  which  acquires  any  fair  pro- 
portion of  it,  and  makes  that  nation  the  commercial  ruler  which  holds  its  complete 
control  t 

If  the  ocean  carrying-trade  is  restored  to  us  by  American  ships  and  steamers,  these 
sustained  and  supplied  with  our  surplus  freights  by  proper  means  of  cheap  internal 
transportation — made  certaiu  by  iron  steam-carriers  on  the  lakes,  rivers,  ami  canals — 
not  a  bushel,  not  a  pound  of  our  earplus  need  be  lost,  not  a  man  or  woman  of  all  the 
thousands  now  idle  need  remain  unemployed.  Not  a  dollar  of  the  precious  metals  need 
be  exported  to  pay  debt  or  interest;  for  our  subsistence  products  alone  will  provide 
the  whole  amount,  and  the  ocean-freights  would  then  add  to  our  national  wealth,  in- 
stead of,  as  now^,  absorbing  and  diminishing  its  amount. 

To  regain  the  ocean  carrying-trade  we  require  ocean  steamships  superior  to  those  of 
oor  competitoss.    To  obtain  these  we  must  have  a  source  of  supply  not  only  for 


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10  "lEON-SHlP-BUILDINO  YARDS. 

steamers  bat  also  for  better  materials  adapted  to  tbeir  conatmctioa.  To  sustain  tbess 
ocean-steamers,  steamboats  upon  the  lakes,  rivers,  and  canals,  for  conveyance  oi 
heavy  products  from  the  interior  to  the  sea-board,  at  low  rates  of  freight,  are  indispen- 
sable, and  for  these  also  there  mast  be  a  source  of  supply.  Each  class  of  vessels  to  be 
economical  mast  be  of  iroa ;  to  be  safe  and  durable  this  iron  must  be  homogeneons 
throughout.  To  obtain  continuously  and  reliably  such  iron  in  unvarying  strength  at 
an  economical  cost,  it  must,  as  a  specialty,  be  made  at  the  yards  where  these  vestielB 
are  built.  By  these  means  the  safest  and  strongest,  the  most  buoyant  and  economical, 
freight-carriers  can  be  created.  By  these  carriers  the  farmers  and  planters  of  the 
West  and  the  South  cau  be  relieved  from  the  burden  of  high  freights ;  their  products 
can  reach  the  sea-board  and  thence  reach  foreign  markets,  to  bring  returns  to  the  profit 
of  these  producers,  and  to  the  relief  of  the  country  in  its  general  indebtedness,  and  by 
these  means  only  can  oar  transatlantic  and  general  ocean  carrying- trade  be  regained 
and  permanently  held. 

The  bill  under  your  consideration  provides  these  absolutely  necessary  resources  for 
steamers  for  the  Atlantic  and  other  oceaus,  for  the  waters  of  the  West,  and  fur  the 
superior  iron  for  continued  production  of  safe  iron  vessels.  It  asks  for  no  snbsidy,  no 
money  aid,  no  expenditure  by  the  Government.  The  small  consideration,  to  make  a 
binding  contract  in  securing  the  entire  use  of  the  yards  in  any  exigency  to  the  Govern- 
ment in  time  of  peace — by  an  advance  of  interest  while  the  yards  are  being  built,  re- 
turnable pro  rata  when  completed — may  be  stricken  out,  if  that  advantage  is  not 
deemed  desirable  to  the  Government. 

The  measure  in  its  entirety  is  of  national  economy,  and  a  practical  means  of  retrench- 
ment in  naval  expenditure,  in  addition  to  its  immediate  availability  in  reversing  the 
disastrous  condition  of  our  carrying-trade,  and  its  minous  results  as  hereinbefore 
shown.  In  its  present  form  it  is  a  public  measure,  giving  its  benefits  to  all  ship-build- 
ers equally.  If  severed  from  all  connection  with  the  Government,  and  condncted  as  a 
private  enterprise,  it  wonld  be  released  from  its  obligation  to  extend  aid  to  all  ship- 
builders, and  could  not  well  fail  under  such  condition  to  become  a  monopoly.  For 
these  reasons  its  prompt  establishment  may  be  earnestly  nrged  in  the  present  form.  If 
the  measure  is  established  by  creating  these  yards,  the  companies,  respectively,  will 
proceed  forthwith  to  build — the  one,  steamships  for  a  transatlantic  line,  the  other, 
Doats  for  a  line  of  express  steamers  upon  the  Mississippi  to  New  Orleans ;  for  these 
they  ask  no  snbsidy  or  aid.  All  that  is  required  are  the  facilities  for  building  and  re- 
liability upon  the' material.  With  these  reliances,  it  is  certain  that  other  lines  will 
rapidly  follow  upon  all  desirable  routes. 

The  President  of  the  United  States  has,  in  each  of  his  annual  messages,  called  spec- 
ially the  attention  of  Congress  to  the  subject  of  restoring  our  ship-bailding  and  ocean 
oarrying-trade. 

The  Secretary  of  the  Navy  on  this  subject  has  said,  (see  Ex.  Doc.  No.  50,  Senate, 
42d  Congress,  page  2,)  **  The  first  step  in  this  direction  seems  to  be  the  creation  of 
large  and  commodious  building-yards,  advantageously  situated  with  reference  to  the 
ready  and  cheap  supply  of  the  great  bulk  of  the  necessary  material,  and  so  arranged 
ns  to  unite  in  one  establishment  all  the  means  ilnd  appliances  to  convert  this  material 
through  all  its  necessary  processes  and  applications  into  ships,  under  one  organized 
system,  single,  direct,  and  harmonious  from  the  inception,  involving  but  one  profit  to 
the  producer.  Such  establishments,  of  course,  cannot  be  produced  without  some  action 
on  the  part  of  Government  to  encourage  the  necessary  aggregation  of  capital,  and  to 
secure  its  results  to  some  extent  in  return  for  the  national  enterprise  in  which  it  is 
embarked.'' 

Hereinbefore  it  has  been  shown  that,  besiile  the  vast  loss  npon  wasting  products  for 
want  of  shipment,  there  was  a  foreign  trade  balance  against  us  of  $1^,112,771 ;  and 
that  the  amount  of  freight  and  passage  money  paid  by  American  interests  to  foreign 
steamships  was  |131,754,951,  making  a  positive  total  balance  against  us  of  $268,867,722 
in  1872.  It  was  practically  a  loss  of  that  much  gold  to  the  country,  retarding  speyie 
paymeiiti,  and  a  loss  of  the  whole  sum  to  the  produoing  classes,  more  than  half  of 
which  was  directly  paid  by  the  farmers  and  planters.  It  will  continue  a  burden  npon 
them,  and  a  drain  upon  the  country  of  like  or  larger  amount  in  each  year,  until  these 
building-yards  are  established,  to  create  a  source  of  supply  of  specially  strong  material, 
to  our  ship-builders,  for  the  production  of  iron  steamships  for  transatlantic  service ; 
of  iron  steamboats  for  interior  transportauon ;  and  of  iron-framed  wooden  ships  for 
the  general  ocean  carrying-trade.  The  carriers  will  relieve  the  farmers  and  planters 
of  their  present  burdens,  caused  by  high  freights,  open  markets  to  our  mannfactaros, 
revive  ship-building,  and  with  it  that  prosperity  which  history  teaches  us  ship>bnild- 
ing  has  given  to  all  mechanic  industries  fh>m  periods  of  remote  antiquity  to  the  pres- 
ent time.  And  they  will  provide,  by  reversing  the  balances  of  trade,  for  the  only  sure 
foundation  upon  which  the  country  can  resume,  and  permanently  sustain,  specie  pay- 
ments. 

With  great  respect,  I  have  the  honor  to  be,  yonr  obedient  servant, 

AMBROSE  W.  THOMPSON, 
PrMidmf  qf  ths  InimuUional  Steamthip  Campanjf. 


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IRON-SHIP-BUILDING   YARDS.  11 

PropomU  to  enaU  irom-Bhip  hmUding  yard»  and  dodcs,  by  which  iron  naval  and  commerdal 
tieamen  can  he  buiU  as  tket^fly  in  the  United  States  as  in  Europe;  and  to  estaiflish  semi- 
wteklg  trans-Atlantic  steamers  without  other  subsidy  than  the  postages  arising  from  mail- 
ma$UTy  as  now  authorised  by  law. 

Office  of  thb  Iihiernational  Steamship  Company, 

Washington^  March  6, 1871. 

Sir:  The  International  Steamship  Company,  incorporated  by* the  State  of  New  Jer- 
Mv,  and  dnly  orj^anized  with  full  le^al  powers  to  carry  ont  the  acts  hereinafter  named, 
h<?'reby  propose  to  contract  with  tlie  United  States  as  follows,  namely  : 

The  said  International  Steamship  Company  will  forthwith  erect  at  a  suitable  place, 
having  deep-wat«r  frontage,  secured  from  running  ice  in  winter,  an  iron-ship  building 
jard,  with  capacity  to  construct,  build,  and  equip  the  largest  naval  and  commercial 
steamers  or  sailing-vessels.  The  said  buildiug-yanls  shall  be  inclosed,  and  within  the 
liniits  shall  be  not  less  than  three  building-docks  havingcapacity  to  float  steamers  and 
sailiog- vessels  of  10,000  tons.  The  said  docks  shall  be  of  the  most  improved  construe- 
tioD,  with  improved  means  for  inlet  and  exhaust  of  water,  that  vessels  of  large  class 
may  be  built  therein  and  floated  without  the  risk  of  launching.  Around  and  contig- 
nous  to  the  said  docks  shall  be  the  workshops  and  machinery  suitable  and  requisite 
for  constructing  steam-engines  from  the  largest  to  the  smallest  size,  for  marine  and 
other  purposes,  as  also  for  fitting,  erecting,  and  putting  together  the  frames,  the  exte- 
rior and  interior  parts  to  form  the  complete  hulls  of  vessels  of  any  and  of  all  kinds  to 
be  built  witbiu  the  said  docks. 

There  shall  be  within  the  said  yard  one  or  more  "  blasts  "  or  other  furnaces  of  the 
most  improved  form  for  smelting,  in  which  ores  of  such  kinds  as  the  best  experience 
or  bighest  science  shall  demonstrate  can  be  blended  to  make  iron  of  the  greatest  pos- 
sible firmness  and  strength,  in  every  respect,  from  which  may  be  constructed  shafts 
and  working  parts  of  engines  which  shall  be  reliable  against  any  known  strain  of 
weather  in  using  marine  engines. 

There  shftll  also  be  fnmaces  for  the  blending  of  ores  to  form  iron  plates,  slabs,  and 
frames  for  special  pnrposes  of  naval  and  commercial  use. 

There  shall  be  rolling-mills  for  making  angle-frames,  b'eams,  bars,  brackets,  and 
other  forms  necessary  to  perfect  the  interior  framing  and  arrangements  of  the  largest 
iron-clad  naval  and  commercial  steam  and  other  vessels 

There  shall  be  rolling-mills  capable  of  making  plates  of  the  greatest  length  and 
width  to  which  they  can  be  wrought,  for  the  exterior  and  interior  plating  of  steamers 
and  other  •vessels. 

There  shall  be  one  copper  rolling-mill  capable  of  producing  such  special  forms  of 
bar.  slab,  and  sheet-copper  as  are  specially,  required  for  naval  pnrposes. 

The  blast-furnaces  and  other  preliminary  works  to  form  the  iron  into  pigs  and  blooms 
shall  be  on  ground  sufficiently  elevated,  and  so  arranged  as  to  pass  the  iron,  in  its  dif- 
ferent conditions,  on  tram-ways,  by  its  own  gravitation,  to  the  rolling-mills  and  steam- 
hammers,  and  thence  to  the  worksho^M  and  docks,  that  labor,  power,  time,  and  space 
may  lie  saved,  and  the  greatest  economy  be  arrived  at  in  all  construction  progressing 
io  said  building-yards. 

There  shall  be  one  or  more  founderies  for  casting  ordnance  from  iron  made  from 
blooded  ores,  lighter  in  the  mass,  but  superior  in  strength  and  lorce  to  ordnance  now 
used. 

There  shall  be  such  other  sheds,  workshops,  and  machinery  as  may  be  necessary  for 
the  creation  of  iron  stmotnres  needful  to  the  Gk>vemment,  or  for  transportation,  or 
other  uses. 

There  shall  be  within  the  said  yard  such  workshops  for  the  preparation,  putting  to- 
gether, and  erecting  in  place  on  board  ship,  such  wood  ship-carpentry  work,  joiner's 
work,  masting  and  spars,  rigging,  sail,  and  other  work,  as  shall  be  requisite  to  com- 
I  plete  and  equip,  ready  for  sea,  the  steamers  and  vessels  to  be  built  in  said  yard. 

The  said  yards,  docks,  founderies,  sheds,  and  workshops  shall  at  all  times  give  prefer- 
ence to  the  work  of  the  Navy  Department,  and  when  necessity  requires  the  same  to  be 
completed  in  less  time  than  has  been  agreed  for,  by  contract  or  otherwise,  such  facili- 
ties and  nnmbers  of  men  shall  be  forthwith  provided  therefrom  as  said  yards  can  sup- 
ply, and  as  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy  shall  deem  adequate,  and  at  no  additional  cost, 
except  for  the  excess  in  numbers  of  men  and  of  material  employed  and  used ;  and 
whenever  the  United  States  shall  be  involved  in  war,  the  Gk>vernment  thereof  shall 
have  absolute  right  of  oontrol  to  the  exclusion  of  all  other  than  its  own  work  for  naval 
and  military  pnrposes. 

The  International  Steamship  Company  shall,  as  soon  as  the  workshops,  docks,  fur- 
naces, and  rolling-mills  are  sufficiently  advanced  therefor,  commence  the  construction 
of  a  fleet  of  iron  steamships,  six  of  which  shall  be  of  not  less  than  3,500  tons,  and  of 
superior  speed  to  the  steamers  now  engaged  in  carrying  the  mails  to  Europe.  Six  more 
shall  be  of  equal  speed  to  any  steamers  engaged  in  transatlantic  mail  service,  and  of 
not  less  than  3,000  tons. 


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12  IRON-SHIP-BUILDING   YARDS. 

Two  of  said  steamers  shall  be  ready  for  service  in  eighteen  months,  two  more  in 
twenty-four  months,  and  the  whole  nnmber  shall  be  complete  and  up  in  the  routes 
which  shall  be  determined  for  their  service  between  the  said  company  and  the  Post- 
Office  Department,  in  thirty-six  months  from  the  approval  hereof. 

Each  steamer  owned  by  the  company  shall  be  subject  to  the  ose  of  the  Government 
of  the  United  States,  when  required  by  public  necessity,  upon  paying  such  fair  renin- 
neration  therefor  as  shall  be  fixed  by  arbitrators  mutually  chosen,  if  not  first  agreed 
upon  by  the  company  and  the  department  of  Government  requiring  such  use. 

For  the  erection  of  the  building-yards,  docks,  and  other  structures,  the  International 
Steamship  Company  will  issue  five  thousand  bondsof  $1,000  each,  having  twenty  years 
to  run,  beariuff  6  per  cent,  annual  interest,  payable  semi-annually  by  gold  coupons,  the 
payment  of  whicli  shall  be  secured  by  a  mortgage  in  trust  to  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury  of  the  United  States,  and  be  provided  for  by  a  sinking  fund  to  arise  from  the 
payment  of  the  said  company  of  5  per  cent,  annually  upon  the  amount  of  work  done 
and  paid  for  in  the  said  yard  after  the  same  shall  bd  completed.  The  said  mortgage 
bonds,  aa  issued,  shall  be  deposited  with  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  and,  as  required 
for  payments  in  the  aforesaid  purposes,  shall  have  the  following  indorsement  on  each : 

'^  This  bond  is  secured  by  a  mortgage  duly  executed  upon  tUe  shipbuilding  yards, 
piers,  docks,  workshops,  houses,  furnaces,  rolling-mills,  machinery,  tools,  implements, 
and  lands  of  the  International  Steamship  Company,  and  the  payment  provided  by  a 
sinking  fund  of  5  per  cent,  upon  the  work  which  may  be  executed  and  paid  for  annu- 
ally in  the  said  yard,  out  of  which  said  fund  the  interest  is  to  be  paid  semi-annually, 
and  the  collection  and  payment  thereof  is  hereby  guaranteed  by  the  United  States.'' 

The  said  guarantee  shall  be  signed  by  the  United  States  Treasurer.  The  Secretary 
of  the  Treasury  and  the  Secretarv  of  the  Navy  shall  act  as  a  ''commission  "  for  the  de- 
livery of  the  said  bonds,  and  such  amount  shall  be  delivered  monthly  as  the  company 
require  and  show  to  be  applicable  to  the  payments  for  and  in  the  said  property  as  it 
progresses  in  development  in  its  several  parts  to  completion 

To  guard  against  any  advance  of  money  by  the  United  States,  and  to  more  rapidly 
accumulate  the  sinking  fund,  there  shall  be  reserved  from  all  payments  to  l>e  made  by 
the  Navy  Department,  for  repairs  or  work  done,  10  per  cent.,  in  addition  to  the  5  per 
cent,  tax  before  provided,  which  said  amounts  shall  be  deposited  in  theTreasury  of  the 
United  States  to  the  credit  of  the  sinking  fund  of  the  company  until  the  said  sinking 
fund  shall  be  equal  in  amount  to  the  amount  of  the  outstanding  bonds. 

The  said  commission  shall  have  power  to  enforce  the  collection  of  the  money  pro- 
vided for  by  the  5  per  cent,  rate  upon  the  annual  amount  of  work  done  in  the  yards, 
and  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy  shall  have  authority  to  retain  the  amount  of  10  per  cent, 
upon  all  work  done  for  the  Navy  at  prices  satisfactory  therefor,  and  a  refusal  on  the 
part  of  the  company  to  pay  the  same  at  the  time  provided  shall  be  cause,  at  the  dis- 
cretion of  the  said  commission,  to  foreclose  the  mortgage  and  sell  the  said  property,  or 
to  take  possession  thereof  on  the  part  of  the  United  States. 

The  interest  upon  the  said  bonds  shall  for  the  first  three  years  be  advanced  by  the 
United  States,  but  shall  be  repaid  in  its  whole  amount  by  the  said  compauy  in  equal 

Sortions,  divided  through  the  remaining  term,  until  the  bonds  aforesaid  are  paid  and 
ischarged  and  the  company  released  from  all  liability  under  the  said  mortgage. 
The  President  of  the  United  States  shall  appoint  to  the  special  service  of  inspection 
of  said  building-yards',  docks,  buildings,  and  machinery,  an  officer  of  the  Navy  compe- 
tent therefor,  whose  duty  it  shall  be  to  report,  monthly,  the  progress  and  condition  of 
said  works,  and  to  inspect  and  report  upon  all  steamers  intenaed  for  ocean  mail  service, 
and  to  report  annually  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  to  be  laid  before  Congress,  such 
improvements  or  suggestions  therefor  in  the  construction  and  management  of  steamers 
ana  sailing-vessels  as  will,  in  his  judgment,  tend  to  increase  the  commercial  marine  of 
the  United  States. 
Respectfully  submitted. 

AMBROSE  W.  THOMPSON, 
Preeident  InternaUonal  Steamship  Company, 
l^  Hon.  George  M.  Robeson, 

Secretary  of  the  Navy, 


Explanatory  memoranda  of  the  International  Steamship  Company,relatk)e  to  the  production  of 
iron  steamships  ;  cost  of  iron  and  of  ships  ;  our  ability  tooompete  in  these  with  Great  BritaiH ; 
advantages  to  the  Government  and  the  people. 

The  proposed  iron-ship-bnilding  yard  contemplates  the  creation  of  all  the  facilities 
necessary  to  build  and  equip  iron  or  wooden  ships  of  any  size  required  for  naval  or 
commercial  purposes. 

To  economize  in  cost  of  material  and  handling,  there  will  be  blast-furnaces  for  smelt- 
ing the  finer  ores,  to  produce  iron  of  snperior  tensile  and  resistive  strength  |  puddliug- 
furnaces  for  the  conversion  of  pig  and  scrap  metal  into  blooms ;  rolling-mills  for  bar, 
angle,  and  plate  iron,  as  also  for  armor-plates.    These  several  departments  of  work  to 


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IKON-SHIP-BUILDING   YARDS.  13 

be  connected  by  tram-ways,  orer  which  material  in  its  different  conditions  will  be  borne 
by  itK  own  gravity,  from  department  to  department,  nntil  it  is  in  its  finished  form,  and 
irbetber  of  oar,  angle,  beam,  or  plate,  still  borne  on  in  the  same  manner  to  the  bend- 
ing or  planing  machines  coutignous  to  the  bailding-docks,  where  it  will  be  lifted  by 
the  traveling  carriages  or  cranes,  and  lowered  directly  to  place  in  the  forming  vessel 
laid  in  exact  level  in  the  bnilding-docks. 

Tbe  building-docks  will  be  constructed  parallel  to  each  other,  with  sufficient  space 
between  for  the  erection  of  workshops  and  sheds,  under  which  will  be  the  planing,  punch- 
ing, bending,  and  other  machines  to  form  and  finish  the  material  to  fit  it  to  special 
positions.  These  docks  will  be  of  sufficient  size  in  length,  breadth,  and  depth  to  erect, 
baild,and  float  out  the  largest  naval  ships,  iron-clads,  and  commercial  steamers.  By 
tbese  facilities  the  following  results  can  be  obtained: 

Ut.  Iron  of  superior  quality  to  any  made  or  used  in  Great  Britain  in  the  construc- 
tion of  steamships  and  steam  machinery.  This  will  be  reached  by  the  blending  of  cer- 
tain ores,  which  can  be  obtained  plentifully,  and  be  borne  by  water  cheaply  to  the  loca- 
tion of  the  building-yard.  These  blended  ores  will  produce  iron  of  from  75,000  to  85,000 
poQods  tensile  strength,  while  the  best  iron  used  in  Great  Britain,  made  from  native 
ore,  is  oniy  45,000  pounds  tensile  strength  to  (in  each  case)  the  square  inch;  and  tor 
resintive  strength  the  blending  of  other  ores,  the  product  of  PeLUsylvania,  an  iron  can 
be  produced  in  like  manner  of  upward  of  fifty  per  cent,  resistance  greater  than  that  of 
Great  Britain. 

^.  Greater  economy  of  cost  in  material  and  in  ship  construction.  In  material,  as 
DOW  worked,  pig-metal  is  made  at  the  special  locality  of  the  ores  or  coal.  It  is  then 
sold  at  a  profit,  (and  a  large  one,)  subjected  to  transportation  to  the  puddling  furnaces, 
where  it  is  converted  into  blooms ;  again  disposed  of  at  a  profit  unou  <x»t  of  pig  and  of 
pnddling  labor ;  again  sold  and  transported  to  the  "bar''  or  "plate"  rolling-mills; 
again  sold  at  a  pixifit  upon  cost  and  labor,  to  the  ship-builder.  Iii  reaching  the  latter 
its  cost  to  him  has  been  increased  by  these  distinct  freights  upon  the  entire  mass,  and 
by  five  different  profits,  and  through  this  has  obtained  a  value  or  cost  so  much  in  ex- 
ctb»  of  that  which  the  foreign  builder  pays  that  he  has  up  to  this  time  had  the  entire 
advantage,  and  to  so  ^eat  an  extent  as  to  render  competition  seemingly  almost  impos- 
sible. When  closely  investigated  this  seeming  impossibility  disappears.  This  may  be 
shown  by  the  follow  ing : 

The  net  average  cost  of  pig-iron  to  the  producer  of  the  best  quality  in  Great  Britain  is 
alMat  S14  to  the  ton.  The  cost  to  ship-buildors  for  bar,  angle,  and  plate  iron  is,  on  an 
average,  about  $4.^>  per  ton,  being  an  advance  of  cost  upon  the  pig  for  conversion  of  that 
into  this  bar,  angle,  and  plate  of  about  220  per  cent.  The  net  average  cost  to  the  pro- 
daccr  of  tbe  best  pig  in  this  country  is  about  $17  per  ton.  and  the  average  value  or  price 
to  the  ship-builder  for  bar,  angle,  or  plate  has  been  about  $bO  per  ton,  which  is  an  ad- 
vance of  about  370  per  cent,  upon  the  net  cost  of  the  pig.  This  difference  of  150  per  cent, 
upon  cost  of  converting  pig  into  the  forms  of  iron  named  between  Great  Britain  and 
here  is  due  to  the  causes  already  pointed  out,  viz  :  transportation  from  place  to  place 
U>\)c  prngrestsively  advanced  to  the  required  condition,  and  the  rates  of  profit  added  upon 
re^iMfCtive  costs  of  each  state. 

By  concentrating  the  several  processes  into  one  locality,  as  contemplated,  this  differ- 
ence of  150  percent,  will  disappear;  and  if  we  assume  that  pig-iron  will  continue  to  cost 
$17  ])er  ton,  and  add  the  same  rate  of  advance  for  its  conversion  as  shown  for  £ugland, 
gainccl  to  uh  by  the  facilities  named,  we  have  a  cost  for  the  bar,  angle,  and  plate  of 
$04.40  instead  of  the  present  average  of  $80  per  tun.  It  is  believed  the  pig  cost  can  be 
rnlnced  to  about  $15  per  ton  ;  but  allowing  the  $17  and  this  rate  o^  advance,  we  are 
thi»n  but  21  per  cent,  higher  in  the  cost  Df  our  iron  than  in  the  cost  of  iron  in  Great 
Britain.  But  there  is  a  marked  difference  in  the  articles.  The  iron  thus  produced 
here  liears  a  tensile  strain  of  75,000  to  85,000  pounds  to  the  square  inch,  while  that  of 
Great  Britain  will  bear  but  45,000  pounds  tensile  strain  to  the  square  inch.  We  have 
thus  an  iron  of  from  75  to  80  per  cent,  greater  strength  on  au  average.  This  will  per- 
mit of  a  reduction  of  one-third  in  the  weight  of  iron  used  in  the  ship,  and  leave  the 
■hip  17  per  cent,  stronger  than  if  ^made  of  the  usual  weight  of  British  iron.  This  more 
than  equalizes  the  cost  of  material,  giving  us  actually  an  advantage  of  $6.67  per  ton 
less  cost  in  the  material  of  the  ship  than  in  England.  This  aids  greatly  in  equalizing 
the  cost  of  lab<ir  in  construction,  and  largely  increases  the  earning  power  of  our  ships  by 
their  ability  to  carry  one-third  more  dead  weight  of  freight. 

In  cofislrnctionj  an  iron  ship,  to  be  durable  and  perfect  for  sea  purposes,  should  be  an 
inflexible,  unyielding  mass.  If  not,  the  yielding  or  working  portion  loosens  the  butts 
and  seams,  and  the  continued  working  cuts  the  rivets  as  effectually  as  if  shears  were 
applied.  If  this  cutting  occurs  at  or  near  a  butt,  the  plate  will  start,  rendering  the 
loss  of  the  vessel  nearly  inevitable  if  distant  from  port.  The  inflexibility  rctiuired  is 
readily  obtained  by  goQ>d  material  and  workmanship,  but  is  peculiarly  liable  to  be  lost 
by  a  strain  in  launching^  from  defective  launching  '*  ways"  or  *'  slips,"  from  being  checked 
thereon. 

Abroad  great  efforts  have  been  made  to  guard  against  disaster  from  these  c«au8es  by 
con^tnictiug  the  most  solid  **  building-slips.''    These  are  formed  by  driving  piles,  whioa 

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14  IRON-SHIP-BUILDING  YARDS. 

reach  to  the  solid  earth-bed  or  rock,  from  the  inland  initial  point  of  the  building  the 
entire  distance  into  the  water,  nntil  the  vessel,  as  launched,  is  water-borne.  Ou  the 
top  of  these  piles  out-stone  is  laid  solidly  up  to  the  under  side  of  the  launching- ways. 
These  slips  are  so  costly  that  not  one  has  yet  been  constructed  in  this  country,  nor  is 
it  desirable  that  any  should  be,  for  reasons  which  will  directly  appear. 

Upon  the  best  constructed  slips  there  are  two  intervals  of  time  when  the  rigid  mass 
of  the  vessel  in  launching  meets  the  danger  of  destructive  strain.  The  first  is  at  the 
moment  the  stem  or  launching  end  quits  the  support  of  the  launching  "  slips "  or 
**  ways,"  before  it  is  borne  up  by  its  own  buoyancy  in  the  water.  In  this  case  the  strain 
^  felt  nearly  midway  in  length,  and  for  about  one-third  downward  of  the  depth.    There 

15  probably  not  one  instance  in  which  an  iron  ship  has  not,  in  launching,  from  this  strain 
parted  some,  and  often  many,  of  the  midship  transverse  line  of  rivets. 

The  second  is  at  the  moment  when  the  stern  bearings  take  the  water  and  lift  the 
slip,  or  that  portion  of  her,  from  the  ways,  leaving  her  center  unsupported^  except  by  the 
longitudinal  strength  of  the  vessel,  the  whole  weight  being  borne  by  the  bow*^  part 
yet  on  the  ways,  and  the  buoyancy  of  the  stern  part  supported  by  the  water.  There 
are  known  instances  of  losses  of  iron  ships  traceable  directly  to  strains  of  this  kind. 
One  occurred  only  last  spring,  when  a  nearly  new  steamer,  of  about  2,300  tons,  broke 
in  two  while  entering  the  river  Mersey,  and  sunk  in  deep  water,  almost  within  sight 
of  Liverpool.  Another,  a  passenger-steamer,  plying  between  London  and  a  northern 
port  of  Great  Britain,  while  steaming  on  her  route,  broke  almost  in  her  center,  each  end 
sinking  immediately.  Although  wooden  vessels,  from  the  greater  elasticity  of  material, 
are  not  so  subject  to  these  accidents  in  launching,  they  are  by  no  means  free  from  them. 
In  the  launching  of  the  United  States  war-steamer  Roanoke  an  accident  of  this  char- 
acter occurred,  by  which  she  was  so  much  damaged  that  it  cost  980,000  for  repairs, 
which  did  not  and  could  not  give  the  original  strength.  Ship-builders  consider  the 
risk  and  cost  of  launching  as  eqnal  to  five  per  cent,  upon  the  value  of  the  ship. 

To  test  whether  an  iron  ship  could  be  so  built  and  floated  as  efiectually  to  guard 
against  breaking  rivets  or  loosening  seams,  the  British  admiralty  caused  an  iron  armor- 
clad  ship,  the  Achilles,  of  6,079  tons,  380  feet  long  on  the  water-line.  400  feet  long 
over  all,  to  be  built  in  one  of  the  dry-docks  of  the  Chatham  navy-yard.  This  vessel 
was  completed  in  186.3,  the  water  was  let  in,  the  vessel  floated  from  her  bearings  with- 
out any  strain  whatever,  and  when  I  made  inquiry  in  1866,  had  not,  as  I  wasitSbrmed, 
ever  leaked  **  a  perceptible  drop  of  water,*' 

This  dry-dock  was  converted  into  a  "  building-dock  ;''  alonj^  the  lines  on  each  of  its 
sides,  and  parallel  thereto,  rail-tracks  were  laid  down,  upon  which  two  steam-carriages 
on  each  side  were  placed,  with  a  steam-engine,  boiler,  and  crane  to  each.  These  car- 
riages move  up  and  down  the  tracks,  taking  up  and  carrying  to  their  proper  places  and 
holding  in  exact  position  till  secured  the  heaviest  frames,  beams,  plates,  or  armor, 
in  the  most  rapid  and  easy  manner,  vastly  abbreviating  the  time  and  labor  required 
for  such  work  when  carried  on  with  the  usual  appliances. 

To  make  clear  the  advantages  of  building  in  docks  it  will  be  necessary  to  refer  for  a 
moment  to  the  position  of  the  vessel  while  beins  bnilt.  On  the  ''  building-slips  "  it  is 
necessary  that  the  keel  should  be  laid  at  an  angle  of  about  one  in  twelve,  to  gain  the 
gravity  movement  or  launching  "  way."  In  a  ship  of  the  length  of  some  of  those  re- 
cently built  (the  Italy  and  others)  of  430  feet,  this  requires  the  shore  or  bow  end  of 
the  keel  to  be  elevated  35  feet  above  the  level  of  the  stern.  As  these  vessels  average 
30  feet  in  depth,  it  is  seen  that  lifting  or  hoisting  is  required  for  every  heavy  article 
entering  into  construction  of  from  30  to  65  feet,  and  that  great  delay  and  labor  are 
caused  m  adjusti^ig  to  angles  to  cause  the  uprights  to  be  true  verticals  to  the  keel. 

It  will  be  seen  that  building  in  docks  gives  the  following  advantages : 

1st.  The  ship  lies  on  an  even  keel,  and  all  the  work  can  be  fitted  and  arranged 
rapidly  by  plumb-lines. 

3(1.  There  is  no  strain  in  launching,  as  the  yessel  i.s  lifted  from  the  building-sup- 
ports by  letting  the  water  into  the  docks. 

3d.  The  superintendent  or  foreman  can,  from  the  sides  or  upper  edges  of  the  dock,  have 
all  the  workmen,  both  within  and  without  the  vessel,  before  the  decks  are  laid,  under 
their  eyes,  thus  preventing  loitering  or  dilatoriness  in  the  work. 

4th.  No  material  is  required  to  be  raised  to  great  heights  and  remain  suspended  till 
angles  are  adjusted,  all  being  simply  lowered  and  instantly  adjusted  by  levels  and 
perpendiculars. 

5th.  An  admitted  saving  of  15  per  cent,  in  cost  of  labor  and  time  of  constructioa. 

The  British  admiralty  have  no  '*  building-docks  "  especially  constructed  as  such,  but 
several  dry  or  ** graving"  docks  have  been  adapted  to  the  pnrpose.  Laird's  **  Birken- 
head Works,"  opposite  Liverpool,  has  one,  but  it  is  too  small  for  the  construction  of 
the  large  steamers  just  coine  into  use,  and  with  which  we  must  compete  for  txade  and 
commerce.  All  the  other  building-yards  of  Great  Britain  still  use  only  the  solid  build- 
ing-slips already  described. 

It  follows  from  these  facts  that  if  we  commence  the  building  of  iron  ships  with  facili- 
ties in  advance  of  Europe,  and  with  better  material,  that  we  shall  very  soon  regain 
our  commerce.     By  such  facilities  we  can  now  fairly  compete  with  the  builders  of 

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IHON-SHIP-BDILDING  YAEDS.  15 

Scotland  or  England,  as  may  be  shown  by  tbe  following  comparison  of  ships  of  eqnal 
capacity.  Estimating  the  cost  of  the  English  ship  at  the  exact  prices  paid  at  this  time 
for  the  best  work  in  sterling  money,  allowing  the  present  rate  of  exchange,  or  paying 
for  the  same  at  the  gold  rate — say  five  dollars  to  the  pound  sterling  in  England — ^for 
an  English  steamer  of  3,000  tons,  and  estimating  for  the  same  size  vessel  built  of  the 
be«t  American  iron,  made  from  blende<l  ores  yielding  a  metal  of  75,000  to  85,000  pounds 
tensile  strength  to  the  square  inch,  giving  such  weight  of  said  iron  as  will  build  a 
steamer  17  per  cent,  stronger  than  the  British  iron  of  45,000  ponnds  tensile  strength 
to  the  square  inch,  it  will  require  1,792  pounds  to  the  ton  measurement  for  the  hull  of 
tbe  ship ;  of  the  American  iron  of  75,000  pounds  to  the  square  inch,  it  will  require 
1.195  pounds  to  the  ton  measurement. 

English  ship  of  3,000  tons: 

1,792  pounds  iron  to  ton,  at  £9  per  ton $108,000 

Labor  on  ship,  £4  lOs.perton 67,500 

Carpenters,  Joiners,  and  spars,  £4  150.  per  ton 71,250 

Standing  and  running  rigging  10«.  6<2.  per  ton 3,860 

Sails,  6«.6d.  per  ton. 4,860 

Paiotsand  painting,  8«.  6d.  per  ton 6,360 

For  bull,  spars,  and  rigging  complete 261,830 

Engines  and  boilers,  600  horse-power,  at  £50  per  horse-power 210, 000 

English  ship 471,830 

American  ship  of  3,000  t4>n8 : 

1,195  pounds  iron  to  ton,  at  $54.40  per  ton $87,040 

Labor  if  bailt  on  slip^,  $33.75  per  ton,  is,  for  3,000  tons,  $101,250 ;  less  if  built 

in  docks,  as  proposed,  15  per  cent.,  $15,187 86,063 

Carpentry,  joinery,  and  spar- work,  the  labor  and  wood  beins:  equal,  and  the 

wood  being  one-third  less  here  equalizes  the  cost  with  tbe  English 71, 250 

Standing  and  running  rigging 4,825 

Sails 6,075 

Painting 8,480 

For  bull,  spars,  and  rigging  complete ^263,733 

Engines  and  boilers  can  be  produced  hew  at  same  rate,  allowing  for  superior 
iron,  as  in  England 210,000 

American  ship 473,733 

Tbe  cost  of  the  American  ship,  built  of  superior  iron,  made  properly,  and  built 

in  dock,  exceeds  tbe  English  by $2,103 

If  bnilt  on  lanncbing  slips,  it  would  exceed  tbe  cost  by 17,290 

If  bnilt  of  iron,  common  American,  but  equal  to  English  iron,  it  would  exceed 

the  English  cost  by 147,850 

This  shows  that,  with  building-docks  and  the  facilities  duly  arranged  as  named  in 
tbe  proposals  of  the  International  Steamship  Company,  we  can  produce  iron  steam- 
•bips  of  quality  snperior  by  17  per  cent,  in  strength  to  those  of  Great  Britain,  and 
capable  of  carrying  one-third  more  of  dead  weight  in  cargo  than  can  the  English  of 
tbe  same  tonnage. 

No  fact  can  speak  stronger  than  this  as  to  our  ability  to  regain  the  lost  American 
commerce,  or  that,  by  firmly  establishing  such  facilities,  the  United  States  will  become 
tbe  possessor  of  the  carrying  trade  upon  the  ocean. 

Nor  can  there  be  a  stronger  evidence  of  the  ability  of  its  Government  to  place  in 
service  the  moet  efficient  navy  of  the  world  at  a  less  cost  of  construction,  and  to  main- 
tain it  at  a  lower  rate  of  repair  than  any  other  maritime  nation. 

Tbe  advantages,  the  profits,  the  permanent  prosperity  which  can  be  secured  by  the 
demonstration,  the  actual  production  of  such  a  building-yard,  cannot  well  be  estimated 
in  positive  or  even  approximate  value ;  but  the  saving  to  the  Navy  Department  can  be 
▼ery  clearly  shown  in  the  single  item  of  repairs. 

Taking  the  last  two  years,  it  is  shown  by  the  annual  reports  of  the  Navy  Depart- 
ment that  for— 

1669,  the  repairs  of  naval  vessels  cost $6,975,000 

1870,  the  repairs  cost 3,925,000 

Making  in  the  two  years 10,900,000 

Tools  and  ateam-maohinery  to  effect  these  repairs  have  been  for  1869  the 
sum  of  $1,405,200 ;  and  for  1870,  $1,71.5,000 3, 120, 200 

Making  in  all  for  repairs  in  two  years 14,020,200 

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16  IKON-SHIP-BUILDING  YARDS. 

With  the  bnilding-yard  Bcibject  to  the  control  of  the  Navj,  the  whole  of  these  re- 
pairs coald  be  made  more  expeditiously  at  ooe-half  the  expenditare,  and  withoat  any 
expenditure  whatever  for  tools  and  steam  machinery  ;  bat  to  be  entirely  safe  in  such 
an  estimate,  and  allowing  for  contingencies,  say  that  the  average  shall  be  bat  one- 
third  on  repairs  and  on  machinery.  This  alone  would  give  an  annual  average  »anng  to 
the  Navy  Department  of  $2,3:36,667. 

Under  the  following  conditions  named  in  the  proposal,  the  Navy  Department  will 
have  as  much  actual  and  more  effective  control  over  repairs  than  if  they  were  being 
done  in  the  navy-yards : 

•*  The  said  yard  and  docks  shall  at  all  times  give  preference  to  the  work  of  the  Navy 
Department,  and  when  necessity  requires  the  same  to  be  completed  in  less  time  than 
has  been  agreed  for  by  contract  or  otherwise,  such  facilities  and  numbers  of  men  shall 
be  forthwith  provided  therefrom  as  said  yard  <;j»n  supply  and  as  the  Secretary  of  the 
Navy  shall  deem  adeqnate,  and  at  no  addi t ion al* cost,  except  for  the  excess  in  nnmbers 
of  men  and  of  material  employed  and  used  ;  and  whenever  the  United  States  shall  be 
involved  in  war,  the  Government  thereof  shall  have  absolute  right  of  control  to  the 
exclusion  of  all  other  than  its  own  work  for  naval  and  militarv  purposes." 

AMBROSE  W,  THOMPSON, 
President  of  the  International  Steamship  Company, 


OCEAN  IRON  STEAMSHIPS, 

Specially  adapted  to  carrying  passengers  and  grain,  having  great  speed,  snperior 
accommodation,  the  holds  divided  into  grain-tanks,  and  mechanically  ventilated. 

Ships  to  be  450  feet  long,  60  feet  wide,  30  feet  deep  from  main  deck,  spar-deck  8  feet 
above. 

Weight  of  metal  in  the  ships,  including  masts,  spars,  and  rigging,  all  of  iron, 

Tons. 

7,927,494  pounds,  or 3,539 

Coals  on  board 1,500 

Total  weight 5,039 

Draws  with  this  weight  II  feet  4  inches,  as  light  draught.  For  each  additional  foot 
of  draught,  the  ship  will  carry  21,097  bushels  wheat,  or  566  tons  in  fresh  water,  and 
21,733  buHhels  of  wheat,  or  582  tons  (dead  w^ght,)  in  salt  water.  At  a  draught  of  21 
feet  4  inches,  the  ships  will  therefore  carry  217,333  bushels  of  wheat. 

Cost  of  management  of  ship  and  steaming  for  one  month : 

Sailing  department. 

Captain  per  month $500 

First  mate  per  mouth )i!00 

Second  mate  per  month 100 

Third  mate  per  month 75 

Fourth  mate  per  month 00 

Thirty  seamen,  at  $30  per  mouth 900 

Two  cooks,  at  $100  each 200 

One  steward 200 

Four  assistants,  at  $50 200 

Thirty  waiters,  at  $25 ^ 750 

3, 1^5 

Engineer  Department 

Chief  engineer $200 

Second  chief  engineer J50 

Third  chief  engineer 100 

Fourth  chief  engineer 75 

Thirty  firemen,  at  $30 900 

Twenty  coal-passers,  at  $30 600 

2,025 

Sailing  department 3, 185 

$5,210 

Coal,  75  tons  per  day,  30  days'  steaming,  at  $5  per  ton 11,250 

Incidental  expenses,  engineer's  storcii,  oil,  &c 3, 000 

Subsistence  of  120  men  30  days,  at  40  cents  each 1,512 

Insurance  per  month 5,000 

Total  expenses  per  month 25,972 

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IRON-SHIP-BUILDING   YARDS.  17 

Or  say,  to  cover  all  expeDsee,  iDcidental  or  contiDgent,  not  provided  for,  allow  $30,000, 
eqaal  to  ^  per  luile.  The  voyage  aud  lay-days  between  New  York  and  Liverpool  to 
oecapy  one  month. 

Distance,  New  York  to  Liverpool,  3,100  miles,  costs $15, 500  00 

DuftADce,  Norfolk  to  Liverpool,  3,264  miles,  costs 16, 300  00 

Distance,  New  Orleans  to  Liverpool,  4,750  miles,  costs 23, 750  00 

217,333|  bushels  wheat  or  corn,  New  York  to  Liverpool,  at  10  cents  per 

bushel,  is 21,733  33 

217,33^^  bushels   wheat  or  corn,  Norfolk  to  Liverpool,  at  12  cents  per 

boAhel,  is ,. 26,080  00 

217;i33|  ImsbeU  wheat  or  corn,  New  Orleans  to  Liverpool,  at  15  cents  per 

bojBhel,  is 32,600  00 

Thas  showing  that,  by  properly  adapted  ships,  grain  can  be  carried  at  about  one- 
third  the  price  of  the  present  time  as  fixed  by  foreign  monopolies,  and  still  leave  as 
larj^e  a  margin  of  protit  sis  conld  reasonably  be  expected,  and  which  low  rate  would 
more  than  qua<lrupie  our  exports. 

mVSR-STEAMKRS. 

For  carrying  agricultural  and  planting  products.  These  steamers,  as  also  caual- 
boats  fur  similar  purposes,  to  be  built  of  iron  throughout,  including  their  cabin  strnc- 
tore  and  permanent  furniture. 

Length  of  river  grain -carrying  boat  350  feet,  width  50  feet,  depth  10  feet.  To  be 
driven  by  compound  condensing  engines  aud  twin  screws.  Speed  in  still  water,  four- 
teen miles. 

InMide  capacity  for  tonnage,  by  measurement,  (25  feet  off  length  for  engines,)  leaves 
325  feet  long  by  4U.5  wide,  10  feet  deep  ;  less  for  sharpness  one-fourth,  leaves  actual 
bW.663  cubic  feet. 

The  bushel  of  w^heat  is  1.24  cubic  feet.  There  is,  therefore,  stowage  room  for  97,300 
ba>hels.  Each  bushel  weighs  sixty  pounds.  This  gives  total  weight  of  cargo  as 
5,WOO0  p.)and8. 

Weight  refiuired  to  sink  the  vessel  one  iuch  is  68,359  pounds. 

Total  weight  of  the  boat  aud  machinery  is  787,500  pounds.    Ith  displace- 
ment (light)  is  11.51inohe8. 

Wd|(ht  of  crew,  19,  including  officers  and  men,  is..  2, 850  pounds. 

Waier  and  provisions,  live  days,  is 500  pounds. 

Coal  is  for  hve  days 540, 000  pounds. 

Making  in  all 543, 350  ponnds=    7.95inche8, 

Weight  of  97,300  bushels  wheat  is 5, 838, 000  poands=  85. 4 1  inches. 

Total  weight 104. 87  inches- 

Making  the  draught,  loaded,  8.74  or  8f  feet. 

Tbe  boat  will  carry  1,139  bushels  of  wheat  for  each  iuch  of  draught,  so  that  if  there  is- 
bot  6  feet  of  water,  equal  to  72  inches,  in  the  channel,  there  would  be  for  boat  and  out- 
fit 19.46  inches,  leaving  52.54  inches  for  displacement  by  cargo,  which  would  be  equal 
to  59,H59  basiiels.    This  adds  to  the  cost  63  per  cent. 

Cost  of  trauBportation, 

Cost  of  boat,  $83,300.    Interest  (7  per  cent.)  is $5,831  00. 

Wear  and  tear  (5  per  cent.)  is 4,165  00 

Forty-eight  trips,  or  twenty-four  com plete  voyages  per  year 9, 996^  00> 

Makes  for  each  complete  voyage $416  50* 

The  voyage  will  occupy  4  clays  down,  5  days. up.  There  is,  therefore,  216 
hoars  sieaming.  At  2^  tons  per  hour  is  540  tons ;  allow  20  tons  wastage  in 
getting  up  and  drawing  fires  is  560  tons,  at  $4  per  ton 2,.240  00> 

Wages. 

Captain,  per  month •. $150  00 

Mate,  per  month 100  00 

Ci«*rk,per  month 100  00- 

Engineer,  per  mouth 100  00 

Four  assistants 200  00 

Foor  firemen,  $60 240  00- 

Four  deck  hands.  $50 200  00 

H.  Rep.  345 2 

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18  IRON-SniP-BUILDING   YARDS. 

One  cook $50  00 

One  steward 50  00 

Oue  waiter 30  00 

Total 1,270  00 

One-half  of  this  per  voyage  is $635  00 

Provisions,  50  cents  per  day  per  head,  is 120  00 

Engine  stores,  oil,  tallow,  packing,  &o 17  00 

Total  cost  per  voyage  is 3,428  50 

Assuming  that  the  boat  will  have  sufficient  upward  freight  to  pay  her  retnm  ex- 
penses, only  one-half  the  total  cost  of  voyage  should  be  charged  to  downward  trip,  say 
$1,714. 

This  makes  the  coat  per  bushel  on  wheat  or  com  ofie  cent  and  setenty-^seren  ont-^nn- 
dredthJi  of  a  cent.  To  this  net  cost  25  per  cent,  should  be  adde^  for  risk  and  profit. 
This  gives  the  carrying  price  2^  cents  per  bushel  for  the  whole  distance  from  Saint 
Louis  to  New  Orleans  by  a  single  boat.  This  low  price  may  be  still  further  diminished 
by  adding  to  this  same  boat  ten  barges  as  a  tow,  the  steamer  having  power  sufficient 
for  that  purpose. 

Each  of  these  barges  to  be  200  feet  long,  40  feet  wide,  8  feet  deep.  Each  will  carry 
45,161  bushels  w^heat,  or,  for  the  ten,  451,610  bushels  to  be  added  to  the  steamer's  cargo 
of  97,300  bushels,  making  an  aggregate  of  54d,910  bushels. 

The  cost  of  moving  these  ten  additional  barges  with  the  steamer  will  be — Steamer's 
cost,  $3,428;  barges — cost  of  each,  $37,000,  or  ior  the  whole,  $376,000.    Interest  on  this 

(7  per  cent.)  is $26,320  (K) 

Wear  and  tear,  5  per  cent,  per  annum lri,800  (H) 

Per  year  for  interest  and  wear  and  tearis 45, 120  00 

And  amounts  per  voyage  to , $1,860  00 

Four  men  to  each  barge:  average,  $40  each,  is  $160  per  month,  or  for  the 

ten  barges  is 1,600  00 

Subsistence  for  40  men  per  month  is  50  cents  per  dav 600  00 

Coal  for  added  load  doubled 2.240  m 

Cost  of  steamer  as  before  given 3,428  00 

«                                                                             ■  - 

Cost  per  month  is 9,748  00 

Two  voyages  per  month  is  the  half 4,874  00 

It  is  not  probable  that  so  large  a  tonnage  capacity  could  meet  its  upward  trip  by 
any  large  or. scarcely  appreciable  amount  of  freight ;  hence,  it  is  safer  to  put  tliis  whole 
cost  upon  the  downward  cargo,  and  it  makes,  with  one-fonrth  added  for  profit  and 
risk,  the  freight  on  each  bushel  of  corn  or  wheat  amount  to  1.11  of  a  cent  per  l>usb«*l, 
or  equal  to  37  cents  per  ton  for  carrying,  exclusive  of  cost  of  loading  and  discharging. 


[Senate  report  No.  179,  42d  Congress,  2d  session.] 

May  9, 1872.— Ordered  to  be  printed. 

Mr.  Cragin  submitted  the  following  report,  to  accompany  bill  S.  1098 : 

The  commiftee,  io  whom  teas  referred  the  letter  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Xary,  recommending  the 
proposals  of  the  International  Steamship  Company  for  creating  dock  and  building  gards  ; 
the  resolution  of  the  Merchants'  Exchange,  of  Saint  Louis^  in  favor  thereof  and  petitioning 
for  a  like  yard  in  the  West ;  the  memorial  of  the  Board  of  Trade  of  Baton  Bouae,  and  1h( 
petitions  of  citizens  of  Memphis,  and  other  cities,  and  citizens  of  the  Valley  of  the  AiiMms- 
sippif  for  the  same  object;  and  the  proposals  of  the  JVestem  Iron  Ship  and  Boat  liuilding 
Company,  having  had  the  same  under  consideration ^  beg  leave  to  make  the  following  report  : 

That  the  proposal  of  the  International  Steamship  Comparay,  a  corporation  dnly  or- 
ganized, is  to  erect  at  a  place  satisfactory  to  the  Government  a  bullding-yani  for  the 
creation  of  iron  st^^amships  and  other  vessels,  which  shall  embrace  all  the  facilif  it*8  for 
converting  ores  into  iron,  and  the  iron  into  ships,  complete,  and  ready  for  service. 


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lEON-SniP-BUILDING   YARDS.  19 

Tbis  iDTolves  the  creation  of  blast  and  refining  fnrnaces,  of  rolling-mills,  and  the  va- 
ried and  costly  inacliiuery  necesnary  for  the  construction  of  hulls,  engin«is,  spars,  rig- 
ging, furniture,  and  permanent  marine  outfitting  of  vessels,  of  docks  in  which  steamers 
of  the  largest  class,  including  iron-dads,  can  be  bnilt  and  floated  out  without  incurring 
risks  of  accidents  in  launching,  which  have  constituted  the  chief  sources  of  disaster 
when  in  service  upon  the  ocean. 

Descriptions,  drawings,  plans,  and  details  of  these  works,  the  evident  results  of  practi- 
cal experience,  have  been  exhibited  to  the  committee,  evidencing  system  aud  economy 
in  arrangement,  and  the  means  by  which  the  ore,  dux,  and  coal  will  be  converted  into 
retined  or  wrought  iron,  iu  the  forms  of  bars,  beams,  or  plates  before  the  smelting  heat 
has  been  lost  from  the  metal ;  and  that  this  iron  will  be  passed  on  traui-wa  s  from 
shop  to  shop  in  its  treatment  nnder  different  machines,  until  iu  its  shaped  form  for  each 
specific  purpose  it  reaches  the  building-dock  to  be  lowered  to  place  in  the  ship  with 
lefts  roannal  labor  than  is  now  required  to  convert  pig-iron  into  wrought  iron. 

Of  national  importance  are  further  improvements  controlled  by  this  company  in  treat- 
iofir  iroo,  by  which  it  is  believed  greater  tensile  and  resistive  strength  than  has  yet 
been  commercially  obtained  will  be  secured  for  the  framings  and  platings  of  vessels,  and 
which  will  give  to  those  cimstrncted  of  this  American  iron  superiority  for  naval  or  com- 
mercial purposes  over  those  made  of  any  known  foreign  iron  now  used  for  such  pur- 
poses. 

These  improvements  in  metals,  it  is  claimed,  will  extend  also  to  the  creation  of  ord- 
osnce  in  founderies  in  the  yard,  which  will  yield  to  the  War  and  Navy  Departments 
heavy  guns  of  greater  strength  and  efficiency,  at  less  expenditare  than  hais  hitherto 
been  required  for  their  production. 

Securing  such  advantages  for  the  conn  try  would  seem  to  Justify  Congress  in  an 
appropriation  to  the  International  Steamship  Company  of  a  large  sum  of  money  to 
^ve  them  full  effect  in  these  yanls,  docks,  and  metallurgic  facilities,  all  of  which  are 
Decessary  for  the  recovery  of  our  commercial  and  naval  strength.  But  tho  company 
ask  no  socb  monej^ed  aid.  Composed,  as  we  believe  it  to  be,  of  men  of  tinancial 
strength,  of  commercial  experience,  of  bnsiness  and  scientific  ability,  it  does  not  come 
U'fore  Congress  with  speculative  plans,  but  with  those  of  a  pnictical  character,  and 
the  same  remarks  apply  equally  to  the  men  who  compose  the  Western  Iron-Ship  and 
Boat-Bnilding  Coni|iany,  hereinafter  to  be  further  referred  to,  aud  who  adopt  the  pUn 
and  terms  of  proposal  of  the  International  Steamship  Company. 

The  pniposal  is  to  apply  the  financial  principles  to  these  objects  which  have  been 
snecessfuUy  test^ed  in  the  creation  of  nearly  all  the  railroads  of  the  United  States ; 
that  is,  on  a  basis  of  property  mortgageii  to  secure  a  deferred  payment,  to  be  met  from 
the  earnings  legitimately  made  aud  applied  therefor.  Desirous  of  securing  the  highest 
credit,  it  is  profiosed  the  Government  shall  become  the  trustee,  the  m<irtgages  to  be 
exi«ated  to  it,  the  bonds  as  issued  t«>  be  deposited  in  the  Government  Treasury,  none 
of  which  liouds  are  to  be  drawn  therefrom  until  an  inspector,  t<o  be  appointed  by 
the  President  of  the  United  States,  shall  certify  that  property  has  been  created  to  rep- 
resent their  valne.  A  sinking-fund,  to  be  formed  by  an  assessment  of  5  per  cent,  upon 
the  gross  earnings  of  the  yards,  and  th=s  assessment  to  be  collected  and  paid  into  the 
United  States  Treasury,  to  meet  the  interest  of  ii  per  cent,  npon,  and  the  tiual  payment 
of,  the  Ixmds.  As  the  bonds  are  drawn  ont  the  United  States  Treasurer  is  to  certify 
Qpou  each  that  the  collection  and  payment  of  the  siu king-fund  is  guaranteed  by  the 
OovemmeDt.  While  this  will  become  a  virtual  guarantee  of  the  bonds,  it  would  seem 
that  it  is  without  positive  risk,  as  the  whole  property  to  be  created  for  these  purposes 
i^  to  be  mortgaged  as  security  for  the  fulfillment  of  the  obligations.  The  issue  of  the 
bonds  of  the  international  company  for  the  docks,  building-yards,  and  appurtenances 
is  limited  to  five  millions  of  dollars. 

Ko  conditions  are  made  that  the  Government  shall  give  its  work  to  these  yards ;  but 
it  is  pro|>osed,  if  its  work  be  given  at  fair  value,  that  10  per  cent,  shall  be  reserved 
tbervfniro,  to  be  placed  also  in  the  sinking-fund,  the  sioner  to  liquidate  the  bonds^ 
which  the  company  believe  will  be  accomplished  in  less  than  half  their  term  of  twenty 
years. 

Conditions  of  great  advantage  to  the  Government  are,  that  in  any  exigency  the 
whole  force  of  the  yards  shall  be  at  the  disposal  of  the  Uuited  States,  and  that  in  time 
of  war  al>S4>lote  control  shall  be  held  of  the  yards  by  Government,  if  required. 

It  is  proposed  to  add  a  provision  that  to  aid  ship- builders  throughout  the  country 
thetie  yanls  shall  supply  them  with  any  portions  of  heivvy  iron-work  or  machinery 
rM)uired  either  for  vessels  of  iron  or  wood,  at  5  per  cent,  upon  cost;  it  boing  known 
that  5  per  cent,  is  not  more  than  an  average  conmiission  for  mere  superintendence  of 
mch  work;  this  provision  will  enable  builders  t^»  take  contracts  for  Hhips  or  steamers 
of  wood  or  iron  on  the  most  favorable  terms.  Through  this  provision  Gk>vernment 
can  aid  in  promoting  iron  as  well  as  wooden-ship  building  throughout  its  ocean-ports, 
AH  well  as  upon  its  rivers  and  lakes,  in  a  less  costly  manner  than  that  adopted  by 
Grpat  Britain. 
England,  with  her  great  naval  yards  at  Portsnunth,  Devonport,  Keyham,  Chatham, 


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20  IRON-SHIP-BUILDING   YARDS. 

&c.,  some  capable  of  employing  within  their  walls  13,000  men,  ban  fonnd  it  for  ber 
interest  to  report,  for  a  portion  of  her  naval  work,  to  private  iron-ship  yards  on  the 
Thames,  the  Mersey,  the  Tyne,  and  the  Clyde. 

France,  with  her  vase  yard  at  Cherbonrg,  costing  upward  of  $60,000,000,  and  four 
other  great  government  yards,  has,  for  similar  reasons,  frequently  reso>-ted  to  the  pri- 
vate yards  at  Bordeaux,  Nantes,  La  8eyne,  and  Havre,  La  Crnsot,  Basse  Indr^,  the 
Indret  factory,  the  works  of  Mazaline,  Nillus,  Armand,  &c.;  and  the  minister  of  marine 
can  contiol  the  use  of  all  these  at  a  day's  notice. 

It  is  thus  seen  that  while  prominent  maritime  nations  are  fostering  iron-ship  build- 
ing, we,  with  superior  mineral  resources  for  such  a  purpose,  have  thus  far  been  neglect- 
ful of  their  use,  to  the  injury  of  our  commerce,  to  nearly  the  extinction  of  our  ship- 
bnildem  and  seamen,  and  to  the  almost  ruin  of  other  mechanic  arts ;  and  by  this  neglect 
permitting  England,  France,  and  Ghsrmauy  to  impose  commer  ial  taxes,  in  the  form  of 
nigh  freiglits,  upon  the  products  of  our  agriculturists  and  other  i'^dustries. 

Tbe  proposals  to  create  these  iron-ship  yards  on  a  basis  which  will  develop  like 
yards  along  our  coasts  and  interior  wat-ers,  is  a  practical  movement  to  aid  the  Navy 
and  to  secure  the  restoration  of  our  commerce. 

The  Sei-retary  of  the  Navy,  in  his  letter  transmittinic  the  proposals,  says  : 

"  One  such  building-yard  operating  snccessfully,  with  large  facilities  concentrated, 
and  its  work  econom  zed  in  each  department,  would  demonstrate  our  ability  to  com- 
pete Kuccessfully  in  iron-ship  building  with  our  commercial  rivals,  and  afTord  at  once 
P'actical  encouragement  to  the  revival  of  ship-buildiug  throughout  the  country,  and 
thence  to  tbe  re-es'ablishment  of  commerce. 

'*  It  being  evident  that  the  cost  of  creating  such  an  establishment,  with  all  the  neces- 
sary appliances,  including  costly  docks  of  snffici«*nt  capacity  for  large  irou-clads  and 
couimetcial  steamers,  will  requ  re  more  capital  than  can  be,  at  this  time,  aggregated 
at  theconmiand  of  individual  builders,  and  that  this  can  only  be  obtained  by  an  ass  - 
ciation  of  capital  upon  a  well-formed  and  secure  financial  basis — the  plan  proposed  by 
the  International  Steamship  Company.'' 

In  the  report  to  the  Senate  up'«n  the  means  of  restoring  commerce,  and  creating 
steamships*  suited  to  the  wants  of  Government  in  time  of  war,  the  honorable  Secretary 
sayR: 

*'  Our  tirst  endeavor,  then,  should  be  to  stimulate  the  bniMing,in  our  own  waters,  by 
our  own  workmen,  of  the  ships  which  are  necessary  t<o  establish  our  commerce,  but 
which  a  wi^e  policy  forbids  us  to  procure  abroad.  To  this  end  we  must  first  of  all  de- 
termine upon  and  provide  the  means  of  accomplishing  this  as  cheaply  as  iKMsible.  The 
first  step  in  this  direction  seems  to  be  the  creation  of  large  and  commodious  building- 
yards,  advantageously  situated  with  reference  to  the  ready  and  cheap  supply  of  the 
great  bulk  uf  the  necessary  material,  and  so  a- ranged  as  to  unite  in  one  establishment 
all  the  meaus  and  appliances  required  to  convert  this  material,  through  ail  its  neces- 
sary pr<  cesses  and  applications,  into  ship;*,  under  one  organized  sjrsrem,  single,  direct, 
and  harmonious  from  the  inception,  and  involving  but  one  profit  to  tbe  producer. 
Such  establish nient^,  of  course,  cannot  be  produced  without  some  action  on  the  part 
of  the  GUtveriimfut  to  encounige  the  necessary  aggregation  of  capital,  and  to  secure  its 
results  to  some  extent,  in  return  for  the  natio  al  enterprise  in  which  it  is  embarked." 

It  has  been  estimated  by  high  official  authority  that  building-yards,  established  with 
such  practical  facilities  as  the  proposed,  could  be  made  to  save  not  less  than  one-fourth 
of  the  naval  »ppropriati"n<4  annually  for  constniction  and  repair  of  ships  and  machinery. 

The  proposals  of  the  Western  Iron-Ship  and  Boat-Building  Company,  before  referred 
to,  are  to  erect  similar  works,  but  of  smaller  capacity,  upon  one  of  the  western  rivers, 
at  a  point  satisfactory  to  the  Government,  on  the  same  terms  as  proposed  by  the  Inter- 
national Steamship  Company,  but  limiting  their  issue  of  bonds  to  $3,000,000. 

Upon  the  occurrence  of  a  war  such  works  might,  and  probably  would,  be  of  great 
utility  to  the  Government,  if  the  location  should  be  at  such  point  aa  to  secure  depth 
of  water  for  reaching  the  Gulf  at  proper  periods.  Apart  from  this,  a  yard  so  estab- 
lished to  aid  other  yanis  in  the  manner  already  stated,  will  prove  advantageous  to  the 
producing  regions  of  the  West,  by  providing  for  construction  of  steamships  for  south- 
ern coMHting-trade,  and  for  iron  steamboats  and  barges  of  light  drau|(hl«  by  which  the 
agricult,nval  and  other  products  may  cheaply  and  safely  reach  points  near  to  or  of 
ocean  shipment. 

It  has  been  shown  to  the  committee,  by  drawings  and  plans  clearly  set  forth,  that 
snch  steamers  may  be  coustruct'Od  of  iron  throughout,  including  their  entire  upper 
works,  cabins,' and  iMsrmaneut  furniture;  that  they  may  be  propnlled  by  low-pressure 
engines,  with  every  possible  security  against  disasters  of  explosion,  of  fire,  and  of 
siuKing.  These  disasters,  though  not  so  frequent  or  appalling  as  in  former  years,  have 
still  their  horrors  of  suffering  and  death ;  their  injurious  effects  upon  the  interior 
enterprise  of  the  country,  which  the  Government,  in  its  obligation  to  national  develop- 
ment and  life-pn>tection,  is  bound  to  avert,  if  possible. 

The  average  number  of  steamboats  upon  our  western  waters  which  flow  into  the  Gnlf 
of  Mexico,  as  shown  by  the  collated  statistics  of  the  Treasury  Department  for  the  last 


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IKON-SHIP-BUILDING   YARDS.  21 

fonr  years,  b  as  been  1,038  Bteaniera,  aggregating  297,71*2  tons;  and  in  tbe  same  time 
there  has  been  destractiou  in  boats,  cargoes,  aud  lives  to  the  following  extent : 

Bj  fire,  68  l)oats  and  cargoes,  valued  at |3, 421 ,  200,  and  455  lives. 

By  explosion,  25  boats  aud  cargoes,  valued  at 229, 500,  and  21H  lives. 

By  sinking,  1 65  boats  and  cargoes,  valued  at 2, 157, 150,  and    29  lives* 

A  total  of  278  boats  and  property,  ralaed  at 5, 807, 850,  and  702  lives. 

by  casualties,  which  properly  bnilt  iron  boats  of  the  description  proposed  would  have 
saved  or  lessened,  and  the  construction  of  which  will  almost  certainly  guard  from 
future  disaster.  Such  destruction  of  property,  to  say  nothing  of  life,  may  be  regarded 
as  a  national  misfortnne,  as  it«  preservation  would  have  been  not  only  so  much  national 
wealth,  bnt  the  means  of  still  greater  increase  of  material  prosperity. 

The  creation  of  these  building-yards  is  a  pressing  necessity  to  the  prosperity  of  the 
country.  They  will  not  only  give  employment  to  all  classes  of  mechanics  aud  laborers, 
bat  will  be  reproductive  for  continuance  of  such  employment  by  creating  means  of 
cheap  transportation  on  rivers  and  oceans  for  the  development  of  interior  aud  exterior 
commerce,  to  open  markets  for  our  agricultural,  manufacturing,  and  mechanical 
products  throughout  the  world. 

In  the  workshops  of  such  yards  will  be  educated  and  trained  men  of  practical  skill, 
to  make  steam  transportation  safe  ai)d  to  aiford  to  our  Navy  an  ample  source  of  re- 
cruitment for  ita  corps  of  naval  engineers. 

Impressed  with  the  great  advantages  which  these  proposals,  in  their  practical  form, 
affurd  to  restore  our  commerce;  for  tbe  benefit«  they  open  to  the  mechanical  and  other 
industries  of  the  country;  for  the  means  of  economy  and  sure  reliance  to  tbe  Navy  in 
peace  for  preservation,  or,  in  the  event  of  war,  for  the  creation  of  naval  strength ;  and 
farther  impressed  by  the  clear,  exact,  and  business  plan  to  save  waste  in  finance,  while 
it  guards  against  probability  of  loss  to  the  Government,  the  committee  report  here- 
with a  bill  in  accordance  with  the  proposals,  creating  in  said  bill  a  commission  com- 
posed of  the  Secretaries  of  the  Navy,  of  War,  and  of  the  Treasury,  a  majority  of  whom 
may  act  at  any  time  to  guard  the  interest  of  Government  in  all  the  details  of  the  con- 
tract, and  recommend  the  passage  of  the  said  bill. 


Ofpicr  of  ths  Admirai>, 
Washington,  D.  C,  March  18,  1872. 

My  Dear  Sir  :  In  the  discussions  which  are  now  agitating  Congress  and  the  country, 
the  opinions  of  practical  men  are  worth  something,  and  the  matter  of  building  our  own 
steamships  and  recovering  our  commercial  prestige  is  one  to  which  I  have  devoted  my- 
self for  upward  of  five  years,  aud  on  which  I  claim  to  be  pretty  well  posted 

As  yon  are  aware,  I  can  have  no  personal  interest  in  commercial  enterprise.  My 
feelings  on  the  subject  are  altogether  of  a  national  character.  I  long  once  more  to  see 
my  country  released  from  the  thralldom  of  British  influence.  I  do  not  wish  the  nation 
that  drove  oar  commerce  from  the  sea  to  benefit  by  our  legislative  acts,  or  the  suicidal 
policy  on  onr  part  of  admitting  free  ships,  the  work  of  British  builders.  Such  a  policy 
would  be  in  direct  opposition  to  all  our  traditions  and  laws  since  the  first  establish- 
ment of  onr  independence,  and  would  break  down  those  protective  barriers  which  once 
made  onr  commerce  not  inferior  to  that  of  Great  Britain. 

The  decadence  of  our  shipping  interest  is  very  properly  laid  to  the  operations  of  the 
Anglo-rebel  privateers  fitted  out  during  the  war,  but  another  reason  may  bo  found 
in  tbe  want  of  proper  legislation  on  the  part  of  Congress,  owing  to  the  persistent  mis- 
representations made  to  them  by  British  emissaries  who  besiege  the  halls  of  the  Capi- 
tol aud  so  importune  members  that  the  latter  kuow  not  what  to  believe. 

There  is  scarcely  an  article  that  has  appeared  on  the  subject  of  resuscitating  our 
commerce  that  I  have  not  attentively  read,  but  the  plan  that  has  most  attracted  my 
attention  is  tnatof  the  International  Steamship  Company.  I  will  not  pretend  to  re- 
capitalate  the  advantages  proposed  by  the  above-named  organization,  for  if  yon  have 
read  their  proposals  you  are  as  well  posted  on  the  subject  as  I  am,  and  capable  of 
drawing  your  own  inferences.  I  will,  however,  take  this  opportunity  to  say  that,  be- 
side the  advantages  that  this  company  will  confer  on  the  mercantile  marine,  it  will  be 
a  great  accession  of  power  to  onr  Navy,  which,  in  regard  to  its  adjuncts  of  yards,  docks, 
and  building  facilities,  is  very,  very  weak  for  the  purposes  of  war. 

^acfc  a  buitding-yard  at  the  one  proposed  by  the  company  ieould  afford  the  Navy  greater 
facilities  than  all  the  nary-yards  weposseM  could  furnish^  and  I  hare  no  doubly  if  uned  accord- 
ingtothe  neceMsiiies  of  the  Nary^  it  would  diminish  our  expenses  $4,000,000  per  annuMf  for 
9udk  an  esiablishTnent  could  afford  to  build  and  repair  vessels  at  about  one-half  the  cost  to 
vkiA  we  are  now  subjecied. 

We  have  at  present  fifty  iron  Teasels  which  ooald  be  made  very  serviceable  for  har- 

H.  Eep.  345 3 


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22  IRON-SHIP-BUILDING   YARDS. 

bor  defense  by  pntting  on  instantaneous  repairs,  and  at  the  yard  of  the  International 
Steamship  Company  every  one  of  these  vessels  could  be  pat  in  order  in  three  mootha, 
instead  of  a  year  and  a  half,  the  shortest  time  at  which  they  could  be  prepared  at  oar 
present  navy-yard. 

These  are  facts  worth  more  than  all  the  free-trade  ar^mento  in  the  world,  which  go 
to  the  support  of  the  British  laboring  classes  and  of  the  men  who  helped  to  destroy 
our  commerce. 

I  hope  yon  and  the  members  of  the  Naval  Committee  will  take  a  broad  national 
stand  on  this  important  matter,  and  consider  that  in  advocating  American  iuteresU 
you  are  doing  the  best  thing  to  build  up  our  Navy. 

In  all  future  legislation  it  should  be  provided  that  the  Navy  should  have  the  most 
ample  use  of  the  works  of  the  International  Steamship  Company,  and  in  case  of  an 
emergency  should  monopolize  them  entirely,  and  these  provisions  should  be  incorpo- 
rated in  the  naval  laws. 

Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

DAVID  D.  PORTER, 

AdmiraL 
Hon.  A.  H.  Chaoin, 

Ckuirman  Naval  Committee  United  StaUe  Senate. 


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43d  Oonoeess,  >     HOUSE  OF  REPBESENTATIVES.      (  Report 
Ut  Session,     f  \  No.  346. 


OLIVER  LUMPHREY. 


April  3, 1874.— Ordered  to  be  printed. 


Mr.  P.  M.  B.  Yoin^Oy  from  the  Oommittee  on  Military  Afifairs,  submit- 
ted the  following 

REPORT: 

[To  accompany  biU  H.  B.  2067.  ] 

The  Committee  on  Military  Affairs^  to  tchom  was  referred  ^e  biU  {H.  B. 
2067)  to  restore  Oliver  Lumphreyj  UUe  second  lieutenant  Forty-third 
United  States  Infantry  Veteran  Reserve  Corps,  to  his  former  rank  in  the 
Army,  and  to  place  him  on  the  retired  listj  having  haU  the  same  under 
consideration^  make  thefollotcing  report : 

The  com  mittee  find  that  the  record  of  said  officer  is  exceedingly  bad 
and  disrepatable,  and  his  retention  in  the  Army  is  not  desirable  on  any 
accoant  The  committee  call  the  attention  of  the  House  to  the  accom- 
panying pai>ers  and  docnments  from  the  War  Department,  and  recom- 
mend that  the4)ill  do  lie  upon  the  table. 


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43d  Congress,  \    HOUSE  OF  EEPKESENTATIVES.       (  Eeport 
1st  Session,     i  \  No.  347. 


KERET  SULLIVAN. 


April  3, 1H74.— Committed  to  a  Committee  of  the  Whole  House  and  ordered  to  be 

printed. 


Mr.  TiEECE  M.  B.  YouNa,  from  the  Committee  on  Military  Affairs,  sub- 
mitted the  following 

REPORT: 

[To  cccompany  hill  H.  R.  491.] 

The  Committee  on  Military  Affairs ^  to  whom  was  referred  the  bill  {ff.  R, 
491) /or  the  relief  of  Kerry  Sullivan,  respectfully  report: 

That  the  said  Kerry  Sallivan  was  commissioned  a  second  lieutenant 
of  Company  H,  Fourteenth  Eegiment  New  Hampshire  Volunteers,  (in- 
fantry,) by  the  go^sernor  of  New  Hampshire,  on  the  24th  of  September, 
18G4,  and  that  he  was  ordered  to  join  his  regiment  to  be  mustered  as 
second  lieutenant.  On  arriving  at  Harper's  Ferry  he  was  detained  and 
ordered  on  duty,  as  an  oflBcer,  by  Major-General  Sullivan,  then  com- 
manding that  post.  That  after  arriving  at  his  regiment,  and  before  he 
could  be  mustered,  the  battle  of  Cedar  Creek  was  fought,  in  which  he 
was  captured  by  the  enemy,  and  retained  in  prison  from  October  19, 
1864,  until  February  22, 1865;  and  that,  when  he  returned  to  his  com- 
pany,  there  were  not  a  sufficient  number  of  men  present  to  allow  his 
being  mustered  under  the  law.  There  is  no  record  in  the  War  Depart- 
ment showing  that  he  ever  served  as  an  officer  in  his  own  regiment;  but 
the  committee  find  that  Kerry  Sullivan  did  serve  and  perform  the  duties 
of  second  lieutenant  under  the  orders  of  Brevet  Major-General  Grover, 
fix)m  the  6tli  of  May,  1865,  until  his  discharge  on  the  8th  of  July,  1865, 
and  therefore  recommend  the  passage  of  the  bill  under  consideration, 
with  modifications  therein  specified. 


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43d  Conobess,  (     HOUSE  OP  EEPEESENTATIVES.      /  Report 
lit  Seuian.     §  \  No.  348. 


H.  P.  INGRAM  AND  JOHN  K.  ASKINS. 


April  3, 1874. — Committed  to  a  Committee  of  the  Whole  House  and  ordered  to  be 

printed. 


Mr.  PiEBOE  M.  B.  YoxTNG,  from  the  Committee  on  Military  Affairs, 
submitted  the  following 

REPORT: 

[To  accompany  bill  H.  K.  2788.  J 

The  Committee  on  Military  Affairs  of  the  House  of  Representatives^  to 
whiek  was  referred  the  petition  of  H.  P.  Ingram^  captain  Company  By 
Sixty-second  Illinois  Infantry,  and  John  K.  AsJcinSj  second  lieutenant 
Company  Bj  Sixty-second  Illinois  Infantry,  for  pay  from  the  15th  day 
of  January^  1862,  to  the  l(Hh  day  of  April,  1862,  make  the  follounng  re- 
port: 

The  committee  find  that  the  above-named  ofBcers  entered  the  service 
of  the  United  States  at  Gamp  Dubois,  Illinois,  and  performed  the  duties 
of  their  respective  offices,  in  the  Sixty  second  Regiment  Illinois  Infan- 
try, until  the  entry  of  that  regiment  into  the  field,  and  up  to  the  time 
of  their  discharge.  On  or  about  the  25th  of  February,  1862,  about  one 
iDOOth  after  the  entry  of  this  regiment  into  the  service,  and  before  it 
was  regularly  mustered  by  the  mustering-officer,  an  order  was  received 
from  the  Acting  Secretary  of  War  to  transfer  enough  men  from  this 
regiment  to  the  Fifty-fourth  Regiment  of  that  State  in  order  that  the 
Fifty-fourth  might  immediately  take  the  field.  (See  order  Secretary  of 
War.)  This  order  was  enforced,  which  took  ten  men  from  Company  B, 
Sixty-second  Regiment,  depriving  that  company  of  the  number  required 
for  a  muster.  It  is  shown  by  the  record  that  Company-  B,  Sixty-second 
Begiment,  had  eighty  men  ready  for  duty,  and  might  have  entered  and 
be^  regularly  mustered  had  it  not  been  for  the  execution  of  the  order 
of  the  Secretary  of  War.  It  also  appears  that  the  said  H.  P.  Ingram 
and  John  K.  Askins  were  commissioned  by  the  governor  of  Illinois  on 
the  15th  of  January,  1862.  In  consideration  of  the  foregoing  facts,  the 
committee  recommend  the  passage  of  the  accompanying  bill. 


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43d  Congress,  )     HOUSE  OF  EEPEESENTATIVES.     /  Report 
Ut  Session.     ]  \  Ko.  349. 


JOHN  S.  DICKSON. 


April  3,  1874. — Committed  to  a  Committee  of  the  Whole  House  and  ordered  to  be 

printed. 


^Ir.  CoBURN,  from  the  Committee  on  Military  Affairs,  submitted  the 

folio  wiDg 

REPORT: 

[To  accompany  hill  H.  R.  2789.] 

The  Catnmittee  on  Military  Affairs^  to  wjiom  was  referred  tlie  hill  (R.  R, 
1494,) /or  the  relief  of  John  8.  Dickson^  having  had  tits  same  under  con- 
Hderationj  report  hack  the  accompanying  hillyand  recommend  its  passage : 

The  committee  find  that  John  S.  Dickson,  late  a  sergeant  of  Company 
C,  Eighteenth  Eegiment  of  Wisconsin  Volunteers,  was,  on  or  about  the 
9th  day  of  October,  1862,  appointed,  by  order  of  Maj.  Gen.  John 
Pope,  then  in  command  of  the  Department  of  the  Northwest,  a  captain 
of  Company  B,  of  Wisconsin  Paroled  Prisoners  of  War.  That  he,  in 
obedience  to  the  order,  entered  upon  the  discharge  of  the  duties  of  such 
captain,  and  clothed  and  subsisted  himself  as  such,  and  took  all  the 
responsibilities  of  a  captain.  That  be  continued  in  the  discharge  of 
these  duties  for  the  period  of  nine  months  and  twenty  days.  He,  upon 
being  relieved,  returned  to  his  regiment,  and  has  received  no  pay 
except  such  as  he  was  entitled  to  as  a  sergeant  in  his  regiment.  The 
evidence  shows  that  he  did  his  duty  regularly  and  honorably.  He 
earned  the  pay  of  a  captain,  and  should  have  it.  The  committee  regard 
this  case  as  an  exception  to  those  cases  in  which  the  duties  of  officers 
have  been  discharged  by  soldiers  without  commissions  or  regular  com- 
mands. This  duty  was  a  special  one;  was,  under  the  circumstances, 
one  that  could  be  performed  by  no  other  officer  at  hand.  This  peculiar 
service  of  an  officer  of  paroled  prisoners  by  special  order  is  as  worthy 
of  recognition  and  compensation  as  any  other  official  military  service. 


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43d  Conoeess,  >     HOUSE  OF  EEPBESENTATIVES.      /  Beport 
Ut  Session.     ]  l  ^o.  350. 


CONFIEMATION  OF  LAND-ENTRIES  IN  MISSOURI. 


April  3, 1874.— Ordered  to  be  prioted. 


Mr.  BucEi^By  from  the  Committee  on  Private  Land-Claims,  submitted 

the  following 

REPORT: 

[To  accompany  bUI  H.  B.  1848.] 

lour  committee^  to  whom  was  referred  the  hill  {H.  R.  1848)  to  confirm  cer- 
tain entries  of  lands  therein  namedj  in  the  State  of  Missouri^  beg  leave 
to  report  : 

That  the  entry  of  lands  intended  by  this  bill  to^  be  confirmed  and 
patents  to  issue  thereon,  comprising  between  three  and  four  thousand 
acres,  were  subject  to  the  operation  of  the  act  of  Congress  of  August 
4, 1854,  which  graduated  the  price  of  a  certain  class  of  the  public  lands 
to  actual  settlers  and  cultivators  according  to  the  time  the  same  had  been 
Iq  market  This  act  was  repealed  by  the  act  of  June  2, 1862,  (Stat,  at 
Large,  v.  12,  p.  413.)  "  It  is  alleged  that  these  entries  were  made  in  good 
faith  on  the  5th  and  6th  days  of  June,  1862,  after  the  repeal  at  the  land- 
ofSce  at  Ironton,  Mo.,  and  without  the  knowledge  of  the  parties 
making  the  entries,  and  without  any  knowledge  of  the  land-ofiQcers  at 
Ironton  that  the  graduation  act  had  been  repealed.  There  is  no  pre- 
tense of  proof  that  these  lands  were  settled  or  cultivated,  as  required 
by  this  act,  nor  is  there  any  proof  that  the  parties  in  whose  name  these 
entries  were  made  are  now  occupying  or  cultivating,  or  ever  did  so  oc- 
cupy or  cultivate,  these  lands,  or  any  of  them.  Nor  is  there  any  evidence 
before  your  committee  that  any  of  them  acted  in  good  faith  in  the  entry 
of  these  lands.  On  the  contrary,  there  is  good  reason  to  believe  that 
the  entries  were  made  in  fraud  of  the  law,  and  the  several  parties  in 
whose  names  the  entries  were  made  were  fictitious  and  not  real  persons. 
The  afBdavits,  twenty  in  number,  42,810  to  42,829,  inclusive,  are  now 
on  file  in  the  General  Land-Office,  and  appear  to  have  been  taken  be- 
fore one  David  Dessau,  and  attested  by  him  as  notary  public  in  1861, 
about  a  year  before  the  alleged  entries.  In  making  the  affidavit  as  to 
settlement  and  cultivation,  required  by  the  act  of  1854,  a  printed  form 
was  used,  and  it  appears  to  be  certified  to  by  the  notary  and  his  seal  is 
attached.  Appended  to  this  certificate  is  the  certificate  of  the  clerk  of 
court,  certifying  the  official  character  of  Dessau,  but  this  is  not 
filled  up,  or  subscribed  or  attested  by  any  clerk  or  other  officer.  The 
blanks  in  the  certificates  for  the  description  of  the  lands  were  at  one 
time  filled  up  in  pencil,  but  subsequently  the  description  was  written 
out  in  ink.  It  is  difficult  to  resist  the  conviction  that  the  names  of  the 
parties  appearing  in  these  entries  were  not  the  names  of  the  persons 
represented,  but  that  either  some  other  parties  personated  them,  or  that 
no  such  persons  are  now  or  were  in  existence  at  the  time  of  making 


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2  CONFIRMATION   OF   LAND-ENTRIES   IN  MISSOURI. 

these  alleged  affidavits  and.  therefore,  they  have  no  pretense  of  claim 
to  this  land.  It  was  entered  after  the  repeal  of  the  law,  and  if  it  had 
appeared  that  any  one  or  all  of  the  parties  had  gone  on  the  land  and  cul- 
tivated it,  or  was  upon  it  now  and  cultivating  it  in  good  faith,  a  strong 
case  would  be  made  out  to  confirm  the  entry  and  to  require  that  the 
patents  be  issued  to  any  of  such  parties.  But  there  is  a  total  absence 
of  proof  of  this  character,  while  an  inspection  of  the  papers,  and  all 
the  circumstances  connected  with  these  entries,  make  it  more  than  prob- 
able that  the  affidavits  were  never  made  by  any  real  person,  and  that 
the  notary  lent  himself  to  a  scheme  of  fraud  and  forgery  to  secure 
these  entries  either  for  himself  or  for  some  confederate  in  crime. 

Your  committee,  therefore,  beg  leave  to  report  adversely  to  the  said 
bill,  and  ask  to  be  discharged  from  its  further  consideration. 


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43d  Gonobess,  \     HOUSE  OF  BEPBESEISTATIYES.      (  Report 
Ut  8es8i(m.     f  \  No.  351. 


BENJAMIN  0.  SKINNEB. 


April  3,  1874. — Committed  to  a  Committee  of  the  Whole  Hoaae  and  ofdered  to  be 

printed. 


Mr.  Busk,  from  the  Committee  on  InvaUd  Pensions,  submitted  the 

following 

REPORT: 

[To  accompany  bill  8. 516.] 

The  Committee  on  Invalid  Pensions,  to  whom  was  referred  Senate 
biU  518,  granting  a  pension  to  Benjamin  C.  Skinner,  having  considered 
the  same,  concur  in  the  Senate  report,  and  report  the  bill  back  with- 
out amendment,  and  recommend  its  passage. 


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43d  OoNaRESS,  >     HOUSE  OF  EEPBESENTATIYES.     (  Eepobt 
UtSesHan.     i  )  No.  352. 


AMY  A.  HOUGH. 


April  3, 1874. — Committed  to  a  Committee  of  the  Whole  Hoase  and  ordered  to  be 

printed. 


^Ir.  Busk,  from  the  Committee  on  Invalid  Pensions,  submitted  the 

following 

REPORT: 

[To  accompaTjy  bill  S.  449.] 

The  Cotnmittee  on  Invalid  Pensions j  to  tohom  was  referred  the  bill  (8.  449) 
granting  a  pension  to  Amy  A.  Roughj  mother  of  Daniel  E.  Hotigh^  hav- 
ing considered  the  same^  make  the  following  report : 

Daniel  E.  Hough  was  captain  of  Company  A^leventh  Eegiment  Wis- 
consin Volunteer  Infantry,  wounded  at  Black  Biver  Bridge,  near  Yicks- 
bnrgh,  May  18, 1863,  and  died  from  said  wound,  received  in  action,  a 
few  days  thereafter.  At  his  death  ^ree  orphan  daughters  were  left  to 
the  care  and  guardianship  of  the  petitioner.  The  children  received  a 
pension  up  to  the  time  tiiey  became  of  age.  One  of  the  children  is  a  con- 
lirmed  invalid,  mentally  and  physically,  and  the  other  two  are  in  feeble 
bealth.  All  are  now  dependent  upon  the  petitioner  (who  is  in  her  sixty- 
ninth  year,  and  without  resources)  for  support. 

The  committee  are  of  the  opinion  that  this  is  a  meritorious  case,  and 
therefore  report  back  the  bill  (9.  449)  without  amendment,  and  recom- 
mend its  passage. 


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43d  Oonobbss,  I     HOUSE  OF  BEPBESENTATIYES.      (  Report 
Ut  SesHon.     f  \  No.353. 


JULIA  A.  SMITH. 


April  3^  1874.— ^ommitled  to  a  Committee  of  tbe  Whole  HoDse  and  ordered  to  be 

printed. 


Mr.  BuBK,  from  the  Oomraittee  on  Inyalid  Pensions,  submitted  the  fol- 
lowing 

REPORT: 

[To  acoomi»any  bill  S.  217.] 

The  Gomnlittee  on  Invalid  Pensions,  to  whom  was  referred  Senate 
bill  217,  granting  a  pension  to  Julia  A.  Smith,  having  considered  the 
sam^  ooDcnr  in  the  Senate  report,  and  report  the  bill  back,  and  recom- 
mend  its  passage  without  amendments 


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43d  Congress,  )     HOUSE  OF  EBPEESENTATIVES.      (  Eepobt 
1^  Sessian.     ]  \  No.  354. 


BENJAMIN  FAELEY. 


Aprii.  3,  1874. — Committed  to  a  Committee  of  the  Whole  House  and  ordered  to  be 

printed. 


Mr.  Rusk,  from  the  Committee  on  Invalid  Pensions,  submitted  the 

following 

REPOKT: 

[To  accompany  bill  S.  387.] 

The  Committee  on  Invalid  Pensions,  to  whom  was  referred  Senate 
bill  No.  387,  with  favorable  report  thereon,  granting  a  pension  to  Capt. 
Benjamin  Farley,  Company  C,  Fifth  Indiana  Cavalry,  having  considered 
the  same,  report  the  bill  back,  and  recommend  that  it  do  pass. 


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43d  CtoNGBBSS.  (    HOUSE  OF  BEFBESENTATIYES.     i  Bepobt 
Ut  Se89ian.     f  \  No.  355. 


CALEB  A.  LAMB. 


Aprel  3,  1874. — Committed  to  A  Committee  of  the  Whole  Hoiue  and  ordered  to  be 

piinted« 


Mr.  Wallace,  fiK>m  the  Committee  on  Invalid  Pensions,  submitted  the 

following 

REPORT: 

[To  aoeompany  bUl  &  42.] 

The  Committee  on  Invalid  Pensions,  to  whom  was  referred  Senate 
bill  42,  ^^ranting  a  pension  to  Caleb  A.  Lamb,  late  a  private  in  Company 
£,  Forty-sixth  Begiment  Indiana  Volunteer  Infiftntry,  having  considered 
the  case  and  Senate  report  thereon,  oonoor  in  the  same,  and  report  the 
bill  back  without  amendment,  and  recommend  that  it  do  pass. 


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43DCoNaBESS,  >     HOUSE  OF  REPEESENTATIVES,      /  Report 
.  lit  Session.     )  '  I  No.  356. 


NAIiTOY  ABBOTT. 


AiBiL  3, 1874.— Committed  to  a  Committee  of  the  Whole  Honse  and  ordered  to  be 

printed. 


Mr.  Barby,  from  the  Committee  oo  Invalid  Pensious,  submitted  the 

following 

REPORT: 

[To  accompany  hill  H.  R.  2790.] 

The  Committee  on  Invalid  Pensions^  to  whom  was  referred  the  application^ 
for  pension  of  Henry  Frees^  gn^irdian  of  Nancy  Abbott,  have  had  the 
same  under  considerationj  and  beg  leave  to  report : 

That  this  case  was  not  allowed  at  the  Pension-Office  for  lack  of  suffi- 
cleDt  evidence  of  dependence  and  support. 

That  the  petitioner,  Nancy  Abbott,  was  the  mother  of  three  sons. 
The  youngest,  J.  S.  Abbott,  Company  L,  First  Michigan  Cavalry,  died 
Dear  Washington  City,  in  1861 ;  the  second,  Elon  Abbott,  of  the  First 
Michigan,  died  March  5, 1862 ;  her  husband  died  in  December,  1861  ; 
and  her  eldest  and  last  son,  Amos  W.  Abbott,  sergeant  Company  A,  Ninth 
Michigan  Volunteers,  was  killed  in  battle  at  Murfreesborongh,  Tenn., 
July  13, 1862.  And  that  this  son,  at  different  times,  did  contribute  to 
the  sopport  of  his  mother,  who  is  now  left,  when  more  than  sixty  years 
old,  dependent  entirely  upon  charity,  after  giving  all  her  sons  to  the 
conntiy. 

Your  committee  recommend  the  passage  of  the  bill  granting  a  pension 
to  her. 


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43d  Congress,  \     HOUSE  OP  EBPEBSBNTATIVES.     /  Report 
Ut  Session.     |  \  No.  367. 


FRANKLIN  STONER. 


April  3, 1874.~Committed  to  a  Committee  of  the  Whole  House  and  ordered  to  be 

printed. 


Mr.  3iGjTJNKiN,  from  the  Committee  on  iDvalid  Pensions,  submitted  the 

following 

REPORT: 

.  [To  accompany  bUl  H.  R.  2791.] 

The  Committee  an  Invalid  Pensions^  having  had  under  consideration  the  bill 
(H.  R.  2791)  for  the  relief  of  Franklin  8toner,  heg  leave  to  submit  the 
follmcing  report :  • 

The  facts  of  the  case  are  these :  Franklin  Stoner,  the  petitioner  a 
citizen  of  Cumberland  County,  Pennsylvania,  when  eighteen  years  ot 
age,  enlisted  as  a  private  in  Company  G,  Eighty-fourth  Regiment  Penn- 
»ylTauia  Volunteers,  and  was  mustered  into  service  on  the  8th  October, 
1862,  for  and  during  tihe  war.  He  served  faithfully  and  honorably  until 
aboat  the  middle  of  December,  1864,  when,  being  disabled  by  the  am- 
putation of  one  of  his  feet,  he  was  sent  from  one  hospital  to  another 
antil  he  was  honorably  discharged,  at  Chester,  Pa. 

It  appears,  from  the  testimony  of  his  company-officers  and  several  of 
his  fellow-soldiers,  that  while  the  petitioner's  regiment  was  lying  in 
froDt  of  Petersbnrgh,  Va.,  he  was  granted  permission  by  his  captain  to 
make  a  visit  to  Meade  Station,  distant  about  four  miles  from  his  own 
camp;  that  he  went  aboard  of  the  train,  which  did  not  stop  when  it  ar- 
rived at  Meade  Station,  and  that  Stoner,  in  attempting  to  jump  off  the 
train,  was  thrown  under  the  cars,  in  consequence  of  his  coat  catctiing 
on  the  car,  whereby  his  foot  was  crushed  so  badly  as  to  necessitate  its 
amputation  within  an  hour  afterward. 

Stoner  is  a  blacksmith  by  trade,  but  is  now  unable  to  work  at  it,  and 
earns  a  scanty  and  precarious  living  for  himself  and  family  by  perform- 
ing sQch  light  labor  as  he  may  chance  to  obtain. 

The  manner  in  which  his  injury  occurred  has  prevented  him  from  ob- 
taining a  pension  under  the  general  law,  the  Commissioner  of  Pensions 
baving  rejected  his  application,  on  the  ground  that  his  injury  was  not 
sastained  ^^  while  in  the  line  of  his  duty."  But  when  it  is  remembered 
that  Stoner  was  in  his  proper  place,  and  had  express  permission  from 
his  immediate  commander  to  visit  the  place  where  the  accident  occurred, 
and  that  the  cause  of  it  arose  out  of  no  misconduct  or  default  or  disobe- 
dience on  his  part,  and  that  he  was  strictly  within  the  limits  of  the  per- 
mission given  to  him,  the  ruling  of  the  Pension-Office  seems  harsh  and 
purely  technical,  even  if  literally  correct,  and,  in  the  Judgment  of  the 
committee,  should  not  exclude  the  petitioner  from  the  bounty  of  the 
Government,  especially  when  the  policy  has  been  established  of  dealing 
generously  with  those  who  vdlunteered  in  its  defense. 

Stoner  was  quite  a  lad  when  he  entered  the  military  service  of  his 


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2  FRANKLIN   STONEB. 

country,  and  faithfully  did  his  duty  for  more  than  two  years,  and  is  now 
80  badly  crippled  as  to  be  unfit  to  follow  his  trade  and  earn  a  comfort- 
able living,  such  a«  he  would  have  been  able  to  command  had  he  not 
volunteered  as  a  soldier. 

For  these  reasons,  and  because  Stoner  acted  by  the  authority  of  his 
superior  officer,  and  submitted  his  conduct  to  his  captain's  direction, 
and  supposed  himself  to  be  ^^  within  the  line  of  his  duty,"  he  should  be 
regarded  as  acting  within  that  line  when  conforming  to  the  permissive 
order  of  his  commanding  officer.  At  the  time  of  the  injury  he  was  act- 
ing in  good  faith,  violating  no  duty,  disregarding  no  orders,  but  sub- 
mitting himself  dutifully  to  his  obli^tions  as  a  soldier. 

The  committee  therefore  recommend  the  passage  of  the  accompany- 
ing bill. 


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43d  Oongbbss,  \      HOUSE  OF  BEPRESENTATIVES.       /  Report 
l8t  Session,     f  ,  t  ^o.  358. 


JOHN  G.  PARR. 


April  3,  1874. — Committed  to  a  Committee  of  the  Whole  House  and  ordered  to  be 

printed. 


Mr.  McJuNKiN,  from  the  Committee  on  luvalid  Pensions,  snbmitted 

the  following 

REPORT: 

LTo  accompany  biU  H.  B.  1616.] 

The  Committee  on  Invalid  Pensions^  to  whom  was  referred  the  petition  of 
Lieut,  Col.  John  G.  Parr^  of  Leechburgh^  in  the  county  of  Armstrong^ 
Pennsylvaniaj  submit  the  following  report : 

John  O.  Parr  entered  the  military  service  of  the  United  States  at 
Pittsburgh,  Pa.,  on  the  22d  day  of  Angust,  1862,  as  captain  of  Company 
0,  of  the  One  Hundred  and  Thirty-ninth  Regiment  of  Pennsylvania  In- 
fantry' Volunteers,  and  was  honorably  discharged  as  the  lieutenant- 
colonel  of  said  regiment  on  the  21st  day  of  June,  1865. 

At  the  battle  of  Cold  Harbor,  Virginia,  on  3d  June,  1864,  while  com- 
manding his  company,  he  received  a  gunshot  wound  from  the  ene- 
my's artillery  which  severed  his  right  hand  and  arm  below  the  elbow. 
Again  in  battle  near  Petersburgh,  Va.,  on  the  25th  day  of  March,  1865, 
while  commanding  the  said  regiment  as  lieutenant-colonel,  he  received 
a  severe  contusion  or  shell-wound  in  the  right  hip. 

He  was  commissioned  a  captain  on  the  22d  August,  1862.  On  28th 
June,  1864,  he  was  commissioned  a  major  of  said  regiment,  to  rank  as 
such  from  6th  June,  1864.  On  the  18th  day  of  July,  1864,  he  was  com- 
missioned lieutenant-colonel  of  said  regiment,  to  rank  as  such  from  the 
6th  day  of  June,  1864,  and  was  mustered  in  as  lieutenant-colonel  on  the 
6th  of  July,  1864.  On  the  25th  day  of  August,  1864,  as  soon  as  he  had 
{sufficiently  recovered  from  his  said  wounds  and  amputation  to  enable 
him  to  do  so,  and  before  his  wounds  had  fully  healed,  he  returned  to 
his  regiment  and  performed  the  duties  of  lieutenant-colonel,  and  was, 
while  so  acting  and  in  line  of  duty,  in  battle  before  Petersburgh,  in  Vir- 
ginia, again  wounded  as  aforesaid  by  being  struck  by  a  piece  of  shell  in 
the  hip.  On  the  20th  day  of  April,  1865,  the  President  of  the  United 
States,  by  and.  with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the  Senate,  did  confer  on 
said  soldier  the  rank  of  colonel  by  brevet,  to  rank  as  such  from  the  1st 
day  of  August,  1864,  for  meritorious  services  at  the  battle  of  Cold  Har- 
bor, Va.,  when  and  where  he  received  his  severe  wound. 

That  by  reason  of  the  wounds  and  injuries  sustained  he  was  granted 
a  i)ension  to  date  from  21st  JunC;  1865,  the  time  of  his  discharge,  and 
placed  on  the  pension-roll  as  of  the  rank  of  captain,  and  was  paid  a  pen- 
sion accordingly  of  twenty  dollars  per  month. 

The  petitioner  prays  that  by  special  act  he  may  be  placed  on  the  peu- 


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2  JOHN   G.   PARR. 

sion-roll  as  a  lieutenant-colonel,  and  that  ho  be  paid  a  pension  as  of  that 
rank  from  said  2Ist  Jane,  1865,  all  pension  received  to  be  deducted. 

It  is  proved  that  ever  since  the  amputation  of  the  soldier's  right  hand 
and  arm  as  aforesaid  he  has  suffered  unusual  pain,  inconvenience,  and 
annoyance  by  reason  of  continued,  violent,  and  involuntary  jerking  and 
spasmodic  twitching  of  the  stump  of  the  arm,  and  of  the  whole  arm  re- 
maining to  him.  The  motions  and  violent  vibrations  of  which  can  only 
be  overcome  and  restrained  by  the  application  of  external  physical 
force;  that  he  submitted  to  a  second  amputation,  and  the  expense  and 
suffering  consequent,  without  benefit  or  relief.  Whether  this  extraordi- 
nary condition  arises  from  the  unskillful ness  of  the  amputation,  or  from 
a  peculiar  nervous  condition  produced  in  him  by  the  wound,  are  ques- 
tions which  seem  to  baffle  the  many  surgeons  who  have  been  consulted. 
At  the  Pension  Bureau  the  pension  to  the  soldier  waa  allowed  and  fixed 
at  the  rate  allowed  by  law  for  the  rank  the  soldier  held  at  the  time  he 
received  the  principal  wound,  and  not  for  the  rank  he  held  when  he  re- 
ceived the  second  wound  and  when  discharged,  although  admitting  that 
there  was  very  great  merit  in  the  case,  and  that  it  was  one  on  which 
relief  should  come  from  Congress. 

The  applicant  is  a  brave  man  and  a  worthy  citizen  in  all  respects.  His 
rapid  promotion  proves  him  every  inch  a  soldier,  and  one  deserving  of 
any  benefit  Congress  can  bestow. 

The  peculiar  characteristics  of  the  disability  of  the  soldier  seem  to 
increase  with  the  lapse  of  time,  and  now  amount  to  total  disability,  as 
is  shown  by  the  opinions  of  the  surgeons  who  have  examined  the  case. 
Dr.  Otto  states  that  the  soldier  is  wholly  disabled  and  incapacitated  for 
labor  of  any  kind,  and  that  the  disability  is  pennanent.  In  this  other 
surgeons  agree,  and  all  join  in  pronouncing  this  a  peculiar  and  most  ex- 
traordinary case.    The  committee  recommend  the  passage  of  the  bill. 


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43d  OoNaBESS, )    HOUSE  OF  EEPBESBNTATIVES.    i  Report 
1st  Session,     f  \   No.  359. 


ELIZABETH  CLARK. 


April  3,  1874. — Committed  to  a  Committee  of  the  Whole  Honse  and  ordered  to  be 

printed. 


Mr.  McJuNKiN^  from  the  Committee  on  Invalid  Pensions,  submitted 

the  following 

REPORT: 

[To  accompany  bill  H.  R.  2118.] 

The  Committee  on  Invalid  Pensions^  to  whom  was  referred  the  petition  of 
Elizabeth  ClarJc^  mother  of  Isaac  Clarkj  late  a  p^Hvate  in  Company  6', 
One  hundred  and  nineteenth  Regiment  of  Pennsylvania  VolunteerSy 
malce  the  following  report : 

Isaac  Clark  was  drafted  and  mustered  into  the  military  service  of  the 
United  States  as  a  private,  at  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  on  the  2d  day  of  Sep- 
tember, 1863 ;  was  placed-  in  Company  C,  One  hundred  and  nineteenth 
Begiment  of  Pennsylvania  Volunteers,  for  three  years  or  during  the  war, 
and  ^as  killed  in  battle  on  3d  May,  1864.  Thomas  Clark,  the  father  of 
the  soldier  and  husband  of  x>etitioner,  died  on  11th  January,  1866,  aged 
seventy-five  years.  He  was  poor  and  unable  to  support  himself  and  wife 
by  manual  labor.  It  is  clearly  proven  that  the  son  contributed  his  earn- 
ings while  in  the  Army,  and  before,  to  the  support  of  his  parents,  and  that 
they  chiefly  depended  upon  his  labor  for  their  living.  He  was  unmarried. 
The  application  of  the  mother  and  petitioner  for  pension  failed  at  the 
Pension  Bureau  because  the  records  in  tl\e  Adjutant-General's  Office 
show  that  a  charge  of  desertion  was  brought  against  the  soldier,  and 
that  on  court-martial  he  was  convicted  and  sentenced  to  forfeit  ten  dol- 
lars per  month  of  his  pay  for  six  months.  The  charge  is  that  the  said 
Isaac  Clark  did  desert  from  his  regiment  on  the  march,  near  Sulphur 
Springs,  in  Virginia,  on  the  16th  day  of  September,  1863,  and  did  remain 
absent  from  his  regiment  until  the  22d  day  of  September,  1863,  when  he 
was  returned  to  his  regiment  under  guard.  The  time  he  was  absent  from 
his  regiment  was  six  days,  the  greater  part  of  which  was  spent  in  his  trial. 
Capt.  A.  T.  Goodman,  who  commanded  Company  C,  says  of  the  soldier: 

Isaac  Clark  was  assigned  to  onr  command  in  1863,  after  Gettysbnrgh,  and  while  we 
were  lying  at  Warren  ton ,  Va.  When  we  started  on  the  march  to  the  Rappahannock 
River,  Clark  being  quite  yonng  and  unaccnstomed  to  marching,  straggled,  and  being 
captured  by  the  provost-guard  was  returned  to  our  headquarters.  I  was  of  course 
compelled  to  prefer  charges  against  him.  I  do  not  think  he  attempted  to  desert  in 
reality,  but  became  discouraged  and  dropped  behind,  intending  to  rejoin  us  at  the  first 
halt.  His  subsequent  conduct  proved  this,  as  I  remember  him  as  a  good  soldier,  dying 
at  his  post.  However,  his  sentence  remained ;  and  I  regret  this  the  more,  as  notwith- 
standing his  position  he  did  well  and  caused  no  further  trouble.  I  would  be  the  last 
one  to  attempt  to  shield  an  unworthy  soldier,  but  Clark  was  not  of  that  sort.    I  think 


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2  ELIZABETH   CLARK. 

of  him  only  as  a  qniet,  obodient  member  of  my  company ,  always  ready  for  daty,  and 
falling  at  last  at  his  post  in  an  engagement  into  which  we  were  suddenly  thrown,  and 
where  there  would  have  been  every  opportunity  for  him  to  shirk  or  evade  had  he  been 
so  disposed. 

The  proof  of  the  service  of  the  soldier  is  ample,  and  that  he  was 
the  chief  support  of  his  parents  is  also  clearly  established.  His  now 
widowed  mother  is  in  needy  circumstances,  is  aged,  and  unable  to  sap- 
port  herself  by  labor,  thus  having  been  baffled  and  delayed  in  obtain- 
ing justice.  There  is  every  reason  to  believe  that  the  finding  of  the 
court-martial  was  a  mistake  and  unjust,  and  an  impartial  view  of  the 
whole  case  and  its  unfortunate  surroundings  prompt  speedy  action  in 
wiping  out  the  stain  that  has  for  a  time  attached  to  the  name  and  mem- 
ory of  a  good  soldier  who  gave  his  life  to  his  country.  This  can  he 
done,  indirectly  it  is  true,  but  in  the  only  way  in  the  power  of  the  com- 
mittee, by  recommending  the  passage  of  the  act  granting  a  pension  to 
Elizabeth  Clark,  the  aged  and  dependent  mother  of  the  deceased 
soldier. 


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43d  CJongbess,  )     HOUSE  OF  EEPEESENTATIVES.       {  Eepobt 
l8t  Session,     f  \  No.  360. 


ELIZABETH  P.  THOMPSON. 


April  3,  ld74.-^Committcd  to  a  Committee  of  the  Whole  Honse  and  ordered  to  be 

printed. 


Mr.  Mabtik,  from  the  Committee  on  Invalid  Pensions,  submitted  the 

following 

REPORT: 

[To  accompany  biU  S.  316.J 

The  Conimitiee  on  Invalid  Pensions^  to  whom  teas  referred  the  hill 
(8. 316)  granting  a  pension  to  Elizabeth  F.  Thompson^  on  account  of  the 
death  of  Moses  Ooodtciny  private  Company  J,  Ninth  Regiment  Maine 
Volunteers^  an  adopted  son,  having  had  the  same  under  consideration^ 
respectfully  report : 

That  we  concur  in  the  action  of  the  Senate  committee,  report  back 
this  bill,  and  recommend  its  passage. 


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43d  Oonobess,  »      HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES.      /  Repom 
1st  Session,     f  \  No.  361. 


LLEWELLYN  BELL. 


Apbil  3, 1874. — Committed  to  a  Committee  of  tiie  Whole  House  and  ordered  to  be 

printed. 


Mr.  Martin,  from  the  Gommittee  on  Invalid  PenBions,  submitted  tbe 

following 

REPORT: 

[To  aeoompany  biU  H.  B.  2792.] 

Ike  Committee  on  Invalid  Pensions^  to  whom  was  referred  bill  (H.  R.  2262) 
granting  a  pension  to  Lleicellyn  Bell,  private  Company  0,  Thirty  third 
Ohio  Veteran  Volunteers^  having  considered  the  same^  make  tJie  following 
report : 

The  petitioner  was  on  detached  doty  as  blacksmith  at  the  headquar- 
ters of  Gen.  Jeflf.  0.  Davis,  and  while  performing  that  duty  was  fre- 
quently obliged  to  work  late  at  nights,  and  very  often  all  night,  when 
the  Army  was  on  the  march,  and  that  through  the  heat,  dust,  and  smoke, 
his  eyes  were  injured,  and  became  worse,  and,  as  a  final  result,  he  is 
totally  blind. 

fle  applied  for  a  pension,  but  his  claim  was  rejected  April  4,  1873, 
because  the  applicant  could  not  furnish  sufficient  evidence  to  establish 
the  fact  that  the  disease  of  the  eyes  was  contracted  in  the  service  and 
in  the  line  of  duty.  The  applicant  alleges  as  a  reason  why  he  could 
not  furnish  this  evidence,  that  this  affliction  occurred  but  a  short  time 
previous  to  the  muster-out  of  tbe  troops,  and  therefore  did  not  go  to  a 
hospital  for  treatment,  but  used  such  medicine  as  he  could  procure  at 
the  drugstore,  until  his  final  discharge,  when  he  could  go  home  and  re- 
ceive medical  treatment  and  care.  Hence  there  is  no  evidence  to  be 
obtained  from  a  hospital  for  treatment ;  and  being  away  from  his  com- 
pany on  detached  duty,  he  cau  furnish  no  evidence  from  any  of  the 
officers. 

The  evidence  submitted  in  support  of  this  claim  is  reliable,  and 
worthy  of  consideration. 

Dr.  Isaac  J.  Outh,  examining  surgeon,  in  his  examination  of  the  ap- 
plicant, Febrnary  28, 1873,  reports  him  totally  incapacitated  for  ob- 
taining his  subsistence  by  manual  labor,  and  that  in  his  opinion  the 
disability  did  originate  in  the  service  and  in  line  of  duty. 

Michael  Long,  a  comrade  on  duty  with  applicant,  also  testifies  that 
the  applicant  did  contract  the  disease  while  in  the  line  of  duty. 

Dr.  Joseph  F.  Thomas,  the  applicant's  physician,  under  oath,  makes 
the  following  statement,  which  is  attached  and  made  a  part  ot  this  re- 
port: 
State  op  Illinois,  Peoria  County,  m  .* 

Dr.  Joseph  F.  Thomas  beinz  sworn  according  to  law,  npon  his  oath  states  that  he  is 
now  a  resident  of  the  town  of  ChilUcothe,  in  the  connty  of  Peoria  and  State  of  Illinois, 
and  that  he  is  now,  and  has  been  for  over  21  years  last  past,  a  regular  practicing  phy  • 


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Z  LLEWELLYN   BELL. 

siciaD.  Affiant  further  states  that  he  is  well  acqnainted  with  one  Llewellyn  Belli 
who  is  also  a  resident  of  said  town  of  Chillicothe,  Illinois,  and  who  was  formerly  a  pri- 
vate in  Company  C  of  the  Thirty-third  Regiment  Ohio  Veteran  Volnnteers,  and  who 
wns  an  applicant  for  invalid  pension,  original  claim  No.  163732,  grounded  on  a  disa- 
bility arising  from  diarrhoea  and  sore  eyes,  from  the  effects  of  which  said  Bell  is  now 
totally  and  permanently  blind  in  both  eyes. 

Affiant  fnrther  stat^^s  that  he  has  known  said  Bell  well  since  abont  the  last  of  the 
month  of  July,  1865,  up  to  the  present  time,  and  that  when  he  first  became  acqnainted 
with  said  Bell  he  was  called  to  see  him  in  a  professional  way,  and  upon  inqniry  and 
investigation  he  found  said  Bell  suffering  under  a  disability  produced  by  diarrhoea  and 
sore  eyes,  and  that  from  the  time  he  first  became  acqnainted  with  said  Bell  as  afore- 
said he  began  to  prescribe  for  him,  for  each  of  said  diseases  or  causes  of  disability,  and 
that  he  continued  to  do  so  until  said  Bell  became  entirely  blind  in  both  eyes,  when 
he  ce-ised,  because  further  medical  attendance  for  said  sore  eyes  was  utterly  nseless 
and  entirely  hopeless. 

Affiant  further  states  that  if  said  Bell  was  discharged  from  the  service  on  the  12th 
day  of  July,  A.  D.  1(^65,  then  such  discharge  was  but  a  very  few  days  prior  to  the  time 
of  affiant's  becoming  acquainted  with  and  prescribing  for  said  Bell ;  and  that  at  that 
time  he  found  him  suffering  with  ucleration  of  the  cornea,  following  a  severe  and  pro- 
tracted attack  of  chronic  diarrhGBa. 

Affiant  further  states  that  the  eyes  of  said  Bell  continued  to  grow  worse  and  worse 
until  the  sight  of  the  right  eye  became  totally  destroyed  abont  the  year  1870,  leaving 
the  left  eye  seriously  impaired,  and  the  sight  in  which  oontinned  to  fail  him  until  on 
or  about  the  30th  day  of  March,  1871.  when,  from  acute  iuflammatiou,  the  eye-ball 
bursted,  and  since  when  said  Bell  has  been  and  is  now  permanently  and  totally  blind 
in  both  eyes. 

Affiant* further  states  that  he  was  formerly  a  major  in  the  Eighty  sixth  regiment  Illi- 
nois Infantry  Volunteers,  and  from  such  service  had  experience  of  the  causes  which 
produce  diseases  of  the  kind  and  nature  with  which  said  Bell  was  afflicted  ;  and  that 
from  such  ux]>erience  and  his  experience  in  the  practice  of  medicine  for  over  twenty- 
one  years,  and  from  the  condition,  looks,  and  symptoms  of  said  Bell  at  the  time  he  fii^t 
prescribed  for  him,  he  has  no  doubt,  and  here  gives  it  as  his  professional  opinion,  that 
said  Bell  contracted  said  disease  and  disability  while  in  the  service,  from  the  natural 
and  legitimate  exposures  thereof;  and  affiant  gives  it  as  his  professional  opinion,  and 
states  the  fact  to  be,  fonnded  on  said  opinion  and  experience,  was  contracted  by  said 
Bell  while  in  the  Army,  and  that  his  present  blindness  was  the  natural  and  unavoidable 
consequence  thereof. 

Affiant  further  states  that  said  Bell  is  a  man  addicted  to  no  habits  or  vices  of  an  in- 
teuiperate  or  immoral  nature,  which  were  calculated  to  produce,  prolong,  or  iu  any  way 
aggravat-e  said  disease;  and  that  present  loss  of  sight  was  not  in  any  way  caused  by 
any  such  habits,  but  the  same  was  contracted  iu,  and  caused  by  the  exposures  of,  the 
service. 

Affiant  fnrther  states  that  he  has  no  interest  whatever,  either  directly  or  indirectly, 
in  said  Bell's  application  for  pension,  nor  in  the  prosecution  thereof,  and  that  he  is  iu 
no  way  related  to  said  Bell,  either  by  marriage  or  otherwise. 

F.  THOMAS,  Jf.D. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  13th  day  of  February,  A.  D.  1874;  and  I  cer- 
tify that  affiant  is  personally  known  to  me  to  be  the  identical  pei-son  he  represents  him- 
self to  be,  and  that  he  is  an  old  citizen  of  this  county,  and  is  entitled  to  full  credit  and 
belief.  I  further  certify  that  he  is  a  regnlar  practicing  physician,  in  high  standing  with 
the  medical  fraternity  and  the  community  in  which  he  resides ;  and  I  further  certify 
that  I  have  no  interest  iu  this  claim  or  in  its  proseontion. 

GEO.  M.  DIXON, 
Notarn  FMie^  Peoria  CouuUf,  lUinoit, 

In  view  of  all  the  facts  submitted,  and  the  good  character  sustained, 
and  the  indorsement  of  leading  and  inflaential  citizens  well  acquainted 
with  the  applicant,  the  committee  are  of  the  opinion  that  this  is  a  mer- 
itorious case,  and  therefore  recommend  the  passage  of  the  accompany- 
ing substitute  ior  bills  H.  R.  22,  62. 


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43d  Congress,  )     HOUSE  OF  EEPEESENTATIVES.      (  REroRT 
l8t  Session.     ]  \  No.  362. 


ANNA  BEASEL. 


April  3, 1874. — Committed  to  a  Committee  of  the  Whole  House  and  ordered  to  be 

printed. 


Mr.  Martin,  from  the  Committee  on  Invalid  Pensions,  submitted  tlie 

following 

REPOET: 

[To  accompany  bill  H.  R.  2793.] 

The  Committee  on  Invalid  Pensions^  to  whom  was  referred  the  petition  of 
Anna  Bra^selj  widow  of  David  Brasel^  sergeant  in  Captain  Oordon^s 
Company^  Colonel  Nea^s  Regiment  Illinois  Mounted  Volunteers^  in  the 
Indian  war  of  1827,  tt)  correct  commencement  of  renewal  ofpension^  liav- 
ing  had  the  same  under  consideration^  respectfully  report : 

That  i>etitioner,  as  the  widow  of  said  David  Brasel,  was  pensioned 
under  the  act  of  Jaly  4, 1836,  at  the  rate  of  $4  per  month ;  that  she 
drew  the  pension  allowed  her  ander  said  act  up  to  the  expiration  of  the 
term  of  five  years  provided  for  in  said  act,  and  being  ignorant  of  the 
extension  of  the  same  by  subsequent  acts,  she  did  not  apply  for  renewal 
until  Jane,  1871,  and  that  in  May,  1872,  the  same  was  granted  at  the 
Tate  of  $8  per  month,  to  commence  June  19, 1871,  date  of  filing  appli- 
cation. The  honorable  Commissioner  of  Pensions,  In  his  letter  of  Feb- 
ruary 12,  1874,  transmitting  the  papers  to  this  committee,  states  '<  that 
there  was  no  law  in  existence  prior  to  February  3, 1853,  under  which 
8he  had  a  title  to  continuance  of  her  pension."  Your  committee  find 
that  the  provisions  of  the  act  of  July  4, 1836^  was  extended  and  re- 
enacted  by  act  of  March  3, 1843,  for  the  term  of  one  year;  by  act  of 
June  17,  1844,  for  the  term  of  four  years ;  was  again  extended  by  act  of 
July  21, 1848 ;  again  by  act  of  February  3, 1853 ;  and  by  the  act  of  June 
3, 1858,  the  same  was  extended  to  widows  during  life.  It  is  true  that 
petitioner  did  not  apply  for  a  renewal  of  pension  until  a  period  of  nearly 
thirty  years  had  elapsed,  but,  notwithstanding  this  fact,  her  right  to  the 
pension  existed  under  the  several  acts  cited,  and  was  at  no  time  during 
the  thirty  years  barred,  limited,  or  conditioned  by  subsequent  acts  reg- 
ulating the  payment  of  pensions.  The  honorable  Secretary  of  the  In- 
terior, in  his  decision  of  this  case  on  appeal,  admits  the  successive  ex- 
tension of  the  act  of  July  4, 1836,  to  this  date,  but  regards  the  appli- 
cation for  removal  as  an  original  application,  affirms  the  action  of  the 
•Commissioner  of  Pensions,  and  refers  to  section  nineteen  of  the  act  of 
March  3, 1873,  as  the  law  governing  this  case.  Your  committee  cannot 
regard  the  application  of  petitioner  for  renewal  of  pension  as  an  orig- 
inal, but,  on  the  contrary,  as  an  application  for  a  renewal  of  pension 
previously  granted  under  an  act  of  Congress  subsequently  extended 
and  finally  made  to  extend  during  life.  Section  nineteen  of  the  act  of 
March  3, 1873,  could  not  apply  to  her  case,  as  her  application  was  made 


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2  ANNA   BRASEL. 

iu  Jane,  1871,  nearly  two  years  before  this  section  became  a  law,  and,  if 
it  did,  the  proviso  to  said  section — which  reads  as  follows :  ''  That  no 
claim  allowed  prior  to  the  6th  day  of  June,  1866,  shall  be  aflfected  by 
anything  herein  contained"— clearly  relieves  her  from  the  provisions  of 
the  same. 

Your  committee,  after  carefully  considering  this  case,  fail  to  find 
any  law  to  sustain  either  the  decision  of  the  honorable  Secretary  of  the 
Interior  or  the  honorable  Commissioner  of  Pensions,  but  do  find  that 
petitioner  is  entitled  to  pension,  to  commence  on  the  4th  day  of  Jane, 
1841,  at.  $4  per  month,  to  the  25th  July,  1866,  and  from  that  date  at  $8 
per  month,  and  so  report-,  with  recommendation  in  favor  of  the  passage 
of  the  accompanying  bill. 


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43d  C0110BB88, 1    HOUSE  OF  BEPBBSENTATIYES.       i  Bbpobt 
Ut  Be$9Uni.     ]  \  So.  363. 


SGIOTHA  BBASHEABS. 


Atril  3, 1874. — Committed  to  a  Committee  of  the  Whole  H011M  and  ordered  to  he 

printed. 


Mr.  John  D.  Yoimo,  from  the  Committee  on  Invalid  Pensions,  submitted 

the  following 

REPORT: 

[To  aocompaoy  hill  8. 961.] 

The  Committee  on  Invalid  Pensions,  to  whom  was  referred  Senate 
bill  361,  granting  a  pension  to  Sdotha  Brashears.  of  Kentucky,  having 
ocmsid^ed  the  report  of  ttie  Senate  and  finding  the  same  correct,  report 
the  bill  back  without  amendment  and  recommend  its  passage. 


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43»  OONOBESS,  I      HOUSE  OF  EEPEESENTATIVES.     /  Ebpobt 
Ut  ae89um.     i  \  No.  364. 


ADB  H.  Mcdonald. 


April  3, 1^4. — Committed  to  the  Committee  of  the  Whole  Hoase  and  ordered  to  be 

printed. 


Mr.  John  D.  Young,  from  the  Committee  on  Invalid  Pensions,  submit- 
ted the  following 

REPORT: 

[To  accompany  bill  H.  R.  599.] 

Ihe  Committee  an  Invalid  Pensions^  to  whom  was  referred  the  bill  (H.  B, 
599 J  for  the  relief  of  Ade  H.  McDonald ^  of  liashville^  Tenn.^  and  the 
accompanying  papers,  have  had  the  same  under  consideration^  and  beg 
leave  to  report : 

That  the  late  husband  of  the  petitioner,  Colonel  Charles  McDonald, 
entered  the  United  States  service  in  the  Eighth  Missouri  Infantry,  in 
which  he  served  as  captain,  and  after  nearly  three  years'  service,  having 
been  promoted  for  bravery  and  good  conduct,  he  resigned  on  account 
of  sickness,  and  settled  in  Memphis,  Tenn.  That  on  the  20th  of 
JaDuary,  1864,  General  Sherman  issued  special  field-order  No.  6,  for 
the  formation  of  a  brigade  of  four  regiments  of  loyal  citizens  of  Mem- 
phis, one  of  which  was  commanded  by  Colonel  Charles  McDonald,  and 
this  brigade  did  protect  and  defend  the  city — at  one  time  driving  the 
rebel  General  Forest  out  of  the  city  when  he  attacked  it,  enabling  Gen- 
eral Sherman  to  take  away  a  full  division  of  troops  and  use  them  on 
the  Atlantic  campaign. 

That  in  December,  1864,  General  Dana,  post-commander,  called  out 
this  regiment  for  inspection,  and  as  Colonel  McDonald  came  in  front  of 
the  colors  his  horse,  a  high-spirited  animal,  became,  from  fright,  it  is 
supposed,  unmanageable  and  slipped,  fell  on  his  right  side,  can:yinghis 
rider  with  him,  dashing  him  head  first  upon  the  ground,  then  falling  or 
rolling  upon  him,  and  killing  him  almost  instantly. 

General  Sherman,  in  a  long  letter  giving  the  reasons  for  organizing 
this  ^^ home-guard,"  and  explaining  its  service,  writes:  ^<  And  accord- 
ingly I  issued  my  order  No.  6,  and  under  its  provisions  four  good  regi- 
ments were  raised,  which  afterward  fulfilled  perfectly  the  purpose 
designed."  ^'  The  regiments  were  called  out  for  inspection  by  the  post- 
commander.  Gen.  W.  P.  J.  Dana,  some  time  in  December,  1864,  when 
the  ground  was  frozen  and  slippery,  and  Col.  Charles  McDonald,  the 
commanding  officer  of  one  of  the  regiments,  was  killed  outright  by  the 
fall  of  his  horse.  The  regiment  was  on  duty  in  the  strict  military  sense." 
"  By  defending  their  homes  they  also  defended  the  Mississippi  Biver, 
which  was  a  military  object  of  the  first  importance ;  and,  moreover,  they 
enabled  me  to  take  from  that  point  a  good  volunteer  division,  which 
was  absolutely  needed  in  the  Atlanta  and  Savannah  campaigns." 
Alluding  to  the  widow's  application  for  pension,  the  General  continues : 
^^  It  does  seem  to  me  the  case  appeals  to  the  generous  and  charitable 
consideration  of  Congress.    Colonel  McDonald  was  young,  in  the  very 


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2  ADE   H.    m'dONALD. 

prime  of  life;  had  served  in  the  Army,  under  my  eye  at  Shiloh,  Corinth, 
Memphis,  and  Yicksburgh,  for  three  years,  and  had  then  married,  settled 
in  Memphis,  and  was  in  the  prosecntion  of  a  lucrativ.e  business :  bat 
when  I  called  for  this  special  service  he  reported  with  alacrity  and  lost 
his  life.  I  beg  that  you  will  use  this  paper  in  such  a  way  as  will  best 
serve  the  purposes  of  Mrs.  McDonald  and  her  child.  I  am  sure  that  the 
troops  organized  under  these  my  lawful  orders  were  the  cheapest  troops 
that  served  in  the  United  States  in  all  the  war." 

Your  committee  unanimously  recommend  the  passage  of  the  bill  for 
the  relief  of  the  petitioner,  to  take  effect  from  the  date  of  its  passage. 


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43d 'Congress,  \    HOUSE  OF  EEPRESENTATIYES.         (  Report 
Ut  Seitsion.     ]  \  Ko.  365. 


BIGSBY  E.  DODSOK 


April  3, 1874.— Ordered  to  be  printed. 


Mr.  John  D.  Young,  from  the  Committee  on  Invalid  Pensions,  submit- 
ted the  following 

llEPORT: 

[To  accompany  biU  H.  E.  1713.] 

The  Committee  on  Invalid  Pensions^  to  whom  was  referred  the  hill  {H.  E. 
1713) /or  the  relief  of  Bigsby  E.  BodsoUj  liaving  considered  the  same^  make 
the  following  report  : 

The  petitioner  was  a  private  in  the  First  United  States  Dragoons, 
and  discharged  the  service  December  4, 1835,  for  inguinal  hernia,  ana 
applied  for  pension  February  15, 1860.  The  claim  was  allowed  March 
21,  I86O9  at  $8  per  month  &om  date  of  filing  his  application.  The  pen- 
sion, as  allowed,  has  been  paid  him  jsince  that  date,  excepting  from  Sep- 
tember 4, 1867,  until  July  21, 1868,  during  which  period  he  was  employed 
as  an  acting  assistant  surgeon,  united  States  Army.  He  now  applies 
for  arrears  of  invalid  pension  for  twenty-five  years  prior  to  the  18th  day 
of  June,  1860,  amounting  to  $2,418.77. 

On  examination  of  the  case,  the  committee  can  see  no  reason  why  the 
prayer  of  the  petitioner  should  be  granted,  and  therefore  report  ad- 
versely, and  ask  to  be  discharged  from  the  further  consideration  of  the 


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43d  GOKOBB88, )     HOUSE  OF  BEPBBSENTATIYES.      i  Repobt 
Ui  Ses9ion.     i  \  No.366. 


OHBISTIAlirA  BAILBY. 


April  3, 1874.— Committed  to  a  Committee  of  the  Wliole  Honae  and  ordered  to  be 

printed. 


Mr.  Ghbibtophbb  Y.  Thomas,  from  the  Committee  on  Invalid  PensionB, 
submitted  the  following 

REPORT: 

[To  aooompany  bm  8. 548.] 

The  Committee  on  Invalid  Pensions,  to  whom  was  referred  the  bill 
(S.  M8)  granting  a  pension  to  Christiana  Bailey,  having  considered  the 
same,  eoncnr  in  the  Senate  report,  and  report  back  the  bill  withoat 
amendment,  and  recommend  that  it  do  pass. 


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43d  Congress,  \     HOUSE  OF  EEPEESENTATIVES.      i  Report 
lit  Session.     J  )  No.  367. 


ELIZABETH  WOLF. 


April  ;?,  1^74. — Committed  to  a  Committee  of  the  Whole  House  aud  ordered  to  be 

printed. 


Mr.  Thomas,  from  the  Committee  ou  Invalid  Pensions,  submitted  the 

following 

REPORT: 

[To  accompany  WU  H.  R.  2794.1 

The  Committ4i€  on  Invalid  Pensions^  to  whom  teas  referred  tlie  petition  of 
Elizabeth  Wolf  widow  of  John  F.  Wolf  asking  a  pension^  submit  the 
follofcing  report : 

The  evidence  in  this  case  discloses  the  following  facts :  That  the  hus- 
band (John  F.  Wolf)  was  a  private  in  Company  D,  Third  Maryland 
Volunteers,  in  the  service  of  the  United  States  during  the  war  of  the 
late  rebellion,  and  was,  on  the  21st  of  August,  18G2,  while  in  the  line 
of  duty,  severely  wounded  at  Beverly  Ford,  in  the  State  of  Virginia, 
and  taken  prisoner  by  the  rebels;  that  shortly  thereafter  he  was 
paroled  and  transferred  to  the  Veteran  Reserve  Corps,  and  died  at 
barracks  in  the  city  of  Washington  in  March,  1864,  leaving  a  widow 
and  three  minor  children.  The  only  question  in  the  case  is  as  to  the 
cause  of  his  death. 

The  Commissioner  of  Pensions  rejected  her  application  the  25th  of 
October,  1866,  upon  certificate  of  the  Surgeon-General  showing  he  died 
of  delirium  tremens ;  affirmed  his  decision  in  May,  1869,  and,  passing 
upon  the  affidavits  subsequently  filed,  re-affirmed  the  decision  in  Octo- 
ber, 1869.    No  evidence  has  been  taken  since  that  date. 

The  affidavits  show  that  John  F.  Wolf  was  a  faithful  and  courageous 
soldier ;  that  his  wound  was  caused  by  the  explosion  of  a  shell,  which 
wounded  him  so  severely  in  his  side  that  he  was  left  upon  the  field  as 
dead ;  that  he  was  a  very  temperate  man  while  in  the  service,  and,  in 
their  opinion,  died  from  the  effects  of  the  wound,  though  it  does  not  ap- 
pear that  either  of  the  affiants  was  present  when  he  died. 

In  view  of  all  the  facts,  the  committee  are  of  the  opinion  that  the 
record-evidence  is  incorrect,  and  that  the  petitioner  is  entitled  to  a  pen- 
sion, and  recommend  the  passage  of  the  bill. 


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43d  Gonobess,  >     HOUSE  OP  EEPKESENTATIVE8.     i  Report 
lit  Session,     i  }  Ko.  368. 


JAMES  N.  CARPENTER. 


April  3, 1874.— Ordered  to  be  printed. 


Mr.  John  B.  Hawley,  from  the  Committee  on  Claims,  submitted  the 

following 

K E  P OB, T : 

The  Committee  on  Claims^  to  whom  teas  referred  the  petition  of  James  N. 
Carpenter^  praying  compensation  for  the  loss  of  certain  slaves^  eman- 
cipated under  the  act  approved  April  16,  1862,  and  entitled  "An  a^t  for 
the  release  of  certain  persons  held  to  service  or  labor  in  the  District  of 
Columbiaj^  having  had  tJie  same  un^er  consideration,  present  the  following 
report  : 

The  committee  are  of  the  opinion  that  whatever  may  have  been  the 
rights  of  the  claimant  ander  the  said  act  of  April  16, 1S62,  such  rights 
were  taken  away  by  virtue  of  the  fourth  section  of  the  fourteenth  article 
of  amendment  to  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States. 

That  section  reads  as  follows :  "  But  neither  the  United  States  nor 
any  State  shall  assume  or  pay  any  debt  or  obligation  incurred  in  aid  of 
insurrection  or  rebellion  against  the  United  States,  or  any  claim  for 
the  loss  or  emancipation  of  any  slaves ;  but  all  such  debts,  obligations, 
and  claims  shall  be  held  illegal  and  void." 

Your  committee  do,  therefore,  ask  to  be  discharged  from  the  further 
consideration  of  said  claim,  and  recommend  that  said  petition  do  lie  on 
the  table. 


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43d  Congress,  >     HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES.      (  Report 
lit  Sesrian.     f  \  ^o-  ^69. 


RAFAEL  MADRAZO. 


Amu.  3, 1674.— Committed  to  a  Committee  of  the  Whole  House  and  ordered  to  be 

printed. 


Mr.  John  B.  Hawley,  from  the  Committee  on  Claims,  submitted  the 

following 

EEPORT: 

[To  accompany  biU  H.  R.  2796.] 

The  Committee  on  Claims^  to  tchom  teas  referred  the  petition  of  Rafael 
MadrazOj  for  compensation  for  the  wrongful  capture  by  the  United  States 
of  the  bark  Teresita^  present  the  following  report ; 

That  the  bark  Teresita  was  a  Spanish  vessel  owned  by  Rafael  Mad- 
razo,  the  claimant,  and  was  captured  on  the  16th  of  November,  1863, 
by  the  United  States  steamer  Granite  City,  upon  the  supposition  that 
she  was  lying  in  interdicted  waters.  She  had  sailed  from  Havana  loaded 
with  sugars  and  raisins,  on  a  voyage  to  Matamoras  and  back,  and  had 
completed  one-half  of  the  voyage  when  taken. 

On  the  16th  day  of  December,  1863,  she  was  libeled  in  the  district 
court  of  the  United  States  for  the  eastern  district  of  Louisiana,  and 
upon  the  trial  of  said  cause,  and  on  the  30th  day  of  March,  1864,  judg- 
ment was  rendered  against  the  United  States  and  in  favor  of  said  claim- 
ant in  said  cause,  upon  the  ground  that  at  the  time  of  capture  said  bark 
Teresita  vas  in  Mexican  waters,  or  if  in  the  waters  of  the  United  States 
it  was  without  design,  and  solely  by  reason  of  the  force  of  the  winds 
and  currents  which  had  forced  said  vessel  from  her  anchorage  in  Mexi- 
can waters.  Said  cause  was  appealed  by  the  United  States  to  the  Su- 
preme Court  of  the  United  States,  and  the  judgment  of  the  district 
court  was  affimed.  Chief  Justice  Cha>se,  in  rendering  the  opinion  of  the 
Supreme  Court,  said :  ^^  The  decree  of  restitution  must' be  affirmed,  and 
we  shall  direct  the  costs  and  expenses  to  be  paid  by  the  captors.''  (5 
Wallace,  p.  180.) 

It  also  appears  from  the  proofs  in  this  case  that,  during  the  pendency 
of  said  proceedings  in  court,  said  bark  "Teresita'' was  sold  by  the 
order  of  said  district  court,  and  the  proceeds  of  said  sale,  amounting 
to  the  sum  of  $10,359.20,  were,  by  the  order  of  said  court,  deposited  by 
the  marshal  of  said  district  in  the  First  National  Bank  of  New  Orleans, 
and  that  shortly  thereafter  said  bank  failed.  The  committee  find  that 
said  claimant  received  from  said  bank,  on  account  of  said  sale,  between 
three  and  four  thousand  dollars,  and  that  the  balance  is  still  due  him. 
A  bill  for  his  relief  was  unanimously  reported  from  the  Committee  on 
Appropriations  of  this  House  in  the  last  Congress,  and  passed  the  House, 
providing  for  the  payment  to  said  claimant  of  the  amount  of  said  sale, 
less  the  amount  received  by  him  from  said  bank  ]  and  your  committee 
report  the  accompanying  bill  for  the  same  purpose,  and  recommend  its 
passage. 


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43d  Congeess,  >     HOUSE  OF  EEPBBSENTATIVES.     (  Report 
ist  Seatnon.      ]  \  No.  370. 


JAMES  W.  BOWEN. 


April  3,  1874. — Committed  to  a  Committee  of  the  Whole  Hoase  and  ordered  to  be 

printed. 


Mr.  Shoemaker,  from  the  Committee  on  Claims,  sabmitted  the  follow- 
ing 

REPORT: 

[To  accompany  bm  H.  R.  1207.] 

The  Committee  on  Claims^  to  whom  was  referred  the  hill  (H,  B.  1207)  for  the 
rdief  of  James  W.  BoweUj  late  provost-marshal  of  the  tenth  congressional 
district  of  Pennsylvania^  respectfully  report: 

It  appears,  from  the  papers  sabmitted  in  this  case,  that  while  peti' 
tioner  was  acting  as  provost-marshal,  in  October,  1864,  one  Andrew  B* 
Newgart  was  drafted  to  serve  in  the  United  States  Army.  The  drafted 
man  proenred  his  brother  Simon  to  go  as  his  substitute.  The  s^d  Simon 
was  duly  mastered  into  the  service,  and  was  granted  a  ftirloagh  of  ten 
days  before  joining  his  regiment  The  said  Simon  failed  to  make  his 
appearance  at  the  expiration  of  his  furlough,  and  was  marked  as  a  de- 
serter on  the  rolls.  The  petitioner  caused  Jacob  Newgart,  the  father  of 
said  Simon,  to  be  arrested  on  the  charge  of  aiding  and  abetting  the  de- 
sertion, and  detained  him  in  the  guard-house  for  one  or  two  days.  While 
thus  under  arrest  Jacob  Newgart  paid  petitioner  $625  to  procure  a  sub- 
stitute for  Simon.  The  said  Jacob  afterward  brought  suit  in  the.  court 
of  common  pleas  in  the  tenth  district  of  Pennsylvania  against  petitioner 
for  the  sam  so  paid  under  duress,  and  recovered  judgment  for  $800  and 
costs.  As  it  is  presumed  all  the  facts  in  the  transaction  were  before 
the  court  on  the  trial  of  the  case,  and  that  defendant  had  a  fair  trial  on 
the  law  and  the  facts,  your  committee  fail  to  see  any  reason  why  the 
jodgment  and  costs  should  be  paid  out  of  the  Treasury  of  the  United 
States. 

The  committee  therefore  report  back  the  bill,  with  the  recommenda- 
tion that  the  same  do  lie  on  the  table. 


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43d  Ooi^aBESS,  \     HOUSE  OF  REPEESENTATIVE8.      /  Report 
iMi  Session.     )  t  No.  371. 


WILLIAM  PELHAM. 


.\j»Rii.  3,  1874.— Committed  to  a  Committee  of  the  Whole  House  and  ordered  to  be 

printed. 


Mr.  Eden,  from  the  Committee  on  Claims,  submitted  the  following 

REPORT: 

[To  accompany  bill  H.  R.  1370.] 

The  Committee  on  Claims^  to  ichom  was  referred  the  bill  (H.  E.  1370)  for 
^e  relief  of  William  Pelhamj  have  had  the  same  under  consideration^  and 
beg  leave  to  report : 

That,  according  to  the  letter  of  the  Commissioner  of  the  General  Land- 
Office,  bearing  date  December  17, 1873,  directed  to  Hon.  John  Hancock, 
which  letter  is  made  a  part  of  the  report,  there  is  due  claimant,  as  late 
surveyor-general  of  New  Mexico,  the  "  sum  of  $518.90,  which  covers  all 
his  expenditures  for  the  quarter  ending  June  30, 1860.  This  amount 
was  paid  by  him  as  appears  from  the  suspended  vouchers  now  on  the  flies 
of  this  office.  There  being  no  fund,  however,  applicable  to  the  payment 
of  this  claim,  the  only  redress  Mr.  Pelham  has  is  to  apply  to  Congress 
for  relief." 

Xour  committee  therefore  report  back  the  bill  with  a  recommendation 
that  it  do  pass. 


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«D  CoNaBESS,  (     HOUSE  OP  REPRESENTATIVES.      /  Report 
Ut  Session,     f  \  No.  372. 


P.  A.  STONE. 


April  3, 1874.— Ordered  to  be  printed. 


Mr.  Eden,  from  the  Committee  on  Claims,  submitted  the  following 

REPORT: 

The  Cofnmittee  on  Claims,  to  whom  was  referred  the  memorial  of  F.  A. 
Stone  J  claiming  compensation  for  services  in  the  office  of  Public  Buildings  j 
ChroundSj  and  Works^  with  the  officer  in  charge^  have  had  the  same  und^^ 
considerationj  and  beg  leave  to  report: 

That  the  memorialist  claims  pay  at  the  rate  of  $150  per  month,  a^ 
assistant  to  the  engineer  in  charge,  from  Jannary  1, 1870,  to  October  1, 
1870,  amounting  to  $1,350.  It  is  alleged  by  the  memorialist  that  he 
performed  the  service  and  was  not  paid,  for  the  reason  that  there  was  no 
appropriation. 

In  reply  to  a  letter,  calling  upon  the  Pirst  Comptroller  of  the  Treasury 
for  information  as  to  the  justice  of  this  claim,  that  officer  says,  under 
date  of  February  10, 1874 : 

Kr.  Stone's  name  does  not  appear  on  the  rolls  or  accoants  returned  to  the  office  by 


General  Michler  durine  the  period  for  which  he  claims  pay.  General  Michler  always 
had  moneys  advanced  to  bim  to  pay  all  expenses  which  he  was  aathorized  to  incur, 
and  I  have  no  reason  for  doubting  that  he  paid  his  employ^.    I  have  also  to  inform 


you,  that  by  the  pay-rolls  returned  by  General  Michler,  and  allowed  to  him  in  his  ac- 
oonnts,  P.  r.  Bums  appears  to  have  been  employed  and  paid  as  superintendent  for  the 
months  of  February,  March,  April,  June,  July,  September,  October,  and  December,  1870. 

Tour  committee  therefore  report  adversely  on  the  claim,  and  ask  to 
be  discharged  from  its  further  consideration. 


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43d  CoNaEESS,  >    HOUSE  OP  BBPEESBNTATIVE8.      /  Eepoet 
1st  /Session.     J  '  )  No-  373. 


JACOB  P.  CLARK. 


April  3,  1874.— Ordered  to  be  printed. 


Mr.  Eden,  from  the  Committee  on  Claims,  submitted  the  following 

REPORT: 

[To  aooompany  biU  H.  R.  1642.] 

The  Committee  on  Claims^  to  whom  teas  referred  the  bill  {H.  B.  1642)  for 
the  relief  of  Jacob  P.  Clarkj  have  had  the  same  under  consideration^  and 
beg  leave  to  report : 

That  the  claimant  was  register  of  the  United  States  land-office  at 
Olympia,  Wash.,  from  July  1, 1869,  to  June  1, 1873 ;  and  that  during  his 
term  of  service  he  paid  out  various  sums  of  money  for  clerk-hire  and 
office-rent,  with  which  the  prox>er  Department  refused  to  credit  him  on 
settlement. 

In  a  letter  from  the  Commissioner  of  the  General  Land-Office,  bear- 
ing date  September  13, 1872,  the  register  and  receiver  of  the  land-office 
at  Olympia  are  notified  that  they  [you]  <<  wlU  therefore  omit  the  item 
in  your  disbursing  account  I  referring  to  the  item  for  rent]  for  the  pres- 
ent quarter,  inasmuch,  as  it  charged  up  therein,  it  will  be  rejected  in 
the  adjustment  of  your  accounts." 

This  instruction  of  the  Commissioner  was  based  on  a  very  correct  de- 
cision of  the  Department,  that,  under  the  law,  registers  and  receivers, 
only  in  consolidated  districts,  were  entitled  to  office-rent.  The  Com- 
missioner also,  by  letter  to  Mr.  Clark,  under  date  of  October  6,  1873, 
declined  to  allow  him  for  clerk-hire,  as  well  as  rent,  for  the  reason  that 
'<  there  was  no  authority  of  law  by  which  he  could  authorize  or  allow 
any  of  the  expenditures  named." 

The  claimant  alleges  that  when  he  went  into  office  the  business  ^^  was 
largely  in  arrears  in  consequence  of  a  great  number  of  suspended 
entries,  Ac,"  hence  the  necessity  of  employing  clerks.  It  is  only  in 
case  of  consolidated  land-offices  that  the  law  authorizes  the  employment 
of  clerks  under  any  circumstances,  and  when  thus  appointed  it  must  be 
done  with  the  approval  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior.  This  was  but 
a  single  office,  and  the  employment  of  clerks  was  not  approved  by  the 
Secretary  of  the  Interior.  Your  committee,  therefore,  report  back  the 
bill,  with  the  recommendation  that  it  do  not  pass. 


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fiD  OONGBESS, )      HOUSE  OP  EBPEESENTATIVES.     /  Eepoet 
ht  Setsian.     f  \  Ko.  374. 


WILLIAM  E.  BOND. 


April  3, 1874. — Ordered  to  be  printed. 


Hr.  Eden,  from  the  Committee  on  Claims,  submitted  the  following 

REPORTr 

The  Committee  on  Claimsj  to  whom  was  referred  House  hill  No.  283,  have 
had  the  same  under  consideration^  and  beg  leave  to  report : 

That  it  appears  from  the  evidence  that  the  claimant  was  collector  of 
internal  revenue  for  the  first  district  of  North  Carolina,  from  November, 
1866,  to  June,  1869 ;  and  that  during  said  time  claimant,  as  such  collect- 
or, took  checks  and.  drafts  for  the  sum  of  $1^01451  in  payment  of  taxes 
dae  from  one  McMahan,  who  was  in  failing  circumstances,  and  returned 
Raid  taxes  as  collected  and  settled  with  the  proper  Department  accord- 
ingly. Afterward  one  draft  for  $398.50  was  protested  for  non-payment, 
and  the  claimant  could  not  collect  the  money  out  of  McMahan,  and  lost 
that  amount.  The  evidence  tends  to  show  that  if  the  collector  had  not 
taken  the  drafts  the  tax  could  not  have  been  collected. 

In  reply  to  an  inquiry  as  to  the  propriety  of  paying  this  claim,  the 
Commissioner  of  Internal  Bevenue,  under  date  of  March  4, 1874,  says: 
*'  In  reply  I  would  state  that,  pending  tlie  settlement  of  his  accounts 
as  late  collector,  William  E.  Bond  presented  a  claim  to  this  office  for  the 
amount  above  stated,  which  was  disallowed,  for  the  reason  that  a  col- 
lector of  internal  revenue  has  no  authority  to  receive  in  payment  of 
taxes  anything  but  current  money,  and  if  he  takes  checks  or  drafts,  he- 
does  it  solely  at  his  own  risk.  This  rule  has  been  uniformly  adhered 
to  by  the  Department,  as  any  deviation  therefrom  would  result  in  great 
loss  to  the  Government." 

Whatever  hardship  may  result  in  individual  cases  from  this  rule, 
your  committee  deem  the  enforcement  of  the  same,  under  all  circum- 
stances, of  such  importance  that  they  are  not  willing  to  depart  from 
the  same  in  this  instance ;  they  therefore  report  the  bill  to  the  House 
with  a  recommendation  that  it  do  not  pass. 


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43d  Congbbss,  i      HOUSE  OF  REPEESENTATIVES.     (  Report 
Ut  Session,     f  \  No.  375. 


HENEY  FDLINWIDER. 


April  3, 1874. — Ordered  to  be  printed. 


Mr.  Eden,  from  the  Committee  on  Claims,  submitted  the  following 

KEPORT: 

[To  accompaDy  biU  H.  R.  289.] 

The  Committee  an  ClaimSj  to  tchom  was  referred  the  Mil  {H.  JR.  289)  for 
the  relief  of  the  heirs  of  Henry  FuUnwider^  deceased^  have  had  the  same 
under  consideration^  and  beg  leave  to  report : 

That  the  evidence  shows  that  Henry  Fnlinwider  was  contractor  to 
carry  the  mail  on  route  number  7002,  in  the  State  of  Alabama,  at 
$65,000  per  year,  for  and  during  the  term  commencing  the  1st  day  of 
July,  1860,  for  and  ending  on  the  30th  day  of  June,  A.  D.  1862.  It  further 
appears  that  mail-service  was  performed  on  said  route  until  the  31st 
day  of  May,  1861,  when  it  was  suspended  by  order  of  the  Postmaster- 
General,  on  account  of  the  insurrection  then  prevailing  in  the  State 
of  Alabama.  It  further  appears  that,  on  the  23d  day  of  February,  A. 
D.  1861,  Henry  Fulinwider  died.  The  amount  claimed,  as  the  baLance 
due  under  the  contract,  is  $10,892.85;  all  of  which  is  for  service  ren- 
dered after  the  death  of  Mr.  Fulinwider,  and  alJL  or  nearly  all,  of  which 
accrued  after  the  attempted  secession  of  the  State  of  Alabama,  and 
when  insurrection  against  the  authority  of  the  United  States  Govern- 
ment was  prevailing  in  the  region  covered  by  said  mail-route. 

There  is  no  evidence  before  the  committee  showing  by  whom,  or  under 
what  circumstances,  the  mail-service  was  performed  after  the  death  of 
Mr.  Fulinwider ;  or  whether  the  same  was  done  under  the  authority  of, 
and  in  subordination  to,  the  Government  of  the  United  States,  or  under 
the  assumed^authority  of  the  insurgent  government  then  at  war  with 
the  United  States.  Under  the  known  circumstances  then  existing  in 
that  section,  the  presumption,  in  the  absence  of  evidence  on  that  point, 
is,  that  the  postal  service  on  the  route  at  the  time  was  rendered  under 
the  authority  of  the  insurgent  authorities,  and  that  the  revenues  were 
paid  to  them.  Your  committee  therefore  report  back  the  bill  with  the 
recommendation  that  it  do  not  pass. 


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43d  Goxobess,  )      HOUSE  OF  EBPEBSENTATIVES.      (  Report 
Ut  Session,     i  \  No.  376. 


J.  &.  T.  GREEN. 


April  3, 1874.— Ordered  to  be  printed. 


Mr.  LA.WBENGE,  from  the  Committee  on  War-Olaims,  submitted  the 

folio  wiDg 

REPORT: 

The  Commute  on  War- Claims^  to  whom  was  referred  the  claim  of  J.  & 
T.  Oreen^  of  Ja^cksonj  Miss.j  submit  the  following  report :. 

That  J.  &  T.  GreeUi  of  JacksoD,  Miss.,  have  presented  a  claim  as 
follows : 

Account  of  property  hehnging  to  J.  <f  1\  Greeny  of  Jackson^  Mis8.t  destroyed  hy  order  of 
the  commanding  general  of  the  United  States  Jrmy^  and  of  money  and  bonds  taken  from 
their  banking-house  by  the  same  authority : 

A.— Property  Destroyed. 

CottoD  factory,  including  the  main  bnilding,  engine-room,  and  dreiising- 
room,  with  engine,  woolen  and  cotton  preparation,  carding,  spinning, 

dremiojg,  and  weaving  machinery  complete $112,500  00 

W  O  B — ^Tools  and  findings  for  said  factory,  viz  :  carpenter  and  machin- 
ists' tools,  steel,  iron,  brass,  copper,  dye-stufis,  calf  and  sheep  skins, 
French  leftther,  finished  rollers,  bobbins  and  spools,  and  factory  over- 
seer's tools 6,000  00 

W  O  B— Cotton  yam  on  spools,  bobbins  on  warp  and  loom-beams  and  in 

looms,  19,600  pounds,  at  $1.30 25,480  00 

W  O  B— 7-8  LowelU,  4,650  yards,  at  $1.50 6,^75  00 

W  O  B-4-^  LoweUs,  775  yards,  at  $1.75 1,356  25 

W  O  B— 4-4  woolen  goods,  3,508  yards,  at  $3.50 12,278  00 

Cotton,  730  bales,  each  515  pounds,  375,950  pounds,  at  $1.20 451, 140  00 

Cotton  yarn  in  bundles  in  mill,  50  bundles,  250  pounds,  at  $1.30 325  00 

Cotton,  carded,  stock  of  roving,  dressing-frames,  and  lint-room,  2,000 

pounds,  at  $1.30 2,600  00 

66  hogsheads  of  sugar  in  factory  and  warehouse,  averaging  1,100  pounds 

per  hogshead,  72,600  pounds,  at  5  cents 36,300  00 

16  casks  of  rice  in  factory  and  warehouses,  averaging  625  pounds  per  cask, 

10,000  pounds,  at  18  cents 1,800  00 

Bacon  in  factory  and  warehouse,  about  5,000  pounds,  at  75  cents 3, 750  00 

Com  in  ooru-house,  from  1,000  to  1,500  bushels,  say  1,250  bushels,  at  $1.50.  1, 875  00 

Com-meal  in  factory,  two  bacon-casks  full,  say  30  bushels,  at  $1.75 52  50 

Beans  in  factory,  one  rice-cask  full,  say  10  bushels,  at  $3 30  00 

W  0  B— Lard  in  factory,  two  pork-barrels  full,  say  560  pounds,  at  $1 660  00 

^  0  B— Lard-oil,  two  barrels  in  dressing-room,  each  40  gallons,  80  gallons, 

at$10 : f. L... 800  00 

W  O  B— Southern  machine-oil  in  dressing-room,  three  barrels,  each  40 

gallons,  120  gallons,  at  $5 600  00 

Nails,  6  kegs,  600  pounds,  at  $1.25 750  00 

^fOOO  pounds  washed  wool  in  wool-house,  at  $2 : 40,000  00 

12  dozen  assorted  files,  at  $20 240  00 

i>000  corn-sacks,  li  yards  Lowells  in  each,  at  $2.50 2, 500  00 

I  engine  and  saw-mill  complete  and  carrying-wagon 3,000  00 


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2  J.    &    T.    GRKEy. 

Out-l)uildiDg8,  iDcltiding  cotton-Bheds,  wool  dr\  iu^  and storiBg  house,  oom- 
house,  warehouBe,  overseer'B  honse,  operatives'  c  a  bins,  framing  for  new 
factory  building,  doors,  windows,  stabler,  die.  as  per  D.  Daley's  (baild- 

er's)  affidavit,  including  carpenters' tools $8,450  00 

7,000  pounds  fodder,  at  |20  per  thoosand 140  00 

1  barrel  spirits  of  turpentine,  40  gallons,  at  ^V..> 100  00 

Total 719,601  75 

[Int  roT.  stamp,  cert] 

B.— Money  ani>  j  im»s  taken. 

The  United  States  of  America  to  J.  A  T.  Green,  Dr. 

1863. 
May  15.— For  funds  takeii  from  the  vault  of  .1 .  ik  T.  Qreen% 

banking-house,  as  per  receipt  of  Lieut.  Col.  J.  W. 

Jefferson,  United  States  Axmy^  provo^t-maiBbii], 

one  package  containing  confederate  bonds $2, 000  00 

May  15.— One  package  containing  confederate  uotes 2, 300  00 

May  15.— One  package  containing  confederate  notes 1, 900  00 

May  15.—  One  package  containing  confederate  bonds 2, 700  00 

May  15. — One  package  containing  confederate  bonds 1, 250  00 

May  15. — One   package  containing   conflsderate  bonds   and 

notes 114,700  00 

May  15.— One  package  containing  confederate  notes 22, 000  00 

Total  confederate 146,850  00 

Less  33i^  per  cent,  for  assessed  valuation 48, 950  00 

97.900  00 

May  15.— One  package  containing  ^ood  fundn 144,700  00 

May  J5.— Texas  indemnity  bonds,  m  tin  boxe:;. 20,000  00 

Total  amount  in  par  fnndA  due 262,600  00 

[Int  reT.  stamp,  cert] 


Jackson,  Mibs.,  ifay  15, 1863. 

Received  from  Messrs.  J.  dt  T.  Green  the  fV>Uowing  : 

One  package  said  to  contain  a  confederate  bond.  J.  W.  C.  Watson $2, 000  00 

One  package  marked  W.  W.  Wolverton,  said  to  contain 2, 300  00 

One  package  marked  Robert  C.C.  Hutchinson,  marked 1,900  00 

One  package  marked  confederate  bonds,  J.  1  >.  Mc L«rmore 2, 700  00 

One  package  confederate  bonds,  marked  W. < ; .  Ta iker 1, 250  00 

One  large  package  containing  bonds  and  cotton  leceipt^,  marked  Joseph 

Menara,  amoanting  to 144,700  00 

The  above  property  was  taken  by  me  per  order  of  the  commanding  j^neral,  Mowers 
(one  package  marked  |144,700,)  and  will  be  Kultject  to  the  order  and  disposition  of  the 
united  States  authorities. 

J.  W.  JEFFERSON, 
Lieut.  Col,  and  PrwoH  Martihal. 

Also  one  tin  box,  contents  unknown,  marked  H.  B.  Jennings,  and  one  box  marked 
Thomas  Ruffe. 

J.  W.  JEFFERSON, 
lAeni,  Col  and  Prwost  Mar$ka!. 
[Int  fev.  ttamp,  cart-.] 

The  total  claim  is  $982,201.75. 

It  is  alleged  that  on  the  15th  day  of  May,  1863,  the  cotton  and  woolen 
factory  in  tiie  city  of  Jackson,  belongio^jr  to  J.  &  T.  Green,  with  all  its 
contents  and  surronndings,  was  burned  by  the  military  order  of  Major- 
General  Grant,  while  the  Federal  Army  occupied  the  city  of  Jackson. 
Said  order  was  exhibited  to  Joshua  Green,  one  of  the  firm  of  J.  &  T. 
Green,  by  General  Sherman  in  person  at  the  said  factory ;  that  at  the 
time  of  said  burning  the  said  J.  &  T.  Green  owned  the  said  factoiy,  its 
contents,  buildings,  out-houses,  dwelling-houses,  operatives'  cabins, 


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J.    &   T.    GREEN.  3 

operatives'  boarfling-hoase,  dry-hoase,  cotton-shed,  warehouse,  stable, 
oom-hoose;  saw-mill,  &c. ;  that  they,  the  said  J.  &  T.  Green,  had  in 
and  about  the  said  factory  the  articles  named  in  the  bill  above  stated ; 
that  the  same  were  burned  or  destroyed  by  the  Federal  Army  under  said 
order ;  that  he,  the  said  J.  Green,  was  the  acting  superintendent  of  said 
factory  at  the  time  of  said  burning,  (the  superintendent  being  absent;) 
that  the  bill  of  machinery,  buildings,  cotton,  wool,  yams,  sugar,  bacon, 
findings,  tools,  &c.,  as  stated,  is  just  and  true,  and  that  the  said  J.  &  T. 
Green  have  not  been  paid  or  compensated  for  the  same  or  any  part 
thereof. 

They  allege  that  funds  were  taken  from  their  banking-house  to  the 
amount  stated. 

They  also  allege  that  they  hold  a  letter  as  follows  : 

Headquartebs  Fifteenth  Army  Corps, 

Jackson,  Miss,,  May  16, 1863. 
Messrs  Joshua  Sl  Thomas  Green,  Present : 

Gentlemen  :  Vonr  xwtition  of  yesterday,  regarding  the  order  of  General  Grant  to 
destroy  **  all  machinery,  with  their  buildings,  used  or  easily  convertible  into  military 
arsenals  of  construction,"  is  received. 

I  dislike  to  see  the  torch  applied  to  anything  which  is  the  result  of  the  toil  or  indus- 
try of  any  man  or  people,  because  of  the  heUish  spirit  it  begets ;  but  in  war,  as  well 
fts  peace,  prevention,  foresight,  ma^  save  a  world  of  trouble. 

Suffice  it  now  to  to  sa^,  that  if  you  appeal  to  the  Congress  of  the  United  States 
you  will  be  indemnified,  for  the  machinery  is  destroyed  for  purely  military  reasons. 

And  if  the  &milies  who  are  thus  thrown  out  of  employment  wiU  go  to  Grand  Gulf, 
I  undertake  that  they  shall  be  well  fed  until  they  can  find  new  homes. 

1  cannot  undertake  to  el:plain  aU  the  rensons,  though  in  conversation  yesterdav  I 
indicated  them  in  part.  Suffice  it  now,  that  it  is  done  by  the  highest  military  authority 
of  the  United  States  present  in  this  department,  for  reasons  good  and  sufficient  to  him ; 
that  all  claims  to  humanity  will  be  answered  with  interest  to  the  families  who  can 
reach  the  Mississippi  River,  when  our  boats  may  reach  them  and  supply  them. 
I  am,  with  respect,  your  obedient  servant, 

W.  T.  SHERMAN. 
MajoT-General  Commanding, 

If  this  were  a  claim  which  had  any  merit  the  alleged  facts  should  be 
investigated  by  the  Goart  of  Claims,  or  the  commissioners  of  claims, 
or  some  aathority,  with  power  to  summon  witnesses.  There  would  be 
no  safety  in  allowing  such  a  claim  on  mere  ex-parte  evidence. 

But  the  committee  are  satisfied  that  the  claimants  were  not  loyal,  and, 
thfirefore,  are  not  entitled  to  any  compensation. 

The  committee  also  find  that  the  seizure  and  destruction  in  whatever 
property  was  siezed  and  destroyed  were  flagrante  hello  in  a  State  in  re- 
bellion, as  a  military  necessity,  and  that  the  property  was  such  as  might 
add  to  the  strength  of  the  enemy  and  enable  him  to  carry  on  hostili- 
ties. 

The  seizure  and  destruction  were,  therefore,  justified  by  the  laws  of 
nations,  and  involved  the  Government  in  no  liability. 

The  letter  of  Major-Oeneral  Sherman,  if  given  as  claimed,  imposes  no 
liability  on  the  Government.  He  was  not  in  command,  nor  was  the 
property  mz&A.  or  destroyed  by  his  order.  This  was  by  order  of  General 
Grant,  then  in  command.  The  letter  was  a  mere  expression  of  opinion 
but  did  not  make  law.  The  legal  principles  applicable  to  this  case  have 
been  discussed  in  House  Beport  No.  262,  made  at  this  session  of  Congress, 
March  26, 1874. 

The  committee  are  of  opinion  that  the  claim  should  not  be  allowed, 
and,  to  that  end,  report  the  same  back  with  the  recommendation  that 
the  same  do  lie  on  the  table. 


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43d  Congress,  \    HOUSE  OP  EEPRESENTATIVES.        (  Eepoet 
Ut  Session,      i  '  No.  377. 


B.  0.  BAILEY. 


April  3, 1874.— Coxumitted  to  a  ComnHttee  of  the  Whole  Hoiiac  aud  onlered  to  bo 

printed. 


Mr,  Gesbt  W.  BTazelton,  from  the  Committee  on  War-Claims,  sub- 
mitted the  following 

REPORT: 

[To  accompany  bill  H.  B.  488.] 

The  Committee  on  War-ClaimSj  to  whom  was  referred  ihe  bill  (H.  R.  488) 
/cT  the  relief  of  B.  0.  Bailey ^  of  Bath^  Me.^  for  relief  for  damages  sus- 
tained by  the  capture  and  destruction  of  his  ship  Argo  by  the  United 
suites  flag  officer^  make  the  following  report: 

The  facts  are  these :  The  ship  Argo  was  under  a  charter,  in  1861,  to 
proceed  to  City  Point,  Va.;  thence  to  Bremen  with  a  cargo  of  tobacco 
on  foreign  account;  and  thence  to  Quebec.  While  loading  at  City  Point 
the  ports  of  Virginia  were  blockaded,  the  proclamation  of  the  President 
allowing  to  owners  nntil  the  15th  of  May,  1861,  to  load  and  clear  their 
vessels.  The  Argo  cleared  from  City  Point  the  12th  day  of  said  May, 
was  proceeding  on  her  voyage  to  Bremen,  and  on  the  14th  of  May,  at 
Hampton  Roads,  was  seized  and  taken  possession  of  by  the  United 
States  flag-officer  of  the  blockading  tieet  and  sent  to  New  York  as  prize- 
of-war,  where  she  was  held  in  custody  by  the  officer  of  the  United  States 
until  the  24th  of  May,  when,  by  order  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Xavy,  no 
legal  proceedings  having  been  Instituted,  she  was  released,  and  subse- 
quently returned  to  the  custody  of  the  captain. 

The  owner  of  the  Argo,  B.  C.  Bailey,  claims  of  Govevnment  the  ship's 
expenses  in  New  York,  the  port  to  which  she  was  taken,  actually  paid 
by  him,  amounting  to  $2,051.60.  Also,  damages  for  detention  from  her 
seizure,  the  14th  day  of  May,  at  Hampton  Roads,  to  the  3l8t  of  same 
month,  the  earliest  possible  day  of  departure  on  her  voyage  from  New 
York,  18  days,  at  $5.50  a  ton  a  month,  amounting  to  $3,557.34.  Also, 
for  damages  consequent  upon  her  delay  in  New  York,  to  wit,  the  loss  of 
her  return-cargo  at  Bremen,  which  was,  by  agreement,  to  have  been  taken 
on  a  given  day ;  amount,  $3,000.  Also,  for  extra  insurance  paid  by  rea- 
son of  being  late  in  the  river  St.  Lawrence  on  her  return-voyage,  $800. 
Also,  for  loss  of  two  anchors  and  one  cable,  $490.    Also,  for  interest. 

The  disbursements  and  expenses  in  the  port  of  New  York  were  the 
direct  result  of  the  detention  of  the  ship,  and,  properly  vouched,  amount 
to  $2,051.60. 

The  damages  for  detention,  18  days,  were  also  directly  resultant  to 
the  acts  of  the  United  States  officers ;  but  on  examination  it  is  found 
that  vessels  of  this  class  were  chartered  during  the  years  1861-^62  at 
from  $4  to  $5.50  per  ton  per  month.  Estimating  this  ship  of  1,078  tons 
at  $4.50  per  ton,  the  amount  will  be  $2,816.64. 


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2  B.    C.    BAILEY. 

The  other  claims,  as  above  set  forth,  do  not  fall  within  the  same  priu- 
ciple,  the  contingen«ies  upon  which  they  are  based  being  remote  and 
uncertain,  and  therefore  cannot  be  recognized  as  just  claims  agaiust  the 
Government. 

In  the  opinion  of  your  committee,  the  evidence  establishes  a  jast 
claim  to  the  amount  of  $4,868.24,  and  they  accordingly  report  the  ac- 
companying bill,  and  that  it  ought  to  pass. 

The  following  papers  are  made  a  part  of  this  report :  The  memorials 
of  the  claimant,  protest  and  extension  of  same,  letters  of  B.  T.  McGook, 
general  cleaiance  of  ship,  certificate  of  the  Bremen  consul,  letters  of  the 
minister  of  Bremen,  Secretary  of  State,  Secretary  of  STavy,  and  Com- 
modore Stringham ;  also  vouchors  for  money  paidi 


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43d  Conobess,  )     HOUSE  OF  EBPEBSENTATIVES.       (  Eeport 
Ut  Session.     )  )  No.  378. 


JOHN  J.  HAYDBN. 


April  3,  1874. — Committed  to  a  Committee  of  the  Whole  House  and  ordered  to  be 

printed. 


Mr.  HoLMAN,  from  the  Committee  on  War-Claims,  sabmitted   tbe 

following 

REPORT: 

[To  accompany  biU  H.  R.  2798.] 

The  Committee  on  War-Claims^  to  whom  was  referred  the  petition  and 
papers  of  John  J.  Jffayden,  asking  compensation  for  services  rendered  by 
him  to  the  United  States  in  1864,  beg  leave  to  report : 

That  it  appears  from  the  papers  before  the  committee  that  Mr.  Hay- 
den  was  employed  in  Jaunary  and  February,  1864,  by  Hon.  John  H. 
Farqnhar,  late  a  member  of  the  Honse  of  Bepresentatives,  and  in  1864 
captain  in  the  Nineteenth  United  States  Infantry,  and  mustering  and 
disbursing  officer,  Indiana,  to  make  up  certain  abstracts  of  draft- 
accounts  for  Indiana,  and  preparing  a  book  of  2,700  checks  ready  for 
the  signature  of  the  disbursing  officer.  Colonel  Farqnhar  states  that 
this  service  occupied  the  time  of  Mr.  Hayden  for  thirty  nights ;  that 
the  entire  service  was  rendered  after  office-hours ;  that  it  was  import- 
ant for  the  public  service  that  Mr.  Hayden  should  perform  this  duty, 
as  he  was  especially  qualified  for  the  same.  Colonel  Farquhar's  certifi- 
cate is  as  follows : 

The  United  States  to  J.  J.  Hayden,  Dr. 

January,  February,  1864.  For  services  rendered  Capt.  J.  H.  Farquhar,  Nineteenth 
United  States  Infantry,  mustering  and  disbursing  officer,  Indianapolis,  Ind.,  for  30 
nights'  services,  after  all  other  work  of  the  day  was  finished  in  provost-marshal-gen e- 
raPs  office,  in  making  up  abstracts  of  draft-accounts  for  Indiana  for  lc)62,  and  prepar- 
ing a  book  of  2,700  checks  ready  for  his  signature  iu  payment  of  said  accounts — 30 
nights,  at  $5  per  night,  il50. 

The  duty  in  the  provost-marshal's  office  was  entirely  independent,  and  in  aU  cases 
that  duty  was  fuUy  completed  for  each  day  and  evening  before  the  above  work  was 
prosecuted. 

I  certify  that  the  above  account  is  correct  and  just ;  that  the  services  were  rendered 
as  stated;  and  that  they  were  necessary  for  the  public  service.  Judge  Hayden  was  fa- 
miliar with,  and  associated  in,  the  work  of  the  draft-commissioner  in  1862,  and  devoted 
night-hours  to  the  above  work,  entirely  independent  of  the  demands  of  other  duty,  to 
enable  me  to  complete  the  work  devolved  upon  me. 

JOHN  H.  FAEQUHAR, 
Late  Capt.  Nineteenth  U,  8,  Inf,,  Jf.  and  D.  Officer,  Indiana, 

Ueceived,  dee. 

J.  J.  HAYDEN. 

Mr.  Hayden  was  a  clerk  in  the  office  of  the  provost-marshal-general 
of  Indiana. 

Your  committee  would  not  deem  it  proper  in  a  time  of  peace  to  per 
mit  a  public  officer  to  receive  extra  compensation  for  official  services 


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2  JOHN   J.    HAYDEN. 

but  as  this  service  was  rendered  under  the  pressure  of  argent  public 
necessity,  and  outside  of  office-hours,  and  in  a  different  employment  from 
that  in  which  Mr.  Hayden  was  engaged,  and  under  special  employment 
of  Colonel  Farquhar,  and  was  of  special  public  value,  as  stated  by  Colo- 
nel Farquhar  in  a  letter  now  before  the  committee,  dated  January  19, 
1869,  your  committee  think  this  claim  is  an  unexceptional  and  meritori- 
ous one,  and  should  be  allowed,  and  are  of  the  opinion  that  such  allow- 
ance cannot  give  rise  to  any  questionable  precedent.  Colonel  Farquhar 
says,  in  the  letter  referred  to,  ''Judge  Hayden  was  under  no  obligation 
to  perform  the  service,  and  undertook  it  at  my  earnest  solicitation,  with 
confident  expectation  of  extra  pay,  and  a  desire  to  serve  the  Govern 
meut.  I  know  that  his  services  were  indispensable,  and  that  the  amount 
charged  is  reasonable  and  should  be  paid." 

Under  these  circumstances  your  committee  report  the  accompanying 
bill,  aud  recommend  its  passage. 


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43d  Congress,  )      HOUSE  OF  EEPRESENTATIVES.     i  Report 
Ut  Session.     )  (  No.  379. 


WILLIAM  ROOD. 


April  3,  1874. — Committed  to  a  Committee  of  the  Whole  House  and  ordered  to  be 

printed. 


Mr.  HiTNTON»  from  the  Committee  on  Military  Affairs,  Submitted  the 

following 

REPORT: 

[To  accompany  biU  H.  R.  1220.] 

The  Committee  an  Military  Affairs^  to  whom  was  referred  the  bill  {H.  E. 
1220)  for  the  relief  of  William  Rood^  late  a  private  of  Thirty-sixth  Reg- 
iment Wisconsin  VolunteerSj  have  examined  into  the  casej  and  submit  the 
following  report : 

William  Rood  was  mustered  into  the  service  March  16,  1864,  for 
three  years.  It  seems  that  about  the  30th  of  April,  1864,  and  before 
this  soldier  left  the  State  of  Wisconsin  to  enter  into  active  service,  he 
went  home  to  see  his  parents  and  look  after  some  business  matters, 
without  leave,  and  was  marked  on  company-roll  as  a  del^erter.  He  was 
wounded  at  Cold  Harbor  3d  June,  1864,  and  died  of  his  said  wounds  at 
Turner's  Lane  Hospital,  Philadelphia,  July  14, 1864.  He  was  never  tried 
for  desertion,  and  was  put  into  the  fight  at  Cold  Harbor  and  mortally 
wounded.  His  father  asks  that  the  charge  of  desertion  be  removed  from 
his  son's  name,  and  that  the  father  shall  be  allowed  and  paid  back  pay, 
bounty,  and  additional  bounty.  It  is  apparent  that  this  soldier  did  not 
mean  to  desert^  and  was  absent  without  leave  because  of  ignorance  of 
Army  rules.  The  shedding  of  his  blood  for  his  country  ought  to  wash 
oat  the  offense  of  absence  without  leave,  and  your  committee  report 
back  the  bill,  with  a  recommendation  that  it  do  pass. 


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43d  Congress,  {     HOUSE  OF  EEPEESBNTATIVES.      i  Eepobt 
Ist  Sesrion.     )  )  No.  380. 


DAVID  W.  STOCKSTILL. 


April  3, 1674. — Committed  to  a  Committee  of  the  Whole  House  and  ordered  to  be 

printed. 


Mr.  HuNTON,  from  the  Committee  on  Military  Affairs,  sabmitted  the 

following 

REPOKT: 

[To  accompany  bill  H.  R.  2799.] 

The  Committee  on  Military  Affairs,  to  tchom  was  referred  tJie  Mil  (H.  B. 
2799) /or  the  relief  of  David  W.  atockstill^  of  Sidney^  OhiOy  have  had  the 
mne  under  cofmderation^  and  beg  leave  to  submit  the  following  report: 

That  said  Btockstill  was  drafted  in  Shelby  Coanty,  Ohio,  on  the  27th 
(lay  of  September,  1864,  and  assigned  to  Company  D,  Fifty-first  Eegiment 
Ohio  Yolanteers ;  and  on  the  19th  day  of  December,  1864,  he  paid  (700 
for  Frank  Schoofys  as  a  substitute,  who  was  also  mustered  into  service 
in  the  same  company,  and  who  served  during  the  war.  The  fact  that 
this  substitute  was  procured  was  reported  to  Colonel  Wood,  command- 
ing said  regiment,  who  refused  to  discharge  Stockstill,  the  orders  of 
General  Thomas  forbidding  any  such  release.  Both  soldiers  served 
during  the  war,  and  Btockstill  asks  that  the  $700  and  interest  be  re- 
fanded  to  him.  This  seems  reasonable,  but  the  Government  does  not 
pay  interest  ou  claims,  and  your  committee  recommend  the  passage  of 
the  bill  with  the  words  "  with  interest  from  the  19th  day  of.  December^ 
1864,"  stricken  out. 


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43d  Congbess,  I     HOUSE  OP  EBPEESENTATIVES,      i  Eepobt 
1st  SesHon.     f  \  No.  381. 


JOHN  BUEKE. 


April  3;  lk74.— Ordered  to  be  printed. 


Mr.  HuNTON,  from  the  Committee  on  Military  Affairs,  submitted  the 

following 

REPOET: 

The  Committee  on  Military  AffairSj  to  whom  was  referred  the  memorial  of 
John  BurJcOy  late  first  lieutenant  Company  Fj  Seventy-third  Ohio  Voir 
unteersj  have  had  tne  same  under  consideration^  and  submit  the  following 
report : 

John  Burke  was  a  private  in  said  company,  and  about  the  20th  Feb- 
ruary, 18^y  Colonel  Hurst,  commanding  the  regiment,  Informed  him  he 
had  a  commission  as  first  lieutenant  for  him;  that  from  the  receipt  of 
commission  Burke  performed  the  duties  of  first  lieutenant  of  said 
company.  Being  in  the  field  and  on  the  march  he  could  not  be  mus- 
tered till  28th  March,  1865.  He  claims  pay  as  first  lieutenant  from 
20th  February  to  27th  March,  1865 :  also  the  three  months  extra  pay  to  all 
officers  in  the  service  on  3d  day  of  March,  1865,  under  act  approved  July 
13, 1866.  (Vol.  14,  Stat  at  L.,  p.  94.) 

It  will  be  seen  from  a  letter  from  the  Adjutant-General  that  there  was 
no  vacancy  in  the  position  of  first  lientenantcy  of  this  company  till 
29th  March,  1865,  and  that  John  Burke  waa  borne  on  the  rolls  of  his 
company  as  private  prior  to  the  muster  for  March  and  April,  1866.  The 
governor  of  his  State  had  no  power  to  commission  and  the  colonel  no 
power  to  appoint  till  a  vacancy  existed,  and  in  consequence  John  Burke 
was  not  entitled  to  the  position  of  pay  of  first  lieutenant  till  28th 
March,  1865.  Your  committee  report  adversely  to  the  prayer  of  the 
petitioner. 


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43d  Congress,  >      HOUSE  OP  BEPEESENTATIVES.     (  Report 
Ut  Session.     (  )  No.  382. 


BENJAMIN  CEAWFOBD. 


April  3, 1874.— Committed  to  theCoaimittee  on  War-Claims  and  ordered  to  be  printed. 


Mr.  J.  T.  Haqbis,  from  the  Committee  on  War-Claims,  submitted  the 

following 

REPORT: 

[To  accompany  bill  H.  B.  2800.] 

The  Committee  on  War-ClaimSj  to  tchom  was  referred  the  petition  of 
Benjamin  Crawford,  having  considered  the  same,  submit  the  following  re- 
port: 

Benjamin  Crawford  presents  a  claim  arising  oat  of  the  alleged  use  of 
a  patent  known  as  the  Crawford  patent  steam-blower,  and  belonging 
to  the  claimant. 

This  invention  is  a  device  by  which  the  foul  matter  accumulating  in 
the  flues  of  the  boiler  is  foi'ced  out  and  the  draught  much  increased. 

From  the  testimony  it  appears  that  the  invention  is  a  valuable  one, 
and  was  of  great  value  to  the  GTovemment  on  vessels  employed  in  mili- 
tary operations  in  the  western  waters. 

Samuel  Bickerstaff,  late  fleet-engineer  United  States  Mississippi  squad- 
ron, states  in  his  certificate  that  ^Hhe  live  steam-blower,  in  my  opinion, 
was  indispensable  to  the  success  of  the  vessels  in  the  Mississippi  squad- 
ron in  cases  where  they  were  compelled  to  get  up  steam  at  short  notice. 
For  instance,  in  the  case  of  the  ram  fight  at  Fort  Pillow,  and  the  gun- 
boat fight  at  Memphis,  and  many  other  like  cases  I  might  mention,  where 
the  gun-boats  were  forced  into  immediate  action  by  the  enemy.  The  ad- 
vantages derived  by  the  use  of  the  live  steam-blower  in  the  cases  I  have 
mentioned,  where  the  vessels  are  lying  with  banked  fires,  are  incalcula- 
ble. They  are  enabled  to  go  into  immediate  action,  which  otherwise 
they  could  not  do  for  a  considerable  length  of  time." 

From  the  proofs  it  appears  that  408  of  these  steam-blowers  were  used 
on  124  Government  vessels  during  the  war. 

In  an  oflicial  letter  from  the  JS^avy  Department  it  is  intimated  that 
steam-blowers  were  on  the  vessels  when  purchased  by  the  Government. 
In  opposition  to  this  statement  the  claimant^  Mr.  Crawford,  has  filed 
sK  sworn  statement  of  all  the  vessels  on  which  his  patent  was  ever  placed, 
with  the  right  of  using  the  same  from  the  patentee,  and  none  of  these 
vessels  are  included  in  the  list  of  vessels  belonging  to  the  Government 
on  which  the  patent  steam-blower  was  used,  and  on  account  of  which 
he  asks  compensation. 

The  liability  of  the  Government  is  the  same  whether  the  patent  blower 
was  placed  on  board  the  vessels  by  the  Government  or  by  those  of  whom 
the  Government  purchased,  unless  the  right  to  use  the  patent  accompa- 
nied the  patent  itself. 
It  appears  that  Mr.  Crawford  was  the  inventor  and  proprietor  of  a 


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2  BENJAMIN   CRAWFORD. 

valuable  inventioiiy  which  has  been  of  great  use  to  the  Goverument,  and 
for  which  he  has  received  no  compensation. 

The  committee,  therefore,  recommend  the  payment  of  $5,000,  in  full 
consideration  for  the  use  of  said  patent.  The  claimant  seeks  to  recover 
$10,200,  the  usnal  charge  for  a  like  number  of  blowers  sold  in  the  usual 
course  of  business,  but  your  committee  are  of  opinion  that,  in  case  of 
so  large  a  sale,  $5,000  will  be  ample  compensation.  They  recommend 
the  passage  of  a  bill  for  that  amount. 


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43d  OONaEESS,  •      HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES,      i  Report 
IH  Session.     )  (  No.  383. 


MAJOR  C.  S.  UNDERWOOD. 


April  4,  1874.— Ordered  to  be  printed. 


Mr.  GUNCKEL,  from  the  Committee  on  Military  Affairs,  submitted  the 

following 

REPORT: 

[To  accompany  bill  H.  R.  119?.l 

The  Committee  on  Military  Affairs^  to  whom  was  referred  tJie  bill  {H,  R^ 
1193)  for  the  relief  of  the  estate  of  the  late  Maj,  C.  S.  Vnderxcood^  pay- 
master United  States  ArmVj  beg  leave  to  report : 

That  it  appears  from  the  copies  of  records,  affidavits,  &c..  sub- 
mitted, that  Maj.  Cornelias  S.  Underwood  was  appointed  an  additional 
paymaster  United  States  Army  on  30th  of  May,  1864,  and  was  immediately 
assigned  to  duty  in  the  pay  district  of  Washington,  D.  C.  On  16th  of 
Febroary,  1865,  about  10  o^clock  a.  m.,  he  received  orders  from  Col.  E.  E. 
Paulding,  chief  paymaster  of  said  pay  district,  to  proceed  to  Baltimore^ 
Md.,  and  pay  the  Twenty-fourth  Michigan  Volunteers,  then  en  route  to 
Springfield,  III.,  where  it  had  been  ordered ;  that  Msyor  Underwood  at 
once.procared  the  necessary  funds  from  the  Treasury,  and  went  to  Bal- 
timore, arriving  there  late  in  the  afternoon  of  the  same  day,  and  taking 
rooms  at  the  Eutaw  House.  He  found  the  regiment  under  oitlers  to 
leave  Baltimore  at  six  o'clock  the  next  morning,  and  as  he  could  not  de- 
tain the  regiment  another  day,  he  was  compelled  to  make  the  payment 
during  the  night.  He  commenced  about  nine  o'clock  in  the  evening, 
and  continued  all  night  and  until  between  five  and  six  o'clock  the  next 
morning,  when  he  placed  the  funds  remaining  in  his  hands  in  a  tin  box, 
which  he  took  to  the  Eutaw  House  and  placed  in  the  hotel-safe,  where 
it  remained  until  about  eleven  o'clock  of  the  same  day,  when  he  took 
the  box  to  his  room  to  pay  a  few  soldiers  who  had  been  on  duty  the 
night  before,  and  a  few  others  who  had  returned  during  the  night  from 
furlough.  After  paying  these,  the  remainder  of  the  money  was  placed 
in  the  tin  box  and  kept  in  the  room  for  the  purpose  of  paying  the  brigade 
band,  which  was  momentarily  expected.  The  band  not  coming  so  soon 
as  had  been  expected,  and  Major  Underwood  being  much  exhausted 
from  loss  of  sleep  and  continuous  labor,  placed  the  Ik)x  with  the  public 
funds,  for  safe  keeping,  in  hands  of  his  clerk,  Charles  Whit€,  who  had 
assisted  him  in  making  these  payments.  Underwood  then  went  into  the 
adjoining  room,  and  there  slept  until  about  seven  o'clock  the  same  after- 
noon, when  he  was  awakened  to  learn  that  the  tin  box  with  the  said 
funds  had  been  stolen.  It  appears  from  the  testimony  of  White,  that 
he  kept  the  box,  which  he  says  contained  $8,122,  in  his  personal  charge 
until  about  six  o'clock,  when  he  left  the  box  in  the  room,  locked  the  door 
and  went  to  tea,  and  after  an  absence  of  about  twenty  minutes  returned 
to  find  the  door  unlocked,  and  the  box  and  money  gone.    Major  Under- 


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2  MAJOR   C.    S.    UNDERWOOD. 

^ood  was  immediately  awakened,  and  the  police  informed,  and  diligent 
efforts  made  in  every  possible  way  to  recover  the  money  or  discover 
•some  clew  to  the  robbery,  bnt  without  success.  The  facts  were  also 
immediately  reported  to  the  Paymaster-General,  and  an  investigation 
made  by  the  Paymaster-General  himself.  The  result  is  indicated  in 
the  following  statement  by  Brig.  Gen.  B.  W.  Brice,  late  Paymaster- 
General,  made  April  3, 1872 :  "  I  do  not  now  remember  the  particular 
circumstances  connected  with  the  robbery  in  question,  but  I  remember 
well  the  general  fact  that  inquiry  and  investigation  convinced  me  at  the 
time  that  neither  ciiminality  nor  want  of  reasonable  care  and  diligence 
«ould  attach  to  the  paymaster.  Major  Underwood.  In  this  view  the 
Secretary  of  War  (Stanton)  concurred  with  me,  and  authorized  the  re- 
assignment of  Underwood  to  disbursing  duty,  notwithstanding  the  ex- 
istence of  a  standing  order  that  no  paymaster  in  default  should,  during  the 
existence  of  his  defalcation,  be  intrusted  with  public  funds  or  placed  on 
disbursing  duty.  Major  Underwood  continued  on  duty  till  honorably 
mustered  out  of  service,  and  bore  the  reputation  always  of  an  indus- 
trious and  faithful  officer." 

This  report  was  referred  by  Gen.  B.  Alvord,  Paymaster-General,  to 
the  Second  Comptroller  of  the  Treasury,  with  the  following  indorse- 
ment: 


Respectfullv  returned  to  the  Second  Comptroller. 
It  appears  fro 


\  appears  from  the  testimony  herewith  that  Major  C.  S.  Underwood  was  a  faithful 
and  industrious  officer  ;  that  he  occupied  the  whole  night  of  the  16th  of  February,  1865, 
in  payin^f  the  Twenty-fourth  Michigan  Volunteers.  Thus  much  consideration  is  due 
toward  him  on  account  of  the  necessary  exhaustion  from  such  labors.  It  is  just  to  look 
at  character,  in  this  question,  and  the  2d  section  of  the  act  of  23d  June,  1870,  provides 
that  the  allowance  shall  be  made  only  to  those  officers  in  whose  accounts  there  is  no 
apparent  fraud.  I  am  inclined  thus  to  recommend  that  he  receive  the  benefit  of  said 
act,  although  the  neglect  of  his  clerk  to  secure  the  tin  box  containing  his  funds  while 
he  was  gone  to  supper  deserves  reprehension.  If  Miyor  Underwood  in  this  case  was 
to  be  held  to  the  strict  technical  rules  of  law,  he  could  be  considered  responsible  for 
the  neglect  of  his  clerk.  But  it  is  the  purpose  of  this  act  (as  also  of  that  of  16th  of 
March,  186d)  to  relax  those  rules,  in  favor  of  faithful  officers,  on  principles  of  equity 
and  justice. 

In  a  conference  with  the  Second  Comptroller  and  Second  Auditor,  a  few  days  since, 
they  both  concurred  with  me  in  thinking  that  under  the  act  of  23d  of  June,  1870,  a 
credit  to  the  extent  of  $5,000  could  be  allowed  in  cases  where  the  loss  was  larger  thau 
that  amount. 

Therefore  I  recommend  that  Major  Underwood  be  granted  a  credit  of  $6,000  in  this 
case. 

Please  see  Genersl  Bi ice's  indorsement  hereon. 

BENJ.  ALVORD, 
Acting  Paymaster-General  United  States  Army, 

Pavmaster-Gexeral*s  Office,  April  13,  1872. 

It  was  afterward  referred  by  Second  Comptroller  to  Paymaster-Gen- 
eral, and  by  him  to  the  Secretary  of  War,  who  indorsed  it  as  follows : 

War  Department,  April  22,  1872. 
The  recommendation  of  the  Paymaster-Geueral  in  this  case  is  approved « 

W.  W,  BELKNAP, 

Secretary  of  War, 

After  said  credit  of  $5,000,  there  remained  a  balance  charged  againHt 
Major  Underwood,  of  $3,101.48. 

He  has  since  deceased,  and  his  heirs  seek  relief  from  the  unsettled 
ftcconnt. 

Your  committee  agree  with  Paymaster-General  Alvord  "that  the  evi- 
dence is  so  strong  of  a  faithful,  industrious,  and  honorable  career  as 
paymaster,  and  his  record  so  clear,  that  it  would  be  an  act  of  justice  to 
grant  the  relief  asked,"  and  therefore  recommend  the  passage  of  the  bill. 


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43d  Congress,  \     HOUSE  OP  RBPKESENTATIVES.     /  Report 
l8t  Session.     I  I  No.  384. 


EEPOKT 


OF  THE 


COMMITTEE  ON  MILITARY  AFFAIRS 


OF  THE 


HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES 


UPON  THE 


REDUCTION  OF  THE  MILITARY  ESTABLISHMENT  AND 

IN  RELATION  TO  THE  FORTIFICATIONS  AND 

WORKS  OF  DEFENSE. 


April  6, 1674.— Recommitted  to  the  Committee  on  Military  Affairs  and 
ordered  to  be  printed. 

[To  accompany  bill  H.  R.  2546.] 


WASHINGTON: 

GOVERNMENT   PRINTING   OFFICE. 
1874. 


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REPORT  TO  ACCOMPANY  THE  BILL  (H.  R.  2546)  TO  PROVroE 
FOR  THE  GRADUAL  REDUCTION  OP  THE  ARMY  OP  THE 
UNITED  STATES. 


April  6, 1874. — Recommitted  to  the  Committee  on  Mititary  AflEaiTS  »Dd  ordered  to  be 

printed. 


Mr.  COBUBN,  from  the  Committee  on  Military  Affairs,  made  the  following 

REPORT: 

The  majority  of  tlie  Committee  on  Military  Affairs^  tehich  was  instructed 
to  inquire  into  the  expediency  of  reducing  the  Army^  and  the  expendi- 
tures  on  fortifications  and  sundi'y  bills  of  the  House  relative  to  changes 
in  the  organization  of  tJie  Army^  having  had  the  same  under  consideration^ 
svibmit  the  folloioing  report : 

The  committee  have  examined  alar^e  namberof  witnesses,  composed 
of  gentlemen  of  intelligence  and  prominence  both  in  the  Army  and  civil 
life,  and  have  accamnlated  a  large  amount  of  testimony  upon  the  sub- 
jects named,  which  must  of  itself  be  of  no  little  value  as  an  aid  to  intel- 
ligent legislation  upon  all  matters  involved  in  the  investigation.  The 
range  of  inquiry  covered  the  numbers  of  officers  and  soldiers  of  the 
Army,  and  the  expense  of  their  maintenance,  and  in  addition  the  organ- 
ization of  both  the  line  and  the  staff,  and  also  involved  not  only  the 
location  and  stations  of  the  Army,  but  its  present  and  prospective  use, 
for  the  purpose  of  maintaining  peace  in  the  States  and  with  the  Indian 
tribes. 

The  committee  find  that  at  present  the  Army  has  very  little  active 
service  to  perform  outside  of  the  neighborhood  of  mischievous  and 
nnfHendly  Indians.  The  troops  stationed  upon  the  lakes,  the  Atlantic 
and  Pacific  sea-boards,  and  in  the  Southern  States,  except  in  a  few  local- 
ities, have  no  employment  but  the  ordinary  routine  of  soldiers'  duties 
in  time  of  profound  i>eace.  The  presence  of  troops  is  necessary  to  main- 
tain peace  and  protect  life  and  property  among  some  of  the  Indian 
tribes  of  Texas,  JS^ew  Mexico,  Arizona,  Indian  Territory,  Colorado, 
Dakota,  and  Montana.  In  a  word,  the  work  of  the  Army  and  its  cost 
are  almost  entirely  connected  with  the  Indians. 

That  the  troops  stationed  in  those  regions  are  ample  to  do  this  duty 
is  the  concurrent  testimony  of  those  best  informed.  The  number  of 
troops  in  the  Department  of  the  Lakes  and  on  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific 
Rea-board  is  about  5,000,  constituting  a  reserve  which  heretofore  could 
be  drawn  upon  in  case  of  emergency,  and  is  deemed  now  of  little  use, 
as  the  policy  of  reconciling  and  pacifying  the  Indians  progresses  to  a 
successful  completion.  Beside  these  there  is  a  large  number  of  troops 
stationed  in  the  interior,  having  no  special  duty  to  perform. 

The  committee,  therefore,  deem  it  not  to  be  unsafe  to  reduce  the  Army, 
now  composed  of  thirty  thousand  men,  to  twenty-five  thousand  men 
of  all  arms.  They  found  it  necessary  to  inquire  into  the  expediency 
of  reducing  the  number  of  officers  as  well  as  men  in  the  Army.  It 
was  found  that  the  annual  average  decrease  in  the  number  of  officers 
was  about  eighty-three.    The  number  of  troops  in  seven  regiments  is 

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IV  REDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITAEY   ESTABLISHMENT. 

about  equal  to  five  thousand  men.  It  is  believed  that  the  number 
of  officers  should  be  reduced  with  the  men;  and  recommend  that 
five  regiments  of  infantry,  one  of  cavalry,  and  one  of  artillery  be  dis- 
banded after  the  first  of  January,  1875,  and  that  the  officers  be  as- 
signed to  other  duties  in  other  regiments,  or  to  details  in  the  staff 
corps.  Many  vacancies  will  necessarily  occur  in  the  official  list,  both  of 
the  staff  and  line,  and  it  is  believed  that  in  a  short  time  the  supernu- 
merary force  will  be  all  absorbed  and  put  upon  regular  duties. 

The  offices  of  regimental  adjutant  and  quartermaster  can  be  filled  by 
lieutenants  from  the  line,  and  the  efficiency  of  the  service  not  impaired. 
The  three  majors  in  each  of  the  cavalry  and  artillery  regiments  are  found 
to  be  more  than  the  service  requires  in  time  of  peace,  and  the  committee 
recommend  their  reduction  to  two  in  eaeh  of  such  regiments.  Some 
officers  hold  that  one  major  is  enough  for  any  regiment,  and  that  these 
arms  of  the  service  should  be  placed  on  the  same  footing  as  infantry. 
These  are  places  that  can  be  readily  filled  in  time  of  war,  and  no  special 
training  in  the  office  itself  is  deemed  necessary  In  advance,  the  duties 
being  parallel  to  those  of  officers  of  inferior  rank. 

It  was  also  found  to  be  expedient  to  reduce  the  staff  in  cer- 
tain respects;  and  to  provide,  in  addition,  that  certain  portions  of 
the  staff  shall  not  be  filled  permanently,  but  by  details  from  the  line, 
thus  saving  the  expense  of  permanent  officers  in  the  staff',  and  giving 
officers  of  the  line  a  fair  opportunity  to  become  aequainted  with  many 
of  the  most  important  duties  of  the  staff*,  and  vice  versa.  No  doubt  it  is 
true  that  officers  of  the  staff  may  be  benefited  by  service  in  the  field 
with  the  troops,  may  become  familiar  with  the  duties  of  the  line,  and 
thus  rendered  more  capable  and  efficient  in  greiit  emergencies;  A  system 
of  details  gives  to  the  Army  an  opportunity  to  have  a  selection  of  the 
best  talent  for  staff  duties,  in  addition  to  the  highest  degree  of  training 
and  development.  Certain  branches  of  the  staff  which  require  bigh  pro- 
fessional knowledge  and  skill,  or  great  scientific  attainments,  such  as 
the  medical  and  legal  departments  and  the  Engineer  Corps,  would  not 
admit  of  the  application  of  this  principle.  To  l^  a  skillful  physician,  to 
be  a  profound  lawyer,  to  be  an  able  engineer,  requires  devotion  to  a 
specialty  for  years  and  thorough  and  long-continued  study.  No  officer 
of  the  Army  could  be  detailed  to  act  in  either  corps  with  safety.  Bat 
the  duties  of  adjutant-generals,  inspectors,  quartermasters,  and  commis- 
saries come  within  the  range  of  the  knowledge  and  capacity  of  all 
of  the  officers  of  the  Army,  and  they  may  be  performed  without  difficulty 
by  them. 

It  is  believed  that  the  Pay  Department  for  the  present  number  of 
troops  is  too  large,  and  that  it  may  be  reduced  with  the  Army.  The 
present  number  of  paymasters  is  forty-two,  beside  the  Paymaster-Gen- 
eral and  two  assistan  ts  and  one  deputy  paymaster-general.  The  payment 
of  a  thousand  men  six  times  a  year  ought  not  to  be  regarded  as  a  heavy 
task  for  a  single  paymaster,  aided  by  his  clerk,  and  it  is  believed  that 
efficient  management  will  prove  this  to  be  possible. 

They  recommend,  in  aid  of  the  paymasters,  a  system  whereby  drafts 
on  the  Treasury  may  be  used  instead  of  cash  or  currency  payments— 
a  practice  assimilated  to  the  payment  of  pensions,  which  has  been 
found  to  work  well.  The  drafts  pass  as  currency  in  the  most  distant 
parts  of  the  country  where  pensioners  reside,  and  they  find  no  difficulty 
in  cashing  them.  It  is  left  discretionary  with  the  Secretary  of  War  to 
dispense  with  this  system  where  it  works  hardship  or  is  inconvenient 
It  is  believed  that  it  will  save  the  paymasters  time  and  trouble  and  the 
Government  expense. 


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REDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT.  V 

A  redaction  haB  not  been  reported  in  the  Corps  of  Engineers,  for  the 
reason  that  their  labors  are  constantly  increasing.  The  works  for  public 
defense  require  a  portion  of  their  time,  while  the  surveys  of  rivers  and 
harbors,  and  the  construction  of  their  various  improvements,  occupy 
not  only  all  of  the  remainder  of  their  time,  but  that  of  a  very  large 
namber  of  civil  engineers. 

The  medical  staff  is  opened  to  promotion  and  appointment,  and  a 
namber,  deemed  ample,  provided  for  in  view  of  the  reduced  numbers  of 
men  and  posts  of  the  Army.    The  work  of  filling  it  np  will  be  gradual, 
and  it  is  expected  that  in  two  years  the  corps  will  be  full  of  well  qualified 
officers. 

A  provision  has  been  made  for  the  resignation  of  oflScers,  with  one 
year's  pay  and  allowances.  This  will  afford  an  opportunity  for  those  re- 
signing to  go  into  private  life  with  a  slight  advantage,  and  is  identical 
with  former  provisions  of  law.  And  in  order  that  no  officer  may  have 
injustice  done  him,  it  is  expressly  provided  that  he  shall  not  be  reduced 
in  rank  or  mastered  out  by  reason  of  the  reduction  in  numbers  and 
the  consolidation  contemplated.  The  only  measure  by  which  officers 
may  lose  their  places  in  the  service  is  that  by  which  a  board  removes 
those  personally  unfit  for  the  discharge  of  their  duties.  This  does  not 
apply  to  those  who  have  incurred  disability  in  the  line  of  duty.  Officers 
who  are  unworthy  may  thus  be  removed  from  the  Army.  Those  who 
have  been  over  thirty  years  in  service  are  to  be  placed  on  the  retired  list. 

The  committee  hesitate  to  do  anything,  by  way  of  recommendation, 
that  would  have  the  appearance  of  harshness,  and  have,  they  believe, 
saved  harmless  every  meritorious  officer  in  the  Army.  Cases  of  hard- 
ship may  occur,  but  a  wise  and  careful  administration  of  the  law  will 
insure  justice  in  every  possible  case  that  may  arise. 

The  committee  have  considered  the  matter  of  the  works  of  public  de- 
fense, and  find  that  to  complete  them  and  fit  them  with  an  ample  arma- 
ment would  cost  a  very  large  amount,  much  greater  than  the  Govern- 
ment is  ready  now  to  expend.  This,  in  connection  with  the  improvements 
in  heavy  rifled  cannon  and  iron-clad  ships,  has  unsettled  the  problem 
of  sea-coast  defense,  and  induced  the  belief  that  heavy  expenditures  at 
present,  while  the  construction  of  guns,  iron-clads,  and  works  of  defense 
are  in  a  transition  state,  are  not  advisable.  Our  sea-coast  cities  should 
not  be  left  defenseless  against  sudden  inroads  by  foreign  powers,  and 
prudence  dictates  a  moderate  outlay  until  experiments  enable  our  ofiQcers 
to  determine  upon  the  best  class  of  guns  to  be  had  at  the  most  reasona- 
ble cost.  When  this  is  done,  the  task  of  completing  the  coast-defenses 
should  be  steadily  pursued. 

The  redactions  in  all  branches  provided  for  amount  to  the  sum  of  four 
million  three  hundred  and  two  thousand  five  hundred  and  thirty-two 
dollars.    This  sum  is  made  up  of—- 

One  million  nine  hundred  and  eighty-five  thousand  seven  hundred 
dollars  for  five  regiments  of  infantry ; 

Eight  hundred  and  forty-two  thousand  two  hundred  dollars  for  one 
regiment  of  cavalry : 

Four  hundred  and  ninety  thousand  two  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  for 
one  regiment  of  artillery ; 

Three  hundred  and  five  thousand  six  hundred  and  ninety-six  dollars 
for  the  reduction  in  majors,  regimental  adjutants,  quartermasters  and 
wag:oners ; 

Fifty-nine  thousand  four  hundred  and  forty-eight  dollars  in  the  re- 
daction of  the  Adjutant-General's  Department; 


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VI  REDUCTION   OP  THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT. 

Twenty-seven  thoasand  one  hundred  and  twelve  dollars  in  the  reduc- 
tion of  the  Inspector-General's  Department; 

Nineteen  thousand  seven  hundred  and  thifty-six  dollars  in  the  reduc- 
tion in  the  Bureau  of  Military  Justice ; 

One  hundred  and  thirty -one  thousand  nine  hundred  dollars  in  the  re- 
duction of  the  Quartermaster's  Department ; 

Forty-eight  thousand  live  hundred  and  sixty-two  dollars  in  the  reduc- 
tion of  the  Subsistence  Department ; 

One  hundred  andseventy-seven  thousand  nine  hundred  and  sixteen 
dollars  in  the  reduction  of  the  Medical  Department ; 

One  hundred  and  twenty-four  thousand  two  hundred  and  sixteen  dol- 
lars in  the  reduction  in  the  Pay  Department;  and 

Eighty-nine  thousand  seven  hundred  and  ninety-six  dollars  in  the  re- 
duction of  the  Ordnance  Department. 

These  reductions  will  take  place  gradually,  but  the  larger  part  of 
them  will  occur  within  a  year  and  continue  until  the  whole  work  is 
accomplished.  The  organization  of  the  Army  is  to  be  left  as  complete 
as  before,  without  any  material  or  radical  change;  capable  of  expansion 
to  the  largest  demands,  and  ready  to  meet  the  gravest  emergencies. 

The  committee  find  in  some  parts  of  the  military  establishment  a  dij$- 
regard  of  expenditures  that  is  worthy  of  correction.  As  an  instance 
may  be  mentioned  the  unnecessarily  large  amounts  paid  for  rent  and 
officers'  quarters  of  headquarters  of  the  various  military  divisions  and 
departments.  The  fact  is  that  tbB  large  sum  of  $464,015.72  thus  an- 
nually expended  leads  to  the  apprehension  that  in  other  matters,  less 
apparent,  the  same  extravagant  expenditures  may  be  allowed.  The 
removal  of  regiments  great  distances  is  another  source  of  vast  expense, 
and  can  be  justified  by  no  rules  that  should  govern  economical  adminis- 
tration. A  plan  might  be  adopted  by  which  the  men  could  be  allowed 
to  remain  and  the  officers  transferred.  The  men  are  not  permanent, 
while  the  officers  are.  The  men  go  out  of  service  in  a  few  years,  many 
desert,  others  are  discharged,  and  but  a  small  per  cent  serve  five  years* 

The  signal-service  system  is  becoming  too  extensive  and  costly,  the 
annual  expenditure  for  the  last  fiscal  year  being — 

For  pay $110,634  00 

For  fael,  forage,  &o.,  for  officers  aod  oommatation  of  fuel,  qaarters,  and 

extra-daty  pay  of  enlisted  men 125,345  52 

For  rations  and  commutation  of  rations  for  enlisted  men 110, 070  00 

For  clothing ,  30,:i55  00 

For  transportation 16,476  09 

For  rent  office  of  the  Chief  Signal-Officer,  gas,  bnrial-ezpenses,  expressage, 

&o : 13,060  00 

For  medical  expenses 950,00 

For  horses,  means  of  transportation,  forage,  d&c,  at  Fort  Whipple 10,800  00 

Total 417,680  61 

In  addition  to  this  sum,  it  is  estimated  that  the  expenditures  for  the 
present  year  will  amount  to  the  sum  of  $353,500,  which  will  be  needed 
for  instruments,  telegraphing,  signal-equipments,  field-telegraph  trains, 
for  expenses  of  storm-signals  displayed  at  ports,  river-reports,  for  maps 
and  bulletins  to  be  displayed  in  chamber  of  commerce  and  board  of 
trade  rooms,  life-saving  stations,  farmers'  bulletins,  maps,  printing,  and 
expenses  of  every  description  for  the  service  in  its  especial  duties  for 
the  Army  and  for  the  benefit  of  commerce  and  agriculture  at  all  of  the 
stations.  These  items  cost  during  the  last  year  $216,733.  The  whole 
system  should  be  more  evenly  distributed  over  the  country  and  limited 
in  extent.    The  value  and  importance  of  this  service  to  business  and  to 


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REDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT.  VII 

science  can  hardly  be  estimated,  but  is  believed  that  it  has  been  effectual 
in  preventing  many  losses  and  disasters  of  a  serious  nature,  aud  has 
added  many  valuable  facts  to  the  stores  of  scientific  research. 

The  committee  have  prepared  the  following  bill,  and  recommend  its 
passage: 

A  BILL  to  provide  for  the  gradaal  redaction  of  the  Army  of  the  United  States. 

Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of  the  United 
States  of  America  in  Confess  assembled^  That  in  the  cavalry,  artillery, 
and  infantry  regiments  of  the  Army  of  the  United  States  there  shall  be 
no  new  commission,  no  promotion,  nor  any  enlistment  until  tte  number 
of  regiments  of  cavalry  shall  be  reduced  to  nine;  the  number  of 
regiments  of  artillery  to  four;  and  the  number  of  regiments  of 
infantry  to  twenty.  Aud  the  Secretary  of  War  is  hereby  directed 
to  reduce,  by  consolidation,  the  present  numbers  of  these  regiments, 
respectively,  to  the  numbers  hereinbefore  stated,  as  rapidly  as  the 
requirements  of  the  public  service  and  the  reduction  of  the  number  of 
oflBcers  will  permit. 

Sec.  2.  That  the  number  of  enlisted  men  in  the  Army  of  the  United 
States  shall  be  reduced,  on  or  before  the  first  of  January,  eighteen  hun- 
dred and  seventy-five,  to  the  number  of  twenty-five  thousand  men  ;  aud 
this  number  shall  not  be  increased  except  by  law. 

Sec.  3.  That  the  President  of  the  United  States  be,  and  he  is  hereby, 
authorized,  at  his  discretion,  to  discharge  honorably,  from  military  ser- 
vice, all  Army  officers  who  may  apply  lor  a  discharge  on  or  before  the 
first  day  of  January  next ;  and  such  officers  so  discharged  under  the 
provisions  of  this  act  shall  be  entitled  to  receive,  in  addition  to  the 
pay  and  allowances  due  them  at  the  date  of  their  discharge,  one  year's 
pay  and  allowances. 

Sec.  4.  That  the  grade  of  regimental  adjutant  and  quartermaster  and 
the  grade  of  company-wagoner  are  hereby  abolished ;  and  the  lieuten- 
ants now  holding  the  offices  of  regimental  adjutant  and  quartermaster 
may  be  assigned  for  duty  to  companies  in  their  regiments,  and  shall  fill 
the  first  vacancies  that  shall  occur  in  their  respective  grades  therein ; 
and  nothing  herein  shall  affect  their  relative  rank  with  other  lieuten- 
ants of  their  grade. 

Sec.  5.  That  each  regiment  of  cavalry  shall  have  two  majors,  and  the 
present  number  shall  be  reduced  as  vacancies  occur;  and  no  appoint- 
ments shall  be  made  to  fill  the  same  until  the  number  of  such  majors 
shall  be  reduced  to  eighteen ;  and  that  number  thenceforward  shall  be 
the  total  number  of  majors  of  cavalry ;  an^  that  each  regiment  of 
artillery  shall  have  two  majors ;  aud  the  presentnumber  shall  be  reduced 
as  vacancies  occur ;  and  no  new  appointment  shall  be  made  to  fill  the 
same  until  the  number  of  such  majors  shall  be  reduced  to  eight;  and 
that  number  thenceforward  shall  be  the  total  number  of  majors  of 
artillery. 

Sec.  6.  That  the  number  of  aids  of  the  General  of  the  Army  shall 
not  hereafter  exceed  three;  the  number  of  aids  of  the  Lieutenant-Gen- 
eral  and  of  the  several  major-generals  shall  not  exceed  two  for  each; 
and  each  brigadier-general  shall  have  one  aid.  The  rank,  pay,  and 
emoluments  of  the  aids  herein  provided  for  shall  be  the  same  as  officers 
of  cavalry  of  the  same  grade,  and  no  more. 

Sec.  7.  That  the  Adjutant-General's  Department  of  the  Army  shall 
hereafter  consist  of  one  Adjutant-General,  with  the  rank,  pay,  and 
emoluments  of  a  brigadier-general;  one  assistant  adjutant-general,  with 
the  rank,  pay,  and  emoluments  of  a  colonel;  one  assistant  adjutant- 


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VIII  REDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT. 

general,  with  the  rank,  pay,  and  emoluments  of  a  lien  tenant-colonel; 
and  four  assistant  adjutants-general,  with  the  rank,  pay,  and  emolu- 
ments of  majors.  As  vacancies  occur  in  the  grade  of  major,  no  appoint- 
ment to  fill  the  same  shall  be  made  until  the  number  shall  be  reduced 
to  four;  and  thereafter  the  number  of  permanent  officers  in  said  grade 
shall  continue  to  conform  to  said  reduced  number.  And  there  shall  be 
in  addition  eight  assistant  adjutants-general,  with  the  rank,  pay,  and 
emoluments  of  captains  of  cavalry,  to  be  detailed-  from  the  officers  of 
the  line  of  the  Army. 

Sec.  8.  That  the  Inspector-General's  Department  shall  consist  of  one 
colonel,  two  lieutenant  colonels,  and  two  majors,  with  the  rank,  pay, 
and  emoluments  of  officers  of  said  grades;  and  the  Secretary  of  War 
may,  in  addition,  detail  officers  of  the  line,  not  to  exceed  four,  to  act  as 
assistant  inspectors-genercil:  Providsd^  That  officers  of  the  line  detailed 
as  acting  inspectors-general  shall  have  all  the  allowances  of  cavalry- 
officers  of  their  respective  grades;  and  no  new  appointment  shall  be 
made  in  the  Inspector-General's  Department  until  the  number  of  inspect- 
ors-general is  reduced  to  Ave. 

Sec.  9.  That  the  Bureau  of  Military  Justice  shall  hereafter  consist  of 
one  Judge- Advocate-General,  with  the  rank,  pay,  and  emoluments  of  a 
brigadier-general;  and  the  said  Judge- Advocate-General  shall  receive, 
revise,  and  have  recorded  the  proceedings  of  all  courts-martial,  courts 
of  inquiry,  and  military  commissions,  and  shall  perform  such  other 
duties  as  have  been  heretofore  performed  by  the  Judge- Advocate-Gen- 
eral of  the  Army.  And  of  the  judge-advocates  now  in  office  there  may 
be  retained  a  number  not  exceeding  four,  to  be  selected  by  the  Secretary 
of  War,  who  shall  perform  their  duties  under  the  direction  of  the  Judge- 
Advocate-General,  until  otherwise  provided  by  law,  or  until  the  Secre- 
tary of  War  shall  decide  that  their  services  can  be  dispensed  with;  and 
no  new  appointment  shall  be  made  in  the  Bureau  of  Military  Justice 
until  the  number  of  officers  therein  is  reduced  to  five. 

Sec.  10.  That  the  Quartermaster's  Department  of  the  Army  shall 
hereafter  consist  of  one  Quartermaster-General,  with  the  rank,  pay,  and 
emoluments  of  a  brigadier-general ;  three  assistant  quartermasters-gen- 
eral, with  the  rank,  pay,  and  emoluments  of  colonels ;  six  deputy  quar- 
termasters-general, with  the  rank,  pay,  and  emoluments  of  lieutenant- 
colonels;  ten  quartermasters,  with  the  rank,  pay,  and  emoluments 
of  majors;  and  twenty  assistant  quartermasters,  with  the  rank,  pay, 
and  emoluments  of  captains  of  cavalry ;  and  there  shall  be  in  addition 
ten  assistant  quartermasters,  with  the  rank,  pay,  and  emoluments  of 
first  lieutenants  of  cavalry ;  and  no  appointments  to  fill  the  same  per- 
manently shall  be  made,  but  the  same  shall  be  filled  by  detail  from  the 
lieutenants  of  the  line  of  the  Army. 

Sec.  11.  That  the  Subsistence  Department  of  the  Army  shall  hereaf- 
ter consist  of  one  Commissary-General  of  Subsistence,  with  the  rank, 
pay,  and  emoluments  of  a  colonel ;  three  assistant  commissaries-gen- 
eral of  subsistence,  with  the  rank,  pay,  and  emoluments  of  lieutenant- 
colonels:  five  assistant  commissaries  of  subsistence,  with  the  rank,  pay, 
and  emoluments  of  majors ;  and  fourteen  commissaries  of  subsistence, 
with  the  rank,  pay,  and  emoluments  of  captains  of  cavalry.  As  vacan- 
cies shall  occur  in  the  grade  of  captain,  no  appointment  to  fill  the 
same  shall  be  made  until  the  number  shall  be  reduced  to  eight ;  and 
thereafter  the  number  of  permanent  officers  in  said  grade  shall  con- 
tinue to  conform  to  said  reduced  number ;  and  the  remainder,  six  in 
number,  shall  be  filled  by  detail. 

Sec.  12.  That  the  Medical  Department  of  the  Army  shall  hereafter 


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REDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT.  IX 

consist  of  oue  Surgeon-General,  with  the  rank,  pay,  and  emolaments  of 
a  brigadier-general ;  one  assistant  surgeon-general,  with  the  rank,  pay, 
and  emoluments  x)f  a  colonel ;  one  chief  medical  purveyor,  and  two  as- 
sistant medical  purveyors,  with  the  rank,  pay,  and  emoluments  of  lieu- 
tenant-colonels, who  shall  give  the  same  bonds  which  are  or  may  be  re- 
quired of  assistant  paymaster-general  of  like  grade,  and  shall,  when 
not  acting  as  purveyors,  be  assignable  to  duty  as  surgeons  by  the  Presi- 
dent ;  fifty  surgeons,  with  the  rank,  pay,  and  emoluments  of  majors ;  one 
hundred  and  fifty  assistant  surgeons,  with  the  rank,  pay,  and  emolu- 
ments of  lieutenants  of  cavalry  for  the  first  five  years'  service,  and  with 
the  rank,  pay,  and  emoluments  of  captains  of  cavalry  after  five  years' 
service ;  and  four  medical  store-keepers,  with  the  same  compensation  as 
is  now  provided  by  law ;  and  all  the  original  vacancies  in  the  grade  of 
assistant  surgeon  shall  be  filled  by  selectiou  by  competitive  examination ; 
and  the  Secretary  of  War  is  hereby  authorized  to  appoint,  from  the  en- 
listed men  of  the  Army,  or  cause  to  be  enlisted,  as  many  hospital  stew- 
ards as  the  service  may  require,  to  be  permanently  attached  to  the  Med- 
ical Department,  under  such  regulations  as  the  Secretary  of  War  may 
prescribe. 

Sec.  13.  That  the  Pay  Department  of  the  Army  shall  hereafter  con- 
sist of  one  Paymaster-General,  with  the  rank,  pay,  and  emoluments  of 
a  colonel ;  one  assistant  paymaster-general,  with  the  rank,  pay,  and 
emoluments  of  a  lieutenant-colonel;  two  deputy  paymasters-general, 
with  the  rank,  pay,  and  emoluments  of  majors;  and  thirty  paymasters, 
with  the  rank,  pay,  and  emoluments  of  majors. 

Sec.  14.  That  from  and  after  the  first  day  of  July,  eighteen  hundred 
and  seventy-four,  all  muster  and  pay  rolls,  when  made  out,  shall  be 
forwarded  to  the  paymaster  of  the  department  for  which  such  muster 
and  pay  rolls  are  made  out ;  and  the  said  paymaster  shall  make  out 
drafts,  drawn  on  the  Treasury  of  the  United  States,  for  the  amount  due 
to  each  person  respectively  whose  name  shall  appear  on  said  muster  and 
pay  rolls ;  and  each  of  said  drafts  shall  be  made  payable  to  the  person 
who  shall  be  entitled  to  receive  such  amount.  And  the  said  paymaster 
shall  immediately  send  all  such  drafts,  together  with  the  aforesaid 
muster  and  pay  rolls,  to  the  ofiieer  by  whom  such  muster  and  pay  rolls 
were  made  out ;  and  the  said  ofiieer  shall  deliver  such  drafts  severally 
to  the  persons  who  shall  be  entitled  to  receive  them,  and  who  shall  have 
signed  the  proper  pay-roll ;  and,  at  any  time  after  receiving  such  draft, 
the  payee,  at  his  discretion,  may  indorse  it  in  the  presence  of  his  com- 
manding ofiieer,  who  shall  attest  such  indorsement  by  his  signature: 
Proridedy  That  the  Secretary  of  War  may,  in  his  discretion,  in  cases 
where  troops  are  located  at  remote  points,  or  where  payments  as  here- 
inbefore provided  would  work  hardship  to  the  men,  direct  payment  in 
currency,  as  heretofore. 

Sec.  15.  That  the  Ordnance  Department  shall  consist  of  one  Chief  of 
Ordnance,  with  the  rank,  pay,  and  emoluments  of  a  brigadier-general ; 
three  colonels,  four  lieutenant-colonels,  ten  majors,  fifteen  captains,  six- 
teen first  lieutenants,  and  ten  second  lieutenants,  with  the  same  pay  and 
emoluments  as  now  provided  by  law.  And  as  vacancies  occur  in  the 
grade  of  first  lieutenant  no  appointment  to  fill  the  same  shall  be  made 
until  the  number  shall  be  reduced  to  ten  ;  and  thereafter  the  number  of 
permanent  officers  in  said  grade  shall  conform  to  said  reduceil  number ; 
and  the  remainder,  six  in  number,  shall  be  filled  by  detail  from  the  ofil- 
cers  of  the  line  of  the  Army ;  and  as  vacancies  shall  occur  in  the  grade 
of  second  lieutenant  no  permanent  appointment  shall  be  made  to  fill  the 
same  until  the  number  shall  be  entirely  reduced ;  and  thereafter  the 

HME 


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X  REDUCTION    OF   THE    MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT. 

same,  as  far  as  shall  be  required  by  the  exigencies  of  the  service,  shall 
be  filled  by  detail  from  the  officers  of  the  line  of  the  Army  :  Provided^ 
That  no  new  appointment  of  ordnance  store-keeper  shall  be  made  until 
otherwise  provided  by  law. 

Sec.  16.  That  whenever  a  vacancy  shall  occur  in  any  department  or 
corps  of  the  staff  which  is  to  be  filled  by  detail,  it  shall  be  the  duty  of 
the  Secretary  of  War  to  fill  the  same  from  the  officers  of  the  line  of  the 
Army  of  the  same  or  the  next  lower  grade,  for  a  period  not  to  exceed 
four  years  with  the  same  officer.  And  he  shall  appoint  a  board  of  not 
less  than  five  officers,  three  of  whom  shall  be  of  the  line  and  two  of  the 
staff,  to  conduct  competitive  examinations  of  all  officers  who  may  be 
applicants  or  may  be  recommended  to  be  detailed  to  till  such  vacancies. 
And  the  Secretary  of  War  shall  detail  those  having  the  most  favor- 
able recommendations  of  said  board,  and  not  more  than  five  officers 
from  one  regiment  shall  be  so  detailed  at  one  time.  And  at  the  end  of 
four  years  any  officer  so  detailed  may  be  transferred  to  other  staff- 
duties  for  another  term  of  four  years,  at  the  end  of  which  time  he  shall 
be  returned  to  his  duties  with  his  regiment  unless  he  shall  be  appointed 
permanently  to  fill  a  vacancy  in  the  staff.  And  no  officer  shall  be  de- 
tailed or  appointed  to  serve  in  any  department  or  corps  of  the  staff'  un- 
til he  shall  have  served  at  least  foiu*  years  in  the  field  with  the  troops  if 
above  the  grade  of  second  lieutenant,  and  if  a  second  lieutenant  at  least 
two  years  upon  such  duty  consecutively.  And  no  officer  shall  serve  in 
any  one  department  or  corps  of  the  staff  by  detail  for  a  longer  period 
than  four  years  consecutively. 

Sec.  17.  That  no  officer  now  in  service  shall  be  reduced  in  rank  or 
mustered  out  by  reason  of  any  provision  of  law  herein  made  reducing 
the  number  of  officers  in  any  department  or  corps  of  the  staff',  or  by 
reason  of  the  consolidation  of  regiments,  as  herieinbefore  provided. 

Sec  18.  That  the  General  of  the  Army  and  commanding  officers  of  the 
several  military  departments  of  the  Army  shall,  as  soon  as  practicable 
after  the  j)assage  of  this  act,  forward  to  the  Secretary  of  War  a  list  of 
officers  serving  in  their  respective  commands  deemed  by  them  unfit  for 
the  proper  discharge  of  their  duties  from  any  cause  except  injuries  in- 
curred or  disease  contracted  in  the  line  of  their  duty,  setting  forth  spe- 
cifically in  each  case  the  cause  of  such  unfitness;  the  Secretary  of 
War  is  hereby  authorized  and  directed  to  constitute  a  board,  to  consist 
of  one  major-general,  one  brigadier-general,  and  three  colonels,  three  of 
said  officers  to  be  selected  from  among  those  appointed  to  the  Regular 
Army  on  account  of  distinguished  services  in  the  volunteer  force  during 
the  late  war ;  and,  on  recommendation  of  such  board,  the  President  shall 
muster  out  of  the  service  any  of  the  said  officers  so  reported,  with  one 
year's  pay;  but  such  muster-out  shall  not  be  ordered  without  allowing 
such  officer  a  hearing  before  such  board  to  show  cause  against  it :  Pro- 
videdy  That  any  officer  who  shall  have  served  in  the  Array  thirty  years, 
and  who  may  be  removed  from  service  under  the  provisions  of  this 
section,  may  be  placed  upon  the  retired  list  of  the  Army. 

Sec.  19.  That  as  vacancies  shall  occur  in  any  of  the  grades  of  any  de- 
partment or  corps  of  the  staff,  no  appointments  shall  be  made  to  fill  the 
same  until  the  numbers  in  such  grade  shall  be  reduced  to  the  numbers 
which  are  fixed  for  permanent  appointments  by  the  provisions  of  this 
act;  and  thereafter  the  number  of  permanent  officers  in  said  grades 
shall  continue  to  conform  to  said  reduced  numbers. 

Sec.  20.  That  this  act  shall  take  effect  and  be  in  force  from  and  after 
its  passage. 


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REDUCTION   OF    THE    MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT.  XI 

SUMMARY  Of^  SAVIXG  BY  THE  PROPOSED  REDUCTIOX  OF  THE  ARMY. 


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Insjiector-Generars  Department. 1 

bun^au  of  Military  Justice | 

Qiuft«»rnia«t-er-(jreiierars  Department I 

MibsiHtenro  Department l 

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Pay  Department I 

Orilnance  Department < 

Annual  coat  of  one  repment  of  cavalry i 

AoDnal  coat  of  one  rejjiment  or  artillery , 

Annoal  cost  of  five  regimeutJkof  infantry , 

Total...' i 


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89,  796 

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1,  985,  700 

5,438,158 

1, 135,  626 

4,302,533 

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REDUCTION  OF  THE  MILITARY  ESTABLISHMENT. 


Washington,  D.  C, 

Tuesday  J  January  6, 1874. 

At  the  request  of  the  Committee  on  Military  Affairs,  General  William 
T.  Sherman  appeared  before  it  to  give  information  with  reference  to  the 
army. 

The  Chairman  inquired  whether  the  army  could  be  reduced  in  num- 
ber with  advantage  to  the  country,  and  if  so,  what  was  the  best  method 
of  effecting  the  reduction. 

General  Sherman.  May  I  state,  by  way  of  parehthesis,  that  the  reg- 
ular army  now  is  a  very  curious  compound.  It  consists  of  ten  regiments 
of  cavalry,  five  of  artillery,  and  twenty-five  regiments  of  infantry.  To 
these  are  superadded  many  staff  departments  ;  a  battalion  of  engineers; 
general  service  recruits;  the  ordnance  detachment;  the  West  Point 
detachment;  signal  service  detachment;  hospital  stewards ;  ordnance 
sergeants  and  commissary  sergeants.  These  constitute  what  is,  in  law, 
termed  the  military  peace  establishment.  Whether  a  peace  establish- 
ment is  technically  an  army  or  not  Is  for  you,  gentlemen,  and  not  for  me 
to  determine.  In  my  ofQce  I  have  no  authority,  control  or  influence 
over  anything  but  the  cavalry,  artillery,  and  infantry,  and  such  staff 
ofScers  as  are  assigned  by  their  respective  chiefs,  approved  by  the  Sec- 
retary of  War,  and  attached  to  these  various  military  bodies  for  actual 
service.  I  would  term  these — the  cavalry,  artillery,  and  infantry,  with 
their  respective  officers  serving  with  them — the  army  of  the  United 
States.  The  rest  simply  go  to  make  up  the  military  peace  establishment. 
,  As  a  matter  of  self-interest,  as  well  as  of  opinion  probably,  (that  of  a 
soldier  in  contradistinction  to  that  of  a  citizen)  I  do  not  think  that  this 
force  should  be  reduced  in  number,  either  as  a  nucleus  on  which  to 
build  a  future  military  establishment,  or  as  a  force  to  meet  the  exigen- 
cies of  the  present  state  of  our  country.  If,  therefore,  the  necessity  for 
economy  is  so  urgent,  I  advise  that  the  pruningknife  be  applied  to 
what  I  would  call  those  branches  of  the  military  peace  establishment 
outside  of  the  active  regiments.  Whether  such  a  pruning-knife  can  be 
applied  with  wisdom  or  not,  I  cannot  say,  but  my  judgment  is  that  the 
present  ten  regiments-of  cavalry,  five  regiments  of  artillery,  and  twen- 
ty-five regiments  of  infantry  cannot  be  reduced  in  numbers  or  efficiency*, 
consistent  with  the  good  of  this  country. 

The  Chairman.  Can  any  of  the  military  posts  that  are  now  occupied 
be  abandoned  advantageously  ? 

General  Sherman.  They  are  daily,  weekly,  and  monthly,  being  re- 
duced as  fast  as  settlements  supply  their  places.  Some  of  what  are 
called  military  posts,  are  mere  collections  of  huts  made  of  logs,  adobes, 
or  mere  holes  in  the  ground,  and  are  about  as  much  forts  as  prairie- 
dog  villages  might  be  called  forts.  These  are  being  abandoned  every 
day.  There  are  certain  strategic  or  key  points  all  over  the  United  States, 
from  Maine  to  Louisiana,  and  from  Louisiana  back  again  to  Oregon,  which 
we  ought  to  hold  forever,  as  a  people,  in  the  military  interests  of  the  nation. 
I  think  there  may  be  nearly  two  hundred  posts  now  occupied,  no^/or^ 


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4  REDUCTION   OF   THE    MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT. 

but  mere  posts  occnpied  by  the  present  army.  These  probably,  in  the 
progress  of  development  and  of  history,  will  be  concentrated  down  to 
thirty  or  forty.  On  our  sea-board,  my  judgment  has  always  been  that 
we  occupy  too  many  little  insignificant  posts  called  forts  or  batteries, 
which  might  as  well  be  washed  into  the  sea,  and  the  quicker  the  better. 
There  are  a  great  many  arsenals,  over  which  I  have  no  control,  which 
in  my  mind  ai*e  worse  than  useless;  and  I  have  no  doubt  that  we  occupy 
a  great  many  posts  in  the  Indian  country  to-day,  which  next  week  or 
the  week  after  we  may  abandon  with  profit,  but  which  cannot  be  aban- 
doned by  an  order  frOm  Washington  without  exposing  life  and  property. 

I  have  in  my  hand  a  statement  prepared  by  the  Adjutant-General  of 
the  Army,  which  indicates  every  post  from  which  post  returns  are 
made.  I  bave  not  made  up  this  statement  myself,  and  would  have  to 
go  over  each  item  in  order  to  answer  your  question  fully,  and  I  rather 
think  that  that  is  more  tban  you  expect.  This  paper  gives  a  list  of 
every  post  from  which  post  returns  are  made.  Detachments  may  be, 
and  often  are,  sent  out  from  those  posts  to  other  points  not  named  herein, 
but  they  are  called  back  again.  These  constitute  the  regular  posts. 
For  instance,  the  First  Cavalry  occupies  Benicia  Barracks,  California ; 
Fort  Klamath,  Oregon ;  Camp  McDermot,  Nevada ;  Fort  Lapwai,  In- 
dian Territory ;  Fort  Walla- Walla,  Washington  Territory ;  Camp  Har- 
ney, Oregon,  and  Camp  Halleck.  These  are  six  or  seven  distinct  posts, 
stretched  from  our  northern  boundary  down  into  Nevada,  a  distance  of 
about  eight  or  nine  hundred  miles  of  frontier,  right  in  the  midst  of  In- 
dians. Now  for  me,  or  for  the  Secretary  of  War,  or  for  the  President 
of  the  United  States  to  order  a  discontinuance  of  an}''  one  of  these 
posts,  would  be  simply  to  expose  life  and  property  in  the  neighborhood 
to  immediate  danger.  Therefore  I  answer  that  question  in  the  nega- 
tive.   We  cannot  order  the  discontinuance  of  any  of  these  forts. 

The  Chairman.  State  whether  or  not  the  Indians  there  are  hostile  in 
their  conduct  and  character? 

General  Shebman.  They  are  of  a  mischievous  nature ;  semi-hostile ; 
and  would  be  converted  into  hostile  the  very  moment  troops  are  with- 
drawn. Some  people  trust  them.  I  do  not.  We  did  trust  the  Modocs, 
and  we  got  the  worst  of  it. 

The  Second  Cavalry  occupies  Fort  Sanders,  Wyoming  Territory,  Fort 
Fred.  Steele,  Camp  Stambaugh,  Camp  Brown,  Camp  Douglass,  Fort 
Laramie,  and  Fort  Ellis,  with  a  detachment  at  Omaha  barracks.  That 
regiment  is,  therefore,  strung  from  the  Pacific  Bailroad,  in  the  neigh- 
borhood of  Cheyenne,  northWard  through  the  Eocky  Mountains  up  to 
Fort  Ellis  in  Montana,  at  least  eight  hundred  miles  of  frontier.  They  are 
in  the  presence  of  probably  three  thousand  of  the  most  dangerous  and 
hostile  Indians  on  this  continent. 

Mr  Hawley,  of  Connecticut.  Three  thousand  fighting  men  ! 

General  Sherman.  Yes.  Sitting  Bull,  Bull  Bear,  Bed  Cloud,  and 
these  fellows,  can  have  three  thousand  Sioux  for  actual  war  if  occasion 
arises.  As  long  as  they  have  not  a  cause  of  grievance,  as  long  as  they 
have  plenty  of  game,  and  can  get  presents  from  the  Indian  Bureau,  they 
will  remain  pretty  quiet,  but  as  soon  as  we  undertake  to  send  wagons 
or  stock  through  their  country  with  anything  that  would  tempt  the  In- 
dians, we  have  to  send  escorts  along  with  them  equal  to  a  regiment  of 
men,  or  else  we  have  to  fight  the  whole  way  through. 

Then  take  the  Third  Cavalry.  It  is  now  at  Fort  MacPherson,  Nebraska, 
Sidney  barracks.  Fort  Fetterman,  Fort  D.  A.  Bussell,  and  Fort  Sanders. 
This  regiment,  therefore,  occupies  posts  extending  from  Fort  Fetterman, 
in  Wyoming  Territory,  which  is  about  ninety  miles  west  of  Laramie,  to 


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RKDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT.  5 

Fort  McPherson,  ia  Nebraska.  The  regiment  is  iu  splendid  order.  I 
have  no  doubt  that  its  presence  at  Fort  McPiierson,  where  the  bulk  of 
the  regiment  is,  is  of  great  utility.  The  regiment  is  doing  good  service 
in  preventing  the  accumulation  of  hostile  Sioux  on  the  head-waters  of 
the  Republican. 

This  is  a  fine  buffalo  country,  and  a  favorite  resort  of  the  Indians. 
The  presence  of  that  regiment  there  has  enabled  the  States  of  Kansas 
and  Nebraska  to  extend  their  frontier  settlements  two  hundred  miles 
within  the  last  two  years.  Probably  over  50,000  people  have  extended 
their  homes  westward  by  reason  of  having  the  Third  Cavalry  there. 
When  I  passed  over  that  country  in  1865-'66-'67  there  was  no  population 
in  it  or  near  it.  No  man  could  go  west  of  the  Little  Blue  without  run- 
ning one  chance  in  three  of  having  his  scalp  taken.  Now  there  are 
counties  laid  out ;  there  are  county  courts  and  roads.  I  have  no  doubt 
that  from  one  to  two  millions  of  acres  of  public  lands  have  been  entered 
since  1866  by  reason  of  the  occupation  of  that  line  of  post^,  which  could 
not  have  been  done  but  for  those  posts.  Therefore  I  say  the  Third  Regi- 
ment of  Cavalry  has  rendered  such  service  by  occupying  these  posts 
that  I  would  not  abandon  one  of  them.  I  would  rather  obliterate  some 
town  in  the  east  here,  which  does  not  do  half  as  much  good. 

Then  take  the  Fourth  Cavalry.  The  Fourth  Cavalry,  by  special  in- 
stmctions,  is  united  in  Texas,  on  the  Upper  Rio  Grande,  at  Fort  Clark 
and  Fort  Duncan,  in  order  to  guard  against  intrusions  on  our  territory 
by  nomadic  Mexicans  and  Indians.  This  is  a  very  fine  regiment  and  is 
kept  almost  united  to  guard  against  not  onl}'  Indians  but  Mexicans,  who 
have  from  time  to  time  crossed  our  border  and  attacked  the  settlements 
on  the  Upper  Nueces  and  Upper  Rio  Grande  for  the  i)urpose  of  stealing 
horses  and  cattle.  I  can  go  on  through  the  whole  of  this  list  it'  the 
committee  so  desires. 

The  Chairman.  We  should  be  glad  to  have  you  to  do  so. 

Mr.  Hawley,  of  Connecticut.  Your  statement  is  very  interesting  to 
the  country. 

General  Shebman.  The  Fifth  Cavalry  is  now  in  Arizona.  It  can 
hardly  be  said  to  be  occupying  any  place,  as  it  is  on  the  go  all  the  time. 
It  has  detachments  at  Camp  V^erde,  Camp  Apache,  Camp  Bowie,  Camp 
MacDowell,  Camp  Grant,  Camp  Lowell,  and  Fort  Whipple.  It  occu- 
pies the  whole  valley  of  the  Gila,  with  detachments  at  the  foot  of 
the  White  Mountains,  near  the  capital  of  Arizona,  which  is  called 
Prescott.  This  regiment,  I  have  no  doubt,  has  had  harder  service 
within  the  last  two  years  than  any  regiment  of  cavalry  had  in  the  ser- 
vice of  the  United  States  during  the  civil  war.  It  numbers  about  nine 
hundred  and  thirty-five  men,  according  to  this  list,  but  there  are  in  the 
field  probably  about  eight  hundred  men.  Under  the  leadership  of  Gen- 
eral Crook,  it  has  subdued  the  wild  Apaches,  who  are  now  as  much 
afraid  of  this  regiment  as  Indians  ought  to  be  afraid  of  our  soldiers. 
General  Crook,  with  this  regiment  and  some  infantry,  has  restored  com- 
parative  peace  to  that  country;  not  peace  exactly,  but  such  peace  only 
as  can  exist  in  that  miserable  desert  land.  If  you,  gentlemen,  will  get 
Mexico  to  take  Arizona  back  I  will  agree  to  knock  two  regiments  of 
cavalry  from  our  estimates.  But,  as  Tom  Corwin  useil  to  say,  "it  is  our 
country,  and  therefore  we  must  love  it  and  protect  it." 

The  Chairman.  How  much  more  does  it  cost  to  maintain  cavahy 
there  than  in  other  parts  of  the  country  ? 

General  Sherman.  It  costs  three  or  four  times  as  much  as  it  costs  in 
Nebraska.  It  is  the  most  costly  place  in  the  world  tor  the  maintenance 
of  troops.    Nearly  all  supplies  go  from  San  Francisco ;  but  some  barley 


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b  REDUCTION   OP    THE   MILITARY    ESTABLISHMENT. 

can  be  boagbt  iu  parcels  there,  for  they  raise  some  grain  in  scattereil 
districts ;  but  to  haul  it  even  sixty  miles  in  that  eonntry  costs  more  than 
to  transport  it  from  Boston  to  Omaha. 

The  Chairman.  Speaking  of  Arizona,  what  is  there  to  take  care  of 
besides  the  men  who  furnish  supplies  to  the  army  and  who  live  off  the 
expenditures  for  the  Army  ! 

General  Sherman.  Personally  I  have  never  been  in  Arizona,  but  ofli- 
cially  I  have  been  connected  with  it  since  1846,  in  the  Mexican  war 
times.  Then  it  was,  of  course,  a  mere  wilderness,  unpeopled.  When  I 
resided  in  San  Francisco,  as  a  citizen,  there  was  no  place  called  Ari- 
zona. We  called  it  the  Gila  country.  Through  it  was  one  of  the 
routes  by  which  people  came  from  Sonora  into  California.  I  used  to 
associate  and  live  with  Sonoranians  in  their  camps,  and  my  opinion  of 
that  country,  viz,  of  the  Gila  Valley  and  the  Colorado  Valley,  was  in  a 
measure  formed  by  my  conversations  with  them  ;  and  the  condition  of 
their  animals  and  of  their  persons  on  reaching  California,  after  travel- 
ing over  this  desert  country,  confirmed  the  truth  of  their  assertions 
that  it  was  a  God-forsaken  land.  Little  by  little  it  was  found  that 
the  mountains,  which  throw  out  spurs  toward  the  Gila  Valley,  have  in- 
dicated the  presence  of  copper,  silver,  and  gold.  The  population  is 
composed,  I  think,  of  two  distinct  classes,  viz,  California  miners,  who 
have  opened  mines  around  Prescott,  which  is  the  capital  of  Arizona, 
and  some  Spanish  settlers,  who  have  crept  up  in  that  direction  from 
Chihuahua  and  Sonora,  Mexico.  There  are  rancheros,  who  occupy  the 
country  about  Tucson,  in  what  we  used  to  call  the  "  Gadsden  purchase."^ 
I  do  not  suppose  that  there  are,  bona  Jide,  eight  thousand  people  in  that 
whole  Territory.  But  there  is  a  stage-road  kept  up  from  Texas  through 
El  Paso  to  the  Gila,  and  connecting  with  our  mail  service  in  California, 
at  San  Diego  and  Los  Angeles.  This  mail-service  has  been  kept  up 
ever  since  the  acquisition  of  the  country,  and  as  a  matter  of  course  the 
military  is  bound  to  protect  every  interest  which  the  Government  owns, 
whether  it  be  valuable  or  otherwise.  \ye  might  withdraw  these  i)OSts 
and  save  expense  that  is  so  seemingly  useless ;  but,  if  we  did  so,  the 
mails  would  have  to  be  stopped,  because  no  di-iver  could  or  would  go 
through  that  country  unless  we  kept  posts,  with  troops,  at  intervals  of 
every  two  or  three  hundred  miles. 

Mr.  Hawley,  of  Connecticut.  I  suppose  the  garrisons  are  as  small  as 
they  can  be  made  ! 

General  Sherman.  Yes.  They  are  mere  squads.  The  Apaches  are 
now  behaving  very  well,  because  they  are  afraid  of  General  Crook. 
But  they  are  extending  their  incursions  into  Mexico,  and  I  have  been 
expecting  every  moment  that  they  will  involve  us  in  some  international 
quarrel  or  controversy,  because  these  Apaches  are  our  subjects,  and 
yet  they  openly  and  without  concealment  go  off  their  reservations  and 
make  incursions  into  Sonora  and  Chihuahua,  and  the  people  of  those 
provinces  threaten  to  follow  them  back  into  our  territory,  and  I  believe 
they  will  do  so.  I  would  not  blame  them  if  they  did.  We  cannot  re- 
strain these  Indians,  except  by  keeping  them  under  absolute  military 
control. 

Mr.  Albright.  The  chairman  has  asked  what  there  was  in  Arizona 
to  keep  a  population  there. 

General  Sherman.  There  is  a  little  wheat-land  in  the  southern  part, 
and  there  is  some  mining-land  in  the  northern  part,  but  nothing  else.  I 
do  not  think  that  the  inhabitants  make  enough  profit  off'  our  soldiers  to 
maintain  them,  but  they  make  all  they  can. 

The  next  regiment  I  come  to,  in  the  list,  is  the  Sixth  Cavalry.    This 


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REDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT.  7 

regiment  in  the  snmmer-time  is  always  in  the  saddle,  scoarins:  the 
coantry  from  Fort  Hays,  in  Kansas,  along  the  Upper  Arkansas  Biver, 
and  along  the  northern  boundary  of  what  is  called  the  Indian  Territory. 
In  winter-time  it  keeps  to  the  forts,  viz,  Fort  Riley,  Fort  Hays,  Fort 
Wallace,  Fort  Dodge,  and  Fort  Lyon.  I  suppose  the  length  of  this  line 
of  posts  is  about  four  hundred  and  Hfty  miles.  But  in  the  summer-time, 
and  in  the  spring,  the  regiment  is  scouting  three  hundred  miles  north  of 
it,  and  four  hundred  miles  south  of  it  If  there  were  any  gentleman 
from  Kansas  here,  and  if  1  were  to  say  that  the  Sixth  Regiment  of 
Cavalry  could  be  dispensed  with,  you  would  hear  from  him.  It  is  a 
good  regiment.  There  is  no  better  regiment  in  the  world  for  its  size  and 
efficiency. 

The  Seventh  Cavalry  was  recently  in  the  south.  Last  summer  it  was 
ordered  away  north,  to  the  extreme  northern  boundary.  Two  companies 
formed  an  escort  for  the  commissioner  to  survey  the  boundary,  under 
the  treaty  with  Great  Britain.  The  other  ten  companies,  under  General 
Caster,  served  as  a  reconnoitering  party  on  the  line  of  the  Northern 
Pacific  Railroad,  which  reconnaissance  extended  from  the  Missouri  River 
at  Fort  Abe  Lincoln,  in  Dakota  Territory,  about  five  hundred  miles 
west  in  the  direction  of  Montana.  The  reconnaissance  was  sent  out  tO' 
enable  the  surveyors  to  explore  the  country  through  which  the  Northern 
Pacific  Railroad  (which  was  considered  a  national  enterprise)  was  to  be 
built.  All  the  military  authorities  coincided  in  the  necessity  for  sending 
oat  that  reconnaissance.  It  has  been  severely  criticised  by  the  newspa- 
pers; but,  nevertheless,  it  had  to  be  done  in  the  interest  of  the  progress 
of  that  railroad,  which  is  one  of  the  great  trans-continental  ways,  inter- 
esting especially  to  the  northern  States  and  the  northern  Territories, 
vi^,  to  Dakota,  Montana,  and  Washington.  That  regiment  is,  of  course, 
now  frozen  up  for  the  winter,  and  is  housed;  but  we  know  perfectly 
well,  and  I  have  been  informed  by  the  commissioner  for  running  the 
boundary.  Col.  Archie  Campbell,  that  he  will  need  a  great  deal  more 
than  two  companies  of  cavalry  next  year  to  defend  him  and  his  asso- 
ciates, because  the  extension  of  the  line  from  the  point  where  they  left 
off,  this  summer,  to  the  Rocky  Moantains,  will  carry  them  through  the 
Blackfeet  country,  and  they  may  have  to  fight  their  way. 

The  Seventh  Cavalry,  in  my  judgment,  has  rendered  eminent  services. 
To-day  it  is  frozen  up ;  bat  in  the  spring  of  the  year  it  will  be  on  the 
wing.  It  is  now  at  Fort  Abe  Lincoln,  as  its  headquarters,  and 
stretches  along  the  Northern  Pacific  Railroad,  from  the  Red  River  of 
the  North  to  the  Missouri  River;  or  rather  from  Fort  Snelling  westward 
as  far  as  the  Missouri  River,  about  five  handred  miles.  That  is  merely 
their  winter  quarters;  in  summer  they  will  scout  as  far  west  as  Powder 
River,  Milk  River,  and  the  Upper  Missouri, 

The  Eighth  Cavalry  is  in  New  Mexico,  another  of  those  delightful 
lands  acquired  from  old  Mexico  at  the  end  of  our  Mexican  war.  We 
have  got  it,  and  we  have  got  to  take  care  of  it,  unless  you  can  prevail 
on  Mexico  to  take  it  back.  The  highest  point  occupied  by  our  troops 
is  Fort  Garland,  in  what  is  called  the  San  Juan  Valley.  To  the  west- 
ward of  it  is  Wingate,  a  post  that  is  necessary  in  connection  with  the 
Navajo  Indians ;  Fort  Union  to  the  east,  where  the  mail  road  comes 
into  New  Mexico.  Down  the  valley  you  have  Fort  Bayard,  Fort  McRae, 
and  Fort  Craig.  To  the  right  and  left,  in  the  lower  valley,  you  have 
Fort  Stanton  and  Fort  Cummings — we  call  it  Tularosa ;  so  that  regiment 
covers,  substantially,  the  whole  of  New  Mexico,  protecting  the  native 
population  as  against  the  Indians,  and  protecting  the  Indians  as  against 
the  native  population.    Between  them  there  is,  and  has  been  for  three 


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8  REDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT. 

hnndred  years — longer  than  this  country  has  been  settled — a  war^and  the 
soldiers  have  to  catch  the  knocks  of  both.  As  long  as  that  condition 
of  aflfairs  lasts,  you  will  have  to  keep  a  regiment  of  cavalry  there.  If 
we  should  disoand  the  Eighth  Cavalry  to-morrow,  we  would  have  to 
replace  it  within  three  weeks^  or  else  acknowledge  that  we  are  incompe- 
tent to  defend  our  own  territory.  It  is  not  worth  the  cost  of  defense, 
but  that  is  not  our  business. 

The  Kinth  Cavalry  is  in  Texas.  Tbe  Kinth  is  a  colored  regiment. 
There  are  twelve  companies,  all  commanded  by  white  officers ;  and  that 
regiment  has  certainly  fulfilled  the  best  expectations  entertained  by  the 
friends  of  the  negro  people ;  they  are  good  troops,  they  make  first-rate 
sentinels,  are  faithful  to  their  trust,  and  are  as  brav^e  as  the  occasion 
calls  for.'  I  wish  to  bear  this  my  testimony,  my  willing  testimony,  to 
their  excellence.  Many  people  suppose  that  I  have  a  personal  prejudice 
against  black  troops ;  that  is  an  entire  mistake.  I  do  confess  that  I 
prefer  white  troops ;  but  these  black  troops  have  fulfilled  everything 
expected  of  them.  This  regiment,  the  Ninth,  occupies  the  forts  on  the 
southern  frontier  of  Texas,  viz :  Fort  Concho,  Fort  McKavitt,  Fort  Da- 
vis, Einggold  barracks.  Fort  Brown  and  Fort  Stockton.  They  are  dis- 
tributed, under  the  direction  of  the  Department  commander,  General 
Augur,  as  experienced  and  trustworthy  an  officer  as  can  be  found  in 
any  country,  and  they  scout  forward  and  in  the  intervals  of  their  camps. 
That  line  of  posts  protects  the  frontier  against  nomadic  Indians  and 
against  the  incursions  of  Mexicans  who  come  over  the  Eio  Grande  to 
steal  cattle  and  horses.  The  southeastern  part  of  Texas  is  a  valuable 
country.  In  due  time  it  will  fill  up  with  a  good  population ;  and 
although  this  process  is  very  slow,  it  is  bound  to  come.  But  so  long  as 
the  country  is  in  its  present  condition,  I  do  not  see  how  you  can  help 
covering  and  protecting  that  frontier,  and  that  cannot  be  done  cheaper 
than  it  is  now  done  by  the  present  cavalry.  Take  away  the  Ninth  Cav- 
alry and  the  settlements  of  Texas  would  fall  still  farther  back,  and  other 
troops  would  have  to  be  raised  a  second  time  to  recover  the  country 
thus  surrendered  or  lost. 

The  Tenth  Cavalry  is  also  a  colored  regiment.  It  is  stationed  farther 
north,  on  the  northern  and  western  skirt  of  the  Texan  frontier,  and  it 
extends  up  into  the  Indian  country,  occupying  from  Fort  Concho,  in 
l?exas,  northward  to  Fort  Sill  in  the  Indian  country.  Its  headquarters  are 
^t  Fort  Sill.  That  regiment  is  exactly  like  the  Ninth ;  the  officers  are 
white  and  very  good.  The  strength  of  these  colored  regiments  is  a  lit- 
tle less  than  the  average  strength  of  the  white  regiments.  The  Ninth  has 
seven  hundred  and  ninety-eight  men  and  the  Tenth  seven  hundred  and 
eighty-eight  men  ;  but  still  we  succeed  in  getting  recruits  enough  to 
keep  the  ranks  pretty  cleverly  full.  That  part  of  the  Texas  frontier  is 
more  important  than  the  southern  part.  That  whole  frontier  has  been 
garrisoned  ever  since  the  acquisition  of  Texas  from  Mexico,  viz,  shice 
3846.  The  Hue  of  posts  has  been  changed  from  time  to  time,  but  we 
iiave  substantially  settled  down  to  the  present  line.  The  sites  of  the 
dilferent  forts  belong  to  individuals  under  State  laws,  and  they  have 
given  a  great  deal  of  trouble,  but  I  believe  that  this  matter  is  now  in 
process  of  settlement.  Some  of  these  posts  will  have  to  be  abandoned, 
but  they  will  have  to  be  replaced  by  others  equally  costly.  Take  Fort 
Bichardson  by  way  of  illustration.  We  could  to-day  give  up  Fort  Rich- 
ardson because  there  are  people  enough  near  there,  at  Jacksborougb,  to 
defend  the  neighborhood,  but  there  is  a  wide  gap  between  Fort  Griffin 
and  Fort  Sill  which  we  will  have  to  occupy  with  a  detachment;  and  the 


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REDUCTION   OF   THE    MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT.  9 

water  aboat  there  is  so  bitter  that  the  officers  have  not  yet  settled  on  the 
point  best  suited  for  an  intermediate  post. 

Mr.  Hawley,  of  Connecticut  Do  you  mean  to  say  that  there  is  danger 
from  Indians  as  far  down  in  Texas  as  that  ? 

General  Sherman.  You  go  and  try  it.  I  would  not  go  today  from 
Fort  Sill  to  Fort  Griffin  direct  with  less  than  thirty  men  well  armed,  and 
without  taking  such  precautions  as  we  did  against  guerillas  in  the  late 
civil  war,  or  against  the  rebel  cavalry. 

Mr.  Albright.  What  is  the  distance  between  these  two  posts  ! 

General  Sherman.  About  one  hundred  and  forty  miles,  but  there  is 
hardly  a  day  that  there  is  not  a  man  killed  about  there ;  and  yet  these 
Indians  are  peaceful  Indians,  and  under  Christian  influence ! 

The  Chairman.  What  tribes  of  Indians  are  there  ! 

General  Sherman.  The  Kiowas  and  Comanches,  and,  I  think,  Chey- 
ennes  get  there  occasionally,  but  rarely.  These  fellows  cross  the  bor- 
der, via  Bed  Kiver,  and  some  of  them  are  caught  away  down  south  as 
far  as  the  Lower  Nueces.  Captain  Hudson,  of  the  Ninth  Cavalry,  killed 
some  there  only  last  week. 

Now,  I  have  accounted  for  every  one  of  our  ten  regiments  of  cavalry. 
I  do  not  believe  that  you  can  dispense  with  a  single  soldier  in  these  ten 
regiments,  nor  do  I  believe  that  you  can  do  much  in  the  way  of  econo- 
mizing in  their  maintenance ;  and  yet  they  are  as  necessary  as  troops  . 
were  on  the  line  of  operations  in  any  of  our  army  movements  during 
the  civil  war. 

Mr.  Hawley,  of  Connecticut.  Who  controls  the  building  of  quarters ; 
who  decides  on  their  expediency  and  the  expenditures  for  them  f 

General  Sherman.  Always  the  Secretary  of  War.  But  he  gets 
reports  from  all  the  officers  concerned,  and  has  all  the  facts  submitted  to 
him  before  he  gives  the  order;  because  the  expenses  must  come  out  of  a 
definite  appropriation,  and  he  must  see  that  all  these  items  dove-tail  in, 
and  do  not  exceed  in  the  aggregate  the  whole  sum  at  his  disposal. 

The  Chairman.  Do  you  recollect  how  many  regiments  ^f  cavalry  we 
had  on  the  irontier  before  the  war  f 

General  Sherman.  I  think  five ;  but  at  that  time  we  did  not  have 
near  as  much  frontier  to  protect.  The  line  then  was  neither  so  far  north, 
so  far  west,  nor  so  far  south.  Now,  instead  of  having  a  single  western 
frontier,  we  have  got  a  western  frontier,  and  an  eastern  frontier,  looking 
east  from  California  and  Oregon,  and  two  or  three  little  circles  in  Mon- 
tana, Colorado,  and  New  Mexico,  each  having  a  frontier  of  its  own,  so 
that  we  have  multiplied  the  extent  twenty-five  or  thirty  times. 

The  Chairman.  The  border  of  California  and  Oregon  existed  before 
the  war  as  it  does  now. 

General  Sherman.  When  I  went  to  California  in  1846-'47,  we  had  one 
cooapany  of  artillery,  two  companies  of  cavalry  squeezed  into  one,  and 
one  regiment  of  infantry.  After  the  Mexican  war,  1848,  was  added  what 
was  called  the  mounted  rifles.  The  troops  were  then  merely  on  the  line 
of  the  Missions,  between  the  mountains  and  the  sea.  Nobody, went  over 
the  mountains  in  those  days,  excepting  in  the  caravans,  which  took  care 
of  themselves.  The  scramble  then  was  to  get  to  the  gold  country.  There 
was  then  no  frontier  east  of  the  Sierra  Nevada. 

The  Chairman.  Was  that  so  so  late  as  1861  ? 

General  Sherman.  About  1859  and  '60  the  miners  began  to  creep 
over  the  mountains  into  what  is  now  called  Nevada,  in  search  of  silver. 
But  these  California  miners  were  equal  to  soldiers.  There  was  at  that 
date  a  line  of  posts  embracing  Fort  Yuma,  San  Diego,  Monterey,  and 
Shasta.    That  was  the  frontier  then.    There  were  no  posts  east  of  the 


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10  REDUCTION   OF    THE    MILITARY    ESTABLISHMENT. 

Sierra  Xevada.  There  was  a  small  garrisoQ  at  Fort  Hall,  where  a  com- 
pany of  the  mounted  rifles  was  stationed ;  and  as  this  regiment  went 
across  it  dropped  small  detachments  all  the  way  from  Fort  Kearney,  on 
the  Platte,  to  the  Columbia  Kiver,  at  Vancouver.  But  in  those  days  the 
Califomians  were  all  soldiers.  Every  fellow  carried  his  pistol — two  of 
them  generally — and  nobody  ever  traveled  without  his  gun.  We  were 
all  soldiers  then  out  there.    The  Galifornian  emigrants  were  all  soldiers. 

The  Chairman.  Now  come  to  the  artillery. 

General  Sherman.  The  First  Artillery  now  occupies  our  Atlantic 
sea-border  from  Charleston,  (which  is  the  headquarters,)  around  by  the 
south  as  far  as  Pensacola.  The  points  occupied  are  Charleston,  Savan- 
nah, Saint  Augustine,  Key  West,  Fort  Jefferson,  Fort  Barancas,  and 
there  is  one  company  of  this  regiment  at  the  artillery  school  at  Fort 
^Monroe,  Ya.  The  necessity  for  guarding  our  Atlantic  sea-coast  is  a« 
old  as  the  country  itself.  At  each  of  these  posts  necessarily  is  collected 
a  large  amount  of  valuable  property-7-property  which  is  peculiarly  liable 
to  destruction,  some  of  which  has  cost  as  much  as  $10,000,000.  It  is 
stated  in  regard  to  that  old  fort  at  Saint  Augustine,  that  the  King  of 
Spain  looked  through  a  spy-glass  across  the  Atlantic  to  see  if  he  could 
not  see  that  fort  shining,  on  account  of  the  amount  of  gold  which  was 
spent  on  it.  These  forts  are  very  costly,  very  liable  to  injury  and  des- 
truction; with  magazines  containing  powder  and  stores  which  may 
h^  robbed  at  any  moment,  with  shot  and  shells,  which  may  be  carried 
off  by  fishermen,  to  be  used  as  anchors,  with  parapets,  which,  if  neg- 
lected, may  be  washed  away  by  rain-storms,  and  with  glacis,  which  may 
be  easily  converted  into  pasture-fields.  Therefore,  as  property,  these 
forts  must  be  taken  care  of,  either  by  soldiers  or  by  hired  men.  I  doubt 
very  much  whether  you  can  economize  on  that  frontier,  because  that  one 
regiment  is  already  stretched  as  long  as  it  can  be  stretched,  and  ever 
since  1828  there  has  been  a  regiment  of  artillery  distributed  pretty  much 
as  that  regiment  is  now. 

I  come  now  to  the  Second  Artillery.  It  occupies  the  sea-coast  forts 
from  Charleston,  north  as  far  as  and  including  Fort  McHenry  at  Balti- 
more, with  detachments  in  the  interior  at  Kaleigh,  and  some  other  points 
in  North  Carolina,  being  shifted  about  there  subject  to  the  requisitions 
of  the  marshal  of  the  district.  These  forts  are,  in  my  judgment,  with 
the  exception  of  Forts  Monroe  and  McHenry,  useless.  Take,  for  in- 
stance, Fort  Macon  and  Fort  Johnson  on  the  coast  otWNorth  Carolina. 
They  are  perfectly  useless,  for  there  is  no  channel  at  these  points  that 
war- vessels  could  make  use  of. 

Mr.  Hawley,  of  Connecticut.  Is  there  anything  at  the  mouth  of 
Cape  Fear! 

General  Sherman.  There  is  one  company  at  Fort  Johnson  containing 
fifty -six  men.  Fort  Foote,  here  on  the  Potomac,  is  to  protect  Washington. 
There  are  fifty-seven  men  there  to  protect  us  all  from  invasion  by  the 
fleets  of  England  and  Spain.  At  Forts  Macon,  Foote,  and  Johnson, 
there  is  one  company  for  each.  Fort  Washington,  on  the  Potomac,  is 
at  present  undergoing  repairs,  and  Fort  Foote,  which  is  opposite  Alex- 
andria, temporarily  replaces  it. 

Mr.  Hawley,  of  Connecticut.  Has  anything  been  spent,  since  the 
war,  in  rebuilding  a  fort  at  the  mouth  of  Cape  Fear  ? 

General  Shebman.  I  think  not.  They  have  cleaned  up  a  little  about 
Fort  Johnson,  but  I  do  not  think  there  has  been  any  money  spent 
there. 

The  Third  Artillery  takes  up  the  same  line  of  sea-coast  northward,  with 
one  company  detached  at  the  artillery  school  at  Fort  Monroe,  Va,    This 


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REDUCTION   OP   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT.  11 

regiment  occapies  all  the  batteries  and  forts  from  the  Delaware  up,  in- 
cluding all  the  forts  in  New  York  Harbor,  and  in  the  interior  of  New 
York.  There  is  one  inland  at  Niagara  and  one  at  Madison  barracks, 
Sackett's  Harbor. 

Of  course  the  forts  about  New  York  City  are  so  valuable,  so  costly, 
and  80  important,  that,  in  my  judgment,  there  should  not  be  less  than  a 
whole  regiment  of  artillery  skillfully  and  afctively  employed  there  at  all 
times,  in  peace  and  in  war.  In  time  of  war  we  could  re-enforce  them  by 
volunteer  troops  from  the  city  of  New  York  very  promptly.  But  the 
forts,  with  their  parapets,  glacis,  guns,  and  magazines,  should  be  ready 
for  an  emergency  at  any  moment. 

Mr.  Albright.  There  is  not  a  full  regiment  in  New  York  Harbor 
now! 

General  Sherman.  No  ;  the  Third  Artillery  occupies  from  the  Dela- 
ware up  to  New  York. 

Mr.  Albright.  How  many  companies  are  at  New  York  ? 

General  Sherman.  There  are  ten  companies  in  and  around  New 
York  Harbor.  There  may  be  eight  or  ten  first-class  forts  in  and  around 
New  York,  every  one  of  which  must  have  cost  millions  of  dollars,  and 
every  one  of  which  for  preservation  requires  the  active  care  and  labor 
of  men,  whether  they  be  soldiers  or  citizens. 

The  Fourth  Artillery  is  on  the  Pacific  Coast,  occupying  every  station 
from  Sitka  down  to  San  Diego.  There  are  two  companies  at  Sitka,  one 
at  Fort  Stevens,  one  at  Alcatraz  Island,  one  at  San  Diego,  one  at  Point 
San  Jos^,  one  at  Cape  Disappointment,  and  six  at  the  Presidio.  That 
is  the  only  regiment  of  artillery  on  the  Pacific  coast.  I-t  has  charge  of 
these  forts,  keeping  them  in  order  and  keeping  the  troops  instructed  in 
the  art  of  artillery.  Occasionally  small  detachments  are  sent  into  the 
interior  when  their  assistance  is  required.  That  was  the  case  in  the 
Modoc  war.  We  stripped  our  posts  and  sent  the  whole  of  the  artillery 
into  the  interior  to  assist  the  cavalry  in  the  Modoc  war.  But  habitually 
they  are  employed  in  the  sea-coast  defenses. 

The  Fifth  Artillery  occupies  the  remainder  of  our  Atlantic  border, 
northward  and  eastward  to  the  British  boundary,  embracing  Fort 
Adams,  Rhode  Island:  Fort  Warren,  Massachusetts ;  Fort  Independ- 
ence, Massachusetts:  Fort  Trumbull,  Conne<;ticut ;  Fort  Preble,  Maine, 
and  Plattsburgh  ana  Madison  barracks,  New  York.  Of  course  every 
member  of  this  committee  must  have  a  sufficient  knowledge  of  the  cost 
and  value  of  these  military  works  to  judge  whether  it  be  necessary  to 
keep  them  in  the  order  in  which  they  are  kept ;  and,  as  everything  in 
this  world  is  perishable,  even  granite,  and  especially  earthen  slopes  and 
parapets,  you  will  have  to  keep  these  forts  in  order  or  else  let  them  go 
to  decay,  and  there  is  no  cheaper  way  of  keeping  forts  in  order  than  b}' 
having  them  in  charge  of  soldiers  who  know  what  they  are  about. 

Mr.  Thobnbubgh.  What  is  the  force  at  Fort  Warren  t 

General  Sherman.  Fort  Warren  is  occupied  by  Company  D,  Fifth 
Artillery,  consisting  of  forty-four  men.  Now,  if  you  can  take  forty- 
four  hired  men  and  keep  that  fort  in  better  order  than  it  is  now  kept  in, 
yon  ought  to  do  so :  but  you  cannot  do  it. 

That  completes  the  artillery  arm  of  the  service.  In  my  judgment,  you 
have  no  more  valuable  servants  under  the  Government  than  these 
five  regiments  of  artillery.  Their  work  is  a  specialty.  You  cannot 
teach  men  the  artillery  art  or  profession,  (call  it  what  you  may,)  except- 
ing by  actual  practice  with  guns  and  men.  I  look  on  these  five  regi- 
ments as  simply  five  separate  schools,  and  in  twenty-four.hours  you  can 
increase  them  into  complete  garrisons  for  every  sea-coast  fort  on  our 


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12  REDUCTION   OF   THE    MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT. 

border,  by  simply  adding  firemen  or  uniformed  militia  from  tbe  most  con. 
venient  neighborhoods.  Many  of  the  companies  number  as  low  down 
as  forty-tour,  forty-one,  thirty-one,  and  twenty-four,  and  so  on,  (reading 
from  the  record,)  but  they  can  be  swelled  up  suddenly  to  a  full  comple- 
ment so  as  to  hold  and  defend  these  forts  against  any  enemy  whatsoever. 

The  Chairman.  Would  it,  not  be  better  policy  to  increase  the  artil- 
lery school  and  to  diminish  the  artillery  regiments  ? 

General  Sherman.  No,  sir;  every  artillery  regiment  and  company  is 
now  a  school  of  practice. 

The  Chairman.  Would  you  not  get  a  more  intelligent  class  of  men 
by  having  them  trained  at  the  artillery  school  ? 

General  Sherman.  No,  sir;  we  have  an  artillery  school  now  that 
does  not  cost  a  cent  extra,  but  which  is  simply  the  aggregation  of  five 
companies,  one  from  each  regiment.  It  is  called  the  artillery  school,  but 
it  is  simply  a  garrison  of  five  companies,  with  special  instruction  for 
junior  officers  and  non-commissioned  officers  recently  from  civil  life. 

The  Chairman.  The  question  is  whether  or  not  something  should  not 
be  done  in  the  direction  of  an  artillery  school ! 

General  Sherman.  My  own  judgment  is  that  all  of  the  artillery 
should  be  a  school  for  artillery.  It  is  hardly^  an  army  in  the  strict  sense 
of  the  term.  As  it  stands,  it  is  the  cheapest  nucleus  in  the  world 
for  that  particular  branch  of  service.  That  is  how  I  regard  it.  .The 
work  of  artillery  can  only  be  learned  in  actual  war,  or  by  active  and 
constant  instruction.  You  may  call  these  regiments  artillery,  and 
charge  them  against  the  Army  as  so  many  men,  but  really  they  are  not 
doing  that  service  against  the  public  enemy  which,  naturally,  the  peo- 
ple at  large  expect  of  the  existing  Army.  But  that  body  of  men,  offi- 
cers and  soldiers,  will  be  very  useful  to  you,  in  case  you  suddenly  find 
yourselves  involved  in  a  war  with  Spain  or  Great  Britain.  If  you  were 
to  .disband  them  today,  you  could  not  replace  them  to-morrow  for  fifty 
times  the  cost. 

We  now  come  to  the  infantry.  The  infantry  composes,  of  course,  the 
mass  of  all  armies.  It  is  the  cheapest,  best,  and  most  serviceable  of  all, 
and  yet,  generally,  by  common  usage,  it  is  kept  lowest  down.  Our  in- 
fantry regiments  are  very  small.  The  First  is  only  four  hundred  and 
thirty-two  men.  The  companies  run  along  from  twenty-six  men  to 
thirty-seven,  forty,  fifty-five,  forty-two,  twenty-four,  and  so  on.  They 
are  scattered  along  the  whole  northern  frojitier.  The  chief  use  of  this 
regiment  is  the  maintenance  of  our  flag  and  the  protection  of  public 
property  along  the  whole  northern  frontier,  extending  from  the  extreme 
part  of  Lake  Champlain,  at  Plattsburgh,  up  to  Sault  Ste.  Marie,  at  tbe 
outlet  of  Lake  Superior.  But  the  garrisons  are  mere  squads.  To 
call  them  an  army  is  simply  a  misnomer.  They  are  little  squads  of  men 
strung  along  a  frontier  of  fifteen  hundred  or  sixteen  hundred  miles.  Of 
course  they  do  not  defend  that  frontier  againstany  public  enemy,  bat 
they  keep  possession  of  points  which  are  deemed  military'  points,  such 
as  Sault  Ste.  Marie,  Mackinaw,  and  Saint  Clair  Straits,  at  and  near  De- 
troit. Then  you  come  to  the  neighborhood  of  Buffalo  where  Fort  Porter 
is,  and  so  on  east  to  Madison  barracks,  which  is  at  Sackett's  Harbor, 
Lake  Ontario. 

The  Second  Infantry  is  scattered  throughout  the  South,  with  compa- 
nies at  Atlanta,  Ga.,  Huntsville,  Ala.,  Chattanooga,  Teun.,  and  Mount 
Vernon  barracks,  Ala.  This  regiment  is  there  merely  because  the  civil 
authorities  require  some  troops  near  them  occasionally.  The  strength 
of  the  regiment  now  is  four  hundred  and  seventy -nine  men. 

The  Third  Infantry  is  strung  along  the  Kansas  Pacific  Railroad,  which 


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REDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT.  13 

leads  from  Sonthero  Kansas  to  Denver.  It  forms  depot  garrisons. 
The  posts  average  about  one  hundred  and  twenty  miles  apart.  They 
are  all  built  and  in  very  good  order,  but  they  require  some  little  repairs 
now  and  then.  This  regiment  is  grouped  along  that  road  so  as  to  be 
kept  as  near  together  as  possible.  The  total  strength  is  six  hundred 
and  six  men.  If  any  of  you  travel  that  road,  you  will  be  glad  to 
see  the  flag  at  every  one  hundi-ed  miles  or  so,  because  the  Indians 
traverse  that  country  very  often,  particularly  the  Cheyennes,  but  for 
the  last  two  or  three  years  they  have  not  done  a  particle  of  harm.  I 
think,  however,  that  if  we  were  to  withdraw  that  regiment  there  would 
be  some  manifestations  of  Indian  hostilities,  though  I  am  not  certain, 
because  the  country  has  of  late  much  increased  in  population  and  re- 
sources. The  settlements  are  creeping  along  the  line  of  railroad  just 
as  leaves  follow  the  limb  of  a  tree ;  but  the  people  cling  to  these  gar- 
risons  as  nuclei.  As  surely  as  you  draw  off  a  regiment  from  there,  an 
equal  necessity  will  arise  for  its  use  somewhere  else. 

The  Fourth  Infantry  is,  in  like  manner,  posted  along  the  Union  Pa- 
cific Railroad,  mostly  on  the  upper  sources  of  the  Platte  near  it.  The 
companies  are  grouped  about  Fort  Bridger,  Fort  Fetterman,  on  the 
north  fork  of  the  Platte,  Fort  D.  A.  Eussell,  Fort  Sanders,  and  Gamp 
Douglas,  in  Utah.  That  regiment  occupies  but  five  posts,  with  two 
companies  at  each,  about  eighty,  ninety,  or  one  hundred  men  at  each 
point. 

The  Chairman.  Is  infantry  as  valuable  as  cavalry  at  such  posts  ? 

General  Sherman.  No,  sir ;  it  is  not  so  valuable. 

The  Chairman,  Could  not  a  smaller  number  of  cavalry  avail  more 
than  a  much  larger  force  of  infantry  ? 

General  Sherman.  I  doubt  it,  because  cavalry-men  are  all  the  time 
taken  up  with  the  care  of  their  horses  and  are  off  on  scouts.  Besides, 
cavalry  costs  a  great  deal  more  than  infantry. 

Adjourned  over  till  10  o'clock  to-morrow. 


Washington,  D.  C,  Wednesday,  January  7, 1874. 

General  Sherman  appeared  before  the  committee  and  continued  his 
statement  of  yesterday.    He  said,  referring  to  the  regiments  in  detail : 

The  Fifth  Infantry  at  the  close  of  the  year  1873  occupied  the  posts  of 
Fort  Gibson  in  the  Indian  Territory ;  Forts  Larned  and  Dodge  on  the 
Upper  Arkansas,  and  Fort  Leavenworth,  in  Kansas.  That  regiment  is 
now  under  orders,  for  what  we  expect  may  result  in  actual  hostilities 
with  the  Kiowas  and  Comanches,  in  the  month  of  February.  The  In- 
dian Department  has,  I  believe,  confessed  its  inability  to  control  those 
Indians.  General  Sheridan  was  summoned  here,  and  there  was  a  con- 
ference at  which  it  was  agreed  that  with  the  Sixth  Cavalry  and  the 
Fifth  Infantry  General  Sheridan  should  go  for  them  in  the  early  spring ; 
that  is,  in  February,  when  the  Indian  ponies  are  all  poor.  At  present 
this  regiment  is  ready  to  take  the  field,  but  their  preparations  are  some- 
what concealed.  The  Sixth  Infantry  occupies  Fort  Buford,  in  that 
remote  country  in  Dakota  near  what  is  called  the  Big  Bend  of  the  Mis- 
souri, where  the  Yellowstone  joins  the  main  Missouri  Valley.  The 
next  post  below  it  is  Fort  Stevenson,  and  from  there  it  connects  with 
Crittenden's  regiment,  the  Seventeenth,  at  the  new  post,  Abe  liincoln, 
where  the  Northern  Pacific  Railroad  first  reaches  the  Missouri  Biver. 
That  shoulder  of  the  Missouri  River  has  been  long  occupied  by  the  Hud- 


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14  REDUCTION    OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT. 

son  Bay  Company,  the  American  Fur  Company,  and  for  the  last  ten 
years  by  the  United  States  troops.  The  posts  used  to  be  known  as 
Fort  Union  and  Fort  Berthold.  As  we  had  another  Fort  Union 
we  changed  its  name  to  Buford,  and  Fort  Berthold  is  now  moved  to  Fort 
Stevenson,  a  short  distance  below.  That  shoulder  of  the  river  is  a  mil- 
itary point  which  probably  will  have  to  be  occupied  forever  by  troops, 
for  the  land  is  infinitely  poor  and  there  is  no  chance  for  any  settlements 
there  or  thereabouts. 

The  Seventh  Infantry  is  in  Montana;  the  whole  of  it.  It  occupies 
four  posts:  Forts  Shaw,  Ellis,  and  Benton,  and  Camp  Baker.  This 
regiment  is  used  entirely  to  keep  a  show  of  defense  on  the  frontier 
looking  eastward  in  the  new  and  very  fine  Territory  of  Montana.  That 
Territory  is  rapidly  filling  up  with  a  most  excellent  population.  At  this 
moment,  I  suppose,  it  contains  thirty  thousand  people,  who  are  engaged 
in  agriculture,  the  rearing  of  cattle,  and  the  development  of  mines.  In 
my  opinion  it  is  the  most  promising  of  our  new  Territories ;  for  its  de- 
fense we  therefore  use  one  regiment  of  infantry,  of  less  than  six  hun- 
dred men,  and  four  companies  of  cavalry.  The  people  are  constantly 
clamoring  for  more,  but  have  invariably  been  answered  that  that  is 
the  full  proportion  of  the  Regular  Army  that  can  be  given  for  their  de- 
fense, and  they  have  managed  to  keep  the  peace  very  well  indeed,  and 
the  Territory  is  now  prospering. 

The  Eighth  Infantry  is  strung  out  on  a  portion  of  the  Union  Pacific 
Bailroad,  with  detachments  north  and  south,  between  the  Black  Hills 
and  Utah.  These  posts  are  Fort  D.  A.  Bussell,  Camps  Stambaugh  and 
Beaver  City,  which  is  some  ninety  miles  below  Salt  Lake,  and  a  new 
post  north  of  Stambaugh,  called  Camp  Brown,  which  was  forced  upon 
us  by  those  marauding  Indians.  Some  Indians  killed  some  settlers  in 
Wind  River  Valley,  last  summer,  which  convinced  General  Ord,  who 
commands  that  department,  of  the  necessity  of  sending  two  more 
companies  there,  along  with  some  cavalry.  The  governor  of  Wyoming 
is  now  in  this  city,  and  the  bishops  of  several  churches  have  applied  in 
behalf  of  that  scattered  population  of  Wyoming  for  more  troops ;  but 
they  have  received  the  answer  that  they  have  got  all  we  can  spare  for 
that  Territory.  Their  settlements  are  very  scattered.  It  is  a  mountain 
country,  with  some  pastoral  regions,  especially  the  Laramie  plains, 
which  are  gradnall}''  filling  up  with  a  stock-raising  population.  But  it 
is  right  on  the  highway  to  California  and  Utah,  and  we  have  always 
deemed  it  of  infinite  importance  to  keep  that  road  so  safe  that  not  only 
our  own  people  might  traverse  it  in  security,  but  that  foreigners  coming 
from  Australia,  India,  and  from  Asia,  generally,  toward  Europe,  may 
also  be  induced  to  cross  our  country;  and  the  Pacific  Railroad  I  deem 
to-day  as  safe  to  travelers  as  the  New  York  Central  It  has  been  made 
so,  not  altogether,  but  in  a  great  measure,  by  the  presence  of  the  troops 
stationed  there  for  the  last  eight  years,  and  by  their  activity. 

Mr.  Hawlet,  of  Connecticut.  Is  it  not  an  extraordinary  fact  that  the 
Indians  have  never  struck  that  road  but  once  t 

General  Sherman.  There  is  nothing  for  them  to  steal.  They  cannot 
steal  a  locomotive  or  the  iron  rails.  They  are  perfectly  conscious  of  the 
importance  we  attach  to  it,  and  to  the  fact  that  on  the  safety  of  the  road 
we  will  go  our  last  dollar ;  and  they  know  that  if  they  endanger  that 
road  and  even  get  off  eight  hundred  miles  we  will  go  for  them.  They 
have  heard  that  said  so  often  with  emphasis  that  they  believe  it.  The 
moment  that  a  party  of  Indians,  whether  peaceful  or  not,  makes  its  ap- 
pearance within  fifty  miles  of  that  railroad  a  detachment  of  cavalry  is 
sent  after  them,  which  keeps  along  with  them  till  they  go  away. 


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REDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT.  15 

The  Ninth  Infantry  is  also  guarding  that  road  from  Fort  D.  A.  Rus- 
sell eastward.  It  is  strung  along  in  small  detachments  from  Omaha 
out  to  Fort  D.  A.  Eussell,  a  distance  of  about  six  hundred  and  forty 
miles.  They  leave  their  traps  at  Omaha  and  at  D.  A.  Russell  and  estab- 
lish no  posts,  but  occupy  the  railroad-depots.  You  may  say  that  that 
regiment  is  picketing  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad  from  its  commence- 
ment on  the  Missouri  River,  at  Omaha,  as  far  west  as  Fort  D.  A.  Rus- 
sell. Settlements  are  rapidly  replacing  them,  and  you  may  now  see 
ranches  with  cattle  and  with  little  adobe  houses  strung  along  as  far  out 
as  the  Lodge-pole  Valley,  probably  four  hundred  and  fifty  miles  from 
Omaha.  Beyond  that  the  country  is  poor,  and  T  am  not  aware  of  any 
settlements,  except  at  one  place,  where  they  get  a  little  timber,  near 
Sidney  Barracks. 

The  Tenth  Infantry  is  in  Texas,  on  that  same  line  of  posts  which  I  de- 
scribed yesterday  as  occupied  by  the  Ninth  and  Tenth  Cavalry.  We 
keep  a  small  garrison  of  infantry  at  each  post,  as  a  point  of  security, 
leaving  the  cavalry  free  at  short  notice  to  go  and  take  the  field.  It  is 
found  as  the  result  of  the  experience  of  the  last  twenty-five  years  that 
the  best  garrison  in  those  regions  consists  of  a  couple  of  companies  of 
infantry  and  a  couple  of  companies  of  cavalry.  Such  a  garrison  is  equal 
to  the  defense  of  a  frontier  of  about  one  hundred  miles.  Therefore, 
wherever  there  is  a  company  of  the  Ninth  or  Tenth  Cavalry  there  is  also 
a  company  of  infantry  occupying  the  same  post.  Thus  the  Tenth  In- 
fantry is  stationed  at  Forts  McKavitt,  Stockton,  Austin,  and  Fort  Clark, 
identically  the  same  points  that  are  occupied  by  the  Ninth  Cavalry. 

The  Eleventh  Infantry,  it  so  happens,  prolongs  that  line  to  the  north- 
ward, and  is  coincident  with  the  posts  of  the  Tenth  Cavalry,  viz,  Concho, 
Grifiiu,  Richardson,  and  Red  River  Crossing.  These  two  regiments  oc- 
cupy the  northwestern  part  of  Texas,  and  in  co-operation  with  the  Ninth 
and  Tenth  Cavalry  protect  that  whole  countrv. 

The  Twelfth  Infantry  is  on  the  Pacific.  There  the  Indians  have  all,  I 
think,  been  collected  on  scattered  reservations,  every  little  tribe  or  family 
occupying  a  small  reservation.  But  I  rather  think  that  the  troops  there 
usually  protect  the  Indians  against  their  white  neighbors.  This  regi- 
ment occupies  Camp  Wright,  San  Diego,  Fort  Hall,  Camp  Independence, 
Gamp  Halleck,  and  Camp  Mohave,  six  or  seven  distinct  posts.  The 
regiment  numbers  five  hundred  and  forty-two  men.  It  is  strung  all  the 
way  through  California,  Nevada,  and  Arizona,  by  the  exigencies  of  the 
service.  Whenever  we  try  to  remove  one  of  those  companies  the  at- 
tempt is  instantly  followed  by  a  petition  and  clamor,  and  the  President, 
as  a  matter  of  habit,  says,  "  O,  you  had  better  leave  them  alone."  We 
try  frequently  to  get  our  regiments  together,  into  better  shape,  for  the 
sake  of  discipline  and  of  economy,  too,  because  a  regiment  that  is  united 
costs  at  least  30  per  cent,  less  than  it  does  when  scattered.  The  usual 
aim  of  the  military  authorities  is  to  get  a  regiment  grouped  together 
as  far  as  possible,  for  the  sake  of  eex>nomy  and  in  the  interest  of  discip- 
line, and  also  to  increase  the  social  comfort  of  the  officers  and  men. 

Mr.  OvNGKEL.  May  it  not  be  a  matter  of  interest  for  the  settlers,  as 
well  as  of  safety,  to  have  those  companies  located  near  them  t 

General  Sherman.  Of  course  it  is.  They  have  a  slight  interest  iil  the 
matter — for  instance,  in  the  little  marketing  that  they  can  sell  to  the 
troops — but  they  generally  have  a  more  substantial  interest  than  that. 
Where  Indians  assemble  there  are  generally  beggars  among  them,  and 
mischievous  scamps,  who  steal  whenever  they  get  an  opportunity,  and 
a  fight  may  spring  up  from  a  stolen  horse  or  cow,  that  would  grow  up 
into  hostilities,  like  the  Modoc  war,  unless  checked.    I  have  no  doubt 


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16  REDUCTION    OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT. 

the  presence  of  the  troo[)8  at  Camps  Wright  and  Independence  and 
Gaston,  is  the  result  of  wise  experience  by  those  residing  on  the  spot. 
We  have  all  those  posts  carefully  inspected  from  time  to  time.  They 
are  not  posts  in  the  strict  sense  of  the  word,  but  are  generalhy  com- 
posed of  a  mud  hut  for  the  ofiQcers  and  another  for  the  soldiers,  and  a 
flag-staff  with  a  flag  over  it.  They  are  of  no  great  expense  at  all,  ex- 
cept at  two  or  three  that  we  have  in  the  nature  of  permanent  forts. 
Where  they  protect  the  Pacific  Railroad,  for  instance,  they  are  put  in 
better  shape,  as  they  will  probably  be  more  permanent. 

The  Thirteenth  Infantry  is  in  Utah  ;  Camps  Douglas  and  Brown  and 
Fort  Fred  Steele,  on  the  railroad.  These  are  the  three  principal  points. 
The  strength  of  that  regiment  is  five  hundred  and  ninety-two.  That  is 
my  old  regiment.  The  necessity  of  a  regiment  in  Utah  has  been  dem- 
onstrated^ I  think,  to  the  satisfaction  of  all  thinking  men.  There  is  a 
natural  antagonism  between  the  Mormons  and  their  neighbors.  There 
is  a  United  States  e>ourt  there,  which  is  constantly  culling  upon  the 
commanding  officer  for  assistance  in  the  way  of  serving  its  writs  and 
in  enforcing  its  mandates.  I  have  no  doubt  that  the  presence  of  that 
regiment  there  has  kept  the  peace,  where  otherwise  we  might  have  been 
dishonored  by  riots,  murders,  and  collisions  that  would  have  been  dis- 
graceful to  our  civilization.  The  troops  are,  of  course,  perfectly  neu- 
tral, as  between  the  conflicting  parties,  and  generally  stand  between 
them,  now  protecting  one  and  then  the  other.  To  show  the  power  of 
our  Government,  1  would  venture  to  say  that  any  person  in  Utah  can 
be  arrested  and  surrendered  to  the  civil  courts  with  a  sergeant  and 
three  men ;  but  it  could  not  be  done  unless  those  garrisons  were  there, 
and  unless  the  people  understood  distinctly  that  where  three  men  went 
three  hundred  could  go,  and  more,  if  necessary. 

The  Fourteenth  Infantry  occupies  a  kind  of  gorge  in  the  Eocky 
Mountains,  which  you  remember  in  early  life  as  "  Fremont's  Pass.''  It 
is  the  great  road  through  which  the  northern  Indians  pass  on  their  way 
to  the  Elk  country  to  hunt  game.  The  regiment  is  stationed  at  Forts 
Laramie,  Fetterman,  Sanders,  and  Sidney  Barracks,  on  the  Union  Pacific 
Eailroad,  in  the  valley  of  the  Lodge-Pole.  Fort  Laramie  was  established 
as  early  as  1848,  immediately  after  the  Mexican  war,  and  has  been  kept 
up  ever  since.  Indeed,  it  was  a  fur  company's  post  before  that  At 
this  moment  there  are  probably  more  hostile  Indians  within  striking 
distance  of  Fort  Laramie  than  at  any  other  point  in  the  United  States, 
such  as  Eed  Cloud,  Bull  Bear, The-man-afraid  of  hishorses, and  all  that 
gang  of  fellows. 

Fetterman  is  a  post  established  about  eighty  miles  west  of  Laramie, 
on  that  same  old  emigrant-road.  It  was  established  by  General  Augui 
about  five  years  ago,  and  has  had  a  first-rate  effect.  The  gorge  there  is 
a  little  narrower.  There  are  two  companies  at  Fetterman,  and  a  com- 
pany of  cavalry.  It  is  like  a  door  which  the  Indians  are  troubled,  not 
so  much  to  pass  in  going,  but  to  pass  in  returning  with  their  stolen 
stock.  Therefore,  that  deters  them  from  trying  to  steal  horses  and 
cattle  from  the  grazers,  who  are  now  really  doing  a  fair  business  on  the 
Laramie  Plains.  Without  Fort  Fetterman,  I  donbt  very  much  whether 
a  horse  or  a  beef  could  be  kept  in  that  section  of  the  country  for  thirty 
days* 

The  Fifteenth  Infantry  is  in  New  Mexico,  strung  along  the  whole  val- 
ley of  the  Upper  Rio  Grande,  for  nearly  eight  hundred  miles,  with  de- 
tachments at  Forts  Garland,  Union,  Bayard,  Craig,  Wingate,  Stanton, 
and  Tnlerosa.  The  regiment  is  too  much  dispersed,  but  still  we  cannot 
help  it. 


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REDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT.  17 

The  Sixteeatb  Infantry  is  one  of  the  few  regiments  that  are  in  the 
Sontli.  Its  headquarters  are  at  Nashville,  Tenn.,  with  detachments  at 
Lebanon,  Ky.;  Jackson,  Miss.;  Little  Kock,  Ark.;  Humboldt,  Tenn. ; 
Lancaster  and  Frankfort,  Ky.  The  regiment  has  been  there,  with 
changed  localities,  substantially  since  the  close  of  the  war.  It  has  been 
shifted  about,  the  companies  occupying  various  positions  according  to 
the  requirements  of  marshals  and  revenue  agents. 

Mr.  Uawley,  of  Connecticut.  Is  it  not  desirable  to  shift  these  men 
once  in  a  while? 

General  Sherman.  We  ought  to  shift  them  as  a  whole,  but  we  can- 
not afford  it.  I  have  tried  it  three  or  four  times,  but  every  time  we  at- 
tempt to  change  a  regiment,  in  the  spirit  of  fairness,  we  meet  with  op- 
position from  the  Quartermaster-General,  saying  that  he  has  not  the 
necessary  money. 

Mr.  Hawlky,  of  Connecticut.  The  men  ought  to  be  shifted  to  a  more 
rigorous  climate. 

General  Sherman.  Of  coarse  it  ought  to  be  done  in  the  interest  of 
Lamanity  ;  not  with  that  regiment  so  much,  because  its  location  is  gen- 
erally hejilthy,  but  with  another  regiment  that  has  been  in  Louisana  for 
the  same  length  of  time.    I  mean  the  I^iueteenth  liegiment. 

The  Seventeenth  Infantry  is  in  Northern  Minnesota  and  Dakota.  It 
has  two  companies  at  Wadsworth,  where  there  is  a  large  reservation  ot , 
Indians,  and  I  thinkthat  by  the  treaty  we  are  bound  to  keep  a  garrison 
there.  It  has  only  two  companies.  The  headquarters  are  at  Fort 
Al)ercrombie,in  Dakota.  Abercrombie  is  on  the  Pacific  Kailroad,  where 
the  road  crosses  the  Red  River  of  the  North.  The  necessity  for  keep- 
ing a  garrison  there  will  probably  cease  after  next  year,  because  that 
valley  is  tilling  up  with  a  good  population',  who  are  buying  land  and 
planting  wheat.  Abercrombie  is  an  old  place,  that  was  built  long  before 
onr  civil  war,  and  we  have  had  no  serious  expense  of  late  for  it.  Then 
there  is  another  company  at  Grand  River  agency,  below  Fort  Rice, 
which,  too,  is  just  below  where  the  railroad  bridge  is  to  be  built  across 
the  Missouri  at  Bismarck.  Fort  Abe  Lincoln  is  on  the  west  bank  of  the 
river,  and  the  town  of  Bismarck  on  the  east  bank.  The  railroad  is  now 
finished  from  Lake  Superior  to  Bismarck,  viz,  the  Northern  Pacific  Rail- 
road, and  this  Seventeenth  Infantry  occupies  substantially  the  line  of 
that  road  through  Minnesota  to  Dakota. 

Mr.  GuNCKEL.  Suppose  that  that  work  should  not  be  prosecuted  any 
farther,  could  you  then  dispense  with  the  troops  in  that  section  ? 

General  Sherman.  I  doubt  it  very  much,  because  there  is  a  region  of 
three  hundred  miles  from  Fort  Abercrombie  west  that  will  be  traversed 
by  hunting-parties  of  wild  Indians. 

The  Eighteenth  Infantry  is  in  South  Carolina.  I  have  been  very 
anxious  to  get  that  regiment  out,  but  every  time  we  attempt  to  move  it 
influence  of  some  kind  or  other  is  brought  to  bear  to  prevent  its  being 
moved.  They  say  the  regiment  is  necessary  there.  Its  headquarters 
are  at  Columbia,  S.  C,  with  some  companies  at  Yorkville  and  Newberry, 
&  C,  and  Atlanta,  Ga. 

Mr.  GuNCKEL.  What  is  the  necessity  of  keeping  that  regiment  there  ! 

General  Sherman.  I  guess  that  politics  have  something  to  do  with 
it. '  They  say  that  the  regiment  is  needed  there.  The  marshals  of  the 
districts  and  the  members  of  Congress  from  the  State  say  so. 

Mr.  GuNCKEL.  What  has  the  regiment  had  to  do  there  t 

General  Shekman.  Nothing  at  all,  except  that  it  is  said  that  its  pres- 
ence there  assures  peace. 

The  Nineteenth  Infantry  is  the  one  that  I  spoke  of  just  now  as  having 
2me 


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18  REDUCTION    OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT. 

been  in  the  extreme  South  so  long.  It  has  gone  through  the  yellow  fever 
three  times.  It  occupies  Louisiana  proper,  with  headquarters  at  Baton 
Eouge,  and  with  a  couple  of  companies  at  Jackson  Barracks^Louisiauu, 
iust  below  the  citj'  of  New  Orleans ;  and  one  at  Greenwood,  where  there 
was  a  hospital ;  and  one  at  Colfax  or  Alexandria.  That  regiment  has 
been  thereabout  since  the  war.  It  has  had  a  good  deal  to  do.  It  has 
been  hauled  about  all  around  that  country.  There  have  been  excitements 
in  the  city  of  New  Orleans,when  these  men  were  compelled  to  stand  to  arms 
in  the  streets  for  days  at  a  time«  I  mean  during  the  election  excitements 
growing  out  of  the  governorship  and  senatorships.  Thus  far  I  claim 
that  the  troops  there  have  behaved  with  admirable  discretion.  They 
have  never  shot  a  man,  but  I  have  no  doubt  that  they  have  prevented 
many  riots.  The  commander  of  the  regiment.  Col.  C.  H.  Smith,  is  a  fine 
officer,  and  General  Emory  also  has  given  his  personal  attention  to  these 
matters.  The  regiment  has  prevented  riots  there,  and  that  prevention, 
I  think,  has  been  of  great  importance  to  the  country  at  large  and  to  our 
reputation  as  a  civilized  people,  for  every  riot  in  a  city  like  New  Or- 
leans is  a  disgrace  to  the  whole  American  people. 

The  Twentieth  Infantry  is  still  farther  north  of  the  Northern  Pacific 
Railroad,  looking  to  the  northern  boundary  and  guarding  our  relations 
with  the  Manitoba  country.  It  is  a  peaceful  neighborhood,  and  the 
regiment  was  sent  there  originally  to  purge  it  of  yellow  fever,  which  it 
had  imbibed  on  the  Gulf.  It  is  a  small  regiment,  of  five  hundred  and 
forty-nine  men.  Its  headquarters  are  at  Fort  Snelling,  Minn.,  with 
detachments  at  Fort  Seward,  Dak. ;  Fort  liipley,  Minn. ;  Forts  Pem- 
bina and  Totten,  Dak.  (Fort  Totten  is  on  DeviPs  Lake.)  Fort 
Pembina  and  the  other  companies  make  connection  with  the  North- 
ern Pacific  Eailroad.  Fort  Snelling,  I  think,  has  been  a  military  post 
since  I8I6  or  1818,  at  a  time  when  it  took  six  months  to  get  there 
from  the  East.  Now  there  are  two  beautiful  cities  right  around  it,  and 
we  have  only  a  small  nucleus  of  a  garrison  there.  Most  of  the  men  in 
this  regiment  are  at  Forts  Totten  and  Pembina,  looking  to  the  Canadian 
frontier. 

The  Twenty-First  Infantry  is  in  Oregon,  or  rather  mostly  in  Washing- 
ton Territory.  The  whole  of  that  country  used  to  be  called  Oregon; 
but  the  Columbia  Kiver  is  now  the  boundary  betAveen  Washington  Ter- 
ritory and  Oregon.  That  regiment  is  in  what  we  call  the  "Department 
of  the  Columbia,"  embracing  Washington  Territory,  Idaho,  and  Oregon. 
The  posts  are  Fort  Klamath,  Oreg.;  Camp  Ilarney,  Oreg.;  Fort  Walla- 
Walla,  Wash.;  Fort  Vancouver,  Wash.;  Camp  Warner,  Oreg.;  Fort 
Colville,  Wash.;  Lapwai,  Idaho;  San  Juan  Island,  Wash.;  and  Fort 
Boise,  Idaho. 

Mr.  DoNNAN.  Has  not  the  sale  of  Fort  Walla- Walla  been  authorized? 

General  Sherman.  Yes;  but  I  think  the  law  was  repealed,  and  tbe 
fort  has  been  re-occupied.  It  is  a  key  point,  and  ought  to  be  held.  It 
is  a  strategic  point  from  which  we  can  radiate  in  every  direction.  About 
four  or  five  years  ago  that  whole  country  was  in  a  state  of  agitation, 
but  General  Crook  was  there,  and  was  very  successful  in  putting  down 
the  Indians.  Persons  since  in  traveling  through  that  county  have  won- 
dered that  there  should  be  so  little  danger  now.  1  went  through  it  in 
the  stage  three  years  ago,  taking  my  daughter  with  me,  and  I  did  not  ask 
for  an  escort.  At  the  same  time,  citizens  tell  me  that  it  is  rather  dan- 
gerous. But  there  is  rather  more  danger  from  our  own  highway  robbers 
than  from  Indians.  I  did  not  see  any  real  cause  of  danger;  but  really, 
five  hundred  and  forty  men  for  that  whole  vast  district  of  country  is 
hardly  enough  for  a  mere  police  force. 


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REDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT.  19 

Tlie  Twenty-second  Infantry  is  on  the  Miasonri  River.  We  are  tryin j:? 
to  get  the  Sioux  into  that  district  west  of  the  Missouri  River,  and  there- 
fore that  part  of  the  country  is  guarded  pretty  strongly.  There  are  two 
regiments  there.  The  one  commanded  by  General  Stanley,  the  Twenty- 
second,  occupies  Fort  Sulley,  Fort  Randall,  and  the  lower  Bruld  agency, 
all  in  Dakota  Territory.  That  regiment  has  been  there  ever  since  the 
close  of  the  war.  Some  of  its  officers  have  hardly  seen  a  white  face, 
except  their  own  garrison,  for  six  or  seven  years.  The  regiment  has 
l>een  there  seven  years,  and  I  have  promised  them  myself  several  times 
to  bring  them  out  where  they  can  have  a  school-house  and  church,  but 
1  have  not  been  able  to  fulfill  my  promise  thus  far. 

The  Twenty-third  Inftmtry  is  the  last  of  the  white  regiments  in  this 
list.  It  is  now  in  Arizona.  It  occupies  the  posts,  while  the  cavalry  is 
on  the  go  all  the  time.  That  is  an  immense,  miserable  country  full  of 
Ap<iche  Indians,  and  there  has  been  a  chronic  war  there  since  a  period 
long  before  we  were  a  nation  and  probably  it  will  continue  so  until  there 
is  not  an  Indian  left.  We  have  got  these  Indians  somewhat  pacified 
now.  The  Twenty-third  Infantry  occupies  Fort  Whipple,  Camps  Verde, 
MacDowell,  Lowell,  Bowie,  Grant,  Apache,  and  Fort  Yuma.  There  is* 
generally  but  a  single  company  at  each  point,  simply  to  make  a  depot  of 
ammuBition  and  supplies,  where  the  cavalry  can,  after  swinging  around, 
go  in  for  refreshment  and  cartridges. 

The  Twenty-fourth  Regiment  is  a  colored  regiment.  We  have  two 
colored  regiments  of  infantry,  the  same  number  as  we  have  of  cavaby. 
This  one  has  been  in  Texas  ever  since  the  close  of  the  civil  war,  on  the 
theory  that  that  race  can  better  stand  that  extreme  southern  climate 
than  our  white  troops.  They  are  stationed  along  the  Lower  Rio  Grande. 
The  headquarters  are  at  Fort  Duncan,  with  companies  at  Ringgold, 
Forts  Brown  and  Mackintosh. 

The  Twenty-fifth  and  last  regiment  of  infantry  is  also  colored,  and 
takes  up  that  line  of  frontier  and  goes  up  the  Rio  Grande  to  New  Mex- 
ico, guarding  also  the  stage  road.  Its  head-quarters  are  at  Fort  Davis, 
with  companies  at  Forts  Duncan,  Whitman,  Stockton,  and  Fort  Sill,  in 
the  Indian  Territory.  I  sup[)ose  this  com[)any  must  have  got  up  there 
escorting  some  Indians  and  has  not  got  back  yet. 

That  completes  the  entire  regular  organization  of  the  regiments  of 
the  Army  of  the  United  States,  as  it  now  stands.  In  this  same  official 
report  which  I  hold  in  my  hand  I  find  an  engineer  battalion,  composed 
ol  tivecompanies  of  engineers,  numbering  three  hundred  and  twenty-nine 
men,  four  of  which  are  at  VVillet's  Point,  New  York  Harbor,  and  one 
at  West  Point,  New  York.  Over  these  I  have  no  command  or  control 
whatever,  and  ought  not  to  speak  of  them  with  any  degree  of  freedom. 
If  you  think  proper  to  cut  them  off  it  is  not  my  business  to  try  to  pre- 
vent it.  These  troops  are  soldiers  when  it  is  to  their  interest  to  be 
soldiers,  and  they  are  not  soldiers  when  it  is  their  interest  not  to  be. 

Mr.  Thornburgh.  Under  whose  command  are  they  f  i 

General  Siier>ia.n.  God  only  knoWvS,.for  I  do  not.  They  seem  to  be 
soldiers,  and  not  soldiers  under  some  undefinable  rule. 

Mr.  GuNCKEL.  What  are  they  for  t 

General  Sherman.  They  are  for  le^irning  the  special  art  of  pontoon- 
ing,  and  laying  bridges.  In  time  of  actual  war  engineer-troops  are  very 
useful,  and  I  have  no  doubt  that  there  are  very  tine  companies,  but  they 
are  not  subject  to  military  command,  and  do  not  perform  their  share  of 
frontier  service.  If  General  Hancock,  who  commands  in  New  York, 
were  suddenly  called  upon  to  defend  the  harbor,  or  to  assist  officers  of  the 
internal  revenue,  he  could  not  call  upon  these  engineer  troops  to  assist 


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20  REDUCTION    OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT. 

lii in  without  first  getting  the  consent  of  the  President  of  the  United 
States,  or  of  the  Secretary  of  War.  Four  companies  occupy  Willet's 
Point  as  a  post  of  instruction,  and  the  company  at  West  Point,  I  sup- 
pose, is  auxiliary  to  teaching  the  cadets  the  art  of  engineering. 

Mr.  Hawley,  of  Connecticut.  Are  not  the  four  companies  at  Willet's 
Point  helping  to  build  the  fort  there  f 

General  Sherman.  They  may  help,  but,  I  think,  not  much.  They 
have  their  parades  and  driils,  and,  I  think,  their  specialty  is  in  making 
tor|)edoes,  and  in  pontooning. 

Mr.  Gunckel.  If  retrenchment  is  actually  necessary,  and  if  we  are 
compelled  to  cut  down  expenses,  what  would  you  say  as  between  cut- 
ting down  the  engineers  and  any  of  the  regular  regiments  I 

General  Sherman.  I  would  say  that  if  you  are  compelled  to  econo- 
mize, we  can,  better  postpone  the  instruction  of  engineers  till  we  need 
them  ;  and  I  contend  that  we  need  all  the  other  troops  for  actual  ser- 
vice now. 

Mr.  Albright.  In  the  event  of  actual  war  is  not  the  scientific  edu- 
cation a  necessity  I 

.  General  Secebman  :  Yes.  It  is  a  necessity,  but  if  you  are  bound  to 
dispense  with  anything  you  should  dispense  with  that  which  can  be 
most  readily  spared.  You  cannot  dispense  with  the  soldiers  who  are 
now  guarding  against  the  Indians,  for  the  Indian  question  is  actually 
upon  us,  and  we  must  have  troops  enough  for  that  purpose. 

Mr.  DoNNAN.  I  understood  you  as  intimating  that  the  Eighteenth 
Infantry  might  be  spjired  from  South  Carolina.  If  it  can  be  would  its 
services  elswhere  be  indispensable. 

General  Sherman.  Yes,  sir  5  that  regiment  should  replace  the  regi- 
ment in  Arizona,  the  Twenty-third  Infantry  taking  its  share  of  the 
frontier  service.  1  would  put  that  Arizona  regiment  for  a  year  or  two 
iu  some  soft  place.  Men  and  officers  are  entitled  to  a  little  rest,  to  a 
little  recreation ;  you  cannot  keep  soldiers  strained  up  to  the  highest 
I)oint  all  the  time. 

Mr.  Nesmith.  Suppose  that  some  of  those  companies  of  engineers 
were  done  away  with,  what  effect  would  that  have  upon  the  list  of 
officers  in  the  Army. 

General  Sherman.  The  engineer  officers  are  staff  officers,  and  if  the 
companies  were  disbanded  the  officers  would  not  lose  their  commissions, 
but  if  you  disband  an  infantry  regiment  its  officers  are  sent  adrift  to 
earn  their  living  as  they  best  may.  The  engineer  officers  would  simply 
revert  back  to  their  positions  as  staff'  officers. 

Mr.  DoNNAN.  I  see  that- Fort  Walla- Walla  has  left  the  jurisdiction  of 
the  War  Department. 

General  Sherman.  That  was  so  5  it  was  given  up  to  the  Indian  De- 
partment, but  after  some  conferences  Gen.  Jeff.  0.  Davis  asked  leave  to 
re-occupy  Fort  Walla- Walla,  and  it  has  been  turned  over  again  by  the 
Indian  Department  to  the  War  Department  and  is  re-occupied. 

Mr.  Hawley,  ot  Connecticut.  Can  you  dispense  with  the  special 
instructions  in  the  Engineer  Corps  an^  more  than  you  can  dispense 
with  the  special  instructions  in  the  artillery  ? 

General  Sherman.  1  understand  it  is  a  question  of  economy,  as  be- 
tween them,  in  case  you  can  not  afford  to  keep  them  both  up.  In  peace 
the  artillery  is  useful,  as  infantry,  and  is  subject  to  the  command  of  the 
Department  commander,  whereas  the  engineers  are  not.  In  war  both 
are  iudespensable.    Now  the  engineer  batallion  is  a  warlike  luxury. 

Mr.  Hawley,  of  Connecticut.  The  having  men  trained  in  the  artil- 
lery is  not  a  luxury  f 


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REDUCTION    OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT.  21 

General  Sherman.  No,  tbat  is  not;  it  is  a  necessity.  We  do  nseour 
artillery  at  all  times  as  infantry,  and  if  these  engineer  troops  will  come 
in  and  take  their  fair  share  of  duty,  I  will  mv  nothing  further;  but  us 
they  are  now  kept  at  Willett's  Point  as  a  kind  ot  show  station,  and  as 
you  grentlemen  want  reduction  in  the  army,  I  think  that  if  any  reduction 
is  to  be  made,  then  that  is  the  place  to  be.s:in. 

Mr.  Hawley,  of  Connecticut.  Why  do  not  these  engineer  troops 
garrison  forts  like  other  troops  ? 

General  Sherman.  I  should  be  most  happy  if  they  would  do  so ; 
but  they  are  not  subject  to  my  orders  or  that  of  the  local  commanders 
at  all. 

The  Chairman.  Is  there  any  reason  why  they  should  not  be  ? 

General  Sherman.  I  do  not  know  of  any  ;  but  1  know  that  I  have 
no  more  command  of  the  engineers  than  I  have  of  the  marines. 

Mr.  Hawley,  of  Connecticut.  Yon  have  no  command  of  the  ord- 
nance either! 

General  Sherman.  Nor  of  the  ordnance  either;  I  could  not  get  a 
cartridge  without  somebody  else  consenting  to  it. 

The  Chairman.  Can  any  officers  in  the  line  or  staff  be  dispensed  with 
to  advantage! 

General  Sherman.  I  have  no  doubt  but  that  you  can  curtail  most  of 
the  staff  departments,  if  it  be  absolutely  necessary. 

The  Chairman.  What  is  the  average  cost  of  a  soldier  in  the  different 
arms  of  the  service,  including  all  supplies  and  all  necessary  expenses? 

Adjutant-General  Townsend.  That  statement  [banding  a  written 
paperj  was  made  up  about  five  jears  ago.  It  was  then  about  81,045  a 
year  for  each  soldier ;  but  I  am  having  a  corrected  estimate  made. 

General  Sherman.  I  understand  that  estimate  to  have  been  made  by 
simply  taking  the  aggregate  cost  of  the  Army  for  a  year  and  dividing  it 
by  the  number  of  men.  Such  an  estimate  is  not  fair,  for  a  large  part  of 
the  annual  appropriation  is  not  for  the  maintenance  of  soldiers,  but  for 
increasing  the  value  of  public  property,  such  as  forts,  roads,  wharves, 
warehouses,  &c. ;  that  may  be  reconvert4»d  into  money  by  sale. 

The  Chairman.  What  items  of  the  Army  appropriation  bill  of  last 
Congress  would  be  unaffected  by  a  reduction  or  an  increase  of  the 
Armyt 

General  Sherman.  I  have  never  seen  a  list  of  the  last  appropriations 
for  the  Army  ;  soldiers  are  not  supposed  to  be  economists. 

The  Chairman.  On  the  subject  of  fortifications,  please  to  state  what 
fortifications  or  works  of  defense  that  are  now  in  process  of  construc- 
tion should  be  completed  at  an  early  day.  Here  is  a  list  for  which  ap- 
propriations were  made  last  year. 

General  Sherman.  [Going  over  the  list.]  Some  of  these  forts,  if  I  had 
to  defend  them,  I  wouid  go  outside  to  do  it. 

Fort  Preble  is  of  little  use. 

Fort  Scanimel  is  not  much  better. 

Fort  Warren  is  an  important  point,  because  it  covers  the  entrance  to 
Boston  Harbor;  but  it  is  substantially  finished. 

Fort  Winthrop  is  also  substantially  finished,  so  that  you  can  dispense 
with  heavy  a])propriations  for  that. 

Fort  Independence  the  same. 

Fort  on  Dutch  Island,  in  Narragansett  Bay,  is  of  about  as  much  use 
as  if  it  were  in  the  Florida  Channel. 

Fort  at  W^illet's  Point  will  be,  in  connection  with  Fort  Schuyler,  a 
very  important  work  in  the  event  of  the  Government  succeeding  in  deep- 
ening the  channel  by  Hell  Gate  to  the  extent  of  30  feet.    If  that  is  done 


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22  REDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT. 

it  will,  in  my  judgment,  reverse  the  foreign  commerce  of  New  York,  and 
bring  it  all  through  Long  Island  Sound  past  Hell  G'Me  to  the  East  River, 
allowing  such  ships  as  the  Great  Eastern  and  the  largest  ships  of  the 
world  to  come  through  Long  Island  Sound.  In  that  event  the  heavy 
iron-clad  fleets  of  England  could  come  through  the  Sound,  and  we  would 
have  to  have  a  fort  at  Willet's  Point;  but  at  present,  and  until  that  is 
done,  I  would  not  spend  a  cent  on  it. 

Fort  Hamilton, — There  is  no  expense  needed  there. 

Fovt  Tompkins. — ^There  is  some  expense  needed  there  to  finish  it  up. 

Battery  Hudson. — I  do  not  know  anything  about  it. 

Fort  Delaware,  in  the  Delaware  River. — That  is  a  tower  in  the  middle 
of  the  Delaware  River,  and  I  should  think  it  is  substantially  finished. 

Fort  McHenry. — It  is  not  necessary,  I  think,  to  spend  any  more  money 
there. 

Fort  Foote. — Of  course  not  any  there. 

Fort  Washington. — That  would  be  a  waste  of  money.  God  only 
knows  what  we  want  a  fort  there  for.  No  iron-clad  ship  can  get  up  the 
Potomac  River ;  we  can  hardly  get  vessels  drawing  13  feet  ot  water  up 
the  river. 

Fort  Monroe. — That  is  substantialh^  finished. 

Fort  Moultrie. — Let  it  slide. 

Fort  Sumter. — Let  it  stand  as  a  monument.  The  great  ironclad  ships 
of  the  world  cannot  now  enter  southern  harbors,  and  there  is  no  dan- 
ger there. 

Mr.  Hawley,  of  Connecticut.  Yes,  but  wooden  ships  can  make  a 
big  fight. 

General  Sherman.  They  can  ;  but  w^ooden  war  ships  cannot  get  up 
to  Charleston.  We  could  not  succeed  in  doing  thai  when  we  had  eighty 
or  ninety  ve*«sels  there. 

Mr.  Hawley,  of  Connecticut.  But  Fort  Sumter  was  in  good  order 
tlien. 

General  Sherman.  It  is  now  in  as  good  order  as  they  left  it. 

Fort  Pulaski,  Savannah  River. — I  would  not  spend  any  money  there. 

Fort  Taylor,  Key  West. — I  would  give  a  small  appropriation  there. 

Fort  Jefferson. — The  same.    I  would  finish  it  up. 

I  would  not  spend  any  more  money  on  Fort  Jackson,  or  on  Fort  Saint 
Philip  either. 

San  Francisco  Harbor  ought  to  be  pretty  well  fortified  by  this  time. 
You  can  spend  more  millions  of  dollars  there  than  you  can  count,  if  you 
go  on ;  but  that  Alcatraz  Island  was  left  by  nature  as  a  natural  trav- 
erse right  across  the  channel,  and  I  look  upon  San  Francisco  Harbor 
to  day  as  more  difficult  of  entrance  than  Portsmouth,  England. 

Mr.  Albright.  Is  there  a  fortification  below  at  Lime  Point  I 

General  Sherman.  Not  yet;  there  probably  might  be  some  moderate 
appropriation  needed  for  Lime  Point.  They  are  simply  preparing  a 
place  for  a  battery  there ;  but  Alcatraz  Island  is  the  natural  fort. 

Fort  Point  is  a  good  fort,  but  it  is  on  one  of  those  sea-coast  bluffs 
where  you  can  on  short  notice  put  up  earth  batteries. 

l^ortsmouth  Harbor. — I  would  not  spend  any  more  money  there  now. 

Mr.  Hawley,  of  Connecticut.  They  have  got  a  navy-yard  there  which 
it  would  be  necessary  to  defend  ? 

General  Sherman.  Yes ;  but  let  them  remove  that  navy -yard  to  New 
York,  where  they  can  get  plenty  of  men. 

Portland  is  a  very  important  harbor— a  deep,  good  harbor — but  I  un- 
der.stan<l  that  Fort  Scammel  is  substantially  completed. 

The.  Chairman.  Could  not  the  harbor  of  Portland  be  defended  by 
earthworks ! 


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REDUCTION    OP   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT.  23 

General  Sherman.  I  think  not ;  you  have  to  build  vertical  walls 
there,  beaiuse  you  have  to  make  use  of  little  islands  in  the  harbor. 
There  could  be  earthworks  thrown  up,  of  course,  bat  at  immense  cost, 
and  subject  to  damage  by  constant  wash. 

The  Chairman.  I  see  that  there  is  quite  a  large  amount  asked  for 
Portiimouth  Harbor.    Is  it  necessary  to  go  on  with  this  work  I 

General  Sherman.  I  thiuk  not. 

The  Chairman.  They  want  $100,000  for  Fort  Warren,  in  Boston 
Harbor. 

General  Sherman.  You  can  spend  any  amount  of  money  there  as  fast 
as  you  please,  but  I  do  not  see  what  the  use  of  it  is  for  fightiug-pur- 
pose^. 

Adjutant-General  Townsend.  It  is  to  sti-engthen  the  works  so  as  to 
resist  the  new  class  of  ordnance.  The  ordnance  now  used  on  the  war- 
vessels  is  so  heavy  that  these  walls  would  be  battered  down  in  a  very 
short  time. 

The  Chairman.  TIjpv  want  $85,000  for  covers  for  ammunition  at 
Long  Island  Battery,  in  Boston  Harbor;  and  additional  work, costing 
$110,000,  at  Fort  Winthrop. 

General  Sherman.  Fort  Winthrop  is,  in  my  judgment,  the  strongest 
place  in  that  harbor.  It  is  almost  too  near  the  city  for  its  defense;  but 
still,  with  Fort  Winthrop  there,  no  hostile  fleet  would  go  within  the 
inner  harbor  until  Fort  Winthrop  was  first  reduced. 

The  Chairman.  The  aggregate  amount  asked  for  Boston  Harbor  is 
8315,000. 

General  Sherman.  If  you  are  flush  of  money,  and  want  to  spend  it, 
you  can  do  it  on  forts  easily  enough ;  but  if  you  must  economize,  I  should 
judge  that  now  is  a  good  time  to  begin  on  these  fortincation-esti urates. 

The  Chairman.  They  ask  §50,000  for  Duncan's  Battery,  Rhode  Island. 
Do  you  know  anything  as  to  the  necessity  of  this  f 

General  Sherman.  I  do  not. 

Mr.  Nesmith.  They  ask  for  an  appropriation  of  85,000  for  defenses  at 
the  mouth  of  the  Columbia  River. 

(leneral  Sherman.  That,  certainly,  is  very  reasonable. 

The  Chairman.  They  ask  for  $65,000  at  San  Diego,  Cal. 

General  Sherman.  I  would  not  give  them  a  cent  there.  There  is  no 
great  interest  there  to  defend. 

The  Chairman.  They  ask  lor  $40,000  for  Fort  Trumbull,  New  Lon- 
don Harbor,  Connecticut. 

General  Sherman.  I  think  that  Fort  Trumbull  is  finished  substan- 
tially. 

The  Chairman.  It  is  designed  to  modify  the  exterior  battery  so  as  to 
mount  heavy  guns. 

General  Sherman.  The  engineers  do  require  other  masonry  for  these 
modern  heavy  guns,  and  it  might  be  well  to  allow  the  Chief  Fngineer  a 
liberal  contingent  fund  for  a  few  salient  guns  at  all  those  forts. 

The  Chairman.  They  wish  for  another  appropriation  of  $40,000  for 
Fort  Griswold,  New  London  Harbor,  to  modify  the  extending  battery 
so  as  to  mount  heavy  guns. 

General  Sherman.  I  do  not  see  the  necessity  for  any  more  forts 
there. 

The  Chairman.  What  as  to  Fort  Schuyler  I 

General  Sherman.  Fort  Schuyler  and  the  fort  at  Willet's  Point 
would  be  important  in  the  event  of  a  channel  being  opened  through 
Long  Island  Sound  and  through  Hell  Gate,  because  in  that  event  ves- 
sels as  large  as  the  Great  Eastern  could  pass  Fort  Schuyler. 


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24  REDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY    ESTABLISHMENT. 

Mr.  Hawley,  of  Connecticut.  New  London  is  like  Portland,  a  harbor 
where  the  largest  vessels  can  go. 

General  Sher^ian.  Yes,  but  when  you  have  a  clean  shore  like  that 
at  New  London  and  plenty  of  people  at  hand,  yon  can  throw  up  good 
earthworks  in  a  single  night,  in  case  of  imminent  danger. 

The  Chairman.  Seventy  thousand  dollars  is  asked  for  Port  Colum- 
bus, Governor's  Island,  New  York. 

General  Sherman.  I  do  not  know  anything  about  that.  All  these 
works  on  or  near  the  water  are  very  costly,  and  it  is  almost  impossible 
to  limit  their  expense. 

The  Chairman.  They  ask  for  an  appropriation  of  $40,000  for  Fort 
Hamilton,  and  $88,000  for  Fort  Tompkins,  New  York. 

General  Sherman.  These  are  the  two  great  forts  at  the  Narrows. 
They  are  the  most  important  forts  in  the  United  States  at  this  moment, 
and  I  think  you  ought  to  give  the  Chief  Engineer  what  he  asks  for 
them.  New  York  ought  to  be  perfectly  defended.  Fort  Tompkins  is 
the  work  on  the  hill  overlooking  Fort  Wadsworth,  and  is  substantially' 
the  same  fort.  It  was  first  built  during  the  war  of  1812,  and  was 
named,  I  believe,  after  Governor  Tompkins,  of  New  York,  and  is  now 
remodeled. 

The  Chairman.  Fifty-five  thousand  dollars  is  asked  for  Fort  Mifflin, 
on  the  Delaware  River,  near  Philadelphia.    Your  opinion,  generally,  is 
that  the  work  had  better  be  suspended  on  these  fortifications  ? 
.  General  Sherman,  l^es;  if  you  want  to  save  money  at  this  particular 
juncture. 

The  Chairman.  Then  the  other  point  follows.  Is  any  important 
point  left  in  such  a  state  as  that,  in  case  of  war,  we  could  not  prepare  it 
in  a  short  time  for  defense! 

General  Sherman.  I  think  I  have  a  right,  as  a  military  man,  and  also 
as  a  citizen  of  the  United  States,  to  say  that  the  whole  problem  of  sea- 
coast  defense  has  changed  within  my  day.  The  building  of  railroads, 
whereby  h\e^  t^-n,  or  fifteen  thousand  men  may  be  picked  up  and  thrown 
from  one  point  to  another  with  great  rapidity,  and  with  absolute  cer- 
tainty, takes  away  from  the  country  all  fear  of  invasion  by  any  nation 
on  earth.  We  do  not  fear,  now,  the  landing,  on  our  coast,  of  the  armies 
of  any  people.  The  only  object  of  fortifications  on  the  sea-board  is, 
therefore,  to  protect  some  rich  city  like  New  York  or  Boston,  which  is 
very  tempting  to  an  enemy  like  England  that  might  dash  in,  lay  the 
city  under  contribution,  and  get  out  before  we  could  wake  up.  We  do 
not  fear  the  disembarkation,  on  our  coast  at  Baltimore,  or  at  Pensacola, 
or  in  North  Carolina,  of  any  enemy,  as  we  did  in  1812.  Nothing  of 
that  kind  can  now  happen.  There  is  no  remote  apprehension  of  it. 
Therefore  I  would  cease  this  extraordinary  exi)enditure  of  money  at 
every  little  place  where  a  schooner,  or  a  brig,  or  an  ordinary  ship  can 
run  in ;  and  I  would  only  guard  the  niost  important  harbors  of  refuge 
and  tiiose  great  cities  which  alone  can  tempt  a  foreign  enemy  to  make 
an  attack  on  our  coast. 

The  Chairman.  With  the  improvements  made  in  modern  artillery 
can  we  guard  our  coasts! 

General  Sherman.  Yes,  sir;  the  improvements  in  modern  artillery 
have  been  negatived  in  a  great  measure  by  the  greater  draught  of 
water  that  ships,  caiTying  large  ordnance,  have.  The  Channel  tieet  of 
England  cannot  enter  a  single  port  of  the  United  States,  except,  pos- 
sibly, at  Newport,  K.  I.  The  vessels  which  carry  these  heavy  guns 
cannot  approach  our  coast  within  range.  There  is  not  one  such  vessel 
that  can  come  into  New  York  Harbor. 


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BEDTTCTIOX   OF   THE    MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT.  25 

Mr.  Hawley,  of  Connecticut.  But  have  they  not  strong  vessels  of 
lighter  draught  that  can  f 

General  Sherman.  Yes,  sir ;  but  generally  they  have  allowed  their 
old  ships,  drawing  20  or  25  feet  of  water,  to  go  into  disuse.  England 
now  gnards  the  Channel  and  the  Mediterranean  by  great  vessels,  and 
those  are  the  class  of  vessels  that  usually  carry  that  kind  of  guns. 
IToue  of  these  ships  can  bother  us  here. 

Mr.  Hawley,  of  Connecticut.  Then,  if  they  would  not  send  these 
ships  here,  what  would  they  send  t 

General  Sherman.  In  my  opinion  they  would  not  send  anything, 
unless  they  might  send  some  small,  swift,  sharp  vessels  that  would  run 
into  one  or  more  of  our  ports  and  get  out  again  as  fast  as  possible  after 
having  done  a  little  damage.  Torpedoes  will  also  check  invasion.  They 
are  easily  made,  e^isily  planted,  and  easily  fired  off  by  telegraph.  If 
foreign  wars  arise,  Plngland,  Spain,  or  other  European  powers  would 
limit  their  warfare  to  our  ships  and  vessels,  either  of  war  or  of  com- 
merce, on  the  open  sea.  Our  harbors  would  be  harbors  of  refuge  rather 
than  of  defense  against  such  ships. 

The  Chairman.  Would  it  not  be  better  to  expend  money  on  heavy 
guns  rather  than  on  forts? 

General  Sherman.  It  would  be  far  better  for  us  to  buy  the  best  guns 
and  carriages,  and  store  them  at  points  convenient  for  transportation. 
The  money  would  be  far  better  spent  in  that  way  than  in  building  forts 
which  cannot  be  moved.  Three  guns  on  land  are  usually  deemed  equiva- 
lent to  one  hundred  guns  afld^at,  and  while  a  party  of  two  hundred  men 
would  be  transporting,  say  three  15-inch  guns  from  your  arsenal  at  Fort 
Columbus,  in  New  York  Harbor,  to  some  point  on  the  Chesapeake  Bay, 
(for  instance,)  a  few  thousand  other  men  could  throw  up  all  the  neces- 
sary cover  for  those  guns.  Therefore,  when  a  war  does  break  out,  you 
should  have  the  best  of  modern  artillery,  and  be  able  to  throw  it  to  any 
point  needed.  As  I  say,  three  15  or  20  inch  guns  on  land  will  nullify  a 
hundred  guns  of  like  caliber  afloat — I  do  not  care  behind  what  strength 
of  iron  plates  it  may  be.  The  bigger  they  build  the  ships,  the  greater 
the  draught,  and  the  less  danger  to  us  on  land. 

The  Chairman.  Do  you  think  that  the  Government  should  have  an 
ordnance  foundery  of  its  ownt 

General  Sherman.  I  think  that  the  Government  can  make  contracts 
with  private  founderies  w'hich,  by  having  inspecting  officers  standing  by 
while  the  work  is  going  on,  will  answer  every  purpose. 

The  Chairman.  Can  these  heavier  guns  be  made,  with  facility,  in 
many  places  t 

General  Sherman.  Cast-iron  guns,  yes ;  wrought-guns,  no. 

The  Chairman.  Should  we  have  a  foundery  to  manufacture  wrought- 
guns,  rifle-guns  t 

General  Sherman.  The  English  have  at  Woolwich,  probably,  the  best 
arsenal  on  the  face  of  the  globe,  and  there  they  make  what  is  called 
the  built-up  gun,  with  coils  of  iron.  These  guns  are  extremely  costly 
and  extremely  valuable,  but  it  would  cost  this  Government  probably  six 
or  seven  millions  of  dollars  to  get  the  machinery  and  put  it  in  successful 
operation. 

The  Chairman.  But  would  it  not  be  a  saving  in  the  end  f 

General  Sherman.  Yes ;  if  you  take  a  calculation  of  thirty  years, 
there  would  be  economy  in  it. 

The  Chairman.  Having  the  object  in  view  of  supplying  guns*  for 
ample  coast  defense,  would  it  or  not  be  economy  to  have  a  foundei-y  of 
our  own! 


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26  REDUCTION    OP   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT. 

General  Sherman.  I  think  it  would  be  economy  to  have  a  foundery 
belonging  to  the  United  States,  where  onr  own  officers  could  control  the 
kind  of  metal  thrown  into  the  pot,  and  be  sure  that  no  slag  or  imperfect 
particles  of  iron  were  left  in  the  fused  metal.  The  Govern n}ent  officers 
having  control  would  be  less  tempted  to  substitute  imperfect  ores  and 
imperfect  metals  than  contractors  would  be. 

You  can  get  cast  guns  now  from  private  founderies  by  having  Govern- 
ment officers  present  to  correct  any  attempt  to  use  imperfect  mixtures 
of  iron,  and  by  having  the  guns  afterward  subjected  to  test,  both  by 
hydraulic  pressure  and  by  the  actual  test  of  gunpowder.  That  would 
secure  us  good  cast-iron  guns.  I  tliiuk  the  tendency  in  Europe  is  to 
dispense  with  national  founderies,  and  to  trust  to  private  manufactories. 
The  impression  which  was  left  on  my  mind,  in  a  very  thorough  visit  to 
the  Woolwich  arsenal,  in  England,  was  that  they  are  leaving  this  thing 
more  and  more  to  private  establishments.  Even  when  the  government 
manufactures  its  own  guns,  it  has  to  buy  the  steel  cores  from  private 
factories,  and  this  steel  forms  the  core  of  the  guns  which  takes  the 
rifling  and  secures  the  strength  and  accuracy  of  the  barrel.  I  think 
that  one  of  these  coiled  guns — a  25-ton  gun — costs  the  English  govern- 
ment about  $60,000,  and  that  gun  is  about  equivalent  to  onr  I5inc1i 
gun.  It  is  a  rifled  gun,  with  a  diameter,  I  think,  between  12  and  13 
inclies,  but  its  shot  is  elongated.    It  throws  a  Palisser  shot. 

Mr.  Hawley,  of  Connecticut.  The  English  beat  us  in  the  wrought 
gun,  but  do  we  not  beat  them  in  the  cast  gun  I 

General  Sherman.  I  believe  they  admft  that  we  do.  They  say  that 
our  loinch  gun  is  better  than  any  cast  iron  gun  that  is  now  made  in 
England ;  but  they  laugh  at  us  for  sticking  to  cast-iron  guns.  They  say 
that  they  have  abaudoned  the  cast  guns  for  several  years,  and  that  they 
will  never  go  ba<3k  again  to  it.  I  have  no  doubt  that  our  15iuch  cast- 
iron  gun,  well  cast,  is  the  cheapest  gun  for  our  general  use;  but  it  is 
subject  to  sudden  explosions  and  to  the  destruction  of  the  men  serving  it 

The  Chairman.  Do  you  tliink  that  it  is  advisable  to  go  on  with  the 
rapid  manufacture  of  small-arms? 

General  Sherman.  No,  sir;  we  can  buy  them  from  the  private  estab- 
lishments faster  than  we  can  collect  and  equip  men  to  use  the  arms. 

Mr.  Hawley,  of  Connecticut.  You  cannot  start  making  a  new  pat- 
tern of  gun  within  six  months'  time  in  any  one  of  these  factories,  be- 
cause they  have  first  to  go  to  work  and  make  the  tools  and  the  tests  and 
tlie  gauges.  But  when  they  get  the  machinery  in  order  they  can  turn 
out  the  arms  with  great  rapidity. 

General  Sherman.  Yon  ought  to  have  on  hand  200,000  of  the  best 
possible  muskets  at  all  times. 

The  Chairman.  Would  or  would  it  not  be  necessary  to  have  the 
machinery  for  making  arms  ? 

General  Sherman.  It  would  not,  because  that  machinery  may  be 
superseded  by  new  inventions.  The  inventions  in  this  country  in  the 
manufacture  of  small-arms  for  the  last  ten  years  have  been  wonderful. 
The  best  proof  of  it  is  that  there  are,  to-day,  acents,  from  the  Spanish, 
the  Turkish,  the  Egyptian,  and  other  governments,  in  the  United  States 
getting  arms. 

Mr.  Hawley,  of  Connecticut.  An  arms  manufactory  establishment 
in  my  own  town  is  now  finishing  a  contract  for  the  amount  of  $1,100,000, 
and  is  making  machinery  for  the  new  Prussian  rifle,  because  they  caa 
make  better  machinery  here  than  in  Prussia. 

General  Sherman.  The  Springfield  armory  is  very  fine  and  should 
always  be  kept  in  full  operation,  lor  account  of  the  Government 


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REDUCTION    OP   THE    MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT.  27 

Let  me  run  over  this  list  of  arsenals,  and  I  will,  generally,  give  you 
tbe  impression  of  the  line  officers  regarding  them. 

Our  Impression  is,  generally,  that  the  tendency  of  things  is  to  con- 
tract the  number  of  arsenals  to  about  four,  viz:  One  great  one  for  the 
Atlantic,  one  great  one  for  the  center,  and  one  great  one  for  the  Pacific, 
such  armories  to  be  first-class  arsenals,  armories,  and  manufacturing 
ei^tablishments  of  the  highest  order.  Springfield  is  usually  believed  to 
be  the  best  point  on  the  Atlantic,  because  the  Government  owns  the 
property  there  and  the  machinery  and  everything  is  in  good  order. 
Kock  Island  is  admirably  qualified  for  the  second,  and  is  in  a  fair  state 
of  progress.  Beuicia  is  the  third.  The  fourth  point  is  on  the  Delaware 
liiver  above  Philadelphia,  and  is  known  a«  Frankford  arsenal.  It  seems 
to  be,  by  universal  consent,  the  best  point  for  the  manufacturing  of 
such  things  as  cartridges,  harness,  &c.,  for  the  use  of  the  artillery.  Four 
Biich  arsenals  of  the  very  highest  order  would  fulfill  all  immediate 
necessities  and  future  probabilities.  Every  other  arsenal  that  we  have 
I  would  sell,  or  transfer  to  the  Quartermaster's  Department  for  the  use 
of  the  Army,  generally. 

Mr.  GuNGKEL.  About  how  many  other  arsenals  are  there? 

General  Sherman.  There  are  a  great  many — twenty-five  by  the 
Register  of  1873. 

The  CHAiRjtfAN.  Would  it  not  be  better  to  have  arms  distributed  by 
the  United  States  in  various  arsenals,  at  diii'ereut  points,  in  case  of 
rebellion  or  insurrection  ? 

General  Sherman.  By  law,  the  militia  are  supposed  to  be  armed* 
Congress  distributes  every  year  $200,000  in  the  form  of  arms  to  the 
militia  of  the  States,  pro  rata.  The  militia  are  thus  supposed  to  be 
armed.  They  are  of  course  imperfectly  so,  but  I  would  venture  to  say 
that  there  are  at  this  moment  a  million  of  muskets  in  the  hands  of  the 
volunteer  companies  and  militia  tia^oughout  the  United  States. 

Mr.  Hawley,  of  Connecticut.  But  these  arms  are  of  a  great  variety  of 
styles,  and  if  the  men  were  in  the  field,  they  would  require  at  least 
forty  dift'erent  sizes  of  cartridges. 

General  Sherman.  But  still  our  people  are  better  armed  to-day  than 
any  people  on  the  face  of  the  globe. 

Mr.  Nesmith.  There  is  a  proposition  now  coming  from  the  Ordnance 
Department  to  increase  the  appropriation  for  furnishing  arms  to  the 
States.  I  applied  for  arms  for  my  State,  but  was  told  that  we  had 
already  overdrawn  our  quota,  and,  though  we  needed  arms  very  much, 
we  could  not  get  them  on  that  account. 

General  Sherman.  That  law  ought  to  be  modified  so  as  to  suit  the 
actual  c*x)nditiou  of  the  country.  Your  State,  Oregon,  is  a  new  State, 
and  is  in  the  condition  of  semi- war. 

Mr.  Nesmith.  All  the  time. 

Mr.  Hawley,  of  Illinois.  You  spoke  about  there  being  a  million  of 
arms  in  the  hands  of  the  people.  Do  you  mean  that  they  are  collected 
in  the  local  arsenals  t 

General  Sherman.  No;  I  mean  that  they  are  in  the  hands  of  volun- 
teer companies  of  the  militia  and  people  at  large.  I  suppose  that,  in 
the  State  of  New  York,  there  are  15,000  or  20,000  volunteers,  well  armed 
and  equippeil,  and  about  the  same  in  Pennsylvania. 

Mr.  DoNNAN,  of  Iowa.  It  is  impossible  in  our  State  to  arm  and  equip 
volunteer  companies. 

Mr.  Hawley,  of  Connecticut.  The  State  of  Connecticut  can  send  out, 
on  two  hourh'  notice,  40,000  men,  ready  to  take  the  field. 

Mr.  Hawley,  of  Illinois.  What  is  your  opinion  as  to  the  repeal  or 


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28  REDUCTION    OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT. 

modification  of  the  law  in  regard  to  promotion  in  the  Ordnance  Depart- 
ment f 

General  Sherman.  If  reduction  is  forced  upon  the  Army  by  the 
financial  condition  of  the  country,  (of  which  Congress  must  be  the  sole 
judge,)  I  unhesitatingly'  say  that  you  had  better  cut  off  at  the  head  than 
at  the  foot;  that  the  most  valuable  part  of  our  military  establishment 
is  in  the  inverse  order  of  its  general  arrangement.  I  look  upon  two 
cavalr^^  regiments  or  even  infantry  regiments  as  worth  more  than  the 
whole  general  staff,  wy«c?/ included.  I  would  rather  see  Congress  abol- 
ish me  and  my  oflice,  and  turn  me  loose  to  get  my  own  living,  and  tear 
out  the  first  38  pages  of  the  Army  liegister,  than  to  see  it  disband  two 
such  regiments.  But  that,  of  course,  is  not  the  answer  you  want.  I 
think  you  ought  to  take  each  of  these  staff-departments  by  itself  and 
ascertain  the  number  of  officers  of  every  rank  required  in  each  of  them, 
and  fix  them  at  that,  and  then  repeal  the  other  law  prohibiting  promotion, 
and  let  the  President  conform  the  re-organization  of  the  staff*  of  the  Army 
to  suit  the  new  law.  To  rei)eal  that  law,  (prohibiting  promotion,)  as  to  one 
department,  (as  you  did  for  the  engineers,)  and  not  for  the  others,  is  a 
discrimination  in  violation  of  the  fourteenth  amendment  of  the  Constitu- 
tion, in  my  judgment.  The  Ordnance  Department  now  seeks  to  obtain 
the  same  repeal  as  to  itself.  In  my  judgment  there  is  not  a  bit  of  neces- 
sity for  such  favoritism.  They  have  got  plenty  of  ordnance  officers  for 
every  probable  contingency'  that  can  arise  in  the  next  year. 

Mr.  Hawley,  of  Illinois.  The  President  in  his  message  speaks  of  it 

General  Sherman.  Yes;  because  he  is  very  much  pressed  by  mothers 
and  aunts  who  want  to  get  their  sons  and  nephews  into  some  soft  place. 
The  Ordnance  Department  is  the  softest  place  in  the  Army,  and  they 
all  want  to  get  into  it,  especially  young  men  with  intluential  congress- 
ional friends.  I  may  as  well  use  plain  language.  There  are  sixty-one 
ordnance  officers  now,  and  how  they  find  employment  for  them  all,  I 
don't  know. 

The  Chaibman.  Can  you  suggest  any  reduction  of  expenses  in  con- 
nection with  the  Quartermaster's  Department? 

General  Sheeman.  It  is  very  difficult  to  reduce  the  expenses  of  the 
Quartermaster's  Department,  except  by  giving  increased  power  to  the 
department  and  post  commanders  at  remote  points,  and  by  throwii)g 
upon  them  theresponsibility  of  supervising,  generally,  the  disbursements 
in  the  Quartermaster's  Department.  That  would,  I  think,  effect  some 
economy'.  General  Sheridan  is  of  that  opinion,  and  has,  repeatedly, 
urged  me  to  accomplish  it.  At  present  all  estimates  in  that  line  come 
here  to  Washington,  sent  by  the  quartermasters  at  remote  points  to  the 
Quartermaster-General  here,  who  has  authority  and  discretion  to  a  cer- 
tain extent  to  fill  these  requisitions  and  estimates,  and  they  are  dis- 
bursed through  his  supervision.  The  department  and  post  commanders 
have  no  control  whatever  of  the  disbursement  of  the  money.  Of  course, 
no  department  commander  is  willing  to  give  his  personal  time  and  atten- 
tion to  the  expense  of  shingling,  to  the  hauling  of  rock  and  the  blasting  of 
rock,  and  such  things,  except  it  is  made  his  duty.  If  it  was  made  the 
duty  of  commanding  officers,  such  as  Terry,  and  Pope,  and  Ord,  to  give 
their  personal  attention  to  such  matters,  and  to  approve  every  abstraijt 
of  disbursement  or  abstract  of  issue,  I  think  it  would  result  in  economy, 
but  to  what  extent  I  really  cannot  say.  It  would  also  increase  the 
responsibility  of  our  de|)artraent  commanders,  which  is  the  best  way  to 
insure  efficiency  of  administration  on  the  frontiers.  As  a  rule  the  ofli- 
cers  serving  at  remote  places  are  the  best  judges  of  what  work  should  h^ 
done,  and  having  command  of  men^  and  military  authority,  they  mn 


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REDUCTION   OF   THE    MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT.  29 

compel  economy  better  than  the  Quartermaster-General  at  tliis  remote 
distance.  Still,  as  the  actual  expenditures  of  money  and  property  must 
be  limited  to  the  appropriations,  the  Secretary  of  War  must  scale  all 
estimates  before  approving  any  specific  work. 

Mr.  Xesmith.  Why  caunot  the  Paymaster's  Department  of  the  Army 
be  transferred  to  the  Quartermaster's  Department  t 

General  Sherman.  The  Quartermaster's  Department  could  make 
the  payments  to  the  troops,  but  the  experience  of  the  last  tweuty  years 
has  been  so  favorable  to  the  Pay  Department tliat  I  would  hardly  like  to 
suggest  such  a  change.  The  Paymaster's  Department  also  ask  for 
the  same  repeal  of  the  prohibitory  clause  that  was  made  in  favor  of  the 
Engineer's  Department,  and  I  am  certainly  disposed  to  admit  that  they 
need  more  paymasters  than  they  now  have.  The  paymeut  must  be 
made  to  the  troops  every  two  months,  as  required  by  law,  and  the  sol- 
dier ought  to  be  paid  regularly. 

Mr.  ALBRiaHT.  Are  not  the  troops  inspected  occasionally  by  pay- 
masters 1 

General  Sherman.  Never.  They  merely  have  muster-rolls,  exactly 
the  same  as  we  had  during  the  civil  war,  and,  on  these  rolls,  the  pay- 
master pays  every  individual  man  his  money.  He  is  supposed  to  pay 
them  individually,  but  sometimes  he  does  it  through  bis  clerk.  He  is, 
however,  held  responsible  for  the  money,  and  the  payment  of  each  com- 
pany has  to  be  witnessed  by  one  of  the  company's  officers,  who  knows 
everj'  man  and  sees  that  he  gets  his  money. 

Mr.  Hawley,  of  Connecticut.  Talkingof  estimates  of  quartermasters, 
should  not  all  estimates  of  that  kind  not  only  come  up  through  the  De- 
partment commander,  but  come  directly  to  you,  if  we  are  going  to  have 
a  head  of  the  Army  ? 

General  Sherman.  I  do  not  care  about  these  estimates  coming  to  me, 
because  that  would  involve  a  good  deal  of  labor ;  but  they  all  ought  to 
come  through  the  Department  commander  to  me,  and  the  orders  for  the 
disbursement  should  go  back  through  him,  so  that  he,  personally  and 
officially,  would  know  that  his  quartermasters  were  going  to  do  certain 
work,  even  to  the  putting  a  new  roof  on  a  stable,  (no  matter  whether 
it  cost  $3  or  $3,000,)  and  that  he  must  see  that  the  money  was  properly 
disbursed. 

Mr.  Hawley,  of  Connecticut.  You  have  spoken  of  posts  being  estab- 
lished, at  considerable  expense,  for  quarters,  &c.,  and  being  afterward 
discontinued  and  new  posts  established.  How  can  the  Quartermaster's 
Department,  if  it  is  entirely  detached  (as  it  is  now)  from  the  line  of  the 
Army,  judge  as  well  of  the  necessity  tor  abandoning  old  posts  and  es- 
tablishing new  ones  as  the  Department  commanders  and  yourself? 

General  Shermai^.  The  Quartermaster's  Department  cannot  possibly 
do  so;  the  Department  commander  is  the  true  judge  as  to  the  necessity 
of  dispensing  with  one  post  and  of  occupying  another. 

Mr.  Hawley,  of  Connecticut.  If  we  have  a  general  who  knows  his 
business,  can  he  not  look  on  the  map  and  tell  where  there  is  likely  to  be 
lines  of  occupation  needed  better  than  any  quartermaster  f 

General  Sherman.  Undoubtedly,  better  than  any  quartermaster.  If 
I  did  not  know  more  than  any  quartermaster  about  such  things,  I  would 
vacate  my  position. 

Mr.  Hawley,  of  Connecticut.  You  say  that  the  Department  command- 
ers should  forward  the  estimates  of  the  quartermasters,  and  see  to  the 
disbursement.  Is  there  not  the  same  necessity  for  one  head  to  revise 
and  give  symmetry  to  the  whole  ! 

General  Sherman.  That  probably  ought  to  be  done,  but  the  Secre- 


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30  REDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT. 

tary  of  War,  ex  necessitate^  must  be  tbe  absolute  judge ;  for  he  must  make 
the  final  decisiou.  Estimates  should  be  made  on  the  spot  and  sent  to 
the  Department  commnnder  for  his  approval,  who  should  immediately 
send  them  to  the  headquarters  of  the  Army,  then  they  should  be  imme- 
diately laid  before  the  Secretary  of  War  for  his  final  action ;  and  the 
orders  should  go  back  the  reverse  way. 

Mr.  Albright.  What  would  you  suggest  as  to  the  Paymaster's  De- 
partment being  merged  into  the  "Qnartermaster's  Department! 

General  Sherman.  The  Paymastei^'s  Department  has  paid  the  troops 
well,  and  has  accounted  for  the  money  well,  and  I  am  told  that  it  ha« 
done  it  cheaply,  viz,  at  a  very  small  percentage  on  the  aggregate  dis- 
bursement. To  change  a  well-established  system  for  another  system  is 
always  of  doubtful  wisdom.  I  can  only  answer  that  the  quartermasters 
at  the  various  posts  could  pay  the  troops  and  couhl  accdunt  for  the 
money  to  the  Treasury  just  as  the  paymasters  do  now,  and  the  only 
good  result  would  be  to  dispense  with  one  entire  department  of  i)eace 
establishment,  viz,  the  Paymaster's  Department. 

Mr.  Albright.  Gould  not  the  duties  of  the  Inspector's  Department 
be  performed  by  the  Paymaster's  Department  ? 

General  Sher3IAn.  Paymasters  are  generally  not  military  men,  but  are 
often  civilians  appointed  from  private  life.  They  are  hardly  qualified 
to  inspect  troops  in  a  military  sense. 

Mr.  Thornburgh.  In  detached  posts  why  not  make  the  commanding 
officer  of  the  post  pay  the  troops  under  his  command,  and  be  responsi- 
ble to  the  paymaster  of  the  district  for  the  disbursement  of  the  money, 
thereby  reducing  the  number  of  paymasters! 

General  Sherman.  I  would  not  like  to  see  a  commanding  oflScer  of 
a  post  hampered  with  any  disbursement  of  money,  for  which  he  would 
have  to  account  to  the  Paymaster's  Department,  or  even  to  the  Treas- 
ury. This  would  tie  him  down,  when  he  should  be  on  the  wing.  He  ijS 
responsible  for  the  safety  of  his  post  and  of  the  neighborhood,  and 
should  not  be  a  disbursing  officer.  A  quartermaster  is  very  diflerent, 
and  each  post  has  a  local  or  acting  quartermaster. 

Mr.  Thornburgh.  But  the  regular  assistant  quartermasters  are 
scattered. 

General  Sherman.  They  are  generally  at  depots,  but  every  military 
l)OHt  must  )mre  and  does  have  a  quartermaster,  whom  we  call  "acting 
assistant  quartermaster  and  commissary."  He  has  the  aetual  disburse- 
ment of  money,  and  of  supplies  to  the  troops  at  that  place,  and  he 
accounts  to  the  Quartermaster-General  for  one  part,  and  to  the  Com- 
missary-General for  the  other.  He  could  make  other  payments,  and 
could  pay  the  men  on  the  rolls  just  as  the  paymaster  now  does,  and  the 
Paymaster-General  might  re-imburse  the  Quartermaster's  Department 
without  further  compensation,  but  I  do  not  know  how  it  might  work  in 
practice.  The  Treasury  now  holds  the  paymaster  responsible,  and  he  is 
supposed  to  pay  the  money  direct  to  the  individual  officer  and  soldier. 

Mr.  Hawley,  of  Connecticut.  Could  the  Quartermaster's  Department 
and  the  Commissary  Department  be  consolidated  t 

General  Sherman.  The  general  view  is,  if  consolidation  must  be,  that 
the  Inspector-General's  Department  and  Adjutant-General's  Department 
might  be  united ;  and  the  Paymaster's,  Quartermaster's,  and  Subsistence 
Departments,  might  be  united,  as  they  are  in  England,  under  the  name 
of  "  Control ;"  and  the  Ordnance  and  the  Artillery.  The  duty  of  the 
Signal  Department  might  be  imposed  on  the  adjutants  of  regiments,  and 
the  non-commissioned  staff.  For  instance,  it  might  be  made  a  prereqnsite 
that  the  adjutant  of  a  regiment  should  be  also  a  signal  officer  capable  of 


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REDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT.  31 

coinrannicatiDfr  his  orders,  by  pen,  by  flag,  by  torches,  or  by  word  of 
mouth.  In  this  way  yoa  could  dispense  with  some  of  the  numerous 
departments  which,  I  confess,  I  see  every  day  to  be  more  and  more 
working  to  the  mischief  of  the  Army  proper.  There  are  too  many  heads 
in  the  Army  now.  To  consolidate  departments,  and  to  accomplish  econ- 
omy at  the  same  time,  will  require  a  good  deal  of  stnd^'. 

The  Chaib>ian.  Can  you  suggest  any  reformation  or  diminution  of 
force  in  the  Quartermaster's  Department,  either  of  enlisted  men  on  extra 
duty,  or  of  civilian  employes  !  I  see  by  the  last  report  that  there  were 
3,021  enlisted  men  on  extra  duty,  and  some  2,800  civilian  employes. 

General  Sherman.  It  would  require  a  very  minute  examination  of 
the  number  employed  at  each  point  to  enable  me  to  answer  the  question. 
Local  quartermasters  furnish  monthly  a  return  of  "  persons  employed, 
and  of  articles  hired,"  and  these  returns  have  been  consolidated,  I  sup- 
pose, and  have  resulted  in  the  figures,  which  you  have  before  you. 
Hirelings  in  the  Quartermaster's  Department  are  sometimes  teamsters, 
sometimes  employed  at  quarries,  and  sometimes  in  getting  out  tim- 
ber, and  in  making  excavations  for  barracks,  &c.  They  all  have  to  be 
reported  in  returns  to  the  Quartermaster-General,  and  these  returns  are 
consolidated  in  that  shape.  I  do  not  know  how  I  could  answer  that 
question  intelligently  without  going  over  the  Quartermaster-General's 
whole  list.  It  has  been  a  constant  struggle,  I  know,  on  the  part  of  the 
Quartermaster-General,  and  of  all  in  authority  to  cut  down  this  particu- 
lar list.  We  have  tried  to  cut  it  down,  and  have  cut  it  down  j  but  it 
will  not  stay  cut  down. 

There  is  another  point  which  I  would  like  to  state.  The  officers  of 
the  regular  regiments  naturally  look  to  me  as  their  representative  here 
in  Washington.  Their  interest  in  their  profession  has  been  very  much 
shaken  by  the  repeated  reductions  of  the  Army  since  the  close  of  the 
war,  every  one  of  which  reductions  has  fallen  upon  the  line  of  the  Army. 
This  makes  them  feel  insecure  in  their  profession.  They  are  fearful  that 
at  any  moment  they  may  be  turned  out  to  earn  their  living  in  the  best 
way  they  can,  and  it  shakes  their  faith  in  the  perpetuity  of  their  em- 
ployment and  profession.  To  that  extent  it  injures  the  Army  very  much 
indeed. 

Mr.  GuNCKEL.  They  are  the  easiest  hit ! 

General  Sherman.  They  are  easiest  hit  because  they  are  the  farthest 
away,  and  have  the  fewest  friends  here  at  the  capital ;'  but  they  are  tiie 
most  useful  part  of  the  Army.  I  think  that,  if  any  diminution  of  the 
Army  must  be  made  by  this  Congress,  these  officers  ought  to  have 
some  assurance  that  it  will  be  final  j  because,  otherwise,  the  best  blood 
in  our  Army  will  seek  employment  elsewhere,  and  will  leave  us  with  a 
set  of  drones  on  hand.  Even  now  the  best  officers  of  the  Army  are  ap- 
plicants for  pay  masterships  and  staff  positions,  or  for  anything  that  looks 
like  a  harbor  of  refuge.  I  am  sorry  to  see  it,  because  I  know  it  is  inju- 
rious to  our  profession  to  have  our  most  intelligent  officers  looking  else- 
where for  employment.  They  lose  their  interest  in  their  companies  and 
in  their  regiments.  They  lose  their  esprit  de  corpsj  and  to  that  extent 
that  they  cease  to  be  as  good  officers  as  they  otherwise  would  be.  There- 
fore, I  think  it  to  the  interest  of  the  nation  that  the  officers  should  have 
some  assurance  that  the  reduction  of  the  Army  is  at  an  end.  You  can- 
not further  reduce  the  number  of  enlisted  men  in  the  regiments  with- 
out reducing  the  number  of  officers,  for  the  companies  are  now  too  small. 

If  you  add  up  the  line  regiments  in  the  recapitulation,  you  will  find 
that  the  forty  regiments  now  in  the  Army  number  about  25,000  men. 
You  may  limit  the  number  of  men  allowed  to  the  engineer  battalion,  or 


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32  REDUCTION   OP   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT. 

you  may  limit  the  nainber  of  men  aboat  reeraitin^  statioD9,  and  more 
especially  the  numbers  who  are  counted  as  soldiers,  but  in  fact  are 
clerks,  (481  I  think,)  and  you  can  save  50  per  cent,  on  these  figures, 
without  impairing  the  efficiency  of  the  Army  itself.  There  are  481  men 
reported  as  detailed  as  clerks  here  in  Washington  and  at  the  several 
headquarters,  who  are  charged  against  the  Army  as  soldiers.  We  must, 
of  course,  have  clerks  here  and  elsewhere,  but  they  ought  to  be  cjilled 
by  their  right  name.  They  ought  to  be  called  clerks,  and  not  soldiers. 
Then  thatAVest  Point  detachment  ought  to  be  classified  and  paid  under 
the  appropriations  for  the  Military  Academy.  There,  too,  is  the  sig- 
nal detachment,  with  450  men.  who  are  no  more  soldiers  than  the  men  at 
the  Smithsonian  Institution.  They  are  making  scientific  observations  of 
the  weather,  of  great  interest  to  navigators  and  the  country  at  large. 
But  what  does  a  soldier  care  about  the  weather?  Whether  good  or 
bad,  he  must  take  it  as  it  comes. 

Mr.  DoNNAN.  Could  men  be  got  outside  of  the  Array  to  do  the  work 
cheaper  I 

Mr.  Hawley.  That  is  the  most  popular  work  connected  with  the 
Army  now. 

General  Sherman.  Very  well ;  but  don't  call  it  the  Army.  That  is 
all  1  mean.  The  men  who  make  the  weather  observations  are,  in  fact, 
hired  from  civil  life.  They  are  not  soldiers,  and  are  not  doing  soldiers' 
duty. 

The  Chairman.    Have  you  an  idea  what  the  Signal-Service  costs  f 

General  Sherman.  I  have  not.  AH  I  know  is  that  there  are  450 
men  employed,  and  charged  to  the  Army  as  soldiers,  in  the  Signal-Ser- 
vice, and  I  bet  that  every  man  of  them  is  at  least  a  sergeant. 

Adjutant-General  Townsend.  There  are  120  of  them  sergeants. 

General  Sherman.  Then  there  are  381  hospital  stewards  on  this  re- 
capitulation, less  than  half  of  which  are  actually  stewards  at  military 
posts. 

Adjutant-General  Townsend.  That  includes  the  hospital  stewards  at 
about  one  hundred  and  fifty  posts.    The  others  are  detailed  as  clerks. 

General  Sherman.  They  are  detailed  as  clerks  here,  and  they  are 
charged  to  the  Army  as  hospital  stewards.  It  is  the  same  with  commis- 
sary sergeants,  who,  however,  are  at  their  posts  and  doing  good  duty, 
viz,  152. 

Mr.  Albright.  But  the  Government  actually  saves  money  by  their 
employment  in  that  way. 

General  Sherman.  That  may  be  true,  but  they  ought  not  to  be 
charged  to  the  Army  as  soldiers. 

Mr.  Albright.  They  are  doing  work  which  pertains  to  the  Army,  as 
clerks. 

General  Sherman.  Yes,  but  most  of  these  hospital  stewards  are  in 
the  Medical  Museum  here  in  Washington.  That  is  a  very  valuable  in- 
stitution, but  it  has  nothing  to  do  with  the  Army,  as  such.  This  Army 
Museum  is  of  great  interest  to  the  whole  medical  profession,  and  I  hope 
that  Congress  will  be  liberal  to  it ;  but  my  purpose  in  thus  referring  to 
it  is  to  explain  the  figures  that  go  to  make  up  the  30,000  enlisted  men, 
to  which  we  are  now  restricted  by  law.  All  I  aim  at  is  to  explain  each 
item,  and  to  advocate  the  cause  of  that  part  of  our  military  i>eace  estab- 
lishment which  is  known  as  the  line  of  the  Army,  so  valuable  in  wair,  but 
so  easily  pulled  to  pieces  when  visible  danger  is  past.  Our  country  is 
prolific  of  men  capable  for  these  stafi'  bureaus,  but  soldiers  are  not  so 
easily  manufactured,  and  to  be  of  value  they  must  be  schooled  exactly 
as  is* now  being  done  on  our  remote  frontier,  in  contact  with  actual  dan- 
ger. 


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BEDUCTION   OF   THE    MILITARY    ESTABLISHMENT.  33 

Washington,  D.  C,  Thursday^  January  8, 1874. 

Adjntant  General  Townsend  appeared  before  the  committee,  and 
was  examined,  as  follows: 

The  Chairman.  Can  the  Army  be  reduced  in  numbers  with  advantage 
to  the  military  service  and  the  country  f 

Adjutant-General  Townsend.  I  suppose  the  committee  wishes  me 
only  to  supplement  the  information  which  General  Sherman  gave. 

The  Chairman.  Yes ;  you  heard  that 

Adjutant-General  Townsend.  I  think  that  the  true  economy  of  the 
country  at  large  would  be  better  subserved  by  maintaining  the  Army  as 
It  is,  at  any  rate  for  the  present.  Besides  the  posts  that  are  garrisoned 
and  the  duties  that  are  done,  as  described  by  General  Sherman,  the 
Secretary  of  War  has  very  frequent  applications  for  escorts  to  Indian 
commissioners;  to  persons  conveying  bullion  for  the  Treasury  from  one 
end  of  the  continent  to  the  other;  for  surveys  sometimes  connected  with 
the  military  service,  and  sometimes  with  boundary  commissions,  like  the 
British  and  American  boundary  commission  at  present.  If  the  Army 
did  not  furnish  both  the  men  and  transportation  for  such  purposes  as 
those,  they  would  have  to  be  provided  for  from  civil  life,  and  at  a  much 
greater  expense.*  As  to  the  size  of  the  companies,  they  are  now  as  small 
as  it  is  safe  to  reduce  them.  The  Florida  and  Black  Hawk  wars  are 
two  noted  instances  of  where  what  used  to  be  considered  skeleton  com- 
panies caused  Indian  hostilities  that  cost  the  country  many  millions. 
In  the  Florida  war  Dade's  massacre  was  undoubtedly  provoked  by  the 
very  small  number  of  men  at  military  posts.  The  Indians  knew  very 
well  how  many  men  there  were  under  Dade's  command.  They  saw  that 
the  companies  were  reduced  in  many  instances  to  fifteen  or  twenty  men, 
and  they  knew  that  it  would  be  a  long  time  before  troops  could  be 
broughtinto  the  country,  and  that  they  could  succeed  in  their  object. 
Now,  with  the  system  of  recruiting  as  carried  on  at  present,  we  so  ar- 
range that  the  companies  in  the  presence  of  Indians  can  be  frequently 
re-enforced.  For  instance,  at  Fort  Laramie  there  are  about  seven  hun- 
dred or  eight  hundred  troops  in  the  presence  of  seven  or  eight  thousand 
Indians.  These  are  warlike  and  restless  Indians.  As  fast  as  the  com- 
panies l)ecome  a  little  reduced,  detachments  of  recruits  are  sent  there. 
The  moral  effect  of  this  upon  the  Indians  is  that  they  are  kept  quiet, 
because  they  see  troops  coming  all  the  time,  and  they  do  not  know  any 
limit  to  the  supply.  In  the  northern  portion  ot  the  country,  on  the  Up- 
per Missouri,  there  are  ooly  about  six  weeks  in  the  season  that  recruits 
can  be  sent  there  without  being  marched  overland  at  great  expense  and 
suffering.  In  the  southern  part  of  the  country,  Texas  for  instance,  they 
can  only  be  sent  in  the  fall,  because  in  the  summer  season  they  are  liable 
to  epidemics ;  whereas  if  they  go  in  the  fall  they  have  the  winter  to  be- 
come acclimated,  and  so  the  percentage  of  sickness  is  much  reduced  by 
that  course.  We  do  not  keep  in  depot  recruits  in  any  number.  They 
are  sent  off  within  a  very  few  weeks  of  the  time  of  their  enlistment. 
Thus  no  time  is  given  to  instruct  them  before  they  get  to  the  regiments. 
That  is  a  very  serious  evil.  If  the  recruits  could  be  kept  long  enough 
in  depot  to  be  instructed,  so  that  they  knew  how  to  carry  their  guns 
and  to  load  them,  and  to  march  with  a  little  order,  they  would  be  less 
apt  to  desert  on  their  way.  They  would  be  under  better  discipline, 
and  would  be  more  useful  when  they  arrived  at  their  destination,  as 
sometimes  their  companies  are  in  the  field  and  they  are  obliged  to  go 
into  active  service  without  being  drilled  at  all.  That,  however,  is  an 
advantage  which  we  have  to  forego,  because  of  the  economy  with  which 
3  M  E 


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34  REDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT 

the  recruiting  service  must  be  conducted,  and  also  because  of  the  limit 
to  the  number  of  men. 

General  Sherman  alluded  to  the  table  at  the  last  part  of  the  recapit- 
ulation :  "  Permanent  and  recruiting  parties,  music-boys,  and  recruits 
not  available  for  assignment;"  "general  service  men  on  duty  in  the 
bureaus  of  the  War  Department,  Army,  division,  and  department  head- 
quarters;" ''Ordnance  Department;'^  " West Pointdetachments;"  "signal 
detachment;"  "hospital  stewards;"  "ordnance  sergeants;"  "commissary 
sergeants."  All  of  these  come  out  of  the  thirty  thousand  m^n  allowed 
to  the  Army.  For  instance,  to  carry  on  the  duties  of  the  signal- service 
all  over  this  continent  the  Secretary  of  War  allows  one  hundred  and 
tweutyfive  sergeants.  These  sergeants  are  not  additions  to  the  organ- 
ization of  the  Army,  but  the  muster-rolls  are  examined  periodically, 
and  the  number  of  vacancies  which  actually  exist  in  the  grade  of  ser- 
geant in  the  various  companies  is  averaged.  Thus,  without  taking  any 
sergeants  from  the  companies,  the  signal-service  gets  the  advantage  of 
a  man  enlisted  especially  for  his  adaptation  to  that  duty,  and  this  man 
has  the  pay  and  grade  of  a  sergeant  in  the  regular  organization  of  the 
Army.  While  the  companies  thus  lose  nothing,  the  signal-service  makes 
use  of  those  sergeants.  The  detachment  of  signal-service  men  is,  at 
the  present  time,  rather  larger  than  is  authorized  by  the  Secretary  of 
War;  but  this  is  an  a<'cidental  occurrence.  The  Signal-Officer  keeps  at 
Fort  Whipple,  on  the  other  side  of  the  Potomac  Itiver,  a  detachment 
of  men  under  instruction  as  soldiers,  and  makes  them  do  duty  as  sol- 
diers. It  is  a  regular  military  post.  He  selects  from  these  men  the 
most  intelligent  and  skillful,  and  appoints  them  to  the  rank  of  ser- 
geants. That  detachment  will  be  diminished  to  the  number  which  the 
Secretary  of  War  allows,  and  which  is  the  strength  allowed  to  a  com- 
pany of  infantry,  and  no  more. 

With  reference  to  these  clerks  who  are  on  general  service.  The  great 
demand  upon  the  War  Department  for  information  to  pass  pension- 
claims,  bounty-claims,  and  a  thousand  other  things,  every  one  hurrying 
to  have  it  done  as  soon  as  possible  because  the  claimants  are  suffering 
for  the  money,  demanded  an  increase  of  the  clerical  force.  We  took,  then, 
some  men  who  had  served  in  the  volunteer  and  Regular  Army,  and  who 
wers  skillful  penmen,  and  enlisted  them  especially  for  clerks.  They 
come  out  of  the  strength  of  the  companies,  like  the  First  Infantry  on  the 
Niagara  frontier,  or  some  of  the  companies  of  artillery  which  do  not  re- 
quire to  be  full  in  order  to  be  effective  just  at  this  time.  In  the  event  of 
the  service  of  those  regiments  being  actually  required  in  thfe  field,  we 
should  have  to  break  up  the  clerical  system  at  once  in  order  to  give  the 
companies  their  effective  force. 

There  is  another  source  of  labor  in  the  Adjutant  General's  Office  which 
cannot  be  avoided  just  now.  This  will  be  corrected  soon.  The  frequent 
handling  of  the  muster-rolls  in  order  to  get  information  for  the  Pension- 
Bureau  and  other  bureaus,  has  worn  them  out  so  that  there  was  great 
danger  of  the  information  contained  in  them  being  lost  entirely.  To 
remedy  that  I  have  had  books  made  with  the  blank  rolls  printed  on  them, 
and  a  great  many  of  these  clerks  are  employed  in  copying  the  muster- 
rolls  into  these  books.  That  will  be  a  permanant  form  which  can  be 
easily  used,  and  the  old  rolls  will  be  kept  in  case  of  any  question  of  ac- 
curacy. The  same  remark  will  apply  to  records  of  enlistment  and  other 
records.  We  are  obliged  to  refer  to  them  frequently;  but  I  hope 
in  the  course  of  time — I  cannot  say  how  soon,  but  it  will  be  as  soon  as 
possible — to  have  all  these  records  copied  and  put  in  shape. 

The  Ohaibman.  There  being  several  branches  in  the  A(\jutant-Oen- 


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REDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT.  35 

eraVs  OflBce,  I  would  like  to  know  what  the  clerks  are  doing  in  the 
Provost- MarnhaPs  department  now,  and  how  many  there  are  there  now  f 
Adjutant-General  Townsend.  They  are  answering  questions  which 
are  constantly  propounded  about  the  quotas  for  States,  on  which  the 
payment  of  State  bounties  and  town  and  county  bounties  depends.  They 
are  examining  the  records  of  volunteer  officers  with  a  view  to  correct 
them.  They  are  auditing  claims  for  subsistence,  clothing,  and  raising 
recruits  under  the  collecting,  drilling,  and  organizing  fund.  And  then 
they  are  closely  connected  just  now  with  the  Freedmen's  Bureau,  so  far 
as  the  colored  troops  that  were  in  the  service  are  concerned. 
The  Chairman.  Can  they  be  dispensed  with  t 

Adjutant-General  Townsend.  Not  at  present,  without  stopping  that 
business.  As  fast  blh  we  can  we  wind  up  the  business.  One  source  of 
work  and  labor  with  us  is  the  constant  requests  made  by  i)eople'  whose 
afifairs  have  been  settled  to  have  them  re-opened.  We  are  obliged  to  do 
so,  because  influential  persons  come  to  us  with  those  claims,  and  we  can- 
not refuse  to  do  it,  except  where  there  is  no  new  evidence  presented. 

The  Chairman.  There  are  some  forty  six  clerks  in  that  branch,  are 
there  notf 

Adjutant-General  Townsend.  As  I  said,  their  duties  are  so  interlaced 
with  the  Freedmen's  Bureau,  for  the  sake  of  economy,  that  we  make  one 
man  do  the  duties  connected  with  two  or  three  offices. 

The  Chairman.  There  are  some  clerks  connected  with  the  Freedmen's 
Bureau,  toof 

Adjutant-General  Townsend.  These  are  engaged  in  the  duties  turned 
over  to  the  Adjutant-General  at  the  time  of  breaking  up  the  Freedmen's 
Bureau,  such  as  the  payment  of  bounties  to  freedmen,  &c.  Everything 
connected  with  the  Freedmen's  Bureau  has  to  be  wound  up  bylaw, and 
is  attended  to  by  these  men.  We  have  some  six  or  eight  officers  sta- 
tioned in  different  parts  of  the  country  who  are  disbursing  money  on 
that  account,  ^he  Auditor  of  the  Treasury  prepares  the  claims  and 
sends  them  over  to  the  Adjutant-General  for  payment.  In  that  there  is 
a  great  deal  of  investigation  required  in  order  to  prevent  fraud,  because 
of  the  nature  of  the  case.  The  freedmen  are  ignorant;  they  have  been 
imjiosed  upon  by  agents  and  others,  and  our  duty  is  to  see  that  they  are 
righted. 
The  Chairman.  Is  not  a  large  amount  of  this  work  disposed  off 
Adjutant-General  Townsend.  We  are  getting  through  with  it  very 
rapidly,  and  in  a  year  or  two  will  finish  it.  As  soon  as  these  clerks  can 
be  diMpensed  with  it  is  within  the  powerof  the  Adjutant-General  to  dis- 
charge them,  and  he  certainly  will  do  it. 

The  Chairman.  You  have  some  twenty-four  clerks  employed  in  the 
branch  of  prisoners  of  war,  have  you  not!    How  are  they  employed! 

Adjutan^General  Townsend.  There  are  a  great  many  prisoners  of 
war  who  are  bringing  in  claims  tor  commutation  of  rations  while  they 
were  prisoners,  and  these  claims  are  being  settled.   Then  there  are  changes 
of  record.    Men  lose  their  bounty  because  they  are  reported  deserters, 
while  many  of  them  were  prisoners  of  war,  and  we  have  to  hunt  up  their 
records.    The  olerks  who  are  employed  on  these  records  are  also  employed 
upon  other  business  connected  with  the  enlistment  branch  of  the  service; 
and  there  are  men  also  who  can  be  dispensed  with  as  the  work  dimin- 
ishes.   We  have  already  diminished  the  force  of  clerks  in  these  two 
branches  more  than  one-half. 
The  Chairman.  Do  you  think  they  can  be  diminished  further! 
Adjutan^Geueral  Townsend.  If  they  can  be,  I  have  the  power  to 
do  it  and  shall  do  it.    But,  as  an  illustration  of  the  way  in  which  things 


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36  REDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT. 

are  pat  upon  my  Department,  and  of  the  necessity  of  having  a  large 
force  of  clerks,  I  will  state  that  before  the  close  of  the  fiscal  year, 
at  the  instance  of  the  president  of  the  Volunteer  Soldiers'  Homes,  a 
very  large  additional  force  was  given  to  the  Second  Auditor  to  settle 
claims  which  were  to  give  money  to  support  those  asylums  under  the 
law.  A  number,  to  the  amount  of  between  40,000  and  50,000  cases, 
wa«  thrown  upon  my  office,  to  furnish  information  for  within  about  three 
months.  1  had  no  extra  force  to  meet  that  demand.  My  clerks  were 
fully  employed  in  keeping  up  the  current  work,  and  I  am  30,000 
cases  or  more  behind  in  that  branch.  I  was  obliged  to  take  off  the 
clerks  who  were  copying  the  record,  as  I  have  explained,  and  to  put 
them  on  those  cases.  I  have  got  enough  to  keep  the  Auditor  going,  so 
that'these  asylums  do  not  suffer  for  want  of  money. 

It  will  be  recollected  by  the  committee  that  since  the  war  several 
branches  of  service  which  were  not  formerly  connected  with  the  Adju- 
tant-GeneraPs  Office  have  been  added  to  it.  Such  were  the  Freedmen's 
Bureau,  the  Provost-MarshaFa  Office,  the  Commissary  of  Prisoners,  &c. 
Then, again,  a  law  was.piissed  giving  the  soldiers  of  the  war  of  1812 
pensions.  That  threw  extra  work  upon  my  office.  Then  I  have  the 
rebel  archives  in  my  office.  These  clerks  are  charged  to  the  War  De- 
partment, but  they  are  under  my  charge.  These  archives  are  arranged 
as  fast  as  the  few  men  that  can  be  spared  will  permit  These  are 
very  important  records.  In  searching  them  we  find  information  which 
enables  courts  to  deny  claims  to  a  large  amount ;  in  one  instance  to  the 
amount  of  $90,000.  If  I  could  arrange  them  as  they  ought  to  be  ar- 
ranged I  have  no  doubt  that  we  should  save  the  Government  more  than 
we  now  do,  because  I  do  not  know  that  the  papers  in  a  particular  case 
are  there. 

The  Oh  AIRMAN.  Are  you  sufficiently  acquainted  with  the  duties  of 
the  clerks  in  the  Secretary's  Office  to  say  whether  any  reduction  can 
be  made  there  f 

Adjutant-General  Townsend.  I  should  judge  that  there  cannot  be, 
from  the  fact  that  the  Secretary  frequently  sends  to  me  to  lend  him  a 
clerk  for  a  few  days. 

The  Chairman.  Would  you  say  that  a  reduction  of  the  Begnlar 
Army  to  the  extent  of  one-fourth,  one-third,  or  one-half  would  effect  a 
corresponding  reduction  of  clerks  m  the  War  Department  f 

Adjutant-General  Townsend.    I  do  not  think  it  would. 

The  Chairman.  Would  it  effect  any  reduction  T 

Adjutant-General  Townsend.  I  do  not  think  it  would.  The  main 
part  of  the  daty  that  is  done  by  the  Department  now  is  in  the  settle- 
ment of  claims  growing  out  of  the  war. 

The  Chairman.  If  those  claims  and  matters  were  adjusted  and  settled 
the  force  then  could  be  reduced  1 

AdjutantGeneral  Townsend.  It  could  be  very  much  reduced,  but  it 
would  be  done  immediately  by  the  discharge  of  these  temporary  clerks, 
without  any  legislation. 

The  Chairman.  Is  it  necessary,  from  the  nature  of  things,  that  these 
clerks  should  be  retained  now,  or  could  not  the  work  be  postponed  and 
prolonged  t 

Adjutant-General  Townsend.  The  longer  it  is  postponed  the  more 
difficult  it  is  to  settle  it.  The  chances  of  fmnd  in  the  settlement  of 
these  claims  are  diminished  very  much  when  they  are  settled  promptly. 

Mr.  GuNCEEL.  These  clerks  commence  duty  at  9  a.  m.  and  close  at 
3  p.  m.  t 

A(]ijutant-General  Townsend.  Those  are  the  office-hours.    . 


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REDUCTION   OP   THE    MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT. 


37 


Mr.  OuNCEEL.  What  time  do  yoa  give  them  for  lunch  t 

AdjutantGleueral  Townsend.  "No  time  in  those  six  hoars.  Daring 
the  war,  when  the  office-hours  *were  extended  to  4  and  5  o'clock  in  the 
afternoon,  we  were  obliged  to  give  them  half  an  hour  for  lunch ;  but  we 
found  that  after  lunch  the  men  did  not  do  so  well.  We  actually  get 
more  work  from  them  in  six  hours  than  we  would  in  eight  hours.  They 
hurry  now  to  get  through  with  their  work  because  it  is  the  uuderstaud: 
ing  that  the  day's  work  inust  be  done  libfore  they  leave  the  office,  and 
they  frequently  stay  till  4  or  5  o'clock,  and  frequently  come  as  early  as 
8  o'clock  in  the  morning  in  order  to  finish  it. 

Mr.  GuNCKKL.  Is  their  average  labor  longer  than  six  hours  per  day  f 

Adjutant-General  Townsend.  Yes;  I  think  it  is. 

Mr.  GuNCKEL.  Would  it  not  be  practicable  to  increase  the  number 
of  hours  f 

Adjutant-General  Townsend.  My  judgment,  from  experience,  wonld 
be  that  yon  would  not  gain  anything  by  it 

The  Chairman.  Do  you  not  think  that  they  cau  work  as  long  as 
ordinary  clerks  work  in  business-houses  f 

Adjutant-General  Townsend.  They  have  not  the  same  variety  of 
work  to  interest  them.  The  work  in  these  offices  is  mere  drudgery ;  it 
is  very  uninteresting,  and  very  wearing  to  the  system.  Moreover  the 
clerks  are  crowded,  six  or  eight  in  a  small  room,  and  the  air  is  bad. 
I  think  that  the  clerks  in  my  office  do  more  labor,  in  proportion  to 
the  time  employed,  than  you  would  find  done  in  business  life  anywhere. 

The  Chairman.  Do  you  know  what  the  annual  average  of  the  diminu- 
tion of  the  Army  in  officers  and  soldiers  is  f 

Adjutant-General  Townsend.  I  hand  you  a  statement  which  will  give 
you  that,  in  detail,  on  the  aggregate  of  three  years. 

The  statement  is  as  follows : 

Statement  showing  the  average  number  of  casualties  per  year  in  the  United 

States  Army. 


Arm  of  service. 


Deserted. 


Cavalry 130 

ArtiUerv •  47 

lufaotry |  2:J9 

MisceUaueous ,  65 

Total i  481 


7,813 


Yearly  average  of  casualties  among  officers  of  the  United  States  Army 83 

The  Chairman.  So  that  the  decrease  of  the  Army  amounts  to  about 
fifteen  or  sixteen  thousand  a  year  ? 

Adjutant  General  Townsend,  That  is  about  the  average  at  present. 
We  have  reduced  the  number  of  desertions  from  13,000,  as  it  was  three 
or  four  years  after  the  war,  down  to  this  number  of  7,813. 

The  Chairman.  Do  you  see  any  difference,  as  to  the  effect  on  de- 
sertions, in  the  new  law  fixing  the  pay  of  men  ? 


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38  EEDUCTION    OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT. 

Adjutant-GeDeral  Townsend.  We  have  hardly  had  time  to  see  the 
working  of  that  yet. 

The  Chairman.  What  is  the  anuaal  number  of  recruits  for  the  Army! 

Adjutant-General  Townsend.  That  is  regulated  by  the  wants  of  the 
Army.  I  have,  every  ten  days,  a  statement  made  to  me  of  the  strength 
of  the  companies  for  the  whole  Arm^',  and  also  of  the  number  of  recruits 
enlisted. 

The  Chairman.  How  many  recruits  did  you  enlist  last  year  t 

Adjutant  General  Townsend.  I  have  not  a  distinct  recollection,  but, 
as  well  as  1  recollect,  it  was  something  like  13,000  for  all  arms  of  the 
service. 

The  Chairman.  What  is  the  average  cost  of  a  soldier  in  the  different 
arms  of  the  service  at  present,  including  all  supplies  and  all  necessary 
expenses,  that  could  not  or  would  not  be  diminished  by  a  reduction  of 
the  Army  t 

Adjutant-General  Townsend.  The  last  time  I  made  an  estimate  of 
that,  was  some  five  or  six  years  ago.  The  average  cost  then  for  every 
soldier  was  about  $1,045  a  year. 

The  Chairman.  Can  you  state  what  items  of  expenditure  you  base 
that  calculation  upon  f 

Adjutant-General  Townsend.  The  p«y,  clothing,  subsistence,  and  en- 
listing expenses ;  I  believe  that  is  all.  These  items  are  furnished  me  by 
the  different  branches  of  the  service,  and  1  make  up  the  calculation  from 
those  reports.  I  am  now  preparing,  for  the  Committee  on  Appropriations, 
a  similar  statement. 

Mr.  Thornburgh.  Are  fuel  and  quarters  counted  in  ! 

Adjutant-General  Townsend.  The  quarters  are  generally  furnished 
to  men  in  kind,  and  I  do  not  take  that  into  consideration.  The  fuel 
ought  to  be  counted.  It  makes  no  difference  as  to  the  quarters  whether 
there  are  ten  men  less  at  a  i)ost,  because  the  houses  are  already  built. 

Mr.  GUNCKEL.  What  is  the  average  cost,  taking  the  same  items,  of 
an  Knglish,  a  French,  and  a.German  soldier  ! 

Adjutant-Genernl  Townsend.  The  pay  of  an  English,  a  French,  and 
a  German  soldier  is  very  much  less  than  ours.  Ours  is  notoriously 
the  best-paid  soldier  in  the  world.  In  the  English  service  the  clothing 
depends  very  much  upon  the  colonel,  who  furnishes  it.  The  colonel  of 
the  regiment  does  not  often  serve  with  his  regiment,  but  1  believe  that 
in  all  the  English  regiments  the  colonel  has  the  contract  for  furnishing 
the  clothing.  I  do  not  believe  that  the  English  soldiers  have  any  money- 
allowance  as  ours  have,  as  an  equivalent  for  clothing  not  drawn.  Our 
allowances  are  based  npon  the  probable  amount  of  clothing,  in  kind, 
which  each  man  will  require,  and  then  a  man  who  is  careful  of  his  cloth- 
ing and  economical  about  it  gets  the  benefit  of  his  care,  in  the  shape  of 
money  at  the  close  of  the  year.  That  is  found  to  be  the  more  equal 
and  just  arrangement  of  the  clothing  basis.  The  Prussian  soltliers  are 
paid  rather  better  than  the  English,  but  the  Prussian  system  of  supplies 
is  altogether  different  from  ours.  The  nature  of  the  service  is  different 
in  all  these  three  countries  which  you  mentioned.  There  is  a  much 
gn^ater  variety  in  the  arms  of  the  service  in  those  countries,  and  in 
the  places  where  they  serve.  For  instance,  the  English  troops  are  all 
over  the  world,  in  all  different  climates,  and  theit*  allowances  are  pro- 
portioned to  the  climate  in  which  they  serve,  so  that  I  cannot  draw  any 
conii)arison  between  them  and  our  own  soldiers.  I  do  not  know  the 
accurate,  precise  answer  to  be  given  to  that  question. 

The  Chairman.  I  would  suggest  that  you  look  at  the  Army  appropria- 


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REDUCTION   OF   THE  MILITARY    ESTABLISHMENT,  39 

tion  act  of  la^t  year,  aud  see  what  items  in  it  woald  be  independent  of 
the  reduction  of  the  Army. 

Adjutant-General  Townsend.  I  have  looked  over  it.  If  you  diminish 
the  Army,  the  expense,  of  course,  would  be  reduced  by  the  amount  which 
every  soldier  receives.  So  would  the  subsistence ;  so  would  the  cloth- 
ing; so  would  the  fuel.  I  can  hardly  estimate  how  far  the  transporta- 
tion would  be  diminished.  The  only  items  of  decrease  there  would  be 
in  the  first  cost  of  transporting  the  soldier  to  his  regiment.  The  other 
statements  are  so  dependent  on  movements,  which  troo[)S  have  to  make 
on  scouts,  and  the  changes  of  station,  &e.j  that  I  cannot  make  any  cal- 
culation as  to  the  saving  which  might  be  effected  in  transportation. 

The  Chairman.  Under  the  head  of  regular  8up[>lies  for  the  Quarter- 
master's Department,  there  are  items  amounting  to  four  aud  a  half 
million  dollars ;  what  part  of  them  would  be  increased  or  diminished 
materially  by  an  increase  or  diminution  of  the  Army  f 

Adjutant-General  Townsend.  Every  item  in  the  regular  supplies 
would  be  somewhfit  diminished. 

The  Chairman.  Are  there  any  items  there  which  would  not  be  di- 
minished by  a  reduction  of  the  Army  ! 

Adjutant-General  Townsend.  That  depends  upon  how  the  Army 
would  be  reduced.  If  you  reduce  the  number  of  officers,  then  I  would 
say  that  all  the  regular  supplies  would  be  diminished. 

The  Chairman.  But  if  the  reduction  was  only  of  soldiers,  then  it 
would  not  apply  to  so  many  items  ! 

Adjutant  General  Townsend.  Then  the  diminution  would  be  small. 

The  Chairman.  So  that  a  reduction  of  officers  would  work  a  greater 
diminution  of  expenses  than  a  reduction  in  the  mere  number  of  the 
men  f 

Adjutant-General  Townsend.  Certainly. 

The  Chairman.  I  see  in  this  Army  appropriation  act  of  last  year  an 
aggregate  of  $1,300,000  for  incidental  expenses  of  the  Qaartennaster-s 
Department;  are  there  any  items  in  that  list  which  would  be  unaffected 
by  a  reduction  of  the  Army  f 

Adjutant-General  Townsend.  Probably  the  item  in  relation  to  de- 
serters might  be  diminished;  nothing  else. 

The  Chairman.  Would  not  the  expenditures  for  the  erection  of  bar- 
racks and  quarters,  store-houses  and  hospitals? 

Adjutant-General  Townsend.  I  think  not. 

The  Chairman.  Would  as  expensive  barracks  be  erected  ! 

Adjutant-General  Townsend.  The  barracks  and  hospitals  are  now 
erected  at  i)osts  where  a  considerable  number  of  troops  is  kept.  Take, 
for  instance.  Fort  Leavenworth.  The  barracks  and  quarters  there  are 
used,  in  tlie  winter,  for  troops  which  are  concentrated  and  which  go  out 
to  scout  in  the  summer.  It  is  the  small  posts  which  would  be  broken 
up,  where  there  would  be  a  saving  of  barracks  and  quarters,  but  they 
are,  you  may  say,  inexpensive.  The  soldiers  themselves  build  these 
posts,  taking  the  materials  and  timber  near  at  hand.  I  believe  that  one 
fruitful  source  of  desertion  in  the  Army  is  the  causing  of  our  soldiers 
to  labor  in  these  new  posts,  which  are  built.  They  do  not  like  to  work 
in  that  way.  The>  say  they  enlisted  to  do  duty  as  soldiers  and  they  will 
not  work  as  laborers.  That  is,  to  my  mind,  one  of  t!ie  false  economies 
of  the  service.  We  are  obliged  to  use  soldiers  to  do  work,  and  we  are 
obliged  to  pay  for  them  in  the  way  of  desertion. 

The  Chairman.  These  other  great  items  under  the  head  of  the  Quar- 
termaster's Department,  for  transportation  of  the  Army,  &c.,  would 
they  be  largely  diminished  if  the  Army  was  materially  reduced  f 


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40  REDUCTION   OP   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT. 

Adjutant-General  Townsend.  Yes,  sir. 

The  Chairman.  Would  they  be  in  proportion  to  the  reduction  of  the 
ArmyT 

Adjutant  General  Townsend.  Yes,  sir;  that  is  to  say,  the  first  part 
of  that  item  would  be,  but  there  are  some  parts  that  would  not  be  re- 
duced. 

The  Chairman.  Are  you  familiar  with  those  expenditures  for  hire  of 
qunrti^rs  for  officers  and  troops,  and  so  forth  ? 

Adjutant-General  Townsend.  To  a  certain  extent  I  am.  There  is 
one  thing  in  that  item  which  the  Secretary  of  War  is  forced  to  by  law. 
There  is  an  act  of  Congress  which  directs  the  President  to  detail  twenty 
officers  of  the  Army  to  colleges.  When  detailed  to  these  colleges  the 
officers  are  entirely  beyond  the  reach  of  military  orders,  except  that 
they  can  be  relieved  and  returned  to  duty.  It  is  entirely  for  the  benefit 
of  the  civil  institutions.  These  officers  get  their  full  pay  and  allowances 
of  fuel  and  quarters  for  performing  that  duty,  as  professors  in  private 
colleges.  The  exception  to  the  rule  is  where  a  retired  officer  can  be 
detailed  at  his  own  request,  and  he  gets  nothing  more  than  the  propor- 
tion allowed  to  a  retired  officer  as  his  pay.  It  seems  to  me  that  that  is 
a  luxury  that  can  be  dispensed  with,  and  that  if  you  give  an  officer  a 
leave  of  absence  to  permit  him  to  go  to  a  college,  the  college  will  give 
him  some  remuneration  from  its  own  funds  for  his  duties  to  that  college 
especially ;  and  the  Government  will  not  be  paying  for  the  private  dis- 
tribution of  the  information  which  officers  of  the  Army  can  give  to  the 
country. 

Mr.  GuNCKEL.  Suppose  that  was  changed,  what  saving  would  there 
be  effected  by  abolishing  that  feature  of  the  law,  and  recalling  those 
officers  f 

Adjutant-General  Townsend.  I  should  think  there  would  be  a  saving 
of  $1,000  a  year  for  every  officer  so  detailed.  There  are  twenty  allowed 
by  law  J  but  we  take  as  many  as  we  can  from  the  retired  list,  in  order 
to  keep  the  officers  on  the  active  list  with  their  companies. 

Mr.  Thornbubgh.  Is  there  not  an  order  forbidding  any  commutation 
of  quarters  for  those  officers! 

Adjutant-General  Townsend.  No,  sir,  the  law  allows  it  The  word 
"  detail"  gives  it  to  them. 

Mr.  Albright.  If  not  detailed  to  that  duty  would  they  not  have 
the  same  payf 

Adjutant-General  Townsend.  If  they  had  leave  of  absence,  their  pay, 
after  thirty  days,  would  be  reduced  one-half,  and  they  would  have  no 
allowance  for  fuel  and  quarters. 

The  Chairman.  Does  the  Government  pay  officers  here  in  Washing- 
ton for  fuel  and  quarters  f 

Adjutant-General  Townsend.  Yes,  sir. 

Mr.  Thornburgh.  The  officers  who  are  living  here  in  quarters  which 
are  the  property  of  the  Government  are  not  paid  commutation. 

Adjutant-General  Townsend.  No,  sir;  they  have  quarters  furnished 
in  kind. 

The  Chairman.  How  is  it  when  officers  have  houses  of  their  ownT 

Adjutant-General  Townsend.  There  are  a  certain  number  of  rooms 
allowed  by  the  regulations,  and  they  get  commutation  for  those  rooms. 

The  Chairman.  That  rule  is  not  transgressed  at  all  T 

Adjutant-General  Townsend.  It  cannot  be.  The  house  that  I  live  in  is 
not  paid  for  by  the  rent  which  the  Government  allows  me,  and  I  do  not 
live  in  an  extravagant  house  either. 

Mr.  Young.  Are  cavalry  officers  who  are  stationed  here  on  staff  duty 


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REDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT.  41 

allowed  commntation  of  forage  for  the  number  of  horses  which  they  are 
allowed  to  keep  when  in  the  field  f 

Adjntant-General  Townsend.  Yes,  if  they  are  doing  duty  which  re- 
quires them  to  be  mounted. 

Mr.  Young.  Then  they  are  not  all  allowed  commutation  for  forage  t 

Adjutant-General  Townsend.  Take,  for  instance,  a  cavalry  recruiting- 
officer;  he  is  not  allowed  forage  for  his  horses,  for  that  duty  does  not 
require  him  to  be  mounted.  That  is  the  rule,  that  when  the  duties  of 
an  officer  may  require  him  at  any  moment  to  be  mounted,  he  is  allowed 
forage  in  kiud  for  his  horses. 

The  Chairman.  Do  you  know  whether  any  reduction  can  be  made  in 
the  amount  of  rent  which  is  paid  for  offices — say  for  the  head  quarters 
of  military  divisions  and  departments  that  are  located  in  great  cities? 
Is  there  not  an  extravagant  amount  of  rent  paid  for  them  f 

Adjutant-General  Townsend.  The  Secretary  of  War  has  addressed 
himself  more  particularly  to  that  subject  and  is  more  familiar  with  it 
than  I  am. 

I  am  under  the  impression,  from  remarks  which  General  Sherman 
made  yesterday  in  reference  to  the  mode  of  building  and  repairing 
quarters  and  the  selection  of  new  posts,  that  the  General  did  not  give 
the  committee  the  impression  which  he  intended  to.  There  are  certain 
quartermasters  and  commissaries  stationed  at  the  headquarters  of  every 
department;  these  officers  receive  estimates  for  repairs  and  supplies  of 
all  kiuds  from  the  posts,  scat)  them  carefully,  submit  them  to  the  depart- 
ment commanders,  who  make  their  remarks  on  them  and  forward  them 
through  the  regular  channel  to  the  head  quarters  of  the  Army.  After 
they  have  received  the  remarks  which  General  Sherman  wishes  to  make 
on  them,  they  are  referred  to  the  heads  of  the  proper  departments,  and 
then  with  their  remarks  they  go  to  the  Secretary  of  War.  Thus  the  de- 
partment commanders  have  full  control  over  the  estimates  made  for  all 
expenditures  in  the  staflf-departments  within  their  own  military  com- 
mands. I  did  not  get  the  impression  that  that  was  the  case  from  the 
statement  which  Geueral  Sherman  made.  These  things  pass  through 
my  hands,  and  I  have  thought  it  proper  to  correct  any  misapprehension 
that  might  be  felt  on  the  subject.  The  General  ,  I  think,  intended  to 
say  that  the  expenditures  for  the  Army  at  large  were  not  under  bis 
control.  For  instance,  there  are  depots  of  purchase  at  New  York,  Bal- 
timore, and  other  cities,  whencii  supplies  are  shipped  beyond  the  limits 
of  the  military  department  where  these  cities  are  to  other  points.  These 
depots  of  supplies  are  under  the  chiefs  of  the  departments  here,  and  are 
regulated  by  the  Secretary  of  War.  To  that  extent  General  Sherman  has 
no  control  over  the  supplies,  but  this  is  the  way  to  state  that.  The  esti- 
mates being  submitted  to  Congress  by  the  Secretary  of  War,  appropria- 
tions are  made  for  the  military  service  under  certain  heads.  The  Secre- 
tary of  War  causes  the  chiefs  of  bureaus  to  purchase  or  manufacture  the 
supplier  inteuded  for  the  whole  Army.  On  the  estimates  which  come 
up  from  the  department  commanders  through  the  General  of  the  Army, 
the  Secretary  of  War  causes  issues  to  be  made  from  these  depots. 
After  they  are  made  to  the  department  commands  they  pass  entirely 
under  the  control  of  the  department  commanders.  That  is  the  exact 
working  of  the  system. 

Mr.  DoNNAN.  Then  the  requisitions  of  supplies  from  departments  come 
through  the  General  of  the  Army. 

Adjutant-Geneml  Townsend.  Invariably.  If  they  should  happen  to 
get  out  of  that  channel  they  would  be  referred  to  him  for  his  remarks. 

There  is  another  point  which  I  would  like  to  suggest  to  the  committee 


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42  REDUCTION   OP   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT. 

as  a  matter  of  economy — to  which  all  my  remarks  have  been  addressed 
at  large.  In  the  suspension  of  any  works  this  principle  ought  to  be 
borne  in  mind 

The  Chairman.  Works  of  fortification  and  defense! 

Adjutant-General  Townsend.  Works  of  any  kind — any  military 
operations.  Certain  implements  have  been  purchased,  i)erhaps  at  great 
expense,  under  appropriations  made  to  carry  on  these  works.  Now,  if 
they  are  entirely  susi)ended  or  broken  up,  these  implements  will  either 
be  sold  at  considerable  loss  or  else  stored,  with  the  risk  of  deterioration, 
and  when  the  works  are  recommenced  all  these  expenses  have  to  be 
gone  over  again.  I  think  it  better  in  times  of  retrenchment  not  abso- 
lutely to  discontinue  works  which  should  force  such  a  result  as  that. 

Mr.  Gunckel.  What  do  you  mean  by  implements! 

Adjutant-General  Townsend.  For  instance,  an  appropriation  has 
been  made  for  building  a  sea-wall  in  some  harbor.  Derricks  and  vari- 
ous machinery  have  to  be  got,  to  carry  on  that  work.  If  that  work  is 
discontinued,  the  wall  is  broken  off  just  where  the  appropriation  ceased, 
and  the  derricks  and  all  the  machinery  are  put  away  and  protected  as 
well  as  possible ;  but  they  deteriorate  for  want  of  care  or  use.  The 
wall  crumbles  and  has  to  be  rebuilt.  When  the  work  commences  again 
these  expenses  have  to  be,  in  a  great  measure,  gone  through  with  again, 
so  that  a  small  appropriation  which  would  enable  the  officer  in  charge 
to  take  proper  care  of  those  things,  and  to  prevent  them  from  deterio- 
ation,  would  be  economy  in  the  end. 

Mr.  Albright.  In  regard  to  those  companies  of  engineers  I  would 
like  to  hear  your  opinion  on  the  subject  of  their  services,  and- their  use- 
fulness to  the  country. 

Adjutant  General  Townsend.  There  are  six  companies  allowed  to  the 
battalion  of  engineers.  One  company  has  been  broken  up  in  conformity 
with  the  former  reduction  of  the  Army  to  30,000  men,  leaving  the  bat- 
talion with  five  companies.  One  company  is  stationed  at  West  Point, 
where  it  assists  in  the  instructing  of  the  corps  of  cadets  in  engineering, 
in  throwing  up  earth  works,  in  the  constructing  of  pontoons,  and  mat- 
ters of  that  sort.  They  do  their  share  of  the  guard-duty  at  the  post  at 
West  Point,  and  they  take  care  of  all  the  implements,  pontoon-bridges, 
&c.,  that  are  used  in  the  instruction  of  the  corps  of  cadets.  The  other 
four  companies  are  stationed  at  Willet's  Point.  They  have  been  engaged 
in  the  improvement  and  manufacture  of  pontoon-trains,  and  hJive  been 
deeply  engaged  in  experiments  on  torpedoes.  These  companies  are  com- 
posed of  a  much  more  intelligent  class  of  men  than  the  army  at  large. 
They  have  higher  rates  of  pay,  and  they  are  sure  of  a  station  at  a  post,  so 
they  are  willing  to  enlist  in  the  engineer  battalion,  while  they  might  not 
be  willing  to  go  into  the  field.  In  time  of  war  these  men  goin  squads,  and 
under  an  engineer  officer,  with  their  poutoon  trains.  Ten  or  twelve  of 
them,  knowing  exactly  what  to  do,  will  instruct  a  company  or  two  of 
raw  volunteers  in  the  laying  of  a  pontoon  bridge,  so  that  the  work  is 
done  in  the  field  without  delay.  I  conceive  that  that  duty  is  of  gi*eat 
importance.  With  regard  to  these  not  being  subject  to  detail  for  other 
army  services,  the  department  commander  has  no  control  over  them  ex- 
cept on  the  military  principle,  that  if  there  should  be  an  attack  upon  a 
city  within  his  department,  or  a  sudden  emergency,  he  would  be  culpable 
if  he  did  not  take  everything  within  his  reach  to  meet  the  emergency. 
But  in  their  ordinary  duties  they  report  to  the  chief  of  the  engineers, 
and  through  him  to  the  Secretary  of  War,  because  that  line  of  duty  is  a 
specialty,  not  at  all  connected  with  the  Army  at  large.  A  departaieufc 
commander  has  nothing  to  do  with  the  perfecting  of  the  system  of  tor- 


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REDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT.  43 

peiloes.  It  is  better  that  all  tbe  experiments  about  these  things  should 
be  kept  profound  secrets,  for  we  do  uot  want  a  foreign  nation  to  know 
what  we  are  doing  in  that  line. 

Mr.  Thornburgh.  Has  not  the  Navy  a  force  on  that  same  branch  of 
service — torpedoes  ? 

Adjutant-General  Townsend.  I  imagine  that  the  naval  torpedoes  are 
of  a  different  kind,  and  are  adapted  especially  to  shipping,  while  the 
engineers  are  for  the  defence  of  harbors  smd  rivers. 

Mr.  Young.  Are  these  enlisted  men  of  the  engineers  kept  at  stations 
and  instructed  by  their  officers  all  the  time  in  mathematical  studies, 
surveying,  &c.f 

Adjutant-General  Townsend.  Yes,  sir ;  and  they  are  made  compe- 
tent to  instruct  large  bodies  of  men  in  these  things  in  time  of  war. 

The  Chairman.  I  call  your  attention  to  this  item  of  the  army  appro- 
priation act  of  last  year — of  half  a  million  of  dollars  for  purchasing  and 
manufacturing  clothing,  camp  and  garrison  equipage,  &c.;  would  that 
item  be  affected  or  not  affected  by  the  reduction  of  the  Army? 

Adjutant-General  To^vNSEND.  It  would  be  affected  to  the  amount  of 
clothing  allowed  to  each  soldier.  As  to  the  camp  and  garrison  equi- 
page, so  many  camp-kettles,  so  many  tents,  so  many  hatchets,  &c.,  are 
allowed  to  a  certain  number  of  men,  and  as  you  reduce  the  number  of 
men,  there  might  be  a  very  small  diminution  in  that  item.  Just  at  this 
time  the  matter  of  clothing  is  behind,  on  account  of  the  change  of  uni- 
form. 

Mr.  Gunckel.  Can  you  give  the  actual  cost  of  officering  a  regiment 
for  a  year  T 

Adjutant-General  Townsend.  These  things  are  mixed  up,  and  so  de- 
pendent upon  the  services  to  be  performed,  that  you  cannot  tell.  If 
you  cut  off  a  regiment,  some  other  regiment  has  got  to  do  the  duty  of 
the  one  cutoff.  There  is  a  constant  demand,  for  instance,  on  the  Pres- 
ident, to  furnish  escorts  for  boundaiy  commissioners,  and  treasury  bul- 
lion, and  for  assistance  in  collecting  internal  revenues,  and  things  of 
that  sort.  These  demands  have  to  be  met  in  one  way  or  another,  and 
though  you  might  cut  off  the  actual  pay,  clothing,  and  subsistence  of 
one  regiment,  you  would  have,  in  some  way,  to  make  up  for  that  in  the 
way  of  transportation-charges,  and  the  hire  of  civilian  guides,  and  such 
things,  so  that  you  cannot  actually  estimate  the  saving  that  would  be 
effected  in  cutting  oft'  a  regiment. 

The  Chairman.  Are  you  ])repared  to  say  that  all  the  soldiers  and 
officers  of  the  Army  are  busily  engaged  all  the  time  T 

Adjutant-General  Townsend.  I  would  not  like  to  say  that,  because 
that  would  be  taxing  human  nature  too  much. 

The  Chairman.  I  mean  within  all  reasonable  time. 

Adjutant-General  Townsend.  I  think  so.  I  have  looked  carefully 
over  the  Army  and  I  cannot  see  how  we  can  spare  any  men.  We  have  to 
give  officers  a  little  leave  of  absence  sometimes,  in  order  to  save  their 
health.  There  are  a  great  many  invalid  officers  now,  broken  c^pwn  by 
long  service  in  malarious  countries.  If  we  had  the  means  of  transpor- 
tation to  change  regiments  more  frequently,  we  could  save  life  and 
health  by  transferring  from  unhealthy  to  healthy  localities. 

The  CnAiR3iAN.  Have  not  most  of  the  regiments,  in  point  of  fact, 
been  transferred  within  the  last  live  years ! 

Adjutant-General  Townsend.  No,  sir.  For  instance,  the  First  In- 
fantry has  been  stationed  on  the  lakes  for  about  eight  years,  while 
other  regiments  have  been  in  the  South  for  the  same  length  of  time« 


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44  REDUCTIOK  OF  THE   MILITABT   ESTABLISHMENT. 

The  Chairman.  Have  not  quite  a  number  of  regiments  been  trans- 
ferred from  Bouthem  stations  f 

Adjatant-Oeneral  Townsend.  There  have  been  four  regiments  of  ar- 
tillery and  two  of  cavalry  changed,  for  sanitary  purposes,  within  the  last 
three  years,  and  these  are  all  the  changes  I  remember  for  the  last 
eight  ye^rs. 

Mr.  GUNCKEL.  What  would  be  the  probable  saving  from  the  reduction 
of  the  Army  by  one  regiment  of  infantry  f 

Adjutant-General  Townsend.  The  element  of  calculation  would  be 
the  pay  of  officers  and  soldiers,  and  the  clothing  of  soldiers. 

Mr.  GuNCKEL.  What  would  be  your  round  estimate  of  the  saving! 

Adjutant  General  Tov^tnsend.  I  would  have  to  sit  down  and  make 
the  calculation,  because  the  cavalry,  artillery,  and  infantry  are  dif- 
ferently organized,  and  differently  paid. 

Mr.  HuMTON.  Supi>oAe  you  supply  the  committee,  to-morrow  morn- 
ing,  with  an  estimate  of  the  saving  which  would  be  effected  by  the  cutr 
ting  off  of  one  regiment  from  each  arm  of  the  service. 

Adjutant-General  Townsend.  I  will  do  so. 

Mr.  Young.  Those  officers  in  command  of  engineer  troops,  how  often 
are  they  changed  f 

Adjutant  General  Townsend.  They  are  transferred  at  the  discretion 
of  the  Chief  of  Engineers,  under  the  orders  of  the  Secretary  of  War, 
and  according  to  his  views  of  the  necessities  of  the  case.  They  are  not 
very  often  changed,  because  these  officers,  like  the  commanding  officer 
at  Willet's  Point  now,  have  made  a  specialty  of  that  branch  of  the 
service.  Major  Abbott  has  been  in  command  there,  I  believe,  since 
that  depot  was  established,  and  he  is  the  officer  who  has  made  all  the 
experiments  in  torpedoes. 

Mr.  Young.  Has  the  Engineer  Department  authority  to  employ  engi- 
neers from  civil  life! 

Adjutant-General  Townsend.  There  are  laborers,  masons,  mechanics, 
&c.,  employed  in  the  construction  of  forts. 

Mr.  YouNO.  Those  military  engineers  who  are  engaged  in  the  survey 
of  rivers  and  harbors,  have  they  authority  to  employ  civil  engineers  to 
aid  them  t 

Adjutant-General  Townsend.  I  do  not  think  they  have.  They  em- 
ploy civilians  in  some  capacities. 

Mr.  YouNO.  I  know  that  they  are  employing  them,  and  I  want  to 
know  from  what  appropriation  the  pay  of  these  civil  engineers  comes. 

Adjutant-General  Townsend.  That,  of  course,  I  am  not  familiar  with, 
as  it  is  under  the  Chief  of  Engineers.  The  Secretary  of  War  regulates 
all  those  things  himself.  They  arc  very  carefully  scanned  by  him,  in  con- 
sultation with  the  heads  of  departments.  Everything  of  importance 
dore  by  them  is  done  under  his  orders  and  instruction. 

Mr.  Albeight.  Since  your  communication  to  the  committee  last  year 
with  regard  to  the  staff  department  of  the  Army,  have  you  had  any 
reason  (o  change  your  opinion  f 

Adjutant-General  Townsend.  Not  at  all,  sir.  My  opinion  was  based 
on  the  experience  of  thirty  years,  and  is  confirmed  every  day. 

Mr.  Albright.  Is  it  possible  for  you  to  affect  a  reduction  in  your 
own  department  with  convenience  to  the  service? 

Adjutant-General  Townsend.  At  this  time  I  ought  to  have  two  more 
officers  than  I  have.  There  are  vacancies  for  more  than  that,  but  I  ought 
to  have,  since  the  reduction  of  the  military  departments,  two  more  offi- 
cers.   Their  duties  are  done  now  by  captains  of  the  line. 


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REDUCTION   OP   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT.  45 

Mr.  Albright.  For  the  reason  that  there  is  too  much  work. for  the 
officers  that  you  have  T 

Adjutant-General  TowNSBND.  No,  sir  j  there  is  one  military  depart- 
ment, that  of  Arizona,  commanded  by  a  brigadier-general  who  has  no 
assistant  adjutant  general.  There  is  a  captain  detailed  on  that  duty  in 
the  Adjutant-Generars  Office  to  do  the  legitimate  duties  of  that  Office, 
because,  without  taking  an  officer  away  from  a  military^  department, 
there  is  none  to  do  the  duties.  I  have  myself  been  doing  the  duties  of 
assistant  adjutant-general,  as  well  as  my  own  duties  of  Adjutant-Gene- 
ral, for  nearly  a  year,  until  the  past  month.  The  breaking  up  of  the 
Department  of  the  Lakes  has  enabled  me  to  bring  one  of  the  assistant 
adjutant  generals  here  to  do  it.  The  importance  of  this  matter  will  be 
apparent  to  the  committee,  from  the  fact  that  I  have  to  sign  papers, 
sometimes  as  many  as  1,500  a  day — sometimes  more — merely  papers 
of  reference,  which  an  assistant  adjutant-general  could  sign.  Tbat 
work  takes  me  away  from  the  consideration  of  more  important  matters, 
which  1  am  obliged  to  attend  to  at  home,  when  my  mind  is  not  as  free 
and  as  clear  as  it  ought  to  be,  from  this  fatigue.  The  drudgery  of  sign- 
ing papers  unfits  one  for  clear  thought,  as  1  find. 

Mr.  GUNGKEL.  1  find,  in  the  Book  of  Estimates,  an  estimate  of 
$275,000  for  mileage  of  officers  of  the  Army  when  traveling  without 
troops,  under  orders.  That  is  the  allowance,  under  the  law,  of  ten  cents 
a  mile,  is  it  not! 

Adjutant-General  Townsend.  Yes. 

Mr.  Gunckel.  Why  should  it  not  be  the  actual  traveling  expenses  of 
the  officer  f 

Adjutant-General  Townsend.  It  is  more  easily  ascertained  in  this 
way.  This  is  about  the  average  between  the  actual  expense  of  traveling 
OQ  one  route  and  on  another.  An  allowance  of  a  mileage  cuts  ofi  all 
sorts  of  attempts  at  abuse.  If  an  officer  gets  his  actual  expense  of 
transportation,  he  wants  to  charge  for  the  porterage  of  his  trunks  and 
other  matters  of  that  kind.  But  if  he  gets  his  ten  cents  a  mile,  he  has 
to  pay  the  contingent  expenses  himself. 

Mr.  Gunckel.  His  pay  runs  on  during  the  period  of  his  traveling! 

Adjutant-General  Townsend.  His  pay  runs  on,  of  course,  if  he  is  trav- 
eling under  orders.  But  our  officers  are  sometimes  obliged  to  ask  indul- 
gences, from  the  sheer  necessity  growing  out  of  the  reduction  of  their  pay 
when  on  leave  of  absence.  As  the  law  now  stands,  each  officer  is  allowed 
leave  of  absence  for  thirty  days  in  the  year  without  reduction  of  pay ;  and, 
although  he  may  have  had  no  leave  of  absence  for  six,  eight,  or  ten  years, 
he  can  have  only  his  thirty  days  in  any  year  without  reduction  of  pay. 
An  officer  stationed  at  a  remote  point  has  to  save  up  his  pay  as  well  as 
he  can,  that  he  may  go  on  leave  of  absence.  He  may  be  nearly  a  month 
going  home,  and  then  he  only  gets  half-pay.  He  has  no  allowance 
whatever  beyond  his  half  pay  or  any  way  to  get  back  to  his  post,  and 
is  sometimes  forced  to  ask  to  be  put  oil  duty  of  a  temporary  nature  in 
order  that  he  may  travel  under  mileage.  When  these  applications  are 
made  to  me,  I  often  do  make  them  a  matter  of  economy  in  this  way.  I 
order  the  officer  to  report  at  a  dei>ot  for  recruits  about  the  time  that  I 
am  going  to  send  a  detachment  of  recruits  out  in  the  region  of  his  regi- 
ment. He  will  then  get  his  actual  transportation  with  the  recruits, 
while  I  save  to  the  Government  the  mileage  of  the  officer  from  that 
point  back  to  his  post. 

Mr.  Gunckel.  Was  not  the  allowance  of  ten  cents  a  mile  established 
when  the  expense  of  traveling  was  very  much  greater  than  it  is  now  t 
,  A(y utant-General  Townsend.  No,  sir ;  it  was  established  within  a 


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46 


REDUCTION   OF    THE   MILITARY   ESTABLI8HNENT. 


short  time.  That  rate  was  re-affiruied  in  the  last  bill  passed  fixing  the 
pay  of  officers  of  the  Army. 

Mr.  GuNCKEL.  Would  not  five  cents  a  mile  as  an  average  cover  the 
aetnal  exjienses  of  traveling  ! 

Adjutant-General  Townsend.  No,  sir;  it  would  not.  My  impression 
is  that  that  allowance  is  the  best  and  most  economical  in  the  end,  be- 
cause it  cuts  off  from  officers  all  inducements  to  try  to  bring  in  extra 
charges  for  a  thousand  things,  which  would  be  allowed  |)erhaps  from  the 
evidence  of  the  necessity  of  the  case.  An  officer  traveling  a  long  dis- 
tance, say  from  California,  is  put  to  very  serious  expense  as  well  as  in- 
convenience. He  has  to  go  as  soon  as  possible  in  order  to  be  within 
his  time,  and  in  order  to  get  his  expenses.  If  he  had  only  five  cents  a 
mile,  he  would  contrive  some  other  way  to  get  the  allowance.  I  do  not 
think  the  officers  of  the  Army  are  paid  in  excess  of  their  absolute 
wants. 


Adjutakt-Gknkral's  Offick, 

WMkington,  January  9,  1874. 
Dkar  Sir  :  In  compliance  \^'ith  your  request  of  the  7tb  instant,  I  inclose  a  niann- 
6cri)it  tabular  Htateuient  of  the  clerks  employed  in  this  oflice,  and  a  printed  statement 
in  detail  of  the  kind  of  work  performed.  Tliis  last  statement,  though  prepan'd  a  year 
ago,  applies  exactly  to  the  present  time,  so  far  as  the  character  and  amount  of  work  is 
concerned. 

I  am,  very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

E.  D.  TOWNSEND, 

AdJatant-GeneraL 
Hon.  John  Coburn, 

Chairman  Mililary  Committeej  House  of  BepresenfativeSn 


REPORT. 
Present  organization,  of  force  employed  in  the  Adjatani-GencraVs  Office,  War  Department. 

D;iring  the  war  the  total  number  of  ir.gular  cli^kehips  allowed  was  170.  Appropria- 
tion act  approved  July  SiO,  1868,  (vol.  15,  chap.  17H,  pa^e  102,)  reduced  the  number  to 
79.  Appropriation  act  approved  March  3,  1869,  (vol.  15,  chap.  121,  page  294,)  reduced 
.the  number  to  present  force — 65  clerkships,  2  messengers — classitied  as  follows : 


No. 


Capacity. 


9 
97 


Chief  clerk 

Clerks  class  four.. 

Clerks  class  three. 
Clerks  class  two  . . 


26      Clerks  class  one  . 
Messengers , 


Annual 

salary  of 

each. 


13,000. 

i.eooj 


1,400.^ 


1,200 


Date  of  acts  or  resolutions  providing  for  the  ex- 
penditure. 


March  3, 1871 

One  by  March  3, 1853  . 
One  by  March  L4.1864. 


Eight  by  March  14, 1864. 


I  April  22, 1854  . 


1 


Five  by  March  3. 1853.. 

Four  by  April  22,  1854 

Eight  by  February  23. 1863. 

Ten  by  March  14,  1664 

T«r«  K«  5  March  3, 1853  . . . 
Two  by  (April  22;  1854. 


840^ 


Eighteen  l>y  January  27, 1862 

Six  by  July  5, 1862 

March  3, 1869 i 

July  12,1870 


Referenoes  to 
Statutes  at 
Large.  (Lit- 
tle, Brown 
&  Go.'s  edi- 
tion.) 


VoL 


Page,-  See. 
491 


210 
27 
210 
276 
27 
210 
276 
695 
27 
910 
276 
333 
509 
287 
291 
847 


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47 


PROVOST-MARSHAL  AND  VOLUNTEKR  BRANCH. 

Porsnant  to  section  33,  act  of  Jnly  28, 186fi,  (vol.  14,  cbap.  299,  page  337,)  the  Pro- 
YOBt-MarRbal-GeDeral's  Bureau  was  discontinued  Auj^nst  28,  1866.  All  unfiiilHlied  busi- 
Deas,  acconiitH,  and  claims,  together  with  reconls,  fuudn,  and  property,  were  tnrned  over 
to  the  Adjutant-General  of  the  Army,  who  was  authorized  to  retain  such  otticors  and 
clerks  of  the  Bureau  as  were  necessary.  To  carry  out  the  act  creating  the  oflfice  of 
Provost-Marshal-General,  and  describing  his  duties,  approved  March  3,  1863,  (vol.  12, 
cbap.  75,  pagti  731,)  snob  number  of  clerks  and  messengers  as  were  necessary,  :issimil- 
ated  in  classification  to  those  of  the  Adjutant-General's  Ofilce,  were  anthorized  by  the 
Secretary  nf  War..  On  the  transfer  of  the  business  of  the  Bureau  to  the  Adjutant - 
General,' all  its  unfinished  businef^s  was  combined  with  the  unfinished  business  incident 
to  the  collecting,  drilling,  and  organizing  of  volnnteers,  includingall  tiie  organizations 
of  colored  troops,  questions  arising  from  condition  of  slavery,  upon  bounty-claims,  &c. 

By  act  of  May  8,  1872,  (vol.  17,  chap.  140,  page  79,)  46  clerks,  1  fireman,  and  1  mes- 
senger were  specifically  allowed  to  this  branch,  classified  as  follows: 


Xa 


Capaeity. 


Clerks  clan*  four  . 
Cli-rkn  cla»8  three 
CI«rkii  claw*  two.. 
CU'rkH  clasA  one  . . 

Fireman 

M  efuien>rer 


t 

M^=s     1 

if. 

-is 

w*3g  .    1 

1'       ^21-  = 

<         1    0 

♦I,  800  1  May    8, 1872  ' 

l.UOO  1  May    8.187-2  1 

1,  400  1  May    8, 1872  | 

1. 900  !  Mny    8, 1872  i 

720     Mav     8, 1872  ' 

360  j  May    8, 1872 

'                          1 

¥AR   BRANCH. 

References  to  StAtutea  at 

Large 

(Little,   Brown 

&Co'l! 

\  edition.) 

Volume 

Page.  Section. 

^^ 

79 

1 

79 

1 

17 

79 

1 

17 

79 

1 

79                1 

79  1              1 

1 

PRISONERS  OF  WAR 

During  the  war  the  business  connected  with  the  custody  and  exchange  of  prisoners 
of  war  was  so  extensive  as  to  require  the  special  attt^ntion  of  an  officer  designated  as 
the  '*  commissary-general  of  prisoners."  The  unfinished  business  of  this  office  (consisting 
of  auditing  and  preparing  claims  for  commutation  of  rations  to  prisoners  of  war;  re- 
payment of  moneys  taken  from  men  while  prisoners  ;  reporting  on  applications  for  re- 
moval of  desertion  on  the  ground  of  being  prisoners;  search  for  missing  men,  &c.,)  was 
transferred  to  the  Adjutant-General  of  the  Army  August  24,  1867.  Tliere  are  now  24 
t-emporary  clerks,  employed  by  special  authority  of  the  Secretary  of  War,  ou  this  work, 
who  are  paid  by  the  Quartermaster's  Department  from  the  appropriation  for  incidental 
expenses  of  that  Department,  (vol.  17,  chap.  316,  page  259.)  They  are  classified  as 
follows : 


No. 

Capacity. 

Annual 
salary. 

Date  of  act. 

Reference   to 

iStatuteH  at 

Large. 

Vol.!  Page. 

Sec. 

1 

Clerk  claaa  three 

11,600 

1,400 

i.aoo 

June  6, 1873 
June  6. 1872 
June  6. 1872 

17 

17 
17 

359 
2.59 
259 

1 

4 

Clerks  class  two 

1 

19 

Clerks  claaa  on© 

1 

frekdmen'6  branch. 

Under  the  act  of  Jnne  10, 1872,  (Forty -second  Congress,  second  session,  page  366,)  the 
Bureau  of  Refugees,  Freedmeu  and  Abandoned  Lands  was  discontinued  June  30,  1872, 
and  the  Adjutant-General  was  charged  with  the  settlement  of  ctrtain  accounts  and 
claims  relating  thereto.  The  act  provided  for  the  employment  of  necessary  agents, 
clerks,  and  others,  to  lie  paid  for  out  of  the  appropriation  made  for  the  settlement  of  the 
claims  alluded  t4>.  Twenty-three  clerks,  2  messengers,  1  fireman,  and  7  janitors  are 
employed  uj>on  this  work  in  the  office  at  Washington  and  in  those  of  the  disbursing 
officers  in  six  other  cities.  The  clerks  have  not  been  classified,  and  the  number  of  the 
employ^  is  liable  to  be  increased  or  diminished,  acconling  to  the  necessities  of  the 
service  required.  These  employes  are  not  included  in  the  force  of  the  Adjutant-Generars 
Office,  being  dependent  on  the  yearly  appropriations  made  to  accomplish  the  pi^rpose 
which  is  specified  in  the  act  above  cited. 


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REDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITAEY   ESTABLISHMENT. 


ENLISTED  MEN. 

By  acts  approved  Jaly  27, 1861,  (vol.  12,  chap.  22,  page  277  ;)  act  of  Jan  nary  27, 1862, 
(vol.  12,  cbap.  12,  sec.  1,  page  333 ;)  act  of  July  5,  18)52,  (chap.  H!i,  sec.  5,  page  509,)  the 
Adjutaiit-Geuerui  is  authorized  to  detail  30  uon-comuiissioued  officers  from  the  Army 
as  clerks. 

.  Immense  and  rapid  increase  of  business  in  that  office  at  various  stages  of  the  war 
made  a  large  increase  of  clerical  force  absolutely  necessary  for  anything  like  prompt 
dispatch  of  the  most  pressing  business.  Under  sanction  of  the  Secretary  of  War, 
details  were  ma<le  from  the  Army  to  meet  this  necessity.  The  men  detailed  wore  almost 
invariably  disabled  by  wounds,  or  ot  too  delicate  constitution  for  active  service  in  the 
field.  They  were  distributed  through  the  various  branches  as  required.  The  number 
of  these  enlisted  clerks  has  always  been  carefully  reduced  whenever  their  services 
could  be  dispensed  with.  After  the  war,  August  1,  IS65,  the  number  employed  as 
clerks  was  362,  as  messengers  80.  as  watchmen  6. 

The  number  employed  now  is,  clerks,  137 ;  messengers,  44 ;  watchmen,  22. 

Owing  to  the  deficiency  which,  from  coBualties,  nmst  necessarily  from  time  to  time 
exist  in  the  legal  company  organisations  of  the  Army,  these  detailed  men  do  not  carry 
the  Army  organizatiou  above  its  legal  standard  of  30,000.  Their  compensation  is  made 
up  of  the  following  items  : 

1.  Pay  of  an  enlisted  man  of  the  Army,  paid  by  the  Pay  Department  from  annnal 
appropriation  for  the  pay  of  the  Army. 

2.  Extra-duty  pay  of  20  or  35  cents  per  diem,  from  annnal  appropriation  of  inci- 
dental expenses  of  the  Quartermaster's  Department,  under  the  hea<l  of  "  extra  pay  to 
soldiers  employed  as  clerks,''  &c. 

3.  Commutation  of  quarters  paid  by  Quartermaster's  Department  from  appropriation 
for  barracks  and  quarters. 

4.  Commutation  of  fuel  from  appropriation  for  regular  supplies  for  the  Qnarter- 
mastei-'s  Department.    (See  Statutes,  1871  and  1872,  page  259.) 

5.  Commutation  of  rations  from  the  appropriation  for  Army  subsistence. 

Three  circumstances  have  conspired  to  keep  up  the  number  of  enlisted  clerks  to  so 
high  a  figure : 

1.  The  muster-rolls  of  the  Regular  and  Volunteer  Army  have  become  so  much  mu- 
tilated by  constant  reference,  opening,  and  folding  them  to  procure  information  for 
settlement  of  great  numbers  of  claims  for  pensions,  back-pay,  bounty,  &.c.,  as  to  make 
the  dinger  imminent  of  losing  the  record  from  them  entirely.  To  obviate  this  the  Sec- 
retary of  War  approved  the  Adjutant-General's  recommendation  t-o  employ  twenty-two 
enlisted  clerks  in  copying  each  muster-roll  in  books  made  for  the  purpose.  The  rolls 
thus  copied  are  of  much  easier  reference,  and,  in  case  of  supposed  error,  the  original 
rolls  remain  to  decide  the  question. 

2.  A  large  brick  warehouse  is  filled  with  reeords  collected  from  posts,  corps,  regi- 
ments, &c.,  after  disbandment.  ('*  Discontinued  commands.")  These  records  were  re- 
ceived in  boxes,  aud  required  to  be  assorted  and  indexed,  that  their  presence  and  im- 
port may  be  known.  They  are  of  great  value ;  sometimes  defeating  fraudulent  claims 
against  the  Governmout  to  the  amouut  of  thousands  of  dollars.  Fifteen  enlisted  men 
are  employed  in  this  work. 

3.  The  act  approved  February  14, 1871,  granting  pensions  to  soldiers  of  the  war  of 
1812,  required  the  services  of  nineteen  clerks  to  prepare  the  old  records  relating  to  that 
subject,  which  had  loug  been  unused,  for  ready  reference. 

With  regard  to  the  apparently  large  number  of  enlisted  men  employed  as  messen- 
gers and  watchmen,  it  is  due  mainly  to  the  fact  that  the  104  rooms  occupied  by  the 
Adjutant-General  are  distributed  in  twelve  bnildiugs.  All  these,  except  the  War  De- 
partment building.  Winder's  building,  and  a  brick  warehouse  40  by  80  feet,  containing 
four  floors,  are  tenement-houses  in  the  neighborhood,  wholly  inappropriate  for  the  pur- 
pose, reouirin^  constant  vigilance  to  guard  against  fire  and  pillage,  and  prevent  irre- 
parable loss  ot  records  representing  millions  of  dollars.  The  use  of  messengers  saves 
the  more  valuable  time  ot  elerks,  and  payment  of  rates  higher  than  those  usual  among 
laborers  tends  to  secure  honest  and  faithful  service. 

The  following  table  shows  the  classification  of  the  enlisted  men : 


Ifo. 


107 
44 


Bank. 


Servants  . 
IMvates... 

...do 

...do 


Oocnpation. 


Clerks 

...  do 

Mrmcnj^ers . 
Wtttchoieu . . 


lUtoof  paj 
aod  allow* 
aoces  per 
aonam. 


11,057 

1,000 

894 

894 


903    l^otalin AtUutaat-aeueral'a Oilioo. 


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REDUCTION   OF   THE    MILITARY    ESTABLISHMENT.  49 

In  view  of  the  manifest  injnstice  worker)  by  the  difference  in  compensation  between 
the  enlisted  and  civilian  clerks — all  performing  the  very  same  kind  of  dnty — the  fol- 
lowing re-organization  of  the  clerks  of  the  Adjatant-General's  Office  is  recommended : 

1  chief  clerk ,  $2,200 

15  clerks  class  five 2,000 

20  clerks  class  four 1,800 

60  clerks  class  three 1,600 

66  clerks  class  two 1,400 

no  clerks  class  one 1, 200 

12  messengers 840 

Total  clerks,  272. 

Provided^  That  clerks  now  employed  in  the  Adjatant-GeneraVs  Office,  who  have  given 
satisfactory  proof  of  fitness,  shall  be  appointed  to  the  clerkships  above  specified ;  and 
that  after  the  first  arrangement  of  snch  appointments  the  rnles  of  the  civil  service 
shall  be  applicable  to  the  said  clerkships:  And  provided  further,  That  the  Secretary  of 
War  shall  reduce  the  number  of  said  clerkships  whenever,  in  his  judgment,  it  can  be 
done  without  injury  to  the  public  service. 

The  following  exhibits  show  the  number  of  buildings  and  rooms  occupied  for  the 
work  of  the  Adjutant-General's  Office;  the  total  number  of  clerks  and  employ^ 
en^ged,  and  the  record  of  work  done  from  January  1  to  December  31, 1872.  But 
an  indistinct  idea  can  be  formed  from  these  figures  of  the  labor  actually  performed, 
because  very  much  isdoneiuthegivingof  information  verbally,  in  investigations,  &c., 
which  cannot  be  expressed  by  figures  : 

Number  of  buildings 12 

rrKinis 104 

clerks 272 

messengers,  &c 70 

Sammarjf  of  tcork  done  in  the  office  of  the  Adjatant-General,  United  States  Army^from  Jan^ 

uary  1  to  December  31,  1872. 

Number  of  letters  received,  briefed,  and  recorded 336,541 

letters  sent,  recorded  in  letter-books 110,590 

indorsements  made  and  recorded 63,955 

analytical  briefs  made 10, 183 

Special  Orders  issued 350 

thirty -four  paragraphs  of  each 11,900 

copies  and  extracts  made..... 12,295 

address  written  in  distribution 96,600 

number  of  names  and  subjects  indexed 11,926 

fifteen  volumes,  from  1861  t-o  1871,  indexed,  revised,  and  entered 

in  permanent  recohls.    (Number  of  names.) 12, 880 

General  Orders  issued Ill 

General  Court-Martial  Orders  issued 46 

five  thousand  five  hundred  copies  of  each  of  the 

above  distributed 863,500 

General  Orden  fVom  military  divisions  and  departments  received,  noted,  and 

filed a'^O 

Special  Orders  from  Military  Divisions  and  Departments  received,  noted,  aud 

filed 2,660 

number  of  copies,  extracts,  &c.,  made 2, 446 

number  of  office  notations,  entries,  &c 15, 587 

Circulars  issued  and  distributed 17,055 

RECRUITING. 

Accounts  and  vouchers  of  recrniting-officera  examined  and  acted  upon 18, 905 

Kulistment  papers  received  and  filed 12, 391 

Tri-monthly  reports  examined,  recorded,  indexed,  and  filed 2, 010 

Contracts  examined  and  recorde<l 150 

Certificates  of  disability  of  rejected  recruits  recorded  aud  acted  on 141 

Weekly  consolidated  statement  of  recruiting  fuuds  sent  United  States  Treas- 
urer   48 

Muster-rolls  of  recruits,  recruiting  and  property  returns  received,  examined, 

recorded,  and  acted  upon 1, 284 

Entries  in  station-book  of  officers 380 

Tri-monthly  statements  of  the  organization  of  the  Army 36 

4  HE 


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REDUCTION   OF   THE    MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT. 


Tri-moD  thly  statementfi  of  the  enlistments  in  the  Army 35 

Certificates  of  discharyire  furnished 4 79^ 

Number  of  copies  of  official  papers  famished  for  infonuation  of  the  varions 
branches  01  the  Governmeut  in  settlement  of  claims,  removing  disabili- 
ties, &o  6,283 

Number  of  cases  where  the  records  have  been  examined  for  information  re- 
qaired  by  the  Paymaster-General,  the  Auditors  of  the  Treasury  Department, 

Fension-Office,  Surgeon -General,  et  al 80,4P*2 

Number  of  special  inquiries  answered 52, 559 

Number  of  post  and  regimental  returns  regiutered,  examined,  and  filed 4, 462 

Number  of  muster-in,  recruiting,  and  muster-out  rolls  entered  in  register 4, 91;^ 

Number  of  names  of  commissioned  officers  and  enlisted  men  eutered  in  reg- 
ister    115,33^ 

Number  of  office-musters  made 557 

Number  of  military  histories  of  officers  furnished 07 

Number  of  miscellaneous  cases  received  and  acted  upon  pertaining  to  the  gen- 
eral record  of  au  enlisted  mau,  from  his  enlistment  to  death  or  discharge. . .  139, 675 
Number  of  claims  of  various  descriptions  received,  examined,  and  acted  upon.     29, 003 
Number  of  misoellaueous  communications  not  enumerated  above,  such  as 
bounty-certificates,  vouchers,  memoranda,  between  this  office  and  the  dififer- 

ent  reviewing  offices  of  the  Treasury  Department 150, 000 

Amount  disburaed  in  collecting,  drilling,  and  organizing  volunteer  branch.  $414, 729  5d 

Number  of  letters  of  promotion  and  appointment  to  commissioned  officers 175 

Number  of  nominations  of  commissioned  officers 330 

Number  of  parchment  commissions  made  and  sent 314 

Number  of  letters  of  appointment  of  post-traders,  hospital-stewards,  and  su- 
perintendents of  national  cemeteries 328 

Army  Register  for  1873  prepared,  and  2,000  copies  distributed 1  of  217  pages. 

Four  Greneral  Orders  announcing  promotions 28  pages. 

*  RECORDS  OF  WAR  1812-14. 

Number  of  names  copied 523,039 

Number  of  cases  acted  on  for  pension 1,749 

Miscellaneous  work,  assorting,  ^c 870,440 

Number  of  official  letters  franked  by  chief  clerk 70, 814 

Adjutant-General^s  Office,  January  16, 1873. 


EXHIBIT. 

Estimated  yearly  cast  of  one  regiment  of  each  arm  of  the  «ertnc€,  showing  what  would  he  sartd 

by  abolishing  the  same. 


Name  of  iiervioe. 


Cavalry 

Artillery 

Inlkntry 

Total  cofit  to  each  staff 
department 


Expenditarofl  by  each  of  the  several  staff  departments. 


Quartermas- 
ter's. 


•473,500  00 
187,000  00 
180,270  00 


Subsistence.     Medical, 


$81,843  90 
61,028  00 

48,  581  50 


16,399  36 
4, 944  96 

3, 878  40 


840,770  00    191,453  40   15,233  78 


Pay. 


•243,993  00 
317, 560  00 
158. 130  00 


619, 673  00 


Ordnance. 


136,468  00 
19. 719  50 
6,398  00 


68,479  50 


Aggregate  cost  of  the  three  regiments 1,789,597  63 


Total  eoft 
of  each 
regiment 


t8«,aD3  96 
490,833  46 
397, 141  90 


REMARKS. 

The  present  organization  of  the  different  arms  of  the  service  is  as  follows : 

OflBcers.  Enlisted  men. 

Cavalry 43  1,013 

Artillery 56  760 

Infantry 35  605 


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REDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY    ESTABLISHMENT. 


51 


The  Ninth  and  Tenth  Regiments  of  Cavalry  and  the  Twenty-fonrth  and  Twenty- 
fifth  Regiments  of  Infantry  have  each  one  more  officer  (a  regimental  chaplain)  than, 
the  other  regiments. 

Each  regiment  of  cavalry  and  artillery  has  12  companies.  Each  regiment  of  infantry 
has  10  companies. 

Quartermaster's  Department. — The  ez-penses  as  follows,  viz :  "  Hire  of  civilians,  trans- 
portation of  miscellaneous  articles,  apprehension  of  deserters,  and  other  incidental  ex- 
penses, are  not  included  in  the  figures  given  in  the  first  column. 

Subsistence  Department. — It  costs  the  Government  at  present  22  cents  per  day  for  snl>^ 
aistence  of  one  man. 

Me^al  Department — The  amount  which  would  be  saved  by  the  discharge  of  a  regi- 
ment would  be  somewhat  less  than  the  amount  stated,  (see  third  column,)  provided 
that  the  number  of  posts  be  reduced  to  correspond.  If  the  number  of  posts  be  not  so 
reduced,  the  saving  would  be  much  diminished. 

Pay  Department^The  average  amount  paid  to  each  regiment  in  the  service  for  cloth- 
ing not  dxawn  during  the  fisciu  year,  is  $9,720.61. 

Ordnance  Department. — The  amount  pertaining  to  artillery  in  the  fifth  column  is  in 
accordance  with  the  present  organization  of  an  artillery  regiment,  i.  e.,  eleven  foot- 
companies  and  a  battery.  Were  a  regiment  of  artillery  armed  altogether  as  infantry, 
the  cost  of  the  same  would  be  $7,900.00. 

E.  D.  TOWXSEND, 

AdJutant'Oeneral. 

War  Department, 

Adjutant  GnwraVs  Ofice^  JVttshingion,  January  9,  1874. 


Statement  showing  the  number  of  civil  employis  in  the  office  of  the  Adjutant- General,  with 
the  several  occupations  in  lohich  they  are  engaged^  and  their  total  monthly  pay. 


Ko. 


Capacity. 


Class. 


Total 
monthly  pay. 


Monthly  pay 
of  each. 


Remarks. 


Clerk Chief. 

Clerks Four . . 

...do Three. 

Two..' 
One... 


do 

do 

Messengers 

Assistant  messenger. 
Fireman 


Total. 


Clerks Three. 

do Two.. 


12    ....do. 


One. 


Total. 


1166  66} 

900  00 

1,600  DO 

6.300  00 

4,000  00 

140  00 

60  00 

60  00 


13.226  66i 


400  00 
1,050  00 
1,200  00 


3,650  00 


1166  66} 
150  00 
133  33i^ 
116  66} 
100  00 
70  00 
60  00 
60  00 


133  33i 
116  66} 
100  00 


Regular  clerk. 
Regular  clerks. 

Bo. 

Do. 

Do. 


Temporary  clerk. 
Temporary  clerks. 
Do. 


Adjutaxt  General's  Office, 

Washington,  January  8,  1864. 


Statement  showing  the  number  of  enlisted  men  employed  upon  extra  duty  in  the  office  of  the 
Adjutant-Creaeraly  with  the  several  occupations  in  which  they  are  employed,  and  their  total 
monthly  pay. 


Na 


Rank. 


Capacity. 


Total 
monthly  pay. 


Monthly  pay 
of  each. 


30     Sergeants., 

1.16  ,  Privates.. 

70   ....do 


Clerks 

...do 

Messengers  and  watchmen . 


Total. 


13.790  00 
12.104  00 
5,430  00 


193  00 
89  00 
79  00 


20,334  00 


Adjvtakt-Genbral's  Office, 

^  Wathington,  January  8, 1874. 


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52  REDUCTION   OF   THE    MILITARY   ESTABLIdUMENT. 

List  of  casHalities  tchich  have  occurred  in  the  staff  of  the  Army  during  the  past  ffear. 


BUREAU   OF  MILITARY  JUSTICE. 


M^or  De  Witt  Clinton,  Judj^e  advocate,  died  August  14,  1873.    (This  vacancy  has 
been  tilled,  this  Bureau  not  being  included  in  the  prohibition.) 


MEDICAL  DEPARTMENT. 


8urg.  Madison  Mills,  died  April  28,  1873. 

Asst.  Surg.  Morris  J.  Asch,  resigned  March  31,  1873. 

Asst.  Surg.  Charles  K.  VVinne,  resigned  October  15,  1873. 

Asst.  Surg.  Thomas  McMillin,  died  April  6,  1873. 

Asst.  Surg.  Charles  Mackin,  jr.,  resigned  April  29,  1873. 

PAY  DEPARTMENT. 

Lieut.  Col.  Carry  H.  Fry,  Deputy  Paymaster-General,  died  March  5,  1873. 

Maj.  Robert  A.  Kinzie,  paymaster,  died  December  13, 1873. 

Maj.  David  Taggart,  paymaster,  resigned  September  11,  1873. 

Maj.  Edward  VVright,  paymaster,  resigned  October  1,  ld73. 

M^j.  George  P.  Ihrie,  paymaster,  resigned  July  1,  1873. 

M%j.  John  S.  Walker,  paymaster,  lost  at  sea,  January  27, 1873. 

Robert  Morrow,  paymaster,  died  November  27,  1873. 

CORPS  OF  ENGINEERS. 

First  Lient.  Eugene  A.  Woodruff,  died  September  30, 1873. 
Second  Lieut.  Edward  S.  Holden,  resigned  March  28, 1873. 

ORDNANCE  DEPARTMENT. 

Mai.  Horace  Porter,  resigned  December  31, 1873. 
First  Lieut.  William  S.  Beebe,  resigned  January  1, 1874. 
First  Lieut.  Isaac  W.  Maclay,  resigned  November  15,  1873. 
Second  Lieut.  William  P.  Butler,  resigned  July  12, 1873. 


Corps. 


Barean  of  Hllftary  Justice  . 

Medical  Department 

Fay  De|>artroent 

Uorps  of  Engineers 

Ordnance  Department 


Aggregate. 


Resijmed 

and 
retired. 


Died.     Total 


E.  D.  TOWNSEND. 

Adjutant-General 
Adjutant-Generai/s  Office,  January  2,  1874. 


Washington,  D.  C,  Friday,  January  9, 1874. 

G^n.  W.  W.  Belknap,  Secretary  of  War,  appeared  before  the  com- 
mittee in  response  to  its  invitation. 

The  Chairman.  The  proposition  before  the  committee  is  one  looking 
to  the  reduction  of  the  numbers  of  the  Army.  Will  you  state  your 
opinion,  in  brief,  as  well  as  the  facts  on  which  it  is  based,  gfoing  to  show 
whether  or  not  the  Army  can  be  or  ought  to  be  reduced  with  advantage 
at  the  present  time. 


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REDUCTION    OF   THE   MILITARY    ESTABLISHMENT.  53 

Secretary  Belknap.  In  my  opinion,  it  would  not  be  advisable  to  reduce 
the  Army  at  the  present  time.  The  Army  now  consists  often  regiments 
of  cavalry,  five  of  artillery,  and  twenty-five  of  infantry,  two  regiments 
of  the  cavalry  and  two  of  the  infantry  being  colored.  They  are  dis- 
tributed at  the  various  posts  throughout  the  country  in  as  limited  num- 
bers as  the  great  number  of  posts  and  the  small  number  of  troops  in 
the  service  compel  them  to  be.  During  the  last  spring,  in  company  with 
the  Lieutenant-General  of  the  Army,  I  visited  personally  and  made  an 
inspection  of  a  large  number  of  posts  on  the  Texas  frontier.  After 
entering  Texas,  starting  at  San  Antonio,  I  went  west  to  Fort  Clark; 
thence  to  Fort  Duncan,  known  as  Eagle  Pass,  on  the  Eio  Grande ; 
thence  to  Fort  Mackintosh ;  thence  to  Ringgold  Barracks;  thence  to  Fort 
Brown ;  thence  to  the  mouth  of  the  river,  and  over  to  New  Orleans.  The 
garri.sons  there  are  not  large,  but  the  complaints  of  the  settlers  in  Texas 
were  very  numerous  relative  to  the  depredations  of  the  Indians^  both 
the  Texas  Indians  and  also  at  that  time  Indians  from  the  bands  which 
were  located  in  Mexico.  The  garrisons  are  small,  and  I  .am  satisfied^ 
from  what  I  saw,  that  the  withdraw^al  of  troops  in  those  parts  would 
not  only  result  in  the  virtual  abandonment  and  destruction  of  a  large 
and  valuable  amount  of  property,  (I  mean  buildings,  &c.,  that  have 
accumulated  there,)  but  w^ould  also  endanger  the  safety  and  security  of 
the  people  of  that  part  of  the  country. 

As  to  other  localities  on  the  frontier  I  cannot  give  answer  from  my 
personal  knowledge  or  my  personal  visits  to  them,  for  the  reason  that 
that  is  the  only  portiou  of  the  frontier  which  I  have  visited.  But  from 
my  general  knowledge  of  Indian  troubles  constantly  arising,  and  of 
the  applications  which  are  made  from  time  to  time  by  the  Indian  Depart- 
ment to  the  War  Department,  I  am  satisfied  that  at  present,  as  far  as 
the  west  frontier  is  concerned,  and  especially  where  Indians  are  located, 
it  would  not  be  advisable  to  reduce  the  force  stationed  in  those  portions 
of  the  country. 

The  CHAiRkAN.  Taking  a  general  view  of  the  Texan  frontier,  from 
the  Indian  Territory  to  the  liio  Grande,  could  you  with  safety  reduce 
the  force  at  any  point  ? 

Secretary  Belknap.  I  do  not  think  it  could  be  done  with  safety. 
There  is  a  large  force  at  Fort  Bichardson,  and  it  has  been  proposed  to 
change  that  post  and  locate  the  men  elsewhere.  But  that  is  a  large 
post  simply  for  the  reason  that  scouts  are  sent  from  that  post  through 
the  country  when  ludi.'.n  depredations  are  feared.  The  garrisons  of 
the  other  posts  are  small. 

The  CHATB3LA.N.  Fort  Sill  is  quite  an  important  post,  is  it  not  I 

Secretary  Belknap.  Fort  Sill  is  understood  to  be  an  important  post. 

The  Chaibman.  Is  not  Fort  Sill  rather  inside  the  Indian  country  than 
on  the  frontier  ? 

Secretary  Belknap.  That  is  my  understanding  of  it. 

The  Chairman.  If  the  troops  there  were  moved  down  to  the  frontier, 
could  not  the  other  be  dispensed  with  f 

Secretary  Belknap.  I  am  satisfied  that  a  better  post  than  Fort  Rich- 
ardson can  be  obtained,  and  probably  if  another  post  were  established 
it  might  be  better  than  Fort  Sill,  but  the  establishment  of  new  posts  is 
a  very  exi>ensive  operation ;  so  expensive  that  Congress,  by  an  act 
passed  a  ye^ir  or  two  ago,  prohibited  the  building  of  new  posts  that 
would  amount  in  expense  to  more  than  $20,000.  The  amount  at  first 
was  limited  to  $10,000,  but  at  my  earnest  solicitation,  and  that  of  others 
in  the  Department,  the  amount  was  increased  to  $20,000,  which  is  but  a 
drop  in  the  bucket  in  the  cost  of  establishing  a  new  post. 


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54  REDUCTION   OF   THE    MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT. 

Takiug  the  other  posts  in  the  whole  region  west  of  the  Missouri  River, 
I  have  looked  over  the  list  as  carefully  as  I  could  since  I  was  here  the 
other  day,  and  I  am  at  a  loss  to  see,  with  my  knowledge,  (which,  ot 
■coarse,  is  simply  obtained  from  the  investigation  of  the  reports,  and  hot 
from  personal  examination,)  how  the  force  can  well  be  reduced.  As  far 
as  the  location  of  troops  is  concerned,  I  have  great  confidence  in  the 
opinion  of  the  General  of  the  Army  and  in  the  LieutenautGeneral,  Gen- 
eral Sheridan,  who  commands  the  Military  Division  of  the  Missouri.  I 
■consider  General  Sheridan  a  very  painstaking  and  economical  officer. 

The  Chairman.  Is  there  any  apprehension  of  danger  from  Indian 
hostilities  in  New  Mexico? 

Secretary  Belknap.  None  that  I  am  aware  of  at  present. 

The  Chairman.  What  is  the  condition  of  Indian  affairs  in  Arizona ! 

Secretary  Belknap.  By  the  able  management  of  General  Crook,  who 
was  put  in  command  there  about  two  years  ago,  the  Apaches  have  been 
to  a  great  extent  subdued  and  taught  to  behave  themselves. 

The  CHAiiiMAN.  Have  you  any  estimate  a^  to  the  number  of  Apache 
warriors  that  are  there  now  ^ 

Secretary  Belknap.  The  committee  is  aware  that  Indian  matters  are 
under  the  control  of  the  Indian  Department.  I  personally  have  no 
knowledge  of  Indian  matters,  nor  can  I  have  excepting  from  the  com- 
munications made  to  me,  from  time  to  time,  in  connection  with  them,  by 
the  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  and  also  from  the  reports  of  military 
commanders.  There  is  occasionally  some  little  clashing  between  the 
several  officers  of  the  Indian  Department,  agents  and  others,  and  the 
officers  of  the  War  Department.  But  as  the  Secretary  of  War  has  no 
control  over  Indian  matters,  except  from  time  to  time  to  punish  the  In- 
dians when  we  are  called  upon  to  do  so,  I  admit  that  I  am  not  as  famil- 
iar with  Indian  matters  as  I  would  be  if  they  were  under  the  control  of 
the  War  Department. 

The  Chairman.  Is  there  any  serious  appreheusion  of  Indian  difficul- 
ties in  California  or  any  region  west  of  the  Sierra  Nevada  Mountains ! 

Secretary  Belknap.*^  None  that  I  am  aware  of. 

The  Chairman.  The  reports  from  your  officers  would  indicate  to  you 
any  serious  trouble  ? 

Secretary  Belknap.  Yes.  My  candid  opinion  is  that  if  the  Tudian 
question  were  disposed  of,  as  it  will  be  in  a  few  years,  the  Army  then 
could  be  materialy  reduced.  But  I  hardly  think  the  time  has  come  for 
that. 

Mr.  GuNCKEL.  How  do  you  think  that  the  ludian  question  is  going 
to  be  disposed  of  in  a  few  years  ! 

Secretary  Belknap.  I  think  that  time,  and  the  settlement  of  the 
country,  aud  building  of  railroads  will  have  a  good  deal  to  do  with  that 
question.  The  building  of  the  Pacific  Railroad  has  had  a  good  deal  to 
do  with  it. 

The  Chairman.  Going  farther  over,  to  the  east  of  Washington  Terri- 
tory and  Oregon,  is  the  great  Sioux  Nation  ;  have  you  sufficient  data  to 
say  what  number  of  troops  would  be  necessary  to  guard  the  frontier  of 
the  Sioux  Nation  ? 

Secretary  Belknap.  I  have  not  them  with  me  now. 

The  Chairman.  Do  you  think  that  a  large  force  could  be  posted  in 
one  neighborhood  and  withdrawn  from  others,  which  would  better  secure 
the  peace  of  the  settlers  than  by  having  the  troops  distributed,  as  they 
are  now,  through  the  Southern  States  and  through  California  and 
Oregon  !  I  mean  whether  or  not  the  military  force  could  not  be  concen- 
trated in  the  neighborhood  of  the  Sioux  Nation,  and  also  in  the  neigh- 


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REDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT.  55 

borhood  of  these  Kiowas  and  Comanches,  and  removed  from  other 
places ;  or  whether  it  is  necessary  to  keep  the  Army  scattered  along  the 
lake  frontier  to  the  northern  frontier  and  the  Pacific  coast  to  the 
Southern  States. 

Secretary  Belknap.  Of  course  a  large  force  in  a  region  where  hos- 
tility may  be  apprehended  would  be  more  useful,  but  it  is  a  question,  I 
think,  whether  other  posts  which  are  now  occupied  by  troops  can  be 
abandoned.  Many  of  those  posts  have  public  property,  buildings,  &c., 
which  need  protection,  and  at  many  of  them  the  force  is  small. 

The  Chairman.  In  your  judgment,  is  the  force  that  is  posted  in  the 
neighborhood  of  these  dangerous  Indians  sufficient  at  present  f 

^retary  Belknap.  It  is  sufficient  unless  there  should  be  an  out- 
break. 

The  Chairman.  You  think  that  it  is  sufficient  for  all  ordinary  pur- 
poses! 

Secretary  Belknap.  That  is  my  judgment,  unless  an  outbreak  should 
occur.    Of  course  that  contingency  would  have  to  be  provided  for. 

The  Chairman.  Do  you  think  there  is  any  military  necessity  for 
keeping  troops  stationed  in  the  northern  part  of  Minnesota,  say  from 
Lake  Superior  across  to  the  Missouri  Eiver,  and  along  the  Northern 
Pacific  Railroad  east  of  the  Missouri  River ! 

Secretary  Belknap.  There  is  no  immediate  military  necessity.  Posts 
have  been  established  there  from  time  to  time. 

The  Chairman.  Are  those  fortifications  out  there  of  sufficient  value 
that  they  should  be  guarded  and  preserved  like  these  eastern  forts  f 

Secretary  Belknap.  They  are  not  so  valuable,  but  I  suppose  it  would 
be  necessary  to  ke^p  a  small  force  on  that  frontier.  It  is  not  a  very 
large  one. 

The  Chairman.  What  is  the  military  necessity  of  keeping  troops 
stationed  along  the  line  of  the  lakes  ? 

Secretary  Belknap.  There  is  no  immediate  military  necessity  for  it 
at  the  present  moment.  The  First  Infantry  is  stationed  on  the  northern 
lakes,  stretched  out,  a  few  troops  at  one  point  and  a  few  troops  at 
another,  like  Fort  Wayne,  for  instance,  near  Detroit.  If  that  regiment  . 
were  withdrawn,  and  a  few  men  left  there  to  take  care  of  the  public 
property,  no  great  damage  would  ensue,  of  course,  at  present. 

Mr.  Hawley,  of  Connecticut.  There  are  certain  uses  for  a  force  along 
that  frontier.  If  you  take  the  troops  away  is  it  not  possible  that  some 
little  Fenian  raid  or  some  little  riot  with  custom-house  officers  might 
occur f 

Secretary  Belknap.  If  anything  of  that  sort  should  occur  troops 
would  have  to  be  sent  there,  should  the  present  force  be  removed. 

Mr.  HAWLEY,  of  Connecticut.  Should  there  not  properly  be  a  police 
force  on  the  boundary  between  two  nations  ! 

Secretary  Belknap.  Yes;  there  should  be  a  small  force  on  the 
boundary,  and  there  is  a  very  small  force  there  now.  It  is  the  line  be- 
tween this  country  and  the  possessions  of  Great  Britain. 

The  Chairman.  What,  if  any,  is  the  military  necessity  of  keeping 
troops  in  the  South — ^in  any  part  of  the  States  recently  in  rebellion  ? 

Secretary  Belknap.  Troops  have  been  gradually  withdrawn  from 
the  South,  and  I  am  very  much  in  favor  of  withdrawing  the  remaining 
l>ortion  as  rapidly  as  possible.  In  my  judgment  there  is  no  great  neces- 
sity for  keeping  the  troops  stationed  there  much  longer.  It  is  possible 
that  in  some  localities  their  retention  may  be  necessary  for  a  while  in 
the  opinion  of  some  gentlemen  who  reside  in  that  part  of  the  country, 
and  who  occasionally  remonstrate  against  their  removal ;  but  my  candid 


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56  REDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT. 

opinion  is  that  it  is  quite  time  to  withdraw  the  troops  from  there,  and 
they  can  be  made  ase  of  elsewhere. 

Mr.  GuNCKEL.  How  many  troops  are  there  in  the  South,  and  how 
many  outside  of  Louisiana! 

Secretary  Belknap.  There  are  altogether  in  the  Military  Division 
of  the  South  (which  does  not  include  Texas)  255  officers  and  2,981 
enlisted  men,  of  which  number  39  officers  and  540  enlisted  men  are 
stationed  in  Louisiana. 

The  Chairman.  If  the  Army  is  to  be  reduced,  state  whether  or  not 
you  would  reduce  the  number  of  organizations  or  merely  the  number  of 
men. 

Secretary  Belknap.  If  I  were  going  into  a  reduction  of  the  Army,  if 
I  thought  that  that  would  be  proper,  I  would  reduce  the  number  of 
officers  as  well  as  the  number  of  men. 

Mr.  Hunton.  Are  not  the  companies  as  small  now  as  they  can  prop- 
erly be! 

Secretary  Belknap.  They  are  very  small,  but  the  number  of  men 
can  be  reduced  by  consolidating  some  regiments,  and  that  would  neces- 
sarily involve  the  mustering  out  of  some  officers. 

Mr.  HuNTON.  Have  you  seen  General  Sherman's  testimony  f 

Secretary  Belknap.  No,  sir ;  I  was  here  the  first  day  and  heard  liis 
description  of  the  location  of  the  troops.  He  went  into  that  very  fully 
and  clearly,  and,  from  his  familiarity  with  the  disposition  of  the  troops, 
more  clearly  than  I  or  any  one  else  could  have  done. 

Mr.  Thobnbuegh.  If  a  reduction  of  the  Army  be  determined  upon 
can  the  Government  better  spare  artillery,  cavalry,  infantry,  or  stafif  f 
Which  branch  of  the  service  can  be  done  without  more  easily  f 

Secretary  Belknap.  I  think  the  cavalry  can  be  spared  the  least. 
There  are  twenty-five  regiments  of  infantry,  and  there  might  be  a  con- 
solidation made.  There  are  five  regiments  of  artillery ;  there  might  be 
a  consolidation  made  there ;  but,  in  my  judgment,  if  it  comes  to  the  point 
of  a  reduction  of  the  Army,  it  ought  to  be  a  reduction  of  officers  as  well 
as  of  men. 

Mr.  Thoenburgh.  If  we  make  fewer  regiments  in  the  different 
branches  of  the  service,  what  branch  can  stand  the  reduction  best  I 

Secretary  Belknap.  I  think  that  the  infantry  and  artillery  can  stand 
a  reduction  better  than  the  cavalry. 

Mr.  Thoenburgh.  The  necessities  of  the  Government  require  the 
cavalry,  and  you  think  that  the  artillery  and  the  infantry  can  be  better 
spared  than  the  cavalry  f 

Secretary  Belknap.  Yes,  sir. 

Mr.  DoNNAN.  Is  it  advisable,  or  the  contrary,  to  consolidate  any  regi- 
ments, either  of  artillery,  or  cavalry,  or  infantry  f 

Secretary  Belknap.  I  have  said  that  I  do  not  think  it  advisable  to 
reduce  any. 

The  Chairman.  State  whether  or  not  you  have  formed  an  opinion  in 
relation  to  the  disposal  and  control  of  Indian  affairs ;  if  so,  do  you  think, 
or  do  you  not  think,  that  the  Indian  affairs  can  be  controlled  better  by 
the  War  Department  than  the  Indian  Department!  and  give  your 
reasons. 

Secretary  Belknap.  That  is  an  embarrassing  question  for  me  to 
answer. 

The  Chairman.  If  you  have  made  up  your  mind  about  it,  and  feel 
free  to  answer  the  question,  I  wish  you  would  do  so. 

Secretary  Belknap.  Without  calling  in  question  the  management  of 
the  Indians  by  the  Department  which  at  present  has  charge  of  them, 


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REDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT.  57 

my  opiuion  has  been  for  some  time  that  the  results,  perhaps,  would  be 
more  beneficial  if  the  War  Department  had  control  of  them. 

The  Chairman.  Could  that  be  done  without  an  increase  of  the  Army  f 

Secretary  Belknap.  I  think  so.  I  do  not  covet  any  such  duty,  so 
far  as  I  am  concerned,  but  that  is  my  judgment.  Of  course  I  answer 
that  question  with  a  little  embarrassment. 

Mr.  Hawley,  of  Connecticut  Do  you  think  that  there  could  be 
greater  economy  in  the  management  of  the  Indian  question  through  the 
Army! 

Secretary  Belknap.  That  is  a  hard  question  for  me  to  answer,  for  I 
am  not  familiar  enough  with  the  expenses  of  the  Indian  Department. 

Mr.  Hawley,  of  Connecticut.  Do  you  think  that  the  treaties  with 
the, Indians  would  be  more  faithfully  carried  out  on  behalf  of  the  Gov- 
enrment,  and  supplies  more  certainly  and  honestly  delivered  to  the 
Indians,  through  the  War  Department  f 

Secretary  Belknap.  I  think  that  the  supplies  could  be  as  honestly 
delivered  through  the  War  Department,  and  through  the  officers  con- 
nected with  it,  as  by  any  organization  to  which  the  duty  could  be  as- 
signed. 

Mr.  Hawley,  of  Connecticut.  Food  in  large  and  increasing  quantities 
has  to  be  delivered  to  the  Indians.  Has  not  the  Government  already, 
through  the  Commissary  andQuartermaster'sDepartmentsof  the  Army, 
the  best  machinery  that  we  have  ever  been  able  to  devise  for  purchas- 
ing and  delivering  food  ? 

Secretary  Belknap.  That  is  so  in  my  judgment,  and  the  Commissary 
Department  has  over  and  over  again  been  obliged  to  furnish  supplies 
for  the  Indians. 

Mr.  Hawley,  of  Connecticut.  But  it  is  not  done  habitually  ! 

Secretary  Belknap,  i^o,  sir;  occasionally,  in  a  region  where  the 
Indian  Department  has  no  facilities,  the  Commissary-General  is  di- 
rected to  assist  the  Indian  Department. 

Mr.  Hawley,  of  Connecticut.  Do  you  ever  have  reports  from  officers, 
whose  duties  bring  them  in  constant  watch  of  the  Indians,  of  dishon- 
esty in  the  performance  of  contracts  ! 

Secretary  Belknap.  Such  reports  have  been  made  to  the  War  De- 
partment. 

Mr.  Hawley,  of  Connecticut.  Do  your  officers  consider  it  a  part  of 
their  duty  to  watch  such  things  and  to  report  them,  or  does  it  only  come 
in  incidentally  f 

Secretary  Belknap.  It  only  comes  in  incidentally.  The  Interior  De- 
partment having  charge  of  the  Indians — it  is  useless  for  me  to  disguise 
the  fact — many  Army  officers  hesitate  about  questioning  the  conduct  of 
the  Indian  agents  or  their  management  of  affairs. 

Mr.  Hawley,  of  Connecticut.  There  seems  to  be  some  misapprehen- 
sion as  to  the  control  which  line-officers  have  over  the  staff',  particularly 
in  the  expenditures  of  the  Quartermaster's  Department.  Please  explain 
to  the  committee  how  expenditures  are  required  and  ordered  for  dis- 
tant barracks,  forts,  &c. 

Secretary  Belknap.  I  am  very  glad  to  have  an  opportunity  to  answer 
that  question.  When  a  post  commander  makes  a  recommendation  for 
the  building  of  quarters  or  for  the  repair  of  quarters,  that  application 
comes  up  through  the  different  headquarters,  beginning  with  the  post 
headquarters,  to  the  department  commander.  I  scarcely  know  of  an 
instance  since  I  have  been  Secretary  of  War,  that  the  department  com- 
mander and  the  division  commander  have  not  each  had  an  opportunity  to 
say  what  he  desires  to  say  relative  to  the  improvement  or  building  sug- 


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58  REDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT. 

gested.  Two  years  ago  I  had  made  up  for  the  appropriation  committee 
of  the  House,  on  my  own  motion,  without  suggestion  from  that  com- 
mittee, a  statement  extending  from  July,  1870,  to  December,  1871,  of 
buildings,  repairs,  improving  of  barracks  and  quarters ;  showing  the 
date,  the  post,  the  estimated  cost,  by  whom  recommended,  and  the 
amount  recommended,  and  the  amount  granted  by  the  Secretary  of 
War.  I  did  this  to  show  the  amount  recommended  by  the  division 
and  department  commanders,  and  the  great  reduction  which  had  been 
made  by  the  Secretary  of  War.  An  examination  of  this  list  [handing 
it  to  the  committee]  will  show  that  in  nearly  every  one  of  these  in- 
stances the  department  and  the  division  commander  made  the  recom- 
mendation. The  amount  asked  for  within  these  eighteen  mouths  was 
$2,000,000  in  round  numbers.  The  amount  allowed  by  the  Secretary 
of  War,  in  round  numbers,  was  $1,000,000,  a  saving  of  $1,000,000. 
Further,  in  relation  to  this  matter,  I  have  brought  with  me  specimen 
papers,  taken  at  random,  and  which  I  have  not  looked  into,  which  will 
show  the  manner  in  which  these  recommendations  were  made.  [Exhibit- 
ing and  explaining  them  to  the  committee.] 

Sir.  Albright.  Do  these  reports  and  recommendations  of  the  divis- 
ion and  department  commanders  come  to  the  General  of  the  Army  and 
then  to  you  f 

Secretary  Belknap.  Yes. 

Mr.  Albright.  There  seems  to  have  been  some  little  misunderstand- 
ing or  misapprehension  about  this  matter. 

Secretary  Belknap.  Yes,  there  is  a  misapprehension,  and  that  is  just 
what  1  desire  to  correct.  Sometimes  General  Sherman  forwards  the 
paper;  sometimes  he  approves  it  and  sometimes  he  disapproves  it. 
That  is  the  case  with  every  expenditure  of  money  for  these  purposes 
authorized  by  the  Secretary  of  War,  except  it  is  some  very  small  mat- 
ter, where  red  tape  is  cut  by  sending  it  immediately  to  the  Secretary  of 
War. 

Mr.  Albight.  With  regard  to  this  engineer  battalion,  some  question 
has  been  raised  as  to  the  propriety  of  dispensing  with  its  service. 
Would  such  a  course  be  advisable  in  your  opinion  I 

Secretary  Belknap.  Two  years  ago  I  visited  Willet's Point  to  make 
a  personal  inspection  of  the  engineer  battalion,  and  from  personal  obser- 
vation made  at  that  time  I  consider  it  to  be  a  very  useful  body  of 
men.  I  confess  that  I  was  agreeably  disappointed.  I  went  there  ex- 
pecting to  continue  in  the  same  general  opinion  which  I  had  had  before, 
but  these  men  are  very  usefully  employed  there  in  preserving  and  tak- 
ing care  of  engineering  materials  and  in  being  instructed  in  pontooning 
and  the  manufacture  of  torpedoes,  which  is  taking  a  very  prominent 
part  in  engineering  matters.  It  is  a  battalion  established  by  law,  un- 
der articles  of  war,  as  the  other  portions  of  the  Army  are.  There  are 
354  men  in  the  battalion.  One  of  the  companies  is  at  West  Point,  and 
that  company  is  engaged  in  engineering  duties  there  in  connection  with 
instruction  of  the  corps  of  cadets,  and  is  very  useful  in  that  regard. 

Mr.  Albright.  That  battalion  of  engineers  is  directly  under  your 
control  f 

Secretary  Belknap.  It  is  under  the  direction  of  the  President,  and 
consequently  comes  under  the  control  of  the  Secretary  of  War;  that  is 
the  law. 

The  Chaibman.  In  view  of  the  possible  reduction  of  the  Army,  can 
the  number  of  clerks  and  other  civil  employes  and  enlisted  men  detailed 
for  extra  duties  in  the  War  Department  and  in  the  Quartermaster's  De- 
partment, and  in  all  of  these  great  departments,  be  diminished t 


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REDUCTION    OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT.  69 

Secretary  Belknap.  A  very  beneficial  change  can  be  made  in  the 
War  Department.  The  chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Expenditures  for 
the  War  Department,  Mr,  Williams,  of  Indiana,  has  prepared  a  bill, 
-^hich  I  have  seen,  which  reduces  the  clerical  force  in  the  War  Depart- 
ment some  two  hundred.  It  increases  the  pay  of  some  of  the  higher 
officers,  especially  the  chief  clerk,  whose  pay,  I  think,  should  be  increased, 
for  he  is  a  very  hard-working  officer.  But  it  reduces  the  number  of  em- 
ployes and  makes  a  very  material  reduction  of  expenditure.  I  am  sat- 
isfied that  if  that  bill,  or  a  similar  one,  should  pass,  the  work  "of  the  De- 
partment would  be  expedited  and  it  would  be  demonstrated  that  we 
have  too  many  emplo^^^s  there.  The  Adjutant-General's  Office  is  very 
hard  pushed,  and  though  Mr.  Williams's  bill  reduces  the  force  there 
somewhat,  yet  other  branches  of  the  Department  could  stand  it  much 
better  than  the  Adjutant-General's.  There  is  an  immense  amount  of 
work  growing  out  of  the  war  which  that  office  has  to  perform.  But  in 
regard  to  the  employes  generally  throughout  the  country,  of  the  War 
Department,  they  could  be  reduced. 

The  Chairman.  Have  you  any  calculations  or  estimates  going  to 
show  whether  the  number  of  employes  in  the  Quartermaster's  Depart- 
ment, some  6,000,  can  be  cut  down  f 

Secretary  Belknap.  They  can  be  cut  down  in  all  the  Departments, 
in  my  judgment.  I  have  cut  them  down  from  time  to  time.  I  have  a 
statement  here  showing  that  in  1870,  shortly  after  I  became  Secretary  of 
War,  I  reduced  the  number  of  animals,  horses  and  mules,  and  also  the 
number  of  employes,  very  materially.  I  have  done  it  a  second  time 
since,  and  I  have  taken  steps  to  do  it  a  third  time. 

Before  leaving  this  subject  of  expenditure  in  connection  with  public 
buildings,  I  would  like  to  say  that  from  time  to  time  I  have  issued  and 
enforced  orders  ^in  connection  with  reduction  of  expenditures  for  re- 
pairs of  buildings,  &c.,  copies  of  which  I  would  like  to  file  here  in  con- 
nection with  my  statement.  I  would  like  to  read  one  here,  in  order  to 
have  it  embodied  in  my  statement. 

circular. 

War  Department,  . 
Jrashington  City^  March  11,  1873. 
The  Socretary  of  War  has  obijerved  with  much  dissatUfactioa  the  larj^^e  ainoiiut<8 
asked  for  deticieucies  during  the  hist  Bejisioii  of  Cougretis  by  several  of  the  hureaas 
of  the  War  Department. 

When  Congress  gives  the  annual  appropriations  for  the  Department  it  is  the  obvious 
intent  of  that  body,  expressly  declared  in  the  seventh  section  of  the  act  of  July  1*2, 
1870,  that  no  more  money  than  that  appropriated  shall  be  spent,  or  that  the  Govern- 
ment shall  be  involved  in  any  contract  ^^for  the  future  payment  of  money  in  excess  of 
snch  appropriations."  It  is,  therefore,  a  palpable  violation  of  that  law  when  any  head 
of  bareau  does  involve  the  Government  in  the  manner  specified  in  that  law.  Every 
head  of  bureau  shall  take  care  to  so  distribute  and  economize  the  appropriations  in- 
trusted to  his  charge  that  the  Government  shall  not  be  so  involved.  The  expenditures 
must  be  kept  within  the  appropriations. 

WM.  W.  BELKNAP, 

Secretarjfof  War. 

One  word  more  with  reference  to  the  recommendations  of  depart- 
ment commanders  as  to  the  expenditure  of  money  on  barracks  and 
quarters.  While  the  commanders  of  departments  are  honest  men  (and 
I  believe  all  of  them  are)  and  reliable  men,  yet  some  of  them  desire  to 
have  under  their  control  amounts  of  money  so  that  they  themselves  can 
decide  as  to  what  particular  improvements  shall  be  made  in  buildings, 
without  reference  to  the  Secretary  of  War.  From  one  department  an 
application  has  come  once,  and  perhaps  oftener,  asking  that  a  certain 


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60  REDUCTION    OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT. 

amoant  of  money  be  given  to  that  department  for  use  there,  the  depart- 
ment commander  to  decide  what  amoant  shall  be  expended  in  this  im- 
provement and  what  amoant  in  that,  without  reference  to  the  Secretary 
of  War.  I  have  constantly  refased  them,  and  I  will  do  so.  I  desire  the 
advice  and  assistance  of  department  commanders.  I  always  have  it. 
Bat  experience  shows  that  if  the  recommendations  of  the  department 
commanders  were  taken,  without  any  revision  by  the  Secretary  of  War, 
the  appropriation  for  the  puri)08e  would  be  exhausted  very  rapidly.  Not 
that  they,  desire  to  waste  or  squander  money,  but  every  department 
commander  is  anxious  to  improve  his  own  particular  locality,  and  to 
make  the  troops  in  his  own  command  comfortable.  While  the  Secretary 
of  War  looks  over  the  whole  field  and  knows  that  qe  has  so  much  money 
to  expend,  and  has  to  keep  within  that  bound,  the  department  com- 
mander wants  as  much  fot  his  own  department  as  he  can  get. 

Mr.  GuNCKEL.  Would  not  that  same  principle  apply  to  the  different 
Departments  in  their  demands  upon  Congress,  and  does  not  each  head 
of  a  Department  want  as  much  as  he  can  get  for  his  own  Department, 
while  Congress  has  to  look  over  the  whole  field  f 

Secretary  Belknap.  I  have  never  objected,  since  I  have  had  charge 
of  the  Department,  to  a  revision  by  Congress.  1  think  that  the  mem- 
ber of  the  Appropriation  Committee  of  the  House  who  has  charge  of 
the  military  bill  will  say  that  I  have  shown  a  desire  to  cut  down 
wherever  1  could.  When  it  comes  to  a  question  of  pay  for  so  many 
men,  we  can  tell,  of  course,  how  much  money  it  will  take  to  pay  thirty 
thousand  men  at  a  fixed  rate,  and  how  much  money  it  will  take  to  buy 
the  subsistence  and  clothing  for  them.  These  are  matters  of  arithme- 
tic. But  wherever  there  are  other  matters,  which  rest  upon  a  person's 
judgment,  I  have  no  doubt  that  the  Secretary  of  War  can  be  mistaken 
in  them  sometimes  just  as  easy  as  any  other  person. 

The  Chairman.  1  called  your  attention  to  the  number  of  employes^ 
civilians,  and  enlisted  men  in  the  different  departments  of  the  War 
Department,  and  my  question  was  whether  a  material  rexluction  of  the 
Army  would  make  a  corresponding  material  reduction  in  those  em- 
ployes, not  only  in  the  War  Department  proper,  but  in  the  Quarter- 
master's and  Commissary  Departments  and  others ! 

Secretary  Belknap.  With  a  reduced  Army  there  would  not  be  so 
much  work  to  be  done,  and,  consequently,  as  greata  number  of  employes 
would  not  be  required  to  do  it. 

The  Chairman.  Would  the  employes  be  reduced  in  a  corresponding 
degree  with  a  reduction  of  the  Army,  except,  of  course,  in  the  Ordnance 
and  Engineer  branches,  which  would  not  be  reduced  f 

Secretary  Belknap.  There  would  be  no  reduction  there,  but  there 
would  be  at  the  different  military  posts. 

The  Chairman.  I  speak  of  the  Quartermastei^s  branch  and  the  Com- 
missary branch,  and  the  Adjutant-Generars  branch,  and  the  medical 
branch  ? 

Secretary  Belknap.  There  would  be  a  reduction,  provided  that  with 
a  reduction  of  the  Army  there  would  be  a  reduction  of  military  posts. 

The  Chairman.  It  would  depend  upon  that  t 

Secretary  Belknap.  Yes,  sir ;  to  a  great  extent. 

The  Chairman.  Have  you  made  an>  calculation  or  estimate  as  to  the 
probable  reduction  of  employes  f 

Secretary  Belknap.  No,  sir ;  I  have  not. 

The  Chairman.  Can  you  make  it  with  any  degree  of  certainty  ! 

Secretary  Belknap.  Yes,  sir ;  I  think  so. 

The  Chairman.  In  connection  with  that  letter  which  you  have  read, 


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REDUCTION   OF   THE    MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT.  61 

complaiuing  of  heads  of  Bureaus  exceeding  the  expenditures  authorized 
in  the  appropriations,  is  there  any  way  to  reach  them  except  by  a  gentle 
remonstrance  in  the  shape  of  a  letter;  are  those  men  not  amenable  to 
military  law  ?  Do  they  not  commit  such  an  ofi'ense  as  would  authorize 
you  to  remove  them,  or  to  censure,  or  to  put  them  into  such  a  position 
as  that  they  would  not  be  apt  to  repeat  it  ? 

Secretary  Belknap.  We  are  told  frequently  by  the  gentlemen  on  the 
Appropriation  Committee  to  cut  our  coat  according  to  the  cloth.  Take 
the  matter  of  mileage.  A  certain  amount  is  appropriated  for  mileage. 
The  applications  for  transportation  and  mileage  of  officers,  or  for  the 
transportation  of  troops  where  they  have  to  be  changed,  come  to  the 
Secretary  of  War,  or  perhaps  the  change  of  troops  is  made  before  it 
comes  to  the  Secretary  of  War,  and  an  expense  is  incurred  which  over- 
runs the  estim.ate  to  a  great  extent.  The  officers  of  the  Quartermaster's 
Department  may  not  themselves  realize,  in  particular  localities,  how 
much  money  they  require.  It  is  impossible  frequently  to  tell ;  and  this 
order  which  I  have  read  simply  requires  them  to  take  more  care  in 
making  these  expenditures.  Of  course,  if  they  willfully  persist  (which, 
since  this  circular,  they  have  not  done)  in  expending  more  money 
than  the  appropriation  called  for,  and  if  they  understaudingly  persist  in 
it,  they  are  liable  to  court-martiaL  But  there  are  various  appropriations, 
this  for  transportation  and  mileage,  and  some  others  which  do  not  strike 
me  just  now,  which  are  almost  impossible  to  be  determined  beforehand. 
The  Secretary  of  War  may  ask  for  a  million  dollars  for  mileage  and 
transportation,  and  Congress  may  give  him  five  hundred  thousand  dol- 
lars, and  the  transportation  during  the  year  may  amount  to  a  million 
and  a  quarter. 

Bight  here  let  me  make  one  remark,  which  may  have  some  bearing 
upon  the  question.  There  are  some  regiments  which  the  War  Depart- 
ment wonld  like  very  much  to  change  the  location  of;  not  because  it  is 
absolutely  necessary,  but  because  those  regiments  have  been  a  long 
time  in  a  certain  section  of  the  country,  and  have  endured  the  rigors  of 
a  bad  climate,  while  other  regiments  have  been  in  sections  of  the  coun- 
try more  favorable  to  them.  I  would  like,  and  so  would  the  General  of 
the  Army,  to  exchjinge  those  troops,  and  yet  It  is  impossible  to  do  so  on 
account  of  the  immense  expense.  The  transfer  of  the  Third  Cavalry 
from  Arizona  to  the  Department  of  the  Platte,  and  of  the  Fifth  Caval- 
ry from  the  Department  of  the  Platte  to  Arizona,  (although  the  horses 
were  not  brought,)  cost  over  }200,000.  The  regiments  exchanged  horses, 
but  the  troops  and  baggage  were  moved,  and  that  cost  over  $200,000. 
There  are  regiments  in  Dakota,  which  have  been  there  several  years,  en- 
during the  rigors  of  that  climate,  and  it  would  be  very  agreeable  to 
their  officers  and  men  to  be  moved  to  a  more  southern  station ;  while  it 
wonld  be  equally  agreeable  to  one  of  the  regiments  in  Texas  to  take  a 
northern  station  for  a  time,  and  yet  it  is  impossible  to  make  these 
movements  on  account  of  the  expense. 

Mr.  Hawley,  of  Connecticut.  It  would  not  cost  so  much  to  change  from 
Mississippi  to  Dakota.  The  Twentieth  Infantry  is  at  Pembina  and 
around  there,  and  the  Nineteenth  at  New  Orleans;  would  it  cost  $200,000 
for  those  regiments  to  change  f 

Secretary  Belknap.  It  would  not  cost  so  mucb,  but  it  would  cost  a 
large  amount  of  money. 

Mr.  HuNTON.  Could  they  not  make  the  exchange  by  marching? 

Secretary  Belknap.  No  ;  that  would  be  a  pretty  slow  matter. 

Mr.  Gtjnckel.  House  bill  No.  1009,  reported  from  the  Committee 
on  Appropriations,  seems  to  make  an  appropriation  of  about  $6,430,000 


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62  REDUCTION    OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT. 

less  than  your  estimaten.    I  want  to  know  whether  these  redactions  are 
with  or  without  your  concurrence  ! 

Secretary  Belknap.  My  original  estimate  for  the  Army  proper,  includ- 
ing ordnance  and  ordnance  stores,  and  for  the  engineer  depot  at  Wil- 
let^s  Point,  and  for  medical  and  hospital  supplies,  was  $33,093,716.60. 
On  examination  afterward  I  reduced  that  to  $32,768,716.60.  Afterward, 
in  connection  with  one  of  the  members  of  the  House  Committee  on  Ap- 
propriations, I  agreed  to  a  further  reduction  to  $29,126,716.60.  That 
reduction  was  niainly  in  ordnance  and  ordnance  stores,  and  infantry, 
cavalry,  and  artillery  equipments. 

The  Chairman.  Was  any  of  it  made  in  view  of  the  reduction  of  the 
Armyt 

Secretary  Belknap.  That  last  reduction  was  agreed  to  by  me,  on 
consultatiou  with  the  member  of  the  House  Committee  on  Appropria- 
tions, as  a  sufficient  amount,  provided  a  reduction  of  the  Army  was  in- 
sisted upon ;  in  other  words,  that  last  appropriation  of  $29,126,716.60, 
has  reference  to  a  reduction  of  the  Army  and  the  cessation  of  recruit- 
ing. 

Mr.  Albright.    What  amount  of  reduction  did  it  contemplate  in 
the  number  of  men  in  the  Army,  or  would  you  simply  stop  recruiting  ? 
Secretary  Belknap.   My  understanding  would  be  that  we  would 
simply  stop  recruiting. 
Mr.  GUNCKEL.  Stop  it  partially  or  entirely  f 

Secretary  Belknap.  Stop  it  partially,  and  if  a  reduction  of  the 
Army  was  agreed  upon,  I  would  stop  it  entirely. 

Mr.  Albright.  I  understand  you  to  say  that  you  agreed  finally  to 
that  reduction,  on  condition  that  it  involved  a  reduction  of  the  Army, 
Secretary  Belknap.  Do  not  understand  me  as  agreeing  to  a  re- 
duction of  the  Army ;  but  the  member  of  the  Appropriation  Committee 
with  whom  I  was  in  consultation  asked  me  whether,  if  recruiting  should 
cease,  and  the  Army  should  be  gradually  reduced,  that  amount  would 
not  be  sufficient,  and  I  told  him  it  would  be. 

Mr.  GuNOKEL.  W^hat  I  want  to  know  is,  whether  you  agreed  as  to 
what  extent  the  Army  should  be  reduced  ? 

Secretary  Belknap.  No,  sir.  It  was  simply  that  the  recruiting  ser- 
vice would  be  stopped  gradually,  and  that  the  places  of  the  men  who 
gradually  fall  out  of  the  Army  should  not  be  filled.  I  did  not  advise  or 
agree  to  this  beyond  stating  that  if  the  Army  was  to  be  reduced,  this 
amount  would  be  sufficient. 

Mr.  Thoenburgh.  The  casualties  are  about  15,000  or  16,000  per  an- 
num.   Would  not  that  reduce  the  Army  one-half  in  a  year  t 

Secretary  Belknap.  Yes,  sir.  The  casualties  are  pretty  large,  but  I 
hardly  think  they  are  so  large  as  that. 

Mr.  Gunckel.  If  I  understand  you,  Mr.  Secretary,  the  amount  you 
agreed  upon  was  $20,126.716.60 ;  but  the  amount  reported  in  the  bill  is 
only  $28,500,000,  making  a  difference  of  $677,800.  Did  you  agree  to 
that? 

Secretary  Belknap.  No,  sir.  That  book  you  are  looking  at  is  made 
up  in  the  Treasury  Department,  and  they  have  put  some  items  in  there 
from  other  appropriations  of  the  Army  bill,  which  makes  that  difference 
in  figures.  This  which  I  have  is  the  Army  bill  proper ;  this  is  the  copy 
of  my  estimate,  and  if  I  should  go  over  these  figures  carefully  I  could 
eliminate  the  amount  which  has  been  taken  from  some  other  part  of  the 
bill  and  placed  in  there. 

Mr.  Gijngkel.  If  there  must  be  a  reduction  of  $6,430,000  from  the 
amount  named  in  this  book  of  estimates,  would  you  reduce  it  in  the  way 


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REDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY    ESTABLISHMENT,  63 

which  thi8  bill  prescribes,  or  can  you  suggest  a  better  way  of  making, 
such  reduction  f 

Secretary  Belknap.  That  large  reduction  cannot  be  made  with  the 
Army  on  its  present  basis,  and  while  recruiting  is  permitted,  for  the 
reason  that  I  have  estimated  for  the  pay  of  30,000  men.  This  bill  ap- 
propriates $1,000,000  less  for  pay,  and  $1,000,000  less  will  not  pay  30,000 
men.  1  estimated  for  the  subsistence  of  30,000  men.  This  bill  appro- 
priates several  hundred  thousand  dollars  less  for  subsistence,  and  con- 
sequently that  amount  will  not  subsist  them ;  and  so  on  as  to  other 
items. 

Mr.  GuNGKEL.  You  had  better  go  on,  for  that  is  what  we  want  exactly- 

Secretary  Belknap.  The  amount  appropriated  by  the  bill  reported 
from  the  Appropriation  Committee  is  not  in  many  items  sufficient  for 
the  support  of  an  army  of  30,000  men.  It  is  not  sufficient  in  the  pay 
of  the  Army,  nor  in  its  subsistence  and  clothing — in  these  three  items 
particularly.    That  is  a  matter  of  arithmetic. 

There  is  one  item  in  the  bill  as  reported  by  the  Appropriation  Com- 
mittee which  has  been  reduced,  and  concerning  which  I  addressed  a 
very  strong  note  to  Mr.  Wheeler  yesterday.  That  is  the  item  for  bar- 
racks and  quarters.  The  appropriation  for  1873-'74  was  $1,700,000 ; 
my  estimate  for  this  year  was  for  $2,000,000.  On  the  revision  of  the 
estimates  I  did  not  reduce  that  amount.  Mr.  Wheeler  has  reduced  it 
to  $1,500,000.  That  item  he  and  I  difi'ered  about,  and  yesterday  I  ad- 
dressed him  a  communication  urging  him  very  strongly  to  embody  the 
original  amount  in  the  bill,  if  practicable.  The  troops  stationed  on  the 
plains  are,  in  many  instances,  suffering  for  want  of  shelter,  and  $1,500,000 
is  not  sufficient  for  that  purpose.  That  is  the  only  item  in  the  reduc- 
tions made  by  him,  of  which  I  have  perhaps  any  complaint  to  make, 
unless  it  is  of  the  reduction  of  the  recruiting  fund,  of  pay,  subsistence, 
and  clothing,  which  would  involve,  of  course,  a  reduction  of  the  Army. 

Mr.  GuNCKEL.  Assuming  that  a  reduction  of  as  much  as  $6,500,000 
is  necessaty,  how  would  you  make  it  ? 

Secretary  Belknap.  If  Congress  demands  that  a  reduction  of  that 
amount  shall  be  made,  it  can  only  be  made,  in  my  judgment,  by  a 
reduction  of  the  Army.  Experience  has  shown  that  when  an  army  is 
over  twenty  thousand  men,  a  soldier  costs  a  thousand  dollars  a  year. 
Thirty  thousand  men  would  cost  $30,000,000. 

Mr.  GuNCKEL,  Can  you  reduce  it  by  cutting  down  the  number  of 
officers  and  leaving  the  number  of  men  as  it  is! 

Secretary  Belknap.  With  the  present  organization  of  the  Army,  in 
companies  and  regiments,  the  present  number  of  officers  is  necessary 
for  the  management  of  the  Army.  In  my  judgment,  if  the  Army  is  to  be 
reduced,  there  should  be  a  reduction  of  privates  as  well  as  officers,  and 
of  officers  as  well  as  privates ;  that  is,  if  it  is  to  be  an  actual  reduction 
of  the  Army.  I  think  that  if  you  cut  off  5,000  men,  the  officers  for  5,000 
men  should  also  be  cut  off. 

Mr.  Gtjnckel.  Would  it  be  practicable  to  leave  the  number  of  men 
as  it  is  and  consolidate  regiments,  and  in  that  way  reduce  the  number 
of  officers! 

Secretary  Belknap.  O,  yes;  it  could  be  done  in  that  way.  There 
could  be  a  consolidation. 

Mr.  GuNCKEL.  Would  it  be  practicable  ? 

Secretary  Belknap.  It  would  be  practicable  in  one  point  of  view. 
Congress  can  direct  the  President  to  consolidate  regiments  and  to 
muster  out  officers ;  but  it  would  be  rather  a  severe  burden  on  the 
Secretary  of  War  to  decide  as  to  what  officers  should  be  relieved,  and, 


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64  REDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT. 

at  the  same  time,  to  have  frequent  visits  and  letters  from  members  of 
Congress  asking  all  these  ofQcers  to  be  retained.  ' 

The  Chairman.  Can  the  number  of  men  be  managed  by  a  less  nam- 
ber  of  officers,  if  regiments  are  consolidated  ? 

Secretary  Belknap.  Yes,  sir. 

Mr.  Albright.  I  suppose  that  a  good  many  of  these  officers,  who 
have  been  on  the  frontier  service,  have  not  been  able  to  get  leave 
of  absence,  because  they  cannot  be  spared  f 

Secretary  Belknap;  Quite  a  number  of  them.  The  committee  will 
understand  me  that  I  am  not  favoring  a  reduction  of  the  Army.  I  am 
only  answering  the  questions  asked  me. 

Mr.  DoNNAN.  How  much  of  a  reduction  would  the  cessation  of  re- 
cruiting cause  in  the  number  of  enlisted  men  annually  T 

Secretary  Belknap.  The  number  to  be  enlisted  next  year,  estimated 
by  the  Adjutant-General,  is  12,300  men.  The  number  of  men  required 
at  the  date  of  his  estimate  to  fill  the  Army  was  1,854.  The  number  of 
discharges  by  expiration  of  service  in  the  next  fiscal  year  is  6,964.  The 
estimated  number  of  desertions,  deaths,  &c.,  during  the  same  period  is 
3,482.  The  number  to  be  enlisted,  12,300.  Mr.  Wheeler's  estimate  for 
recruiting,  as  I  understand,  was  based  on  the  recruiting  of  7,000  men 
instead  of  12,000.  He  obtained  this  information  from  the  Adjutant- 
General,  based  on  the  idea  that  instead  of  recruiting  12,000  the  suc- 
ceeding year  he  would  recruit  7,000,  throwing  off  5,000  men ;  and  the 
cost  of  recruiting  is  about  $20  for  each  man. 

Mr.  GuNCKEL.  Then  there  is  added  to  this  the  cost  of  transporting 
them  to  their  regiments.  Have  you  any  idea  how  much  that  will  aver- 
age! 

Secretary  Belknap.  The  $20  includes  transportation.  The  cost  of 
recruiting  each  man  and  of  his  transportation  to  the  depot  has  aver- 
aged, for  several  years,  $20.  It  does  not  include  clothing,  but  only  re- 
cruiting and  transportation. 

Mr.  DoNNAN.  There  is  a  bill  now  before  the  House  proposing'  to  reduce 
the  infantry  regiments  to  fifteen.  I  desire  to  have  your  opinion  as  to 
the  feasibility  of  that  reduction,  and  as  to  its  effect  on  the  public  wel- 
fare. 

Secretary  Belknap.  I  have  answered  before,  that  I  do  not  think  the 
Army  should  be  reduced ;  and  I  have  also  answered  before,  that  if  the 
Army  should  be  reduced,  the  infantry  and  artillery  regiments  can  stand 
a  reduction  better,  in  my  judgment,  than  the  cavalry.  I  do  not  think 
that  the  time  has  yet  come  for  the  reduction  contemplated  by  the  bill. 

Mr.  Young.  State  whether  the  recruiting  service  can  be  discontinued ; 
and,  if  so,  what  the  reduction  of  expenses  would  be. 

Secretary  Belknap.  The  recruiting  service  can  be  discontinued ;  but 
it  would  result  finally  In  a  discontinuance  of  the  Army.  I  am  unable 
to  state  how  much  of  a  reduction  that  would  make  immediately.  There 
are  a  great  many  recruiting  stations  throughout  the  country.  This 
statement  made  by  the  Adjutant-General  shows  that  the  cost  per  man 
would  be  $20,  and  there  are  12,000  men  needed  for  next  year.  That 
would  amount,  in  all,  to  about  $250,000. 

Mr.  Young.  That  could  be  done  without  cutting  out  anybody  now  in 
the  Army  f 

Secretary  Belknap.  Y'es,  sir. 
.  Mr.  MacDougall.  How  many  officers  and  men  in  the  Army  are  em- 
ployed in  the  signal-service! 

Secretary  Belknap.  There  are  about  150  sergeants,  I  think.  The 
sergeants  are  the  men  detailed  from  the  Army  to  act  as  signal-observers. 


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RKDUCTION    OF    THE    MILITARY    ESTABLLSHMENT.  65 

There  is  do  corps  of  signal-observers ;  bnt  the  Secretary  of  War  takes 
from  a  company  here  and  a  company  there  a  sergeant,  who  is  tarned 
over  to  the  Signal-OflScer,  and  instraeted  in  his  duties,  who  receives 
commutation  of  fuel,  quarters,  and  clothing,  and  that,  with  his  Army 
pay,  is  his  com|>ensatiou  for  acting  as  signal  officer. 

Mr.  MacDougall.  Arethey  judiciously  employed,  and  are  the  results 
obtained  from  that  service  sufficiently  valuable  to  be  commeusnrat-e  with 
the  expense  of  it  t 

Secretary  Bslknap.  As  far  as  the  signal-service  is  concerned,  I  think 
it  is  a  very  important  work.  It  was  called  to  my  attention  this  morning, 
that  the  number  of  enlisted  men  is  in  excess  of  the  nnmlxT  which  should 
be  under  the  control  of  the  signal-officer,  and  I  prepense  to  make  a  reduc- 
tion. But  the  sergeants,  the  signal-observers,  perform,  I  think,  a  very 
useful  duty,  and  a  duty  which,  in  my  judgment^  can  be  more  econom- 
ically perfbrmed  by  men  drawn  from  the  Army  than  by  a  corps  of 
civilians. 

Mr.  THOBNBrRGH.  Supppose  that  the  Quartermaster's  Department 
and  the  Commissary-General's  of  Subsistence  Department  were  relieved 
of  the  settlement  of  the  claims  filed  by  pei-sons  who  furnished  stores  for 
the  Army  during  the  late  rebellion,  would  that  materially  lessen  the 
expense  of  those  Departments  t 

Secretary  Belknap.  It  might  lessen  to  a  very  small  amount  the  ex- 
penses of  the  Departments,  but  1  think  it  would  involve  an  expenditure 
of  a  very  large  amount  of  money,  by  the  payment  by  the  Government 
of  fraudulent  chiims. 

Mr.  Thornbukgh.  Is  there  anything  connected  with  settlement  of 
those  chiims  which  makes  the  staff  departments  peculiarly  fitted  to  pass 
upon  questions  arising  under  them  ? 

Secretary  Belknap.  Yes,  sir.  There  are  a  great  many  of  those 
claims  in  the  Departments,  and  they  impose  a  burdensome  duty  on 
those  Departments ;  but  at  the  same  time  1  am  satisfied  that  their  of- 
ficers are  peculiarly  fitted  to  examine  them,  and  I  t  hink  that  the  result 
of  that  examination  is  the  saving  of  a  large  amount  of  money  to  the 
Government. 

Mr.  Hawley,  of  Connecticut  It  seems,  in  this  estimate,  that  the 
item  of  transiK>rtation  of  all  Mnds  is  reduced  from  ^4,500,000  to 
4^4,000,000.  Will  that  be  enough  to  allow  you  to  change  the  location  of 
any  of  those  regiments  which  have  been  six  or  eight  years  on  duty  at 
the  same  station  f 

Secretary  Belknap.  No,  sir ;  it  may  allow  the  change  of  some,  but  I 
would,  under  that  approfriatiim,  make  no  change  of  regiments  till 
Dearly  the  close  of  the  fiscal  ye^ir,  when  I  would  be  8atisfie4i  that  I  had 
enough  money  left  to  do  it.  I  would  look  upon  that  as  a  luxury,  which 
I  would  not  indulge  in  till  all  the  absolutely  necessary  ex|.eiiditures  had 
been  made. 

Mr.  Hawley,  of  Connecticut.  But  is  it  not,  in  common  humanity  and 
out  of  regai'd  for  the  health  of  the  troops,  a  necessity  that  some  of  your 
regiments  should  change  their  location  within  the  yearf 

Secretary  Belknap.  Humanity  has  a  g(KMl  deal  to  do  with  it 

The  Ghaibman.  There  is  another  question  which  the  coinniittee  is 
charged  with  examining  into;  thnt  is,  whether  any  works  of  fortitica- 
tion  and  defense  can  be  dis^iensed  with  ;  and  if  so,  what  works,  and  iu 
what  measure? 

Secretary  Belknap.  The  principal  work  that  has  been  done  on  forti- 
licatious  during  the  pa^t  ye^ir  is  in  connection  with  works  at  Portland, 
Boston,  New  York, Philadelphia,  Fortress  Monroe,  Charleston,  Savannah, 


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66  KEDUCTION    OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT. 

Port  Jefferson,  and  other  forts  off  the  soathem  coasts  of  Florida  and  at 
New  Orleans.  Since  1866  earth-works  have  been  constmcted,  and  I 
find  on  an  examination  which  I  made  this  morning  (on  seeing  the  state- 
ment that  these  fortifications  had  cost  $600,000,000)  that  all  the  fortifica- 
tions in  this  country  had  cost,  from  the  beginning,  aboat  $54,000,000. 

As  far  as  I  have  been  able  to  learn,  from  personal  examination  of 
some,  and  from  my  general  knowledge  of  the  snbject,  together  with 
the  written  reports  of  the  Chief  of  Engineers,  which  come  to  me  an- 
nnally,  I  am  of  the  opinion  that  the  fortifications  at  the  points  which  I 
have  named  should  progress  as  rapidly  as  possible,  and  also  on  forts  on 
the  California  side  of  the  continent. 

The  Chairman.  The  question  arises  whether  these  forts  should  be 
completed,  or  whether  earth-works  could  be  erected  which  would  au- 
.swer  the  purpose. 

Secretary  Belknap.  They  are  not  using  stone  in  fortifications  now, 
and  have  not  used  stone  since  1866,  except  on  some  interior  works  in 
the  forts.  That  is  my  understanding  of  the  matter  from  reading  the 
reports  of  the  Chief  of  Engineers. 

The  Chairman.  Then  the  question  arises  whether  these  expensive 

earth- works  should  be  constructed,  or  whether  or  not,  with  the  facilitien 

of  travel  and  transportation,  troopt^  could  be  brought  to  these  posts  and 

temporary  earth-works  erected  when  the  necessity  ai'ises,  if  sufficient 

'  ordnance  stores  are  provided. 

Secretary  Belknap.  I  am  one  of  those  men  who  believe  that  in  time 
of  peace  we  should  prepare  for  war.  I  was  very  fearful  not  many  months 
ago  that  the  result  might  show  that  in  our  tbrtifications  we  were  not 
prepared  for  trouble  which  might  come. 

The  Chairman,  You  would  not  reduce  the  expenses  nor  diminish  the 
amount  of  work  in  any  of  those  sea-coast  fortiUcations  I 

Secretary  Belknap.  Xot  very  materially.  The  exigencies  of  the 
times  may  require  their  reduction  to  some  extent,  but  I  would  not  re- 
duce them  looking  to  an  abandonment  of  the  works  at  all. 

The  Chairman.  Would  it  not  be  better  to  keep  in  repair  those  which 
are  completed,  and  to  stop  expenditures  to  any  considerable  extent  oh 
those  in  process  of  construction  ? 

Secretary  Belknap.  One  result  of  that  course,  which  would  not  be 
economical,  would  be  that  a  large  amount  of  materials  and  improved 
machinery,  now  on  hand  for  the  continuance  of  those  works,  would  de 
teriorate  and  become  ruined  by  neglect,  and  when  the  works  were  com 
menced  again  the  whole  expenditures  would  have  to  be  incurred  over 
again. 

The  Chairman.  Would  you  advise  the  beginning  of  any  new  work  ? 

Secretary  Belknap.  No,  sir ;  I  do  not  think  I  would. 

The  Chairman.  There  has  been  a  proposition  to  establish  a  national 
foundery  and  manufactory  of  heavy  guns.  Would  that  be  a  matter  of 
economy  or  had  it  better  be  postponed  I 

Secretary  Belknap.  Of  course  that  would  cost  some  money;  but  in 
ray  judgment  a  large  number  of  the  existing  arsenals  might  with  pro- 
priety be  sold  and  larger  ones  erected.  In  connection  with  this  matter 
I  have  prepared  a  statement,  which  I  would  like  to  submit  as  part  of  my 
answer. 

The  statement  was  read  by  Secretary  Belknap,  as  follows: 

ARSENALS. 

The  necessity  for  a  large  arsenal  of  construction,  a  proving-ground, 
powder-depot,  &c.,  was  first  made  the  subject  of  official  action  by  the 


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REDUCTION    OF   THE   MILITARY    ESTABLISHMENT.  67 

War  Department  in  1862.  The  subject  was  again  brought  to  the  atten- 
tion of  Congress  by  the  Chief  of  Ordnance  in  1869,  and  has  been  referred 
to  in  each  case  of  bis  annual  reports  since  that  year. 

The  wants  of  the  Army  and  the  country  can  be  thoroughly  met  by  the 
retention  of  the  following  arsenals,  viz : 

Benicia  arsenal,  for  the  Pacific  coast. 

San  Antonio,  Texas,  for  the  Texas  frontier. 

Augusta,  Ga.,  for  the  South  Atlantic  and  Gulf. 

Eock  Island,  111.,  for  the  Mississippi  Valley,  and 

One  grand  arsenal  for  the  Atlantic. 

Benicia,  Rock  Island,  and  the  Atlantic  should  be  of  such  capacity 
for  manufacture  and  storage  as  to  suffice  for  the  country  in  case  of  war. 
The  San  Antonio  and  Augusta  arsenals  would  be  convenient  for  storage 
and  repairs,  and  the  depot  for  the  storage  of  powder  at  Jefferson  Bar- 
racks should  be  retained. 

The  arsenals  which  might  be  abolished  on  economical  grounds,  and 
whose  manufactures,  &c.,  might  be  conducted  at  the  Atlantic  arsenal, 
are  the  following:  Indianapolis,  Columbus,  Allegheny,  New  York, 
Detroit,  Fortress  Monroe,  Fort  Union,  Frankford,  Kennebec,  Leaven- 
worth, National  armory,  Pikesville,  Vancouver,  Washington,  Watervliet, 
Water  town. 

The  purchase  of  an  experimental  proving-ground,  so  greatly  needed 
by  the  Ordnance  Department,  would  dispense  with  the  further  use  of 
the  Fortress  Monroe  arsenal,  and  it  could  be  turned  over  to  the  artillery- 
school  of  practice  at  Fortress  Monroe.  The  selection  of  the  Leavenworth 
arsenal  for  the  purposes  of*  a  military  prison  (which  has  been  recom- 
mended) would  dispose  of  that  place.  A  large  Atlantic  arsenal  would 
render  the  remainder  unnecessary. 

If  such  an  arsenal  cannot  be  obtained  from  Congress,  then  some 
of  our  present  arsenals  on  the  Atlantic  coast  having  the  greatest  con- 
veniences and  capabilities  should  be  selected  and  enlarged  so  as  to  meet 
all  the  requirements  of  the  service  east  of  the  Mis'*issippi  as  to  manu- 
factures, storage,  &c.,  and  the  smaller  arsenals  be  discontinued  or  sold. 
Some  of  the  smaller  arsenals  might  be  retained  for  storage  purposes, 
but  the  expense  of  their  care  and  preservation  is  considerable,  and  the 
constant  drain  on  the  appropriations  for  the  purpose  is  deemed  of  doubt- 
ful utility.  They  could  be  sold,  it  is  thought,  with  great  advantage  to 
the  United  States. 

The  following  would  be  the  best  selections  for  retention  : 

National  armory^  in  MaasachuHettH^  for  the  manufacture  of  small-arms. 
Watertfliet  arsettalj  in  New  lorA*,  for  the  manufacture  of  heavy  car- 
riages, leather  work,  &c. 

Frankford  arsenal y  in  Pennsylvania,  for  the  manufacture  of  ammuni- 
tion and  explosives. 

Should  the  appropriation  for  armament  of  fortifications  render  it  ex- 
pedient to  begin  the  manufacture  of  cannon  by  the  Ordnance  Depart- 
ment, the  Frankford  arsenal,  in  close  proximity  to  the  coal  and  iron 
beds  of  Pennsylvania,  would.be  selected  for  the  construction  of  cannon, 
and  the  manufacture  of  ammunition  and  explosives  would  be  trans- 
ferred to  the  national  armory.. 

The  manufacturing  and  storage  capacity  of  the  three  above-named 
establishments,  when  properly  fostered  and  sustained,  would,  in  connec- 
tion with  a  storage  depot  in  the  harbor  of  New  York,  (New  York  arsenal,) 
be  amply  sufficient  for  the  wants  of  the  country  east  of  the  Mississippi. 
This  would  give  one  large  armory  to  the  New  England  States,  one  large 
arsenal  to  the  State  of  New  York,  and  one  to  Pennsylvania. 

The  Ghaibman.  In  view  of  a  possible  insurrection  or  rebellion,  w^jnt 


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68  REDUCTION    OF    THE    MILITARY    ESTABLISHMENT. 

do  you  think  of  the  policy  of  dispensing  with  arsenals  and  armories 
throughout  the  country  f  Mi^ht  it  not  endanger  the  peace  of  the  coun- 
try, and  would  it  not  be  better  policy  to  have  places  for  the  storage  of 
arms  distributed  pretty  generally  throughout  the  country,  so  that  no 
uprising  in  a  few  places  should  endanger  the  Government  by  having  all 
the  arms  seized  f 

Secretary  Belknap.  In  this  matter  I  have  consulted  the  Ordnance 
Department  very  frecpiently  since  I  first  came  here,  and  I  came  to  the 
conclusion  at  first,  and  have  adhered  to.it  pretty  closely,  that  a  few  large 
arsenals  would  be  better  than  a  great  many  small  ones. 

The  CHAiftMAN.  Suppose  the  case  of  an  insurrection  in  the  Eastern 
States,  say  in  Pennsylvania,  New  York,  and  New  England :  if  all  the 
arsenals  were  in  that  section  of  the  country,  they  would  have  in  their 
control  the  manufacture  and  possession  of  almost  all  the  arms  of  the 
country.  We  have  no  assurance  but  that  such  a  contingency  may  arise, 
as  that  those  States  may  want  to  separate  from  the  Union,  and  in  that 
case  a  very  few  thousand  men  could  take  and  hold  almost  the  entire 
capacity  of  the  ordnance  of  the  country.  In  view  of  that  would  it  not 
be  bad  policy  to  abolish  those  smaller  arsenals  in  the  various  sections 
of  the  country! 

Secretary  Belknap.  Perhaps,  in  that  extreme  view  of  the  case,  it 
nxiirht  be. 

Mr.  Hawley,  of  Connecticut.  But  is  it  worth  while  to  pay  $500,000  a 
year  on  the  chance  of  New  England  attempting  to  prevent  the  West  from 
getting  to  the  Atlantic  f 

Seci  etary  Belknap.  I  think  not  I  would  like  to  go  back  a  little  as  to 
the  question  relative  to  the  troops  in  Arizona.  Among  the  services  ren- 
dered by  the  troops  in  that  Territory  was  the  building  of  a  telegraph  line 
six  hundred  miles  long,  at  less  than  theamountof  the  appropriation  which 
wns  made  for  it.  There  was  a  large  saving  by  using  troops  for  that 
work, instead  of  civilians.  There  was  an  appropriation  for  that  purpose, 
and  the  line  is  now  in  working  order. 

The  Chairman.  There  is  a  bill  introduced  into  the  present  Congress 
in  regard  to  a  large  increase  in  the  manufacture  of  arms,  propositigan 
appropriation  of  a  million  a  year  for  that  purpose.  Has  your  attention 
been  directed  to  that  question  for  an  increased  expenditure  forthemana- 
fecture  of  arms! 

Secretary  Belknap.  No,  sir,  not  beyond  the  estimated  expenditure 
for  arming  and  equipping  the  militia. 

Mr.  Hawley,  of  Connecticut.  Do  you  feel  so  snre  that  you  have  got 
the  right  kind  of  small-arms  as  that  it  would  be  worth  while  to  make 
one  or  two  millions  of  them  f 

Secretary  Belknap.  There  was  a  board  of  experienced  officers  ap- 
pointed on  that  question,  and  a  great  many  trials  were  made,  and  those 
officers  who  were  most  capable  of  judging  seemed  to  think  that  the 
Springfield  breechloader  is  as  good  an  arm  as  can  be  obtained  now.  I 
suggested  in  my  annual  re|)ort  the  importance  of  the  manufacture  of  a 
reserve  supply  for  use  in  case  of  war,  and  an  appropriation  of  $500,000 
Was  recommended  for  the  manufacture  of  35,000  arms  of  that  pattern. 

The  following  general  orders  were  presented  to  the  committee  by 
Secretary  Belknap,  and  ordered  to  be  made  part  of  the  record : 


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REDUCTION    OF    THE    MILITARY    ESTABLISHMENT.  69 

[General  Orders  No.  4. 1 

War  Department,  Adjutant-Genkral'8  Office, 

H'aHkingtan,  January  9,  1873. 
The  last  paraj^raph  of  General  Orders  No.  103,  November  27, 1872,  from  this  office,  is 
hereby  amended  to  read  as  follows : 

When  repairs  become  absolutely  necessary  for  the  preservation  of  public  buildings 
or  property  that  are  rapidly  deteriorating,  department  commanders,  with  the  approval 
of  their  division  commanders,  may  order  the  purchase  of  material,  not  to  exceed  in 
amount  five  hundred  dollars  ($500)  for  any  one  post;  but  hereafter  no  estimate  for  a 
|rreater  amount  than  this  will  be  filled  until  it  shall  have  been  submitted  to  and 
ordered  by  the  Secretary  of  War. 
By  order  of  the  Secretary  of  War : 

THOMAS  M.  VINCENT, 
Assiniunt  Adjutant-Oentral, 


[Geueral  Orders  No.  19.] 

War  Department,  Adjutant-Genkral'8  Office, 

Wdutkin^tOH,  February  25,  1873. 
Tbe  paynient  of  rent,  or  any  allowance  for  quarters  or  fuel  for  officers*  servants,  is 
hereby  prohibited  until  more  specific  legislation  shall  sanction  it. 
By  order  of  the  Secretary  of  War : 

E.  D.  TOWNSEND, 

Adjutant-Gi'iitrah 


[General  Orders  No.  57.] 

War  DEFARTMiCNTy  Adjutant-General's  Office, 

Washington^  March  28, 1873. 

Id  view  of  the  limited  appropriations  granted  by  Congress  for  the  expenses  of  the 
War  Depart Aient  for  certain  purposes,  it  is  hereby  ordered  that  all  expenditures  for 
building  material  and  the  construction  and  repair  of  buildings  which  require  to  be 
paid  from  tbe  appropriation  for  barracks  and  quarters  for  the  current  fiscal  year,  be 
•aspended,  and  that  no  further  expenditures  be  made  for  these  purposes  until  the  be- 
ginning of  the  next  fiscal  year. 

It  is  also  ordered  that  all  civilians  employed  upon  the  construction  and  repair  of 
•nch  buildings  be  discharged,  and  enlisted  men  so  employed  be  relieved  from  such 
duty  until  further  orders;  and  that  the  pay  of  extra-duty  men  employed  upon  such 
constructioQ  and  repair  of  buildings,  which  may  be  a  charge  upon  the  appropriation 
for  incidental  expenses  of  the  Quartermaster's  Department,  shall  cease  from  the  date 
gf  the  receipt  of  this  order. 

Commanding  generals  of  divisions  and  departments  will  require  their  chief  quar- 
termasters to  report  to  the  Secretary  of  War,  through  the  Quartermaster-General, 
-without  delay,  in  detail^  the  sums  expended  in  their  several  divisions  and  departments 
for  the  rent  or  hire  of  quarters  for  troops  and  for  officers  on  military  duty ;  for  store- 
houses for  the  safe-keeping  of  military  stores;  for  offices;  for  ground  for  camps  or 
oantonments,  and  for  temporary  frontier  stations  ;  for  construction  and  repair  of  tem- 
porary huts,  of  stables  and  other  military  buildings  at  established  posts,  and  for  repair 
of  baildings  occupied  b^  the  Army,  giving  the  locatiou  of  each  building  or  piece  of 
groaod,  and  the  sum  paid  for  the  rent  or  hire  of  each.  Also,  the  amounts  expended 
auring  tbe  first  half  of  the  present  fiscal  year  in  the  construction  and  repair  of  tem- 
porary huts,  stables,  and  other  military  buildings  in  use  by  the  Army  in  their  respect! ve 
divisions  or  departments 

By  order  of  the  Secretary  of  War: 

E.  D.  TOWNSEND, 

Adjatant-Generah 


[General  Ordfm  No.  1.] 

War  Department,  Aixjutakt-Grneral's  Okfice, 

WashAngtwHy  January  2, 1874. 
The  disbursement  during  the  first  half  of  the  current  fiscal  year  of  the  greater  part 
of  the  amounts  appropriated  for  **  regular  supplies,''  'incidental  expenses,"  and  ''Army 


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70  REDUCTION    OF    THE    MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT. 

traiiMportution''    involves  the  Decossity  of  considerable    retrenchment   daring   the 
remainder  of  the  }'ear. 

To  this  end,  the  Quartermaster-General  and  other  heads  of  Bureaus,  will  carefhllj 
scrutinize  the  reports  of  citizens  employed  in  their  departments  at  different  points, 
and  direct  the  immediate  dischar^^e  of  snoh  as  are  not  absolutely  necessary  to  perfonn 
the  service  required  by  law,  regulations,  and  War  Department  orders,  reporting  the 
result  of  their  action  without  delay  to  the  Secretary  of  War. 

The  purchase  of  supplies  and  other  expenditures  will  also  be  reduced  to  the  lowest 
possible  limit. 

Estimates  for  fhnds  will  hereafter  be  made  in  time  to  enable  the  heads  of  Bnreans 
to  transmit  them  so  as  to  reach  the  disbursing  officers  by  the  Ist  day  of  the  month 
for  which  they  are  designed ;  and  they  will  always  exhibit  the  amount  of  funds  on 
hand  available  for  the  purposes  estimated  for. 

The  estimates  for  paying  employ^  will  not  exceed  the  amounts  paid  during  the  pre- 
ceding month,  excepting  in  cases  of  emergency  or  when  authorized  by  proper  aathority, 
which  must  be  fully  explained. 

Remittances  will  be  made  in  such  sums  that  chief  disbursing  officers  (excepting 
paymasters)  of  divisions,  departments,  and  depots  shall  at  no  time  have  on  band  more 
than  sufficient  to  meet  the  authorized  expenditures  for  one  month ;  and  these  remit- 
tances must,  from  month  to  month,  be  made  to  conform  to  the  unexpended  residues  of 
the  respective  appropriations. 

The  rates  of  pay  heretofore  allowed  citizen  employes  in  the  Army,  whose  compensa- 
tion is  not  fixed  by  law,  will  be  reduced  as  far  as  practicable. 

Officers  making  inspections  are  required  to  examine  and  report  whether  disbursing 
officers  comply  with  the  requirements  of  this  order. 

It  is  expected  that  commanders  of  divisions  and  depHrtments  will  co-operat«,  and 
exercise  their  authority  in  carrying  out  the  uieasureH  of  retrenchment  herein  directed. 

By  order  of  the  Secretary  of  War  : 

E.  D.  TOWNSEND, 

Adjutant  Gtvcrah 


Washington,  D.  C,  January  10,  1874. 
Examination  of  Bvt.  Brig.  Gen.  J.  D.  Bingham,  Acting  Quarter- 
luaster-General. 

By  the  Chairman  : 
Question.  What  items  of  expenditure  set  out  in  your  estimates  will 
bo  affected  by  a  reduction  or  increase  of  the  number  of  the  Army  ! 

Answer.  The  items  of  expenditure  for  regular  supplies,  incident^il 
expenses,  barracks  and  quarters,  transportation  of  the  Army,  and 
clothing  and  equipage. 

Question.  Please  state  in  what  this  consists,  and  to  what  extent, 
showing  upon  a  basis  of  a  reduction  of  the  Army  to  two-thirds  of  it« 
present  strength,  provided  the  entire  reduction  is  made  in  infantry 
regiments. 

Answer.  The  item  fbr  regular  supplies  would  be  reduced      $340,000  00 

Incidental  expenses 152,  000  00 

Transportation  of  the  Army 600,  000  00 

Barracks  and  quarters 300, 000  00 

Clothing  and  equipage 638, 500  00 

Total 2,030,500  00 

The  expenditures  under  the  heads  of  incidental  expenses,  transporta- 
tion, barracks,  and  quarters,  depend,  in  a  great  measure,  upon  circum- 
stances, and  cannot,  therefore,  be  predicted  with  accuracy.  Certain 
items  of  expenditure  under  each  head  are,  however,  known,  and  the 
above  reductions,  especially  under  the  head  of  incidental  expenses,  have 


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REDUCTION   OF    THE    MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT.  71 

been  based  on  these.  The  actual  redaction  may  be  greater.  The  re- 
daction under  the  head  of  clothing  and  equipage  is  mainly  in  clothing. 
We  have  enough  of  most  articles  of  equipage  to  last  several  years. 

The  above  answer  is  based  on  the  assumption  that  the  reduction  will 
be  in  enlisted  men  alone. 

Question.  Please  state  the  difference  in  cost,  so  far  as  the  Quarter- 
master's Department  is  concerned,  between  an  infantry  and  cavalry 
soldier. 

Answer.  As  nearly  as  can  be  computed  the  difference  in  cost  is,  per 
annum,  $223.40. 

Question.  Please  state  whether  there  is  any  difference  between  re- 
ducing the  number  of  organizations  and  the  number  of  men,  in  expense. 
If  so,  in  what  it  consists  and  what  it  is. 

Answer.  If  the  reduction  is  in  infantry  organizations  instead  of  en- 
listed men  of  infantry,  there  wil]  be  an  additional  reduction  in  expendi- 
tures as  follows,  viz : 

Regular  supplies $160, 000  00 

Incidental  expenses 16, 000  00 

Army  transportation 85, 000  00 

Barracks  and  quarters 100, 000  00 

Total  additional  reduction 361, 000  00 

There  would  also  be  a  saving  in  equipage,  but  it  would  be  of  articles 
now  in  store,  and  would  effect  no  saving  in  money,  to  any  great  amount, 
for  some  years  to  come. 

The  Chairman.  State  whether  a  reduction  of  the  Army,  to  the  extent 
of  one- fourth,  one-fifth,  or  one-sixth  of  its  present  numbers,  would  cause 
a  corresponding  reduction  in  the  number  of  officials,  clerks,  and  em- 
ployes in  the  Quartermaster's  Department,  or  what  would  be  the  conse- 
quent reduction,  if  any  ? 

General  Bingham.  There  would  be  some  reduction,  but  not  to  an  ex- 
tent probably  corresponding  with  the  reduction  of  the  force.  It  would 
depend  upon  the  manner  in  which  the  troops  were  distributed.  If  the 
troops  occupied  the  same  posts  as  they  do  now,  there  are  some  items 
which  would  be  changed  very  little.  If  the  Army  be  reduced  and  the 
troops  concentrated  at  a  few  posts,  then  the  reduction  Would  be  very 
great. 

The  Chairman.  Then  you  say  that  a  reduction  of  the  posts,  corres- 
ponding with  the  reduction  of  the  Army,  would  bring  about  a  large 
reduction  in  the  employes  and  officers  of  the  Quartermaster's  Depart- 
ment? 

General  Bingham.  Yes,  sir. 

The  Chairman.  In  this  Army  approi)riation  bill  reported  from  the 
Committee  on  A])propriations,.  I  sec  an  item  of  $1,300,000  for  incidental 
expenses,  to  wit :  "  For  postage  and  telegrams  or  dispatches ;  for  extra 
pay  to  soldiers  employed  under  the  direction  of  the  Quartermaster's 
Department,  in  the  erection  of  barracks,  quarters,  store-houses,  and 
hospitals,  etc ; "  can  you,  by  looking  at  these  item«,  say  which  of  them 
would  be  unaffected  by  a  reduction  of  the  Army  1 

General  Bingham.  The  number  of  extra-duty  men  would  be  reduced, 
but  the  extent  of  that  Yednction  would  depend  more  upon  reducing  the 
number  of  posts.  With  a  reduction  of  the  number  of  troops  and  of  the 
number  of  posts  there  would  be  a  corresponding  reduction  in  the  num- 
ber of  extra-duty  men.  The  reduction  at  division  and  department 
headquarters  would  depend  upon  the  redaction  of  the  number  of  those 


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72  REDUCTION    OF    THE   MILITARY    ESTABLISHMENT. 

establishments.  The  hospital  stewards  iu  this  city  are  almost  entirely 
employed  on  clerical  duty.  No  redaction  of  the  Army  would  aftect  their 
duties,  as  I  understand  that  they  are  principally  employed  in  connection 
with  the  Pension  Bureau.  The  reduction  of  the  number  of  posts  would 
bring  about  a  reduction  in  the  item  for  ^^  expenses  of  expresses  to  and 
from  the  frontier- posts  and  armies  in  the  field ;"  also  of  the  item  for 
"escorts  to  paymasters  and  other  disbursing  officers,  and  to  trains 
where  military  escorts  cannot  be  furnished  f  also  of  the  item  for  "  ex- 
penses of  the  interment  of  officers  killed  in  action,  or  who  die  when  on 
duty  in  the  field,  and  of  non-commissioned  officers  and  soldiers."  A  re- 
duction of  the  Army  would  of  course  cause  a  reduction  of  expenses  nn- 
der  those  heads  as  well  as  under  that  of  "  authorized  office  furniture." 
As  to  the  item  for  the  "  hire  of  laborers  in  the  Quartermaster's  Depart- 
ment,  including  the  hire  of  interpreters,  spies,  and  guides  for  the  Army," 
that  would  depend  a  good  deal  upon  the  reduction  of  the  number  of 
posts,  more  probably  on  that  than  on  a  reduction  of  the  number  of  troops. 
As  to  the  item  for  "compensation  of  clerks  to  officers  of  the  Quarter- 
master's Department,"  with  a  reduction  of  the  number  of  posts  and  of 
divisions  and  departments,  there  would  be  a  corresponding  reduction 
under  that  head. 

The  OSAIRMAN.  In  connection  with  that,  is  there  any  method  of  con- 
solidating returns  or  of  keeping  accounts  in  the  Quartermaster's  Depart- 
ment that  would  keep  all  quartermaster  property,  eamp^  clothing,  and 
garrison  equipage  together,  so  that  any  number  of  clerks  could  be  dis- 
pensed with,  or  does  the  keeping  of  separate  accounts  as  to  quartermas- 
ter property,  etc.,  necessitate  the  employment  of  a  greater  number  of 
clerks  1   Is  there  an^'thing  in  that  f 

General  Bingham.  I  think  there  is  very  little  in  that.  The  saving 
would  be  greater  in  the  Quartermaster-General's  office  and  iu  the  Treas- 
ury Department  than  anywhere  else.  Under  the  law  the  Second  Audi- 
tor  audits  the  clothing  accounts,  and  the  Third  Auditor  audits  the  money 
and  property  accounts  of  the  Quartermaster's  Department,  so  that  it 
would  be  necessary  to  consolidate  that  business  under  one  Auditor  to 
accomplish  much  saving.  We  have  to  keep  two  separate  branches  in 
our  office  on  that  work,  in  consequence  of  its  being  divided  between 
two  Auditors. 

As  to  the  iteih  for  ^'  compensation  of  forage  and  wagon-masters,"  I  think 
that  their  number  would  be  unaffected,  as  but  very  few  are  in  service. 
As  to  the  item  ^^for  the  appreh^ision  of  deserters,"  it  it  very  difficult  to 
tell  whether  a  reduction  could  be  made  in  that  amount  by  a  reduction 
of  the  Army ;  if  there  were  fewer  men,  of  course  there  would  be  fewer 
to  desert ;  but  it  might  be  that,  if  a  reduced  force  were  required  to  oc- 
cupy the  present  posts,  the  soldiers  would  be  more  inclined  to  desert,  on 
account  of  the  service  being  much  harder.  As  to  the  item  for  ^^  the  pur- 
chase of  traveling  forges,  &c,"  that  business  has  been  transferred  to  the 
Ordnance  Department.  With  a  reduction  of  the  cavalry  there  would  be 
a  reduction  in  the  item  for  the  hire  of  veterinary  surgeons,  medicine  for 
horses  and  mules,  &c.  The  reduction  of  the  number  of  mules  would  de- 
pend upon  the  reduction  of  the  number  of  posts  more  than  on  the  re- 
duction of  the  number  of  troops. 

The  Ghaibman.  What  would  you  say  as  to  the  item  of  $350^000  for  the 
purchase  of  horses  for  the  cavalry  and  artillery,  and  for  the  Indian 
scouts,  and  for  such  infantry  as  may  be  mounted  f 

General  Bingham.  That  would  depend,  of  course,  upon  the  number 
of  mounted  men  authorized. 


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REDUCTION    OF    THE    MILITARY    ESTABLISHMENT.  73 

The  Chairman.  Take  tbis  next  item  of  $4,000,000  for  the  transporta- 
tion  of  the  Army,  clothing,  horse-equipments,  &c. 

General  Bingham.  The  cost  of  transportation  would  depend  upon  the 
distribatioa  of  the  troops  very  much.  There  would  be  a  reduction,  of 
course,  in  the  cost  of  transporting  supplies  for  a  smaller  number  of 
troops.  If  the  troops  are  concentrated  into  a  smaller  number  of  posts, 
more  accessible,  there  would  be  a  considerable  reduction  under  that 
head. 

The  CHAIR3LAN.  What  are  the  great  items  of  expenditure  in  this  para- 
graph! 

General  Bingham.  For  transporting  supplies  on  the  frontier,  in  Ari- 
zona, Texas,  the  Department  of  Dakota,  the  Department  of  the  Platte, 
Deparlment  of  the  Missouri,  and  New  Mexico.  Much  of  the  transporta- 
tion in  those  departments  is  done  by  contractors'  trains.  There  is  also 
a  very  large  amount  due  every  year  to  the  Pacific  Railroad  for  trans- 
portation over  it;  this  is  not  paid  to  the  railroad  company,  but  is  used 
to  liquidate  the  indebtedness  of  the  road  to  the  United  States. 

The  Chairman.  I  see  here  the  phrase  "  for  clearing  roads,  and  for 
removing  obstructions  from  roads,  harbors,  and  rivers;''  does  that 
amount  to  any  great  sum  ? 

General  Bingham.  No  sir.  Thero  was  probably  some  expenditure 
under  that  head  during  the  Yellowstone  expedition,  and  there  is  some 
expenditure  under  that  head  at  the  frontier  posts,  but,  I  think,  not  very 
large. 

The  Chairman,  Go  to  the  next  paragraph,  appropriating  $1,500,000 
for  hire  of  quarters  for  officers  on  military  duty,  hire  of  quarters  for 
troops,  &c.;  what  is  the  principal  item  of  expenditure  in  that  paragraph  f 

General  Bingham.  The  amount  paid  annually  for  hire  of  quarters  for 
officers  on  military  duty,  hire  of  quarters  for  troops,  of  store-houses  for 
the  safe-keeping  of  military  stores,  and  the  commutation  of  quarters  for 
enlisted  men,  (this  last  item  is  not  named  in  the  estimate  but  is  paid 
irom  that  appropriation,)  is  about  $806,000  ;  leaving  the  remainder  of 
that  appropriation  to  be  applied  to  the  construction  of  temporary  strac- 
tores  and  stables,  and  to  repairing  public  buildings  at  established  posts. 

The  Chairman.  As  to  the  first  item  here  for  the  hire  of  quarters  for 
officers  on  military  duty,  please  state  the  method  of  paying  for  the  hire 
of  quarters  for  officers  on  military  duty. 

General  Bingham.  When  an  officer  arrives  at  a  military  station  he 
makes  a  written  application  to  the  quartermaster  for  his  allowance  of 
quarters,  inclosing  a  copy  of  the  orders  placing  him  on  duty.  Usually 
the  officer  selects  the  house  in  which  he  wishes  quarters,  and  indicates 
it  in  his  application.  The  quartermaster  rents  the  quarters  for  him, 
within  the  limits  fixed  by  the  War  Department,  as  to  the  number  of 
rooms  and  the  amount  to  be  paid  for  them.  The  number  of  rooms  to 
which  each  rank  of  officer  is  entitled  is  fixed  by  the  reguIaOons,  and  the 
Secretary  of  War  limits  the  amount  to  be  paid  for  each  room.  The 
quartermaster  hires  the  quarters  within  these  limits. 

The  Chairman.  The  quartermaster  has  no  discretion  as  to  the  amount 
to  be  paid  t 

General  Bingham.  He  cannot  exceed  the  limit  fixed. 

Mr.  GUNGKBL.  Is  tliere  a  general  order  on  that  subject  f 

General  Bingham.  There  is  a  general  order  limiting  the  rent  of  rooms 
to  $IS  per  month  at  all  places  except  on  the  Pacific  coast,  where  I  think 
the  limit  is  $20  per  month. 

Mr.  GUNCKEL.  How  many  rooms  are  allowed  ? 

General  Bingham.  It  varies  according  to  the  rank  of  the  officer.    A 


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74  REDUCTION    OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT. 

lienteuant  is  entitled  to  two  rooms,  a  captain  to  three,  a  major  or  lien- 
tenant-colonel  to  four,  a  colonel  or  brigadier-general  to  five,  and  a  major- 
general  or  lieutenant-general  to  six. 

Mr.  Albright.  If  an  officer  does  not  make  an  application  for  rooms, 
does  he  get  the  money  instead  f 

General  Bingham.  No,  sir ;  he  does  not. 

Mr.  Albright.  He  must  take  the  rooms  or  get  nothing  ? 

General  Bingham.  Yes,  sir. 

The  Chairman.  If  the  officer  owns  the  house,  does  he  get  the  rent  for 
the  rooms  the  same  as  if  it  was  the  property  of  some  one  else  f 

General  Bingham.  I  think  he  does. 

The  Chairman.  Is  there  any  regulation  as  to  the  rent  of  offices  for 
headquarters  in  such  great  cities  as  New  York,  Chicago,  Cincinnati,  &c.f 

General  Binghan.  There  is  no  general  regulation  on  that  subject. 
Of  course  the  number  of  rooms  for  each  office  is  fixed  in  the  regulations. 

The  Chairman.  But  as  to  the  prices  of  those  rooms  ? 

General  Bingham.  The  price  is  not  fixed. 

The  Chairman.  Can  you  state  the  amount  that  is  paid  for  those  great 
division  and  department  headquarters  f 

General  Bingham.  I  can  send  it  to  the  committee.* 

Mr.  MacDougall.  Can  an  officer  who  is  detailed  on  court-martial 
duty  in  Washington  not  commute  for  his  quarters? 

General  Bingham.  There  is  no  commutation  for  quarters  now.  The 
rooms  are  hired,  and  are  indicated  in  the  account.  The  owner  or  agent 
is  named  in  the  account,  and  the  payment  is  made  in  his  name. 

Mr.  MacDougall.  When  was  the  system  of  commutation  for  quar- 
ters abolished  f 

General  Bingham.  It  was  abolished  by  the  law  of  1870,  which  cut  off 
all  allowances,  and  fixed  the  pay  of  officers.  Now,  instead  of  commuta- 
tion accounts  being  made  out  in  the  name  of  the  officer,  the  accounts 
are  made  out  for  rent  of  the  rooms  in  the  name  of  the  owner  or  agent, 
and  the  payments  are  made  by  a  check  in  the  name  of  such  party. 

The  Chairman.  1  see  an  item  of  $50,000  here  for  the  preservation  of 
clothing  and  equipage  from  moth  and  mildew.  Do  you  know  whether 
that  process  saves  the  Government  anything t 

General  Bingham.  We  have  been  experimenting  in  that  since  18G8-'69. 
The  Quartermaster  General  and  those  who  have  investigated  the  sub- 
ject are  satisfied  that  it  is  a  matter  of  economy.  There  was  a  board 
ordered  last  winter  to  investigate  the  subject  thoroughly,  consisting  of 
General  Marcy,  Inspector-General,  and  General  Ingalls  and  Captain 
Lee,  of  the  Quartermaster's  Department.  That  board  was  in  session  in 
Philadelphia  for  some  time,  and  the  result  of  its  examination  was  a  con- 
viction that  it  was  a  matter  of  economy,  and  the  board  recommended 
a  continuance  of  the  process. 

The  Chairman.  Do  you  think  it  is  better  to  resort  to  this  method  of 
preserving  clothing  and  equipage  than  it  would  be  to  sell  it  and  purchase 
new! 

General  Bingham.  The  process  is  only  applied  to  such  articles  a«  are 
kept  for  issue  to  the  troops.  For  instance,  all  the  cloth  that  is  ufe»ed  in 
the  manufacture  of  uniforms  this  year  has  been  subjected  to  that  pro- 
cess. 

The  Chairman.    It  is  not  applied  to  uniforms  already  made! 

General  Bingham.  Ko,  sir ;  it  has  been  applied  to  the  great  coats  and 

**  Tho  amount  to  be  paid  in  "Sew  York  City  18  limited  by  joiut  resolution  of  CouKrew, 
No.  10,  approved  February  21,  1868,  i 


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REDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITABY   ESTABLISHMENT.  75 

trousers  which  are  common  to  the  old  and  new  uniform,  and  it  had  beea 
applied  to  some  articles  of  the  old  uniform  before  the  adoption  of  the 
new. 

The  Chairman.  I  see  an  item  of  $100,000  for  Army  contingencies? 

Greneral  Bingham.  That  is  under  the  immediate  control  of  the  Secre- 
tary of  War. 

The  Chairman.  There  is  another  item  of  $4,500,000  for  the  regular 
supplies  of  the  Quartermaster's  Department,  consisting  of  stoves,  fuel, 
forage  in  kind,  &c.  Will  you  point  out  what  the  great  items  of  expendi- 
ture in  that  paragraph  aref 

General  Bingham.  I  think  fuel  is  the  most  expensive  item ;  forage  is 
next;  stoves  would  come  next,  and  the  stationery  and  printing  last. 

The  Chairman.  Would  or  would  not  the  amount  of  each  of  those 
items  be  materially  affected  by  the  size  of  the  Army  ? 

General  Bingham.  Yes ;  I  have  given  that  in  my  reply  to  your  writ- 
ten questions.  These  items  would  be  more  directly  affected  by  a  re- 
duction of  the  Army  than  any  other  items  in  our  Department.  I  un- 
derstood this  question  to  apply  to  the  Quartermaster  General's  OMce 
only,  and  answered  accordingly. 

The  Chairman.  In  speaking  of  your  Department,  have  you  an  ex- 
tra number  of  clerks,  or  can  you  diminish  the  clerical  force  in  the 
Quartermaster's  Department  f 

General  Bingham.  I  can  speak,  of  course,  only  in  regard  to  the 
branches  under  my  immediate  charge.  I  have  reduced  whenever  I 
could  do  so.  Last  May  I  reduced  by  transferring  six  clerks  to  another 
officer.  When  I  came  to  the  office  the  work  was  about  eight  years  be- 
hind in  the  examination  of  accounts,  and  it  was  brought  up  last  fall 
about  to  date.  I  reduced  the  number  of  clerks  in  the  clothing  branch 
in  the  same  way.  There  were  fourteen  when  I  came  here;  now  there 
are  twelve  clerks  and  three  copyists.  The  clerks  gained  in  my  branches 
were  sent  to  the  claims  branch,  where  the  work  appears  to  be  gaining 
constantly. 

Mr.  GUNCKEL.  About  how  many  clerks  have  you  altogether  ? 

General  Bingham.  One  hundred  and  thirty-iiiue,  exclusive  of  the 
thirty  copyists. 

Mr.  GuNCKEL.  What  is  the  average  number  of  hours  of  service  that 
they  do  per  day  f 

General  Bingham.  Six  hours. 

Mr.  GuNCKEL.  Would  it  be  economy  to  the  Government  to  have 
them  commence  work  earlier  and  continue  later  ? 

General  Bingham.  1  do  not  know.  During  the  war  the  number  of 
working-hours  was  eight.  I  was  not  in  the  office  long  enough  then  to 
tell  whether  it  made  a  difference  in  the  amount  of  work  performed  or 
not. 

The  Chairman.  The  Quartermaster's  Department  has  charge  of  this 
matter  of  head-stones,  has  it  not  ? 

General  Bingham.  Yes. 

The  Chairman.  Have  there  been  any  additional  clerks  appointed  in 
that  branch  this  year  ? 

General  Bingham.  Yes!  I  think  that  all  the  clerks  engaged  on  that 
duty  in  our  office  are  now  paid  from' the  appropriation  for  the  care  and 
maintenance  of  the  national  cemeteries. 

The  Chairman.  How  many  persons  are  employed  in  that  duty  ? 

General  Bingham.  I  think  six  clerks  and  two  draughtsmen. 

The  Chairman.  Are  there  any  other  persons  emploved  and  paid  out 
of  that  fund  ? 


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76  REDUCTION   OF   THE    MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT. 

Geueral  Bingham.  I  think  that  there  is  one  messenger  to  take  care 
of  the  rooms. 

The  Chairman.  Is  that  a  new  force,  increased  since  the  appropria- 
tion of  $1,000,000  for  that  purpose  t 

General  Bingham.  These  are  not  all  on  duty  connected  expressly 
with  headstones,  but  on  all  the  duties  in  the  Quartermaster-Oeuerarg 
Office  connected  with  the  national  cemeteries.  The  increase  of  force 
due  to  the  increased  work  in  the  office  in  consequence  of  the  appropri- 
ation for  headstones  consists  of  four  clerks.  There  are  five  civil 
engineers  also  employed  in  connection  with  the  construction  of  perma- 
nent inclosnres,  lodges,  and  head-stones. 

The  Chairman.  Do  you  know  what  these  various  clerks,  engineers, 
and  messengers  are  paid? 

General  Bingham.  The  engineers  are  allowed  $5  per  day  and  a  daily 
allowance  of  $1.50  when  absent  on  duty  from  their  regular  stations.  This 
is  to  cover  their  extra  expenses  while  traveling  to  and  from  the  different 
cemeteries.  The  draughtsmen  are  paid  $5  per  day.  There  are  two 
clerks,  who  are  paid  $150  a  month  each ;  two  at  $125  each ;  one  at  $100, 
and  one  at  $65. 

The  Chairman.  Have  there  been  any  other  additional  clerks,  em- 
ployes, or  draughtsmen  appointed  in  any  other  branch  of  the  Quarter- 
masters' Department  within  the  last  year? 

General  Bingham.  On  the  contrary,  there  has  been  a  reduction.  The 
only  increase  has  been  in  the  cemeterial  branch. 

The  Chairman.  Then  this  is  the  only  branch  in  which  there  has  been 
an  increase  of  clerical  force  1 

General  Bingham.  Yes ;  the  force  in  the  other  branches  has  been 
reduced. 

The  Chairman.  Have  yon  let  the  conti'acts  for  bead-stones  ? 

General  Bingham.  Yes;  the  contracts  have  been  made,  signed,  and 
approved  complete. 

Mr.  Albright.  How  many  posts  does  the  Quartermaster's  Depart- 
ment supply! 

General  Bingham.  The  number  varies  from  about  two  hundred  and 
twenty-five  to  three  hundred  per  year.* 

The  Chairman.  Have  you  any  data  from  which  you  can  furnish  the 
committee  with  information  as  to  whether  or  not  the  number  of  postsi 
can  be  reduced ;  whether  certain  posts  can  be  consolidated  for  the  con- 
venience of  your  Department,  by  which  means  the  routes  can  be  short- 
ened and  the  expenses  of  travel  lessened  I 

General  Bingham.  No  doubt  I  could  indicate  such  a  consolidation  of 
posts  as  would  be  greatly  to  the  advantage  of  our  Department. 

The  Chairman.  Would  that  be  to  the  advantage  of  the  Army  an4 
of  the  country  ! 

General  Bingham.  That  I  cannot  decide  upon. 

The  Chairman.  Can  you  furnish  that  readily  to  the  committee  t 

General  Bingham.  I  think  1  can  do  so  in  one  or  two  days. 

Mr.  Albright.  What  is  the  cause  of  the  variance  between  two  hun- 
dred and  twenty-five  and  three  hundred  posts  ? 

General  Bingham.  I  am  giving  this  number  from  memory ;  1  can  give 
you  the  number  exactly  by  referring  to  the  records.  The  last  time  that 
number  was  brought  to  my  notice  was  iu  reference  to  the  number  ci 

*  I  based  this  reply  on  the  namber  of  qnartermasters  intrusted  with  funds,  there 
being  neually  but  one  at  a  post.  I  find  that  there  are  at  present  bat  159  posts  occupied 
by  troops,  and  24  arsenals  occupied  by  detachments  of  orduance. 


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REDUCTION   OP   THE   MILITARY   E8 1'ABLISHMENT.  77 

officers,  post  quartermasters,  supplied  with  funds  from  tbe  Quarter- 
master's Department,  and  I  found  that  the  number  varied  from  two 
hundred  and  twenty-five  to  three  hundred. 

Mr.  AiiBRiGHT.  So  that  sometimes  there  arc  more  posts  than  at  other 
times? 

General  Bingham.  Yes,  sir. 

Mr.  Albright.  Under  the  term  "posts''  you  mean  forts  and  camps^ 
and  all  places  occupied  by  the  military  t 

General  Bingham.  Yes,  sir. 

The  Chairman.  Have  you  any  other  statement  to  make  in  connection 
with  the  matter,  aside  from  the  Vritten  statement  prepared  by  yout 

General  Bingham.  I  have  a  written  statement  which  has  been  pre- 
pared, and  another  which  I  am  at  work  upon.  I  do  not  think  of  any- 
thing else. 

The  CiiAiKMAN.  What  does  the  signal-service  cost  the  Quarter- 
master's Department  annually  1 

General  Bingham.  I  think  that  I  made  that  up  not  long  since,  and 
I  will  furnish  it  to  the  committee. 

The  following  papers  were  subsequently  furnished  by  General  Bing- 
ham, and  ordered  to  be  made  part  of  th^  record : 

[General  Orders  No.  12.) 

War  Department,  Adjutant-Gkxkral's  Office, 

n'whingtonf  March  10,  1868. 

[Public  Rh:80LUTiox— No.  10.] 

JOINT  RKSOLUTION  for  i-edaciDK  tbe  expenses  of  the  War  Department,  and  for  other  purposes. 

Be  it  resohed  bif  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatites  of  ths  United  States  of  Amerioa 
in  Congress  assembled^  That  the  St^crutary  of  War  be,  and  he  is  hereby,  authorised  and 
directed  to  tnke  itnniediate  tneaeiites  for  the  red  notion  of  the  expenseB  of  the  Arinv  and 
of  Ihe  War  Department  at  and  in  tbe  Ticinity  of  New  York  City,  at  as  early  a  day  as 
practicable,  by  concentrating  tbe  bosiness  of  Ihe  quarterma8t«r,  oommissat7,  clothing, 
ordnance,  and  medical  bnreaus,  and  reoraitioi^  service  in  said  city,  and  that  for  this 
purpose  there  shall  be  hired  and  used,  at  some  convenient  and  proper  point  in  said  oity, 
one  suitable  bnildinf^,  in  which  shall  be  accommodated  all  the  offloes  eosnected  with 
and  required  for  the  transaction  of  ench  public  business,  at  a  cost  to  the  OovemmeDt 
not  exceeding  (wen  tT-five  thousand  dollars  per  annum;  and  also  a  suitable  building 
or  property  within  tfce  harbor  of  New  York,  or  on  the  navigable  waters  thereof,  which 
ahall  have  sufficient  accommodation  of  warehouse,  pier,  dock,  and  basia-room  for  the 
safe  and  convenient  receiving,  storing,  and  care  of  all  Army  etores  of  ev«ry  kiad  and 
description  belonging  to  either  of  said  bureaus  or  branches  of  the  service,  at  an  annual 
oost  to  the  Governmeut  not  exceeding  fifiy  thousand  did lars:  Froridedf  kowio^.  That 
oothing  herein  contained  shall  be  constnted  to  prevent  the  storage  or  keeping  oif  ord- 
nance-stores or  other  property  at  Governor's  Island,  or  the  use  in  any  way,  fur  the  pur- 
mjees  of  the  Guvertiment,  of  any  property  or  building  which  actually  beloags  to  the 
United  Stotes. 

Approved  February  21, 1868. 

By  order  of  the  Secretafy  of  War: 

E.  D.  TOWNSEND, 

Assistaiit  AdJutant'Omerai. 


*  (Oeoeral  Orders  No.  76.] 

War  Dk^aktmknt,  Adjutant-Gkxkral's  Officb, 

Washingtanf  September  15,  1856. 
I.  The  monthly  rate  of  commutation  for  quarters,  where  officers  are  serving  without 
troops,  and  at  mists  where  there  are  no  public  quarters  which  they  can  occupy,  will  be 
fifteen  dollars  ($15)  per  room,  except  at  places  where,  by  the  tegtilatione  or  orders  of  the 
Secretary  of  War,  a  higher  rate  has  been  established. 
This  order  to  take  effect  ft*ofn  ftnd  after  the  first  of  October  next 


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78 


REDUCTION    OF   THE   MILITARY    ESTABLISHMENT. 


II.  The  following  are  the  places  at  vhicb  a  higher  rate  of  commutation  than  $15  per 
room  has  been  fixed : 
San  Francisco,  CaL,  $20  per  month. 
Washington,  £>.  C,  $18  per  month. 
Alexanuria,  Va.,  $18  per  month. 
New  Orleans,  La.,  $18  per  month. 
Galveston,  Tex.,  $18  per  month. 
Richmond,  Va.,  $18  per  month. 
Mobile,  Ala.,  $18  per  month. 
By  order  of  the  Secretary  of  War : 

E.  D.  T0WN8END, 

Assistant  AdJutat-GenMral. 


[(ieneral  Orders  No.  85.) 
HEAD<iUARTER8  OF  THE  ARMY,  AIXJUTANT-GKNRRAL'R  OfFICK, 

WashiHgtan,  October  17, 1868. 

By  direction  of  the  Secretary  of  War,  the  monthly  rate  of  oommntation  for  qnarters, 
where  ofiicers  are  serving  without  troops,  and  at  posts  where  there  are  no  public  quar- 
ters which  they  can  occupy,  shall  be  eighteen  dollars  ($18)  per  room,  except  at  inacee 
where,  by  the  regulations  or  orders  of  the  Secretary  of  War,  a  higher  rat«  has  been 
established. 

This  order  to  take  effect  from  and  after  November  1,  1868. 

By  command  of  General  Grant : 

E.  D.  TOWNSEND, 

Assistant  Jdjutani-GtmeraT. 


[General  Orders  No.  92.1 

Heai»quarter8  of  the  Army,  Adjut ant-Genera l'6  Office, 

H'MhingUm,  Xuvember  4,  1868. 

The  following  order  has  been  received  from  the  War  Department,  and  is  published 
for  the  government  of  all  concerned.  No  other  allowances  of  the  class  designated  than 
those  herein  prescribed  will  be  sanctioned  after  January  1, 1869(: 

The  records  of  divisions,  departments,  and  districts  show  a  very  large  number  of 
soldiers  employed  on  extra  duty  as  clerks,  messengers,  and  orderlies  at  their  head- 
quarters. This  is  probably  in  some  degree  due  to  the  difficulty  of  obtaining  and  keep- 
ing the  necessary  number  of  efficient  and  reliable  men  under  the  present  uncertain 
system  of  details. 

Accordingly,  the  commanding  generals  of  military  divisions  and  departments,  and  of 
the  military  districts,  are  hereby  authorized  to  enlist  a  detachment  of  "  general-ser- 
vice'' men,  in  no  case  exceeding  one  .sergeant,  two  corporals,  and  ten  privates,  and  as 
much  less  as  the  actual  necessities  of  the  service  will  permit,  to  be  employed  as  clerks 
at  their  headquarters;  and  they  are  authorized  to  discharge  them,  from  time  to  time, 
when  they  are  not  required  as  clerks.  It  is  expected  that  the  efficiency  of  clerks  thus 
obtained  will  greatly  diminish  the  necessity  for  a  larse  number. 

If  it  be  necessary  to  employ  any  men  in  excess  of  the  number  above  authorized,  the 
commanding  generals  must  detail  them  from  regiments  serving  within  their  commands; 
and  in  this  case  the  men  will  not  be  dropped  from  the  rolls  of  their  companies. 

Extra  pay  and  commutation  of  rations,  fuel,  and  quarters  will  be  allowed  under  this 
order  for  the  number  of  men  and  at  the  rates  laid  down  in  the  following  table.  For 
any  detailed  men  in  excess  of  such  number,  only  the  cost-price  of  the  regulation  allow- 
ance of  rations,  fuel,  and  quarters,  and  no  extra  pay,  will,  under  any  circumstances,  be 
authorized : 


Grad**. 


Clerks,  (i^neral  serrioe) 

Mensengers,  (detailed  from  companies). 


W 


$0  35 
20 


COJWUTATION. 


Rations 
per  diem. 


•0  75 

SO 


Fuel  per 
month. 


16  00 
800 


Qoariem 
per  month. 


$10  < 
10  < 


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REDUCTION    OF    THE    MILITARY    ESTABLISHMENT.  79 

Master  and  master  and  pay  rolls  of  the  detachments  will  be  made  as  prescribed  in 
the  Army  Regulations  for  companies.  The  general-service  men  and  detailed  mfin  will 
be  all  mastered  on  the  same  rolls,  with  remarks  showing  to  what  commands  or  com- 
panies they  properly  belong.  The  detailed  men  who  receive  extra-dnty  pay  and  allow- 
ances will  be  distingnished  from  those  detailed  in  excess  of  the  authorized  number. 

This  order  will  begin  to  go  into  effect  immediately  on  its  receipt,  and  the  reductions 
to  be  made  ander  its  provisions  must  be  fully  completed  by  January  1, 1869. 

By  command  of  General  Grant : 

E.  D.  TOWNSEND, 

Assistant  Jdjutant-OcneraK 


[(leneral  Orders  Na  96.] 

War  Department,  Aixtut ant-General's  Office, 

Washingtony  July  26, 1870. 
The  following  instructions  are  issued  for  the  guidance  of  offi^sers  of  the  Army  under 
the  "  act  making  appropriations  for  the  support  of  the  Army,  and  for  other  purposes,'' 
approved  July  15,  1870,  which  is  published  in  General  Orders  No.  92,  from  this  office  : 

I.  Qffioers  who  wish  to  avail  themselves  of  the  provisions  of  sections  3  and  4  of  the 
act  are  desired  to  apply  for  discharge  or  retirement  at  the  earliest  day  practicable,, 
and  to  accompany  their  application  i^ith  a  statement  of  reasons  and  circumstances 
which  may  serve  accurately  to  determine  their  cases. 

II.  Under  section  9,  regimental  commanders  will  assign  the  lieutenants  who  held  the 
appointment  of  commissary  to  companies  when  vacancies  exist,  or  attach  them  tempo- 
rarily to  companies  for  duty  until  vacancies  occur,  and  make  a  special  report  of  their 
action  to  the  Adjutant-General  of  the  Army. 

UI.  Under  section  10,  regimental  commanders  will  discharge  the  non-commissioned 
officers  therein  referred  to,  or,  if  the  men  so  elect,  may  appoint  them  to  vacancies  in 
the  existing  grades  of  non-commissioned  officers,  or  permit  them  to  serve  out  their 
terms  as  privates. 

IV.  The  commanders  of  the  several  geoj^raphioal  military  departments  will,  as  soon 
as  they  can  be  prepared,  forward  to  the  ^c(]utant-Generalof  the  Army  the  names,  rank, 
regiment,  and  corps  of  staff  or  regimental  officers  who  should  be  brought  before  the 
board  provided  for  in  section  11  of  the  act.  In  each  case  the  cause,  degree,  nature, 
and  duration  of  the  disqualification  will  be  stated  as  clearly  as  possible,  and  the  docu- 
mentary evidence,  and  list  of  witnesses  necessary  to  sustain  the  allegation  of  unfitness, 
will  also  be  furnished. 

y.  Department  and  regimental  commanders  may  recommend,  for  sufficient  cause, 
such  meritorious  officers  as,  from  choice  or  peculiar  fitness,  may  be  advantageously 
transferred  from  one  of  the  arms— cavalry,  artillery,  or  infantry— to  another. 

YI.  Section  15  relates  to  the  residence  and  command  of  the  General  of  the  Arni3^,  and 
the  transmission  of  the  President's  orders  through  him. 

YII.  The  commutations  for  fuel  and  quarters  heretofore  allowed  to  officers  of  the 
Army  not  fumisheil  in  kind  having  been  abolished  by  section  24,  in  cases  where  build- 
ings suitable  for  officers'  quarters  are  not  owned  by  the  United  States,  the  Quarter- 
miister*s  Department  will,  whenever  practicable,  rent  for  each  officer  a  number  of  rooms, 
and  at  a  rate  per  month  per  room  not  exceeding  in  the  aggregate  that  now  established 
by  regulations  and  orders ;  but  whenever,  for  good  and  sufficient  causes,  an  officer  is 
qnartered  in  a  lodging-house  or  hotel  where  the  rental  of  a  full  allowance  of  rooms 
would  be  costly,  a  sum  not  exceeding  that  above  specified  for  an  officer  of  his  rank  may 
be  paid  to  the  proprietor  for  the  accommodations  so  furnished. 

By  order  of  the  Secretary  of  War : 

E.  D.  TOWNSEND, 

Jdjutant-Gtmral. 


IGeDeral  Orders  No.  lOd.] 

War  Department,  Adjutant-General's  Office, 

Washington,  November  10,  1873. 
The  following  instructions,  in  which  are  consolidated  the  existing  i*egulations  and 
orders  relative  to  the  allowance  of  fuel,  are  published  for  the  information  and  guidance- 


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REDUCTION    OF    THE    MILITARY   ESTABLISH  ^fENT. 


of  the  Army.    The  number  of  rooms  and  quantity  of  fuel  for  officers  and  men  are  as 
follows : 


The  General,  (see  note  at  foot  of  table.) 

The  Lientenaiit-General  or  a  nugor-£eneral 

A  britsadiergeoeral  or  colonel 

A  lieuteDant-coloDel  or  niivjor 

A  captain  or  chaplain 

A  lieutenant 

The  General  commanding  the  Army 

The  nommaudiug  oflicer  of  a  x<)ogi'>vphiG«l  division  or  depart- 
ment  

An  assistant  or  deputy  qnart^^rmaster-general,  an  assistant 
comniissary-Keneral  oi  subsistence,  an  assistant  snrj^eongen- 
era),  the  assisUnt  judj^e^advooate  general,  and  the  assistant 
and  deputy  pay  master-general,  each 

The  conima'n(iinj;  officer  of  a  rejciment  or  post,  a  payniast-er, 
quartermaster,  assistant  quartermaster,  commissary  of  sub- 
sistence, and  milltanr  store-ke4*per,  each 

The  senior  ordnanre-onioor  at  the  headquarters  of  a  geoKraph- 
ioal  division  or  department 

Theassist^ut  a<\jn  taut-general  at  the  headquarters  of  the  Army, 
the  assistant  ai^jutant-general,  the  inspoctor-general  or  assist- 
ant inspector-geueral,  the  medical  purveyor,  and  the  me4iioaI 
director  and  medical  pnnreyor  of  a  geograpbioal  division  or 
department,  each 

An  acting  assistant  quartermaster,  an  acting  commissary  of 
subsistence,  a  regimental  or  post  a<yutant,  when  approved  by 
the  Quartermaster-General,  each  

A  wagon  and  forage  master,  aergeant-nu^or,  ordnanoe-sergeantv 
commissary-sergeant,  superintendent  national  cemetery,  med- 
ical-cadet, hospital-steward,  regimental  veterinary  surgeon, 
and  principal  mnaieian,  each 

Each  non-commissioned  officer,  musioian,  pTiv«te«  and  lanndTeas 

Each  necessary  fire  for  the  sick  in  ho«plt«l  at  mUitary  post  or 
station,  to  be  regulated  by  the  surgeon  and  commanding  offi* 
cer.  not  exceeding 

For  general  hospitals,  when  neoessary,  not  exceeding  for  eftoh 


Each  smard-firef  to  be  regulated  by  the  oommanding  officer,  not 
exceeding , 

Xach  necessary  fire  for  military'  courts  or  boards,  at  a  rate  dot 
exceeding , 

Store-house  of  a  commissary,  quartermaster,  medical  pnrveyor, 
when  necessary,  not  exceeding , 

A  regimental  or  post  mess 

Each  employ^  of  the  Quartermaster  or  Sttbsi8t4<<nce  Department 
to  whom  subsistence  in  Icind  is  issued  by  the  Government. . 

For  chnpel,  reading  or  school  room,  one  room  and  such  fuel  as 
may  be  necessary,  to  be  provided  upon  the  requisition  of  the 
chaplain,  approv^  by  the  commanding  officer 


I    Conls  of 
Kmnns.      j    wood  oer 


Incfoafsed 
allowance 
fn»mSeat.to 
April,  both 
Inoluaive. 


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NoTR.~The  allowance  for  fuel  and  quarters  to  the  General  of  the  Array  of  the  United  States,  when 
his  headquarters  are  in  Washington,  D.  C,  is  at  the  rate  of  OOO  per  month. 

Kindling-wood  may  form  a  part  of  the  regular  issue  of  fuel  in  proportion  equal  to 
one-sixtli  of  the  whole  allowance  authorized,  according  to  the  scale  of  equivalents  es- 
tablished hy  General  Orders  No.  13  ,of  1879,  from  this  office,  and  the  rate  of  oommuta- 
tion  therefor  at  each  military  poet  or  station  shall  be  the  narket-prioe  fut  kiodUDg- 
wood  at  the  time  such  commutation  occurs.  [General  Orders  No»  18|  IfeadqiiiMteis  w 
the  Army,  Adjutant-General's  Office,  February  9, 1870.] 


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REDUCTION   OP   THE   MILITAEY   ESTABLISHMENT. 


81 


The  forejjolng  allowances  will  take  the  place  of  paragraph  10(>8,  Reviged  Army  Reg- 
nlatious,  lS63. 

Merchantable  hard  wood  is  the  standard ;  the  cord  is  128  cnbic  feet. 

Paragraphs  106^  and  1069  of  the  Regulations  are  modified  so  as  to  provide  that  in 
tlie  isisiie  of  fuel  the  following  scale  of  equivalents  shall  be  used,  the  standard  being 
uiorchautable  oak  wood,  delivered,  viz : 

One  cord  of  the  standard  oak  wood  eqnals — 

One  cord  of  merchantable  oak. 

One  and  one-fifth  cord  of  yellow  pine. 

One  and  three-fourths  cord  of  white  pine,  poplar,  cottonwood,  or  other  soft  wood. 

One  thousand  six  hundred  pounds  of  anthracite  or  bitumiuons  coal.  [General  Or- 
ders No.  13,  Headquarters  of  the  Army,  Adjutant-General's  Office,  March  9, 1869.] 

In  the  issue  of  coals  of  the  Pacific  slope,  the  following  scale  of  equivalents  shall  be 
nsed,  the  standard  being  merchantable  oak  wood,  delivered,  viz : 
One  cord  of  the  standard  oak  wood  equals — 

Two  thousand  ^ve  hundred  pounds  Rocky  Mountain  brown  coal,  Wahsatch  Range. 

Two  thousand  six  hundred  pounds  Mount  Diablo,  California,  and  Goose  i3ay,  Oregon, 
brown  coal. 

Two  thonsand  four  hundred  ponnds  Seattle,\Vashington  Territory,  brown  coal. 

Two  thousand  two  hundred  pounds  Belliugham  Bay,  Washington  Territory,  brown 
coal. 

One  thonsand  eight  hnndred  pounds  Nanaimo,  Vancouver's  Island,  British  Colnmbia, 
brown  coal.  [General  Orders  No.  19,  War  Department,  Adjutant-Generars  Office,  April 
24,  187*2.] 

A  mess-room,  and  fuel  for  it,  are  allowed  only  when  a  majority  of  the  officers  of  a 
post  or  regiment  nnite  in  a  mess ;  never  to  less  than  three  officers,  nor  to  any  who  live 
in  hotels  or  boarding-houses.  Fuel  for  a  mess-room  shall  not  be  used  elsewhere  or  for 
any  other  purpose.    [Piiragraph  1072,  Regulations.] 

Fuel  issued  to  officers  or  troops  is  public  property  for  their  use  ;  what  they  do  not 
actnally  consume  shall  be  returned  to  the  quartermaster  and  taken  up  on  his  quar- 
terly return ;  with  this  exception,  however,  that  the  fuel  issued  to  troops  and  not  ac- 
tnally used  in  quarters  may  be  used  in  baking  their  bread.  [Paragraph  1073.]  Par- 
ticular attention  of  officers  is  called  to  the  foregoing  provision. 

In  8cptember,  October,  November,  December,  January,  February,  March,  and  April, 
the  fuel  is  increased  one-fourth  at  stations  from  the  36th  to  the  43d  degree  north  lati- 
tude, and  one-third  at  stations  north  of  the  43d  degree.  [Substituted  for  paragraph 
1074,  General  Orders  No.  96,  Headquarters  of  the  Army,  Adjutant-GeueraPs  Office, 
November  23,  1868.] 

Fuel  shall  be  issued  only  in  the  month  when  due.    [Par(igraph  1075.] 

At  posts  at  great  elevations  above  the  sea-level,  or  which  may  bo  otherwise  exposed 
to  extreme  cold,  the  Secret<ary  of  War,  upon  recommendation  of  post,  department,  and 
division  commanders,  will  authorize  such  increase  of  fuel  as  may  be  necessary  for  the 
health  and  comfort  of  the  troops. 

By  order  of  the  Secretary  of  War : 

E.  D.  TOWNSEND, 

Adjutant-General. 


War  Department,  Quartermaster-General's  Office, 

fVatthingionf  D.  C,  January  12, 1874. 
Sir  :  In  compliance  with  your  request,  I  have  the   honor  to  submit  the  following 
statement  of  the  annuid  expenditures  of  the  Quartermaster's  Department,  for  rent  of 
buildings  occupied  as  quarters  by  officers  of  the  Army,  and  rent  of  buildings  hired  for 

Snrposes  of  storage,  offices,  stablaig,  &c.,  at  the  headquarters  of  the  several  military 
ivisions  and  departments  of  the  Army.    Also,  a  similar  statement  of  the  rents  paid 
in  this  city. 


Locatiou  of  hcadqaarters.      !  Divisions. 


Xpw  YorkCity |  Atlantic. 

B<Mtoii,  Mass i do  .... 

Phibidelphift,  Pa '....do 

Dttroit,  Mii:h do  .... 

Buifalo.N.Y do.... 


Total  Diriflion  of  the  Atlantic. 


6  ME 


\    OfBcpra' 


Dcpartmcnta.      |  q,,^^:;^,   i  Offices,  &c. ,      Total. 


I 


I  St  district ;  *}-3, 948  00 

2d  district ;      7,128  00 

3ddiHtrict 14.256  00 

4tli  district K,  421  00 

Stiidisitiict a.r'^riOO 


$35, 700  00 
1,200  00 
4,  WO  92 

1,  im  88 

64d  00 


$68,  648  00 
«.  328  00 
19, 255  !h2 

10,  lya  88 

4.  530  00 


6, 644  00       44, 317  80  !     110, 901  tO 


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82 


REDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT. 


Location  of  headquarters. 

Divisions. 

Departments. 

Officers' 
quarters. 

Offices,  &c. 

Total. 

San  Pranciftco,  Cal.  - 

Pacirtc 

. . .  .do 

California 

129,280  00 
10,800  00 

$39,876  00 
10, 176  00 

169, 156  00 
20,976  00 

Portland,  Oreg 

Columbia 

Prescott,  Ariz 

....do 

Arizona'* 

Total  Division  of  the  Pacific. . . 

40, 080  00 

50.  05-2  00 

90, 132  00 

Missonri.. 

Chica»),Ill 

14. 040  00 
4, 104  00 
3,  456  00 
11,232  00 
14,256  00 
10,584  00 

13,  800  00 

10.  800  00 

1, 080  0) 

4,  455  96 

5,  947  92 
14, 070  00 

27,840  00 
14, 904  CO 
5. 136  00 

Saint  Lionis,  Mo 

....do  

lA^avenworth,  Kans 

....do 

Missouri 

Ouialifl,  Nebr 

...  do 

....do 

Platte  

15  687  96 

Sniut  Paul.  Minn 

Dakota 

20.203  92 
24,654  00 

San  Antonio,  Tex 

..  do 

Texas 

SantaT^,  N.Mex 

....do 

Dist  New  Mexico-* 

Total  Diviaion  of  tho  Miasoari. 

57.672  00 

50.  753  88 

108  425  8i^ 

South.... 
....do 

South  

Louisville,  Ky 

12. 744  00 
13, 176  00 

8,  079  96 
9, 720  00 

20  823  96 

!Now  Orleans,  La 

Guir 

22.896  00 

Total  Division  of  the  Sonth 

25,920  00 

17, 799  96 

43,719  96 

*  Public  buildings  occupied;  nothing  paid  for  rents. 

The  annual  amonnt  paid  for  rentB  at  Washington  for  officers'  qnarters  is  $62,616, 
and  for  other  buildings  §48,160.08,  making  a  total  of  $110,776.08. 

RECAPITULATION. 

Total  amonnt  Division  of  the  Atlantic $110,961  80 

Total  amount  Division  of  tho  Pacific 90, 1.J2  00 

Total  amount  Division  of  the  Mii^souri 108,  425  f*8 

Total  amount  Division  of  the  Sonth 43,719  96 

Total  amount  depot  at  Washington 110,776  08 

Grand  total 464,015  72 

In  reference  to  the  expenditure  by  the  Quartermaster's  Department  on  account  of 
the  Signal-Corps  of  the  Army,  it  is  estimated  at  J«li^3,3*25  per  annum. 
Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

J.  D.  BINGHAM, 
Acting  Quariennaater-Generalj  Brevet  Brigadier-General f  U.  S.  A. 
Hon.  John  Coburn, 

Chairman  Committee  on  Military  Affairs,  House  of  Ilepresentatives^ 


QUARTERMA STKR-GeXERAL\S  OfFICE, 

Washingfonj  D,  C.^  January  13, 1874. 
Sir  ;  In  reply  to  your  letter  of  the  13th  instant,  I  have  the  honor  to  furnish  the  fol- 
lowing list  of  tho  civil  employes  of  the  Army,  showing  the  number  of  each  class  and 
their  rate  of  pay,  as  indicated  on  the  estimates  for  November  last : 


No. 

Occupation. 

Monthly 
pay  of  each. 

Totiil 
monthly  pay. 

1 

Clerk *. 

§215  05 
170  00 
170  45 
161  29 
150  00 
145  00 
140  00 
135  00 
133  00 
133  33 
116  66 
125  00 
100  00 

1215  0.') 

10 

....do 

1,700  00 

f* 

....do 

852  25 

1 

....do 

161  29 

47 

....do 

7, 050  00 

'S 

(lo    

435  00 

10 

(lo 

1,400  00 

7 

do 

945  00 

6 

....do 

798  00 

3 

....do 

399  99 

I) 

do 

1,049  94 

117 

....do 

11,625  00 

.      47 

....do 

4,700  09 

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REDUCTION   OP   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT. 


83 


Xo. 

Occopation. 

Monthly 
pay  of  each. 

Total  monthly 
pay. 

5 

Clerk 

$115  00 
110  00 
75  00 
70  00 
60  00 
50  00 

^75  00 
330  00 
150  00 

3 
•2 

....do 

do 

1 

....do 

70  00 

1 

do 

60  (0 

1 

do 

50  00 

Total 

279 

35,566  52 

Agent,  one-half  paid  by  railroad  compaDies 

Agent* 

do 

300  00 

150  00 

130  00 

125  00 

75  00 

100  00 

140  00 

135  00 

130  00 

50  00 

30  00 

1 
3 
I 

300  00 
430  00 
130  00 

16 

....do 

2,000  00 

4 

....do 

300  00 

6 
1 

....do 

....do 

609  00 
140  00 

1 

....do 

135  00 

1 

....do 

130  00 

1 

....do 

50  00 

1 

■do 

30  00 

3() 

Total 

4,265  00 

Drangbtsmen -. .... .-«--. 

150  00 
130  00 

5 

750  00 

I 

do 

Total 

130  00 

6 

860  00 

Storekeepers 

125  00 

i:^  00 

113  63 

112  00 

100  00 

fc»6  00 

fcO  00 

75  00 

40  00 

41  60 

4 

500  00 

I 

do.*. 

135  00 

1 

do 

113  03 

1 

do 

112  00 

d 

do 

K)0  00 

1 

do 

86  00 

2 

6 

do 

160  00 

do 

4r)0  00 

*2 

do 

100  00 

1 

do 

41  60 

Total 

27 

2,498  23 

Saporin  tendents  and  foremen ....... 

150  00 

142  05 

125  00 

100  00 

75  00 

80  00 

60  00 

55  00 

50  00 

48  00 

40  00 

600  00 

4 

do do 

142  05 

1 

125  Ot» 

1 

200  00 

2 

do do '. 

150  00 

2 

do do 

160  00 

2 

......  do ...... do 

120  00 

2 
1 

......  do .... ...... ....  do ...... ............... .... 

55  00 

100  00 

2 

1 

do do 

Total 

48  00 
40  00 

19 

1,740  05 

150  00 
120  00 

2 

300  00 

[  Telegraph  operators 

5 

600  00 

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84 


BEDUCTION  OF  THE  MIUTAEY   ESTABLISHMENT. 


No. 

OccnpatioD. 

Monthly 
pay  of  each. 

Total 
monthly  pay. 

2 

Telegraph  operators. 

(100  00 
85  00 

8200  00 
595  00 

7 

....do........  do 

Total 

14 

1,395  00 

luBpectors..... 

208  33 

150  00 

125  00 

90  00 

85  00 

75  00 

1 

208  33 

1 
4 

do 

do 

150  00 
500  00 

1 

do 

90  00 

1 

do 

85  00 

1 

do 

75  00 

Total 

9 

1,008  33 

CoDvist... 

50  00 

84  00 
80  64 
75  00 
60  00 
54  00 
50  00 
45  00 
40  00 
35  00 
30  00 
25  00 

1 

50  00 

W^  J  *wv  ....    ....    ....    ....     ....    .........    ....    ....    .... 

MesseDgers  ..................................... 

2 

168  00 

1 

do 

80  64 

6 

do 

450  00 

13 

do 

780  00 

1 

do 

54  00 

2 

......do 

100  00 

7 

do 

315  00 

4 

do 

160  00 

4 

do 

140  00 

3 

do 

90  00 

1 

do 

25  00 

Total 

44 

2, 362  64 

Laborer 

94  00 
84  00 
60  00 
54  00 
52  50 
50  00 
45  00 
40  00 
:38  00 
35  00 
30  00 
25  00 
20  00 

1 

94  00 

4 

....do 

336  00 

11 

do 

660  00 

117 

....do 

6.318  00 
105  00 

2 

do 

28 
36 

....do 

....do 

1,400  00 

1,620  00 

200  00 

5 

....do........... 

2 
41 

....do 

....do 

76  00 
1,435  00 
3. 150  00 

105 

do 

4 

do 1 

100  00 

2 

....do 

40  00 

Total 

358 

15,534  00 

Watcbmaii ..--.. 

84  00 
75  00 
70  00 
65  00 
60  00 
45  00 
40  00 
35  00 
30  00 
25  00 
20  00 

1 

84  00 

3 

do 

225  00 

3 

do 

210  00 

2 

do 

130  00 

2*2 

do 

1,320  00 
945  00 

21 

do 

4 

do 

160  00 

11 

do 

385  00 

13 

do 

390  00 

1 

do 

25  00 

1 

do 

20  00 

Total 

82 

3,894  00 

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REDUCTION   OP   THE  MILITARY  ESTABLISHMENT. 


85 


No. 

Occupation. 

Monthly 
pay  of  each. 

Total 
monthly  pay. 

1 

Blacksmith  and  farrier ....  ...................... 

1166  00 

125  00 

120  00 

115  00 

100  00 

90  00 

85  00 

84  50 

75  00 

70  00 

68  75 

60  00 

40  00 

$166  00 

1,000  00 

120  00 

1 

do do 

.....do.. ........do....  ....................  .... 

3 
5 

......do do ........  .................... 

345  00 
500  00 

31 

. .  do do.................  ............ 

2,790  00 
170  00 

2 

......  do .- do....  .. ....... 

3 

......  do -. do...... .......... ......  .-.--- 

2.53  50 

31 

......  do do -  ................ 

2,325  00 
210  00 

1,718  75 
120  00 

3 
25 

......do.... --  ....do 

2 

1 

do do 

Total 

40  00 

116 

9,758  25 

Blacksmith's  helpers 

no  00 
75  00 

2 

100  00 

1 

do 

75  00 

Total 

3 

175  00 

Wagon  and  forage  masters 

100  00 
«5  00 
80  00 
75  00 
65  00 
60  00 
55  00 
50  00 
45  00 
40  00 

7 

700  00 

1 

...do do 

85  00 

4 

... do .......do 

320  00 

12 

......  do ....do.. .--...- 

900  00 

2 

do do 

130  00 

3 

do do .- 

180  00 

2 

......  do do 

110  00 

11 

do do - 

550  00 

1 

do do - 

45  00 

1 

do do 

40  00 

Total 

44 

3,060  00 

Engineers 

125  00 
100  00 
93  00 
90  00 
75  00 
70  00 
45  00 

2 

250  00 

7 

do 

700  00 

1  1 

do 

93  00 

do .• 

360  00 

do 

75  00 

1 
1 

do 

do 

70  00 
45  00 

Total 

17 

1,593  00 

Interpreters  and  guides .......................... 

150  00 
125  00 
100  00 
85  00 
75  00 
80  00 
60  00 
50  00 
40  00 

3 

450  00 

7 

......  do .... ......  do  .... .... .... ...... ...... ... 

875  00 

16 

1,600  00 
425  00 

5 

17 

......  do ..........  do 

1,275  00 

1 

....  . .  do  ..........do..'...... 

80  00 

1 

......do..... .  ....do 

60  00 

3 

......  do .....  do  ...................... ...... 

150  00 

.    2 

do do 

Total 

80  00 

55 

4,995  00 

Firemen 

60  00 
30  00 

2 

120  00 

1 

....do 

30  00 

Total 

3 

150  00 

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86 


REDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT. 


No. 


Occnpation. 


Monthly 
pay  of  each. 


Total 
monthly  pay. 


3 
4 

20 
3 
2 

1 


50 


12 
1 

23 
7 
1 
3 

2ue> 

2()8 

25 

4 


Janitor. 
...do... 
...do... 
...do... 
...do... 
...do... 


555 


1 
12 


1 
2 

5 
13 
4 
1 
1 
1 


Total. 


Packer  .. 
..do.... 
Packers . 
...do... 
...do... 

do  ... 

...do... 
...do... 
, . . . do  .  - . 

do  ... 

—  do  ... 


Total. 


Teamsters  . 

do 

...do 

do 

do 

...do 

do 

do 

....do  ..... 

....do 

....do 

....do 


Total 


Scavenger . 
Cooks 


Saddlers. 

—  do 

....do 

....do.... 

do 

....do.... 
...do.... 
....do .... 
. ...  do  ... . 


30 


Total. 


885  00 
75  00 
84  00 
(58  50 
60  00 
40  00 


80  00 
€^5  0()| 
60  00 
54  00 
50  00' 
45  00 
40  00 
38  00 
35  00 
30  00 
25  00 
15  00 


80  00 
25  00 


Painter  ....................  ............ ........ 

1 
81  00 

....do 

75  OOi 

....do .... 

6^  50' 

Total 

1 

1 

\ 

$85  00 

75  00 

84  (M) 

137  00 

180  00 

40  00 


601  00 


115  00 

115  00 

100  00 

400  00 

90  00 

450  00 

85  00 

170  00 

80  00 

240  00 

75  00 

300  (»0 

60  00 

l.aOO  00 

50  00 

150  (iO 

45  00 

90  00 

40  00 

40  00 

30  00 

150  00 

3, 305  00 


80  00 

130  (M> 

720  00 

54  00 

1, 150  00 

315  00 

40  OO 

114  00 

7,2H0  00 

b,  U4(»  00 

625  00 

60  Ot) 


IK,  608  (M) 


80  00 


300  00 


125  00 

250  00 

100  00 

100  IH) 

85  00 

170  00 

80  Oi) 

400  UO 

75  00 

975  00 

68  75 

275  00 

(C>  00 

65  CO 

30  00 

30  (K) 

71  50 

71  50 

2,336  59 


81  00 

IfO  00 

62  50 


293  50 


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REDDCTION   OF   THE   MILITAEY   ESTABLISHMENT. 


87 


No. 

Occupation. 

Monthly 
pay  of  each. 

Total 
monthly  pay. 

1 
2 

Herder 

do     ........   .....  .....    ........   ......    .  . 

$75  00 
50  00 
49  00 
35  00 
30  00 

S75  00 

100  00 

2 

....do 

98  00 

4 

....do 

140  00 

3rt 

....do 

1, 140  00 

Total - 

47 

1,553  CO 

Wheelwrights 

125  00 
115  00 
90  00 
81  00 
80  00 
75  00 
71  50 
68  75 

59  371 

167  50 
100  00 

60  00 

ro  00 

45  00 
35  00 
30  00 

25  00 

35  00 

68  75 
75  00 

125  00 
90  00 
75  00 

4 

500  00 

5 

do 

575  00 

17 

... ...do. ...... ...... ...... ...... .... .... .... .... 

1,530  CO 

2 

......  do  - ...... .....'. ...... ...... .... .... .... .... 

162  00 

1 

do 

80  00 

26 

do 

1,950  00 
143  00 

2 

do 

10 

do 

687  50 

Total 

67 

5, 627  50 

Tent-makers 

2 

118  75 

Mail-carrier 

1 

167.  50 

1 

-.do 

ToUl 

Hostler 

100  00 

2 

267  50 

1 

60  00 

2 

....do 

100  00 

4 

do 

180  00 

25 

do 

840  00 

2t> 

.... do ...........................     ....  .    ...    - 

780  00 

Total 

57 

1,960  00 

Farmers,  discharged  at  end  of  November 

40 

1,000  00 

Station- keepers 

3 

105  00 

CarDenters...... .- .^..... 

2 

137  r.o 

1 

....Vdo. ".:::::.:::::::.:;:::::::..::..:...:... 

75  00 

Total       ..          •      .            .            ... 

3 

212  50 

Cutter 

1 

125  00 

14 

...do 

1,260  00 

4 

...do 

300  00 

Total   • - 

19 

1,685  00 

Superintendent  on  artesian-well ^ 

Borers  on  artesian-well S 

The  number  of  extra-ilaty  men  employed  during 
the  same  month  was  as  follows,  viz : 

Artificers,  overseers,  clerks,  signal-sergeants,  &c  .. 
I  AlK>rers.  teamBters.  Ac    .r-*.*..^..,...^.. ....... 

1 

1,330  00 

4 



10  50 
6  00 

1,947 
2, 178 

20,443  50 
13,068  00 

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88  EEDUCTION   OP   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT. 

No  civilians  aro  now  employed  under  tbe  bead  of  barracks  and  qaarters.  Tbe  law 
requires  that  construction  and  repairs  of  temporary  buildings  shall,  except  in  certain 
cases,  be  done  by  the  troops. 

Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

J.  D.  BINGHAM, 
Acting  Quartennaster-Oeneral,  Bvt.  Brig,-Gen,,  V.  S.  A. 

Hon.  John  Coburx, 

Chairman  Committee  on  Military  Affairs^  House  of  Bepreeentativea, 


Washington,  D.  C,  January  10, 1874. 

Examination  of  8.  V.  Ben^t,  Major  of  Ordnance. 
By  tbe  Chairman  : 

Question.  Are  the  present  works  in  fortifications  in  this  country,  made 
of  stone  and  brick,  capable  of  resisting  the  heavy  artillery  which  may 
be  brought  to  bear  against  them  t 

Answer.  The  report  of  the  board  of  engineers,  approved  by  General 
Sherman  and  the  Secretary  of  War,  discusses  the  question  of  iron-clad- 
ding the  forts,  which  has  been  tried  in  Eussia,  and  I  think  in  other 
countries.  But  the  advantage  of  it  was  a  matter  which  they  did  not 
consider  as  fully  pix)ved,  and  the  conclusion  reached  was,  that  the  for- 
tifications should  be  protected  by  earth,  and  that  in  desirable  places 
earth- works  should  be  put  up,  with  wooden  platforms.  That  is  the  prin- 
ciple, I  think,  on  which  the  engineers  are  working  now,  to  protect  their 
guns,  by  means  of  earth,  as  the  very  best  protection. 

Question.  What  is  the  comparative  cost  of  earth  and  masonry  works  of 
defense,  in  so  far  as  a  comparison  can  be  instituted  ? 

Answer.  The  correspondence  with  the  Chief  Engineer,  herewith  sub- 
mitted, is  a  reply  to  this  question. 

The  correspondence  is  as  follows : 

Obdnakce  Offick,  War  Department, 

WaehingtoH,  May  21,  1873. 
Sir  :  I  am  directed  by  the  Chief  of  Ordnance  to  request  that  this  office  may  be  fur- 
nished at  an  early  day  with  a  list  of  the  fortidcations  now  in  readiness  to  receive  their 
armament,  or  which  may  become  so  dnrinfs;  the  next  fiscal  year,  and  a  detailed  state- 
ment of  the  nnmber  and  kind  of  guns,  carriages,  &c.,  required  to  fully  arm  each  work. 
To  enable  this  office  to  properly  present  its  estimates  to  the  honorable  Secretary  of 
War,  as  well  as  to  form  an  opinion  as  to  future  estimates  of  funds  to  arm  the  fortifica- 
tions now  complete  or  projected,  it  is  desired  to  know  the  cost  of  the  various  completed 
works  for  each  gun  mounted  or  to  be  mounted  for  service. 
Respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

S.  V.  BENfiT. 

Major  of  Ordnance, 
The  Chief  of  Engineers. 

United  States  Army^  Washington,  D.  C. 


Office  of  the  Chief  op  Engineers. 

Waithington,  D.  C,  August  11, 1873. 
Sir  :  In  reply  to  your  commnnication  of  May  21, 1873, 1  send  herewith  a  tabular 
statement  showing,  ist,  the  total  armament  required  for  the  various  sea^coast  defenses 
no^v  in  coarse  of  modification  or  construction  under  plans  approved  by  the  Secretary 
of  War ;  and,  2d,  the  portion  of  this  armament  which  each  work  will  probably  be  ready 
to  receive  and  mount  on  the  30th  of  June,  1^4. 
In  this  table  the  calibers  of  the  pieces  are  definitely  given  only  so  far  as  they  have 


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EEDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY    ESTABLISHMENT.  89 

been  fixed  on  the  plans  of  the  works;  where  they  have  not  been  so  fixed,  they  are  given 
as  **  15-inch  or  equivalent  guns/'  and  it  is  nnderstood  that  these  will  be  furnished  as 
smooth-bore  and  rifled  guns  in  the  proportion  recommended  by  the  armament  board 
of  1«68. 

The  armament  board  also  recommends  that  no  gun  smaller  than  a  lO-inch  rifle  should 
hereafter  be  provided  for  the  barbette  annament  of  permanent  fortifications ;  and,  as 
it  is  understood  that  the  10- inch  rifle-carriage  will  be  adapted  to  the  present  lO-inch 
gun  platform,  it  is  proposed  to  dismount  all  10-inch  smooth-l>ore  and  smaller  guns  en 
barbette,  and  supply  their  places — on  such  platforms  as  are  not  to  be  removed — with 
10-inch  rifles ;  the  Rodman  guns  to  be  transferred  to  the  casemates. 

At  the  positions  designated  in  the  table  for  depressiug  carriages  the  parapets  and 
platforms  will  be  provisionally  arranged  for  the  reception  of  the  ordinary  carriages. 

With  respect  to  your  inquiry  as  to  "  the  cost  of  the  various  completed  works  for  each 
^nn  mounted  or  to  be  mounted  for  service,"  I  have  to  say  that  there  are  no  works 
which  can  be  as  yet  considered  completed ;  and  that  as  the  money  heretofore  expended 
npon  them  has  been  to  prepare  them  for  the  reception  of  nincn  smaller  ordnance  than 
that  now  proposed,  a  knowledge  of  the  amount  so  expended,  it  would  seem,  would 
afibrd  no  data  upon  which  to  base  even  an  approximate  estimate  for  future  appropri- 
ations. For  a  statement  of  the  amount  appropriated  for  the  various  works  up  to  1870, 
I  beg  leave  to  refer  you  to  my  letter  of  April  4,  1870,  to  Gen.  J.  A.  Logan,  chairman 
of  Committee  on  Military  Aflairs,  House  of  Representatives,  Ex.  Doc.  No.  243,  second 
session  41st  Congress. 

It  is,  however,  thought  that  the  accompanying  table  itself  will  be  snfficient  to  enable 
you  to  *'  form  an  opinion  as  to  future  estimates  of  funds  to  arm  the  fortifications,"  as  it 
not  only  shows  the  armament  required  for  the  next  year,  but  also  shows  the  total  arma- 
ment required  for  each  work  when  completed. 
Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

A.  A.  HL^fPHREYS, 
Brigadier-General  and  Chief  of  JSngineers, 

Brig.  Gen.  A.  B.  Dyer, 

Chief  of  Ordnance,  V.  S,  -4.,  WashinglOHj  D,  C, 

In  regard  to  the  matter  of  heavy  armament,  I  will  read  to  the  com- 
mittee what  is  said  ou  that  subject  iu  my  annual  report: 

HEAVY  ORDNANCE. 

In  my  last  report  attention  was  specially  invited  to  the  absolute  necessity  of  pro- 
vision beiug  made  for  the  armament  of  our  seii-coast  defenses.  The  importance  of 
the  subject  increases  with  the  earnest  and  continued  efforts  on  the  part  of  all  nations 
not  only  to  improve  the  quality  of  their  guns,  but  in  providing,  in  quantities,  those 
that  have  given  best  results  in  experimental  trials.  It  is  not  the  part  of  wisdom  to 
wait  for  ultimate  perfection  in  gun-constructions,  which  may  never  be  attained,  or  for 
the  first  rumbling  of  approaching  strife,  when  guns  are  needed  in  the  fortresses  and 
not  in  the  fonnderies,  to  commence  the  tedious  and  costly  work  of  construction.  In  the 
modern  quick  and  decisive  settlement  of  differences  by  the  arbitrament  of  arms  there 
is  no  time  for  preparation  after  the  declaration  of  war;  and  a  nation  may  sink  beneath 
the  powerful  blows  of  a  well-armed  adversary  in  less  time  than  it  takes  to  manufac- 
ture a  single  gun.  It  thus  becomes  the  dut}*  of  this  Bureau  to  bring  to  the  attention 
of  the  War  Department  and  of  Congress  the  paramount  importance  of  a  subject  npon 
which  the  successful  defense  of  the  country  largely  depends.  This  duty  has  been  per- 
fonned  in  years  past ;  and  should  war  with  any  naval  power  find  our  harbors  open  to 
the  attack  of  iron-clads  and  their  heavy  guns,  without  proper  provihion  having  been 
made  for  a  snccessful  defense,  the  responsibility  will  not  rest  on  this  Bureau,  which 
haSy  with  almost  disagreeable  importunity,  placed  the  matter  squarely  before  the 
country,  and  asked  for  appropriations. 

The  statement,  "Armament  of  the  fortifications,''  appended,  is  based  on  information 
received  from  the  Chief  of  Engineers,  and  shows  that  the  number  of  guns,  of  all  kinds, 
required  to  arm  our  forts,  as  far  as  yet  deiermined,  amounts  to  a  total  of  4,181.  To 
completely  arm  all  the  forts,  when  the  character  of  their  armament  is  hereafter  fully 
determined,  will  largely  increase  this  total.  Of  these  4,181  guns,  2,S01,  including  those 
on  hand,  will  be  needed  on  the  30th  next  June.  There  are  on  hand,  at  the  forts  and 
arsenals,  1,659  gnns,  leaving  1,142  required  during  the  next  fiscal  year. 

These  gnns,  carriages,  and  necessary  projectiles  should  be  provided  with  all  possible 
dispatch ;  but  as  no  rifle  of  large  caliber  has  yet  been  adopted  for  our  service,  our 
present  wants  can  be  best  met  by  providing  the  smooth-bores,  which  are  admitted  to 
be  the  most  efficient  known*  These  are  positive  demands  upon  this  Department  for 
onr  coast  defenses ;  not  fur  an  nndefined  future,  but  for  the  actual  present. 

It  is,  therefore,  with  all  confidence  in  the  justness  and  necessity  of  our  wants,  that 
an  esrimate  of  |1,449,552  has  been  made  for  the  armaments  of  our  forts  for  the  next 


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90  REDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT. 

fiscal  year,  being  abont  one-sixth  of  the  money-value  of  the  absolnte  requirements; 
and  this  estimate  lias  been  su  red  need  because  it  is  believed  that  the  whole  manufac- 
turing industry  of  the  country  is  not  equal  to  a  larger  production.  The  estimate  has 
been  made  specifically,  giving  the  minimum  number  of  guns  that  ought  to  be  at  once 
provided  for  one  or  more  forts  that  protect  each  of  our  most  important  harbora,  that 
the  subject,  in  its  detail  and  its  entirety,  may  be  fairly  stated  and  clearly  understood. 

Another  consideration  should  not  be  disregarded.  The  moneys  appropriated  by  C«ii- 
gress  during  tlie  past  two  years  for  fortifications  average  $1,338,000.  It  would  be  diffi- 
cult, if  not  impossible,  to  determine  the  actual  cost  of  each  fort  per  gun,  depending,  as 
this  must,  upon  the  material  of  its  construction — an  earth-work  bemg  comparatively 
cheap  as  compared  with  brick  or  stone  or  the  more  costly  iron-clad  walls — but  it  is  fair 
to  conclude  that  the  guns  and  carriages,  especially  guns  of  steel,  like  Krupp's,  or  of 
wrought  iron,  like  the  Woolwich,  with  vvroughtr-iron  carriages,  do  cost  as  much  as  the 
fort  which  they  arm  and  defend.  The  price  given  by  Krupp's  agent  on  July  2,  1872.  for 
a  12-inch  steel  gun  and  its  carriage,  delivered  at  the  works  in  Essen,  was  $48,500,  gold- 
An  armament  composed  entirely  of  such  guns  would,  it  is  believed,  cost  more  thau  the 
most  expensive  fort  of  modern  construction. 

While,  therefore,  liberal  appropriations  are  made  annually  for  fortifications,  there 
seems  to  be  strong  reason  for  appropriations  of  equal  magnitude  for  the  armament, 
when  the  fact  is  undeniable  that  a  fort  without  its  proper  armament  is  worse  than 
useless — an  iuert  mass  of  expensive  material,  without  power  of  attack  or  defense. 

The  heavy  rifled  guns  recommended  for  trial  by  the  board  of  ofiicers  convened  under 
the  provision  of  the  act  of  Congress  approved  June  6,  1872,  making  an  appropriation 
for  "  experiments  and  tests  of  heavy  rifled  ordnance,"  are  now  in  process  of  manufac- 
ture. The  delays  incident  to  the  preparations  necessary  for  constructions  of  such  novel 
character  have  had  to  be  overcome;  but  it  is  believed  that  the  four  guns  now  being 
made  will  be  completed  and  ready  for  trial  during  the  winter.  No  doubts  are  enter- 
tained that  much  valuable  information  will  result  from  the  trials,  which  may  possibly 
lead  to  the  early  adoption  of  a  suitable  rifle-gun  of  large  caliber.  Experiments  on  a 
large  scale,  with  this  end  in  view,  have  been  prosecuted  in  other  countries  for  years, 
aod  are  still  being  conducted  with  persistent  energy  and  skill  aud  large  expenditure  of 
money  ;  but  a  solution  of  this  important  question  has  not  yet  been  reached — not  one  of 
such  a  satisfactory  character  as  to  make  further  expensive  trials  aud  experiments  uo 
longer  necessary  before  final  adoption.    " 

It  is  respectfully  i-ecom mended  that  an  appropriation  of  $75,000  be  asked  of  Congress 
for  the  manufacture  aud  trial  of  cast-ii-ou  12-inch  rifles  for  experimental  j^urposes. 
The  very  great  improvement  in  the  character  of  our-  gunpowder  recently  made  will 
justify  sucn  an  expenditure  for  the  purpose  of  determining  definitely  whether  oast 
iron  cannot  be  successfully  used  in  the  manufacture  of  guns  of  the  largest 
caliber  for  efficient  service.  This  recommendation  is  made  in  the  spirit  of  judicious 
economy ;  for,  if  ciist  iron  can  be  made  as  available  for  rifles  as  for  smooth-bores,  the 
cost  of  our  guns  will  be  thereby  reduced  at  least  onerhalf  or  two-thirds,  as  compared 
with  wrought  iron  or  steel  constructions.  The  reason  for  this  recommendation  may 
be  briefly  stated  as  follows:  Large-grain  powder  for  heavy  guns  was  fii-st  adopted  by 
this  Department  in  18(51,  at  a  time  whenother  nations  continued  the  use  of  small-grain. 
This  great  improvement  in  the  mode  of  manufacture  was  the  result  of  careful  study 
and  experiment  by  the  lat«  General  Rodman,  who  successfully  used  it  in  his  first  15- 
inch  gun.  This,  and  his  invention  of  the  '^  perforated-cake"  powder,  which  has  been 
adopted  by  and  is  now  in  use  in  both  Russia  and  Germany,  and  the  "  pebble"  powder, 
similar  to  our  ^'  mammoth,"  adopted  by  England,  created  that  revolntiou  in  the  mann- 
fiicture  of  gunpowder,  based  upon  purely  scientific  principles  of  combustion  and  evola- 
tion  of  gases,  that  has  enabled  all  nations  to  increase  the  size  of  their  ordnance. 

The  necessity  for  strength  in  any  gun  construction  depends  upon  the  amount  of 
strain  that  is  brought  upon  it,  and  this  strain  is  aflected  by  the  method  and  rate  at 
which  the  gases  are  evolved  in  the  burning  of  the  powder-charge,  and  the  rate  at 
which  the  powder-space  behind  the  shot  is  enlarged  by  the  gradual  movement  of  the 
shot  through  the  bore.  It  is  evident  that  if,  by  any  proper  manipulation  of  the  powder 
in  manufacture,  the  size  and  form  and  density  of  grain  can  be  so  determined  and  ad- 
justed as  to  confine  the  strain  within  certain  limits,  the  strength  of  the  gun  to  resirtt 
such  a  strain  need  not  reach  the  maximum  requirements  of  sDeel,  but  may  be  found 
within  the  well-known  capabilities  of  our  best  cast  iron. 

It  must  not  be  overlooked  that  the  resistance  of  the  projectile  plays  a  no  less  import- 
ant paH  in  the  development  of  strain  in  rifled  gnus,  aud  this  resistance  becomes 
destructive  when  increased,  either  by  the  lack  of  uuiformit^  in  the  expansion  of  the 
sabot  in  taking  the  grooves,  or  by  its  wedging  in  the  gun  from  upsetting  or  breaking 
of  the  body  of  the  projectile.  It  is  believed,  however,  that  the  shot  as  now  made  will 
overcome  these  objections  by  the  more  perfect  a^ustment  of  the  parts  to  the  work  to 
be  performed,  thus  giving  a  uniform  resistance  to  the  efforts  of  the  powder. 

Recent  trials  from  a  15-inch  smooth-bore  gun  with  a  new  experimental  powder,  with 
charges  of  100  pounds  of  powder,  and  shot  of  450  pounds,  gave  higher  v^ocities  with 


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BEDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT.  91 

l^n^atly  diminished  pressares,  and  a  de^^ree  of  uniformity  of  action  seldom  attained  by 
the  ordinary  granulated  mammoth.  Each  grain  or  pellet  of  this  powder  was  formed 
in  dies  by  pressure.  The  experiments  clearly  indicated  that  it  can  be  manufactured  in 
large  quantities,  of  a  uniform  quality. 

No  doubts  are  entertained  that  similar  results  will  follow  from  its  use  in  large  rifles, 
that  is,  increased  initial  velocity  with  marked  diminution  of  presjsure.  It  is  in  view  of 
tbpse  facts  that  this  Bureau  is  desirous  to  test  cast  iron  to  its  fullest  extent  by  experi- 
ment, in  i;he  hope  that  it  may  lead  to  its  practical  utilization  for  the  coustruction  of 
heavy  rifled  guns. 

Qaestion.  In  the  event  of  a  foreign  war,  could  earth-works  be  erected 
at  most  of  the  important  points,  instead  of  fortifications  of  masonry ! 

Answer.  This  question  can  be  best  answered  by  the  engineers.  But 
in  case  of  emergency,  earthen  batteries  could  be  readily  prepared,  pro- 
vided wooden  platforms  had  been  previously  made,  and  the  heavy  guns, 
and  carriages  and  ammunition,  are  on  hand.  Guns 'and  carriages  can- 
not be  purchased  in  market,  and  must,  therefore,  be  made  in  advance, 
as  the3'  require  time  and  money  for  their  preparation. 

Question.  Please  to  suggest  what  your  plan  of  fortifying  iuiportant 
points  on  the  sea-coast  would  be  ? 

Answer.  I  think  that  permanent  fortifications  are  a  necessity ;  per- 
manent works  of  stone,  or  other  solid  material,  properly  protected  by 
earth.  The  next  best  thing  would  be  earth-works  for  an  emergency,  and 
they  are  the  cheapest,  and  most  easily  constructed. 

Question.  What  would  you  do  as  to  the  armament  ? 

Answer.  We  ought  to  have  in  our  most  important  harbors,  that  have 
to  be  defended,  a  reserve  supply  of  guns,  carriages,  ammunition,  &c., 
prepared  to  be  used  at  short  notice,  over  and  above  the  armament  of 
our  permanent  works. 

Question.  What  supply  of  guns  of  sufficient  caliber  have  you  on  hand 
to  meet  an  attack  that  might  come  from  one  of  the  tirstclass  powers  of 
the  world  ! 

Answer.  We  have  actually  on  hand  of  heavy  guns,  such  as  can  be 
used,  not  over  400  of  the  largest  size,  out  of  1,659.  The  largest  propor- 
tion of  them  are  10-inch  smooth-bores,  which  are  considered  too  small, 
and  which  are  used  in  casemates  into  which  the  larger  guns  cannot  be 
placed.  As  soon  as  a  suitable  rilie-gun  is  adopted,  these  smooth-bores 
will  give  way,  because  we  can  put  probably  a  Oiuch  rifle-gun  to  take 
its  place.  The  casemate  10-inch  smooth-bores  are  of  no  earthly  use 
against  ironclads. 

Question.  Would  not  such  guns  be  suflBcient  for  such  iron-clads  as 
could  get  into  our  i)ort8f 

Answer.  Not  for  any  iron-clad  that  could  enter  New  York  Harbor, 
where  we  ought  not  to  have  guns  of  a  less  caliber  than  10-inch  rifle  or 
15-inch  smooth-bore. 

Question.  Have  you  made  any  estimate  as  to  the  number  of  guns 
which  we  need  for  coast  defense  at  the  important  points! 

Answer.  I  submit  a  tabular  statement,  in  which  all  the  forts  are 
named.  The  engineers  give  us  the  number  of  guns  for  those  forts  that 
have  been  determined  upon.  There  are  several,  however,  the  arma- 
ment of  which  has  not  been  fully  determined,  so  that  the  entire  num- 
ber for  all  the  fortifications  when  completed  has  not  yet  been  fixed.  In 
order  to  supply  the  armament  already  determined  upon,  2,200  guns  will 
be  required.  Taking  the  15-inch  smoothbore  gun  as  the  basis,  (a  15- 
inch  gun  made  of  cast  iron,  which  is  the  cheapest  material,)  with  car- 
riages and  100  rounds  of  ammunition,  throwing  out  a  good  many  inci- . 
dentals,  the  cost  of  moving  the  guns,  and  also  leaving  out  a  number  of 
flank-defense  howitzers  and  many  sea-coast  mortars,  and  taking  the  most 


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92  REDUCTION   OF.  THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT. 

economical  view  of  the  case,  the  whole  would  cost  the  Government  not 
]ess  than  $33,0(}0,000.  The  estimate  is  made  on  the  basis  of  the  15-inch 
smooth-bores,  because  the  armament  is  to  be  made  up  of  12-inch  rifles, 
a  far  more  costly  gun,  and  of  13inch  smooth-bores  and  10-inch  rifles, 
which  cost  nearly  as  much.  If  the  armament  was  to  be  made  up  of  steel 
guns,  it  would  probably  cost  $100,000,000. 

Question.  Do  you  estimate  that  as  the  cost  of  arming  the  works  now 
laid  out  and  comstructed  f 

Answer.  No,  sir;  this  only  includes  the  armaments  which  have  been 
determined.  Th«re  are  many  forts  the  armament  of  which  has  not  yet 
been  fully  determined.  This  number  may,  therefore,  be  largely  increased 
hereafter.  The  number  of  guns  which  we  require  on  the  1st  of  next  July, 
on  the  basis  of  a  15-inch  gun  or  its  equivalent,  is  863,  besides  20  mortars 
and  634  flank-defense  howitzers.  These  guns,  with  their  carriages  and  100 
rounds  of  ammunition  for  each,  will  cost  about  $13,000,000,  and  cast  iron 
is  the  cheapest  material  for  gun-construction  that  can  be  used.  In  other 
countries  cast  iron  is  used  in  combination  with  wrought  iron  or  steel,  by 
tubing  with  steel  or  wrought  iron,  and  banding  with  steel  rings  and  ap- 
plying costly  breech-loading  arrangements,  which  add  greatly  to  the 
expense.  Built-up  wrought-iron  guns,  as  in  England,  are  much  more 
costly,  and  steel  guns,  as  a<lopted  on  the  continent,  more  costly  still. 
We  find  that  one  12-inch  gun,  with  its  carriage,  would  cost  in  Europe 
$18,500  in  gold,  and  can  only  be  procured  at  the  Krupp  works  in  Essen, 
Prussia. 

Question.  The  question  has  come  up  as  to  the  propriety  and  advisa- 
bility of  constructing  a  national  foundery  and  factory  for  heavy  guns. 
What  would  such  a  foundery  cost,  with  the  shops  connected  with  it  I 

Answer.  That  depends  upon  the  material  which  is  used  in  the  con- 
struction of  guns.  If  we  determine  on  guns  of  cast  iron,  (which  is  the 
cheapest  material,)  the  cost  would  be  a  great  deal  less,  in  plant,  than  for 
any  other.  I  have  never  made  any  calculation  on  the  subject;  but  if  wo 
were  to  get  up  a  foundery,  I  presume  it  would  cost  over  $1,000,000,  cer- 
tainly. 

Question.  The  very  cheapest  f 

Answer.  I  should  think  so ;  that  is,  to  get  up  a  large  Government 
establishment  for  that  purpose. 

Question.  If  one  were  built  for  the  purpose  of  making  the  finest  class 
of  large  guns,  what  would  be  the  expense  ! 

Answer.  I  cannot  give  the  estimate,  but  it  would  run  into  millions. 

Question.  Do  you  think  it  advisable  to  have  these  guns  made  at  pri- 
vate founderies  and  shops  ! 

Answer.  Fo,  sir.  I  think  that  the  Government  should  have  control 
of  this  manufacture,  and  have  works  of  its  own.  The  European  govern- 
ments do  so,  and  they  have  more  experience  in  that  line  than  we  have. 
Even  if  the  work  is  done  at  private  founderies,  we  are  obliged  to  have 
oflftcers  there  to  superintend.  In  making  cast-iron  guns,  the  very  first 
thing  is  to  get  the  proper  iron,  and  such  iron  cannot  be  found  in  the 
markets,  but  must  be  specially  made  from  well-selected  ores  that  exper- 
ience has  proved  will  supply  iron  of  the  requisite  tensile  strength,  spe- 
cific gravity,  &c.  You  will  find,  therefore,  that  the  gun-founders  have 
to  depend  on  certain  mines  in  order  to  get  the  proper  iron.  Then  the 
proper  method  of  treating  the  iron  is  the  result  of  long  experience.  If 
you  take  an  iron-foundery  which  has  been  used  on  other  work,  the  men 
will  fail  egregiously  at  first  in  casting  even  a  solid  shot.  The  work  is 
in  the  nature  of  a  specialty.  Unless  the  appropriations  are  extremely 
large,  so  as  to  keep  the  founderies  at  work  all  the  time — ^andallthefoun- 


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EEDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY   E8TBBLISHMENT.  93 

deries  desire  a  share-rtbey  will  lose,  after  a  time,  tbeir  skilled  labor.  Tbat 
labor  has  to  be  turned  into  other  chanuels.  But  in  a  Goveruraent  es- 
tablishment, where  a  force  can  be  kept  constantly  at  work  on  small  appro- 
priations, this  skilled  labor  can  be  very  easily  retained,  and  I  think  that 
better  work  can  be  turned  out  in  the  end.  It  is  a  fact  conceded  by  every 
one  that  we  are  doing  better  work,  for  less  money,  at  the  Springfield 
Armory  in  the  manufacture  of  small-arms  than  is  done  in  any  other  es- 
tablishment in  America,  for  the  simple  reason  that  we  have  no  profits 
to  make,  and,  therefore,  all  the  money  which  would  go  into  profits  goes 
toward  making  more  perfect  work.  That  question  of  a  national  fonndery 
has  been  discussed  by  committees  of  Congress  and  by  boards  of  officers 
for  the  last  half  century,  but  they  have  never  come  to  any  practical 
conclusion.  I  think  that  the  proper  method  of  establishing  it  would  be, 
whenever  an  appropriation  is  made  which  will  justif^'^  the  expenditure 
of  putting  up  plant  for  that  purpose,  to  decide  on  one  of  our  arsenals, 
and  make  our  guns  there. 

Question.  Have  recent  improvements  in  small-arms  been  so  great  as 
that  you  think  the  Government  would  be  justified  in  manufacturing 
small-arms  on  an  extensive  scale  f 

Answer.  I  think  so.  We  have  determined  now  on  the  Springfield 
breech-loadinff  gun.  The  board  instituted  to  investigate  that  matter 
was  organized  under  a  law  of  Congress.  It  remained  in  session  over 
six  months,  and  tried  every  kind  of  small-arms  presented,  including  the 
best  European  guns,  altogether  over  100  specimens  of  arms,  and  the  re- 
sult was  the  adoption  for  the  military  service  of  the  Springfield  breech- 
loader.   I  quote  from  my  annual  report  as  follows : 

In  onr  estimates  for  the  next  fiscal  year,  $500,000  has  been  asked  for  continuing  the 
manufacture  of  arms.  This  sum  will  not,  with  the  material  on  hand,  permit  us  to 
make  more  than  35,000  arms,  a  number  the  least  that  should  be  provided  annually  to 
meet  current  wants  and  possible  future  demands. 

It  is  not  presumable  that  the  new  system  of  breech-loader,  selected  after  such  ex- 
haustive tests  of  all  inventions  brought  before  the  board,  will  soon  bo  superseded  by 
any  more  valuable  and  efficient  system  ;  aud  it  is  a  grave  question  of  public  policy, 
deserving  serious  consideration,  whether  the  new  arm  that  has  been  adopted  after 
such  intelligent  and  careful  trial  by  a  competent  board  ought  not  to  be  manufactured 
in  such  quantities  for  a  reserve  supply,  in  cjise  of  war,  as  will  place  us  in  this  part  of 
cor  national  armament  on  a  footing  with  other  first-class  powers. 

In  this  connection,  as  bearing  most  vit-ally  upon  the  effectiveness  of  the  armed  force 
of  the  nation  in  time  of  war,  the  wants  of  the  whole  body  of  the  militia  is  again  pre- 
sented for  legislative  action.  The  annual  appropriation  df  $200,000  for  arming  and  equip- 
ping the  militia,  fixed  by  the  act  of  April  23, 1H08,  is  entirely  inadequate  at  the  present 
time,  with  a  population  increased  from  eight  to  more  than  forty  millions.  As  a  conse- 
quence, some  of  the  richer  States  of  the  Union  have  had  to  make  appropriations  of 
money  to  provide  the  arms,  &c.,  nec^sary  to  supply  such  deficiency  ;  suthough  the  in- 
tention of  Congress,  as  expressed  in  tne  law  of  1808,  was  tliat  the  money  so  appropri- 
ated should  supply  the  "  whole  body  of  the  militia."  If  §200,000  was  not  deemed  too 
much  in  iy08,  when  arms,  &c.,  were  cheap  as  compared  with  the  improved  and  costly 
mechanism  now  admitted  to  be  a  necessity,  surely  an  increase  of  the  appropriation  to 
$1,000,000  is  the  least  that  is  required  to  fully  meet  the  wants  of  the  '*  whole  body  of 
the  militia,"  and  carry  out  the  expressed  wishes  of  Congress. 

It  is  believed  that  all  issues  of  arms  and  other  ordnance  stores  which  were  made  by 
the  War  Department  to  the  States  and  Territories  between  the  1st  day  of  January, 
1861,  and  the  9th  day  of  April,  1865,  under  the  act  of  April  23, 1808,  and  charpd  to  the 
States  and  Teiritories,  having  been  made  for  the  maintenance  and  preservation  of  the 
Union,  are  properly  chargeable  to  the  United  States,  and  the  Secretary  of  War  should 
be  anthorize>d  to  credit  tlie  several  States  and  Territories  with  the  sums  charged  to 
them  respectively  for  arms  and  other  ordnance  stores  which  were  issued  to  them  be- 
tween the  aforementioned  dat^s,  and  charge<l  against  their  quotas  under  the  law  for 
arming  and  equipping  the  militia:  Provided,  That  ejich  State  and  Temtory,  before  re- 
ceiving credit  for  the  issues  charged  to  them,  shall  return  the  property  to  the  Ordnance 
Department  free  of  charge  to  the  United  States,  or  give  satisfactory  evidence  to  the 
Secretary  of  War  that  it  was  expended  or  otherwise  disposed  of  in  the  public  service 
during  the  rebellion.  It  is  recommended  that  legislation  to  this  effect  be  asked  ot 
Congress. 


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94  REDUCTION   OF   THE   MJLITARY   ESTABLISHMENT. 

Qiiestiou.  What  would  one  of  the  Springfield  breech-loading  guns 
cost  f 

Answer.  The  cost  has  not  yet  been  determined,  but  they  will  prob- 
ably cost  somewhere  between  sixteen  and  eighteen  dollars.  The  mag- 
azine-gun, I  am  inclined  to  think,  will  be  the  gun  of  the  future. 

Question.  You  mean  a  gun  that  will  carry  its  ammunition  in  a  maga- 
zine in  its  stock  I 

Answer.  1  mean  a  gun  that  will  carry  a  few  rounds  in  the  magazine 
for  a  reserve  su])ply,  but  will  be  ordinarily  used  as  a  single  breech- 
loader; the  soldier  knowing,  however,  that  he  has  a  reserve  in  the  gun 
to  depend  upon  in  case  of  emergency. 

Question.  If  we  are  to  come  to  that  at  last  would  it  not  be  bad  policy 
for  us  to  manufacture  a  large  quantity  of  the  present  model  ! 

Answer.  We  may  not  come  to  that  for  a  good  many  years.  This  is  a 
matter  which  requires  a  good  deal  of  study  and  inventive  skill,  and 
from  the  slow  progress  which  these  things  necessarily  make,  I  think  we 
can  hardly  look  for  such  a  satisfactory  result,  even  if  we  ever  reach  it, 
within  the  next  ten  years;  meanwhile  I  am  entirely  satisfied  that  we 
should  go  on  in  the  manufacture  of  the  Springfield  breech-loader.  I  do  not 
think  that  as  a  single  breech-loader  we  will  ever  get  anything  that  will 
be  much  superior  to  it.  It  has  been  tried  in  the  field  most  extensively, 
and  has  given  entire  satisfaction  to  the  soldiers.  Its  manufacturein  large 
quantities  is  a  matter  of  public  policy,  to  be  decided  by  Congress,  but 
the  experience  .and  practice  of  all  nations  point  to  an  affirmative  decis- 
ion. We  have  several  hundred  thousand  Springfield  muzzle-loading 
guns,  but  the  soldiers  will  not  have  anything  but  the  best  breech-loader, 
and  should  of  right  be  as  well  armed  as  the  soldiers  of  other  nations.  We 
tried  to  alter  these  muzzle-loading  guns  to  breech-loading,  in  the  spirit 
of  economy,  but  found  in  the  end  that  little  was  saved.  The  caliber 
first  adopted  was  a  half  inch,  but  now  it  has  been  reduced  to  .45".  All 
the  nations  on  the  European  continent  have  reduced  the  caliber  of  their 
guns,  as  giving  better  results,  and  lessening  the  weight  of  the  ammuni- 
tion. The  ammunition  is  made  at  Frankford  arsenal,  the  only  Govern- 
ment cartridge  factory  we  have.  In  Europe  they  are  trying  to  manufac- 
ture this  metallic  ammunition  as  we  make  it  here,"but  their  machinery  had 
to  be  procured  in  this  country.  They  got  some,  under  authority  from 
the  War  Department,  from  the  arsenal  at  Frankford.  Some  sets  of 
cartridge  machinery  were  sent  from  there  to  Russia;  some  to  Denmark, 
and  some  to  Sweden  and  Norway.  With  a  perfect  cartridge  any  good 
breech-loading  gun  will  work;  but  cartridges  are  expensive,  and  to  make 
good  marksmen  of  the  soldiers  much  of  *  the  expensive  metallic  ammu- 
nition must  be  expended  in  target  practice.  Reference  is  made  to  this 
fact  because  our  appropriations  are  inadequate  to  supply  the  requi- 
site amount  for  this  essential  purpose.  We  get  an  appropriation  every 
year  of  about  $125,000  to  make  ammunition,  which  will  provide  5,000,000 
cartridges  only.  In  order  to  make  the  best  use  of  an  arm  like  the 
Springfield  breech-loading  musket,  the  soldier  should  be  provided  with 
sufficient  ammunition  to  make  himself  a  good  marksman.  Allowing 
him  ten  cartridges  a  month  is  not  at  all  sufficient,  but  ten  a  month  is 
120  rounds  a  yenr  for  each  of  30,000  men  in  the  Army,  making  a  total 
of  over  three  and  a  half  millions  of  cartridges  a  year  to  teach  the  men, 
leaving  but  1,500,000,  or  50  to  each  man,  during  the  year  for  any  war- 
like operations,  and  no  possibility  for  a  reserve  supply. 

Question.  How  rapidly  can  this  ammunition  be  made! 

Answer.  At  the  Frankford  arsenal  they  can  very  easily  turnout  100,000 
cartridges  a  day.    It  depends  on  the  quantity  of  machinery. 


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REDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY    ESTABLISHMENT.  95 

By  Mr.  MacDougall  : 

Question.  The  most  expensive  thing  about  the  cartridge  is  the  shell, 
is  it  not  f 

Answer.  Yes,  sir. 

Question.  Could  you  not  have  the  shells  refilled  ? 

Answer.  Our  Army  is  scattered  all  over  the  continent,  and  it  would 
coat  quite  as  much  to  bring  the  empty  shells,  after  they  are  collected,  to 
the  arsenal  to  fill  and  to  return  them  as  they  cost  originally.  And  even 
if  the  soldiers  were  able  to  refill  the  cartridges  they  would  have  to  be 
supplied  with  certain  little  appliances  that  would  cost  a  good  deal  in  the 
(iggregate,  besides  the  i>owder,  bullets,  &c.,  all  of  which  would  have  to 
be  transported. 

By  the  Chairman  : 

Question.  How  long  will  this  ammunition  last! 

Answer.  I  do  not  see  why  it  should  not  last  a  good  many  years,  but 
we  have  not  the  experience  of  time  to  decide  the  question. 

Question.  I  suppose  you  have  subjected  it  to  certain  tests  ? 

Answer.  Yes.  From  the  first  tliat  were  made  by  me  in  1867,  and 
which  were  rather  imperfect,  from  every  month's  manufacture  a  box  was 
put  away,  some  of  the  cartridges  in  damp  cellars ;  and  frequent  tests 
made  after  several  years  showed  that  the  cartridge  was  about  as  good 
as  ever.  Their  cost  in  Government  shops  is  826  a  thousand  for  metallic 
ammunition,  but  private  manufacturers  charge  from  $33  to  $35  a  thou- 
sand. 

Question.  What  did  the  old  paper  cartridges  cost  per  thousand  t 

Answer.  They  cost  anywhere  from  $12  to  $13  a  thousand. 

Question.  So  that  this  metallic  ammunition  costs  a  little  more  than 
double  f 

Answer.  Yes.  Another  matter:  I  notice  that  the  appropriation  for  sea- 
coast  carriages  has  been  cut  down.  The  necessities  of  the  service  require 
the  original  amount  of  $200,000  in  order  to  alter  our  gun-carriages  for  the 
sea-coast  defenses.  When  General  Kodman  first  made  his  15-iuch  gun, 
which  was  the  largest  gun  then  in  existence,  its  charge  was  fixed  at  30  to 
CO  pounds  of  powder  and  a  shell.  But  tlie  introduction  of  iron-clads  in 
warfare  has  necessitated  the  use  of  heavy  battering  charges'of  100  pounds 
of  powder  and  a  solid  shot.  The  use  of  such  heavy  charges  developed  a 
great  difficulty,  and  that  was,  that  we  could  not  hold  the  gun  that  fired 
it,  without  introducing  some  appliance  to  absorb  the  recoil.  After  much 
experiment  the  Department  has  adopted  two  air-cylinders,  (pneumatic 
buffers,)  to  absorb  the  recoil. 

Prior  to  using  these  appliances,  the  engineers  found  great  difficulty  in 
making  platforms  strong  enough.  The  shock  was  so  great  as  not  only 
to  break  the  pintle,  but  to  shatter  the  platform  itself,  but  by  means  of 
these  air-cylinders  all  that  difficulty  is  removed.  It  costs  $1,400,  how- 
ever, to  apply  these  cylinders  to  one  gun-carriage ;  so  that  it  makes 
the  gun-carriage  itself,  with  the  cylinders,  for  a  15-lnch  gun  cost  about 
$4,000.  A  great  many  of  the  carriages  are  not  provided  with  these  cyl- 
inders, because  at  the  time  they  were  made  the  gun  was  only  intended 
to  use  a  small  charge  of  powder. 

The  appropriation  asked  for  is  therefore  absolutely  necessary,  and 
ought  not  to  be  reduced. 

A  short  time  since,  when  trouble  with  a  foreign  power  seemed  immi- 
nent, the  placing  of  our  armaments  in  proper  condition  was  of  great  im- 
portance, and  one  of  the  difficulties  was  that  we  had  to  make  provision 
for  providing  these  gun-carriages  with  these  cylinders,  so  as  to  be  able 


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96  BEDUCTION   OP   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT. 

to  use  battering  charges.  We  have  officers  stationed  at  liifferent  sec- 
tions of  the  sea-coast  on  duty,  perfecting  the  armaments,  placing  the 
carriages  in  position,  mounting  guns,  &c.  It  is  a  very  expensive  and 
troublesome  business,  and  I  do  not  think  that  as  a  rule  the  amount  of 
money  required  to  utilize  and  manage  these  heavy  masses  of  iron,  and 
the  cost  that  is  necessarily  incurred,  is  properly  appreciated. 

By  Mr.  Gunckel  : 

Question.  What  was  your  estimate  for  that  purpose. and  what  has 
been  the  reduction  by  the  Committee  on  Appropriations  ? 

Answer.  We  asked  for  $200,000,  but  the  Committee  on  Appropriations 
has  thrown  it  in  with  some  other  items,  so  that  1  think  they  do  not  allow 
us  more  than  $25,000  for  the  carriages. 

Question.  What  other  reductions  does,  the  Committee  on  Appropria- 
tions make,  to  which  you  object  ? 

Answer.  The  principal  one  is  $a00,000  to  manufacture  arms,  which  has 
been  cut  down  to  $100,000.  We  ought  to  have  the  whole  amount.  I 
think  the  committee  has  reduced  all  tiie  appropriations  too  much.  There 
is  not  an  item  there  that  is  not  abolutely  necessary ;  whether  you  decrease 
the  Army  or  increase  it,  it  does  not  make  a  particle  of  difference. 

By  the  Chairman  : 

Question.  Something  has  been  said  in  regard  to  selling  or  abolishing 
certain  arsenals.    Has  your  attention  been  directed  to  it  f 

Answer.  Yes. 

Question.  What  have  you  to  say  as  to  the  policy  of  selling  out  arse- 
nals or  consolidating  them,  or  continuing  the  present  plan  of  having 
arsenals  of  deposit  and  manufacture  all  over  the  country! 

Answer.  The  original  practice  of  the  Government  was  to  establish  an 
arsenal  in  almost  every  State,  but  the  expense  of  keeping  up  these  arse- 
nals is  considerable — much  more  than  is  supposed.  If  the  small  appro- 
priations for  manufactures  are  divided  among  the  diiierent  arsenals,  it 
costs  a  great  deal  more  for  manufacture,  and  preservation,  and  storage 
than  it  would  if  the  work  was  concentrated.  A  year  ago  about  $200,000 
was  estimated  for  the  care  and  preservation  of  the  arsenals,  and  I  gave 
the  whole  amount  in  detail.  The  committee  would  not  make  that 
appropriation,  bnt  gave  only  $50,000  in  bulk.  Now,  there  seems  to  be  no 
doubt  that  if  we  had  a  large  arsenal  on  the  Atlantic,  with  the  Bock 
Island  arsenal  in  the  Mississippi  Valley,  and  an  arsenal  at  Benicia, 
Cal.,  as  the  manufacturing  arsenals,  all  the  work  could  be  concen- 
trated there,  and  we  could  work  witii  much  greater  economy  and 
efficiency,  and  give  greater  satisfaction  to  the  Army  and  country.  In 
regard  to  having  arsenals  of  deposit  at  other  places  in  addition,  it  is  for 
Congress  to  decide ;  but  I  think  there  is  every  good  reason  in  favor  of 
concentration  of  work  in  the  interest  of  economy  and  perfection  of 
product. 

Question.  Would  you  abolish  the  Frankford  arsenal  and  the  Water- 
town  and  Watervliet  arsenals! 

Answer.  That  depends  upon  the  policy  to  be  adopted.  Tlie  establish- 
ment of  one  great  arsenal  on  the  Atlantic  coast,  as  recommended  by  Mr. 
Stanton  in  18C2,  would  dispense  with  these  smaller  arsenals  as  manufac- 
turing ones. 

Question.  Would  it  not  cost  immensely  to  remove  these  arsenals? 

Answer.  Not  if  these  old  arsenals  were  sold  and  the  money  applied  to 
one  grand  arsenal. 


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REDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT. 


97 


Question.  Is  not  the  cost  of  keeping  such  an  arsenal  as  the  Columbus 
arsenal  comparatively  small! 

Answer.  Yes ;  the  expense  is  merely  in  keeping  it  in  care  and  preserva- 
tion. I  suppose  it  does  not  amount  to  more  than  $5,000  or  $10,000  a 
year. 

Question.  The  rise  of  value  in  real  estate  would  be  more  than  that  ? 

Answer.  Yes. 

By  Mr.  Gunokel; 

Question.  Is  there  sftiy  manufacturing  done  at  Columbus  or  Saint 
Louis  arsQualsf 
Answer.  No,  sir. 

By  the  Chairman  : 

Question.  Then  the  concentration  would  operate  upon  those  arsenals 
atFrankford,  Springfield,  Watertown,  and  Watervlietf 

Answer.  Yes;  we  could  sell  those  arsenals  and  build  a  large  one 
with  the  proceeds,  or  else  decide  upon  one  or  more  arsenals  and  con- 
centrate the  work  thereat. 

Question.  Is  there  not  an  arsenal  at  Pittsburgh,  too? 

Answer.  Yes;  we  do  nothing  there. 

By  Mr.  Gunckel  : 

Question.  Has  there  not  been  a  proposition  to  give  away  or  sell  that 
one  at  Pittsburgh  f 

Answer.  Yes ;  I  think  Mr.  Negley  introduced  a  bill  to  that  effect  a 
year  or  two  ago. 


Ordnance  Office,  War  Department, 

Washington,  January  10,  1874. 
Sir:  Replying  to  yonr  letter  of  ther  7th  instant,  I  am  instract^d  by  the  Chief  of 
Ordnance  to  report  that  the  number  of  enlisted  men  employed  upon  extra  duty  in  the 
Ordnance  Department  is  thirteen — ten  as  clerks  at  :)5  cents  per  day,  and  three  as  mes- 
sengers at  20  cents  per  day,  in  addition  to  their  regular  Army  pay. 

The  following  statement  shows  the  number  of  civil  employes  in  the  Ordnance 
Department,  with  the  several  occupations  in  which  they  are  employed,  and  their  total 
monthly  pay,  viz : 


Occupation. 

Number. 

Total 
monthly  pay. 

Clerks    

74 

1 

21 

26 

18 

855 

725 

|7, 060  85 
125  00 

Master  armorer. ...... ...... ...... ...... .... ...... .... 

Master  workmen .... .... ........ ...... ........  .... .... 

2  526  37 

Foremen  . ...... ...... ...... .... ...... ....  --.. ...... ...... 

2,581  86 

1,336  29 

52,480  85 

26,003  27 

Assistant  foremen 

Mechanics. ... .. .. .... ...... .... .... .... .... ...... .. .   .... 

I  laborers .....--• .-r.^-....*  .^---.,..... ....... 

Total 

,    1,720 

92, 114  49 

Very  respectfully,  yonr  obedient  servant, 

S.  V.  BENfiT, 

Major  of  Ordnance, 
Hon.  John  Coburn, 

Chairman  Military  Committee  House  of  Eftpresentatives, 

Waslungtonf  D.  C. 

The 


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98  REDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY    ESTABLISHMENT. 

Washington,  D.  C,  January  10,  1874. 

Hon.  Columbus  Delano,  Secretary  of  the  iDterior,  appeared  before 
the  coinuiittee,  iu  response  to  its  invitation. 

The  Chairman.  We  sent  for  you,  Mr.  Secretary,  to  consult  with  you 
in  regard  to  the  reduction  of  the  military  establishment,  in  view  of  the 
fact  that  you  have  charge  of,  and  are  responsible  for,  Indian  aflfairs  in 
your  Department.  We  desire  to  havayour  opinion  on  this  subject.  Can 
you  state  what  amount  of  military  force  is  needed,  hereafter,  iu  connec- 
tiou  with  the  Indian  Department?  ,     . 

Secretary  Delano.  I  do  not  think  that  I  can  give  the  committee  any 
statement  of  facts  in  regard  to  the  military  force  required  throughout' 
the  country,  or  that  I  am  competent  to  express  any  justifiable  opinion 
in  regard  to  what  that  force  should  be.  All  the  information  touching 
the  condition  of  the  Indians,  their  numbers,  their  disposition,  &c.,  bear- 
ing on  the  question  of  the  necessary  military  aid  iu  subjugating  them 
to  the  present  policy  of  the  Goverument,  I  can  give  you,  and  leave  the 
committee  to  draw  its  own  conclusions  touching  the  military  establish- 
ment. 

The  Ch AIRMAN. N  State  then,  in  brief,  the  condition  of  the  Indian 
tribes  in  this  country,  that  require  the  presence  of  a  military  force,  their 
disposition  in  regard  to  peace  or  war,  or  in  regard  to  mischief  toward 
the  whites. 

Secretary  Delano.  There  are  few  Indians  under  the  charge  of  the 
Government  in  Wisconsin  or  Michigan.  The  great  bulk  of  the  Indians, 
in  charge  of  the  Government,  are  located  between  a  line  embracing 
Minnesota  and  Washington  Territory  east  and  west,  and  a  line  separat- 
ing the  United  States  from  the  British  possessions  on  the  north,  and  a 
line  separating  the  United  States  from  Mexico  on  the  south.  Very  few 
are  in  Iowa  and  none  in  Missouri.  All  the  rest  of  the  country,  embraced 
within  these  general  limits,  is  more  or  less  dotted  with  Indian  settle- 
ments and  Indian  tribes,  all  of  which  are  now  under  the  charge  of  the 
Government.  The  most  troublesome  and  warlike  Indians  are  located 
in  the  country  lying  west  of  the  line  separating  Dakota  from  Minne- 
sota, extending  from  the  summit  of  the  Kocky  Mountains  and 
coming  south  as  far  as  the  line  of  the  North  Platte,  together 
with  that  portion  of  them  located  in  Indian  Territory,  New  Mexico, 
and  Arizona.  No  great  danger  of  violence,  I  think,  is  to  be  anticipated 
from  the  Indians  not  embraced  within  these  two  latter  descriptions  of 
territory.  The  first  section  embracing  hostile  Indians,  lying  east  of  the 
liocky  Mountain  Eange,  and  north  of  the  North  Plate,  embraces  a  great 
number  of  tribes,  among  which  there  are  a  number  not  hostile,  such  as 
the  Crows,  Gros  Ventres,  Bees,  Mandans,  and  others ;  but  the  bulk  of 
the  Indians,  in  that  region  of  country,  may  be  denominated  as  Sioux 
Indians.  They  have  been  heretofore  very  troublesome.  They  are  a 
hardy  and  sturdy  race  of  people,  and  perhaps  more  troublesome,  when  we 
have  war  with  them,  than  any  other  nation.  The  largest  portion  of  them 
now  is  underfeeding  arrangements  with  the  Government ;  but  there  are 
one  or  two  bands  which  are  yet  outside  of  our  feeding  arrangements,  so 
to  speak,  and  which  have  not  come  to  agencies  or  reservations.  There 
will  be  for  some  time  to  come  very  considerable  danger  of  disturbance 
in  this  northern  region  of  country,  because  these  bands  ot  Sioux  are  wild 
and  warlike,  and  will  only  consent  to  the  adoption  of  the  present  peace  pol- 
icy of  goingon  to  reservations  and  Qf  abandoningtheir  nomadic  habitsaud 
their  lite  of  subsistence  by  hunting,  when  they  are  convinced  that  they 
will  be  compelled  to  do  it.  It  is  the  policy  of  the  Government — and  that 
policy  is  being  made  known  to  the  Indians — that  they  must  come  on  to 


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<X>^     REDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT.  99 

reservations  and  stay  on  the  reservations,  and  that  in  that  case  they  will 
have  the  aid  of  the  Government,iind  that  in  case  of  their  refusal  so  to  do, 
and  of  their  committing  depredations  on  the  white  settlements  or  white 
men,  they  will  be  punished.  It  is  necessary  to  have  a  military  force 
sufficiently  strong  to  convince  the  Indians  that  they  are  to  submit  to 
that  [>olicy,  but  I  express  no  opinion  as  to  what  that  force  should  be. 
J  fear  as  much  danger  of  conflicts  with  the  Indians  in  this  northern 
section,  as  with  the  Indians  in  any  other  section  of  the  country,  and  I 
feel  that  a  conflict  with  them  would  be  more  troublesome  to  the  Goy- 
ernment  than  with  any  other  tribe  or  nation. 

The  Chairman.  Can  yon  state  what  proportion  of  the  Sioux  Nation 
has  come  within  this  feeding  arrangement  of  which  you  have  spoken? 

Secretary  Delano.  The  largest  portion  of  them  are  now  under  .the 
influence  of  what  may  be  called  the  peace  policy,  and  are  being  fed  at 
Red  Cloud,  Grand  Kiver  and  Spotted  Tail  agencies,  and  the  remaining 
hands  are  constantly  coming  to  these  agencies,  and  increasing  the 
number  which  we  have  to  feed,  and  the  tendency  is  in  the  direction  of 
the  ultimate  subjection  of  all  to  this  policy.  But  I  want  to  qualify  this 
by  saying  that  the  withdrawal  of  military  force  would,  in  my  opinion, 
weaken  this  tendency,  if.  it  did  not  destroy  it. 

The  Chairman.  What  number  of  the  Sioux  have  consented  to  go  on 
reservations  ? 

Secretary  Delano.  Eeally,  the  Sioux  that  are  warlike  have  none  of 
them  ^-et  thoroughly  consented  to  go  on  their  reservations.  We  have 
what  is  called  the  great  Sioux  reservation,  which  was  established  by 
the  treaty  of  186^.  That  treaty  provided  that  the  Territory  of  Ne- 
braska, lying  north  of  the  North  Platte,  should  be,  for  the  time  being, 
regarded  as  Indian  country,  and  that  these  Indians  should  have  the 
privilege  of  hunting  on  the  Smoky  Hill  Fork  of  the  Platte  Eiver ;  and 
these  Indians,  though  congregated  now  largely  at  the  Spotted  Tail, 
Grand  Kiver,  and  Red  Cloud  agencies,  exercise,  under  the  privileges  of 
that  treaty,  the  right  to  hunt  on  the  Smoky  Hill  Fork,  and  have  refused, 
on  my  application  this  summer,  to  consent  to  a  modification  of  that 
treaty  wliich  should  surrender  that  portion  of  Territory  set  apart  for  them 
as  hunting-grounds  in  Nebraska,  north  of  the  North  Platte.  This  sur- 
render ought  to  be  accomplished,  as  the  settlement  of  the  country  re* 
qnires  that  that  portion  of  Nebraska  should  be  surveyed  and  brought 
into  market.  I  doubt  not  that  very  soon  we  shall  be  able  to  arrange 
with  them  amicably  to  modify  that  treaty  so  as  to  abandon  their  right 
of  bunting  on  Smoky  Hill  Fork.  The  game  is  so  far  exhausted  there 
and  the  settlement  of  the  country  for  grazing  purposes,  by  large  herds 
of  cattle  in  the  hands  of  whire  men,  is  going  on  so  fa«t,  that  it  ought 
t4)  exclude  the  Indians  from  the  privileges  of  hunting  there,  and  the 
Department  will  accomplish  these  two  things  as  speedily  as  possible. 

Tlie  Chairman.  Are  the  means  of  independent  subsistence  by  hunt- 
ing and  Ashing  diminishing  very  rapidly  ! 

Secretiiry  Delano.  Yes,  sir ;  the  buflFalo  are  disappearing  rapidly, 
but  not  faster  than  I  desire.  I  regard  the  destruction  of  such  game  as 
Indians  subsist  upon  as  facilitating  the  policy  of  the  Government,  of 
destroying  tli^ir  hunting  habits,  coercing  them  on  reservations,  and 
compelling  them  to  begin  to  adopt  the  habits  of  civilization. 

The  Chairman.  Have  you  had  the  presence,  so  far,  of  sufficient  mili- 
tary force  to  aid  you  in  all  the  efforts  which  you  have  made  I 

Secretary  Delano.  Yes,  sir. 

The  Chairman.  So  far  you  have  required  no  more  force  than  you  have 
had? 


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100  REDUCTION    OF   THE    MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT. 

Secretary  Delano.  No  more  than  we  have  had. 

The  Chairman.  Last  summer  a  military  expedition  of  some  two 
thousand  men  was  fitted  out  on  the  line  of  the  Northern  Pacific  Rail- 
road, west  of  the  Missouri  Eiver.  Was  that  expedition  necessary,  under 
the  circumstances,  to  keep  oif  hostile  Indians,  or  was  that  country  safe 
for  travel  and  transit  without  the  i)resence  of  such  a  large  military 
force  f 

Secretary  Delano.  That  military  expedition  was  undertaken  at  th  > 
earnest  request  of  highly  respectable  and  influential  citizens,  who  ex- 
pressed the  opinion,  and  doubtless  entertained,  earnestly  and  perhaps 
properly,  the  belief  that  some  of  these  bands  of  Sioux,  that  have  not 
come  in  among  Spotted  Tail's  and  Red  Cloud's  men,  would  gixe  trouble 
to  the  persons  engaged  in  the  construction  of  the  Northern  Pacific  Rail- 
road, and  the  opinion  was  honestly  entertained,  and  I  think  justified  by 
apparently  existing  circumstances,  that  the  expedition  was  necessary. 
Subsequent  events  have  led  me  to  doubt,  in  my  own  mind,  whether  that 
was  not  a  mistaken  opinion  in  regard  to  danger,  and  whether  probably 
it  might  not  have  been  better  to  have  omitted  the  expedition. 

Mr.  GUNCKEL.  In  part,  or  in  whole  f 

Secretary  Delano.  In  part,  at  least.  I  am  inclined  to  think  that  the 
rumors  brought  in  by  frontiersmen  overstated  the  danger,  and  that  the 
parties  interested  in  the  railroad  were  more  strongly  impressed  with 
the  danger  than  the  facts  really  justified.  My  impression  is  that  the 
military  force  south  of  this  line  of  danger  is  about  as  well  placed  as  it 
can  be.    I  have  had  occasion  to  examine  that  subject. 

Mr.  GuNCKEL.  And,  in  your  opinion,  the  force  there  is  necessary  at 
this  time? 

Secretary  Delano.  Yes,  sir. 

The  Chairman.  Would  you  say  that  any  more  force  than  you  have 
there  is  necessary  f 

Secretary  Delano.  Not  if  I  am  correctly  informed  as  to  the  force 
which  is  there.  The  exact  condition  of  the  several  military  stations,  and 
the  forces  at  them,  I  am  not  as  able  to  give  as  an  officer  in  the  Army 
would  be. 

The  Chairman.  From  reports  received  from  the  agents  of  your  De- 
partment, do  you  feel  any  apprehensions  from  a  lack  of  military  force! 

Secretary  Delano.  No,  sir ;  not  at  present. 

The  Chairman.  Have  you  any  recent  information  from  that  region 
of  such  a  nature  as  would  lead  you  to  believe  that  hostility  or  mischief 
to  the  settlers  or  danger  to  the  Indians  is  imminent? 

Secretary  Delano.  At  the  present  moment,  and  always  at  this  season 
of  the  year,  Indians  are  in  repose  5  everything  is  quiet.  It  is  not  the 
season  of  the  year  for  their  movements.  I  shall  feel  some  apprehension 
next  spring,  when  the  Indians  begin  to  move,  especially  if  there  is  any 
lack  of  ability  in  the  Indian  Department  to  comply  with  the  treaty 
stipulations  in  feeding  them. 

The  Chairman.  Would  you  say  that  if  the  Indians  were  well  fed 
and  clothed,  that  would  be  the  best  preventative  of  hostilities  t 

Secretary  Delano.  I  have  no  doubt  that  that  is  the  best  way  of  pre- 
venting Indian  hostilities.  It  should  always  be  accompanied  with  just 
treatment  to  them,  and  under  circumstances  to  impress  them  with  its 
justice,  and  it  should  also  be  accompanied  with  information  to  them  of 
the  ability  of  the  Government  to  punish  them  if  they  do  not  behave 
themselves. 

Mr.  Albright.   Then  the  feeding  and   supplying  of  the  Indians 


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REDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT.  101 

onglit  to  be,  iu  a  measure,  accompanied  with  a  force  to  compel  obedi- 
ence if  they  violate  the  treaty  stipulations  f 

Secretary  Delano.  That  I  consider  necessary  until  the  Wild  tribes 
are  all  compelled  to  accept  reservations  and  to  begin  to  adopt  the  hab- 
its of  civilization. 

Mr.  MacDougall.  Do  you  find  the  Indians  pretty  generally  inclined 
to  live  up  to  treaty  stipulations  themselves! 

Secretary  Delano.  Yes,  sir.  Of  course  Indians  are  ignorant.  They 
do  not  always  get  correct  ideas  of  their  treaties,  and  we  frequently  have 
difficulty  in  explaining  to  them  and  making  known  to  them  exactly 
what  they  have  consented  to.  But,  in  my  experience,  when  you  have 
made  an  Indian  understand  that  be  has  made  an  agreement,  he  will 
comply  with  it,  especially  if  you  are  prepared  to  show  that  you  will 
punish  him  if  he  does  not. 

The  next  region  of  difficulty  with  the  Indians  is  in  the  southern  por- 
tion of  the  United  States,  ranging  from  the  western  line  of  the  State  of 
Texa«  to  the  western  line  of  the  Territory  of  Arizona,  and  embracing, 
all  the  region  of  country  between  the  two  as  far  north  as  the  southern 
line  of  Kansas  and  Colorado,  and,  Indeed,  including  a  strip  from  the 
western  part  of  Colorado.  But  the  principal  trouble  in  this  region  of 
country  is  with  the  Comanches  and  Cheyennes  in  the  Indian  Terri- 
tory and  New  Mexico,  and  with  the  Apaches  in  Arizona.  The  Apaches 
in  Arizona  are  pretty  well  in  hand,  by  a  steady  pursuit  of  the  policy  to 
which  I  have  alluded,  namely,  the  use  of  military  force  when  ne<;essary, 
and  a  notification  to  the  Indians  of  the  peaceable  policy  of  the  Govern- 
ment if  they  ceased  war.  We  have,  in  a  great  measure,  brought  all  the 
Apaches  on  to  reservatiims,  and  among  them  one  of  the  most  ferocious 
and  war-like  Indians  that  the  nation  ever  had — Cochise.  We  have 
some  trouble  there  yet.  Roving  Indians  will  get  oil'  the  reservations 
and  will  go  over  the  line  into  Mexico,  and  that  is  causing  some  corre- 
spondence between  this  Government  and  Mexico.  But  even  that  is 
growing  better,  and,  I  think,  will  soon  be  overcome.  The  policy  of 
usiiig,  judiciously,  military  force  in  connection  with  the  present  peace 
lK>licy  made  manifest  to  the  Indians  themselves,  has  had,  in  my  judg- 
ment, as  great  a  demonstration  of  its  utility  iu  Arizona  as  in  any  other 
locality  of  the  country.  * 

I  will  now  speak  of  the  troubles  with  the  Comanches  and  Cheyennes. 
They  are  in  the  Indian  Territory  and  New  Mexico.  They  are  making  raids* 
into  Texas  and  causing  a  good  deal  of  disturoance  there.  It  is  claimed 
that  other  tribes,  the  Arapahoes  and  others,  also  make  these  raids,  but 
my  convi(;tion  is  that  there  is  false  information  on  this  subject,  because, 
not  long  since,  we  pursued  a  band  of  supposed  Indians  making  raids, 
and  found,  when  we  captured  them,  that  it  wa^  a  body  of  disguised 
white  men  who  were  plundering  in  the  guise  of  Indians.  I  do  not  mean 
by  that  to  say  that  there  are  no  raids  by  Indians,  but  I  mean  to  intimate 
that  they  are  not  all  made  by  Indians.  But  the  Comanches  and  Chey- 
ennes are  troublesome  Indians,  and  this  country  is  iu  such  a  condition  as 
to  require  military  force  there  in  aid  of  the  present  policy  of  the  Govern- 
ment.   In  my  judgment,  it  would  be  disastrous  to  withdraw  it. 

Mr.  GuNcicBL.  You  think  the  military  should  be  in  as  strong  force 
there  as  they  are  now  I 

Secretary  Delano.  I  think  so.  I  do  not  think  there  can  be  any  dimin- 
ution of  the  force  there  with  safety  to  the  best  interests  of  the  country, 
largely  and  fully  considered. 

The  Chairman.  To  what  extent  of  country  does  that  remark  apply — 
to  the  posts  iu  the  Indian  Territory  and  Texas  f 


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102  REDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT. 

Secretary  Delano.  Yea;  and  in  New  Mexico. 

Tbe  Chairman.  Have  you  any  use  for  troops  in  California,  so  far  as 
the  Indian  tribes  are  concerned  f  • 

Secretary  Delano.  I  do  not  think  we  have. 

Mr.  Albright.  Do  you  recollect  the  Indians  in  Round  Valley ! 

Secretary  Delano.  Yes,  sir. 

Mr.  Albright.  Is  not  a  military  post  there  necessary  to  protect  them 
and  to  see  that  they  are  not  imposed  upon  by  the  whites  f  Does  not 
the  military  subserve  that  purpose  there  f 

Secretary  Delano.  I  do  not  know  but  I  should  say  yes,  oa  reflection, 
to  that  question.  Not  a  strong  post.  It  simply  wants  a  very  small 
number  of  troops.  I  do  not  know  that  the  time  has  quite  arrived  for 
abolishing  the  post  so  far  as  the  Indians  are  concerned. 

The  Chairman.  Are  there  any  hostile  Indians  in  Oregon  f 

Secretary  Delano.  We  have  not  any  information  of  hostile  disposi- 
tions among  the  Indians  in  Oregon.  I  do  not  know  exactly  what  mili- 
.  tary  force  there  is  there.  I  should  not  deem  it  necessary  to  keep  much 
force  there,  but  I  would  not  say  that  a  post  her«  and  there,  with  a  small 
body  of  troops,  might  not  be  a  very  wise  precaution. 

Take  the  line  of  the  Sierra  Nevadas  down  to  the  mouth  of  the  Colo- 
rado River,  following  up  the  Colorado  River,  and  including  the  northern 
portion  of  the  Ute  reservation  in  the  Territory  of  Colorado,  and  then  ex- 
tending north  far  enough  to  include  the  Fort  Hall  reservation,  and  then 
west  into  the  Sierra  Nevada  Mountain  range — probably  along  or  about 
the  south  line  of  Oregon — there  is  a  body  of  Indians  scattered  about 
through  all  that  basin.  There  are  some  seven  agencies  there  now.  The 
Indians  are  all  homogeneous ;  they  are  all  peaceable ;  they  are  disposed 
to  the  pursuits  of  agriculture ;  they  are,  as  far  as  Indian's  can  be,  inof- 
fensive— that  is,  they  are  not  disposed  to  commit  violence.  For  this 
body  of  Indians  we  have  no  need  of  much  military  force.  The  number 
of  Indians  in  that  basin  is  estimated  at  from  10,000  to  20,000.  I  am 
inclined  to  think  that  20,000  is  an  overestimate.  They  are  now  under 
the  ci^ire  of  the  Government. 

Mr.  Albright.  If  they  were  on  reservations,  would  you  not  have  a 
military  force  there  to  keep  the  Indians  within  and  the  white  men  with- 
out? 

Secretary  Delano.  There  is  so  little  land  in  that  great  basin  that 
is  adapted  to  cultivation  that  I  scarcely  think  that  much  military  force 
would  be  required  to  keep  white  people  off  the  reservation. 

Mr.  Albright.  Would  it  not  be,  in  your  judgment,  advisable  to  en- 
courage the  Indians  to  raise  supplies  that  could  be  sold  at  these  military 
posts  f 

Secretary  Delano.  By  all  means.  It  is  a  part  of  our  policy  to  bring 
them  to  habits  of  industry  as  fast  as  possible. 

Mr.  MacDougall.  Is  it  not  your  idea  to  get  these  Indians  on  reserva- 
tions ? 

Secretary  Delano.  On  not  over  four  reservations  in  that  basin.  They 
are  now  on  seven  ;  and  a  great  many  of  them  are  not  on  any.  They  are 
peaceable,  but  it  is  desirable  to  take  them  away  from  the  valleys  where 
white  people  would  go,  and  it  is  desirable  to  get  them  on  reservations 
so  as  to  get  them  into  that  system  of  treating  Indians  which  the  Govern- 
ment is  pursuing. 

There  are  a  considerable  number  of  Indians  in  the  south  part  of  Cali- 
fornia, west  of  the  Sierra  Nevada,  called  Mission  Indians,  who  used  to 
be  under  Mexican  management  and  Catholic  treatment.  They  have 
learned  considerable  of  agricultural  industry,  and  are,  in  a  great  meas- 


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REDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT.  103 

ure,  now  without  protection.  They  are  subject,  I  thiuk,  to  considerable 
injustice  from  the  white  settlers,  who  are  desirous  to  get  the  pleasant 
valleys  in  which*  these  Indians  are  located.  The  Indians  are  eutirely 
peaceful,  and  unless  they  are  greatly  outraged  there  is  no  danger  of  any 
disturbance  from  them.  I  do  not  know  that  there  is  any  necessity  for 
military  forces  there,  at  least  at  present,  and  never  will  be,  unless  it  is 
to  protect  them. 

The  Chairman.  Do  you  find  any  necessity  for  the  use  of  military 
force  at  any  post  east  of  the  Missouri  Eiverf 

Secretary  Delano.  East  of  the  Missouri  River  I  should  say  no ;  along 
the  Missouri  I  should  say  yes,  because  it  is  more  or  less  connected  with 
the  Sioux  country,  which  I  have  described. 

The  Chairman.  You  regard,  then,  the  two  great  centers  of  difficulties 
to  be  the  Sioux  Nation  and  this  region  of  Comanches  and  Chcyennes  iu 
the  south  f 

Secretary  Delano.  Yes,  sir. 

The  Chairman.  Would  it  be  possible  for  the  hostile  Indians  in  these 
two  regions  to  be  concentrated  somewhere,  so  that  the  presence  of  a 
small  force  only  would  be  needed  ? 

Secretary  Delano.  That  concentration  is  going  on  as  fast  as  the 
Department  can  effect  it.  That  is  what  we  are  aiming  at.  The  fact  is, 
and  I  desire  to  call  the  attention  of  the  committee  to  it,  that  the  whole 
Indian  population  in  the  territory  which  I  have  described  is  now  brought 
face  to  face  with  the  progress  of  the  frontier  population  and  the  settle- 
ment of  the  country.  There  is  no  longer  any  unoccupied  territory  into 
which  we  can  turn  a  troublesome  tribe  or  nation  of  Indians  and  leave 
them  to  roam  or  hunt  there.  But  we  have  got  to  meet  everywhere  the 
question  of  handling  the  Indians.  The  construction  of  railroads  and  the 
tide  of  imigration,  created  by  the  increase  of  population  in  the  country, 
has  brought  on  the  Government  the  necessity  of  taking  care  of  the  Indians 
over  this  entire  region  of  country,  extending  from  the  northwest  corner 
of  Washington  Territory  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  and  from  the  Mexican 
boundary  to  the  boundary  which  divides  us  from  the  British  possessions. 
The  dangerous  spots  in  it  I  liave  pointed  out. 

The  Chairman.  Do  you  think  there  is  a  large  portion  of  the  Indian 
tribes  that  can  be  managed  without  the  presence  of  military  force  ? 

Secretary  Delano.  Almost  all  the  country  can  be  managed  without 
the  presence  of  much  military  force,  except  the  two  dangerous  regions 
which  I  have  described.  Yet  there  may  be  several  places  where  small 
garrisons  ought  to  be  kept  for  a  while  longer. 

The  Chairman.  The  question  has  been  asked  whether — the  presence 
of  military  force  being  necessary — it  would  not  be  better  to  give  the  Army 
the  entire  management  of  the  Indians ;  and,  iu  view  of  that  proposition 
I  ask  you  to  separate  from  the  troublesome  portions  of  the  Indian 
tribes  those  who  are  not  troublesome,  so  that  we  can  have  a  clearer 
view  of  how  much  is  managed  almost  exclusively  by  the  Indian  Depart- 
ment, aside  from  the  military.  I  will  ask  yon,  how  many  of  the  tribes 
iu  the  present  Indian  Territory  can  be  said  to  be  managed  without  the 
intervention  of  the  military  authorities? 

Secretary  Delano.  I  will  repeat  substantially  what  I  said  before, 
that  no  great  military  force  is  required  in  the  managemeut  of  the  Indian .«$ 
except  in  the  two  regions  to  which  I  have  invited  your  attention,  ^ne 
one  in  the  Sioux  region  and  the  other  that  portion  of  country  lying  south 
of  the  southern  line  of  Kansas,  and  Colorado,  including  a  part  of  Colo- 
rado and  east  of  the  western  boundary  of  Arizona,  running  through  into 
the^Gulf  of  Mexico,  because  Texas  is  implicated  iu  these  difficulties. 


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104  REDUCTION    OF   THE    MILITARY    ESTABLISHMENT. 

The  Chairman.  What  has  beon  the  progress  made  by  the  Indian  De- 
partirrent  in  bringing  into  peaceful  relations  with  the, Government  the 
Indian  tribes  under  the  present  management  ? 

Secretary  Delano.  Very  great  progress  has  been  made  at  different 
points  and  with  different  tribes.  For  example,  great  progress  has  been 
made  in  what  may  be  called  the  Sioux  region  of  country.  Equally  en- 
couraging progress  has  been  made  among  the  Apaches  of  Arizona,  and 
considerable  progress  has  been  made  in  New  Mexico  and  the  Indian  Ter- 
ritory ;  and  I  feel  authorized  to  say  that,  everywhere,  a  better  state  of 
feeling  and  a  better  temper  among  the  Indians  toward  the  Government 
is  manifested.  Of  course,  I  do  not  mean  by  that  to  say  that  there  is 
no  danger  of  future  dilficulties. 

Mr.  Albright.  Would  not  the  withdrawal  or  weakening  of  military 
force  have  a  tendency  to  impair  the  present  peace  policy,  and  in  vie\T 
of  a  possible  war  with  either  the  Sioux  or  Comanche  Indians,  increase 
the  expenses  of  the  Government ! 

Secretary  Delano.  My  want  of  positive  and  detailed  knowledge  as 
to  the  present  strength  of  the  Army  and  as  to  its  availability  for  the 
necessary  cooperation  in  the  management  of  the  Indians  must  make 
my  answer  hypothetical.  I  therefore  say  that  a  withdrawal  of  the  pres- 
ent military  force  used  for  the  purpose  of  preventing  Indian  depreda- 
tions or  punishing  Indians  for  outrages  which  they  have  committed,  or 
the  weakening  of  such  force  to  the  extent  of  creating  a  feeling  among 
tlie  Indians  that  the  Government  is  unable  to  punish  them,  would  have 
a  strong  tendency  to  endanger  our  present  peaceable  relations  with  the 
Indians,  and  to  bring  on  conflicts  which  might  lead  to  serious  war  with 
some  of  the  powerful  tribes. 

Mr.  Albright.  Does  the  military  assist  you  in  supplying  the  Indians 
with  their  allowances  I 

Secretary  Delano.  No  ;  they  do  not  assist  us. 

Mr.  Albright.  Do  they  not  furnish  you  with  escorts  and  transporta- 
tion of  supplies  ? 

Secretary  Delano.  They  furnish  us  the^  escorts  which  are  necessary, 
and  when  it  is  necessary  they  furnish  us  with  transportation.  It  is  only 
in  cases  of  emergency  that  they  are  called  upon  for  transportation. 

Mr,  MacDougall.  Your  supplies  are  not  transported  to  the  various 
Indian  posts  by  Government  teams! 

Secretary  Delano.  No,  sir.  They  are  transpoi-ted  under  contract 
with  the  Indian  Office. 

The  Chairman.  Can  you  tell  the  comparative  cost  of  the  transijorta- 
tion — whether  you  get  your  supplies  as  cheaply  hauled  as  the  Quarter- 
master's Department  does  f 

Secretary  Delano.  The  Indian  Office  informs  me  that  we  have  made 
more  favorable  contracts  last  year  than  the  military.  I  have  never  com- 
pared the  figures  myself. 

The  Chairman.  Are  there  any  hostile  Indians  in  Washington  Terri- 
tory f 

Secretary  Delano.  No,  sir. 

The  Chairman.  Are  there  any  in  Idaho  t 

Secretary  Delano.  No,  sir. 

The  Chairman.  What  information  have  you  as  to  the  Indians  being 
armed  or  unarmed,  and  with  what  arms,  and  whether  recently  armed  or 
not! 

Secretary  Delano.  I  have  been  informed  that  the  Sioux  Indians  are 
in  possession  of  arms — a  great  many  of  them  arms  of  modern  manufac- 
ture.   I  have  takeu  all  the  steps  in  my  power,  through  the  Indian  .Bu- 


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REDUCTION    OF   THE    MILITARY    ESTABLISHMENT.  105 

reau,  to  prevent  the  distribation  of  arms  among  them,  and  to  ascertain 
how  they  have  obtained  those  that  they  have.  I  am  led  to  believe  that 
Indian  traders  and  military-post  traders  have  very  frequently  been 
guilty  of  smuggling  arms  among  the  Indians,  and  we  are  taking  all  the 
steps  in  our  power  to  prevent  it. 

Mr.  Albright.  If  the  policy  toward  the  Indians  which  is  now  prac- 
ticed be  persisted  in,  is  it  your  opinion  that  they  will  be  brought  com* 
pletely  under  a  civilizing  influence  ! 

Secretary  Delano.  It  is,  undoubtedly,  and  that  within  a  very  short 
period  of  time. 

Mr.  Albright.  Yoqr  policy  embraces  the  instruction  of  the  Indians! 

Secretary  Delano.  The  present  policy  aims  to  embrace  all  the  instruc- 
tion connected  with  Christian  civilization,  including  education,  moral 
and  religious  training,' instruction  in  agriculture,  and  in  works  of  art, 
so  fast  as  such  instruction  can  be  given  j  and,  in  aid  of  that  policy,  we 
have  now  the  cooperation  of  all  the  religious  denominations  in  the  coun- 
try. The  agencies  are  apportioned  to  these  religious  organizations,  and 
they  aim  to  nominate  as  agent^s,  persons  who  are  capable  and  willing  to 
carry  out  the  policy  which  I  have  described,  and  I  feel  at  liberty  to  say 
that  the  progress  of  the  work  gives  suflacieut  encouragement  to  justify 
me  in  believing  that  it  ought  to  be  continued. 

Mr.  Albright.  Are  the  expenses  increasing  or  lessening  from  year 
to  year  under  this  policy  f 

Secretary  Delano.  I  am  not  able  to  give  the  figures,  except  that  my 
own  opinion  is,  that  there  has  been  some  increase,  necessitated  by  the 
fact  to  which  I  have  already  alluded,  namely,  that  all  the  Indians  in  the 
country  are  now  under  the  management  of  the  Government,  and  are 
under  the  influence  of  that  policy.  I  should  expect,  therefore,  that 
some  increase  of  expenses  would  be  required  till  the  policy  has  in  some 
measure  ])erfected  the  condition  of  the  Indians,  and  given  them  the 
means  and  taught  them  the  ability  of  self-subsistence. 

Mr.  Albright.  Are  the  Indians  supplied  through  your  Department 
with  agricultural  implements  ? 

Secretary  Delano.  Wherever  treaty  stipulations  or  acts  of  appropri- 
ation justify  us  in  such  expenditures  and  where  we  find  the  Indians  in  a 
condition  to  justify  it  we  furnish  them  with  agricultural  implements. 

Mr.  Gunckel.  Give  your  opinion  generally,  whether  an  increase  of 
daily  service  of  department  clerks  would  or  would  not  prove  a  real  econ- 
omy to  the  Government, 

Secretary  Delano.  I  am  not  quite  prepared  to  recommend  a  change 
of  the  system  which  has  been  adopted  for  a  long  time  and  generally 
practiced  in  all  the  Departments  of  the  Government ;  but  if  it  was  an 
original  subject,  and  in  my  province  to  introduce  a  system,  I  would  re- 
quire clerks  to  report  at  8  o'clock  in  the  morning,  would  give  them  an 
hour  intermission  after  12  o'clock,  and  would  close  the  Departments  at 
5  o'clock ;  but  I  would  increase  the  pay. 


War  Department,  Surgeon-<^eneral's  Office, 

Washington^  D.  C,  January  10,  1874. 
Sir:  In  reply  to  your  communication  of  the  7th  instant,  I  have  the 
honor  to  submit  the  following  statement  of  the  number  of  enlisted  men 
employed  on   extra  duty  and  the  number  of  civil  employes  in   the 
Medical  Department,  with  their  total  monthly  pay. 


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106  REDUCTION   OP   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT. 

The  number  of  enlisted  men  employed  on  extra  duty  is  as  follows : 
165  hospital  stewards  ou  duty  as  clerks  in  the  Medical  Department, 
mainly  engaged  in  the  record  and  pension  division  of  this  office  \n^ 
examining  the  books  of  closed  general  hospitals  ancl  other  records,  to 
ascertain  the  cause  of  death  or  discharge  from  service  and  hospital 
history  of  soldiers  who  died  or  were  disabled  during  the  rebellion,  in 
order  that  evidence  may  be  furnished  in  answer  to  the  inquiries  made 
by  the  Commissioner  of  Pensions,  Adjutant-General  and  Paymaster- 
General,  by  members  of  Congress,  and  others  ;  9  hospital  stewards  ou 
duty  as  clerks  in  Lieut.  Col.  Baxter's  office,  compiling  medical  statistics 
of  the  late  Provost-Marsbal-General's  Bureau ;  2  hospital  stewards  on 
duty  as  clerks  at  the  United  States  Army  Dispensary ;  1  hospital 
steward  on  duty  as  clerk  at  the  Freedmen's  Hospital;  24  privates, 
general  service.  United  States  Army,  on  duty  as  messengers,  and  6 
privates  on  duty  as  watchmen,  in  the  Medical  Department;  3  privates  on 
duty  as  messengers  at  United  States  Army  Dispensary;  and  1  private 
on  duty  as  messenger  in  Lieut.  Col.  Baxter's  office.  Their  total  monthly 
pay  for  December,  1873,  was  $21,550.89. 

In  addition  to  the  above  there  are  25  hospital  stewards  on  duty  as 
clerks  in  Medical  Director's  office,  at  the  headquarters  of  the  several 
military  departments,  purveying  depots,  &c.,  whose  monthly  pay  can- 
not be  computed  at  this  Office,  as  it  is  not  known  what  part  of  their 
allowances,  if  any,  is  commuted,  or  what  furnished  in  kind.  The  hos- 
pital stewards  herein  mentioned  are  appointed  under  the  provisions  of 
section  17  of  the  act  of  July  28, 1866. 

There  are  enlisted  men  employed  on  extra  duty  as  cooks  and  nurses 
in  the  post  hospitals  throughout  the  country,  of  whom  no  returns  are 
made  to  this  Office,  and  cannot  therefore  be  included  in  this  statement. 

The  number  of  civil  employes  is  as  follows :  12  civilian  clerks,  1  mes- 
senger, and  1  laborer  in  the  Surgeon-General's  Office ;  173  physicians, 
employed  under  contract  at  various  stations  throughout  the  country  ; 
2  apotiiecaries,  1  engineer,  1  carpenter,  1  engraver,  1  photographer,  13 
clerks.  2  messengers,  15  laborers,  and  9  packers.  Their  total  monthly 
pay  is  $25,188.74. 

Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

J.  K^BARNES, 

Surgeon-  General. 

Hon.  John  Coburn,  M.  C, 

Chairman  Committee  on  Military  Affairs^  House  of  Representatives. 


WASHINGTON,  D.  C,  January  12, 1872. 

Bvt.  Maj.  Gen.  Andrew  A.  Humphreys,  Chief  of  Engineers,  ap: 
peared  before  the  committee  to  give  information  regarding  the  engineer 
branch  of  the  service.    He  was  interrogated  as  follows : 

Question.  What  items  in  the  Array  appropriation  bill  of  the  last  Con- 
gress would  be  unaffected  by  a  reduction  or  increase  of  the  Array  ! 

Answer.  I  do  not  perceive  any  items  in  the  Army  appropriation  bills 
of  the  last  Congress,  which  concerns  the  engineers,  that  would  have 
been  unaffected  by  a  reduction  or  increase  of  the  Army,  except  the  item 
of  $1,000  for  purchase  of  siege  and  mining  material  and  photographic 
apparatus,  and  $5,000  for  the  erection  of  a  chapel  at  Willet's  Point;  but 
perhaps  even  the  last  item  would  not  have  remained  unaffected.    It  is 


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REDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT.  107 

to  be  remarked,  however,  that  the  nature  of  the  legislation  reducing  or 
increasing  the  Array  must  affect  this  question. 

Question.  What  are  the  items  independent  of  the  number  of  the  Army 
in  the  last  two  acts  of  Array  appropriation  ? 

Answer.  So  far  as  the  bills  affect  the  engineer  service,  the  two  small 
items  I  have  mentioned  are  so ;  this  reply  being  subject  to  the  same 
qualifying  remark  as  the  first. 

Question.  What  fortifications  or  works  of  defense,  now  in  process  of 
construction,  should  be  completed? 

Answer.  All  the  works  of  defense  now  in  process  of  construction 
should  be  completed.  First  in  order  of  time,  those  for  the  defense  of 
the  great  commercial  and  great  "strategic  harbors  of  the  United  States. 
When  they  are  in  a  suitable  condition  of  defense,  the  nearly-finished 
works  covering  rivers  and  harbors  of  secondary  importance,  but  pro- 
tecting many  large  towns  and  wealthy  communities,  should  be  finished, 
since  they  require  but  little  more  expenditure  to  complete  them ;  and 
in  the  event  of  war,  defensive  works. for  their  protection  would  be 
needed. 

Question.  In  what  important  places  liable  to  attack  can  earth-works 
of  a  temporary  nature  be  substituted  for  regular  fortifications  f 

JLnswer.  Earth-works  have  always  formed  part  of  the  regular  sea- 
coast  fortifications,  being  formerly  adjuncts  to  the  casemated  masonry 
structures.  Owing  to  the  chaqfte  that  has  taken  place  in  the  size  and 
power  of  naval  and  sea-coast  aMillery,  the  earth- works  we  are  now  con- 
structing are  of  such  great  dimensions,  and  require  such  masses  of  ma- 
sonry for  the  interior  of  the  magazines  and  traverses  and  parados,  and 
for  the  platform  and  the  interior  wall,  (called  the  breast-height,)  which 
allows  tlie  gun-carriage  to  come  close  up  to  the  parapet,  that  they  re- 
quire a  long  time  for  their  construction,  and  cannot  be  erected  in  tirae 
for  use  when  hostilities  are  iraminent.  But  the  open  or  barbette  bat- 
tery, which  would  be  exposed  in  some  measure  to  curved  fire  of  shot 
and  shell  from  an  armored  fleet,  is  not  by  itself  a  sufficient  fortification. 
There  must  be  for  every  great  harbor  some  guns  in  casemate,  \fhich 
gives  complete  protection  to  guns  and  gunners.  That  casemate  fire 
must  be  secured  either  by  placing  an  iron  shield  in  some  of  the  case- 
mates of  existing  masonry-works,  or  by  erecting  iron  scarps  or  shields 
or  turrets  outside  of  the  fort.  The  accessories  to  fortifications  essential 
to  a  successful  defense  I  will  mention  in  another  place.  Earth-works  of 
a  temporary  nature  cannot,  therefore,  be  substituted  for  regular  sea- 
coast  fortifications  at  any  important  places.  For  such  subordinate  har- 
bors as  can  only  be  approached  by  the  small  naval  or  predatory  vessels, 
temporary  earth-works  thrown  up  at  the  time  will  answer. 

Question.  Are  the  present  works  of  tiefense  made  of  stone  capable  of 
resisting  the  heavy  artillery  that  may  be  brought  to  bear  against  them  f 

Answer.  This  question  seems  to  imply  that  the  present  works  of  de- 
fense are  solely  of  masonry.  But  that  is  a  misapprehension.  We  have 
not  been  building  any  masonry  forts  since  1866.  What  we  have  been 
doing,  and  are  now  doing,  is  modifying  the  barbette  portions  of  the  ma- 
sonry works,  whenever  it  can  be  done  without  excessive  expenditure, 
so  as  to  place  the  heaviest  artillery  on  them,  and  we  do  this  by  con- 
structing massive  parapets  of  sand  with  traverses  of  the  sam6  material 
between  the  guns,  furnished  with  magazine-chambers,  and  putting  up 
parados  of  the  same  material,  whenever  it  is  necessary,  to  give  protec- 
tion against  reverse  fire.  At  the  same  time  we  are  modifying  the  ex- 
isting earthen  barbette  batteries  outside  of  the  masonry  works  by  thick- 
ening their  parai)ets  with  sand  or  other  earth,  by  increasing  the  num- 


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108  REDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT. 

ber,  size,  and  tbickness'of.tbe  magazine  traverses,  and  by  putting  up 
parados  of  eartb  witb  passage-ways  tbrougb  tbem.  We  bave  also  been 
extending  these  outside  earthen  batteries,  and  putting  up  other  addi- 
tional ones  of  the  same  character. 

Now,  all  these  modified,  extended,  and  new  barbette  batteries  are 
built  strong  enough  to  resist  the  fire  of  the  heaviest  artillery  from  arm- 
ored ships,  and  are  preparedto  mount  guns  of  not  less  power  than  the 
15  inch  smooth-bore. 

The  scarp  or  front  wall  of  the  existing  masonry  works  requires  to  be 
strengthened  by  placing  an  iron  shield  around  the  embrasure  of  the 
casemate  to  enable  it  to  resist  the  heaviest  artillery  that  could  be 
brought  against  it  by  armored  ships.  '  But  this  modification  we  have 
not  made.  » 

It  may  not  be  altogether  out  of  place  here  to  recall  to  your  recollec- 
tion the  contest  between  Fort  Surnter  and  our  iron  clad  fleet  The 
latter  had  some  15  and  11  inch  guns,  but  the  fort  remained  unharmed, 
although  it  was  an  old  work  and  not  near  so  strongly  built  as  the  newer 
casemated  works  like  Fort  Delaware,  Fort  Wadsworth,  and  others  oj 
the  new  construction.  The  armament  of  the  fort  was  inferior,  its  larg- 
est guns  being  lOinch  Columbiads,  a  weak  gun,  intended  for  use  with 
sliells  against  Wooden  vessels,  and  a  few  Brook  rifles  carrying  shotof 
about  125  pounds.  Yet  about  one-half  the  iron-clads  were  crippled,  and 
Admiral  Dupont  stated  that  if  he  had*ot  withdrawn,  but  had  contin- 
ued the  contest  thirty  minutes  longer,  ftis  remaining  vessels  would  have 
been  crippled.  The  contest  was  never  again  seriously  renewed.  On  the 
other  hand,  if  Fort  Fisher,  which  was  taken  by  a  combined  attack  of 
fleet  and  troops,  had  been  a  permanent  w^ork,  it  would  have  been  so 
arranged  that  the  iron-clad  fleet  could  not  have  maintained  the  position 
it  did  1,200  yards  off,  and  the  land  force  would  have  been  obliged  to 
resort  to  a  protracted  siege  operation.  In  other  words,  Fort  Fisher 
would  not  have  been  taken  as  it  was. 

Question.  Have  not  the  improvements  in  artillery  shown  the  neces- 
sity of  heavy  earth-works  instead  of  elaborate  stone- works  of  defense  f 

Answer.  The  improvements  in  artillery  have  shown  the  necessity  of  * 
greatly  increasing  the  dimensions  and  strength  of  our  earth-works  or 
barbette- batteries,  and  we  are  doing  so,  and  building  others  of  the  same 
dimensions ;  but  it  has  not  shown  that  casemated  fire  (the  fire  of  the 
masonry-works)  can  be  wholly  dispensed  with.  On  the  contrary,  as  I 
have  before  stated,  some  casemate  fire  for  the  defense  of  the"^  great 
harbors  must  be  had,  and  that  we  must  obtain  either  by  placing  iron 
shields  in  some  of  the  casemates  of  the  masonry-works,  or  by  using  iron 
scarps  or  shields,  or  turrets  outside  of  the  masonry-work. 

Question.  What  is  the  comparative  cost  of  earth  and  stone  works  of 
defense,  in  so  far  as  a  comparison  may  be  instituted? 

Answer.  The  fire  of  the  two  kinds  of  works  is  so  different  in  value 
that  it  is  difiicult  to  make  a  just  comparison  between  them.  The  cost 
per  gun  of  our  masonry- works,  with  the  scarps  properly  strengthened 
with  iron  shields,  would  be  about  five  times  greater  than  the  cost  per 
gun  of  the  earthen  batteries  we  are  constructing. 

Question.  In  the  event  of  a  foreign  war,  could  earth-works  be  erected 
at  most  of  the  important,  points  now  fortified  by  stone-works,  advauta- 
geouly  ! 

Answ  er.  They  could  not  be  erected  in  time  to  be  of  material  assistance. 
We  could  of  course  add  to  the  existing  earth-works  as  time  went  on  '^ 
but  nowadays  the  attack  is  the  declaration  of  war,  and  we  must  be  pre- 
pared for  it  in  advance.    I  have  before  explained  that  earth-workk  in 


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REDUCTION    OF   THE   MILITARY    ESTABLISHMENT.  109 

connection  with  masonry-works  have  always  formed  part  of  the  har- 
bor defense. 

Question.  At  what  points  are  the  present  fortifications  and  works  of 
defense  sufficient? 

Answer.  At  no  points.  For  the  character  and  condition  of  the  forti- 
fications I  beg  leave  to  refer  you  to  the  annual  reports  of  the  Chief  of 
Engineers  (2d  vol.  annual  report  Secretary  of  War)  for  several  years 
past,  and  more  especially  to  those  of  18G9,  pages  4,  5,  6 ;  of  1870,  pages 
from  4  to  11 ;  of  1871,  pages  4,  5,  and  6,  and  the  pages  following  de- 
scriptive of  the  object,  character  of,  and  progress  in  the  fortifications; 
of  1872,  pages  2  and  3  and  forward ;  and  of  1873,  from  page  4  onward. 

Question.  What  number  of  heavy  guns  do  we  need  for  coast  defense  f 

Answer.  The  number  of  heavy  guns  required  to  arm  the  works  now 
projected  for  coast  defense,  when  they  are  completed  according  to  the 
modifications  approved  by  the  Secretary  of  War,  is  approximated  as  fol- 
lows, it  being  remarked,  however,  that  in  some  instances  the  armament 
has  not  been  defermined,  or  fully  determined,  for  certain  portions  of  a 
work ;  in  such  cases  the  armament  is  omitted :  9  20-inch  smooth-bore 
guns ;  1,313  15-inch  amooth-bore  or  equivalent  rifle ;  1151 3-inch  smooth- 
bore or  equivalent  rifle ;  252  mortars  of  largest  siza;  760  10-inch  rifled 
guns ;  1,616  10-inch  smooth-bore  or  equivalent  rifle. 

Question.  AVhat  number  of  heavy  guns,  if  any,  do  w^  need  for  the 
present  works  ? 

Answer.  The  number  of  additional  positions  and  platforms  which 
will  be  ready  for  heavy  guns  on  the  30th  June  next,  bat  for  which,  so 
far  as  1  am  informed,  there  are  no  guns,  will  be  approximately  as  fol 
lows:  About  266  for  IS-inch  and  13-inch  smooth-bore  or  equivalent  rifle 
guns;  about  400  for  10-inch  guns,  and  about  50 for  mortars  of  the  heav- 
iest kind. 

Kespecting  the  necessity  of  providing  more  10-inch  guns,  I  have  to 
remark  that  the  plans  for  modifying  the  existing  works  and  batteries, 
and  for  new  works  and  batteries  prepared  since  1866,  make  no  provision 
for  heavy  guns  of  less  caliber  than  the  15-inch  smooth-bore  or  equivalent 
rifle  gun.  Existing  positions  for  smaller  guns,  which  are  not  modified 
for  the  large  guns,  remain. 

Question.  What  would  a  supply  for  the  present  works  probably  cost  f 
If  you  ciin,  make  an  estimate  upon  any  given  kind  of  guns.  Can  you 
estimate  the  cost  of  a  good  supply  of  heavy  guns  for  our  sea  coast  de- 
fense at  all  important  points?    If  so,  furnish  a  statement. 

Answer.  As  it  is  the  duty  of  the  Ordnance  Department  to  supply  the 
gnus,  carriages,  and  everything  pertaining  to  the  armament  of  the  for- 
tifications, and  as  I  should  be  obliged  to  obtain  from  that  department 
the  information  necessary  to  reply  to  the  last  two  inquiries,  I  hope  I 
may  be  excused  from  making  any  statement  in  reply  to  them. 

The  principles  which  govern  the  nature  and  extent  of  the  sea-coast 
defenses  we  are  now  engaged  upon  have  been  derived  from  the  expe- 
rience gained  during  our  own  recent  war  in  the  attack  and  defense  of 
sea-coast  fortifications,  and  from  experiments  and  investigations  made 
at  home  and  abroad  since  the  war.  These  principles  or  conclusions  have 
been  enunciated  in  the  reports  of  the  board  of  engineers  for  fortifi- 
cations, composed  of  some  of  the  most  expeiienced  ofiieer^  of  the  corps, 
and  in  the  annual  reports  from  the  office  of  the  Chief  of  Engineers ;  have 
been  submitted  to  and  have  been  approved  by  the  General  of  the  Army 
and  the  Secretary  of  War,  and  have  received  the  sanction  of  Congress 
in  the  appropriations  made  by  it  for  the  preparations  of  defense  in 
accordance  with  them  for  most  of  the  chief  harbors  of  the  United  States. 


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110  REDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT. 

This  system  consists  in — 

First.  The  preparation  (by  the  modification  of  old,  and  the  constrnc- 
tion  of  Dew)  of  powerful  barbette  batteries  of  earth  and  sand,  liberally 
provided  with  traverses  and  parados,  magazines  and  bomb-proofs. 

Second.  The  substitution  of  a  depressing  gun-carriage  for  the  one  now 
in  use.  This  substitution  will  provide,  by  the  use  of  high  earthen  para- 
pets and  traverses,  for  the  descent  of  the  gun,  when  fired,  far  below  the 
top  of  its  earthen  covers,  so  that  the  gun  and  the  gunners  will  be  se- 
cure from  direct  and  slightly  curved  fire,  whether  from  the  front  or  flank. 

Third.  The  construction  of  powerful  <mortar-batteries  in  connection 
with  the  gun-batteries.  A  heavy  fire  from  large  mortars  will  act  effect- 
ively upon  the  comparatively  thin  decks  of  vessels,  whose  sides  are 
thickly  plated;  such  batteries  admit  of  being  placed  upon  ground  not 
suitable  for  gun-batteries;  are  easily  isolated  and  covered,  and  are  of 
moderate  cost. 

Fourth.  The  employment  of  torpedoes  in  the  channel-ways  and  ap- 
proaches to  the  harbors,  as  accessories  in  thedefeuse,  they  being  covered 
by  the  fire  of  the  guns  on  the  shore  which  command  the  channels. 

Torpedoes  are  of  little  cost,  can  be  easily  preserved  and  readily  placed 
in  position  by  tho^e  instructed  in  their  use.  Their  value  was  well 
shown  in  the  Russian  war,  in  the  Crimea,  and  in  the  Baltic,  and  in  our 
southern  waters,  during  our  recent  war,  although  they  were  then  in  a 
very  imperfect  state. 

To  make  the  experimental  investigations  necessary  to  devise  a  proper 
system  for  the  use  of  torpedoes,  the  engineer  post  of  Willet's  Point 
was  designated  by  the  Secretary  of  War  as  the  torpedo  school-  of  the 
Army,  the  engineer  battalion  stationed  there  to  be  used  in  making  the 
investigations,  and  to  be  instructed  in  the  practical  application  of  this 
auxiliary  of  harbor  and  land  defenses. 

An  elaborate  course  of  experiments  was  accordingly  begun  in  1869, 
and  has  been  actively  carried  on  by  the  engineer  troops,  at  very  small 
cost  to  the  Government,  the  annual  appropriation  for  this  object  having 
been  $10,000.  The  result  of  these  labors  has  been  a  marked  success, 
and  we  have  now  a  torpedo  system  that  can  be  relied  Upon,  and  which 
we  have  every  reason  to  believe  is  at  least  as  perfect  as  any  devised  in 
Europe.  Nearly  the  whole  of  the  appropriation  of  $300,000  for  torpe- 
does, made  in  the  last  fortification  bill,  has  been  expended  in  the  pur- 
chase of  the  electrical  cable  employed  in  firing  torpedoes,  which  it  is 
diificult  to  obtain  in  emergencies,  and  electrical  apparatus,  a  sufficient 
sum  being  reserved  for  the  storage  and  preservation  of  the  cable. 

Fifth.  The  use  of  entanglements  and  other  obstructions,  and  of  float- 
ing batteries,  to  retain  the  enemy  before  the  guns  of  the  shore-batteries. 
These  accessories  to  sea-coast  defense  have  always  formed  part  of  the 
projects  for  the  defense  of  our  sea-coast. 

Sixth.  The  use  in  the  batteries  of  the  most  powerful  modern  ord- 
nance. 

In  this  statement  respecting  the  sea-coast  defenses,  the  preparation 
of  which  we  are  engaged  upon,  no  reference  has  been  made  to  the  case- 
mated  part  of  our  masonry  forts  or  other  caseniat^d  works,  though 
casemates,  when  properly  constructed,  give  security  from  projectiles  com- 
ing from  the  front,  the  flanks,  and  overhead.  But  it  is  important  that 
some  guns  at  each  of  our  great  harbors  should  be  protected  by  case- 
mate cover  of  some  kind.  The  experiments  made  by  us  at  Forts  Mon- 
roe and  Delaware  to  determine  a  suitable  iron  shield  to  be  put  in  the 
gun-recess  of  the  casemate,  established  the  fact  that  the  masonry 
afforded  a  sufficient  resistance  to  justify  the  modification  of  existing 


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REDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY   E»TABLISHMENT.  Ill 

casem&te  works  by  the  introdnction  of  metal  shields  in  the  portion  of 
the  scarp-wall  immediately  surrounding  the  embrasure,  whenever  such 
shields  could  be  obtained  at  moderate  cost.  In  furtherance  of  this  view 
several  experienced  officers  of  engineers  were  sent  abroad  to  ascertain 
in  what  manner  and  to  what  extent  the  maritime  countries  of  Europe 
were  introducing  iron  into  their  seacoast  defenses.  The  result  of  their 
mission  made  us  acquainted  with  the  state  of  the  question  there,  and 
the  information  brought  back  by  them  (which  has  been  published  and 
distributed)  affords  valuable  assistance  in  devising  structures  for  the 
casemate-cover  of  guns  at  those  sites  where  such  cover  is  essential  to 
the  perfection  of  the  system  of  shore  defenses. 

For  fifteen  or  twenty  years  past  Great  Britain  has  been  constructing 
powerful  and  costly  fortifications  for  the  defense  of  her  great  harbors 
and  dock-yards  and  naval  depots,  and  has  recently  commenced  upon 
the  iron  part  of  these  defenses,  having  gone  on  with  the  constructioii  of 
the  masonry  and  earth-work  portions  while  long-continued  and  exhaust- 
ive experimental  researches  were  being  conducted  to  ascertain  in  what 
manner  iron  should  be  used. 

Her  general  system  for  sea-coast  defense  is  like  our  own,  but  with  a 
larger  proportion  of  the  costly  casemate  fire,  and  a  smaller  proportion 
of  the  cheaper  earth-work  battery.  For  the  application  of  her  torpedo 
system  in  connection  with  fortifications  she  has  made  extensive  prepar- 
ations, and  her  engineer  troops,  to  which  this  service  is  intrusted,  are 
well  instructed  in  their  use.  This  system  of  seacoast  defense  was 
adopted  as  the  most  effective  and  economical,  and  tg  enable  her  fleets 
to  seek  the  enemy  on  the  ocean,  their  proper  sphere  of  operation. 

lu  conclusion,  I  beg  leave  to  suggest  that  if  the  committee  desire  to 
investigate  fully  the  subject  of  sea-coast  defense,  that  they  send  for  and 
examine  some  of  those  officers  of  the  Corps  of  Engineers  who  have  de- 
voted a  large  poVtion  of  their  lives  to  its  study  and  practice.  A  list  of 
them  is  appended  hereto : 

Question.  State  whether,  in  view  of  the  situation  of  affairs — the 
straitened  condition  of  the  Treasury — there  are  any  fortifications  or 
works  of  defense,  now  in  process  of  construction,  the  completion  of 
which  can  be  dispensed  with  or  postponed.    If  so,  state  what  they  are. 

Answer.  The  estimates  which  were  submitted — including  the  fortifi- 
cations for  the  interior  as  well  as  the  seacoast — amounted  to  about 
$3,600,000.  On  the  passage  of  the  House  resolution  concerning  the  es- 
timates, I  went  over  them  carefully,  with  my  assistant,  General  Casey, 
and  we  reduced  them  down  to  $1,400,000,  striking  outevery  thing  except 
what  should  be  gone  on  with  at  a  very  moderate  rate,  in  the  great  com- 
mercial or  strategic  harbors — ^the  most  important. 

Question.  State  whether  temporary  casemates  can  be  constructed  of 
sufficient  strength  and  durability  to  answer  all  purposes  of  ordinary  de- 
fense! 

Answer.  I  think  not. 

Question.  Could  not  a  large  quantity  of  timbers  be  obtained  ordina- 
rily, and  earth  put  upon  them  ? 

Answer.  That  could  be  done  for  a  bomb-proof  shelter;  but  you  could 
not  construct  a  casemate  to  fire  a  gun  through,  in  that  way.  These 
timbers  must  go  right  up  to  the  from.  A  shot  upon  them  would  shat- 
ter them  all  to  pieces,  and  the  whole  thing  would  fall  in  on  the  gun, 
and  you  would  lose  your  gun  at  once.  The  guns  are  of  more  impor- 
tance than  the  men.  The  objection  to  the  timber  is  that  you  must 
make  it  very  massive,  and  that  the  timber  must  necessarily  be  exposed. 


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112  KEDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT. 

and  a  shot  striking  that  wonld  cover  up  everything.  A  gun  is  exceed 
ingly  valuable,  because  yon  cannot  replace  it  except  after  a  long  time* 
It  takes  a  long  time  to  get  a  gun  in  position. 

Question.  State  whether  or  not  the  largest-sized  guns  can  be  brought 
to  bear  from  fleets  against  our  present  works  of  defense ;  whether  in 
most  important  points  the  water  is  not  too  shallow  to  admit  the  ap- 
proach of  vessels  carrying  those  heaviest  and  most  formidable  guns. 

Answer.  It  is  not.  The  cases  where  these  ships  cannot  approach  are 
exceptions  instead  of  being  the  rule.  They  can  enter  Portland,  Ports- 
mouth, (which  has  a  navy  yard,)  Boston,  Narragansett  Bay,  (a  great 
strategic  place,)  New  York,  and  Philadelphia.  The  very  largest  ships 
cannot  enter  Baltimore;  but  armed  ships  can  get  up  there.  It  has  24 
feet  of  water.  But  still,  these  smaller  vessels  carry  the  heaviest  guns. 
All  these  places  can  be  reached  by  armed  ships,  carrying  the  heaviest 
giifis.  The  Devastation  is  a  recently  built  ship,  with  the  most  powerful 
artillery.  It  is  somewhat  approaching  the  monitor  class.  I  think  its 
draught  is  26  feet;  but  ships  can  be  built  with  a  less  draught  of  water 
that  will  carry  these  big  guns. 

Question.  Would  they  be  seaworthy  f 

Answer..  Yes.  I  think  these  larger  ships  of  Great  Britain  have  25  feet 
draught.  They  can,  therefore,  pass  up  the  entrance  to  the  James  Hiver  at 
Fort  Monroe.  They  cannot  go  to  Charleston;  but  armed  ships  can  go 
there,  because  our  own  ships  have  gone  there.  The  secondary  armed 
ships,  armed  with  the  heaviest  guns,  can  go  to  Charleston  and  Savan- 
nah. They  can  get  into  the  lower  bay  of  Mobile  and  into  Key  West. 
The  heaviest  ships  cannot  get  to  New  Orleans ;  but  armed  ships  carrying 
the  heaviest  guns  can  get  there.  As  to  San  Francisco  there  is  no  ques 
tion  about  the  depth  there.    There  is  also  ample  depth  at  San  Diego. 

Question.  Can  heavy  guns  be  transferred  from  the  large  ships  to 
smaller  ones  f 

Answer.  No ;  they  would  send  over  the  ships  that  could  enter  our 
harbors. 

Question.  What  is  the  thickness  of  those  iron  shelters  for  embrasures, 
that  you  speak  of! 

Answer.  They  are  15  inches  of  iron,  in  three  plates,  of  5  inches  each, 
with  some  material — concrete  of  iron  filings — between  the  plates.  If  a 
thickness  of  15  inches  be  not  enough,  another  plate  can  be  added, 
making  the  thickness  20  inches. 


Office  of  the  Chief  of  Engineers, 

Washingtonj  D,  C,  January  12,  1874. 

Sir  :  In  order  to  render  my  reply  to  question  No.  5  more  complete,  I  would  ask  to 
bav.e  the  following  added  to  it,  after  the  iifth  and  sixth  lines  on  page  8",  the  words  of 
which  are:  ^* But  this  nrjdification  we  have  not  made.'' 

The  sum  in  brief  of  the  reply  to  this  question  is,  that  we  are  so  modifying  the  bar- 
bettes of  the  masonry  works  and  the  adjoining  barbette-batteries  as  to  enable  them 
to  resist  the  fire  of  the  heaviest  artillery  from  armored  ships ;  but  the  scarp  or  front 
wall  of  the  existing  masonry  works  is  not  Strang  enough  to  resist  that  fire,  and  to 
make  it  strong  enough  we  must  place  an  iron  shield  around  the  embrasure  of  some 
of  the  caseuiat4*s.  Tlie  arched  covering  of  the  casemates  of  the  masonry  works  is 
strong  enough  to  re-sist  the  vertical  or  curved  fire  of  such  armored  ships. 

I  alHO  Kend  yon  herewith,  in  another  letter,  a  fuller  reply  to  your  question  as  to  the 
practicability  of  armored  fleets  eut-ering  our  chief  harbors,  so  far  as  the  depth  of  water 
IS  concerned,  which  I  request  may  be  added  to  my  response  as  taken  down  by  the 
stenographer. 

I  send  you  the  photograph  of  the  Devastation,  and  will  send  yon,  to-morrow  mom- 


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REDUCTION   OP   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT.  113 

injr,  a  fuller  etatement  concerning  Fort  Fislier,  and  also  concerning  the  deterioration 
the  UDluiished  barbette-batteries  would  undergo  if  allowed  to  remain  unfinished. 
Very  truly,  yours, 

A.  A.  HUMPHREYS, 
Brigadier-General  and  Chief  of  Engineers. 
Hon.  John  Coburx, 

Chairman  Committee  Military  Affairs,  Hause  of  Bepreeentatives, 


Office  of  the  Chief  of  Engineers, 

JVashington,  D,  C»  January  12, 1874. 

Sir:  I  desire  to  reply  a  little  more  fully  than  I  did  this  morning  to  your  inquiry 
whether  thickly-plated  or  rmored  ships  with  the  powerful  modern  guns  draw  too  much 
water  to  enter  our  principal  harbors. 

The  most  powerful  ships  now  built,  such  as  the  Devastation  class,  draw  26^  fecyi^  of 
water  at  the  stern  and  about  4  feet  less  at  the  bow.  They  are  to  carry  the  35-ton  12- 
inch  rifled  gun. 

The  Monarch  class  draw  about  26  feet  at  the  stern  and  carry  the  25-ton  12-inch  rifled 
gun. 

The  other  classes,  carrying  from  the  25-ton  12-inch  rifled  gun  to  the  10-iiich  and  9- 
*  inch  riflt'd  gun  of  a  penetrating  power  equal  to  our  15-inch  smooth-bore  gun,  draw  vari- 
ous depths  down  to  about  16  feet  aft. 

There  are  small  armored  vessels  drawing  only  7  feet  of  water,  carrying  one  9-inch  rifle, 
(which  possi'sses  the  same  penetrating  power  as  our  15-inch  smooth-bore  at  1,000  yards 
distance.)    The  gun  can  be  lowered  down  to  the  keel  of  the  vessel  in  rough  weather. 

Our  own  most  powerful  iron -clads,  with  14-inch  side  armor,  carrying  four  of  our  most 
Xwwerfnl  guns,  draw  18  feet  of  water. 

All  these  classes  could  therefore  enter — 

1.  The  Penobscot  River; 

2.  The  Kennebec  River; 
.3.  Portland  Harbor; 

4.  Portsmouth  (N.  H.)  Harbor; 

5.  Boston  Harbor ; 

6.  Narragansett  Bay,  (a  great  strategic  position ;) 

7.  New  London  Harbor; 

8.  New  York  Harbor; 

9.  Philadelphia  Harbor,  (except  those  drawing  25  feet  and  over;) 

10.  Hampton  Roads,  (the  entrance  to  James  River  aud  the  harbor  of  Norfolk ;) 

11.  The  Tortu|{as,  (strategic  position,)  and 

12.  San  Francisco  Harbor. 

A  large  part  of  such  ships  could  enter  the  harbors  of— 

1.  Baltimore; 

2.  Washington; 

3.  Charleston; 

4.  Tlje  mouth  of  the  Savannah  River; 

5.  The  harbor  of  Key  West ; 

6.  Pensacol a  Harbor; 

7.  The  lower  harbor  of  Mobile ; 

8.  Ship  Island  Harbor; 

9.  The  harbor  of  New  Orleans ; 

10.  The  harbor  of  San  Diego,  and 

11.  The  month  of  the  Columbia  River. 

The  largest  wooden  ships  of  the  line  of  former  days  drew  from  25  feet  to  27  feet 
wftt^r,  and  others  correspondingly.  It  is  perceived,  then,  that  the  change  from  wooden 
ships  to  irun-ckids  has  not  materially  changed  their  draught  of  water,  and  the  ques- 
tion, therefore,  as  to  the  accessibility  of  our  harbors  to  tlie  ships  of  war  of  foreign  na- 
tions, so  far  as  it  relates  to  depth  of  water,  remains  the  same  tis  before.  It  will  be 
observed,  indeed,  that  our  most  powerful  armored  ships  draw  18  feet  water,  the 
draught  of  frigates  formerly. 

Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

•  A.  A.  HUMPHREYS, 

Brigadier-General  and  Chief  of  Engineers, 
Hon.  John  Coburn, 

Chairman  Committee  Military  Affairs^  House  of  Itepresentatives, 

8  M  £ 


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114  REDUCTION    OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT. 

Office  of  tiie  Chief  of  Engineers, 

UaehingtoHj  D,  C,,Jannaryj  13,  1^4. 
SiK :  In  reply  to  yonr  inqniry  as  to  what  reduction  conld  be  made  in  tbe  estiiniito 
for  fortifications,  in  view  of  the  actnal  and  anticipated  falling  off  in  the  aniount  of 
revenue  collected,  I  have  to  state  that  the  estimates  for  the  service  of  the  Enjpneer 
Department  were  submitted  in  August  l&st,  before  the  disturbance  in  monetary  affairs 
of  the  country  had  occurred  or  was  generally  felt.  The  estimate  for  fortificatious 
amounted  to  about  $3,400,000. 

Under  the  resolution  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  returning  the  estimates  for 
revision,  those  for  fortifications  were  reduced  to  $1,400,000,  and  subsequently  nprm  a 
conference  with  the  member  of  the  Committee  on  Appropriations  having  charge  of  this 
subject  and  afterward  with  that  committee,  the  estimates  were  still  further  reduced 
to  about  ;$1, 000,000.  This  sum  provides  for  a  very  moderate  progress  on  the  defenses 
of  most  of  the  chief  harbors  of  the  country. 

As  to  the  inquiry  whether  all  expenditure  upon  these  works  might  not  be  tempo- 
rarily suspended,  I  must  advise  to  the  contrary,  in  view  both  of  the  incomplete  state 
of  the  defenses  and  the  unfinished  condition  of  the  works.  The  half-finished  earth- 
werk,  exposed  for  fiwy  length  of  time  to  the  weather,  would  be  materially  injured,  as 
would  be  also  the  unfinished  masonry  ;  and  the  machinery  and  other  expensive  means 
and  applfances  used  in  the  construction  of  the  fortifications,  commonly  termed  "plant" 
by  contractors,  would  bo  seriously  impaired  by  disuse. 
Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

A.  A.  HUMPHREYS, 
Brigadier-General  and  Chief  of  Engineers, 
Hon.  John  Coburn, 

Chairman  Committee  Military  Affairs,  House  of  Bepresentatices. 


Office  Commissary-General  op  Subsistence, 

Washington  City^  January  12,  1874. 
Sir  :  In  reply  to  your  commuDicatioii  of  the  7th  instant,  requesting 
a  statement  of  tlie  number,  occupation,  and  total  monthly  pay  of  the 
civilians  employed  by  the  Subsistence  Department,  and  also  a  statt- 
ment  showing  the  number  of  enlisted  men  employed  on  extra  duty  in 
said  Department,  with  their  several  occupations  and  their  total  monthly 
pay,  1  have  the  honor  to  inform  you  that  of  civilians  there  are  em- 
ployed— 

69  clerks,  whose  average  monthly  pay  is.  $121  69 — total,  $8,396  61 

2  inspectors,  whose  average  monthly  pay  is    100  00 — total, 

8  store-keeper8,who8e  average  monthly  pay  is  ^Q  46— total, 
21  messengers,  whose  average  monthly  pay  is  44  14 — total, 

5  watchmen,  whose  average  monthly  pay'is.  45  00 — totiil, 

9  coopers,  whose  average  monthly  pay  is...  ij'6  89 — total, 
44  laborers,  whose  average  monthly  pay  is..  49  Q% — total, 

14  other  employes,  whose  average  monthly 

pay  is 59  12 — total, 

172  total  employed.    Grand  total  of  pay  per  month 14, 027  96 

The  inclosed  statement,  in  detail,  of  the  enlisted  men  on  extra  duty, 
shows  the  number  to  be  as  follows :  , 

30  employed  as  assistants  to  acting  commissaries. 

15  employed  as  butchers. 
17  emi)loyed  as  coopers. 
49  emj)loyed  as  herders. 

115  employed  as  laborers. 

3  other  employes.* 


200  00 

691  68 

926  94 

225  (VO 

675  01 

2, 185  04 

827  68 

229  total.    The  total  monthly  compensation  to  whom  amounts  to  81,617 
or  $19,404  per  annum.  ' 

*  1  store-keeper,  2  overseers. 

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REDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT. 


115 


The  foregoing  items  are  taken  from  the  last  reports  received  from  the 
officers  on  dnty  in  this  Department. 
The  following  are  the  authorized  civilians  employed  in  this  Bureau: 

1  cliief  clerk,  at  an  annual  compensation  of 82, 000 

1  clerk  class  3,  at  an  annual  compensation  of 1, 600 

8  clerks  class  2,  at  an  annual  compensation  of 1, 400 

15  clerks  class  1,  at  an  annual  compensation  of. . .     1, 200  (1  vacancy .) 

1  messenger,  at  an  annual  compensation  of 840 

2  laborers,  at  an  annual  compensation  of 720 

There  are  also  assigned  to  serve  in  this  Bureau  five  enlisted  men,  be- 
longing to  the  general  service,  as  watchmen,  assistant  messengers,  and 
laborers,  whose  total  monthly  pay,  fuel  and  quarters,  &c.,  and  commu- 
tation of  rations,  amount  to  874.07  each- 

I  have  the  honor  to  be,  sir,  very  respectfully, your  obedient  servant, 

A.  B.  EATON, 

Commissary-  General. 
Hon.  John  Coburn, 

Chairman  Committee  on  Military  Affairs^  Souse  of  Representatives. 


Statement  showing  number  of  extra-duty  men  employed  in  the  Subsistence  Department,  Untied 
Slates  Army  ;  aUohoio  employed^  and  their  daily  andpnonthly  compensation  as  per  last  re- 
ports received. 


Xamc  of  soldier. 


Employed. 


Rank  and  regiment.  - 

i 

I 


Pay. 


When. 


C.  Bums Private  fith  Inf. . . . !  Nov.,  1873 

I 

C.Smith ' do do 

.I.E.  Clioe ' do do 

Riliame '  Private  li»thlnf  ..|..  do 

A.  \V.  Challiuor. .    Sfrjjraiit  1st  Cav do 

L.  Sondheim '  Private  1  «r  (Jav  .......  do 

E.J.RinR Private3dlnf do 

W.  ilcSweeney  . .    St'r<:"aut  TthCav..    Oct., 

H.  Mvenj i  Private  7th  Cav. ...... do 

P.Walker L...do i-.-do 

H.I).  Spt'cr l....do do 

D.  Dunbar i  Private  3th  Inf..      Nov., 

3LS.  McDonald.-    Privat«' l-tli  In  f  ...  .do 

J.  G.  Hewitt '  Serpeant  16tb  Inf. ....  do 

William  Campbell   Private  10th  Inf. ..)...  do 

A.  Bnwnier <lo i ...  do 

W.J.Kelly [....do |...do 

G.A.Brown do |...do 

L,  Ho<T.%ch  .....-' do do 

John  O'Connor. .  .1 do do 

A.  Mark Private  3<l  Inf do 

J.  Ohlften j do do 

A.Gilmonr '  Private20th  Inf do 

W.  C.  Weatherbe     Private  8t  li  Ci v . . .  I . . .  do 
J.  IL  Thompson ?. I  Private  I2th  Inf. . ., . .  do 

E.  Gravier i — do do 

ILSbannan i  Private 20th  Inf... I.,  do 

J.  Malouo Private  -.ad  Inf do 


Where. 


How. 


'  Per        I'er 
'  da^'.     mouth. 


J.  H.  Zinstine 

W.  Hiinkett 

W.  Briukerraan.. 

C.S.  Clandios 

A.  D.  Brown 

B.Biirdick  

J.McMnJlin do  . 

T.  W.Adams do  . 

It.  Bnirh k...do 

W.  E.id.'s do 

J.  Brogan do 


...do |...do 

Private  10th  Inf do 

Corporal  6{h  Inf do 

do 
Private  Ctli  Inf, 
...do 


Fort  D.  A.  Rus- 
Hell,  Wyo. 

do 

...do  ....   

Newberry.  S.  C. 

Ft.KLiraath,Orec 

I  ...do 

I  Fort  Lyon,  Colo 

1873  I  Fort  Klce.  Dak.. 

I flo 

|....do 

do    

1873  ,  FL  F.  Steele,  Wyo, 
Columbia,  S.  C  . . 
Frankfort,  Kv  . 
Ft.McKavet.Tcx 

...  do  

.  ..do 

...do 

....do 

....do 

Ft .  Lea  ven  woitli, 
Kans. 
do 


Laborer. 


...do 

...do 

Asstto  A.C.S.. 

...do 

Laborer 

Asst.to  A.C.S.. 
Ineh'ge  of  cattl 


'20 

20 
20 
35 
35 
20 
3.% 
20 


Butcher (    35 

Laborer 

...do 

...do 

...do 

Asstto  A.C.  S.. 

Laborer 

...do 

...do 

...do ,.. 

...do    

...do 

ABsttoA.C.S.. 


.do. 


Ft.  Ripley,  Minn.   Laboi-er 

Ft.  Gariaud,Colo.;  Asat.  to  A.  C.  S. 
Camp  Wright,  Cal do 


do 

Vu  Pembina,Dak 
Camp  McDowell, 
Dak. 

...do 

AuBtiiijTex 

Ft.A.Linco]n.Dak 

do 


.do  . 
.do  . 
.do. 
.do  . 
.do. 
.do  . 
.do. 


Laborer. 

...do 

....do... 


...do 

Aftstto  A.C.S. 

Laborer 

Herder 

do 


do. 
.do. 
.do  . 
.do  . 
.do. 
.do. 


20 
20 
20 
20 
35 
20 
20 
30 
20 
20 
20 
35 

35 
20 
20 
20 

20 ; 

20 

20  I 

20 
35 

20 
20  I 
20  I 
20  ' 
20 
20  ' 
20 
20 
30  I 


86  (»0 

6  00 
G  00 
10  5(1 
10  ."iO 

r>  00 

10  ."jO 
0  10 

10  50 
6  (10 
C  (K) 
ti  00 
6  00 

10  50 
(J  U\) 
G  00 
6  00 
G  00 
fi  10 
G  00 

10  30 

10  50 

C  00 
6  (H) 
6  00 

e  00 

6  0<l 
G  00 

6  00 
10  50 
(>  OO 
6  Go 
G  00 
G  00 
G  00 
G  (0 
G  00 
G  00 
G  00 


Digitized  by 


Google 


116  REDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT. 

Statement  shoicing  nnmber  of  extra-duty  men  employed^  4'C. — Continued, 


Name  of  soldier. 


S.  J.  Boffio  .... 

1).  Gallatin 

().  Crissiuger. . 

P.  O.  BaiTV 

J.  B.  Gravelin. 


M.  Werner. . 
J.  Greaham  , 


J.  Knnst  . 


AVifliara  Breose. 

C.  Brown . .. 

AV.S.  Kelley  .... 

A.  Tiivlor 

AV.Mc.Murty  ... 


TV.Girle 

Georzo  Bnker 

li:.  J.  Phillips.... 
J).  Briapetorth.. 

J.  Cala^lum 

AV.  A.  Poi-tcr 

('harlcft  Miller.. 
J.  H.  MaHtcrnian 
N.  Pt'iinecker  . . . 

J.KiW 

C.  P.  iierrick  . . . 
1\  Ellas .'... 


J.  Goodwin  . 


J.Smlth 

C  "Weinberger . . 

V.  Marvin      

J.T.Falvey 

E.AVlii!in< , 

n.  Beizer 

J.Chui^hill 


E.  C.  Beasclin... 
K.M.Ui«kev.... 
C.  M.  Kogera .... 


W.  M.  Tlionipson 

"VT.  H.  Lyman  . . . 

J.  Totteii 

J.Davis 


M.  Loftns 

T.  J.  KuQsell. 

J.C.Po«t 

J.  Bnnrke 

G.  O'Cronr... 
AV.  J.  Noble.. 


AY.  R.  Powers . 
J.  Morrissoy.. 

a  A.  Sykes  ... 


A.  Stepbens 

J.  Suckndoe 

T.St.Glick 

J.AVilson 

J.Bndd 

.1.  J.  Lacy 

I.Staley *... 

J.  St.  Gciman  . . . 
AVni.  Cummins.. 

V.  Shei'han 

D.E.  Murphv... 
AV.F.Myer8\... 


Rank  and  regiment. 


D.F. Stewart .... 
J.  Scbarfcnberger 


Private  6tb  Inf.... 

...do 

...do 

...do 

Private  I2tb  Inf. 


Private  Stb  Art. 
Private  3J  luf  . . 


Sergeant  4th  Art.. 


Private  8tli  Cav.. 
Private  1st  Iiif . . . 
Privatollthlnf.. 

...do 

Private  15th  Inf.. 


Private  8th  Inf. . . 
Private  mb  Inf.. 

...do 

Corporal  24tb  Inf. 
Private  5tb  Art.. 

...do 

Sergeant  12tb  Inf. 
Private  Utblnf. 

...do 

....do 

Private  G.  M.  serv. 
Private  2id  Inf. 


Corporal  15th  Inf 


Private  8th  Cav 
Private  23d  Inf 

...do , 

Private  15th  Inf  .. 
Coiporal  22d  Inf 

Not  given 


...do 

...do 

Corporal  23d  Inf . 

Lance-8orgt.,anas- 

signed. 
Privato  22d  Inf . 
Private  5th  Inf., 
Private  Slst  Inf. 


Not  given 

do 

Private  20th  Inf . 

...do 

Private  Istlnf... 
Private  17tb  Inf. . 


...do 

Private  P.  P. 


Private  24tb  Inf . . 


Private2dlnf  ... 
Sergeant  sritb  Inf 
Private  22d  Inf  .. 

...do 

...do 

...do 

...do , 

...do 

...do 

...do 

...do 

Private  12th  Inf .. 


Corporal  1st  Cav. . 
...do 


Employed. 


When. 


Nov., 
..do 
..do 
..do 
..do 


18T3 


.do  . 
.do. 


Oct., 

Nov. 
...do 
...do 
...do 
...do 


1873 
1873 


...do 
...do 
...do 
...do 
...do 
..do 
Oct., 
Nov., 
...do 
...do 
...do 
...do 


1873 
lt?73 


Oct,  1873 


..do 
..do 
-do 
Nov., 
.  do 
..do 
...do 


1873 


.do. 
.do. 
.do. 


.do.. 


.do. 
.do. 
.do. 


Dec, 
..  do 

Nov., 
...do 
...do 
...do 


.do. 
.do. 


1873 
1873 


..do. 

..do. 
..do. 
..do. 
..do. 
.  do. 
..do. 
..dp. 
..do. 
..do. 
..do. 
..do. 
..do. 


Oct., 
..do 


1873 


Where. 


Ft  A. Lincoln,  Dk. 

...do 

...do 

...do 

Boole's  Springs, 

Ariz. 
Fort  Adams.  R  I, 
Camp      Supply, 

Ind  T. 
Ft.  Cape  Disap- 

pointnrt.VVasb 
Ft.Bayard,N.M's 
Ft  Poiixr.  N.  Y 
Ft  CJoucbo,  Tex 

...do 

Ft  Tnlerosa,  N. 

Mex. 
Beaver,  "Wj-o... 
Angel  island,  Cal 

FtMcIntosh.fex 
i^M^ouroe,  A'a. 

....do  .  -   ■ 

San  Dit^ffo,  Cal.. 
Santa  F6,  N.  Mex 

...do 

...do  

Saiut  Louis,  Mo 
Lower      Brule 

Agency,  Dak. 
Fort  vStunton,  N. 

Mex. 

....do 

Tucson,  Ariz... 

....do 

FtCraig.N.  Mex. 
Ft  Randall,  Dak 

...do 

Camp    Warner, 

Orog. 

do 

...do 

Camp    Apache, 

Ariz. 
FtSanderSjWyo. 


...do 

Ft^  Larneil,  Kang 

Fort  Vancouver, 
AVasb. 

Nashville,  Tonn 

...do 

Ft  Seward,  Dak 
...do    

Ft  AVajne,  Mich 

Cheyenne  Agen- 
cy, Dak. 
....do 

Fort  Columbus, 
N.  Y.  Harlwr. 

Ringgold      Bar- 
rackij,  Tex. 

Huntsville,  Ala.. 

Ft.  Quitman.Tex. 

Ft  Randall,  Dak 

....do 

....do  

....do 

....do 

....do 

...do 

....do 

...do 

Camp    Halleck, 

Nev. 
Ft.  AValU-AValU, 

AVasb. 
....do 


How. 


Herd«r. 
...do... 
...do.. 
...do.. 
...do.. 


Laborer. 
...do  ... 


.do. 

.do. 
do. 
.do. 
do. 
.do 


AssttoA.C.  S. 

...do 

Laborer 

SU)re-keei)er . . . 

Laborer 

..do 

AsHtto  A.C.S 

Laborer 

...do 

...do 

Cooprr  

Butcher , 


Laborer. 


...do 

(!?oo])er 

Laborer 

Asst  to  A.C.S. 

Laborer 

Herder 

Butcher 


Herder.. 
...do  ... 
Lal)orer. 


Cooper.., 

Laborer. 
...do.... 
...do... 


...do 

...do 

Cooper 

Laborer 

Asstto  A.C.S.. 
Laborer 


...do.. 
...do.. 

Cooper. 


Asstto  ACS.. 

Laborer 

Butcher 

Herder 

...do 

...do 

...do 

...do 

...do 

...do 

...do 

Laborer 


Batcher. 
Cooper.., 


P*.V. 


Per 
day. 


Cevti 
20 
20 

20 
20 


35 

35 
20 
33 
20 
20 
20 
20 

20  I 

35  I 
35 


Per 
month. 


Digitized  by 


Google 


REDUCTION    OP   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT.  117 

Statement  shomng  number  of  extra-duty  men  employed^  4^, — Cootinued. 


Nama  of  soldier.  Rank  and  regiment. 


J.Kelly 

J.W.  Wateon 

M.  O'Conncr 

C.  B.  Jennings  ... 

J.  P.  Smith 

J.  E.  Bullard 

A.  S.  Woodwell  . . 

C.  Hjixo 

^V.  Bremoinan  . . . 

C.Miller 


Private  Slst  Inf. . 

Private  1st  Cav.. 
SorgeauclGthluf. 
Private  ItJth  Inf . 
Private  'Jd  Inf  . . . 
Sergeant  Sth  Art. 
Private  Uih  Inf  . 

...do 

Sergeant  17th  Inf 


-  23d  Inf. , 


T.  A.  Maclear . 

C.  Loch 

J.  K.  Thoinps<in 
P.  McCJowan I 

n.Hall 

J.  M.  Austin  . . 

F.Swift , 

S.  Clarke.. 

J.  T.  Foreaker. 

B.  Hafley 

"XV.  U  logins 

P.Quiuii 

O.  Kankin 

C.  Thomson 

G.  Wfclterii 

C.  Wil.*.n 

J.J.OHare-... 


5th  Cav  . . , 

23d  Inf  ... 

Corptiral  2:Jd  Inf  . 
Private  19th  Inf  . 

SiTgoaut  Gth  Inf . 

Private  6th  Inf  . . 

Nut  given 

Private  6th  Inf  . . 
....do 

...do 

...do 

...do    

...do  

....do 

...do 

Kot  given   

Private  5th  Art.. 


M.  Frank Private  5th  Cav 


D.  W.  Ihipcoll... 

C.Kohlir 

(\PorzeU 

T  Cohnay 

J.  IXoIzaniur 

J.  Carlwm 

T.Caffw^y 

G.Stein 


A.  Briggs . 


M.  Micheals  . 

J.  Dal.y 

K.Rtchter  ... 

G.  Brown 


J.Xaftal 

P.  Lvnch 

J.  O'Brien 

1).  Barrett 

£.  Shanks 

W.  Meyers. 

J.  Mnlknius  .... 

J.  Thompson 

O.  Dorsuer 

E-Polk 

M.  Fitzslmmous. 

W.  Moher 

J.Clark 

H.  Wienskowski 

A.  W. Hardin  ... 
KFarrell 


T.Farrell 

W.  Henry 

T.J.Kelly.... 
T.  McDonald.. 

J.  Cronin 

H.  Taylor 

J.  Mc Alliater  . 


Sergeant  11th  Inf 
Private  llth  Inf . 

...do 

Private  3d  Inf  . . 
Sergeant  12th  Inf 
Private  12th  Inf  . 

...do 

Private  7th  Inf  . . 

Corporal  llth  Inf 

Private  llth  Inf .. 

...do 

Private  1st  Cav... 

Private  8th  Inf... 


Private  llth  Inf. 
Private  10th  Inf . 

..  do 

Private  15th  Inf .. 
Private  7th  Inf  ... 

...do 

Private  Ist  Art . . 
Sergejuit  I  Gth  Inf 
Private  6th  Cav  . 
Sergeant  4th  Art. 
Private  4th  Art . . 

...do 

Not  given 

Private  3d  Art... 

Private  19th  Inf . 
Private  14th  Inf . 


...do     

Not  given 

do 

...do 

...do 

...do 

...do 


Employed. 


When. 


1873 


Oct.,  1873 


..do 
Nov., 
..do 
..do 
..do 
..do 
..do 
..do 


.do. 


..do 

-.do 

Oct.,   1873 
Nov.,  1H73 


1873 


Oct., 
...do 
...do 
...do 
..do 
...do 
...do 
...do 
...do 
...do 
..  do 

Nov., 
...do 


Oct,  1873 


1873 


Dec.,  1873 

..do 

.  do 

Nov.,  1873 
..  do 

c»o 

do 


.do  . 


...do. 


.do. 
do. 
do. 


do. 


.do 

do 

do 

dii 

.do 

do 

.do 


do 

-do 

Oct.,  1873 

.do 

.  do 

Nov.,  1873 
..do 


do. 
.do. 

..  do. 
do. 
do. 
do. 
do. 
do. 
do. 


Where. 


How. 


Ft.  AValla- Walla. 

Waah.  i 

...do 

Humboldt,  Teun.' 

..    do 

Ft.  Wallace,  Kane 
Ft.  Preble.  Mo  ..i 
Ft.  Laramie,  Wyol 

...do ...| 

Fort  Abercrom-  ' 

hie,  Dak. 
Ciinip     Verdi,  I 

Anas.  I 

....do I 

....do ' 

Ft.Whinnle.Ariz 
Saint    Martins-  < 

ville.  La.  ' 

Fort  Bu  ford,  Dak 

...do , 

Camp  Grant.  Ariz 
Fort  Bufonl.Dak 

....do 

do i 

do 

do I 

....do I 

....do  

...do  

Gr*renwoo<l,  La . .  i 
Plattsburgh  Bar-i 

racks,  N.  Y.  | 
Camp    on    San 

Carlos,  Ariz,  i 
Fort  Giiffin,  Tex' 

....do ' 

....do I 

Fort  Riley,  Kans' 
Camp  Galton.Ca] 

...do    

...do I 

Camp      Baker,  j 

Mont 
Fort     Ilichard- 

8<»n,  Tex. 

...do  

...do 

Benicia     B  a  r  • 

raiks,  Cal. 
C'p  Stiimbangh, 

Wash. 
Fort  Sill,  Idaho 
Fort  Clark,  Tex 

...do 

Ft.Union,  N.Mex 
Fort  Shaw,  Mont 

...do j 

Ft.  Jefferson,  Fla 
JMck»oii,  Miss  . . 
ForlH;iys,Kana.i 
Sitka,  Alaska ...  I 

...do i 

...do    ; 

Fort  Davis,  Tex 
FtWadsworth,  I 

N.Y.  Harbor.  ' 
Baton  Rouge,  La. 
Fort  Fetterman,  I 

..zr. 

FortSnlly.  Dak.l 
do 


Cooper. 


Laborer 

Overseer 

Asrit  to  A.  C.  i 

Laborer 

...do 

...do 

..  do 

Cooper 


do. 


Laborer 

.  do  . . . 

Cooper. . 


Overseer., 
Laborer. . 
Co<»i>er... 
Laborer. . 
...do.... 
...do.... 
....do.... 
...do.... 
...do.... 
...do  .... 
Butcher. . 
Laborer. . 
...do.... 


Cooper 

...do 

Laborer 

...do 

...do 

Asst  to  A.C.S* 

Laborer 

...do 

...do 


...do. 


...do  ... 
Butcher. 
Laborer. 


.do. 


...do 

...do  

...do 

...do 

Butcher 

As.st.  to  A.C.S. 

Butcher 

Asst  to  A.C.S. 

Laborer 

Asstto  A.C.S. 

Bntchor 

Herder 

Cooper 

Asst.  to  A.C.S. 


Laborer 

AssttoA.CS. 


.do. 
.do. 
.do. 
.do. 


Laborer. , 
Uuicher.. 
Laborer. . 
Herder .  . 
...do  ... 
..  do.... 
...do... 


Pay. 


Per  I   Per 
daj\|  month. 


*  Paid  for  ten  days. 


CentJi] 
35  I 

20  I 
20  ■ 
35 
20 
£0 
20  I 
20  I 
35 

35 

20 
20 
35 
35 

20 
20 
35 
20 
20 
20 
20 
20 
20 
20 
35 
iO 
20 


35 
20 
20 
20 
35 
20 
20 
20 

20 

20 
35 
20 

20 

20 
20 
20 
20 
35 
35 
35 
35 
20 
35 
20 
20 
35 
35 

20 
35 

SO 
20 
20 
20 
20 
20 
20i 


$10  50 

6  OO 
6  00 

10  50 
6  00 
6  00 
6  00 
6  00 

10  50 

10  50 

6  00 

0  00 

10  .-w 

10  50 

6  00 
6  00 

10  50 
6  00 
6  JO 
fi  00 
6  00 
6  00 
6  (»0 
6  00 

10  50 
6  00 
6  00 

10  50 

10  ro 

fi  00 
G  00 
0  CO 
10  50 
6  00 
6  00 
6  00 

6  00 

6  00 
10  50 
6  00 

6  00 

C  00 
6  00 
G  to 
G  (K) 
10  50 
10  51 
10  50 
10  50 
6  00 
10  50 
6  CO 

e  «o 
10  :o 

10  50 

6  00 
10  50 

6  00 
6  00 
C  00 
6  00 
6  00 
6  00 
6  00 


Digitized  by 


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118 


REDUCTION    OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT. 


Statement  ahomng  number  of  extra-duty  men  employed ,.^-0, — ContiDned. 


Name  of  soldier. 

liank  and  regiment. 

Employed. 

Pay. 

When. 

Where. 

How. 

Per 
day. 

Per 
mouth. 

S.  Brndlev 

Not  given 

Nov.,  1873 
..do 

Fort  Sully,  Dak 
....  do    

Herder 

20 
20 
20 
20 

20 
SO 

20 
20 
20 

20 

90 
35 

20 
20 
20 

20 
35 

3.'» 
20 
20 
20 

35 
20 
20 

20 
20 
90 
35 
20 

3.1 
20 
20 
20 
35 
20 
20 

US 

20 
20 
90 

35 

20 
35 

35 
20 
20 
90 
90 
90 
20 
20 
90 
20 
90 
90 
20 
90 
90 
20 
90 
35 
90 

f6  00 

J.  Delfliiey 

..<lo     

...do  

6  00 

J.KMcGuire... 
Johu  Siuith 

Private  2d  Art.... 
Private  3<lCav.... 

...do 

Dec,  1873 
Nov.,  1873 

..  do 

Fort  Foote.  Md  . 
Ft.  McPherson. 

Nev. 
....do    

AH«t,toA.C.S.. 
Laborer 

6  00 

L.  A.Skidniore... 

...do 

6  00 

Ii.  Weber 

..do    

...do 

Fort  McRae,  N. 

Mez. 
Ft  Lapwal.Id'ho 
do     . 

AsattoA.C.S.. 

Henler 

...do    

6  OU 

C.  Smith 

Private  CthCav... 
Private2l8tlnf... 
Not  given 

Oct,   1873 
..  do 

6  00 

B.  Kilev 

6  (0 

C.  TauDier 

Nov.,  1873 

..do 

..  do 

...do 

Ft.  Wingate,  N. 

xMex. 
C'p  MuDerniott, 

Nev. 
Ft.  Macon,  N.  C 
Fort  Stevenson, 

Dak. 
do 

Laborer 

6  00 

C.  Notlder 

Private  IstCav... 

Private  2d  Art.... 
Private  6th  Inf 

....do  

6  00 

P.  W.  Rosa 

J.Scales 

...do  

Butcher 

Lal>orer  ..  . 

6  00 
10  50 

W.  Jones 

,    do 

...do 

6  00 

J.  C.  Moaden 

...do    

..  do 

...  do  

....do 

6  UO 

II.  West 

Private  IJrth  Inf  . . 

Private  4th  Art... 
Private  2d  Art.... 

Corporal  16th  Inf.. 

Private  4th  Inf.... 

do 

...do 

Oct.,   1873 
Nov.,  1873 

Dec.,  1873 
Nov.,  leTJ 
...do 

Jackson  Barr'ksi, 

Ui. 
Ft.  Stoven.H.  Oreg 
Fort  McUenrv, 

M<1. 
Lebanon,  Kv  ... 
Fu  Bridger,  W.vx) 
do       .  .. 

....do 

G  00 

II.  B.  Meakins  . . . 
C.  Weigand 

H.Martin 

G.  W.  Kamest 

...do 

Butcher 

Asstto  A.C.  S.. 
Laborer 

6  00 
10  10 

10  50 
6  00 

M  Fh'iiu 

do    

6  00 

H.  Miller 

Private  13th  Inf... 
Private  7th  Inf  . 

...do 

...do 

Camp  Douglas, 

Utah. 
Fort  Eilia.  Mont 

...do 

Newport  Bar'ks, 

...'■^- 

....do 

6  00 

J.  XiArkins 

Cooper 

10  50 

H.  Itahmer 

Private  2d  Car 

...do 

Laborer 

6  00 

J.T.  Boardmaii  .. 

General  service  . . . 
do 

...do 

..  do 

....do 

6  00 

S.  Mosior 

...do  

6  00 

J.  11.  King 

J.  Barbor 

Private2l8tlnf ... 
..  do              ..     . 

Oct.,   1873- 
..  do 

FuColville.W'sh 
...  do              ... 

Henler 

...do 

6  00 
6  00 

John  Ibnrg 

Rebachakya 

C.  Parkhnrst 

Private  16th  Inf .. 
Indian 

Nov.,  1873 
...do 

Oxfonl,  Miss... 
Ft.  Wadsworth, 

Dak. 
....do 

AsattoA.C.S.. 
Herder 

Butcher 

Lab»»rer 

10  50 
6  00 

Private  17th  Inf.. 
...do 

...do 

10  50 

(' .  Kohlhepp 

...do 

....do 

6  00 

MinaigoptM 

A.  Honuinger.... 
E.  Berrv... 

Indian  private  . . . 
Private  I7th  Inf. . . 
Private  24th  Inf  .. 
...do    

..do 

...do 

....do 

Hmler 

Laborer  ....... 

6  CO 

....do 

6  00 

...do 

..  do 

Fort  Brown,  Tex 
....do    ... 

Cooper 

10  i^ 

H.  Hatt4«r8on 

Laborer 

6  00 

(\  H.  Atkins 

Private  3d  Inf 

..  do 

Fort  Dodge.  Tex 
Fort  Totten,  Dak 
Omaha  Barr'ks, 

Nebr. 
....do 

....do 

6  00 

J.  Ilaustbrd 

Private  aothinf .. 
Private 9th  Inf.... 

...do 

...do 

....do 

6  00 

J.  Schwanaberg. . 
M.  Connor 

....do 

6  00 

....do 

...do 

....do    

6  00 

J.  Hvar 

...do 

...do  

....do  

do    .  .. 

fi  00 

K.  Fisher 

Private  Ist  Inf  ... 

...do 

Madison  Bnr'ka, 
N.Y. 

Camp   Indepen- 
dence, Cat 

..do         .      . 

....do 

6  00 

1>.  Barrv 

Not  given 

...do 

Asstto  A.C.S.. 

Laborer 

10  50 

0.  Speer     .  .     . 

....do  

...do 

6  00 

F.  A.  Ainsworth  . 
F.  L.  Hoffman  . . . 

Sergeant  14th  Inf . 

Corporal  14th  Inf. . 
Private  I4th  Inf... 
Corporal 

...do 

...do 

...do 

..do 

Sidney  Barraoks. 

Nebr. 
...  do  

AsautoA.C.S.. 
...do 

10  3U 
10  50 

W.  Maraden 

...do  

Laborer 

6  00 

H.  Aldeu  

Grnd  River,  Dak 
....do 

....do 

6  (0 

J.  MiLaughUn... 
A.  Fitzpatrick... 
T.  J.  Heninger  . . . 
J.  Marplo 

.  ..do™......:;:. 

...do 

Herder 

....do 

6  00 

Private 

...do 

....do 

6  0> 

....do 

...do 

...do 

....do 

6  00 

....do 

...do 

....do 

.    .  do     

6  00 

J.  Millor 

....do 

...do 

....do 

....do 

6  10 

(1.  McKoe 

....do 

...do 

...do 

...do 

6  0> 

J.  Thorn  AS 

...do 

...do 

....do    

Laborer 

6  00 

Vr.  Bf rberiok  .... 

MuHicIan23dInf.. 
Private  21st  Inf  .. 
...do 

..  do 

Oct.,   1873 
..  do 

Fori  Yuma,  Cal 
C'p  Homey,  Greg 
do 

...do 

6  00 

A.  Dnval 

H.  Jackaon 

Herder 

...do    

6  00 
6  (0 

J.  IJailov 

Private  IstCav... 
....do 

...do 

..  do 

...do    . 

Bntcher 

Herder 

....do 

6  00 

J.  Simpaon 

....do : 

6  00 

Geo.  Sanderson  . . 

...do 

...do 

....do 

6  00 

C.  Smith i. 

Sergeant 21  St  Inf.. 
Sistinf 

...do 

...do 

....do 

.do    .... 

6  00 

A.  Adrian 

....do 

Aa«ttoA.C.S-. 
Laborer 

10  50 

Levi  Burks 

...do 

....do 

6  00 

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REDUCTION    OF   THE    MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT.  119 

RECAPITULATIOX. 

Assistants  to  Acting  Commissary  Subsistence 30 

Butchers 15 

Coopers 17 

Herders 49 

Laborers 115 

Other  employds *3 

Total  number  detailed 229 

Total  monthly  pay $1,617  00 

A.  B.  EATON, 

Com  misaary-General, 
Office  Commissary-Gkxeral  of  Scusistexce, 
January  12,  1874. 


Washington,  D.  C,  January  12, 1874. 

Edward  P.  Smith,  Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs,  appeared  before 
the  committee  in  response  to  its  invitation. 

The  Chairman.  We  Lave  been  makinfr  an  examination  with  reference 
to  the  reduction  of  the  Army.  A  lar^e  use  being  made  of  the  military 
force  in  connection  with  Indian  afiairs,  we  desire  to  ascertain  all  the 
facts  we  can  from  you  on  this  subject.  State  at  what  points,  if  any,  the 
military  force  is  not  needed  in  connection  with  the  management  of  Indian 
affairs. 

Mr.  Smith.  I  should  state,  as  a  general  fact,  that,  with  the  exception 
of  a  few  tribes  located  on  their  reservations,  the  military  force  would 
not  be  required  in  connection  with  Indian  affairs. 

The  Chairman.  What  tribes  are  those! 

Mr.  Smith.  The  Apaches,  Sionx,  JiCiowas,  Comanches,  and  the  Chey- 
ennes  and  Ara])ahoes.  That  would  involve  the  use  of  the  military  in 
Arizona,  New  Mexico,  Indian  Territory,  and  along  in  Nebraska,  Wyo- 
ming, and  Dakota. 

The  Chairman.  So  far  as  your  experience  goes,  and  as  your  investiga- 
tions have  reached,  is  the  present  military  force  in  those  neighborhoods 
deemed  sufficient  f 

Mr.  Smith.  That  depends  somewhat  on  the  course  that  is  thought 
necessary  to  be  pursued  by  the  Indian  Department  during  the  coming 
season.  I  think  that  in  the  Indian  Territory,  and  at  all  other  points  ex- 
cept among  the  Sioux,  the  present  force  is  sufficient.  That  is,  there 
is  a  region  of  country  which  is  tribubxry,  in  a  military  way,  to  the 
Sioux  defense,  and  which  supplies  all  that  is  essential,  so  that  I 
suppose,  unless  there  be  an  effort  made  to  bring  these  Sioux  into 
proper  subjection  during  the  coming  season,  there  will  be  sufficient.  They 
have  refused  to  be  counted,  and  they  demand  rations  on  their  own  rep- 
resentations of  numbers,  and  the  agent  is  entirely  powerless.  He  has 
to  yield  to  their  demand.  The  supplies  are  neressarily,  in  that  country, 
some  hundred  or  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles  from  the  base.  But  he 
has  no  troops  to  protect  him,  because  by  the  treaty  no  troops  are  al- 
lowed to  come  into  that  country.  If  there  should  be  a  modification  of 
that  treaty,  or  if  the  Department  should  override  it,  in  view  of  its  viola- 
tion on  the  part  of  the  Sioux,  there  would  probably  l)e  more  troops  re- 
quired, and  there  would  be  required  a  fort  in  the  Sioux  country,  and 
also  one  on  the  western  boundary,  which  would  require  an  increase  of 
the  military  force  used  in  the  coming  year  over  that  of  last  year. 

The  Chaibman.  What  do  they  represent  the  numbers  of  the  Sioux 
Nation  to  be  f 

*  One  ttore- keeper,  two  orerseers. 

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120  KEDUCTION   OP   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT. 

Mr.  Smith.  The  Sioux  are  estimated  from  45,000  to  56,000.  From  the 
best  information  I  have,  they  are  not  far  from  53,000. 

The  Chairman.  Do  yon  mean  warriors  f 

Mr.  Smith.  iN^o,  sir;  men,  women,  and  children.  With  the  exception 
of  2,000,  the  Government  is  to-day  feeding  the  whole  of  that  number  ; 
it  is  feeding  from  44,000  to  56,000.  The  number  is  indefinite  because  of 
the  inability  to  count  them,  and  also  because  they  go  from  one  station 
to  another. 

The  Chairman.  Over  what  extent  of  territory  are  those  Indians  scat- 
tered! 

Mr.  Smith.  Clear  across  Dakota.  They  are  all  on  the  west  side  of 
the  Missouri  River  in  the  Territory  of  Dakota. 

The  Chairman.  Do  they  extend  into  Montana  in  any  great  number! 

Mr.  Smith.  No,  sir ;  except  some  7,000  to  8,000  T^ton  Sioux  at  Milk 
River. 

The  Chairman.  Do  they  extend  into  Wyoming  ! 

Mr.  Smith.  No,  sir;  except  as  they  roam  off  irom  reservations. 

The  Chairman.  So  far  as  you  canascertain  is  there  any  considerable 
number  of  the  Sioux  off  from  their  reservations  in  Montana,  Idaho,  or 
Wyoming  ! 

Mr.  Smith.  No,  sir;  unless  they  go  on  an  excursion  or  raid.  There 
are  other  tribes  all  around  the  Sioux  who  would  hinder  their  going  off, 
except  toward  the  south,  if  thej^  were  properly  armed. 

The  Chairman.  What  tribes  do  you  mean  ! 

Mr.  Smith,  The  Shoshones  and  Bannocks  in  Wyoming,  and  the 
Crows  and  Blackfeet,  north  and  northwest,  in  Montana,  and  the  Arick- 
arees  in  the  northeast.    All  these  are  friendly  to  the  whites. 

The  Chairman.  Do  you  think  they  could  be  armed  with  safety  in 
order  to  prevent  the  scattering  of  the  Sioux  ! 

Mr.  Smith.  Yes,  with  entire  safety. 

The  Chairman.  Do  you  think  they  could  be  trusted  not  to  use  these 
arms  against  the  whites  ! 

Mr.  Smith.  Yes,  entirely  so. 

The  Chairman.  Could  they  be  armed  with  safety,  so  as  to  insure  a 
reasonable  use  of  the  arms  as  against  the  Sioux  alone  ! 

Mr.  Smith.  I  think  so.  For  their  own  protection  they  would  do  it, 
and  that  would  hinder  to  a  large  extent  the  roaming  of  the  Sioux  in 
any  number  in  these  directions.  Now  they  are  roaming  oft*  into  Wyo- 
ming. 

The  Chairman.  Could  these  friendly  Indians  be  used  with  anything 
like  the  same  safety  that  white  men  could  be! 

Mr.  Smith.  They  could  if  they  were  under  some  sort  of.  control. 
They  would  need  some  kind  of  enlistment 

The  Chairman.  What  would  be  the  comparative  cost  of  arming  and 
using  these  Indians  as  soldiers! 

Mr.  Smith.  For  the  time  being  I  think  it  would  cost  as  much.  But 
their  services  would  be  only  temporary,  for  the  emergency,  and  thus 
the  cost  would  be  very  slight  comparatively. 

The  Chairman.  Do  you  think  that  their  employment  would  only  be 
temporary! 

Mr.  Smith.  That  is  all.  The  Sioux  persisted  last  year  in  going  into 
Wyoming  and  attacking  the  Shoshones,  and  there  was  a  very  urgent 
call  for  troops.  There  would  have  been  no  difficulty  with  them  at  all 
if  the  Secretary  of  War  had  had  authority  to  give  arms  to  the  Sho- 
shones.   They  would  have  taken  care  of  themselves. 

The  Chairman.  What  is  the  number  of  the  tribes  whom  you  men- 


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REDUCTION   OF   THE    MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT.  121 

tion  as  being  friendly  to  the  whites,  and  who  could  be  used  to  prevent 
the  scatteriuff  of  the  Sioux  tribes! 

Mr.  Smith.  Somewhere  from  8,000  to  11,000. 

The  Chairman.  Is  that  the  number  of  waiTiors,  or  the  whole  number 
of  the  tribes  f 

Mr.  Smith.  The  whole  number  of  the  tribes.  The  warriors  are  about 
in  the  ])roportion  of  one  to  five. 

The  Chairman.  Are  there  any  Indians  on  the  east  side  of  the  Mis- 
souri River  in  any  considerable  numbers,  either  friendly  or  unfriendly  f 

Mr.  Smith.  Ko,  sir. 

The  Chairman.  Is  any  part  of  the  Army  required  east  of  the  Mis- 
souri River  to  suppress  Indian  hostilities  or  prevent  Indian  mischief! 

Mr.  Smith.  Not  to  any  great  extent.  I  should  suppose  that  a  single 
company  at  Fort  Ripley,  in  Minnesota,  and  a  company  at  Fort  Totten,  in 
Dakota  Territory,  would  be  required  because  of  those  hostile  Sioux 
coming  over  there. 

The  Chairman.  Have  yon  any  apprehension  of  difficulties  connected 
w  ith  the  Indians  in  Colorado  !  And,  so  far  as  you  can  judge  from  reports 
made  to  you,  is  there  any  necessity  for  a  military  force  to  suppress  In- 
dian mischiefs  or  hostilities  in  the  western  parts  of  Kansas  and  Ne- 
braska, or  the  eastern  part  of  Colorado! 

Mr.  Smith.  There  is  a  possibility  of  the  necessity  of  forces  in  Colo- 
rado to  prevent  the  miners  and  settlers  from  entering  on  the  Ute  res- 
ervation. They  have  appeared  there  in  force  pretty  near  the  boundary, 
and  there  is  reason  tp  apprehend  that  they  will  go  over  on  the  reserva- 
tion, and  there  will  be  a  necessity  for  bringing  them  back,  as  the  Indians 
complain  of  them.  There  is  a  possibility  always  of  the  Sioux  coming 
into  Nebraska  to  hunt.  They  are  allowed  to  do  so  by  their  treaty,  un- 
less that  portion  of  the  treaty  be  abrogated,  as  proposed.  When  they 
go  to  hunt  they  are  liable  to  get  into  conflicts  with  the  settlers.  They 
have  done  so  within  a  few  weeks  past  and  the  troops  are  now  chasing 
them  in  Nebraska.  I  do  not  think  there  is  any  necessity  for  troops  in 
Kansas. 

The  Chairman.  Is  there  any  necessity  for  troops  in  Southern  Kansas 
on  the  border  of  the  Indian  Territory  ! 

Mr.  Smith.  No,  sir;  I  do  not  think  there  is  any  necessity  for  troops 
there. 

The  Chairman.  Passing  farther  south  to  the  neighborhood  of  Texas, 
what  is  the  disposition  of  the  Indians  bordering  northeast  and  northern 
Texas! 

Mr.  Smith.  These  Indians,  the  Comanchesand  a  portion  of  the  Chey- 
ennes,  have  been  more  troublesome  during  the  past  year  than  any 
other. 

The  Chairman.  Have  you  any  means  of  determining  their  numbers! 

Mr.  Smith.  Yes ;  we  have  them  estimated  with  some  degree  of  accu- 
racy. There  are  a  little  over  5,000  of  the  Kiowas  and  Comanches,  and 
a  little  over  3,500  of  the  Arapahoes  and  Cheyennes. 

The  CHAiR^fAN.  What  is  their  disposition  toward  the  whites  ! 

Mr.  Smith.  In  the  main  they  are  now  disposed  to  be  quiet  and  to 
receive  their  annuities  and  rations  from  the  Government. 

The  Chairman.  At  what  points  do  they  receive  them  ! 

Mr.  Smith.  The  Kiowas  and  Comanches  at  Fort  Sill,  and  the  Arapa- 
hoes and  Cheyennes  at  the  Cheyenne  agency,  some  one  hundred  miles 
north  of  that.  The  main  body  of  the  Indians  of  those  tribes  mentioned 
are  peaceable ;  but  they  have  among  them  a  set  of  young  bucks  whom 
they  say  they  cannot  control,  and  whom  they  decline  to  deliver  up  when 


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122  REDUCTION   OF  THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT. 

the.v  retura  with  their  booty.  They  go  into  Texas  on  raids,  and  some- 
times kill  white  people.  Then  they  come  back  on  the  reservation  and 
bring  their  booty  with  them,  and  when  their  surrender  is  demanded  the 
Indians  decline  to  surrender  them,  saying  that  they  are  not  able  to  do 
it.  They  also  decline  to  name  them,  and  it  is  impossible  to  have  them 
arrested. 

The  Chairman.  What  means  do  you  propose  to  adopt  to  stop  these 
depredations  ? 

Mr.  Smith.  There  are  only  one  or  two  courses  to  be  adopted :  To 
have  a  force  large  enough  to  patrol  the  border,  so  as  substantially  to 
prevent  raids,  or  to  strike  those  who  go  raiding  before  they  shall  have 
got  back  to  the  agency  ;  or  else  to  stop  their  rations  until  they  will  com- 
ply with  tlie  demand  to  surrender  their  raiders,  and,  if  necessary,  to 
proceed  further  with  force  and  compel  them  to  comply. 

The  Chairman.  Do  you  know  any  other  tribes,  except  these,  that 
make  mids  into  Texas  f 

Mr.  Smith.  None,  except  from  the  Mexican  side.  I  think  there  is  a 
good  deal  more  marauding  done  in  Texas  from  the  Mexican  side  than 
from  this  side. 

The  Chairman.  So  far  as  yon  can  ascertain,  is  the  military  force 
sufficient  in  the  neighborhood  of  these  Indians,  and  of  Texas,  to  prevent 
depredations  and  to  suppress  mischief  and  hostilities  ? 

Mr.  Smith.  I  should  think  so,  if  they  were  somewhat  difterently 
posted. 

Mr.  Smith.  I  would  have  the  main  body  of  the  force  not  in  the  terri- 
tory, but  on  the  border  between  the  whites  and  the  Indians,  so  that  any 
passage  either  way  would  be  more  under  the  immediate  notice  of  the 
military  officers. 

The  Chairman.  Then  you  would  remove  the  fort  south  from  its  pres- 
ent position  f 

Mr.  Smith.  Yes. 

Mr.  Albright.  Would  you  abandon  Fort  Sill  I 

Mr.  Smith.  Yes ;  I  would  abandon  it  as  the  main  post.  I  would  only 
have  it  as  a  station  for  not  more  than  one  company. 

The  Chairman.  Going  into  New  Mexico,  are  the  Indians  there  hostile 
and  mischievonsl 

Mr.  Smith.  The  Indians  there  are  more  mischievous  than  hostile. 
They  maraud  and  wander  abroad  for  a  living,  but  they  are  not  violent  in 
any  way.  They  steal  cattle,  and  our  cavalry  chase  them  in.  This  has 
been  the  case  several  times  during  the  summer.  There  is  an  effort 
being  made  to  induce  them  to  concentrate  on  a  reservation  in  Colorado, 
which  effort  I  hope  will  be  successful. 

The  Chairman.  What  have  you  to  say  of  the  Indians  in  Arizona? 

Mr.  Smith.  I  think  there  will  be  no  need  of  any  increased  force  in 
Arizona.  I  am  not  at  all  certain,  however,  that  the  force  now  there  can  be 
decreased.  I  think  the  Apaches  are  mainly  subjected.  There  may  be  a 
necessity  for  force  on  Cochise's  reservation,  but  for  no  more  than  has 
been  used  by  General  Crook  before.  ■ 

The  Chairman.  Going  northward  into  Utah  and  Nevada,  are  there 
troublesome  and  hostile  tribes  there  ? 

Mr.  Smith.  We  have  had  a  very  thorough  inspection  of  those 
tribes  the  present  season.  Major  Powell,  the  explorer,  and  Mr.  Ingalts, 
the  Indian  agent,  made  it.  I  am  satisfied  that  those  tribes  are  not  in- 
clined to  be  troublesome  to  such  an  extent  as  would  require  more  force 
there. 

The  Chairman.  What  would  you  say  as  to  the  Indians  in  California  1 


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REDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT.  123 

Mr.  Smith.  1  do  not  think  there  are  any  Indians  there  who  are  likely 
to  require  force  as  against  themselves. 

The  Chairman.  Then  go  to  Oregon  and  Washington  Territory,  and 
state  the  condition  of  Indians  there,  and  the  need  of  a  military' force. 

Mr.  Smith.  I  am  not  certain  bat  that  Washington  Territory  will  re- 
quire some  force,  by  way  of  police,  to  enforce  the  regulations  against  the 
white  people  and  intruders,  and  against  some  disturbing  elements  on 
the  reservation,  but  not  for  operations  against  any  tribe  or  band  of  In- 
dians, either  there  or  in  Oregon.  A  very  small  force  may  be  necessary 
as  a  police. 

The  Chairman.  What  number  of  Indians  are  there  in  Oregon  and 
Washington  Territory! 

Mr.  Smith.  I  am  not  able  to  give  the  numbers  this  morning,  but  I 
will  prepare  a  statement  for  the  committee. 

The  Chairman.  Can  you  state  about  the  number  of  Apaches  in  Ari- 
zona T 

Mr.  Smith.  I  cannot  do  so  this  morning  accurately. 

Mr.  Nesmith,  I  call  your  attention  to  those  interior  tribes  in  Oregon, 
the  Shastas,  Modocs,  Shoshones,  Nez  Percys,  and  others  which  extend 
from  Northern  California  to  Eastern  Oregon  and  into  Washington  Terri- 
tory. Do  you  think  that  a  military  force  can  be  dispensed  with  in  the 
mauagement'of  those  Indians  ? 

Mr.  Smith.  I  think  that  a  military  force  is  only  needed  by  way  of 
police,  now  and  then,  to  remove  parties  who  are  troublesome;  not  to  ex- 
ercise any  force  against  the  Indians  as  bands  ? 

Mr.  Nesmith.  The  Modocs  required  a  pretty  strong  force  last  year. 

Mr.  Smith.  If  we  get  into  trouble  with  these  Indians  as  we  did 'with 
the  Modocs  we  would  require  to  have  a  pretty  strong  force  there. 

Mr.  Nesmith.  Do  you  not  know  that  there  is  a  strong  tendency  on 
the  part  of  the  Indians,  as  soon  as  the  troops  are  removed,  to  begin 
foraging  on  the  white  people  there  ? 

Mr.  Smith.  No,  sir.  I  have  no  such  information.  There  is  no  state- 
ment coming  from  the  agents,  within  my  knowledge,  to  that  effect. 

Mr.  Nesmith.  Your  agents,  of  course,  do  not  predict  any  difficulty 
while  the  military  is  in  the  immediate  neighborhood,  but  do  they  say 
that  the  military  can  be  dispensed  with  in  the  management  of  these 
tril^esl 

Mr.  Smith.  No,  sir ;  I  do  not  know  that  that  question  was  ever  put 
to  them. 

Mr.  Nesmith.  We  have  had  on  that  border  five  distinct  wars  within 
the  last  twenty  years  with  those  Indians.  In  fact,  we  have  been  in  a 
state  of  8emi-war  there  all  the  time. 

Mr.  Smith.  So  far  as  I  am  able  to  get  knowledge  of  these  Indians, 
they  are  no  more  warlike  than  nearly  all  the  Indians  in  the  care  of  the 
Bureau.  There  could  be  a  war  made  with  those  Spokanes  within  twelve 
days  by  dispossessing  them  of  their  location.  Then  there  would  be  a 
fight,  undoubtedly. 

Mr.  Nesmith.  Along  that  border  of  reselrvations  the  Indians  and 
whites  are  interspersed.  The  white  population  there  are  principally 
stock-raisers,  who  are  isolated  and  at  the  mercy  of  those  straggling  bands 
tbat  go  off  reservations.  That  is  the  foundation  of  all  the  troubles 
there,  as  it  was  the  foundation  of  the  Modoc  war,  the  Indians  moving 
from  their  reservation  and  going  to  the  country  on  the  Lost  Eiver  and 
undertaking  to  live  on  the  settlers. 

Mr.  Albright.  What  did  the  Modoc  war  cost  1 


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124  REDUCTION    OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT. 

IVIr.  Smith,  I  do  not  know.  It  cost  about  one  hundred  and  twenty- 
five  white  lives,  and  eight  or  ten  Indians. 

The  Chairman.  Going  next  to  the  Territory  of  Idaho,  are  there  In- 
dians in  that  Territory  in  any  considerable  numbers  f 

Mr.  Smith.  The  Nez  Percys  are  there.  They  are  peaceably  disposed 
in  the  main.  There  are  no  indications,  that  1  am  aware  of,  of  any  hos- 
tile purpose  on  their  part. 

The  Chairman.  What  is  the  number  of  Nez  Perc6s  f 

Mr.  Smith.  I  will  furnish  that  information. 

The  Chairman.  Passing  along  into  Montana,  what  Indians  are  there  f 

Mr.  Smith.  The  Crows  are  the  main  body  there,  and,  with  the  Black- 
fi^et  and  the  Gros  Ventres  in  the  northern  part,  are  all  friendly  to  the 
United  States. 

The  Chairman.  Can  you  give  their  number? 

Mr.  S:>nTH.  Somewhere  from  six  to  eight  thousand. 

The  Chairman.  They  are  all  receiving  food  and  annuities  ! 

Mr.  Smith.  Yes. 

The  Chairman.  Are  there  any  Indians  in  Wyoming  that  you  have 
not  mentioned  I 

Mr.  Smith.  No,  air ;  the  Indians  iu  Wyoming  are  the  Shoshones  and 
Bannacks,  and  they  are  favorably  disposed. 

The  Chairman.  So  far  as  your  knowledge  extends,  the  hostile  and 
dangerous  Indians  are  those  of  the  Sioux  tribes  and  those  that  aro 
located  in  the  northern  part  of  Texas  and  that  neighborhood  ! 

Mr.  Smith.  Yes ;  and  in  Arizona  and  New  Mexico. 

The  Chairman.  In  other  words,  the  hostile  Indians  are  the  Sioux 
tribes,  the  Comanches,  the  Cheyennes,  the  Arapahoes,  and  Apaches. 

Mr.  Smith.  Yes,  with  some  part  of  the  Utes  in  New  Mexico! 

The  Chairman.  State,  as  far  as  your  knowledge  goes,  whether  there 
is  danger  of  general  hostilities  from  any  of  those  tribes  at  present. 

Mr.  Smith.  No,  sir. 

The  Chairman.  State  whether  the  olBBcers  of  the  Indian  department 
look  to  such  radical  change  in  the  condition  or  location  of  those  Indians 
as  would  be  likely  to  bring  about  hostilities. 

Mr.  Smith.  The  only  possible  exception  is  the  Sioux.  It  has  seemed 
to  me — although  I  speak  onlj^  for  myself— as  if  the  Government  could 
not  long  maintain  the  position  of  feeding  these  Indians,  with  their  pres- 
ent arrogance  and  demands.  If  the  Government  proceeds  to  bring  them 
into  tolerable  behavior,  there  is  a  liability  of  conflict,  and  that  will  re- 
quire more  force  than  has  been  used  during  the  past  year. 

The  Chairman.  You  mean  more  than  has  been  used  in  that  locality  ? 

Mr.  Smith.  Yes. 

The  Chairman.  How  many  warriors  do  you  think  they  have  ? 

Mr.  Smith.  The  Indian  nations  generally  average  one  warrior  to  five 
of  the  population.  That  would  make  from  four  to  five  thousand  Sioux 
warriors.  But  they  can  bring  no  such  force  into  the  field,  because  a 
large  portion  of  the  Sioux  along  the  Missouri  River  would  not  join  them. 

The  Chairman.  How  liiany  warriors  do  you  think  they  could  bring 
into  the  field  under  the  greatest  pressure  and  excitement  f 

Mr.  Smith.  Not  more  than  2,500. 

The  Chairman.  How  are  they  armed  I 

Mr.  Smith.  The  larger  portion  of  the  Sioux  are  armed  pretty  gen- 
erally with  repeating  rifles. 
-   The  Chairman.  Have  they  good  supplies  of  ammunition  I 

Mr.  Smith.  No,  sir ;  they  have  only  a  moderate  supply. 

The  Chairman.  Where  do  they  get  these  arms  and  annnunition  t 


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REDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT.  125 

Mr.  Smith.  Heretofore  there  has  been  a  trade  through  the  country 
largely  surreptitious.  The  ludiaus  have  been  selling  their  buiiaIo-robi*s 
lor  arms. 

The  Chairman.  Do  the  Indians  buy  their  arms  from  the  military 
post-traders,  or  from  Indian  traders,  or  from  smugglers  ? 

Mr.  Smith.  1  judge  oflener  from  smugglers  than  from  traders.  They 
come  ib  geneially  from  Canada. 

The  Chairman.  Are  those  arms  of  British  manufacture  f 

Mr.  Smith.  No  ;  I  think  they  are  taken  first  into  the  British  posses- 
sions and  then  sent  down  into  this  country.  The  main  body  of  the  Sioux 
on  the  Missouri  River  are  not  armed  to  any  gi^at  extent. 

The  Chairman.  Are  most  of  these  Indians  mounted  as  well  ? 

Mr.  Smith.  Yes ;  the  Sioux  are  pretty  well  supplied  with  ponies. 

Mr.  GuNGKEL.  Yon  think  there  is  only  a  portion  of  them  that  are 
armed  ! 

Mr.  Smith.  Possibly  they  might  bring  2,500  armed  men  into  the  field. 

Mr.  GuNCKEL.  Armed  in  this  way  i 

Mr.  Smith.  No,  sir;  I  should  hardly  think  over  1,500,  although  that 
is  an  estimate  made  without  very  much  basis. 

The  Chairman.  Are  there  many  settlements  in  the  eastern  part  of 
Montana,  or  northern  part  of  Wyoming,  or  western  part  of  Dakota,  that 
need  protection  at  all  ? 

Mr.  Smith.  The  settlers  In  Wyoming  ueed  protection,  for  the  Sioux 
break  over  the  southwestern  part  of  Dakota.  There  are  no  settlers  in 
Dakota  that  have  been  troubled  to  any  extent.  The  Missouri  liiver 
Sioux  are  not  troublesome  to  any  extent.  Most  of  the  fighting  on  the 
Missouri  Kiver  has  been  between  the  Sioux  and  the  Poncas.  If  the 
Poncas  had  been  armed  they  would  have  taken  care  of  themselves. 

The  Chairman.  Do  yon  apprehend  any  difiiculty  along  the  line  of 
the  Union  Pacific  Kail  road  or  any  injury  to  that  road  ? 

Mr.  Smith.  No,  sir ;  there  is  no  indication  of  that  at  all. 

The  Chairman.  There  was  an  expedition  out  on  the  line  of  the 
Northern  Pacific  Railroad  last  year — quite  a  large  military  force.  Do 
you  know  anything  about  the  necessity  for  it? 

Mr.  Smith.  There  were  threats  made  by  someof  those  northern  Indians, 
and  there  are  now.  There  is  a  portion  of  these  Sioux  that  have  never  come 
into  any  agency  at  all,  and  they  have  kept  constantly  demanding  that  that 
road  should  be  given  up,  and  threatening  that  they  would  compel  it. 
Under  IhesQ  threats  I  doubt  if  it  would  have  been  safe  for  any  surveying 
parties  to  have  gone  out  there  without  military  protection.  Yet,  parties 
have  gone  through  without  any  danger.  Immediately  after  the  troops 
left  there  one  person  went  through  entirely  alone  in  his  buggy  and  did 
not  see  an  Indian.  That  country  is  safer  to  travel  now,  all  along  the 
Missouri  Kiver  and  up  in  the  northeast  part  of  that  reservation,  than  it 
Las  been  before  for  a  long  time. 

Mr.  GuNCKEL.  If  that  railroad  work  were  not  to  be  further  prosecuted 
would  the  continuance  of  the  military  force  be  required  in  such  strength 
as  has  been  there! 

Mr.  Smith.  No,  sir.  There  is  no  need  of  any  force  in  that  direction. 
The  force  will  have  to  be  applied  to  the  Ked  Cloud  and  Spotted  Tail 
agency.  There  should  be  a  fort  in  between  them.  I  should  desire 
that  for  my  own  administration.  There  should  be  a  military  post  estab- 
lished somewhere  midway  between  the  Spotted  Tail  and  Eed  Cloud 
agencies  in  the  southern  border  of  Dakota  or  a  little  above  it. 

Mr.  OuNCKEL.    Looking  over  the  whole  field,  what  military  force,  in 


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126  REDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT. 

yonr  opinion,  is  necessary  to  assist  in  canning  out  the  Indian  peace 
policy  of  the  Government  f 

Mr.  Smith.  I  am  hardly  competent  to  give  an  opinion  on  the  subject. 

The  Chairman.  Then  state  what  posts  you  would  have  occupied  by 
military  force. 

Mr.  Smith.  My  general  answer  is  that  the  force  in  Arizona,  New 
Mexico,  Texas,  and  the  Indian  Territory  is  all  that  is  required  there 
now ;  that  is,  I  do  not  apprehend  a  need  of  any  increase  in  those  local- 
ities. 

Mr.  GuNOKEL.  The  military  force  there  is  sufficient  and  no  more  than 
sufficient ! 

Mr.  Smith.  I  should  think  so.  I  should  think  they  ought  to  remain 
there  about  as  they  are. 

Mr.  Young.  Are  there  any  more  hostile  Indians  than  there  were  in 
18G5? 

Mr.  Smith.  No;  I  don't  think  there  are  so  many. 

Mr,  Young.  Are  there  not  more  than  one-half  as  many  troops  guard- 
ing the  frontier  now  than  there  were  then  H 

Mr.  S3IITH.  Yes;  but  the  frontier  would  need  more  guarding  now  than 
it  did  then,  even  with  the  same  disposition  on  the  part  of  the  Indians, 
because  the  frontier  is  now  nearer  to  the  Indians,  and  the  Indians  an<l 
whites  are  more  intermingled,  so  that  there  is  more  liability  of  conflicts 
than  there  was. 

Mr.  Ma(iDougall.  What,  in  your  judgment,  is  the  best  means  of 
making  a  wild  Indian  docile! 

Mr.  Smith.  He  needs  three  things.  He  needs  restraint,  or  to  know 
that  he  can  be  restrained.  Then  he  needs  a  suitable  reservation  where 
he  can  get  his  living ;  such  a  country  as  a  whit«  man  can  live  in.  Then 
he  needs  help  to  teach  him  how,  just  as  you  have  to  begin  with  a  child, 
and  give  a  good  deal  more  help  to  a  child  than  you  have  to  to  a  grown 
man. 

Mr.  MacDougall.  In  your  estimate  of  the  number  of  warriors  that 
can  be  drawn  out  by  any  tribe  in  case  of  war,  has  it  not  been  your  ex- 
perience, and  the  experience  of  the  country,  that  these  Indian  nations 
have  generally  turned  out  a  great  many  more  men  and  with  better  arms 
than  had  been  anticipated? 

Mr.  Smith.  No ;  I  should  say  rather  the  opposite.  They  do  not  turn 
out  so  many  as  we  expected  ;  a  great  many  of  them  shirk.  Many  of  the 
Sioux  would  not  fight  at  all.  After  you  have  been  giving  an  Indian 
cotfee  and  beef  for  five  or  six  years  he  does  not  want  to  break  away 
from  the  agency. 

Mr.  MacDougall.  Did  not  the  Modocs  turn  out  a  larger  force,  and 
were  they  not  better  supplied  with  arms  and  ammunition  than  any  one 
had  supposed  they  would  be  f 

Mr.  Smith.  No;  I  do  not  think  they  produced  as  many  men  as  it  was 
supposed  they  would.  The  peculiar  country  that  they  were  in,  and  the 
extremity  to  which  they  were  driven,  they  being  at  bay,  made  the  fight 
more  fierce  than  was  anticipated.  There  were  peculiarities  about  that 
Modoc  war  which  could  hardly  be  repeated. 

At  a  subsequent  session  of  the  committee,  in  the  evening,  the  exami- 
nation of  Mr.  Smith  was  resumed,  as  follows : 

Mr.  Albright.  In  your  opinion,  is  the  presence  of  troops  necessary 
in  Texas  as  well  to  protect  the  frontier  as  to  keep  the  Indians  in  subjec- 
tion ! 

Mr.  Smith.  A  military  force  is  not  necessary  to  keep  those  Indians 
in  subjection  on  reservations.     We  have  but  little  trouble  with  them  as 


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RECUCTION   OP   THE   MILITARY    ESTABLISHMENT.  127 

long  as  tbej'  stay  there;  but  when  they  leave  tbe  reservations  the 
troops  are  ueeded  to  chase  them  ;  or,  if  that  is  DOt  effective  to  prevent 
raiding,  on  accoaut  of  the  large  extent  of  territory,  then  the  troops 
would  be  needed  to  come  on  reservations  and  to  pnnish  the  Indians 
there.  Bnt  it  would  be  much  better  policy,  as  it  would  save  cruelty,  if 
tbe  force  was  large  enough  to  strike  the  Indians  when  they  are  off  the 
reservations,  and  in  that  way  punish  the  guilty  ones  only ;  for  if  you 
attack  them  on  the  reservations  you  necessarily  attack  women  and  chil- 
dren also,  and  a  very  large  proportion  of  Indians  who  are  not  at  all 
guilty,  except  as.  they  harbor  guilty  ones.  Take  the  Comanches,  for 
instance.  I  suppose  that  not  one  in  twenty-five  of  the  fighting  men  of 
the  Comanches  is  disposed  to  go  off  the  reservations  marauding,  but 
the  twenty-fifth  part  of  them  are,  and  they  go  off  and  get  their  booty 
and  steal  and  murder,  slip  through  the  military,  and  come  back  on  the 
reservations,  and  it  is  impossible  for  the  agents  or  the  military  to  detect 
them  and  punish  them  alone  if  the  attempt  is  made  there.  Tae  Indians 
should  be  struck  in  the  act  or  on  the  way  to  or  from  the  reservations. 

Mr.  Albright.  Is  the  military  force  sufficiently  large  to  do  that ! 

Mr.  Smith.  No,  sir;  I  do  not  think  it  is.  I  have  asked  that  that  be 
done,  and  the  reply  has  been  that,  from  the  nature  of  the  country  and 
the  great  extent  of  the  reservation,  it  is  impossible  to  keep  the  Indians 
from  slipping  in  and  out.  But  if  the  military  force  was  on  the  border, 
instead  of  being  in  the  interior  of  the  .reservation,  I  think  it  would  be 
much  more  serviceable  in  accomplishing  that  end. 

Mr.  Albright.  In  the  regions  of  country  where  the  Indians  are 
peaceably  disposed,  is  or  is  not  a  military  force  necessary  to  protect 
the  Indians  from  the  encroachment  of  white  settlers  and  frontiersmen  f 

Mr.  SiHTH.  Frequently  that  is  the  case,  and  there  has  been  more 
need  of  troops  in  that  line,  except  in  the  wildest  portion  of  the  country, 
than  in  the  other  line.  There  is  more  force  ueeded  to  protect  the  Indi- 
ans from  persons  who  intrude  on  the  reservations,  and  to  keep  them  off, 
than  there  is  to  keep  the  Indians  themselves  in  subjection.  That  is 
likely  to  increase.  The  fact  of  the  Indians  coming  into  some  sort  of 
civilization  increases  that  liability. 

The  Chairman.  What  is  the  number  of  Indians  west  of  the  Sioux  in 
the  Territory  of  Montana  f 

Mr.  Smith.  West  and  north  there  are  11,000.  They  are  the  Blackfeet, 
the  Bloods,  the  Piegans,  and  the  Crows;  and  a  little  to  the  northeast 
of  them  there  are  about  2,200  Aricareea  and  Gros  Ventres.  Further, 
direcily  west  are  the  Shoshones,  of  about  1,000,  in  Wyoming.  These 
Indians  are  all  friendly  to  the  Government. 

Mr.  HUNTON.  What  is  the  number  of  Indians  in  the  United  States  in 
round  numbers  f 

Mr.  Smith.  About  330,000,  counting  the  Alaska  Indians.  Leaving 
them  out,  about  265,000  or  270,000. 

The  Chairman.  What  is  the  number  of  the  Apaches  f 

Mr.  Smith.  They  number  from  11,000  to  12,000.  The  Kioways,  Com- 
anches, Cheyennes,  and  Arapahoes  are  the  bostiles  in  the  Indian  Ter- 
ritory.   They  are  about  8,000. 

Mr.  Gunckel.  Are  these  numbers  obtained  by  census  or  are  they 
merely  an  estimate  f 

Mr.  Smith.  Except  with  the  Sioux,  and  possibly  with  one  or  two  of 
the  smaller  bands  of  Apaches,  they  are  counted  on  the  issue  of  rations. 

Mr.  Gunckel.  Are  the  Indians  seen  and  counted  by  the  agents! 

Mr.  S>nTH,  They  are;  or  their  lodges  are  counted.  The  Apaches 
are  seen ;  for,  with  the  exception  of  a  single  band,  they  are  all  on  the 


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128  REDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT, 

rolls,  and  are  paid  by  the  heads  of  families.  As  to  the  Crows,  there 
never  has  been  a  disposition  on  their  part  to  hinder  a  count.  The  Sioux 
have  always  declined  to  allow  themselves  to  be  enumerated.  My  esti- 
mate of  the  Sioux,  given  this  raorninj?,  is  corroborated  by  a  report 
received  to-day  from  one  of  their  larfjest  bands.  They  demand  rations 
for  some  17,0(K) ;  but  the  agent  issued  them  rations  for  only  13,000,  and 
he  is  tolerably  satisfied  that  there  was  about  that  number  there. 

The  Chairman.  Have  you  an  estimate  of  the  whole  number  of  Indi- 
ans that  receive  rations  and  annuities  f 

Mr.  Smith.  I  have  never  classified  them  in  that  respect;  but  there 
is  not  far  from  75,000  Indians  who  are  fed  with  beef,  and  bacon,  and 
flour,  and  coifee,  and  sugar. 

The  Chairman.  How  long  during  the  year  are  they  fed  f 

Mr.  Smith.  Nearly  all  the  year.    There  are  times  when  perhaps  half 
of  them  will  be  off  for  a  month  or  two,  or  for  three  or  four  months. 
They  are  always  entitled  to  come  in  and  get  rations. 
♦     The  Chairman.  Is  the  supply  kept  ready  at  all  times  for  the  whole 
number  of  Indians  ? 

Mr.  Smith.  Yes,  sir. 

The  Chairman.  On  what  kind  of  a  requisition  are  the  rations  issued  f 
How  is  it  ascertained  how  many  at  any  time  apply  for  provisions!  Is 
it  by  marching  up  the  tribe,  or  is  it  on  the  requisition  of  some  chief! 

Mr.  Smi  I H.  Ordinarily  the  band  is  enrolled.  The  chief  is  responsible 
for  so  many  men.  lie  comes  in  with  a  few  of  his  head-men  to  draw 
rations  for  his  band,  and,  ordinarily,  most  of  the  heads  of  families  come 
to  pack  the  provisions  for  themselves.  In  Arizona,  with  the  exception 
of  one  band,  they  come  up  to  a  roll-call  and  draw  their  rations. 

The  Chairman.  Are  those  hostile  Cheyennes,  Kiowas,  audComauches 
fed! 

Mr.  S^HTH.  Yes,  sir. 

The  Chairman.  Where  do  they  get  their  provisions! 

Mr.  S3IITH.  At  Fort  Sill  and  the  Che^'cnne  agency. 

Mr*  MacDougall.  Have  you  ever  visited  these  different  bands  ! 

Mr.  Smith.  I  have  visited  those  in  the  Indian  Territory,  and  the 
Apaches  in  Arizona,  and  the  Sioux  in  Dakota  along  the  river.  I  have 
never  been  to  the  Red  Cloud  and  Spotted  Tail  camps. 

Mr.  Albright.  Do  you  receive  complaints  that  the  Indians  are  badly 
treated  by  the  soldiers  in  some  places,  and  that  trouble  arises  from  that 
source  ! 

Mr.  Smith.  !No,  sir;  I  have  received  no  complaints  of  that  sort.'  The 
soldiers  under  the  present  arrangement  have  nothing  to  do  with  the 
Indians,  except  on  the  call  of  the  agent,  nnless  the  Indians  are  off  the 
reservation  and  marauding,  in  which  case  they  have  no  cause  to  com- 
plain if  they  are  roughly  treated. 

Mr.  MacDougall.  Do  you  find  that  the  Indmns  complain  very  fre- 
quently without  cause  ! 

Mr.  Smith.  O  yes,  sir,  constantly.  They  are  like  children  in  that 
res[)ect.  They  are  never  sure  that  they  have  got  all  that  they  are  enti- 
tled to. 

Mr.  HuNTON.  Are  rations  issued  to  any  Indians  except  those  on  reser- 
vations! 

Mr.  Smith.  Xo,  sir ;  not  as  a  rule.  There  have  been  some  rations 
issued  to  some  Utes  and  other  Indians  wandering  around  Denver  and 
in  some  parts  of  Utah  and  Xevada  ;  but  that  has  now  ceased  by  order. 
The  question  was  asked  me  to-day  as  to  how  many  Indians  there  are  in 
Washington  Territory.    The  enumeration  is  14,000  and  in  Oregon  12,000. 


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REDUCTION    OF   THE   MILITARY    ESTABLISHMENT.  129 

Mr.  Nesmith.  Can  you  state  the  entire  expense  of  the  Indian  Depart- 
ment during  the  last  fiscal  year  ! 

Mr.  Smith.  No,  sir,  I  only  know  the  amount  appropriated;  but  that 
will  not  cover  the  whole  expenditure  on  account  of  some  deficiencies 
that  have  to  come  in. 

Mr.  MAcDouaALL.  Is  the  number  of  Indians  increasing  or  diminish- 
iugl 

Mr.  Smith.  Probably  on  the  whole  decreasing,  but,  whenever  the 
Indians  are  brought  on  reservations  and  are  kept  from  intertribal  fights, 
they  increase  unless  there  comes  an  epidemic.  Civilization  does  not 
destroy  them.  I  have  spoken  of  the  Indians  in  the  Indian  Territory 
as  hostile.  I  do  not  mean  to  say  that  they  are  hostile,  only  in  this  sense, 
that  they  decline  to  surrender  their  raiders.  It  is  a  very  small  portion 
of  them  who  in  any  manner  break  over  their  treaty  obligations,  but 
these  the  others  decline  to  surrender,  because  they  say  they  are  not 
able  to  do  it. 

Mr.  Albright.  Is  there  any  conflict  among  the  different  agents  with 
reference  to  the  management  of  the  Indians  ? 

Mr.  Smith.  No,  sir ;  I  do  not  know  that  there  is. 

Mr.  Albright.  They  have  no  different  policy  in  regard  to  the  man- 
agement? 

Mr.  Smith.  There  is  a  hesitation  on  the  part  of  some  of  the  agents, 
who  are  peace  men  by  principle,  to  adopt  any  severe  measures.  There 
is  something  of  a  standing  protest  against  any  effort  to  call  on  the  mil- 
itary in  any  way  that  wiU  result  in  bloodshed.  That  is  true  of  those 
men  in  the  Indian  Territory.  These  are  the  only  tribes  where  that  prin- 
ciple comes  into  operation. 

Mr.  MacDougall.  These  Indian  agents  are  all  in  favor  of  the  peace 
policy,  are  they  not! 

Mr.  Smith.  Some  of  them  have  no  objection  to  an  Indian,  who  is 
marauding,  being  punished  thoroughly,  but  the  Friends  object  to  taking 
any  hand  in  it  as  a  matter  of  principle. 

Mr.  GuNCKEL.  Are  the  Indian  agents  and  military  officers  in  sympa- 
thy with  each  other? 

Mr.  Smith.  As  a  general  thing  they  are  quite  so.  I  think  that  when- 
ever agents  and  officers  come  together  on  leservations  they  practically 
agree  and  work  quite  harmoniously.  Sometimes,  at  a  distance,  there  is 
an  inclination  for  more  severe  and  prompt  measures,  which  does  not 
always  reflect  the  sentiments  of  the  officer,  who  is  right  at  the  post  and 
who  sees  the  difficulties,  and  sees  what  the  Indian  agent  has  to  contend 
with,  and  understands  what  would  be  the  result  of  an  immediate  attack. 

Mr.  Nesmith.  Do  you  issue  clothing  to  the  Indians  on  reservations  f 

Mr.  Smith.  Yes,  sir ;  the  Sioux,  by  treaty,  have  a  very  fine  clothing 
contract. 

Mr.  Nesmith.  Then  these  fellows  do  nothing  but  wear  out  clothes, 
and  consume  food,  and  hang  around  the  reservations,  without  working  ? 

Mr.  Smith.  A  portion  of  the  Sioux  are  beginning  to  work,  just  feeling 
their  way  to  it.  They  are  putting  up  bouses,  getting  wagons,  and  plow- 
ing land.  The  effort  of  the  Bureau  is  all  in  that  direction.  If  you  take 
a  wild  Indian,  you  have  to  handle  him  some  little  time  before  you  can 
break  him  into  work,  but  he  comes  down  after  a  while.  He  never 
will,  though,  so  long  as  he  is  fed  and  clothpd  and  has  no  reason  for  labor. 
You  cannot  reduce  him  to  toil  until  you  can  bring  some  want  upon 
him.  That  is  the  reason  why  these  Red  Cloud  and  Spotted  Tail  Sioux 
will,  sooner  or  later,  have  to  come  under  military  restraint. 

Mr.  MacDougall.  Do  you  think  it  would  be  good  policy  to  delay 
that,  if  it  is  necessary  f 

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130  RKDUCTION    OF    THE    MILITARY    ESTABLISHMENT. 

Mr.  Smith.  The  only  reason  for  delaying  it  is  the  expense.  You  can- 
not tight  these  Sioax  without  great  expense.  I  asked  General  Ord  for 
some  tioops  to  go  up  there  this  year ;  I  wanted  a  company  of  soldiers  to 
protect  the  agent  so  that  he  could  count  the  lodges.  General  Ord  said 
that  he  could  not  send  a  company;  that  no  military  force  ought  to  go  in 
there  short  of  ten  companies.  He  said  the  time  was  not  far  distant  when 
these  Sioux  would  have  to  be  put  under  military  control.  I  asked 
him  if  the  military  were  ready  for  it  now,  supposing  that  we  should 
call  on  him.  He  said  that  he  was  not,  on  acconnt  of  want  of  an 
appropriation,  as  a  single  year's  campaign  there  could  not  be  carried 
on  short  of  $10,000,000.  Well,  that  will  feed  the  hostile  portion  of 
the  Sioux  for  twenty  years,  and  by  that  time  something  else  will  happen 
to  them.  It  is  only  a  question  of  economy  and  possibly  of  human- 
ity, though  I  think  that  if  these  hostile  Sioux  could  be  coerced  it 
would  be  just  as  humane  to  them  as  to  feed  and  domoralize  them, 
taking  all  the  manhood  out  of  them  by  making  them  vagabonds. 

Mr.  Macdougall,  What,  in  your  judgment,  has  been  the  effect  of 
the  Quaker  treatment  on  the  Indians  f 

Mr.  Smith.  I  think  that,  on  the  whole,  it  has  been  very  good.  But 
an  Indian  agent  who  from  conscientious  scruples  cannot  call  upon  the 
military  to  aid  in  the  arrest  and  punishment  of  marauders  should  not 
be  placed  in  charge  of  one  of  these  wild  tribes.  I  think  the  strictly  non- 
combative  principle  has  gone  as  far  as  it  ought  to  go  in  the  Indian  Ter- 
ritory. There  should  be  something  positive  there  now.  The  Govern-  . 
ment  ought  not  to  feed  and  clothe  Indians  and  allow  them,  on  the 
plea  that  they  cannot  themselves  arrest  a  thief  or  murderer,  to  harbor 
him,  and  have  him  draw  rations  and  clothing  at  the  same  time  with  them. 

Mr.  Hunton.  Out  of  the  330,000  Indians  in  the  United  States,  how 
many  are  regarded  as  hostile! 

Mr.  Smith.  In  the  sense  in  which  I  have  spoken  of  them,  not  far 
from  60,000;  perhaps  65,000.  But  only  a  smaU  portion  of  them  will 
maraud,  but  the  main  body  will  not  deliver  them  up  or  prevent  their 
robbing. 

The  CuAntMAN.  What  proportion  of  the  65,000  would  themselves  be 
guilty  of  marauding! 

Mr.  Smith.  Not  one  in  ten  or  fifteen  of  the  warriors. 

The  Chairman.  IIow  many  warriors  would  there  be  m  65,000 ! 

.  Mr.  Smith.  About  one  in  four  and  one-halt  or  five. 

The  Chairman.  That  would  make  the  number  of  marauders  about 
1,000. 

Mr.  Smith.  Yes..  But,  when  you  undertake  to  punish  one  of  that 
thousand,  the  others  of  his  tribe  will  stand  by  him.  Ordinarily,  the" 
raiding  is  done  by  the  young  fellows  between  fifteen  and  twenty-five 
years  of  age.  Probably  there  are  not  3,000  Indians  in  all  the  country 
who  are  not  related  to  the  Government  by  some  sort  of  obligation, 
and  they  are  mainly  in  the  Sioux  country,  and  many  of  them  are 
reported  within  a  few  weeks  as  desiring  w  come  in  and  treat  with 
the  Government. 


Washington  D.  0.,  January  14, 1874. 

Major  J.  W.  Powell  appeared  before  the  committee  in  response  to 
its  invitation. 

The  Chairman.  State  to  the  committee  the  length  in  time  and  the 
extent  of  your  travels  among  the  Indian  tribes  within  the  last  few 
years. 


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REDUCTION   OF    THE    MILITARY    ESTABLISHMENT.  131 

Major  Powell.  For  about  six  years  past  I  bave  been  witli  that 
group  of  Indian  tribes  which  has  been  called  Numas.  That  embraces 
all  the  Indians  in  the  district  commencing  on  the  northern  line  of 
Oregon,  at  the  point  where  that  line  crosses  the  Sierra  Nevadas,  and 
following  the  crest  of  the  Sierra  Kevadas  southward,  to  Walker's 
Pass,  in  Southern  California;  east  from  that  point  to  the  Colorado 
River,  at  the  southern  extremity  of  Nevada;  thence  northeast  to 
the  San  Juan,  in  the  southeastern  corner  of  Utah :  thence  to  the  crest  of 
the  Rocky  Mountains,  in  Colorado,  about  midway  of  the  southern  line 
of  the  Territory ;  thence  north,  following  the  crest  of  the  Rocky  Mount- 
ains, to  a  point  midway  on  the  northern  line  of  Colorado  Territory,  and 
from  thence  in  a  northwest  direction,  following  the  crest  of  the  Wind 
River  Mountains  and  the  mountains  which  separate  Montana  from 
Idaho,  to  a  point  opposite  the  northern  line  of  Oregon  and  from  that 
point  to  the  point  of  be{»inning.  That  embraces  a  territory  of  about 
450,000  square  miles.  There  are  about  one  hundred  and  twenty  Indian 
tribes  there,  all  belonging  to  one  great  race  of  Indians,  speaking  dialects 
of  the  same  language,  so  that  the  extremes  of  those  dialects  are  about 
as  far  apart  as  the  Spanish  and  Italian  languages.  There  are  probably 
about  fifty  quite  distinct  dialects  in  the  territory,  though  the  people 
can  all  communicate  with  each  other  to  a  gi*eater  or  less  extent. 
I  have  also  visited  some  other  Indian  tribes,  but  the  Indians  whom  I 
have  just  been  mentioning  are  Indians  whose  language  I  have  been 
studying.  I  am  preparing  grammars  and  vocabularies  of  those  lan- 
guages, and  thus  I  have  become  more  familiar  with  them,  having  been 
in  their  camp  a  good  deal  of  the  time;  more  tban  with  other  Indians. 
I  have  been  among  the  Navajoes  of  New  Mexico,  and  somewhat  among 
the  Pueblo  Indians  of  New  Mexico  and  Arizona. 

The  Chairman.  As  definitely  as  you  can,  go  over  the  principal  of 
those  Indian  tribes,  indicating  to  us  whether  they  are  disposed  to  be 
hostile  or  mischievous  toward  the  whites,  and  whether  they  require 
the  repressing  power  of  a  military  force. 

Major  Powell.  There  are  about  sixteen  hundred  Utes  in  Western 
Colorado  whom  I  wish  to  except  from  the  general  statement  that  I  am 
now  to  make.  All  the  other  Indians  within  the  territory  I  have  de- 
scribed have  been  pretty  thoroughly  subdued,  and  are  cultivating  the 
soil  to  some  extent.  They  are  scattered  over  the  country  in  little  bands. 
All  of  that  territory  was  parceled  out  into  districts,  and  to  each  district 
belongs  a  tribe.  Among  the  Indians  there  is  no  word  synonymous  with 
tribe  or  nation  ;  but  they  have  a  word  synonymous  with  land  or  coun- 
try. If  you  ask  an  Indian  to  what  tribe  or  nation  he  belongs,  you 
mnst  ask  him,  AVhat  is  your  land  f  Every  Indian  takes  the  name  of 
the  valley  or  district  of  country  in  which  he  lives.  That  was  probably 
true  of  all  the  Indians  of  North  America,  and  is  certainly  true  of  all  the 
Indians  west  of  the  Rocky  Mountains.  The  boundaries  of  these  lands 
are  well  defined,  and  fifty  orone  hundred  or  two  hundred  or  three  hundred 
Indians  belong  to  a  certain  district  and  take  the  name  of  that  district. 
Sometimes  two  or  more  of  these  are  united  into  a  confederacy  for  oflfen- 
sive  or  defensive  purposes.  Such  a  union  is  temporary  and  quite  un- 
stable, so  that  these  Indians  are  scattered  in  this  way,  and  hold  allegiance 
only  to  their  own  chiefs.  In  order  to  treat  with  these  Indians,  it  is  neces- 
sary to  meet  each  tribe  by  itself,  or  at  least  the  chief  of  each  tribe.  They 
are  cultivating  the  soil  a  little,  digging  roots,  gathering  seeds,  killing 
some  rabbits,  catching  some  fish,  and  killing  a  little  game — not  miich-^ 
begging  a  little,  and  pilfering  a  little. 

1  visited  sixty-six  of  these  tribes,  and  made  a  census  of  them.    I 


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132  REDUCTION    OF    THE    MILITARY    ESTABLISHMENT. 

fouDcl  none  that  did  not  beg  for  land.  Tliey  all  fully  appreciate 
the  utter  liopelessuess  of  conteuding  against  the  Government  of 
the  United  States.  They  all  want  land  and  cattle.  They  are 
cultivating  the  soil  a  little,  and  would  do  it  more  if  they  could  be  pro- 
tected in  the  use  of  the  land.  But  they  settle  about  a  spring,  and  the 
white  man  wants  it,  and  takes  it,  of  course.  The  white  man  can  enter 
it  and  take  it  under  the  law,  and  get  protection  in  his  right  to  the  land, 
but  the  Indian  cannot.  California,  Nevada,  and  Utah,  and  much  of 
Colorado  (taking  out  Eastern  Utah  and  Western  Colorado)  are 
thickly  settled.  That  is,  they  are  more  thickly  settled  than  the 
Middle  States  in  proportion  to  their  agricultural  capabilities.  Min- 
ing in  that  country  is  creating  a  demand  for  the  products  of  the 
soil.  Grain  in  Nevada  is  worth  from  three  to  ten  cents  per  pound, 
and  hay  from  $25  to  $100  a  ton,*  and  fruit  is  high  in  the  same 
proportion,  and  every  piece  of  country  that  can  be  cultivated  is  seized 
upon.  Land.in  itself  is  of  no  value  in  that  country,  but  water  is  of  value, 
and  the  white  men  seize  the  water-rights,  and  the  several  States  and 
Territories  have  laws  that  protect  them  in  such  rights.  In  all  that 
country,  excepting  a  part  of  California,  there  is  not  an  acre  of  land  that 
can  be  cultivated  without  irrigation.  So  the  white  people  seize  this 
water,  and  the  Indians  can  no  longer  cultivate  the  soil,  but  they  are 
anxious  to  obtain  possession  of  land  and  cultivate  it. 

The  exception  to  the  statement  I  have  made  is  in  Western  Colorado. 
There  there  is  a  district  of  13,000,000  acres,  set  apart  by  treaty  with 
the  Utes,  as  a  reservation,  in  which  there  is  a  good  deal  of  gold  and 
silver,  probably.  And  I  know  that  there  is  a  vast  amount  of  very  good 
coal,  some  farming-lands,  &c.  In  that  country  there  is  an  abundance 
of  game,  and  the  Indians  there  have  never  been  thoroughly  subdued, 
and  they  do  not  desire  to  cultivate  the  soil. 

Mr.  Hawley,  of  Illinois.  How  many  of  them  are  there  ! 

Major  Powell.  About  1,600.  The  Indians  in  the  Territory  which  1 
indicated  a  few  minutes  ago  number  about  10,000,  but  they  are  carried 
on  the  books  of  the  Indian  Department  as  28,000. 

The  Chairman.  What  opportunities  had  you  for  taking  this  census  ? 

Major  Powell.  There  were  certain  Indians  of  whom  the  Department 
had  a  definite  census.  Those  I  did  not  visit.  The  number  of  Indians 
belonging  to  the  reservation  at  Fort  Hall,  in  Idaho,  were  well  known. 
The  numbers  at  Pyramid  Lake  reservation  and  at  Walker  River  reser- 
vation were  also  known.  The  Indians  at  Malheur,  in  Eastern  Oregon, 
were  well  known.  The  other  Indians  were  oft*  reservations,  scattered 
about  the  country,  and  their  numbers  were  not  well  known.  But  when 
we  came  to  count  those  Indians  who  were  oft'  reservations  we  found 
them  less  than  one-fourth  of  what  they  were  supposed  to  be.  Taking 
the  census  of  those  who  were  oft*  i-eservations  and  adding  them  to  those 
on  the  reservations,  makes  a  little  over  10,000. 

The  Chairman.  Did  you  do  this  under  the  authority  of  the  United 
States  ? 

Major  Powell.  Yes;  at  the  request  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior. 

Mr.  Hawley,  of  Illinois.  In  what  States  and  Territories  did  you 
make  the  census  of  which  you  speak  ? 

Major  Po^VELL.  In  Utah,  Nevada,  Arizona,  California,  and  Southern 
Idaho. 

Mr.  Hawley,  of  Illinois.  What  number  of  Indians  did  you  find 
within  the  limits  of  those  States  and  Territories? 

Major  Powell.  Ten  thousand  four  hundred  and  thirty-seven.  There 
is  a  reservation  south  of  Central  Oreffon  called  Klamath,  and  another 


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REDUCTION    OF    THE    MILITARY    ESTABLISHMENT.  133 

reservation  known  as  tbe  Warm  Spring  reservation  in  Northern  Central 
Oregon.  The  Indians  on  those  reservations  were  Indians  who  originally 
belonged  on  the  other  side  of  the  mountains,  and  who  were  taken  from 
the  settlement  there  across  the  monntains  to  get  rid  of  them. 

There  are  three  agencies  at  which  the  Utes  of  Western  Colorado  re- 
port, one  at  White  River,  one  at  Denver,  and  one  at  Los  Pinos.  The 
Indians  at  White  River  I  have  lived  among,  spending  eight  months  con- 
secutively with  them  at  one  time.  They  are  carried  on  the  papers  of 
the  Indian  Department  as  being  a  little  over  3,000,  About  three-fourths 
of  those  tribes  this  summer  met  a  special  commissioner,  Mr,  Brunot, 
and  signed  an  agreement  for  the  ceding  of  certain  lands  which  are  oc- 
cupied by  miners  ;  298  persons  signed  the  agreement,  one  refusing  to 
sign  it.  By  my  own  judgment  of  the  population,  and  by  the  facts  ex- 
hibited in  the  signing  of  this  paper,  I  am  led  to  the  conclusion  that  there 
are  no  more  than  1,600  Indians,  although  they  are  borne  on  the  papers 
of  the  Indian  Department  as  over  3,000. 

The  Chairman.  State  the  disposition  of  those  Indians  toward  the 
whites — whether  mischievous,  hostile,  or  friendly. 

Major  Powell.  All  of  those  Indians  are  at  present  friendly,  and  all 
of  those,  excepting  the  Indians  in  Colorado,  are  anxious  to  become 
farmers  <and  are  begging  for  land  and  cattle  and  are  accumulating  cat- 
tle. 

The  Chairman.  What  is  their  capacity  for  mischief!  Are  the  settlers 
able  to  take  care  of  themselves  f 

Major  Powell.  They  are,  except  as  to  those  Indians  in  Colorado. 
With  the  others  there  is  no  trouble  at  all.  The  presence  of  the  troops 
among  them  is  bad.  In  the  first  place  the  troops  are  a  standing  menace 
to  the  Indians.  Then  the  Indians  have  a  vast  horror  of  troops,  not  so 
much  on  account  of  their  being  fighting-men  as  on  account  of  their  in- 
troducing diseases  among  them. 

The  Chairman.  What  proportion  of  settlers  generally  go  with  tlieir 
families  out  there  ? 

Major  Powell.  A  good  many  go  with  families.  The  Indians,  how- 
ever, blame  all  these  diseases  to  the  soldiers. 

Mr.  Young.  How  many  of  these  Indians  are  in  a  state  of  hostility  to 
the  Government! 

Major  Powell.  None  of  them  whatever. 

Mr.  Young.  Then  you  have  already  given  your  opinion  that  there 
would  be  more  peace  and  quiet  on  the' frontier  without  the  troops,  or  if 
they  were  entirely  withdrawn? 

Major  Powell.  Yes,  sir ;  I  am  speaking  of  certain  bands  who  are 
already  subdued.    I  have  made  exceptions  of  the  other. 

Mr.  Albright.  Are  the  Indians  entirely  secure,  if  the  troops  are 
withdrawn,  from  the  encroachments  of  the  frontiersmen,  who  come  into 
the  country  ? 

Major  Powell.  I  think  they  could  be  made  secure  by  other  means 
better  than  with  military  power.  The  original  policy  was  to  remove  the 
Indians  from  the  east  to  the  western  country,  and  the  wild  tribes  were 
thus  reinforced  by  the  addition  of  half-civilized  Indians  from  time  to 
time ;  but  now  there  is  no  more  unexplored  and  unoccupied  country  to 
which  the  Indians  can  be  driven.  It  is  necessary  to  pursue  a  policy 
toward  the  Indians  adapted  to  this  changed  condition  of  affairs.  When 
there  was  a  great  unknown  district  just  beyond  the  frontier  where  lines 
of  settlements  were  growing  up,  it  seemed  necessary  to  protect  this  fron- 
tier by  troops,  who  were  minute-men,  to  go  out  and  defend  the  settlers 
from   sadden   attacks  or  surprises.     This  state  of  affairs  no  longer 


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134  REDUCTION    OF    THE    MILITARY    ESTABLISHMENT. 

exists,  and  we  should  no  longer  deal  with  the  Indians  as  if  they  were 
distinct  nations  or  had  independent  governments,  but  we  should  deal 
with  them  as  individuals,  and  when  an  individual  Indian  or  a  number 
of  them  are  guilty  of  crimes  some  means  should  be  provided  by  which 
the  guilty  parties  could  be  brought  to  justice,  rather  than  to  continue  the 
present  method  of  punishing  tribes  or  the  Indians  at  large  for  the  offenses 
of  such  individuals.  What  is  now  needed  for  the  Indians  under  considera- 
tion is  not  some  means  for  wholesale  punishment,  but  some  means  to 
secure  justice  between  Indian  and  Indian,  and  between  white  man  and 
Indian.  As  at  present  managed  it  is  something  like  this :  A  hungry 
Indian  steals  a  beef,  or  a  tired  Indian  steals  a  horse ;  white  men  set  out 
in  search  of  the  thief  and  kill  the  first  Indian  they  meet;  the  Indians 
then  retaliate,  and  the  news  flashes  through  the  country  that  there  is 
an  Indian  war  on  hand ;  troops  are  sent  to  the  country,  and  a  trivial 
oltense  costs  the  Government  the  expense  of  an  Indian  war.  In  the 
sequel  no  justice  is  secured,  the  proper  Indians  are  not  punished,  and 
usually  in  such  a  case  the  white  men  of  the  frontier  are  greater  suf- 
ferers than  the  Indians,  as  these  last  have  no  great  amount  of  property 
to  lose,  and  their  knowledge  of  the  wilderness  and  their  customs  of 
stealthy  warfare  are  such  that  it  is  impossible  to  punish  them  severely, 
except  by  means  which  are  repugnant  to  civilized  minds. 

I  am  decidedl}'  of  the  opinion  that  the  military  method  of  dealing 
with  the  Indian  offenders  is  altogether  bad,  failing  to  secure  justice  be- 
tween Indians  and  whites,  and  bet\veen  Indians  and  Indians,  entailing 
upon  the  white  men  of  the  frontier  much  loss  of  property,  some  loss  of 
life,  and  keeping  up  a  state  of  constant  terrorism  among  them,  and  that 
altogether  it  is  excessively  expensive. 

The  Indians  themselves  fully  appreciate  this  method  of  wholesale  and 
indiscriminate  punishment,  and  think  it  strange  that  we  should  hold 
all  the  Indians  responsible,  or,  at  least,  whole  tribes  responsible  for  the 
bad  deeds  of  a  few,  and  are  always  re>ady  to  cite  scores  of  examples  of 
such  treatment  received  by  them  from  the  whites  in  justification  of  their 
own  offenses  which  are  similar. 

Some  system  should  be  devised  by  which  the  guilty  parties  them- 
selves could  be  brought  to  justice,  and  b}'  which  the  Indians  could  be 
made  to  assist  in  the  execution  of  justice,  as  in  capturing  and  delivering 
over  criminals. 

The  Chairman.  Would  the  Indians  surrender  these  criminals  ? 

Major  Powell.  Yes,  I  think  they  would  surrender  them,  if  some  civil 
means  were  taken  of  arresting  thieves  and  murderers  among  the  In- 
dians instead  of  punishing  a  whole  tribe. 

The  Chairman.  Are  you  sufficiently  acquainted  with  those  Indians 
to  say  that  it  is  your  belief  that  they  would  surrender  all  criminals  and 
outlaws  I 

Major  Pow^ELL.  Xo ;  I  would  not  make  such  a  broad  statement,  but 
I  think  that  they  would  verj-  often  do  so.  Circumstances  might  be  such 
that  they  would  take  the  part  of  the  man  who  committed  the  crime, 
but  I  think  a  system  could  be  organized  by  which  those  criminals  could 
be  arrested.  As  it  is  now,  there  is  no  effort  made  to  arrest  them,  only 
an  effort  to  punish  the  Indians  in  general. 

Mr.  Albright.  Are  the  Indians  entirely  secure  if  the  troops  are  with- 
drawn, from  the  encroachments  or  depredations  of  frontiersmen!  In  what 
way  would  you  administer  justice  without  some  power  to  enforce  it? 

Major  Powell.  I  do  not  see  that  the  presence  of  the  troops  has  ever 
to  any  great  extent  been  instrumental  in  securing  justice  to  the  Indians 
as  against  the  whites.    That  has  been  a  very  rare  thing  indeed.    Ilece^ 


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REDUCTION    OF    THE    MILITARY    ESTABLISHMENT.  135 

for  example,  is  a  reservation  of  13,000,000  acres  iu  Western  Colorado. 
We  are  bound  under  treaty  stipulations  to  secure  the  Indians  iu  the 
possession  of  that  reservation.  But  the  white  men  are  going  in  there 
and  settling  it  because  there  is  gold  and  silver  and  coal  found  there. 
And  they  will  continue  to  do  so. 

The  Chairman.  To  what  extent  f 

Major  Powell.  To  the  settlement  of  all  that  country,  because  the 
reservation  is  too  large  for  those  Indians,  and  it  is  against  the  sentiments 
of  the  white  people  that  the  Indians  should  occupy  so  much  land.  You 
cannot  keep  the  prospectors  out  of  that  country  unless  you  have  an  army 
of  50,000  men  there.  The  difficulties  to  be  settled  between  the  whites 
and  Indians,  so  far  as  the  aggressions  of  the  whites  are  concerned,  refer 
only  to  the  preservation  of  that  reservation.  That  can  be  done  by 
military  means,  if  it  is  thought  best,  or  it  can  be  done  by  civil  means. 
But  if  a  limited  reservation  were  set  apart  for  the  Indians — I  mean  of 
small  size — then  there  would  be  no  difficulty  in  keeping  white  men  out 
of  it.  The  Uintah  reservation  in  northeast  Utah  is  such  a  one  as  I  mean. 
It  contains  1,800,000  acres,  and  no  white  man  has  ever  settled  there, 
although  gold  and  silver  have  been  found  there.  As  soon  as  an  attempt 
is  made  to  locate  a  claim  there  the  agent  warns  the  miners  that  that  is 
Indian  ground,  and  they  leave  it.  But  they  have  not  done  so  in  this 
large  reservation. 

Mr.  Albrigjit.  Is  it  a  fact  that  the  Indians  are  frequently  subject  to 
outrages  from  the  settlers  and  frontiersmen  ? 

Major  Powell.  Yes,  I  think  it  is. 

Mr.  Albright.  If  there  were  no  military  force  there,  how  would 
you  enforce  any  civil  processes  against  those  wrongs  ? 

Major  Powell.  The  trouble  is  now  that  it  is  not  enforced,  by  any 
means,  and  I  don't  see  how  it  can  be. 

Mr.  ALBRIGHT.  Then  you  regard  the  Indians'  rights  as  hopeless  ? 

Major  Powell.  I  do,  as  the  Indians  are  scattered  about  the  country. 
I  think  the  only  thing  to  be  done  is  to  gather  them  on  reservations 
where  they  can  be  protected. 

The  Chairman.  Your  policy  would  be  to  have  small  reservations  ? 

Major  Powell.  Yes ;  I  would  take  them  on  apiall  reservations  and 
supply  each  reservation  with  a  pretty  strong  force  of  men,  and  make 
the  agent  and  his  assistants  police  officers  to  punish  the  Indians  who 
do  wrong. 

The  CHAIR3LAN.  Would  you  use  military  men  for  that  purpose  ? 

Major  Powell.  I  would  not.  In  case  of  war  I  should  employ  the 
citizens  of  the  country  rather  than  soldiers.  I  would  enlist  the  Indians 
and  frontiersmen  rather  than  take  regular  troops. 

Mr.  GoTNCKEL.  Have  you  generally  found  that  officers  and  soldiers  of 
the  Army  were  friendly  or  hostile  to  the  Indians? 

Major  Powell.  Some  of  the  officers  were  very  friendly  to  the  Indians, 
xind  I  have  seen  some  of  them  very  much  in  earnest  in  protecting  and 
caring  for  the  Indians.  On  the  other  hand,  I  have  seen  others  who 
thought  it  a  very  good  thing  to  kill  an  Indian,  and  who  would  boast  of 
it.  Among  the  soldiers  it  is  almost  invariably  the  case  that  they  like 
to  kill  Indians. 

Mr.  Gunckel.  Generally,  are  the  officers  and  soldiers  in  sympathy 
with  the  peace  policy  of  the  Government  I 

Major  Powell.  I  should  say  that  generally  they  are  not,  though 
many  of  them  are.  I  should  say  that  generally  they  think  the  best 
thing  that  can  be  done  is  to  kill  the  Indians  off. 

Mr.  Young.  Y'ou  would  be  in  favor  of  contract-soldiers,  would  you  ? 


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136  REDUCTION    OF    THE    MILITARY    ESTABLISHMENT. 

Major  Powell.  Yes ;  I  think  that  a  territorial  marshal  or  agent,  or 
an  officer  of  the  Army  of  the  Cnited  States,  enlisting  a  company  there 
on  some  system  of  that  kind,  can  be  made  use  of  for  the  pnnisliment  of 
Indians  much  better  than  by  the  employment  of  regular  troops. 

Mr.  Young.  When  you  get  these  fellows  together  they  punish  the 
Indians  too  much.  That  is  the  trouble.  A  contract-soldier  is  the  most 
expensive  auimal  you  can  get  hold  of. 

Major  Powell.  It  depends  on  what  you  want  done.  If  you  want  to 
punish  the  Indians,  I  think  a  company  of  volunteers  is  better  able  to  do 
it  than  regular  troops,  and  would  do  it  as  humanely  as  the  soldiers  of 
the  Regular  Army. 

Mr.  Albright.  You  say  that  you  would  organize  a  sort  of  police 
force  through  the  marshal  and  a  posse  comitatus.  Would  not  that  be  the 
most  expensive  of  all  means  to  enforce  discipline? 

Major  Powell.  The  money  given  to  the  Army  in  this  district  of 
country,  where  the  Indians  are  already  subdued,  if  used  in  the  manage- 
ment of  the  Indians  themselves,  would  take  them  out  of  the  country,  to 
gather  them  all  on  reservations,  even  in  Illinois,  and  purchase  the  lands 
necessary  for  them,  and  induce  them  to  come  to  them. 

Mr.  Albright.  I  asked  you  as  to  the  relative  cost  of  the  two  systems 
— that  of  the  military  or  that  of  the  marshal,  with  the  posse  comitatus. 

Major  Powell.  I  suppose  that  to  keep  up  a  fort  with  half  a  regiment 
of  soldiers  does  not  cost  less  than  half  a  million  dollars  a  year,  and  that 
regiment  of  soldiers  can  reach  perhaps  ten  tribes  of  about  1,000  In- 
dians. 

Mr.  MacDougall.  Do  you  belong  to  the  Indian  Bureau  or  to  the 
Army  of  the  United  States ! 

Major  Pow^ELL.  To  neither ;  but  I  was  employed  for  a  few  months 
this  summer  to  visit  certain  Indians  in  Utah  and  IS^evada,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  preventing  hostilities  there.  I  was  employed  by  the  Indian  Bu- 
reau— by  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior. 

Mr.  Hunton.  Do  I  understand  you  to  say  that,  in  your  opinion^  the 
marshal  of  those  several  districts,  with  power  to  call  on  9,  posse  comita- 
tus^ would  keep  the  peace  and  administer  justice  better  between  the 
whites  and  Indians  than  the  Army  does  ? 

Major  Powell.    I  think  so. 

Mr.  Hunton.  At  comparatively  less  cost  f 

Major  PowTELL.  Yes. 

Mr.  Hunton.  You  cannot  form  an  estimate  of  the  difference  of  the 
cost? 

Major  Powell.  I  cannot.  I  should  say,  in  a  very  general  way,  that  it 
would  not  cost  one-tenth  as  much. 

Mr.  Young.  Did  you  travel  among  those  Indian  tribes  in  afty  other 
interest  beside^  that  of  the  Indian  Bureau  f 

Maior  Po^VELL.  I  was  sent  there  by  the  Smithsonian  Institution  to 
study  the  Indian  language.  The  S  mithsonian  secured  an  appropria- 
tion from  Congress  for  the  last  three  years  to  assist  in  carrying  on  that 
work.    I  was  interested  in  the  study  of  the  Indians. 

Mr.  GuNCKEL.  What  do  you  want  of  a  dictionary  and  grammar  of  . 
their  language  ? 

Major  Powell.  It  is  a  question  of  philology  and  ethnology  ;  a  ques- 
tion of  the  relation  of  the  Indian  tribes  to  each  other  and  to  humanity 
at  large. 

Mr.  Young.  Do  you  think  you  could  go  among  all  those  Indians  with 
safety  to  yourself! 


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REDUCTION    OF    THE    MILITARY    ESTABLISHMENT.  137 

Major  Powell.  I  should  have  no  besitatioa  in  going  among  any  In- 
dians in  the  country. 

Mr.  Young.  You  have  been  among  these  hostile  Indians  ? 

Major  Powell.  Yes,  sir. 

Mr.  Young.  Alone  ! 

Major  Powell.  Alone,  or  sometimes  with  a  small  party. 

Mr.  Young.  And  you  do  not  find  them  disposed  to  be  hostile  If 

Major  Powell.  No,  sir;  1  had  the  advantage  of  speaking  their  lan- 
guage, and  of  their  knowing  something  of  me ;  so  they  treated  meas  a 
friend. 

Mr.  Albright.  You  do  not  regard  the  policy  pursued  toward  the  In- 
dians by  the  Indian  Department,  or  by  the  military  department  either, 
as  the  correct  policy  ? 

Major  Powell.  I  think  that  the  policy  pursued  by  the  Indian  De- 
partment is  in  part  correct.  I  think  we  should  at  once  collect  all  these 
Indians  on  reservations. 

The  Chairman.  From  your  observation,  would  you  say  that  it  would 
be  safe  to  do  so,  without  increasing  hostilities  on  the  part  of  those  In- 
dians ? 

Major  Powell.  Yes;  with  the  exception  I  have  made,  I  think  that 
the  peace  of  the  country  would  be  secured. 

The  Chairman.  Can  these  tribes,  except  the  Utes  of  West  Colorado, 
be  collected  upon  small  reservations  with  safety  ? 

Major  Powell.  Yes,  with  safety,  and  better  without  the  presence  of 
troops  than  with  it. 

The  Chairman.  Audcan  they  be  induced  to  go  into  agricultural  pur- 
suits? 

Major  Powell.  They  have  agreetl  to  do  so.  1  met  sixty-six  tribes 
last  summer.  They  said  that  if  the  Government  would  give  them  a  title 
to  land  they  will  go  to  work. 

The  Chairman.  Were  your  conversations  with  men  in  authority  ? 

Major  Powell.  Yes ;  I  have  sat  up  a  good  part  of  the  night  for 
twenty-five  or  thirty  nights  this  summer  in  Indian  councils. 

The  Chairman.  Are  the  Indians  armed  ? 

Major  Powell.  Yes ;  partly  with  fire-arms  and  partly  with  bows  and 
arrows.  The  Indians  in  Colorado  whom  I  have  excepted  are  well  armed 
with  guns,  and  have  plenty  of  horses. 

The  Chairman.  Where  did  they  get  their  arms  f 

Major  Powell.  Partly  in  Utah  and  partly  in  Colorado. 

The  Chairman.  Do  they  get  them  from  military  post-traders,  or  from 
Indian  traders  ? 

Major  Powell.  I  think  not    They  go  to  the  sutlers  for  them. 

Mr.  MacDougall.  What  kind  of  arms  have  they  ? 

Major  Powell.  Generally  muzzle-loading  muskets,  .but  they  have 
some  breech-loaders. 

The  Chairman.  Have  they  extensive  supplies  of  ammunition  ! 

Major  Powell.  No,  sir ;  only  temporary  supplies. 

Mr.  MacDougall.  You  say  that  you  were  sent  there  last  summer  to 
look  after  the  Indians ;  by  whom  were  you  sent  ? 

Major  Powell.  By  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior. 

Mr.  MacDougall.  For  what  purpose  ! 

Major  Powell.  For  the  purpose  of  preventing  any  outbreak  of  hos- 
tilities and  to  prevent  the  Indians  of  that  country  from  uniting  with 
the  Modocs,  or,  after  the  Modoc  troubles,  uniting  with  each  other  in  a 
common  war,  and  to  see  if  they  were  willing  to  go  to  reservations. 


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138  REDUCTION    OF    THE    MILITARY    ESTABLISHMENT. 

Mr.  MacDougall.  To  what  exteut  did  you  tiod  them  inclined  to  join 
the  Modocs  ! 

Major  Powell.  I  found  them  everywhere  afraid  of  the  white  people, 
and  flying  to  the  mountains  for  fear  that  the  white  people  were  going 
to  kill  all  the  Indians. 

Mr.  MacDougall.  What  tribes  were  those  ! 

Major  Powell.  The  tribes  known  as  the  Shoshoues,  Gros-Utes,  Pah 
Utes, PiUtes,  &c. 

Mr.  MacDougall.  What,  in  your  judgment,  led  to  the  Modoc  trou- 
ble? 

Major  Powell.  My  knowledge  is  derived  so  nuich  from  new8pai)ers 
that  my  judgment  is  not  worth  much. 

Mr.  ilUTTON.  Do  you  know  anything  of  the  Indians  ea.st  of  Western 
Colorado — the  Indians  of  the  plains  ? 

Major  Powell.  Very  little;  I  have  traveled  through  them,  but  I  do 
not  speak  their  language. 

Mr.  MacDougall.  W'here  do  you  reside  ? 

Major  Powell.  At  Washington  City. 

Mr,  Albright.  If  the  Indians  were  removed  to  small  reservations, 
and  were  supplied  with  agricultural  implements,  would  they  not  have 
to  be  supplied  by  Government  with  the  other  necessaries  of  life  ? 

Major  Powell.  Yes ;  I  think  they  would  for  a  year  or  two  at  first. 
On  those  reservations  there  are  no  valuable  hunting-grounds;  that  is, 
the  game  is  gone.  And  if  you  are  to  keep  them  on  the  reservations  it 
will  be  necessary  at  first  to'  furnish  them  with  a  part  of  their  food  at 
least,  and  with  some  clothing. 

Mr.  MacDougall.  Would  they  have  to  bo  fed  or  cared  for  by  the 
Government  to  any  greater  extent  than  they  are  at  present  f 

Major  Powell.  I  have  estimated  that,  and  consider  that,  for  the 
Indians  I  have  spoken  of  on  the  four  reservations,  an  increase  of  about 
$200,000  over  the  appropriation  made  for  them  last  year  would  be 
required. 

Mr.  Albright.  Would  they  find  a  market  for  their  produce  in  excess 
of.  what  they  would  need  for  themselves,  with  the  advantage  of  buying 
the  other  things  that  they  could  not  raise  or  procure  among  themselves! 

Major  Powell.  Yes ;  and  a  very  good  market,  too.  There  is  a  good 
market  for  all  the  x)roduets  of  the  soil  in  all  those  mining  countries. 
Take  Nevada,  for  example.  It  is  not  possible  to  cultivate  one  per  cent, 
of  the  State  of  Nevada.  There  is  not  water  enough  in  the  State  to  allow 
the  cultivation  of  one  per  cent,  of  the  land. 

Mr.  Albright.  You  have  a  definite  idea  as  to  where  you  would  locate 
those  Indian  reservations  f 

Major  Powell.  Yes;  I  have  visited  different  parts  for  the  purpose  of 
examining  them  this  summer. 

Mr.  MacDougall.  Your  judgment  is  that  the  reservations  already 
given  to  the  Indians  are  entirely  too  large  ? 

Major  Powell.  That  one  reservation  to  which  I  have  alluded  is  too 
large.  I  propose  that  all  the  Indians  of  the  district  I  have  described 
should  be  put  upon  these  four  reservations ;  a  part  at  the  Malheur 
reservation ;  a  part  at  Fort  Hall ;  a  part  at  tfintah ;  and  a  part  at  the 
Pah-Ute  reservation  in  Nevada,  and  let  the  other  reservations  be  all 
broken  up. 

Mr.  GUNCKEL.  You  say  you  could  make  this  change  for  $200,000 1 

Major  Powell.  For  $200,000,  in  addition  to  the  appropriation  made 
last  year  for  the  same  Indians. 


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REDUCTION    OF    THE    MILITARY    ESTABLISHMENT.  139 

Mr.  GuNCKEL.  Suppose  this  was  done ;  what  would  you  save  to  the 
Goveramentf 

Major  Powell.  I  cannot  state  exactly,  and  there  would  be  no  saving 
to  the  Government  except  through  the  withdrawal  and  discharge  of  the 
troops  who  are  now  stationed  in  the  country  for  the  purpose  of  overaw- 
ing the  Indians.  I  suppose  there  were  nearly  2,000  soldiers  stationed 
within  this  Territory  during  the  past  year.  A  comparison  of  the  number 
of  soldiers  in  the  Army  with  the  appropriations  made  for  the  support  of 
troops,  shows  that  the  soldiers  on  an  average  cost  about  $1,000  per  man. 
If  this  estimate  is  true,  as  I  suppose  it  to  be,  approximately,  the  expense 
to  the  Government  in  keeping  troops  in  this  country  is  about  $2,000,000, 
and  the  expense  to  the  Government  for  the  Indian  service  of  that  same 
year  was  less  than  $200,000.  The  two  are  very  disproportionate,  when 
it  is  considered  that  the  Indians  were  not  hostile. 

Mr.  Albright.  Could  all  these  tribes  be  put  upon  these  four  reser- 
vations t 

Major  Powell.  Yes.  What  I  speak  of  as  a  tribe  is  one  of  those  land 
divisions. 

Mr.  Albright.  The  Indians  are  sufficiently  homogeneous  to  let  them 
live  together  f 

Major  Powell.  I  should  have  no  hesitancy  in  saying  so. 


War  DEPART3IENT, 

Surgeon-General's  Office, 
Washington^  !>.,  C,  January  14, 1874. 

Sir:  I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your  letter  of 
the  12th  instant,  concerning  the  number  and  pay  of  civilian  emploj'^s 
and  detailed  enlisted  men  as  reported  to  you  in  the  letter  from  this  Office 
of  the  10th  instant.  In  reply  I  have  to  inform  you  that  the  letter  of 
January  10  included  the  number  and  "  aggregate "  pay  per  month  of 
the  entire  Medical  Department  of  the  Army ;  not  of  those  employed  in 
the  Surgeon- GeneraVs  Office  in  this  city  only.  The  cost  per  man  of  each 
of  the  classes  named  in  that  letter  is  as  follows : 

That  of  enlisted  men  employed  in  this  city  on  extra  duty  varies  with 
the  term  of  enlistment,  and  the  year  thereof  in  which  they  are  serving, 
on  account  of  the  difference  in  additional  and  retained  pay  and  clothing 
allowance.  The  average  cost  per  man  of  this  class  for  the  month  of 
December  was  $102.13. 

That  of  hospital-stewards  on  extra  duty  in  medical  directors'  offices, 
&c.,  and  cooks  and  nurses  in  post-hospitals  cannot  be  computed,  as  shown 
in  the  letter  of  January  10. 

That  of  civilian  clerks,  &c.,  in  the  Surgeon-General's  Office  is  as  fol- 
lows: 1  chief  clerk,  at  $2,000  per  annum ;  1  clerk  of  class  3,  at  $1,600 
per  annum  ;  2  clerks  of  class  2,  at  $1,400  per  annum  ;  8  clerks  of  class 
1,  at  $1,200  per  annum ;  1  messenger,  at  $840  per  annum  ;  and  1  laborer, 
at  $720  per  annum. 

That  of  physicians  employed  under  contract  at  various  stations 
throughout  the  country  varies  from  $20  to  $150  per  month,  according 
to  the  station  and  the  duties  required  of  them.  The  average  of  their 
pay  per  month  is  $113.68. 

That  of  the  remaining  civil  employes  is  as  follows:  Apothecaries :  1 
at  $125  and  1  at  $100— average,  $112.50;  engineer,  $100;  carpenter, 
$100;  engraver,  $100;  photographer,  $100 ;  clerks,  (in  purveying  depots, 


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140  REDUCTION    OF    THE    MILITARY    ESTABLISHMENT. 

&c.,)  from  $75  to  $150 — average,  $131.92;  messeugers,  (in  medical  di- 
rectors' offices,  &c.,)  one  at  $15  and  one  at  $50 — average,  $32.50 ;  labor- 
ers, (in  purveying  depots,  &c.,)  from  $45  to  $70 — average,  $53.66 ;  pack- 
ers, (in  purveying  depots,)  from  $30.to$  100— average,  $73.75  per  month. 
Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

J.  K.  BARNES, 
Surgeon-OeneraL 
Hon.  John  Coburn, 

Chairman  Committee  on  Military  Affairn^ 

House  of  'KepreHentatireH. 


Washington,  D.  C.  January  15, 1874. 

G.  W.  Ingalls  appeared  before  the  committee,  in  response  to  its 
invitation,  and  was  examined  as  follows  : 
By  the  Chairman  : 

Question.  State  what  connection  you  have  with  the  Government  offi- 
cially. 

Answer.  1  am  agent  of  the  Piute  Indians. 

Question.  How  long  have  you  been  connected  with  the  Indian  De- 
partment ? 

Answer.  Eighteen  months. 

Question.  State  to  what  extent  your  acquaintance  with  the  Indian 
tribes  goes. 

Answer.  My  experience  until  within  the  last  eight  months  was  prin- 
cipally with  the  Piutes.  Since  then  I  have  been  especially  commis- 
sioned by  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior  to  visit  other  tribes. 

Question.  What  duties  have  you  been  doing  and  what  other  tribes 
have  you  seen  ?  , 

Answer.  I  have  been  acting  as  a  special  Indian  commissioner  for  the 
purpose  of  examining  into  the  condition  of  Indians  in  Idaho,  Utah,  Ne- 
vada, Arizona,  and  Southeastern  California,  in  explaining  to  them, 
fully,  the  reservation  policy  of  the  Government,  and,  as  far  as  practica- 
ble, in  taking  a  census  of  those  Indians.  I  have  a  summary  of  that 
census,  (showing  it  to  the  committee.)  Major  J.  W.  Powell  was  asso- 
ciated with  me  in  this  commission-work. 

These  several  tribes  have  been  carried  on  the  books  of  the  Depart- 
ment and  are  now  reported  to  be  in  the  neighborhood  of  30,000  Indians. 
But,  by  this  census,  we  show  that  their  number  does  not  exceed  10,500 
Indians  in  the  entire  territory  which  we  have  covered,  embracing  Idaho, 
Utah,  Northern  Arizona,  (about  a  quarter  of  Arizona)  Southeastern 
California,  and  Xevada. 

By  Mr.  Nesmith  : 
Question.  How  was  that  census  taken ;  by  actual  count  f 
Answer.  Yes.  We  visited  every  band  where  we  did  not  And  them 
at  their  accustomed  places  of  living,  and  we  would  send  out  an  assistant 
commissioner  and  invite  several  tribes  to  meet  us  at  some  point,  and 
would  remain  there  from  one  to  ten  days  for  the  band  or  tribe  to  come 
in.  We  would  make  arrangements  to  subsist  those  bands  that  came 
from  a  distance,  and  would  thereby  hold  them  in  council  with  us  as  long 
as  desired. 

Questiou.  Were  there  not  a  good  many  smaller  parties  scattered  over 
the  country,  which  you  did  not  meet  ? 


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REDUCTION    OF    THE    MILITARY    ESTABLISHMENT.  141 

Answer,  la  tbat  case  we  took  the  leading  men  of  the  tribes,  and,  as 
we  had  presents  for  the  Indians,  we  would  ask  how  many  of  their  tri^e 
they  had  left  at  home,  in  order  to  send  presents  to  theni,  and  the  u am- 
ber absent  from  any  tribe  hardly  ever  exceeded  a  dozen  or  fifteen. 

Question.  Have  you  got  an  enumeration  of  the  Apaches  there  ? 

Answer.  No ;  we  did  not  go  as  far  south  as  the  Apache  country. 

Question.  Have  you  got  the  enumeration  of  the  Nez  Perces  ! 

Answer.  Yes,  sir;  though  we  did  not  visit  them.  We  got  thaf 
through  General  Shanks  on  our  arrival  at  Salt  Lake  City. 

Question.  How  far  down  into  Idaho  did  you  go  I 

Answer.  I  went  up  just  north  of  Fort  Hall. 

Question.  You  did  not  go  to  Boise  City  and  through  that  country  f 

Answer.  No,  sir.  We  were  invited  to  visit  especially  the  northwestern 
bands  of  Shoshones,  whose  range  is  southeast  of  that. 

Question.  And  you  were  not  west  of  that'  mountain-range  which 
divides  Idaho  1 

Answer.  No,  sir.  In  fact  I  did  not  take  the  complete  census  of  the 
Indians  of  Northern  Idaho.  That  was  under  the  jurisdiction  of  General 
Shanks's  commission. 

By  the  Chairman  : 

Question.  State  what  the  disposition  of  these  Indians  is  toward  the 
whites,  as  to  their  making  depredations  on  whites,  or  as  to  their  having 
a  spirit  of  hostility  or  mischief  toward  them. 

Answer.  In  the  country  which  we  visited  we  found  the  Indians,  with- 
out exception,  peaceably  disposed  toward  the  whites. 

Question.  Did  you  ascertain  whether  that  was  in  consequence  of  the 
presence  of  military  power,  or  whether  it  is  the  disposition  of  the  Indians 
to  be  friendly  without  thatf 

Answer.  1  think  it  is  very  largely  to  be  attributed  to  the  effect  of 
subjugation  arising  from  military  force  in  years  past,  (previous  to  the 
last  ten  years,)  and  to  the  coml)ined  action  of  the  United  States  author- 
ities and  of  the  Mormons.  The  Mormons  have  had  jurisdiction  over  a 
large  part  of  that  country  which  we  traveled.  At  present,  the  influence 
of  the  Mormons  is  more  circumscribed. 

Question.  My  question  applied  to  the  present  presence  of  military 
force,  and  whether  Indians  are  peaceable  now,  because  they  have  to  be, 
in  the  presence  of  military  force ! 

Answer.  No,  sir.  1  think  they  were  completely  subdued,  (in  years 
past,)  and  it  is  on  account  of  the  kind  treatment  they  are  now  receiving 
at  the  hands  of  the  Government  and  from  some  of  the  whites  who  sur- 
round them,  without  any  influence  whatever  from  the  military  power. 

By  Mr.  Gunckel  : 

Question.  What,  in  your  opinion,  would  be  the  effect  of  a  partial  or 
total  withdrawal  of  United  States  troops  ? 

Answer.  I  think  it  would  be  a  very  pleasant  and  a  very  profitable  one 
to  the  Indians. 

By  the  Chairman  : 

Question.  Would  they  be  overrun  by  white  marauders  and  intruders, 
and  suffer  in  consequence  of  that  ? 

Answer.  I  think  they  would  be,  unless  the  several  reservations  located 
in  that  country  referred  to  were  properly  supplied  with  good,  efficient 
men,  not  only  as  agents,  but  with  subordinates,  such  as  farmers,  black- 
smith, miller,  carpenter,  physician,  teachers,  and  assistants,  all  men 


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142  REDUCTION    OF    THE    MILITARY    ESTABLISHMENT. 

of  good  morals,  true  men,  who  are  engaged  in  the  work  from  their 
heart.  Such  a  force,  I  think,  would  be  sufficient  to  control  any  outside 
marauders. 

By  Mr.  Donnan  : 

Question.  What  would  be  the  effect  of  the  withdrawal  of  the  troops, 
on  white  settlements,  as  to  their  safety  against  Indians! 

Answer.  I  think  the  settlements  would  be  perfectly  safe.  I  gather 
this  opinion  from  an  intimate  conference  with  various  settlers  in  differ- 
ent places  in  Nevada,  Utah,  Arizona,  and  Idaho.  When  I  speak  of  a 
conference  with  settlers,  I  refer  to  the  better  portion  of  settlers.  I  found 
exceptions  to  that  sentiment  with  men  who  are  engaged  in  liquor  traffic, 
and  men  who  are  in  there  for  a  short  time  without  any  permanent  occu- 
pation, or  those  who  are  interested  in  securing  Government  contracts, 
and  in  the  ruder  class  of  society  which  is  usually  found  in  a  border 
country. 

Mr.  GuNCKEL.  If  I  understand  you,  then,  in  your  opinion,  in  all  that 
territory  the  presence  of  United  States  troops  is  not  necessary  to  pro- 
tect the  Indians  from  the  whites,  or  the  whites  from  the  Indians  ! 

Answer.  That  is  my  candid  opinion.  I  conversed,  while  in  Kevada, 
with  several  members  of  the  Nevada  legislature,  with  merchants,  with 
men  of  property,  rancheros,  and  stock-raisers,  and  I  base  my  opinion 
on  these  conversations  in  stating  that  there  is  not  any  necessity  for  mil- 
itary, and  they  confirmed  me  in  the  opinion,  which  I  had  already  formed, 
that  the  influence  of  troops  among  the  Indians  was  demoralizing,  and 
that  there  w  as  more  frequent  troubles  arising  between  the  Indians  and 
the  settlers  when  the  troops  were  in  their  midst,  than  there  are  at 
present.  There  are  but  very  few  troops  around  the  large  body  of  those 
Indians. 

By  Mr.  Albright  : 

Question.  Did  those  Indians  with  whom  you  had  conferences  make 
complaints  of  bad  treatment  from  any  source  or  quarter  which  they 
wanted  your  influence  to  redress  f 

Answer.  Yes,  sir.  The  ill-usage  which  they  complained  of  was  from 
some  of  the  unprincipled  settlers  who  surrounded  them.  Most  of  those 
Indians,  yon  will  understand,  are  off  reservations,  and  I  think  that  this 
condition  of  affairs  will  continue  so  long  as  they  remain  off  reservations. 

The  Chairman.  What  would  you  advise  to  be  done  with  those  Indi- 
ans ! 

Answer.  That  they  should  be  gathered  into  four  different  reserva- 
tios  :  the  Fort  Hall  reservation,  the  Uintah  Valley  reservation,  the  Pah 
Ute  reservation,  and  the  Malheur  reservation. 

By  Mr.  Albright  : 

Question.  In  regard  to  the  complaints  and  grievances  which  the  Indi- 
ans have  against  the  white  settlers,  how  would  you  propose  to  give  them 
redress  f    In  what  way  would  you  right  the  wrongs  of  these  Indians  f 

Answer.  I  cannot  say  that  there  can  be  any  redress,  unless  you  with- 
draw them  from  their  present  surroundings  and  place  them  on  reserva- 
tions. I  see  no  other  hope  for  them  whatever.  Bepeated  complaints 
come  to  me  from  those  Indians  begging  me  to  let  them  hold  their  pres- 
ent little  patches  of  land  which  they  were  then  cultivating,  and  to  keep 
the  whites  from  selling  liquor  to  their  men  and  from  selling  foolish  and 
useless  things  to  them.  They  said  that  when  those  of  tbeir  number 
who  worked,  got  liquor  and  powder,  they  would  come  into  their  camps 
debased  and  drunk,  and  that  they  would  not  work  for  some  time,  and, 


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REDUCTION    OF    THE    MILITARY    ESTABLISHMENT.  143 

while  iutoxicateil,  for  a  mere  pittance  tliey  would  dispose  of  all  their 
lauds  and  property. 

Question.  If  you  got  the  Indians  on  reservations,  by  what  means 
would  you  keep  them  in  there  f 

Answer.  By  giving  them  such  articles  as  would  induce  them  to  re- 
main on  reservations,  in  the  way  of  food,  clothing,  implements  of  agri- 
culture, mechanical  implements,  and  other  things  to  employ  their  time. 
Our  instructions  autl^orized  us  to  promise  these  Indians  all  of  these  dif- 
ferent inducements  if  they  would  remain  on  reservations,  and  I  think 
that,  with  kind  treatment  on  the  part  of  the  agents  and  assistants,  they 
would  remain  there  without  any  trouble.  In  fi\ct,  the  general  assent  of 
most  of  the  Indians,  whom  we  visited,  was  secured,  to  go  on  reserva- 
tions just  as  soon  as  the  Government  was  ready  to  make  good  those 
promises,  though  some  of  them  N»\Artd  have  to  go  from  three  hundred 
to  four  hundred  miles  from  their  present  homes.  When  we  asked  them 
if  they  would  not  give  up  their  present  nomadic  life  and  follow  an  agri- 
cultural life,  they  refused  at  first,  but  after  we  remained  and  labored 
with  them  from  three  days  to  a  week,  we  did  finally  receive  their 
assent.  The  Indians  admitted  that  they  could  not  hold  on  to  theirlands ; 
that  they  could  not  get  uniform  kind  treatment  from  the  whites,  and 
that,  unless  they  are  better  protected  by  the  Government,  they  could 
not  stay  there.  The  matter  of  going  on  reservations  was  one  of  faith 
with  them.  We  assured  them  that  they  would  be  protected  there,  and 
they  were  willing  to  accept  that  promise. 

By  the  Chairman  : 

Question.  State  whether  or  not  your  attention  has  been  called  to  the 
military  posts  in  that  region,  which  you  visited,  and,  if  so,  whether  any 
of  these  posts,  by  concentrating  Indians  on  these  reservations,  would  be 
useless,  so  far  as  protecting  either  whites  or  Indians  is  concerned! 

Answer.  (Referring  to  map.)  I  believe  the  presence  of  troops  at  Fort 
Bridger  and  Fort  Hall  is  unnecessary. 

Question.  What  forts  or  posts  would,  by  the  removal  of  the  Indians, 
lie  remote  from  them  I 

Answer.  None  of  them  very  remote. 

Question.  So  that  the  posts  and  military  forts  are  now  located  at  such 
places  as  that  they  would  have  to  be  continued,  even  if  the  Indians  were 
concentrated  on  these  reservations  1 

Answer.  So  far  as  the  Indians  are  concerned  there  would  be  no  neces- 
sity for  Fort  Beaver,  Camp  Douglas,  or  Fort  Bridger.  They  would  be 
remote,  if  the  Indians  were  concentrated  on  the  reservations  referred  to. 

Question.  Are  there  any  other  posts  or  forts  which  would  be  remote 
from  them  f 

Answer.  No,  sir;  not  within  the  border  which  I  have  described. 

Mr.  Donnan.  If  the  military  posts  there  are  unnecessary  for  the  pro- 
tection of  the  whites  against  the  Indians,  what  is  the  occasion  for  the 
continuance  of  those  military  posts? 

Answer.  I  see  no  necessity  for  Fort  Bridger.  There  is  a  camp  lo- 
cated in  the  vicinity  of  the  eastern  band  of  Shoshones,  and  there  is,  I 
think,  but  little  necessity  for  its  existence.  I  conferred  with  the  Indians, 
and  also  with  some  of  the  white  people  from  their  vicinity. 

Mr.  Nbsmith.  Are  the  white  people  anxious  to  have  the  forts  re- 
moved ? 

Answer.  The  better  class  of  them  are.  The  better  class  of  people, 
the  honest,  intelligent,  moral  class,  are  indifferent  to  the  existence  of 
forts  and  troops  in  their  vicinity,  but  the  majority  of  the  people  there. 


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144  REDUCTION    OF    THE    MILITARY    ESTABLISHMENT. 

I  am  sorry  to  say,  are  dsiiallj  the  very  lowest  class  of  creation,  and,  as 
before  stated,  are  interested  in  Government  contracts,  or  desirous  ot 
getting  tbem. 

Mr.  GuNCKEL.  If  the  Indians  were  gathered  on  reservations,  wonld 
yon  have  troops  and  forts  within  the  reservation  ? 

Answer.  None  whatever. 

Mr.  HuNTON.  Or  around  the  reservation  f 

Answer.  No,  sir;  none  whatever.  The  Indians  have  a  feelings 
amounting  to  horror,  at  the  presence  of  troops  in  their  vicinity,  and 
we  often  found  this  trouble,  in  moving  successfully  among  the  Indians 
this  summer,  harder  to  overcome  than  anything  else.  As  soon  as  we 
came  near  an  Indian  camp  many  of  them  would  run  off  to  the  hills,  and 
we  found  that  some  miserable  whjt^.jnan  had  anticipated  our  coming 
and  had  persuaded  the  Indians  thStt  "we  had  a  very  large  force  of  sol- 
diers with  us.  It  would  take  often  two  or  three  days  before  we  could 
get  these  Indians  back,  to  give  us  their  attention.  At  the  beginning  of 
these  discussions  the  first  question  would  be :  "Are  there  to  be  any  sol- 
diers brought  here  f  *'  If  we  are  to  be  taken  to  a  reservation  are  there 
to  be  any  soldiers  on  the  reservation  !"  We  had  to  visit  Belmont,  Nev., 
three  times  before  we  could  assemble  Indians,  on  account  of  their  dread 
of  soldiers. 

Mr.  DONNAN.  Had  you  soldiers  with  you  I 

Answer.  No,  sir ;  but  the  Indians  were  led  to  think  there  would  be 
soldiers  accompanying  us.  They  would  anticipate  our  coming  three  or 
four  days. 

Mr.  Nesmith.  This  better  class  of  white  people,  which  you  spoke  of, 
had  more  dread  of  the  soldiers  than  of  the  Indians  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir.  They  had  a  dread  of  the  demoralizing  influence  of  the 
military. 

By  Mr.  McDouoALL : 

Question.  What  is  the  moral  condition  of  the  military  in  that  coun- 
try! 

Answer.  It  is  pretty  bad  ;  it  is  very  low.  There  is  a  great  deal  of 
debauchery  among  them  in  their  relations  with  the  Indians  and  a  great 
deal  of  drunkenness  among  themselves. 

Question.  Do  the  Indians  and  soldiers  get  drunk  together? 

Answer.  Yes.  In  very  many  cases  the  soldiers  carry  liquor  to  the 
Indians.  The  morale  of  the  soldier  out  there  will  not  compare  favora- 
bly with  that  of  the  Army  during  the  last  war.  The  committee  is  prob- 
ably familiar  with  the  class  of  men  who  now  go  into  the  Army  as  common 
soldiers,  and  when  these  men  go  out  w^est  there  is  no  restraint  whatever 
on  them. 

Question.  Did  you  find  the  oflScers  at  those  posts  generally  sober  and 
temperate  men,  and  attentive  to  their  duties ! 

Answer.  That  is  rather  a  delicate  question.  I  have  frequently  met 
ofiicers  who  are  exceptions,  but,  as  a  rule,  they  are  gentlemen,  and  at- 
tentive to  their  duties. 

Mr.  Nesmith.  You  are  speaking  now  of  posts  in  the  Kocky  Mountain 
range.    You  were  not  on  the  Pacific  coast  ? 

Answer.  I  was  not  at  any  of  the  posts  in  California,  Washington,  or 
Oregon.  I  was  in  Eastern  Idaho,  Utah,  Nevada,  Arizona.  In  travelling 
there  I  have  been  very  careful  not  to  take  a  rumor  nor  to  get  informa- 
tion from  men  who  I  did  not  think  were  proper  judges  of  what  they 
were  talking  about.    Those  who  traveled  and  visited  other  parts  of  the 


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REDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY    ESTABLISHMENT.  145 

Pacific  coast  corroborated  the  same  opinion  which  I  formed  in  regard 
to  these,  that  is,  the  forts  farther  west  and  farther  south. 

Mr.  DoNNAN.  Then,  in  yonr  opinion,  the  moral  status  of  the  Indians 
would  compare  favorably  with  that  either  of  the  military  or  most  of 
the  settlers! 

Answer.  Yes,  sir.    I  think  so,  most  assuredly. 

By  Mr.  Gunckel  : 

Question.  What  have  been  the  industrial  habits  of  the  Indians  which 
you  visited  f 

Answer.  I  should  think  that  one-fourth  of  their  number,  male  and 
female,  (for  one  labors  as  much  as  the  other,)  are  engaged  in  the  culti- 
vation of  the  soil.  They  have,  until  disturbed  by  the  advance  of  white 
settlements,  been  given  accustomed  agricultural  pursuits.  They  are  an 
agricultural  people.  In  conversing  with  them,  through  an  interpreter,  I 
inquired  especially  with  regard  to  that,  and  found  that,  as  far  back  as 
they  could  remember,  and  could  gather  from  their  ancestors,  they  had 
been  an  agricultural  people,  and  their  general  demand  was  for  land. 
They  would  sa}',  "  Give  us  land  ;  give  us  a  chance  to  farm,  and  protect 
us  in  our  farm  when  we  get  if  Those  who  were  not  inclined  to  farm- 
ing were  very  desirous  of  engaging  in  stock  raising.  I  give  one  of 
many  cases  that  came  to  my  att-ention  :  In  Ruby  Valley,  Nevada,  where 
they  have  been  especially  aided  by  the  Government  in  farming,  and 
furnished  implements  and  stock,  until  the  last  three  years,  they  tell  me 
that,  being  unprotected,  they  lost  the  start  they  had  had  in  stock, 
the  bninds  of  their  cattle  were  altered  and  finally  stolen  by  white 
ranchers,  and  when  they  endeavored  to  get  their  cattle  back  again  they 
were  threatened  Mith  soldiers,  if  they  did  not  shut  up  their  mouths  and 
surrender  their  cattle.  Then  they  were  forced  to  sell  their  ploughs  and 
other  implements  on  account  of  their  reduced  extremity  in  surrendering 
their  lands  or  their  water-privilege,  wnich  amounts  to  the  same  thing ; 
and  last  year  there  was  considerable  destitution  among  these  Indians. 
Five  years  before  they  were  very  prosperous.  When  I  submitted  this 
reservation  plan  to  them  they  said  it  was  their  only  hope. 

Question.  Are  any  of  them  engaged  in  mechanical  pursuits? 

Answer.  Not  very  many.  In  Arizona  some  few  of  them  are,  in  the 
manufacture  of  blankets,  &c. 

Question.  Have  schools  been  established  among  any  of  those  Indians 
with  a  view  to  educating  their  children  ! 

Answer.  Not  any  where  we  have  been,  except  on  the  Pah  Ute  reser- 
vation, and  within  the  last  three  months ;  and  in  that  time  fifteen  of 
the  children  who  were  broug:ht  into  that  school  have  learned  to  spell 
short  words,  and  some  to  write  letters. 

Question.  Did  you  find  any  general  disposition  among  parents  to  have 
schools  established  ? 

Answer.  Very  general,  indeed.  They  say,  "  We  want  our  children  to 
read  and  write  paper-talk  the  same  as  white  men,  and  then  we  will  know 
what  the  Government  is  doing  for  us,  and  white  men  among  themselves 
and  toward  us." 

By  Mr.  HUNTON : 

Question.  You  stated  a  while  ago  that  30,000  Indians  were  carried  on 
the  rolls  of  the  Department,  when  there  were  in  fact  only  10,000  of 
them.    Did  the  Government  furnish  clothing  and  rations  for  the  30,000  ! 

Answer.  The  supply  was  on  the  basis  of  that  number. 

Question.  Has  that  enumeration  been  corrected  since  yon  reported  it  f 

10  ME 


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liG  KEDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT. 

Auswer.  Not  as  yet,  because  the  reports  have  not  been  pablisbed. 
Question.  When  did  you  submit  your  report  to  the  Indian  Bureau  ? 
Answer.  Only  verbally  as  yet.    It  will  be  submitted  next  week. 

By  Mr.  Albright  : 

Question.  Then  the  agents  actually  received  rations  and  clothing  for 
30,000  Indians,  when  there  were  but  10,000  to  be  fed  and  clothed  f 

Answer.  Rations  are  not  given  to  those  Indians  who  are  off  reserva- 
tions.   All  that  are  on  reservations  are  fed  and  clothed. 

Question.  Then  it  is  a  fact  that  rations  and  clothing  were  drawn  for 
a  much  larger  number  of  Indians  than  there  were  to  be  subsisted  and 
clothed  t 

Answer.  I  sustain  that  statement. 

Question.  Who  got  the  benefit  of  that  extra  clothing  and  food  I 

Answer.  1  may  relate  one  or  two  instances  which  came  under  my 
observation  :  Eight  in  Nevada  I  found  that  the  Indians  at  Battle  Moun- 
tain, on  the  Central  Pacific  Bailroad,  (taking  a  line  south  through  Austin 
and  Belmont,)  represented  one-third  of  the  western  band  of  Shoshones 
and  treaty  Indians.  They  had  never  received,  since  their  treaty  with 
the  United  State^i,  any  supplies  from  the  Government ;  and  when  I  met 
them  with  supplies  they  wanted  to  know  what  they  were  for,  as  they 
never  had  received  anything  before.  I  told  them  that  they  had  been  en- 
titled to  them  for  live  years.  That  led  me  to  investigate  the  matter.  A 
prominent  member  of  the  Nevada  legislature  told  me  that  if  I  would  go 
to  a  certain  mining  district  I  would  find  there  a  man  who  had,  within  the 
last  eighteen  months,  received  an  entire  wagon-load  of  Government  sup- 
plies, intended  for  the  Indians,  and  had  been  instructed  by  the  agent  to 
distribute  them  among  the  Indians  in  his  immediate  locality.  He  gave 
them  a  few  cups  of  flour  and  a  little  tobacco,  and  he  put  the  balance  of 
the  wagon-load  of  supplies  into  his  store  and  sold  them. 

Question.  Did  this  man  get  the  supplies  from  the  Indian  agent  f 

Answer.  Ye^^. 

Question.  Was  he  connected  with  the  Indian  agency  at  all  ? 

Answer.  No,  sir.  It  was  work  delegated  to  him.  I  found  that  a  large 
portion  of  the  supplies  of  Utah  and  Nevada  was  distributed  in  such  a 
manner  as  that.  Instead  of  being  distributed  by  the  agent,  they  were 
delegated  to  some  unofficial  person  not  in  any  way  connected  with  the 
Government;  some  ranchero,  or  some  merchant,  or  some  stock-raiser. 

Question.  Then  not  only  was  clothing  and  rations  issued  for  a  much 
larger  number  of  Indians  than  were  in  existence,  but  oven  the  Indians 
who  were  entitled  to  them  did  not  get  them  ! 

Answer.  That  is  the  case,  certainly ;  and  that  is  especially  true  in 
Utah.  There,  until  within  the  past  twelve  months,  as  a  rule,  these 
goods  have  been  distributed  through  the  Mormon  bishops,  and  Brigham 
Young  got  all  the  credit  of  the  distribution. 

Question.  The  Indians  were  led  to  suppose  that  the  goods  came  from 
Brigham  Young. 

Answer.  Yes,  sir. 

The  Chairmaij.  How  did  these  Mormon  bishops  get  control  of  the 
goods  f 

Answer.  The  Indian  agent  delegated  the  distribution  of  these  supplies 
to  the  Mormon  bishops. 

Mr.  Nesmith.  Who  was  the  agent  f 

Answer.  That  has  been  the  custom  with  nearly  all  of  the  agents  in 
Utah,  but  more  especially  with  the  last  two  or  three  agents. 


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REDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT.  147 

The  Ghaibman.  Then  the  bishops  of  the  Mormon  church  were  the 
instrnments  for  the  distribntion  of  sapplies  for  the  Indians  in  Utah  ? 

Answer.  Yes,  sir ;  very  generally. 

Qaestion.  And  they  have  perverted  the  distribntion  for  the  pnrpose 
of  private  gain  f 

Answer.  That  is,  it  waspromotion  of  interests  of  the  Mormon  church. 

Mr.  GuNCKEL.  Have  you  reported  this  fact,  with  the  names  of  the 
^igents  to  the  Indian  Bureau  ? 

Answer.  Yes,  sir;  quite  recently. 

Mr.  Albright.  According  to  treaty  stipulations,  about  how  much  is 
the  mean  value  of  what  each  Indian  is  annually  entitled  to  ? 

Answer.  We  visited  between  sixty  and  seventy  tribes,  each  of  which 
received  different  amounts  of  annuities,  and  so,  the  rate  per  Indian 
would  vary.    I  should  think  the  average  would  be  about  $3  a  year. 

Question.  Have  you  ever  been  similarly  employed  before  f 

Answer.  No,  sir. 


Washington,  D.  C,  January  15, 1874. 

Felix  R.  Bkunot  sworn  and  examined. 
By  the  Chairman  : 

Question.  Are  you  officially  connected  with  the  Indian  Department  ? 

Answer.  I  am  chairman  of  the  board  of  Indian  commissioners,  which 
is  connected  in  a  certain  way  with  the  Indian  Department,  simply  as  a 
supervisory  body  authorized  by  Congress. 

Question.  State  the  length  of  time  you  have  been  conne<5ted  with  the 
Indian  Department. 

Answer.  I  have  been  occupying  my  present  position  about  five  years. 
Shortly  after  the  incoming,  of  President  Grant's  administration  there 
had  been  very  much  distrust  of  the  management  of  Indian  affairs ;  and 
Congress,  instead  of  appropriating  in  the  usual  way,  appropriated  a  sum 
of  $2,000,000,  in  gross,  to  be  applied  in  the  management  of  Indian  affairs, 
and  authorized  the  President  to  appoint  a  commission  to  supervise  the 
expenditure  and  management  of  that  money.  I  was  appointed  on  that 
commission.  Subsequently  Congress,  from  time  to  time,  has  extended 
the  commission,  and  added  to  its  duties,  which  are  to  supervise  the  ex- 
penditure of  the  Indian  fund,  and,  to  a  certain  extent,  the  purchase  of  the 
goods  and  the  making  of  contracts. 

Question.  Have  you  been  brought  personally  in  contact  with  any 
Indian  tribes! 

Answer.  I  have  visited  a  good  many  of  the  tribes  and  agencies — that 
being  a  portion  of  the  duties  intrusted  to  us. 

Question.  State  in  what  part  of  the  country  you  visited  these  tribes. 

Answer.  I  visited  them  in  Montana,  Colorado,  the  Indian  Territory, 
Idaho,  Washington,  Oregon,  California,  and  along  the  Pacific  Railroad 
incidentally. 

Question.  Have  you  visited  the  Sioux  Nation  f 

Answer.  I  visited  the  Sioux  at  the  Bed  Cloud  agency  and  at  Fort 
Ijaramie. 

Question.  Have  you  visited  the  Indians  in  Texas  and  Arizona  ? 

Answer.  I  have  not  visited  the  Indians  in  Texas  and  Arizona. 

Question.  Have  you  visit^id  those  in  Western  and  Southern  Colorado  f 

Answer.  Yes,  sir. 


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148  REDUCTION    OF    THE    MILITARY    E.STABLLSHMEXT. 

Question.  Have  you  be^n  at  the  Great  Ute  reservation  ! 

Answer.  Yes ;  1  was  at  the  Ute  reservation  last  summer  and  the  sum- 
mer before.    I  made  a  negotiation  with  the  Utes  last  summer. 

Question.  State  the  disposition  of  those  Indians  toward  the  iK'ople 
of  the  United  States  as  to  friendliness  or  nnfriendliness. 

Answer.  Without  any  experience  in  regard  to  the  Indians  of  Arizona 
and  Texas,  I  must  say  that  I  do  not  know  of  any  tribe  of  Indians  that 
is  not,  at  ])resent,  friendly  to  the  United  States.  Some  of  the  wilder 
tribes,  as  the  Sioux,  and  probably  the  Kiowas,  Coraanchea,  and  Chey- 
ennes  and  Arapahoes,  have  individuals  who  are  nnfriendly  to  the 
whites,  but  as  to  tribes,  I  believe  they  are  all  friendly  to  the  white 
people. 

Question.  State  what  tribes  requiie  the  repression  of  military  force 
to  prevent  their  making  inroads  or  depredations  on  the  white  settle- 
ments. 

Answer.  The  Kiowas  and  Comanches  at  the  Fort  Sill  reservation,  it 
is  said,  have  individuals  among  them  who  raid  on  the  bordei*s  of  Texas. 
A  portion  of  the  Sioux  have  never  been  under  the  control  of  the  au- 
thorities at  agencies.  They  are  ihe  Sioux  who  live  in  the  northern  parts 
of  Wyoming  and  Montana,' and  a  portion  of  them  are  Siiid  to  be  hostile 
to  the  whites.  The  Cheyennes  and  Arapahoes  have  been,  but  they  are 
at  peace  now. 

Question.  So  far  as  the  Indians  in  the  Indian  Territory  proper  are 
concerned,  do  they  requiie  the  presence  of  military  force  to  prevent  in- 
roads on  the  whites,  or  to  prevent  the  whites  making  inroads  on  them ! 

Answer.  There  are  some  of  those  tribes,  particularly  the  wilder  tribes, 
who  require  the  presence  of  military.  Tlie  Cheyennes  and  Arapahoes, 
Comanclies,  and  Kiowat^,  at  Fort  Sill  reservation,  I  think  require  mili- 
tary force  within  reach  of  tlie  agents,  in  order  to  be  kept  under  proper 
control. 

Question.  What  have  you  to  say  of  the  Ute  reservation  in  Western 
Colorado  f 

Answer.  The  Utes  do  not  require  a  military  force  in  their  immediate 
vicinity. 

Question.  Either  to  prevent  the  whites  making  inroads  on  them  or  to 
prevent  their  making  inroads  on  whites! 

Answer.  I  do  not  think  they  require  the  military  for  either  purpose, 
in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the  agencies.  I  think  that  the  posts,  as 
at  present  located,  are  all  proper  for  the  present. 

Question.  Could  any  military  force  or  posts  in  the  neighborhood  of 
the  Indians  be  dispensed  with,  with  safety  to  either  party  f 

Answer.  So  far  as  I  know,  in  regard  to  the  posts  in  Western  Colorado, 
I  think  it  is  not  desirable  that  they  should  be  dispnensed  with,  just  at 
this  time.  I  would  remark  in  this  connection  that  it  is  possible  (although 
that  is  a  matter  entirely  for  the  military  authority)  that  a  change  of  lo- 
cation, in  one  or  two  of  those  places,  would  be  advantageous. 

Question.  What  have  you  to  say  as  to  military  posts  in  the  Territory 
of  Wyoming! 

Answer.  I  suppose  Fort  Laramie  would  be  a  necessary  post,  and 
probably  Fort  Fetterman  also.  I  cannot  see  how  they  are  to  be  very 
well  dispensed  with. 

Question.  What  have  you  to  say  of  the  military  posts  in  Dakota  and 
Montana! 

Answer.  I  am  not  sufficiently  familiar  with  that  country  to  be  able  to 
speak  about  it. 

Question.  Are  you  familiar  with  the  military  posts  in  Idaho  ! 


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REDUCTION    OF   THE    MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT.  149 

Answer.  I  am  ncquaiiitecl  with  tbe  situatiou  of  Fort  Hall.  I  think  it 
desirable  that  there  should  be  a  post  in  that  neighborhood  for  the 
present. 

Question.  What  wouUl  you  say  as  to  any  posts  in  Utah  f 

Answer.  I  cannot  testify  as  to  their  necessity. 

Question.  Can  you  say  anythin^:^  as  to  the  posts  in  Washington  an 
Oregon  ? 

Answer.  There  is  a  post  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  Nez  Perces  reser- 
vation, in  Eastern  Washington,  which  I  would  suppose  to  be  import- 
ant to  the  care  of  tiie  Indians  or  the  care  of  the  whites.  There  is  a 
post  on  the  Columbia  Eiver,  which  is  of  no  value,  as  a  protection, 
either  to  whites  or  Indians ;  but  it  is  possible  that  it  may  be  deemed 
necessary  as  a  depot ;  I  do  not  know  enough  of  military  affairs  to  speak 
of  them. 

Question,  have  you  any  knowleilge  of  the  forts  or  posts  in  California, 
fio  far  as  Indians  are  concerned  f 

Answer.  Not  much. 

Question.  Nor  Nevada  ? 

Answer.  I  have  not  been  in  Nevada.  Generally,  it  is  a  serious  detri- 
ment to  the  Indian  service,  and  to  the  Indians,  to  have  the  military  in 
the  immediate  locality  of  Indians.  Whenever  it  can  be  avoided  it  ought 
to  be  avoided. 

Question.  For  what  reason  ? 

Answer.  The  common  soldiers,  in  time  of  peace,  come  usually  from  the 
lowest  class  of  population  in  the  cities;  every  gentleman  in  the  com- 
mittee must  be  aware  of  the  quality  of  the  rank  and  file  of  the  Army  thus 
recruited.  Their  intercourse,  either  with  whites  or  Indians,  is  demoral- 
izing. In  some  places  there  still  exists  a  system  of  mutual  demoraliza- 
tion between  the  Indians  and  the  troops  in  their  immediate  neighbor- 
hood. 

Without  concluding  the  testimony  of  this  witness,  the  committee  ad- 
journed till  10  o'clock  to-morrow. 


January  1G,  1874. 

The  examination  of  the  witness  was  resunjed,  as  follows : 
By  the  Chairman  : 

Question.  State  whether  the  Indians,  or  any  tribes,  can  be  concen- 
trated 80  as  to  require  the  presence  of  fewer  troops. 

Answer.  I  think  that  they  can  be.  I  would  not  like  to  indicate  or 
designate  precisely  where  it  would  be  practicable  immediately,  but  the 
process  of  concentrating  them  is  going  on  all  the  time.  It  is  one  which 
requires  a  great  deal  of  care  and  management  to  be  accomplished  suc- 
cessfully. 

Question.  State  whether  you  think  any  military  posts  that  are  in  the 
neighborhood  of  Indian  tribes  can  be  dispensed  with. 

Answer.  1  have  no  doubt  that  there  are  some  that  can  be  dispensed 
with. 

Question.  What  posts  are  those  ? 

Answer.  There  are  two  posts  in  California,  at  Indian  reservations, 
from  which  we  had  reports  two  years  ago,  showing  that  the  presence  of 
military  there  was  a  serious  detriment,  both  to  the  Indians  and  the 
whites.    One  of  them  is  at  Round  Valley  reservation,  and  is  called  Fort 


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150  REDUCTION   OF    THE   MILITARY    ESTABLISHMENT. 

GastOD.  The  other  is  in  Hoopa  Valley.  This  report  came  from  a  mem- 
ber of  oar  board. 

Question.  State  the  reason  for  that  opinion. 

Answer.  The  Indians  there  were  not  such  as  would  be  likely,  under 
any  circumstances,  to  interfere  with  the  whites,  and  the  country  was 
sufficiently  settled  and  civilized  to  make  it  unlikely  that  the  troops  would 
be  needed  for  the  protection  of  the  Indians. 

Question.  Was  there,  at  those  points,  any  danger  of  the  inroads  of 
whites  upon  Indians,  trespassing  upon  their  reservation  or  property  f 

Answer.  At  one  of  those  points  the  whites  had  already  taken  pos- 
session of  considerable  of  the  land  of  the  Indians.  The  presence  of 
troops  could  not  remedy  that. 

Question.  Were  the  civil  authorities  sufficient  for  the  purpose  ? 

Answer.  The  civil  authorities  could  do  it,  if  they  would. 

I  wish  to  qualify  what  I  said  yesterday  in  regard  to  Fort  Hall,  Idaho. 
I  believe  I  said  that  it  would  be  well  to  have  that  post  remain.  I  said 
so  in  view  of  the  fact  that  it  is  contemplated  to  concentrate  the  Indi- 
ans of  that  region  of  country  at  certain  points,  and  I  thought  it  pos- 
sible that  the  removal  of  the  troops  on  the  eve  of  making  the  effort 
might  be  inexpedient.  I  think  the  continuance  of  that  post  would 
not  be  advisable  after  the  changes  are  made. 

Question.  Have  you  made  any  estimate  as  to  tbe  saving  that  would 
accrue  from  the  concentration  of  the  scattered  Indians,  both  in  regard 
to  the  money  that  is  paid  out  by  the  Indian  Bureau  and  that  which  is 
expended  by  the  War  Department  in  guarding  for  and  against  them  as 
is  now  done  f 

Answer.  No ;  I  have  not.  I  do  not  know  whether  it  would  be  practi- 
cable to  do  so.  It  would  not  seem  to  me  to  be  a  thing  of  any  practical 
value,  for  the  reason  that  you  cannot  possibly  make  such  a  concentra- 
tion in  a  given  time  without  enormous  expense,  long  wars,  and  great 
loss  of  life.  That  it  should  be  done  in  time  I  have  no  doubt,  and  it  is 
being  done  by  degrees.  The  process  of  concentration  is  going  on  as 
rapidly  as  seems  judicious. 

Question.  Do  yon  know  whether  those  posts  are  located  at  points 
most  convenient  for  the  delivery  of  supplies  and  stores  to  the  Indians, 
and  for  transacting  business  with  them! 

Answer.  Some  of  them  are  conveniently  located  for  that  purpose,  but 
I  presume  that  others  are  entirely  out  of  the  way  of  any  utility  in  the 
matter  of  supplying  and  delivering  stores  to  the  Indians.  They  have 
not  been  located  with  a  view  to  that. 

Question.  Can  you  say  what  posts  could  be  more  conveniently  located, 
or  whether  any  of  them  can  be  concentrated  f 

Answer.  I  do  not  think  that  my  opinion  upon  that  subject  would  be 
of  much  value. 

Question.  I  am  speaking,  not  from  a  military  point  of  view,  but  from 
your  standpoint,  and  I  would  ask  whether  these  posts  can  be  more  con- 
veniently located. 

Answer.  From  my  point  of  view  entirely,  as  regarding  the  interests  of 
the  Indian  service,  I  would  not  have  any  posts  within  ten  or  twelve  miles 
of  the  immediate  location  of  the  Indians ;  and  some  posts,  as  in  the  case 
of  the  Hoopa  Valley  and  Camp  Gaston,  at  Bound  Valley,  I  would  re- 
move altogether,  they  seeming  to  me  to  be  of  no  value,  either  for  protec- 
tion to  the  Indians  or  to  the  whites,  as  the  time  is  gone  by  when  either 
seems  to  be  needed. 

You  asked  me  a  question  in  regard  to  posts  in  Colorado.  It  will  prob- 
ably be  found  that  in  a  short  time  it  will  be  desirable  to  move  one  or 


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REDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY    ESTABLISHMENT.  151 

more  of  the  military  posts  in  or  near  Soathwestem  Colorado  to  points 
where  they  ooakl  better  keep  the  white  people  off  the  Ute  reservation. 
1  do  not  think  the  military  are  nee<led  in  that  region  of  country  as  apro- 
tection  to  the  whites,  for  the  simple  reason  that  I  think  the  Indians  are 
better  disposed  than  a  portion  of  the  whites. 

Qaestion.  Can  the  military  protect  the  reservation  from  the  whites  in 
those  mining  regions  of  Western  Colorado  t 

Answer.  Without  the  slightest  difficulty. 

Question.  Is  there  a  sufficient  number  of  military  there  to  protect 
that  last  reservation? 

Answer.  Certainly,  sir.  I  should  be  very  sorry  to  believe  that  all  the 
people  of  Colorado  are  law-breakers  and  thieves. 

Qaestion.  Is  it  regarded  really  as  law-breaking  and  thieving  for  the 
miners  to  travel  through  those  mountains  and  explore  and  dig  the 
minerals  ? 

Answer.  It  is  not  regarded  in  parts  of  the  West  as  breaking  the  law 
to  do  anything  to  the  detriment  of  the  red  man ;  to  go  upon  his  lauds  is 
not  a  crime  in  the  view  of  a  great  many  western  people;  but  my  expres- 
sion, which  was,  perhaps,  a  little  strong,  is  only  applicable  to  those  who 
make  a  special  business  of  doing  that  thing  ? 

Question.  Uave  you  ever  been  on  that  great  Ute  reservation,  in  West- 
ern Colorado  ? 

Answer.  I  spent  several  weeks  there  last  summer,  and  made  negotia- 
tions with  the  Indians,  by  which  they  agreed  to  give  op  a  portion  of  that 
reservation. 

Question.  Are  there  not  a  large  number  of  miners  and  explorers  work- 
ing in  that  region  ? 

Answer.  There  were,  peihaps,  two  or  three  hundred  miners  on  the 
Ute  reservation.  Tbey  commenced  going  into  the  San  Juan  country 
two  or  three  years  ago,  and  there  was  very  great  danger  of  its  leading 
to  serious  difficulties  with  thelites;  not  because  the  Utes  were  not 
patient,  but  because  the  discovery  of  rich  mines  had  been  made,  and 
there  was  a  disposition  to  make  a  general  rush  into  that  country,  and 
to  make  a  quarrel  with  the  Utes  to  justify  it.  That  danger  has  been 
obviated,  provided  Congress  ratifies  the  arrangement  made  with  the 
Indians  for  the  purchase  of  that  portion  of  their  territory. 

Having  visited  the  country,  I  recommended  and  urged  the  President 
to  enforce  the  law,  by  driving  out  the  miners  already  upon  the  reserva- 
tion. I  was  informed  by  a  military  officer,  familiar  with  the  case,  that 
with  a  company  of  soldiers  he  would  clear  out  the  place  in  three  weeks, 
without  any  bloodshed  or  difficulty.  General  Sherman  took  the  other 
view  of  the  question,  and  had  the  idea  that  it  was  impracticable  to  get 
it  cleared  out,  and  the  result  was  that  it  was  deemed  better  to  sus}>end 
the  order  for  ejecting  the  miners,  and  renew  the  attempt  to  purchase 
the  country  from  the  Indians. 

Question.  What  portion  of  that  reservation  has  been  purchased  f 

Answer.  About  one-fourth  of  it;  over  3,000,000  acres.  It  comprises 
the  part  containing  the  mines  already  discovered,  and  the  mountainous 
I>art  supposed  to  have  other  mines. 

By  Mr.  HUNTON : 

Question.  Are  not  the  Indians  in  Western  Colorado  more  disposed 
to  hostilities  and  mischief  than  any  other  Indians  you  have  visited  ! 

Answer.  There  are  very  few  Indians  whom  I  know  of  (with  the  ex- 
ception of  the  Crows,  I  cannot  name  a  single  wild  tribe)  less  disposed 
to  hostilities  than  the  Ute  Indians  of  Western  Colorado. 


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152  REDUCTION    OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT. 

Questiou.  Do  you  suppose  that  the  presence  of  the  military  is  ne- 
cessary, or  even  proper,  among  the  Indians ;  and  is  not  their  presence 
a  source  of  irritation  to  the  Indians? 

Answer.  It  is  in  many  places  a  source  of  irritation.  For  instance, 
for  a  military  detachment  to  go  into  the  neighborhood  of  these  Indians, 
upon  their  reservation,  would  be  an  irritation  and  annoyance  to  them. 

Question.  Is  the  presence  of  the  military  in  all  this  country,  from 
the  Colorado  to  the  Pacific  coast,  necessary  to  protect  the  whites  against 
the  Indians! 

Answer.  I  think,  from  the  information  we  have  had  in  regard  to  Ari- 
zona, that,  to  a  certain  extent,  the  military  is  necessary. 

Question.  In  reganl  to  the  protection  of  the  Indians  against  the 
whites,  do  you  not  suppose  or  believe  that  the  marshals  of  the  CTnited 
States,  with  their  civil  processes  and  with  the  power  to  call  in  a  posse 
comitatus,  would  be  more  efficient  than  a  military  to  protect  the  Indians 
against  the  whites  ? 

Answer.  No,  sir;  not  in  that  country. 

Questiou.  When  you  say  "  that  country,"  you  mean  the  country  from 
the  Colorado  to  the  Pacific  coast? 

Answer.  Yes,  sir;  so  far  as  I  know  it. 

Questiou.  There  is  a  portion  of  that  country  where  the  military  would 
be  necessary  f 

Answer.  I  think  so. 

By  Mr.  Gunckel  : 

Question.  Give  your  opinion  as  to  the  proposed  transfer  of  the  In- 
dian Bureau  from  the  Interior  Department  to  the  War  Department. 

Answer.  I  cannot  conceive  of  any  important  benefit  to  be  derived 
from  such  a  trausfer  except  possibly  in  the  matter  of  transportation ; 
but  1  can  see  a  great  many  evils  to  result  from  it. 

By  the  Chairman: 

Question.  How  do  your  contracts  for  transportation  compare  with  the 
prices  paid  by  the  War  Department,  so  far  as  you  can  learn  ? 

Answer.  The  contracts  that  have  been  supervised  by  the  board  of 
commissioners  have  been  very  similar  in  their  range  of  prices  to  those 
of  the  War  Department.  I  speak  only  of  the  contracts  of  which  we 
bad  the  direct  supervision. 

Question.  Is  it  or  is  it  not  possible  for  the  agents  of  the  Indian  Bureau 
to  make  contracts  just  as  closely,  and  guard  them  as  carefully,  as  the 
War  Department  can  do? 

Answer.  It  is  possible,  but  it  has  not  been  usually  the  case,  I  think. 

Questiou.  Is  there  anything  in  the  nature  of  things  which  prevents 
its  being  done  ? 

Answer.  There  is  not.  Perhaps  I  should  explain  one  of  the  reasons 
why  the  War  Department  can  do  it  more  cheaply  than  the  Indian 
Bureau.  The  War  Department  has  the  means  of  transportation  in 
itself.  It  has  its  own  wagons  and  mules  at  military  posts;  it  has  the 
officers  who  are  engaged  in  that  particular  branch  of  business,  and  who 
can  give  a  closer  supervision  to  it.  The  board  of  commissioners  recom- 
mended in  their  first  and  in  several  successive  reports,  that  the  trans- 
portation of  the  Indian  Bureau  should  be  made  under  the  War  Depart- 
ment contracts.  There  is  nothing  to  prevent  its  being  done  except  the 
will. 

Question.  Now  give  your  reasons  against  any  consolidation  of  the 
Indian  Bureau  with  the  War  Department. 


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REDUCTION   OF   THE    MILITARY    ESTABLISHMENT.  153 

Answer.  The  evils  of  contact  between  the  soldiers  and  the  Indians  in 
times  past  have  been  so  great  that  any  movement  toward  bringing  them 
abont  again  should  be  avoided.  The  discipline  of  the  military  depart- 
ment is  demoralizing  either  to  white  men  or  to  Indians  in  its  manner  of 
controlling  men.  It  is  simply  a  control  of  force,  exclusive  of  reason. 
The  example  of  the  officers  of  the  Army  and  of  their  authority  over  the 
soldiers- is  bad  for  the  Indians.  It  encourages  the  hereditary  ideas  of 
the  chiefs,  who  do  nothing  except  command.  The  improvement  and 
advancement  of  the  Indian  is  greatly  dependent  on  the  manner  in  whcli 
instructions  in  agricultural  and  mechanical  arts  are  given  to  them. 
These  instructions  cannot  be  given  to  them  by  persons  who  cannot  in- 
struct also  by  example,  and  whose  duties  do  not  show  them  that  labor 
is  honorable.  Indians  are  very  apt  to  imitate  the  white  people  they 
see.  The  chiefs  imitate  the  officers,  and  it  is  the  ambition  of  all  to  be- 
come like  those  who  command.  This  tends  to  make  labor  seem  dishon- 
orable. The  women  among  the  wild  tribes  are  required  to  do  the  heav- 
iest part  of  the  labor,  and  the  Indians  look  upon  the  soldiers  very  much 
as  bearing  the  same  relations  in  this  respect  to  their  officers  that  these 
women  bear  to  them.  The  tendency  is  to  degrade  labor.  The  moral 
effect  on  the  Indians  of  the  example  of  the  people  who  surround  them, 
and  of  the  common  soldiers,  and  the  conduct  of  the  latter  toward  the 
Indian  women,  is  a  very  great  cause  of  degradation.  The  conduct  of 
the  soldiers  in  regard  to  temperance  is  also  another  evil.  The  soldiers 
are  severely  punished  for  intemperance,  and  the  Indians,  who  are  very 
observant,  often  see  that  the  vices  for  which  the  soldiers  are  punished 
do  not  always  receive  punishment  when  committed  by  their  superiors. 
Then,  in  the  matter  of  school  instruction,  there  is  nothing  in  the  character 
or  pursuit  of  the  military  to  adapt  them  to  it.  In  the  matter  of  the  in- 
struction by  Christian  missions,  while  a  great  many  of  the  officers  of 
the  Army,  and  especially  the  higher  officers,  are  gentlemen  who  would 
not  descend  to  any  direct  interference  with  missions,  simply  on  account 
of  difference  of  opinion,  yet  in  times  past  it  has  been  the  case.  Missions 
and  schools  have  been  broken  up,  and  advancement  already  madeb^' 
Indian  tribes  destroyed,  by  the  misfortune  of  getting  an  officer  or  a  few 
officers  whose  proclivities  happened  to  be  totally  in  the  opposite  direc- 
tion. There  would  be  constant  liability  to  this.  In  the  early  part  of 
General  Grant's  administration,  when  agents  were  appointed  from  the 
military,  there  occurred  instances  where  a  good  deal  of  improvement 
made  among  Indian  tribes  was  overcome  by  the  misfortune  of  getting 
an  intemperate  officer,  or  an  officer,  as  agent,  not  sympathizing  with  the 
idea  of  the  advancement  of  the  race. 

The  independence  of  the  military  in  the  management  of  strictly  pro- 
fessional duties,  and  their  jealousy  of  any  complaint  or  interference  of 
civilians,  would  probably  extend  itself  to  their  administration  of  Indian 
affairs,  and  render  the  correction  of  abuses  on  complaints  from  other  than 
military  sources  more  difficult  than  now. 

By  Mr.  Hunton  : 

Question.  Has  your  attention  ever  been  called  to  the  number  of  In- 
dians borne  on  the  rolls  of  the  Indian  Department,  as  to  whether  that 
number  was  the  true  number  of  Indians  or  not  ? 

Answer.  Yes;  I  sometimes  find  that  the  number  has  been  very  much 
exaggerated. 

•Question.  Is  the  Indian  Bureau  taking  means  to  prevent  that  over- 
enumeration  t 

Answer.  It  has  been  constantly  endeavoring  to  do  so  within  the  last 


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154  REDUCTION    OP   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT. 

two  years.    So  far  as  the  body  that  I  am  connected  with  is  concerned 
we  have  been  striving  very  earnestly  to  accomplish  that. 

By  Mr.  MoDouaAi.L : 

Qoestion.  What  is  the  moral  tone  and  character  of  the  officers  of  the 
Army  in  the  Indian  country! 

Answer.  I  would  like  to  say  for  the  officers  of  the  Army,  that  for  those 
gentlemen  with  whom  I  have  come  in  contact,  I  have  the  highest 
regard.  I  have  generally  fonnd  them  to  be  men  of  whose  condact  I 
could  not  complain.  I  have  been  treated  with  very  great  courtesy  and 
kindness  at  the  military  posts,  and  have  formed  friendships  with  many 
of  the  officers  of  the  Army.  I  have  not  been  in  a  position  that  would 
enable  roe  to  see  their  defects. 

By  Mr.  Albright  : 

Question.  So  far  as  the  military  is  necessary  to  control  the  Indian 
question  you  have  now  a  duplication  of  officers — you  have  the  ludian 
agents  and  the  military  posts  f 

Answer.  That  is  exactly  the  case  in  every  branch  of  the  Government. 
The  military  is  totally  distinct  from  the  other  departments  in  its  origin 
and  purposes. 

Question.  The  military  must,  in  a  sense,  be  subject  to  the  ludian 
agents  ? 

Answer.  No,  sir ;  I  do  not  understand  that  it  is  necessary  that  they 
shall  be  subject  to  the  Indian  agents  in  any  subordinate  sense. 

Question.  If  the  Indian  business  is  in  the  hands  of  the  Interior  De- 
partment the  military  have  nothing  to  do  with  the  Indian  question,  and 
can  only  act  on  the  complaint  of  the  agents  ? 

Answer.  Yes  ;  I  think  that  is  so  as  to  the  affairs  of  his  agency. 

Question.  The  question  is,  then,  whether,  as  the  military  is  necessaiy, 
the  expense  of  the  civil  officers  could  not  be  avoided  ? 

Answer.  A  very  large  proportion  of  the  Indian  service  is  as  far  from 
having  any  necessary  connection  with  military  matters  as  is  any  other 
part  of  the  civil  service  of  the  country.  It  is  only  at  occasional  places 
that  there  can  seem  to  be  the  least  occasion  for  connecting  the  two 
things  together;  that  is  in  the  neighborhood  of  these  wild  tribes. 

By  Mr.  Hawley,  of  Illinois : 

Question.  You  do  not  mean  to  say  that  the  Army  is  never  brought 
into  requisition  in  regard  to  the  Indians,  except  at  the  request  of  some- 
body connected  with  the  Indian  Department  t  Your  answer  would  seem 
to  imply  that.  Was  it  your  intention  to  say  that  the  Army  is  uerer 
brought  into  requisition  as  against  the  Ii)dians,  except  at  the  request  of 
an  Indian  agent  or  somebody  connected  with  Indian  affairs  f 

Answer.  No,  sir ;  I  did  not  mean  to  say  that.  It  is  the  duty,  for  in- 
stance, of  the  military  to  guard  the  Texas  border.  It  is  assumed  that 
depredations  are  occasionally  committed  along  the  Texas  border.  There 
are  forts  there  to  guard  the  settlers.  It  is  the  duty  of  the  military  to  do 
that.  If  the  military  find  Indians  or  whites  who  have  committed  depre- 
dations or  murders,  it  is  their  duty,  without  any  requisition  from  the 
Indian  agent,  to  attack  them,  pursue  them,  and  punish  them. 

By  Mr.  Albright  : 

Question.  Take  the  localities  where  the  military  is  posted  for  the  ex- 
press purpose  of  protecting  Indians  against  the  whites,  and  the  whites 
against  the  Indians;  in  what  way  then  do  the  Indian  agents  use  and 
employ  the  military  ! 

Answer.  Take  a  post  like  the  post  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  Nez 


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REDUGTION   OP   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT.  155 

Percys  reservation,  where  the  Indians  are  peaceable  and  qaiet,  trying  to 
work,  and  are  doing  work.  If  some  disturbance  should  occur  among  the 
Indians,  or  if  whisky  were  sold  or  given  to  them,  causing  such  disturb- 
ances, an  agent  may  notify  the  military  officer  and  request  that  aid  may 
be  given  for  the  arrest  of  the  white  mischief-makers,  or  the  Indians  en- 
gaged in  the  disturbance. 

Question.  And  is  the  military  officer  lK>und  to  afford  assistance  ? 

Answer.  He  is  bound  to  do  so.  He  has  orders  from  the  War  Depart- 
ment to  do  so.  It  is  a  co-operation  between  the  two  departments,  and 
is  authorized  by  the  laws. 

Question.  That  must  be  a  general  oi^der  and  an-angement  between 
the  two  departments  ? 

Answer.  Yes;  it  is  by  an  arrangement  between  the  two  departments. 
I  suppose  that  some  of  the  posts  are  for  general  military  purposes,  not 
for  any  special  purpose,  connected  with  the  Indians. 

Question.  I  understood  you  to  say,  in  connection  with  Eound  Valley, 
that  the  whites  had  encroached  upon  the  Indian  reservation  there,  and 
that  the  military  could  not  prevent  it. 

Answer.  I  did  not  mean  to  say  so,  in  the  light  in  which  you  seem  to 
understand  it.  I  say  the  military  could  not  prevent  it,  because  it  has 
become  a  question  for  the  courts.  The  whites  have  been  there  so  long 
that  the  decision  of  the  authorities  is,  that  the  matter  has  to  be  decided 
by  the  courts.  If  I  were  the  authority  I  should  put  these  whites  off 
the  reservation  and  let  the  courts  decide  the  question  afterward,  knee- 
ing, as  I  do,  that  the  whites  are  there  by  wrong.  There  are  certain  ques 
tions  entering  into  the  matter  which  have  led  to  the  decision  that  it 
must  be  done  by  the  courts.  Consequently,  that  military  post  there  is 
not  of  any  importance  for  the  purpose  of  putting  off  these  particular 
trespassers,  is  what  I  meant. 

Question.  Are  you  particularly  acquainted  with  that  section  of 
country  ! 

Answer.  I  said,  in  speaking  of  it,  that  I  had  my  information  from  a 
member  of  our  board  who  visited  that  country  for  the  purpose  of  ex- 
amining into  the  situation  of  Indian  affairs  there,  and  from  other  official 
sources.  I  have  not  been  nearer  than  Sau  Francisco,  and  am  only  ac- 
quainted with  the  facts  from  gathered  information. 

Question.  You  stated  that  you  would  locate  military  posts  at  not  less 
than  twelve  miles  from  a  reservation  ! 

Answer.  Yes,  sir. 

Question.  TVhat  would  be  your  suggestion  as  to  the  intermediate  ter- 
ritory ? 

Answer.  If  I  said  twelve  miles  from  a  reservation,  I  meant  from  the 
agency.     I  think  I  said  from  the  agency. 

Question.  The  agencies  are  on  the  reservations  ? 

Answer.  The  agencies  are  on  the  reservations.  By  placing  a  military 
post  twelve  miles  from  the  agency  it  is  not  necessarily  placed  off  the 
reservation.  I  do  not  mean  that  the  post  should  be  off  the  reservation, 
but  away  from  the  agency.  There  is  a  question  of  economy  which  prop- 
erly comes  into  the  consideration  of  a  change  of  system.  I  do  not  be- 
lieve that  it  would  be  economy  to  place  the  Indian  service  in  the  hands 
of  the  military.  I  believe  it  would  be  more  costly  than  even  the  present 
arrangement. 

By  Mr.  Hunton  : 

Question.  Would  the  treatment  of  the  Indians  under  the  military 
department  be  as  humane  as  it  is  under  the  Indian  department  1 


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156  BEDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT. 

Answer.  I  do  not  think  it  would ;  not,  however^  from  any  lack  of 
kind  and  humane  inclination  on  the  part  of  the  higher  officers  of  the 
Array, 

By  Mr.  Hawley,  of  Illinois : 

Question.  Have  you  stated  any  reason  why  it  would  be  more  economi- 
cal to  manage  the  Indians  through  the  Interior  Department  than 
through  the  War  Department  ? 

Answer.  I  do  not  know  ttiat  I  have  stated  it. 

Question.  Be  kind  enough  to  state  it. 

Answer.  I  perhaps  may  do  that  by  an  illustration.  During  the  last 
two  or  three  years  there  has  arisen  a  question  in  reference  to  the  Sioux, 
Kiowas,  and  Gomanches,  and,  later  on,  that  question  has  become  of  some 
importance.  There  is  a  military  post  at  what  we  call  the  Fort  Sill  reser- 
vation, where  the  Kiowas  and  Comanches  are.  The  military  idea  of 
treatment  there  is  that  when  there  are  raids  committed  by  individual 
Indians  on  the  borders  of  Texas  the  tribes  shall  be  held  responsible  for 
the  acts  of  the  individuals.  And  the  mode  of  settling  the  question  is  to 
demand  the  criminals  from  the  tribe,  and  if  they  fail  to  give  them  up  in 
a  given  time,  punish  them.  Punishment  means  an  attack  upon  the 
camp,  which  is  war.  The  result  would  probably  be  the  escape  of  the 
guilty,  who  usually  keep  out  of  the  way ;  the  killing  of  the  many  inno- 
cent, who  are  sure  to  be  there,  and  the  driving  of  the  survivors  to  the 
war-path,burningunderasenseof  the  wrongdone  to  them  ;  the  cost  of  a 
war  similarly  inaugurated  against  a  single  tribe  has  often  been  greater 
than  the  entire  cost  of  the  Indian  service  for  the  last  four  years  under 
the  peace  management.  In  such  and  other  ways  the  military  control 
would  be  vastly  more  expensive  than  the  present  system  of  controlling 
the  Indians.  The  present  system'  has  been  a  success,  as  any  one  may 
see  in  looking  over  the  last  three  or  four  years. 

Question.  You  mean  to  say  that  it  has  been  more  economical,  for  the 
reason  that  war  has  been,  to  a  great  extent,  obviated  ? 

Answer.  Yes. 

Question.  In  answer  to  my  former  question,  as  to  whether  it  is  more 
economical  to  continue  the  management  of  the  Indians  in  the  present 
form,  you  mention  the  practice  of  the  military  of  demanding  from  In- 
dian tribes  the  surrender  of  the  particular  persons  who  have  violated 
the  law.    What  is  the  system  under  your  management  t 

Answer.  I  did  not  state  that  as  the  system.  I  suppose  that  if  I  knew 
positively  by  my  examination  of  the  temper  of  the  Indians,  and  my  per- 
sonal intercourse  with  them,  that  by  making  such  a  demand  it  would  be 
complied  with,  I  would  make  it  myself,  under  the  right  circumstances, 
in  order  to  get  the  criminal. 

Question.  That  is,  yon  would  demand  of  the  tribe  the  actual  offenders? 

Answer.  I  would  get  the  offenders,  if  I  could  do  it  without  involving 
great  expense  and  the  great  wrong  of  punishing  the  innocent.  I  only 
spoke  of  that  incidental  case  as  illustrating  my  meaning. 

Question.  I  did  not  understand  you  now  to  state  how  it  is  done  dif- 
ferently under  the  present  system. 

Answer.  Under  the  present  system  the  effort  is  made  in  every  way  in 
accordance  with  the  treaties,  and  with  reference  to  each  individual  case 
as  it  arises,  to  get  possession  of  the  criminals  and  to  bring  them  to  pun- 
ishment, precisely  in  the  way  it  is  being  done,  or  rather  that  it  should 
be  done,  in  regard  to  white  criminals. 

By  Mr.  Albright. 
Question.  In  your  estimates  of  the  relative  cost  of  managing  the 


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REDUCTION   OP   THE    MILITARY    ESTABLISHMENT.  157 

Indians  by  the  military  or  by  the  Interior  Department,  I  suppose  you 
embrace  the  expense  of  maintaining  the  Army  in  the  Indian  country. 

Answer.  That  is  to  some  extent  a  portion  of  the  expense.  But  I  have 
not  made  what  can  be  precisely  called  an  ^<  estimate"  of  the  relative  cost. 

Question.  Do  you  embrace  now  the  expense  of  the  Army,  or  a  por- 
tion of  it,  in  the  management  of  the  Indian  question  ? 

Answer.  Yes  5  I  consider  a  portion  of  that  expense  to  be  properly 
applicable  to  the  management  of  the  Indian  business. 

By  Mr.  Hawley,  of  Illinois. 

Question.  Would  you  not  consider  the  whole  expense  of  that  portion 
of  the  Army  which  is  in  the  Indian  country  as  applicable  to  the  ludian 
business? 

Answer.  No,  sir. 

Question.  For  what  other  purpose  is  the  Army  there  f 

Answer.  The  employment  of  the  Army  in  regard  to  Indian  affairs,  as 
things  are  now,  becomes,  in  many  places,  rather  incidental  than  other- 
wise. 

Question.  Still  that  portion  of  the  Army  that  is  in  the  ludian  country 
is  used  for  the  sole  purpose  ot  securing  quiet  there  f 

Answer.  In  some  places  the  Army  is  used  for  that  purpose,  but  then 
there  are  other  portions  of  the  Indian  country  in  which  the  Army  is 
located  where  it  is  not  at  all  necessary  for  that  purpose.  For  instance, 
there  is  a  fort  at  Salt  Lake  City,  which  is  there  for  the  purpose,  as  I 
believe,  of  eating  up  Brigham  Young's  provisions — his  surplus  food. 
And  there  are  other  portions  of  the  West  where  the  same  thing  happens, 
and  where  a  great  outcry  is  heard  as  to  disposition  of  the  Indians,  and 
all  for  the  express  purpose  of  getting  troops  out  theie  to  eat  up  pro- 
visions which  are  so  far  from  the  market  that  they  cannot  be  otherwise 
disposed  of.  A  case  of  that  kind  occurred  a  year  ago  in  regard  to  the 
Flat-heads.  Mr.  Garfield,  a  member  of  the  House,  went  out  there  and 
became  x>erfectly  satisfied  that  the  Indians  were  as  peaceable,  and  that 
there  was  as  little  possibility  of  their  harming  anybody  as  there  would 
be  in  the  most  peaceable  community  of  whites  in  the  country.  Yet  it 
was  pretended  that  the  whites  there  were  in  immediate  danger  from  an 
outbreak,  and  the  Government  granted  arms  to  the  settlers  to  protect 
themselves.  But  it  was  afterward  developed  that  their  sole  object 
was  to  get  troops  in  that  remote  region  to  eat  up  their  provisions.  One 
of  the  uses  of  the  Army  is  to  spend  money  in  the  western  Territories. 

Question.  Then,  in  your  opinion,  there  is  but  a  small  military  force 
needed  in  the  western  country  t 

Answer.  There  are  only  some  points  where  the  military  force  is 
needed. 

Question.  Can  you  designate  those  points  ? 

Answer.  I  designated  some  of  them  yesterday. 

By  the  Chairman  : 
Question.  Is  there  anything  else  you  desire  to  say  in  reference  to  the 
general  question  ? 

Answer.  I  do  not  wish  to  say  anything  else. 


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158  REDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT. 

Washington,  D.  C,  January  17, 1874. 
Examinatiou  of  Geueral  Xelson  H.  Davis,  one  of  theinspeotors- 
general  of  the  Army. 

By  the  Chair3IAN  : 

Qaestion.  State  whether  you  have  been  on  inspecting  duty  in  connec- 
tion with  the  engineer  battalion  within  a  year  or  so :  and,  if  so,  what 

onr  opinion  is  as  to  the  possibility  or  feasibility  of  dispensing  with  or 
mnstering  out  a  part  of  that  battalion. 

Answer.  I  made  an  inspection  of  Willet's  Point,  and  of  the  battalion 
of  engineers  there  last  fall.  It  is  commanded  by  Major  Abbott,  of  the 
engineers,  brevet  brigadier-general.  I  consider  this  corps  efficient,  and 
indispensable  to  the  interests  of  the  service.  I  do  not  think  it  could  be 
dispensed  with.  The  men  are  instructed  not  only  in  the  ordinary  mili- 
tary duties,  but  in  their  professional  duties  pertaining  to  the  Engineer 
Department,  and  the  condition  of  the  post  and  the  result  of  their  labors 
(both  of  officers  and  men)  was  exceedingly  gratifying  and  satisfactory. 
I  consider  that,  for  the  defense  of  our  sea-coast,  and  harbors,  and  cities, 
this  corps  cannot  be  replaced  by  the  same  kind  of  intelligence  and 
efficiency  without  a  much  greater  expense  than  it  would  be  to  retain  it 
In  connection  with  the  ordinary  post  and  engineering  duties,  the  system 
of  torpedoes  for  harbor  and  river  defense  is  established  and  being  per- 
fected at  Willet's  Point  The  great  proficiency  to  which  it  has  already 
arrived  reflects  great  credit  on  Major  Abbott  and  his  corps,  and  I  think 
on  the  country.  I  consider  it  one  of  the  principal  elements  of  defense 
for  our  harbors  and  rivers,  and,  as  I  understand  this  torpedo  system 
there,  it  is  principally  on  the  defensive  against  attack — ^it  is  for  the  de- 
fense of  rivers  and  harbors ;  the  others  are  offensive  propelling  torpedoes 
for  the  attack  of  ships,  and  that  has  been  given  to  the  Navy  more 
especially. 

Question.  State  the  comparative  expenses  of  erecting  large  Tcorks  of 
defense,  and  of  continuing  in  the  service  this  engineer  battalion  at  its 
present  numbers,  if  any  comparison  of  expense  can  be  instituted. 

Answer.  I  do  not  see  that  you  could  dispense  with  this  engineer  bat- 
talion in  either  case. 

Question.  State  what  you  think  aa  to  our  works  of  sea-coast  defense, 
and  as  to  the  introduction  of  the  system  of  torpedoes. 

Answer.  I  think  the  system  of  fi^yrtiflcations  heretofore  adopted  for  the 
defense  of  our  sea-coast  and  harbors  is  of  a  character  too  expensive  and 
inefficient  at  the  present  time  in  view  of  the  increased  calibers  of  the 
armament  of  vessels,  and  that  a  different  system,  less  expensive,  using 
heavy  metal  in  connection  with  the  torpedoes,  will  be  a  much  more 
effective  protection  to  onr  sea-coast  and  harbors^  than  the  old  system. 
Fort  Adams,  which  was  considered  one  of  the  model  forts  in  the  old 
system,  is  not  considered,  I  believe,  capable  of  resisting  the  heavy  guns 
with  which  vessels  are  at  the  present  day  armed.  Such  was  my  view, 
and  on  expressing  it  to  General  Warren,  he  agreed  with  me. 

Question.  What  has  been  the  result  of  firing  on  the  works  of  masonry 
protected  by  the  addition  of  iron  shields  and  other  obstructions  at  Fort- 
ress Monroe  f 

Answer.  I  was  informed  by  one  of  the  engineer  officers  who  was  pre- 
sent at  an  experiment  made  at  Fortress  Monroe,  in  the  firing  of  15-inch 
guns  at  the  embrasures  that  were  specially  prepared  with  a  view  to  re- 
sist this  heavy  metal,  that  the  results  showed  conclusively  that  they 
would  not  resist  the  effect  of  the  shot,  but  were  badly  broken,  and  were 
considered  unsafe. 


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REDUCTION    OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT.  159 

Qaestion.  State  the  amoant  of  preparation  made  to  defend  the  embra- 
sures! 

Answer.  I  do  not  recollect  the  exact  dimensions,  bnt  I  think  the 
thickness  of  iron  was  about  eleven  inches,  with  four  feet  of  masonry,  and 
with  heavy  iron  beams  in  the  rear  of  it 

Question.  What  was  the  effect  of  the  firing? 

Answer.  The  iron-plating  and  stone-masonry  were  perforated  and  much 
broken,  and  in  order  to  ascertain  whether  pieces  of  stone  or  splinters 
were  thrown  to  the  rear,  a  screen  was  there  erected,  which  was  perfor- 
<ited  in  many  places  by  these  stone  splinters  and  pieces  of  iron,  showing 
that  there  was  no  safety  for  the  cannoniers  behind  those  embrasures. 

Question.  Have  you  inspected  any  of  the  forts  and  posts  in  the  Mili- 
tary Division  of  the  Missouri ! 

Answer.  I  have  inspected  nearly  all  of  the  posts  in  the  Department 
of  the  Missouri,  in  Montana  and  Dakota.  1  ins^iected  the  posts  through 
Kansas  west,  and  in  the  fall  and  winter  of  1872  1  inspected  all  the  posts 
in  New  Mexico,  Fort  Bliss,  in  Texas,  and  Fort  Garland,  in  Colorado. 
In  1873  I  inspected  all  the  posts  in  Montana,  Dakota,  and  Minnesota; 
also  all  the  disb  utsiug  offices  at  the  different  stations  in  the  Department 
of  Dakota. 

Question.  In  your  judgment,  are  the  military  posts  in  Kansas  neces- 
sary to  be  maintained  for  the  defense  of  the  country  or  for  the  protec- 
tion of  the  Indians? 

Answer.  Several  of  them,  I  think,  are  not. 

Question.  Can  you  specify  what  ones  are  not  ? 

Answer.  Forts  Barker,  Lamed,  and  either  Hays  or  VValhice,  in 
Kansas. 

Question.  Are  there  any  posts  in  Colorado  that  can  be  dispensed 
with! 

Answer.  I  hardly  supiwse  it  would  be  proper  to  abandon  Fort  Gar- 
land, although  it  is  not  in  a  position  which  1  would  recommend.  The 
position  for  a  fort  there  is  farther  north,  up  the  San  Juan  Valley;  but 
inasmuch  as  that  fort  is  established,  and  as  we  have  quarters  there,  I 
do  not  suppose  it  should  be  changed  now.  The  buildings,  however,  are 
not  expensive,  and  many  of  them  were  very  much  out  of  repairs. 

Question.  Going  farther  south  into  New  Mexico,  state  whether  any 
of  those  posts  can  be  dispensed  with,  in  view  of  the  relations  between 
the  whites  and  Indians;  or,  in  view  of  their  use  against  the  Indians,  con- 
sidering the  troops  necessary,  can  they  be  consolidated  ? 

Answer.  Yes,  sir.  In  my  opinion  Forts  Craig,  Selden,  and  Cummins 
can  be  dispensed  with,  and  perhaps  McEae.  Fort  Tularosa  was  recently 
established  on  account  of  the  Apache  Indians  going  there.  If  the  In- 
dians remain  the  fort  should  be  kept ;  if  not,  it  is  not  necessary,  and 
Fort  McRae  may  be  required.  That  depends  on  circumstances.  Fort 
Union  is  a  large  post,  and  has  been  very  expensive.  It  was  a  depot,  to 
which  not  only  were  supplier  for  New  Mexico  sent  generally,  but  was 
also  a  place  where  several  companies  of  cavalry  and  infantry  were  kept. 
I  do  not  think  it  would  be  proper  to  abandon  it  now.  It  is  of  use  as  a 
wintering-place.  Fort  Bascom  I  do  not  think  necessary,  although  a 
camp  there  has  been  maintained  in  consequence  of  operating  in  an 
easterly  direction.  It  was  abandoned,  and  then  waa  re-occupied  tempo^ 
rarily,  and  I  think  is  occupied  now. 

Question.  What  is  the  expense  of  maintaining  these  forts  in  New 
Mexico  as  compared  with  their  maintenance  elsewhere  f 

Answer.  They  are  expensive,  like  other  remote  posts  in  the  interior, 
and  they  add  very  much  to  the  expense  of  maintaining  that  number  of 


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160  REDUCTION    OF   THE    MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT. 

troops  beyond  wbat  would  be  required  if  concentrated  into  larger  gar- 
risons. 

Question.  One  question  is,  whether  the  number  of  troops  in  the  Ter- 
ritory is  necessary,  and  another  question  is,  whether  they  ought  to  be 
scattered  as  they  are  now  at  the  various  posts. 

Answer.  I  am  decidedly  of  opinion  that  the  number  of  trooi>s  is  not 
in  excess  of  the  demand ;  but  the  number  of  posts  is,  decidedly. 

Question.  What  do  you  mean  by  demand  f 

Answer.  I  mean  for  the  protection  uf  the  country,  and  to  keep  the 
Indians  quiet,  and  to  furnish  that  protection  which  is  called  for  as  es-* 
corts  to  expeditions,  supply-trains,  &c. 

Question.  Could  not  the  line  be  protected  from  Colorado  into  New 
Mexico  without  having  these  posts  in  Southern  and  Eastern  New 
Mexico  ! 

Answer.  There  is  no  trouble  in  traveling  through  that  section  now. 
The  fact  of  hostilities  existing  between  the  Ute  and  Plain  tribes  of  In- 
dians has  been  one  of  the  great  protections  to  a  portion  of  the  country. 
It  is  considered  a  kind  of  neutral  ground  by  the  Indians. 

Question.  State  the  additional  cost  incurred  by  reason  of  having  ad- 
ditional posts;  in  other  words,  what  additional  cost  each  post  adds  to 
the  Army  expenditure,  over  and  above  the  ordiimry  expenses  of  the 
troops. 

Answer.  The  expense  is  increased  from  several  causes.  In  the  first 
place,  from  the  cost  of  transportation  of  troops  and  supplies  to  and  from 
these  places ;  then,  from  the  extra  number  of  medical  officers  required 
and  the  extra  amount  of  labor,  either  by  the  hire  of  civilians  or  by 
enlisted  men ;  and  then  there  is  greater  waste  and  destruction  of  public 
property  and  a  far  greater  expense  in  the  construction,  preservation, 
and  repair  of  buildings.  There  is  also  an  additional  number  of  officers 
and  men  required  to  discharge  the  same  duties  pertaining  to  a  post.  I 
may  add  that  the  efficiency  and  economy  of  the  troops  in  the  service 
would  be  much  increased,  and  better  discipline  would  be  maintained,  by 
concentrating  the  troops  into  larger  garrisons. 

Question.  Stat«  as  fully  as  you  can  your  idea  of  the  efficient  employ- 
ment of  troops  in  the  neighborhood  of  any  hostile  Indians,  by  reason  of 
concentrating  them  or  of  scattering  them. 

Answer.  It  is  a  well-known  fact  in  the  history  of  Indian  operations 
that  success  has  generally  attended  the  movement  of  troops  in  consid- 
erable numbers  when  prepared  for  a  campaign  that  followed  the  Indians 
into  their  own  country.  Where  there  are  many  small  posts  and  camps 
it  requires  a  good  deal  of  time  and  expense  to  collect  the  troops  at  one 
point  in  sufficient  numbers  to  carry  out  the  objects  of  the  campaign. 
The  aggregate  of  marching  to  get  them  together  will  be,  oftentimes, 
almost  as  much  as  is  required  for  the  campaign  proper.  W^here  the 
troops  are  in  larger  numbers  at  proper  centers,  the  success  of  the  cam- 
paign is  much  more  certain  and  expeditious,  and  less  expensive. 

Question.  State  the  French  system  in  Algeria. 

Answer.  The  system  adopted  in  Algeria  by  the  French,  formerly,  of 
scattering  small  detachments  of  troops  throughout  the  country,  was 
changed  to  the  system  of  larger  posts  and  commands,  and  resulted  in 
the  economy  and  efficiency  of  the  service. 

Question.  Can  you  state  the  probable  difference  in  the  expense  of 
maintaining  a  regiment  at  one  post  and  of  maintaining  it  at  two  posts  ? 

Answer.  I  cannot  give  the  exact  figures,  but  in  general  terms  I  ven 
ture  to  say  that  a  regiment  at  one  post  can  be  maintained  at  from  50 
to  60  per  cent,  of  what  it  would  cost  when  distributed  in  four  or  five 


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REDLXTIOX    OF   THE    MILITARY    ESTABLISHMENT.  161 

j)Osti?.  I  think  that,  when  yoa  consider  all  the  elements  that  come  into 
the  question,  50  per  cent,  would  be  a  fair  estimate  of  the  relative  cost, 
exclusive  of  pay,  rations,  clothing,  &c.,  for  the  troops. 

Question.  Would  50  per  cent,  be  a  fair  estimate  between  what  is  ex- 
pended and  what  might  be  expended  in  the  management  of  affairs 
between  us  and  the  Indians  by  a  change  in  that  respect  f 

Answer.  I  believe  that  by  a  proper  distribution  of  troops,  and  the 
concentration  of  them,  nearly  if  not  quite  50  per  cent,  would  be  saved, 
with  exceptions  given. 

Question.  Has  your  attention  been  directed,  as  an  inspector,  to  this 
point  of  concentration  ! 

Answer.  I  have  frequently  expressed  my  views  as  here  given  to  de- 
partment commanders  and  to  division  commanders,  who  have  in  some 
cases  fully  concurred  with  me,  but  have  stated  that  the  demand  for 
troops  at  different  places  by  the  people  of  the  country,  and  tbe  in- 
fluences brought  to  bear,  and  the  want  of  adequate  shelter,  &c.,  neces- 
sitate establishing  these  posts  or  camps,  or  maintaining  them. 

Question.  Do  you  think  that  many  of  those  posts  are  established  by 
personal  or  political  influence,  aside  from  the  judgment  of  military 
men! 

Answer.  I  think  such  influences  are  exerted  and  have  tiieir  efl'eet. 

Question.  And  for  local  profit  f 

Answer.  And  for  local  reasons  oftentimes.  I  would  mention  Fort 
Benton,  where  I  wa^  last  year;  that  post  is  unfit  for  anybody  to  live 
in.  It  is  unsafe,  and  there  is  reason  to  believe  that  unless  some  change 
takes  place  a  sad  destruction  of  life  may  occur  there  from  the  falling 
of  the  buildings.  There  is  no  necessity  for  this  post,  in  my  opinion,  and 
I  think  the  removal  of  the  post  has  been  recommended  by  General 
Sheridan.  The  town  of  Benton  is  a  small  village,  whose  population 
varies  from,  perhaps,  a  few  scores  in  summer  to  a  few  hundred  in  winter. 
There  are  a  few  merchants,  and  traders  in  furs  and  traders  with  the  In- 
dians ;  but  there  are  many  adventurers  and  venders  of  bad  whisky ;  thej' 
are,  as  reported,  a  whisky-drinking  and  rather  lawless  kind  of  people.  They 
want  the  troops  there  because  it  gives  them  a  sort  of  protection  against 
Indians,  who  come  in  there  and  get  drunk  sometimes,  as  stated;  and  it 
^ves  them  a  certain  traffic  from  the  soldiers,  who  spend  their  money 
there  more  or  less.  One  man  there,  as  I  wasinformed,  saitl  he  would  be  will- 
ing to  subscribe  $50  to  keep  the  troops  there,  and  that  he  could  afford 
to  do  so  from  his  little  earnings.  The  citizens,  I  understood,  petitioned 
to  keep  the  troops  there.  I  believe  the  object  is  for  the  purpose  of  put- 
ting a  few  dollars  in  their  own  pockets.  I  do  not  think  the  troops  are 
necessary  in  the  interest  of  the  General  Government ;  but  if  they  are 
to  be  kept  there  it  is  a  solemn  duty  on  the  part  of  the  Government  to 
furnish  them  with  proper  quarters. 

Question.  I  call  your  attention  to  the  region  in  the  North,  beginning 
at  the  eastern  portion  of  the  district  of  the  Missouri,  and  I  ask  you  to 
go  over  tbe  various  posts  and  say  whether  any  of  them  can  be  dis- 
pensed with.  In  Minnesota,  is  there  anybody  requiring  protection  there, 
whites  or  Indians  f 

Answer.  The  Chippewa,  Wahpeton,  Sisseton,  and  Santee  Indians 
there  are  mostly  peaceable  and  quiet.  I  do  not  think  there  is  any 
necessity  for  Fort  Abercrombie  ;  Fort  Snelling  is  an  old  post,  and  is 
used  as  a  sort  of  depot,  and  for  the  housing  of  troops  and  keeping  sup- 
plies.   I  presume  that  for  that  purpose  it  will  be  considered  necessary. 

Question.  Suppose  that  the  troops  were  removed  out  of  Minnesota, 
is  there  any  use  then  for  any  post  at  all  there,  any  more  than  in  Chicago 
11  ME 


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1G2  REDUCTION    OF    THE    MILITARY    ESTAIJLISHMEXT. 

or  Cleveland ;  could  not  the  troops  be  supplied  from  the  Missouri  River, 
or  from  some  point  on  the  railroad  ! 

Answer.  O,  yes;  they  could  be  supplied  without  this  post. 

(Question.  Then  why  keep  a  post  at  Fort  Snelling  f 

Answer.  One  reason  is  that  you  have  to  keep  some  of  these  posts  to 
shelter  the  troops.  There  is  Fort  Ripley,  where  there  is  really  no 
necessity  for  a  post,  in  my  opinion,  except  for  its  shelter. 

Question.  What  can  you  say  of  Fort  Wads  worth  ? 

Answer.  That  would  probably  have  to  be  kept  up  for  the  present. 
There  are  quite  a  number  of  Indians  in  that  vicinity,  who,  to  some  ex- 
tent, are  cultivating  ground,  and  who  want  protection.  The  Sioux  come 
over  there  frequently ;  that  post,  I  think,  should  be  maintained. 

Question.  Is  there  any  other  post  east  of  the  Missouri  River  which 
should  be  maintained,  either  as  protection  for  the  whites  against  the 
Indians,  or  for  the  Indians  against  the  whites  ? 

Answer.  I  have  mentioned  Fort  Ripley  and  Fort  Abercroinbie ;  it 
would  probably  be  desirable  to  keep  Fort  Pembina  for  the  present,  on 
account  of  oar  international  relations,  and  because  of  the  Indians  up 
there,  who  are  somewhat  troublesome.  But,  going  west,  there  is  no  good 
necessity  for  Fort  Seward,  nor  for  Camp  Hancock,  nor  apparently  much 
for  Fort  Stevenson.  The  Lower  Brnle  agency  might  well  be  abolished; 
it  is  unfit  for  ihe  troops ;  also  Grand  River  agency ;  they  will  be  washed 
into  the  river,  probably,  before  long.  I  think  there  is  no  necessity  for 
Camp  Baker,  in  Montana.    1  merely  give  my  views. 

Question.  Can  you  give  any  additional  special  reasons  why  these  forts 
you  have  mentioned  should  be  dispensed  with  ? 

Answer.  The  reasons  why,  in  my  opinion,  those  posts  that  I  have 
named  can  be  abolished  are,  that  they  are  an  unnecessary  expense,  and 
out  of  position  for  properly  attaining  the  object  for  which  troops  are  re- 
quired in  that  section  of  country.  The  troops  would  be  of  more  service, 
and  would  cost  the  Goverment  less,  if  they  were  placed  at  other  points. 

Question.  Do  you  apprehend  hostilities  or  mischief,  in  any  of  those 
portions  of  the  country  which  you  inspected,  from  the  Sioux  Nation  of 
Indians,  or  from  those  affiliated  with  the  Sioux  ? 

Answer.  The  Sioux  are  very  ugly  and  hostile  generally,  and  they  will 
give  trouble  unless  they  are  controlled  by  a  strong  and  firm  hand.  The 
Kiowas  and  Comanches,  as  well  as  the  Apaches,  are  also  of  a  hostile 
character,  and  must,  in  order  to  preserve  peace,  be  subjected  to  military 
control. 

Question.  What  number  of  troops,  in  your  judgment,  can  take  care  of 
the  Sioux  tribes  f 

Answer.  I  can  hardly  say  exactly  what  number ;  it  depends  upon  how 
they  are  placed  and  the  duties  required  of  them. 

Questnon.  I  mean,  placed  in  the  most  favorable  positions. 

Answer.  I  think  that  we  have  none  too  manj-  troops  out  there  now. 

Question.  Do  you  think  that  we  have  enough  out  there! 

Answer.  I  think  that  what  we  have,  if  properly  placed,  would  answer 
the  purpose ;  emergencies  may  arise  requiring  more. 

Question.  Eave  you  any  knowledge  of  the  military  posts  in  Idaho, 
Washington,  and  Oregon  ? 

Answer.  Xot  particularly. 

Question.  Or  in  Utah  ? 

Answer.  I  have  been  to  some  of  them,  but  I  do  not  know  enough 
about  those  posts  generally  to  express  an  opinion. 

Question.  The  forts  at  Leavenworth  and  Omaha  are  both  large  depots 
of  supplies,    is  there  any  necessity  for  maintaining  both  of  them  ? 


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REDUCTION    OF   THE   MILITARY    ESTABLISHMENT.  163 

Answer.  I  do  not  tliiuk  there  is. 

Qaestion.  Are  they  not  both  of  them  very  expensive  ? 

Answer.  They  have  been  pretty  expensive.  1  do  not  know  much 
about  Omaha  except  from  incidental  reports. 

Qaestion.  Which  of  those  forts  do  you  think  should  be  kept  f 

Answer.  I  think  Leavenworth  should  be  kept,  most  certainly',  on  ac- 
count of  its  central  position  and  its  facilities  for  receiving  and  distribu- 
ting supplies,  both  by  rail  and  water;  and  from  the  fact  that  store- 
houses are  already  established  there,  and  that  the  Government  owns 
the  land  and  has  an  arsenal  there.  Tiie  Government  owns  quite  a  large 
tract  there — nearly  seven  thousand  acres.  We  have  several  large  fine 
stone  store-houses  there,  and  facilities  for  repairs  in  the  way  of  shops. 
There  are  some  twelve  large  stables,  and  quarters  for  officers  and  men 
at  the  headquarters  of  the  department,  and  for  some  six  companies  of 
troops.  Leavenworth  is  a  very  central  point  at  which  to  collect  sup- 
plies at  a  comparatively  cheap  rate,  and  is  one  of  the  best  places  in  the 
West  for  collecting  cavalry  horses,  and  for  wintering  public  animals. 

By  Mr.  Gl  NCKEL  : 

Question.  Do  you  know  whether  Fort  Gibson,  in  the  Indian  Territory, 
is  still  occupied  by  troops  ? 

Answer.  I  think  it  is.  I  recommended  that  it  should  be  abandoned, 
and  General  Pope  did  remove  the  troops;  but  subsequently  it  was  occu- 
pied by  a  portion  of  the  Tenth  Cavalry,  and  I  think  it  is  still  occupied. 

Question.  It  is  your  opinion  that  it  can  be  dispensed  with  f 

Answer.  That  was  my  opinion  then,  and  I  know  nothing  to  the  con- 
trary now.  If  there  are  any  reasons  to  the  contrary,  I  do  not  know 
them.  If  the  troops  are  to  be  kept  as  a  police  force,  to  be  sent  here  and 
there  at  the  request  of  anybody  who  may  want  them,  and  be  used  to 
quell  little  disturbances  that  are  created  from  i>eople's  own  indiscretion, 
or  by  liquor-shops,  then  we  have  not  got  half  enough  troops.  If  we  had 
troops  we  could  supply  a  great  deal  more  for  such  purposes ;  in  fact, 
the  demand  for  troops  is  much  larger  than  the  supply. 

By  the  Chairman  : 

Question.  Taking  the  view  of  the  whole  Army,  if  it  is  to  be  reduced,, 
what  organizations  would  you  cut  down  or  muster  out ! 

Answer.  In  answer  to  that  question,  my  opinion  is  that  the  Army 
should  not  be  reduced  at  all.  If  it  was  to  be  reduced  by  organizations,. 
I  should  cut  off  two  regiments  of  cavalry.  It  would  be  injustice  to  these 
regiments. 

•  Question.  Could  you  not  better  dispense  with  infantry  than  with  cav- 
alry t 

Answer.  I  think  not ;  cavalry  is  much  more  expensive  than  infantry,, 
and  in  many  locations  I  think  infantry  is  quite  as  efficient  as  cavalry, 
and  more  so. 

Question.  In  what  places ! 

Answer.  In  any  mountainous  country.  The  infantry'  can  get 
where  the  cavalry  cannot.  I  have  made  several  expeditions  with  in- 
fantry where  I  could  not  have  gone  at  all  with  mules  and  horses.  For 
rapid  movements  cavalry  is  very  necessary,  and  it  is  necessary  for  the 
Plain  Indians. 

Question.  Are  not  all  the  hostile  and  troublesome  Indians  located 
either  in  the  regions  of  the  great  plains  in  Montana  and  Dakota,  and  in 
^Northern  Texas,  Colorado,  and  Kansas,  rather  than  in  mountainous  re- 
gions ! 

Answer.  The  plains  virtually  terminate  at  the  eastern  base  of  the 


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164  KKDUCTXOX    OF    THE    MILITAKY    ESTABLISHMENT. 

Rocky  Mountains.  As  jou  go  west  of  this  line,  yon  are  in  a  more 
rough  and  broken  countrj-,  ribbed  with  mountains  and  interspersed  with 
valleys  and  mesas  or  plateaux. 

Question.  The  troops  are  not  much  used  in  Idaho,  Arizona,  and 
Utah  ! 

Answer.  They  have  been  actively  used  in  Arizona  ;  cannot  say  as  to 
Idaho  and  Utah. 

Question.  The  bulk  of  the  troublesome  Indians  are  the  Sioux,  and 
those  fellows  in  Texas  ! 

Answer.  They  have  got  certi\in  agencies  established  where  they  feed 
more  or  less  of  the  Sioux,  Kiowas,  Comanches,  and  Apaches,  all  con- 
sidered hostile. 

Question.  You  would  prefer  infantry  to  cavalry  ? 

Answer.  We  must  have  both  ;  but  if  it  is  a  question  of  reduction  and 
expense,  as  stated,  I  would  say  cut  off  two  regiments  of  cavalry  j  but, 
as  I  said,  I  think  our  Army  is  none  too  large  for  the  duties  imposed 
upon  it,  and  for  the  interests  of  the  country  in  either  arm  of  the  service. 

Question.  If  it  is  to  be  decreased,  would  it  not  be  more  economical  to 
cut  down  organizations  than  merely  to  dispense  with  a  certain  number 
of  men  ? 

Answer.  If  you  reduce  the  number  of  organizations  you  cut  off  the 
officers  and  men,  and  you  cut  off  certain  expenses.  By  cutting  off 
organizations  you  reduce  the  expenses  probably  more  than  if  you  cut 
off' the  same  number  of  officers  and  men  by  taking  them  out  of  their 
regiments. 

Question.  In  other  words,  you  say  that  to  muster  out  officers  and  men 
together  is  more  economical  than  to  muster  out  the  men  alone  1 

Answer.  I  say  that  by  stopping  recruiting  and  diminishing  the  num- 
ber of  men,  you  save  less  than  by  cutting  off*  the  same  number  by  whole 
organizations. 

Question.  Have  you  made  any  estimate,  or  can  you  make  any  estimate, 
showing  what  would  be  effected  by  cutting  oft",  say  one-fifth,  one-fourth, 
or  one-third  of  the  officers  and  men  together,  staff  and  line,  and  rank 
and  file  f 

Answer.  The  estimate  would  involve  the  pay  of  the  troops,  rations, 
quarters,  clothing,  camp-equipage,  and  many  incidental  expenses  of 
the  service;  that  is  something  so  circumstantial  or  incidental  that  I  can- 
not state  an  estimate.  You  can  probably  get  from  the  records  in  the 
bureaus  in  Washington  the  average  cost,  f«)r  a  number  of  years,  of  au 
enlisted  man  in  the  service,  and  of  an  officer  of  a  certain  grade,  but  the 
data  are  so  variable  that  there  is  no  fixed  quantity  as  to  the  saving. 

Question.  State  whether  any  portion  of  the  staff  of  the  Army  can  he 
decreased ;  and,  if  so,  what  t 

Answer.  So  far  as  1  know,  I  do  not  think  that  it  can,  with  propriety 
or  for  the  interests  of  the  service.  If  you  require  certain  duties  to  be 
done,  you  must  have  certain  officers  to  do  them.  We  have  now  a  large 
number  of  line-officers  on  staff-duty,  because  we  have  not  got  staff-offi- 
cers enough  to  do  the  duty.  In  the  medical  department  there  are  a  good 
many  hired  physicians,  because  we  have  not  got  surgeons  and  assistant 
surgeons  sufficient.  In  the  pay  department  we  have  not  enough  of  offi- 
cers, because  their  labors  are  increased  by  the  wide  distribution  of  the 
troops,  and  it  is  hard  service.  The  officers  of  the  pay  department  are 
traveling  much  of  the  time  in  order  to  discharge  their  duties,  and  in 
some  sections  of  the  country,  and  in  some  periods  of  the  year,  the  posi- 
tion is  no  sinecure.    The  danger  and  the  hardships  of  travel  are  very 


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REDCCTION    OF    THE    MILITARY    ESTABLISHMENT.  165 

great.  The  inspectors  and  paymasters  do  more  traveling  than  any  other 
class  of  officers  in  the  service,  I  believe. 

Question.  Have  you  ever  inspected  the  expenditures  made  about  the 
headquarters  of  divisions  and  departments  ! 

Answer.  Generally  we  were  not  ordered  to  inspect  there. 

Question.  Have  you  ever  done  it  ? 

Answer.  No,  sir ;  while  attached  to  such  headquarters. 

Question.  Can  you  state  what  changes  or  modifications  can  be  made 
in  the  management  of  the  quarters  for  Army  officers,  or  in  the  head- 
quarters of  Army  officers,  that  may  save  money  to  the  Government  f 

Answer.  I  do  not  see  how  you  can  fix  it  any  more  definitely  than  you 
have  it  now.  The  law,  or  regulations,  prescribes  exactly  what  each 
room  shall  cost,  where  the  Government  has  no  quarters,  and  prescribes 
the  number  of  rooms  the  officers  of  each  grade  are  entitled  to  as  quar- 
ters, and  for  officers. 

Question.  Do  you  understand  a  fair  construction  of  that  hiw  to  be 
that  an  officer  can  occupy  one  room  and  get  pay  for  three  or  four,  if  he 
is  entitled  to  so  many  ! 

Answer.  Officers  generally  cannot  get  along  with  one  room. 

Question.  1  am  supposing  a  case.  Suppose  that  an  officer  occupies 
only  one  room,  and  he  is  entitled  to  be  paid  for  two  or  three  rooms 
more! 

Answer.  If  it  is  a  special  case,  where  an  officer  can  have,  for  a  lim- 
ited time,  but  one  room,  the  question  is  whether  you  should  have  special 
legislation  for  that  case. 

Question.  Suppose  that  an  officer  who  is  entitled  by  the  rules  to 
three  rooms  occupies  but  one  room  ;  is  he  allowed  pay  for  the  three  ? 

Answer.  He  may  hire  a  room  that  will  cost  more  than  three  rooms ; 
for  instance,  two  good  rooms  in  Kew  York  they  ask  $35  to  $50  a  week 
for. 

Question.  How  many  rooms,  for  instance,  are  you  entitled  to  ? 

Answer.  Five,  including  kitchen. 

Question.  At  what  rent! 

Answer.  Eighteen  dollars  a  mouth  for  each  room  ;  that  makes  $00  a 
month. 

Question.  Can  you,  under  any  fair  construction  of  the  law,  use  only 
two  rooms  and  draw  rent  for  five  !  In  other  words,  does  the  Government 
propose  to  furnish  officers  with  quarters  in  kind  and  not  in  money  ! 

Answer.  I  think  in  kind.  When  the  law  was  passed  changing  the 
pay  of  the  Army,  it  contained  a  proviso  that  existing  laws  and  regula- 
tions with  reference  to  allowances  for  quarters  in  kind  should  be  contin- 
ued. Those  existing  rules  and  regulations  allowed  an  officer  a  certain 
number  of  rooms,  according  to  his  grade.  The  price  of  these  rooms 
was  fixed  according  to  the  location,  being  supposed  to  be  regulated  by 
the  prices  of  living.  Officers  generally  prefer  to  have  quarters  fur- 
uished  to  them,  because  it  is  less  expensive  for  them.  If  the  Govern- 
ment hired  quarters,  it  would  cost  more,  probably,  than  the  price  now 
allowed. 

Question.  If  any  officer  who  is  entitled  to  five  rooms  hires  but  one 
room,  he  gets  $90  a  month — the  same  as  if  he  had  five  rooms  hired  I 

Answer.  He  is  entitled  to  so  much  quarters.  Some  officers  live  in 
hotels,  and  I  do  not  know  how  you  can  say  what  number  of  rooms  they 
have.    They  use  exclusively  and  partially  several  rooms. 

Question.  The  simple  point  I  want  to  arrive  at  is  whether  an  officer 
who  is  entitled  to  five  rooms,  and  occupies  only  one,  get«  $90  a  month  f 


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16()  REDUCTION    OF    THE    MILITARY    ESTABLISHMENT. 

Answer,  lie  gets  whatever  he  is  entitled  to,  whether  one  room,  two 
rooms,  or  more. 

(Jaestion.  Now  suppose  that  he  lives  in  a  Sibley  tent  ? 

Answer.  lie  gets  no  rooms  when  in  camp. 

Question.  Would  he  bo  entitled  to  rent  for  rooms  if  he  occupied  his 
own  house  ? 

Answer.  lie  would  be  entitled  to  his  rooms,  certainly.  I  presume 
that  there  are  officers  in  this  city  owning  their  houses. 

Question.  The  question  is,  what  the  practice  is  ? 

Answ^er.  The  officer  selects  his  own  apartments,  and  the  quartermas- 
ter hires  the  rooms  and  pays  for  them.  He  pays  the  party  who  owns 
or  claims  to  own  them,  or  w  ho  is  the  agent  for  them.  He  does  not  pay 
the  officer  himself. 

Question.  The  practice  is  to  pay  to  these  persons  the  equivalent  of  so 
man}'  rooms  as  the  officer  is  entitled  to  under  the  law  and  orders  ? 

Answer.  Certainly,  sir;  that  is,  what  is  hired  for  him. 

Question.  You  have  had  occasion  to  inspect  accounts  of  that  kind 
and  know  that  to  be  the  practice  of  the  Army  ? 

Answer.  That  is  the  practice  so  far  as  1  know ;  the  officers  select- 
ing their  quarters  and  the  quartermaster  paying  the  rent  authorized. 

By  Mr.  TnoRNBURGn : 

Question.  Suppose  an  officer  is  entitled  to  $Q0  a  month  for  quarters, 
and  only  actually  expends  $15  a  month,  or  any  other  sum  iinder  $90; 
is  he  entitled  to  receive  the  full  amount  for  ali  the  rooms  that  he  is  en- 
titled to  have  under  the  regulations  ?  Is  that  the  copstruction  given  to 
the  law  ? 

Answer.  I  suppose  he  can  draw  the  full  amount  for  quarters  hired. 
The  rule  is  that  he  is  entitled  to  a  room  and  he  gets  it.  He  selects  his 
rooms,  or  he  has  his  own  house,  and  he  gets  his  allowance  of  rooms  in 
kind. 

By  the  Chairman  : 

Question.  To  whom  is  the  money  paid  if  the  officer  occupies  his  own 
house? 

Answer.  He  will  probably  have  an  agent. 

(Question.  Why  not  have  the  money  paid  to  himself  directly  f 

Answer.  Because  there  is  a  regulation  or  law  to  the  etfect  that  it  is 
not  to  be  paid  to  the  officer. 

Question.  But  whoever  pays  to  a  man's  agent  pays  to  himself! 

Answer.  Certainly;  it  is  as  long  as  it  is  broad.  But  if  money  shall 
not  be  paid  to  the  officer  by  law,  but  to  his  .agent,  it  conforms  to  the 
regulations  and  to  the  law. 

Question.  Then  the  practice  of  the  Army  is  that  if  a  man  has  a  house 
of  his  own  and  lives  in  it  he  is  entitled  to  have  paid  to  his  agent  the 
equivalent  for  the  number  of  rooms  which  he  is  authorized  to  occupy 
under  the  law  ? 

Answer.  Yes,  sir;  I  understand  so.  Of  course,  what  he  gets  from 
the  Government  does  not  always  cover  the  expense  of  the  house. 

Question.  You  inspect  accounts  of  this  kind  ? 

Answer.  1  inspect  accounts,  but  I  do  not  in  such  cases  know  who  the 
agent  is.  Here,  for  instance,  are  the  accounts  for  a  number  of  officers. 
The  quartermaster  has  the  vouchers  for  rent  of  rooms  in  the  name  of 
Smith  and  Jones  and  others.  1  do  not  know  them.  If  the  voucher  is  in 
due  form  I  have  no  reason  to  suspect  that  anything  is  w  roug.  I  have  no 
knowledge  who  this  Mr.  Smith  or  Mr.  Jones  is.  In  some  cases  I  may 
know  who  he  is;  in  most  cases  I  do  not  know.    This  rent  is  a  part  of 


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KEDUCTION    OF    THE    MILITARY    ESTABLISHMENT.  167 

tlie  officer's  compensation  for  cjnarters.  Here,  for  instance,  is  an  officer 
in  a  hotel  paying  his  $10  a  day;  he  probably  has  a  parlor  and  a  bed- 
room ;  he  has  the  use  of  other  rooms — dininjj-roora,  kitchen,  &c.  The 
question  is,  how  many  rooms  does  he  occupy  ? 

By  Mr.  Thorxburgh  : 

Question.  When  an  officer  has  a  house  of  his  own,  his  agent  is  enti- 
tled to  be  paid  for  all  the  rooms  that  he  is  entitled  to  have  under  the 
law? 

Answer.  He  draws  rent  only  for  the  number  of  rooms  that  he  is  enti- 
tled to  have,  according  to  his  rank,  I  suppose. 

By  Mr.  Albright  : 

Question.  What  is  the  character  of  the  troops  at  the  posts  you  in- 
spected!   Have  they  or  not  a  demoralizing  inlluence  on  the  Indians? 

Answer.  My  experience  as  to  the  influence  of  the  troops  upon  the 
Indians  generally  is  that  it  has  been  the  reverse  of  demoralizing.  The 
Indians  have  more  respect  for,  and  they  trust  further  in  the  troops, 
than  in  any  other  people  they  have  anything  to  do  with.  They  have 
repeatedly  asked,  and  have  almost  demanded,  that  they  shall  have  offi- 
cers of  the  Army  for  their  agents.  They  say,  (of  the  soldiers:)  ''You 
l)unish  us  when  you  are  ordered  to,  but  when  3'ou  are  not  fighting  us 
you  are  our  friends ;  and  you  never  cheat  us,  but  give  us  what  the 
Government  sends  us."  That  has  been  the  case  for  years  and  years — 
for  over  twenty  years  of  more  or  less  experience  among  the  Indians. 
As  to  any  demoralizing  influence  exercised  by  the  troops  upon  the  In- 
dians, if  there  is  any  charge  or  accusation  of  the  kind,  I  think  there  is 
no  truth  in  it,  except  that  you  may  find  an  exceptional  case,  where 
something  has  been  done  that  you  may  call  demoralizing  or  improper. 
If  such  be  the  case  a  little  investigation  will  perhaps  show  more  bad 
results  from  other  sources. 

By  Mr.  MacDougall  : 

Question.  In  your  judgment,  could  the  War  Department  manage  In- 
ilian  afiairs  with  more  economy  than  the  Interior  Department  does! 

Answer.  I  should  say  decidedly  yes.  That  is  one  of  the  principal 
places  where  you  can  effect  a  reduction  of  expenses  with  not  only  equal 
but  greater  success  in  the  protection  of  the  Indians,  of  the  whites,  and 
of  the  country. 

Question.  State  your  reasons  for  that  opinion. 

Answer.  In  the  first  place,  you  would  save  the  expense  of  a  great 
many  agents,  superintendents,  or  inspectors  who  are  now  paid.  In 
managing  Indians  you  must  have  a  physical  force ;  not  that  you  want  to 
exercise  it  always,  but  its  presence  has  a  moral  effect.  You  want  to 
ibave  responsibility  fixed,  not  divided.  Place  the  management  of  the 
Indians  in  one  department  and  there  is  no  division  of  responsibility. 
Where  now  you  employ  a  great  many  civilians  to  discharge  certain 
duties  connected  with  the  Indians,  you  can  dispense  with  some  of  them, 
and  those  duties  can  be  performed  by  officers  and  men  of  the  Army 
without  adding  much  expense  to  the  Government.  I  will  assert,  that 
by  the  transfer  of  the  Indians  to  the  War  Department,  the  Indians  will 
be  better  satisfied;  they  will  get  what  the  Government  sends  them,  and 
they  will  get  it  at  much  less  expense.  With  regard  to  schools,  religious 
education,  &c.,  I  also  assert  that,  under  the  War  Department,  the  In- 
dians will,  or  can,  have  as  much  assistance  and  as  much  instruction  as 
they  have  under  the  present  system.  There  is  no  disposition  that  I 
know  of  among  Army  officers  to  prevent  that.    It  is  a  mistake  to  sup- 


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168  REDUCTION    OF    THE    MILITARY   ESTABLISIiMENT. 

pose  that  the  officers  of  the  Army  want  to  keep  the  Indians  in  a  bar- 
barous condition  and  to  fight  them.  It  is  the  most  disagreeable  duty 
that  they  have  to  perform,  and  they  are  as  anxious  as  any  class  of  the 
people  that  the  Indians  should  be  made  self-supporting  and  peaceable. 
When  the  Indians  have  been  deceived,  and  swindled,  and  goaded  into 
violence,  then  the  troops  are  called  on  to  settle  the  difficulties.  They 
are  abused  if  they  do  not  prevent  murders  and  robberies,  and  they  are 
abused  if,  when  called  upon,  they  punish  and  repress  them. 

By  Mr.  Gunckel  : 

Question.  Would  this  be  practicable  if  your  recommendation  was 
carried  out,  posts  abandoned,  and  th^  troops  coucentrated  ? 

Answer.  Yes,  sir.  My  idea  is  that  you  should  have  one  large  post  in 
the  district,  or  near  the  district,  where  these  Indians  live,  and  that  all 
the  trading  should  be  done  at  or  near  this  post,  under  the  control  of  the 
military  authorities;  that  whatever  the  Government  sends  to  the  Indians 
should  be  faithfully  delivered  to  them ;  that  the  Indians  should  be  under 
military  control;  that  they  should  be  furnished  with  everything  prom- 
ised them,  and  that,  if  they  did  w  hat  they  are  forbidden  to  do,  they 
should  be  brought  to  punishment.  You  can  make  the  Indians  theni- 
selves  in  a  short  time  aid  in  that.  The  Navnjoes  have  now  a  hundred 
men  (uniformed)  as  a  police  force,  of  their  own  tribe,  for  the  purpose 
of  suppressing  depredations  and  arresting  thieves. 

Question.  One  object  of  the  Indian  Bureau  is  to  teach  the  Indians 
industrious  habits,  farming,  mechanics,  &c.  Do  you  think  thatthe  Army 
can  carry  out  that  policy  f 

General  Davis.  Do  you  know  how  this  industry  is  taught  and  prac- 
ticed? 

Mr.  Gunckel.  I  should  be  glad  to  have  you  tell  us. 

Answer.  It  is  oftentimes  theoretical,  very  little  practical.  Where  it 
is  practical  it  is  done  by  hired  persons,  the  Indians  doing  very  little, 
sometimes  doing  a  little  and  sometimes  doing  nothing  at  all,  excepting 
what  the  squaws  may  do.  If  the  Government  wishes  to  furnish  the 
Indians  with  some  farmers  and  mechanics,  it  will  cost  the  Government 
no  more  when  the  system  is  changed,  and  the  Indians  are  under  the 
War  Department,  than  it  does  now.  And  with  regard  to  the  instruc- 
tion of  the  Indians,  I  have  been  informed  by  men  who  have  lived  at 
Indian  agencies  that  the  schools  which  are  reported  as  being  in  a 
very  successful  condition  really  amount  to  little  or  nothing.  They  w^ill 
at  times  have  a  feast  and  get  a  large  number  of  children  to  come  in, 
and  then  they  report  a  large  attendance,  whereas  the  usual  attendance 
is  very  small.  Grtie  children  are  irregular,  coming  at  odd  times,  so  that 
they  really  learn  little  or  nothing.  Take  an  Indian  child,  and  he  msiy  be 
taught  more  by  example  than  by  precept ;  he  may  be  taught  the  ways 
of  the  whites,  to  dress,  and  live,  and  work  a  little;  and  you  may  bring 
Indian  children  up  so  as  to  be  industrious  and  self-supporting.  But 
the  most  you  can  expect  of  the  older  Indians  is  to  control  them,  to  pre- 
vent them  doing  damage,  and  to  protect  them  in  their  rights.  I  had  an 
Indian  boy  whom  I  took  in  California  when  he  was  quite  young,  proba- 
bly four  years  old.  I  taught  him  his  letters  in  a  short  time;  brought 
him  East  and  put  him  to  school.  He  learned  to  read  and  wiite,  ancl 
was  an  excellent  boy,  quite  a  bright  boy,  but  unfortunately  he  died, 
during  the  war,  of  pneumonia.  That  boy,  however,  had  unusual  advan- 
tages; he  was  at  school  in  Boston  and  other  places.  These  Indian 
children  must  be  under  a  certain  control  in  order  to  teach  them  any- 
thing.   A  boy  who  comes  to  school,  stays  for  a  day  or  two,  and  then 


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goes  off  for  a  month,  will  not  learn  mucL,  particularly  when  his  parents 
are  influencing  him  against  the  ways  of  the  whites. 

Mr.  GuNCKEL.  It  has  been  stated  here  by  Indian  agents  and  others 
that  the  example  of  the  Army,  officers  and  men,  is  uniformly  bad,  as  to 
intemperance,  licentiousness,  idleness,  and  tyrannical  conduct  toward 
the  Indians. 

General  Davis.  I  would  suggest,  in  the  first  place,  that  the  Indian 
Bureau  would  make  as  bad  a  case  as  possible'^against  the  Army.  That 
is  Tery  natural,  and  I  expect  it.  I  think  that  they  would  like  to  divert 
attention  from  some  of  the  corruptions  of  that  Bureau,  which  are  too 
well  known.  With  reference  to  the  intemperance,  gambling,  and  licen- 
tiousness of  the  Army  at  Indian  agencies,  I  do  not  know  for  certainty ; 
but  from  what  I  have  been  told,  and  from  my  own  observation,  I  do  not 
think  that  the  employes  of  the  Indian  Bureau  have  much  to  be  said  in 
their  favor  in  those  respects.  I  asked  at  some  of  the  agencies  whether 
the  employes  of  the  agencies  had  their  squaws.  They  told  me  yes, 
they  did,  the  same  as  ever.  At  one  place  they  said  they  had  not,  that 
the  agent  did  not  allow  it,  but  that  it  was  understood  that  they  had 
their  domestic  associations,  if  not  in  the  buildings  just  outside  at  the 
tapers.  And  such,  I  imagine,  you  will  find  to  be  the  case  at  every  Indian 
trading-post  you  can  visit.  I  am  speaking  now  of  the  civil  employes 
of  the  Indian  agencies.  The  troops  at  those  agencies  where  stationed 
Are  called  upon  by  the  agent  for  guards,  protection,  &c.  If  a  man  is 
killed  at  one  of  those  agencies,  the  troops  can  do  nothing  with  the  mur- 
derer unless  the  Indian  agent  calls  upon  them  to  take  action  in  the  case. 

Mr.  GuNCKEL.  Do  you  mean  to  say  that  the  average  Indian  agent  is 
no  better  morally  than  the  average  private  in  the  Army? 

General  Davis.  I  am  speakingof  the  employes  of  the  Indian  Bureau. 
I  would  say  with  reference  to  the  Indian  agents  that  they  are  no  better 
on  the  average  than  the  officers  of  the  Army. 

Mr.  MacDougall.  You  think  it  will  be  fair  to  compare  the  agents 
with  the  officers  and  the  privates  with  the  other  employes  ? 

Answer.  The  officers  will  compare  favorably  with  the  agents  and  the 
men  with  the  employes. 

General  Davis.  I  presume  that  you  gentlemen  are  all  well  posted  in 
human  nature,  and  if  you  put  a  lot  of  men  at  a  frontier  station,  in  the 
full  vigor  and  prime  of  life,  with  certain  inducements  and  influences 
about  them,  it  is  very  natural  and  ])robable  that  certain  indulgences 
will  be  practiced,  which  perhaps  we  do  not  approve  of,  and  should  not, 
there  more  than  in  large  centers  of  civilization. 

Mr.  MacDougall.  Have  any  of  the  officers  in  that  frontier  country 
their  families  with  them  ! 

General  Davis.  O,  yes ;  most  of  those  who  are  married  have  their 
familes. 

By  Mr.  Albright  : 

Question.  If  you  were  to  abandon  the  military  posts  you  have  named, 
and  which  you  recommend  as  fit  to  be  abandoned,  would  you  suggest 
the  building  of  other  new  posts,  or  the  enlargement  of  old  ones  ? 

Answer.  I  would  suggest  the  enlargement  of  old  ones,  and  in  some 
cases  new  ones  would  be  advisable,  better  selections  being  made  for  the 
posts. 

Question.  Many  of  those  old  posts  that  you  have  spoken  of  are  in  a 
bad  state  of  dilapidation  ? 

Answer.  They  are  mostly  in  a  greater  or  le.^  s  state  of  dilapidation, 
and  are  requiring  constant  repairs. 


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170  REDUCTION    OF    THE    MILITARY    ESTABLISHMENT. 

Question.  If  tbe  posts  that  jou  have  named  should  be  abandoned, 
and  the  troops  concentrated  in  other  posts,  would  that,  in  your  judg- 
ment, necessitate  a  change  in  the  branches  of  the  Army,  either  to  have 
more  infantry,  or  more  cavalry,  or  more  artillery  than  now  I 

Answer.  It  would  not  necessarily.  The  distribution  of  these  troops 
depends  entirely  upon  the  War  Department,  through  the  General-iu 
Chief,  the  division  and  department  commanders.  A  station  of  cavalry 
has  always  to  have  accommodations  for  the  horses.  If  cavalry  is  sent  to 
a  post  and  there  are  no  accommodations  therein  the  way  of  stables,  they 
will  have  to  be  built.  The  distribution,  as  I  understand  your  question, 
does  not  necessarily  affect  the  strength  of  the  Army  or  the  relative 
strength  of  the  different  arms  of  the  service. 

Question.  If  your  recommendation  should  be  adopted  with  reference 
to  the  abandonment  of  posts  and  the  concentration  of  troops  in  fewer 
posts,  my  question  is,  whether  or  not  then  there  might  not  be  less 
cavalry  or  artillery  and  an  increase  of  infantry,  and  in  that  way  a  great 
saving  be  effected  1? 

Answer.  My  opinion  is  that  the  military  force  we  now  have  is  not  too 
large. 

Question.  Can  it  be  changed  in  its  character  ? 

Answer.  I  would  not  change  it  at  all.  I  think  that  the  interests  of 
the  country,  and  the  protection  which  the  people  have  a  right  to 
demand  in  our  western  country,  require  all  the  force  that  we  have. 
The  artillery  is  stationed  more  in  the  East  and  on  the  sea-coast.  It  has 
got  to  protect  our  forts  and  public  property,  and  I  presume  that  all  the 
artillery  we  have  is  necessary.  I  have  not  any  personal  knowledge  of 
the  absolute  necessity  of  artillery  at  those  various  posts,  not  ha\ing 
visited  them  to  ascertain. 

Question.  A  concentration  of  troops  at  fewer  posts  would  not  neces- 
sitate a  change  in  the  character  cr  number  of  the  present  force  f 

Answer.  No,  sir;  not  necessarily;  but  it  would  lessen  its  expense  and 
increase  its  efficiency. 

Question.  You  spoke  of  a  saving  of  50  per  cent.    On  what  was  that  *. 

Answer.  It  was  estimated  on  all  the  elements  of  expense  which  enter 
into  this  question,  and  which  embrace  transportation,  waste,  and 
destruction  of  supplies,  cost  of  buildings,  keeping  them  in  repair,  and 
all  those  things.  It  is  quite  a  complex  question.  I  merely  express  it  in 
general  terms. 

Question.  You  think  there  could  be  a  great  saving  of  expense  in 
adopting  your  suggestion  ! 

Answer.  In  my  opinion. 

Question.  And  no  detriment  would  come  to  the  country  ? 

Answer.  On  the  contrary,  I  think  it  would  be  a  benefit  to  the  troops 
and  the  country  in  every  way.  I  do  not  know  of  a  single  detriment  to 
the  country  which  would  result  from  the  concentration  of  troops  into 
fewer  and  larger  garrisons.  The  distribution  of  troops  into  small  posts 
is  expensive,  weakens  the  otherwise  efficient  condition  of  the  troops, 
impairs  discipline,  and  is  unsatisfactory. 

By  the  Ciiaikman  : 
Question.  Have  you  had  your  attention  directed  to  any  part  of  the 
South  ! 
Answer.  No,  sir;  I  have  not  been  South  recently. 

By  Mr.  Albright: 
Question.  Say  that  the  strength  of  the  Army  at  these  posts  is  21,000 


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REDUCTION   OF    THE    MILITARY    ESTABLISHMENT.  171 

men;  what  proportion  of  them  is  unfit  for  duty  from  the  various  casual- 
ties the  troops  are  subject  to! 

Answer.  From  25  to  30  per  cent.  I  have  found  over  50  per  cent,  in 
small  posts.  Generally  the  proportion  is  greater  where  the  post  is 
small.  Where  there  are  more  troops  together  the  percentage  is  less.  I 
am  speaking  of  the  number  taken  out  from  active  military  operations — 
the  sick,  those  in  confinement,  those  on  special  and  detached  service,  &c. 

Question.  At  the  different  posts  that  you  have  inspected,  what  propor- 
tion of  the  troops  that  were  present  in  camp  did  you  tind  physically 
unfit  for  military  duty  on  account  of  climate,  exposure,  &c. ! 

Answ^er.  Generally  the  number  unfit  physically  for  active  duty  was 
not  very  large.  Most  of  the  posts  are  healthy.  Your  question  would 
only  exclude  the  sick;  it  would  not  exclude  those  on  special  duty.  But 
special  duties  are  so  constantly  required  of  them  that  you  have  not  the 
men  for  the  ordinary  military  duties  of  the  post.  The  number  of  sick 
has  been  very  small,  ranging  from  2  to  10  per  cent.,  the  larger  percent- 
age being  owing  to  the  season,  or  to  some  epidemic  or  endemic.  But 
the  number  of  sick  is  generally  small,  because  in  that  northern  or 
northwestern  climate  most  of  the  localities  are  healthy.  Of  course,  in 
the  summer  seasons  in  certain  portions  of  the  country  there  is  an 
increase  of  febrile  diseases,  intermittent  fevers,  and  malarial  complaints. 
Diarrhoea  or  dysentery  is  one  of  the  prevalent  diseases  in  certain 
localities  and  at  certain  seasons;  and  in  the  higher  altitudes  neuralgia 
and  rheumatism  i)revail  to  some  extent.  These  may  be  mentioned  as 
the  prevalent  diseases;  but  the  aggregate  is  not  a  large  percentage. 

By  Mr.  MAcDorGALL: 

Question.  Do  you  think  that  the  Army,  situated  as  it  is  in  the  West, 
could  take  charge  of  Indian  affairs  without  any  increase  of  ofiicers  or 
meuf 

Answer.  I  do  not  think  it  would  require  any  increase  of- officers  or 
men.  In  order  to  carry  out  the  policy  of  the  administration  and  of  the 
people  it  would  be  necessarj',  of  course,  to  have  some  civil  assistance  in 
the  way  of  farmers  and  mechanics  and  teachers. 

Question.  Is  the  Arm3'  so  situated  in  regard  to  transportation  as  that 
rations  and  supplies  for  Indians  can  be  transported  without  additional 
expense ! 

Answer.  The  rations  and  supplies  can  be  transported  equally  as 
cheap  as  at  present  in  every  case,  and  much  cheaper  in  some  cases.  In 
some  cases  we  have  transported  for  the  Indian  Bureau  to  considerable 
extent.  And,  inasmuch  as  the  Army  has  frequently  to  send  escorts  for 
the  transportation  of  its  own  supplies,  the  Indian  supplies  could  be 
transported  at  the  same  time  in  connection  with  the  Army  transporta- 
tion, and  thas  save  the  expense  of  additional  escorts. 

Question.  Have  you  any  idea  of  the  annual  cost  of  transportation 
to  the  Government  f 

Answer.  I  have  not;  but  it  can  be  obtained  from  reports. 

By  the  Chairman  : 

(Question.  When  you  traveled  in  the  region  of  the  Sioux,  had  you 
an  opportunity  to  ascertain  the  number  of  warriors  they  had  ! 

Answer.  1  could  tell,  approximately,  by  referring  to  notes,  in  some 
cases.    I  had  reports  from  the  different  post  commanders,  and  others. 

Question.  Were  these  notes  taken  with  reference  to  a  report  to  be 
made  by  you  t 

Answer.  We  get  information  in  relation  to  the  Indians  as  to  their 
habits,  their  characteristics,  their  peaceful  or  hostile  character,  how 


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172  REDUCTION    OF   THE    MILITARY    ESTABLISHMENT. 

they  live,  whether  they  are  fed  and  clothed  by  the  Governiuent,  whether 
they  sabsist  by  hunting  or  by  farming,  their  forces,  and  whether 
mounted  or  dismounted,  how  they  are  armed,  and  everything  in  connec- 
tion with  them.  These  reports  we  get  in  the  best  way  we  can.  They 
come  from  officers,  the  agents,  the  interpreters,  the  Indians  themselves, 
and  from  scouts  and  citizens. 

Question.  Have  you  made  a  report  on  that  subject  ? 

Answer.  I  have  made  a  general  report. 

Question.  Has  it  been  printed  f 

Answer.  I  think  it  has  not.  In  several  cases  I  forwarded  the  reports 
with  my  remarks,  and  1  made  a  general  report  with  reference  to  Indians. 

Question.  Can  you  state  with  any  definiteness  as  to  the  condition  of 
these  Sioux  Indians — their  military  force,  &c.  f 

Answer.  Quite  a  number  of  them  are  armed  with  the  best  improved 
muskets.  They  have  the  Henry  rifle,  or  the  Winchester.  They  have 
some  of  our  own  Springfield  breech-loading  arms  and  Remington  ;  and 
many  of  them  are  well  supplied  with  Colt's  and  other  revolving  pistols. 
Some  of  them  have  muzzle-loading  arms,  but  a  great  many  of  them 
have  the  improved  breech-loading  arms,  with  metallic  ammunition. 

Question.  Where  do  they  get  them  ? 

Answer.  They  get  them  from  traders,  as  reported  ;  and  in  some  cases, 
I  think,  Indians  (not  Sioux)  were  furnished  by  the  Indian  Bureau,  by 
direction  of  the  Government. 

Question.  What  traders  do  you  mean  ;  post  traders  or  Indian  traders! 

Answer.  Indian  traders;  and,  perhaps,  post  traders  and  others. 
The  Mountain  Crows,  I  was  told,  were  well  armed  with  breech-loaders, 
and  with  300  rounds  of  ammunition  to  a  man.  They  were  furnished  at 
their  agency.  Arms  were  shipped  up  the  Missouri  Eiver  by  boats  and 
traders,  as  reported.    At  all  events,  Indians  have  them  and  use  them. 

Question.  Do  you  know  anything  of  their  supply  of  ammunition  f 

Answer.  I  do  not  know  how  much  they  have,  I  only  know  that  they 
have  ammunition.  In  the  issue  of  rations  they  count  men,  women,  and 
children  ;  say,  "  there  are  3,000  Indians,"  and  they  count  for  so  many 
rations.  Oftentimes  not  half  that  number  of  Indians  are  there  to  draw 
them.  So  I  am  told  and  believe.  If  you  ask  the  agents  where  they 
are,  they  say  it  is  impossible  to  count  them ;  that  the  Sioux  do  not 
wish  to  be  counted ;  that  it  is  "bad  medicine."  But  if  it  is  ''  bad  medi- 
cine" to  count  them,  it  is  '' bad  medicine  "  to  issue  rations  for  them 
when  not  present.  I  asked  the  question,  how  it  was  that  beef  at  cer- 
tain places  was  contracted  for  at  so  low  a  rate  for  Indians.  The  gentle- 
man I  was  speaking  to  asked  me  how  long  I  had  been  in  the  Indian 
countrj'.  I  said,  twenty -odd  years.  He  said,  "Then  it  is  not  necessary 
to  explain  to  you  how  it  is ;  you  are  probably  well  posted."  Well,  I 
had  my  own  views  in  regard  to  the  matter.  I  presume  that  the  scales 
on  which  they  weighed  the  beef  according  to  their  purchase  were  not 
the  same  on  which  they  weighed  it  according  to  their  issue. 

Mr.  TiiORNBURGH.  You  think  the  scales  were  doctored! 

General  Davis.  I  think  they  do  not  issue  what  is  reported  to  be 
issued. 

]Mr.  MaoDougall.  Have  you  any  idea  of  what  becomes  of  the  discrep- 
ancy between  the  number  of  rations  charged  to  the  Government  and  the 
number  actually  issued  to  the  Indians  I 

General  Davis.  How  can  an  Indian  agent,  with  $1,500  a  year  salary, 
make  $10,000  a  year,  more  or  less,  after  supporting  himself! 

By  Mr.  Albright  : 
Question.  Are  not  the  Indians,  under  their  present  management,  being 

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REDUCTION    OF    THE    MILITARY    ESTABLISHMENT.  173 

speedily  broii<rlit  under  Christian  and  civilizing  influences,  and  taught  the 
arts  of  peace  1 

Answer.  They  are  probably  being  brought  under  those  iufluences,  but 
not  very  speedily,  in  some  cases. 

Question.  Are  they  being  taught  agriculture  ? 

Answer.  In  some  cases  they  are,  and  are  doing  very  well ;  in  other 
cases  it  amounts  to  but  little,  the  bands  and  their  cliaracteristics  are  so 
very  different.    I  speak  of  the  more  wiltt  and  hostile  Indians. 

Question.  Do  you  regard  that  as  the  result  of  the  present  Indian 
policy  f 

Answer.  Some  of  these  Indians  cultivated  the  ground  long  ago — long 
before  this  recent  change  in  the  Indian  policy.  A  great  deal  has  been 
given  to  Indians  under  this  policy  which  they  did  not  get  before.  There 
never  was  so  much  contributed  before  to  furnish  them  with  seeds  and 
labor,  to  cultivate  the  ground  for  them,  and  to  give  them  schools.  1 
think  that  this  is  having  a  civilizing  and  Christianizing  influence.  But 
I  do  not  think  that  in  many  cases  this  influence  is  exerted  to  the  best 
advantage,  or  that  the  result  is  commensurate  with  the  expense  that  is 
incurred  therefor.  I  think  that  in  many  cases  the  success  of  the  schools 
is  very  much  exaggerated,  and  that  the  conversion  of  the  Indians  to 
Christianity,  as  we  say,  is  somewhat  misrepresented. 

Question.  Would  you,  from  your  experience  of  the  Indian  country, 
suggest  a  concentration  of  the  Indians  on  fewer  reservations  t 

Answer.  Probably  fewer  reservations  would  be  better ;  but  I  am  de- 
cidedly of  opinion  that  they  should  be  put  upon  reservations,  and  should 
be  made  comfortable  as  far  as  possible  and  protected.  But  at  the  same 
time  they  must  be  made  to  stop  robbing  and  murdering,  and  be  made 
to  submit  to  the  orders  and  control  of  the  United  States  Government. 
They  laugh  at  persuasion  and  leniency ;  they  call  it  weakness  or  fear. 
I  believe  in  justice  and  firmness  in  the  management  of  Indian  affairs, 
and  I  think  that  with  that  course  we  would  have  little  trouble.  I  am 
as  much  in  favor  of  seeing  the  Indians  have  justice  as  I  am  of  seeing  the 
whites  have  justice ;  but  I  believe  in  justice  on  both  sides,  and  I  would 
rigidly  enforce  it  so  far  as  in  my  power.  I  would  decide  what  the  In- 
dians were  to  have ;  and  what  I  promised  them  they  should  have.  Then, 
if  they  violated  the  laws  governing  themj  and  committed  murder  and 
robbery,  I  would  punish  them,  and  I  would  punish  the  whites,  if  they 
intruded  upon  the  Indians ;  but  I  would  protect  the  whites  against 
their  merciless  ravages  and  tortures. 


Washington,  D.  C,  January  20, 1873. 

Examination  of  Gen.  Absalom  Baibd,  one  of  the  inspector-generals 
of  the  Army. 

By  the  Chairman  : 

Question.  Have  you  made  any  inspection  of  the  Army  in  the  Mili- 
tary Division  of  the  Missouri  within  the  last  two  years  f 

Answer.  Yes,  sir. 

Question.  What  departments  in  that  division  did  you  visit ! 

Answer.  I  have  been  twice  connected  with  that  portion  of  the  coun- 
try, first  in  General  Halleck's  command,  afterwards  in  that  of  General 
Sheridan.  Within  the  last  two  years  I  have  inspected  the  whole  De- 
partment of  Dakota,  which  is  at  present  commanded  by  General  Terry, 


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174  REDUCTION    OF    THE    MILITARY    ESTABLISHMENT. 

euibraciiig  Minuesota,  Montana,  and  Dakota,  and  also  tbe  Department 
ot  Texan. 

Question.  State  whether  yoii  personally  visited  the  posts  and  stations 
of  the  Army. 

Answer.  I  visited  all  the  posts  in  the  Department  of  Dakota,  and  a 
large  part  of  those  in  Texas. 

Question.  State  whether  your  attention  has  been  directed  to  the 
question  of  a  reduction  in  the  fiumber  of  posts. 

Answer.  Yes,  sir.  When  I  inspected  the  Department  of  Texas  1 
particularly  inquired  into  the  location  of  the  posts,  the  positions  it  was 
necessary  to  occupy  in  order  to  cover  the  frontier  against  the  inroads 
of  Indians;  and  in  ni}' report  I  made  recommendations  with  reference 
to  the  location  of  troops,  and  the  number  of  companies  which  it  would 
be  necessary  to  keep  at  each  post. 

Question.  State  whether  you  think  that  the  number  of  posts  in  Texas 
can  be  reduced,  or  the  number  of  troops  at  the  posts.  If  any  changes 
ought  to  be  made,  what  do  you  think  they  ought  to  be  ! 

Answer.  There  are  two  lines  of  posts  in  Texas.  One  covers  the 
frontier,  and  protects  the  settled  portions  of  Texas,  commencing  on  the 
Kio  Grande,  at  Fort  Brown,  and  extending  up  the  river  as  far  as  the  set- 
tlements go,  then  sweeping  around  in  a  semicircle  tow^ard  Fort  Sill,  in  the 
Indian  Territory.  That  line  of  posts  is  intended  to  prevent  the  incursions 
of  Indians  into  the  settled  parts  of  the  State.  There  are  one  or  two  posts 
on  this  line  which  might  perhaps  be  abandoned  and  located  at  other  points, 
but  I  do  not  think  that  the  number  of  posts  can  be  materially  changed. 
I  made  some  recommendations  with  reference  to  the  minimum  amount 
of  cavalry  and  of  infantry  that  should  be  kept  at  each  post.  I  recom- 
mended that  one  regiment  of  infantry  might  be  dispensed  with  ;  that  if 
it  was  needed  elsewhere  it  could  be  taken  away  without  injury  to  the 
service.  The  other  line  of  posts  extends  on  the  stage-road  running 
toward  El  Paso,  from  the  settled  j>ortious  of  Texas.  It  is  an  eastern 
and  western  line.  It  leaves  the  frontier  line  of  posts  at  about 
Fort  Concho,  and  runs  to  the  southern  part  of  New  Mexico  across 
the  Staked  IMains,  almost  on  the  line  proposed  for  the  Southern  Pacific 
liailroad.  It  is  a  line  of  post^  that  was  established  under  the  treaty 
with  Mexico  by  which  we  agreed  to  prevent  the  Indians  making  incur- 
sions into  Mexico.*  Fort  Stockton  is  one  of  the  posts ;  the  next  beyond  is 
Fort  Davis,  and  the  next  Fort  Quitman.  I  understand  that  we  have 
since  paid  money  to  Mexico  in  order  to  relieve  us  from  that  treaty 
obligation,  but  still  there  is  a  considerable  amount  of  travel  over  that 
road.  General  Keynolds  encouraged  it  and  sent  military  escorts  with 
I>ersons  driving  cattle  by  that  route,  and  the  posts  have  been  kept  up 
sinc^  partly  with  a  view  of  keeping  open  that  line  and  partly  from  the 
knowledge  that  if  the  building  of  the  Southern  Pacific  Itailroad  is 
pushed  forward  the  posts  would  bo  needed  there. 

Question.  So  far  as  the  settlements  in  Texas  are  concerned  do  these 
forts  afford  any  protection  ! 

Answer.  These  posts  do  not. 

Question.  What  posts  do  you  enumerate  under  that  clause  1 

Answer.  Leaving  Fort  Bliss,  there  would  be  Fort  Quitman,  Fort  Da- 
vis, and  Camp  Stockton  that  do  not  cover  the  settlements. 

Question.  State  the  comparative  expense  of  maintaining  those  posts, 
at  Camp  Stockton,  Fort  Davis,  and  Fort  Quitman.  Are  they  more  or 
less  expensive  by  reason  of  their  remoteness! 

Answer.  They  .are  more  expensive  than  the  posts  nearer,  because  pro- 
visions have  to  be  transported  farther.    In  the  north  of  Texas  there 


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REDUCTION    OF    THE    MILITARY    ESTABLISHMENT.  175 

are  two  important  posts — Forts  KichardiSou  aiul  Griffin — intended,  in 
connection  with  Fort  Sill,  to  guard  that  part  of  the  State.  An  attempt 
to  consolidate  them  and  make  one  post  take  the  place  of  the  two  has 
been  made,  but  thus  far,  on  account  of  the  difficulties  of  the  country, 
it  has  not  been  found  possible.  I  think  that  in  most  cases  serious  diffi- 
culties would  be  found  in  changing  or  giving  up  established  posts  which 
have  grown  out  of  past  necessities. 

(Question.  Can  troops  operate  almost  as  well  from  the  present  positions? 

Answer.  Yes;  they  accomplish  the  purpose  had  in  view  where  they  are. 

Question.  Going  farther  to  the  north,  what  do  you  think  of  the  posts 
iu  Kansas? 

Answer.  1  cannot  speak  in  regard  to  them,  because  it  requires  a  study 
of  each  particular  post,  and  I  have  not  been  there.  I  do  not  know  the 
country  sufficiently,  and  do  not  know  why  the  posts  were  located  where 
they  are  or  why  they  are  kept  there.  With  reference  to  the  posts  iu  the 
Department  of  Dakota,  the  necessity  for  a  great  number  of  them  arises 
from  the  vastiiess  of  the  country.  1  do  not  think  that  a  person  who  has 
not  gone  over  that  country  can  form  any  adequate  idea  of  its  great 
extent.  From  Fort  Bentou  to  Sioux  City  by  the  river  is  two  thousand 
one  hundred  miles.  The  first  post  you  arrive  at,  coming  down  the  river, 
is  Fort  Buford,  at  a  distance*,  of  some  seven  hundred  miles.  The 
river  is  comparatively  safe  in  that  portion  of  it,  because  the  Indians 
there  are  not  very  bad.  High  up  the  river  are  the  Crows,  who  are 
always  considered  friendly  to  the  whites.  Lower  down  are  the  Mandans 
and  other  tribes  that  are  partially  friendly.  The  Sioux  go  occasionally 
into  that  country,  but  not  to  any  greflt  extent.  Their  habitnal  place  of 
resort  is  on  the  Missouri,  below  the  Yellowstone,  and  when  they  make 
expeditions  for  war  or  hunting  they  generally  go  out  south  of  the  Yel- 
iDwstone,  although  occasionally  they  do  go  up  the  river.  For  this  rea- 
son no  posts  are  regarded  as  necessary  until  you  get  to  Fort  Buford. 
There  is  now  a  project,  however,  got  up  by  transportation  people  and 
by  the  iKople  of  Montana,  to  establish  a  line  of  boats  from  the  end  of 
the  railroad  at  Bismarck  to  the  mouth  of  the  Mussel  Shell,  and  to  haul 
goods  thence  overland  about  two  hundred  miles,  to  the  settlements  in 
Montana.  If  that  is  done  it  will  make  a  post  necessary  .it  the  mouth 
of  the  Mussel  Shell,  and  possibly  other  posts. 

Question.  Who  is  demanding  this  ? 

Answer.  Some  of  the  transportation  people ;  and  I  presume  they  are 
connected  with  the  Northern  Pacific  Railroad  Company.  I  presume 
that  the  object  is  to  make  more  business  for  their  road,  so  as  to  make 
the  portion  already  finished  pay  expenses. 

Mr.  Hawley,  of  Connecticut.  Is  not  the  Missouri  Iliver  the  Indian 
frontier,  and  is  there  any  necessity  for  military  posts  east  of  the  Mis- 
souri Iliver  ? 

General  Baird.  Yes,  it  is;  Icciving  Fort  Buford,  the  western  side  of 
the  Missouri  River  is  occupied  by  the  Sioux,  who  are  exceedingly  hos- 
tile, on  that  bank  of  the  river.  Some  of  them  occasionally  cross  over 
to  the  eastern  side  of  the  river,  and  there  they  are  comparatively  friendly ; 
that  is  to  say,  at  times  they  would  not  kill  a  white  man  if  met  on  the 
east  side  of  the  river,  and  they  certainly  would  do  so  if  they  encountered 
him  on  the  west  side.  The  posts  from  Buford  down  are  located  at 
points  near  where  the  Indians  reside,  near  the  Indian  agencies,  and  at 
other  places  where  it  is  necessary  to  supervise  and  overawe  the 
Indians.  I  do  not  think  that  the  number  of  posts  along  the 
Missouri  River  can  be  materially  changed.  Going  east  of  the  Missouri 
River   there    are   several    posts    on    the  border    of   Minnesota    and 


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176  REDUCTION   OF    THE    MfLITARY    ESTABLISHMENT. 

Dakota,  oue  or  two  of  which  are  necessary.  Fort  Totten  is  a  neces- 
sary post.  It  has  been  occupied  by  two  companies  of  infantry ;  but 
during  the  present  winter  they  had  to  make  room  therefor  two  companies 
of  cavalry  in  addition  that  had  made  part  of  General  Stanley's  expedi- 
tion in  the  summer.  There  is  a  little  reservation  of  friendly  Indians 
near  by,  and  the  object  of  establishing  the  post  was  to  keep  these 
friendly  Indians  from  communicating  with  the  hostile  Indians.  They  are 
all  Sioux,  but  these  are  domesticated  Sioux.  It  is  much  the  same  thing 
at  Fort  Wadsworth.  This  post  is  quite  near  to  the  settlements,  but 
there  is  an  Indian  reservation  in  the  vicinity.  Fort  Eansom,  marked 
on  the  map,  is  already  abandoned,  I  believe.  Fort  Seward,  on  the  North 
Pacific  Ilailroad,  is  still  of  temporary  utility,  but  may  soon  be  abandoned. 

By  the  Chairman  : 

Question.  Is  there  any  danger  there  from  the  Indians  f 

Answer.  No ;  I  think  not.  It  is  possible  that  the  Indians  might  raid 
upon  the  settlers  there,  but  not  probable.  In  winter  it  seems  to  be  neces- 
sary to  ke^p  a  body  of  men  at  Fort  Seward,  so  as  to  be  able  to  commu- 
nicate with  the  other  posts. 

Question.  Is  Fort  Snelling  necessary  ! 

Answer.  I  think  not. 

Question.  Is  Fort  Ridgely  necessary  ? 

Answer.  That  is  abandoned.  Fort  Abercroinbie  was  necessary-  two 
or  three  years  ago,  but  it  is  not  necessary  any  longer,  excei)t  to  shelter 
teams  and  men  during  the  winter.  Further  than  that,  it  is  of  no  use 
whatever. 

Question.  Would  you  make  the  same  statement  about  Fort  Snelling  ? 

Answer.  That  is  my  judgment. 

Question.  What  would  you  say  of  Pembina  ? 

Answer.  I  do  not  think  that  Pembina  was  necessary  when  it  was 
built. 

Question,  llow  many  men  can  take  care  of  such  forts  as  may  be  neces- 
sary for  store-houses  and  for  the  protection  of  men  and  animals  in  the 
winter — how  many  men  can  take  care  of  them  in  the  summer? 

Answer.  A  very  few  men — ten  or  a  dozen,  perhaps. 

Question.  Are  these  posts  in  such  condition  as  that  they  need  exten- 
sive repairs,  looking  to  the  short  time  that  they  can  be  used  I 

Answer.  I  think  not.  These  posts  were  built  of  very  poor  materials. 
They  do  not  last  very  long.  Fort  Snelling  is  a  permanent  post,  and  is 
the  headquarters  of  a  regiment,  but  of  course  the  military  is  of  no  more 
use  there  than  a  post  at  Indianapolis  would  be.  Three  or  four  men 
would  be  all  that  would  be  needed  to  keep  the  place  in  order. 

Question.  W^hat  have  you  to  say  about  those  posts  in  Western  Mon- 
tana, about  the  head-waters  of  the  Missouri  River  f  Can  any  of  them  be 
dispensed  with  I 

Answer.  I  think  oue  might — Fort  Benton. 

By  Mr.  Hawley,  of  Connecticut : 

Question.  Yon  spoke  of  Pembina  not  being  needed  when  it  was  bailt. 
Are  there  not  liable  to  be  border  disturbances  occasionally,  and  is  not 
a  military  force  necessary  there  as  a  police  force  t 

Answer.  That  is  true.  •  The  recent  political  troubles  that  have  arisen 
on  the  other  side  of  the  line,  and  the  arrest  of  some  of  our  people,  would 
show  that.  This  commission  can  appreciate  as  fully  as  a  soldier  the 
necessity  of  a  force  for  such  a  purpose.  When  you  get  into  Montana, 
on  the  head- waters  of  the  Missouri  and  on  the  Yellowstone,  there  is  an- 


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REDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT.  177 

other  frontier  on  the  west  of  the  Indians.  Tlie  Crow  Indians  are  in  tlnit 
region,  and  they  are  friendly:  but  at  the  same  time  they  will  steal,  and 
if  they  catch  a  man  out  by  himself  they  will  amuse  themselves  by 
ticking  his  scalp,  as  any  Indian  will.  As  a  general  rule,  however,  they 
are  friendly.  There  are  also  Indians  who  cross  the  moiintHius  Iroin  the 
west  and  come  to  the  plains  on  the  Missouri  t^  hunt  during  the  summer. 
As  they  pass  down  they  usually  try  to  steal  horses  to  hunt  with,  and  that 
brings  on  collisions  between  them  and  the  miners,  and  the  troops  are 
kept  there  pretty  much  to  prevent  difficulties  of  that  kind.  Camp 
Baker,  just  east  of  the  Belt  Mountains,  was  intended  to  protect  the 
miners  in  several  gulches  of  the  Belt  Mountains.  The  outlook  of  these 
gulches  would  be  thirty  or  forty  miles  apart ;  but  this  one  post  on  tiie 
plains  was  intended  to  watch  over  those  gulches.  North  of  Fort  Shaw 
are  the  Piegans  and  Bloods,  the  Indians  that  Baker  had  his  light 
with.  They  are  all  Blood-Indians,  and  that  post  is  intended  to  keep 
them  in  check.  It  is  a  very  important  post — a  large  one.  Then  there 
is  Fort  Benton,  at  the  head  of  navigation  on  the  Missouri.  That  is 
about  sixty  miles  from  Fort  Shaw.  There  is  a  difference  of  opinion  as 
to  the  necessity  for  it.  They  have  only  kept  one  company  tliere  to  guard 
stores  lauded  from  steamboats.  They  are  a  pretty  lawless  set  of  people 
there,  but  I  do  not  think  that  Fort  Benton  is  necessary.  The  only  re- 
maining post  is  Fort  Ellis,  which  is  farther  south  and  just  near  tlie 
settlements  in  Bozeman  Valley.  It  is  quite  an  important  post.  I  think 
that  in  a  short  time,  particularly  if  the  railroad  progresses,  it  will  be 
moved  a  little  farther  east,  over  the  mountains.  It  is  a  cavalry  post, 
and  controls  the  Upper  Yellowstone. 

The  Chairman.  Coming  farther  south,  into  Wyoming,  what  would 
you  say  about  those  posts  ! 

General  Baird.  I  do  not  understand  those  posts  so  well.  I  never 
belonged  to  that  department.  It  has  been  thought  very  desirable  by 
General  Sheridan  and  other  officers  to  have  a  large  increase  of  the 
cavalry  force  at  Fort  Ellis.  He  would  like  to  put  a  whole  regiment 
there,  but  the  cavalry  cannot  be  spared  from  other  quarters. 

By  Mr.  Albright  : 

Question.  What  is  the  condition  of  Fort  Benton  as  to  repair  f 

Answer.  The  fort  itself  is  an  old  fur-trading  establishment,  which 
we  purchased  about  five  or  six  years  ago.  It  was  about  tumbling  down 
then.  It  is  a  miserable  set  of  old  buildings  and  hardly  fit  for  occupancy 
now  and  was  not  when  it  was  purchased.  It  was  bought  for  a  very 
small  sum. 

Question.  Is  it  not  calcnlated  to  endanger  the  health  and  life  of  the 
troops,  if  not  pxn  in  better  condition  f 

Answer.  I  do  not  know  that  their  lives  and  health  are  in  danger,  but 
it  is  a  very  miserable  and  uncomfortable  old  rookery.  I  do  not  think 
it  worth  spending  any  money  upon  for  repair. 

By  the  Chairman  : 
Question.  State  whether  these  troops  can  be  concentrated  at  fewer 

P08t8. 

Answer.  The  establishment  of  these  posts  usually  arises  from  the 
necessity  of  having  a  force  at  a  particular  point.  Generally  it  makes 
no  difference  whether  there  are  two  companies  at  a  post  or  a  whole 
regiment.  The  object  is  simply  to  occupy  that  spot  of  ground.  A  regiment 
of  troops  at  one  of  those  posts,  (if  it  is  dismounted,)  has  no  more  effect  a 
hundred  milesoff  than  aforcein  Chicago  would  have  in  controlling  Indian- 

12  M  E 


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178  REDUCTION   OF   THE    MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT. 

apolis.  These  positions  have  been  chosen  with  a  good  deal  of  care  and  as 
the  result  of  experience.  I  think  that  all  the  officers  of  the  Army — cer- 
tainly from  the  colonels  down — would  be  verj'  glad  to  have  all  the  troops 
concentrated  in  large  posts.  They  desire  this  very  much,  and  urge  it ;  but 
the  Army  being  small,  it  becomes  necessary  to  divide  up  the  troops 
into  these  little  posts,  which  injures  very  much  the  efficiency  and  dis- 
cipline of  the  regiments.  But  as  we  cannot  do  otherwise  with  the  small 
force  that  we  have,  I  do  not  think  that  the  nnmber  of  po8t«  can  be 
materially  diminished.  I  believe  that  the  generals  who  have  charge  of 
departments  and  divisions  in  certain  portions  of  the  Territory  are  dis- 
posed to  concentrate  as  much  as  possible. 


January  21,  1874. 

Examination  of  the  witness  was  continued  as  follows : 
By  the  Chairman: 

Question.  State  the  condition  of  the  Indian  tribes  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of  the  posts  you  have  visited  as  to  their  friendliness  or  unfriendli- 
ness, or  a  disposition  of  mischief  toward  the  whites. 

Answer.  Nearly  all  the  wild  Sioux  occupying  the  region  on  the  Mis- 
souri Kiver  as  far  up  as  the  Yellowstone,  and  wandering  beyond  it,  are 
exceedingly  hostile.  The  other  Indians — the  Piegans  and  Bloods — on 
the  north,  up  the  Missouri,  are  also  hostile  unless  they  are  kept  in 
restraint.  The  Crows  on  the  Upper  Yellowstone  are  called  friendly ; 
they  are  comparatively  friendly. 

Question.  What  proportion  of  their  men  do  you  regard  as  really  hos- 
tile and  mischievous? 

Answer.  They  are  all  hos*^ile,  I  think ;  but  the  older  men  would  refrain 
from  con)mitting  outrages  from  fear  of  bringing  themselves  into  trouble. 
The  young  ones  are  not  restrained  by  that  feeling. 

Question,  Are  the  older  men  governed  only  by  prudential  reasons? 

Answer.  Yes. 

Question.  And  not  by  a  spirit  of  friendliness? 

Answer.  O,  no.  The  same  is  the  case  with  reference  to  Indians  who 
raid  into  Texas ;  they  occupy  the  Indian  Territory  and  wander  into  the 
staked  plains.  They  are. chiefly  Kiowas,  Cheyennes,  Comanches,  and 
Apaches. 

Question.  In  view  of  that,  yoa  consider  the  presence  of  a  considerable 
military  force  in  each  of  these  regions  important  and  necevssary  ? 

Answer.  Absolutely  necessary. 

Question.  Have  you  ever  considered  this  subject  with  reference  to  the 
protection  of  any  tribes  of  Indians  as  against  the  whites  ? 

Answer.  No;  I  have  not  considered  it  particularly  in  that  light. 

Question.  State  whether,  in  your  judgment,  the  Army,  with  advan- 
tage to  the  country  and  to  the  service,  or  to  either,  can  be  diminished  in 
number  in  any  part  of  the  military  establishment. 

Answer.  The  line  of  the  Army  might  be  reduced,  perhaps,  to  some 
small  amount,  without  immediate)  detriment ;  but  my  impression  is  that 
there  would  be  no  economy  in  it.  It  probably  would  have  to  be  in- 
creased again  m  a  short  time ;  and  it  is  not  at  all  certain  that  all  the 
troops  we  have  are  not  needed  now.  If  there  is  any  reduction  to  be 
maile  I  suppose  it  could  better  be  made  in  one  or  two  regiments  of  in- 
fantry than  in  any  other  part  of  the  Army.  I  do  not  think  that  any 
portion  of  the  cavalry  could  be  spared. 


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REDUCTION    OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT.  179 

Qaestion.  Do  you  think  that  any  portion  of  the  artillery  could  be 
spared  ? 

Answer.  The  artillery  is  on  the  sea-coast  and  is  not  needed  immedi- 
ately ;  and  possibly  there  might  be  some  reduction  in  the  artillery. 

Question.  Ordinarily  how  many  men  can  take  care  of  one  of  those 
sea-coast  fortifications,  to  preserve  it  from  deca>;  and  from  destruction 
by  the  elements,  or  from  marauders  and  intruders  I 

Answer.  One  or  two  companies  are  sufficient  for  that. 

Question.  Could  not  a  squad  of  ten  or  fifteen  men  under  a  sergeant 
attend  to  it  f 

Answer.  Yea;  a  squad  could  do  so. 

Question.  How  much  of  the  work  of  keeping  in  repair  and  preventing 
destruction  by  the  elements  is  done  by  the  soldiers  who  occupy  these 
posts  f 

Answer.  Very  little.  The  Engineer  Department  keeps  the  fortifica- 
tions in  repair. 

Question.  Do  they  hire  civilians  for  that  purpose  f 

Answer.  I  presume  that  when  damages  to  fortifications  occur  they 
hire  hands.  No  work  on  any  of  the  permanent  fortifications  is  done  by 
soldiers. 

Qnestion.  I  see  that  in  the  Department  6f  the  East  there  are  1,826 
soldiers.  In  view  of  the  works  to  be  occupied  there  and  of  the  frontier 
to  be  guarded,  and  in  view  of  the  absence  of  hostile  forces  in  the  neigh- 
borhood, do  you  think  that  1,826  soldiers  are  necessary  f 

Answer.  No,  sir.  If  there  were  trouble  in  Florida  or  Texas  to-mor- 
row, the  soldiers  could  be  withdrawn  from  the  Department  of  the  East 
and  sent  there.  I  believe  the  engineers  would  rather  not  have  soldiers 
in  the  fortifications. 

Question.  Aside  from  the  engineer  force  that  is  required  to  keep  forts 
in  repair  and  to  protect  them  from  damage  by  intruders,  can  the  military 
force  now  in  those  forts  be  dispensed  with  f 

Answer.  Yes;  I  think  so. 

Question.  I  see  that  in  the  Department  of  the  Lakes  there  are  2,470 
Rohiiers.  State  whether  there  is  any  military  necessity  to  have  those* 
soldiers  there. 

Answer.  There  is  only  one  post  on  the  lakes  that  I  know  of  which  it 
is  necessary  at  the  present  time  to  keep  for  military  reasons.  That  is 
the  post  at  the  Sault  Saint  Marie.  It  is  necessary  in  order  to  pro- 
tect the  canal,  which  would  be  liable  to  be  depredated  upon  by  vicious 
peo])le.  That  is  the  only  post  in  the  Department  of  the  Lakes  where  I 
suppose  troops  to  be  necessary,  except  with  a  view  of  keeping  a  police 
force  on  the  Canadian  frontier.  That  is  a  question  of  civil  [K)litic3,  and 
not  one  for  military  consideration. 

Qnestion.  You  say,  then,  that  you  have  no  information  as  to  the  ne- 
cessity of  keeping  a  police  force  there  f 

Answer.  I  know  nothing  about  that  question. 

Question.  I  see  that  by  the  last  report  of  the  Adjutant-General  there 
were  3,223  soldiers  in  the  Department  of  the  Gulf,  and  2,192  in  the  De- 
partment of  the  South.  Is  there  any  military  necessity  at  present  for 
the  presence  of  troops  in  that  region  f 

Answer.  There  is  no  military  necessity  for  it  that  I'am  aware  of.  I 
think  the  troops  are  kept  there  rather  from  political  considerations. 
I  mean  that  they  are  there  to  be  used  as  a  restraint  in  case  political 
difficulties  should  arise.  I  perhaps  ought  to  except  the  sea-coast  forti- 
fications, such  as  Key  West,  Tortugas,  Pensacola,  and  Fort  Monroe— 
those  fortifications  that  are  occupied  as  against  foreign  enemies. 


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180  REDUCTION    OF    THE    MILITARY    ESTABLISHMENT. 

Question.  Then  yonr  answer  wonld  apply  to  the  troops  that  are 
stationed  in  the  interior  rather  than  to  those  on  the  sea-coast. 
Answer.  Yes,  sir. 

Question.  (3oming  then  to  the  sea-coast,  can  you  make  an  estimate  of 
what  the  smallest  force  would  be  that  would  be  necessary  for  the  occu- 
pation of  those  forts  ? 

Answer.  I  suppose  that,  with  the  exception  of  Key  West,  Tortugas, 
and  New  Orleans,  the  garrisons  might  be  withdrawn  from  all  of  those 
forts  for  the  time  being,  leaving  simply  the  ordinary'  fort- keepers  that  the 
Engineer  Department  would  put  there. 

(Juestion.  In  view  of  the  disturbances  that  have  occurred  in  Louisiann, 
and  the  unsettled  state  of  affairs  and  the  possibility  of  future  disturb- 
ances there,  would  not  some  military  force  be  necessary  at  New  Orleans 
as  a  police  force! 

Answer.  My  own  impression  has  been,  when  living  at  a  distance  from 
that  region,  that  all  the  troops  might  be  withdrawn  from  the  South ; 
but  when  1  have  been  there  1  have  met  with  many  very  intelligent  peo- 
ple who  claimed  that  the  presence  of  the  troops  there  is  necessary. 
There  is  a  difference  of  opinion  about  it  among  statesmen  and  civilians, 
ratLer  than  anlong  soldiers.  The  soldiers  remain  in  the  country,  and  do 
not  know  whether  there  is  any  necessity  for  them  or  not  until  they  are 
called  upon  by  the  civil  authorities  to  act,  and  then  they  simply  perform 
their  duty. 

Question.  If  the  Army  is  to  be  diminished,  in  what  branches  or  de- 
partments can  that  revluction  be  made  with  the  least  detriment  to  the 
country  and  the  service  ? 

Answer.  In  my  judgment  it  ought  to  begin  with  cutting  down  some 
portions  of  the  infantry  regiments.  Next  to  them,  if  we  were  to  have 
further  reductions,  it  ought  to  be  in  the  artillery. 

Question.  What  have  you  to  say  as  to  the  reduction  of  the  engineer 
battalion  stationed  at  Willet's  Point  and  West  Point  ? 

Answer.  The  company  at  West  Point  is,.I  think,  useful.  I  have 
never  seen  the  other  companies  of  the  battalion,  aud  do  not  know 
what  duties  they  are  employed  upon.  I  have  seen  it  stated  that 
one  of  their  duties,  that  of  manufacturing  and  using  torpedoes,  is  an 
important  one ;  but  beyond  that  I  cannot  see  any  necessity  for  those 
troops  whatever. 

Question.  State  whether  or  not  it  would  be  better  to  reduce  the 
Army  by  organizations  or  by  diminishing  the  number  of  men  by  stop- 
I)ing  recruiting  t 

Answer.  If  the  Army  were  my  own  private  property,  and  I  was  cora- 
.pelled  to  reduce  it,  I  would  cut  off'  one  or  two  organizations,  although  I 
think  it  would  be  very  hard  on  the  officers  of  those  organizations,  aud 
that  some  provision  ought  to  be  made  for  them. 

Question.  State  whether  or  not,  in  view  of  the  large  annual  diminu- 
tion of  the  number  of  officers,  (83  in  the  last  year,)  the  number  of 
organizations  might  not  be  decreased  without  detriment  even  to  the  of- 
.ficers  themselves  who  are  in  the  service. 

Answer.  I  do  not  think  a  single  regiment  could  be  cut  off  without 
detriment  to  many  of  the  officers,  but  I  believe  that  the  fairest  ^vay  to 
do  it  would  be  to  take  the  officers  of  a  regiment  that  is  mustered  out 
and  distribute  them  among  the  regiments  that  are  maintained,  and  let 
them  be  absorbed  gradually. 

Question  Could  this  be  done  without  reducing  the  rank  of  thes6  offi 
cersf 

Answer.  Yes,  sir.    For  instance,  if  you  cut  off  one  regiment  of  in- 


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REDUCTION    OF    THE    MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT.  181 

fantry,  I  would  distribnte  all  the  captains  of  that  regiment  among  other 
regiments  as  superuninerary  captains;  and  so  with  the  lieutenants. 
There  will  alwa^'s  be  duty  for  them  to  perform,  and  as  vacancies  occur, 
they  would  be  taken  up.  If  a  regiment  is  cut  off,  I  think  it  only  fair 
that  its  officers  should  be  distributed  among  other  regiments  as  super- 
numeraries. 

Question.  Would  there  be  any  difficulty  in  that? 

Answer.  I  think  not. 

Question.  Are  there  any  branches  of  the  staff  which  may  be  dimin- 
ished in  number  or  consolidated  with  others! 

Answer.  In  the  testimony  which  I  gave  to  the  military  committee 
last  year,  I  favored  the  consolidation  of  the  supply  departments  into 
one  department,  and  also  of  the  Adjutant-General's  Department,  the 
Inspector-General's  Department,  the  Signal-Service,  and  others  into 
another  de[)artment.  I  was  in  favor  of  that,  but  there  is  a  great  diver- 
sity of  opinion  on  the  subject  in  the  Army. 

Question.  Taking  the  organization  as  it  is,  can  you  suggest  any  plan 
hy  which  the  present  number  of  staff"  officers  can  be  advantageously 
diminished!    If  so,  state  in  what  branches  of  the  staff*. 

Answer.  I  would  have  to  consider  each  branch  of  the  service  sepa- 
rately. Beginning  with  the  Adjutant  General's  Department,  we  see 
where  all  the  officers  of  the  department  are  usefully  employed,  and  we 
see  that  there  are  still  places  vacant  for  assistant  adjutants-general, 
and  the  Adjutant-General  has  no  officers  to  assign.  He  says  that  he 
has  not  uow  enough  of  officers.  There  are  two  or.  three  or  four  vacan- 
cies now  in  that  department  of  the  staff. 

Question.  State  whether  or  not  the  adjutants  of  regiments  can  be 
dispensed  with — whether  a  detail  cannot  be  made  from  officers  of  the  line 
to  act  as  adjutants  of  regiments? 

Answer.  That  was  formerly  the  case.  Some  years  ago  the  adjutant 
of  a  regiment  was  a  lieutenant  in  the  regiment,  who  was  detailed  for  that 
service.  But  the  practice  grew  up,  about  the  time  of  the  war,  of  making 
the  adjutant  a  supernumerary  lieutenant.  It  is  practicable,  of  course, 
as  it  WHS  formerly,  that  the  adjutant  of  a  regiment  should  be  the  lieu- 
tenant of  some  company  in  the  regiment. 

Question.  State  whether  or  not  the  quartermasters  of  regiments  can 
be  dispensed  with. 

Answer.  The  regimental  quartermasters  and  the  regimental  adjutants 
may  be,  at  the  same  time,  simply  lieutenants  belonging  to  companies  in 
the  regiment,  and  not  supernumerary  lieutenants.  The  opinion  of  the 
Adjutant  General  with  reference  to  the  number  of  officers  which  he  re- 
quires I  regard  as  the  strongest  evidence  on  that  subject.  But  if  the 
Congress  should  find  it  necessary  to  make  a  reduction,  I  think  the  best 
way  to  begin  would  be  by  declaring  that  the  vacancies  which  now  exist 
shouUl  not  be  filled.  I  think  that,  in  reference  to  the  Adjutant-Gener- 
al's Department,  it  is  quite  important  that  the  question  of  promotion 
should  be  settled.  It  is  now  in  abeyance  under  the  act  of  Congress.  I 
beiieve  that  that  bar  should  be  removed,  and  the  number  of  officers 
that  Congress  chooses  to  leave  in  each  grade  should  be  fixed  now,  and 
let  promotion  go  forward;  and  hereafter,  when  new  appointments  are 
made  in  the  Adjutant  General's  Department,  they  should  be  captains 
and  not  majors,  as  it  was  before  the  war. 

Question.  Would  it  not  be  a  good  plan  to  detail  officers  of  the  line  to 
do  duty  temporarily  in  the  staff'  corps,  requiring  them  to  go  back  to 
their  regiments  after  a  tour  ot^duty  here  of  four  or  five  years  f 

Answer.  No,  sirj  I  think  not.    There  are  some  always  detailed  to 


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182  REDUCTION    OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT. 

perform  that  duty,  but  this  detail  would  soon  become  a  matter  of  favor- 
itism, aud  there  would  be  constant  trouble  and  change  resulting  from 
it.     1  do  not  think  it  would  be  as  just  as  it  is  now. 

Question.  Would  it  be  any  more  a  matter  of  favoritism  than  the  ap- 
pointment in  the  first  place  f 

Answer.  Yes ;  I  think  it  would  be.  Every  lieutenant  in  the  Army 
would  be  using  all  the  political  and  other  influence  he  could  get  to  get 
a  detail  of  this  kind.  Of  course,  they  do  use  influence  now  to  receive 
the  appointment,  but  after  they  are  once  in  the  office  there  is  but  little 
trouble  afterwards.  There  is  no  effort  to  turn  them  out.  I  think  the 
present  system  of  appointing  them  is  best.  It  seems  to  me  that  it  would 
be  well  now  to  fix  the  number  of  colonels.  1  assume  that  it  would  be 
fair  to  leave  the  two  colonels  that  the  department  is  now  entitled  to  by 
law,  and  to  give  to  it  two,  three,  or  four  lieutenant-colonels.  If  the  bar 
to  promotion  in  the  Adjutant-General's  Office  w^ere  removed  General  Fry 
would  be  the  second  colonel.  There  are  two  lieutenant  colonels,  and 
there  would  be  then  two  vacancies,  perhaps.  Then  it  would  be  a  ques- 
tion about  filling  these  vacancies.  The  number  of  majors  might  also 
be  fixed  by  law,  aud  no  promotion  to  the  grade  of  major  should  be  made 
until  the  number  should  be  reduced  to  so  many,  leaving  all  that  are 
appointed  afterwards  to  the  Adjutant-General's  Department  to  come  in 
with  the  grade  of  captain.  Whatever  reduction  Congress  chooses  to 
make  might  be  made  fairly  in  that  way.  * 

Question.  Your  remark  in  reference  to  the  Adjutant-General's  De- 
partment would  apply  to  the  other  departments  as  well? 

Answer.  Yea,  sir;  I  think  so. 

Question.  Pass  on  now  to  the  Commissary  Department  aud  the 
Quartermaster's  Department. 

Answer.  The  Quartermaster's  Department  is  really  the  one  that  pre- 
sents the  greatest  difficulty.  I  think  that  all  the  trouble  in  reference  to 
the  staff  arises  from  the  fact  that  the  Quartermaster's  Department  is, 
perhaps,  too  large  and  the  grade  of  officers  in  the  department  is  too 
high. 

Question.  If  there  must  be  a  reduction,  you  think  it  would  be  best  to 
have  it  made  there  ? 

Answer.  That  is  the  place  that  it  is  needed.  The  oldest  and  best 
officers  in  the  department  acknowledge  that  to  be  the  fact. 

Question.  Are  there  not  a  large  number  of  officers  detailed  on  duty 
in  these  departments! 

Answer.  As  a  matter  of  counae. 

Question.  State  whether  the  number  of  quartermasters  can  be  re- 
duced. 

Answer.  I  think  the  number  of  quartermasters  ought  to  be  reduced 
if  it  can  be  done  in  any  fair  way. 

*  Question.  Can  you  diminish  the  number  of  stafi:-quartermastefs  at 
posts! 

Answer.  Stafl'-quartermasters  are  not  willing  to  perform  the  duties  of 
those  little  posts.  They  were  fixed  at  larger  places.  We  cannot  afford 
to  place  a  man  having  the  rank  and  pay  of  captain  or  major  as  a  reg- 
ular staff-quartermaster  at  every  little' post,  which  may  be  commanded 
by  a  lietitenant  or  captain. 

Question.  Then  you  say  that  the  quartermasters  on  the  staff  are  not 
employed  as  post-quartermasters  or  as  camp-quartermasters! 

Answer.  As  a  general  rule,  they  are  put  in  charge  of  depots  and  of 
large  important  posts.  • 


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REDUCTION   OP   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT.  183 

Question.  State  whether  or  not,  generally,  there  are  more  than  are 
needed  to  take  charge  of  these  large  and  important  po;its. 

Answer.  I  think  there  are  more  than  reqaired. 

Question.  Have  you  an  idea  of  how  many  can  be  dispensed  with  ! 

Answer.  ]^o,  sir ;  I  have  not 

Question.  What  is  the  reason  that  these  quartermasters  of  the  staff 
cannot  be  advantageously  put  on  duty  at  posts  I 

Answer.  They  are  men  of  high  rank  and  have  high  pay,  and  it  would 
be  a  useless  expense  to  put  them  to  perform  the  trifling  duty  that  has 
to  be  done  at  smaller  posts.  It  is  usually  a  lieutenant  at  a  post  who 
does  this  quartermaster's  duty,  and  he  usually  does  his  company  duty  at 
the  same  time.  He  is  usually  the  commissary,  and,  at  the  same  time, 
the  adjutant. 

By  Mr.  MacDougall  : 

Question.  Does  he  get  extra  pay  for  that  f 

Answer.  No.  If  a  lieutenant  is  detailed  to  be  adjutant  of  the  post, 
and  commissary,  and  quartermaster,  and  to  have  charge  of  the  bake- 
house, he  has  no  additional  pay. 

By  the  Chairman  : 

Question.  State  what  redaction,  if  any,  can  be  made  in  the  Oommis- 
sary  Department. 

Answer.  I  do  not  think  the  Commissary  Department  is  too  large,  so 
far  as  I  know.  There  are  several  vacancies  in  it  now,  and  perhaps  two 
or  three  officers  who  are  eligible  to  retirement. 

Question.  State  what  can  be  done  in  that  view  in  the  Inspector-Gen- 
eral's Department.    Can  any  reduction  be  made  in  it  f 

Answer.  I  think  there  might  be.  I  think  there  is  no  necessity  for  fill- 
ing the  vacancies  which  now  exist  in  the  Inspector-General's  Depart- 
ineDt.  My  opinion,  in  reference  to  the  Inspector-Generars  Department, 
of  which  I  am  a  member,  is  that  all  the  officers  in  the  department 
ought  to  have  high  rank.  I  think  they  all  ought  to  have  the  rank  of 
colonel,  and  that  the  number  of  them  ought  to  be  reduced.  I  think  tbat 
Congress  might  abolish  the  grade  of  assistant  inspectors-general — pro- 
moting the  three  assistant  inspectors- general  to  the  grade  of  inspec- 
tor-general, with  the  rank  of  colonel,  and  that  no  additional  pay  should 
accrue  by  virtue  of  that  promotion.  That  would  abolish  two  majors, 
now  kept  at  the  cost  of  $5,000  a  year,  besides  their  incidental  expenses. 
Congress  should  then  provide  that  no  appointment  should  be  made 
until  the  whole  number  of  inspector-generals  was  reduced  to  five.  I 
think  that  the  Inspector-General's  Department  might  be  reduced  in  that 
way. 

Question.  Passing  on,  then,  to  the  Engineer  Corps  and  the  Ordnance 
Department.  Are  you  prepared  to  give  an  opinion  as  to  whether  they 
can  be  reduced  advantageously  to  the  service  and  the  country? 

Answer.  I  am  not  familiar  with  the  duties  which  the  Engineer  or  the 
Ordnance  Department  performs  at  the  present  time,  but  my  opinion 
has  been  that  both  corps  are  larger  than  has  been  necessary — particu- 
larly the  Engineer — if  they  are  confined  to  what  I  would  regard  as  strict 
military  duty. 

Question.  In  view  of  their  duties  as  engineers,  having  charge  of  the 
improvement  of  rivers  and  harbors,  is  the  department  too  large  ? 

Answer.  The  Chief  Engineer  seems  to  keep  all  his  officers  employed. 

By  Mr.  Gunckel  : 
Question.  State  whether  it  is  necessary,  so  far  as  your  knowledge  ex- 


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184  REDUCTION    OF    THE    MILITARY    ESTABLISHMENT. 

tends,  to  have  a  large  number  of  civil  engineers  einploj^ed  in  aid  of  the 
Army  engineers  on  public  works  f 

Answer.  I  think  it  is  necessary  where  work  is  to  be  performed.  If 
it  is  an  important  work,  an  officer  of  some  rank  is  put  in  charge  of  it; 
but  there  would  be  a  great  amount  of  detail  in  carrying  out  the  work. 
For  instance,  in  the  improvement  of  a  harbor  there  would  be  a  vast 
luimber  of  men  to  be  employed,  and  there  must  be  a  number  of  civil  en- 
gineers of  more  or  less  skill,  though  not  of  the  capacity  necessary  to 
take  charge  of  the  work  themselves.  The  engineer,  of  course,  cannot 
with  his  own  hands  build  the  cribs,  or  make  all  of  the  purveys.  He  is 
usually  supervisor  in  the  office  of  all  the  work.  He  dire«its  it ;  but  a 
great  many  men  are  requisite  to  perform  all  the  minute  details  of  the 
work. 

Question.  Can  yon  say  whether  an3'  of  the  civil  engineers  connected 
with  the  Engineer  Department  can  be  dispensed  with  f 

Answer.  i^To,  I  cannot,  because  I  never  have  had  opportunities  of 
judging  in  the  matter. 

Question.  Are  you  sufficiently  acquainted  with  the  duties  of  the  Sig- 
nal-Corps to  say  whether  that  branch  can  be  reduced  ! 

Answer.  It  seems  to  be  a  large  establishment,  and  it  seem  to  be  pop- 
ular, and  to  be  regarded  as  useful  by  the  country  ;  but  I  would  greatly 
])reler  seeing  it  transferred  to  the  Interior  Department,  or  from  the  War 
Department  to  some  other,  so  that  it  may  not  be  a  burden  on  the  appro- 
]>riatious  for  the  War  Department. 

Question.  Stnte  whether  the  Bureau  of  Military  Justice  can  be  re- 
duced in  any  manner  ? 

Answer.  I  think  that  the  Bureau  of  Military  Justice  is  unnecessarily 
large. 

By  Mr.  Young  : 

Question.  Do  you  think  that  the  Bureau  of  Military  Justice  might  be 
abolished  altogether! 

Answer.  I  think  that  it  could  be  abolished  with  advantage  to  the 
service,  and  all  of  its  duties  put  in  the  hands  of  an  officer  in  the  Adju- 
tant-General's Department. 

By  the  Chairman  : 

Question.  Are  you  prepared  to  say  whether  the  Surgeon-Generars 
Department  can  be  advantageously  reduced,  either  in  officers  or  detailed 
men? 

Answer.  I  do  not  know  that  the  number  of  officers  of  the  depart- 
ment and  of  hired  surgeons  is  too  large.    1  presume  that  it  is  not. 

Question.  Do  you  know  anything  about  the  hospital-stewards  em- 
l)loyed  there  ? 

Answer.  1  do  not  know  how  they  are  employed.  1  think  that  the 
system  of  hiring  contract-doctors  works  very  w^ell  and  gives  a  good  deal 
of  satisfaction. 

Question.  State  whether,  at  distant  posts,  it  is  not  easier  to  get  along 
with  a  contract-physician  than  with  an  Army  surgeon,  who  may  have 
higher  rank  than  the  commander  of  the  post. 

Answer.  It  is  very  seldom  that  an  Army  surgeon  at  a  post  ranks  the 
commanding  officer  at  the  jiost. 

Question.  Would  it  be  good  policy  to  fill  up  the  medical  staff  with 
enough  of  surgeons  to  supply  all  the  posts,  and  to  dispense  with  contract- 
physicians  entirely  f 


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REDUCTION    OF    THE    MILITARY    ESTABLISHMENT.  185 

Answer.  I  canuot  see  that  there  would  be  anything  gained  by 
doing  it. 

Question.  Which  is  the  cheaper,  the  contra^jt-system  or  the  Regular 
Army  surgeon  system  !  % 

Answer.  1  am  told  that  the  contract-surgeon  receives  nearly  the  same 
amount  of  pay  as  the  officer  of  the  regular  establishment,  though  prob- 
ably not  quite  so  much. 

Question.  Does  the  contract-surgeon  get  mileage? 

Answer.  I  think  that  on  being  employed  he  would  receive  the  coat  of 
his  transportation  from  his  home  to  his  post  of  duty.  I  do  not  think 
that  under  any  other  circumstances  he  would  be  allowed  mileage.  When 
traveling  on  duty  an  officer  of  the  regular  establishment  would  receive 
10  cents  a  mile,  but  a  contract-surgeon  would  only  receive  his  actual 
expenses. 

Question.  What  would  you  say  as  to  the  Pay  Department  ? 

Answer.  I  think  there  ought  to  be  about  50  paymasters  to  pay  the 
Army.  I  do  not  know  exactly  how  many  there  are  now  ;  but  in  con- 
versiition  with  General  Sheridan  and  other  officers,  we  have  come  to  the 
conclusion  that  about  50  officers  are  enough  to  pay  the  Army. 

Question.  In  view  of  a  reduction  of  the  Army  by  5.000  men,  could  the 
number  of  paymasters  be  reduced  advantageously  below  50? 

Answer.  I  do  not  know  whether  there  could  be  any  further  reduction 
or  not.  I  have  put  fifty  as  a  kind  of  maximum.  Fifty  men  can  pay 
the  Army.  Paymasters  have  very  hard  work  to  perform,  perhaps  the 
hardest  of  any  officers  of  the  Army,  and  next  to  them  the  inspector- 
generals. 

Question.  Having  gone  through  the  entire  staff,  would  you  say  that 
if  the  Army  were  reduced  one-fourth  in  number  a  corresponding  reduc- 
tion could  be,  or  ought  to  be,  made  in  the  staff. 

Answer.  No,  sir ;  I  do  not  see  how  it  would  make  any  diflference 
whether  you  take  one-fourth  away  from  the  Army,  or  add  one-fourth  to 
it,  or  double  it.  It  does  not  seem  to  me  that  it  would  make  any  diflfer- 
ence in  the  necessity  for  the  staff.  Our  staff  is  supposed  to  be  suffi- 
cient for  a  large  army. 

By  Mr.  Hunton  : 

Question.  Suppose  the  reduction  were  made  by  organizations,  would 
not  that  necessarily  reduce  the  number  of  staff  officers! 

Answer.  No,  sir.  For  instance,  if  you  should  knock  off  two,  three, 
four,  or  five  regiments  of  infantry,  and  keep  up  the  same  posts  that  we 
do  now,  there  would  be  the  same  number  of  staff-officers  required. 
We  would  only  occupy  the  posts  with  smaller  garrisons  instead  of  larger 
ones. 

By  Mr.  Albright  : 

Question.  In  view  of  what  jou  have  stated,  and  from  your  knowledge 
of  the  country,  of  the  Indians,  and  of  the  public  property  to  be  pro- 
tected, is  it  your  opinion  that  it  would  be  safe,  prudent,  and  judicious 
to  reduce  the  Army  at  this  time  ? 

Answer.  I  do  not.  I  do  not  think  that,  in  the  long  run,  it  will  be 
wise  to  make  any  reduction,  or  that  it  would  be  any  material  gain  in 
economy. 

Question.  If  you  were  to  withdraw  the  artillery  from  the  coast  fortifi- 
cations, how  would  you  propose  to  take  care  of  that  public  property  ? 

Answer.  By  leaving  it  in  charge  of  the  ordnance-sergeant,  or  fort- 
keeper,  as  has  been  done  whenever  troops  have  been  withdrawn.    It 


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186  REDUCTION   OP   THE   MILITARY    ESTABLISHMENT. 

has  happened  on  many  occasions  that  the  troops  have  been  taken  from 
all  the  posts  on  the  sea-coast,  to  be  used  in  actual  war  elsewhere,  and  have 
been  away  for  one  or  two  years  at  a  time,  and  the  property  remaining 
there  has  lieen  left  in  charge  of  an  ordnance-sergeant  with  one  or  two 
men. 

Question.  Please  state  whether  the  troops,  both  cavalry  and  infantry, 
are  moved  out  from  the  forts  and  posts  in  the  interior  of  Dakota,  Kan- 
sas, and  Nebraska  to  the  neighborhood  of  the  Indians  in  the  summer, 
or  whether  the  infantry  does  not  mainly  remain  in  the  posts. 

Answer.  Numerous  parties,  sometimes  large  and  sometimes  small,  are 
sent  out  every  year  to  travel  through  the  country  in  which  the  Indians 
range,  and  to  place  themselves  in  closer  proximity  to  the  wild  bands 
than  they  would  be  in  these  posts,  and  very  frequently  temporary  camps 
are  established  at  points  near  where  the  Indians  are  expected  to  resort. 
These  parties  leave  their  heavy  baggage  and  stores  at  these  regular 
posts,  and  return  to  them  when  their  work  is  accomplished.  Cavalry  is 
universally  employed  in  this  manner;  but  when  it  cannot  be  procured 
the  infantry  is  used  in  the  same  way,  and  very  frequently  the  two  arms 
are  united  in  the  same  expedition.  For  escorting  trains  and  guarding 
herds  on  the  move  infantry  is  more  frequently  used,  and  the  cavalry  re- 
served for  rapid  movements.  There  is  an  immense  amount  of  this  work 
to  be  done,  and  the  infantry  at  posts  like  Abercrombie,  which  have  no 
military  use  themselves,  are  generally  kept  quite  busy  all  summer  on 
duty  of  this  kind.  Officers^  wives  and  the  sick  and  company  baggage 
are  left  at  the  post. 

Question.  In  the  Indian  country  where  there  are  troops  is  the  con- 
duct of  the  soldiers  prejudicial  and  demoralizing  to  the  Indians? 

Answer.  I  think  not  at  all. 

Question.  From  the  inspection  that  you  have  made  of  the  troops, 
about  what  proportion  of  them  do  you  find  unfit  for  military  duty  at 
the  various  posts  ! 

Answer.  I  never  made  any  estimate  of  it,  but  the  number  is  small. 
In  a  [healthy  locality,  usually  nearly  the  whole  command  is  fit  for  ser- 
vice all  the  time.  And  nearly  all  the  Army  is  stationed  in  healthy  re- 
gions.   Formerly  it  was  not  so. 

Question.  State  whether  the  presence  of  troops  is  not  only  necessary 
to  restrain  hostile  Indians,  but  to  protect  pea<;eable  Indians  from  the 
imposition  of  whites. 

Answer.  There  are  several  of  the  posts  that  we  spoke  of  yesterday 
that  have  been  established  with  that  view — to  prevent  peaceable  Indians 
on  the  reservations  from  being  tampered  with  by  wild  Indians,  and 
also  to  prevent  White  people  from  encroaching  on  them,  and  to  act  as  a 
sort  of  police  force  and  suppress  the  difficulties  which  would  result 
from  collisions.  The  posts  at  Fort  Wads  worth  and  Fort  Totten  are  in 
a  great  measure  intended  for  that  purpose. 

By  Mr.  Young  : 

Question.  Are  there  any  more  hostile  Indians  now  to  be  kept  in  check 
by  the  Army  than  there  were  in  1861 ! 

Answer.  There  are  not  more  of  them. 

Question.  Are  there  as  man}*  ? 

Answer.  I  do  not  think  that  the  number  of  Indians  has  materially 
decreased ;  but  the  point  is,  that  we  are  in  closer  contact  with  them 
than  ever  before.  I  think  that  in  ten  years  the  Indian  question  will  be 
all  settled.  The  Indians  will  be  so  far  suppressed  and  located  that 
there  will  be  probably  very  little  difficulty  with  them.    The  extending 


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REDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT.  187 

of  railroad  lines  tliroiigh  the  Indian  country,  and  the  pushing  out  of 
settlements  in  every  direction,  (as  they  have  gone  for  the  last  six  or 
eight  years,)  have  brought  white  people  iu  immediate  contact  with  the 
Indians,  and  that  makes  it  necessary  to  have  more  troops  than  formerly. 
If  the  late  panic  had  not  occurred,  and  the  Northern  and  Southern 
Pacific  Bailroail  lines  gone  forward,  we  would  have  wanted  considerably 
more  posts  and  more  troops.  I  doubt  whether,  even  by  taking  all  the 
troops  out  of  the  Southern  States,  there  would  have  been  enough  to  sup- 
ply the  demand  for  men.  The  Northern  Pacific  Eailroad  would  have 
required  four  or  five  additional  posts.  Two  full  regiments  of  cavalry 
and  two  regiments  of  infantry  more  than  there  are  there  now  would 
have  been  required  on  that  road.    • 

By  the  Chairman  : 

Question.  Do  you  think  that  the  Northern  Pacific  Railroad  can  be 
completed  on  the  route  proposed  without  war  with  the  Sioux  tribes! 

Answer.  Yes,  if  you  send  enough  of  soldiers. 

Question.  How  many  f 

Answer.  Two  regiments  of  cavalry  and  enough  of  infantry  to  occupy 
two  or  three  strong  posts — hardly  so  much  infantry  as  cavalry. 

By  Mr.  Young: 

Question.  What  duty  are  the  troops  in  the  South  required  to  do  f 

Answer.  I  think  simply  to  stay  in  their  quarters  until  they  are  called 
upon  by  the  civil  authorities,  by  direction  of  the  President  or  somebody 
else,  to  do  something  or  other. 

Question.  Has  there  been  any  use  for  them  within  the  last  six  or 
twelve  months! 

Answer.  You  are  better  informed  of  that  than  I  am.  I  have  not 
been  in  the  southern  country  for  more  than  a  year,  and  I  do  not  recall 
any  instance  within  that  time  where  the  troops  have  been  called  upon 
to  act.  Two  years  ago  1  was  in  Kentucky,  and  the  troops  were  chiefly 
engaged  then  in  suppressing  illicit  distilleries.  Last  year,  when  the 
Northern  Pacific  Railroad  made  its  survey,  it  was  necessary  to  get  up  a 
large  expedition  to  protect  the  surveyors,  and  then  parts  of  two  regi- 
ments of  infantry  had  to  be  sent  from  the  Department  of  the  Platte. 
If  the  troops  that  are  now  in  the  southern  country  had  been  in  the 
West  they  would  probably  have  been  used  for  that  purpose. 

By  Mr.  Hunton  : 

Question.  You  said  awhile  ago  that  the  conduct  of  the  soldiers  was 
not  prejudicial  or  demoralizing  to  the  Indians.  State  what  opportuni- 
ties you  had  to  make  observations  among  the  Indians. 

Answer.  Only  by  visiting  posts. 

Question.  You  have  not  visited  the  Indians  with  a  view  of  finding 
that  out  T 

Answer.  No,  sir ;  I  visited  the  agencies.  I  have  been  called  upon  to 
inspect  the  troops  at  Indian  agencies.  Of  course  my  stay  there  was 
not  long,  but  I  got  a  general  knowledge  of  everything  that  was  going  on. 

By  Mr.  Young  : 

Question.  Suppose  that  the  Army  was  very  much  diminished,  and 
there  should  be  an  Indian  war  or  Indian  raids,  do  you  think  that  con- 
tract troops  could  be  used  by  the  Government  with  advantage! 

Answer.  No,  sir ;  they  are  much  more  expensive.  It  takes  a  good 
while  to  organize  them,  and  after  they  are  mustered  out  they  have  a 


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188  REDUCTION    OF    THE    MILITARY    ESTABLISHMENT. 

variety  of  claims  against  the  Government,  making  them  much  more 
expensive  than  regular  troops  would  have  been. 

Question.  How  are  the  artillery  troops  generally  used  uow ;  are  they 
used  as  infantry  a  good  deal ! 

Answer.  Almost  entirely. 

Question.  Are  many  of  those  artillery  regiments  on  the  frontier  T 

Answer.  There  are  none  on  the  frontier.  With  the  exception  of  one 
or  two  batteries  in  each  regiment  the  rest  of  the  artillery  is  armed  with 
muskets.  At  present  they  are  nearly  all  at  the  forts.  I  was  an  artil- 
lery officer  ten  or  twelve  years,  and  during  most  of  that  time  a  large 
portion  of  my  regiment  was  either  in  Florida  or  Texas,  away  from  any 
access  to  guns.  For  instruction  they  sent  them  down,  every  two  or  three 
years,  to  the  school  at  old  Point  Comfort  to  practice  artillery,  and  to 
study  at  the  same  time. 

Question.  Is  not  that  school  of  artillery  a  very  expensive  establish- 
ment! 

Answer.  I  do  not  know  that  it  is.  There  are  simply  two  companies 
from  each  regiment  concentrated  there,  and  the  additional  expense  for 
a  little  material  and  for  experimental  firing  I  presume  is  not  great. 

By  Mr.  Gunckel  : 

Question.  Suppose  that  no  vacancies  were  filled  during  the  coming 
year,  what  reduction  in  the  number  and  pay  of  the  officers  would  l^ 
effected  f 

Answer.  The  amounts  could  be  readily  calculated,  with  a  near  ap- 
proach to  accuracy,  but  I  have  not  the  means  at  hand  to  make  it  now. 


Washington,  D.  C,  January  22, 1874. 

Major-deneral  Pope  appeared  before  the  committee  in  response  to  its 
invitation. 

The  Chairman.  What  has  your  command  been  within  the  last  few 
years! 

General  Pope.  I  have  commanded,  for  nearly  four  years  past,  the  mili- 
tary department  of  the  Missouri.  The  department  is  bounded  on  the  east 
by  Indiana,  on  the  west  by  Arizona  and  Utah,  on  the  north  generally 
by  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad,  and  on  the  south  by  the  Indian  Territo- 
ry, a  portion  of  which  is  within  my  command. 

The  Chairman.  State  whether  there  are  in  your  department  trouble- 
some, mischievous,  or  hostile  Indiansf 

General  Pope.  The  wild  Indians  who  infest  the  greater  part  of  the 
department  of  the  Missouri,  beginning  at  the  south,  are  the  Arapahoes 
and  Cheyennes  and  Kiowas,  and  the  Comanches  and  Apaches  of  the 
plains,  and  the  Apaches  of  New  Mexico,  on  the  south.  On  the  west 
and  northwest,  we  have  the  Navajoes  and  the  Utes.  On  the  north  of 
us  we  are  invaded  almost  every  year  by  the  northern  Cheyennes  and 
by  the  various  bands  of  Sioux  north  of  the  Platte. 

The  Chairman.  State  whether  there  is  any  danger  in  the  State  of 
Kansas  from  the  inroads  of  Indians! 

General  Pope.  They  are  in  constant  danger  of  those  Indians  who 
prowl  through  the  country,  following  the  buffaloes  in  every  direction 
that  they  go.  Frequent  attacks  have  been  made  in  years  past— not 
within  tlie  last — on  the  frontier  settlements  of  Kansas,  which  are  advanc- 
ing rapidly  toward  the  west  along  all  the  streams. 


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REDUCTION    OF   THE    MILITARY    ESTABLISHMENT.  189 

The  Chairman.  State  whether,  in  your  opinion,  any  of  the  military 
posts  in  eastern  and  in  central  Kansas  can  be  disi>eu8ed  with. 

General  Pope.  There  are  posts  that  can  be  dispensed  with,  although 
the  troops  occupying  them  cannot. 
Tbe  Chairman.  What  would  you  do  with  the  troops? 
General  Pope.  The  difficulty  about  abandoning  a  number  of  those 
small  posts,  which  are  expensive,  lies  in  the  fact  that  in  winter  we  have 
no  other  shelter  for  our  troops.  In  summer  I  keep  almost  all  the  troops 
of  the  department  in  camp.  I  keep  them  moving  about  so  as  to  cover 
these  frontier  settlements.  But  in  the  bitter  winters  they  must  have 
quarters  to  shelter  them,  and  these  small  posts  have  been  kept  on  that 
account. 

The  Chairman.  What  is  the  additional  expense  of  keeping  up  those 
posts  in  comparison  with  having  one  large  post  a  little  farther  out  on 
the  frontier  f 

General  Pope.  The  keeping  up  these  small  posts  involves,  no  doubt, 
a  ver>  great  expense,  a  good  deal  of  which  might  be  saved  by  keeping 
the  troo[>s  at  larger  posts. 

The  Chairman.  Have  you  any  plan  to  suggest  by  which  the  troops 
can  be  stationed  more  conveniently  to  the  field  of  operations,  and  with 
more  economy  to  the  Government! 

General  Pope.  I  have  stated  a  plan,  and  urged  it  for  the  last  three 
years,  which  you  will  find  in  my  annual  reports;  a  plan  for  a  consolida- 
tion of  the  small  posts  into  one  or  two  lar£:e  posts,  and  to  dispose  in 
some  way  or  other  of  the  posts  and  reservations  that  would  be  aban- 
doned. 
The  Chairman.  Where  would  you  concentrate  them  f 
General  Pope.  In  my  opinion  no  more  than  two  posts  are  needed  in 
place  of  the  five,  six,  or  seven  posts  that  there  are  at  present  in  that 
portion  of  the  country.    These  I  think  should  be  Fort  Dodge,  on  the 
Arkansas,  in  Kansas,  and  Fort  Lyon,  on  the  same  river,  in  Colorado. 
Those  forts  are  there  on  purpose  to  interpose,  along  the  line  of  the 
Atchison,    Topeka  and  Santa  F6  Railroad    Company,   between   the 
Kiowas,  Comanches,  Arapahoes,  and  Cheyennes,  and  those  settlements 
in  Colorado  and  Kansas.    These  two  forts  would  be  sufficient  for  the 
troops  needed  in  winter  in  that  immediate  section,  (when  alone  they 
need  shelter,)  because  it  is  better  for  the  troops,  as  well  as  for  the 
service,   to  keep  them  in  camp  all  the  summer,  where  they  are  in 
better  health,  in  better  condition,  and  are  better  satisfied.    I  would 
not  be  very  particular   about  where  the  rest  of  the  troops  needed 
for   summer   service  were   wintered.     I   would   as  soon    have   them 
at  Fort  Riley,  or  even  at  Fort  Leavenworth.    The  services  of  these 
troops  is  very  rarely  needed  in  winter  out  on  the  plains  in  the  vicinity 
of  the  present  posts.     The  Indians,  both  north  and  south,  generally 
retire  to  the  wooded  country,  either  very  far  north  or  south  during  the 
winter  season ;  they  are  not  able  to  live  upon  the  plains,  and  it  is  not 
until  the  grass  grows  sufficiently  in  the  spring  to  subsist  the  anim  ils 
that  the  Indians  venture  into  that  country  at  all.    If  we  had  the  larger 
part  of  the  troops  that  we  need  for  the  service  at  some  central  point, 
we  can  with  our  railroad  facilities  put  them  out  upon  the  plains  in  time 
to  prevent  an  advance  of  the  Indians  upon  the  settlements,  so  that  the 
expense  of  transporting  supplies  and  maintaining  troops  at  those  remote 
posts  during  the  winter,  when  they  are  not  wanted,  would  be  entirely 
saved  by  having  them  at  some  central  place,  like  Leavenworth,  where 
they  can  be  cheaply  subsisted,  and  from  which  they  can  be  sent  to  the 
plains  in  the  summer. 


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190  REDUCTION    OF   THE   MILITARY    ESTABLISHMENT. 

The  Chairman.  State  whether  any  considerable  amount  of  expense 
would  be  attendant  on  moving  them  so  far  to  the  rear,  or  whether  you 
think  that  one  or  two  large  posts  had  better  be  made  rather  out  toward 
the  front. 

GENERAL  Pope.  The  expense  of  moving  them  would  be  trifling, 
because  the  troops  can  be  marched  in.  There  is  no  trouble  about  that. 
The  expense  attending  this  would  be  all  at  the  beginning,  and  that 
would  be  in  building  the  necessary  quarters  to  shelter  the  troops  during 
the  winter. 

The  Chairman.  What  character  of  quarters  would  you  build  ! 

General  Pope.  The  kind  of  quarters  would  depend  entirely  upon 
Congress. 

The  Chairman.  What  would  you  suggest  f 

General  Pope.  I  will  tell  you  what  we  have.  I  believe  that  the  re- 
servation at  Fort  Leavenworth  would  be  necessary  to  be  occupied  fw  a 
good  many  years  yet,  for  various  purposes  and  for  various  reasons,  even 
for  some  time  after  the  Indian  question  might  be  considered  settled, 
(which  is  still  a  thing  in  the  future.)  If  I  had  my  way  about  it,  I  would 
prefer  to  build  substantial  quarters,  which  would  last,  and  which  could 
be  sold  by  the  Government  when  the  Government  ceased  to  occupy 
them.  I  would  have  those  quarters  so  built,  that  when  it  became  time 
for  the  Government  to  dispose  of  the  reservation  and  of  the  quarters, 
they  would  be  in  such  shape  that  they  could  be  made  use  of  by  citi- 
zens. The  trouble  about  the  frail  frame  shanties  and  buildings  of  that 
kind,  which  are  being  put  up  with  the  appropriations  that  we  get,  is 
(setting  aside  for  the  moment  the  discomfort  of  the  men  and  officers)  in 
fact,  that  they  do  not  last  more  than  a  very  few  years,  and  that  they 
require  continual  repairs.  My  own  opinion  is,  that  in  the  course  of  ten 
years  the  repairs  on  one  of  those  miserable  posts  would  cost  enough  to 
build  a  post  that  would  last  fifty  years.  In  point  of  fact,  we  have  at 
Fort  Leavenworth  now,  where  my  own  headquarters  are,  the  ordinary 
log  buildings  ;  we  are  still  occupying  the  buildings  that  were  put  up 
there  in  1829 — the  old  log  buildings,  which  are  really  the  best  we  have. 

The  Chairman.  Some  propositions  are  before  Congress  to  consolidate 
the  Indian  Department  with  the  War  Department;  in  view  of  your  ex- 
perience with  the  Indians,  we  should  like  to  have  your  views  as  to  the 
better  management  of  the  Indians,  whether  by  the  War  Department  or 
by  the  Interior  Department  f 

General  Pope.  In  answer  to  that  question  I  will  state  that  seven  or 
eight  years  ago  I  was  very  much  in  favor  of  the  transfer  of  the  Indian 
Bureau  to  the  control  of  the  War  Department,  and  I  have,  in  various 
official  communications,  by  personal  letters  and  in  conversation  with 
those  having  authority  over  the  matter,  urged  that  transfer  to  be  made. 
Since  that  time,  however,  the  larger  part,  if  not  all  of  the  dishonest 
agents  and  their  followers  who  infested  the  frontier,  and  had  so  infested 
it  for  fifty  years,  who  by  virtue  of  making  treaties  with  the  Indians,  had 
the  disbursements  of  large  sums  of. money  and  of  great  quantities  of 
goods,  and  had  thus  rendered  themselves  and  their  followers  more  or 
less  rich  by  plundering  both  the  Indians  and  the  Government,  and 
whose  theory  of  the  true  condition  of  things  in  the  Indian  cimntry 
w^as  that  we  should  have  a  war  one  day  and  a  treaty  of  peace  the  next, 
have  been  got  rid  of.  While  such  a  condition  of  things  obtained 
on  the  [>lains  I  was  in  favor  of  having  the  Indian  Bureau  transferred  to 
the  War  Department ;  but  since  the  present  policy  has  been  in  opera- 
tion I  have  noticed  a  very  decided  improvement  in  the  condition  of 
things  on  the  frontier,  both  as  to  peacetulness  with  the  Indian  tribes 


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REDUCTION   OP   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT.  191 

and  as  to  honesty  in  the  administration  of  the  Indian  Bureau  ;  and  I 
believe  that  by  the  selection  of  proper  military  officers  and  of  judicious 
men  as  superintendents  and  agents  to  the  Indians,  such  harmony  of 
action  and  such  considerate  good  feeling  towards  each  other  might  be 
established  as  to  render  it  next  to  certain  that  in  due  time,  certainly  as 
soon  as  can  be  reasonably  expected,  the  Indian  problem  which  we  have 
before  us  will  be,  if  not  entirely  solved,  in  such  a  condition  that  it  will  no 
longer  be  a  source  of  anxiety  and  uneasiness  to  the  frontier  settlements  or 
to  the  Government.  Of  course,  where  men  of  such  different  professions  as 
military  and  civil.officials,aud  of  such  different  temperaments,  are  brought 
into  contact,  and  discharge  such  delicate  duties  as  devolve  upon  each  of 
them,  there  must  of  necessity  be  at  times  and  under  special  circum- 
stances more  or  less  of  ditficulty ;  but  while  it  makes  a  good  deal  of 
noise,  and  involves  at  times  not  overwise  controversies  officially,  I 
consider,  on  the  whole,  that  the  progress  that  has  been  made  in  the 
settlement  of  the  Indian  question  satisfactory,  and  gives  a  fair  pros- 
pect for  complete  success  in  the  future.  I  therefore  believe  that  it  is 
better  to  leave  the  Indian  Bureau  to  be  managed  as  it  has  been  man- 
aged  for  the  last  four  years.  Much  of  the  good,  if  not  all  that  we  can 
hope  for,  depends  on  the  judicious  selection  both  of  the  civil  officers  of 
the  Indian  Bureau  and  ot  the  military  commanders  who  are  brought 
into  official  contact  and  official  relations  with  them  ;  and  that  is  a  mat- 
ter within  the  power  of  the  Executive  Department  of  the  Government 
to  regulate.  I  would  say  in  addition  to  that,  that  of  coarse,  as  a  gen- 
eral rule,  the  fewer  heads  of  administration  that  we  have  to  deal  with 
the  same  question  the  better ;  but  I  am  not  certain  that  that  theory 
would  be  sound  in  this  special  case.  As  a  matter  of  economy,  (without 
regard  to  other  circumstances,)  there  is  no  doubt  at  all  that  the  transfer 
of  the  Indian  Bureau  to  the  War  Department  would  accomplish  a  con- 
siderable saving  by  eliminating  all  the  civil  officials,  and  by  having  as 
disbursing  officers  agents  and  superintendents  who  would  receive  no 
pay  except  the  compensation  they  now  receive  as  officers  of  the  Army. 
But  it  seems  to  me  there  are  other  questions  involved  in  the  matter  of 
more  importance  than  the  mere  question  of  economy. 

The  Chairman.  In  your  judgment,  would  or  would  not  the  present 
management  of  the  system  tend  to  avoid  future  hostilities  with  the  In- 
dians more  than  if  the  control  were  given  to  the  Army  exclusively  ? 

General  Pope.  My  answer  to  that  is,  that  there  are  no  men  in  the 
country  who  are  so  emphatically  peace  men,  so  far  as  Indians  are  con- 
cerned, as  the  officers  and  soldiers  of  the  United  States  Army.  Their 
lives  are  passed  in  that  forlorn,  desolate  country,  insufficiently  sheltered, 
with  nothing  whatever  of  what  is  agreeable  in  life  around  them,  and 
with  the  bare  necessities  of  existence  and  shelter  from  storms  furnished 
to  them — many  of  them  with  no  prospect  of  having  their  families  with 
them,  separated  from  their  wives  and  children,  (some  of  them  being 
years  serving  in  that  remote  country,)  and  with  no  prospect  of  being 
able  to  go  to  them  so  long  as  any  hostilities  exist  among  the  Indians  in 
the  neighborhood  where  they  are  stationed.  They  are  bound  by  every 
interest  and  consideration  that  ciin  influence  men  to  preserve  the  peace. 
A  state  of  war  means  for  them  continual  and  harassing  service.  On 
the  one  side  denounced  by  the  worthy  people  of  the  East,  who  have  but 
small  understanding  of  the  condition  of  affairs  on  the  frontier,  if  they  do 
anything  to  hurt  an  Indian,  and  denounced  on  the  other  side  at  the 
West  by  the  western  men  if  they  do  not  hurt  the  Indians,  they  are,  of 
all  men,  in  the  most  unhappy  and  unfortunate  condition.  Peace  to  them 
Mieans  association  with  their  wives  and  children.    It  means  freedom 


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192  EEDUCTION    OF    THE    MILITARY    ESTABLISHMENT. 

from  contiimal  exposure  and  hardship ;  and  it  means,  what  perhaps  is 
quite  as  valuable  to  them,  freedom  from  outrageous  and  unjustifiable 
slander.  There  is,  therefore,  I  say,  no  set  of  men  who  are  more  in  favor 
of  peace  with  the  Indians,  and  of  preserving  it,  and  doinp^  all  they  ran 
to  make  it,  than  the  officers  and  soldiers  of  the  United  States  Army. 

The  ('HAIRMAN.  State  whether  the  military  force  ought  to  be  in- 
creased in  the  neighborhood  of  the  Indiaus,  or  whether  there  is  suffi- 
cient lorce  there  now. 

General  Pope.  I  can  only  speak  in  regard  to  my  own  department ; 
that  is,  I  should  only  like  to  do  so.  That  it  is  my  duty  to  uiiderstand  ; 
the  other  I  should  never  give  an  opinion  about  that  can  be  better  given 
by  those  having  immediate  charge.  I  think  I  have  troops  enough  for 
my  own  department.  I  have  asked  for  no  more,  and  I  shall  ask  for  no 
more.  By  using  them  as  I  have  used  them,  and  as  I  shall  continue  to 
use  them,  acting  in  perfect  harmony  with  the  civil  authorities  of  Kan- 
sas, Colorado,  New  Mexico,  and  all  the  officials  of  the  Indian  Bureau, 
we  have  a  comparative  peace  with  us,  and  I  hope  to  maintain  it. 

The  CHAniMAN.  Have  you  visited  all  parts  of  your  department  ? 

General  Pope.  Yes,  sir;  not  only  since  I  have  had  command,  but 
before  the  war. 

The  Chairman.  Have  yon  any  apprehension  of  hostilities  from  the 
Indians  of  New  Mexico  f 

General  Pope.  They  are  always  in  what  is  called  war  there ;  that 
is,  they  are  always  plundering  and  stealing,  and  when  they  get  a  chance 
to  shoot  a  Mexican  herder  or  a  traveler  they  do  so,  although  their  main 
purpose  is  to  steal  rather  than  to  make  war. 

The  Chairman.  How  are  those  Indiaus  in  your  department  armed  f 

General  Pope.  They  have  as  good  arms  as  we  have. 

The  Chairman.  Do  you  know  how  they  got  them  ? 

General  Pope.  No,  sir. 

The  Chairman.  Do  you  know  of  any  way  to  prevent  their  getting 
these  arms,  or  could  yon  prevent  it ! 

General  Pope.  I  think  if  we  had  authority  to  prevent  it  we  could 
prevent  it.  I  will  undertake  to  prevent  it  in  my  own  department  if  I 
am  authorized. 

The  Chairman.  Can  they  not  get  arms  from  the  storekeepers  and 
traders  I 

General  Pope.  According  to  my  idea  storekeepers  and  traders  should 
not  be  permitted  to  go  there.  I  think  that  the  curse  of  the  Indian 
tribes  is  that  they  have  traders  there. 

The  Chairman.  By  what  authority  do  the  traders  go  there  ! 

General  Pope.  I  presume  by  authority  of  the  Interior  Department. 
It  is  not  by  authority  of  the  military. 

The  Chairman.  Do  not  some  of  these  Indians  go  to  the  settlements 
and  trade  there  1 

General  Pope.  They  cannot  buy  arms  there  except  they  come  very 
far  eastward  into  the  towns  and  cities,  and  they  never  do  that.  So  far 
Irom  the  settlements  having  arms  to  sell,  they  are  trying  to  get  arms 
themselves  from  the  Government. 

The  Chairman.  Have  the  Indians  metallic  ammunition! 

General  Pope.  Yes ;  they  understand  all  about  these  small-arms  as 
well  as  we  do.  They  have  as  long-range  arms  a«  we  have.  I  do  not  say 
that  they  have  as  good  arms,  because  they  cannot  get  them  from  the 
Government  arsenals  as  we ;  but  they  have  the  rifled  breech-loading 
arms. 

Mr.  Albright.  What  force  have  you  in  your  command  t 


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REDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT.  193 

General  Pope.  Three  regiments  of  infantry  and  two  of  cavalry. 
Mr.  Albright.  Can  yon  safely  dispense  with  any  portion  of  yonr 
command  f 

General  Pope.  I  do  not  think  so.  The  men  are  taxed  to  the  utmost 
they  can  do.  I  have  already  within  a  year  or  two  sent  off  one  regi- 
ment or  so.  I  have  been  able  to  spare  them  for  service  somewhere  else ; 
but  we  are  rednced  now  to  what  1  consider  the  smallest  limit  that  we 
can  ^et  along  with  safety  to  the  settlements. 

Mr.  Albright.  Some  of  your  i^egiments  have  been  in  that  country 
for  a  good  while  ! 

General  Pope.  Some  of  them  have  been  there  a  long  time.  There 
isoTie  regiment  there  that  has  been  in  that  region  of  country  ever  since 
1860. 

Mr.  Albright.  Is  there  any  reason  why  that  regiment  has  not  been 
changed  to  some  other  part  of  the  country  f 

General  Pope.  The  only  reason  that  I  know  of  is  the  matter  of  expense. 
That  is  one  of  the  difficulties  we  labor  under — that  a  regiment,  once 
fixed  in  an  unfortunate  situation,  will  have  to  serve  there  for  years 
without  a  change,  because  it  is  not  considered  wise  to  undergo  the  ex- 
pense of  changing  regiments  merely  for  the  sake  of  change, 

Mr.  Albright.  What  is  the  extent  of  the  military  reservation  at 
Fort  Leavenworth  now  ? 
General  Pope.  Something  «hort  of  6,000  acres. 
Mr.  Albiiight.  If  you  were  to  make  Leavenworth  a  permanent  post 
would  you  also  recommend  Fort  liiley  as  another! 
General  Pope.  1  do  not  think  we  want  Fort  Riley  at  all. 
Mr.  Albright.  Is  the  presence  of  troops  prejudicial  and  demoral- 
izing to  Indians  f 

General  Pope.  I  should  trust  not.  I  should  say,  on  the  contrary, 
that  when  the  Indians  have  troops  near  them  they  have  much  better 
associations  than  when  they  have  not  them.  There  is  no  question  about 
it.  I  take  it  for  granted  that  the  troops  are  much  better  associates  for 
the  Indians,  under  any  circumstances,  than  those  horse-thieves  and 
ruffians  who  infest  the  frontier  and  the  general  run  of  traders  among 
tiiem. 

Mr.  MacDougall.  How  will  the  officers  and  soldiers  of  the  Army 
compare,  in  a  moral  sense,  with  the  agents  and  employes  of  the  Indian 
Bureau  f 

General  Pope.  I  should  not  care  to  undertake  that  comparison.  I 
only  hope  that  the  officers  and  soldiers  of  the  Army  have  a  higher 
moral  standard  than  some  of  the  people  whom  I  see  in  constant  associa- 
tion with  the  Indians.  The  Army  is  certainly  the  equal,  in  point  of 
moral  character,  of  the  community  out  there. 

The  Chairman.  Can  yon  make  any  suggestion  as  to  a  more  economical 
management  of  your  command  in  connection  with  the  Quartermaster's 
Department! 

General  Pope.  I  have  very  strong  convictions  on  that  subject,  but 
they  are  merely  opinions,  and  probably  would  not  be  concurred  in  here. 
The  Chairman.  State  whether  or  not  the  expenditures  made  in  the 
different  njilitary  departments  should  or  should  not  be  made  under  the 
immediate  control  of  the  department  commander,  as  a  matter  of  economy 
and  policy. 

General  Pope.  I  think  there  is  no  question  about  it. 
The  Chairman.  State  to  the  committee  how  you  suppose  it  would 
operate,  and  how  the  present  mode  operates. 
General  Pope.  Thus:  Some  mouths  before  the  beginning  of  the  fiscal 

13  M  E 

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194  REDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT. 

year,  each  department  commander  is  required  to  forward  estimates  for 
tbe  service  of  his  department  for  the  year.  He  calls  upon  the  post  ex)ui- 
manders  in  his  department,  who,  with  the  aid  of  the  quartermasters  and 
commissaries  and  such  other  officers,  forward  their  estimates  for  their  par- 
ticular branches.  These  are  all  forwarded  to  the  department  headquar- 
ters, and  are  there  examined  carefully  by  the  department  commander 
and  the  general  staff  serving  with  him;  and  they  make  such  additions 
for  general  contingencies  as  may  be  necessary  to  complete  the  estimates. 
These  estimates  are  made  very  much  in  detail,  so  as  to  cover  every  thing. 
They  are  then  forwarded  to  Washington,  and  are  consolidated,  I  pre- 
sume, at  the  War  Department.  They  furnish  the  basis  of  the  estimates 
of  the  War  Department  for  the  necessary  appropriations  of  Congress, 
and  Congress  makes  such  appropriations  as  it  pleases.  In  my  judgment 
it  would  be  wise,  when  that  is  done,  to  send  to  each  department  that 
proportion  of  the  money  that  is  appropnated  by  Congress  to  be  applied 
to  the  specific  purpose  for  which  it  is  designed,  under  the  direction  of 
the  department  and  post  commanders,  and  for  the  use  of  which  money 
they  are  directly  responsible  Under  these  circumstances  there  would 
be  no  deficiency ;  there  could  be  none.  The  money  would  be  applied  to 
the  exact  purposes  for  which  it  was  asked. 

The  Chairman.  State  whether  or  not,  in  your  judgment,  all  of  the 
artillery  that  is  now  used  in  the  occupation  of  sea-coast  fortifications  is 
required  for  that  purpose,  or  whether  it  could  not  be  better  posted  some- 
where else. 

General  Pope.  J  am  but  imperfectly  acquainted  with  the  reasons  that 
have  prompted  the  occupation  of  these  sea-coast  fortifications  by  these 
regiments  of  artillery  5  but,  in  point  of  fact,  except  the  batteries,  they 
are  simply  infantry.  I  should  think,  however,  so  far  as  1  have  any 
knowledge  oa  the  subject,  that  some  of  those  regiments,  at  least,  would 
be  serviceable  on  the  frontier. 

The  Chairman.  In  your  judgment,  could  or  could  not  those  fortified 
places  be  occupied  and  preserved  by  soldiers  of  the  Engineer  and  Ord- 
nance Department  ? 

General  Pope.  I  should  think  so. 

The  Chairman.  Have  you  any  knowledge  of  the  importance  of  keep- 
ing military  in  the  South  ? 

General  Pope.  I  have  not. 

The  Chairman.  Stata  whether  the  presence  of  infantry  or  artillery 
on  the  lakes  seems  to  be  necessary  for  any  military  reason. 

General  Pope.  I  understand  the  infantry  regiment  that  is  there  to 
have  been  brought  there  on  account  of  very  long  service  in  New  Or- 
leans and  on  the  Texas  coast,  where  it  suffered  very  much  from  yellow 
fever,  and  wa«  extremely  reduced  in  number  and  condition.  It  was 
simply  a  relief  from  that  service. 

Mr.  Albright.  State  whether  a  force  on  our  frontier  or  boundary  is 
not  desirable  on  account  of  possible  incursions  or  raids. 

General  Pope.  I  have  no  doubt  that  it  is  judicious  to  keep  a  small 
force  along  the  Canadian  frontier.  It  has  been  always  done,  and  it 
serves  several  purposes.  It  sometimes  enables  them  to  give  relief  to 
regiments  that  have  had  very  hard  service. 

Mr.  MacDougall.  Have  you  ever  known  of  ordnance  sergeants  be- 
ing put  on  guard-duty  at  forts  ? 

General  Pope.  Never.  The  ordnance  sergeants  have  no  connection 
with  the  Ordnance  Department.  They  serve  at  military  posts  under  the 
order  of  the  post  commander.  They  are  called  ordnance  sergeants  be- 
cause they  have  charge  of  the  ammunition. 


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REDUCTION   OP  THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT.  195 

Mr.  Albright.  In  connection  with  the  artillery  and  their  occup3ing 
the  forts  on  the  sea-coast,  you  would  recommend  that  they  be  trans- 
ferred f 

General  Pope.  O,  no;  I  would  not  recommend  it.  I  do  not  recom- 
mend anything.  All  that  I  mean  to  say  is,  that  I  was  imperfectly  in- 
formed of  the  reasons  that  keep  them  there  and  that  they  could  cer- 
tainly be  of  service  on  the  frontier.  Whether  they  could  be  sent  there 
or  not  is  another  question. 

Mr.  ALBRiaHT.  Would  they  be  of  service  as  artillerists  I 

General  Pope.  They  do  not  serve  as  artillerists ;  they  are  drilled  and 
serve  as  infantry. 

Mr.  Albright.  They  are  kept  at  these  posts  as  a  sort  of  artillery- 
school  t 

General  Pope.  No  ;  I  do  not  think  that  is  so,  although  I  suppose 
they  are  instructed  in  large  artillery  i^ractice. 

Mr.  Albright.  The  point  is  whether  their  service  can  be  dispensed 
with  at  these  very  forts  and  fortifications  along  the  sea-coasts,  without 
having  their  places  taken  by  other  troops. 

General  Pope.  That  is  precisely  a  question  which  I  am  not  able  to 
answer.    I  do  not  undertake  to  say  whether  they  are  necessary  or  not. 

Tlie  Chairman.  State  whether  or  not  Indians  who  have  committed 
wrongs  and  outrages  on  the  whites  have  tied  to  their  own  reservations 
and  have  been  there  sheltered. 

General  Pope.  They  go  there.  Whether  they  are  protected  or  not  I 
cannot  say.    The  military  is  not  allowed  to  go  in  on  the  reservations. 

The  Chairman.  Is  it  possible  to  arrest  or  punish  these  criminals  f 

General  Pope.  Not  unless  the  Indian  Bureau  chooses  to  do  so. 

The  Chairman.  Has  there  been  any  conflict  on  that  subject  f 

General  Pope.  There  has  been  no  conflict,  because  the  military  has 
not  got  on  the  reservations. 

The  Chairman.  Has  there  been  any  difficulty  about  that! 

General  Pope.  There  has  been  a  good  deal  of  talk  about  it. 

The  Chairman.  Do  you  think  any  arrangement  can  be  made  which 
would  better  the  present  condition  of  affairs  by  allowing  the  military 
force  to  go  on  the  reservations  and  arrest  offenders  f 

General  Pope.  My  impression  is  that  whatever  is  done  on  Indian  res- 
ervations had  always  better  be  done  by  the  Indian  Bureau. 

Question.  Please  state  whether  you  have  examined  the  new  regula- 
tions, and  give  the  committee  your  opinion  concerning  them. 

Answer.  I  have  not  had  the  time  to  examine  the  proposed  new  regu- 
lations of  the  Array,  but  I  am  well  satisfied  that,  as  the  act  of  Congress 
directing  them  to  be  made  required  that  they  should  conform  to  exist- 
ing laws,  they  cannot  be  much,  if  any,  improvement  upon  the  present 
regulations,  and  uinst  therefore  prove  unsatisfactory.  It  is  in  the  laws 
themselves,  general  and  special,  made  at  various  times  and  for  various 
special  contingencies  as  they  arose,  within  the  last  sixty  or  seventy 
years,  that  the  trouble  and  inefficiency  of  our  present  regulations  are 
to  be  found.  Any  regulations  now  made  in  conformity  to  existing  laws 
mast  be  nearly  a  reproduction  of  those  now  in  existence.  It  is  in  these 
very  laws,  full  of  confusion  and  contradictory  of  each  other,  the  neces- 
sary consequence  of  so  much  and  such  long  continued  legislation,  that 
wefind  the  source  of  our  present  unsatisfactory  Army  Regulations. 

If  it  be  designed  to  make  new  regulations  suited  for  the  administra- 
tion of  the  Army  now,  it  would  seem  wisdom  to  organize  a  board  of 
(officers  of  rank  and  standing  who  are  perfectly  acquainted,  through 
their  own  experience  in  command,  with  the  evils  of  the  present  regula- 


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196  REDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY    ESTABLISHMENT. 

tions,  and  who  (with  those  under  their  command)  directly  suffer  or 
benefit  by  Aruiy  administration,  to  make  regulations  for  the  Army, 
such  as  are  best  suited  to  its  necessities,  without  being  restricted  by 
existing  laws.  Such  regulations,  so  made,  will  effect  the  desired  pur- 
pose, and  modified  as  Congress  may  choose,  and  then  enacted  into  law, 
would,  I  think,  prove  satisfactory  to  all  concerned,  and  beneficial  to  the 
public  interests. 

Question.  In  case  a  reduction  of  the  Army  must  be  made,  in  what 
way  will  you  carry  it  out ! 

Answer.  I  would  not  undertake  to  say  in  what  department  of  the 
Army  the  reduction  deemed  necessary  by  Congress  should  be  made.  I 
perfer  to  state  that,  in  my  opinion,  it  ought  not  to  be  made  in  the  rank 
and  file  of  the  regiments  of  the  line,  who  are  already  taxed  to  the  full 
extent  that  common  humanity  would  justify. 


WASHiNaTON,  D.  C,  January  22,  1874. 

Examination  of  William  Yandever. 
By  the  Chairman  : 

Question.  State  what  oflBcial  connection  you  have  at  present  and 
have  had  with  the  Government  in  connection  with  Indiau  affairs 
within  the  last  year. 

Answer.  Since  the  first  of  July  last  I  have  been  United  States  Indian 
inspector. 

Question.  At  what  posts  in  the  West  have  you  inspected  Indian 
affairs  f 

Answer.  During  the  past  summer  and  fall  I  visited  all  the  Indian 
reservations  and  agencies  in  Arizona  and  New  Mexico. 

Question.  State  the  condition  of  the  Indians  in  Arizona  as  to  their 
disposition  of  hostility  or  mischief  toward  the  whites. 

Answer.  There  is  a  very  great  difference  between  Indians  in  Arizona. 
The  Apaches  are  the  most  prominent  and  important  Indians  in  Arizona. 
They  are  the  wildest  Indians,  and  those  who  have  occasioned  the  Gov- 
ernment the  most  trouble. 

Question.  How  has  the  present  Indian  management  succeeded  with 
them  I 

Answer.  I  had  no  knowledge  of 'the  condition  of  things  prior  to  my 
visit  to  them,  and  I  can  only  infer  from  what  I  observed  in  visiting 
those  reservations.  Those  Indians  on  reservations  were  all  quiet  and 
peaceable  when  I  passed  through  the  country,  though  within  a  little 
more  than  a  year  past  they  had  been  committing  depredations  very 
constantly,  especially  on  the  Cochise  or  Ghiracahui  reservation,  in  the 
southeastern  corner  of  Arizona. 

Question.  Do  these  Apaches  live  mainly  or  entirely  in  the  United 
States  f 

Answer.  These  Chiracahui  Indians  live  entirely  in  the  United  States. 

Question.  What  are  these  Apaches  doing  now  I  Do  they  stay  on 
reservations,  or  are  they  scattered  around  hunting  and  marauding  t 

Answer.  1  think  the  large  majority  of  them  remain  quiet  on  reserva- 
tions. There  are  some  of  them  who  are  rather  lawless,  and  range  out- 
side of  the  reservation.  But  the  Apaches  have  not  been  committing 
many  depredations  recently  on  the  American  side.  They  have  done  so 
more  over  in  Mexico.    Since  General  Howard  made  his  arrangemeuts 


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REDUCTION    OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT.  197 

with  Cochise  the  summer  before  last,  these  Indians  have  kept  peace 
along  the  principal  line  of  travel  from  Colorado  to  the  valley  of  the  Rio 
Grande,  and  nobody  has  been  molested. 

Question.  Where  was  the  theater  of  hostilities  in  which  General 
Crook  operated  1 

Answer.  All  along  the  southern  line  in  Arizona. 

Question.  Did  you  meet  these  Apaches  personally  ? 

Answer.  Yes ;  I  was  on  the  reservation  and  met  Cochise  himself,  and 
had  conferences  with  him. 

Question.  Are  they  armed  f 

Answer.  Yes. 

Question.  What  sort  of  arms  have  they  I 

Answer.  They  have  got  a  good  many  United  States  guns  among 
them. 

Question.  How  are  they  supplied  with  ammunition  f 

Answer,  They  are  rather  imperfectly  supplied  with  ammunition. 

Question.  Are  their  arms  of  recent  pattern  ? 

Answer.  Some  of  them  are  of  recent  pattern. 

Question.  Did  you  make  any  inquiries  as  to  how  they  got  their  arms  ! 

Answer.  They  probably  have  npt  acquired  any  arms  within  a  year 
or  so ;  but  prior  to  that  time  they  used  sometimes  to  capture  United 
States  soldiers,  and  they  got  arms  in  that  way.  The  governor  of  Ari- 
zona told  me  that  a  great  many  of  the  arms  that  had  been  sent  to  the 
Territory  for  distribution  and  placed  in  the  hands  of  citizens  had  fallen 
into  the  hands  of  the  Indians.  That  was  when  hostilities  were  pretty 
active  on  their  part. 

Question.  Do  you  know  whether  any  Indian  traders  have  been  fur- 
nishing the  Indians  with  arms  or  ammunition  ? 

Answer.  I  found  no  indication  or  evidence  of  that.  There  are  certain 
points  in  Mexico  to  which  these  Indians  go  for  the  purpose  of  trade, 
and  they  can  get  the  arms  there. 

Question.  How  many  warriors  are  there  among  the  Apaches  ? 

Answer.  I  do  not  think  that  there  are  over  300  warriors  on  the  Co- 
chise reservation. 

Question.  How  many  are  there  at  the  other  posts  f 

Answer.  The  otUer  Apaches  are  considerably  more  peaceable. 

Question.  How  many  Indians  are  there  in  the  Whitev  Mountain  reser- 
vation f 

Answer.  The  Indian  agent  has  been  feeding  1,479  Indians  there. 
There  are  probably  as  many  as  2,000  Apaches  who  would  be  entitled  to 
subsistence  on  that  White  Mountain  reservation,  but  they  do  not  all 
come  in. 

Question.  How  many  are  there  on  the  Tulerosa  reservation  ? 

Answer.  About  600. 

Question.  Are  they  all  fed? 

Answer.  No.  At  the  time  I  was  there  the  agent  was  feeding  only 
about  200  of  them,  though  he  had  fed  as  high  as  000 ;  but  at  the  time 
I  was  there  many  of  them  were  off  the  reservation. 

Question.  How  many  are  there  at  Camp  Verdi? 

Answer.  There  are  2,000  Indians  belonging  to  that  reservation. 

Question.  Are  they  warlike  I 

Answer.  No,  sir ;  they  are  quiet  and  peaceable. 

Question.  Has  the  agent  fed  that  number  regularly  f 

Answer.  No ;  I  think  the  agent  reported  to  me  that  he  was  not  feed- 
ing over  1,000  when  I  was  there. 


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198  REDUCTION   OF    THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT. 

Question.  Have  you  stated  how  many  were  on  the  Chiracahni  reser- 
vation ? 

Answer.  One  thousand  six  hundred. 

Question.  Have  that  many  been  fed  there? 

Answer.  Yes ;  the  agent  there  has  issued  as  high  as  2,000  rations  ? 

Question.  Can  you  state  to  the  committee  the  cost  of  these  rations  ?  • 

Answer,  My  estimate  is  that  it  costs  some  25  cents  a  day  for  tlie  rations 
of  every  Indian  in  Arizona,  but  all  the  Indians  do  not  come  regularly  for 
rations.  Even  those  who  are  peaceable  do  not  come  in  so  long  as  there 
is  plenty  of  muscal  and  game  to  be  had.  Muscal  is  a  vegetable  which 
grows  in  the  mountain  regions  of  that  country.  The  inner  part  of  it  is 
very  solid,  and  the  Indians  are  very  fond  of  it.  It  is  nutritious  and 
sweet.  It  is  a  sort  of  semi-tropical  production,  something  like  a  cabbage, 
but  diflfertnt  in  its  flavor. 

Question.  Is  there  much  game  there  f 

Answer.  There  is  not  a  great  deal  of  game.  There  is  some  deer. 
There  are  no  streams  in  which  the  Indians  can  fish  till  they  get  to  the 
Gila. 

Question.  Have  you  made  an  estimate  as  to  the  cost  of  maintaining 
those  Indians  in  Arizona  I 

Answer.  I  have  not  made  any  estimate  of  the  aggregate  cost.  I  have 
estimated  in  my  own  mind  that  the  cost,  per  cajntay  of  subsisting  those 
Indians  on  the  reservation  is  about  25  cents  a  day.  On  the  White 
iVIountain  reservation  it  is  probably  not  more  than  20  cents  a  day.  At 
some  periods  of  the  year  the  Indians  come  in  pretty  generally  to  re- 
ceive rations.  At  other  seasons  only  portions  of  them  come.  Some 
of  them  never  have  been  in,  but  tlie  number  of  Indians  receiving  rations 
is  increasing  from  month  to  month. 

Question.  Tlieu  you  have  never  made  the  calculation  as  to  the  annual 
cost  of  feeding  these  Indians  I 

Answer.  On  the  Chiracaliue  reservation  the  1,600  Indians  may  draw 
rations,  which,  at  25  cents  per  ration,  would  make  $400  a  day,  and  multi- 
plying that  by  365  days  would  make  $146,000  a  year.  On  the  Tulerosa 
reservation  they  are  feeding  600  Itidians  at  25  cents  a  day,  which  would 
be  8150a  day,  or  $54,750  a  year.  On  the  White  Mountain  reserva- 
ti(m  they  are  ieeding  1,500  Indians,  but  the  rations  there  do  not  cost 
])robably  over  20  cents  a  day,  which  would  be  probUbly  $300  a  day,  or 
S  109,500  a  year.'  Camp  Verde  is  one  of  the  expensive  reservations,  as 
lliey  have  to  bring  in  their  supplies  from  the  Colorado  Eiver,  and  I  cal- 
culate the  rations  there  at  25  cents  a  day.  There  are  1,000  Indians 
being  fed  there,  which  would  make  the  cost  $250  a  day,  or  $91,250  a 
year. 

Question.  Does  the  Government  furnish  these  Indians  with  any  other 
supplies  except  food  ? 

Answer.  Occasionally  blankets  are  issued  to  them.  I  think  that 
several  hundred  pairs  of  blankets  have  been  ordered  to  be  distributed  at 
Verde  reservation.  That  country  is  at  an  altitude  of  5,000  feet,  and  the 
frost  sets  in  early.  I  was  there  in  October,  and  they  were  having  cold, 
frosty  nights,  and  needed  clothing.  The  Chiracahui  reservation  is  in  a 
warm,  genial  climate,  and  there  they  do  not  require  so  much  clothing. 

Question.  State  whether  or  not  these  Indians  are  satisfied  with  their 
treatment,  and  whether  or  not,  in  your  judgment,  that  mode  of  dealing 
with  them  will  pacify  them  and  keep  them  in  a  state  of  peace. 

Answer.  The  reservation  system  has  only  been  recently  applied  to 
these  Apache  Indians,  and  the  result  of  it  seems  to  be  beneficial  so  far 
as  it  has  gone.    The  Indians  are  gradually  coming  in  on  the  reserva- 


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REDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITiRY   ESTABLISHMENT.  199 

tions  and  settling  down,  abandoning  their  depredations  on  the  surround- 
ing country^  and  becoming  dependent  on  the  Government  for  their 
rations,  and  are  content  to  lire  quietlv . 

Question.  Had  you  any  opportunity  of  conversing  with  any  of  the 
leading  men  among  the  Apaches  f 

Answer.  Yes,  sir.  In  every  place  I  visited  I  saw  the  leading  men  of 
the  different  reservations. 

Question.  So  far  as  you  know,  have  they  changed  their  dispositions 
toward  the  whites,  in  consideration  of  the  treatment  which  they  are  now 
receiving  f 

Answer.  Yes,  sir;  they  have  materially  changed ;  and  that  change  is 
jjarticularly  observable  on  the  White  Mountain  reservation,which  includes 
the  San  Carlos,  so  much  so  that  the  Indians  at  the  White  Mountain 
reservation  and  at  San  Carlos  are  manifesting  a  disposition  to  work, 
which  they  never  did  before.  Over  at  Verde  I  found  the  Indians  em- 
ployed by  the  agent  at  cutting  hay  and  doing  farm- work,  which  they 
never  had  done  before. 

Question.  What  have  you  to  say  as  to  the  condition  of  the  Indians 
in  New  Mexico  f 

Answer.  There  are  two  reservations  of  Aj)aches  in  New  Mexico.  The 
same  observations  that  I  made  in  reference  to  the  Apaches  in  Arizona 
will  apply  to  those  in  New  Mexico.  It  costs  about  20  cents  per  ration 
to  feed  them  on  these  two  reservations  at  Tulerosa  and  Fort  Stanton. 

Question.  Are  the  Indians  in  New  Mexico  as  hostile  and  mqlschievous 
as  ever  f 

Answer.  At  Tulerosa  and  Fort  Stanton  they  are  far  from  being  as 
hostile  as  formerly. 

Question.  Have  you  visited  any  other  Indians  in  New  Mexico! 

Answer.  Y'es.  I  visited  tlie  Navajoes.  Tliey  are  partly  in  Arizona 
and  partly  in  New  Mexico.  They  number  8,60(>  or  0,000,  and  their 
reservations  contain  from  1,000,000  to  1,500,000  acres. 

Question.  Is  there  any  danger  from  them  f 

Answer.  I  think  not. 

Question.  Have  you  seen  any  Indians  north  of  Santa  F^  1 

Answer.  There  are  two  snmll  agencies  north  of  Santa  Fe,  composed 
partly  of  Ute^  and  partly  of  Apaches.  There  are  500  or  600  Indians 
subsisted  at  each  place. 

Question.  Is  there  any  danger  from  the  Pueblo  Indians  f 

Answer.  No;  they  are  peaceable  and  self-sustaining.  They  are  not 
fed  by  the  Government:  they  receive  a  small  amount  of  annuity  goods. 
They  live  in  houses  and  cultivate  the  tields. 

Question.  Would  you  say  that  there  is  sufficient  military  force  in 
Arizona  and  New  Mexico  to  take  care  of  the  Indians? 

Answer.  I  think  so. 

Question.  Do  you  think  that  any  of  this  military  force  can  be  safely 
withdrawn  I 

Answer.  I  do  not  know  that  I  am  qualified  to  express  an  opinion  on 
that  point.  There  is  no  military  post  within  tifty  miles  of  the  Navajoes. 
Fort  Wingate  is  the  nearest  military  post  to  them.  They  are  a  working 
set  of  Indians,  though  they  receive  rations  from  the  Government.  They 
are  entirely  peaceable,  and  will  work  wherever  they  get  an  opportunity. 
The  quartermaster  at  Wingate,  when  I  was  there,  had  some  fifty  or 
sixty  of  them  employed  as  laborers,  making  adobes  and  putting  up 
buildings  for  the  garrison.  The  Navajoes  own  large  flocks  of  sheep 
and  a  good  many  horses.  They  raise  wool  and  manufacture  blankets. 
There  is  not  a  great  deal  of  tillable  land  on  their  reservation.    A  good 


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200  REDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT. 

deal  of  it  is  mountainous  and  barren.  The  general  impression  which 
I  got  from  my  observation  with  the  Apaches  was  that  there  was  a 
aecided  improvement  in  their  condition,  and  that  the  effect  of  feeding 
them  on  reservations  was  inclining  them  to  peace  and  friendliness 
toward  the  Government.  They  appeared  to  be  going  on  smoothly.  Of 
course,  if  any  depredations  were  committed  on  them,  or  if  any  particu- 
lar cause  for  offense  should  occur,  through  the  indiscretion  of  some 
settlers,  it  might  produce  trouble;  but  I  did  not  see  any  disposition  on 
their  part  to  engage  in  general  hostilities  again;  certainly  not  so  long 
as  they  receive  rations. 


Washington,  D.  C,  January  23, 1874. 

Examination  of  J.  D.  Bevier,  United  States  Indian  Inspector. 
By  the  Chairman  : 

Question.  State  what  Indian  tribes  you  inspected  in  your  ofiQcial 
capacity  during  the  last  year,  and  state  their  condition. 

Answer.  I  first  visited  the  Utes  in  Colorado.  They  are  friendly, 
and  I  think  always  have  been;  they  have  a  treaty  with  the  Government 
and  a  large  reservation.  But  little  progress  has  been  made  as  yet  in 
civilizing  them.  There  are  between  3,000  and  4,000  on  the  reservation, 
and  there  are  some  floating  bands  which  are  not  on  the  reservation  yet. 

Question.  Are  they  armed? 

Answer.  Yes,  sir;  somewhat.  They  are  armed  with  rifles,  a  good 
quality  of  arms.  I  do  not  think  they  are  all  armed.  Some  have  arms 
for  hunting  purposes.  There  are  some  Utes  about  Denver  who  have 
never  been  on  the  reservation,  and  there  are  some  in  New  Mexico. 
Travel  is  considered  safe  everywhere  near  the  great  Ute  reservation  in 
Colorado.  You  may  meet  teamsters  and  pleasure-parties  camping  by 
the  roadside,  hunting  and  fishing  for  weeks,  with  Indians  about,  and 
no  apprehension  is  entertained  by  anybody. 

Question.  Are  there  any  soldiers  about  there  f 

Answer.  !No,  sir. 

Question.  What  other  tribes  in  Colorado  did  you  visit  f 

Answer.  None  other  in  Colorado ;  there  are  none  other. 

Question.  State  whether  yon  visited  any  tribes  in  Wyoming. 

Answer.  J  visited  the  Shoshones  in  Wyoming. 

Question.  State  the  condition  of  the  Shoshones,  physically  and  mor- 
ally. 

Answer.  They  are  making  some  progress  in  civilization.  They  are 
learning  to  plant  and  reap.  They  have  a  good  school,  and  are  gradu- 
ally working  into  agriculture.  There  are  about  1,500  of  them.  They 
are  on  a  reservation.  They  are  armed  partially  with  rifles.  I  think  a 
very  considerable  proportion  of  them  are  armed. 

Question.  Do  you  know  anything  about  their  supply  of  ammunition! 

Answer.  They  obtain  their  ammunition  from  the  traders. 

Question.  Are  they  ai*med  with  breech-loading  guns  f 

Answer.  Some  of  them. 

Question.  Is  there  any  apprehension  of  these  Indians  on  the  part  of 
settlers  f 

Answer.  None  at  all.  Their  friendship  is  reliable  and  the  people  have 
the  utmost  confidence  in  them. 

Question.  Are  those  the  only  Indians  you  visited  in  Wyoming  f 


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REDUCTION    OF   THE    MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT.  201 

Answer.  Yes,  sir. 

Question.  Did  yoa  visit  any  in  Idaho  ? 

Answer.  Yes;  I  visited  the  Shoshones  and  Bannocks,  at  Fort  Hall. 
They  are  friendly.    There  are  1,600  of  them. 

Question.  Had  yoa  a  good  opportunity  to  find  out  the  number  of 
them! 

Answer.  Yes,  sir. 

Qnestion.  Are  they  becoming  civilized  ! 

Answer.  Somewhat.  The  Shoshones  are  inclined  to  work  pretty  well ; 
the  Bannocks  less  so. 

Question.  Are  they  armed  ? 

Answer.  Partially. 

Question.  What  are  the  feelings  of  the  whites  toward  them ;  is  there 
any  apprehension  of  danger  from  either  side  ? 

Answer.  No,  sir. 

Qnestion.  Did  any  of  the  Indians  that  yon  inspected  complain  of  the 
inroads  or  intrusions  upon  them  ? 

Answer.  No,  sir;  white  men  do  not  intrude  on  their  reservation,  and 
they  do  not  apprehend  any  except  in  a  few  instances  where  mines  have 
been  discovered. 

Question.  Did  you  visit  any  Indians  in  Utah  f 

Answer.  Yes  ;  the  Uintah  Utes.  They  are  in  the  northeastern  part  of 
Utah,  200  miles  from  Salt  Lake  City.  There  are  about  500  of  them  on 
the  reservation.  They  are  more  inclined  to  work  than  the  Utes  in  Colo- 
rado. They  belong  to  the  same  family,  speak  the  same  language,  and 
visit  each  other.  They  are  armed  imperfectly.  There  is  no  apprehen- 
sion of  danger  from  them.  In  Nevada  I  visited  the  Pah-Utes,  in  the 
western  part  of  the  State.  They  are  on  two  reservations — Pyramide 
Lake  and  Walker  Eiver.  There  are  700  of  them  on  the  reservations 
and  many  outside.  They  are  scarcely  armed  at  all.  These  Pah-Utes  of 
Nevada  are  well  advanced  in  civilization — present  the  appearance  of  a 
respectable  and  orderly  community.  They  are  dressed  like  other  men. 
They  go  about  their  work  regularly,  and  work  daily.  They  are  engaged 
in  agricultural  pursuits  and  will  soon  be  self-sustaining.  They  have 
dug  many  miles  of  ditches  and  put  up  many  miles  of  fences.  The 
agent  issues  no  rations  or  clothing  to  any  except  the  men  who  work ; 
no  idle  Indian  gets  anything.  The  sick  and  infirm  and  aged  ai*e  cared 
for. 

Question.  So  far  as  you  can  judge  from  your  own  stimd-point,  as  a 
civilian  and  insi>ector,  can  yon  express  any  opinion  as  to  the  necessity 
for  a  military  force  near  these  tribes  ? 

Answer.  There  is  no  use  for  any  military  near  them,  and  the  presence 
of  military  will  do  harm.  The  Indians  feel  restless,  uneasy,  and  dis- 
turbed by  the  presence  of  soldiers.  They  have  a  dread  of  them.  They 
have  confidence  in  their  agents  and  look  to  them  for  advice  and  direc- 
tion. They  feel  secure  and  comfortable  and  satisfied  in  the  absence  of 
military. 

Qnestion.  Did  you  visit  any  of  the  military  posts  in  that  regional 

Answer.  I  visited  Camp  Stambaugh,  !b'ort  Eussell,  and  Camp  ttown, 
in  Wyoming,  and  Camp  Douglas,  in  Utah. 

By  Mr.  MacDougall  : 

Question.  What  was  the  object  of  your  inspection  ! 

Answer.  As  defined  by  the  law,  we  were  to  visit  all  the  agencies 
twice  a  year,  examine  into  their  accounts  and  financial  transactions, 
judge  of  the  agent's  fitness  for  the  place,  his  efficiency  or  inefiiciency, 


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202  REDUCTION   OP   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT. 

aA  well  as  bis  employes ;  examine  the  reservations,  its  soil,  climate, 
prod  acts,  the  progress  made  in  civilizing  Indians,  the  schools,  &c.,  and 
make  such  suggestions  to  the  agents  and  the  Department  as  we  could 
to  promote  the  good  of  all. 

By  Mr.  HuNTON : 
Question.  What  is  the  moral  effect  upon  the  Indians  of  contact  with 
the  soldiers  f 
Answer.  I  think  it  is  unfavorable. 

By  Mr.  Nesmith  : 

Question.  Did  you  have  intercourse  with  the  chiefs  and  principal  men 
of  the  tribes  f 

Answer.  Yes ;  they  generally  assembled  wherever  I  made  a  visit. 

Question.  How  did  you  hold  intercourse  with  them  !  Was  it  with 
an  interpreter  of  your  own,  or  an  interpreter  at  the  agency  ? 

Answer.  Through  the  interpreter  that  I  found  at  the  agency. 

By  Mr.  MAoDouaALL : 

Question.  In  what  condition  did  you  find  tl^e  accounts  of  the  agents  f 

Answer.  We  had  heard  a  good  deal  said  about  the  dishonesty  of  the 
men  connected  with  the  Indian  Bureau,  but  I  could  not  find  anything 
wrong.  I  think  that  some  of  the  agents  might  be  more  etticient;  gen- 
erally  they  are  good,  efficient  men. 

Question.  Did  you  find  the  Indians,  as  a  general  thing,  satisfied  with 
the  treatment  by  the  agents  ! 

Answer.  Yes. 

Question.  What  time  did  you  make  this  inspection  ! 

Answer.  I  commenced  in  July  and  finished  the  last  of  November. 

Qnestiou.  Did  you  hear  of  any  trouble  in  Wyoming  from  the  Indians 
last  fall  f 

Answer.  Yes ;  I  had  learned  through  the  papers  that  there  had  been 
a  raid  in  the  Wind  River  reservation,  in  Wyoming,  by  hostile  Arapa- 
hoes,  in  July,  and  that  two  women  had  been  killed.  I  went  there  in 
August,  and  then  there  was  another  raid  by  these  same  hostile  Indians, 
and  the  cavalry  was  in  pursuit  of  them.  There  was  a  good  deal  of  excite- 
ment at  Wind  River,  but  we  felt  secure  so  long  as  we  had  the  Indians 
there  who  belonged  to  the  reservation.  It  was  the  hostile  Indians  from 
abroad  that  we  were  afraid  of. 

Question.  Do  you  pretend  to  say  that  it  is  entirely  unnecessary  to 
have  a  military  force  in  Wyoming! 

Answer.  At  that  point  it  is  necessary;  not  on  account  of  the  Indians 
that  belong  there,  but  on  account  of  Indian  intruders  that  come  there. 
The  military  is  necessary  to  prevent  hostile  Sioux  and  Arapahoes  from 
coming  in  on  plundering  expeditions. 

Question.  Where  did  these  hostile  Indians  come  from  f 

Answer.  From  the  north ;  from  the  Powder  River  country,  as  I  under- 
stood. 

Question.  In  your  judgment,  is  it  not  necessary  to  keep  military  all 
along  that  western  frontier  for  just  that  same  rea*ion — to  prevent  raids  f 

Answer.  Not  ordinarily.  Other  paits  of  the  country  are  not  subject 
to  such  raids.  Incursions  have  been  frequently  made  into  these  parts 
by  these  same  Indians.  They  are  old,  hereditary  enemies  5  they  come 
in  occasionally,  steal  horses,  and  shoot  at  people. 

Question.  Little  trifling  matters  of  that  kind  ! 

Answer.  Yes. 


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REDUCTION   OP   THE    MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT.  203 

By  the  Chairman  : 

Question.  Something  was  said  by  a  former  witness  abont  the  Mormon 
bishops  having  charge  of  the  supplies  furnished  by  the  United  States 
for  Indians  in  Utah ;  does  that  practice  prevail  now  f 

Answer.  No,  sir.  The  Mormon  bishops  now  have  nothing  to  do  with 
Indian  aifairs.  Brigham  Young  was  formerly  superintendent  of  Indian 
affairs  in  Utah. 

By  Mr.  Fesmith  : 

Question.  How  many  Indian  inspectors  are  there  ! 

Answer.  Five. 

Question.  What  is  their  compensation  I 

Answer.  Three  thousand  dollars  a  year. 

Question.  And  traveling  expenses  I 

Answer.  Not  to  exceed  10  cents  a  mile.  I  commenced  about  the  mid- 
dle of  July,  and  continued  until  the  29th  of  November. 

Question.  Are  you  still  in  of&ce  ? 

Answer.  Yes,  sir. 

Question.  You  spoke  about  obtaining  information  abont  the  Indians. 
X  Are  you  conversant  enough  with  the  Indians  and  their  language  to  be 
able  to  obtain  any  sort  of  information,  except  what  the  agents  and  their 
interpreters  choose  to  communicate  I    Had  you  any  other  means  ? 

Answer.  No ;  except  by  talking  with  people  that  lived  in  their  vi- 
cinity, and  several  military  men. 

Question.  Did  you  make  any  count  of  the  Indians  tjiat  you  inspected  ? 

Answer.  No,  sir;  I  could  not  count  them,  but  I  would  talk  with  the 
chiefs  of  each  separate  band,  and  would  learn  the  number  of  the  band, 
and  by  grouping  all  together  I  could  approximate  to  the  true  number. 

Question.  Had  you  any  familiarity  with  Indian  affairs  before  you 
made  this  tour  of  inspection  f 

Answer.  No,  sir. 

Question.  You  never  had  been  employed  among  the  Indians  before  ! 

Answer.  No,  sir. 

By  Mr.  Gunckel  : 

Question.  You  communicated  with  the  whites  and  with  the  Indians 
also? 

Answer.  Yes;  I  found  white  people  everywhere,  and  through  the 
white  people  and  the  Indians,  and  the  agent,  and  all  that  I  came  in  con- 
tact with,  I  would  learn  about  the  true  state  of  affairs. 

Question.  And  you  made  up  your  opinion  from  what  you  heard  from 
the  agents,  whites,  and  Indians  I 

Answer.  Yes ;  and  from  my  own  observations. 

By  Mr.  MacDougall  : 

Question.  What  was  your  former  business? 

Answer.  I  formerly  practiced  medicine. 

Question.  What  did  j'ou  find  the  character  of  the  white  people  to  be 
in  the  regions  where  you  went? 

Answer.  I  was  pleased  with  the  white  people;  they  were  generally 
intelligent,  and  I  thought  pretty  honorable  men.  There  are  many  that 
are  said  to  be  free  from  restraint,  and  rough.  I  did  not  come  in  contact 
with  many  of  such.    I  was  favorably  impressed  with  the  white  people. 

By  Mr.  AXBEIOHT : 
Question.  Did  you  hear  that  the  agents  gave  supplies  to  be  distrib- 
uted to  the  Indians  through  the  Mormon  bishops  ? 


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204  REDUCTION   OF   THE    MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT. 

Answer.  No,  sir ;  that  is  not  practiced  now. 

Question.  Is  it  your  opinion  that  the  military  subserves  two  pur- 
poses— to  protect  the  whites  against  the  Indians  and  the  Indians 
against  the  whites! 

Answer.  Yes ;  it  is  proper  that  there  should  be  some  military  in  the 
country.  The  Indians  I  visited  were  friendly,  and  everybody  felt  per- 
fectly safe.  But  difficulties  may  arise,  when  there  should  be  some  mili- 
tary within  reasonable  distance. 

Question.  How  near  do  you  call  reasonable  distance! 

Answer.  Not  so  near  as  to  disturb  the  Indians,  and  yet  near  enough 
to  be  called  on  when  needed. 

By  Mr.  Donnan  : 

Question.  In  the  section  of  country  that  you  inspected  do  you  think 
that  any  military  post  can  be  abolished  with  safety  and  prudence! 

Answer.  My  attention  was  not  directed  to  that  matter.  I  am  not 
sufficiently  acquainted  with  military  matters  to  venture  an  answer. 

Question.  In  other  words,  do  you  think  there  is  more  military  there 
than  there  ought  to  be  ! 

Answer.  I  do  not  know  that  there  is.  Some  places  might  be  aban- 
doned, for  instance  Fort  Bridger. 

By  Mr.  MacDougall  : 

Question.  You  came  in  contact,  I  suppose,  more  or  less  with  soldiers 
and  officers  ! 

Answer.  Yes. 

Question.  What  appeared  to  be  their  character  for  respectability  and 
sobriety  ! 

Answer.  I  regarded  them  as  good  officers  and  good  soldiers. 

Question.  Did  you  see  anything  like  drunkenness  among  them  ! 

Answer.  I  saw  a  little  of  it. 

Question.  How  would  the  officers  of  the  Army  and  the  Indian  agents 
compare  as  regards  respectability  ! 

Answer.  The  Indian  agents  that  I  met  were  in  every  instance  honor- 
able, respectable,  intelligent  men,  and  I  think  that  the  remark  would 
apply  to  the  officers  of  the  Army. 

Question.  How  would  the  private  soldiers  compare  with  the  employes 
and  attaches  of  the  Indian  Bureau  out  there  ! 

Answer.  The  employes  of  the  Indian  agencies  where  I  have  been  are, 
as  a  general  rule,  very  good  men — moral,  temperate,  and  capable. 

Mr.  GuKCKEL.  Would  you  say  the  same  of  the  privates  of  the  Army  ? 

Answer.  No,  sir.  An  Indian  agent  has  but  few  employes,  and  be 
selects  them  with  care. 

By  Mr.  Nesmith  : 

Question.  How  do  the  frontier  people  whom  you  met  compare  in  point 
of  respectability,  morality,  and  conduct  with  the  people  of  the  more 
civilized  portions  of  the  country  that  you  are  acquainted  with  ! 

Answer.  I  was  surprised  to  And  living  away  off  through  the  Rocky 
Mountains,  remote  from  any  neighbors  or  any  place,  sometimes  a  hun- 
dred miles  from;!  any  settlements,  intelligent  men  and  families,  taking 
newspapers — Harper's  Weekly,  and  even  the  Bazar — and  I  wondered 
how  men  ot  intelligence,  and  sometimes  of  refinement,  came  to  live  in 
such  remote  places. 

Question.  You  did  not  find  all  the  fix)ntier-men  cut-throats  and 
thieves  ! 


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EEDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT.  205 

Answer.  O,  no,  sir.  There  are  desperadoes,  I  am  told,  who  shoot  at 
one  another  and  lead  a  rough  life.  I  was  told  that  there  is  a  pretty 
hard  kind  of  people  at  the  mining  camps.  1  never  was  at  a  mining- 
camp  ;  I  never  met  with  these  people. 

Question.  You  had  no  apprehension  of  your  safety  when  traveling? 

Answer.  Not  at  all.  We  hear  of  stage-coach  robberies  and  the  like 
out  there.  *  I  had  no  experience  of  that  kind. 


Washington,  D.  C,  January  12, 1874. 

Hon.  John  P.  C.  Shanks,  member  of  the  House  from  the  State  of 
Indiana,  appeared  before  the  committee  in  response  to  its  invitation. 

The  Chairman.  Please  to  state  at  what  times  and  to  what  tribes  of 
Indians  you,  as  a  commissioner  of  the  Government,  made  a  visit  within 
the  last  twelve  months. 

Mr.  Shanks.  I  was  in  California  in  the  month  of  June — part  of  July ; 
and  the  remainder  of  the  season  I  spent  in  Idaho  and  Washington  Ter- 
ritories, and  at  Salt  Lake  City,  passing  through  a  part  of  Oregon. 

The  Chairman.  What  tribes  of  Indians  did  you  visit ! 

Mr.  Shanks.  In  California,  I  was  on  the  Round  Valley  reservation. 
There  were  parts  of  four  tribes  there ;  the  Pitt  River,  the  Ukies,  and 
one  or  two  others. 

The  Chairman.  What  tribes  did  you  see  in  Oregon  ? 

Mr.  Shanks.  I  saw  Umatillas  and  what  is  known  as  the  Joseph  tribe 
of  the  Xez  Percys. 

The  Chairman,  What  tribes  did  you  see  in  Washington  Territory  ? 

Mr.  Shanks.  The  Lakes,  the  Colvilles,  the  Lower  Spokanes,  and  San 
Pails,  Calespels,  Okinakones. 

The  Chairman.  What  tribes  did  you  see  in  Idaho! 

Mr.  Shanks.  The  Nez  Percys,  the  Shoshones,  the  Bannocks,  mixed 
S'loshone  Bannocks  and  Sheep-Eaters,  Coeur  d' Alines,  Upper  Spokanes. 

The  Chairman.  What  Indians  did  you  see  in  Utah  f 

Mr.  Shanks.  Some  leading  men  of  the  Utes  and  Pah-Utes,  and  a 
number  of  others.  I  saw  them  in  Salt  Lake  City,  in  company  with 
Major  Powell  and  Mr.  Ingalls. 

The  Chairman.  Were  you  brought  into  personal  relations  and  ac- 
quaintance with  the  chiefs  and  head  men  of  those  tribes  t 

Mr.  Shanks.  I  was ;  with  a  good  many  of  them. 

The  Chairman.  You  went  for  that  i)urpose  and  to  treat  with  them! 

Mr.  Shanks.  I  did.  To  contract  with  Fort  Hall  Indians ;  to  deter- 
mine boundaries  at  Round  Valley,  and  to  see  others  generally. 

The  Chairman.  State  their  disposition,  whether  of  hostility  or  mis- 
chief to  the  United  States  and  to  the  white  people. 

Mr.  Shanks.  Commencing  with  those  at  Round  Valley,  in  California, 
they  are  as  peaceable  as  people  can  be.  1  was  so  informed  by  the  agents, 
by  the  neighbors,  and  by  the  military  at  the  post  there,  which  is  called 
Fort  Wright,  I  believe.  You  asked  a  question  of  the  Commissioner  of 
Indian  Affairs  as  to  the  feeling  of  military  officers  toward  Indian  agents. 
1  foaud  them  all  good,  except  at  a  place  called  Colville,  Wash.  There 
I  found  that  the  feeling  was  not  good.  It  was  very  good  at  the  Nez 
^Perce's  reservation,  although  there  was  some  difficulty  as  to  some  white 
men  on  the  reservation.  The  white  men  had  been  ordered  off  by  the 
a^ent,  and  as  they  refused  to  go  they  created  a  good  deal  of  feeling. 
In  fact,  the  Nez  Percys  have  never  been  on  any  but  peaceable  terms 


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206  REDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT. 

with  the  United  States.  The  Indians  on  the  Fort  Hall  reservation,  the 
Shoshones  and  Bannocks,  are  on  very  pleasant  terms  now.  Some  year 
or  two  ago  there  was  some  trouble,  in  which  a  white  man,  a  drover,  was 
ninrdered.  The  Indians  themselves  reported  the  case,  and  had  the 
murderers  arrested,  and  they  were  shot  at  Fort  Hall,  some  time  ago,  in 
an  attempt  to  escape ;  six  of  them.  There  is  no  other  bad  feeling  there 
nt  all.  I  saw  the  chiefs  and  a  number  of  men  from  the  Salmon  Biver 
agency,  the  mixed  Shoshones  and  Bannocks,  and  they  are  on  such  good 
terms  with  the  whites  that  the  whites  are  urging  that  they  remain 
there,  and  be  not  put  on  a  reservation.  Among  the  Cceur  (FAlenes 
there  is  no  complaint  whatever.  There  is  no  complaint  anywhere  in  the 
east  end  of  Washington  Territory,  and  the  north  end  of  Idaho,  except 
that  the  whites  want  the  Government  to  let  them  have  the  lands.  There 
is  no  difficulty  between  the  Indians  and  the  whites  at  all.  I  spent  some 
days  up  there  in  Utah;  there  is  no  difficulty  thereat  all.  I  was  not 
over  among  the  Sioux,  and  so  I  cannot  speak  of  them ;  but,  in  all  the 
country  that  I  was  in,  there  is  no  place  where  there  was  a  particle  of 
difficulty  between  whites  and  Indians.  There  was  a  difficulty  growing 
out  of  the  fact  that  the  white  people  in  some  places  want  the  land,  and 
want  to  have  the  Indians  removed,  but  it  was  not  a  quarrel  with  the  In- 
dians. That  feeling  existed  in  one  part  of  Idaho,  and  it  was  part  of 
our  mission  there  to  make  an  arrangement  with  the  Shoshones  and 
Bannocks  to  abandon  their  roaming  and  go  to  work.  I  visited  Fort 
Wright,  at  Round  Valley.  I  was  not  at  the  post  at  Fort  Hall,  but  the 
officers  from  that  post  were  up  at  the  station  with  me.  I  was  at  Oolville, 
which  is  a  military  post,  and  at  Nez  Perce's  military  post,  on  the  Clear 
Water ;  and  I  was  also  at  the  post  at  Salt  Lake  City,  and  at  Walla- 
Walla  and  some  other  places 

The  Chairman.  As  far  a^  you  can  judge,  what  is  the  necessity  of 
having  military  posts  among  these  tribes  which  you  visited  t 

Mr.  Shanks.  There  was  no  apparent  necessity  at  all.  Whether  there 
would  be  if  the  military  were  not  there,  I  cannot  say.  There  is  as 
much  necessity  to  keep  white  men  from  encroaching  on  the  Indians  as 
there  is  to  keep  Indians  from  encroaching  on  the  whites. 

The  Chairman.  How  do  the  Indians  speak  of,  and,  so  far  as  you 
have  had  any  expression,  think  of  the  soldiers  and  officers  t 

Mr.  Shanks.  There  was  but  in  one  place  where  I  was  that  there  was 
any  complaint  of  the  soldiers,  and  that  was  at  Colville;  and  it  is  but 
proper  that  I  should  say  what  it  was.  Their  officer.  Captain  Myers, 
was  a  drinking  man,  and  their  surgeon.  Dr.  Higgins,  was  a  drunkard, 
and  they  had  some  bad  associations  with  white  men  who  were  living 
with  squaws ;  and  some  of  the  soldiers  were  charged  with  drinking  and 
giving  whisky  to  the  Indians  and  were  deserting.  That  is  the  only 
place  where  I  learned  of  any  trouble  of  that  kind.  The  better  white 
citizens  complained  as  much  as  the  Indians  of  these  facts.  There  is  a 
feeling  among  the  Indians,  which  I  think  grows  out  of  threats  by  per- 
sons who  want  to  encroach  upon  them.  The  Indians  complain  that  the 
Government  does  not  understand  them  ;  that,  when  they  think  the  Gov- 
ernment is  going  to  be  kind  to  them,  military  are  sentoutto  them.  They 
believe  this  is  induced  by  bad  men.  There  is  no  complaint  against  the 
military  themselves  other  than  as  stated,  but  the  Indians  complain  of 
the  fact  that  the  military  are  thrown  among  them  when  they  think 
there  is  peace ;  and  some  of  the  chiefs  have  said  to  me  that  after  they 
had  talks  with  the  white  men  and  thought  that  all  was  right,  then 
soldiers  were  sent  out  and  disturbances  created  by  these  bad  men. 
There  is  a  great  desire  among  many  of  the  Irontier-men  to  have  soldiers 


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REDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT.  207 

sent  because  the  soldiers  furnish  them  with  a  source  of  revenue.  There 
are  beef  contracts  and  hay  and  wood  contracts,  and  that  sort  of  thing, 
which  furnishes  market  for  their  supplies.  There  is  therefore  a  great 
anxiet}^  on  the  part  of  many  of  the  white  population  to  get  soldiers 
among  them;  and  sometimes  they  do  not  stop  at  making  strong  rep- 
resentations in  order  to  get  them  among  them.  The  Indians  charge 
that  these  bad  men  create  the  difficulties  which  demand  soldiers. 

The  Chairman.  Do  the  Indians  regard  the  soldiers  with  apprehen- 
sion or  fear  f 

Mr.  Shanks.  They  do  not  seem  to.  There  seems  to  be,  on  their  part, 
a  want  of  confidence,  and  they  think  that  the  Government  does  not  un- 
derstand them.    The  soldiers  are  a  standing  threat  to  them. 

The  Chairman.  Do  you  thiuk  that  military  power  is  necessary  to 
keep  order  and  to  prevent  mischief  among  the  tribes  where  you  have 
been  this  summer! 

Mr.  Shanks.  I  do  not. 

The  Chairman.  Do  you  think  that  the  civil  power  of  the  Govern- 
ment is  sufficient  to  prevent  the  whites  from  interfering  with  the  In- 
dians you  visited  ? 

Mr.  Shanks.  Yes;  but  I  must  say,  in  this  connection,  that  the  civil 
power  is  not  very  well  enforced  sometimes.  There  is  a  disposition  to 
favor  these  encroachments  on  the  Indians,  and  there  is  more  necessity 
of  the  military  to  keep  order  on  this  account  than  on  any  other.  The 
Indians  have  no  votes  and  no  political  protection  from  that  source. 

Mr.  GuNCKEL.  Is  there  much  necessity  to  protect  whites  from  the 
Indians? 

Mr.  Shanks.  I  do  not  think  there  is  any  where  I  have  traveled. 

Mr.  GuNCKEL.  You  think  that  the  necessity  is  to  protect  the  Indians 
from  the  whites! 

Mr.  Shanks.  I  think  so ;  among  those  tribes. 

The  Chairman.  I  understand  your  statement  to  be  that  the  aggres- 
sions, in  the  tribes  which  you  have  visited,  come  from  the  whites  rather 
than  from  the  Indians. 

Mr.  Shanks.  Yes ;  and  I  want  it  to  be  understood  that  they  come 
from  a  few  whites.  I  am  not  speaking  of  the  white  people  generally ; 
on  the  contrary,  the  white  people  are  competent  in  most  of  these  locali- 
ties to  protect  themselves  against  the  Indians. 

The  Chairman.  Are  the  Indians  armed  I 

Mr.  Shanks.  I  saw  some  of  them  tolerably  well  armed,  but  the  major 
part  of  them  are  armed  with  an  inferior  class  of  guns. 

The  Chairman.  Are  many  of  the  tribes  which  you  visited  engaged 
in  the  pursuits  of  civilized  life! 

Mr.  Shanks.  Yes,  the  Nez  Percys  are  generally,  and  the  XJmatillas  to 
some  extent.  They  raise  a  good  many  horses  and  a  good  many  cattle. 
The  Shoshones  and  Bannocks  are,  some  of  them,  at  work  on  the  reser- 
vation farms.  They  are  not  farming  for  themselves.  I  made  a  contract 
with  them,  however,  in  which  thirty-nine  of  them  signed  their  names  to 
the  paper  as  laborers,  while  some  signed  as  chiefs  and  some  as  warriors ; 
thirty-nine  signed  as  laborers.  They  are  employed  by  the  agent  to 
work  by  the  month.  This  is  most  important,  because  these  Shoshones 
and  Bannocks  never  have  worked  before  last  year.  These  Indians  who 
are  up  in  the  east  of  Washington  Territory  have  made  their  own  living 
in  all  time,  I  suppose.  I  do  not  know  that  there  is  any  appropriation 
at  all  made  directly  on  that  reservation.  These  Indians  in  Utah  are 
all  laboring  men.    They  all  make  their  living  by  labor. 

The  Chairman.  If  the  Indians  named  had  arms  put  in  their  hands 


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208  REDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT. 

by  the  Government  with  the  nnderstanding  that  they  were  to  prevent 
the  inroads  of  hostile  Indians,  and  to  take  care  of  themselves,  woald 
yon  consider  that  a  safe  policy  rather  than  to  have  soldiers  there ! 

Mr.  Shanks.  It  might  be  safe,  bnt  it  could  not  be  operative.  I  do 
not  think  it  would  bo  safe  to  give  them  arms  and  let  them  start  out  to 
meet  hostile  Indians;  and  certainly  hostile  Indians  would  not  come  to 
the  reservation  to  meet  them.  Therefore  I  think  that  the  plan  would 
be  a  nullity.  I  do  not  think  it  would  be  safe  to  put  arms  in  the  hands 
of  white  men  even  with  a  general  license  of  that  kind. 

The  Chairman.  You  would  not  arm  settlers  themselves  f 

Mr.  Shanks.  I  do  not  think  it  necessary,  because  every  settler  there 
is  armed.  In  the  section  of  country  where  I  was,  there  has  not  been 
any  war  there  since  Colonel  Wright  defeated  the  Spokanes  and  Coeur 
d'Alenes,  near  Lotah,  or  Hangman's  Creek,  Washington  Territory. 

The  Chairman.  Do  you  think  the  presence  of  a  military  force  in  that 
region  necessary  ? 

Mr.  Shanks.  I  do  not,  as  against  the  Indians,  and  it  is  not  necessary 
as  against  those  white  men  who  encroach  on  the  Indians,  if  the  civil 
power  is  enforced.  The  law  against  liquor-selling  is  tolerably  well  en- 
forced in  Idaho,  but  nevertheless  on  the  Indian  lands  is  permitted  gen- 
erally. 

Mr.  HuNTON.  Would  the  civil  power  be  more  surely  enforced  if  the 
military  power  was  withdrawn  f 

Mr.  Shanks.  Perhaps  it  might  be  if  the  matter  was  dependent  wholly 
on  them  ;  and  that  is  the  proper  power  to  do  it,  Ithink.  But  it  will  have 
to  be  the  civil  power  of  the  United  States.  The  Stat^  or  the  territorial 
side  of  the  court  cannot  control  on  the  reservations ;  it  would  have  to  be 
the  United  States  side  of  the  court  and  enforced  by  the  United  States 
marshal. 

Mr.  Nesmith.  Where  did  you  see  the  Joseph  tribe  of  the  Nez  Percys  ! 

Mr.  Shanks.  They  came  over  to  the  Nez  Percys  at  Lopway,  but  they 
did  not  hold  a  council  with  the  Nez  Percys  there.  They  held  a  council 
the|next  day     Joseph's  band  is  known  as  non-treaty  Nez  Percys. 

Mr.  Nesmith.  How  many  are  there  in  Joseph's  band  f 

Mr.  Shanks.  I  asked  him  the  question,  and  he  put  it  at  a  little  over 
300.    That  is  as  nearly  as  I  could  get  the  information  from  him. 

Mr.  HuNTON.  Do  you  consider  the  presence  of  the  military  among 
these  peaceful  Indians  a  source  of  irritation  f 

Mr.  Shanks.  I  cannot  state  it  any  diiterently  than  I  did  a  little  while 
ago.  They  look  on  it  as  if  the  Government  had  not  confidence  in  them. 
As  to  the  effect  it  might  have  outside  of  that  idea  I  have  no  informa- 
tion from  them  ;  but  my  judgment  is  that  it  would  have  a  bad  influence 
on  them.  A  camp  is  not  a  pl«ice  to  teach  industry.  There  is  no  indus- 
ti'y  about  a  military  camp,  except  in  military  routine. 

Mr.  Albright.  The  military  camps  at  which  you  were  were  quite 
small,-I  suppose  ? 

Mr.  Shanks.  Yes,  sir. 

Mr.  Albright.  Take  Camp  Wright,  if  you  please.  I  suppose  you 
noticed  that  they  had  a  small  mill  and  were  farming  in  that  valley  ! 

Mr.  Shanks.  Yes ;  they  were  farming  on  the  general  farm,  all  in  com- 
mon.   There  is  a  mill  up  there. 

Mr.  Albright.  Suppose  you  were  to  withdraw  these  two  companies 
which  are  at  Camp  Wright,  do  you  not  believe  that  that  would  subject 
these  Indians  to  imposition  and  outrage  on  the  part  of  the  white  men  in 
that  neighborhood  f 

Mr.  Shanks.  Yes;  in  that  particular  neighborhood.    I  think  they 


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REDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT.  209 

would  overrun  the  reservation  in  a  short  time,  for  they  have  already 
overrun  two-thirds  of  it,  and  have  gotten  legislation  for  it. 

Mr,  Albright.  Take  things  as  they  are  there,  what  do  you  believe 
would  be  the  effect  on  those  Indians  if  the  troops  were  withdrawn  f 

Mr.  Shanks.  The  result  to  the  Indians  would  be  bad,  because  it 
wouhl  let  these  white  men  in  on  them.  '  There  are  bad  men  there. 

Mr.  Albright.  The  Indians  would  be  ousted  I 

Mr.  Shanks.  Yes.  They  have  been  already  overrun  by  these  men  so 
far  as  to  have  the  stock  driven  close  to  the  agency.  The  stock  cannot 
be  pastured  at  any  distance  from  the  agency  even  on  the  public  lands. 

Mr.  Albright.  Your  idea  is,  then,  that  the  military  is  necessary  to 
protect  the  Indians  from  the  depredations  of  the  whites  ? 

Mr.  Shanks.  Yes;  the  most  good  that  military  power  has  done  that 
I  know  of  is  to  prevent  encroachment  on  the  reservations.  The  ile- 
mand  of  the  white  persons  is  that  the  Indians  should  go  on  reservations, 
and  then,  when  they  are  there,  their  demand  is  that  the  reservations 
may  be  given  up  and  go  to  the  white  people.  This  is  particularly  ap- 
pliciible  at  Colville  and  Camp  Wright  and  Lapway.  At  Colvilie  the 
uiilitary  force  is  not  on  the  reservation  now  and  the  Indians  are  not  on 
the  reservation.  The  military  itself  is  of  no  account  there.  It  is  demor- 
alized. Except  a  young  lieutenant  named  Uoag  there  is  not  a  miliUiry 
officer  there  who  should  be  on  duty. 

Mr.  MacDougall.  Was  a  report  of  that  state  of  things  made  to  the 
Government! 

Mr.  Shanks.  There  was  an  inspecting  officer  there  a  few  days  before 
I  was,aud  I  have  learned  since  that  Dr.  Higgins  has  been  removed.  I 
suppose  that  was  for  the  benefit  of  the  service  there. 

Mr.  GuNCKEL.  What  are  yonr  views  as  to  the  expediency  of  transfer- 
ring the  Indian  Bureau  from  the  Interior  Department  to  the  War  De- 
partment? 

Mr.  Shanks.  I  think  it  would  be  bad. 

Mr.  GuNCKEL.  Will  you  give  your  reasons  f 

Mr.  Shanks.  I  intimated  my  reasons  a  little  while  ago.  The  time  is 
past  when  Indians  in  this  country  can  make  their  living  by  hunting. 
There  is  but  one  other  way  for  them  to  make  it,  and  that  is  by  labor. 
The  military  authorities  will  never  teach  them  to  labor  in  any  systematic 
mode  of  farming,  or  to  economize  their  time  and  their  means.  If  we  ho[)e 
at  any  time  to  train  these  people  to  make  their  own  living,  we  will  have 
to  do  it  in  obe  or  two  ways,  either  by  raising  stock,  or  else  by  farmings 
or  by  both,  which  would  be  so  much  the  better.  There  are  none  of  these 
employments  which  the  military  can  teach  them.  The  military  organ- 
ization is  not  in  that  way,  not  for  that  purpose.  Then,  again,  young  men 
are  sent  out  to  these  posts.  It  seems  to  be  necessary  that  they  sliould 
be,  and  that  older  and  more  experienced  men  should  not  be  placed  at 
these  distant  posts.  The  posts  are  put  in  the  hands  of  young  men,  who 
are  inexperienced,  not  in  their  own  affairs,  but  at  least  inexperienced  in  all 
that  goes  to  make  up  the  welfareof  a  peoplejust coming  out  of  the  savage 
8tate.  It  is  not  part  of  theit  training,  and  while  they  are  clever  gen- 
tlemen in  their  own  places,  yet  they  are  not  the  persons  to  take  care  of 
these  Indians  and  to  teach  them  to  make  their  living  b^^  labor.  If  the 
Indians  are  left  in  the  hands  of  the  military  they  will  bepau[)ers  as  long 
as  time.  That  is  what  I  think  about  it.  It  is  not  because  of  the  fault 
of  the  military,  but  because  of  the  fault  of  the  system — the  incompati- 
bility of  the  two  businesses.  As  to  the  saving  to  the  Government  by 
the  transfer,  I  do  not  think  there  will  be  anything  saved  by  it.  I  think 
that  the  expense  of  the  Indians,  when  the  military  had  charge  of  them, 
14  M  £ 


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210  REDUCTION   OF   THE    MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT. 

was  quite  as  heavy  and  the  results  quite  as  bad  as  when  they  are  under 
the  Indian  Bureau. 

The  Chairman.  State  whether  or  not  it  is  your  opinion  that  hostili- 
ties would  be  less  likely  to  break  out  if  the  military  power  was  present 
aiuon^  the  Indians,  or  whether  fhe  fact  that  it  was  there  would  give  op- 
portunities for  violent  men  to  bring  about  hostilities. 

Mr.  Shanks.  With  some  military  men  it  would;  that  that  would  be 
true  of  the  majority  of  them  I  do  not  know ;  I  would  not  like  to  say 
tluit.  But  the  fact  that  the  Indians  would  be  directed  by  the  soldiers, 
and  the  soldiers  continually  associated  with  the  Indians,  would  work 
badly.  It  would  continue  that  aimless  life  that  now  so  much  injures 
their  progress.  It  would  be  especially  bad  among  their  women.  Some 
of  the  strongest  appeals  I  ever  heard  I  heard  from  these  Indians,  in 
regard  to  the  way  in  which  white  men  treated  their  women.  I  never 
heard  more  urgent  appeals  in  my  life — appeals  like  those  that  come  from 
children.  I  think  that  this  matter,  in  a  brief  time,  will  assume  a  differ- 
ent shape.  I  believe  that  the  Indian  policy,  in  a  few  years,  will  be  self- 
sustaining.  I  know  that  if  it  can  be  managed  as  an  individual  man- 
ages his  own  business,  it  can  be  made  self-sustaining  in  less  than  three 
years.  But  it  is  utterly  impossible  to  do  that  when  you  have  to  employ 
men  at  such  a  distance  from  the  employer  and  when  the  employer's 
eye  cannot  watch  over  them. 
'  The  Chairman.  How  can  it  be  done  ! 

Mr.  Shanks.  These  Indians  will  work  on  reservations  if  they  are  em- 
ployed and  paid.  At  the  reservation  at  Round  Valley  the  work  is  done 
by  Indians,  with  the  single  exceptions  of  the  gardener  and  the  farmer. 
Outside  of  these  the  Indians  were  doing  the  work.  I  saw  as  manr  as 
twenty  or  thirty  in  the  fields  ]>lowiug  corn,  hauling  in  hay,  gathering 
up  cattle  in  the  morning,  yoking  them  up,  and  working  just  as  white  men. 
But  that  the  Indian  Dei^artment,  or  any  other  Department,  can  manage 
that  thing  in  a  brief  time  is  utterly  impossible,  because  it  cannot  keep 
its  eyes  upon  its  employes.  The  Indians  complain  very  much,  in  every 
pla(?e  I  went,  that  they  were  not  taught.  My  understanding  had  been 
before  that  the  Indians  were  not  willing  to  lean  ;  but  that  is  not  what 
they  say.  They  sa^^  they  want  to  learn.  At  Nez  Perces  and  some  other 
iflaces  the  Indians  claimed  that  the  employes  of  the  Indian  Depart- 
ment did  not  want  to  teach  them,  because  if  they  did  the  employes 
Would  have  nothing  to  do  tliemselves.  The  agents  at  some.ageucies  in- 
formed me  that  there  wjis  an  indisposition  on  the  part  of  some  of  the 
employes  to  work  at  any  other  employment  than  that  particular  one 
for  which  they  Avere  especially  hired  by  the  terms  of  the  contract; 
and  the  agents  all  agree  that  they  have  trouble  in  getting  white 
men  on  reservations  such  as  they  want,  because  a  white  man  can  do 
better  in  business  in  the  country  than  he  can  at  the  wages  which  the 
Government  pays.  Consequently  the  agents  have  to  take  an  inferior 
set  of  hands.  But  that  by  putting  Indians  on  reservations,  they  can 
be  made  self-sustaining  is  reasonable,  I  am  perfectly  satisfied.  The 
Indians  are  growing  better  every  day,  because  the  game  is  growing 
scarcer  every  day  and  necessity  is  pressing  them,  and,  as  Mr.  Smith  has 
said  truthfully,  so  long  as  the  Government  feeds  them  without  regard 
to  anything  else,  they  will  continue  to  be  paupers. 

Mr.  Nesmith.  What  is  the  condition  of  these  agricultural  reserva- 
tions ? 

Mr.  Shanks.  At  Colville  they  are  raising  some  very  fine  wheat.  I 
should  think  the  Nez  Percys  are  raising  enough  for  their  own  subsist- 
ance,  and  others  are  joining  in  the  production  of  grain  very  well. 


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REDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT.  211 

Mr.  MacDougall.  You  spoke  of  thecomplaiutsof  the  ludhms  about 
.  tbeir  women ;  is  that  in  relation  to  soldiers  and  officers? 

Mr.  Shanks.  No;  I  would  not  want  to  say  that.  It  is  a  class  of  bad 
white  men,  nearl3'  always  drinking  men — worthless  to  society. 

Mr.  MacDougall.  You  heard  no  complaints  as  to  soldiers  and 
officers! 

Mr.  Shanks.  I  heard  some  as  to  officers  and  soldiers ;  and  at  (^ol- 
ville  there  were  complaints  by  whit^  citizens  condemning  the  associa- 
tions of  Ctiptain  Myers;  that  he  kept  near  him  a  man  named  Sherwood, 
who  lived  with  a  squaw,  and  others  whom  the  Indians  condemned,  and 
sentries  were  placed  before  his  house  as  if  to  prevent  people  noticing 
what  was  takiut;  place.  The  Indian  mode  of  marriage  is  Just  an  asso- 
ciation, a  voluntary  cohabitation.  They  do  not  have  the  idea  of  matri- 
mony and  its  results  as  we  have.  So,  when  a  white  man  proposes  to 
live  with  an  Indian  woman,  she  understands  that  she  is  married,  but 
he  does  not  understand  that  he  is  married  at  all,  and  consequently  he 
leaves  her  at  his  pleasure,  and  it  is  this  thing  which  the  Indians  com- 
plain of. 

Mr.  Young.  The  Army  is  not  to  blame  for  that. 

Mr.  Shanks.  Not  at  ail.  But  I  say  that  to  throw  the  soldiers  among 
them,  and  to  leave  them  the  direction  of  the  Indians,  would  produce 
that  result,  and  then  they  would  be  more  so  than  now. 

Mr.  Young.  Did  you  ever  hear  of  the  Indians  being  swindled  in  their 
trade  by  the  agents  f 

Mr.  Shanks.  I  did  not  at  the  places  where  I  was  last  summer.  The 
agents  whom  I  saw  were  Mr.  Burchard  in  California,  Mr.  Monteith  at 
Nez  Percys,  Mr.  Mills  at  Colville,  and  Mr.  Reed  at  Fort  Hall,  and  some 
others.  The  Indians  express  their  increased  couQdence  in  the  new 
policy. 

Mr.  Young.  How  do  you  explain  the  fact  of  all  these  Indians  getting 
armed  with  the  best  arms  ? 

Mr.  Shanks.  I  cannot  answer  that  question.  I  was  not  among  the 
hostile  Indians.  The  Indians  with  whom  I  was  had  small  arms,  which 
they  used  in  hunting,  but  they  are  an  inferior  set  of  arms.  I  saw  a 
great  nuiny  of  those  Hudson  Bay  muskets  there.  Except  among  the 
iSioux,  I  do  not  know  any  place  where  the  Indians  can  make  anything  by 
hunting.  Between  the  time  that  they  cease  to  make  a  living  by  hunting 
and  the  time  that  they  begin  to  make  a  living  by  labor  is  a  very  serious 
time  with  them  and  a  very  expensive  time  for  us. 

The  Chairman.  Did  you  make  arrangements  with  them  as  to  their 
going  to  work! 

Mr.  Shanks.  I  did  with  the  Shoshones  and  Bannack?.  They  agreed 
not  to  roam  at  all,  but  to  go  to  work ;  and  1  agreed  that,  when  they  do 
commence  farming,  they  shall  have  a  small  house  built  and  a  cow' fur- 
nished for  every  head  of  a  family.  There  was  a  good  deal  of  talk  at 
the  Nez  Percys  reservation  about  some  fraudulent  transaction  by  whicli 
money  was  taken  from  them  some  years  ago ;  and  so  it  was  with  other 
Indians  whom  I  was  amoLg  the  summer  before  last.  But  these  things 
are  getting  in  better  shape  now.  There  is  a  proposition  to  collect  the 
Indians  from  about  4;U,0()0  square  miles  of  territory  that  now  furnishes 
nine  agencies.  They  can  be  reduced  to  four.  It  will  take  a  little  means 
to  take  care  of  them  after  getting  them  together.  It  will  not  take 
much  l<)  get  them  together.  One  of  these  agencies  is  at  Fort  Hall,  one 
at  Uinta,  one  in  Southeastern  Nevada,  and  one  other  in  the  Northwest. 

The  Chairman.  State  what  facts  you  know  or  have  heard  in  regard 


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212  REDUCTION    OF    THE    MILITARY    ESTABLISHMENT. 

to  the  nnmber  of  those  ludiaus  who  are  furnished  with  food,  &c.,  by 
the  Goverunient. 

Mr.  Shanks.  I  do  not  think  that  the  uamber  of  Indians  in  the  conn- 
try  which  I  was  in  comes  within  one  third  of  what  they  are  estimated 
at.  Major  Powell  has  made  a  very  caieful  investigation  of  this  matter 
by  going  personally  among  the  Indians,  and  he  replaces  a  fraction  over 
28,000  to  a  fraction  over  10,000.  He  was  in  the  country  I  have  been 
talking  about,  Utah,  Nevada,  part  of  Colorado,  and  all  the  way  to  New 
Mexico. 

The  Chairman.  What  is  your  judgment  as  to  the  number! 

Mr.  Shanks.  It  is  impossible  for  me  to  Siiy,  only  as  I  passed  around 
and  learned  from  observation  and  inquiry.  I  would  be  told  that  there 
would  be  so  many  Indians  in  a  place,  but  on  further  inquiry  I  did  not 
think  there  were  near  so  many  as  public  rumor  had  proclaimed  it.  I 
think  there  should  be  a  perfect  census  of  the  tribes. 


Washington^  D.  C,  January  22,  1874. 
Examination  of  Mr.  J.  W.  Daniels. 

By  the  Chairman  : 

Question.  Are  you  officially  connected  with  the  Government  iu  the 
management  of  Indian  affairs  f 

Answer.  Yes;  I  am  one  of  the  Indian  inspectors,  and  have  been  since 
July  last. 

Question.  What  is  the  extent  of  your  acquaintance  with  Indian 
tribes  ! 

*  Answer.  I  have  been  acquainted  with  the  Sioux  ever  since  1855.  I 
was  a  physician  among  them  iu  the  employment  of  the  Government  for 
seven  or  eight  years. 

Question.  What  part  of  the  Territories  have  you  inspected  t 

Answer.  I  went  to  Bismark,  and  from  there  up  the  river  through 
Montana. 

Question.  What  tribes  did  you  visit  t 

Answer.  The  Tdton  Sioux,  the  Santees,  the  Yanctonais,  and  the 
Assinaboines.  I  counted  the  lodges.  At  the  time  I  was  there  there 
were  989  lodges,  and  on  my  way  from  there  I  met  103  lodges  going  iu 
for  their  clothing. 

Question.  What  post  did  they  belong  to! 

Answer.  A  trading-post  called  Fort  Peck.  From  there  I  went  to 
Belknap,  near  the  British  Possessions.  The  Indians  there  are  the  Gros 
Ventres  and  the  Assinaboines,  and  farther  on  the  Blackfeet  and  Piegaus. 
The  Piegans  are  the  only  parties  along  there  who  were  in.  They  num- 
ber 1 ,100.    I  counted  them  personally. 

Question.  State  the  condition  of  all  these  Indians  as  to  hostilities. 

Answer.  These  Indians  are  well  disjiosed.  A  portion  of  the  Ti^tons 
have  come  into  the  agency  within  the  last  year,  who  were  in  hostilities 
a  year  ago  with  the  expedition  that  went  down  the  Yellowstone.  They 
express  themselves  now  friendly  and  well  disposed.  At  the  present 
time  it  is  perfectly  safe  for  a  man  to  travel  from  Fort  Peck  to  Fort  Ben- 
ton— a  distance  of  two  hundred  and  eighty  miles — which  was  almost 
impossible  a  year  ago.    Fort  Peck  is  near  the  mouth  of  the  Milk  Eiver. 

Question.  State  what  opportunity  you  had  of  conversing  with  their 
leading  men. 


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REDUCTION   OF    THE    MILITARY    ESTABLISHMENT.  213 

Answer.  I  hail  opportaiiity  of  conversing  with  them  through  the 
interpreters,  and  speaking  to  tliem  myself,  and  hearing  conversations; 
and  I  have  been  led  to  believe  that  the  disposition  of  the  Sioux,  espe- 
cially those  that  were  hostile  last  year,  has  entirely  changed,  so  that 
they  have  become  peaceable  and  well-disposed. 

Question.  Can  you  converse  in  their  language  ! 

Answ^er.  To  a  certain  extent,  but  not  so  well  as  through  interpreters. 

Question.  Is  it  your  opinion  that  the  present  policy  is  advantageous 
to  the  Indians,  and  likely  to  secure  peace  1 

Answer.  In  my  experience  the  present  policy  is  the  only  policy  to 
secure  the  peace  of  the  Sioux  Nation. 

Question.  How  many  warriors  do  you  suppose  the  Sioux  tribe  can 
furnish  ! 

Answer.  The  number  is  variously  estimated.  It  has  been  stated  by 
a  commanding  officer  at  Fort  Buford  that  Sitting  Bull  could  command  a 
tiiousand  warriors  at  any  time,  and  that  he  had  about  five  hundred 
lodges.     The  average  is  two  warriors  to  each  lodge. 

Question.  Do  you  think  that  these  Indians  will  soon  be  gathered  on 
their  allotted  reservations  ? 

Answer.  I  think  that  today  there  are  not  over  fifty  lodges  of  Sioux 
that  are  not  drawing  rations  at  their  agencies. 

Question.  Have  you  any  apprehension  of  seiious  difficulties  in  the 
future  ? 

Answer.  Not  at  all,  unless  some  great  change  takes  place. 

Question.  Do  you  think  that  the  military  force  in  that  neighborhood 
is  sufficient  to  prevent  Indian  hostilities! 

Answer.  Yes;  ample. 

Question.  Do  the  people  there  want  any  more  military  force  ! 

Answer.  I  did  not  hear  any  such  request. 

Question.  Do  the  Indian  agents  there  require  any  more  force,  so  far 
as  you  know  f 

Answer.  I  have  heard  that  they  wanted  some  on  the  Platte.  I  sup- 
pose the  troops  are  wanted  there  to  protect  that  frontier.  The  Red 
Cloud  Sioux  and  the  Ogalalla  Sioux  are  there,  and  they  are  the  least 
disposed  to  comply  with  the  requirements  of  the  agents. 


WASHiNaTON,  D.  C,  January  22,  1874. 

Examination  of  J.  C.  O'Connoe. 
By  the  Chairman: 

Question.  State  what  official  connection  you  have  had  with  the  man- 
agement of  Indians  Y 

Answer.  I  was  appointed  last  Jane  as  United  States  Indian  inspector. 

Question.  Where  were  you  on  duty  last  year ! 

Answer.  On  wiiat  is  termed  the  eastern  district,  including  New  York, 
Michigan,  Wisconsin,  Minnesota,  the  interior  of  Dakota,  Nebraska,  and 
Kansas. 

Question.  What  tribes  did  you  visit  in  Minnesota  and  Dakota  ! 

Answer.  The  Chippewas  in  Minnesota  and  the  Sioux  in  Dakota.  I 
was  at  six  agencies  in  Nebraska — the  Santee  Sioux,  the  Winnebagoes, 
the  Omahas,  the  Otoes,  and  the  great  Nemaha  agency. 

Question.  Did  you  converse  with  the  principal  men  of  those  tribes  f 

Answer.  Yes,  sir. 


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214  REDUCTION   OF    THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT. 

QnestioD.  Did  you  visit  the  tribes,  go  through  them,  and  enumerate 
them? 

Answer.  Yes,  sir. 

Question.  How  did  you  find  their  numbers  to  compare  with  the 
number  of  Indians  that  had  been  fed  and  supplied  by  the  Government? 

Answer.  They  were  generally  very  accurate.  Those  tribes  that  I 
visited  were  not  fed  like  the  great  body  of  the  Sioux.  It  is  the  great 
body  of  the  Sioux  that  are  on  the  river  that  are  fed.  The  Sioux  that  I 
saw  are  in  the  interior  of  Dakota,  east  of  the  Missouri  River. 

Question.  Are  they  hostile,  dangerous,  or  mischievous? 

Answer.  Perfectly  friendly. 

Question.  So  far  as  you  could  see  is  there  any  necessity  for  a  military 
force  among  them  ? 

Answer.  Fort  Wadsworth  and  Fort  Abercrombie  are  in  the  neigh- 
borhood of  where  I  visited.  I  do  not  know  that  they  are  used  now  for 
suppressing  any  disturbances  on  the  part  of  Indians. 

Question.  Do  you  know  the  number  of  Indians  in  that  neighborhood  ? 

Answer.  Yes,  sir ;  about  one  thousand. 

Question.  Are  they  w^ll-disposed  and  peaceful  ? 

Answer.  They  are  well-disposed  and  peaceful.  Many  of  them  are 
cultivating  the  soil. 

Question.  What  other  Indians  did  you  inspect  besides  those  in  Dakota? 

Answer.  Xo  others  but  the  Santee  Sioux  in  Nebraska.  They  are  peace- 
ful and  well-disposed.  They  are  located  near  the  Niobrara,  close  to  the 
Missouri  River.    T\wy  are  making  considerable  progress. 

Question.  In  general  what  have  you  to  say  as  to  the  advancement 
and  progress  of  these  Indian  tribes  under  their  present  management  ? 

Answer.  I  had  been  in  the  Indian  country  years  back,  and  the  improve- 
ment I  saw  last  year  among  the  Indians  was  something  extraordinary. 
The  Winnebagoes  and  the  Santees  are  working  like  white  men  and  are 
dressed  like  white  men. 

Question.  How  many  of  the  Chippewas  are  there  in  Northern  Min- 
nesota. I 

Answer.  I  have  not  got  the  exact  number  here.  I  have  made  reports 
in  regard  to  all  these  agencies.  The  Chippewas  have  got  a  splendid 
reservation  and  are  very  well  disposed  and  peaceful. 

Question.  Was  the  question  raised  either  by  whites  or  by  Indians  as 
to  the  importance  of  the  presence  of  military  force  at  an^*  of  those  points 
that  you  visited  ? 

Answer.  Yes;  the  agent  of  one  of  the  largest  Sioux  agencies  on  the 
river — Grand  River  agency — had  moved  his  agency  seventy  miles  up 
above,  to  Fort  Rice,  and  he  left  the  troops  below,  and  said  he  was  glad 
they  remained  there. 

Question.  Uow  many  Indians  were  there  in  that  agency  ? 

Answer.  Seven  thousand — the  Uncpapas,  the  Blackfeet,  and  the 
Lower  and  Upper  Yank  ton  aise. 

Question.  How  do  they  compare  in  disposition  with  the  other  Sioux 
tribes  ? 

Answer.  1  think  they  are  a  fair  sample.  They  have  been  considered  as 
among  the  most  hostile,  but  hostilities  have  been  unknown  among  them 
the  last  year  or  two. 

Question.  How  large  a  quantity  of  supplies  did  the  agent  take  with 
him,  unprotected  by  a  military  force? 

Answer.  All  the  supplies  for  twelve  months  for  about  7,000  Indians. 

Question.  How  nuuiy  white  men  had  he  with  him  f 

Answer.  About  twenty. 


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REDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT.  215 

By  Mr.  Albright  : 

Question.  In  the  Territories  and  States  where  you  inspected  Indian 
agencies,  is  there  any  occasion  for  the  use  of  troops  to  protect  the  In- 
dians against  outrages  and  depredations  on  the  part  of  the  whites  f 

Answer.  No,  sir,  I  think  not;  I  may  qualify  that  by  saying  that  th;it 
has  been  the  only  use  for  troops  wiiere  I  have  been,  and  troops  are 
probably  necessary  for  that  purpose  at  posts  which  I  did  not  visit. 

Question.  The  presence  of  troops  sometimes  where  they  are  not  act- 
ually needed  exercises  a  restraining  influence  on  both  Indians  and 
whites;  is  not  that  your  experience  f 

Answer.  Yes,  sir ;  that  has  been  my  experience. 

By  Mr.  Nesmith  : 

Question.  Did  you  make  an  actual  enumeration  by  count  of  the  tribes 
that  you  visited  f 

Answer.  No,  sir ;  not  by  count,  but  by  the  best  information  I  could 
get. 

Question.  You  stated  that  you  found  the  number  as  represented  by 
the  agents  to  be  very  correct;  how  did  you  ascertain  that  fact! 

Answer.  By  inquiry  among  various  parties,  and  by  the  facts  that  I 
could  glean. 

Question.  Inquiries  of  theagents  who  made  the  report,  or  of  Indians  t 

Answer.  Of  the  interpreters  and  Indians  and  other  parties  living 
there.  None  of  the  Indians  that  I  visited  were  fed  by  the  Government, 
except  for  the  work  they  did.  It  is  the  great  bulk  of  the  Sioux  and  the 
Apaches  that  are  fed  by  the  Government  without  giving  anything  in 
return. 


ENLISTED  MEN  OF  THE  BATTALION  OF  ENGINEERS. 

Office  of  the  Chief  of  Engineers, 

Washington^  D.  C,  January  156,  1874. 
Sir  :  In  answer  to  yonr  communication  of  this  date,  I  have  the  honor 
to  report  that  the  number  of  enlisted  men  of  the  battalion  of  engi- 
neers on  the  last  daj"  of  December,  1873,  was  356,  stationed  as  follows  : 

At  the  engineer  depot  of  Willet's  Point 254 

At  the  Military  Academy,  West  Point 75 

At  the  headquarters  Department  of  the  Missouri (J 

At  the  headquarters  Department  of  Dakota 7 

In  New  York  City  on  recruiting  service 5 

Surrendered  deserters  in  confinement  at  various  points 0 

Total 356 

Ver}'  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

A.  A.  HUMPHREYS, 
Brigadier-General  and  Chief  of  Engineers, 
Hon.  John  Coburn, 

Chairman  Committee  on  Military  Affairs^ 

House  of  Representatives. 


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216         reduction  of  the  military  establishment, 
distribution  of  enlisted  men  of  the  ordnance  department. 

Ordnance  Office,  War  Department, 

Washingtanj  January  20,  1874. 

Sir  :  In  compliance  with  yonr  reqncst  of  this  date,  I  liave  the  honor 
to  report  the  following  distribution  of  the  enlisted  men  of  the  Ordnance 
Department,  viz : 

At  Allegheny  arsenal,  Pennsylvania 29 

At  Augusta  arsenal,  Georgia 21 

At  Benicia  arsenal,  California 33 

At  Columbus  arsenal,  Ohio 12 

At  Detroit  arsenal,  Michigan 8 

At  Fortress  Monroe  arsenal,  Virginia 10 

At  Fort  Union  arsenal,  New  Mexico 13 

At  Frankford  arsenal,  Pennsylvania 30 

At  Indianapolis  arsenal,  Indiana 15 

At  Kennebec  arsenal,  Maine  « 

At  Lejiven  worth  arsenal,  Kansas 13 

At  Pikesville  arsenal,  Maryland 3 

At  Rock  Island  arsenal,  Illinois C> 

At  Saint  Louis  arsenal,  Missouri 31 

At  Vancouver  arsenal,  Washington  Territory 14 

At  Washington  arsenal.  District  of  Columbia 44 

At  Watervliet  arsenal,  New  York . , 3.3 

At  Watertown  arsenal,  Massachusetts 31 

At  West  Point  Military  Academy,  New  York 10 

At  Ordnance  Office 12 

Total 439 

Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant. 
By  order  of  the  Chief  of  Ordnance, 

S.  V.  BENfiT, 

Major  of  Ordnance, 

Hon.  John  Coburn, 

Chairman  Committee  on  Military  Affairs, 

House  of  Representatives^  Washington,  D.  C. 


Washington,  D,  C,  January  26, 1874. 

Examination  of  Mr.  Samuel  N.  Arnell. 

By  the  Chairman  : 

Question.  State  your  residence. 

Answer.  Columbia,  Tenu. 

Question.  How  long  were  you  a  member  of  Congress  f 

Answer.  I  was  a  member  of  the  Thirty-ninth,  Fortieth,  and  Forty- 
first  Congresses. 

Question.  State  the  condition  of  the  central  part  of  Tennessee  at 
present,  as  to  peace  and  order. 

Answer.  1  think  that  throughout  that  entire  portion  of  the  State 


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REDUCTION    OF    THE    MILITARY    ESTABLISHMENT.  217 

thore  is  perfect  quiet  and  order.  I  know  of  nothing  that  requires  any 
thing  more  than  the  civil  anthoritj  to  curb  it. 

Question.  Stat«  whether  the  revenue  laws  can  be  executed  in  Cen- 
tral Tennessee  without  the  aid  of  military  authority  ? 

Answer.  1  think  so. 

Question.  State  whether  there  is  any  danger,  either  from  Ku-Klux 
organizations  or  other  disturbing  causes? 

Answer.  None  whatever  at  present. 

Question.  How  was  it  formerly  in  that  part  of  Tennessee  in  which 
you  reside,  and  in  Northern  Alabama  ? 

Answer.  I  suppose  there  was  no  portion  of  Tennessee  which  was  so 
much  harassed  by  Ku  Klux  as  the  middle  portion,  and  at  one  time  it 
was  absolutely  necessary  to  have  all  the  force  that  Governor  Brownlow 
could  spare,  aided  by  the  small  Federal  force,  to  keep  law  and  order 
there. 

Question.  How  for  do  you  live  from  Alabama  ? 

Answer.  I  ])resume  it  is  about  fifty  or  sixty  miles  from  my  residence 
to  the  State  line. 

Question.  Are  you  acquainted  with  the  neighborhood  of  Huntsville, 
Alabama  f 

Answer.  Not  particularly;  I  know  of  it  from  general  report. 

Question.  What  is  the  rei)ort  as  to  peace  and  order  in  that  neighbor- 
hood ? 

Answ^er.  It  is  perfectly  quiet  so  far  as  I  know.  I  have  heard  of  no 
disturbances  there. 

Question.  How  far  is  Huntsville  from  your  place  by  railroad? 

Answer.  The  Nashville  and  Decatur  liailroad  passes  by  my  town, 
and  I  think  it  is  half  a  day's  ride  (six  hours,  probably)  to  Huntsville. 

Question.  If  there  were  any  disturbances  there  would  you  hear  of 
them  f 

Answer.  I  think  I  should  know  of  them. 

Question.  Do  you  think  that  the  rights  of  citizens  need  protection, 
or  that  the  revenue  laws  need  help  in  their  enforcement  from  the  mili- 
tary authorities  of  the  United  States  f 

Answer.  None  whatever  at  present. 

By  Mr.  Albright  : 

Question.  What  troops  are  now  in  that  portion  of  Tennessee  f 

Answer.  I  think  there  are  some  troops  at  Nashville ;  that  is  forty-six 
miles  from  my  place.  I  do  not  know  of  any  other  troops  in  that  neigh- 
borhood. 

Question.  Do  you  know  anything  about  the  condition  of  affairs  in 
Southern  Tennessee  or  Northern  Georgia! 

Answer.  No,  sir;  only  from  the  newspapers.  I  live  in  Central  Ten- 
nessee, fifty  or  sixty  miles  from  the  State  line. 

Question.  Are  there  many  distilleries  in  your  region  of  country  ? 

Answer,  Not  a  great  many.  I  think,  however,  that  at  Clarksville, 
Tennessee,  there  are  quite  a  number.  Clarksville  was  formerly  in  my 
district. 


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218  REDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT. 

Washington,  D.  C,  January  20, 1874. 

Lieut.  Gen.  Philip  Sheridan  appeared  before  the  committee  in  re- 
sponse to  its  invitation. 

The  Chairman.  Please  state  your  command. 

General  Shei^idan.  I  command  the  Military  Division  of  the  Missonri. 
I  have  been  in  command  of  that  division  since  the  early  spring  of  1869. 
I  commanded  the  Department  of  the  Missouri  previously,  from  1867  to 
1869. 

The  Chairman.  State  the  necessity  and  importance  of  maintaining 
the  present  number  of  troops  in  your  military  division. 

General  Sheridan.  The  command  is  composed  of  four  departments, 
embracing  an  area  of  country  which  commences  at  British  Columbia  on 
the  north  and  terminates  on  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  The  western  boundary 
are  the  east  lines  of  Arizona,  California,  and  Idaho.  The  eastern  bound- 
ary of  the  division  is  the  line  of  the  State  of  Illinois ;  north  is  British 
Columbia;  south  is  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  There  are  seventy-two  perma- 
nent military  posts  in  the  division,  separated  from  each  other  by  long 
distances.  The  division  embraces  nearly  all  the  actively  hostile  Indians 
we  have  in  the  country,  and  has  within  its  limits  perhaps  three-fourths  of 
all  our  Indians.  I  have  under  my  command  seventeen  regiments  of 
infantry  and  eight  regiments  of  cavalry,  numbering  about  16,0()0  men. 

The  Chairman.  Can  you  dispose  of  the  troops  that  you  have  in  your 
command  and  take  care  of  the  country  from  Indian  inroads,  and  protect 
the  Indians  likewise,  where  they  need  protection,  with  a  less  force  than 
you  have,  by  any  other  disposition  that  might  be  made  of  posts  and 
stations  t 

General  Sheridan.  No,  sir;  I  think  I  cannot.  I  think  I  ought  to 
have  more  troops  than  I  have,  in  order  to  meet  the  demands  that  are 
made  upon  me  constantly,  and  which  I  have  to  refuse ;  demands  are 
made  by  governors  of  Territories  and  governors  of  States  for  further 
protection  to  settlers,  and  for  lines  of  commercial  travel.  The  governor 
of  Texas,  a  short  time  ago,  applied  either  for  more  troops  or  for  author- 
ity to  raise  a  regiment  of  mounted  mennn  his  State.  The  governor  of 
Colorado  has  asked  for  additional  troops,  and  I  have  told  him  I  would 
try  to  let  him  have  some,  provided  he  could  get  Congress  to  appropriate 
enough  money  to  build  barracks  and  quarters  for  them,  as  I  did  not 
think  that  I  could  succeed  in  doing  that  myself.  The  Indians  that  were 
disturbing  them  in  Colorado  when  this  call  came  were  the  Cheyennes, 
who  are  located  down  about  Camp  Supply,  in  the  Indian  Territory,  who 
sometimes  make  their  appearance  in  Colorado,  and,  even  with- 
out doing  damage,  frighten  the  people  so  much  that  they  abandon  their 
ranches  and  property.  The  settlers  along  the  Niobrara  lliver  have  been 
very  much  troubled  by  the  Sioux  during  the  last  year.  Their  cattle  are 
very  often  killed.  I  think  that  two  or  three  of  the  people  have  been 
killed,  but  the  Indians  have  generally  depredated  on  their  cattle.  They 
come  in  and  kill  the  cows  without  even  using  the  meat,  and  they  have 
kept  that  neighborhood  in  such  a  state  of  alarm  that  the  people  have 
asked  for  a  post  to  be  established,  but  I  have  been  unable  to  comply 
with  their  req  est  for  want  of  means.  The  people  along  the  Loup  Fork 
have  also  been  trying  to  get  a  post  established.  We  send  out  a  summer 
camp  from  Fort  McPherson  to  give  them  protection.  On  the  Republi- 
can River  the  settlers  have  advanced  nearly  two  hundred  and  fifty 
miles  within  the  last  two  years,  and  we  have  to  protect  them.  They 
are  demanding  a  post,  which  I  am  unable  to  give  them.  We  keep,  how- 
ever, scouting  parties  up  and  down  the  Republican  River  constantly, 
goiu^  as  far  west  as  the  line  of  Colorado.     We  have  to  keep  the  troops 


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REDUCTION    OP   THE    MILITARY    ESTABLISHMENT.  219 

moving  even  in  tbe  winter,  in  order  to  make  the  people  feel  safe.  The 
Indians  have  been  allowed  to  come  down  and  hunt  in  that  country,  and 
there  is  constant  danger  of  trouble  between  them  and  the  settlers. 

Mr.  Nesmith.  Has  the  Indian  Bureau  ever  called  on  you  for  pro- 
tection t 

General  Sheridan.  Yes,  it  makes  frequent  demands.  The  last  call 
they  made  upon  me  was  on  last  Saturday. 

The  Chairman.  There  are  quite  a  number  of  posts  in  the  State  of 
Kansas  at  a  distance  from  the  Indians.  Here,  for  instance,  is  Fort 
Leavenworth,  Fort  Riley,  Fort  Harker,  Fort  Hays,  Fort  Larner;  can 
any  of  these  poets  be  dispensed  with  ! 

General  Sheridan.  Yes,  if  we  can  get  money  to  build  other  posts. 
But  these  posts  are  on  the  lino  of  railroad,  and  the  troops  can  be  easily 
moved.  We  keep  them  at  those  forts  because  they  have  quarters  for 
them  there. 

The  Chairman.  Can  they  be  concentrated  further  out  and  larger 
posts  established  ? 

General  Sheridan.  The  subject  of  the  concentration  of  posts  has 
been  given  a  good  deal  of  attention  to.  I  have  abandoned  the  whole 
idea.  I  don't  believe  that  we  can  concentrate  the  posts.  The  demands 
of  the  settlers  are  such  that  they  require  the  troops  near  where  they 
are  or  they  are  not  satisfied. 

The  Chairman.  Are  these  posts  in  the  rear  needed  t 

General  Sheridan.  No,  sir ;  I  think  that  the  post  at  Fort  Riley  has 
no  particular  military  importance,  but  it  is  a  post  where  there  are  fine 
quarters,  and  where  troops  can  be  cheaply  subsisted.  We  only  keep 
troops  there  in  the  winter  time.  In  the  summer  time  we  keep  them  in 
camp  on  the  plains. 

The  Chairman.  Which  would  be  the  best  policy  for  the  Government — 
to  make  appropriations  to  establish  a  large  new  "post,  or  to  retain  these 
old  posts  where  they  are  f 

General  Sheridan.  I  do  not  know  that  you  would  benefit  the  coun- 
try very  much  by  establishing  a  new  post,  because  now  we  send  troops 
in  the  summer  time  to  cover  the  country,  and  they  return  in  the  winter 
where  they  can  be  cheaply  fed  and  well  housed.  I  think  we  would  be 
always  glad  to  give  up  the  old  posts  if  we  could  only  get  new  ones;  but 
it  is  a  question  of  simple  economy,  and  my  opinion  is  that  you  will  not 
economize  but  expend  more  by  establishing  new  forts. 

The  Chairman.  There  are  a  lot  of  posts  in  Minnesota  and  Eastern 
Dakota.    Can  they  be  dispensed  with  to  advantage  ? 

General  Sheridan.  There  is  no  post  that  I  have  thought  of  hereto- 
fore which  can  be  dispensed  with  in  Minnesota  except  Fort  Ripley.  I 
tried  on  two  or  three  occasions  to  abandon  that  post,  but  was  prevented 
from  doing  so  by  the  Indian  Bureau.  The  Leech  Lake  Indians  are  in 
that  section  of  country,  and  we  have  to  keep  a  garrison  at  Fort  Ripley 
in  order  to  control  them.  We  send  out  troops  to  Leech  Lake  during 
the  summer  season,  and  bring  them  back  to  winter  them  in  Fort  Riley. 

The  Chairman.  What  would  you  say  as  to  Fort  Snelllng  ! 

General  Sheridan.  That  is  simply  a  place  to  quarter  troops.  There 
are  good  buildings  there. 

The  Chairman.  What  about  Fort  Abercrorabie  f 

General  Sheridan.  That  is  on  the  Red  River  of  the  North.  It  is 
only  available  as  a  depot. 

The  Chairman.  What  about  Fort  Pembina  ! 

General  Sheridan.  Fort  Pembina  was  established  at  the  time  of  the 
Fenian  raid  on  the  Canadian  frontier.    And  there  has  been  a  threaten- 


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220  REDUCTION    OF    THE    MILITARY    ESTABLISHMENT. 

iiig  of  Indians  from  Manitoba.    It  is  valuable  now  for  the  boundary 
survey,  and  it  is  also  valuable  as  a  military  station  against  the  ludiaus. 

Tbe  Chairman.  What  about  Fort  Totten  ? 

General  Sheridan.  Fort  Totten  was  a  post  established  to  control 
the  Sisseton  Sioux.  There  is  a  large  reservation  of  those  Indians  at 
Fort  Totten. 

The  Chairman.  What  about  Fort  Seward  I 

General  Sheridan.  Fort  Seward  is  on  the  James  River.  It  was 
established  by  petition  from  the  governor  an<l  people  of  Minnesota. 
There  is  a  long  line  between  the  Red  River  of  the  North  and  the  Mis- 
souri River,  aud  this  fort  is  half  way.  The  railroad  people  and  the  citi- 
zens and  the  governor  petitioned  for  the  post.  It  is  a  one  company 
post. 

The  Chairman.  What  about  Fort  Wadsworth  f 

General  Sheridan.  Fort  Wadsworth  is  for  the  government  of  In- 
dians.   There  is  a  large  Indian  reservation  there. 

The  CHAiRMiVN.  W^hat  about  Fort  Ridgley  in  Southern  Minnesota  ! 

General  Sheridan.  Fort  Ridgley  has  been  abandoned  for  some 
years. 

The  Chairman.  Do  you  know  anytliing  about  the  posts  in  North- 
western Texas,  Camp  Stockton,  Fort  Davis,  &c.  f 

General  Sheridan.  I  have  never  been  at  those  posts,  but  I  have 
been  near  them,  as  far  as  the  Devil's  River,  and  I  know  all  about  that 
country.  Fort  Bliss  is  kept  for  revenue  purposes,  and  so  is  Fort  Quit- 
man. We  had  to  send  troops  to  Fort  Quitman  a  short  time  ago.  There 
is  no  object  in  keeping  it  up  except  for  the  purpose  of  protecting  the 
collection  of  internal  revenue,  and  to  enforce  the  neutrality  laws.  It  is 
on  the  Rio  Grande.  We  have  a  good  deal  of  trouble  there  from  smug- 
gling, and  the  revenue  officers  cannot  do  anything  without  the  presence 
of  troops. 

The  Chairman.  Is  there  much  trade  there  f 

General  Sheridan.  Yes;  they  trade  from  there  up  toward  New 
Mexico.  There  is  a  heavy  trade  done  through  Camp  Stockton  and  Fort 
Davis,  down  to  San  Antonio,  the  Chihuahua  trade. 

The  Chairman.  What  about  Fort  Davis  f 

General  Sheridan.  Fort  Davis  is  on  a  little  stream  called  the  Limpia. 
It  was  established  to  prevent  our  Indians  from  crossing  the  Rio  Grande 
into  Mexico,  and  to  protect  the  mail  route  between  New  Mexico  and 
San  Antonio.  It  is  the  country  of  the  Mescalero  Apaches,  very  bad 
Indians.  It  was  established  originally  to  keep  them  in  subjection,  and 
we  have  been  obliged  to  keep  it  up  still.  Camp  Stockton  is  kept  up  for 
the  same  reivson. 

Mr.  Nesmith.  Will  you  state  to  the  committee  your  knowledge  of  the 
conduct  of  Indian  agents  and  employes! 

General  Sheridan.  I  would  not  like  to  put  on  paper  any  criticisms 
about  that  department  unless  i  am  compelled  to.  I  do  not  know 
whether  it  would  be  right  for  me  to  do  so,  except  so  far  as  may  be  in 
connection  with  my  duties.  I  have  been  on  the  frontier  for  the  most 
part  of  the  last  twenty  years,  and  I  think  there  is  a  mist^iken  idea  in 
the  country  about  the  desire  of  frontier  people  to  have  Indian  wars  and 
to  have  troubles  with  Indians.  The  impression  made  on  my  mind  is 
that  the  frontier  people  want  peace.  Their  great  desire  seems  to  be  for 
peace  with  the  Indians,  and  has  been  always  so,  so  far  as  I  have  been 
able  to  obv^serve.  When  the  Indians  come  into  a  neighborhood  they  are 
treated  kindly,  and  are  generally  given  something  to  eat,  and  everything 
is  done  to  keep  on  good  relations  with  them.    So  far  as  the  Army  is  eon- 


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REDUCTION    OF    THE    MILITARY    ESTABLISHMENT.  221 

corned  I  am  sure  that  it  has  the  greate.-t  sympathy  forludianp.  I  have 
myself.  I  have  lived  among  them,  aud  I  am  able  to  couimauicate  with 
them  ill  their  language,  and  1  have  the  sympathy  that  everybody  has 
for  a  fading  out  people.  I  believe  that  a  remnant  ol  all  the  Indian 
nations  and  tribes  can  be  saved  and  civilized,  and  taken  care  of.  But 
HS  a  whole  I  scarcely  think  that  the  Indians  can  be.  I  have  seen  the 
working  of  the  reservation  system  and  the  whole  process  of  that  civiliza- 
tion since  1855. 

Mr.  Nesmith.  Have  you  known  any  cases  where  Indian  wars  have 
arisen  by  aggressive  acts  on  the  part  of  frontier  settlers  I 

General  Sheridan.  No  ;  it  has  been  always  the  other  way.  The  first 
depredations  have  been  by  the  Indians,  and  some  of  them  have  been 
very  horrible.  I  have  known  the  most  horrible  depredations  to  be 
committed  by  the  Indians,  and  to  have  led  to  wars.  Take,  for  example, 
the  war  of  1867,  in  Kansas.  There  the  Cheyennes  made  their  first  raid 
unexpectedly  on  the  advanced  settlements  on  the  Saline  Blver.  They 
killed  fourteen  or  fifteen  men  and  captured  three  or  four  women.  They 
ravished  some  of  the  women  whom  I  saw  afterwards,  myself.  One  of 
them  that  I  talked  with  told  me  she  was  ravished  thirty  times  in  suc- 
cession. The  other  woman  was  ravished  fifty  times  in  succession,  and 
the  last  Indian  who  ravished  her  took  an  old  sword  that  he  had  and 
used  it  on  her  person,  cutting  her  very  badly.  That  was  the  commence- 
ment of  that  war.  The  war  in  Eastern  Oregon  was  commenced  in  nearly 
the  same  way  ;  it  commenced  by  the  murder  at  the  Cascades.  Gener- 
ally the  firstact  of  hostility  has  been  committed  by  the  Indians. 

Mr.  Nesmith.  Do  you  think  that  the  withdrawal  of  the  troops  from 
these  various  posts  in  the  neighborhood  of  Indian  tribes,  and  turning 
the  Indians  over  to  be  managed  by  moral  suasion,  would  have  a  ten- 
dency to  prevent  those  raids  f 

General  Shbeidan,  I  think  it  utterly  impossible  to  govern  wild  In- 
dians by  moral  suasion. 

Mr.  Nesmith.  Do  you  not  believe  that  if  the  troops  are  withdrawn 
the  Indians  would  sweep  out  the  frontier  settlements  f 

General  Sheridan.  Yes.  I  think  there  would  be  a  stampede  along 
the  whole  frontier  the  moment  the  troops  were  withdrawn.  There  is 
scarcely  an  Indian  now  on  a  reservation  in  the  United  States  that  has 
not  been  put  there  by  the  military,  and  there  is  scarcely  an  Indian  who 
remains  on  a  reservation  who  is  not  kept  there  by  the  influence  of  the 
troops.  I  mean  the  wild  Indians.  I  do  not  speak  of  the  semi-civilized. 
When  you  come  to  cipher  it  all  down  you  will  find  that  every  Indian  on 
the  reservation  has  been  put  there  by  the  influence  of  troops,  aud  that 
every  Indian  who  stays  there  stays  by  the  same  influence. 

Mr.  Nesmith.  Did  you  ever  know  any  of  them  to  go  on  reservations 
through  persuasion  of  peace  commissioners  without  the  influence  of  the 
military  force ! 

General  Sheridan,  No,  sir.  They  have  gone  through  the  influence 
of  the  military.  Spotted  Tail  when  he  first  went  to  the  Whetstone 
agency,  on  the  Upper  Missouri,  was  not  driven  there  exactly  by  the 
troops,  but  he  was  driven  out  of  the  country  which  he  had  been  occu- 
pying- 

Mr.  Nesmith.  Have  you  seen  any  of  those  United  States  Indian  in- 
81>ectors  among  the  Indian  tribes  t 

General  Sheridan.  No,  sir. 

Mr.  Nesmith.  What  would  you  say  of  the  facilities  of  a  man  sent 
out  from  New  York  to  gain  information  about  Indians  by  talking  with 
tbe  Indian  agents  and  interpreters? 


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222  REDUCTION    OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT. 

General  Sheridan.  It  would  be  a  very  poor  way  of  getting  information 
about  Indians.  And  then  it  would  be  the  case  of  sending  a  man  who 
knew  very  little  about  that  kind  of  business. 

Mr.  Nesmith.  Would  he  be  likely  to  be  imposed  upon  t 

General  Sheridan.  Yes,  he  might  be. 

Mr.  ISesmith.  Particularly  if  he  did  not  understand  the  language  t 

General  Sheridan.  Yes. 

Mr.  KES3HTH.  Have  you  made  any  inspection  down  on  the  Texas 
frontier  f 

General  Sheridan.  Yes ;  I  am  quite  familiar  with  the  whole  of  Texas. 

Mr.  Kesmith.  Do  you  know  anything  about  the  supply  of  cattle  furn- 
ished to  the  Indians? 

General  Sheridan,  ]N'o,  sir.  I  only  know  that  when  I  first  went 
down  to  establish  Fort  Sill,  1  found  that  the  contractor  there  had  a 
large  herd  of  cattle  which  he  was  selling  to  the  Indian  agent.  The  cat- 
tle were  driven  away  when  I  got  there.  They  were  driven  two  or  three 
hundred  miles  around  to  Camp  Supply,  and  the  cattle  were  being  sold 
there  to  the  commissary  for  our  troops.  As  soon  as  I  found  this  was 
being  done  I  commenced  to  inquire,  and  ascertained  that  the  contractor 
had  employed  Indians  to  steal  these  cattle  from  Texas  citizens  and  then 
sold  them  to  the  Indian  agent.  I  sent  up  to  Gamp  Supply  and. seized 
the  herd,  aud  I  also  imprisoned  the  men  who  were  in  charge  of  it.  Of 
course  I  had  to  have  the  cattle  killed,  but  I  had  an  accurate  account 
kept  and  notified  the  owners  that  they  could  get  the  price  for  their  beef. 
We  paid  the  money  back  to  the  actual  owners  from  whom  the  cattle 
were  stolen  so  far  as  we  could  find  them.  The  beef  contractors  brought 
suit  against  me  for  the  cattle  at  Topeka,  Kansas,  and  I  had  to  send 
down  and  get  the  Indians  who  stole  the  cattle  to  testify  as  witnesses.  I 
was  sued  for  $33,000,  but  I  brought  the  Indians  there  as  witnesses  and 
I  thus  released  myself.  If  I  had  not  succeeded  in  getting  the  Indians  I 
would  have  had  some  trouble. 

Mr.  Nesmith.  Do  you  know  of  any  instance  of  the  Army  being  sup- 
plied in  that  way  by  stolen  cattle  t 

General  Sheridan.  No,  sir ;  I  do  not. 

Mr.  MacDougall.  You  have  stated  that  on  Saturday  last  a  call  was 
made  u|)on  you  by  the  Indian  Bureau  for  troops.  To  what  extent  was 
that  call  ? 

General  Sheridan.  I  was  called  upon  to  establish  a  post  at  the  Red 
Cloud  agency  on  White  Earth  River.  I  doubt  whether  lied  Cloud 
agency  is  on  any  reservation.  Last  fall  the  Indians  took  possession  of 
the  herds  of  cattle  and  other  public  property  at  Red  Cloud  agency,  and 
made  a  great  deal  of  trouble  there.  The  Indian  Bureau  asked  me  to  send 
two  companies  of  cavalry  there  and  also  to  Spotted  Tail's  agency,  which 
is  forty-five  miles  from  Red  Cloud's,  to  protect  the  agents  and  the 
public  property.  I  was  afraid  to  send  so  small  a  force,  and  in  order  to 
make  certain  tliat  my  opinion  was  correct,  I  went  to  Fort  Laramie  my- 
self, and  I  found  that  I  was  right.  The  North  Platte  is  what  is  called 
the  "dead  line."  No  person  is  allowed  by  the  Indians  to  cross  the  Nortli 
Platte;  and  even  the  transportation  of  their  supplies  is  not  allowed  to 
go  that  way,  but  has  to  be  brought  from  the  railroad  farther  down  and 
hauled  up.  We  found  that  if  we  attempted  to  send  two  companies 
there  to  Red  Cloud's  or  Spotted  Tail's  agency  we  would  have  been 
obliged  to  light  the  whole  Sioux  Nation.  That  was  the  impression  left 
on  my  mind  and  that  of  the  officers  who  were  with  me. 

Mr.  Nesmith.  That  road  from  the  North  Platte  to  Red  Cloud's  *igency 
would  pass  through  the  Black  Hills? 


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REDUCTION    OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT.  223 

General  Sheridan.  No  ;  but  it  goe»  directly  from  the  North  Platte 
Station,  which  is  east  of  the  Black  Hills. 

Mr.  Nesmith.  Did  the  ludian  Bureau,  in  asking  for  two  companies 
on  that  occasion,  sliow  a  proper  knowledge  of  the  Indian  country  that 
it  had  to  deal  with  f 

General  Sheridan.  I  think  that  no  agent  of  the  Indian  Bureau  out 
at  that  place  would  have  asked  for  so  small  a  number  of  troops.  The 
request  coming  from  Washington,  I  presume  that  the  relative  condition 
of  the  Indians  was  not  understood.  I  wish  to  say  in  further  reply  to  a 
question  by  the  chairman,  that  it  is  scarcely  known  to  the  people  gen- 
erally, that  there  has  been  an  increasing  necessity  for  protection  of  the 
western  frontier  in  the  last  five  or  six  years.  Previous  to  that  time  the 
Indians  owned  the  country  as  a  whole,  between  Texas  and  British 
Columbia.  Since  that  time  we  have  built  all  the  railroads  now  in  exist- 
ence in  that  section  of  country.  New  settlements  have  followed  the 
railroads,  immense  herds  of  cattle  have  been  brought  from  Texas  and 
other  places,  so  that  the  necessity  for  protection  has  greatly  increased 
for  the  last  five  or  six  years. 

Mr.  Albright.  How  long  have  you  been  compelled  to  keep  some  of 
your  regiments  in  the  places  where  they  now  are,  and  why  have  you 
Lot  changed  them  f 

General  Sheridan.  Some  of  them  have  been  eight  years  in  the  same 
place.  The  Twenty-Second  Infantry  has  been  nearly  eight  years  on  the 
Upper  Missouri,  in  the  most  isolated  posts.  There  are  many  other  regi- 
ments that  have  been  out  for  six  or  seven  years  without  change. 

Mr.  Albright.  Would  it  not  be  for  the  good  of  the  service  to  ex- 
change the  places  of  these  regiments  ! 

General  Sheridan.  I  think  it  would  be  for  the  good  of  the  troops, 
and  for  the  good  of  the  service  in  that  way. 

The  Chairman.  Do  you  suppose  that  many  of  those  men  have  been 
there  eight  years  I 

General  Sheridan.  The  officers  have  been,  and  a  good  many  of  the 
men  have  been,  for  they  have  re-enlisted. 

The  Chairman.  They  were  not  obliged  to  re-enlist  and  stay  there 
eight  years  in  a  sickly  country,  were  they  t 

General  Sheridan.  No  ;  but  some  of  the  soldiers  do  not  know  what 
else  to  do. 

The  Chairman.  There  are  a  good  many  desertions  from  the  Army 
which  would  cut  down  th.e  permanent  number  at  one  placet 

General  Sheridan.  Yes,  a  good  many.  There  is  no  army  in  the 
world  that  does  one-twentieth  of  the  service  of  our  Army,  and  the  reason 
of  its  great  expense  is  the  immense  territory  we  have  to  cover.  The 
armies  in  Europe  are  generally  in  garrison  in  towns  where  there  is  no 
trouble  or  expense  except  the  feeding  of  them  ;  but  here  we  are  going 
nil  the  time  over  very  great  distances  and  at  a  corresponding  expense. 
From  the  character  of  the  people  on  our  frontier  settlements,  it  is  im- 
]>os8ible  for  us  to  have  large  posts,  because  the  people  want  protection 
all  over. 

Mr.  Gunckel.  You  have  spoken  of  the  Indian  service  as  indicating 
a  cause  for  the  increased  expense  of  our  troops,  as  compared  with  the 
armies  of  other  countries.  Have  you  any  other  way  of  accounting  for 
that  expense! 

General  Sheridan.  I  think  that  that  fully  a<;count8  for  it,  and  besides 
that,  we  give  our  soldiers  better  pay,  and  feed  them  a  good  deal  better. 
The  heaviest  expense  is  that  of  transportation. 


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224  REDUCTION    OF   THE    MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT. 

Mr.  GuNCKEL.  I8  not  the  number  and  expense  of  officers  relatively 
greater  in  onr  Army  than  in  the  English  army  ? 

General  Sheridan.  No,  sir;  1  think  not.  1  don't  know  what  the  pay 
of  English  otUcers  is. 

The  Chairman.  Have  you  ever  come  to  a  conclusion  on  the  question 
of  placing  tlie  management  of  Indian  affairs  under  the  control  of  the 
War  Department? 

General  Sheridan.  It  has  been  my  belief  that,  if  the  Indians  had 
been  under  the  charge  of  the  War  Department,  we  never  would  have 
had  any  considerable  wars  with  the  Indians.  I  believe  that  if  the  Iii- 
diaiH5  were  in  the  hands  of  the  War  Department^  the  Indian  expenses 
would  be  reduced  one-third  or  one-lialf. 

The  Chairman.  Do  you  think  you  could  manage  the  Indians  with 
your  present  force! 

General  Sheridan.  Yes ;  or  with  what  we  should  be  able  probably 
to  get  from  the  South  by  and  by.  We  have  all  the  necessary  machinery 
to  perform  the  work,  and  are  thoroughly  systematized,  while  the  In- 
dian Bureau  has  not  any  machinery  at  all. 

The  Chairman.  Do  you  think  you  could  dispense  with  all  the  civil 
employes  of  the  Indian  Bureau? 

General  Sheridan.  Not  entirely.  We  would  have  to  have  interpret- 
ers, and  farmers,  and  teachers,  but  we  could  disx>ense  with  the  Indian 
agents,  and  all  the  higher  principal  employes. 

Mr.  Nesmith.  Could  not  the  Army  officers  take  charge  of  the  work 
of  inspecting  the  Indians,  and  do  it  as  fully  and  well  as  it  is  done  under 
the  Indian  Bureau  ? 

General  Sheridan.  Yes,  sir. 

Mr.  Nesmith.  In  regard  to  transportation,  you  say  that  you  have  all 
the  machinery  and  appliances.  Could  you  not,  in  letting  contracts  for 
the  supply  of  the  Army,  have  the  Indian  supplies  delivered  at  less 
prices  and  with  more  security  than  at  present  ? 

General  Sheridan.  I  presume  we  could.  I  do  not  know  the  prices 
paid  by  the  Indian  Bureau,  but  I  know  that  the  people  who  get  Army 
contracts  now  do  not  make  much  profit  by  them.  The  pay  being  secure, 
the  competition  is  great,  and  contractors  are  willing  to  take  contracts 
at  the  lowest  rates. 

The  Chairman.  If  the  operations  of  the  Indian  Bureau  were  consol- 
idated with  those  of  your  military  division  within  it,  how  many  em- 
ployes could  you  dispense  with  I 

General  Sheridan.  I  cannot  answer  that  question,  because  I  do  not 
know  how  many  men  the  Indian  Bureau  is  using.  I  think  we  could 
dispense  with  all  except  the  interpreters  and  a  few  farmers. 

The  0HAIR3IAN.  And  you  think  that  you  could  conduct  the  entire 
military  and  Indian  systems  in  your  division,  and  dispense  with  all  the 
employes  of  the  Indian  Bureau  except  some  farmers  and  interpreters? 

General  Sheridan.  Yes,  sir ;  that  is  my  belief.  I  have  no  doubt  of 
it  at  all.  I  want  to  say  in  addition,  that  it  is  well  to  know  that  the 
expense  of  the  Indian  Bureau  is  going  to  increase  very  much.  In  five 
years  from  now  it  will  be  nearer  sixteen  millions  than  eight  million  dol- 
lars. 

The  Chairman.  How  will  that  be  ? 

General  Sheridan.  Because,  as  the  Indians  are  crowded  on  reserva- 
tions, they  will  have  to  be  taken  care  of  and  fed  better. 

The  Chairman.  Can  the  War  Department  dispense  with  doing  that 
any  more  than  the  Indian  Bureau  can  ? 

General  Sheridan.  No,  sir  j  the  Indians  will  have  to  be  fed  j  but  I 


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REDUCTION    OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMEXT.  225 

nie.in  that  we  will  have  to  be  prepared  for  aii  increase  of  expense  in 
relation  to  Indian  niatj;ers,  no  matter  who  manages  thein. 

Mr.  MaoDougall.  Do  you  know  the  expense  of  the  Indian  Bareaa 
this  year! 

General  Sheridan.  I  heard  it  estimated  at  $8,000,000. 

The  Chairman.  Is  not  a  hirge  part  of  that  expense  for  feeding  and 
supplying  the  Indians? 

General  Sheridan.  Yes,  sir. 

Tlie  Chairman.  Are  not  Indian  wars  necessarily  very  expensive? 

General  Sheridan.  They  have  been  expensive. 

The  Chairman.  Would  it  not  be  better  to  feed  the  Indians  than  to 
fight  them! 

General  Sheridan.  Most  undoubtedly;  but  the  trouble  is  you  have 
to  do  both. 

Tiie  Chairman.  Do  you  think  that  the  present  system  is  calculated 
to  bring  on  war  with  the  Indians  more  than  the  former  system  was! 

General  Sheridan.  Yes, sir;  undoubtedly. 

The  Chairman.  Whyf 

General  Sheridan.  There  is  no  government  over  the  Indians  now  at 
all.  \^ou  cannot  govern  white  men,  no  matter  how  intelligent,  unless 
you  haye  stringent  laws ;  and  yet  you  are  attempting  to  govern  these 
wild  savages  without  any  laws  or  any  power  over  them. 

The  Chairman.  Are  not  the  Indians  becoming  more  and  more  peace- 
able than  heretofore  ? 

General  Sheridan.  There  has  been  a  great  benefit  done  to  what  we 
call  semi-civilized  or  broken  down  Indians,  but  I  doubt  whether  much 
has  been  accomplished  in  reference  to  the  wild  Indians. 

The  Chairman.  Are  not  the  Sioux  in  better  condition  than  they 
were  five  years  ago? 

General  Sheridan.  I  do  not  know  that  I  am  able  to  say  that  they 
are  in  better  condition. 

The  Chairman.  How  many  warriors  do  you  suppose  the  Sioux 
have  ? 

General  Sheridan.  I  do  not  know  exactly  how  many  warriors  tho 
Sioux  can  turn  out.  It  is  very  difficult  to  get  at  the  number  of  Sioux. 
They  are  scattered  from  British  Columbia  all  the  way  down  to  the 
Platte.  They  are  divided  into  all  kinds  of  bands  and  you  are  liable  to 
count  those  bands  twice,  and  sometimes  not  to  count  them  at  all.  I 
should  Judge  that  the  Sioux  could  possibly  turn  out  about  three  or  four 
thousand  men  in  the  field.  But  we  cannot  have  any  war  with  Indians, 
because  they  cannot  maintain  five  hun<lred  men  together  for  three  days ; 
they  cannot  feed  them ;  they  have  no  commissary  ;  and  so  all  that  they 
can  do  is  simply  to  make  these  raids  and  to  plunder,  by  striking  at 
ditterent  points.  That  is  why  we  have  to  keep  so  many  posts.  In 
18(>8  I  took  the  battle-ground  where  the.  In<lians  could  come  together. 
That  was  the  country  between  the  Platte  River  and  the  Arkansas* 
That  was  the  great  Indian  battle-ground.  Herds  of  buffalo  roamed 
there  and  the  Indians  could  live  off  the  buffalo  and  could  remain  there 
in  largo  numbers.  So  I  took  that  country  from  the  Indians  and  put  the 
Cheyenues  and  Araoalues  at  Camp  Supply,  and  the  Comanches,. 
Kiowas,  and  Apaches  at  Fort  Sill,  and  drove  Spotted  Tail  and  the  Ogal- 
lalla  Sioux  north.  Since  that  time  they  have  not  gotten  together. 
Mr.  Nesmith.  Your  command  had  some  difficulty  with  the  Piegans  f 
General  Sheridan.  Yes,  sir. 

Mr.  Nesmith.  How  have  the  Piegans  behaved  themselves  since 
then! 

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226  REDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT. 

General  Sheridan.  No  man  has  ever  beeu  killed  by  an  Indian  ont 
there  since. 

Mr.  Nesmith.  Yon  didn't  manage  them  by  moral  anasion  9 

General  Sheridan.  No  ;  they  bad  been  depredating  for  fonr  years, 
and  I  was  asked  by  the  Indian  Bnrean  to  chastise  them.  You  cannot 
catch  an  Indian  nnless  yon  steal  upon  him.  We  cangbt  them  in  that 
way  and  gave  them  a  pretty  good  punishment,  and  that  has  been  the 
en(i  of  it.    They  have  made  no  disturbance  sin<;e. 

Mr.  GuNOKEL.  You  do  not  believe  in  the  Indian  peace  policy  of  the 
Government  t 

General  Sheridan.  Yes,  I  believe  in  the  peace  policy  so  far  as  it  can 
be  cHrried  out. 

Mr.  GuNCKEL.  How  far  do  you  think  it  is  possible  to  carry  it  ont  f 

General  Sheridan.  I  think  that  the  peace  policy  would  be  far  more 
successfully  carried  out  if  there  was  some  authority,  some  power  such 
as  the  military,  placed  over  Indians  to  keep  them  under  control. 

Mr,  GiiNCKEL.  You  would  have  the  Army  carry  out  the  peace  policy 
of  the  Government  ? 

General  Sheridan.  Yes;  I  think  that  the  present  reservation  system 
is  the  only  policy.  It  is  an  admirable  policy.  No  people  in  the  world 
are  treated  so  leniently  as  the  Indians  have  been  treated  by  this  Gov- 
ernment That  treatment  has  been  going  on  for  the  last  two  hundred 
years.  We  have  always  been  trying  to  save  the  Indians,  but  yet  all  the 
great  nations  of  Indians  are  gone,  and  there  is  but  a  little  remnant  that 
can  be  saved.  We  put  the  hostile  Indians  on  a  reservation  at  Yam 
Hill,  in  Oregon,  and  there  I  had  some  experience  of  how  the  reservation 
system  acts.  The  first  process  was  what  is  called  the  dyin^-out  process. 
Tlie  Indians  commenced  dying,  and  they  died  until  the  hiil-sides  were 
all  covered  with  them.  Then,  after  the  dying-out  process,  the  balance 
ot  tliem  commenced  to  cultivate  the  soil.  I  bought  grain  from  them. 
I  bought  all  the  grain  they  raised.  They  cut  all  the  cord-wood  for  the 
troops,  and  I  used  to  give  the  contracts  to  them.  They  used  to  com- 
pete with  each  other  for  the  contracts.  The  children  went  to  school 
and  I  used  to  see  them  able  to  read  a  little  before  I  left  there. 

Mr.  Nesmith.  Do  you  not  know  that  there  is  no  way  to  control  a 
wild  Indian  except  by  his  fears! 

General  Sheridan.  I  know  of  no  other  way.  The  Indian  ha«  only 
one  profession,  and  that  is  the  profession  of  arms.  He  is  not  a  mechanic; 
he  is  not  a  trader ;  and  he  does  not  cultivate  the  soil.  He  knows  only 
one  thing,  and  that  is  to  make  war.  The  very  moment  an  Indian  child 
gets  large  enough  to  walk  about  an  arrow  is  put  in  his  hand,  and  he 
goes  around  throwing  it  until  he  gets  his  arm  strong  and  supple.  Then 
they  give  him  a  bow,  and  he  uses  a  bow  and  arrow  until  he  is  able  to 
use  a  gun;  but  he  cannot  be  recognized  as  a  warrior  until  he  takes  a 
scalp  or  steals  a  horse.  It  is  just  as  honorable  for  an  Indian  to  steal  as 
to  take  a  scalp.  But  this  Indian  boy  cannot  amount  to  anything  in  a 
tribe  until  he  does  one  or  the  other.  Of  course,  these  people  are  idle. 
The  women  do  the  work — pitch  the  tents,  attend  to  the  horses,  and 
everything.  They  are  an  idle  people,  and  unless  you  have  some  power 
to  control  them  they  will  depredate. 

Mr.  Nesmith.  Stealing  is  an  auxiliary  to  their  military  business. 

General  Sheridan.  It  is  part  of  their  military  idea.  I  have  known 
Sioux  Indians  to  go  on  foot  all  the  way  from  the  Sioux  country  to  Texas, 
with  lariats,  and  steal  horses  there  and  rirle  them  back.  They  always 
go  as  far  away  from  home  as  possible  before  they  steal. 

The  Chairman.  Are  not  the  troublesome  Indians  in  your  military 


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REDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT.  227 

division  located  in  and  near  Northern  Texas  and  in  Montana  and 
Dakota! 

General  Sheridan.  The  troablesome  Indians  are  in  Dakota,  Texas, 
and  the  Indian  Territory.  The  reservation  at  Fort  Sill  has  been  a  8upi)ly- 
camp  for  the  most  of  these  raids  into  Texas.  The  Indians  have  been 
living  on  that  reservation  and  making  their  raids  from  there  into  Texas. 

The  Chairman.  You  divided  the  hostile  Indians  in  18G8  and  sent  tiie 
Comanches,  Cheyenues.  and  Arapahoes  south,  and  the  Sioux  north.  Do 
you  contemplate  any  further  separation  of  them  f 

General  Sheridan.  No,  sir ;  the  settlements  are  doing  that.  We  are 
collecting  the  Indians  into  reservations  all  the  time,  so  that  in  five  years 
from  now  they  will  be  crowded  entirely  into  a  quiet  condition,  part  of 
them  in  one  direction  and  part  in  another.  There  areiwo  territories  for 
Indians,  the  northern  territory  and  the  southern  territory. 

The  Chairman.  Do  you  regard  the  Indians  in  the  old  Indian  territory 
as  needing  repression  at  all  f 

General  Sheridan.  We  have  to  keep  a  post  there  at  Fort  Gibson. 
Two  years  ago  I  abandoned  that  post  on  the  representation  of  General 
Pope,  but  we  had  to  re-occupy  it.  The  troubles  even  among  these  semi- 
civilized  Indians  are  not  settled  yet,  troubles  among  themselves,  and  we 
require  to  have  troops  there. 

Mr.  Albright.  The  employment  of  the  troops  now  in  the  Indian 
country  is  of  course  to  protect  the  Indians  or  the  settlers  f 

General  Sheridan.  Yes,  sir. 

Mr.  Albright.  Is  it  not  a  fact  that  the  troops  being  there,  and  In- 
dian agents  being  also  there,  the  two  branches  of  the  Government  oper- 
ate in  some  degree  as  a  check  upon  each  other  f 

General  Sheridan.  I  think  it  does  not  work  well.  The  Indian  agent 
does  not  like  to  be  where  the  military  is.  I  do  not  know  what  his 
reasons  are.  He  only  has  his  agency  where  the  military  is  because  he 
cannot  help  himself.  Sometimes  I  used  to  think  that  if  there  was  any  pec- 
ulation going  on  the  presence  of  the  troops  and  officers  was  embarrass- 
ing to  the  Indian  agent,  but  I  do  not  know  whether  I  am  right  in  that 
idea  or  not.  Complaints  against  Indian  agents  have  come  in  quite  often, 
but  I  do  not  know  that  we  have  ever  reported  them.  We  do  not  con- 
sider that  as  a  {lart  of  our  business,  and  then  it  creates  such  bad  feel- 
ing and  such  ill-will  that  we  have  thought  it  better  not  to  represent  the 
complaints  of  the  Indians.  But  in  one  or  two  cases  I  have  done  so, 
with  reference  to  the  Mandans  and  Arickarees,  but  it  was  because  those 
Indians  have  been  with  us  for  tifty  years.  They  are  a  very  small  band, 
and  I  probably  had  a  greater  sympathy  for  them. 

Mr.  MacDougall.  Are  these  Indians  armed  f 

General  Sheridan.  They  are  well  armed. 

Mr.  MacDougall.  What  kind  of  weapons  have  they  f 

General  Sheridan.  They  usually  have  the  best-improved  gun  that 
ther^  is  in  the  country.  Many  of  them  are  armed  with  Henry  rifles, 
many  with  Spencer  carbines,  and  all  of  them  with  pistols;  usually  they 
carry  two  pistols.  The  squaws  carry  pistols,  and  the  boys  carry  pistols* 
They  are  w^ell  armed. 

Mr.  MacDougall.  Where  do  they  get  these  arms  ? 

General  Sheridan.  They  get  them  from  traders  and  people  who 
trade  with  them  on  the  sly. 

Mr.  MacDougall.  Are  they  allowed  to  sell  arms  to  the  Indians 
openly  ? 

General  Sheridan.  jJ^o,  sir ;  but  the  Government  has  issued  a  good 
many  guns,  and  the  Indians  have  got  them.    Ever  since  I  have  been  in 


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228  REDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT 

the  Army  there  are  two  things  I  have  been  trying  to  stop ;  one  is  the 
sale  of  arms  and  ammunition  to  Indians,  and  the  other  is  the  sale  of 
whisky  to  them ;  and  I  have  been  beaten  on  both.  Every  effort  I  have 
made  seems  to  result  only  iu  their  getting  them  on  the  sly. 

Mr.  Thornburgh.  You  stated  a  while  ago  that  prospectively  there 
would  be  an  increase  in  the  expense  of  managing  the  Indians. 

General  Sheridan.  Tliat  is  my  belief. 

Mr.  Thornburgh.  While  there  would  be  an  increase  of  expense  for 
a  few  years,  until  the  Indians  are  i)ut  on  reservations  and  kept  there, 
would  you  not  expect  (say,  after  six  or  seven  years)  that  the  Indians 
will  commence,  as  the  civilized  Indians  have  already  commenced,  to 
cultivate  the  soil,  and  that  from  that  period  afterward  there  will  be 
a  decrease  of  expense  in  the  management  of  the  Indians  ? 

General  Sheridan.  Yes,  there  is  no  doubt  about  that ;  besides,  as 
you  get  them  on  the  reservations,  their  numbers  diminish  more  rapidly. 
To  give  you  an  idea  of  it,  the  Sac  and  Fox  Indians  (the  old  Black 
Hawk  Indians)  had  their  reservation  in  Kansas.  They  had  a  large 
fund,  and  they  thought  they  would  build  stone  houses;  so  they  made 
contracts,  and  had  two  hundred  houses  built.  But  after  the  houses 
were  built  they  went  in  and  lived  in  them  for  one  or  two  days,  and  then 
went  out  and  lived  in  the  brush,  and  put  their  horses  into  the  houses. 
These  houses  became  so  attractive  to  the  settlers  there  that  they  com- 
menced invading  the  Indian  reservation,  and  I  had  to  go  down  to  put 
them  off.  That  is  how  I  became  acquainted  with  their  coudition.  There 
was  one  littte  band  among  these  Indians  that  was  called  the  Wild  Band, 
which  did  not  receive  these  annuities  from  the  Government,  but  lived 
l)y  the  chase.  There  was  the  greatest  difference  between  them  and  the 
Indians  who  were  trying  to  farm.  These  wild  fellows  were  quit«  as 
healthy  as  they  could  be,  while  the  others  were  broken  down.  I  men- 
tion that  as  an  illustration  of  the  eflect  of  civilization  on  the  Indians. 
The  attempt  to  civilize  them  is  really  an  extermination  of  them  down  to 
the  remnant.  That  is  what  it  results  in.  Then,  when  it  comes  to  that, 
when  the  Indian  gets  down  to  the  bed-rock,  he  commences  to  build  u|>, 
and  becomes  mixed  in  blood,  as  are  the  Indians  in  the  Indian  Territory. 
He  commences  to  mix  with  the  white  blood,  and  eliminates  himself  to 
some  extent  in  that  way.    That  is  the  whole  process.      • 

Mr.  Nesmith.  Had  not  the  Indians  iu  Oregon  to  be  prevented  from 
burning  their  houses! 

General  Sheridan.  Yes ;  we  bad  to  prevent  them  by  military  force 
fioin  burning  their  own  houses.  There  are  a  great  many  things  which 
go  to  diminish  the  number  of  Indians  at  all  times.  When  he  is  in  his 
wild  state  we  do  not  know  anything  about  it,  but  when  we  get  him  ou 
the  reservation  we  begin  to  see  it.  Among  Indians  there  are  no  laws 
to  punish  crimes;  the  only  punishment  they  have  is  one  family  against 
another.  When  a  member  of  one  family  is  killed  by  an  Indian,  the 
people  of  his  family  retaliate  on  the  family  of  the  murderer.  They  go 
upon  the  priu(ii|)le  of  getting  an  equivalent,  and  don't  care  whether  it 
is  the  murderer  they  kill,  so  long  as  they  can  kill  one  of  his  family. 
The  consequence  is  that  they  are  all  the  time  killing  each  other.  That 
is  one  source  of  diuiinution.  We  broke  that  up  on  the  reservation  at 
Yam  Hill  by  the  use  of  troops.  There  is  another  source  of  the  diminu- 
tion of  the  Indians,  which  we  had  also  to  break  up.  Among  Indians 
there  are  two  classes  of  doctors — one  class  that  professes  to  cure  only, 
and  another  class  that  professes  to  kill.  The  Indians  believe  that  they 
have  the  power  to  kill  by  incantation.  Women  are  engaged  iu  that 
profession,  and  are  generally  the  worst.    They  are  always  professing  to 


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REDUCTION    OF    THE    MILITARY    ESTABLISHMENT.  229 

kill  somebody  by  incantation.  Then,  as  soon  as  a  person  who  is  sic-k 
dies,  his  friends  go  to  work  to  kill  the  doctor.  Then  the  doctor's  friends 
take  his  part,  or  her  part,  and  there  is  a  general  killing.  I  remember 
that  this  thing  got  so  bad  in  Oregon  that  I  made  np  my  mind  to  break 
it  up,  and  in  order  to  do  that  I  had  to  fight  the  tribe. 

Mr.  GuNCKEL.  Suppose  that  public  necessity  requires  a  reduction  of 
the  Army  expenses  for  the  coming  year  of  six  million  dollars,  how  would 
you  make  that  reduction  f 

General  Sheridan.  I  do  not  know  that  I  can  fairly  answer  that 
question.  My  knowledge  is  almost  entirely  about  my  own  command. 
1  do  not  know  anything  about  the  fortifications,  or  the  amount  of  aj)- 
propriation  that  is  asked  for,  or  anything  of  the  kind.  I  therefore  (lo 
not  know  what  can  be  done  in  that  respect.  But  I  do  know  that  you 
cannot  reduce  the  force  in  my  command  unless  you  cease  protection  to 
some  of  the  best  interests  in  the  country.  I  do  not  see  the  use  of 
building  fortifications  upon  the  Canada  line,  because  we  can  go  and 
take  Canada  at  any  time,  and  there  is  no  danger  of  their  coming  to 
take  us.    Perhaps  there  might  be  some  economy  effected  there. 

Mr.  GuNCKEL.  Is  there  any  necessity  for  a  military  force  in  the  South 
at  present! 

General  Sheridan.  I  do  not  know  that  I  can  give  a  fair  answer  to 
the  question.  I  know  that  the  troops  in  the  South  are  very  anxious  to 
get  out  of  it. 

Mr.  GuNCKEL.  If  compelled  to  reduce  the  number  of  either,  w^ould 
you  reduce  the  number  of  privates  or  officers^ 

General  Sheridan.  I  think  they  should  go  together.  If  you  reduce 
the  number  of  men,  of  course  you  would  have  to  reduce  the  number  of 
officers.  But  the  fact  of  the  case  is  that  you,  gentlemen,  cannot  imagine 
the  utter  demoralization  that  has  been  created  in  the  Army  by  the  con- 
stant legislation  in  Congress  affecting  the  Army.  Almost  all  of  you  have 
commanded  troops,  and  know  what  a  panic  is.  The  Army  is  kept  in  a 
coudition.  of  constant  panic  all  the  time,  until  I  have  become  very  much 
discouraged  about  it.  In  the  matter  of  economy,  I  can  say  that  there  is 
not  a  single  demand  for  money  coming  from  any  part  of  my  division 
that  I  do  not  supervise  myself.  I  have  been  all  over  the  division,  and 
know  everything  about  it,  and  no  officer  can  ask  for  a  cent  of  ]>ublic 
money  without  my  knowing  whether  he  should  get  it  or  not.  We  are 
as  economical  as  we  can  possibly  be. 

Mr.  Albright.  Is  it  not  a  fact  that  a  good  many  of  the  companies  in 
your  command  now  are  but  skeleto.i  companies  ? 

General  Sheridan.  They  are  skeletons.  They  are  so  small  that  they 
really  become  non-effective,  so  that  when  we  have  anything  to  do  one 
company  is  scarcely  enough  to  do  it. 

Mr.  Young.  Do  you  think  that  the  Department  of  Military  Justice 
can  be  dispensed  with,  and  its  duties  performed  by  the  Army,  to  the 
advantage  of  the  service! 

General  Sheridan.  Its  duties  were  performed  by  the  Army  at  one 
time.     If  you  will  accept  that  as  an  answer,  I  prefer  that  you  wdl  do  so. 

Mr.  Young.  If  we  must  cut  down,  would  not  that  be  a  good  pla^e? 

General  Sheridan.  The  trouble  about  all  that  is  this,  that  the  Gov- 
ernment is  all  the  time  breaking  its  contract  with  its  people.  It  engaged 
with  me  twenty  years  ago  for  my  service  for  my  whole  life;  and,  if  it 
turns  me  out,  it  breaks  its  contract  with  me.  It  is  not  the  intention  of 
the  Government  to  deal  unjustly  with  individuals,  and  we  ought  not 
to  abtindon  a  system  because  it  costs  something  to  carry  it  on.  Some- 
times we  happen  to  be  caught  in  a  panic,  and  a  pinch;  but,  if  we  can 


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230  REDUCTION   OF   THE    MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT. 

bridge  it  over  for  a  little  while,  things  will  be  all  right  again.  It  will 
be  a  violation  of  the  contract  on  the  part  of  the  Government  to  deprive 
men  of  the  profession  to  which  they  have  given  their  lives.  Suppose  I 
was  turned  out  of  the  Army,  what  would  I  do?  It  would  be  best  for 
me  to  die  as  soon  as  I  could ;  and  I  am  better  prepared  for  being  turned 
out — prepared  for  it  physically  and  otherwise — than  most  of  the  officers 
whom  r  know.  With  this  constant  legislation  by  Congress  we  do  not 
know  what  to  do.  We  get  demoralized.  We  are  kept  in  a  condition  of 
])anic ;  and  you  know  what  it  is  to  manage  men  who  are  panic-stricken. 
If  you  do  not,  I  do. 

The  Chairman.  In  view  of  the  fact  that  the  Army  diminishes  in  the 
number  of  its  soldiers  about  onelialf  every  year,  and  that  the  average 
of  diminution  of  officers  is  eighty  three  a  year,  can  there  not  be  some 
consolidation  made,  without  disturbing  any  one  now  in  the  military 
service  I 

General  Sheridan.  If  you  consolidate  regiments,  we  have  more  offi- 
cers than  we  need. 

The  Chairman.  But  as  there  are  eighty-three  officers  going  out  every 
year,  that  number  would  cover  the  officers  of  several  regiments! 

General  Sheridan.  That  would  be  a  shrinkage. 

The  Chairman.  Could  the  reduction  be  made  in  that  way  f 

General  Sheridan.  If  it  is  to  be  done,  that  would  be  the  best  way  to 
do  it.  The  Government  then  does  not  violate  its  contract  with  the 
officers.  There  was  an  instance  of  that  two  or  three  years  ago,  when  it 
was  concluded  to  have  only  three  major-generals.  There  were  six  major- 
generals  then;  but  there  was  to  be  no  promotion  until  the  number  came 
within  the  limit.  Since  that  time,  the  limit  has  been  reiurhed  by  the 
death  of  MajorGeneral  Meade,  Major-General  Thomas,  and  Major-Gen- 
eral Halleck. 

Mr.  Thornburgh.  Is  not  the  stopping  of  promotion  also  demoral- 
izing! 

General  Sheridan.  Yes,  sir;  there  is  no  doubt  about  that..  But  the 
question  is,  which  of  the  two  evils  is  the  least.  According  as  the  coun- 
try is  growing  larger,  there  is  going  to  be  a  greater  necessity  for  a  neu- 
tral body  of  men  that  will  obey  oi*ders.  For  instance,  when  demonstra- 
tions were  made  at  Chicago,  the  people  who  owned  property  commenced 
at  once  to  find  out  how  long  it  would  take  me  to  get  troops  there,  that 
would  obey  orders.  That  thing  will  grow  all  the  time;  and  we  want  to 
keep  in  the  country  a  compact  body  of  what  we  may  call  neutral  men, 
who  can  be  used  for  purposes  of  that  kind.  I  help  the  civil  authorities 
all  through  the  Western  country.  I  give  all  the  United  States  mar- 
shals, in  New  Mexico  and  Colorado,  and  out  in  those  sparsely-settled 
countries,  assistance  to  carry  out  the  laws.  We  keep  things  steady  all 
the  time.  We  perform  that  kind  of  duty  iu  addition  to  our  military 
duties. 

Mr.  MacDougall.  Would  you  give  much  for  a  second  lieutenant  who 
did  not  hope  some  day  to  be  a  general  ! 

General  Sheridan.  No,  sir.  A  young  man  who  gives  up  the  future 
is  not  worth  much. 

Mr.  GuNCKEL.  But  still,  to  bridge  over  the  present,  might  you  not 
prevent  promotion  for  one  year  ! 

General  Sheridan.  Yes ;  but  that  is  going  to  be  very  demoralizing 
in  its  effects.    You  will  not  make  as  much  by  it  a«  you  will  lose. 

Mr.  Gunckel.  You  would  not  cut  down  the  number  of  privates! 

General  Sheridan.  No,  sir,  I  would  not. 


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REDUCTION   OF   THE    MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT.  231 

Mr.  Young.  Would  you  advise  the  opening  of , promotion  in  the  Ord- 
nance Department  ? 

General  Sheridan.  I  would  not  advise  the  opening  of  promotion  in 
any  one  of  our  departments,  unless  they  are  opened  in  all ;  and  it  would 
not  be  fair. 

Mr.  MacDougall.  Is  it  not  of  very  great  service  to  open  promotion 
in  all  the  departments! 

General  Sheridan.  Yes,  sir.  I  think  it  certainly  for  the  benefit  of 
the  military  service. 

The  Chairman.  You  have  a  large  numl)er  of  surgeons  in  the  military 
stall' of  your  division.  What  is  your  exi^erience  as  to  the  management 
of  Army  surgeons  compared  with  that  of  contract  surgeons? 

General  Sheridan.  I  prefer  the  Army  surgeon.  The  contract  surgeon 
costs  nearly  as  much.  The  Army  surgeon  is  bound  to  obey  the  orders 
he  gets.  The  contract  surgeon,  if  he  is  at  a  pleasant  post,  and  is  ordered 
to  one  not  so  agreeable,  can  throw  up  his  contract,  and  we  have  no  con- 
trol over  him.  I  prefer,  therefore,  that  surgeons  should  beregular  offi- 
cers of  the  corps. 


Washington,  D.  C,  January  28, 1874. 

Examination  of  B.  H.  Milroy. 

By  the  Chairman  : 

Question.  State  your  official  position. 

Answer.  I  am  superintendent  of  Aidian  aflfairs  in  Washington  Terri- 
torv.  I  commenced  my  official  duties  there  about  the  Isc  of  August, 
1872. 

Question.  State  whether  you  have  visited  the  Indian  tribes  in  that 
Territory  ! 

Answer.  I  have  visited  them  all. 

Question.  What  is  their  condition  as  to  friendliness  or  unfriendliness, 
hostility  or  mischief. 

Answer.  I  found  nothing  but  the  very  best  disposition  among  the  In- 
dians.  They  are  all  very  friendly  and  well  disposed  towards  the  whites. 

Question.  How  many  Indians  are  there  in  that  Territory  ? 

Answer.  By  the  census  of  1870  there  were  over  15,000,  but  I  do  not 
think  that  that  census  wiu)  correct. 

Question.  Do  you  think  the  number  is  smaller  T 

Answer.  I  think  so.  I  think  there  are  probably  not  more  than  10,000 
or  12,000. 

Question.  Are  there  any  military  posts  there? 

Answer.  Yes.  The  post  at  Walla- Walla  is  the  largest,  I  think,  and 
has  the  largest  number  of  troops  at  this  time.  There  is  a  post  at 
Vancouver,  and  one  at  Fort  Colville.  and  one  on  San  Juan  Island. 

Question.  State  whether  this  condition  of  peaceful ness  on  the  part  of 
the  Indians  is  owing  to  the  presence  of  the  military  force. 

Answer.  I  do  not  think  it  is. 

Question.  What  is  it  owing  to  f 

Answer.  I  think  it  is  because  the  Indians  have  become  impressed  with 
the  idea  that  the  white  man  is  too  strong  for  them,  and  that  it  is  useless 
for  them  to  go  to  war.  Tbey  are  not  a  warlike  people  in  disposition — 
not  so  warlike  as  the  Indians  on  the  plains.  They  are  more  peaceably 
disposed. 


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232  REDUCTION   OF   THE    MILITARY    ESTABLISHMENT. 

Qnostlon.  What  is  the  condition  of  tliese  Indians  as  to  civilization 
and  a  disposition  to  adopt  the  mode  of  life  of  white  men  f 

Answer,  There  is  a  slowly-growing  disposition  among  them  to  adopt 
the  civilization  of  the  white  man  and  his  mode  of  living,  from  agricul- 
ture and  from  labor.  They  are  being  forced  to  it  from  the  fact  that 
their  means  of  living  by  hunting  and  fishing  are  being  cut  off  and  cir- 
cumscribed by  the  whites. 

Question.  Are  these  Indians  supplied  by  the  Government! 

Answer.  No,  They  have  no  supplies  from  Government  except  sup- 
plies of  medicine  to  a  very  small  extent. 

Question.  What  is  the  work  of  the  Army  there! 

Answer.  The  soldiers  attend  to  their  daily  drills,  I  suppose.  Since  I 
have  been  there  1  have  called  twice  for  small  detachments.  At  one 
time  the  call  was  occasioned  by  some  bad  white  men  being  on  the  reser- 
vation and  refusing  to  leave.  On  communicating  with  the  Department 
here  I  was  directed  to  notify  these  men  to  leave,  and  if  the3'  did  not 
do  so  to  ask  a  military  force  to  eject  them  ;  which  I  did,  and  they  were 
driven  out.  At  another  time  the  Indians  were  disaffected  toward  the 
agent  by  mixing  with  bad  white  men,  iind  they  became  insolent  and 
overbearing  toward  the  agent  and  refused  to  obey  him.  They  had  a 
general  fist-fight  and  they  whipped  the  agent  and  employes.  L  nsked 
lor  some  military  force  at  the  post,  and  General  Davis  sent  over  a  fevir 
troops  there  to  show  themselves,  aiid  that  was  enough. 

Question.  Is  that  the  only  use  you  had  for  military  force  there! 

Answer.  Yes.    That  was  last  year. 

Question.  Have  you  ever  used  the  military  for  escorts  ! 

Answer.  No,  sir.  I  have  traveled  for  months  among  these  wild  tribes 
without  any  escort.  White  men  can  travel  safely  in  any  part  of  Wash- 
ington Territory  or  British  Columbia.  The  miners  and  hunters  travel 
with  impunity  in  every  direction. 

Question.  What  would  you  regard  as  the  real  function  of  the  military 
power  there  ! 

Answer.  It  is  simply  in  case  the  Indians  should  become  unruly  to 
show  that  we  have  soldiers.    They  have  a  fear  of  the  soldiers. 

Question.  It  operates,  then,  as  a  threat  upon  the  Indians,  and  in  that 
way  alone! 

Answer.  Yes,  sir ;  so  far  as  I  know. 

Question.  Are  those  Indians  on  many  reservations! 

Answer.  No,  sir;  they  are  not.  There  are  reservations  which  most 
of  them  could  go  to,  but  they  do  not  confine  them  to  reservations  at  all 
in  that  Territory.  I  tiiink  it  would  be  very  unfortunate  to  the  Indians 
to  have  them  turned  over  to  the  War  Department.  That  was  tried  in 
18G9  and  1870,  and  resulted  very  ii»juriously  to  the  Indians.  The  offi- 
cers who  were  detailed  to  take  charge  of  the  Indians  looked  upon  them 
as  being  unnecessary  in  the  world,  and  they  took  no  interest  at  all  in 
their  elevation,  civilization,  or  Christianization.  The  whole  object  was 
to  let  the  Indians  take  care  of  themselves  with  the  least  trouble  to  these 
officers,  to  enable  them  to  draw  their  pay. 

Question.  Then  you  would  say  that  the  Army  operates  merely  as  a 
police  force  ! 

Answer.  The  Army  was  not  there  then,  exce])t  garrisons  at  this  posts 
mentioned.  The  officers  were  detailed  as  su])erintendeuts,  agents,  and 
subagerits,  and  it  proved  very  disastrous.  If  we  commenced  tresitin*? 
the  Indians  as  citizens  and  placed  them  under  the  laws  and  let  the 
laws  have  force  ov«*r  their  reservations,  I  think  it  would  be  a  great  help 
toward  governing  them. 


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REDUCTION    OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT.  233 

Question.  Would  you  treat  the  Indians  as  citizens  and  individualize 
tbein  ? 

Answer.  I  would  not  give  thora  the  right  of  franchise  as  citizens,  but 
I  would  put  them  under  the  protection  of  the  laws  and  make  tbeui  sub- 
ject to  the  laws. 

Question.  Would  you  punish  them  as  ordinary  offenders  of  the  law  f 

Answer.  Yes.  These  little  reservations  are  now  independent  sover- 
eignties. 

Question.  Do  you  think  they  would  surrender  their  criminals  without 
trouble  f 

A.  Yes.  I  have  no  doubt  about  that.  I  have  some  of  them  in  the 
penitentiary  now,  after  trial  and  conviction  in  courts,  and  that  course 
has  had  a  better  effect  upon  them  than  any  course  pursued.  Every 
reservation  in  that  Territory  is  in  some  organized  county,  and  I  would 
let  laws  be  enforced  over  these  reservations. 

Question.  Do  you  believe  that  the  county  authorities  could  control 
them  ? 

Answer.  To  a  great  extent  they  could  control  them,  and  punish  them 
for  committing  oli'enses. 

By  Mr.  M acDougall  : 

Question.  What  was  your  business  before  you  were  appointed  Indian 
agent  f 

Answer.  I  was  an  attorney-at-law.  I  practiced  law  for  twenty-five 
years. 

Question.  Had  you  ever  had  any  experience  with  the  Indians  before 
you  went  out  there  f 

Answer.  My  father  was  agent  for  the  Pottawatomies  many  years  ago. 

Question.  You  never  had  any  experience  yourself  till  j^ou  were  ap- 
pointed superintendent! 

Answer.  No,  sir. 

Question.  Where  were  you  appointed  from  f 

Answer.  Indiana. 

By  Mr.  Albright  : 

Question.  If  you  hold  the  Indians  amenable  to  law,  and  punish  them 
for  violation  of  the  law,  and  if  they  are  intelligent  enough,  why  not 
make  citizens  of  themf 

Answer.  I  would  like  to  have  them  first  taught  the  English  language 
and  then  something  about  our  institutions.  I  would  give  them  the 
rights  of  citizens  as  we  give  them  to  females,  but  I  would  not  allow 
them  the  franchise.  The  Indians  know  what  is  right  and  wrong  as  well 
as  any  other  human  beings,  but  the  most  of  them  are  too  ignorant  and 
uncivilized  to  be  allowed  the  privilege  of  franchise  jet. 

Question.  Do  you  take  the  ground  that  the  Indian  cannot  be  civil- 
ized } 

Answer.  No,  sir ;  not  at  all.  There  are  Indians  in  the  Territory  who 
are  highly  civilized,  who  can  read  and  write  and  make  as  good  a  speech 
as  most  white  men,  but  the  mass  are  not  so.  There  are  some  fine 
Methodist  preachers  among  the  Yakimas. 

By  Mr.  Young  : 
Question.  Do  you  not  think  that  those  wiio  can  read  and  write  and 
are  law-abiding  citizens  should  be  enfranchised  f 
Answer.  Yes;  I  should  certainly  enfranchise  them. 

By  Mr.  MA(iDougall  : 
Question.  What  salary  do  you  get  f 


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234  REDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT. 

Answer.  Twenty-five  hundred  dollars  in  greenbacks. 

Question.  And  your  expenses  ? 

Answer.  No,  sir;  onlyexpenses  while  traveling. 

Question.  What  do  your  salary  and  expenses  amount  to  in  a  year! 

Answer.  Probably  $3,000. 

Question.  Have  you  any  deputies  or  clerks  under  you  f 

Answer.  I  have  a  clerk  and  an  assistant  clerk. 

Question.  What  pay  do  they  get  f 

Answer.  The  clerk  gets  $1,800,  and  the  assistant  $1,600. 

Question.  And  expenses  while  traveling  with  you  f 

Answer.  No,  sir.    They  do  not  travel  with  me. 


Washington,  D.  C,  January  27, 1874. 

Gen.  Albert  J.  Myer  appeared  before  the  committee  in  response  to 
ts  invitation. 

The  Chairman.  In  view  of  a  curtailing  of  expenses,  and  a  more 
economical  management  of  every  Department  of  the  Government,  is  it 
possible  for  you  to  cut  down  any  number  of  your  stations,  and  what 
branch  of  your  service  would  you  diminish  f 

General  Myer.  I  have  established  no  stations  without  very  careful 
thought,  and  simply  to  render  good  service  to  the  people  of  the  United 
States.  That  is  the  only  way  in  which  my  duty  is  to  be  done,  and  1 
would  not  cut  down  a  single  station. 

The  Chairman.  Have  you  any  average  of  the  cost  of  those  stations! 

General  Myer.  There  are  a  good  many  averages  that  can  be  made. 
Dififerent  stations  cost  difterent  amounts.    I  must  reach  as  many  people 
as  possible  in  the  cities,  on  the  sea-coast  of  the  United  States,  on  the 
lake-coast  of  the  United  States,  on  the  rivers,  and  on  the  (finals.   Then 
I  must  go  to  the  whole  farming  population.    These  are  my  duties  by 
law.    Let  us  take  up  the  single  branch  of  the  duty  with  reference  to  the 
benefit  to  agriculture ;  simply  this  matter  of  the  farmers'  bulletin.     We 
have  in  the  United  States  certain  places  which  wo  call  centers  of  dis- 
tribution.   To  these  at  midnight  of  every  day  our  full  report  is  sent,  to 
be  thence  distributed  for  the  benefit  of  the  farming  population  surround- 
ing those  centers.  •  It  is  at  once  placed  in  bulletin  form,  enveloped,  ad- 
dressed to  each  postmaster  within  a  radius  of  one  hundred  miles  from 
that  center  of  distribution,  and  by  an  arrangement  with  the  Post-Office 
Department  it  is  immediately  mailed  and  carried  with  the  greatest  rapidity 
to  those  different  post-offices  and  then,  by  order  of  the  Postmaster-General, 
displayed  at  each  of  those  post-offices  in  a  frame.    That  work  is  to  reach 
the  farmers.    It  is  made  for  their  benefit.    It  gives  me  the  power  ot* 
disseminating  this  information,  in  addition  to  the  great  power  given  by 
the  press,  to  nearly  all  the  population  in  the  vicinity  of  the* large  cities. 
Taking  the  cost  of  the  stations  at  which  that  bulletin  is  displayed,  (sup- 
posing that  was  the  only  work  done  by  our  office,)  leaving  out  the 
canals,  rivers,  lakes,  sea-coast,  and  cities,  the  cost  would  be,  at  each  lit- 
tle village,  43  cents  per  day.    I  mean  that  that  would  bring  the  cost 
down  to  43  cents  a  day,  equally  to  the  city  of  New  York  and  the  small- 
est village  in  the  interior  of  the  United  States.    Now,  if  it  is  permitted 
to  assume  that  one  hundred  people  on  the  average  see  that  bulletin,  we 
can  very  readily  get  an  idea  of  its  cost  per  man.    And  if  by  reading 
three  hundred  and  sixty-five  of  these  bulletins  in  the  course  of  a  year 
each  of  these  men  saves  the  value  of  a  single  hat,  the  cost  comes  back 


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REDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT.  235 

to  the  United  States.  We  are  not  wanting  in  encouragement.  We  re- 
ceive letters  continually  from  the  different  agricultural  societies,  from 
the  farming  and  interior  population,  in  reference  to  the  good  they  as- 
sume to  have  been  done  to  them  by  our  work.  One  man  says  that  he 
liiis  saved  hay ;  another  that  he  has  saved  his  bees ;  a  third  his  sugar- 
crop  ;  and  a  thousand  such  instances  as  that. 

Mr.  HuNTON.  What  was  the  use  of  that  signal-station  established  in 
Occoquan  County,  near  Warrenton,  on  the  mountains  f 

General  Myer.  For  taking  observations  at  an  elevation. 

Mr.  HuNTON.  It  is  not  a  permanent  station  f 

General  Mybr.  No;  it  is  already  abandoned.  The  use  of  these 
mountain-stations  I  would  be  glad  toexplain  to  the  committee.  A  great 
many  questions  in  meteorology  are  wholly  undecided.  The  United 
States  to  day  have  taken  more  steps  in  the  direction  of  making  meteoro- 
logical kuoweledge  practical  than  any  other  nation  in  the  world.  One 
great  question  to  be  decided  is  how  the  barometer  is  affected  at  different 
elevations.  One  mode  by  which  we  hope  to  arrive  at  rules  in  regard  to 
it  is  by  establishing  stations  on  the  summits  of  high  mountains  and  by 
having  other  stations  at  different  elevations,  from  the  summit  down  to 
the  base,  and  by  taking  all  the  observations  simultaneously,  at  exactly 
the  same  instant  of  time.  Not  only  are  observations  thus  being  taken 
at  the  summit  and  at  the  base  of  the  mountains,  but  they  are  being  taken 
as  far  west  also  as  the  Pacific,  and  as  far  east  as  the  Atlantic ;  as  far 
north  as  British  North  America,  and  as  far  south  as  the  Gulf  of  Mex- 
ico. There  has  never  before  been  such  an  opportunity  given  to  men  to 
study  these  questions,  and  we  hope  to  settle  them. 

Mr.  GuNCKEL.  Why  should  your  office  be  connected  with  the  War 
Department  ? 

General  Myeb.  One  invaluable  reason  (besides  a  great  many  more) 
i8  that  it  is  impossible  to  do  a  duty  of  this  description  except  through 
military  men.  When  you  have  to  tell  men  to  do  certain  things  at  cer- 
tain moments  of  times,  and  to  keep  doing  them  from  one  yeaPs  end  to 
the  other,  you  require  some  power  of  compulsion.  Many  of  our  stations 
are  disagreeable.  Some  of  them  are  on  mountain-tops.  Some  are  out 
on  the  plains.  But  the  soul  of  all  the  work  is  in  its  instantaneity ;  in  all 
the  observations  being  made  at  the  same  instant  of  time.  They  must 
be  made  by  an  organized  force.  Our  men  make  just  such  observations 
and  report  them  at  just  such  monunts  of  time,  in  just  such  forms  of 
cipher,  by  just  such  routes  of  communication  as  1  direct  from  the  cen- 
tral office ;  so  that  it  is  practically  one  man  thus  making  observations 
throughout  the  whole  United  States.  That  alone  is  a  reason  for  having 
the  work  done  by  military  authority.  In  addition  to  that  the  duties  of 
the  signal-service  are  as  legitimately  military  duties  as  any  duties  of 
the  Army.  I  do  not  think  that  any  one  willquestion  that  the  duties 
pertaining  to  field-telegraphy  and  field-signals,  as  performed  during 
the  last  war,  were  a  part  of  the  military  establishment  of  the  United 
States.  I  have  in  my  possession  letters  from  tlie  General  of  the  Arn»y, 
and  the  highest  military  authorities  both  of  the  Army  and  Navy,  very 
fully  recognizing  its  service  then.  The  duties  in  time  of  war  are  to  ascer- 
tain the  dangers  threatening  and  the  most  rapid  communiciition  of  in- 
formation concerning  such  dangers  to  headquarters,  so  that  proper  steps 
may  be  taken  to  guard  the  Army  or  anything  else  against  such  approach- 
ing danger.  The  duty  is  a  military  duty,  whether  it  is  done  by  swing- 
in|:C  A  fl^^9  ^y  firing  a  cannon  or  by  throwing  up  a  rocket,  or  by  use  of 
iit'ld  or  electric  telegraph.  We  come  to  a  time  of  peace,  and  it  is  still  a 
legitimate  occupation  for  the  Army.    My    men  who    are    stationed 


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236  REDUCTION   OF   THE    MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT. 

throughout  the  United  States  are  really  vedettes  against  approaching 
storms,  of  which  storms  they  must  give  instant  communication  to 
headquarters  as  if  they  were  serving  in  the  field  against  an  enemy. 

Mr.  GuNCKEL.  Wouhl  it  not  be  practicable  to  attach  this  office  to  the 
Smithsonian  Institution  f 

General  Myer.  No;  I  think  not.  It  would  be  perfectly  impracti- 
cable. The  Secretary  of  the  Smithsonian  Institution  has  very  recently, 
and  courteously  ottered  to  my  office  to  turn  over  to  our  supervision  all 
the  system  of  observations  in  the  Smithsonian  Institution,  saying  him- 
self that  a  duty  of  this  description  comes  legitimately  into  our  charge, 
and  that  we  have  every  facility  to  make  it  useful. 

Mr.  GuNCKEL.  Can  you  tell  how  much  is  paid  to  the  telegraph  com- 
panies in  the  United  States  per  year  for  telegraphing  for  your  office! 

General  Myer.  Yes;  about  $150,000  are  paid  for  our  regular  circuit- 
work,  and  we  expect  to  pay  in  this  year  $25,000  more.  It  is  [)retty 
well  known  that  one  of  my  greatest  ditticulties  has  been  that  I  think 
the  telegraph  companies  ask  too  much,  while  they  think  they  do  not. 

Mr.  GuNCKKL.  I)o  you  pay  special  or  full  rates! 

General  Myer.  We  pay  what  is  a  special  rate ;  our  work  is  done  in 
a  special  manner,  but  it  is  a  rate  prescribed  by  the  Postmaster-General. 
That  is  a  matter  which  has  been  in  controversy  now,  between  my  office 
and  the  telegraph  companies,  for  two  or  three  years,  and  which  has 
called  for  very  wise  legal  advice.  I  am  in  hopes  that  the  rates  will 
diminish,  and  that  the  telegraph  companies  will  find  it  for  their  interest 
to  diminish  them.  Indeed,  I  say  to  them  that  they  had  better  do  this 
work  for  nothing  than  come  in  conflict  with  the  public  interests.  But 
the  telegraphing  is  a  great  expense. 

Mr.  ALBRIGHT.  I  would  like  to  know  whatit  costs  the  Government  to 
keep  u|)  the  signal-service  establishment. 

General  Myer.  That  is  what  I  have  tried  to  give  the  committee, 
as  nearly  as  possible,  in  the  letter  which  1  have  written. 

Mr.  Albright.  That  is  $417,000. 

General  Myer.  That  is  the  cost  of  the  Army  force. 

Mr.  Albright.  I  want  to  get  the  total — what  you  totalize. 

General  Myer.  The  total  estimates  up  to  the  end  of  this  fiscal  year 
for  the  speciiil  duties  of  the  signal-service,  in  addition  to  that  $417,000, 
is  $353,500. 

Mf.  Albright.  Is  that  all ! 

General  Myer.  The  postage  is  to  be  added,  if  that  is  to  be  called  au 
expense  to  the  United  States. 

The  Chairman.  Have  you  any  way  of  arriving  at  the  cost  of  print- 
ing for  your  office  ! 

General  Myer.  The  printing  is  done  out  of  the  $353,000. 

Mr.  Hunton.  This  sum  that  you  have  given  is  the  expense  of  the  De- 
partment, including  the  pay  of  men  and  officers  ! 

General  Myer,  The  pay  of  men  and  officers  is  included  in  the  item  of 
$417,000. 

Mr.  HuNTON.  That  is  not  a  legitimate  expense  of  your  Department, 
because  those  men  would  have  to  be  paid  anyhow,  if  they  were  not  em- 
ployed in  the  signal-service. 

General  Myer.  These  men  are  appropriated  for,  and  would  have  to 
be  paid,  anyhow,  out  of  the  Army  appropriation  bill. 

Mr.  HuNTON.  So  that  it  is  not  that  much  extra  compensation  because 
of  signal-service  duty  f 

General  Myer.  No,  sir. 


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REDUCTION   OF   THE    MILITARY   ESTABLISHMEXT.  237 

The  Chairman.  Are  they  not  paid  over  and  above  their  ordinary 
Army  pay  t 

GiMieral  Mver.  I  think  not.  These  men  get  for  their  pay  the  different 
sums  that  I  have  stated  in  my  letter.  In  that  is  included  the  conunu- 
tation  for  rations,  and  if  a  man  is  on  a  station  he  gets  his  extra-duty 
pay.  But  the  whole  of  the  amount  is  included  in  the  figures  which  I 
give,  and  all  of  which  comes  from  the  different  bureaus  of  the  War  De- 
partment, and  is  estimated  for  in  the  Army  appropriation  bill. 

The  Chairman.  State  the  different  classes  of  eulisted  men  that  yon 
have  in  the  service. 

General  Myer.  One  hundred  and  twenty  sergeants,  and  the  remainder 
privates. 

The  Chairman.  What  is  the  pay  of  a  sergeant! 

General  Myer.  Seventy-tive  dollars  a  month  when  on  station. 

The  Chairman.  What  does  a  private  cost  f 

General  Myer.  Sixty  dollars  a  month  on  station. 

The  Chairman.  In  addition  to  that  does  he  get  anything  whatever  ? 

General  Myer.  The  cost  I  gave  you  includes  clothing  and  rations. 

The  Chairman.  Does  the  soldier  clothe  himself,  or  is  he  uniformed  ? 

General  Myeh.  He  commutes,  and  does  what  he  pleases  with  his 
money.   He  either  draws  his  uniform,  or  is  clothed  from  his  own  money. 

The  Chairman.  You  say  in  this  letter  that  the  printing  done  by  the 
Public  Printer  for  the  present  fiscal  year  has  been  paid*for  from  the 
general  fund  of  the  War  Department,  of  which  there  are  no  data  at  j^our 
oflice.     What  items  of  printing  does  that  cover  ? 

General  Myer.  That  covers  the  reports,  blanks,  and  different  forms 
of  instructions.  During  the  last  fiscal  year  we  got  but  very  little  print- 
ing done  by  the  Public  Printer,  for  the  reason  that  we  were  told  at  the 
War  Department  that  the  sum  set  aside  for  us  had  been  all  expended. 
I  should  like  to  have  from  the  Public  Printer,  if  1  could  get  it,  the  sum 
of  at  least  $4:0,(>0()  a  year  in  piiuting. 

The  Chairman.  Have  you  an  idea  of  what  your  part,  which  is  a 
large  part,  of  the  printed  report  of  the  Secretary  of  War  costs  I 

General  My'ER.  No,  sir. 

The  CHAfRMAN.  What  are  the  reports  that  you  have  mentioned  as 
being  paid  for  out  of  this  appropriation  ?  Was  this  that  is  printed  in 
the  report  of  the  Secretary  of  War  part  of  it  I 

(General  Myer.  That  was  certainly  not  on  my  mind  at  the  time.  The 
whole  system  of  work  by  the  Public  Printer,  I  understand,  wns  changed 
on  the  30th  of  June  last.  Before  that  time  we  sent  to  the  VVar  Depart- 
ment what  we  desired  to  have  printed,  and  they  sent  it  to  the  Public 
Printer,  and  it  was  printed  without  our  being  informed  in  relation  to 
it.  Since  then  they  have  set  a^ide  out  of  the  War  Department,  I  believe, 
a  sum  of  $7,000  for  our  public  printing.  That  is  exhausted,  and  to-day 
they  say  we  can  have  nothing  done  by  the  Public  Printer,  because  we 
have  nothing  to  our  credit. 

Mr.  Gunckel.  Where  do  you  get  it  done,  then  I 

General  Myer.  What  printing  we  have  done  is  done  in  our  own 
oflice. 

The  Chairman.  What  kind  of  a  printing-office  have  j'ou ;  and  how 
many  hands  have  you  employed  there  f 

General  3Iyer.  We  have  thirteen  ealisted  men  engaged  as  printers. 

The  Chairman.  Are  they  included  in  this  list? 

General  Myer.  Yes,  and  there  is  nobody  else  employed  in  printing 
for  us.  The  cost  is  given  as  paid  for  out  of  this  sum,  which  I  estimate 
as  sufficient. 


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238  REDUCTION   OP   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT. 

The  Chairman.  Do  you  have  any  printers  besides  those  enlisted 
men! 

General  Myer.  At  our  centers  of  distribution  we  print  these  farmers' 
bulletins.     We  have  no  printers  employed  except  enlisted  men. 

The  Chairman.  State  where  these  farmers'  bulletins  are  distributed! 

General  Myer.  There  are  eighteen  centers  of  distribution  :  Albany, 
August*!,  Bangor,  Boston,  Buffalo,  Chicago,  Cincinnati,  Detroit,  Leaven- 
worth, Memphis,  Montgomery,  Nashville,  New  Orleans,  New  York, 
Pittsburgh,  Springfield,  Saint  Louis,  and  Washington. 

The  Chairman.  State  the  method  of  distributing  these  farmers' 
bulletins. 

General  Myer.  At  midnight  the  synopses  and  probabilities  are  tele- 
graphed from  my  office  to  each  of  these  centers  of  distribution.  So  soon 
as  it  is  received  there  it  is  printed  on  forms  ot  this  description,  (exhibit- 
ing ir.)  As  fast  as  it  is  printed  it  is  enveloped  and  mailed  to  each  poHt- 
ofiice  within  the  radius  of  one  hundred  miles  from  that  center  of  dis- 
tribution. All  of  the  steps  go  on  simultaneously.  By  an  arrangement 
with  the  Post-Office  Department,  it  is  immediately  distributed  on  the 
different  trains  running  out  from  the  center  of  distribution ;  and  at 
each  post-office  it  is  displayed  in  a  frame  by  the  postmaster,  under  an 
order  from  the  Postmaster-General. 

The  Chairman.  State  whether  they  are  thrown  out  at  the  depots  or 
regularly  posti^d. 

General  Myer.  No,  they  go  regularly  to  the  postmaster,  who  has  re- 
ceived beforehand  a  frame,  on  which  frame  is  the  order  of  the  Post- 
master General  requiring  that  he  shall  display  that  bulletin  instantly 
whenever  it  is  received.  And  we  have  special  arrangements  with  the 
Post-Office  Department  by  which  they  do  all  in  their  power  to  hurry 
these  things  through,  shortening  the  delay  in  distribution.  It  is  a  pretty 
big  thing  to  handle,  with  twelve  officers  and  four  hundred  and  fit'ty  men 
for  the  whole  United  States. 

The  Chairman.  Does  that  cost  anything  besides  the  printing? 

General  Myer.  Not  a  thing  besides  printing,  except  the  postage. 

Mr.  GuNCKEL.  What  is  the  reason  you  do  not  extend  this  system 
away  off  two  hundred  miles  from  the  centers  of  distribution  T  It  would 
get  there  a  little  later,  but  that  would  be  better  than  not  to  get  tbera 
at  all. 

General  Myer.  We  are  afraid  that  it  could  not  be  done  as  it  ought  to 
be  done  at  a  greater  distance  than  a  hundred  miles,  or  than  a  hundred 
and  fifty  or  two  hundred  miles  w^here  there  are  fast  trains  running.  If 
we  undertake  to  do  more  they  make  complaint  about  its  being  1  te.  A 
man  goes  to  his  post-office  at  4  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  for  inat^mce, 
and  sees  it,  and  says,  '*  What  is  the  use  of  sending  this  thing  here  at 
this  hour  I    It  never  gets  here  in  time  to  be  of  any  use  to  us." 

Mr.  Thornburgh.  Has  any  preliminary  arrangement  been  made 
looking  to  an  international  signal  system  ! 

General  Myer.  That  is  a  thing  in  which  I  take  a  very  great  interest, 
and  we  have  already  commenced  it.  The  first  thing  to  secure  beiii^ 
done  wsis  the  taking  of  simultaneous  observations,  if  possible,  all  over 
the  world.  I  can  see  now  that  a  storm  comes  in  from  the  Gulf  of  Mex- 
ico and  goes  out  on  the  Atlantic.  It  is  as  easy  to  trace  it  as  to  trace 
the  movements  of  an  army ;  but  where  it  goes'  to,  or  whether  another 
storm  originating  in  the  same  place  where  that  originated  is  following 
it,  we  cannot  tell.  Neither  are  the  steps  possible  to  be  taken  to  enable 
us  to  tell,  until  we  can  get  the  whole  northern  hemisphere  to  agree  on 
one  simultaneous  observation }  that  is,  to  have  the  observations  made 


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REDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT.  239 

over  tlie  wliole  northern  hemisphere,  as  they  are  now  made  over  the 
whole  United  States.  At  the  Vienna  convention  of  meteorologists  last 
summer,  which  1  had  the  pleasure  of  attending,  that  point  was  brought 
up  for  consideration,  and  it  was  voted  by  a  unanimous  vote  in  the  con- 
vention that  it  was  a  desirable  thing  to  be  done,  and  immediately  I 
made  an  arrangement  with  Eussia,  as  lying  nearest  us  on  the  Pacific — 
Russia  holding  the  western  coast  of  the  Pacific,  while  we  have  the  east- 
ern coast.  The  Russian  observers  commenced  on  the  first  of  this  month 
taking  simultsineous  observations,  and  they  have  so  continued.  In 
addition  to  that,  I  entered  into  a  correspondence  with  the  head  of  the 
meteorological  service  in  Anstria,  and  he  also  commenced  taking  obser- 
vations on  the  1st  of  January.  England  either  has  commenced  or  will 
commence;  also  Belgium  and  Holland;  and  the  French  minister  tells 
me  that  he  will  do  everything  possible  to  induce  the  French  government 
to  commence  it.  These  reports  are  not  to  be  sent  to  us  by  telegraph 
now,  because  they  would  cost  more  than  they  are  worth,  but  they  are 
going  to  be  registered.  When  the  observer  goes  to  his  barometer  in 
San  Francisco  or  New  York,  another  man  will  be  going  to  his  barom- 
eter in  St.  Petersburg,  another  at  Vienna,  and  others  all  over  the 
world.  We  even  may  carry  the  plan  to  the  northern  part  of  Siberia. 
These  observations  are  to  be  recorded,  and  on  the  15th  and  last  day  of 
each  month  they  are  exchanged  by  mail.  It  is  the  first  time  that  so  many 
great  powers  have  ever  agreed  upon  a  work  of  this  sort,  and  I  have 
every  hope  that  good  will  come  of  it. 

Mr.  Albright.  If  you  do  not  get  the  reports  until  fifteen  days  aft^r 
the  observations  are  made,  in  what  way  do  you  propose  to  make  them 
serviceable. 

General  Myeb.  They  are  for  study,  not  now  for  storm-signals ;  but, 
by  and  by,  if  I  see  that  a  storm  overhangs  the  coast  of  Russia,  and 
crosses,  after  four  or  five  days,  my  station  on  the  Aleutian  Islands,  and 
if  in  two  days  more  instruments  on  the  coast  of  California  and  Oregon 
l>egin  to  show  the  approach  of  a  storm,  I  will  be  warned  ;  and,  by  and 
by,  when  we  get  the  means  of  submarine  telegraph  communication,  they 
will  telegraph  to  us  from  Eussia  that  a  great  storm  is  now  going  up  the 
Kussian  coast,  which  is  as  much  as  to  say  to  us  "Look  out  for  your 
Aleutian  station,  and  your  stations  in  Oregon  and  California."  If  cable 
communication  is  established  I  will  hear  of  that  storm  as  it  cros.^es  our 
farthest  western  station,  which  we  now  have  in  the  middle  of  the  Pacific 
Ocean,  and  a  telegram  coming  to  me  will  assuredly  tell  me  of  the  ])resence 
and  approach  of  that  storm,  as  the  coming  of  a  vidette  tells  of  the 
approach  of  an  enemy's  cavalry. 

Mr.  MaoDougall.  Have  you  investigatedthisaerial  telegraph  system 
by  which  it  is  claimed  they  can  telegraph  by  aerial  currents! 

General  Myeb.  No,  sir;  but  I  hope  for  something  that  will  reduce  the 
expenses  of  telegraphing. 

Mr.  Albright.  State  in  what  way,  particularly,  the  agriculturist,  and 
men  of  that  character,  avail  themselves  in  their  branches  of  business  of 
the  facts  which  they  get  from  your  reports? 

Oeneral  Myer.  We  say  for  instance,  that  the  temperature  this  morning 
is  very  low  in  the  northwest,  and  that  it  will  probably  fall  below  the 
freezing-point  in  the  western  Mississippi  Valley ;  now,  there  are  a  great 
iiiatiy  interests  which,  by  that  telegram  alone,  will  be  protected  from  the 
effects  of  frost.  In  summer,  we  say  that  an  area  of  low  barometer  is  now 
over  such  and  such  States,  and  is  moving,  and  will  probably  pass  over  such 
and  such  other  States,  with  rain.  Farmers  who  are  making  their  plana 
to  gather  in  their  crops  get  their  hay,  &c.,  read  that  warning.    The  farmer 


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240  REDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT. 

learns,  after  a  little  while,  that  we  do  help  him,  and  he  says  that,  instead 
of  getting  in  the  hay  today,  he  will  wait  till  to-morrow  and  let  theatorm 
go  past.  After  it  goes  past  he  gets  in  his  hay.  There  is  a  pretty  fair 
ground  to  believe  that  there  will  not  be  anotlier  great  rain-storm  pa^sin^r 
over  his  section  of  the  country  very  soon.  But  the  prospect  goes  farther 
than  that.  If  we  say,  summing  it  up  here  at  my  office,  that  rain  is  prob- 
able in  any  section  of  the  United  States,  as  marked  out  on  our  district 
map,  lor  instance,  in  New  England,  or  in  the  Middle  Atlantic  States,  or 
in  tlie  Southern  Atlantic  States,  or  in  the  Western  States^  the  more  sci- 
entific among  the  farmers  (and  they  are  learning  to  be  scientific)  will 
look  at  their  instruments.  The  farmer  will  say,  *'  We  are  warned  now 
that  rain  is  probable.  I  want  to  know  whether  it  will  come  over  my 
county  and  my  farm.''  If  he  finds  his  barometer  falling  and  thermometer 
going  up,  and  the  humidity  of  the  air  increasing,  (all  of  which  can  be 
found  by  very  simple  instruments,)  he  knows  it  is  better  not  to  try  to 
get  in  his  hay,  because  rain  is  very  probable. 

Mr.  Albright.  It  is  rumored  that  sometimes  Old  Probabilities  is  not 
always  correct  in  his  prognostications. 

General  Myer.  That  is  entirely  the  fault  of  Congress,  so  far  as  part 
of  it  is  concerned.  If  Congress  will  give  me  enough  of  stations  and 
enough  of  men  and  money,  I  think  I  can  increase  our  average  of  accu- 
racy to  90  per  cent.  We  found  with  great  pleasure  during  the  last  year, 
that  in  proportion  to  the  number  of  stations,  the  reports  from  which  are 
considered  as  bearing  upon  any  section  of  the  country,  so  is  the  accu- 
racy of  the  report  in  relation  to  that  section  of  the  country.  And  in 
those  very  favored  sections  of  the  Unit<ed  States  lying  to  the  eastward, 
and  having  all  of  these  stations  west  and  southwest  of  them,  we  carried 
the  percentage  up  to  80  per  cent,  of  accuracy.  Twenty  per  cent,  of  fail- 
ure you  must  allow  us. 

Mr.  Albright.  Then  the  want  of  accuracy  is  due  to  the  fact  that 
your  operations  are  not  sufficiently  extensive! 

General  Myer.  That  is  one  reason  ;  but  another  reason  is  that  the 
science  of  meteorology  has  not  yet  arrived  at  a  certainty.  We  are 
mere  infants  at  the  work.  Give  us  the  time  that  it  takes  a  inan  to 
become  of  age,  twenty-one  years,  and  I  think  that  the  work  will  show 
that  it  has  improved  from  year  to  year.  We  feel  ourselves  to-day  to  be 
the  merest  students.  Where  are  we  going  to  learn  !  No  country  except 
the  United  States  evet  set  on  foot  and  maintained  such  a  system. 

Mr.  Albright.  Is  not  the  barometer  an  absolutely  truthful  instru- 
ment f 

General  Myers.  It  must  be  taken  in  connection  with  other  instru- 
ments. The  barometer  shows  the  atmospheric  pressure  above  it,  but 
you  must  have  other  instruments.  PracticaUy,  however,  the  barometer 
may  be  said  to  be  correct. 

Mr.  Albright.  The  barometer  is  an  instrument  that  tells  the  condi- 
tion of  the  weather  with  absolute  certainty  f 

General  Myer.  It  is  one  of  the  most  valuable  instruments,  but  I  do 
not  think  that  it  can  be  said  that  it  tells  anything  with  absolute  certainty, 
because  if  it  did  we  never  would  fail. 

Mi-.  Albright.  The  results  of  the  observations  made  are  derived  from 
the  barometer? 

General  Myer.  From  the  barometer,  the  thermometer,  the  direction 
of  the  wind,  the  relative  humidity  of  the  atmosphere,  the  character  of 
the  clouds,  and  the  amount  of  cloud ;  all  enter  into  consideration. 

Mr.  Gunokel.  Including  postage,  printing,  and  all  other  items,  would 


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REDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT.  241 

not  the  total  expense  of  yoar  office  reach  nearly  a  million  dollars  per 
annum  t 

General  Mybr.  No,  sir ;  I  think  three-quarters  of  a  million  woald  be 
an  outside  figure. 

Mr.  GuNCKEL.  Are  we  to  understand  yon  do  not  think  it  possible  to 
make  any  reduction  in  any  branch  of  your  office,  by  a[>plying  any  busi- 
ness principles  to  it  or  otherwise  f 

General  Myer.  I  don't  know  of  any  reduction  that  I  would  like  to 
make.  In  the  first  place,  we  have  tried  to  be  just  as  economical  as  we 
can,  because  it  has  been  our  own  desire  to  extend  the  service  to  as 
many  people  as  possible,  and  if  you  consider  that  the  average  cost  of 
my  men  is  not  more  than  what  the  pages  receive  in  Congress,  some- 
thing like  $900  a  year,  you  will  see  that  such  work  as  you  require  them 
to  do  cannot  be  paid  for  at  any  cheaper  rate. 

Mr.  Albright.  Is  there  no  way  by  which  some  revenue  might  be  de- 
rived from  this  system  f  Are  there  no  men  who  woald  be  willing  to  pay 
for  the  information  which  is  now  gratuitously  distributed! 

General  Myer.  That  may  be,  but  it  would  open  a  very  great  business 
office  with  its  staffs  of  employes  audits  account-books,  something  like  the 
Treasury  of  the  United  States,  in  some  little  time.  I  think  that  if  the 
committee  has  time  to  look  into  the  question  it  will  find  that  the  ex- 
penses of  the  service,  even  if  they  were  double  what  they  are,  are  more 
than  repaid  to  the  United  States  and  to  its  citizens  every  year. 

We  have  said  nothing  yet  about  the  storm-signals  displayed  by  day 
and  at  night  at  the  several  ports  for  the  benefit  of  shipping,  and  how 
8bip])ers  and  seamen  use  them ;  of  the  river  reports  of  floods,  ice,  depth 
of  water,  &c.,  on  all  the  principal  rivers;  of  the  signal-stations  at  life- 
saving  stations  and  light  houses  on  the  dangerous  sea  and  lake  coasts; 
of  the  canal  reports  for  the  benefit  of  canal  commerce;  of  the  signal 
duty  as  making  co-operation  of  Army,  Navy,  and  revenue  forces  possible 
at  any  time;  and  of  the  immense  circulation  given  through  the  press, 
all  of  which  are  had  without  one  cent  of  additional  cost.  We  have  con- 
sidered only  one  branch  of  the  service. 


Washington,  D.  C,  January  28,  1874. 
Bvt  Maj.  Gen.  James  A.  Hardie,  Inspector-General  in  the  service 
of  the  United  States,  appeared  before  the  committee  in  response  to  its 
invitation. 

The  Chairman.  State  what  portion  of  the  country  you  have  inspected 
recently. 

General  Habdie.  Within  two  years  I  have  inspected  In  the  States  of 
Arkansas  and  Louisiana,  in  Southwestern  Florida,  in  Oregon,  in  Wash- 
ington Territory,  and  in  Idaho.  I  have  also  inspected  within  the  De- 
partments of  the  Platte  and  the  Missouri  and  the  Division  of  the  South, 
wherein  lie  the  States  of  Nebraska  and  Kansas,  the  Territories  of 
Wyoming  and  Dakota,  the  State  of  Missouri,  and  other  Southern  States. 

The  Chairman.  If  there  must  be  a  reduction  in  the  Army,  from  what 
portion  can  the  troops  be  withdrawn,  with  the  least  disadvantage  to  the 
military  service  and  the  most  advantage  to  the  country  f 

General  Hardie.  There  can  be  no  reductions  from  which  great  pecu- 
niary results  would  follow  without  risk  of  mischief  to  the  public  service. 
But  as  the  form  of  the  question  supposes  a  reduction,  and  it  is  then 
asked  where  should  it  fall  to  do  the  least  harm  and  the  most  general 

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242  REDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT. 

good,  I  reply  that  perhaps  certain  reductions  and  changes  which  I  will 
go  on  to  state  will  be  as  likely  to  meet  the  proposed  conditions  as  any 
other.  The  Secretary  of  War  two  yeiirs  ago  (and  I  think  the  recoin- 
inendatiou  was  repeated  last  year)  recommended  some  reductions  in  the 
regimental  organization.  If  I  remember  correctly,  he  expected  to  save 
$350,000  a  year  from  those  reductions.  They  were  the  abolition  of  the 
grade  of  company  quartermaster-sergeant  in  the  foot  companies  of  the 
service,  both  artillery  and  infantry  ;  the  abolition  of  the  grade  of  arti- 
ticers  allowed  to  foot-companies,  and  the  return,  so  far  as  the  appoint- 
ments of  adjutants  and  quartermasters  of  regiments  were  concerned,  lo 
the  old  system  before  the  war;  that  is  to  say,  lieutenants  for  adjutants  and 
quartermasters  not  to  be  additional  lieutenants.  They  were  detailed  from 
the  subalterns  of  the  regiment.  This  would  diminish  the  number  of  lieu- 
tenants in  the  Army  by  a  reduction  to  be  eff'ected  by  leaving  two  vacancies 
in  each  regiment  at  the  foot  of  the  second  lieutenants,  until  the  extra  offi- 
cers were  absorbed. '  There  were  possibly  one  or  two  other  reductions  of  ao 
unimportant  nature  proposed.  The  sum  of  all,  however,  was  to  reach  a 
saving  of  about  $350,000.  Presuming,  I  repeat,  that  there  is  to  be  a  reduc- 
tion, and  in  answer  to  the  question  as  to  where  it  shouldrea^ch  to  fall  the 
lightest,  it  suggests  itself  to  me  that  the  least  indispensable  men  among 
the  troops  are  the  bands.  In  every  regiment  there  is  a  detail  of  from  fif- 
teen to  twenty  men  as  a  band.  Some  years  since  Congress  abolished  the 
regular  bands  of  regiments.  There  were  leaders  hired  and  men  employed 
as  musicians  at  fixed  rates  of  pay.  Appropriations  for  that  purpose  being 
discontinued,  bands  have  since  been  provided  by  details  of  uien  from 
the  companies,  reducing  every  regiment's  fighting  strength  by  sixteen  or 
twenty  men.  We  had  the  same  method  before  the  war.  Now,  it  is  pos- 
sible to  do  without  other  than  field-music.  But  the  loss  would  be  greatly 
felt  by  the  troops.  Bands  promote  the  military  spirit.  Military  parades 
and  other  ceremonies  without  the  accustomed  music  of  the  baud  would 
be  wanting  in  interest  and  satisfaction,  and  bands  at  distant  posts 
promote  the  military  advantage  by  enlivening  the  monotony  and  dull- 
ness ot  garrison  and  frontier  life.  But  if  we  are  too  poor  to  pay  for  it 
we  can  do  without  music,  provided  we  have  the  necessary  field-music. 
At  all  events,  Congress  decided  to  do  without  them  some  years  ago 
when  it  abolished  bauds ;  and  I  do  not  know  that  it  occurred  to  the  pro- 
moters of  the  abolition  in  Congress  at  the  time  that  there  would  l>e 
details  made  for  that  purpose.  The  number  of  musicians  in  bands  in 
the  Army  amounts  to  nearly  a  whole  regiment  in  strength.  In  abolish- 
ing bands,  the  regimental  strength  might  be  diminished  by  twenty  mea 
(as  to  organization)  in  each  regiment  without  diminishing  the  number 
of  bayonets  in  the  ranks.  In  the  artillery  we  have  now  five  batteries  ; 
mounted  field -batteries.  The  mounted  battery  service  is  one  in  which 
artillery  officers  take  peculiar  pride.  It  would  be  prejudicial  to  the 
service  to  break  up  any  light  batteries.  But  I  think  this  is  the  sacrifice 
next  most  easily  afitbrded.  We  have  an  artillery  school  at  Old  Point 
Comfoit,  and  it  seems  to  me  that  battery  instruction  can,  without  any 
permanent  injury  to  the  service,  be  for  the  present  exclusively  con- 
ducted there  by  allowing  one  battery  to  be  stationed  there  out  of  tbe 
five  regiments,  and  reducing  the  others  to  the  condition  of  foot-corn- 
panies.    That  would  cut  off  four  mounted  batteries. 

The  Chairman.  W^hat  would  you  do  with  the  remainder  of  the  artil- 
lery regiments ;  can  they  be  reduced  I 

General  Habdie.  With  reference  to  the  reduction  of  foot-troops,  both 
infantry  and  loot  artillery,  we  will  need  a  considerable  number  of  line 
ofiicers,  and  the  question  of  the  reduction  of  two  officers  to  each  reg^i- 


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REDUCTION    OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT.  243 

meiit  has  been  considered.  It  does  not  seem  to  disturb  tbe  existing 
line  organization  so  far  as  the  number  of  regiments  is  concerned,  or  the 
number  of  officers  composing  them  be3^ond  what  I  have  suggested;  but 
where  troops  are  not  actively  employed,  and  at  places  where  it  is  only 
necessary  to  exhibit  the  authority  of  the  United  States  to  promote  the 
objects  designed,  it  seems  to  me  that  we  might  (though  it  is  of  course 
injurious  to  the  companies)  transfer  men  from  moderatc^ly  full  compa- 
nies to  posts  on  the  frontier  where  companies  would  need  these  men  for 
more  active  service.  In  that  way,  charging  the  expense  of  the  trans- 
portAtiou  of  these  men  against  the  expense  of  recruiting,  we  might  re- 
cruit one  portion  of  our  Army  from  another  portion,  and  so  absorb  some 
two  or  three  thousand  men,  discontinuing  recruiting  until  the  adjutant- 
general  can  perceive  that  the  number  is  likely  to  fall  below  the  re- 
quired strength.  Of  course  we  would  have  to  take  the  risk  to  be  incur- 
red in  weakening  points  now  garrisoned.  We  might  lose  more  by  the 
weakening  or  discontinuing  certain  garrisons  than  the  cost  of  mainte- 
nance of  the  Army  for  years  would  come  to.  Many  line  officers  are 
needed  for  general  detail  outside  their  regiments.  The  services  of  a 
considerable  number  would  be  indispensable  to  supplement  the  contem- 
plated lessened  strength  of  some  of  the  staff  departments.  These  are 
now,  most  of  them,  far  below  the  legal  standard  in  numbers.  It  is  to  be 
hoped  that  the  statf  organizations  will  be  fixed,  even  at  a  reduced  tig- 
ure  as  t-o  numbers,  if  it  must  be,  and  detail  officers  from  the  line  for  statf 
duties  to  supply  the  deficiency  iu  numbers  if  there  be  found  any. 
One  advantage  to  be  derived  from  details  from  the  line  for  the 
staff  would  almost  reconcile  me  to  a  moderate  reduction  in  the 
future  scale  for  such  of  these  organizations  as  can  at. all  bear  it,  and. 
that  is,  that  there  is  and  always  has  been  a  feeling  on  the  part  of 
the  line  that  the  staff  is  the  most  privileged  branch  of  the  service,  with- 
out being  the  more  deserving.  This  jealousy  works  mischief.  I  would 
be  glad  for  line  officers  to  share  our  labors  and  our  privileges  whatever 
they  amount  to.  I  think  there  might  be  harmony  produced  possibly, 
and  a  better  state  of  feeling,  which  would  be  greatly  to  the  benefit  of 
the  public  service.  It  would  enable  us  to  pursue  our  public  duties  with 
singleness  of  purpose  and  tranquility  of  mind  if  not  kept  continually  iu 
hot  water  by  distractions  and  disputations  about  place  and  position, 
and  merit,  and  station  and  pay ;  and  all  the  other  points  suggested  by 
corps  jealousies.  Another  advantage,  and  a  very  important  one,  would 
be  this,  we  would  be  training  up  a  set  of  younger  officers  from  whom 
the  permanent  officers  of  the  corps  could  be  taken  if  these  should  be  the 
more  favored  candidates,  as  they  ought  to  be.  Appointments  from  out- 
side, forced  upon  the  staff  corps  without  consulting  the  heads  of  those 
corps,  have  not  been  the  most  fortunate  appointments  made. 

The  Chairman,  tt'you  have  fixed  in  your  mind  any  definite  number 
as  to  the  various  branches  of  the  staff  that  might  reasonably  be  adopted, 
I  would  like  you  to  state  it  ? 

General  Hardie.  The  action  of  Congress  in  refusing  to  allow  promo- 
tions in  the  staff'  has  had  for  its  foundation  the  belief  that  the  staff'  or- 
ganizations were  too  large.  The  design  it  is  to  be  presumed,  was  to  let 
time  deplete  those  corps,  so  as  tc  render  the  fixing  of  the  lower  establish- 
ment more  easy  to  accomplish  without  injury  to  worthy  individuals  or 
derangement  of  public  interests.  I  do  not  advance  the  proposition  that 
the  stiiff  is  too  large;  and  if  I  did,  my  opinion  would  not  be  as  valua- 
ble as  that  of  the  heads  of  the  staff  corps  concerned.  I  would  rather 
see  things  as  they  are  than  have  them  disturbed. .  The  advantages  pos- 


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244  REDUCTION    OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT. 

sessed  are  ascertained  ;  tbose  promised  by  any  new  arrangement  are  not 
certain. 

But  if  a  reduction  of  the  legal  standard  for  the  strength  of  the  corps 
be  resolved  on,  since  time  has  depleted  the  actual  strengtti,  and  most  of 
the  corps  are  now  below  the  legal  strength,  some  of  them  indeed  em- 
barra.'^sed  by  the  number  of  nntilled  vacancies,  the  fixing  of  the  new 
standard  can  now  be  determined.  The  new  numbers  in  some  of  the 
corps  can,  in  my  judgment,  be  less  than  the  old  numbers  fixed;  though 
not  much  less  in  any  than  the  numbers  that  the  corps  at  present  have 
in  tliem.  Some  of  the  corps  cannot  well  be  reduced  to  as  low  a  perma- 
nent standard  as  their  present  actual  strength.  I  am  not  prepared  at 
this  moment  to  fix  the  actual  strength  for  the  new  establishment  in  my 
mind.  It  is  a  question  that  requires  study.  But  permit  me  to  add  that 
what  is  done  in  this  direction  should  be  done  without  great  delay.  Once 
the  scHle  fixed,  let  promotion  go  on.  Promotion  is  the  mark  of  professional 
success.  It  is  essential  to  keep  up  soldierly  ambition.  Its  current 
stopped,  the  whole  military  system  becomes  sluggish  in  its  movementn. 
To  withhold  it  is  to  devitalize  the  corps  affected,  so  far  as  its  spirit  is 
concerned. 

Mr.  MacDotjgall.  What  do  you  think  of  the  propriety  of  opening 
promotions  in  the  Ordnance  Corps  I 

General  Hardie.  I  would  open  promotions  in  the  Ordnance  Corps  for 
higher  grades,  but  for  the  lower  grades  it  seems  to  me  that  inasmuch  as 
we  have  twelve  extra  first  lieutenants  in  every  regiment  of  artillery, 
we  do  not  need  to  enlarge,  certainly,  the  lower  grades  of  the  Ordnance 
Corps,  when  we  can  supply  needed  officers  from  the  artillery-.  It  would 
.  hardly  be  consistent  to  cut  ofit'  in  one  branch  of  the  service  and  add  iu 
another  branch,  when  the  same  oflicers  would  answer  in  both. 

Mr.  Albright.  Yon  would  suggest  that  officers  from  the  line  should 
be  promoted  to  the  different  staff  departments  f 

General  Hardie.  1  referred  to  details,  as  they  are  styled,  of  officers  of 
the  artillery  to  duty  in  the  ordnance 

Mr.  Albright.  Would  not  the  Ordnance  Department,  or  the  Engi- 
neer Department,  suffer  detriment  from  having  men  who  were  grad- 
uates on  a  lower  scale  of  merit,  and  who  might  not  bo  fitted  by  their 
mental  qualifications  for  those  departments,  transferred  to  them  f 

General  Hardie.  1  was  not  speaking  of  the  engineers.  I  referred 
only  to  the  ordnance,  and  the  details  suggested  were  to  be  taken  from 
the  artillery  corps.  The  officers  of  artillery  are  among  the  best  grad- 
uates at  West  Point.  They  are  pretty  much  all  taken  from  those  who 
graduated  above  the  middle  of  the  class.  The  Ordnance  Corps  gets 
from  about  the  fifth  down  from  the  head  of  the  class,  so  that  the  differ- 
ence in  mental  qualifications  is  not  very  great.  As  boys  become  men 
there  is  not  equal  development.  In  fact  the  lad  who  does  fairly  well  in 
his  class,  if  he  be  free  from  vices,  and  have  the  average  energy  and  pur- 
pose, is  better  apt  to  make  a  successful  career  in  his  vocation  than  the 
mere  student  who  graduates  at  the  head.  He  ca£i  better  adapt  him- 
self to  the  varying  circumstances  of  lite. 

Mr.  Albright.  Then  I  understand  you  that  you  would  confine  the 
promotions  to  the  artillery  f 

General  Hardie.  To  the  artillery  entirely.  I  do  not  wish  to  see  the 
Ordnance  Corps  broken  down  at  all.  1  think  an  alliance  with  the  ar- 
tillery, without  losing  its  independence,  would  be  beneficial  to  both 
cor]»s. 

Mr.  MacDougall.  You  stated  that  by  dispensing  with  bands  the  re- 
giments could  reduce  expenses. .   I  tiiiuk  you   meant  to  be  under 


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REDUCTION    OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT.  245 

8to3d  that  then  yoa  could  retarn  from  sixteen  to  twenty  men  to  the 
repmentf 

General  Habdie.  We  p:ain  that  number  of  men  for  duty,  and  could 
dispense  with  recrniting  that  number. 

Mr.  GuNCKE]i.  These  men  get  no  increased  pay  for  being  in  the  band  t 

General  Hardie.  No. 

The  Chairman.  Do  you  know  whether  there  can  be  a  reduction  in 
the  permanent  recruiting  parties? 

Genera]  Hardie.  So  long  as  our  system  of  recruiting  is  what  it  is  we 
need  all  the  strength  of  the  permanent  parties  to  lick  the  new  material 
into  some  short  of  shape  before  it  is  sent  to  regiments. 

The  Chairman.  Can  there  be  a  more  advantageous  system  of  re- 
cruiting ? 

General  Hardie.  The  Adjutant-General  is  a  better  judge  than  I ;  but 
I  would  like  to  see  the  experiment  tried  of  recruiting  by  companies 
under  the  direction  of  the  Adjutant-General.  The  general  recruiting 
service  might  then  be  reduced  to  a  minimum  such  as  need  only  be  relied 
on  to  fill  up  chinks  or  meet  some  sudden  emergency.  Many  volunteer 
organizations  were  recruited  from  among  the  popnlation  of  the  coun- 
try, in  the  towns  and  counties  throughout  the  whole  (Juited  States,  and 
the  regiments  and  the  corps  had  their  roots  among  the  people  of  the 
whole  land.  Those  organizations  mainly  so  recruited  were  much  more 
fortunate  in  material  than  those  filled  by  enlisting  at  large,  or  taking 
their  recruits  from  the  cities  and  the  floating  population.  The  rank  and 
file  of  the  Regular  Army  is  not  recruited  so  fortunately  as  were  the 
earlier  volunteers,  for  we  have  to  take  in  many  cases  men  who  have  no 
alternative  between  starvation,  or  something  worse,  and  enlistment.  In 
fact  the  condition  of  a  man  may  be  well  assumed  to  be  desperate  when 
he  will  consent  to  go  into  a  service  where  he  does  not  know  what*wi11 
become  of  him,  where  he  will  be  sent,  or  what  he  will  have  to  do.  It 
tseems  unnatural  to  expect  of  the  majority  of  men  commencing  with 
such  antecedents,  that  they  shall  take  an  interest  in  their  vocation  ;  that 
they  are  going  to  be  permanent  members  of  it,  and  that  they  are  not 
going  to  take  all  out  of  it  that  they  can  for  the  moment,  and  get  rid  of 
its  demands  as  soon  as  they  can  thereafter.  To  say  the  best  of  it,  sol- 
diers so  picked  up  cannot  all  be  relied  upon  in  the  ranks  to  discharge 
with  fidelity  every  duty  that  falls  upon  a  soldier,  and  bear  the  burden 
of  hardship  and  privation  which  it  is  the  soldiers  lot  to  carry.  With 
sach  men,  we  cannot  happily  carry  out  the  democratic  principle 
of  promotion  from  the  ranks.  In  the  administration  of  military  justice 
can  we  put  such  men  upon  courts  martial,  (as  is  a  favored  idea.)  for  the 
trial  of  their  comrades  I  With  an  average  of  better  material  in  the 
ranks,  there  would  be  scope  afforded  for  the  operation  of  some  system 
of  military  education.  Each  post  should  be  a  military  academy.  The 
better  tlie  soldier,  the  higher  class  of  man  you  make  him  ;  the  more 
valuable  of  course  he  is  to  the  Government,  the  cheaper  man  he  is.  It 
IB  idle  to  expect,  in  the  present  condition  of  things,  that  any  scheme  of 
military  education,  such  as  I  have  spoken  of  above,  is  going  to  prove  of 
any  advantage.  I  would  like  to  see  private  soldiers  graded  into  first 
class,  second  class,  and  third  class  privates;  the  first  class,  taken  from 
among  the  oldest  soldiers  and  faithful  men,  forming  ^Hhe  permanent 
party  "  of  the  company.  Such  men  will  assist  in  maintaining  the  dis- 
cipline of  the  company.  They  would  be  its  life.  Even  if  you  are  not 
fortunate  in  getting  a  first-rate  set  of  men  for  the  third-class  privates, 
at  all  events  you  will  have  an  efficient  and  good  company.  There  is 
not  a  company  in  the  service,  or  in  any  army  in  the  world,  that  can  bear 


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246  REDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT. 

to  have  its  best  men  taken  ont  of  it.  The  rest  are  demoralized.  So 
that  all  troops  and  all  comniaudiug  generals  of  experience  resist  de- 
nmnds  for  selected  troops  if  the  selections  are  to  be  made  at  their  expense. 
Now  we  have  selection  all  through  our  service,  and  simply  becanse  we 
cannot  get  a  steady  and  regular  body  of  men,  who  may  be  relied  apon 
to  do  the  full  work  that  befalls  a  soldier.  Suppose  a  company,  with  its 
officers  and  non-commissioned  officers  and  some  old  soldiers,  be  sent  to 
recruit  at  an  interior  town  in  any  of  the  States,  to  stay  during  the  usual 
tour  of  a  year  or  two.  The  company  gets  its  quarters,  puts  out  its  flag, 
establishes  its  mess,  and  commences  operations.  In  a  short  time  its 
presence  attracts  attention.  Young  men  visit  the  quarters;  the 
mode  of  life  of  the  soldiers  is  seen  ;  their  daily  behavior  is  witnessed 
on  the  streets;  and  it  it  is  creditable  to  the  service,  (it  is  very  certain 
it  can  be  made  to  be,)  the  people  will  begin  to  know  them  favorably 
and  take  interest  in  them.  The  young  men  will  not  have  so  much  diffi- 
culty themselves,  nor  will  they  find  so  much  difficulty  at  home,  (if  they 
are  not  prosperous,)  in  joining  a  company  already  organized,  its  mode 
of  life  ascertained,  and  the  place  where  it  is  going  to  known  ;  where 
tbey  in  fact  have  a  home  at  the  start.  For  example,  suppose  such  a 
C4)mpaiiy  sent  to  recruit,  from  Fort  Boise,  in  Idaho,  to  some  country 
town  at  the  east.  The  young  men  of  the  town  soon  inquire  where  the 
soldiers  are  from,  and  what  kind  of  a  country  it  is  out  there,  and  how 
long  the  company  will  stay  in  the  place,  and  whether  they  are  going 
back,  &c.  The  desire  to  join  and  "  go  aloner "  would  soon  be  engendered. 
I  incline  to  the  belief  that  we  might  enlist  many  a  group  of  enthusias- 
tic  young  men  of  decent  character  who  desire  to  see  the  world,  and  who 
mean  to  be  soldiers.  Men  of  that  class  would  not  desert.  Here  would 
be  the  great  saving.  Duriiig  the  latter  part  of  the  war  it  cost  the  i>eople 
nearly  the  enlistment  of  two  men  to  get  one  soldier.  The  expenses  of 
course  are  not  so  great  now ;  yet,  I  fancy  that  the  figures  would 
prove  that  our  expenses  in  enlisting  and  transporting  a  soldier  to  his 
place  must  amount  to,  suppose  I  say,  one-third  more  than  they  would  be 
if  we  could  be  sure  of  his  staying.  A  military  establishment  is  at  the 
best  so  costly  an  affair,  that  it  is  true  economy  to  adopt  the  very  best 
methods  of  getting  the  very  best  material,  and  doing  the  best  with  it 
after  we  get  it. 

The  Chairman.  Where  do  the  most  desertions  occur  f 

General  Hardie.  Desertions  occur  most  frequently  in  the  mining 
regions,  and  wherever  there  is  an  opportunity  to  get  work. 

The  Chairman.  Is  it  your  opinion  that,  by  the  plan  which  you  pro- 
pose, a  smaller  number  of  officers  and  men  could  be  put  upon  recruiting 
parties  than  now  f 

General  Hardie.  I  should  say  that  the  recruiting  service  at  large, 
what  is  called  the  general  service,  could  be  reduced  to,  say,  three-eightbs 
at  least  of  the  present  establishment ;  perhaps  less.  But  I  shall  not  be 
positive  as  to  fhe  numbers. 

The  Chairman.  And  in  addition  to  that  you  say  that  the  men  who 
are  recruited  under  your  plan  would  stay! 

General  Hardie.  Yes.  Referring  to  the  economy  of  the  proposition,  it 
is  to  be  observed  that  there  must  be  considered  the  expense  of  the  estab- 
lish men  ts  of  the  companies  sent  to  recruit.  The  economy  arises  iu 
getting  a  better  class  of  men;  men  who  would  not  desert;  men  who 
would  render  full  service,  and  who  would  not  shrink  duty  when  in  the 
ranks;  who  would  faithfully  guard  the  public  propert^^,  &c. ;  who  would 
always  be  for  duty  and  not  in  the  guard-house. 

The  Chairman.  In  view  of  the  reduction  of  the  Army,  state  whether 


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REDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT.  247 

it  is  possible  and  practicable  to  reduce  largely  the  garrisons  in  sea-coast 
defenses  and  the  present  force  in  the  Soath. 

General  Hardib.  As  to  any  immediate  necessity  for  full  garrisons, 
or  garrisons  with  companies  to  their  full  strength,  on  the  Atlantic  sea- 
coast  fortifications,  I  would  say  that  there  is,  so  far  as  I  know,  no  press- 
ing emergency  now,  for  we  have  a  condition  of  peace.  I  think  that  men 
might  be  transferred  from  them  to  other  places  where  they  are  more  im- 
peratively needed.  Perhapsitis  so,  too,  in  someof  the  southern  cities.  I 
would  prefer  to  be  governed  by  General  McDowell's  views  in  this  latter 
case,  however.  He  is  now  inspecting  the  Division  of  the  South,  which 
is  his  command.  I  have  observed  that  he  is  very  much  disposed  to 
retrench  where  he  can.  But  I  must  say  that  last  winter  when  I  inspected 
at  the  Dry  Tortugas,  I  came  bacK,  and  in  a  private  conversation  with 
General  Sherman  told  him  that  I  hoped  that  garrison  would  be  removed 
and  the  place  abandoned.  Afterwards  the  fort  had  to  be  turned  over  to 
the  engineers  and  the  garrison  removed.  Suppose,  however,  In  the  Cu- 
ban flurry,  which  sprung  up  very  suddenly,  the  Spanish  fleet  had  gone 
to  the  roads  commanded  by  Fort  Jefiferson,  (Tortugas,)  and  thrown  a 
garrison  there,  ever  so  small,  what  would  have  been  the  comments  of 
the  people  on  the  fact  of  this  fort  being  left  liable  to  such  an  accident  t 
How  many  millions  might  it  not  have  cost  to  dislodge  the  garrison  ?  If, 
however,  the  Navy  had  vessels  to  watch  certain  portions  of  the  coast, 
so  that  there  would  not  be  any  reasonable  contingency  as  to  any  sus- 
pected enemy  taking  possession  by  our  default  of  any  fortified  point, 
forts  on  such  portions  of  the  coast  might  be  left  without  garrisons  for 
a  while.    Forts  without  garrisons,  however,  soon  go  to  decay. 

The  Chairman.  State  whether  any  posts  in  the  Indian  country  can 
be  advantageously  abandoned  or  consolidated  in  view  of  the  reduction 
of  expenses. 

Gt'ueral  Hardie.  That  subject  was  brought  before  me  in  my  recent 
inspection  in  the  Department  of  the  Columbia.  I  then  reached  the  con- 
clusion that  for  a  year  or  two  there  would  be  quite  as  much  money  spent 
in  consolidating  posts  as  there  would  be  in  maintaining  those  we  would 
abolish.  To  break  up  a  post  is  always  attended  with  considerable  ex- 
pense, for  provision  has  to  be  made  at  some  other  place  for  the  troops 
and  stores. 

I  am  about  to  propose  to  the  Secretary  of  War  a  reduction,  in  certain 
western  departments,  of  expenditures  which  I  was  sent  by  the  Secretary 
to  look  into  with  a  view  of  retrenchment.  He  originated  the  mission. 
I  think  a  saving  can  be  ejected,  in  all  together,  of  some  $100,000  i>er 
annum.  The  War  Department  is  doing  everything  it  can  to  reduce  ex- 
penses, and  yet  carry  on  the  service  efficiently. 

The  Chairman.  In  view  of  the  Indian  frontier,  the  Sioux  frontier, 
and  the  troublesome  Indians  in  Dakota,  Montana,  and  Wyoming,  state 
whether,  in  your  opinion,  any  of  the  posts  there  can  be  reduced. 

General  Hardie.  Referring  to  the  conditiou  of  the  Sioux  Indians,  I 
think  that  the  wants  of  the  public  are  such  as  to  render  it  exceedingly 
impolitic  and  undesirable  to  reduce  the  number  of  troops  or  posts  within 
the  Department  of  Dakota,  or  withiu  the  Department  of  the  Platte,  ia 
General  Sheridan's  Division.  I  would  not  like  to  pronounce  upon  the 
possibility  of  a  consolidation,  but  I  doubt  whether  you  would  derive  any 
important  saving  from  that,  as  you  would  haVe  to  build  new  posts. 

Mr.  Young.  Do  you  not  think  it  advisable  that  the  President  should 
be  authorized  to  appoint  a  Chief  of  Ordnance,  even  though  promotion  in 
the  Ordnance  Corps  be  not  opened  t 


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248  REDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT. 

General  Haedie.  I  can  hardly  see  any  advantac^e  in  it.  Colonel 
Ben^t  ia  now  assistant  to  the  Chief  of  Ordnance,  and  is  qaite  efficient. 

Mr.  Young.  Do  you  think  that  the  Department  of  Military  Justice  can 
be  dispensed  with  with  advantage  to  the  service,  and  its  duties  per- 
formed by  the  officers  of  the  Army  t 

General  Habdie.  I  think  not  with  advantage  to  the  service.  I  think, 
however,  its  scale  might  be  reduced  without  disadvantage  to  the  service, 
as  vacancies  occur.  The  Department  of  Justice,  in  its  relation  to  the 
practice  of  courts-martial,  has  done  good. 


Washington,  D.  C,  January  20. 1874. 
General  Haedie  appeared  before  the  committee,  and  continued  his 
statement  of  yesterday. 

Mr..  Albbioht.  If  there  is  anything  you  wish  to  add  to  what  you 
stated  yesterday  morning,  you  can  now  proceed  to  do  so. 

General  Habdie.  I  might  lay  stress  upon  that  portion  of  my  testi- 
mony of  yesterday  wherein  I  deprecate  trenchant  measures,  in  the  in- 
terest of  economy,  affecting  so  large  a  branch  of  the  public  service  as 
the  Army  and  so  many  interests  in  that  branch.  It  cannot  be  fore- 
told that  such  measures  in  the  end  will  prove  pecuniarily  advantageous, 
and  I  may  add  that,  when  I  proposed  certain  reductions,  it  was  in  reply 
to  questions  based  upon  the  assumption  that  the  reduction  of  appropria- 
tions was  inevitable.  What  I  said  yesterday  abont  the  reduction  or 
abolition  of  certain  minor  grades,  as  recommended  by  the  Secretary  of 
War,  I  think  can  be  carried  out,  as  then  recommended  by  him,  without 
injury  to  the  service,  and  to  the  saving  of  about  $350,000  a  year.  The 
system  of  recruiting  proposed  by  me  yesterday  is  to  be  understood  as 
proposed  as  an  experiment,  to  be  carried  out  under  the  direction  of  the 
Adjutant-General  as  superintendent  of  the  general  recruiting  service, 
and  as  an  experiment.  The  economy  expected  from  it  is  in  getting  a 
better  class  of  men ;  in  having  duty  done  better,  and  in  having  fewer 
desertions,  rather  than  in  any  immediate  saving  of  outlay. 

Mr.  Albbight.  From  your  knowledge  of  this  country  and  of  the  num- 
ber of  troops  that  we  have,  and  of  the  various  details  and  posts  which 
they  oecup3%  is  it  your  judgment  that  it  would  be  a  sate  and  prudent 
step  to  reduce  the  Army  ! 

General  Habdie.  I  reply  that  any  considerable  reduction  of  the 
Army  would  be  attended  with  risk  of  injury  to  the  public  interests. 

Mr.  Albbight.  In  the  Pay  Department,  the  Commissary  Depart- 
ment, and  the  Quartermaster's  Department  you  would  make  promotions 
from  the  line  f 

General  Habdie.  After  rounding  the  corps  off  to  a  reasonable 
strength,  I  would  open  them  to  details  from  the  line  to  supplement  the 
want  of  strength  of  the  corps. 

Mr.  Albbight.  And  the  same  you  would  do  with  reference  to  the 
Ordnance  Department,  from  the  artillery  f 

General  Habdie.  Yes.  The  details  proposed  to  the  Ordnance  Corps 
you  will  observe  apply  only  to  the  lower  grades.  A  lieutenant  who 
graduates  in  the  artillery  irom  West  Point  is  certainly  fitted  to  be  as- 
signed to  an  arsenal  to  do  the  ordinary  ordnance  duties  there. 

Mr.  Albbight.  Would  these  changes  be  promotive  of  economy  t 
Would  money  be  saved  thereby  f 

General  Habdie.  The  amount  of  money  that  would  be  saved  thereby 


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REDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT.  249 

would  be  equivalent  to  this :  You  would  save  the  number  of  staflF  officers' 
salaries  who  would  go  to  fill  up  the  vacancies  lying  bPtween  the  legal 
strength  of  the  staff  corps  as  they  are  and  the  strength  you  propose-to 
give  them.  These  corps  are  not  now  up  to  their  legal  strength,  how- 
ever.   There  are  many  vacancies. 

Mr.  Albright.  It  would  have  a  good  effect  upon  the  officers  them- 
selves ! 

General  Hardie.  It  would  have  no  harmful  effect  upon  the  corps ; 
and  I  think  it  would  have  a  good  effect  upon  the  line.  It  would 
be  gratifying  to  the  line,  and  it  would  fortify  the  staff'  with  the  line. 
The  great  advantage  of  the  staff  corps  is  that  of  the  accumulation  of 
experience  and  knowledge  in  special  branches  of  military  business,  to 
be  devoted  to  the  disposition  of  military  affairs,  both  in  current  admin- 
istration or  ordinary  times  and  when  the  emergency  of  war  arises.  At 
the  breaking  out  of  the  war  of  the  rebellion,  our  efficient  staff'  system 
provided  ample  administrative  service  for  the  wants  of  the  large  body 
of  men  suddenly  called  into  existence.  An  imperfect  staff  system  would 
have  frustrated  military  success.  I  ask  permission  to  add  that  I  think 
it  is  important  that  the  Arm^- — as  an  important  branch  of  the  public 
defense,  as  an  institution  which  can  only  be  raised  and  brought  to  a  state 
of  high  efficiency  after  long  years  of  labor  and  of  care — should  be  , 
treated  in  legislation  from  a  conservative  point  of  view;  and  trenchant 
measures  are  always  to  be  feared,  whether  as  designed  to  )>romote  econ- 
omy or  to  otherwise  compass  the  public  advantage.  If  I  were  called 
upon  to  act  as  a  legislator  in  the  premises,  it  seems  to  me  that  I  should 
very  much  prefer  to  leave  things  as  they  are  rather  than  to  attempt  to 
disturb  them. 

Mr.  HuNTON.  How  many  more  staff-officers  are  there  now  than  there 
were  when  the  late  war  began  f 

Greueral  Hardie.  From  one-third  to  one-fourth.  Perhaps  more  or 
less.     I  have  not  the  data  before  me  for  an  exact  answer. 

Mr.  HrNTON.  You  say  that  the  present  staff'  is  necessary  in  order  to 
organize  and  put  in  the  field  a  large  army  in  case  of  an  emergency  I 

General  Hardie.  Yes.  And  I  mustremarkthatwehavenotonly  troops 
for  the  staff-corps  to  feed,  and  supply,  and  move,  and  perform  all  theduties 
of  administration  with  reference  to,  but  we  have  those  troops  distrib- 
uted all  over  the  country.  In  the  staff-corps,  too,  are  included  the  en- 
gineers who  have  charge  of  fortifications,  and  of  river  and  harbor  im- 
provements, light-houses,  and  works  of  that  kind  throughout  the  country. 
We  have  the  Ordnance  Corps  creating  the  armament  and  collecting 
and  preserving  war  material  for  the  Army  and  the  militia  of  the  United 
States.  The  general  staff'  has  relations  to  all  the  military  interests  of 
the  country,  to  the  whole  subject  of  the  national  defense  as  well  as  to 
the  Army  proper. 

Mr.  HuNTON.  When  the  late  war  began,  notwithstanding  the  staff 
was  much  smaller  than  it  now  is,  there  was  great  rapidity  and  efficiency 
manifested  in  putting  armies  into  the  field. 

General  Hardie.  Yes,  but  the  staff  itself  was  manifestly  too  small. 
The  body  of  experience  that  it  had  was  diffused  rapidly,  it  is  true,  among 
the  officers;  but  I  think  that  the  experience  of  all  the  officers  of  both 
armies,  Korth  and  South,  was  that  there  was  a  lamentable  deficiency  of 
capable  staff-officers  of  the  superior  grades.  There  was  not  an  ofiicer, 
from  the  Secretary  of  War  (o  the  major-generals  commanding  the  troops, 
who  were  charged  with  the  duties  of  the  collecting  of  bodies  of  men, 
and  supplying  them,  disposing  of  them,  and  moving  them,  who  did  not 
feel  the  great  deficiency  that  there  was  in  the  higher  grades  of  staff 


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250  KEDUCTION   OF   THE*  MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT. 

officers.  As  tlie  war  progressed  we  got  some  talented  staff-officers  from 
tbe  volunteer  service,  and  we  have  some  of  them  now  in  the  service- 
some  of  tbe  best  officers  we  have.  The  military  interests,  too,  are  more 
extended  now  than  before  the  war.  We  have  more  posts  est^iblisbed 
than  we  had  before  the  war.  We  are  occupying  certain  tracts  of  Indian 
country  more  thoroughly  than  we  did  before. 

Mr.  MacDougall.  How  many  chaplains  are  there  in  the  Army! 

General  Hardie.  There  are  thirty  post  chaplains  and  four  regimental 
chaplains  of  colored  troops,  though  I  suppose  there  are  some  vacancies. 

Mr.  MacDougall.  What,  in  your  judgment,  is  their  general  usefol- 
ness  in  the  Army  t    What  benefit  are  they  to,  the  service  ! 

General  Hardie.  lam  under  the  impression  that  it  would  be  a  benefit 
to  the  public  service  to  let  the  chaplaincies  die  out,  either  by  retirement, 
or  resignation,  or  death  of  present  incumbents,  and  to  appoint  no  more. 
1  believe  they  are  of  no  important  benefit  to  the  service.  Cliaplains 
under  the  old  army  regulations  ought  to  be  schoolmasters,  but  they  <lo  not 
teach  school.  If  there  is  any  soul  in  the  world  benefited  by  the  religious 
ministrations  of  any  clergyman  of  any  creed,  that  is  go  much  good  dooe, 
it  is  trne.  But  I  am  willing  myself  to  pay  my  share  for  the  support  of 
the  clergyman  who  attends  to  me  and  my  family.  Chaplains  are  not 
.habitually  of  the  same  creed  as  the  majoriJ:y  of  the  garrison.  Some- 
times it  is  difficult  to  muster  a  congregation  of  any  size.  Even  with 
the  greatest  desire  to  do  good,  they  are  frequently  powerless.  Now 
and  then  one  is  of  service,  but  the  case  is  exceptional.  As  it  is  in 
general,  the  chaplaincy  is  a  service  of  religious  comfort  to  only  a  tew  in 
each  garrison,  leaving  the  majority  unprovided  for. 

Mr.  MacDougall.  A  large  portion  of  the  non-commissioned  officers 
and  soldiers  of  the  regular  Army  are  Catholics,  are  they  nott 

General  Hardie.  A  fair  majority  of  those  who  care  for  church  at  all 
go  to  the  Catholic  church. 

Mr.  MacDougall.  Those  chaplains  are  pious,  good  men,  are  they 
not? 

General  Hardie.  Yes ;  they  are  good  men  so  far  as  I  know  them. 

Mr.  MacDougall.  As  a  question  of  national  policy,  would  the  public 
interest  be  [ironioted  to  transferring  the  management  of  Indian  Affairs 
to  the  War  Department  f 

General  Hardie.  The  transfer  of  the  Indian  Bureau  to  the  War 
Departuient  would  bring  to  us  an  accumulation  of  disagreeable  diflScul- 
ties,  and  I  think  is  an  inheritance  we  might  well  wish  to  decline.  All 
officers  connected  with  Indian  affairs  are  open  to  suspicion  and  attack, 
and  labor  connected  with  that  department,  no  matter  how  well  per- 
formed, goes  frequently  without  thanks.  On  the  score  of  economy  I 
roust  say,  that  tvhen  the  Indian  Bureau  was  under  the  control  of  the 
Secretary  of  War,  and  when  its  functions  w^ere  exercised  by  military 
officers,  as  was  the  case  some  thirty  years  ago,  the  funds  and  property 
of  the  Indian  Bureau  were,  as  a  rule,  fairly  and  honestly  managed,  and 
the  Indians  were  taught  to  view  the  Army  as  their  friend.  The  advice 
and  onlers  of  officers  controlling  the  Indians,  as  they  could  always  ex* 
hibit  the  means  of  punishment  iu  case  of  disobedience,  were  much  more 
faithfully  carried  out.  The  man  of  peace  who  talks  to  the  Indians  must 
incline  them  toward  him  by  presents  or  by  promises.  The  Government 
agent  who  has  the  means  of  punishment  visibly  with  bim  has  no  need 
to  pursue  anything  but  a  straightforward  course.  He  tells  the  Indian 
if  he  will  be  good,  such  and  such  will  happen  to  him;  whereas,  if  he 
disobeys,  he  will  be  punished.  The  mode  of  dealing,  therefore,  with  the 
Indians  becomes  simplified.    I  believe  in  the  reservation  system  nnder 


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REDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT.  251 

the  control  of  militarv  officers,  with  garrisons  adjusted  to  the  size  of  the 
reservations  and  the  circumstances ;  officers  should  have  authority  to 
keep  intruders  from  the  reservation,  to  maintain  peace  thereon  among 
the  Indians  themselves,  and  to  keep  tlieni  from  going  off  to  make  raids. 
They  shouhl  fiive  encouragement  to  the  Indians  when  on  the  reserva- 
tions, by  holding  out  to  them  tbe  inducements  of  possessing  j)roperty, 
and  of  attaining  the  circumstances  of  civilized  persons  in  the  course  of 
time,  giving  them  a  few  agricultural  implements,  teaching  them  to  work, 
and  giving  them  some  stock  to  tie  them  gradually  to  the  land.  They 
should  [)unish  them  when  they  go  off,  and  treat  them  philanthropically 
at  all  times.  In  case  of  failure  of  their  crops,  or  In  case  of  anj^  circum- 
stances through  which  they  may  be  reduced  to  hunger,  the  officers 
should  see  that  they  do  not  suffer.  Then,  with  schools  for  tiie  children, 
and  keeping  at  a  distance  all  means  of  dissipation,  I  should  leave  the 
rest  to  time,  to  civilize  as  many  as  possible.  As  for  any  demoralizing 
results  from  the  presence  of  the  troops  on  the  reservation,  I  think  that 
no  great  danger  is  to  be  feared  with  proper  care  on  the  ])art  of  the  mili- 
tary officers.  While  there  are  some  chances  of  the  vices  of  intemper- 
ance and  unchastity  prevailing,  as  there  will  be,  when  there  are  aggre- 
gations of  human  beings,  i)retty  much  everywhere,  the  restraints  of  the 
military  system  carried  out  under  good  officers,  ought  to  reduce  these 
evils  to  a  minimum. 

Mr.  Albright.  Please  to  narrate  the  incidents  of  your  journey  to 
Fort  Sill,  and  the  statement  of  the  Indian  superintendent  there  as  to 
the  proper  course  of  action  to  be  pursued  with  the  Kiowas,  and  as  to 
the  [lolicy  of  the  Government;  and  also  state  your  views  as  to  the 
necessity  of  troops  in  that  region  of  country  and  in  all  parts  of  the 
Indian  country  that  you  have  seen. 

General  Haudis.  When  1  was  at  Fort  Sill,  I  think  three  summers 
ag^«  (perhaps  two,)  on  a  visit  of  inspection,  the  Kiowas  were  all  then  out 
from  their  reservation,  on  what  amounted  to  the  warpath.  I  called  for 
information  on  Mr.  Tatem,  the  Indian  agent  there,  who  is  a  member  of 
the  Society  of  Friends,  and  whom  I  found  to  be  an  intelli$;ent  and  agree- 
able gentleman,  as  well  a  valuable  public  servant.  I  found  he  had  a 
soldier-guard  at  his  residence,  some  half  a  mile  from  the  post.  He  told 
me  that  the  Kiowas  ought  to  he  punished,  and  that  that  was  the  only 
way  to  deal  with  them.  He  said,  further,  that  our  policy  of  dealing 
with  bad  Indians  was  a  sort  of  premium  for  the  doing  of  evil  on  their 
part.  The  good  Indians,  he  said,  complained  that  we  woidd  go  and 
meet  bad  Indians,  who  had  been  off  committing  depredations,  and  give 
them  presents  if  they  would  promise  not  to  do  so  any  more,  while  they, 
the  good  Indians,  got  nothing  at  all.  He  was  decidedly  right  in  his 
views.  I  feel  confident  that  among  those  Indians,  as  well  as  among  the 
Missouri  River  Sioux,  and  other  Indians,  that  without  the  presence  of 
troops  the  Indian  agencies  would  have  been  broken  up  by  the  Indians 
and  the  employes  murdered. 


Washington,  D.  C,  January  24,  1874. 

Maj.  Gen.  Irvin  McDowell  appeared  before  the  committee  in  re- 
sponse to  its  invitation. 

The  Chaibman.  State  what  commands  you  have  bad  within  the  last 
five  years. 

General  McDowell.  The  Department  of  the  East  and  the  Division 
of  the  South. 


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252  REDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT. 

The  Chairman.  When  did  j-onr  command  of  the  Department  of  the 
East  begin  f 

General  McDowell.  In  July,  1868. 

The  Chairman.  What  command  have  you  had  previous  to  thatt 

General  McDowell.  I  commanded  the  Fourth  Military  District, 
comprising  the  States  of  Mississippi  and  Arkansas,  headquarters  at 
Vicksburgh. 

The  Chairman.  How  long  did  you  hold  that  command t 

General  McDowell.  A  few  weeks. 

The  Chairman.  What  command  had  you  before  that? 

General  McDowell.  The  Department  of  the  Pacific,  including  all 
the  Pacific  coast  back  to  Arizona,  Nevada,  and  Utah,  and  the  Depart- 
ment of  California. 

The  Chairman.  How  long  did  yon  command  there  ? 

General  McDowell.  Four  years. 

The  Chairman.  In  view  of  a  reduction  of  the  military  establishment 
state  to  the  committee  how,  in' your  opinion,  what  reduction  should  be 
made — whether  in  men  or  in  organizations;  and,  if  in  organizations, 
whether  in  artillery,  infantry,  or  cavalry,  or  whether  in  the  staff  or  the 
line? 

General  McDowell.  I  am  not  prepared  to  give  an  answer  to  that 
question.  I  should  not  like  to  commit  myself  on  paper  to  so  compre- 
hensive a  question  without  more  time,  and  more  fully  digesting  it. 

The  Chairman.  Can  j-ou  state  the  limits  of  your  present  command  ! 

General  McDowell.  My  present  command  embraces  all  the  Southern 
States,  so  called,  except  Maryland,  Virginia,  Texas,  and  Missouri — that 
is  to  say,  it  embraces  North  and  South  Carolina,  Kentucky,  Georgia, 
Mississippi,  Alabama,  Arkansas,  Louisiana,  and  Florida. 

The  Chairman.  State  the  military  necessity,  if  any, .of  keeping  troops 
in  that  region. 

General  McDowell.  I  wish  the  committee  would  refer  to  my  annaal 
report,  in  which  a  very  good  answer  to  that  question  will  be  found;  that 
is  to  say,  the  committee  will  find  there  what  has  been  done  in  my  com- 
mand within  the  past  year,  to  what  extent  the  troops  have  been  em- 
ployed, and  for  what  purposes.  The  Division  of  the  South  has  been  re- 
duced by  one  regiment  of  cavalry  and  one  regiment  of  infantry  within 
the  last  year. 

The  Chairman.  Can  you  stat«  the  number  of  troops  now  in  the  Di- 
vision of  the  South  and  of  the  Gulf  t 

General  McDowell.  In  the  whole  Division  of  the  South  there  are 
2,991  enlisted  men;  the  aggregate,  of  officers  and  men,  is  3,223. 

The  Chairman.  What  number  of  those  are  in  the  Department  of  the 
South  ! 

General  McDowell.  Two  thousand  one  hundred  and  ninety-two 
men. 

The  Chairman.  And  how  many  in  the  Department  of  the  Gulf! 

Genera]  McDowell.  One  thousand  and  thirty  one  men. 

The  Chairman.  State  on  what  duties  those  men  are  mainly  em- 
ployed. 

General  McDowell.  The  artillery  is  partly  engaged  in  the  usual 
normal  duty  of  artillery,  on  the  sea-coast  fortifications  and  the  light 
batteries ;  and  partly,  together  with  the  infantry,  at  stations  in  the 
several  States  for  the  purpose  of  aiding  the  United  States  civil  authori- 
ties in  the  enforcement  of  United  States  laws. 

The  Chairman.  State  what  the  troops  are  doing  in  Kentucky  I 

General  McDowell.  The  last  part  of  my  answer  will  apply  to  the 


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REDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT.  253 

troops  in  Kentucky.  At  this  moment  there  is  a  portion  of  those  troops 
acting  under  the  United  States  marshal,  serving  writs  which  he  declares 
he  cannot  serve  without  the  aid  of  military  force.  There  are  but  three 
companies  in  the  State  of  Kentucky — a  mere  police  force.  One  com- 
pany is  stationed  at  Lancaster,  one  at  Lebanon,  and  one  at  Frankfort 
They  are  stationed  at  those  places  chiefly  because  the  troops  are  belter 
provided  for  there  than  they  would  be  elsewhere.  In  the  case  of  Lan- 
caster, the  troops  were  sent  and  are  kept  there  at  the  earnest  entreaty 
of  its  citizens,  on  account  of  the  disturbed  state  of  the  country.  I  went 
to  Lancaster  to  see  if  that  post  could  not  be  broken  up  and  a  post 
established  at  Nicholasville,  where  the  people  were  making  earnest 
applications  for  one;  but  those  at  Lancaster  begged  the  post  should  not 
be  removed  as  the  moral  effect  of  the  presence  of  the  military  there  was 
of  great  consequence  to  the  peace  of  the  country.  The  same  argument 
bad  been  advanced  for  Nicholasville,  but,  as  the  two  places  were  close 
together,  I  decided  to  make>  no  change,  on  account  of  the  expense 
involved  in  doing  so,  and  because  theie  seemed  to  be  an  equal  balance 
in  the  demands  of  the  two  places. 

The  Chairman.  What  number  of  troops  are  there  in  Tennessee? 

General  McDowell.  Four  companies;  one  at  Humboldt,  one  at 
Chattanooga,  and  two  at  Nashville;  they  are  employed  in  the  same  way 
and  for  the  same  purposes  as  the  troops  in  Kentucky. 

The  CHAIR3IAN.  What  troops  have  you  in  North  Carolina  ? 

General  McDowell.  Leaving  out  the  companies  on  the  coast  de- 
fenses, there  are  three  at  Raleigh,  where  they  have  been  employed  in 
assisting  the  United  States  internal-revenue  officers.  I  broke  up  one  of 
the  stations  in  Norlh. Carolina,  a  short  time  ago,  and  took  the  troops 
down  to  Charleston. 

The  Chairman.  What  troops  have  you  in  South  Carolina? 

General  McDowell.  Besides  three  companies  at  Charleston — one  of 
them  alight  battery- — there  are  six  or  eight  companies  at  Columbia,  one 
at  Yorkville,  and  one  at  Newberry.  On  my  last  inspection  I  broke  up 
a  number  of  small  posts  in  South  Carolina,  both  because  of  the  with- 
drawal of  the  cavalry  sent  to  the  Indian  country  and  because  I  thought 
it  might  be  done  with  safety,  and  with  the  object  of  diminishing  the  cost 
of  maintaining  the  troops  retained  in  the  State.  Yorkville  was  repre- 
sented to  me  as  a  very  disturbed  place,  having  been  the  center  of  Ku- 
klux  operations,  and  the  military  force  w^as  represented  as  being  neces- 
sary there  for  some  time  to  come,  on  account  of  the  feeling  that  had 
been  excited  by  the  condition  of  a  large  number  of  persons  in  that  vicin- 
ity. I  was  begged  not  to  disturb  that  post,  because  of  the  good  effect, 
morally,  which  it  had  on  that  community.  The  same  remarks  apply  to 
a  certain  extent  to  the  post  at  Newberry. 

The  Chairman.  Is  there  a  feeling  of  apprehension  of  disturbances  by 
the  Kuklux  in  that  region  ? 

General  McDowell.  I  don't  think  there  is  any  general  feeling  now ; 
but  I  think,  if  3  ou  will  ask  the  two  parties  down  south,  they  will  concur  in 
one  thing,  (and  that  more,  perhaps,  because  of  its  moral  effect  than  of 
any  physical  force  that  could  be  exercised,)  that  the  presence  of  a  small 
force  there  is  of  great  benefit  to  the  peace,  and  quiet,  and  prosperity  of 
the  country.  I  think  that  both  parties  will  agree  in  that.  The  ignor- 
ant poor  whites,  as  they  are  called,  have  a  feeling  of  hostility  against 
the  blacks,  and  the  other  whites  have  a  feeling  of  distrust  and  disgust 
of  the  ))o]itical  a<;tion  of  the  masses  of  the  blacks,  particularly  in  South 
Carolina  and  Louisiana.  In  South  Carolina  the  colored  element  is  pre. 
dominant.    It  has  complete  control  of  tlie  State,  and  of  its  principal 


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254  REDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT. 

city,  Charleston  ;  the  limits  of  that  citj'  having  been  extended,  I  am 
told,  many  miles  into  the  country,  so  as  to  give  the  colored  po])ulatioii 
complete  control  of  the  city  as  well  as  the  State.  The  State  taxation 
is  excessive,  and  there  is  a  strong  feeling,  on  the  part  of  persons  who 
own  property,  against  the  State  government,  and  this  condition  of  af- 
fairs produces  considerable  uneasiness  throughout  the  community,  both 
on  the  past  of  the  blacks  with  respect  to  the  whites  in  the  upper  dis- 
tricts, and  upon  the  part  of  the  whites  of  the  blacks  in  the  lower  coun- 
trj'.  In  Florida  there  are  only  three  stations;  the  one  at  Key  West, 
which  is  an  important  post,  a  naval  station  and  a  naval  depot,  and  is  a 
post  by  which  the  large  bulk  of  the  commerce  that  comes  out  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi River  and  from  Texas  goes.  It  is  a  post  of  importance.  The 
post  at  Dry  Tortugas  I  wish  had  never  been  constructed.  It  was  pro- 
posed at  a  time  wiien  we  had  only  sailing-ships,  and  it  was  supposed, 
at  that  time,  to  be  a  point  of  very  great  necessity,  to  be  occupied  for 
the  protection  of  the  commerce  to  which  I  have  reierred.  It  was  not, 
however,  intended,  as  I  am  told,  to  begin  that  fortification  until  the  for- 
tifications of  the  first  and  second  classes  in  importance  had  been  com- 
pleted ;  but  I  have  been  told  by  a  person,  formerly  a  Senator  from 
Florida,  that  he  had  procured  an  appropriation  and  urged  the  com- 
mencement of  that  work  out  of  the  order  in  which  it  had  been  placed 
by  the  Engineer  Department.  The  work  stands  up  right  out  of  the 
middle  of  the  ocean,  protecting  nothing  but  a  harbor,  sixty  or  seventy 
miles  from  land.  The  place  is  unhealthy,  and  we  had  to  abandon  it  last 
year ;  but  it  is  important  in  this  respect,  now  that  it  is  built,  that  if  an 
enemy  were  to  take  hold  of  it  it  would  be  a  thorn  in  our  side  as  Gibral- 
tar is  a  thorn  in  the  side  of  Spain.  If  we  could  adopt  the  heroic  treat- 
ment, the  best  thing  w^e  could  do  with  it  would  be  to  pull  it  up  from  its 
foundations  and  throw  it  into  the  Gulf;  but  so  long  as  we  keep  it,  we 
have  to  keep  a  garrison  in  it.  1  look  upon  it  as  a  very  great  misfortune 
to  have  it,  but  I  don't  think  we  will  be  able  to  persuade  the  country 
now  to  take  such  a  measure  as  I  have  suggested  and  discontinue  it  alto- 
gether. 

The  Chairman.  How  much  money  has  been  expended  on  it  ? 

General  McDowell.  I  do  not  know ;  but  it  is  a  very  large  sum, 
and  it  will  cost  a  great  deal  to  keep  it  up. 

Mr.  Albright.  How  much  land  is  there  around  the  fort? 

General  McDowell.  But  little  more  than  the  fort  covers.  The  fort 
conies  right  up  out  of  the  water.  It  commands  a  good  safe  harbor, 
made  by  reefs  which  do  not  come  to  the  surface  except  at  one  place.  It 
is  a  harbor  of  refuge.  The  fort  is  a  thing  we  do  not  need  at  all,  but  is 
simply  important  as  a  thing  which  an  enemy  might  take  possession  of. 
The  other  two  posts — Pensacola  and  Saint  Augustiue — are  old  posts, 
occupied  by  artillery,  and  have  no  purpose  so  far  as  the  enforcement  of 
the  law  is  concerned  except  incidentally.  For  example:  the  troops 
have  been  called  from  Pensacola  to  go  over  to  New  Orleans  to  reinforce 
Colonel  Emery  in  preserving  the  peace  in  Louisiana.  In  Georgia  we 
have  one  post,  at  Atlanta.  That  is  important  in  the  same  way  that  I 
have  stated  as  to  the  posts  of  North  Carolina,  Kentucky,  &c.  In  Ala- 
bama there  is  one  post,  at  Huntsville ;  and  one  at  Mount  Vernon  bar- 
racks. The  two  companies  at  Mount  Vernon  I  took  up  there  from  Mo- 
bile because  Mount  Vernon  is  a  military  post,  established  in  General 
Jackson's  time,  on  very  high,  healthy  ground,  and  has  a  large  military 
reservation  and  large  buildings;  and  it  is  the  cheapest  place  at  which 
a  military  force  can  be  kept  in  that  section  of  the  country.  At  Hunts- 
ville there  is  one  company,  which  has  been  used  to  enforce  the  processes 


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REDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT.  255 

of  tbe  Uuited  States  courts.  I  liave  now  an  application — to  establish 
a  post  in  the  northern  part  of  Mississippi — on  the  part  of  the  civil 
officers  there,  on  account  of  the  great  hostility  shown  to  the  enforce- 
ment of  the  United  States  laws.  I  have  declined  to  establish  it  on 
economicsil  considerations ;  but  I  sent  over  last  summer,  from  Iluntsville, 
a  party  of  an  otficer  and  twenty  men  to  enforce  the  laws,  and  then  to 
return  to  Huutsville  again. 

[Note. — Since  giving  the  foregoing  I  learn  from  the  headquarters  of 
the  Department  of  the  Gulf  that  a  post  has  been  established  at  Corinth 
of  one  company  ;  Colonel  Emery  finding  it  necessary.] 

The  buildings  in  Iluntsville  are  upon  leased  ground.  At  Atlanta 
there  are  large  military  buildings  on  leased  land,  for  which  lease  we  pay 
S12,9()0  a  year,  soon  to  be  $5,000.  The  lease  will  soon  expire,  and  all  the 
buildings  will  revert  to  theland  holder,  if  the  Government  of  the  United 
States  is  not  sufficiently  wise  to  have  disposed  of  them  before  the  lease 
expires.  The  lease  will  expire  within  two  years,  I  think.  I  am  now 
going  to  ins(>ect  Augusta  arsenal  and  see  if  I  cannot  get  the  War  De- 
partment to  transfer  that  post  to  the  Quartermaster's  Department,  be- 
cause there  are  large  buildings  there  which  might  be  made  available  for 
the  quarters  of  troops  at  a  small  expense. 

The  Chairman.  State  whether  jou  think  it  advisable  for  the  Govern- 
ment to  sell  the  Augusta  arsenal. 

Gfueral  McDowell.  No,  sir;  I  think  the  Government  should  re- 
tain It;  if  not  for  an  arsenal,  as  barracks  and  quarters. 

The  Chairman.  Give  your  reasons  fully. 

General  McDowell.  The  Government  owns  at  Baton  Eouge,  at 
Little  Hock,  at  Augusta  and  Mount  Vernon,  (all  formerly  arsenals,) 
grounds  and  buildings  of  considerable  extent,  which  would  sell  for  but 
little  compared  to  their  cost,  and  which  would  be  of  great  use  to  the 
Government  for  the  quartering  of  such  troops  as  it  may  be  necessary  to 
keep  in  that  section  of  the  country.  I  think  the  Government  will  save 
by  keeping  this  arsenal  at  Augusta,  not  as  an  arsenal,  but  turning  it 
over  to  tbe  Quartermaster's  Department  for  troops,  as  has  been  done  at 
Little  Rock,  Baton  Rouge,  and  Mount  Vernon. 

The  Chairman.  State  whether  or  not  that  real  estate  is  not  constantly 
increasing  in  value. 

General  MdDowELL.  Undoubtedly  it  is  at  Augusta. 

The  Chairman.  Is  the  Government  really  losing  anything  by  retain- 
ing this  property  ? 

General  McDowell.  Not  at  all,  but  I  do  not  want  it  to  be  kept  as 
an  arsenal. 

The  Chairman.  Would  the  expense  of  keeping  these  places  in  repair 
be  large  f 

General  McDowell.  I  am  not  able  to  answer  that  question.  I  have 
not  seen  Augusta  arsenal  at  all.  I  went  down  to  Mount  Vernon 
barracks  last  summer,  and  went  over  every  part  of  it;  and  the 
amount  that  I  asked  the  Secretary  of  War  to  give  me  to  convert  the 
work -shops  and  storehouses  into  barracks  and  quarters  was  very  small. 
It  was  about  $30,000.  The  buildings  at  all  those  places  are  of  a  per- 
manent ciiaracter,  and  the  ordinary  repairs  would  be  all  that  would  be 
necessary  to  keep  them  up. 

Mr.  Young.  Do  the  buildings  at  Atlanta  belong  to  the  Government, 
or  are  they  leased  ? 

General  McDowell.  The  buildings  belong  to  the  Government,  but 
the  land  on  which  they  stand  is  leased  at  $10,000  a  year.  They  are 
fnime  buildings  and  a  good  deal  out  of  repair.    They  are  intended  to 


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256  REDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT. 

accommodate  a  whole  regiment.  The  estimate  for  repairs  upon  them  is 
very  large,  and  the  Qnartermaster-General  does  not  sanction  it  The 
buildings  have  never  been  painted,  and  they  are  gaping  open,  and  leak- 
ing, and  in  a  very  bad  condition.  As  they  are  on  leased  ground,  the 
Quartermaster's  Department  will  not  give  the  amount  necessary  for  re- 
pair. 

The  Chairman.  I  suppose  the  money  had  better  be  spent  in  repair- 
ing the  buildings  at  Augusta  on  the  Government's  own  ground. 

General  McDowell.  Undoubtedly ;  that  is  what  I  want. 

The  Chairman.  The  amount  of  money  that  you  pay  for  the  lease  of 
land  at  Atlanta  would  suffice  to  keep  the  buildings  at  Augusta  in  re- 
pair t 

General  McDowell.  It  vould  more  than  do  so.  The  buildings  at 
August^i  are,  I  am  told,  very  fine.  1  understand  that  after  Augusta 
passed  into  the  hands  of  the  confederates,  they  made  large  improvements 
on  the  arsenal-grounds. 

Mr.  Young.  The  property  would  sell  for  a  large  amount  of  money — 
for  $10l),0(>0  more  than  it  would  before  the  war  f 

General  McDowell.  It  is  a  valuable  property,  and  it  is  valuable  to 
the  Government.  I  never  yet  have  seep  any  sqch  property  disposed  of 
by  the  Government  that  we  did  not  want  to  get  afterward.  I  do  not 
want  to  have  the  Augusta  arsenal  sold. 

The  Chairman.  Is  there  a  military  post  at  Chattanooga  t 

General  McDowell.  The  post  at  Chattanooga  is  a  temporary  frame 
building,  on  ground  belonging  to  the  United  States,  on  the  (National 
Cemetery  ground.  The  post  at  Nashville  is  on  leased  ground,  and  that 
at  Huntsville  is  on  leased  ground. 

The  Chairman.  What  use  is  there  for  troops  in  the  neighborhood  of 
Chattanooga  f 

General  McDowell.  That  is  near  a  whisky-distilling  district,  and 
your  revenues  from  whisky  will  be  impaired  if  illicit  d'stillation  cannot 
be  kept  down.  In  all  that  mountainous  country  there  is  a  rough  set  of 
people,  and  the  internal  revenue  officers  will  not  go  up  there  after  them 
without  some  military  force  to  sustain  them. 

The  Chairman.  Is  there  a  considerable  amount  of  distillation  down 
there  T 

General  McDowell.  Yes ;  I  understand  that  in  all  that  mountainous 
country,  in  the  upper  parts  of  North  Carolina,  Georgia,  Tennessee, 
and  Kentucky,  the  country  is  full  of  illicit  distilleries. 

The  Chairman.  Please  refer  to  Mississippi  and  state  the  military 
post«  there. 

General  McDowiell.  Mississippi  has  but  one  small  post,  that  at  Jack- 
son. All  the  others  have  been  broken  up.  Last  year  I  abandoned  fourteen 
military  posts  in  the  division  of  the  South,  some  in  each  St-ate,  making 
a  saving  of  nearly'  $200,000  of  annual  expense.  The  neccHsity  of  the 
post  at  Jackson  is  represented  to  me  by  Colonel  Emery  as  great.  He 
says  he  was  unable  to  meet  the  demand  upon  him  to  establish  a  post  in 
the  northern  part  of  Mississippi,  and  he  called  upon  me  to  establish  it 
from  troops  in  the  other  part  of  my  division.  This  I  declined  to  do  be- 
cause of  the  expense  attending  it. 

[Note. — Since  giving  the  above  Colonel  Emery  has  reported  having 
established  a  company  at  Corinth,  Mississippi.] 

The  Chairman.  Please  refer  to  Arkansas,  and  tell  what  military 
posts  you  have  there. 

General  McDowell.  There  is  one  company  left  at  Little  Bock,  Ark. 


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REDUCTION    OP   THE    MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT.  257 

A  regiment  was  concentrated  there  from*  the  Department  of  the  South, 
bnt  it  has  gone  oat  on  the  line  of  the  railroad  against  the  Indians. 

The  Chairman.  Will  you  state  the  condition  of  Louisiana  and  the 
troops  you  have  there. 

General  McDowell.    Louisiana  is  in  a  very  disturbed  condition.   It 
was  so  last  year  and  is  so  still,  and  I  fear  it  is  likely  to  remain  so  for 
some  time  to  come,  on  account  of  the  reasons  which  I  have  before  men- 
tioned.   The  military  posts  in  Louisiana  are  very  much  changed  during 
the  year — troops  being  shiflel  from  one  place  to  another,  as  the  neces- 
sity for  their  service  may  appear  to  the  department  commander  to  re- 
quire.  The  permanent  posts  are  the  Jackson  Barracks,  New  Orleans, 
and  the  barnicks  at  Baton  liouge — both  Government  barracks,  both  on 
Government  land,  and  both  permanent  in  their  nature  and  character. 
From  these  two  posts  the  department  commander  has  established  vari- 
ons  small  temporary  posts,  breaking  them  up  from  time  to  time  and 
bringing  the  troops  back  again,  or  shifting  them  as  the  occasion  may 
have  required.    I  think  it  safe  to  say  that  the  troops  in  Louisiana  have 
been  of  immense  public  good.    It  is  so  recognized,  I  believe,  by  all  par- 
ties.   They  have  been  preservers  of  the  peace,  and  I  think  that  their 
whole  course  has  been  of  the  most  conservative  character.    As  I  said  in 
iny  annual  report,  ^'  the  duty  devolved  upon  officers  and  men  and  their 
commander  in  theDepartmentof  the  Gulf  during  the  past  year  has  been 
of  the  most  delicate,  important,  and  frequently  embarrassing  kind,  and 
has  been  discharged  with  tact,  fidelit3',  and  in  all  cases  with  effect.'^ 

The  Chairman.  Can  you  state  the  reasons  for  keejung  this  military 
force  there  ? 

General  McDowell.  The  reasons  grow  entirely  out  of  the  sequelae  of 
the  war,  the  reconstruction  acts,  the  condition  of  the  colored  race,  and 
the  relations  which  it  bears  to  the  other  inhabitants  of  that  State,  and 
the  fact  that  the  city  of  l^ew  Orleans, with  its  large  commerce,  its  capital, 
its  connections  with  the  centers  of  capital  and  commerce  in  other  parts  of 
the  world,  has  a  white  population  principally,  and  that  the  State  itself  is 
largely  in  the  hands  of  colored  people,  and  that  these  two  elements,  thus 
far,  have  not  been  harmonious.  There  has  been  distrust  on  one  side  against 
the  other,  and  misunderstandings,  i>erhaps  largely  the  result  of  causes 
which  look  away  back  to  the  past,  and  which  will  take  some  considerable 
time  in  the  future  before  they  are  all  disposed  of.  It  is  a  philosophical  as 
well  as  a  political  question,  about  which  people  may  differ;  but  the  fact 
stands  that  the  problem  presents  very  great  complications,  and  of  which 
I  do  not  myself  see  the  solution ;  and  I  doubt  if  any  one  knows,  although 
he  may  think  he  does.  I  was  there  last  winter,  and  I  am  going  there 
now ;  and  I  can  say  that  the  military  force  there  has  been  of  immense 
consequence,  not  for  the  physical  effect  which  that  small  handful  of  men 
could  produce,  but  for  its  moral  effect.  I  think  this  same  remark  may 
apply,  in  a  large  degree,  to  the  troops  all  through  the  South.  The  num- 
ber of  troops  all  through  that  vast  region  of  country  is  little  over  three 
thousand  men,  so  insignificant  that  it  cannot  exercise  any  material 
physical  effect. 

The  Chaibkan.  The  sea-coast  fortifications  are  occupied  by  artillery. 
Can  those  forts  be  occupied  by  a  smaller  force  and  kept  in  a  good  state 
of  preservation  T 

General  McDowell.  "  Occupation  ^  is  the  proper  term  to  give  it. 
The  fortifications  are  '*  occupied,'^  not "  garrisoned."    All  the  way  down  • 
there  is  a  very  small  force  at  each  place. 
The  Chairman.  In  view  of  a  reduction  of  the  Army,  cannot  a  con- 

17  M  E 


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258  REDUCTION    OF    THE    MILITARY    ESTABLISHMENT. 

siderable  iiuuiber  of  tliose  posts  be  occupied  by  a  smaller  force  of  ar- 
tillery  than  at  present  ? 

General  McDowell.  If  you  look  you  will  see  liow  very  few  of  them 
are  occupied  by  artillery  now  ;  and  that  occupation  is  not  any  stronger 
than  I  think  it  should  be. 

The  Chairman.  In  time  of  peace,  is  there  really  any  necessity  that 
these  forts  should  be  garrisoned  or  occupied  at  all,  except  by  a  force 
suflScient  to  prevent  their  being  injured  by  the  elements  or  by  intruders! 

General  McDowell.  8o  far  as  material  injury  to  the  walls  and 
slopes  is  concerned,  1  suppose  that  most  of  them  can  be  safely  leftiu  tbe 
bauds  of  the  ordnance-sergeant,  because  in  their  nature  they  are  of  a 
permanent  character,  and  not  likely  to  suffer  much  harm. 

The  Chairman.  Can  those  troops  be  with<lrawn  and  stationed  else 
where  ? 

General  McDowell.  They  have  been  withdrawn  in  times  of  pressure 
and  need,  but  it  has  been  to  their  great  injury  as  artillerists. 

The  Chairman.  Are  they  trained  regularly  in  artillery  practice  f 

General  McDow^ell.  Yes ;  there  are  only  five  batteries  of  light-artil- 
lery in  the  Army.  All  the  other  artillery  of  the  Army  are  trainetl  to 
the  heavy  guns.  Now  that  we  have  large  guns,  the  management  of 
them  requires  more  skill  than  used  to  be  required  of  artillerists.  These 
guns  will  be  useless  unless  some  very  effective  means  are  provided  for 
handling  them,  and  unless  intelligent  men  are  instructed  to  make  use 
of  those  appliances.  I  do  not  doubt  that  it  would  be  better  if  we  could 
get  these  artillery  companies  more  together,  by  bfeakingup  sonieof  tbe 
smaller  posts. 

The  Chairman.  Can  the  men  who  are  detailed  for  duty  in  the  Engi 
neer  and  Ordnance  Corps  take  care  of  those  forts  without  the  presence 
of  artillerymen! 

General  McDowell.  I  do  not  doubt  that  they  could.  But  you  wouW 
gain  nothing  by  the  change.  On  the  contrary,  tor  the  engineer  and  onl 
nance  are  paid  higher  rates  than  the  artillery. 

3Ir.  Albright.  State  whether,  from  your  knowledge  of  the  country 
and  of  the  Army,  there  can  safely  be  at  this  time  a  reduction  of  the 
Army  f 

General  McDowell.  I  should  think  that  any  material  reductioD 
would  not  be  wise.  I  mean  any  important  reduction.  1  do  not  say  that 
you  might  not  take  off  a  few  men  or  officers  here  and  there.  I  snpfMse 
you  might  take  all  the  troops  from  the  South,  but  I  don't  know  what 
the  result  would  be. 

Mr.  Albright.  That  is  the  question  which  I  submit  to  your  judg- 
ment— whether,  in  your  opinion,  it  would  be  safe  and  judicious  to  reduce 
the  Army  t 

General  McDowell.  I  can  speak  more  for  my  own  command,  of 
course,  than  I  can  for  others.  1  think  that  the  small  force  in  the  divis- 
ion (little  over  three  thousand  men)  is  a  very  small  force  to  be  kept  in 
all  tne  Southern  States  for  the  objects  and  purposes  which  I  mentioned. 

Mr.  Young.  Do  you  not  think  we  might  dispose  of  the  Department 
of  Military  Justice  f 

General  McDowell.  That  would  be  a  small  economy.  We  got  along 
before  the  war  without  a  Department  of  Military  Justice,  and  I  suppose 
we  could  get  along  withoutit  again.  It  has  been  of  value,  undoubtedly, 
in  some  respects. 

Mr.  Young.  Do  you  think  it  would  be  wise  for  the  Government  to 
sell  the  buildings  on  that  ground  at  Atlanta  and  remove  the  troops  to 
Augusta  T 


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REDUCTION    OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT.  259 

General  McDowell.  Yes ;  the  Government  has  to  do  one  of  two 
things,  either  to  bay  and  pay  a  large  price  for  that  land  at  Atlanta,  or 
sell  the  buildings  before  the  lease  expires. 
Mr.  Young.  You  would  recommend  that  the  buildings  be  sold  ? 
General  McDowell.  I  certainly  would.    The  owner  of  that  ground 
might  ask  two  or  three  hundred  thousand  dollars,  and  the  Government 
will  not  give  that  price.    1  think  it  was  a  great  mistake  not  to  have 
purchased  the  laud  at  first. 
Mr.  Young.  How  many  troops  have  you  there  T 
General  McDowell.  There  is  quite  a  large  battalion  there — eightcom- 
panies.    I  keep  them  as  a  reserve,  from  which  I  can  draw  to  send  wherever 
required.    They  can  be  kept  at  less  cost  there  than  elsewhere  in  the 
State.    Atlanta  occupies  a  strategical  point,  from  which  troops  can  be 
sent  to  any  part  of  the  South. 

Mr.  Young.  Atlanta  would  be  one  of  the  best  points  in  the  South  to 
keep  troops  att 

General  McDowell.  Entirely  so.  I  am  only  sorry  that  the  Govern- 
ment does  not  own  the  land  there.  If  the  Secretary  of  War  should  pur- 
chase the  land,  I  would  be  entirely  satisfied ;  but  I  see  the  entire  hope- 
lessness of  asking  an  appropriation  for  that  purpose. 
Mr.  Young.  You  do  not  think  that  the  houses  there  can  be  removed  ! 
General  McDowell.  Of  course  they  can,  if  we  take  time  enough  be- 
forehand. A  year  before  the  lease  expires  the  Government  should  sell 
these  houses,  to  be  moved  off  the  land,  or  else  buy  the  land.  One  of 
these  courses  should  be  taken.  We  pay  $2,500  a  year  now,  soon  to  be 
$5,100,  for  the  lease  of  the  land.  The  buildings  have  not  been  painted. 
I  have  had  to  shingle  them.  They  are  in  a  wretched  state.  It  is  the 
same  way,  however,  all  over  the  Military  Department  of  the  South. 

Mr.  Young.  Do  you  think^that  there  is  any  necessity  to  retain  troops 
in  the  Soath  on  account  of  a  disloyal  spirit  to  the  Government t 

General  McDowell.  No,  I  do  not  think  so.  I  think  the  people  of 
the  Sooth  are  as  little  desirous  of  anything  like  opposition  to  the  Gov- 
ernment of  the  United  States  as  the  people  of  Massachusetts.  I  think 
I  wonld  look  for  secession  now  as  soon  in  Massachusetts  as  in  any  part 
of  the  South. 

Mr.  Young.  You  would  advise  the  retaining  of  the  Augusta  arsenal 
by  all  means  t 

General  McDowell.  I  would  advise  retaining  it,  and  turning  it  over 
to  the  Quarter  master's  Department  as  a  station  for  troops,  for  I  would 
advise  the  keeping  of  the  troops  in  the  South  for  a  while  longer  at  least. 
The  Chaibman.  State  whether  or  not,  in  your  opinion,  our  present 
fortifications  of  masonry,  which  are  uncompleted,  should  be  completed, 
and  whether  large  amounts  should  be  expended  in  making  extensive 
and  expensive  fortifications  of  masonry,  or  whether  we  can,  in  view  of 
the  fact  that  we  can  rapidly  concentrate  large  bodies  of  men  on  impor- 
tant points  on  the  coast,  and  rely  on  earth-works  and  heavy  guns,  dis- 
pense with  these  elaborate  fortifications. 

General  McDowell.  I  do  not  think  that  any  nation  will  ever  be 
ignorant  or  rash  enough  to  send  an  array  to  invade  the  United  States. 
1  do  not  think  there  is  any  need  to  make  provision  by  fortifications  for 
any  such  contingency,  so  long  as  we  remain  true  to  ourselves  and  united 
as  a  nation.  Undoubtedly,  when  our  system  of  fortifications  was 
planned,  diiierent  views  were  reasonable  and  necessary,  and  different 
measures  had  to  be  provided  for  then  than  would  be  necessary  now. 
The  improvements  in  artillery  have  also  sensibly  changed  the  whole 
system  of  fortification.    Fort  Sumter  was  built  when  there  was  no  gun 


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260  REDUCTION    OF    THE    MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT. 

which  could  reach  it  from  the  mainland.  It  was  not  considered  possible 
to  make  a  breach  in  Fort  Pulaski  at  the  distance  from  which  one  was 
actually  made  in  the  course  of  the  last  war.  It  was  expected  that  troops 
might  be  lauded  and  be  able  to  establish  themselves  for  such  a  length  of 
time  as  to  enable  them  to  reduce  the  work  by  regular  approaches  from 
the  laud  side,  and  provision  had  to  be  made  for  that. 

All  these  considerations  and  others,  which  do  not  at  this  moment 
occur  to  me,  have  caused  a  very  radical  change  to  be  made  in  the  whole 
character  of  our  sea  coast  fortifications,  and  I  believe  that  such  a  change 
is  fully  recognized,  fully  appreciated,  and  will  be  fully  met  by  the  offi- 
cers of  the  Engineer  Corps.  I  think  that,  most  likely,  the  principle  that 
masonry  should  be  protected  from  the  fire  of  artillery  at  a  distance,  will 
come  to  be  applied  to  sea-coast  fortification,  as  it  has  been  to  those  in- 
tended to  resist  the  approaches  of  troops  and  artillery  by  land.  This 
will,  of  course,  to  a  large  extent,  answer  your  question,  because  the 
fortifications  of  masonry  which  may  hereafter  be  built  will  most  likely 
be  protected  by  glacis  of  earth  or  sand  thrown  up  in  front  of  them. 
Another  reason  for  a  change  will  be  in  the  long  range  of  artillery,  which 
renders  it  unnecessary  to  occupy  only  a  very  restricted  site  to  command 
the  narrowest  part  of  the  channel. 

The  Chairman.  In  view  of  this  condition  of  affairs,  what  works  of 
defense  do  you  think  it  advisable  for  us  to  construct! 

General  McDowell.  I  think  that  wherever  we  have  a  harbor  which 
an  enemy  would  be  apt  to  m<)ke.  use  of,  either  for  the  purpose  of  de- 
stroying our  commerce  or  of  breaking  up  a  naval  establishment,  it 
would  be  desirable  that  some  permanent  works,  of  such  a  kind  as  the 
conditions  which  1  before  mentioned  have  made  necessary,  should  be 
erected,  for  the  reason  that  these  works  free  our  force  afloat  to  be  used 
against  the  enemy  oflfensively,  and  that  earth-works  and  heavy  guns  are 
a  cheaper  defense  than  anything  which  can  be  put  afloat,  and  cost  less 
to  keep  them  up  after  they  are  once  made. 

The  Chairman.  In  view  of  the  fact,  then,  that  an  enemy  can  float 
large  guns  and  attack  our  great  sea-coast  cities  and  naval  and  commer- 
cial depots,  would  you  or  not  construct  expensive  fortifications  at  points 
of  this  kind  ! 

General  McDo^VELL.  1  would ;  and  I  think  that  such  is,  and  has  been, 
the  policy  of  the  Engineer  Department. 

The  Chairman.  What  would  you  say  as  to  Fort  Foote,  on  the  Poto- 
mac T 

General  McDowell.  I  do  not  see  the  great  value  of  Fort  Foote,  ex- 
cept that  it  and  Fort  Washington  seem  to  have  reference  to  the  defense 
of  the  capital  of  the  country.  That  fact  may  have  a  bearing  which  it 
would  be  well  to  take  into  account;  also  the  fact  that  there  is  a  naval 
establishment  here. 

The  Chairman.  What  would  you  say  about  Fort  Moultrie  f 

General  McDowell.  There  is  nothing  there  now. 

The  Chairman.  What  about  Fort  Sumter  I 

General  McDowell.  It  and  a  work  at  Moultrie  would  protect  Charles- 
ton, and  Charleston  is  an  important  commercial  point. 

The  Chairman.  What  about  Fort  Jackson,  on  the  Mississippi  f 

General  McDowell.  I  think  there  should  be  some  fortification  at 
the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi.  A  large  part  of  our  export  commerce 
goes  out  there. 

The  Chairman.  What  about  Portsmouth  Harbor,  New  Hampshire! 

General  McDowell.  There  is  a  large  naval  establishment  to  be  pro- 
tected at  that  place. 


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REDUCTION    OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT.  261 

The  Chairman.  What  about  San  Die^o,  Cal. ! 

General  McDowell.  San  Diego  is  of  no  sort  of  consequence  note. 
Whether  it  may  be  hereafter  I  cannot  say.  It  is  a  most  beautiful  har- 
bor, with  a  very  small,  poor  back  country.  If  a  railroad'  should  come 
to  it,  and  if  the  place  should  grow  to  be  of  importance,  I  should  say 
that  it  would  be  well  to  have  a  fortification  at  San  Diego. 

The  Chairman.  What  can  you  tell  us  about  the  new  system  of  tor- 
pedoes T 

General  McDowell.  I  take  a  greal  deal  of  interest  in  it,  though  it 
was  never  under  my  command  or  control.  I  think  that  our  officers  in 
charge  of  the  subject  at  Willet's  Point  are  fully  up  to  the  advanced 
state  of  knowledge  on  that  subject. 

The  Chairman.  Are  tlie  improvements  in  torpedoes  of  such  a  char- 
acter as  that  they  are  likely  to  afford  an  important  branch  of  liarbor- 
defense  f 

General  McDowell.  A  very  important  branch. 

The  Chairman.  Have  3'ou  had  the  Department  of  the  Lakes  under 
your  command! 

General  McDowell.  No;  but  my  Department  (the  Department  of  the 
East)  extended  from  Buffalo  around  by  Lake  Ontario  and  Lake  Cham- 
plain. 

The  Chairman.  What  has  been  the  military  necessity  and  importance 
of  having  troops  stationed  along  that  border  ! 

General  McDowell.  It  has  been  made  necessary  by  reasop  of  our 
relations  with  England,  and  by  the  disturbed  condition  of  Ireland,  which 
affected  people  of  Irish  descent  in  this  country,  who  tried  to  involve  us 
in  difficulties  with  England  by  making  inroads  into  Canada.  When  I 
had  command  of  the  Department  of  the  East  we  had  great  need  of  these 
posts  on  that  northern  frontier.  They  are  necessary  with  regard  to 
keeping  our  good  faith  with  Great  Britain  on  that  frontier.  England 
keeps  no  force  whatever  in  Canada ;  no  imperial  troops,  not  even  at 
Quebec.  There  are,  I  believe,  some  Canadian  troops.  There  are  no 
British  troops  in  North  America  except  at  Halifax,  which  the  English 
are  fortifying  and  making  very  strong  as  an  imperial  naval  station  for 
the  North  Atlantic  cx>ast. 

The  Chairman.  Please  to  give  the  committee  your  opinion  on  the  es- 
tablishment of  a  military  prison  and  military  punishment. 

General  McDowell.  There  is  a  law  now  providing  for  one  military 
prison  at  Bock  Island,  III.  I  have  the  impression  that  that  measure 
was  the  result  of  some  steps  which  I  took  when  commanding  the  De- 
partment of  the  East,  for  the  improvement  of  the  discipline  and  treat- 
ment of  soldiers  under  sentence  of  court-martial.  I  had  been  to  Canada 
and  had  seen  the  military-prison  system  of  the  English.  I  found  it  sev- 
eral centuries  in  advance  of  our  own.  I  was  so  much  struck  by  it  that 
I  asked  the  Secretary  of  War  to  send  a  party  of  officers  on  there  to  look 
at  it,  so  that  persons  of  different  temperament  and  disposition  might 
give  their  opinions  concerning  its  value  and  the  possibility  of  adopting 
some  of  its  features  for  our  own  country.  That  was  done,  and  the  report 
was  sent  by  the  Secretary'  of  War  to  Congress,  and  I  think  the  result  of 
that  is  the  military  prison  at  Rock  Island.  As  I  take  a  great  interest 
in  that  question,  I  wish  to  state  to  the  committee  that  a  military-prison 
system,  such  as  is  provided  for  in  that  bill,  would  simply  be  a  useless 
expense  to  the  Government,  and  is  what  I  should  regret  excessively  to 
see  carried  out. 

The  Chairman.  Please  to  state  your  reasons. 

General  McDowell.  Men  who  are  convicted  by  military  courts  for 


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262  REDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT. 

offenses  which  are  crimes  at  common  law,  such  as  theft,  robbery,  vio- 
lence to  the  person,  arson,  or  whatever  other  ofiense  woald  be  desig- 
nated as  a  felony,  should  be  sent  to  the  nearest  State  penitentiary,  after 
having  been  dishonorably  discharged  from  the  Army,  and  should  take 
the  same  course  as  convicts  sent  by  civil  courts.  There  should  be  no 
difference  in  their  status.  But  men  convicted  of  conduct  to  the  preju- 
dice of  good  order  and  military  discipline — mere  infractions  of  military 
rules,  or  offenses  purely  military — should  never  be  sent  to  a  penitentiary. 
What  I  want  to  see  established  in  our  service  is  not  a  penitentiary,  but 
a  system  which  will  apply  to  the  whole  service  at  all  its  posts.  One 
central  prison  at  Rock  Island  answers  no  such  purpose.  To  have  to 
send  men  from  Texas,  from  Arizona,  from  the  Indian  country,  as  con- 
victs, with  an  escort  of  a  non-commissioned  officer  and  a  few  privates, 
would  involve  a  great  expense.  At  one  time  we  had  something  analo- 
gous to  that  in  ^ew  York  Harbor.  Men  were  sent  from  all  the  iK)Sts 
in  New  York  for  punishment.  I  took  occasion  to  have  a  list  made  oat 
of  the  persons  who  had  to  be  tried  by  court-martial  for  offenses  grow- 
ing out  of  that  system — for  neglect  on  the  part  of  the  sergeants^  or  for 
drunkenness  and  other  offenses  on  the  part  of  the  men — growing  out 
of  the  fact  of  small  detachments  being  separated  from  their  officers  and 
sent  long  distances  without  supervision,  and  it  made  a  very  large  list 
of  such  offenses.  What  I  would  like  to  see  done  would  be  to  have  some 
provision  made  by  which  men  under  sentence  of  court-martial  for  purely 
military  offenses  should  be  punished  severely,  bat  not  in  a  way  to  de- 
grade them,  but  punished  in  such  a  way  that  they  might  be  reformed 
and  returned  to  the  ranks  rather  than  be  degraded  and  sent  out  of  the 
Army, 

The  Chairman.  How  can  prisons  be  provided  at  the  different  posts 
of  the  Army  without  great  expense  ! 

General  MoDow^ell.  The  military  prison  at  Halifax  consists  of  in- 
expensive frame  buildings,  which  have  been  standing  for  more  than 
half  a  century.  It  is  simply  the  system  which  they  adopt,  not  the  build- 
ing, that  is  desirable.  Of  course  it  would  be  better  to  have  a  building. 
But  for  the  punishment  of  soldiers  for  a  few  months  it  will  not  pay  to 
send  them  a  distance  of  several  hundred  or  thousand  miles  to  a  central 
prison,  to  be  sent  back  the  same  distance  when  their  period  of  impris- 
onment ends. 

The  Chairman.  If  we  have  some  400  or  500  prisoners  having  an  av- 
erage term  of  imprisonment  of  four  years,  would  it  not  pay  f 

General  McDowell.  I  do  not  think  we  should  have  soldiers  sen- 
tenced to  imprisonment  for  an  average  term  of  four  years.  I  think  the 
punishment  we  give  soldiers  is  frequently  cruel  in  the  extreme. 
.  The  Chairman.  Would  it  not  be  better,  in  a  moral  point  of  view,  to 
have  soldiers  confined  in  a  separate  or  military  prison  than  in  Stite 
penitentiaries ! 

General  McDowell.  In  the  first  place  there  is  a  law  of  Congress  pro- 
hibiting soldiers  from  being  put  in  a  penitentiary  for  a  military  offense. 

The  Chairman.  But  are  they  not  sent  to  the  ordinary  State  prisons! 

General  McDowell.  They  have  been  sent  there  illegally.  I  took  ont 
all  that  I  found  in  the  Baton  Rouge  penitentiary,  because  the  law  of 
Congress  says  that  no  soldier  shall  be  confined  in  a  State  penitentiary 
for  a  purely  military  offense. 

The  Chairman.  Are  there  not  a  large  number  of  soldiers  in  State 
prisons  in  the  North  ! 

General  McDowell.  Yes ;  but  if  they  are  there  for  a  purely  military 
offense,  they  are  there  against  the  law ;  and  any  person  who  will  take 


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REDUCTION    OP   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT.  263 

the  trouble  to  have  a  habeas  corpus  served  can  have  them  discharged 
from  these  State  priaoDS. 
The  Chairman.  Where  would  they  be  put  I 

General  McDowell.  At  the  guard-bouses  at  the  different  posts ;  I 
bave  a  military  prison  at  Fort  Macon,  N.  C,  one  of  those  sea-coast 
forts. 
The  Chairman.  What  are  the  prisoners  engaged  at  f 
General  McDowell.  Nothing  but  the  ordinary  fatigue-work  of  the 
post 

The  Chairman.  Would  it  not  be  better  to  have  a  prison,  where  they 
can  be  made  useful  and  have  work  to  perform  regularly  ? 

General  McDowell.  If  the  system  I  advocate  were  established 
throughout  the  Army  it  would  not  be  necessary  to  transport  military 
prisoners  all  over  the  country ;  and  they  would  all  be  kept  occupied,  as 
you  may  see  from  the  report,  sent  in  by  the  Secretary  of  War,  of  the 
board  of  ofiicers  sent  to  Canada. 

The  Chairman.  In  view  of  the  fact  that  the  stations  of  the  Army 
are  changing,  and  that  Bock  Island  and  Fort  Leavenworth  are  in  the 
department  where  the  largest  number  of  troops  are  stationed,  and  are 
likely  to  be  stationed,  would  it  not  be  better  to  have  a  considerable  mil- 
itary prison  provided  there  f 

General  McDowell.  No  ;  because  that  would  require  military  prison- 
ers to  be  sent  from  Texas  or  other  distant  points,  with  escorts,  and  in- 
volve very  great  expense. 

The  Chairman.  Would  it  not  be  more  expensive  to  have  a  prison 
established  at  every  post  ? 

General  McDowell.  No;  because  at  every  post  there  is  a  guard- 
house now;  and  military  prisons,  of  an  inexpensive  character,  could  be 
established  at  most  of  the  principal  posts. 

The  Chairman.  Are  not  prisoners  confined  there  without  working  ? 
Can  you  bave  any  proper  system  of  imprisonment  at  posts,  especially 
small  onea  Y 

General  McDowell.  Yes ;  you  can  have  such  a  system  as  the  Eng- 
lish have,  and  with  them  every  guard-house  is  a  military  prison.  The 
system  does  not,  of  course,  work  as  well  at  a  small  post  as  at  a  large  one, 
and  it  might  be  well  to  send  the  prisoners  from  such  posts  to  the 
nearest  large  one. 

The  Chairman.  If  a  soldier  is  sentenced  to  two  or  three  years'  im- 
prisonment, would  it  not  be  much  cheaper  even  to  transport  him  a  few 
hundred  miles  and  place  him  in  a  large  prison  than  keep  him  under 
guard  at  a  postt 

General  McDowell.  The  only  question  is  to  have  such  a  system  as 
that  men  can  be  properly  punished  and  avoid  at  the  same  time  the  dis- 
grace which  attaches  to  the  present  system,  as  well  as  to  the  one  estab- 
lished by  Congress,  and  I  want  a  system  which  can  apply  to  the  whole 
service,  and  to  men  sentenced  for  a  few  months  as  well  as  to  those  for 
several  years;  where  soldiers  shall  be  punished  as  soldiers,  not  as 
convicts. 

The  Chaxkman.  State  whether  or  not,  if  the  Army  is  to  be  reduced, 
it  should  be  reduced  by  organizations,  or  in  the  number  of  men ;  and 
whether  the  staff  shall  be  reduced  to  compare  with  the  reduction  in  the 
line. 

General  McDoWell.  The  staff  now  is  asserted  to  be  larger  than  the 
needs  of  the  present  establishment  call  for,  and  there  is  provision  in  the 
present  laws  for  the  gradual  shrinking  of  the  staff.  Congress  has  shrunk 
the  Pay  Department  below  the  needs  of  the  service  and  is  now  asked  to 


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264  REDUCTION   OF   THE    MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT. 

increase  it ;  and  I  would  suggest  that,  if  the  point  be  made  good,  that 
more  paymasters  are  needed,  instead  of  any  officers  being  added  to  the 
Army  because  of  such  an  increase  to  the  Pay  Department,  the  pay- 
masters be  taken  from  the  majors  in  the  Commissary  and  Quartermas- 
ter's Departments,  relieving  the  numbers  in  those  Departmenta  to  that 
extent.  1  understand  that  there  are  forty- four  paymasters,  and  Congress 
is  asked  to  allow  fifty.  As  to  the  general  question  of  reduction  of  the  Army, 
i  would  first  try  to  keep  the  frame- work  of  organizations  intact  as  long 
as  I  could.  When  they  get  below  any  reasonable  point  I  would  abandon 
a  company  or  two  companies  in  each  regiment  rather  than  break  up  the 
organization  itself,  because  in  the  future  we  may  want  to  increase  it, 
and  it  can  be  better  increased  by  adding  more  men  to  a  company  and 
then  one  or  a  couple  of  companies  to  the  regiment,  than  by  making  a 
new  regiment.  There  is  one  body  of  soldiers  that  I  think  might  be  dis- 
pensed with;  that  is  the  body  that  you  allow  to  the  ordnance.  I  do  not 
see  that  they  do  perform  any  particular  military  service  that  is  essential. 

The  Chairman.  What  would  vou  sav  a?  to  a  reduction  of  the  engineer 
battalion  at  Willet's  Point  f 

General  McDowell.  I  think  well  of  the  engineer  battalion. 

The  CHAIB3IAN.  Do  you  think  it  can  be  diminished  advantageously! 

General  McDowell.  I  do  not  know  that  it  can.  I  would  not  like  to 
see  that  battalion  dispensed  with.  It  is  a  small  nucleus,  and  I  think  it 
desirable  to  have  it  as  a  part  of  our  permanent  military  organization. 
Whether  it  might  not  be  reduced  I  am  not  prepared  to  say.  I  should 
keep  up  at  least  three  companies  of  it,  one  at  West  Point  and  two  at 
Willet's  Point;  and  these  companies  might  number  less  than  they  do 
now. 

The  Chairman.  Do  you  think  the  number  of  men  engaged  in  the 
recruiting  service  can  be  reduced! 

General  McDowell.  I  think  the  permanent  party  is  unnecessarily 
large.  There  is  a  battalion  of  men  on  Governor's  Island,  for  no  purpose 
that  1  regard  as  necessary  to  the  recruiting  service  at  all.  It  is  kept  as 
a  garrison  for  permanent  work,  which  garrison  should  be  supplied  by 
the  artillery.  There  are  nearly  two  hundi'ed  picked  men  kept  there  and 
charged  to  the  recruiting  service,  and  used  simply  as  soldiers. 

The  Chairman.  Can  they  be  entirely  dispensed  with  T 

General  McDowell.  Undoubtedly  they  can.  I  think  that  the  garri- 
son there  should  be  furnished  by  the  artillery.  You  may  not  diminish 
the  number  of  music-boys;  they  are  being  instructed;  but  these  large 
permanent  recruits,  constituting  a  large  body  of  some  two  hundred  men 
at  Governor's  Island,  and  more  at  the  other  depots,  unassigned  to  any 
regiment,  should  be  abolished  or  reduced  to  one-fourth  of  their  present 
number. 

The  Chair^ian.  What  would  you  say  as  to  the  general-service  men 
on  duty  in  the  War  Department? 

General  McDowell.  I  know  nothing  about  them. 

The  Chairman.  Can  the  force  of  detailed  men  in  the  Ordnance  De- 
partment be  reduced  ? 

General  McDowell.  I  do  not  really  see  what  the  four  hundred  and 
thirty  men  detailed  there  are  for.  If  they  are  used  as  workmen  and 
mechanics,  then  I  think  they  should  bo  discharged  from  the  Army  and 
employed  as  mechanics  or  others  from  civil  life,  and  their  cost  charged 
to  the  ordnance  appropriation,  and  not  to  the  Army.*  If  they  are  to  be 
used  as  guards,  then  1  have  to  say  that  I  do  not  think  they  are  neces- 
sary any  more  than  guards  would  be  at  private  establishments  for  small- 
arms,  or  for  the  United  States  Mint  or  the  Treasury.    I  have,  at  times, 


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REDUCTION    OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT.  265 

had  the  duty  of  guarding  the  raiut  and  sub-treasury  at  Ban  Francisco  ^ 
and  New  York,  and  I  have  drawn  troops  for  that  purpose.    I  know,  too, 
that  at  times  and  at  places  some  of  these  four  hundred  and  thirty  men 
have  been  employed  as  bands  of  musicians. 

Mr.  Young.  If  the  Army  is  to  be  reduced,  do  you  think  it  can  be  best 
reduced  by  suspending  the  recruiting  service  in  part  or  wholly! 

General  McDowell.  Yes,  it  will  shrink  fast  enough  then,  there  is  no 
doubt  about  that.  They  have  stopped  recruiting  now,  and  the  Army  will 
soon  be  down  to  25,000  men.  The  detachment  at  West  Point  is  needed, 
because  all  the  machinery  there  is  carried  on  by  these  men  and  carried 
on  very  cheaply ;  but  I  think  that  the  number  of  two  hundred  and  four- 
teen is  perhaps  more  than  is  necessary.  They  are,  I  understand,  making 
improvements  at  West  Point ;  for  instance  making  a  road  up  the  river  to 
Xewburgh ;  and  that  is  where  the  Army  is  charged  with  something  that 
does  not  belong  to  its  effective  force. 

The  Chairman.  What  would  you  say  as  to  a  reduction  in  the  Signal 
Service  I 

General  McDowell.  That  is  a  matter  of  great  interest  all  over  the 
country,  but  it  does  not  belong  to  the  Army,  and  the  Army  should  not 
have  charged  against  it  a  regiment  of  men  used  for  that  purpose.  It  is 
a  matter  of  such  general  and  universal  interest  that  it  might  very  fairly' 
be  credited  to  us  rather  than  debited  to  us. 

Mr.  Albright.  It  instructs  the  Signal  Service  as  well  as  takes  wea- 
ther reports  ? 

General  McDowell.  Yes;  but  that  is  a  small  part  of  its  duties. 
You  would  not  want  four  hundred  and  fifty  men  for  the  purpose  of 
teaching  Signal  Service. 

Mr.  Albright.  Can  any  other  department  of  the  Government  do  this 
work  better  or  cheaper  than  the  Army  f 

General  McDowell.  I  do  not  think  so. 

Mr.  Albright.  By  whatever  department  it  costs  the  least  to  the 
Government,  that  is  the  department  I  want  it  to  have  carried  on  by. 

General  McDowell.  I  am  perfectly  willing  that  it  should  be  carried 
on  by  the  Army,  but  what  I  say  is  that  it  should  not  be  charged  to  the 
Army,  as  part  of  its  effective  force. 

The  Chairman.  What  have  you  got  to  say  about  hospital  stewards! 

General  McDowell.  I  am  told  there  is  a  quantity  of  them  in  Wash- 
ington ;  I  do  not  understand  why.  We  need  one  for  each  military  sta- 
tion. 

Mr.  Albright.  Can  any  of  those  ordnance-sergeants  be  dispensed 
with! 

General  McDowell.  O,  no.  There  is  one  only  at  every  military 
post ;  and  the  position  is  the  future  and  hope  of  old  non-commissioned 
officers.  They  want  to  land  as  an  ordnance  sergeant,  and  end  the  rest 
of  their  days  in  that  position.  1  would  not  touch  any  of  those  men. 
Many  of  them  have  very  heavy  responsibilities. 

The  Chairman.  In  view  of  the  fact  that  the  reduction  of  the  Army 
last  year  by  the  various  casualties  of  the  service  was  about  16,000  men 
and  83  officers,  would  you  say  that  it  is  possible  and  practicable  to  re- 
duce the  number  of  organizations  and  to  assign  the  officers  of  the  regi- 
ments disbanded  to  duty  in  other  regiments,  and  thereby  lessen  the  ex- 
pense T 

General  McDoWell.  Of  course  that  can  be  done. 

The  Chairman.  Is  that  plan  available  and  practicable ! 

General  McDowell.  Certainly  it  is  practicable. 

The  Chairman.  How  would  you  assign  these  officers  to  duty  I 


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266  REDUCTION    OF   THE   MILITARY    ESTABLISHMENT. 

General  McDowell.  The  practice  would  be  to  diacontinae  a  certain 
regimcDt  and  transfer  tbe  officers  of  each  grade  a  la  mite^  as  they  do  iu 
the  French  service,  to  other  regiments — distribute  the  captains,  for  in- 
stance, among  other  regiments  to  take  the  place  of  officers  who  may  be 
on  any  permanent  detached  duty,  (for  example,  at  West  Point,)  until 
such  time  as  vacancies  occur  iu  any  regiments  of  that  arm  of  tbe  service, 
when  these  officers  should  take  those  vacancies. 

The  Chairman.  Would  that  system  work  barmouiouHly ;  and  has  it 
been  the  practice  in  great  military  governments T 

General  McDowell.  I  understand  that  it  has  been  the  practice  of 
other  governments,  when  regiments  have  been  disbanded,  and  it  is  not 
desired  to  cut  off  tbe  career  of  a  man  who  has  embarked  his  life  in  it,  to 
put  him  as  an  additional  officer  in  the  regiment  of  the  same  arm  accord- 
ing  to  his  rank,  and  then  the  junior  officers  of  that  particular  grade  in 
that  particular  arm  remain  as  additional  officers  until  some  vacancies 
happen  by  death,  resignation,  or  otherwise,  and  thus  by  the  principle  of 
absori>tion  these  additional  officers  are  finally  reduced  to  the  number  fixed 
for  the  organization. 

The  Chairman.  In  your  judgment,  if  the  Army  is  to  be  reduced,  it 
would  be  more  just  and  advisable  to  do  it  in  that  way  than  to  break  ap 
organizations  and  muster  out  officers  f 

General  McDowell.  I  would  have  an  infantry  regiment,  after  reduc- 
ing the  men  in  each  company  to  the  minimum,  to  consist  of  eight  com- 
panies, rather  than  of  ten ;  but  if  you  have  to  come  below  that,  I  would 
take  off  a  regiment. 

The  Chairman.  Would  it  be  practicable  and  possible  to  disi>ense  with 
the  extra  lieutenants  who  are  now  employed  as  adjutants  and  quarter- 
masters of  regiments  ? 

General  McDowell.  That  has  been  done  in  the  olden  time.  These 
officers  were  not  then  extra,  but  Were  officers  of  companies  detached 
from  their  companies  to  take  those  places. 

The  Chairman.  Do  you  think  there  are  enough  of  officers  iu  tbe  regi- 
ments to  go  back  to  that  system  ? 

General  McDoavell.  1  think  it  might  be  doue. 

The  Chairman.  Woulditbeof  such  ad  vantage  as  to  justify  the  change! 

General  McDowell.  If  you  wish  to  reduce  the  Army,  that  would  be 
a  form  of  reduction,  as  far  as  it  goes,which  would  be  as  little  disturbing 
to  the  military  organization  as  any  one  you  can  adopt. 

Mr.  Albright.  If  a  reduction  of  the  Army  shall  become  necessary, 
and  if  a  surplus  of  officers  is  to  be  caused  thereby,  would  it  not  be  well 
to  shut  up  West  Point  for  a  couple  of  years,  and  save  the  annual  expense 
of  two  or  three  hundred  thousand  dollars  for  that  institution  f 

General  McDowell.  After  you  shall  have  disposed  of  all  the  general 
officers,  and  the  Secretary  of  War,  and  abolished  the  military  establish- 
ment itself,  then  West  Point  should  still  be  kept  up  and  attached  to  the 
Department  of  the  Interior,  or  the  Department  of  State,  or  the  Depart- 
ment of  Justice !  I  might  be  willing  to  see  you  dispense  with  all  major- 
generals  and  brigadier-generals,  but  the  last  thing  to  be  given  up  is 
that  institution.    You  cannot  dispense  with  it. 

Mr.  Albright.  According  to  this  theory,  you  have  already  a  surplus 
of  officers  in  the  Army,  and  yet  you  turn  out  from  West  Point  two  hun- 
dred second  lieutenants  every  three  years. 

General  McDowell.  Take  the  average  of  West  Point  commissions, 
and  they  may  not  amount  to  one  hundred  a  year. 

Mr.  Albrioht.  But  they  will  amount  to  more  now,  since  the  repre- 
sentation in  Congress  is  increased. 


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REDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT.  267 

General  McDowell.  I  think  that  the  economy  from  shutting  up  West 
Point  would  not  be  much.  I  recollect  West  Point  when  the  Army  was 
not  more  than  six  thousand  men,  and  yet  we  never  got  to  the  point 
when  there  were  not  places  for  all  the  officers  who  graduated  there. 
The  supernumerary  officers  that  would  be  likely  to  remain  in  the  Army 
would  be  those  men  that  have  passed  the  larger  part  of  their  lives  in 
the  service.  The  vacancies  that  are  likely  to  happen  will  happen  mostly 
in  the  junior  grades,  by  the  retirement  of  young  men  who  will  seek  other 
careers  in  life.  Therefore,  you  will  have  supernumerary  captains  and 
supernumerary  majors,  while  you  will  have  vacancies  in  the  grades  ot 
first  and  second  lieutenants. 

The  Chairman.  Would  it  not  rather  be  the  true  economy  to  reduce 
the  Army  and  increase  the  capacity  of  our  military  school,  thus  furnish- 
ing the  country  with  educated  men  fit  to  take  command  of  troops  in 
time  of  war  T 

General  McDowell.  I  think  the  last  thing  to  be  given  up  is  the  Mil- 
itary Academy.  I  think  the  Army  is  now  small  for  what  it  is  expected 
to  do. 

The  Chairman.  Is  not  the  present  capacity  of  the  Academy  much 
greater  than  the  supply  of  students?  Could  not  a  hundred  more  students 
be  accommodated  at  the  same  general  expense? 

General  McDowell.  Yes;  and  commissions  might  then  be  given  to 
West  Point  graduates  as  a  reward  for  the  highest  merit  and  the  rest  re- 
tarn  to  civil  life.  That  was  once  contemplated.  The  idea  was  not  to 
give  commissions  to  every bo<ly  who  graduated  at  West  Point,  but  only 
to  the  most  distinguished.  Thus  West  Point  would  have  two  purposes — 
a  national  polytechnic,  and  a  military  school. 

Mr.  GUNCKEL.  If  you  did  not  fill  the  annual  vacancies  of  eighty-three 
officers  for  one  year,  would  not  that  check  this  superabundance  of  offi- 
cers that  would  result  from  the  mustering  out  of  men? 

General  McDowell.  Undoubtedly  it  would ;  but  I  presume  you  do 
not  want  to  stop  the  whole  machine,  and  therefore  I  do  not  see  myself 
how  you  can  well  keep  up  West  Point  by  stopping  it  for  a  couple  ot 
years.  It  is  difficult  for  me  to  conceive  how  you  can  stop  it  and  begin 
It  again,  without  too  much  violence  to  the  whole  establishment.  I 
would  very  much  prefer  to  let  it  go  on,  and  to  commission  only  a  portion 
of  the  higher  graduateiB,  if  such  a  course  should  become  necessary. 

Mr.  Albright.  But  you  see  that  the  expense  is  going  on  p.U  the 
time? 

General  McDowell.  Yes;  but  I  take  it  for  granted  you  do  not  in- 
tend to  save  money  at  the  expense  of  an  establishment  which  yon  keep 
up  under  the  idea  that  there  is  some  necessity  for  it.  You  can  save 
money  by  disbanding  the  whole  Army;  there  is  no  doubt  about  that. 
But  you  want  to  do  something  else  beside  save  money.  If  you  stop 
the  recruiting  service  until  you  get  your  thirty  thousand  men  reduced  to 
five  thousand,  you  will  save  money  at  once. 

Mr.  Albright.  The  only  question  then  is,  whether  you  would  endan- 
ger the  safety  of  the  country  by  that  process,  and,- by  and  by,  have  to 
expend  more  money  than  you  have  saved. 

General  McDowell.  That  is  exactly  what  we  think ;  but  we  are  not 
perhaps  good  judges,  because  we  are  regarded  as  parties  interested. 
Our  judgment  is  against  it,  but  an  element  comes  in  against  our  judg- 
ment because  the*  Army  is  our  profession,  our  future,  and,  therefore,  we 
are  interested  parties.  We  are  competent  judges,  but  we  are  not  disin- 
terested ones  in  every  respect. 

Mr.  Albright.  You  are  experts,  however  ? 


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268  REDUCTION    OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT. 

General  McDowell.  Yes ;  bat  we  are  experts  who  have  an  interest 
in  the  c^se. 

Mr.  Gunckel.  State  whether,  in  the  reduction  of  the  number  of  offi- 
cers, you  would  do  it  by  making  no  more  appointments,  or  simply  by 
making  no  more  promotions. 

General  McDowell.  I  would  make  no  more  promotions  till  the  sur- 
plus officers  in  each  grade  should  be  absorbed ;  but  I  would  make  ap- 
pointments at  the  foot  of  the  list,  if  vacancies  occur  in  that  grade. 

The  Chairman.  State  whether  you  have  looked  at  the  new  system 
of  Army  Kegulations  reported  to  Congress,  and,  if  so,  please  give  to  the 
committee  your  views  in  relation  to  them  as  fully  as  you  can. 

General  McDowell.  I  have  just  had  a  copy  of  these  regulations  put 
in  my  hands  for  the  first  time.  I  have  not  had  the  time  to  look  over 
them  carefully,  but  already  see  grave  reasons  for  not  adopting  them. 
The  Secretary  of  War,  in  submitting  them,  points  out  the  harm  that 
would  resylt  from  having  such  a  mass  of  details  fixed  by  law,  without 
power  anywhere  short  of  an  act  of  Congress,  to  make  the  changes  which 
experience  may  indicate.  Most  unquestionably,  much  of  what  is  laid 
down  in  these  regulations  is  beneath  the  dignity  of  congressional  action 
or  sanction,  and  should  be  left  to  the  Secretary  of  War  and  the  General 
of  the  Army.  Jt  certainly  could  never  have  been  intended  that  Con- 
gress should  descend  to  the  details  of  a  purely  technical  character  with 
which  these  regulations  are  filled.  The  Secretary  concludes  his  letter 
of  transmittal  with  an  earnest  recommendation  that  if  Congress  formally 
approves  of  these  regulations,  "  tliey  be  made  subject  to  amh  alterations  as 
the  President  may  from  time  to  time  adopts  This  goes  too  far  the  other 
way.  With  many  purely  technical  details,  these  regulations  also  em- 
brace the  fundamental  principles  on  which  the  entire  military  estab- 
lishment of  the  nation  rests.  Precisely  those  **  rules  and  regulations 
for  the  government  of  the  land  •  •  *•  forces,''  which  it  is  the  con- 
stitutional duty  of  Congress  to  establish,  and  which  it  is  the  interest  of 
all,  those  in  as  well  as  those  out  of  the  Army,  that  Congress  and  not 
the  Executive  should  establish.  The  more  so  as  they  should,  as  one  of 
their  main  features,  direct  and  limit  the  course  of  the  President  himself, 
in  the  exercise  of  his  authority  as  commander-in-chief  of  the  Army. 
And  they  should  be  for  the  Army  what  the  Constitution  is  for  the  coun- 
try, something  not  lightly  nor  easily  changed. 

It  is  said  these  regulations  are  "  merely  in  aid  or  complement  to  the 
statutes  and  define  and  prescribe  the  details  for  carrying  ou  the 
routine  work  of  the  Army."  But  on  a  mere  casual  examination  I  find 
radical  changes  made  in  existing  laws.  ^'  The  rules  and  articles  for  the 
government  of  the  Armies  of  the  United  States^^  established  by  act  of 
Congress,  are  revised,  and  many  of  those  now  in  force  are  abolished 
and  many  new  ones  created.  (See  pp.  204  to  213.)  Twenty  of  the  new 
articles,  or  of  additions  and  changes  made  to  the  old  ones,  contain  pro- 
visions not  sanctioned  by  existing  laws.  In  fact,  it  amounts  to  a  revis- 
ion of  the  entire  military  criminal  code,  sometimes  judicious,  but  in 
some  instances  crude  and  severe.  See,  for  an  example,  new  article  51, 
p.  209,  which  provides  that  "  any  person  in  the  land  forces  who  shall 
steal,  embezzle,  •  •  •  shall  be  punished  by  imprisonment  for  a 
term  of  not  less  than  one  nor  more  than  ten  years,  or,  by  fine  of  not 
more  than  the  amount  embezzled  nor  less  than  one  thousand  dollars,  or 
both."  •••••••• 

A  soldier  may  steal  a  can  of  tomatoes  or  a  few  pounds  of  sugar  from 
the  commissary,  yet  he  must  be  imprisoned  at  least  one  year,  when  two 
months  would  be  an  adequate  punishment.    And  in  the  matter  of  fine 


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REDUCTION   OP   THE   MILITARY    ESTABLISHMENT.  269 

it  does  not  seem  to  have  been  snpposed  possible  to  embezzle  less  than 
one  thousand  dollars.  Yet,  I  have  recently  had  two  cases,  each  of  less 
than  that  sum. 

New  article  42,  pp.208  and  209,  fixes  the  minimum  amount  of  punish- 
ment for  desertion  at  four  times  that  given  in  the  British,  German,  or 
French  armies,  and  makes  it  obligatory  on  the  court  to  dishonorably 
discharge  the  man  from  the  Army.  This  is  both  harsh  and  unwise.  I 
have  had  repeated  instances  of  men  sentenced  to  be  dishonorably  dis- 
charged, whom  1  have  retained  by  remitting  this  portion  of  their  sen- 
tence, and  wh<»se  officers  have  subsequently  asked  to  have  them  restored 
to  duty,  because  of  their  good  conduct.  It  is  a  mistake,  both  as  regards 
the  offender  and  as  regards  society,  to  act  on  the  supposition  that  a 
man  convicted  of  simple  desertion  has  committed  the  unpardonable 
crime,  and  must  be  cut  off  from  the  military  service — never  to  return  to 
it.  This  code  ignores  utterly  any  such  thing  as  repentance  and  refor- 
mation. See,  in  this  connection,  new  article  40,  p.  209.  See  new  article 
14,  p.  206,  where  double  the  power  is  given  a  regimental  and  gamson 
court-martial  than  now  given  by  existing  laws.  By  new  article  27,  p. 
207,  power  is  given  commanders  to  inflict  punishment  on  soldiers  with- 
out any  trial,  which  is  not  sanctioned  by  any  existing  law. 

See  new  article  70,  p.  211,  which  is  a  modification  of  our  present  arti- 
cle No.  62,  and  is  intended,  no  doubt,  to  correct  the  ambiguity  of  that 
article,  which  has  caused  so  much  heartburning  and  so  many  dissen- 
sions in  the  Army.  It  will  be  seen  that  in  enumerating  the  kind  of 
officers  who  shall,  according  to  the  date  of  commission,  <*  command 
the  whole,"  the  ordnance  officers  are  excluded,  while  the  engineers  are 
not;  and  that  while  the  Commissary,  Quartermaster,  Medical,  and  Pay 
Department  officers  of  the  Eegular  Army  are  excluded,  those  of  that 
class  in  the  marines,  volunteers,  or  militia,  are  not  In  fact  they  have 
left  in  the  ambiguity  which  has  caused  the  trouble  heretofore,  and  only 
eliminated  the  staff'  officers  and  the  ordnance  officers  of  the  Begular 
Army  from  those  who  can  command.  This  article  admits  volunteer 
officers  of  whatever  description  to  command,  while,  on  page  11,  article 
4,  paragraph  4,  they  are  not  mentioned  among  those  who  can  do  so. 

I  do  not  pretend  to  judge  of  all  the  details,  or  of  the  general  features 
even,  of  these  regulations.  I  have  not  had  time  to  read  them  over, 
much  less  to  compare  them  carefully  with  themselves,  and  with*  those 
now  in  existence.  I  have  commented  on  the  portion  I  have  read,  at  haz- 
ard, but  it  is  evident  to  me  that  they  are  too  incomplete  and  inharmo- 
nious to  be  adopted  as  they  now  stand.  See  the  contnldiction  in  the 
last  paragraph  of  p.  11,  with  article  55,  p.  104.  By  the  first  it  is  pro- 
vided that  staff  officers  shall  not  command  troops,  &c.  By  the  lat- 
ter, under  the  head  staffs  it  is  said  the  general  staff  is  composed  of  the 
generals  of  the  Army  who  command  troops ;  and  this  inconsistency  is 
consistent  with  article  1,  which  says  the  Army  is  composed  of  the 
troops  and  the  staff,  and  that  the  troops  consist  of  organized  corps,  or 
bodies  of  combatants.  This,  of  course,  does  not  embrace  the  general 
officers. 

See  paragraph  10,  article  7,  where  power  is  given  the  President  in  a 
case  where  he  once  had  it  by  law,  and  where,  in  1866,  he  was,  by  law, 
deprived  of  it — the  right  to  assign  an  officer  to  command  his  senior. 
If  the  foregoing  answer  to  the  question  of  the  committee,  made  up 
hastily,  while  on  my  tour  of  inspection,  is  not  sufficiently  responsive,  I 
will  examine  further,  and  make  it  more  complete,  should  they  so  direct. 


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270  REDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT. 

Washington,  D.  C,  January  31, 1874. 

General  William  T.  Sherman  appeared  again  before  the  committee 
in  response  to  its  invitation. 

Mr.  Young.  Please  state  whether  the  frontier  in  Texas  has  advanced 
or  been  drawn  in  within  the  last  few  years. 

General  Sherman.  [Referring  to  map.[  I  was  not  as  familiar  with  the 
actual  condition  of  the  settlements  in  the  western  part  of  Texas  prior ,to 
our  civil  war  as  I  am  now;  About  three  years  ago  I  made  an  inspection 
of  the  frontier  from  San  Antonio  to  Forts  McKavett,  Concho,  Phantom 
Hill,  Belknap,  Richardson,  and  the  Red  River.  I  was  accompanied  by 
General  Marcy,  Inspector-General  of  the  Army.  He  had  been  on  that 
frontier  a  good  deal  in  the  ^ears  from  1848  to  1859  and  1860,  and  he  pointed 
ont  to  me  a  great  many  districts  of  country,  especially  between  Phantom 
Hill  and  Fort  Richardson,  which  had  formerly  been  settl3d,  and  I  could 
see  the  remains  of  houses  and  fences  which  had  been  abandoned,  and 
which  he  said  were  abandoned  in  consequence  of  the  repeated  incursions 
of  the  Indians  in  the  north  and  west.  I  should  judge  it  was  a  belt  of 
land  about  a  couple  of  hundred  miles  long  by  a  hundred  wide,  which  he 
stated  had  formerly  been  occupied  by  a  thrifty  population,  but  which  at 
the  time  of  my  passage  was  entirely  unpopulated.  From  the  map  before 
me  I  should  suppose  that  that  district  would  embrace  the  counties  called 
Brown,  Comanche,  Earth,  Eastland,  Young,  Throckmorton,  Jack, 
Archie,  and  Clay.  That  region  appeared  to  have  been  settled  in  a 
former  period  of  our  history,  but  at  the  time  of  my  passage  through  it  it 
was  abandoned  by  nearly  everybody  except  military  posts  and  military 
pickets. 

Mr.  MacDougall.  What  was  the  occasion  of  that  abandonment  ? 

General  Sherman.  The  incursions  of  Indians  usually  called  Coman- 
ches,  but  now  understood  to  embrace  also  the  Kiowas  and  Cbeyennes. 

Mr.  MacDougall.  Had  the  settlers  evidently  been  driven  off  by 
fear! 

General  Shee^ian.  Evidently.  Their  houses  had  been  burned  and 
their  fences  were  all  gone  to  ruins.  We  could  see  the  remains  of  what 
we  would  call  farms  or  plantations,  especially  in  the  neighborhood  of 
Fort  Belknap,  in  Young  County,  and  Fort  Richardson,  in  Jack  County. 
From  Fort  Belknap  tx)  Jacksborough  all  the  country  w^  abandoned  and 
I  could  see  where  the  houses  had  been  and  where  the  fences  still  were 
but  were  decaying  and  rotting. 

Mr.  Young.  Those  organized  counties  are  now  depopulated  f 

General  Sherman.  I  think  they  are.  They  are  organized  so  far  as 
having  some  sheriffs  or  civil  magistrates,  but  no  population.  There  is 
a  little  village  at  Jacksborough,  close  to  Fort  Richardson,  and  there  are  a 
few  farms  from  there  to  the  Red  River,  but  to  the  west  of  Jacksborough  I 
do  not  recollect  a  single  frtrm-house  that  was  occupied  by  a  family. 

Mr.  Young.  The  cause  of  all  that,  I  8upi>ose,  was  the  insufficient 
strength  of  the  Army  in  that  region  to  prevent  Indian  depredations. 

General  Shebman.  I  take  it  for  granted  that  during  the  civil  war  the 
thoughts  of  all  the  people  of  Texas  were  turned  in  another  direction,  and 
we  have  had  hardly  time  since  to  straighten  up  things.  Of  course  our 
garrisons,  although  seemingly  pretty  strong,  are,  for  the  extent  of  fron- 
tier, really  very  weak,  because  the  Indians  can  pass  between  the  inter- 
vals of  those  forts  with  absolute  certainty  of  escape.  Their  usual  route 
is  from  the  north  and  northwest,  behind  the  settlements,  and  then  they 
penetrate  between  two  of  our  forts,  steal  horses,  murder  men  and  fami- 
lies, gather  all  the  plunder  they  can,  and  then  retreat  rapidly,  not  by 
the  route  they  came,  but  by  some  other  unfrequented  way.    They  are 


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REDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT.  271 

very  faiuiliar  with  the  country,  and  they  find  it  easier  to  steal  horses 
and  cattle  from  their  Texas  friends  than  to  raise  them  for  themselves. 

Mr,  Young.  Is  there  anyplace  where  we  can  ascertain  the  amount  of 
depredatix)n8  committed  in  Texas? 

General  Sherman.  I  doubt  very  much  whether  there  has  ever  been  a 
compilation  of  the  murders  committed  and  of  the  property  carried  away 
by  the  Indians  in  the  last  seven  years,  because  the  authority  is  some- 
what divided.  *  It  is  not  strictly  the  business  of  the  military,  nor  does 
the  Indian  Bureau  exercise  jurisdiction  over  the  weetern  frontier  of 
Texas,  because  there  are  no  Indian  reservations  in  Texas  proper.  What 
the  civil  authorities  have  done  in  the  matter  of  collecting  testimony  and 
consolidating  it  in  a  tabulated  and  convenient  form  I  do  not  know.  We 
have  nothing  of  the  kind  in  the  War  Department  that  I  am  aware  of. 

Mr.  Young.  State  whether  the  depredations  of  Indians  generally 
have  been  increasing  or  decreasing  in  Texas  within  the  last  two  or 
three  years. 

General  Sherman.  Ever  since  I  have  heard  of  Texas  I  have  heard  of 
these  Indian  depredations;  and  ever  since  the  close  of  the  Mexican 
war,  in  1848,  down  to  the  present  moment,  a  very  large  fraction  of  the 
Array  of  the  United  States  has  been  kept  along  the  frontier  of  Texas. 
Whether  the  depredations  from  Indians  are  increasing  or  diminishing  I 
am  unable  to  state.  It  appears  to  be  a  chronic  condition  of  things. 
Sometimes  for  months  we  hear  very  little  about  them.  Then  again, 
suddenly,  Indians  penetrate  very  far  and  commit  some  very  vile  murders, 
as  was  done  only  two  or  three  weeks  ago.  On  this  occasion  some  Ghey- 
ennes  from  the  north  part  of  the  Indian  Territory  made  their  appear- 
ance on  the  Lower  Nueces,  certainly  eight  hundred  miles  from  their 
reservation,  murdered  a  good  many  people,  collected  together  a  pretty 
large  cavallada  of  horses,  and  were  on  the  point  of  escaping  with  them 
by  the  route  they  had  come,  when  Captain  Hudson,  with  a  detachment 
of  the  Fourth  Cavalry,  succeeded  in  surprising  them,  running  them 
down  and  scattering  them,  killing  about  twenty.  We  first  supposed 
them  to  be  Comanches,  from  the  neighborhood  of  the  Double  Mountain, 
in  Texas,  or  the  Upper  Brazos,  but  General  Sheridan  is  now  under 
the  impression,  from  their  dress  and  their  bows  and  arrows,  and  other 
Indian  tokens,  that  the  parties  to  that  affair  on  the  Lower  Nueces  were 
Cheyennes  from  the  upper  part  of  the  Indian  Territory,  or  rather  up  on 
the  border  of  Kansas. 

Mr.  Young.  What  is  the  extent  of  that  frontier  in  Texas? 

General  Sherman.  Starting  from  the  mouth  of  the  Rio  Grande  and 
following  the  line  of  the  western  posts  up  to  the  Red  River,  it  must  be 
abont  eight  hundred  miles.  Then  add  to  that  the  line  connecting  Fort 
Concho  with  El  Paso,  in  New  Mexico,  nearly  three  hundred  miles  more, 
and  it  will  make  over  one  thousand  miles  of  frontier  altogether. 

Mr.  Young.  How  many  military  posts  are  there  along  that  frontier? 

General  Shbrdian.  There  are  thirteen. 

Mr.  Young.  Do  you  think  there  are  troops  enough  there  now  to 
a  fiord  protection  to  that  frontier? 

General  Sherman.  Not  to  afibrd  thorough  protection ;  but  Texas  has 
a  larger  proportion  of  the  Regular  Army  than  any  like  frontier  in  the 
whole  United  States.  It  therefore  has  more  than  its  reasonable  share 
of  the  present  regular  establishment.  If  trouble  arises,  as  I  apprehend 
it  will  in  this  spring,  on  the  Upper  Platte  with  the  Sioux  (those  at.  the 
Red  Cloud  agency  more  especially)  we  will  have  to  draw  certainly  one 
regiment  of  cavalry  and  probably  a  regiment  of  infantry  away  from 
Texas. 


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272  REDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT. 

Mr.  Young.  I  am  told  that  wben  Indians  make  a  raid  into  tlie  settle 
raents  the  military  can  pursue  them  to  the  reservations  bnt  no  farther ; 
how  is  that? 

General  Sherman.  That  is  so.  We  have  no  right  to  invade  the 
Indian  Territory  without  the  consent  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior. 

Mr.  Young.  Then  the  Interior  Department  has  the  authority  entirely 
on  the  reservations  f 

General  Sherman.  It  has  absolute  authority  on  what  are  called  the 
Indian  reservations.  We  have  invaded  them,  bnt  it  has  been  without 
authority  of  law.  Something  like  the  invasion  of  Mexico.  I  gave  per- 
mission once  to  General  McKenzie  to  follow  Santauta  into  the  reserva- 
tion to  Fort  Sill,  but  I  had  no  right  to  do  it. 

Mr.  Young.  I  hear  that  you  were  attacked  down  there. 

General  Sherman.  As  soon  as  I  got  command  of  the  Army,  in  1869, 
it  became  my  duty,  of  course,  to  keep  an  eye  over  the  whole  area  of  our 
vast  Indian  country,  with  which  I  was  pretty  familiar  from  my  previous 
life.  Complaints  came  in  very  thickly  from  Texas  about  the  constant 
incursions  of  the  Indians  from  the  Fort  Sill  reservation.  The  usual 
ofQcial  course  was  to  refer  these  papers  to  the  Interior  Department. 
Sometimes  we  got  a  response  to  them,  and  sometimes  they  were  entirely 
ignored.  There  was  a  difference  of  opinion  even  among  our  best  ofliceis 
whether  these  incursions  were  made  by  Indians  from  the  Fort  Sill  reser- 
vation or  were  really  committed  by  Indians  who  were  outside  of  the 
reservations,  viz,  Kiowas  and  Comanches,  who  had  never  come  onto 
the  reservations,  and  had  never  fallen  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  In- 
terior Department.  At  last  I  made  up  my  mind  to  go  down  there  and 
see.  Some  of  the  Texas  people  h^d  represented,  and  seemingly  with 
truthfulness,  that  they  had  followed  their  stolen  horses  and  cattle  up  to 
the  Fort  Sill  reservation.  They  alleged  that  they  had  made  a  demand  for 
them,  but  were  refused  any  redress  by  the  agent.  I  doubted  it  because 
I  knew  the  agent  there,  Mr.  Tatum,  to  be  a  very  good  and  very  honest 
man.  So  I  went  down  to  San  Antonio  by  way  of  New  Orleans,  fitted 
out  a  very  small  party,  and  went  to  Fort  McKavett.  Thence  I  followed 
the  frontier  to  Concho,  Chadbourne,  Phantom  Hill,  Belknap,  and  Rich- 
ardson. We  found  little  pickets  of  four  or  six  men  strung  along  at 
every  twenty  or  thirty  miles,  for  the  purpose  of  guarding  the  stage-line 
which  came  from  Fort  Gibson  by  Richardson  and  Concho,  and  there  fol- 
lowed the  route  to  £1  Paso,  and  so  on  to  California.  From  the  sergeants 
and  lieutenants  commanding  the  pickets  I  heard  of  hostile  Indians.  I 
remember  that  at  Chabdourne  we  saw  wild  turkeys  feeding  quietly  within 
three  or  four  hundred  yards  of  the  station,  and  I  asked  the  sergeant  why 
he  did  not  kill  them.  He  said  they  were  not  allowed  to  waste  their 
ammunition  ;  that  the  Indians  were  pretty  bad,  and  if  they  used  their 
ammunition  for  hunting  they  would  be  reproved.  I  gave  him  a  little 
slip  of  paper,  authorizing  him  to  use  ammunition,  within  reasonable 
limits,  for  hunting,  but  not  to  reduce  the  supply  below  one  hundred 
rounds  for  each  man.  The  same  thing  occurred  at  Phantom  Hill,  where 
there  were  deer  and  birds  within  sight  of  the  post,  and  the  soldiers  who 
staid  there  did  not  like  to  go  out  after  them  because  the  hostile  Indians  were 
seen  in  the  neighborhood  almost  daily.  These  Indians  did  not  seem  to  in- 
terfere with  the  traveling  of  the  stage,  which  was  nothingbut  a  two-mule 
spring-wagon,  with  a  driver  and  sometimes  a  single  passenger  and  a 
little  mail-bag.  The  orders  to  the  soldiers  were  to  guard  the  stages,  but 
not  to  expose  themselves  needlessly.  Between  Fort  Belknap  and  Fort 
Richardson  there  was  an  old  abandoned  station,  near  a  spring,  where 
we  stopped  and  got  some  water,  and  drove  on  to  Richardson.    Within 


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REDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT.  273 

an  hoar  or  two  after  onr  passapfe,  a  train  of  ten  wagons  that  was 
goingfrom  below  Jacksboroagh  to  Fort  Griffin,  by  the  reverse  route,  was 
attacked  by  a  very  large  force  of  Indians  who  had  been  waylaying  the 
road,  and  who  saw  us  pass,  as  I  heard  afterward  from  themselves. 
About  4  o'clock  in  the  morning  of  the  next  day  I  was  near  Fort  Rich- 
ardson, camped  by  a  creek,  when  Colonel  McKenzie  came  to  me  and 
told  me  that  five  men  had  just  come  in  who  had  escaped  from  the  wagons, 
which  had  been  attacked  about  twelve  miles  out,  and  who  reported  that 
they  had  lost  their  train,  and  that  seven  of  the  twelve  men  who  were  with 
the  train  were  killed  ;  the  other  five  had  got  in  safely.  I  sent  for  the 
principal  man,  and  talked  with  him  a  long  time.  He  told  me  that  he 
had  been  a  soldier  with  me  in  the  Georgia  campaign,  and  he  brought 
in  the  other  four.  Their  story  was  as  plain  as  anything  I  ever 
heard  in  my  life.  They  described  how  they  were  traveling  toward 
Fort  Griffin,  their  wagons  loaded  with  corn,  and  when  they  were  near 
this  abandoned  spring  they  saw  Indians  defiling  from  the  woods  about 
three-quarters  of  a  mile  off,  and  as  they  gradually  approached  the  train 
they  closed  up,  and  finally  packed  the  train  in  the  form  of  a  circle  or 
rather  of  a  horse  shoe,  unhitched  their  animals,  and  gathered  them 
inside,  and  each  man  stood  by  his  wagon  with  a  carbine  in  his  hand. 
Then  the  Indians  swooped  around  them,  closing  in  their  circle,  until 
finally  they  opened  fire  upon  them.  Their  guns  were  indifferent,  mere 
carbines  of  different  patterns,  and  they  did  not  have  much  ammunition. 
The  wagon-master  seems  to  have  beeii  a  man  of  a  good  de^l  of  mark. 
He  kept  his  presence  of  mind,  and  gave  orders  till  he  was  killed.  Then 
there  wa» confusion,  and  the  Indians  made  three  or  four  dashes,  closed 
in  upon  the  train,  and  succeeded  in  killing  seven  of  the  men.  The  five 
others  concluded  to  abandon  the  train,  and  they  worked  their  way,  back 
to  back,  down  by  a  ravine,  to  a  little  point  of  timber  three-quarters  of  a 
mile  off*.  Aslong  as  the  men  kept  compactly  together,  with  guns  in  their 
hands,  the  Indians  let  them  take  their  way.  The  Indians  then  took 
possession  of  the  train,  and  when  last  seen  they  were  burning  it.  I 
ordered  General  Mackenzie  at  once  to  saddle  up  every  man  at  the  post, 
and  to  go  to  the  point  and  ascertain  the  truth  of  the  story ;  then  to 
take  the  trail  of  the  Indians,  and  follow  it  into  Fort  Sill  or  wherever  it 
ended.  I  then  started  myself  by  the  usual  traveled  road  north  by  east, 
crossing  Red  River,  and  got  to  Fort  Sill,  1  think,  in  about  tour  or  five 
days  after  this  affair.  There  I  waited  to  hear  of  Mackenzie,  and  I  think 
that  the  second  day  after  I  got  into  Fort  Sill  was  the  ration-day  for  the 
Kiowa  Indians.  The  agent,  Mr.  Tatura,  whose  agency  was  about  a  mile 
trom  the  post,  came  up  to  where  I  was  sitting  on  General  Grierson's  porch 
and  said  to  me  that  Satanta  and  about  twelve  or  thirteen  Kiowa  Indians, 
with  a  parcel  of  squaws  and  pack-animals,  had  come  in  for  their  monthly 
supply  of  rations,  and  that  Satanta  openly  and  without  hesitation  boasted 
to  have  been  at  the  affair  down  at  Fort  Richardson,  and  confessed  to  have 
led  the  war-party,  consisting  of  about  one  hundred  warriors.  Satanta 
said  that  '^if  any  other  Indian  claimed  the  honor  of  that  great  fight,  he 
was  a  liar,  for  he,  Satanta,  himself  had  done  it."  "  Well,"  said  I, 
"  Tatum,  what  do  you  propose  to  do  about  it  ?  you  are  the  Indian  agent." 
Said  he,  "I  give  it  up;  I  cannot  do  anything."  "  Well,"  said  I,  "are 
you  willing  to  turn  the  matter  over  to  me?"  ''General,"  said  he,  "  I 
wish  you  would  take  them  off  my  hands."  "  Very  well,"  said  I,  "  stand 
back ;  I  want  you  to  get  them  in  to  me  here  inside  the  post.  Tell  Sa- 
tanta that  I  want  to  see  him,  and  in  the  mean  time  ascertain  the  names 
of  all  the  parties  present  who  were  personally  with  him  on  that  occa- 
sion,  because  we  will  limit  our  action  to  them  without  involving  the 
18  Mir 


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274  REDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY    ESTABLISHMENT. 

whole  Kiowa  people."  In  the  course  of  half  an  hour,  in  rode  Satanta  on 
a  pony;  hitched  his  pony  on  the  opposite  side  to  a  rail,  and  came  on 
to  the  porch.  Old  Satank,  another  bad  Indian,  came  in  with  him  or 
very  soon  aft^r.  Satanta  leaned  up  against  the  post  of  the  porch,  and 
I  inquired  of  him,  through  an  interpreter,  "How  about  that  matter  down 
at  Fort  Richardson,  in  Texas  t "  "  Well,"  said  he,  "  I  told  the  agent  all 
about  it,  80  it  is  no  use  for  me  tq  repeat  it  again."  Said  I,  "I  understand 
you  were  down  there  with  a  few  of  your  warriors,  trying  to  keep  your 
hand  in."  He  said,  "Yes,  that  he  just  went  down  to  show  them  the 
road,  and  how  to  do  things."  Said  I,  "  Do  you  consider  it  a  great 
feat  of  war  for  one  hundred  armed  men  to  attack  twelve  poor  team- 
sters ?"  "  Well,"  said  he,  "it  was  not,  and  I  was  merely  trying  to  show 
the  young  men  how  to  do  things."  He  said  that  he  was  a  great  warrior 
and  chief  himself,  and  that  it  was  necessary  for  him  to  instruct  his 
young  men  how  to  fight.  "  Well"  said  I,  "I  suppose  you  stood  off  and 
blew  your  horn ;"  (he  ha<l  a  trumpet  by  his  side  which  he  used  to  blow, 
imitating  the  garrison -calls.)  He  said  yes,  that  he  stood  off  and  just  blew 
the  signals.  "  Why  did  you  burn  the  man  at  the  wheel  f"  said  I,  (a  fact 
which  had  been  reported  back  tome  by  a  note  from  General  Mackenzie, 
who  also  reported  that  he  had  ibund  the  teamsters'  story  substantially 
true,  wich  the  addition  that  he  had  found  the  wagoutrain  partially 
burned,  and  one  of  the  men  lashed  to  the  wheel,  burned  to  death  and 
charred.)  Satanta's  careless  manner  rather  excited  my  anger,  and  lioid 
him  to  take  a  seat  there ;  that  I  had  something  further  to  say  to  him. 
Said  he,  "If  you  don't  like  it,  1  will  go  away."  Up  to  that  time  there  was 
no  armed  soldier  near  us;  I  whispered  to  General  Griersoa  to  send 
quickly  to  the  quarters  and  get  some  men  from  the  barracks,  and  to 
conceal  them  behind  his  quarters;  he  said  that  he  had  got  an  orderly 
near  who  was  armed.  Satanta  said,  "  If  you  don't  like  what  I  have  done, 
I  will  go ;  I  am  not  going  to  stay  here."  I  said,  "  No,  do  not  go.  Sit 
down  here."  He  started  to  go  for  his  horse,  when  this  black  soldier, 
a  tall,  fine-looking  sergeant,  interposed  between  him  and  his  horse,  and 
presented  his  pistol  at  his  face.  Satanta  saw  that  we  were  in  earnest, 
turned  around,  gave  a  grunt,  and  took  his  seat  as  required.  In 
the  mean  time  Mr.  Tatum  had  sent  different  strikers  of  his  out 
to  bring  in  another  Indian  named  Big  Tree,  and  a  fourth  Indian,  who 
was  known  to  have  been  with  Satanta  on  this  identical  trip.  We  heard 
one  or  two  shots  down  about  the  sutler's  store,  in  an  opposite  direction 
from  the  agency,  and  presently  a  couple  of  soldiers  brought  Big  Tree  up, 
and  sat  him  down  near  the  others.  That  made  three  of  the  party.  In 
attempting  to  arrest  the  fourth  one,  the  soldiers  killed  him.  He  had 
started  to  run,  firing  his  arrow  first,  which  struck  the  leg  of  a  soldier, 
when  the  men  shot  him  off  his  horse  dead.  Then  there  was  a  general 
stampede  down  about  the  agency,  and  the  Indians,  men  and  aqnaws, 
ran  in  every  direction.  We  managed  to  keep  eight  or  nine  of  them,  of 
whom  only  four  had  been  actually  present  with  Satanta  in  his  Texas 
raid.  I  made  up  my  mind  that  I  would  pursue  the  Indian  peace  policy, 
and  send  them  to  Texas,  where  I  thought  they  could  be  tried  legally 
and  properly,  at  the  locality  where  they  had  committed  their  crime  of 
murder.  1  looked  upon  that  step  as  a  measure  of  peace ;  that  is,  as 
being  in  the  direction  of  enforcing  law  against  the  Indians  by  the  civil 
processes  of  a  court  and  jury.  A  parcel  of  Texas  citizens  had  come 
with  me  from  Jacksborough,  who  had  represented  to  me  the  state  of  facts 
on  the  frontier,  of  whom  one  was  a  lawyer.  1  invited  them  to  accom- 
pany me  for  the  purpose  of  identifying  stolen  stock,  which  I  promised 
should  be  restored  to  them  if  their  representations  proved  to  be  true. 


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REDUCTION    OF    THE    MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT.  275 

These  men  were  with  me  at  Fort  Sill,  but  I  do  not  think  they 
were  actually  present  at  the  time  of  the  arrest  of  Satanta  and  Big 
Tree  and  of  old  Satank.  We  had  an  angry  council  on  General  Grier- 
son's  porch,  at  Fort  Sill,  which  carae  near  resulting  in  a  hand-to-hand 
fight  But  at  last  these  three  Indians  were  put  in  double-irons  and 
put  in  the  guard-house,  and  I  am  sure  it  had  a  most  wholesome  effect. 
In  a  few  days  after,  General  Mackenzie  came  in,  having  followed  their 
trail  from  the  scene  of  murder  up  to  the  Kiowa  agency.  The  Indians 
were  then  turned  over  to  him,  and  were  carried  back  to  Jacksborough. 
On  the  way  back  old  Satank  tried  to  escape,  and  was  shot  dead,  making 
two  of  the  original  four  killed.  The  other  two  were  delivered  to  the 
civil  authorities  at  Jacksborough  for  trial.  The  rest  of  the  history  is  as 
well  knowii  to  the  committee  as  to  myself.  They  were  tried.  There 
was  no  doubt  about  their  being  guilty.  They  were  sentenced  to  be 
hung.  But  by  the  interposition  of  the  kind  friends  of  the  Indians,  and 
of  the  Indian  Bureau  here,  the  sentence  was  commuted  by  Governor 
Davis  to  imprisonment  for  life.  Of  course  the  governor  of  Texas  ought 
to  have  known  that  the  thing  would  not  stop  there.  This  same  inllu- 
ence  persevered,  till  finally  Satanta  and  Big  Tree  have  been  set  loose  in 
the  Kiowa  Nation,  and  those  who  have  faith  in  them  will,  I  think,  one  of 
these  days  have  reason  to  regret  it.  They  will  have  their  revenge,  and 
if  they  get  Governor  Davis's  scalp  only,  I  will  not  shed  many  tears.  I 
thought  at  the  time  that  the  case  was  an  excellent  one  to  illustrate  to 
these  Indians  how  civil  force  and  civil  government  could  be  brought  to 
bear  upon  them.  I  think  we  have  thus  lost  a  better  o[)portunity  than 
will  ever  occur  again,  I  am  sure  that  if  they  had  takeu  those  two  In- 
dians and  hanged  them  by  due  course  of  law,  the  Kiowas  would 
•  have  staid  at  home  in  future,  and  not  bothered  the  Texas  people  again. 
Now,  they  take  it  for  granted  that  their  influence  at  Washington  is  such 
that  they  may  commit  the  most  hellish  murders  and  yet  be  pardoned. 

Mr.  YouNa.  When  was  the  last  massacre  in  Texas  that  has  been  re- 
ported ? 

General  Sherman.  Within  the  last  month  some  twenty -four  white 
people  have  been  reported  killed  in  Texas  by  Indians,  as  far  down  as 
the  Lower  Nueces.  We  thought  those  Indians  were  the  Kiowas,  but 
they  are  now  reported  to  have  been  Cheyennes.  They  are  all  mixed  up. 
My  impression  was  that  the  last  murder  was  committed  by  Comanches 
and  Kiowas,  but  General  Sheridan  says  that  the  dress  and  bows  and 
arrows  left  with  the  dead  rather  evince  them  to  have  been  Cheyeunes. 
Every  Indian  has  on  his  arrow  a  tribal  mark.  The  Cheyenues  and 
Arapahoes  have  a  reservation  north  of  Fort  Sill,  within  what  is  known 
as  the  Indian  Territory,  but  when  they  are  marauding  from  that  quarter 
they  take  along  anybody  they  can  find  willing  to  go.  For  instance, 
three  or  four  young  men  start  out  for  a  raid,  and  they  pick  up  recruits 
from  other  tribes  as  they  go  along,  so  that  I  do  not  suppose  we  can  hold 
any  one  single  tribe  responsible  for  any  distinct  raid  into  Texa«.  But 
I  know  that  all  the  Indians  regard  Texas  as  a  very  good  place  to  get 
horses,  and  I  think  that  that  is  their  chief  object,  rather  than  to  kill. 
I  think  they  go  principally  to  steal  horses,  but,  of  course,  they  kill  as 
incidental  to  their  marauding. 

Mr.  Young.  Do  you  consider  it  safe  for  soldiers  to  leave  the  forts 
without  their  arms  at  Richardson  or  Belknap  f 

General  Sherman.  I  think  it  would  be  imprudent  for  any  soldier,  or 
for  even  five  or  six  soldiers,  to  leave  the  post  and  go  five  or  six  miles 
away  without  taking  their  arms  along.  At  the  time  I  was  down  at  Fort 
Belknap,  there  was  but  one  man,  a  citizen,  in  an  old  stone  house  there, 


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276  EEDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT. 

aud  he  would  not  venture  out  at  all.    Fort  Belknap  is  an  abandoned  post, 
or  simply  a  mail-station. 

Mr.  Young,  Are  you  aware  that  the  Indian  Commissioner  recom- 
mends issuing  more  arms  and  ammunition  to  the  Indians  in  his  printed 
report!    Do  you  think  that  that  would  result  in  harm  or  peace? 

General  Sherman.  There  are  certain  Indians,  such  as  the  Nez  Percys, 
Gros  Ventres,  Pawnees,  Tennis,  Moquis,  &c,,  to  whom  it  would  do 
no  harm  to  give  guns ;  but  to  give  guns  to  the  Oheyennes,  Arapahoes, 
Kiowas,  Oonuniclies,  or  Sioux,  would  be  worse  than  murder.  It 
would  be  giving  them  the  very  instruments  of  murder,  something  horri- 
ble to  contemplate.  To  give  a  Sioux  a  rifle  is  to  take  somebody  else's 
life.  1  would  infinitely  rather  arm  the  Plug-Uglies  of  Baltimore  or  the 
rowdies  of  New  York  with  six-shooters  than  to  arm  these  Indians. 

Mr.  YouT<fG.  Would  you  advise  giving  the  peaceful  Indians  in  Oregon 
more  guns  ? 

General  Sherman.  No,  I  should  have  them  to  settle  down,  and  give 
them  hoes.  I  do  not  see  what  they  want  with  guns  now.  The  game  is 
nearly  all  gone  there. 

Mr.  TnoRNBURGH.  Is  there  such  traffic  with  the  Indians  as  to  furnish 
them  with  guns! 

General  Sherman.  The  Indians  on  the  plains  have  means  of  exchang- 
ing furs,  skins,  buffalo  robes  and  trinkets  with  our  wandering  people 
who  will  go  everywhere,  and  who  will  swap  their  six-shooters  and 
carbines  for  something  ot  that  kind.  The  Indians  have  all  the  arms 
now  they  want,  and  more  than  they  ought  to  have.  I  do  not  believe 
there  is  a  Kiowa  Indian  warrior  who  has  not  his  two  pistols  and  a  gnu. 

Mr.  Young.  Have  you  any  doubt  in  your  mind,  or  do  you  think  there 
is  any  doubt  in  the  minds  of  any  of  those  citizens  on  the  frontier,  as  to 
whether  they  would  be  better  protected  if  the  Indians  were  entirely 
under  the  control  of  the  War  Department? 

General  Sherman.  I  suppose  there  is  hardly  a  disinterested  man 
west  of  the  Missouri  and  Mississippi  Rivers  who  does  not  believe  that 
if  the  whole  Indian  problem  were  put  in  the  hands  of  the  Army,  (which 
has  the  means  and  force  necessary  to  compel  obedience,)  the  Indian 
business  would  be  more  economically  and  better  administered  than  it  is 
now,  where  there  is  not  only  a  division  of  opinion,  but  a  division  of  in- 
terest. As  it  is  now,  the  Indian  Bureau  keeps  feeding  and  clothing  the 
Indians,  regardless  of  their  behavior,  till  they  get  fat  and  saucy,  and 
then  we  are  only  notified  that  the  Indians  are  troublesome,  and  are  going 
to  war,  after  it  is  too  late  to  provide  a  remedy.  Usually  the  warning 
comes  too  late.  If  the  same  mind  had  control  of  the  whole  question, 
as  a  matter  of  course  the  gratuities  issued  by  the  Government  would 
be  given  to  those  Indians  only  who  deserve  them,  and  would  be  withheld 
from  those  who  do  not  deserve  them ;  and  thus,  by  using  this  power 
in  addition  to  that  of  force,  the  probabilities  are  that  we  could  keep 
in  subjection  a  large  class  of  Indians  who  are  not  in  subjection.  For 
instance,  Ked  Cloud's  Sioux  are  not  in  subjection.  Those  Indians  to- 
day are  as  hostile  as  they  ever  were.  They  never  cease  to  commit  dep- 
redations if  an  opportunity  offers,  except  when  restrained  by  a  sense  of 
fear.    They  have  no  other  motive  for  keeping  the  peace. 

Mr.  MacDougall.  What,  in  your  judgment,  is  the  efficiency  of  these 
Indian  inspectors  ? 

General  Sherman.  Very  good.  I  believe  they  are  honorable  men, 
and  mean  to  do  right.  I  believe  they  are  trying  to  collect  valuable  in- 
formation ;  but  they  are,  as  a  matter  of  course,  the  representatives  of 
that  humanitarian  class  of  our  people  who  look  upon  the  killing  of  a 


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REDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT.  277 

man  by  th«  ludians  rather  as  a  species  of  moral  insanity  than  as  de- 
serving of  punishment. 

Mr.  MagDougall.  There  is  considerable  moral  insanity  existing 
among  those  tribes  of  wild  Indians,  is  there  not? 

General  Sherman.  A  good  deal.  Yon  know  perfectly  well  that  there 
is  a  class  of  people  in  this  country  who  look  upon  murder  as  being  justi- 
fied by  a  species  of  insanity,  and  who  charge  the  whole  community  with 
heing  guilty  because  of  their  bringing  boys  up  so  badly  that  they  com- 
mit murder,  and  who,  therefore,  hohl  the  community  responsible.  But 
if  criminal  laws  were  made  and  executed  upon  that  basis,  murderers 
would  go  free  at  all  times,  in  civil  as  well  as  savage  communities. 

Mr.  MacDougall.  In  your  judgment,  if  the  War  Department  had 
had  charge  of  the  Indians,  would  the  Modoc  war  have  occurred  ? 

General  Sherman.  My  own  opinion  is  that  it  would  not  have  oc- 
curred. General  (Janby — a  man  of  fine  judgment  and  splendid  char- 
acter— on  the  spot,  with  sufficient  troops,  would  have  prevented  any 
outbreak.  But  it  was  brought  on  step  by  step,  until  finally  it  became  a 
war,  by  our  attempting  to  reconcile  irreconcilabilities.  1  have  no  doubt 
that  the  Indians,  in  the  aggregate  and  in  detail,  have  suffered  great 
wroog  at  our  hands.  But  how  are  you  going  to  settle  this  great  conti- 
nent from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific  without  doing  some  harm  to  the 
Indians  who  stand  in  the  way  ?  I  do  not  know  how  yon  can  do  it. 
There  has  to  be  violence  somewhere.  If  that  violence  be  tempered  with 
justice,  you  approach  a  just  solution  of  the  problem  ;  but  there  must  be 
violence  or  force  used.  The  Government  must  use  force,  or  individuals 
will  do  violence.  For  instance,  we  cannot  allow  the  Indians  to  roam  at 
large  through  Western  Kansas  and  Western  Nebraska,  because  if  they 
do  there  will  surely  be  collision  and  bloodshed.  In  order  to  prevent  that, 
you  must  take  these  Indians  and  assign  them  a  separate  place  where 
they  must  remain,  just  as  you  and  1  must  remain  near  our  domiciles  and 
pursue  our  peaceful  avocations.  If  you  allow  the  Indians  to  go  out  to 
hunt  bufi'aloes,  if  they  cannot  find  buffaloes  they  will  shoot  a  steer, 
when  the  owner  of  the  steer  naturally  goes  for  the  Indian.  That  is 
human  nature,  and  collisions  thereby  ensue,  which  are  taken  up  by  the 
friends  of  both  parties,  and  it  spreads  from  a  mere  act  ol*  trespass  into 
a  frontier  war.  Therefore,  the  Government  of  the  United  States  is 
bound,  as  sovereign  of  the  whole  question,  to  take  these  Indians  in  hand 
and  collect  them  into  convenient  places,  and  there  provide  for  their  wants 
till  they  can  proviile  for  themselves.  But  they  must  be  made  to  stay 
there.  How  the  thing  can  be  done  without  physical  force  I  cannot 
comprehend.  Moral  force  is  not  strong  enough.  xMoral  force  is  merely 
the  impulse  of  the  mind  or  conscience.    The  Indians  hardly  understand  it. 

The  Chairman.  Do  you  understand  it  to  be  the  policy  of  the  Admin- 
istration to  dispense  with  force  and  the  aid  of  the  Army  in  the  manage- 
ment of  the  Indians? 

General  Sherman.  No,  I  do  not.  My  understanding  of  General 
Grant^s  plan  is  this  :  that  we  shall  deal  by  the  wild  Indians  with 
justice  and  mercy.  The  plan  of  the  Administration  was  in  the  first 
place  to  put  them  on  reservations,  and  to  hold  out  every  possible  in- 
ducement to  them,  in  the  way  of  food,  clothing,  and  generous  and  kind 
treatment,  to  remain  on  those  reservations,  an<l  to  accept  the  benefits 
of  <;h arches  and  schools,  and  whatever  would  alleviate  their  condition  ; 
and  then,  if  the  Indians  will  not  abide  by  that,  if  they  will  not  stay  at 
home  and  behave  themselves  decently,  but  will  go  outside  of  their 
reservations,  they  should  at  that  instant  fall  under  military  jurisdiction, 
and  the  troops  should  catch  them  and  carry  them  back  to  their  reserva- 


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278  REDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT. 

tions  by  force ;  or,  if  they  resist,  shoot  them ;  or,  if  they  commit  depre- 
dations on  their  neig:hbor8,  on  the  farmers,  miners,  &c.,  pnnish  them 
summarily,  just  as  outlaws  are  punished  in  any  other  country. 

The  CHAIR3IAN.  Does  not  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior  rely  on 
military  force  for  the  management  of  the  Indians  f 

General  Sherman.  As  to  certain  Indians,  yes.  The  Secretary  of  the 
Interior  will  tell  you,  to-day,  that  he  cannot  manage  the  Kiowas  and 
the  Sioux  by  moral  force  alone.  But  the  trouble  is,  they  do  not  give  us 
timely  notice  of  Indian  hostilities.  I  do  not  find  fault  with  the  Indian 
Bureau,  or  with  the  Interior  Department,  or  with  those  peace-loving 
men,  in  the  least,  but  the  military  authorities  ought  to  receive  timely 
notice  of  Indian  troubles.  As  it  is,  the  first  notice  that  we  get,  usually, 
is  that  the  Indians  are  already  oft'  on  the  war-path. 

The  Chairman.  Is  notice  withheld  by  the  Indian  Bureau  I  Is  not 
such  notice  really  obtained  from  the  soldiers  f 

General  Sherman.  No;  it  generally  comes  to  us  from  the  Indian 
agent.  For  example,  the  agent  at  Red  Gloud's  reservation  reports  that 
he  is  in  effect  a  prisoner  in  their  hands  and  that  he  is  afraid  to  call  for 
assistance;  but  he  wants  us  to  take  hold  of  the  subject  somehow,  and 
to  get  these  Red  Cloud  Indians  into  subjection.  That  will  require  the 
bringing  of  a  cavalry  regiment  from  Texas,  and  another  from  Southern 
Kansas.  The  Seventh  Cavalry  is  now  at  the  extreme  north,  in  Dakota 
and  Nebraska,  but  they  are  frozen  in  there,  and  we  cannot  get  them. 
We  cannot  do  this  in  a  day,  or  in  a  month,  or  in  three  months.  We 
cannot  do  it  before  June. 

The  Chairman.  Is  there  a  good  understanding  between  the  officers 
of  the  Indian  Bureau  and  the  officers  of  the  Army  who  are  stationed  on 
the  Indian  frontier? 

General  Sherman.  No,  sir ;  and  there  lies  the  trouble.  For  example, 
if  an  Indian  agent  in  Oregon  wants  the  benefit  of  a  battalion  of  troops 
to  assist  him  in  executing  the  orders  of  the  Indian  Bureau,  he  has  to 
send  to  Washington  to  procure  the  order  for  the  troops  from  the  Secre- 
tary of  War,  and  then  this  order  has  to  go  all  the  way  back  again.  That 
will  take  a  month  for  Oregon.  And  there  was  the  trouble  which  led  to 
the  Modoc  difficulty ;  before  the  troops  were  called  upon  to  act  seriously, 
the  Indians  had  taken  refuge  in  their  caves,  and  had  assumed  a  posi- 
tion of  defiance. 

The  Chairman.  Was  General  Canby  restrained  by  any  peculiar 
orders  ? 

General  Sherman.  He  was  not  restrained,  but  he  was  not  consulted. 
He  knew  nothing  more  about  it  at  first  than  you  did  in  Indiana.  A  few 
troops  were  sent  down  from  the  nearest  military  post.  Fort  Klamath,  to 
assist  the  Indian  agent  in  the  removal  of  the  Indians.  These  Indians  had 
been  moved  some  years  ago  over  to  Klamath  reservation,  where  there 
w-ere  no  fish,  and  they  would  not  stay  there,  but  went  back  to  their  old 
homes  on  Lost  River,  just  as  a  horse  will  go  back  to  the  farm  where  he 
was  raised.  In  the  mean  time,  the  little  valley  of  Lost  River,  from  which 
they  had  first  been  removed,  had  become  settled,  and  the  farmers  com- 
menced complaining  that  the  Indians  were  back  there  and  were  begging 
and  stealing  from  them.  The  Indian  agent,  of  course,  wanted  to  get 
them  back  to  their  reservation,  but  they  said  they  would  not  go  back; 
that  they  would  as  lief  be  killed  where  they  were,  because  they  could 
not  live  on  the  Klamath  reservation,  and  would  starve  there.  The 
consequence  was  that  the  agent  sent  for  a  little  detachment  of  soldiers, 
intending  to  make  a  mere  show  of  force ;  but,  instead  of  a  show  of  force, 
they  actually  got  into  a  collision,  and  there  were  not  troops  enough  at 


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REDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT.  279 

the  time  to  subdue  the  Indians.  Then  the  Indians  assumed  hostilities, 
and  commenced  killing  the  people.  By  the  time  the  Department  com- 
mander at  Portland  had  heard  of  it,  the  Indians  had  gathered  together 
and  got  into  an  unassailable  position,  and  the  first  force  that  was  sent 
there  was  beaten  back,  and  so  it  grew  from  a  little  thing  into  a  big  thing 
before  it  was  laid  hold  of  by  the  Department  commander. 

The  Chairman.  State  in  what  way  this  case  of  Canby's  diflfered  from 
the  case  of  an  ordinary  military  officer  in  charge  of  a  post  against  the 
Indians. 

General  Sherman.  General  Canby  was  one  of  those  singubrly  cau- 
tions, conscientious  men,  who  are  not  so  common  no\^  as  they  used 
to  be.  He  looked  upon  it  as  his  duty  to  fulfill  the  orders,  and  the  spirit 
of  the  orders,  coming  to  him  from  the  highest,  or  from  any  superior, 
authority.  General  Schofield  was  in  supreme  command  of  the  Pacific 
division,  embracing  California  and  Oregon,  but  he  had  gone,  for  the 
benefit  of  his  health,  to  the  Sandwich  Islands,  leaving  General  Canby 
in  Oregon,  temporarily  in  command  of  the  whole  division  of  the  Pacific. 
He  made  himself  familiar,  as  rapidly  as  he  could,  with  the  interests  of 
all  parts.  About  this  time  this  Modoc  matter,  on  the  borders  ol 
Oregon  and  California,  had  begun  to  grow  into  a  serious  matter;  tele- 
grams came  to  Washington,  and,  instead  of  attacking  these  Indians  in 
position,  orders  went  out,  "Do  not  attack;  wait  a  while,  and  give  the 
peace  commissioners  a  chance  to  confer  with  the  Indians,  and  to  reason 
with  them,  and  to  remonstrate  with  them."  And  commissioners  were 
sent  all  the  way  from  Washington  out  there.  General  Canby  was  simply 
kept  advised  not  to  attempt  anything,  but  to  keep  the  statu  quo  until 
these  gentlemen  could  have  time  to  arrange  matters.  But  little  personal 
difficulties  grew  up  among  these  commissioners ;  one  wanted  one  thing, 
and  another  wanted  another  thing,  and  they  couldn't  exactly  agree.  Mr. 
Delano,  I  think,  made  a  personal  request  tliat  General  Canby  should  go 
down  there  from  Portland  in  person,  resting  more  in  the  faith  of  his 
character  than  in  his  office.  He  was  very  well  known  herein  Washing- 
ton. He  went  down  there,  and,  as  he  understood,  not  so  much  as  the 
commander  of  the  troops,  or  of  the  military  division  of  the  Pacific,  but 
as  General  Canby,  to  assist  in  untying  this  ugly  knot.  I  have  no  doubt 
at  all  that,  when  General  Canby  consented  to  go  into  Captain  Jack's 
camp  that  fatal  day,  he  knew  that  he  was  doing  an  imprudent  military 
thing — not  his  duty  as  anofficer,  but  out  of  regard  for  the  peace  com- 
missioners; feeling  that,  possibly.  Captain  Jack  did  mean  to  act  in  good 
faith,  and  by  a  little  persuasion  would  yield  to  their  representations, 
and  would  go  back,  as  required,  to  his  place  on  the  Klamath  reserva- 
tion. In  other  words,  he  surrendered  his  character  as  a  military  com- 
mander, and  put  himself  in  the  power  of  Captain  Jack  and  his  little 
knot  of  Modocs  as  a  peace  commissioner. 

(General  Sherman  here  submitted  copies  of  some  of  the  telegrams 
passing  between  the  War  Department  and  the  Interior  Department 
upon  the  subject  of  the  Modoc  difficulties.    They  are  as  follows :) 

Headquarters  of  the  Army, 

JVaahingtou,  January  30,  i873. 
I  am  instnioted  by  the  Secretary  of  War  to  telegraph  you  that  it  ia  the  desire  of  the 
President  that  you  use  the  troops  to  protect  the  iubabitants  as  ai^aiust  the  Modoc 
IndiaDs,  but,  if  possible,  to  avoid  war. 

W.  T.  SHERMAN, 

OeneraU 


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280  REDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT. 

[Telegram  by  the  We«tern  Union  Telegraph  Company,  dated  Portland,  Oreg.,  January  30, 18T3.1 

To  Gen.  W.  T.  Sherman, 

Commanding  the  Army,   Washington,  D.  C: 
I  am  sati-sfied  that  hostilities  with  the  Modocs  would  have  resulted  auder  any  cir- 
cumstances, from  the  enforcement  of  the  Commissioner's  order  to  place  them  on  the 
reservation.    New^  facts  show  very  clearly  that  they  were  determined  to  resist,  and 
bad  made  preparations  to  do  so.    If  the  arrangements  for  their  removal  had  been 

Eroperly  carried  out,  the  lives  of  the  settlers  who  were  murdered  by  them  might  have 
een  saved,  but  hostilities  would  still  have  resulted  and  their  blows  would  have  fallen 
elsewhere  and  later ;  on  the  approach  of  a  force  too  large  to  resist,  they  would  have 
betaken  themselves  to  the  mountains  or  to  their  caves  and  kept  up  the  war  from  those 
points.  Since  ^e  commencement,  they  have  twice  attacked  trains,  evidently  for  the 
purpose  of  securing  ammunition  for  carrying  on  the  war. 

I  have  been  very  solicitous  that  these  Indians  should  be  fairly  treated,  and  have  re- 
peatedly used  military  force,  lest  they  might  be  wronged,  until  their  claims  or  preten- 
sions were  decided  by  proper  authority.  That  having  been  done,  I  think  they  should 
now  be  treated  as  any  other  criminals,  and  that  there  will  be  no  peace  in  that  part  of 
the  frontier  until  they  are  subdued  and  punished. 

Colonel  Gillem  acknowledges  receipt  of  instructions  of  this  morning,  and  asks  if 
Captain  Jack  shall  be  notified  that  he  will  not  be  molested  if  he  remains  quiet.  If  not 
inconsistent  with  the  President's  desire,  I  propose  to  instruct  him  to  bold  coninmnlca- 
tion  with  Captain  Jack,  to  prevent  his  getting  supplies  of  any  kind,  and  to  treat  as 
enemies  any  of  his  party  that  may  be  found  in  the  settlements  without  proper  authori- 
ty, but  to  make  no  aggressive  movement  until  further  orders. 

E.  R.  S.  CANBY, 
JSrigadier-Generalf  Commanding, 

[Telegram  by  Western  Union  Telegraph  Company,  dated  Portland,  Oreg.,  Janaary  30, 1873.] 
To  Gen.  W.  T.  Sherman  : 

Telegram  of  this  date  just  received;  instructions  in  ciinformity  thereto  will  be  sent 
at  once  by  telegraph  and  courier. 

E.R.S.  CANBY, 
Brigadier-Generalf  Commanding, 

Headquarters  ok  the  Army, 

Washington^  D,  C,  January  31,  1873. 

Gen.  E.  R.  S.  Canby, 

Commanding  Department  of  the  Columhiaf  Portland,  Oregon: 

Your  two  dispatches  of  yesterday  are  received,  and  will  be  laid  before  the  President 
to-day,  and  as  positive  an  answer  will  be  sent  as  the  case  admits  of.  Let  all  defensive 
measures  proceed,  but  order  no  attack  on  the  Indians  till  the  former  orders  are  modi- 
fied or  changed  by  the  President,  who  seems  disposed  to  allow  the  peace  men  to  try 
their  hands  on  Captain  Jack. 

W.T.SHERMAN, 

General. 
[Submitted  to  Secretary  of  War,  Janmlry  31. 1873.] 

General  Sherman  :  The  President  approves  your  telegram  to  General  Canby  of 
January  31.  He  desires  General  Canby  to  be  informed  by  telegraph  that  commission- 
ers have  been  appointed,  with  whom  he  is  desired  to  confer.  The  commissioners  have 
been  directed  to  notify  General  Canby,  from  San  Francisco,  of  the  time  and  place  where 
they  can  meet  him. 

WM.  W.BELKNAP, 

Secretary  of  War, 
February  1, 1873. 

[Telegram.] 

Headquarters  Army  of  the  United  States, 

Washington,  D.  C,  March  6, 1873. 
Gen.  E.  R.  S.  Canby, 

Commanding,  FairchiWs  Ranch,  CaL,  Modoc  Country: 
All  parties  here  have  absolute  faith  in  yon,  but  mistrust  the  commissioners.  If  that 
Modoc  affair  can  be  terminated  peacefully  by  you,  it  will  be  accepted  by  the  Secretary 
of  the  Interior  as  well  as  the  President.  Answer  me  immediately  and  advise  the  names 
of  one  or  two  good  men  with  whom  you  can  act,  and  they  will  receive  the  necessary 
authority  ;  or  if  vou  can  effect  the  surrender  to  you  of  the  hostile  Modocs,  do  it,  and 
remove  them  un<fer  guard  to  some  safe  place,  assured  that  the  Government  will  deal  by 
them  lilserally  and  fairly. 

W.T.SHERMAN, 

GweraL 


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REDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT  281 

[Telegram.] 

Van  Bremer's  Ranch,  March  14, 1873. 
Gen.  W.  T.  Sherman,  WaBhingUmj  D.  C, : 

Yonr  telegram  of  the  13th  had  just  been  received.  The  utmost  patience  and  for- 
bearance has  been  exercised  toward  the  Modocs,  and  still  will  be.  Bnt  tbero  is  danger 
that  they  may  escape  from  the  lava-beds  and  renew  their  hostilities  ap^ainst  the  settlers. 
To  prevent  this,  the  troops  will  be  so  posted  as  to  watch  the  places  of  egress  and  keep 
them  more  closely  under  observation  than  they  have  been  pending  the  negotiations  of 
the  commission.  Apprehending  that  their  last  action  was  only  a  trick  to  gain  time 
to  make  their  escape,  I  directed  a  reconnaissance  to  be  made  around  the  lava-bed, 
which  was  completed  last  night.  The  Modocs  are  still  at  or  near  their  old  camp  ;  the 
party  found  and  brought  in  thirty-three  horses  and  mules,  which  is  all,  or  nearly  all, 
that  was  left  of  the  Modoc's  band  (of  stock.)  The  Indians  guarding  it  were  not  molest- 
ed and  ran  off  into  the  lava-beds.  While  no  active  operations  against  them  will  be 
undertaken  until  all  other  efforts  have  failed,  I  wish  them  to  see  tliat  we  are  fully  pre- 
pared for  anything  they  may  attempt ;  and  this  may  incline  them  to  keep  their  prom- 
ises in  future.  Another  danger  to  bo  apprehended  is,  that  this  forbearance  shown 
to  the  Modocs  may  be  regarded  a  weakness  by  the  Pahutahs  and  Snakes,  and  indace 
some  hostile  action  by  them.  To  guard  against  this,  I  have  ordered  SanfonVs  troops 
from  Fort  Lapwai  to  Camp  Harney,  about  which  post  a  large  number  of  the  Pahutahs 
are  now  gathering. 

E.  R.  S.  CANBY, 
Brigadier-General,  Commanding, 

Van  Bremer's,  Cal.,  March  17, 1873. 
Gen.  W.  T.  Sherman,  Washington,  D,  C.  : 

Telegram  of  the  14th  Just  received.  There  is  nothing  new  in  the  situation  of  the 
Modocs.  Troops  are  being  moved  into  positions  that  will  make  it  difficult  for  them  to 
secure  egress  for  raiding  purposes;  and  in  making  these  movements,  the  commanders 
are  instructed  not  to  come  in  contact  with  the  Indians. 

I  hope  by  this  not  only  to  secure  the  settlers,  but  to  impress  the  Indians  with  the 
folly  of  resistance,  and,  by  abstaining  from  tiring  upon  or  capturing  any  of  their  peo- 
ple, to  inspire  a  greater  degree  of  contidence  in  us  than  they  now  have.  I  propose  to 
open  communication  with  them  again  in  the  course  of  two  or  three  days,  and  have 
come  to  this  place  in  order  to  prevent  interference  with  them  by  persons  interested  in 
misleading  them  and  keeping  up  their  fears  and  distrust. 

I  have  no  doubt  they  would  consent  at  once  to  go  to  Yainox,  but  that  would  not  in- 
sure us  a  permanen^t  peace,  and  it  would  have  a  ba<l  effect  on  neighboring  tribes,  and 
vf'ith  a  little  patience  I  believe  that  a  better  arrangement  can  be  effected. 

E.  R.  8.  CANBY, 
Brigadier-General,  Commanding. 

Department  of  the  Interior, 

Waskingtan,  D.  C,  March  22,  1873. 

Sir  :  Yonr  communication  of  this  date,  inclosing  a  telegram  from  General  Canby, 
dated  the  16th  instant,  is  received. 

I  have  so  much  contidence  in  the  wisdom,  discretion,  and  correct  purposes  of  General 
Canby,  in  regard  to  the  execution,  as  far  as  possible,  of  the  President's  policy  and  the 
Department's  wish  to  preserve  peace  and  prevent  further  bloodslied  with  the  Modocs, 
that  I  deem  it  my  duty  to  authorize  General  Canby  to  remove  from  the  present  com- 
mission appointed  by  this  Department  any  member  whom  he  thinks  unfit  or  improper, 
and  appoint  in  his  place  such  person  as  in  his  judgment  should  be  appointed;  always 
expecting  him  to  inform  this  Department,  through  the  War  Department  or  otherwise, 
immediately  on  his  action.  You  will  please  inform  General  Canby  of  the  sobstance  of 
this  letter,  provided  you  are  willing  to  allow  him  to  use  the  discretion  and  exercise 
the  powers  which  are  hereby  conferred  upon  him,  with  your  approbation. 
Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

C.  DELANO, 

Secretary, 
Hon.  W.  W.  Belknap, 

Secretary  of  War, 

General  Sherman  :  Please  inform  General  Canby  of  the  contents  of  this  letter,  re- 
turning the  same  to  me. 

WM.  W.  BELKNAP, 

Secretary,  rf-c. 
March  24, 1873. 


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282  REDUCTION   OP   THE   MILITARY    ESTABLISHMENT. 

[Telegram.] 

Headquarters  of  the  Army, 

Washington,  D,  C,  March  24, 1873. 
Secretary  Delano  is  in  possession  of  all  your  dispatches  np  to  March  16,  and  he  ad- 
vises the  Secretary  of  War  that  he  is  so  impressed  with  your  wisdom  and  desire  to  fal- 
fill  the  peaceful  policy  of  the  Government  that  he  authorizes  you  to  remove  from  the 
present  coiuuiissiou  any  memhers  you  think  unfit,  to  appoint  others  to  their  places, 
and  to  rei>ort,  throuf^h  us  to  him,  such  changes. 

This  actually  devolves  on  you  the  entire  management  of  the  Modoc  question,  and 
the  Secretary  of  War  instructs  me  to  convey  this  message  to  you  with  his  sanction  and 
approval. 

W.  T.  SHERMAN, 

General, 
Gen.  E.  R.  S.  Canby, 

Commanding  Fan  Bremer's  Banohey  Modoc  Country,  via  Treka,  Cal. 

[Telegram  received  at  Headquarters  Army  of  the  United  Staces.  Wosbington,  D.  C,  March  29, 1873, 
dated  San  Francisco,  March  28,  1873.] 

To  Gen.  W.  T.  Sherman,  Washington,  D.  C.  : 

Your  telegram  of  the  24th  has  been  received.  The  commission  as  at  present  organ- 
ized will,  I  think,  work  well.  Yesterday  the  Modocs  again  invited  conference,  and 
Colonel  Gillem  who,  with  the  party  examining  the  lava-bed,  had  a  short  interview 
with  two  of  the  most  intelligent,  both,  however,  of  the  peace  party,  is  of  the  opinion 
that  they  ure  more  subdued  m  tone  and  more  amenable  to  reasoning  than  at  the  last 
previous  interview. 

I  think  that  when  the  avenues  of  escape  are  closed,  and  their  supplies  cut  off  or 
abridged,  they  will  come  in. 

ED.  R.  S.  CANBY, 
Brigadier-General  Commanding, 

By  courier  to  Yreka,  Cal. 

War  Department,  Adjutant-General's  Gffice, 

Wiuhington,  January  9,  1874. 

Official  copies.  , 

Adjutant^  General, 

At  the  next  interview,  viz,  April  11, 1873,  General  Canby  was  murdered  by  the  Mo- 
docs in  council.  • 

Mr.  McDouGALL.  You  think  that  all  this  delay  in  getting  up  concert 
of  action  between  the  Interior  Department  and  the  War  Department, 
on  the  Indian  question,  could  be  obviated  if  the  War  Departmeat  had 
charge  of  the  Indians ! 

General  Sherman.  Yes;  you  gentlemen  have  all  been  in  the  Army, 
and  know  perfectly  well  that  no  man  of  soldierly  instincts  would  con- 
sent to  make  his  officers  subject  to  the  military  orders  of  an  Indian 
agent,  who  knows  nothing  at  all  about  military  affairs.  Therefore,  we 
insist  that  when  an  Indian  agent  calls  for  troops  he  must  surrender  the 
management  of  the  question  at  issue  to  the  military  commander  ac- 
tually present.  • 

Mr,  Young.  Do  you  not  think  that  the  force  on  the  frontier  is  en- 
tirely insufficient  to  protect  it  effectually  ? 

General  Sherman.  I  do  not  believe  that  we  can  give  you  in  Texas 
better  security  than  you  have  had  hitherto,  and  which  yon  know  is  im- 
perfect. The  troops  have  done  all  that  can  reasonably  be  expected, 
and  yet  Texas  has  not  been  perfectly  safe  from  Indian  raids. 

Mr.  Y<JUNG.  Is  that  because  you  have  not  sufficient  troops  there? 

General  Sherman.  It  is;  but  I  don't  know  whether  Texas  is  worth 
more.  You  must  take  that  into  consideration.  That  western  frontier 
of  Texas  is  a  pretty  mean  country.  The  Llano  Estacado  is  a  blank 
jUSt  like  the  Atlantic  Ocean,  and  never  can  be  settled. 


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REDUCTION   OF    THE    MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT.  283 

The  Chairman.  What  ia  the  use  of  mail  routes  from  Fort  Concho, 
west,  towards  El  Paso  ? 

General  Sherman.  I  know  of  none  whatever.  El  Paso  is  reached 
now  by  way  of  the  north,  and  by  the  valley  of  the  Rio  Grande.  These 
military  posts  along  that  route,  west  of  Concho,  are  very  expensive 
post^.  and  po8ta  that  are  hard  to  maintain. 

The  Chairman.  Could  the  mails  be  carried  to  military  posts  by 
cavalry  t 

General  Sherman.  Yes. 

The  Chairman.  Do  you  think  that  that  expense  could  be  dispensed 
\^ith  on  the  part  of  the  Post-Office  Department? 

General  Sherman.  Entirel3\  The  mails  could  be  carried  by  cavalry 
to  Fort  Coftcho,  Fort  McKavett,  Fort  Griffin,  and  Fort  Richardson. 

The  Chairman.  Would  that  answer  all  the  purposes  there  ? 

General  Sherman.  Yes,  I  think  there  is  no  mail  carried  there  except 
to  the  officers  and  men. 

The  Chairman.  Could  the  cavalry  at  any  of  the  posts,  except  in  the 
northwest,  do  any  of  that  kind  of  service. 

General  Sherman.  No,  we  would  use  up  too  many  of  our  horses. 

The  Chairman.  Would  the  Indians  come  in  from  Mexico  if  it  were 
not  for  those  frontier  posts  of  Quitman,  Davis,  and  Stockton  ? 

General  Sherman.  No,  I  think  not.  The  settlements  would  be  pro- 
tected by  the  interior  line  of  posts. 

Mr.  Young.  Would  you  advise  the  mounting  of  any  infantry  regi- 
ments on  the  frontier? 

General  Sherman.  No,  sir. 

Mr.  Young,  Would  you  advise  the  increase  of  the  cavalry  on  the 
frontier  ! 

General  Sherman.  No,  except  by  adding  private  soldiers  to  the  com- 
panies. If  you  increase  each  company  to  one  hundred  men,  that  will 
make  twelve  thousand  cavalry  for  the  whole  army,  and  that  will  be 
plenty. 

Mr.  Young.  Would  you  advise  the  increase  of  the  cavalry  that  much? 

General  Sherman.  I  would  like  it  very  much  indeed,  but  at  the  same 
time  it  cannot  be  done  without  increasing  the  cost  of  the  army.  The 
cavalry  is  the  most  efficient  arm  of  the  service  for  the  present  existing 
condition  of  things  in  the  Indian  country,  and  every  private  soldier  that 
you  add  to  the  companies  increases  its  efficiency.  If  you  want  to  in- 
crease any  part  of  the  Army  that  is  the  cheapest  and  best  way  to  do  it  ^ 
namely,  by  adding  private  soldiers  to  the  companies.  But  I  think  that 
with  teu  regiments  of  cavalry  we  can  keep  a  pretty  good  state  of  affairs 
on  the  frontier  for  the  next  three  years. 

Mr,  McDouGALL.  What,  in  your  judgment,  is  the  use  of  chaplains 
in  the  Army  ? 

General  Sherman.  We  need  praying  for  just  as  Congress  needs  pray- 
ing for — the  same  reason  exactly.  It  is  a  concession  to  the  religious 
sentiment  of  the  country.  There  is  no  doubt  about  that.  There  is  no 
use  in  concealing  it.  The  system  is  not  effectual,  and  would  not  be 
effectual  unless  you  had  a  chaplain  at  each  post,  whereas  the  number  of 
chaplains  is  entirely  independent  of  the  number  of  posts,  and,  in  fact, 
those  remote  posts  that  need  chaplains  most  do  not  get  any. 

Mr.  McDouGALL.  lou  think  on  the  whole  that  chaplains  are  useful 
officers  T 

General  Sherman.  I  would  not  like  to  say  anything  against  them,  be- 
cause the  poor  old  gentlemen  might  be  turned  out,  and  you  would  have 
to  support  them  in  some  other  way. 


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284  REDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT. 

Mr.  Young.  Do  you  not  think  that  the  Indians  could  be  managed 
with  greater  safety  to  the  frontier  by  the  Army  than  by  the  Indian 
Bureau  ? 

General  Sherman.  That  is  my  judgment.  The  Indians  can  be 
cheaper  and  better  managed  by  the  War  Department  than  by  the  Inte- 
rior Department,  because  we  have  the  Army  at  our  command  and  the 
machinery  which  brings  us  directly  in  contact  with  the  Indiana  them- 
selves. And  I  contend  that  the  Army  is  more  kindly  disposed  toward 
Indians  than  the  citizens  generally,  and  that  if  the  country  demands  an 
extremely  charitable  treatment  of  these  Indians,  it  can  be  accomplished 
by  and  through  the  agency  of  the  Army  better  than  by  and  through 
the  agency  of  those  persons  who  profess  more  charity  than  we  do,  but 
do  not,  I  believe,  practice  as  much. 


Washington,  D.  C,  February  3,  1874. 

Gen.  Montgomery  C.  Meigs,  Quartermaster-General  of  the  Army, 
appeared  before  the  committee. 

The  Chairman.  Would  a  reduction  of  the  Army  of,  say  one-fourth  or 
fifth,  reduce  proportionally  the  force  in  the  Quartermaster's  Depart- 
ment t 

General  Meigs.  Not  proportionally.  There  is  always  a  difference  of 
opinion  between  quartermasters  and  line  officers  concerning  the  work 
to  be  done  at  the  posts.  The  quartermasters  always  prefer  to  have 
civilians,  because,  if  the  civilians  are  not  capable  and  faithful,  they  caa 
discharge  them.  Hence  the  employment  of  civilians  tends  to  increase 
constantly.  If  a  captain  of  a  company  is  calleil  upon  by  a  quartermas- 
ter to  detail  men  for  service  under  the  quartermaster,  the  captain  pre 
fers  to  detail  the  worst  men  in  the  company,  for  he  naturally  desires  to 
keep  for  company  duty  the  best  looking  and  best  disciplined  men.  Of 
course  at  posts  and  throughout  the  Army  everythingis  under  command  of 
the  commanding  officer  of  the  post,  department,  or  division,  who  can 
give  the  quartermasters  orders.  A  simple  reduction  of  the  number  of  men 
in  the  Army  would  not  make  so  much  difference  in  the  expenditures  as 
a  reduction  of  the  number  of  posts.  Every  separate  post  is  a  cause  of 
expense,  and  a  feeble  garrison  cannot  spare  soldiers  for  labor  or  care  of 
property.  I  may  say  generally  that  the  pressure  for  employ  men  t  of  more 
civilians  comes  from  the  military-  headquarters  and  the  military  posts, 
and  thus  the  War  Department  is  generally  engaged  in  resisting  increases, 
and  from  time  to  time  issues  some  order  absolutely  reducing  their  num- 
bers and  expenses. 

The  Chairman.  State  whether  the  number  of  civil  and  military  em- 
ployes in  the  Department  under  your  control  might  be  materially  dimin- 
ished if  the  force  of  the  Army  were  reduced. 

General  Meigs.  Any  considerable  reduction  of  the  force  of  the  Army 
would,  in  time,  reduce  the  force  of  the  employes  in  the  Quartermastei-'H 
Department. 

The  Chairman.  Can  you,  without  reduction  of  the  Army,  reduce  your 
force  of  civil  and  military  employes — the  detailed  men  and  others  I 

General  Meigs.  I  do  not  think  that  we  have  now  more  than  is  neces- 
sary for  the  prompt  transaction  of  business,  the  settlement  of  accounts, 
and  the  answering  of  the  innumerable  questions  that  come  to  the  De- 
partment. A  considerable  amount  of  force  in  my  office,  is  employed  in 
the  settlement  of  claims ;  and  they  would  be  dispensed  with,  if  House 


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REDUCTION   OF   THE    MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT.  285 

bill  1009  should  become  law.  A  large  reduction  of  hired  men  has  just 
been  ordered  because  the  balances  of  appropriations  are  not  sufficient 
to  do  the  work  now  doing. 

The  Chairman.  If  that  bill  should  pass,  a  number  of  jour  clerks 
might  be  discharged  ? 

General  Meigs.  Yes.  I  should  be  able  to  discharge  all  of  them  that 
are  entirely  employed  in  that  business.  I  do  not  know  precisely  the 
number;  1  think  it  is  some  twelve  or  fifteen. 

The  Chairman.  In  point  of  fact,  would  that  save  the  Government 
from  the  employment  of  a  like  number  of  clerks  under  another  head! 

General  Meigs.  Somebody  else  must  employ  the  clerks  to  do  the 
work  or  leave  it  undone- 
Mr.  Thornburgh.  1  see  it  stated  that  about  thirty  clerks  can  be  dis- 
charged from  your  office,  if  these  claims  be  transferred  to  the  Southern 
Ciaiuis  Commission.  Has  there  been  that  number  of  clerks  employed 
in  your  office  on  that  class  of  work  1 

General  Meigs.  I  think  not,  in  my  office;  but  if  you  take  the  whole 
number  of  persons  who  are  employed  on  that  work,  throughout  the 
country,  in  the  Quartermaster's  Department,  I  presume  there  are  fifteen. 

(Note. — General  Meigs,  after  examining  the  reports  in  his  office  stated 
in  a  letter  to  the  chairman,  the  number  of  clerks  and  agents  then  em- 
ployed at  six  in  his  office  and  nine  elsewhere.) 

Mr.  Thornburgh.  I  see  it  stated  also,  that  less  than  one  thousand 
claims  wi»re  decided  by  your  office,  during  last  year.  Does  it  require  a 
force  of  thirty  men  to  decide  less  than  one  thousand  claims  per  annum? 

General  Meigs.  These  claims  are  presented  to  my  office,  generally 
j)repared  by  claim-agents,  and  supported  by  the  oath  of  the  claimants 
tlieuiselves,  and  of  such  other  ])ersons  as  they  can  get  for  witnesses. 
We  find  that  those  oaths  or  affidavits  are  apt  to  be  very  loosely  made. 
Men  soem  to  be  ready  (ignorant^',  I  think)  to  swear  to  the  truth  of 
what  other  people  tell  them,  and  a  good  deal  of  the  testimony  is  hear- 
say, and  a  good  deal  of  it  is  on  judgment.  A  man  will  send  in  a  claim 
for  wood  cat  on  his  farm,  and  will  claim  at  the  rate  of  two  or  three  hun- 
dred cords  to  the  acre.  I  find  it  necessary  to  send  somebody  to  inspect 
the  ground,  and  to  make  an  examination  of  the  witnesses,  and  it  fre- 
quently happens  that  when  the  witnesses  are  examined  personally  by 
an  agent  of  the  Quartermaster's  Department,  they  contradict  themselves 
and  say  that  they  gave  their  testimony  on  the  faith  of  their  neighbor, 
who  makes  the  claim,  because  they  believed  him  to  be  an  honest  man. 
We  find,  where  a  hundred  cords  of  wood  per  acre  are  claimed,  by  exam- 
ination of  the  stumps,  twenty  or  thirty  or  fifty  cords  to  be  an  outside  pro- 
duction of  the  land.  That  is  only  one  instance  of  thousands.  It  takes 
a  good  many  agents  to  make  these  examinations.  The  officers  to  whom 
I  refer  the  claims  for  examination  are  the  chief  quartermasters  in  the 
Tarious  Departnjents.  In  the  neighborhood  of  Washington  and  West 
Virginia  the  chiims  are  sent  to  the  chief  quartermaster  here  ;  he  has  two 
agents.  The  officer  who  makes  the  examination  of  claims  in  Tennessee 
and  Kentucky  is  Colonel  Ekin,  who  ischief  quartermaster  of  the  Depart- 
ment of  the  South,  and  who  has  several  (six  exactly)  agents,  whom  he 
sends  to  Tennessee  and  Kentucky  to  make  these  local  examinations. 
When  I  say  that  we  will  probably  be  able  to  discharge  fifteen  persons, 
I  mean  those  persons  employed  by  the  various  officers  throughout  the 
country,  as  well  as  the  persons  employed  in  my  office. 

Mr.  Thornburgh.  Are  you  of  the  opinion  that  if  the  claims  should 
remain  in  your  office  for  settlement  you  will  be  able  to  have  them  de- 


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286  REDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT. 

cifled  more  mpidly  than  heretofore,  owing  to  the  fact  that  mnch  of  the 
work  has  been  already  done  ! 

General  Meigs.  These  claims  are  all  in  a  state  of  preparation.  Many 
of  them  are  now  before  these  officers  that  I  speak  of,  and  I  am  receiving 
reports  from  them  constantly.  That  much  work  is  done  toward  a  settle- 
ment of  the  claims.  When  they  come  to  my  office  they  are  insi)ected. 
It  occupies  a  large  part  of  my  time  to  examine  the  abstracts  and  to  read 
the  original  testimony,  when  I  find  it  necessary  to  do  so.  1  then  make 
up  my  mind  as  to  whether  the  claim  is  just,  whether  the  claimant  was 
loyal,  and  how  much  ought  to  be  allowed  on  the  claim ;  and  I  indorse 
my  opinion  on  the  back  of  it,  and  send  it  to  the  Third  Auditor,  recom- 
mending what  I  believe  to  be  the  legal  and  just  allowance.  That  is  my 
share  of  the  work.  There  are  a  vast  number  of  claims  in  that  condition. 
They  only  want  abstracting  in  many  instances,  or  they  are  in  the  hands 
of  the  officers  ready  to  be  returned.  I  think  that  to  transfer  them  to 
an}'  other  tribunal,  to  new  persons  who  have  no  knowledge  of  the  claims, 
may  make  some  delay  in  their  settlement.  But  I  have  been  myself 
always  of  opinion  that  the  best  way  to  settle  these  claims  is  to  appoint 
a  moving  couunission  to  go  into  the  country,  take  testimony  as  to  facts, 
and  maivc  an  examination  on  the  spot;  and  then  to  have  some  st.itute 
of  limitation.  There  is  no  statute  of  limitation  now,  and  probably  un- 
der the  circumstances  it  would  not  be  just  to  have  one.  A  claim  is  not 
the  less  just  that  the  United  States  has  failed  to  pay  it  when  due,  or 
that  the  owner  has  not  been  advised  how  to  collect  what  is  justly  due 
to  him  for  goods  taken  for  public  use.  No  lapse  of  time  can  wipe  out 
justice.  But  at  the  same  time,  if  there  were  published  in  the  various 
neighborhoods  of  the  country  advertisements,  that  a  certain  commis- 
sion, on  a  certain  day,  or  for  a  certain  number  of  days  or  weeks,  at  cer- 
tain designated  places,  would  receive  claims  and  file  them,  and*  receive 
testimony,  and  examine  witnesses;  then  it  would  not  be  unjust  to  pass 
a  statute  of  limitations  declaring  that  no  claims  presented  after  a  certain 
length  of  time  should  be  considered. 

Mr.  TnoRNBURGH.  State  whether  you  concur  with  the  statement  of 
the  Secretary  of  War  to  the  committee  as  follows : 

Mr.  TiioRNBUROH.  Suppose  that  the  QuartermaHter's  Department  and  the  Snb- 
sistencc  Dfpartiiieut  were  relieved  of  the  settlement  of  the  claims  filed  by  persons 
who  furuiuhi'd  htores  for  the  Army  daring  the  late  rebellion,  would  that  materiaUy 
lessen  the  expense  of  those  Departments  f 

Secretary  Bklknap.  It  might  lessen,  to  a  very  small  amonnt,  the  expenses  of  the 
Departments,  but  I  think  it  would  involve  an  expenditure  of  a  very  large  amount  ot 
money,  by  the  payment  by  the  Government  of  fraudulent  claims. 

General  Meigs.  It  would  lessen  our  expenses  to  some  extent,  and  it 
would  lessen  my  own  personal  labor.  As  to  w^hether  fraudulent  claims 
would  be  paid  by  the  transfer,  it  is  not  for  me  to  say  that  other  peo])le 
are  not  to  be  found  as  honest  as  I  hope  that  I  am.  I  send  these  claims 
to  the  quartermasters,  but  I  have  not  quartermasters  enough  to  visit  all 
the  localities  in  person,  and  hence  they  have  to  select  agents  in  whom 
they  have  confidence.  If  the  quartermaster  finds  that  an  agent  is  false, 
or  takes  bribes,  or  neglects  his  duty,  he  discharges  him  and  takes 
another. 

Mr.  Thobnburgh.  Bead  the  next  question  and  answer,  and  state 
your  opinion  on  the  subject. 

Mr.  Thorndurgh.  Is  there  anything  connected  with  settlement  of  those  claims 
which  makes  the  staff  departments  peculiarly  fitted  to  pass  upon  the  questions  arising 
under  them  f 

Secretary  Belknap.  Yes,  sir;  there  are  a  great  many  of  these  claims  in  the  depart- 
ments, and  they  impose  a  burdensome  duty  on  those  departments ;  but,  at  the  same 


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BEDUCTION   OP   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT.  287 

time,  I  am  satisfied  that  their  officers  are  peculiarly  fitted  to  examine  them,  and  I 
think  that  the  result  of  that  examination  is  the  saving  of  a  large  amount  of  money  to 
the  Government. 

General  Meigs.  I  do  not  know  exactly  what  to  say  in  regard  to  that. 
Secretary  Belknap's  opinion  is  very  complimentary  to  me  and  to  the 
Commissary-General  of  Subsistence,  but  I  think  you  might  find  other 
men  as  able  to  get  at  the  truth  of  these  claims  as  we  are. 

Mr.  TnoRNBURGH.  Do  you  require  proof  of  loyalty  to  go  back  of  the 
time  when  the  supplies  were  furnished  t 

General  Meigs.  1  hold  that  if  a  man  has  taken  the  oath  of  loyalty 
before  property  has  been  taken,  and  has  behaved  as  a  loyal  man  from 
that  out,  he  is  entitled  to  be  considered  loyal.  As  to  what  he  had 
done  before  he  took  the  o<Tth,  I  do  not  think  that  that  has  legally  any 
influence  on  his  coiidition  alter  he  took  the  oath. 

The  Chairman.  I  would  like  to  have  you  explain  the  item  in  the 
Army  appropriation  bill  for  the  interment  of  soldiers.  Can  you  state 
about  how  much  the  expenses  of  the  interment  of  officers  who  died  on 
duty  in  the  field  are? 

General  Meigs.  The  expense  is  very  little.  The  Secretary  has  issued 
orders  prohibiting  the  bodies  of  officers  being  sent  home  to  their  families, 
as  was  formerly  done  in  some  cases,  without  first  obtaining  his  sanction^ 
that  was  a  considerable  source  of  expense.  There  is  a  post  cemetery  at 
nearly  every  military  post,  and  officers  who  die  at  the  post  are  generally 
buried  there. 

The  Chairman.  Is  it  not  a  fact  that  officers  who  die  from  ordinary 
sickness,  no  matter  where  they  die,  are  buried  at  the  expense  of  the 
Govern  mentf 

General  Meigs.  Not  except  by  the  express  authority  of  the  Secretary 
of  War.  If  an  officer  is  buried  by  his  family,  and  if  his  lamily  sends 
in  any  of  the  bills  for  funeral  expenses,  the  matter  is  referred  to  my 
office"  for  examination  and  for  recommendation.  The  expenses  are  in- 
significant. I  do  not  suppose  we  pay  over  $5,000  a  year  in  that  account, 
and  generally  it  is  probably  much  less  than  this. 

[Note. — At  the  request  of  the  chairman  General  Meigs  subsequently 
sent  a  statement  of  accounts  allowed  during  the  last  fiscal  year  for 
burial  expenses  of  officers,  including  those  of  General  Canby  and  others 
killed  by  the  Modocs;  the  amount  was  $5,169.30. J 

The  Chairman.  Can  you  state  whether  or  not  the  quarters  for  officers 
are  furnished  at  the  expense  of  the  Government  anywhere;  if  so,  where! 
General  Meigs.  At  distant  military  posts  where  it  is  almost  impos- 
sible to  get  hold  of  a  piece  of  furniture,  quartermasters  are  allowed, 
by  the  authority  of  the  Secretary  of  War  (which  was  first  formally  pro- 
mulgated on  my  recommendation,  after  I  had  visited  some  of  the  dis- 
tant and  inaccessible  posts,)  to  make  standing  furniture  of  the  plainest 
kind  out  of  lumber.  For  instance,  where  it  would  cost  an  officer  $50 
for  the  transportation  of  a  table,  the  quartermaster  is  allowed  to  make 
a  plain  cue. 

The  Chairman.  State  whether  expensive  and  valuable  furniture  has 
been  supplied  to  officers. 

General  Mkigs.  In  no  case  with  my  knowledge,  and  in  no  case  without 
a  violation  of  orders. 

Tlie  Chairman.  State  whether  this  furniture  that  you  speak  of  is 
subject  to  removal  by  officers. 

General  Meigs.  No,  sir.  It  belongs  to  the  quarters.  It  is  understood 
as  belonging  to  the  establishment,  and  it  is  not  worth  moving.  It  is  in 
the  possession  of  the  quartermaster  just  as  much  as  window-sashes  and 


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288  REDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT. 

doors  are.    Some  of  tbese  posts  are  reached  by  five  hundred  to  eight 
hundred  miles  of  wapfon-hauling  only. 

The  Chairman.  State  whether  the  expenditures  for  gas  at  posts  or 
stations,  or  in  the  quarters  of  officers,  are  borne  by  the  Government. 

General  MEias.  The  Quartermaster's  Department  pays  gas-bills  for 
public  offices  only,  and  not  for  hired  quarters  of  officers  in  cities.  I  pay 
my  own  gas-bills,  and  so  I  presume  do  all  other  officers.  I  know  of  no 
exception.  The  Commissary  Department  supplies  a  certain  ration  of 
candles  at  military  posts;  but  where  the  public  offices  are  in  the  neigh- 
borhood of  a  large  city,  and  are  in  communication  with  gas,  the  Gov- 
ernment pays  for  the  gas. 

The  Chairman.  At  what  rate ;  is  it  in  proportion  to  the  ration  of 
candles  ? 

General  Meigs.  Not  so  much  as  the  Government  would  have  to  pay 
for  candles ;  certainly  not  as  much  for  the  same  quantity  of  light.  There 
is  no  abuse  in  that  line  that  I  know  of  or  suspect. 

The  Chairman.  State  to  the  committee  what  the  item  of  $1,300,000, 
on  line  73  in  the  Army  appropriation  bill,  is  for. 

General  Meigs.  The  Quartermaster's  Department  is  in  this  respect  a 
sort  of  a  residuary  legatee  of  the  Army,  and  if  anything  is  necessary  to 
be  done  which  no  other  department  has  special  legal  authority  to  pay 
for,  or  which  there  is  no  special  appropriation  for,  it  is  paid  for  out  of 
this  general  appropriation. 

The  Chairman.  State  to  the  committee  what  that  item  cost  last  year. 

General  Meigs.  I  can  hardly  separate  the  particulars  iu  the  item. 
Without  some  such  provision  somewhere  in  your  appropriation  bill  we 
would  be  unable  to  pay  for  anything  that  was  not  expressly  named,  and 
no  one  can  name  all  the  million  items  of  expense  that  occur  in  military 
operations. 

Mr.  Hawley.  Your  expenditure  under  that  head  is  in  acox>rdance 
with  Army  regulations! 

General  Meigs.  Yes,  but  they  are  things  which  do  not  happen  to  be 
speciOcally  named  in  any  of  the  items  of  appropriation  bills. 

The  Chairman.  Who  has  the  responsibility  of  hiring  headquarters 
offices  !  Is  the  responsibility  taken  here,  or  is  it  taken  by  the  department 
commanders  f 

General  Meigs.  It  is  taken  by  the  department  and  other  com- 
manders. 

The  Chairman.  Does  the  quartermaster  take  the  responsibility  of 
fixing  the  i)laces  for  offices  of  headquarters,  or  does  the  department 
commander  take  iti 

General  Meigs.  It  is  done  by  order  of  the  department  commander. 
He  consults  with  the  quartermaster  and  indicates  the  building  which 
he  prefers  if  it  can  be  obtained  cheap  enough  j  and  the  quartermaster 
acts  accordingly. 

The  Chairman.  Then  the  responsibility  rests  with  the  department 
and  division  comm^snders? 

General  Meigs.  Yes,  sir. 

The  Chairman.  Have  you  ever  looked  into  the  question ;  whether 
these  headquarters  cannot  be  had  at  cheaper  rates  in  these  great 
cities! 

General  Meigs.  I  have  visited  a  good  many  of  them,  and  I  do  not 
think  that  I  can  say  anywhere  that  they  are  placed  out  of  position; 
they  imist  be  in  a  business  part  of  the  city. 

The  Chairman.  Why  must  they  be! 

General  Meigs.  For  the  purpose  of  easy  access.    If  any  officer  goes 


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REDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT.  289 

to  New  York,  and  has  busiDess  at  headqaarters,  if  headquarters  are 
away  up  towD,  in  the  residence  part  of  the  city,  the  officer  may  be 
obliged  to  stay  at  an  expensive  hotel  tor  a  day  or  two  longer  than  now 
to  transmit  his  official  business  at  headquarters. 

The  Chairman.  Is  it  necessary  that  they  should  be  iu  the  most  ex- 
pensive and  central  part  of  the  city  I  Take,  for  instance,  Chicago.  Is  it 
necessary  that  the  Army  headquarters  in  that  city  should  be  where 
the  rents  are  highest,  and  in  the  most  costly  and  expensive  buildings  f 
General  Meigs.  Commanders  of  divisions  and  departments  regulate 
in  a  great  measure  the  whole  of  the  expenses  of  the  Army  under  their 
command.  They  award  the  contracts;  the  quartermaster  advertises, 
bat  the  commandinggeneral  really  awards  thecontracts,  except  the  most 
extensive  general  contracts,  which  are  referred  to  ttie  War  Department 
with  recommendation  of  the  'department  or  other  commander  for  final 
decision,  which  is  not  made  till  the  whole  case  has  been  examined  by 
the  Quartermaster-General,  and  reported  on  by  him  to  the  Secretary. 
The  headqaarters  in  Chicago  have  the  control  of  the  annual  expenditure 
of  ten  or  tifteen  millions.  That  is  a  business  large  enough  to  require  it 
to  be  done  in  a  place  accessible  to  busy  business  men.  It  would  be  pos- 
sible to  put  the  headquarters  now  at  Chicago  somewhere  out  on  the 
prairie,  but  not  convenient  or  economical. 

The  Chairman.  There  are  a  thousand  accessible  places  in  Chicago 
that  might  be  had  at  reasonable  rents. 
General  Meigs.  Every  street  in  Chicago  is  accessible. 
The  Chairman.  The  simple  question  is,  whether  Army  headquar- 
ters should  be  located  where  the  rents  are  highest  and  buildings 
most  expensive,  or  whether  they  might  not  be  placed  where  they  would 
be  just  as  accessible,  and  not  so  costly. 

General  Meigs.  I  consider  it  the  duty  of  the  commanding  general  of 
the  department  to  get  his  headquarters  offices  at  the  most  reasonable 
rates,  and  not  to  go  into  the  most  fashionable  parts  of  crowded  cities; 
but  if  a  oommanding  general  says  that  the  building  which  he  selects  is 
the  only  one  that  will  accommodate  him  and  the  Government,  the  quar- 
termaster will  be  governed  by  his  statement. 
The  Chairman.  Have  you  any  Army  uniforms  on  hand  f 
General  Meigs.  Yes,  sir ;  a  large  quantity. 
The  Chairman.  Cannot  they  be  used  ordinarily! 
General  Meigs.  We  are  using  the  trousers,  they  being  of  the  same 
pattern  as  in  the  new  uniform.    The  coats  and  blouses  are  obsolete,  con- 
sequent upon  the  adoption,  within  the  last  year  or  two,  of  a  new  pattern 
of  uniform.    The  clothing  on  hand  was  ordered  by  law  last  year  to  be 
sold  by  auction,  but  that  was  against  my  opinion  and  advice. 

The  Chairman.  Would  you  advise  the  wearing  of  this  old  clothing 
now,  until  it  can  be  used  up  in  that  way  t 

General  Meigs.  My  own  opinion  is  that  the  old  uniform  with  which 
we  went  through  the  war  is  quite  as  good  as  the  new  one,  although  the 
new  one  is  a  little  better  cut. 
The  Chairman.  How  much  of  this  old  uniform  have  you  on  hand  ? 
General  Meigs.  I  think  we  have  what  has  cost  us  probably  six  or 
seven  millions  of  dollars,  in  clothing,  and  materials  for  clothing.  We 
use  the  material  still,  and  we  use  the  trousers.  A  good  deal  of  the 
material  is  not  cut. 

The  Chairman.  What  part  of  that  quantity  consists  in  what  will 
have  to  be  sold  t 

General  Meigs.  I  think  my  annual  report  gives  that  information ;  but 
I  cannot  now  charge  my  memory  with  the  figures.    It  is  a  very  con- 

19   M  E 


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290  REDUCTION    OF   THE    MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT. 

siderable  aroouDt.    We  soUl,  under  the  law,  in  last  October,  sach  of  the 
obsolete  clothing  as  was  at  Philadelphia  for  about  $500,000. 

Mr.  MacDougall.  What  part  of  their  cost  did  the  articles  sold 
bring  ? 

General  Meigs.  Not  over  one-fifth  part.  The  Treasury  got  the  money, 
which  went  to  miscellaneous  receipts,  but  the  Quartermaster's  Depart- 
ment had  a  very  great  loss  in  it.  Here  [referring  to  his  annual  report] 
is  a  list  of  the  quantity  remaining  on  hand  30th  last  June. 

The  Chairman.  Indicate  to  the  committee  the  quantity  of  made 
dothing  on  hand,  and  which  must  be  sold. 

General  Meigs.  On  the  30th  of  June,  1S73,  we  had  two  hundred  and 
one  thousand  hats,  and  two  hundred  and  forty-five  thousand  forage  caps 
which  are  not  of  the  present  uniform  and  which  have  to  be  sold,  three 
hundred  and  forty-eight  thousand  cavalry  and  artillery  jackets,  two 
hundred  and  eleven  thousand  uniform -coats,  eight  thousand  sashes,  two 
hundred  and  fifty-nine  thousand  lined  flannel  sack-coat«,  and  three  hun- 
dred and  twelve  thousand  uulined  flannel  sack-coats.  The  great-coats 
are  still  used,  and  we  have  a  large  number  of  them.  These  statements 
are  of  30th  June,  1873.  In  October,  1873,  such  of  these  goods  as  were 
in  the  Philadelphia  depot  were  sold  for  about  $500,000. 

The  Chairman.  Can  you  give  us  the  cost  of  these  items  of  clothing ! 

General  Meigs.  I  can.  They  were  bought  during  the  war ;  there  is 
a  statement  from  which  I  can  tell  you  what  they  have  cost.  [Later, 
General  Meigs,  after  examining  the  reoords  of  his  Office,  sent  in  a  state- 
ment that  the  clothing  and  equipage  sold  in  the  years  1870  to  1873,  for 
$3,600,000,  appears  to  have  cost  when  purchased  during  the  war, 
$18,000,000;  realizing  thus  at  auction  one-fifth  of  the  original  cost. 
i3ut  much  of  ihis  was  sold  in  a  damaged  condition,  much  of  it  io  origi- 
nal packages,  and  all  of  it  without  warranty.] 

The  Chairman.  State  to  the  committee  what  part  of  their  cost  they 
would  sell  for. 

General  Meigs.  I  do  not  think  they  would  sell  for  more  than  20  per 
cent,  of  their  cost. 

The  Chaibman.  Are  they  in  a  good  state  of  preservation,  and  can 
they  be  used  f 

General  Meigs.  Many  of  them  are ;  some  of  them  are  moth-eaten. 
We  are  constantly  examining  them,  and  selling  those  that  are  injured. 

The  Chairman.  Are  you  not  spending  a  considerable  amount  of 
money  in  preserving  them  from  moths  f 

General  Meigs.  We  have  been  spending  money  for  that  purpose. 

The  Chairman.  What  is  the  success  of  the  plan  f 

General  Meigs.  I  think  it  is  good. 

The  Chairman.  Would  you  recommend  a  continuance  of  that  sys- 
tem ? 

General  Meigs.  1  think  it  had  better  be  continued. 

The  Chairman.  I  see  a  proposition  to  have  $50,000  more  appropri- 
ated for  that  purpose. 

General  Meigs.  That  is  to  api)ly  to  certain  clothing  and  material 
which  is  not  to  be  sold.  I  have  reported  on  the  subject.  After  careful 
examination,  I  adhere  to  that  report. 

The  Chairman.  Where  are  those  coats  that  you  have  pointed  out  as 
being  on  hand  ! 

General  Meigs.  Mostly  at  Jeflfersonville  j  those  at  Philadelphia  have 
been  sold. 

Mr.  Thornburgh.  Is  none  of  this  clothing  issued  to  Indians  f 

General  Meigs.  No;  the  present  law  requires  it  to  be  sold ;  some  Army 


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REDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT.  291 

clothing,  however,  was  turned  over  to  Indians,  but  not  within  the  last 
year.  General  Harney  got  quite  a  quantity  at  one  time  to  give  to  the 
Sioux  Indians. 

Mr.  Nbsmith.  What  is  the  object  of  keeping  this  excess  of  supply  of 
clothing  on  hand,  which  costs  so  much  to  take  care  of,  and  turns  out  to 
be  worthless  f 

General  Meigs.  A  good  deal  of  it  does  not  turn  out  to  be  worthless. 
Every  one  must  know  that  it  is  very  difficult  to  preserve  an  article  of 
woolen  clothing  for  many  years. 

Mr.  Nesmith.  Why  not  purchase  it  from  year  to  year  f 

General  Meigs.  This  clothing  on  hand  is  what  is  left  over  from  the 
war.  We  were  then  furnishing  thirteen  hundred  thousand  men  with 
clothing.  The  war  stopped  suddenly,  and  we  had  to  close  our  contracts. 
That  is  the  way  in  which  all  this  clothing  accumulated. 

Mr.  Nesmith.  Why  were  not  the  supplies  at  Jeffersouville  sold  at  the 
same  time  as  they  were  in  Philadelphia  1 

General  Meigs.  The  Secretary  of  War  ordered  the  Philadelphia  sup- 
plies to  be  sold  last  fall,  year  1873,  and  that  sale  pretty  well  stocked  the 
market.  Then  to  meet  any  contingency  or  any  delay  in  the  furnishing 
of  new  clothing,  it  was  decided  to  keep  the  stock  at  Jeffersouville  for 
another  season. 

The  Chairman.  What  amount  of  new  uniforms  have  yon  on  hand  t 

General  Meigs.  Very  little.  We  have  enough  to  last  till  the  30th  of 
June,  and  a  very  small  surplus. 

The  Chairman.  It  would  be  necessary,  then,  either  to  use  up  the  old 
made-up  uniform,  or  to  make  new  uniforms  for  the  next  fiscal  year. 

General  Meigs.  Yes,  sir. 

Mr.  Albright.  Would  there  not  be  a  great  saving  to  the  Government 
if  the  clothing  on  hand  at  Jeffersouville  could  be  used  in  furnishing 
supplies  for  the  Indians! 

General  Meigs.  I  do  not  think  that  we  are  bound  to  furnish  the 
Indians  with  clothing.  The  Indian  Bureau  furnishes  them  with  blankets, 
&c.,  bnt  we  have  no  old  blankets. 

Mr.  Hawley  of  Connecticut.  Might  not  the  Indian  Bureau  have 
purchased  these  coats  from  you  ! 

General  Meigs.  I  suppose  so;  but  is  it  desirable  that  the  Indians 
should  be  dressed  in  Army  uniform?  I  think  that  very  doubtful.  I  know 
that  during  the  war  many  of  our  men  were  killed  because  the  rebels 
were  dressed  in  our  uniform.  I  lost  my  own  son  in  that  way.  I  desire 
to  say,  in  this  connection,  that,  during  the  past  year,  we  have  sold  so 
much  of  this  clothing  that  there  is  no  such  thing  as  a  general  stock 
which  would  uniform  the  Army.  There  are  many  things  which  we  do 
not  have  on  hand  and  would  still  have  to  buy. 

Mr.  Hawley.  Is  the  Quartermasters  Department  allowed  to  furnish 
its  employes  with  clothing,  in  payment  for  their  services  f 

Ireneral  Meigs.  No,  sir. 

Mr.  Hawley.  If  allowed  to  do  so,  would  not  that  be  a  saving! 

General  Meigs.  We  have  sold  so  much  of  this  clothing  tbat  there  is 
not  a  sutler  at  a  military  post  who  has  not  a  quantity  of  it  on  hand,  and 
who  is  not  willing  to  sell  it  cheaper  than  we  can  issue  it.  Those  coats 
that  have  been  sold,  have  been  sold  at  a  dollar  and  a  dollar  and  ten 
cents  each ;  and  many  of  the  sutlers,  who  have  held  on  to  them,  will 
sell  them  now  for  50  cents  each,  whenever  they  can  find  a  market  for 
them.  That  was  one  objection  I  had  to  the  sale  of  this  clothing ;  it  went 
right  into  the  hands  of  sutlers,  and  the  soldiers  bought  it  from  them  at 
reduced  prices.    A  soldier  will  buy  a  damaged  coat  from  the  sutler,  and 


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292  REDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT. 

then  draw  from  the  pay  department  the  full  price  for  a  new  coat.  But 
that  is  pretty  mach  over  now ;  the  change  of  uniform  has  put  an  end  to 
it,  and  that  is  one  cause  of  the  complaints  from  the  Army — that  the 
clothing  allowance  is  not  large  enough. 

The  Chairman.  State,  in  connection  with  the  item  of  $150,000  for 
cemeteries,  whether  or  not  additional  clerks  and  engineers  and  soldiers 
have  been  employed  in  your  Department  under  the  appropriation  for 
ececting  head-stones  in  the  national  cemeteries ;  and,  if  so,  how  many  f 

General  Meigs.  Yes,  sir.  I  cannot,  from  memory,  give  you  the  in- 
formation as  to  the  number.  There  is  an  officer  now  stationed  here  who 
has  charge  of  the  business  of  military  cemeteries,  including  that  of 
erecting  bead-stones.  The  clerks  who  are  engaged  in  that  work  are  paid 
out  of  the  appropriation  for  military  cemeteries,  and  the  engineers  who 
lay  out  the  work,  who  supervise  the  construction  of  walls  and  lodges, 
are  paid  from  the  appropriation  as  part  of  the  contingent  expenses  of 
such  works.  If  you  make  an  appropriation  to  build  a  custom  house 
that  appropriation  must  pay  the  engineer  who  supervises  the  work,  the 
foremen  and  clerks,  as  well  as  the  laborers  and  mechanics  and  con- 
tractors. 

The  Chairman.  What  are  these  four  clerks  and  five  civil  engineers 
employed  at — what  are  they  doing! 

General  Meigs.  The  clerks  are  attending  to  the  correspondence,  ex- 
amining the  reports,  preparing  papers  for  examination,  and  keeping  the 
records  of  expenses.  They  are  ia  the  office  of  Captain  McGonigle,  who 
has  charge  of  the  cemeteries.  Congress  passed  a  law  directing  us  to 
surround  every  cemetery  with  a  permanent  inclosure  of  iron  or  stone, 
and  also  to  build  a  permanent  lodge  at  the  entrance.  That  is  a  large 
business,  as  there  are  nearly  one  hundred  cemeteries  scattered  over  the 
United  States. 

The  Chairman.  The  million-dollar  appropriation  for  head-stones  had 
nothing  to  do  with  that  ? 

General  Meigs.  No,  sir ;  this  is  a  separate  matter. 

The  Chairman.  Here  are  these  five  civil  engineers,  four  clerks,  and 
two  messengers.    Are  they  engaged  in  that  duty  f 

General  Meigs.  Some  of  them  are.  That  qnestion  is  up  at  this  mo- 
ment. I  have  a  letter  on  my  table  not  yet  signed,  addressed  to  the 
Secretary  of  War,  advising  him  that  the  appropriation  of  the  present 
year,  fop  the  management  of  the  military  cemeteries,  is  already  pledged 
for  so  many  walls  and  so  many  lodges.  That  it  seems  to  be  expedient 
to  charge  the  cost  of  those  who  are  engaged  in  making  the  revised  lists 
of  names  for  inscription  on  head-stones  to  be  furnished  to  the  contractors, 
to  the  appropriation  for  the  head-stones.  The  law  requires  the  head- 
stones to  be  all  put  up  for  a  sum  not  exceeding  a  million  dollars.  The 
Secretary  has  made  contracts,  which  will  apparently  make  the  money 
paid  to  contractors  about  $800,000,  and  as  the  preparation  of  the  lists, 
and  all  the  incidental  expenses  relating  to  the  setting  up  of  the  head- 
stones, is  a  fair  contingent  charge  against  them,  I  propose  to  submit  to 
him  the  question,  whether  these  expenses  should  or  should  not  be 
charged.  1  should  like  to  report  to  Congress  that  we  have  put  up  all 
these  head-stones  for  $800,000  ;  but  these  are  fair  expenses,  and  if  we 
have  no  other  money,  it  is  proper  to  charge  them  to  that  appropriation. 

The  Chairman.  Cannot  the  head-stones  be  laid  at  the  point  where 
the  ordinary  head-boards  are  now  laid  ?  And  is  there  not  a  sergeant  at 
each  cemetery  to  take  charge  of  them! 

General  Meigs.  There  are  a  great  i6any  errors  and  mistakes  in  the 
istSj  owing  to  a  great  destruction  of  head-boards  that  have  rotted  and 


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HEDUCTION    OF   THE    MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT.  293 

been  blown  down  and  put  np  again  ;  and  some  of  the  adjntant-generals 
of  States  have  charged  that  the  lists  which  we  have  prepared,  with  the 
best  means  at  our  command,  are  very  imperfect,  and  do  injustice  to  their 
States.  Therefore  we  are  determined,  that  before  we  put  these  head- 
stones in  the  cemeteries,  some  intelligent  man  shall  go  to  each  cemetery, 
and  from  the  lists  on  record,  from  the  boards  themselves,  and  from  the 
b38t  information  he  can  get,  make  an  accurate  list,  from  which  the 
names  shall  be  engraved  upon  the  stone.  They  could  be  set  np  by  a 
farmer,  but  the  rows  would  be  as  crooked  as  a  plow-furrow,  while  the 
engineers  will  make  them  run  in  straight  lines.  What  costs  a  million  is 
worth  doing  well. 

The  Chairman.  Do  the  contracts  for  supplying  these  head-stones 
include  the  cost  of  setting  them  up  ! 

General  Meigs.  Yes ;  the  head-stones  are  to  be  paid  for  when  set  up 
in  place. 

The  Chairman.  Is  there  no  plat  by  which  these  headboards  were 
set  up  f 

General  Meigs.  We  have  plats,  but  they  are  more  or  less  imperfect. 

The  Chairman.  You  think  it  is  absolutely  necessary  to  have  five 
civil  engineers  employed  in  this  work  ? 

General  Meigs.  Yes,  sir ;  otherwise  I  should  not  have  authorized 
employing  them.  I  did  without  them  some  time,  and  I  found  that  the 
inspector,  who  is  appointed  by  order  of  Congress  and  who  reports  di- 
rectly to  the  Secretary  of  War,  found  fault  with  the  masonry  that  was 
done  on  the  walls,  and  said  that  the  contractors  had  been  cheating  the 
Government.  I  had  endeavored  to  build  these  walls  as  well  as  the 
better  class  of  farm  walls,  but  with  mortar.  However,  I  became  satis- 
fied that  I  was  not  getting  as  good  work  as  Congress  desired,  and  had 
these  civil  engineers  appointed.  They  are  worked  very  hard  and  earn 
their  wages. 

The  Chairman.  Can  you  state  the  number  of  posts  in  your  Depart- 
ment which  you  supply  f 

General  Meigs.  The  last  weekly  report  of  balances  in  the  hands  of 
officers  showed  reports  from  officers  who  had  money  disbursing  for  the 
Quartermaster's  Department  from  forty-one  posts  in  the  Division  of  the 
Atlantic,  thirty-three  posts  in  the  Division  of  the  South,  eighty-four 
X>osts  in  the  Division  of  the  Missouri,  and  thirty-seven  posts  in  the  Di- 
vision of  the  Pacific.  This  makes,  in  all,  two  hundred  and  one  disburs- 
ing officers  who  report  balances  on  hand ;  and  that  number  is  a  little 
less  than  the  number  of  posts  where  quartermasters  are,  because  there 
are  some  acting  assistant  quartermasters  who  do  not  disburse. 

Mr.  Albright.  Can  you  state  how  many  ]>er8ons  are  in  the  employ- 
ment of  the  Quartermaster's  Department,  including  officers,  extra-duty 
men,  and  enlisted  nieu  ? 

General  Meigs.  I  cannot  tell  now.  There  has  been  a  written  report 
on  that  subject  made  from  my  office  during  my  recent  absence,  which 
is  doubtless  with  the  committee. 

Mr.  Albright.  With  the  duty  imposed  on  your  office,  I  would  like 
to  know  whether  you  have  all  the  clerical  force  that  you  need  f 

General  Meigs.  I  can  do  with  it,  but  I  should  like  to  have  a  larger 
force,  in  order  to  be  able  to  settle  these  claims  (if  they  continue  to  be 
settled  in  my  Department)  more  rapidly  and  more  promptly,  and  which 
would  be  discharged  when  the  claims  were  finally  disposed  of. 

Mr.  Albright.  State  whether  you  have  not  been  compelle<l  to  detail 
clerks  from  the  Third  Auditor^s  Office  to  assist  you  in  the  examination 
and  preparation  of  cases. 


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294  REDUCTION   OF   THE    MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT. 

General  Msias.  We  borrowed  some  at  one  time ;  but  they  hare  re- 
turned to  the  Third  Auditor's  Office.  We  used  them  for  some  months. 
The  Third  Auditor's  Office  had  got  ahead  of  us,  and  I  borrowed  some 
clerks  from  him,  in  order  to  make  examinations,  which  these  samederks 
would  have  remade  in  the  Auditor's  Office.  I  had  the  work  done  by  them 
in  m3'  office,  and  thus  saved  it  being  done  twice. 

Mr.  Albright.  How  far  behind  are  you  in  the  adjustment  of  claimsl 

General  MEias.  There  are  about  twelve  thousand  claims  still  in  my 
office,  (I  mean  claims  under  the  law  of  1864,)  which  may  be  considered 
as  not  finally  disposed  of.  All  this  examination  has  gone  to  the  qaes- 
tion  of  claims  under  the  law  of  1864,  and  the  laws  amendatory  to  that. 
There  are  many  other  claims  that  come  to  my  office.  Every  claim  against 
the  service  of  the  Quartermaster's  Department  for  any  number  of  years 
past,  when  presented,  is  sent  to  my  office  for  examination  before  it  is 
finally  settled. 

Mr.  Albright.  Are  there  not  many  claims  in  other  Departments  the 
final  disposition  of  which  depends  upon  information  to  be  derived  from 
your  Department  f 

General  Meigs.  Many  such  are  sent  to  us. 

Mr.  Albright.  Can  you  promptly  give  the  information  which  is 
desired  from  other  Departments  on  claims  that  are  there  for  disposition  f 

General  Meigs.  We  can  generally ;  our  records  are  in  a  very  good 
state,  and  we  generally  find  information,  if  there  is  any  to  be  found,  on 
a  claim  belonging  to  the  Quartermaster's  Department.  Every  letter 
that  comes  to  our  office  is  put  on  file  and  preserved,  and  can  always  he 
found  within  five  or  ten  minutes. 

Mr.  Albright.  Is  the  business  of  your  Department  on  the  subject  of 
claims  increasing  or  diminishing  f 

General  Meigs.  I  think  it  is  about  in  statu  quo  ;  I  do  not  think  there 
has  been  any  increase  or  diminution  for  the  last  two  or  three  years.  I 
wrote  to  a  member  of  this  committee  giving  him  a  statement  of  claims 
under  the  law  of  1864  which  have  been  filed  in  our  office.  We  have  had 
about  thirty  thousand  of  them,  and  they  finally  disposed  of  all  but  about 
twelve  thousand. 

Mr.  MacDougall.  Have  you  asked  to  be  released  from  the  considera- 
tion of  these  claims  t 

General  Meigs.  No,  sir,  I  have  not  asked  to  be  released — it  is  not  for 
me  to  ask  relief  from  any  duty  imposed  by  law — but  I  have  advised 
members  of  Congress  repeatedly  that  1  thought  the  best  way  would  be 
to  make  a  peripatetic  commission  to  go  into  the  neighborhoods  from 
which  the  claims  came,  and  do  justice  at  once. 

Mr.  MacDougall.  Do  you  prefer  to  have  these  claims  go  to  the 
Southern  Claims  Commission? 

General  Meigs.  Personally  I  do,  because  it  would  relieve  me  from 
trouble. 

Mr.  Albright.  Does  the  changing  of  troops  depend  upon  your  decis- 
ion? 

General  Meigs.  Only  thus  far:  if  there  is  any  considerable  change  ot 
station  intended  it  is  customary  to  send  to  the  Quartermaster's  Depart- 
ment to  know  whether  we  have  money  enough  left  under  the  appropria- 
tion for  transportation  to  pay  the  expenses  of  the  change :  and  if  I  aw 
obliged  to  report  that  our  appropriation  is  exhausted  it  may  delay  the 
proposed  change.    To  change  a  regiment  is  a  very  expensive  thing. 

Mr.  Albright.  It  has  been  stated  to  the  committee  that  troops  can- 
not be  exchanged  from  one  section  of  the  country  to  another  because 
of  objections  coming  from  the  Quartermaster's  Department. 


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REDUCTION    OF   THE   MILITARY    ESTABLISHMENT.  295 

General  MEias.  I  have  read  the  testimony.  General  Sherman's  state- 
ment is  as  to  the  matter  of  expense,  not  of  authority.  The  law  forbids 
ns  to  spend  money  that  is  not  appropriated  ;  and  if,  when  I  have  only 
$10,000  left  from  the  appropriation  for  transportation,  I  am  asked  my 
opinion  as  to  a  move  of  troops  which  would  cost  a  hundred  thousand 
dollars,  I  would  say  so;  and  that  wonld  prevent  it,  unless  it  were  a  case 
of  absolute  necessity. 

Mr.  Albright.  Do  you  know  how  much  the  transportation  of  troops 
last  year  cost! 

Geaeral  Meigs.  The  whole  appropriation  has  been  expended  on  the 
transportation  of  troops  and  supplies. 

Mr.  Albright.  Do  you  know  how  much  has  been  expended  for  the 
mileage  of  officers  f 

General  Meigs.  I  do  not  know ;  that  is  paid  by  the  Pay  Department} 
since  the  law  of  1870  we  ma^e  no  payments  to  officers. 

Mr.  Albright.  If  the  money  was  all  expended  that  was  appropriated 
for  transportation,  did  you  have  enough  money  for  that  purpose! 

General  Meigs.  There  is  going  to  be  a  small  deficiency  in  the  item 
for  transportation.  The  estimate  has  already  been  sent  in ;  nobod^^^ 
here  can  determine  precisely  what  shall  be  spent  for  transportation. 
Every  commanding  officer  has  the  right  to  send  a  soldier  or  an  officer 
to  the  next  post.  Every  commander  can  change  his  officers  about,  but 
great  movements  of  troops,  that  cost  large  sums  of  money,  are  not  made 
without  the  authority  of  the  Secretary  of  War.  Small  movements,  how- 
ever, are  made  at  the  discretion  of  the  department  and  the  division 
commanders. 

Mr.  Albright.  How  much  did  the  Modoc  war  cost  the  Quartermas- 
ter's Department  for  the  transportation  of  troops  and  supplies  ! 

General  Meigs.  I  have  had  a  rough  estimate  of  that  made.  I  have 
not  had  these  charges  fully  posted  up ;  it  amounts  to  about  $335,000. 
Every  report  of  this  sort  must  be,  in  a  great  measure,  a  matter  of  judg- 
ment and  estimate,  because  the  expenditures  are  made  by  many  differ- 
ent bands. 

Mr.  MaoDoitgall.  How  much  would  it  cost  to  transfer  a  regiment  of 
cavalry  from  Texas  to  Montana  ! 
General  Meigs.  It  would  cost  probably  a  hundred  thousand  dollars. 
Mr.  Albright.  Would  that  include  the  transportation  of  the  horses  ! 
General  Meigs.  A  thousand  men  could  scarcely  travel  that  distance, 
(without  their  horses,)  for  less  than  a  hundred  dollars  each.    If  you 
should  let  them  march  it  would  not  cost  so  much  ;  but  during  the  months 
that  they  would  be  moving  their  pay  would  be  going  on,  and  that  costs. 
A  regiment  of  cavalry  costs  eight  or  nine  hundred  thousand  dollars  a 
year  ;  and  if  it  is  occupied  a  whole  year  in  marching  you  may  call  that 
the  expense  of  transportation. 
Mr.  IlTJNTON.  What  are  the  actual  expenses  of  officers'  traveling ! 
General  Meigs.  The  expenses  vary  in  different  parts  of  the  country. 
When  officers  travel  by  stage  coach  it  costs  about  23  cents  a  mile ;  when 
they  travel  by  railroad  it  costs  about  5  cents  a  mile  ;  but  everybody  in 
the'babit  of  traveling  knows  that  the  expenses  of  traveling  are  not  con- 
fined to  the  actual  fare.    It  appears  to  me  that  10  cents  a  mile,  which 
has  been  the  custom  of  the  country  ever  since  I  went  to  West  Point  in 
1832,  is  not  more  than  a  fair  allowance.    I  have  had  occasion  to  travel 
more  or  less,  and  I  think  that,  by  the  time  I  come  back,  the  amount 
that  I  received  at  10  cents  a  mile  does  not  more  than  paj^  my  expenses, 
and  replace  the  clothes  which  travel  wears  out. 


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295 


REDUCTION    OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT. 


Mr.  HuNTON.  Does  not  that  allowance  of  mileage  do  iujnstice  to  some 
officers ;  for  instance,  to  those  who  pay  25  cents  a  mile  by  stage-coach  f 

General  Meigs.  Generally  when  officers  travel  by  stage-coach  we  fur- 
nish them  with  transportation  in  kind  by  ticket,  so  that  when  the  ex- 
penses of  officers  are  very  great  they  can  take  transportation  in  kind. 

Mr.  HuNTON.  So  that  the  10  cents  a  mile  is  only  taken  when  it  cov^^ 
expenses  ? 

General  jVIeigs.  When  officers  are  traveling  on  railroads,  the  sleep- 
ing cars  and  the  meals  on  the  road  add  considerably  to  the  expense.  A 
breakfast  on  most  routes  of  travel  costs  $1,  and  an  officer's  &mily  and 
and  home  exi>euses  continue.  An  Army  cannot  be  officered  entirely  by 
bachelors,  nor  is  it  desirable  that  it  should  be. 

The  Chairman.  What  amount  has  been  paid  out  in  the  last  fiscal 
year  for  the  interment  of  officers  f 

Answer.  A  list  of  the  cases  on  record,  with  the  amount  of  the  accounts 
for  expenses  authorized  by  the  Secretary  of  War  in  each  case,  is  fur- 
nished. The  total  amount  appears  to  be  $5,169.30.  General  Canby,  you 
will  remember,  owing  to  the  i>eculiar  circumstances  of  his  death,  which 
shocked  the  public,  had  a  public  funeral. 

Expen9€i  incurr^  in  connection  tvUh  ike  hurialf  Sfc^  of  deceased  officers  during  ike  fiscal  jfemr 

1872-73. 


Kame. 


Place  of  death. 


Date. 


Bvt  M^j.  Gen.  J.  H.  Carlton . 

Mi^.  Gen.  G.  G.  Meade 

Brig.  Gen.  £.  R.  a  Canby .... 

CoLC.H.Fiy 

MaS.  Simon  Francis 

SoTK.  J.  £.  Semple 


General  Canby,  Capt.  Evan 
TbomaH,  Lieatenauts  Howe 
and  Wright 

Capt.  ThmnaA  and  Lieut  Howe 

Lieutenant  Telford 

Lieut.  M.  C  Sanbome  ..... 

Lieut.  £.  B.  Noi  thup 

Lieut.  J.  L.  Graham 

Lieut.  Thomas  F.  Wright . 

*Capt.  E.  Thomas 

Lieut.  R.  T.  Stewart 


San  Antonia Jan.    l.lfn 

PhiUdelphia j  No  v.    6. )  872 

I  Apr.  11,1873 

San  Francisco Mar.    5, 1 873 

Portland,  Greg. . . . ;  Oct   25, 1878 
'  Aug.  27,  ltf75j 


Amount. 

Remarks. 

$164  30 

640  tf8 

1.483  46 

Modoc  War. 

S35  0O 

865  00 

346  80 

En  ronte  fW>m    Dept.  of 

I     Lakes  to  Dept.  of  Gulf. 


115  CO  ' 
897  00 
204  60 
154  50 
175  00 
257  00  , 
107  18 
357  00  , 
367  00 

Total 5.169  36 


, Apr.  26,  lr»73 

Apr.  26,1873, 

Saint  Paul.  Minn. .'  Nov.  — ,  1872 

Helena,  Mont July  10,  1h73; 

Sioux  City Mar.    4, 18TJ  i 

Louisville Nov,  12, 1873 

Apr.  26.1873: 

Transportation  ...  Apr.  86.  1j*73; 
..do Aug.  27, 1872 


Modoc  war. 
I>o. 


Modoc  war. 

D«i. 
Killed  by  Ap.iches.  Ari«. 


The  Chairman.  What  is  the  number  of  employes  puid  from  the  ap- 
propriation for  headstones  of  last  session,  and  what  is  their  compensa- 
tion? 

Answer.  The  number  of  employes  paid  from  the  appropriation  for 
national  military  cemeteries,  and  their  compensation  respectively :  Two 
clerks  at  $150  per  month  each  ;  two  clerks  at  $125  per  month  each ;  two 
clerks  at  $100  per  month  each  ;  one  clerk  at  $65  per  mouth ;  one  engin- 
eer at  $10  per  day ;  four  engineers  at  $5  per  day  each  ;  two  draughtsmen 
at  $5  i^er  day  each.  The  engineers  receive  also  an  allowance  of  $1.50  per 
diem  for  extra  expenses  when  traveling  on  duty  and  absent  from  their 
stations. 


Wae  Department, 
Quaetermasteb-Genebal's  Office, 

Washington,  D,  C,  February  4, 1874, 
Sir  :  In  reply  to  inquiry  of  the  Committee  on  Military  Affairs,  House 
of  Representatives,  as  to  the  number  of  clerks  and  others  engaged  upon 

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REDUCTION   OF   THE    MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT.  297 

the  examiuatioQ  and  settlement  of  claims  against  the  Qnartermaster's 
Department,  presented  under  the  act  of  July  4, 1864, 1  have  the  honor 
to  state  that  it  is  estimated  that  the  following  clerks  and  agents  paid 
from  the  appropriations  of  the  Quartermaster's  Department  can  be  dis- 
charged in  case  of  the  transfer  of  such  claims  to  the  Southern  Claims 
Commission,  after  such  transfer  is  completed. 

Employed  by  Major  M.  I.  Ludingtou  in  this  office,  filing,  recording, 
and  briefing,  and  examining  claims,  and  preparing  them  for  final  action 
of  the  Quartermaster-General:  One  clerk  at  $150  per  month:  three 
clerks  at  $133  per  month ;  one  clerk  at  $11G  per  month ;  one  clerk  at 
$100  per  month. 

Employed  by  Major  Wm.  Myers,  depot  quartermaster,  Washington, 
D.  C,  on  claims  in  Maryland  and  West  Virginia,  referred  to  him  for  in- 
vestigation: One  agent  at  $130  i>er  month;  one  agent  at  $125  per 
month. 

Employed  by  Lieutenant-Colonel  J.  A.  Bkiu,  chief  quartermaster 
Department  of  the  South,  on  claims  in  Kentucky,  Tennessee,  and  ad- 
joining districts:  Six  agents  at  $125  per  month  each. 

Employed  by  Colonel  S.  Van  Vliet,  chief  quartermaster  Department 
of  the  Missouri,  on  claims  in  that  Department:  One  agent  at  $130  per 
month. 

It  will  probably  require  six  months  to  gather  the  claims  in  from  the 
various  officers  to  whom  they  have  been  referred  for  investigation,  and 
to  prepare  those  on  file  for  transfer,  during  which  time  the  services  of 
the  persons  now  employed  upon  their  examination  in  Washington  would 
continue  to  be  necessary. 

Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

M.  C.  MEIGS, 
Quartermaster-General  United  titates  Army. 

Hon.  John  Coburn, 

Chairman  Committee  on  Military  Affairs^ 

House  of  Eepresentatives, 


Washington,  D.  C,  February  4, 1874. 

General  Harney  appeared  before  the  committee  in  response  to  its 
invitation. 

The  Chairman.  State  the  length  and  extent  of  your  military  service 
on  tlie  Indian  frontier. 

General  Harney.  The  greater  portion  of  my  military  service  has 
been  on  the  frontier,  among  the  Indians. 

The  Chairman.  What  military  department  or  division  did  you  com- 
mand f 

General  Harney.  I  never  had  the  command  of  a  diviaiofi. 

The  Chairman.  At  what  points  in  the  i>reseut  Indian  country  did 
you  serve  f 

General  Harney.  From  Florida  to  Dakota. 

The  Chairman.  How  long  is  it  since  you  have  been  in  command  1 

General  Harney.  It  is  some  ten  or  twelve  years  since  I  have  been 
retired  from  active  service. 

The  Chairman.  State  with  what  Indian  tribes  you  were  brought  in 
contact  as  a  military  officer. 

General  Harney.  Principally  with  the  Sioux  and  Cheyennes,  and  all 
the  Indians  of  the  plains,  &nd  the  Florida  Indians.    I  was  very  inti- 


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298  REDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY    ESTABLISHMENT. 

mately  acquainted  with  the  Sioux  for  a  great  many  years,  and  have 
been  stationed  among  the  Winnebagoes,  Menomonees,  and  other  In- 
dians. 

The  Chairman.  The  question  has  been  discussed  as  to  the  manage- 
ment of  Indian  tribes  by  the  Army,  and  as  you  have  had  great  expe- 
rience in  command  of  the  Army  on  the  frontier,  the  committee  desires 
to  have  your  opinion  as  to  whether  the  Army  can  manage  Indian  af- 
fairs better  than,  or  equally  as  well  as,  the  Indian  Bureau  ? 

General  Harney.  I  think  decidedly  it  can,  and  better. 

The  Chairman.  Give  your  reasons. 

General  Harney.  The  Indians  have  more  respect  for  the  military, 
and  more  fear  of  them,  and  there  would  be  less  stealing.  I  must  use  plain 
words ;  I  have  seen  so  much  of  it,  that  I  know  the  Indians  are  robbed 
continually.  That,  I  think,  is  pretty  well  known,  and  I  assert  it  posi- 
tively. I  know  it  of  my  own  knowledge.  That  is  the  principal  cause 
of  Indian  difficulties,  I  think.  In  fact,  if  we  would  keep  our  treaty 
stipulations  with  the  Indians  we  would  have  no  trouble  with  them.  The 
Indians  do  not  violate  their  treaty  stipulations,  except  when  they  are 
driven  to  it  by  the  whites. 

The  Chairman.  Do  you  think  that  it  is  the  disposition  of  the  Indian 
tribes  to  observe  treaty  stipulations? 

General  Harney.  Yes ;  I  have  never  known  but  two  instances  in 
which  they  violated  treaties.  One  was  the  case  of  the  Sacs  and  Foxes, 
and  the  other  the  case  of  the  Seminoles  in  Florida.  They  were  treated 
with,  and  were  to  have  gone  west,  but  the  Government  did  not  re- 
quire them  to  comply  with  the  conditions  of  the  treaty  for  many  years, 
and  by  the  time  they  were  required  to  go  west  all  the  leading  men  who 
had  made  the  treaty  were  dead,  and  the  Indians  of  that  day  said  that 
they  were  not  going  to  obey  a  treaty  which  was  made  by  '*  a  parcel  of  old 
womeu.'^  It  was  the  same  thing  with  the  Sacs  and  Foxes.  Ignorant 
as  they  were,  there  was  some  excuse  for  them,  but  still  they  were  pun- 
ished.   We  were  fighting  the  Seminoles  for  about  seven  years. 

The  Chairman.  Are  these  Indian  wars  incited  by  the  settlers,  or  are 
they  brought  about  by  the  Army  ? 

General  Harney.  I  never  heard  of  any  difficulty  being  brought  about 
by  the  Army.  It  is  principally  the  whisky  sellers  and  the  Indian 
agents  that  make  the  difficulty.  The  Indian  agents  go  out  there  to 
make  money,  and  do  not  care  about  the  Indians  but  take  care  only  to 
feather  their  own  nests.  Agents  should  never  open  a  tierce,  box,  or 
any  package  till  the  Indians  are  all  present  to  witness  the  operation. 
This  would  prevent  any  difficulty  or  trouble  to  the  agents. 

Mr.  Gunckel.  Of  how  many  Indian  agents  have  you  such  an  intimate 
knowledge  that  you  can  speak  advisedly  of  their  characters! 

General  Harney.  I  cannot  say  how  many.  I  have  been  a  good  deal 
among  the  Indians,  and  have  been  often  present  when  goods  were  issued 
to  them,  but  I  had  nothing  to  do  with  it. 

Mr.  Nesmith.  You  have  had  experience  when  the  Indian  tribes  were 
under  the  management  of  the  War  Department,  and  you  have  had 
experience  since  they  have  been  under  the  management  of  the  Interior 
Department.  Now,  I  would  like  to  know  your  opinion  as  to  which  of 
these  Departments  is  best  qualified  to  take  care  and  have  general  con- 
trol of  the  Indians. 

General  Harney.  The  Army:  there  is  no  doubt  about  that  at  all. 
There  cannot  be  any  stealing  in  the  Army. 

Mr.  Nesmith.  From  your  knowledge  of  the  Indian  character,  do  yon 


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REDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT.  299 

believe  that  those  people  are  to  be  controlled  in  any  way  except  by  fear 
of  punishment! 

General  Harnet.  Yes,  sir ;  kind  treatment  and  justice  can  do  it. 
They  know  what  justice  is,  and  they  want  it.  If  they  are  treated  with 
justice  we  will  never  have  any  trouble  with  them. 

Mr.  Nesmith.  Then  it  is  your  experience,  that  the  trouble  grows  out 
of  the  stealing  of  their  annuity-goods! 

General  Harney.  Yes,  sir,  principally ;  and  out  of  whisky-selling. 

Mr.  Nesmith.  How  can  you  prevent  the  introduction  of  whisky 
among  the  Indians! 

General  Harney.  If  the  commanding  oflScer  is  worth  a  cent  he  can 
prevent  it. 

Mr.  Nesmith.  How  would  you  do  it ! 

General  Harney.  I  would  hang  the  whisky-sellers  or  shoot  them. 
They  are  the  very  worst  class  of  people  on  the  frontier. 

Mr.  Nesmith.  While  the  hanging  process  is  going  on,  would  it  not  be 
well  to  hang  the  men  who  steal  the  annuity-goods  too  ! 

General  Harney.  Decidedly. 

Mr.  MacDougall   Was  he  an  ofiScer  of  the  Army  ! 

General  Harney.  Oh,  no,  sir;  Indian  agents  are  generally  called 
majors. 

The  Chairman.  Would  it  be  safe  to  arm  the  settlers  and  let  them 
take  care  of  the  frontier  ! 

General  Harney.  I  do  not  think  it  would. 

The  Chairman.  Do  you  think  if  you  could  rid  the  country  of  whisky- 
sellers  there  would  be  no  difficulty  in  the  main  ! 

General  Harney.  If  yon  do  that  and  do  justice  to  the  Indians  at  the 
same  time,  you  will  have  no  trouble. 

The  Chairman.  As  between  fighting  them  and  giving  them  kind 
treatment,  which  would  you  say  was  the  preferable  course  ! 

General  Harnsy.  Kind  treatment  in  the  first  place  ;  then  if  we  com- 
ply with  <Jur  treaty  stipulations,  we  will  have  no  difficulty  at  all  with 
them. 

The  Chairman.  What  do  you  think  as  to  the  policy  of  getting  them 
on  reservations,  and  taking  good  care  of  them  ! 

General  Harney.  I  have  been  in  favor  of  it  always.  If  the  Indians 
had  been  treated  properly,  I  do  not  think  there  would  ever  have  been 
any  diHiculty. 

The  Chairman.  State  whether,  in  your  opinion,  the  Government  now 
famishes  supplies  enough  to  comply  with  the  treaties. 

General  Harney.  I  think  that  the  Government  does,  if  the  Indians 
coald  get  them. 

The  Chairman.  Do  you  think  that  the  Indians  are  now  getting  their 
fall  supplies  under  the  treaties! 

General  Harney.  I  cannot  say.  I  have  been  on  the  retired  list  ten 
or  twelve  years. 

The  Chairman.  Is  the  policy  of  justice  being  carried  out  or  not ! 

General  Harney.  I  have  had  very  little  intercourse  with  the  Indians 
lately,  and  I  cannot  tell.  But  I  suppose  we  would  not  have  had  so  much 
tronble  with  them  if  we  had  done  them  justice. 

Mr.  GUNCKEL.  Have  you  been  among  the  Indians  for  the  last  twelve 
years,  so  that,  from  your  personal  knowledge  of  Indian  agents,  you  are 
able  to  make  a  statement  as  to  their  honesty  ! 

General  Harney.  Yes;  after  I  was  placed  on  the  retired  list,  I  was 
kept  on  duty  for  three  or  four  years. 

Mr.  GXJNCKEL.  Then,  for  the  last  eight  years,  since  the  Government 


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300  REDUCTION   OF   THE    MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT. 

peace  policy  has  been  carried  on,  you  have  bad  no  personal  knowledfje 
of  Indian  agents! 

General  Harney.  Not  since  1  left  tbe  Indian  country,  and  that  was 
in  1866  or  1867, 1  tblnk. 

Mr.  GuNCKEL.  Then  your  statement  a  little  while  ago  that  tbe  Indian 
agents  all  steal  did  not  apply  to  Indian  agents  within  the  last  eight 
years ! 

General  Harney.  I  did  not  mean  to  say  that  they  all  steal ;  there 
may  be  many  of  them  honest. 

Mr.  GuNCKEL.  But  you  meant  that  statement  to  have  reference  to 
a  period  prior  to  1868  f 

General  Harney.  Yes,  sir ;  and  in  1868. 

Mr.  Albright.  You  were  a  member  of  the  Indian  peace  commission 
in  1868  f 

General  Harney.  Yes,  sir ;  I  am  not  positive  as  to  the  date ;  it  was 
between  '66  and  '68, 1  believe. 

Mr.  Albright.  There  were  three  other  Army  officers  on  that  com- 
mission besides  yourself! 

General  Harney.  Yes,  sir;  General  Sherman,  General  Augur,  and 
General  Terry. 

Mr.  Albright.  You  visited  the  Indian  country  during  the  time  yon 
were  on  that  peace  commission  ? 

General  Harney.  Yes;  we  made  treaties  with  them  in  different 
places. 

Mr.  Albright.  From  the  investigations  that  you  made  at  that  time, 
did  you  come  to  the  conclusion  that  the  Indians  were  the  wronged  par- 
ties, or  that  the  wars  and  troubles  which  bad  arisen  with  the  Indians 
were  caused  by  white  men  f 

General  Harney.  Decidedly  so. 

Mr.  Albright.  What  was  that  affair  ! 

Mr.  Hawley,  of  Connecticut.  You  said  that  this  cow  had  given  out 
and  been  abandoned  ? 

Mr.  Albright.  From  your  investigations  on  this  peace  commission 
you  came  to  the  conclusion  that  our  Indian  wars  had  resulted  from  out- 
rages perpetrated  upon  the  Indians  ? 

General  Harney.  I  think  I  would  be  safe  in  saying  that  nine  cases  in 
ten.  I  am  satisfied  that  if  the  Indians  were  to  I'eceive  justice  there 
would  be  no  trouble.  There  ought  to  be  some  way  of  preventing  whis- 
key-selling out  of  the  Indian  country. 

The  Chairman.  Have  you  had  any  experience  with  Indian  tribes  be- 
yond the  Rocky  Mountains  f 

General  Harney.  I  was  sent  to  Washington  Territory  by  the  Gov- 
ernment to  pursue  the  Indians  of  various  tribes.  It  was  thought  we 
were  to  have  a  general  Indian  war  with  them,  but  the  matter  was  set- 
tled before  I  arrived. 

The  Chairman.  What  year  was  that  f 

General  Harney.  That  was  about  1858  or  1860, 1  think; 

Mr.  Nesmith.  You  do  not  know  how  that  war  was  brought  on,  do 
you  1 

General  Harney.  No,  sir ;  I  do  not. 

Mr.  Nesmith.  From  your  knowledge  of  the  facts  that  you  obtained 
after  you  arrived  in  the  country,  do  you  not  recollect  that  it  was 
through  the  murder  of  th«  Indian  agent  by  the  Indians  that  tbe  war 
was  brought  on  ? 

General  Harney.  I  forget  now ;    t  was  over  when  1  arrived  there. 


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REDUCTION    OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT.  301 

I  was  sent  over  to  panish  them,  and  I  would  have  done  it.  Of  course  I 
intended  to  make  a  winter  campaign  against  them. 

The  Chairman.  The  question  has  come  up  as  to  the  kind  of  troops 
that  is  most  valuable  to  light  against  the  Indians.  What  is  your  judg- 
ment as  to  that  ?  Is  infantry  needed  as  much  as  cavalry,  or  can  cav- 
alry be  used  alone  against  the  Indians  with  better  advantage  f 

General  Harney.  The  cavalry  alone  can  pursue  them  and  catch 
them. 

The  Chairman.  There  is  a  double  garrison  at  all  of  those  posts  on 
the  frontier,  about  the  same  number  of  infantry  as  of  cavalry,  and 
some  question  has  been  raised  whether  as  much  infantry  as  cavalry 
was  needed  at  those  frontier  posts. 

General  Harney.  I  think  it  is  absolutely  necessary  to  have  some  in- 
fantry at  each  post. 

Mr.  GuNCKBL.  You  stated  a  moment  ago  that  you  wanted  Army  offi- 
cers to  take  charge  of  these  matters,  because  soldiers  never  steal. 

General  Harney.  I  mean  officers.  The  common  soldiers  have  noth- 
ing to  do  with  it ;  but  there  are  exceptions  of  course  among  officers. 

Mr.  GuNOKEL.  Human  nature  is  so  much  the  same,  that,  removed 
from  the  restraints  of  civilization  and  subjected  to  great  temptation, 
would  not  Army  officers  and  Indian  agents  be  pretty  much  on  the  same 
level ;  that  is,  there  would  be  exceptions  among  both  classes. 

General  Harney.  Certainly,  but  proper  officers  would  be  selected — it 
cannot  be  so  with  agents. 

Mr.  Hawley  of  Connecticut.  You  do  not  mean  to  admit  that  Army 
officers  would  be  as  liable  to  steal  as  Indian  agents ;  you  mean  to  stick 
to  what  you  said,  that  Army  officers  would  be  better  disbursing  agents 
and  managers  than  Indian  agents  would  be ! 

General  Harney.  Certainly. 

Mr.  GuNGKEL.  As  a  class,  are  they  more  honest  than  Indian  agents  f 

General  Harney.  Why,  of  course. 

The  Chairman.  Is  your  comparison  with  Indian  agents  twenty  yeairs 
ago! 

General  Harney.  I  do  not  think  they  were  as  corrupt  then  as  they 
are  now. 

The  Chairman.  The  proposition  is  to  introduce  the  arts  of  civilized 
life  among  the  Indians ;  to  reform  and  educate  them ;  to  teach  them 
agriculture  and  the  mechanic  arts.  t)o  you  think  that  the  Army  could 
do  that  as  well  as  civil  employes  of  the  Government  I 

General  Harney".  If  the  Army  officers  had  orders  they  would  obey 
them,  I  think. 

The  OHAIR3IAN.  Do  you  think  that  they  would  be  as  well  qualified  to 
carry  oat  that  branch  of  the  Indian  service  as  civilians  are  ? 

General  Harney.  They  would  not  act  as  teachers,  but  they  would 
superintend  all  these  things,  and  they  would  do  it  better  than  civilians, 
because  they  would  have  no  interest  except  to  do  their  duty. 


Washington,  D.  C,  February  14, 1874X*^^;>' 
Gen.  J.  K.  Barnes,  Surgeon-General,  United  States  Army,  examined  : 

The  Chairman.  State  whether  or  not  any  reforms  are  possible  in  your 
department,  and  any  reduction  of  the  force  is  possible,  and  in  that  con- 
nection give  us  a  comprehensive  view  of  your  department  as  it  now  is. 

General  Barnes.  The  clerical  force  of  the  Surgeon-General's  Office  at 


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302  REDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT. 

present  consists  of  twelve  civilian  clerks,  who  are  principally  occapied 
in  the  Sargeon-General's  Office  proper,  in  the  money  and  property  di- 
visions, and  in  the  current  business  of  the  office ;  it  also  consists  of  one 
handred  and  sixty-five  enlisted  men,  classed  as  hospital  stewards,  au- 
thorized by  the  act  of  Congress  of  1866,  recognizing  the  Army.  They 
are  appointed  by  the  Secretary  of  War,  opon  the  recommendation  of  the 
Sarg:eon-General.  This  force  is  principally  engaged  in  the  record  and 
pension  division  of  the  Surgeon-OeneraFs  Office,  the  most  important  of 
their  duties  being  to  sapply  the  Pension  Bareaa,  Adjatant-Oeneral's 
Office,  the  Paymaster-General's  Office,  and  Second  Aaditor  of  the  Treas- 
ury, with  official  information  of  the  cause  of  death  or  discharge  of  sol- 
diers during  the  war.  It  is  now  proposed  in  the  bill  the  draught  of 
which  was  submitted  to  me  by  Mr.  Williams,  to  dispense  with  the  ser- 
vices of  these  elisted  men,  and  in  lieu  thereof  to  allow  to  the  Surgeon- 
General's  Office  one  chief  clerk,  two  clerks  of  class  5,  three  clerks  of 
class  4,  three  clerks  of  class  3,  eight  clerks  of  class  2,  and  one  hundred 
and  twenty  clerks  of  class  1,  twenty  of  whom  shall  be  considered  as 
temporary  appointments,  to  be  dispensed  with  as  soon  as  the  labor  dim- 
inishes ;  one  librarian,  one  chemist,  one  anatomist,  one  engineer,  wh6 
will  be  required  for  the  heating  apparatus  of  the  building,  one  mes- 
senger, ten  assistant  messengers,  and  twelve  laborers  and  watchmen. 
This  is  instead  of  all  the  force  now  employed  in  the  Surgeon-General's 
Office,  and  will  make  a  reduction,  according  to  Mr.  Williams's  calculation 
and  my  own,  of  nearly  one  hundred  men.  By  the  first  of  the  next  fiscal 
year  I  hope  to  be  able  with  such  a  force  as  this  to  keep  the  work  from 
falling  behind,  although  with  the  force  at  work  to-day  we  have  got  2,000 
cases  behindhand.  During  the  fiscal  year  ending  June  30, 1872,  we  had 
inquiries  relative  to  pensions,  &c.,  19,237;  and  during  the  succeeding  year 
the  number  was  36,601,  of  which  11,880  were  from  the  Commissioner 
of  Pensions,  5,125  were  from  the  Adjutant-General's  Office,  and  396  from 
miscellaneous  sources. 

Question.  State  what  system  of  books  and  papers  you  have  in  that 
branch  of  your  Office. 

Answer.  The  mortuary  records  are  made  up  of  reports  of  medical  direct- 
ors after  battles,  monthly  reports  of  sick  and  wounded,  hospital  registers 
turned  over  to  the  Office  at  the  close  of  the  war,  and  special  reports  of 
cases  by  medical  officers.  These  records  are  both  of  the  volunteer  and 
of  the  Regular  Army.  A  system  of  alphabetical  classification  became 
absolutely  necessary,  on  account  of  the  pressure  for  information.  It  was 
an  immense  labor,  but  all  the  original  muster-rolls,  sick  reports,  and 
special  reports  received  at  the  Office  are  now  thoroughly  classified,  trans- 
ferred to  registers,  and  safely  stored  in  a  fire-proof  building  in  Tenth 
street,  belonging  to  the  Government,  in  the  third  story  of  which  build- 
ing the  pathological  collection  known  as  the  Army  Medical  Museum  has 
been  arranged  for  the  use  of  the  profession.  This  museum,  however, 
has  no  possible  reference  to  the  work  done  in  the  building  by  the  pension 
and  record  divisions.  All  of  the  services  required  in  the  museum  proper 
are  a  sufficient  number  of  men  to  keep  it  clean  and  preserve  it  from 
decay.  Two  or  three  men  perform  the  services  necessary;  and  one  anat- 
omist, whose  work  is  in  connection  with  the  Office,  prepares  all  the  path 
ological  specimens ;  that  is  all  the  force  required  in  the  museum.  I  got 
last  year  an  appropriation  of  $5,000  for  the  library,  and  $5,000  for  the 
museum. 

Question.  How  many  books  have  you  in  the  library  f 

Answer.  There  are  30,000  titles,  and  it  is  the  best  medical  library  in  the 
country.    It  is  classified  and  catalogued  upon  the  same  plan  as  the  Con- 


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REDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY    ESTABLISHMENT.  303 

gressioDal  Library,  it  being  considered  the  medical  portion  of  the  Con- 
gressional Library.  That  is  the  only  way  I  can  keep  it  up,  and  when  a 
building  is  erected  for  the  Congressional  Library  it  will  go  into  it. 

Qaestion.  In  regard  to  filling  up  your  corps,  how  many  officers  do  you 
need  to  make  the  medical  department  efficient? 

Answer.  I  need  sixty  surgeons  and  one  hundred  and  fifty  assistant  sur 
geons.  There  are  to  day  one  hundred  and  eighty-one  posts,  requiring 
many  of  them  two  medical  officers.  Then  there  are  some  twenty-five 
detachments  that  require  medical  officers.  When  the  Army  was  reorgan- 
ized, I  went  down  in  my  estimate  very  low,  and  I  put  it  at  sixty  surgeons 
and  one  hundred  and  fifty  assistant  surgeons.  I  want  every  man  of 
them.  The  other  day  I  got  a  somewhat  complaining  note  from  Gen. 
George  Crook  because  I  had  sent  him  contract-surgeons  instead  of  reg- 
ulars, whom  he  could  put  on  boards  or  leave  in  command  of  troops  if 
necessary.  There  are  some  men  now  on  duty  as  contract-surgeons  who 
served  very  creditably  during  the  war.  A  contract-surgeon  has  no 
military  rsink,  and  Army  officers  complain  that  it  is  predjudicial  to  mili- 
tary discipline  to  put  them  in  command.  There  is  no  gain  in  point  of 
economyin  having  contract-surgeons,  nor  inany  other  way;  it  is  positively 
detrimental.  It  hurts  the  corps,  and  I  want  to  get  rid  of  the  system  as 
fast  as  possible.  It  is  a  thing  that  grew  up  during  the  war ;  for  instance, 
if  I  send  a  contract-surgeon  out  to  Arizona,  he  takes  sick  and  throws 
up  his  contract  and  I  have  no  hold  on  him.  If  a  regular  medical  officer 
goes  out  there,  it  is  his  pride  to  serve  there  to  the  best  of  his  ability  to 
the  end  of  his  tour. 

Question.  Can  you  get  a  good  class  of  physicians  for  contract-surgeons  f 

Answer.  No,  sir;  unless,  as  is  the  case  in  manyinstances,  they  are  look- 
ing forward  to  admission  into  the  Regular  Army.  These  are  the  best  class 
of  contract-surgeons,  and  I  think  I  could  fill  the  corps  up  in  two  or 
three  years  with  competent  men. 

Question.  If  the  Army  was  reduced  to  25,000  men  and  a  proportionate 
number  of  officers,  would  you  need  as  large  a  force  as  you  have  now  f 

Answer.  I  would,  unless  they  altered  the  distribution  of  the  Army  and 
concentrated  it. 

By  Mr.  Gunckel  : 

Question.  What  are  the  duties  of  a  chemist  and  anatomist  ? 

Answer.  The  chemist  is  in  the  labaratory  of  this  Office,  where  drugs  and 
liquors  are  examined  before  purchase ;  and  both  chemical  and  microsco- 
pical examinations  of  samples  made  for  the  Subsistence,  Quartermaster, 
and  Ordnance  Departments  and  Signal  Bureau.  The  anatomist  I  need  in 
examination  of  cases  that  are  sent  here,  and  preparation  of  specimens 
for  museum.  If  there  is  an  important  post-mortem  occurring  in  the  Ar- 
my that  needs  close  study,  it  is  sent  here.  This  is  for  the  benefit  of  the 
profession  and  medical  officers  of  the  Army.*  I  have  for  duty  today 
fifty  surgeons  and  ninety-one  assistant-surgeons. 

By  the  Chairman  : 

Question.  Can  you  give  the  committee  a  statement  of  the  number  of 
officers  at  the  difterent  posts  and  stations  1 

Answer.  I  will  try  to  do  so  hereafter.  In  the  division  of  the  Atlantic 
there  are  thirty- two  posts,  and  West  Point,  Carlisle  Barracks,  and  Fort 
Whipple;  in  the  department  of  the  Gulf  10,  department  of  Dakota  21, 
department  of  the  Platte  15,  department  of  Missouri,  including  Jeffer- 
son Barracks  and  department  of  Saint  Louis,  23:  department  of  Texas 
17,  department  of  Arizona  13,  department  of  California  13,  department 
of  Columbia  12,  making  a  total  of  181. 


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304  REDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT. 

Question.  State  what  buildings  you  occupy,  and  are  they  owned  by 
the  Government  or  rented  I 

Answer.  I  occupy  a  portion  of  the  building  corner  of  Fifteenth  street 
and  Pennsylvania  avenue;  it  is  rented  by  the  Government,  at  thirty- 
two  hnndred  dollars  a  year.  I  occupy  the  bailding  on  Tenth  street, 
formerly  known  as  Ford's  Theater,  which,  after  the  assassination,  was 
purchased  by  a  resolution  of  Congress,  and  turned  over  to  the  medical 
department  to  be  made  fire-proof  and  used  for  the  safe  storage  of  mor- 
tuary records  of  the  war  and  the  archives  of  the  rebellion. 

Question.  State  the  former  difficulties  in  filling  up  your  corps  with 
good  physicians ;  would  the  best  class  apply  in  large  nambers  f 

Answer.  The  uncertainty  as  to  vacancies  and  the  small  number  to  be 
filled  from  year  to  year,  with  the  severity  of  the  examination,  has  hereto- 
fore deterred  applicants ;  but  with  certainty  of  appointment  after  satis- 
factory examination,  assurance  of  promotion,  and  equality  of  standing 
with  other  staff  corps,  the  most  desirable  class  of  candidates  would  pre- 
sent themselves  in  sufficient  numbers  to  fill  up  the  corps  within  three 
years.  Since  the  stoppage  of  appointments  and  promotions,  the  difficulty 
has  been  to  retain  the  best-qualified  officers,  the  proportion  of  resigna- 
tions since  January  1, 1865,  having  been  20  per  cent,  of  the  corps,  all  of 
them  from  the  younger  officers. 


LIST  OF  POSTS  AND  STATIONS  OF  MEDICAL  OFFICERS,  &c. 

War  Departmkxt,  Surgeon  General's  Office, 

fVashington,  D,  C,  Fthruar^  18,  1874. 
Sir  :  I  have  the  honor  to  transmit  herewith  the  list  of  military  posts  and  stations  in 
the  United  States,  and  the  distribntton  of  medical  officers,  as  reqaested  by  yon. 
Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

J.  K.  BARNES, 
Surgeon-General  U,  S.  A. 
Hon.  John  Cobitrn, 

ChmrnMn  of  Committee  on  Military  Affairs, 

Posts  and  Stations  in  the  United  States, 

Fortress  Monroe,  Va.,  one  snrfi^eon  and  one  assistant  snrgeon. 

Fort  Whipple,  Va.,  one  acting  assistant  snrgeon. 

Fort  McHenry,  Md.,  one  surgeon. 

Fort  Foote,  Md.,  one  acting  assistant  surgeon. 

Plattsburgh  Barracks,  N.  Y.,  one  assistant  surgeon. 

Madison  Barracks,  8ackett's  Harbor,  N.  Y.,  one  surgeon. 

David's  Island,  New  York  Harbor,  one  surgeon  and  one  assistant  surgeon. 

Willet's  Point,  N.  Y.,  one  surgeon  and  one  assistant  surgeon. 

Watervliet  Arsenal,  one  acting  assistant  surgeon. 

Watertown  Arsenal,  Mass.,  one  acting  assistant  surgeon. 

Frankford  Arsenal,  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  one  acting  assistant  surgeon. 

Allegheny  Arsenal,  Pittsburgh,  Pa.,  one  acting  assistant  snrgeon. 

Kennebec  Arsenal,  Augusta,  Me.,  one  acting  assistant  surgeon. 

Columbus  Arsenal,  Columbus,  Ohio,  one  acting  assistant  surgeon. 

Indianapolis  Arsenal,  Indianapolis,  Ind.,  one  acting  assistant  snrgeon. 

Detroit  Arsenal,  Mich.,  one  acting  assistant  surgeon. 

West  Point  Academy,  N.  Y.,  one  surgeon  and  one  assistant  surgeon. 

Fort  Columbus,  New  York  Harbor,  one  assistant  and  one  acting  as^iistant  surgeon. 

Fort  Wadsworth,  N.  Y.,  one  assistant  surgeon. 

Fort  Hamilton,  N.  Y.,  one  surgeon  and  one  assistant  surgeon. 

Fort  Wood,  one  surgeon. 

Fort  Porter,  Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  one  assistant  surgeon. 

Fort  Niagara,  Youngstowri,  N.  Y.,  one  assistant  surgeon. 

Fort  Ontario,  Oswego,  N.  Y.,  one  assistant  snrgeon. 

Fort  Adams,  Newport,  R.  I.,  one  snrgeon  and  one  assistant  surgeon. 

Fort  Independence,  Boston  Harbor,  Mass.,  one  assistant  surgeon. 


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REDUCTION   OF   THET   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT.  305 

Fort  Warren,  Boston  Harbor,  Mass.,  one  assistant  surgeon. 

Fort  Trumbull,  New  London,  Conn.,  one  surgeon. 

Fort  Preble,  Portland,  Me.,  one  surgeon. 

Fort  Wayne,  Detroit,  Mich.,  one  surgeon. 

Fort  Brady,  Sault  Ste.  Marie,  Mich.,  one  assistant  surgeon. 

Fort  Gratiot,  Port'Huron,  Mich.,  one  assistant  surgeon. 

Fort  Mackinac,  Mackinac,  Mich.,  one  assistant  surgeon. 

Carlisle  Barracks,  Pa.,  one  surgeon. 

Washington  Arsenal,  D.  C,  one  acting  assistant  surgeon. 

Pikesville  Arsenal,  Md.,  one  acting  assistant  surgeon. 

Frankfort,  Ky.,  one  assistant  surgeon. 

Lancaster,  Ky.,  one  acting  assistant  surgeon. 

Lebanon,  Ky.,  one  assistant  surgeon. 

Chattanooga,  Tenn.,  one  assistant  and  one  acting  surgeon. 

Humboldt,  Tenn.,  one  assistant  surgeon. 

Nashville,  Tenn.,  one  assistant  surgeon. 

Hnntsville,  Ala.,  one  assistant  surgeon. 

Mount  Vernon  Baniicks,  Ala.,  one  assistant  surgeon. 

McPhei'son  Barracks,  Atlanta,  Gs.,  one  assistant  and  one  acting  assistant  surgeon. 

Savannah,  Ga.,  one  assistant  surgeon. 

Angnsta  Arsenal,  Ga.,  one  acting  assistant  surgeon. 

Saint  Augustine,  Fla.,  one  assistant  surgeon. 

Charleston,  S.  C,  one  assistant  surgeou. 

Columbia,  S.  C,  one  surgeon. 

Louisville,  Ky.,  one  surgeon  and  one  acting  assistant  surgeon. 

Newberry,  8.  C,  one  assistant  surgeou. 

Yorkville,  8.  C,  one  assistant  surgeon. 

Raleieh,  N.  C,  one  assistant  surgeon. 

Fort  Macon,  N.  C,  one  acting  assistant  surgeon. 

Fort  Johnston,  N.  C,  one  assistant  surgeon. 

Newport  Barracks,  Ky.,  one  surgeon. 

Colfax,  La.,  one  acting  assistant  surgeon. 

Baton  Rouge,  La.,  one  assistant  surgeon. 

Fort  Barrancas^  Fla.,  one  assistant  surgeon. 

Greenwood,  La.,  one  airting  assistant  surgeon. 

Jackson,  Miss.,  one  acting  assistant  surgeon. 

Jackson  Barracks,  La.,  two  assistant  surgeons. 

Key  West,  Fla.,  one  assistant  surgeon. 

Little  Rock,  Ark.,  one  acting  assistant  snrgeon. 

New  Orleans,  La.,  one  surgeon  and  one  acting  assistant  snrgeon. 

Saint  Martinsville,  La.,  one  acting  assistant  surgeon. 

Rock  Island  Arsenal,  III.,  one  acting  assistant  surgeou. 

Fort  Snelling,  Minn.,  one  surgeon. 

Fort  Ripley,  Minn.,  one  acting  assistant  surgeon. 

Fort  Abercrombie,  Dak.,  one  acting  assistant  surgeon. 

Fort  Seward,  Dak.,  one  acting  assistant  surgeon. 

Fort  Wads  worth.  Dak.,  one  acting  assistant  surgeon. 

Fort  Totten,  Dak.,  one  acting  assistant  surgeon. 

Fort  Pembina,  Dak.,  one  assistant  surgeon. 

Fort  Shaw,  Mont.,  two  acting  assistant  surgeons. 

Fort  Ellis,  Mont.,  one  assistant  and  two  acting  assistant  surgeons. 

Fort  Benton,  Mont.,  one  assist-tint  snrgeon. 

Camp  Baker,  Mont.,  one  acting  assistant  surgeon. 

Fort  Buford,  Dak.,  one  assistant  and  one  acting  assistant  surgeon. 

Fort  A.  Lincoln,  Dak,,  two  acting  assistant  snrgeons. 

Fort  Stevenson,  Dak.,  two  acting  assistant  surgeons. 

Fort  Rice,  Dak.,  one  assistant  and  one  acting  assistant  surgeon. 

Cheyenne  Agency,  Dak.,  one  acting  assistant  surgeon. 

Fort  Sully,  Dak.,  one  snrgeon  and  one  acting  assistant  snrgeon. 

Grand  River  Agencv,  Dak.,  one  acting  assistant  surgeon. 

Camp  Hancock,  Dak.,  one  acting  assistant  surgeon. 

Fort  Randall,  Dak.,  one  surgeon,  one  assistant  and  one  acting  assistant  surgeon. 

Bml^  Agency,  Dak.,  one  acting  assistant  surgeon. 

Omaha  Barracks,  Nebr.,  one  surgeon  and  one  acting  assistant  surgeon. 

Fort  McPherson,  Nebr.,  two  acting  assistant  surgeons. 

North  Platte  Station,  Nebr.,  one  acting  assistant  surgeon. 

Sidney  Barracks,  Nebr.,  one  assistant  surgeon. 

Fort  D.  A.  Russell,  Wyo.,  one  surgeon  and  one  acting  assistant  snrgeon. 

Cheyenne  Depot,  Wyo.,  one  acting  assistant  sargeon. 

Fort  Sanders,  Wyo.,  one  assistant- snrgeon. 

20  M  E 


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306  REDUCTION   OF   THE    MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT. 

Fort  Brirlger,  Wyo.,  one  assistant  sargeon. 
Fort  Fred  Steele,  Wyo.,  one  assistant  sargeon. 
Camp  Stambangby  Wyo.,  one  acting  assistant  surgeon. 
Camp  Brown,  Wyo.,  one  acting  assistant  surgeon. 
Fort  Laramie,  Wyo.,  one  assistant  and  one  acting  assistant  sargeon. 
Saint  Paul,  Minn.,  one  surgeon  and  two  acting  assistant  surgeous. 
Fort  Fetterman,  Wyo.,  one  assistant  sargeon. 

Camp  Douglas,  Utab,  one  surgeon  and  one  acting  assistant  surgeon. 
Post  of  Beaver,  Utah,  one  assistant  and  one  acting  assistant  surgeon. 
Fort  Dodge,  Kans.,  one  assistant  and  two  acting  assistant  surgeons. 
Fort  Hays,  Kans.,  one  assistant  and  two  acting  assistant  surgeons. 
Fort  Larned,  Kans.,  one  assistant  and  one  acting  assistant  surgeon. 
Foit  Leavenworth,  Kans.,  one  surgeon  and  two  acting  assistant  surgeons. 
Fort  Lyon,  Colo.,  one  assistant  surgeon  and  one  acting  assistant  surgeon. 
Fort  Riley,  Colo.,  cme  assistant  surgeon  and  one  acting  assistant  surgeon.    . 
Camp  Supply,  Idaho,  one  assistant  surgeon  and  two  acting  assistant  surgeons. 
Fort  Wallace,  Kans.,  one  acting  assistant  surgeon. 

Fort  Bayard,  N.  Mex.,  one  assistant  surgeon  and  one  acting  assistant  surgeon. 
Fort  Craig,  N.  Mex.,  one  acting  assistant  surgeon. 
Fort  Garland,  N.  Mex.,  one  acting  assistant  surgeon. 
Fort  McRae,  N.  Mex.,  one  acting  assistant  surgeon. 
Fort  Selden,  N.  Mex.,  one  assistant  surgeon. 
Santa  F6,  N.  Mex.,  one  surgeon. 
Fort  Stanton,  N.  Mex.,  two  acting  assistant  surgeons. 
Fort  Tulerosa,  N.  Mex.,  one  acting  assistant  surgeon. 
Fort  Union,  N.  Mex.,  one  assistant  surgeon. 

Fort  Wingate,  N.  Mex.,  one  assistant  and  one  acting  assistant  surgeon. 
Saint  Louis  Arsenal,  Mo.,  one  acting  assistant  surgeon. 
Saint  Louis  Depot,  Mo.,  one  surgeon  and  one  acting  assistant  surgeon. 
Austin.  Tex.,  one  assistant  surgeon. 
Fort  Bliss,  Tex.,  one  acting  assistant  surgeon. 
Fort  Brown,  Tex.,  one  assistant  and  one  acting  assistant  surgeon. 
Fort  Clark,  Tex.,  one  surgeon,  one  assistant,  and  two  acting  assistant  Burgeons. 
Fort  Concho,  Tex.,  one  assistant  and  two  acting  assistant  surgeons. 
Fort  Davis,  Tex.,  one  assistant  surgeon. 

Fort  Duncan,  Tex.,  one  assistant  and  two  acting  assistant  surgeons. 
Fort  Gibson,  Tex.,  one  acting  assistant  surgeon. 
Fort  Griffin,  Tex.,  one  assistant  and  two  acting  assistant  surgeons. 
Fort  Mcintosh,  Tex.,  one  acting  assistant  surgeon. 
San  Antonio,  Tex.,  one  surgeon. 

Fort  McKavett,  Tex.,  one  assistant  and  two  acting  assistant  surgeons. 
Fort  Quitman,  Tex.,  one  acting  assistant  surgeon. 

Fort  Richardson,  Tex.,  one  assistant  surgeon  and  one  acting  assistant* surgeon. 
Fort  Sill,  Ind.  T.,  one  assistant  and  one  acting  assistant  surgeon. 
Fort  Stockton,  Tex.,  one  acting  assistant  surgeon. 

Ringgold  Barracks,  Tex.,  one  assistant  surgeon  and  one  acting  assistant  surgeon. 
Camp  Apache,  Ariz.,  one  assistant  and  one  acting  assistant  surgeon. 
Camp  Beale's  Springs,  Ariz.,  one  acting  assistant  surgeon. 
Camp  Bowie,  Ariz.,  one  acting  assistant  surgeon. 

Camp  Grant,  Ariz.,  one  assistant  surgeon  and  one  acting  assistant  surgeon. 
Camp  Lowell,  Ariz.,  one  assistant  surgeon  and  one  acting  assistant  suiigeon. 
Camp  McDowell,  Ariz.,  one  acting  assistant  surgeon. 
Camp  Mojave,  Ariz.,  one  acting  assistant  surgeon. 
Fort  Whipple,  Ariz.,  one  acting  assistant  surgeon. 
Fort  Yuma,  Cal.,  one  assistant  surgeon. 
Rio  Verde  reserve,  Ariz.,  one  acting  assistant  surgeon. 
Camp  Verde,  Ariz.,  one  acting  assistant  surgeon. 
Rio  Colorado  reserve,  Ariz.,  one  acting  assistant  sargeon. 
San  Carlos  Indian  reserve,  Ariz.,  one  acting  assistant  surgeon. 
Presidio  San  Francisco,  Cal.,  one  surgeon  and  one  acting  assistant  surgeon. 
Alcatraz  Island,  Cal.,  one  acting  assistant  surgeon. 
Point  San  Jos^,  Cal.,  one  assistant  surgeon. 
Benicia  Barracks,  Cal.,  one  acting  assistant  surgeon. 
Camp  Bid  well,  Cal.,  one  acting  assistant  surgeon. 
Camp  Wright,  Cal.,  one  acting  assistant  surgeon. 
.    Camp  Independence,  Cal.,  one  assistant  surgeon. 
Camp  Halleck,  Nov.,  one  acting  assistant  surgeon. 
Camp  McDermott,  Nev.,  one  acting  assistant  sargeon. 
Foit  Hall,  Idaho,  one  acting  assistant  surgeon. 
Camp  Gaston,  Cal.,  one  acting  assistant  surgeon. 


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REDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT.  307 

ADgel  Island,  Cal.,  one  acting  assistant  surgeon. 

Fort  Yanconver,  Wash.,  one  snrgeon  and  one  assistant  snrgeon. 

Fort  Walla- Walla,  Wash.,  one  assistant  and  one  acting  assistant  snrgeon. 

Pneblo,  Colo.,  one  acting  assistant  sargeon. 

Fort  Cape  Disappointment,  Wash.,  one  acting  assistant  sargeon. 

Fort  Bois^,  Idaho,  tine  acting  assistant  sargeon. 

Fort  Colville,  Wash.,  one  acting  assistant  sargeon. 

Fort  Lapwai,  Idaho,  one  acting  assistant  snrgeon. 

Fort  Stevens,  Oreg.,  one  assistant  sargeon. 

Fort  Klamath,  Oreg.,  one  assistant  sargeon  and  one  acting  assistant  snrgeon. 

Camp  Harney,  Oreg.,  one  assistant  and  one  acting  assistant  snrgeon. 

Camp  San  Juan  Island,  Wash.,  one  acting  assistant  sargeon. 

Camp  Warner,  Oreg.,  one  assistant  sargeon. 

Sitka,  Alaska,  one  assistant  and  two  acting  assistant  snrgeons. 

Sioux  City,  Iowa,  one  acting  assistant  sargeon. 


Washington,  D.  C,  February  14,  1874. 

Innpector-General  R.  B.  Marcy,  United  States  Army,  exatniued. 

The  Chairman.  State  whether  the  Dumber  of  officers  aad  employes 
in  your  department  could  be  reduced  with  advantage  to  the  Govern- 
ment and  to  the  Army. 

General  IVLarcy.  I  think  not,  for  the  following  reasons : 

The  duties  of  the  officers  of  this  department  extend  to  every  branch 
of  military  affairs,  comprising  th6  inspection  of  troops,  posts,  depots, 
arsenals,  camps,  supplies,  &c.;  the  inspection  of  the  accounts  and  pub- 
lic property  of  disbursing  and  other  officers ;  and  investigations  into 
military  administration,  discipline,  &c. 

Under  the  existing  system  the  five  inspectors* general  receive  their 
orders  and  perform  their  duties  under  the  exclusive  control  of  the  Sec- 
retary of  War  and  the  General  of  the  Army,  The  three  assistant  in- 
spectors-general are  attached  to  the  headquarters  of  three  military 
divisions,  and  receive  their  orders  from  the  commanders  of  those  divis- 
ions. The  ot.ier  division-commander  and  the  department-commanders 
are  supplied  with  acting  assistant  inspectors-general  by  details  from 
the  line. 

I  am  at  the  head  of  the  department,  and  all  the  reports  of  the  in- 
X)ectors-general  are  carefully  examined  by  me,  and  extracts  of  all  mat- 
ters that  are  important  for  the  Secretary  of  War,  the  General  of  the 
Army,  or  the  heads  of  the  different  bureaus  to  know  are  made  and 
furnished  those  officers. 

Inspectors-General  Sacket,  Schriver,  Davis,  and  Hardie,  during  the 
autumn  of  1872  and  the  winter  of  1872-73,  made  thorough  inspections 
of  the  departments  of  the  South,  the  Missouri,  and  the  Gulf,  and  part 
of  Texas  ^  and  in  the  summer  of  1873  they  inspected  the  departments  of 
Arizona,  Texas,  Dakota,  and  the  Columbia.   * 

This  laborious  service  involved  many  thousand  miles  of  wagon- 
travel,  and  embraced  one  hundred  and  seventeen  different  and  widely- 
dispersed  military  posts,  occupying  each  officer  from  seven  to  nine 
months.  • 

Inspector-General  Hardie  was  engaged  for  a  considerable  time  in  in- 
vestigating war-claims  in  Montana.  He  also,  at  the  request  of  General 
Scholeld,  performed  certain  inspection  duties  at  the  lava-beds  during 
the  Modoc  troubles. 

The  reports  from  the  assistant  and  acting  assistant  inspectors-general 
show  that  they  have  been  actively  and  usefully  occupied  in  inspection 
duties. 


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308  REDUCTION    OF    THE    MILITARY    ESTABLISHMENT. 

Wheu  an  inspector  is  sent  out  to  inspect  a  department,  be  is  directed 
to  call  upon  the  commander  of  that  department  and  siscertaia  if  he 
wishes  him  to  investigate  any  special  matter  within  his  command.  If 
so,  he  reports  the  results  directly  to  that  officer. 

Major  Ludington,  the  junior  officer  of  the  department,  is  now  absent 
in  Europe  on  account  of  ill4iealth. 

Our  inspections  during  the  past  j'ear  have  been  very  thorough,  and 
tliey  have  disclosed  some  irregularities  which  perhaps  would  not  other- 
wise have  been  brought  to  light. 

The  system  of  periodical  inspections  of  disbursing  officers'  accoants^ 
introduced  by  the  Secretary  of  War  in  1872,  is  similar  to  that  con- 
tained in  the  bill  recently  introduced  into  the  House  by  the  chairman  of 
the  Military  Committee. 

From  what  I  have  stated  it  will  be  seen  that  the  officers  of  the  In- 
spector-General's Department  have  been  constantly  and  arduously  occu- 
pied in  the  performance  of  their  multifarious  duties.  I  do  not,  there- 
fore, see  how  the  number  could  be  reduced  with  any  advantage  to  the 
Government  or  the  service. 

Question.  Have  you  any  suggestions  to  make  as  to  a  more  economi- 
cal management  of  the  Army  in  any  of  its  branches  f  If  so,  please 
state  them. 

Answer.  I  have  thought  that  if  a  material  reduction  in  the  expenses 
of  the  Army  is  absolutely  necessary,  that  some  of  the  civil  employes 
might  be  dispensed  wdth,  provided  soldiers  are  detailed  on  extra  duty 
to  perform  the  same  service.  Indeed,  this  is  precisely  what  is  now 
being  done  under  the  orders  of  the  Secretary  of  War,  but  this  of  course 
diminishes  the  strength  of  the  Army  for  military  duty. 

Question.  Do  you  think  the  number  of  officers  and  men  of  the  Army 
could  be  reduced  with  advantage? 

Answer.  The  necessity  for  the  ])rotection  of  our  extended  frontier 
settlements  against  Indian  depredations,  and  the  vast  mining  interests 
involved,  as  well  as  the  present  threatening  attitude  of  some  of  the  In- 
dian tribes — for  instance.  Red  Cloud's  band  of  Sioux,  which  is  very  nu- 
merous, and  theKiowas,  who  are  supposed  to  be  anything  but  friendly 
at  this  time — all,  in  my  judgment,  conduce  to  render  it  unsafe  to  make 
any  material  reduction  in  the  Army. 

I  am  somewhat  familiar  with  the  marauding  propensities  of  tbe 
Kiowas,  Comanches,  and  other  kindred  tribes  in  the  southwest,  and 
have  witnessed  some  of  the  results  of  their  fiendish  barbarities.  For 
example,  in  1849,  I  made  a  road  through  the  country  embracing 
the  head  tributaries  of  the  Colorado,  Brazos,  and  Trinity  Rivers,  iu 
Texas;  as  rich  and  beautiful  an  agricultural  section  for  three  hundred 
miles  as  the  sun  ever  shone  upon ;  and  shortly  afterwards  military  posti< 
were  established  along  this  road,  and  farmers  flocked  there  so  rapidlr 
that  when  I  left  it  in  1854,  a  good  part  of  the  country  was  quite  well 
settled  up.  But  when  I  last  passed  over  this  section  in  1871,  to  my 
astonishment  I  found  it  depopulated,  the  settlers  having  been  murdered 
or  driven  away  by  the  Indians  above  mentioned. 

Question.  Is  that  portion  of  the  Army  which  is  stationed  on  the  lakes, 
the  Atlantic  sea-board,  and  the  South  needed  there  in  as  large  numbers! 

Answer.  That  is  a  delicate  question  for  me  to  answer,  as  this  niattei 
is  within  the  exclusive  control  of  superior  authority;  there  seems,  how- 
ever, to  be  no  impropriety  in  my  stating  that  the  artillery  regiments 
generally  occupying  the  sea-board  fortifications  in  time  of  peace,  keep- 
ing them  in  repair,  protecting  public  property,  &c.,  and  they  are  now. 


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REDUCTION    OF   THE    MIl.ITAKY    ESTABLISHMENT.  309 

as  tlu*y  always  have  been,  a\ailable  for  oni*  ludiaii  and  other  wars,  in 
which  they  have  performed  conspicuous  service. 

The  troops  garrisoning  the  lake  posts  doubtless  exercise  a  salutary 
influence  in  restraining  the  tendencies  of  lawless  border  citizens,  and 
thereby  avert  international  complications.  Although  but  one  infantry 
regiment  now  occupies  those  posts,  I  have  yet  to  see  the  first  officer  of 
any  other  regiment  of  this  arm  who  is  not  constantly  looking  forward 
to  the  time  when  his  regiment  may  be  relieved  from  the  rough  service 
and  hardships  incident  to  army  life  at  more  distant  frontier  posts,  and 
be  permitted  to  garrison  the  lake  stations  for  a  year  or  two. 

These  posts  afil^brd  healthy  and  economical  places  of  respite  and  re- 
cuperation from  hard  frontier  service  or  long  exposure  to  the  debilitat- 
ing eflects  of  malarious  southern  climates. 

Question.  If  the  Army  is  to  be  reduced  would  you  reduce  it  simply  in 
number  of  men,  or  would  you  reduce  it  likewise  in  officers  and  in  organ- 
izations ? 

Answer.  I  would  reduce  the  number  of  enlisted  men  only,  and  retain 
the  skeleton  organizations,  so  that  in  case  it  became  necessary  the  forces 
could  easily  be  supplemented  and  soon  made  effective. 

Question.  Do  you  think  it  practicable  and  advisable  to  reduce  the 
number  of  permanent  officers  on  the  staffs,  and  till  their  places  by  de- 
tail from  the  line  ? 

Answer.  Under  the  act  of.  1869  most  of  the  staffs-corps  are  now  be- 
ing materially  reduced  by  casualties,  and  some  of  the  vacancies  in  the 
lower  grades  might  advantageously  be  filled  by  periodical  details  from 
the  line,  which  would  instruct  a  good  many  young  officers  in  staff  du- 
ties and  render  them  available  for  extensive  military  operations  in  time 
of  war,  but  the  officers  in  the  higher  grades  should  have  matured  experi- 
ence in  their  special  branches  of  service. 

Question.  What  would  you  think  of  adopting  a  system  of  having  a 
chief  of  artillery,  a  chief  of  infantry,  and  a  chief  of  cavalry,  in  addi- 
tion to  the  present  stiiff',  subject  to  the  direction  of  the  Inspector-Gen- 
eral f 

Answer.  I  do  not  think  it  would  be  well  to  place  them  under  the 
orders  of  the  Inspector-General,  but  if  they  were  made  subject  to  the 
control  of  the  General  in-Chief,  I  think  the  system  might  prove  advan- 
tageous, as  all  the  different  arms  of  service  would  then  have*a  represent- 
ation at  the  headquarters  of  the  Army.  I  would  not,  however,  think 
it  wise  to  attach  them  permanently  to  the  staff,  but  I  would  detail  them 
jieriodically  from  the  regiments,  which  would  hold  out  encouragement  to 
other  officers  to  qualify  themselves  for  the  details. 

So  far  as  a  reduction  of  officers  now  holding  position  in  the  staff- 
corps  is  concerned,  the  results  of  my  own  observation  and  the  reports 
of  other  inspectors  go  to  show  that  their  time  is  fully  occupied  in  the 
performance  of  their  duties.  If,  therefore,  any  reduction  is  made  in  the 
number  of  these  officers,  the  work  necessarily  imposed  upon  those  re- 
maining would  be  too  burdensome. 

Question.  State  the  mode  of  advertising  in  the  Quartermastei's  and 
Commissary  Departments. 

Answer.  Whenever  officers  of  these  departments  deem  it  necessary  or 
advisable  to  advertise  in  newspapers,  they  forward  through  the  heads 
of  their  departments  to  the  chief  clerk  of  the  War  Department  two 
copies  of  the  proposed  advertisement,  requesting  authority  to  publish 
the  same,  and  stating  in  what  papers  among  those  on  the  official  list  of 
the  Department  they  should  be  published.  Generally  six  consecutive 
insertions  are  allowed  in  a  daily,  or  four  in  a  weekly  newspjiper.    All 


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310  REDUCTION    OF    THE    MILITARY    ESTABLISHMENT. 

bills  for  advertising  have  to  be  submitted  to  the  Secretary  of  War  for 
approval  prior  to  being  paid,  and  copies  of  the  letters  from  the  War 
Department  authorizing  the  advertising  to  be  done  must  also  accom- 
pany the  account.  The  Secretary  of  War  designates  the  newspapers  in 
which  the  advertising  is  to  be  done. 

Question.  State  whether  in  your  judgment,  the  compensation  of  offi- 
cers should  be  a  fixed  sum  provided  by  law,  or  is  the  present  system  of 
separate  allowances  for  quarters,  fuel,  and  forage,  the  best  ? 

Answer.  In  my  judgment,  a  fixed  money  allowance  to  Army  officers, 
in  lieu  of  quarters,  fuel,  and  forage  would  prove  unwise,  as  it  could  have 
only  a  partial  practical  application. 

For  example :  Officers  stationed  in  cities  would  be  obliged  to  rent 
quarters  and  purchase  fuel  and  forage ;  whereas,  other  officers  of  like 
grades  and  pay  at  frontier  posts,  where  there  are  no  private  houses,  or 
.no  settlements  near,  would  not  be  able  to  rent  quarters,  neither  could 
they  from  their  pay  well  afford  to  purchase  fuel  and  forage  at  the  enor- 
mous rates  paid  at  many  of  our  remote  posts. 

The  Government  would,  therefore,  be  compelled  to  provide  tbe«e  offi- 
cers with  quarters,  and  with  forage  if  their  horses  are  to  be  kept  in  con- 
dition for  active  field  service.  The  aggregate  of  the  pay  and  allowances 
of  these  officers  would  consequently  be  materially  greater  than  the  pay 
of  the  othei^a. 

The  great  variation  of  prices  in  different  localities  would  also  cause  a 
money  commutation  allowance  to  work  very  unequally.  In  view  of 
what  I  have  stated,  I  deem  the  existing  system  as  the  most  just  and 
equitable  that  can  be  devised.  I  remark  in  this  connection  that  Army 
officers  do  not  regard  these  allowances  as  emoluments,  but  as  articles 
to  be  used  or  consumed  by  them  personally. 

Question.  Do  you  think  there  can  be  any  saving  to  the  Government 
by  fixing  th^  mileage  of  officers,  say  at  actual  expenses,  instead  of  10 
cents  a  mile  ? 

Answer.  If  I  were  ordered  to  New  York  city  to-day  and  back  to-mor- 
row, my  railroad  fare  would  be  less  than  10  cents  a  mile,  but  upon  some 
stage-lines  in  the  West  the  fare  is  more  than  that.  Should  the  change  be 
made,  and  only  actual  traveling-expenses  be  allowed,  which,  by  the  ruling 
of  the  Treasury  Department,  only  means  actual  fares  upon  railroads, 
&c.,  the  officers  would  be  considerably  out  of  pocket  at  the  end  of  every 
long  journey.  This  would  be  particularly  hani  upon  inspectors-general, 
for  example,  who  often  have  to  leave  their  families  and  travel  six  months 
at  a  time,  during  which  they  have  to  pay  four  or  five  dollars  a  day  for 
board,  lodging,  porterage,  &c. ;  whereas,  if  they  were  stationary,  they 
would  be  nearly  exempt  from  such  expenditures.  If  all  the  necessary 
extra  expenses  incident  to  the  journeys  were  allowed,  such  as  board  and 
lodging,  the  officers  would,  I  think,  be  satisfied ;  but  officers  who  are 
compelled,  like  those  of  my  Bureau,  to  travel  at  least  six  months  every 
year,  if  they  had  no  other  allowance  but  actual  fare  upon  transporta- 
tion-lines, would  probably  be  out  of  pocket  at  the  end  of  each  year  20 
per  cent,  of  their  pay. 

Question.  If  a  certain  number  of  regiments,  say  five  or  six,  are  to  be 
dispensed  with  and  the  regiments  consolidated  with  others,  would  yon 
advise  a  system  of  mustering  out  those  officers,  or  of  consolidation,  by 
which  they  could  be  assigned  to  duty  with  existing  regiments? 

Answer.  I  would  not  think  it  advisable  to  muster  out  the  officers  for 
the  reason  that  constant  useful  occupation  can  be  found  for  them  in  the 
event  of  the  indicated  consolidation,  and  the  ordinary  casualties  would 
soon  absorb  them  into  the  remaining  regiments. 


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REDUCTION    OF   THE   MILITARY    ESTABLISHMENT.  311 

Owing  to  the  numerous  details  of  line  officers  for  various  detached 
services,  such  as  courts-martial,  recruiting  service,  staff  duties,  &c., 
Duiitary  posts  and  companies  are  often  deficient  in  a  proper  complement 
of  commissioned  officers.  I  have  rarely  found  more  than  two  officers 
with  a  company,  and  posts  garrisoned  by  two  companies  occasionally 
have  but  one  or  two  officers  present  for  duty,  which,  of  course,  sensibly 
impairs  discipline  and  efficiency. 

The  officers  of  our  present  Army  are  for  the  most  part  men  of  enlarged 
military  experience,  and  if  they  were  disbanded  it  would  be  difficult  to 
fill  their  places ;  besides,  the  moral  tone  of  these  gentlemen  has  been  ele- 
vated by  the  expulsion  from  the  service  of  those  who  were  appointed 
after  the  late  war  and  did  not  prove  worthy . 

Question.  Gould  anything  be  gained  by  limiting  the  number  of  grad- 
uates of  the  Military  Academy  who  go  into  the  service  ? 

Answer.  I  think  not.  The  casualties  of  service,  even  should  the  Army 
be  reduced  as  indicated,  would  be  sufficient  to  provide  for  all  the  West 
Point  graduates.  Reducing  the  number  to  be  retained  in  service  would 
leave  more  vacancies  to  be  filled  from  civil  life  and  from  the  rank  and 
file  of  the  Army,  but  I  doubt  if  this  would  compensate  for  the  loss  to 
the  Government  of  the  services  of  the  young  men  who  have  received  a 
thorough  military  training  eminently  qualifying  them  for  the  duties  of 
commissioned  officers.  Besides,  I  am  of  opinion  that  the  hope  of  enter- 
ing the  Army  after  graduating  is  the  chief  incentive  to  emulation  in  the 
corps  of  cadets,  and  if  this  prospect  is  taken  from  a  portion  of  them,  it 
would  inevitably  prove  highly  damaging  to  the  future  utility  of  the  Mili- 
tary Academy. 


Washington,  D.  C,  Febrvary  14, 1874. 

Gen.  Benjamin  Alvord,  Paymaster-General,  appeared  before  the 
committee. 

The  Chairman.  State  whether  you  can  suggest  any  reforms  that 
could  be  made  in  your  office  by  which  the  Government  would  save  money. 

General  Alvord.  The  proposition  of  Mr.  William  Williams  for  a 
change  in  the  organization  of  the  clerical  force  of  my  office  was  shown 
to  me,  and  the  printed  document  containing  the  programme  was  com- 
pared with  some  data  that  I  sent  to  him  calling  for  less  expenditure 
than  bis  original  bill.  I  have  not  seen  the  new  report  that  he  has  made 
since.  The  proposition  that  I  made  was  in  regard  to  changing  the  num- 
ber of  the  grades  and  the  number  of  clerks  in  each  grade,  and  the  num- 
ber of  employes  lower  than  the  clerks,  such  as  watchmen,  laborers,  &c. 
I  have  not  my  memoranda  with  me,  and  cannot  speak  more  definitely 
upon  the  subject.  There  are  several  enlisted  men  that  are  changed  to 
messengers  by  the  programme. 

The  Chairman.  Do  you  need  all  the  messengers  that  you  have  in 
your  office  f 

General  Alvord.  They  are  all  of  them  actively  employed  and  needed 
for  prompt  dispatch  of  public  business. 

The  Chairman.  Do  the  paymasters  at  posts  need  all  the  messengers 
they  have  f 

General  Alvord.  Yes ;  in  each  city  there  is  one  messenger  employed 
by  each  chief  paymaster,  a  single  messenger,  who  is  quite  essential  in 


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312  REDUCTION    OF    THE    MILITARY    ESTABLISHMENT. 

the  discharge  of  the  duties  of  the  various  paymasters  iu  obtaining  the 
mail,  taking  it  to  the  office,  sending  to  the  banks,  and  to  aid  in  move- 
ment of  funds  and  securing  promptitude  in  the  transaction  of  busine^ 
and  in  sending  information  to  other  offices  in  the  city. 

The  Chairman.  State  whether  there  are  laborers  euj ployed  as  porters 
who  have  very  little  to  do  in  your  department. 

General  Alvord.  I  do  not  know  of  any.  The  messenger  performs 
the  duty  of  a  porter  connected  with  the  city  offices. 

The  Chairman.  State  how  many  paymasters  are  now  on  duty  in  your 
department. 

General  Alvord.  There  are  forty-four  paymasters  and  two  assistant 
paymaster-generals.  There  are  two  deputy  paymaster  generals  vacant, 
by  the  death  of  one  and  the  retirement  of  the  other.  Of  the  whole 
number  only  one  is  absent,  sick.  He  has  been  ordered  before  a  retiring 
board  in  New  York  to  be  examined  for  retirement. 

The  Chairman.  State  whether  there  is  a  sufficient  number  of  pay- 
masters now  on  duty. 

General  Alvord.  There  is  not  a  sufficient  number. 

The  Chairman.  Give  your  reasons,  if  you  please. 

General  Alvord.  The  service  is  so  arduous  iu  Texas,  Arizona,  New 
Mexico,  Oregon,  and  California,  there  is  great  want  of  more  paymasters. 
The  chief  paymaster  in  Oregon  resigned  last  September,  and  I  could 
not  obtain  anybody  to  take  his  place.  The  paymasters  in  Oregon  have 
very  heavy  duty,  traveling  to  Forts  Colville  and  Boise  and  Camp  War- 
ner, &c.  In  California  the  duties  of  pay  master  are  excessively  severe.  I 
know  one  that  has  made  trips  every  two  months  to  Northern  California,  in 
the  interior,  back  of  Humboldt  Bay,  with  great  labor  and  exposure  ;  then 
he  had  to  go  down  on  the  Union  Pacific  liailroad  to  Eeno,and  two  hundred 
and  eighty-seven  milessouth  of  that  to  Camp  Independence ;  then  back  to 
the  railroad  and  to  Fort  McDermitt,  north,  near  the  Oregon  line;  then 
back  from  that  to  the  railroad  and  to  Kelton,  on  the  Union  Pacific  Rail- 
road ;  and  thence  northeast  to  Fort  Ilall,  in  Idado;  thence  back  to  San 
Francisco.  He  did  all  that  every  two  months,  with  occasionally  a 
partial  relief.  As  for  Arizona  the  climate  and  exposure  are  such  that 
the  paymasters  ought  to  be  changed  often.  I  effected  a  change  last 
summer  for  one  officer,  who  had  been  several  years  on  duty  there,  with 
great  satisfaction.  1  had  an  application  from  another  officer,  indorsed 
favorably  by  General  Schofield  and  by  the  chief  paymaster  there,  but  I 
cannot  give  relief  to  him  because  there  is  nobody  to  send  to  till  his  place. 
You  must  bear  in  mind  that  to  give  this  relief  it  often  requires  some- 
body to  take  the  place  of  the  officer  sent,  and  we  have  not  enough  to 
accomplish  the  duty  of  exchange. 

The  Chairman.  How  many  i)aymaster8  have  you  in  New  York  City  t 

General  Alvord.  There  are  three  besides  Colonel  Brown,  assistant 
paymaster-general. 

The  Chairman.  How  many  have  you  here  ? 

General  Alvord.  There  are  three  here.  I  should  say  that  one  ot 
those  in  New  York,  Major  Halsey,  was  sick,  and  reduced  by  disease,  but 
he  applied  to  go  on  duty,  and  has  been  placed  in  New  \"ork,  but  I  do 
not  think  he  can  do  much.  There  are  in  the  whole  department  but 
three  sick,  and  one  severely  injured  three  weeks  since  by  a  fall  on  the 
ice,  which  is  a  small  number  compared  with  what  might  be  expected. 

The  Chairman.  Could  not  those  do  duty  in  the  field  1 

General  Alvord.  There  are  three  that  cannot. 

The  Chairman,  How  many  paymasters  have  yon  in  Chicago! 


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REDUCTION    OP    THE    MILITARY    ESTABLISHMENT.  313 

General  Alvord.  One. 
The  Chairman.  How  many  in  Louisville ! 

General  Alvord.  One  assistant  paymaster-general  and  two  paymas- 
ters. They  have  to  travel  through  the  entire  South.  I  have  had  to 
redace  the  paymasters  at  points  formerly  occupied  by  them,  and  where 
there  still  ought  to  be  one.  There  is  not  one  at  Saint  Louis,  that  great 
center  where  officers  often  want  pay,  and  discharged  soldiers. 
The  Chairman.  How  many  at  Leavenworth  f 

General  Alvord.  There  are  more  at  Leavenworth,  as  that  is  tho 
headquarters  of  the  Department  of  the  Missouri.  There  are  two  there. 
Major  Brock  and  Major  Veddre,  besides  Major  Hunt,  chief  paymaster. 
The  latter,  ten  days  ago,  had  a  fall  on  the  ice,  to  which  I  referred  above, 
and  the  accounts  are  very  unfavorable  for  his  recovery.  A  paymaster 
has  been  detached  from  Omaha  to  take  his  place. 

The  Chairman.  How  many  are  on  duty  at  Omaha  ? 

General  Alvord.  Only  one.  Major  Smith.  There  are  others  in  that 
department — one  at  Cheyenne  and  one  at  Salt  Lake  City — but  in  the 
city  of  Omaha  there  is  only  one.  We  should  have  another  there  for 
payment  of  the  detachments  north  and  south  of  the  railroad.  In  the 
spring  it  is  absolutely  necessary.  In  the  dead  of  winter  I  have  moved 
Major  Terrell  and  put  him  temporarily  at  Leavenworth,  though  he  will 
be  wanted  in  Omaha  in  the  spring.  Every  spring  there  are  detached 
camps  sent  out  for  the  protection  of  the  remote  settlements.  They  are 
pushing  settlements  in  Nebraska  southwesterly  and  northwesterly.  The 
commanding  general  puts  troops  in  front  of  the  new  settlers,  and  there 
the  troops  must  be  paid.  The  language  above  used,  that  I  moved  Major 
Terrell  temporarily  to  Leavenworth,  requires  qualification.  I  recom- 
mended his  removal  to  the  Secretary  of  War,  from  whose  office  the  or- 
ders proceed.  Such  is  the  present  system.  The  paymasters  are  not 
ordered  from. stations  by  my  orders,  but  I  make  recommendations  as  to 
such  movements  from  one  department  to  another.  Within  the  depart- 
ment each  department  commander  moves  him  at  will. 

The  Chairman.  In  your  opinion  what  number  is  needed  to  fill  up 
yonr  corps  so  as  to  have  it  sufficient  for  the  present  Army  f 

General  Alvord.  Preserving  the  organization  as  it  is,  I  believe  that 
there  should  be  fifty-two  paymasters  of  the  rank  of  major,  two  assistant 
paymaster-generals  of  the  rank  of  colonel,  and  two  deputy  paymaster- 
generals  of  the  rank  of  lieutenant-colonel,  besides  myself.  This  force  is 
needed  owing  to  the  geographical  distribution  of  troops,  without  refer- 
ence to  the  number  of  rank  and  file.  If  that  should  be  reduced,  the 
number  cannot  be  materially  changed,  because  they  would  be  scattered 
Just  as  they  are  now.  The  stations  must  be  kept  up,  and  the  necessities 
of  the  Pay  Department  will  be  just  as  urgent,  unless  we  should  return 
New  Mexico  and  Arizona  to  Mexico,  as  General  Sherman  proposed. 

The  Chairman.  Can  your  paymasters  dispense  with  any  clerks  ? 

General  Alvord.  Each  has  one  clerk,  and  he  is  indispensable.  The 
chief  paymasters  occasionally  have  received  permission  to  have  an 
extra  clerk  at  department  headquarters. 

The  Ohaibman.  Please  state  the  number  of  clerks,  &c.,  that  are 
needed  in  your  department,  and  their  classes. 

General  Alvord.  The  following  is  my  recommendation,  and  is  the 
number  actually  needed  for  the  public  business : 

1  chief  clerk $2, 600 

2  clerks  of  class  five,  at  $2,000 4,000 

5  clerks  of  class  four,  at  $1,800 9, 000 

8  clerks  of  class  three,at  $1,600 12, 800 


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314  REDUCTION   OF   THE    MILITARY    ESTABLISHMENT. 

•21  clerks  of  class  two,  at  $1,400 $29, 400 

1 12  clerks  of  class  oue,  at  $1,200 14, 400 

1  messenger,  at  $1,000 1, 000 

4  assistant  messengers,  at  $840 3, 360 

5  watchmen,  at  $720 3, 600 

2  laborers,  at  $720 1,440 

61  81,500 

The  Chairman.  Please  stato  whether  if  the  Array  is  reduced,  say, 
five  thousand  men,  and  a  proportionate  number  of  officers  and  or^niza- 
tions,  the  number  of  paymasters  and  officers  of  tbe  Pay  Depart- 
ment that  you  have  mentioned  would  be  necessary  f 

General  Alyord.  I  think  that  the  geographical  distribution  of  the 
troops  must  necessarily  remain  the  same,  considering  the  wants  of  the 
frontier,  and  that  therefore  little  or  no  change  could  be  made  in  the 
number. 

Mr.  GtmcKEL.  Suppose  the  troops  were  withdrawn  from  the  Soath, 
would  not  that  make  a  modification  I 

General  Alyord.  I  do  not  see  how  they  can  be  reduced  tb^e. 
Atlanta  has  already  been  abandoned  as  a  paymaster's  station ;  the  pay- 
master there.  Major  Ganby,  was  a  year  ago  ordered  to  Oregon. 

The  OnAiRMAN.  Suppose  the  troops  are  largely  withdrawn  irom  the 
lakes,  Atlantic  coast,  and  the  South ;  would  not  that  enable  you  to  re- 
duce the  force  f 

General  Alyord.  There  is  but  one  paymai^ter  on  the  lakes,  at  Detroit. 
Unless  you  strip  the  Canadian  frontier  entirely  he  ought  to  stay  there. 

The  Chairman.  Can  you  tell  me  the  number  of  paymasters  in  the 
lake  region  and  along  the  Atlantic  coast  f 

General  Alyord.  In  tbe  Division  of  the  Atlantic,  commanded  by 
Major  General  Hancock,  there  is  one  assistant  paymaster-general,  !N. 
W.  Brown,  and  five  paymasters ;  three  in  New  York,  one  at  Detroit, 
and  one  nominally  at  Philadelphia.  I  say  nominally,  for  M^.  J.  P. 
Bruce  has  had  a  stroke  of  paralysis  and  is  unfit  for  duty. 

The  Chairman.  Please  proceed  south  from  there  along  tbe  Atlantic 
coast ;  what  number  have  you,  reaching  as  far  around  as  New  Orleans  f 

General  Alyord.  In  the  Division  of  the  South,  under  Major-General 
McDowell,  one  assistant  paymaster-general  at  Louisville,  and  two  pay- 
masters ;  one  paymaster  at  Charleston,  S.  C,  and  in  the  Department  of 
tbe  Gulf  two  paymasters  at  New  Orleans. 

The  Chairman.  Does  that  include  all  the  paymasters  in  the  lake 
district,  Atlantic  coast,  and  South,  to  New  Orleans! 

General  Alyord.  It  does. 

The  Chairman.  And  here,  too  f 

General  Alyord.  No  ;  the  paymasters  in  this  city  only  pay  in  the 
District  of  Columbia  and  are  not  under  the  command  of  a  division 
commander.  The  paymasters  of  this  city  have  incessant  labor  and  all 
of  them  work  more  or  less  after  office-hours. 

Mr.  GuNGKEL.  You  say  that  notwithstanding  the  reduction  of  the 
Army  you  would  still  want  about  fifty  paymasters,  or  about  one  to  five 
hundred  men  ;  is  that  necessary  f 

General  Alyord.  If  they  were  concentrated  it  would  be  a  different 
thing. 

*  Three  of  whom  shall  be  temporary. 
t  Two  of  whom  shall  be  temporary. 


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REDUCTION   OF   THE    MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT.  315 

Mr.  MacDougall.  What  is  the  particular  need  of  having  so  many 
paymasters  in  New  York  ! 

General  Alyord.  One  is  stationed  in  the  city  all  the  time  performing 
local  payment,  as  it  is  called,  paying  officers,  discharged  soldiers,  &c.; 
one  goes  to  Fort  Monroe;  another  travels  to  Maine  to  make  payments; 
and  another  goes  to  Sackett's  Harbor,  Plattsburgh,  &c.  But  the  last 
one  is  only  on  duty  at  his  own  request,  as  he  is  sick. 

Mr.  GuNCKEL.  What  is  about  the  average  pay  that  the  Government 
gives  to  a  paymaster,  including  allowances  for  everything ! 

General  Alvord.  That  will  depend  on  the  length  of  service.  The 
salary  increase  terminates  with  twenty  years'  service.  The  majority 
of  the  paymasters  serv^ed  during  the  war  and  since,  so  that  their  ser- 
vice-average would  be  for  about  ten  years'  service,  and  the  pay  of  a 
major  of  ten  years'  service  is  |I250  per  mouth.  That  is  about  as  fair  an 
average  as  I  can  give. 

Mr.  GuNCKEL.  Does  that  include  quarters,  forage,  fuel,  &c.? 

General  Alvord.  No,  sir. 

Mr.  GuNOKEL.  Can  you  average  those  ? 

General  Alvord.  I  suppose  the  average  for  those  allowances  of  the 
Quartermastei^s Department  would  be  about  $110  a  mouth,  as  near  as  I 
can  give  it,  though  that  is  a  rude  conjecture.  That  would  be  about 
$4,320  a  year,  including  everything. 

Mr.  GUNCKEL.  That  would  be  about  $216,000  per  annum  for  the  fifty 
paymasters.  What  I  want  to  ask  is  this :  If  you  had  the  contract  to 
pay  the  Army,  25,000  in  number,  as  it  is  to  be,  and  scattered  as  it  is, 
could  you  not  pay  them  equally  well  for  a  less  9um  than  that  per  year  ! 

General  Alvord.  In  reference  to  that  I  would  say  the  payment  re- 
quires more  than  the  payment  on  one  occasion.  It  requires  an  apparatus 
for  time  of  war,  for  efficiency,  and  a  knowledge  of  the  interpretation  of 
the  laws.  Legislation  has  increased  so  in  reference  to  all  questions 
connected  with  the  Pay  Department  that  it  requires  the  utmost  vigilance 
to  know  what  the  laws  are  and  how  to  interpret  them.  Kew  questions 
arise,  as  they  will  in  the  legal  profession,  every  month  of  our  lives.  I 
mention  this  to  simply  suggest  that  to  execute  the  duty  of  paying  the 
troops  requires  skilled  labor,  mental  application,  high  character  and 
integrity,  which  can  only  be  attained  by  a  corps  of  paymasters  such  as 
have  existed  since  1821.  Prior  to  that,  and  during  the  war  of  1812,  the 
system  of  payment,  if  system  it  could  be  called,  was  bap-hazard.  Some- 
times civilians  were  employed ;  sometimes  company  commanders  paid. 
In  the  war  of  1812  there  were  some  regimental  paymasters,  and  it  was 
fonnd  that  the  percentage  of  loss  to  the  Government  by  defalcations 
and  by  immature  experience  in  the  discharge  of  their  duties  was 
startling.  Gen.  Nathan  Towson,  under  Mr.  Calhoun  as  Seci*etary  of 
War,  devised  the  present  system  of  organization  of  the  Pay  Department, 
giving  rank,  respectability,  and  permanency  to  the  position,  and  it  must 
be  said  that  the  experience  of  half  a  century  has  justified  the  prophecy 
of  Mr.  Calhoun  as  to  the  propriety  of  the  system  adopted.  The  per- 
centage of  loss  during  the  Mexican  and  civil  wars  was  trifling  in  com- 
parison with  the  percentage  of  loss  during  the  war  of  1812,  and  I  have 
given  the  statistics  very  fully  in  the  pamphlet  I  have  handed  you. 
They  were  given  in  answer  to  interrogatories  before  this  committee  in 
the  month  of  March,  1872.  My  opinion  is  that  the  present  system  is 
the  best  and  most  economical  to  the  Government  of  any  that  could  be 
devised. 


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316  REDUCTION    OF    THE    MILITARY    ESTABLISHMENT. 

A  concise  statement  of  these  statistics  is  as  follows: 

DisbiirBemeDts  of  Pay  Department  during  the  civil  war $1 ,  llM), WH), m) 

Ontlay  for  said  disbursements,  including  defalcations,  losses,  ^c ti,UO(l,(K)(i 

Defalcations,  losses,  &g.,  (a  bigh  estimate) 1, 000, 0U(> 

Outlay  during  war  of  181^: 

For  expenses 1.3H  per  centnm. 

Defalcations 2. 9i^  per  centum. 

Total  cost  of  paying  troops,  expenses,  defalcations  and  all  losses 4. 3(5  per  cent,  of 

amount  disbursed  in  tlie  war  of  1812,  and  up  to  1821. 

Ditto  in  civil  war,  less  than  f  of  1  per  cent.,  or  six  times  less. 

Defalcations  and  losses  in  war  of  1812,  about  \.i  per  cent. 

Defalcations  and  losses  in  civil  war,  ^g  of  1  per  cent.,  or  thirty  times  less. 

Mr.  GuNCKEL.  Apply inpf,  then,  the  priuciples  of  every-day  business 
life  to  these  payments,  there  could  be  no  reduction  safely  made,  in  yonr 
opinion  ? 

General  Alvord.  I  think  not.  I  will  say  that  the  members  of  my 
corps,  taking  the  majority  of  them,  are  lit  to  be  bank-presidents  and 
bank-cashiers,  and  to  handle  money.  They  are  men  of  capacity,  men 
who  can  study  the  law  and  make  the  necessary  interpretations  on  ques- 
tions tbat  arise.  Oftentimes  important  and  delicate  questions  come  n]> 
at  remote  points,  and  it  is  necessary  to  decide  them  at  once,  withont 
waiting  to  communicate  with  the  Department  here.  To  know  what  is 
the  law  and  the  last  interpretation  of  the  law,  and  to  execute  the  same 
promptly  and  impartially,  is  the  first  business  of  my  office,  and  of  every 
paymaster.  And  this  is  the  only  way  in  which  the  Treasury  can  be 
properly  guarded. 

Mr.  Gunckel.  How  much  bond  does  each  one  give  ? 

General  Alvord.  They  give  bond  for  $20,000,  and  their  sureties 
justify  to  double  that  amount. 

Mr.  MaoDouoall.  These  payments  to  troops  are  all  Qiade  on  muster- 
rolls,  and  payments  to  officers  on  pay-rolls ;  these  troops  are  all  mus- 
tered by  competent  officers  detailed  for  that  purpose  on  ac;count  of  their 
peculiar  qualifications  for  that  duty,  and  the  paymaster  takes  those 
rolls,  examines  them,  and  pays  on  them.  Does  that  require  a  gre^t 
deal  of  legal  ability  ! 

General  Alvobd.  Those  rolls  are  not  made  out  by  the  company  com- 
mander in  full ;  the  paymaster  has  to  carry  out  the  dollars  and  cents, 
the  amount  due  at  his  desk,  or  before  payment.  The  stoppages  must 
be  deducted,  some  arising  from  courts- martial,  requiring  a  nice  knowl- 
edge of  decisions  of  the  Judge- Advocate  General.  A  large  share  of  the 
payments  are  not  on  rolls,  but  on  individual  vouchers,  as  per  bounty ,  mile- 
age, discharged  soldiers,  &c.  The  phases  of  interpretation  for  payment 
of  bounty  were  multitudinous.  As  late  as  1869  thirty-eight  milHons 
were  disbursed  for  bounty  and  back  pay  alone ;  and  if  you  will  take  a 
copy  of  the  paymaster's  manual,  which  yonr  chairman  has  in  his  pos- 
session, and  the  octavo  volume  of  Second  Comptroller's  Decisions,  you 
will  see  what  an  accumulation  of  decisions  of  the  law-officers  of  the 
(Government,  from  the  Attorney -General  down,  as  well  as  those  of  the 
War  Department,  has  to  be  in  the  mind  of  the  party  who  pays,  or  he 
will  soon  find,  by  disallowances  and  statements  of  differences  from  the 
Auditor  of  the  Treasury,  how  he  will  get  himself  into  trouble. 

Mr.  Gunckel.  Would  you  not  obviate  that  difficulty  by  paying  to 
each  officer  an  amou'nt  that  will  include  everything ;  a  round  sam  in 
dollars  and  cents  ? 

General  Alvord.  The  necessity  for  this  vigilance  and  for  this  office- 
knowledge  could   not  be  avoided,  unless  the  powers  of  Congress  are 


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REDUCTION    OP   THE    MILITARY    ESTABLISHMENT.  317 

abolisbed  aud  we  have  a  Czar  of  Russia  to  give  us  laws.  Tliese  iutri- 
cate  questions  are  inevitable  from  the  continual  changes  of  law.  A 
disregard  of  them  would  be  no  economy,  but  the  reverse.  The  vigi- 
lance exercised  is  needed  to  save  the  Government  from  improper  and 
illegal  payments.  The  Czar  might  start  with  the  '^  round  sum  "  to  each, 
but  to  ^o  himself  justice  he  would  soon  have  to  look  to  the  interpreta- 
tion and  execution  of  his  laws,  or  his  treasury  would  be  depleted. 

M.  MacDougall.  Do  you  not  think  it  possible  to  so  adjust  the  pay 
of  the  Army  that  each  oflicer  would  receive  a  fixed  amount  that  covers 
everything,  doing  away  with  the  commutation  of  rations,  forage  for 
horses,  servants,  fuel,  &c.  ? 

General  Alvord.  The  law  of  1870  has  already  changed  all  that,  and 
there  is  now  a  fixed  basis  of  pay,  as  shown  in  the  table  in  the  Army 
Register.  The  matters  of  fuel,  forage,  and  quarters,  do  not  belong  to 
the  Pay  Department,  but  the  Quartermaster's  Department,  and  we  are 
happily  rid  of  any  of  them. 

Mr.  MacDougall.  1  would  be  glad  to  have  your  opinion,  as  Paymas 
ter-General,  whether  it  would  not  be  well  to  do  away  with  these  allow- 
ances and  fix  the  pay  of  officers,  from  the  general  down,  at  a  certain, 
specific  sum,  and  let  them  hire  their  own  (]^uarters,  furnish  their  own 
horses,  &c.,  and  adjust  the  pay  so  that  they  will  be  able  to  do  it. 

General  Alvord.  J  wish  specially  to  call  your  attention  to  the  fact 
that  the  matter  of  servants  aud  all  the  subdivisions  of  pay  are  wiped 
out  now.  Our  pay-account  is  simple.  The  other  matters  you  speak  of 
belong  to  the  Quartermaster's  Department.  I  think  the  operations  of 
an  arm}'  require  that  these  allowances  should  be  furnished  in  kind  and 
not  in  money,  according  to  the  wants  of  the  service.  They  should  be 
furnished  sometimes  in  money  and  sometimes  in  kind,  as  the  necessity 
of  the  service  requires.  In  1870  it  was  a  matter  of  mature  considera- 
tion in  both  Houses  of  Congress  to  make  the  scale  of  pay  lucid.  We 
desired  that  all  should  lie  able  to  see  the  exact  amount  of  compensa- 
tion, but  iu  my  judgment  such  are  the  wants  of  an  army  in  time  of  war 
(and  the  whole  machinery  of  an  army  must  be  arranged  for  the  opera- 
tions of  war)  that  the  subject  of  quarters,  fuel,  and  forage  should  re- 
main on  its  present  basis.  The  gradation  of  the  number  of  rooms  ac- 
cording to  rank  is  the  only  practical  mode  of  arriving  at  the  amount  an 
officer  should  receive  for  quarters. 

3lr.  MacDougall.  Dou't  you  think  great  abuses  arise  out  of  that 
system  ? 

General  Alvord.  1  don't  know  of  any ;  unless  you  would  force  an 
officer  to  keep  house,  and  authorize  the  Quartermaster's  Department  to 
hire  him  quarters  aud  compel  him  tyrannically  to  live  in  them,  and  never 
to  go  into  a  hotel  or  boarding-house.  I  don*t  see  how  you  are  to  arrive 
at  the  gradation  of  quarters  to  be  furnished  different  ranks,  except  by 
the  rule  now  adopted  in  General  Orders  of  the  War  Department.  (See 
extract  from  General  Orders  No.  96,  of  1870,  appended.) 

VII.  The  commatations  for  fuel  and  quarters  heretofore  allowed  to  officers  of  the 
Army  not  furnished  in  kind,  having;  been  abolished  by  section  24,  act  of  15feh  July, 
ItflO,  in  cases  where  buildings  suitable  for  officers'  quarters  are  not  owned*  by  the 
Iloited  States,  the  Quartern) ast-er's  Department  will,  whenever  practicable,  rent  for 
each  officer  a  number  of  rooms,  and  at  a  rate  per  month  per  room  not  exceeding  iu  the 
aggregate  that  now  established  by  regulations  and  orders ;  but  whenever,  for  good  and 
snfficient  causes,  an  officer  is  quartered  in  a  lodging-house  or  hotel  where  the  rental  of 
a  full  allowance  of  rooms  would  be  costly,  a  snm  not  exceeding  that  above  specified 
for  an  officer  of  his  rank  may  be  paid  to  the  proprietor  for  the  accommoilations  so  fur- 
iiished. 

By  order  of  the  Secretary  of  War. 

E.  I).  TOVVNSEND, 

Adjutant-General. 


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318  REDUCTION    OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT. 

Mr.  MacDouoall.  But  would  it  not  bo  better  to  give  an  officer  so 
much  money,  and  then  he  can  live  in  a  palace  or  in  a  tent,  just  as  he 
pleases  ? 

General  Alvord.  Sometimes  they  are  furnished  in  kind,  but  in  war 
there  are  long  intervals  between  active  operations,  and  officers  are  in 
cities  or  places  where  quarters  must  be  hired,  and  there  must  be  some 
system  of  supplying  them.  In  the  Mexican  war  and  in  the  civil  war 
there  were  such  periods,  and  officers  were  detailed  on  a  variety  of 
services  at  places  where  quarters  must  be  hired. 

The  Chairman.  I  would  be  obliged  if  you  would  furnish  the  com- 
mittee, at  as  early  a  day  as  practicable,  with  a  table  showing  what  is  the 
average,  individual,  yearly  increase  of  pay  under  the  law  of  1870,  of 
officers  of  each  grade. 

General  Alvord.  1  will  do  so. 

The  Chairman.  If  you  have  any  suggestions  to  make  on  the  subject 
matter  we  have  been  considering,  you  may  make  them. 

General  Alvord.  I  feel  bound  to  repeat  that  I  am  reduced  to  ex- 
tremity in  the  department  for  the  want  of  more  paymasters,  because 
the  act  of  the  5th  of  July,  1838,  taken  in  connection  with  the  act  of  4th 
of  July,  1836,  forbids  the  detail  of  officers  of  the  Army  as  acting  pay- 
masters. The  law  of  183^ allowed  their  detail  when  there  were  volun- 
teers or  militia  in  the  service — one  for  two  regiments.  As  there  are  no 
volunteers  now  in  the  service,  no  authority  exists  in  the  War  Depart- 
ment to  detail  officers  of  the  Army  as  acting  paymasters,  (and  in  that 
event  the  law  forbids  their  separation  from  their  companies,)  and  thus 
no  resource  is  left  to  us  but  application  to  Congress  for  an  increase  of 
the  number  of  officers. 

Mr.  MacDotjoall.  Is  it  necessary  to  have  all  your  officers  of  the  grade 
of  major ;  could  not  some  be  of  the  grade  of  captain  t 

General  Alvord.  I  believe  that  tiie  present  system  induces  men  of 
a  higher  stamp  of  integrity,  efficiency,  respectability,  and  responsibility 
to  enter  the  service  than  would  enter  if  the  rank  was  lower. 


LETTER  OF  PAYMASTER-GENERAL  AS  TO  AGGREGATE  PAY  OF  OFFICERS 

AND  SOLDIERS. 

Paymaster-General's  Office,  War  Department, 

WasMngtanf  1874. 
Sir  :  In  reply  to  your  inquiry  of  15th  instant  I  would  state  that  the 
aggregate  pay  of  the  officers  of  the  Army  for  the  last  fiscal  year  was 
$4,086,551.91 ;  and  the  aggregate  pay  to  enlisted  men  for  the  same 
period  was  $4,080,124.53. 

Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

BENJ.  ALVORD, 
Paymaster' Qeneraly  U.  8.  A. 
Hon.  John  Cobxjrn, 

House  of  Representatives. 


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REDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT. 


319 


LETTER  OF  PAYMASTER-GENERAL  AS  TO  PAY  AND  INCREASE   ANNUALLY 

OF  PAY  OF  OFFICERS, 

Paymaster-General's  Office,  War  Department, 

Washingtonj  1874. 
Sir  :  I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your  letter  of  in- 
quiry of  the  24th  instant,  and  to  inclose  the  following  reply : 

I  inclose  herewith  a  table  of  the  yearly  and  monthly  pay  of  officers 
of  all  grades,  as  paid  by  the  Pay  Department,  and  will  add  that  there 
is  no  difference  between  the  pay  of  officers  serving  in  the  field  with 
troops  and  that  of  officers  on  other  active  duty. 

By  act  of  15th  July,  1870,  longevity  rations  ceased,  and  a  salary  in- 
crease or  percentage  for  every  live. years'  service  (under  certain  limita- 
tions) was  substituted.  The  average  amount  paid  yearly  for  increase  of 
pay  is  $578,730. 

The  inclosed  table  of  the  pay  of  the  Army  exhibits  the  yearly  com- 
pensation of  retired  officers. 

The  average  amount  paid  yearly  for  increase  of  pay  to  retired  officers 
is  $73,710. 

The  total  annual  compensation  paid  to  officers  on  duty  in  Washing- 
ton— say  for  the  year  1873— by  the  Pay  Department,  is  $255^30.12. 
Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

BENJ.  ALYORD, 
Paymaster- General^  U.  S.  A. 
Hon.  John  Coburn, 

Chairman  Committee  on  Military  Affairs^ 

House  of  Representatives. 


Statement  of  PagmoBtet'- General  showing  the  average  individaal  increase  or  percentage  of  the 
pay  of  officers,  United  States  Army,  of  each  grade. 


Grade. 


Average  monthly  inoreoae. 


Active  list.     Retired  Ust. 


Colonel 

Lieatenant-oolonel 

M^jor 

CaptAin,  mounted 

CapUdn,  not  monnted 

Regimental  a4Jntant 

Regimental  qnartermaeter 

Fiivt  Uea tenant,  mounted 

Firat  lien  tenant,  not  mounted . . . 

Second  Uentenant,  moanted 

Second  lieutenant,  not  monnted 
Chaplain 


181  98 
74  58 
61  15 
37  89 

27  82 

15  35 

14  31 

5  52 
14  17 


153  56 

56  03 

57  29 
15  28 

15  57 

10  00 

5  20 

6  56 
18  71 


Paymaster-Genkbal's  OpncE,  Ftbniary  17, 1874. 


BENT.  ALVORD, 
Paymanttr-Qeneral^  U.  S.  A. 


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320 


REDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT. 


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KEDCCTION    OF   THE    MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT.  321 

Washington,  February  14, 1874. 

General  Joseph  Holt,  Judge- Advocate-General  United  States  Army, 
examined. 

The  Chairman.  State  whether  or  not  there  can  be  any  reduction 
made  with  advantage  to  the  Government  in  the  Bureau  of  which  you 
4ire  the  head  f 

General  Holt.  The  Bureau  consists,  as  you  are  aware,  of  one  Jadge- 
Advocate-General  and  one  assistant  judge-ad vocate-general,  and  has  the 
supervision  of  the  corps  of  Judge-advocates,  eight  in  number,  who  per- 
form their  duties  under  its  direction.  These  judge-advocates  are  dis- 
tributed over  the  country  at  military  headquarters  where  their  services 
are  most  needed.  The  number  has  been  much  reduced  from  what  it  was 
during  the  war.  At  prcBent  these  ofiicers  are  stationed,  one  of  them  at 
2^ew  York,  one  at  Louisville,  Ky.,  one  at  Saint  Paul,  one  at  Omaha,  one  at 
Leavenworth,  one  at  San  Francisco,  and  two  are  on  duty  in  the  Bureau 
of  Military  Justice.  Those  points  have  been  selected  where  the  largest 
amount  of  business  existed,  and  where  it  was  thought  the  performance 
of  their  appropriate  duties  would  most  advance  the  interests  of  the 
military  administration.  Of  course  the  number  could  be  reduced,  but  1 
believe  the  reduction  would  be  followed  by  a  corresponding  loss  to  the 
«ervice  in  one  of  its  important  fields  of  duty. 

Question.  State  the  character  of  business  submitted  to  them — to  the 
judge-advocates  in  your  Bureau. 

Answer.  These  judge-advocates  are  all  lawyers  by  profession,  and 
have  also  been  connected  with  the  military  service;  with  one  exception, 
they  were  in  the  field  during  the  late  war,  some  of  them  with  troops, 
through  almost  the  whole  period  of  hostilities,  and  some  resigned  com- 
missions in  the  line  of  the  Regular  Array  to  accept  their  present  offices. 
They  are  stationed  in  the  different  departments  with  a  view  of  legally 
advising  the  commanders  thereof;  with  a  view  of  directing  the  prepara- 
tion of  charges  and  specifications  against  soldiers  and  officers  who  are 
to  be  arraigned  before  military  courts,  and  in  difficult  cases  to  act  as 
judge-advocates  of  courts  themselves.  They  also  review  the  records  of 
those  tribunals  when  they  come  into  the  commander's  office,  and  if 
errors  are  discovered  they  are  pointed  out  before  the  court  is  dissolved, 
and  the  case  is  sent  back  to  be  reconsidered  by  the  court.  That  is  a 
general  statement  of  their  duties. 

Question.  State  whether  or  not  the  questions  submitted  to  those  offi- 
cers are  of  such  a  nature  as  that  legal  knowledge  and  high  professional 
skill  are  required. 

Answer.  I  liclieve  so.  If  a  determination  exists  to  subject  the  mili- 
tary administration  to  the  wholesome  restraints  of  law,  which  is  at  all 
times  desirable,  and  is  certainly  practicable  in  time  of  profound  peace, 
I  think  that  this  corps  of  officers  should  be  continued.  A  West  Point 
education  does  not  impart  a  thorough  knowledge  of  a  class  of  legal 
questions  which  arise  continually  in  trials  by  courts-martial  and  which 
it  is  necessary  to  have  correctly  settled,  both  for  the  interests  of  the 
Government  and  the  interests  of  those  on  trial.  Experience  proves  that 
for  lack  of  this  knowledge  on  the  part  of  officers,  errors  are  at  times 
committed  by  military  courts  which  would  be  fatal  to  the  reputation  and 
future  of  those  tried  were  they  not  subsequently  corrected,  on  review, 
either  through  the  judge-advocates  or  the  final  advisory  action  of  the 
Bureau  of  Military  Justice. 

Question.  What  is  the  amount  of  duty  performed  by  these  officers  ! 

Answer.  I  could  scarcely  now  tell  you.  I  believe  they  are  all  well 
21  M  £ 


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322  REDUCTION    OF   THE   MILITARY    ESTABLISHMENT. 

employed  and  some  of  them  are,  perhaps,  overworked.  They  have  no 
assistants.  Clerks,  generally  private  soldiers,  are  detailed  to  aid  them 
when  their  services  are  absolutely  required,  but,  in  the  performance  of 
their  own  proper  duties,  they  have  no  assistance,  unless  some  difficult 
question  arises,  which  they  refer  to  this  Bureau.  The  office  of  Judge- 
Advocate  of  the  Army  has  existed  from  the  foundation  of  the  Govern- 
ment. It  was  first  established  in  1775,  and  more  especially  organized 
in  1776,  with  the  title  of  Judge- Advocate-General  and  rank  of  lieuteo- 
ant-colonel.  It  has  been  the  subject  of  legislation  from  that  time  to  the 
present.  The  Army  has  never  been  without  a  legal  counselor.  This 
officer  was  again  designated  as  Judge- Advocate-General  by  the  act  of 
17th  Jul3',  1862,  and  on  the  establishment  of  the  Bureau  of  Mihtaiy 
Justice,  in  1864,  he  was  placed  at  its  head. 

Question  by  Mr.  Gunckel.  Could  not  the  duties  of  the  department 
be  performed  by  retaining  the  present  establisheil  force  here  in  Wash- 
ington, and  using  Army  ofiicers  ordinarily,  and  in  occasional  cases  em- 
ploying additional  counsel  ? 

Answer.  It  would  not  be  so  satisfactory,  for  this  reason  :  Under  the 
present  system  many  errors  in  proceeiliugs  in  courts-martial  at  remote 
points  are  at  once  there  corrected ;  the  records  come  to  the  commander's 
office  and  are  revised  by  the  judge- advocate,  and  if  there  are  errors 
they  are  without  delay  sent  back  before  the  court  is  dissolved.  The 
employment  of  lawyers  from  civil  life  would  doubtless  involve  a  much 
larger  expenditure  than  the  present  system,  and  would  be  less  satisfac- 
tory in  its  results,  because  they  would  not  have  that  familiarity  with 
military  law  and  military  usages  which  are  deemed  indispensable. 

Question  by  Mr.  Gunckbl.  It  would  only  increase  the  time  of  trans- 
mission from  the  post  to  this  city  instead  of  the  commander's  office  f 

Answer.  That  is  only  one  of  the  disadvantages.  It  would  deprire 
the  commander  at  an  important  post  of  that  legal  advice  in  reference  to 
his  current  duties  which,  I  think,  is  at  all  times  advantageous.  I  may 
add  that  with  reference  to  the  views  of  military  officers  regarding  the 
utility  of  a  judge-advocate's  department,  it  is  clear  that  those  officers 
are  most  competent  to  pronounce  upon  the  subject  whose  duty  as 
the  commanders  of  geographical  departments  has  devolved  upon  them 
the  functions  of  appointing  and  reviewing  the  proceedings  of  general 
courts-martial. 

Maj.  Gen.  John  M.  Schofield,  while  acting  as  Secretarj'  of  War,  in  his 
annual  report  dated  November  20, 1868,  states,  under  the  head  of  Bur- 
eau of  Military  Justice,  as  follows : 

The  officers  of  this  Bureau  oonsist  of  a  Judge- Ad vocate-Greneral,  an  assistant  judge- 
advocate-geueral,  aud  eight  j|ndge-advocateB.  The  two  vacancies  in  the  grade  of  jodgt- 
advocate,  and  the  absence  of  any  legal  provision  for  tilling  them,  have  prevented  a 
compliance  with  several  applications  from  department  commanders  for  saoh  officers. 

It  is  recommended  Ihat  the  number  aud  grade  of  officers  of  the  Bureau  he  permaneHUif 
fixed  by  law,  so  that  the  vacancies  may  be  filled. — (Page  2,  Report  Secretary  of  War. 
Abridgment,  1866.) 

It  was  in  accordance  with  this  recommendation  that,  by  the  act  of 
April  10, 1869,  Congress  fixed  the  number  of  judge-advocates  at  eight, 
and  authorized  the  filling  of  any  vacancy  occurring  in  that  numV^er.  It 
is  noteworthy  that  this  act  was  passed  only  about  five  weeks  after  the 
previous  Congress  had,  by  the  act  of  March  3,  1869,  prohibited,  until 
further  legislation,  any  appointments  or  promotions  in  any  of  the  other 
staff  corps. 

On  the  2d  May,  1872,  in  reply  to  a  letter  from  the  Hon.  John  Co- 
burn,  chairman  of  the  then  Committee  on  Military  Affairs  of  the 
House  of  Representatives,  I  addressed  him   a  <*oin»iiniiir;itioii  scttinj: 


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REDUCTION    OF   THE   MILITARY    ESTABLISHMENT.  323 

forth  fully  the  history  and  duties  of  the  Bureau  of  Military  Justice  and 
of  the  corps  of  judge- advocates  acting  under  its  supervision,  which  I 
beg  now  to  make  a  part  of  my  present  statement,  with  a  view  of  bring- 
ing the  information  it  contains  more  certainly  and  distinctly  to  the 
notice  of  the  committee.  Said  communication  or  report  was  in  the 
words  which  follow. 

War  Department, 
Bureau  of  Military  Justice, 
May  2, 1872. 

Sir  :  Id  view  of  your  recent  su^geHtion  tbat  I  shonld  furnish  to  the  committee  some 
particulars  in  regard  to  the  history,  nature,  and  duties  of  the  branch  of  the  service  to 
-which  I  am  attached — a  subject  upon  which  I  had  not  thought  it  necessary  to  enlarge 
in  my  former  official  communication — I  have  now  the  honor  to  present  the  following 
statement. 

In  the  British  military  service  the  office  of  Judge-advooate-gencral  has  existed  for 
centnries,  though  originally  under  a  somewhat  different  name.  (See  Clode's  Military 
Forces  of  the  Crown,  vol.  2,  pp.  359  to  365 ;  Grose's  History  of  the  British  Array,  vol. 
1,  pp.  234  to  236,  and  as  cited  ittfra.)  At  present  there  exists  not  only  the  office,  but  also 
a  judge-ad vocate-generaPs  department.  This,  according  to  my  latest  information, 
now  consists  of  a  judge-advocate-general  and  deputy  judge-ad vocate-g(5neral-in-chief; 
of  judge-advocates-general  for  the  Bengal  army,  tbe  Madras  army,  and  the  Bombay 
army,  each  respectively,  the  former  being  also  judge-advocate-general  for  all  the 
forces  in  India ;  of  one  deputy  judge- advocate-general  for  Ireland,  one  for  Barbadoes, 
one  for  China,  one  for  Jamaica,  the  Bahamas,  and  Honduras,  (collectively ;)  seven  or 
eight  for  the  Bimghl  and  Madras  armies  each,  and  some  four  or  five  for  the  Bombay 
army. 

Besides  being  practically  the  bead  of  a  military  department  thus  con8titut>ed,  the 
judge-ad vocate-general  of  the  British  army  is  n5garded  as  au  officer  of  such  import- 
ance that  he  is  also  a  member  of  the  existing  administration ;  that  is  to  say,  a  minister 
of  the  civil  government. 

The  American  colonies,  on  their  separation  from  Great  Britain,  in  retaining  and 
ailopting,  with  slight  changes,  the  British  code  of  articles  of  war,  engrafted  also  the 
office  of  judge-ad vocate-general  upon  their  military  organization.  On  July  29, 1775,  a 
"judge -advocate  of  the  Army  "  was  appointed  by  the  Continental  Congress;  and  on 
August  10, 1776,  the  office  was  newly  designated  as  "judge-ad vocate-general,"  and  the 
raoK  of  lien  tenant-colonel  assigned  to  it.  Subsequently  its  emoluments  were  raised  to 
those  of  colonel,  and  the  office  was  continued  to  the  end  of  the  revolutionary  war. 
There  were  also  appointed  during  that  war  certain  "  deputy '' judge-advocates  for 
separate  armies  in  the  field. 

At  an  early  date  after  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution,  viz,  by  the  act  of  March  3, 
1797,  tbe  office  of  judge-advocate  ot  the  Army  was  established.  This  office,  as  such, 
seems  to  have  been  subsequently  discontinued,  and  judge-advocates  for  the  several 
divUions  of  the  army  to  have  been  provided  instead,  the  number  varying  from  one  to 
three  for  each  division.  (See  acts  of  Januarv  11,1812;  April  24,1816;  and  April  14, 
1818.)  Later,  in  1849,  by  the  act  of  March  2,  ch.  83,  the  office  of  judge- advocate  of  the 
Army  was  revived  ;  and  this  act  continued  in  operation  till  July  17, 1862.  On  that 
date,  in  chapter  201,  section  5,  was  enacted  the  following : 

"That  the  President  shall  appoint,  by  and  with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the  Senate, 
a  Judge  Advocate-General,  with  the  rank,  pay,  and  emoluments  of  a  colonel  of  cavalry, 
to  whose  office  shall  be  returned  for  revision  the  records  and  proceedings  of  all  courts- 
martial  and  military  commissions,  and  where  a  record  shall  be  kept  of  all  proceedings 
had  thereupon." 

Under  this  statn to  the  present  incumbent  of  the  office  of  Judge- Advocate-General 
was  appointed  by  President  Lincoln. 

Further,  in  1864,  by  act  of  June  20,  ch.  145,  sections  5  and  6,  there  was  established 
the  present  Bureau  of  Military  Justice,  the  provisions  on  the  subject  being  as  follows  c 

"  Sec.  5.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  there  shall  be  attached  to,  and  made  a  part  of, 
the  War  Department  during  the  continuance  of  the  present  rebellion,  a  Bureau,  to  be 
known  as  the  Bureau  of  Military  Justice,  to  which  shall  be  returned  for  revisions  the 
records  and  proceedings  of  all  the  courts-martial,  courts  of  inquiry,  and  military  coramis- 
sions  of  the  Armies  of  the  United  States,  and  in  which  a  record  shall  be  kept  of  ail  pro- 
ceedings had  thereupon. 

"  Sec.  6.  And  be  it  further  enacted.  That  the  President  shall  appoint,  by  and  with  the 
advice  and  consent  of  the  Senate,  as  the  head  of  said  Bureau,  a  Judge- Advocate-Gen- 
eral, with  the  rank,  pay,  and  allowances  of  a  briga^Uer-general,  and  an  assistant  Judge 
Advocate-General,  with  the  rank,  pay,  and  allowances  of  a  colonel  of  cavalry.  And 
the  said  Judge- Advocate-General  and  his  assistant  shall  receive,  revise,  and  have  re 
corded  the  proceedings  of  the  courts-martial,  courts  of  inquiry,  and  military  commis- 
sions of  the  armies  of  the  United  States,  and  perform  such  other  duties  as  have  here- 


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324  BEDUCTION    OF    THE    MILITARY    ESTABLISHMENT. 

tofore  heeti  performed  bj  the  Jadge-Advocate-Genend  of  the  armies  of  the  United 
>^tat€«."' 

Lohtly,  on  the  organization  of  the  peace  establiBhmeut  at  the  end  of  the  war,  the  Ba- 
rean  wax  retained  in  the  service  and  in  the  War  Department  by  the  following  provi- 
hion  of  the  act  of  July  2S,  1J566,  ch.  299. 

*'  Sf:c.  12.  And  be  it  further  enacted^  That  the  Bnrean  of  Military  Jnatice  shall  hereaf- 
ter ooDhist  of  one  Judge- Ad vocate-Oeneral,  with  the  rank,  pay,  and  emoluments  of  a 
lirigadier-geueral,  and  one  assistant  Jndge-AdTocate-General,  with  the  rank,  pay,  and 
«mulumenu  of  a  colonel  of  cavalry ;  and  the  said  J adge- Advocate-General  shall  le- 
^-eive,  revise,  and  have  recorded  the  proceedings  of  all  courts-martial,  courts  of  inquiry, 
and  military  commisHions,  and  shall  perform  such  other  duties  as  have  been  heretofore 
l»erformed  by  the  J ud^e- Advocate-General  of  the  Army.** 

Such  Wing  the  origin  and  statutory  history  of  the  office  of  Jndge-Advocate-General 
of  the  Army  and  of  the  Bureau  of  which  he  is  the  chief,  it  remains  to  refer  to  the  du- 
ties which  arc  and  have  been  performed  by  him  and  in  the  bnreau. 

ThoHe  duties  may  be  enumerated  under  five  heads :  1.  The  review  and  revisal  of  and 
reporting  upon  cases  tried  by  military  courts,  as  well  as  the  receipt  and  eastody  of  the 
records  of  the  same.  2.  The  reporting  upon  applications  for  pardon  or  clemency  pre- 
ferred by  officers  and  soldiers  sentenced  by  court-martial.  3.  The  furnishing  of  written 
opiiiioiis  u]ion  i| nest  ions  of  law,  claims,  &c.,  referred  to  it  by  the  Secretary  of  War,  or 
by  hea4ls  of  Bnreans,  department  commandt-re,  &c.,  as  well  as  in  answer  to  letters  from 
•officers  of  courts- martial  and  others.  4.  The  framing  of  charges,  and  the  acting  by  one 
of  its  officers,  in  caties  of  unusual  importance,  as  judge-advocate  of  military  courts.  5. 
The  direction  of  the  officers  of  the  corpn  of  judge-advocates. 

From  the  sche^lule  hereto  annexed  of  the  business  of  the  Office  and  Bnrean  since  the 
•-flrst  official  refiort  called  for  from  the  Judge- Advocate-General,  the  number  of  records 
•«>f  trials  by  military  courts  received  and  reviewed  at  the  Office  and  Bureau,  as  well  as 
uf  the  rei>orts  made  and  opinions  furnished,  will  readily  be  perceived. 

While  the  review,  &.c.,  of  military  records  is  specified  in  the  statute  law  as  the  most 
•conspicuous  duty  of  the  Judge- Advocate-General,  this  is  not  in  fact  his  only  important 
^hity.  It  will  be  noticed  that  the  statutes  of  lb64  and  1866  provide  that  he  shall  also 
**'  perform  such  other  duties  as  have  heretofore  been  performed  by  the  Judge- Ad  vocate- 
Cieneral  of  the  Army ;''  and  a  leading  part  of  these  duties,  certainly  since  the  establish- 
silent  of  the  office  in  18r)2,  has  been  the  preparing  and  furnishing  of  legal  opinions  npou 
various  subjects  of  military  law  and  administration  constantly  arising  in  the  War  Dc- 
-{lartment  and  the  Army.  A  similar  duty  is  indeed  one  of  the  functions  of  the  oorre- 
.s|>ondingotlir(T  in  the  British  service.  Grose,  (vol.  1,  p.  234,)  writing  in  1786,  says  that 
"' The  judgo-marsha],  by  some  called  auditor-general,  and  since  called  judge-a<lvocate, 
'was  an  officer  skilled  in  the  civil,  municipal,  and  martial  law.**  And  Chambers,  a 
Tpi-ent  authority,  wbile  stating  that  the  British  Judgo-Advocat^^General  is  "  theirnpreMf 
.judge  under  the  mutiny  act  and  articles  of  war  of  the  proceedings  of  courts-martial,** 
(a  i>osition  which,  of  couise,  could  not  be  claimed  for  the  Judge- Advocate-General  in 
our  military  8ystem,  where  the  office  is  in  all  res})ects  advisory  only,)  goes  on  to  add 
that  he  ^*i.s  also  the  adviser  in  legal  matters  of  the  commander-in-chief  and  the 
.secretary  of  state  for  war."  (And  to  the  same  effect  see  Clode,  vol.  2,  ch.  xxvii.) 
Here,  indeed,  except  for  the  comparatively  brief  period  during  which  Mr.  William  Whit- 
ing acted  as  solicitor  for  the  War  Department,  its  current  legal  ailvisory  business  has,  aa 
.a  general  rule,  been  performed  by  the  Judge- Ad vocate-Creneral  and  bis  assistant.  The 
need  and  use  of  an  officer  of  this  kind  in  this  department  has  been  the  same  as  that 
experienced  in  the  other  executive  branches  of  the  public  service;  and  the  State. 
Treasury,  Interior,  and  Navy  Departments,  and  the  Internal  Revenue  Bureau,  are  sim- 
ply supplied  with  solicitors  of  their  own. 

Of  the  questions  upon  which  opinions  are  given  by  the  Judge-Advocate-General, 
some — often  at  his  suggestion — are  subsequently  submitted  to  the  Attorney -General : 
but  the  great  mass  are  at  once  acted  upon  by  the  Secretary  of  War. 

TLe  nature  and  extent  of  the  legal  reports  of  the  Bureau  may  be  best  perceived  from 
■the  p  rinted  digest  of  itsopinious,  published  by  the  authority  of  the  Secretary  of  War.  Of 
these  opinions  it  may  be  said  in  brief  that  their  main  object  has  been  to  apply  and 
uphold  the  principles  alike  of  the  common,  statute,  and  military  law,  as  applicable  to 

tbe    ses  under  consideration,  and  thus  to  secure  a  uniformity  of  interpretation  and 

('i)f  oement  of  the  existing  law  in  the  military  administration  of  the  country. 
Th  direction  of  the  officers  of  the  corps  or  judge-advocates  of  the  Army  has  been 
vefer  red  to  as  one  of  the  duties  of  the  Bnreau  of  Military  Justice.  This  ocri>s  is  no 
part  whatever  of  the  Bureau ;  but  the  act  of  18()6  provides  that  its  members  "  shall 
perform  their  duties  under  the  direction  of  the  Judge- Advocate-General."  The  officew 
of  tbis  useful  and  laborious  corps  are  eight  in  number.  Six  are  on  duty  at  six  of  tbe 
<'1even  military  dei)artnient  headquarters  throughout  the  country,  and  two  at  the 
Bureau.  The  latter  assist  the  Judge  Advocate-General  in  the  prenaration  of  reports  and 
other  business  of  the  office.  The  lormer  advise  upon  questions  of  law,  prepare  charges, 
review  records  of  courts-martial,  and  themselves  conduct  the  proceedings  m  imporunt 
^v-;ues.    The  large  majority  being  under  the  immediate  command  of  tue  department 

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REDUCTION    OF   THE    MILITARY    ESTAnLISUMENT.  325 

coininaudors,  receive,  indeed,  little  or  no  direction  from  the  Judge- Advocate- General 
except  as  to  the  framing  of  charges  or  as  to  questions  of  law,  upon  which  they  apply 
to  him  for  opinion  and  advice. 

Tbifl  corps  was  very  largely  increased  during  the  war ;  and  at  that  period  there 
were  at  one  time  ohliged  to  be  kept  on  duty  at  the  Bureau  some  seven  or  eight  assist- 
ants, either  jndgr -advocates  or  line  officers  acting  as  such.  At  present,  as  befofe  men- 
tioned, the  number  serving  at  the  Bureau  is  reduced  to  two.  And  when  it  is  considered,, 
as  set  forth  in  the  schedule,  that  during  the  past  year  more  than  twelve  thousand, 
records  of  military  courts  were  reviewed  at  the  Bureau,  and  nearly  one  thousand 
Hpecial  reports  and  opinions  were  furnished  thereby,  the  statement  that  this  is  the 
least  nnml)er  of  assistants  by  which  the  busine&s  can  be  performed  will  readily  be 
iiccepted  as  reasonable.  The  number  of  clerks  on  duty  with  the  Bureau  has  also  been 
greatly  reduced  since  the  war,  the  present  inadequate  force,  (to  cite  from  the  last 
annual  report  of  the  Secretary  of  War,  page  12,)  not  being  even  "  sufficient  to  perform 
the  great  aiuount  of  labor  required  to  copy,  on  the  demand  of  persons  who  have  been 
tried,  the  voluminous  proceeding  of  the  courts-martial  in  their  cases,"  to  copies  of 
which  they  are  entitled  by  the  90th  article  of  war. 

It  may  be  added  here  that  the  assistant  Judge- Advocate-General  is  not  now  sf^rving: 
with  the  Bureau  proper,  but  is,  and  for  several  years  has  been,  ou  duty  in  the  office  of 
the  Secretary  of  War. 

These  remarks  will  convey  a  general  idea  of  the  duties  of  the  Judge-Advocate-Gen- 
eral, and  of  the  labor  performed  at  the  Bureau  of  Military  Justice.  lu  the  report  of 
the  Secretary,  just  quoted,  he  speaks  of  *'  the  vast  amount  of  work  performed  in  that 
Office,"  and  for  his  opinion  as  to  the  value  and  importance  of  that  work,  and  the  faith- 
ful performance  of  their  duties  by  the  officers  engaged  in  it,  I  would  refer  you  to  him 
self. 

That  In  the  performance  of  its  already  enumerated  duties  the  Bureau  has  earned  tho- 
approval  and  confidence  of  a  large  majority  of  the  officers  of  the  Army  may  be  safely 
asserted.  But  while  this  is  true  it  can  scarcely  be  doubted  that  it  has  given  offense- 
to  a  small  class  of  officers,  who,  unwisely  impatient  of  the  restraints  of  law  in  military- 
affairs,  are  of  course  impatient  of  the  scrutiny  to  which  their  conduct  has  been  or  i» 
liable  to  be  subjected  by  this  Bureau  as  the  law-adviser  of  the  War  Department.  That 
such  officers  should  seek  to  depreciate  the  Bureau,  and  be  willing  for  it  to  disappear 
from  the  military  organization,  will  not  excite  surprise. 

In  cooclnsion,  I  have  but  to  add  that,  in  my  opinion,  the  present  Bureau  of  Military 
Justice,  with  the  small  corps  of  Judge-advocates  of  the  Army  acting  under  its  general 
direction,  is  not  only  an  important  but  an  essential  part  of  the  existing  Army  staff. 
Some  such  an  establishment  is  certainly  necessary  in  every  civilized  country  that  pro- 
poses to  submit  its  military  administration  to  the  guidance  and  limitations  of  law,  and 
which,  while  subjecting  the  officers  and  soldiers  of  its  army  to  a  strict  and  judicious 
discipline,  seeks  at  the  same  time  to  protect  them  from  oppressive  treatment,  and  to 
secure  to  them  the  enjoyment  of  all  the  rights  which  remain  to  the  citizen  after  he  has 
entered  the  military  service,  thus  counteracting  that  tendency  to  arbitrary  iiction 
which,  as  its  history  shows,  has  characterized  the  profession  of  arms  in  varying  de- 
grees, iioder  allAirms  of  government. 

I  have  the  houor  to  remain,  very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

J.  HOLT, 

Hon.  JOHX   COBURK, 

Chairmanf  ^c,  House  of  Representatives,  JVashinfftonf  D,  C, 


Schedule  of  records  of  military  courts  received  and  reviewed,  and  of  reports  and  opinions  pre-- 
pared,  at  the  office  of  the  Judge- Advocate-General  and  Bureau  of  Military  Justice  since 
September  1^  1862,  according  to  the  offidal  reports. 


Period  of  official  report.  . ,  ^^  "ortii.''' 


Number  of 
reports  and 
opinioDi. 


From  Septoniber  I,  16fi3,  to  Noyember  1,  1863., 

From  NoTember  1,  1863,  to  Mar^h  I,  1865 

Prom  March  1,  1865.  to  October  1, 1865 

From  October  I,  1865,  to  October  1,  1866 

Prom  October  1,  1866.  to  October  1, 1867 , 

From  October  1,  1867.  to  October  1,  1868 

Prom  October  1,  1 868.  to  October  1,  1869 , 

From  October  1,  1869.  to  October  I.  1870 

From  October  1,  1870,  to  October  1,  1871 .. 

Total 


17,357 

^4BSS» 

:g,896 

9,Jit> 

16,591 

6.183: 

8. 148 

4,00fr 

11,432  ' 

2,135 

15.046  1 

1,45T 

14.944 

l,3SSi- 

15.956 

1,00&> 

12, 194 

915 

145,564  1 

28.829 

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326  REDUCTION   OF   THE    MILITARY    ESTABLISHMENT. 

Statement  of  the  Commissioned'  of  Pensions  as  to  the  method  of  payment  of 

'  pensions. 

Department  of  the  Interior,  Pension  Office, 
Washington^  D.  C,  February  19, 1874. 

Sir:  Iu  compliance  with  your  request,  I  have  the  honor  to  submit 
the  following  information,  relative  to  the  present  system  of  paying  pen- 
sions. 

There  are  fifty  eight  pension  agencies  in  the  United  States,  located 
within  the  same  number  of  agency  districts,  whose  limits  are  fixed  by 
arbitrary  geographical  lines.  These  limits,  with  scarcely  an  exception, 
conform  to  State  lines.  The  location  of  each  of  these  agencies,  the  num- 
ber of  pensioners  upon  the  rolls  of  each  on  the  30th  of  June  last,  and 
the  amount  of  pensions  paid  at  ea6h  during  the  past  fiscal  year,  is  shown 
by  a  tabular  statement  herewith  attached. 

The  aggregate  number  of  pensioners  was  238,411.  The  aggregate 
amount  disbursed  was  $29,185,289.62.  These  agencies  are  established 
and  furnished,  the  rents  paid,  fuel,  lights,  &;c.,  supplied,  and  the  salary 
of  all  clerks  and  employes  and  all  postal  expenses  defrayed,  from  the 
compensation  allowed  by  existing  laws,  to  the  pension  agent.  This 
compensation  is  provided  by  the  acts  of  July  17, 1862,  June  30,  1864, 
and  section  4,  act  of  July  8, 1870.  (The  amount  paid  to  each  individual 
who  has  served  as  pension  agent  since  March  4, 1869,  may  be  found  in 
a  report  made  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior  to  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives, on  the  28th  ultimo,  which  has  been  printed.    Ex.  Doc.  No.  97.) 

The  amount  allowed  to  any  one  agent,  under  the  two  first-mentioned 
acts,  varies  from  $115  to  $4,000  annually,  the  latter  sum  bein^  the  maxi- 
mum. The  excess  above  this  limited  compensation  is  derived  from  fees 
for  preparing  and  executing  vouchers,  which,  by  the  a<;t  of  July  8, 1870, 
were  fixed  at  30  cents  for  each  voucher  prepared  and  paid. 

Pensioners  may  be  paid  four  times  a  year.  If  all  were  paid,  the  aggre- 
gate amount  of  fees  for  preparing  and  paying  (238,411  x  4)  953,644  vouch 
ers,  would  be  $286,093.20 ;  but  as  many  pensioners  do  not  apply  for 
pension  every  quarter,  the  maximum  is  never  reached.  The  actual  ag- 
gregate amount  of  compensation  from  this  source  during  4he  fiscal  year 
ending  June  30,  1873,  was  $254,803.87. 

As  all  the  expenses  of  these  agencies  are  borne  by  the  agent,  it  is  pre- 
sumed that  they  are  conducted  in  the  most  economical  manner,  and 
that  the  most  useful  and  the  least  possible  number  of  clerks  are  em 
ployed,  and  the  greatest  number  of  hours  of  service  obtained.  This  Office 
has  not  the  information  before  it  to  enable  it  to  give  a  statistical  report 
upon  these  points,  but  it  is  believed  that  during  the  pay  months  the 
number  of  clerks  employed  will  average  one  to  every  thousand  [pension- 
ers, (238,)  and  it  is  known  that  during  the  pressure  of  payments  the 
hours  of  labor  have  exceeded  twelve  per  day. 

At  all  agencieaiis  kept  a  permanent  roll,  durably  bound,  of  all  pen- 
sioners residing  within  its  geographical  limits,  arranged  alphabetically 
by  classes,  sexes,  and  in  some  cases  by  acts.  Upon  this  roll  are  en- 
tered all  new  pensions  and  all  new  allowances  to  old  pensioners,  all  re- 
ductions, suspensions,  deaths,  remarriages,  transfers,  variations  of  rate, 
all  orders  affecting  the  status  of  every  pensioner,  and  the  post-office  ad- 
dress of  each.  The  agent  must,  from  necessity,  keep  his  roll  carefully 
corrected  up  to  date,  as  he  is  responsible  under  his  bond  for  any  errors 
of  payment  that  may  occur  from  neglect. 

Upon  the  issuance  of  a  pension-certificate  from  this  Office,  it  is  sent  to 


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REDUCTION    OF    THE    MILITARY    ESTABLISHMENT.  327 

the  i)ension  a^ent  of  the  district  in  which  the  pensioner  resides,  who, 
^fter  making  dae  entries  upon  his  roll,  prepares  a  voucher  covering  the 
amount  due  to  the  last  quarterly  pay-clay,  and  forwards  it  with  the  pen- 
sion-certificate, to  the  pensioner ;  likewise,  before  each  quarterly  payment, 
he  prepares  from  his  roll  and  forwards  to  each  old  pensioner  a  similar 
voucher.  These  vouchers,  when  executed  and  returned,  require  careful 
examination  as  to  genuineness  of  signature,  execution  before  a  proper 
magistrate,  whose  official  character  must  be  known  to  the  agent  or  cer- 
tified to  under  seal  of  court,  completeness  of  affidavits  of  non-marriage 
of  widows  and  mothers,  or  of  children  being  alive,  and  careful  compari- 
son of  rate,  and  character  of  disability  in  surgeons'  certificate  of  exam- 
ination of  invalid  pensioners  with  his  roll. 

After  this  examination,  if  the  voucher  is  perfect,  (imperfect  ones  are 
retunied  for  completion,)  the  agent  is  ready  to  pay.  Payment  is  made 
solely,  as  required  by  law,  by  check  payable  to  the  order  of  the  pensioner. 

This  check  is  drawn  upon  the  United  States  Assistant  Treasurer  or 
National  Bank  depovsitory,  where  funds  have  been  placed  to  the  agent's 
official  credit,  and  it  is  mailed  direct  to  the  sworn  post-office  address  of 
the  pensioner  in  his  last  voucher. 

These  checks,  official  in  character,  uniform  in  style,  made  upon  paper 
manufactiu*ed  only  for  governmental  use,  engraved  at  the  Treasury  De- 
partment, and  drawn  only  upon  the  sub-treasury  or  United  States  de- 
positaries, have  become  within  the  past  four  years  almost  a  part  of  the 
national  currency,  a  judicious  location  of  the  deposits  of  each  agent  hav- 
ing  kept  their  value  at  par  or  above  in  almost  every  county  in  the  United 
States. 

At  the  end  of  each  month,  an  alphabetical  abstract  of  every  individ- 
ual payment  made  within  the  month  is  prepared  by  the  agent  in  tripli- 
cate. One  copy,  with  all  the  vouchers  of  Array  pjiyment,  is  forwarded 
to  the  Third  Auditor ;  of  Navy  payments,  to  the  Fourth  Auditor ;  the 
duplicates  of  each  to  this  Office,  and  the  triplicates  are  retained  at  the 
agency  as  a  part  of  its  records  for  future  reference.  For,  while  the  roll- 
book  has  the  fact  of  payment  entered  upon  it,  it  is  simply  the  ledger  to 
which  the  monthly  abstracts,  showing  the  payments  in  detail,  are  day- 
books. 

On  the  morning  of  the  4th  day  of  the  first  month  of  each  quarter,  pay- 
ments commence  simultaneously  at  each  of  the  fifty-eight  agencies. 

In  cities  large  crowds  accumulate,  and  it  is  necessary  that  the  agents 
should  employ  the  largest  possible  force  of  clerks  to  wait  upon  them.  It 
is  difficult  to  close  an  agency  when  destitute  pensioners  plead  their  ne- 
cessities or  those  far  from  home  beg  to  be  paid,  to  enable  them  to  return 
that  night.  To  accommodate  such,  agents  have  made  arrangements 
with  depositories  to  keep  open  to  cash  the  checks,  and  have  continued 
to  pay  long  after  banking-hours.  Evenings  have  been  devoted  to  the 
payment  of  vouchers  received  by  mail,  and  so  rapidly  and  systemati- 
oaily  are  payments  now  made,  that  within  ten  days  from  the  commence- 
ment of  the  quarterly  payment,  fully  160,000  pensioners  are  paid,  and 
the  pressure  entirely  removed. 

All  pensioners  paid  in  person  are  saved  any  expense  whatever  in  the 
preparation  and  execution  of  their  vouchers.  Nearly  all  those  paid  by 
mail  have  only  to  pay  a  single  magistrate's  fee,  as  pension  agents  are 
required  to  preserve  on  file  evidence  of  the  official  character  of  magis- 
trates within  their  district,  thus  saving  to  the  pensioner  the  expense  of 
.a  certificate  of  clerk  of  courts  to  this,  which  would  be  necessary  if  sent 
to  a  distant  part  of  the  country.  Security  of  the  present  system — pen- 
.sion  agents  give  bonds  in  sums  varying  from  $25,000  to  $200,000  for 


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328  REDUCTION   OF   THE    MILITARY    ESTABLISHMENT. 

the  legitimate  disbnrsement  of  the  public  moneys  placed  at  their  dis- 
posal, and  the  faithful  discharge  of  their  duties.  No  money  passes  iDto 
their  hands. 

Exact  record  of  the  disbursements  at  each  agency,  and  new  demanda 
issued  upon  it,  are  kept  in  this  Office,  from  which  its  actual  wants  can 
be  accurately  estimated,  and  requisitions  ^re  made  for  just  sufficient  re- 
mittances to  meet  them.  These  remittances  are  placed  with  the  sab- 
treasurers  or  depositaries  designated  for  the  use  of  the  agency,  and  from 
which  the  agent  is  prohibited  from  moving  them,  or  any  portion  of 
them. 

He  can  draw  only  upon  them  for  the  payment  of  pensions,  and  can 
use  only  uniform  pension-checks,  in  serial  numbers,  which  are  registered 
in  this  Office  and  issued  from  it.  Every  check  issued  by  him  and  paid 
is  retained  on  file  at  the  depository  and  never  returns  to  his  hands.  If 
irregularly  issued  it  is  evidence  placed  on  record  against  him. 

At  the  close  of  each  month  he  is  required  to  examine  the  statement 
of  his  depositary,  of  checks  paid,  certify  as  to  its  correctness,  and  pre- 
pare  a  list  of  all  his  outstanding  checks.  He  is  then  required  to  make 
oath  in  his  account-cuiTcnt,  that  the  balance  shown  upon  it  due  theGov- 
ernment,  together  with  the  amount  of  his  outstanding  checks,  was  on 
deposit  with  his  deposiUiry,  at  the  date  to  which  his  accounts  were 
brought. 

Arrangements  are  now  made  by  which  the  deposits  standing  to  tbe- 
credit  of  each  agent,  on  the  15th  and  last  days  of  each  month,  are 
brought  before  this  Office  for  comparison  with  his  accounts.  In  tbi» 
manner  irregularities,  which  would  have  been  otherwise  undiscovered, 
have  been  detected  and  the  moneys  recovered. 

Out  of  $220,668,020.90,  placed  in  the  hands  of  pension-agents  for  di^;^ 
bursement,  since  the  commencement  of  paying  pensions,  on  account  of 
the  rebellion,  only  about  $193,000  stands  upon  the  books  as  deficiencies^ 
to  be  recovered  upon  their  bonds. 

Pension -checks  vary  in  amount  from  $6,  the  minimum  quarterly  pen- 
sion, to  $3,535.00,  the  largest  issue  on  account  of  arrears. 

The  average  rate  of  pension,  monthly,  is  $9.21,  giving  an  averap^ 
quarterly  check  of  $31.50.  * 

I  have  the  honor  to  be,  sir,  very  respectfully,  vour  obedient  servant, 

'  J.  H.  BAKEK, 

Commi8sionet\ 

Hon.  John  Coburn, 
Member  of  Congress. 


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REDUCTION   OP   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT. 


32^ 


Slatrment  shotping  the  number  and  location  of  agencita  where  Ihe  Army  and  Kary  jnfmiontf 
are  paid,  together  with  the  number  of  pensioners  on  the  roll  of  each  on  the  '60th  June  lr^3. 


State. 


Location  of  agency. 


Arkannas 

Connecticut 

California 

Dittiict  of  Colnmbia . 

Delaware 

Indiana 


Illinois  . 


Iowa. 


Kentucky. 


KanMis 

I^uiMlana  . 
Maine 


Masiacbnsettg . 

Maryland 

Miwivippi 

MInouri 


Miebigan. 


Minnesota 

New  HampNhIre  . 

New  York 


New  Jewey..., 
North  Carolina . 

Nebraska 

New  Mexico 

Ohio 


Oregon ....... 

Pennsylvania . 


Rhode  leland . 
Tenneaeee  .... 


Tennont . 


Virginia 

West  VirginU  . 
Wiiconain 


Waafaington  Territory . 


Total. 


RittleRock 

Hartford , 

San  Francisco 

Washington 

Wilmington 

Indianapolis 

Madison 

Port  Wayne 

Springfield 

Chicago 

Salem 

Quincy 

Des  Moines 

Palrfii-ld 

Dubuque 

Louisville 

I^iCxlDgton 

Topeka 

New  Orleans 

AnguMta 

Portland 

Bangor 

Boston 

Baltimore 

Vicksburgh 

Saint  Louis 

Macon 

Detroit 

Grand  Rapids 

Saint  Paul 

Concord , 

PortMmouth 

Albany  

Canandaigua 

New  York 

Brooklyn 

Trenton 

Raleigh 

Omaha 

Santa  F£ 

Columbus 

Cincinnati 

Cleveland 

Oregon  City 

Philadelphia,  invalid.. 
Philadelphia,  widow's. 

Pittsburgh 

Providence 

Nashville 

Knozville 

Montpelier 

Burlington 

Richmond 

Wheeling 

Madison 

Milwaukee 

La  Crosse 

Vancouver 


Number  on 
the  roll 


747 

*3, 740 

*.)3a 

*4. 143 

574 

10.257 

3,316 

3,671 

4.586 

*6. 435 

6.195 

3.338 

2,358 

2,892 

2,936 

*4. 119 

2,583 

].974 

*792 

3,552 

*3,983 

3,325 

*13, 310 

*3,111 

523 

♦4,7.35 

2.^6 

*8,686 

1,881 

*2,228 

3,865 

♦•I,  150 

12,572 

11,908 

8.686 

♦3,113 

•4.986 

867 

368 

48 

6,765 

*1 0.104 

6,246 

•  102 

♦10,710 

10,252 

♦7,406 

*1,350 

2.134 

4,181 

2.529 

2,068 

♦2,076 

4,067 

2,561 

♦3,661 

1,324 

60 


238,411 


Total  amount 

disbur:'cd  for 

1872-'3. 


$129, 970  51 

442,401  22 

66, 095  S& 

791,504  2'> 

72,  545  61 

1, 216, 103  50 

416,880  26 

458,453  71 

.•^73,228  45 

779, 565  .Yi 

794,904  27 

4.37, 070  06 

309.270  96 

351,297  46 

370,347  6^ 

r>62. 448  32 

379.379  65 

268.061  30 

122, 878  83 

417.212  01 

469, 740  IT 

:m,  050  84 

],4(>6,224  66 

396.689  8^ 

85, 089  4!» 

.'»9,623  37 

408, 455  or 

799,591  37' 

234,289  88 

278, 482  88 

431, 182  32 

129. 459  53 

1.498.809  24 

1,377,174  6* 

1,075.739  32 

.393.279  64 

605.965  99 

133, 924  87 

53,106  21 

6,999  Kt 

831, 135  4f 

1,253.134  II 

759, 475  54 

13, 395  95 

1,149,020  94 

1,336.447  81 

906,076  01 

160,419  87 

288,653  4t^ 

454, 319  30 

283,601  00 

235,471  57 

276,893  20 

510. 412  4«i 

304, 749  71 

456,416  47 

167,002  2!l 

5,654  02 


29,185,289  62 


Total  number  of  agents,  58. 

Total  disbursed  In  1872 

Total  disburwd  in  1673 

Average  per  quarter  for  the  two  years 

Average  rate  of  Invalid  penrions  per  month 

Average  rate  of  widows  and  dependent  relations  per  month 

The  average  amount  of  each  check  given  in  payment  Is 

Amount  of  fees  on  vouchers  received  by  all  the  agents  during  the  fiscal  year  1872-'3. 

♦  Agencies  which  pay  also  Navy  pensions. 


$30,169.34!  00 

25*.  185, 289  62 

7, 419. 328  83 

8  04 

10  3» 

31  5ft 

254. 803  ^-^ 


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330  REDUCTION    OF    THE    MILITARY    ESTABLISHMENT. 

LETTER  OF  SECRETARY  OF  WAR  AS  TO  THE  ENGINEER  BATTALION. 

War  Department, 
WashtTigton  Cityj  January  17, 1874. 

Dear  Sir  :  A  ramdr  has  reached  me  that  a  proposition  to  disband 
two  compauies  of  the  battalion  of  engineers  is  now  pending  before  your 
committee.  If  snch  is  the  fact,  I  desire,  most  earnestly,  it  will  consider 
the  following  statements : 

We  have  now  bnt  four  officered  companies  of  these  troops,  which 
have  been  reduced  lately  to  a  strength  of  eighty-three  men  each.  There 
is  also  a  skeleton  organization  of  twenty  men,  without  officers,  called  a 
company  on  paper.  One  of  these  four  companies  is  at  West  Point,  in 
accordance  with  section  4  of  the  law  of  May  15, 1846 ;  the  other  three 
companies  are  at  Willet's  Point,  N.  Y.,  where  the  instruction  of  this 
class  of  troops  in  their  peculiar  duties  is  imparted,  in  conformity  with 
the  requirements  of  the  law  above  quoted,  and  the  number  of  men  now 
there  is  as  small  as  is  compatible  with  their  proper  instruction. 

They  are  thoroughly  drilled  in  infantry  tactics,  and  during  the  past 
four  years  have  repeatedly  served  in  the  streets  of  l^ew  York  and 
Brooklyn,  under  the  general  commanding  the  Department  of  the  East, 
in  the  enforcement  of  the  revenue  laws  and  preventing  election  riots. 
They  have  served  faithfully  in  the  Mexican  war  and  the  war  of  the 
rebellion,  as  the  battles  inscribed  on  their  colors  and  in  the  Army 
Kegister  shows.  They  are  a  most  intelligent  and  picked  body  of  troops, 
and  must  be  of  this'  character  for  the  performance  of  their  special 
<luties. 

At  this  time  in  particular  they  are  more  needed  than  ever  for  the 
intelligent  handling,  planting,  and  working  of  torpedoes,  which  have 
risen  so  recently  into  an  important  branch  of  our  defenses. 

They  are  always  available  for  service  under  the  orders  of  the  depart- 
ment commanders  when  the  exigency  for  their  use  arises,  and  a  tele- 
gram to  the  War  Department  furnishes  them  immediately,  and  has 
•done  so  repeatedly. 

At  other  times  they  should,  in  accordance  with  law  and  the  custom  of 
service,  be  engaged  under  my  direction  in  their  proper  drill  and  spe- 
<;ialty,  which  embraces  all  the  duties  of  sapping,  mining,  pontouiering, 
and  use  of  torpedoes,  and  should  be  no  more  or  no  less  used  on  the 
plains  against  Indians  than  should  the  bulk  of  the  artillery  arm,  or  the 
itifteen  and  twenty  iuch  guns,  or  any  other  elements  for  the  defense  and 
-care  of  fortified  places.  Especially  at  this  time  do  I  consider  it  will  be 
a  most  decided  detriment  to  the  public  interest  to  reduce  the  number 
of  troops  of  this  arm  of  service. 

I  hope  you  will  excuse  the  liberty  I  have  taken  in  writing  to  yon 
thus  earnestly  on  this  subject. 

Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

WM.  W.  BELKXAP, 

tkcretary  of  War. 

Hon.  John  Coburn,  M.  C, 

Houne  of  Reprenentatives. 


statement  of  adjutant-general  as  to  number  of  posts  and 
stations  of  the  army, 

War  Department,  Adjutant-General's  Oppioe, 

Wa^hington^  January  3,  1874. 
Sir  :  In  compliance  with  your  request  of  the  26th  ultimo,  I  have  the 
lienor  to  transmit  herewith  'a  list  of  the  military  posts  and  stations  of 

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REDUCTION    OF    THE    MILITARY    ESTABLISHMENT.  331 

the  United  States,  now  in  existence,  with  the  number  of  companies 
<M)mpo8ing  their  garrisons.  I  have  also  re^spectfully  to  inform  you  that 
under  the  act  of  Congress  approved  July  28, 1866,  fixing  the  enlisted 
strength  of  the  Army  at  51,605,  the  average  tiumber  of  military  x>osts 
garrisoned  or  in  charge  of  ordnance-sergeants,  was  456.  Under  the 
act  of  March  3, 1869,  reducing  the  number  of  enlisted  men  to  35,036, 
the  number  of  posts  was  290. 

The  act  of  July  15, 1870,  limited  the  enlisted  force  of  the  Army  to 
^30,000  men.  Under  this  law  the  number  of  posts  is  237,  as  shown  by 
the  accompanying  pamphlet. 

Very  respectfully,  your  olwdient  servant, 

E.  1).  TOWNSKNI), 

Adjutant-  General, 

r.  S. — Having  already  prepared  the  inclosed  statement  before  the 
•personal  explanation  made  by  Hon.  Mr.  Ooburn,  I  inclose  it  with  the 
other  statements  since  collected. 

E.  I).  TOWNSEND, 

Adjutant  Oeneral. 
Hon.  John  Coburn,  M.  C, 

Chairman  Committee  on  Military  Affairn^ 

House  of  Eepresentatirr^,  Washington^  J>.  C. 


LUi  of  fhv  mililttrif  jwiits  ttml  stntious  of  the  Ut{ited  States^  triik  their  ffarrhoutt ;  and  also 
Ike  Htationn  of  ti'oopH,  hy  companies^  January  1, 1874. 

A. 

Aborcrombie,  Fort,  D.  T.  I*at.  40^  27',  long.  W)*^  28'.  Department  of  Dakota.  On 
the  Red  River  of  the  North,  168  miles  northwest  of  8aint  Clone),  Minn.,  the  nearest 
s^tation  on  the  Saint  Paul  and  Pacific  Railroad,  whence  Biipplies  are  transported  by 
wagons.  Reservation  declared  April  12, 1867.  Reduced  March  25, 1871,  under  act  of 
February  24,  1871.    Garrison,  two  companies  infantry. 

Adams,  Fort,  R.  I.  Lat.  41^  2^,  long.  71^  20'.  Department  of  the  East.  On  Bren- 
ton's  Point,  east  side  of  the  entrance  to  Newport  Harbor.  Kand  owned  by  the  United 
States.    Qarrisou,  four  companies  artillery. 

Alcatraz  Island,  Cal.  Lat.  :^o  49'  27",  long.  122^  24'  19".  Department  of  California. 
In  San  Francisco  Harbor.  Reservc<l  November  6,  1850.  Garrison,  two  companies 
artillery. 

Allegheny  Arsenal,  Pa.  Lat.  40°  32',  long.  8(P  2'.  At  Pittsburgh,  Pa.  Land  owned 
by  the  United  States.    ^^Arseual  of  construction.''    Garrison,  detachment  ordnance. 

Andrew,  Fort,  Mass.  Lat.  41^  37',  long.  70°  40'.  Department  of  the  East.  P.  O. 
.address:  Plymouth,  Mass.  On  Gwinet  Point,  north  side  of  entrance  to  Plymouth 
Harbor.  Lands  deeded  to  the  United  States  June  7, 1870.  Garrison  iu  charge  ordnance- 
itergeant. 

Angel  Island,  Cal.,  (Camp  Reynolds.)  Lat.  37°  48',  long.  122^^  26'.  Department  of 
California.  In  San  Francisco  Harbor.  Reserved  November  6, 1850,  and'  April  20, 1860. 
<ieneral  recruiting  depot  for  the  Military  Division  of  the  Pacific.  Garrison,  one  com- 
pany infantry. 

Apache,  Camp,  A.  T.  Lat.  34°,  long.  109^  45',  (approximate.)  Department  of  Ari- 
zona. P.  O.  address:  via  Fort  Wingate,  N.  M.  In  the  White  Mountain  country,  about 
^  miles  north,  10^  east,  from  Camp  Goodwin,  and  bears  from  Zuni  Village  alnmt  south 
i^^  west,  and  about  112  miles  distant.  Reservatiou  not  yet  declared.  Garrison,  two 
•companies  cavalry  and  one  company  infantry. 

Atlanta,  Ga.  Lat.  3;}^  48',  long.  84  32'.  Department  of  the  South.  Garrison,  seven 
^companies  infantry. 

Augusta  Arsenal,  Ga.  Lat.  33^  28',  long.  81°  54'.  At  Augusta,  Ga.  Lands  owned  by 
the  Unit«d  States.    '^Arsenal  of  construction."    Garrison,  detachment  of  ordnance. 

Austin,  Tex.  Lat.  30^  15',  long.  97^  47'.  Department  of  Texas.  Garrison,  one 
•company  infantry. 

Abraham  Lincoln,  Fort,  D.  T.  Garrison,  six  companies  cavalry  and  three  companies 
infantry. 


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332  REDUCTION    OF    THE    MILITARY    E8TABLI8HMENT. 

II 

Baker,  Camp,  M. T.  Lat.  47- ,  long.  111^,  (approximate.)  Department  of  Dakota.  In 
fimith'f*  River  Vallej',  near  the  jauctioii  of  Canuis  Creek  and  Smith's  River,  about  !?• 
juiles  northeast  of  Diamond  City.  Reservation  not  yet  de<5lared.  Garrison,  one  com- 
"l>any  infantrv. 

Barranca8,'Fort,  Fla.  Lat.  30^^  19',  long.  87^  16'  9".  Department  of  the  South.  Iiu 
Pensacola  Harbor.  Reservation  declared  Febrnary  9, 1842.  Garrison,  three  companies^ 
artillery. 

Bascom,  Fort,  N.  M.  Lat.  35°  23'  20",  long.  103-^  27'  20".  Department  of  the  Missonri. 
On  right  bank  of  the  Canadian  River,  145  miles  southeast  of  Fort  Union,  the  nearest 
supply  depot.  On  leased  ground  ;  no  reservation.  Garrison  withdrawn,  and  public 
buildings  left  in  charge  of  a  small  guard  since  October,  1870. 

Baton  Rouge  Barracks,  La.  Lat.  3(P  28',  long.  91°  16'.  Department  of  Texas.  At 
Baton  Rouge,  La.  Lands  owned  by  the  United  States.  Garrison,  three  companies, 
infantry. 

Bayard,  Fort,  N.  M.  Lat.  :«-  52,  long.  108^'  25'.  Department  of  the  Missonri.  Near 
Pinos  Altos,  448  miles  southwest  of  Fort  Union,  the  nearest  supply  depot.  Reserva- 
tion declared  Apnl  19,  1869.  Garristm,  two  companies  cavalry  and  two  companies, 
infantry. 

Benicia  Arsenal,  Cal.  Lat.  38^  3',  long.  122-  8'.  At  Benicia,  Cal.  Land  ceded  to  th(> 
United  States  in  1849.     Garrison,  detachment  ordnance. 

Benicia  Barracks,  Cal.  Lat.  3i8^  3',  long.  122^  8'.  Department  of  California.  At 
Benicia,  Cal.  Land  ceded  to  the  Unit-etl  States  in  1849.  (iarrisou,  two  companies 
cavalrv 

Benton,  Fort,  M.T.  Lat.  47^^  50',  long.  110^  30'.  Department  of  Dakota.  On  the 
Missouri  River,  1,915  miles,  by  river  route,  from  Sioux  City,  Iowa,  the  present  terminus, 
of  the  Sioux  City  and  Pacific  Railroad,  and  620  miles,  overland,  from  Corinne,U.T., 
the  nearest  station  on  the  Union  Pacitic  Railroad.  Reservation  declared  December  L 
1869.     Garrison,  one  company  infantry. 

Bidwell,  Camp,  Cal.  Lat.  41-  51'  14",  long.  120^  8'  45",  Department  of  California. 
At  the  north  end  of  Surprise  Valley,  215  miles  north  of  Reno,  Nevada,  the  nearest  sta- 
tion on  the  Central  Pacific  Railroacl.  Reservation  declared  October  19, 1866 ;  enlargeil 
October  4,  1870  j  wood  reserve  declared  February  7,  1871.  Garrison,  one  company 
cavalry. 

Bien venue.  Battery,  La.  Lat.  29<^  58',  lon^.  89^  ,50',  (abont.)  P.  O.  address :  via  New 
Orleans,  La.  On  the  right  bank  of  Bayon  Bien  venue,  near  New  Orleans,  La.  Reserva- 
tion declared  July  9, 1842.    Garrison  in  charge  of  Engineer  Department. 

Big  Cheyenne  Agency,  D.  T.  Department  of  Dakota.  On  the  Missouri  River,  1> 
miles  above  Fort  Sully.    Garrison,  two  companies  infantry. 

Bliss,  Fort,  Tex.  Lat.  31°  46'  5",  long.  106^  21'.  Department  of  Texas.  On  the  Rio 
Grande,  3  miles  northeast  of  El  Paso.  Ground  rented  by  the  United  States.  GarrisoD, 
one  company  infantry. 

Bois6,  Fort,  I.  T.  Lat.  43°  37',  long.  116^  28'.  Department  of  the  Columbia.  In  the 
Boisd  River  Valley,  about  half  a  mife  from  Bois^  City,  and  245  miles  from  Kelton,  th» 
nearest  station  on  the  Central  Pacific  Railroad.  Provisional  reservation  ;  not  yet  de- 
dared  by  the  President.    Garrison,  one  company  infantry. 

Bowie,  Camp,  A.  T.  Lat.  32°  15',  long,  109°  30',  Department  of  Arizona.  At  Apache 
Pass,  through  which  the  road  from  Tucson  to  Mesilla  runs,  about  100  miles  east  of  the 
former  town.  Reservation  declared  March  30, 1870.  Garrison,  one  company  cavalry 
and  one  company  infantry. 

Brady,  Fort,  Mich.  Lat.  46^  39',  long.  84^  43'.  Department  of  the  Lakes.  At  SauU 
Ste.  Marie,  Mich«  Reservation  declared  September  2,  1847.  (farrison,  two  companies- 
infantry. 

Beaver  City,  U.  T.    Garrison,  fonr  companies  infantry. 

Bridger,  Fort,  Wyo.  T.  Lat.  41^  18'  12",  long.  110?=  32'  38".  Department  of  the 
Platte.  In  the  valley  of  Black's  Fork,  10  miles  south  of  Carter's  Station,  on  the  Union 
Pacific  Railroad,  whence  supplies  are  transported  by  wagons.  Reservation  declared 
July  14, 1859 ;  to  be  reduced  under  act  of  Febrnary  24, 1871.  Garrison,  three  companies 
of  infantry. 

Brooke,  Fort.,  Fla.  Lat.  28^,  long.  82^  28'.  Department  of  the  Soath.  At  Tampa. 
Fla.^  Survey  ordered,  with  a  view  to  the  formal  declaration  of  a  reservation.  Garri- 
son in  charge  of  Engineer  Department. 

Brown,  Camp,  Wyo.  T.  Lat.  43^,  long.  109°.  Department  of  the  Platt43.  On  the 
Shoshone  ludian  reservation  in  the  Wind  River  Valley,  32  miles  from  Atlantic  City, 
and  138  miles  from  Bryan,  the  nearest  station  on  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad,  whence 
supplies  are  transported  by  wagons.  Reservation  not  yet  declared.  Garrison,  one 
company  of  cavalry  and  one  company  of  infantry. 

Brown,  Fort,  Tex.  Lat.  25^^  53'  16",  long.  97^  29'  15".  Department  of  Texas.  Ai 
Brownsville,  Tex.    Three  hundred  and  fifty  acres  held  and  known  as  United  States  niiU- 


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REDUCTION    OF    THE    MILITARY    ESTABLISHMENT,  333 

(ary  rcscrvaiiun  ;  title  iu  litigation.  Garrison,  one  company  of  cavalry  and  five  cum- 
^mnies  of  infantry. 

Buford,  Fort,  D.  T.  Lat.  48-,  long.  104^.  Department  of  Dakota.  On  the  Missouri 
River,  near  the  mouth  of  the  Yellowstone,  and  1,183  miles,  by  river  route,  from  Sionx 
<Mtv,  Iowa,  the  present  terminus  of  the  Sioux  City  and  Pacitic  Railroad.  Reservation 
<leclared  August  18,  18H8.    Garrison,  six  companies  of  infantry. 

Beaie^s  Springs,  Camp,  Ariz.  T.    Garrison,  one  company  of  infantry. 


Cape  Disappointment,  Fort,  Wash.  T.  Lat.  46°  16'  32",  long.  124^  :V  13'',  Depart- 
2uent  of  the  Columbia.  At  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia  River,  near  Pacific  City.  Lands 
•owned  by  tho  United  States.    Garrison,  one  company  of  artillery. 

Carlisle  Barracks,  Pa.  Lat.  40^  12',  long.  77^  14'.  Department  of  the  East.  At  Car- 
tlisle,  Pa.    Purchased  by  the  United  States  in  1801.    Garrison,  detachment  of  recruits. 

Carroll,  Fort,  Md.  Lat.  39^  15',  long.  76^  35'.  Department  of  the  East.  Post-office 
address:  Baltimore,  Md.  On  "  Seller's  Point  Flats,''  in  the  Patapsco  River,  about  eight 
miles  below  Baltimore  City.  Site  ceded  to  the  United  States  March  6, 1847.  Garrison 
in  charge  of  onlnaneo  sergeant. 

Caswell,  Fort,  N.  C.  Lat.  34^,  long.  7t^.  Department  of  the  East.  On  Oak  Island, 
at  the  mouth  of  Cape  Fear  River.  Lands  deeded  to  the  United  States  October  12, 
a.':^25.    Garrison  in  charge  of  ordnance  sergeant. 

Charleston,  S.  C.  Lat.  32^  46',  long.  79^  57'.  Department  of  the  South.  Garrison, 
three  companies  artillery. 

Chattanooga,  Tenn.  Lat.  35^  7',  long.  85^  18'.  Department  of  the  South.  Garrison, 
-one  company  infantry. 

Chicago,  111,  Lat.  4(P  52^  20",  long.  87°  35'.  Department  of  the  Missouri.  Head- 
^quarters  Military  Division  of  the  Missouri. 

Clark,  Fort,  Tex.  Lat.  20^  17',  long.  100^  25'.  Department  of  Texas.  On  the  Las 
Moras  River,  126  miles  west  of  San  Antonio,  and  45  miles  north  of  Fort  Duncan.  Built 
on  leased  ground.    Garrison,  ten  companies  cavalry;  three  companies  infantry. 

Clark's  Point,  Fort  at,  Mass.  Lat.  41^  35'  32",  long.  70^  53'  43".  Department  of  the 
East.  At  the  extremity  of  Clark's  Point,  about  3  miles  south  of  the  citj'  of  New 
33edford.  P,  O.adilress:  via  New  Bedford,  Mass.  Lands  deeded  to  the  United  States 
fi^eptembor  24, 18.57.    Garrison  in  charge  ordnance  sergeant. 

Clinch,  Fort,  Fla.    Lat.  30^  41',  long.  81°  28'.     Department  of  the  South.    P.  O. 

address:  via  Fernandina,  11a.    On  Amelia  Island,  at  the  mouth  of  St.  Mary's  River, 

aiear  Fernandina.    Portion  of  the  reservation  declared  by  the  President  February  9, 

1842 ;  other  portions  deeded  to  the  United  States  October  20, 1849,  and  July  9,  1850. 

Garrison  in  charge  ordnance  sergeant. 

Columbia,  S.  C.  Lat.  33°  57f,  long.  81°  7'.  Department  of  the  South.  Garrison, 
six  companies  infantry. 

Columbus  Arsenal,  Ohio.  Lat.  39^  57',  long.  83°  3'.  At  Columbus,  Ohio.  Lands 
-owned  by  the  United  States.  ''Arsenal  of  construction."  Garrison,  detachment  ord- 
nance. 

Columbus,  Fort,  N,  Y,  Harbor.  Lat.  40^^  42',  long.  74°  9'.  Department  of  the  East. 
-On  Govemoi^s  islaml.  Lands  ceded  to  the  United  States  February  15, 1800.  Depot 
general  recruiting  service.    Garrison,  general  service  recruits. 

Colville,  Fort,  Wash.  T.  Lat,  4SP  41,  long.  117<^  55'.  Department  of  the  Columbia. 
In  the  Colville  Valley,  about  35  miles  south  of  the  dividing  line  between  the  United 
States  and  British  Columbia,  and  14  miles  east  of  the  Columbia  River.  Post  and  wood 
reservattone  declared  January  27,  1871.    Garrison,  one  company  infantry. 

Concho,  Fort.  Tex.  Lat.  32°  24',  long.  lOF  22^.  Department  of  Texas.  At  the  lunc- 
tioD  of  the  Main  and  North  Conchos,  100  miles  northwest  of  Fort  Mason.  Built  on 
private  ground ;  steps  taken  to  procure  a  lease.  Garrison,  four  companies  cavalry 
and  two  companies  infantry. 

Constitution,  Fort,  N.  H.  Lat.  43«  4',  long.  70^  49'.  Department  of  the  East.  P.  O. 
address:  via  Portsmouth,  N.H.  On  right  bauk  of  entrance  to  the  inner  harbor  of 
Portsmouth,  three  miles  east  of  that  city.  Lands  ceded  to  the  United  States  February 
14, 1791,  and  June  18, 1807.    Garrison  in  charge  of  ordnance  sergeant. 

Craig,  Fort,  N.  M.  Lat,  33°  26',  long,  107^  8'.  Department  of  the  Missouri.  On  the 
west  bank  of  the  Rio  Grande,  280  miles  from  Fort  Union,  the  nearest  supply-depot. 
fieservatioD  declared  September  23, 1869.  Site  subsequently  paid  for  by  award  of  United 
^)tate8  and  Meicican  Claims  Commission,  leaving  the  title  iu  the  United  States.  Gar- 
rison, one  company  infantry. 

Cnmmings,  Fort,  N,M.  Lat32o  27',  long.  107°  .35'.  Department  of  the  Missouri. 
At  Cook's  Spring,  on  the  northeast  side  of  Cook's  Mountain,  near  the  mouth  of  Cook's 
<!afion,  19  miles  from  the  Miembres  Village,  and  416  miles  from  Fort  Union,  the  nearest 
•supply-depot.    Reservation  declared  April  29, 1870.    Garrison,  detachment  of  infantry. 

Colfax,  Grant  Parish.  La.    Garrison,  one  company  infantry. 


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334  REDUCTION    OF    THE    MILITARY    ESTABLISHMENT. 

D. 

David's  IhIuiuI,  New  York  Harbor.  Department  of  the  East.  P.  O.  address :  via 
Pelham,  N.  Y.  In  New  York  Harbor,  27  miles  from  the  city.  Purchased  by  the  United 
States  April  24,  18()H.    Garrison,  two  companies  artillery. 

Davis,  Fort,  Tex.  Lat.  HO^  36'  23",  long,  103-  36'  45'*'.  Department  of  Texas.  Go 
the  Limpia  River,  466  miles  northwest  of  San  Antonio,  and  220  miles  southeast  of  El 
Paso.  Ground  leased  by  the  United  States.  Garrison,  one  company  cavalry  and  thre<r 
companies  infantry. 

Delaware,  Fort,  Del.  Lat.  39°  .35',  long.  75^  29^.  Department  of  the  East.  On  Pea 
Patch  Island,  in  the  Delaware  River,  near  New  Castle,  Del.,  about  40  miles  below  Phila* 
delphia,  Pa.  Lauds  ceded  to  the  United  States  May  27, 1813.  Garrison  in  charge  of 
Engineer  Department. 

Detroit  arsenal,  Mich.  Lat.  42^  20',  long.  83^  lO',  (about.)  At  DcarbomTille,  10 
miles  west  of  Detroit,  Mich.  Site  selected  from  the  military  reservation  on  River 
Rouge  August,  1832.    Garrison,  detachment  ordnance. 

Dodge,  Fort,  Kan.  Lat.  37^  30',  long.  100^.  Department  of  the  Missonri.  On  th<^ 
Santa  F6  road,  96  miles  southwest  of  Hays  City,  Kan.,  the  nearest  station  on  the  Kan- 
sas Pacific  Railroad,  whence  snx^plies  are  transported  by  wagons.  Reservation  declared 
June  22, 1868.    Garrison,  one  company  cavalry  and  two  companies  infantry. 

Douglas,  Camp,  U.  T.  Lat.  40^  46'  2"^  long.  111^  53'  34".  Department  of  the  Platte. 
Three  miles  east  of  Salt  Lake  City,  and  about  35  miles  south  of  Uintah,  the  nearest 
station  on  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad,  whence  supplies  are  transported  by  wagons. 
Reservation  declared  September  3, 1867.  Garrison,  one  company  cavalry  and  seven 
companies  infantry. 

Duncan.  Fort,  Tex.  Lat.  28^  42',  long,  ICO^  .30'  Department  of  Texas.  At  Eagle 
Pass,  on  tne  Rio  Grande.  Grounds  leased  by  the  United  States.  Garrison,  two  com- 
panies cavalry  and  two  companies  infantry. 

Dupr^'s  Tower,  La.  Lat.  29^^  55',  long.  89^  40',  (about.)  P.O. address:  via  New 
Orleans,  La.  On  right  bank  of  Bayou  Dupr^,  Lake  Borgne,  near  New  Orleans.  Re> 
served  February*  9,  1842.    In  charge  of  Engineer  Department. 

Dutch  Island,  Fort  at,  R.  I.  Lat.  41<^  29',  long.  7P  19'  12".  Department  of  the  East. 
P.  O.  address :  via  Newport,  R.  I.  In  western  entrance  to  Narraganset  Bay.  Deeded  to 
the  United  States  January  1,  1864.    Garrison  in  charge  of  ordnance  sergeant. 

E. 

Ellis,  Fort,  M.  T.  Lat.  4.5^  45',  long.  110-  53'.  Department  of  Dakota,  At  the 
extreme  eastern  end  of  Gallatin  Valley,  three  miles  from  the  town  of  Bozeman,  and 
426  miles  from  Corinne,  the  nearest  station  on  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad,  whence  sup- 

£  lies  are  transported  by  wagons.    Reservation  declared  in  February,  1868;  enlarged 
[arch,  1870.    Garrison,  four  companies  cavalry  and  one  company  infantry. 

F. 

Fetterman.  Fort,  Wyo.  T.  Lat.  42^^  49'  8",  long.  105^  27'  .3".  Department  of  the 
Platte.  Ou  the  south  side  of  the  North  Platte  River,  170  miles  fixmi  Cheyenne  City, 
the  station  on  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad,  whence  supplies  are  transported  by  wagons. 
Reservation  declared  June  28, 1869.  Garrison,  one  company  cavalry,  four  companies 
infantry. 

Foote,  Fort,  Md.  Lat.  :i8^  48',  long.  77°  4'.  Department  of  the  East.  At  Hosier's 
Bluff,  on  the  left  side  of  the  Potomac  River,  about  two  miles  below  Alexandria,  Va. 
Purchase  of  grounds  not  completed.    Garrison,  one  company  artillery. 

Fort  Monroe  Arsenal,  Va.  Lat.  37^  2',  long.  76^  12'.  At  Old  Point  Comfort.  Site 
conveyed  to  the  United  States  December  12, 1838.    Garrison,  detachment  ordnance. 

Frankfort  Arsenal,  Pa.  Lat,  39°  57',  long.  75^  10'.  At  Bridesburgh,  near  Philadel- 
phia, Pa.  Lands  owned  by  the  United  States.  ''Arsenal  of  Construction."  Garriaou. 
detachment  ordnance. 

Frankfort,  Ky.  Lat.  38*^  14',  long.  84-  40'.  Department  of  the  South.  Garrison, 
one  company  infantry. 

G. 

Gaines,  Fort,  Ala.  Lat.  30^  13',  long.  87^  59'.  Department  of  the  South.  P.  0.  ad- 
dress :  via  Mobile,  Ala.  On  Dauphine  Island,  Mobile  Bay.  Lands  conveyed  to  the 
United  States  by  decree  in  chancery,  January,  1853.  Garrison,  in  charge  of  ordnance 
department. 

Garland,  Fort,  C.  T.     Lat.  37^  20',  long.  105^  23'.    Department  of  the  Missouri.    On 


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REDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT.  335 

the  west  bank  of  Utah  Creek,  150  milea  from  Kit  Carson,  the  station  on  the  Kansas 
Pacific  Railroad,  whence  supplies  are  transported  by  wagons.  Reservation  declared 
March  29, 1870.    Garrison,  one  company  cavalry,  one  company  infantry. 

Gaston,  Camp,  Cal.  Lat.  41^  3'  56",  lon^.  1239  15'.  Department  of  California.  On 
left  bank  of  Trinity  River,  near  its  junction  with  the  Klamath  River,  in  Hoopa  Val- 
ley.   Reservation  declared  April  2,  1869.    Garrison,  two  companies  infantry. 

Gibson,  Fort,  Indian  T.  Lat.  35°  47'  35'',  long.  95^^  15'  30".  Department  of  the  Mis- 
souri. On  the  left  bank  of  the  Neosho  River,  two  and  a  half  miles  from  its  confluence 
w^ith  the  Arkansas,  and  98^  miles  from  Baicter's  Springs,  Kansas,  the  present  terminus 
of  the  Misaouri  River,  Fort  Scott  and  Gulf  Railroad,  whence  supplies  are  transported 
by  wagons.  Reservation  declared  January  25,  1870.  Garrison,  one  company  cavalry, 
one  company  infantry. 

Gorges,  Fort,  Me.  Lat.  43°  39',  long.  70^  20'.  Department  of  the  East.  Post- 
office  address,  via  Portland,  Me.  In  Portland  Harbor.  Lands  ceded  to  the  United 
Btates  April  17, 1857.    Garrison,  in  charge  of  onlnance  sergeant. 

Grand  River  Agency,  Dakota  Tur.  Department  of  Dakota.  On  the  Missouri  River, 
125  miles  above  Fort  Sully.    Garrison,  two  companies  infantry. 

Grant,  Camp,  Arizona  Ter.  Lat.  33^  5',  long.  1 10^  20',  (about.)  Department  of  Ari- 
zona. At  the  junction  of  the  Arivaypa  with  the  San  Pedro  River,  56  miles  north  of 
Tucson.  Reservation  declared  March  30, 1870.  Garrison,  four  companies  cavalry,  one 
company  infantry. 

Gratiot,  Fort,  Mich.  Lat.  42^  55',  long.  82^  23'.  Department  of  the  I^kes.  On  the 
right  bank  of  the  St.  Clair  River,  one-half  mile  from  the  outlet  of  Lake  Huron.  Re- 
served November  11, 1828.    Garrisou,  one  company  infantry. 

Griffin,  Fort,  Tex.  Lat.  32^  51',  long.  99^  40^  Department  of  Texas.  On  the  Clear 
Fork  of  the  Brazos  River,  at  a  point  called  Maxwell's  Ranohe.  Built  on  private  lands  ; 
steps  taken  to  procure  a  lease.  Garrison,  two  companies  cavalry,  three  companies  in- 
fantry. 

Griswold,  Fort,  Conn.  Lat.  41°  22',  long.  72^  9'.  Department  of  the  East.  Post- 
office  address,  via  New  London,  Conn.  On  Groton  Hill,  wesi  side  of  New  London  Har- 
bor. Lands  deeded  August  3  and  September  16, 18 12.  Purchased  March  25  and  26, 
1842.    Garrison,  in  charge  of  ordnance  sergeant. 

Greenwood,  La.    Garrison,  two  companies  infantry. 

H. 

Hall,  Fort,  Idaho  Ter.  Lat.  43<^  10',  long.  112°,  (about.)  Department  of  the  Colum- 
bia. Post-offioe  address,  via  Ross's  Fork,  Idaho  Ter.  About  25  miles  northeast  of  old 
Fort  Hall,  and  140  miles  north  of  Coriune,  Utah  Ter.,  the  nearest  station  on  the  Union 
Pacific  Railroad,  whence  snpplies  are  transported  by  wagons.  Reservation  declared 
October  12,  1870.    Garrison,  one  company  infantry. 

Halleck,  Camp,  Nevada.  Lat.  40^  25',  long.  115^  25'.  Department  of  California. 
Aboat  12  miles  south  of  Halleck  Station  on  the  Central  Pacific  Railroad,  whence' sup- 
plies are  transported  by  wagons.  Reservation  declared  October  4, 1870.  Garrison,  one 
company  cavalry,  one  company  infantry. 

Hamilton,  Fort,  New  York  Harbor.  Lat.  40<^  37',  long.  74°  2'.  Department  of  the 
East.  At  the  southwestern  extremity  of  Long  Island,  on  the  east  6ide  of  the  entrance 
to  New  York  Harbor,  aliout  six  miles  south  of  New  York  citv.  Lands  deeded  to  the 
United  States  May  30,  1814,  September  11,  1626,  March  24, 1852,  and  September  9, 1862. 
Garrison,  four  companies  artillery. 

Harker,  Fort,  Kans.  Lat.  38°  40',  long.  98^  lO'.  Department  of  the  Missouri.  On 
the  Kansas  Pacific  Railroad,  218  miles  west  of  Kansas  City,  Mo.  Reservation  declared 
November  3,  1866.    Garrisou,  in  char^  of  agent  Quartermaster's  Department. 

Hancock,  Camp,  Dakota  Ter.    Garrison,  one  company  infantry. 

Harney,  Camp,  Oregon.  Lat.  43^  30',  long.  118°  30^.  Department  of  the  Columbia. 
On  Rattlesnake  Creek,  60  miles  south  of  Cafiun  City,  Oregon,  and  260  miles  from  Win- 
nemucca,  the  nearest  station  on  the  Central  Piicific  Railroad.  Provisional  reservation. 
Steps  being  taken  to  have  it  properly  reserved.  Garrison,  two  companies  cavalry,  one 
company  infantry. 

Hays,  Fort,  Kan.  Lat.  38°  48'  30",  long.  99°  9'  30".  Department  of  the  Missonri. 
One-half  mile  from  Hays  City,  a  station  on  the  Kansas  Pacific  Railroad,  289  miles  west 
of  Kansas  City,  Mo.  Reservation  declared  August  28, 1868.  Garrison,  four  companies 
cavalry. 

Humboldt,  Tenn.  Lat.  36^,  long.  89°,  (about.)  Department  of  the  South.  Garrison, 
one  company  infantry. 

Hontsville,  Ala.  Lat.  34°  40',  long,  86°  31'.  Department  of  the  South.  Garrison, 
one  company  infantry. 


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"o36  KEliUCTIOX    OF    THE    MILITARY    ESTABLISHMENT. 


iQdepondence,  CatuD,  Cal.  Lat.  36'^  55',  long.  118^  10',  (about)  Departoient  of  Cali- 
fornia. On  Oak  Creek,  in  Owen's  River  Valley,  2  miles  north  of  the  town  of  Indepeud- 
•ence,  and  271  miles  from  Reno,  Nevada,  the  nearest  station  on  the  Central  Pacific  Bail- 
road.   Reservation  declared  January  23,  1866.    Garrison,  one  company  infantry. 

Independence,  Fort,  Mass.    Lat.  42°  22',  long.  71"^  2'.    Department  of  the  East.    On 
<:!a8tle  Island,  south  side  of  inner  harbor  of  Boston.    Land  deeded  to  the  United  States 
■  June  25,  1798.    Garrison,  one  company  artillery. 

Indianapolis  Arsenal,  Ind.  Lat.  39°  46',  long.  86°  5'.  At  Indianapolis,  Ind.  Land 
owned  by  the  United  States.  "Arsenal  of  Construction.''  Garrison,  detachment  ord- 
tiance. 

J. 

Jackson  Barracks,  La.  Lat.  29°  57',  long.  90°.  Department  of  Texas.  At  New  Or- 
leans, La.  Land  deeded  to  the  United  States  December  14, 1823.  Garrison,  four  com- 
panies infantry. 

Jackson,  Fort,  La.  Lat.  29°  29',  long.  89°  31'.  Department  of  Texas.  On  the  west 
bank  of  the  Mississippi  River,  70  miles  below  New  Orleans.  Reserved  February  9, 
1842.    Garrison,  in  charge  of  ordnance  sergeant. 

Jackson,  Miss.  Lat.  32^  23',  long.  90°  8'.  Department  of  the  South.  Garrison,  three 
companies  infantry. 

Jeflferson,  Fort,  Fla.    Lat.  24°  32',  long.  82°  40'.    Department  of  the  South,    At  the 
Ganlen  Key,  Tortugas.    Reserved  September  17,  1845.    Garrison,  one  company  ar- ' 
tillery. 

Johnston,  Foit,  N.  C.  Lat.  34°,  long.  78°  5'.  Department  of  the  East.  On  the 
right  b:ink  of  Cape  Fear  River,  at  Smithville.  Land  ceded  to  the  United  States  Janu- 
ary 1,  1800,  and  December  19,  1809.    Garrison,  one  company  artillery. 

K. 

Kennebec  Arsenal,  Me.  Lat.  44°  19^,  long.  69°  50'.  Department  of  the  East.  Ai 
Augusta,  Maine.  Land  owned  by  the  United  States.  Garrison,  detachment  of  onl- 
nance. 

Key  West  Barracks,  Fla.  Lat.  24°  33',  long.  81°  52'.  Department  of  the  South.  At 
Key  West,  Fla.    Land  owned  by  the  Government.    Garrison,  two  companies  artillery. 

Klamath,  Foit,  Oregon.  Lat.  42°  41'  34",  long.  121°  53'.  Department  of  the  Colnm- 
bia.  Near  Lake  Klamath,  40  miles  north  of  the  California  State  line,  and  350  milect 
from  Reno,  Nevada,  the  nearest  station  on  the  Central  Pacific  Railroad.  Reservation 
^declared  April  6,  1869.    Garrison,  one  company  cavalry,  one  company  infantry. 

Knox,  Fort,  Me.  Lat.  44°  35',  long.  68°  50',  (about.)  Department  of  the  East.  P.  0. 
address :  Bucksport,  Maine.  At  the  narrows  of  the  Penobscot,  opposite  Bncksport. 
Lands  deeded  to  tlie  United  States  September  4, 1843,  December  16,  1843,  and  March 
23, 1844.    Garrison,  in  charge  of  ordnance  sergeant. 

•  L. 

Lafayette,  Fort,  New  York  Harbor.  Lat.  40°  37',  long.  74°  2'.  Department  of  the 
East.  Left  of  the  *^  Narrows,''  opposite  Fort  Hamilton.  Land  ceded  to  the  United 
States  November  6, 1812.    Garrison,  in  charge  of  ordnance  sergeant. 

Lapwai,  Fort,  I.  T.  Lat.  46°  W,  long.  116°  37'.  Department  of  the  Columbia.  On 
the  Lapwai  River,  3  miles  from  its  confluence  with  the  Clearwater,  a  tributary  of  the 
Snake  River,  and  12  miles  from  the  town  of  Lewiston,  located  at  the  junction  of  the 
two  last-named  streams.  Reservation  declared  April  23,  1864.  Grarrison  one  com- 
pany cavalry,  one  company  infantry. 

Laramie,  Fort,  Wyo.  T.  Lat.  42°  12'  38",  long.  104°  31'  26".  Department  of  the 
Platte.  On  the  Laramie  River,  about  half  a  mile  from  its  junction  with  the  North 
Platte,  and  89  miles  north  of  Cheyenne  City,  the  nearest  station  on  the  Union  Pacitic 
Railroad,  whence  supplies  are  transported  by  wagons.  Reservation  declared  June  'Zd^ 
1869.    Garrison,  two  companies  cavalry,  five  companies  infantry. 

Lamed,  Fort,  Kan.  Lat.  .38°  10',  long.  99°.  Department  of  the  Missouri.  On  Paw- 
nee Fork,  about  8  miles  from  its  confluence  with  the  Arkansas  River,  and  50  miles  from 
Hays  City,  Kansas,  the  nearest  station  on  the  Kansas  Pacific  Railroad,  whence  sup- 
plies are  transported  by  wagons.  Reservation  declared  January  3,  1868.  GarrijM>u, 
three  companies  infantry. 

Leavenworth  Arsenal,  Kan.  Lat.  39<^  21',  long.  94°  44'.  At  Fort  Lcaren worth. 
Grounds  reserved  October  10,  1854.    Garrison,  detachment  ordnance. 

Leavenworth,  Fort,  Kan.  Lat.  39°  21',  long.  94°  44'.  Department  of  the  Missouri. 
On  the  west  bank  of  the  Missouri  River,  three  miles  above  Leavenworth  City.  Ground:) 


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REDUCTION    OF   THE    MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT.  337 

reserved  October  10,  1854.  Headquarters  Department  of  the  Missonri.  Garrison,  six 
companies  infantry. 

Lebanon,  Ky.  Lat.  37©  33',  long.  85-  2(y,  (about.)  Department  of  the  South.  Gar- 
rison, one  company  infantry. 

Lee,  Fort,  Mass.  Lat.  42^  31',  long,  70^  53',  (about.)  Department  of  the  East.  P. 
O.  address :  via  Salem,  Mass.  In  the  center  of  Salem  Neck,  commanding  entrance  to 
Salem  and  Beverly  Harbors.  Land  ceded  to  the  United  States  July  31, 1867.  Garrison 
in  charge  of  ordnance  sergeant. 

Lime  Point,  Fort  at,  Cal.  Lat  37^  48',  long.  122^  26',  (about.)  P.  O.  address:  via 
San  Francisco,  Cal.  In  San  Francisco  Harbor.  Land  deeded  to  the  United  States 
July  24, 1866.    Garrison  in  charge  of  ordnance  sergeant. 

Little  Rock,  Ark.  Lat.  34^  40',  long.  83^  10'.  Department  6f  the  Missouri.  Garrison, 
one  company  infantry. 

Livingston,  Fort,  La.  Lat.  29^  15',  long.  90*^,  (about.)  Department  of  Texas.  P. 
O.  address:  via  New  Orleans,  La.  On  Grand-Terre  Island,  in  Barrataria  Bay,  95  miles 
from  New  Orleans.  Land  deeded  to  the  United  States  Jannary  10, 1634.  Garrison  in 
charge  of  ordnance  sergeant. 

Long  Point  Batteries,  Mass.  Lat.  41^  57',  long.  70^,  (abont.)  Department  of  the 
East.  P.  O.  address :  via  Provincetown,  Mass.  On  Long  Point,  south  entrance  to 
Provincetown  Harbor,  Cape  Cod.  Land  ceded  to  the  United  States  March  5,  1864. 
Garrison  in  charge  of  ordnance  sergeant. 

Louisville,  Ky.  Lat.  38©  3',  lone.  85*^  30'.  Department  of  the  South.  Headquarters 
Military  Division  of  the  South,  ana  Headquarters  Department  of  the  South. 

Lowell,  Camp,  A.  T.  Lat.  32°  35',  long.  111^,  (about.)  Department  of  Arizona, 
At  Tucson,  Arizona  Territory.  Garrison,  one  company  cavalry,  two  companies  in- 
fantry. 

Lower  Bml6  Agency,  D.  T.  Department  of  Dakota.  Garrison,  one  company  in- 
fantry. 

Lyon,  Fort,  C.  T.  Lat.  38°  5'  36' ,  long.  103°  3'  30".  Department  of  the  Missouri. 
On  the  Arkansas  River,  54  miles  from  Kit  Carson,  the  nearest  station  on  the  Kansas 
Pacific  Railroad,  whence  snpplies  are  transported  by  wagons.  Reservation  declared 
September  1, 1868.    Garrison,  two  companies  cavalry,  two  companies  infantry. 

Lancaster,  Ky.    Garrison,  on3  company  infantry. 

M. 

Mackinac,  Fort,  Mich.  Lat.  45°  51',  long.  84°  33'.  Department  of  the  Lakes.  On 
Michiliuiackinac  Island,  in  the  straits  connecting  Lakes  Michigan  and  Huron.  Re- 
served November  8,  1827.    Garrison,  one  comprany  infantry. 

Macomb,  Fort,  La.  Lafc.  30^  5'  15",  long.  89°  51'  15".  Department  of  Texas.  P.  O. 
address :  via  New  Orleans,  La.  On  the  right  bank  of  Chef  Mentenr  Pass,  25  miles  from 
New  Orleans.    Reserved  February  9, 1842.    Garrison,  in  charge  of  ordnance  sergeant. 

Macon,  Fort,  N.  C.  Lat.  34°  41',  long.  76°  40'.  Department  of  the  East.  On  Bogue 
Island,  in  Beaufort  Harbor.  Laud  ceded  to  the  United  States  December  17,  1807. 
Garrison,  two  companies  artillery. 

Madison  Barracks,  N.  Y.  Lat.  43°  50',  long.  77°  55'.  Department  of  the  Lakes.  At 
Sackett's  Harbor,  N.  Y.  Land  purchased  by  the  United  States.  Garrison,  two  com- 
panies artillery,  one  company  infantry. 

Marion,  Fort,  Fla.  Lat.  29°  48',  long.  81°  35'.  Department  of  the  South.  At  Saint 
Aagustiue,  Fla.    Reserved  March  23, 1849.    Garrison,  in  charge  of  ordnance  sergeant. 

McClary,  Fort,  Me.  Lat.  43°  5',  long.  70°  45',  (about.)  Department  of  the  East. 
P.  O.  address :  Portsmouth,  N.  H.  On  Kittery  Point  in  Portsmouth  Harbor.  Land 
ceded  to  the  United  States  March  12, 1808.    Garrison,  in  charge  of  ordnance  sergeant. 

McDermit,  Camp,  Nevada.  Lat.  41°  58',  long.  117°  40'.  Department  of  California. 
On  the  east  branch  of  Quinn's  River,  in  Humboldt  County,  80  miles  north  of  Winne- 
mncca,  the  nearest  station  on  the  Central  Pacific  Railroad.  Reservation  declared  Oc- 
tober 4, 1870.    Garrison,  one  company  cavalry. 

McDowell,  Camp,  A.  T.  Lat.  3.3^  42'  30",  long.  111°  53'.  Department  of  Arizona. 
On  the  Rio  Verde,  52  miles  north  of  Maricopa  Wells.  Reservation  declared  April  12, 
1867.    Garrison,  one  company  cavalry,  one  company  infantry. 

McHenry,  Fort,  Md.  Lat.  39°  17',  long.  76°  36'.  Department  of  the  East.  In  the 
harbor  of  Baltimore.  Lands  deeded  to  the  United  States  July  20,  1795,  and  at  various 
subsequent  dates.    Garrison,  three  companies  artillery. 

Mcintosh,  Fort,  Tex.  Lat.  27°  30',  long.  99°  29'.  Department  of  Texas.  On  the  Rio 
Grande,  at  Loredo.  Built  on  private  lands;  measures  taken  to  obtain  a  lease.  Gar- 
rison, one  company  infantry. 

McKavett,  Fort,  Tex.    Lat.  30°  55',  long.  100°  5'.     Department  of  Texas.    On  the 
right  bank  of  the  San  Saba  River,  abont  two  miles  from  its  source.    Land  leased  by 
the  United  States.    Garrison,  two  companies  cavalry,  five  companies  infantry. 
22  M  £ 


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338  REDUCTION    OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT. 

McPherson,  Fort,  Nob.  Lat.  41^,  long.  100<^  30'.  *  Department  of  the  Platte.  On  the 
Platte  River,  6  miles  south  of  McPherson  Station,  on  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad, 
whence  supplies  are  transported  by  wagons.  Reservation  declared  January  ^Z,  1867, 
and  modified  in  1870.    Garrison,  five  companies  cavalry. 

McRae,  Fort,  N.  M.  Lat.  33^  2\  long.  107©  5'.  Department  of  the  Missouri.  At  the 
OJo  del  Muerto.  292  miles  southwest  of  Fort  Union,  the  nearest  supply-depot  Reser- 
vation declared  May  28,  lb69.    Garrison,  one  company  cavalry,  one  company  iafantry. 

Mifflin,  Fort,  Pa.  Lat.  ;I9^  53',  long.  7.'>o  13'.  Department  of  the  East.  P.  0.  ad- 
dress :  via  Philadelphia,  Pa.  On  Mud  Island,  in  the  Delaware  River,  7  miles  below 
Philadelphia.  Land  ceded  to  the  United  States  April  15,  1795.  Garrison,  in  charge  of 
ordnance  sergeant. 

Mojave  Camp,  A.  T.  Lat.  34^  56',  long.  114*^  40'.  Department  of  Arizona.  On  the 
Colorado  River,  near  the  head  of  Mojave  Vallej%  209  miles  north  of  Fort  Yuma.  Reser- 
vation declared  March  30,  1870.    Garrison,  one  company  infantry. 

Monroe,  Fort,  Va.  Lat.  37°  2',  long.  76^  12'.  Department  of  the  East.  On  Old 
Point  Comfort,  Hampton  Roads.  Site  conveyed  to  the  United  States  December  12, 
1838.    Garrison,  five  companies  artillery. 

Montgomery,  Fort,  N.  Y.  Lat.  45"^,  long.  73°  20',  (about.)  Department  of  the  East. 
P.  0.  adJlress :  Rouse's  Point,  N.  Y.  At  Rouse's  Point,  near  the  outlet  of  Lake  Cham- 
plain.  Land  deeded  to  the  United  States  October  17, 1817,  November  18,  1817,  and  May 
15»  1818.    Garrison,  in  charge  of  ordnance  sergeant. 

Morgan,  Fort,  Ala.  Lat.  30°  ll',  long.  88^.  Department  of  the  South.  P.  0.  ad- 
dress :  via  Mobile,  Ala.  At  Mobiler  Point,  Mobile  Bay.  Land  deeded  to  the  Uait«d 
States  January  18,  1844.    Garrison,  in  charge  of  ordnance  sergeant. 

Moultrie,  Fort,  S.  C.  Lat.  32°  45',  long.  79^  51'.  Department  of  the  South.  P.  0. 
address:  via  Charleston,  S.  C.  On  Sullivan's  Island,  in  the  main  entrance  to  Charles- 
ton Hacbor.  Lands  ceded  to  the  United  States  December  17,  1805;  regranted  Detain- 
ber  13^484(3',  deeded  January  9,  1844.    Garrison  in  charge  of  ordnance  sergeant. 

Mount  Vernon  Barracks,  Ala.  Lat.  31^  6',  long.  85^  5'.  At  Mount  Vernon,  Alabama. 
Reserved  February  9,  1830.    Ganisuu,  two  compinies  infantry. 

N. 

Nashville,  Tenu.  Lat.  3i)'  9',  long.  8C-  49'.  Department  of  the  South.  GarrisoD, 
two  companies  infantry. 

Newport  Barracks,  Ky.  Lat.  39-  5',  long.  84^^  29'.  Department  of  the  South.  At 
Newport,  Ky.    Lands  deeded  to  the  United  States.    Depot  general  recruiting  service. 

New  San  Diego  Barracks,  Cal.  Lat.  32^  42',  long.  117"^  14'.  Department  of  Arizona. 
At  the  town  of  New  San  Diego.  Reserved  February  26,  1852.  Garrison  in  charge  of 
ordnance  sergeant. 

New  York  Arsenal,  N.  Y.  Lat.  40^^  42',  long.  74^  1'.  On  Governor's  Island,  New  York 
Harbor.    Land  ceded  to  the  United  States  February  15,  1800. 

New  York  City,  N.  Y.  Lat.  40^^  42'  43",  long.  74'^^  0'  3".  Department  of  the  East. 
Headquarters  military  division  of  the  Atlantic,  and  headquarters  general  recruiting 
service. 

Niagara,  Fort,  N.  Y.  Lat.  43^  18',  long.  79^  8'.  Department  of  the  Lakes.  At 
Youngstown,  N.  Y.  Land  ceded  to  the  United  States  July  8, 1841.  Garrison,  one  com- 
pany of  artillery. 

Newberry,  S  C.    Garrison,  one  company  infantry. 

O. 

Omaha,'  Neb.  Lat.  41-  IG',  long.  96^.  Department  of  the  Platte.  Headquarter^ 
Department  of  the  Platte. 

Omaha  Barracks,  Neb.  Lat.  41^  20',  long.  96'.  Department  of  the  Platte.  On  the 
Missouri  River,  four  miles  above  Omaha  City.  Land  leased  by  the  United  Statea.  Gar- 
rison, two  companies  cavalry,  and  eight  companies  infantry, 

Ontario,  Fort,  N.  Y.  Lat.  43°  20',  h)ng.  76^  40'.  Department  of  the  Lakes.  At  (h 
wego,  N.  Y.  Land  ceded  to  the  United  States  August  15, 1839,  including  the  light-house 
lot  granted  in  1821     Garrison,  one  company  artillery. 

P. 

Pembina,  Fort,  D.  T.  Lat.  48^  58',  long.  97^.  Department  of  Dakota.  On  the  left 
bank  of  the  Red  River  of  the  North,  two  miles  from  the  line  of  the  British  Posses- 
sions, and  347  miles  from  Saint  Cloud,  Minn.,  the  nearest  station  on  the  Saint  Paul  and 
Pacific  Railroad,  whence  supplies  are  transported  by  wagons.  Reservation  declared 
October  4, 1870.  Garrison,  three  companies  infantry. 
Phcpnix,  Fort,  Mass.    Lat.  4F  38',  long.  70^  55'.      Department  of  the  East     P.O. 

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REDUCTION   OF   THE    MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT.  339 

address:  Fair  Haven, Mass.  At  Fort  Point, on  left  bank  of  entrance  to  Now  Bedford 
Harbor.  Land  deeded  to  the  United  States  September  28, 1808.  Garrison,  ordnance 
sergeant. 

Pickens,  Fort,  Fla.  Lat.  30°  19',  long.  87°  16'  54".  Department  of  the  South.  On  Santa 
Rosa  Island,  Pensacola  Harbor.  Laud  deeded  to  the  United  States  May  28,  1828.  Gar- 
rison, ordnance  sergeant. 

Pickering,  Fort,  Mass.  Lat.  42^  31',  long.  70*^  53',  (about.)  Department  of  the  East. 
P.  O.  address :  via  Salem,  Mass.  On  Winter  Island,  north  side  of  entrance  to  Salem 
Harbor.  Land  deeded  to  the  United  States  September  1,  1794 ;  enlarged  January 
4,  1865.    Garrison,  ordnance  sergeant. 

Pike,  Fort,  La.  Lat.  30^  10',  long.  89-  38'.  Department  of  Texas.  On  the  island  of 
"  Petites  Coquilles,"  35  miles  northeast  of  New  Orleans.  Reserved  February  9, 1842. 
Garrison,  ordnance  sergeant. 

P4kesville  Arsenal,  Md.  Lat.  39^  18',  long.  76^  37'.  At  Pikesville,  about  8  miles 
Dorth  of  Baltimore  City.  Land  owned  by  the  United  States.  Garrison,  detachment 
ordnance. 

Pinckney,  Castle,  8.  C.  Lat.  32^  48',  long.  79^  57'.  Department  of  the  South.  P. 
O.  address:  Charleston,  S.  C.  On  the  north  bide  of  Charleston  Harbor.  Land  ceded 
to  the  United  States  December  17,  1805;  regranted  December  18,  1846.  Garrison, 
ordnance  sergeant. 

Plattsbnrgh  Barracks,  N.  Y.  Lat.  44-  41',  long.  73^  25'.  Department  of  the  East. 
At  Plattsbnrgh,  N.  Y.  Lands  deeded  to  the  United  States.  Garrison,  one  company 
artillery. 

Point,  Fort,  Cal.  Lat.  37^  48',  long.  122^-  26'.  Department  of  California.  P.  O. 
address :  via  San  Francisco,  Cal.  In  San  Francisco  Harbor.  Reserved  November  6, 
1850;  modified  December  31.  1H51.    Garrison,  ordnance  sergeant. 

Point  San  Jo8<5,  Cal.  Lat.  37^  48',  long.  122^  26'.  Department  of  California.  In  San 
Francisco  Harl)or.  Reserved  November  6, 1850  ;  modified  December  31, 1851.  Garrison, 
one  company  artillery. 

Popham,  Fort,  Me.  Lat.  43^  50',  long.  69^  55,  (about.)  Department  of  the  East. 
P.  O.  address:  yia  Parker's  Head,  Me.  On  Hnnni well's  Point,  at  the  mouth  of  Ken- 
nebec River.  Lands  deeded  to  the  United  States  June  21,  1808,  June  1,  1863,  and 
June  22,  1863.    Garrison,  ordnance  sergeant. 

Porter,  Fort,  N.  Y.  Lat.  42*^  53',  long.  78^  58'.  Department  of  the  Lakes.  At  Buf- 
falo, N.  Y.  Lauds  deeded  to  the  United  States  May  21,  1842,  and  at  various  subsequent 
dates.    Garrison,  two  companies  infantry. 

Portland,  Oregon.  Lat.  45-  30',  long.  122-  27'  30".  Department  of  the  Columbia. 
Headquarters  Department  of  the  Columbia. 

Preble,  Fort,  Me.  Lat.  43^  39',  long.  70-  20'.  Department  of  the  Ea.«jt.  On  Spring 
Point,  the  northern  extremity  of  Cape  Elizabeth.  Lauds  deeded  to  the  United  States 
February  29,  1808,  April  16,  1833,  and  May  9,  1833.     Garrison,  one  company  artillery. 

Presidio,  Cal.  Lat.  37^  48',  long.  122^  26'.  Department  of  California.  Three  miles 
west  of  San  Francisco.  Reserved  November  6,  1850;  modified  December  31,  1851. 
Garrison,  four  companies  artillery. 

Pulaski,  Fort,  Ga.  Lat.  32^  2','  long.  BQ^  34'.  Department  of  the  South.  On  Cock- 
Hpur  Island,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Savannah  River.  Lands  deeded  to  the  United  States 
March  15,  1830.    Garrison,  ordnance  sergeant. 


Quitman,  Fort,  Tex.  Lat.  31-  10',  long.  10.3^  40',  (about.)  Department  of  Texas. 
On  the  Rio  Grande,  80  miles  below  Franklin,  Tex.  Built  on  private  lands  ;  measures 
taken  to  procure  a  lease.    Garrison,  one  company  infantry. 

R. 

Raleigh,  N.  C.  Lat.  35^'  47',  long.  78^  48'.  Department  of  the  East.  Garrison,  three 
companies  artillery. 

Randall,  Fort,  D.  T.  Lat.  43^  11',  long.  98°  12'.  Department  of  Dakota.  On  the  right 
bank  of  the  Missouri  River,  146  miles  above  Sioux  City,  Iowa,  the  present  terminus  of 
the  Sioux  City  and  Pacific  Railroad,  whence  supplies  are  transported  by  boats.  Res- 
ervation declared  June  14,  1860 ;  rednced  September  9,  1867 ;  restored  to  original 
limits  October  25, 1870.    Garrison  five  companies  infantry. 

Reynolds,  Fort,  C.  T.  Lat.  38-  15',  long.  104'^  12'.  Department  of  the  Missouri.  On 
the  Arkansas  River,  20  miles  east  of  Pueblo,  and  92  miles  from  Kit  Carson,  the  nearest 
station  on  the  Kansas  Pacific  Railroad.  Reservation  ordered  June  22,  1868.  Garrison 
in  charge  of  quart-erm aster's  agent. 

Rice,  Fort,  D.  T.  Lat.  46^'  40',  long.  100^  30'.  Department  of  Dakota.  On  the  right 
bank  of  the  Missouri  River,  760  miles  above  Sioux  City,  Iowa,  the  present  terminus  of 


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340  REDUCTION    OF    THE    MILITARY    ESTABLISHMENT. 

the  Sioux  City  and  Pacific  Ruilroad,  whence  Hupplies  are  transported  by  boats.    Res- 
ervation dechired  January  22,  1867.    Garrison,  four  companies  cavalry. 

Richardson,  Fort,  Tex*  Lat.  'XP  15',  long.  1»8°.  Department  of  Texas.  Adjoining 
the  town  of  Jackn borough.  Land  owned  by  private  parties;  uteps  taken  to  procare  a 
lease.    Garrison,  three  companies  cavalry  and  four  companies  infantry. 

Riley,  Fort,  Kan.  Lat.  31K  4'  20",  long.  90^  43'.  Department  of  the  Missouri.  On 
the  line  of  the  Kansas  Pacific  Railroad,  137  miles  from  Kansas  City,  Missouri.  Reser- 
vation declared  May  5,  1855  ;  reduced  as  per  act  of  March  2,  1867.  Garrison,  one  com- 
pany cavalry  and  two  companies  infantry. 

Ringgold  Barracks,  Tex.  Lat.  2(^^  23',  'long.  99-  2'.  Department  of  Texas.  At  Rio 
Grande  City.  Lands  leased  by  the  Government.  Gamson,  five  companies  cavalry 
and  three  companies  iufantrv. 

Ripley,  Fort,  Minn.  Lat.  46^  10'  30",  long.  94^  18'  4.5".  Department  of  Dakota.  On 
the  west  bank  of  the  Mississippi  River,  47  miles  north  of  Sank  Rapids,  the  present 
terminus  of  the  St.  Paul  and  Pacitic  Railroad,  w^hence  supplies  are  transported  by 
wagons.    Lands  reserved  September  15, 1849.    Garrison,  two  companies  infantry. 

Rock  Island  Armory  and  Arsenal,  111.  Lat.  4F  30',  long.  90^  40'.  On  Rock  Island, 
in  the  Mississippi  River,  opposite  Davenport,  Iowa.  Located  on  old  Fort  Armstrong 
reservation;  additional  lands  purchased  under  act  of  April  19,  1864.  '' Arsenal  of 
construction. ''    Garrison,  detachment  ordnance. 

Russell,  D.  A.,  Fort,  Wyo.  T.  Lat.  41°  8',  long.  104"  45'.  Department  of  the  Platte. 
On  the  line  of  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad,  near  Cheyenne  City,  520  miles  beyond 
Omaha,  Neb.  Reservation  declared  June  28,  1869.  Garrison,  four  companies  cavalry 
and  eight  companies  infantry. 

S. 

San  Antonio  Arsenal,  Tex.  Lat.  29^  32',  long.  98"  52'.  At  San  Antonio,  Tex.  Land 
owned  by  the  United  States.  **Arsenal  of  construe tion.'^  Garrison,  detachment  ord- 
nance. 

San  Antonio,  Tex.  Lat.  29^  32',  long.  98"  52'.  Department  of  Texas.  Headquarters 
Department  of  Texas. 

Sanders,  Fort,  Wyo.  T.  Lat.  41"  13'  4",  long.  105"  30'  22".  Department  of  the 
Platte.  On  the  line  of  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad,  570  miles  beyond  Omaha,  Neb. 
Reservation  declared  January  7,  1867 ;  enlarged  June  28,  1869.  Garrison,  two  com- 
panies cavalry  and  four  companies  infantry. 

Sandy  Hook,  Fort  at,  N.  J.  Lat.  40"  25',  long.  74",  (about.)  Department  of  the 
.  East.  P.  O.  address,  via  New  York  City.  On  the  northern  end  of  Sandy  Hook. 
Land  deeded  to  the  United  States  February  26,  1806,  and  June  17,  1817.  Garrison, 
Ordnance  sergeant. 

San  Francisco,  Cal.  Lat.  37"  47'  :W,  long.  122"  26'  15".  Department  of  California. 
Headquarters  Military  Division  of  the  Pacific,  and  Headquarters  Department  of  Cali- 
fornia. 

San  Juan  Island,  Wash.  T.  Lat.  48"  30',  long.  123"  4'.  Department  of  the  Columbia. 
In  Archipelago  de  Haro.    (iarrison,  one  company  infantry. 

Santa  ¥6,  N.  M.  Lat.  35"  41',  long.  106"  10'.  Department  of  the  Missouri.  Head- 
quarters District  of  New  Mexico,  and  Headquarters  Eighth  Cavalry. 

Savannah,  Ga.  Lat.  3:^"  5',  long.  81"  8'.  Department  of  the  South.  Garrison,  one 
company  artillery. 

Scammel,  Fort,  Me.  Lat.  43"  39',  long.  70"  20'.  Department  of  the  East.  P.  0. 
address,  Portland,  Me.  On  House  Island,  in  Portland  Harbor.  Land  deeded  to  the 
United  States  February  29,  1808.    Garrison,  ordnance^  sergeant. 

Schuyler,  Fort,  N.  Y.  Harbor.  Lat.  40"  48'  45",  long.  73"  42'  46".  Department  of  the 
East.  At  Throg's  Neck,  north  side  of  the  junction  of  East  River  with  Long  Island 
Sound,  17  miles  from  New  York  City.  Land  deeded  to  the  United  States  July  26, 
1826.    Garrison,  ordnance  sergeant. 

Sedgwick,  Fort,  C.  T.  Lat.  41",  long.  102"  30'.  Department  of  the  Platte.  On  the 
South  Platte  River,  3^  miles  from  Julesburgh,  Neb.,  the  nearest  station  on  the  Union 
Pacific  Railroad,  whence  supplies  are  transported  by  wagons.  Reservation  declared 
July  28,  1869.    Garrison  in  charge  of  agent  Quartermaster's  Department. 

Selden,  Fort,  N.  M.  Lat.  32"  27'  6",  long.  106"  53'  30".  Department  of  the  Mis- 
aonri.  On  the  east  bank  of  the  Rio  Grande,  12  miles  above  Dofia  Ana,  and  350  miles 
from  Fort  Union,  the  nearest  supply-depot.  Reservation  declared  November  28, 187U. 
Garrison,  one  company  infantry. 

Sewall,  Fort,  Mass.  Lat.  42"  30'  18",  long.  70"  50'  30".  Department  of  the  East. 
P.  O.  address,  Marblehead,  Mass.  On  the  west  point  of  the  harbor  of  Marblehead. 
Land  deeded  to  the  United  States  August  30, 1794.    Garrison,  ordnance  sergeaut 

Seward,  Fort,  D.  T.    Garrison,  one  company  infantry. 

Shaw,  Fort,  M.  T.    Lat.  47"  30'  3  ",  long.  Ill"  40'.    Department  of  Dakota.    On  the 


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REDUCTION    OF    THE    MILITARY    ESTABLISHMENT.  341 

right  bank  of  San  River,  80  miles  nort^  of  Helena,  M.  T.,  and  560  miles  north  of 
CoriDoe,  U.  T.,  the  nearest  station  on  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad,  whence  supplies  are 
transported  by  wagons.  Reservation  declared  January  11, 1870.  Garrison,  seven  com- 
panies iufantr\% 

Ship  Island,  Miss.  Lat.  30<^  20',  lona.  89^  7'.  Department  of  Texas.  In  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico,  30  miles  nortH  of  the  Chandeleur  Islands.  Reserved  August  30,  1847.  Gar- 
rison, ordnance  sergeant. 

Sidney  Barracks,  Neb.  Lat.  41^,  long.  103^.  Department  of  the  Platte.  In  the 
Lodge-Pole  Creek  Valley,  one-quarter  of  a  mile  from  Sidney,  a  station  on  the  Union 
Pacific  Railroad.  Reservation  announced  by  department  commander  June  20,  1871. 
Garrison,  one  company  cavalry  and  one  company  infantry. 

Sill,  Fort,  Indian  Ter.  Lat.  34"  40',  long.  98^  'SO'.  Department  of  the  Missouri.  At 
the  junction  of  Medicine  Bluff  and  Cache  Creeks,  7  miles  south  of  Mount  Scott,  and 
329  miles  from  Fort  Harker,  the  nearest  station  of  the  Kansas  Pacific  Railroad, 
whence  supplies  are  transported  by  wagons.  Reservation  not  yet  declared.  Garrison, 
five  companies  cavalrv,  three  companies  infantry. 

Sitka,  Alaska  T.  Lat.  57^  3',  long.  135"  18'.  Department  of  the  Columbia.  Gar- 
rison,  two  companies  artillery. 

Snelling,  Fort,  Minn.  Lat.  44"  52'  46",  long.  93"  4'  54"  Department  of  Dakota.  In 
the  angle  formed  by  the  confluence  of  the  St.  P($ter  and  Mississippi  Rivers,  about  5  miles 
below  St.  Paul.  Reserved  May  25, 1853 ;  modified  November  16, 1853 ;  reduced  as  per 
act  of  May  7, 1870.    (irarrison,  two  comx)anies  infantry. 

Springfield  Armory  and  Arsenal,  Mass.  Lat.  42"  6'  4",  long.  72'-  35'  45'.  At  Spring- 
field, Mass.  Land  owned  by  the  United  States.  ''Arsenal  of  construction."  Garrison, 
detachment  of  ordnance. 

Stambaugh,  Camp,  Wyo.  T.  Lat.  42"  30',  long.  109".  Department  of  the  Platte. 
In  Smith's  Gulch,  (the  region  of  the  Sweetwat«r  gold-mines,)  2^  miles  from  Atlantic 
City,  67  miles  from  "  Point  of  Rocks,''  the  nearest  station  on  the  Union  Pacific  Rail- 
road, and  105  miles  from  Bryan  Station,  on  the  same  road,  whence  supplies  are  trans- 
ported bv  wagons.    Reservation  not  yet  declared.    Garrison,  one  company  infantry. 

Standish,  Fort,  Mass.  Lat.  41"  57'  26",  long.  70"  40'  19".  Department  of  the  East. 
P.  O.  address,  via  Plymouth,  Mass.  At  Saqnish  Head,  northern  entrance  to  Plymouth 
Harbor.  Land  deeded  to  the  United  States*  June  10,  1870.  Garrison,  ordnance  ser- 
geant. 

Stanton,  Fort,  N.  M.  Lat.  3;i"  29'  :^",  long.  105'  ^  38'  19".  Department  of  the  Mis- 
bouri.  On  the  Rio  Bonito,  9  miles  from  the  town  of  Placita,  and  207  miles  from  Fort 
Union,  the  nearest  supply-depot.  Reserved  May  12,  18?9.  Garrison,  two  companies 
cavalrv,  one  company  infantry. 

Steele,  Fred.,  Fort,  Wyo.  T.  Lat.  41"  48',  long.  107"  9'.  Department  of  the  Platte.  At 
the  point  where  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad  crosses  the  North  Platte  River,  692  miles  be- 
yond Omaha,  Nebraska.  Reservation  declared  June  28,  1869.  Garrison,  one  com- 
pany cavalry,  four  companies  infantry. 

Stevens,  Fort,  Oreg.  Lat.  46"  4',  long.  123"  42'.  Department  of  the  Columbia.  Near 
the  mouth  of  the  Columbia  River,  about  9  miles  from  Astoria.  Reserved  February  26, 
1862.    Garrison,  one  company  artillery. 

Stevenson,  Fort,  D.  T.  Lat.  47"  34'  40  ",  long.  101"  17'.  Department  of  Dakota.  At 
the  confluence  of  Douglas  Creek  with  Missouri  River,  923  miles  above  Sioux  City,  Iowa, 
the  present  terminus  of  the  Sioux  City  and  Pacific  Railroad,  whence  supplies  are  trans- 
ported by  boats.  Reservation  ordered  June  30,  18(57.  Garrison,  two  companies 
infantry. 

St.  Louis  Arsenal,  Mo.,  (formerly  Jefferson  Barracks.)  Lat.  38"  28",  long.  90"  8'.  On 
the  west  bank  of  the  Mississippi  River,  9  miles  below  St.  Louis.  Lands  purchased 
by  the  Government.    "Arsenal  of  construction."    Garrison,  detachment  ordnance. 

St.  Louis  Barracks,  Mo.,  (formerly  St.  Louis  Arsenal.)  Lat.  38"  37'  28",  long.  90"  15' 
16".  Department  of  the  Missouri.  At  St.  Louis,  Mo.  Lauds  purchased  by  the  Gov- 
ernment. Headquarters  of  the  superintendent  and  principal  depot  Mounted  Recruit- 
ing Service. 

Stockton,  Fort,  Tex.  Lat.  30"  50',  long.  102^'  :}5'.  Department  of  Texas.  At  Co- 
manche Springs,  on  the  Comanche  trail,  74  miles  northeast  of  Fort  Davis.  Built  on 
private  lands;  measures  taken  to  obtain  a  lease.  Garrison,  one  company  cavalry, 
two  companies  infantry. 

St.  Paul,  Minn.  Lat.  44"  52'  46",  long.  93"  5'.  Department  of  Dakota.  Headquar- 
ters Department  of  Dakota,  and  headquarters  Seventh  Cavalry. 

St.  Philip,  Fort,  La.  Lat.  29"  29',  long.  89"  31 '.  Department  of  Texas.  On  the  east 
bank  of  the  Mississippi  River,  70  miles  below  New  Orleans.  Reserved  February  9, 1842. 
Garrison,  ordnance  sergeant. 

Sullivan,  Fort,  Me.    Lat.  44"  44',  long.  67"  4'.    Department  of  the  East.    On  Moose 
Island,  Passamaquoddy  Bay,  near  Fastport,  Maine.    Lands  deeded  to  the  United  States 
June  2,  1809,  and  at  various  subsequent  dates.    Garrison,  ordnance  sergeant. 
Sullv,  Fort,  D.  T.    Lat.  44"  20',  long.  100"  10'.    Department  of  Dakota.    On  the  left 


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342  REDUCTION    OF    THE    MILITARY    ESTABLISHMENT. 

bank  of  the  Miasoari  Biver,  318  miles  above  Sionx  City,  Iowa,  the  present  terminns  of 
the  Sioax  City  and  Pacific  Railroad,  whence  supplies  are  transporteid  by  boats.  Reser- 
vation declared  December  10,  1869.    Garrison,  four  companies  infantry'. 

Sumter,  Fort,  S.  C.  Lat.  32^*  45',  long.  79^  51'.  Department  of  the  South.  P.  O. 
address,  via  Charleston,  S.  C.  In  Charleston  Harbor.  Site  ceded  to  the  United  States 
December  31,  1836.    Garrison,  ordnance  sergeant. 

Supply,  Camp,  Indian  T.  Lat.  36^  28'  44",  long.  99^  37'  21".  Department  of  the 
Missouri.  Near  the  junction  of  the  Wolf  and  Beaver  Creeks,  165  miles  south  of  Hays 
City,  Kansas,  the  nearest  station  on  the  Kansas  Pacific  Railroad,  whence  supplies  are 
transported  by  wagons.  Reservation  not  yet  declared.  Garrison — two  companies 
cavalry  and  three  companies  infantry. 

Saint  Augustine,  Fla.    Garrison,  two  companies  artillery. 


Taylor,  Fort,  Fla.  Lat.  24°  33',  long.  81°  40'.  Department  of  the  South.  At  Key 
West,  Fla.    Lands  deeded  to  the  Government.    Garrison,  ordnance  sergeant. 

Totten,  Fort,  D.  T.  Lat.  47°  59'  6",  long.  98^  54'.  Department  of  Dakot*.  On  the 
southeastern  shore  of  Devil's  Lake,  378  miles  northwest  of  Saint  Cloud,  Minnesota, 
the  nearest  station  on  the  Saint  Paul  and  Pacific  Railroad,  whence  supplies  are  trans- 
ported by  wagons.  Reservation  declared  January  11,  1870.  Garrison,  two  companies 
cavalry,  two  companies  infantry. 

Trumbull,  Fort,  Conn.  Lat.  4F  31',  long.  72°  6'.  Department  of  the  East.  On  the 
right  bank  of  the  Thames  River,  near  New  London,  Connecticut.  Land  deeded  to  the 
United  States  January  17, 1805,  and  April  9, 1833.    Garrison — two  companies  artillery. 

Tulerosa,  Fort,  N.  M.    Garrison,  two  companies  infantry. 

U. 

Union  Arsenal,  N.  M.  Lat.  35*^  54'  21",  long.  l04^  57'  15".  At  Fort  Union.  On  Fort 
Union  reservation.    Garrison,  detachment  ordnance. 

Union,  Fort,  N.  M.  Lat.  35°  54'  21",  long.  104^  57'  15".  Department  of  the  Missouri. 
In  a  valley  near  the  base  of  the  Gallinas  or  Turkey  Mountains,  five  miles  from  the  Rio 
Moro,  and  387  miles  from  Sheridan  City,  the  station  on  the  Kansas  Pacific  Railroad, 
whence  supplies  are  transported  by  wagons.  Reservation  declared  October  13,  1868. 
Garrison,  three  companies  cavalry,  one  company  infantry. 


Vancouver  Arsenal,  Wash.  T.  Lat.  45°  40'.  long.  122°  30'.  At  Fort  Vancouver.  On 
Fort  Vancouver  reservation.    Garrison,  detachment  ordnance. 

Vancouver,  Fort,  Wash.  T.  Lat.  45^  40',  long.  122°  30'.  Department  of  the  Colimi- 
bia.  On  the  Columbia  River,  18  miles  north  of  Portland,  Oregon.  Sit«  selected  iu 
1849,  under  treaty  of  June  15,  1846.    Garrison,  one  company  infantry. 

Verde,  Camp,  A.  T.  Lat.  34°  37',  long.  Ill",  54'.  Department  of  Arizona.  On  the 
Rio  Verde,  38  miles  from  Prescott.  Reservation  declared  March  .'K),  1870.  Garrison, 
two  companies  cavalry,  two  companies  infantry. 

W. 

Wadsworth,  Fort,  D.  T.  Lat.  45°  43'  30",  long,  97^  30'.  Department  of  DakoU. 
On  Kettle  Lake,  one  hundred  and  ninety-seven  mues  west  of  Saint  Cloud,  Minn.,  the 
station  on  the  Saint  Paul  and  Pacific  Railroad,  whence  supplies  are  transported  by 
wagons.  Reservation  declared  March,  1867,  and  October  14,  1867;  modified  February 
7, 1871.    Garrison,  two  companies  of  infantry. 

Wadsworth.  Fort,  New  York  Harbor.  Lat.  40^  37',  long.  74°  3'.  Department  of  the 
East.  On  Staten  Island,  at  the  Narrows.  Land  granted  to  the  United  States  February 
15,  1847.    Garrison,  one  company  of  artillery. 

Wallace,  Fort,  Kans.  Lat.  38^  47'  20",  long.  101°  35'.  Department  of  the  Missouri. 
At  the  junction  of  Pond  Creek  with  the  South  Fork  of  the  Smoky  Hill  River,  two  miles 
from  Wallace  station  on  the  Kansas  Pacific  Railroad.  Reservation  declared  August  28, 
1868.     Garrison,  one  company  of  cavalry  and  one  company  of  infantry. 

Warner,  Camp,  Oreg.  Lat.  42^  50',  long.  120°.  Department  of  the  Columbia.  Fif- 
teen miles  west  of  Warner  Lake,  and  thirty-five  miles  from  the  California  and  Oregon 
State  line.  Provisional  reservation ;  not  yet  declared  by  President.  Garrison,  one 
company  of  infantry. 

Warren,  Fort,  Mass.  Lat.  42°  20',  long.  71°.  Department  of  the  East.  On  George*s 
Island,  Boston  Harbor.  Land  ceded  to  the  United  States  June 22, 1825.  Garrison,  one 
company  of  artillery. 


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REDUCTION    OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT.  343 

Walla-Walla,  Fort,  Wash.  Garrison,  three  companies  of  cavalry  and  two  compa- 
nies of  infantry. 

Washington  Arsenal,  D.  C.  Lat.  38°  53'  39",  long.  77°  2'  48".  At  Washington  City. 
Land  owned  by  the  United  States.  Arsenal  of  construction.  Garrison,  detachment  of 
ordnance. 

Washington,  Fort,  Md.  Lat.  38^  43',  long.  77- 6'.  Department  of  the  East.  On 
the  left  bank  of  the  Potomac  River,  fifteen  miles  below  Washington  City.  Lands 
deeded  to  the  United  States  April  15, 1808,  and  at  various  subsequent  dates.  Garrison, 
in  charge  of  Engineer  Department. 

Watertown  Arsenal,  Mass.  Lat.  42°  21',  long.  71^  9'.  At  Watertown,  Mass.  Land 
owned  by  the  United  States.  Arsenal  of  construction.  Garrison,  detachment  of  ord- 
nance. 

Watervliet  Arsenal,  N.Y.  Lat.  42°  44',  long.  73°  40'.  AtTroy,N.Y.  Land  owned  by 
the  United  States.    Arsenal  of  constrnction.    Garrison,  detachment  of  ordnance. 

Wayne,  Fort,  Mich.  Lat.  42°  20',  long.  82°  58'.  Department  of  the  Lakes.  On 
the  right  bank  of  Detroit  Strait,  three  miles  below  Detroit.  Land  ceded  to  the 
United  States  June  3,  1842,  and  April  15,  T844.  Garrison,  three  companies  of  infantry. 
West  Point  Militarv  Academy,  New  York.  Lat.  41°  2iV  33",  long.  73°  51'  15".  At 
West  Point.  N.  Y.  La*nd  deeded  to  the  United  States  September  10, 1790,  and  May  13, 
1624.    Company  E,  Engineer  Battalion. 

Whipple,  Fort,  Ariz.  Lat.  34°  32',  long.  112°  31'.  Department  of  Arizona.  Near 
Prescott,  Ariz.  Reservation  announced  by  departmeut  commander  October  .5,1869; 
modified  A^iril  29,  1870.  Garrison,  one  company  of  cavalry  and  one  company  of  in- 
fantry. 

Whipple,  Fort,  Va.  Lat.  38°  53',  long.  77°  2'  50".  On  Arlington  Heights,  one  and 
a  half  miles  from  Georgetown,  D.  C.    Garrison,  detachment  of  Signal  Corps. 

Willet's  Point,  New  York  Harbor.  Lat.  40°  47'  25",  long.  73°  46'  15".  Department 
of  the  East.  Land  deeded  to  the  United  States  May  16,  1857,  and  April  14, 1863. 
Garrison,  four  companies  Engineer  Battalion. 

Wiugate,  Fort,  N.  Mex.  Lat.  35°  22',  long.  108°  10'.  Department  of  the  Missouri. 
At  the  head-waters  of  the  Rio  Puerco  of  the  West,  280  miles  west  of  Fort  Union,  the 
nearest  supply  depot.  Reservation  declared  February  18,  1870.  Garrison,  three  com- 
panies cavalry  and  one  company  infantry. 

Winthrop,  Fort,  Mass.  Lat.  42°  25',  long.  70°  30',  (about.)  Department  of  the 
East.  Post-office  address:  Boston,  Mass.  On  Governoi*'s  Island,  in  Boston  Harbor. 
Land  deeded  to  the  United  States  May  18,  1808,  and  February  23, 1846.  Garrison,  ord- 
nance sergeant. 

Wolcott  Fort,  R.  I.  Lat.  41°  30',  long.  71°  20'.  Department  of  the  East.  Post-office 
address :  Newport,  R.  I.  On  Goat  Island,  in  Newport  Harbor.  Land  ceded  to  the 
United  States  in  1784.    Garrison,  ordnance  sergeant. 

Wood,  Fort,  New  York  Harbor.  Lat.  40°  42',  long.  74°  2'.  Department  of  the  East. 
On  Bedloe's  Island.  Land  ceded  to  the  United  States  February  15,  1800.  Garrison, 
one  company  artillery. 

Wool,  Fort,  Va.  Lat.  37°  2',  long.  76^'  12'.  Post-office  address:  via  Fort  Monroe,  Va. 
On  "Rip  Raps,"  in  Hampton  Roads.  Site  ceded  to  the  United  States  March  1,  1821. 
Garrison  in  charge  of  Engineer  Department. 

Wright,  Camp,  Cal.  Lat.  39°  47',  long.  123°  15'.  Department  of  California.  In 
Round  Valley,  203  miles  north  of  San  Francisco.  Reservation  declared  April  27,  869. 
Garrison,  one  company  infantry. 

Y. 

Yerba  Buena  Island,  Cal.  Lat.  37°  48'.  long.  122°  26'.  Department  of  California. 
In  San  Francisco  Harbor.  Reserved  November  6,  1850 ;  reduced  October  12,  1866. 
Garrison,  detachment  of  artillery. 

York vi He,  S.  C.  Lat.  35°,  long.  81°  8',  (approximate.)  Department  of  the  South. 
Garrison,  one  company  infantry. 

Ynnia,  Fort,  Cal.  Lat.  32°  32'  3",  long.  114°  36'  9".  Department  of  Arizona.  At 
the  junction  of  the  Gila  and  Coloraclo  Rivers.  Reservation  declared  January  22,  1867, 
Garrison,  two  companies  of  infantry. 


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344 


REDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT. 


Statement  of  the  Actjutant-Generalf  shotring  the  present  number  of  vacancies,  and  the  vacancin 

created  during  the  last  year. 


Rank. 


GENERAL  OFFICERS  AND  GENERAL  STAFF  CORPS. 


General  officers 

Colonels 

Lieutenant-colonels  , 

Majors 

Captains 

First  lieutenants 

Second  lieutenants.. 


Total. 


Colonels 

Lieutenant-colonels. . . 

Majors 

Captains 

First  lieutenants 

Second  lieutenants 

Post  ohaplains 

Regimental  chaplains  . 


Total 

Retired  officers . . . . 
Grand  total. 


I  In  serv- ,  Vacan- 
I     ice.     ,  cies. 


18   .. 

*^7  , 

3 

32 

10 

174  , 

25 

206 

74 

37  1 

5 

12  , 

H 

506  ' 

125 

j 
40  :. 

40    . 

70  1. 

430  |. 

556    . 

405  1 

44 

30  ■ 

3| 

i 

1,574  , 

45 

298, 

2 

2,378  I        172 


Casualties  Jor  year  ending  January  1,  1874. 


Recapitulation. 


Resigned  . 

Died 

Dismissed. 
Cashiered. . 
Dropped . . 


Total  , 


Staff     I      Line 
officers,      officers. 


Retired 
officers. 


Total. 


11  I 
9 


36 

29 

6 


48 

46 

6 

6 

1 


20 


77 


I    . 


10 


107 


Present  vacancies 1"^ 

Casualties  last  year U^ 

Total 279 


Statement  by  the  Chief  Signal-Officer  of  the  Army  of  the  annual  expendi- 
ture for  signal-service. 

War  Department, 
Washingt^n^  D.  C,  January  24,  1874. 
Sir  :  I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledfje  the  receipt  of  yonr  letter,  dated 
21st  of  January,  1874,  reqaesting  information  regarding  the  expenditures 
of  this  oflace  and  also  the  amount  expended  by  the  diflferent  Bureaus  of 


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REDUCTION    OF    THE    MILITARY    ESTABLISHMENT.  345 

the  War  Department,  for  pay,  clothing,  rations,  &c.,  of  officers  and  en- 
listed men  employed  in  the  Signal  Service  of  the  Army.  There  has  been 
assigned  for  this  duty  during  the  present  fiscal  year  an  average  number 
of  twelve  officers  and  four  hundred  and  fifty  enlisted  men  of  the  Army ; 
this  force  has  been  serving  at  eighty-nine  different  points  and  stations. 

It  has  been  aimed  to  make  all  the  enlisted  men  soldiers  before  putting 
them  on  the  duties,  by  which  they  pay  for  themselves  in  time  of  peace. 

The  total  of  expenditures  for  the  maintenance  of  this  force,  including 
pay  and  allowances  of  officers  and  pay,  clothing,  food  and  transportation 
of  enlisted  men,  &c.,  as  a  part  of  the  military  establisment  of  the  United 
States,  has  been  at  the  rate  of  $417,680.61  for  one  year.  These  figures 
are  as  near  as  can  be  approximated  from  the  records  of  this  office  and 
are  computed  under  heads  as  follows :     ^ 

For  pay $110,684  00 

For  fuel,  forage,  &c.,  for  officers  and  commutation  of  fuel, 

quarters,  and  extra  duty  pay  of  enlisted  men .  125, 345  52 

For  rations  and  commutation  of  rations  for  enlisted  men.  110,070  00 

For  clothing 30, 355  00 

For  transportation ^ 16, 476  09 

For  rent  office  of  the  Chief  Signal-Office,  gas,  burial-ex- 
penses, expressage,  &c  . .   13, 000  00 

For  medical  expenses 950  00 

For  horses,  means  of  transportation,  forage,  &c.,  at  Fort 

Whipple 10,800  00 

Total 417,680  61 

These  expenditures  for  these  officers  and  men  assigned  for  this  espe- 
cial service  have,  therefore,  been  at  the  rate  of  $904  per  man  per  year. 

The  appropriation  for  the  special  expenditures  of  the  Signal-Service 
for  the  present  fiscal  year  have  been  as  follows : 

For  the  observation  and  report  of  storms  for  the  benefit  of  commerce 
and  agriculture  throughout  the  United  States,  $296,000. 

For  expenses  of  the  Signal- Service  of  the  Army,  purchase  and  repair 
of  field  electric  telegraph  and  signal-equipments,  $12,500. 

There  has  been  i)aid  out  from  this  fund  for  instruments,  telegraphing, 
signal-equipments,  field  telegraph  trains,  for  expenses  of  storm-sig- 
nals displayed  at  ports,  river-reports,  for  maps  and  bulletins  to  be 
displayed  in  chambers  of  commerce  and  board  of  trade  rooms,  life-sav- 
ing, stations,  farmers  bulletins,  maps,  printing  and  expenses  of  every 
description  for  the  service  in  its  especial  duties  for  the  Army  and  for  the 
benefit  of  commerce  and  agriculture  at  all  of  the  stations  throughout 
the  territory  of  the  United  States  for  the  fiscal  year  to  January  1, 1874, 
the  sum  of  $2 16,733.48.  A  large  proportion  of  this  expense  is  for  perma- 
nent articles,  which  will  not  need  to  be  replaced.  The  total  of  expendi- 
tures of  this  nature  for  the  year,  it  is  estimated,  will  be  $353,500. 

The  sum  of  $11,747  has  been  paid  to  the  Post-Office  Department  for 
postages,  out  of  the  appropriation  for  that  purpose.  These  postages 
have  been  for  correspondence  and  for  bulletins  and  reports  mailed  from 
distributing  centers  to  be  displayed  for  the  benefit  ot  farmers  and  inte- 
rior populations  at  villages  arid  points  not  reached  by  telegraph. 

The  printing  done  by  the  Public  Printer  for  the  present  fiscal  year 
has  been  paid  for  from  the  general  fund  for  the  War  Department,  of 
which  no  data  are  at  this  office. 

By  the  legislation  of  the  last  Congress,  a  sum  of  $30,000  was  appro- 
priated for  the  construction  of  a  telegraph-line  to  connect  signal-stations 


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346 


REDUCTION    OF    THE    MILITARY    ESTABLISHMENT. 


at  the  life-saving  stations  or  light-houses  along  dangerous  coasts.  A 
line  is  in  process  of  completion,  and  nearly  completed,  along  the  sea- 
coasts,  from  Cape  Hatteras  to  Norfolk,  and  from  Cape  May  to  Sandy 
Hook.  It  is  claimed  to  have  already  been  the  means  of  saving,  through 
a  sigual-station  upon  it,  a  cargo  of  tea  valued  at  $105,000. 

A  schedule  of  the  distribution  of  the  service  is  herewith.  An  idea  of 
its  distribution  and  uses  can  be  had  from  the  fact  that  it  is  estimated 
that  the  aggregate  expense  of  the  service,  for  the  year,  would  amount 
to  a  cost  of  43  cents  per  day,  including  amount  of  postage,  for  each  sepa- 
rate city,  village,  station,  or  post-office  at  which  the  farmers'  bulletin 
and  other  bulletins  of  report  are  regularly  and  daily  displayed ;  if  that 
alone  of  Jill  done  by  the  office  were  taken  into  consideration.  This,  how- 
ever, is  regarded  as  only  an  incidental  and  lesser  labor  among  its  duties. 
Verv  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

ALBERT  J.  MYER, 
Bn'ff.  Gen.,  (Bv(,  assigned,)  Chief  Signal-Officer  of  the  Army. 


DISTRIBUTION  OF  THK  SIGNAL-SERVICE. 

1.  Tho  office  of  the  Chief  Signal-Officer  of  the  Army,  the  central  office  of  the  service, 
aud  with  which  all  reporting  stations  are  in  telegraphic  communication.  The  records 
are  here  concentrated.    It  is  also  the  office  of  supply. 

2.  Fort  Whipple  is  the  school  of  instraction  in  military  signaling  and  telegraphy: 
the  display  of  signals  and  duties  of  the  signal-service. 

Number  of  regular  stations  from  which  telegraphic  reports  are  made  tri-daily,  89, 
located  at  the  following-named  cities : 


Albany,  N.  Y. 
Alpena,  Mich. 
Atlantic  Citj",  N.  J. 
Augusta,  Ga. 
Baltimore,  Md. 
Bangor,  Me. 
Barnegat,  N.  J. 
Boston,  Mass. 
Breckenridge,  Minn. 
Buffalo,  N.Y. 
Burlington,  Vt. 
Cairo,  111. 
Cape  May,  N.  J. 
Cape  Henry,  Va. 
Charleston,  S.  C.  ^ 
Cheyenne,  Wash. 
Chicago,  III. 
Cincinnati,  Ohio. 
Cleveland,  Ohio. 
Corinne,  Utah. 
Colorado  Springs,  Colo. 
Davenport,  Iowa. 
Denver,  Colo. 
Detroit,  Mich. 
Dubuque,  Iowa. 
Du  Luth,  Miun. 
Eastport,  La. 
Erie,  Pa. 
Escanaba,  Mich. 
Fort  Benton,  Muut. 


Fort  Gibson,  Ind.  T. 
Fort  Sully,  Dak. 
Galveston,  Tex. 
Grand  Haven,  Mich. 
Indianapolis,  Ind. 
..ludianola,  Tex. 
Jjicksonville,  Fla.' 
-'    Keokuk,  Iowa. 
Key  West,  Fla. 
» Knox  vi  He,  Tenn. 
La  Crosse,  Wis. 
Lake  City,  Fla. 
Leavenworth,  Kans. 
Lexington,  Ky. 
Lon^  Branch,  N.  J. 
Louisville,  Ky. 
Lynchburgh,  Va. 
Marquette,  Mich. 
Memphis,  Tenn. 
Milwaukee,  Wis. 
Mobile,  Ala. 
Montgomery,  Ala. 
Morgautown,  W.  Va. 
Mt.  Washington,  N.  H. 
Nashville,  Tenn. 
New  Haven,  Conn. 
New  London,  Conn. 
New  Orleans,  La. 
New  York,  N.  Y. 
Norfolk.  Va. 


Omaha,  Nebr. 
Oswego,  N.  Y. 
Pembina,  Dak. 
Philadelphia,  Pa. 
Peck's  Beach,  N.J. 
Pike's  Peak,  Colo. 
Pittsburgh,  Pa, 
Portland,  Me. 
Portland,  Oreg. 
Panta  Rassa,  Fla. 
Rochester,  N.  Y. 
San  Diego,  Cal. 
Sandy  Hook,  N.  J. 
San  Francisco,  Cal. 
Santa  F^,  N.  Mex. 
Savannah,  Gra. 
Shreveport,  La. 
Springfield,  Mass. 
Sqnam  Beach,  N.  J. 
Saint  Louis,  Mo. 
Saint  Paul,  Minn. 
Toledo,  Ohio. 
Vicksburgh,  Miss. 
Virginia  City,  Mont. 
Washington,  D.  C. 
Wilmington,  N.C. 
Wood's  Hole,  Mass. 
Wytheville,  Va. 
Yankton,  Dak. 


The  stations  at  the  larger  cities  are  stations  of  this  class. 


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REDUCTION    OF   THE    MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT.  347 

Number  of  special  river-stations  from  which  reports  are  mado  by  telegraph,  19, 
located  at  the  fullo wing-named  cities: 

Freeport,La.  New  Geneva,  Pa.  Marietta,  Ohio. 

Hermann,  Mo.  Lexington,  Mo.  Saint  Joseph,  Mo. 

Jefferson  CUy,  Mo.  Kansas  City,  Mo.  Warsaw,  111. 

Oil  City,  Pa.  Brunswick,  Mo.  Padacah,  Ky. 

Brownsville,  Pa.  Little  Rock,  Ark.  Hooneville,  Mo. 

Evansville,  Ind.  Plattsmoiith,  Nebr.  Le  Claire,  Iowa. 
Confluence,  Pa. 

At  the  special  river-stations  tho  depth  of  water,  occurrence  of  floods,  ice-gorges,  &c., 
are  bulletined  daily  for  the  benotit  of  the  river  commerce  and  commercial  interests. 

Cantiouiiry  storm-signals  are  displayed  at  37  ports  and  harbors,  as  follows : 

Alpena,  Mich.  Eastport,  Me.  New  York.  N.Y. 

Atlantic  City,  N.  J.  Erie,  Pa.  Norfolk,  Va. 

Baltimore,  Md.  Escanaba,  Mich.  Oswego,  N.  Y. 

Barnegat,  N.  J.  Grand  Haven,  Mich.  Peek's  Beach,  N.  J. 

Boston,  Mass.  Jacksonville,  Fla.  Portland,  Me. 

Baffalo,  N.  Y.  Long  Branch,  N.  J.  Rochester,  N.  Y. 

Cape  May,  N.  J.  Marquette,  Mich.  Sandy  Hook,  N.  J. 

Cape  Henry,  Va.  Milwaukee,  Wis.  Savannah,  Ga. 

Charleston,  S.  C.  Mobile,  Ala.  Sqiiam  Beach,  N.  J. 

Chicago,  111.  New  Haven,  Conn.  Toledo,  Ohio. 

Cleveland,  Ohio.  New  London,  Conn.  Wilmington,  N.C. 

Detroit,  Mich.  New  Orleans,  La.  Wood's  Hole,  Mass. 
Da  Luth,  Minn. 

At  the  signal-statiotis  at  sea-coast  and  lake  ports  notice  of  the  .approach  of  probable 
storms  is  given  bj'  the  display  of  storm-signals,  by  day  or  at  night,  for  the  beneflt  of 
the  shipping  and  commercial  interests. 

Number  of  centers  of  distribution,  18,  located  at  the  following  cities: 

Albany, N.Y.  Cincinnati, Ohio.  New  Orleans, La. 

Augusta,  Ga.  Detroit,  Mich.  New  York,  N.  Y. 

Bangor,  Me.  Leavenworth,  K»us.  Pittsburgh,  Pa. 

Boston,  Mass.  Memphis,  Tenn.  Springfield,  Mass. 

Baffalo,  N.  Y,  Montgomery,  Ala.  Saint  Louis,  Mo. 

Chicago,  111.  Nashville,  Tenn.  Washington,  D.  C. 

From  these  centers  of  distribution  the  regular  telegraphic  report  is  distributed  daily, 
to  be  displayed  in  frames  at  each  post-oflice  within  a  radius  of  one  hundred  miles,  for 
the  benefit  of  the  farming  and  interior  populations  and  agricultural  interests. 

The  number  of  post-office  stations  at  which  reports  are  thus  bulletined  daily  is  4,833. 


Washington,  D.  C,  February  14,  1874. 

(general  A.  B.  Eaton  examined : 

The  Chairman.  State  whether  the  force  of  officers  and  employes  in 
the  Bareaa  of  Subsistence  can  be  diminished  to  the  advantage  of  the 
Government  and  in  the  interest  of  economy. 

General  Eaton.  I  do  not  think  the  nnmber  of  officers  or  the  clerical 
force  in  the  Subsistence  Bureau  can,  in  the  interest  of  economy  and  the 
benefit  of  the  service,  be  reduced  under  the  present  requirements  upou 
it. 

Question  2.  Can  it  be  in  any  portion  of  the  Department  ? 

Answer.  I  think  the  civilian  force  employed  by  the  Department  gen- 
erally can  be  reduced  somewhat,  both  in  number  of  employes  and  in 
their  salaries,  and  this  is  now  being  done  under  the  orders  of  the 
Secretary  of  War. 

Question  3.  How  much  can  it  be  diminished  ? 

Answer.  I  reported  a  short  time  since  that  it  could  be  reduced  to  fifty 


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348  REDUCTION    OF    THE    MILITARY    ESTABLISHMENT. 

clerks  and  seveaty-fivo  other  civilian  employes.    This  will  be  as  great  a 
reduction  as  can  be  made  under  present  circumstances. 

Question  4.  Is  that  force  employed  here  or  elsewhere  f 

Answer.  That  force  is  employed  out  of  the  Bureau  by  the  purchasing 
and  other  commissaries.  It  is  independent  of  the  clerical  force  of  the 
Bureau  now  authorized  by  law.  1  will  say  that  all  practicable  efforts 
are  being  made  to  comply  with  the  economical  necessities  of  the  day. 
The  Subsistence  Department  is  retrenching  expenses  as  much  as  possi- 
ble. 

Question  5.  State  whether,  if  the  Army  should  be  reduced  5,000  men 
and  a  corresponding  number  of  officers  and  organizations,  a  like  reduc- 
tion of  the  force  in  your  department  could  be  made;  and,  if  so,  what 
reduction. 

Answer.  There  would,  doubtless,  be  some  reduction  practicable  if 
there  were  a  less  number  of  points  of  purchase  and  supply.  If  these 
were  diminished,  of  course  there  would  be  some  reduction  practicable. . 

Question  6.  What  is  your  opinion  of  the  system  of  advertising  for 
bids  for  furnishing  subsistence  to  the  Army  ? 

Answer.  My  impression  has  been  that  a  system  of  advertising  could 
be  devised  which  would  be  less  expensive  than  the  present  one,  though 
I  hesitate  to  express  an  assured  opinion  on  the  subject. 

Question  7.  State  what  the  present  one  is. 

Answer.  It  is  that  no  advertisement  can  be  made  except  a  copy  of  it 
is  previously  furnished  to  the  War  Department  for  approval. 

Question  8.  What  papers  do  you  advertise  in  I 

Answer.  Exclusively  in  the  papers  designated  by  the  Secretary  of 
War,  or  by  the  Clerk  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  who,  I  think, 
has  the  authority  of  law  for  designating  what  papers  advertisements 
may  appear  in. 

Question  9.  Does  the  Secretary  of  War  designate  the  papers  each 
particular  advertisement  is  to  appear  in,  or  are  there  regular  papers  in 
which  you  advertise  f 

Answer.  In  each  section  of  the  country  there  are  certain  papers  in 
which  advertisements  may  be  published ;  but  the  officer  inserting  the 
advertisement  is  not  obliged  to  publish  them  in  all  the  papers  desig- 
nated, but  in  those  which  he  thinks  sufficient  to  give  his  advertisement 
sufficient  publicity.  He  must,  however,  so  far  bs  may  be  practicable, 
divide  his  patronage  among  all  of  them.  He  cannot,  however,  adver- 
tise in  any  paper  not  designated  by  the  Secretary  of  W^ar. 

Question  10.  Designate,  now,  if  you  can,  or  hereafter  when  you  come 
to  correct  your  testimony,  what  papers  you  are  directed  to  publish  your 
advertisements  in  I 

Answer.  I  here  hand  you  a  list  of  newspapers  authorized  to  publish 
advertisements  of  the  War  Department  and  its  Bureaus,  corrected  to 
this  date,  and  also  a  copy  of  the  Revised  Regulations  of  the  War  De- 
partment relative  to  newspaper  advertising,  which  will  furnish  the  de- 
sired information. 

Question  11.  Please  state  the  rates  of  advertising. 

Answer.  Each  newspjiper  has  its  own  rates,  and  the  officer  adver- 
tising is  informed  of  them.  When  the  bill  comes  in  it  goes  to  the  chief 
clerk  of  the  War  Department,  who  has  a  v\s6  or  approval  of  all  bills  of 
that  character,  and  no  bills  for  advertising  are  paid  until  they  are  so 
approved. 

Question  12.  State  whether  advertisements  are  published  exclu- 
sively in  papers  at  the  great  business  centers! 

Answer.  I  believe  advertisements  are  published  with  the  design  of 


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REDUCTION    OF    THE    MILITARY    ESTABLISHMENT.  349 

reaching  such  markets  or  individuals  as  are  likely  to  respond  to  them. 
They  are  sometimes  published  in  other  papers,  but  frequently  without 
authority.  Many  advertisements  have  been  inserted  in  papers  published 
in  parts  of  the  country  remote  from  the  points  of  purchase. 

Question  13.  Are  they  paid  for  by  your  department  f 

Answer.  Not  unless  they  are  approved  by  the  War  Department. 

Question  14.  By  what  authority  do  these  papers  take  up  these  adver- 
tisements f 

Answer.  I  have  supposed  the  publishers  thought  they  had  the  au- 
thority of  law  for  it. 

Question  15.  Is  it  the  practice  for  these  i)apers  to  republish  those  ad- 
vertisements ! 

Answer.  Not  now,  I  believe.  I  think  no  paper  is  now  paid  for  an  ad- 
vertisement unless  previously  authorized  to  insert  it. 

Question  16.  Are  you  sure  of  that  ! 

Answer.  That  is  the  order  of  the  War  Department,  and  I  think  its 
observance  is  always  required. 

Question  17.  In  that  connection  state  what  reforms  you  would  sug- 
gest in  the  publication  of  these  advertisements. 

Answer.  I  hesitate  now  to  recommend  any  considerable  change,  as  it 
is  a  matter  I  have  not  thoroughly  investigated  ;  but  my  impression  is 
that  the  system  might  be  made  more  pliable  in  ready  adaptation  to 
varying  conditions. 

Question  18.  Can  you  tell  the  annual  expenditures  for  advertising  in 
your  department  f 

Answer.  I  cannot.  There  is  a  record  of  them  kept  in  the  War  De- 
partment, but  none  kept  in  the  Subsistence  Bureau. 

Question  19.  Would  it  not  be  well  to  keep  such  a  record  ! 

Answer.  Perhaps  it  would ;  but  as  one  is  kept  in  the  War  Depart- 
ment, that  is  probably  all  that  is  necessary.  The  clerical  force  in  the 
Subsistence  Bureau  is  so  small  that  additional  records  cannot  be  under- 
taken. 


Revised  regulations  of  the  War  Department  relative  to  advertvitng  and  job  printing ,  January 

1, 1874. 

Note. — The  term  " advertising,"  aiinsed  in  those  Kegulations,  includes  all  publications  in  news- 
papers in8erto<1  for  pay.  The  words  "job  printing  "  cover  nil  kinds  of  printing  except  advertisements 
inserted  in  newspapers.  All  coniniunicatious  relative  to  advertising  and  printing  will  be  directed  to 
the  chief  clerk  of  toe  War  Department. 

ACT  OF  CONGRESS  RELATIVE  TO  ADVERTISING. 

Section  2  of  the  act  of  Congress  approved  Jnly  15, 1870,  (16  Stat.,  308,)  is  as  fol- 
lows: 

"And  he  it  further  enacted^  That  no  advertisement,  notice,  or  proposal  for  any  Execu- 
tive Department  of  the  Government,  or  for  any  Bureau  thereof,  or  for  any  office 
therewith  connected,  shall  be  published  in  any  newspaper  whatever,  except  in  pur- 
suance of  a  written  authority  fur  such  publication  from  the  head  of  such  Department; 
and  no  bill,  for  any  such  advertising,  or  publication,  shall  be  paid,  unless  there  be 
presented,  with  such  bill,  a  copy  of  the  written  authority  aforesaid." 

ADVERTISING. 

1.  Whenever  any  officer  of  the  War  Department  or  any  Bureau  thereof,  or  of  the 
Army,  or  any  board  of  officers,  or  court-martial,  shall  deem  it  necessary  or  advisable 
to  advertise  in  any  newspaper,  or  newspapers,  (the  design  being  that  the  advertising 
shall  be  paid  for  by  the  Government,)  he  or  they  will  cause  two  copies  of  the  proposed 
advertisement  to  be  made  and  forwarded  directly,  throu($h  the  head  of  his  or  their 
Bureau,  to  the  chief  clerk  of  the  War  Department,  for  the  action  of  the  Secretary  of 
War,  with  a  letter  requesting  authority  to  publish  the  same,  and  stating  in  what  paper 
or  papers  among  those  on  the  official  list  of  the  Department  the  advertisement  should, 
io  his  or  their  judgment,  be  inserted,  and  for  what  length  of  time. 


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350 


REDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY    ESTABLISHMENT. 


If  the  officer  or  officers  conrnder  that  the  interests  of  the  Goverament  require  the 
pablication  of  aa  advertisement  in  any  locality  where  there  is  no  official  newspaper, 
or  in  any  newspaper  not  on  the  official  list,  the  application  should  set  forth  that  fact. 

2.  The  following  form  of  application  for  authority  to  advertise  will  be  observed  : 

Hkadquarteks  Military  Division  of  the  Missouri, 
Offick  Chief  Quartermaster, 

Chicago,  III,  July  21,  1870. 
Sir  :  I  inclose  herewith  two  copies  of  an  advertisement,  bearing  date  July  31, 1870, 
inviting  proposals  for  13,400  bushels  of  corn,  &c.,  and  respectfully  request  authority  to 
publish  the  same  for  six  consecutive  insertions  in  the  following-named  official  news- 
papers: Chicago  Journal,  Chicago  Post,  Omaha  Republican,  Sioux  City  Journal,  and 
St.  Louis  Democrat. 

Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

D.  H.  RUCKER, 
J,  Q.  M.  General,  17.  S.  A.,  Chief  Quartermaster. 
To  the  Chief  Clerk, 

War  Department. 

Heads  of  Bureaus  are  directed  to  transmit  these  applications  to  the  chief  clerk  of  the  War 
Department  on  the  day  they  are  received. 


3.  Officers,  in  advertising  sales  of  [iroperty,  or  for  proposals  for  contracts,  or  for  pro- 
posals for  supplies,  will  allow  at  least  thirty  days  to  intervene  between  the  date  of  the 
first  publi€4ition  of  the  advertisement  and  the  date  designated  in  such  advertisement  for  the 
sale  to  take  place,  or  for  the  opening  of  bids. 

As  a  general  rule  authority  will  be  given  for  six  consecutive  insertions  in  a  daily 
newspaper,  or  four  consecutive  insertions  in  a  weekly  newspaper;  but  authority  will 
not  be  given  to  publish  the  same  advertisement  in  all  the  authorized  newspapers  of 
any  locality,  unless  the  interests  of  the  Government  seem  to  require  it. 

4.  Officers  of  tbe  Army  are  renuired  to  practice  all  possible  economy  in  advertising 
consistent  with  the  necessities  of  the  service,  and  to  avoid  all  verbiage  in  the  descrip- 
tions of  supplies  and  property  in  advertisements,  and  in  the  headings  and  titles  attached 
thereto ;  and  they  are  especially  cautioned  not  to  prepare  their  advertisements,  or  seud 
copies  of  them  to  newspapers,  arranged  in  such  a  manner  as  would  lead  to  a  violation 
of  so  much  of  paragraph  12  as  relates  to  displayed  or  leaded  advertisements. 

At  principal  offices  and  depots,  where  advertisements  inviting  proposals  are  frequently 
issued,  it  is  not  necessary  to  publish  in  detail  each  time  the  usual  conditions  imposed 
on  bidders  and  contractors.  A  reference  to  former  advertisements  of  same  condi- 
tions, or  a  notice  that  they  will  be  furnished  on  application,  will  be  sufficient. 

5.  All  bills  for  advertising  must  be  submitted  to  the  Secretary  of  War  for  approval 
prior  to  bein^  paid.  Publishers  will  first  present  their  bills,  with  copies  of  their  papers 
containing  tlie  advertisement,  to  the  officer  who  issued  the  advertisement,  who.  after 
satisfying  himself  that  it  has  been  inserted  for  the  time  charged,  will  cause  the  same 
t-o  be  made  out  and  certified  upon  the  official  forms  furnished  by  the  heads  of  Bureaus 
of  the  War  Department,  with  the  nature  of  the  advertisement  definitely  described,  and 
a  copy,  cut  from  the  newspaper  named  in  the  hill,  attached  in  convenient  form  for  exami- 
nation. Copy  of  the  letter  from  the  War  Department  authorizing  the  advei-tising  to  he 
done  must  also  he  indorsed  on  the  account. 

6.  No  voucher  must  contain  the  account  of  more  than  one  newspaper  nor  of  more 
than  one  advertisement 

7.  The  following  is  the  official  form  for  accounts  for  advertising: 

The  United  States 

To  Charles  E.  Warbukton,  Dr. 

The  insertion  of  annexed  advertisement  of  Col.  C.  L.  Kilburn,  A.  C.  G.  S.,  U.  S.  A., 
in  the  *•  Evening  Telegraph,"  published  in  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  as  follows  : 


Xatwre  of  advertisement. 

Date  of 

firstinser- 

tion. 

1870. 
July  22 

No.  of    1    No.  of 
sqnares   insertions 
or  lines,    charged. 

No.  of 
insertions 
ordered. 

Amonnt 
charged. 

Dolls. 
23 

eta. 

Proposals  for  fresh  beef 

37                 5 

4 

12 

Total 

33 

12 

Amoant 
allowed. 


Dolls.    Cts. 


Digitized  by 


Google 


REDUCTION   OF   THE    MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT.  351 

I  certify  that  the  annexed  advertisement  was  cut  from  the  newspaper  named  in  the 
above  account,  and  that  it  was  inserted  in  that  newspaper  for  the  period  stated ;  and 
that  the  Revised  Regulations  of  the  War  Department  relative  to  advertising  and  job 
printing,  dated  January  1,  1H74,  have  been  complied  with. 

C.  L.  KILBURN, 

Col  A.  C.  G.JS.,  r.s.j, 

8.  Advertisements  and  job  printing  must  not  be  submitted  for  audit  in  the  same  letter 
of  transmittal. 

9.  Officers  are  prohibited  from  making  any  alterations  in  the  number  of  squares  or 
llnea,  the  number  of  insertions,  or  the  amount  charged.  They  wjU  state  iu  the  proper 
column  the  number  of  insertions  ordered,  and  leave  blank  the  column  headed  *^Araount 
allowed."  The  accounts  will  then  be  forwarded  by  the  certifying  officer  directly  to  the 
chief  clerk  of  the  War  Department,  for  audit,  with  a  letter  of  transmittal  describing 
the  inclosares,  together  with  the  original  bills  as  rendered  by  the  publishers,  and  a 
copy  of  the  letter  of  authority  indorsed  on  the  lowest  or  third  fold  of  each  voucher. 

10.  Accounts  may,  in  some  cases,  be  presented  to  officers  which  they  did  not  order 
published  in  the  newspaper  charging  for  the  same,  but  which  may  have  been  ordered 
to  be  inserted  therein  by  the  Secretary  of  War;  these,  also,  are  to  be  submitted  to  the 
War  Department  for  decision.  They  will  be  made  out  upon  the  official  forms  the  same 
as  other  advertisements,  and  in  like  manner  transmitted  to  the  chief  clerk  of  the  War 
Department.    The  following  form  of  certificate  will  be  used  in  such  cases  : 

"I  certify  that  the  annexed  advertisement  was  cut  from  the  newspaper  named  in 
the  above  account,  and  that  it  was  inserted  in  that  newspaper  for  the  period  stated." 

11.  In  the  event  of  the  death,  removal,  or  resignation  of  any  officer,  or  of  his  being 
transferred  to  another  station,  the  outstanding  bills  for  advertisements  of  his  office 
will  be  prepared,  certified,  and  forwarded  by  his  successor,  who  is  authorized  to  vary 
the  form  to  correspond  with  the  facts.  Officers  changing  stations  will  leave  with  their 
successors  complete  records  relative  to  unsettled  accounts  for  advertising  and  print- 
ing. 

12.  Publishers  of  official  newspapers  are  notified  that  claims  for  advertisements 
copied  from  other  papers,  without  authority  from  the  Secretary  of  War,  will  not  be 
paid;  nor  will  any  allowance  be  made  for  displayed  advertisements,  nor  for  leading. 
Advertisement's  must  be  set  up  close.  Publishers  will  greatly  facilitate  the  adjustment 
of  their  accounts  by  forwarding  to  the  chief  clerk  of  the  W^ar  Department  the  adver- 
tising rates  of  their  respective  papers,  showing  whether  the  charge  is  made  by  the 
'*  line"  or  by  the  *'  square,"  and  if  by  the  square,  the  number  of  lines  counted  as  such  ; 
also,  the  rate  per  line  or  square  for  the  first  and  subsequent  insertions.  And  when  the 
charges  are  varied  in  consideration  of  the  large  amount  of  space  occupied  by  the  ad- 
vertisement, or  the  long  period  of  publication,  the  publisher  should  furnish  a  plain 
schedule  of  prices,  showing  the  charges  from  one  square  inserted  one  time  up  to  thirty 
times,  to  any  number  of  squares  which  may  be  contained  in  the  column  inserted  one 
time  up  to  thirty  times.  Whenever  any  change  is  made  in  the  advertising  rates  of  a 
paper,  notice  of  the  change  should  be  immediately  sent  to  the  chief  clerk  of  the  War 
Department. 

13.  The  Heads  of  the  several  Bureaus  of  the  War  Departmen4  will  furnish  to  all 
officers  charged  with  the  publication  of  advertisements,  complete  lists  of  newspapers 
designated  by  the  Secretary  of  War,  together  with  the  regulations  and  orders  of  the 
War  Department  upon  the  subject,  and  all  necessary  blanks  for  compliance  with  these 
regulations. 

14.  Officers  are  informed  that  the  publication  of  military  orders  and  circulars  in 
uewspapers  is  unauthorized.  Paragraph  1134  of  the  Army  Regulations  does  not 
authorize  the  insertion  of  military  orders  in  newspapers. 

JOB  PRINTING. 

15.  Bills  for  job  printing  procured  by  officers  of  the  Army  must  also  be  submitted 
to  the  War  Department,  prior  to  payment,  in  the  same  manner  as  accounts  for  news- 
paper advertising. 

16.  Officers  are  informed  that,  as  a  general  rule,  all  regular  blanks,  books,  and 
printed  forms  are  executed  at  the  Government  Printing  Office,  at  Washington,  and  it 
is  their  duty  to  obtain  them  by  requisions  upon  the  Adjutant -General  or  the  beads  of 
their  respective  corps ;  and  bills  for  this  class  of  job  printing  executed  elsewhere  will 
not  be  paid,  except  m  cases  of  orders  printed  under  the  provisions  of  paragraph  1134, 
Army  Kegulations,  or  printing  done  by  the  written  permission  of  the  Secretary  of 
War. 

17.  Where  printing  has  been  done  under  the  exceptions  noted  in  the  preceding  para> 
graph,  the  bills  must  first  be  presented  to  the  officers  ordering  the  work,  who  will 
cause  them  to  be  made  out  and  certified  upon  the  official  forms  in  use  for  general 
vouchers.     A  copy  of  the  authority  under  which  the  printing  was  executed  and  a  sam- 

Digitized  by  VjUUS^IC 


352  REDUCTION   OF   THE    MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT. 

pie  of  tho  printing  must  accompany  each  bill.  The  number  of  copies  mast  also  be 
stated.  When  the  charge  is  for  book  or  pamphlet  printing,  containing  more  than  four 
pages  of  matter,  the  amount  of  matter,  (number  of  thousand  '*  ems,'')  number  of 
*'  tokens"  of  press-work,  and  the  rate  per  thousand  <^ems"  and  per  '^  token,"  must  be 
stated.  Vouchers  must  show  the  place  where,  and  date  when,  the  work  was  executed, 
and  the  printing  be  so  described  as  to  class,  amount,  and  rates,  that  the  computations 
can  be  readily  reviewed  according  to  the  customary  methods  in  use  among  book  and 
job  printers.  Where  the  paper  is  furnished  by  the  printer,  the  fact  must  be  stated  in 
the  voucher,  and  the  number  of  auires  or  reams  used,  and  the  price  charged  per  quire 
or  ream.  Unless  so  stated,  it  will  be  presumed  that  the  paper  was  furnished  by  the 
Government,  and  the  bills  audited  accordingly. 

18.  Orders  authorizing  advertising  or  printing  to  be  done  will  not  be  construed  as 
authorizing  payment  of  the  bills  until  audited  and  approved  according  to  these  regu- 
lations. 

WM.  W.  BELKNAP, 
Secretary  of  War, 
Official : 

H   T.  CROSBY, 

Chief  Clerk, 


LIST  OF  NEWSPAPERS  AUTHORIZED  TO  PUBLISH  ADVERTISEMENTS  OP  THE  WAR  DEPART 
MENT  AND  ITS  BUREAUS.    CORRECTED  TO  DATE,  FEBRUAJIY  20,  1874. 

No  newspaper  will  be  used  for  advertising  unless  first  designated  for  that  purpose 
by  the  Secretary  of  War. 

War  Department, 

WMhingion,  August  1, 1870. 

List  of  neu^spapera  authorized  by  the  Secretary  of  War  to  publish  advertisements  for  the  War 

Department  and  its  bureaus : 

CALIFORNIA. 

Abend  Post,  San  Francisco ;  Evening  Bulletin,  San  Francisco;  Alta  California, San 
Francisco;  Chronicle,  San  Francisco;  Republican,  San  Francisco;  Los  Angeles  Star, 
Los  Angeles;  Bulletin,  San  Diego;  Evening  Express, Los  Angeles;  Union,  San  Diego; 
Chronicle,  Vallejo;  Appeal,  Marysville;  Independent,  Stockton ;  Mercury,  San  Jos^; 
Daily  News,  Oakland ;  West  Coast  Signal,  Eureka ;  Benicia  Tribune,  Beuicia ;  Recoid, 
Sacramento ;  Transcript,  Oakland ;  Inyo  Independent,  Independence ;  Spirit  of  the 
Times,  San  Francisco. 

CONNECTICUT. 

Palladium,  New  Haven ;  Evening  Post,  Hartford  ;  Conrant,  (daily  and  weekly)  Hart- 
ford ;  Morning  Journal  and  Courier,  New  Haven ;  Norwich  Morning  Bulletin,  Norwich ; 
New  London  Star,  New  London ;  Soldiers'  Record  and  Grand  Army  Gazette,  Hartford 

DELAWARE. 

Wilmington  Commercial,  Wilmington ;  Delaware  Republican,  Wilmingtoa. 

ILLINOIS. 

Chicago  Tribune,  Chicago ;  Chicago  Journal,  Chicago ;  Illinois  Staats  Zeitung,  Chi- 
cago ;  Evening  Post,  Chicago ;  State  Journal,  Springfield ;  Quincy  Whig,  Quincy  :  Rock 
Island  Union,  Rock  Island ;  Prairie  Farmer,  Chicago ;  The  Advance,  Chicago  ;  Even- 
ing Mail,  Chicago ;  Inter-Ocean,  Chicago. 

INDLANA. 

State  Journal,  Indianapolis ;  Madison  Courier,  Madison ;  Yolksfreund,  Fort  Wayne. 

IOWA. 

Burlington  Hawkeye,  Burlington ;  Sioux  City  Journal,  Sioux  City ;  Dubuque  Timesi 
Dubuque;  Council  Blufis  Nonpareil,  Council  Bluffs;  Davenport  Gazette,  Davenport; 
Gate  City, Keokuk;  Der  Demokrat, Davenport ;  Ottumwa  Weekly  Courier, Ottumwa; 
Daily  Times,  Sioux  City ;  Journal,  Mt.  Pleasant ;  Herald,  Oskaloosa ;  Fairfield  Ledger, 
Fairfield. 


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REDUCTION    OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT.  353 


Cbampion  and  Press,  Atchison ;  Leavenworth  Times,  Leavenworth ;  Junction  City 
Union,  Janction  Citv  ;  Republican  Journal,  Lawrence ;  Son  them  Kansas  Advance,  Che- 
topa;  Common  weal  tn,  Topeka;  Evening  Call,  Leavenworth;  Freie  Presse,  Leavenworth ; 
Sentinel,  MonndCity ;  Reporter,  Ellsworth;  Commercial,  Leavenworth ;  Kansas  Farmer, 
Leavenworth. 

KENTUCKY. 

Volksblatt,  Louisville ;  Daily  Commercial,  Louisville. 

MAINE. 

Portland  Press,  Portland ;  Bangor  Whig  and  Courier,  Bangor ;  Jefforsonian,  BauKor ; 
Keonebec  Journal,  Angnsta ;  Eastport  Sentinel,  Eastport ;  Lewiaton  Journal,  Lewis- 
ton  ;  Farmington  Chronicle,  Farmingtou ;  Bath  Times,  Bath. 

MARTUkND. 

Baltimore  American,  Baltimore ;  Baltimore  Wecker,  Baltimore. 

MASSACHUSETTS. 

Boston  Journal,  Boston  ;  Boston  Advertiser,  Boston ;  Boston  Traveller,  Boston ;  Bos- 
ton Transcript,  Boston  ;  Mercnry,  New  Bedford ;  Springfield  Republican.  Springfield  ; 
Evening  Standard,  New  Bedford;  Salem  Gazette,  Salem;  Worcester  Spy,  Worcester; 
Boston  Daily  Times,  Boston ;  Boston  Daily  News,  Boston ;  Boston  Daily  Globe,  Boston. 

MICHIGAN. 

Advertiser  and  Tribune,  Detroit;  Detroit  Post,  Detroit. 

MINNESOTA. 

Saint  Panl  Press,  Saint  Paul ;  Minnesota  Staats  Zeitnng,  Saint  Paul ;  Saint  Paul 
Dispatch,  Saint  Paul ;  Saint  Cloud  Journal,  Saint  Cloud ;  Lake  City  Leader,  Lake  City ; 
Do  Luth  Minnesotiau,  DuLuth. 


Westlioh  Post,  Saint  Lonis;  Journal  of  Commerce,  Kansas  City;  Kansas  City  Post, 
Kansas  City;  Saint  Joseph  Herald,  Saint  Joseph;  Saint  Louis  Daily  Courier,  Saint 
Louis;  Saint  Lonis  Democrat,  Saint  Louis;  Missouri  State  Atlas,  Saint  Louis; 
Missouri  Staats  Zeitung;,  Saint  Louis ;  Saint  Louis  Daily  Globe,  Saint  Lonis ;  Saint 
Louis  Daily  Journal,  Saint  Louis ;  Sedalia  Times,  Sedalia. 

NEBRASKA. 

Nebraska  Press,  Nebraska  City;  Nebraska  Advertiser,  Brownville:  Nebraska  Herald, 
Plattsmonth;  Nemaha  Journal,  Falls  City;  Fremont  Tribune,  Fremont;  Covington 
News,  Covington;  Staats  Zeitung,  Nebraska  City;  Tribune  and  Republican,  Omaha ; 
Agricnlturist  and  Fanner,  Omaha ;  Dakota  City  Mail,  Dakota  City. 

NEVADA. 

Territorial  Enterprise,  Virginia  City. 

NEW  HAMPSHIRE. 

Mirror  and  American,  Manchester ;  Monitor,  Concord  ;  Portsmouth  Chronicle,  Ports  • 
mouth. 

NEW  JERSEY. 

New  Jersey  Freie  Zeitung,  Newark ;  Newark  Advertiser,  Newark ;  State  Gazette, 
Trenton;  Jersey  City  Evening  Journal,  Jersey  City;  Jersey  City  Daily  Times,  Jersev 
City ;  Sussex  Register,  Newton  ;  Daily  Journal,  Elizabeth ;  New  Jersey  Courier,  Tom's 
River. 

23  M  £ 

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354  REDUCTION    OF   THE    MILITARY    ESTABLISHMENT. 

NEW   YORK. 

Evening  Post,  Nt5\v  York  City;  New  York  Tribune,  New  York  City;  New  York 
Times,  New  York  City ;  New  Yorker  Deinokrat,  New  York  City ;  New  York  Abend  Zei- 
tuug,  New  York  City ;  Le  Messager  Franco  Americain,  New  York  City  ;  Scientitic  Ameri- 
can, New  York  City  ;  New  York  Commercial  Advertiser,  New  York  City ;  United  States 
Army  and  Navy  Journal,  New  York  City  ;  Irish  Republic,  New  York  City ;  New  York  Sun, 
New  York  City;  Evening  Commonwealth,  New  York  City;  Evening  Mail,  New  Yorlt 
City;  National  Quarterly  Review,  New  York  City  ;  Union,  Brooklyn ;  Morning  Herald, 
Utica;  Troy  Times,  Troy ;  Rochester  Democrat,  Rochester;  Rochester  Evening  Ex- 
press, Rochester;  Elmira  Advertiser,  Eluiira;  Telegraph,  Buffalo;  Buffalo  Express, 
Buffalo;  Commercial  Advertiser,  Buffalo;  Rochester  Observer,  Rochester;  Jonrnal, 
Dunkirk  ;  New  York  Reformer,  Watertown  ;  Ogdensburgh  Journal,  Ogdeusbargh ;  Syra- 
cuse Journal,  Syracuse  ;  Auburn  Advertiser,  Auburn;  Auburn  News,  Auburn;  Platts- 
bnrgh  Sentinel,  Plattsburgh;  Albany  Journal,  Albany ;  Hudson  Republican,  Hudson; 
Poughkeepsie  Eagle,  Pongbkeepsie  ;  Jewish  Times,  New  York  City  ;  Herald,  New  York 
City;  Independent,  New  York  City:  Weekly  Republican, New  York  City;  Weekly 
Christian  Union,  New  York  City;  Weekly  Railroad  Gazette,  New  York  City;  Suudav 
Standard,  New  York  City ;  Daily  Oestliche  Post, New  York  City;  Daily  Skandioarisk 
Post,  New  York  City  ;  Oswego  Daily  Times,  Oswego. 


Ohio  State  Journal,  Columbus;  Cincinnati  Gazette,  Cincinnati;  Cincinnati  Volks- 
blat,  Cincinnati;  Cincinnati  Times  and  Chronicle,  Cincinnati;  Cleveland  Herald, 
Cleveland  ;  Cleveland  Lender,  Cleveland  ;  Steubeuville  Herald,  Steubenville ;  Zaues- 
ville  Courier,  Zanesville;  Commercial  Register,  Sandusky ;  Dayton  Journal,  Dayton , 
Marietta  Register,  Marietta  ;  Cincinnati  Commercial,  Cincinnati ;  Cincinnati  Courier; 
Cincinnati. 

ORKGON. 

Oregonian,  Portland  ;  Oregon  State  Journal,  Eugene  City  ;  Oregon  Sentinel,  Jack- 
sonville; Bulletin,  Portland ;  Statesman,  Salem. 

PENNSYLVANIA. 

City 
:  Bulle- 

.._, ^        ,  ,  ,  „    .  .       .  Pitto" 

burgh  Dispatch,  Pittsburgh ;  Pittsburgh  (Commercial,  Pittsburgh;  Freiheits  Freand, 
Pittsburgh  ;  Pittsburgh  Gazette,  Pittsburgh  ;  Franklin  Repo8it4)ry,  Chambersbun^h ; 
Harrisburgh  Telegraph,  Hanisburgh  ;  True  Democract,  York ;  Carlisle  Herald,  Car- 
lisle ;  Oil  City  Times,  Oil  City;  Rejjublikaner,  Reading;  Sunday  Republic,  Philadel- 
phia; The  Day,  Philadelphia  ;  Evening  Star,  Philadelphia;  Daily  Democrat,  Phildei- 
phia ;  Daily  Dispatch,  Erie. 

KIIODE  ISLAND. 

Newport  News,  Newport ;  Providence  Jonrnal,  Providence ;  Providence  Press,  Provi- 
dence. 

TENNESSEE. 

Knoxville  Chronicle,  Knoxville;  Republican,  Huntingdon ;  Chattanooga  Herald, 
Chattanooga;  Bulletin,  Nashville;  Commercial  Republican,  Cleveland ;  Chattanooga 
Commercial,  Chattanooga. 

VERMONT. 

Montpelitr  Jonrnal,  Montpelier ;  Rutland  Herald,  Rutland ;  Saint  Albans  Messenger, 
Saint  Albai.s  ;  Burlington  Pree  Press  and  Times,  Burlington. 

WEST  VIRGINIA. 

Wheeling  Intelligencer,  Wheeling;  West  Virginiuia  Journal,  Charleston. 

WISCONSIN. 

State  Journal, Madison  ;  Milwaukee  Sentinel,  Milwaukee;  Gazette,  Green  Bay;  Re- 
publican, La  Crosse. 


Digitized  by 


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REDUCTION   OF   THE    MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT.  355 

TERRITORIES. 

ARIZONA. 

ArizoD<a  Citizen,  Tucson  ;  Arizona  Miner,  Prescott. 

COLORADO. 

Rocky  Monatain  News,  Denver;  Colorado  Tribune,  Denver;  Colorado  ChieftaiD, 
Pueblo. 

DAKOTA. 

Union  and  Dakotaian,  Yankton ;  Dakota  Repnblican,  Vermillion ;  Yankton  Press, 
Yankton  ;  Sioux  Falls  Pantagraph,  Sioux  Falls. 

IDAHO. 

Owyhee  Avalanche  and  Tidal  Wave,  Silver  City. 

MONTANA. 

Helena  Herald,  Helena ;  New  North  West,  Deer  Lodge. 

NEW  MEXICO. 

Ifew  Mexican,  Santa  F^ ;  Weekly  Post,  Santa  F6;  Cimarron  News,  Cimarron;  Re- 
publican Review,  Albuqnerque. 

UTAH. 

Reporter,  Corinne;  Utah  Mining  Journal,  Salt  Lake  City. 

WASHINGTON. 

Facitic  Tribune,  Olympia ;  V^ancouver  Register,  Vancouver. 

WYOMING. 

Cheyenne  Leader,  Cheyenne;  Wyoming  Tribune,  Cheyenne;  Laramie  Daily  Senti- 
nel, Laramie. 


List  of  newspapers  selected  for  the  public  advertising  in  pursuance  of  section  ten  of  an  act  ap- 
proved March  2,  1867,  entitled  "^n  act  making  appropriations  for  sundry  civil  expenses  of 
the  Government  for  the  year  ending  June  30, 1868,  and  for  other  purposes  ;^*  and  section  two 
of  an  act  approved  July  20, 1868,  entitled  "-in  act  making  appropriations  for  the  legislativCf 
executive,  and  judicial  expenses  of  the  Government  for  the  year  ending  the  ^th  of  June, 
1869." 

DISTRICT  OF  COLUMBIA. 

Morning  Chronicle,  Washington  ;  Evening  Star,  Washington  ;  National  Republican, 
Washington. 


List  of  newspapers  selected  by  the  Clerk  of  the  House  of  Representatives  under  section  seven  of 
an  act  approved  March  2,  1867,  entitled  "An  act  fnaking  appropriations  for  sundry  civil  ex- 
penses of  the  Government  for  the  year  ending  June  30,  1868,  and  for  other  purposes." 

ALABAMA.  * 

Advocate,  Hnntsville;  National  Republican,  Selma. 

Digitized  by  VjOOQIC 


356  REDUCTION    OF   THE   MILITARY    ESTABLISHMENT. 

\ 

ARKAN6A8. 

Repablican,  Pine  Bluff;  New  Era,  Fort  Smith. 

FLORIDA. 

Florida  Union,  Jacksonville ;  Tallahassee  Sentinel,  Talahaasee. 

GEORGIA. 

New  Era,  Atlanta ;  Weekly  Sno,  Bainbridge. 

IX)UISIANA. 

New  Orleans  Republican,  New  Orleans ;  Grand  Era,  Baton  Ronge ;  lutelligencGr, 
Monroe. 

MISSISSIPPI, 

Vicksbnrgh  Times  and  Republican,  Vicksburgh ;  Prairie  News,  Okolona. 

KORTH  CAROLINA. 

Asheville  Pioneer,  Asheville ;  The  Era,  Raleigh. 

SOUTH  CAROLINA. 

Union,  Columbia ;  New  Era,  Spartanburgh. 

TEXAS. 

Express,  San  Antonio  ;  Union,  Houston. 

VIRGINIA. 

State  Journal,  Richmond  ;  Valley  Virginian,  Staunton. 


LETTER  OF  QUARTERMASTER-GENERAL  RELATIVE  TO  THE   NUMBER   OF 
EMPLOYES  IN  THE  CEMETERIAL  BKANCH  OF  HIS  OFFICE. 

War  Department, 
Quartermaster-General's  Office, 

Washington^  D.  C, ,  1874. 

Sir:  In  reply  to  your  commanication  of  the  I7th  instant,  I  have  the 
honor  to  submit  the  following  report  of  the  number  of  persons  employed 
by  this  office,  in  connection  with  cemeterial  operations,  with  designa- 
tion of  their  duties  and  rates  of  pay : 

Walter  Wollcott,  clerk,  $1,800  per  annum ;  employed  at  Fort  Union, 
N.  Mex.,  January  5, 1871 ;  engaged  in  the  settlement  of  the  disbursing 
accounts  of  the  officer  in  charge  of  cemeterial  branch,  and  in  connection 
with  correspondence  and  general  business  of  that  branch. 

J.  J.  Washburn,  clerk,  $1,800  per  annum;  employed  in  Quarter- 
master-General's Office  September  16, 1866 ;  chief  clerk  of  the  ceme- 
terial branch  from  September  3,  1873;  charged  with  the  care  and 
preparation  of  the  permanent  records;  supervising  the  preparation  of 
lists  for  headstones;  property  accounts  of  the  officer  in  charge  of 
national  cemeteries;  contracts  for  headstones  and  other  cemeterial 
work,  and  current  business. 

Oliver  Cox,*  clerk,  $1,200  per  annum ;  employed  September  23, 1873; 
preparation  of  lists  for  headstones  and  correction  and  revision  of  Bolls 
of  Honor. 

Charles  W.  Sackville,*  clerk,  $1,500  per  annum ;  employed  November 
29,  1873 ;  preparation  of  lists  for  headstones. 

J.  C.  Devautien,*  clerk,  $780  per  annum ;  employed  January  18, 1873, 
as  laborer,  and  frqpi  September  13, 1873,  as  clerk ;  preparation  of  lists 
for  headstones,  records,  and  copying. 


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REDUCTION   OF    THE    MILITARY    ESTABLISHMENT.  357 

O.  M.  Rosser,  clerk,  $1,500  per  annum  j  employed  December  1, 1873; 
current  records. 

G.  D.  Chenoweth,*  civil  engineer,  (station  Washington,  D.  C.,)  em- 
ployed May  7, 1873;  $5  per  day,  and  $1.50  per  day  additional  when 
absent  from  station  on  duty;  transportation  furnished  by  Government; 
engaged  in  inspecting  work  at  national  cemeteries  and  furnishing  data 
for  the  preparation  of  the  lists  of  graves  to  be  supplied  with  head- 
stones. 

C.  M.  Clarke,*  civil  engineer,  (station  Raleigh,  N.  C.,)  employed  May 
7, 1873 ;  same  rates  of  pay  as  last-named  and  engaged  upon  similar 
duties. 

S.  M.  Bobbins,*  civil  engineer,  (station  Nashville,  Tenn.,)  employed 
May  7,  1873;  same  rates  of  pay  as  first-named  engineer,  and  like 
duties. 

A.  O.  Eckelson,*  civil  engineer,  (station  Washington,  D.  C.,)  employed 
November  17,  1873;  same  rates  of  pay  as  first-named  engineer;  en- 
gaged at  national  cemeteries  in  the  Southwest  preparing  lists  of  graves 
to  be  supplied  with  headstones. 

William  Sanderson,  laborer,  employed  September  13, 1873 ;  duties  of 
janitor  and  messenger  for  cemeterial  branch. 

Leon  Dessey,  draughtsman,  employed  January  25,  1873;  engaged  in 
preparing  plots  of  national  cemeteries ;  $5  per  day. 

A.  Pohlers,  draughtsman,  employed  December  2, 1873;  $5  per  day; 
same  duties  as  last-named. 

These  employes  do  not  belong  to  the  regular  organizations  of  the  cler- 
ical force  of  the  War  Department,  and,  therefore,  are  not  classified. 

Heretofore,  and  prior  to  December  1, 1873,  the  clerks  and  laborer 
have  been  paid  from  the  appropriation  for  incidental  expenses,  but  they, 
as  also  the  engineers,  are  now  paid  from  the  appropriation  for  establish- 
ing and  maintaining  national  cemieteries. 

It  is  contemplated  to  pay  hereafter  the  engineers  and  clerks  (marked 
thus  ♦)  from  the  appropriation  for  furnishing  and  erecting  headstones,  as 
they  are  now,  and  will  be  in  the  future,  almost  exclusively  employed  in 
connection  with  the  preparation  of  corrected  lists  for  the  contractors 
and  in  inspecting  material  furnished  and  work  done  under  the  terms  of 
the  headstone  contracts. 

Very  respectfully,  you  obedient  servant, 

J.  D.  BINGHAM, 
Acting  Quartermaster- Oeneralj  Bvt,  Brig,  Oen.^  TJ,  8.  A. 
Hon.  John  Cobuen, 

Chairman  of  Committee  on  Military  Affairs^ 

House  of  Representatives. 


letter  of  quartermaster-general  as  to  reductions  of  expenses 

War  Department. 
Quartermaster-General's  Office, 

Washingtonj  D.  C\, ,  1874. 

Sib  :  I  have  the  honor  to  submit  the  following  replies  to  the  questions 
propounded  by  you  on  the  6th  instant,  viz  : 

Question.  What  items  of  expenditure  set  out  in  your  estimates  wtll 
be  affected  by  a  reduction  or  increase  of  the  number  of  the  Army! 
Answer.  The  items  of  expenditure  for  regular  supplies,  incidental 


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358  EEDUCTION   OF    THE    MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT. 

expenses,  barracks  and  quarters,  transportation  of  the  Army,  and  cloth- 
ing and  equipage. 

Question.  Please  state  in  what  this  consists,  and  to  what  extent, 
showing  upon  a  basis  of  a  reduction  of  the  Army  to  two-thirds  of  its 
present  number,  provided  the  entire  reduction  is  made  in  infantry  regi- 
ments. 

Answer.  The  item  for  regular  supplies  would  be  reduced.  $340,000  00 

Incidental  expenses 152, 000  00 

Transportation  of  the  Army 600, 000  00 

Barracks  and  quarters 300,000  00 

Clothing  and  equipage 638, 500  00 

2, 030, 500  00 

The  expenditures  under  the  heads  of  incidental  expenses,  transporta- 
tion, barracks  and  quarters,  depend  in  a  great  measure  upon  circum- 
stances, and  cannot,  therefore,  be  predicted  with  accuracy.  Certain  items 
of  expenditure  under  each  head  are,  however,  known,  and  the  above 
reductions,  especially  under  the  head  of  incidental  expenses,  have  been 
based  on  these.  The  actual  reduction  may  be  greater.  The  reduction 
under  the  head  of  clothing  and  equipage  is  mainly  in  clothing ;  we  have 
enough  of  most  articles  of  equipage  to  last  several  years. 

The  above  answer  is  based  on  the  assumption  that  the  reduction  will 
be  in  enlisted  men  alone. 

Question.  Please  state  the  difference  in  cost,  so  far  as  the  Quarter- 
master's Department  is  concerned,  between  au  infantry  and  cavalry 
soldier. 

Answer.  As  nearly  as  can  be  computed  the  difference  in  cost  is,  per 
annum,  $223.40. 

Question.  Please  state  whether  there  is  any  difference  between  reda- 
ciug  the  number  of  organizations  and  the  number  of  men,  in  exi)ense; 
if  so,  in  what  it  consists  and  what  it  is. 

Answer.  If  the  reduction  is  in  iufantry  organizations  instead  of  en- 
listed men  of  infantry,  there  will  be  an  additional  reduction  in  expend- 
itures as  follows,  viz : 

Eegular  supplies $160, 000  00 

Incidental  expenses 16, 000  00 

Army  transportation 85, 000  00 

Barracks  and  quarters 100, 000  00 

Total  additional  reduction 361, 000  00 

There  would  also  be  a  saving  in  equipage,  but  it  would  be  of  articles 
now  in  store,  and  would  effect  no  saving  in  money,  to  atiy  great  amount, 
for  some  years  to  come. 

Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

J.  D.  BINGHAM, 
Acting  Quartermaster- General j  Brevet  Brigadier-Oeneral^  U.  S.  A. 
Hon.  John  Cobubn, 

Chairman  Committee  on  Military  Affairs^  Mouse  of  Representatives. 

(Through  the  Hon.  Secretary  of  War.) 


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REDUCTION    OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT.  359 

STATEMENT  OF  GENERAL  BINGHAM  AS  TO  QUARTERMASTER'S  DEPART. 
MENT,  SHOWING  ITS  PRESENT  AND  PAST  RELATIVE  STRENGTH  WITH 
THAT  OF  THE  ARMY. 

Memorandum  in  reference  to  the  Quartermaster's  Pepartment, 

In  1860  the  Quartermaster's  Department  was  composed  of  the  following 
officers:  1  brigadier-general,  2  colonels,  2  lieutenant-colonels,  4  majors, 
28  captains,  7  military  storekeepers — 44  in  all. 

The  authorized  strength  of  the  Army  in  1800  was  12,931,  officers  and 
enlisted  men.  The  appropriations  for  the  Quartermaster's  Department 
for  that  year  amounted  to  $5,607,309.20. 

By  the  act  of  July  28,  186G,  the  Quartermaster's  Department  was 
fixed  for  a  peace  establishment  as  follows :  1  brigadier-general,  6  colonels, 
JO  lieutenant-colonels,  12  majors,  30  captains,  16  military  store-keepers — 
75  in  all. 

Promotion  in  the  Department  was  stopped  by  section  6  of  the  act  of 
March  3,  1869,  and  the  number  of  officers  now  is  as  follows :  1  brigadier- 
general,  5  colonels,  9  lieutenant-colonels,  14  majors,  30  captains,  9  mili- 
tary store-keepers— 68  in  all. 

The  authorized  strength  of  the  Army  now  is  32,554  officers  and  enlisted 
men. 

The  appropriations  for  the  Quartermaster's  Department  amount  to 
815,248,508.81  for  this  fiscal  year. 

It  thus  appears  that  the  strength  of  the  Army  is  now  more  than  two 
and  one-half  times  greater  than  in  1860 ;  that  the  appropriations  for 
the  Quartermastei-'s  Department  are  nearly  three  times  greater;  while 
the  Quartermaster's  Department  is  only  a  little  more  than  50  per  cent, 
in  excess  of  its  strength  in  1860. 

By  the  act  of  July  16,  1870,  (chapter  294,)  the  incompetent  and  ineffi- 
cient officers  of  the  line  of  the  Army  were  mustered  out  of  the  service,  and 
promotion  was  restored.  No  such  process  of  weeding  out  was  applied 
to  the  Quartermaster's  Department,  and  there  now  remain  in  it  a  num- 
ber of  officers  who  are  not  competent  to  perform  the  duties  of  their 
grade.     Their  work  necessarily  falls  on  others. 

The  number  of  officers  in  the  Department  is  much  less  than  would  be 
employed  by  a  private  corporation  in  managing  business  of  equal  mag- 
nitude, covering  the  same  extent  of  territory,  and  is  believed  to  be  not 
greater  than  the  necessities  of  the  service  require ;  yet  the  efficiency  of  the 
Department  would  be  increased  if  authority  of  law  be  given  for  the  retire- 
ment or  withdrawal  from  active  service  of  those  who  are  incapable  of  per- 
forming their  duties  and  by  restoring  promotion  to  the  Department. 

J.  D.  BmGHAM, 

(iuartermaster  U,  8.  A. 
Washington,  D.  C,  February  11, 1874.  ^ 


STATEMENT  OF  QUARTERMASTER-GENERAL  AS  TO  AMOUNT  OF  PAY  FOR 
FUEL,  FORAGE,  AND  QUARTERS. 

War  Department,  Quartermaster-General's  Office, 

Washington^  D.  6\,  February  16,  1874. 
Sib  :  In  reply  to  your  letter  of  inquiry  of  the  14th  instant,  I  have 
the  honor  to  inform  you  that  it  would  be  impossible  to  ascertain  exactly 


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360  REDUCTION   OF   THE    MILITARY    ESTABLISHMENT. 

the  cost  of  the  several  items  included  in  your  questions,  without  going 
into  all  the  voluminous  reports,  returns,  and  vouchers  of  the  officers  in 
charge  of  i)roperty  at  the  various  military  stations,  and  also  all  those 
of  the  officers  who  purchase  and  ship  supplies.  I  therefore  furnish  an 
estimate  made  up  from  the  original  notes  for  estimates  of  the  Quarter- 
master's Department  for  the  year  1873-74 — the  present  fiscal  year— 
which  will  be  found  to  be  approximately  correct,  and  sufficient,  without 
doubt,  for  the  purpose  of  the  inquiry. 

I.  Forage :  Total  quantity  for  officers'  horses  is  estimated  as  equiva- 
lent to — 

7,655  tons  of  hay  at  *20 $153, 100  00 

408,937  bushels  of  oats,  at  70  cents 286, 255  90 

Total  forage 439, 355  90 

II.  Fuel :  The  total  quantity  of  fuel  estimated  for  issue  to  officers  is 
equivalent  to  58,021  cords  of  wood ;  average  cost,  $7  per  cord  ;  total, 
$406,147. 

III.  The  rent  of  quarters  for  officers  not  living  in  barracks  belonging 
to  the  United  States,  is  estimated  at  $307,000. 

lY.  The  total  cost  to  the  Quartermaster's  Department  of  advertising 
contracts  and  sales  is  estimated  at  an  amount  not  to  exceed  $60,000. 
An  accurate  statement  as  to  the  cost  of  advertising  can  probably  be  ob- 
tained from  the  War  Department,  (Bureau  of  Advertising  and  Print- 
ing Accounts.) 

I  am,  very  resi^ectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

M.  C.  MEIGS, 
Quartennaster-Oeneralj  Brevet  Major-Oeneral,  U.  S.  A. 
Hon.  John  Cobubn, 

Chairman  Committee  on  Military  Affairn^  Home  of  Eepresentativeg. 


STATEMENT   OF  THE   QUARTERMASTER-GENERAL,  SHOWING   THE    SUMS 
PAID  FOR  QUARTERS  OF  OFFICERS  IN  WASHINGTON,  &d. 

.  War  Department,  Quartermaster-General's  Office, 

Wo^hinffton,  D.  C,  January  20,  1874. 
Sir  :  In  compliance  with  your  request  of  the  17th  instant,  I  have  the 
honor  to  submit  herewith  a  statement  of  the  amount  ^$122,412.20)  paid 
by  the  Quartermaster's  Department  for  rent  of  quarters  for  officers  of 
the  Army,  in  this  city,  during  the  past  two  years,  1872  and  1873;  show- 
ing the  amount  paid  for  quarters  for  each  officer  separately,  and  the 
monthly  rate. 

Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

M.  C.  MEIGS, 
Quartermaster-Oeneral^  Brevet  Major  Oeneraly  If.  8.  A. 
Hon.  John  Coburn, 

Chairman  Committee  on  Military  Affairs^  House  of  Representatii^es, 


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REDUCTION    OF    THE    MILITARY    ESTABLISHMENT. 


361 


A  statement  of  the  amount  paid  by  the  Quartermaster's  Department  for  rent  of  qucrters  for 
officers  of  the  Army  in  WanhingtoHf  District  of  Columbia^  during  the  years  1872  and  1873. 


Name  of  oflicor  to  whom  (jtiartcra  vero  furnished. 


( renoral  W.  T.  Shonnan 

BriKadier-OencTal  M.  C.  Mci;i« | 

lJri;:a<lier-(T«'neral  JoHfph  Holt  

Itrigatlier-Oeneral  A.  A.  Huniphreyw 

Brig:atU«»r-General  (».  R  Paul 

Brigadier-Oeneral  A.  B.  Eaton    

Brigadier-O eneral  O.  ().  Howard 

Brijfadier-Geueral  E.  I>.  TownHcnd 

Brifradier-G eneral  J.  K.  Barnps ! 

Colonel  J.  C.  Audenreitl,  (Si'ptoniber.  lP7a.  to  December,  1873) 

t'olonel  J.  A.  Hardie.  (October  14,  1872,  t«  December,  li?73) 

Colon**!  Benjamin  Alvord , 

Colonel  A.  E.  Shiraa I 

( 'olonel  A.  J.  M  ver ' 

C«ilouel  F.  T.  Dent,  (Januarv,  lb72,  to  Ja  uiary,  1873) 

Major  F.  T  Dent,  (February  toMny  IS.  1873) 

Colonel  W.  McK.  Dunn,  (Januarv  to  June,  1872;  November  7,  1872,  to  Decem- 
ber?, 1873) 

Colonel  J.  C.  McCoy 

Colonel  E.  Schri ver , 

Colonel  C.  H.  Crane ' 

Colooel  Horace  Ptirter,  (January  to  December,  1872) 

Colonel  Robert  Allen.  (January,  1872,  tn  March,  1873) 

Colonel Hunt,  (January  to  Mav,  1872) 

Colonel  R  R  Marcy,  (January  to  April,  1872;  June,  1872,  to  December,  1673) . . 

Colonel  J.  E.  TourtoUntte 

<!olonel Bacon,  (May,  1872.  to  December.  1873) 

Colonel  H.B.Cllta.  (April  13  to  April  30,  1872) I 

Lientenant-Colonel  J.  G.  Foster,  (May  14.  1872.  to  December,  1873) ' 

Lientenant-Colonel Wood,  (January  4  to  xVpril,  1872) I 

Lieutenant-Colonel  A.  Montgomery,  (November  to  December.  1873) 

Lieatenant-Colonel  J.  H.  Baxter I 

Manor  S.  V.  Ben6t I 

Major  George  Bell 

Miuor  W.B.  Rochester,  (January  to  August,  1879) ' 

M 1^  or  B.  Da  Barry.  (January,  1872,  to  October.  1873) I 

Major  O.  E.  Babcock,  (January,  1872.  to  February,  1873) I 

C'olonel  O.  E.  Babcock.  (March  to  December,  1873) 

M^or  Henry  Good  fellow 

Major  J.  D.  Bingham , 

Mqjor  Basil  Norris I 

Mjyor  J.  A.  Winthrop,  (January  to  August,  1872;  November.  1872,  to  Decem- 
ber. 1873) 

Mrtjor  T.  M.  Vincent 

Major  T.  L.  Casey • 

M^orO.A.Mack  

Maior  E.  G.  Beckwith , 

Maior  J.  P.  Mania ! 

M^or  J.  H.Eaton 

Major  W.  D.  Whipple,  (Jan  nary,  1872,  to  Fobruar>'.  1873) | 

Col<nieI  W.  D.  Whipple,  (March  to  December,  1873) I 

M%}or  R  Saxton.  January  1  to  May  15,1872) 

Major  M.  I.  Lndington 

jor  J.  G.Parke I 

_or  F.  H-  Lamed 

Jor  Alexander,  (January  to  April,  1872) I 

gor  F.  J.  Dodge,  (January  to  April,  1873) ' 

Jor  J.  Taylor.  (March  to  July.  1872) 

or  A.J.t)allas,(AuKust8to28.187a) I 

or  F.  U.  Farqahar,  (June  21  to  July  31, 1872)  

bnel  O.  M.  Poe,  (May,  1873,  to  December,  1873) ; 

MnjorT.F.Barr,  (August  to  October,  1872) I 

M^or  T.H.Sunton,  (August  to  November.  1873) .^ 

Ma|or  L.  H.  Pelouse,  (December  2  to  31, 1873) | 

MaJorClark,(Septemberll,  1873,  to  December,  1873) ! 

M^or  William  Myers,  (June,  1872.  to  December,  1873) 

4;aptain  William  Myers,  (January  to  May,  1872) i 

Captain  8.  C.  Lyfordf.  (July,  1872,  to  December.  1873) 

Captain  Mallery.  (January,  1873,  to  December,  1873) 

Captain  O.  A.  Oils ' 

<^ptaln  J.  J.  Woodward 

Captain  J.  &  Billings 

Captain  C.  McClnre,  (January,  1873,  to  Noyember,  1873) 

Captain  T.  McMiilin 

Captain  Thomas,  (January  to  May,  1873) 

Captain  J.  O.  C.  Lee,  (November  15, 1873,  to  April  5, 1873) 

Captain  W.  J.  Twining,  (June  19  to  July  31. 1873) 

Captain  Wibion,  (October  33  to  November  30, 1873) 

CapUda  A.  J.  McGonnigle,  (July  to  December,  1873) 


Received 
I  per.moulh. 

i 


9250  00 
90  00 
90  00 
90  00 
90  00 
90  00 
90  00 
90  00 
90  00 
90  00 
90  00 
90  00 
!K)  00 
90  00 
90  00 
72  00 

90  00 
hO  00 
90  00 
90  00 
90  00 
90  00 
90  00 
90  00 
90  00 
90  00 
90  00 
72  00 
72  00 
72  00 
72  60 
72  00 
72  00 
72  00 
72  00 
72  00 
90  00 
72  00 
72  00 

72  60 

73  00 
72  00 
72  00 
72  00 
72  00 
72  00 
60  00 
72  00 
90  00 
72  00 
72  00 

72  00 

73  00 
72  00 
72  00 
72  00 
72  00 
72  00 
90  00 
72  00 
72  00 

72  00 

73  00 

72  00 
54  00 

73  00 
54  00 
54  00 
64  00 
54  00 
54  00 
54  00 
54  00 
54  00 
54  00 
54  00 
54  00 


Total. 


•6.000  00 
2,160  00 
2,160  UO 
2,160  00 
2.160  00 
2,160  00 
2. 160  OC 
2,160  0</ 
2,160  00 

1.395  00 
1,311  00 
2, 160  00 
2, 160  00 
2,160  00 
1, 170  OO 

352  00, 

1.693  00 
3,160  00 
2,160  00 
3,160  00 
1. 060  00 
1,350  00 

360  00 
3,070  00 
3,160  00 
1,800  00 
54  00 
1,406  80 

380  80 

144  00 
1.728  00 
1,728  0« 
1,728  00 

576  00 
1.584  00 
1,008  00 

900  00 
1,738  00 
1.738  00 
1,726  00 

1,584  00 

1.728  00 

1.  728  00 

1,738  00 

1.728  00 

1,738  00 

1,  440  00 

1,006  00 

900  00 

334  00 

1.738  00 

1,738  00 

1,736  00 

388  00 

388  00 

360  00 

50  40 

96  00 

720  00 

316  00 

368  00 

69  60 
1,136  00 
1,368  00 

370  00 

1.396  00 
1.396  00 
1,396  00 
1,396  00 
1,396  00 
1,188  00 
1,396  00 

370  00 

353  60 
75  60 

70  30 
334  00 


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362 


REDUCTION    OF    THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT. 


A  statement  of  the  amount  paid  htf  the  Quarterm€Uter*8  Department  'far  rent  for  quarters  for 
officers  of  the  Army  in  fVashivgtonf  D,  C. — Continued. 


Name  of  officer  to  whom  quarters  were  famished. 


Received   i 
per  month. 


I 


Captain  C.  T.  Dickey,  (Febrtiary  5, 1872,  to  March,  1873) 

Captain  J.  W.  Barriger,  (November  12  to  December  31, 1873) 

Captain  J.  N.  Craig,  ( February,  1672.  to  June,  1873) 

Captoin  Brown.  (March  15  to  April  1, 1872;  October  19, 1872,  to  August,  1873)  . 

Captain  E.D.  Baker,  (December  23  to  31, 1873) i 

Lieutenant  H.  H.  C.  Dnnwoody,  (August  22, 1872,  to  December,  1873 

Lieutenant  R .  D.  PottH,  (August to  December.  1872) 

Lieutenant  Djer,  (October  14  to  December  31, 1873) 

Lieutenant  J.  A.  Sladen 

Lieutenant  Bradley I 

Lieutenant  H.  W.  Howgate i 

Lieutenant  Wilkenson ' 

Lieutenant  Craig j 

Lieutenant  A.  W.  Greely ^ , 

Lieutenant  Adams,  (January,  1 872) j 

Lieutenant  Smith,  (February  to  April,  1872 ;  June,  ld72,  to  June,  1873) \ 

'  Lieu  tenant  H.  Jac  kson j 

Lieutenant  D.  A.  Lyle,  (January  22  to  June,  1872) : 

Lieutenant  Lockwood,  (January  23  to  June,  1872) 

Lieutenant  Gibson,  (March  22, 1872,  to  December,  1873) 

Lieutenant  R  P.  Strong,  (May,  1872) j 

Lieutenant  Bellas,  (October  15  to  December,  1873) 

Lieutenant  J.  H.  Weeden,  (May  14  to  August^  1872) 

Lieutenant  Thomas  Turtle,  (April  8  to  November  15, 1873) ' 

Lieutenant  Green,  (June  1 2  to  July,  1872) ! 

Lieutenant  Weir.  (December  20  to  31, 1873) ' 

Lieutenant  Smith,  (December  6  to  31, 1873) | 

Lieutenant  Russell,  (December  26  to  31, 1873) ' 

Lieutenant  S.  K.  Tillman,  (December  24  to  31, 1873) i 

Lieutenant  R.  L.  Hoxie,  (December  19  to  31, 1873) ' 

Lieutenant  C.  W.  Lamed,  (December  24  to  31, 1873) I 

Lieutenant  W.  H.  CUpp,  (January  25  to  31, 1872 ;  February  15  to  21. 1872) ' 

Lieutenant  Wheeler,  (January  20  to  June,  1872 ;  October  to  December,  1672) ...  I 

Lieutenant  J.  F.  Gregory,  (June  16  to  Jnly,1872) 

Lieutenant  T.  C.  Davenport,  (December  24, 1872,  to  February  13, 1873) 

Lieutenant  C.  F.  Palfrey,  (June  81  to  July,  1872) 

Acting  Asaistant  Surgeon  Stanton,  (January,  1872,  to  December,  1873) | 

Acting  Asftistaut  Surgeon  Craig , 

Acting  Assistant  Surgeon  Schafhirt 

Acting  Assistant  Surgeon  Redcliffe 

Acting  Assistant  Surgeon  Lamb I 

Acting  Assistant  Surgeon  Barnes ; 

A  cting  Assistant  Surgeon  Holston 

Acting  A  sshitant  Surgeon  Rosse I 

Acting  AMi«t.nt  sargeon  sch«ff«,  { ^  ^^tjj  j^:;::::::;:::;::;;;;:::;:;.;! 

Acting  Assistant  Surgeon  Fletcher I 

Acting  Assistant  Surgeon  Yarrow.  (June  19  to  30. 1872) I 

Acting  Assistant  Surgeon  Mew,  (February  12  to  December^  1 873) | 

Acting  Assistant  Surgeon  Tildon,  (January  10  to  August  10,1872) , 

Acting  Assistant  Surgeon  Hoffman,  January  22  to  May,  1872) 


154  00 
54  00 
54  00 
54  00 
54  00 
36  00 

36  00    : 

36  00 
M  00  J 
36  00 
M  00 
36  00 
M  00 
36  00 
36  00 
36  00 
36  00 
36  00 
36  00 
36  00 
36  00 
36  00 
36  00 
36  00  , 
36  00 
36  00 
36  00 
36  00 
36  00  , 
36  OO 
36  00 
36  00 
36  00  I 
36  00 
36  00  I 
36  00 
36  00 
36  00  1 
36  00 
36  00  I 

35  00 

36  00  I 

35  00 

36  00 

35  00 

36  00  I 
36  00  ' 
36  00  I 
36  <K) 
36  00  I 
36  00  I 


Total. 


#477  00 

i^« 

91fOO 

14  40 

U'^  -0 

9t2  40 
^64  00 
^64  00 
h64  0(i 
?«4  00 
H64  00 
Hi'A  00 

%W 
:.76  00 
H64  M 
190  !4) 
189  « 
507  00 

M  OO 

91  'JO 
l>  4« 
261  00 

a»  w 

25  !» 
30  00 
600 

e40 

14  40 

>i  40 

25  20 

301  90 

54  ft) 

60  00 

4^00 

864  00 

e«4  n 

864  00 

864  06 

840  01 

864  00 

840  00 

864  ao 

842  00 

864  00 
14  40 
383  80 
233» 
154  80 


Total , 122,412  20 


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REDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY    ESTABLISHMENT. 


363 


War  Departmknt,  Quartkrm aster-General's  Office, 

H'ashingiony  D,  C,  January  12,  1874. 
6ik:  In  compliance  with  yonr  request,  I  have  the  honor  to  submit  the  following 
statement  of  the  annual  expenditures  of  the  Quartermaster's  Department,  for  rent  of 
baildings  occupied  as  quarters  by  officers  of  the  Army,  and  rent  of  buildings  hired 
for  purposes  of  storage,  offices,  stabling,  d&c,  at  the  headquarters  of  the  several  mili- 
tary divisions  and  departments  of  the  Army.  Also,  a  similar  statement  of  the  rents 
paid  in  this  city : 


Location  of  he«dqnarters. 

Divisions. 

Departments. 

Officers' 
quarters. 

•33,948  00 
7,128  00 
14. 256  CO 
8,  424  00 
3,888  00 

Offices,  &c. 

Total. 

"Sew  York  Citv 

Atlantic  . . 
...do    .   . 

1st  district 

2d  district 

3d  district 

4th  district 

135,700  00 

1.200  00 

4, 99U  92 

1, 769  88 

643  00 

168,648  00 

Boston,  Mass  A 

8.328  00 

Philadelphia,  Pa 

....do    .... 

19,255  92 

Detroit,  Mich 

...do 

10,  193  88 

RnffAlo,  NY 

do 

5th  district 

4.536  00 

Total  Diviiiion  of  the  Atlantir 

66,  644  00 

44.  317  80 

110,961  80 

Pacific... 
do 

California 

CoIuTnbia          ... 

Ran  Francisco,  Cal 

39.280  00 
10,800  00 

39, 876  00 
10, 176  00 

69, 156  00 

Portland^  Oreg 

80,  976  00 

Preacott,  Ariz 

...do      . 

Arizona* 

Total  Division  of  the  Pacific 

40,080  00 

50,053  00 

90,132  00 

Missouri.. 

Chicago,  III 

14,040  00 
4. 104  00 
3,456  00 
11,333  00 
14,356  00 
10, 584  00 

13,800  00 
10,800  00 
1,680  00 
4.4U  96 
5, 947  92 
14, 070  00 

37,840  00 

Saint  Lonis,  Mo 

do    . 

14,904  00 

LeaTonworth,  KauB 

....do    .... 

Missouri 

5,136  00 

Omaha,  Neb 

....do 

Platte 

15,687  96 

8aiBt  Paal.  Minn 

do 

Dakota    

30,303  93 

Han  Antonio,  Tex 

...do 

Texas 

84,654  00 

Santa  F6,  N.  Mex 

....do    .... 

Dist.  New  Mexico* 

Total  Division  of  the  Miaaonri 

57, 672  00 

50,753  88 

108,435  88 

South 

.  do 

South 

Loniaville.  Ky 



12.744  00 
13, 176  00 

8,079  96 
9,730  00 

80.833  96 

New  OrleAns,  La 

Gulf 

32,896  00 

Total  Division  of  the  South. . 

3S.930  00 

17,799  96 

43. 719  96 

*  Public  buildings  occupied ;  nothing  paid  for  rents. 

The  annual  amonnt  paid  for  rents  at  Washington  for  officers'  quarters  is  $62,616 
and  for  other  bnildings  $48,160.08,  making  a  total  of  $110,776.08. 

RECAPITULATION. 

Total  amount  Division  of  the  Atlantic $110,961  80 

Total  amonnt  Division  of  the  Pacific 90.132  00 

ToUl  amonnt  Division  of  the  Missouri 108,425  88 

Total  amount  Division  of  the  Sonth 43,719  96 

Total  amonnt  depot  at  Washington 110,776  08 

Grand  total 464,015  72 

In  reference  to  the  expenditure  by  the  Quartermaster's  Department  on  account  of 
the  Signal  Corps  of  the  Army,  it  is  estimated  at  $123,325  per  annum. 
Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

J.  D.  BINGHAM, 
Acting  Quartermaster-General,  Brevet  Brigadier-Generalf  V,  S.  A. 
Hon.  John  Cobcrn, 

Chairman  Committee  on  Military  Affaire^  House  of  Representatives, 


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364 


REDUCTION   OF   THE    MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT. 


St<itement  of  Chief  of  Engineers  as  to  the  number  of  civil  employes  and 
number  of  officers  in  his  Department,  their  stations,  dtc. 

Office  of  the  Chief  of  Engineers, 

Washington,  D.  C,  February  28, 1874. 
Sir  :  In  reply  to  yonr  commaiiication  of  this  date  asking  a  list  of  the 
civil  employes  of  the  Engineer  Department,  here  and  elsewhere,  giving 
their  posts  or  stations  and  daties,  also  their  monthly  or  aunnal  compen- 
sation, I  have  the  honor  to  state  that  from  an  enumeration  made  of  the 
civil  employes  for  the  month  of  November,  1873,  which  gives  a  fair 
average  for  the  other  portions  of  the  year,  the  civil  force  employed 
placed  under  general  heads  of  occupation  was  as  follows : 


No. 

Rates  of  pay  per  month. 

Civil  engineers  and  assrstants 

254 

158 

5,786 

From  $400  to  $150. 

Draughtsmen  and  clerks .-- 

From  1200  to  $100. 

From  $5  a  day  to  $15  per  moDtb. 

MecbanicS)  laborers,  &c .-... 

Total  force  6,198  employes,  at  a  monthly  compensation  of  $261,154.87. 

In  the  above  force  are  not  included  the  workmen  employed  by  coutrac^ 
ors  on  works  built  under  the  direction  of  officers  of  engineers  by  con- 
tract, which  works  are  quite  numerous,  but  only  those  persons  employed 
and  paid  by  the  United  States;  and  these  numbers  vary  with  the  periods 
for  active  operations  and  the  number  of  works  and  surveys  authorized 
by  Congress. 

The  posts  and  stations  of  these  employes  are  scattered  over  the  whole 
country,  namely,  at  the  several  permanent  fortifications,  for  the  coo- 
tinuation  or  construction  of  which  funds  have  been  appropriated  in  the 
fortification  acts ;  upon  the  works  of  construction  and  survey  for  im- 
provements of  rivers  and  harbors,  as  contained  in  the  appropriation  acts 
for  that  purpose ;  upon  the  survey  of  the  northern  and  northwestern 
lakes ;  upon  the  surveys  and  explorations  of  the  interior  Territories ; 
and  at  the  headquarters  of  the  western  military  departments  and  divi- 
sions. 

A  list  showing  the  stations  and  duties  of  the  several  officers  of  the 
(Jorps  of  Engineers  on  the  1st  January,  1874,  is  respectfully  inclosed. 
Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

A.  A.. HUMPHREYS, 
Brig.  Oen.  and  Chief  of  Engineers. 

Hon.  John  Coburn, 

Chairman  Military  Committee,  House  of  Representatives. 


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REDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT.  365 

Additional  Statement  by  the  Chief  of  Engineers  as  to  civil  employes  and 

officers. 

Office  of  the  Chief  of  Engineers, 

Washingtonj  D.  C,  March  9, 1874. 

Sir  :  Referring  to  my  letter  of  February  28th  ultimo,  in  answer  to 
yours  of  the  same  date,  with  reference  to  the  employes  of  the  Engineer 
Department,  I  desire  to  add  at  this  time  some  remarks  which,  from 
the  press  of  time,  were  then  omitted. 

The  Corps  of  Engineers,  as  now  constituted  by  law,  consists  of  109 
officers,  of  which  there  are  upon  the  rolls  but  104,  with  one  sick,  leaving 
an  effective  force  of  103  officers. 

Now  there  is  intrusted  to  this  corps  by  law  and  regulations — 

The  constructions  and  surveys  for  fortifications. 

The  constructions  and  surveys  for  improvement  of  harbors  and  rivers. 

The  constructions  and  surveys  for  light-houses. 

The  constructions  and  surveys  of  public  buildings  and  grounds. 

The  survey  of  the  lakes. 

Military  and  geological  surveys  and  explorations  in  the  Western  Ter- 
litories. 

And  of  the  103  officers  above  enumerated  there  are  '^  in  charge  ^  of  these 
surve3!S  and  constructions  37  officers,  mostly  field  officers  of  the  corps. 
Of  the  remaining  66  officers,  29,  mainly  captains  and  subalterns,  are 
employed  as  assistants  to  the  officers  ^^  in  charge  "  of  works.  This  leaves  37 
officers  who  are  employed  at  the  Military  Academy  as  teachers ;  as  the 
officers  of  the  battalion  of  engineer  soldiers;  on  duty  surveying  the 
northwestern  boundary  under  the  State  Department;  on  boards  of 
engineers  for  fortifications ;  at  the  headquarters  of  the  corps ;  and  on 
the  staffs  of  generals  commanding  departments  and  divisions. 

It  will  be  seen,  then,  that  there  is  a  very  small  force  of  commissioned 
officers  for  the  extensive  works  upon  which  they  are  engaged,  and  the 
two  hundred  and  fifty-four  individuals  reported  as  <<  civil  engineers  and 
assistants  "  cover  all  the  additional  and  hired  force  that  was  necessary 
to  aid  the  officers  of  engineers  in  the  prosecution  of  the  works,  whether 
they  held  the  diploma  of  civil  engineers  or  were  mustered  on  the  rolls 
as  surveyors,  superintendents,  or  overseers.  The  actual  number  of 
"civil  engineers" -employed  by  the  latest  returns  for  January,  1874,4 
were  153. 

Now,  what  I  wish  to  state  particularly  is,  that  the  number  of  civilians 
that  have  to  be  employed  depends  entirely  upon  the  number  and  extent 
of  the  works  authorized  by  Congress.  If  this  number  was  no  more 
than  could  be  actually  superintended  in  person  by  engineer  offieers, 
there  would  be  no  civil  engineers  employed,  but  when  the  duties  increase 
beyond  the  physical  capacity  of  the  officers  to  perform,  then  additional 
assistance  must  be  called  in,  and  the  number  of  assistants  that  have 
been  employed  are  no  more  than  were  necessary  to  enable  the  engineer 
officers  to  execute  the  works  directed  and  authorized  by  Congress. 

It  is  believed  the  increase  of  the  duties  intrusted  to  the  Corps  of  En- 
gineers duriig  the  past  twenty  years  is  not  generally  realized. 

Twenty  years  ago,  say  in  1853,  there  were  93  officers  of  engineers  on 
the  rolls,  and  the  amount  of  money  appropriated  by  Congress  for  the  four 
years  from  1849  to  1853,  to  be  disbursed  by  the  Corps  of  Engineers  on 
constructions  and  surveys,  was  $7,500,000,  covering  about  250  different 
works. 


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366  REDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT. 

To  obtain  the  uumber  of  civil  eDgineers  employed  in  this  period  would 
require  an  examination  of  the  rolls  in  the  office  of  the  Third  Auditor  and 
would  consume  so  much  time  as  to  prevent  my  writing  you  for  several 
days. 

For  the  four  years  beginning  1867  and  ending  1871,  during  whicli 
period  the  Corps  of  Engineers  averaged  only  109  officers,  there  was  ap- 
propriated by  Congress  to  be  disbursed  by  this  corps  the  sam  of 
(24,500,000,  covering  some  950  different  works  of  construction,  survey, 
or  examination. 

During  the  last  Congress,  the  Forty-second,  for  the  years  1871  and 
1872,  there  was  appropriated  the  sum  of  (21,562,950,  covering  about 
470  different  works  of  construction,  survey,  &c. 

Since  1853,  when  we  had  93  officers,  there  has  been  added  to  tbe 
duties  which  the  officers  of  the  corps  have  to  perform — 

1.  The  engineer  works  of  light-housQ  construction. 

2.  The  duties  growing  out  of  the  enlarged  extent  of  fortifications 
requiring  modification. 

3.  The  duties  growing  out  of  theancrease  of  the  engineer  soldiers. 

4.  The  duties  growing  out  of  the  very  great  increase  in  the  improve- 
ment of  rivers  and  harbors. 

5.  The  duties  growing  out  of  the  commercial,  navigation,  transit,  and 
industrial  interests,  giving  rise  to  examinations  connected  with  bridg- 
ing of  western  rivers,  caiyal  communications,  irrigation,  &c. 

Permit  me,  in  this  communication,  to  call  your  attention  to  House  of 
Bepresentatives  report  Ko.  74,  Forty-second  Congress,  third  session, 
pages  232  to  239,  inclusive. 

Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

A.  A.  HUMPHREYS, 
Brig,  Oen,  and  Chief  of  Engineers. 

Hon.  John  Cobuen, 

Chairman  Committee  on  Military  Affairs^ 

House  of  Representatives. 


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REDUCTION   OP   THE    MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT. 


367 


Statement  ahomng  ranky  dutieSj  and  aidreas  of  officera  of  the  Corps  of  Engineei'Hy  and  of 
United  States  civil  engineertif  January  1,  1?^4. 


Bank. 


Namea. 


Brigadier-Goueral Andrew  A.  HniDpbre}^ 


Colonel '  John  O.  Barnanl . 


Do 
Do 
Do 

Do 


Do. 


Lieutenant-Colonel . 


Do. 
Do. 


Do. 


ZK). 


Georp;e  W.  Culluni 
Henr}*  W.  Benham 
John  y.  Macomb. . 

Jamea  H.  Simpson 


Israel  C.  Woodruff. 


Zealoas  B.  Tower. 


Horatio  G.Wright. 
John  Newton 


George  Thorn 


John  D.  Kurtz  . 


Duties  and  address. 


Commanding  Corps  of  Engineers.  Member  of 
Light-House  Board.  Member  of  commission  to 
examine  into  canal-routes  across  the  isthmus  con- 
necting North  and  South  America.  Ottlce  of  the 
Chief  of  Engineers,  Washington.  D.  C. 

Member  of  board  of  engineers  for  fortifications. 
Memb<;r  of  L^ght  Houne  Board.  President  of 
board  uf  engineers  to  report  upon  iilan  for  a  ship- 
canal  to  connect  the  Mississippi  River  with  the 
Gnlf  of  Mexico.  Army  building,  Houston  and 
Greene  streets,  New  York  ('ity. 

Member  of  board  of  engineers  for  fortiflcations. 
Army  bnibling,  Houston  and  Greene  streets,  New 
York  City. 

In  charge  of  oonstriiction  of  Forts  Winthmp,  Inde- 
pendence, and  Warren,  and  work  on  Long  Isl- 
and Head.    Boston,  Mass. 

In  charse  of  improvement  of  the  Upper  Mississippi 
and  Illinois  Kivers,  and  Des  Moines  and  Rock 
Island  Rapids  of  the  Mississippi  River.  Rock 
Island,  111. 

In  charge  of  improvement  of  the  Littlo  Missouri, 
Current,  and  Osage  Rivers,  and  Missls.Hippi  River 
between  the  mouths  of  tlie  Illinois  and  Missouri 
Rivers,  and  between  the  mouths  of  the  Missouri 
and  Ohio  Rivers.  II22  Pine  street,  Saint  Louis, 
Mo. 

On  detached  service.  Engineer  third  light-house 
district.  Prt^ident  of  board  of  engineers  to  re- 
port upon  improvement  of  harbor  at  Buffalo,  N.  Y. 
Post-office  box  403i,  New  York  City. 

Member  of  board  of  engineers  for  fortifications. 
Member  of  board  of  engineer  officoi-s  at  New 
York  City  to  examine  candidates  for  promotion  in 
the  Corps  of  Engineers.  A rmy  building,  Houston 
and  Greene  streets.  New  York  City. 

Member  of  board  of  engineers  for  fortifications. 
Army  Bnilding,  Houston  and  Greene  streets, 
New  York  City. 

In  charge  of  ooostrnction  of  defenses  of  New  York 
Harbor,  (excepting  Fort  Schuyler,  fort  at  Willot's 
Point,  and  works  on  Staten  Island,)  and  of  Fort 
Montgomery,  N.  Y. ;  manufacture  and  supply  of 
mastic ;  improvement  of  the  Hudson  River  and 
East  Chester  Creek.  N.  Y.,  Otter  Creek,  Vt.,  and 
Passaic  River,  N.  J. ;  removal  of  obstructions  in 
the  East  River,  including  Hell  Gate  ;  harbor  im- 
provements at  Burlington  and  Swanton,  Vt., 
Kondout,  Port  Chester,  and  Plattsburgh,  N.  Y. ;  ex- 
aminations and  surveys  of  Harlem  River,  near 
the  East  River.  N.  Y.,  and  at  Raritan  River,  N.  J., 
below  New  Brunswick.  Member  of  board  of 
engineer  officers  at  New  York  City  to  examine 
candidates  for  promotion  in  the  Corps  of  Bngi> 
neers.  .Member  of  board  of  engineers  to  rei>ort 
upon  plan  for  a  ship-canal  to  connect  the  Missis- 
sippi River  with  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  Army  Build- 
ing, Houston  and  Greene  streets,  New  York  City. 

In  charge  of  works  for  improvement  of  rivers  Saint 
(^roix,  Machias,  Narraguagus,  Sullivan,  Union, 
Penobscot,  Kennebec,  Royals,  Saco,  Konnebunk, 
Me.,  Cocheeo,  N.  H.,  and  Merrimao.  Mass.,  of  har- 
bors, of  Camden,  *'  Gnt,"  opposite  Bath,  Portland, 
Richmond's  Island,  Wells,  Me.,  Gloucester,  Salem, 
Boston,  Duxbury,  Plymouth,  Welldeet,  and  Prov- 
incet^^wn,  Mass.;  constnictionof  sea-walls  of  Great 
Brewster,  Deer,  and  Lovell's  islands.  Portland, 
Me. 

In  charge  of  construction  of  Forts  Delaware,  Del., 
and  Mifflin,  Pa.,  battery  at  Finn's  Pointy  N.  J  , 
new  work  opposite  Fort  Delaware,  piers  at  New> 
castle  and  Lewes,  Del. ;  harbor  improvements  at 
Wilmington,  Del ,  and  on  Delaware  River  and 
Bay;  improvement  of  the  South,  Salem,  and 
Shrewsbury  Rivers  and  Cohansey  Creek.  N.  J., 
Delaware  and  Broadkiln  Rivers,  Del.,  and  Schuyl- 
kill River,  Pa.;  examinations aud  surveysatCrow 
Shoals,  Delaware  Bay.  IS-2S  Chestnut  street, 
Philadelphia,  Pa. 


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368  REDUCTION   OF   THE    MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT. 

Staiemeni  showing  rank^  ^c,  of  officers  of  the  Corps  of  Engineers,  jrc. — Contiuned. 


BaniL 


KaniM. 


Dotiea  and  address. 


Li«atenaot*ColoDel . 


Barton  &  Alexander . 


Do WiUUun  F.  Raynolds. 


Do. 


Do 
Do 

Do 


Do. 

M^Ooc. 


Do. 
Do. 


Do. 
Do. 


Charles  S.  Stewart. 


Charles  E.  Slant. 
John  6.  Foster  . . , 


James  C.  Duaoe . 


Robert  S.  WiUiamson . 
Qoiocy  A.  Gillmore . . . 


Thomas  Lincoln  Casey . 
Nathaniel  Hichler 


John  6.  Parke 

Goaveraenr  K.  Warren 


Seoior  engineer  ohareed  with  frmeral  soperriaioB 
and  iospectiun  of  aU  matters  andor  the  oommand 
of  the  Chief  of  Ensineera  within  the  Pacific  tei^ 
ritory.  Member  oi  board  of  engineers  for  Pacific 
coast.  Member  of  board  of  engineers  on  harbor 
at  San  Antonio  Creek,  Cal.  President  of  commis- 
sion appointed  by  the  President  to  report  upon  a 
system  of  irrigation  in  the  San  Joaqoio,  ToIm«, 
and  Sacramento  VaUevs,  Cal.    S«i  Francisco,  CaL 

On  detached  service.  Engineer  fourth  ligbtrhoose 
district.    &»  Waluat  street,  Philadelphia.  Pa. 

In  charge  of  construction  of  fortifications  at  Fort 
Point,  Point  San  Jor^  and  Angel  Island,  San  Frao- 
cisoo,  and  at  San  Diego,  CaL  Member  of  board  of 
engineers  for  Pacific  Coast.  Member  of  board  of 
engineers  on  harbor  at  San  Antonio  Creek,  CaL 
San  Francisco,  CaL 

In  chaige  of  comttmction  of  Forts  Jefferson  and 
Taylor,  Fla.  Engineer  seventh  light-house  dis- 
drict    KeyWeat.FU. 

On  temporary  doty  in  the  oflBce  of  ^e  Chief  of 
Engineers.  In  chanre  of  the  foorth  and  fifth 
divisions.  Office  of  the  Chief  of  Engineei  s,  Wash- 
ington, D.  C. 

In  charge  of  constmction  of  Forts  Gorges,  Preble, 
Scammel,  Popbaro,  Knox,  and  battory  at  Portland 
Head,  Me.,  and  Forts  Constitution  and  MoClar^. 
and  baitories  on  Jerry's  Point  and  G«rrii*hft 
Island,  Portomooth  Harbor,  N.  H.  Engineer  first 
and  second  light-house  districts.    Portland,  Me. 

On  detached  service.  Engineer  twelith  light  house 
district.    San  Francisco,  Cal. 

In  charge  of  construction  of  fortifications  on  Staten 
IidaniT,  N.  T.,  and  of  the  fortifications  on  the  South 
Atlantic  Coast,  between  and  including  Fort  Ma- 
con, N.  C,  and  Fort  Marion,  Fla. :  improvemeot 
of  the  bar  at  the  mouth  of  the  Saint  John's  River, 
Fla. ;  the  ship-channel  in  Charleston  Harbor,  &  C. ; 
Savannah  Ki  ver  and  Harbor :  removing  obstruc- 
tions in  Ashepoo  River,  ana  wrecks  «n  Stone 
Ri  ver,  S.  C.  Member  of  board  of  engineer  officers 
at  Now  York  City  to  examine  candidates  for  pro- 
motion in  the  Corps  of  Engineers.  President  of 
board  for  testios  Galling  gnnii  for  fiaok-defense  of 
fortifications.  Member  or  board  of  engineers  to 
report  upon  plan  for  a  ship-canal  to  ounneet  the 
Mississippi  River  with  the  Golf  of  Mexico. 
Charleston,  S.  C. 

In  charge  of  the  first  and  second  divisions.  Office 
of  the  Chief  of  Engineers,  Washington.  D.C. 

In  charge  of  works  for  defense  of  the  mouth  of  the 
Columbia  River,  and  iniorovement  of  the  Willa- 
mette, Umpqua,  and  the  Upper  Columbia  Riven : 
examinations  and  surveys  of  Yamhill  River,  and 
month  of  Coquille  River,  Oregon.  Engineer  thir- 
teenth light-hoDse  district.    Portland,  Oreg. 

In  charge  of  the  third  division.  Office  of  the  Chief 
of  Engineers,  Washingtoiij  D.  C. 

In  charge  of  construction  of  defenaes  of  New  Bed- 
ford Harbor,  Masa  ;  Naraeansett  Bay,  R  I.;  New 
London  and  New  Haven  Harbors,  Conn.;  improve- 
ment of  harbors  of  Bdgartown,  Warebam,  and 
Hyannis,  Mass. ;  Wiokford  and  Newport,  R.  L ; 
Stonington,  New  Haven,  Bridgeport,  and  Norwalk. 
Conn. ;  Port  Jefferson  and  Huntington.  N.  Y. ; 
improvement  of  rivers  Taunton,  Mass. :  Paw- 
tucket  and  Providence,  R.  I. ;  Pawcatuck,  R  L 
and  Conn. :  Thames  and  Uousaionic^  Conn. ;  aud 
Peoonic.  N.  Y.  Construction  of  breakwater  at 
Bliick  Island,  R.  I.  Examinations  and  survers  at 
Wood's  Hole  and  Fall  River,  Mass.,  and  at  Point 
Judith  Lake,  R.  I.  Member  of  board  of  enginoers 
on  briciging  the  channel  between  Lake  Huron  and 
I^ke  Erie.  Member  of  boai^d  of  engineers  to 
report  upon  plan  for  a  ship-canal  to  connect  the 
Mississippi  River  with  the  Gulf  of  Mexloo.  New- 
port, R.  1. 


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REDUCTION   OF    THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT.  369 

Statement  slwwing  rank,  fc,  of  officers  of  the  Corps  of  Engineers,  ^a— Continued. 


Sank. 


Names. 


Duties  and  address. 


Mi^Jor. 


GeoTue  H.  Mendell. 


Do. 


Henry  L.  Abbot . 


Do. 


WUllamP.CraighiU. 


Do. 


Cyras  B.  Comstook. 


Do. 


Godfrey  Weltsel. 


Do. 


Orlando  M.  Poe. 


Do. 


David  CHouBtoD. 


Do 
Do 
Do 


George  H.  Elliot.. 
Henry  H.  Robert . 
William  E.  HerriU 


Do. 
Do. 


Walter  McFarland . . 
Orrille  E.  Babcook  . 


24  M  £ 


In  charge  of  oonstrnction  of  fort  at  Alcatraz  Island, 
defenses  at  Lime  Point*,  San  Francisoo  Bay,  and 
breakwater  at  Wilmington  Harbor,  Cal. ;  and  re- 
moval of  Rincon  Rock  in  the  harbor  of  San  Fran-  • 
Cisco.  Member  of  board  of  engineers  for  Pacific 
Coast.  Member  of  board  of  engineers  on  harbor 
at  San  Antonio  Creek,  Cal.  Member  of  commission 
appointed  by  the  President  to  report  npon  a  sys- 
tem of  irrigation  in  the  San  Joaqain,  Tulare,  and 
Sacramento  Valleys,  Cal.    San  Franciaoot  Cal. 

Commanding  engineer  depot  and  post  of  Willet's 
Point,  and  battalion  of  engineers.  In  charge  of 
constmction  of  Fort  Schaylerand  Fort  at  Willet's 
Point,  X.  Y.,  and  of  exi>enments  with  torpedoes. 
Wbitestone,  Queens  County,  N.  Y. 

In  charge  of  construction  of  defenses  of  Baltimore, 
Md.,  Washington,  D.  C,  and  of  Forts  Monroe  and 
Wool,  Va.;  improvement  of  Susquehanna,  Pa- 
tapsco,  Chester,  Wicomico,  and  Northeast  Rivers, 
Md.,  Occoquan,  Rappahannock,  James,  Appomat- 
tox, Elizabeth,  and  Nansemond  Rivers,  Va.,  Roa- 
noke and  Cape  Fear  Rivers,  K.  C,  of  Aquia,  Ac- 
cotink.  and  Nomini  Creeks,  Ya. ;  of  the  harbors  of 
Baltimore,  Cambridge,  and  Worton,  Md.,  Wash- 
ington and  Georgetown,  D.  C.  Examinations  and 
surveys  of  Old  House  channel  to  main  channel  of 
Pamlico  Sound,  harbor  of  Washington,  X.  C. 
Member  of  board  of  engineers  to  report  upon 
plan  for  a  sbip-canal  to  connect  the  MissiBslppi 
River  with  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  Union  Bank 
Building,  Baltimore,  Md. 

In  charge  of  survey  of  northern  and  northwestern 
lakes.  Member  of  board  of  engineers  on  bridging 
the  channel  between  Lake  Huron  and  Lake  Erie. 
Member  of  board  of  enginec^rs  to  report  upon  im- 
provement of  harbor  at  Buflklo,  N.  Y.  Detroit, 
Mich. 

In  charge  of  improvement  of  the  Falls  of  the  Ohio 
River,  of  works  of  river  and  harbor  improvement 
on  Lakes  Saint  Clair  and  Huron,  and  Sunt  Mary's 
and  Clinton  Rivers.  Engineer  eleventh  lignt- 
house  district  Member  of  board  of  engineers  on 
bridgine  the  channel  between  Lake  Huron  and 
Lake  X^e.  Member  of  board  of  engineers  to  re- 
port upon  plan  for  a  ship-canal  to  connect  the 
Mississippi  River  with  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  De- 
troit, Mich. 

On  detached  service.  Aid-de-camp  on  the  personal 
staff  of  the  General  of  the  Army  with  the  rank  of 
colonel.  Headquarters  of  the  Army,  Washington, 
D.  C. 

In  charge  of  harbor  improvements  at  Marquette.Lake 
Superior,  western  and  southern  coasts  of  Lake 
Michigan,  New  Bufialo  on  the  eastern  coast,  and 
Harbor  of  Refuge  at  entrance  of  Sturgeon  Bay 
Canal;  improvement  of  the  Fox  and  Wisconsin 
Rivers.    Jacksonville,  Fla. 

On  detached  service.  Engineer  secretary  to  Light- 
House  Board.    Washington,  D.  C. 

On  detached  service.  Engineer  in  eleventh  light- 
house district.  Post-office  box  606,  Milwaukee,  Wis. 

In  charge  of  improvement  of  the  Ohio,  Great  Kana- 
wha, Monongahela,  and  Wabash  Rivers ;  of  water- 
gauges  on  the  Mississippi  River  and  its  principal 
tributaries;  examination  and  survey  of  Youghio- 
geny  River,  Pa.,  uid  exploration  of  routes  for 
the  epctension  of  the  Chesapeake  and  Ohio  Canal 
to  the  Ohio  River  by  the  north  and  south  branches 
of  the  Potomac  River.  On  engineer  duty  under 
Light-House  Board.  Member  of  board  of  engin- 
eers on  bridging  the  channel  between  Lake  Huron 
and  Lake  Ene.  No.  4,  Public  Landing,  Cincinnati, 
Ohio. 

In  charge  of  improvement  of  the  Tennessee  River, 
Cumberland  River,  below  Nashville,  Teun.,  Tom- 
bigbee  River,  in  Miss.    Chattanooga,  Tenn. 

On  dutv  with  the  President.  In  charge  of  public 
buildings  and  grounds,  and  certain  public  works 
in  the  District  uf  Colombia,  with  the  rank  of 
colonel ;  of  Washington  Aqueduct ;  and  constmc- 
tion  of  Chain  Bridge  on  the  Potomac  River.  Ex> 
•cutive  Mansion,  Waahington,  D.  C. 


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370  REDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT. 

Statewtent  $kowing  rmnM,  4^.,  ofofieer*  of  tk9  Carps  of  Engineer$f  '^o.-~Coatiniied. 


Rank. 


Namei. 


Bnties  and  address. 


M%|or  . 


John  M.  WUsoa  . 


Do, 


Franklin  Harwood . 


Do.. 
Do. 

Do. 


John  W.  Barlow . 
Peter  G.  Hains... 


Do.. 
Do.. 


Captain. 
Do.. 


Do. 

Do. 
Do. 

Do. 


Francis  V.  Farqohar. . . 


George  L.  Gillespie. . 
Charles  B.  Sater 

Jared  A.  Smith 

Samuel  M.  Mansdeld. 

WiUiam  J.  Twining. 


William  B.  King 

William  H.  H.  Benyanxd 


Charles  W.  Howell . 


Do 
Do 
Do 
Do 
Do 
Do. 
Do. 

Do. 
Do 
Do. 
Do. 


Asa  H.Ho]gate 

Garret  J.  Lydecker... 
Arthar  H.  Bnmham . . 

AmosStiokney 

James  W.  Cnyler 

Alexander  Maokenaie. 
Oswald  H.  Ernst.  .*.... 

David  P.  Heap 

William  Lndlow 

Charles  B.  Phillips. .. . 
William  A.  Jones 


In  charge  of  oonstmotion  of  forts  Ontario  sad 
Niagara,  N.  Y. ;  of  harbor  improvements  on  Lake 
Ontario  and  river  Saint  Lawrence,  K.  Y.  Member 
of  board  of  engineers  to  report  npon  improvement 
of  harbor  at  BnflUo.  N.  Y.    Oswego,  K.  Y. 

In  charge  of  improvement  of  harbors  of  Buffalo  and 
Dnnldrk,  K.  Y.,  and  oonstmction  of  Fort  Porter, 
N.  Y.;  temporarily  in  charge  of  oonstmction  of  Fort 
Wayne,  Mich.,  harbor  improvemenU,  Lake  Brie, 
west  of  Dunkirk,  N.  Y.,  and  Hanmee  Biver,  above 
Toledo,  Ohio ;  examination  and  sarvey  for  harbor 
of  refuge  at  Cleveland,  Ohio.  Engmeer  tenth 
lightrhouse  district.  Member  of  board  of  engin- 
eers to  report  upon  improvement  of  harbor  at 
Buffalo,  K.Y.    Buffalo.  N.Y. 

On  detached  service.  Engineer  officer  mUxtary 
division  of  the  Missouri.    Chicago,  DL 

On  detached  service.  Ensineer  flnh  and  sixth  light- 
house districts.  Union  Bank  building,  Baltimore, 
Md. 

In  charge  of  harbor  improvements  Lake  Sonerior, 
west  of  Marquette ;  preservation  of  FaDs  oi  Saint 
Anthony,  improvement  of  Minnesota  River;  con- 
struction of  Meeker's  Island  lock  and  dam,  and 
surveys  of  Bed  and  Galena  Bivers.  Saint  Paul, 
Minn. 

On  detached  service  temporarily.  On  duty  under 
orders  of  Lieut.  Gen.  Sheridan.    Chicago,  111. 

In  charge  of  improvement  of  the  Mississippi,  Mis- 
souri, and  Arkansas  Bivers,  the  White  and  Saint 
Francis  Bivers,  and  survey  of  Forked  Deer  Biver, 
Tenn.    1351,  Washington  ave.,  Saint  Louis,  Mo. 

On  duty  under  immediate  orders  of  Lieut.  CoL 
Blunt.    Key  West,  Fla. 

In  charge  of  harbor  iniprovements  east  coast  of 
Lake  Michinn,  from  Frankfort  to  Saint  Joseph, 
inclusive.    Detroit,  Mich. 

On  detached  service  under  the  Department  of  State, 
npon  the  ioint  commission  for  the  survey  of  the 
boundary-line  along  the  49th  paralleL  Detroii, 
Mich. 

Commanding  Company  B,  battalion  of  engineers. 
Whitestone,  Queens  County,  N.  Y. 

In  charge  of  improvement  of  the  Ouachita  Blrer 
in  Louisiana  and  Arkansas,  and  of  the  Yasoo 
Biver,  in  Mississippi.    Vicksburg,  Miss. 

In  charge  of  the  improvement  of  the  mouth  of  the 


Mississippi  Biver,  Galveston  Harbor,  Tan^pabos 
Biver,  La.:  Cypress  Bayou.  Texas ;  bar  in  Galves- 
ton Bay ;  Calcasieu  Pass,  La. ;  removal  of  raft  in 


Biver,  La.:  Cypress  Bay 

ton  Bay;  Calcasieu Pasb,  A^m.,  &<»uvvm  vm.  tw.  u. 

Bed  Biver,  La. ;  defenses  of  Isew  Orleans;  exami- 


nations and  snrveysin  Louisiana  and  Texas.  Mem- 
ber of  bosrd  of  engineers  to  report  npon  plan  for 
a  ship-canal  to  connect  the  Mississippi  Biver  witlt 
the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  Drawer  43Sk,  New  Orleans,  La. 

Patient  in  Government  Asylum  for  the  Insane. 
Washington,  D.  C. 

On  detached  service.  Engineer  officer  miUtvy  di- 
vision of  the  Pacific    San  Francisco,  CaL 

On  duty  under  immediate  orders  of  Colonel  Ms- 
comb.    Bock  Island,  111. 

On  duty  under  immediate  orders  of  Colonel  Ma- 
comb.   Keokuk,  Iowa. 

On  duty  under  immediate  orders  of  Mi^or  Houston. 
Milwaukee,  Wis. 

Commanding  Company  A,  battalion  of  engineers. 
Whitestone,  Queens  County,  N.  Y. 

Commanding  Company  E,  MttaUon  of  engineers. 
On  duty  at  the  Miutary  Academy.  Instructor 
of  practical  military  engineering,  military  signals, 
and  telegraphing.    West  Point,  N.  Y. 

On  duty  under  immediate  orders  of  M^for  Gillmore. 
Charleston,  S.  C. 

On  detached  service.  Engineer  officer  department 
of  Dakota.    Post4>ffloe  box  LI,  Saint  PauL  Mian. 

On  duty  cnder  immediate  orders  of  Major  CraighilL 
SmlthviUe,N.C. 

On  detached  serviocw  Engineer  officer  department 
•oftheHatte.    Omaha,  STebr. 


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REDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY    ESTABLISHMENT.  371 

Statement  $kotffing  rank^  j-o.,  of  officers  of  the  Corps  of  Engineers,  ^c. — Continned. 


Raok. 


Nunea. 


Daties  and  addresa. 


Captain. 


Andrew  N.  Damrell . 


Do 

Charles  J.  Allen 

Charles  W.  Rajmoud  . . . 

Lewis  G.  Overman 

Alexander  H.Miller.... 

MicahK.  Brown 

Milton  B.  Adams 

William  R.  Livermore  . . 
William  H.  Heoer 

William  S.  Stanton 

A.  KisbetLee 

Do 

Do 

Do 

Do 

Do 

Do 

Do 

Do 

Do 

Do 

Thomas  H.  Handbnry. . . 
James  C.  Post 

Do 

lit  lieutenant 

Do 

James  ¥.  Gregory 

Henry  M.  Adams 

Do  

Do 

Charles  E.  L.  B.  Davis. . 
Bei^amin  D.  Oreeoe. . . . 
John  H.  Weeden 

George  M.  Wheeler 

James  B-  Qninn 

4 
Do 

Do 

Do 

Do 

Do        

Daniel  W.  Lock  wood 

Ernest  H.  Railtaer 

JohnCMaUery 

Do 

Do 

Do 

Clinton  B.  Sears 

Thomas  Tnrtle 

Do          

Do 

Edward  Magnire 

Frederick  A.  Mahan.,.. 
Charles  P.  Powell 

Frederick  A.  Hinman . . . 
Alhert  H.  Payaon 

Do                     

Do 

Do       

Do 

In  charge  of  constmction  of  defense  of  Mobile  and 
Penaacola,  aud  fort  on  Ship  Island,  Miss. ;  improve- 
ment of  harbor  and  bay  of  Mobile :  dredging  the 
bar  at  month  of  harbor  of  Ce<lar  Keys,  Fla.;  ex- 
aminations and  surveys  of  Apalachicola,  Chatta- 
hoocbie,  and  Flint  Rivers,  and  harbors  of  Mobile 
and  Cedar  Keys.  Engineer  eighth  light-honse 
district.    Mobile,  Ala. 

On  dnty  under  immediate  orders  of  Colonel  Simpson. 
1193  Pine  street.  Saint  Louis,  Mo. 

On  detached  s<irvioe.  On  dnty  at  the  Military 
Academy.    West  Point,  N.  Y. 

On  duty  under  immediate  orders  of  Major  McFar- 
land.    Nashville,  Tenn. 

On  detached  service.  On  dnty  at  the  Military 
Academy.    West  Point,  N.  Y. 

On  duty  under  immediate  orders  of  Lieutenant- 
Colonel  Kurtz.    Philadelphia,  Pa. 

On  duty  under  immediate  orders  of  Mi^or  Weltzel. 
LouiRville,  Kv. 

On  duty  under  (mmediate  orders  of  M^Jor  Comstock 
Detniit,  Mich. 

On  duty  under  immediate  orders  of  Lieutenant- 
Colonel  Newton.  Recruiting  officer  battalion  of 
engineers.    Astoria,  N.  Y. 

On  temporary  duty  under  immediate  orders  of  Lieu- 
tenant'Cotonel  Thorn.  Post-office  lock-drawer, 
5167.  Boston,  Mass. 

On  duty  under  immediate  orders  of  M^jor  Comstock. 
Detroit,  Mich. 

On  detached  service.  On  duty  at  Military  Academy. 
West  Point,  N.  Y. 

Commanding  company  C,  battalion  of  engineers. 
Whitestone,  Queens 'County,  N.  Y. 
On  detached  service  under  the  Department  of  State 
upon  the  loint  commission  for  the  survey  of  the 
boundary-line  along  the  for^>ninth  parallel. 
Detroit,  Mich. 

On  duty  under  immediate  orders  of  Captain  Howell. 
Drawer  4J2,  New  Orleans,  La. 

A^utant  battalion  of  engineers  and  post  of  Willet's 
Point.  Post-treasurer  and  signal  officer.  White- 
stone, Queens  County,  N.  Y. 

On  duty  under  immediate  orders  of  Captain  Howell. 
Lock-box  950,  New  Orleans,  La. 

On  duty  with  company  A,  battalion  of  engineers. 
Whitestone,  Queens  County,  N.  Y. 

On  duty  under  tne  immediate  orders  of  Lieutenant- 
Colouel  Stewart.  Post-office  box  48.  San  Diego, 
Cal. 

In  charge  of  geographical  and  geological  explora- 
tions and  surveys  west  of  the  100  meridian.  Look  • 
box  93,  Washington,  D.  C. 

On  duty  under  immediate  orders  of  Captain  Howell. 
Post-office  box  43S,  New  Orleans,  La. 

On  duty  under  immediate  orders  of  M%jor  Comstock. 
Detroit,  Mich. 

On  detached  service.  Engineer  officer  department 
of  the  Missouri.  In  chsrge  of  completion  of  mil- 
iUry  road  from  Santa  F6  to  Taos,  N.  Mex.  Fort 
Leavenworth,  Kans. 

On  detached  service.  On  duty  at  the  Military 
Academy.    West  Point,  N.  Y. 

On  duty  under  immediate  orders  of  Mi^or  Mendell. 
Los  Angeles,  Cal. 

On  duty  under  immediate  orders  of  Mi^or  CraighiU. 
Old  Point  Comfort,  Va. 

On  duty  under  immediate  orders  of  M%|or  Comstock. 
Detroit,  Micb. 

On  temporary  duty  under  immediate  orders  of  Mljor 
Gillmore.    Lock-box  tS,  Savannah,  Ga. 

On  duty  under  immediate  orders  of  Mii|)or  Comstock. 
Recruiting  ottoer  battalion  of  engineers.  De- 
troit, Mich. 

On  doty  under  Immediate  orders  of  Captaim  Dam- 
rell.   Mobile,  Ala. 

Quartermaster  battalion  of  engineers.  Acting 
assistant  quartermaster  and  acting  oommisaary  of 
subsistence,  and  recruiting  officer  post  of  WilleVs 
Point.    Whitestone,  Queens  Comity,  N.  Y. 


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372  REDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT. 

Stattment  shoicing  rank,  ^c,  of  officers  of  the  Corps  of  Engineers,  fc — Continned. 


Rank. 

Names. 

Duties  and  address. 

First  lieateDant 

Do 

JohnG.D.KnlKht 

Ricbard  L  Hoxie 

Edgar  W.  Bass 

On  duty  nnder  immediate  orders  of  Miyor  Abbot, 
npon  fortifications  at  WiUet's  Point  and  Fort 

ty,  K  Y. 

On  dnty  under  immediate  orders  of  Lieutenant 
Wheeler.    Lock-box  93,  Washington,  D.  C. 

On  detached  service.  On  duty  at  the  Military 
Academy.    West  Point,  N.  Y. 

On  duty  under  immediate  orders  of  Lientenant 
Wheeler.    Lock-box  93,  Washington,  D.  C. 

On  duty  under  immediate  orders  of  Lieutenant- 
Colonel  Newton.    Box  228,  Albany,  N.  Y. 

On  duty  at  the  Military  Academy  aod  with  com- 
pany E,  battalion  of  engineers.    West  Point,  N.  T . 

On  duty  nnder  immediHte  onleni  of   Lieutenant 

Do 

Do 

William  L. Marshall.... 

Joseph  H.  Willard 

Eric  Bergland 

Do 

Do 

Do 

Samuel  E.  Tillman 

Philip  M.  Price,  jr 

Francis  Y.  Greene 

Carl  F.  Palfrey 

Do 

Wheeler.    Lock-box  93,  Washington,  D.  C. 
On  duty  with  company  B,  battalion  of  engineers. 

Whiteetone,  Queens  County,  N.  Y. 
On  detached  service  nnder  the  Department  of  State 

upon  the  joint  commission  for  the  survey  of  the 

boundary-line  along  the  49th  parallel.    Pembina, 

Dak. 

Academy.    West  Point,  N.  Y. 
On  duty  with  Company  C,  battalion  of  engineers. 

Whitestone,  Queens  Conutv,  N.  Y. 
On  dnty  with  Company  B,  battalion  of  engineers. 

On  duty  with  Company  A.  battalioa  of  engineers. 

Whitestone,  Queens  County,  N.  Y. 
On  duty  with  Company  C,  battalion  of  engineers. 

Old  Point  Comfort,  Ya. 
1817  De  Lancey  Place,  Philadelphia.  Pa. 
1236  F  street,  Washington,  D.  C. 
HunUngton,  Suffolk  County,  N.  Y. 

Parallel.    47  Lafayette  Place,  New  York  City. 
Member  of  the  board  of  engineers  upon  the  im- 

and  improvement  of  Illinoia  River.    70  Willism 
street,  New  York  City. 

Second  Heatenant 

Do 

Do 

William  H.Blxby 

Henry  S.  Taber 

Do 

Do 

William  T.Ro88en 

Thomas  N.  Bailey 

Henry  Brewerton 

Thomas  J.  Cram 

Lorenzo  Siteraves 

Frederick  K  Prime 

Clarence  King 

Do 

RETI&ED. 

Colonel 

Do 

Lientenant-colonel 

M^jor 

UNITED  8TATK8  CIVIL   < 
BNQINEEKS. 

Gen.  J.  H.  Wilson  

By  command  of  Brigadier-General  Humthrbyb  : 


THOS.  LINCOLN  CASEY, 

Major  qf  Bnginten. 


Civil  emplayds  of  the  Pay  Department  and  station-list  of  the  officers. 

Paymaster-Gbnbeal's  Office,  War  Department, 

Washington,  March  2,  1874. 
Sir  ;  In  response  to  your  request  of  the  28th  ultimo,  I  have  the  honor 
to  inclose  herewith  a  list  of  the  civil  employes  of  this  Department, 
showing  their  stations,  duties,  and  annual  compensation  in  tabular  form. 
Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

B.  ALVORD, 
Paymaster-Oeneral^  U.  S.  A. 
.Son.  John  Goburn, 

Chairman  of  Committee  on  Military  Affairs, 

House  of  Representatives. 


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KEDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT. 


373 


A  list  of  the  dvil  employis  of  the  Pay  Departmenty  showing  their  dutieBf  where  employed^  and 

their  annual  compensation. 


No. 

Duties. 

Station. 

Annual  com- 
pensation. 

Total. 

1 

4 

» 

23 

12 

47 

Chief  clerk 

Washington 

12.000  00 
250  00 
1,800  00 
1,600  00 
1,400  00 
1,200  00 
1,200  00 

1       12.250  00 

Chief  clerk  as  soperintend't  of  building 
Clerks 

....do 

...do 

7,200  00 

....do 

....do 

14.  400  00 

....do 

....do 

33,200  00 

...do 

....do 

14,  400  00 

Clerks  to  paymasters 

See  station-list  inclosed . . . 

56.  400  00 

Total  of  clerks 

96 

2 

3 

2 

14 

1 

2S 

5 
2 

126.850  00 

MA<MIAn)|r4|<9  .,....»,.     .,T 

Washington 

{ 

840  00 
900  00 
720  00 
600  00 
480  00 

1,680  00 

Messengers  to  paymasters 

.''See  sUtion-list  inclosed.. 

2,700  00 

do . .° T.  r. 

1,  440  00 

....do    

6,  400  00 

....do 

480  00 

14,  700  00 

Watchmen 

Washington 

720  00 
720  00 

3,600  00 

'  Laborers 

do            

1.440  00 

1           Total 

125 

146, 590  00 

Station-tut  of  the  officers  of  the  Pay  Department  United  States  Army,  as  by  official  records  in 
the  Paymaster-GeneraVs  Office,  February  1, 1874. 


1 

1 

H 

6 

"3 

■s 
1 

Name. 

SUtion. 

Remarks. 

PATMAfiTBR^ENBBAL. 

OoUma. 

Benjamin  AlTord 

Washington,  D.  C 

▲SSIBTAIIT  PATXAOTBBS- 

OKNBRAL. 

1 

1 
1 

.... 

Nathan  W. Brown  . .. . 
Daniel  McClure 

New  York  City 

Chief  paymaster,  MiliUry  Division  of 

the  Atlantic. 
Chief  paymaster,  Dep't  of  the  South. 

1 

Louisville,  Ky 

Majors, 

1 

1 
1 
1 

1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 

1 
3 

1 
1 

1 

a 

3 

4 
5 
6 
7 
8 
9 

10 
11 

19 
11 

Franklin  E.  Hunt 

Henry  Prince 

Leavenworth.  Kans 

New  York  City    

Chief  paymaster,  Dep't  of  the  Missouri . 

1 

1 

1 
1 

Samuel  Woods 

Augustus  H.  Seward. . 
Oeorge  L.  Febiger  .... 

Henry  G.  Pratt 

Simeon  Smith 

San  Francisco,  Cal 

Saint  Paul,  Minn 

New  Orleans,  La 

Detroit.  Mich 

Chief  paymaster.  Military  Division  of 
the  Pacific  and  of  the  Department 
of  California. 

Chief  paymaster,  Dep't  of  Dakota. 

Chief  paymaster,  Dep't  of  the  Gulf. 

1 

Omaha,  Nebr 

Chief  paymaster.  Dep't  of  the  Platte. 

In  Paymaster-General's  Office. 

On  leave  of  absence  on  surgeon's  oer- 
tiacate  since  Jane  3,  1873.  (Post* 
olBce  address,  Harrisburgh,  Pa.) 

In  Paymaster-General's  Office  paving 
Treasury  certificates. 

Acting  chief  paymaster.  Department 
of  Columbia. 

Charles  T.Larned.... 
.Tohn  Pt  Bma 

Wasbineton,  D.  C 

Philadelphia,  Pa 

Saint  Paul,  Minn 

Washington,  D.C 

SanUF6.N.Mex 

Portland,  Oreg 

1 
I 

Rodney  Smith 

Joseph  H.  Eaton 

James  KM.  Potter... 
William  A.  Rnoker    . . 

1 

1 
1 

14 
15 

Robert  C.  Walker 

William  H.  Johnstim . . 

Helena,  Mont 

New  Orleans,  La 

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374  REDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABUSHMENT. 

SUUion^U$t  of  the  offieert  of  the  Pag  Department,  ^e.— ContiDiied. 


i 

^ 

d 

6 

Ji5  ■ 

^ 

1  , 

16 

n 

18 

19 

20 

21 

22 

1 

23 

24 

25 

1 

26 

27 

2ti. 

29 

30 

1 

31 

1 

32 

33 

34 

35 

1 

36 

37 

1 

38 

1 

39 

40 

41 

1 

42 

43 

44 

«, 

47 

Sution. 


WlUiMnR.  Gilwon... 
Charles  J.  Spragne . . . 
Thomas  H.  Halney  . . 
William  B.  Kochester 

Henry  B.  Reese 

Nicholas  Vedder 

EdwlD  D.  Judd 

Valentine  C.  Hanna. . 

William  Smith 

Charles  M.  Terrell....' 

Thad.  H.  SUuton ' 

Georve  E.  Glenn | 

Jacob  £.  Barbauk. . 


Remarks. 


San  Antonio,  Tex j  Chief  paymaster.  Dep't  of  Texas. 

San  Francisco.  Cal ,  Chief  paymaster.  Dep't  of  Arizona. 

New  York  City 


Loaisville,  Ky  . 

do 

Leavenworth,  Kaos. 
San  Antonio,  Tex — 

Chicago,  lU , 

Saint  Paul.  Minn 

Omaha,  Nebr 

Cheyenne,  Wyo 

San  Antonio,  Tex 


Brants  Mayer 

James  W.  Nieholls. . . 

Robert  D.  CUrke 

James  H.  Nelson 

Charles  W.  Wingard. 

James  P.  Canby 

Peter  P.  G.  Hail 

George  W.  Candee. . . 
Edmund  H.  Brooke  . . 

Israel  O.  Dewey 

James  R  Mears 

A  sa  B.  Carey 

William  P.Gould.... 


David  Taylor 

Frank  Bndgman 

Virgil  S.Eggle8ton.. 


San  Francisoo,  Cal 

Fort  Brown,  Tex 

Washington.  D.C 

Prescott,  Ariz 

San  Francisco,  Cal 

Portland.  Greg 

New  York  City 

Sioux  City.  Iowa 

Leavenworth,  Kans 

Salt  Lake  City.  Utah... 

Charleston,  S.C 

Santa  F6,  N.  Mex 

Fort  Stockton,  Tex 

Tucson.  Arix 

SautaF6.N.Mex 

PorUand,  Oreg 


Absent  on  twenty-two  months*  sick- 
leave  sinoe  Jum  17,  ltS72.  (Post- 
ofBoe  address,  Leavenworth,  Kana.) 


Post  paymaster. 


RETIRED  LIST. 


Name. 


B.  W.  Brico  . . . . 
Hiram  Leonard 
T.J.LesUe 


Rank. 


Brigadier-general 

Lieutenant-colonel . . . 
Mi^or 


Date  of  re- 
tirement. 


Jan.  1,1872 
Jan.  1,1872 
Feb.  3.18(» 


Residenoe  and  postHiffioe  address. 


Bamum's  Hotel,  Baltimore,  Kd. 
San  Frsooiaco,  CaL 
No  42  West  Twentieth  street,  Kew 
York  City. 


Chablrs  T.  L.\riibd, 

Paymatder,  U.  8.  Anny. 


BENJAMIN  ALVORD. 
PoyouMCtr-Gmsral,  U.  &  Army. 


Statement  of  Inspector-General  as  to  civil  employ  is  in  his  office. 

War  Department,  InrpeotorGenbral's  Opfiob, 

Washington,  D.  0.,  February  28, 1874. 

Sir  :  In  reply  to  your  communication  of  this  dat«,  I  have  the  honor 
to  state  that  the  only  civil  employ^  in  this  office  is  one  clerk  of  the  third 
class,  who  rec<^ive8  a  compensation  of  tl,600  per  annum. 

His  duties  are  in  making  extracts  from  inspection-reports,  keeping  the 
records  of  the  Office,  and  issuing  blank  forms  of  the  inspection  of  troops, 
public  property,  and  the  accounts  of  disbursing  officers. 

The  other  four  inspectors-general  have  no  civil  or  other  employes. 
They  make  out  all  their  own  reports  and  other  papers  with  their  own 
hands. 


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REDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT.  375 

The  three  assistant  inspectors-general  are  stationed  at  the  headqaar- 
ters  of  the  Military  Divisions  of  the  Atlantic,  Pacific,  and  Missouri,  are 
exclusively  tinder  the  orders  of  the  division-commanders,  and  if  they 
have  any  civil  employes,  they  are  furnished  them  by  those  commanders 
who  report  them  to  the  Acyutant-General. 

Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

E.  B.  MAROY, 
Impeotar-  General. 
Hon.  John  Goburn, 

Chairman  of  Committee  an  Military  Affairs^ 

House  of  B^esentatives. 


Statement  of  the  Chief  Signal-Officer  as  to  civil  employes  in  hie  office. 

War  Department, 
Oppiob  op  THE  Chief  Sional-Ofpiobr, 

Washinffton,  D.  C,  March  2,  1874. 
Dear  Sir:  I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your  com- 
munication of  the  28th  ultimo,  and  to  forward  herewith  alist  of  the  citi- 
zens at  present  employed  at  this  Office.    There  are  none  employed  else- 
where.   The  number  may  vary  at  any  time  by  discharges,  &c.,  viz : 

Per  month. 

One  civilian  assistant  at |375  00 

One  civilian  assistant  at 29167 

One  electrician  at 150  00 

Two  telegraph  operators,  each  at 115  00 

One  telegraph  operator  at 110  00 

Three  messengers,  each  at 35  00 

One  messenger  at 25  00 

Six  laborers,  each,  at 30  00 

One  laborer  at 35  00 

These  employes  are  paid  from  the  amount  of  the  appropriation  for 
the  expenses  of  the  Signal  Service,  and  for  the  observation  and  report 
of  storms  for  the  benefit  of  commerce  and  agriculture  throughout  the 
United  States,  as  already  given  the  committee. 

«  At  twenty  cities  and  villages  upon  the  principal  rivers  in  the  interior, 
the  temporary  services  of  citizens  are  had  to  procure  a  daily  river  re- 
port, to  be  telegraphed  during  the  months  of  April,  May,  June,  July, 
October,  and  November,  or  on  occasion  of  freshets  or  other  especial 
danger,  and  at  other  times  made  of  record  and  forwarded  by  mail,  by 
an  arrangement  under  which  they  receive  fifty  cents  for  each  report 
made  to  this  Office.  These  persons  are  not  regarded  as  employes,  pay- 
ment being  made  only  for  the  number  of  reports  rei^ived. 

There  are  also  in  this  Office  two  clerks  of  class  two,  provided  for 
under  the  act  approved  March  3, 1863.  Statutes  at  Large,  vol.  12, 
page  753,  chapter  75. 

I  am,  sir,  very  .respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

ALBERT  J.  MYERS, 
Brig.  Oen.^  (Bvt.  Aseig^dyJ  Chief  Signal  Offlcen  of  the  Army. 
Hon.  John  Coburn, 

Chairman  of  Committee  on  Military  Affairs^ 

House  of  Representatives. 


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376 


REDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT. 


Statement  of  the  Judge- Advocate- General  as  to  civil  employSs  in  his  office. 

War  Department,  Bureau  op  Military  Justice, 

Washington,  D.  C,  March  2, 1874. 
Dear  Sir  :  In  reply  to  yonr  letter  of  the  28th  nlti  mo,  I  have  the  honor 
to  state  that  there  are  but. three  civil  employes  on  duty  in  this  Bureau, 
viz:  One  first-class  clerk  at  a  salary  of  $1,200  per  annum;  one  third- 
class  clerk  at  a  salary  of  $1,600  per  annum ;  and  one  chief  clerk  at  a 
salary  of  two  thousand  dollars  per  annum.  Their  duties  are  strictly 
clerical. 

There  are  five  enlisted  men  detailed  for  duty  in  the  Bureau,  viz: 
three  as  clerks  and  two  as  messengers,  performing  also  clerical  duty. 
Their  annual  pay  is  about  $1,047  each. 

It  is  also  to  be  stated  that,  by  the  authority  of  the  Secretary  of  War, 
the  judge-advocates  of  the  Departments  of  Dakota  and  of  the  Platte 
have  each  employed  at  this  time  one  civilian  clerk,  precise  amount  ot 
whose  salaries  is  not  known  to  me. 

Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

J.  HOLT, 
Judge- Advocate"  General. 
Hon.  John  Ooburn, 

Chairman^  &c. 


Statement  ehowing  the  organization  of  the  Regular  Army,  compiled  from  returns  received  a. 
the  JdJutant-GeneraTe  office  up  to  November  15, 1873.  ' 

FIEST  REGIMENT  OF  CAVALRY. 


Companies,  &o. 

11 

1^^ 

Date  of  report 

station. 

Headqnarten 

Oct.     31, 18T3 
do 

do 

do 

do 

Aug.    31,1873 

......do.. 

do 

do 

do 

Oct      31, 1873 

Aug.    31, 1873 

do 

do 

Benicia  Barracka  Cal. 

Kon-commissioned 

staff  and  band. 
A 

16 

79 

58 
61 
64 
57 
53 
54 
50 
50 
63 
59 
56 
SS 

S 

4 

100 

111 

Do. 
Do. 

B 

c 

Fort  Klamath,  Oreg. 
Camp  McDermit,  Ner. 
Benicia  Barracks,  CaL 

D 

E 

Fort  Lapwai,  Idaho. 

r 

Fort  Walla- Walla.  Wash. 

G 

CampHamey,  Oreg, 

H 

I 

Camp  Halleck,  Key. 

K 

Camp  Harney,  Oreg. 
Fort  walla- Walla,  Wash. 

L 

M 

Do. 

100  recruito  left  Saint  Lonla  Barracks  Maroh  4, 1873 ;  75 

Joined. 
Recruits  left  Saint  Louis  Barracks  August  16, 1873. 
Musicians  left  Saint  Louis  Barracks  September  18. 1873. 
Recruits  left  New  York  City  October  29, 1873. 
Recruits  left  Saint  Louis  Bftrracks  October  31, 1873. 

Total 

954 

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KEDUCTION   OP   THE    MILITABY    ESTABLISHMENT. 


377 


StiUemeht  showing  the  organtzation  of  the  Regular  Army,  4*6.— Continaed. 
SECOND  REGIMENT  OF  CAVALRY. 


Companies,  Sec. 

aT3 

1^1 

Date  of  report 

Station. 

Headquarters 

Oct     31, 1873 
do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

Aug.    31,1873 

do 

do 

Oct  31, 1873 
do 

Aug.    31, 1873 

Oct      31, 1873 

Fort  Sanders,  Wya 
Do. 

Fort  Fred.  Steele.  Wya 
Camp  Brown,  Wyo. 
Omaba  Barracks,  Nebr. 
Camp  Douglas,  Utab. 
Fort  Laramie,  Wyo. 
Fort  Ellis,  Mont 
Do. 

Non-commissioned 

staff  and  band. 
A 

30 

70 
58 
61 
65 
66 
58 
59 
59 
70 
03 
56 
77 
73 
4 
3 

B 

C 

D 

E 

F 

G 

H 

Do. 

I 

Fort  Sanders,  Wyo. 
Fort  Laramie,  Wyo. 
Fort  Ellis,  Mont 
Omaha  Barracks,  Nebr. 

K 

L 

M 

100  recruits  left  New  York  City  July  99, 1873 ;  38  joined. 

Unassigned  recruits. 

Musicians  left  New  York  City  October  31, 1873. 

Total 

859 

THIRD  REGIMENT  OF  CAVALRY. 


Headquarters 

Oct      31,18TJ 
do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

Fort  McPherson,  Nebr. 
Do. 

Sidney  Barracks,  Nebr. 
Fort  McPherson,  Nebr. 
Fort  Fetterman,  Wyo. 
FortD.A.Rnasell,Wyo. 
Fort  Sanders,  Wyo. 
Fort  McPherson,  Nebr. 
Fort  D.  A.  Russell,  Wyo. 
Do. 

Nod  -oommisaioned 

staff  and  band. 
A 

91 

68 
66 
66 
68 
65 
76 
67 
77 
64 
77 
83 
65 

863 

B 

C 

D 

E 

F 

G 

H 

I                 

Fort  McPherson,  Nebr. 
Da 

K 

L 

Fort  D.  A.  Russell,  Wyo. 
Fort  McPherson,  Nebr. 

M 

Total 

FOURTH  REGIMENT  OF  CAVALRY. 


Headquarters 

Aug.    31,1873 
do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

Oct  31, 1873 
Ang.    31, 1873 

Fort  Clark,  Tex. 

Non-obmmissioned 

staff  and  band. 
A 

19 

68 
66 
71 
65 
61 
69 
67 
71 
64 
70 
65 
71 
40 

Do. 
Do. 

B         

Do. 

c 

Do. 

D      

Do. 

E   

Fort  Duncan,  Tex. 

F 

Fort  Clark,  Tex. 

G       

Do. 

H 

Do. 

I 

Do. 

K 

Do. 

L         

Da 

M 

Fort  Duncan,  Tex. 

Recruits  left  New  York  Cily  April  97, 1873. 

Total 

868 

Digitized  by 


Google 


378 


SEDUCTION   OF  THE   MILITARY   ESTABUSHMENT. 


SuUemeHt  $k(nring  the  &rgmiuaHon  qf  ihe  Regular  Army,  ^«. — Cootioaed. 
FIFTH  BBGIMSKT  OF  GAVALBY. 


Compuilea,  &o. 

0, 

Date  of  report 

Station. 

Headqmtrten 

Aug.    31,18rj 
do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

Taoaon,  Aria. 

Non-commissiooed 

•toff  and  band. 
A 

86 

74 
71 
71 
75 

e? 
e7 

71 
70 
C4 
83 
76 
§8 
80 
9 
40 

Do. 
Camp  Verde,  Aria. 

B 

CampApaclie.  Aria. 

c 

D 

E 

Camp  Bowie,  Aria. 
Camp  McDowell,  Aria. 
Camp  Grant,  ArU. 
Fort  Whioole.  Aria. 

F 

G 

H 

Camp  Lowell,  Aria. 
Camp  Grant,  Aria. 
Camp  Verde,  Afia. 
CampGrant,  Aria. 

I 

K 

L 

M 

Racniita  left  New  York  City  September  83. 187a 
liaaioiana  left  Saint  Looia  Barraoka  September  90, 1873. 
Beomita  left  Saint  Looia  Barraoka  September  23, 1873. 

ToUl 

095 

SIXTH  BBGIMBKT  OF  CAVALBY. 


Headauarten 

ataff  and  band. 
A 

19 
69 

B 

73 

c 

68 

D 

64 

E 

68 

F 

66 

G 

61 

H 

79 

I 

60 

K 

L 

60 
73 

M 

66 

Total 

837 

Fort  Haya,  Kana. 
Da 

Fort  Wallace,  Sana 
Fort  Haya,  Kana 

Do. 

Do. 
•FortGibaon.Ind.T. 
Fort  Haya,  Kana 
Fort  Dodge,  Kana. 
Fort  Lyon.  Colow 
Camp  Supply,  Ind.  T. 

foit  Riley,  Kana 
Fort  Lyon,  Colo. 


SEVENTH  REGIMENT  OF  CAVALRY. 


Headqaarters 

ataff  and  band. 
A 

5 
81 

B 

58 

C 

77 

D 

80 

B 

78 

F 

68 

G 

77 

H 

80 

I 

81 

K 

79 

L 

76 

M 

76 

33 

Total 

949 

Saint  Paul,  Hinn. 
Do. 

Fort  A.  Lincoln,  Dak. 

Do. 
Foit  Rice,  Dak. 
Fort  Totten,  Dak. 
rort  A.  Lincoln,  Dak. 

Do.  < 

Do. 
Fort  Bice,  Dak.  .  » 

Fort  Totten,  Dak. 
Fort  BifiOi  Dak. 
Fort  A.  Liaooln,  Dak. 
Fort  Rice,  Dak. 
100  recmita  left  New  YorkCity  October  19,  ISH;  ST  joltted. 


Digitized  by 


Google 


BEDUCTION   OF  THE   MILITARY  ESTABLISHMENT. 


379 


Skttement  showing  the  organization  of  the  Regular  Army,  ^o. — Continued. 
EIGHTH  REGIIiSNT  OF  CAVAL&T. 


Companies,  &c. 

11 
III 

Date  of  report 

Station. 

HeAdqnartera 

Non-ooiumissioned 

•toff  and  band. 
A 

'"is 

64 
63 
67 
65 
64 
65 
55 
60 
60 
54 
63 
67 
19 

Aug.    31,1873 
do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

Oct  31. 1873 
do 

Aug.    31,1873 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do    

do 

Santa  F6,K.  lies. 
Do. 

Fort  Bayard,  N.Mex. 
Fort  Union,  If.  Mex. 

B 

c 

FortSeIden,K.Mez. 
Fort  Stanton,  N.  Mex. 
Fort  Wiogate,  N.  Mex. 
Fort  Garland.  Colo. 

D 

B 

F 

G 

Fort  Selden,N.  Mex. 
Fort  McRae  N.  Mex. 

H 

I 

Fort  Bayard,  N.  Mex. 
Fort  Wingate,  N.  Mex. 
Fort  Union,  N.  Mex. 
Da 

K 

L 

M 

Total 

100  recmito  left  Saint  Lonia  Barracks  Jnly  SS,  1873 ;  81 

Joined. 
2SM)  reomitB  ordered  October  99, 1873. 

784 

NINTH  REGUdENT  OF  CAYALBY. 


Headqnarters-  t  r  t  .^  .^ 

Ang.    31, 1873 
do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

Binggold  Barracks,  Tex. 

Fort  Concho,  Tex. 
Ringgold  Barracks,  Tex. 

staff  and  band. 
A 

23 

58 
62 
45 
60 
61 
60 
55 
52 
59 
49 
63 
55 

B^:::::::::::::::::: 

c 

D 

Fort  Stockton,  Tex. 
Fort  Concho,  Tex, 
Do. 

E 

F 

G 

Binggold  Barracks,  Tex. 

H 

I 

Fort  Davis,  Tex. 
Fort  Brown,  Tex. 
Ringgold  Barracks,  Tex. 
Fort  Concho  Tex. 

K 

L 

M 

Total 

701 

TENTH  REGIMENT  OF  CAVALRY. 


Headqaartors 

Non-commissioned 
staff  and  band. 

A... 

B 

C 

D 

E 

F 

G 

H 

I 

K 

L , 

M 


Total. 


67 
59 
57 
56 
55 
90 
58 
66 
51 

ir 

59 
71 

38 


800 


Oct      31, 1873 
do 

.....do 

Ang.     31, 1873 

do 

do 

Oct     31, 1873 

do 

Ang.    31.1873 
Oct.     31, 1873 

do 

ii.....do 

do 

do 


Fort  Sill,  Ind.T. 
Do. 

Fort  Concha  Tex. 
Fort  Sill.  Ind.  T. 
Fort  Gnflki,  Tex. 

Do. 
Fort  Richardson,  Tex. 
Fort  Concho,  Tex. 
Fort  Sill,  Ind.  T. 

Do. 
FortAlchardson,  Tex. 
Fort  InL  Ind.- T. 
Fort  Richardson,  Tex. 
Fort  Sill.  Ind.T. 

86  recraiu  left  Saint  Louis  Barracks  August  24, 1873 ;  48 
Joined. 


Digitized  by 


Google 


380 


REDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT, 


Statement  showing  the  organization  of  the  Regular  Army,  ifc. — Continoed. 
FIBST  REGIMENT  OP  ARTILLERY. 


Companies,  &o. 

Date  of  report 

Station. 

Headquarters 

Oct     31, 1873 
do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

Aug.    31,1873 

Cliarlestou,  a  C. 
Do. 

Fort  Barmnoas,  Fla. 
Saint  Augnstine,  Fla. 
Do. 

Non-commissioned 

staff  and  band. 
A 

98 

36 
47 
55 
54 
39 
34 
47 
46 
43 
61 
43 
50 
27 
1 
30 

B 

C 

D 

Sa van  nab,  Oa. 

E 

Key  West.  Fla. 
Fort  Barrancas,  Fla. 

F 

a 

Fort  Monroe,  Va. 

H 

Charleston,  S.  C. 

I 

Key  West,  Fla. 
Charleston,  S.  C. 
Fort  Barrancas,  Fla. 
^ort  Jefferson,  Fla. 

K,  (battery) 

M 

Unasslgned  recruit 

RecruiU  ordered  to  battery  K,  October  7, 1873. 

Total 

603 

• 

SECOND  REGIMENT  OF  ARTILLERY. 


Headquarters 

staff  and  band. 
A.  (battery) 

37 

91 
57 

c 

48 

D 

47 

E 

52 

F 

55 

G 

44 

H 

SO 

I    

TiO 

K 

50 

L 

47 

M 

56 

Total 

8 
39 

Fort  MoHenry,  Md. 
Do. 

Do. 
Fort  Foote,  Md. 
Fort  MoHenry,  Md. 
Charleston,  S.  C. 
Fort  Macon,  N.  C. 
Raleigh,  N.C. 

Fort  MoHenry,  Md. 

Raleigh.  N.C. 

Fort  Monroe,  Va. 

Fort  Macon,  N.C. 

Fort  Johnston,  N.  C. 

Unasslgned  recruits. 

Recruito  attached  to  Company  K  for  instrnction. 


THIRD  REGIMENT  OF  ARTILLERY. 


Headquarters 

Oct      31, 1873 
do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do , 

do 

do 

do 

do 

Non-commissioned 

staff  and  band. 
A 

86 

56 

44 

68 
34 
31 
48 
44 
41 
49 
54 
45 
36 
97 

Do. 

Fort  Monroe,  Virginia. 
Fort  Niagara,  N.  Y. 

B   

C,  (battery) 

Fort  Hamilton,  New  York  Harbor. 
Madison  Barracks,  N.  Y. 

E 

Fort  Hamilton,  New  York  Harbor. 

F 

Fort  Ontario,  N.  Y. 

G 

Fort  Hamilton,  New  York  Harbor. 

H 

Fort  Hamilton,  New  York  Harbor. 

I 

K 

Fort  Wadsworth,  New  York  Harbor. 

L 

Fort  Wood,  New  York  Harbor. 

M 

Fort  Wadsworth,  New  York  Harbor. 

Reomito  attached  to  Company  A  for  instruction. 

Total 

597 

Digitized  by 


Google 


REDUCTION   OP   THE   MILITABT   ESTABLISHMENT. 


381 


Statement  ahovoing  (he  organization  of  the  Regular  Army,  j-c. — Cod  tinned. 
FOURTH  REGIMENT  OF  ARTILLERY. 


Companies,  Sm. 

11 

III 

Date  of  report. 

StaUon. 

H  eadqnarters 

Oct.     31, 1873 
do 

do 

do 

Aug.    31,1873 

do 

do 

Oct  31, 1873 
do 

Aug.    31,1873 

Oct.      31, 1873 

do 

do 

do 

Presidio,  San  Francisco,  Cal. 
Do. 

Do. 

N  on-oommisaioDed 

staff  and  band. 
A 

21 

35 

84 
43 
50 
60 
53 
58 
48 
52 
43 
51 
43 
7 
26 

B,  (battery) 

c 

Do. 
Sitka.  Alaska. 

D 

Do. 

E 

Fort  Stevens,  Oreg. 
Alcatraz  Island  Cal. 

F 

G 

Point  San  Jos6,  Cal. 

H 

Fort  Cape  Disappointment,  Wash. 
Fort  Monroe,  Va. 

I 

K 

Presidio,  Cal. 

L 

Alcatras  Island,  CaL 
Presidio,  Cal. 

M 

Unassigned  recraits. 

Recruits  attached  to  Company  I  for  instruction. 

Total 

674 

FIFTH  REGIMENT  OF  ARTILLERY. 


Headquarters 

Oct.     31, 1873 
do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

Fort  Adams,  R  I. 

Non-commissioned 

staff  and  band. 
A 

21 

42 
53 
47 
44 

50 
84 
46 
32 
42 
45 
41 
34 
27 
25 

608 

Do. 
Do. 

B 

Do. 

c 

Fort  Monroe,  Va. 

D 

Fort  Warren,  Mass. 

F.Vhittery')".::::::: 

Q 

Fort  Independence,  Mass. 
Fort  Adams,  R  L 
Plattsburgh  Barracks,  N.  Y. 

H 

Fort  Trumbull,  Conn. 

I 

Do. 

K 

Madison  Barracks,  N.  Y. 

L 

Fort  Adams,  R  I. 

M 

Fort  Preble,  Wis. 

Recruits  attached  to  Company  C  for  instruction. 

Recruits  ordered  to  Company  E,  Noyember  15, 1873. 

Total 

FIRST  REGIMENT    OF  INFANTRY. 


Headquarters 

Oct.     31, 1873 
do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

Fort  Wayne,  Mich. 
Do. 

Fort  Porter,  N.  Y. 

staff  and  band. 
A 

26 

37 
40 
55 
35 
38 
36 
47 
42 
92 
24 

432 

B 

Madison  Barracks,  N.  Y. 

C 

D 

E 

Fort  Porter,  N.  Y. 
Fort  Wayne,  Mich. 
Do. 

I»                    

Fort  Mackinac,  Mich. 

G  

Fort  Brady,  Mich. 
Fort  Gratiot,  Mich. 

H 

I 

Fort  Wayne,  Micb. 

K 

Total 

Fort  Braay,  Mich. 

Digitized  by 


Google 


382  REDUCTION   OP   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT. 

Statement  ihowing  tke  crganizaHon  of  the  Regular  Armg,  ^— Oootinned. 
8BC0ND  REGIMENT  OF  IKFANTRT. 


Compaoiea,  Sue. 


M   1 

2|e     Date  of  report 


station. 


Moant  Vemoo  Barracka,  Ala. 
Da 

Atlanta,  6a. 

Do. 
Hnntsville,  Ala. 
Atlanta,  Oik 
Chattanooga,  Tenn. 
Atlanta,  C& 

Mount  Vemoii  Barracka,  Ala. 
Atlante,  Oa. 

Do. 
Mount  Yeroon  Barracks,  Ala. 


THIRD  REGIMENT  OF  INFANTRY. 


Headquarters 

Oct     31,  1873 
do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do.t 

do 

do 

Fort  Riley.  Kans. 
Do. 

Fort  Dodge,  Kans. 
Camp  Sapply.  Ind.  T. 
Fort  Riley,  Kans. 
Camp  Snppiv.  Ind.  T. 
Fort  Riley,  Kans. 
Fort  Lyon,  Colo. 
Do. 

Non-commissioned 

staff  and  band. 
A 

90 

49 
53 
52 
41 
47 
47 
44 
44 
35 
49 

B 

c 

D 

E 

F 

G 

H 

Fort  Wallace,  Kans. 

I 

Camp  Supply,  Ind.  T. 
Fort  Leavenworth,  Kans. 

K 

135  recruits  ordered  November  17, 1873. 

Total 

481 

FOURTH  REGIMENT  OF  INFANTRY. 


Headquarters 

Nou-oommissioned 
staff  and  band. 

A 

B 

C 

D 

B 

F 

G 

H 

I 

K 


Total. 


Fort  Bridgcr,  Wyo. 
Do. 

Fort  Fetterman,  Wya 
Fort  Bridger,  Wyo. 

Do. 
Fort  D.  A.  Rusoell,  Wyo. 

Do. 
Fort  Fetterman,  Wyo. 
Fort  Sanders,  Wyo. 
Camp  Douglas,  Utah. 
Fort  Sanders,  Wya 
Fort  Bridger,  Wyo. 


Digitized  by 


Google 


REDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT  383 

Siatemmt  showing  the  organization  of  the  Regular  Army,  ^o. — Continaed. 
FIFTH  REGIMENT  OF  INFANTKT. 


CompanieB,  &o. 

11 

III 

Date  of  report. 

Station. 

Headqaarters 

Oct     31,  1873 
do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

Xon-oomiol8»ioned 

staff  and  band. 
A 

19 

59 
54 

45 
46 
44 

50 
56 
59 
56 
61 

Do. 
Do. 

B 

Fort  Gibaon,  Ind.  T. 

c        

Fort  Lamed,  Elans. 

D 

Fort  Dodge.  Kans. 
Fort  Lamed,  Elans. 

E 

F 

Do. 

G 

H 

Do. 

I 

Do. 

K 

Do. 

75  reoraits  ordered  Noyember  17, 1873. 

Total 

549 

SIXTH  BEGDfENT  OF  INFANTRY. 


Hea  qnarters 

Ang.  31,  1873 
do 

Oct  31,  1873 
do 

Ang.  31,  1873 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

Fort  Bnford,  Dak. 

Non-oommiasioned 

staff  and  band. 
A 

92 

55 
54 

49 
57 
59 
58 
58 
57 
58 
56 

Do. 
Do. 

B 

Fort  A  Lincoln,  Dak. 

c 

Fort  Bnford,  Dak. 

D 

Do. 

E  

Do. 

F ; 

Do. 

G 

Do. 

H 

Fort  Stevenson,  Dak. 

I   

Fort  Bnford,  Dab. 

K 

Fort  Stevenson,  Dak. 

Totol 

583 

SBTBNTH  BBGIMBNT  OF  INFANTBY. 


Headnnarter* 

Ang.  31,  1873 
do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

Fort  Shaw,  Mont 
Do. 

Fort  Ellis.  Mont 

Non-com  miaaioned 

staff  and  band. 
A 

90 

58 
.W 
56 
58 
50 
58 
58 
53 
54 
58 

B            

Fort  Benton,  Mont 

c  

Fort  Sbaw,  Mont 

D 

Do. 

E            

Do. 

F          

Do. 

G 

Do. 

H 

Camp  Baker,  Mont 

I               

Fort  Shaw,  Mont 

K          

Do. 

Total 

589 

Digitized  by 


Google 


384  SEDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITAST   ESTABLISHMENT. 

SUUemeni  ikowing  the  organization  of  ike  BegmUtr  Army,  ^ — Continaed. 


KIGHTH  REGIMENT  OF  INFANTBY. 


CompAoies,  See. 

11 

III 

Date  of  report 

Stetion. 

HeadqoArters 

staff  and  band. 
A 

43 
47 
4S 
54 
50 
:i3 
55 
45 
50 
53 
10 

."4)2 

Oct     31,  1873 
do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

«lo 

do 

do 

do 

FortD.A.Bn«arfl,Wya 
Da 

Camp  Stambaoi^h.  Wvo. 
FortD.A.Raa0ell,Wyo. 
Do. 

B 

c 

D 

Beaver  City,  Utah. 
Do. 

E 

p 

Fort  D.  A  KoMiell,  Wyo. 
Beaver  Citv,  Utah. 

G 

H 

Fort  D.  A  RnMell,  Wyo. 
Beaver  City.  Utah. 
Fort  D.  A.  Runeell,  Wya 
UoaMiicned  recmita. 

I 

K 

Total 

NINTH  REGIMENT  OF  INFANTRY. 


Headqaarters. .' 

Oct     31,  1873 
do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

Omaha  Barracks,  Nebr. 
Do. 

Do. 
Do. 

Nod -commifuiioned 
staff  and  band. 

A 

B 

19 

58 
54 
60 
45 
58 
45 
47 
40 
36 
57 

513 

c 

Do. 

D 

Do. 

E 

Do. 

F 

O 

Do. 
Fort  D.  A.  Rassell.  Wyo. 
Omaha  Barracks,  Nebr. 

Do. 

H 

I 

K 

Fort  Fred  Steele,  Wyo. 

Total 

TENTH  REGIMENT  OF  INFANTRY. 


Headqnarters 

Aog.    31, 1873 
do 

do 

do 

...-do 

staff  and  band. 
A 

90 

59 
48 
58 
50 
59 
56 
55 
55 
58 
58 
45 

B 

c 

D 

Oct     31.  IRTJ 

B 

Aug.    31,1873 
do    . 

F 

G 

do    

H 

do 

I 

do 

K 

do       

Total 

630 

Fort  McKavett,  Tex. 
Do. 

Do. 
Fort.  Stockton.  Tex. 
Fort  McKavett.  Tex. 
Austin.  Tex. 
Fort  McKavett,  Tex. 

Do. 
Fort  Clark,  Tex. 

Do. 
Fort  McKavett,  Tex. 
Fort  Clark,  Tex. 
61  recrnit«  left  Newport  Barracks  July  39, 1873 ;  16  Joined. 


Digitized  by 


Google 


REDUCTION   OP   THE   MILITABY  ESTABLISHMENT. 


385 


Statement  tihowing  the  organization  of  the  Regular  Army,  ^c— Contiaaed. 
ELBVENTH  REGIMENT  OF  INFANTRY. 


Companies,  && 

1" 

Date  of  report 

Stotion. 

Headqnftrten 

Oct     31, 1873 
do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

Fort  Ricbardiion.  Tex. 

Non-conimisftioned 

■toff  and  band. 
A 

19 

40 
55 
5-2 
49 
46 
49 
47 
37 
47 
49 

Do. 
Fort  Griffin,  Tex. 

B 

Fort  Kicbardaon,  Tex. 
Do. 

C 

D 

Do. 

E 

Fort  Concho,  Tex. 

F 

Fort  Griffin,  Tex. 

G 

Do. 

H 

Fort  Concho,  Tex. 

I 

Fort  Richardson,  Tex. 

K 

Do. 

Totol 

490 

TWELFTH  REGIMENT  OF  INFANTRY. 


Headqaarters 

NoD-oom  m  iiMioned 

staff  and  band. 
A 

SI 
55 

B 

44 

C 

54 

D 

48 

E 

41 

F 

55 

G 

74 

H 

40 

I 

55 

K 

53 

Total 

6 

1 

547 

Oct  31,  1873 
do 

Aug.  31,  1873 
Oct     31,  1873 

do 

do 

do    

Aag.    31,  1873 

...:.do 

Oct  31,  1873 
Aug.  31,  1«?73 
Oct     31,  1873 


vA.ngel  Island,  CaL 
Da 

Camp  Wright,  CaL 

San  Diego,  Cal. 

Fort  HaU.  Ind.  T. 

Camp  Independence,  Cal. 

Camp  Gaston,  Cal. 

Camp  Real's  Springs,  Ariz. 

Angel  laland.  Cal. 

Camp  Halleck,  Nev. 

Camp  Mohave,  Ariz. 

Camp  Gaston,  CaL 

143  recruits  left  Fort  Colnrabns  May  4, 1873 ;  137  Joined.. 

Recruit  left  San  Francisco  July,  1873. 


THIRTEENTH  REGIMENT  OF  INFANTRY. 


Headquarters 

Oct     31, 1873 
do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

Fort  Fred-  Steele.  Wyo. 
Da 

Fort  Fred.  Steele,  Wya 
CampDonglas,  Utah. 

Non-cimmiasioned 
A 

S3 

57 
55 
57 
58 
55 
53 
56 
59 
59 
60 

B 

C 

D 

E 

Do. 

F 

Da 

G 

Fort  Fred.  Steele.  Wya 
CampDouglas,  Utoh. 

H 

I 

K 

Fort  Fred.  Steele,  Wya 

Total 

SOS 

25  M  £ 


Digitized  by 


Google 


386 


REDUCTION   OF  THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT. 


Statement  shwcing  the  organizaUon  of  the  Regular  Army^  ^c— CootiDoed. 
FOURTEENTH  REGIMENT  OF  INFANfcY.       • 


Companies,  &c 

Ii 
1^- 

Date  of  report 

Station. 

Headauarters 

Oct     31,1873 
do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

Fort  Laramie,  Wya 
Do. 

Do. 

Non-commissioned 

staff  and  band. 
A     

23 

50 
40 
4t2 
35 
4.2 
58 
52 
51 
48 
40 
19e 

B 

Do. 

c 

Do. 

D       

Fort  Fetterman,  Wyo. 
Fort  Sanders,  Wyo. 

E 

F 

G 

Fort  Fetterman.  Wya 

Fort  Laramie,  Wya 

Sidney  Barracks.  Nebr. 

Fort  Laramie.  Wyo. 

Recruits  left  Newport  Barracks  October  92, 1873. 

H 

I 

K 

Total 

609 

FIFTEENTH  BXGIMENT  OF  INFANTRT. 


Headquarters 

Non-commissioned 
staff  and  band. 


B. 
C. 
D. 
E. 
F. 
G. 
H. 
I.. 


Total. 


15 

49 
45 
40 
40 
55 
52 
55 
48 
55 
46 
105 


605 


Oct     31, 1873 
do 

do 

Aog.    31,1873 

do 

Oct     3t,  187  J 
Aug.    31, 18;3 

.....do. 

do 

do 

do 

do 


Fort  Garland,  Cola 
Do. 

Fort  Win  gate,  N.  Mex. 

Fort  Tulerosa,  N.  Mex. 

Fort  Union,  N.  Mex. 

Fort  Garland,  Colo 

Fort  Bayard.  N.  Mex. 

Fort  Selden.  N.  Mex. 

Fort  Bayard,  N.  Mex. 

Fort  Craig,  N.  Mex. 

Fort  Stanton,  N.  Mex. 

Fort  Tnlerosa,  N.  Mex. 

Recruits  left  Newport  Barracks  November  10, 1871 


SIXTEENTH  ICEGIMENT  OF  INFANTRT. 


SoAida  nftrters 

Oct     31, 1873 
do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

Nashville,  Tenn. 
Do. 

Lebanon,  Ey. 
Jackson,  Miss. 
Little  Rock.  Ark. 
Humboldt,  Tenn. 
Lancaster,  Kv. 
Nashville,  Tenn. 

Do. 
Jackson,  Miss. 

Da 
Frankfort,  Ky. 

Non-commissioned 

staff  and  band. 
A 

21 

51 
51 
56 
52 
46 
52 
54 
45 
57 
53 

538 

B 

c 

D 

B 

F 

G 

H 

I 

K 

Total 

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REDUCTION    OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT. 

Statement  ehowing  the  organization  of  the  Regular  Army,  ^c— Contioued. 

SEVENTEENTH  SEGIMENT  OF  INPANTRY. 


387 


Companiee,  &o. 

ill 

Date  of  report 

Station. 

Headquarters 

Oct     31, 1873 
do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

Aug.  31,1873 
Oct  31,  1873 
Aug.  31.1873 
OcL     31,1873- 

do 

do 

Fort  Aberorombie,  Dak. 
Do. 

Do. 

NuQ- com  missioned 

staff  and  baud. 
A 

30 

55 

46 
49 
46 
51 
49 
54 
50 
53 
46 
80 

B 

Fort  Wadsworth,  Dak. 
Do. 

u 

D 

Camp  Hancock,  Edwioton,  Dak. 

Graud  River  aeeDcy.  Dak. 

Fort  Aberorombie,  Dak. 

Grand  River  agency.  Dak.  • 

Fort  Abraham  Lincoln,  Dak.                              » 

E 

F 

{} 

H 

I 

Big  Cheyenne  agency,  Dak. 
Do. 

K 

Recruits  left  Fort  Colambos  November  4, 1873. 

Total 

599 

EIGHTEENTH  REGIMENT  OF  INFANTRY. 


Headquarters. ..... 

Oct      31, 1873 
do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

Columbia,  S.  C. 
Do. 

Atlanta,  Ga. 

yon-commiasioned 

staff  and  band. 
A 

37 

50 
50 
43 
46 
53 
41 
44 
5-a 
53 
51 

B 

Columbia,  S.  C. 

c 

Yorkville,  S.  C. 

D 

Columbia.  S.  C. 

E 

Atlanta.  Ga. 

F 

Columbia,  8.  C. 
Do. 

G 

H 

Do. 

I 

Do. 

K 

Newberry,  S.  C. 

Total 

509 

NINETEENTH  REGIMENT  OF  INFANTRY. 


H^adn  fiftrtf^rff .  • . . .  ^ 

Oct      31,1873 
do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

Jackson  Barracks,  La. 

Non-commissioned 

staff  and  band. 
A 

19 

53 
48 
43 
45 
40 
45 
43 
50 
41 
41 

Do. 
Baton  Rouge,  La. 

B 

Jackson  Barracks,  La. 

c 

Alexandria,  La. 

D 

Do. 

E 

Jackson  Barracks,  La. 

p 

Do. 

G 

Greenwood,  La. 

H 

Jackson  Barracks,  La. 

I 

Greenwood,  La. 

K 

Baton  Rouge,  La. 

Total 

467 

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388  BEDUCTION   OF    THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT. 

Statement  $howing  the  organization  of  the  Regular  Army,  4^0, — Cootioaed. 
TWENTIETH  REGIMENT  OF  INFANTRY. 


Companieii,  tic. 


an 

M 

111 
III 


Date  of  report. 


Station. 


Headqaarters 

^'on-commisHioned 
staff  and  band. 

A 

B 

C 

D 

E 

F 

G 

H 

I  

K 


Total. 


83 

50 
54 

56 
53 
50 
52 
50 
53 
52 
54 
3 

549 


Oct      31. 1873 
do 

do 

do 

, do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 


Fort  Snelling,  Minn. 
Do. 

Fort  Seward,  Dak. 
Fort  Ripley,  Minn. 
Fort  Suellfog,  Minn. 
Fort  Pembina,  Dak. 
Eort  Totten,  Dak. 
Fort  Pembina,  Dak. 
Fort  Ripley,  Minn. 
Fort  Snelling,  Minn. 
Fort  Pembina,  Dak. 
Fort  Totten,  Dak. 
Unaasigued  recruita. 


TWENTTFIRST  REGIMENT  OF  INFANTRY. 


Headquarters 

Aui 

5.    31, 1873 

Non-commissioned 

staff  and  band. 
A 

80 

54 
54 
57 
53 
57 
55 
59 
36 
54 
45 
3 

547 

.do 

.do 

B 

c 

.do 

.do 

D 

.do 

E 

Oct 

.do 

Y 

.do 

G 

.do 

H 

do 

I 

.do    

K 

31,1873 

Total 

Fort  Vanoonver,  Wash. 
Do. 

CampHamey,  Oreg. 

Fort  Walla- Walla,  VTash. 

Fort  VancouTer,  Wash. 

Camp  Warner,  Oreg. 

Fort  Colville,  Wash.  ' 

Fort  Klamath,  Oreg. 

Fort  Lapwat,  Idaho. 

San  Juan  Island,  Wash. 

Fort  Walla- Walla,  Wash. 

Fort  Bois6,  Idaho. 

Recruits  left  San  Francisco,  Jnly,  1873. 


TWENTYSECOND  REGIMENT  OF  INFANTRY. 


Headquarters 

Oct      31, 1873 
do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

Fort  Sully,  Dak. 
Do. 

Do. 

Kon-commissioned 

staff  and  band. 
A  

83 

55 
56 
44 
47 
55 
47 
53 
46 
59 
53 

a 

67 
606 

B 

Fort  Randall,  Dak. 

c 

Lower  Brul6  agency. 
Fort  Randall,  Dak. 
Fort  Sully,  Dak. 
Fort  Randall,  Dak. 
Do. 

D. 

E 

F 

G 

H 

Do. 

I  

Fort  SnUy,  Dak. 
Do. 

K 

Unassigned  recmits. 

Recruito  left  Fort  Columbus,  November  4, 1873. 

Total 

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REDUCTION   OP   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT.  389 

Statement  showing  ike  organization  of  the  Regular  Army,  ^c— Continued. 
TWENTY-THIRD  BE6IMENT  OF  IXFANTRT. 


Companies,  &a 

llg 

Date  of  report 

Station. 

Headquarters 

Aag.    31, 1873 
do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do    

do 

do 

do 

Fort  Whipple,  Aria. 
Do. 

Camp  Verd«»,  Aris. 
Fort  Whipple,  Ariz. 
Camp  McDowell,  Ariz. 
Camp  Lowell,  Ariz. 

NoD-oommissioned 

staff  and  band. 
A 

18 

59 
57 
59 
43 
55 
58 
59 
53 
59 
56 

B 

C 

D 

E   

F 

Camp  Bowie,  Ariz. 
Fort  Yuma,  Cal. 
Camp  Grant.  Ariz. 
Camp  Apache,  Ariz. 
Fort  Whipple,  Aria. 

G 

H 

I 

K 

Total 

575 

TWENTYFOXJRTH  REGIMENT  OF  INFANTRY. 


H<*adqnartertt 

Aug.    31,1873 
do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

Fort  Duncan,  Tex. 
Do. 

Ringgold  Barracks,  Tex. 

Nod -commissioDed 
A 

90 

59 
59 
55 
57 
56 
58 
58 
59 
54 
61 

B 

C 

Fort  Brown,  Tex. 

D 

Fort  Duncan,  Tox. 

E 

Ft»rt  Brown,  Tex. 

F 

Port  Mcintosh,  Tex. 

G 

Fort  Brown,  Tex. 

H 

Do. 

I 

Do. 

K 

Ringgold  Barracks,  Tex. 

Total 

596 

TWENTYFIFTH  REGIMENT  OF  INFANTRY. 


Headquarters 

Aufi 

\    31,1873 

21 

54 

58 
.^ 
59 
58 
59 
59 
57 
57 
56 

.do 

staff  and  hand. 
A 

do 

B          .              .       . 

At% 

c          

Oct 
Aug 

31, 1873 

D  

.     31, 1873 

E 

.do 

F 

do 

G   

do 

H 

do 

I 

do 

K 

do 

Total 

594 

Fort  Daris,  Tex. 
Do. 

Fort  Clark,  Tex. 
Fort  Quitman,  Tex. 
Fort  Sill,  Ind.T. 
Fort  Davis,  Tex. 

Do. 
Fort  Stockton,  Tex. 
Fort  Davis.  Tex. 
Fort  BUss,  Tex. 
Fort  Sill,  Ind.  T. 
Fort  Stockton,  Tex. 


ENGINEER  BATTALION. 


Hea^lquarters 

Oct     31,  1873 
do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

Willet's  Point,  New  York  Harbor. 
Do. 

Do. 
Do. 
Do. 
Do. 
West  Point,  N.  Y. 

• 

Non  -commissioned 

staff  and  hand. 
A          

13 

76 
75 
70 
19 
76 

B     

c 

D 

E 

Xotal 

329 

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390 


REDUCTION   OP   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT. 


Statement  showing  the  organization  of  the  Regular  Army,  ^c. — ContiDued. 


Beornita,  recruiting  parties,  general- sorvloe  men,  Sec 


•53 


Dateofnport. 


Available  reoruite  at  Fort  Colurabas,  New  York  Harbor,  general  service  and  colored. 
Available  recruite  at  Newport  Barracks.  Kentucky,  general  service  and  colored. . 

Available  rocrnitn  at  Saint  Louis  Barracks,  Missouri,  mounted  service 

Available  recruits  at  New  York  City,  mounted  service 

Total  

Permanent  and  recruiting  parties,  music-boys,  and  recruits  at  depots  not  available 

for  assignment. 
General-aorvice  men  on  duty  in  bureaus  of  the  War  Department,  Army,  division 

and  department  headquarters,  Sco, 

Ordnance  Department  

West  Point  detachments 

8iu:nal  detachment 

Hospital  stewards 

Ordnance  ser^^eants .' 

Commissary  sergeants 


183 
63 


Nov.  10.18T3 
Nov.  10,1?:3 
Nov.  lO.l-n 
Nov.  10,lt^3 


542 


891 
481 

434 

214 
450 
391 
111 
153 


Nov.  10,lrt3 
Oct    31,li?T3 


Oct 
Oct 
Oct 
Oct 
Oct 
Oct 


3l.l«T3 
31. 1?:3 
31.1Kn 
31.  ItTJ 

31,  i?:3 


Note.— The  authorized  strength  (enlisted  men)  of  the  foUowing-namod  organizations  is  as  follows: 


Engineer  battalion 350  1 

Infantry  regiment 593 

Inlautry  company 59  I 


Artillery  regiment 749 

Company  of  artillery 59 

Battery  of  artillery 94 


I  Cavalry  regiment 1,001 

Cavalry  company iS 


BECAPITULATION. 


Begiment 


First  Cavalry 

Second  Cavalry 

Third  Cavalry 

Fourth  Cavalry 

Fifth  Cavalrv 

Sixth  Cavalry , 

Seventh  Cavalry 

Eighth  Cavalry* 

Ninth  Cavalry  t 

Tenth  Cavalry , 

First  Artillery  ; 

Second  Artilleiy .... 

Third  Artillery 

Fourth  Artillery 

Fifth  Artillery^. 

First  Infantry , 

Second  Infantry  .... 

Third  Infantryil , 

Fourth  Infantry 

Fifth  Infantry  IT 

Sixth  Infantry , 

Seventh  Infantry  ... 

Eighth  Infantry 

Ninth  Infantry 

Tenth  Infantry 

Eleventh  Infantry . . 
Twelfth  Infantry  ... 
Thirteenth  Infantry . 
Fourteenth  Infantry 
Fifteenth  Infantry . . 


Number 
of  men. 


954 

859 

8G3 

868 

995 

837 

949 

784 

701 

600 

603 

711 

597 

674 

608 

432 

479 

481 

603  I 

549 

583 

589 

503 

513 

630 

490 

547 

593 

609 

605 


Regiment 


Sixteenth  Infantry 

Seventeenth  Infantry 

Eighteenth  Infantry 

Nineteenth  Infantry ....« 

Twentieth  Infantry 

Twez:ty-flr8t  Infantry 

Twenty-second  Infantry 

Twenty-third  Infantry 

Twenty-fourth  Inlantry 

Twenty-fifth  Infantry 

Engineer  Battalion 

Permanent  and  recruiting  parties,  mnsio- 
boys,  and  recruits  not  available  for  as- 
signment 

Oeueral-serrice  men  on  duty  in  the  bureaus 
of  the  War  Department,  Army,  diviaion 
and  department  headquarters,  fto. 

Ordnance  Department 

West  Point  detachments 

Signal  detaohment 

HospiUl  stewards** 

Ordnance  sergeants 

Available  recruits  at  depots 

Commissary  sergeants 

Total '. 

Total  October  31, 1873 

Gain 


Nomber 
of  men. 


53% 

599 
Wi 
it: 
W9 
547 
6iiti 
5T3 
5« 
5M 
329 


481 


434 
SI  4 
450 
391 
111 
541 
153 


99,  Xi 
t9.505 


*  Two  hundred  and  twenty  recruits  ordered  October  39, 1873. 

t  All  disposable  recruits  ordered  September  16, 1873. 

1  Thirty  recruits  ordered  to  Battery  K,  October  7, 1873. 

5  Twenty-five  recruits  ordered  to  Company  E.  November  15. 1873. 

0  One  hundred  and  twenty-five  recrulu  ordered  November  17, 1871 

f  Sftventy-flve  recruits  ordered  November  17,  1873. 

**  Not  included  in  the  30,000  authorized  by  law. 


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SEDUCTION   OF   THE  MILITART   ESTABLISHMENT. 


391 


SUitement  showing  the  actual  airengih  of  the  United  States  Army  by  latest  returns  received. 


Begiment 

Nnraber 
of  men. 

Date  of 
return. 

Begiment 

Number 
of  men. 

Date  of 
return. 

First  Cavalrv 

843 
1,008 
630 
766 
893 
1,008 
958 
909 
676 
788 
630 
684 
621 
630 
590 
497 
476 
619 
.•582 
651 
576 
S94 
617 
601 
588 
496 
535 

1873. 
Nov.  30 
Dec  31 
Dec  31 
Dec  31 
Nov.  30 
Dec  31 
Nov.  30 
Dec   31 
Oct    31 
Oct    31 
Doc   31 
Dec  31  1 

Thirteenth  Infantry 

594 
609 
611 
555 
593 
519 
600 
557 
541 
608 
566 
602 
578 
356 

1,319 
484 

217 

45:j 

389 
114 
J50 

1873. 
D«c  31 

Second  Cavalry 

Fourt^jenth  IiiTantry 

Dec.   31 

Third  Cavalry 

Fifteenth  Infantry 

Dec   31 

Fonrth  Cavalry 

Sixteenth  Infantry 

Doc   31 

J'ifth  Caralry 

Seventeenth  Infantry 

Eighteenth  Infantry 

Nov.  30 

Sixth  Cavalry 

Dec   31 

Seventh  Cavalry 

Ninteenth  Infantry' 

Dec   31 

Eighth  Cavalry * 

Twentieth  Infantry 

Dec   31 

Ninth  Cavalry 

Twenty-Hrat  Infantry 

Twenty-si^cond  Infantry 

Twenty- third  Infantry 

Twflntv.fnnrt.h  Tnfftnt'rv 

Oct    31 

Tenth  Cavalry 

Dec   31 

Firat  Artillery 

Oct    31 

Second  Artillery 

Nov.  30 

Third  Artillery 

Dec.   31    1  T went v-flf til  Infantrv.''. 

Dec.  31 

Fourth  Artillery 

Nov.  30 
Oct    31 
Dec.   31 
Dec   31 
Dec   31 
Dec  31 
Dec  31 
Nov.  30 
Dec   31 
Dec  31 
Dec  31 
Nov.  30 
Dec  31 
Dec  31 

Engineer  Battalion 

Deo.   31 

Fifth  Artillerv 

Permanent   and    recruiting 
parties,  recruits  At  deiiots, 
&o 

Geueral-servioo  men 

First  Infantry 

Second  Infantry 

Dec  31 

Third  Infantry 

Dec  31 

Fourth  Infantry 

Ordnance  Department 

West  Point  detachments 

Signal  detachment 

Dec  31 

Fifth  Infantry 

Deo.  31 

Sixth  Infanti7 

Dec  31 

Seventh  Infantry 

Hoapital  ste wanls* 

Dec   31 

EifChth  Infantry 

Ordnance  sergeants 

Dec   31 

Ninth  Infantry 

Commissary  sei  geants* 

Total 

Dec   31 

Tt»nth  Infantrv 

Eleventh  Infantry 

Twelfth  Infantry 

30, 142 

KOTB.— The  Army  is  now  actually  below  the  authorized  standard. 

*  Not  included  in  the  30,000  authorixed  by  law. 

B.  D.  TOWNSEND,  A.djutant-Getural, 
Adjutart.Gekbral's  Ofhcb,  WA8BINQT0N,  MoreH  i,  1874. 


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392  REDUCTION   OP   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT. 

Washington,  D.  C,  March  3, 1874. 
Edward  O.  Kemble  appeared  before  the  committee,  in  response  to 
its  invitatioD,  aud  was  examined  as  follows : 

By  the  Chairman  : 

Question.  Please  stateyour  name,  residence,  and  recent  official  con- 
nection with  the  Indian  Department. 

Answer.  Edward  0.  Kemble ;  at  present  inspector  of  Indian  affairs ; 
my  present  residence  is  in  Orange,  N.  J. 

Question.  State  whether  you  have  recently  beeg  on  the  Pacific  coast 
among  the  Indian  tribes;  aud  if  so,  how  recently  f 

Answer.  In  August,  September,  and  October  last,  I  traveled  among 
the  Indians  in  Washington  Territory,  aud  in  Oregon  as  far  north  as 
Fort  Colville,  on  the  Upper  Columbia.  I  visited  in  East  Washington 
Territory,  and  in  Idaho,  the  Nez  Percys,  the  Spokanes,  the  Cceur 
d'Alenes,  the  Pend  d'Oreillea,  the  Kootenays,  the  Oolvilles,  and  some 
other  small  tribes,  the  names  of  which  I  cannot  now  recall. 

Question.  Did  you  have  a  military  escort  f 

Answer.  No,  sir;  I  traveled  with  one  Indian  as  a  guide,  and  only  as 
a  guide.  I  should  not  have  felt  it  necessary  to  have  him  for  purposes 
of  self-protection. 

Question.  Did  you  find  the  Indians  well-disposed  toward  the  whites  ? 

Answer.  I  found  them  thoroughly  well-disposed  wherever  I  traveled. 

Question.  Is  there  any  apprehension  in  the  minds  of  the  people  of 
that  country  of  hostilities  on  the  part  of  the  Indians  f 

Answer.  There  was  not  at  the  time  I  was  there. 

Question.  State  whether  you  passed  any  military  posts  or  stations; 
and  if  so,  where  f 

Answer.  I  passed  a  station  or  military  post  at  Walla- Walla,  a  five- 
company  post,  I  think.  I  will  not  be  sure  as  to  that,  but  it  had  been 
increased  about  the  time  of  my  arrival.  I  was  also  at  the  post  at  Fort 
Colville.  I  think  there  is  one  company  there,  or  may  be  one  and  one- 
half. 

Question.  Ton  say  the  number  of  companies  at  Walla- Walla  was  in- 
creased*  State  by  what  means  you  learned  that  that  force  was  in- 
creased. 

Answer.  I  had  been  informed  by  officers  of  the  Army  that  troops 
were  ordered  there  aud  were  on  their  way. 

Question.  State  by  what  means  the  citizens  procured  the  location  of 
troops  there. 

Answer.  I  cannot  state  positively  the  means  which  were  used,  but 
the  common  impression  was,  and  the  conviction  which  was  forced  upon 
ray  mind  was,  that  representations  had  been  made  to  the  Department 
that  additional  troops  were  necessary. 

Question.  Who  had  made  these  representations  f 

Answer.  I  understood  it  to  be  the  citizens  of  that  region. 

Question.  Do  you  know  the  nature  of  the  petition  aud  the  represen- 
tations that  were  made,  or  the  persons  who  were  said  to  have  signed 
them! 

Answer.  I  do  not. 

Question.  State  whether  you  saw  troops  at  any  other  place  f 

Answer.  I  saw  troops,  as  I  have  said,  at  Walla- Walla,  at  Fort  Col- 
ville, and  subsequently  in  California,  at  Hoopah  Valley,  Application, 
I  believe,  had  previously  been  made  for  troops  at  Wallowa  Valley,  East 
Oregon. 


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REDUCTION   OP   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT.  393 

QuestioD.  What  was  the  nature  of  the  applicatioD  for  troops  at  Wal- 
lowa Valley  1 

Answer/  It  was  stated  to  be  in  the  form  of  a  petition  purporting  to  be 
signed  by  all  the  citizens  of  that  region,  that,  on  account  of  the  con- 
duct of  Joseph's  baud  of  Nez  Percys,  it  was  feared  they  intended  to  give 
trouble,  and  the  petition  urged  on  the  superintendent  of  Indian  affairs 
to  lose  no  time  in  causing  troops  to  be  sent  there.  The  superintendent 
stated  that  he  did  not  conceive  that  there  was  any  necessity  for  the 
troops,  and,  therefore,  did  not  order  them.  I  afterward  learned  that 
the  petitions  were  made  up  and  signed  by  a  greater  number  of  persons 
than  lived  in  the  region  inhabited  by  those  Indians.  They  were  pro- 
bably signed  by  persons  outside. 

Question.  What  is  your  information  as -to  the  real  cause  of  getting 
troops  there  f 

Answer.  From  what  I  have  heard — I  cannot  say  from  what  I  have  seen, 
because  my  observation  has  not  been  carried  into  particulars,  respecting 
the  motives— from  what  I  have  heard  from  reliable  parties,  I  should 
judge  that  the  object  In  getting  troops  sent  to  both  stjitions,  which  I 
have  mentioned.  Fort  Colville  and  Walla  Walla,  was  chiefly  to  create  a 
market  for  supplies  for  those  in  the  viciuity,  and  to  bring  business 
there. 

Question.  From  what  you  have  seen  in  that  region,  can  these  troops 
be  withdrawn  with  safety,  either  to  the  whites  or  the  Indians  ! 

Answer.  I  think  the  garrison  at  Fort  Colville  may  be  withdrawn 
with  perfect  safety,  and  I  should  think  the  force  at  Walla- Walla  could 
be  much  reduced,  if  not  entirely  withdrawn. 

Question.  Do  you  know  anything  personally,  or  by  representation,  of 
alarms  being  given  to  the  settlers  in  order  to  prevent  the  remov^al  of 
troops,  or  to  secure  the  stationing  of  more  troops  in  that  country  f 

Answer.  I  do  know  by  report  that  alarms  have  been  created  in  Bound 
Valley  and  in  the  Spokane  country,  at  both  places  with  the  object  of 
causing  troops  to  be  sent  there,  not  for  the  protection  of  the  settlers,  but 
that  the  settlers  might  have  the  benefit  of  a  market  such  as  a  garrison 
would  bring.  I  also  know  that  on  a  reservation  in  Oregon,  where  the 
Siletz  Indians  and  Alsea  Indians  are  located,  very  vigorous  effdrts  were 
made  last  spring  to  cause  troops  to  be  sent  there  and  great  alarms  were 
occasioned. 

Question.  Do  you  know  or  have  you  been  informed  by  whom  these 
alarms  were  created,  whether  by  the  whites  or  Indians? 

Answer.  I  have  been  informed  that  they  are  created  by  white  men. 

Question.  What  was  reported  to  have  been  the  nature  of  the  alarm  f 

Answer.  In  the  Spokane  countrj'  the  alarm,  I  was  informed,  grew  out 
of  some  movement  of  the  Smohallah  Indians;  but  I  was  informed,  by 
what  I  deemed  to  be  reliable  authority,  when  I  was  in  that  region,  that 
it  was  really  for  the  object  of  getting  troops  there.  At  the  Siletz  reser- 
vation there  appeared  to  have  been  the  grossest  fabrication  of  reports 
of  Indian  difiiculties.  The  Indians  were  thoroughly  well-disposed,  but 
alarms  were  created  every  day  or  two  by  cowardly  or  designing  white 
men.  On  one  occasion  a  white  man  rode  through  the  settlement  at  the 
dead  of  night,  awakening  the  settlers  and  calling  on  them  to  fly  for 
their  lives,  as  the  Indians  were  upon  them,  while  the  Indians  were  at 
that  time,  to  my  knowledge,  peaceable,  and  even  asking  the  agent  to 
protect  them  against  the  white  men,  who  they  believed  meditated  some 
depredations  on  them  at  their  reservation.  There  were  no  hostile  In- 
dians, or  Indians  who  would  have  given  any  trouble,  near  the  settle- 
ment.   I  believe  the  parties  who  were  endeavoring  to  create  the  panic 


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394  REDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITAfiY   ESTABLISHMENT. 

there  were  actuated  by  motives  of  Apecalation.  They  wanted  troops, 
and  the  same  men  are  now  petitioning  Congress  to  remove  these  In- 
dians, their  main  object  being  to  get  possession  of  their  lands.  At  the 
Hoopah  Valley  reservation  I  was  informed,  by  the  oflficer  in  command 
of  the  garrison,  that  the  troops  were  not  needed  there  for  the  protec- 
tion of  the  agency. 

Question.  Is  it  necessary  to  have  these  troops  to  protect  Indians  from 
the  inroads  of  the  whites  f 

Answer.  They  are  never  so  used,  I  think ;  and  I  do  not  think  that 
they  are  necessary.  My  experience  shows  me  that  the  presence  of 
troops  near  peaceful  Indians  is  one  of  the  worst  evils  which  can  befall 
the  Indians.  I  mean  when  they  are  so  near  them  as  to  have  intercourse 
with  them. 

Question.  What  seems  to  be  the  effect  on  the  Indians  of  the  presence 
of  troops! 

Answer.  The  troops  carry  demoralization  and  disease  among  them. 
The  Indian  women  in  Hoopah  Valley  were  in  a  worse  condition  than 
any  Indian  women  on  the  coast  whom  I  had  met  with,  on  account  of  the 
troops  uow  stationed  among  them.  While  the  male  Indians  themselves 
could  keep  from  liquor,  even  when  it  was  sold  in  their  midst,  and 
seemed  desirous  of  having  it  removed  from  among  them,  they  could  not 
keep  the  soldiers  away  from  their  women  or  prevent  the  liceutioasuess 
and  disease  which  they  were  spreading.  Venereal  diseases  are  common 
in  every  Indian  tribe  which  has  come  in  contact  with  white  men. 

Question.  Do  these  Indians  remain  on  their  reservations  without 
trouble  f 

Answer.  The  Hoopah  Valley  Indians  do  pretty  generally.  The 
Indians  generally  would  remain  more  on  their  reservations  if  they 
could  subsist  themselves.  They  go  out  from  necessity  from  nearly  all 
the  reservations. 

Question.  Are  they  adopting  the  habits  of  civilized  lifef 

Answer.  They  are  to  a  very  great  extent. 

Question.  In  what  way  f  ♦ 

Answer.  They  dress  like  white  men;  they  ask  to  be  shown  how  to 
cultivate  the  land;  they  ask  for  separate  allotments  of  land,  for  little 
farms,  for  seed  and  for  implements  with  which  to  carry  on  husbandry, 
and  in  some  tribes  they  go  even  further.  I  have  been  in  houses  in  the 
Indian  country  where  I  could  get  a  better  meal  than  I  could  amoDg 
their  white  neighbors. 

Question.  What  have  you  to  say  as  to  the  fairness  with  which  they 
are  treated,  as  to  their  supplies  from  the  Government  under  the  present 
system  ! 

Answer.  So  far  as  I  have  seen,  I  think  the  management  of  the  Indians 
has  been  very  much  improved  within  the  last  few  years.  I  was  familiar 
with  the  working  of  the  system  under  the  old  Indian  policy  many 
years  ago  on  the  Pacific  coast,  having  gone  there  as  early  as  1846,  and, 
from  what  I  have  seen  in  the  last  six  months,  I  think  there  has  been  a 
great  improvement  in  the  method  of  distributing  supplies  and  conduct- 
ing the  affairs  of  the  agencies. 

Question.  Have  these  Indians  been  furnished  with  supplies! 

Answer.  Yes.  They  get  their  annuity  goods;  and  at  two  or  three 
agencies  they  are  rationed,  or  partially  rationed.  This  is  done  at  the 
Tule  River  reservation  and  the  Hoopah  Valley  reservation. 

Question.  Do  they  get  a  considerable  amount  of  goods! 

Answer.  No,  sir;  the  amount  of  goods  is  very  small,  and  the  Indians 
at  almost  all  of  the  reservations  express  the  desire  to  have  these  goods 


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REDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITAKY   ESTABLISHMENT.  395 

exchanged  for  implemeDts  of  basbandry,  such  as  they  could  use,  and 
for  harness. 

Question.  What  is  the  character  of  the  goods  which  the  Government 
farnisheH  them? 

Answer.  Blankets,  calico,  boots  or  shoes,  hats,  shirts,  and,  at  some 
agencies,  tobacco;  rice,  sugar,  and  tea  to  the  sick,  and  sometimes  cof- 
fee. These  are  the  usual  supplies.  The  Indians  on  the  regular  "  feeding- 
list"  have  their  rations  of  flour,  beef,  bacon,  &c. 

Question.  Are  these  Indians  armed  f 

Answer.  Yes,  sir ;  they  are  generally  armed. 

Question.  What  with  f 

Answer.  They  are  armed  with  rifles  and  fowling-pieces ;  some  of  them 
own  very  good  guns. 

Question.  State  whether  the  whites  travel  with  impunity  among  them 
in  mining,  hunting,  fishing,  &c. 

Answer.  They  travel  with  perfect  impunity.  Perhaps  the  best  illus- 
tration I  can  give  you  of  the  disposition  of  these  Indians  is  an  incident 
which  occurred  while  1  was  among  the  Warm  Spring  Indians  in  Oregon. 
These  Indians  are  brave  men,  and  have  distinguished  themselves  in 
three  campaigns  under  our  flag,  two  against  the  Snake  Indians  and  this 
last  one  against  the  Modocs.  A  few  years  ago  their  principal  means  of 
subsistence,  their  fishery,  was  taken  from  them  through  a  wrong  com- 
mitted by  the  agent.  They  had  taken  fish  there  for  generations,  and 
they  actually  require  this  article  of  food  even  when  they  raise  wheat 
and  vegetables.  They  go  down  every  year  near  the  Columbia  River, 
where  their  old  fishery  was,  and  if  they  bring  their  ponies  about  the  old 
ground  the  two  or  three  white  men  living  there  go  out  and  drive  them 
away  and,  if  the  Indians  interfere,  the  white  men  beat  them  with  clubs. 
The  Indians  have  as  yet  made  no  resistance  to  them.  Now,  these 
Indiana  are  certainly  a  very  manly,  brave,  and  a  war-like  people,  but 
they  suffer  these  things  rather  than  turn  their  hands  against  the  white 
men.  The  last  thing  that  occurred  on  my  leaving  the  Warm  Spring  res- 
ervation was  a  visit  from  a  deputation  of  these  Indians  who  came  to 
me  to  ask  if  I  would  not  make  a  letter  to  the  chief  of  those  white  men 
at  the  fishery,  asking  him  to  desist  from  treating  them  the  way  I  have 
mentioned.  They  said  that  he  had  driven  them  away  with  clubs  when- 
ever they  had  gone  near  the  place;  that  they  did  not  want  to  do  any 
harm  to  him  or  his  race,  but  that  they  wanted  to  catch  fish  where  their 
fathers  and  forefathers  before  them  had  taken  them,  and  that  they 
would  not  give  up  that  right.  That  is  the  spirit  which  I  think  actuates 
most  of  the  Indians  in  Washington  and  Oregon.  They  would  suffer 
^"jur^'j  even  to  being  beaten  with  clubs,  rather  than  go  to  war  against 
the  whites.  They  put  up  with  many  indignities  at  the  hands  of  cow- 
ardly white  men  throughout  that  region. 

Question.  Do  they  make  any  complaints  as  to  the  failure  of  supplies 
by  the  Govei'nment  f 

Answer.  They  complain  a  good  deal.  They  complain  that  the  Gov- 
ernment has  not  kep1#  its  promises  with  them  in  the  way  of  supplies 
and  annuities.  In  fact  it  is  the  general  burden  of  their  conversation 
with  you  wherever  you  go,  that  they  have  been  promised  many  things 
which  they  have  not  received  in  the  shape  of  lands,  supplies,  and 
assistance. 

Question.  Are  they  able  to  gain  a  decent  subsistence  from  their  fish- 
ing and  hunting  and  from  the  supplies  which  the  Government  furnishes  t 

Answer.  They  are  not  at  present.  As  a  general  thing  they  require 
to  be  taught  how  to  work — how  to  hold  the  plow.    They  require  first, 


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396  REDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT. 

wherever  it  is  practicable,  that  their  land  should  be  set  apart  for  them 
iu  10,  20,  or  50  acre  tracts  to  each  member  of  a  family,  and  they  require 
wagons  and  harness,  plows,  and  other  agricultural  implements,  and 
seed.  They  also  require  to  be  shown  how  to  plant  and  to  build  and 
live.  That  kind  of  instruction  is,  I  think,  adapted  to  the  condition  of 
the  Indians  at  every  reservation  which  I  have  visited.  At  some  reser- 
vations they  are  able  to  do  very  well  for  themselves.  There  are  two  or 
three  reservations  in  Oregon  and  Washington  Territory  where  the 
Indians  will  be,  I  think,  in  two  or  three  years,  entirely  self-supporting 
under  the  present  system. 

Question.  Do  they  manufacture  articles,  raise  farm  and  garden  pro- 
duce, or  catch  fish  enough  so  as  to  have  anything  to  sell! 

Answer.  The  working  Indians  in  Washington  Territory  are  generally 
loggers.  They  are  the  most  expert  loggers  in  that  region.  I  think 
that  in  most  cases  they  are  admitted  by  our  own  people  to  excel  as 
choppers.  They  cannot  manage  ox-teams,  but  as  choppers  and  in  the 
work  of  a  logging  camp  they  get  good  wages  wherever  they  are  em- 
ployed. They  work  on  reservations,  and  do  very  well.  They  do  not 
generally  take  fish  to  sell,  but  they  catch  and  cure  fish  for  their  own 
use.  There  is  nothing  of  much  value  that  they  manufacture  to  sell. 
They  raise  very  good  crops  of  grain  in  several  places  in  Oregon,  and 
they  had  a  surplus  to  sell  at  two  or  three  agencies  that  I  visited. 

Question.  Are  they  improving  their  roads! 

Answer.  Yes,  sir ;  they  work  very  well.  I  think  that  we  entirely  mis- 
nnderstand  the  Indian  character  as  regards  the  habits  of  industry. 
They  are  quite  as  ready  when  inducements  offer  to  go  to  work  and  to 
work  hard  as  most  white  men.  Certainly  they  are  in  the  region  I  have 
visited.  In  the  Siletz  and  Alsea  country,  for  example,  from  which  cer- 
tain white  men  are  asking  that  the  Indians  should  be  removed,  the 
Indians  have  made  most  of  the  roads.  Indeed,  I  was  assured  the  roads 
could  not  have  been  made  at  all  without  their  aid. 

Question.  Do  you  know  any  instance  in  which  white  men  have  ob- 
jected to  or  opposed  the  making  of  roads  through  that  country,  or  any 
part  of  it? 

Answer.  Yes,  sir;  I  was  informed  that  the  packers  between  Arcada, 
near  Humboldt  Bay,  and  Hoopah  Valley  decidedly  objected  to  a  mili- 
tary road  being  built  across  the  mountains,  where  they  now  have  their 
pack-trails. 

Question.  For  what  reason  f 

Answer.  I  was  informed  that  it  was  for  the  purpose  of  enabling  them 
to  keep  up  the  rates  wliich  they  were  receiving  on  goods  freighted  over 
the  mountains. 

Question.  What  were  said  to  be  these  rates! 

Answer.  I  was  informed  that  three  cents  a  pound  was  the  rate  at 
which  they  carried  goods  from  Arcada  to  Uoopah  Valley,  forty  miles. 

Question.  Gould  a  road  have  been  made  there  easily? 

Answer.  I  think  not  easily  from  what  I  have  heard  of  the  country. 
It  is  a  rugged  and  mountainous  tract,  but  a  roadgs  very  necessary,  and 
I  was  told  it  was  contemplated  by  the  general  commanding  the  depart- 
ment to  build  one. 

Question.  Do  you  understand,  then,  that  the  settlers  opposed  the 
making  of  that  road? 

Answer.  The  packers  did  on  account  of  the  profits  they  were  making 
in  transporting  goods  on  the  present  trails. 

Question.  Was  the  road  ever  made? 


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REDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT.  397 

Answer.  No,  sir,  it  was  not;  I  was  told  that  the  opposition  was^so 
vigorous  that  the  general  desisted  from  the  plan.  ~   ' 


Washington,  D.  C,  March  14, 1874! 
General  J.  J.  Reynolds  appeared  before  the  committee,  and,  on 
beingj  interrogated  by  the  committee,  made  the  following  statement: 

By  the  Chairman: 

Question.  Please  state  your  name  and  present  command. 

Answer.  J.  J.  Reynolds,  colonel  Third  Cavalry;  commanding  at  pres- 
ent at  Fort  D.  A.  Russell,  Wyo.,  and  just  now  a  member  of  the  Howard 
court  of  inquiry  in  Washington  Cit^' . 

Question.  How  recently  have  you  been  in  that  region  where  your 
command  is? 

Answer.  I  have  only  been  at  Fort  D.  A.  Russell  since  about  the  1st 
of  February;  I  was  in  Nebraska  for  two  years  before  that,  at  Fort 
McPherson,  and  previous  to  that  in  Texas,  since  the  war. 

Question.  State  the  condition  of  the  Indians  in  the  neighborhood  of 
your  present  command  as  to  hostility  or  friendliness  toward  the  whites. 

Answer.  The  Indians  within  the  range  of  my  station  for  the  last  two 
years — Fort  McPherson  and  thereabouts — are' what  is  known  as  the 
cut-off  bands  of  the  Sioux  tribes.  They  have  not  generally  evinced 
much  disposition  to  be  hostile.  We  have,  however,  continuously  pa- 
trolled the  country  between  the  Republican  River  and  the  Niobrara,  on 
both  sides  of  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad,  and  north  and  south  from  tlie 
Platte  Rivers;  this  as  a  precautionary  measure.  We  have  met  the  In- 
dians very  often.  These  remarks  apply  to  the  cut-off  bands  proper. 
We  have  had  several  raids  of  Indians  from  the  country  further  north. 
I  believe  all  of  these  raiding  parties  were  Minneconjou  Sioux.  These 
Minneconjou  Sioux,  as  I  understand  from  other  Sioux,  have  never  been 
on  a  reservation  to  stay,  and  refuse  to  go.  These  raids  were  for  tlie 
purpose  of  stealing  stock.  They  drove  oft*  some  horses  from  McPherson 
station,  five  or  six  miles  from  Fort  McPherson,  in  the  spring  of  1872. 
We  pursued  them  and  killed  two  or  three,  and  then  took  up  the  trail 
and  followed  them  for  about  fifty  days,  tracing  them  up  beyond  Fort 
Randall,  and  satisfying  ourselves  that  this  p^rty  was  composed  of  Min- 
neconjou Sioux.  The  subsequent  raids  of  the  same  kind,  of  which  there 
have  been  several,  were  believed  to  be  b^^  the  same  Indians. 

Question.  What  are  the  numbers  of  this  tribe? 

Answer.  The  Minneconjous — I  don't  know,  sir;  I  have  no  means 
whatever  of  ascertaining. 

Question.  Are  they  armed! 

Answer.  \es,  they  are  arm<^d  in  various  ways;  sometimes  they  have 
firearms,  and  a  portion  of  them  bows  and  arrows. 

Question.  Are  they  in  suflBcient  numbers  to  lead  to  the  apprehension 
of  a  war  of  any  extent? 

Answer.  No,  sir;  not  those  that  come  down  in  the  neighborhood 
where  I  have  been,  but  they  cause  as  much  consternation  as  if  there 
were  ten  times  the  number. 

Question.  Has  any  expedition  been  recently  fitted  out  to  travel  through 
any  part  of  the  Sioux  reservation  ;  if  so,  what  expedition  and  how  much 
force  f 

Answer.  Yes,  sir.  Just  before  I  left  Fort  D.  A.  Russell,  in  accordance 


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398  REDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT. 

with  news  from  the  department  commander,  General  Ord,  I  organized 
two  expeditions  to  go  from  Fort  Russell  to  Fort  Laramie,  there  to  re- 
port to  General  Smith,  and  by  him  to  be  condncted  on  to  the  Sioux  res- 
ervation. One  expedition  was  to  go  to  ea<;h  agency — ^Bed  Cloud  and 
Spotted  Tail.  The  whole  force,  including  both  agencies,  consisted  of 
six  companies  of  cavalry  and  eight  of  infantry;  it  was  divided  into  two 
parts,  about  equal  for  each  agency. 

Question.  Was  the  object  of  that  force  to  attack  the  Indians,  or  to 
prevent  hostilities,  or  what  was  the  object  f 

Answer.  Well,  the  object  of  the  expedition  wa«  not  explained  to  me.  My 
instructions  were  to  fit  it  out,  and  the  only  information  imparted  to  me  was 
in  general  terms  to  the  effect  that  the  troops  were  to  occupy  for  the  pres- 
ent those  two  agencies.  I  understood,  further,  that  a  force  had  been 
asked  for  by  the  Indian  agent  to  protect  the  agencies.  This  I  understood 
from  conversations  with  General  Ord  and  General  Sheridan.  The  recent 
deprecations  there  wer^  the  killing  of  Lieutenant  Robinson  and  a  cor- 
poral whose  name  I  have  forgotten — Carpenter,  I  think. 

Question.  Who  was  that  done  by  ! 

Answer.  Well,  it  was  done  by  Indians ;  by  what  Indians  I  don't  know 
precisely.  I  understand  that  the  reservation  Indians  charge  the  mur- 
ders upon  these  same  Minneconjou  Sioux,  referred  to  in  the  first  part  of 
my  testimony.    What  the  fact  of  the  matter  is  I  do  not  know. 

Question.  Do  you  think  the  military  forces  in  the  region  that  you 
have  been  stationed  in  is  sufficient  to  protect  the  white  settlers  ? 

Answer.  So  far  as  I  have  been  able  to  observe,  I  think  it  is. 

Question.  As  to  the  posts,  could  the  number  of  posts  be  reduced 
and  the  posts  consolidated  with  advantage  either  to  the  whites  or  to 
the  Indians  f 

Answer.  Yes,  sir;  I  am  decidedly  of  the  opinion — I  speak  now  of 
Nebraska,  because  I  was  there  longer — that  the  three  stations  of  Mc- 
Pherson,  IvTorth  Platte,  and  Sidney  could  be  ex)mbined  into  one  with 
great  benefit  to  the  efficiency  and  economy  of  the  service.  This  subject, 
however,  I  have  fully  discussed  in  a  paper  submitted  to  the  department 
commander  in  the  latter  part  of  1872. 

By  Mr.  Gunckel  : 

Question.  Are  there  any  others! 

Answer.  With  regard  to  the  posts  in  Wyoming  Territory,  I  am  not 
sufficiently  familiar  with  them  to  suggest  any  changes  in  the  military 
stations.  The  Indian  agencies  in  the  Sioux  reservation,  it  seems  to  me, 
are  very  badly  located,  because  their  present  location  involves  a  heavy 
expenditure  in  transporting  supplies  from  the  Missouri  River  or  the 
Union  Pacific  Railroad  to  those  stations,  which  would  be  saved  if  the 
agencies  were  on  the  river  or  on  the  railroad. 

Question.  Please  to  state  as  to  Texas,  so  far  as  you  are  informed, 
whether  the  posts  are  more  than  sufficient  in  number,  and  whether  the 
military  force  there  is  or  is  not  sufficient. 

Answer.  The  posts  in  Texas,  I  think,  are  well  located ;  in  fact,  quite  a 
number  of  them  between  the  Red  and  the  Rio  Grande  Rivers  were  lociited 
at  my  suggestion,  based  on  a  thorough  inspection  of  the  country  by  a 
competent  board  of  officers  in  the  fall  of  1867.  Their  locations  I  con- 
sider the  best  that  can,  under  the  circumstances,  be  chosen  for  them. 

Question.  And  you  would  not  reduce  their  number  at  present! 

Answer.  ]S^o,  sir.  After arailroadisbuilt  through  that  country  it  would 
be  economy,  clearly,  to  have  the  posts  nearest  to  it  gradually  moved 
on  to  it,  for  the  sake  of  saving  transportation }  but  at  the  present  time 


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REDUCTIQN   OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT.  399 

the  location  is  tlie  best  that  cau  be  made.  The  force  in  that  part  of  the 
country,  I  think,  is  not  more  than  is  required  to  give  the  country  nieas- 
urable'prot«ction ;  perfect  protection  would  require  a  much  larger  force 
than  we  have  ever  had  there. 
Question.  What  do  you  mean  by  perfect  protection  f 
Answer.  Perfect  immunity  from  Indian  raids  on  the  frontier  counties. 
Question.  Is  the  danger  from  the  Indians  alone? 
Answer.  No,  sir;  it  is  a  very  large  territory,  sparsely  peopled,  and 
the  danger  is  from  Indians,  Mexicans  and  outlaws  generally.  On  the 
Rio  Grande  frontier  the  trouble  is  from  the  Indians  and  Mexicans.  From 
the  Kio  Grande  to  the  Red  River,  the  western  frontier,  the  trouble  is 
from  Indians  principally ;  these  Indians  come  principally  from  the  res- 
ervation north  of  the  Red  River,  of  which  abundant  evidence  was 
forwarded  by  myself  while  in  command  there,  and  is  now  perfectly 
known  to  everybody  who  is  at  all  familiar  with  that  part  of  the  country. 
The  troubles  on  the  Rio  Grande  frontier  were,  for  a  long  time  attributed 
to  a  small  portion  of  the  tribe  of  Kickapoos  who  lived  in  Mexico,  and 
who  were  prevented  from  rejoining  the  remainder  of  their  tribe  on  the 
reservation  in  Kansas  by  the  influence  of  the  Mexican  oflflcials.  Of 
this  fact  positive  evidence  was  forwarded  to  the  Department  by  myself 
while  I  was  in  command  there,  and  I  advocated  the  removal  of  those 
Indians  to  their  old  homes,  to  do  away  with  that  pretence  of  troubles 
00  the  part  of  the  Mexicans,  and  I  think  the  removal  has  been  pretty 
much  accomplished  within  the  last  two  years,  or  is  in  process  now  of 
being  accomplished.  The  greatest  need  in  that  part  of  the  country — 
that  is,  from  the  Red  River  to  the  Rio  Grande  along  that  frontier,  and 
OQt  to  El  Paso,  and  also  along  the  Rio  Grande  frontier  down  as  far  as 
Brownsville — the  greatest  want  there  is  a  line  of  telegraph  to  connect 
those  frontier  posts  with  each  other,  and  with  some  central  point,  say 
the  department  headquarters  at  San  Antonio.  ^ 

Question.  Is  that  the  military  telegraph  that  an  appropriation  was 
asked  for  f 
Answer.  It  is  the  thing  that  I  advocated  three  or  four  years  ago. 
Question.  Have  you  ever  estimated  the  cost  of  that  telegraph! 
Answer.  I  made  an  estimate  in,  I  think,  18G8,  for  the  cost  of  the 
wire,  which  was  all  I  asked.    If  the  wire  could  have  been  furnished  me 
we  would  have  built  the  line  with  our  troops  and  would  have  procured 
operators  from  our  men,  and  would  have  asked  for  nothing  else,  until 
some  of  these  days  some  private  company  would  want  it  and  would  take 
itoif  the  hands  of  the  Government,  re-imbursing  them  for  the  expense. 
Question.  You  would  have  operated  it,  then,  through  the  Army  t 
Answer.  Oh,  yes,  sir.    We  would  have  transacted  civil  business  too, 
just  to  accommodate  the  people. 

Question.  Are  there  men  sufficiently  skilled,  in  the  Army,  to  act  as 
telegraph  operators! 

Answer.  Yes,  sir;  a  few  of  them ;  we  cau  find  them  here  and  there, 
and  where  they  are  not  already  supx)lied  they  can  be  very  soon  taught. 
At  Fort  McPherson  I  had  several  men  on  purpose  practiced  in  tele* 
graphing,  so  that  in  case  my  operator  was  absent  I  had  somebody  to 
use.  This  can  be  done  at  any  posts  garrisoned  with  white  troops.  At 
stations  where  we  had  colored  troops,  of  course  we  would  have  sup- 
plied operators  from  other  companies. 
Question.  Do  you  think  that  could  be  done  yet? 
Answer.  Unquestionably. 

Question.  That  is,  the  Army  could  put  up  the  telegraph  by  being  fur- 
nished the  wiref 


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400  REDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT. 

Answer.  I  have  not  tbe  least  doubt  of  it. 

Question.  Without  apy  very  great  expense! 

Auswer.  The  expense  would  be  very  slight.  We  would  want  a  few 
skilled  workman  in  that  line  to  direct  our  men. 

Question.  Have  you  ever  estimated  the  expense  of  the  entire  linet 

Answer.  I  did  at  that  time,  but  I  have  forgotten  the  figures;  my 
impression  is  that,  according  to  our  estimate  of  the  expense,  about 
$30,000  would  have  done  the  whole. 

Question.  For  how  many  miles,  about? 

Answer.  It  must  be — I  am  thinking  of  the  western  line — I  think  be- 
tween four  and  five  hundred. 

Question.  What  have  you  to  say  as  to  the  cause,  ordinarily,  of  Indian 
difficulties  f 

Answer.  Well,  my  experience  is  that  a  majority  of  them  originate  in 
the  acts  of  white  men^  From  this  remark,  however,  I  exclude  the  pred- 
atory incursions  on  the  Rio  Grande  frontier,  which  were  solely  for  the 
purpose  of  stealing  cattle,  and  I  also  exclude  the  systematic  and  peri- 
odical raids  into  Texas  from  the  reservation  north  of  the  Red  River. 
Those  were  made  without  any  provocation  whatever. 

Question.  What  do  they  seek  for,  food  ? 

Answ^er.  No,  sir;  to  steal  cattle;  and  if  any  person  is  in  their  way, 
of  course  they  will  murder  him. 

Question.  Are  they  in  want  f 

Answer.  O,  no;  pure  deviltry. 

Question.  Explain  a  little  more  fully  how  those  difficulties  arise. 

Answer.  Those  that  I  have  traced,  I  think  in  the  majority  of  cases, 
are  traceable  to  bad  acts  of  some  white  men.  That  refers  to  the  Indians 
that  are  supposed  to  be  on  reservations  and  peaceable. 

By  Mr.  Hawley,  of  Connecticut : 

Question.  Would  the  Indiaus  be  apt  to  interfere  with  this  telegraph, 
so  as  to  make  it  of  little  value  ? 

Answer.  Itliiuknot;  my  experience  for  the  last  two  years  in  Ne- 
braska and  Wyoming,  among  the  Indians,  is  that  they  have  never  bro- 
ken a  telegraph  once,  nor  the  railroad.  They  don't  seem  inclined  to 
break  a  telegraph  wire ;  whether  it  is  superstition  or  not  I  don't  know, 
but  such  is  the  fact — rt  is  the  universal  experience.  And  even  if  it 
were  broken — I  refer  now  more  particularly  to  the  Texas  frontier  tele- 
graph— it  would  be  warning  that  the  troops  should  move  to  see  what 
was  the  trouble.  In  regard  to  the  telegraph  line  along  the  Texas  fron- 
tier, if  the  feeling  of  the  peoi^le  there  now  is  what  it  was  something 
more  than  two  years  ago  when  I  left  there,  they  would  gladly  co  operate 
to  protect  the  telegraph  line,  and  probably  even  to  build  it. 

By  the  Chairman  : 

Question.  In  view  of  a  reduction  of  the  Army,  would  you  deem  it 
ad\isable  to  reduce  it  merely  in  men  or  in  men  and  organizations  and 
officers  ! 

Answer.  If  the  reduction  has  to  be  made,  it  had  better  affect  organi- 
zations and  all,  though  I  would  have  the  reduction  affect  the  commis- 
sioned part  gradually,  and  not  have  them  displaced  immediately.  You 
would  cause,  otherwise,  a  great  deal  of  hardship. 

Question.  What  plau  would  you  suggest! 

Answer.  If  you  fix  the  number  of  the  Army  to  be  so  many  enlisted 
men,  that  will  leave  you,  of  course,  a  cert^iin  number  of  surplus  com- 
missioned officers.    Now,  provide  that  those  commissioned  officers  shall 


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REDUCTION  13P   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT.  401 

be  absorbed  as  vacancies  occar,  and  not  discharged  immediately  unless 
in  case  of  those  who  prefer  it. 

Question.  There  was  a  system  of  pntting  officers  out  of  the  service 
by  a  board  of  officers  that  were  unfit  to  properly  discharge  their  duties. 
Do  yon  think  a  system  of  that  kind  would  work  harshly  ? 

Answer.  A  worse  system  could  not  be  devised,  in  my  judgment. 

Question.  State  your  reasons. 

Answer.  Principally  because  it  does  not  do  what  it  is  expected  to  do ; 
that  is  to  say,  it  does  not  confine  the  discharges  to  persons  anfit  for  ser- 
TJce  in  all  cases;  and  as  a  proof  of  that  you  will  find,  since  the  last  board 
we  had  discharged  people  that  way,  there  have  been  as  many  trials  by 
courts,  I  think,  as  there  ever  were  in  the  Array  in  the  same  length  of 
time,  showing  that  the  men  the  law  aimed  to  strike  are  not  brought 
before  the  board.  In  some  cases  known  to  me  the  operation  of  the 
board  was  oppressive  in  the  extreme ;  but  as  a  general  rule,  and  in  a 
great  majority  of  cases,  the  officers  that  the  late  board  eliminated  from 
the  Army  list  were  good  riddances. 

Question.  Would  or  would  you  not  advise  against  that? 

Answer.  I  advise  against  that.  If  a  thing  of  that  kind  is  thought 
advisable,  however,  let  the  board  be  composed  of  persons  wholly  dis- 
connected with  the  Army. 

Qnestion.  Would  yon  say  civilians  f 

Answer.  I  don't  care  who  it  is,  but  let  them  be  disconnected  with  the 
Army. 

Question.  In  case  the  work  of  consolidation  goes  on,  can  the  grade  of 
regimental  adjutant  and  quartermaster  be  dispensed  with,  or  are  those 
oflBcers  absolutely  necessary  I 

Answer.  I  dont  regard  them  absolutely  necessary  at  all ;  it  is  rather 
convenient  to  have  them,  but  if  reduction  mast  take  place  they  can  be 
dispensed  with. 

By  Mr.  Hawley,  of  Connecticut : 
Question.  Detail  lieutenants  to  do  thedut^  ? 

Answer.  Yes,  sir ;  I  would  not  have  those  appointments  permanent 
at  all,  in  time  of  peace  especially. 

By  the  Ohaibman  : 

Question.  Now,  as  to  the  majors  of  cavalry  and  artillery  ^  there  are  three 
at  present  in  those  regiments.  Are  they  all  necessary,  or  could  two  in 
each  be  dispensed  with  t  In  other  words,  are  more  majors  needed  in 
artillery  and  cavalry  than  in  infantry  f 

Answer.  I  think  there  are  not  any  more  needed ;  they  may  be  very 
well,  but  if  reduction  must  take  place  it  can  come  there  as  well  as  any- 
where. 

Question.  Your  cavalry  regiments  are  composed  of  twelve  com- 
panies ? 

Answer.  Yes,  sir. 

By  the  Chairman  : 

QneBtion.  In  dividing  up,  is  it  at  all  necessary  te  have  a  field-officer  f 
Gould  not  the  senier  captain  do  just  as  well  f 

Answer.  It  is  better  to  have  a  field-officer.  If  you  have  a  field-officer 
to  each  four  companies  it  would  be  enough. 

Question.  You  think  you  could  dispense  with  one  major  in  each  regi- 
ment? 

Answer.  Yes,  sir ;  I  would  not  dispense  with  more  than  that,  and  this 
is  upon  the  a^ssumption  that  a  TOductioa  must  be  made ;  I  want  it  to 

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402  REDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT. 

strike  where  it  will  do  the  least  barm.  I  would  not  favor  these  redac- 
tions at  all  as  an  abstract  thing,  but  if  reductions  must  take  place  I 
would  have  them  made  wliere  they  will  do  the  least  harm. 

*  Question.  As  to  the  staff,  can  the  number  of  permanent  officers  in  a 
staff  be  reduced,  and  a  part  of  the  staff'  just  as  well  be  filled  by  ofi&cers 
detailed  from  the  line  ! 

Answer.     1  think  so. 

Question.  Please  state  your  reasons. 

Answer.  If  you  leave  out  the  Medical  Corps,  the  Corps  of  Engineers, 
the  Ordnance,  and  Bureau  of  Military  Justice,  there  is  no  department 
of  the  staff*  requiring  any  special  and  prolonged  training  to  discharge 
its  duties. 

Question.  Please  state  the  effect  of  such  a  system  upon  officers  of  tbe 
line,  as  well  as  upon  the  officers  of  the  staff. 

Answer.  The  duties  of  the  other  staff  corps,  after  those  I  have  named, 
can  be  performed  by  any  officer  who  is  competent  to  hold  a  commission 
in  the  Army.  The  alternation  from  duty  with  troops  to  staff-duty,  from 
time  to  time,  would  be  beneficial  to  the  officers  of  the  Army,  without,  I 
conceive,  being  in  the  least  detrimental  to  the  staff-departments. 

Question.  Would  it  be  of  any  considerable  advantage  to  the  line-offi- 
cers themselves  ? 

Answer.  I  think  it  would. 

Que^ion.  How  long  a  period  of  duty  would  you  detail  these  officers 
for  f 

Answer.  I  would  say  four  years  on  any  one  detail;  not  longer  than  that. 

Question.  Would  you  let  these  details  run  into  the  higher  branches 
of  the  staff',  or  into  the  lower  grades  1 

Answer.  There  is  no  reason  why  it  should  not  run  throughout  tbe 
department-staff'  corps.  It  may  require  a  few  surplus  officers,  but  I 
would  have  them  attached  to  regiments,  and  I  would  have  promotioiK< 
in  the  staff-corps,  if  it  exists  at  all,  confined  to  a  very  few  men. 

Question.  How  large  a  permanent  staff'  would  you  have,  in  propor- 
tion to  the  present  staff!  How  largely  wouM  you  reduce  the  perma-. 
nent  members  of  the  staff? 

Answer.  You  would  want  one  officer  here  at  the  head  of  each  staff- 
department  in  Washington,  whose  rank  should  not  be  higher  thau 
colonel,  at  the  highest.  The  precise  number  of  officers  required  here  I  do 
not  know;  you  would  want  one  at  the  head  of  each  branch,  and  the 
General  of  the  Army,  I  suppose,  would  want  one  adjutant  besides  his 
aids,  and  at  each  department  headquarters  you  may  have  one  officer 
for  each  branch  of  the  staff*.  Beyond  this  the  permanent  officers  in  the 
staff-corps  should  not  go,  in  m^^  judgment;  and  I  doubt  the  propriety 
of  extending  it  that  far,  in  fact.  My  idea  of  a  general  officer  is  tbat 
there  should  be  but  one  way  by  which  a  man  ever  can  attain  the  rank 
of  a  general  officer,  and  that  is  that  he  must  gain  it  by  work  in  tbe  field 
with  the  men,  with  the  troops.  The  idea  of  ha\inga  brigadier-general 
here  at  the  head  of  each  staff-department,  who  has  not  won  his  posi- 
tion by  service  in  tbe  field,  is  not  the  thing.  My  view  is  that  it  should 
be  impossible  for  a  man  to  attain  the  rank  of  general  officer  except  by 
service  with  the  Army  proper,  which  consists  of  armed  organizations. 

Question.  Could  a  system  be  adopted  by  which  the  duties  of  sti^-offi- 
cers  could  be  alternated  in  the  field  and  in  the  War  Department,  at 
Washington,  to  advantage  f 

Answer.  I  think  so ;  that  is  the  very  thing  that  I  want  to  see  done. 

•  Question.  State  your  reasons  for  that. 

Answer.  The  reason  I  have  already  given,  that  it  would  be  a  great 


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REDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT.  403 

benefit  to  the  Army,  and  no  detriment,  I  think,  to  the  staff-corps.  There 
is  nothing  in  these  (lepartments  that  cannot  be  done  by  any  officer  who 
is  competent  to  hold  a  commission.  Lieutenant-colonel  should  be  the 
highest  grade  in  the  departments,  and  the  officers  of  the  Army  should 
be  80  arranged  that  promotion  should  tak(?  place  regimentally  and  not 
iu  the  staff.  Exception  to  this  rule  might  be  made  to  a  limited  extent, 
but  very  limited. 

Question.  Why  would  you  have  promotion  go  on  and  be  obtained  in 
the  line  instead  of  the  staff? 

Answer.  Because  the  attainment  of  high  rank  in  the  Army  should  be 
possible  only  by  service  with  the  troops ;  and  1  would  have  an  officer's 
service  during  his  whole  life,  if  possible,  principally  with  the  troops. 

Question.  Do  you  hold  it  to  be  preferable  to  have  the  rewards  of  merit 
in  the  Army  given  to  those  who  serve  with  the  troops,  or  those  who  are 
cut  off  from  the  troops  in  mere  staff  positions  I 

Answer.  Decidedly  to  those  who  serve  wit!)  the  troops.  The  service 
will  also,  of  course,  include  officers  on  staff  duty  with  the  troops  in  the 
field. 

Question.  Please  state  how  you  would  obtain  a  sufficient  supply  of 
officers  to  fill  these  various  grades  in  the  staff*. 

Answer.  You  would  simply  want  to  attach  to  the  regiments  a  number 
over  and  above  those  required  for  regimental  duty  equal  to  the  number 
required  for  staff-duty. 

Question.  In  the  Medical  Department,  do  you  prefer  surgeons  of  the 
Army  to  contract  surgeons  f 

Answer.  In  my  experience  in  the  Array  1  have  served  with  a  great 
many  of  both  classes  of  medical  officers,  and  I  have  had  no  fault  to  fiind 
with  either  class.  The  advantage,  as  I  understand  that  question,  of 
regular  commissioned  medical  officers  is  that  by  law  they  are  required 
to  be  subjected  to  a  thorough  examination  before  receiving  their  com- 
missions, and  this  gives  us,  in  out-of-the-way  places,  where  competent 
civilians  could  not  be  employed,  reliable  medical  men. 

Question.  Can  you  say  whether  or  not,  if  the  Army  was  reduced  to 
25,000  men,  the  present  number  of  officers,  (forty-four,)  besides  the  deputy 
and  assistant  paymasters,  could  pay  the  Army  every  two  months  ? 
Auswer.  I  think  they  could  if  the  present  system  is  to  be  continued. 
Question.  How  nre  they  paid  now  ? 

Answer.  They  profess  to  average  a  payment  every  two  months,  and 
they  come  pretty  near  doing  it. 
Question.  Are  the  paymasters  busy  all  the  time  paying! 
Answer.  No,  sir. 

Question.  How  long  does  it  take  them  to  get  through  their  various 
payments? 

Answer.  A  paymaster  has  a  certain  place  known  as  his  station,  and 
about  each  mnster-day,  every  two  months,  he  receives  an  order  from  the 
<lepartment-commander  to  go  and  pay  troops  at  certain  posts;  he  per- 
forms this  journey,  makes  this  round  of  payments,  and  returns  to  his 
station  until  tne  next  order  for  him  to  do  the  same  thing,  and  so  on. 

Question.  Why  can  he  not  go  on  paying  through  the  most  of  this 
period  of  two  months,  and  pay,  at  intervals  of  two  months,  each  com- 
mand ! 
Answer.  I  don't  know  but  that  might  b%  done. 

Question.  How  long  does  it  usually  take  them  to  make  the  round  of 
their  posts  f 

Answer.  That  varies  so  much  with  their  locality  that  I  could  not 
Jjive  any  definite  answer  to  it.    It  depends  altogether  upon  the  facility 


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404  REDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT. 

of  traveling  where  they  happen  to  be.  For  instance,  in  Texas,  some  of 
the  routes  there  are  veVy  long  and  it  takes  almost  two  months  to  make 
a  round  trip,  whereas  in  Nebraska  and  Wyoming  they  can  do  this  in  a 
week  or  two. 

Question.  Would  they  then  have  the  balance  of  the  two  months  to 
stay  at  home  in  their  quarters  f 

Answer.  Yes,  pir. 

Question.  Could  the  present  system  of  paying  the  Army  be  changed, 
so  that  the  number  of  paymasters  could  be  largely  reduced  and  a  part 
of  the  paying  to  the  troops  personally  be  made  by  some  officer  at  the 
post  f 

Answer.  I  think  it  could.  I  see  no  reason  why  it  could  not  be.  Af- 
ter muster-day,  which  takes  place  every  two  months,  we  promise  oar 
men  their  pay,  and  all  it  requires  is  for  some  responsible  party  to  go 
and  get  the  money  and  disburse  it,  or  have  it  sent  to  him,  and  after 
receiving  it  disburse  it  and  take  receipts  on  therolls,  make  his  returns, 
and  the  payment  is  made.  Now,  one  paymaster  at  department  head- 
quarters, w'ho  is  always  kept  in  funds,  can  distribute  money  to  officers 
sent  from  posts  for  it  just  as  well  as  to  send  a  paymaster  out  from  de- 
partment headquarters  to  pay. 

Question.  Could  the  troops  be  paid  by  a  system  of  drafts  on  the 
United  States  Treasury,  after  the  manner  of  paying  pensions!  They 
are  mailed.  If  the  pay-rolls  were  made  out  and  forwarded  to  the  pay- 
master, could  not  that  be  done  T 

By  Mr,  Gunckel  : 

Question.  With  the  provision  added  that  in  remote  and  inaccessible 
points  a  paymaster  should  carry  the  money  ! 

Answer.  I  don't  see  anything  to  make  that  system  impracticable  at 
all.  The  commissioned  officers  in  point  of  fact  nearly  always  draw 
their  pay  by  checks  from  the  paymaster. 

By  the  Chairman  : 

Question.  State  whether  there  would  be  any  difficulty  in  getting 
these  drafts  cashed  at  any  ordinary  posts  on  the  railroad! 

Answer.  I  think  there  might  be  some  difficulty  at  some  remote  posts, 
but  I  think  at  most  posts,  especially  those  near  the  railroad,  they 
could  be  cashed. 

Question.  How  do  you  find  the  railroad  and  express  companies  in 
that  respect ;  do  they  do  something  of  a  banking  business  on  the  fron- 
tier; do  they  accommodate  the  people  with  exchange! 

Answer.  I  don't  know  a  great  deal  about  them  in  that  respect,  but  so 
far  as  I  know  they  are  perfectly  reliable  as  transporters  of  anything. 

Question.  I  am  asking  now  about  whether  they  would  not  take  up 
these  drafts  and  give  money  ! 

Answer.  At  the  railroad  offices,  do  you  mean  ! 

Question.  Yes.     How  do  you  get  your  pay  ! 

Answer.  I  send  my  pay  account  to  the  paymaster.  I  get  checks  for 
different  sums  «8  I  want  to  use  the  money. 

Question.  Do  you  find  any  difficulty  in  getting  them  cashed  ! 

Answer.  None  at  all.  I  get  them  cashed  at  the  nearest  town  or  by 
the  post-trader. 

Question  Do  you  think  the^post-traders  would  impose  on  the  soldien* 
in  cashing  those  drafts! 

Answer.  Yes,  sir ;  I  think  they  would.  That  would  have  to  be  regu- 
lated by  law  or  order. 


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REDUCTION   OP   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT.  405 

Qnestlon.  Are  the  post-traders  usually  sapplied  sufficiently'  with 
money  ! 

Answer.  That  depends  on  the  posts,  but  I  suppose  they  are.  It  would 
come  to  be  an  object  for  them  to  ;i;::et  the  drafts  as  a  good  means  of  making 
their  remittances  to  the  Bast,  where  they  buy  their  supplies. 

By  Mr.  Gunckel  : 

Question.  Where  have  you  and  the  other  officers  been  receiving  these 
checks  or  drafts  I 

Answer.  For  the  last  few  years  I  have  received  mine  in  Nebraska  and 
Wyoming. 

Question.  And  had  them  cashed  by  post-traders? 

Answer.  Yes,  sir,  if  I  desired  it. 

Question.  Did  you  ever  have  any  discount? 

Answer.  No,  sir ;  they  would  not  think  of  such  a  thing. 

Question.  Were  they  glad  to  get  them  because  they  were  a  means  of 
transmitting  money? 

Answer.  Yes,  sir.  They  would  not  think  of  discounting  a  Government 
check. 

By  the  Chairman: 

Question.  Can  any  improvement  be  made  in  the  method  of  purchasing 
supplies  for  the  Army,  the  present  one  being  by  advertisement  and  pub- 
lic bidding? 

Answer.  As  a  general  rule  I  think  the  present  system  is  best  in  the 
long  run — the  most  economical  for  the  Government.  Cases  do  arise 
occasionally,  however,  where  for  small  amounts  of  supplies  it  would  be 
better  to  purchase  in  open  market,  but  as  a  rule  I  think  the  contract 
system  is  the  best.  Most  of  the  posts  are  so  located  that  it  is  impossible 
to  get  their  supplies  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the  posts,  so  that  pur- 
chases for  a  considerable  time  ahead  must  be  made  b3'  somebody  where 
the  supplies  can  be  had.  The  practice  of  the  Government,  however,  is 
to  purchase  supplies  from  persons  who  have  them  to  spare  in  the  vicinity 
of  the  posts,  and  the  advertisements  now  always  invite  such  parties  to 
propose  for  what  they  can  furnish. 

By  Mr.  Gunckel  : 

Question.  Looking  to  our  whole  war  establishment,  could  there  be  a 
reduction  of  the  expense  without  injuriously  affecting  either  the  charac- 
ter or  the  efficiency  of  the  Army  ? 

Answer.  Yes,  sir.  A  great  deal  of  money  may  be  saved  by  discon- 
tinuing the  transfer  of  regiments  from  one  part  of  the  country  to  another. 
In  such  movements,  which  should  be  made  every  few  years  for  sanitary 
purposes,  I  would  transfer  only  the  permanent  part  of  the  regiments ; 
that  is,  the  commissioned  and  a  few  of  the  noncommissioned  officers. 

Question.  If  our  war  establishment  is  too  expensive,  where  is  it  too 
expensive,  and  how  can  it  be  reduced  ? 

Answer.  There  is  no  other  way  than  that  you  propose.  The  only  thing 
which  yon  can  cut  off  at  once  would  be  the  enlisted  men.  You  would 
do  that  by  stopping  enlistment;  and  an  analogous  treatment  for  the 
officers  would  be  gradual  reduction,  and  diminish  the  rank  and  pay  in 
the  staff  departments. 

By  the  Chaibman  : 
Question.  State  what  you  think  of  the  present  management  of  the 
Indians  and  of  the  peace  policy  of  the  Government  under  the  Depart- 
ment of  the  Interior. 


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406  REDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT. 

Answer.  I  think  the  most  efficient  management  of  the  Indians  possi- 
ble would  be  secured  by  haviuf!^  their  management  confided  to  the  War 
Department,  because  if  any  misunderstanding  whatever  occurs  with  the 
Indians  no  impression  can  be  made  upon  them  until  force  is  used  or 
exhibited.  Indians  have  no  respect  for  any  person,  Government  agent, 
or  anybody  else,  who  has  not  a  force  at  his  control. 

Question.  Please  state  whether  a  system  could  be  advantageonsly 
adopted  w^hereby  a  portion  only  of  the  vacancies  in  the  lieutenants  of 
the  Army  should  be  filled  by  the  graduates  of  theil  Mitary  Academy. 

Answer.  The  Army  should  be  officered  from  three  sources:  The  gradu- 
ates of  the  Military  Academy,  civilians  educated  elsewhere,  and  the 
enlisted  men  when  practicable.*  It  is  hardly  possible  to  fix  the  pro- 
portions from  each  source  to  be  appointed  annually.  It  would  probably 
be  best  to  make  the  principle  a  matter  of  law  and  leave  the  proportion 
from  each  source  to  the  President.  The  vacancies  in  the  grade  of  second 
lieutenant  at  the  time  of  appointing  annually,  sn^^  about  the  time  a  class 
graduates,  may  be  sufficient  to  t  absorb  the  whole  class  and  also  ^ive 
some  appointments  from  the  other  two  sources.  The  number  from  the 
Army  suitable  for  appointment  will  be  very  small  for  several  years,  bat 
will  probably  increase  from  year  to  year  as  the  system  becomes  known 
to  the  cduutry.  The  number  of  cadets  educated  at  the  Military  Academy 
might  be  considerably  increased  with  the  present  force  of  professors  and 
instrnctors  without  a  proportionate  increase  of  expense.  The  usefulness 
of  the  institution  to  the  country  at  large  would  thus  be  greatly  enhanced. 
When  the  vacancies  are  not  sufficient  to  absorb  the  entire  graduating 
class,  under  the  rule  above  stated,  a  portion  of  them  would  have  to  be 
discharged  from  the  service,  with  their  education  and  diplomas,  to  make 
their  way  in  the  w^orld.  They  would  soon  make  themselves  known  if 
their  services  should  be  needed  in  case  of  war,  and  the  more  such  men 
w'e  can  have  in  the  country  the  better  for  the  general  good. 


Statement  of  Gen.  W.  jBT.  E.  Terrell.,  United  States  pemion-agent  at  Indian- 
apolis^ Ind, 

United  States  Pension- Agency, 

Indianapolis^  March  12,  1874. 
Hon.  John  Coburn, 

House  of  Representatives^  Washington^  D.  C. .' 

Dear  Sir  :  I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your  let- 
ter of  the  3d  instant,  in  which  you  ask  certain  questions  in  relation  to 
the  payment  of  ])ensions  by  drafts,  (or  checks,)  and  the  cost  thereof,  with 
the  view  of  applying  the  same  principle  of  payment  to  the  Army.  I 
regret  that  this  reply,  which  it  gives  me  great  pleasure  to  make,  should 
have  been  so  long  delayed,  but  the  regular  quarterly  payment  of  pen- 
sions having  begun  on  the  4th  instant  it  was  impossible  for  me  to  respond 
to  your  inquiries  until  now. 

Not  being  tamiliar  with  the  details  of  Army  payments  by  paymasters, 
I  will  not  venture  an  opinion  as  to  whether  the  pension  system  of  pay- 
ment by  checks  can  be  advantageously  applied  to  the  payment  of  the 
Army  or  not ;  but  I  will  endeavor,  in  answering  your  questions,  to  show 
that  the  pension  system  is  well  adapted  to  the  pension-service,  and  that 

*  This  is,  in  fact,  the  present  practice;  bat  it  is  not  required  by  law. 

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REDUCTION  OP   THE    MILITARY    ESTABLISHMENT..  407 

it  is  economical,  safe,  and  acceptable  to  the  worthy  class  of  citizens  for 
whose  benefit  it  was  devised. 

Question  1.  "How  many  pensioners  do  you  pay  and  how  often  f 

Answer.  The  number  on  the  rolls  of  this  agency  at  tbe  last  summing 
op  was  10,250«  The  present  number  will  not  vary  much  from  that. 
Payments  ai*e  made  quarterly,  commencing  on  the  4th  days  of  March, 
June,  September,  and  December  in  each  year.  The  number  of  seimrate 
payments,  including  commutation  for  artificial  limbs  and  examiniugsur- 
geons'  fees,  is  about  41,500  annually, 

Question  2.  "Hew  much  d«  you  pay  them  at  each  payment,  in  the 
aggregate  f ' 

Answer.  I  have  only  paid  three  full  quarters,  June,  Septeihber,  and 
December,  and  can  only  give  my  experience  since  the  Ist  of  May,  1873, 
at  which  time  I  entered  upon  my  duties.  Tlie  average  amount  of  each 
of  the  above  quarterly  payments'  is  $313,000 ;  giving  a  total  for  tbe  three 
payments  of  $940,000  nearly ;  or,  at  the  same  rate,  $1,253,000  annually. 

Question  S.  "How  much  do  you,  on  an  average,  pay  with  drafUtf^ 

Answer.  All  payments,  without  exception,  are  made  by  drafts,  or 
rather  by  official  checks^  drawn  on  designated  Uniteii  States  depositories 
of  public  money — the  First  National  Bank  of  Indianapolis,  the  Indian- 
apolis National  Bank,  and  the  Third  National  Bank  of  New  York  City 
— ^for  which  duly  executed  vouchers  are  in  all  cases  taken  and  forwarded 
monthly  to  the  proper  accounting  officers  of  the  Treasury  for  examina- 
tion and  settlement.  No  currency  is  handled  by  me,  nor  is  any  money 
drawn  or  transferred  under  any  circumstances  except  as  above  stated. 

Questioo  4.  "Is  there  any  saving  of  time,  labor,  &c.,  in  the  method 
of  paying  by  drafts  ^  if  so,  hotv  is  it  ?" 

Answer,  Yes ;  as  between  the  plan  of  paying  in  checks  and  paying 
in  currency  there  is  a  saving  of  time  and  expense  to  the  |>ensioners,  and 
of  time  and  labor  to  the  agent,  as  I  will  endeavor  to  explain. 

When  a  quarterly  payment  is  due  the  pensioner  forwards  a  duly  ex- 
ecuted voucher,  which  has  been  previously  filled  out  and  sent  to  him 
through  the  mail  by  the  agent;  it  is  carefully  examined  and  compared 
with  the  records,  and,  if  found  correct,  a  check  is  drawn  for  the  full 
amount  due,  with  as  little  delay  as  possible ;  the  same  is  properly  regis- 
tered on  the  depository  cash-book,  noted  on  the  i>ension-rolU  and  trans- 
mitted to  the  pensioner's  address,  with  another  voucher  ready  to  be  exe 
cuted  for  the  next  quarterly  payment.  This  is  repeated  at  each  subsequent 
payment,  without  expense  to  the  pensioner,  he  being  subjected  to  no 
outlay  whatever,  except  a  fee  of  fifteen  cents  to  the  magistrate  for  each 
oath  or  certificate,  and  three  cents  for  return-postage.  In  new  cases  or 
**  increase"  cases  the  vouchers  are  prepared  and  sent  to  claimants  in  the 
order  the  certificates  are  received  from  the  Pension  Bureau,  so  that  pen- 
sioners living  at  a  distance  have  no  need  of  visiting  the  agency  at  all, 
and  they  are  saved  the  time  and  expense  of  travel,  and  the  vexations 
and  delays  necessarily  incident  to  making  personal  application  for  their 
money.  The  helplessness  and  decrepitu<ie  of  many  iiensioners,  by  rea- 
son of  their  infirmities,  arising  from  wounds,  old  age,  &c.,  ap[)eal 
strongly  to  a  generous  sympathy,  and  it  is  therefore  peculiarly  fitting 
that  simple,  easy,  and  safe  means  be  provided  for  their  payment,  with- 
out unnecessary  cost  or  delay.  The  system  is  absolutely  safe,  expedi- 
tious, inexpensive,  and  satisfactory,  generally,  to  the  persons  whose  best 
iuteiests  it  is  the  aim  of  the  Government  to  serve  and  protect.  In  these 
respects  it  is  in  striking  contrast  with  the  former  plan  of  paying  under 
powers  of  attorney.  Now  the  pensioner  is  sure  to  get  all  he  is  lawfully 
entitled  to,  while  under  the  old  system  attorneys  almost  invariably 


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408  REDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT. 

charged  for  their  services,  and  not  infrequently  (having  the  money  in 
their  own  hands)  helped  themselves  liberally,  sometimes  extravagantly, 
and  occasionally  appropriated  the  whole.  No  middlemen  are  now  neccR- 
sary,  and  the  safeguards  already  explained  have  been  found  sufficient 
for  each  and  every  case.  During  the  time  I  have  acted  as  agent  bat 
few  instances  have  occurred  (only  three  or  four)  where  checks  have  been 
lost  in  the  mails,  and  the  number  which  have  failed  ta  reach  their  proper 
destination  by  reason  of  misdirection,  &c.,  is  surprisingly  small.  Every 
check  is  made  payable  to  the  order  of  the  pensioner,  and  up  to  the  pres- 
ent time  I  have  not-heard  of  a  single  case  of  fraudulent  collection  by 
forged  indorsement  or  otherwise. 

There  are  other  pensioners,  however,  to  whom  the  above  plan  of  pay- 
ment does  not  apply:    tbose  who  make  personal  application  at  the 
agency  for  their  checks,  as,  for  instance^  those  who  reside  in  or  near  the 
city  of  Indianapolis.    Their  vouchers  having  been  prepared  in  advance, 
are  executed  in  presence  of  the  agent,  who  takes  the  necessary  proofs 
without  charge^  and  then  delivers  the  checks  directly  to  the  persons 
entitled  thereto.    About  one  thousand  are  paid  in  this  way  each  quarter, 
principally  residents  of  Marion  County,  requiring,  usually,  the  whole 
attention  of  the  agent  and  clerks  for  the  first  week  of  the  quarter.    Much 
more  time  is  consumed  in  making  these  payments  than  payments  through 
the  mails.    In  widows^  and  guardians'  cases  the  testimony  of  witnesses 
must  be  taken ;  all  signatures  must  be  attested ;  duplicate  receipts 
signed,  the  officer's  jurat  affixed,  &c.,  and  then  the  pensioner  must  wait 
until  his  check  can  be  made  out,  signed,  and  entered  upon  the  records. 
At  least  three  payments  can  be  made  on  ^  mail-vouchers"  to  one  at  the 
office  counter. 
Question.  •'  How  many  clerks  do  you  have  or  need  !" 
Answer.  I  have  six  clerks,  and  need  that  number  for  the  prompt  and 
accurate  dispatch  of  business.    During  the  first  month  in  each  quarter 
I  could  advantageously  use  one  or  two  more  if  I  had  room  for  them; 
besides,  I  give  my  own  personal  attention  to  the  business  of  the  agency 
in  all  its  details.    Payments  really  extend  throughout  the  year,  but  it  is 
only  during  the  first  four  or  five  weeks,  at  the  beginning  of  a  quarter, 
that  the  pressure  is  great.    After  that  all  delayed  work  is  brought  np, 
vouchers  are  systematically  arranged  and  entered  upon  abstrao^s  for 
audit,  and  the  work  of  preparing  the  vouchers  is  attended  to  in  time  for 
the  next  payments.    Since  I  entered  upon  duty  in  May  last,  a  complete 
set  of  new,  enlarged,  and  improved  pension-roll  books  have  been  com- 
pleted at  heavy  personal  cost,  to  take  the  place  of  the  old  and  imperfect 
ones,  which  had  become  defaced  and  badly  worn  from  long  use.    A  daily 
register  of  receipts,  disbursements  and  balances  in  each  depository  has 
been  kept  up,  and  the  date  of  payment  of  each  check  noted  thereon.   This 
register,  I  am  informed^  is  a  new  feature  in   pension-agencies,  and 
although  it  involves  a  great  deal  of  patient  labor  to  keep  it  written  up, 
I  find  It  invaluable.    The  correspondence  is  quite  extensive  and  receives 
prompt  attention.    The  clerks  average  about  nine  hours  of  labor  daily, 
and  in  the  winter  season  are  required  to  work  at  night.    The  business 
in  all  its  intricate  details  requires  the  closest  attention^  and,  therefore, 
only  competent  and  skillful  clerks  can  be  employed. 

CoHt  and  expenses  of  the  agency. — ^This  agency  ranks  as  the  fourth  in 
size  in  the  United  States.  Bond,  $650,000.  The  agent  is  paid  by  salary, 
$4,000,  and  by  a  fee  of  30  cents  as  full  compensation  for  all  service,  in- 
cluding postage  for  each  voucher  prepareii  and  paid  by  him,  which 
salary  and  fees  are  paid  by  the  (Jnited  States.    The  fees  for  the  year 


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REDUCTION   OF   THE   MILITARY   ESTABLISHMENT.  409 

are  estioiated  at  $10,500,  making  for  salary  and  fees  $I4,500,''or  about 
one  and  one-sixth  per  cent,  on  $1,253,000  disbursed. 

It  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  whole  expenses  of  the  agency  for 
rent  of  office,  fuel,  lights,  clerk-hire,  postage  on  vouchers,  furniture, 
and  incidental  outlays  are  paid  by  the  agent.  These  items  for  the  year 
I  estimate  will  amount  to  $8,000,  which  deducted  from  the  total  amount 
received  from  salary  and  fees,  leaves  the  agent  the  sum  of  $6,500  as  his 
net  compensation  for  the  year ;  being  about  one-half  of  one  per  cent,  on 
$1,253,000  disbursed. 

My  postage  bills  for  three  payments,  covering  a  period  of  ten  months, 
amounted  to  $1,080,  of  which  I  am  only  entitled  to  $308.15  from  the 
Government,  the  balance  being  borne  by  myself,  as  all  other  expenses 
are  except  records  and  stationery,  and  paid  out  of  my  salary  and  fees, 
as  before  stated. 


ERRATA. 


In  the  testimony  of  Adjatant-Qeneral  Townsend,  on  page  40,  sixth  line  from  the 
bottom, for  the  word  ** commutation"  read  ''  Aire;''  and  on  page  41,  third  line  from  the 
top,  after  the  word  **yea**  insert  the  words  "forage  in  kind," 

On  pa^e  27 ,  second  line  from  the  bottom,  in  a  remark  made  by  General  Hawlev,  of 
Connecticut,  for  "  40,000"  read  "  2,000." 

On  page  234,  bottom  line,  for  "each  of  these  men  «are«,"  read  *'  twentif  of  these  men  save 


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IN^DEX. 


Page. 

Advertising  in  Qnartermaflter's  and  Comratssary  Departments 309,349-356 

Adjutant-General,  testimony  of 33-52 

Clerks  in  office  of 46-48 

Enlisted  men  and  civil  employes  in  office  of 51 

Work  done  in  office  of 49 

Alvord,  Gen.  B.,  iiaymaster,  testimony  of 311-320 

Ammnnition,  manufacture  of' 94 

Appropriations  for  the  Army  proper ;  statement  of  Secretary  of  War 62 

Arizona,  General  Sherman's  opinion  of . .  I , 5, 6 

Army,  Regular : 

Of  what  composed 3, 4 

Statement  showing  the  actaal  strength  of,  &c 376-^)91 

Posts  and  stations  of 330-343 

Annnal  average  decrease  of,  by  casualties 37, 52 

Estimates  for 62 

Pay  of  officers  and  men  of 318,319 

Civil  employes  of ^ 82-88 

On  reduction  of— 

General  Sherman's  testimony 3-32,270-284 

Maj.  Gen.  E.  D.  Townsend's  testimony 33-52 

Gen.  J.  D.  Bingham's  testimony 70-88 

Col.  8.  V.  Ben6t's  testimony 8S-97 

Maj.  Gen.  A.  A.  Humphreys's  testimony 106-114 

General  N.  H.  Davis's  testimony 158-173 

Maj.  Gen.  A.  Baird's  testimony 173-188 

Maj.  Gen.  J.  Pope's  testimony.. 188-196 

Mi^.  Gen.  I.  McDowell's  testimony 251-269 

Lieut.  Gen.  P.  H.  Sheridan's  testimony 218-231 

Gen.  A.  Myer's  testimony 234-241,344 

Mfg.  Gen.  J.  Hardie's  testimony 241-251 

Maj.  Gen.  M.  C.  Meigs's  testimony 284-297 

Maj.  Gen.W.S.  Harney's  testimony 297-301 

Maj.  Gen.  A.  B.  Eaton's  testimony 114-119 

General  B.  Alvord's  testimony 311-320 

M^j.  Gen.  R.  B.  Marcy's  testimony 307-311 

Surgeon -General  I.  K.  Barnes's  testimony 105, 139, 301-307 

Judge- Advocate  General  J.  Holt's  testimony ! . .  321-325 

General  J.  J.  Reynolds's  testimony 397-406 

How  it  should  be  officered 406 

Army  regulations 195,268,269 

Armories  and  areenals: 

General  Sherman's  testimony  concerning 25-27 

Secretary  of  War's  testimony  in  relation  to 66-68 

Colonel  Ben6t's  testimony 96, 97 

Arms,  distribution  of,  to  militia 27 

Arnell,  Hon.  Samuel  N.,  on  state  of  affairs  in  Tennessee 216,217 

Artillery,  General  Sherman's  testimony 10-12 

Annual  cost  of  one  regiment .•. 50 

Arsenals.     (See  Armories  and  arsenals.) 

Average  mont bly  and  yearly  i ncrease  of  pay  of  officers 319 

Baird,  Maj.  Gen.  Absalom,  testimony  of \ 173-188 

Baker,  Hon.  J.  H.,  Commissioner  of  Pensions — 

.  Statement  as  to  method  of  paying  pensions 326 

Barracks  and  hospitals ., 39 

Barnes,  Surgeon-General  J.  R.,  statements  by 105, 139 

Testimony  of 301-307 

Battalion  of  Engineers 19,42,58,330 

Enlisted  men  in 215 

Belknap,  Hon.  W^.  W.,  Secretary  of  War,  testimony  of 52-70 

Ben<«t,  Col.  S.  V.,  testimony  of 88-97 

Bevier,  J.  D.,  Indian  inspector,  testimony  of 200 


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412  INDEX. 

Biuf^hani,  Gen.  J.  D.,  Acting  Qaarterniaster-General — 

Testimony  of 70-88 

Brunot,  Felix  R.,  chairman  of  board  of  Indian  commissioners — 

Testimony  of 147-157 

Bureau  of  Military  Justice 32l-3*i5 

Casualties  in ." 52 

Burial  of  officers,  expenses  of 296 

Canada,  posts  and  troops  near  southern  boundary  of 12, 261 

Canby,  Gen.  £.  R.  S.,  instructions  to,  in  treatment  of  Modocs 279-2^2 

Casualties,  in  the  Army,  for  the  year  ending  January   1,  1874 344 

In  the  staff  of  the  Army 52 

Cavalry,  General  Sherman's  testimony  in  relation  to 4-9 

Posts  occupied  by 4-8 

Annual  cost  of  one  regiment 50 

Cost  of  transfer  of  resiment 61, 295 

Cemeteries,  statement  of  Acting  Quaitermaster-General 356 

Chaplains,  in  the  Army 250, 283 

Claims,  examination  of,  in  Quartermaster's  Depai'tment 296 

Clothing,  Array,  preservation  of 74 

Coast  and  Harbors — Works  of  defense  : 

General  Sherman's  testimony 4, 21-25 

Maj.  Gen.  A.  A.  Humphreys'f  Testimony 88,109,110.112,115 

Maj.  Gen.  I.  McDowell's  testimony 259 

Coast  Fortifications  and  Posts : 

Care  of.   (6V€ Fortifications,  &.C.,  on  Atlantic  coast.) 

Contingencies — Army  ., 75 

Corps  of  Engineers — Casualties  in 52 

Testimony  of  chief  of 106-114 

Rank,  duties,  and  address  of  officers  of 367-372 

Civil  employes — In  Adj utant-General's  office 46, 51 

In  office  of  Commissary-General  of  Subsistence 114, 115 

In  Surgeon-General's  office 105,106,139,140 

In  the  Ordnance  Department 97 

In  the  Eufifineer  Department 364,365 

Acting  Quartermaster-General's  statement  concerning 82-*^ 

Paymaster-General's  statement  concerning 372, 373 

In  the  Signal- Service,  concerning 375 

In  the  office  of  Inspector-General 374 

In  the  office  of  Judgo-Advocate-General 376 

Daniels,  J.  W.,  Indian  inspector,  testimony  of 212 

Davis,  Gen.  N.  H.,  testimony  of , 158-ir3 

Delano,  Hon.  C,  Secretary  of  the  Interior — 

Testimony  of 98-lte 

Desertions,  &c.,  annually 37,64 

Detailed  men,    {See  Enlisted  men.) 

Earth-works 107 

Eaton,Maj.  Gen.  A.  B.,  testimony  of. 114-119 

Employ^,  civil.    (See  Civil  employ^.) 

Engineers,  testimony  of  Chief  of 106-114 

Casualties  in  Corps  of 52 

Officers,  rank,  duties,  &c 367 

Engineer  Battalion 19,42,264,330 

Enlistments,  average  number  of,  peryear 38 

Testimony  of  Secretary  of  War,  on 64 

Enlisted  men — 

In  Adjutant-General's  office 48,51 

In  Battalion  of  Engineers  ..» 215 

In  Quartermaster's  Department i?7 

In  the  Subsistence  Department 115,119 

In  the  Surgeon-General's  office 105,106,139.140 

In  the  Ordnance  Department 97, 216 

In  the  Signal- Service 237, 376 

In  office  of  Judge- Advocate-General 376 

Forage,  &c 75,360 

Fortifications,  works  on 65,66, 114 

Forts,  military  posts,  &c 3,10,21,254,330-343,346,347 

On  the  abandonment  of  certain 4 

Fortifications,  &.C.,  on  Atlantic  coast : 

General  Sherman's  testimony  as  to  care  of 10, 11 

General  Baird's  testimony  as  to  care  of 179, 180, 185, 186, 188 

General  Pope's  testimony  as  to  care  of 194,195 


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INDEX.  413 

Pago. 
Fortifications,  &o.y  on  Atlantic  coast — Continued. 

General  McDoweirs  testimony  as  to  care  of 257, 258, 259, 260 

General  Marcy's  testimony  as  to  care  of 308,309 

Foundery,  ordnance 25,26,92 

Fael,  &c 75,80,:}60 

Gnus,  large 25,89,91,92,109 

Harbors  and  ships  of  war .• 113 

Defenses  of ^ 91,109 

Hardio,Maj.  Gen.  J.,  testimony  of 241-351 

Haruey,Maj.Gen.W.S.,  testimony  of 297-301 

Headquarters,  offices,  estimates,  &c 41, 81 

rent  paid  for,  &c «l,82 

Holt,  Gen.  Joseph ,  Judge-Ad vocate-General,  testimony  of 321-325 

Horses,  pnrchase  of 72 

Hospitals  aod  barracks 39 

Hospital-stewards 32 

Humphreys,  Maj.  Gen.  A.  A.,  testimony  Of 106-114 

Indians  and  Indian  affairs— General  Sherman's  testimony 4, 5, 270-284 

On  managementof,  by  War  Department 57,190,191,209,224,250,276,406 

Testimony  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior 98-105 

Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs 119-130 

Maj.  W.Fowell 130-139 

G.  W.  Ingalls 140-147 

William  Vandever 196-200 

Felix  R.  Brunot 147-157 

J.  D.  Bevier 200-205 

Maj.  Gen.  J.  Pope 190,192 

Hon.  J.  P.  C.  Shanks 205 

J.  W.  Daniels 212 

J.  C.  O'Connor 213 

Lieutenant-General  Sheridan 226 

Gen.  Robert  Milroy 231 

MiJ.  Gen.  W.  S.  Harney 297 

Edward  C.  Kemble 392 

Indians'  arms 192 

Indian  traders 192 

Indians,  cost  of  feeding  on  reservations  in  Arizona 198 

Infantry : 

General  Sherman's  testimony 12-19 

Annual  cost  of  one  regiment 15-50 

Posts  occupied  by 12-19 

Ingalls,  G.  W.,  Indian  agent,  testimony  of 140-147 

Inspector-General,  testimony  of ,.  307-311 

Job-printing,  by  order  of  Army  officers 351 

Judge-Advocate-General,  testimony  of 321-325 

Kemble,  Edward  C,  Indian  inspector,  testimony  of 392 

Louisiana,  condition  of 257 

Marcy,  Maj.  Gen.  R.  B.,  testimony  of 307-311 

McDowell,  Maj.  Gen.  I.,  testimony  of 251-269 

Medical  Department: 

Testimony  of  Surgeon-General  Barnes 301,307 

Enlisted  men  in 105, 106 

Statements  concerning  employ^  in 139 

Casualties  iu 52 

Posts  and  stations  of  medical  officers,  Sec 304,307 

Medical  Museum .' 32 

Meiga,  Major-General  M.  C,  Quartermaster-General,  testimony  of 284-297 

Mileage  of  officers 41,62,310 

Military  Academy 266,267,406 

Militia : 

•    Relating  to  arms  for 27,93 

Military  court's,  schedule  of  records 325 

Milroy,    Gen.  R.  H.,  superintendent  of  Indian  affairs  in  Washington   Ter- 
ritory, testiraonv  of 231,234 

Mortar-batteries 110 

Myer,  Gen.  A.  J.,  Chief  Signal-Officer,  -testimony  of 234-241, 344 

Newspapers : 

List  of,  authorized  to  publish  advertisements  for  War  Department  and  its 
bureaus 352-356 


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414  INDEX. 

Pajte. 

O^Connor,  J.  C,  Indian  inspector,  testifhony  of 213-215 

Officers  of  the  Army,  total  annual  pay  of 3ltJ-3l9 

Ordnance  Department: 

General  Sherman's  testimony 2H 

Testimony  of  Col.  S.  V.  Beudt,  Major  of  Ordnance 88-97 

Casualties  in jV2 

Ordnance-fonndery % 25,26 

Payment  of  pensions,  method  of i^-i^) 

Agencies  where  paid 3*29 

General  W.  H.  H.  Terriirs  statement 40i) 

Pay  Department : 

General  Sherman's  testimony 30 

General  B.  Alvord's  testimony 311-320 

Pay  of  Army  officers * i20 

Total  annual  payment  to  officers  and  man 318,319 

Casualties  in 52 

Cost  of  paying  troops   314,317 

Clerks  and  other  employes  needed  in 313, 314 

St-ation-llst  of  officers  of 373 

Retired  officers  of 374 

Pay  of  officers;  average  monthly  and  yearly  increase 319 

Payment  of  Army,  General  Reynolds's  testimony , 404 

Pension-agencies,  where  located,  &c 329 

Pontons 42 

Pope,Maj.  Gen.  J.,  testimony  of 118,196 

Posts  and  stations  of  Army,  statement  of  Adjutant-General 330-343, 376-301 

Posts  and  stations  of  Signal-Bureau 34(5,347 

Powell,  Maj.. J.  W.,  testimony  of 130 

Prisons,  military 261, 26i 

Promotions i^ft" 

Quarteruiaster-General's  Department : 

General  Sherman's  testimony 2^^,  31 

General  J.  D.  Bingham's  testimony 70, 71,  ^itV^ 

Maj.  Gen.  M.  C.  Meigs's  testimony 'ZS4-'p)'t 

Expenditures  of  Department 57,3r>'!^ 

Incidental  expenses 29, 35;? 

Examination  of  claims 21^ 

Appropriations  for ;  strength  of  Department,  &c '-^ 

Civil  employes 82-^^,356 

Quarters,  rent  or  hire  of,  for  officers,  &c 40, 41, 69, 73, 360-;^ 

Testimony  of  Secretary  of  War  relative  to 59, 6;J 

In  Indian  country,  &c l^^ 

Rent  paid  for  headquarters 81,  "^^ 

Quarters  and  fuel,  regulations  as  to 79,80, '*J1 

Recruiting,  cost  of,  per  man 64 

System  of 245 

Reynolds,  General  J.  J.,  testimony  of 397-41M) 

Regiments,  where  stationed: 

Cavalry  4-10 

Artillerv 10-1^ 

Infantry 12-19 

Change  of 61.4H5 

Regulations,  Army 195.268,269 

Rent  for  quarters,  &c 40,41,69,73,81,82,:560,36:| 

Report  of  committee "i 

Satnnta,  account  of  arrest  of '     274 

Secretary  of  War,  testimony  of 52-70 

On  a  reduction  of  the  Army 53,56,^ 

On  management  of  Indian  affairs 54,56,57 

On  a  concentration  of  military  forces 55 

On  keeping  troops  in  Southern  States 55 

On  expenditures  for  distant  posts 57 

On  the  engineer  battalion 5^ 

On  a  reduction  of  employes  in  the  War  Department 59, 60 

On  a  reduction  of  employes  in  the  Quartermaster's  Department 5^ 

On  appropriations  for  the  Army  proper 62 

ShankP,Hon.  J.P.Ct-estimonv  of 205-212 

Sheridan,  Lieut.  Gen.  P.  H.,  testimony  of 2I8-2:U 

On  the  number  of  Sioux  Indians 225 


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INDEX.  415 

Pagi\ 

Sherman,  General  testimony  of 3-:52, 270-284 

Ships  of  war  may  enter  certain  harbors 24, 112,  llJi 

Signal  service 64,234-241,265,344-347 

Expenditures  for * 344 

Ref^nlar  stations  of 346 

Smith,  Hon.  E.  P.,  Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs,  testimony  of 119-130 

Soldiers,  average  cost  of  each  per  year 38 

Sonthem  States,  tro«  ps  in 55, 216, 253, 254 

Staff  officers,  on  a  reduction  of  the  numbers  of 21, 243, 249, 402 

G  eneral  officers  and  general  staff  corps 344 

On  details  of,  from  the  line 402,403 

Subsistence  Department : 

Statement  relating  to  employ^,  &c 114,115 

Statement  relating  to  detailed  men 115, 116, 117, 118, 1 19 

Snrgeon-GeneraPs  office: 

Statement  relating  to  number  and  pay  of  employes,  &c 139 

Detailed  men  in •. 104, 105 

Inquiries  relating  to  pensions  In 302 

Texas,  military  posts  in 174 

Posts  and  Indians,  on  frontiers 270-284 

Telegraph  line  wanted 399 

Torpedoes 25,42,110,261 

Townsend,  Mi^i.  Gen.  E.  D.,  Adjutant-General : 

Testimony  of 33-52 

Clerks  in  office  of 46-48 

Enlisted  men  and  civil  employ^  in  office  of 51 

Work  done  in  office  of 49 

Transportation,  cost  of 73 

Terrell,  Gen.  W.  H.  H.,  testimony  as  to  paying  pensions 406 

Troops,  concentration  of 189 

Ilnifonns,  Army 289,290 

Vacancies,  statement  of  Adjutant-General 344 

Vande ver,  William,  Indian  inspector,  testimony  of 196-200 

War  Department : 

Testimony  of  Hon.  W.W.  Belknap 52-70 

On  reduction  of  number  of  employ^  in 59 

West  Point  Military  Academy , 266,267,406 


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43d  Oongbess,  \     HOUSE  OP  REPRESENTATIVES.      (  Report 
Ui  Session.     §  \JSo.  385. 


JOHN  M.  BURNS  vs.  JOHN  D.  YOUNG. 


April  6, 1874.— Laid  npon  the  table  and  ordered  to  be  printed. 


Mr.  Gbossland,  from  the  Committee  on  Elections,  submitted  the  fol- 
lowing 

REPORT: 

The  Committee  on  MectionSy  to  whom  teas  referred  the  contest  of  John 
M.  Bums  against  John  D.  Young^  claiming  a  seat  in  the  Bovse  of  Rep- 
resentatives of  the  Forty-third  Congress  as  Representative  jrom  the  tenth 
congressional  district  of  Kentucky^  submit  the  following  unanimous 
report : 

The  eredentials  of  the  sitting  member  exhibit  the  votes  received  by 
each,  as  follows : 

Cotiiiti«t.  Jno.  D.  Totug.    Jno.  M.  Buthl 

Bracken 975  548 

Mason 1,663  1,338 

Lewi« 709  937 

Greenup 525  866 

Bojrd 414  638 

Carter 427  560 

Lawrence 437  427 

Johnson 314  490 

Rowan 164  272 

Bath 875  717 

Martin 27  178 

Nicholas 974  645 

Fleming 1,041  984 

Robertson 330  285 

9,073  8,885 

8,685 

Toung*t  majoritj 188 

The  grounds  of  contest  are  contained  in  the  notice  of  contestant,  a 
copy  ot  which  is  here  appended : 

No.  1,-^Noliee  of  conUsL 

Mr.  John  D.  Touno  :  Yon  are  herebj  notified  that  I  wiU  contest  ^our  rieht  to  a  seat 
in  the  Fort  jHhird  Conness  as  a  member  elect  from  the  tenth  congressional  dutrict  in  the 
State  of  Eentuckj,  on  3ie  foUowing  grounds : 

1st.  Because  you  did  not>  aft  the  election  in  said  district  on  the  5th  day  of  Novem- 
ber, 1872,  reoeiye  a  majority  of  the  legal  rotes  cast  at  said  elecUon  m  said  district. 

2d.  Becmise  votes  were  counted  for  you  and  against  me  at  said  election,  when  the  poll- 
books  were  not  signed  by  the  proper  officer  as  required  by  law  ;  nor  were  said  poll-books 
and  the  votes  for  Congressmen  certified  as  the  law  required. 

3d.  Because  the  ballot-box  at  the  Dry  Fork  precinct,  in  Lawrence  County,  in  said  district, 
was  not  sealed ;  nor  was  the  poll-book  sealed ;  nor  were  said  box  and  book  carried  to  the 


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2  BURNS  VS.   YOUNG. 

conntj  court  clerk  of  said  county  by  an  officer  of  the  election,  or  hj  any  one  in  the  pres 
ence  or  company  of  such  an  officer,  but  was  carried  by  a  boy  some  nfteen  or  sixteen  miles 
in  said  condition,  and  by  him  delivered  to  the  clerk. 

4th.  Because  the  poll-book  at  the  Deer  Creek  precinct,  in  Carter  County,  in  sud  district, 
was  not  signed  or  certified  as  required  by  law. 

5th.  Because  ballots  or  yotes  legally  or  properly  cast  for  me  in  the  counties  of  Bracken, 
Nicholas,  Robertson,  Rowan,  Mason,  Bath,  Boyd,  and  Fleming,  in  said  district,  were  ille- 
gally, wrongfully,  and  fraudulently  thrown  out,  and  not  counted,  by  the  precinct  and  coonty 
election  boards  of  said  counties. 

6th.  Because  in  the  computation  of  TOtes  or  ballots  cast  in  the  counties  last  above 
named  the  various  election  boards  of  said  counties  counted  for  you  more  votes  than  yoa 
received. 

7th.  Because  I  received  at  said  election  in  said  district  a  majority  of  the  legal  votes  cast 
therein ;  and,  for  the  reason  herein  set  out,  I  wiU  claim  the  seat  in  said  Congress  from 
said  State  and  district  as  member  elect  therein. 
Respectfully, 

JOHN  M.  BURNS. 

December  23,  1872. 

The  answer  of  contestee  denies  each  of  the  grounds  presented  by  the 
notice,  and  makes  the  following  '^  charges  "  in  regard  to  thB  votes  re- 
ceived by  contestant : 

1st.  You  did  not  receive  a  majority  of  all  the  legal  votes  cast  at  said  election,  in  sud  dis- 
trict, on  the  5th  day  of  November  last,  and  I  did. 

2d.  Illegal  votes,  and  votes  by  minors  and  persons  who  had  not  resided  in  the  counties 
and  precincts  the  time  required  by  law,  were  cast  for  you  in  each  precinct  of  said  district 

3d.  Voters  were  directly  and  indirectly  bribed  to  vote  for  you,  by  the  free  use  of  whiskj, 
money,  and  property,  in  the  counties  of  Lewis,  Greenup,  Bo^d,  Lawrence,  and  Marthi, 
and  said  voters  did,  under  said  influences,  vote  for  you,  and  m  said  eountios  manv  voten 
were  awed  and  intimidated,  and  prevented  from  voting  for  me  and  forced  to  vote  tor  yoo. 

4th.  I  chafee  that  at  every  precinct  in  said  district  where  you  received  a  majority  the  jpoU- 
books  and  baUot-bozes  were  not  signed  and  sealed  and  delivered  to  the  clerka  of  the  various 
county  courts,  as  required  by  law ;  and  votes  were  obtained  for  you  at  each  of  said  precincts 
by  bribery,  fraud,  and  intimidation. 

5tb.  I  charge,  and  will  prove,  that  all  the  votes  cast  for  you  in  the  counties  of  Nicholu, 
Bobertson,  Bracken,  Mason,  Fleming,  Lewis,  Greenup,  Boyd,  Lawrence,  Martin,  Johnsoa, 
Carter,  and  Rowan  were  illegal  and  void,  being  in  violation  of  the  fifth  section  of  the  act 
of  the  Kentucky  legislature  in  regard  to  voting  by  ballot,  approved  March  27,  1872,  which 
is  as  follows : 

''All  ballots  shall  be  printed  or  written  on  white  paper,  and  shall  have  on  them  the  name 
of  the  person  voted  for,  and  shall  have  no  other  distinguishing  mark  on  them,  and  each  ballot 
shall  be  so  folded  as  not  to  show  any  part  of  the  name  written  or  printed  on  it." 

I  state,  and  allege,  in  the  counties  above  named  the  ballots  voted  for  you  had  the  **dis- 
tineuishine  mai  k  "  *  *  Hon.*'  before  John  M.  Bums,  while  others  had  *'  Hon.  John  M.  Bonu.** 
and  other  distinguishing  marks,  and  all  of  which  ballots  were  counted  for  you,  in  violation 
of  the  eighth  section  of  said  act  of  the  Kentucky  legislature. 

6th.  1  charge  that  all  the  votes  cast  for  you  in  the  county  of  Martin  were  not  deposited  in 
ballot-boxes  with  locks  and  keys  to  them,  as  provided  by  said  act  of  the  Kentucky  legisla- 
ture. 

7th.  I  charge  fraud  upon  your  part  and  upon  the  part  of  your  friends  in  circulating  the 
report  in  the  county  of  Martin  that  I  was  no  candidate,  losing  to  me  by  said  report  more 
than  one  hundred  votes. 

For  these  reasons  I  deny  your  pretended  right  to  a  seat  in  the  Forty -third  Congress  of  the 
United  States  iirom  the  tenth  congressional  district  of  Kentucky. 
Bespectfully, 

JOHN  D.  YOUXG. 

OwiNGSViLLE,  Ky.,  January  6,  1873. 

This  was  the  first  election  held  under  the  statnte  of  Kentucky  requir- 
ing elections  for  Kepresentatives  in  Congress  to  be  by  ballot,  as  directed 
by  the  act  of  Congress  ai)proved  February  28, 1871. 

The  directing  provisions  of  the  act  of  the  Kentucky  legislature  are 
very  elaborate,  and  were  not  in  every  instance  strictly  complied  with  by 
officers  who  conducted  the  election.  Many  irregularities  occurred  in 
precincts  in  which  contestee  received  majorities,  and  exactly  similar 
irregularities  occurred  in  precincts  which  gave  majorities  for  contestant* 


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BURNS  VS.  YOUNG.  3 

And,  if  proof  of  mere  irregalarities  is  sufficient  to  vitiate  the  vote  in 
these  precincts  and  these  ouly  counted  where  there  was  strict  conform- 
ity to  the  Kentucky  statute,  the  majority  of  the  contestee  would  be 
increased.  In  some  instances  the  county  boards,  in  compliance  with  a 
provision  of  the  statute  which  directs  that  the  ballots  shall  have  on  them 
the  name  of  the  person  voted  for,  and  no  other  distinguishing  mark, 
threw  out  ballots  cast  for  contestant  because  the  word  ^^  Hon.^  was 
prefixed  to  his  name  on  them.  The  committee  are  of  opinion  that  the 
ballots  thrown  out  for  this  reason  ought  to  have  been  counted  for  con- 
testant. In  the  county  of  Bracken  there  were  thrown  out  because  of 
the  prefix  ^^Hon."  36  ballots  for  contestants.  In  the  county  of  Mason, 
according  to  the  certificates  of  the  precinct  officers,  Yonng  received  1,663, 
Bums  1,347.  The  county  board  certify  for  Burns  1,338  votes,  or  9 
votes  less  than  the  precinct  certificates  aggregate.  These  9  votes  the 
committee  believe  ought  to  be  counted  for  Bums  for  the  reason  that  the 
county  board  refused  to  allow  any  person  except  the  members  of  the 
board  to  be  present  when  the  ballots  were  counted.  Witness  Hutchens 
swears  that  he  asked  permission  to  remain  in  the  room  while  the  board 
were  coanting  the  votes,  and  was  refused  by  a  member  of  the  board. 

The  said  witness,  Hutchens,  testifies  that  the  members  of  said  board 
are  men  of  integrity  and  veracity ;  nevertheless  the  committee  consider 
the  practice  reprehensible  and  dangerous,  and  believe  that  contestant 
Bums  ought  to  have  corrected  for  him  all  the  votes  certified  by  the 
precinct  officers,  viz,  1,367 ;  which  would  give  Bums  as  follows : 

Vote  certified  by  SUte  board 8,885 

Ballots  thrown  out  as  stated  above 36 

Difference  between  votes  certified  by  district  precincts  and  county  boards  in  Mason 

County 9 

Which  makes  contestant's  vote 8,930 

In  Bracken  County  three  ballots  g^ven  for  contestee  Young  were  thrown  out  because 

the  prefix  "Hon."  was  on  them 3 

Thrown  out  in  Fleming  County  for  the  same  reason 1 

Vote  for  contestee  certified  by  State  board 9,073 

Total  vote  for  contestee 9,077 

There  is  no  allegation  or  proof  of  fraud  in  the  manner  of  conducting 
the  election  in  other  counties  or  precincts. 

The  counties  of  Lewis,  Greenup,  Boyd,  Carter,  Johnson,  Martin,  and 
Bowan,  gave  majorities  for  contestant,  and  contestant  received  majori- 
ties in  various  precincts  in  the  counties  which  gave  majorities  for  con- 
testee, and  the  committee  find  that  in  these  counties  and  precincts  the 
same  irregularities  were  committed  as  in  the  precincts  and  counties 
which  gave  majorities  for  contestee. 

In  conclusion,  the  committee  are  of  opinion  that,  concerning  the  pre- 
cincts wherein  the  irregularities  were  of  so  grave  and  important  a  na- 
ture as  to  affect  the  validity  of  the  returns,  the  secondary  proof  of  the 
actual  votes  cast  shows  a  result  not  differing  from  that  shown  by  the  re- 
turns* In  other  precincts,  the  irregularities  complained  of  on  both  sides, 
thoagh  to  be  reprehended,  are  not  of  a  nature  to  necessarily  affect  the 
validity  of  the  returns. 

The  committee  recommend  the  adoption  of  the  following  resolution : 

Resolved^  That  John  D.  Young,  the  sitting  member,  was  duly  elected 
a  Representative  in  the  Forty-third  Congress  from  the  tenth  congres- 
sional district  of  Kentucky,  and  is  entitled  to  his  seat. 

C 


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43d  Congeess,  \     HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES.      «  Repoet 
1st  Session.     )  )  No.  386. 


JAMES  A.  DREW  AND  OTHERS. 


April  7,  1874. — Committed  to  a  Committee  of  the  Whole  Honse  and  ordered  to  be 

printed. 


Mr.  Du?^z^£LL,  from  the  Committee  on  Claims,  submitted  the  followiug 

REPORT; 

[To  accompany  H.  R.  2873.] 

Tfie  Committee  on  Claims^  to  whom  was  referred  the  petition  of  James  A. 
Drew  and  others^for  compensation  for  land  taken  from  them  and  ceded 
to  Great  Britain  by  the  treaty  of  Washington^  of  1842,  have  had  the 
same  under  considerationj  and  beg  leave  to  report : 

That  in  the  treaty  between  the  United  States  and  Great  Britain  of 
November  30, 1782,  it  was  agreed  that  the  United  States  should  be 
boanded  •  •  •  <<east  by  the  line  to  be  drawn  along  the  middle 
of  the  Saint  Croix  River,  from  its  month,  in  the  Bay  of  Fundy,  to  its 
source,  and  from  its  source  directly  north  to  the  aforesaid  highlands, 
which  divide  the  rivers  that  fall  into  the  Atlantic  Ocean  from  those 
which  fall  into  the  river  Saint  L  iwrence.'^ 

Article  II  of  the  treaty  of  peace  of  September  3, 1783,  re-establishes 
this  boundary  in  exactly  the  same  words.  ' 

The  commissioners  appointed  under  the  provisions  of  the  treaty  of 
Noveml>er  19, 1794,  determined  the  source  of  the  Saint  Croix,  and  the 
two  governments  erected  a  monument  to  mark  the  spot. 

In  accordance  with  the  provisions  of  all  of  these  treaties,  making  the 
boundary  a  due  north  line  from  the  head-waters  of  the  Saint  Croix,  &c., 
Uassachnsetts  caused  a  due  north  line  to  be  run  from  the  monument  to 
the  Saint  John  River,  in  1804,  and  many  of  the  grants  of  lands  to  insti- 
tutions of  learning  and  to  meritorious  soldiers  of  the  Revolutionary  War 
and  their  widows  were  located  along  this  line. 

This  line  corresponds  very  nearly  with  the  line  run  in  1840  by  Major 
Graham,  of  the  United  States  topographical  engineers,  and  which  is, 
without  doubt,  the  true  line  of  the  treaty  of  1783. 

During  all  the  contention  on  the  question  of  the  northwestern  bound- 
ary under  the  treaties  of  1814  to  1817  and  until  after  the  rejection  of 
the  proposition  of  the  King  of  the  Netherlands  for  a  compromise  line  to 
be  agreed  upon,  no  other  line  than  the  due  north  line  from  the  mon- 
ument was  ever  suggested,  but  only  how  far  north  shall  it  extend — 
what  shall  be  its  termination  T 

The  Secretary  of  State,  in  a  letter  of  July  21, 1832,  addressed  to  the 
British  minister  respecting  the  disputed  territory,  suggested  ^^that 
until  this  matter  be  brought  to  a  final  conclusion,  the  necessity  of  re- 
fraining on  both  sides  from  any  exercise  of  jurisdiction,  beyond  the 
boundaries  now  actually  possessed  must  be  apparent,"  which  proposi- 
tion was  coDcarred  in  by  the  British  government,  and  so  stated  in  a  letter 
from  the  British  minister,  dated  April  14, 1833. 


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25  JAMES   A.   DREW   AND    OTHERS. 

About  this  time  squatters  from  New  Brauswick  commenced  occupy- 
ing these  lands  south  of  the  Saint  John  River,  on  the  west  side,  as  well 
as  on  the  east  side  of  the  line,  and  to  cut  the  timber.  But  the  State  of 
Maine  did  not  interfere  till  in  the  winter  of  1839,  when  she  sent  a  posse 
of  armed  men  to  arrest  the  depredators,  but  instructed  to  not  iuterfere 
with  the  peaceable  settlers. 

This  conflict  resulted  in  the  treaty  of  Washington  of  1842,  the  first 
article  of  which  established  the  east  line,  commencing  at  the  monument; 
thence  north,  following  the  exploring  line  marked  by  the  surveyors  of 
the  two  governments  in  1817  and  1818. 

The  variation  of  this  line  from  the  due  north  line  provided  for  under 
the  treaties  of  1782  and  1783  at  the  Saint  John  River  is  nearly  one 
mile,  and  the  land  for  which  these  petitioners  ask  to  be  paid  is  contained 
in  this  wedge-shaped  strip,  commencing  at  a  point  at  the  monument, 
lying  between  the  due  north  and  south  treaty-line  of  1782  and  1783, 
and  the  diverging  treaty-line  of  1842,  and  extending  to  the  Saint  John 
River,  where,  as  before  stated,  it  is  nearly  one  mile  wide,  which  land 
they  hold  under  the  grants  made  by  Massachusetts,  and  located  up  to 
and  along  the  due  north  and  south  line  prior  to  1815. 

In  the  negotiation  of  the  treaty  of  1842  it  will  be  seen  that  Lord  Ash- 
burton  earnestly  desired  to  obtain  the  lands  west  of  the  old  treaty-line 
in  order  to  retain  the  settlers  upon  them  under  the  British  Government 

Lord  Ashburton  to  Mr.  Webster,  June  21, 1842,  writes  : 

It  is  further  desired  to  retain,  under  the  jurisdiction  of  each  govomuient,  respect- 
ively, such  inhabitants  as  have  for  a  length  of  time  been  so  livings,  and  to  whom  i 
transfer  of  allegiance  mt^ht  be  painful  or  distressing.  In  considering  on  the  map  i 
division  of  the  territory  m  question,  this  remarkable  circumstance  nmst  be  kc^pt  iu 
mind,  that  a  division  of  acres  by  their  number  would  be  a  very  unequal  division  of 
their  value.  The  southern  portion  of  this  territory,  the  valley  of  the  Aroostook,  is  rep- 
resented to  be  one  of  the  most  beautiful  and  most  fertile  tracts  of  land  in  this  partot 
the  continent,  capable  of  the  highest  state  of  cultivation,  and  covered  with  fine  tim- 
ber. 

Lord  Ashburton  to  Mr.  Webster,  July  11, 1842,  further  writes: 

And  you  refer  more  particularly  to  a  certain  narrow  strip  lying  between  the  Dortb 
line  and  the  river.  This  strip  I  have  no  power  to  give  up ;  and  1  heg  to  tM.  that  tht 
refnsa]  of  my  government  is  fonnded  simply  on  their  subjects  living  by  prefereooe  no- 
der  her  anthority ;  an  objection  which,  you  are  sensible,  applies  with  peculiar  force  to 
the  inhabitants  of  this  part  of  New  Brunswick.  I  had  hoped  that  the  other  eqnirar 
lent  which  I  had  oiferod,  combined  with  the  sense  entertained  by  the  Government  of  the 
United  States  of  tbe  pressing  importance  of  the  case  on  the  ground  of  bumaDitr, 
would  have  been  sufficient  for  tbe  purpose.  I  so  anxiously  desire. 

Mr.  Webster  to  Lord  Ashburton,  July  14, 1842,  writes : 

It  is  certain  that  by  the  treaty  the  eastern  boundary  of  the  United  States,  from  thf 
head  of  the  Saint  Croix,  is  to  be  a  due  north  and  south  line.  •  •  •  Xhere 
are,  then,  two  important  subjects  for  consideration : 

First.  Whether  tbe  United  States  can  agree  to  cede,  relinquish,  or  cease  to  claim 
any  part  of  the  territory  west  of  the  north  line  from  the  Saint  Croix  and  south  of  tbe 
Saint  John's  ;  and  I  think  it  but  candid  to  say  at  once  that  we  see  insormonntable  ob- 
jections to  admitting  the  line  to  come  south  of  the  river. 

We  nnderstand,  and  indeed  collect  from  your  lordship's  note,  that,  whatever  bet 
opinion  of  her  right  be  to  the  disputed  territory,  England,  in  asserting  it,  h\s  princi- 
pally in  view  to  maintain  on  her  own  soil  her  accustomed  line  of  commnnication  be- 
tween Canada  and  New  Bnmswick. 

We  acknowledge  the  general  justice  and  propriety  of  this  object,  and  agree  at  onw 
that,  with  suitable  equivalents,  a  oofiventional  line  ought  to  be  such  as  to  secure  it  to 
England. 

Mr.  Webster  to  Lord  Ashburton,  July  22, 1842,  respecting  tbe  bjund- 
ary  line  agreed  upon,  writes : 

To  complete  the  boundary  line,  therefore,  and  to  remove  all  doubts  and  disputes,  it 
is  necessary  for  the  two  governments  to  come  to  an  agreement  on  these  points: 


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JAMES   A.    DREW   AND    OTHERS.  3 

First.  What  shall  be  the  line  on  the  northeastern  and  northern  limita  of  the  United 
States  from  the  Saint  Croix  to  the  Saint  Lawrence  ?    This  is  bv  far  the  most  difficult 

of  the  subjects,  and  involves  the  principal  qnestions  of  equivalents  and  compensation. 

•  »••  #••• 

The  line,  then,  now  proposed  to  be  agreed  to  may  be  thus  described :  Beginning  at 
the  monument  at  the  source  of  the  river  Saint  Croix  as  designated  and  agreed  to  by 
tlie  commissioners  under  the  5th  article  of  the  treaty  of  1794  between  the  governments  , 
of  the  United  States  and  Great  Britain  ;  thence  north,  following  the  exphnng  line  run 
and  marked  by  ike  eurveyore  of  the  itoo  governments  in  the  yeare  1817  and  1818,  under  the  5th 
article  of  the  treaty  of  Ghent,  to  its  intersection  with  the  river  Saint  John's. 

Mr.  Webster  to  the  Maine  commissioners,  July  15,  1842,  writes  that 
<<  as  the  settlement  of  a  controversy  of  such  duration  is  a  matter  of  high 
importance,"  he  hopes  '^  that  the  commissioners  of  the  two  States  wiUhnd 
it  to  be  consistent  with  their  duty  to  assent  to  the  line  proposed." 

The  Maine  commissioners  at  first  declined,  but  the  Massachusetts 
commissioners,  upon  certain  other  conditions  named,  agreed  ^^  to  relinquish 
to  the  United  States  her  interest  in  the  lands  which  will  be  excluded 
from  the  dominion  of  the  United  States  by  the  establishment  of  the 
boundary  aforesaid."  And  on  the  22d  day  of  July,  1842,  the  Maine 
commissioners  gave  the  unwilling  '*  assent  of  that  State  to  such  conven- 
tional line,  with  the  terms,  conditions,  and  equivalents  herein  men- 
tioned." 

POSSESSORY  CLAIMS. 

To  illustrate  the  manner  in  which  the  present  claimants  became  dis- 
possessed of  their  lands  it  will  be  necessary  simply  to  examine  article  4 
of  the  treaty  of  1842,  which  is  as  follows,  viz : 

Art.  4.  All  grants  of  land  heretofore  made  by  either  party,  within  the  limits  of  the 
territory  which  by  this  treaty  falls  within  the  dominions  of  the  other  party,  shall  be 
held  valid,  ratified,  and  confirmed  to  the  persons  in  possession  under  such  grants,  to 
the  same  extent  as  if  such  territory  had  by  this  treaty  fallen  within  the  dominions  of 
the  party  by  whom  sach  grants  were  made  ;  and  all  equitable  possessory  claims  aris- 
ing from  a  possession  and  improvement  of  any  lot  or  parcel  of  land  by  the  person  actu- 
ally in  possession,  or  by  those  under  whom  such  person  claims,  for  more  than  six  years 
before  the  date  of  this  treaty,  shall  in  like  manner  be  deemed  valid,  and  be  confirmed 
and  qnieted  by  a  release,  to  the  person  entitled  thereto,  of  the  title  to  such  lot  or  parcel 
of  land  so  described  as  best  to  include  the  improvements  made  thereon ;  and  in  all  other 
respects  the  two  contracting  parties  agree  to  deal  upon  the  moat  liberal  principles  of 
equity  with  the  settlers  actnally  dwelling  upon  the  territory  falling  to  them,  respect- 
ively, which  has  heretofore  been  in  dispute  between  them. 

As  both  Governments  had  abstained  from  exercising  jurisdiction  over 
this  territory  between  the  years  1832  and  1842,  the  squatters  from  the 
adjoining  province  had  had  a  peaceful  occupancy  of  these  lands  for  more 
than  six  years,  and  they  had,  therefore,  according  to  the  provisions  of 
the  4th  article  of  the  treaty  just  recited,  acquired  titles  which  the  treaty 
states  ''  shall  in  like  manner  be  deemed  valid  and  be  confirmed  and 
quieted  by  a  release,"  &c.,  so  that  these  lands  were  absolutely  and  en- 
tirely lost  to  the  American  owners,  who  were  deprived  of  them  by  the 
action  of  their  Government. 

The  country  demanded  this  in  the  interest  of  peace,  and  they  had  to 
make  the  sacrifice,,  but  the  propriety  of  imdemnifying  those  parties  who 
have  thus  suffered  tlirough  the  necessities  of  diplomacy  seems  to  be 
beyond  the  possibility  of  a  doubt. 

About  one-half  of  the  land  contained  in  this  wedge-shaped  strip  was 
owned  by  the  States  of  Maine  and  Massachusetts  at  the  time  of  the 
treaty  of  1842,  and  payment  for  the  same  was  provided  in  that  treaty, 
and  the  lands  for  which  the  States  were  paid  lay  on  the  north,  on  the 
south,  and  also  between  the  lands  owned  by  these  claimants. 

These  claimants  made  application  to  the  legislature  of  the  State  of 


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4  JAMES   A.   DREW   AND   OTHERS. 

Maine  for  indemnity  for  tbe  loss  of  their  lands  by  the  operation  of  the 
treaty,  and  the  legislature  passed  the  following  resolution,  viz : 

Resolve  in  favor  ofotcners  of  lands  taken  hy  the  United  States  and  ceded  to 

Great  Britain. 

Resolved  J  That  tbe  goyernor  and  eoanoil  are  hereby  anthoriaed  to  investigate  the 
claims  of  the  several  owners  of  lands  on  the  northeastern  boundary  of  the  State,  be- 
tween themonnment  and  the  river  Saint  John,  taken  from  them  and  ceded  to  Great  Brit- 
ain by  the  treaty  of  Washington,  and  allow  to  each  of  the  owners  or  their  assigas  s 
just  compensation  for  their  several  proportions  thereof;  and  take  all  necessary  mens- 
nres  to  obtain  sach  amonnt  or  amounts  from  the  United  States ;  and  when  the  same 
shall  be  allowed  by  tbe  United  States,  the  governor  shall  draw  bis  warrant  on  the 
treasurer  for  the  sums  dne  the  several  persons. 

Approved  February  24, 18G9. 

In  accordance  with  this  resolution  the  governor  and  council  made  the 
following  report  in  part : 

Report  of  council. 

State  uf  Maine,  in  Council,  Jaaiuiy^  6, 1870. 

The  committee  of  the  council  to  which  was  referred  the  claim  of  James  A.  Drew  and 
others,  for  compensation  for  land  taken  from  them  by  the  treatyof  Washington,  under 
the  resolve  of  the  legislature  of  this  State  approved  February  24, 1869,  ask  leave  to 
report  in  part,  as  follows : 

By  the  treaty  of  1783  the  northeastern  boundary  of  Maine  was  a  line  running  doe 
north  from  the  monument  to  the  northern  line  of  the  State. 

By  the  treaty  of  Washington  in  1842,  a  conventional  line  was  established,  which 
began  in  the  old  line  at  the  monument  and  diverged  to  the  west  gradually  as  it  went 
north,  thns  cutting  the  easterly  ends  of  all  the  townships  of  land  lyinj^  between  tbe 
monument  and  the  northern  line  of  the  State.  A  large  portion  of  the  strip  of  land  thus 
cut  off  had  been  sold  by  the  States  of  Maine  or  Massachusetts,  prior  to  the  treaty  of 
Washington,  to  individuals. 

Bv  the  terms  of  the  last-named  treaty  the  soil  and  title  of  this  strip  passed  to  settlers 
in  the  province  of  New  Brunswick,  so  that  these  owners  have  lost  the  full  value  of 
their  lands  thus  ceded  away,  aud  have  thus  far  had  no  compensation  therefor  from  tbe 
State  or  the  United  States.  The  townships  or  part  townships  belonging  to  individoalft 
from  which  the  treaty  of  Washington  thus  cut  are  Uodgdon,  Houlton,  Williams  Col- 
lege grant,  Framingham  Academy  grant.  Mouticello,  Poitland  Academy  grant,  Bridge- 
water  Academy  grant,  Mars  Hill  and  Plymouth  ^ants. 

The  quantities  of  land  taken  from  each'  of  said  townships  or  part  of  townships  we 
have  ascertained  by  satsifactory  evidence  to  be  as  follows: 

AcreflL    BxmU 

Hodgdon 620 

Houlton,  (south  halO 568 

Williams  College  grant 1.600 

Framingham  Academy  grant 865       57 

Mouticello 1,752 

Portland  Academy  grant 816 

Bridgewater  Academy  grant 810 

Mars  Hill  Academy  grant 1,690       H> 

Plymouth  grant 2,017 

10,718      137 

There  was  reliable  proof  presented  to  us  to  establish  the  value  of  this  laud  at  tbe 
sum  of  three  dollars  per  acre,  and  in  our  opinion  that  is  a  fair  value  for  the  same. 

There  seems  to  be  but  little  difference  iu  tbe  value  per  acre  of  the  different  town- 
ships, and  we  have,  therefore,  concluded  to  afl9x  but  one  value  throughout. 

The  Aroostook  River  runs  through  the  Plymouth  grant,  and  on  the  part  of  that  grant 
taken  off  by  the  treaty  of  Washington  were  the  falls  of  that  river,  of  90  feet  descent, 
which  furnish  a  valuable  water-power  and  mill-privilege,  and,  in  our  opinion,  so 
additional  sum  of  three  hundred  dollars  over  and  above  said  price  per  acre  should  be 
allowed  the  owners  of  this  township. 

Per  order,  J.  W.  PORTEK. 

In  Council,  January  6,  ISTtt 
Read  and  accepted  by  the  council,  and  by  the  governor  approved. 
Attest :  FRANKLIN  M.  DREW, 

Secniwry  of  StaU. 


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JAMES   A.   DREW   AND   OTHEHS.  5 

Oil  the  2l8t  day  of  December,  1871,  the  council  of  Maine  made  their 
final  r^^t  respecting  the  claim  for  timber  taken  from  this  land,  in  which 
they  say,  '^  wetkre  of  the  opinion  that  the  claimants  are  entitled  to  com- 
pensation for  the  timber  so  taken  off,  and  at  the  rate  of  two  dollars  and 
a  half  per  acre." 

'<The  evidence  is  that  there  was  an  average  of  about  two  and  a  half 
tons  per  acre  of  timber,  worth  at  the  time  of  the  depredation  $1.60  per  ton, 
and  subsequently  $4.50  per  ton.  If  it  be  assumed  that  two  tons  were 
taken  from  an  acre,  the  loss  at  the  lowest  estimate  at  the  time  would  be 
13.20  per  acre ;  or,  if  taken  at  its  value  in  1850,  it  would  be  $9  per 
acre.'' 

On  the  14th  January,  1871,  the  executive  of  Maine  addressed  a  com- 
mauication  to  the  Hon.  Hamilton  Fish,  Scretary  of  State,  in  pursuance 
of  the  resolution  of  the  Maine  legislature,  and  the  report  of  the  Maine 
coancil  setting  forth  the  grounds  upon  which  these  claims  are  founded, 
as  follows,  viz : 

Letter  of  governor  of  Maiue  to  Secretary  of  State  of  United  States. 

State  of  Maine,  Executive  Department, 

Augu8kij  January  14,  1871. 
Sir  :  By  the  tieaty  of  1783,  establtshioff  the  northMBtem  boundary  of  Maine,  the  line 
from  the  source  of  the  Saint  Croix,  or  the  monument,  was  to  have  been  due  north  to 
the  highlands,  and  the  States  of  Massachusetts  and  Maine  surveved  and  marked  the 
two  eastern  ranges  into  townships,  and  prior  to  1842  sold  several  of  them  to  private 
individuals,  gave  deeds  running  to  the  treaty  line,  and  received  their  consideration  there- 
for. But  by  the  treaty  of  Washington,  August  9, 1842,  a  conventional  line  was  agreed 
upon  and  run  out  and  established  on  the  face  of  the  earth,  beginning  at  said  monu- 
ment, and  diverging  irregularly  to  the  west  of  a  due  north  course,  so  that  when  it 
reached  the  river  Saint  John  it  was  about  a  mile  west  of  the  treaty-line  of  1783 ;  this 
line  cut  off  the  eastern  ends  of  the  townships  which  had  been  sold  by  Massachusetts 
and  Maine,  as  well  as  those  that  had  not  been  thus  sold.  Prior  to  this  the  province 
of  New  Bmnswick  had  sold  and  deeded  these  lands  to  the  exploring  or  conventional 
line,  and  in  some  instances  even  beyond  it.  The  fonrth  article  of  the  treaty  of  184*2 
provided  that— 

''  All  grants  of  land  heretofore  made  by  either  party,  within  the  limits  of  the  ter- 
ritory which  by  this  treaty  fails  within  the  dominions  of  the  other  party,  shall  be  held 
▼alid,  ratified,  and  confirmed  to  the  persons  in  possession  under  such  ^ants  to  the 
Bsme  extent  as  if  snch  territory  had  by  this  treaty  fallen  within  the  dominions  of  the 
party  by  whom  such  grants  were  made." 

Thus  it  will  be  perceived  that  the  treaty,  by  its  own  force  and  without  any  legisla- 
tion on  the  ^rt  of  Congress  or  the  State  of  Maine,  deprived  the  original  owners  of 
these  townships  of  their  titles  thereto,  and  vested  the  same  in  the  grantees  of  New 
Brauswick.  The  opinion  of  the  supreme  court  of  Maine,  as  civen  in  the  case  of 
Little  rff.  Watson,  'J2d  Me.  R.,  214,  is  direct;  to  this  point.  See  also  7th  Peter's  R.,  51, 
88. 

These  individual  owners  have  never  received  any  compensation  for  the  lands  thus 
taken  from  them  by  the  U cited  States  with  the  relactant  consent  of  Maine.  In  18ti9 
they  made  application  to  the  legislature  of  this  State  for  such  compensation,  and  the 
result  is  to  be  found  in  the  resolve  herewith  transmitted.  After  the  passage  of  that 
resolve  the  governor  and  council  gave  a  full  hearing  to  the  claimants,  and  thoroughly 
and  carefalTy  investigated  all  the  facts  bearing  on  their  claim,  and  embodied  their 
conclusicms  in  the  accompanying  report  of  council,  which  was  deliberately  considered, 
adopted,  and  approved. 

I  am  not  aware  that  the  daty  imposed  by  said  resolve  on  the  executive  of  Maine, 
"  to  take  all  neoemary  measuree  to  obtain  Boeh  amount  or  amoatUe  from  the  United  States,*' 
has  ever  been  attempted,  and  in  Justice  to  these  private  claimants,  it  become 
my  official  daty  to  present  this  Jast  claim  to  the  department  of  the  Qeneral  Govern- 
ment having  charge  of  foreign  affairs,  and  respectfully  to  ask  the  early  attention  of 
the  Secretary  of  State  thereto,  and  that  the  claim  may  be  approved  by  him  and  recom- 
mended directty  to  be  placed  in  the  appropriation  bill. 
Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

SIDNEY  PERHAM, 

Governor  of  Maine. 

Hon.  Hamilton  Fish, 

Secretary  of  State, 


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6  JAMES   A.    DBEW   AND   OTHERS. 

There  have  been  nine  reports  made  to  Congress  or  by  committees  of  the 
Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  upon  this  class  of  claims,  all  of 
which,  with  a  single  exception,  being  unanimously  in  fiavor  of  paying 
them,  and  the  amount  of  one  claim  was  placed  directly  in  the  appropria- 
tion bill  of  July  20, 1869.  The  reports  in  the  House  of  Representatives 
are  as  follows,  viz :  * 

Mr.  Knowlton,  last  session  34th  Congress. 
»    Mr.  Maynard,  1st  session  35th  Congress. 

Mr.  Walton,  2d  session  37th  Congress,  and  a  bill  for  relief  of  present 
claimants  passed  the  House  at  the  last  session  of  the  42d  Congress, 
but  not  in  time  to  pass  the  Senate. 

The  reports  to  the  Senate  were  mad^-- 

By  Mr.  Wade,  34th  Congress,  3d  session. 

Mr.  Clark,  35th  Congress^  Ist  session. 

By  Mr.  Simmons,  36th  Congress,  1st  session. 

Congress  has  heretofore  passed  several  bills  to  pay  the  owners  of 
lands  thus  taken  from  them,  and  when  the  last  one  passed,  the  amount 
claimed  in  this  bill  was  omitted  because  it  had  not  then  been  accurately 
ascertained.  This  bill  calls  for  compensation  for  all  the  land,  not  here 
tofore  paid  for,  and  all  the  timber  that  was  upon  it,  that  was  ceded  to 
the  British  government  under  the  treaty  of  1842. 

The  legislature  of  Massachusetts,  by  a  resolution  approved  May  5, 
1871,  authorized  the  governor  and  council  "to  co-operate  with  the  ex- 
ecutive of  Maine  in  obtaining  payment  by  the  United  States  of  the 
claim  of  the  private  owners  of  lands  on  the  northeastern  boundary  of 
Maine,  ceded  to  Great  Britain  by  the  conventional  line  established  by  the 
treaty  of  Washington,  of  1842.'' 

Twelve  of  the  grantees  of  this  land  received  it  from  Massachusetts  io 
consideration  of  their  services  as  soldiers  of  the  Revolution,  and  it  was 
granted  to  them  or  to  their  widows,  and  several  thousands  of  a^^res  of  it, 
at  the  time  it  was  ceded  in  1842,  had  cost  over  four  dollars  per  acre.  A 
bill  to  pay  these  claimants  two  dollars  per  acre  passed  the  House  at  the 
last  session  of  Congress,  but  not  in  time  to  receive  action  in  the  Senate. 

The  committee  believe  that  when  citizens  are  deprived  of  property  bj 
the  direct  and  authorized  action  of  the  Government  they  are  entitled  to 
a  just  remuneration.  Two  dollars  an  acre  is  not  a  just  remuneration  for 
land  taken  by  the  Government  more  than  thirty  years  ago,  that  cost  the 
owners  at  that  time  more  than  four  dollars  per  acre,  the  soil  of  which  is 
estimated  by  the  Maine  council  at  {nore  than  three  dollars  per  acre,  and 
the  timber,  in  1850,  at  nine  dollars  per  acre.  The  following  extracts 
from  the  report  of  Mr.  Walton  to  the  House  of  Representatives,  2d  ses- 
sion 37th  Congress,  upon  an  act  to  pay  for  land  and  timber  in  the  im< 
mediate  vicinity  of  these  lands,  apply  with  equal  force  to  this  case : 

The  third  and  last  qaestion^  as  to  the  right  of  the  proprietors  to  pay  for  timber 
removed,  depends  upon  the  same  principle  as  the  second,  though  it  is  presented  in  a 
different  form.  The  land  was  taken  by  the  direct  action  of  the  Gk>vemment,  fhroa^h 
the  treaty ;  the  timber  was  not  taken  by  the  Government,  bnt  was  lost  to  the  proprie- 
tors through  the  direct  action  of  the  Government.  From  1831  to  1839  the  jarisdictjon 
of  Maine  over  the  disput-ed  territory  was  suspended  by  request  of  the  President,  and 
it  was  precisely  at  this  time  that  New  Brunswick  took  possession  and  carried  off  th« 
timber.  It  clearly  appears  from  a  letter  of  the  Secretary  (Mr.  Van  Buren)  to  the 
governor  of  Maine,  dated  March  18, 1831,  that  the  suspension  of  action  by  Maine  ww 
'  requested  by  President  Jackson,  for  the  purpose  of  saving  the  Executive  from  inter- 
ruption and  em  harassment  in  the  settlement  of  the  dispute  with  Great  Britain.  The 
loss  of  the  timber  was,  therefore,  incident  to  a  deliberate  and  prudent  policy  for  the 
peaceable  solution  of  a  dangerous  question ;  as  much  incident  to  the  policy  of  theOov- 
ernment  as  was  the  subsequent  transference,  by  the  treaty  itself,  of  improved  lands  to 
the  very  men  who  had  carried  off  the  timber.    Indeed,  it  is  apparent  from  the  public 


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JAMES   A.    DREW   AND    OTHERS.  7 

dooiiiii€Dt8  that  from  1827  this  Govemment  knew  that  Groat  Britain  was  exercising 
acts  of  exclnsive Jurisdiotion  over  the  disputed  territory,  and  from  1831  to  1839  it  also 
knew  that  New  Brunswick  was  stripping  this  part  of  the  territory  of  its  timber ;  and 
this  Government  submitted  to  these  wrongs  rather  than  resent  or  resist  them.  The 
loss  of  the  timber,  thereforo,  seems  to  be  a  part  of  the  price  for  national  peace,  and  the 
committee  think  the  nation,  and  not  the  persons  wronged,  should  bear  the  loss. 

The  act  of  July  12, 1862,  allowed  four  dollars  per  acre  for  laud  of  the 
same  value  as  this,  and  contiguous  to  it,  and  it  was  not  pretended  that  it 
was  a  fair  yalue,  only  that  the  owners  were  willing  to  accept  that  sum. 

An  act  passed  at  the  1st  session  of  the  34th  Congress,  paying  Josiah 
S.  Little  more  than  thirteen  dollars  per  acre  for  land  adjoining  these 
lands  and  of  similar  quality. 

Your  committee  respectfully  submit,  herewith,  a  bill  providing  for  the 
payment  of  three  dollars  per  acre,  the  same  to  be  in  full  payment  for 
the  land  and  the  timber  taken  therefrom,  and  recommend  its  passage. 


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43d  Congebss,  >      HOUSE  OF  EEPRESENTATIVES.      (  Repobt 
1st  8e88um.     i  "  )  No.  387. 


ZADOCK  WILLIAMS  AND  OTHERS. 


April  7, 1874. — Ordered  to  be  printed. 


Mr.  Poland,  from  tbe  Committee  on  Revision  of  the  Laws  of  the  United 
States,  submitted  the  following 

REPORT: 

The  petition  of  Zadock  Williams  and  others  praying  for  the  passage  of  an 
act  to  restore  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Court  of  Claims  over  certain  cases^ 
and  the  cases  themselves j  to  the  docket  of  that  court,  having  been  referred 
to  the  Committee  on  Revision  of  the  Laws  of  the  United  States,  and  duly 
considered,  the  committee  submit  the  following  report : 

The  committee  find  that  prior  to  July  4, 1864,  the  petitioners  had 
severally  commenced  suits,  by  petition  to  the  Court  of  Claims,  against 
the  United  States  and  they  were  pending  at  that  date. 

The  petitioners  state  in  their  petition  that  their  respective  claims 
accrued  from  the  destruction  and  appropriation  of  property  belonging 
to  them  by  troops  employed  in  the  service  of  the  Government,  and  soon 
after  the  commencement  of  the  late  war  of  the  rebellion. 

On  the  4th  day  of  July,  1864,  Congress  passed  an  act,  the  first  section 
of  which  provides,  "  that  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Court  of  Claims  shall 
not  extend  to  or  include  any  claim  against  the  United  States  growing 
out  of  the  destruction  or  appropriation  of,  or  damage  to,  property  by 
the  Army  or  Navy,  or  any  part  of  the  Navy,  engaged  in  the  suppression 
of  the  rebellion,  from  the  commencement  to  the  close  thereof." 

By  virtue  of  the  mandate  of  this  statute,  the  Court  of  Claims  dis- 
missed the  cases  of  the  petitioners  from  the  docket  of  that  court ;  and  it 
is  not  claimed  but  that  the  court  acted  in  cpnformity  with  the  require- 
ments of  the  law,  and  that  a  restoration  of  jurisdiction  of  these  cases 
would  be  a  partial  repeal  of  the  act  recited. 

By  the  second  and  third  sections  of  the  act  of  July  4, 1864,  the  Quar- 
t^rmaster-Oeneral  and  the  Commissary-General  of  Subsistence  were 
respectively  authorized  to  report  to  the  Third  Auditor  of  the  Treasury 
for  settlement  claims  of  loyal  citizens,  in  States  not  in  rebellion,  for 
quartermaster's  stores  and  subsistence  actually  furnished  the  army.  It 
is  possible  that  some  portion  of  the  claims  of  the  petitioners  might  have 
been  within  the  jurisdiction  of  the  officers  named,  and  if  so,  the  com- 
mittee have  no  e\idence  that  the  petitioners  have  not  availed  themselves 
of  that  jurisdiction. 

The  act  of  February  21,  1867,  prohibits  any  settlement  of  any  claim 
for  supplies  or  stores  taken  or  furnished  for  the  use  of,  or  used  by,  the 
armies  of  the  United  States,  or  for  the  occupation  of,  or  injury  to,  real 
estate,  or  for  the  consumption,  appropriation,  or  destruction  of,  or  dam- 
age to,  personal  property,  by  the  military  authorities  or  troops  of  the 


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2  ZADOCK   WILLIAMS   AND    OTHEttS. 

United  Sttates,  when  such  claim  originated  during  the  rebellion,  in  any 
State  declared  in  insurrection  by  the  President's  proclamation  of  July 
1,  1862. 

By  the  act  of  March  3,  1871,  a  commission  was  established  to  examine 
and  report  to  Qongress  claims  of  loyal  citizens  in  the  insurrectionary 
States  ^'  for  stores  and  supplies,  taken  or  furnished  daring  the  rebellion 
for  the  use  of  the  Army  of  the  United  States,  including  the  use  and  loss 
of  vessels  or  boats  while  employed  in  the  military  service  of  the  United 
States."  By  a  subsequent  act,  the  same  remedy  was  extended  to  the 
same  class  of  persons  who  furnished  stores  and  supplies  for  the  use  of 
the  Navy.  The  foregoing  are  believed  to  be  all  the  provisions  yet  made 
by  Congress  for  the  allowance  of  claims  growing  out  of  the  war  by  any 
department  or  tribunal. 

The  claims  of  the  petitioners  are,  generally,  for  the  occupation  of 
lands  by  Government  troops,  and  the  use  or  destruction  of  buildings, 
fences,  timber  and  crops,  some  in  the  loyal  and  some  in  the  disloyal 
States.  For  some  portion,  or  perhaps  all  of  some  of  these  claims,  the 
parties  would  seem  to  have  a  remedy  by  presentation  to  the  Commis- 
sioners of  Southern  Claims ;  but  for  most  of  them  no  remedy  seems  to 
be  open,  except  an  api>eal  to  Congress  itself.  Repeated  attempts  have 
been  made  to  induce  Congress  to  enlarge  the  scope  of  such  jurisdictions 
as  are  open  to  claims  upon  the  Government,  but  without  success.  .  It 
has  not  as  yet  been  deemed  prudent  or  safe  to  invest  any  tribunal  with 
jurisdiction  over  the  class  of  claims  like  the  bulk  of  those  represented 
by  these  petitioners.  Whether  there  should  be,  or  ought  to  be,  any 
tribunal  clothed  with  such  jurisdiction,  either  final  or  preparatory  for 
the  action  of  Congress,  we  do  not  think  comes  properly  within  the  scope 
of  this  committee  to  inquire.  Other  committees  of  the  House  are  far 
more  appropriate  to  that  end. 

This  committee  is  asked  to  recommend  the  restoration  of  the  jurisdic- 
tion of  the  Court  of  Claims  over  these  few  cases,  when  it  is  well  known 
that  there  are  thousands  of  other  claims  of  the  same  character,  both 
North  and  South,  over  which  neither  that  court  nor  any  other  tribual 
has  cognizance.  In  our  judgment  this  would  be  manifestly  unjust  and 
unfair ;  and  the  mere  fact  that  these  petitioners  hiid  filed  petitions  in 
the  Court  of  Claims  before  the  jurisdiction  of  that  court  was  taken  away, 
furnishes  no  satisfactory  ground  for  such  a  distinction. 

The  committee  therefore  ask  to  be  discharged  from  the  further  con- 
sideration oi  the  petition,  and  recommend  that  it  do  lie  upon  the  table. 


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43d  Congress,  »      HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIYES.     (  Report 
l8t  Session,      i  \  No.  388. 


ENCOURAGEMENT  OF  NEW  AND  USEFUL  INVENTIONS. 


April  8, 1874. — Ordered  to  be  printed. 


Mr.  CLE3IENTS,  from  the  Committee  on  Patents,  submitted  the  following 

REPORT: 

[To  aeoompany  bUl  H.  R,  2512.] 

The  Committee  on  Patents^  to  whom  was  referred  the  hill  (JT.  B.  2512)  to 
promote  new  and  useful  inventions^  have  considered  the  same^  and  beg 
leave  to  report  : 

This  bill  proposes  to  appropriate  $1,000,000  out  of  the  Treasury  of  the 
United  States,  to  be  paid  in  ten  (10)  annual  installments  of  $100,000 
each. 

It  also  provides  for  a  commission  to  be  composed  of  the  Commissioner 
of  Patents,  Secretary  of  the  Smithsonian  Institute,  Commissioner  of  Ag- 
riculture, Chief  of  Engineers  of  the  Army  and  Navy,  and  the  Surgeon- 
General,  whose  duty  it  is  to  distribute  these  installments,  in  prizes  of 
from  $1,000  to  $10,000  each,  to  the  inventors  or  discoverers  of  the  most 
meritorious  inventions  and  discoveries. 

The  committee  do  not  conceive  that  the  present  state  of  the  inventive 
genius  of  the  country  requires  any  such  stimulus,  nor  that  the  state  of 
the  National  Treasury  warrants  any  such  outlay.  They  do  not  regard 
this  bill  as  defendable  on  any  just  precedent,  principle,  or  policy,  and 
therefore  recommend  that  it  do  not  pass. 


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43d  Oongbbss,  I     HOUSE  OP  EEPRESENTATIVES.      /  RApoet 
Ut  Session,     f  \lSo.^9. 


ENCOURAGEMENT  AND  RELIEF  OF  INVENTORS  AND  PAT- 

ENTEES. 


April  8, 1874.— Ordered  to  be  printed. 


Mr.  W.  A.  Smith,  from  the  Committee  on  Patents,  submitted  the 

following 

REPORT: 

[To  accompany  bill  H.  R.  872.] 

The  Committee  on  Patents^  to  whom  was  rejerred  the  hill  (H.  R.  872)  for 
the  encouragement  and  relief  of  inventors  and  patentees^  have  considered 
the  samey  and  beg  leave  to  report : 

That  the  bill  provides  for  a  seven-years'  extension  of  patents  granted 
prior  to  March  second,  eighteen  hundred  and  sixty-one,  on  the  sole  con- 
dition that  application  be  made  therefor  <'  at  least  sixty  days  before  the 
close  of  the  original  term  of  fourteen  years  "  and  the  payment  into  the 
Treasury  of  a  "fee  of  one  hundred  dollars." 

The  committee  are  of  opinion  that  the  power  sought  by  the  bill  is 
extraordinary,  and  that  existing  laws  are  ample  for  the  "  encouragement 
and  relief  of  inventors  and  patentees,"  and  therefore  they  report  ad- 
versely and  recommend  that  the  bill  do  lie  on  the  table. 


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43d  Congbess,  \      HOUSE  OF  KEPRESENTATIVES.       (  Report 
l8t  Session.     J  (  No.  390. 


VIOLATION  OF  THE  EIGHTHOUR  LAW. 

[With  testimony.] 


April  8,  1874.— Ordered  to  be  printed. 


Mr.  KiLLiNGER,  from  the  Committee  on  Public  BuiUliBgs  and  Grounds, 
submitted  the  following 

REPORT: 

The  Committee  on  Public  Buildings  and  OroundSj  to  whom  was  referred 
the  following  resolution:  ^^ Resolved^  That  the  Committee  on  Public 
Buildings  and  Grounds  be,  and  they  are  hereby,  required  to  investigate 
the  alleged  violation  of  the  eight-hour  law  in  the  icork  on  the  New  YorJc 
post-office^  and  to  send  for  persons  and  papers  if  necessary,^  respectfully 
report : 

That  they  have  carefully  considered  all  the  statements  submitted  and 
testimony  produced  before  them  bearing  upon  the  subject-matter  of 
the  above  resolution.  The  material  question  is  one  of  fact,  whether 
the  eight-hour  law,  passed  June  25,  1868,  which  declares  that  eight 
hours  shall  constitute  a  day's  work  for  all  laborers,  workmen,  and  me- 
chanics employed  by  or  on  behalf  of  the  Government  of  the  United 
States,  has  been  violated  in  the  work  done  on  the  New  York  post-office 
building.  No  time  is  designated  when  the  alleged  violation  of  the  law 
took  place,  and  we  may  assume  that  the  complaint  embraces  all  the 
work  done  from  its  commencement  to  the  present  time. 

It  will  be  observed  that  the  inquiry  does  not  involve  the  expediency 
or  inexpediency  of  the  law  itself,  and  we  do  not  propose  to  go  beyond 
the  instractions  of  the  House  in  this  regard.  It  appears  that  the  law 
was  not  observed  in  all  cases  and  at  all  times  prior  to  May,  1872,  so  far 
at  least  as  the  work  on  the  New  York  post-office  building  was  concerned. 
It  required  a  peremptory  order  from  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  to  the 
superintendent  of  said  building,  directing  its  enforcement  in  all  such 
work.  From  that  time  forward  it  does  not  appear  that  the  superintend- 
ent of  said  building,  or  any  one  acting  under  his  orders,  employed  any 
laborer,  workman,  or  mechanic  to  do  a  day's  work  otherwise  than  in 
accordance  with  the  law  referred  to  and  the  direction  of  the  Secretary 
of  the  Treasury.  And  it  is  but  just  to  add  that  no  laborer,  workman, 
or  mechanic  employed  on  the  building  since  the  date  specified  has  ap- 
peared before  the  committee  to  substantiate  any  alleged  violation  of  the 
law. 

The  labor  unions  of  New  York,  however,  appeared  in  the  persons  of 
recognized  representatives,  and  complained  that  the  law  was  being  vio- 
lated by  indirection.  They  allege,  and  the  evidence  sustains  the  allega- 
tion, that  the  Government  agent,  Mr.  Mullett,  has  employed  Marshall 
J.  Davidson,  a  prominent  machinist  of  New  York  City,  to  design  and 
constmct  the  heating  and  ventilating  apparatus  to  be  used  in  the  said 
building.     Under  the  contract  thus  assumed  by  him,  Mr.  Davidson  em  - 


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2  VIOLATION   OF   THE   EIGHT-HOUR   LAW. 

ploys  his  own  workmeu,  and  on  his  own  terms,  without  consulting  the 
United  States  authorities,  and  without  reference  to  the  eight-bonr  law. 
Mr.  Davidson  says  in  his  testimony  that  the  Government  reserves  the 
right,  and  has  the  option,  to  pay  him  the  contract  price  or  tbe  actual 
cost  of  the  materials  and  labor,  increased  by  a  percentage.  This  reser- 
vation would  seem  to  be  a  sufficient  protection  to  the  Government  against 
excessive  charges,  but  the  question  here  is  not  so  much  the  price  to  be 
paid  by  the  Government  as  the  right  of  the  Government  agents  to  con- 
tract for  the  performance  of  work  on  Government  buildings  in  the  uiau- 
ner  here  S[)ecified. 

It  is  claimed  that  such  percentage  contracts  are  subversive  of  the 
eight-hour  law  in  its  true  intent  and  meaning.  And,  on  the  otherhand, 
it  is  asserted  that  machinery  like  that  referred,  to  cannot  be  manufac- 
tured outside  of  machine-shops,  and  by  other  than  scientific  men  with  the 
aid  of  skilled  labor.  In  addition  to  this  consideration  it  appears  that 
the  question  raised  here  has  been  considered  by  the  Attorney-General 
of  the  United  States,  and  his  opinion  is  regarded  by  the  Treasury  De- 
partment, as  expressed  by  Mr.  MuIIett,  as  conclusive  upon  it.  In  the 
opinion  of  the  Attorney-General,  filed  May  2,  1872,  in  the  case  of  cer- 
tain stone-cutters  employed  near  Eichmond,  Virginia,  in  getting  ocit 
granite  for  the  building  in  course  of  erection  for  the  State  Departmeut, 
the  following  language  occurs : 

"  The  letter  of  the  act  of  Congress  limits  its  operations  to  laborers, 
workmen,  and  mechanics  en)ployed  by  or  on  behalf  of  the  Governuieut 
of  the  United  States,  and  I  am  aware  of  no  reason  to  suppose  that  the 
act  was  intended  to  have  operation  beyond  the  immediate  employes  of 
the  Government." 

In  that  case,  as  in  the  present  case,  the  contractor  emjWoyed  the  men, 
and  the  Attorney-General  was  of  opinion  that  he,  the  contractor,  "would 
have  just  cause  of  complaint  if  the  Government  should  undertake  to  in- 
terfere between  him  and  his  employes  by  prescribing  regulations  for 
their  labor." 

We  simply  cite  this  opinion  of  the  Attorney-General,  which  seems  to 
rule  the  action  of  the  Treasury  Department  and  its  Supervising  Archi- 
tect, and  not  with  a  view  to  discuss  its  terms.  Until  re\iewed  or  re- 
versed by  higher  authority  it  must  be  admitted  to  have  force  and  effect 
u])on  those  who  are  bound  by  it.  Its  conclusions  are  understood  to  be 
of  binding  force  by  the  Government  agents ;  and  it  is  manifest  that  if 
Congress  desires  to  bring  within  the  eight-hour  law  such  cases  of  al- 
leged infraction  as  we  have  been  considering,  some  means  must  be  found 
to  overcome  the  difficulty  suggested.  The  friends  of  that  law  will  have 
to  secure  a  judicial  construction  of  the  law  as  it  now  stands  on  the  stat- 
ute book,  or  additional  legislation.  Until  one  or  the  other  remedy  is 
sought  and  applied,  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  will  probably  feel 
himself  justified  in  following  the  instructions  of  the  highest  law-officer 
of  the  Government  in  this  regard.  The  committee  of[er  the  following 
resolation : 

Besolvedj  That  the  committee  be  discharged  from  the  farther  consid- 
eration of  the  subject. 


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VIOLATION    OP   THE   EIGHT-HOUR   LAW.  3 

Statement  of  A.  B.  Mulletty  sujpervising  architect. 

Committee  on  Public  Buildings  and  Grounds, 

Washington^  D.  C,  March  2,  1874. 
The  Committee  on  Public  Buildings  and  Grounds,  having  before  it  the 
resolution  instructing  it  to  inquire  iuto  the  alleged  violation  of  the  eight 
hour  law  in  the  work  on  the  New  York  post-office  building,  Mr.  A.  B 
Mullett,  Architect  of  the  Treasury  Department,  appeared  before  the  com 
mittee,  and  was  inquired  of  by  the  chairman  as  to  the  facts  in  the  case 
Mr.  Mullett.  VVhen  work  was  commenced  on  the  New  York  post 
office  it  was  necessary  to  keep  the  men  working  night  and  day.    They 
worked  with  calcium  lights,  and  there  was  a  very  large  amount  of  labor 
oifering.  .  There  was  a  pressure  for  work,  and  men  were  perfectly  will- 
ing to  work  ten  hours  a  day  with  the  understanding  that  they  were  to 
receive  a  day's  pay.    It  was  a  matter  of  mutual  agreement.    The  super- 
intendent of  that  w^ork  will  be  able  to  give  you  more  of  the  details,  be- 
cause the  arrangements  were  nmde  by  him.    I  do  not  find  any  instruc- 
tions from  the  office  that  he  was  to  make  such  an  arrangement,  but  it 
was  well  understood  that  the  men  were  working  under  that  arrange- 
ment.    It  appears  from  the  report  of  the  superintendent  that  there  was 
no  complaint  for  a  long  time,  but  finally  a  small  squad  of  laborers  asked 
for  an  increase  upon  their  wages  in  consideration  of  their  working  ten 
hours  a  day.    The  superintendent  told  them  that  if  they  were  not  satis- 
fied with  the  terms  and  conditions  on  which  they  were  working,  they 
could  quit  work,  and  they  did  so.    Whether  they  were  discharged  or 
whether  they  quit  work  voluntarily,  I  do  not  know.    The  tbing  went  on 
in  that  way  until  finally  a  formal  appeal  was  made  to  the  Department 
by  a  number  of  the  employes,  and  the  question  was  referred  to  the 
Comptroller,  and  with  his  approval  an  order  was  issued  requiring  the 
men  on  that  building  to  work  by  the  hour,  and  to  be  jjaid  for  their  la- 
bor by  the  hour.    The  basis  on  which  the  price  was  fixed  was  somewhat 
in  excess  of  the  regular  wages  which  they  would  be  entitled  to  for  work- 
ing ten  hours  a  day  ;  I  mean  that  they  were  allowed  per  hour  a  little 
over  one-tenth  of  a  day's  wages  in  each  branch  of  industry.    It  was  not 
enough  to  make  it  any  material  increase,  but  it  was  enough  to  make  a 
technical  increase,  which  the  Comptroller  considered  was  sufficient  to 
exempt  the  work  from  the  operations  of  the  eight-hour  law.    This  ar- 
rangement went  into  effect  on  the  1st  of  January,  1870,  five  months 
after  the  commencement  of  the  work,  and  it  continued  from  that  time 
until  Mr.  Boutwell,  in  1872,  directed  me  to  terminate  that  arrangement. 
Since  that  time  the  men  have  been  employed  at  the  rate  of  eight  hours 
a  day,  and  have  been  paid  full  market  rates,  as  if  they  had  worked 
ten  hours  a  day,  which  a  great  many  of  the  men  have  done,  working 
continaously  for  ten  hours  and  being  paid  at  the  rate  of  a  day  and  a 
quarter  for  a  day's  work. 

These  claims  that  have  been  presented  to  your  committee  now,  were 
presented  before  and  referred  to  the  Comptroller.  The  Comptroller  holds 
that,  while  the  Department  cannot  compel  a  man  to  work  more  than 
eight  hoars  per  day,  and  that  when  a  man  has  worked  his  eight  hours 
he  has  a  right  to  stop  work  and  to  demand  full  pay,  yet  there  is  nothing 
in  the  law  which  prevents  the  man  from  working  ten  hours  by  mutual 
consent,  any  more  than  there  is  anything  to  prevent  a  clerk  from  working 
ovctiuie  in  the  Departments,  for  which  overtime  he  receives  no  pay. 

There  has  been  another  question  raised  which  was  referred  to  the  At- 
torney-General :  that  is,  the  question  whether  the  workmen  employed 
on  these  percentage  contracts  are  employ 68  of  the  Government  or  of 
the  contractors.    I  have  the  opinion  of  the  Attorney-General  here  on 

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4  VIOLATION    OF    THE   EIGHT-HOUR  LAW. 

that  question.  It  is  very  exhaustive  and  conclusive.  I  have  also  here 
the  opinion  of  the  Comptroller  on  the  other  points.  The  Comptroller 
has  decided  that  there  has  been  no  Violation  of  the  law  in  the  case  of 
the  workmen  on  the  New  York  post-oflice,  and  that  there  is  no  money 
due  them.  The  Attorney-General  decides  the  same  way  in  regard  to 
the  other  question,  so  that  as  far  as  I  am  advised  by  the  legal  officers 
of  the  Department  no  law  has  been  violated  and  there  is  no  money  due. 

The  Chairman.  How  much  do  they  claim  ! 

Mr.  MuLLETT.  They  claim  an  advance  of  twenty-five  per  cent,  for  the 
time  they  worked.  They  worked  ten  hours  a  day  in  the  early  part  of 
the  work,  and  they  received  the  highest  current  market  wages. 

The  Chairman.  How  much  would  their  claim  involve;  what  would 
be  the  sum  total  ? 

Mr.  MuLLETT.  I  should  say  it  would  run  over  a  million  of  dollars. 
I  think  that  if  Congress  decides  in  this  one  case,  that  the  men  are  en- 
titled to  what  they  claim,  the  same  principle  will  have  to  be  applied  to 
all  the  other  public  works,  and  will  cost  over  a  million  dollars. 

Mr.  KiLLiNCS^ER.  The  same  question  is  involved  on  all  the  pablic 
buildings  of  the  Government! 

Mr.  MuLLETT.  Yes,  sir.  The  thing  is  simply  a  donation.  It  is  so 
much  money  given  to  men  who  have  already  received  the  highest  mar- 
ket rates  for  their  labor.  The  case  is  entirely  different  from  that  which 
was  presented  to  Congress  before.  When  this  eight-hour  law  went  into 
effect  the  War  and  Navy  Departments  adopted  the  eight-hour  system, 
and  reduced  the  wages  of  the  workmen  twenty  per  cent.,  and  would  not 
let  the  men  work  more  than  eight  hours  a  day,  even  if  they  wanted  to. 
That  was  a  real  hardship,  because  it  put  all  the  men,  the  idle  and  the 
industrious,  on  the  same  basis,  and  cut  down  their  income,  without  any 
consent  on  their  part,  twenty  per  cent.  We  pay  now,  when  we  employ 
a  man  eight  hours  and  give  him  the  full  pay  for  a  day's  work,  twenty- 
five  per  cent,  more  than  men  in  the  employment  of  private  individuals 
are  paid — men  who  ai-e  working  right  alongside  of  them  and  who  are 
paid  by  contractors. 

The  theory  on  which  the  law  was  originally  based  was,  that  men 
would  do  as  much  work  in  eight  hoars  as  they  would  do  in  ten  hours; 
but  now  they  abandon  that  claim  themselves,  and  do  not  pretend  to 
aay  that  they  render  equivalent  service  in  eight  hours  for  the  pay  which 
they  receive  for  a  day's  work.  Take  the  gang  of  men  who  are  at  work 
on  the  rigging  at  the  New  York  post-office.  All  the  iron-work  there  is 
put  in  place  by  the  contractor  for  the  iron-work.  We  furnish  the  der- 
ricks and  work  them,  because  we  cannot  have  any  strangers  upon  our 
derricks.  We  have  got  to  keep  our  own  men  and  be  responsible  for  the 
derricks.  Now,  these  men  working  on  these  derricks  receive  twenty- 
five  per  cent,  over  and  above  the  market  rates  for  labor  for  the  same 
hours,  that  the  contractor's  men  do. 

Mr.  Strait.  Has  that  been  your  practice  right  along  t 

Mr.  MULLETT.  Ever  since  Mr.  Boutwell  issued  that  order,  and  that 
to  day  is  our  universal  practice.  The  hostility  to  this  eight-hour  law  in 
the  different  cities  and  among  private  contractors  is  much  more  intense 
than  the  committee  has  any  idea  of,  and  this  puts  me  between  two  fires. 
I  go  to  a  town  to  have  some  repairs  done  on  a  public  building,  and  i 
appoint  a  local  superintendent,  who  is  generally  a  master  builder.  Once 
in  a  while  I  find  that  he  works  his  men  the  full  ten  hours,  because  he 
does  not  want  to  make  a  precedent  which  will  injure  himself  as  soon  as 
he  has  finished  the  job.  This  law  has  certainly  not  benefited  the  work- 
men, and  my  own  opinion  is,  (which  I  know  will  be  controverted,)  that 
the  real  workmen  of  the  comitry  do  not  want  any  legislation.    On  the 

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VIOLATION    OF    THE    EIGHT-HOUR   LAW.  5 

contrary,  they  want  to  see  the  public  works  progress,  and  they  want  to 
see  appropriations  made  for  them.  They  are  glad  to  get  employment 
on  them,  and  they  give  me  no  trouble.  Among  the  employes  nnder  my 
charge  I  have  received  the  greatest  kindness  and  consideration,  and  I 
believe  the  best  feeling  exists  between  us. 

Mr.  KiLLiNGEB.  From  whom  does  this  ill-feeling  come  f 

Mr.  MuLLETT.  From  the  organized  officers  of  these  working  asso- 
ciations, who  do  not  do  a  day's  work  themselves,  but  who  are  living  on 
the  hard  earnings  of  others ;  men  who  wander  around  the  country  or- 
ganizing strikes.  Our  own  superintendents,  who  have  had  experience 
with  the  trades  unions,  can  tell  me  when  a  strike  is  about  to  take  place 
upon  any  of  our  works.  They  know  many  men  go  upon  the  work  and 
who  are,  in  fact,  sent  there  for  the  purpose  of  organizing  strikes.  A 
superintendent  wrote  me  the  other  da>  telling  me  that  they  were  going 
to  have  a  strike  on  a  building  under  the  charge  of  another  superintend- 
ent; he  knew  it  from  the  fact  of  men  going  on  the  work  who  he  knew 
were  connected  with  these  trades  unions.  These  paid  perambulators, 
when  they  find  work  has  been  carried  on  by  the  Government  which  inter- 
feres in  a  slight  degree  with  some  of  their  theories,  send  one  or  two  men 
and  get  them  put  upon  the  work,  and  in  a  day  or  two  there  is  a  strike. 

We  are  paying  to-day  our  bricklayers  on  the  State  Department  build- 
ing in  Washington  four  dollars  a  day,  the  master-mechanics  here  hav- 
ing adopted  a  rule  not  to  pay  by  the  day's  work,  but  to  pay  by  the  hour, 
so  that  instead  of  getting  fonr  and  a  half  dollars  a  day  they  get  four 
dollars.  The  bricklayer's  association  has  ordered  a  strike  on  that  build- 
ing, but  there  is  no  strike  yet ;  two  or  three  men  who  were  put  upon 
that  building  for  that  purpose  have  ceased  work  and  have  left,  but  their 
places  have  been  filled.  I  can  get  to-day,  in  this  cit^',  a  hundred  brick- 
layers at  the  price  I  am  now  paying ;  they  come  and  beg  as  a  favor  to 
be  put  on  the  work  There  is  no  trouble  with  workingmen  or  mechan- 
ics; it  is  only  with  these  perambnlators,  who  do  not  work  themselves. 
There  never  has  been  any  difficulty  between  me  and  the  meclianics ; 
there  is  no  class  of  men  whom  I  have  treated  with  more  kindness  and 
court^esy  than  mechanics  and  laborers ;  if  I  had  not  I  could  not  have 
got  along  at  all.  Mr.  Graham,  of  New  York,  who  made  this  claim  first 
for  extra  pay  on  the  New  York  post-office,  was  an  officer  of  a  trades 
union,  and  known  to  be  such.  He  got  upon  the  work  long  enough  to 
make  a  claim,  which  was,  in  my  opinion,  all  he  wanted.  I  have  been 
informed  that  parties  have  been  organized  in  New  York  to  get  up  this 
claim,  and  that  for  a  long  time  they  collected  a  dollar  per  month  from 
every  employ^  on  that  building,  as  he  left  the  building  at  the  end  of  his 
work,  in  order  to  compensate  them  for  bringing  these  claims.  /These 
claims  are  not  presented  by  the  workingmen  themselves ;  they  are  all 
put  up.  There  is  a  claim-agent  in  this  city  who  has  made  a  good  deal 
of  money  out  of  this  legislation  giving  twenty  per  cent,  to  the  employes 
in  the  Navy  Department.  He  has  been  perambulating  through  the 
country  advising  workingmen  and  collecting  the  names  of  employes  on 
these  different  contracts  under  Government;  he  is  getting  powers  of  at- 
torney from  men,  and  collecting  these  claims  against  the  Government, 
with  the  understanding  that  he  is  to  have  a  certain  percentage  of  the 
claim  if  it  is  recovered. 

I  believe  that  this  is  about  all  the  information  I  can  give  to  the  com- 
mittee. This  seems  to  me  more  a  legal  question  than  a  question  of  fact. 
1  admit  that,  up  to  a  certain  time,  the  men  on  the  New  York  post-office 
worked  ten  hours  per  day,  and  were  paid  regular  mechanics'  wages 
therefor,  but  I  claim  it  was  by  mutual  agreement.  I  think  it  perfi'>ctly 
safe  for  the  committee  to  assume  that  if  the  statements  are  made  by 

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6  VIOLATION    OF   THE    EIGHT-IIOUR   LAW. 

these  men  that  they  did  work  ten  hours  a-day,  it  is  correct  I  do 
not  controvert  that  point,  but  this  refers  ouly'to  those  who  worked 
prior  to  January  1, 1870;  from  that  time  to  May  15, 1872,  the  men  worked 
and  were  paid  by  the  hour, 

Mr.  Strait.  How  did  the  wages  paid  to  these  men  correspond  with 
the  wages  paid  by  private  employers  f 

Mr.  Mullet.  The  wages  paid  by  the  Government  are  the  same  as 
are  paid  by  private  employers.  The  Department  does  not  cut  down 
wages  until  wages  are  cut  down  on  private  works,  but  endeavors  to 
follow  the  market  strictly.  The  difficulty  in  the  matter  is  this:  Ck)n- 
gresa  expects  me  to  perform  certain^  work  within  a  certain  price,  and  it 
is  very  seldom  that  Congress  even  gives  me  the  amount  of  my  own  esti- 
mates. In  every  case  where  Congress  has  accepted  my  estimate  for  a 
piece  of  work  I  have  conformed  to  that,  except  in  cases  in  which  unfore- 
seen difficulties  have  arisen,  for  which  I  coald  not  be  held  responsible, 
as  at  St.  Louis  the  Government  bought  a  piece  of  property  which, 
according  to  the  testimony,  would  give  a  good  foundation.  I  had  no 
means  of  trying  whether  it  would  or  not,  as  the  property  was  taken  by 
condemnation,  and  I  had  no  right  to  go  on  the  premises  and  bore.  Now 
I  have  gone  down  some  thirty  feet,  and  find  that  we  do  not  strike  a  good 
foundation,  but  that  there  are  alternate  layers  of  quicksand  and  blue 
clay,  and  I  have  no  doubt  whatever  that  we  will  be  compelled  to  pile 
the  whole  foundation.  I  made  no  estimate  for  piling,  and  the  cost  will 
be  extra.  In  order  to  be  certain  that  no  unnecessary  expense  is  incurred 
in  this  case  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  has  consented  to  the  appoiu^ 
ment  of  a  commission  of  four  of  the  principal  engineers  in  the  city  to 
examine  the  plans  and  test  the  foundations,  and  see  if  we  cannot  avoid 
the  necessity  of  piling.  1  have  satisfied  myself  that  we  have  got  to  pile, 
but  I  do  not  want  to  do  it  if  any  cheaper  and  better  plan  can  be  sug- 
gested. Then,  besides,  I  have  got  to  make  my  estimates  upon  market 
rates  for  labor,  and  if  I  am  compelled  to  spend  twenty  per  cent,  more 
than  the  market-rates,  I  want  duo  credit  for  that.  If  Congress  makes 
a  provision  by  law  that  I  shall  be  entitled  to  twenty  per  cent,  over  esti- 
mates at  market-rates  in  order  to  comply  with  the  eight-hour  law,  then 
I  will  withdraw  all  objections  to  it,  but  I  would  suggest  that  the  clerks, 
superintendents,  and  the  Supervising  Architect  »hall  also  be  brought 
under  the  eight-hour  law. 

These  men  who  come  before  your  committee  and  ask  extra  pay  are 
generally  men  who  have  been  complaining  of  the  increase  of  salaries 
to  members  of  Congress  and  officers  of  the  Government. 

Mr.  Peuby.  You  say  it  is  not  the  workingmen  who  make  the  diffi- 
culty about  the  eight-hour  law  but  the  guerrillas  who  go  about  agitating 
the  question. 

Mr.  Mullett.  It  is  the  men  who,  as  an  organized  body,  are  living  on 
the  hard  earnings  of  honest  industrious  mechanics  that  make  all  this 
difficulty. 

Mr.  Spbague.  When  your  workmen  are  hired  individually  is  there 
any  understanding  arrived  at  as  to  how  the  thing  is  to  proceed  Y 

Mr  Mullett.  In  the  original  employment  of  these  men  on  the  New 
York  post-office  they  worked  ten  hours  a  day  and  signed  the  pay-roll  for 
their  wages,  and  this  continued  from  August,  1869,  to  January  1, 
1870.  Tliere  is  no  legal  evidence  to  show  that  there  was  any  si)ecial 
agreement,  but  the  superintendent  assures  me  that  there  was  such  a 
verbal  agreement,  and  the  fact  that  there  was  cannot  well  be  denied, 
because,  otho-'wise,  the  men  would  have  objected  to  signing  the  roll  the 
first  pay-day.    But  the  difficulty  is  that,  under  the  present  system,  a 


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VIOLATION   OP   THE   EIGHT-HOUR  LAW.  7 

mechanic  may  sign  a  payroll  admitting  that  be  has  received  his  pay  in 
full  of  all  demands,  and  that  does  not  make  an  end  of  it,  because,  if  he 
comes  to  Congress  and  presents  a  claim  as  a  poor  workingman,  there  is 
sympathy  for  him  directly.  It  is  not  as  in  private  life  where  a  receipt 
closes  the  matter,  there  is  no  closing  it  here. 

Mr.  Sprague.  Yon  claim  that  while  these  men  were  paid  not,  perhaps, 
strictly  in  accordance  with  law,  they  were  paid  in  accordance  with  their 
contract. 

Mr.  MULLETT.  Yes,  and  the  Comptroller  says  that  the  law  was  not 
violated. 

Mr.  Strait.  You  paid  in  accordance  with  the  understanding  you  had 
with  the  men  f 

Mr.  Mullett.  Yes. 

Mr.  Strait.  And  none  of  these  men  objected  at  the  time  the^*  were 
being  paid  ! 

Mr.  Mullett.  jS^o,  sir;  that  the  disbursing  agent  will  be  able  to 
substantiate.  General  P.  II.  Jones  was  the  disbursing  agent  at  that 
time. 

Mr.  Spragub.  What  length  of  time  does  this  claim  cover  ! 

Mr.  Mullett.  There  is  no  specified  time;  they  merely  refer  indefi- 
nitely to  the  pay-rolls  of  which  they  kept  no  record  at  the  time.  I  do  not 
believe,  in  my  own  mind,  that  these  men  ever  intended  to  make  such  a 
claim  at  the  time  they  went  on  the  work.  On  the  contrary,  they  were 
anxious  to  get  work,  and  we  were  turning  off  men  all  the  time  and  re- 
fusing to  employ  them.  I  have  myself  seen  nearly  a  hundred  men  stand- 
ing around  the  doors  of  the  superintendent's  office  all  day  in  New  York 
waiting  for  a  chance  to  do  a  day's  work ;  and  I  saw  among  the  laborers 
in  the  trench  a  man  who  was  pointed  out  to  me  by  the  superintendent 
as  a  German  physician,  one  of  the  most  highly  educated  men.  He  was 
utterly  destitute,  and  was  down  there  in  the  trench  working  as  hard  as 
any  one. 

Mr.  Strait.  What  is  your  opinion  about  the  eight-hour  law  f   . 

Mr.  Mullett.  I  have  only  one  opinion  about  the  law.  I  do  not  be- 
lieve that  it  has  benefited  the  mechanic  or  laborer  in  the  slightest  de- 
gree. I  have  tried  to  state  my  opinion  in  my  report  this  year,  and  I 
can  say  that  I  have  no  feeling  on  the  subject  other  than  to  perform  my 
duty.  If  Congress  were  to  take  no  action  upon  this  report,  and  if  I 
were  to  remain  in  office  another  year,  it  is  my  intention  to  make  a  rec- 
ommendation to  the  efiect  that  the  demands  of  the  trades  unions  be 
further  complied  with,  and  that  all  contractors  upon  Government  work 
shall  be  compelled  to  work  their  men  eight  hours  a  day.  This  demand 
has  been  made,  and  I  am  satisfied  that  things  cannot  remain  in  their 
present  condition.  There  is  an  antagonism  on  every  job  between  the 
employes  of  contractors  and  the  employes  of  the  Government.  They 
taunt  each  other,  and  quarrel,  and  in  a  few  instances  violence  has  been 
used.  In  Chicago  the  stone-cutters  succeeded,  after  the  great  fire,  in 
establishing  the  eight-hour  ^system,  and  there  I  have  no  trouble  what- 
ever. 1  have  no  objection  to  the  eigh^hour  law  as  it  is  applied  in  Chi- 
cago, because  the  wages  of  the  workmen  have  been  reduced  in  accord- 
ance with  the  reduction  of  time,  and  we  are  now  paying  stonecutters  in 
Chicago  at  the  same  rate  as  if  they  were  working  ten  hours.  The  Gov- 
ernment employes  and  the  contractors'  employes  quit  work  at  the  same 
time,  so  that  there  is  no  controversy  between  them.  But  in  all  other 
cases,  where  the  employes  of  the  contractor  work  two  hours  more  than 
the  employes  of  the  Government,  there  is  great  dissatisfaction,  and  em- 
ployment by  the  Government  is  looked  upon  as  a  question  of  patronage. 


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8  VIOLATION   OF   THE   EIGHT-HOUR   LAW. 

There  are  men  ia  tbis  city  uow  who  are  walking  the  streets,  idle,  rather 
than  work  ten  hours  a  day.  Many  who  come  to  members  of  Congress 
begging  to  be  put  to  work  are  begging  not  so  much  for  work  as 
they  are  for  eight  hours  a  day  instead  of  ten  hours  for  labor.  I  look 
upon  this  demand  for  eight  hours  as  a  day's  work  as  nothing  more 
than  a  commlencement  of  a  series  of  demands  that  are  to  be  made  by 
these  trades  unions.  I  think  it  would  be  very  interesting  for  this  com- 
mittee to  get  a  copy  of  a  report  which  was  made  some  two  years  since 
by  the  select  committee  of  the  British  Parliament  on  the  subject  of  labor. 
I  feel  that  this  cdmmittee  would  be  surprised  to  find  to  what  a  system 
this  agitation  has  been  reduced.  There  men  are  not  permitted,  in  many 
if  not  all  of  the  branches  of  industry  in  England,  to  manufacture  articles 
in  their  line  at  their  homes  after  they  have  done  their  ordinary  work. 
When  they  have  done  their  day's  work  and  taken  the  pay  which  the 
society  fixes  for  them,  they  must  live  on  that  pay  or  starve.  A  work- 
man, for  instance,  cannot,  after  his  day's  work,  use  his  leisure  time  at 
home  in  producing  articles  in  his  line,  because  the  trades  unions  say 
that  that  is  depreciating  labor.  So  again,  in  this  city  and  country, 
these  trades  unions  declare  how  many  boys  shall  learn  a  trade  in  pro- 
portion to  the  number  of  workmen  that  an  employer  has.  Fir8^class 
mechanics  are  becoming  scarce  in  this  country,  and  we  are  depending 
on  Euro]»e  for  our  mechanics,  and  it  is  principally  on  this  account  that 
the  scarcity  of  good  mechanics  arises.  I  think  that  there  are  no  me- 
chanics in  the  world  equal  to  the  best  American  mechanic.  The  best 
foreign  mechanics  who  come  here  are  not,  as  a  class,  equal  to  the  beet 
American  mechanics.  Boys  come  to  me  nearly  every  day  begging,  as  a 
great  favor,  permission  to  learn  a  trade,  because  they  cannot  get  a 
chance  to  learn  a  trade  outside.  These  men  have  an  idea  that  they  are 
forced  to  restrict  the  number  of  operatives  in  order  to  keep  up  the  price 
of  work. 
Mr.  KiLLiNGEB.  Is  that  the  theory  on  which  they  go  f 
Mr.  MuLLETT.  That  is  the  theory  on  which  they  go.  They  fix  the 
proportion  of  apprentices,  which  varies  in  trades.  If  the  employer 
should  undertake  to  put  on  a  boy  to  learn  a  trade  in  contravention  of 
this  rule,  the  men  would  strike.  The  whole  thing  is  tyranny.  I  do  not 
believe  that  if  you  could  get  the  true  sentiment  of  the  mechanics  yea 
would  find  one-fourth  of  them  who  would  really  vote  to  sustain  it ;  but 
the  thing  has  grown  up,  and  it  is  dangerous  for  any  of  the  mechanics  to 
attempt  to  change  or  oppose  it. 

A.  B.  MULLETT. 

Washington  County, 

District  of  Columbia : 

Sworn  and  subscribed  to  before  me  this  1st  day  of  April,  1874. 

W.  H.  FBAZIER,  J.  P. 


New  York,  March  6, 1874. 

Present,  Messrs.  J.  W.  Killinger,  Horace  B.  Strait,  and  William  P. 
Sprague. 

James  Connolly  sworn. 

By  Mr.  Killinoer  : 
Question.  What  relation  do  you  stand  in  to  the  workingmen's  associa- 


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VIOLATION    OF   THE    EIGHT-HOUR   LAW.  9 

tion  in  the  city  of  New  York  ? — Answer.  I  am  president  of  the  State 
Trorkingmen's  assembly. 

Q.  Please  to  go  on  and  state  to  the  committee  what  yon  know  in  re- 
gard to  any  violation  of  the  law  regulating  the  hours  of  labor  in  and 
abont  the  construction  of  the  New  York  post-oflflce  and  court-house. — 
A.  I  only  know  what  is  reported  to  me  by  members  of  other  organiza- 
tions. 

Q.  All  you  know,  is  what  you  know  from  other  people  ? — A.  Infor- 
mation derived  from  other  sources. 

Q.  State  what  you  understand  the  violation  has  been. — A.  I  have  been 
informed  that  there  were  men  employed  as  plumbers  on  this  new  post- 
office,  that  were  employed  at  ten  hours  per  day.  I  have  also  been  in- 
formed that  these  parties  were  not  competent  plumbers.  I  have  also 
been  informed  by  the  plumbers'  association  that  they  had  protested  in 
reference  to  this  matter,  but  without  any  success  whatever.  I  was  also 
informed  from  the  same  sources  that  they  understood  a  contract,  or  a 
kind  of  a  contract,  was  given  out  to  certain  parties  to  do  plumbing,  and 
that  this  contract  was  to  be  changed  into  the  hands  of  other  parties  on 
or  about  the  first  of  January,  1874,  and  that  the  grievance  of  which 
they  complained  was  that  they  were  compelled  to  strike  on  this  building 
on  acconnt  of  the  demand  to  work  ten  hours. 

Q.  Has  there  been  any  new  demand  on  them  to  work  ten  hours  lately; 
have  they  not  performed  ten  hours'  work  right  along? — A.  They  may 
have;  I  am  not  positive  on  that  point;  but  if  they  have,  I  understood 
it  was  as  extra  time. 

Q.  You  understood  that,  but  do  you  know  how  the  men  understood 
it! — A.  I  am  only  giving  you  what  information  I  received  from  others. 
Personally  I  know  nothing  about  it. 

Q.  Have  you  been  at  work  on  the  building  yourself? — A.  Never. 
The  party  1  have  been  informed  by  is  a  man  by  the  name  of  Coyle,  a 
member  of  the  plumbers'  society. 

Q.  Have  you  given  his  name  here? — A.  No,  sir;  simply  because  I 
didn't  know  his  residence,  and  I  suppose  Mr.  Blair  will  be  able  to  ac- 
commodate you  on  that  point. 

Q.  Do  yon  know  whether  the  plumber  you  speak  of,  that  worked  ten 
hours  in  violation  of  the  eight-hour  law,  was  hired  by  the  superintendent 
on  the  part  of  the  Government,  or  was  he  an  employ^  of  a  contractor  ? — A. 
I  know  they  broughtacommunication  into theworkingmen'scentral coun- 
cil, and  asked  the  central  council  to  communicate  with  Congress  on  the 
subject,  protesting  against  the  requirements  of  the  superintendent,  that 
they  should  work  ten  hours  a  day. 

Q.  What  I  asked  you  was,  whether  you  knew  that  the  plumbers  you 
spoke  of  that  worked  for  the  plumber,  did  work  more  than  ten  hours,  or 
whether  they  were  employed  directly  by  the  Government  superintendent, 
or  by  a  contractor  who  had  work  let  to  him  on  the  building  ? — A.  I  un- 
derstand he  was  employed  by  the  superintendent. 

Q.  Direct  ? — A.  I  understand  that  to  be  the  fact. 

Q.  Who  was  that  that  was  so  employed  ? — A.  I  cannot  say.  I  am 
giving  you  the  names  of  the  parties  who  gave  me  the  information. 

Q.  Do  you  know  anything  about  the  manner  in  which  these  men  haye 
been  employed ;  w^hether  they  have  been  employed  by  the  day,  or  by 
the  hour?  Do  you  know  anything  about  that,  of  your  own  knowledge  ? — 
A.  I  would  not  say  a  word  about  that.  They  have  such  a  peculiar  way 
of  doing  business  in  these  Departments  that  it  is  impossible  for  a  man 
to  answer  unless  he  is  employed  on  it.  I  was  in  hopes  that  your  com- 
mittee would  have  entered  in  to.  an  investigation  on  the  whole  subject  of 


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10  VIOLATION   OF   THE    EIGHT-UOUR   LAW. 

tbe  ei^ht-bour  law,  because  I  find  that  on  other  buildings  in  this  city  the 
eight-hour  law  has  been  evaded. 

Mr.  KiLLiNGER.  In  regard  to  tbat,  we  have  only  this  to  say:  our  au- 
thority is  liuiited  under  the  resolution  of  instructions,  and  I  would  not, 
for  one,  feel  tbat  we  were  authorized,  even  if  we  so  desired,  to  investi- 
gate each  separate  public  building  in  the  city  of  !New  York,  or  through- 
out the  country.  The  petition  you  people  sent  to  Congress  specifies  the 
!New  York  court-house  and  the  post-office,  and  when  Mr.  Cox  intro- 
duced his  resolution  ordering  this  investigation,  he  confined  it  to  the 
tenor  of  your  complaint.  Now,  we  are  limited  to  that,  and  we  are  not 
at  liberty  to  go  into  a  general  investigation  of  the  eight-hour  system  in 
all  its  length  and  breadth.  If  you,  gentlemen,  want  to  open  up  tbat 
question,  it  is  possible  for  you  to  do  so ;  but  it  don't  come  within  the 
scope  of  our  instructions  at  this  time. 

Q*  I^  that  all  the  information  you  can  give  us  on  this  i>oiut ! — A«  Ex- 
cept the  further  information,  as  I  understand  from  these  parties — ^there 
were  two  sets  of  men  employed  at  plumbing  at  the  same  time,  one  by 
contract,  or  some  kind  of  a  contract — I  don't  know  how  that  is,  except 
it  can  be  explained  by  the  superintendent — and  others  who  are  employed 
by  the  superintendent  direct,  by  the  day,  1  understand,  or  by  the  hour, 
I  don't  know  how. 

Q.  Can  you  give  us  the  name  of  the  plumber  of  whom  you  have 
spoken,  so  that  we  cab  call  him  before  us  f — A.  I  really  don't  know,  but 
I  suppose  we  can  get  all  the  necessary  information  from  putting  the 
superintendent,  or  some  of  these  ]>arties  in  charge  of  the  building,  on 
the  stand. 

George  Blaib  sworn. 
By  Mr.  Killinger  : 

Question.  What  relation  do  you  stand  in  to  the  workingmen's  associ- 
ation of  the  city  of  New  York  ! — Answer.  I  am  secretary  of  the  working- 
men's  central  council. 

Q.  Are  you  the  first  gentleman  that  sent  petitions  to  Congress  com- 
plaining of  the  violation  of  the  eight-hour  law  on  the  New  York  post- 
office  building  !  You  forwarded  them  on  behalf  of  your  associates  ! — 
A.  I  did. 

Q.  Will  you  please  go  on  and  state  what  you  know  of  any  violation, 
or  alleged  violation,  of  the  eight-hour  law  in  and  about  the  New  York 
post-office  building  t — A.  Nothing  more  than  from  hearsay. 

Q.  Ilearsay  is  not  evidence;  but  as  we  want  to  arrive  at  the  real  facts 
or  grievances  complained  of,  we  will  hear  what  you  have  to  say  on  tbat 
subject. — A.  About  the  10th  of  last  December  the  plumbers' delegation 
or  representatives  in  the  workingmen's  central  council  called  the  atten- 
tion of  the  council  to  the  fact  that  their  men  were  obliged  to  work  ten 
hours,  which  they  complained  was  in  direct  violation  of  tlie  law  of  the 
nation,  and  I  was  instructed  to  call  the  attention  of  Congress  to  the 
matter.  I  continued  my  correspondence  for  a  couple  of  months,  until 
finally  Mr.  Cox  succeeded  in  having  the  resolution  passed  which  causes 
this  investigation  now,  so  far  as  I  understood  it.  It  is  claimed  by  Mr. 
Coyle,  of  the  plumbers,  that  there  is  one  lot  of  men  working  eight  hours, 
and  another  lot  of  men  working  ten  hours,  and  they  cannot  under- 
stand this  system  of  making  a  division  in  the  employment  of  the  men, 
and  they  further  claim  that  the  law  of  the  nation,  as  I  stated  before,  was 
violated;  consequently  this  action,  that  I  was  ordered  to  communicate 


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VIOLATION   OP   THE    EIGHT-HOUR   LAW.  11 

\ritb  Congress;  and  farther  than  that  I  don't  know  anything  about  the 
violation  of  the  law. 

Q.  Tlian  what  these  plumbers  informed  you  ?  Where  will  we  be  able 
to  find  Mr.  Coyle! — A.  247  East  Thirty-ninth  street. 

By  Mr.  Strait  : 

Q.  Did  this  complaint  come  from  your  association,  or  from  working- 
men  that  were  employed  on  the  building,  to  you  t — A.  I  will  have  to  go 
into  a  little  explanation  first.  The  plumbers  have  a  trades  union  in 
this  city,  and  many  of  their  members  were  employed  on  this  building, 
and  they  were  compelled  to  strike  against  this  ten-hour  system,  but 
tbey  were  unsnccessful  in  forcing  their  men  off  of  the  work  that  were 
working  ten  hours.  They  looked  into  the  law,  and  they  considered  that 
it  was  a  violation  of  the  law,  and  their  delegation  called  the  attention 
of  the  central  council  to  the  matter,  with  a  recommendation  that  the  sec- 
retary communicate  with  Congress,  and  cause  an  investigation. 

Q.  Then  the  complaint  was  really  from  the  trades  union?— A.  From 
the  trades  union. 

Q.  liatl^er  than  from  the  men  that  were  employed  ? — A.  Yes,  sir. 

By  Mr.  Sprague: 
Q.  The  men  did  strike,  did  they  not  ? — A.  Yes,  sir. 

By  Mr.  Strait: 
Q.  But  went  to  work  again  ? — A.  I  don't  know  whether  the  same 
men  went  to  work  that  struck,  or  not.  I  forgot  to  state  that  I  do 
know  a  little  more.  I  saw  Mr.  Graham  last  night,  and  he  worked  on 
this  building,  and  he  states  that  the  law  has  been  violated  for  the  lust 
two  years,  and  he  can  prove  it,  and  those  are  the  i)eople  we  want. 

By  Mr.  Killinger  : 

Q.  Would  Mr.  Coyle  be  likely  to  come  on  a  mere  notification  from 
the  committee,  or  will  we  be  obliged  to  send  a  subpoena  for  him? — A. 
Since  I  received  the  telegram  I  put  myself  in  communication  with  these 
people,  and  told  them  to  be  here  to-daj\ 

Q.  You  notified  Mr.  Coyle  f — A.  Yes,  sir ;  I  saw  all  the  persons  I  pos- 
sibly could,  in  order  that  this  investigation  might  be  facilitated;  but  we 
must  have  more  time. 

By  Mr.  Spbague  : 

Q.  What  is  the  nature  of  this  association  with  which  you  are  con- 
nected; the  object  of  it,  and  its  mode  of  operation! — A.  It  is  an  or- 
{?anization  composed  of  delegates  from  the  various  organizations  in 
the  city,  and  organized  for  the  purpose  of  agitating  questions  in  the 
interest  of  working-people.  Any  subject  that  any  of  the  delegates  de- 
sire to  bring  up,  which  is  considered  in  the  interest  of  the  building,  we 
are  in  duty  bound  to  take  hold  of,  if  practicable,  and  to  get  it  before 
the  public  and  agitate  it.  That  is  our  mission.  Each  organization  is 
allowed  from  three  to  four  delegates. 

Q.  As  I  understand  it,  the  organization  is  composed  of  the  trades 
orpiuizations  separately! — A.  Yes,  sir;  the  tra<les  unions. 

Q.  And  they  unit^  together  and  have  a  central  council ! — A.  A  cen- 
tral body;  that  is  it. 

Q.  They  advise  together  and  act,  upon  consultation,  as  a  body? — A. 
Yes,  sir. 

By  Mr.  Killinger: 
Q.  In  regard  to  this  complaint  that  the  plumbers'  association  brought 


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12  VIOLATION   OF   THE   EIGHT-HOUR   LAW. 

before  the  ceDtral  council,  did  you,  or  did  the  council  complain  to  the 
superintendent  of  the  work  in  regard  to  this  matter  which  yon  are  now 
speaking  of;  did  you  bring  it  to  his  notice  officially? — A.  Not  on  this 
subject.  We  had  experience  at  a  former  time,  which  gave  as  saflicient 
reason  to  know  that  it  was  no  use. 

Q.  Did  you  make  any  representations  to  the  secretary  on  the  sub- 
ject ! — A.  Not  on  this  subject. 

Q.  On  the  subject  of  this  complaint! — A.  No,  sir. 

Q.  The  first  complaint  you  made  was  sending  the  petition  to  Cog- 
gress  ? — A.  So  far  as  our  organization  was  concerned, 

Q.  Under  which  we  are  now  here  ! — A.  Yes,  sir ;  but  the  plumbers* 
society  took  action  before  it  was  brought  before  the  council. 

Q.  What  did  they  do? — A.  They  had  a  communication  with  the  Sec- 
retary of  the  Treasury. 

Q.  Did  they  communicate  with  the  superintendent  of  construction 
here  f — A.  I  don't  know,  I  presume  Mr.  Coyle  will  be  able  to  give  yoa 
all  that  information. 

Q.  Is  Mr.  Coyle  here  ? — A.  He  is  in  the  city. 

Q.  He  has  had  notice  of  this  meeting? — A.  Yes,  sir ;  and  there  is  no 
doubt  he  will  be  here. 

Q.  Your  committee  communicated  with  the  President  of  the  United 
States  ? — A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  Did  they  get  any  answer  from  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  or 
from  the  President  of  the  United  States,  or  don't  you  know  that  of 
your  own  knowledge  ? — A.  They  have  received  from  the  Secretary  of 
the  Treasury  acknowledgments. 

Q.  Who  is  head  of  this  plumbers'  association  I — A.  Mr.  Qallagher. 

Q.  Is  he  accessible  to  us  to-day  t — A.  I  have  not  his  address.  When 
you  see  Mr.  Coyle  he  will  put  you  in  the  way  of  it. 

By  Mr.  Speague  : 

Q.  Is  Mr.  Coyle  an  official  in  the  organization  T — A.  In  the  central 
council  t 

Q.  Yes,. sir. — A.  No,  sir;  nothing  further  than  a  member  of  the 
standing  committee. 

By  Mr.  Killinqer  : 
Q.  Is  this  all  that  you  can,  of  your  own  knowledge,  give  us  on  this 
point  ? — A.  This  is  about  all. 

By  Mr.  Strait  : 

Q.  Do  you  know  anything,  of  your  own  knowledge,  in  regard  to  the 
hours  of  labor  on  the  building  here ;  whether  it  has  been  eight  or  tea 
hours ;  how  the  men  have  been  employed  t — A.  I  pass  by  here  every  day, 
and  I  see  men  at  work  at  7  o'clock  in  the  morning  and  at  work  at  hadf 
past  5  at  night. 

Q.  And  you  suppose  they  were  working  ten  hours  ? — A.  Yes,  sir. 

By  Mr.  Killingee  : 
Q.  You  don't  know  whether  they  are  employed  by  the  superintendent 
directly  or  by  the  contractors  who  have  work  let  out  to  them  t — A.  I 
don't  know.  We  would  like  the  committee  to  summon  one  or  two 
witnesses  from  (*ach  branch  of  industry  that  is  now  working  on  the 
building. 

W.  G.  Steinmetz  sworn. 
By  Mr.  KlLLlNGEB : 
Question.  What  is  your  occupation  in  and  about  this  Government 

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VIOLATION    OF   THE    EIGHT-HOUR   LAW.  13 

post-office  baildingf — Answer.  lam  appointed  assistant  superintend- 
ent. 

Q.  Do  you  know  anything  of  the  work  being  done  on  the  building  ? — 
A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  In  detail ;  for  instance,  the  plumbers? — A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  Have  yo  u  been  here  ever  since  the  building  was  in  progress  ? — A 
I  might  say  almost  all  through  it,  for  I  came  on  when  the  business  was. 
started.  I  was  in  Washington  then,  but  I  have  been  connected  with 
it  siDce  it  was  started,  more  or  less. 

Q.  In  regard  to  the  plumbing  about  which  a  statement  has  been 
made  here,  can  you  tell  us  the  mode  and  manner  in  which  that  species 
of  work  has  been  contracted  and  let,  and  done  on  the  building  f — A. 
As  to  plumbing,  I  would  like  to  have  a  statement  made  as  to  what  is 
understood  by  "  plumbing.''  There  is  various  work  done  of  that  kind, 
such  as  running  pipes — whether  the  water-closets  and  such  work,  and 
the  connections  with  engines  and  elevators,  and  pipes,  are  embraced  in 
plumbing,  or  are  they  a  special  kind?  I  don't  know  what  is  meant  by 
^^plumbing."  There  are  various  kinds  of  work,  and  I  would  like  to 
know  what  they  refer  to.  What  I  understand  by  "  plumbing  "  myself* 
is  running  lead  pipes  and  building  stands,  water-closets,  &c. ;  in  fact, 
working  in  lead,  and  I  may  say  the  implements  used  necessarily  in  con- 
nection with  leaden  pipes,  tanks,  &c. 

Q.  State  what  you  know  of  the  work  that  has  been  done  of  that 
character? — A.  Of  that  character,  all  the  work  here  has  been  done  under 
the  control  of  the  superintendent. 

Q.  It  has  not  been  sub-let? — ^A.  No,  sir;  and  we  have  hired,  as  we 
wanted  them,  one  man,  two  men,  and  three  men  occasionally,  as  the 
work  required  it ;  fixing  the  temporary  water-pipes,  gas-pipes,  and  con- 
necting the  steam-pipes  with  the  boilers;  the  engines  with  the  boilers, 
&c.;  all  this  kind  of  work,  which  we  embraced  in  one  job;  and  these  men 
were  all  worked  by  eight  hours,  and  paid  by  the  eight-hour  rule,  and 
received  the  market-price  of  wages.  If  we  had  no  work  we  suspended 
the  men ;  if  we  have  work  we  take  them  up  again.  We  have  two  men 
now  at  work,  which,  of  course,  are  working,  as  all  the  men  do  on  the 
building,  eight  hours.  They  are  running  gas-pipes  in  the  cellar,  and 
temporary  water-pipes  as  far  as  we  need  them.  We  have  them  on  the 
top  of  the  roof  which  we  pump  up  the  water  in.  The  building  is  not  in 
such  a  state  now  that  we  could  have  a  plumber  on  the  premises. 

By  Mr.  Steait  : 
Q.  What  has  been  your  manner  of  employing  men  ? — A.  We  are  hir- 
ing them  by  the  day,  but  we  pay  them  by  the  hour,  because  we  cannot 
control  the  men  in  such  a  way  that  they  work  half  a  day  or  a  whole  day, 
and  we  pay  them  pro  rata  by  the  hour.  If  a  man  works  half  an  hour 
we  pay  him  for  the  same  thing.  If  we  work  him  eight  hours,  we  pay 
him  pro  rata  for  what  he  works,  and  if  a  man  works  half  an  hour  we 
pay  him  for  half  an  hour;  and  if  he  only  works  a  quarter  of  an  hour,  we 
don't  pay  him  anything ;  we  don't  keep  any  account  of  that. 

By  Mr.  Connolly  : 

Q.  Was  there  not  a  strike  of  the  plumbers  engaged  on  this  building 
during  the  summer  ? — A.  There  was  a  strike  once,  but  I  don't  know 
whether  the  men  were  plumbers  or  not.  Men  were  striking  here.  I 
understood  they  were,  but  I  could  not  tell  you  anything  at  all  about  it. 
If  any  parties  which  were  employed  by  contractors  are  striking,  that 
has  nothing  whatever  to  do  with  me. 

Q.  That  is  not  a  direct  answerto  my  question.    What  I  wjint  to  know 


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14  VIOLATION   OF   THE   EIGHT-HOUR   LAW. 

18  this:  was  there  a  strike  on  this  bailJin^  by  the  men  employed  by  tbis 
Department  during  last  summer  or  fall! — A.  No,  sir,  never;  except 
the  brick  p  .sociation,  1  believe,  once  were  striking,  if  I  recollect  rigbt^ 
for  the  pi-ice  of  wages;  but  not  under  our  control;  no  one  employed  here. 

Q.  Was  there  any  contract-work  done  at  plumbing,  or  was  there  aoy 
work  done,  except  that  done  by  this  Department,  b}'  employing  the  men 
direct  T — A.  There  was  not,  what  I  understand  to  be  plumbing;  no  clos- 
ets, no  urinals,  no  wash-basins,  nothing  at  all  like  that  put  in  the  baild- 
ing  yet. 

Q,  What  I  desire  to  know  is,  if  there  were  any  plumbers  or  fitters. 
Plumbers  sometimes  do  what  is  termed  gas-fitting;  .what  I  desire  to 
know  is  whether  any  men  were  employed  as  plumbers  or  fitters  by 
others  except  by  this  Department  direct ;  was  there  any  sub  contract  or 
special  contract  ? — A.  For  actual  plumbing  ! 

Q.  For  actual  work  of  that  description. — A.  For  actual  plumbinj:  I 
could  liot  say  that  anything  else  has  been  done.  I  did  once  start  the 
work  for  water-closets,  and  stopped  it  again. 

Q,  At  the  time  the  plumbers  had  a  strike  here  how  many  men  strnck  I 
•  — A.  I  could  not  tell  you,  my  dear  sir ;  I  don't  know  anything  at  all 
about  it. 

Q.  Who  employed  in  this  Department  can  give  us  this  information, 
in  your  opinion  ! — A.  I  don't  know  anybody  ;  you  can  ask  the  suj^erin- 
tendeut,  and  perhaps  he  can  give  you  better  information,  or  the  clerk. 

By  Mr.  Strait  : 

Q.  Did  this  strike  interfere  with  your  work.  Did  it  take  off  any  meu 
from  the  work,  so  that  it  interfered  with  it? — A.  No,  sir,  not  at  all; 
there  was  nobody  to  strike  among  the  plumbers. 

By  Mr.  Connolly  : 

Q.  You  were  employed  in  this  Department  at  the  time  that  the  order 
was  issued  from  Washington  to  commence  eight  or  ten  hours  as  a  da\'s 
labor  ? — A.  Idon't  know  anything  about  this  kind  of  business.  I  always 
understood  that  the  men  were  working  actually  here  at  eight  hours. 

Q.  Are  you  not  aware  that  instructions  came  direct  from  Washington 
ordering  tlie  superintendent  of  this  establishment  to  put  the  men  to 
work  on  eight  hours  ? — A.  I  remember  one  instruction  in  which  it  was 
said  the  meu  should  only  w  ork  eight  hours.  We  used  to  work  the  meu 
twelve  and  fifteen  hours,  and  sometimes  eighteen  hours,  when  we  had 
to  do  it;  and  then  we  stopped  it  entirely  and  went  to  work  eight  houns 
and  by  so  doing  we  cut  off  two  or  three'  hours'  overwork  which  the  men 
formerly  made. 

Q.  When  the  first  order  was  issued  from  Washington  in  regard  to  this 
eight-hour  question  on  this  building,  did  you  not  in  this  Department 
endeavor  to  keep  on  the  ten-hour  system  until  the  first  of  the  month!— 
A.  I  could  not  tell  you  that ;  I  have  uo  knowledge  of  that  whatever. 

Q.  Did  not  a  second  dispatch  come  on  from  Washington  ordering  yoa 
immediately  to  go  on  eight  hours  ! — A.  No,  sir. 

By  Mr.  Steait  : 

Q.  When  you  worked  the  men  twelve  or  fifteen  hours  you  paid  them 
by  the  hour! — A.  Always  pro  rata.  If  necessity  compels  it,  we  have 
meu  work  till  11  o'clock  at  night,  and  as  long  as  they  can  see  by  gas- 
light. We  have  sometimes  trucks  with  tons  of  iron,  and  they  have  to 
be  unloaded,  and  the  hands  have  to  be  here. 

Q.  You  pay  those  men  by  the  hour! — A.  The  men  are  always  paid. 


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VIOLATION    OF   THE   EIGHT-HOUR   LAW.  15 

Q.  Do  you  employ  any  painters  in  this  building! — A.  No,  sir.  There 
is  no  painting  to  be  done ;  they  are  what  I  would  call  primers. 

Q.  Have  there  been  any  painters  employed  on  this  building  during 
last  summer? — A.  I  don't  call  them  painters.  I  would  not  expect  any 
regular  painter,  what  is  called  a  mechanic,  to  be  employed  on  such  work. 

Q.  I  desire  to  know  what  wages  men  wer.e  paid  for  that  kind  of 
work? — A.  I  do  not  keep  a  run  of  the  prices,  but  I  expect  you  can  be 
told. 

By  Mr.  Killi^N'GER  : 

Q.  What  hours  are  the^'  worked  ? — A.  Tliey  are  worked  eight  hours. 
By  Mr.  Connolly  : 

Q.  I  ask  you  the  direct  question  :  Were  the  orders  of  the  Department 
carried  out,  that  eight  hours  should  coustitute  a  legal  day's  work,  and 
the  legal  wages  paid  for  such  w  ork  f — iS..  To  every  man  of  the  society 
you  mean  f 

Q.  I  am  not  saying  society  or  non-society. — A.  All  alike.  You  under- 
stand that  a  poor  mechanic  should  be  as  well  paid  as  the  good  one. 

Q.  Are  we  to  understand  by  that,  that  the  trades  in  this  city  working 
eight  hours  a  day  and  receiving  $4  a  day  for  eight  hours,  that  you  pay 
them  in  conformitj'  with  the  principles  of  the  mechanics  in  this  city  ! — 
A.  I  believe  the  men  are  paid  according  to  the  demand  of  my  society. 
What  I  understand  is  this :  that,  for  instance,  in  your  trade  a  painter, 
what  we  call  in  decoration,  would  not  put  himself  down  at  regular 
market-rates.  A  painter  of  plain  walls  will  get  less  than  the  first  artist 
named ;  and  a  very  poor  painter,  who  cannot  do  anything  except  use 
a  brush  and  shellac  a  wall,  and  afterwards  paint  it  over,  will  not  get 
as  good  wages  as  a  good  painter. 

Q.  You  are  not  aware  of  the  fact  that  the  rule  of  this  city  is,  that  all 
painters  shall  get  a  certain  stipulated  price,  and  no  less? — A.  That  I  so 
understand. 

Q.  Are  you  not  a^vare  of  others  employing  mechanics  in  this  city  that 
are  paid  by  the  day,  half-day,  or  quarter,  and  not  by  the  hour? — A.  That 
is  very  likely,  according  to  the  parties  who  are  employing  them ;  that 
is  their  look  out.  W^here  one  hundred  and  fifty  or  two  hundred  men, 
or  five  hundred  men,  are  working,  I  believe  it  will  be  for  the  interest  of 
the  party  contracting,  or  the  Government,  or  whatever  you  might  call 
it,  if  the  men  are  kept  at  the  most  minute  time — the  authorized  time  to 
be  paid  by.  A  thousand  men  working,  if  they  lose  half  an  hour  a  day,  it 
makes  so  many  days;  therefore,  1  would  bring  it  down  to  the  most  limit- 
ed point,  to  have  the  men  paid  according  to  the  time  they  were  working. 
If  I  should  employ  five  hundred  men  or  twenty-two  men,  and  they  are 
paid  for  a  quarter  of  a  day,  if  they  would  lose  half  an  hour  they  claim 
a  quarter  of  a  day,  that  they  lose  that  time.  We  limit  it  down  to  one 
hour,  to  save  the  Government  as  much  as  we  possibly  can.  That  is  the 
way  we  do. 

By  Mr.  Steait  : 
Q.  Instead  of  docking  a  man  a  quarter  of  an  hour  or  a  quarter  of  a 
day,  you  dock  him  for  the  time  he  loses  ? — A.  Yes,  sir. 

By  Mr.  Connolly: 

Q.  If  a  man  works  an  hour  and  a  half  he  is  paid  for  an  hour  and  a 
half,  and  if  he  works  two  hours  he  is  paid  for  two  hours  ? — A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  Notwithstanding  the  fault  may  not  be  the  man's;  he  may  be  re- 
quired to  be  here  and  watch  for  the  gentleman  to  come  around  an  say^ 


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16  VIOLATION   OF   THE    EIGHT-HOUE  LAW. 

"  Go  to  work  !  " — A.  That  never  happens  here.  There  is  no  use  to  talk 
about  that. 

Q.  Is  that  according  to  the  instructions  from  Washington — the  plan 
upon  which  you  are  working! — A.  I  don't  know  whether  any  instruction 
of  that  kind  is  in  existence  at  all  in  regard  to  any  Government  work. 
I  do  believe  it  would  be  very  foolish  instructions;,  that  is  what  I  believe. 
Our  men,  I  believe,  don't  complain  here. 

Q.  Have  you  ever  had  instructions  to  pay  them  by  the  hour ! — A.  I 
don't  know.  That  is  out  of  my  jurisdiction.  1  am  only  engineer  on  the 
premises,  and  I  am  speaking  about  how  the  men  w^ork.  In  regard  to 
how  they  are  paid,  I  have  nothing  to  do  with  that. 

By  Mr.  Killingeb  : 

Q.  Has  there  been  any  complaint  by  the  men  at  work  on  the  building 
that  they  have  to  work  more  time  than  the  law  allows  f  Do  they  com- 
plain  of  being  overworked  more  than  the  law  allows  you  to  work  them  1 — 
A.  No,  sir;  the  men  are  happy  and  glad  if  they  can  work  sixteen 
hours.  If  I  say  to-night  that  work  has  to  be  done  early  to-morrow 
morning,  I  have  all  the  men  I  want. 

Q.  There  is  no  complaint  that  the  law  is  violated  in  any  of  their 
cases  t — A.  No,  sir ;  never. 

Q.  Do  you  pay  any  extra  wages  for  extra  time — any  additional 
wages  f — A.  Not  "  additional."  I  pay  extra  wages  for  extra  time.  If  a 
man  is  overworking  himself,  we  give  him  all  the  money  he  requires  for 
his  time. 

Q.  Is  there  any  con  tract- work,  special  or  otherv^ise,  being  now  done, 
or  has  there  been  done  on  this  post-office  within  a  year  ? — A.  There  is 
iron-work  within  a  year.    I  believe  that  is  about  all. 

Q.  You  mean  the  work  is  given  out  by  contract? — A.  Yes,  sir. 

By  Mr.  Connolly  : 
Q.  I  mean  the  labor  of  doing  the  work. — A.  Yes,  sir.    The  contract- 
ors hire  the  men,  and  we  have  no  jurisdiction  over  the  contractors. 

By  Mr.  Spbague  : 
Q.  The  great  bulk  of  the  work  is  done  by  the  day  ! — A.  Yes,  sir. 
Q.  Under  the  superintendence  of  the  officials? — A.  Yes,  sir. 
Q.  And  with  those  exceptions  you  spoke  of,  it  is  all  done  that  way  ? — 
A.  All  done  by  the  day. 

C.  T.  HuLBUED  sworn. 
By  Mr.  Killinger  : 

Question^  Are  you  the  superintendent  in  charge  of  the  construction 
of  the  New  York  post-office  building  ? — Answer.  Yes,  sir ;  and  have 
been  from  the  commencement  of  it. 

By  Mr.  Connolly  : 

Q.  Do  you  employ  all  the  plumbers  by  the  day  ? — A.  We  have  but 
one  or  two  men  that  work  at  all  at  anything  like  that  kind  of  work,  and 
they  have  been  employed  by  the  hour. 

Q.  How  many  men  were  employed  at  that  business  during  last  anm- 
mer  or  fall? — A.  I  don't  think  we  have  ever  had  more  than  two  or  three 
that  we  employed,  and  sometimes  but  one. 

Q.  Was  there  a  strike  of  plumbers  in  this  establishment  during  the 
summer  and  fall? — A.  I  heard  that  in  this  room  to-day  for  the  first 
time,  as  far  as  we  were  concerned.  There  never  has  been  a  strike  with 
any  we  employed,  or  had  anything  to  do  with. 


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VIOLATION   OP  THE   EIGHT-HOUR   LAW.  17 

Q.  Was  tbero  any  special  contract  or  any  contract  of  any  kind  given 
out  for  the  plauibing-work  and  gas-fitting  and  steam-fitting  f — ^A.  There 
lias  been  on  steam-fitting.  On  plnmbing  and  gas-work,  I  understand, 
there  has  been  a  proposition  made,  provided  the  specifications  are  satisfac- 
tory, to  the  knowledge  of  our  office.  They  have  never  reported  here  to 
do  work. 

Q.  Who  has  charge  of  the  plumbing  department,  and  the  gas-fitting 
and  steam-fitting  departments  ? — A.  The  steam-fitting  department  has 
by  contract. 

Q.  How  many  estimates  were  xmt  in  for  this  work ;  and  was  the  work 

advertised  for  proposals ! — A.  In  the  first  place,  my  impression  is — I 

don't  speak  from  knowledge^— there  were  two  or  three  estimates  put  in. 

Q.  Was  it  advertised  in  the  public  press  ? — A.  I  could  not  say  that  it 

was,  or  was  not. 

Q.  Who  can  give  us  that  information ! — A.  Mr.  Mullett,  at  Wash- 
ington. 

Q.  In  giving  out  this  work,  you  say  you  don't  know  whether  it  was 
advertised  or  not. — A.  I  don't  know  that  it  was. 

Mr.  Connolly.  The  question  I  asked  the  witness,  Mr.  Chairman,  was 
in  reference  to  special  contracts;  whether  a  publication  was  given  in  the 
press  calling  for  estimates. 

Mr.  KiLLiNGER.  We  don't  want  to  go  into  inquiries  growing  out  of 
the  contracts,  except  as  relate  to  the  number  of  hours  the  men  were 
worked  on  the  building. 

Mr.  Connolly.  I  wish  to  show  that  the  object  in  giving  out  those  con- 
tracts was  for  the  purpose  of  evading  the  law. 

The  Witness.  The  answer  to  that  is  that,  perhaps,  a  dozen  different 
individuals  in  this  city  came  to  this  office  with  reference  to  this  kind  of 
work,  and  gave  their  views — their  plans — and  we  referred  them  to  the 
supervising  architect  at  Washington,  Mr.  Mullett,  and  I  understood  their 
estimates  and  plans  were  submitted  to  him,  and  he  came  on  here  and 
examined  what  we  wanted  to  have  done,  what  was  best  to  be  done,  and 
finally  selected  the  plan  and  gave  it  to  the  person  or  persons  who,  on 
the  whole,  submitted  the  best  plan,  and  one  that  was  the  most  econom- 
ical for  the  Government.  If  this  other  consideration  that  you  named 
entered  into  it,  it  is  entirely  unknown  here. 

Q.  I  want  to  know  whether  there  was  a  fair  chance  for  competition — 
whether  this  work  was  advertised  ! — A.  A  great  deal  of  work  here  is 
not  advertised,  but  every  individual  that  came  into  the  room — and  I 
think  there  must  have  been  a  dozen — was  told  precisely  what  we  wanted ; 
and  he  explained  his  object,  and  I  and  the  assistant  superintendent  went 
oat  several  times  to  see  different  engines  and  different  plans,  and  the 
whole  was  then  turned  over  to  Washington. 

By  Mr.  Strait: 
Q.  They  submitted  their  plans  here! — A.  Yes,  sir;  some,  I  don't 
think,  made  estimates,  but  I  know  Mr.  Mullett  was  here,  and  I  pointed 
out  to  him  one  or  two  circumstances,  and  looked  at  machinery  to  see 
whether  it  was  adapted  to  our  use. 

By  Mr.  Connolly  : 
Q.  When  estimates  are  sent  into  this  Department  for  any  work,  do 
you  not  receive  those  estimates  as  according  to  the  plans  laid  down  for 
yon  in  the  premises,  and  then  submit  them  to  the  superintendent  at 
Washington  t — A.  We  receive  them  and  make  suggestions  with  refer- 
ence to  those  plans,  whether  they  are  adapted,  as  we  think,  to  the  build- 
ing—to the  work,  &c. 

H.  Kep.  390 2 

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18  VIOLATION    OF   THE   JEIGHT  HOUR   LAW. 

Q.  Then  there  was  no  chance  given,  except  to  those  parties  that 
called  at  this  office — no  publication  given  that  estimates  were  to  betaken 
on  this  particular  work  f — A.  I  told  you  I  didn't  know  they  were  adver- 
tised.   1  don't  think  they  were. 

Q.  Who  does  the  advertising  for  that  branch  of  business!— A.  It 
would  be  done  from  here  under  instructions. 

Q.  You  didn't  do  that  from  here,  did  you  ? — A.  I  don't  recollect  any- 
thing of  the  kind  being  done. 

By  Mr.  Killikger: 

Q.  Do  you  know  anything  about  the  people  that  work  here ;  whether 
they  work  more  than  eight  hours  a  day,  or  .whether  the  law  is  violated 
in  any  respect? — A.  Of  those  that  were  hired  by  the  superintendent? 

Q.  Yes. — A.  I  don't  know  of  any  violation. 

Q.  Whether  there  is  any  direct  or  indirect  violation  of  the  law  in  the 
employment  of  peo(>le  about  the  post-office  building?— A.  I  think, if 
you  will  allow  nie  to  go  back  a  little,  I  can  give  you  an  explanation  of 
it,  how  we  get  along,  and  the  way  we  do.  Wheii  1  came  on  here  four 
years  ago  last  August,  the  Department  proper  ha<l  simply  a  clerk  and 
three  or  four  watchmen.  The  watchmen  worked  eight  hours,  and  the 
clerk  did  what  he  could.  A  contractor  upon  this  work,  I  don't  remember 
at  this  moment  his  name,  had  several  men  at  work.  lie  didn't  go  along 
to  our  satisfaction,  and,  under  advice  from  Mr.  MuUett,  finally  that  con 
tract  was  canceled.  The  Government  took  it  into  its  own  hands,  and 
we  worked  here  day  and  night,  having  some  1,200  men  ui>on  oar  pay 
rolls,  sometimes  eight  hours  otf  and  eight  hours  on,  and  hence  we  kept 
our  pay-rolls  the  umment  they  came  into  our  hands  by  the  hour,  payinir 
them  for  the  hours  of  labor  tliey  did,  some  men  working  sixteen  hours, 
and  some  working  eight,  and  some  working  six.  The  system  that  was 
then  adopted  of  hiring  by  the  hour  is  kept  up  to  tliis  hour  on  our  pay- 
rolls, and  they  show  now  that  we  hire  our  men  by  the  hour,  and  that 
we  pay  them  so  much  an  hour.  Some  men  necessarily  work  over  eiglit 
bours,  and  some  will  work  six,  and  some  twelve,  and  some  fourteen,  and 
they  are  paid  according  to  the  time  they  work.  That  is  the  explanation 
of  the  way  our  pay-rolls  are — in  just  the  shape  they  are.  We  com- 
menced that  way,  and  we  have  gone  right  along  that  way,  and  never 
made  any  change. 

Q.  The  men  understood  this  right  along  ? — A.  I  think  so,  and  the 
i^^ay-rolls  show  it  plainly,  and  whenever  they  came  in  conflict  with  me, 
with  the  assistant  superintendent,  or  the  foreman,  they  have  been  told 
very  well,  receive  so  and  so. 

Q.  You  have  never  had  any  complaint  from  the  men  ! — A.  ^o,  sir; 
the  only  strike  we  ever  had  that  1  know  about,  was  in  reference  to  the 
excavation,  and  it  grew  out  of  some  night-work.  They  wanted  an  ad- 
van  3e  of  wages  of  25  per  cent,  or  something,  I  don't  know  what  it  was, 
but  it  was  night- work,  and  we  had  then  working  1,200  men. 

By  }ir.  Connolly  : 

Q.  At  the  time  you  commenced  working  eight  hours,  did  not  a  com- 
mittee go  from  this  building  to  W^ashington  in  regard  to  that  question  !— 
A.  I  cannot  answer. that. 

Q.  Are  you  not  aware  that,  after  they  commenced  working  eight 
bours  on  this  building,  a  petition  signed  by  the  men  employed  on 
this  building  was  sent  to  Washington  demanding  the  extra  pay  for  the 
time  they  had  worked  ten  hours  previous  to  that  order  ? — A.  In  the  fir>t 
p'ace,  we  never  commenced  working  eight  hours.  We  have  a'ways  gone 
along  as  we  had  originally,  and  the  order  you  refer  to  was  that  we  should 


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VIOLATION   OF   THE   EIGHT-HOUR   LAW.  19 

only  employ  men  eight  hoars,  unless  there  was  a  necessity  for  it,  and 
when  that  necessity  existed  we  had  a  right  to  employ  them. 

By  Mr.  Killinger  : 
Q.  And  paj  tli£ni  for  the  extra  time  over  eight  hours  f — A.  Yes,  sir. 
I  nerer  did  see  a  petition  from  those  men  employed  on  this  work,  and 
1  have  no  knowledge  of  i^,  except  from  hearsay.  Tliey  never  came  to 
this  office,  to  my  knowledge,  and  offered  any  petitions,  except  in  one  sin- 
gle instance,  since  I  have  been  here,  of  a  man  that  was  only  asking  to 
work  thus  and  so. 

By  Mr.  Steait  : 

Q.  Do  you  recollect  the  name  of  that  man  who  refused  to  work  unless 
on  his  own  terms  ! — A.  No,  sir,  I  do  not. 

Q.  You  discharged  him,  or  he  quit  work? — A.  He  didn't  choose  to 
work.  At  that  time  I  think  we  had  some  men  in  his  department.  We 
were  very  desirous  of  getting  a  certain  amount  of  masonry  done  before 
the  frost  set  in,  and  we  submitted  it  to  the  men,  and  asked  them  whether 
they  would  not  work  extra  time.  He  refused,  stating  his  society  would 
not  allow  him  to  do  so,  and  would  discharge  him  if  he  worked  one  sin- 
gle hour  over  the  eight  hours.  I  said,  "I  will  jiay  you  for  your  extra 
time,  as  we  want  the  work  done,  and  we  have  only  space  for  so  many 
men  to  work."  And  his  reply  was,  "  I  will  be  discharged  by  the  society 
if  I  work  over  the  time ;"  but  I  don't  recollect  at  this  moment  his  name. 
He  declined  to  work,  and  he  is  the  only  one  I  know  that  ever  has. 

By  Mr.  Killinger  : 

Q.  Did  any  of  them  object,  when  they  got  their  pay,  that  they  had 
been  made  to  work  over  eight  hours;  or  did  they  draw  their  pay  for  the 
extra  time  without  complaining  ? — A.  I  never  heard  of  any  complaint 
of  that  kind.  Occasionally  a  deputation  from  the  men  has  come  to  me 
in  reference  to  the  same  matter. 

Q.  But  no  complaint  of  that  kind,  whatever  ? — A.  No,  sir. 

By  Mr.  Connolly  : 

Q.  How  many  orders  did  you  receive  from  Washington  in  reference 
to  enforcing  the  eight-hour  rule  at  the  time  you  did  commence  the  eight- 
hour  rule  on  the  building? — A.  I  think  I  told  you  we  commenced  on 
the  start  by  the  hour,  anil  a  year  ago  last  summer  the  Secretary  wrote 
me  to  employ  the  men  only  eight  hours  if  we  could  possibly  get  along 
with  the  work,  and  I  don't  remember  to  have  received  any  but  that  one 
communication. 

Q.  Will  you  swear  these  words  were  in  it  positively :  "  If  you  can 
possibly  get  along  ?" — A.  No,  I  don't  think  they  were,  because  I  have 
not  looked  at  the  order  for  a  year,  but  the  idea  was — I  gave  him  the  rea- 
sons— we  were  tnickiug  at  the  time  very  heavy  pieces  of  granite  and 
long  pieces  of  iron,  and  it  was  hot  weather,  and  the  men  who  had  the 
contract  for  drawing  the  iron  and  granite,  with  which  we  had  nothing 
to  do,  complained  that  in  the  middle  of  the  day  they  could  not  draw 
these  loads ;  that  the  streets  were  obstructed ;  and  they  asked  permis- 
sion to  come  in  at  four  or  five  o'clock  and  work  in  some  cases  up  to  nine. 
1  made  that  statement,  and  it  was  in  answer  to  that  that  I  had  this  qual- 
ified direction. 

Q.  Did  you  never  make  a  statement  to  this  effect,  that  it  would  in- 
commode this  Department  to  change  the  hours  of  labor  before  the  first 
of  the  following  month  t — A.  I  presume  that  I  did. 


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20  VIOLATION   OF   THE   EIGHT-HOUR  LAW. 

Q.  And  did  yoa  receive  a  reply  to  that,  directing  yoa  immediately  to 
commence  the  eight  hours  f — A.  I  don't  think  I  did. 

Q.  Do  you  know  of  a  daily  paper  existing  in  this  city  at  that  time 
called  The  Union  ? — A.  I  think  I  saw  two  or  three  numbers  of  it  that 
contained  some  remarks  complimentary  to  myself. 

Q.  Did  you  see  an  order  of  which  I  now  speak,  x>nblished  in  that 
paper  signed  by  the  Secretary  f — A.  No,  sir. 

Q,  You  did  not  ? — A.  No,  sir ;  I  did  not. 

By  Mr.  Spbague  : 

Q.  What  wages  have  you  paid «  I  suppose  they  differ,  according  to 
the  amount  and  character  of  the  work  done  f — A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  The  wages  of  stone-masons? — A.  Stonemasons;  well,  my  impres- 
sion is  that  it  usually  has  been  at  the  rate  of  $4  a  day,  and  there  may 
have  been  some  at  $4.50. 

Q.  Do  you  know  how  the  wages  compare  with  wages  paid  on  private 
work  ! — A.  My  instructions  have  always  been  not  to  pay  above,  but  to 
conform  to  the  general  rates ;  and  repeatedly  I  have  had  instrnctionsto 
inquire  and  see  what  they  were  paying,  and  to  be  governed  accordingly, 
and  that  I  have  always  done. 

Q.  You  paid  as  much  for  eight  hours'  work  as  was  usual  for  a  day-s 
work  in  the  city  t — A.  Yes,  sir.  I  don't  know  what  the  wages  are'in 
the  city  now  for  eight  hours. 

Q.  Have  you  designed  to  observe  that  as  rule  all  through  t — A.  In- 
variably. I  think  there  never  has  been  a  variation  from  that,  or  at- 
tempted, except  in  a  single  instance.  Last  fall  there  was  a  little  cutting 
we  wanted  to  have  done,  and  it  was  very  cold,  and  1  said  to  the  men, 
"  If  you  will  take  that  by  the  piece,  I  will  have  it  done  now ;  and  if  not, 
I  will  wait  for  other  weather ;"  and  they  said  they  could  only  make 
such  and  such  wages,  and  it  was  stopped. 

Q.  When  men  were  working  over  eight  hours  a  day  they  have  been 
paid  at  the  same  rate  for  the  extra  hours  ? — A.  Y^es,  sir. 

By  Mr.  Connolly  : 

Q.  What  are  the  wages  paid  by  your  Department  now  to  bricklayers 
for  eight  hours'  labor! — A.  My  impression  now  is  that  it  is  $4. 

Q.  What  was  paid  by  your  Department  during  last  summer?— A. 
There  has  been  no  variation  that  I  know  of. 

Q.  What  do  you  pay  for  carpenters! — A.  Our  master-carpenter 
proper  has  lately  received  ^5 ;  previous  to  that  only  $4,  because  we  bad 
but  three  or  four  men  working  at  that  time,  and  I  think  now  they  are 
paid  at  the  rate  of  $3.50  a  day,  or  52  cents  an  hour ;  I  believe  some  at 
$4.    It  varies. 

Q.  Y'ou  are  paying  just  the  same  wages  for  eight  hours,  on  thisboild- 
ing,  as  they  are  paying  through  any  of  the  other  shops  in  the  city  of 
New  York ! — A.  I  don't  know  what  they  are  paying  at  other  shops. 

Q.  What  do  j^ou  pay  stone-cutters ! — A.  We  never  had  any.  We 
never  had  but  one  or  two,  and  they  only  temporarily,  because  our  stone- 
cutting  is  done  elsewhere. 

Q.  Where  is  your  stone-cutting  done  ! — A.  It  is  done  at  Dix's  Island. 

Q.  On  what  condition  is  the  stoue-work  l>eing  cut  there  ! — ^A.  That 
work  is  through  with.    It.  was  under  contract,  I  think. 

By  Mr.  Killinger  : 
Q.  It  was  done  through  the  Treasury  Department  at  Washington  ?— 
A.  Yes,  sir. 


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VIOLATION   OF   THE    EIGHT-HOUR   LAW.  21 

By  Mr.  Spbaoue  : 

Q.  I  anderstaad  you  to  say,  ia  the  first  place,  you  were  paying  those 
men  jast  the  same  wages  that  other  mechanics  receive  in  the  city  for 
the  same  work  f — ^A.  That  is  what  we  suppose  we  do,  and  whenever 
there  is  a  rise  for  mechanics  on  other  buildings  they  commonly  notify 
us  of  it,  and  we  always  pay  them  that. 

Q.  I  understand  you  to  say  you  were  not  advised  as  to  what  the  price 
of  labor  is  in  the  city  f — A.  I  said  I  didu't  know  what  other  shops  were 
paying,  but  as  we  understand — ^for  instance,  I  took  the  foreman  the  day 
before  yesterday,  under  a  suggestion  from  Washington,  and  said,  *«  Do 
you  know  what  is  the  price  that  is  paid  at  this  time  for  mason-work  in 
this  city  f  ^  And  he  said,  "  Yes."  That  was  last  week.  "  Are  we  pay- 
ing those  rat€8  ^  "    "  Yes.''    That  is  all  that  was  said. 

Q.  Do  you  employ  these  men  directly,  or  do  you  have  a  foreman  f — 
A.  There  is  a  foreman,  but  the  employment  of  the  men  is  from  this 
office,  but  sometimes  the  foreman  wants  a  certain  number  of  men,  and 
we  say,  "  If  you  know  where  they  are  to  suit  your  specific  purpose,  get 
them." 

Q.  Do  yon  make  it  an  object  to  be  informed  as  to  the  price  of  me- 
chanical labor  in  this  city  f — A.  They  notify  their  foreman,  and  he  comes 
to  us.    We  make  inquiries  occasionally  to  satisfy  ourselves. 

Q.  It  is  proper  for  a  man  employing  labor  to  know  the  price  of  labor 
going,  is  it  not! — A.  We  try  to  possess  ourselves  of  that,  as  we  do  of 
other  things  we  purchase. 

Q.  I  ask  you  whether  ypur  advice  as  to  what  price  you  were  paying 
was  equal  to  that  that  was  being  paid  in  the  city  f — A.  I  have  supposed 
it  to  be  so,  in  every  instance. 

By  Mr.  Connolly  : 

Q.  You  had  not  made  that  inquiry  last  summer,  except  as  the  men 
made  demands  on  you  ? — A.  We,  more  or  less,  always  made  it  in  the 
course  of  every  three  or  four  weeks ;  if  there  is  any  variation  in  the 
price  of  labor,  several  times  in  the  course  of  a  year  or  season. 

Q.  Who  has  had  charge  of  the  plumbing? — A.  We  are  not  doing  any 
plumbing  now. 

Q.  Who  had  charge  of  your  plumbing  ? — A.  The  plumbers  proper — 
two  or  three — whose  names  I  cannot  tell  you  at  this  moment,  because 
we  never  had  a  master-plumber  here.  We  had  one  or  two  men  here  to 
light  our  building  with  gas,  and  really  he  has  been  the  only  one  we  em- 
ployed. We  have  no  plumbers'  pay-roll,  or  anything  of  the  kind  what- 
ever. That  is  one  of  the  workmen  on  the  building.  When  we  want  any 
little  change  of  our  water-pipes  or  gas-pipes,  we  tell  him  to  do  it,  and 
he  does  it. 

Q.  Who  has  charge  of  your  gas-fitting  or  steam-fitting? — A.  Mr.  Da- 
vidson, here,  has  had  to  do  with  the  steam  fitting  and  heating  of  this 
building. 

Q.  He  is  simply  foreman  over  the  work  ? — A.  No,  sir.  The  work  goes 
on  under  his  direction.    He  is  not  pur  foreman. 

Q.  Whose  foreman  is  he! — A.  He  is  the  Government's  foreman,  if  we 
have  any  such ;  but  he  is  the  man  I  said  was  employed  by  Mr.  MuUett 
to  put  in  this  work. 

Q.  And  you  know  nothing  more  about  him  than  thflkt  he  is  employed 
here! — A.  He  is  a  man  I  see  every  day,  and  he  sits  before  you  now.  I 
know  he  has  put  in  the  heating  and  steam  fitting  and  boilers. 

By  Mr.  Steait  : 
Q.  And  that  is  done  by  contract  ? — A.  Yes,  sir. 

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22  VIOLATION    OP  THE   EIGHT-HOUR  LAW. 

By  Mr.  Killingeb  : 
Q.  It  is  not  done  under  yoor  direction  f — A.  It  is  ander  cor  personal 
direction,  to  see  that  it  is  properly  done.   Beyond  that  we  have  nothing 
to  do  with  it  than  to  see  the  material  is  good  and  the  work  is  properly 
done. 

Marshall  T.  Davidson  sworn. 
By  Mr.  Killinger  : 

Question.  Are  you  employed  by  the  Government  to  superintend  the 
steam-fitting  arrangements  of  the  New  York  iK)st-office  building! — An- 
swer. No,  sir. 

Q.  What  is  your  work  ? — A.  I  am  the  contractor. 

Q.  Under  the  Government! — A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  Employed  by  the  Government  to  put  in  the  steam-fitting ! — A. 
Yes,  sir. 

Q.  Do  you  live  in  this  city  ? — A.  I  live  in  Brooklyn.  My  shop  is  in 
New  York. 

Q.  You  were  employed  by  Mr.  Mullett ! — A.  Yes,  sif .  I  made  the  con- 
tract with  the  Treasury  Department  to  do  the  steam-fitting  and  venti- 
lation of  this  building. 

Q.  Did  you  know  Mr.  Mullett ! — A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  He  gave  you  the  work  to  do  ! — A.  Yes,  sir.  I  made  a  regular  con- 
tract, and  furnished  bonds. 

Q.  Were  there  bids  taken  ! — A.  Yes,  sir.    I  made  a  bid  for  the  work. 

Q.  Were  the  bids  advertised  ! — ^A.  That  I  cannot  say. 

Q.  How  did  you  come  to  make  a  bid! — A.  I  was  asked  to  make  a  bid. 

Q.  By  whom  !— A.  By  Mr.  Mullett. 

Q.  Were  there  other  bids  put  in  at  the  same  time  you  put  in  yoar  bid 
for  that  work  ! — A.  That  I  do  not  know.  I  would  not  see  them  if  there 
were,  you  know. 

Q.  You  have  the  entire  charge  of  that  branch  of  the  work  going  on 
here! — A.  Subject  to  the  supervision  of  the  superintendent  of  the  build- 
ing here. 

By  Mr.  Strait  : 

Q.  Yon  are  putting  the  work  in  in  accordance  with  S|>eoificatioD8 
furnished  by  you  ! — A.  Yes,  sir ;  and  drawings. 

Q.  And  those,  of  course,  are  on  file! — ^A.  They  ordinarily  are,  at  Wash- 
ington, and  the  drawings.  My  working  drawings  are  always  tracings; 
they  don't  soil  so  readily,  and  the  work  is  progressing  under  these 
plans. 

By  Mr.  Killingeb  : 

Q.  Does  any  part  of  your  contract  relate  to  the  hours  of  labor  ? — A. 
No,  sir. 

Q.  Is  there  any  limitation  put  on  you  by  the  Government  in  regard 
to  the  hours  of  work! — A.  No,  sir;  I  work  my  own  men  to  suit  myself. 
I  run  my  own  shop  to  suit  myself,  and  when  I  cannot  do  it  I  will  shut 
it  up. 

Q.  So  the  Government  has  no  control  over  the  men  you  employ  ! — 
A.  No,  sir. 

Q.  Except  that  the  work  is  done  in  a  satisfactory  mnnner  ! — Al.  Ye«, 
sir ;  and  I  employ  good  men,  and  pay  them  the  highest  wages,  and  use 
them  as  I  would  like  to  be  used  myself;  and  I  expect  them  to  do  as  1 
tell  them  to  do,  as  far  as  consistent. 


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VIOLATION    OF   THE   EIGHT-HOUB   LAW.  23- 

By  Mr.  Connolly  : 

Q.  Did  you  ever  have  any  specificatious  or  plaas  submitted  to  you 
when  you  made  your  estimate  ! — A.  No,  sir. 

Q.  YounoTer  did? — A.  Yes,  sir;  1  had  plans,  but  not  specifications. 

Q.  You  were  not  aware  of  any  advertisement  of  tbose  plans  calling 
for  estimates  on  the  work. — A.  No,  sir. 

Q.  What  is  your  estimate  !  Is  it  for  doing  a  certain  amount  of  work ;  or 
is  it  an  estimate  to  furnish  a  certain  amount  of  material  at  such  a  price ; 
and  is  it  an  estimate  to  charge  so  much  a  day  for  the  men  you  furnish  ! — 
A.  I  don't  think  I  have  any  business  to  answer  that,  but  I  will  answer 
it.  I  will  qualify  my  previous  answer  by  saying  specifications  were 
famished  me.  I  am  doing  the  work  as  by  those  specifications  and 
drawings,  placing  in  a  certain  coil  herej  containing  so  many  feet  of  pipe, 
made  in  such  a  manner ;  another  one  here;  a  boiler  here;  and  the  boil- 
ers are  set  in  such  a  manner ;  stating,  in  the  stipulation,  the  thickness 
of  the  wall,  which,  of  course,  always  settles  the  quality  of  the  work,  and 
a  complete  heating  apparatus,  for  so  much  money. 

By  Mr.  Killinger  : 
Q.  So  much  per  lamp! — A.  Yes,  sir;  the  same  as  any  other  contract. 
If  a  man  contracts  to  build  yon  a  house  for  a  certain  sum  of  money,  sub- 
ject to  certain  specifications,  that  is  a  contract. 

By  Mr.  Strait  : 

Q.  These  contractors  figure  these  up  by  the  foot,  and  after  the  con- 
tract is  all  completed  the  contract  is  made  as  a  whole  f — A.  Plans  were 
furnished  showing  the  complete  heating  apparatus.  The  specifications 
explain  the  services,  and  give  the  details  of  each  valve,  and  boiler,  and 
pump-fitting  in  its  proper  place ;  and  the  estimates  were  based  upon  that, 
and  the  figures  were  made  upon  that,  and  were  satisfactory  to  tlie  De- 
partment. 

Q.  You  would  have  to  figure  the  size  of  the  piping,  &c.,  and  when 
you  figure  it  all  up  it  is  submitted  in  a  lump  ! — A.  Yes,  sir ;  to  do  so 
much  work  costs  so  much  money. 

By  Mr.  CONNOLLY: 

Q.  You  didn't  put  in  any  estimate  for  doing  so  much  work  by  the  day — 
charging  by  the  day  for  your  men  f — A.  No,  sir. 

Q.  Yon  have  no  bill  against  the  National  Government  for  days' 
work ;  or  have  you  ever  billed  them  for  days-  work  ! — A.  No,  sir. 

Q.  Nor  by  the  hour  ? — A.  No,  sir.  I  have  no  bills  against  the  Depart- 
ment, that  I  can  remember  just  now,  outside  of  this  building. 

Q.  You  have  nothing  on  this  building,  have  you,  for  days'  work  ? — A. 
None  other  than  my  contract. 

Q.  Have  you  billed  the  Government  for  days'  work  on  this  building, 
or  have  you  any  bills  now  pending  against  the  Government  for  any 
days'  work  on  this  building  ! — A.  No,  sir. 

Q.  Or  by  the  hour  f — A,  No,  sir. 

Q.  You  receive  no  compensation  other  than  your  contract  for  a  cer- 
tain amount  of  work  f — A.  That  is  all. 

Q.  You  receive  no  percentage  ?— A.  No,  sir.  I  have  just  told  you  I 
made  a  contract  with  the  Government. 

Q.  Do  you  receive  any  interest  other  than  that  S[)ecifled  in  the  speci- 
fication f  I  ask  you  whether  you  receive  any  percentage  for  the  work 
done — whether  you  receive  any  remuneration,  by  day  or  hour,  for  your- 
self, as  superintendent  of  this  work  f — A.  No,  sir. 

Q.  And  no  interest  other  than  that  specified  in  the  specification  t — A. 


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24  VIOLATION   OP  THE   EIGHT-HOUR  LAW. 

I  am  building  some  tanks  for  this  building  with  my  own  boiler-maker. 
That  is  all  outside  of  my  heating-contract. 

Q.  Do  you  charge  the  Crovemment  by  days'  work,  or  have  you  put  in 
any  specifications  for  that  tank  f — A.  Certainly.  Plans  and  specifica- 
tions were  furnished  for  the  tanks. 

Q.  Do  you  charge  the  Government  by  days'  work  or  by  the  lump!— 
A.  I  charge  them  by  days'  work.  I  make  out  a  bill  against  the  Govern- 
ment for  so  many  pounds  of  irou  in  those  tanks,  so  many  days'  labor, 
and  they  work  ten  hours. 

Q.  Have  you  charge  of  any  of  the  plumbing  ? — ^A.  No,  sir. 

Q.  Have  you  ever  had  on  this  building  ? — A.  I  put  in  sewer-pipes  on 
this  building.  They  had  to  go  in  to  get  a  steam-fitting  apparatus.  That 
is  not  plumbing. 

Q.  I  ask  you  whether  you  have  ever  put  in  any  lead-pipe,  or  any 
plumbing  t — A.  No,  sir ;  no  plumbing. 

Q.  Have  you  charged  any  days'  work  for  any  such  pipe  that  you  have 
put  in  t — A.  No,  sir. 

Q.  Nor  by  the  hour  for  this  pipe,  nor  by  the  pound !  Have  yon 
charged  by  the  pound  for  the  material  f— A.  It  is  not  likely  I  will  give 
it  to  them.    I  have  put  in  the  material  and  charged  them  foi:  it. 

Q.  You  furnished  a  certain  amount  of  pipe  on  this  building,  for  which 
you  charge  the  General  Government  so  much  a  pound,  or  so  much  a 
foot,  for  a  certain  sized  pipe  t — A.  Certainly. 

Q.  How  did  you  charge  the  Government  for  the  labor  of  putting  in 
that  pipe — days'  work  ! — A.  By  the  day. 

Q.  You  did  charge  by  the  day  ? — A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  How  many  hours  a  day  did  the  men  work  on  this  work  f — A.  How 
much  would  you  expect  men  to  work,  working  daring  the  winter! 
These  men  worked,  on  an  average,  eight  hours  a  day. 

Q.  I  ask  you  what*  they  did  work.  Did  they  work  ten  hours  t— A. 
They  were  supposed  to  work  ten. 

Q.  That  was  your  understanding  with  them,  that  they  were  to  work 
ten  hours  f— A.  That  is  what  1  hired  them  for. 

By  Mr.  Killinger  : 

Q.  This  work  that  you  were  doing  in  this  way,  for  which  you  hired 
these  men,  was  that  allowed  to  youf — A.  I  willexplain  that.  In  the 
first  place,  to  start  the  heating  apparatus  in  this  building,  I  could  have 
stuck  the  heating  apparatus  in  anywhere,  according  to  the  plans.  The 
cellar  bottom  of  the  building  is  situated  so  far  below  the  street  sewer- 
age that  it  necessitated  the  placing  in  of  the  sewerage  pipes  in  order  to 
compel  the  steam-heating  pipes  to  give  way.  Had  any  other  man  come 
into  this  building  to  do  this  work,  I  should  not  have  paid  any  attention 
to  him ;  1  should  have  run  my  pipes  in  the  shortest  possible  direction 
to  conform  to  the  specifications,  and  do  them  well.  Then,  getting  in 
the  sewer-pipes,  I  either  woulii  have  had  to  cross  my  own  over  or  be- 
low— they  coidd  not  get  over — and  it  would  have  made  bad  sewerage, 
and  the  Depai-tment,  seeing  that,  might  authorize  the  placing  of  the 
sewer-pipes  by  the  steam-heating  contractor;  and  I  think  it  was  a  very 
good  dodge  of  the  Department,  for  it  compelled  him  to  make  his  con- 
tract give  way  to  the  sewerage  of  the  building.  That  is  all  I  have  had 
to  do  with  the  plumbing. 

Q.  These  tanks  you  speak  of,  that  you  employed  men  to  work  on,  how 
did  you  get  that  work  ?  Was  that  necessary  to  your  contract  ? — A.  It  is 
necessary  to  the  carrying  out  of  the  contract. 


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VIOLATION   OF   THE   EIGHT-HOUR   LAW.  25 

By  Mr.  Sthait  : 
Q.  But  was  not  included  in  the  specification  jou  bid  on  before ? — A. 
Jio,  sir. 

By  Mr.  Killinger  : 

Q.  That  is  the  WAy  you  had  to  employ  men  to  do  it — by  days'  work  f 
—A.  My  own  men,  I  have  on  my  own  steam  heating  contract;  I  em- 
ploy one  or  two  of  them  on  that. 

Q.  In  order  to  carry  out  your  contra<5t,  you  assigned  some  of  your 
men  to  work  ten  hours  ? — A.  Yes,  sir ;  they  worked  ten  hours. 

By  Mr.  Sprague  : 

Q.  In  regard  to  this  particular  work,  was  it  in  carrying  out  any  bar- 
gain or  understanding  with  the  Government }  or  did  you  come  and  do  it, 
and  then  make  a  charge  for  it  f — A.  No,  sir ;  the  officers  of  the  building 
here  called  the  attention  of  the  Washington  officials  to*  the  necessity  of 
patting  them  up,  because  they  have  got  to  be  made,  the  steam-pumps, 
and  these  steam-pumps  are  included  in  the  heating-contract.  These 
same  pumps  have  to  do  double  work,  heating  and  supplying  the  build- 
ing with  water. 

Q.  Did  you  furnish  the  pipe  and  the  material  at  its  cost,  or  its  cost 
and  profit,  and  then  charge  the  Government  so  much  per  day  for  the 
labor  of  the  men  that  did  the  work  f — A.  The  iron  has  to  go  to  my  shop 
to  be  8hape<l,  and,  being  so  large,  it  could  not  be  put  on  in  one  piece. 
The  building  has  to  be  so  far  advanced  that  the  trasses,  &c.,  over  the 
pavilions  where  the  tanks  rest  have  to  go  in  by  the  piece,  and  the  par- 
ties who  ship  the  tanks  have  to  rivet  them  up  and  complete  them. 

By  Mr.  Srtait  : 

Q.  This  comes  in  in  the  nature  of  extra  work  that  was  found  to  be 
required  f — A.  It  is  tributary-,  really. 

Q.  The  Department  found  it  necessary  to  have  these  irons,  and  yon 
were  employed  to  put  them  in  ! — A.  Yes,  sir. 

By  Mr.  Connolly  : 

Q.  As  this  work  has  been  done  by  days'  work,  and  material  furnished 
the  Government  at  so  much  a  pound  for  this  boiler-iron,  I  would  ask 
whether  you  have  billed  the  Government  already  for  this  work  f — A- 
It  is  not  done  yet;  there  are  three  of  them  about  done. 

Q.  No  price  set  for  the  material  that  you  agreed  to  furnish  the  Govern- 
ment, was  there  ! — A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  What  was  the  price  set  for  the  iron  ! — A.  Just  what  it  cost 

Q.  I  ask  what  is  the  cost  of  the  iron  to  the  Government  as  furnished 
by  you  f — A.  I  will  give  you  that  answer  very  freely.  It  does  not 
exceed  five  and  a  quarter  cents  a  pound.  For  the  angle-iron,  the  boiler- 
iron,  and  the  rivets,  I  think  it  will  average  five  cents.  If  you  can  beat 
that  price,  I  would  like  you  to  tell  me  where. 

Q.  Did  you  have  any  strike  on  your  work  during  last  summer  of  the 
men  in  your  employ  t— A.  No,  sir ;  I  did  not. 

Q.  Were  you  aware  of  any  strike  that  took  place,  in  the  building,  of 
plumbers,  during  last  summer  f — A.  No,  sir. 

Q.  Have  you  heard  of  such  a  thing! — A.  No,  sir. 

Q.  Or  of  any  men  working  on  the  lead  or  iron  work  f — A.  No,  sir. 

C.  T.  HuLBUBD  recalled. 

By  Mr.  Strait  : 
Q.  You  heard  Mr.  Davidson's  testimony  ! — A.  Yes,  sir. 


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26  VIOLATION   OF   THE   EIGHT-HOUR   LAW. 

Q.  The  specificatious  of  thiR  work  that  he  8i>eaks  of  were  in  this 
office  here  subject  to  him,  were  they  ?  That  is,  he  had  access  to  the  .speci- 
fications ? — A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  Those  specifications  were  subject  to  the  inspection  of  other  men 
as  well  as  him,  were  they  not  ? — A.  1  think  the  specifications  he  refers  to 
he  ^ot  up  himself. 

Q.  The  specifications  that  the  architect  from  Washington,  Mr.  Mnllett, 
furnished,  I  understand  you  to  say  some  six  or  eight  or  a  dozen  meo 
came  in  here  and  examined? — A.  No,  sir:  they  came  in  and  inquired 
about  the  work,  and  what  was  wanted,  ana,  as  far  as  we  could,  we  gave 
the  information,  and  told  them  to  prepare  their  plans  or  specificatioDS, 
and  they  would  be  submitted  to  the  approval  of  the  Supervising 
Architect  at  Washington,  Mr.  Mullett. 

Q,  Mr.  Davidson  says  he  had  specifications  to  bid  on  ! — A.  I  think  he 
prepared  them  himself.  Of  the  general  idea  of  what  was  required  Mr. 
Davidson  had  the  same  information  that  others  had,  and  no  more;  and 
others  had  the  same  as  he  had. 

James  Connolly  recalled. 
By  Mr.  Steinmetz  : 

Q.  Have  you  any  rule  in  your  society,  by  which  members  are  admitted, 
in  regard  to  their  ability  in  the  trade? — A.  We  have. 

Q.  Will  yon  be  kind  enough  to  let  me  know  how  the  rules  are  estab- 
lished f — A.  I  wilL  He  shall  have  worked  at  least  five  >ear8  at  the 
trade.    I  am  speaking  now  of  my  own  trade,  that  of  a  painter. 

Q.  I  am  asking  you  now  as  an  officer  of  the  organization. — A.  The 
trade  that  I  belong  to  says  that  a  man  shall  be  required  to  have  worked 
at  least  five  years  at  the  trade,  or  have  served  a  regular  apprenticeship. 
Sometimes  when  an  apprentice  does  not  serve  but  three  or  four  years, 
and  where  a  man  comes  into  a  trade  without  having  served  a  regular 
apprenticeship,  where  he  has  been  proved  before  the  organization  to 
have  worked  five  years  at  the  trade  it  qualifies  him  to  become  a  mem- 
ber.   Those  are  the  qualifications. 

Q.  Gould  you  give  me  any  information  in  regard  to  any  other  trade, 
because  you  must  have  some  rules  in  your  association  ! — A.  The  brick- 
layers, as  I  understand,  plasterers,  and  stone  cutters,  have  an  apprentice- 
law  of  their  own. 

Q.  Are  the  members  of  the  trades  union  as  mechanics  allowed,  or 
have  they  a  right,  to  claim  all  the  same  wages  ? — A.  Some  branches  set 
a  price  upon  their  labor,  and  the  membern  of  the  organizations  are  sap- 
posed  to  receive  no  less  than  that  price.  Their  employers  can  give  them 
as  much  more  as  they  please. 

Q.  The  employer  has  a  right,  above  the  limited  amount  that  the  so- 
ciety sets,  to  pay  more  if  he  wants  to  f — A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  But  no  member  dare  work  for  any  lessf — A.  I  am  speaking  of  tbe 
rules  of  the  organization.  Some  men  dare  do  a  great  deal.*  As  mem- 
bers of  the  organization  we  set  a  price  on  our  labor. 

Q.  Is  there  a  rule  in  your  society  that  a  membep  should  have  more  or 
double  the  amount  for  working  over  time  f — A.  Some  trade  orgauixa- 
tions  for  all  over-time  demand  double  price. 

By  Mr.  Sprague  : 

Q.  Is  eight  hours'  work  a  day's  work  throughout  the  city  I  Is  it  so 

considered  among  all  mechanical  trades  and  laborers  that  eight  hoars  is 

a  day's  work  f — A.  With  the  painters,  carpenters,  plumbers,  plasterers, 

brick-layers,  and  stone-cutters — those,  I  believe,  are  in  the  building  line- 


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VIOLATION   OF   THE   EIGHT-HOUE   LAW.  27 

and  the  laborers  in  the  bnildiDg  line,  and  stone-masons^  as  a  rale,  eight 
hours  a  day  is  a  legal  day's  work,  and  they  endeavor  to  work  by  that 
rule.    That  is  the  rule  of  onr  organization. 

By  Mr.  Strait  : 

Q.  Is  that  the  practice  here  f — A.  It  is  the  practice  among  these  or- 
ganizations. 

Q.  Is  it  the  practice  among  employes  ?  Is  it  the  practice  among  mas- 
ter-builders t — A.  I  understand  it  is.  There  may  be  little  shops  that 
employ  one  or  Vwo  men  and  five  or  six  boys,  l^ow,  for  instance,  at 
painting,  they  will  go  into  a  house  away  up  in  Harlem,  and  run  it  down 
without  being  painted,  and  afterwards  a  painter  is  called  in  to  finish  this 
work.  Those  men  may  work  twelve  or  fifteen  hours,  for  all  I  know,  but 
they  are  required  by  the  rules  of  the  association  to  work  no  more  than 
eight  hours  a  day  without  demanding  double  pay  for  all  overtimd,  and 
it  is  generally  acceded  to  by  all  good  employers  in  this  city.  I  can 
think  of  none  now  that  don't  accede  to  it. 

By  Mr.  Sprague  : 

Q.  Is  eight  hours  a  day  the  rule  for  all  mechanical  labor  and  laborers 
also  f — A.  In  the  building  line  it  is. 

Q.  In  the  society  and  out  of  the  society  f — A.  In  my  own  trade  I 
know  probably  400  or  500  men  that  are  not  in  the  organization  who  are 
working  the  same  as  those  that  are  in  the  organization. 

Q.  What  portion  of  the  mechanics  of  the  city  are  embraced  within  the 
organization  f — A.  That  I  beg  leave  to  decline  answering.  My  reasons 
for  not  answering  that  question  are:  our  trade  organizations  in  this  city 
are  organized  in  a  peculiar  way  for  the  necessity  of  securing  their  de- 
mands. 

W.  G.  Steinmetz  recalled. 
By  Mr.  Connolly  : 

Q.  Are  the  men  employed  on  this  work  all  competent  mechanics  ? — A. 
Every  mechanic  employed  is  a  competent  mechanic. 

Q.  Are  all  the  men  employed  at  the  mechanical  branches  competent 
mechanics  f — A.  Do  you  want  to  say  that  I  shall  employ  painters  for 
$3.50  a  day,  while  I  can  employ  men  at  $2.25  to  do  the  same  work  f 

Q.  I  am  speaking  of  other  branches  than  painters. — A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  They  are  all  competent  mechanics  ! — A.  Yes,  sir. 

Jacob  C.  Graham  sworn. 
By  Mr.  Killinger  : 

Q.  What  is  your  employment  f — A.  I  am  a  brick-layer  by  trade. 
Q.  Where  do  you  work  f — A.  At  present  in  Williamsburgh. 
Q.  Have  you  ever  worked  on  the  Government  work  t — A.  Yes,  sir. 
Q.  On  this  post-office  building  ? — A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  When  f — ^A.  To  the  best  of  my  recollection,  it  was  the  latter  part 
of  April,  1872 ;  somewhere  about  the  middle  or  the  latter  part  of  April. 

By  Mr.  Sprague  : 

Q.  For  what  length  of  time  ? — A.  About  two  weeks,  I  think,  accord- 
ing to  the  best  of  my  recollection. 

By  Mr.  Killinger  : 
Q.  You  were  only  employed  two  weeks  f — A.  Only  about  that  time, 
to  the  best  of  my  knowledge  at  present. 


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28  VIOLATION   OF   THE   EIGHT-HOUR   LAW. 

By  Mr.  Connolly  : 
Q.  State  what  yon  know  as  to  a  violation  of  the  eight-hoar  law  on 
this  bailding,  and  state  when. — A.  I  know  that  during  the  time  I  was 
here  it  was  violated. 

By  Mr.  Killinger  : 

Q.  Previous  to  1872 1— A.  Not  from  actual  experience,  previous  to  the 
time,  in  April,  1872,  when  I  was  employed,  but  I  have  seen  the  men  work- 
ing previous  to  that  time  ten  hours  a  day.  I  stood  on  the  sidewalk,  and 
watched  them.  But  during  the  two  weeks  I  worked  here  I  worked  tea 
hours  a  day  on  it,  and  every  other  man  I  saw  working  on  the  building 
worked  ten  hours  a  day. 

Q.  Who  employed  you? — A.  I  was  employed  by  Mr.  Stein metz,  I  be- 
lieve. One  of  the  members  of  the  republican  party  in  my  district  got 
me  employed  here.  I  believe  it  was  Mr.  Steinmetz  or  Mr.  Hulburd— I 
cannot  say  which.    They  saw  and  got  the  employment  for  me  from 

Q.  What  were  your  wages  f — A.  $4  a  day. 

Q.  And  to  earn  those  $4,  did  you  work  ten  hours ! — A.  Yes,  sir,  I  did. 
That  was  two  hours  more  than  I  was  actually  entitled  to  work  under 
the  law. 

Q.  What  is  the  reason  you  left  in  two  weeks'  time ! — A.  I  was  dis- 
charged. 

Q.  Why  ? — A.  I  know  no  other  reason  than  because  I  was  instru- 
mental in  asking  for  eight  hours  a  day  on  this  building.  Several  of  the 
men  employed  on  the  building  were  determined  to  ask  for  it,  and  at 
a  meeting  held  in  the  yard  here  they  selected  me  as  chairman,  and  an* 
thorized  me  to  get  up  a  petition  or  memorial  to  receive  the  signatures 
of  the  men  employed  on  the  post-office.  I  did  so.  To  the  best  of  mj 
recollection,  there  were  a  hundred  and  thirty -five  or  a  hundred  and  forty 
signatures  of  men,  in  all  branches  of  business,  employed  here  on  that, 
written  by  themselves.  When  we  received  all  the  signatures  we  could 
get  to  it,  there  was  a  gentleman  by  the  name  of  McLaughlin,  a  brick- 
layer, and  a  man  by  the  name  of  Michael  Dody  appointed  to  come  into 
this  office  and  see  Mr.  Hulburd,  and  present  him  with  the  petition,  and 
tell  him  what  it  was  for.  We  got  as  far  as  the  outside  office  here,  and 
the  messenger-boy,  I  think,  came  in  and  stated  to  Mr.  Hulburd  that 
there  was  a  committee  of  the  men  employed  on  the  post-office  waiting 
to  see  him,  and  the  boy  came  out  afterward  and  told  us  Mr.  Hulburd 
told  us  to  go  about  our  business;  that  if  we  wanted  anything  we  could 
come  and  get  our  money  and  clear  out.  That  afternoon,  at  4  o'clock, 
to  the  best  of  my  recollection,  I  was  told  by  Mr.  Ledan,,the  foreman  of 
the  masons,  to  comedown  to  the  office  and  get  my  time.  I  came  down 
and  got  my  pay  for  the  time  I  worked,  and  was  discharged.  I  asked 
Mr.  Ledan  previous  to  this  what  I  was  discharged  for,  and  he  said  he 
didn't  know.  I  asked  him  if  he  had  any  fault  to  find  with  me  as  a  me- 
chanic^ and  he  said  ^'  !No  f  that  I  was  as  good  a  mechanic  as  he  had  on 
the  building. 

Q.  Was  anyone  else  discharged  on  the  building! — A.  Yes,  sir;  I 
think  Mr.  Dady  was  discharged,  and  some  other  men  whose  names  I 
don't  recollect.  Then  in  a  day  or  two  after  that — two  or  three  days 
expired  between  the  time  we  got  up  the  petition  and  collected  money 
from  the  post-office,  and  I  was  selected  as  one  of  the  committee  to  go  to 
Washington  and  see  President  Grant;  and  I  went  and  had  an  interview 
with  him  on  the  29th  of  April,  1872,  and  he  gave  the  committee  a  card  of 
reference  to  Secretary  Boutwell.  He  handed  it  to  me ;  and  Mr.  Boutwell 
was  out  of  town — out  of  Washington  at  the  time,  and  to  the  best  of  mj 


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VIOLATION   OF   THE   EIOHT-HOUB   LAW.  29 

recollection  lie  retarned  on  the  6th  or  7th  of  May,  1872.  Immediately 
afterward  I  went  to  see  him,  about  ten  o'clock  that  day,  and  had  an 
interview  with  him.  I  handed  him  a  written  statement,  and  this  card 
of  reference  which  President  Grant  gave  me,  and  made  a  verbal 
statement  to  Mr.  Boutwell  of  how  things  were  conducted  here  and  told 
him  the  law  was  violated  here;  and  in  answer  to  me  he  told  me  right  di- 
rectly there  that  the  statement  I  made  to  him  and  the  written  statement 
was  entirely  different  from  the  statement  that  Mr.  Mailett  had  made 
to  him.  He  stated  to  me  there  that  it  was  represented  to  him  that 
they  were  working  the  men  ten  hours « a  day  on  the  post-ofSce  of 
this  city  to  get  one  story  of  the  building  completed  by  the  time  the 
lease  of  the  old  post-office  in  Nassau  street  should  expire,  so  that  they 
could  occupy  it;  and  he  sent  down  stairs  looking  for  Mr.  Mullett, 
but  he  was  absent  in  New  Orleans,  I  believe,  at  the  time,  or  was 
out  of  town,  and  in  his  absence  Mr.  Kankin  answered  the  same  general 
purpose.  He  came  up  stairs  and  they  had  a  conversation  between  them, 
and  the  nearest  I  can  recollect  Mr.  BoutwelPs  words  is,  he  stated  it 
was  an  injustice  both  to  me  and  the  men  for  the  Supervising  Architect 
to  make  such  representations  to  Mr.  Boutwell.  Then  he  said  to  me, "  Mr. 
Graham,  you  can  return  home  to-night,  and  you  can  rely  on  it  that  I 
will  attend  to  this  immediately,  and  will  have  the  law  enforced  on  the 
post-office."  He  said,  ^^  The  same  train  that  will  take  you  home  tonight 
will  have  the  order  that  I  will  send  immediately  to  Mr.  Hulbnrd  to  New 
York,  or  which  I  will  cause  Mr.  Bankiu  to  have  forwarded."  To  the 
best  of  my  recollection  that  is  what  he  said.  As  to  the  other  portion  of 
the  affair,  I  stood  here  around  this  place  according  to  the  instructions 
I  received  from  the  men  here,  waiting  to  see  if  the  law  was  enforced 
here,  and  it  was  about  the  15th  or  16th  of  May  following  that  the  law 
was  put  in  force  on  this  place  here. 

Q.  Since  that  time  you  know  nothing  of  it ! — A.  I  know  nothing  of  it 
for  I  have  not  been  here. 

Q.  When  you  went  on  there  in  April,  1872,  did  you  go  on  to  make  a 
demand  for  extra  pay  f — A.  I  went  afterward  in  company  with  another 
gentleman. 

Q.  Was  your  object  in  getting  work  here  to  make  a  claim  for  the  ex- 
tra timef — A.  No,  sir;  I  came  on  here  the  same  as  any  other  man  ;  I 
had  no  such  idea  in  my  head. 

Q.  Who  employed  you  1 — A.  I  believe  it  was  Mr.  Steinmetz. 

Q.  Were  you  told* that  you  were  to  work  eight  or  ten  hours ! — A. 
There  was  nothing  said  to  me  about  the  time.     . 

Q.  Did  you  work  two  weeks  before  you  made  a  complaint !— A.  I 
cannot  say  whether  it  was  two  weeks  or  .a  shorter  length  of  time.  It 
uiight  have  been  a  day  or  two  over.  I  don't  think  I  worked  here  over 
two  weeks.     That  is  the  best  of  my  recollection  about  it. 

Q.  You  didn't  make  the  claim  for  extra  pay  until  you  were  dis- 
charged f — A.  I  didn't  make  it  personally ;  the  other  men  on  the  build- 
ioj]r  did. 

Q.  Was  that  your  object  in  going  to  Washington  f-^-A.  I  was  sent 
there  as  one  of  the  committee.  That  was  the  object  of  my  going  there. 
I  was  sent  there  by  the  men  on  the  post-office. 

Q.  To  make  a  claim  for  those  two  hours  T — A.  Yes,  sir. 

By  Mr.  Sprague  : 

Q.  When  you  went  to  work,  did  you  know  a  day's  work  was  eight 
hours  f — A.  I  knew  the  Government  said  it  was. 

Q.  How  often  were  you  paid  ? — A.  Twice  a  month,  I  believe  it  was. 
I  think  I  got  two  pays. 


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30  VIOLATION    OF   THE    EIGHT-HOUR   LAW. 

Q.  Then  you  got  work  more  than  two  weeks  ? — A.  1  don^t  exactly 
recollect,  but  that  is  the  best  of  my  recollection  of  the  time.  I  would 
not  state  positively  that  it  was  two  weeks  or  ovec 

Q.  Did  you  remonstrate  with  any  one  about  this  being  two  hoars  over 
a  day's  work  ! — A.  Yes,  sir;  I  did. 

Q.  With  whom  t — A.  With  the  men  on  the  building. 

Q.  With  your  employers  ? — A.  There  would  be  no  use  doing  that, 
because  they  would  not  listen  to  me. 

Q.  Did  you  come  to  speak  to  any  one  about  it  ? — A.  Yes,  sir;  I  did, 
with  a  petition  signed  by  a  htuidred  odd  men  working  on  the  baiiding, 
and  I  would  not  be  allowed  inside  the  door.  I  was  sent  word  that  if  I 
wanted  anything  1  could  send  word,  and  I  was  discharged  that  evening. 
I  can  say  there  is  not  a  better  mechanic  in  my  business  in  the  Uuite<l 
States }  and  I  further  state  that  if  there  was  any  person  entitled  to  work 
on  this  building,  I  was  as  much  entitled  to  work  on  it  as  any  man,  if 
political  reasons  entitle  a  man  to  work  on  it. 

By  Mr.  Killixger  :  ,. 

Q.  When  you  got  your  pay,  did  you  complain  that  you  were  working 
ten  hours  ? — A.  Not  at  all ;  I  didn't. 

Q.  Did  you  take  your  pay  without  making  any  complaint  1 — A.  Y«*.s 
sir;  the  same  as  the  rest  did. 

By  Mr.  Spbague  : 
Q.    You  didn't  say  anything  in  reply  !-^A.  No,  sir. 

By  Mr.  Strait  : 
Q.  Didn't  j'ou  know  when  you  commenced  work  that  the  men  were 
working  ten' hours? — A.  Yes,  sir. 

By  Mr.  Spraoue  : 

What  were  men  of  the  same  mechanical  labor  receiving  per  day  for 
wages  at  that  time  on  other  jobs  f — A.  Outside  employment  f 

Q.  Yes. — A.  Four  dollars. 

Q.  For  eight  hours  f — A,  At  that  time  it  was  not  a  general  rule  that 
the  mechanics  in  my  business  were  receiving  pay  for  eight  hours  a-day ; 
not  previous  to  that  it  was  not.  At  that  time  they  were  receiving  it 
for  ten  hours. 

By  Mr.  Hulburd  : 

Q.  Do  you  know  to  whom  you  applied  when  you  came  here  for  work; 
was  it  to  me,  or  did  you  do  it  through  some  other  person  ? — A.  I  done  it 
through  Mr.  Archibald  and  Mr.  Coffin,  members  of  the  Twelfth  assem- 
bly general  committee. 

Q.  Did  you  have  any  conversation  with  me  personally  on  the  sub 
ject ! — A.  No,  sir. 

Q.  Did  you  authorize  that  committee  to  say  to  me  that  you  only 
wanted  employment  here  for  a  couple  of  weeks,  and  then  you  wonW 
take  care  of  j^ourselff — A.  No,  sir. 

Q.  Do  you  know  they  said  that  to  me  ? — A.  No,  sir. 

Q.  That  yon  wanted  to  get  on  for  a  couple  of  weeks.  I  said  I  knew 
you  were  a  society  man,  but  this  was  Government  work,  and  notwith- 
standing, if  it  would  gratify  you  a  couple  of  weeks,  I  would  let  you  come 
on.  The  time  was  no  longer  asked  than  that,  so  that  if  yon  were 
dropped,  as  you  say,  it  was  at  the  expiration  of  the  time  that  the  com- 
mittee asked  me  to  employ  you,  without  any  reference  to  the  hour,  which 
never  was  mentioned. — A.  I  have  never  authorized  any  person,  or  I 
have  never  asked  any  person,  either  to  get  me  employment  on  this 


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VIOLATION   OF   THE    EIGHT-HOUR   LAW.  31 

building  through  you,  or  any  person  connected  with  it,  for  the  term  of 
two  weeks,  or  any  other  time. 

Q.  When  you  were  dropped  the  matter  came  up  that  you  were  here 
the  time  that  yon  asked  to  be  employed,  and  you  were  not  dropped  by 
me  with  reference  to  the  eight  hours,  for  that  matter  had  not  then  been 
a^tated  to  my  knowledge,  but  the  time  you  asked  for  you  had  worked. 
Now,  I  will  put  one  question  further  to  you  :  Did  yon  not,  while  here, 
spend  a  portion  of  your  time  in  getting  men  around  yon  and  haranguing 
them  with  reference  to  the  eight  hours ;  and,  secondly,  did  you  not 
prather,  or  were  you  not  concerned  in  gathering,  up  money  from  them 
while  on  the  premises  f — A.  When  you  qualify  your  question  in  a  proper 
way  I  will  answer  it.    You  used  the  word  "  haranguing." 

Q.  Well,  I  will  say  talking  to  them. — A.  1  spent  a  portion  of  my  time 
that  way,  but  the  portion  of  the  time  I  did  spend  was  when  I  was  not 
working  on  the  building ;  it  was  at  dinner-hour  and  in  the  evening  after 
I  quit. 

Q.  Now,  in  reference  to  the  collection  of  money  ? — A.  I  never  col- 
lected a  dollar  from  a  man  on  the  building. 

Q.  Were  you  a  member  of  a  committee  that  did  collect  money  ?— A. 
No,  sir.  I  never  was  a  member  of  a  committee  to  collect  money  on  the 
building. 

if.  Of  the  men  that  were  employed  on  this  building  f — A.  I  stated  to 
the  committee  a  moment  ago  that  I  was  a  member  of  a  committee  ap- 
pointed to  wait  on  you  in  this  office. 

Mr.  HuLBURD.  I  say  1  never  sent  such  a  message  in  the  world. 

Witness.  Then  your  Iwy  carried  it  out  to  me. 

Mr.  HuLBURD.  I  may  have  said  in  reference  to  a  petition,  that  I  could 
not  meddle  with  it,  that  it  should  go  to  Washington,  but  I  never  sent  a 
message  of  the  kind  that  you  speak  of. 

C.  T.  HuLBURD  recalled. 
By  Mr.  Gbaham  : 

Q.  On  the  day  myself  and  the  other  two  gentlemen  who  were  ap- 
pointed a  committee  by  the  men  on  this  building  came  to  this  door,  and 
your  messenger  came  in,  didn't  the  messenger  belongnig  to  this  de- 
partment come  in  that  day  to  you  and  state  that  a  committee  of  the 
men  on  the  building  wished  to  see  you  ! — A.  I  am  not  aware  that  any- 
thing of  the  kind  took  place  nnless  I  was  engaged  at  the  moment ;  for 
any  committee  that  came  to  me  at  a  proper  time  was  always  received 
and  entertained. 

Q.  Did  he  not  come  in  that  day  and  state  to  you  that  we  were  there 
and  wished  to  see  you  ! — A.  I  never  heard  before  that  you  were  at  that 
door  and  wished  to  see  me. 

By  Mr.  Connolly  : 

Q.  When  you  received  this  order  from  Washington,  or  w^lien  this 
order  was  received  from  Washington,  that  order  was  to  order  this  de- 
partment to  commence  working  eight  hours  ? — A.  I  understood  it  so. 

Q.  A  copy  of  that  order  was  published  in  the  Union  at  that  time? — 
A.  YcH,  sir. 

Q.  This  depaitment  refused,  I  believe,  to  go  on  the  hours  according 
to  that  order,  and  a  dispatch  was  sent  from  here  to  Washington  to  that 
eftect? — A.  You  have  reference  to  the  order  that  was  posted  in  the  yard 
here,  signed  by  Mr.  Hulburd  ? 

Q.  I  have  reference  to  the  order  that  was  issued  in  Washington,  at 
the  time  you  went  on,  ordering  this  department,  on  your  representation 


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32  VIOLATION    OF   THE   EIGHT-HOUR   LAW. 

that  tbey  were  breaking  the  eight-hour  law.  I  have  reference  to  the 
order  from  that  Department  to  this,  ordering  them  to  commence  work- 
ing eight  hoars. — A.  I  answered  that — that  Secretary  Boatwell  said  he 
would  authorize  or  have  it  sent  on  immediately. 

Q.  Are  you  not  aware  that  this  department  refused  to  enforce  the 
eight-hour  law,  according  to  that  instruction,  and  that  a  telegraphic  dis- 
patch was  sent  to  Washington  relative  to  the  refusal? — A.  Yes,  sir.  I 
will  state  how  that  was.  There  was  such  a  dispatch  sent,  and  it  was 
sent  by  me.  I  will  state  here,  as  I  stated  before  there :  it  was  to  see  if 
the  law  was  put  in  force ;  and  the  second  day  afterward  the  men  were 
to  work  at  the  usual  hour,  seven  o'clock  in  the  morning,  and  stopped 
working  at  six. 

By  Mr.  KiLLiNGEB : 

Q.  Continued  to  work  ten  hours,  did  they  ? — A.  Yes,  sir ;  and  I  tele- 
graphed it  to  Secretary  Boutwell  myself,  and  the  answer  wa«  or  the 
substance  of  it  was,  this :  '^  Business  of  office  will  not  permit  the  change 
until  the  loth  of  the  month.    Eespectfully  yours,  George  S.  BontwelL^ 

Q.  Do  you  know  whether  a  change  was  made  on  the  15th  of  the 
month  ? — A.  All  I  can  say  about  that  is  that  the  men  went  to  work  at 
eight  o'clock  then.    I  am 'satisfied  the  law  was  put  in  force  then. 

By  Mr.  Connolly  : 

Q.  When  that  order  was  sent  on  and  your  telegraphic  dispatch  went 
on  to  Washington,  that  the  order  was  not  enforced,  and  the  second  dis- 
patch was  sent,  was  there  not  a  dispatch  immediately  sent  stating  the 
law  must  be  put  in  force  on  Monday  morning,  and  was  not  the  law 
put  in  force  the  following  Monday  morning,  Without  waiting  for  the 
15th  ? — A.  Not  to  my  recollection  ;  it  was  not. 

(The  above  witness  having  left  the  stand,  was  again  recalled,  and 
testified  as  follows :) 

C.  T.  Hulbued  recalled. 

Witness.  Secretary  Boutwell  said  the  order  should  come  over  with 
me.  There  was  no  order  here.  The  next  day  I  had  no  information  from 
Washington  whatever.  The  second  morning  after  I  did  get  a  letter  or 
the  order  saying  the  men  should  work  eight  hours,  or  eight  hours  was 
a  day's  work,  and  not  to  work  them  overtime.  1  then  replied  to  that 
and  asked  that  I  might  not  be  required  to  enforce  it  until  the  15th,  for 
reasons  which  I  gave.  The  answer  came  back,  "You  will  comply  with 
the  order  on  the  loth,"  or  "Your  request  is  acceded  to  if  you  will  com- 
ply with  it  on  the  15th  ;"  and  on  the  morning  of  the  15th  the  order 
went  into  force,  and  that  is  the  reason  it  was  not  received  until  the 
third  day.  When  I  got  that  I  wrote  to  Washington  and  stated  the 
reason  I  desired  it  might  be  postponed  until  the  15th  ;  and  the  answer 
came  back,  "You  can  do  so,'"  and  I  issued  the  order  the  day  before, 
that  on  the  15th  the  work  would  be  thus  and  so,  commencing  at  8 
instead  of  7  o'clock.  There  was  not  a  particle  of  delay  in  complying 
with  the  order. 

John  C.  Graham  recalled. 
By  Mr.  Connolly  : 

Q.  Do  you  know  who  holds  the  correspondence  which  took  place  at 
that  time  between  the  parties  here  and  the  Department  at  Washington, 
relative  to  this  question  f — A.  I  believe  I  do. 

Q.  Do  you  think  you  can  i)ossibly  get  those  orders  or  correspond- 
ence f — ^A,  Yes,  sir ;  I  think  if  I  was  to  search  through  my  trunk,  that 


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VIOLATION    OP   THE   EIGHT-HOUR   LAW.  33 

I  keep  for  the  use  of  letters  and  dispatches,  I  could  find  it.  I  am  not 
positive,  though. 

Q.  Do  you  know  of  any  men  being  employed  as  bricklayers  on  this 
building  that  were  not  competent  mechanics  f — A.  During  my  time 
here,  you  mean  t 

Q.  Or  since  ? — A.  The  way  I  judge  of  a  mechanic  is  when  I  am  look- 
ing at  him  working.  1  have  seen  eome  men  working  on  this  building 
that  were  not  competent  mechanics. 

By  Mr.  KiLLiNGBB : 

Q.  When  you  were  working  here  yourself! — A.  Yes,  sir ;  I  have  seen 
men  working  here  that,  if  I  was  an  employer,  I  would  not  give  them 
50  cents  a  day. 

Q.  When  you  were  working  here  you  were  receiving  pay  for  ten  hours 
and  worked  for  the  same  price  that  was  received,  from  employers  on 
contract- work  ? — A.  Yes,  sir ;  t4  a  day. 

Q.  The  eight-hour  law  was  at  work  in  the  city — throughout  the 
dty.l— A.  Not  in  every  ease.  There  was  an  interval,  from  1868  to  1872, 
that  mostly  all  the  bricklaj  ers  worked  t«n  hours. 

By  Mr.  Spbague  : 
Q.  To  what  extent  is  the  eight-hour  law  in  operation  in  this  city  now  f — 
A.  I  don't  know  of  an  employer  in  my  business  that  asks  or  expects 
their  men  to  work  more  than  eight  hours  a  day.  The  effect  the  vio- 
lation of  the  law  on  this  building  had  on  the  mechanics  of  New  York 
was  disastrous  to  them  as  far  as  obtaining  eight  hours  for  a  day's  work 
was  concerned.  In  two  or  three  weeks  or  a  month  previous  to  the  time 
I  eanie  to  work  on  this  building,  I  was  one  of  a  committee  from  the 
bricklayers'  organization  in  this  city  to  ask  the  bosses  to  give  us  eight 
hours  a  day  without  having  resort  to  strikes.  The  exchange  is  at  the 
corner  of  Park  Place  and  Church  street,  and  on  leaving  that  place  (a 
great  many  of  them  I  am  on  friendly  relations  with)  and  walking  up  the 
street  I  asked  one  of  those  gentlemen  if  it  was  possible  they  were  try- 
ing to  fool  us  all  the  time  coming  down  here.  He  said  ^'  Come  and  take 
a  cigar,"  and  we  went  intoBangs's  restaurant,  and  I  had  a  cigar  and  he 
a  glass  of  cider,  to  the  best  of  my  recollection,  and  he  caught  me  by  the 
collar  of  the  coat  and  said,  "  Do  you  see  that  building  over  there  f"  and 
I  said,  "  Yes,  it  is  growing  out  of  the  earth  very  fast."  He  said,  "  When 
yon  get  eight  hours  a  day  it  is  time  enough  for  you  to  talk  to  us  about 
it;  when  the  Government  won't  give  it  you  can't  expect  the  boss  ma- 
sons of  New  York  to  give  it  to  ^'ou."  And  I  do  believe  it  was  the  cause 
of  a  great  deal  of  the  trouble  we  had  in  New  York  about  getting  eight 
hours  for  a  day's  work. 

By  Mr.  Steait  : 

Q.  Do  you  think  the  eight-hour  rule  would  have  been  in  vogue  if  it 
had  not  been  established  on  this  builditig ;  do  you  think  the  Govern- 
ment passing  the  eight-hour  law  was  the  means  of  causing  the  mechan- 
ics to  receive  pay  for  ei^ht  hours  as  a  day's  work  f — A.  I  do  believe  the 
Government  passing  this  law  and  having  it  enforced  has  been  more  the 
means  of  the  mechanics  receiving  pay  for  eight  hours  as  a  day's  work 
than  anythmg  I  know  of. 

Q.  Do  you  believe  that  has  been  any  benefit  to  the  mechanics  f — A. 
1  do  believe  it  is  the  greatest  benefit  that  mechanics  and  the  working- 
men  of  the  United  States  can  receive,  for  the  reason  that  it  gives  them 
ample  time  for  instruction,  in  more  ways  than  one  in  different  kinds  of 
culture.  For  instance,  I  am  working  ten  hours  a  day,  and  I  have  to  go 
H.  Eep.  390 3 

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34  VIOLATION    OF   THE    EIGHT-HOUR   LAW. 

to  Eigbty-sixth  street  or  Fiftieth  street,  and  I  live  now  at  129  AveiiaeC 
in  the  city.  I  have  to  leave  my  house  in  the  morning  before  seven  o'clock 
to  get  there  in  time.  It  takes  me  the  same  time  to  get  back  there,  and 
when  my  supper  is  done  it  is  very  near  eight  o'clock.  If  I  desire  to  go 
to  a  night-school  I  am  too  late  to  go  there.  If  I  cannot  get  there  in  time 
I  would  get  a  little  going-over  by  the  schoolmaster  telling  me  I  oaght  to 
be  there  in  time.  That  came  to  my  knowledge— to  more  than  a  dozen 
men  in  my  neighborhood,  and  those  that  are  working  eight  hours  a  day 
avail  themselves  of  the  operation  of  it. 

Q.  You  are  a  member  of  the  trades  union ! — A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  Are  you  only  working  eight  hours  now  ? — A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  What  is  your  office  in  that  union  f — A.  I  am  holding  the  highest 
office  in  the  gift  of  the  United  Order  of  Bricklayers. 

By  Mr.  Connolly  : 

Q.  Do  you  know  of  any  parties  being  employed  here  as  bricklayers 
without  political  influence  t — A.  I  don't  know ;  I  cannot  answer  that 
question  for  the  reason  that  I  don't  know  how  they  are  employed.  I 
don't  know  whether  they  get  it  through  political  influence  or  not. 

Q.  Did  not  the  plasterers'  society  and  the  painters  also  work  eight 
hours  a  day  before  the  Government  passed  the  eight-hour  law  T— A. 
Yes,  sir ;  I  believe  they  did  ;  I  am  not  very  positive  of  that ;  I  believe 
the  plasterers  did ;  I  don't  know  about  the  painters. 

By  Mr.  Killingeb  : 

Q.  When  you  went  to  see  Secretary  BoutWell  were  the  employers  in 
mechanical  operation  employing  people  at  eight  hours  ?— A.  In  some 
places  they  did. 

Q.  What  was  the  general  custom  in  the  city  among  employers,  gen- 
erally speaking,  in  private  work  !— A.  In  the  city  of  New  York  f 

Q.  Yes. — A.  The  general 'custom  here  at  that  time,  when  I  went  to 
Washington  that  time,  it  was  nearly  all  ten  hours. 

C.  T.  IIULBUBD  recalled. 
By  Mr.  Speague  : 

Q.  After  this  order  was  received  and  you  put  it  in  force,  was  any 
change  made  in  the  wages  ! — A.  No,  sir. 
•  Q.  They  continued  to  work  on  the  same  terms  ! — A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  What  was  that,  $4  ?— A.  I  think  it  was  $4. 

Adjourned  to  this  evening  at  7J  o'clock. 

evening  session. 

The  committee  met  pursuant  to  adjournment,  at  half  pn.st  seven  p.  m. 

Patrick  Coyle  sworn. 

Examined  by  Mr.  Killingeb  : 

Question.  What  is  your  business?— Answer.  I  am  a  plumber,  and 
have  been  in  that  trade  since  1862. 

Q.  Have  you  ever  worked  on  the  post-office  building  ? — A.  I  hav'e  not. 

Q.  Do  you  belong  to  the  plumbers'  organization  ? — A.  I  do ;  1  know 
members  of  that  organization  who  have  worked  on  this  building. 

Q.  Who?— A.  Thomas  Ryan. 

Q.  Who  employed  him? — A.  Henderson  &  Darcy;  they  had  charge 
of  the  work ;  they  were  acting  as  foremen. 

Q.  He  was  employed  by  them  ? — A.  Yes,  sir. 


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VIOLATION   OF   THE    EIGHT-HOUR   LAW.  35 

Q.  You  say  they  were  foremen  f — A.  So  I  understood. 

Q.  From  whom  did  you  understand  so  f — A.  From  members  of  the 
organization. 

Q.  What  do  you  know  about  his  working  here  1 — A.  I  have  no  knowl- 
edge only  what  I  have  been  told  by  other  people. 

Q.  If  yon  know  any  thing  of  your  own  knowledge,  of  any  one  violating 
the  law,  state  it. — A.  The  general  impression  among  my  organization 
is  that  the  work  is  Government  work,  and  not  contract  work ;  and  see- 
ing the  Supervising  Architect's  report  to  Congress,  where  he  said  it  was 
impossible  to  estimate  the  actual  cost  of  the  building,  we  took  it  for 
granted  here  it  was  days'  work. 

By  Mr.  Connolly  : 

Q.  Can  you  give  the  names  of  those  men,  plumbers,  who  worked  on 
this  building! — A.  Thomas  Eyan,  and  a  young  man  named  Hayes, 
and  another  member  of  the  organization ;  I  cannot  remember  his 
name. 

Q.  Who  were  those  employed  by? — A.  By  Henderson  &Darcy,  fore- 
men. 

Q.  For  whom  ? — A.  I  understood  it  was  for  Mr.  Davidson. 

Q.  You  are  a  member  of  the  organization  to  which  these  men  be- 
long?— A.  Yes. 

Q.  Did  there  a  strike  of  plumbers  take  place  on  this  building  during 
the  last  summer  or  fall? — A.  The  society  oniered  its  members  who  were 
working:  here  to  cease  working,  unless  they  would  be  allowed  to  work 
eight  hours.  . 

Q.  Did  they  cease  ? — A.  Oue  of  them  did. 

Q.  The  others  continued  ? — A.  So  I  understood. 

Q.  From  whom  did  you  understand  so  ? — A.  From  other  members  of 
the  organization,  and  I  visited  the  building  and  found  one  of  them  work- 
ing here. 

Q.  What  was  his  name  ? — A.  His  name  was  Hayes. 

Q.  What  kind  of  work  was  he  employed  upon? — A.  Plumbing. 

Q.  How  many  plumbers  were  employed,  to  your  knowledge,  or  as  re- 
ported by  these  members  of  the  union  as  being  engaged  at  plumbing  ? — 
A.  I  cannot  stat6  that,  because  some  weeks  I  understood  there  were 
more  men  on  than  others ;  very  often  they  took  on  men  and  the  men 
were  incompetent,  because  they  could  not  get  competent  mechanics, 
only  very  seldom,  to  work  ten  hours, 

Q«  Have  you  heard  them  state  as  to  the  incompetency  of  any  of  the 
mechanics  employed  as  plumbers  ? — A.  I  have  heard  it  stated  that  at 
one  time  the  men  here  were  so  incompetent  that  they  were  not  able  to 
put  in  the  main. 

Q.  Do  you  know,  from  you  own  knowledge,  that  there  was  work  done 
here  by  incompetent  persons  ? — A.  I  know  there  were  men  working  here 
whose  reputation  does  not  stand  very  high  in  the  trade. 

Q.  In  the  society  ? — A.  Outside  of  the  building. 

By  Mr.  Killingeb  : 
Q.  Did  yon  examine  the  work  done  in  the  building! — A.  No,  sir. 
Q.  Then  you  have  no  personal  knowledge  of  the  work  ? — A.  No, 


sir. 


Michael  J.  Dadt  sworn. 

Examined  by  Mr.  Killingeb  : 
Question.  What  is  your  occupation  ? — Answer.  Brick-layer. 


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36  VIOLATION   OF   THE   EIGHT-HOUR   LAW. 

Q.  Did  yoa  work  on  this  bailding  t — A.  Yes,  gir. 
Q.  Are  you  working  there  now  ! — A.  Yes,  sir. 
Q.  Who  employs  you  f — ^A.  Mr.  Hulburd,  I  believe. 
Q.  How  many  hours  are  yon  employed  t--^A.  Eight  houra 
Q.  Is  that  the  case  with  all  the  men  you  come  in  contact  with  Y— A. 
The  only  men  I  know  that  work  more  than  that  are  the  iron  men. 
Q.  On  the  heating  apparatus  f— A.  No ;  on  the  doma 

By  Mr.  Hulbtjbd: 

Q.  How  long  have  yoa  worked  here!— A.  Three  years  the  1st  of 
April. 

Q.  Have  you  worked  all  the  time  ! — A.  Very  nearly,  all  but  one 
winter. 

Q.  It  was  stated  here  to-day  that  you  as  well  as  others  were  dismisaed, 
and  yoa  went  off  the  work*  State  to  the  committee  how  long  yoa  were 
off,  and  when  you  returned,  and  how  you  were  kept  on  since  1 — A  I 
was  discharged  on  the  19th  of  April,  1872.  I  came  to  work  on  the  Ist 
day  of  June,  1872. 

Q.  And  have  you  continued  ever  since? — A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  Were  there  any  others  dropped  at  the  same  time  but  yourself !— A. 
Four  of  them. 

Q.  Do  you  know  the  names  of  any  of  them? — A.  John  C.  Graham, 
Arthur  McLaughlin,  and  one  or  two  Germans,  whose  namos  I  do  not 
know  now. 

Q.  Have  any  of  those  i)eople  been  employed  on  the  work  since?— A. 
None  but  me ;  I  was  discharged  at  the  same  time  that  one  or  two  Ger- 
mans were  removed. 

Q.  Has  Mr.  McLaughlin  been  employed  since  on  the  buildiog?— A. 
Yes,  all  last  winter. 

Q.  There  is  one  point  more  I  want  to  ask  youabout^  and  that  is,  whether 
you  know  of  money  being  collected  of  the  men  here  for  society  or  com- 
mittee purposes  within  the  last  year,  or  two  years  t — ^A.  Yes ;  I  vas 
one  of  the  committee  that  went  to  Washington,  and  I  myself,  with  two 
others,  collected  t90,  and  while  we  were  in  Washington  the  men  sent 

us  tea. 

Q.  Who  were  the  others  on  the  committee  with  yon  ?*-A.  Mr.  Gra- 
ham and  Andrew  McLaughlin ;  the  men  on  the  building  sent  us  $63  to 
Washington:  when  we  came  home  they  collected  tl97  and  divided  it 
among  the  three  of  us. 

Q.  Have  there  been  any  collections  made  since? — A.  There h»\'e,  for 
the  back  time. 

Q.  Do  you  know  the  amount? — A.  Yes,  there  has  been  from  $190  to 
$300  collected ;  there  was  a  collection  every  pay-day  for  almost  a  year. 

Q.  For  what  purposes  ? — A.  For  tlie  back  time,  and  for  the  eiffht 
hours. 

Q.  You  say  every  pay-day.  How  often  does  pay-day  come  ? — A.  Twice 
a  month. 

Q.  Then  there  have  been  about  24  collections  in  a  year  here?— A. 
Yes,  pretty  nearly  that  many. 

Q.  Do  you  know  how  long  Mr.  Graham  was  on  the  work  here  ?— A. 
Altogether,  Mr.  Graham  was  on  the  work  about  eight  days. 

Q.  Immediately  on  his  coming  here  was  not  this  question  of  getting 
up  a  petition  agitated  among  the  men. — A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  And  was  he  not  foremost  in  it  ? — ^A.  Yes,  su*. 

Q.  And  did  he  not,  on  the  building  and  around  the  building,  discass 
this  subject  with  the  men  again  and  again  ? — A.  Yes,  sir.    He  was  vn* 


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VIOLATION    OP   THE   EIGHT-HOUR   LAW.  37 

derstood  to  be  grand  master  of  the  United  Ameriean  Brick-layers,  and 
the  briek-layers  on  the  bnilding  looked  up  to  him  as  their  leader. 

Q.  What  was  said  to  the  men  with  reference  to  signing  the  petition  t— 
A.  The  way  I  understood  it,  I  was  asked  to  sign  the  petition  to  the  su- 
perintendent, asking  for  the  eight  hours,  and  that  he  would  send  it  on 
to  the  architect,  Mr.  Mullett ;  that  was  the  understanding  I  had  in  sign- 
ing it.  I  understood  the  superintendent  had  not  the  power  to  give  us 
the  eight  hours. 

Q.  There  is  one  question  more  I  would  like  to  ask.  Daring  the  time 
Mr.  Graham  was  here  was  not  the  subject  of  the  eight  hours  and  the 
back-pay  talked  over  and  talked  up  by  bim  to  the  men  in  squads,  one  or 
two  or  three  together,  or  more,  even  during  the  work  hours  proper  t — 
A.  The  eight-hour  question  was  agitated  by  bim  until  he  was  discharged. 
On  the  back-pay  question  Mr.  Graham  was  sent  to  Washington,  and 
had  an  interriew  with  the  Secretary  and  the  Vice-President,  Mr.  Wil- 
son.   At  that  time  he  was  not  on  the  building. 

Q.  But  during  the  time  he  was  on  the  building  at  work  was  he  not 
engaged  in  agitating  the  eight  hours  f— A.  Tes,  sir. 

Q.  Collecting  money,  &c.— A.  Yes,  sir. 

By  Mr.  Connolly  : 

Q.  Yon  have  been  employed  as  brick-layer  for  about  three  years  f — 
A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  What  have  you  been  employed  upon  lately  ? — A.  Laying  brick. 

Q.  No  other  business  but  laying  bnck  f — A.  No,  sir.  I  never  had  any 
other. 

Q.  This  money  collected  from  the  men  was  collected  to  pay  the  ex- 
pense of  their  committee! — A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  To  endeavor  to  enforce  the  eight  hours  t — A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  By  appealing  to  the  President  and  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  ?«-* 
A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  That  is  the  fact  1— A%  That  is  the  fact. 

Q.  Are  you  positive  that  Mr.  Graham  collected  any  money  ? — A.  I  am 
80  positive  that  he  collected  money  that  I  often  came  with  him,  and  he 
hallooed  over  the  fence  that  he  wanted  to  telegraph  to  Washington,  and 
some  one  would  throw  him  a  dollar  or  two  over. 

Q.  Did  you  ever  see  any  one  drop  him  money  over  f — ^A.  I  can  name 
the  gentleman,  but  I  do  not  wish  to.    I  do  not  think  it  is  necessary. 

Q.  Do  you  know  of  any  strikes  that  took  place  in  this  building  within 
the  last  two  years  of  any  of  the  departments  of  workmen  employed 
there  ? — A.  I  heard  there  was  going  to  be  a  strike. 

Q.  Of  whomf^A.  Of  the  ji^umbers;  but  I  never  knew  there  was 
one. 

Q.  How  many  plumbers  had  you  knowledge  of  there  being  employed 
there  I — A.  I  never  saw  but  one,  to  my  knowledge,  because  I  was  never 
Biixed  upwith  the  plumbers ;  there  is  only  one  here  I  know. 

Q.  What  is  his  name  f — A.  I  only  know  him  by  his  first  name,  Aleck. 
I  do  not  know  his  other  name. 

By  Mr.  Spbague  : 

Q.  Do  I  understand  you  to  say  that  this  money  was  collected  to  send 
the  committee  to  Washington  !— A.  Yes.  The  first  collection  of  t90  I 
helped  to  raise  myself;  afterward  the  men  on  the  building  sent  us  $63 
to  Washington ;  that  paid  our  way  on  here ;  if  I  am  not  mistaken,  some 
gentleman  on  the  building  advanced  the  money  ^  I  am  not  positive  about 
that.  When  we  came  home  they  paid  us  $197  in  addition,  to  pay  us  for 
the  time  we  had  lost.    Then  collections  were  made  to  pay  back  the 


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38  VIOLATION   OP   THE   EIGHT-HOUR   LAW. 

gentleman  who  advanced  the  money.  Then  two  or  three  committees 
were  sent  on  to  get  as  the  back  time^  which  we  considered  we  were  en- 
titled to. 

Q.  What  was  the  back  time? — A.  Previons  to  that  we  had  worked 
ten  hoars,  and  for  every  day  we  had  worked  ten  hoars  we  oonside.'ed 
we  wore  entitled  to  be  allowed  two  hoars. 

By  Mr.  Connolly  : 

Q.  Do  yoa  know  why  Mr.  Graham  got  discharged  f — A.  Not  any  more 
than  I  did  myself. 

Q.  Why  did  you  get  discharged  t — A.  I  woald  have  thought  I  was 
discharged  becaase  I  was  prominent  in  agitating  the  eight-hour  ques- 
tion, but  I  found  there  were  two  or  three  incompetent  men  discharged 
at  the  same  time. 

Q.  Were  the  other  men  dischi^ged  on  the  committee  ? — A.  No ;  there 
were  three  Germans  discharged  as  incompetent,  and  I  thought  perhaps 
I  was  discharged  for  the  same  reason. 

Q.  You  wei*e  one  of  a  committee  of  three.  How  many  of  the  com- 
loittee  were  discharged  ? — A.  Two. 

Q.  Who  else  that  was  on  the  committee  was  not  discharged  ?— A. 
Mr.  McLaughlin. 

Q.  He  remained  at  work  and  was  not  discharged  at  all ! — A.  Yes, 
sir. 

Q.  How  long  did  you  remain  off  work  t — A.  Six  weeks. 

Q.  By  what  iDfluence  did  you  get  on  again  ? — A.  Mr.  Steiumetz  met 
me  one  day  and  asked  me  what  I  was  doing.  I  said  nothing.  He  said 
if  I  came  round  the  first  of  the  month  he  would  give  me  work ;  that  he 
was  going  to  discharge  eight  or  ten  incompetent  men.  On  the  first  of 
the  month  I  came,  and  Mr.  Steinmetz  said  the  superintendent  waDte<l 
to  see  me.  When  I  went  there  I  was  told  the  superintendent  had  gone 
out. 

Q.  Did  any  one  tell  you  that  Mr.  Graham  was  discharged  simply  be- 
cause he  was  endeavoring  to  agitate  the  eigh^hour  question  in  this 
building  t — A.  No,  sir. 

Q.  No  such  thing  was  intimated  to  you? — A.  No,  sir. 

M.  T.  Davidson  recalled. 

Examined  by  Mr.  Connolly  : 

Question.  I  desire  to  know  whether  three  plambers,  Mr.  Ryan,  Mr. 
Ha^^es,  and  another  were  not  employed  by  you  or  your  foremau  on  this 
building. — Answer.  My  foreman  never  employed  any  one. 

Q.  Did  you  employ  these  men  T — A.  I  did.  I  do  not  remember  the 
name  of  Hayes,  or  the  man  whose  name  you  do  not  give,  of  course ; 
but  I  remember  Ryan  ^  and  I  employed  all  that  were  employed.  I  re- 
member Ryan  from  the  circumstance  of  his  wife  dying  after  he  was 
taken  out  of  the  yard. 

Q.  Do  you  remember  that  one  of  these  men  or  all  of  them  stnick  for 
the  eight  hours  ? — A.  No,  sir ;  they  did  not  come  to  me  about  the  eight 
hours. 

Q.  Do  you  remember  your  foreman  coming  to  you  about  that  ques- 
tion f — A.  My  foreman  came  and  said  the  society  would  not  let  these 
men  work  at  any  more  time  than  eight  hours  per  day. 

Q.  Was  there  any  kind  of  work  performed  by  you  where  some  of  the 
men  employed  were  unable  to  do  it,  and  you  had  to  employ  others  to  do 
the  work  more  competent  than  they  were  ? — A.  Not  much. 

Q.  I  did  not  ask  you  how  much. — A.  Not  any. 


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VIOLATION   OF   THE    EIQHT-HOUa    LAW.  39 

Q.  You  do  Dot  remember  tbe  circamstance  of  their  striking  at  all, 
except  through  your  foreman  ? — A.  No,  sir. 

Mr.  Davidson.  I  stated  this  morning  that  I  had  done  no  plumbing 
work  proper,  but  I  received  verbal  instruction^  to  put  iu  temporary 
water-closets  and  took  some  meu  that  were  working  on  my  iix)n*pipe8  to 
make  them ;  and  short  time  was  ordered  by  the  Department  to  stop  them. 
My  contract  with  Mr.  Mullett  for  the  heating  apparatus  ha^s  this  reser- 
vation :  that  all  the  material  I  furnish  is  inspected  by  Government, 
weighed  and  counted;  time  kept  by  Government  time-keeper,  and  my 
vouchers  monthly  go  to  the  Government  inspector,  and,  if  not  agreeing 
with  his  books,  have  to  be  corrected  so  as  to  agree.  The  Government 
asks  this  because  they  reserve  the  right  to  pay  me  my  contract*prioe, 
or  the  actual  cost  of  materials  and  labor,  increased  by  a  percentage, 
which  is  very  hard,  it  seems  to  me ;  gives  the  Government  two  chances 
to  my  one.  I  had  all  the  wronght-iron  pipes  done  by  regular  steam- 
fitters  from  my  own  establishment,  and  that  cannot  be  called  plumbing. 

Mr.  HiTLBUBD.  Some  of  the  best  men  we  have  had  to  do  work,  painting, 
or  priming  for  instance,  we  employed  at  $2  up  to  $2.40,  and  they  do  just 
as  much  work,  and  as  well,  as  any  class  of  men  at  higher  prices.  Our 
pay-roll  ranges  from  $2  to  $4.50,  according  to  rates  outside,  and  the  na- 
ture of  the  work.  We  have  about  250  men  at  work,  every  one  of  whom 
is  employed  in  accordance  with  the  law  of  Congress  regulating  the  hours 
of  labor.  We  have  done  some  work  after  advertising,  but  we  do  most 
by  days  work ;  we  purchasing  materials,  employing  the  men  by  the  day. 
In  some  cases  we  took  bids  to  invite  tbe  best  firms  to  undertake  work. 
We  always  have  tried  to  get  the  best  work  done  at  as  low  prices  as  pos- 
sible. 


To  Committee  om  Piibliv  Buildingn  and  Qroundsj  House  of  Representatives j 

Washington^  D,  C 

New  York,  March  0, 1874. 

Gentlemen:  I  would  most  respectfully  submit  for  your  careful  con- 
sideration the  following  facts  elicited  from  the  testimony  given  to  your 
subcommittee  while  here,  by  Mr.  Davidson,  contractor  for  heating  ap- 
paratus and  tanks  on  the  new  post-office.  He  stated  that  his  was  a 
contract  for  which  there  was  no  advertisement  requesting  bids  for  the 
work ;  that  his  workmen  worked  ten  hours  per  day ;  that  he  charged 
the  Government  for  days'  work. 

First.  I  hold  that  Supervising  Architect  Mullett  should  advertise  all 
work,  if  any  is  to  be  done  other  than  by  Government ;  and  that  by  mak- 
ing special  contracts  he  is  liable  for  punishment  or  dismissal ;  and  on  the 
further  ground  that  Mr.  Davidson  is  not  friendly  to  the  eight-hour  system, 
nor  is  Mr.  Mullet;  and,  had  other  employers  been  invited  to  send  in  pro- 
posals, there  would  be  no  ground  for  the  suspicion  that  the  contract  was 
given  to  Mr.  Davidson  in  consideration  of  his  uufriendlinessto  the  eight- 
hour  rule. 

Second.  The  law  reads  "  all  work  done  for  or  on  behalf  of  the  Govern- 
ment." I  hold  that  the  contract  should  be  declared  null  and  void,  on 
the  ground  that  his  workmen  work  ten  hours  per  day  on  the  new  post- 
office  ;  and,  inasmuch  as  the  law  has  been  violated,  that  the  super- 
intendent should  be  held  responsible  for  permitting  the  men  to  work 
over  eight  hours  unless  they  were  paid  for  extra  time. 


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40  VIOLATION    OF   THE   EIGHT-HOUB   LAW. 

Third.  I  bold  tbat  the  Treasury  Department  should  be  held  respon- 
sible for  paying  the  bills  rendered  for  days'  work  performed  by  the  men 
employed  by  Mr.  Davidson,  ina^mach  as  the  men  work  ten  hoars,  when 
it  is  understood  by  the  law  tiiat  eight  hours  shall  constitute  a  day'8 
work;  and  that  that  Department  was,  and  is,  a  party  to  the  violation  of 
the  law,  when  it  pays  such  bills. 

In  conclusioD,  1  trust  that  your  honorable  oommittee  will  not  lose  sight 
of  the  fact  that  the  law  was  enacted  for  the  purpose  of  setting  an  example 
to  the  world,  and  showing  to  employers  generally  the  benefits  the  wotk- 
ing  people  would  derive,  both  morally,  intellectually,  and  materially,  by 
its  nniversal  indorsement ;  and  the  arguments  made  by  the  friends  of 
the  law  while  pending  in  Congress  will  bear  me  out  that  it  was  nevw 
intended  that  the  agents  of  the  Government  should  resort  to  the  con- 
tract-system in  order  to  avoid  the  intent  and  spirit  of  the  law,  but  rather 
to  assist  in  its  enforcement.  This  last  assertion  applies  more  particularly 
to  the  department  over  which  Mr.  Mullett  presides. 
Yours,  respectfullv, 

GEO.  BLAIB, 

/Seeret4K»y. 

Hon.  James  H.  Platt,  Jr.,  Chairman. 


State  of  New  Yoek, 

City  and  County  of  Kew  YorJc^  ss : 
Thomas  J.  Ryan,  being  duly  sworn,  says:  I  worked  on  the  new  post- 
office  and  court-house  as  a  plumber.  I  was  empled  by  Mr.  Henderson, 
of  the  firm  of  Henderson  &  Dorsey,  plumbers.  They  were  acting  as 
foremen  for  M.  T.  Davidson.  I  received  $4  per  day.  I  was  required 
to  work  ten  hours  for  a  day's  work  during  my  employment  there.  Mr. 
Davidson  paid  me  my  wages.  I  was  employed  on  the  iron  soil-pipe.  lo 
receiving  my  pay  I  bad  to  sign  two  pay-rolls  in  the  office  belonging  to 
the  Government,  and  situated  outside  of  the  new  post-office  building. 

THOMAS  J.  BYAN. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  tenth  day  of  March,  A.  D. 
1874. 

SAM.  T.  WEBSTER, 
l^otary  PubliOj  (23,)  New  York  CUy. 


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43d  Congress^  \    HOUSE  OF  REPEESENTATXVES.       (  Bepobt 
l8t  Session,     i  \  No.  391. 


CHOCTAW  AWARD. 


April  9, 1874.— Recominittod  to  the  Committee  on  Appropriations  and  ordered  to  be 

printed. 


Mr,  I.  C.  Parker,  from  the  Committee  ou  Appropriations,  submitted 

the  following 

REPORT: 

[To  accompany  bill  H.  R.  2189.] 

The  Committee  on  AppropriniionSj  to  ichom  was  referred  the  hill  {ff,  R. 
2189)  "  To  provide  for  the  payment  of  the  award  made  by  the  Senate  of 
the  United  States  in  favor  of  the  Choctaw  Nation  of  Indians^  on  the  ^th 
day  of  March^  1859,''  respectfully  submit  the  following  report : 

The  object  and  purpose  of  this  bill  is  to  provide  for  the  satisfaction 
of  an  award  made  by  the  Senate  of  the  United  States  in  favor  of  the 
Choctaw  Nation  of  Indians,  on  the  9th  day  of  March,  1859.  This 
award  was  made  in  pursuance  of  treaty  stipulations,  and  was  to  carry 
into  effect  obligations  assumed  by  the  United  States  to  the  Choctaw 
Nation,  under  the  treaty  with  the  said  nation « concluded  June  22, 1855. 
So  much  of  the  said  treaty  as  relates  to  the  manner  in  which  the  in- 
debtedness of  the  United  States  to  the  said  nation  shoald  be  ascertained 
and  determined  is  as  follows : 

Article  XI.  The  Government  of  the  United  States  not  being  prepared  to  assent  to 
the  claim  set  up  under  the  treaty  of  September  27,  IKJO,  and  so  earnestly  contended 
for  bjy  the  Choctaws  as  a  rule  of  settlement,  but  justly  appreciatinc^  the  sacrifices, 
faithful  services,  and  general  good  conduct  of  the  Choct-aw  people,  and  being  desirous 
that  their  rights  and  claims  against  the  United  States  shall  receive  a  just,  fair,  and 
liberal  consideration,  it  is  therefore  stipulated  that  the  following  questions  be  submit- 
ted for  adjudication  to  the  Senate  of  the  United  States : 

"  First.  Whether  the  Choctaws  are  entitled  to,  or  shall  be  allowed,  the  proceeds  of 
the  sale  of  the  land  coded  by  them  to  the  United  States  by  the  treaty  of  September  27, 
1830,  deducting  therefrom  the  costs  of  their  survey  and  sale,  and  all  Just  and  proper 
expenditures  and  payments  under  the  provisions  of  said  treaty ;  and,  if  so,  what 
price  per  acre  shall  be  allowed  to  the  Choctaws  for  the  lands  remaining  unsold,  in 
order  that  a  final  settlement  with  them  mav  be  promptly  ejected  ;  or 

^'  Second.  Whether  the  Choctaws  shall  be  allowed  a  gross  sum  in  further  and  full 
satisfaction  of  all  their  claims,  national  and  individual,  against  the  United  States ;  and, 
if  8o,  how  ranch." 

Article  XII.  "  In  case  the  Senate  shall  award  to  the  Choctaws  the  net  proceeds 
of  the  lands  ceded  as  aforesaid,  the  same  shall  be  received  by  them  in  full  satisfac- 
tion of  aU  their  claims  against  the  United  States,  whether  national  or  individual, 
arising  under  any  former  treaty ;  and  the  Choctaws  shall  thereupon  become  liable 
and  bound  to  pay  all  such  individual  claims  as  may  be  adjudged  by  the  proper  authori- 
ties of  the  tribe  to  be  equitable  and  just ;  the  settlement  and  payment  to  be  made 
with  the  advice  and  under  the  direction  of  the  United  States  agent  for  the  tribe  ;  and 
HO  much  of  the  fund  awarded  by  the  Senate  to  the  Choctaws  as  the  proper  authorities 
thereof  shall  ascertain  and  detennine  to  be  necessary  for  the  payment  of  the  just  lia- 
bilities of  the  tribe  shall,  on  their  requisition,  be  paid  over  to  them  by  the  United 
States.  But  should  the  Senate  allow  a  gross  sum  in  further  and  full  satisfaction  of 
all  their  claims,  whether  national  or  individual,  against  the  United  >States,  the  same 


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2  CHOCTAW   AWARD. 

shall  be  accepted  by  tbe  Chocta\vB,  and  they  shall  thereupon  become  liable  for  ami 
bound  to  pay  all  the  individual  claims  as  aforesaid ;  it  being  expressly  understood  that 
the  adjudication  and  decision  of  the  Senate  shall  be  final/' 
(11  titats.  at  Large,  page  611.) 

In  pursuance  of  this  agreement  between  the  two  contracting  parties, 
the  Senate  of  the  United  States,  acting  in  the  character  of  arbitrator, 
or  as  commissioners  under  a  treaty,  proceeded  to  an  adjadicatiou  of  thr 
questions  submitted  to  it  under  the  eleventh  article  of  said  treaty ;  and 
on  the  9th  day  of  March,  1859,  the  matter  having  been  previonsly  cou 
sidered  and  investigated  by  the  Senate,  the  following  awanl  was  made 
and  declared  in  favor  of  the  Choctaw  Nation  : 

Whereas  the  eleventh  article  of  the  treaty  of  June  22,  1855,  with  the  Choctaw  m 
Chickasaw  Indians,  provides  that  the  following  questions  be  submitted  for  decision  u 
the  Senate  of  the  United  States : 

"First.  Whether  the  Choctaws  are  entitled  to  or  shall  be  allowe<l  the  pnjceeiK <-( 
the  sale  of  the  lands  ceded  by  them  to  the  United  States  \y  tbe  treaty  of  St^ptenjWr 
27,  1830,  deducting  therefrom  the  costs  of  their  survey  and  sale,  and  all  just  and  prof--r 
expenditures  and  payments  under  tbe  provisions  of  said  treaty ;  and,  if  so,  what  pnr- 
per  acre  shall  be  allowed  to  the  Choctaws  for  tbe  lands  remaining  unsold,  in  order  tiui 
a  final  settlement  with  them  may  be  promptly  effected ;  or,  I 

"  Secondly.  Whether  the  Choctaws  shall  be  allowed  a  gross  sum  In  further  and  in! 
satisfaction  of  all  their  claims,  national  and  individual,  against  the  United  Ststts: 
and,  if  so.  how  much  f'' 

Mesolvedy  That  the  Choctaws  be  allowed  the  proceeds  of  tbe  sale  of  suchlandiv 
have  been  sold  by  the  United  States  on  the  1st  day  of  January  last,  deducting  tbrrr- 
from  the  costs  of  their  survey  and  sale,  and  all  proper  expenditure*  and  paymtc'* 
under  said  treaty,  excluding  the  reservations  allowed  and  secured,  and  estimating  \^ 
scrip  issued  in  lieu  of  reservations  at  the  rate  of  $1.25  per  acre ;  and,  further,  that  tu- 
be tdso  allowed  twelve  and  a  half  cents  per  acre  for  the  residue  of  said  lands. 

Bewlved,  That  the  Secretary  of  tbe  Interior  cause  an  account  to  be  stated  with  tt- 
ChoctawSy  showing  what  amount  is  due  them  according  to  the  above-prescribed  pn 
ciples  of  settlement,  and  report  the  same  to  Congress. 

(Senate  Journal,  2d  session  35th  Congress,  page  493.) 

In  pursuance  of  this  award  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  as  directed 
by  the  second  of  the  above  resolutions,  proceeded  to  state  an  accouDi 
between  the  United  States  and  the  Choctaw  Nation,  upon  the  principles 
decided  by  the  Senate  as  the  basis  of  such  account,  as  declared  in  tbr 
first  resolution ;  and  the  result  of  such  accounting,  asshown  in  tbe  re- 1 
port  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  was  an  indebtedness  on  the  pan 
of  the  United  States  to  the  Choctaw  Nation,  amounting  to  tico  milH^ 
nine  hundred  and  eighty-one  thousand  ttco  hundred  and  forty  seven  doUcn 
and  thirty  cents. 

The  Committee  on  Indian  Affairs  of  the  House  of  Representatives, m 
its  report  made  at  the  last  session  of  Congress,  speaking  of  this  award.  | 
used  the  following  language: 

By  every  principle  of  law,  equity,  and  business  transaction  the  United  Stat«  • 
bound  by  the  accounting  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  showing  |2,981,247.30  i\nr  ^' 
the  Choctaws  at  the  date  ot  the  Secretary's  report. 

First.  The  Senate  was  the  umpire,  and,  in  the  language  of  the  treaty  of  1855,  ^1-''  ^ 
made  it  such,  its  decision  was  to  be  final. 

Secondly.  The  Senate,  in  the  exercise  of  its  power  under  the  treaty  of  lKx>,  cbow*  i»' 
allow  the  net  proceeds  of  the  land  as  the  better  of  the  two  modes  of  settleineDt  pn 
posed  by  that  treaty,  and  not  to  allow  a  sum  in  gross. 

Thirdly.  The  Senate  directed  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior  to  make  the  iccoantiQ? 
which  he  did,  May  28, 1860,  as  shown  above. 

Fourthly.  The  Senate  did  not,  as  umpire,  or  otherwise,  reject  this  accounting ;  bm,«| 
March  2, 1861,  Congress  made  an  appropriation  of  $500,000  on  it,  and  the  Senat'"  ^ 
not,  since  the  Secretary's  report,  rejected  any  part  of  it,  though  near  fourteen  tcj"* 
have  elapsed. 

(House  Report  No.  80,  Forty-second  Congress,  third  session.) 

The  Senate  Committee  on  Indian  Affairs  having  had  this  subjectj 

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CHOCTAW   AWABD.  3 

under  consideration  at  the  last  session  of  Congress,  speaking  of  this 
award,  and  of  the  obligation  of  the  United  States  to  pay  it,  said : 

If  the  case  were  re-opened  and  adijudicated  as  an  original  question,  by  an  impartial 
umpire,  a  much  larger  sum  would  be  found  due  to  the  said  Indians,  which  they  would 
undoubtedly  recover  were  they  in  a  condition  to  compel  jostioe. 

Your  committee,  from  a  most  careful  examination  of  the  whole  sub- 
ject, concur  in  these  conclusions  and  refer  to  them  only  for  the  purpose 
of  showing  that  the  honesty,  the  fairness,  or  the  integrity  of  the  award 
thus  made  in  favor  of  the  Choctaw  Nation  cannot  successfully  be 
called  in  question  or  denied.  It  was  a  final  settlement  and  award,  con- 
clusive alike  upon  the  Choctaw  Nation  and  the  United  States.  Neither 
party  to  the  treaty  could  rightfully  disavow  it,  or  refuse  to  be  bound 
by  it. 

The  United  States  has  recognized  the  conclusiveness  of  this  award 
by  legislative  enactment;  for  in  the  Indian  appropriation  bill,  ap- 
proved March  2,  1861,  it  was  provided  that  the  sum  of  $300,000  should 
be  paid  to  the  said  nation  on  account  of  thU  award,  (12  Stats,  at  Large, 
p.  238.) 

In  pursuance  of  this  act  the  sum  of  $250,000  in  money  was  paid  to 
the  said  nation,  but  the  bonds  for  a  like  amount,  which  the  Secretary  of 
the  Treasury  was  directed  to  issue,  were  not  delivered  on  account  of  the 
interruption  of  intercourse  with  the  said  nation  caused  by  the  war  of 
the  rebellion.  These  bonds  have  never  been  issued  or  delivered  to  the 
said  nation,  and  all  that  has  ever  been  paid  to  the  said  nation  on  ac- 
count of  the  said  award,  therefore,  is  the  sum  of  $250,000,  paid  (under 
the  said  act  of  March  2,  1861)  on  the  12th  day  of  April,  1861.  The 
balance  remaining  unpaid  on  the  said  award  since  the  12th  day  of  April, 
1861,  therefore,  is  $2,731,247.30. 

THE  OBLIGATION  TO  PAY  INTEREST   ON  THE  AMOUNT  AWARDED  THE 

CHOCTAW  NATION. 

Tour  committee  have  given  this  question  a  most  careful  examination, 
and  are  obliged  to  admit  and  declare  that  the  United  States  cannot,  in 
equity  and  justice,  nor  without  national  dishonor,  refuse  to  pay  interest 
upon  the  moneys  so  long  withheld  from  the  Choctaw  Nation.  Some  of 
the  reasons  which  force  us  to  this  conclusion  are  as  follows : 

1.  The  United  States  acquired  the  lands  of  the  Choctaw  Nation  oa 
account  of  which  the  said  award  was  made  on  the  27th  day  of  Septem- 
ber, 1830,  and  it  has  held  them  for  the  benefit  of  its  citizens  ever  since. 

2.  The  United  States  had  in  its  Treasury,  many  years  prior  to  the 
1st  day  of  January,  1859,  the  proceeds  resulting  from  the  sale  of  the 
said  lands,  and  have  enjoyed  the  use  of  such  moneys  from  that  time 
until  now. 

3.  The  award  in  favor  of  the  Choctaw  Nation  was  an  award  under  a 
treaty,  and  made  by  a  tribunal  whose  adjudication  was  final  and  con- 
clusive.— (Comegys  vs.  Vasse,  1  Peters,  193.) 

4.  The  obligations  of  the  United  States,  under  its  treaties  with  Indiaa 
nations,  have  been  declared  to  be  equally  sacred  with  those  made  by 
treaties  with  foreign  nations. — (Worcester  vs.  The  State  of  Georgia,  6 
Peters,  582.)  And  such  treaties,  Mr.  Justice  Miller  declares,  are  to  be 
construed  liberally.— (The  Kansas  Indians,  5  Wall,  737-760.) 

5.  The  engagements  and  obligations  of  a  treaty  are  to  be  interpreted 
in  accordance  with  the  principles  of  the  public  law,  and  not  in  accord- 
ance with  any  municipal  code  or  executive  regulation.  No  statement 
of  this  proposition  can  equal  the  clearness  or  force  with  which  Mr.  Web- 


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4  CHOCTAW    AWARD. 

ster  declares  it  in  bis  opiaion  on  the  Florida  claims,  attached  to  tbe 
report  in  the  case  of  Letitia  Humphreys,  (Senate  report  No.  93,  first  ses- 
sion Thirty-sixth  Congress,  page  16.)  S|>eaking  of  the  obligation  of  a 
treaty,  he  said : 

A  treaty  is  the  snprenie  law  of  the  land.  It  can  neither  be  limited,  nor  reetraine^ 
nor  modified,  nor  altered.  It  stands  on  the  ground  of  national  contract,  and  is  declared  hf 
the  Constitution  to  be  the  supreme  law  of  the  land,  and  this  gives  it  a  character  hif^her  than 
any  act  of  ordinary  legislation.  It  enjoys  an  immunity  from  the  operation  and  efieer 
of  all  saeh  legislation. 

A  second  general  proposition,  equally  certain  and  well  established,  is  that  the  terms 
and  the  language  used  in  a  treaty  are  alioays  to  be  interpreted  according  to  the  law  of 
nations,  and  not  according  to  any  municipal  code.  This  rule  is  of  universal  app1i«i- 
tion.  When  two  nations  speak  to  each  other,  they  use  the  language  of  nation  a.  Their 
intercourse  is  regulated,  and  their  mutual  agreements  and  obligations  atxe  to  be  interpreter! 
by  that  code  only  which  we  usually  denominate  the  public  law  of  the  world.  ThU 
public  law  is  not  one  thing  at  Rome,  another  at  London,  and  a  third  at  Wasbinj^ton.  Ii 
18  the  same  in  all  civilized  States ;  everywhere  speaking  with  the  same  voice  and  tbr 
same  authority. 

Again,  in  the  same  opinion,  Mr.  Webster  used  tbe  following  lan- 
guage: 

We  are  construing  a  treaty,  a  solemn  compact  between  nations.  This  compatr 
between  nations,  this  treaty,  is  to  be  construed  and  interpreted  thronghont  its  whole 
length  and  breadth,  in  its  general  provisions,  and  in  all  its  details,  in  every  phrase, 
sentence,  word,  and  syllable  in  it,  by  the  settled  rules  of  the  law  of  nations.  >\> 
municipal  code  can  touch  it,  no  local  municipal  law  aftect  it,  no  practice  of  an  adminiv 
trative  department  come  near  it.  Over  all  its  terms,  over  all  its  doubts,  over  all  it« 
ambiguities,  if  it  have  any,  the  law  of  nations  *'sits  arbitress." 

6.  By  the  principles  of  the  public  law,  interest  is  always  allowed  a.^ 
indemnity  for  tbe  delay  of  payment  of  an  ascertained  and  filled  demand 
There  is  no  conflict  of  autbority  upon  this  question  among  the  writers 
on  public  law. 

Tbis  rule  is  laid  down  by  Eutberford  in  these  terms : 

In  estimating  the  damages  which  any  one  has  sustained,  when  such  things  as  be  ha^ 
a  perfect  right  to  are  unjustly  taken  from  him,  or  withholdkn,  or  intercepted,  we  ai*= 
to  consider  not  only  the  value  of  the  thing  itself,  but  the  value  likewise  of  the  tmit> 
or  profits  that  might  have  arisen  from  it.  He  who  is  the  owner  of  the  thing  is  likewi^^* 
the  owner  of  tbe  frnits  or  profits.  So  that  it  is  as  properly  a  damage  to  be  deprived  i^ 
them  as  it  is  to  be  deprived  of  the  thing  itself.  (Rutherford's  Institutes,  Book  I,  chap. 
17,  sec.  5.) 

In  laying  down  the  rule  for  the  satisfaction  of  injuries  in  the  case  of 
reprisals,  in  making  which  the  strictest  caution  is  enjoined  not  to  trans 
cend  tbe  clearest  rules  of  justice,  Mr.  Wheaton,  in  his  work  oa  the  lav 
of  nations,  says : 

If  a  nation  has  taken  possession  of  that  which  belongs  to  another,  if  it  refitses  h> 
PAY  A  DEBT,  to  repair  an  injury  or  to  give  adequate  satisfaction  for  it,  thelatt>er  may 
seize  something  of  Ihe  former  and  apply  it  to  bis  its  advantage,  till  it  obtains  par- 
ment  of  what  is  due,  together  with  interest  and  damages.  (Wheaton  on  Interaational 
Law,  p.  341.) 

A  great  writer,  Dornat,  thus  states  the  law  of  reason  and  justice  on 
this  point: 

It  is  a  natural  consequence  of  the  general  engagement  to  do  wrong  to  no  one  that 
they  who  cause  any  damages  by  failing  in  the  performance  of  that  engagement  art* 
obliged  to  repair  the  damage  which  they  have  done.  Of  what  nature  soever  the  tiaro- 
age  may  be,  and  from  what  cause  soever  it  may  proceed,  he  who  is  answerable  for  \i 
ought  to  repair  it  by  an  amende  proportionable  either  to  his  fault  or  to  his  oftense  or 
other  cause  on  his  part,  and  to  the  loss  which  has  happened  thereby. — (Domat,  Pan  I. 
Book  III,  Tit.  v.,  19U0,  1903.) 

"  Interest '^  is,  in  reality,  in  justice,  in  reason,  and  in  law,  too,  a  part 
of  tbe  debt  due.  It  includes,  in  Potbier's  words,  the  loss  which  one 
has  suffered,  and  tbe  gain  which  he  has  failed  to  make.    The  Eomau 


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CHOCTAW   AWARD.  5 

law  defines  it  as  ^'  quautain  mea  interfruit ;  id  est,  quantam  mibi  abest, 
qimntamque  lucraci  potui."  The  two  elements  of  it  were  termed 
^*  lucrun  cessans  et  damnum  emergens.''  The  payment  of  both  is  neces- 
sary to  a  complete  indemnity. 

Interest,  Domat  says,  is  the  reparation  or  satisfaction  which  he  who 
owes  a  sum  of  tioney  is  bonud  to  make  to  his  creditor  for  the  damage 
which  he  does  him  by  not  paying  him  the  money  he  owes  him. 

It  is  because  of  the  universal  recognition  of  the  justice  of  paying,  for 
the  retention  of  moneys  indisputably  due  and  payable  immediately,  a 
rate  of  interest  considered  to  be  a  fair  equivalent  for  the  loss  of  its  use, 
that  judgments  for  money  everywhere  bear  interest.  The  creditor  is 
deprived  of  this  profit,  and  the  debtor  has  it.  What  greater  wrong 
could  the  law  permit  than  that  the  debtor  should  be  at  liberty  indefi* 
nitely  to  delay  payment,  and,  during  the  delay,  have  the  use  of  the 
creditor's  moneys  for  nothing!  They  are  none  the  less  the  creditor's 
moneys  because  the  debtor  wrongfully  withholds  them.  He  holds  themj 
in  reality  and  essentially^  in  trust ;  and  a  trtistee  is  always  bound  to  pay 
interest  upon  moneys  so  held. 

In  closing  thes^  citations  from  the  public  law,  the  language  of  Chan- 
cellor Kent  seems  eminently  appropriate.  He  says :  "  In  cases  where 
the  principal  jurists  agree,  the  presumption  will  be  very  great  in  favor 
of  the  solidity  of  their  maxims,  and  no  civilized  nation  that  does  not 
arrogantly  set  all  ordinary  law  and  justice  at  defiance  will  venture  to  disre- 
(jard  the  uniform  sense  of  established  writers  on  international  law, 

7tb.  The  practice  of  the  United  States  in  discharging  obligations  re- 
sulting from  treaty  stipulations  has  always  been  in  accord  with  these 
well-established  principles.  It  has  exacted  the  payment  of  interest  from 
other  nations  in  all  ca«es  where  the  obligation  to  make  payment  resulted 
from  treaty  stipulations,  and  it  has  acknowledged  that  obligation  in  all 
cases  where  a  like  liability  was  imposed  upon  it. 

The  most  important  and  leading  cases  which  have  occurred  are  those 
which  arose  between  this  country  and  Great  Britain.  The  first  under 
the  treaty  of  1794,  and  the  other  under  the  first  article  of  the  treaty  of 
Ghent.  In  the  latter  case  the  United  States,  under  the  first  article  of 
the  treaty,  claimed  compensation  for  slaves  and  other  property  taken 
away  from  the  country  by  the  British  forces  at  the  close  of  the  war  in 
1815.  A  difference  arose  between  the  two  governments  which  was  sub- 
mitted to  the  arbitrament  of  the  Emperor  of  Russia,  who  decided  that 
*' The  United  States  of  America  are  entitled  to  a  just  indemnification 
from  Great  Britain  for  all  private  property  carried  away  by  the  British 
forces."  A  joint  commission  was  appointed  for  the  purpose  of  hearing 
the  claims  of  individuals  under  this  decision.  At  an  early  stage  of  the 
proceedings  the  question  arose  as  to  whether  interest  was  a  part  of  that 
''just  inde^nni filiation  ^^  which  the  decision  of  the  Emperor  of  Russia 
contemplated.  The  British  commissioner  denied  the  obligation  to  pay 
interest.  The  American  commissioner,  Langdon  Cheves,  insisted  upon 
its  allowance,  and  in  the  course  of  his  argument  upon  this  question^ 
said : 

Indemnification  means  a  re-iuibursement  of  a  loss  sustained.  If  the  property  taken 
(iway  on  the  17th  of  February,  1815,  were  returned  now  uninjured  it  would  not  re- 
imburse the  loss  sustained  by  the  taking  away  and  consequent  detention  ;  it  would  not 
I>eun  indemnification.  The  claimant  would  still  be  unindemnified  for  the  loss  of  the 
Mse  of  his  property  for  ten  years,  which  considered  as  money  is  nearlj'  equivalent  to  the 
original  value  of  the  principal  thing. 


Again  he  says : 

f  interest  be  an  incident  usually  attendant  on  the  delay  of  payment  of  debts,  dam- 
^H  are  equally  an  incident  attendant  on  the  withholding  an  article  of  property. 

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6  CHOCTAW   AWARD. 

In  coDseqaence  of  this  disagreement  the  commission  vas  broken 
np,  bat  the  claims  were  subsequently  compromised  by  the  payment  of 
$1,204,960,  instead  of  $1,250,000  as  claimed  by  Mr.  Cheves;  and  of  the 
sum  paid  by  Great  Britain,  $418,000  was  expressly  for  interest. 

An  earlier  case,  in  which  this  principle  of  interest  was  involved,  arose 
under  the  treaty  of  1794,  between  the  United  States  and  Great  Britain, 
in  which  there  was  a  stipulation  on  the  part  of  the  British  government 
in  relation  to  certain  losses  and  damages  sustained  by  American  mer- 
chants and  other  citizens,  by  reason  of  the  illegal  or  irregular  capture 
of  their  vessels,  or  other  property,  by  British  cruisers ;  and  the  seventh 
article  provided  in  substance  that  ^^  full  and  complete  compensation  for 
the  same  will  be  made  by  the  British  government  to  the  said  claimants." 

A  joint  commission  was  instituted  under  this  treaty  which  sat  in 
London,  and  by  which  these  claims  were  adjudicated.  Mr.  Pinckney 
and  Mr.  Gore  were  commissioners  on  the  part  of  of  the  United  States, 
and  Dr.  Nicholl  and  Dr.  Swabey  on  the  part  of  Great  Britain ;  and  it  is 
believed  that  in  all  instances  this  commission  allowed  interest  as  a  part 
of  the  damage.  In  the  case  of  "  The  Betsey,"  one  of  the  cases  which 
came  before  the  board,  Dr.  Nicholl  stated  the  rule  of  compensation  as 
follows : 

To  re-imburse  the  claimants,  the  original  cost  of  their  property,  and  all  the  ex])ense8 
they  have  actually  incurred,  together  with  interest  on  the  whole  amount,  wonld,  1  think, 
be  a  just  and  adequate  compensation.  This,  I  believe,  is  the  measure  of  compensatioQ 
usually  made  by  all  belligerent  nations,  and  ac<^pted  by  all  neutral  nations,  for  losses, 
costs,  and  damages,  occasioned  by  illegal  captures.  (Vide  \Vheaton*s  life  of  Pinckoey. 
page  198 ;  also  265  note,  and  page  371.) 

By  a  reference  to  the  American  State  Papers,  Foreign  Kelations,  vol. 
2,  pages  119, 120,  it  will  be  seen  by  a  report  of  the  Secretary  of  State  of 
the  IGth  February,  1798,  laid  before  the  Qouse  of  Eepresentatives,  that 
interest  was  awarded  and  paid  on  such  of  these  claims  as  had  been  sub- 
mitted to  the  award  of  Sir  William  Scott  and  Sir  John  Nicholl,  as  it 
was  in  all  cases  by  the  board  of  commissioners.  In  consequence  of 
some  difference  of  opinion  between  the  members  of  this  commission, 
their  proceedings  were  suspended  until  1802,  when  a  convention  was 
concluded  between  the  two  governments,  and  the  commission  re-assem- 
bled, and  then  a  question  arose  as  to  the  allowance  of  interest  on  the 
claims  during  the  suspension.  This  the  American  commissioners  claimed, 
and  though  it  was  at  first  resisted  by  the  British  commissioners,  yet  it 
was  finally  yielded,  and  interest  was  allowed  and  paid.  (See  Mr.  King's 
three  letters  to  the  Secretary  of  State,  of  25th  March,  1803,  23d  April, 
1803,  and  30th  April,  1803,  American  State  Papers,  Foreign  Relations, 
vol.  2,  pages  387  and  388.) 

Another  case  in  which  this  priuciple  was  involved  arose  under  the 
treaty  of  the  27th  October,  1795,  with  Spaiu  ;  by  the  twenty-first  article 
of  which,  ^^  in  order  to  terminate  all  difl:ereuces  on  account  of  the  losses 
sustained  by  citizens  of  the  United  States  in  consequence  of  their  vessels 
aud  cargoes  having  been  taken  by  the  subjects  of  his  Catholic  Majesty 
during  the  late  war  between  Spain  and  France,  it  is  agreed  that  all 
such  cases  shall  be  referred  to  the  final  decision  of  commissioners,  to 
be  appointed  in  the  following  manner,"  &c.  The  commissioners  vere 
to  be  chosen,  one  by  the  United  States,  one  by  Spain,  and  the  two 
were  to  choose  a  third,  and  the  award  of  the  commissioners,  or  any  two 
of  them,  was  to  be  final,  and  the  Spanish  government  to  pay  the  amount 
in  specie. 

This  commission  awarded  interest  as  part  of  the  damages.  (See 
American  State  Papers,  vol.  2,  Foreign  Relations,  page  283.)    So  in  the 


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CHOCTAW   AWARD.  7 

case  of  claims  of  American  citizens  against  Brazil,  settled  by  Mr.  Tador, 
Uuited  States  minister,  interest  was  claimed  and  allowed.  (See  Ex. 
Doc,  first  session'Twenty-fifthi  Congress,  House  of  Reps.,  Doc.  32,  page 
249.) 

Again,  in  the  convention  with  Mexico  of  the  llth  April,  1839,  by 
which  provision  was  made  by  Mexico  for  the  payment  of  claims  of 
American  citizens  for  injuries  to  persons  and  property'  by  the  Mexican 
authorities,  a  mixed  commission  was  provided  for  and  this  commission 
allowed  interest  in  all  cases.  (House  Ex.  Doc.  291,  27th  Congress,  2d 
sevssion.) 

So  also  under  the  Treaty  with  Mexico  of  February  2,  1848,  the  board 
of  commissioners  for  the  adjustment  of  claims  under  that  treaty  allowed 
interest  in  all  cases  from  the  origin  of  the  claim  until  the  day  when  the 
commission  expired. 

So  also  under  the  convention  with  Colombia,  concluded  February  10, 
1864,  the  commission  for  the  adjudication  of  claims  under  that  treaty 
allowed  interest  in  all  cases  as  a  part  of  the  indemnity. 

So  under  the  recent  convention  with  Venezuela,  the  United  States 
exacted  interest  upon  the  awards  of  the  commission,  from  the  date  of 
the  adjournment  of  the  commission  until  the  payment  of  the  awards. 

The  Mixed  American  and  Mexican  Commission,  now  in  session  here, 
allows  interest  in  all  cases  from  the  origin  of  the  claim,  and  the  awards 
are  payable  with  interest. 

Other  cases  might  be  shown  in  which  the  United  States  or  their  au- 
thorized diplomatic  agents  have  claimed  interest  in  such  cases,  or  where 
it  has  been  paid  in  whole  or  in  part.  (See  Mr.  Russell's  letter  to  the 
Count  de  Engstien  of  October  5, 1818,  American  State  Papers,  vol.  4,  p. 
039,  and  proceedings  under  the  Convention  with  the  Two  Sicilies  of 
October,  1832,  Elliot's  Dip.  Code,  p.  625.) 

It  can  hardly  be  necessary  to  pursue  these  precedents  further.  They 
sufficiently  and  clearly  show  the  practice  of  this  Government  with  for- 
eign nations,  or  with  claimant  under  treaties. 

8th.  The  practice  of  the  United  States  in  its  dealings  i(ith  the  vari- 
ous Indian  tribes  or  nations  has  been  in  harmony  with  these  prnciples. 

In  all  cases  where  money  belonging  to  Indian  nations  has  been  re- 
tained by  the  United  States,  it  has  been  so  invested  as  to  produce  inter- 
entj  for  the  benefit  of  the  nation  to  Avhich  it  belongs;  and  such  interest 
is  anmuiUy  paid  to  the  nation  who  may  be  entitled  to  receive  it. 

9th.  The  United  States  in  adjusting  the  claim  of  the  Cherokee  Nation 
for  a  balance  due  as  purchase-money  upon  lands  ceded  by  that  nation 
to  the  United  States  in  1835,  allowed  interest  upon  the  balance  due 
them,  being  $189,422.76,  until  the  same  was  paid. 

The  question  was  submitted  to  the  Senate  of  the  United  States,  as  to 
whether  interest  should  be  allowed  them.  The  Senate  Committee  on 
Indian  Affairs,  in  their  report  upon  this  subject  used  the  following  lan- 
guage : 

By  the  treaty  of  Aagust,  1846,  it  was  referred  to  the  Senate  to  decide,  aud  that  de- 
cisioD  to  be  final,  whether  the  Cherokees  shaU  receive  interest  on  the  sums  found  dae 
then  from  a  misapplication  of  their  funds  to  purposes  with  which  they  were  not 
chargeable,  and  on  accoant  of  which  improper  charges  the  money  has  been  withheld 
from  them.  It  has  been  the  aniform  practice  of  this  Government  to  pay  and  demand 
iQterest  in  all  transactions  with  foreign  governments,  which  the  Indian  tribes  have 
always  been  said  to  be,  both  by  the  Supreme  Court  and  all  other  branches  of  otir  Gov- 
ernment,  in  all  matters  of  treaty  or  contract.  The  Indians,  relying  upon  the  prompt 
payment  of  their  dues,  have,  in  many  cases,  contracted  debts  upon  the  faith  of  it, 
upon  which  they  have  paid,  or  are  liable  to  pay,  interest.  If,  therefore,  the^  do  not 
now  receive  interest  on  their  money  so  lone  withheld  from  them,  they  will  m  effect, 
have  received  nothing.    (Senate  report  No.  176,  first  session,  Thirty- first  Congress,  p.  78.) 


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8  CHOCTAW   AWARD. 

10th.  That  upon  an  examination  of  the  precedents  where  Congress 
has  passed  acts  for  the  relief  of  private  citizens,  it  will  be  found  that,  iu 
almost  every  case,  Congress  has  directed  the  payment  of  interest,  where 
the  United  States  had  withheld  a  sum  of  money  which  had  heen  de- 
cided by  competent  authority  to  be  due,  or  where  the  amount  dae  wan 
ascertained,  fixed,  and  certain. 

The  following  precedents  illustrate  and  enforce  the  correctness  of  this 
assertion,  and  sustain  this  proposition  : 

1.  An  act  approved  January  14, 1793,  provided  that  lawful  interest 
irom  the  16th  of  May,  1776,  shall  be  allowed  on  the  sum  of  $200  ordered 
to  be  paid  to  Eeturn  J.  Meigs,  and  the  legal  representatives  of  Christo- 
pher Greene,  deceased,  by  a  resolve  of  the  United  States,  in  Congress 
assembled,  on  the  28th  of  September,  1785.    (6  Stat«.  at  Large,  p.  11.) 

2.  An  act  approved  May  31,  1794^  provided  for  a  settlement  with 
Arthur  St.  Clair,  for  expenses  while  going  from  New  York  to  Fort  Pitt 
and  till  his  return,  and  for  services  in  the  business  of  Indian  treaties, 
and  ^^  allowed  interest  on  the  balance  found  to  be  due  him."  (6  Stats,  at 
Large,  p.  16.) 

3.  An  act  approved  February  27, 1795,  authorized  the  officers  of  the 
Treasury  to  issue  and  deliver  to  Angus  McLean,  or  his  duly  authorized 
attorney,  certificates  for  the  amount  of  $254.43,  bearing  interest  at  six 
per  cent,  from  the  1st  of  July,  1783,  being  for  his  services  in  the  Corps 
of  Sappers  and  Miners  during  the  late  war.    (6  Stats,  at  Large,  p.  20.) 

4.  An  act  approved  January  23,  1798,  directed  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury  to  pay  General  Kosciusko  an  interest  at  the  rate  of  six  per 
cent,  per  annum  on  the  sum  of  $12,280.54,  the  amount  of  a  certificate 
due  to  him  from  the  United  States  from  the  1st  of  January-,  1793,  to 
the  31st  of  December,  1797.    (6  Stats,  at  Large,  p.  32.) 

5.  An  act  approved  May  3, 1802,  provided  that  there  be  paid  Falwar 
Skipwitli  the  sum  of  $4,550,  advanced  by  him  for  the  use  of  the  United 
States,  with  interest  at  the  rate  of  six  per  cent,  per  annum  from  the  1st 
of  November,  1795,  at  which  time  the  advance  was  made.  (6  Stat  at 
L.,  p.  48.) 

6.  An  act  for  the  relief  of  John  Coles,  approved  January  14,  1804, 
authorized  the  proper  accounting  ofiicers  of  the  Treasury  to  liquidate 
the  claim  of  John  Coles,  owner  of  the  ship  Grand  Turk,  heretofore  em- 
ployed in  the  service  of  the  United  States,  for  the  detention  of  said 
ship  at  Gibraltar  from  the  10th  of  May  to  the  4th  of  July,  1801,  inclu- 
sive, and  that  he  be  allowed  demurrage  at  the  rate  stipulated  in  tbe 
charter-party,  together  with  the  interest  thereon.    (6  Stat,  at  L.,  p.  50,) 

7.  An  act  approved  March  3, 1807,  provided  for  a  settlement  of  the 
accounts  of  Oliver  Pollock,  formerly  commercial  agent  for  the  United 
States  at  New  Orleans,  allowing  him  certain  sums  and  commissioQs, 
with  interest  until  paid.    (6  Stat,  at  L.,  p.  6o,) 

8.  An  act  for  the  relief  of  Stephen  Sayre,  approved  March  3, 1807, 
provided  that  the  accounting  officers  of  the  Treasury  be  authorized  to 
settle  the  account  of  Stephen  Sayre,  as  secretary  of  legation  at  the 
court  of  Berlin,  in  the  year  1777,  with  interest  on  the  whole  sum  until 
paid.     (6  Stat,  at  L.,  p.  65.) 

9.  An  act  to  approved  April  25,  1810,  directed  the  accounting  officers 
of  the  Treasury  to  settle  the  account  of  Moses  Young,  as  secretary  of 
legation  to  Holland  in  1780,  and  providing  that  after  the  deduction  of 
certain  moneys  paid  him,  the  balance,  with  interest  thereon,  should  be 
paid.    (6  Stat,  at  L.,  p.  89.) 

10.  An  act  approved  May  1,  1810,  for  the  relief  of  P.  C.  L'Enfant, 
directed  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  to  pay  to  him  the  sum  of  six 


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CHOCTAW   AWARD.  .  » 

hundred  and  sixty-six  dollars,  with  legal  interest  thereon  from  March  1, 
1792,  as  a  compensation  for  his  services  in  laying  out  the  plan  of  the 
city  of  Washington.    (6  Stat,  at  L.,  p.  92.) 

11.  An  act  approved  January  10,  1812,  provided  that  there  be  paid 
to  John  Burnham  the  sum  of  $126.72,  and  the  interest  on  the  same  since 
the  30th  of  May,  1796,  which,  in  addition  to  the  sum  allowed  hira  by  the 
act  of  that  date,  is  to  be  cousidered  a  re-inibursement  of  the  money  ad- 
vanced by  hira  for  his  ransom  from  captivity  in  Algiers.  (6  Stat,  at 
L.,p.  101.) 

12.  An  act  appri)ved  July  1, 1812,  for  the  relief  of  Anna  Young,  re- 
quired the  War  Department  to  settle  the  account  of  Col.  Jolin  Durkee, 
deceased,  and  to  allow  said  Anna  Young,  his  sole  heiress  and  represent- 
ative, said  seven  years'  half  pav,  and  interest  thereon.  (6  Stat,  at 
L.,  p.  110.) 

13.  An  act  approved  February  25,  1813,  provided  that  there  be  paid 
to  John  JMxon  the  sura  of  $329.84,  with  six  per  cent,  per  annum  interest 
thereon  from  the  1st  of  January,  1785,  "  being  the  amount  of  a  final- 
settlement  certificate,  No.  596,  issued  by  Andrew  Dunscomb,  late  com- 
missioner of  accounts  for  the  State  of  Virginia,  on  the  23d  of  Decem- 
ber, 1786,  to  Lucv  Dixon,  who  transferred  the  same  to  John  Dixon." 
(6  Stat,  at  L.,  p.  117.) 

14.  An  act  approved  February  25, 1813,  required  the  a<;counting  offi- 
cers of  the  Treasury  to  settle  the  account  of  John  Murray,  representa- 
tive of  Dr.  Henry  Murray,  and  that  he  be  allowed  the  amount  of  three 
loan-certificates  for  $1,000,  with  interest  from  the  29th  of  March,  1782, 
issued  in  the  name  of  said  Murray,  signed  Francis  Hopkinson,  treasurer 
of  loans.     (6  Stat,  at  L.,  p.  117.) 

15.  An  act  approved  March  3, 1813,  directed  the  accounting  officers 
of  the  Treasury  to  settle  the  accounts  of  Samuel  Lapsley,  deceased, 
and  that  they  be  allowed  the  amount  of  two  final-settlement  certificates. 
No.  78,446,  for  one  thousand  dollars,  and  No.  78,447,  for  one  thousand 
three  hundred  dollars,  and  interest  from  the  22d  day  of  March,  1783, 
issued  in  the  name  of  Samuel  Lapsley,  by  the  Commissioner  of  Army 
Accounts  for  the  United  States  on  the  1st  day  of  July,  1784.  (6  Stat, 
at  L„  p.  119.) 

16.  An  act  approved  April  13,  1814,  directed  the  officers  of  the 
Treasury  to  settle  the  account  of  Joseph  Brevard,  and.  that  he  be  al- 
lowed the  amount  of  a  final  settlement  certificate  for  $183.23,  dated 
February  1,  1785,  and  bearing  interest  from  the  Ist  of  January,  1783, 
issued  to  said  Brevard  by  John  Pierce,  commissioner  for  settling  Army 
accounts.     (6  Stat,  at  L.,  p.  134.) 

17.  An  act  approved  April  18,  1814,  directed  the  receiver  of  public 
moneys  at  Cincinnati  to  pay  the  full  amount  of  moneys,  with  interest, 
paid  by  Dennis  Clark,  in  discharge  of  the  purchase-money  for  a  certain 
fractional  section  of  land  purchased  l)y  said  Clark.    (6  Stat,  at  L.,  141.) 

18.  An  act  for  the  relief  of  William  Arnold,  approved  February  2, 
1815,  allowed  interest  on  the  sum  of  six  hundred  dollars  due  him  from 
January  1, 1873.     (6  Stat,  at  L.,  146.) 

19.  An  act  approved  April  26,  1816,  directed  the  accounting  officers 
of  the  Treasury  to  pay  to  Joseph  Wheaton  the  sum  of  eight  hundred 
and  thirty-six  dollars  and  forty -two  cents,  on  account  of  interest  due 
him  from  the  United  States  upon  sixteen  hundred  dollars  and  eighty- 
four  cents,  from  April  1, 1807,  to  December  21, 1815,  pursuant  to  the 
award  of  George  Youngs  and  Elias  B.  Caldwell,  in  a  controversy 
between  the  United  States  and  the  said  Joseph  Wheaton.  (6  Stat,  at 
L.,  166.) 


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10  .  CHOCTAW    AWARD. 

20.  An  act  approved  April  26, 1816,  aathorized  the  liqaidation  and 
settlement  of  the  claim  of  the  heirs  of  Alexander  Roxburgh,  arising  oa 
a  final-settlement  certificate  issued  on  the  18th  of  August,  1784,  for 
$480.87,  by  John  Pierce,  commissioner  for  settling  Army  accounts, 
bearing  interest  from  the  1st  of  January,  1782.    (6  Stat.  atL.,  167.) 

21.  An  act  approved  April  14,  1818,  authorized  the  accounting  offi- 
cers of  the  Treasury  Department  "  to  review  the  settlement  of  the 
account  of  John  Thompson,"  made  under,  the  authority  of  an  act  ap- 
proved the  11th  of  May,  1812,  and  *'  to  allow  the  said  John  Thompson 
interest  at  six  per  cent,  per  annum  from  the  4th  of  March,  1787,  to 
the  20th  of  May,  1812,  on  the  sum  which  was  found  due  to  him,  and 
paid  under  the  act  aforesaid."    (6  Stat,  at  L.,  20S.) 

22.  An  act  approved  May  11,  1820,  directed  the  proper  officers  of  the 
Treasury  to  pay  to  Samuel  B.  Beall  the  amount  of  two  final-settlement 
certificates  issued  to  him  on  the  1st  of  February,  1785,  for  his  his  serv- 
ices as  a  lieutenant  in  the  Army  of  the  CJnited  States  during  the  revo- 
lutionary war,  together  with  interest  on  the  said  certificates,  at  the 
rate  of  (six  per  cent,  per  annum,  from  the  time  they  bore  interest, 
respectively,  which  said  certificates  were  lost  by  the  said  Beall,  and 
remain  yet  outstanding  and  unpaid.  (6  Laws  of  U.  S.,  510 ;  6  Stat,  at 
L.,  249.) 

23.  An  act  approved  May  15,  1820,  required  that  there  be  paid  to 
Thomas  Leiper  the  specie- value  of  four  loan-office  certificates,  issued  to 
him  by  the  commissioner  of  loans  for  the  State  of  Pennsylvania,  on  the 
27th  of  February,  1779,  for  one  thousand  dollars  each ;  and  also  the 
specie-value  of  two  loan-certificates,  issued  to  him  by  the  said  commis- 
sioner on  the  2d  day  of  March,  1779,  for  one  thousand  dollars  each, 
with  interest  at  six  per  cent,  annually.    (6  Stat,  at  L.,  252.) 

24.  An  act  approved  May  7,  1822,  provided  that  there  be  paid  to  the 
legal  representatives  of  John  Gutliry,  deceased,  the  sum  of  $123.30,  be- 
ing the  amount  of  a  final-settlement  certificate,  with  interest  at  the  rate 
of  six  per  cent,  per  annum,  from  the  1st  day  of  January,  1788.  (C  Stat. 
atL.,  269.) 

.  25.  An  act  for  the  relief  of  the  legal  representatives  of  James  McClung, 
approved  March  3, 1823,  allowed  interest  on  the  amount  due  at  the  rate 
of  six  per  cent,  per  annum  from  January  1, 1788.    (6  Stat,  at  L.,  284.) 

26.  An  act  approved  March  3,  1823,  for  the  relief  of  Daniel  Seward, 
allowed  interest  to  him  for  money  paid  to  the  United  States  for  land  to 
which  the  title  failed,  at  the  rate  of  six  per  cent,  per  annum  from  Janu- 
ary 29,  1814.     (6  Stat,  at  L.,  286.) 

27.  An  act  approved  May  5,  1824,  directed  the  Secretary  of  the  Treas- 
ury to  pay  to  Amasa  Stetson  the  sum  of  $6,215,  "  being  for  interest  on 
moneys  advanced  by  him  for  the  use  of  the  United  States,  and  on  war- 
rants issued  in  his  favor,  in  the  years  1814  and  1815,  for  his  services  in 
the  Ordnance  and  Quartermaster's  Department,  for  superintending  the 
making  of  Army  clothing  and  for  issuing  the  public  supplies."  (6  Stat 
at  L.,  298.) 

28.  An  act  approved  March  3, 1824,  directed  the  proper  accounting 
officers  of  the  Treasury  to  settle  and  adjust  the  claim  of  Stephen  Arnold, 
David  and  George  Jenks,  for  the  manufacture  of  three  thousand  nine 
hundred  and  twenty-five  muskets,  with  interest  thereon  from  the  26th 
day  of  October,  1813.    (6  Stat,  at  L.,  331.) 

29.  An  act  approved  May  20, 1826,  directed  the  proper  accounting 
officers  of  the  Treasury  to  settle  and  adjust  the  claim  of  John  Stemman 
and  others  for  the  manufacture  of  four  thousand  one  hundred  stand  of 


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CHOCTAW   AWARD.  11 

arms,  and  to  allow  interest  on  the  amount  due  firom  October  26,  1813. 
(6  Stat,  at  L.,  345.) 

30.  An  act  approved  May  20, 1826,  for  the  relief  of  Ann  D.  Taylor, 
directed  the  payment  to  her  of  the  sum  of  three  hundred  and  fifty-four 
dollars  and  fifteen  cents,  with  interest  thereon  at  the  rate  of  six  per  cent, 
per  annum  from  December  30, 1786,  until  paid.    (6  Stat,  at  L.,  351.) 

31.  An  act  approved  March  3, 1827,  provided  that  the  proper  account- 
ing officers  of  the  Treasury  were  authorized  to  pay  to  B.  J.  V.  Valken- 
hurg  the  sum  of  $597.24,  '<  being  the  amount  of  fourteen  indents  of  in- 
terest, with  interest  thereon  from  the  1st  of  January,  1791,  to  the  31st 
of  December,  1826."    (6  Stat,  at  L.,  365.) 

In  this  case  the  United  States  ])aid  interest  on  interest. 

32.  An  act  approved  May  19, 1828,  provided  that  there  be  paid  to  the 
legal  representatives  of  Patience  Gordon  the  specie-value  of  a  certificate 
issued  in  the  name  of  Patience  Gordon  by  the  commissioner  of  loans 
for  the  State  of  Pennsylvania,  on  the  7  th  of  April,  1778,  with  interest  at 
the  rate  of  six  per  cent,  per  annum  from  the  1st  day  of  January,  1788. 
(7  Stat,  at  L.,  p.  378.) 

33.  An  act  approved  May  29, 1830,  required  the  Treasury  Depart- 
ment '^  to  settle  the  accounts  of  Benjamin  Wells,  as  deputy  commissary 
of  issues  at  the  magazine  at  Monster  Mills,  in  Pennsylvania,  under  John 
Irvin,  deputy  commissary-general  of  the  Army  of  the  United  States,  in 
said  State,  in  the  Revolutionary  war ;  '^  and  that  "they  credit  him  with 
the  sum  of  $574.04,  as  payable  February  9, 1779,  and  $326.67,  payable 
Jnly  20,  1780,  in  the  same  manner,  and  with  such  interest,  as  if  these 
suQ)s,  with  their  interest  from  the  times  respectively  as  aforesaid,  had 
been  subscribed  to  the  loan  of  the  United  States."  (6  Stats,  at  Large,  447. ) 

34.  An  act  approved  May  19,  1832,  for  the  relief  of  Eichard  G. 
Morris  provided  for  the  payment  to  him  of  two  certificates  issued  to 
him  by  Timothy  Pickering,  quartermaster-general,  with  interest  thereon 
from  the  Ist  of  September,  1781.    (6  Stats,  at  Large,  486.) 

35.  An  act  approved  July  4,  1832,  for  the  relief  of  Aaron  Snow,  a 
Revolutionary  soldier,  provided  for  the  payment  to  him  of  two  certifi- 
cates issued  by  John  Pierce,  late  commissioner  of  Army  accounts,  and 
dated  in  1784,  with  interest  thereon.    (6  Stats,  at  Large,  503.) 

36.  An  act  approved  July  4, 1832,  provided  for  the  payment  to  W.  P. 
Gibbs  of  a  final-settlement  certificate  dated  January  30,  1784,  with 
interest  at  six  per  cent,  from  the  1st  of  January,  1783,  up  to  the  passage 
of  the  ace.  This  act  went  behind  the  final  certificate  and  provided  for 
the  payment  of  interest  anterior  to  its  date.    (6  Stats,  at  Large,  504.) 

37.  An  act  approved  July  14,  1832,  directed  the  payment  to  the  heirs 
of  Ebenezer  L.  Warren  of  certain  sums  of  money  illegally  demanded 
and  received  by  the  United  States  from  the  said  Warren  as  one  of  the 
sureties  of  Daniel  Evans,  formerly  collector  of  direct  taxes,  with  interest 
thereon  at  the  rate  of  six  per  cent,  per  annum  from  September  9, 1820. 
(6  Stats,  at  Large,  373.) 

38.  An  act  for  the  relief  of  Hartwell  Vick,  approved  July  14, 1832, 
directed  the  accounting  officers  of  the  Treasury  to  refund  to  the  said 
Vick  the  money  paid  by  him  to  the  United  States  for  a  certain  tract  of 
land  which  was  found  not  to  be  property  of  the  United  States,  with 
interest  thereon  at  the  rate  of  six  per  centum  per  annum,  from  the  23d 
day  of  May,  1818.    (6  Stats,  at  Large,  523.) 

39.  An  act  approved  June  18, 1834,  for  the  relief  of  Martha  Bailey 
and  others,  directed  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  to  pay  to  the  parties 
therein  named  the  sum  of  four  thousand  eight  hundred  and  thirty-seven 
dollars  and  sixty -one  cents,  being  the  amount  of  interest  upon  the  sum 


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12  CHOCTAW   AWARD. 

of  two  haodrecl  thoasaud  dollars,  part  of  a  balance  dae  from  the  United 
States  to  Elbert  Anderson  on  the  26th  day  of  October,  1814 ;  also  the 
further  snm  of  nine  thousand  five  hundred  and  ninety-five  dollars  and 
thirty-six  cents,  being  the  amount  of  interest  accruing  from  the  deferred 
payment  of  warrants  issued  for  balances  due  from  the  United  States  to 
the  said  Anderson  from  the  date  of  such  warrants  until  the  payment 
thereof;  also  the  further  sum  of  two  thousand  and  eighteen  dollars  and 
fifty  cents  admitted  to  be  dne  from  the  United  States  to  the  said 
Anderson  by  a  decision  of  the  Second  Comptroller,  with  interest  on  the 
sum  last  mentioned  from  the  period  of  such  decision  until  paid.  (6  Stats, 
at  Large,  562.) 

40.  An  act  approved  June  30,  1834,  directed  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury  to  pay  balance  of  damages  recovered  against  William  G.  H. 
Waddell,  United  States  marshal  for  the  southern  district  of  New  York, 
for  the  illegal  seizure  of  a  certain  importation  of  brandy,  on  behalf  of 
the  United  States,  with  legal  interest  on  the  amount  of  said  judgment 
from  the  time  the  same  was  paid  by  the  said  Waddell.  (0  Stats,  at 
Large,  594.) 

41.  An  act  approved  February  17,  1836,  directed  the  payment  of  the 
snm  therein  named  to  Marinus  W.  Gilbert,  being  the  interest  on  money 
advanced  by  him  to  pay  off  troops  in  the  service  of  the  United  States, 
and  not  repaid  when  demanded.    (6  Stats,  at  Large,  622.) 

42.  An  act  approved  February  17, 1836,  for  the  relief  of  the  executor 
of  Charles  Wilkins,  directed  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  to  settle  the 
claim  of  the  said  executor,  for  interest  on  a  liquidated  demand  in  favor 
of  Jonathan  Taylor,  James  Morrison,  and  Charles  Wilkins,  who  were 
lessees  of  the  United  States  of  the  salt-works,  in  the  State  of  Illinois. 
(6  Stats,  at  Large,  626.) 

48.  An  act  approved  July  2,  1836,  for  the  relief  of  the  legal  repre- 
sentatives of  David  Caldwell,  directed  the  proper  accounting-officers  of 
the  Treasury  to  settle  the  claim  of  the  said  David  Caldwell  for  fees  and 
allowances,  certified  by  the  circuit  court  of  the  United  States  for  the 
eastern  district  of  Pennsylvania,  for  official  services  to  the  United 
States,  and  to  pay  on  that  account  the  sum  of  four  hundred  and  ninety- 
six  dollars  and  thirty-eight  cents,  with  interest  thereon  at  the  rate  of 
S'x  per  centum  from  the  25th  day  of  November,  1830,  till  paid.  (6  Stats, 
at  Large,  664.) 

44.  An  act  approved  July  2,  1836,  provided  that  there  be  paid  Don 
Carlos  Delossus,  interest  at  the  rate  of  six  per  centum  per  annum  on 
three  hundred  and  thirty -three  dollars,  being  the  amount  allowed  him 
under  the  act  of  July  14,  1832,  for  his  relief,  on  account  of  moneys 
taken  from  him  at  the  capture  of  Baton  Rouge,  Louisiana,  on  the  23d 
day  of  September,  1810,  being  the  interest  to  be  allowed  from  the  said 
23d  day  of  September,  1810,  to  the  14th  day  of  July,  1832.  <6  Stats,  at 
Large,  672.) 

In  this  case  the  interest  was  directed  to  be  paid  four  years  after  the 
principal  had  been  satisfied  and  discharged. 

45.  An  act  approved  July  7,  1838,  provided  that  the  proper  officers  of 
the  Treasury  be  directed  to  settle  the  accounts  of  Richard  Harrison, 
formerly  consular  agent  of  the  United  States  at  Cadiz,  in  Spain,  and  to 
allow  him,  among  other  items,  the  interest  on  the  money  advanced, 
under  agreement  with  the  minister  of  the  United  States  in  Spain,  for 
the  relief  of  destitute  and  distressed  seamen,  and  for  their  passages  to 
the  United  States  from  the  time  the  advances  respectively  were  made, 
to  the  time  at  which  the  said  advances  were  re-imbursed.  (6  Stats,  at 
Large,  734.) 


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CHOCTAW   AWARD.  13 

46.  An  act  approved  August  11, 1842,  directed  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury  to  pay  to  John  Johnson  the  sum  of  seven  hundred  and  fifty- 
six  dollars  and  eighty -two  cents,  being  the  amount  received  from  the 
said  Johnson  upon  a  judgment  against  him  in  favor  of  the  United 
States,  together  with  the  interest  thereon  from  the  time  of  such  pay- 
ment.   (6  Stats,  at  Large,  856.) 

47.  An  act  approved  August  3, 1846,  authorized  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury  to  pay  to  Abraham  Horbach  the  sum  of  five  thousand  dollars, 
with  lawful  interest  from  the  1st  of  January,  1836,  being  the  amount  of 
a  draft  drawn  by  James  Reeside  on  the  Post-OflQce  Department,  dated 
April  18, 1835,  payable  on  the  1st  of  January,  1836,  and  accepted  by  the 
treasurer  of  the  Post-Office  Department,  \^hich  said  draft- was  indorsed 
by  said  Abraham  Horbach  at  the  instance  of  the  said  Eeeside,  and  the 
amount  drawn  from  the  Bank  of  Philadephia,  and,  at  maturity,  said 
draft  was  protested  for  non-payment,  and  said  Horbach  became  liable  to 
pay,  and  in  consequence  of  his  indorsement,  did  pay  the  full  amount  of 
said  draft.    (9  Stats,  at  Large,  677.) 

48.  An  act  approved  February  5, 1859,  authorized  the  Secretary  of 
War  to  pay  to  Thomas  Laurent,  as  surviving  partner,  the  sum  of  $15,000, 
with  interest  at  the  rate  of  six  per  cent,  yearly,  from  the  11th  of  Novem- 
ber, 1847,  it  being  the  amount  paid  by  the  firm  on  that  day  to  Major- 
General  Winfield  Scott,  in  the  city  of  Mexico,  for  the  purchase  of  a  house 
in  said  city,  out  of  the  possessioti  of  which  they  were  since  ousted  by 
the  Mexican  authorities.    (11  Stats,  at  Large,  558.) 

49.  An  act  approved  March  2,  1847,  directed  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasary  to  pay  the  balance  due  to  the  Bank  of  Metropolis  for  moneys 
due  upon  the  settlement  of  the  account  of  the  bank  with  the  United 
States,  with  interest  thereon  from  the  6th  day  of  March,  1838.  (9  Stats, 
at  Large,  689.) 

50.  An  act  approved  July  20, 1852,  directed  the  payment  to  the  legal 
representatives  of  James  C.  Watson,  late  of  the  State  of  Georgia,  the 
sum  of  fourteen  thousand  six  hundred  dollars,  with  interest  at  the  rate 
of  six  per  cent,  per  annum,  from  the  8th  day  of  May,  1838,  till  paid,  be- 
ing the  amount  paid  by  him,  under  the  sanction  of  the  Indian  agent,  to 
certain  Creek  warriors,  for  slaves  captured  by  said  warriors  while  they 
were  in  the  service  of  the  United  States  against  the  Seminole  Indians  iu 
Florida.    (10  Stats,  at  Large,  734.) 

51.  An  act  approved  July  29,  1854,  directed  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury  to  pay  to  John  C.  Fremont  one  hundred  and  eighty-three  thou- 
sand ei^ht  hundred  and  twenty -five  dollars,  with  interest  thereon  from 
the  1st  day  of  June,  1851,  at  the  rate  of  ten  per  cent,  per  annum,  in  full 
for  his  account  for  beef  delivered  to  Commissioner  Barbour,  for  the  use 
of  the  Indians  in  California,  in  1851  and  1852.    (10  Stats,  at  Large,  804.) 

52.  An  act  approved  July  8, 1870,  directed  the  Secretary  of  the  Treas- 
ury to  make  proper  payments  to  carry  into  effect  the  decree  of  the  dis- 
trict court  of  the  United  States  for  the  district  of  Louisiana,  bearing 
date  the  fourth  of  June,  1867,  in  the  case  of  the  British  brig  "  Volant,'' 
and  her  cargo ;  and  also  another  decree  of  the  same  court,  bearing  date 
the  eleventh  of  June,  in  the  same  year,  in  the  case  of  the  British  bark 
"  Science,"  and  cargo,  vessels  illegally  seized  by  a  cruiser  of  the  United 
States ;  such  payments  to  be  made  as  follows,  viz :  To  the  several  per- 
sons named  in  such  decrees,  or  their  legal  representatives,  the  several 
sums  awarded  to  them  res])ectively,  with  interest  to  each  person  from  the 
ante  of  the  decree  under  which  he  receives  payment.  (16  Stats,  at  Large, 
650.) 

53.  An  act  approved  July  8,  1870,  directed  the  Secretary  to  make 


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14  CHOCTAW   AWARD. 

the  proper  payments  to  carry  into  effect  the  decree  of  the  district  coart 
of  thelJnited  States  for  the  district  of  Louisiana,  bearing  date  July  13, 
1867,  in  the  case  of  the  British  brig  "  Dashing  Wave,"  and  her  cargo,  il- 
legally seized  by  a  cruiser  of  the  United  States,  which  decree  was  made 
in  pursuance  of  the  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court,  such  payments  to  be 
made  with  interest  from  the  date  of  the  decree,    (16  Stats,  at  Large,  651.) 

An  examination  of  these  cases  will  show  that,  subsequent  to  the 
seizure  of  these  several  vessels,  they  were  each  sold  by  the  United 
States  marshal  for  the  district  of  Louisiana  as  prize,  and  the  proceeds 
of  such  sales  deposited  by  him  in  the  First  National  Bank  of  Xew  Or- 
leans. The  bank,  while  the  proceeds  of  these  sales  were  on  deposit 
there,  became  insolvent.  The  seizures  were  held  illegal,  and  the  vessels 
not  subject  to  capture  as  x)rize.  But  the  proceeds  of  the  sales  of  these 
vessels  and  their  cargoes  could  not  be  restored  to  the  owners  in  accord- 
ance of  the  decrees  of  the  district  court,  bectiuse  the  funds  had  been 
lost  by  the  insolvency  of  the  bank.  In  these  cases,  therefore,  Confess 
provided  indemnity  for  losses  resulting  from  the  acts  of  its  agents,  and 
made  the  indemnity  complete  by  providing  for  the  payment  of  interest. 

Your  committee  have  directed  attention  to  these  numerous  precedents 
for  the  purpo^  of  exposing  the  utter  want  of  foundation  of  the  often- 
repeated  assumption  that  **  the  Government  never  pays  interest.''  It 
will  readily  be  admitted  that  there  is  no  statute-law  to  sustain  this 
position.  The  idea  has  grown  up  from  the  custom  and  usage  of  the 
accoilntingofficers  and  departments  refusing  to  allow  interest  generally 
in  their  accounts  with  disbursing-officers,  and  in  the  settlement  of  un- 
liquidated domestic  claims  arising  out  of  dealings  with  the  Oovemment 
It  will  hardly  be  pretended,  however,  that  this  custom  or  usage  is  so 
^'  reasonable, "  well  known,  and  ^^  certain,"  as  to  give  it  the  force  and 
effect  of  law,  and  to  override  and  trample  under  foot  the  law  of  nations 
and  also  the  well  settled  practice  of  the  Government  itself  in  its  inter- 
course with  other  nations. 

11th.  Interest  was  allowed  and  paid  to  the  State  of  Massachusetts, 
because  the  United  States  delayed  the  payment  of  the  principal  for 
twenty-two  years  after  the  amount  due  had  been  ascertained  and  deter- 
mined. The  amount  appropriated  to  pay  this  interest  was  $678,362.41, 
more  than  the  original  principal.    (16  Stats,  at  Large,  198.) 

Mr.  Sumner,  in  his  report  upon  the  memorial  introduced  for  that  pur- 
pose, discussing  this  question  of  interest,  said : 

It  is  urged  that  the  payment  of  this  interest  would  establish  a  bad  precedent  If 
the  claim  is  jast,  the  precedent  of  paying  it  is  one  uf  which  our  Government  shoald 
wish  to  establish.  Honesty  and  justice  are  not  precedents  of  which  either  Oovemment 
or  individuals  should  be  afraid. 

Senate  Report  4,  41st  Cong.,  1st  sess.,  p.  10. 

12th.  Interest  has  always  been  allowed  to  the  several  States  for  ad- 
vances made  to  the  United  States  for  military  purposes. 

The  claims  of  the  several  States  for  advances  during  the  revolutiou- 
ary  war  were  adjusted  and  settled  under  the  provision  of  the  acts  of 
Congress  of  August  5, 1790,  and  of  May  31, 1794.  By  these  acts  inter- 
est w^as  allowed  to  the  States,  whether  they  had  advanced  money  on 
hand  in  their  treasuries  or  obtained  by  loans. 

In  respect  to  the  advances  of  States  during  the  war  of  1812-15,  a 
more  restricted  rule  was  adopted,  viz. :  That  States  should  be  allowed 
interest  only  so  far  as  they  had  tnemselves  paid  it  by  borrowing,  or  had 
lost  it  by  the  sale  of  interest-bearing  funds. 

Interest,  according  to  this  rule,  has  been  paid  to  all  the  States  which 


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CHOCTAW   AWARD.  15 

made  advances  during  the  war  of  1812-15,  with  the  exception  of  Massa- 
chusetts.   Here  are  the  cases : 

Virginia,  U.  S.  Stats,  at  Large,  vol.  4,  i>.  IGl. 

Delaware,  U.  S.  Stats,  at  Large,  vol.  4,  p.  175. 

New  York,  U.  S.  Stats,  at  Large,  vol.  4,  p.  192. 

Pennsylvania,  U.  S.  Stats,  at  Large,  vol.  4,  p.  241. 

South  Carolina,  U.  S.  Stats,  at  Large,  vol.  4,  p.  49J). 

Jn  Indian  and  other  wars  the  same  rule  has  been  observed,  as  in  the 
following  cases : 

Alabama,  U.  S.  Stats,  at  Large,  vol.  9,  p.  344. 

Georgia,  U.  S.  Stats,  at  Large,  vol.  9,  p.  C26. 

Washington  Territorj^,  U.  S.  Stats,  at  Large,  vol.  11,  p.  429. 

New  Hampshire,  U.  S.  Stats,  at  Large,  vol  10,  p.  1. 

13th.  The  Senate  Committee  on  Indian  Affairs,  in  the  report  to  which 
reference  has  heretofore  been  made,  speaking  of  this  award  and  of  the 
obligation  of  the  United  States  to  i^ay  interest  upon  the  balance  remain- 
ing due  and  unpaid  thereon,  used  the  following  language : 

Yoar  committee  are  of  opinion  that  this  sum  should  be  paid  them  with  accrued 
interest  from  the  date  of  said  award,  deducting  therefrom  $250,000,  paid  to  them  in 
money,  as  directed  by  the  act  uf  March  2,  1861 ;  and,  therefore,  find  no  sufficient  rea- 
son for  further  delay  in  carrying  into  effect  that  provision  of  the  afore-named  act,  and 
the  act  of  March  3, 1871,  by  the  delivery  of  the  bonds  therein  described,  with  accrued 
interest  from  the  date  of  the  act  of  March  8, 18()1. 

Your  committee  have  discussed  this  question  with  au  anxious 
desire  to  come  to  such  a  conclusion  in  regard  to  it  as  would  do 
no  injustice  to  that  Indian  nation  whose  rights  are  involved  here,  nor 
establish  such  a  precedent  as  would  be  IncoDsistent  with  the  prac- 
tice or  duty  of  the  United  States  in  such  eases.  Therefore,  your  com- 
mittee have  considered  it  not  only  by  the  light  of  those  principles  of  the 
public  law— always  in  harmony  with  the  highest  demands  of  the  most 
perfect  justice — but  also  in  the  light  of  those  numerous  precedents 
which  this  Government  in  its  action  in  like  cases  has  furnished  for  our 
guidance.  Your  committee  cannot  believe  that  the  payment  of  inter- 
est on  the  moneys  awarded  by  the  Senate  to  the  Choctaw  Nation  would 
either  violate  any  principle  of  law  or  establish  any  precedent  which  the 
United  States  would  not  wish  to  follow  in  any  similar  case,  and  your 
committee  cannot  believe  that  the  United  States  are  prepared  to  repu- 
diate these  principles,  or  to  admit  that  because  their  obligation  is  held 
by  a  weak  and  powerless  Indian  nation,  it  is  any  the  less  sacred  or  bind- 
ing, than  if  held  by  a  nation  able  to  enforce  its  payment  and  secure 
complete  indemnity  under  it.  Could  the  United  States  escape  the  pay- 
ment of  int^est  to  Great  Britain,  if  it  should  refuse  or  neglect,  after 
the  same  became  due,  to  pay  the  amount  awarded  in  favor  of  Brit- 
ish subjects  by  the  recent  joint  commission  which  sat  here  t  Could  we 
delay  payment  of  the  amount  awarded  by  that  commission  for  fifteen 
years,  and  then  escape  by  merely  paying  the  principal  f  The  Choctaw 
Xation  asks  the  same  measure  of  justice  which  we  must  accord  to  Great 
Britain ;  and  your  committee  cannot  deny  that  demand  unless  they  shall 
ignore  and  set  aside  those  principles  of  the  public  law,  which  it  is  of 
the  utmost  importance  to  the  United  States  to  always  maintain  invio- 
late. 

Your  committee  are  not  unmindful  that  the  amount  due  the  Choctaw 
nation  under  the  award  of  the  Senate  is  large.  They  are  not  unmind- 
ful, either,  that  the  discredit  of  refusing  payment  is  increased  in  pro- 
portion to  the  amount  withheld  and  the  time  during  which  such  refusal 
has  been  continued.    That  the  amount  to  be  paid  is  large  is  no  fault  of 


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16  CHOCTAW   AWARD 

the  Gboctaw  Nation.  The  whole  amount  was  due  when,  on  the  2(1  day 
of  March,  18G1,  Congress  authorized  the  payment,  on  account  of  the 
award,  of  the  sum  of  two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars;  andif,At 
that  time,  the  bonds  of  the  United  States  had  been  issued  in  satisfac- 
tion of  the  award,  the  Choctaw  Nation  would  have  received  interest  on 
them  from  that  time,  and  thus  derived  such  advantage  as  would  have 
resulted,  from  time  to  time,  from  the  payment  of  semi-annual  interest 
and  the  sale  of  the  gold 'which  they  would  have  received  in  the  pay- 
ment of  interest.  The  bill  under  consideration  provides  that  the 
amount  due  upon  the  award  of  the  Senate  shall  be  satisfied  and  paid, 
(both  principal  and  interest,)  in  the  bonds  of  the  United  States  of  like 
character  and  description  as  those  authorized  to  be  issued  under  the  act 
of  Congress  entitled  ''An  act  authorizing  a  loan,''  approved  February  8, 
18G1.  They  were  bonds  of  this  issue  that  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury 
was  required  to  deliver  in  part  payment  of  the  amount  authorized  to  be 
paid  on  account  of  the  said  award  under  the  provisions  of  the  act  of 
March  2, 1861.  If  this  award  had  then  been  wholly  satisfied  and  dis- 
charged, it  would  have  been  in  bonds  of  this  discription.  The  act  of  Feb- 
ruary 8, 1861,  authorized  the  issue  of  bonds  to  the  amount  of  $25,000,000 
of  which  there  have  been  issued  $18,485,000.  There  is  therefore  to  the 
credit  of  this  act,  bonds  to  the  amount  of  $6,515,000,  which  may  be  issaed 
for  any  purpose  which  Congress  shall  direct.  Your  committee  bearing  iu 
mind,  that  the  moneys  so  long  with-held  from  the  Choctaw  nation,  are  in 
the  nature  of  trust-funds,  and  that  the  United  States  had  the  use  of  the^ 
moneys  for  so  many  years  before  the  making  of  the  award  in  favor  of  the 
Choctaw  Nation  by  the  United  States  Senate;  and  that  the  Choctaw  Na- 
tion is  in  a  certain  sense  a  ward  of  the  United  States,  cannot  recommend 
any  other  payment  to  them,  except  such  as  will  do  them  perfect  justice  and 
provide  for  them  complete  indemnity.  This  result  will  be  moat  nearly  ac- 
complished by  theissue  and  delivery  to  the  Choctaw  Nation  of  those  bonds 
which  would  have  been  issued  to  them  had  the  whole  award  bc^n  paid 
at  the  time  provision  was  made  lor  its  part  payment,  as  provided  in  the 
the  act  of  March  26,  1861 ;  and  interest  on  the  said  award  should  be 
added  from  the  time  the  same  was  made  by  the  United  States  Senate; 
and  that  for  these,  both  principal  and  interest,  bonds  of  the  United  States. 
of  the  character  and  description  of  other  bonds  issued  under  the  act  of 
February  8, 1861,  should  be  issued  for  the  use  and  benefit  of  the  Choc- 
taw Nation. 

Your  committee  believe  that  this  course,  and  nothing  less,  will  satisfy 
the  demands  of  justice,  and  relieve  the  United  States  from  the  impata- 
tion  of  bad  faith  and  an  inexcusable  disregard  of  treaty  obligations. 

AUTHOEITY  TO  RECEIVE  THE  BONDS. 

The  bill  under  consideration  provides  that  the  bonds  for  which  it 
makes  provision  shall  be  delivered  to  Pet^^r  P.  Pitchlynn,  and  Peter 
Folsom,  or  to  either  of  them  who  may  demanl  the  same  on  behalf  of 
the  Choctaw  nation.  The  reason  for  directing  these  bonds  to  be  de- 
livered to  these  persons,  as  the  delegates  of  the  Choctaw  nation,  results 
from  the  fact  that  for  more  than  twenty  years  one  of  these  delegates, 
Governor  Pitchlynn,  many  years  principal  chief  of  the  Choctaw  nation, 
has  been  here  pressing  the  just  claims  of  his  nation  upon  the  attention 
of  Congress.  He  has  been  the  accredited  agent  and  trusted  servant  of 
his  nation  before  the  government  of  the  United  States,  and  he  has  been 
so  recognized  by  the  different  Departments  of  the  Government. 

The  evidence  of  the  authority  of  the  said  delegates,  submitted  to  your 
Committee,  shows  that — 


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CHOCTAW   AWARD.  17 

The  Ohootaw  natiooAl  oonnoil,  by  several  legislative  enaotmentSy 
passed  respectively  November  9, 1853,  November  10, 1854,  November 
17, 1865,  November  4,  1867,  November  25. 1867,  and  March  18,  1872. 
constituted  and  appointed  Peter  P.  Pitchlynn,  Israel  Folsom,  Samuel 
Garland,  and  Dixon  W.  Lewis  their  special  agents  for  the  purpose  of 
securing  the  payment  from  the  United  States  of  certain  claims  or  de- 
mands which  the  Choctaw  Nation  and  individual  members  thereof,  had 
and  asserted  against  the  United  States,  under  the  treaty  between  the 
United  States  and  the  Choctaw  Nation,  concluded  September  27, 1830. 
These  claims  are  known  and  styled  <'  The  Choctaw  Net  Proceeds  Claims." 
The  first  of  these  acts  declared  the  powers  and  authority  of  these  dele- 
gates in  the  following  language  : 

That  the  aaid  delegates  are  hereby  clothed  with  full  power  to  settle  and  dispoee  ot, 
by  treaty  or  otherwisei  aU  and  every  claim  and  interest  of  the  Choctaw  people  against 
the  GoTemment  of  the  United  States,  and  to  adjust  and  bring  to  a  final  close  aU  unset- 
tled business  of  the  Choctaw  people  with  the  said  Gk)vernment  of  the  United  States. 

Laws  of  Choctaw  Nation,  pp.  123, 124, 125. 

By  the  act  of  1854,  these  agents  were  further  authorized  and  instructed 
as  follows : 

To  remain  at  Washington  and  continue  to  press  to  final  settlement  aU  claims  and 
unsettled  business  of  the  Choctaws  with  said  Government,  with  full  powers  to  take  all 
measures  and  enter  into  all  contracts  which  in  their  Judgment  may  become  necessary 
and  proper,  in  the  name  of  the  Choctaw  people,  and  to  bring  to  a  final  and  satisfiuitory 
a^JQBtment  and  settlement,  all  claims  or  demands  whatever,  which  the  Choctaw  tribe, 
or  any  member  thereof^  have  against  the  Government  of  the  United  States,  by  treaty 
or  otherwise. 

Laws  of  Choctaw  nation,  pp.  133, 134. 

The  act  of  November  4th,  1857,  authorized  either  of  the  delegates 
who  might  be  present  in  Washington  to  act  for  and  on  behalf  of  the 
Nation  ;  and  the  act  of  November  25, 1867,  declared  that  the  terms  of 
service  of  the  said  delegates  should  continue  until  the  whole  business 
of  their  agency  was  adjusted  and  settled. 

The  delegates  or  agents  named  and  appointed  in  and  by  the  first  of 
these  acts,  have  all  died  except  Peter  P.  Pitchlynn,  and  in  the  place  of 
Dixon  W.  Lewis,  Peter  Folsom  has  been  appointed  a  delegate  and  agent 
of  the  Nation,  so  that  the  delegates  or  agents  of  the  said  Nation,  under 
the  said  legislative  enactments  are  Peter  P.  Pitchlynn  and  Peter  Fol- 
som. By  the  fifth  section  of  the  act  approved  March  18, 1872,  it  was 
declared  and  provided  as  follows : 

And  aU  powers  and  authorities,  heretofore  conferred  upon  said  delegates  by  several 
acts  and  resolutions  of  the  general  council,  are  hereby  re-a£9ruied  and  declared  in  full 
force. 

The  money  paid  to  the  said  Nation  under  the  act  of  March  2, 1861, 
was  paid  directly  to  the  said  (lelegates  and  receipted  for  by  them,  and 
afterward  duly  accounted  for  to  that  Nation. 

Tour  committee  have  been  furnished  with  no  evidence  of  any  pur- 
l)08e  on  the  part  of  the  Choctaw  Nation  to  withdraw  from  the  said  dele- 
gates any  of  the  authority  conferred  upon  them,  and  they  are  still  as 
they  have  been  for  so  many  years  the  authorized  and  trusted  delegates 
of  the  said  Nation.  Your  committee  are  of  the  opinion  therefore,  that 
all  the  rights  and  interests  of  the  Choctaw  Nation,  may  safely  be  in- 
tmsted  to  the  said  delegates,  and  that  the  bonds  for  which,  the  bill 
under  consideration  makes  provision,  may  with  propriety  and  safety  to 
the  said  Nation  be  delivered  to  the  said  delegates  as  pnivided  in  the  bill 
which  is  the  subject  of  this  report. 

H.  Eep.  391 2 

O 


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43d  Oonoress,  )     HOUSE  OF  REPRESKNTATIVBS,      (  Report 
lat  Session.     (  \  No.  392. 


CONTAGIOUS  AND  INFECTIOUS  DISEASES. 


April  10,  1874. — Recommittod  to  the  Committee  on  Commerce  and  ordered  to  be 

printed. 


Mr.  Bromberg,  from  the  Committee  on  Commerce,  submitted  the  fol- 
lowing 

REPORT: 

[To  accompany  bill  H.  R.  2887.] 

The  Committee  on  Commerce,  to  whom  were  referred  the  memorials  from 
ports  upon  the  Oulf  of  Mexico,  praying  for  the  estahlishmenty  by  Con- 
gress, of  a  national  system  of  quarantine,  respectfully  report : 

That  the  Congress  as  early  as  1796  considered  the  subject  of  qnaran 
tine,  and  in  1799  passed  the  law  which  still  stands  upon  the  statates, 
as  a  national  expression  of  regard  for  the  public  health.  (See  an  act 
respecting  quarantines  and  health  laws,  approved  February  25,  1799. — 
Stat,  at  Large,  vol.  1,  p.  619.)  The  population  of  the  Union  at  that 
time  was  but  little  more  than  5,000,000,  with  its  maximum  density  and 
all  its  centers,  attaining  the  dignity  of  cities,  lying  directly  upon  the 
sea-coast.  These  sea-ports  were  the  seats  of  a  comparatively  local  com- 
merce, almost  completely  isolated  from  each  other  by  distances,  then 
vast,  by  reason  of  the  feeble  means  of  locomotion.  The  laches  and  in- 
efficiency of  the  measures  of  protection  from  diseases  at  any  port,  visited 
with  their  inevitable  consequences  only  that  community  which  was  re- 
sponsible for  the  neglect.  The  Congress  could  safely  confine  its  own 
work  to  strengthening  the  local  systems  by  the  co-operation  of  its  officers 
at  the  various  ports,  so  long  as  each  port  stood  by  itself,  and  could  not 
affect  the  country  at  large  by  its  short-comings. 

The  act  referred  to,  ample  at  the  time  for  all  the  purposes  of  national 
action,  was  no  measure  of  the  scope  of  the  fathers'  regard  for  public 
security,  nor  a  full  expression  of  their  opinion  upon  the  powers  and 
duties  respecting  national  health  and  security  of  life  vested  by  the  Con- 
stitution in  the  National  Government.  In  1802  Congress  enacted  "An 
act  to  encourage  vaccination,''  approved  May  3,  (Stat,  at  Large,  vol.  2, 
p.  806,)  which  remained  in  force  until  1822,  (Stat,  at  Large,  vol.  3,  p. 
677.)  Of  similar  nature,  though  later,  was  the  "  act  to  provide  the 
means  of  extending  the  benefits  of  vaccination  as  a  preventive  of  the 
small-pox  to  the  Indian  tribes,  and  thereby,  as  far  as  possible,  save  them 
from  the  destructive  ravages  of  that  disease,"  approved  May  6, 1832, 
(Stat,  at  Large,  vol.  4,  p.  514.)  These  acts  were  followed  by  that  of  June 
26,  1848,  entitled  "An  act  to  prevent  the  importation  of  adulterated  and 
spurious  drugs  and  medicines,"  (Stat,  at  Large,  vol.  9,  p.  237,)  which  is 
unmistakably  of  the  class  of  "inspection"  laws  also  belonging  to  the 
reserved  rights  of  the  States.  Then  followed  aets  of  partial  application 
as  to  objects,  but  involving  the  same  principles,  that  of  December  18, 
1865,  "  to  prevent  the  spread  of  foreign  diseases  among  the  cattle  of  the 
United  States,"  (Stat,  at  Large,  vol.  14,  p.  2.)  and  the  act  amending  this, 
approved  March  6, 1866,  (Stat,  at  Large,  vol.  14,  p.  3.) 

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2  CONTAGIOUS   AND   INFECTIOUS   DISEASES. 

Of  the  same  class,  providing  for  pablic  security,  bat  of  more  special 
application,  are  those  acts  coming  down  to  us  in  unbroken  lines  from 
the  times  of  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution,  which  require  for  tbeir 
execution  an  invasion  of  State  lines,  bat  which  are  unnoticed,  becaase 
familiar,  applications  of  the  power  to  regulate  commerce  by  the  national 
Government.  Among  these  is  the  act  of  August  7,  1789,  ^'for  the  es- 
tablishment and  support  of  light-houses,  beacons,  buoys,  and  public 
piers,"  (Stata  at  L.,  vol.  1,  p.  53,)  which  has  been  annually  repeated,  until 
we  boast  with  pride  of  the  most  extensive  system  of  lights  in  the  world, 
girdling  our  States  and  pointing  the  safe  roads  to  our  ports.  In  tbe 
same  interest,  that  of  public  safety,  and  by  the  exercise  of  the  same 
power  under  the  Constitution,  that  of  regulating  commerce,  since  1S53, 
the  national  life-saving  stations  dot  the  shores  of  ocean  and  lake,  and 
their  guardians  keep  unceasing  patrol  along  the  coasts  and  upon  the 
soil  of  sovereign  States.  The  act  of  July  16, 1798,  "  for  the  relief  of 
sick  and  disabled  seamen,"  (Stats,  at  L.,  vol.  1,  p.  605,)  and  subsequent 
similar  enactments,  are  the  sources  of  these  monuments  of  national  be- 
nevolence which  have  been  reared  in  the  form  of  hospitals  in  nearly 
every  large  sea  or  inland  port.  Almost  coeval  with  the  application  of 
steam  to  vessels,  and  the  consequent  development  of  new  dangers  to 
human  life,  until  then  unknown,  the  national  arm  is  again  raised,  and 
"wherever  a  river  penetrates  the  farthest  corner  of  a  State  lays  its 
strong  restraint  upon  local  carelessness  and  individual  cupidity,  by  the 
act  of  July  7, 1838,  '*to  provide  for  the  better  security  of  the  lives  of 
passengers  on  board  of  vessels  propelled  in  whole  or  in  part  by  steam." 
(Stats,  at  L.,  vol.  5,  p.  304.)  Your  committee  allude  tx>  this  familiar 
series  of  legislation  in  the  interest  of  national  health  and  security  as 
answer  to  any  suggestion  that  the  proposed  bettering  of  the  present  laws 
upon  the  subject  of  quarantine  involves  novel  applications  of  acknowl 
edged  Constitutional  powers,  or  employment  of  such  as  are  disputable. 

The  increase  in  the  number  of  great  inland  cities,  the  close  lacing 
of  all  parts  of  the  country  to  each  other,  the  bringing  the  heart 
of  the  Union  to  within  a  tew  score  hours  of  the  sea-board  through 
the  annihilation  of  time  by  our  immense  railroad  system,  the  enor- 
mous extensions  of  the  methods  of  through  cars  for  passengers  and 
freight  have  made  dangers  that  before  the  age  of  steam  were  local  be 
come  national.  A  car,  starting  with  every  crevice  filled  with  an  at 
mosphere  absorbed  in  some  pestilence-stricken  city  of  the  Gulf,  in  a 
few  hours  lands  its  death-freight  in  some  great  Western  metropolis, 
having  scattered,  as  it  came  along,  the  seeds  of  disease  wherever  a  loco 
motive's  spark  has  fallen.  Or  some  cholera-laden  immigrant  is  taken 
up  in  an  Atlantic  port,  is  borne  with  lightning  si}eed,  and,  before  the 
smell  of  salt-water  has  left  his  garments,  is  dropped,  to  open  the  dance 
of  death  among  an  unsuspecting  community,  removed  by  a  thousand 
miles  from  all  thought  of  infected  ships  or  incompetent  quarantines. 
This  change  in  the  relations  of  the  sections  of  the  Union  to  each  other, 
which  has  come  with  increasing  population  and  the  agency  of  steam ; 
this  carrying  of  the  sea-board  aud  all  its  dangers  of  imported  plagues 
back  into  the  very  center  of  the  States ;  an  intimacy,  too,  which  extends 
outward  as  well  as  inward,  which,  while  carrying  the  sea-board  back 
into  the  country,  has  brought  Europe,  Cuba,  Mexico,  and  other  foreign 
lauds  closely  up  to  our  sea-board,  has  made  the  questions  of  epidemics 
not  only  of  national  but  international  importance.  The  statesman 
studying  them  sees  the  necessity  of  new,  more  comprehensive  and  more 
prevising  measures  of  protection  than  those  which  suited  the  primitive 
ages  of  the  nation  ;  measures  commensurate  with  the  modern  magnitude 


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CONTAGIOUS   AND   INFECTIOUS   DISEASES.  3 

of  tlie  danger,  which  shall  make  application  not  only  at  home  of  the 
advanced  knowledge  of  public  hygiene  of  to-day  to  repel,  but  abroad, 
shall  use  the  international  relations  to  track,  map  out,  predict,  and 
thus  be  enabled  to  prepare  for  the  approaching  death-wave,  as  is  now 
clone  for  that  of  the  storm  and  rain. 

The  danger  of  epidemics  is  one  constantly  augmenting  with  each  addi- 
tional mile  of  railroad,  on  accoant  of  the  peculiar  configuration  of  our  coun- 
try, having  its  valley-lines  running  north  and  south,  and  its  climates  shad- 
ing imperceptibly  into  each  other;  contagious  and  infectious  diseases  attach 
themselves  to  goods,  and  infect  the  holds  of  vessels,  as  well  as  the  bodies  of 
men  and  animals.  Under  the  present  local  systems  no  place  knows  of  its 
danger,  even  when  danger  has  actually  entered  its  port,  because  of  the 
entire  absence  of  reliable  information  respecting  the  sanitary  condition 
of  foreign  countries,  the  only  knowledge  being  imperfect  reports  and 
indefinite  rumors.  The  security  of  the  entire  people  of  this  Union  is,  as 
matters  now  are,  dependent  upon  the  skill,  vigilance,  and  conscientious- 
ness of  the  varying  and  sometimes  clashing  machinery  of  a  hundred 
different  ports,  whose  engineers  grope  about  in  blindness,  feeling  for  the 
hidden  plague.  The  officers  of  a  national  system  would  be  gaided  by 
the  certain  light  that  would  come  from  systematic  international  reports 
of  the  exact  sanitary  condition  of  every  foreign  country.  The  official 
information  respecting  epidemics  of  cholera  and  yellow  fever,  gathered 
by  skilled  medical  officers  of  the  Government,  is  hereby  referred  to  and 
presented  as  a  part  of  this  report  as  arguments  from  which  each  will 
readily  draw  his  own  conclusions.* 

The  bill  offered  to  the  consideration  of  the  House,  while  guarding  the 
nation  from  the  consequences  of  local  ignorance  or  negligence,  leaves 
every  community  untrammeled  in  the  exercise  of  its  unquestioned  right 
to  protect  itself  by  means  of  its  own  choosing. 

It  creates  no  new  officers. 

*  See  circular  No.  5,  War  Department,  Surgeon-Qeneral's  Offlce,  May  4,  ld67.  Report 
on  Epidemic  Cholera.  « 

Circular  No.  1,  War  Department,  Surgeon-GeneraFs  Office,  June  10,  1868.  Re- 
port on  Epidemic  Cholera  and  Yellow  Fever  in  the  United  States  Army  during  1867. 

Letter  iroin  the  Secretary  of  War  communicating  information  in  relation  to  quaran- 
tine on  the  Southern  and  Gulf  coasts.  Senate  Ex.  Doc.  No.  9,  Forty-second  Congress, 
3d  session.    Report  of  Assistant  Surgeon  Harvey  A.  Brown. 

Letter  from  the  Secretary  of  War  transmitting  a  report  of  the  Surgeon-General  con- 
cerning the  epidemic  of  yellow  fever  in  the  United  States  in  1873.  House  of  Represent- 
atives, Ex.  Doc.  No.  85,  Forty-third  Congress,  Ist  session. 

Annual  Report  of  the  Supervising  Surgeon  of  the  Marine  Hospital  Service  of  the 
United  States  for  the  fiscal  year  1873,  (John  M.  Woodworth,  M.  D.) : 

1.  Tax-paving  seamen  in  quarantine  hospitals,  p.  15. 

2.  C.  TheVellow  Fever  Epidemic  of  1873,  p.  99. 

3.  B.  The  distrihntion  and  natural  history  of  yellow  fever  as  it  has  occurred  at  differ- 
ent times  in  the  United  States.    (By  J.  M.  Toner,  M.  D.,)  page  63. 


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43d  Oongeess,  \     HOUSE  OF  EEPEESElirrATIVES,     (  Rbpoht 
l8t  SesHan.     §  \  Ko.393. 


BELIEF  OF  THE  BUILDERS  OP  THE  STEAMERS  LA  POR- 
TBNA,  EDWARD  EVERETT,  F.  W,  LDfOOLN /AZALIA,  AND 
N.  P.  BANKS. 


April  10, 1874. — Committed  to  a  Committee  of  the  Whole  House  and  ordered  to  be 

printed. 


Mr.  Kellet,  from  the  Committee  on  Ways  and  Means,  sabmitted  the 

following 

REPORT: 

[To  accompany  biU  H.  B.  2795.] 

In  the  examination  of  this  claim  there  are  two  questions  for  consider, 
ation :  ^ 

First  Was  this  tax  for  which  a  drawback  is  claimed  paid  by  Messrs. 
McKay  &  Aldas  to  the  Government  f 

Second.  Was  the  tax  properly  assessed,  and  should  any  have  been 
paid  under  a  fair  conscraction  of  the  law  f 

The  claim  is  to  refund  to  Mr.  McKay  the  sum  of  $6,574,  alleged 
to  have  been  improperly  assessed  by  the  revenue-ofQcer,  and  paid  by 
him  to  the  Government  as  tax  upon  the  hulls  and  engines  of  vessels 
built  by  him  at  East  Boston,  and  exported  from  this  country  to  South 
America.  The  registers  of  the  different  vessels  were  surrendered  abroad, 
as  will  be  seen  by  letter  from  the  Register  of  the  Treasury,  and  they, 
being  denationalized,  could  never  return  to  this  country  as  American  ves- 
sels. The  facts  relative  to  the  payment  of  the  tax  are  clearly  set  forth 
in  the  following  letter  from  Hon.  Luke  Bemis,  who  was  the  collector  to 
whom  payment  was  made : 

"  Office  of  U.  S.  Supekintendent, 
"  Gun  MillSj  Pa.j  December  27, 1873. 

<^  Sib  :  Agreeably  to  your  request,  I  give  you,  so  far  as  I  can  recollect, 
the  facts  relating  to  Mr.  McKay's  claim  for  drawback. 

<<  While  I  was  a  deputy  collector  of  internal  revenue  for  the  fourth  dis- 
trict of  Massachusetts,  (Mr.  Clapp,)  the  assessor  returned  to  our  office 
some  assessments  for  taxes  on  vessels  built  by  McKay  &  Aldus,  as  they 
(McKay  &  Aldus)  said,  for  a  foreign  government.  Mr.  McKay,  the 
partner  with  whom  I  was  brought  in  immediate  contact,  refused  to 
pay  the  tax  on  the  ground  that  the  vessels  were  built  for  foreigners,  and 
had  gone  or  would  immediately  go  out  of  the  country.  I  told  him  that 
the  tax  had  been  returned  by  the  assessor  for  collection,  and  that  con- 
sequently I  must  collect,  pay  it  myself,  or  make  a  return  that  it  was 
uucollectable ;  that  his  proper  course  was  to  pay  the  tax  and  get  the 
drawback.  My  impression  is  that  I  did  in  one  case  levy  on  their  prop- 
erty, and  that  then  they  paid  the  tax. 

^*'  I  do  not  recollect  that  they  made  a  claim  for  drawback  through  the 


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2  M'kAY    6l   ALDUS. 

fonrth  collector's  district ;  but  after  I  was  appointed  superintendent  of 
exports  and  drawbacks,  a  claim  was  made  through  my  office.  1  do  not 
remember  on  what  ground  the  claim  was  rejected,  but  that  in  my  corre- 
spondence with  the  Department  I  took  the  ground  that  the  sale  to  a 
foreign  government  or  individual  denationalized  the  vessel,  and  that 
consequently  McKay  and  Aldus  were  entitled  to  a  drawback  of  the  tax 
as  much  as  parties  who  shipi>ed  merchandise,  and  that  the  sale  of  a  new 
vessel  should  operate  as  a  landing-certiflcate  on  merchandise. 

"If  the  vessel  and  machinery  had  been  put  on  board  another  vessel 
and  shipped,  there  could  have  been  no  question  of  the  owners  being  en- 
titled to  drawback,  and  I  can  see  no  reason  why  going  by  itself  should 
make  any  difference. 

Very  respectfully, 

"LUKEBEMIS. 

"  Hon.  W^«  !>•  Kelley, 

<«  Washingionj  D.  C" 


At  the  time  of  the  payment  of  this  tax  there  was  a  drawback  on  all 
machinery  exported,  as  will  appear  by  the  following  letter  from  the 
honorable  Commissioner  of  Internal  Revenue : 

*     "Treasuby  Department, 
"Office  op  Internal  Revenue, 

"  Washington^  January  24, 1873. 
"  Sir  :  In  reply  to  your  inquiry  of  the  23d  instant,  as  to  whether  draw- 
back was  allowed  on  machinery  exported  from  the  United  States  duriDg 
the  years  of  1863, 1864,  and  18<65,  you  are  informed  that  drawback  was 
so  allowed  during  the  time  stated. 
"Very  respectfully, 

"J.  W.  DOUGLASS, 

"  Commissioner. 
"  Nath'l  McKay,  Esq., 

"  Imperial  Hotels  Washington^  D.  C." 


The  act  of  June  30, 1864,  provided  that,  from  and  after  that  date,  there 
shall  be  an  allowance  or  drawback  on  all  articles  on  which  any  internal 
duty  or  tax  shall  have  been  paid,  except  raw  or  unmanufactured  cotton, 
refined  coal-oil,  &c.,  equal  in  amount  to  the  duty  or  tax  paid  thereon^ 
and  no  more,  exported,  &c.  •  •  •  (Stat,  at  Large,  vol.  13,  page  302, 
sec  171.) 

The  reason  assigned  by  the  Department  in  refusing  to  refund  this  tax 
was  under,^  what  seems  to  your  committee,  a  narrow  construction  of  the 
law  that  a  vessel  was  not  an  article ;  but  they  assessed  and  collected 
the  tax  as  on  articles,  the  hulls  and  engines  separately,  the  same  as  if 
they  were  to  remain  in  this  country.  Why  should  not  the  same  con- 
struction of  the  law  govern  this  case  as  would  allow  a  drawback  on 
agricultural  implements  or  machinery  shipped  abroad  and  taxed  at  the 
time  these  vessels  were  sold  f 

Tax  was  collected  on  all  the  materials  that  entered  into  the  construc- 
tion and  fitting  out  of  these  vessels;  the  contractor's  license  ba  well  as 
the  income-tax,  on  the  supposed  profits  were  paid;  and  we  submit  that 
to  compel  payment  of  the  tax  in  question  under  the  state  of  facts  before 


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m'kAY   &   ALDUS.  3 

US  was  uDJast,  and  that  the  construction  of  the  law  if  held  good  would 
tend  to  cripple  our  industries  in  the  building  of  ships  for  a  foreign  flag. 
From  papers  before  us  we  are  satisfied  that  tax  was  paid  on  the  fol- 
lowing-named vessels  built  by  the  claimant  and  his  partner,  Mr.  Aldus; 
the  amount  and  date  of  payment  set  opposite  of  each : 


Name  of  veasel. 

Monthly  list  on 
which  the  tax 
was  assessed. 

Talaatlon. 

Bate. 

Tax  on 
each  ar- 
ticle. 

TotaL 

N.P.Banks 

Angnst,  18d3..| 

March,  1864...  1 
July,  1864 1 

Febrnary,1865.< 

September,1865| 

$60,000 
Engines,  &c.,  |15, 000  '. . . . . 

98,000 

Peremt. 
9 
3 

S 

•1.300 
450 

11.650 
160 

AzABa 

160 

F.  1^.  Lincoln    

"  125,666' 

Engines,  &C.,  fSO.eOO 

Engines  and  boiler  $li  000 
Iron-work,  $600 

3 
3 

S 
3 
5 

3.4 
6 

500 
634 

1  184 

Edward  Everett 

640 

450 
30 

|30  000 
Engines,  &o.,  130.000.1.... 

1,130 

La  Portena 

720 
1,800 

8,590 

Total 

6,574 

* 

Your  committee  is  impressed  with  the  importance  of  this  claim,  based 
on  the  reasons  before  stated,  and  reports  the  accompanying  bill  with 
amendment,  and  recommends  its  passage. 


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43d  Congbess,  »      HOUSE  OP  REPRESENTATIVES.     (  Report 
Ist  SesHon.     )  \  No.  394. 


INTERNATIONAL  LAND  AND  IMMIGRATION  COMPANY. 


April.  11,  1874.— Recommitted  to  the  Committee  on  Pablic  Lands  and  ordered  to  be 

printed. 


Mr.  Hebndon,  from  the  Committee  on  the  Pablic  Lands,  sabmitt^  the 

following 

REPORT: 

[To  accompany  biU  H.  R.  2888.] 

The  Committee  on  the  Public  Lands,  to  whom  teas  referred  the  bill  H.  R. 
1721,  having  had  the  same  under  consideration^  beg  leave  to  report : 

That  the  objects  sought  to  be  obtained  by  this  bill  are  so  momentoas 
and  so  vitally  affect  the  interests  of  immigrants,  settlers,  and  the  coan- 
try  generally,  that  the  committee  have  given  it  the  most  severe  sera- 
tiny  and  careful  examination,  and  have  amended  it  in  several  important 
particulars,  so  that  the  real  objects  contemplated  by  the  bill  and  the 
true  interests  of  all  parties  are  carefully  preserved*. 

There  is  no  doubt  but  that  the  measures  of  the  bill,  properly  carried 
out,  will  be  of  immense  benefit  to  all  immigrants  coming  to  oar  shores, 
and  equally  so  to  the  different  sections  of  our  entire  country. 

The  company,  through  its  agents,  are  required  to  take  the  immigrant 
from  his  place  of  departure  in  Europe  to  his  new  home  in  the  United 
States,  securing  him  safe  and  comfortable  transportation  across  the 
ocean  and  to  his  final  destination,  protecting  him  from  robbery  and  im> 
position  of  every  kind,  so  that  tht9re  shall  be  no  just  ground  of  complaint 
on  his  part. 

They  also  propose  t>o  extend  their  guardian  care  around  him  until  he 
is  fully  and  firmly  and  finally  settled  in  his  new  home  with  all  practica- 
ble comforts  around  him. 

They  propose  to  complete  arrangements  by  which  immigrants  can  de- 
posit their  means  with  the  agents  of  the  company  in  Europe,  receivings 
orders  for  the  same  upon  the  agents  of  the  company  in  the  United 
States,  and  draw  the  whole  of  it,  or  such  portions  as  they  may  desire 
from  time  to  time.  Where  the  immigrants  prove  themselves  worthy 
and  reliable,  the  company  fhrther  propose  to  advance  them  money,, 
agricultural  implements,  stock,  food,  clothing,  &c.,  as  they  may  require, 
until  the  immigrants  are  able,  from  the  products  of  the  land,  or  from 
their  industry  in  other  pursuits,  and  by  small  installments,  to  re  imbnrse 
the  advances  with  interest,  and  pay  for  their  lands,  buildings,  &c. 

As  the  oi>erations  of  the  company  may  extend  over  the  greater  por- 
tion of  our  country,  they  will  require  agencies  in  every  section  to  care- 
for  the  immigrants,  see  that  their  titles  are  perfect,  and  that  they  are  in 
no  way  improperly  interfered  with,  and  also  to  collect  for  the  company 
the  amounts  owing  by  the  immigrants. 

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2      INTERNATIONAL  LAND  AND  IMMIGRATION  COMPANY 

The  committee  have  found  it  necessary  and  expedient  to  confer  on  the 
company  such  powers  as  will  enable  them  to  accomplish  these  objects, 
and  in  so  doing  have  restricted  them  to  the  narrowest  practicable 
limits. 

The  benefits  that  will  accrne  to  all  sections  of  this  country  from  the 
operations  of  this  company  are  apparent,  for  although  the  company  does 
not  propose  in  any.  manner  to  interfere  with  or  operate  in  the  public 
lands  of  the  United  States,  there  are  large  tracts  in  almost  every  sec- 
tion that  now  remain  uncultivated,  unimproved,  and  uninhabited,  and 
where  the  owners  are  anxious  to  dispose  of  them  to  actual  settlers. 

The  labor  and  capital  thus  brought  into  the  country  will  clear  and 
cultivate  our  waste  and  unimproved  lands ;  will  give  new  life  and  stim 
ulate  every  branch  of  industry ;  will  cause  villages,  towns,  and  cities 
to  spring  up  in  places  now  uninhabited,  and  materially  advance  the 
financial,  mechanical,  manufacturing,  and  agricultural  wealth  of  the 
various  sections  in  which  they  settle,  and  give  to  these  sections  that 
which  is  always  considered  the  true  wealth  of  a  nation,  an  industrious, 
economical,  and  laborious  population,  securing  at  the  same  time  the 
best  interests  of  the  settlers. 

In  all  these  operations,  however,  great  care  has  been  taken  by  the 
committee  so  to  restrict  the  powers  of  the  company  as  to  prevent  any 
possible  abuse,  and  to  secure  to  the  immigrants  prompt  remedies  for  all 
just  grounds  of  complaint. 

The  benefits  of  the  systems  devised  by  this  company  have  already 
been  partially  realized  in  several  sections  of  this  country. 

By  the  act  of  Congress  of  the  28th  of  September,  A.  D.  1850, 2,595,053 
acres  of  land  were  granted  to  the  State  of  Illinois  for  the  construction 
of  the  Illinois  Central  Kailroad.  Thiscompany  in  disposing  of  these  lands 
adopted  a  system  somewhat  similar  to  that  now  proposed,  and  in  the 
short  space  of  about  seven  years  the  road  was  built,  public  lands  all 
taken  up,  and  the  company  were  enabled  to  dispose  to  actual  settlers 
at  from  |5  to  $15  per  acre  vast  quantities  of  land  which  had  remained 
in  market  for  years  subject  to  entry  under  the  graduation  laws.  The 
results  have  proved  that  while  the  population  of  Illinois  in  1850  was 
851,470,  it  had  increased  to  1,711,951  in  1860 ;  and  to  2,539,891  in  1870. 
The  value  of  all  the  property  in  Illinois  in  1850  was  $156,965,006;  in 
1860,  $389,207,372 ;  and  in  1870,  $764,787,000,  showing  an  increase  in 
the  iirst-mentioned  decade  of  101.058  per  cent,  in  population  and  150 
per  cent  in  value  of  property,  and  in  the  second-mentioned  decade 
48.36  per  cent,  of  population  and  96.498  per  cent,  of  viduation  of 
property. 

Thus  Illinois,  which  was  only  the  eleventh  State  in  population  and 
wealth  in  1850,  by  this  process  has  become  the  fourth,  both  in  wealth 
and  population,  being  now  only  '^  outranked"  in  these  particulars  by 
New  York,  Pennsylvania,  and  Ohio,  though  much  smaller  iu  area  than 
either  of  these,  or  several  other  sister  States.  But  at  the  same  ratio  of 
increase  made  for  the  last  ten  years,  Illinois  in  1874  has  a  population  of 
3,030,597,  and  a  we^alth  of  $3.335,281,870— giving  her  the  third  place  in 
the  Union  for  population  and  wealth.  Similar  results  can  be  accom- 
plished in  all  the  other  States  and  Territories  where  a  smilar  line  of  pol- 
icy is  effectively  pursued,  and  such  is  the  policy  that  this  company  pro- 
pose to  carry  out. 

Local  efforts  have  been  made  by  States,  companies,  and  individuals 
to  carry  out  the  objects  proposed  by  this  company,  and  they  have  been 
in  some  instances  successful,  particularly  in  the  localities  where  their 
operations  have  been  confined. 


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INTERKATIONAL  LAND   AND   IMMIGRATION   COMPANY.  3 

This  company^  however,  being  national  iti  its  character,  must  of  ne- 
cessity, in  carrying  out  its  operations,  publish  to  the  world  the  charac- 
ter of  the  soil,  climate,  agricultural  and  mineral  productions,  manufac- 
turing facilities,  and  mercantile  and  agricultuml  advantages  of  the 
entire  country,  so  that  while  they  may  reap  a  portion  of  the  benefit  of 
this  system  the  intrinsic  wealth  and  great  advantages  of  settling  in  this 
country  will  through  this  medium  be  communicated  abroad  throughout 
Europe. 

Realizing  these  great  advantages,  and  believing  that  they  can  be  ob- 
tained by  the  plan  proposed,  the  committee  report  the  accompanying 
bill  for  that  purpose. 


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43d  Congress,  )    HOUSE  OF  EEPBESENTATIVES.        (  Eeport 
lat  Session.     )  )  Ko.  395. 


DEPREDATIONS  ON  THE  TEXAS  FEONTIER. 


April  11, 1874. — Commitied  to  the  Committee  of  the  Whole  Honse  on  the  state  of  the 
Union  and  ordered  to  be  printed. 


Mr.  GiDDiNGS,  from  the  Committee  on  Indian  Affairs,  sabmitted  the 

following 

REPORT: 

[To  accompany  bill  H  B.2889.] 

The  Committee  on  Indian  Affairs^  having  under  consideration  the  bill 
to  ascertain  ike  amount  of  damages  sustained  by  citizens  of  Texas 
from  marauding  bands  of  Mexicans  and  Indians  upon  the  frontier  of 
Texas  J  respectfully  report : 

That  the  frontier  of  Northern  and  Western  Texas,  a  distance  of  aboat 
fifteen  hnndred  miles,  is  now,  and  has  been  for  years,  subject  to  depre- 
dations, on  the  northern  border  by  Indians  and  on  the  western  by 
Mexicans  and  Indians.  Evidence  before  the  committee  tends  to 
show  that  the  markets  of  Mexico  have  been  used  openly  and  publicly 
to  ejBFect  the  sale  of  property  robbed  from  the  people  of  Texas;  and,  to 
a  considerable  extent,  that  Government  contractors  deal  in  cattle  stolen 
from  the  citizens  of  that  State,  and  sell  them  to  the  Government  to 
8upply  the  troops  and  Indians  on  the  Fort  Sill  reservation ;  that  a  very 
large  number  of  cattle  have  been  stolen  monthly  and  driven  to  Mexico, 
upon  the  Western  Rio  Grande,  and  also  a  large  number  from  the  north- 
ern and  northwestern  border  and  driven  to  Mexico  or  into  the  Indian 
TeiTitory  and  to  Fort  Sill,  since  the  close  of  the  civil  war  in  1865. 

It  further  appears,  in  sworn  affidavits  and  certificates  of  clerks  of 
district  courts  of  a  number  of  the  frontier  counties  of  the  State  of  Texas, 
and  evidence  adduced  before  the  committee,  that,  since  1872,  over  one 
hundred  white  men  have  been  murdered  by  Indians,  and  a  large  number 
of  women  and  children  carried  into  captivity ;  that  the  number  of  head 
of  cattle  and  horses  stolen  since  that  time  exceeds  one  hnndred  thousand, 
a  portion  of  which  were  taken  to  Fort  Sill  and  sold  to  Government 
contractors  to  supply  troops  and  Indians. 

The  evidence  before  the  committee  tends  to  show  that  there  is  but  very 
little  security  for  life  and  property  upon  this  frontier ;  that  over  one  thou- 
sand persons,  whose  names  were  submitted  to  the  committee,  accompanied 
by  sworn  statements  and  certificates  of  officers  as  to  the  truth  of  the 
charges  made,  have  suffered  loss  at  the  hands  of  Mexicans  and  Indians ; 
that  the  absence  of  proper  protection  to  this  frontier  has  resulted  in 
subjecting  a  territory  covering  not  less  than  sixty  thousand  square  miles 
to  pillage  and  the  inhabitants  to  savage  depredations.  The  failure 
of  the  Government  to  afford  to  these  people  that  protection  to 
which  all  citizens  are  entitled,  in  the  opinion  of  this  committee  entitles 
their  claims  for  losses  sustained  to  careful  consideration.  To  the  end, 
therefore,  that  they  may  be  satisfactorily  ascertained,  the  committee 

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2  DEPREDATIONS   ON    THE   TEXAS    FRONTIER. 

tbiDk  it  proper  that  a  commissiou  should  be  appointed  to  go  npoo  the 
ground  and  examine  in  person  the  claimants  and  witnesses,  and  that 
thereby  Congress  will  obtjiin  reliable  information  as  to  the  condition  of 
aflFairs  upon  the  frontier  and  best  subserve  the  interest  of  the  Govern- 
ment and  the  honest  claimants. 

It  appears  from  the  evidence  before  the  committee  that  the  number 
of  claimants  is  very  large  and  the  territory  over  which  depredations  have 
been  committed  so  extensive  as  to  render  it  impossible  for  the  Secretary 
of  the  Interior,  even  had  he  jurisdiction  over  those  committed  by  Mex- 
icans, to  make  the  necessary  investigation,  and  adjust  such  losses  as 
the  Government  may  be  liable  for  under  existing  laws  and  regulations: 
and  that  therefore  justice  to  the  claimants  and  to  ascertain  the  obliga- 
tions of  the  Government  require  a  thorough  investigation  and  report, 
from  an  intelligent  commission  acting  under  the  authority  of  law  withiu 
the  limits  of  the  territory  in  which  the  depredations  have  been  commit- 
ted, of  all  the  facts,  as  to  their  nature  and  extent,  by  whom,  whether  Mex- 
iciins  and  Indians  jointly  or  separately-,  and  by  what  band  or  tribe,  or 
of  lawless  adventurers  among  thfe  Indians,  that  they  may  be  laid  before 
Congress  for  its  action. 

A  reference  to  the  legislation  on  the  subject  may  not  be  inappropriate. 

Chapter  13,  Laws  of  1802,  section  14,  (2  Stat,  at  Large,  143,)  pit)- 
vides —   . 

That  if  any  Indian  or  Indians,  belonging  to  any  tribe  in  amity  with  the  United 
States,  shall  come  aver  or  cross  the  said  boundary  line  into  any  State  or  Territory  inhabited  b§ 
citizens  of  the  United  States^  and  there  take,  steal,  or  destroy  any  horse,  horses,  or  other 
property,  belonging  to  any  citizen  or  inhabitant  of  the  United  States,  or  of  either  of 
the  territorial  districts  of  the  United  States,  or  shall  commit  any  mnrder,  violence,  or 
outrage  upon  any  such  citizen  or  inhabitant,  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  such  citizen  or  in- 
habitant, his  representative,  attorney,  or  agent,  to  make  application  to  the  superin- 
tendent, or  such  other  person  as  the  President  of  the  United  States  shall  authorize  for 
that  purpose,  who,  upon  being  furnished  with  the  necessary  documents  and  proof,  shall, 
under  the  direction  or  instruction  of  the  President  of  the  United  States,  make  applica- 
tion to  the  nation  or  tribe  to  which  such  Indian  or  Indians  shall  belong  for  satisfaction : 
and  if  such  nation  or  tribe  shall  neglect  or  refuse  to  make  satisfaction,  in  a  reasonable 
time,  not  exceeding  twelve  months,  then  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  such  superintendent, 
or  other  person  authorized  as  aforesaid,  to  make  return  of  his  doings  to  the  President 
of  the  United  States,  and  forward  to  him  all  the  documents  and  proofs  in  the  case, 
that  such  further  steps  may  be  taken  as  shall  be  proper  to  obtain  satibfaction  for  the 
injury;  and  in  the  mean  time,  in  respect  to  the  property  so  taken,  stolen,  or  destroyed, 
the  United  States  guarantee  to  the  party  injured  an  eventual  indemnification :  ProtidH 
always.  That  if  such  injured  party,  his  representative,  attorney,  or  agent,  ahall,  in  any 
way,  violate  any  of  the  provisions  of  this  act,  by  seeking  or  attempting  to  obtain  pn- 
vate  satisfaction  or  revenue  by  crossing  over  the  line  on  any  of  the  lands,  he  shall  for- 
feit all  claim  upon  the  United  States  for  such  indemnification  :  And  provided  also,  That 
nothing  therein  contained  shall  prevent  the  legal  apprehension  or  arresting  within  the 
limits  of  any  State  or  district  of  any  Indian  having  so  oifendod :  And  provided  furthtr. 
That  it  shall  be  lawful  for  ihe  President  of  the  United  States  to  deduct  such  sum  or 
sums  as  shall  be  paid  for  the  property  taken,  stolen,  or  destroyed  by  any  such  Indians, 
out  of  the  annual  stipend  which  the  United  States  are  bound  to  pay  to  the  tribe  to 
which  such  Indian  shall  belong. 

Section  17  of  the  act  of  1834  provides — 

That  if  any  Indian  or  Indians  belonging  to  any  tribe  in  amity  with  the  United  Stat<« 
shall,  withiu  the  Indian  country,  take  or  destroy  the  property  of  any  penson  lawfully 
within  such  country,  or  shall  pass  from  the  Indian  country  into  any  State  or  Territory 
inhabited  by  citizens  of  the  United  States,  and  there,  take,  steal,  or  destroy  any  horse, 
horses,  or  other  properly  belonging  to  any  citizen  or  inhabitant  of  the  United  States, 
such  citizen  or  inhabitant,  his  representative,  attorney,  or  agent,  may  make  applica- 
tion to  the  proper  superintendent,  agent,  or  sub-agent,  who  upon  being  famished  with 
the  necessary  doonmentsand  proofs,  shall,  under  the  direction  of  the  President,  make 
application  to  the  nation  or  tribe  to  which  said  Indian  or  Indians  shall  belong  for  sat* 
isfaction ;  and  if  such  nation  or  tribe  shall  neglect  or  refuse  to  make  satisfaction  in  a 
reasonable  time,  not  exceeding  twelve  months,  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  soeh  soperin- 


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DEPREDATIONS  ON  THE  TEXAS  FRONTIER.  3 

teudent,  agent,  or  sub-agent,  to  make  return  of  his  doings  to  tlie  Commissioner  of 
Indian  Altairs,  that  such  further  steps  may  be  taken  as  shall  be  proper,  in  the  opinion 
of  the  President,  to  obtain  satisfaction  for  the  injury ;  and  in  the  mean  time,  in  respect 
to  the  property  so  taken,  stolen,  or  destroyed,  the  United  States  guarantee  to  the  party 
so  injured  an  eventual  indemnification  :  Provided,  That,  if  such  injnred  party,  his  rep- 
resentative, attorney,  or  agent,  shall  in  any  way  violate  any  of  the  provisions  of  this 
act,  bj'  seeking  or  attempting  to  obtain  private  satisfaction  or  revenge,  he  shall  forfeit 
all  claim  upon  the  United  States  for  such  indemnification  :  And  provided  also.  That 
unless  such  claim  shall  be  presented  within  three  years  after  the  commission  of  the 
injury,  such  claim  shall  be  barred.  And  if  the  natiou  or  tribe  to  which  such  Indian 
may  belong  receive  an  annuity  from  the  United  States,  such  claim  shall,  at  the  next 
payment  of  the  annuity,  be  deducted  therefrom  and  paid  to  the  party  injured  ;  and  if 
noannnity  is  payable  to  such  nation  or  tribe,  then  the  amount  of  the  claim  shall  be 
paid  from  the  Treasury  of  the  ITuited  States;  Provided^  That  nothing  herein  contained 
shall  preveut  the  legal  apprehension  and  punishment  of  any  Indians  having  so  olfended. 

Section  8,  act  of  1859,  vol.  11,  Statutes  at  Large,  page  401,  repeals  so 
much  of  the  cict  of  1834  as  provides  for  the  indemnification  by  the  United 
States  for  property  taken  and  destroyed  in  certain  cases  by  Indians  tres- 
passing upon  white  men,  as  described  in  said  act,  and  provides  that 
nothing  therein  contained  shall  be  so  construed  as  to  impair  or  destroy 
the  obligation  of  the  Indians  to  make  indemnification  out  of  annuities 
due  them  by  the  United  States. 

Section  6,  act  of  1856,  vol.  11,  page  81,  directs  the  Secretary  of  the  In- 
terior to  cause  an  investigation  to  be  made  of  claims  for  depredations 
committed  by  Indians  in  the  Territory  of  New  Mexico. 

Section  2,  act  of  1858,  vol.  11,  page  363,  provides  for  the  appointment 
of  a  commission  to  go  to  the  Territories  of  Oregon  and  Washington  to 
audit  and  settle  the  amount  of  claims  for  Indian  depredations,  and  to 
pay  the  same  so  far  as  existing  appropriations  shall  be  sufficient. 

By  act  of  29th  of  May,  1872,  vol.  17,  Statutes  at  Large,  page  191,  sec. 
7,  provides,  *'That  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior 
to  prepare  and  cause  to  be  published  such  rules  and  regulations  as  he 
may  deem  necessary  or  proper,  prescribing  the  manner  of  presenting 
claims  arising  under  existing  laws  or  treaty  stipulations  for  compensa- 
tion for  depredations  committed  by  the  Indians,  and  the  degree  and 
character  of  the  evidence  necessary  to  support  such  claims;  he  shall 
carefully  investigate  all  such  claims  as  may  be  presented,  subject  to  the 
rules  and  regulations  prepared  by  him,  and  report  to  Congress,  at 
each  session  thereof,  the  nature  and  character  and  amount  of  such 
claims,  whether  allowed  by  him  or  not,  and  the  evidence  upon  which  his 
action  wa«  based :  Provided^  That  no  payment  on  account  of  said  claims 
shall  be  made  without  a  specific  appropriation  therefor  by  Congress." 

Act  of  May  4, 1870,  authorizes .  the  withholding  of  any  annuities  to 
Indians  who  have  American  captives  until  said  captives  shall  be  re- 
turned.    (Vol.  16,  Statutes  at  Large,  page  377.) 

In  view,  therefore,  of  the  law  and  the  previous  action  of  the  Govern- 
ment in  relation  to  claims  for  depredations  committed  by  Indians,  and 
its  obligations  to  protect  its  citizens  in  their  lawful  rights,  the  commit- 
tee are  of  the  opinion  that  these  claims  are  entitled  to  the  investigation 
recommended,  in  order  that.their  amount  and  character  may  be  ascer- 
tained with  the  least  expense  to  the  parties  injured,  and  that  they  may 
be  finally  settled,  and  such  just  demand  for  indemnification  made  by 
the  Government  on  that  of  Mexico  growing  out  of  acts  of  violence  and 
robbery  by  citizens  of  that  country  upon  the  citizens  of  the  United 
States. 


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43d  Congress,  {    HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES.       i  Report 
l8t  Session.     )  )  No.  396. 


I/ANSE  AND  VIEUX  DE  SERT  BANDS  OP  CQIPPEWA  IN- 

DIANS. 


April  11,  1B74. — Recommitted  to  the  Committee  oa  ludiao  Affairs  and  ordered  to  be 

printed. 


Mr.  Richmond,  from  the  Committee  on  Indian  Afifairs,  sabmitted  the 

following 

REPORT: 

[To  accompany  bill  H.  R.  1698.] 

The  Committee  on  Indian  Affairs,  to  ichom  was  referred  the  bill  (H.  B. 
1698)  ^^for  the  relief  of  the  VAnse  and  Vieux  de  8ert  hwnds  of  the  Chippewa 
Indians,  in  the  State  of  Michigan,'"  having  had  the  same  under  consideror 
tion,  and  come  to  conclusions  thereon,  make  tJie  following  report : 

In  18o4,  September  30,  a  treaty  was  made  and  conclnded  between  the 
United  States  on  the  one  part,  and  the  Chippewa  Indians  of  Lake  Su- 
perior and  of  the  Mississippi  on  the  other,  and  proclaimed  January  29, 
1855,  in  which  the  Ohippewas  of  the  Lake  ceded  to  the  United  States 
a  large  body  of  land,  defined  by  metes  and  bounds,  which  before  was 
the  common  property  of  the  whole  tribe.  The  Chippewas  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi assented  to  this  session,  and  also  agreed  that  all  the  money  or 
property  to  be  given  or  paid  therefor  by  the  United  States  should  be 
given  and  paid  to  the  Chippewas  of  .the  Lake;  in  consideration  of 
which  the  Chippewas  of  the  Lake  relinquished  to  the  Mississippi  Chip- 
pewas all  their  interest  in  all  the  lauds  west  of  those  ceded  to  the 
United  States. 

The  treaty,  in  the  second  article,  provides  as  follows,  viz : 

The  United  States  agree  to  set  apart  and  withhold  from  sale,  for  the  use  of  the  Chip- 
pewas of  Lake  Superior,  the  following  described  tracts  of  lands,  viz : 

1st.  For  the  L'Anse  and  Vieux  de  Sert  bands,  all  the  unsold  landd  in  the  following 
townships  of  the  State  of  Michigan :  Township  fifty-one  north,  range  thirty-three 
west ;  township  fifty-one  north,  range  thirty-two  west ;  the  east  half  of  township 
fifty  north,  range  thirty-three  west;  the  west  half  of  township  fifty  north,  range 
thirty-two  west ;  and  all  of  township  fifty-one  north,  range  thirty-one  west,  lying 
west  of  Huron  Bay. 

Now,  what  is  claimed  Is  this:  It  is  alleged  by  the  claimants  that  the 
phrase,  ^^  lying  west  of  Huron  fiay,"  is  an  interpolation ;  that  it  was 
added  to  the  treaty  as  printed,  either  by  design  or  mistake;  that  they 
were,  by  express  agreement,  at  the  time  of  making  the  treaty,  to  have 
the  whole  of  the  last-described  township,  and  not  simply  a  part  of  it. 
To  sustain  this  avierment  the  following  evidence  is  produced : 
First  The  conduct  and  acts  of  the  Government  itself,  in  this :  as 
early  as  March  7, 1855,  within  six  weeks  after  the  treaty  was  proclaimed, 
the  whole  of  said  township  was,  by  special  order  of  the  President, 
withdrawn  from  sale  or  entry,  and  was  for  many  years  thereafter,  or 


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2       L'aNSE  and  VIEUX  DE  SERT  bands  of  CHIPPEWA  INDIANS. 

until  1869  aud  after,  treated  as  lands  belonging  to  said  reserration. 
The  Indians  always  claimed  them  as  such,  and  the  Government,  through 
a  series  of  years,  has  recognized  and  acknowledged  the  validity  of  their 
claim;  as  evidence  of  which,  there  is  submitted  herewith  the  letter  of 
the  Secretary  of  Interior,  of  March  7, 1855,  with  the  order  of  the  Pres- 
ident, withdrawing  said  township  from  entry  and  sale,  to  which  is  at- 
tached a  diagratn  of  the  four  reserved  townships ;  also  a  letter  of  the 
Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs,  under  date  of  February  11, 1874. 

Second.  Again,  we  have  the  evidence  of  Mr.  P.  Marksman,  in  a  letter 
to  the  Hon.  A.  T.  Mitchell,  under  date  of  April  2, 1872,  in  which  he 
states,  in  substance,  that  he  acted  a«  agent,  or  ^^  spokesman,"  as  he  terms 
it,  of  the  Indians  at  the  time  the  treaty  was  made,  and  drew  the  lines 
on  the  map  for  the  reservation  of  the  four  townships ;  that  the  map  or 
draught  attached  to  the  copy  of  the  President's  order  of  March  7, 1855, 
showing  said  townships,  he  recognizes ;  that  he  drew  the  lines  on  the 
map  so  as  'Ho  embrace  the  fishing-grounds  on  Keewenaw  Bay  and  Ha- 
ron  Bay,  and  maple-lands  for  farming  ajid  sugar ;"  that  the  chief  so 
understood  it  at  the  time.  He  further  says  that  about  a  year  after  the 
promulgation  of  the  treaty  he  discovered  the  mistake,  and  called  the 
attention  of  the  Indian  agent  (Mr.  Gilbert)  to  it,  who  promised  to  have 
it  rectified. 

We  have,  also,  a  letter  of  the  Hon.  George  I.  Betts,  United  States 
Indian  agent,  Michigan,  addressed  to  the  chairman  of  the  House  Com- 
mittee on  Indian  Affairs,  confirmatory  of  all  these  facts,  in  which  he 
says  that  for  some  sixteen  3'ears  the  entire  of  the  four  townships  re- 
mained undisturbed  as  their  (the  Indians')  reservation,  and  was  so  rec- 
ognized by  the  Government  and  the  people  of  Lake  Superior.  In  1869, 
some  speculators  in  pablic  lands  discovered  valuable  minerals  in  this 
township,  fifty-one.  They  immediately  went  to  work,  while  the  secret 
remained  theirs,  to  have  it  restored  to  market.  They  finally  sueceeded 
so  far  as  to  induce  the  Government  to  restore  to  market  so  much  of  the 
township,  by  far  the  larger  and  more  valuable  portion,  as  lies  east  ^ 
Huron  Bay. 

It  is  proper  to  remark  here  th^t  the  character  of  these  two  men.  Marks- 
man and  Betts,  for  strict  integrity  and  intelligence,  is  vouched  for  in 
the  warmest  terms  by  the  honorable  member  and  Representative  fron 
the  ninth  district  of  Michigan,  in  this  House,  who  has  known  them  both 
long  and  welL  Marksman  is  an  edacated,  civilized,  and  Christian  Indian, 
known  intimately  to  the  Representative  from  the  ninth  district  since  the 
year  1855. 

The  number  of  acres  restored  to  market  in  said  township  amounts  to 
18,907.09  acres. 

under  the  facts  as  above  set  forth,  and  as  they  clearly  appear  in  the 
case,  the  committee  are  of  the  opinion  that  these  two  bandB  of  Indians 
have  been  unjustly  dealt  by  and  wronged,  by  an  appropriation  of  valu- 
able lands  intended  and  supposed  to  have  been  secured  to  them  by  the 
terms  of  a  formal  treaty ;  and  that  they  are  clearly  entitled  to  the  in- 
demnity they  seek.  They  therefore  recommend  that  the  bill  for  their 
relief  be  passed,  adding  at  the  end  of  section  2  the  following  amend- 
ment: 

Provided^  That  the  money  received  for  the  lands  in  said  township 
shall  be  expended  for  educational  and  beneficial  purposes,  under  the 
direction  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  and  at  such  times  and  in  such 
manner  as  he  may  deem  proper  for  the  interests  of  said  bands  of 
Indians. 


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l'aNSE  and  VIEUX  DE  SERT  bands  of  CHIPPEWA  INDIANS.        3 

APPENDIX. 

1.  Letter  of  R.  McClelland,  Secretary  of  tbe  Interior. 

2.  Order  of  F.  Pierce,  President  of  the  United  States. 

3.  Letter  of  P.  Marksman,  agent  of  Indians.— Indorsement  of  Hon. 

Jay  A.  Hubbell. 

4.  George  I.  Betts,  Indian  agent,  Michigan. 

5.  Letter  of  B.  P.  Smith,  Commissioner  of  Indian  Aflfairs. 

6.  Letter  of  Willis  Drummond,  Commissioner  of  tbe  Land-Oflice. 


Department  of  the  Interior,  March  7,  1855. 
&IR :  I  hare  tbe  honor  to  inclose  a  commnoication  from  the  Commissioner  of  the 
General  Land-Office,  dated  the  23d  ultimo,  with  its  accompanying  papers,  in  relation  to 

the  reservation  of  certain  lands  for  the 
UPPER  PENINSULA,  MICHIGAN.  Chlppewa  tribe  of  Indians,  asstipnlated 

in  the  treaty  with  those  Indians  which 
was  ratified  on  the  10th  of  January  last. 
The  Commissioner  is  of  the  opinion 
that '  the  treaty  of  itself  is  sufficient 
authority  for  him  to  direct  tbe  reserva- 
tion of  all  the  lands  mentioned  therein 
which  have  not  yet  been '  surveyed ; 
but  that,  as  the  tracts  mentioned  as 
heiufi  situated  on  Keewenaw  and  Ha- 
ron  Bays,  in  the  State  of  Michigan, 
have  been  surveyed  and  made  subject 
to  entry  at  private  sale  for  some  time 
past,  it  will  be  necessary  to  obtain  your 
special  directions  for  the  reservation  of 
these  lands. 

As  I  concur  in  this  view  of  the  sub- 
ject, I  have  caused  the  proper  order  to 
be  drawn  on  the  back  of  the  inclosed 
diagram,  for  signature,  in  case  you 
should  approve  of  the  same. 

I  am,  sir,  with  great  respect,  your 
obedient  servant, 

R.  McClelland,  Secretara. 
The  President. 


2. 

Executive  Office,  March  7,  1855. 
Let  the  tracts  on  Keewenaw  and  Huron  Bays,  in  the  State  of  Michigan,  and  shaded 
red  with  a  blue  margin  on  tbe  within  diagram,  be  reserved  from  sale  or  entry  for  any 
purposes  not  [in]coiisistent  with  the  stipulations  of  the  first  clause  of  the  second 
article  of  the  treaty  with  the  Chippewa  Indians,  ratified  on  tbe  10th  day  of  January, 
1^55. 

FRANKLIN  PIERCE. 


3. 

Washington,  D.  C,  Apr'd  2, 1872. 
Hon.  A.  T.  Mitchell: 

Sir  :  I  desire  to  state  a  few  facts  in  regard  to  my  knowledge  of  what  was  the  nn- 
dentanding  at  the  time  the  treaty  was  made  with  the  Chippewa  Indians  at  La  Point, 
September  30, 1854.  I  was  chief  spokesman  for  the  Indians,  and  drew  the  lines  on  the 
map  for  the  reservation  of  the  four  townships  at  L'Anse. 

•  I  recognize  the  map  pasted  on  to  the  copy  of  the  President's  order,  dated  March  7, 1855, 
fjoin  the  Secretary  ot  tbe  Interior  to  the  I^resident  for  tbe  withdrawal  of  the  four  town- 
ships. When  the  treaty  was  first  seen  by  me  after  it  was  sent  on  from  Washington ,  about 
A  year  after  the  treaty  was  made,  I  saw  the  mistake  in  it  and  called  the  attention  of  the 


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4       l'aNSE  and  VIEUX  DE  SERT  bands  of  CHIPPEWA  INDIANS. 

Indian  agent,  Mr.  Gilbert,  to  it,  who  promised  to  have  it  rectified  as  stated  in  oar  let- 
ter of  March  12,  1872,  to  oar  father,  tJie  President.  I  drew  the  lineo  so  as  to  embrace 
fishing-grounds  on  Keewenaw  Bay  and  on  Huron  Bay  and  maple-lands  for  farming  and 
sugar.  This  was  the  understanding  of  all  the  chiefs  at  the  time.  I  have  respectfully 
to  request  (as  nearly  all  the  lands  in  one  of  the  townships  which  had  been  reserved  to 
ns  have  been  restored  to  market  and  sold)  that  the  proceeds  of  the  sales  made  and  to 
be  made  be  given  by  the  Government  to  the  Indians,  and  thus  doing  what  now  lies  in 
its  power  to  rectify  this  error. 
Very  respectfully, 

P.  MARKSMAN, 

[IndorseuieBt] 

I  have  known  Peter  Marksman  intimately  since  the  fall  of  1855,  and  during  that  time 
have  resided  near  him.  He  is  a  thoroughly  truthful  man  and  so  reliable  and  careful 
of  what  he  says  that  I  would  not  for  a  moment  hesitate  to  take  his  written  statement 
on'auy  subject  and  give  it  the  same  effect  as  though  made  on  oath.  He  is  a  minister  of 
the  Gospel,  and  has  by  a  long  and  faithful  life  endeared  himself  to  all  who  know  him. 

JAY  A.  HUBBELL, 
Member  of  CongresSj  Ninth  Dieirict,  MicJiigam, 


Han,  Chairman  of  Committee  on  Indian  Affairs,  House  of  Beprcaentativea : 

8iR :  I  desire  to  make  a  few  statements  of  the  facts,  as  I  understand  them,  and  W- 
lieve  to  be  a  candid  and  truthful  view  of  the  claims  of  the  Chippewa  Indians  of  Lake 
Superior  to  compensation  for  lands  restored  to  market,  and  sold  or  unsold  in  townshi|> 
51  north,  of  range  31  west.  State  of  Michigan.  For  seven  years  I  resided  in  the  vicinity 
of  this  tribe  of  Indians.  For  four  years  was  superintendent  of  their  missions ;  wm 
there  at  the  time  this  town,  was  restored  to  market,  and  have  had  every  opportunity 
to  become  familiar  with  the  case.  The  Indians  have  frequently  conversed  with  rot*, 
also,  upon  this  subject  since  I  became  United  States  Indian  agent,  and  from  all  I  cau 

learn  I  believe  their  claim,  as  set  forth  in  bill ,  to  be  just. 

At  the  time  the  treaty  of  1855  was  made,  the  commissioners,  after  a  long  council  with 
the  chiefs  and  head-men  of  the  tribe,  showed  them  a  map,  and  requested  them  to  mark 
out  on  that  map  such  lands  as  they  wished  to  be  reserved  as  a  perpetual  reservation 
for  the  L'Anse  and  Vieux  De  Sert  bands. 

Peter  Marksman  was  their  spokesman.  He  made  a  careful  selection  of  four  town- 
ships, nmrking  them  on  the  map  as  presented  to  him,  and  this  map  was  the  only  thing 
they  had  at  the  time  showing  the  land  reserved.  For  some  sixteen  years  the  land  em- 
braced in  town.  51,  together  with  the  other  three  town.,  remained  undisturbed  as  their 
reservation,  and  recognized  by  the  Government  and  people  of  Liake  Superior  as  soch. 
In  1869  some  mineral-land  speculators  made  the  discovery  of  valuable  minerals  in  this 
town.  51,  and  set  themselves  to  work  to  have  it  restored  to  market,  and  for  several  days 
and  nights  stood  at  the  land-office  doors  awaiting  the  telegram  announcing  its  restora- 
tion to  market,  and  when  it  came  they  entered  a  very  large  portion  of  the  land.  All 
this  was  accomplished  before  the  Indians  had  any  knowledge  of  what  was  being  done, 
and  In  their  helplessness  and  deep  regrets  at  the  loss  of  this  town.,  which  afifocdtd 
them  splendid  fishing,  hunting,  and  sugar-making  grounds,  they  now  ask,  as  in  the 
bill  aforesaid,  simply  to  be  compensated,  or  to  have  the  proceeds  of  the  sale  of  said 
land  passed  over  to  them.  I  believe  their  claims  to  be  just  and  reasonable,  and  tni«t 
that  your  honorable  committee  will  so  consider  it,  and  recommend  the  passage  of  the 
bill. 

Very  respectfully, 

GEO.  I.  BETT8. 
United  States  Indian  Agent,  Midiigam. 

[Indorsement.] 

The  within  statement  is  from  a  perfectly  reliable  man,  and  is  substantially  a  true 
account  of  the  matters  therein  referred  to. 

The  parties  who  became  purchasers  of  the  land  in  question,  for  a  long  time  knew  of 
their  value  and  tried  to  lease  the  same  of  the  Indian  Department,  supposing  they  be^ 
longed  to  the  Indians.  The  discovery  that  they  were  not  embraced  within  the  letter 
of  the  treaty  ef  1855,  was  made,  or  rather  grew  out  of  a  discussion  with  Colton,  the 


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l'ANSE  and  VIEUX  DE  SERT  bands  of  CHIPPEWA  INDIANS.       5 

map-maker.    On  his  map  of  this  country  the  reservation  was  shown  as  set  forth  in 
treaty,  and  a  dispute  as  to  the  fact  caused  an  examination  of  the  treaty,  from  which 
action  resulted  which  hrought  the  lands  into  market. 
I  ask,  as  an  act  of  Justice  to  these  Indians,  a  favorahle  consideration  of  hill  1698. 

JAY  A.  HUBBELL, 
Member  of  Congress,  2s^inth  Districty  Michigan, 


5. 

Department  of  the  Interior, 

Office  of  Indian  Affairs, 
Washington,  D,  C,  February  11, 1874. 

Sir  :  I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your  letter,  dated  the  6th  in- 
stant, inclosing  House  bill  No.  1698 ;  copy  of  a  letter  dated  March  7, 1855,  addressed 
to  the  President  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  and  copy  of  the  President's  order  of 
the  same  date,  withdrawing  certain  lands  from  market  for  Indian  purposes,  and  letter 
dated  April  2, 1872,  addressed  to  Hon.  A.  T.  Mitchell,  by  P.  Marksman,  relative  to  the 
rights  or  equitable  claims  of  the  L'Anse  and  Yieux  De  Sert  bands  of  the  Chippewa 
Indians  of  Lake  Superior. 

You  desire  to  be  advised  whether  said  bands  are  equitably  entitled  to  the  lands  de- 
scribed in  the  bill  submitted  by  you,  from  any  understanding  had  with  the  said  Indians 
at  the  time  of  making  the  treaty  of  September  30, 1854,  or  from  any  correspondence 
on  file  in  this  Office. 

You  also  invite  suggestions  for  any  alterations  in  the  bill  that  may  be  deemed  advisa- 
ble by  this  Office. 

In  reply,  von  are  advised  that  it  does  not  appear  from  any  official  records,  nor  is  it 
within  the  knowledge  of  this  Office,  that  there  was  any  understanding,  at  the  time  the 
treaty  was  concluded,  that  the  whole  of  township  51  north,  of  range  31  west,  in  the 
State  of  Michigan,  was  intended  to  have  been  embraced  in  the  treaty  above  re- 
ferred to  for  the  use  of  said  L'Anse  and  Yieux  De  Sert  bands  of  Chippewa  Indians. 

In  view  of  the  fact,  however,  that  the  whole  of  said  township  was  withdrawn  from 
sale,  for  the  use  of  the  bands  above  mentioned,  as  early  as  March  7, 1855.  and  for  the 
reason  that  the  said  Indians  have  always  claimed  the  whole  of  said  townsnip,  and  been 
encouraged  by  the  Government  to  do  so  by  treating  said  lands  as  a  part  of  their  reser- 
vation, this  Office  recommends  the  passage  of  the  bill  referred  by  yon,  with  the  follow- 
ing proviso  at  the  end  of  section  two,  to  wit :  Provided,  That  the  money  received  for 
the  lands  in  said  township  shall  be  expended  for  educational  and  beneficial  purposes, 
under  the  direction  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  and  at  such  times  and  in  such 
manner  as  he  may  deem  proper  for  the  interests  of  said  bands  of  Indians. 

The  bill  and  accompanying  papers  are  herewith  returned. 
Yery  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

EDW.  P.  SMITH, 

Commissioner, 

Hon.  Jay  A.  Hubbell, 

House  of  Kepresentativis. 


6. 

Department  of  the  Intekiok, 

General  Land-Officr, 

fVashington,  D,  C,  April  2,  1874. 
Sir  :  I  have  had  the  honor  to  receive  yonr  letter  of  the  3l8t  ultimo,  and  in  reply  have 
to  state  that  the  nnmber  of  acres  restored  to  market  in  township  51  north,  range  31 
west,  in  Michigan,  east  of  Huron  Bay,  pursuant  to  a  letter  from  this  office  to  the  reg- 
ister and  receiver  at  Marquette, Michigan,  dated  December  6, 1870,  amounts  to  18,907.09 
acres. 

Yery  respectfully, 

\VILLIS  DRUMMOND, 

Commissioner, 
Hon.  Jay  A.  Hubbell,  House  of  liepnstntativis, 

H.  Hep.  39(3 2 

C 

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43d  Congress,  \     HOUSE  OF  EEPEESEiTTATlVES.      (  Ebpobt 
l8t  Session.     I  1  No.  397. 


ANNE  M.  ENGLISH. 


April  11, 1874.— Ordered  to  be  printed. 


Mr,  Oebby  W.  Hazelton,  from  the  Committee  on  War-Claims,  sub- 
mitted the  following 

REPORT: 

The  Committee  on  War-Claims^  to  whom  was  referred  claim  of  Anne  M. 
JEnglishy  tcidow  of  Thomas  English^  late  of  Natchez^  Miss.yfor  dafnage 
to  millSy  $6,600,  and  rent  of  same^  $9,200,  amounting  in  the  a{fgre- 
gate  to  $15,800,  having  had  the  same  under  considerationj  respectfully 
report  as  follows : 

It  appears  from  the  proofs  famished,  that  on  or  aboat  the  1st  day  of 
September,  1863,  the  flour  and  grist  mill,  and  muley-saw  mill  of  said 
English,  located  at  the  city  of  Natchez,  in  the  StAte  of  Mississippi,  were 
seized  by  and  under  the  orders  of  Capt.  Edward  L.  Whitney,  at  tbat  time 
post-commissary  for  the  post  of  Natchez,  for  the  use  of  the  army,  and 
were  used  and  occupied  by  the  military  authorities  up  to  the  17th  day 
of  March,  1866. 

That,  in  order  to  render  said  premises  arailable  as  a  store-house,  the 
machinery  therein  was  removed,  and  army  stores  deposited  in  the  same. 
When  the  property  ceased  to  be  required  for  military  purposes  by  the 
Government,  it  was  surrendered  and  given  up. 

There  is  no  ground  on  which  this  can  be  distingoished  from  the  large 
class  of  cases  of  damage  to  property  growing  out  of  the  prosecution  of 
•the  war  in  the  enemy's  country,  for  which  no  legal  liability  has  ever 
been  recognized. 

The  GK>vernment  not  being  liable  for  property  taken,  used,  damaged, 
or  destroyed  by  Government  authority,  so  far  as  dictated  by  the  neees- 
sary  operations  of  the  war,  nor  by  the  operations  of  the  enemy,  cannot 
be  charged  with  any  liability  in  this  case. 

If  it  were  necessary  to  inquire  into  the  loyalty  of  the  owner  of  the 
property,  or  the  widow  who  makes  the  claim,  at  the  time  the  same  was 
seized,  we  should  be  constrained  to  say  that  there  is  just  proof  enough 
on  that  question  to  raise  a  strong  presumption  against  the  said  par- 
ties. 

The  committee,  therefore,  recommend  that  the  said  claim  be  disal 
lowed. 


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43d  Congress,  I      HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES,      i  Report 
l8t  Session.     §  )  No.  398. 


WILLIAM  J.  BLACKISTONE. 


April  11,  1874. — Committed  to  a  Committee  of  the  Whole  "House  and  ordered  to  be 

printed. 


Mr.  BuBBOWS,  from  the  Committee  on  Claims,  submitted  tbe  following 

REPORT: 

[To  accompany  bill  H.  B.  554.] 

The  Committee  on  Claims,  to  tcliom  was  referred  the  hill  (H.  R,  554^  for 
the  relief  of  William  J.  Blackistone^  of  /Saint  Mary^s  County,  Maryland, 
make  thefollotcing  report : 

Under  tbe  authority  of  an  act  of  Congress,  approved  July  13, 1861, 
providing  for  the  collection  of  duties  on  imports  and  for  other  purposes, 
and  of  an  act  supplementary  thereto,  approved  May  20, 1862,  preventing 
tbe  conveyance  of  arms,  munitions  of  war,  and  other  supplies,  to  per- 
Kons  in  insurrection  against  tbe  United  States,  the  Secretary  of  tbe 
Treasury  established  regulations  concerning  internal  and  coastwise  com- 
mercial intercourse,  and  appointed  officers  and  agents  to  execute  the 
same. 

Under  the  provisions  of  paragraph  VI  of  these  regulations,  dated  Au- 
gust 28, 1862,  the  claimant  was  appointed  a  <<  board  of  trade"  for  the 
counties  of  Charles  and  Saint  Mary's  in  the  State  of  Maryland.  He  per- 
formed this  duty  satisfactorily  from  the  loth  December,  1862,  to  15th 
September,  1863,  nine  months,  for  which  service  he  received  no  compen- 
sation except  the  sum  of  $14. 

The  reason  that  he  was  not  paid  was  owing  to  the  fact  that  be  made 
no  application  until  the  fund  from  which  such  payments  bad  been  made 
was  covered  into  the  Treasury.  The  new  regulation  of  the  Treasury,  of 
September  11, 1863,  has  changed  the  service  and  superseded  this  agent 
by  the  functions  of  another  officer. 

The  special  agent  of  the  Treasury  has  recognized  the  claimant's  ser- 
vices, and  recommends  an  allowance  of  $4  per  day,  amounting  to  $972. 

The  committee  are  satisfied  that  he  onght  to  be  paid  tbe  amount 
recommended,  and  therefore  report  the  bill  back  without  amendment, 
and  recommend  its  passage. 


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43d  Congress,  )     HOUSE  OP  REPRESENTATIVES.      (  Repobt 
l8t  Session,     i  \  No.  399. 


DABNEY  WALKER. 


April  11,  1874. — Committed  to  a  Committee  of  the  Whole  House  and  ordered  to  be 

printed. 


Mr.  Howe,  from  the  Committee  on  Claims,  submitted  the  following 

REPORT: 

[To  accompany  bill  H.  R.  2890.] 

The  Committee  on  Claims j  towliom  were  referred  the  petition  and  papers  of 
Bahney  Walker ^  late  scout  and  guide  to  the  Army  of  the  Potomac^  beg 
leave  to  report  : 

Dabney  Walker  was  a  slave  in  Virginia,  near  Fredericksbnrgb,  and 
alleges  that,  on  the  8th  day  of  May,  1862,  at  the  request,  and  upon  the 
promise  of  General  M.  R.  Patrick,  provost-marshal-general  of  the  Army 
of  the  Potomac,  that  he  should  be  paid  $5  a  day  for  his  services,  entered 
upon  the  service  of  the  Government,  under  the  command  of  General 
King,  and  under  the  immediate  direction  of  one  Captain  Paine,  at  Fal- 
mouth, Va.,  and  continued  in  service  until  the  28th  day  of  August,  1862 ; 
that,  on  the  1st  day  of  January,  1863,  he  again  entered  the  service  as  scout 
and  guide,  under  General  Hooker,  and  performed  service  till  the  14th  of 
July,  1863 ;  that,  on  the  1st  day  of  May,  1864,  he  again  entered  the  service 
ander  command  of  General  Grant  and  continued  in  service  till  July  13, 
1864 — ^in  all,  rendering  service  in  1862,-three  months  and  twenty  days ; 
in  1863,  six  months  and  fourteen  days;  and  in  1864,  two  months  and 
thirteen  days }  total,  twelve  months  and  seventeen  days. 

He  furthet  alleges,  and  the  records  of  the  War  Department  show 
this  to  be  the  fact,  that  for  this  service  he  only  received  $360. 

He  could  collect  no  further  sum  for  the  service  rendered  between 
May  1, 1862,  and  July  14, 1863,  because,  on  or  about  the  1st  day  of  Oc- 
tober, 1863,  his  bouse  in  Washington,  wherein  his  vouchers  were  depos* 
ited  for  safe-keeping,  was  destroyed  with  said  vouchers  by  fire. 

He  could  collect  no  further  sum  for  services  rendered  after  that  for 
the  reason  that,  as  he  was  leaving  camp  on  the  5th  of  May,  1864,  to 
perform  hazardous  duty,  he  left  in  charge  of  one  Colonel  Sharpe,  acting 
assistant  provost  marshal,  all  hjB  papers,  including  several  showing  the 
fact  of  his  being  employed  as  scout  and  guide.  This  he  did  at  the  sug- 
gestion of  said  Sharpe,  for  the  reason  that,  if  captured,  they  would 
prove  dangerous  evidence  against  him,  the  confederate  authorities  hav- 
ing set  a  price  on  his  head.  These  papers  so  intrusted  to  Colonel 
Sharpe  were  never  returned  to  him,  although  he  made  repeated  appli- 
caiioDS  for  them,  and  so  importuned  Sharpe  as  to  cause  him  to  get  very 
angry  with  Walker,  who  makes  affidavit  that  Sharpe  finally  said  to  him 


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2  DABNEY   WALKER. 

that  he  '<  never  shoald  receive  a  cent  from  Government  if  he  could 
help  it." 

Yet  other  papers  tending  to  establish  his  claim  he  afterward  lefb  in 
the  hands  of  Hon.  William  D.  Kelley  who  proposed  to  bring  his  claim 
before  Congress,  bat  which  Mr.  Kelley  so  mislaid  that  he  cannot  now 
produce  them,  as  is  set  forth  by  a  statement  over  his  signature,  which 
is  hereunto  appended. 

The  petitioner  proves  that  he  rendered  the  services  that  he  claims 
pay  for  by  the  affidavits  of  Francis  Mohoney,  Tarleton  Latony,  aod 
C3arleton  Matthews,  who  served  with  him  in  different  capacities  and 
were  personally  cognizant  of  the  facts  in  the  case. 

General  Abner  Doubleday,  who,  during  a  portion  of  the  time  that 
Walkerclaims  pay  for,  commanded  a  brigade  in  King's  division,  has  writ- 
ten the  following  letters  of  the  respective  dates  of  February  24, 1869,  and 
March  31, 1874: 

CoLEUAN  House,  New  Forfc,  February  24, 1869. 
Deab  Sir:  I  wrote  to  the  Adjatant-General  of  the  Array  Btatiog  my  opinion  that 
yonr  services  bad  been  very  valuable  to  the  Army  of  the  Potomao.  I  remember  that 
we  gained  a  large  quantity  of  forage  that  bad  been  secreted  in  Fredericksbor^h,  and  I 
think  it  was  throngh  information  obtained  by  you.  I  think  your  claim  is  a  jost  ooe^ 
and  hope  it  will  be  passed. 
Yours,  very  truly, 

ABNER  DOUBLEDAY, 

Brevet  Major-General 
T.  Dabney  Walker, 

Care  G.  H,  PhilUpe,  Thirteenth  street,  between  B  and  S  streeie,  Wa»kuigUmf  D.  C. 


Willard's  Hotel,  Washingtintj  D.  C,  March  31, 1V74. 
Dear  Sir  :  In  answer  to  your  request  it  affords  me  pleasure  to  make  the  foUowing 
statement  in  reference  to  your  services. 

One  of  the  first  measures  ordered  by  General  Pope,  upon  assuming  command  of  the 
Army  of  Virginia,  June  26,  1862,  was,  that  the  cavalry  attached  to  King's  divisioo 
should  endeavor  to  break  up  the  Virginia  Cential  Bailroad.  In  obedience  to  thi» 
order,  our  cavalry  made  frequent  and  successful  incursions  against  the  road.  They 
burned  the  depot  at  Beaver  Dam  station,  (July  20, 1^62,)  and  tore  up  several  miles  of 
rails.  They  also  had  a  severe  contest  with  Stuart's  cavalry,  and  defeated  it,  near  Car- 
mel  church.  These  raids  inflicted  much  damage  upon  the  enemv,  and  probably  re- 
tarded his  cdvance  for  a  considerable  length  of  time.  Dabney  Walker  acted  as  ^aide 
and  scout  on  these  occasions.  His  thorough  knowledge  of  the  country  enabled  him  to 
lead  our  troops  to  the  most  vulnerable  points  in  the  enemy's  Hue  of  communications, 
and  who  were  so  much  incensed  against  him  that  they  offered  a  heavy  reward  for  his 
head.  I  know  nothing  of  the  contract  or  agreement  under  which  Dabney  acted,  bat  I 
can  testify  that  his  services  were  of  great  value,  and  that  through  his  instrumeuulitj 
our  men  captured  public  animals  and  property  far  exceeding  the  amount  of  his  clsini. 
I  commanded  a  brigade  in  King's  division  at  the  time  referred  to,  and  am  perBooaUy 
cognizant  of  the  circumstances. 
Yours,  very  truly, 

ABNER  DOUBLEDAY, 
Brevet  Major- General  United  States  Armiff  late  Major-General  of  Volunteer*. 
Dabney  Walker, 

Washington,  D,  C. 


The  Hon.  William  B.  Kelley,  whose  statement  has  before  been  referred 
to,  under  date  of  March  1, 1872,  writes  to  the  Committee  on  Claims  as 
follows: 

Washington,  D.  C,  Jfarc*  1, 1^2^ 

Gentlemen  :  Soon  after  the  close  of  the  war  I  hecame  acquainted  with  Dahner 
Walker,  a  colored  man,  who  had,  as -he  then  informed  me,  heen  employed  as  a  scout 
and  guide  in  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  but  whose  pay  had  been  withheld  as  the  result 
of  his  own  ignorance  of  the  methods  of  securing  proper  vouchers  and  regular  payment 
He  produced  to  me,  and  placed  in  my  hands,  certain  printed  and  written  papers  whicb, 


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DABNEY   WALKER.  t> 

• 

together,  made  a  chain  of  evidence  proving  the  correctness  of  his  statement.  These 
papers  showed,  among  other  things,  that,  hy  a  comhinatiou  between  himself  and  his  wife, 
who  was  still  within  the  confederate  lines,  they  had,  by  what  was  called  the  clothes-line 
telegraph,  been  able  to  render  peculiar  and  efficient  service  to  onr  Army.  He  is  an  illit- 
erate man  and  conld  not  give  me  information  sufficiently  specific  to  enable  me  to  pro- 
cure the  proper  official  evidence  of  his  services  as  scout  and  guide.  I  retained  his 
papers  ^ith  the  view  of  investigating  the  matter,  and  perfecting  a  chain  of  testimony 
that  would  establish  his  claim.  Congress  was  then  in  session,  my  correspondence  was 
very  large,  and  it  was  his  misfortune  that  I  lost  the  papers  he  confided  to  me.  I,  how- 
ever, remembered,  when  casually  meeting  General  Abner  Doubleday,  that  he  had  been  re- 
ferred toby  Walker,  and  inquired  of  him  whether  he  remembered  him,  and  was  informed 
by  him  that  he  did  remember  him  as  one  who  had  performed  much  and  valuable  service.  I 
then  brought  the  subject  to  the  attention  of  the  War  Department,  and  learned  that 
the  Department  could  not  adjust  his  claim  for  the  want  of  vouchers  from  particular 
officers,  under  whose  certificate  the  claim  should  have  been  brought  to  their  notice. 
Finding  it  impossible  to  procure  a  settlement  of  what  I  had  become  satisfied  was  a 
just  claim  through  the  Department,  I  recommended  him  to  appeal  to  Congress.  But 
in  order  to  assure  myself  of  the  correctness  of  his  statement,  I  brought  Walker  to  the 

Presence  of  General  Grant,  at  the  headquarters  of  the  Army.  The  General  listened  to 
is  statement,  and  at  its  close  said  that  he  had  a  very  remarkable  memory,  and  must 
have  been  present  at  the  several  movements  of  troops  of  which  he  spoke,  as  he  named 
them  in  their  order,  and  gave  the  details  as  accurately  as  if  he  had  kept  a  dailv  Journal. 
He  also  remarked  that  the  statement  showed  that  he  had  been  in  confidential  relations 
with  the  officers  taking  the  several  movements.  I  have  had  much  intercourse  with 
Walker,  and  am  satisfied  of  his  veracity,  both  from  the  consistency  of  his  statements, 
the  fjEicta  Just  referred  to,  and  the  remarks  of  General  Doubleday,  as  to  his  fidelity  and 
the  ingenuity  of  the  contrivance  by  which  his  wife  and  he  had  communicated  intended 
movements  of  the  confederate  forces  to  the  officers  of  the  forces  with  which  Dabuey 
was  connected. 

I  beg  leave  further  to  suggest  that  I  have  examined  the  memorial  of  said  Dabney 
Walker,  and  find  the  statements  therein  contained  to  be  entirely  consistent  with  those 
made  to  me  by  said  Walker  in  his  early  interviews  with  me  and  at  the  War  Depart- 
ment, and  especially  in  his  interview  with  the  General  of  the  Army.  I  am  satisfied 
that  Walker's  claim  is  a  Just  one,  and  that  if  I  could  have  learned  the  post-office  address 
of  Colonel  Sbarpe,  who  is  referred  to  in  Walker's  memorial,  I  could  have  obtained  such 
evidence  as  would  have  Justified  the  War  Department  in  settling  the  claim,  which  was, 
as  I  was  informed,  regarded  as  meritorious. 
Yours,  very  trmy, 

WM.  D.  KELLEY. 
To  the  CoMMriTEE  on  Claims, 

House  of  Bepreseniativea. 

Capt.  George  F.  Noyes,  the  author  of  a  book  entitled  the  Bivouac 
and  the  Battle-Field,  refers  to  Dabney  Walker  as  follows : 

Quite  a  large  body  of  troops  were  now  assembled,  and  occasional  expeditions  of  cav- 
alry were  sent  out  to  disturb  the  quiet  of  the  enemy,  bum  the  railroad-bridges,  and 
thus  interrupt  his  communications,  sometimes  having  a  brush  with  the  enemy's  cavalry 
and  bringing  in  some  prisoners.  Their  usual  guide  was  a  native-bom  Virginian,  in 
whom  we  all  became  much  interested.  He  seemed  to  me  a  sort  of  Daniel  Webster  in 
ebony— a  strong,  clear-headed  man,  who  had  reached  a  true  conception  of  the  real 
issue  in  this  war,  and  devoted  himself,  body  and  soul,  on  the  right  side.  Knowing  aU 
the  roads  and  by-ways  in  this  section,  and  brave  as  a  lion,  he  led  our  boys  with  all  the 
cool  courage  needed  in  a  scout,  established  a  comprehensive  system  of  espionage  among 
the  people  of  his  own  color,  and  thus  brought  in  much  valuable  information.  The 
rebels  did  him  the  honor  to  offer  fifteen  hundred  dollars  reward  for  his  head,  and  well 
they  might,  for  he  was  worth  to  the  Union  cause  any  two  of  the  best  of  us. 

Your  committee,  after  a  careful  examination  of  the  case,  are  satisfied 
that  it  is  one  of  much  more  than  ordinary  merit. 

Dabuey  Walker,  after  rendering  services  to  the  Government,  of  a 
nature  extremely  valuable,  and  at  a  time  when  there  was  a  pressing 
necessity  for  services  of  that  kind,  and,  by  so  doing,  rendered  himself 
peculiarly  obnoxious  to  the  rebel  authorities  as  to  cause  them  to  offer  a 
reward  for  his  capture,  dead  or  alive,  and  services  which  resulted  in  the 


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4  DABNEY   WALKER. 

capture  of  property  worth  in  the  aggregate  many  times  the  amoant 
claimed  as  pay  by  him,  for  his  services  seems  to  have  been  prevented 
from  receiving  pay  therefor  by  a  series  of  misfortunes,  for  none  of  which 
was  he  responsible.  Yonr  committee  are,  therefore,  of  the  opinion  that 
the  prayer  of  the  petitioner  shonld  be  granted,  and  report  the  accom- 
panying bill  with  the  recommendation  that  it  do  pass. 


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43d  Congbbss,  )     HOUSE  OP  EEPEBSENTATIVES.     /  Bepobt 
Ut  Session,     f  \  Ko.  400. 


A.  G.  COLLINS. 


April  11, 1874.— Committed  to  a  Committee  of  the  Whole  House  and  ordered  to  be 

printed. 


Mr.  Howe,  from  the  Gommittee  on  Claims,  sabmitted  the  following 

REPORT: 

[To  accompany  bill  H.  R.  1272.] 

The  Committee  on  OlaimSy  to  whom  was  referred  the  hill  {H,  22. 1272)  for 
the  relief  of  A.  0.  CollinSj  have  examined  the  same^  and  beg  leave  to  maJee 
the  following  report : 

In  the  year  1862,  A.  6.  Collins,  an  acting  depnty  United  States  marshal 
for  the  southern  district  of  Ohio,  acting  under  orders  from  the  War  De- 
partment, arrested  a  man  by  the  name  of  Tarbell,  who  was  charged  on 
an  affidavit  with  discouraging  enlistments  in  the  Army,  in  violation  of 
an  act  of  Congress.  For  so  doing  Tarbell  brought  suit  against  him  lay- 
ing the  damages  at  $10,000.  The  suit  in  various  courts  ran  along  over 
a  space  of  seven  years,  and  was  finally  decided  in  Mr.  CoUins's  fovor 
by  the  United  States  court  of  Cincinnati. 

Mr.  Collins,  in  the  pending  bill,  now  asks  relief  for  expenses  incurred 
in  defending  the  suit.  His  account  for  these  expenses  was  audited  and 
paid  with  the  exception  of  the  amount  named  in  the  bill,  viz,  (285,  the 
items  aggregating  to  the  amount  of  which  were  struck  oat  by  the  De- 
partment on  the  ground  of  want  of  authority  to  pay,  as  will  be  shown 
by  the  following  leCter  from  the  then  Inspector-General : 

War  Department, 
Washington  City,  July  15, 1869. 
Sir:  Yonr letter  of  Jnne  23,  appealing  from  the  adverse  decision  npon  yoar  claim  for 
re-imbnrsement  of  personal  expenses  growing  ont  of  a  sait  brought  against  yon  for  acts 
done  in  performance  of  your  duty  as  an  officer  of  the  United  States,  has  been  duly 
considered. 

Without  further  discussion  of  the  merits  of  the  rejected  claim,  it  will  be  sufficient 
to  inform  you  that  this  Department,  which  can  expend  no  public  moneys  except  by 
anthority  of  law,  is  not  legally  empowered  to  re-imbnrse  yon  for  the  expenditures 
charged,  its  anthority  being  restricted  to  the  reasonable  accounts  of  the  counsel  em- 
ployed in  the  case,  and  does  not  extend  to  the  personal  accounts  of  individuals. 
Congress  alone  can  afford  yon  any  relief  in  tne  premises. 

It  is  found  that  the  two  items  for  transcripts  of  records,  amounting  to  $16.30,  can  be 
properly  paid  by  the  Department,  and  it  has  been  accordingly  so  ordered. 

Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant,  

ED.  SCHRIVER, 
Inspector-  GtneraX, 
A.  G.  CoLLiKS,  Esq.,  HipUy,  Ohio, 

Your  committee  npon  examination  find  that  Mr.  Collins  was  subjected 
to  expense  to  the  amount  named  in  the  bill,  over  and  above  what  has 
been  allowed  him,  on  account  of  having  obeyed  the  orders  of  the  De- 
partment whose  subordinate  he  was.    That  he  was  obeying  such  orders, 


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2  A.    G.   COLLINS. 

that  he  had  reasons  for  believing  that  in  so  doing  he  would  be  re-im- 
bnrsed  by  Government  for  all  outlays  of  money,  and  that  he  faithfully 
performed  his  duty  are  clearly  shown  by  the  following  letters  written  to 
him  by  L.  C,  Turner,  then  judge-advocate. 

War  Departmbnt, 
Washington  City,  D,  C,  September  22, 1862. 
A.  G.  Collins,  Esq.,  United  States  Deputy  Marshal^  Ripley,  Broum  County,  Ohio  : 

Id  aDBwer  to  yoara  of  the  I7th  instant,  I  say  that  the  affidavit  of  Mr.  Raakin,  if  a 
reliable  man,  is  sufficient  to  warrant  the  arrest  of  David  Tarbell,  if  he  be  a  man  of 
sufficient  account  and  influence  to  make  the  same  worth  the  candle. 

You  have  the  means  of  knowing  as  to  this,  and  if  you  regard  the  character  of  the 
man  as  worthy  of  consideration,  uien  you  will  arrest  Tarbell  and  convey  him  to  the 
nearest  military  "camp''  or  post  for  safe  keeping,  till  further  order,  and  report  further 
proofs  if  any,  Ae* 

Tour  account  for  transportation  and  expenses  certified  to  War  Department,  will  be 
audited  and  paid  promptly  by  chief  clerk. 
By  order  of  the  Secretary  of  War : 

L.  C.  TURNER, 

Judge-Adrocate. 

War  Departmekt, 
Washington,  D,  C,  December  20,  1862. 
A.  G.  Collins,  Esq.,  United  Slates  Deputy  Marshal,  Bipley,  Ohio : 

In  answer  to  your  letter  of  the  16th  instant,  addressed  to  the  chief  clerk  of  the  War 
Department,  I  say,  that  you  will  be  protected  by  the  Government  from  harm,  for  th^ 
faithful  execution  of  its  orders.  I  inclose  the  orders  of  the  War  Department  issoed 
by  ^^  direction  of  the  President,"  in  virtue  whereof  you  acted  as  I  suppose.  Yon  have,  of 
course,  the  instructions  sent  to  you.  From  these  papers  your  counsel  can  anawer. 
Your  obedient  servant, 

L.  C.  TCRT^R, 

Judge-Advocate. 
D.  Tarbell  sued  the  deputy  marshal  for  $10,000,  &c. 


War  Dkpartmunt. 
Washington  City,  D.  C,  October  24,  136-2. 
To  A.  G.  Collins, 

United  States  Deputy  Marshal,  Ripley,  Brown  County,  Ohio : 
In  answer  to  yours  of  the  14th  I  reply  that  your  energy  and  perseverance  in  arrest- 
ins  David  Tarbell  are  approved  and  commended.    Let  him  remain  at  Camp  Unioo 
till  further  order. 

Your  account  is  reasonable  and  verified,  ($20.25,)  but  it  should  be  made  on  a  sepante 
piece  of  paper  from  your  report,  so  it  can  be  filed  separately ;  you  will  therefore  thm 
make  it  out,  and  it  will  be  allowed  and  paid. 
Your  obedient  servant, 

L.  C.  TURNER, 

Judge-Advocate. 


War  Department, 
Washington,  D.  C,  November  26, 1863. 
A.  G.  Collins,  Esq., 

Deputy  Marshal,  Ripley,  Ohio : 
In  answer  to  yours  of  the  17th  instant  I  am  directed  to  say  that  the  War  Depart- 
ment will  employ  counsel  and  provide  the  necessary  funds  for  your  defense— at  least 
that  is  the  general  rule  in  such  cases.    You  will  please  inform  me  how  much  monej 
you  need  and  what  you  propose  to  do. 
Your  obedient  servant, 

L.  C.  TURNER, 
Judge-Advooati. 

In  view  of  the  foregoing,  being  satisfied  that  the  expense  was  incurred, 
the  charges  reasonable,  and  the  claim  a  just  and  equitable  one,  the  com- 
mittee report  the  bill  back,  and  recommend  that  it  do  pass. 


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43d  OoNaBESS,  \     HOUSE  OF  EEPEESENTATIVES.      (  Ebpobt 
Igt  Session,     i  \  No.  401. 


MRS.  LOUISA  BLDIS. 


Apkil  11,  1874. — Committed  to  a  Committee  of  the  Whole  House  and  ordered  to  be 

printed. 


Mr.  Kellogg,  from  the  Committee  on  War-Claims,  sabmitted  the  fol- 

lowiDf? 

REPORT: 

[To  accompany  bill  H.  R.  2891.] 

The  Coinmiiteeon  War-Claims^  to  whom  teas  referred  the  petition  of  Mrs, 
Louisa  JEldiSy  of  Sandusky ^  OhiOj  asking  compensation  for  rent  of  and 
damage  to  her  property  occupied  by  United  States  troops  in  the  winter 
of  1863-'64,  having  had  the  same  under  consideration,  ask  leave  to  report : 

That  the  petitioner  is  the  widow  of  Martin  Eldis,  deceased  ;  that  the 
said  Martin  Eldis  owned  certain  property  in  the  city  of  Sandusky, 
Ohio,  known  as  the  Saint  Lawrence  Hotel,  or  Saint  Lawrence  block ; 
that  said  property  was  taken  possession  of  by  the  authority  of  Captains 
Brooks  and  Ford,  officers  and  quartermasters  of  the  United  States 
Army,  as  barracks  for  the  use  of  troops  stationed  at  and  doing  duty  in 
said  city  of  Sandusky  ;  that  said  property  was  used  as  barracks  from 
November,  1863,  to  the  latter  part  of  May,  1864  ;  that,  when  so  taken, 
the  property  named  was  in  good  condition,  and  commanded  a  fair  rent, 
but  owing  to  the  damages  done  thereto  by  said  United  States  troops  the 
building  could  not  be  rented,  thns  necessitating  extensive  repairs  to 
place  it  in  good  order.  It  appears  that  the  property  was  damaged  by 
the  soldiers,  who  knocked  off  the  plastering,  injured  the  doors,  windows, 
stairs,  &c.,  and  in  various  other  ways  injuring  and  defacing  the  build- 
ing, requiring  a  considerable  expenditure  to  place  it  in  tenantable  con- 
dition, besides  losing  the  rent  of  the  same  for  several  months.  It  farther 
appears  that  when  the  barracks  were  vacated,  Col.  Charles  W.  Hill, 
then  commanding  United  States  forces  at  Sandusky,  convened  a  board 
of  officers  for  the  purpose  of  ascertaining  what  rent  should  be  allowed 
for  all  buildings  and  property  used  by  United  States  troops  in  Sandnsky, 
and  also  assessing  just  damages  for  any  injuries  to  such  property  by  the 
troops  using  the  same.  It  also  appears  that  the  board  recommended 
the  payment  of  $350  to  the  petitioner  for  rent  of,  and  the  sum  of  $691.83 
as  damages  to  said  property  ;  that  the  Third  Auditor  of  the  Treasury,  in 
September,  1865,  p^^id  the  $350  recommended  to  be  paid  for  rent,  but 
declined  to  pay  the  $691.83  recommended  as  damages,  on  the  ground 
that  he  had  no  jurisdiction  in  the  matter  of  damages,  which  your  com- 
mittee understand  is  the  rule  with  that  office  in  all  cases. 

It  appears  from  the  statements  made  and  testimony  adduced  in  sup- 
port of  the  claim  of  the  petitioner,  that  the  amount  recommended  by  the 
board  of  officers  convened  by  order  of  Colonel  Hill,  to  be  no  more  than 
a  fair  compensation  under  the  circumstances,  and  the  committee  there- 
fore report  the  accompanying  bill  and  recommend  its  passage. 


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43d  Congeess,  )      HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES.      (  Report 
l8t  Semon.     ]  \  ^o.  402. 


THOMAS  SIMMS. 


April  11, 1874. — Committed  to  a  Committee  of  the  Whole  House  and  ordered  to  be 

printed. 


Mr.  CoBUBN,  from  the  Committee  on  Military  Affairs,  submitted  the 

following 

REPORT: 

[To  accompany  bill  H.  R.  2892.] 

The  Committee  on  Military  Affairs^  to  whom  was  referred  the  petition  of 
Thomas  Simms,  late  second  lieutenant  of  New  York  volunteers^  have 
had  the  same  under  consideration^  and  submit  the  following  report : 
The  testimony  shows  that  Thomas  Simms  enlisted  as  a  private  sol- 
dier on  the  13th  day  of  September,  1861,  in  the  Seventy-sixth  Regiment 
of  New  York  Volunteers,  and  was  immediately  promoted  to  the  place 
of  first  sergeant.    That  he  was  commissioned  on  the  13th  of  May, 

1862,  by  the  governor  of  New  York,  as  second  lieutenant,  to  take 
rank  from  the  22d  of  February,  1862.  Then  the  company  was  above 
the  minimum  number.  That  from  June  until  in  August,  1862,  he  did 
the  duties  of  captain  in  the  absence  of  the  captain  and  first  lieutenant 
of  his  company.  On  the  11th  day  of  August,  1862,  he  took  sick  and 
was  sent  to  hospital  on  the  20th  day  of  August,  1862,  and  on  the  14th 
day  of  January,  1863,  he  received  a  furlough  for  fifty  days.  He  went 
home,  returned  at  the  end  of  the  specified  time,  being  still  unfit  for  duty, 
and  was  put  in  hospital,  where  he  remained  till  the  4th  day  of  May, 

1863,  when  he  was  notified  that  the  Secretary  of  War  had  discharged 
him  on  the  26th  of  December,  1862.  He  now  wants  pay  as  second  lieu- 
tenant from  the  22dof  February,  1862,  to  May  1, 1862,  and  from  De- 
cember 25,  1862,  to  May  4,  1863.  His  claim  for  pay  for  the  first 
period  is  not  sustained  by  the  evidence.  It  does  not  appear  that  he  did 
duty  as  an  oflScer  between  the  22d  of  February  and  the  1st  of  May, 
1862.  He  could  not,  and  did  not,  so  far  as  the  proof  shows,  do  the  du- 
ties of  second  lieutenantregularly  till  after  his  commisssion  was  issued. 
May  13, 1862.  As  a  matter  of  favor  he  was  mustered  thirteen  days  back 
of  that  date.  It  thus  appears  to  be  clear  that  he  had  no  claim  for  the 
first-named  period. 

He  was  in  hospital  and  kept  at  the  expense  of  the  Government,  or 
on  furlough,  from  December  26,  1862,  to  May  4,  1863,  the  date 
when  he  received  notice  of  his  discharge.  His  furlough,  which  was 
dated  January  14,  1863,  from  hospital,  for  fifty  days,  shows  that  he 
was  recognized  and  held  as  an  officer  in  the  service.  At  the  end  of  his 
time  be  returned  to  the  hospital  in  Washington  City.  From  thence  he 
was  peremptorily  discharged  on  the  4th  of  May,  1863 ;  and  he  was 
notified  that  he  had  been  out  of  service  since  December  25,  1862,  very 
greatly  to  his  surprise.  Being  held  by  the  Government  until  this  time, 
he  was  justly  entitled  to  pay  to  the  4th  of  May,  1863. 


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2  THOMAS   SIM3IS. 

He  was  as  much  in  the  military  service  as  if  he  had  beeu  in  the  field. 
He  wasJn  hospital  from  the  eflects  of  hard  and  faithful  performance  of 
daty,  and  was,  when  tnrned  oat  of  hospital,  greatly  broken  in  health. 
He  is,  as  the  evidence  shows,  at  this  time  still  in  feeble  health  from  the 
effects  of  his  service. 

The  committee  therefore,  in  view  of  all  the  tacts,  have  come  to  the 
conclusion  that  he  should  be  paid  from  the  25th  day  of  December,  in 
the  year  1862,  until  the  5th  day  of  May,  in  the  year  1863,  and  report 
a  bill  to  that  efiect. 


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i3D  OoNaEESS,  >     HOUSE  OF  EBPBESBNTATIVES.      (  Eepobt 
1st  Seman.     f  \  No.  403. 


WILLIAM  CARL. 


April  11, 1874.— Laid  on  the  tablo  and  ordered  to  be  printed. 


Sir.  P.  M.  B.  Young,  from  the  Committee  on  Military  Affairs,  sabmitted 

the  following 

REPORT: 

The  Committee  on  Military  Affairs^  having  under  consideration  the  petition 
of  William  Carl^  report  as  follows : 

The  evidence  on  file  in  the  War  Department  goes  to  prove  that  Wil- 
liam Carl,  daring  his  sickness,  and  for  the  parpose  of  proenring  a  dis- 
charge, did  inform  the  surgeon  that  his  disease  was  one  of  long  stand- 
ing and  not  contracted  In  the  service ;  and  in  consideration  of  this  fact 
the  committee  ask  to  be  relieved  from  the  farther  consideration  of  the 
petition  of  William  Carl. 


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43d  Congress,  ^     HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES.     (  Report 
1st  Session.     )  )  No.  404. 


SHERIDAN  O.  BRExMMER. 


April  11, 1874. — Committed  to  a  Committee  of  tbe  Whole  House  and  ordered  to  be 

printed. 


Mr.  DoNNAN,  from  tbe  Committee  on  Military  Affairs,  submitted  tbe 

following 

REPORT: 

[To  accompany  bill  H.  R.  2412.] 

The  Committee  on  Military  Affairs^  to  wJiom  teas  referred  bill  H,  R.  2412 
having  had  the  same  under  consideration^  submit  the  following  report : 

Tbis  soldier  enlisted  on  tbe  30tb  day  of  November,  1861,  and  was 
mustered  in  as  a  private  in  Company  E,  Eigbteentb  Regiment  Wiscon- 
sin Yolanteers,  on  tbe  21st  day  of  January,  1862.  He  was  subsequently 
taken  very  ill  of  pneumonia ;  and  tbere  being  no  prospect  of  bis  recovery 
wben  tbe  regiment  was  about  to  leave  Milwaukee  for  tbe  field,  tbe  sur- 
geon of  tbe  regiment  gave  bim  a  discbarge,  countersigned  by  tbe  colonel 
commanding,  and  botb  officers  informed  bim  tbat  be  was  discbarged, 
and  to  go  to  bis  bome.  His  name  was  dropped  from  tbe  company-rolls 
witb  tbe  statement,  '<  Discbarged  Marcb  29, 1862,  at  Milwaukee,  Wis." 
Altbougb  sick  for  a  long  time  be  finally  recovered,  and  proposed  to 
re-enlist  in  tbe  samecompany,  wben  tbe  recruiting  officer  saw  tbat  be  bad 
not  a  legal  discbarge.  He  was  tbereupon  ordered  to  report  to  bis  com- 
pany, wbicb  be  promptly  did,  and  bis  case  was  reported  to  division  bead- 
quarters,  wben  Bvt  Maj.  Oen.  J.  C.  Smitb  issued  an  order  tbat  be  be 
"  restored  to  duty  from  desertion  witbout  trial,  with  forfeiture  of  pay  and 
allowances,"  &c.  His  company-officers  swear  tbat  be  was  never  entered 
on  tbe  company-rolls  as  a  deserter,  and  ougbt  not  to  bave  been  so  con- 
sidered. Evidently  tbe  soldier  was  not  in  fault,  and  sbould  receive  full 
pay,  allowances,  and  bounty,  less  tbe  time  be  was  actually  absent  from 
tbe  regiment. 

Tbe  committee,  therefore,  submit  an  amendment  for  sucb  limitation 
proviso,  and,  as  so  amended,  recommend  tbat  tbe  bill  do  pass. 


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43d  Congbess,  )      HOUSE  OF  BEPBESENTATIVES.      /  Report 
l9t  SeaHan.     i  I  No.  405. 


F.  O.  WYSE. 


April  11, 1874.— Committed  to  *  Committee  of.  tlie  Whole  Hodbo  and  ordered  to  be 

printed. . 

Mr.  DoNNANy  from  the  Committee  on  Military  Affairs,  submitted  the 

following 

REPORT: 

[To  accompany  bill  H.  B.  2893.] 

TIte  Committee  on  Military  Affairs^  to  whom  was  referred  the  petition  of 
F.  0.  Wysey  late  lieutenant-colonel  of  the  Fourth  Regiment  United  States 
Artillery y  having  had  the  same  under  considerationj  respectfully  sttbmit  the 
folloxcing  report : 

This  officer  entered  the  Army,  as  a  second  lieatenant,  in  the  year 
1837 ;  became  a  captain  in  1847 ;  was  brevetted  a  major  for  gallant  ser- 
vices before  the  enemy  in  the  Mexican  war;  was  made  a  major,  by  pro- 
motion, in  1861,  and  a  lientenant-colonel  in  the  same  year.  In  1862  he 
resigned  under  the  following  circumstances : 

In  1859,  then  serving  with  his  command  on  the  Pacific  coast,  while 
returning  on  horseback  from  duty  as  a  member  of  a  general  court-mar- 
tial, convened  at  Fort  Steilacoom,  Wash.  Ter.,  by  the  fall  of  his  horse  he 
received  an  injury  in  his  left  ankle-joint,  which  totally  disabled  him  for 
several  months,  and  from  the  effects  of  which  he  has  never  recovered. 
In  1861  and  1862  he  performed  duty  as  a  mustering  officer;  but  believing 
himself  unable  to  endure  active  service,  he  appeared  before  a  board 
assembled  by  direction  of  the  President  to  retire  disabled  officers,  con- 
vened at  Washington  in  July,  1862.  The  testimony  submitted  to  this 
retiring  board  shows  that  the  lameness  caused  as  above  stated  still 
existed  at  that  time ;  that  the  injury  was  of  such  a  permanent  nature  as 
would  prevent  marching  on  foot  or  riding  a  long  distance;  but  that  a 
cure  had  been  so  far  effected  as  would  enable  him  to  do  duty  as  a  mounted 
oflQcer.  The  board  thereupon  decided  that  he  was  not  incapacitated  for 
active  service. 

Being  thus  denied  the  privilege  of  being  put  on  the  retired  list,  and 
feeling  fiilly  assured  that  he  could  not  perform  more  active  duty  than  the 
light  service  upon  which  he  was  then  employed,  he  felt  compelled, 
although  with  evident  reluctance,  to  tender  his  resignation,  which  was 
soon  afterward  accepted.  Instead  of  being  cured,  his  injury  has  grown 
continuously  worse  and  has  disabled  him  from  work. 

Surgeon-Oeneral  Barnes,  who  was  one  of  the  witnesses  before  the 
retiring  board,  in  a  letter  of  October  18, 1869,  states,  ^'  I  have  no  hes 
tation  in  saying  that  it  [the  injury]  should  have  entitled  you  to  the  ben 
efits  of  the  retired  list  whenever  the  results  became  as  grave  as  they 
now  are." 


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2  F.    O.   WYSE, 

flis  disability  is,  therefore,  evidently  permanenfc|  and  was  reoeiyed  by 
him  while  acting  in  obedience  to  orders.  In  the  opinion  of  the  commit- 
tee, the  retired  list  was  intended  to  relieve  jnst  such  necessities  as  are 
presented  by  this  case. 

This  ofQlcer  has  rendered  good  services  to  the  (Government  for  the  best 
thirty  years  of  his  life.  His  health  is  now  broken,  so  that  he  is  onable 
to  provide  for  his  family. 

His  military  record  is  fine  and  his  fealty  to  the  (Government  is  beyond 
question.  He  asks  to  be  placed  on  the  list  of  retired  officers  of  the 
Army  with  the  rank  of  lieutenant-colonel,  and  that  he  be  entitled  to 
pay  as  such  from  the  date  of  the  acceptance  of  his  resignation. 

The  committee  present  a  bill  authorizing  the  Secretary  of  War  to 
place  this  officer  on  the  retired  list,  with  pay  only  from  the  date  of  the 
approval  of  the  bill,  and  recommend  its  passage. 


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43i>  Congees?,  \     HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES.     (  Repokt 
Ut  Session.     J  \  No.  40G. 


AMANDA  M.  SMYTH. 


Ariai.  11, 1874.-  Committed  to  a  Committee  of  the  Whole  House  and  ordered  to  be 

printed. 


Mr.  MacDougall,  from  the  Committee  on  Military  Affairs,  submitted 

the  following 

REPORT: 

[To  accompany  hil]  H.  R.  2894.] 

The  Committee  on  Military  Affairs^  to  whom  was  referred  House  bill  2321, 

report  as  follows : 

Brevet  MajorGeneral  Thomas  A.  Smjth  entered  the  service  at  the 
commencement  of  the  war  as  major,  and  served  with  great  gallantry 
until  fatally  wounded,  two  days  before  the  final  surrender  of  the  enemy, 
leaving  a  wife  and  daughter  in  want.  He  had  commanded  brigades  and 
divisions  while  only  a  lieutenant-colonel  and  colonel ;  and  had  he  held 
the  rank  of  the  command  exercised  by  him  he  would  have  received 
more  than  the  amount  asked  for  by  this  bill.  The  committee  ask  to 
make  the  Adjutant-General's  report  of  service,  dated  February  22, 1873, 
a  part  of  this  report,  and  respectfully  ask  the  passage  of  the  accompany- 
ing bill. 

Adjutant-General's  Office, 

WMhingtoHf  February  22, 1873. 

Military  history  of  Thomas  A.  Smyth,  of  the  United  States  Army,  as  shown  hy  the 
tiles  of  this  office : 

Mustered  into  service  as  major  First  Delaware  Volunteers  October  17,  1861,  and  was 
promoted  lientenant-colonel  20th  December,  1562;  colonel,  19th  March,  1863 ;  appointed 
brigadier-general  of  volunteers  October  1, 1864  ;  brevetted  major-general  of  volunteers 
April  7,1^,  for  gallant  and  meritorious  services  at  Farmvillc,ya.,  where  he  was 
mortally  wounded. 

Service :  Commanding  regiment  in  the  Department  of  Virginia  and  Army  of  the 
Potomac  to  September,  1862 ;  absent,  sick,  to  October  18, 1862 ;  commanding  regiment 
to  May  16,1863;  commanding  Second  Brigade,  Third  Division,  Second  Army  Corps, 
to  August  14, 1863 ;  absent,  sick,  to  Septenioer  4, 1863 ;  commanding  Second  Brigade, 
Third  Division,  Second  Army  Corps,  to  December  28, 1863 ;  commanding  regiment  to 
February  13, 1864 ;  commanding  Second  Brigade,  Third  Division,  Second  Army  Corps, 
to  March  26,  1864 ;  and  Second  Brigade,  First  Division,  Second  Corps,  to  May  17, 1864  ; 
Third  Brigarde,  Second  Division,  Second  Armv  Corps,  to  July  31. 1864 ;  Second  Division, 
Second  Army  Corps,  to  August  20, 1864  ;  Third  Brigade,  Second  Division,  Second  Army 
Corps,  to  December  23, 1864 ;  Second  Division,  Second  Army  Corps,  to  February  25, 1865; 
and  Third  Brigade,  Second  Division,  Second  Army  Corps,  to  April 7, 18€5,  when  wounded 
in  action  at  Farmville,  Va.,  from  the  effects  of  which  he  died  April  9. 1865. 

THOS.  M.  VINCENT, 

Aaeiatant  Jdjutant-Generah 


Official  copy : 

Aw  UT  A  NT-General's  Office,  March  21, 1874. 


THOMAS  M.  VINCENT, 

Asahiant  Adjutant- General, 


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3d  Congress,  \      HOUSE  OF  EEPEESENTATIVES.      (  Eepobt 
l8t  Session.     )  \  No.  407. 


PRIVATE  LANDCLAIMS  IN  MISSOURI. 


lPRIl  11, 1874. — Ordered  to  be  printed  and  recommitted  to  the  Committee  on  Private 

Land-Claims. 


>Ir.  BucKNER,  from  the  Committee  on  Private  L«and-Claim8,  submitted 

the  following 

KEPORT: 

[To  accompany  biU  H.  R.  2895.] 

rhe  Committee  on  Private  Land- Claims^  to  whom  teas  referred  the  bill 
(H.  R,  2895)  obviating  the  necessity  of  issuing  patents  for  certain  private 
land-claims  in  the  State  of  Missouri,  and  for  other  purposes^  have  had 
the  same  under  consideration,  and  beg  leave  to  report : 

That  by  the  treaty  between  France  and  the  United  States,  by  which 
:he  then  Territory  of  Lonisiana,  including  the  present  State  of  Missonriy 
kvas  acquired,  it  was  provided  and  stipulated  that  the  rights  acquired 
3y  the  settlers  and  occupants  of  lands  under  the  prior  governments  of 
Prance  and  Spain  should  be  respected  and  maintained  by  the  Govern- 
nent  of  the  United  States.  Prior  to  the  transfer  there  were  but  few 
perfect  and  complete  grants  of  the  public  domain  within  the  present 
limits  of  the  State  of  Missouri,  much  the  larger  portion  of  the  land 
claimed  by  individuals  being  then  held  and  occupied  under  inchoate 
\ud  imperfect  claims  or  titles  from  the  Spanish  government,  whose  head- 
quarters were  then  and  had  been  for  many  years  at  New  Orleans.  In 
execution  of  the  stipulations  contained  in  the  treaty  of  acquisition,  Gon- 
gress  enacted  numerous  laws,  establishing  boards  of  commissions  and 
other  tribunals,  to  adjudicate  and  pass  upon  the  claims  and  titles  to 
lands  within  the  present  State  of  Missouri.  (See  Bissell  vs.  Penrose, 
8  How.,  U.  S.  Reports,  317,  for  an  abstract  of  this  legislation.)  All  of 
these  acts,  with  the  exception  of  the  acts  of  June  13, 1812,  and  July  4, 
1836,  required  patents  to  be  issued  to  the  parties  to  whom  lands  were 
confirmed  by  the  judgment  of  these  tribunals,  in  order  that  the  legal 
title  might  be  united  with  the  equitable  title  in  the  respective  confirmees. 
The  acts  of  June  13, 1812,  and  of  July  4, 1836,  were  in  effect  legislative 
grants  and  patents  by  the  United  States  to  the  several  parties  entitled 
under  those  acts,  and  if  all  the  other  acts  of  Congress  confirming  pri- 
vate land-claims  in  Missouri  had  been  given  like  force  and  effect  with 
these  acts,  there  would  be  no  necessity  for  this  legislation  asked  by  the 
bill  referred  to  your  committee.  But  through  inadvertence  or  from 
some  other  cause,  the  confirmations  failed  to  carry  the  legal  title  to  the 
laads  confirmed,  and  that  title  was  not  in  any  way  divested  from  the 
Ignited  States  by  these  acts  of  confirmation  until  the  patents  were  issued 
as  in  ordinary  cases  of  private  entry  of  the  public  lands.  Not  more 
than  one- third  of  the  patents  have  been  issued  to  the  confirmees  of  lands 
in  the  State  of  Missouri,  a  result  which  may  be  attributable  in  part  to 
the  fact  that  the  confirmees  and  those  claiming  under  them  have  been 

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2  PRIVATE   LAND-CLAIMS   IN   MISSOLTKL 

and  are  now  hilled  into  indifference  and  inactivity  as  to  their  rights 
because  of  the  legislatimi  of  the  State,  and  the  adjudications  of  the 
supreme  court  of  the  State.  By  an  act  passed  many  years  since  these 
confirmations  were  held  to  be  sufficient  to  sustain  an  action  of  ejectment 
against  any  person  not  having  a  better  title,  and  a  defendant  claiming 
to  hold  under  a  confirmation  had  sufficient  color  of  title  to  protect  his 
possession,  and  to  defeat  an  action  of  ejectment,  even  against  a  plaintiff 
deriving  title  by  patent  from  the  Government.  The  policy  of  the  legis- 
lation of  the  State  has  been  to  make  the  bona-fide  possessor  of  land, 
claiming  to  own  it  adversely  by  color  of  title,  the  owner  of  the  land,  and 
to  discourage  litigation  by  reducing  the  period  of  limitation  of  actions 
for  the  possession  of  lands  to  ten  years.  In  fact,  for  the  purposes  of  try- 
ing the  titles  to  real  estate,  the  equitable  titles  of  the  confirmees  have 
been  treated  as  legal  titles  by  the  legislation  as  well  as  by  the  judicial 
determinations  of  the  courts.  The  people  have  acted  upon  this  idea, 
and  hence  they  have  been  careless  and  indifferent  in  their  efforts  to  ob- 
tain the  patents  of  the  Government  for  lands  held  under  these  confirma- 
tions. But  the  recent  adjudication  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States,  in  Gibson  vs.  Choteau,  (13  Wallace,  92,)  by  which  this  court  has 
decided  that  the  statute  of  limitations  of  the  State  does  not  begin  to 
run  in  favor  of  the  defendant  in  ejectment  until  the  issuance  of  the 
patent  to  the  confirmee,  ha«  overruled  the  decisions  of  the  State  courts 
on  this  subject,  and  opened  the  door  to  a  wide  field  of  harassing  and 
vexatious  litigation,  as  well  as  of  wrong  and  injustice  to  the  owners  of 
land  holding  under  these  confirmations.  Many  of  these  owners  have 
been,  either  by  themselves  or  those  under  whom  they  claim  title,  for  a 
half  century  or  more  in  the  peaceable,  uninterrupted,  and  adverse  en- 
joyment of  their  possessions,  and  if  he  should  be  unable  to  show  a  clear 
and  unbroken  chain  of  title  to  his  land,  he  is  liable  to  be  ejected  by  some 
unscrupulous  land-shark,  who  has  detected  an  imperfect  link  in  his 
chain  of  conveyance.  And  when  it  is  considered  that  the  patents  to 
these  confirmations  are  not  issued  as  in  ordinary  cases  of  private  entry 
of  lands,  but  that  the  Commissioner  of  the  General  Land-Office  must, 
under  the  law  and  practice,  make  his  action  depend  upon  that  of  the 
recorder  of  land-titles  at  Saint  Louis,  who  grants  his  patent-certificate 
to  any  party  interested  applying  therefor,  and  which  must  be  the  basis 
for  the  issuance  of  the  patent,  it  must  be  obvious  that  generations  may 
pass  away  before  the  occupants  under  many  of  these  confirmations  can 
feel  that  security  in  their  titles  and  possessions  which  it  is  the  duty  of 
all  governments  to  give  to  their  citizens. 

The  bill  now  under  consideration  proposes  in  the  first  section  simply 
to  place  all  the  confirmees  of  private  land-claims  on  the  same  footing 
with  the  confirmees  under  the  acts  of  Congress  of  Juue  13, 1812,  and 
July  4, 1836.  It  seeks,  by  act  of  Congress,  to  provide  all  these  con- 
firmees, who  have  not  had  patents  issued  to  them,  with  a  legislative 
grant  or  patent,  and  which  to  all  intents  and  purposes  will  be  as  effect- 
ual to  convey  to  them  the  legal  title  now  in  the  United  States  as  if  a 
patent  were  severally  issued  to  them.  The  third  section  of  the  bill  is 
designed  to  save  all  valid  adverse  rights  to  any  of  the  lands  embraced 
by  the  provisions  of  the  bill,  and  the  fourth  section  gives  the  Secretary 
of  the  Interior  power  and  authority  to  close  and  discontinue  the  office 
of  recorder  of  land-titles  at  Saint  Louis  when  in  his  opinion  the  public 
interest  no  longer  requires  its  continuance,  and  to  turn  the  books, 
papej^s,  plats,  &c.,  over  to  the  State  of  Missouri,  when  the  State  shall 
make  provision  for  the  safekeeping  and  reception  of  the  same.  It  also 
provides  that  after  the  discontinuance  of  the  office  of  recorder  of  land- 


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PRIVATE    LAND-CLAIMS   IN   MISSOURL  6 

titles  aforesaid,  the  CommissioDer  of  the  General  Land-Office  shall 
possess  and  exercise  the  power  and  authority  and  perform  the  duties  of 
said  recorder. 

The  second  section  of  the  bill  is  designed  to  make  the  same  provision 
as  to  the  conveyance  and  transfer  of  the  legal  title  of  all  lands  in  the 
State  of  Missouri,  located  by  virtue  of  certificates  issued  under  the  act 
of  February',  1815,  "  for  the  relief  of  the  inhabitants  of  New  Madrid,  who 
suffered  by  earthquakes,''  as  the  first  section  of  the  bill  proposes  to 
make  as  to  the  confirmations  for  which  patents  have  not  been  issued. 
The  Commissioner  of  the  General  Land-Office,  for  reasons  satisfactory 
to  that  officer,  objects  to  the  second  section,  and  in  deference  to  his 
Tiews  and  opinion  your  committee  have  reported  an  amendment,  of  the 
bill  referred,  which  in  every  respect  conforms  to  his  views.  And  in 
order,  so  far  as  the  legislation  of  Congress,  in  the  opinion  of  your  com- 
mittee, can  accomplish  that  end,  your  committee  have  inserted  an  addition 
to  the  third  section  of  the  bill,  (second  of  the  amended  bill,)  to  enable 
defendants  in  ejectment  to  avail  themselves  of  the  benefit  of  the  State 
statutes  of  limitations,  and  thus  give  security  to  the  titles  and  pos- 
sessions of  persons  holding  lands  under  these  confirmations,  still  un- 
patented. Whether  this  amendment  will  avail  for  the  purpose  intended 
may  admit  of  doubt,  but  they  have  felt  it  to  be  the  duty  of  Congress  to 
afford  all  legal  protection  within  its  power  to  those  whose  rights  it 
should  have  guarded  by  proper  legislation  years  ago  ;  and  to  leave  to 
the  courts  of  the  country  the  decision  of  the  question  whether  this  pro- 
vision is  within  the  legislative  power  of  Congress. 

Your  committee  herewith  report  an  amendment  to  the  original  bill, 
which  they  recommend  to  the  favorable  consideration  of  the  House. 


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43d  Congress,  \     HOUSE  OP  EEPEESENTATIVES.      i  Report 
1st  Session,     i  *  I  No.  408. 


WILLIAM  B.  WEST. 


April  11, 1874.— Ordered  to  be  printed. 


Mr.  M.  L.  Ward,  from  the  Committee  oq  Foreign  Affairs,  submitted  the 

following 

REPORT: 

[To  accompany  biU  H.  R.  401.] 

The  Committee  on  Foreign  Affairs^  to  whom  was  referred  the  bill  {H.  R 
401) /or  the  relief  of  William  B.  West,  late  United  States  consul  at  Dub- 
liny  report : 

That  they  have  carefnlly  examined  the  memorial  of  the  said  West  and 
the  papers  accompanying  it,  together  with  the  items  charged  in  the  ac- 
count against  the  United  States,  and  they  are  of  opinion  that  the 
said  bill  should  not  become  a  law.  The  duties  and  privileges  of  a  con- 
sul are  clearly  defined  by  the  rules  of  international  law,  and  his  com- 
pensation and  expenses  are  expressly  provided  for  under  our  statute- 
law.  The  consul,  when  he  accepts  the  position,  undertakes  to  discharge 
faithfully  and  to  the  best  of  his  ability  the  duties  incumbent  on  him. 
For  this  his  fees  or  salary  is  regarded  by  the  Government  as  a  full 
equivalent.  Expenses  for  postage,  stationery,  &c.,  and  his  disburse- 
ments for  relief  of  A^merican  seamen  are  paid  on  proper  vouchers 
sent  in  his  quarterly  reports.  Under  peculiar  circumstances,  the  Secre- 
tary of  State  may  authorize  special  expenditures,  but  in  no  case  can  the 
consul  or  commercial  representative  of  the  Government  incur  such  ex- 
pense without  such  authorization.  For  Congress  to  sanction  such  acts 
of  a  consular  officer  would  be  to  remove  the  guards  which  have  been 
thrown  around  him,  and  involve  the  Government  in  a  net-work  of  em- 
barrassing claims. 

The  charges  made  in  the  account,  as  rendered  by  the  said  West,  are 
all  of  an  exceptional  character,  and  are  mainly  of  a  personal  nature,  un- 
accompanied even  by  vouchers.  They  could  not  be  allowed  by  the  State 
Department,  and  the  committee  can  see  no  reason  for  sanctioning  them. 
If  any  proper  expenditure  for  stationery,  postage,  or  relief  of  American 
seamen  was  made,  the  State  Department  will  adjust  the  account  on  pre- 
sentation of  the  proper  vouchers.  The  Government  claims  the  entire 
time  and  services  of  the  consul,  and  takes  no  account  of  his  charities, 
hotel-bills,  railway-fares,  or  physicians'  bills.  Experience  in  the  con- 
sular service  made  the  said  West  acquainted  with  the  laws  governing 
this  subject,  and  with  the  rules  of  the  State  Department,  in  settling  his 
accounts,  and  therefore  no  injustice  is  done  him  by  the  action  of  the 
committee. 


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43d  Congress,  )      HOUSE  OF  EEPEESENTATIVES.      (  Repoet 
1st  Session.     J  \  No.  409. 


J.  &  W.  R.  WING. 


April  11,1874. — Committed  to  a  Committee  of  the  Whole  Honso  and  ordered  to  be- 

printed. 


Mr.  Marcus  L.  Ward,  from  the  Committee  ou  Foreign  Affairs,  sub- 
mitted the  following 

REPORT: 

[To  accompany  bill  H.  R.  2898.] 

T7ie  Committee  on  Foreign  Affairs^  to  whom  was  referred  the  memorial  of 
Messrs,  J.  &  TT.  R,  Wing^  of  New  Bedford^  Aiass.jfor  re-imbursement  of 
expenses  incurred  for  support  and  transportation  of  the  master  and  crew 
of  the  American  whaling-bark  Xantho^  after  the  wreck  of  that  vessel  in 
the  Indian  Ocean  June  18,  1871,  would  report : 

That  the  claim,  so  far  as  it  relates  to  the  expenses  of  support  and 
transportation  of  the  crew,  would  seem  to  be  in  accordance  with  existing 
laws  for  the  relief  of  seamen.  Had  there  been  a  United  States  consul 
at  Macassar,  these  expenses  would  have  been  incurred  and  paid  by  him, 
and  would  have  been  approved  and  audited  upon  vouchers  by  proper 
officers  of  the  Treasury.  The  claim  of  the  master  for  his  expenses  in 
reaching  his  home  in  the  United  States,  to  wit,  New  Bedford,  from  Soera- 
baya,  would  not  come  within  the  rule.  The  laws  of  the  United  States 
for  the  relief  of  shipwrecked  seamen  make  no  distinction  between  offi- 
cers and  seamen,  and  it  would  be  unwise  to  do  so.  A  consul  at  Macas- 
sar would  have  treated  the  master  on  the  same  principles  as  the  crew, 
and  if  he  had  done  otherwise  his  claim  for  re-imbursement  would  not 
have  been  allowed.  The  same  rule  of  action  applies  to  this  committee 
when  dealing  with  similar  questions.  The  committee  would  submit  the 
accompanying  bill. 


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43d  Congress,  \    HOUSE  OP  EBPEESBNTATIVES.      /  Bbpobt 
l8t  JSessian.     §  I  No.  410. 


HAERIETTE  A.  WOODRUFF. 


A.PRIL  11, 1874. — Committed  to  ft  Committee  of  the  Whole  Honse  ftnd  ordered  to  he 

printed. 


Mr.  Busk,  from  the  Committee  on  Invalid  Pensions,  sabmitted  the 

following 

REPORT: 

[To  accompany  hill  H.  R.  28i)9.] 

Th£  Committee  on  Invalid  PensionSj  to  whom  was  referred  the  hill  (JET.  22. 
2623)  granting  a  pension  to  Harrietie  A.  Woodruffs  mother  of  Eugene  A. 
Woodruffs  late  first  lieutenant  in  the  Corps  of  Engineers^  having  con- 
sidered the  same,  make  the  follotoing  report : 

It  appears  from  the  papers  in  this  case,  that  Engene  A.  Woodruff 
entered  the  service  in  1861,  as  a  member  of  Company  E,  Fifth  Begiment 
Iowa  Infantry,  and  after  serving  a  few  months  was  appointed  a  cadet 
at  West  Point.  He  graduated  in  1866,  with  marked  distinction,  standing 
No.  5  in  a  large  class,  and  at  once  entered  the  regular  service.  In  1873, 
while  superintending  the  work  assigned  him  on  the  Bed  Biver  raft,  it 
became  necessary  for  him  to  visit  Shreveport  to  procure  needed  sup- 
plies for  his  working-parties.  On  his  arrival  at  Shreveport  he  found 
the  city  stricken  by  a  sudden  and  terrible  epidemic,  before  which  all 
but  the  bravest  fled,  leaving  the  sick  suffering  and  to  be  cared  for  by 
the  few  gallant  souls  who  dared  to  face  the  plague.  It  was  a  position 
to  call  forth  all  the  generous,  self-sacrificing  impulses  of  a  Christian 
gentleman  and  a  soldier,  and  nobly  did  Woodruff  answer  to  the  call. 
Joining  the  Howard  Association,  he  took  his  part  in  bringing  order  out 
of  chaos;  in  inspiring  otiiers  with  his  own  fearless  spirit;  working 
good  both  at  the  bedside  of  the  sick  and  among  those  who  could  only 
be  held  in  the  path  of  duty  and  charity  by  a  present  bright  example. 
Aft^r  one  week  of  devotion  to  the  care  of  the  plague-stricken.  Wood- 
ruff was  himself  seized  with  the  disease,  and  died  from  its  effects  Sep- 
tember 30, 1873. 

The  petitioner  claims  pension  on  the  ground  of  dependence,  whicb  is 
abundantly  proven  by  properly-attested  papers.  The  claim  was  re- 
jected by  the  Commissioner  of  Pensions  '^  because  it  was  not  shown 
that  Lieilitenant  Woodruff  was  ordered  to  Shreveport  to  perform  any 
duty,  consequently  the  disease  which  caused  his  death  was  not  consid- 
ered to  have  been  contracted  in  the  line  of  duty."  Additional  evidence 
on  this  point  proves  the  contrary  to  be  true.  Charles  W.  Howell,  cap- 
tain in  the  Corps  of  Engineers,  states  under  oath  that  he  was  well  ac- 
quainted with  Lieutenant  Woodruff,  and  that  it  was  by  his  order  that 
said  Woodruff  was  stationed  at  Shreveport,  and  that  while  at  his  post 


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2  HABRIETTE   A.   WOODRUFF. 

of  daty,  and  in  the  discharge  of  daties  devolving  npon  him  by  compe- 
tent authority,  was  attacked  by  yellow  fever,  from  the  effects  of  which 
he  died. 

The  committee  believe  the  claim  to  be  a  jast  and  proper  one,  and  the 
mother  entitled  to  pension,  and  therefore  report  fiftvorably,  and  recom- 
mend the  passage  of  the  accompanying  sabstitute  for  H.  B.  2623. 


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43d  CowaBESS, )      HOUSE  OF  KEPEESENTATIVES.      (  Eepobt 
iMt  Session.     §  \  No.  411. 


JOSEPHINE  D.  THOMAS. 


April  11,  1874.— Committed  to  a  Committee  of  the  Whole  House  and  ordered  to  be 

printed. 


Mr.  Busk,  from  the  Committee  on  Invalid  Pensions,  submitted  the  fol- 
lowing 

REPORT: 

[To  accompany  bill  H.  B.  2072.] 

The  Committee  on  Invalid  Pensions^  to  whom  was  referred  the  bill  (JET.  £. 
2072)  granting  a  pension  to  Josephine  D.lThomaSy  widow  of  Capt  Evan 
Thomasj  Fourtii  United  States  ArtiUery^  hilled  in  the  late  Modoe  war^ 
having  considered  the  same,  report  the  Inll  bach  witVJJiefolUywing  amend- 
ment: 

In  line  eight,  strike  out  the  word  ^^  fifty  "  and  insert  ^'  thirty ,"  so  that 
it  will  read  ^^  thirty  dollars  per  month;"  and  as  thus  amended  recom- 
mend its  passage. 


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43d  Congress,  \     HOUSE  OP  KEPEESENTATIVES.       (  Eepobt 
l8t  Semon.     ]  I  No.  412. 


MAEY  E.  NAYLOR. 


April  11, 1874.— Committed  to  a  Committee  of  the  Whole  Hoase  and  ordered  to  be 

printed. 


Mr.  Martin,  from  the  Committee  on  Invalid  Pensions,  submitted  the 

following 

REPORT: 

[To  accompany  bill  S.  567.] 

The  Committee  on  Invalid  Pensions^  to  whom  teas  referred  the  bill  f8.  567 J 
granting  a  pension  to  Mary  E.  Naylor^  widow  of  Osborn  Naylorj  having 
had  the  same  under  considerationy  respectfully  report : 

That  we  concnr  in  the  report  of  the  Senate  committee,  report  back 
the  bill,  and  recommend  its  passage. 


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43d  Congbess,  »       HOUSE  OF  EEPRESENTATIVES.      (  Eeport 
l8t  Session.     ]  )  No.  413. 


EUGENE  SMITH. 


April  U,  1874.— Committed  to  a  Committee  of  the  Whole  Hoase  and  ordered  to  be 

printed. 


Mr.  SBiABT,  from  the  Committee  on  Invalid  Pensions,  submitted  the  fol- 
lowing 

REPORT: 

[To  accompany  bill  S.  539.  J 

The  Committee  on  Invalid  Tensions^  to  wlwm  teas  referred  the  Mil  (S.  639) 
granting  a  pension  to  Eugene  Smithy  late  of  Company  F^  First  Nebraska 
Volunteers^  would  respectfully  report: 

^  That  we  concnr  in  report  of  Senate  committee,  and  report  back  the 
billy  recommending  its  passage. 


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43d  OoNaBESS,  I      HOUSE  OF  KEPBESENTATIVES.     /  Eepobt 
Isi  Sesiian.     f  \  No.  414. 


JOHN  HENDEIB. 


April  11,  m74. — Committed  to  a  Committee  of  the  Whole  House  and  ordered  to  be 

printed. 


Mr.  Christopher  Y.  Thomas,  from  the  Committee  on  Invalid  Pensions, 
submitted  the  following 

REPORT: 

[To  aooompany  biU  H.  H.  2901.] 

Tlie  Committee  an  Invalid  Pemnons^  to  whom  was  referred  the  petition  of 
John  HendriCj  ashing  a  pension^  submit  the  folloioing  report : 

A  careful  examination  of  the  case  discloses  the  following  facts :  That 
in  April,  1862,  the  petitioner,  who  was  then  a  citizen  of  Detroit,  in  the 
State  of  Michigan,  enlisted  as  a  private  in  Company  B,  Seventeenth 
Begiment  United  States  Infantry.  A  few  days  thereafter  he  was  trans- 
ferred to  Portland,  Me.,  where,  after  full  examination  as  to  his  phys- 
ical condition,  he  was  pronounced  by  the  surgeon  to  be  sound  and 
healthy,  and  was  mustered  into  the  service.  That  his  health  continued 
good  till  the  spring  of  1863.  when,  from  severe  exposure  to  rain  and 
snow,  and  from  being  compelled  to  sleep  upon  the  wet  ground,  whilst 
on  duty  with  his  company,  during  the  campaign  in  Virginia,  he  was 
attacked  with  inflammatory  rheumatism,  from  which  he  suffered  greatly. 
That  his  disease  grew  in  violence  till  he  was  unable  to  render  service, 
and  was  transfened  to  a  hospital,  from  which  he  was  discharged  from 
the  Army  in  July,  1863,  in  consequence  of  his  diseased  condition,  the 
certificate  of  the  surgeon,  made  upon  examination,  nearly  eighteen 
months  after  he  enlisted,  stating  that  he  was  disabled  from  disease  ex- 
isting at  the  time  of  enlistment.  His  captain  under  whom  he  served 
bears  testimony  to  his  fidelity  and  courage  while  in  the  Army.  Numer- 
ous witnesses  depose  that  they  were  well  acquainted  with  him  at  the 
time  of,  and  for  years  before,  his  enlistment,  and  knew  him  to  be  a  sound 
and  vigorous  man  when  he  entered  the  service ;  that  his  disease  was 
contracted  as  before  stated,  and  that  it  has  pco^manently  disabled  him, 
so  as  to  render  him  unfit  for  any  pursuit  requiring  bodily  exercise*  The 
positive  proof  of  the  witnesses  is,  in  the  opinion  of  the  committee,  suf- 
ficient to  reverse  the  record-evidence  and  to  show  that  it  is  a  merito- 
rious casC;  and  they  recommend  the  passage  of  the  bill. 


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43d  CoNaEBSS,  \    HOUSE  OP  KEPEESENTATIVES.    (   Repobt 
1st  Seuian.     f  \   lSro.415. 


JAMES  E.  YOXJKG. 


April  11, 1874.— Committed  to  a  Committee  of  the  Whole  Hoobo  and  ordered  to  he 

printed. 


Mr.  Eden,  from  the  Committee  on  GlaimSy  sabmitted  the  following 

REPORT: 

[To  accompany  S.  470.] 

The  Ccmmittee  an  ClaitMj  to  toham  was  referred  the  bill  {8.  470)  far  the 
retuf  af  James  E.  Yaungj  late  pagtmaster  at  Lisbanj  N.  H.^  submit 
the  fallowing  report : 

This  case  has  been  twice  reported  on  favorably  by  the  Senate  Oom- 
mittee  on  Post-OflBces  and  Post-Boads,  and,  as  their  report  is  fully  sus- 
tained by  the  evidence  on  file,  the  same  is  submitted  herewith  and 
adopted  as  the  report  of  this  committee. 

The  committee  recommend  the  passage  of  the  bill. 


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4 


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43i>  Congress,  (      HOUSE  OF  REPEESBNTATIVES.     (  Kepobt 
l8t  Session.     )  \  No.  416. 


riDE-FLATS  INDUWAMISHBAY,  WASHINGTON  TERRITORY. 


April  15, 1674. — Committed  to  the  Committee  of  the  Whole  House  on  the  state  of 
the  Union  and  ordered  to  be  printed. 


Mr.  Obr,  from  the  Oommittee  on  the  Public  Lands,  sabraitted  the 

following 

REPORT: 

[To  accompany  bill  H.  R.  2984.] 

The  Committee  on  the  Public Lands^  to  whom  iceu referred  tliebill  (JT.  jB.  1160) 
relative  to  certain  mud-flats^  or  evhTnerged  landSj  lying  adjacent  to  the 
city  of  Seattle^  upon  Paget  Soundj  in  the  Territory  of  Washingtonj 
report: 

The  town  or  city  of  Seattle  is  situated  upon  a  narrow  peninsula,  pro- 
jecting into  the  bay  or  harbor.  It  is  a  flourishing  place  of  some  3,500 
inhabitants,  commanding  the  trade  of  a  large  portion  of  Puget  Sound, 
with  a  good  back  country.  Upon  the  southerly  end  of  this  bay  is  a 
delta,  made  by  the  silt  and  sediment  brought  to  the  salt  water  by  the 
Duwamish  River,  which  disembogues  into  the  bay  by  several  channels, 
none  of  which  are  straight  or  convenient  for  navigation. 

The  entrance  to  the  river  would  be  greatly  improved  were  the  waters 
of  that  stream  concentrated  into  one  direct  channel,  thereby  affording 
safe  and  convenient  access  to  the  fertile  valleys  of  the  main  river  and 
its  branches. 

The  peninsula  upon  which  the  town  of  Seattle  was  originally  built 
contains  about  sixty  acres,  and  the  hills  bordering  it  are  about  three 
hundred  feet  high,  upon  the  steep  slopes  of  which  the  town  is  being  ex- 
tended for  want  of  room  to  expand  upon  more  level  ground. 

By  granting  the  now  useless  mudflats,  it  will  allow  the  town  to  ex- 
pand upon  a  level,  greatly  to  the  benefit  of  commerce,  by  allowing  more 
wharf-front,  will  give  the  city  the  only  suitable  place  for  the  deposit  of 
waste  material  of  earth  obtained  by  grading  the  hills  adjacent,  will 
greatly  facilitate  commerce  upon  Puget  Sound  and  upon  the  Duwamish 
River,  and  convert  that  which  is  now  an  unsightly  nuisance,  and  out- 
side the  public-land  surveys,  to  a  valuable  addition  to  the  harbor  and 
town  facilities  of  an  important  center  of  population  upon  Puget  Sound. 

The  tide  at  this  place  rises  about  twenty  feet  at  highest  spring-tides, 
and  fourteen  feet  at  lowest  tides.  The  flats  in  question  are  a  serious 
obstruction  to  navigation,  and  at  low  tide  are  for  the  most  part  bare. 

This  grant  or  relinquishment  was  asked  for  of  Congress  by  the  legis- 
lative assembly  of  the  Territory  of  Washington,  and  the  city  council  of 
Seattle.  All  advei-se  right«,  if  any,  are  protected  by  the  provisions  of 
this  bill. 

For  want  of  authority  the  mud-flats  cannot  be  improved  or  reclaimed. 
There  is  no  opposition  to  the  proposed  grant  from  any  quarter. 

The  area  of  mud-flats  proposed  to  be  relinquished  to  the  town  of 
Seattle  is  about  fifteen  hundred  acres. 

AVe  recommend  that  the  bill  do  pass. 


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43b  Oonoress,  \     HOUSE  OF  EEPEESENTATIVES.      (  Repobt 
l8t  Session.     J  (  No.  417. 


DWIGHT  J.  MoOANN. 


Apiol  15, 1874. — Committed  to  a  Committee  of  the  Whole  Honse  and  ordered  to  be 

printed. 


Mr.  E.  E.  BUTLEB,  from  the  Committee  on  Indian  Affairs,  submitted 

the  following 

REPORT: 

[To  aocompany  biU  H.  R.  2039.] 

The  Committee  on  Indian  Affairs,  to  whom  was  referred  bill  H.  B.  2039, 
and  the  petition  of  Dtcight  J.  McCann,  stibmit,  through  Mr.  B.  B,  But- 
ler ^  the  following  report: 

The  petitioner  seeks  to  recoTer  the  damages  resulting  from  the 
detention  of  his  trains  at  Cheyenne^  Wyo.,  after  their  arrival  at  said 
place,  for  the  purpose  of  transporting  Indian  goods  for  the  United 
States,  and  your  committee,  from  the  evidence  submitted,  find  the  fol- 
lowing facts: 

1st.  That,  in  June,  1871,  the  Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs  entered 
into  a  contract  with  petitioner  to  receive  at  Cheyenne,  Wyo.,  the  goods 
for  the  Indians  of  the  Whetstone  agency,  and  to  transport  them  in 
good  and  well-covered  wagons  to  the  Whetstone  agency  without  un- 
necessary delay.    (Seb  articles  of  agreement,  marked  Exhibit  A.) 

2d.  That,  for  such  transportation,  the  United  States  agreed  to  pay 
$1.75  per  hundred  pounds  for  each  hundred  miles  traveled,  and  required 
petitioner  to  execute  a  bond  to  the  United  States  in  the  sum  of  $100,000, 
conditioned  for  the  faithful  performance  of  the  said  contract  by  peti- 
tioner, which  bond  was  duly  executed  by  petitioner,  and  accepted  by 
the  Government. 

3d.  Petitioner,  by  virtue  of  said  contract,  put  himself  in  condition 
to  comply  with  the  same,  and  was  notified  by  a  telegram  to  be  ready 
by  the  1st  of  July  to  transport  to  the  Whetstone  agency  one  million 
pounds )  also  was  notified  by  a  telegram  to  be  ready  by  1st  of  July  to 
transport  five  hundred  thousand  pounds  to  the  Eed  Cloud  agency, 
(see  dispatehes  marked  B  and  C ;)  which  transportation  was  furnished 
as  required.  Although  the  goods  were  at  that  time  at  Cheyenne,  ready 
to  be  transported,  and  were  loaded  in  petitioner's  wagons,  the  Indian 
Department,  on  account  of  threatened  hostilities  of  Spotted  Tail's  bands, 
directed  the  forwarding  of  the  goods  be  delayed  at  Fort  Laramie. 
This  delay  was  continued  until  the  18th  of  August,  1871,  when  the 
Indian  goods  intended  for  the  Whetstone  agency  were,  by  the  Indian 
Department,  directed  to  be  forwarded  to  the  Eed  Cloud  agency,  which 
was  done  by  petitioner. 

4tb.  The  receiving  and  shipping  agent  of  the  United  States  at  Chey- 
enne states  the  account,  and  fixes  the  time  that  petitioner's  trains  were 
detained,  and  assesses  the  damages  that  petitioner  was  entitled  to  for 
such  detention,  and  said  agent  issued  regular  vouchers  for  the  same, 
duly  certified,  which  amounted  to  $19,000,  which  vouchers  are  marked 
No.  1  and  No.  2. 


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2  ^  DWIGHT   J.    m'cANK. 

6tli.  Petitioner  also  claims  to  be  the  owner  of,  by  purchase  for  a  val- 
uable consideration,  a  similar  voucher  issued  by  the  said  agent  to  one 
John  Goad  who  was  also  a  contractor  at  the  same  time  to  transport 
Indian. goods  to  the  Bed  Cloud  agency,  the  voucher  thus  issued  and 
certified  to  by  the  said  agent  amounting  to  the  sum  of  $10,200,  which 
voucher  is  marked  No.  3. 

6th.  The  Indian  agent  at  Fort  Laramie,  J.  W.  Wham,  certifies  to  the 
detention  of  petitionei^s  trains  at  that  place,  and  issued  a  voucher  show- 
ing the  cause  and  stating  the  time  the  trains  were  detained,  amounting 
to  $11,368,  which  voucher  is  marked  No.  4.  All  of  said  vouchers  amoant 
in  the  aggregate  to  $40,568,  which  amount  your  committee  believes  is 
justly  due  petitioner  and  should  be  paid.  The  Commissioner  of  Indian 
Affairs,  in  his'response  to  a  request  from  this  committee,  ^see  his  letter 
marked  Exhibit  A,)  states  '^  as  the  detention  was  not  causea  by  reason  of 
any  fault  of  McCann  but  by  the  direction  of  this  Department  and  of  the 
officers  of  the  Government,  I  am  of  the  opinion  that  he  is  equitably 
entitled  to  compensation  for  the  damages  sustained  by  such  detention." 
Your  committee  concur  in  the  conclusion  so  concisely  stated  by  the 
Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs,  and  recommend  the  passage  of  the 
accompanying  bill  in  lieu  of  the  original  for  the  relief  of  the  petitioner. 
The  only  difficulty  in  coming  to  a  conclusion  was  as  to  the  compensation 
that  petitioner  was  entitled  to  per  day  for  each  team  detained.  The 
committee  called  before  them  the  Commissioner  of  Indian  AfEEurs  who 
testified  that  the  amount  charged  and  for  which  vouchers  were  issued 
was  reasonable  and  not  exorbitant ;  that  the  Department  had  subse- 
quently contracted  with  the  petitioner  for  the  transportation  of  Indian 
goods  and  supplies,  and  had  agreed  to  pay  petitioner  a  like  sum  for  hke 
detention. 

JNO.  T.  AVERILL. 

R,  K  BUTLER. 

D.  P.  LOWE. 

B.  W.  HARRIS. 

JNO.  D.  LAWSON. 

J.  McXULTA.. 

JOHN  P.  C.  SHA^ifKS. 

J.  H.  RAINEY. 

H.  L.  RICHMOND. 


Exhibit  B. 


Ch£YENK£,  June  20, 1871. 


D.  J.  McCaxn, 

Contractor  TransportaUotif  Nebraska  City : 

Ton  are  required  to  famish  transportation  for  one  million  (1,000,000)  pounds  annnitj 
goods  and  supplies  for  Whetstone  Indian  agency  by  Jnly  1. 

GEO.  W.  COREY; 
United  States  Reoeiving  and  Shipping  AgetL 


Exhibit  C. 

Chetexxe,  J'liMe  20, 1871. 
Sir  :  You  are  hereby  notified  that  transportation  for  five  hundred  thousand  (500,000) 
pounds  of  annnity  goods  and  supplies  for  Red  Cloud  Indian  agency  will  be  required  by 
July  1, 1871. 

GEO.  W.  COREY, 
United  States  Receiving  and  Shipjnng  Agetl 
John  F.  Coad, 

Contractor  Transportationj  Cheyenne f  Wyo, 


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DWIGHT   J.   m'cANN.  3 

No.  1. 

Cheyenne^  August  16, 1871. 

United  States  To  D.  J.  McCain  Vr, 

For  delay  of  teams  awaiting  freight  to  be  carried  to  the  Whetstone  Sionz  agenoy. 
Aagnst  15, 1871 — 30  teams  delayed  from  Angast  1  to  15,  inclnsive,  at  $10  per 

day $4,500 

I  hereby  certify  that  the  above  statement  in  regard  to  delay  of  teams  for  want  o  f 
freight  is  correct. 

GEO.  W.  COREY, 
^  Receiving  and  Shipping  Agent 

Cheyenne,  August  16, 1871. 

flndorsed.] 

Pay  to  the  order  of  the  Nebraska  City  National  Bank. 

D.  J.  McCANN. 

Pay  to  Hon.  H.  R.  Clum,  Aotinff  Commissioner,  or  order,  for  collection,  for  account  of 
the  Nebraska  City  National  Bank. 

W.  W.  BELL,  noe-Preaident 

No.  2. 

Cheyenne,  July  31, 1871. 

United  States  To  D.  J.  McCann,  Dr. 

For  delay  of  teams  at  Cheyenne  awaiting  freight  to  Whetstone  Sioux  agency. 

July  26, 1871—50  teams,  for  26  days,  from  July  1, 1871,  at  $10 $13, 000 

July  31, 1871—30  teams,  for  5  days,  from  July  1, 1871,  at  $10 •  1, 500 

Total 14,500 

I  hereby  certify  that  the  above  statement  in  regard  to  delay  of  teams  for  want  of 
freight  is  correct. 

GEO.  W.  COREY, 
Receiving  and  Shipping  Agent 
Cheyenne,  August  5, 1871. 

[Indorsed.] 

Pay  to  the  order  of  the  Nebraska  City  National  Bank. 

D.  J.  McCANN. 

Pay  Hon.  H.  R.  Olum,  Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs,  or  order,  for  collection,  for 
account  of  fhe  Nebraska  City  National  Bank. 

W.  W.  BELL,  Vice-President 


No.  3. 

Cheyenne  July  31, 1871. 

United  States  To  John  F.  Coad,  Dr, 

For  delay  of  teams  at  Cheyenne,  awaiting  freight  to  Red  Cloud  Sioux  agency. 

July  20, 1871— Forty  teams  from  July  1,  20  days^  at  $10 $8, 000 

July  31, 1871— Twenty  teams  from  July  20, 11  days,  at  $10 2,200 

10,200 

I  hereby  certify  that  the  above  statement  in  regard  to  delay  of  teams  for  want  o' 
freight  is  correct. 

GEO.  W.  COREY, 
Receiving  and  Shipping  Agent, 
Cheyenne,  August  5, 1871. 

[Indorsed.}. 

Cheyenne,  August  21, 1871. 
Pay  to  order  of  D.  J.  McCann. 

JOHN  F.  COAD. 
Pay  to  the  order  of  the  Nebraska  City  National  Bank. 

D.  J.  McCANN. 

Pay  Hon.  H.  R.  Clum,  Acting  Commissioner,  or  order,  fur  collection,  for  account  of 
the  Nebraska  City  National  Bank. 

W.  W.  BELL,  Vice-President 


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4  DWIGHT   J.   m'CANK. 

No.  4. 

The  United  States  To  b.  J.  JicCanx,         Dr. 

August  25, 1871.-»For  damages  sustained  by  delays  in  the  transportation  of 
Indian  supplies  for  Whetstone  agency,  twenty-three  wagons,  delayed 
twenty  days,  at  the  rate  of  $14.50  each  per  day $6,670  00 

For  damages  sustained  bv  delays  in  the  transportation  of  Indian  supplies  for 
Whetstone  agency,  eighteen  wagons,  delayed  eighteen  days,  at  the  rate  of 
$14.50  each  per  day 4,eS>8  00 

I  certify  that  the  above  account  is  correct  and  Just,  as  shown  by  accompanying 
statement. 

J.  W.  WHAM, 
United  States  Special  Indian  Agent 

Received  at .  187-,  of , doUars,  in  full  of  the  above  accoant. 

D.  J.  McCAKN. 
[Duplicates.] 

'  flndoned.] 

Pay  to  the  order  of  Nebraska  City  National  Bank. 

D.  J.  McCANN. 

Pay  Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs,  or  order,  for  collection,  for  account  of  the  Nebnisk» 
City  National  Bank. 

W,  W.  BELL, 

Fioe-Presideiit 

The  delays  for  which  indemnity  is  claimed  were  caused  by  the  refusal  of  Indians  to 
escort  the  snpplies  for  Whetstone  agency  across  the  Sioux  reservation.  The  gooda 
were  ordered  forward  by  the  agent  at  Whetstone,  and  were  loaded  and  shipped  by  D. 
J.  McCann,  under  contract  for  transporting  supplies  for  Whetstone  agency,  and  OY^iog 
to  the  strong  opposition  manifested  oy  the  leadine  Indians  to  having  trains  cross  the 
Platte  River  and  proceed  to  the  interior  of  the  uidian  country,  it  was  deemed  very 
unsafe^  for  the  contractor  to  proceed  without  a  strong  military  escort.  The  military 
authorities  were  applied  to  for  an  escort,  which  was  referred  to  the  Interior  Depar^ 
ment,  which  directed  that  supplies  for  Whetstone  agency  should  be  held  at  Fort  Lsr- 
amie  until  further  orders.  There  being  no  store-house  at  Laramie  to  be  had  for  par- 
pose  of  storing  goods,  they  were  necessarily  lefb  in  wagons,  which  were  held  there  for 
that  purpose. 

This  delay  was  not  the  result  of  any  fault  of  the  contractor,  and  amounted  to  the 
number  of  days  as  set  forth  in  the  foregoing  account. 

J.  W.  WHAM, 
United  Statee  Indian  Agent, 


Personally  appeared  before  me,  a  notary  public  in  and  for  the  District  of  Columbia, 
this  14th  day  oi  April,  1874,  David  McCrano,  of  Montana  Territory,  who,  being  duly 
sworn,  deposes  ana  savs  that  he  is  acouainted  with  the  business  of  freighting  on  the 
western  frontier,  and  has  been  engaged  in  freighting  for  the  United  States  for  • 
years,  and  that  he  has  been  paid  $10  per  day  1 


J  for  the  detention  of  his  teams  of  five  yoke 
of  cattle  each,  and  that  $14750  per  day  for  such  teams  when  two  extra  hands  are  em- 
ployed for  the  guarding  of  goods  in  the  Indian  country,  is  a  fair  and  reasonable  price, 
and  no  more  than  the  services  are  worth. 

DAVID  McCRANO. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  14th  day  of  April,  1874. 

[SEAL.]  T.  S.  HOPKINS, 

Notarg  Emblie, 


B. 

Personally  appeared  before  me,  a  notary  public  in  and  for  the  District  of  Columbia,  this 
14th  day  of  April,  1874,  Wm.  M.  Pleas,  of  Leavenworth,  Kansas,  who,  beinjc  duly 
sworn,  deposes  and  says  that  he  is  well  acquainted  with  the  business  of  freighting  on 
the  frontier  and  the  prices  paid  by  the  United  States  for  detention  of  wagon-trains  in 


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DWIGHT   J.   m'CANN.  5 

the  Indian  conntry,  and  that  $10  per  day  for  wagons  with  five  yoke  of  cattle  each, 
and  $14.50  for  the  s^me  tQams,  when  valuable  goods  have  to  be  gnarded  night  and  day 
by  the  employment  of  additional  hands,  are  fair  and  reasonable  prices,  and  no  more 
than  the  services  are  worth. 

W.  M.  PLEAS. 

Sworn  and  subscribed  before  me  this  14th  day  of  April,  A.  D.  1874. 

[SEJiL.]  SAM'L  C.  MILLS, 

Notary  PuhUc 


Personally  appeared  before  m6,  a  notary  public  in  and  for  the  District  of  Columbia, 
this  14  th  day  of  April,  1874,  P.  A.  Largey,  of  Montana  Territory,  who,  being  duly 
sworn,  deposes  and  says  that  he  has  been  engaged  in  the  business  of  freighting  for 

the  United  States  for years  last  past,  and  is  acquainted  with  the  prices  paid  for 

detention  of  trains  consisting  of  wagons  with  five  yoke  of  cattle  each,  and  that  the 
same  is  $10  per  day  for  each  wagon  with  five  yoke  of  cattle ;  that  the  sum  of  $14.50 
per  wagon  for  detention  of  like  trains,  when  the  goods  have  to  be  guarded  night  and 
day  by  extra  hands,  is  not  exorbitant,  but  is  a  fair  compensation,  and  no  more. 

P.  A.  LARaEY. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  before  me  this  14th  day  of  April,  1874. 

[SEAL.]  T.  S.  HOPKINS, 

Notary  Public, 


E. 

To  the  Senate  and  Home  of  Representatives  of  the  United  States  of  America : 

The  petition  of  D.  J.  McCann,  of  Nebraska,  respectfully  showeth  that  during  the 
year  16&1  your  petitioner  was  contractor  with  the  United  States  Government  for  the 
traDsportation  of  annuity  goods  and  supplies  for  the  Indians  from  Cheyenne,  Wyoming 
Territory,  to  the  Whetstone  Indian  agency,  a  distance  of  two  hundred  and  twenty  miles . 
The  Government  failed  to  deliver  goods  at  the  time  specified  iu  the  contract  at  the 
place  of  starting,  and  fifty  of  your  i>etitioner's  teams  were  detained  at  Cheyeuuefrom 
the  Ist  to  the  26th  day  of  July  waiting  for  the  delivery  of  goods.  Thirty  of  petition- 
er's teams  were  detained  five  days  each,  that  is,  from  the  26th  to  the  31st  day  of  July, 
at  the  same  place  for  the  same  reason,  before  staxting.  It  may  be  proper  to  state  here 
that ''  a  team''  consists  of  one  man,  one  wagon,  and  five  yoke  of  cattle,  but  when  the 
sandy  plains  are  reached  it  is  necessary  to  Sdtd  a  yoke  of  cattle  to  each  team.  As  soon 
as  the  goods  were  delivered  to  the  petitioner  at  Cheyenne  his  trains  were  loaded  and 
proceeded  on  the  route  until  they  reached  the  Sioux  reservation  near  Fort  Laramie,  a 
distance  of  one  hundred  and  ten  miles,  and  about  half  way  to  the  Whetstone  agency, 
wheu  they  were  stopped  by  the  agent  of  the  Sioux,  who  refused  to  allow  said  trains 
to  cross  the  reservation  till  he  could  communicate  with  the  Department  at  Washing- 
ton. Your  petitioner  was  at  that  time  a  member  of  the  constitutional  convention  of 
Nebraska,  than  iu  session  at  Lincoln,  and  wrote  and  telegraphed  to  the  Department 
of  the  Interior  at  Washington,  offering  to  ffo  out  in  person  and  convey  the  trains 
across  the  reservation,  but  was  not  permitted  to  do  so.  Your  petitioner  applied  to  the 
officer  in  command  at  ITort  Laramie  to  be  relieved  of  the  goods  on  the  trains,  which 
^ere  in  great  danger  of  being  stolen  by  Indians  and  half-breeds  on  one  side,  and  by  sol- 
diers and  loafers  around  the  fort  on  the  other.  This  was  not  permitted,  by  reason  of 
there  being  no  place  where  the  goods  could  be  stored  in  safety  at  that  post. 

Your  petitioner  had  given  bonds  in  the  penalty  of  one  hundred  thousand  dollars  for  the 
fulfillment  of  his  contract,  and  being  responsible  for  the  goods,  which  were  of  great 
value — Qonsisting  of  Indian  blankets,  cloth,  clothing,  coffee,  sugar,  tobacco,  flour,  and 
bacon— he  was  compelled  to  employ  a  double  set  of  hands,  and  did  employ  them,  and 
guarded  the  property  twenty  days  at  his  own  expense  and  in  his  own  wasons. 

The  Department  then  directed  that  the  goods  be  delivered  at  the  Bed  Cloud  agency, 
which  was  done— freight  being  paid  for  one  hundred  and  thirty-two  miles  instead  of 
two  hundred  and  twenty.  The  loss  on  eighty-eight  miles,  not  carried  was  over  $12,000 
on  the  amount  which  should  have  been  carried  according  to  the  contract.  The  peti- 
tioner, however,  makes  no  claim  upon  this  item.  He  only  claims  for  the  actual 
losses  sustained,  and  which  were  agreed  upon  by  the  officers  of  the  Government,  and 
for  which  they  have  issued  vouchers. 


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6  DWIGHT   J.   m'cANN. 

The  petitioner  further  showeth  that,  in  1871,  John  F.  Coad  had  a  contract  with  the 
United  States  Government  for  the  transportation  qf  the  same  class  of  goods  between 
Cheyenne  and  the  Red  Cload  agency ;  that  said  Coad  had  forty  teams  in  waiting  at 
Cheyenne  from  the  1st  to  the  20th  day  of  Jaly,  and  twenty  teams  from  the  20(h  to  the 
3lBt  day  of  July  before  goods  were  delivered  to  load  them ;  that  George  W.  Corey,  the 
Government  receiving  and  shipping  agent  at  Cheyenne,  on  the  5th  day  of  Aogost, 
1871,  a^usted  and  certified  the  amount  due  for  the  expenses  of  such  detention  at 
410,200,  which  demand  was  afterward,  and  on  the  21st  of  August,  1871,  duly  assigned 
to  your  petitioner  for  a  valuable  consideration. 

Yonr  petitioner,  therefore,  prays  that  an  act  may  be  passed  to  pay  him  the  amonnt 
of  money  due  to  him,  as  above  stated,  viz,  $40,568;  and  your  petitioner,  as  in  dntj 
bound,  will  ever  pray,  &c. 

D.  J.  McCANN. 


F. 

Articles  of  agreement  made  and  entered  into  this  twenty-ninth  day  of  June,  A  D. 
eighteen  hundred  and  seventy-one,  by  £.  S.  Parker,  Commissioner  of  Indian  A&in, 
for  and  on  behalf  of  the  United  States,  of  the  first  part,  and  D.  J.  McCann,  of  Ne- 
braska City,  Nebraska,  of  the  second  part,  witnesseth  : 

The  said  party  of  the  seeond  part,  for  himself,  his  heirs,  executors,  and  administra- 
tors, hereby  covenants  and  agrees  with  the  said  party  of  the  first  part  to  receive  ai 
Cheyenne,  Wyoming  Territory,  the  goods  for  the  Indians  of  the  Whetstone  agencj, 
and  to  transport  them  in  good  and  well-covered  wagons  to  the  Whetstone  agencj, 
without  unnecessary  delay. 

The  party  of  the  first  part  agrees  to  pav,  or  cause  to  be  paid,  to  the  said  party  of 
the  second  part,  his  heirs,  executors,  or  administrators,  for  all  the  transportation  per- 
formed under  this  contract,  at  the  rate  of  one  dollar  and  seventy-five  cents  per  hundred 
pounds  per  hundred  miles,  payment  to  be  made  on  presentation  at  the  office  of  Indiaa 
Affiairs  of  the  receipts  of  the  agent  to  whom  the  goods  are  consigned,  after  they  shall 
have  been  properly  approved  according  to  law. 

It  is  agreed,  however,  that,  before  the  United  States  shall  be  bound  by  this  contract, 
a  bond  in  the  sum  of  one  hundred  thousand  dollars  shall  be  executed  by  the  said  party 
of  the  second  part,  with  two  or  more  good  and  sufficient  sureties ;  said  bond  to  be  con- 
ditioned for  the  faithful  performance  of  this  contract  in  all  its  particulars  by  the  said 
party  of  the  second  part. 

It  is  hereby  expressly  understood  that  no  member  of  Congress  shall  be  admitted  to 
any  share  or  part  of  this  contract,  or  any  benefit  to  arise  therefrom,  which  provision 
is  hereby  inserted  in  compliance  with  the  third  section  of  an  act  concerning  public 
contracts,  approved  the  2lst  of  April,  1808 ;  and  it  is  further  understood  that  the  pro- 
visions contained  in  the  first  section  of  said  act  are  hereby  made  a  part  and  parcel  of 
this  contract. 

In  witness  whereof  the  parties  hereto  have  hereunto  set  their  hands  and  seals  the 
day  and  year  first  above  written. 

E.  S.  PARKER,     [SEAL.] 
Signed  in  presence  of—  ChmmiBHoner  qf  Indian  Affain. 

J.  E.  BOTD,  as  to  D.  J.  McCann.  D.  J.  McCANN.    [seal.] 


Department  of  the  Interior, 

Office  of  Indian  Affairs, 
Washingtan,  Z>.  C,  Jugu9t  11,  1871. 
Sir  :  Referring  to  the  matter  of  the  transportation  of  jE^oods  and  supplies  purchased 
for  the  Whetstone  agency,  and  to  j^onr  several  communications  upon  the  sulnect,  I 
have  to  advise  you  that,  owing  to  information  having  been  received  at  this  office  to 
the  effect  that  if  said  goods  and  supplies  should  be  transported  through  the  oouDtrr 
to  said  agency  accompanied  by  a  military  escort,  hostilities  would  commence  at  once, 
and  to  the  fact  that  Spotted  Tail  and  his  Indians,  with  the  exception  of  three  or  four 
hundred,  have  left  said  agency  with  the  avowed  intention  and  determination  of  not 
returning  to  it,  as  at  present  located,  instructions,  with  the  concurrence  of  the  hon- 
orable Acting  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  have  been  given  to  George  W.  Corey,  esq.. 
receiving  and  shipping  agent  at  Cheyenne,  to  forward  said  goods  and  supplies  to  the 
Red  Cloud  agency,  to  be  delivered  to  Agent  Wham  for  issue  at  that  place ;  also,  to 
forward  said  supplies  only  as  fast  as  the  agent  may  call  for  them,  as  the  means  of  storing 
the  same  at  the  Ked  Cloud  agency  are  at  present  limited. 

Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant,  H.  R.  CLUM, 

Acting  Canmisawner. 
Hon.  D.  J;  McCann, 

Lincolnj  Nehraska, 


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DWIGHT   J.    m'cANN.  7 

H. 

Department  of  the  Interior, 
WashingUmy  D.  C,  August  11, 1871. 

SiK  :  From  repreBontatioDs  made  to  this  Office,  the  Department  is  satisfied,  in  case 
tlie  annuity  goods  and  supplies  purchased  for  Spotted  Tail's  band  of  Sioux  are  trans- 
ported through  the  country  to  the  Whetstone  agency  as  at  present  located,  that  trouble 
and  difficulty  if  not  actual  hostilities  will  ensue. 

With  the  concurrence  of  the  honorable  acting  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  I  have  there- 
fore to  direct  that  all' goods  and  supplies  received  by  you  at  Cheyenne  for  said  agency 
be  shipped  to  the  Red  Cloud  agency,  and  turned  over  to  Agent  Wham  for  issue  to  Spot- 
ted Tail  and  his  Indians  at  that  place. 

Yoa  will  please  see  that  the  necessary  instructions  are  given  to  that  end  to  the  con- 
tractor for  transporting  said  goods  and  supplies,  and  also  that  the  supplies  for  both 
Red  Cloud's  ana  Spotted  Tiul's  Indians  are  forwarded  only  as  callea  for  by  Agent 
Wham,  as  the  means  of  storing  the  same  at  the  Bed  Cloud  agency  are  at  present  lim- 
ited. 

Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

H.  R.  CLUM, 
Acting  Commissioner, 
Geo.  W.  Corky,  Esq., 

Cheyenne,  D\  T. 


Exhibit  A. 

Department  of  the  Interior, 
Office  of  Indian  Affairs, 
Washington,  D.  C,  March  4, 1874. 

Sir  :  I  have  the  honor  to  be  in  receipt,  by  reference  from  the  Department,  of  a  com- 
munication from  Hon.  R.  R.  Butler,  dated  the  2d  instant,  inclosing  House  bill.  No.  2039, 
for  the  relief  of  Dwight  J.  McCann,  for  damages  sustained  by  him  in  delaying  his  trains 
and  changing  the  destination  thereof  by  officers  of  the  Government  during  the  year 
1871,  and  requesting  to  be  informed  why  this  Department  cannot  pay  the  claim,  and 
to  be  furnished  with  such  facts  and  suggestions  as  may  be  deemed  proper. 

Agreeably  to  the  direction  contained  in  Department  reference,  I  would  respectfully 
state  that  it  appears  from  the  records  of  this  Office,  that,  in  1871,  Mr.  MoCanu  was  the 
contractor  for  transporting  the  goods  and  supplies  purchased  for  the  Indians  belonging 
to  the  Whetstone  agency. 

These  goods  and  supplies  were  shipped  to  Cheyenne,  Wyoming  Territory,  where  they 
were  to  he  turned  over  to  the  contractor,  to  be  delivered  by  hira  at  the  agency. 

When  he  first  train  loaded  with  these  goods,  d&c.,  arrived  at  Fort  Laramie,  owing  to 
the  unsettled  condition  of  affairs  at  the  Red  Cloud  and  Whetstone  agencies,  the  dis- 
affection of  some  of  the  Indians,  and  their  demand  to  have  the  goods,  £c.,  unloaded  at 
the  fort,  to  be  transported  by  themselves,  the  contractor  asked  for  a  military  escort. 
Application  was  therefore  made  to  the  War  Department  for  the  necessary  escort,  which 
was  ordered  to  be  furnished. 

Before  starting  from  Fort  Laramie,  however,  the  a^ent  for  the  Red  Cloud  agency  and 
MaAoT  Crittenden,  then  in  temporary  command  at  that  post,  advised  this  Office  that  a 
military  escort  passing  through  the  country  to  the  Whetstone  agency,  would,  in  their 
opinion,  produce  trouble  with  the  Indians  and  cause  hostilities  to  commence  at  once. 
In  view  of  this  information  the  order  for  the  escort  was,  at  the  request  of  this  Office, 
suspended,  and  the  goods,  &c.,  were,  by  the  direction  of  the  Department,  delivered  at 
the  Red  Cloud  agency,  where  they  were  issued,  or  turned  over  to  the  Indians  entitled 
to  receive  them.    The  foregoing  is  a  brief  statement  of  the  facts  in  the  case. 

As  the  detention  of  Mr.  McCann's  train  was  not  caused  by  reason  of  any  fault  of  his, 
but  by  the  direction  of  this  Department,  and  of  the  officers  of  the  Government,  I  am 
of  the  opinion  that  he  is  equitably  entitled  to  compensation  for  the  damages  sustained 
by  him  on  account  of  such  detention,  &c. 

The  Department  cannot  pay  Mr.  McCann  the  amount  to  which  he  may  be  justly  en- 
titled on  his  claim  as  aforesaid,  for  the  reason  that  there  are  no  funds  on  hand  appli- 
cable for  that  purpose. 
The  papers  inclosed  with  your  reference  of  the  3d  instant  are  herewith  returned. 
Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

EDW'D  P.  SMITH, 
Commissioner, 
The  Hon.  Secretary  of  the  Interior. 


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43d  Congress,  (     HOUSE  OF  REPEESENTATIVES.      (  Eepobt 
l8t  Session.     §  \  No.  418. 


MISSISSIPPI  LEVEES. 


April  17,  1874.— Recomruitted  to  the  Select  Committee  od  MissisMippi  Levees  and  or- 
dered to  be  printed. 


Mr.  MoREY,  from  the  Select  Committee  on  Mississippi  Levees,  sub- 
mitted the  following 

REPORT: 

ITo  accompany  bill  H.  R.  29^8.  | 

The  Committee  on  Mississippi  Levees^  to  tchom  the  subject  teas  referred^ 
make  the  following  report : 

Your  committee,  in  the  consideration  of  the  subject  of  the  Mississippi 
levees  as  a  national  work,  have  sought  rather  to  investigate  the  plans 
which  have  from  time  to  time  been  advocated  by  distiugnished  engi- 
neers and  other  able  writers,  and  to  give  the  information  collated  from 
their  investigations,  rather  than  to  attempt  the  orii*ination  of  any  plan 
or  statement  of  facts  peculiarly  their  own. 

Impressed  with  the  idea  that  the  subject  of  the  reclamation  and  pro* 
tection  from  inundation  of  the  '^  Alluvial  Basin  of  the  Mississippi"  was 
one  of  vast  importaoce,  and  believing  that  the  selection  of  a  plan,  or 
combination  of  plans,  as  a  fixed  and  permanent  system  under  which  the 
reclamation  of  the  alluvial  basin  should  be  carried  forward  should  be 
left  to  the  investigation  and  decision  of  a  commission  of  engiueers  emi- 
nent in  their  profession,  we  have  reported  the  accompanying  bill  provid- 
ing for  the  appointmeut  of  such  a  commission  by  the  President  of  the 
United  States,  and  have  further  reported  on  the  general  subject,  treated 
from  a  national  staDd-point.' 

We  have  treated  this  subject  in  the  following  order : 

1.  The  history  oftfie  Mississippi  levees^  with  a  description  of  the  alluvial 
basin  of  the  Mississippi. 

2.  The  efforts  of  the  States  toward  protection  and  reclamation, 

3.  Kesults  of  the  partial  reclamation. 

4.  National  character  of  the  work^ 

THE  DELTA  OF  THE  MISSISSIPPL 

In  the  delta  of  a  river  we  may  properly  embrace  all  the  alluvial  lands 
below  the  point  where  its  first  extravasated  waters  leave  its  banks  and 
may  never  return  till  they  reach  the  ocean. 

On  the  right  bank  of  the  Mississippi  Biver,  three  miles  below  Cape 
Girardeau,  in  Missouri,  the  high  waters  escaped  over  the  banks  prior 
to  the  construction  of  levees,  passed  into  the  White  T'^ater  lakes  and 
swamps,  connecting  with  the  Saint  Francis  and  the  Black  Bivers,  and 
thence  down  the  White  Biver  and  Arkansas  Valleys,  the  Bayou  Magon, 
Ouachita,  Bed,  and  Atchafalaya  Bivers,  to  the  Oulf.  These  waters  may 
never  again,  and  often  do  never  again,  enter  the  Mississippi. 


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2  •      MISSISSIPPI    LEVEES. 

It  is,  therefore,  proper  to  describe  as  the  delta  all  the  alluvial  lands 
on  the  Mississippi  and  its  affluents  below  Cape  Girardeau. 

This  delta,  according  to  recently-revised  calculations,  contains  3S,706 
square  miles,  including  the  alluvions  of  the  several  affluents  below  the 
point  ^here  their  waters  mingle.  The  confluent  alluvions  of  the  Ar- 
kansas and  Red  lUvers  add,  respectively^  500  and  1,887  square  miles  to 
this  great  delta  valley. 

Such  is  the  fertility,  such  the  climate,  and  such  the  productiveness  of 
this  body  of  land,  that  its  rescue  from  submergence  by  annual  floods 
becomes  a  matter  of  the  highest  moment  to  American  progress  and 
civilization. 

CLIMATOLOGY  AND  PHYSICAL  GEOGRAPHY. 

The  delta  extends  across  eight  and  a  half  degrees  of  latitude,  from 
290  to  380  SO'  north.  It  reaches  from  the  semi-tropical  lands  of  the 
orange  and  lemon  to  the  border  of  the  ice-floes  that,  in  rigorous  win- 
ters, block  the  channel  and  arrest  the  navigation  of  the  river. 

Its  breadth  in  longitude  has  an  average  of  one-tenth  its  length,  beio^ 
about  sixty  miles,  though  it  contracts  and  expands  from  thirty  miles,  ia 
its  narrowest  width,  as  at  Natchez  and  at  Helena,  to  about  ninety  miles, 
as  at  Napoleon,  and  at  Manchac  to  Last  Island. 

The  delta  is  everywhere  thridded  and  thwarted  with  interlocking 
bayous  and  navigable  channels,  placing  every  cultivable  acre  of  its 
lands  immediately  upon,  or  very  near  to,  steamboat  navigation.  In  this 
particular  it  has  no  parallel  known  to  civilized  man.  It  is  estimated 
that  about  one-tenth  of  the  whole  area  is  taken  up  in  channels  and 
water-spaces ;  and  yet  such  is  their  value  and  importance  as  to  sub- 
tract nothing  from,  but  rather  to  add  largely  to,  the  total  value  of  its 
measured  miles  of  land. 

The  fertility  of  its  soils,  both  by  analysis  and  experiment,  is  of  the 
highest'quality ;  in  fact,  it  is  almost  inexhaustible.  Accordingly  it  pro- 
duces in  its  two  southernmost  degrees,  the  great  staples  of  rice  and 
sugar  in  abundance  and  perfection  unknown  in  any  other  portion  of 
North  America.  In  fact,  sugar  is  cultivated  onl v  in  the  delta  and  south 
of  latitude  31°  30'. 

In  nearly  all  portions  of  the  delta,  but  ftiore  thoroughly  in  the  five 
degrees  north  from  31o  north  of  Eed  River,  cotton  grows  in -the  delta- 
lands  in  double  the  quantities  of  the  best  uplands ;  and  corn  and  sweet 
and  Irish  potatoes,  in  every  portion  of  the  delta,  grow  with  facility  and 
abundance  and  with  a  minimum  of  cultivation.  In  the  northern  bor- 
ders the  cereals  grow  and  mature  to  the  satisfa<^tion  of  the  agricaltu- 
rist.  The  fruits  of  the  tropical  and  temperate  zones — oranges,  figs, 
grapes,  apples,  and  peaches — are  duly  distributed  and  easily  grown, 
each  in  its  proper  habitat,  over  the  delta;  while  pecans,  the  most  val- 
uable of  all  nuts,  grow  in  wild  profusion  over  the  entire  alluvial  basin. 

The  remarks  as  to  productiveness  are  applicable  to  every  acre  not 
submerged,  and  not  merely  to  chosen  spots,  as  upon  the  uplands  adja- 
cent on  either  side. 

We  may  compute,  then,  22,920,320  acres  of  actually  productive  land 
upon  this  alluvial  basin.  (This  is  exclusive  of  3,616  square  miles  of 
irreclaimable  marsh,  as  will  appear  below.)  In  this  respect  it  is  prob- 
ably the  largest  body  of  like  fertility  known  to  geography. 

The  forests  of  the  delta  are  remarkable  for  the  largeness  of  the  trees 
and  exuberance  of  foliage  and  vines.  The  oaks  and  the  cypress  are  the 
leading  timber-trees,  though  many  others  are  used.    The  live-oaks  in 


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MISSISSIPPI   LEVEES.  3 

the  soutbem  portion  are  large  and  very  abandant,  iDdicating  mainly  a 
soil  not  often  inundated.  Bat  the  cypress- trees,  of  vast  height  and 
magnitude  and  of.  unlimited  demand,  grow  best  in  the  lowest  swamps, 
and  do  greatly  redeem  and  render  equally  valuable  as  cultivable  land 
the  most  impracticable  portions  of  the  whole  valley.  Fifty  thousand 
feet  of  lumber,  clear  stuff,  from  an  acre  of  cypress-swamp  is  no  unusual 
product. 

So  inviting  is  the  temperature  of  this  delta  during  the  largest  portion 
of  the  year  from  the  northern  limit  of  the  cotton-region  south,  and  so 
promptly,  uniformly,  and  abundantly  do  the  soils  respond  to  the  labors 
of  the  husbandman,  that  its  hundreds  of  wiuding  streams  were  lined 
with  settlers  before  the  war,  even  anterior  to  any  certain  protection  by 
levees  from  frequent  inundation.  It  was  common  to  say  that  a  loss  of 
two  crops  in  ten  by  overflow  could  be  better  borne  than  the  half-crops 
produced  upon  the  uplands. 

Freedom  from  the  extremes  of  heat  and  cold  form  a  great  feature  of 
this  delta,  and  distinguish  it  greatly  above  the  alluvions  of  the  Nile,  the 
Ganges,  the  Amazon,  and  the  Oronoco. 

The  annual  mean  temperature  at  New  Orleans,  Baton  Rouge,  Natchez, 
Yicksburgh,  Helena,  Memphis,  and  Cairo  show  the  regular  gradation 
ftom  690  to  450. 

The  rain-fall  over  the  delta,  while  it  is  abundant  and  well  distributed, 
has  no  extreme  exceptions ;  but  crops  are  invariably  produced. 

Bain-fall 


Locality. 


ICemphis  — 
Ticksburgh  . 

Katchez 

Baton  RoQKe 
Plaqaeminefi 
ICewOrleaoB 

Mean.. 


Spring. 

Snmmer. 

Autamn. 

Winter. 

Annual 

Inches. 

Inehea. 

Inchst. 

IfuJiet. 

Inehu: 

11 

7.5 

7.9 

15 

41.8 

11 

IS 

10.5 

18.7 

90.9 

12 

11.8 

9.8 

15.9 

50.3 

13.5 

18.4 

12.2 

15 

60.4 

15.9 

S6.3 

9.4 

15.7 

66.3 

ILl 

18.6 

11.8 

12 

•51.5 

12.4 

15.4 

10.3 

15 

53.5 

*  Some  mistake  in  the  figures  for  New  Orleans.    The  rain^fall  is  69  inches  by  the  scale. 

In  the  lower  portion  of  the  delta,  bordering  the  Gulf,  the  marsh-lands 
occupy  7,232  square  miles  of  area. 

Of  this  portion  of  the  delta,  about  one-half  is  reclaimable ;  the  other 
half  is  irreclaimable,  and  would  serve  merely  as  reservoirs  and  water- 
spaces,  distributed  through  the  reclaimed  lands,  thus  reducing  the 
reclaimable  delta  to  35,813  miles. 

Of  the  portion  deemed  reclaimable  nortli  of  parallel  39^,  about  one- 
fifth  is  now  occupied  by  man,  mostly  subject  to  occasional  inundation 
from  the  river;  the  remaining  four-fifths,  or  nearly  30,000  square  miles, 
are  utterly  uninhabitable  without  the  protection  of  levees  against  river 
and  sea. 

The  water-spaces,  which  occupy  about  one-tenth  of  the  delta,  are  so 
valuable  to  the  habitable  area  that  no  reduction  should  be  made  from 
the  acres  embraced  in  computing  the  value  of  the  lands. 

And  in  the  computation  of  value  over  such  a  realm  of  fertility,  by 
what  measures  shall  we  estimate  it?  Certainly  dollars,  or  gold  in  any 
form,  will  be  inadequate  to  its  measure.  As  well  fix  a  value  on  freedom 
and  civilization..  To  a  nation  or  government  like  the  United  States, 
an  area  of  this  magnitude,  lying  for  six  hundred  miles  across  and  along 


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4  MISSISSIPPI   LEVEES. 

the  borders  of  seveu  States,  has  uo  possible  valuation  estimable  in 
money. 

But  when  we  consider  that  it  will  sastain  a  population  of  five  millions 
of  human  beings,  with  nearly  all  the  luxuries  and  comforts  of  life  pro- 
duced within  the  delta  itself;  and  that  it  will  sustain  double  that  num- 
ber, or  ten  millions,  with  comforts  and  necessary  wants,  more  profuse 
than  in  the  denser  populations  of  Europe,  we  approach  an  appreciation 
of  the  value  of  the  Mississippi  delta  to  the  future  demand  of  civiliza- 
tion. 

Still,  as  productions  are  measured  in  the  census-tables  by  dollars,  and 
some  approach  to  the  capacity  for  production  may  be  computed,  we 
give  the  figures  in  a  subsequent  page,  as  some  measure  or  index  to  the 
value  of  the  delta  to  the  nation's  wealth. 

THE  BASIN. 

The  entire  delta  lies  beneath  the  level  of  the  fiood- waters  of  Uie 
Mississipi,  as  inferable  from  facts  so  apparent  in  its  geology  and  fron] 
actual  measurements  across  the  basin  or  valley.  The  great  high  waters 
are  so  numerous,  and  tbe  ordinary  high  water  so  completely  above  tiie 
body  of  the  cultivable  lands  in  the  delta,  that  it  were  futile  to  attempt 
a  general  cultivation  or  habitation  of  the  alluvion  without  some  effectual 
barrier  against  the  floods. 

The  sections  leveled  across  the  delta  (see  "Delta  Survey")  and  care- 
fully digested  reveal  the  results  that  the  average  depth  of  the  alluvial 
level  below  the  highest  water-marks  known  amounts  to  twelve  and  a 
half  (12.5)  feet ;  and  in  obtaining  this  result  the  whole  marsh  region 
south  of  latitude  3iP  is  excluded.    The  maximum  depth  is  27  feet. 

Hence  if,  unrestrained  by  levees,  the  floods  of  the  Mississippi  River 
should  fill  the  alluvial  basin  to  the  high-water  marks  of  the  river-banks 
at  corresponding  latitudes,  the  alluvial  sea  would  be  600  miles  long  and 
60  miles  average  width,  and  would  have  a  mean  depth  of  12.5  feet.  It 
is,  therefore,  obvious  tliat  there  would  be  no  safety  for  life  or  property 
under  such  a  contingency. 

And  although  the  flood  might  never  acquire  this  maximum  elevation, 
the  records  show  that  in  the  years  1801. 1809, 1813, 1815, 1823, 1828, 1836. 
1844, 1847,  1849, 1850,  1851,  1858, 1859, 1862, 1865, 1868, 1871,  and  1874, 
the  floods  approached  very  near,  within  a  few  inches  (less  than  half 
ia  foot  at  New  Orleans,  and  less  than  two  feet  in  the  river  the  whole 
length  of  the  delta,  where  not  recently  disturbed  by  cut-ofts)  of  the 
greatest  high- water  mark,  and  that  mark  is  necessarily  above  the  level 
of  all  tbe  alluvial  lands  lying  opposite  and  south  of  each  point  of  obser- 
vation on  the  river- bank. 

This  isolated  view  will  give  some  iappreciation  of  the  magnitude  of 
the  work  lor  restraining  these  floods;  for  in  all  the  seasons  named,  prior 
to  and  including  1844,  the  main  body  of  the  delta  v?dley  was  a^'fresh- 
water  turbid  sea. 

While  there  have  been  many  theories  advanced  by  scientific  men, 
engineers,  and  othersfor  thereclamation  of  this  great  basin,  the  practical 
efforts  that  have  been  made  have  been  through  the  construction  of  earth 
banks,  or  walls  denominated  levees.  An  examination  shows  that  the 
history  of  the  levee  is  intimately  connected  with  the  history  of  the 
country.  The  first  permanent  settlements  by  Europeans  in  the  valley 
of  the  Lower  Mississippi  were  made  at  Natchez  and  at  the  present  site 
of  New  Orleans.    At  Natchez,  the  blufis  were  occupied,  but  at  New  Or- 


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MISSISSIPPI   LEVEES.  5 

leans  precantions  had  to  be  at  once  taken  to  protect  the  colony  from 
inundation. 

Accordiug  to  Dumont  de  la  Tour,  the  engineer  who  laid  out  the  city 
of  New  Orleans  in  1717,  there  was  directed  "a  dike  or  levee  to  be 
raised  in  front,  the  more  eflFectually  to  preserve  the  city  from  overflow.^ 
Although  this  work  was  so  early  contemplated,  it  was  not  completed 
until  November,  1727,  when  Governor  Perrier  announced  that  the  New 
Orleans  levee  was  finished,  it  being  5,400  feet  in  length  and  18  feet  wide 
on  the  top.  He  added  that  within  a  year  a  levee  would  be  constructed 
for  eighteen  miles  above  and  below  the  city,  which,  though  not  so  strong 
as  that  at  the  city,  "would  answer  the  purpose  of  preventing  overflows.'' 

In  the  mean  time,  colonists  continued  to  arrive  slowly  andoccupy  the 
land  along  the  river-banks,  so  that  in  1723,  according  to  Francois  Xavier 
Martin,  *'  the  only  settlements  then  begun  below  the  Natchez  were  those 
of  St.  Reine  and  Madame  de  Mezieres,  a  little  below  Point  Conp6e;  that 
of  Diron  d'Artaguette,  at  Baton  Roage  j  that  of  Paxis,  near  Bayou  Man- 
chac;  that  of  the  Marquis  d'Anconia,  below  LaFonrche;  that  of  the 
Marquis  d'Artagnac,  at  Cannes  Brul6es ;  that  of  De  Meuse,  a  little  be- 
low ;  and  a  plantation  of  three  brothers  o(  the  name  of  Chauvin,  lately 
from  Canada,  at  the  Tchapitoulas.'^ 

In  1728  Dumont  says  there  were  five  colonies  "extending  for  thirty 
miles  above  New  Orleans,  who  were  obliged  to  construct  levees  of  earth 
for  their  protection."  The  expense  of  constructing  these  embankments 
was  borne  by  the  planters,  each  building  a  levee  the  length  of  his  river- 
front. 

In  1731  the  Mississippi  Company  gave  up  the  colony  to  the  French 
Crown,  In  1735  Du  Pratz  states  that  "  the  levees  extended  from  English 
Bend,  twelve  miles  below,  to  thirty  miles  above,  and  on  both  sides  of 
the  river."  The  same  year  the  insuflaciency  of  the  works  was  demon- 
strated, as  "  the  water  was  very  high,  and  the  levee  broke  in  many 
places."  It  is  certain  that  this  difficulty  continued  to  be  felt,  for  in 
1743,  according  to  Gayarr^,  '<  an  ordinance  was  t>romulgated  requiring 
the  inhabitants  to  complete  their  levees  by  the  1st  of  January,  1744, 
under  a  penalty  of  forfeiture  of  their  lands  to  the  crown." 

According  to  Monette,  in  1752  the  plantations  extended  ^^  twenty  miles 
below  and  thirty  miles  above  New  Orleans,"  and  in  that  distance  nearly 
the  whole  coast  was  in  a  high  state  of  cultivation,  and  securely  protected 
from  floods.  Captain  Philip  Pittman,  who  published  a  work  in  1770, 
defines  the  settlements  at  that  date  as  extending  only  ^<  thirty  miles  above 
and  twenty  miles  below  New  Orleans."  In  other  words,  the  inhabitants 
for  twenty  years  had  been  devoting  themselves  to  the  cultivation  and 
improvement  of  those  districts  already  partially  reclaimed,  instead  of 
trying  to  extend  the  levees  farther  along  the  bank.  The  wars  between 
England  and  France,  the  cession  by  the  latter  power  of  all  her  territory 
on  the  Mississippi  to  Spain  in  1763,  and  the  impolitic  course  pursued  by 
the  Spanish  governors  doubtless  contributed  to  retard  the  growth  of  the 
colony  at  that  epoch.  It  also  appears  to  have  been  supposed  that  the 
settlements  could  not  be  extended  farther  down  the  river  ^'on  account 
of  the  immense  expense  attending  the  levees  necessary  to  protect  the 
fields  from  the  inundations  of  sea  and  land  floods,"  which  would  render 
it  advisable  to  defer  the  settlement  of  that  section  of  the  country  '*  until 
the  land  shall  be  raised  by  the  accession  of  soil."  {Francois  Xavier 
Martin,) 

In  the  year  1800,  the  territory  was  ceded  back  to  France,  Napoleon 
being  then  First  Consul.    In  1803  it  was  ceded  to  the  United  States.    Its 


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B  MISSISSIPPI   LEVEES. 

condition  may  be  inferred  from  the  following  extracts  from  the  abstract 
of  documents  of  the  State  Department  and  of  the  Treasury,  1802-'5: 

The  principal  settlemeDts  in  Lonisiana  are  on  the  Mississippi  River,  which  hegins  to 
be  cultivated  about  twenty  (20)  leagues  from  the  sea.  Ascending  yon  see  them  im- 
prove on  each  side,  till  you  reach  the  city,  (New  Orleans.)  Except  on  the  point  jost 
below  Iberville,  the  country  from  New  Orleans  is  settled  the  whole  way. 

Above  Baton  Ron^e,  at  the  distance  of  fifty  leagues  from  New  Orleans,  and  on  the 
west  side  of  the  Mississippi,  is  Point  Couple,  a  populous  and  rich  settlement,  extending 
eight  leagues  along  the  river.  Behind  it,  on  an  old  bed  of  the  river,  now  a  lake,  wboee 
outlets  are  closed  up,  is  the  settlement  of  Fausse  Riviere. 

There  is  no  other  settlement  on  the  Mississippi,  except  the  small  one  called  Concord^ 
opposite  Natchez,  till  you  come  to  the  Arkansas  River,  two  hundred  and  fifty  leagne^ 
above  New  Orleans.  Here  is  a  small  settlement.  There  is  no  other  settlement  from 
this  place  to  New  Madrid. 

Louisiana  was  admitted  to  the  Federal  Union  in  1812.  Stoddard,  in 
his  History  of  Louisiana,  published  in  that  year,  states: 

These  banks  (levees)  extend  on  both  sides  of  the  river  from  the  lowest  settlements 
to  Point  Couple  on  one  side,  and  to  the  neighborhood  of  Baton  Rouge  on  the  other,  except 
where  the  country  remains  unoccupied. 

In  1828  the  levees  were  continuous  from  New  Orleans  nearly  to  Red 
Biver  landing,  excepting  above  Baton  Bonge,  on  the  left  bank,  where 
the  bluffs  rendered  them  unnecessary.  Above  Bed  Biver  they  were  in 
a  very  disconnected  and  unfinished  state  on  the  right  bank  as  far  a« 
Napoleon.  Elsewhere  in  the  alluvial  region  their  extent  was  so  limited 
as  to  make  it  unnecessary  to  mention  them. 

In  1844  the  levees  had  been  made  nearly  continuous  from  New  Orleans 
to  Napoleon  on  the  right  bank,  and  many  isolated  levees  existed  along 
the  lower  part  of  the  Yazoo  front;  above  Napoleon  few  or  none  had  yet 
been  attempted. 

In  September,  1850,  a  great  impulse  was  given  to  the  work  of  reclaim- 
ing the  alluvial  region  below  the  mouth  of  the  Ohio  by  the  Federal 
Government,  which,  by  an  act  approved  September  28, 1850,  granted  to 
the  several  States  all  ^wamp  and  overflowed  lands  within  their  limits 
remaining  unsold,  in  order  to  provide  a  fund  to  reclaim  the  districts 
liable  to  inundation.  The  States  of  Louisiana,  Mississippi,  Arkansas, 
and  Missouri  soon  organized  offices  for  the  sale  of  the  swamp-lands, 
and  appointed  commissioners  for  the  location  and  construction  of  the 
levees.  The  systems  adopted  were  generally  faulty,  and  have  under- 
gone many  modifications.  Those  now  in  force  will  be  explained  under 
the  next  subdivision  of  this  subject. 

Oareful  examinations  and  inquiries,  made  by  parties  of  the  delta  sur- 
vey in  the  autumn  of  1857  and  the  winter  of  1858,  resulted  in  the  fol- 
lowing exhibit  of  the  actual  condition  of  the  levees  at  that  date.  £acb 
bank  of  the  river  will  be  noticed  in  turn. 

Beginning  at  the  head  of  the  alluvial  region,  on  the  right  bank,  the 
inlet  between  Cape  Girardeau  and  Commerce  Bluffs  was  closed  by  a 
macadamized  road,  some  4  feet  high,  which  crossed  the  low  ground 
about  2.5  miles  from  the  right  bank.  From  Commerce  BlufTs  to  a  sandy 
ridge,  above  overflow,  near  Dogtooth  Bend,  the  levees  were  nearly 
completed.  Thence  they  were  finished  to  a  point  six  miles  below  Cairo. 
Here  was  a  gap  of  three  miles,  but  upon  land  so  elevated  as  to  be  over- 
flowed only  in  the  highest  floods.  Next  was  a  strip  of  high  land,  above 
overflow,  three  miles  in  extent.  Next  came  S.5  miles  of  completed  levee; 
next  0.5  of  a  mile  of  high  land,  above  overflow.  This  point  is  about  five 
miles  above  Hickman.  Thence  to  Bayou  Saint  John  there  was  a  con- 
tinuous levee.  Thence  to  Point  Pleasant  the  land  is  entirely  above 
overflow.    Thence,  to  the  northern  boundary  of  Arkansas,  the  levees 


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MISSISSIPPI   LEVEES.  7 

irly  completed.  Between  the  northern  boundary  of  Arkansas 
dol  a  tliere  were  aboat  2.5  miles  of  unfinished  levees.  In  the  bend, 
sceola,  ^wasa  gap  1.5  miles  long;  opposite  Island  34  was  another, 
^  long ;  between  Islands  36  and  37  was  another,  2.5  miles  long ; 
>f  Island  37  was  another,  four  miles  long;  at  foot  of  Island  39 
>tlier,  1.5  miles  long ;  at  foot  -of  Island  41  was  another,  0.3  of  a 
n^  ;  six  miles  below  Memphis  was  another,  1.5  miles  long;  in 
.  Bend,  near  Island  53,  was  another,  3  miles  long ;  in  Walnut 
lear  Island  56j  was  another,  1  mile  long. 

ibove  list  includes  the  whole  of  Saint  Francis  bottom.  By  sum- 
p  tbe  diCTerent  gaps  it  will  be  found  that  they  were  about  tweuty- 
.les  in  length.  It  would  be  a  great  error  to  imagine  that  the 
I  was  securely  leveed  with  the  exception  of  these  breaks.  The 
bad  all  been  made  since  the  flood  of  1851,  and  consequently  had 
been  tested.  They  were  mach  too  low,  hardly  averaging  3  feet  in 
,  altbou^h  some  of  them,  across  old  bayous,  were  of  enormous 
s,  for  instance,  a  short  one  near  the  northern  boundary  of  Grit- 
1  Coanty,  which  was  reported  to  be  40  feet  high,  40  feet  wide  at 
md  320  feet  wide  at  bottom.    Generally  their  cross-section  was 

too  small,  and,  upon  the  whole,  they  were  quite  inadequate  to 
the  object  for  which  they  were  intended. 

)ra  tbe  mouth  of  Saint  Francis  Eiver  to  Old  Town  the  levees  were 
lete.  Between  this  place  and  Scrubgrass  Bayou  there  were  several 
,  amounting  to  about  fourteen  miles.  Thence  to  Kapoleou  there 
no  levees.  Between  l^apoleon  and  the  high  land  south  of  Cypress 
k  there  were  only  about  three  miles  of  levee.  Thence,  nearly  to 
t  La  Hache,  below  New  Orleans,  the  embankments  were  completed. 
1  the  left  bank,  excepting  a  few  unimportant  private  levees,  there 
5  no  artificial  embankments  between  the  mouth  of  the  Ohio  and  the 
hern  boundary  of  Tennessee.  The  near  approach  of  the  hills  to  the 
r  throughout  the  greater  part  of  this  region  has  the  effect  of  flood- 
by  hill-draiuage,  the  narrow  belts  of  swamp-land,  and  there  is  no 
lediate  prospect  of  any  attempt  to  reclaim  them.  Whether  leveed 
lot,  they  are  too  trifling  in  extent  to  have  any  sensible  influence  upon 
high-water  level  of  the  Mississippi  Kiver. 

The  Yazoo  bottom,  below  the  Mississippi  State  boundary,  was  con- 
ered  to  be  well  protected  by  levees.  They,  however,  averaged  only 
)at  4  feet  in  height,  and,  having  been  mainly  constructed  since  1853, 
(1  never  been  tested  by  a  great  flood.  They  were  much  too  low  and 
:>  narrow,  as  the  flood  of  1858  proved.  The  levee  which  closed  the 
izoo  Pass  was  an  enormous  embankment  across  an  old  lake.  It  was 
152  feet  long  and  28  feet  high,  with  a  base  spread  out  to  the  width  of 
)0  feet.  About  ten  miles  of  gaps  in  Coahoma  and  Tunica  Counties 
»etween  Islands  51  and  67)  had  been  closed  in  the  winter  of  1858,  and 
Diisequently  the  levees  had  not  had  time  to  settle  properly  before  the 
ccurrence  of  the  high  water.  There  was  only  one  open  gap ;  it  was 
early  opposite  Helena,  and  had  been  caused  by  a  caving  bank. 
Between  Vicksburgh  and  Baton  Bouge,  on  the  left  bank,  the  levees 
vere  completed  where  there  was  any  occasion  for  them.  The  hills 
ipproach  so  near  to  the  river  in  this  part  of  its  course  that  the  bottom- 
lands are  limited  in  extent,  and  hence  somewhat  liable  to  injury  from 
sudden  npland  drainage. 

From  Baton  Rouge  nearly  to  Point  La  Hache,  the  whole  river-coast 
^as  level. 

lu  the  year  1849,  the  State  legislature  of  Louisiana  had  memorialized 
the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  praying  for  aid  in  the  matter  of  pro- 


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8  MISSISSIPPI   LEVEES. 

taction  againat  floods,  and  basing  their  argnment  for  aid  mainly  upoii 
the  interest  the  General  Government  had  in  the  unsold  lands  in  the 
delta. 

The  response  made  by  Congress  was  twofold.  The  delta  sarvey  was 
ordered  to  be  made  by  the  United  iStates  engineers,  and  the  swamp- 
lands unsold  were  donated  to  the  several  States;  so  that  by  the  year 
1853,  the  several  States  interested  had  enacted  laws  relating  to  levees, 
contemplating  the  rescue  of  the  entire  delta. 

The  survey  ordered  was  undertaken,  and  for  three  years  continaed, 
and  partial  reports  were  made  upon  its  progress;  but  the  impression 
had  been  confirmed  in  the  minds  of  the  people  that  the  great  delta  was 
made  for  the  uses  of  man,  and  that  a  courageous  people  could  rescue  it. 

So  the  progress  of  levee  construction  was  right  onward  in  spite  of 
the  diversity  of  jurisdiction,  the  want  of  aniform  system,  and  tbe 
repeated  crevasses  caused  by  feeble  levees,  by  accident,  and  by  crimioal 
violence. 

In  the  year  1858,  according  to  Humphreys  and  Abbot,  the  line  of 
levees  was  complete  on  the  left  bank  from  Poiote  ^  la  Hache  to  Baton 
Bouge;  thence  to  Yicksburgh  they  were  not  required,  because  the  river 
impinges  or  approaches  near  the  bluifs  for  this  distance  of  two  hundred 
miles.  From  Vicksbargh  to  Horn  Lake,  the  northern  limit  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi, the  line  was  completed,  including  a  stupendous  levee  across 
the  Yazoo  Pass,  the  greatest  outlet  yet  closed.  Thence,  to  the  head  of 
the  delta,  no  levees  were  required,  except  very  short  ones  for  local 
convenience. 

On  the  right  bank,  ascending,  the  line  was  complete  through  Louisi- 
ana and  up  tlie  Arkansas  front  to  a  few  miles  below  the  mouth  of  the 
Arkansas.  Thence  the  banks  of  the  Arkansas  and  Missouri  fronts 
were  well-nigh  lined  with  levees,  wherever  they  were  required,  to  the 
head  of  the  delta  at  Cape^  Girardeau,  the  openings  above  the  mouth  ot 
the  Saint  Francis  amounting  to  about  twenty-five  miles,  and  those  below 
to  about  fifteen  miles — ^forty  miles  in  all. 

These  openings  were  well-nigh  closed,  and  the  entire  system  greatly 
strengthened  and  improved  by  the  beginning  of  the  year  186L,  when 
the  war  interfered,  and  arrested  all  work.upon  the  levees. 

LEVEB  ORGANIZATION  IN  THE  DIFFERENT  STATES. 

It  is  important  that  it  should  be  understood  that  much  of  the  want  of 
success  attending  the  efforts  to  secure  the  alluvial  lands  from  overflow 
has  arisen,  not  from  inherent  difficulties  in  the  construction  of  works  of 
protection,  but  from  the  adoption  of  systems  which  have  allowed  one 
district  to  be  submerged  in  consequence  of  tbe  insuflicieut  character  or 
faulty  execution  of  the  laws  of  another,  or  left  it  to  be  protected  by 
taxes  levied  upon  another. 

We  have  not  the  space  to  give  a  full  history  of  the  different  systems 
adopted  by  the  States  bordering  on  the  Mississippi  River.  Before  the 
late  war,  when  labor  was  in  a  thorough  state  of  discipline,  systems  were 
adopted  winch  in  some  localities  proved  efQcient  in  protecting  tbose 
localities.  In  other  cases,  where  the  same  means  were  adopted,  tbe  pro- 
tection was  not  afforded,  because  an  adjoining  district  of  country 
higher  up  on  the  river  failed  to  protect  itself,  and  the  couseqaence  was 
that  crevasses  occurred,  and  the  water,  pouring  through  the  opening 
made,  inundated  the  district  below,  which  had  in  vain  hoped  for  immu- 
nity from  tbe  ravages  of  the  flood  by  taking  all  possible  precaation 
within  tbe  limits  of  its  own  territory.    Thus  we  see  that,  for  want  of  a 


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MISSISSIPPI    LEVEES.  9 

comprehensive  system  that  embraced  within  its  operations  what  is  gen- 
erally known  as  a  "levee  district,''  no  locality  or  district  of  country 
could  be  made  safe  by  any  amount  of  precaution  taken  and  labor 
expended  within  its  own  territory.  The  people  and  authorities  of  one 
locality  had  not  the  power  or  authority  to  protect  themselves  by  pre- 
serving the  levees  of  another  locality  above  them,  and  if  they  had  the 
power  they  had  not  the  ability,  for  the  ex|)ense  entailed  ux)on  each 
locality  was  very  great,  as  in  most  case^  by  law  the  wHole  burden  fell 
upon  the  riparian  or  front  proprietors,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  on 
account  of  the  land  being  higher  on  the  front  than  it  was  farther  back 
from  the  river,  the  riparian  proprietor  frequently  wholly  escaped  damage 
from  a  crevasse  that  occurred  a  few  miles  olf,  while  the  planier  in  his 
rear  had  his  entire  crop  destroyed  by  the  backing-up  of  the  river-water 
on  his  land. 

In  other  localities  the  system  was  a  little  different,  but  generally  was 
accompanied  with  features  which,  though  varying  from  those  previously 
described,  were  fully  as  faulty.  Since  the  war,  the  States  of  Louisiana, 
and  Arkansas  have  endeavored  to  inaugurate  different  systems.  The 
State  of  Louisiana  has  expended  above  t8,000,000  of  bonds  upon 
her  levees,  and  is  still  without  a  sufficient  protection  to  a  large  por- 
tion of  her  most  valuable  sugar  and  cotton-producing  territory.  Thou- 
sands of  acres  of  land  that  before  the  war  produced  from  one  to 
two  bales  of  cotton  per  acre,  and  was  valued  at  frobi  $50  to  $100  per 
acre,  are  now  growing  up  in  cotton-wood  groves,  and  are  being  sold  for 
taxes ;  cause,  want  of  protection  from  inundation. 

The  State  of  Louisiana  has  now  adopted  another  system,  placing  the 
levees  in  the  hands  of  a  private  corporation,  and  agreeing  to  pay  them 
a  price  for  the  work  to  be  done  by  t-hem,  which  is  about  twice  the  ac- 
tual cost  of  such  work ;  the  amount  to  be  raised  by  taxation  on  the 
whole  property  of  the  State.  This  system  has  not  been  fairly  tried,  the 
company  having  been  gi*eatly  embarrassed  by  the  failure  of  the  State 
authorities  to  pay  over  the  funds  collected  to  the  company,  and  the  com- 
pany being  thereby  rendered  unable  to  construct  as  many  levees  as  is 
necessary  for  the  protection  of  the  State.  The  result  this  year  (1874)  is 
that,  while  this  report  is  being  written,  some  of  the  fairest  and  most  valu-* 
able  sections  of  our  State  are  being  laid  waste  by  the  most  disastrous 
inundation  we  have  had  since  the  war.  Even  though  this  company  should 
he  able  to  fulfil  its  contract  with  the  State,  it  could  not  by  any  possibil- 
ity afford  protection  to  a  large  section  of  the  northern  portion  of  the 
State,  which  is  inundated  through  the  breaks  in  the  levees  in  Arkansas, 
unless  that  State  should  also  give  her  territory  thorough  protection  by 
a  perfect  levee-system. 

RESULTS  OF  THIS  PARTIAL  RECLAMATION. 

Before  the  beginning  of  the  war  of  secession,  there  had  been  con- 
structed by  Louisiana  seven  hundred  and  forty  miles  of  levee  on  the 
Mississippi,  at  a  cost  of  $18,000,000;  and  on  the  outlets,  Atchafalaya, 
Plaquemine,  and  Lafourche,  four  hundred  and  forty  miles,  at  a  cost  of 
$5,000,000 ;  and  in  the  Ked  River  portion  of  the  delta,  about  fifty  miles, 
at  a  cost  of  about  $1,000,000;  by  the  State  of  Arkansas,  about  one  hun- 
dred and  eighty  miles,  at  a  cost  of  $1,000,000;  by  Mississippi,  about 
four  hundred  and  forty-four  miles,  at  a  cost  of  $14,500,000;  and  by 
the  State  of  Missouri,  about  one  hundred  and  forty  miles,  at  a  cost  of 
$1,640,000. 

This  is  an  aggregate  of  levee-\^ork  done  by  the  States  and  by  the  indi- 


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10  MISSISSIPPI   LEVEES. 

Tidaal  inhabitants  of  two  thoasand  miles,  and  at  a  cost  of  $41,140,000 
spent  in  constraction.  And,  in  addition  to  this  vast  snm  expended  in 
a  conflict  of  more  than  one  hundred  and  fifty  years,  the  loss  of  more  than 
double  this  snm  has  been  incurred  in  the  disasters  of  crevasses  and 
inundations;  all  wrung  from  the  sweat  of  a  most  valiant,  indnstrioas 
race,  in  the  cause  of  reclamation  and  civilization. 

Does  it  not  seem  that  this  is  a  time  for  the  Government  to  step  in 
and  assume  thef  protection  of  the  area  rescued  from  the  dominion  of  the 
waters  !  Does  not  the  laborer,  in  this  conflict,  the  industrial  soldier, 
whose  ancestors  for  three  or  four  generations  have  given  their  lives  to 
this  enterprise,  deserve  repose  and  laurels  for  himself  and  his  posterity! 

LEVEE  LABORS  SINCE  THE  WAR. 

The  amount  of  destruction  to  levees  occasioned  directly  by  military 
necessity,  and  the  consequent  abrasions  and  increase  from  the  currents 
rushing  through  the  openings  thus  made,  can  never  be  ascertained. 
Oertain  it  is  that  long  reaches  of  crevasse  still  remain  unclosed ;  and  that, 
especially  in  Missouri  and  Arkansas,  little  attempt  has  been  made  to 
replace  them,  above  the  mouth  of  the  Arkansas. 

The  States  of  Louisiana  and  Mississippi  immediately  addressed  them- 
selves to  the  task  of  replacing  the  most  important  levees;  and,  althoagh 
some  great  openings  have  been  deferred  on  account  of  their  magnitude, 
others  of  the  largest  kind  have  been  rebuilt,  and  again  broken  and 
re-built;  and  for  the  reason  of  extraordinary  caving  as  a  consequence  of 
cut-ofis  newly  made,  and  otlier  causes,  will  have  to  be  again  rebuilt, 
for  the  third  time  since  the  war,  to  save  the  best  plantations  and  some 
of  the  largest  interests  in  the  State. 

The  levees  rebuilt  since  the  war  in  Louisiau^i,  in  the  four  parishes 
north  of  Ked  River,  and  in  Point  Couple,  up  to  the  end  of  the  year 
1870,  amount  to  just  8,135,656  cubic  yards,  at  a  cost  of  about  $4,881,'936. 

In  consequence  of  the  opening  in  the  levee  at  Ashton,  near  the  Ar- 
kansas line,  and  at  Diamond  Island  bend,  the  river  did  not  rise  as  high 
in  the  district  north  of  Red  River  as  formerly,  and  the  levees  hence 
were  built  only  to  an  elevation  five  feet  below  the  highest  water-marks; 
and  hence  the  cost  and  contents  have  beeu  greatly  reduced. 

General  Thompson's' report  of  1870-71,  as  chief  State  engineer  of 
Louisiana,  says: 

In  my  October  26tb  report,  1869,  I  have  shown  that  it  would  require  5,218,000  cubic 
yards  of  earth  to  phice  the  levees  of  these  parishes  in  repair,  up  to  the  old  fcnde. 
But  the  wear  and  tear  of  levees  I  estimate  to  amount  to  near  2,000,000  cubic  yards  per 
^ear.  This  year's  report  cootirms  last ;  for  this  report  embraces  every  defective  levee 
IQ  the  five  districts,  and  calls  for  5,111,300  cubic  yards. 

•We  have  built  2,206,000  yards  during  this  past  season,  which  will  leave  2,000,000 
more  for  the  Mississippi  River  had  there  been  no  caving ;  but  with  new  work  jast 
rendered  necessary,  we  shall  require  4,000,000  yards,  includiug  the  closure  of  the  Ashton 
and  Diamond  Island  crevasses. 

O.  D.  Bragdon's  "Facts  and  Figures  for  the  People,''  January  1, 
1872,  prepared  under  the  eye  of  the  governor  by  his  private  secretary, 
and  certified  by  the  State  auditor,  says,  "The  levee  bonds  issued  by 
Louisiana,  on  which  the  State  pays  8  per  cent,  interest,  amount  to 
$8,134,000."    Tbus: 

Act  35, 1865 $1,000,000 

Act  15,  1867 4,000.000 

Act  32,  1870 3.000,000 

Act  105, 1870 134,000 

8,134,000 

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MISSISSIPPI   LEVEES.  tl 

NATIONAL  GHABACTEB  OP  LEVEE-BUBDBN. 

'We  now  come  to  the  consideration  of  the  question,  is  this  pbopebly 
II  liATiONAL  WOBK  ?  We  Unhesitatingly  answer  in  the  affirmative,  and 
^e  will  proceed  to  give  some  facts  and  tigares  which  we  think  will  fully 
sustain  our  position. 

\Ve  believe  that,  upon  the  same  principle  that  the  nation  is  taxed  for 
L»lie  improvement  of  our  harbors  and  rivers,  it  should  be  taxed  for  the 
maintenance  of  the  banks  of  that  river,  which  is  a  national  highway, 
find  the  natural  outlet  for  the  commerce  of  not  less  than  sixteen  States 
of  the  Union. 

Private  enterprise  in  Louisiana  had  brought  into  market  swamp-lands 
kield  by  the  Federal  Government  to  the  extent  of  two  millions  of  acres. 
In  consideration  of  this  gain  to  the  Treasury,  the  act  of  March  2, 1849, 
granted  the  remaining  swamp-lands  in  Louisiana  to  that  Stat«  for  the 
uses  of  her  levees.  On  similar  grounds,  Congress  extended  the  provis- 
ions of  that  law  in  the  act  of  ^ptember  28, 1850,  to  Arkansas  and  all 
other  States  having  lands  of  that  character  belonging  to  the  Federal 
Crovernment. 

In  the  general  appropriation  act  of  September  30, 1850,  the  Govern- 
ment directed  the  application  of  $50,000  to  ''a  topographical  and  hydro- 
graphical  survey  of  the  delta  of  the  Mississippi,  with  such  investiga- 
tions as  may  lead  to  determine  the  most  practicable  plan  for  securing 
it  from  inundation,"  &c.  Fifty  thousand  dollars  additional  were  applied 
ander  the  law  of  August  31, 1852,  for  a  continuance  of  that  survey  of 
^Hhe  Mississippi  bottom,  and  such  investigations  as  may  lead  to  deter- 
mine the  most  practicable  plan  for  securing  it  from  inundation."  The 
surveys  thus  ordered  were  carried  on  during  several  years  by  a  distin- 
guished officer  of  our  military  engineers,  and  are  embodied  in  a  report 
made  in  August,  1861,  to  the  Secretary  of  War,  a  report  which,  consti- 
tuting a  valuable  addition  to  physical  science,  places  this  country,  on 
the  subject  of  the  philosophy  of  rivers,  in  the  high  position  in  which  it 
had  been  placed  previously  by  Lieutenant  Maury  on  the  subject  of  the 
philosophy  of  the  sea. 

The  Federal  Goverumeut  had  carried  out  its  solicitude  for  the  levees 
up  to  the  outbreak  of  the  rebellion.  Soon  after  the  close  of  the  war  it 
resumed  its  policy  in  reference  to  those  works  by  ordering  General 
Humphreys  to  report  upon  their  condition  with  a  view  to  their  repair. 
That  report  was  made  in  January,  1866,  but  remained  a  dead  letter 
because  of  want  of  funds  in  the  hands  of  the  War  Department  to  carry 
OQt  its  recommendations. 

Several  bills  have  been  introduced  in  Congress  based  on  the  policy 
laid  down  in  the  action  taken  by  the  Government  since  1850  on  the 
8ubj(  ct  of  levees.    These  undertake  to  commit  the  nation  to  an  expen- 
diture upon  those  works  from  the  public  Treasury — an  expenditure  vary- 
ing in  amount  but  averaging  about  925,000  per  mile,  or,  for  1,600  miles, 
$40,000,000.    The  Senate  committees  to  which  these  measures  have 
been  referred  have  invariably  reported  in  their  favor.    Senator  Clarke 
reports,  July  2, 1866,  that  his  select  committee  '^is  satisfied  the  people 
of  those  States" — those  concerned  directly  in  the  levees — ^' are  unable 
without  aid  from  the  Government  to  undertake  and  complete  the  neces- 
sary repairs."    Senator  Henderson,  from  the  Committee  on  Finance, 
reports,  on  March  27, 1867,  that  his  committee  is  satisfied  of ''  the  consti- 
tutional power  and  the  expediency  and  good  policy  "  of  granting  Federal 
aid  to  the  construction  of  the  levees.    A  committee  on  the  levees  of  the 
Mississippi  has  been  created  by  the  Senate,  and  thus  for  a  period  of 


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12  MISSISSIPPI   LEVEES. 

twenty  years  have  the  executive  and  the  legislative  departments  of  the 
Government  gone  on  in  the  assertion  of  a  settled  policy  which  declares 
the  levees  of  the  Mississippi  to  be  public  works  of  the  nation. 

Senator  Alcorn,  from  the  Senate  Committee  on  Mississippi  Levees,  in 
his  able  report  made  on  the  2d  of  May,  1872,  says : 

Yonr  coinmitte6|  therefore,  have  no  hesitation  in  recommendiog  that  Conj^ress  go  at 
the  work  of  giving  to  the  country  the  immense  resources  of  the  Mississippi  allnviams 
in  the  spirit  of  intelligent  earnestness,  which  demands  all  that  the  Grovernment  engi- 
neers estimate  under  the  head  "  perfecting  existing  levees  to  the  proper  height."  To 
patch  those  works  in  any  form  short  of  this  would  be  but  to  adjourn  the  question  of 
their  execution — after  the  loss  of  the  immediate  benefits  which  make  the  final  disposi- 
tion of  that  question  an  urgency  of  the  hour — to  be  dealt  with  by  and  by  in  the  more 

enlightened  statesmanship  which  demands  thiat  it  be  dealt  with  thoroughly  now. 

•  •  •  •  4^  •  • 

The  Government  is  the  proper  agency  for  the  execution  of  Government  works. 
There  is  no  more  reason  why  the  improvement  of  the  Mississippi  River  should  be  takes 
out  of  the  hands  of  the  Federal  authority  than  the  improvement  of  the  Hudson  River. 
Like  that  other  public  work  of  the  nation,  the  deepening  6f  East  River  through  the 
rocky  shoals  of  Hell  Gate,  the  embankment  of  the  Mississippi  should  be  placed  nnder 
the  sole  charge  of  that  most  capable,  most  conscientious,  most  generally- trusted  ageney 
at  the  service  of  the  nation — tne  Corps  of  Topographical  Engineers. 

Thirty-six  millions  of  dollars  will,  according  to  the  estimates  of  the  Chief  Engineer 
of  the  Army,  g^ve  the  country  the  immense  results  flowing  from  a  perfect  system  of 
levees.  If  these  results  but  enable  us  to  realize  existing  opportunities  of  expanding 
our  commerce  with  the  East  unembarrassed  by  its  heavy  draft-s  on  our  supplies  of  the 
precious  metals,  this  outlay  of  thirty-six  millions  of  dollars  would  prove,  on  that 
consideration  alone,  a  highly  profitable  investment.  If  the  expenditure  proposod  for 
the  reclamation  of  the  alluviums  of  the  Mississippi  but  place  our  mannfactare  of 
cotton  fabrics  in  New  England  under  a  condition  to  work  back  to  the  expanaive  health 
indicated  in  its  increase  of  breadth  in  our  exports  up  to  I860,  that  expenditure  will 
have  been  made  to  yield  a  great  national  profit.  If  it  but  save  the  States  of  the  West 
the  enormous  tax  on  their  products  of  transportation  over  railroads  to  the  seaboard, 
by  throwing  open  to  them  a  demand  of  over  one  hundred  and  fifty  millions  of  dollars 
in  an  adjoining  territory  accessible  by  water-carriage  on  the  Mississippi  and  its  triba- 
taries,  it  will  have  proved  one  of  the  most  productive  outlaws  that  can  be  made  by  the 
nation.  If  these  thirty-six  millions  of  dollars,  instead  of  appreciating  the  national 
paper— as  their  outlay  will — to  par,  by  arresting  a  great  outflow  of  specie  for  sugar, 
and  by  inducing  a  great  influx  of  specie  for  cotton,  but  appreciate  the  national  paper 
even  one  and  a  quarter  per  cent.,  their  investment  in  the  reclamation  of  the  agrienl- 
tural  wealth  that  awaits  but  that  investment  for  conversion  in  the  flats  of  the  Missis- 
sippi,  will  turn  out  to  be  the  most  profitable  application  that  can  be  made  of  the  publio 
credit.  Our  inmorts  in  excess  of  our  exports,  our  production  of  treasure  absorbed  in 
the  payment  or  interest  to  foreigners,  even  our  present  scanty  basis  for  a  convertible 
currency  dependent  on  foreign  sufferance,  and  a  struggle  of  interest  among  the  nations 
threatening  to  make  this  gold-famine  here  permanent,  this  expenditure  on  the  levees 
of  the  Mississippi,  if  it  increase  our  pi-odnction  of  cotton  to  even  one-half  of  the  promise 
which  it  gives  on  the  faith  of  the  Chief  Engineer  of  the  Army,  will,  by  adding  to  our 
income  an  equivalent  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  millions  of  gold,  have  yielded  the  natioa 
a  profit  incalculably  great.  And,  surely,  if  it  be  worth  to  England  an  outlay  of  four 
hundred  and  fifty  millions  of  dollars  on  railroads  in  India  to  crush  the  supremacy  of 
the  United  States  in  the  cotton-markets  of  the  world,  it  is  eminently  wise  on  the  part 
of  the  United  States  to  make  good  a  re-assertion  of  that  supremacy  at  the  cost  of  an 
expenditure,  on  the  Mississippi  levees,  of  thirty-six  millions  of  dollars. 

MAGNITUDE  AND  VALUE  OF  THE  ALLUVIUM. 

The  delta  of  the  Mississippi,  with  its  head  near  Cape  Girardeau,  in 
Missouri,  sweeps  across  nine  atfd  a  half  degrees,  from  37°  30'  to  29^  of 
north  latitude,  and  contains  about  38,706  square  miles  of  area,  while 
the  Eed  Biver  contains  in  her  alluvium  about  1,887  miles,  and  the  Ar- 
kansas about  500  miles,  liable  to  inundation,  unless  protected  by  levees. 
Thus  we  find  the  aggregate  alluvial  area  of  the  Mississippi,  and  connate 
alluvions,  dependent  upon  levees  for  protection  against  inundation,  about 
41,193  square  miles. 

The  water-spaces  within  this  area,  traversed  and  threaded  as  it  is  by 


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MISSISSIPPI   LEVEES.  15 

Streams  aod  bayous,  heighten  rather  than  diminish  its  value,  for  they 
are  so  generally  navigable  as  to  render  every  portion  of  the  allavion 
accessible  by  steanters  and  other  water-craft. 

The  portion  of  the  delta  within  the  State  of  Louisiana  is  very  large 
as  compared  with  that  of  any  of  her  sister  JStates.  It  may  be  estimated 
at  about  19,315  square  miles,  or  nearly  one-half  of  the  whole  delta  of 
the  Mississippi  Kiver  proper.  This  State  has  a  total  area  of  47,024 
square  miles,  showing  more  than  two-fifths  of  the  State  to  be  within  the 
Mississippi  alluvion.  And  though  its  water-spaces  (lakes  not  being 
iucladed  in  the  above  result)  may  amount  to  one-tenth  of  the  whole  are 
embraced,  they  are  so  valuable  to  man's  uses  as  to  be  legitimately  com- 
puted as  (icrea  in  our  approximation  of  the  value  of  the  lands,  whose 
reclamation  is  the  object  of  our  present  enterprise. 

Computing,  then,  640  acres  for  every  square  mile  of  the  delta,  we 
Hud.  it  to  amount  to  26,363,520  acres  of  land,  of  which  the  State  of  Louis- 
iana has  no  less  than  13,315,000  acres  lying  beneath  the  level  of  our 
great  high  waters.  Levees  only  protect  them  now  very  inadequately 
from  frequent  submersion  by  the  great  deltasea. 

What  value  shall  we  impute  to  these  acres  of  more  than  Egyptian 
fertility  t 

Let  us  analyze  before  we  attach  definite  figures  to  this  empire  of 
wealth  or  water. 

Assuming  the  26,363,520  square  acres  of  land  to  have  been  worth, 
unreclaimed,  $1.25  per  acre  on  the  fronts  of  streams  of  the  larger  class, 
to  an  average  depth  of  one  mile  on  each  side,  amounting  to  about  8,000 
square  miles,  equals  5,120,000  acres ;  the  whole  would  be  worth  at  this 
rate  about  $6,400,000.  Computing  the  rest  as  not  salable,  but  worth  10 
cents  per  acre,  say  $2,124,352.  Add  to  this  the  salable  land,  and  we 
have  an  aggregate  value  of  $8,524,352  as  the  total  value  of  the  Missis- 
sippi delta  without  levees. 

What  was  their  value  at  the  beginning  of  the  war,  with  the  ineffective 
levee-system,  then  extending  something  like  one  thoilsand  miles  in  Lou- 
isiana, and  at  least  five  hundred  miles  in  the  other  States?  The  lands 
reclaimed  were  worth  on  an  average  $30  per  acre,  and  the  5,120.000 
acres  became  worth  $153,600,000,  and  the  remaining  21,243,352  acres 
were  worth  $10  per  acre,  or  $212,443,520,  and  the  real  value  of  the  whole 
area  worth  $366,043,520. 

In  truth,  the  uncultivable  portion  of  the  lands,  after  reclamation, 
would  be  worth  nearly  as  much  as  the  cultivated,  on  account  of  the 
timber  and  range  required  as  auxiliary  to  the  cultivable  land. 

Should  the  reclamation  be  completed  in  ten  years,  we  are  confident, 
the  total  value  of  both  the  cultivable  and  uncultivable  and  the  swamp- 
forest  lands  will  be  worth  double  this  estimated  value,  and  within  the 
next  ten  years  thereafter  the  real  value,  by  this  calculation,  of  the  delta, 
if  at  all  estimable  in  money,  would  be  $732,086,940.  What,  then,  would 
be  the  importance  to  the  people  of  the  United  States,  in  a  period  of  fifty 
years,  if  all  the  alluvial  lands  of  the  delta  are  reclaimed  and  utilized  f 
The  amount  required  to  put  the  levees  in  order,  and  keep  them  thus, 
will  be  returned,  in  a  territory  rescued  by  science,  courage,  and  enter- 
prise from  the  delta-sea,  the  most  valuable  on  the  globe. 

THE  QUICKEST,  BEST,  AND  ONLY  ROAD  TO  PBOSPERITY  FOR  THIS 
COUNTRY  BY  RESTORING  THE  BALANCE  OF  TRADE  IS  THROUGH 
THE  INCREASED  PRODUCTION  OF  COTTON. 

We  will  now  for  a  moment  look  at  this  matter  from  another  stand- 
point. 


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14  MISSISSIPPI   LEVEES. 

We  will  inquire  what  effect  would  the  reclamation  of  the  cottoa  and 
sugar  lauds  have  in  preserving  the  balance  of  trad,e  and  exchange  in 
our  favor. 

Restore  the  Louisiana  levees  alone,  even  to  their  imperfect  condition 
before  the  war,  and  she  can  make  at  least  the  two  hundred  and  twenty- 
five  thousand  tons  of  sugar  produced  in  1860.  We  consume  over  four 
hundred  thousand  tons  of  raw  sugar  of  all  kinds,  it  appears,  and  could 
produce,  under  the  conditions  of  1860,  over  40  per  cent,  of  this  amount, 
but  the  destruction  of  levees  has  sent  us  to  Cuba  and  Brazil  .for  this 
necessity  of  life.  We  are  paying  for  our  sugar  and  molasses  probably 
sixty  millions  a  year  in  gold,  besides  the  ten  or  twelve  millions  of  food 
and  manufactures  we  export  to  these  countries.  Of  course  we  are 
losing  the  home  manufacture  of  the  tools  and  costly  machinery  for 
sugar-making  which  the  sugar-planters  in  Louisiana  would  gladly  pur- 
chase from  the  North  and  the  West,  and  use  on  their  sugar-estates. 

Let  the  levees  be  constructed  and  maintained,  and  in  less  than  ten 
years  Louisiana  will  make  all  the  sugar  the  country  needs,  of  a  quality 
hardly  equaled,  and  thus  save  a  yearly  balance  of  $60,000,000  from  going 
abroad,  and  help  our  home  manufacturers  and  machinists  by  large 
purchases  of  clothing,  tools,  and  mechanism  for  our  sugar-mills.  This 
moderate  statement  might  be  made  larger  and  yet  be  the  truth. 

Cotton  is  the  great  crop  for  export.  We  are  accustomed  to  look 
almost  wholly  to  foreign  markets,  especially  to  that  of  England;  but  we 
can  supply  the  large  demands  of  that  country  and  build  up  in  our  own 
land  factories  that  shall  add  largely  to  our  wealth,  save  us  costs  of  trans- 
portation, give  us  more  stable  and  better  prices,  and  keep  the  profits  and 
the  added  values  that  skill  and  labor  give  to  this  raw  material  within  our 
own  borders.  In  the  years  1858  and  1859,  the  profits  of  cotton  mannfoc- 
ture  in  Great  Britain,  by  their  own  reports,  were  $188,000,000  a  year, 
while  the  totul  value  of  our  cotton  crop  wa«  a  little  less,  or  $186,000,000. 
Surely,  it  would  be  well  for  us  to  gain  some  of  this  profit  at  home. 

Kot  only  Englishmen  as  individuals  and  in  corporations  make  large 
investments  to  secure  their  supply,  but  the  British  government,  ever 
watchful  for  the  interests  of  the  vast  manufacturers  on  which  its  power 
depends,  has  acted  without  fear  or  hesitation.  In  1861  Lord  Dalhousie 
inaugurated  a  railway-system  in  India,  planning  forty-six  hundred  miles 
of  railroads,  to  cost  $440,000,000.  These  iron  paths,  spanning  rivers 
and  scaling  and  tunneling  mountains  at  a  cost  greater  than  that  of  oar 
Union  Pacific  Eailroad,  were  intended  to  facilitate  the  transportation  of 
cotton,  and  thus  insure  a  full  supply  for  the  English  mills.  The  gov- 
ernment at  once  engaged  to  pay  the  interest  on  this  immense  invest- 
ment. Surely,  if  the  British  government  can  assume  such  risks  t» 
wrest  from  us  the  privilege  of  supplying  their  cotton-mills,  ours  can 
well  pay  the  comparatively  small  sum  which  is  necessai'y  to  maintain 
that  privilege,  anjl  meet  the  wants  of  a  home  demand  that  should  be 
tenfold  greater  than  now.  Our  cotton  crop  of  1859-'60  was  5,196,444 
bales — more  than  findsits  way  to  the  markets  of  the  world  to-day.    • 

Our  crop  in  1868  was  2,430,893  bales ;  in  1869, 3,122,551  bales ;  in  1870, 
4,352,317  bales;  and  in  1871,  (a  disastrous  year  to  cotton-planters,)  aboat 
3,750,000  bales.  In  1861  Mississippi  alone  raised  1,202,507  bales,  more 
than  a  third  on  its  alluvial  lands;  and  in  1860  the  Yazoo  basin  produced 
220,000  bales. 

Perfect  our  levees,  and  we  can  have  ten  million  acres  of  the  beat  cot- 
ton-lands in  the  world,  and  to  say  they  will  yield  five  million  bales  i« 
a  moderate  statement.  Let  a  million  industrious  laborers  bend  their 
energies  to  this  task  on  these  reclaimed  land?,  and  they  can  raise  five  mill- 


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MISSISSIPPI    LEVEES.  15 

on  bales  of  cottou  of  foar  handred  pounds  each,  or  two  thoasand  million 
>oiinds,  worth  three  handred  million  dollars,  at  the  low  price  of  fifteen 
!eiits  per  pound,  and  over  four  hundred  million  dollars  at  present  prices. 
The  cotton-region  in  the  alluvial  lands  would  embrace  the  four  north- 
ern parishes  of  Louisiana — Concordia,  Tensas,  Madison,  and  Carroll — 
tncl  the  Yazoo  basin  and  the  region  north  of  Helena,  and  include  parts 
of  Xiouisiana,  Arkansas,  Mississippi,  Tennessee,  and  Missouri. 

These  lands — level,  free  from  stones,  and  with  a  soil  easily  tilled — are 
ad(nirably  adapted  to  the  useof  all  labor-saving  inventions.  Thesteam- 
plow  has  been  tried  successfully,  and  every  implement  of  that  class  will 
have  ample  scope,  under  best  conditions.  Irrigation,  if  needed,  can  be 
easily  accomplished,  and  the  harvesting  of  the  cotton  crop  occurs  at  a 
season  when  the  climate  is  delightful  and  healthful.  With  secure 
levees  would  come  drainage  and  decrease  of  miasma  and  better  health 
for  all.  Not  only  sugar  and  cotton  are  to  be  counted,  but  corn  and  live 
.stock  also.  In  1860  the  Yazoo  basin  produced  two  million  five  hundred 
thousand  bushels  of  corn  and  abundant  stock ;  and  all  through  this 
alluvial  region  corn  finds  its  congenial  nourishment  from  the  deep  black 
soil  and  the  fervid  sun,  and  yields  bounteously,  while  the  wide  range  of 
pasturage  for  animals  makes  the  raising  of  cattle  and  swine  easy. 

Then,  to  give  an  idea  of  the  result  we  can  reach,  with  levees  perfect- 
ed, our  crops  of  sugar  and  cotton  will  add  over  $350,000,000  to  the 
yearly  products  of  our  soil,  saving  the  country  an  import  of  $60,000,000 
in  sugar  and  molasses,  and  gi>dng  us  an  added  export  of  $300,000,000 
in  cotton,  with  enough  left  of  our  total  crop  to  furnish  a  home  demand, 
which  should  increase  greatly'  from  the  growth  of  our  home  manufac- 
tures. Thus  shall  we  maintain  our  position  as  the  great  source  of  the 
world's  cotton-supply.  Thus  shall  come  specie  payment,  a  balance  of 
trade  in  our  favor,  the  payment  of  our  national  debt,  and  the  decrease 
of  taxation.  Compared  to  all  this  the  sum  these  levees  will  cost  is 
small  indeed. 

This  yearly  result  is  fourfold  greater  than  the  rich  product  of  all  our 
gold  and  silver  mines ;  yet  the  discovery  of  those  mines  has  sent  thou- 
sands of  people  among  the  rude  mountains  of  our  western  Territories, 
has  built  up  towns  on  the  buffalo-paths  of  yesterday,  has  built  the 
Pacific  Bailroad,  peopled  California,  opened  the  Golden  Gate  to  the 
Pacific,  and  sent  steamships  to  Japan.  This  greater  enterprise  will  not 
only  find  labor  for  all  the  present  population  along  the  Lower  Missis- 
sippi ;  it  will  not  only  give  the  colored  men  profitable  and  congenial  occu- 
pation on  familiar  ground,  but  it  will  open  a  broad  and  inviting  field 
for  immigration  to  a  country  where  there  is  room  enough  for  millions 
to  live  in  abundant  enjoyment,  and  create  wealth  by  their  labor  and 
skill ;  and  the  influence  of  this  added  national  income  shall  send  the 
white  sails  of  peaceful  commerce  over  every  seaj  and  make  our  nation's 
triumph  of  industry  the  wonder  of  the  world. 

Senator  Alcorn,  in  treating  this  branch  of  the  subject  in  his  report, 
presents  the  following,  which  will  be  found  to  be  an  able  presentation 
of  the  case,  the  conclusions  of  which  are  irresistible : 

Economists  led  us  to  apprehend  that  the  mines  of  California  and  Australia  would 
have  produced  a  glut  of  the  precious  metals.  That  the  value  of  those  commodities 
remains  still  the  same  is  a  proof,  in  general,  that  the  supply  does  not  exceed  the  demand . 
And  McCnUoch's  calculations  come  under  the  corroboration  of  this  conclusion  when,  in 
s*^tting  the  wear  and  tear  and  loss  of  coin  at  one  and  a  half  per  cent,  per  annum,  the 
iQcrease  of  metallic  currency  to  meet  the  demands  of  progress  at  two  por|cent.  per  annum, 
the  consumption  in  the  arts  at  sixty  millions  of  dollars  per  annum,  he  declares  the  bal- 
ance of  the  world^s  production— about  fifty  millions  per  annum— to  be  little  more  than 
ituOjcient  to  meet  the  absorptions  of  hoarding  in  Christendom  and  of  commerce  in  Asia. 


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16  MISSISSIPPI   LEVEES. 

This  closeness  of  the  balance  of  supply  and  demand  in  the  precioas  iDetala  of  the 
world  points  to  the  inevitable  occurrences  of  inequality  of  distribution  between  the  9tv- 
eral  nations  of  the  earth,  and  therefore  tells  us  to  prepare,  if  we  be  wise,  for  an  active 
struggle  in  resistance  of  the  evil  consequences  of  adverse  disturbauces  of  that  balance 
here. 

Gk>ld  is  the  true  standard  of  national  prosperity.  **  In  every  kingdom,"  says  Haiiie, 
''into  which  gold  and  silver  begin  to  pour  in  greater  abundance  than  formerly,  every- 
thing takes  a  new  face ;  labor  and  industry  gain  life;  the  merchant  becomes  more  enter; 
prising ;  the  manufacturer  more  diligent  and  skillful ;  and  even  the  farmer  follows  the 
plow  with  greater  alacrity  and  attention.  But  when  gold  and  silver  are  diminishing, 
the  workman  has  not  the  same  employment  from  the  manufacturer  and  merchant ;  iSt 
farmer  cannot  dispose  of  his  corn  and  cattle,  though  he  must  pay  the  same  reth  to 
the  landlord.    The  poverty,  beggary,  and  sloth  that  must  ensue  are  easily  to  be  seeo.** 

From  lbl6  to  1866  Qreat  Britain  added  to  her  previously  Isrge  amounts  of  metallic 
currency  at  the  average  rate  per  annum  of  eighteen  millions  of  dollars.  From  1793  to 
1866  France  increased  her  originally  great  supplies  of  specie  at  an  average  yearly  rate 
a  little  less  than  eighteen  millions  of  dollars.  But  the  United  States,  though  it  had  in 
1702  but  little  coin,  has  contributed  to  her  stock  of  metallic  currency  from  1792  to  1866 
at  the  yearly  average  rate  of  but  eleven  mill<ons  of  dollars.  On  the  faith  of  these  state- 
ments of  Commissioner  Ruggles,  (Treasury  Rei)ort  for  1867,  page  xliii,)  we  find  leason 
to  suppose  that  our  proportion  of  the  gold  and  silver  coin  of  the  world  has  been  always 
meager. 

Our  banking-system  of  the  past  showed  in  its  frequent  panics  a  deficiency  of  fonnda- 
tton  in  metallic  currency.  And  this  further  general  proof  of  the  fact  that  we  have 
always  possessed  less  than  our  proper  proportion  of  the  world's  coin  receives  corrobo- 
ration from  specifications— defective  though  they  necessarily  are  in  ezactoesa — of  the 
amount  of  real  money  in  France,  England,  and  the  United  States.  The  coin  used  ibr 
circulation  and  the  ordinary  reserves  of  bankers  in  Great  Britain  is  estimated  at 
between  three  hundred  and  fifty  millions  and  four  hundred  millions  of  dolUuR. 
That  in  the  hands  of  the  bankers  and  people  of  France,  as  circulation,  is  estimated 
at  from  six  hundred  and  fifty  to  seven  hundred  millions  of  dollars.  Our  own  aggre-gate 
of  coin  does  not  exceed  to-day  one  hundred  and  sixty  millions  of  dollars. 

Producers  of  one-third  of  the  world's  treasure  though  we  are,  we  nevertheless  hold 
very  much  less  than  our  proportion  of  the  world's  specie.  A  brief  review  of  our  treas- 
ure-trade may  be  necessary  to  reconcile  these  two  facts. 

PYom  1861  to  1869,  inclusive,  the  amount  of  the  precious  metals  received  at  San 
Francisco  was  $514,600,000.  Adopting  the  estimate  of  Hunt's  Merchants'  Magazine  of 
the  production  of  those  commodities  received  at  other  points — sixty  millions— the 
aggregate  production  of  gold  and  silver  in  the  United  States  for  those  nine  years  end- 
ing in  1869  was  |574,600,000.  The  imports  of  treasure  for  the  same  period  from  foreign 
countries  was  $148,800,000,  and  swelled  the  aggregate  that  passed  through  our  bauds 
for  the  nine  years  ending  with  1869  to  $723,400,000.  Our  exports  of  treasure  to  foreign 
countries  for  the  same  period  having  amounted  to  $520,200,000,  we  must  have  retained 
at  home  as  much  as  $203,200,000. 

What  has  become  of  this  surplus  of  gold  for  the  nine  years  ending  with  1669--an 
average  of  $22,500,000  per  annum?  A  very  moderate  estimate  having  fixed  our  sup- 
plies of  coin  in  1860  at  one  hundred  and  fifty  millions,  and  no  evidence  being  obtain- 
able to  justify  an  estimate  of  those  supplies  to-day  at  more  than  one  hundred  and 
sixty  millions — for  though  officially  there  were  in  1870  forty-eight  millions  of  treasure 
in  the  national  banks  and  one  hundred  and  thirteen  millions  in  the  National  Treasury, 
much  of  both  sums  were  but  paper  certificates — what  can  have  become  of  this  annaal 
accumulation  of  bullion  at  the  rate  of  twenty-two  millions  and  a  half  per  annum  f 
It  certainly  has  taken  some  other  form  than  that  of  coin.  While  all  the  world  con- 
sumes annually  but  sixty  millions  of  bullion  in  the  arts,  we  most  accept,  therefore,  in 
all  estimates  of  our  retention  of  gold  for  money,  the  conclusion  that  this  republic,  with 
the  luxuriant  habits,  the  personal  vanities,  the  high  rewards  of  labor,  and  the  general 
distribution  of  wealth  which  happily  gives  our  day-laborers  gold  watches  and  our 
domestic  servants  gold  pins,  consumes  in  the  arts  an  amount  of  precious  metals  approx- 
imating the  value  of  twenty-two  millions  of  dollars  a  year!  (Hunt's  Merchants 
Magazine.) 

From  1860  to  1870  our  coin  on^ht  to  have  increased— at  the  average  of  the  Increase 
of  coin  in  the  world — thirty  millions.  If  it  has  increased  at  all  during  that  period,  it 
has  not  done  so  to  an  extent  exceeding  ten  millions.  And  thus  have  we  continued  up 
to  1870  to  remain  far  behind  France  and,£ngland  in  our  proportion  of  that  real  money 
which  is  the  basis  of  national  prosperity.  But  even  the  supplies  of  specie  that  we 
possess  we  hold  but  by  Europeau  sujferance.  Consuming  more  of  the  ordinary  com- 
modities of  commerce  than  we  produce,  the  country  is  afflicted  with  chronic  over- 
trading that  would  long  before  this  have  made  the  settlement  of  oor  intensational 
accounts  impossible,  even  thongh  we  paid  out  every  dollar  of  our  production  of  the  pre- 
cious metals,  had  not  the  settlement  been  made  with  the  aid  of  a  system  of  credits,    Oor 


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MISSISSIPPI    LEVEES.  17 

bonds,  mnnicipal,  State,  aud  national,  represent  an  element  of  our  account  with  Europe, 
and,  6o  far,  have  answered  the  purpose  of  supplementing  our  exports  to  an  extent  that 
has  enabled  us  to  keep  at  home,  up  to  this  hour,  about  the  same  amount  of  coin  as  that 
held  by  us  in  1^60.  But  this  bond-item  of  our  finance  moves  gradually  to  the  other 
side  of  the  account ;  for  when  the  bonds  cease  to  be  absorbed  abroad,  their  j^rindpaZ 
disappears  from  our  «ttoam«,  while  their  interest  remains  fixed  in  our  outgo.  And  one 
thousand  millions  of  our  six  per  cent,  paper  held  in  Europe  would,  with  a  further 
demand  for  that  paper  closed,  leave  us,  apart  even  from  our  extravagant  consumption 
in  the  arts,  drained  of  our  domestic  production  of  the  precious  metahi. 

The  country  suffers  to-day,  as  she  has  always  suffered,  from  a  dearth  of  gold  and  sil- 
'ver  as  a  basis  of  her  currency ;  and  in  presence  of  a  stniggle  among  the  nations  for  the 
gold  and  silver  of  the  world,  we  find  our  originally  deficient  stock  Increasing  at  a  rate 
but  one-third  of  the  average  rate  in  Christendom.  And  while  our  total  production  of 
treasure  may  be  held  to  be  absorbed  by  interest  payable  abroad,  a  small  fraction  of  our 
European  credits  thrown  upon  the  market  here  might  draw  from  us,  under  an  exigency 
of  Germany,  France,  or  England,  every  dollar  of  even  the  coin  we  are  now  permitted 
to  hold. 

Our  treasure  supplies  must  be  not  only  increased,  but  must  be  placed  superior  to 
exhaustion  at  any  moment  under  exigencies  of  foreign  finance.  A  return  to  specie 
payments  cannot  be  made. safely  until  we  increase  our  supplies  of  specie,  and  place 
our  possession  of  them  under  conditions  of  that  healthy  finance  which  will  make 
those  supplies,  superior  to  all  outside  control,  absolutely  ours.  And  this  is  a  neces- 
sity of  not  only  our  currency,  but  also  of  our  commere.  Asia  holds  out  her  hands  to 
us  across  the  Pacific,  with  her  spices,  her  drugs,  her  teas,  her  silks,  aud  offers  to  give 
us  the  boon  for  which  the  world  has  struggled  so  long  in  its  attempts  to  discover  the 
northwest  passage— offers  to  make  us  the  factors  of  the  Orient  in  the  nations  of  the 
West.  But  this  splendid  prize  involves  an  unreturniitg  drain  of  treasure,  such  as  that 
which  now  flows  to  the  East  from  England  at  an  annual  rate  varying  from  fifteen  to 
eighty  millions  of  dollars.  And  wo  must,  therefore,  fail  to  grasp  that  world-sought 
boon  so  long  as  our  international  balance-sheet  leaves  us,  in  fact,  bankrupt  in  our  sup- 
plies of  the  precious  metals. 

In  making  the  sugar-lands  of  Louisiana  convertible,  the  levees  of  the  Mississippi 
promise  to  save  us  an  expenditure  to  the  amount  of  forty  millions  in  treasure.  In 
giving  to  our  cottOn-area  an  addition  of  seven  millions  of  acres  of  the  finest  cotton- 
soils  in  the  world,  they  promise  to  add  to  our  income  to  the  amount  of  hundreds  of 
millions  in  silver  and  gold.  And  thus  in  giving  us  a  healthy  and  independent  means 
of  increasing  and  maintaining  our  supplies  oi  coin,  in  giving  us  a  basis  for  an  un- 
limited-expansion  of  our  Asiatic  commerce,  in  giving  us  a  basis  for  a  safe  return  to  a 
convertible  currency,  and,  in  short,  in  giving  every  class  of  our  people  the  prosperity 
of  a  country  into  which  "  money  begins  to  ^ow  in  greater  abundance  than  loruierly,'' 
the  policy  which  has  declared  the  levees  of  the  Mississippi  to  bo  public  works  of  the 
nation,  rests  on  considerations  of  thoughtful  statesmanship. 

Another  special  consideration  of  the  question  of  the  levees  of  the  Mississippi  applies 
itself  to  our  political  economy  with  more  than  ordinary  force.  Our  cotton  industry  is 
in  danger.  On  the  uplands  of  the  South,  where  the  yield  varies  from  one-fourth  to 
one-half  of  a  bale  to  the  acre,  the  interest  which  it  pays  on  the  capital  invested  is,  even 
at  the  present  prices  of  the  fabric,  very  small.  Every  descent  in  the  price  must  con- 
tinue to  arrest  the  progress  of  the  restoration  of  the  industry.  And  the  descent  will 
go  on  most  assuredly  until  it  shall  have  reached  a  point  at  which  our  cottoh  uplands 
will  be  thrown  out  of  cultivation.  And  while  a  fall  in  prices  will  reduce  thus  the 
breadth  of  the  production  on  the  uplands,  that  fall  is,  on  the  other  hand,  a  necessity  of 
the  ascendency  by  which  alone  we  can  hold  the  country  in  her  old  position,  the  great 
cotton-producer  of  the  world. 

Cotton-culture  represents  the  greatest  triumph  of  American  skill  aud  industry.  Uu- 
<ler  the  operation  of  cheap  production  it  drove  all  rivalry  from  the  markets'  i)f  the 
world,  aud  sustained  itseli  thus  in  the  face  of  the  vicissitudes  incident  to  the  crop,  by 
its  power  to  regulate  prices.  The  ascendency  of  American  production  of  the  staple 
haying  been  arrested  by  the  rebellion,  other  sources  began  to  flow  anew  into  the  market 
under  the  operation  of  famine-rates.  The  East  Indies  had  increased  their  contribu- 
tions to  the  English  looms,  between  1860  and  1866,  threefold  ;  Brazil,  fourfold  ;  Egypt 
and  the  Mediterranean,  fourfold  ;  miscellaneous  sources,  fourfold ;  and  the  British  West 
Indies,  eightfold.  Four-fifths  of  the  cotton  supplies  of  England  were  contributed  by 
the  United  States  in  1800;  but  the  proportion  contributed  by  the  United  States  in  1870 
— the  returns  of  the  British  Board  of  Trade  for  1«71  not  having  been  yet  received  here- 
bad  not  reached  54  per  cent,  of  those  supplies,  a  shade  more  than  one-half. 

A  great  combinatiou  has  been  operating  for  ten  years  against  our  supremacy  in  raw 
cotton.  The  governments  of  Europe  are  all  parties  to  that  combination,  and,  under 
the  promptings  of  the  Manchester  Cotton-Supply  AEsociation,  have  made  the  difl'usion 
of  cotton  industry  a  subject  of  diplomatic  action  and  of  domestic  policy.  France  has 
songht  to  stimulate  the  culture  o£ cotton  in  Algeria  by  bonuses ;  Austria  has  made  the 

H.  Bep.  418 2 


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18  MISSISSIPPI   LEVEES. 

attempt  in  her  Adriatic  provinces  by  a  Bystcm  of  prcminmH ;  Turkey  has  stimulated  tho 
production  by  offers  of  liberal  land-tenures  to  European  planters  ;  Italy  has  surveyed^ 
mapped,  intersected  with  roads,  several  millions  of  acres  of  her  southern  territory,  with 
the  view  of  bringing  back  her  culture  of  the  staple,  under  the  encouragement  of  liberal 
grants  of  land;  and  England,  in  order  to  stimulate  the  production  in  Central  India, 
has,  in  addition  to  the  distribution  to  the  Hindoo  farmers  of  seeds,  tools,  and  informa- 
tion on  the  snbject,  given  the  cotton-fields  of  India  access  to  the  seaboard  by  railroads, 
at  a  cost  of  $450,000,000 ! 

Thirty-six  states  were  rpprrsfnted  at  a  convention  of  cot  ton -growers  held  in  London 
in  li^&2f  under  the  auspices  of  the  Manchester  Cotton-Supply  Association.  The  ground 
taken  in  that  conspiracy  against  our  industry  rested  on  the  proposition  that  we  could 
never  again  pro<luce  cotton  as  cheaply  as  before }  and  that  so  long  as  the  United  States 
failed  to  grow  it  at  a  price  less  than  twelve  cents  per  pound,  so  long  could  the  states 
represente<t  in  the  conspiracy  go  on  successfully  in  their  attempt  to  drive  ns  from  the 
market !  The  nation  may  rest  assured  that  unless  our  cotton-fibers  can  be  produced  at 
some  such  rates  as  those  by  which  they  had  reached  their  control  of  the  market,  they 
can  never  enjoy  that  coutrcd  again.  And  a  produotion  so  variable  In  its  yield  can 
never  be  maintained  in  healthy  vigor  anywhere  nnder  other  conditions  than  those  by 
which  it  had  been  maintained  here— such  a  control  of  the  market  as  shall  cover  any 
shortcoming  in  the  crop  by  regulating  its  price. 

The  war  waged  upon  our  cotton-culture  by  the  governments  and  peoples  of  Europe 
cannot  be  mot  successfully  save  on  the  basis  of  our  cotton-triumph  of  the  past — the  basis 
of  prices.  If  the  uplands  of  the  South  are  to  be  the  scene  of  the  conflict,  their  yield 
of  from  one-fourth  to  one-half  of  a  bale  to  the  acre  brings  ns  to  trial  so  feeble  that 
wo  must  go  down  l>eforo  the  combination  into  which  England  and  her  allies  have 
entered  for  our  defeat.  But  the  §even  millions  of  acres  to  be  brought  into  the  uses  of 
our  cotton-culture  by  the  construction  of  the  levees  of  the  Mississippi  present  a  bat- 
tle-field on  which  that  great  combination  for  the  ruin  of  the  grandest  triumph  of 
American  industry  may  be  brought  to  a  close  in  the  victorious  assertion  once  more  of 
our  BU|)romecy  in  the  cotton-market.  **  The  best  cotton-land  in  the  world,  capable  of 
producing  a  bale  to  the  acre/'  as  those  alluviums  are  very  truly  said  to  be  by  General 
Humphreys,  so  prolific  is  their  production  of  the  fabric — with  the  same  amount  of  cap- 
ital and  the  same  amount  of  labor— that  the  exclusion  of  all  rival  producers  from  the 
market,  and  the  destruction  of  all  the  capital  invested  in  their  production,  will  follow 
the  establishment  of  our  cotton-industry  in  the  unapproachable  strength  of  the  seven 
millions  of  acres  which  will  be  given  for  that  national  purx)08e  by  the  construction  of 
a  complete  system  of  levees  on  the  Mississippi  River. 

Our  cotton-uplands  are  being  denuded  of  their  labor.  The  higher  prodactiveness  of 
our  Mississippi  lowlands  giving  higher  remuneration,  their  conversion  having  there- 
fore at  its  command  abundant  supplies  of  labor,  may  be  expected  to  go  forward'with 
extraordinary  rapidity,  after  the  levees  shall  have  thrown  them  open  by  reclamation 
to  the  uses  of  agriculture.  And  seven  millions  of  bales  whitening,  before  many  years, 
the  splendid  territory  now  lying  wasto  on  cither  side  of  the  Mississippi,  would,  at  ten 
cents  per  pound,  not  only  enable  us  to  crush  all  rivalry  in  cotton-production  under  our 
heels,  but  would  at  the  same  time  add  to  the  credit  side  of  our  international  balance- 
sheet  hundreds  of  millions  per  annum  in  gold. 

Cheapness  is  a  necessity  of  not  only  the  maintenance  of  our  cotton  agricultnrc,  but 
of  also  our  cotton  manufacture ;  for  freight  and  handling,  though  something  like  con- 
stant quantities,  constitute,  in  reference  to  variations  of  price,  varying  ]>ercentages. 
As  a  tariff  in  favor  of  home  production,  they  are  greater  in  their  operative  power  when 
the  fabric  is  ten  cents  per  pound  than  they  are  when  it  is  twenty  cents.  *Their  effec- 
tive force  as  an  incidental  protection  of  our  cotton  manufactures  becomes  greatest  when 
the  price  of  cotton  is  the  least.  Under  this  point  of  view  there  can  be  no  doubt  that 
the  iiigh  prices  of  raw  cotton  bear  injuriously  on  our  exports  of  cotton  fabrics.  And 
in  corroboration  of  this  deduction,  the  fact  may  be  cited  that,  while  our  exports  of 
manufaetured  cotton  amounted  in  1860  to  about  eleven  millions  of  dollars,  they  fell  off 
in  1864  to  less  than  one  million  and  a  halt.  In  1871  they  had  not  rallied  to  over  three 
millions  and  a  half— one- third  of  their  value  in  1860. 

Our  cotton  manufactures  have  lost  under  high  prices  of  raw  cotton  an  income  from 
exports  to  the  extent  of  seven  millions  a  year.  The  proof  which  that  loss  points  gives 
it  an  aspect  still  more  serious  to  the  interests  involved  directly  in  the  production  of 
cotton  fabrics.  It  represents  them  in  an  attitude,  not  of  expansion  into  the  healthy 
life  which  can  strike  out  into  competition  with  the  world,  but  of  the  sickliness  that 
shrinks  from  that  struggle,  under  the  withering  influence  of  high  prices,  into  the  dan- 
gerous condition  of  industrial  existence  which  holds  its  vitality  by  the  uncertain  ten- 
ure of  "  protection.''  And  the  cotton  manufactures  of  the  country  have,  therefore,  lost 
not  only  seven  millions  of  their  income  from  exports  under  the  operation  of  high  priceH 
of  raw  cotton,  but  they  have  entered  under  that  operation  on  a  footing  that  places 
their  whole  capital,  so  long  as  those  high  prices  of  the  raw  material  hold,  more  or 
less  at  the  mercy  of  osoillations  in  our  political  thought. 


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MISSISSIPPI  LEVEES.  19 

Wheat,  flour,  and  Indian  com  entered  into  onr  exports  of  1860  to  the  amount  of 
twenty-two  millions  of  dollars.  The  consumption  of  those  northern  commodities  in 
the  cotton  region  havin;;  been  arrested  by  the  war,  their  export  ran  up  from  twenty- 
two  millions  in  1860^  to  seventy  millions  in  1861,  to  eighty  millions  in  1862.  The 
wheat,  flour,  and  Indian  corn  of  the  Western  States,  which  were  consumed  in  the  cot- 
ton-region in  1860,  may,  therefore,  be  set  down,  in  general,  at  between  fifty  and  sixty 
millions  of  dollars.  The  pork,  the  beef,  the  manufactures  of  wood,  iron,  &c.,  that  were 
sold  by  the  States  of  the  West  to  the  cotton-producers  of  1860,  may  be  estimated  at  a 
Tery  great  amount  when  the  consumption  of  western  grain  by  these  producers  is  seen 
in  such  strong  evidence  to  have  amounted  to  fifty  or  sixty  millions  of  dollars.  And 
thus,  in  addition  to  the  general  interest  of  giving  out  enormous  amounts  to  our  credit 
in  onr  international  account,  does  the  reclamation  of  seven  millions  of  acres  of  the 
**  richest  cotton-lands  in  the  world,"  by  the  construction  of  the  Mississippi  levees, 
promise  to  give  the  Western  States  that  best  of  all  markets,  a  home  market,  for  their 
breadstuffs  and  their  manufactures  to  an  amount  that  may  be  held  to  sum  up  a  hun- 
dred and  fifty  millions  of  dollars  per  annum. 

W^ater-power,  though  «heai>er  in  first  cost,  is  inferior  for  the  uses  of  manufacture 
to  steam.  Cotton,  being  the  lighter  of  the  two  materials,  must  go  at  the  bidding  of 
economy  to  that  producer  of  steam— coal.  And  in  seeking  the  coal  best  suited  for  its 
conversion,  it  will  determine  in  favor,  all  things  else  being  equal,  of  the  coal  near- 
est, easiest  of  access.  Now,  the  reclamation  of  our  immense  areas  of  cotton-land  on  the 
banks  of  the  Mississippi  is,  under  this  point  of  view,  the  initial  step  in  an  inevitable 
result— American  supremacy  in  the  production  of  cotton  fabrics.  With  the  raw  mate- 
rial in  unbounded  supplies  in  one  part  of  the  river-system  of  the  Mississippi  basin,  and 
in  an  adjoining  part  of  that  system  abundance  of  coal,  abundance  of  broadstutfs,  abun- 
dance of  labor,  all  the  conditions  of  economical  production  concur  in  declaring  the 
throne  of  a  future  empire  in  the  manufacture  of  cotton  fabrics  to  be  seated  on  the  coal- 
fields of  the  West.  The  wonderful  developments  of  civic  population  and  industrial 
wealth  in  Great  Britain  have  taken  place  on  her  coal-measures  under  the  drawbacks 
of  supplies  and  markets  thousands  of  miles  away,  and  there  can  be  no  doubt  develop- 
ments still  more  wonderful  in  the  concentration  of  population  and  the  increase  of 
riches  will  follow  on  the  coal-measures  of  Ohio,  Indiana,  Illinois,  Missouri,  &c.,  when, 
with  the  consumption  of  a  continent  at  the  doors  of  their  cotton-mills,  the  raw  mate- 
rial can  be  brought  to  them  at  the  low  cost  of  transportation  over  five  or  six  hundred 
Biiles  of  inland  navigation,  in  the  abundance  of  supply  whitening  seven  millions  of 
acres  behind  the  levees  of  the  Mississippi. 

The  nation  cannot  consent  to  palter  with  her  duties. 


NEW  SERVITUDE  FROM  STEAMBOAT- WAVES. 

The  claim  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  delta  for  national  aid  rests  upon 
much  stronger  grounds  than  mere  prospective  revenues  and  produc- 
tions. These  claims  come  in  the  form  of  reclamation.  They  are  based 
upon  the  perpetual  and  ever-increasing  attack  upon  the  banks  of 
the  river  and  the  levees  by  the  passing  commerce  of  no  less  than  twen- 
ty-one States  and  five  Territories,  the  most  productive  of  the  Union, 
that  send  their  untold  commerce  down  the  river,  and  receive  their  im- 
ports in  return.  The  steamers  that  transport  this  commerce  send  their 
resistless  waves  against  banks  and  levees,  lashing  and  abrading  them 
almost  without  cessation.  Our  lower  river  hardly  ever  rests.  One  set 
of  waves  succeed  another,  and  each  finds  its  rest  in  the  equivalent  of 
its  forces  transferred  to  the  banks  and  channel  of  the  river.  These  lash- 
ings and  abradings,  independent  of  the  other  causes,  render  the  task  of 
levee-construction  more  and  more  oppressive  yearly,  until  they  have 
become  intolerable.  That  this  burden  should  be  borne  in  part  by 
those  whose  commerce  attacks  and  batters  them  down  is  an  axiom  of 
equity. 

MEASURE  OF  WAVE-FORCES  ON  BANKS. 

Let  it  first  be  observed  that  the  forces  started  by  a  steamer  plowing 
the  waters  are  chiefly  lateral.    The  bow  of  the  vessel  and  the  paddle- 


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20  MISSISSIPPI   LEVEES. 

wheels  throw  up  waves  that  caonot  find  movement  except  along  the 
surface;  and  even  when  the  paddle  strikes  downward,  the  displacement 
is  lateral  except  at  very  short  distances  beneath  the  dip  of  the  wheel. 
The  force  is  felt  downward  only  at  the  wheels  or  propeller,  and  these 
immediately  re-act  and  run  along  the  surface  to  the  distant  shores.  And 
since  the  waters  are  indefinitely  mobile  among  their  particles,  repose  for 
displacement  or  violence  can  only  be  found  against  the  walls  of  the 
channel.  The  total  force  exerted  against  the  bank  must  be  the  same, 
whether  dififused  or  concentrated,  though  the  abrasions  will  be  materi- 
ally different.  Forces  are  never  lost,  though  their  facility  of  transmis- 
sion is  greatest  in  water  and  least  in  solids,  such  as  the  river-bank. 
And  since  these  banks  are  composed  of  material  brought  and  laid  down 
where  they  lie  by  these  very  waters,  moving  at  a  jirelocity  of  three  feet 
per  second,  whenever  the  new  forces  brought  to  bear  by  greater  velocity 
of  wave  or  current  attack  these  particles,  they  displace  them  and  carry 
them  down  to  lower  lands. 

Let  us  take  an  example.  The  steamer  James  Howard,  of  side-wheel 
construction  and  with  1,500  tons  freight,  passed  up  the  river  at  near 
mean  high-water  gauge,  at  CarroUton,  12.5  feet,  3  feet  below  maximum. 
Her  rate  was  about  ten  mile^  per  hour  against  a  current  of  four  miles 
per  hour,  making  a  movement  of  her  waves  ten  and  four  miles,  equal 
to  fourteen  miles.  The  waves  of  practical  value  were  oblique,  23°  to 
her  course  on  each  side,  and  could  be  distinctly  counted  to  about  the 
fifteenth  wave,  and  I  added  five  for  the  confused,  irregular  waves  that 
followed.  Ten  of  these  waves  were  nearly  of  the  same  height,  and  were 
measured  by  their  rise  on  a  rod  and  a  drift-log  that  did  not  break  them. 

These  waves  averaged  about  16  inches  of  height  at  300  feet  behind  the 
vessel,  and  the  remaining  ten  waves  averaged  less  than  half  that  height^ 
say  six  inches.  They  were  all  delivered  against  the  banks  with  the 
velocity  of  the  steamer,  plus  the  rate  of  the  current,  say  fourteen  miles 
per  hour  or  20  feet  per  second. 

Without  attempting  to  weigh  this  force  by  computing  its  dynamics 
from  these  data,  we  assume  the  tonnage  of  the  steamer  multiplied  by 
her  velocity  gives  the  just  practical  result. 

It  is  probable  that  the  Howard's  own  tonnage  is  more  than  half  her 
load,  and  that  2,300  tons  would  be  the  weight  of  boat  and  cargo.  We 
have,  then,  4,600,000  pounds  delivered  against  the  banks  of  the  river  at 
the  rate  of  ten  miles  per  hour,  equal  to  14.6  feet  per  second. 

Now  this  force  is  repeated  every  length  the  vessel  travels;  and  taking 
her  length  at  300  feet  or  100  yards,  the  force  is  repeated  17.60  times  in 
every  mile.  Thus  the  violence  done  to  the  banks  and  levees  by  one  trip 
of  the  James  Howard  is  measured  by  4,600,000  pounds  x  14,6  seconds 
X*  17.60  for  each  mile  of  her  travel.  The  aggregate  force,  then,  that  is 
abnormal,  applied  by  this  steamer,  amounts  in  foot-pounds  to  118,201,600 
pounds  =  60,000  tons. 

These  quantities  are  so  enormous  as  to  be  unappreciable  to  the  mind 
unless  illustrated  by  some  familiar  example. 

A  levee  of  nine  feet  in  height,  by  the  recent  formula  of  Humphreys  and 
Abbot,  with  slopes  of  two  and  three  to  one,  contains  1,200  cubic  yards 
in  every  hundred  feet,  and  3,000  pounds  to  the  cubic  yard.  The  three 
hundred  feet  of  levee,  equal  to  the  length  of  the  James  Howanl, 
would  weigh  10,800,000  pounds;  the  force  thr  own  against  the  levee  or  hank, 
each  trip  by  the  passing  boat  would  be  g^iy  pop  =  34,080,000  pounds; 
more  than  three  times  the  weight  of  the  tchole  levee! 

Owing  to  the  tenacity  of  the  soil  and  materials  of  the  banks  of  the 
river,  these  banks  do  stand  these  forces,  repeated  fifty  times  a  day  under 


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MISSISSIPPI   LEVEES.  '       21 

many  modified  forms;  and  still  tbey  stand  almost  miraculoasly  this  fear- 
fnl  servitude. 

But  this  is  wholly  abnormal,  and  chargeable  to  the  commerce  of  the 
M  i  ssissippi  Valley. 

COMMEEOE    OF  THE  MISSISSIPPI  ElVER. 

It  follows,  from  the  conclusions  of  the  last"pages,  that  the  entire  ton- 
nage  of  the  river  must  be  aggregated,  in  order  to  make  up  the  account 
of  the  levees  against  the  western  country^s  commerce. 

TVe  are  indebted  to  Judge  W.  M.  Burwell,  secretary  of  the  New 
Orleans  Chamber  of  Commerce,  for  the  items  relating  to  this  commerce 
woven  into  this  report. 

Table  I. 

Arrived  and  cleared  at  Xew  Orleans^  187L 
Kiver-crafls.  Trips.    Approz.  tonnage. 

Steamboats 6,344  160,000 

Barges 10,000 

Coastwise  and  foreign  sailsbips 1,041  150,000 

Steamships 1,094  60,000 

Mississippi  barge-line,  eij;ht  tngs  and  forty  barges 32, 000 

Other  barges  on  Mississippi  and  Ohio,  exclusive  of  coal 32, 000 

Tonnage  of  vessels 444,000 

Table  II. 

Producte  received. 

Tons. 

Cotton,  say  1,500,000  balfes 375,000 

Com,  say  4,000,000  bushels 121,000 

Flour,  1,571,281  barrels 186,000 

Tobacco,  25,000  hogsheads 28,000 

Sngar,  (home  crop,)  140,000  hogsheads ; 154,000 

Western  provisions  other  than  corn 50,000 

Coal,  (5,000,000  tons  per  flat-boats — make  no  waves,  float  on  the  current)... 

Other  commodities — furniture,  lumber,  staves,  lathes,  hardware,  iron,  &c . .  86, 000 

1,000,000 
Imports,  $20,000,000,  estimated  at  one-fourth  other  receipts 250, 000 

Total  freights .- 1,250,000 

Total  vessels 444,000 

Total  movement 1,694,000 

Thus  the  tonnage  transported  on  the  Mississippi  in  1871,  by  vessels 
producing  waves,  amounts  in  the  aggregate  to  1,694,000.  Every  ton  and 
every  pound  of  this  freight  sent  its  corresponding  ton  of  wave  against 
unr  banks,  at  an  average  velocity  which,  after  some  reflection,  we  have 
placed  at  six  miles  per  hour  =  8.8  feet  per  second. 

To  appreciate  the  effect  of  this  prodigious  force,  we  can  but  multiply 
the  1,964,000  tons  by  8.8  feet  per  second,  and  it  impels  a  force  of 
15,787,000  tons,  running-  currently  the  entire  line  of  our  banks  and 
levees  of  2,000  miles,  every  consecutive  point  receiving  this  force  ! 

It  is  incredible,  thus,  that  in  addition  to  the  burdens  the  levees  .orig- 
inally assumed  of  current  lapse,  and  occasional  wind- waves,  the  levees 
and  banks  of  the  Mississippi  Biver  should  bear  this  servitude ;  and  that 
the  people  who  live  along  these  river-fronts  should  be  able  to  bear  the 
burden  of  rebuilding  and  repairing  them  forever. 


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22     •  MISSISSIPPI   LEVEES 

Certainly  a  portion  of  this  bnrden  should  be  now  assumed  by  those 
whose  commerce  forever  attacks  and  batters  them  down. 

No  power  but  that  of  the  General  Government  can  reach  a  case  so 
ramified  and  touching  the  interests  of  people  in  so  many  States. 

The  cry  for  help  comes  up  from  a  line  of  more  than  fifteen 'hundred 
miles  of  river-front  levees,  and  from  more  than  five  hundred  additional 
miles  required;  from  the  millions  who  cultivate  in  their  rear,  or  stand 
ready  to  enter  the  fertile  fields ;  from  the  six  great  States  of  Louisiana, 
Mississippi,  Arkansas,  Missouri,  Tennessee,  and  Kentucky. 

The  response  should  be  loiid  and  prompt  from  every  producer  or  citizen 
of  the  Mississippi  Valley,  invoking  aid  by  national  legislation  to  repair 
and  build  the  walls  of  the  channel  of  their  untold  commerce ;  for  every 
barrel  of  apples,  or  flour,  or  potatoes ;  every  sack  of  grain ;  every  article 
of  furniture;  every  plow,  wagon,  or  engine  that  travels  down  that  river 
on  its  way  to  market  sends  its  continual  wave  to  erode  the  Mississippi 
banks  and  levees. 

The  cause,  then,  is  eminently  national,  and  to  this  great  nation  we 
appeal,  with  confident  expectation  tbat  its  powerful  arm,  now  released 
from  all  duties  but  those  of  peace,  good  will,  enlightenment,  and  civili- 
zation, will  at  once  be  extended  to  the  rescue  of  the  noblest  area  of 
fertility  ever  redeemed  for  the  habitation  of  man. 


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43d  Congress,  \     HOUSE  OF  REPEESBNTATIVES.      (  Report 
l8t  Session.     J  \  No.  419. 


JESSE  P.  MOORE  AND  CHARLES  W.  LEWIS. 


April  17, 1874. — Committed  to  a  Committee  of  the  Whole  Hoase  and  ordered  to  he 

printed. 


Mr.  Wajldron,  from  the  Committee  on  Ways  and  Means,  submitted  the 

following 

REPOET: 

[To  accompany  hiU  H.  R.  2990.J 

The  Committee  on  Ways  and  Means,  to  whom  was  referred  the  hill  for  the 
relief  of  Jesse  F.  Moore  and  (Jharles  W.  Lewis ^  of  North  Oarolinaj  submit 
the  following  report : 

Jesse  F.  Moore  and  C.  W.  Lewis  were  partners  in  tbe  tobacco  trade  under 
the  firm  of  Lewis  &  Moore,  and  in  the  course  of  their  business  as  ped- 
dlers, they  separated,  each  taking  with  him  a  portion  of  their  stock, 
and  each  one  being  provided  with  a  peddler's  license,  and  a  permit 
showing  that  the  tax  had  been  duly  paid  on  the  tobacco. 

Both  licenses,  however,  had  been  issued  in  the  name  of  C.  W.  Lewis; 
and  while  Mr.  Moore  was  peddling  in  the  State  of  Georgia,  his  tobacco  was 
seized  because  the  license  which  he  held  was  in  the  name  of  his  part- 
ner, and  for  the  further  reason  that  his  permit  was  without  seal. 

The  deputy  collector,  who  issued  the  license  and  the  permits,  states 
that  the  permits  had  no  collector's  seals  impressed  upon  them,  but  that 
they  were  genuine  blanks,  and  that  he  believed,  when  he  issued  them, 
that  they  were  good  and  sufficient  in  the  shape  in  which  they  were 
issued. 

The  deputy  collector,  who  issued  the  license,  also  states  that  the  firm 
applied  to  him  for  a  license  in  the  name  of  the  firm,  but  that  he  de- 
clined to  issue  them  as  requested,  as  he  thought  that  a  license  issued  to 
either  member  of  a  firm  was  good  and  sufficient  for  either  member 
of  said  firm  to  peddle  under. 

It  is  admitted  that  all  sums  due  the  Government  for  tax  or  license 
were  paid ;  that  the  parties  acted  in  good  faith ;  and  that  the  tobacco 
was  seized  and  sold  in  consequence  of  the  erroneous  judgment  of  the 
officers  of  the  revenue. 

The  committee  recommend  that  the  amount  which  was  covered  into 
the  Treasury,  as  proceeds  of  the  sale  of  the  tobacco,  be  refunded  to  the 
parties. 


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43d  Congress,  >    HOUSE  OP  REPRESENTATIVES.       (  Report 
l8t  Semon.     j  1  No.  420. 


J.  G.  FELL  ET  AL. 


April  17, 1874.— Ordered  to  be  printed. 


Mr.  J.  B.  Hawley,  from  the  Committee  on  Claims,  submitted  the 

following 

IIEPOIIT: 

The  Committee  on  Claims^  to  whom  teas  referred  a  bill  {H.  R.  63)  and 
memorial  for  the  relief  of  J.  O.  Fell  and  others,  trustees  of  the  Walnut 
Grove  Mining  Oompanyy  have  had  the  same  under  consideration,  and 
present  thefollovnng  report : 

It  appears,  from  the  memorial  referred  to,  that  the  Walnut  Grove 
(jold  Mining  Company  was  organized  on  the  1st  of  November,  1864,  by 
Joseph  G.  Fell,  Edward  Hoopes,  and  George  Barnham,  and  that  pre- 
vious to  this  date  the  mines  and  lands  belonging  thereto  belonged  to 
George  EI.  Yickroy,  who  went  to  Arizona  in  1863,  and  became  possessed, 
by  purchase  or  otherwise,  of  said  mines  in  the  following  year. 

Mr.  Yickroy  states  that,  after  he  became  possessed  of  the  mines,  he 
was  urged  and  encouraged  to  bring  a  mill  ^nd  the  necessary  machi- 
nery to  develop  them,  and  that,  needing  more  capital  to  render  the 
enterprise  succes»ful,  he  started  East  to  procure  it;  but,  as  the  set- 
tlers in  that  region  were  constantly  harrassed  by  the  Indians,  he  de- 
termined that  it  would  be  dangerous  to  risk  much  money  there,  unless 
he  could  obtain  some  guarantee  of  military  protection.  With  this  in 
view,  he  called  upon  General  James  H.  Carleton,  who  was  then  in  com- 
mand of  the  troops  in  New  Mexico  and  Arizona,  and  who  resided  at 
Santa  F6.    At  his  request,  the  general  wrote  the  following  letter : 

Copif  of  Gen,  J.  IL  Carleton^ 8  letter, 

HEADQrARTKRS  DEPARTMENT  OF  NeW  M  EX  ICO, 

Santa  Fe,  X  if.,  July  11. 1^(J4. 
My  Dear  Sir  :  In  auswer  to  your  verbal  question  as  to  the  safety  of  carryiog  ou 
ininiDg  operations  hereafter  in  Arizona,  I  will  say  I  have  already  inaugurated  a  cani- 
)>aign  against  the  Apache  Indians  that  will  result  in  their  complete  subjugation,  and 
Hhoiild  yon  induce  friends  in  the  East  to  join  you  in  erecting  a  quartz-mill  in  the  uewly- 
(liHcovered  gold-regions  near  Fort  Whipple,  the  .enterprise  will  be  fully  protected  by 
the  military.  I  am  well  assured  that  building  a  quartz-mill  there,  and  developing 
Home  one  of  the  rich  mines,  will  result  in  such  benetit  to  the  Qovemmeut  an  to  amply 
coinpeoHate  for  the  protection  given. 

I  have  the  honor  to  be,  very  respectfully, 

JAMES  H.  CARLETON, 

Brigadier 'General,  Commaifdinth 

tlKOROE  n.   ViCKROV,  EHq. 

Having  this  in  his  possession,  Mr.  Vickroy  proceeded  to  Philadelphia, 
l*a.,  to  organize  the  Walnut  Grove  Gold-Mining  Company.  Seventy- 
♦^tnvn  thousand  dollars  were  subscribed,  with  which  he  purchased  a 


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2  WAi;.NUT   GROVE   MINING   COMPANY. 

quartz-mill,  au  engiDe,  wagons,  males,  harness,  tools,  provis^ions,  &e. 
With  these  he  started  from  Leavenworth,  Kansas,  on  the  28th  of  Feb- 
ruary, 1865.  What  transpired  after  this  is  best  told  in  his  own  words, 
taken  from  the  memorial : 

About  August  1  we  were  attacked  at  Navajo  Springs,  in  Arizona,  and  lost  twenty-^ix 
mules.  The  train  reached  Prescott  about  September  ],  1865.  Arizona  had  been  traD>- 
ferred  to  the  Department  of  the  Pacific  during  my  absence,  and  General  Mason  wa> 
then  in  command  of  the  district.  He  gave  me  every  assurance  of  military  protection. 
My  mill  was  the  first  in  the  Territory,  and  the  whole  community,  as  well  as  the  civil 
and  military  authorities,  were  anxious  to  see  it  erected  and  in  operation.  I  decided  to 
put  the  mill  on  the  Bully  Bueno  mine.  General  Mctson  gave  me  twenty-one  eoldien  Ut 
esccrt  the  train  to  the  mine.  The  day  after  they  joined  the  train  the  Indians  attacked 
us,  killed  one  man,  and  captured  twelve  mules.  We  were  about  two  weeks  iu  reaching 
the  Bully  Bueno  mine,  and  had  some  fightinu;  with  these  Indians  every  day. 

About  the  1st  of  September,  1865,  we  reached  the  iuiue  and  unloaded.  On  that  day 
the  Indians  captured  our  entire  beef-herd  of  twenty-two  head  of  cattle.  The  next  day 
the  empty  train  started  for  Prescott,  the  escort  accompanying  it.  When  one  mile  from 
the  mine,  at  Pine  Flat,  the  Indians  attacked  ns,  killed  one  teamster,  captured  eight 
mules,  and  burned  one  wagon.  The  train  reached  Prescott,  where  the  military  escort 
was  withdrawn.  The  train  was  then  en  route  for  Fort  Mojave  for  feed.  I  applied  for 
au  escort,  but  was  refused  because  of  the  scarcity  of  men. 

On  the  road  to  Mojave  the  traiu  was  attacked  at  Hualapai  Springs,  where  tb* 
Indians  captured  eleven  mules.  The  next  day,  at  Beall  Springs,  the  Indians  captureil 
four  mules  and  one  hoise.  I  loaded  the  train  at  Fort  Mojave  with  barley  and  retumed 
to  Prescott. 

On  the  military  reservation  at  Fort  Whipple  we  lost  seven  mules  while  unloading 
the  train,  and  while  iu  Camp  Prescott,  withiu  two  weeks  of  this  time,  we  had  about 
one  hundred  mules  stolen  by  the  Indians,  but  I  cannot  give  the  exact  dates  or  tb<r 
number  taken  each  time  an  attack  was  made,  but  we  lost  about  one  hundred  mnlrs 
between  November  15  and  December  15, 1865. 

At  the  mine  I  had  started  eleven  men  at  work  on  the  mill,  who  were  attacked  on 
the  afternoon  of  October  4  and  driven  off.  Some  took  refuse  at  Walnut  Grove,  and 
others  at  Prcsrott.  I  then  employed  a  larger  force,  and  again  applied  for  troops  to  l>c 
stationed  at  the  mill  during  that  winter,  as  but  few  men  could  be  engagrd  for  that 
purpose,  owing  to  the  extreme  danger,  at  that  time,  from  the  Indians. 

During  that  winter  we  had  about  fifty  mules  stolen  from  the  mills  by  the  Indiana, 
while  our  teams,  which  were  freighting  on  the  road  from  the  Colorado  River  to  Pr'j»- 
cott,  were  frequently  attacked  by  them  and  lost  wagons  and  mules. 

From  the  time  I  reached  Arizona  in  September,  1865,  until  March,  1866,  the  Indian'* 
raptured,  in  all,  two  hundred  and  seven  mules,  which  had  cost  from  $200  to  $^0  eacL. 
iu  Missouri. 

On  the  9th  of  February  the  Indians  attacked  our  camp  at  Bully  Bueno,  drove  ofl"  tin- 
men, killed  two,  and  wounded  one.  General  Mason  sent  over  a  surgeon  and  a  company 
of  troops,  who  remained  about  one  week  and  were  withdrawn.  I  then  increased  onr 
force  to  about  forty  men  and  left  them,  coming  to  Philadelphia  in  May,  1866,  and 
returned  to  Arizona  about  August  1. 

During  my  absence  tlie  Indians  had  captured  about  twenty  head  of  animals.  Iu 
October,  1866, 1  sent  from  San  Pedro,  Cal.,  a  train  loaded  with  provisions,  which  waN 
captured  by  the  Indians  at  Agua  Frio,  teu  milf  s  from  the  Bully  Bueno  mine.  Five 
tpnuipters  were  killed  and  about  forty  animals  taken. 

In  November,  1866, 1  went  to  Philadelphia,  and  as  all  efforts  to  have  a  military  cam]) 
established  at  onr  mill  had  failed,  I  weut  to  see  General  Grant,  at  Washington,  to 
whom  I  represented  onr  situation,  and  who  promised  to  instruct  General  McDovell 
(then  commanding  the  Department  of  the  Pacific)  to  extend  such  aid  to  ns  as  was  pon- 
sible,  and  to  establish  a  military  camp  at  our  mill.  This  was  never  done.  During  my 
Absence  at  this  period,  Maj.  £.  W.  Coffin  was  superintendent  of  the  company's  opera- 
tions in  Arizona. 

At  Los  Angeles,  Cal.,  in  June,  1867,  I  bought  about  seventy  head  of  mules  and 
horses  and  six  wagon.s,  and  loaded  them  with  provisions  and  merchandise,  and  started 
them  for  Prescott.  The  train  had  trouble  with  the  Indians  all  the  way,  and  reached 
the  mine  after  losing  a  number  of  animals.  Tae  day  after  their  arrival  the  Indians 
captured  every  animal  belonging  to  the  company,  and  killed  the  herders.  TUi> 
caused  a  total  suspouNion  of  operations,  as  we  could  purchase  no  teams  in  Arizona  at 
that  time.  M^jor  Coffin  abandoned  the  enterprise  and  returned  to  Philadelphia.  1 
having  in  the  mean  time  remained  in  San  Francisco. 

On  ricaring  of  this  disaster,  I  at  once  went  to  Pre.sc<»tt,  and  applied  t<i  General  Gn-jru 
for  soldiers  to  pr(»tect  the  ]n*operty,  but  without  result.  I  eniployt-d  a  fon-e  of  men  to 
guard  the  mill,  and  left  thcui  theie  during  that  winter,  and  came  to  Philadelphia. 


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WALNUT    GROVE   MINING   COMPANY.  6 

During  the  fallowing  March,  1868, 1  returned  to  Prescott,  and  as  the  men  I  had  left 
were  unwilling  to  remain  longer,  I  made  an  application  to  General  Devin  (then  com- 
manding the  district)  for  soldiers,  representing  that  I  could  not  secure  an  adequate 
force  of  men  to  protect  the  property.  He  could  spare  no  soldiers,  so  I  employed  thir- 
teen men,  which  were  all  I  could  obtain  for  that  purpose,  and  left  the  mill  in  their 
charge.  We  had  about  eleven  head  of  mules  and  norses  stolen  by  the  Indians  about 
this  time,  March  2, 1868,  on  the  Hassayampa,  while  en  route  to  Wickenburgh.  The  In- 
<lian  troubles  now  became  so  great  that  we  could  not  carry  on  operations,  and  our  only 
object  was  to  guard  the  property  from  destruction.  These  men  remained  in  charge 
until  July  9, 1869,  when  a  large  force  of  Indians  attacked  the  premises  and  burned 
the  mill,  store-house,  saw-mill,  superintendent's  house,  boanling-house,  blacksmith  and 
carpenter  shops,  and  stables,  destroying  the  machinery,  tools,  and  supplies,  together 
\vitli  all  the  books,  papers,  and  accounts. 

Tho  expense  incurred  by  the  company  up  to  this  time  bad  amounted  to  $292, 800.  I 
was  their  general  superintendent  from  the  time  of  its  organization  up  to  the  time  of 
tho  destruction  of  the  mill. 

I  am  well  assured  that  this  enterprise  would  have  never  been  undertaken  bad  it  not 
boen  for  the  military  protection  which  was  promised,  and  I  am  satisfied  that  if  that 
])rotection  had  been  afforded  my  operations  in  behalf  of  the  company  would  have  been 
entirely  successful. 

GEO.  H.  VICKROY. 

Subscribed  and  9woru  to  before  me,  January  6,  1872. 

[sKAi.]  R.  J.  MEIGS,  Clerk, 

By  R,  J.  MEIGS,  Jr.,  Assistant  Chrk. 

This  is  the  gist  of  the  ease  as  presented  by  the  company,  accompanied 
by  affidavits  of  the  value,  or  the  supposed  value  and  amount  of  the 
property  said  to  have  been  destroyed ;  and  upon  these  alleged  facts, 
coupled  with  the  assurance  given  by  General  Jas.  H.  Oarleton  of  military 
protection,  the  company  base  their  claim  for  re-imbursment  by  the  United 
States  of  the  full  value  of  the  property  which  is  claimed  to  have  been 
destroyed. 

TheVollowing  letter,  from  the  Acting  Commissioner  of  Indian  Aftairs 
to  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  accompanies  the  memorial  of  the  com- 
]mny: 

Dkpartmknt  of  the  Intkuior, 

Office  of  Indian  Affairs, 

Washington,  />.  C,  January  7, 187^. 
.Siu :  I  havfi  the  honor  to  acknowledge  tho  receipt,  by  reference  from  the  Department, 
on  tho  *2d  instant,  of  a  letter  from  George  H.  Viclsroy,  dated  2d  ultimo,  submitting  a 
tlaira  of  the  Walnut  Grove  Mining  Company,  of  Arizona  Territory,  on  account  of  dep- 
redations alleged  to  have  been  committed  by  Apache  Indians  at  various  times,  from 
August,  1865,  to  July  9,  1869,  the  loss  being  stated  at  $292,800. 

The  papers  in  the  case  have  been  carefully  examined  in  this  office,  and  the  conclu- 
fsion  reached  that  the  claim  is  not  without  merit,  is  justified,  it  is  thought,  by  the  sworn 
.•statements  of  parties  who  were  identified  with  the  operations  of  the  company  as  em- 
ploy<58,  and  who  were  personally  cognizant,  in  most  instances,  of  the  facts  stated  by 
them.     What  amount  of  loss  the  company  actually  sustained  by  the  direct  acts  of  the 
Indians  is  a  question  difficult  of  satisfactory  reply  or  determination.    The  depredatiouM 
were  numerous,  and  the  task  of  harmonizing  the  evidence  of  different  parties,  as  to 
the  particular  facts  in  each  and  every  instance,  seems  to  be  impracticable,  especially 
with  reference  to  the  loss  of  mules  or  **  animals.''    Some  of  the  items  in  the  claim,  such 
as  **  stock  of  goods  and  provisions,  $32,000,"  are  without  the  support  of  sufficient  proof, 
and  in  others  the  valuation  is  manifestly  excessive.    It  will  be  seen  by  the  testimony 
of  G.  H.  Vickroy,  the  first  superintendent  of  the  company,  that  the  outfit  purchased  by 
hiir,  consisting  of  a  20-stamp  quartz-mill,  40  horse-po\>er  engine,  26  wagons,  268  mules 
and  harness,  provisions,  tools,''  &c.,  cost  about  $77,000.    W^ith  this  amount  much  ma- 
terial apparently  is  procured.    Referring  to  tho  schedule  of  property,  (accompanying 
the  claim,)  which,  it  is  alleged,  was  either  captured  or  destrnyed  by  the  Indians,  it  will 
be  observed  that  the  item  of*'  20-8tamp  quartz-mi. 1  burned  '  is  for  tho  sum  of  $118,000. 
A  reasonable  doubt  arises  as  to  this  being  the  real  value  cf  that  particular  piece  of 
property,  for  the  presum]>tion  is  that  the  machinery  in  the  mill  was  the  most  impor- 
tant part  of  it,  the  cost  of  which  may  be  estimated  by  taking  Mr.  Vickroy's  statement 
as  to  the  $77,000  expended  for  quartz-mill  and  other  property,  aud  by  allowing  for 
coHts  of  transportation.    The  charges  for  houses  destroyed  are  regarded  as  exorbitant 
2Li.d  without  buppoit  of  sufficient  proof ;  and  other  charges,  which  should  have  been 


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4  WALNUT   GROVE   MINING   COMPANY. 

itemized,  or  an  invoice  of  the  same  fnmighed,  are  deemed  to  be  inadmissible,  from  the 
fact  that  they  are  not  so  itemized :  in  addition,  they  are  not  well  sostained  by  proof. 

I  respectfally  submit  that  the  alleii^tlon  of  the  depredations  having  been  committed, 
as  set  forth  in  the  claim,  is  sufficiently  proven,  and  recommend  that  the  case  be  sab- 
mi  tted  to  Congress  for  its  action.  In  this  connection  it  is  proper  to  remark  that, 
under  the  limitation  provided  in  the  seventeenth  section  of  the  law  of  Jane  30, 1834,  in 
regard  to  claims  for  depredations  by  Indians,  the  claim  under  consideration,  not  hav- 
ing been  presented  within  three  years,  is  barred. 
The  letter  of  Mr.  Vickory,  and  papers  submitted  by  him,  are  herewith  returned. 
Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

H.  R.  CLUM, 

Acting  Cammi9$ioner. 
Hon.  B.  R.  CowEX, 

Acting  Secretary  of  the  Interior, 

After  a  fall  examination  of  the  claim,  the  committee  are  constraiDed 
to  rei)ort  adversely,  for  the  following  reasons : 

First.  The  claim  is  expressly  barred  by  section  17  of  a  law  of  Congress, 
approved  Jane  30, 1S34,  which  provides  that  *^  anless  sach  claim  shall 
be  presents  within  three  years  after  the  commission  of  the  injary,  the 
same  shall  be  barred."  This  claim  was  not  presented  antil  January, 
1872,  and  then  not  in  a  proper  and  satisfactory  form.  The  last  of  the 
damages  complained  of  occurred  Jaly  9, 18G9,  and  the  first  on  Angast 
1, 18G5 ;  while  the  working  of  the  mine  was  really  abandoned  in  1868, 
owing,  as  Mr.  Yickroy  states,  to  the  increasing  Indian  tronbles. 

Second.  Much  stress  is  laid  by  the  company  upon  the  assnrance  of 
l)rotection  given  by  General  James  n.  Carleton,  then  in  New  Mexico,  to 
George  H.  Yickroy,  while  on  his  way  to  Philadelphia  to  organize  the 
company.  This  assurance  might  have  been  of  great  value  to  Mr.  Yick- 
roy in  enabling  him  to  dispose  of  his  property  to  advantage,  and  doubt- 
less it  had  considerable  influence  in  procuring  subscriptions  to  the  stock 
of  the  company ;  but  this  officer,  or  his  successors,  had  no  authority  to 
bind  the  Government  of  the  United  States  as  security  for  a  private  en- 
terprise to  the  amount  of  a  single  dollar.  General  Carleton  doubtless 
intended  to  render  all  the  protection  in  his  power  to  the  company ;  and 
there  is  every  reason  to  believe  that  l>oth  he  and  his  successors  in  com- 
mand did  protect  their  interests  so  far  as  the  means  at  their  disposal 
l)ermitted.  More  than  this  they  could  not  do,  and  General  Carleton 
had  no  authority  or  power  to  involve  the  Government  in  any  responsi- 
bility, save  such  as  the  laws  of  the  United  States  recognized.  If  Mr. 
Yickroy,  or  the  managers  of  the  company,  were  ignorant  of  this  fact,  or 
desired  to  ascertain  to  what  extent  they  could  depend  upon  the  protec- 
tion of  the  United  States  troops,  they  were  within  a  few  hours'  ride  of 
Washington,  and  could  easily  have  received  all  the  information  requisite 
before  they  issued  a  single  share  of  stock  or  expended  a  dollar. 

The  committee,  in  view  of  the  adverse  report  on  the  merits  of  the  claim, 
do  not  deem  it  necessary  to  refer  to  the  gross  sum  claimed  by  the  me- 
morialists, further  than  to  say  that  they  believe,  from  a  carenil  exami- 
nation of  the  various  items,  that  it  is  far  beyond  the  real  value  of  the 
property  destroyed. 

The  c-immittee,  therefore,  report  back  the  bill  H.  R.  63,  and  recom- 
mend that  it  do  lie  on  the  table. 


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t3D  Congress,  \  HOUSE  OF  REPBESENTATIVES.  /  Eepoet  420,. 
Ut  Session.     )  }       Part  2. 


J.  G.  FELL,  EDWARD    HOOPES,   AND   GEOUGE    BURN  HAM  ^ 

TRUSTEES. 


May  4, 1J^74.— Ordered  to  be  printed  and  recommitted  to  the  Committee  on  Claims. 


Mr.  Lansing,  from  the  Committee  on  Claims,  submitted  the  following- 

MINORITY   REPORT: 

The  Committee  on  Claims^  to  whom  teas  referred  tJie  bill  (H.  R.  63)  and 
memorial  for  relief  of  J.  6.  Fell  and  others^  trustees  of  the  Walmit  Orove 
Gold-Mining  Company,  ask  leave  to  make  tfie  following  minority  report  r 

The  memorialists,  Joseph  G.  Fell,  Edward  Hoopes,  and  George  Burn- 
ham,  men  of  high  standing  and  of  untarnished  reputation,  of  Philadel* 
phia,  state  under  oath  that  they  invested  in  the  purchase  of  goods,  sup- 
plies, machinery,  and  necessary  outfit,  wagon-trains,  and  in  the  employ- 
ment  of  men  in  the  erection  of  buildings  for  store-rooms,  business  offices^ 
dwelling  houses,  mining-machinery,  and  in  the  purchase  of  material  for 
said  buidings,  and  in  opening  the  mines  in  Arizona,  and  working  the 
same,  amounting  in  the  aggregate  to  $426,000.  They  further  state  that 
they  would  not  have  made  this  investment,  or  any  part  of  it,  had  not 
ample  military  protection  been  guaranteed,  which  said  guarantee  is  as 
follows : 

Copy  of  General  J,  H.  CarUton's  Utter, 

H EADQi: A KTERS  Department  of  New  Mexico, 

Sanie  F^y  N.  Mex,,  July  11,  1864. 
Geohge  H.  Vickkoy,  Esq.: 

My  dear  Sir  :  In  answer  to  your  verbal  question  as  to  tbe  safety  of  carrying  on 
mining  operations  hereafter  in  Arizona,  I  wiU  say  I  have  already  inaugurated  a  cam- 
paign against  the  Apache  Indians  that  will  result  in  their  complete  sulijugation,  and 
Nlionld  you  induce  friends  in  tbe  East  to  join  y«  u  in  erecting  a  quartz>min  in  the  newly- 
discovered  gold-regions  near  Fort  Whipple,  the  enter]>rise  will  be  fully  protected  by 
tbe  military.  I  am  well  assured  that  building  a  quartz-mill  there,  and  developing 
Home  one  of  the  rich  mines,  will  result  in  such  benehc  to  the  Government  as  to  amply 
compensate  for  the  protection  given. 

I  have  the  honor  to  be,  very  respectfully, 

JAMES  H.  CARLETON, 

Brigadier-General  Commanding. 

They  further  state  that  on  account  of  the  failure  of  protection  re- 
peatedly promised,  but  never  given,  they  lost  by  depredations  com- 
mitted by  Apache  Indians  in  Arizona  Territory  a  large  part  of  said 
property,  betiween  August  1, 1865,  and  July  9,  1869,  amounting  in  the 
i^ggregate  to  $292,800.  This  amount  they  swear  is  the  actual  cost  paid 
lor  the  property  destroyed.  They  show  that,  in  accordance  with  rule 
4,  adopted  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  under  the  act  of  May  29, 


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2  WALNUT    GROVE    MINING   COMPANY. 

1872,  and  estimating  the  price  of  the  property  where  destroyed  instead 
of  where  purchased,  in  accordance  with  said  rule,  that  their  losses 
would  be  $410,099,  instead  of  $292,800,  as  stated. 

They  further  state  that  on  the  2d  day  of  January,  1873,  they  made 
application  to  the  Interior  Department  for  compensation  for  said  losses, 
and  after  a  thorough  examination,  the  following  reports  were  made : 

Department  of  the  Interior,  Office  of  Indian  Affairs, 

WMhingtoPj  D,  C,  January  7,  1873. 

Sir  :  I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  receipt,  by  reference  from  the  Depart' 
raenty  on  the  2d  instant,  of  a  letter  from  George  H.  Vickrov,  dated  2d  ultimo,  rabmtttiog 
A  claim  of  the  Walnut  Grove  Mining  Gompany ,  of  Arizona  Territory,  on  account  of  depr^ 
dations  alleged  to.  have  been  committed  by  Apache  Indians  at  various  timea,  from 
August,  1865,  to  July  9, 1668,  the  loss  being  stated  at  $292,800. 

Toe  papers  in  the  case  have  been  carefully  examined  in  this  office,  and  the  coucla- 
sion  that  the  claim  is  not  without  merit,  is  Justified,  it  is  thought,  by  the  sworn  state- 
ments of  parties  who  were  identified  with  the  operations  of  the  company  as  employes, 
and  who  were  personally  cognizant,  in  most  instances,  of  the  facts  stated  by  them. 
What  amount  of  loss  the  company  actually  sustained  by  the  direct  acts  of  the  Indians 
is  a  question  difficult  of  satisfactory  reply  or  determination.  The  depredations  were 
numerous,  and  the  task  of  harmonizing  the  evidence  of  different  parties  aa  to  the  par- 
ticular facts  in  each  and  every  instance  seems  to  be  impracticable,  especially  with  re- 
ference to  the  loss  of  mules,  or  ^'  animals."  Some  of  the  items  in  the  claim,  such  aa 
**  stock  of  goods  and  provisions,  $32,000,''  are  without  the  support  of  sufficient  proof, 
and  in  others  the  valuation  is  manifestly  excessive..  It  will  be  seen  by  the  teatimony 
of  G.  H.  VickrojjT,  the  first  superintendent  of  the  company,  that  the  outfit  purchased 
by  him,  consisting  of  a  20-stamp  qnartz-mill,  40  horse-power  engine,  26  wagons,  26^ 
mules  and  harness,  provisions,  tools,  **  &c.,''  cost  abont  $77,000.  With  this  amount 
much  material  apparently  is  procured.  Referring  to  the  schedule  of  property,  (accom- 
panying the  claim,)  which,  it  is  alleged,  was  eitner  captured  or  destroyed  by  the  In- 
dians, it  will  be  observed  that  the  item  of  "  20-8tamp  quartz-mill  burned  is  for  the  sum 
of  $118,000.''  A  reasonable  doubt  arises  as  to  this  being  the  real  value  of  that  particular 
piece  of  property,  for  the  presumption  is  that  the  machinery  in  the  mill  was  the  mo^t 
important  part  of  it,  the  cost  of  which  may  be  estimated  by  taking  Mr.  VlekroyV 
statement  as  to  the  $77,0C0  expended  for  quartz-mill  and  other  property,  and  by  allow- 
ing for  cost  of  transportation.  The  charges  for  houses  destroyed  are  regarded  as  exor- 
bitant and  without  support  of  sufficient  proof;  and  other  charges,  which  should  have 
been  itemized,  or  an  invoice  of  the  same  furnished,  are  deemed  to  be  inadmissible,  from 
the  fact  that  they  are  not  so  itemized ;  iu  addition,  they  are  not  well  sustained  by 
proof. 

I  respectfully  submit  that  the  allegation  of  the  depredations  having  been  committed^ 
as  set  forth  in  the  claim,  is  sufficiently  proved,  and  recommend  that  the  case  be 
submitted  to  Con|(ress  for  its  action.  In  this  connection  it  is  proper  to  remark,  that, 
under  the  limitation  provided  in  the  seventeenth  section  of  the  law  of  June  30, 1834. 
in  regard  to  claims  tor  depredations  by  Indians,  the  claim  under  consideration  not 
having  been  presented  within  three  years,  is  barred. 

The  letter  of  Mr.  Vickroy,  and  papers  submitted  by  him,  are  herewith  returned. 
Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

H.  R.  CLUM, 

Acting  ("ommUiiomr. 

Hon.  B.  R.  CowKX, 

Acting  Secretary  of  the  Interior. 


Depaktment  of  the  Interior, 

H'ashingtonf  D,  C,  Jannarp  14, 1873. 

Sir  :  I  have  the  honor  to  transmit  herewith,  as  required  by  the  seventh  section  of 
the  act  making  appropriations  for  the  Indian  Department,  approved  May  2$,  1872,  the 
claim  of  the  Walnut  Grove  Mining  Company,  of  Arizona,  amounting  to  $'^,800,  od 
account  of  depredations  committed  by  Apache  Indians  between  August  1, 1865,  ami 
July  9,  1669.  6         »         » 

The  seventeenth  section  of  the  trade  and  intercourse  act  of  30th  of  June,  1834,  reqnirpA 
that  application  for  compensation  for  depredations  shall  be  maile  to  the  proper  super- 
intendent, agent,  or  subagent  within  three  years  after  the  commission  of  the  iujary, 
otherwise  the  claim  shall  be  barred 

The  peculiar  condition  of  affairs  in  Arizona,  it  is  alleged,  prevented  a  compliance 
with  the  requirements  of  said  section. 


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WALNUT   GROVK   MINING   COMPANY.  3 

From  an  examiDation  of  the  papers,  this  Department  is  satisfied  that  the  claim  pos- 
(tesdes  merit,  and  it  is  respectfully  subaiitted  with  tbe  recommendation  that  it  receive 
the  favorable  consideration  of  Congress. 
Very  respectfully,  &c., 

B.  R.  COWEN, 

Acting  Secret xry, 
Hon.  James  G.  Blaine, 

Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives. 

They  further  state  that  at  the  time  they  presented  their  claim  for  set- 
tlement they  were,  on  account  of  the  destruction  .of  their  books  and 
papers,  and  their  inabilitj'  to  find  many  of  their  employes,  unable  to 
make  a  complete  statement  of  their  losses,  but  have  since  learned  that 
they  greatly  understated  their  absolute  losses  to  the  amount  of  $117,299. 

Your  committee,  after  a  careful  examination  of  the  various  items,  and 
the  gross  amount  claimed,  believe  and  state  that  they  are  fully  sus- 
tained by  the  proof,  every  statement  made  pertaining  to  them  being 
made  under  oath,  and  made  by  persons  cognizant,  and  living  witnesses 
of  the  facts  stated  by  them ;  that  the  proof  of  items  reported  by  the 
Commissioner  as  insufficient,  has  subsequently,  at  great  expense,  been 
furnished,  so  that  your  committee  are  fully  satisfied  that  the  proof  of 
the  losses  sustained  is  ample. 

The  act  of  June  30, 1834,  referred  to  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior 
in  his  report,  requires  that  application  for  indemnity  shall  be  presented 
to  the  superintendent,  Indian  agent,  or  subagent  within  whose  jurisdic- 
tion the  tribe  committing  the  depredations  belongs,  and  the  reference  in 
said  report  that  the  peculiar  condition  of  affairs  in  Arizona  prevented  a 
compliance  with  the  requirements  of  said  law,  means,  as  stated  bj^  the 
memorialists,  under  oath,  that  '^  there  was  no  officer  in  Arizona  before 
whom  their  claims  could  have  been  presented  within  the  specified  time;^' 
and  the  law  of  May  29, 1872,  provides  that  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior 
shall  prepare  and  publish  rules  and  regulations  for  the  presentation  of 
claims;  and  the  Secretary  did  not  promulgate  rules  in  pursuance  of  said 
law  until  July  13, 1872.  Therefore,  there  being  no  officer  in  Arizona  to 
whom  the  claim  could  be  presented  within  the  time  specified,  before  the 
passage  of  the  act  of  May  29,  1872,  and  the  claim  having  been  pre- 
sented January  2,  1873,  and  the  Secretary  not  having  promulgated  the 
rules  until  July  13,  1872,  your  committee  submits  that  the  claimants 
cannot  be  considered  in  laches. 

Your  committee  calls  the  attention  of  Congress  to  the  fact  that,  at 
the  time  this  great  enterprise  was  undertaken,  the  Territory  of  Arizona 
bad  been  recently  organized,  and  the  great  desire  and  anxiety  of  the 
inhabitants  of  the  sparsely-settled  country,  and  of  all  the  officers  of  the 
Territory,  civil  and  military,  was  expressed  in  its  favor ;  that  the  mines 
were  known  to  be  fabulously  rich,  and  it  was  confidently  believed  that 
the  introduction  and  successful  prosecution  of  such  an  enterprise  would 
induce  a  large  emigration,  rapid  growth  and  development  of  the  country. 
And  your  committee  calls  the  attention  of  Congress  to  the  fact  that  at 
this  time  the  Territory  was  under  martial  law ;  that  General  Carleton, 
then  in  command,  exercised  supreme  control  over  that  whole  country, 
and  was  the  recognized  authority  there.  He  made  war  and  peace  with 
Indian  tribes,  built  military  posts  and  forts,  and  carried  on  the  whole 
machinery  of  the  civil  and  military  government,  and  every  act  of  his 
was  indorsed  and  approved  by  the  General  Government,  and  while  thus 
exercising  supreme  control,  he  announced  officially  that  he  had  inaugu- 
rated a  campaign  against  the  Apache  Indians  that  would  result  in  their 
complete  subjugation,  and  that  this  enterprise  should  be  fully  protected 


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4  WALNUT   GROVE    MINING    COMPANY. 

bj  the  military ;  and  they  made  this  large  expenditure  of  money,  and 
went  to  Arizona  to  prosecute  this  great  enterprise  at  the  invitation  of 
the  Government,  and  with  this  guarantee  of  protection. 

But,  instead  of  protecting  this  large  property,  as  he  promised  to  do,  and 
which  he  had  a  perfect  right  to  do,  and  as  it  Was  his  solemn  duty  to  do, 
he  permitted  the  Indians  to  kill  the  employes  and  to  destroy  moi-e  than 
$292,800  worth  of  their  property. 

On  a  rigid  examination  ot  the  case,  your  committee  are  unable  to  find 
any  dereliction  on  the  part  of  the  company,  or  where  they  were  in  a 
single  instance  at  fault ;  and  your  committee  considers  it  in  bad  faith 
on  the  part  of  the  Government,  and  unjust  to  the  claimants,  to  refnso 
compensation  for  the  losses  sustained,  and  therefore  recommended  the 
passage  of  the  accompanying  bill. 

W.  E.  LANSING. 

M.  H.  DDNNELL. 

D.  A.  NUNN. 
C 


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Sd  Oongbbss,  •     HOUSE  OF  EBPEESBNTATIVES.     (  Kepoet 
1st  Session,     f  \  No.  421. 


0.  K  FELTOK 


^FRiL  17,  1874.— Committed  to  a  Committee  of  the  Whole  House  and  ordered  to  be 

printed. 


Mr.  J.  Q.  SMITH)  from  the  Oommittee  on  Olaims,  Babmitted  the  following 

REPORT 

[To  accompany  biU  H.  R.  977.] 

The  Committee  of  Claims j  to  whom  was  referred  a  bill  (H.  R.  977)  for  the 
relief  of  C.  If.  Felton^  late  assistant  treasurer  of  the  United  at  San  Fran- 
cisco, Cahj  have  had  the  same  under  consideration^  and  present  the  follow- 
ing  report : 

It  api>6ars  from  the  sworn  statements  of  the  said  Felton,  and  of  F.  G. 
Bornemann,  Ed.  St.  John  Bellows,  and  S.  E.  Beaver,  his  cashier,  book- 
keeper, and  assistant  cashier  in  the  assistant  treasnrer's  office,  that  on 
the  8th  of  December,  1868,  two  checks,  amounting  to  $9,930,  and  pur- 
porting to  be  drawn  by  General  D.  B.  Dandy,  acting  quartermaster,  were 
presented  at  that  office  for  payment.    The  signatures  were  compared 
with  the  original  in  the  office  and  believed  to  be  genuine,  and  the  checks 
paid.    When  subsequent  checks  of  General  Dandy  arrived,  overdraw- 
ing his  account,  it  was  then  first  suspected  that  the  former  ones  were 
forgeries,  and  on  reference  to  General  Dandy  they  were  so  pronounced. 
Felton  and  the  three  above-mentioned  subordinates  testify  that  the  sig- 
natures of  the  forged  checks  were  almost,  if  not  quitey  foe-similes  of  the 
original,  and  such  as  to  almost  defy  detection,  and  the  same  is  certified  to 
by  experts  in  San  Francisco,  J.  Olem.  Uhler  and  Wm.  Ounningham,  pay- 
ing and  receiving  tellers  of  the  London  and  San  Francisco  Bank ;  F.  H. 
Morrison,  paying-teller  Bank  of  Oalifornia;  H.  McPherson,  cashier. 
Wells,  Fargo  &  Co.'s  Bank  j  and  Geo.  0.  Hickox,  of  Hickox  &  Spear, 
bankers — all  of  whom  declare  that  had  the  forged  checks  been  pre- 
sented to  them  in  the  ordinary  course  of  business,  they  should  have  un- 
hesitatingly paid  them.    The  ability,  care,  and  fidelity  of  Mr.  Felton  and 
of  his  subordinates,  are  strongly  testified  to  by  0.  Clayton,  surveyor ; 
G.  W.  Bowie,  naval  officer ;  and  O.  H.  La  Grange,  superintendent  of 
United  States  branch  mint  at  San  Francisco;  and  the  sworn  statements 
of  Mr.  Felton  and  his  subordinates  show  that,  notwithstanding  the  un- 
usual risks  of  paying  the  checks  of  disbursing  officers  from  Alaska  to 
Arizona,  drawn  under  varying  circumstances  and  far  removed  from  con- 
venient verification,  there  was  in  no  other  instance  any  loss  from  pecu- 
lation of  clerks  or  nrauds  of  others,  during  his  four  years'  incumbency ; 
while  ten  different  forgeries  had  been  detected  in  time  to  prevent 
loss. 


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2  C.   N.    PELTON. 

Hon.  Geo.  S.  Boutwell,  then  Secretary  of  the  Tresuary,  under  date 
of  December  6, 1872,  states  that  the  checks  were  paid  withoat  any  negli- 
gence on  the  part  of  Mr.  Feltou  or  his  employes,  and  that  Mr.  Felton 
has  refunded  the  amount,  upon  directions  from  the  Department ;  and  he 
recommends  his  re-imbursement. 

Your  committee,  therefore,  report  back  the  bill  and  recommend  that 
it  do  pass. 


^m 


Sh 


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43d  Congress,  •      HOUSE  OF  EEPRESENTATIVES.     i  Repobt 
l8t  Seman.     f  )  No.  422, 


JAMES  ATKINS. 


April  17, 1874.— Ordered  to  be  printed. 


Mr.  BuBEOWS,  from  the  Committee  on  Claims,  submitted  the  following 

REPORT: 

The  Committee  on  Claims,  to  whom  was  referred  the  petition  of  James 
AtkinSj  late  collector  of  internal  revenue  for  the  fourth  district  of  Oeor- 
gia,  have  had  the  same  under  consideration^  and  beg  leave  to  submit  the 
following  report : 

The  claimant  sets  forth  in  his  petition  that,  in  the  months  of  August 
and  September,  1870,  while  holding  the  office  of  collector  of  the  fourth 
district  of  Georgia,  one  of  his  deputies,  Michael  S.  Whelan,  collected 
the  sum  $8,007.72.  revenue-tax,  and  never  accounted  for  the  same  to 
said  claimant,  and'  that  he  ought  in  justice  and  equity  to  be  relieved 
from  liability  therefor. 

Whelan  admits  the  collection  of,  and  failure  to  account  for,  the  said 
sum  of  98,007.72,  and  assigq;  as  a  reason  for  such  defalcation  the  fol- 
lowing: 

**  That,  on  the  evening  of  Saturday,  the  24th  of  September,  1870,  after 
an  extended  collection-tour,  during  which  time  he  collected  said  money, 
the  reached  Marietta,  6a.,  but  too  late  to  forward  the  same  to  Atlanta, 
the  headquarters  of  the  collector,  that  night,  the  trains  having  all  left 
before  his  arrival ;  that  feeling  great  solicitude  about  the  matter,  there 
being  no  bank  in  Marietta,  he  carefully  concealed  the  money  In  a  trunk, 
near  his  bed,  intending  to  forward  the  same  Monday  morning ;  that 
when  he  opened  the  trunk  on  Monday  morning  he  found  the  lock  broken 
and  the  money  gone.  He  immediately  gave  the  alarm  and  search  was 
made,  but  nothing  could  be  heard  of  the  missing  package,  until  a  negro 
boy,  staying  about  the  house,  was  arrested  by  the  deponent,  when  said 
negro  boy  admitted  that  he  entered  the  bed-room  of  deponent,  or 
rather  kept  watch  while  one  Jeff  Harris  entered  the  room,  and  with  a 
railroad-spike  and  hatchet  opened  the  trunk  and  extracted  the  money ; 
that  the  money  was  secreted  in  the  bed-tick  of  the  mother  of  Jeff  Harris, 
until  an  old  negro  man,  by  the  name  of  Charles,  removed  it ;  that 
Charles  immediately  escaped  and  is  reported  dead ;  that  deponent  did 
all  in  his  power  to  recover  the  money,  but  the  plans  of  the  burglars 
were  so  well  laid  that  his  efforts  proved  unavailing." 

Without  stopping  to  inquire  whether  the  deputy  collector,  Whelan, 
or  the  negro  stole  the  money,  yonr  committee  fail  to  see  upon  what 
principle  the  petitioner  is  entitled  to  relief.  If  the  Government  is  to 
relieve  collectors  from  the  defalcations  of  their  deputies,  we  shall  very 
soon  need  a  further  increase  of  currency  to  meet  the  demands  upon  the 
public  treasury.  Collectors  appoint  their  own  deputies,  and  it  is  their 
misfortune  and  negligence  if  they  fail  to  take  such  security  as  will  fully 
protect  them  from  the  dishonesty  of  their  subordinates.  Certainly  the 
Government  should  not  be  called  upon  in  such  cases  to  bear  the  loss. 

Your  committee,  therefore,  report  the  petition  back  to  the  House,  with 
the  recommendation  that  it  lie  on  the  table. 


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43d  Congress,  )     HOUSE  OF  EEPEESENTATIVES.      (  Eepoet 
l8t  Session.     J  )  No.  423. 


MOETIMEE  H.  BEOWK 


April  17,  1874. — Ordered  to  be  printed. 


Mr.  BxTBBOWS,  from  the  Gommittee  on  Claims,  submitted  the  following 

EEPOET: 

The  Committee  on  Claims^  to  whom  was  referred  the  mem&rial  of  Mortimer 
H.  Brovm^  have  had  the  same  under  eoviiderationj  and  beg  leave  to  make 
the  fbllowing  report : 

It  clearly  appears  from  the  evidence  in  this  case  and  from  Treasury 
settlement  Ko.  5074,  that  in  December,  1870,  there  was  awarded  to  one 
Moses  Brown,  the  father  of  this  claimant,  thesum  of  $2,519.15  as  damages 
sustained  by  him  by  reason  of  the  loss  of  the  steam  ferry-boat  Nathan 
while  in  the  military  service  of  the  United  States,  in  which  boat  the 
said  Moses  Brown  had  a  one-quarter  interest. 

That  after  said  allowance  was  made,  and  before  payment  thereof,  the 
Treasury  Department  was  informed  by  the  Quartermaster-General  of 
the  United  States  that  his  Department  had  a  valid  and  subsisting 
claim  against  the  said  Moses  Brown  for  the  sum  of  $1,947.83  for  forage 
issued  by  the  Quartermaster's  Department  to  sundry  horses  and  mules 
belonging  to  the  said  Moses  Brown. 

That  thereupon  the  Treasury  Department  withheld  and  deducted  from 
said  allowance  of  $2,519.15  the  sum  of  $1,947.83,  and  paid  the  balance, 
viz,  $561.32,  to  the  claimant. 

The  claimant,  Mortimer  H.  Brown,  now  asks  that  he  be  allowed  and 
paid  the  said  sum  of  $1,947.83  withheld  as  aforesaid,  on  the  ground 
that  his  father,  Moses  Brown,  was  not  indebted  to  the  United  States  in 
such  sum  or  in  any  sum  whatever,  and  that  such  deduction  was  wholly 
unjust 

The  case  presents  this  single  question,  whether  Moses  Brown  was  in- 
debted to  the  United  States  for  forage  in  the  sum  of  $1,947.83,  and 
whether  that  indebtedness  still  subsists.  If  it  does,  the  deduction  was 
proper;  if  it  does  not,  the  claimant  is  clearly  entitled  to  relief. 

Without  reviewing  the  evidence  in  the  case,  it  is  sufficient  to  say 
that  all  the  records  in  the  Quartermaster's  Department  go  to  show  that 
the  said  Brown  received  forage  from  the  United  States  Government, 
and  that  the  Treasury  Department  justly  withheld  the  same  as  due  to 
amounting  in  value  to  the  sum  of  $1,947.83,  and  that  he  never  paid  for  it, 
the  United  States  from  the  said  Brown.  Your  committee  see  nothing 
in  the  evidence  to  induce  them  to  interfere  with  the  decision  of  the 
Treasury  Department,  but  everything  to  commend  its  action. 

Your  committee,  therefore,  report  the  memorial  back  to  the  House 
with  the  recommendation  that  it  do  lie  on  the  table. 


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43i>  CONGEESS, )     HOUSE  OF  REPEESENTATIVES.    /   Eeport 
±8t  Semmu     ]  \    Ko.  424. 


RICHARD  DILLON. 


April  17,1874. — Committed  to  a  Committee  of  the  Whole  House  and  ordered  to  be 

printed. 


Mr.  Hamilton,  from  the  Committee  on  Claims,  submitted  the  following 

REPORT: 

[To  accompany  bill  H.  R.  2991.] 

The  Committee  on  Claims^  to  which  was  referred  the  memorial  of  Eiehard 
Dillcrij  late  captaiUj  brevet  major^  and  assistant  superintendent  of  Re- 
fugees^ Freedmen  and  Abandoned  Lands,  for  subsistence  while  in  the 
discharge  of  his  official  duties^  report : 

That  it  appears  by  the  certificate  of  the  chief  quartermaster  and  dis- 
bursing officer  for  Bureau  of  Refugees,  Freedmen  and  Abandoned  Lands 
for  the  State  of  North  Carolina  during  the  years  1866, 1867,  and  1868, 
Thomas  P.  Johnston,  brevet  lieutenant-colonel,  that  the  said  superin- 
tendent, Richard  Dillon,  during  said  years  1866,  1867,  and  1868  was 
traveling  and  absent  from  his  station  in  the  discharge  of  his  official 
duties  125  days,  and  that  he  had  not  been  paid  for  subsistence  during 
said  days.  The  memorialist  asks  to  have  an  allowance  of  $3.50  per  day 
to  re-imburse  him  fo  ihis  subsistence  while  on  such  duty.  The  commit- 
tee being  satisfied  that  the  memorialist  is  entitled  to  be  re-imbursed,  and 
that  the  amount  claimed  is  reasonable,  report  the  accompanying  bill, 
making  allowance  for  the  amount  claimed,  $437.50 :  the  amount  incurred 
for  subsistence  not  having  been  paid  because  the  Bureau  was  disbanded 
and  the  appropriations  therefor  exhausted  before  the  memorialist  was 
able  to  obtain  the  account  audited. 


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43d  Congbbss,  >    HOUSE  OF  REPEESESTATIVES.      (  Report 
l8t  Session.     J  I  No.  426. 


CHARLES  J.  SANDS. 


April  17,  1874.— Committed  to  a  Committee  of  the  Whole  Honse  and  ordered  to  be 

printed. 


Mr.  Eden,  from  the  Committee  on  Claims,  submitted  the  following 

KEPORT: 

[To  accompany  biU  H.  R.  1206.] 

The  Committee  on  Claims^  to  whom  was  referred  the  Mil  {H.  B,  1206)  for  the 
relief  of  Charles  J.  Sands^  have  had  the  same  under  consideration^  and 
ask  leave  to  report : 

That  on  the  11th  day  of  September,  1865,  Mr.  Sands  was  appointed 
marshal  of  United  States  consular  court  at  Ohinkiang,  China ;  that  im- 
mediately thereafter  he  engaged  passage,  and  paid- for  the  same,  on  the 
5th  day  of  October,  1866,  in  the  ship  W.  B.  Palmer,  the  first  vessel  in 
which  he  could  obtain  passage  that  sailed  from  the  United  States  to  China 
after  receiving  his  passport ;  that  he  sailed  from  New  York  December 
20, 1865,  having  been  detained  without  his  fault ;  that  on  the  5th  of 
October,  1865,  Mr.  Sands  notified  the  Department  that  he  had  engaged 
passage  on  a  vessel  to  sail  about  the  1st  of  December  ensuing ;  that  he 
took  passage  with  Mr.  Kinerman,  who  had  been  appointed  consul  to  the 
same  place ;  that  an  account  was  presented  to  the  Treasury  by  Mr. 
Sands  covering  the  time  between  September  15, 1865,  and  May  28, 1866, 
and  it  was  allowed,  except  for  the  period  of  delay  while  awaiting  the 
sailing  of  the  vessel,  (viz,  from  October  5  to  December  20, 1865.) 

Mr.  A.  B.  Wood,  of  the  First  Consular  Bureau  of  the  State  Depart- 
ment, under  date  of  March  31, 1874,  in  reference  to  this  claim  says : 

No  reasons  were  given  for  disallowing  salary  for  the  time  of  delay ;  but  as  the  acconnt 
^as  acted  upon  by  the  Department  on  the  same  day  as  that  of  the  consul  for  a  similar 
charge,  the  reasons  may  have  been  the  same.  The  grounds  for  aUowing  the  consuVs 
account  apply  equaUy  well,  it  seems  to  me,  to  the  marshal's. 

It  may  be  said  that  the  consul  also  presented,  at  the  same  time  with  Mr.  Sands,  an 
account  for  the  time  covered  by  the  delay  while  awaiting  the  sailing  of  the  vessel, 
which  was  at  first  disallowed  on  the  ground  that  the  delay  was  too  long  and  that  he 
Hhould  have  sought  some  quicker  means  of  getting  to  his  port.  Bubseouently,  how- 
over,  this  decision  was  reversed  by  the  ^examiner  of  claims  and  he  was  allowed  pay  for 
that  period  as  a  part  of  his  transit  out. 

The  delay  in  sailing  seems  to  have  been  without  the  fault  of  Mr. 
Sands,  and  there  was  no  pressing  necessity  for  his  going  out  in  advance 
of  the  consul.  The  salary  of  the  consul  having  been,  in  the  opinion  of 
the  committee,  properly  allowed,  covering  the  period  of  the  delay,  and 
the  position  of  the  marshal  being  precisely  similar,  they,  therefore,  report 
back  the  bill,  with  a  recommendation  that  it  do  pass. 


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43d  OottGHEss,  \     HOUSE  OF  EEPRESENTATIVES.      (  Eepobt 
l8t  Session.     §  \  No.  426. 


M.  W.  VENNING. 


April  17, 1874.— Ordered  to  be  printed. 


Mr.  G.  W.  Hazelton,  from  the  Committee  on  War-Olaims,  submitted  the 

following 

REPORT: 

The  Committee  on  War-Olaims^  to  whom  was  referred  the  petition  of  M.  W- 
Venningy  of  South  Carolina,  having  considered  the  same,  report: 

That  this  claim  is  for  property  taken  and  appropriated  by  the  United 
States  Army  during  the  late  war,  and  for  fourteen  bales  of  sea-island 
cotton  taken  by  a  United  States  naval  expedition  from  him  at  Sanders's 
landing,  near  Charleston,  S.  C,  in  February  1165,  taken  to  the  eastern 
district  of  Pennsylvania,  where  it  was  confiscated  and  sold  as  prize  of 
war.  Application  was  made  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  to  remit 
the  forfeiture,  which  was  refused.  The  claim  was  then  presented  to  the 
commissioners  of  claims  appointed  under  the  act  of  March  3, 1871,  whose 
report,  rejecting  the  same,  is  herewith  given : 
To  property  taken  and  appropriated  by  the  Federal  Army  as 

per  inventory,  dated  September  11, 1869 $4, 873 

Fourteen  bales  prime  sea-island  cotton,  4,224  pounds,  at  $2 

per  pound 8, 448 

Total 13,321 

This  claim  is  submitted  npon  the  petition  and  accompanying  papers  from  the  files 
of  the  Treasury  Department. 

In  February,  1865,  the  naval  forces  of  the  United  States  captured  at  Sanders's  Land- 
ing, on  a  tributary  of  N River,  near  Charleston,  S.  C,  a  boat  laden  with  fourteen 

bales  of  cotton,  which  petitioner  claimed  as  his  property.  The  boat  being  unseaworthy 
vras  returned  to  the  petitioner.  The  cotton  was  sent  into  the  ^eastern  district  of  Penn- 
sylvania, where  it  was  confiscated  and  sold  as  prize  of  war.  AppUcation  was  made 
by  petition  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Trelisury  to  remit  the  forfeiture.  Remission  was 
refused. 

With  regard  to  the  property  alleged  to  have  been  taken  and  appropriated  by  the 
Federal  Army  as  per  inventory,  dated  September  11,  18G9,  amounting  to  $4,873,  no  aUu- 
aion  whatever  is  made  to  it  except  in  the  petition. 

Without  examining  the  papers  for  satisfactory  evidence  of  the  loyalty  of  the  claim- 
ant the  claim  is  whoUy  rejected ;  the  cotton  because  this  commission  has  no  jurisdic- 
tion whatever  of  the  claim,  and  the  property  mentioned  in  the  inventory,  dated  Septem- 
ber 11, 1869,  for  want  of  proof. 

(M.  W.  Venning  appears  to  have  been  a  subscriber  to  the  Confederate  loan.) 

True  copy  of  report : 

CHARLES  F.  BENJAMIN, 
Ckrk,  Commisnon  of  Claims, 
Washikqton,  December  16, 1871. 

From  a  statement  made  by  Mr.  Edward  F.  O'Brien,  formerly  a  lieu- 
tenant in  the  Union  Army,  now  a  clerk  in  the  Post-Office  Department, 
it  appears  that  he  was,  for  a  year  and  a  half  daring  the  late  war,  pro* 


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2  M.   W.   VENNING. 

vost  marshal  stationed  at  Mount  Pleasant,  S.  C,  where  Mr.  Venning 
then  resided  and  still  resides,  and  he  states  most  emphatically  that  Mr. 
Yenning  was  not  only  disloyal,  but  that  he  was  conspicnoasly  and  offen- 
sively disloyal. 

Your  committee  are  of  opinion  that  the  evidence  submitted  sustains 
the  charge  of  disloyalty,  and  they  accordingly  report  back  the  petition 
andaccompanyingpapers  with  the  recommendation  that  the  same  dolieon 
the  table. 


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4Sjy  Coj^GBESS,  I      HOUSE  OF  EEPEESENTATIVES.     /  Eeport 
l8t  Session.     )  (No.  427. 


DANIEL  R  DDLANY. 


April  17,  1674. — Committed  to  a  Committee  of  the  Whole  House  and  ordered  to  be 

printed. 


Mr.  Gerry  W.  Hazelton,  from  the  Committee  on  War-Claims,  sub- 
mitted the  following 

REPORT: 

[To  accompany  bill  H.  R.  1627.] 

The  Committee  on  War-Claims^  to  whom  was  referred  the  bill  {H,  B.  1627) 
for  the  relief  of  Daniel  F.  Dulany^  having  considered  the  same^  report : 

That  the  said  Dulany  was  during  the  war  a  citizen  of  Virginia,  re- 
siding near  Alexandria ;  that  he  remained  true  and  loyal  to  the  Union 
cause,  and  was  captured  by  a  squad  of  confederate  guerrillas,  under  com- 
mand of  Colonel  Moseby,  while  in  the  United  States  service  as  a  scout, 
and  taken  to  Bichmond )  that  the  property  for  which  compensation  is 
claimed  was  destroyed  soon  after  the  first  battle  of  Bull  Eun,  the  par- 
ticulars of  which  are  as  fully  described  as  could  be  ascertained  in  the 
report  of  the  board  of  survey,  appointed  at  the  time  to  ascertain  the 
damages  sustained  by  Mr.  Dulany,  as  follows : 

To  Col,  E,  X>.  Keyes,  commanding  First  Brigade  Connecticut  Volunteers : 

The  board  of  officers  appointed  under  special  orders  No.  25,  by  Brigadier-General 
Tyler,  of  date  6th  July,  1861,  to  assess  dam^es  done  to  various  property  occupied  by 
the  First,  Second,  and  Third  Connecticut  Regiments ;  the  Second  Maine  Regiment ; 
Company  I,  Eighth  Regiment  New  York  Volunteers,  and  Company  B,  Second  Cavaliy, 
respectfully  report  that  they  have  made  personal  examination  of  the  lands  and  of  the 
parties  in  the  loUowing  cases  and  find  •#•#♦# 

Daniel  F.  Dulany.  Amount  claimed,  $1,321 ;  amount  allowed,  $555.  This  is  a  case 
where  considerable  damage  has  been  done  most  wantonly,  but  by  whom  cannot  be 
ascertained.  It  was  done  in  the  early  part  of  the  arrival  of  troops,  and  about  the  time 
of  the  capture  (at  or  near  the  house)  of  two  non-commissioned  officers  of  the  Second 
Connecticut  Regiment.  The  house  had  been  broken  open  and  rifled,  and  furniture 
damaged. 

Family  paintings,  &.C.,  destroyed  :  Three  large  family  oil  paintings ;  one  de- 
stroyed by  cutting  out  the  face,  two  carried  away  Their  value  to  the  owner 
cannot  be  estimated.  As  specimens  of  art  they  are  valuable,  being  very  old 
and  well  executed.    Also,  a  number  of  inferior  ones  taken,  all  estimated  at.. .    |200 

Furniture  broken,  of  not  very  great  yalue,  being  quite  old 35 

Library  carried  away :  About  250  miscellaneous  volumes,  destroyed  or  carried 
away 35 

Clothing  and  bedding^  &,c. :  The  clothing  appeared  to  be  of  value,  being  cloth- 
ing principally  of  his  daughters,  including  new  cashmere  shawl,  worth  $50, 
silk  dresses,  and  jewelry 225 

Trunks  broken  open :  Miscellaneous  contents  and  some  second-hand  clothing ....        50 


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2  DANIEL   F.    DUL'ANY. 

Loss  of  corn-crop :  About  7  acres,  beariog  from  20  to  25  bushels  to  the  aere,  be- 
ing outside  the  line  of  pickets,  and  his  nands  not  being  allowed  to  cultivate  it. 
It  was  partially  destroyed  by  cattle,  A^c.,  but  can  be  renovated flO 

555 

DAN.  YOUNG, 
Lieutenant-Colonel  Second  Begiment  ConnecHcut  Vofunieen, 

FREDERICK  J^YE, 
Captain  Company  JST,  Third  Segiment  ConnecUent  Folunteen, 

8.  F.  COOKE, 
Captain  Company  F,  Second  Segiment  Connecticut  Volvnteert, 

Commissioners. 
True  extract. 

•     M.  I.  LUDINGTON. 
Quartermaster,  United  Slates  Jrmji. 

Ex-GoverDor  Wells,  of  Virginia,  who  was  daring  tbe  years  1862-?63- 
'64-'65  provost-marshal-general  of  the  defenses  south  of  the  Potomac, 
with  headquarters  at  Alexandria,  states  as  follows : 

I  know  personally  Col.  D.  F.  Dulany.  He  was  during  the  war  a  man  of  undoabted 
fidelity  and  loyalty  to  the  United  States.  He  was  captured  by  Moseby  and  taken  to 
Richmond,  but  be&re  and  afterward  he  acted  as  a  scout  and  guide  for  our  Army. 

The  following  statement  is  also  made  by  oflScers  on  duty  in  and  near 
Alexandria  daring  the  period  above  given : 

Washixgtox,  D.  C,  Jpril  13, 1874. 
We,  the  under8ij]:ned,James  A.  Tait  and  Lemuel  Towers,  ex-colonel  and  ex-lieuteoant- 
colonel  of  the  First  District  of  Colombia  Infa  itry,  in  the  service  of  the  United  States. 
were  well  and  familiarly  acquainted  with  Col.  Daniel  F.  Dulany,  of  Virpnia,  daring 
the  years  1862, 1863,  and  1864,  who  was  then  upon  the  staff  of  Governor  Pierpoiot;  of 
Virginia,  (James  A.  Tait  was  part  of  the  said  time  provost-marshal-general  south  of 
the  Potomac,  and  Lemuel  Towers,  provost-marshal  of  Alexandria,  Va.,)  and  had  every 
f^ility  to  kuow,  and  do  know,  that  Colonel  Dulany  was  an  active,  energetic,  and  de- 
cided Union  officer.  And  we  farther  state  that  he  was  of  great  tise  to  the  GoverD- 
ment,  from  his  knowledge  of  the  persons  and  their  positions  then  in  the  rebellion  in  the 
State  of  yirgiuis^  which  knowledge,  together  with  his  personal  services,  he  was  ready 
at  all  times  to  give  to  the  cause  of  the  Union.  We  know  that  he  was  taken  prisoner 
by  a  portion  of  Major  Moseby's  force  and  carried  to  Richmond,  Va.  We  are  willing  to 
appear  before  any  authority  investigating  this  matter,  and  give  a  more  full  and  }W- 
ticular  statement  of  the  facts  in  this  case  if  required. 

JAMES  A.  TAIT, 
Late  Col.  First  District  of  Columbia  Infantry 
LEM.  TOWERS, 
Late  Lieut,  Coh  First  District  of  Columbia  Jnfanirtf. 

While  it  may  be  true  that  the  Government  is  under  no  legal  obliga^ 
tion  to  re-imburse,in  part,  Mr.  Dulany  for  the  losses  he  has  sustained,  a 
moral  obligation  undoubtedly  exists,  and  your  committer  regard  bis 
case  as  one  possessing  strong  equity,  and  therefore  report  back  the  bill 
and  recommend  its  passage. 


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43d  OoNaEESS,  >      HOUSE  OP  EEPRESENTATl  VES.      /  Eepobt 
l8t  Session.     ]  \  No.  428. 


GEOEGB  COWLES. 


April  17,  1674. — Committed  to  a  Committee  of  the  Whole  House  and  ordered  to  be 

printed. 


Mr.  Kellogg,  from  the  Committee  oq  War-Claims,  submitted  the  fol- 
lowing 

REPORT: 

LTo  accompany  bill  H.  R.  2992.] 

The  Committee  on  War-CldimSj  to  whom  was  referred  the  bill  (H,  B.  2320) 
for  tJie  relief  of  Oeorge  Cowles,  having  considered  the  same^  report : 

That  this  claim  is  for  the  value  of  the  schoonerChampion,  the  property 
of  the  said  Cowles,  which  was  taken  from  him  in  the  year  1863,  by  the 
United  States  naval  authorities,  while  he  was  endeavoring  to  arrange 
for  protection  of  the  said  vessel  by  said  United  States  authorities,  the 
same  being  used  by  the  United  States  until  the  close  of  the  war ;  for  use 
of  a  store  by  the  Medical  Department  of  the  United  States  Army,  from 
April  to  August,  1865,  and  for  one  horse  taken  from  him  by  General 
AVilson  in  his  raid  through  Alabama. 

The  loyalty  of  the  claimant  is  clearly  established  by  conclusive  evi- 
dence, from  which  it  appears  that  he  was  a  native  of  Connecticut ;  that 
he  removed  to  Alabama  in  the  year  1836,  where  he  remained  in  the  dry- 
goods  business  until  March,  1864,  most  of  the  time  in  the  city  of  Mont- 
gomery;  and  that  he  was  then,  in  consequence  of  his  Union  sentiments, 
obliged  to  leave  the  city. 

It  further  appears  that  he  aided  and  befriended  many  Union  prison- 
ers of  war ;  that  he  gave  them  freely  of  his  own  means  to  relieve  their 
necessities ;  and  that  he  aided  in  the  escape  of  many  of  said  prisoners. 

It  also  appears  that  the  said  Cowles,  in  company  with  other  northern 
men,  purchased  the  schooner  Champion,  then  lying  in  the  Chattahoochie 
Eiver,  Florida,  with  the  view  of  putting  their  available  means  in  such 
shape  as  to  readily  convert  them  into  cash  after  escaping  from  the  con- 
federate lines ;  it  being  their  intention  also  to  load  the  said  schooner 
with  cotton,  then  at  a  point  farther  up  the  river  from  the  point  where 
the  vessel  was  lying.  Their  departure  was  delayed  by  the  confederate 
authorities,  who  suspected  them,  and  Cowles  became  the  sole  owner  of 
the  schooner  some  time  afterward. 

It  is  also  shown  by  the  evidence  that  the  schooner  w'as  seized  by 
Lieutenant  Creecy,  of  the  United  States  fleet,  who  anticipated  its  seizure 
by  General  Asboth,  then  commanding  the  Union  forces  at  Fort  Pickens, 
who  appears  to  have  acted  on  suspicion  merely,  there  being  nothing  to 
warrant  any  other  conclusion  than  that  Mr.  Cowles  was  a  loyal  citizen 
of  the  United  States,  who  was  endeavoring  to  escape  from  the  con- 
federacy with  such  property  as  he  could  take  with  him ;  the  seizure  being 
made  while  he  was  negotiating  with  the  Union  forces  for  protection  of 
his  said  proi)erty. 


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2  GEOEGE   C0WLE8. 

The  evidence  submitted  establishes  the  value  of  the  schooner  at 
$7,500 ;  the  use  and  occupation  of  the  store,  at  $875 ;  and  the  value  of  the 
horse,  at  $250,  making,  in  all,  the  sum  of  $8,625,  which  is  all  that  your 
committee  believe  should  be  paid.  The  balance  of  the  claim,  amonntiDg 
to  the  sum  of  $24,464.95,  which  consists  of  cotton  destroyed  by  the 
Union  forces  under  General  Wilson  to  prevent  its  falling  into  the  hands 
of  the  enemy,  and  for  damages  to  his  store,  destruction  of  account-books, 
in  which  were  charged  debts  alleged  to  amount  to  nearly  $80,000,  of 
which  it  is  claimed  at  least  one-eighth  could  be  collected,  your  commit- 
tee reject,  said  losses  being  in  the  nature  of  casualties  of  war  which  your 
committee  regard  as  not  creating  a  legal  obligation  upon  the  Govern- 
ment to  pay. 

Your  committee  believe  the  claimant  to  be  entitled  to  compensation 
for  the  schooner  Ohampion,  for  the  use  of  his  store  by  the  Medical  De- 
partment of  the  United  States  Army,  and  for  a  horse  taken  by  order  of 
General  Wilson,  and  therefore  report  the  accompanying  bill  as  a  sub- 
stitute, and  recommend  its  passage. 


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^^j)  OONGBESS,  \     HOUSE  OF  EB  PRESENT ATIVES.       (  Rbpoet 
l8t  Session,     i  \  No.  429. 


CORA  A.  SLOCUMB  AND  OTHERS. 


April  17, 1874.— Committed  to  a  Committee  of  the  Whole  Hoase  and  ordered  to  be 

printed. 


Mr.  Kellogg,  from  the  Committee  on  War  Claims,  submitted  the  fol 

lowing 

REPORT: 

[To  accompany  biU  H.  R.  2093.] 

The  Committee  on  War  Claims^  to  whom  the  memorials  of  Mrs.  Cora  A, 
Slocumh  and  her  daughters,  Mrs.  Richardson  and  Mrs,  Urquhart,  were 
referred,  respectfully  report : 

That  in  July,  1862,  Mrs.  Slocnmb  applied  to  General  B.  F.  Butler,  then 
commanding  the  military  district  in  which  New  Orleans  was  situated, 
for  permission  to  leave  that  city  with  her  two  daughters.  Miss  Ida  Slo- 
cnmb, (now  Mrs.  Richardson,)  and  Mrs.  XJrqnhart,  and  reitire  to  a  coun- 
try-seat in  the  mountain-region  of  North  Carolina,  where  they  were  in 
the  habit  of  spending  their  summers.  The  permission  was  granted,  and 
the  general  also  promised  that  the  property  owned  by  these  parties  in 
the  city,  consisting  mostly  of  valuable  real  estate,  should  not  be  inter- 
fered with  during  their  absence.  Relying  on  this  promise  and  availing 
themselves  of  this  permission,,  the  parties  left  the  city  and  took  up  their 
residence  in  their  home  in  the  country. 

As  long  as  General  Butler  remained  in  command,  the  pledge  thus 
given  by  him  was  strictly  observed,  and  the  property  of  the  above- 
named  parties  remained  undisturbed.  But  General  Butler  was  shortly 
after  succeeded  by  General  Banks  in  the  command  of  the  district,  and 
aboat  the  Ist  of  August,  1862,  a  general  order  was  issued  by  the  lat- 
ter, under  which  all  the  real  estate  owned  by  the  above  parties  was  (no 
doubt,  through  ignorance  of  the  pledge  given  by  his  predecessor)  taken 
possessio.n  of  by  his  quartermaster.  A  portion  thereof  was  used  for 
various  military  purposes,  and  the  residue  was  turned  over  to  B.  F. 
Flanders,  the  supervising  special  agent  of  the  Treasury  in  that  city ; 
the  rents  thereof  were  collected  by  him,  and  were  duly  accounted  for  to 
the  Treasury  Department. 

Some  time  after,  to  wit,  about  the  15th  of  March,  1864,  a  number 
of  shares  in  the  New  Orleans  Gaslight  Company,  belonging  respectively 
to  Mrs.  Slocumb  and  her  daughter  Ida,  were  also  seized  by  the  quarter- 
master, who  received  two  dividends  thereon,  amounting,  on  the  stock  of 
Mrs.  Slocumb,  to  $468,  and  on  that  of  her  daughter,  to  $504. 

On  being  informed  of  these  facts,  Mrs.  Slocumb  made  repeated  appli- 
cations for  permission  to  return  thereto ;  but  this  permission  was  refused, 


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2  CORA  A.    8L0CUMB  AND   OTHERS. 

and  all  the  parties  remained  in  their  country-seat  above  mentioned  oDtil 
the  close  of  the  war,  without  in  any  manner  participating  therein. 

At  the  close  of  the  war,  however,  their  property  was  restored  to  them 
under  an  order  from  the  President.  This  restoration  took,  place  on  or 
about  the  1st  of  September,  1865. 

Finally,  on  or  about  the    day  of  1864,  the  sum  of  $14,300,  whicli 

was  due  to  Miss  Ida  Slocumb,  (now  Mrs.  Eichardson,)  by  the  Mer- 
chants' Mutual  Insurance  Company,  for  the  loss  of  several  buildings 
insured  in  that  company,  was  seized  under  a  special  order  from  Greneral 
Banks,  and  paid  by  the  company  to  Captain  McClure,  acting  quarter- 
master. 

Your  committee  entertain  no  doubt  that  the  money  thus  collected 
should  be  returned  to  the  petitioners.  The  proceedings  by  which  the 
money  was  taken  and  appropriated  were  not  authorized  by  any  law,  (see 
16th  Wal.  Rep.,  485,)  but  they  were  a  violation  of  the  terms  of  capitu- 
lation, and  of  a  pledge  given  by  the  officer  in  command.  The  memo- 
rialists, therefore,  are  clearly  entitled  to  relief. 

The  amount  of  money  collected  belonging  to  Cora  A.  Sloeumb  is: 

Rents  collected  (less  expenses) |12,S46  40 

Dividends  Gaslight  Company  collected t 468  ft) 

12,714  40 

The  amount  of  money  collected  belonging  to  Ida  A.  Sloeumb  (Rich- 
ardson) is : 

Rents  collected  (less  expenses) $5, 675  00 

Amount  of  insurance  collected .' 14,300  tt^ 

Dividends  Gaslight  Company  collected 504  00 

20,479  00 

The  amount  of  money  collected  belonging  to  Mrs.  Carolina  Augusta 
Urquhart : 
Rents  collected  (less  expenses) (3»467  15 

The  committee,  therefore,  report  the  accompanying  bill  providing  for 
the  re-imbursement  of  the  above  parties  of  the  sums  belonging  to  them, 
respectively,  which  were  collected  by  agents  of  the  Government,  and 
were  paid  into,  or  accounted  for  to,  the  Treasury  Department,  less  cer- 
tain expenses  incurred,  and  recommend  its  passage. 

The  memorialists  also  ask  for  compensation  for  the  use  of  such  por- 
tions of  their  real  estate  as  were  applied  to  public  uses,  and  for  personal 
property  taken  also  for  that  purpose,  and  which  was  either  lost  or  very 
much  damaged.  But  as  this  portion  of  their  claim  rests,  in  a  great 
measure,  on  oral  and  ex-parte  testimony,  or  on  documents  not  sufficiently 
authenticated,  the  committee  think  that  if  any  claim  exists  in  their 
favor  on  this  part  of  the  petition  it  should  be  referred  to  the  Court  of 
Claims  for  a  decision  on  this  portion  of  their  demand. 


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43d  Oongbess,  \     HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES,     i  Report 
Ut  Session.     )  I  Ko.  430. 


NORMAN  WIARD. 


April  17, 1874, — Committed  to  a  Committee  of  the  Whole  House  and  ordered  to  be 

printed. 


Mr.  Kellogg,  from  the  Committee  on  ^War  Claims,  submitted  tbe  fol- 
lowing 

REPORT: 

[To  accompany  bill  H.  R.  609.] 

The  Committee  on  War- Claims,  to  whom  was  referred  bill  (JST.  jB.  Ko.  609) 
for  the  relief  of  Norman  Wiard,  having  had  the  same  under  considera- 
tiony  report : 

That  this  claim  grows  out  of  certain  contracts  made  with  the  Ordnance 
Bureau  of  the  Navy  Department  for  furnishing  fifty-pound,  fifteen-inch, 
and  seven-and-one-half-iuch  guns;  certain  batteries  known  as  the  "Fre- 
mont batteries*,"  two  steamers  known  as  the  "Augusta"  and  "Savan- 
nah ;"  and  for  repairs  and  alterations,  made  by  order  of  MajorGeneral 
Butler,  furnishing  new  boilers,  machinery^  &c.,  for  the  steamers  "  Foster," 
*^Reno,"  "Burnsi(}e,"  and  "Parke." 

The  claim  has  been  before  Congress  for  eight  years,  has  been  exam- 
ined by  several  committees  of  each  House  of  Congress,  and  has  never 
been  adversely  reported  upon  except  as  to  the  item  of  the  "  Fremont  bat- 
teries," and  the  following  statement  is  believed  to  be  correct  as  showing 
the  action  of  Congress  and  of  congressional  committees  thereon. 

On  the  27th  of  July,  1866, 1st  session  39th  Congress,  the  House  Com- 
mittee on  Military  Affairs  reported  a  bill,  H.  iL  818,  appropriating  the 
sum  of  $25,511.12  for  the  last-named  portion  of  the  claim,  and  the  bill 
passed  the  House  that  session.  In  the  next  session  it  was  referred  to 
the  Committee  on  Claims,  and  was  reported  by  Mr.  Frelinghuysen,  from 
that  committee,  without  amendment,  (see  Senate  Report  172,  2d  ses- 
sion 39th  Congress,)  but  was  not  acted  upon  by  the  Senate. 

On  the  13th  of  January,  1869,  a  bill  was  reported  in  the  House  (3d 
session  40th  Congress)  from  the  Joint  Select  Committee  on  Ordnance, 
appropriating  the  sum  of  $125,848.49.  This  Joint  Select  Committee  con- 
sisted of  Senators  Howard  of  Michigan,  Cameron  of  Pennsylvania,  and 
Drake  of  Missouri,  on  the  part  of  the  Senate;  and  Messrs.  Schenck  of 
Ohio,  Logan  of  Illinois,  and  Butler  of  Massachusetts,  on  the  part  of  the 
House ;  and  the  same  bill  was  presented  in  the  Senate,  but  being  at 
the  close  of  the  3d  session,  had  no  action  in  either  House. 

On  the  28th  of  February,  1871,  a  bill  was  reported  from  the  Committee 
on  Claims  of  the  House  of  the  41st  Congress,  of  which  Hon.  W.  B. 
Washburn,  now  governor  of  Massachusetts,  was  chairman,  appropriating 
the  sum  of  $113,942.65 ;  but  no  action  thereon  was  taken,  it  being  at 
the  close  of  that  session  of  Congress. 

On  the  24th  of  May,  1872,  a  bill  was  reported  from  the  Committee  on 


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2  NORMAN  WIARD. 

Claims  of  the  House  of  tbe  42d  Congress,  by  Mr.  Prye,  appropriatinjr 
the  same  sum,  viz:  $113,942.65,  which  passed  the  Honse  January  25, 
1873 ;  was  referred  in  the  Senate  to  the  Committee  on  Military  Affairs, 
and  on  the  21j4t  of  February,  1873 ;  was  reported  favorably  from  that 
committee  without  amendment  and  placed  on  the  calendar^  where  it 
was  reached  but  once,  when,  a  single  objection  being  made,  it  was  passed 
over. 

The  Committee  of  Claims  of  the  42d  Congrress  (See  Report  No.  87, 2d 
session  42d  Congress)  reviewed,  a  pproved,  and  adopted  the  report  of  the 
Committee  of  Claims  of  the  4l8t  Congress,  in  which  it  is  stated  that  a 
careful  examination  of  the  same  had  led  the  committee  to  the  same  re- 
sults as  arrived  at  by  the  committer  first  named. 

Your  committee  have  carefully  examined  tbe  same,  together  with  the 
report  of  the  Joint  Select  Committee  on  Ordnance,  and  believing  it  de- 
sirable to  again  have  the  facts  presented  in  full,  adopt  and  annex  the 
same  and  make  it  a  part  of  this  report,  (marked  ^^Appendix  A,")  aud. 
concurring  in  the  conclusions  therein  reached,  report  back  the  bill  and 
recommend  its  passage. 


APPENDIX  A. 

fHooae  Iteport  No.  87,  42d  Congreu,  2d  Setsion.l 

May  24, 1872.— Ordered  to  be  printed. 

Mr.  Fryb,  from  the  Committee  of  Claims,  made  the  foUowing  report :  [To  accom- 
pany bill  H.  R.  334.] 

The  Cammtite  of  Claimed  to  whom  was  referred  "A  hill  for  the  reUefof^Nbrwuin  Wiardl', 
have  ffiven  careful  connderation  to  the  same,  and  ask  to  report : 

That  these  claims  were  presented  to  the  Fbrty-first  Congress,  and  a  report  iras  made 
in  regard  to  them  by  the  Committee  of  Claims,  on  the  2dth  of  February,  1871.  As  tbe 
examination  by  yonr  oommittee  has  led  them  substantially  to  the  same  resolts  with 
those  arrived  at  by  the  committee  of  1871,  they  do  not  think  it  necessary  to  recapita- 
late  the  facts,  but  refer  to  that  report,  and  therewith  annex  a  copy  for  informatioo. 
Your  committee  recommend  that  the  bill  referred  to  them  do  pass. 

Forty-first  ConoresS)  Thiri>  Session— Report  No.  43» 

Mr.  A.  Cobb,  from  the  Committee  of  Claims,  made  the  following  report : 

Norman  Wiard  presents  &  claim  against  the  Government  growing  out  of  certain  con- 
tracts made  with  the  Ordnance  Bureau  of  the  Navy  Departoient. 

Nearly  all  the  claim  as  now  presented  was  made  the  subject  of  a  favorable  report 
from  the  Ordnance  Committee  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  offered  by  Mr.  Schenck 
March  2,  1869,  accompanied  by  a  bill,  (awarding  $125,848.49,)  which  passed  the  House 
the  same  day.    (See  (Congressional  Globe,  3d  sess.  40th  Congress,  Part  111,  p.  1815.) 

Bnt  before  the  bill  passed  by  the  House  was  acted  upon  by  the  Senate,  a  "  letter  ■' 
was  addressed  to  the  President  of  the  Senate  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  on  IheSLst 
day  of  March,  1869,  purporting  to  transmit  all  the  documents  on  file  in  said  Depart- 
ment relating  to  the  contracts  with  Wiard,  and  among  them  a  letter  from,  the  Chief  of 
the  Ordnance  Bureau,  alleging  that  Wiard  did,  in  November,  1855,  make  final  settle- 
ment of  all  claims  against  that  Department,  and  ^ve  a  receipt  therefor. 

It  is  therefore  nece.^ary  to  inquire,  in  advance,  into  the  reasons  of  such  alleged  set- 
tlement. X 

An  examination  of  the  papers  furnished  by  the  Navy  Department,  in  support  of  this 
allegation,  shows  that  about  the  time  last  mentioned  Mr.  Wiard  presented  a  bill  to 
the  Ordnance  Bureau,  amounting  to  $6,223.05,  being  mainly  for  metal  used  in  an  im- 
perfect casting  of  a  large  gun  ;  that  Captain  Wise  appears  to  have  out  down  the  bill 
to  the  sum  of  $4,085,  which  he  admitted  to  be  due  upon  that  bill,  bnt  refused  to  pay 
the  amount  so  admitted  to  be  due  unless  Mr.  Wiard  would  agree  to  receive  the  same 
in  ''  full  and  final  settlement  of  all  his  claims,  of  whatsoever  nature,  against  the  Nary 
Department." 

Mr.  Wiard  appears  to  have  given  a  receipt  in  the  terms  ^requiied.    Bnt  it  alw  ap- 


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NORMAN   WIARD.  3 

pears,  from  the  documents  accompanymg  the  Secretary's  letter,  that  he  was  urf^ed  by 
pressing  want  to  apply  to  the  Bureau  for  relief;  and  that  with  the  above  bill  ho  sent 
WL  letter,  in  which  he  protested  against  the  official  construction  of  afi  agreement  to 
^-hich  be  was  compelled  unjustly  to  submit,  and  by  reason  of  which  the  said  bill  was 
uu willingly  presented  to  the  Navy  Department  for  settlement. 

It  is  only  necessary  to  make  this  brief  statement  of  the  circumstances  under  which 
tine  receipt  was  given,  to  show  that  it  can  have  no  effect  beyond  the  particular  bill  to 
Tvhich  it  is  appended. 

We  come,  then,  to  a  detailed  statement  of  Mr.  Wiard's  claim. 

I.— 50-POUNDER  GUNS. 

First,  as  respects  the  date  of  agreement,  is  the  claim  for  the  price  of  certain  50- 
pounder  rifle-guns. 

It  appears  that  as  early  as  August,  1861,  Mr.  Wiard  was  in  correspondence  with  the 
Ordnance  Bureau  of  the  Navy  Department  in  relation  to  the  construction  of  large 
guns. 

After  several  conferences  with  Mr.  Wiard,  and  some  offers  on  his  part,  the  following 
letter  was  addressed  to  him  : 

"  Bureau  of  Ordnance  and  Hydrography,  Navy  Department, 

"  Washington  City,  Augmt  1,  1861. 
**  Sir  :  In  answer  to  your  proposals  of  yesterday's  date,  I  have  to  inform  you  that  th® 
Bureau,  being  desirous  of  procuring  rifle-cannon  for  the  use  of  the  Navy  at  the  shortest 
possible  notice,  will  purchase  guns  of  your  fabrication  of  semi-steel :  Provided, 

*^  1.  That  the  guns  made  shall  conform  strictly  to  the  directions  and  drawings  bore- 
with  presented. 

"  2.  If  you  will  offer  five  guns  made  as  above  stipulated,  the  Bureau  will  receive 
them,  subject  to  proper  inspection,  and,  if  accepted,  pay  you  at  the  rate  of  eighty-five 
ceut8  (85c.)  per  pound. 

**  3,  It  is  to  be  distinctly  understood  that  the  Bnreau  is  to  be  the  judge  of  your  com- 
pliance with  the  condition  of  the  agreement,  and  binds  itself  to  the  purchase  of  no 
more  than  may  be  ordered  from  time  to  time. 

*'  Yon  will  please' notify  the  Bureau  if  you  accept  the  terms  herein  specified. 
"  Very  respectfully, 

"AND'W  A.  HARWOOD, 
"  Chief  of  Bureau  Ordnance  and  Hydrography, 
"  Mr.  Norman  Wiard,  Washington,  JX  C." 

This  offer  was  accepted.  Mr.  Wiard  promptly  set  at  work  to  manufacture  guns 
under  this  agreement. 

It  is  to  be  noticed  that  the  kind  of  material  out  of  which  the  guns  were  to  be  man- 
ufactured was  agreed  upon  between  the  parties;  and  that  the  model  of  the  guns,  as 
well  as  all  measurements  and  directions,  were  to  be  furnished  by  the  Government. 

A  lot  of  five  guns  were  forged  under  this  agreement,  and  an  order  was  given  for  an- 
other lot  of  five.  But  directly  after  giving  the  order  for  this  l^at  lot  of  five,  tiie  Bu- 
reau added  the  further  requirement  that  this  second  lot  was  to  be  submitted  to  *'  proof.'' 
This  kind  of  test  was  not  within  the  terms  of  the  original  agreement,  which  only  re- 
quired **  inspection,''  and  might  well  have  been  objected  to  by  Mr.  Wiard.  But  he 
seems  to  have  accepted  this  new  condition.  The  first  five  were  finished  and  inspected, 
and  the  work  upon  the  guns  appears  to  have  been  satisfactory  to  the  inspector. 

The  Bureau,  however,  before  acceptance,  required  the  test  of  "  proof."  This  require- 
ment as  to  the  first  lot  of  five  was  clearly  outside  of  the  terms  of  agreement,  and  was, 
therefore,  unjust.  The  Bureau  had  inserted  into  the  agreement  the  right  to  refuse 
further  guns  at  any  time  after  the  completion  of  any  lot  of  five;  and,  therefore,  the 
manufacturer  incurred  great  risk  in  undertaking  to  furnish  any  guns  under  that  agree- 
ment. Therefore,  upon  satisfactory  '^  inspectioir'  of  the  first  five,  he  would  have  had 
a  just  claim  for  the  price  of  all  of  them  upon  the  Government,  except  for  this  reason  : 
In  consequence  of  the  mistake  of  an  employ^,  and  without  the  knowledge  or  fault  of 
Wiard,  anew  or  false  chamber  was  inserted  in  one  of  the  guns,  which,  it  is  alleged, 
could  not  readily  have  been  detected  by  the  inspector,  and  which  would  have  buen 
rejected  by  him  had  he  known  the  fact.  We  think,  therefore,  that  but  four  guns  of 
the  first  five  should  be  paid  for. 

As  the  second  lot  of  five  is  not  clearly  proved  to  have  been  undertaken  before  the 
condition  of  "  proof"  was  insisted  upon  by  the  Bureau,  and  apparently  concurred  in 
by  Wiard,  we  are  inclined  to  the  opinion  that  he  is  not  entitled  to  pay  for  such  of  the 
second  lot  of  five  as  did  not  endure  the  *^  proof." 

The  usual  proof,  and  the  one  actually  applied  in  this  case,  was  ten  charges. 

Under  this  test  one  of  the  last  five  burst. 

Two  of  the  first  lot  had  also  been  disabled  under  the  test  of  "proof." 


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4  NORMAN   WIARD. 

And  upon  the  barstingof  the  last  gun  tested,  the  Bareas  refused  to  have  anything 
to  do  with  any  more  of  the  gans,  denied  that  they  bad  in  fact  formally  received  any 
but  the  tirHt,  or,  as  it  was  called,  *^  the*  trial-gnn/'  and,  though  two  more  of  the  gnns 
had  stood  the  ten-charge  proof,*and  fonr  more  of  the  last  lot  of  five  were  finished,  re-t 
fused  to  pay  for  any  but  the  first,  or  trial-gun,  which  bad  stood  the  test  of  at  leas 
three  hundre<l  and  fifty  charges. 

The  reiisous  given  by  the  Bureau  for  refusal  of  payment  have  been  carefully  con- 
sidered, but  they  are  not  sufficient  to  justify  its  action.  i 

That  the  secoud  lot  of  five,  as  well  as  the  fintt,  were  finished  and  offered  for  inspec- 
tion is  proved  by  the  letters  of  Commander  Hitchcock  to  the  Ordnance  Bureau.  If 
they  were  not  inspected,  and  were  no*  **  praved,^"  it  is  not  the  fault  of  Mr.  Wiard. 

It  would  therefore  seem  that  Mr.  Wiard  should  receive  pay  for  the  first  five,  less  the 
price  of  the  first  gun,  which  was  paid  for,  and  of  the  gun  with  the  false  chamber ;  and 
that  he  should  receive  pay  for  the  second  lot  of  five,  less  the  one  disabled  by  the 
**  proof." 

And  taking  the  prices  as  agreed  upon^  and  the  average  weight  as  ascertained  by  the 
weights  of  several  of  the  guns  given  by  the  Ordnance  Bureau,  the  account  stands 
thus: 

Three  guns,  5,.518  pounds  each,  16,(>54  pounds,  at  85  cents $14, 170  90 

Four  guns,  5,518  pouuds  each,  2*2,072  pounds,  at  «0  cents 17, 657  GU 

31,82d50 

The  amount  allowed  by  the  report  of  the  Ordnance  Committee,  (before  referred  to,) 
under  this  head,  was,  $42,180.  But  the  documents  furnished  by  the  Navy  Department 
after  the  dat^e  of  that  report  show  the  propriety  of  the  reduction  that  is  now  maile. 
though  they  do  not  affect  otherwise  the  reasoning  or  the  conclusions  of  that  report. 

II.— 7f  INCH  GUNS. 

Next  in  respect  to  the  date  of  the  contract  is  the  claim  for  damages^,  caused  by  the 
abrogation  of  an  agreement  for  finishing  certain  "gun-blocks"  into  7i-inch  guns. 

This  contract  was  made,  like  the  nrst,  by  correspondence  between  the  partieSr 
which  is  furnished  in  the  Communication  before  referred  to,  from  the  Secretary  of  the 
Navy. 

It  seems  that  in  October^  1861,  the  Navy  Department  had  made,  or  was  about  to 
make,  provision  for  the  casting  of  large  blocks  of  metal  for  gnus  of  different  calibers; 
and  that  Mr.  Wiard  was  api)lied  to  by  the  Ordnance  Bureau  to  state  the  price  for  which 
he  would  finish  those  blocks  into  gnus. 

On  the  28th  of  October  ho  offered  to  do  the  work  on  the  7^inch  guns  for  $750  each; 
and  the  offer  was  accepted. 

The  bargain  was  consummated  by  the  Chief  of  the  Bureau  of  Ordnance,  through  the 
intervention  of  Commander  Harwood. 

Representations  wei^  made  to  Wiard  that  a  large  number  of  blocks  were  to  be  fio- 
ished,  as  is  Mhown  by  the  letters  of  the  Bureau,  stating  the  soiircos  from  which  they  were 
to  come,  in  addition  to  the  assurances  made  directly  to  Wiard  by  the  Bureau  offici&k 

Wianl's  only  responsibility  was  in  finishing  the  blocks,  furnished  by  the  Bureau,  ac- 
cording to  certain  measurements,  drawings,  and  directions,  also  furnished  by  the 
Bureau. 

Ah  the  work  of  finishing  such  large  masses  of  metal  into  guns  could  not  be  done  in 
ordinary  machine-shops,  and  must  of  necessity  require  a  gpeat  outlay,  it  was  of  inJpo^ 
tance  to  Mr.  Wiard  to  understand  how  many  guns  would  be  required  by  Goverunient. 

No  specific  number  was  agreed  upon,  but  it  is  evident  that  both  parties  contemplated 
large  and  loijj^-continued  employment  for  the  works  to  be  established  by  Mr.  Wiard. 

And  in  addition  to  the  correspondence  of  the  Bureau  before  referred  to.  Commander 
Hitchcock,  who  was  specially  authorized  to  make  the  agreement  in  this  particular 
cane,  says,  in  a  letter  dated  May  17, 1862 : 

"  The  74-inch  guns  which  were  put  into  Mr.  WiarcVs  hands  to  finish^  seven  in  number, 
were  progressed  with  until  the  work  was  stopped  by  the  Bureau.  The  work  iro»  under- 
taken wUk  the  €jnpect4ition  that  a  sufficient  number  of  guns  v>oul4  he  put  into  their  handu  fo 
compensate  them  for  their  expenditure  upon  machinery  and  fixtures.  The  guns  were  in  part 
completed ;  aud  as  it  was  uo  fault  of  Mr.  Wiard  that  they  were  not  entirely  so,  I  think 
it  but  just  he  should  be  paid  the  price  agreed  upon,  $750 ;  and  I  doubt  if  that  will  give 
tlu'Hi  any  profit." 

Under  this  agreement,  and  with  these  representations,  Mr.  Wiard  undertook  to  finish 
the  gun-blocks. 

The  work  required  the  construction  of  large  lathes  or  boring-mills,  and  a  rifling- 


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NORMAN   WIARD  O 

maohtne,  together  with  all  otker  suitable  tools.    It  also  required  the  constraction  of  a 
V»uiI(liugfor  the  special  aeeommodation  of  those  lathes  and  tools. 

The  work  was  comiueDced  immediately.  At  the  outset  there  were  some  obstacles 
tliat  hindered  its  progress ;  but  the  delay  was  only  temporary.  No  complaint  was  made 
\yy  the  Bureau  or  the  inspector  that  the  work  was  not  pushed  forward  with  reasonable 
clispatch.  On  the  contrary,  the  correspondence  published  by  the  Bureau  indicates, 
rxkther,  that  Mr.Wiard  was  himself  delayed  by  the  negligence  of  the  Bureau  in  not  sea- 
sonably furnishing  drawings  and  directions. 

Seven  blocks  were  furnished  by  the  Government.  Four  of  these  were  finished,  and 
"tliree  were  in  the  process  of  being  finished,  when  the  work  was  stopped  without  the 
assignment  of  any  cause  whatever. 

There  is  no  pretense  that  Mr.  Wiard's  work  did  not  fnlly  meet  every  requirement. 
The  Department  at  that  time,  December,  1861,  was  in  need  of  every  gun  it  could 
procure. 

Mr.  Wiard  took  the  material  as  furnished  by  Government,  and  made  the  guns  ex* 
a.ctly  as  required,  according  to  the  Dahlgren  pattern. 

There  had  been  invested,  as  it  will  be  afterward  seen,  $26,000  in  new  lathes  and  tools, 
fit  for  no  other  purpose. 

No  reason  was  given  for  suspending  the  work,  and  no  offer  made  as  compensation  for 
the  now-useless  outlay  for  buildings  and  machinery.  ^ 

In  the  published  correspondence  there  are  letters  of  the  inspector,  which  admit  the 
inference  that  the  work  was  abandoned  because  the  Bureau  had  become  convinced  that 
the  material  out  of  which  the  blocks  were  made  was  uusaitable. 

And  the  affidavit  of  Mr.  Plass,  one  of  the  persons  engaged  in  the  fabrication  of  the 
guns,  states  that  Commander  Hitchcock  told  him  at  the  time  the  work  was  stopped 
that  the  Bureau  did  not  intend  to  give  any  further  orders  until  the  form  of  the  gun  was 
modified. 

But  whether  the  work  was  stopped  for  one  reason  or  the  other,  in  neither  case  was 
the  contractor  responsible.  He  is  entitled,  therefore,  to  compensation  for  the  damages 
sustained  by  him,  to  the  extent  that  such  damage  accrued  by  failure  of  the  Govern- 
nif^nt  to  meet  its  engagements. 

Throwing  aside  all  prospective  gains  and  incidental  losses,  the  sworn  testimony  of 
Mr.  Plass,  whose  firm  made  the  expenditure  for  the  lathes  and  ether  tools,  is  as  fol- 
lows: 

Three  lathes,  (oombiniog  turning  and  boringjmachines,)  each  $6,000 $18, 000 

One  riding-machine 3,000 

Shop  for  lathes 5,000 

26,000 
Which  seems  not  an  unreasonable  estimate  for  works  of  such  magnitude. 

Mr.  Plass  testifies  that  the  shop  consisted  of  a  large  brick  building  of  one  story,  with 
stone  foundations  for  the  lathes,  built  upon  leased  land,  for  which  no  compensation  was 
allowed  by  the  owner  when  given  up  a  few  months  afterward  ;  that  the  lathes  and 
rifling-machine  were  of  no  value  for  any  other  purpose ;  and  that,  in  fact,  the  only 
amount  received  for  them  was  their  value  as  old  metal — say  about  one  cent  per  pound. 
He  further  testifies  that  no  profit  was  realized  upon  the  seven  blocks  finished,  being 
the  first  product  of  the  experiment,  and  necessarily  attended  with  greater  expense  than 
those  to  be  made  afterward. 

It  does  not  seem  proper  to  allow  the  whole  cost  of  the  extra  building  above  men- 
tioned, though  it  might,  for  the  reason  alleged,  have  been  a  bad  investment  for  the  con- 
tractor. Allowing,  however,  half  its  value,  and  estimating  the  value  of  the  old  metal 
at  $500,  the  damages  to  be  allowed  under  this  head  would  be  $23,000. 

III.— 15-iNcn  Gu:f8. 

The  claim  in  this  branch  of  the  case  is  founded  upon  an  agreement  hereto  annexed, 
marked  *'  A,"  made  between  Norman  Wiard  and  Gideon  Welles,  Secretary  of  the  Navy, 
dated  April  10,  1863.  The  contract  contemplated  the  fabrication  of  15-iuch  guns  in 
accordance  with  drawings  and  descriptions  furnished  by  Mr.  Wiard.  The  object  of 
both  parties  was  evidently,  at  the  time  it  was  made,  to  give  satisfactory  opportunity 
to  test  the  qualities  of  a  gun  in  the  principle  of  which  Mr.  Wiard,  the  inventor,  had 
great  confidence.  It  must  have  been  evident  that  the  outlay  for  such  fabrication 
would  necessarily  be  large  on  the  part  of  the  manufacturer ;  and,  as  there  was  great 
need  of  safe  guns  at  that  time,  and  as  the  expense  of  the  Government,  in  case  of  failure 
upon  trial,  was  comparatively  small,  the  coutiaotor  had  the  right  to  expect  that,  in  any 
event,  he  would  be  entitled  to  an  opportunity  to  test  his  invention,  in  so  important  a 
matter,  to  the  fullest  extent  which  a  liberal  construction  of  his  agreement  would  allow . 
He  seems,  therefore,  to  have  made  large  investments  in  good  faith,  and  to  have  set 
about  the  work  with  great  energy. 


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6  NORMAN    WIABD, 

The  contraot  provided  for  two  trials  of  the  ^aa.  Mr.'Wiard  made  an  attempt  and 
fsLxlml  iu  the  casting,  merely  prodncinfr  a  shapeless  mass  of  iron.  He  made  a  second 
attempt,  in  which  be  produced  an  a^arently  good  casting,  which  he  finished.  But 
the  gun  burst  npon  trial. 

He  made  a  third  attempt  and  finished  a  second  gun,  which  he  offered  for  inspection 
and  proof. 

The  Ordnance  Bureau  refused  to  receive  it,  and  annulled  the  contract  npon  the 
ground  that  he  had  exhausted  all  the  opportunities  given  him  under  the  contract,  and 
that  tho  Government  would  not  proceed  further  in  the  experiment. 

Mr.  Wiard  protested  that  he  had  had  but  one  trial ;  that  the  first  shapeless  mass  was 
not  a  gnu  within  the  meaning  of  the  contract;  that  he  had  not  asked,  and  did  not  ask 
pay  for  the  metal  in  that  imperfect  casting,  and  presented  the  last  gun  as  the  second 
gun  made  under  that  contract;  and  (hat  he  only  expected  to  receive  pay  for  the  metal 
iu  the  last-named  gnu,  which  was  in  a  condition  to  be  fired  and  proved,  instead  offer 
that  in  the  abortive  casting  that  was  useless  for  anything. 

But  the  Bureau  persisted  in  its  refusal,  aud  finally  paid  for  the  metal  in  the  worth- 
less casting,  which  it  was  impossible  to  put  to  any  test,  instead  of  the  metal  iu  the  fin- 
ished gnu,  which  was  waiting  to  be  proved. 

Without  suggesting  that,  uuder  such  circumstances,  in  the  midst  of  a  great  war,  and 
under  a  pressing  necessity  for  safe  guns,  an  inventor  was  entitled  to  great  liberality  in 
the  construction  of  such  an  agreement,  after  making  a  very  large  investment,  which 
could  produce  no  possible  return,  except  in  some  case  of  success,  it  would  seem  that, 
upon  the  strictest  constniction  of  the  terms  of  agreement,  Mr.  Wiard  had  a  right  to 
have  his  second  finished  gun  proved  by  the  Ordnance  Bureau  according  to  his  request 

And  npon  the  refusal  of  the  Bureau  to  accept  the  gun  offered  for  inspection  and  proof 
and  tlie  consequent  annulment  of  the  contract,  the  Government  is  liable  for  the  damages 
consequent  upon  the  breach  of  the  agreement. 

In  estimating  these  damages  two  views  are  snsgested: 

First.  Inasmuch  as  the  claimant  made  a  large  investment,  which  would  be,  of  neces- 
sity, almost  wholly  lost  in  case  the  experiment  failed,  or  in  case  the  Gk)vernment  did 
not  carry  out  its  part  of  the  agreement,  and  inasmuch  as  a  strong  inducement  to  soch 
invest^neut  was  not  only  the  promise  of  the  Department  contained  in  the  agreement 
under  consideration,  but  also  the  encouragement  held  out  by  both  the  Navy  and  War 
Departments  for  the  manufacture  of  an  unlimited  number  of  such  guns,  in  case  of 
success,  it  is  therefore  claimed  that  the  contractor  is  entitled,  the  Bureau  being  in  fault 
to  receive  the  amount  proved  to  have  been  lost  by  such  investment. 

This  is  the  view  taken  by  the  report  of  the  Ordnance  Committee  before  referred 
to.  And  they  appear  to  have  had  satisfactory  proof  that  the  amount  invested  was 
$83.66H.40.  Deducting  from  this,  however,  the  amount  now  proved  to  have  been 
realized  from  the  sale  of  machinery,  tools,  &c.,  after  the  work  was  stopped,  (namely, 
$13,761.77,)  and  the  actual  loss  is  reduced  to  the  sum  of  $69,906.72. 

Another  view  is  this:  Mr.  Wiard  was  working  under  an  agreement,  the  provisions 
of  which  were  specific  and  clear  as  to  the  number  of  guns  which,  in  any  event,  the 
Government  was  required  to  take.  That  number  was  twenty.  And  in  case  of  breach 
of  contract  by  the  Government,  the  loss  to  the  contractor  must  be  confined  to  the 
profits  which  he  would  have  made  had  opportunity  been  given  to  fabricate  the  contract 
number.  If  those  profits— as  they  must  nave  proved  to  be  in  this  case — ^should  be  only 
a  small  part  of  the  expenditure  necessary  to  tbe  production  of  the  first  guns,  it  is  ne?- 
ertheless  all  that  could  be  expected  under  the  contract.  And  though  the  contractor 
might  have  had — ^as  he  thinks  he  had  reason  to  have — ^large  expectations  of  business, 
aud  consequent  profits  in  case  of  success,  yet,  claiming  damages  as  he  does,  under  a 
particular  contract,  he  must  be  satisfied  with  the  rule  of  estimating  damages  which 
gives  him  only  the  amount  of  the  probable  profits  that  would  have  come  to  him  from 
the  number  of  guns  which  the  Government  had*  in  case  of  successful  experiments,  agreed 
to  receive. 

And  this  is  the  view  which  the  committee,  after  careful  consideration,  is  constrained 
to  adopt. 

The  Navy  Department  did  not  undertake  to  indemnify  the  contractor  for  whatever 
might  bo  the  loss  growing  out  of  his  expenditures.  Like  any  other  party,  the  Govern- 
ment should  be  held  liable  for  the  loss  legitimately  consequent  upon  the  failure  to  ful- 
fill its  engagements.    But  it  can  properly  be  held  to  no  further  obligation. 

The  breach  of  the  contract  in  this  case  did  not  grow  out  of  that  part  of  it  which  re- 
lates to  the  receiving  of  the  twenty  guns.  But  as  the  Departiffent  agreed  that  the  proof 
of  the  second  trial-gun  was  to  be,  partly,  at  his  own  expense,  and  to  be  conducted, 
after  inspection,  by  an  ordnance  officer;  aud  as  it  was  only  after  proof  so  conducted, 
and  satisfactory  to  the  Bureau,  that  any  more  guns  would  be  ordered,  or  accepted 
even  for  proof;  and  as  the  Bureau  definitely  refused  to  make  such  inspection  and  proof 
of  the  second  gun  when  ottered,  it  is  clear  that  any  further  attempt  to  execnte  the 
agreemeut  on  the  part  of  the  contractor  would  only  result  iu  useless  expense. 

The  Department,  therefore,  caused  as  effectual  a  breach  of  agreement  by  refusal  to  in- 


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NOEMAN   WIARD.  7 

pect  and  pro\ie  the  second  gun  as  it  could  have  doDe,  at  any  future  time,  by  refusal 
to  receive  guns  after  a  satisfactory  test. 

The  weight  of  each  gnn  was  to  he  43^000  pounds,  which,  at  16  cents  per  pound,  as 
agreed,  would  be  $6,880.    Twenty  guus,  at  $6,880  each,  $137,600. 

Under  all  the  ciroumstaoces  of  the  case,  it  is  uot  unreasouable  to  estimate  the  prob- 
OflAe  profits  at  20  per  cent,  upon  the  cost,  amounting  to  $27,520,  which  is  awarded  as 
due,  under  this  branch  of  the  claim. 

IV.— Thk  Fremont  battieries. 

In  this  case  the  claimant  bases  his  claim  upon  a  certain  contract ''  made  and  entered 
into  on  the  23d  day  of  September,  1861,  between  the  United ,  States,  represented  by 
Capt.  C.  F.  Callender,  United  States  ordnance  officer  in  command  of  the  United  States 
arsenal  at  Saint  Louis,  Mo.,  who  was  acting  under  the  immediate  orders  of  Maj.  Gen. 
John  C.  Fremont,  commanding  the  Western  Department.'^ 

The  claim  is  stated  thus : 

The  claimant  was  to  receive  for  the  first  two  batteries  of  6  and  12  pounder 

guns  the  sum  of  $11,500  each $23,000 

And  for  the  two  batteries  12-pounder  guns,  the  sum  of  $12,400  each 24, 800 

Aggregate 47,800 

Less  amount  received  from  part  of  these  guns  and  stores  sold  for  storage 9, 360 

Lieaving  a  balance  due  the  claimant 38,440 

The  oontraot  thus  alleged  to  have  been  made  at  Saint  Louis  is  not  produced,  nor  any 
copy  thereof  The  reason  for  not  producing  the  contract  is,  a|  testified  by  the  only 
iw'itness  in  the  case,  that  he  delivereil  it,  among  other  private  papers  of  Mr.  Wiard,  to- 
General  Ripley,  and  was  not  able  afterward  to  get  it  back. 

The  statement  of  its  contents,  by  the  witness  produced  to  prove  it,  is  indefinite  and 
ansatisfactory. 

The  guns  were  never  inspected  nor  proved ;  it  does  not  appear  that  they  answered 
the  material  requirements  of  the  contract,  whatever  they  may  have  been ;  nor  is  it 
clearly  shown  what  disposition  was  finally  made  of  a  large  part  of  them. 

But  were  the  terms  of  the  agreement,  its  performance  by  the  claimant,  and  the 
amount  of  damages  more  clearly  proved,  there  would  yet  remain  the  grave  question 
whether  damages  should  be  allowed  for  breach  of  a  contract  made,  under  such  circum- 
stances, when  not  approved  by  the  Ordnance  Bureau,  and  when  no  beneficial  result 
accrued  to  the  Government.  Upon  that  point,  however,  there  is  now  no  need  to  ex- 
press an  opinion. 

For  the  reasons  first  assigned,  the  claim  should  be  rejected. 

V. — Steamers  Augusta  ani>  Savannah. 

This  branch  of  Mr.  Wiard's  claim  is  stated  thus : 

Norman  Wiard,  at  the  instance  of  the  Hon.  Peter  H.  Watson,  Assistant  Secretary  of 
War,  constructed  two  iron-plated  steam  transports,  called  the  Augusta  and  the  Savan- 
nah.   The  steamers,  after  inspection,  were  approved. 

A  negotiation  as  to  the  price  of  the  steamers  arose  between  Mr.  Wiard  and  those 
representing  the  Government,  and  on  the  3d  of  November,  1864,  Mr.  Wiard  submitted 
to  General  Meigs,  Quartermaster-General  United  States  Army,  a  proposition  to  sell  the 
Augusta  for  $80,000,  delivered  at  Hampton  Roads,  Fort  Monroe,  or  Norfolk  ;  the  pay- 
ment to  be  made  as  follows :  $50,000  on  the  receipt  in  New  York  of  orders  to  dispatch 
the  steamer;  $30,000  upon  her  safe  arrival  at  her  destination  as  above.  That  the  risk 
of  navigation  and  by  fire  should  be  borne  thus :  $50,000  by  the  Government,  and  $30,000 
by  Mr.  vViard ;  for  which  $30,000  he  stated  he  would  obtain  insurance.  Mr.  Wiard  also 
proposed  to  furnish  the  crew,  coal,  and  stores  at  his  own  expense  for  the  trip,  but  re- 
quired return  transportation  for  the  captain  and  chief-engineer.  Mr.  Wiard  offered  the 
Savannah  on  the  same  tesms. 

On  the  29th  November,  1864,  the  Government,  by  Col.  George  D.  Wise,  who  was  chief 
of  Bureau  of  Ocean  and  Lake  Transportation,  accepted  the  oner  of  sale  of  the  Augusta 
and  Savannah  on  condition  that  Mr.  Wiard  deliver  them  in  good  order  at  Hilton  Head, 
South  Carolina. 

Mr.  Wiard  agreed  to  this  proposition,  provided  the  Government  found  the  coal  and 
fuel.  (See  memorial  as  to  coal  and  fuel,  sworn  to  by  Wiard  and  O.  M.  Beach,  page  9, 
letter  of  Colonel  Wise,  November  29, 1864.) 

On  the  8th  of  December,  1864,  the  Augusta  was  dispatched.  On  10th  December, 
1864,  Mr.  Wiard  applied  for  the  $50,000,  and  on  15th  December,  1864,  Colonel  Wise  an- 
swered that  'Hhe  Angueta  is  not  considered  the  property  of  the  Government  until  she 
arrives  at  Hilton  Head  and  is  delivered  in  good  order.^'    (See  memorial,  page  8.) 


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8  NORMAN   WIABD. 

The  Augusta  went  ashore  on  Cape  Henlopeu,  and  was  damaged. 
Mr.  Wiard's  claim  is  for — 

1.  Five-eighths  of  what  the  insurance  company  charged  for  the  repairs, 

being $21,254  17 

2.  Interest  on  $100,000,  being  the  first  payment  for  the  two  steamers  from 

the  time  it  was  to  have  heen  paid  until  paid 2,346  90 

3.  An  extra  pump  on  Augnsta (500  00 

4.  Chains  and  sails  retained  by  the  officer  at  Hilton  Head,  (proven  by  me- 

morial, page  19,  sworn  to  by  Wiard  and  0.  M.  Beach) 1,219  25 

Total  amount  claimed *   85,511 12 

After  a  careful  consideration  of  all  the  proofs  and  documents  submitted  in  this  part 
of  the  case,  the  committee  have  come  to  the  conclusion  that  the  Government  only 
accepted  the  offers  of  the  claimant  for  the  sale  of  the  vessels  npon  the  modified  terms 
of  delivery  of  the  transports  in  good  order  at  Hilton  Head^  South  Carolina.  Therefore,  the 
incidental  costs  of  repairs  tit  traneitUy  and  the  interest  charged  in  the  first  and  second 
items,  amounting  to  the  sum  of  $23,001.07,  in  their  judgment  form  no  Just  claim 
against  the  Government. 

The  Quartermaster's  Department  was  responsible  for  nothing,  having  supplied  the 
vessels  with  coal  and  fuel,  according  to  the  modified  terms  of  the  claimant's  agree- 
ment, nntil  the  same  should  be  delivered  in  good  order  at  Hilton  Head. 

But,  for  the  safety  of  these  vessels  on  a  winter  voyage,  the  extra  steam-pump,  chains, 
and  sails,  charged  in  the  third  and  fourth  items,  amounting  to  the  sum  of  $1,819,25, 
were  supplied  by  the  claimant,  and  as  those  articles  formed  no  part  of  the  regular  equip- 
ment of  the  transports^  and  were  not  returned  nor  accounted  for  to  the  claimant,  he  is 
entitled,  in  the  opinion  of  the  committee,  to  be  re-imbursed  therefor.  Every  portion  of 
this  claim,  except  the  three  items  of  steam-pump,  chains,  and  sailp,  are  without  equity, 
and,  in  the  opinion  of 'he  committee,  deserves  no  further  consideration  by  Congress. 

It  is  therefore  recommended  that  relief  be  granted  to  the  extent  of  $1,819.25,  and 
no  more. 

VI.— ThK  STEAMER8  FOSTER,  ReNO,  BCRNSIDB,  AND  PaRKE. 

The  above  streamers  were  sold  to  the  Government,  for  a  certain  price,  after  being  in- 
spected and  approved  by  the  proper  Government  officers ;  which  price  was  duly  paid. 

The  claim  now  presented  is  for  the  amount  of  $58,210.77  for  the  expenses  of  labor, 
new  boilers,  machinery,  and  alterations,  made  by  order  of  Major-General  Bntler  upon 
said  steamers  after  they  were  so  inspected  and  accepted. 

The  items  of  the  claim  are  thns  stated : 

For  furnishing  each  of  the  four  steamers  with  a  hog-frame,  at  a  cost  of 

$2,450  each $9,800  00 

For  the  Foster,  in  repairing  the  damages  sustained  by  running  npon  a 

snnkoD  stump * '. 2, 304  55 

Paid  Hayen  &  Co.,  Baltimore,  cash  for  new  copper  sheathing 1, 381  ^^^ 

Throe  new  boilers  for  the  Foster 6,200  00 

Two  new  air-pumps 7^  00 

Two  new  evaporators 1 8^  00 

One  new  blower,  (Dimpfel  patent,)  setup 380  00 

New  pipes,  valves,  and  connections 400  00 

One  new  blowing-engine,  set  up 500  00 

New  breaching  for  boilers 360  00 

Pipes  and  dampers  for  blowers 180  00 

23,710  77 

Bnrnside  boilers $8,250  00 

Blower  and  engine 830  00 

Sheet-iron  work 540  00 

Felting 130  00 

Setting  up  boilers,  removing  decks,  new  combings,  &o 1, 300  00 

Pipes  and  fittings j 400  00 

n,  500  00 

The  Reno  same  as  the  Bnrnside 11,500  00 

The  Parke  same  as  the  Bnrnside 11,500  00 

Foster 23,710  77 

Total 58,210  77 

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NORMAN   WIARD.  9 

The  doeamenU  famished  by  the  Qaartermaster-Generars  Office  clearly  sustain  the 
Allegation  that  the  items  thns  stated  are  entirely  oniside  the  reqairements  of  the  a|(ree- 
ment  of  parchase,  and  the  testimony  tends  to  show  that  the  alterations  and  additions 
^were  made  under  the  direction  of  M%|or  Van  Vliet,  quartermaster,  Mr.  Haswell,  engi- 
neer, and  (General  Qraham  at  New  York,  and  of  Mijor-General  Butler  at  Norfolk. 

It  does  not  appear,  however,  that  this  work  had  the  formal  approval  of  the  Bureau 
at  Washington,  and  it  is  alleged  that  the  lack  of  such  approval  has  heretofore  stood  in 
tlie  way  or  an  adjustment  of  this  claim  at  the  War  Department. 

That  a  large  expenditure  was  mode  noon  these  steamers  after  they  were  accepted  by 
tlie  Government;  that  it  was  made  by  Mr.  Wiard,  under  the  direction  of  Government 
officers ;  and  that  it  must  have  been  made  with  the  full  knowledge  of  the  Burean, 
Aeema  not  to  admit  of  a  doubt. 

And,  inasmuch  as  these  altetations  were  ordered  by  an  officer  in  the  field  high  in  com- 
mand, for  whose  use  the  steamers  were  intended,  and  inasmuch  as  the  Government  re- 
ceived the  benefit  of  the  expenditure,  there  seems  to  be  no  good  reason  why  it  should 
not  pay  whatever  may  have  been  proved  to  have  been  so  expended. 

The  whole  amount  claimed  is.  however,  not  satisfactorily  proved. 

There  is  no  sufficient  proof  oi  the  second  and  third  items,  amounting  to  $3,685.87. 
Nor  is  it  clearly  shown  that  there  should  be  an  allowance  for  the  value  of  the  boilers 
famished,  as  charged,  for  the  Bnraside,  Reno,  and  Parke. 

It  is  left  in  doubt  by  the  testimony  whether  the  original  boilers  were  merely  altered 
and  reset  in  a  different  position,  or  whether,  if  supplanted  by  new  ones,  they  were 
not  In  a  condition  for  further  service,  and,  therefore,  of  considerable  value  to  the 
claimant. 

Under  this  state  of  the  evidence  it  does  not  seem  proper  to  allow  the  price  of  these 
boilers,  amounting  to  $^,750.    The  other  items  appear  satisfactorily  proved. 

Making  the  above  deduction,  the  result  is : 

Whole  claim $58,210  77 

Deduct — 

Second  and  third  items $3,685  87 

Three  sets  boilers 24,750  00 

28,435  87 


29,774  90 
Leaving  $29,774.90  as  the  sum  due  for  said  expeuditare. 

SCMMAKT. 

I.  Amount  allowed  under  the  50-pounder  gun  contract $31, 828  50 

II.  Amount  allowed  under  the  7^inch  gun  contract 23, 000  00 

III.  Amount  allowed  under  the  15-inch  gun  contract 27, 520  00 

IV.  Amount  allowed  under  the  Fremont-battery  contract 

V.  Amount  allowed  on  account  of  steamers  Augusta  and  Savannah 1, 819  25 

YI.  Amount  allowed  on  account  of  steamers  Foster,  Bnrnside,  Reno,  and 

Parke 29,774  90 

Total 113,942  65 

In  view  of  the  premises  and  considerations  set  forth,  the  committee  report  back  the 
bill  providing  for  the  appropriation  of  $113,942.65  in  full  payment  for  all  work  and 
labor  done,  materials  furnished  and  supplied  to,  and  for  all  damages  and  losses  sus- 
tained by  breaches  of  contract  with,  and  on  the  part  of,  the  United  States,  during  the 
war  and  hitherto,  and  recommend  its  passage  by  the  House. 


"A." 

Contract  between  Secretary  JTelles  and  Xorman  Wlard  in  reiation  to  15-incA  guns. 

This  contract,  made  and  entered  into  this  10th  day  of  April,  1863,  between  the  Hon- 
orable Gideon  Welles,  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  acting  for  and  in  behalf  of  the  United 
States  of  America,  of  the  first  part,  and  Norman  Wiard,  of  the  city  and  State  of  New  . 
York,  as  principal,  of  the  second  part,  witnesseth :  That,  for  and  in  consideration  of 
the  stipnlations  hereinafter  mentioned,  the  said  party  of  the  second  part  agrees  : 

1.  To  cast,  finish,  and  prepare  for  proof,  and  luroish  a  suitable  place  and  means  for 
mounting  and  proving,  a  trial  smooth-bore  gun  of  15-inch  caliber,  modeled  upon  the 
plan  heretofore  presented,  to  weigh  43,000  pounds,  to  be  in  length  of  the  dimensions  of 
the  Navy  15-inch  guns  mounted  in  the  turret- vessels. 

2.  The  finished  castings  shall  be  free  of  all  defects  or  cavities  on  the  exterior  or  inte- 

H.  Rep.  430 2 


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10  NORMAN  WIARD, 

rior  for  which  the  naval  service-cmiB  would  be  rejected ;  the  bore  shall  be  within  the 
regulation  limits,  and  the  preponderance  as  established  by  the  regulations  of  the  Nary 
Department. 

3.  During  the  fabrication,  (of  the  time  of  the  commencement  of  which  the  Nstj 
Department  shall  be  informed^  the  officer  who  may  be  appointed  to  examine  and  so- 
perintendy  on  the  part  of  the  QoTeniment,  the  progress  of  the  work,  shall  be  afforded 
all  necessary  facilities  to  ascertain  all  the  details  of  molding,  casting,  qualities  and 
kinds  of  iron  and  foel  used,  arrangement  of  the  pit  and  flasks,  and  everything  bearing 
on  the  peculiarities  of  this  method  of  casting  guns. 

4.  When  the  gun  is  completed,  and  reporteid  ready  for  proof  by  said  party  of  tbe 
second  part,  one-half  the  value  of  said  gun  completed,  at  25  cents  per  pound,  shall  be 
paid,  or  caused  to  be  paid,  by  the  said  party  of  the  first  part ;  and  as  soon  thereafter 
as  may  be  convenient  it  shall  be  subjected  to  the  following  proof:  one  ohar»e  of  «^ 
pounds  of  No.  7  <|uickest-burning  powder,  (Hazard's  or  Dupont's,)  and  two  scmd  shot, 
with  the  usual  windage,  to  be  cast  in  pairs  in  this  form,*  and  to  weigh  together  90U 
])ounds,  and  to  have  flattened  ends,  that  they  may  not  crush  in  the  gnn.  Then  20 
charges  of  60  pounds  of  the  same  powder  and  one  shell  of  330  pounds  weight  to  each 
charge,  to  be  fired  with  the  greatest  possible  rapidity. 

5.  If  the  gun  stands  the  proof  witnout  other  injuries  than  those  allowed  by  regula- 
tion, it  is  to  be  immediately  accepted  by  the  Navy  Department,  and  paid  for  at  the 
rate  of  25  cents  per  pound,  less  the  amount  which  may  nave  been  advanced  under  the 
provisions  of  article  4 ;  and  the  said  party  of  the  first  part  agrees  to  forthwith  give 
the  said  party  of  the  second  part  an  order  for  20  guns,  formed  upon  the  saoie  plan,  of 
such  calibers  as  may  be  required  by  the  exigencies  of  the  naval  service,  of  not  Ies» 
than  10  inches  caliber,  made  of  the  same  iron,  in  the  same  manner  as  the  trial-gun  ;  bat 
not  more  than  two  calibers  shall  be  required ;  which  guns  said  party  of  the  siecondpart 
agrees  to  furnish  at  16  cents  per  pound. 

The  guns  shall  be  finished  in  a  workmanlike  manner ;  the  variations  in  dlmensioiu 
of  the  finished  guns  shall  not  exceed  those  allowed  in  service-guns,  and  they  are  to  be 
subjected  to  the  same  proof  as  guns  of  like  caliber  in  the  naval  service. 

6.  If  the  first  or  trial-gun  should  fail  to  stand  this  test  from  any  defect  of  fabrica- 
tion, the  said  party  of  too  second  part  shall  be  permitted  to  cast  a  second  trial-gQD, 
subject  to  the  same  conditions  and  tests  as  the  first  gun,  which,  if  it  proves  soccesBfal, 
shall  be  taken  as  the  trial  and  model  gnn.  In  the  manufactare  of  this  gun  the  frag- 
ments of  the  first  one  may  be  used  by  the  said  party  of  the  second  part.    If  the  secoDd 

'trial-gun  should  also  fail,  this  contract  is  to  be  void  and  of  no  effect,  and  the  rejected 
gun  or  guns  and  their  fragments  shall  become  the  property  of  the  Government. 

7.  The  first  gun  shall  be  ready  for  trial  within  two  months  of  the  date  hereof;  and 
should  this  gun  fail,  the  second  trial-gun  shall  be  ready  within  one  month  after  the 
date  of  the  £ilure  of  the  first  one. 

8.  Tlie  date  of  the  delivery  of  the  20  guns  provided  for  in  article  5,  should  they  be 
ordered,  will  be  determined  by  an  agreement  to  be  made  between  the  contracting  par- 
ties. The  conditions  of  payment  for  the  20  guns  aforesaid  to  be  those  usual  in  con- 
tracts made  by  the  Navy  Department  for  ordnance,  viz :  "  No  other  cham  to  be  admit- 
ted nor  allowances  to  be  made  by  the  United  States  for  or  on  account  or  this  contract, 
and  titenty  per  centum  to  be  withheld  from  the  amount  of  all  payments  due  on  accoaot 
thereof  as  collateral  security,  and  not  in  any  event  to  be  paid  except  by  special  ac- 
thority  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy  until  it  is  in  all  respects  complied  with  by  the 
parties,  and  eu^My  per  centum  of  the  amount  bf  all  deliveries  will  be  paid  by  the  Navy 
Department  within  30  days  after  bills  duly  authenticated  shall  have  been  presented 
to  him." 

And  the  said  party  of  the  second  part  does  further  engage  and  contract  that  no 
member  of  Congress,  officer  of  the  Navy,  or  other  person  holding  any  office  or  appoint- 
ment under  the  Navy  Department,  shsdl  be  admitted  to  any  share  or  part  of  this  con- 
tract or  agreement,  or  to  any  benefit  to  arise  thereupon. 

And  it  is  hereby  expressly  provided,  and  this  contract  is  upon  this  express  condition, 
that  if  any  such  member  of  Uongress,  officer  of  the  Navy,  or  other  person  above  named, 
shall  be  admitted  to  any  share  or  part  of  this  contract,  or  to  any  benefit  to  arise  under 
it,  or  in  case  the  party  of  the  secimd  part  shall  in  any  respect  fail  to  perform  this  con- 
tract on  his  part,  the  same  may  be,  at  the  option  of  the  United  States,  declared  noU 
and  void,  without  affecting  their  right  t>o  recover  for  de£ftults  which  may  have  oooorred. 

It  is  further  stipulated  and  agreed  that  if  default  shall  be  made  bv  the  partv  of  the 
second  part  in  delivering  all  or  any  of  the  20  guns,  if  they  should  be  ordered,  at  the 
'  times  and  places  which  may  be  provided,  that  then  and  in  that  case  the  said  party  will 
forfeit  and  pay  to  the  United  States,  as  liquidated  damages,  a  sum  of  money  equal  to 
twice  the  amount  of  the  contract-price  herein  agreed  upon  as  the  price  to  be  paid  in 
case  of  the  actual  delivery  thereof;  which  liquidated  damages  may  be  recovered  from 
time  to  time  as  they  accrue. 

*  See  drawing,  printed  evidence,  page  10. 

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NORMAN   WIARD.  11 

In  testimony  \?bereof  the  partieB  of  the  first  and  second  parts  have  hereanto  set 
their  hands  and  aflSxed  thoir  seals,  at  the.  city  of  Washington,  the  10th  day  of  April, 
1863. 

NORMAN  WIARD. 
GIDEON  WELLES. 

Further,  in  reference  to  section  8,  above,  it  is  hereby  agreed  and  determined  by  the 
coDtractinz  parties  that  the  dates  of  the  delivery  of  the  20gans  provided  for  in  article 
5,  shonld  they  be  ordered,  shall  be  as  follows : 

One  ffnn  per  week  after  the  success  of  the  trial  gun  or  guns. 

NORMAN  WIARD. 
GIDEON  WELLES. 


VIEWS  OP  THE  MINOEITY. 

With  entire  respect  for  the  majority  of  the  committee,  1  am  not  able 
to  find  SQch  facts  as  enable  me  to  concur  in  the  report. 

If  the  claimant  had  any  proper  demand,  it  seems  to  me  it  would  be 
l)etter  to  refer  it  to  the  Court  of  Claims,  where  evidence  might  be  pro- 
duced on  behalf  of  t|)e  Government,  and  a  judicial  investigation  had. 
But  these  claims  have  already  been  Investigated  in  the  proper  Depart- 
ment of  the  Government,  to  which  the  claimant  submitted  them,  and  I 
do  not  find  evidence  to  impeach  the  decision  arrived  at.  The  claimant 
had  the  right  to  sue  in  the  Court  of  Claims.  If  he  abandoned  that  right 
until  he  no  longer  had  a  right  to  sue,  I  do  not  perceive  any  reason  now 
for  giving  relief  by  act  of  Congress,  when  the  evidence,  or  some  of  it, 
on  behalf  of  the  Government,  may  be  lost. 

The  Ctovemment  holds  the  receipts  in  full  of  the  claimant  on  the 
allowances  already  made,  and  I  do  not  perceive  sufficient  reason  to  dis- 
regard them. 

WM.  LAWEENCE. 


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43d  Congress,  i     HOUSE  OF  EEPRESENTATIVBS.     '(  Report 
l8t  Session.     )  \  No.  431. 


MICHAEL  MULHOLLAND. 


April  17,  1874.— Committed  to  a  Committee  of  the  Whole  House  and  ordered  to  be 

printed. 


Mr.  Mellisu,  from  the  Committee  oa  War-Claims,  submitted  the  fol- 
lowing 

REPORT: 

[To  accompany  bill  H.  R.  2994.J 

The  Committee  on   War- Claims^  to  whom  was  re/erred  the  petition  o 
Michael  Mulhollandy  of  Vieksburghy  Miss.^for  compensation  for  destruc- 
tion of  property  by  United  States  troops  at  Memphis^  Tenn.j  in  the  year 
1863,  having  had  the  same  under  consideration^  beg  leave  to  report : 

That  on  the  23d  of  February,  1863,  Capt.  George  A.  Williams,  provost- 
marshal,  sent  a  file  of  soldiers  to  the  claimant's  house,  ejected  claimant 
and  family,  and  took  possession  of  his  furniture  aud  other  effects,  as  set 
forth  in  the  accompanying  papers,  a  large  portion  of  which  was  subse- 
quently used  for  hospital  purposes.  Mr.  Mulholland's  loyalty  is  estab- 
lished beyond  question.  Among  certificates  to  this  fact  is  that  of 
General  Sherman,  dated  December  7, 1872,  as  follows: 

"  The  bearer  of  this,  Mr.  Michael  Mulholland,  was  a  good  loyal  citizen 
of  Memphis,  Tenn.,  to  my  personal  knowledge." 

Hon.  8.  A.  Hurlbiit,  of  Illinois,  says  that  "  he  was  one  of  the  very  few 
men  in  that  region  who  seemed  honestly  loyal  to  the  United  States." 

Affidavits  of  well-known  citizens  of  Memphis  in  reference  to  claimant's 
loyalty  will  be  found  with  the  accompanying  papers. 

A  schedule  of  items,  witU  their  alleged  value,  is  presented,  and  the 
amount  claimed  is  $6,837.50.  Your  committee,  after  investigation,  have 
come  to  the  conclusion  that  Mr.  Mulholland  is  entitled  to  compensation 
for  his  losses,  and  recommend  the  passage  of  the  accompanying  bill, 
appropriating  the  sum  of  $3,418.75,  which  it  is  believed  is  a  fair  compen- 
sation for  the  property  taken. 

VIEWS  OF  THE  MINORITY. 

It  seems  to  me  this  claim  is  excluded  from  payment  by  the  principles 
stated  in  House  report  No.  262,  made  March  26, 1874,  by  the  Committee 
on  WarClaims. 

WM.  LAWRENCE. 


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43d  Congress,  \    HOUSE  OF  REPKESBNTATIVES.       i  Eeport 
l8t  Session.     )  (  Ko.432. 


MPS.  EMMA  A.  PORCH. 


April  17, 1874.— Committed  to  a  Committee  of  the  Whole  House  and  ordered  to  be 

printed. 


Mr.  Mellish,  from  the  Committee  on  War-Claims,  submitted  the  fol- 
lowing 

REPORT: 

[To  accompany  bill  H.  R.  2995.] 

The  Committee  on  War-Claims,  to  tchom  was  re/erred  the  petition  of  Mrs. 
Emma  A.  Porch,  of  Missouri,  for  services  rendered  and  losses  incurred 
as  a  scout  and  spy  during  the  late  tear,  have  had  the  same  under  considera- 
tion, and  beg  leave  to  report  : 

That  the  whole  subject  has  been  repeatedly  examined  by  different 
committees  of  Congress,  and  in  all  cases  has  been  reported  upon 
favorably.  The  Committee  on  Claims  of  the  Forty-first  Congress  made 
the  following  report: 

The  petitioner  vtm  employed  bv  order  of  General  E.  B.  Brown  as  a  scout  and  spy 
abont  the  7th  of  April,  1864,  and  during  the  "  Price  raid.'' 

The  sworn  statement  of  the  petitioner,  together  with  Iho  affidavits  of  Martha  Os- 
trander  and  Herman  S.  Brannes,  and  letters  from  General  £.  B.  Brown  and  Governor 
Thomas  C.  Fletcher,  all  concur  in  proving  that  the  petitioner  rendered  service  as  spy 
and  scout ;  that  such  service  was  at  great  hazard  to  her  life ;  that  she  thereby  fur- 
nished the  United  States  Government  with  valuable  information ;  and  that  she  was 
promised  by  the  provost-marshal  $.500  for  the  same. 

It  also  appears  that  she  was  thus  employed  from  about  the  first  of  October  until 
some  time  in  November,  1864,  during  which  time  she  was  taken  prisoner  by  the  enemy. 

The  character  of  the  petitioner  is  esteemed  as  above  reproach. 

The  claim  was  again  considered  by  the  Committee  on  Claims  of  the 
Forty-second  Congress,  which  adopted  the  statement  of  facts  found  by 
the  committee  of  the  Forty-first  Congress,  and  added  the  following : 

In  the  report  of  the  Committee  on  Claims  above  referred  to,  the  item  of  two  horses 
lost,  is  not  considered  at  all,  and  seems  to  have  been  entirely  overlooked.  The  evi- 
dence submitted  establishes  such  loss  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  committee,  and  that 
said  horses  were  worth  $150  each. 

In  view  of  the  fact  (see  Appendixes  A  and  B)  that  the  services  rendered  by  Mrs.  Porch 
were  of  great  value  to  the  Union  cause;  that  said  services  have  seriously  impaired  her 
health ;  that  she  saved  the  life  of  a  Union  officer ;  that  she  has  received  no  compensa- 
tion for  the  horses  so  lost,  to  which  your  committee  believe  her  to  be  entitled,  and  that 
nearly  ten  years  have  elapsed  since  the  services  were  rendered,  your  committee  are  of 
opinion  that  Mrs.  Porch  is  entitled  to  compensation  for  services  rendered  and  losses 
incurred  while  acting  as  a  Union  scout,  and  also  on  account  of  her  impaired  health, 
and  accordingly  report  the  accompanying  bill  appropriating  (1,000,  and  recommend  its 
passage. 

Appendix  A. 

State  op  Missouri,  Executivb  Department, 

Cittf  ofJefferwRf  May  21, 1866. 
The  claim  of  Mrs,  Emma  A.  Porch,  late  Miss  Kate  Smith,  for  services  as  scout  ren- 
dered Brig.  Gen.  E.  B.  Brown,  United  States  Volunteers,  commanding  Central  District 
Missouri,  in  1864,  has  been  examined  by  me,  and  I  am  well  satisfied  that  it  Is  a  just 


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2  MRS.    EMMA   A.   PORCH. 

and  meritorious  claim,  and  should  be  paid.    The  United  States  is  clearly  liable  for  the 
same. 

No  appropriation  has  been  made  by  the  legislature  for  the  payment  of  this  class  of 
claims  to  my  knowledge. 

THOS.  C.  FLETCHER. 

Appendix  E. 

Office  of  the  Clkkk  of  the  United  States  District  Court, 

Western  District  op  Missouri, 

City  of  Jefferson,  April  1, 1871. 
I  have  known  Mrs.  Emma  Porch  (whoso  maiden  name  Emma  Smith)  since  the  early 
part  of  the  late  rebellion ;  knew  her  in  1864,  and  remember  that  her  movements,  as 
they  came  under  my  observation,  seemed  erratic  and  mysterious;  that  before  and 
during  the  time  of  Price's  raid  she  was  going  from  place  to  place  in  this  vicinity  for 
some  purpose  then  unknown  to  me ;  that  while  Price's  forces  w^re  passing  here  she 
sought  to  borrow  of  me  a  horse  to  go  in  the  direction  of  the  raiders.  I  did  not  then 
know  why. 

Subsequently  I  learned  that  she  had  been  then  acting  as  a  Federal  spy,  and  was  in- 
formed that  she  had  been  very  serviceable.  Prior  to  that  time  she  wore  the  appearance 
of  robust  health. 

Since  that  time  she  has  worn  the  appearance  of  enfeebled  health,  and  seems  now  to 
be  in  very  poor  health.    The  cause  alleged  for  the  loss  of  her  health  is  the  exposure 
she  endured  as  a  spy. 
She  is  a  woman  of  excellent  character— exemplary  in  the  various  relations  of  life. 
Unquestionably  she  is  entitled  to  liberal  compensation  for  her  services  to  the  Gov- 
ernment, and  I  think  it  strange  that  she  has  not  long  since  received  it. 

ADAMS  PEABODY, 
Clerk  of  United  States  District  Court,  Western  District  of  Missouri, 

From  documentary  evidence  it  appears  that  the  petitioner  was  a 
school  teacher  in  California,  Mo.,  for  several  years,  and  in  1864,  in  con- 
sequence of  the  raid  of  General  Price,  her  school  was  broken  up.  She 
was  subsequently  employed  in  the  Union  Army  as  a  spy,  and  rendered 
very  efficient  service,  and  was  taken  prisoner  by  the  rebels,  narrowly 
escaped  hanging,  and  in  consequence  of  great  hardships  and  exposures 
while  a  prisoner  became  broken  down  in  health. 

There  is  every  reason  to  regard  her  statements  as  the  exact  truth, 
when  she  says  that  on  one  occasion,  while  she  was  a  prisoner,  "  The 
'  Feds,'  shelled  the  train,  the  shells  passing  over  my  head,  not  to  exceed 
two  feet  from  me.''  The  "Feds"  were  only  half  a  mile  from  us,  I 
thought  my  time  had  come ;  I  became  insane,  and  knew  not  what  I  was 
saying ;  I  only  knew  that  I  was  a  prisoner,  guarded  day  and  night  by 
rebels.  Time  passed  that  way,  with  little  variation,  for  three  days  and 
nights,  when  we  arrived  in  Kansas.  I  had  seen  every  line  of  battle 
that  was  formed  from  the  first  to  the  last;  had  seen  the  dead  and 
wounded,  both  friend  and  foe,  lying  on  the  battle-field ;  had  been  obliged 
to  ride  from  thirty-five  to  fifty  miles  a  day  under  two  sets  of  guards  ; 
was  worn  out  and  nearly  starved,  and  completely  jaded  down.-' 

She  gives  various  details  and  says:  "  The  next  time  we  stopped  at 
Little  Osage,  Kans.  There  1  formed  the  acquaintance  of  a  conscript 
Federal,  at  whose  house  we  stopped.  He  pretended  to  be  getting  ready 
to  go  on  with  us,  (the  rebels,)  while  all  the  time  he  was  going  to  try  to 
get  to  the  *  Feds.'  I  gave  him  what  information  I  could  concerning  the 
'rebs.'  He  succeeded  in  making  his  escape,  and  got  to  our  friends  in 
time  to  give  them  important  news.  That  night,  had  they  time  to  dig 
their  ditches,  the  five  hundred  prisoners  would  have  been  shot  and 
buried,  and  then  I  was  to  have  been  hanged ;  but  thanks  to  Almighty 
God,  and  the  Federals,  our  boys  came  upon  them  before  they  coald 
carry  out  their  designs.  That  morning  we  started  South  again ;  went 
fifty-five  miles  before  we  stopped;  reached  Carthage  that  night;  here 
General  Price  was  determined  to  bo  rid  of  me,  so  he  ordered  the  provost- 


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MRS.    EMMA   A.   PORCU.  3 

marshal-general  to  tell  me  I  should  be  shot  in  the  morning  as  a  spy.'' 
IFurther  details  are  given,  and  after  a  while  she  was  unconditionally 
released.  She  states  that  the  last  supper  she  ate  with  the  rebels  was 
only  a  raw  turnip  not  one-half  as  big  as  her  fist,  and  for  several  days 
before  she  left  them  she  was  so  weak  they  had  to  assist  her  to  walk. 

Your  committee  regard  this  case  as  possessing  special  merit,  and  in 
view  of  the  fact  that  the  health  of  the  claimant  is  broken  down,  im- 
paired as  it  was  by  exposure  as  a  guide  and  scout,  believe  she  is  entitled 
to  consideration  at  the  hands  of  the  Government,  and  therefore  report* 
the  accompanying  bill,  appropriating  the  sum  or  $650,  that  being  the 
amount  of  $500  promised  by  the  military  authorities  at  the  time,  and 
$150  for  the  horse  proven  to  have  been  lost,  and  recommend  its  pas- 
sage. 


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43d  CoNaBESS,  \     HOUSE  OP  EBPEESENTATIVES.      i  Eepobt 
l8t  Sessum.     ]  I  No.  433, 


DANIEL  WORMEE. 


April  l?,  1874. — Committed  to  a  Committee  of  the  Whole  House  and  ordered  to  be 

printed. 


Mr.  G.  W.  Hazelton,  from  the  Commttiee  ou  War-Claims,  submitted 

the  followlDg 

REPORT: 

[To  accompany  bill  H.  B.  2996.] 

The  Committee  on  War-Claims^  to  whom  was  referred  the  petition  of  Daniel 
Wormerfor  reliefs  having  had  the  same  under  consideration^  beg  leave  to 
report  as  follows  : 

Oa  the  26th  February,  1864,  the  claimant  entered  into  a  contract 
^ith  James  A.  Ekin,  the  chief  quartermaster  of  the  Cavalry  Bureau, 
whereby  he  agreed  to  have  delivered  at  the  Government  stables  at 
Saint  Charles,  Illinois,  on  or  before  the  26th  of  March  following,  1,200 
cavalry-horses  of  the  description  and  quality  specified. 

It  was  also  agreed  that  the  horses  upon  being  delivered^should  be 
examined  and  inspected  without  unnecessary  delay. 

At  once,  upon  the  execution  of  the  contract,  Wormer  telegraphed  his 
agents  who  had  helped  him  about  filling  previous  contracts  to  purchase 
horses  to  fill  this  contract.  They  proceeded  at  once  to  do  so.  Wormer 
went  to  Saint  Charles  for  the  purpose  of  executing  his  obligation  under 
the  agreement,  when  he  learned,  for  the  first  time,  that  an  order  had 
been  promulgated,  after  the  date  of  his  contract,  changing  in  several 
essential  particulars  the  method  of  inspection  of  the  horses  and  the  con- 
ditions on  which  they  should  be  accepted. 

By  this  new  order,  which  it  became  necessary  very  soon  to  revoke,  all 
horses  not  accepted  were  to  be  branded  so  as  to  indicate  their  rejection : 
and  instead  of  remaining  in  the  hands  of  the  contractor  or  owner,  until 
inspected,  they  were  to  be  turned  into  the  inspection-yard  of  the  Gov- 
ernment at  least  twenty-four  hours  before  their  inspection. 

Under  the  terms  of  this  order  it  was  found  impossible  to  fill  the  con- 
tract. The  owners  and  sub-contractors  refused  to  supply  or  sell  horses 
upon  the  condition  that,  if  rejected,  they  were  to  be  permanently  dis- 
figured and  materially  debased  in  value,  and  to  take  the  risk  of  turning 
their  horses  into  a  common  yard  with  multitudes  of  other  horses,' 
whereby  they  might  contract  incurable  diseases  or  be  seriously  injured. 

Under  these  circumstances  Mr.  Wormer  appealed  to  the  chief  of  the 
Cavalry  Bureau  to  be  allowed  to  fill  his  contract  free  from  the  modifica- 
tions of  the  new  inspection,  but  was  peremptorily  refused. 

Shortly  after,  the  order  was  revoked  and  its  author  dismissed  the 
service. 


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2  DANIEL   WOBMEB. 

The  claim  is  for  damage  sustained  by  said  Wormer  by  reason  of  the 
violation  of  the  contract  and  agreement  on  the  part  of  the  Government. 

It  appearing  that  he  was  required  to  pay  out  and  disburse  a  large 
sum  of  money  to  his  agents  and  others  by  reason  of  such  breach  of  the 
contract  on  the  part  of  the  (Government,  and  to  lose  the  entire  profits  of 
such  contract  the  committee  recommend  the  allowance  of  $4,500  in  full 
payment  and  discharge  of  said  claim,  that  being  about  the  amount 
actually  paid  out  by  said  Wormer,  and  not  embracing  the  profits  of  his 
contract,  and  report  the  accompanying  bill  to  that  effect  and  recommend 
its  passage. 


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i3D  OoNaEESS, )      HOUSE  OF  EBPEESENTATIVES.      (  Keport 
l8t  Session.     )  \  Ko.  434. 


GEORGE  A.  SCHREII^ER. 


Afru^  17,  1874. — Committed  to  a  Committee  of  the  Wbole  Honse  and  ordered  to  be 

printed. 


Mr.  Isaac.  W.  Scuddeb,  from  the  Committee  on  War-Clairas,  submitted 

the  following 

REPORT: 

[To  accompany  bill  H.  B.  2997.] 

The  Committee  on  War-Claims^  to  whom  was  referred  the  hill  (jBT.  E 
987)  for  the  relief  of  George  A.  SchreineVj  having  considered  the  same^ 
report : 

That  George  A.  Schreiner,  of  Wyandotte  County,  State  of  Kansas, 
claims  of  the  Government  of  the  United  States  the  pay  of  a  pilot  from 
December  9, 1861,  to  January  1, 1864,  at  the  rate  of  $150  per  month ; 
two  years  and  twenty-two  days:  and  the  amount  of  the  claim  is 
$3,710. 

Schreiner  was  a  pilot  by  occupation,  and  familiar  with  the  Mississippi 
and  Missouri  Elvers,  and  had  been  pilot  for  several  years  prior  to  the 
12th  of  September,  1861,  when,  he  received  the  injury  hereinafter  stated^ 
which  forever  disabled  him  from  pursuing  that  occupation.  ' 

In  the  month  of  September,  1861,  it  became  necessary  to  convey  the 
Thirteenth  Missouri  Regiment  of  Infantry  from  Kansas  City  to  Lexing- 
ton, Missouri  j  and  that  regiment  was  transported  by  the  steamboat 
Sunshine,  which  was  seized  by  the  officers  of  the  United  States  and 
pressed  into  the  service.. 

There  being  a  doubt  of  the  loyalty  of  the  captain,  pilot,  engineer,  and 
crew  of  the  steamboat  Sunshine,  Col.  Everett  Peabody,  of  the  United 
States  forces,  ordered  that  George  A.  Schreiner  and  Charles  Dripps, 
who  were  both  pilots,  should  go  on  that  vessel,  and  should  remain  on 
board  ready  for  service  in  case  of  any  emergency  during  the  time  she 
was  subject  to  the  control  of  the  Army  officers. 

Another  reason  for  taking  these  two  pilots  on  board  of  the  steamboat 
was  because  of  the  exposed  situation  of  the  pilot,  and  the  fact  that  the 
shots  of  the  enemy  would  be  particularly  directed  so  as  to  kill  the  pilot, 
and  Maj.  R.  T.  Van  Home,  subsequently  a  member  of  Congress  from 
Missouri,  alludes  particularly  to  the  execution  of  the  order  of  Colonel 
Peabody. 

The  above-named  regiment  was  conducted  safely  to  Lexington  on  the 
steamboat  named ;  and  Schreiner  and  Dripps,  the  two  pilots,  were  on 
board  of  her  subject  to  orders. 

The  regiment  landed  at  Lexington  on  the  4th  of  September,  1861, 
and  Schreiner  remained  with  the  regiment,  subject  to  orders. 

On  the  12th  of  September,  1861,  the  forces  of  the  United  States, 


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2  GEORGE   A.    SCHREINER. 

under  the  command  of  Col.  James  Mulligan,  were  attacked  by  the 
enemy,  under  the  command  of  General  Steriing  Price,  at  Lexington,  Mo. 

At  this  battle  Schreiner,  animated  by  an  ardent  desire  for  the  success 
of  the  arms  of  the  United  States,  volunteered  his  services  as  an  artil- 
leryman, and  served  a  brass  six-pound  gun  under  the  command  of  Lieut. 
John  A.  Miller.  After  serving  about  three  honrs  in  this  severely  con- 
tested battle,  his  right  arm  was  shot  by  a  cannon-ball  between  the  elbow 
and  the  shoulder,  which  made  amputation  necessary  at  the  shoulder. 

From  the  battle-field  Schreiner  was  taken  to  the  military  hospital  at 
Lexington,  adjoining  the  scene  of  the  engagement,  and  his  arm  was 
there  amputated. 

He  remained  at  Lexington  until  about  the  18th  of  October  following, 
and  was  then  taken  to  the  military  hospital  at  Saint  Louis,  and  there 
remained  under  the  charge  of  Snrgeon  Hnrgins  until  the  9th  of  December. 

Though  not  recovered  from  the  effects  of  his  wonnd,  he  then  asked 
leave  to  retnrn  home  to  Kansas,  to  which  place  he  went,  and  there 
remained,  under  the  treatment  of  Doctor  Bennett,  until  May  14, 1862, 
and  from  there  went  to  Saint  Lonis,  Mo.,  where  he  was  received  in  the 
military  hospital,  and  was  nnder  the  charge  of  Doctor  Hutchins. 

Doctor  Hutchins  examined  him  and  gave  him  a  certificate  as  to  the 
condition  of  his  wound,  and  after  remaining  at  Saint  Loais  about  two 
weeks  he  returned  home. 

When  at  home  he  assisted  in  recruiting  the  Eighty-third  United 
States  Colored  Yolauteers.  He  also  constructed  a  boat  called  The 
Liberator,  which  was  of  sufficient  capacity  to  transport  twenty  per- 
sons ;  and  this  boat  was  used  to  transport  recruits  across  the  Missouri 
and  Kansas  Bivers.  For  these  services  as  a  recruiting  agent  and  for 
the  boat  he  received  no  compensation,  being  impelled  to  this  course  of 
conduct  by  the  same  kind  of  impulses  which  led  him  to  volunteer 
at  the  battle  of  Lexington. 

The  commissioners  of  the  Western  Department  allowed  him  pay  as  a 
pilot  from  September  3, 1861,  to  December  9, 1861.  He  subseqnaitly 
received  a  pension,  which  took  effect  from  January  1, 1864,  which  at 
first  was  at  the  rate  of  $8  per  month,  and  was  subsequently  increased. 
For  the  reasons  above  stated  he  claims  pay  as  a  pilot  from  December  9, 
1861,  to  January  1, 1864,  he  having  received  his  pay,  as  before  stated, 
down  to  December  9, 1861. 

The  construction  which  has  been  placed  on  the  pension-laws  by  the 
Commissioner  of  Pensions  would  seem  to  require  some  action  of  Oon- 
gress  in  behalf  of  Mr.  Schreiner. 

By  an  act  of  Congress  approved  February  23, 1865,  (U.  S.  St.  at  H, 
V.  13,  p.  496,)  it  was  enacted  "that  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior  be, 
and  he  is  hereby,  authorized  and  directed  to  place  the  name  of  George 
A.  Schreiner,  of  the  county  of  Wyandotte,  State  of  Kansas,  upon  the 
list  of  pensioners,  at  the  rate  of  $8  per  month,  to  commence  from  the 
1st  day  of  January,  1864,  and  to  continue  during  hisn  atural  life." 

The  disability  in  Schreiner's  case  was  the  loss  of  an  arm. 

By  the  first  section  of  the  act  of  June  6, 1866,  (U.  S.  St.  at  L.,  vol.  14,  p. 
56,)  the  rate  for  the  loss  of  an  arm  was  raised  from  $8  to  $15,  but  it 
was  held  not  to  he  applicable  to  pensions  created  by  special  acts,  and 
the  pension  of  $15  per  month  was  declared  not  to  be  the  right  of 
Schreiner.  Subsequently  to  the  passage  of  the  act  of  June  6, 1866, 
and  under  the  construction  put  upon  the  act  of  July  27, 1868,  (U.  8.  8t,r 
at  L.,  V.  15,  p.  237,)  section  15  of  the  last-named  act,  Schreiner's  pension 
was  increased  to  $15  per  month.    The  fifteenth  section  last  referred  to 


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OEORQE   A.    SCHBEINER.  3 

declared  "  that  in  all  cases  pensions  heretofore  or  hereafter  granted  by 
special  acts  of  Congress  shall  be  subject  to  be  raised  in  amonnt,  accord- 
ing to  the  limitation  and  provisions  of  the  pension-laws." 

The  act  of  July  7, 1870,  (U.  8.  St-  at  L.,  vol.  16,  p.  191,)  provides 
^Hhat  the  act  of  July  27, 1868,  should  not  be  construed  to  increase  the 
amount  directed  to  be  paid  in  any  special  act  of  Congress." 

This  provision  was  re  enacted  by  section  27  of  the  act  of  March  3, 
1873,  which  declared  that  when  the  rate,  commencement,  and  duration 
of  a  pension  allowed  by  special  act  are  fixed  by  such  act,  they  shall 
not  be  subject  to  be  raised  by  the  provisions  and  limitations  of  the 
several  pension-laws;  but  when  not  thus  fixed,  the  rate  and  continuance 
of  the  pension  shall  be  subject  to  variation  in  accordance  with  the  gen- 
eral laws,  audits  commencement  shall  dato  from  the  passage  of  the 
general  act ;  and  the  Commissioner  of  Pensions  shall,  upon  satisfactory 
evidence  that  fraud  was  perpetrated  in  obtaining  such  special  act,  sus- 
pend payment  thereupon  until  the  propriety  of  repealing  the  same  can 
be  considered  by  Congress.    (U.  S.  St.  at  L.,  v.  17,  p.  674.) 

The  Commissioner  of  Pensions  declares  that  by  some  inadvertence 
Schreiner's  pension  was  again  increased  by  an  erroneous  application  to 
his  case  of  the  act  of  June  8,  1872,  to  $18  per  month  from  June  4 
1872.    (U.  S.  St.  at  L.,  v.  17,  p.  336.) 

Schreiner  has  been  paid  to  December  4, 1873,  and  the  Commissioner 
of  Pensions  has  concluded  to  reduce  his  pension  from  $18  per  month  to 
$8  per  month. 

Schreinei^s  case  is  of  that  character  that  he  appears  to  be  justly  enti- 
tled to  a  pension  of  $18  per  month,  and  such  legislation  should  be  had 
as  would  secure  that  amount  to  him. 

Having  been  impressed  as  a  pilot,  and  while  in  that  service  having 
volunteered  at  the  battle  of  Lexington,  and  there  lost  his  right  arm,  it 
is  respectfully  submitted  that  he  should  receive  compensation  during 
the  time  of  his  disability  from  the  day  of  his  last  payment  down  to  the 
time  of  the  commencement  of  his  pension,  which  would  cover  the  period 
from  December  9, 1861,  down  to  January  1, 1864.  Schreiner,  being  a 
volunteer,  should  be  regarded  as  in  the  military  service  of  the  United 
States  under  the  act  of  June  8, 1872. 

Your  committee  being  of  opinion  that  the  case  of  Schreiner  possesses 
peculiar  merit,  and  that  some  recognition  by  the  Government  of  his 
services,  as  well  as  compensation  for  the  loss  of  his  arm,  which  incapac- 
itated him  for  further  employment  in  his  profession  as  a  pilot,  should 
be  made,  report  the  accompanying  bill,  giving  him  one-half  the  pay  of 
a  pilot  from  December  9, 1861,  to  January  1, 1864,  and  recommend  its 
passage. 


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