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H. R. Doc. No. 6, 27th Congress, 3d session, pages 4, 5, 6, 7, 15, 24, 33, 44, 48, and 49, where commissions of two and a half per cent. have been allowed for similar disbursements of moneys in building arsenals. In page 18 of the same document, Colonel Fanning is charged to have received "compensation for disbursing money in constructing the arsenal at Augusta, Georgia, $562 50," while his own duplicate account shows it to have been paid him as per diem as superintendent of the work. The principal of allowing commissions for such disbursements by officers of the army, beside their regular pay, has been settled by Congress in the case of the late Captain Hetzel.

Many of the papers and vouchers necessary to sustain this claim have been lost or burnt, and Colonel Fanning alluded to it in his will and bequeathed it to his heirs, as a part of his estate, in the confident belief that Congress would not hesitate to provide for its payment.

Upon a careful examination of this case, and with a desire to do justice to the legal representatives of a meritorious and gallant officer, whose death was produced prematurely by the privations and hardships to which he was exposed in the faithful discharge of the very extraordinary duties for which this account is rendered, the committee have concluded to allow it as stated above, and report a bill accordingly.

1st Session.

No. 97.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES.

FEBRUARY 13, 1854.-Ordered to be printed.

Mr. WADE made the following

REPORT.

[To accompany Bill S. 208.]

The Committee of Claims, to whom was referred the petition of John Devlin, report:

The petitioner, as appears by the statement of the Fifth Auditor, was employed to discharge the duties of two regular clerks, who were absent and whose business could not be postponed, and was subsequently retained in the office, usefully occupied, in the service of the government for thirteen months. It also appears, that the duties performed by him were properly discharged, and the reason why he was not paid was, that there was no fund provided for his compensation.

Several favorable reports have been made in the case, and bills have repeatedly passed the Senate for the relief of the claimant, but have failed to receive the final action of the other branch of Congress. The committee report the accompanying bill, and recommend its passage.

1st Session.

No. 98.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES.

FEBRUARY 13, 1854.-Ordered to be printed.

MR. HAMLIN submitted the following

REPORT.

[To accompany Bill S. 209.]

The Committee on the Post Office and Post Roads, to whom was referred the petition of Ira Day, of Vermont, beg leave to report:

That they have had the subject under consideration, and for the facts in the case refer to a report made upon the claim of the petitioner at the first session of the thirty-first Congress, in the words and figures following, viz:

IN SENATE. JANUARY 30, 1850.

The Committee on Post Office and Post Roads, to whom was referred the the petition of Ira Day, of Vermont, beg leave to report :

That they have had the subject under consideration, and find that two bills have heretofore been reported for the relief of the petitioner; one in 1839, and the other 1840. The facts in the case are fully set forth in Senate report No. 86, third session of the twenty-fifth Congress, in the words following: "James Barker and others were contractors for transporting a daily mail for four years from Boston, in the State of Massachusetts, to Royalton, Montpelier, and Burlington, (the great depot of navigation on Lake Champlain,) being the great mail route from Boston to Montreal, for the sum of $12,250 per annum, commencing on the 1st day of January, 1833, and ending in January, 1837. In the month of October, 1834, the Postmaster General ordered the mail to be discontinued one day in a week on that part of the route from Royalton to Burlington; which part of the route, for the transportation of the mail, was assigned by the contractors to the petitioner. Under the order aforesaid of the Postmaster General, the mail from Boston arrived at Royalton on Saturday evening, and remained over until the Monday morning following.

"The inconvenience to the public by this order appears to have been so great, that the postmasters on the route and other citizens solicited and urged the petitioner to continue the transportation of the mail every

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