against them; their appeal to the Supreme Court was dismissed, and they were formally dispossessed of the property, and so they remain to this day. Thus situated, the Messrs. Laurent presented their claim for damages to the commissioners under the convention for the adjustment of claims of subjects or citizens of Great Britain and the United States against either government, where it was rejected for want of jurisdiction, as the Laurents were "at the time alien enemies." (The original decision is marked D.) Having thus exhausted every other remedy, he now applies to Congress for relief. In Lieutenant G. Lay's testimony before the court of inquiry, in the case of Captain McKinstry, in January, 1838, he states, that the money was received by him, and Major General Scott in rendering his account for money received by him in Mexico, on 11th November, 1847, charges himself with "debt due Mexican government collected by Lieutenant Lay," $7,000. The committee are satisfied that the sum of $15,000 was paid. by the Messrs. Laurent in the manner they state, and that they have received no value therefor, and they report a bill for the relief of the surviving partner or their legal representatives, and ask its passage. The Committee on Military Affairs and the Militia, to whom were referred the papers in relation to the claim of Edward Ingersoll, having had the same under consideration, report: Under the act making appropriations for the army, approved 3d March, 1853, a board of commissioners was appointed to examine the United States armories. While in the discharge of their duties at Springfield, in Massachusetts, Edward Ingersoll, the military storekeeper at that place, employed carriages for the use and convenience of the board, the expense of which, it was supposed, would be charged to their contingent account, which, including this item, was audited and passed by the board during their session. The appropriation to defray the expenses of this commission was not sufficient to cover them all, as the item of hack hire was stricken out of the estimate before it was sent to Congress, for the reason that it should be paid by the commissioners themselves. Application was then made to the commissioners for the payment of the amount thus due, and for which Mr. Ingersoll was held responsible; but they failed to attend to it, and Mr. Ingersoll has been compelled, by course of law, to pay the judgment and costs against him, amounting to $335 75. The committee are of the opinion that the commissioners should have paid this money; Mr. Ingersoll's agency in the matter only extended to making a bargain in order to obtain the use of carriages for the commissioners, at a reasonable price; but as the payment has fallen upon him, it is only fair that he should be reimbursed in the amount for which he was held accountable, and they report a bill for his relief. ORDNANCE OFFICE, Washington, February 26, 1857. SIR; In accordance with the suggestion of the President, endorsed on the enclosed letter directed to you from this office, and in view of the manifest equity of the case, I respectfully request that application be made for an appropriation of three hundred and thirty-five dollars and seventy-five cents, ($335 75,) to repay to Military Storekeeper Edward Ingersoll the amount of a judgment, with costs, against him, for the hire of carriages used by the armory commission, appointed in pursuance of law in 1853. The letter before referred to, together with my subsequent report on the same subject, dated November 12, 1856, herewith enclosed, gives full information as to the facts of the case. I may add that due efforts have been made to obtain payment of the bill for carriage hire from the commissioners, but without success, and I regard it now as impossible to obtain in that way the relief to which Military Storekeeper Ingersoll is justly entitled. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, Hon. JEFFERSON DAVIS, H. K. CRAIG, Colonel of Ordnance. Secretary of War. ORDNANCE OFFICE, Washington, January 8, 1858. SIR Permit me to ask your attention to a claim of Edward Ingersoll, paymaster and military storekeeper at Springfield, for reimbursement of the sum of three hundred and thirty-five dollars and seventy-five cents, ($375 75,) paid by him for judgment and costs in a suit for a bill for the hire of carriages for the use of the armory commission, appointed in pursuance of law, in 1853. A full narrative of the circumstances under which this claim originated was given in my report to the War Department, dated February 26, 1857, and the accompanying papers, none of which have since been returned to this office, and which are now respectfully referred to. These papers show that the carriages were hired for the use of the commission, in the performance of their official duties, and that Mr. Ingersoll's agency in the matter was solely to make a bargain with the owners for the purpose of obtaining the use of the carriages on fair and reasonable terms, and that the bill for carriage hire was subsequently submitted to the commission while in session, and was audited and passed by them, and the amount included in their estimate for an appropriation to defray the expenses of the commission. That appropriation, when made, was insufficient to pay all the expenses, and the bill for carriage hire, the amount of which had been stricken from the estimate before sending it to Congress, was left unpaid. The owners of the carriages, E. L. Kinsly & Co., demanded its payment, when the Secretary of War directed that each of the commissioners should be informed of the claim and invited to pay his portion of it. This was accordingly done, and the commissioners were also notified that Mr. Ingersoll was held personally responsible and would be sued for the amount of the bill, unless they would settle it by paying their respective proportions. The notification did not effect this result, and Mr. Ingersoll was sued by E. L. Kinsley & Co., and compelled, by process of law, to pay the amount He of the bill, with costs, ($335 75,) out of his private means. has not been reimbursed any portion of the sum thus paid, and his claim for reimbursement is, in my judgment, main festly equitable and just. I think that the claim may be properly charged to the appropriation for national armories, inasmuch as the commission, for whose use in the discharge of their official business the expense was incurred, was instituted for investigating the affairs of those armories, and I respectfully recommend its allowance. Respectfully, your obedient servant, H. K. CRAIG, Captain of Ordnance. Hon. JOHN B. FLOYD, Secretary of War. WAR DEPARTMENT, Washington, March 1, 1858. SIR: I have the honor to enclose, herewith, a letter from the colonel of ordnance in relation to a claim of Edward Ingersoll, paymaster and military storekeeper at Springfield armory, for reimbursement of the amount ($335 75) paid by him on account of the expenses of the commission appointed in 1853 to investigate the affairs of the national armories. This claim was submitted to the President in 1855, who decided that, if the efforts to obtain payment from the commissioners were unsuccessful, an application should be made for an appropriation sufficient to meet the judgment against the military storekeeper. Under that decision I do not deem it advisable to authorize the payment, as suggested by the colonel of ordnance, out of the appropriation for the national armories, but I recommend that a special appropriation be made for the purpose. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, Hon. JEFFERSON DAVIS, JOHN B. FLOYD, Chair. Com. Military Affairs, Senate. PETERBORO', NEW HAMPSHIRE, April 10, 1858. HONORABLE SIR: From a friend I have just received a written copy of your report to the Senate on Edward Ingersoll's claim. In that report, among other sentences not strictly correct, you state that "the committee are of opinion that the commissioners should have paid this money," meaning, no doubt, the amount of Kinsley & Co.'s bill for carriage hire. Now, sir, having been one of the commissioners alluded to, and not being willing, even by implication, to be charged with refusing, or even avoiding payment of any just debt or demand, induces me to lay before you such facts as my papers or memory enable me to do, not doubting that if you had possessed these facts prior to your report its language, at least, if not its entire construction, would have been materially changed. It is true that carriages were furnished for the use of the commis |