35TH CONG....IST SESS.

to indifference on the part of the United States to the slave trade, especially at this unfortunate juncture of time, when this infamous traffic is assuming unusual magnitude and boldness, lays us under stern and peculiar obligations to employ the whole energies of the Government for the suppression of this unnatural crime. We owe it to our own character and faith as a nation. We owe it to the other Christian Powers of the world, before whom we were the first to denounce it as criminal, and to whom we inaugurated and commended the policy of its extirpation; we owe it to the manly records of our past, and the just expectations of our future; to the great cause of humanity and Christian civilization.

the judgment of the world. From that tribunal, by which its doom has been pronounced, there is no appeal.

Towards the consummation of a great object, so devoutly to be wished, the Republic is pledged to no undistinguished part. The glory of first branding the traffic and initiating the policy for its suppression is ours. If we are true to ourselves, we shall labor to deserve the chief plaudits of the world in the hour of final success.

It is a law of the chase that the huntsman who starts the game is entitled to be in at the death. Let the Republic, which inaugurated the enterprise, lead the nations in the pursuit, and to the fame of its beginning add the brighter luster of its close.

Instead of vigorously and earnestly employing the means and remedies we already have, or devising new and more effectual measures to suppress the evil, we seem at least to stand in the way

The fact that we have resisted the pretension of the British Government as well to the right of visitation as of search, and claimed for our flag absolute inviolability upon the highway of nations, coupled with our refusal hitherto to join the principal maritime Powers of the world in their common efforts to suppress the trade by yielding the mutual right of search, through treaty stipulations, has led, as might well have been foreseen, to the general and fraudulent use of our national ensign to cover and protect this great crime. These facts are so well put by Mr. Calhoun, in his able defense of the Ashburton treaty, that I beg leave to read an extract from his remarks, not only because of the clearness and brevity of the statement, but also on account of the peculiar class of opinions which that distinguished statesman was supposed to represent. Mr. Calhoun said:

"Congress, at an early day-as soon, in fact, as it could legislate on the subject under the Constitution-passed laws enacting severe penalties against the African slave trade. That was followed by the treaty of Ghent, which declared it to be irreconcilable with the principles of humanity and justice, and stipulated that both of the parties-the United States and Great Britain-should use their best endeavors to effect its abolition. Shortly after, an act of Congress was passed declaring it to be piracy, and a resolution was adopted by Congress requesting the President to enter into arrangements with other Powers for its suppression. Great Britain, actuated by the same feeling, succeeded in making treaties with the European maritime Powers for its suppression; and, not long before the commencement of this negotiation, had entered into joint stipulations with the five great Powers to back her on the question of search. She had thus acquired a general supervision of the trade along the African coast, so that vessels carrying the flag of every other country, except ours, were subject, on that coast, to the inspection of her cruisers, and to be captured if suspected of being engaged in the slave trade. In consequence ours became almost the only flag used by those engaged in the trade, whether our own people or foreigners; although our laws inhibited the traffic under the severest penalties. "In this state of things, Great Britain put forward the claim of the right of search as indispensable to suppress a trade prohibited by the laws of the civilized world, and to the execution of the laws and treaties of nations associated with her by mutual engagements for its suppression. At this stage, a correspondence took place between our late Minister at the Court of St. James, and Lord Palmerston, on the subject, in which the latter openly and boldly claimed the right of search, and which was promptly and decidedly repelled on our side. We had long since taken our stand against it, and had resisted its abuse as a belligerent right at the mouth of the cannon. Neither honor nor policy on our part could tolerate its exercise, in time of peace, in any form, whether in that of search, as claimed by Lord Palmerston, or the less offensive and reasonable one of visitation, as proposed by his successor, Lord Aberdeen. And yet we were placed in such circumstances as to require that something should be done."

The question remains with us, whether anything shall be done. Action, immediate and earnest action, is demanded, if for no other reason, in order to preserve our faith and honor as a nation. We are committed against this trade by an irreversible record. The Christian world is committed against it. The instincts of our common humanity arraign and condemn it as the most atrocious of crimes, and call for its immediate suppression.

From the catalogue of human wrongs, this has been singled out for ignominy and extinction by

has of late largely increased, and is now principally prosecuted under the cover of the American flag, is notorious. This has been lately charged by the Government of Great Britain and not denied by our own.

The note of Lord Napier to General Cass, of the 24th of December last, contains, on this subject, a mortifying statement of facts, and a noble and generous appeal. He says:

"It has been my duty, under the instructions of her Majesty's Government, to draw your attention verbally, on several occasions, to the present activity of the African slave trade, to the fact that it is now chiefly prosecuted by the criminal and fraudulent assumption of the United States flag, and to the incommensurate means which are employed for its suppression.

"I have also, in an official letter of the 16th of September last, conveyed to you the hope of her Majesty's Government that their increasing efforts for the extinction of this traffic may be supported by the hearty cooperation of the naval forces of the United States."

*

"Since I had the honor of addressing you, additional evidence has transpired of the abuses to which I have alluded. I have been directed by the Earl of Clarendon to make a written communication to you of certain particulars hereafter stated, and I deem the occasion proper for presenting, at the same time, such a general view of the subject as the materials at my command afford, and which, I trust, notwithstanding its incompleteness, will furnish the United States Cabinet with ground for serious deliberation, and for repressive measures of an energetic character.

The demand for slaves in the Cuban market is supplied by vessels constructed, purchased, and often possessed and fitted out in the ports of the United States. The number of ships so employed cannot be exactly ascertained; but, in the opinion of competent judges, it is considerable and increasing.

"The accompanying extracts from the official correspondence of her Majesty's consular authorities in Cuba, and the reports of the British functionaries on the coast of Africa, which I have also the honor to inelose, are submitted to the attention of the Government of the United States in the belief that similar information has not reached them from any other quarter.

"The vessels engaged in this branch of the slave trade, which alone possess any vigor or extension, whether owned by American citizens, by colonial Spaniards, or by foreign residents in the Union; whether issuing from the harbors of the United States or from those of Cuba, have now embraced the almost universal habit of hoisting the colors of the United States for the purpose of sheltering themselves against the scrutiny of the British cruisers."

The Secretary of State of the United States admits that he has no doubt that "his lordship is correct in the statement that the American flag has been fraudulently assumed by the vessels of other nations engaged in the traffic," but gives in his long and elaborate reply no assurance or promise to the country or the world that any very effectual measures will be prosecuted, at least during this Administration, to arrest the evils complained of, or prevent the piratical prostitution and use of our flag.

There is, in my judgment, nothing wanting to secure the complete destruction and overthrow of the slave trade, at once and forever, except the cordial and earnest coöperation of the United States with the maritime Powers of Europe in such reciprocal measures as the wisdom and experience of the past have shown would be both effective and feasible for the accomplishment of the end proposed.

Some plan provided for by treaty with Great Britain and the other principal European Powers, and conceding on our part the mutual and equal right of visitation and search, is believed to be indispensable for the removal of this gigantic and

inveterate wrong.

That such reciprocal right might successfully

HO. OF REPS.

be administered, under such well-regulated and well-defined limitations as would prevent any serious inconvenience or abuse, cannot be doubted. The evil is not beyond the reach of human reme dies; and wherever there is a will there is a way.

The concession would be as compatible with national honor as consonant with the Christian sentiment of the world. Whatever rights are conceded in furtherance of a common end, equivalent rights would be yielded in return, and equality is not dishonor.

To a fair and equal concurrence in a scheme of this character, the United States has been repeatedly invited, and has as often, and in my judgment, without sufficient reasons, declined. The history of our country, however, is not without evidence of earnest effort, on the part of certain departments of the Government, to induce the proposed coöperation.

In 1820, so much of the annual message of Mr. Monroe as related to the suppression of the slave trade was referred to a special committee of the House of Representatives. In their report, subsequently submitted to the House, the committee

said:

"On this subject the United States, having led the way, owe it to themselves to give their influence and cordial co operation to any measure that will accomplish the great and good purpose; but this happy result, experience has demonstrated, cannot be realized by any system, except a conces sion by the maritime Powers to each other's ships of war of a qualified right of search. If this object was generally attained, it is confidently believed that the active exertions of even a few nations would be sufficient entirely to suppress the slave trade."

Such was the judgment and such the spirit of the people's representatives, at that period, upon this important subject. They felt, in the language of Mr. Calhoun at a later period, that "something should be done." Again, in 1822, a committee of the House, raised upon the same subject, made an able and convincing report, in which, among other things, they said:

"But the conclusion to which your committee has arrived, after consulting all the evidence within their reach, is, that the African slave trade now prevails to a great extent, and that its total suppression can never be effected by the separate and disunited efforts of one or more States; and, as the resolution to which this report refers requires the suggestion of some remedy for the defects, if any exist, in the system of laws for the suppression of this traffic, your committee beg leave to call the attention of the House to the report and accompanying documents, submitted to the last Congress by the Committee on the Slave Trade, and to make the same a part of this report. That report proposes, as a remedy for the existing evils of the system, the concurrence of the United States with one or all the maritime Powers of Europe in a modified and reciprocal right of search on the African coast, with a view to the total suppression of the slave trade.

"It is with great delicacy that the committee have approached this subject, because they are aware that the rem edy which they have presumed to recommend to the consideration of the House requires the exercise of a power of another department of this Government, and that objec tions to the exercise of this power, in the mode here proposed, have hitherto existed in that department.

"Your committee are confident, however, that these objections apply rather to a particular proposition for the exchange of the right of search than to that modification of it which presents itself to your committee. They contem plate the trial and condemnation of such American citizens as may be found engaged in this forbidden trade, not by mixed tribunals sitting in a foreign country, but by existing courts of competent jurisdiction in the United States; they propose the same disposition of the captured Africans now authorized by law; and, least of all, their detention in America.

"They contemplate an exchange of this right which shall be in all respects reciprocal; an exchange which, deriving its sole authority from treaty, would exclude the pretension -which no nation, however, has presumed to set up that this right can be derived from the law of nations; and, further, they have limited it, in their conception of its appli cation, not only to certain latitudes, and to a certain dis tance from the coast of Africa, but to a small number of vessels to be employed by each Power, and to be previously designated. The visit and search, thus restricted, it is lieved, would insure the cooperation of oue great maritim Power in the proposed exchange, and guard it from the danger of abuse,

"Your committee cannot doubt that the people of Amer ica have the intelligence to distinguish between the rightf searching a neutral on the high seas in time of war, claimed by some belligerents, and that mutual, restricted, and peaceful concession, by treaty, suggested by your committee, and which is demanded in the name of suffering humanity."

The proposition was earnestly and ably seetered upon for the purpose of securing the object, onded by Mr. Monroe. Negotiations were enUnited States and the Government of Great Britand in March, 1824, a convention between the things stipulated for, was "the right of visiung, ain was actually signed, in which, among other

A

Mr. SPEAKER: Early in the present session I referred this bill to the Committee on Revolutionary Claims; and the committee, after a careful examination of its provisions, with entire unanimity reported it back, and it was placed on the Calendar of the House. I had expected to reach it in the regular order, but as that is now impossible, I have adopted this, the only method, of getting it before the House for consideration this session; and while I make an appeal to the friends of the bill, the friends of the heroes of our revolutionary struggle, the friends of equity and justice, to aid in suspending the rules, I beg the indulgence of the House to briefly assign my reasons in favor of the passage of the bill.

It differs from that of the late distinguished Senator from South Carolina, Judge Evans, which passed both Houses of Congress at different sessions, in this: it allowed the half pay promised by Congress, from the close of the Revolution to 1826, and deducts the commutation certificates for five years' full pay, which the officers received, (although worth at the time one eighth only of their apparent value,) but does not deduct the pensions allowed the survivors by the act of May 15, 1828; nor does it make any provision for the soldiers; whereas my bill allows the half pay from the close of the war to the date of the officer's death, and deducts all the Government ever paid by way of commutation, or as pensions under the act of 1828. It also grants a quarter section of land to the surviving children of the soldiers: in other words, extends to them the benefits of the act of March 3, 1855, from which they are excluded by the word "minor," their being no minor heirs of the revolutionary soldiers.

The committee, in their able report, have sustained the principles of this bill in a masterly and conclusive manner; and I cannot so successfully, by any argument of my own, make plain to the House and the country the great injustice of our refusal to pass this bill, as by including a portion of it in my remarks.

The committee say:

"That, since the Revolution, the claims of the officers of the continental army for the half pay for life, promised them by various resolutions of the Continental Congress, have frequently been before the committees of this House, and received their favorable consideration. At the last Congress a report was made from the Committee on Revolutionary Pensions, by Mr. Broom, (see House Report No. 31, first session Thirty-Fourth Congress,) in which the subject is so fully considered that the cominittce deem it un

Revolutionary Claims-Mr. Fenton.

necessary to enlarge upon the views therein expressed, but adopt it as a part of their report, to be printed therewith. "From an examination of that report, and various other documents relating to the subject, your committee have arrived at the following conclusions:

"1. That the resolves of October 21, 1780, and other acts of Congress, promising half pay for life to the officers of the Continental army who should serve to the end of the war, or until the time of their reduction, formed a contract between the United States and the officers of the Army, in their individual capacity, at a time when both were free to make it, founded upon a good and valid consideration.

"2. That the officers fully performed and fulfilled the contract on their part, and by their services, sacrifices, and sufferings, gained the liberty and independence of the country:

3. That on the performance of said contract, each officer, as an individual, acquired a vested right of property therein, of which he could not be divested without due process of law,' or by his own free and voluntary relinquishment; and any act of Congress impairing or affecting this right is repugnant to the Constitution and void. Under this contract each officer became entitled from the United States to half pay, according to the rank he held in the Army from the close of the revolutionary war, or from the time of his discharge from the service, until the period of his death, to be paid yearly and every year during that period; and for the performance of such contract on the part of the United States the faith of the nation was solemnly pledged. The committee also find that such officers were also entitled to an interest of six per cent. per annum on the yearly paydeath to the time of settlement, under the resolution of ments, and on the aggregate from the date of the officer's Congress passed June 3, 1784, which provides that an interest of six per cent. shall be allowed to all the creditors of the United States for supplies furnished or services done, from the time that payment became due. In alluding to this resolve, Chief Justice Gilchrist, of the Court of Claims, in a recent decision, says: 'No language could be more express or free from doubt than this. The resolution was passed from a feeling that it was just and right that interest should be paid from the time the half pay became duc, and it was a voluntary contract on the part of the United States, constituting a legal claim against them which no subsequent legislation could release without the consent of the other party.' The above contract for half pay, although made under the Confederation, is equally binding upon Congress, for by the sixth article of the Constitution of the United States, section one, all debts contracted or engagements entered into before the adoption of this Constitution, shall be as valid against the United States under this Constitution as under the Confederation.'

"4. That on the 22d of March, 1783, an attempt to avoid the above contract and procure satisfaction thereof was made by Congress, under an act called the commutation act, by which it was proposed to coinmute the above life annuities for five years' full pay.

5. This act was manifestly unjust in compelling individuals to abide by the decisions of the lines of the Army, and placing the old and the young on an equal footing. An officer sixty years of age might well commute his life annuity for ten years' half pay in advance, while one of thirty would have a right, upon the principles which govern life annuities, to estimate his life at a much longer period. It wholly deprived the officers, as individuals, of the right to determine whether they would accept or refuse, and the committee have not been able to ascertain that the officers, either by lines or as individuals, ever gave their assent to the commutation. But if, under the pressure of their poverty, (for be it remembered the Continental money in which their monthly stipends had been paid was nearly valueless,) they had assented, it cannot be considered as a voluntary assent, but rather a submission to an uncontrollable and instant necessity, which admitted of no deliberation or delay. The resolve of Congress, an act of the Government, left them no choice except to abide by the decision of the lines and corps of the Army. They were entirely within the power of the Government, and could do nothing which presented better prospects for themselves.

6. The money was not paid, nor were the securities bearing an interest of six per cent., such as the act contemplated, or as the officers expected. The Government made no provision for the payment of either principal or interest of the commutation until long after the imperious necessities of the officers compelled them to part with the certificates for less than a year's pay. It is true, however, that paper certificates of service were issued by John Pierce, paymaster, payable to the officers or bearer, for five years' full pay, and many doubtless received them. They were worth, at the time of their issue, one eighth of a dollar only; and not until after a period of about ten years, and most of them were in the hands of speculators, were they funded and paid by the United States. The loss of

interest alone on the commutation of a captain, ($2,400,) who lived in 1828, was $2,536, and so in proportion to other officers; and this amount the Government saved by the commutation.-See Annals of Congress, vol. 4, part 1, for 1827-28, page 441.

"The commutation then is clearly liable to the follow

ing objections:

1. That the commutation was not a valid accord and satisfaction for the half pay for life.

2. That it was so construed as to take away the rights

of these officers under the resolve of October, 1780. "3. Of not being an equivalent for the half pay. "4. Of having been effected under circumstances, and by the operation of motives, which deprive it of all obligatory force.

5. That, according to strict legal construction, these officers did not commute their promised half pay for life by accepting the so-called commutation certificates; they, in no respect, having been in conformity to the act. "6. Of partial execution.

7. The reports of Mr. Madison in 1783, Mr. Nelson in 1810, Mr. Johnson in 1818, Mr. Sergeant, December 10, 1819, Mr. Hemphill, January 3, 1826, Mr. Burgess, May 8,

Ho. oF REPS.

1826, and February 11, 1828; the act of May 15, 1828, Senator Walker's report in 1852, Senator Evans's, February 4, 1854, and Mr. Broom, April 4, 1856, show a repeated recognition of the contract on the part of Congress; but no general provision appears to have been made by Congress for the relief of these officers until the act of May 15, 1828, in which the contract of 1780 is fully recognized. They are there acknowledged as creditors of the Government, and not pensioners. That ct, however, applies to the few surviving officers only, and made no provision for those who died before its passage.

"In the very able report of Mr. Burgess, made February 11, 1828, the committee say: That in their opinion, the delivery of those certificates, as well on general principles as on those which govern courts of law and equity, did not annul the right of half pay, or exonerate the Government from the obligations of the original contract. Such of those officers as had survived the war, and continued in the service until peace, became severally and individually vested with a complete right to the reward of half pay for the residue of their lives. The reward was gallantly won at the point of the sword; it was the price of our independence purchased with blood, and secured by public faith.'

"The committee, therefore, report the bill referred to them without amendment, and recommend its passage. It allows half pay for life to the officers from the close of the Revolution to the date of their death, deducting therefrom all sums which have ever been paid to them by the Government by way of commutation or as pay, under the act of May 15, 1828. For the purpose of extending to the surviving children of the soldiers of the Revolution the benefits of the act of March 3, 1855, a section has been inserted for that purpose. The act referred to was doubtless intended to embrace their claims, but the word 'minor' excludes them, as there are no minor children' of the Revolution; and hence the necessity of further legislation in behalf of these meritorious claimants. The committee will add that bills embracing the principle contained in the bill herewith' reported, so far as relates to the officers and their descendants, have passed the Senate and House of Representatives by large majorities, at different sessions of Congress."

Strange to say, nearly fifty years ago a bill similar, but much more liberal in its provisions, to the bill now before the House, was reported at a time when all business of the country was depressed, and the Treasury was empty, for this half pay, and all the committees to whom these claims have been referred since that time have all united in the admission that these claims for half pay were justly due. How could they do otherwise? History finds that after the war had continued some fifteen months by enlistments for short terms, Congress resolved to raise eightycight battalions to serve for the war; and that on the 16th September, 1776,

"Resolved, That, in addition to a money bounty of twenty dollars to each non-commissioned officer and private soldier, Congress make provision for granting lands, in the following proportions, to the officers and soldiers who shall engage in the service, and continue therein to the close of the war, or until discharged by Congress, and to the representatives of such officers and soldiers as shall be slain by the enemy. Such lands to be provided by the United States; and whatever expense shall be necessary to procure such land, the said expense shall be paid and borne by the States, in the same proportion as the other expenses of the war, namely: to a colonel, five hundred acres; to a lieutenant colonel, four hundred and fifty acres; to a major, four hundred acres; to a captain, three hundred acres ; to a lientenant, two hundred acres; to an ensign, one hundred and fifty acres; each non-commissioned officer and soldier, one hundred acres."

And Congress afterward was obliged to add the resolve of May 15, 1778:

"Resolved, unanimously, That all military officers conmissioned by Congress, who are now or hereafter may be in the service of the United States, and shall continue therein during the war, and not hold any office of profit under those States, or any of them, shall, after the conclusion of the war, be entitled to receive annually for the term of seven years, if they live so long, one half of the present pay of such officers: Provided, That no general officer of the cavalry, artillery, or infantry, shall be entitled to receive more than the one half part of the pay of a colonel of such corps, respectively."

And it should not be forgotten that during this time the Government was in good credit, and the war was being carried on with loan office bills and certificates; and there had issued up to November 29, 1779, two hundred million of dollars, and a very large amount of other classes of Government securities; that the Government soon after became utterly insolvent, and all the schemes of the Government to carry on the war by the aid of loan offices utterly failed; and as early as March 18, 1780, Congress was obliged to relinquish the hope of redeeming the Government paper, (much of it then being in the hands of the officers,) and on the 18th of April, 1780, passed a resolution

"That the principal of all certificates taken out since the 18th of March, 1780, should be discharged at the rate of one Spanish milled dollar, or the current exchange thereof in other money at the time of payment, for forty dollars of the said bills of credit secured on loan; and that the principal of all certificates that should thereafter be taken out, until

35TH CONG....1ST SESS.

the further order of Congress, be discharged at the same rate and in the same manner as those that had been taken out since the 18th of March, 1780."

Here, then, was the public declaration of the utter insolvency of the Government, as early as the 18th of March, 1780.

Thus, while the State troops were being paid by State authorities, the Provincial Government had neither money nor credit to carry on the war. These important facts should be kept in view; for it will be seen that after the war had continued over five years that, in consequence of the utter insolvency of the Government, two distinct classes of currency were established by law. That the paper of the Government had ceased to be considered as security, and therefore the seven years' half pay contract of October 3, 1780, promised the supernumerary officers, was made payable in specie. That on the 3d of October, 1780, Congress reorganized the Army, to take effect on the 1st of January, 1

7, 1781, the effect of which was to throw many ⚫ of the officers out of service. They, therefore, at the same time, adopted the following resolution:

"And whereas, by the foregoing arrangement, many deserving officers must become supernumerary, and it is proper that regard be had to thein:

"Resolved, That from the time the reform of the Army takes place, they be entitled to half pay for seven years, in specie, or other current money equivalent, and also grants of land at the close of the war, agreeably to the resolution of the 16th of September, 1776.”

It will be observed, by the letter of General Washington, that it became necessary, inasmuch as there was no funds in the Treasury, to offer some strong inducement by pledging the honor of the nation for some prospective reward, and all were embraced in the resolve of October 21, 1780.

It was at this critical time of the eight years struggle for liberty, when the hopes of those who had born its burdens seemed about to terminate in disappointment and despair, that Congress on the 21st day of October, 1780, after the repeated and earnest solicitations of Washington,

"Resolved, That the Commander-in-Chief, and commanding officer in the southern department, direct the officers of each State to meet and agree upon the officers for the regiments to be raised by their respective States, from those who incline to continue in service; and where it cannot be done by agreement, to be determined by seniority, and make return of those who are to remain; which is to be transmitted to Congress, together with the names of the officers reduced, who are to be allowed half pay for life. That the officers who shall continue in the service to the end of the war shall also be entitled to half pay during life, to commence from the time of their reduction."

This resolution having embraced those officers named in that of October 3, 1780, it was simply supplementary, additional to, and blending of that contract, and was therefore payable in specie. It could not have been viewed otherwise, because the act of the 18th of March and April, and 28th June, 1780, fixing the value of all Government paper to two and a half dollars to the hundred, was in full force and so continued during the whole period of the old Confederacy. Here, then, it is admitted that this was a solemn contract, by which these officers were promised half of their annual pay during their lives; that this life estate was, as the committees have always found, a vested right, and could not be impaired by any subsequent legislation; that it was a promise to each officer individually. Was this half-pay contract for life ever paid in specie or otherwise, during the period of the old Confederacy? All agree that no portion of principal or interest was ever paid during that time nor since as half pay.

But it is sometimes contended that the computation act, as it is sometimes called, of March 22, 1783, was passed at the request of some of the officers. Because, as it is alleged in the preamble of the resolution itself "in order to remove all subject of dissatisfaction from the minds of their fellowcitizens, (not the officers let it be remembered:)

"And whereas, Congress are desirous as well of gratifying the reasonable expectations of the officers of the Army as removing all objections which may exist in any part of the United States to the principle of the half pay establishment, for which the faith of the United States hath been pledged; persuaded that those objections can only arise from the nature of the compensation, not from any indisposition to compensate those whose services, sacrifices, and sufferings, have so just a title to the approbation and rewards of their country: Therefore,

"Resolved, That such officers as are now in service, and shall continue therein to the end of the war, shall be entitled to receive the amount of five years' full pay in money or securities on interest at six per cent. per annum, as Congress shall find most convenient, instead of the half pay

Revolutionary Claims-Mr. Fenton.

promised for life by the resolution of the 21st day of October, 1780; the said securities to be such as shall be given to other creditors of the United States: Provided, it be at the option of the lines of the respective States, and not of officers, individually, in those lines, to accept or refuse the same: And provided, also, that their election shall be signified to Congress, through the Commander-in-Chief, from the lines under his immediate command, within two months, and through the commanding officer of the southern army, from those under his command, within six months from the date of this resolution."

This act does not repeal that of the 21st October, 1780, and there are many objections to this resolve which should be conclusive why it ought not to have any influence over the half-pay con

tract.

1. Because it appears by the preamble that the few officers who petitioned Congress for some act which should give them a sum in gross for a term of years did so for the only reason to remove "dissatisfaction from the minds of their fellow-cilizens" to the "half-pay establishment.”

2. Because, by the terms of the act itself, the officers were expressly prohibited from expressing their dissent to the same.

3. Because this resolve was not passed until after the peace, after the contract had been fulfilled on the part of the officers.

4. Because it was well known to Congress, at the time of the passage of that act, the Government had no power to comply with any of the conditions of that act, either to pay said officers in specie or give them security. The sending out those commutation certificates, and inducing the officer to believe that they were to be secured and brought within the terms even of this resolve, was utterly at variance and inconsistent with, and in violation of, the pledged faith of the American people; and the officers should not be held to account for only their legal value, two dollars and a half to the hundred; this was its true value by law during all the period of the old Confederacy, for some three years afterwards; and it was merely a certificate of a captain's rank for only sixty dollars instead of twenty-four hundred dollars. And this was the relation of the officers who held a spec e-paying contract through all the old and during the new Confederacy up to the 4th of August, 1790. Even at this late day; after these certificates had been passed from hand to hand at their legal value of $2 50 to the hundred, and while out of the hands of the officers, they are funded on the specie basis of one dollar to the hundred.

But in order to remove all doubts in relation to the final disposition of these certificates, even by those who held them, and to show that there was deducted, and never paid to any person whatever, in the ratio of a captain's grade, which amounted on the 1st day of January, 1828, to the sum of $2,536 32, the second section of the funding act of August 4, 1790, authorizes the President to cause $12,000,000 to be borrowed, part to pay arrears and installments of the foreign debt, and to make other contracts relating to the foreign debt. The act then proceeds in reation to the domestic debt thus:

"And whereas it is desirable to adapt the nature of the provision to be made for the domestic debt to the present circumstances of the United States, as far as it shall be found practicable, consistently with good faith and the rights of the creditors, which can only be done by a voluntary loan on their part."

The third section then authorizes a loan to be proposed to the full amount of the "domestic debt," by opening books for receiving subscriptions, by a commissioner of loans, to be appointed in each of the States; and that the sums which shall be subscribed thereto be payable in "certificates," issued for the said debt according to their specie value; which said certificates are designated and described as follows:

"1. The certificates' issued by the Register of the Treasury.

6

"2. Those issued by the commissioners of loans in the several States, including certificates' given pursuant to the act of Congress of the 2d January, 1779, for bills of credit of the several emissions of the 20th May, 1777, and of the 11th April, 1778.

"3. Those issued by the commissioners for the adjustment of the accounts of the quartermaster, commissary, hospital, clothing, and marine departments.

4. Those issued by the commissioners for the adjustment of accounts in the respective States.

5. Those issued by the late and present Paymaster General, or commissioner of Army accounts.

6. Those issued for the payment of interest, commonly called indents of interest.

7. And the bills of credit' issued by the authority of

HO. OF REPS.

the United States, in Congress assembled, at the rate of $100 in the said bills for one dollar in specie."

The fourth section designates and describes the three new certificates which the subscribers to the said loans shall be entitled to receive; upon all certificates bearing interest the same is to be received up to the last day of December, 1790.

"That for the whole or any part of any sum subscribed to the said loan, by any person or persons, or body-politie, which shall be paid in the principal of the said domestic debt, the subscriber or subscribers shall be entitled to a certificate purporting that the United States owe to the holder or holders thereof, his, her, or their assigns, a sum to be ex pressed therein, equal to two thirds of the sum so paid, bearing an interest of six per centum per annum, payable quarter yearly, and subject to redemption by payments not exceed ing in one year in amount of principal and interest the proportion of eight dollars upon a hundred of the sum mentioned in said certificate. A second certificate for one third, payable as aforesaid, bearing interest after 1800. A third certificate, for the amount of the interest, bearing an interest at three per centum per annum, payable quarter yearly; provided it shall not be understood that the United States shall be bound or obliged to redeem in the proportion afore said; but it shall be understood only that they have a right

to do so."

Thus the facts find that none of the terms or conditions of the resolve of March 22, 1783, were complied with by the old or the new Government, but repudiated. This five years' full pay, by the terms of the resolve, was to have been paid in specie or securities. This first contract for half pay being payable in specie, it would have been exchanging specie for the depreciated paper of the Government, worth by law only two and a half dol lars to the hundred. Such an act might conditionally have been considered supplementary to that of October 21, but that having utterly failed in its execution, it is not important to show whether the officers, relying upon the good faith of the Government at that time, accepted said certificates or

not.

It is certainly true, that if they had been either specie or security, it would not have been necessary for the holders to have funded them at a loss of over thirty per cent. even on a term of time requiring about forty years for their liquidation. And not only so, this Government, it will be seen, by the funding act reserved the right of paying been found, some may not agree to the constru even that amount or not. But after these facts have

tion of the funding act. I therefore submit the remarks of Mr. Tucker, of New Jersey, while the same contract was being discussed, in passing the act of May 15, 1828. Referring to the records of the Register's office:

"Mr. TUCKER of New Jersey. It is ascertained. Mr. Chairman, that each captain, for his five years' full pay, re ceived a certificate for $2,400, bearing interest at six per cent., payable annually, and such a certificate Captain Dehart received in lieu of his Iralf pay for life, which ran eight years without payment of interest, as before stated, namely, from the 1st of January, 1783, to the 1st of January, 1791, the interest amounting on the latter day to $1,152; making in the aggregate $3,552. It will be recollected that in March, 1788, the present Government went into operation, and in the year 1790 made provision for and funded the public debt.

"Well, sir, how did they provide for the payment of Captain Dehart's $2,400 principal, and $1,152 interest, due on the 1st of January, 1791? Why, sir, they gave him three certificates-one for $1,600, being two thirds his principal, with interest at six per cent., and one for $800, the or third of his debt, but deferred ten years without interest: and, instead of paying his $1,152 down, or giving him paper at six per cent., they gave him a certificate for his $1.12 interest, redeemable at the pleasure of the United States. at three per cent. Let us now examine how this funding system operated:

1. Loss of interest on $800, deferred from 1st January, 1791, to 1st January, 1801, (ten years,) at six per cent. 2. Interest on the above su from the 1st January, 1801, to the 1st January, 1828, (twentyseven years,) at six per cent.

777 60

3. Loss of interest on the $1,152 of the three per cent., from 1st January, 1791, to 1st January, 1828, (thirty-seven years,) at three per cent.. 1,27872 Total loss of Captain Dehart, down to this time, $2.5

"And, in the same proportion, every officer's pay or commutation, according to his rank. "The commutation, then, is clearly liable to the following objections:

1. That the commutation was not a valid accord and satisfaction for half pay for life.

"2. That it was so construed as to take away the rights of these officers, under the resolve of October, 1780.

"3. Of not being an equivalent for the half pay "4. Of having been effected under circumstances, ard by the operation of motives, which deprive it of all obliga

tory force.

5. That according to strict legal construction, these offi accepting the so-called commutation certificates; they if cers did not commute their promised half pay for he by no respect having been in conformity to the act. 6. Of partial and defective execution."

35TH CONG.... 1ST SESS.

that the wages of toil and blood, the solemn promises for sacrifices and sufferings, to secure the liberties of America, had ever been discharged by only wind and trash.'”

*

*

"Without dwelling a moment on considerations before urged in the argument, in favor of the legality of this claim, let me ask what has been the reply to the position of the committee that, on strict legal principles, the promise of half pay for life has ever been fulfilled? Has any one shown that the half pay, in the form of half pay, has ever been paid? No pretense for it. Has any one shown that the half pay has ever been technically released? No pretense for it." "How, then, has the promise of October, 1780, been fulfilled? In no way, except by the act of commutation. But it could not be fulfilled by that act, unless all things were transacted in conformity to the provisions of that act." "Everybody feels and knows, likewise, that the payment, to be in conformity to the act, was to have been money, or at least securities equivalent to money, when, in truth, it was neither; and even under the most favorable view, if the certificates were kept till the funding, fell short of what was due, from one fourth to one third. So the certificates, or the payment, should have been made in September, 1783; but were not, in fact, made until some time in 1784-5, when worth much less. But, break through the forms of measures, and every lawyer, every constitutional statesman, must admit that, on strict legal principles, there should not only have been a conformity to the commutation act, but, in the act itself, to make it binding, there should have been a regard to private vested rights.""

In the early organization of the Government, the funding law was the only way in which over three hundred millions of indebtedness could at

that time have been otherwise disposed of. But not so now; the sacred pledges and words of Washington are as applicable to us as to the old Confederacy:

"The path of our duty is plain before us; honesty will be found, on every experiment, to be the best and only true policy. Let us, then, as a nation, be just; let us fulfill the public contracts which Congress had undoubtedly a right to make, for the purpose of carrying on the war, with the same good faith we suppose ourselves bound to perform private engagements.

"In this state of absolute freedom and perfect security, who will grudge to yield a very little of his property to support the common interest of society, and to insure the protection of Government? Who does not remember the frequent declarations, at the commencement of the war, that we should be completely satisfied if, at the expense of one half, we could defend the remainder of our possessions? "Where is the man to be found who wishes to remain indebted for the defense of his own person and property to the exertions, the bravery, and the blood of others, without making the generous effort to pay the debt of honor and gratitude? In what part of the continent shall we find a man, or body of men, who would not blush to stand up and propose measures purposely calculated to rob the soldier of his stipend, and the public creditor of his due? And were it possible that such a flagrant instance of injustice could ever happen, would it not excite the general indignation, and tend to bring down upon the authors of such measures the aggravated vengeance of Heaven?

"As to the idea which I am informed has in some instances prevailed, that half pay and commutation are to be regarded merely in the odious light of a pension, it ought to be exploded forever.

"That provision should be viewed as it really was, a reasonable compensation offered by Congress, at a time when they had nothing else to give to officers of the Army for services then to be performed.

"It was the only means to prevent a total dereliction of the service; it was a part of their hire.

"I may be allowed to say, it was the price of their blood and your independence."

It was more than a common debt; it is a debt of honor; it can never be considered as a pension or gratuity; nor canceled until it is fairly discharged.

These are not claims for a pension founded on a mere gratuity; but a legal debt, founded on a solemn contract duly recorded on the books of the Government, wherein there cannot by any possibility be any mistake as to the party, or the amount paid, and the sum now due."

The resolve of October 21, 1780, constituted a solemn contract with each officer for grants of land and half pay during life. The promise of land was blended with and made a part of the same entire consideration with the half-pay portion of the contract. The acknowledgment, presentation, or record, of the one, was the presentation, promise, and record, of the other. The suspension of the acts of limitation of one portion would equally affect the other. These were vested rights, and the contract could not be varied, rescinded, or impaired, by any subsequent acts of legislation, without the consent of each officer, individually. How did the Government meet their obligation for the land portion of the contract? Why, their land was assigned to them in the wilds of the

during all of the eight years' war for independence, was never before endured. Here the officers and soldiers, or many of them, sacrificed their lives in advancing the settlement of our great western territory, adding ten years more of service without pay for the benefit of our country. This Government became the assignee and trustee of the public domain.

The report of the Secretary of the Interior, of 1857, shows that the public surveys have already been extended over more than three fourths of the whole surface of the public domain. That surface, as therein stated, is fourteen hundred and fifty million acres; of this there have been surveyed and prepared for market, public lands &c., four hundred and one million six hundred and four thousand nine hundred and eighty-eight acres, of which quantity fifty-seven million four hundred and forty-two thousand eight hundred and seventy acres have never been offered, and are consequently now liable to public sale; in addition to which there were upwards of eighty million acres subject to entry at private sale on the 30th of September last.

of by private claims, grants, sales, &c., embraOf the public domain there have been disposed cing surveyed and unsurveyed land, three hunsixty-two thousand four hundred and sixty-four dred and sixty-three million eight hundred and acres; which, deducted from the whole surface, leaves undisposed of an area of one thousand and eighty-six million, one hundred and thirtyseven thousand five hundred and thirty-six acres.

It is said the cash sales of the public lands up to June 30, 1847, were for one hundred and thirtynine million thirty-two thousand eight hundred and fifty-five acres; grants for schools, &c., sixtyseven million seven hundred and thirty-six tl.ousand five hundred and seventy-two; internal improvements, ten million eight hundred and ninetyseven thousand three hundred and thirteen; none of which has been appropriated for the payment of these debts, long due. Much of it has been appropriated for mere objects of gratuity. There have been issued five hundred and forty-seven thousand two hundred and fifty land warrants, which required sixty million seven hundred and four thousand nine hundred and forty-two acres to satisfy. And since these claims have been presented for the consideration of Congress, strange to say-founded, as they are, upon an express contract, a mortgage on this public domain, embraced in this bill, all the provisions of which cannot call for the proceeds of the sales of over five million acres of this land, which many of them gave a service of eight years to acquire, and ten years' service to maintain-as I before remarked, more than fifty million acres have been applied for services of three months to fourteen days, amounting to over sixty-two million dollars, where there was no contract, express or implied; and this liberal action of our Government towards those who were engaged in the military service I entirely and cordially approve.

are,

How much of the $160,000,000 from the cash sales of these lands have been thus appropriated, it would not be an easy task to point out. There however, of this public domain, left undisposed of more than one thousand million acres. It would be a gross libel on the character and justice of the many very distinguished jurists, statesmen, and patriots, who have at different intervals since 1783, down to the present time, pronounced the commutation act of March 22, 1783, to have been founded on the great exigency of the Government, having for its object the delay of payment of just debts which could not have been met. Certificates of the Government could be funded, but the contract for half pay could not; this Government had long been preparing for that scheme of public finance, which was founded in necessity. Now, this appears to me a plain case; I trust it so appears to others. Certainly, upon a thorough examination of the subject, all must realize that great injustice has been done to those who have achieved our independence as a nation, and that it is the duty of Congress to remove at once the

foul blot which now rests upon our national honor.

HO. OF REPS.

I am moved to indignation at the ingratitude and the almost criminal neglect of the Government and the Representatives towards those who laid the foundation of all our greatness, our power, and our glory. Think not that the people will be content with delay-with the shuffling off from year to year these long-deferred and just claims. Let them know at once what they have to depend upon, and let it be in consonance with the voice of gratitude and justice. Be true to them, and they will be true to themselves and to you. They see us lavishly appropriating millions for purposes of doubtful expediency-if not, in part, to secure the advancement of party aims, to reward partisan favorites, and perpetuate in the rule of the Government measures of oppression and wrongwhile we tardily, if at all, discharge their honest demands. The spirit of inquiry is awake. They are now watching with earnest interest all our acts. It will not do to leave this work undone, and say that other things are proper because they have been done; their voice, which is mighty in making and unmaking Presidents, cabinets, and Representatives, will be heard throughout the land, demanding the reason: wherefore millions for you, and not one cent for us?

ARREST OF WALKER-CENTRAL AMERICA.

SPEECH OF HON. W. WINSLOW,
OF NORTH CAROLINA,

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,
May 31, 1858.

The House being in the Committee of the Whole on the state of the Union

Mr. WINSLOW said:.

Mr. CHAIRMAN: The interesting events which have recently occurred on the coast of Nicaragua and in the waters of the Caribbean sea, deemed by this House of sufficient importance to warrant a call upon the Executive for information, have justly excited much interest throughout the country, and therefore merit a thorough investigation.

Heretofore and ordinarily, the Executive and the other branch of the Legislature have drawn to themselves a monopoly of the foreign relations of the Government, and this House has rarely been called upon for consideration or in consult ation, save when an occasional money grant was necessary to carry out some article of a treaty stipulation. This has resulted from the peculiar structure of our Government and the forms of the Constitution. The present case, however, is one that peculiarly addresses itself to the unbiased consideration of the Representatives of the peo ple. It is our duty to look into it, and to pronounce upon it our judgment.

If it be true that the President has exceeded his powers, in his instructions to the officers charged with the command of your military marine, it is your right, nay, your imperative duty, so to pro

nounce.

If the commanders of your men of war have, running ahead of your instructions, committed acts not thereby warranted, whatever may have been the impelling motive, it is equally your duty

to take order thereon.

the