2d Session. No. 129. CHARLES L. NELSON. [To accompany Senate bill No. 341.] 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 Senate bill 341, for the relief of Charles L. Nelson, report : That it appears from letters from the head of the Bureau of Topographical Engineers that the claimant was appointed, by direction of he Secretary of War, as agent for the harbor improvements at Burington, Vermont, at a salary of four dollars per day, and that he is ntitled to pay from the 15th of January to April 2, 1853, at $4 per lay." This sum has not been paid on account of the appropriation aving been exhausted. It is a perfectly clear case under a well ettled rule, and the committee report the bill and recommend its passage in concurrence. BUREAU OF TOPOGRAPHICAL ENGINEERS, SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the reference to this bureau of a letter from Mr. S. H. Davis to you, presenting the claim of Mr. C. L. Nelson for services rendered as agent for the improvement of he harbor of Burlington, Vermont. Accompanying the letter of Mr. Davis is a copy of the letter of appointment of Mr. Nelson, which upon examination proves to be correct. The receipt of Mr. Nelson's bond was acknowledged on the 15th of January, 1853, and his services were dispensed with on the 2d of April, 1853; it would therefore appear that he is entitled to pay for his services from the 15th of January to April 2, 1853, inclusive, at four dollars per day. The interest charged by him is considered inadmissible. There being no means available for the payment of the claim of Mr. Nelson, he must necessarily apply to Congress for relief. The papers are here with returned Very respectfully, your obedient servant, S. H. LONG, Colonel Corps Top. Engineers. Hon. S. Fooт, United States Senate. Huntington county, Pennsylvania, say, "that from satisfactory evidence, and from accurate examination, the above statement seems to be true." They corroborate the appearance at present of his having received said wounds, and that he is now suffering from their effects. The Third Auditor of the Treasury Department certifies to the five years service of the petitioner, and his honorable discharge, but states that the records of the department do not show that he was wounded or injured in the service, and on this ground the pension office refused his application for a pension. Your committee are satisfied that it is a meritorious claim, and that the facts and circumstances are sufficiently well sustained to entitle him to a pension, and they have reported a bill granting him a pension of eight dollars per month from January 1, 1860. 2d Session. No. 134. PITTSBURG AND CONNELLSVILLE RAILROAD. [To accompany bill H. R. No. 555.] JULY 2, 1862.-Ordered to be printed. Mr. MALLORY, from the Committee on Roads and Canals, made the following REPORT. The Committee on Roads and Canals, to whom was referred the memorial of the Pittsburg and Connellsville Railroad Company, "asking aid in the completion of their road," having examined the merits of the application, report: That they consider the earliest practicable completion of the road from Pittsburg to Cumberland of such importance to the United States government as to make it highly expedient that the assistance asked for should be granted. This road, when finished, will bring Pittsburg, and points beyond it to the great lakes, nearer to Washington than by the present route through Harrisburg, by some thirty miles, which will be increased to seventy miles upon the opening of a direct line from Washington to the Point of Rocks, on the Potomac. The latter line, known as the "Metropolitan railroad," was projected some years ago, and upon survey was found to be very favorable. By it the seat of government will be provided with that communication with the interior, conceded on all hands to be so desirable, as free from danger during foreign invasion, and affording at all times an alternative route to the north and east as well as the west. The Pittsburg and Connellsville railroad will open up a new region, abounding in the materials required in the military and naval departments, which will be thereby cheapened to the government. The shortening of the distance to Pittsburg and the lake territory will also economise in the transportation of troops and munitions, as well as of lumber, iron, and coal, for the government shops in this District, and of the mails to and from the west. It will also reduce the price of provisions and the cost of subsistence here. It will give, through the loyal State of Pennsylvania, and from her great western manufacturing centre, a route requiring no guard, even in times of domestic or foreign war, a route entering the border States of Mary land and Virginia at a commanding point, and traversing their divid ing lines for a distance of one hundred and eighty miles, thus giving control over both in the event of future war-domestic or foreign. For these reasons, and in view of the inducements offered by the company in the reduction of charges for carrying troops and their equipments, the mails, and all government freight, your committee. have prepared the accompanying bill to guarantee the bonds of the Pittsburg and Connellsville Railroad Company for two millions of dollars, the proceeds of which, with other means which the company expect to realize if this aid is extended to them, will complete their road. In the bill we have protected the United States by all proper and practicable guards. The company, in the opinion of the committee, may reasonably expect to pay the interest on the bonds without recourse to the government, and the principal also at maturity, as the bonds run for thirty years. They only desire the indorsement of the government to facilitate the earlier completion of their work, and in the belief that this will be effected by the passage of the bill, the committee submit it for the consideration of the House. IMPROVEMENT OF HARBOR AT ERIE, PENNSYLVANIA. [To accompany bill H. R. No. 169.] JULY 3, 1862.-Ordered to be printed. Mr. BABBITT, from the Committee on Commerce, made the following REPORT. The Committee on Commerce, to whom were referred House bill, No. 169, making an appropriation for the preservation and improvement of the harbor of Erie, in the State of Pennsylvania; also, sundry petitions praying for such appropriation, and the resolution of the House directing the committee to inquire into the expediency thereof, having had the subject under consideration, and having deemed it expedient to report a bill making such appropriation, based on an estimate by J. D. Graham, colonel of topographical engineers and superintendent of lake harbor works, beg leave to accompany the same with an exibition of some facts showing the necessity of such action, and the national importance of the subject, both in a commercial and military point of view. The harbor of Erie is situated not far from the centre of the southern shore line of Lake Erie, and is formed by a crescent-shaped peninsula extending easterly from the main shore of the lake, and leaving between it and the main land a bay-formerly called Presque Isle bay-of an average of 11⁄2 mile in width and about 4 miles in length, with twenty feet depth of water, so spacious and completely landlocked that a great navy could ride at anchor within it in perfect safety through the heaviest storms. In relation to the high national value of this barbor for commerce and defence, and the importance of its preservation and improvement for these purposes, the committee submit a few extracts from the unanimously favorable reports of government engineers, whose duty it has been to examine and report on the qualities and advantages of this and other lake harbors. J. J. Abert, colonel of topographical engineers, in his report to the Secretary of War in relation to this harbor, says: "This extensively fine harbor, one of the most valuable on the lake in reference to military and naval advantages-the only harbor, in fact, on this lake in which a fleet can be assembled, and where it can be completely protected against weather and an enemy-is also one of the points of connexion between the commerce of the Atlantic |