792 high and peculiar qualifications for the mission, but as a resident of the American State most closely allied to that country in nearness and commercial relations. It will be remembered that, while a more liberal policy has recently obtained, the sections of their cities within which foreigners were permitted to reside were limited to small areas called "concessions." The house of the American legation was held by lease in the "concession" at Tokio, an unhealthy locality, where malaria had developed typhoid fever, causing death at the legation. When Mr. Swift arrived, this house was uninhabitable from defective drainage and other sanitary imperfections, necessitating a large expenditure to make it fit for occupancy. After Mr. Swift had occupied it only three months the property was sold, a renewal of the lease was denied, and the new owners demanded and were allowed immediate possession. It thus became necessary to seek new quarters, and a site was chosen near the legations of the other great powers, and Mr. Swift contracted with a wealthy Japanese for the building of the new legation. After the building was about two-thirds completed the Japanese Government bought the entire place, without consulting the American minister, and made a tender of it to the United States Government, with the condition that the United States would purchase the house at a cost of $30,000. The work on the house was discontinued, the foreign office of Japan claiming that it was the business of the contractor to finish it, while the contractor claimed that as the property had been bought by the Japanese Government it was their business to complete it. Having been turned out of the old legation, and not being able to live in an unfinished house, it became necessary to finish the house or that Mr. Swift should resign his position as minister to Japan, for the reason that it was necessary to prevent a rupture with the foreign office of the country to which he was accredited. To complete and furnish the house and office fo the legation, Mr. Swift was obliged to spend several thousand dollars of his private fortune, which, in consideration of the peculiar complications involved, he expected would be reimbursed to him by the foreign office or his own Government. His sudden death prevented these adjustments and subjected his estate and his widow to almost the total loss of these expenditures. The committee considers it equitable and just to take into account these facts, which have been furnished for its information by official and other authority, as well as the peculiar laws and customs of the country to which Minister Swift was accredited, and the circumstances which rendered it necessary to avoid complications with the Japanese Government while seeking to extend the friendly and commercial relations he was sent there to promote, and it therefore reports the bill for favorable consideration and recommends its passage. FIFTY-SECOND CONGRESS, SECOND SESSION. [See p. 799.] January 31, 1893. [Senate Report No. 1236.] Mr. Frye, from the Committee on Foreign Relations, submitted the following report: The Committee on Foreign Relations, to whom was referred the bill (S. 3429) for the relief of Charles T. Russell, late consul of the United States at Liverpool, report the same back to the Senate with a favorable recommendation. The committee has given careful consideration to all the facts and evidence in connection with this bill, and beg leave to submit the following report, made to the House of Representatives from the Committee on Claims, as containing a complete statement of the case and expressing the views of your committee thereon: [House Report No. 663, Fifty-second Congress, first session.] The Committee on Claims, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 3716) for the relief of Charles T. Russell, late United States consul at Liverpool, having considered the same, respectfully report: From the evidence furnished the committee by the Department of State it appears that the said Charles T. Russell, while consul at Liverpool, from 1885 to 1889, inclusive, and while in the discharge of the duties of that office, expended for the clerical force necessarily employed by him in the shipment and discharge of American seamen at the port of Liverpool the sum of $3,100. Congress had, prior to the year 1886, provided a fund which the State Department had drawn upon to the amount of about $2,100 annually, to defray the expenses incurred at the consulate in the shipment and discharge of American seamen, but which it had omitted to provide subsequent to the year 1885. Mr. Russell was obliged to disburse from his own funds the above-named sum to meet the expenses of this service, as appears by the vouchers hereto annexed. The consul preceding Mr. Russell at Liverpool called the attention of the State Department to the omission by Congress to provide the funds to meet these expenses, and urged the necessity of continuing said appropriation to his successor. The State Department, recognizing the justice of Mr. Russell's claim, advised him to apply to Congress for reimbursement, as that Department had no authority to use any of its funds for the payment of these expenditures. Your committee find that the amount named in the accompanying bill was actually and necessarily expended by Mr. Russell, and was less than the usual amount expended by his predecessors for such service; that no part thereof has been repaid to him, and that in justice and equity he is entitled to have the same refunded to him by the Government, and recommend the passage of the accompanying bill. The annexed correspondence is made a part of this report: UNITED STATES CONSULATE, SIR: I have to invite the attention of the Department to the omission of Congress to appropriate specifically, as heretofore, for the expenses attending the shipment and discharge of seamen at this and other consulates. While personally I have no interest in the Department's action on account of my retirement from consular duties, nevertheless the appropriations for the next fiscal year will be available, and the urgent needs of the consulate warrant me in requesting, in behalf of my successor, an allowance from the item of $6,000, appropriated by Congress, the expenditure of which is placed at the discretion of the President, for the several consulates and commercial agencies in the transaction of their business. The sum, from my experience and observation, having in view the proportionate amount of work attending the shipping office at this and other seaport consulates, which I think should be awarded this consulate is $2,000. In support of the claim for the above-named sum I beg to invite the attention of the Department to my dispatch No. 233, dated June 19, 1883, in which will be found more in detail the facts touching the requirements existing now as then, which need not be repeated in this dispatch. I shall therefore venture to suggest that the Department at an early day authorize the expenditure of the sum named to defray the expenses of the shipment and discharge of seamen at this consulate for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1886. I have the honor to be, respectfully, your obedient servant, STEPHEN B. PACKARD, Hon. JAMES D. PORTER, Assistant Secretary of State. Consul. UNITED STATES CONSULATE, Hon. WILLIAM F. WHARTON, Assistant Secretary of State, Washington, D. C. SIR: I desire to bring to the notice of the Department of State, with a view to having the matter brought before Congress at its next sitting, the very heavy expenditure I have been reluctantly obliged to make, during the four years I was consul, in order to carry on efficiently the work in connection with the shipping department of the consulate, the total amounting to £600 10s. 6d. When I arrived at my post in June, 1885, I found that in addition to the allowance of $2.000 per annum for clerk hire there was an allowance of $2,100 per annum for the shipment and discharge of seamen, but that after the end of that month it would be discontinued altogether, Congress having made no appropriation. This matter was brought before the notice of the State Department by my predecessor in his dispatch No. 319, dated June 6, 1885, and also by myself in my Nos. 52 and 91, dated February 1 and December 1, 1886, and I was finally informed that I could not receive any assistance from the Government in that direction, but that the subject would be brought to the notice of Congress-Department instruction No. 91, dated January 19, 1887. No appropriation, however, was made for that department of the consulate during the whole four years that I was in charge, but the work had to be discharged. It is hardly necessary, I think, for me to say that the work in connection with the shipment and discharge of seamen at a port of such magnitude as Liverpool is very great, and although it was performed with as small a clerical force as possible, it has actually cost me the sum of £600 10s. 6d., which I paid in addition to the annual allowance for clerk hire. Seeing, therefore, that the expenditure is absolutely necessary for clerical work in connection with the shipment and discharge of seamen, I am convinced that if these facts are brought before Congress I will be reimbursed this heavy outlay. I therefore respectfully claim that the sum stated is due me, and I do so feeling that I am making a just and honorable claim, and one that can not but recommend itself to the consideration of Congress. Some of the clerks to whom I paid this amount are no longer connected with the office, but I have no doubt I can procure from them a proper voucher for the amount each of them received, but those who remain can certify to this expenditure. I am, sir, your obedient servant, CHAS. T. RUSSELL. Late Consul. LIVERPOOL, January 10, 1890. I, William J. Saulis, vice and deputy consul of the United States of America at Liverpool, do hereby certify that I was, during the period Mr. Russell was consul here, bookkeeper, and as such had the paying of salaries to the clerks of the consulate. That during the period from July 1, 1885, to June 30, 1889, I paid the sum of £600 10s. 6d. for clerical services performed in connection with the shipping department of the consulate in excess of the amount of clerk hire allowed during that period, the said expenditure having been actually and necessarily made, as appears by the books kept by me and now in Mr. Russell's possession. [SEAL.] W. J. SAULIS, Vice and Deputy Consul of the United States of America at Liverpool. I, William Pierce, do hereby make oath and say that during the period 1st July, 1885, to 30th June, 1889, I was employed as clerk in the consulate at Liverpool. From my own knowledge I am aware and know that the sum of £600 10s. 6d. was actually paid by Mr. Russell in excess of the amount allowed for clerk hire during that period. Part of said amount was paid to myself and the remaining portion to clerks who are not now here. WM. PIERCE. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 10th day of January, 1890. [SEAL.] THOS. H. SHERMAN, Consul of the United States of America at Liverpool. UNITED STATES CONSULATE, 26 CHAPEL STREET, The statements herewith of the vice-consul and Mr. Pierce are entitled to full faith and credit, but I desire to add that I am convinced that the disbursements referred to were actually made and were actually necessary. I am not now paying so much for extra clerks as Mr. Russell paid, because the Department has sent to the consulate a competent consular clerk, but it will be apparent to anyone who visits this office that additional allowance for clerk hire is needed. THOS. H. SHERMAN, Consul. CHARLES T. RUSSELL, Esq., DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, February 21, 1890. Late Consul of the United States, Liverpool. SIR: Referring to your dispatch of the 22d ultimo, I have to inform you that the Department has no funds out of which it has authority to render such relief as is required by your dispatch. Your only recourse would seem to be to present your claim for reimbursement of the amount expended for clerk hire to Congress. I am, sir, your obedient servant, WILLIAM F. WHARTON, February 15, 1893. [Senate Report No. 1294.] Mr. Davis, from the Committee on Foreign Relations, submitted the following report: The work of Mr. Haswell is one of great value, and its acquisition by the Government has been repeatedly recommended by the Department of State. Secretary Blaine, under date May 6, 1892, in a personal letter to the chairman of this committee, strongly recommended the purchase of the manuscript designated in the amendment, and similar recommendations (hereto annexed) had previously been made by Mr. Frelinghuysen and also by Mr. Blaine. The present Secretary of State, in a letter hereto appended, urges an appropriation for the purchase of this work. The subject has also been considered in House Ex. Doc. 110, Fortyeighth Congress, second session, hereto appended. The adoption of the amendment is recommended. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, February 24, 1885. SIR: I have the honor to again call your attention to the work prepared by Mr. John H. Haswell, Chief of the Bureau of Indexes and Archives in this Department, entitled "The Chronological History of the Department of State and the Foreign Relations of the Government from September 5, 1774, down to the Present Time," and to express to you my earnest hope that Congress will not adjourn without appropriating a sum of money for the purchase of the manuscript from the compiler. The work has been compiled with infinite attention to historical accuracy and completeness by a gentleman whose long and efficient service in the Department has put him in a position to know perfectly the details of the subject on which he has written, and his researches outside the Department have resulted in the discovery of many important and hitherto unknown facts in the history of our foreign relations that should be at the service of the Department. I do not think $6,000 too large a sum to pay Mr. Haswell for his work, considering the value of the book to this Department and the foreign service generally, and I earnestly recommend that that sum be appropriated for its purchase. I have the honor to be. sir, your obedient servant, Hon. JOHN F. MILLER, FREDK. T. FRELINGHUYSEN. Chairman Committee on Foreign Relations, United States Senate. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, December 20, 1891. SIR: I have the honor to invite your considerate attention to the accompanying draft of a proposed amendment to the diplomatic and consular appropriation bill for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1892, providing for the appropriation of $6,000 to be expended in the purchase of the manuscript of "The Chronological History of the Department of State and the Foreign Relations of the Government from September 5, 1774, to the Present Date," from Mr. John H. Haswell, Chief of the Bureau of Indexes and Archives in this Department, by whom it has been compiled with industrious care and with the advantage of years of experience and familiarity with the subject. Copy of a letter of my predecessor, Mr. Frelinghuysen, in relation to this matter, dated March 24, 1884, and copy of a report upon the work by Mr. Henry O'Connor, late examiner of claims of the Department, dated September 26, 1883, are inclosed for your convenient reference and information. Mr. Frelinghuysen points out the value and usefulness of the book; commends its arrangement and completeness, and asks for its purchase for publication, in the full belief that it will be a valuable handbook of reference to the heads of the Executive Departments of the Government, and in the certainty that it will be invaluable to the Committees of Foreign Affairs of Congress, to Secretaries of State and their assistants, and to officers in the foreign service of the Government." I concur in his opinion and commendation, and add the expression of my own conviction that the work, if purchased, would be of special and lasting service. Its compilation has occupied much of Mr. Haswell's time, outside of his regular duties at the Department, during the last eighteen years. An item looking to its purchase was submitted by this Department, under the title "Historical Regi ter of the Department of State," in the estimates for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1892. I have the honor, etc., Hon. EUGENE HALE, JAMES G. BLAINE. United States Senate. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, January 14, 1893. SIR: I have the honor to call your attention to and to bespeak your favorable consideration of an item submitted in the estimates of appropriations required by this Department for the coming fiscal year, in the sum of $6,000, for the purchase of The Historical Register of the Department of State," compiled by Mr. John H. Haswell, Chief of the Bureau of Indexes and Archives. The full description of the work, as given in the estimates, shows how complete are its scope and usefulness, particularly as regards the business of this Department. It is no less valuable by reason of the historical information, which is one of its characteristic features, as a book of reference for members of Congress, for officers of the Government, and for students in American history. It has long since been recognized as such by high officials of this Department, and Secretaries of State Frelinghuysen, Bayard, and Blaine have in turn recommended its purchase to Congress. I wish to add my own earnest recommendation to theirs, and to say that, by so doing, I am not merely seeking to secure to Mr. Haswell a remuneration for his work. I sincerely believe the acquisition of the Historical Register to be for the public interest. I am, sir, your obedient servant, Hon. CHARLES F. CRISP, Speaker of the House of Representatives. JOHN W. FOSTER. |