The Committee on Revolutionary Claims, to whom was referred the petition of the executors of Samuel Prioleau, praying indemnity for property destroyed by order of General Lincoln, during the revolutionary war, report:

That it appears from the evidence, that during the siege of Charleston, in 1780, several buildings, on the wharf of the said Samuel Prioleau, were taken down by the order of General Lincoln, and the material used in defence of the city; that these buildings were afterwards appraised by two commissioners-one appointed by Governor Rutledge, and the other by Prioleau, at 10,000 pounds, Carolina currency, exchange 700 for one-equal to £1,428 16s. 5d. sterling money, or $6,928 60; that he caused a statement of his claim to be laid before Congress, in 1782, who ordered it to be filed with the comptroller. After applying to the State of South Carolina, he presented his memorial to Congress, in 1790, which was referred to the then Secretary of the Treasury, Alexander Hamilton, who examined the case and reported that it ought to be paid. By an act approved January 28, 1795, the accounting officers of the Treasury were directed to adjust and settle the claim, "Provided the said Prioleau shall adduce proof, to the satisfaction of the accounting officers aforesaid, of the contract on the part of the United States, to pay for the same and likewise of the value of the property applied to public use." Here was a condition annexed that he should prove a contract, when no contract ever existed. Not the remotest allusion is made in any of the documents which accompanied the memorial, or in the report of the Secretary of the Treasury, to any such contract. The Secretary's opinion that the memorialist was entitled to compensation was placed on the ground that General Lincoln had a right to do what he had done. There seems to have been no further proceedings in the case. Why Mr. Prioleau in his lifetime, took no steps to remove this impediment to the payment of his just demand is unknown, as he died not long after. The petitioners are his grandchildren, and the executors of his surviving executor, and only within a few years came to a correct knowledge of the case. They then applied to the accounting officer, and offered proof of the value of the property, but he required also the further proof, required by the act of

17,95 of the contract to pay. They then presented their memorial to Congress, and a bill was reported to pay the claim on the 19th April, 1852, but not acted on definitely. The committee are of opinion that the petitioners are entitled to the relief they ask, and report a bill to that effect.

Mr. Evans, from the Committee on Revolutionary Claims, to whom were referred the petitions of the widow of William Riley and divers other persons, praying to have the full benefit of sundry resolutions of the Continental Congress for the relief of the officers of the revolutionary army, their widows and orphans, made the following report:

To the correct understanding of the prayer of the petitions and of this report, it is necessary to state, that in anticipation of the reform of the army which took place on the 1st of January, 1781, whereby many officers would be displaced, Congress, on October 2, 1781, resolved that the commander-in-chief and the commanding officer of the southern department direct the officers of each State to meet and agree upon the officers for the regiments, to be raised by their respective States from those who incline to continue in the service; and where it cannot be done by agreement, to be determined by seniority, and make return of those who are to remain, which is to be transmitted to Congress, together with the names of the officers reduced, who are to be allowed half-pay for life. That the officers who shall continue in the service to the end of the war shall also be entitled to half-pay during lite, to commence from the time of their reduction. The resolution of October 3, 1780, allowed the reduced officers half-pay for seven years, but this was superseded by the resolution above recited. By subsequent resolutions of January 17, 1781, and of May 3, 1781, a similar provision was made for the medical staff and for chaplains.

By a resolution of March 22, 1783, on the application of some of the officers then under the immediate command of Genera Washington, Congress offered to all those entitled to half-pay for life a commutation of five years' full pay, with a proviso that it should be at the option of the lines of the respective States to accept or refuse, and not of the officers individually; and such officers as had retired at different times should collectively, in each State, accept or refuse the same; and the superintendant of finance, as soon as their acceptance should be signified, should take measures for the settlement of their accounts, and issue to them certificates, bearing an interest of six per By the resolution of May 15, 1778, all officers who should continue in the service until the end of the war were promised seven

cent.

years' half-pay, if they should so long live. This provision, by the resolution of August 24, 1780, was extended to the widow of any officer who had or should die in the service, and if there be no widow, then to the orphan children of such officer.

These resolutions present all the action of Congress necessary to the understanding of the several petitions referred to the committee. The petitions may be divided into three classes.

1. The officers who received the commutation under the resolution of March 22, 1783, and now ask that Congress will pay them the halfpay for life, deducting what they have received, or pay them the difference between the par value of the certificates and the market value for which their necessities compelled them to sell. This class includes nearly all the petitions.

2. Those who have never received, either the half-pay or commutation, and now ask that they may be paid one or the other. There are only ten or twelve of this class.

3. The children of officers who were killed in the service during the war of the revolution, asking to be paid the seven years' half-pay, under the resolution of August 24, 1780. There are two of this class.

The committee deem it impossible to legislate understandingly in every case separately. In some cases there is evidence that certain officers have received the commutation, but whether the petitioners are the persons entitled to the relief if granted, the committee have no means of ascertaining. All the special acts passed on this subject direct an inquiry to be made by the proper accounting officers of the treasury before making the payment. The committee having come to the conclusion that these petitioners are entitled to some relief, have endeavored to frame a bill which shall embrace all these cases and leave the proof to be made before the accounting officers, who, in the judgment of the committee, can better ascertain the facts than any committee of Congress can do.

The principles of the bill are:

1. That the widow and lineal descendants of any officer who was entitled to receive, under the resolutions of Congress, half-pay for life, shall still be entitled, notwithstanding such officer may have received the commutation. The receipt of the commutation in lieu of the life annuity presents a case of election, and in strict law might be a bar to these claims. But the petitioners allege, and there is no doubt of the fact, that there was no fund for the payment of the certificates; that in consequence of this and the large amount which was thrown upon the market, and the necessity the officers were under to sell, the market price of the certificates fell to 123 per cent. Besides this, the mode of accepting or refusing the offer did not leave them individually the right of choosing. Considering all the facts of the case, and that the amounts which the officers actually received has fallen so far below their deserts and the amount of the rewards which were promised, the committee are of opinion they should be admitted to their original rights, and have accordingly provided in the bill that they shall be paid the half-pay for life, deducting the amount of their commutation certificates; no interest to be allowed