R. L. B. CLARKE. [To accompany bill H. R. No. 535.] JUNE 20, 1862.-Ordered to be printed. Mr. HUTCHINS, from the Committee of Claims, made the following REPORT. The Committee of Claims, to whom was referred the memorial of R. L. B. Clarke, who contested the seat of Augustus Hall, as representative in the 34th Congress of the United States from the first district in Iowa, praying for mileage and per diem, report: That the following report from the Committee of Elections, made during the 1st session of the 35th Congress, states the facts in the case, and your committee therefore adopt it, and report the accompanying bill and recommend its passage. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, March 12, 1858. Mr. I. WASHBURN, from the Committee of Elections, made the following report: The Committee of Elections, to whom was referred the memorial of R. L. B. Clarke, who contested the seat of Augustus Hall, as representative in the 34th Congress of the United States from the first district in Iowa, praying for mileage and per diem, report: That it appears that said Clarke presented his memorial at the commencement of the last Congress, in which he claimed that he had received a majority of the legal votes cast at the election for member of Congress from said district, held in August, 1854, and ought to be admitted to the seat occupied by said Hall, and prayed that the House would so adjudge and decide; that owing, in good part, to delays occasioned by applications of the sitting member for further time to answer to the allegations of contestant, no definite action was taken in committee till the third session of said Congress, when, on the 4th day of February, 1857, Mr. Bingham submitted, as the unanimous report of the committee, the following resolutions: "Resolved, That Hon. Augustus Hall was legally and duly elected as a representative of the first congressional district in the State of Iowa for the thirty-fourth Congress. 66 Resolved, That the Clerk of the House of Representatives be directed to pay out of the contingent fund of the House to R. L. B. Clarke, contestant of the seat of Hon. Augustus Hall, the usual mileage for the first session of this Congress, and a per diem compensation at the rate of eight dollars per day, to be reckoned from the first day of the first session of this Congress to the sixth day of last May." That upon report being made to the House, the first resolution was ruled to be a question of privilege, and adopted; that the second was decided not to be a question of privilege, and being objected to, was not received at that time; that afterwards, on the 14th day of February, 1857, on the call of committees for reports, said resolution was reported from the Committee of Elections, and the question being on its passage, a motion was made to lay it on the table, which was negatived; that, pending a call for the previous question, the morning hour expired, and the House, in its anxiety to take up the tariff bill, then before Congress, passed from the consideration of the resolution: and that thenceforward to the close of the session the committee were unable again to bring the question before the House. Your committee are advised and informed that the Committee of Elections of the thirty-fourth Congress did not doubt that the contestant made his claim in entire good faith, fully believing that he was entitled to the seat occupied by Mr. Hall; that while they were all agreed that the legal evidence before them would not justify a report in his favor, they perceived that he had reasonable ground for making his application to the House, and could well see how he might honestly suppose he was entitled to the seat; further, that a majority of the committee were strongly persuaded that, upon a full and legal investigation of the case, this fact would have been apparent. Upon this state of facts your committee recommend the passage of the accompanying bill. 2d Session. No. 126. HANNIBAL GRAHAM. JUNE 20, 1862.-Ordered to be printed. Mr. WALTON, from the Committee of Claims, made the following REPORT. The Committee of Claims, to whom was referred the petition of Hannibal Graham, report: That the petition was drawn by honorable B. B. French, Commissioner of Public Buildings, and is officially certified by him to be correct so far as the facts depend upon the records of his office. It seems that Graham was a laborer employed by the Commissioner at $30 per month; that in December, 1843, William Noland, esq., the then Commissioner, employed Graham in extra night service as scavenger, which required him to employ a horse, cart, and driver, and that Noland promised extra pay for this necessary service, and that Graham continued in the duty constantly from that time until March, 1856. Graham states that he presented his claim at the close of Noland's term, but was informed that he was too late, as the Commissioner's account had been closed. Noland died without settling the claim, and the petitioner, from time to time, applied for pay, and was put off with assurances that he ought to be paid, and would be paid. He is an aged man of good character, and has been timid and modest in urging his claim. He is undoubtedly entitled to compensation, and almost any other man would doubtless have secured it long ago. The question with the committee is as to the amount to be paid. It does not appear that any specified sum per month or year was ever agreed upon. It is in proof that, for the same service in 1842, $18 per month was allowed, and that subsequently, and when Graham was in service, $16 per month extra was paid for ten months to Bazil Patterson, another laborer, for the same kind of service, and that, too, when Patterson was receiving $46 50 per month as laborer. In other words, he received $62 50 per month, when Graham, for the same service, received only $30 per month. It is presumed, however, that Patterson's service was mainly during the session, when the task was nightly, while Graham's continued through the year, and in the recess the extra work was done only once in two or three days. The committee at the last session reported $10 per month. We recommend $8 per month, being half the price allowed to Patterson. It is a reasonable charge for a man, horse, and cart, in a very unpleasant service, and were commend its allowance. 2d Session. No. 127. JOHN CAMPBELL AND JOHN FERGUSON. [To accompany bill H. R. No. 537 ] JUNE 20, 1862.-Ordered to be printed. Mr. JOHN W. WALLACE, from the Committee of Claims, made the following REPORT. The Committee of Claims, to whom were referred the papers in the case of John Campbell and John Ferguson, having had the same under examination, beg leave to report: The evidence shows that on the 27th of April, 1861, when all communication from the free States to Washington city was cut off by armed intervention of citizens of Baltimore city and State of Maryland, and when the federal government was unable to bring forward troops for the protection of the capital, that General James S. Negley, then with our troops at Camp Scott, near York, Pennsylvania, issued an order commanding the citizens of Beaver and Lawrence counties to aid and assist Lewis S. Imbrie and Lieutenant George Cooper to forward immediately to Camp Scott three brass six-pounders and sixteen artillery horses, "that the exigencies of the service of the United States required immediate compliance therewith." Lewis S. Imbrie and Lieutenant George Cooper arrived in New Castle, Pennsylvania, after dark on the 28th of April. A meeting of the citizens was immediately called, and within one hour from the time the order was received, the field pieces were on board a canal boat and on their way to Camp Scott. Early next morning sixteen good horses were purchased by a committee of three gentlemen appointed by the meeting for that purpose. John Campbell and John Ferguson advanced the money to pay for the horses. The horses were immediately forwarded to General Negley, for which he gave his receipt, and the horses were immediately put in the service of the United States. The cost of the horses, for which Ferguson and Campbell furnished the money, amounted to $2,217 75. After the horses had been in the service for nearly one month, and were much abused, they were inspected, and J. V. Halloday, deputy quartermaster at Carlisle barracks, on the 19th of June, 1861, paid $1,875 to Campbell and Ferguson, leaving a balance of $342 75, which has not been repaid to claimants. |