Indiana, for 160 acres of land, in lieu of that granted him heretofore, for his service in the war of 1812. Ordered, That said petitions be referred to the Committee on Public Lands. By Mr. Maxwell: The petition of Joseph Suares, sr., and Andrew Collins, for confirmation of grant of 400 arpens of land on each side of the river Perdido, Florida; which was referred to the Committee on Private Land Claims. By Mr. Rice: The memorials of the legislative assembly of the Territory of Minnesota, for the construction of a military road from St. Anthony Falls to Fort Ridgely; also from Winona to Fort Ridgely; and also from St. Paul to Run river, by the way of Little Canada, in said Territory; which were referred to the Committee on the Territories. By Mr. Giddings: The petition of John Lee, for compensation for horses lost in the service of the government. By Mr. Kurtz: The petition of Samuel B. Hugo, of York, Pennsylvania, for compensation for horses lost in the war of 1812. Ordered, That said petitions be referred to the Committee of Claims. By Mr. Latham: The petition of Dent, Vantire & Co., for compensation for supplies furnished the Indians; which was referred to the Committee on Indian Affairs. By Mr. Upham: The petition of John Day, heretofore presented December 18, 1837. By Mr. Florence: The petition of William Guinand and Thomas Hayes, watchmen at the Observatory, Washington, D. C., for increase of compensation; which was referred to the Committee on Naval Affairs. By Mr. Rice: The memorial of the legislative assembly of the Territory of Minnesota, for an appropriation for the improvement of the Mississippi river from the Falls of St. Anthony to Sauk rapids; which was referred to the Committee on Commerce. By Mr. Aiken: The petition of Jane M. Rudulph, of Charleston, S. C., widow of Capt. Thomas C. Rudulph, late a captain in the United States revenue service, for a pension. By Mr. Breckinridge: The petition of A. E. Drake, late a midshipman in the United States navy, for a pension for military services during the Seminole war. By Mr. Mayall: The petition of Samuel W. Winslow, for an invalid pension. Ordered, That said petitions be referred to the Committee on Invalid Pensions. By Mr. Morgan: The petition of Susan Palmer, widow of Junius B. Palmer, for 160 acres of bounty land for his services in the war of 1812; which was referred to the Committee on Public Lands. By Mr. Ready: The petition of Medford Caffey, heretofore presented December 20, 1847; which was referred to the Committee of Claims. By Mr. Seward: The petition of the officers of the customs for the district and port of Savannah, Georgia, for increase of salary; which was referred to the Committee on Commerce. A message from the Senate, by Mr. Dickens, their Secretary: Mr. Speaker: The Senate have passed, without amendment, a bill and joint resolution of the House of the following titles, viz: H. R. 437. An act for the relief of Isaac M. Sigler, of Putnam county, Indiana ; H. Res. 38. Joint resolution for the relief of the children of Captain Thomas Porter, deceased; And then he withdrew. The Speaker, by unanimous consent, laid before the House the following message heretofore received from the President of the United States, viz: To the Senate and House of Representatives: An act for the relief of the legal representatives of Samuel Prioleau, deceased, which provided for the payment of the sum of six thousand nine hundred and twenty-eight dollars and sixty cents, to the legal representatives of said Prioleau, by the proper accounting officer of the treasury, was approved by me July 27, 1854. It having been ascertained that the identical claim provided for in this act was liquidated and paid under the provisions of the general act of August 4, 1790, and of the special act of January 24, 1795, the First Comptroller of the Treasury declined to give effect to the law first above referred to without communicating the facts for my consideration. This refusal I regard as fully justified by the facts upon which it was predicated. In view of the destruction of valuable papers by fire in the building occupied by the Treasury Department in 1814, and again in 1833, it is not surprising that cases like this should, more than seventy years after the transaction with which they were connected, be involved in much doubt. The report of the Comptroller, however, shows conclusively, by record evidence still preserved in the department and elsewhere, that the sum of six thousand one hundred and twenty-two dollars and forty-four cents, with three thousand nine hundred and eighteen dollars and thirty-six cents interest thereon from the date of the destruction of the property-making the sum of ten thousand and forty dollars and eighty cents-was allowed to Samuel Prioleau under the act for his relief passed in 1795. That amount was reported by the auditor to the Comptroller on the 4th day of February, 1795, to be funded as follows, to wit: Two-thirds of $6,122 44, called 6 per cent. stock.. One-third, called deferred stock.. Interest on the principal, called 3 per cent. stock... $4,081 63 2,040 81 3,918 36 10,040 80 On the books of the loan office of South Carolina, under date of April 27, 1795, is an entry showing that there was issued of the funded 6 per cent. stock to Samuel Prioleau. Of the deferred stock.. Of the 3 per cent. stock. $4,081 63 2,040 81 3,918 36 10,040 80 On the ledger of said loan office an account was opened with Samuel Prioleau, in which he was credited with the three items of stock, and debited by the transfer of each certificate to certain persons named under dates of May 20, 1795, August 24, 1795, and April 19, 1796. These records show that the account of Samuel Prioleau, required to be settled by the act of January 28, 1795, was settled; that the value of the property destroyed was allowed; that the amount so found due was funded by said Prioleau and entered by his order on the loan office books of South Carolina, and soon thereafter by him sold and transferred. That the entire funded debt of the United States was long since paid, is matter of history. It is apparent that the claim has been prosecuted under a misapprehension on the part of the present claimants. I present the evidence in the case collected by the First Comptroller, and embodied in his report for your consideration, together with a copy of letter just received by that officer from the executor of P. G. Prioleau, and respectfully recommend the repeal of the act of July 27, 1854. WASHINGTON, December 11, 1854. FRANKLIN PIERCE. Ordered, That the said message and accompanying documents be laid on the table and printed. Subsequently, Mr. Orr, by unanimous consent, introduced a bill (H. R. 565) to repeal an act for the relief of the legal representatives of Samuel Prioleau, deceased; which was read a first and second time. in. Ordered, That the said bill be engrossed and read a third time. Being engrossed, it was accordingly read the third time and passed. Ordered, That the Clerk request the concurrence of the Senate there Mr. Faulkner, by unanimous consent, submitted the following resolution, viz: Resolved, That the Committee on Military Affairs be authorized to employ a clerk at the usual pay of $4 a day, for such time as he is actually employed. The same having been read, On motion of Mr. Frederick P. Stanton, it was amended by inserting after "Military Affairs," the words "and the Committee on the Judiciary;" and after "be" the word "each;" and striking out the words "he is," and inserting in lieu thereof the words "they are." The question was then put, Will the House agree to the said resolution as amended? And it was decided in the affirmative. So it was, Resolved, That the Committee on Military Affairs and the Committee on the Judiciary be each authorized to employ a clerk at the usual pay of $4 a day, for such time as they are actually employed. Mr. Boyce, by unanimous consent, submitted the following resolution; which was read, considered, and agreed to, viz: Resolved, That the Committee on the Judiciary be instructed to in quire and report as to the expediency of a repeal of the usury laws, with leave to report by bill or otherwise. Mr. Dunbar, by unanimous consent, introduced a joint resolution (H. Res. 39) to modify or change the original plan of the customhouse at New Orleans; which was read a first and second time. Ordered, That the said joint resolution be engrossed and read a third time. in. Being engrossed, it was accordingly read the third time and passed. Ordered, That the Clerk request the concurrence of the Senate there Mr. Dunbar moved that the vote by which the said resolution was passed be reconsidered, and also moved that the motion to reconsider be laid on the table; which latter motion was agreed to. Mr. Latham, by unanimous consent, from the Committee on Public Lands, to which was referred the bill of the House (No. 547) to continue in force for a limited time the provisions of the act of Congress of 3d March, 1851, and the 2d section of its supplement of 18th January, 1854, so as to enable the board of land commissioners in California to close their adjudications of private land titles in that State, and for other purposes, submitted a report in writing thereon; which was laid on the table and ordered to be printed. Mr. Murray, from the Committee on Printing, to whom was referred the resolution of Mr. Daniel T. Jones, at the last session, reported the following resolution, viz: Resolved, That there be printed for the use of the members of the present House of Representatives 15,000 copies of that portion of the returns of the seventh census which relates to the mortality statistics of the United States, to be arranged by the Superintendent of the Census; provided the same shall be printed in royal octavo form and not to exceed three hundred pages. The same having been read, Mr. Clingman moved that the said resolution be laid on the table. And the question being put on the latter motion, Yeas.... It was decided in the negative, {Nays 74 107 The yeas and nays being desired by one-fifth of the members present, Those who voted in the affirmative are Mr. William Aiken Preston S. Brooks Elijah W. Chastain Mr. Alfred H. Colquitt Mr Charles J. Faulkner Thomas J. D. Fuller Harry Hibbard Mr. William Appleton Edward Ball Nathaniel P. Banks, jr. Samuel A. Bridges Edward Dickinson Mr. John Scott Harrison George Hastings Samuel W. Parker Alex. C. M. Pennington Philip Phillips James T. Pratt Mr. William Smith Edward A. Warren Mr. Benjamin Pringle Benjamin B. Thurston Tappan Wentworth Richard Yates Felix K. Zollicoffer. So the motion to lay upon the table was disagreed to. The question then recurring on the demand for the previous question, it was seconded, and the main question ordered and put, viz: Will the House agree to the said resolution? And it was decided in the affirmative. So the said resolution was agreed to. Mr. Daniel T. Jones moved that the vote by which the said resolution was agreed to be reconsidered, and also moved that the motion to reconsider be laid on the table; which latter motion was agreed to. Mr. John Perkins, jr., by unanimous consent, submitted the following |