the infancy of the organization, when its spread in the South was much desired, that assurances were given that it would make war upon Abolition. But then it was in the hands of comparatively good men; now it seems to have gathered into its lodges the worst elements of Abolitionism that curse the North. Then its operations were confined to a more limited sphere; now it seeks to control political events everywhere, and to give direction to public sentiment upon religious as well as political subjects. Then it was weak, and consequently humble in its pretensions; now it has become strong, and risen to power, it has grown insolent and overbearing in its demands, vindicating the truth and wisdom of Shakspeare's words when he said: "Lowliness is young Ambition's ladder, Whereto the climber upward turns his face; It is now sufficiently potent to dispense with its southern allies, and they must either come into measures of Abolitionism, or be lopped off as excrescences. This is not all, sir; they are taunted with their weakness, and sentence of condemnation pronounced against them and their institutions. Let southern men read and reflect upon the following language from the Worcester Evening Journal, a Know-Nothing organ in Massa chusetts: "The following States, we know, can be carried to day by the American party, and we attach to each the number of votes they are entitled to: Pennsylvania 27, Massachusetts 13, Maine 8, Delaware 3, New Jersey 1, Illinois 11, Indiana 13, Rhode Island 3, New York 35, Ohio 23, Connec ticut 6, New Hampshire 6, Vermont 5-making in a!! 160 electoral votes, being eleven more than are required for the election of President. These figures show, that, as a party, ve are independent of any southern support whatever, and therefore the temptation or the necessity of bidding for southern votes does not exist ; for the two great States of the Union are now secured to the American party. Maryland and Virginia are sure to go for the American ticket; but without the aid of a single vo e from these almost northern States, we shall elect in 1856 an American President. The slavery question cannot affect the American party; for its whole power, and all its hopes, are north of Mason and Dixon's line. Its aspirations are for freedom; and when the party is accused of being pro slavery, let its defenders point the men who uttered the base lie to every election that has occurred since the party sprung into existence." But it may be said this is only the language of a newspaper, and the editor is alone responsible for it. I propose, then, to present it in a still more solemn form. The subjoined resolutions were adopted in one of their conventions, just before the late elections in that State: "Resolved, That in the present chaotic condition of parties in Massachusetts, the only star above the horizon is the love of human liberty and the abolition of slavery; and that it is the duty of all anti-slavery men to rally around the Republican party as an organization which invites the united action of the people on the one transcending question of slave dominion which now divides the Union. "Whereas, Roman Catholicism and slavery, being alike founded and supported on the basis of ignorance and tyranny, and being, therefore, natural allies in every warfare against liberty and enlightenment: Therefore, be it "Resolved, That there can exist no real hostility to Roman Catholicism which does not embrace slavery, its nat ural coworker in opposition to freedom and republican institutions." In the State of Michigan, where the anti-Nebraska men and Know-Nothings swept over the State like a desolating storm, the Legislature sends greeting to Federal Massachusetts the following preamble and resolutions: "Whereas, The violation by Congress of the compact of 1820 has released the people of this State from all obligation to respect Congressional compromises for the extension and perpetuation of slavery: Therefore "Resolved, That the act of Congress of 1850, known as the fugitive slave law, was, in the opinion of the people of this State, an unnecessary measure; that it contains provisions of doubtful constitutionality; that the mode of proceeding under it is harsh, unjust, and repugnant to the moral sense of the people of the States, cruel and despotic toward the person claimed as a fugitive, and that we are in favor of its immediate repeal. "Resolved, That our Senators in Congress be, and they are hereby, instructed, and our Representatives requested to use their best exertions to procure the immediate repeal of the act of 1850, known as the fugitive slave law.” Ohio, too, has spoken to the same effect, through the State Journal, an Abolition Know-Nothing press. "So far, in this State and the free States generally, the Know-Nothings' have coöperated and worked faithfully with the anti-Nebraska and anti-slavery feeling of the people. They have shown themselves true republicans by casting their weight uniformly in favor of freedom." Mr. Chairman, I trust I shall be pardoned for the number and length of these extracts. 1 desire that southern men especially, and sound men everywhere, shall see and understand the views and purposes of this organization in these States. What must southern men think of such avowals, openly and distinctly made? Can they meet the members of the order from these States, in a grand council or convention, and fraternize with them? Are they prepared to give them the right hand of fellowship, and bid them God speed? Sir, I was born upon southern soil; reared amongst that proud and spirited people; I have witnessed with what jealous care they guard their rights and institutions; and here, to-day, in vindication of their wisdom and self-respect, I proclaim to the world that they will not stultify themselves by any such connection; that they will not be cheated into any such unholy alliance. While they have organized Know-Nothing lodges, with a membership numerous and respectable, and, it may be, with controlling political power yet its members South can have no feeling or principles common with those of the North, and the order can have no nationality. A southern man will never consent to be found in secret conclave with a Burlingame, a Wilson, a Fogg, or a Wilmot, plotting the destruction of slavery. The effect of the whole movement will be, then, to renew in the halls of Congress the agitation of the slavery question. Most of those, if not all, who have been elected to Congress from northern States by the aid of this organization, have, like Hannibal, sworn upon the altar of their country eternal hostility to slavery. The repeal of the KansasNebraska act, the repeal of the fugitive law, is the language which they use at the hustings, in their conventions, in their legislative resolves; and the same language will echo in the halls of Congress. And when this period shall arrive, as it soon will, the South will need all the unity and strength she can summon to the conflict to bear her off harmless from the fight. Instead of giving countenance to this movement, which is now assuming such a threatening aspect for us, we should begin to heal up our dissensions; to repair the broken walls of our fortifications; to post our sentinels, and, with wisdom and foresight, prepare to receive the attack, like men who know their rights, and intend to defend them. Ho. OF REPS. ness to the growth and wants of a great Government. And he who leaves it to join a new or a better one, will soon find the delusion into which he has fallen. It was the party of Jefferson, Madison, Jackson, and Polk, and it shall be my party as long as it shall stand to its landmarks, or be guided by its ancient principles. All necessary reforms can be effected as well under its auspices as under that of any new party, composed of antagonistic elements that can never fuse. For what furnace seven times heated can melt, refine, and blend together, a party made up of such elements? Compromise and concession seem to be no part of its creed; and what it now denies to the South will be denied to other fragmentary parts in the day of its power and haughtiness. It is true that Democracy has lost many of the free States for the time; but, in them, we have found the mass of the party true to the Constitution, true to the laws passed under it, true to great principles of party faith, and ready to become a sacrifice in their support. They have gone down, not like Lucifer, to rise no more; but, as the sun sets, and leaves the world for a time to darkness, under which men hide their evil deeds, so, like that sun, they will come up again to dissipate that darkness, and drive the evil-doers into their dens and hiding places. But further, sir, I am in f vor of seeing stringent laws passed by Congress, to exclude entirely paupers and convicts from our shores. This is due to ourselves and to the honest foreigners amongst us; and they would rejoice at it s much as we could do. Much of the odium which seems to have attached to the whole foreign population, in some quarters, has grown out of the fact that a few vicious and unprincipled men of that population have been engaged in riots and excesses disgusting to good men everywhere. And instead of placing the blame where it belongs instead of confining a just indignation to those who have violated law and good order-it is visited upon the whole foreign-born population. Every honest, intelligent foreigner then, could but rejoice to see and feel that he was relieved from this unjust censure and reproach. But again I say, this reform can be commenced and carried on by Democratic counsels, and under Democratic guidance, far better than under the leadership of any new and untried party; and what I do in the premises shall be done in connection with my old party, and such good and conservative men as shall be willing to cooperate with it. I believe I am as true an American as any man of any organization, however boastful his pretensions; and I believe that the Democratic party needs no proof to bolster it up, as the party of the Constitution and of the country. Where the honor of the nation was to be vindicated, and to that end wars were to be conducted to a successful close, a Democratic Administration has had the responsibility to assume; the work to do; and gloriously has it been done. When territory was to be acquired, and our borders to be extended, carrying forward civilization and happiness to mankind, the power of Democracy has been invoked, and, as with the enchanter's wand, our maps have been enlarged, and the area of freedom extended. Our financial, commercial, and agricultural prosperity, under its auspices-prove the wisdom of its policy, and teach me that I should cling to it as to a life-boat in the wild fury of the storm. With these convictions resting upon my mind, I shall not leave it, nor forsake it, for any Before I close my remarks, I wish to say here, as I shall say everywhere, that I desire to see the naturalization laws more strictly enforced than Courts have not they have been heretofore. always looked to the administration of them with that watchful eye which the interests of the country demand. Frauds have been perpetrated justly alarming in their consequences to certain sections of the country, where the foreign population has accumulated in great numbers; and the grievances complained of are not altogether unfounded. It might be well so far to amend the naturalization laws as to require the declaration of intention to be made a matter of record five years before the final papers, were granted, by which means parol testimony would be dispensed with, and the record evidence substituted in lieu thereof. Under the law thus amended, when a party made application to a court to be admitted to the rights of citidegraded witness, who was ready to testify as to the zenship, instead of producing before that court some five years' residence required by law, an authenticated copy of the records when the declaration was made, five years before, would be proof of a much higher nature, and more satisfactory in its char-temporary advantage that might accrue to myself, acter. This change could be effected without extending the period of naturalization; as the foreigner who intended to become a citizen might make his declaration of intention immediately upon his arrival here, and in five years thereafter perfect his papers. But, sir, I am not wedded to the period of five years, nor do I consider the Democratic party as pledged to this period of time, to the exclusion of all change. Should it be lengthened or shortened to meet the necessities of the country, there could certainly be no sacrifice of principle involved in the change. The Democratic party is emphatically the party of progress, and has at all times, and under all circumstances, adapted its action to the true wants and interests to the people. The history of our country is marked on every page with its wisdom, liberal policy, and adapted from a connection with any other organization. In conclusion, sir, I have been told that the expression of my opinions on this subject will deprive me of my seat in this House. I am not prepared to believe it. I represent a true, an enlightened, an honest constituency, who never strike before they hear, who prize principles above expediency; who, if they draw the sword, it is to use it upon an enemy and not upon a friend; a constituency who glory in religious toleration; who never burn churches; who never collect in mobs for purposes of violence; who neither teach nor preach the principles of agrarianism; who never seek to array labor against capital; who, in obedience to Heaven's command, gain their bread by the sweat of their brow, and eat it in peace: ready at all times to share it, with Christian good will, U with the needy and the hungry, whether they be 33D CONG....2D SESS. born in this or a foreign land; whether they bend the knee before the Redeemer in one form of church government or another. With such a jury to try me, I will fear no evil, until I shall have done something worse than I have done this day. But, sir, should I be mistaken; should public sentiment have become infected with this raging distemper; should they be prepared to strike down an humble public servant for attempting to steer by the old landmarks; for cherishing and upholding the sacred principle of religious toleration, planted upon this continent by the Pilgrim fathers when they landed upon Plymouth Rock-1 shall meet it with becoming fortitude; and shall carry with me to my humble home, in private life, the proud satisfaction of knowing that I have never made a compromise with what I believed to be error, for the honor of position, or the poor emoluments of office. Whatever may befall me, if I can retain my self-respect, and a consciousness of integrity, of motive, and of conduct, I shall not repent at my adverse fortune. In my short career, my mind has often dwelt with unbounded admiration upon the proud saying of a distinguished statesman, now no more, and which I trust may be permitted, without presumption, to repeat with him: "I would rather be right than be President." POST OFFICE APPROPRIATION BILL. DEBATE IN SENATE, MONDAY, February 26, 1855. The Senate, as in Committee of the Whole, proceeded to the consideration of the bill from the House of Representatives, making appropriations for the service of the Post Office Department during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1856. Mr. RUSK. I am instructed by the Committee on the Post Office and Post Roads to offer the following amendment, as an additional section: SEC.. And be it further enacted, That the fourth section of the act of Congress approved the 5th of August, 1854, entitled "An act making appropriations for the service of the Post Office Department during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1855," be, and the same is hereby, continued for one year from August 5, 1855, and that the allowance granted by the said section to the deputy postmaster at Washington city, District of Columbia, of one mill per pound upon the aggregate weight of the public documents printed by order of Congress, and deposited in the office of said postinaster to be mailed, shall be so construed as to commence August 5, 1853. Mr. HUNTER. I hope the Senator will explain that. I do not understand it. Mr. RUSK. It is the amendment which was proposed and adopted by the Senate at the last session. It goes back to 1853, covering the exact service which has been performed, and commencing at the time when the clerks in the other Departments here had their salaries raised. It was last year lost in the committee of conference. This goes back, therefore, and covers that year and continues it one year longer. It is a small amendment, sir. The amendment was agreed to. Mr. SEWARD. I am instructed by the Committee on the Post Office and Post Roads to offer the following amendment: SEC.. And be it further enacted, That the Postmaster General be, and he is hereby, authorized to establish and put in operation, a semi-monthly mail by sea, from San Francisco, in the State of California, to Olympia, in the Terri tory of Washington, touching at Humboldt bay, Trinidad, and Crescent City, in the State of California; Port Orford, Gardiner City, Umpqua, and Astoria, in the Territory of Washington: Shoal Water bay, and Port Townsend, in the Territory of Washington, and such other points as shall be designated by the Postmaster General: Provided, The whole cost of said service shall not exceed the sum of $120,000 per annum. Mr. HUNTER. I would ask if there is any recommendation or estimate from the Department in regard to this additional service. Mr. SEWARD. Yes, sir, there is a recommendation-a communication between the Delegate of the Territory and the Postmaster General. Mr. HUNTER. In addition to the mail service which they now have? Mr. SEWARD. The recommendation represents it to be necessary. Mr. WELLER. At many of the points named there is no mail whatever. Besides, the mail steamer from San Francisco to Oregon runs within Post Office Appropriation Bill-Debate. sight of some of these places, but they have none Mr. HUNTER. If the mail steamer runs in Mr. GWIN. This is a route from San Francisco to points in Washington Territory where there are no routes. The mail which is now run is bound by the contract to stop at none of those points. It runs from San Francisco to Astoria. There is no mail now between those points from Astoria to the extreme point that is named there in Washington Territory on the proposed route. They have no mails, and they have no possibility of getting mails except by a line established in this way. Propositions have already been made, and I believe a contract has been made to carry this mail at the amount stated. Certainly an estimate has been made. We have no mails at all, except one monthly mail running to Oregon from San Francisco. Mr. HUNTER. It seems to me that this must be an extravagant compensation, if the steamer goes within sight of these places, as the Senator from California [Mr. WELLER] has stated. Mr. WELLER. I did not state that the steamers ran within sight of all these places; within sight of some of them they do; but they would be delayed greatly if they were compelled to go in. Sometimes it would be difficult to get out. They are not now compelled to go in. They choose to steer directly to Astoria, where their contract requires them to go. It would necessarily produce a good deal of delay if they were compelled to stop at those intermediate points; yet there is a large population there, and, as a matter of course, they are entitled, as well as other portions of the country, to mail facilities. Mr. HUNTER. Do I understand the Senator from New York to say that the Postmaster General himself estimated it at $120,000? Mr. SEWARD. I believe a contract was once Mr. MORTON. This is a postal route which, Mr. RUSK. This route was established by a SENATE. his Department as any newly settled portion of the United States. In some of those places they now get mails once every month, and in others not at all. They are compelled, after the mail goes to Astoria, to carry it several hundred miles, at a great loss of time, before these intermediate points can be filled up. Under these circumstances, I think Congress ought to extend these facilities to them. The amendment was agreed to. Mr. RUSK. I have another amendment, as an additional section: SEC.. And be it further enacted, That the proper Comptroller of the Treasury, under the instructions of the Attorney General, inquire whether the contract made by the Postmaster General with William L. Blanchard, for carrying the United States mail on route 5066, in the year 1853, was violated by the Postmaster General, without legal and adequate cause given by said Blanchard; and if it was so violated, then to ascertain and allow such damages as he is entitled to, in equity and justice, by reason of such violation, and such damages be paid to said Blanchard out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated. Mr. HUNTER. I hope the Senator will explain that. Mr. RUSK. It provides for compensation to Mr. Blanchard, a mail contractor between Salt Lake City and San Francisco. Some two years ago, when the Hon. Mr. Hubbard was Postmaster General, a contract was made with two men-Choppering, I believe, was the name of one, and Woodward of the other—at the sum of $14,000. The route was through an Indian country, and we had several failures on it. One of the men lost his life in carrying the mail Mr. Woodward was killed. Postmaster General Hubbard, upon some statement given to him by a special agent of the Post Office Department, set aside the contract, and made one with Blanchard to carry that mail at $50,000 a year. It was stipulated in that contract that Mr. Blanchard should, at his own expense, establish in Carson's Valley a post, for the protection of the mail as well as of emigrant passengers. The papers accompanying Blanchard's petition show that he did, at a cost of some $35,000, as well as I remember, establish that post. The present Postmaster General, after the contract had been in operation some four or five months, set it aside, on the ground that in making it with Blanchard there had been no advertisement, and he reinstated the party Choppering-I believe that is his name. I believe, also, there has been some failure in the service since. Mr. Blanchard shows that he established the post; that he was subjected to very large expense, and that he lost, by attacks of the Indians, a good deal of his stock upon the route. The amendment, therefore, authorizes the proper accounting officer of the Treasury, under instructions from the Attorney General, if the contract has been violated by the present Postmaster General, to inquire, and allow Blanchard a reasonable and equitable sum for the actual damages which he has sustained. It may amount to some $30,000 or $40,000. The losses, I have no sort of doubt, have been incurred in the attempt to carry out the contract. There may have been an impropriety in the former Postmaster General making that contract without advertisement, but these losses have fallen upon a citizen of the United States who has performed the service well; and it seems to me that, most clearly, on principles of equity and justice, he should be remunerated. Mr. HUNTER. This seems to me to provide for a private claim, and it is, perhaps, not the best mode of adjusting it. We are to require the First Comptroller of the Treasury, under the decision of the Attorney General, not only to ascertain whether anything is due, and whether the Postmaster General violated the contract, but also to ascertain the damages. We have passed a bill establishing a court of claims which ought to take cognizance of such cases as this. I think it ought not to be put upon a general appropriation bill. We cannot enter into the consideration of the case at this time. It would involve a great many considerations which we have not time now to bring up. We do not know what the contract was. We are not able to examine it, and it seems to me that it is not a power which we ought to delegate to require an officer of the Government to ascertain the damages, and award whatever he thinks right. The amendment does not require 33D CONG....2D SESS. the accounting officer to report the case back to Congress for their decision, but he is to pay whatever he may think right. I should be against this under any circumstances; but, with the certainty that we have a court established where all such things can be considered and adjudicated hereafter, it seems to me to be manifestly proper that we should vote it down here. Mr. WELLER. The only question presented by the amendment, is whether you are willing to trust the Attorney General to decide whether the Postmaster General has violated a contract with one of the citizens of California? If there has been a violation of the contract on the part of the Government, and the individual has sustained loss in consequence of that violation, it seems to me that common justice would award him a compensation. He entered into this contract in good faith with the predecessor of the present Postmaster General. He performed his duties under that contract faithfully for a period of six months. Then, the present Postmaster General, on his accession to power, annulled that contract, after the party had expended a large sum of money in making the necessary arrangements for carrying out the service of the contract. That contract provided for the establishment of military posts. Those military posts were indispensable for the protection of the mail of the United States; and while they were protecting the mail, which was carried through a country inhabited by Indians, they were incidentally giving protection to the emigrants who were passing from Salt Lake to the Sacramento. The only question here is, whether there has been a violation of the contract. The amendment will leave that question to the determination of the law officer of this Government; and if there has been a violation, then the proper accounting officer of the Treasury is to be authorized to inquire into his loss and damages in consequence of the violation. If there has been a loss, think the Senator from Virginia ought to be willing to remunerate him to the extent of his loss. Mr. HUNTER. I wish to suggest to the Senate that this is a departure from the precedents in all such cases. When we have directed these inquiries to be made, we have ordered the result of the inquiry and investigation to be reported back to us for our action and decision; but in this case the decision of the officer is to be final and the money is to be paid out on their award. They are not only to be the judges, but the jury, too. They are not only to judge on the legal rights of the party, but they are to award and assess the damages. Mr. SEWARD. The ingenuity of the honorable chairman of the Committee on Finance is able to suggest new objections as long as the bill is under consideration. I wish to notice those that have already been made. It is first urged against it that it is a private claim. It is a private claim; but it is one that arises from a contract of the Post Office Department, and necessarily connects itselt with the appropriations to be paid by the Government for the maintenance of the postal communication on the route which is the subject of this difficulty. The contractor who had a contract with the Postmaster General, comes before the committee and says, the Postmaster General has violated my contract and taken it from me without right, without justice, and without law. That committee is quite as proper a one to examine that subject as the Com. mittee on Claims, and I think a little more so. At all events, the question as to the proper committee to which it should be referred was settled by us. The Committee on the Post Office and Post Roads were charged with the investigation. Before the committee, good reason was shown for the belief that, while there were distresses and losses sustained by the contractor, there was some misunderstanding or misapprehension which induced the Postmaster General to interfere and terminate the contract. The next question that presented itself to our minds was whether we should sit as a tribunal and try the case. We thought such a trial would have been an ex parte proceeding, and not safe for the Government. Therefore we conclude that the proper mode was to refer it to some court or authority competent to ascertain and determine Post Office Appropriation Bill-Debate. the question. At that time there was no board of claims; I believe there is now no board of claims, and there never may be, for the President sometimes vetoes a bill which Congress passes. However that may be, the question was properly before the committee, and they thought it should be disposed of as other similar questions have been disposed of. The proposition of the committee is in the most guarded form. Damages ought to be paid, and ought to be paid without delay, if the Government has incurred a liability to pay them. The officer designated in the amendment is the proper person to ascertain those damages; and the Treasury is the proper Department to pay them. Then the question arises whether the Postmaster General has violated the law, or acted unjustly in regard to this contract? We were not prepared, and were not willing, to sit in an investigation upon the conduct of the Postmaster General in regard to a matter of this kind, and we said among ourselves, if this Government can trust anybody to ascertain the truth of the matter, it will be the Attorney General; and, at all events, the Government of the United States will have least right to complain when we select the law officer of the Government to determine that question. Therefore we associated him with the Comptroller for the purpose of ascertaining whether there had been any violation of law, or any injustice, and if so, then, under his direction the damages should be audited and paid. The only remaining question is, whether the case ought to come back to Congress hereafter. If it is not proper for Congress to investigate it now, it ought not to come back to us again, for Congress is so unfit a body for the investigation of such cases, that we have established a board for the examination of private claims. SENATE. which stand pretty much on the same ground. The first is to insert the following in the bill: For compensation to William M. F. McGraw for earrying the mail on route 8911, from Independence, Missouri, to the Great Salt Lake City, Utah Territory, monthly each way, according to the contraet under which said service is now being performed, the sum of $36,000 per annum, commencing with the contract aforesaid, and in lieu of the compensation therein stipulated. I will explain that amendment. This contract for supplying the mail from Independence to Salt Lake City, was taken by Mr. McGraw, at the sum of $14,000. The Indian difficulties which have occurred there, have subjected him to great losses. All his papers are before the Committee on the Post Office and Post Roads. My own opinion is that, although this is a pretty considerable allowance for the mail service, it is absolutely necessary if the mail is to be carried there at all. He will be compelled to employ pretty strong guards. He has lost many of his mules and some of his drivers; and upon that route, in the present state of the country, he will have to employ a very strong guard. Under such circumstances I think it nothing but proper and right that the compensation should be allowed. There is another amendment which stands pretty much on the same footing which I shall offer in a few minutes, in regard to the route from San Antonio to Santa Fé, at a less sum-not $3,000 less however. There may be one other route the contractor on which will hereafter make a demand for similar extra compensation, and that is the route from Independence to Santa Fé. At present there are no Indian depredations committed upon that route. Mr. HUNTER. I understand that there is no recommendation for that from the Department, and no estimate for it. I do not raise the question Mr. RUSK called for the yeas and nays, and of order, because the committee have the right to rethey were ordered; and being taken, resulted-port it as an amendment, and yet, it seems to me, yeas 16, nays 20; as follows: YEAS-Messrs. Adams, Brainerd, Bright, Brodhead, Brown, Foot, Gwin, James, Morton, Pettit, Rusk, Seward, Thompson of Kentucky, Thomson of New Jersey, Wade, and Weller-16. that it is hardly safe to be putting on these amendments without some estimate from the Department, some reliable information, something more than the loose statement of the parties who come here applying for additional compensation. Mr. ADAMS. I have been in the habit of op NAYS-Messrs. Allen, Bell, Benjamin, Cass, Chase, So the amendment was rejected. over and above the contract which the parties made. I favored, however, the amendment which Mr. RUSK. I offer the following amendment, is now pending before the Senate, as well as the as an additional section: SEC. And be it further enacted, That the right to frank letters and documents now allowed by law to the Vice President, be continued, to those who have heretofore or shall hereafter occupy that office, during life. The amendment was agreed to. other referred to by the chairman of the Commitee on the Post Office and Post Roads. I did so for this reason: The proof abundantly shows that at the time these contracts were bid off, the country was at peace with the Indians. A new state of things exist, however, which could not have rea Mr. RUSK. I offer the following, as an addi- sonably been anticipated and was not ascertained tional section: SEC.-. And be it further enacted, That all books, maps, charts, or other publications entered for copyright, and which, under the act of August 10, 1846, are required to be deposited in the Library of Congress and in the Smithsonian Institution, may be sent through the mails free of postage, under such regulations as the Postmaster General may prescribe. You require those publications to be sent by law, and, I suppose, there can be no objection to franking them. Mr. HUNTER. Do we pay for it now? Mr. PEARCE. The expenses now are paid out of the contingent fund of the Library, and they have absorbed almost the whole of it. Those which go to the Smithsonian Institution are paid for out of its funds. The amendment was agreed to. Mr. RUSK. The next amendment is to insert the following: For the transportation of the United States mail over the Michigan Central railroad, five hundred and eighteen miles, from the 9th of June, 1849, to the 28th of November of the same year, $5,177 66. Mr. HUNTER. that? Was there no contract for Mr. RUSK. There was not at the time. They asked the Senate once or twice for it. At the last session it was neglected, or it would have been put upon the appropriation bill. The service was performed, under the direction of the Postmaster General, at a cheaper rate than it was afterwards taken by the railroad. The amendment was agreed to. Mr. RUSK. I have two other amendments by the parties making the contracts at the time they were made, over a country over which the contractors had no earthly control. As hostilities have broken out in different portions of the country with the Indians, these men must be ruined unless we make them additional compensation to cover their additional and necessary expenses, in order to enable them to comply with the contract made with the Government. I thought it was reasonable, right, and proper, that in cases of this sort, the Government should conform its compensation to the circumstances of the case. If the parties could have anticipated this state of things, if they had made their contract with reference to it, with the knowledge of it, I should not be in favor of allowing them one cent over what they agreed upon. But the amount reported by the committee will only barely compensate them for their additional risk and their additional expense. The amendment was agreed to. Mr. RUSK. I have another amendment of a similar character. Pretty much the same state of facts applies to it as to the other: For compensation to George H. Giddings for carrying the mail on route 12900, from Santa Fé, New Mexico, to San Antonio, Texas, monthly, each way, according to the contract under which said service is being performed, the sum of $33,500 per annum, commencing with the contract aforesaid, and in lieu of the compensation therein stipulated. Mr. HUNTER. I will only suggest to the Senator from Texas-I am not disposed to revive the discussion; I know we have not time to do that-that, perhaps, we may be interfering improperly with Executive duty. These are Executive matters, it seems to me. The Postmaster 33D CONG....2D SESS. General ought to look into this case and report upon it before we adopt it. We have not the means of ascertaining the facts. These are cases in which we cannot act properly and understandingly; and I think it is a hazardous kind of legislation. The amendment was agreed to. Mr. RUSK. I have another small amendment to offer: SEC.-. And be it further enacted, That the Postmaster General be, and he is hereby, authorized, in the settlement of the accounts of the late postmaster at Waterville, Maine, to allow such sum, in addition to the commissions which accrued at his office during his term of service, as will make his compensation equal to $175 per quarter, and cover all such necessary items of incidental expenses as have been usually incurred and allowed in post offices of his class: Provided, however, That the whole compensation and expenses shall not exceed $425 per quarter. Mr. HUNTER. We cannot legislate on this bill for the raising of the salaries of postmasters. Mr. RUSK. This is only to comply with one of the provisions of the existing law. The office is a separating office. Mr. HUNTER. It is legislating for an individual upon a general appropriation bill. The amendment was agreed to. Mr. BRODHEAD. The Committee on the Post Office and Post Roads have instructed me to report the following amendment: SEC.. And be it further enacted. That the First Comptroller of the Treasury be instructed to examine the claim of William R. Glover and Thomas W. Mather, and their associates, and ascertain and allow such arrearage as they are entitled to, in justice and equity on account of the refusal of the Postmaster General to carry into effect the contract entered into between William R. Glover and Thomas W. Mather, and the Postmaster General in 1853, for the transportation of the mail on the Mississippi and Ohio rivers; and that such damages shall be paid to William R. Glover and Thomas W. Mather and their associates, out of any moneys in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated. Mr. BENJAMIN. This amendment refers, I think, to a contract for carrying the mail on the Mississippi river. It was in relation to that contract that the Senator from Tennessee, [Mr. JONES] who is not now in his seat, introduced a resolution calling for information from the Postmaster General. As that subject is now before the Senate, I should be exceedingly happy if the chairman of the Committee on the Post Office and Post Roads, to which that information was referred, would inform us as to the action of the committee on the subject. This has immediate reference to it. Mr. RUSK. The committee have just this morning come into possession of the answer of the Postmaster General. The amendment refers to another subject. The law which the honorable Senators from Tennessee [Mr. JONES] and Mississippi (Mr. BROWN] complained was not carried into effect, was passed at a subsequent date to this contract. The committee have only this morning received the information, which they will lay before the Senate at the proper time. I have not had time, myself, to examine it; but I see that it contains some statements from special agents of the Post Office Department, and perhaps it would not be proper to allude to them at this time, because the Postmaster General is seeking to enter into a contract to obtain the best service he can on the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. I think he is doing, as far as he can do it, his duty in the matter, in reference as well to the accommodation of the people on the rivers, as to the revenues of the Department. The hasty glance which I have been able to cast over the communication, shows me, I think, that it will be perfectly satisfactory to the Senate, and to the honorable Senators from Mississippi and Tennessee also. That, however, is not connected with this amendment. It will be remembered that Congress twice repeated the requirement for the Postmaster General to put the service on the Mississippi and Ohio rivers. The former Postmaster General advertised for the service under the former law of Congress advertised for a double service, a line from Louisville to New Orleans, and then another line to supply the way post offices. In the advertisement various things were required, such as that the boats in which the service was to be performed should be constructed for passengers only. That was the case, as well as I now remember. 1 am pretty sure that was the fact. There were several bids, and very high bids too, both for the through ine and for the way service. As well as I remem. NEW SERIES.No. 18. Post Office Appropriation Bill-Debate. ber, no contract had been made with the former Postmaster General. On the accession to office of the present Postmaster General the bids had just come in, and he suspended their acceptance at the instance of several Senators living upon the Mississippi river. I know I signed it, amongst others, for we did not believe that a double service was necessary. It was in the hurry and confusion of the adjournment of Congress, and when the new Administration was going in, and he was requested to suspend the acceptance of the contracts. He did so. Upon examining it afterwards, he dropped the way service, which was paid for at a very high rate, and entered into a contract for the other service at, I believe, $295,000 a year. These parties, as they show, prepared themselves for the performance of the service, expended considerable sums of money, got several boats, and when the time for them to carry the mail commenced, the agent at Louisville refused to deliver it to them, because they had freight upon their boats. He found the boat taking freight; and he alleged he was instructed by the Postmaster General, if the boats carried freight, not to give them the mail. That was repeated two or three different times. Under the old law the mail was sent on boats. I am not sure as to whether it was sent by a special contract with the Department. These contractors repeatedly, for several days, demanded the mail. The agent of the Department, under instructions from the Postmaster General, refused it, because the boat was taking on freight, or had on freight, until it was agreed between the parties that it was unnecessary to make the demand for the mail, as no boat having freight upon it could be furnished with the mail. The parties contended that the Postmaster General had violated the contract. The Postmaster General contended that he had not, on the ground that the service should be performed according to the advertisement. It is due, however, to the parties to say, that no such requirement was in the contract, except that they should be safe and suitable boats. Mr. BROWN. The Senator from Texas has stated this case, as I understand it, pretty fairly. Glover & Co. entered into a contract with the Government to carry the mail in safe and substantial boats. The advertisement required that they should simply be passenger boats, and that no freight should be carried on them. When they came, however, to enter into the contract, that portion of the advertisement was left out, and they were simply required to supply themselves with good and substantial boats to carry the mails. Now, the Postmaster General undertakes to as sume the ground, that because a particular kind of service was advertised for, therefore they were bound by the advertisement, not by the contract. I think that is the most extraordinary position in law that was ever assumed. Why, sir, suppose you advertise to sell land upon a quit claim, and afterwards sell it and give a warranty, by what are you bound? By the advertisement, or by your deed? Are you not bound by the contract as you enter into it? I am not going to discuss before the Senate a principle of law which every man who ever read one of the horn books of the law must recognize as being correct. The parties are bound by the contract which they sign, and not by conversations and advertisements which occurred antecedent to the signing of the contract. What did Glover & Co. propose to do? They were there at the appointed time, and asked to carry the mail. It was refused to them on a ground which was no violation of the contract into which they had entered. There is no pretense that they were not prepared to execute the contract according to the bond, according to the agreement into which they had entered. The Postmaster General refuses to deliver the mail. They come here and complain that they had some twenty or more boats on their hands engaged to perform this service, and that in violation of the contract, the Postmaster General refused to allow them to do it; and they ask that an account be stated, and that they may be indemnified for whatever losses they have sustained. I do not know that they sustained any losses. I take it for granted that if they do not show before the accounting officers that they did sustain loss, nothing will be allowed them. If under these cir SENATE. cumstances they have lost money, it is the duty of the Government to pay it back to them. If your high official, your high executive officers commit errors like this, you must be accountable to the innocent parties who have endeavored to serve you according to their contract. I do not intend, nor do I deem it necessary, to go into a full review of the whole question of the Mississippi mail, nor is it involved in this matter. These parties claim that they have been injured by the failure of the Government to execute its contract with them, and if they have, clearly they are entitled to indemnity. I know the ground on which the Postmaster General puts this thing. It is that these parties did not own the boats; that they had merely chartered them for the service, and that they were doing no more than he was able to do through his agents, that was, shipping the mail by boats. I invoke the attention of Sen. ators to this, because I know there has been an industrious effort made in some quarters to produce a wrong impression upon the point that they did not own the boats, that they had their agent there simply to ship the mail. Suppose they did not own the boats; suppose they were shipping the mail; if they shipped and carried it according to the contract, what business was it with the Postmaster General whether they owned the boats or not? Suppose a man agreed to carry the mail from here to Baltimore, is it any business of the Postmaster General whether he owns the railroad that carries it or not? Suppose he undertakes to carry it from here to Warrenton, is it any business of the Postmaster General whether or not he owns the coaches in which it is carried? It is his busi. ness to carry it according to the schedule, and, if he carries it in that way, the Government is bound to pay for it. The difference between the manner in which Glover & Co., and the manner in which the Postmaster General proposes to carry the mail is, that he simply charters a boat when he happens to find one going out; he employs one and ships his mail upon it as he would flour, or whisky, or any other article of commerce; but these parties did not contract to carry the mail in this way. They were to have boats there, and to start and carry the mail whether they had freight or not. If they had no passengers, or no freight, if they had nothing but the mail, they were to start according to the contract. There, sir, is the substantial difference between the Postmaster General's mode of furnishing the mail upon the Mississippi, and the mode of these parties. It was no reason for refusing them the mail that they did not own the boats, that they simply proposed to take somebody else to perform the service, because that somebody else was to start according to the sched ule. Mr. BENJAMIN. I put the question to the chairman of the Committee on the Post Office and Post Roads, with the view of bringing again to the attention of the Senate the conduct of the Postmaster General. It was not that I had any special objection to the amendment now before the Senate. I am satisfied that the conduct of that official upon that occasion, as upon all other occasions in which I have had an opportunity of examining it, so far as regards the transportation of the mail upon the western waters, was in gross violation of his public duty, and in disregard of the repeated legislation of Congress on the subject. I do not desire now to enter into any special examination of the case, but simply to reply to some suggestions which fell from the honorable Senator from Texas, to the effect that he was satisfied, from a personal inspection of the papers in his hands, that both Congress and the Senators putting these questions would be perfectly satisfied with the action of the Postmaster General. I, for one, anticipate no such results from such an examination; but I believe the result of such examination will leave me in precisely the same train of mind in which I am now, a frame of mind which would induce me, with singular satisfaction, to vote in favor of a resolution that the Senate of the United States advise and consent to the appointment of a successor to the present inefficient and incompetent head of that Department. Mr. RUSK. I had hoped that the conduct of the Postmaster General, any further than it is necessary in connection with this matter, would not be alluded to in refusing to carry out this 33D CONG....2D SESS. contract, especially after what I had stated, that the committee had only received the information this morning, and at the proper time would lay it before the Senate. I do not think there is any necessity, at this late stage of the session, to make a bill of indictment against the Postmaster General, or to enter into his defense. I am as much in favor of furnishing the community, and especially that portion of it in the Mississippi valley, with mail facilities, as the honorable Senator from LouiBiana. But, sir, there is a wide distinction in my mind between a profitable contract or job with the Government and furnishing mail facilities to the community. It is known to every one that the Central Illinois railroad has just been finished. Owing to the severity of winter, there is, so far, very little travel upon it. In all probability, early in the spring, or during the next summer, and thereafter, there will be a large travel there. That will, as a matter of course, induce boats to go through to Cairo for the purpose of taking the passengers from the Central Illinois railroad, going in the direction of New Orleans, and then the Postmaster General will be enabled to make a contract which shall accommodate the communication much better and at a vastly cheaper price than he could make if forced by law to make it now. I do not intend to consume the time of the Senate on this subject. My intercourse with the Postmaster General has satisfied me that he is an officer of efficiency. Perhaps the Senator from Louisiana is anxious to have mail facilities extended at whatever cost; I confess I am anxious to have these facilities, and I grumble at the Postmaster General very frequently because he does not furnish me with such as I desire in my own State; but, at the same time, we must see that the Postmaster General has a double duty to perform. While he is required to extend, so far as he can, the mail facilities, he has, also, to look to the revenues of his Department; and if you will observe them, you will see that they are greatly behind. I send to the Secretary a statement of the Postmaster General in answer to a request of mine, and also an additional statement about the steamboat service, and the propositions which were made to carry the mail on this route. I ask for the reading of the letter. Mr. ADAMS. I desire to inquire whether the communication to which the Senator refers is not in regard to a different matter altogether from the question now before the Senate? Mr. RUSK. It is not in reference to this amendment. Mr. ADAMS. Then I object to its reading. Mr. RUSK. I hope the honorable Senator will not object. I do not see how he can. The PRESIDING OFFICER, (Mr. Foor in the chair.) The Senator has a right to have it read in connection with his remarks. It is not for the Chair to decide upon its pertinency to the subject before the Senate. The Secretary read the following letter: POST OFFICE Department, February 26, 1855. SIR: The act of Congress approved 5th August, 1854, provided for the establishment of a daily mail on the Mississippi river, from Cairo, by Memphis, Napoleon, Vicksburg, Natchez, and Baton Rouge, to New Orleans. On the 29th August I issued an advertisement, inviting proposals for such service, to commence let January, 1855. The 6th November was specified as the last day for receiving proposals, and they were to be acted upon by the 11th of the same month. Sherlock, Rowe & Sherlock bid $300,000 per annum for the advertised daily service, or $325,000 for that and also the supply of the tri-weekly mails at Columbus, Hickman, New Madrid, Ashport, Oceola, Pecan Point, Randolph, Hickman's Bend, Fulton, Oldham, Napoleon, Victoria, Gaines's Landing, Columbia, Greenville, Point Worthington, Grand Lake, Princeton, Lake Providence, Tabula, Pecan Grove, Milliken's Bend, and Young's Point; or $350.000 per annum for daily mails to these places with those named in the advertisement. The only other bid was from A. J. Cain, at $185,000, which was subsequently withdrawn. These proposals appeared so extravagant as to induce me to defer any acceptance. The highest rate of pay for similar service, under existing contracts, in the United States is $191 25 per mile. This is paid on the route from New Orleans to Mobile on account of the peculiar difficulties of navigation and tolls at Grant's Pass. The average of pay on steamboat routes is but $60 60 per mile. The rate between Cairo and New Orleans, under the $300,000 bid, would be $283 28 per mile. Such extraordinary increase caused me to hesitate, not merely in view of this single case, but especially in apprehension of the effect which the acceptance of so extravagant a bid would have upon the interests of this Department, causing, as it necessarily would, demands for largely in Post Office Appropriation Bill-Debate. creased pay in future on other routes. That the rate proposed was unusually high will appear in a more glaring light by contrasting it with the pay to the same parties on the route between Louisville and St. Louis. Here the distance is five hundred and forty-four miles, for the most part on the Ohio river, where the service is liable to many obstructions and difficulties; on which route Messrs. Sherly & Sherlock conveyed mails daily at $70,000 per annum, which was considered high pay. Yet, on the Cairo and New Orleans route, one thousand and fifty-nine miles, not twice the length of the former, and on a river comparatively exempt from obstructions, they bid more than quadruple that sui, being over one hundred per centum above pro rata. Not receiving acceptable proposals, I proceeded to inquire as to making a private contract, according to the provisions of the act of Congress. Two special agents were sent to Cairo for the purpose of examining into the service, ascertaining the number of suitable boats on the river, and of obtaining generally such information as would facilitate the making of a contract. The report of these agents shows that there is, as yet, but little travel on the Illinois Central railroad, and that no steamboats are regularly connected with it, but that probably by the 1st July next the Ohio and Mississippi railroad will be extended so far eastwardly as to effect important changes in the course of trade and travel, and render a line of steamboats between Cairo and New Orleans, in connection with the Illinois Central railroad, both necessary for the public accommodation and profitable to the owners. Messrs. Sherlock, Rowe & Sherlock have reduced their bid of $300,000 to $255,000, being at once a difference of $45,000 per annum; and I am now also expecting proposals from other parties, and shall endeavor to make a contract, so soon as it can be done on proper terms, and with parties who are fully responsible and able to satisfy the demand of the public for better mail facilities than have heretofore existed on the Mississippi river. It may be proper to add that I have offered to give $150,000 a year for this service, a rate which I consider high in view of the prices paid in other sections, and of the almost certainty that this route must soon become one of the best traveled routes in the country. It is of the first importance that the contractors should be able to keep the mail line wholly and absolutely under their control; otherwise the mails will continue to be shipped, in whole or in part, on transient boats, thus perpetuating the evils which the act of Congress was evidently designed to remove. I transmit herewith a copy of the report of W. M. Murphy, special agent, and also a table showing the pay on the several steamboat routes in the Union. I have the honor to be, &c., JAMES CAMPBELL. Hon. THOMAS J. RUSK, Chairman of Committee on Post Office and Post Roads, United States Senate. Mr. BENJAMIN. The communication just read, from the Postmaster General is, in substance, a repetition of the report recently made to the Senate in reply to the resolution of the Senator from Tennessee. I consider it again a gross insult to the legislative department of the Government, and I mean to state the reasons why I characterize it in these terms. In August, 1854, a discussion took place in the Senate on the subject of this western mail. Years had elapsed from the period when the people of the western country commenced first the agitation upon the subject of having proper mail facilities upon the Mississippi and Ohio rivers. Application had been made to the Executive Department, again and again, in all its branches, and finding them deaf to all appeals of the people for relief, we were driven to Congress, and made application to the legislative department for proper action on the subject. Two years ago, a law was passed by which the Postmaster General was ordered to put this mail upon the Mississippi river, but, under the peculiar phraseology of the act, he considered that he had a discretion, when the gentlemen who represented that section of the country were satisfied that he had none. He reported to Congress that he had not put the mail upon the western rivers in accordance with that act, by reason of difficulty in relation to the contract and the cost of the service. The gentlemen representing the States upon the Mississippi river, after a long and animated debate, succeeded in having a law passed at the last session of Congress. When that law was under discussion, some gentleman objected to its passage upon the ground that the existing legislation was sufficient to make it incumbent upon the Postmaster General to put that mail upon the western waters; but the friends of the mail, unwilling to leave the matter open to doubt or quibble, succeeded in prevailing upon Congress to pass a law directing that he should put that mail upon those waters, no matter what it should cost. Here is the language of the law: "The Postmaster General be authorized to establish a mail on the Mississippi river from Cairo to New Orleans, and from Keokuk, Iowa, to Galena, in Illinois, and that he contract for the same in one line, or in such divisions, or sections, or both, as may be most compatible with the public service; and to facilitate the execution of this section, the SENATE. Postmaster General may make immediate temporary arrangements for carrying said mail by the trip; and if he fails to obtain acceptable bids, after advertising for thirty days, he may make private contracts for earrying said mail, and the said mail shall be carried daily from Cairo to New Orleans." Three times that order is repeated to him. Upon every occasion he is told no discretion is to be pleaded by him hereafter as an excuse. He is told, you may make temporary arrangements, but you shall carry the mail. He is told, make public bids, but you shall carry the mail. He is told, if the public bids do not suit the state of your ideas of what is right and proper in your Department, you may make private bids, but you shall carry the mail daily. And now nine or ten months have elapsed since that imperative order of Congress was made, and on a call for information, on the motion of my friend from Tennessee, the Postmaster General tells us that he is examining into the subject; that, in his opinion, it would cost too much. The Senator from Texas, the chairman of the Committee on the Post Office and Post Roads, can find nothing to say except to repeat the lame and paltry excuse of this contumacious public officer. He gives us another reason. When we tell him that he shall carry the mail daily, he reports to us that when the Illinois Central railroad is completed, so as to make some connection with other mails, he will comply with the law. I do not know where the Postmaster General has slept the Rip Van Winkle sleep which seems to have buried his whole faculties in such a state of slumber that he does not know that, upon the western waters, this mail route upon the Mississippi connects with all the rest of the country, irrespective of the Illinois Central railroad. He tells us, in his last report, that, until the Illinois Central railroad is completed, the mail between Cario and New Orleans does not connect with any of the great public mails of the country. He is not yet awake to the fact that that is a great public line of itself. He considers the whole valley of the Mississippi as a mere adjunct of his railroad lines. He considers it as out of the official world, and when the progress of population and wealth of the western country shall meet his view and ideas of what are sufficient to maintain a mail route, he will give us a new line. He will exercise his judgment in contradistinction to that of Congress until then; but, in the mean time, the people of the western country are to wait their representatives in both branches of Congress are to wait-until he can make some arrangement by which this insignificant commerce and population are to be accommodated by connecting with some great mail line. This is a small adjunct to a great mail line. Mr. President, I did hope that the discussion the other day would have awakened up the sleepy faculties of this public officer, and that he would have become awake to the fact, that the western portion of this Confederacy is entitled to some consideration at the hands of the Executive Department, especially after two succeeding acts of Congress making it his imperative duty to act as we told him he should act; but here again is the same lame and flimsy defense, the same pretexta miserable pretext-utterly without foundation, by which an Executive officer of the Government undertakes to give his views of the policy which dictated a law of Congress. I trust, sir, that this debate will be continued by other gentlemen who represent the interests of that valley; and that they will speak, as I now speak, the voice of the people of the western part of this Confederacy, demanding, ordering, that their wishes shall be obey ed in this matter, when they have succeeded in obtaining twice, in succession, the sanction of our Legislature. Mr. BROWN. I quite concur with the Senator from Louisiana, that the Postmaster General, in reference to this Mississippi river mail, has displayed at all times a degree of obstinacy unparalleled in the history of an Executive officer, resorting continually to quibbles, to every conceivable quibble, to avoid the execution of the law. The Senator from Louisiana has stated the action of Congress correctly. In 1852 we passed a law requiring that the mail should be put upon that river. The predecessor of the present Post master General entered into a contract to carry the mail in obedience to the law. The first act |