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1st Session.

No. 151.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES.

MARCH 9, 1854.-Ordered to be printed.

Mr. WELLER made the following

REPORT.

[To accompany Bill S. 264.]

The Committee on Foreign Relations to whom was referred the petition of Francisco Lope Urriza, having had the same under consideration, report:

That the petitioner seeks to obtain from this government remuneration and indemnity for certain losses alleged to have been sustained by him in Lower California in 1846 and 1848, while that territory was in the military possession and under the protection of the United States.

The first item is for $10,250, the value of the schooner Julia, seized by Commander S. F. Dupont, of the United States navy, while lying dismantled at La Paz, on the 18th September, 1846, and subsequently on the 24th June, 1847, condemned as a lawful prize and ordered to be sold by Alcalde Walter Colton, as judge of the United States court of admiralty at Monterey.

Second, for $1,600, the value of a lot of cotton yarn deposited in the house of Don Francisco Palacio de Micanda, in La Paz, and destroyed by the Mexican forces in an attack upon the town, on the 16th November, 1848.

Third, for $3,287, the amount of arrearages alleged to be due him for pay as a retired lieutenant colonel of the Mexican army, lost by his espousing the American cause.

Fourth, for $5,000, the alleged value of the island San Jose, which he was compelled to abandon after the restoration of Lower California to Mexico, under the treaty of Guadaloupe Hidalgo.

In regard to the first item, there is no evidence to show that the schooner Julia had ever been engaged in the service of the enemy. On the contrary, it is proven that she had been employed in peaceful commerce between La Paz and Mazatlan. That while lying at La Paz, in a dismantled condition, without either flag or sails, on the 18th September, 1846, she was seized by Commander S. F. Dupont, of the United States navy, used as a tender for some months, and on the 24th June, 1847, condemned and ordered to be sold as a lawful prize, by Alcalde Colton, as stated in the petition.

It is further proven, that Commodore Sloat, then commanding the naval forces of the United States on the Pacific coast, had, prior to the said seizure of the schooner Julia, (on the 7th July, 1846,) issued a

proclamation to the citizens of California, in which he pledged full and ample protection, both of persons and property, to such of them as should lay down their arms, and either espouse the cause of the United States or remain neutral in the contest.

That upon the issuing of that proclamation, the petitioner at once became an active partizan in our ranks, and identified himself with our cause; and further, that the said schooner Julia was, at the time of seizure, the property of the petitioner, and of the value of $10,250, as stated in the petition.

These facts are fully established by the testimony of American officers, who were privy to the transaction.

Under these circumstances, it is clear that the schooner was not properly subject to seizure. And besides, the United States not having established a court of admiralty at Monterey, the decision of Alcalde Colton, condemning and ordering the vessel to be sold, was wholly unauthorized and illegal. The committee therefore recommend the allowance of this item.

The cotton yarn for which compensation is claimed, as shown by the evidence, was, when destroyed, deposited in a private house not occupied by our troops for military purposes at the time it was burnt; nor does it appear that it had been previously so occupied. In no case has a claim of this character ever been allowed to our own citizens, and it should not be allowed in this.

As to the arrearages of pay due to the petitioner as a retired lieutenant colonel in the Mexican army, and forfeited by his taking side against his own country, upon no principle of justice or national morality recognized by this government can this item be allowed.

In regard to the fourth item, without entering into a consideration of the question how far a naval commander in an enemy's country can, by his proclamation, bind this government, it is believed that the protection promised by Commodore Sloat to the citizens of California, in his proclamation of the 7th July, 1846, referred alone to Upper California, and therefore cannot apply to any rights of property in the island in question, it being an appendage of Lower California, which, under the treaty above mentioned, still remained as a part of Mexico. This item, therefore, should not be allowed.

In accordance with the views above presented, the committee report the accompanying bill:

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The Committee on the Post Office and Post Roads, to whom was referred the petition of Robert Jemison and Benjamin Willianson, praying compensation for extra service in carrying the mail, having had the same under consideration, report :

That they find the facts of the case correctly stated in a report made to the Senate on the 27th of January, 1852, which is hereto appended. They report the accompanying bill, and recommend its passage.

IN SENATE. JANUARY 27, 1852.

The Committee on the Post Office and Post Roads, to whom was referred the petition of Robert Jemison and Benjamin Williamson, praying compensation for extra services in carrying the mail, have had the same under consideration, and respectfully report:

That the claimants were mail contractors, in 1836, to carry the United States mail on route 2656, from Montgomery, Alabama, via Selma, to Tuscaloosa, and in consequence of disturbances with the Creek Indians were required to carry mails not belonging to their contract. Owing to failure of the contractors on route 2696, from Selma to Elyton, they were also obliged to carry the mail over said route, for which they never had contracted. At the second session of the 25th Congress, a law was passed authorizing the Postmaster General to cause to be paid to them, as they supposed at the time, the value of all of the extra service thus performed; but that officer, in acting under said law, felt himself constrained, by the terms thereof, to restrict the allowance to the extra services imposed by the Creek disturbances only. (See report and bill on file.) The claimants now ask Congress to pass a law allowing them, in addition to the compensation already granted, the remuneration to which the original contractors from Selma to Elyton would have been entitled, during the same time, had they continued to comply with their contract. The fact of the petitioners having carried

the mail from Selma to Elyton, after the original contractors failed to do so, is established by certificates of the postmasters on the route for a great portion of the time, and there can be no reasonable doubt that such was the case. It is further in evidence that, in order to perform the service thus unexpectedly thrown upon them, the claimants were obliged to add to their stock, at considerable expense.

Under these circumstances, your committee recommend the passage of the accompanying bill.

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The Committee on the Post Office and Post Roads, to whom was referred the petition of Almanzon Huston, have had the same under consideration, and report:

That finding the facts correctly stated in a report made to the Senate on the 16th day of May, 1850, they adopt that report and present a bill for the relief of said Huston.

IN SENATE. MAY 16, 1850.

The Committee on the Post Office and Post Roads, to whom was referred the memorial of Almanzon Huston, have had the same under consideration, and respectfully report:

That it appears, from the papers submitted, that said Huston, in October, 1848, became the sub-contractor, under one Robert W. Martin, to carry the mail from Sabine Town to San Augustine, in the State of Texas, in two-horse post coaches, (a distance of twenty-eight miles,) at an annual compensation of five hundred and seventy-five dollars. About the same time he became a sub-contractor, under one George W. Grant, to carry the mails from San Augustine to the city of Houston, a distance of upwards of two hundred miles, in two-horse coaches, and a horse mail from Huntsville to Washington, about seventy-five miles, for the annual compensation of five thousand one hundred dollars. Soon afterwards the service from Huntsville to Washington was increased to two-horse coach service, and an additional allowance was made to him by the Postmaster General of seven hundred and fifty dollars; an increase of speed was also ordered, from seven to five days, on the lines, for which an additional allowance of five hundred dollars was made. It also appears that the mails increased so much in weight that he was compelled, in November, 1848, to place four-horse coaches upon

the lines.

It is also shown that, during the past winter, the roads have been unusually bad, and, in consequence of high waters, the expenses for ferriages have been much increased.

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