The benefits and privileges held out by the pre-emption act of 1830 must be regarded in the light of a mere gratuity; and so far as respects settlers whose entries were not actually made, Congress had the power, at pleasure, to modify, restrict, or even wholly revoke, their proffered bounty. The Commissioner remarks in his letter, that "the answers to the questions now propounded will be important in their consequences, as cases similar or analogous to the one last mentioned are said to be so numerous, that if the proceedings have been wrong, there has prevailed, in a considerable degree, a communis error in such respect; and the conse quences of annulling all sales under like circumstances would probably be more mischievous than salutary." The only observation I can make on this suggestion is, that neither. the Executive nor the judiciary can dispense with the positive provisions of the existing laws, and that Congress alone can remedy the mischiefs which the Commissioner apprehends. I think it right to add, that this seems to be a very clear case for the enactment of a confirmatory law, giving validity to all entries and sales of the public lands in pre-emption and other cases, made in the old districts at any time prior to the opening of the land office in the new district, where the proceedings in other respects have been fair and regular. I am, &c., To the SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY. B. F. BUTLER. PRE-EMPTIONS. Pre-emption floats mislaid on lands subject to another right of preference, may be raised and properly relocated at any time prior to the public sale of the lands, including the tract on which the original right accrued, but not afterward. ATTORNEY GENERAL'S OFFICE, June 24, 1836. SIR: In answer to the questions proposed in the letter of the Commissioner of the General Land Office, enclosed to me in your communication of the 26th ultimo, I have the honor to state that, in my opinion, floating pre-emption rights laid upon lands previously entered by other floats, or for any other cause not subject to such entry, may be raised and located elsewhere on any land subject to such entry, at the pleasure of the holder, at any time prior to the day appointed by the President's proclamation for the commencement of the sale of the lands which include the tract on which the right of pre emption is claimed, but not after that day; and that I perceive no objection to the Commissioner's thus advising the inferior officers. I am, &c., B. F. BUTLER. To the SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY. PROOF OF INTENTION UNDER THE CHOCTAW TREATY. The Department of War is at liberty to receive, and ought to receive, any credible evidence, documentary or oral, coming from any disinterested source, which may tend to establish the fact that heads of families signified to the agent, within due time, their intention to remain and become citizens of the States. ATTORNEY GENERAL'S OFFICE, June 27, 1836. SIR: In answer to the question presented in the statement of Mr. Lyon, embraced in your letter of the 23d instant, I have the honor to state, that as no particular evidence is required by the treaty itself, nor by any act of Congress, to be produced by persons claiming the benefit of the 14th article of the Choctaw treaty, for the purpose of showing that they actually signified to the agent, within due time, their intention to remain and be come citizens of the States, I think the department at liberty to receive, and that it ought to receive, any credible evidence, documentary or oral, coming from any disinterested source, which may tend to establish that fact; and that all Choctaw heads of families who shall prove by any such evidence that they actually and in good faith signified to the proper agent, in due time, their intention to remain, and who have resided the proper time on the land, are entitled to the reservations secured by the treaty, notwithstanding their names may not have been entered by the agent on the list. I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant, B. F. BUTLER. RIGHTS OF PENSIONERS UNDER ACT OF MAY 20, 1836. The act of 20th May, 1836 placed pensioners on precisely the same footing as if the act to prevent defalcations, &c., had never been passed; consequently, all moneys which have been withheld from pensioners under the construction theretofore given to the act to prevent defalcations, ought to be refunded. ATTORNEY GENERAL'S OEfice, June 27, 1836. SIR: It appears from the communication of the Commissioner of Pensions, enclosed in your letter of the 25th instant, that doubts have arisen as to the meaning of the act of the 20th May, 1836, explanatory of the act entitled "An act to prevent defalcations on the part of the disbursing agents of the government, and for other purposes;" and that my opinion is, therefore, desired on the following questions: "Shall the amount heretofore withheld from a pensioner, under the act of the 25th January, 1828, be refunded? And, if not, at what time shall the explanatory act take effect?" In answer to these inquiries, I have the honor to state that, in my opinion, the intention of Congress in enacting the explanatory law of the 20th of May, 1836, was to place the claims and rights of pensioners on precisely the same footing as if the act "to prevent defalcations," &c., had never been passed; and, consequently, that all moneys due to pen sioners, which have been, and yet are, withheld under the construction heretofore given to that law, and for that reason only, ought to be refund. ed to thera. The explanatory law takes effect from its date; but its operation, in the respect above mentioned, is, in some sense, retrospective. I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant, Hon. Lewis CASS, B. F. BUTLER. Secretary of War. ADDITIONAL COMPENSATION TO CAPTAINS. The additional compensation of ten dollars per month allowed to captains of the army for their duties and responsibilities in respect to the clothing, arms, and accoutrements of com panies, by the act of the 2d of March, 1827, may be claimed by all captains of volunteers or militia, embraced in the act of the 19th of March, 1836, who performed any duty, or were charged with any responsibility, with respect to the clothing, arms, or accoutrements, or with respect to either of these articles, belonging to their companies. ATTORNEY GENERAL'S OFFICE, June 27, 1836. SIR: In answer to the question proposed in the communication of the Paymaster General of the 23d instant, on which you ask my opinion, I have the honor to state, that I think the additional compensation of ten dollars per month allowed to captains of the army for their "duties and responsibilities with respect to the clothing, arms, and accoutrements of the company," by the act of the 2d of March, 1827, may justly be claimed by all captains of volunteers or militia, embraced in the act of the 19th of March, 1836, who performed any duty, or were charged with any respon sibility with respect to the clothing, arms, or accoutrements, or with respect to either of these articles, belonging to their companies. These duties and responsibilities are all treated by the act of 1827 as worthy of extra compensation; and if, by the regulations of the government, or the nature of the service, the captains of any particular corps are relieved from a part of them, that may be a good reason with Congress for apportioning the allowance; but, as the law now stands, we cannot apportion it. We must either grant all or deny all; and as the officer who is charged with the safekeeping of the arms and accoutrements, or with that of the arms alone, performs as much of this duty as the government thinks proper to assign him, I think him fairly, as well as legally, entitled to the sum allowed by the act of 1827. I am, sir, &c., &c., B. F. BUTLER. To the SECRETARY OF WAR. THE GENERAL LAND OFFICE. The act of the 4th of July, 1836, places the General Land Office under the supervision of the Secretary of the Treasury. If there be doubts of its effect, it is at any rate competent for the President to exercise his control by directing the Secretary of the Treasury to superintead the same, under the usual subordination to the President. SIR: Pursuant to your direction, I have examined the bill which has just passed the two houses of Congress, for the purpose of answering your question as to the effect of the bill on the connexion now existing between the General Land Office and the Treasury Department. By the first section of the act for the establishment of a General Land Office in the Department of the Treasury," passed April 25, 1812, it is provided that there shall be established in the Department of the Treasury an office, to be denominated the General Land Office, the chief officer of which shall be called the Commissioner of the General Land Office, whose duty it shall be (under the direction of the head of the department) to superintend, execute, and perform all such acts and things touching or respecting the public lands of the United States, and other lands patented or granted by the United States, as have heretofore been directed by law to be done or performed in the office of the Secretary of State, of the Secretary and Register of the Treasury, and of the Secretary of War, or which shall hereafter, by law, be assigned to the said office. The first section of the bill before me declares that, from and after the passage of the act, "the executive duties now prescribed, or which may hereafter be prescribed, by law, appertaining to the surveying and sale of the public lands, or in any wise respecting such public lands, and also such as relate to private claims of land, and the issuing of patents for all grants of land under the authority of the government of the United States, shall be subject to the supervision and control of the Commissioner of the General Land Office, under the direction of the President of the United States." The bill then proceeds to make various provisions for increasing the force of the office, and for regulating the transaction of business; and the eleventh section provides that such provisions of the act of the 25th of April, 1812, entitled "An act for the establishment of a General Land Office in the Department of the Treasury," and of all acts amendatory thereof, as are inconsistent with the provisions of this act, be, and the same are hereby, repealed. The form of this repealing clause implies that there are some provisions contained in the former laws which are not inconsistent with the present bill; and, after a careful examination of the subject, I am of opinion that the clause of the act of 1812, which makes the General Land Office a branch of the Treasury Department, and thereby subjects it to the general superintendence of the President, through the head of that department, is one of those provisions which are not inconsistent with the new bill, and which, therefore, are not repealed by the eleventh section. The receipts of the General Land Office are yet connected with the Treasury Department, and, in so far as the management of the public land is a branch of the fiscal concerns of government, it is of course included within the Department of the Treasury; and being thus included therein for these important purposes, it would be against all sound rules of interpretation to consider the other branches of the General Land Office as withdrawn from the Treasury Department by virtue of equivocal and doubtful expressions. Nothing short of a clear and unambiguous provision should be held to work so material a change. I do not find any such provision in this law; and I therefore think that the opinion above expressed is the only legitimate and safe conclusion which can be drawn from the language of the legislature. I adopt this view the more readily, because, if it do not carry into effect the real intention of Congress, it will at any time be in their power to accomplish their purpose by a supplementary act. To prevent all difficulty, however, in respect to the power of the Secre tary of the Treasury to superintend the business of the General Land Office, under the direction and subject to the control of the President, I would suggest the expediency of your authorizing and directing the Secretary of the Treasury, by order in writing, to superintend and direct, in the manner heretofore accustomed, and with the usual subordination to the President, the general business of the Land Office. Under the constitution of the United States, and the provisions of the present bill, it would be perfectly competent for the President, even had the law of 1812 been expressly repealed, to give his directions to the Commissioner, through the Secretary of the Treasury; and, from the multifarious duties constantly pressing on the Executive, it is manifestly impossible, as a general rule, that his direction can be given in any other way than through some one of the heads of departments. I have, &c., To the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. B. F. BUTLER. PRE-EMPTIONS. Certain lands having been actually entered under the pre-emption laws, pursuant to instructions sent to the register and receiver from the Treasury Department, the case is clearly brought within the terms of the second section of the act of July 2, 1836; and the patent should issue accordingly. SIR: In answer to the questions proposed in the case of Philo Carpenter, as reported to me by the Commissioner of the General Land Office in his communication of yesterday, I have the honor to state, that, as it appears from the statement of the Commissioner, and the note subjoined, that the land was actually entered, under the pre-emption laws, pursuant to instructions sent to the register and receiver from the Treasury Depart ment, the case is clearly brought within the terms of the second section of the act of 2d of July, 1836, "to confirm the sales of public land in certain cases." The patent must, therefore, be issued, provided the proceedings have been in all other respects fair and regular. I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant, Hon. LEVI WOODBURY, Secretary of the Treasury. B. F. BUTLER. ACCOUNTABILITY OF SUPERINTENDENT OF THE CUMBERLAND ROAD. The superintendent for construction and repair of the Cumberland road may be allowed to disburse funds committed to his care, by turning over the same to officers employed under him; yet he must be held personally accountable at the treasury for the correct disburse ment thereof. ATTORNEY GENERAL'S OFFICE, SIR: In answer to the question arising on the second section of the act of June 24, 1834, "for the construction and repair of the Cumberland |