hope of the committee that the course that government may adopt will be of a character to satisfy the just demands of this government, and, at the same time, to furnish a guaranty against the repetition of the offence. Nothing short of this, in the opinion of the committee, will be compatible with peaceful relations between the two countries.

In the present posture of the affair, therefore, the committee forbear from recommending any additional legislation to enable the President to protect American vesssels on the high seas from the aggression of foreign powers. But they will not forbear the declaration, that such legislation must be promptly supplied, should the result show that it is needed to afford instant and full immunity to our vessels, engaged in lawful commerce on the high seas, from all arrest, molestation, or detention, under any pretext or from any quarter.

In conclusion, the committee recommend the adoption of the following resolutions:

Resolved, as the judgment of the Senate, That American vessels on the high seas, in time of peace, bearing the American flag, remain under the jurisdiction of the country to which they belong; and, therefore, any visitation, molestation, or detention of such vessels by force, or by the exhibition of force, on the part of a foreign power, is in derogation of the sovereignty of the United States.

Resolved, That the recent and repeated violations of this immunity, committed by vessels-of-war belonging to the navy of Great Britain, in the Gulf of Mexico and the adjacent seas, by firing into, interrupting, and otherwise forcibly detaining them on their voyage, requires, in the judgment of the Senate, such unequivocal and final disposition of the subject by the governments of Great Britain and the United States touching the rights involved, as shall preclude, hereafter, the occurrence of like aggressions.

Resolved, That the Senate fully approves the action of the Executive in sending a naval force into the infested seas with orders "to protect all vessels of the United States on the high seas from search or detention by the vessels-of-war of any other nation." And it is the opinion of the Senate, that, if it becomes necessary, such additional legislation should be supplied in aid of the executive power as will make such protection effectual.

. COM

286

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES.

MAY 29, 1858.-Ordered to be printed.

Mr. POLK submitted the following

REPORT.

The Committee on Claims, to whom was referred the petition of George W. Bluford, report:

The petitioner contracted in the usual form to transport 618 barrels of pork from the navy yard at Gosport, Virginia, to the navy yard at Brooklyn, New York. The pork was shipped on board the schooner Jamestown, and the usual bill of lading given therefor. Fifty-eight barrels were lost on the passage.

The petitioner alleges that the government officers in charge insisted that all the pork should be taken on board, notwithstanding they were informed that a portion of it would have to be stored on deck, and that the vessel would be overloaded; and further, that, in consequence of such overloading, during a gale on the voyage, it became necessary to lighten the vessel by throwing a quantity of the pork overboard.

The United States libelled the Jamestown for the value of the pork lost, and after a full hearing before the United States district court for the eastern district of Virginia, a decree was rendered in favor of the government for the sum of $771 99, with interest, &c. The vessel having been released on bond, execution was issued for the recovery of the amount of the judgment, and returned by the marshal "nulla bona." The petitioner asks to be released from liability.

The committee think that it would be inexpedient and unsafe for Congress to undertake to revise and overrule, by special legislation, the judicial decisions of the courts in the exercise of their proper jurisdiction. No circumstances connected with the facts or proceedings in this case appear to the committee to justify or call for a departure from the above principle, and they therefore report the following resolution:

Resolved, That the claimant is not entitled to relief.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES.

MAY 29, 1858.-Ordered to be printed

Mr. MALLORY made the following

REPORT.

[To accompany Bill S. 418.]

The Committee on Claims, to whom was referred the memorial of Captain John B. Montgomery, report:

In 1841, Captain Montgomery was ordered to take charge of the recruiting service at Boston. This service involved the disbursement of public money, which was placed in his hands for that purpose. This money he, in common with other disbursing officers in that vicinity, kept on deposit in the Phoenix Bank, then regarded as a safe and reliable bank, equally by the public officers and the mercantile community. In October, 1842, the bank suddenly failed, at which time Captain Montgomery's deposits amounted to $687 95, as appears from the official statement of the receivers of the bank assets. Of this sum, $596 10 have since been paid in dividends out of the assets of the bank, and Captain Montgomery now asks that the balance of $91 85 may be passed to his credit on the books of the treasury. Acts of Congress have been passed for the relief of Pursers Wilson and Taylor, whose funds were deposited in the same institution and lost at the same time.-(See U. S. Statutes at Large, vol. 9, p. 717, and vol. 10, p. 847.)

The committee think the same measure of relief should be extended to Captain Montgomery, and report a bill accordingly.