exorbitant compensation has been obtained by marshals, attorneys, and clerks, to which I invite your particular attention. It will be seen that attorneys have, in some instances, received as many as twelve retaining fees in the same cause, and a like number of fees for making out briefs and coming to court prepared for trial. In one case, a district attorney and his predecessor received an aggregate of fees, in a single criminal prosecution, of near five hundred dollars, when in some of the States he could by no possibility have received more than twenty dollars for the same service, and in

others not so much.

In some States the practice prevails of suing out a habeas corpus, to bring a prisoner from the jail into the court, and a formal warrant to return him to jail again; and if the trial continues a week, similar proceedings are instituted from day to day. So, also, when witnesses are committed to custody in default of surety for their appearance; they are brought out from day to day, as often as they may be needed to testify, and returned again to prison, by the same complicated and expensive proceedings.

As a further illustration of the confusion of the law in regard to the fees of officers of the courts, I will state a single example. The law establishing courts in New Mexico and Utah provides, in substance, that the attorneys in those Territories shall receive the same fees and salary as the attorney for the Territory of Oregon. Upon turning to the act establishing courts in Oregon, it is found that the attorney for that Territory was to receive the same fees as were allowed to the attorney for the late Territory of Wisconsin; and on examining that act, it is found that that officer was entitled to receive the same fees and salary as the attorney for Michigan Territory, which are described in the act of February 27th, 1813, creating the office of attorney of the United States for each of the Territories, as being "the usual fees of office," and an annual salary of $250. Here are five references for attorneys' fees in the Territories of New Mexico and Utah, which utterly fail to lead to any satisfactory result, for want of certainty; and so it is with regard to the fees of attorneys and clerks in Minnesota and Oregon. In the Territory of Michigan the statutes allowed attorneys no taxable fees or costs, and the Comptroller states that none, therefore, could be allowed, according to law, in the Territory of Wisconsin, and that none can be allowed to the attorneys in Minnesota, Oregon, New Mexico, or Utah.

I might proceed to point out many other defects, obscurities and incongruities in the laws, and many flagrant abuses which have grown up under them; but as there has doubtless been enough said to call the attention of Congress to the subject, I shall content myself with a reference to the report of the Comptroller for more full and detailed information. Enough will appear from that to warrant the recommendation that all the laws relating to fees be promptly and carefully revised, so as to secure uniformity in compensation, and to prevent future abuses.

Justice and true economy require that the compensation of all public officers should be sufficient to command the services of men of talent and character. But it should be uniform in all parts of the Union, having proper reference to the expense of living and the amount of service. In no event should there be such disparity as now exists, nor should the compensation allowed to mere ministerial officers bear such disproportion to that of the judges. As far as practicable, the compensation of attorneys should be made by fixed salaries, and in civil suits the fees of clerks and marshals should be

about equal to the average of the fees allowed to State officers for similar services, but uniform in all the States, even should it be found necessary in some cases, where the aggregate may not yield sufficient compensation, to make up the deficiency out of the treasury.

Every facility should be afforded to suitors to assert their rights in the courts of the United States. The exorbitant fees which now constitute an almost insuperable obstacle to seeking redress of injuries in those tribunals, should be diminished. The federal courts are daily increasing in their relative importance. The tribunals of the States being more exposed to the influence of local prejudices and popular excitement, less confidence will be felt by non-resident suitors, in their impartiality and independence; and when they have rights to assert, or injuries to redress, in a sister State, they will desire to seek their remedy in the courts of the United States.

Similar considerations suggest the propriety of a general revision of the salaries of the judges, with a view to render them more uniform and proportionate to the labor and responsibility of the office. The following table will show the amounts which they now respectively receive.

Table showing the salaries of the district judges of the United States.

In many of the districts the compensation of the judge is less than that of the clerk or marshal, and in most of them it does not equal the professional income of an attorney of respectable standing. Men of distinguished ability and merit, unless they are in affluent circumstances, cannot afford, therefore, to accept a judicial appointment. A policy which produces such results cannot be founded in wisdom. Salaries, without being extravagant, should yet be high enough to command the services of the men best suited for public stations. The office of judge is, under all circumstances, one of great dignity and responsibility. The judges expound the law, and on the wisdom of their adjudications the security for life, liberty and property mainly depends. It is quite as important to have an able and faithful administration of the laws, as that the laws themselves should be founded in wisdom; and one of the greatest calamities which can befall a country, is to have an ignorant, corrupt or incompetent judiciary.

The delicate nature of the functions which a judge of the courts of the United States has to perform, renders his position one of peculiar interest and importance. His jurisdiction embraces not only cases affecting the rights of individuals, but also those involving the validity of laws passed by Congress and the States. None but men of eminent talents, character and learning should be intrusted with powers like these. And in times like the present, when laws obnoxious to particular sections of the country are opposed by violence, and the authority of the courts openly set at defiance, no reasonable effort should be spared to secure the services of judges who have not only the ability to understand their duties, but the firmness to discharge them with fidelity. To obtain them, a just compensation must be paid; and I therefore recommend that such increase of the salaries of the judges be made, as may be necessary to accomplish these objects.

In conclusion, I beg leave to say that, in my opinion, the public interests 'would be promoted by the passage of a law constituting the Attorney General the head of the Department of Justice, and making it his duty to seal and countersign all commissions for judges, marshals and attorneys, and to exercise the supervisory and appellate control over all accounts connected with the expenses of the judiciary, which is now exercised by this depart

ment.

PUBLIC BUILDINGS AND GROUNDS.

Various appropriations having been made by the last Congress for the improvement of the mall and other public grounds in this city, it was deemed proper to have a plan projected by a competent person, combining, as far as practicable, beauty of arrangement with utility. For this purpose the services of Mr. A. J. Downing, a gentleman distinguished for his judg ment and good taste in the embellishment of pleasure-grounds, were engaged. He has reported designs for grading, laying out, and planting with trees, the mall and several of the public squares, some of which have been approved and partially executed. His plan for the improvement of the mall appears to me admirably adapted to carry into effect the views of Congress. That portion of it which applies to the ground west of Seventh street having been approved, is partially complete. But as the plan in regard to the section east of Seventh street involved a change in the location of a portion of the canal, for which no appropriation had been made, you did not feel at liberty to give it your official sanction, until the wishes

of Congress should have, been expressed in regard to it. The diagram, exhibiting the design in all its details, will be submitted to Congress, and 1 respectfully recommend its adoption, and that the necessary appropriation be made to carry it into effect.

The Treasury and Patent Office buildings have been neatly painted, in pursuance of the order of Congress. The work has been faithfully executed, and will doubtless prove to be a great protection to the walls against the action of the atmosphere.

The eastern wing of the Patent Office has been placed under the direction and control of Mr. Thomas U. Walter, the architect of the Capitol, and will soon be ready for use. No appropriation having been made by the last Congress for completing the western wing, it remains as it was at the date of my last report. I have caused a plan to be made out by Mr. Walter for its completion, accompanied by detailed estimates of the cost. This plan contemplates some changes in the original design, which will tend greatly to improve the beauty, stability, and convenience of the building. The plan and estimates will, at the proper time, be laid before the Committees on Public Buildings of the two houses of Congress. In my judgment, the public interests require that appropriations should be made for the completion of that wing with as little delay as possible. The present means of accommodation for the public officers are insufficient in extent, inconvenient in their location, and insecure from danger by fire.

The office of the Department of the Interior is now kept in a rented building, which is ill adapted to such purposes, and too contiguous to private dwellings, which constantly expose it to casualties. The Pension Office is also in rented apartments, in the fourth story of "Winder's building."

The Indian Office is in the War Department, and occupies rooms which the head of that department has assured me are indispensably necessary for the accommodation of his branch of the public service.

The Land Office is in the upper story of the treasury building, where it is kept to the great annoyance of the Secretary of the Treasury, who is obliged to rent rooms in private buildings for the use of some of his bureaux. It is believed that the rent now paid for the use of inconvenient and unsafe buildings is nearly equal to the interest on the cost of constructing a new one, in all respects suitable for the purposes of the department. When to this fact are added the loss of time in communicating with the heads of the bureaux, who are scattered through five or six buildings, some of which are more than a quarter of a mile distant from the office of the head of the department, and the increase of expense occasioned by the employment of additional doorkeepers, messengers, watchmen, and laborers, it will be found that true economy will be promoted by the erection of a suitable building for this department.

The eastern wing of the Patent Office, including the basement, contains thirty rooms besides the large saloon, 268 feet long and 63 wide, which is designed for the display of models.

The Patent Office does not now, and probably will not for years to come, need one-fourth of these rooms.

I propose, therefore, as soon as that wing is ready for use, to transfer to it the officers attached to the department proper, and also those belonging

to the Indian Bureau.

When the west wing shall have been completed, it should be appropriated, with the exception of the upper saloon, to the Land and Pension Offices.

The War and Treasury Departments would thereby be relieved from the inconveniences to which they are now subjected, and all the bureaux connected with the Department of the Interior would be brought together under one roof. If in the progress of time the Patent Office should need more room, it could be supplied either by the construction of a building on the north side of the square, so as to complete the quadrangle according to the original design, or by withdrawing one or more of the bureaux to some other building. Many years, however, will probably elapse before such a withdrawal will become necessary: the demand for increase of room will be for the exhibition of models, and not for the accommodation of clerks; and as the plan which I suggest contemplates the appropriation of two halls of the entire size of the wings for that purpose, it is hardly probable that they will be filled for twenty years to come.

Objection has been made to the occupation of any part of the Patent Office for purposes other than those for which it was originally designed. It is said that it was paid for out of the patent fund, and that it therefore belongs to the inventors. This objection rests upon a mistake both as to the facts of the case, and the inference which is drawn from them. But as it may possibly mislead some who are not conversant with the subject, it is proper to notice it.

It is not true that the cost of the Patent Office building has been paid out of the patent fund. On the contrary, it will be found, in a careful examination of the accounts, that but little more than one-eighth part of the cost of the principal building, and two wings, has been derived from the patent fund. But, if the facts were as represented, they by no means justify the inference derived from them.

The government, for the encouragement of the talent and inventive genius of our citizens, grants, by patent to the authors of books, or inventors of new and useful improvements in machinery, &c., an exclusive ownership in them for a limited time. As a consideration for the franchises thus secured to them, the goverment exacts from the patentees a fee or tax of $30, which is paid into the patent fund.

When the inventor gets his patent he has received the consideration for his money, and the transaction is at an end. The ground assumed by those who claim the Patent Office as the property of inventors, necessarily involves the proposition that they are entitled not only to their franchises, but also to the price which was paid for them. Upon the same principle, the purchasers of public lands might claim a right to control the appropriation of the money which they paid for them; or the consumers of dutiable goods, the privilege of regulating the expenditure of the revenue

of customs.

EXTENSION OF THE CAPITOL.

Since the adoption of the plan approved by you, for the enlargement of the Capitol, the work has been diligently prosecuted.

The foundations of both wings are now nearly completed, and if suitable appropriations be made by Congress at its approaching session, no effort will be spared to push on the work with as much despatch as may be consistent with its faithful execution.