33 RELIEF OF THE LEGAL REPRESENTATIVES OF COBB, BLASDELL & CO. HEARING BEFORE SUBCOMMITTEE NO. 2 OF THE COMMITTEE ON WAR CLAIMS SEVENTIETH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION ON H. R. 4781 A BILL FOR THE RELIEF OF THE LEGAL REPRESENTATIVES RELIEF OF THE LEGAL REPRESENTATIVES OF COBB, BLASDELL & CO. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SUBCOMMITTEE No. 2 OF THE COMMITTEE ON WAR CLAIMS, Wednesday, March 7, 1928. The committee met at 2 o'clcok p. m., Hon. Joseph L. Hooper presiding. Mr. HOOPER. This is a hearing on H. R. 4781, a bill for the relief of the legal representatives of Cobb, Blasdell & Co., which reads: That the claim of the legal representatives of Cobb, Blasdell & Co., for oats purchased by them for the United States Government, in pursuance of written and oral contracts made by them with United States officers, be, and the same is hereby, referred to the Court of Claims of the United States with jurisdiction to hear and determine the same at the fair and reasonable value of the oats purchased as aforesaid, after deducing all proper credits, and report to Congress: Provided, That it be shown to the satisfaction of the court that said firm did not give any aid or comfort to the late Civil War There is obviously a slip of language there— but was throughout the war loyal to the Government of the United States. The statutes of limitations and section 179, Judicial Code, to the contrary notwithstanding. STATEMENT OF HON. HARRY C. CANFIELD, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF INDIANA Mr. HOOPER. Mr. Canfield, has this bill been before Congress before? Mr. CANFIELD. Yes, sir. Mr. HOOPER. When? Mr. CANFIELD. It has been before every session of Congress since I have been here, and I do not know how many before. Mr. HOOPER. You have introduced this bill? Mr. CANFIELD. Yes, sir; and this is the first time it has had consideration. Mr. HOOPER. There has never been any action taken by any Congress before that you know of? Mr. CANFIELD. There was action taken in the Fifty-fifth Congress, second session. Mr. HOOPER. You may give us the history of the claim, and then question you about it. we can Mr. CANFIELD. This is a claim to recover the difference between the contract price for oats purchased for the use of the United States Army and what they sold for, the United States officers refusing to receive them after tender had been made. The claimant had purchased under said contract bushels Mr. HOOPER. Where did this claimant live? Mr. CANFIELD. Formerly at Aurora, Ind. 970,000 Mr. HOOPER. Was that where he lived during the Civil War? Mr. CANFIELD. Well, I can not say as to that. He was doing business all over that part of the country. Mr. HOOPER. During the Civil War period? Mr. CANFIELD. Yes, sir; he was a big operator in grain. They paid for 616,000 bushels, leaving on hand 354,000 bushels. They paid for the first 616,000 bushels at the rate of 98.2 cents per bushel, which amounted to $347,628. The remaining 354,000 bushels had to be disposed of at 37 cents a bushel, which meant a loss to this claimant of $216,648. At the time the contract was entered into, there existed an emergency Mr. HOOPER. What year was it? Do you know? Mr. CANFIELD. I will give you all of that in a moment. As far as loyalty is concerned, there is no question about that. That has all been proved and taken up when this claim was considered before. Mr. HOOPER. Did the Court of Claims disallow the claim? Mr. CANFIELD. In 1883, December term, they brought suit in the Court of Claims, but the suit was dismissed for want of sufficient evidence. At the Fifty-fifth Congress, second session, the War Claims Committee recommended this bill that gave the Court of Claims jurisdiction to retry the claims. On April 5, 1908, Senate bill 6474 sent this claim to the Court of Claims for a finding of facts under the act of March 3, 1887. New and additional evidence was taken and the case was ready to be tried. Before it could be heard, the act of March 4, 1915, section 5, repealed the act of March 3, 1887, thereby preventing the court from considering said claim. In August, 1864, the Quartermaster Department, charged with the duty of supplying the commands of General Sherman and General Thomas, found itself short of forage, and active measures were taken by General Donaldson, chief quartermaster, at Nashville, to supply the deficiency. In November, 1864, he had gathered a vast amount of stores, grain, and hay at Johnsonville on the Tennessee River, for the supply of these commands. About the 1st of December, 1864, only 15 or 16 days before the battle of Nashville, all the stores collected at Johnsonville, amounting to nearly 2,000,000 bushels of grain and vast quantities of hay, were consumed by fire. The destruction of these stores produced a panic in the Quartermaster Department, and every effort under the instructions of General Thomas, then in command at Nashville, was put forth to replace them. A pressing necessity for forage existed, which extended through the months of December and January. General Thomas's army was then concentrated at Nashville, which was daily increasing by forces collected to repel the advance of the Confederate Army under General Hood, and preparations were also being made for the operations of a Cavalry force of about 30,000 strong, under General Wilson, upon the Southern States. These circumstances, combined with the fact that the corn crop of 1863 was nearly exhausted and the fact that the crop of 1864 was light |