1

The memorialist, William Blanchard, was United States consul at Melbourne, Australia, in 1862. While in the discharge of his duties as consul evidence was presented to him of a murder alleged to have been committed upon the high seas, on board the American ship Herbert, by Bangs Pepper, jr., first mate, and Thomas Hull, second mate, of said ship. Said Blanchard, as consul, made application to the colonial government for the extradition of the alleged criminals, which application, after an examination of the witnesses by the colonial government, was granted.

The consul detained ten of the crew of said ship, to be sent to the United States with the prisoners to be used as witnesses in the case. To these witnesses the consul paid board and wages, while so detained, for about two months, the wages amounting to the sum of $219.16. For that sum and an additional sum of $50.50 for clerk hire the memorialist asks relief. These sums were disallowed in the settlement of his accounts at the State Department, but the accounting officer of the Department, upon whose report the amount paid for witnesses' wages was disallowed, said:

While the allowance of wages is no more than fair to the witnesses, I am not aware of any law authorizing its payment by the consul.

The amount paid as wages to the witnesses is small, but having been paid by the consul to aid in the promotion of justice and the punishment of crime, your committee believe it eminently just and wise that the same should be allowed and paid him by the Government. Vouchers for the payments are on file in the State Department.

A bill is herewith reported to reimburse the consul for the amount of wages paid to said witnesses, but not including anything for clerk hire.

FORTY-THIRD CONGRESS, FIRST SESSION.

June 15, 1874.

[Senate Report No. 451.]

Mr. Howe submitted the following report:

The Committee on Foreign Relations, to whom was referred the bill (S.623) to enable the Secretary of State to pay salaries to certain of the commissioners to the Vienna Exposition, report:

That on the 10th of June, 1872, Congress passed a law, appended hereto and marked A. (Stat., vol. 17, p. 389.)

Under this law an agent was appointed, who designated thirteen assistants, under whose care articles were collected for exhibition and placed on board United States ships designated to carry them to Trieste.

On the 14th of February, 1873, Congress passed a joint resolution, appended and marked B. (Stat., vol. 17, p. 637.)

Under this resolution the commissioners for whose relief the bill is proposed were appointed. The artisans and scientific men had their expenses limited to $1,000. The last clause of the first section limits salaries and expenses of all persons "appointed to places authorized in this resolution" to $50,000 in the aggregate; no one to receive more than $5,000.

The names of the appointees were published by the press a few days after the passage of the resolution, and several of them, it is stated, made their preparations to sail, and one, at least, actually did sail

before the receipt of the official notification of appointment. Many of them, it is claimed, supposed, on reading the law, that they were to be allowed salaries, within the discretion of the Secretary of State, in addition to the allowance limited for expenses, and for the following

reasons:

They were the only persons "appointed to places authorized in this resolution" who were to receive any money "for expenses or otherwise," and the agents or executive commissioners appointed under the act of June 10, 1872, were cut off by its terms from all compensation. A limit upon expenses, which might otherwise exceed a reasonable sum, did not seem to debar the appointees under the resolution of 1873 from receiving a compensation, also limited, for their services. They were to be appointed, under the law, from classes not usually wealthy, and presumably unable, not only to accept honorary positions and to pay their own expenses, but also, without serious loss, to accept positions in which their necessary expenses, or rather a very limited portion of them, were to be paid, and to leave behind them sources of income on which their families might be dependent.

Their duties, under the law, of investigation and report, were of an arduous nature, requiring special qualifications and occupying a long time in their performance, and in the result of their labors the whole people, as distinguished from the few exhibitors for whose benefit the balance of the $200,000 was appropriated, were interested.

These artisans and scientific men therefore supposed, up to the date of their formal notification of appointment, that they were not only to be (partially) reimbursed for actual expenses incurred, but also to be compensated for their services in the same manner as other Government agents or agents of private parties sent abroad to perform particular duties; and with this understanding several of them, as before stated, made their arrangements as soon as their names were announced in the papers.

Upon the receipt of that formal notification, however, they found that the State Department had placed a different construction on the law, and they then accepted the positions with the promise only of their expenses-"not to exceed $1,000"-at considerable pecuniary sacrifice, as must be evident to anyone familiar with the expense of a European trip.

The duties of the artisans and scientific meu, as specified in the law, were to attend said exhibition and report their doings and observations" to the President. No duty was required of the honorary commissioners, and it was stated in the debates that none would be expected.

The notification of appointment informed the artisans and scientific men (par. 2) that in performing their duties they would be required to remain in Vienna the entire time of the exhibition, from May 1 to November 1. Although this order was subsequently revoked on representations made by cable from Vienna, it involved some of the appointees in considerable expense, requiring them to reach Vienna at a time when prices were enormously high, and in some cases compelling them, in order to secure quarters at anything like reasonable rates, to pay for them for the entire six months in advance, no portion of which payment, of course, was ever refunded.

Regulations were issued by the State Department and sent out with the commissions. While the law was silent as to the manner of performing their duties, the regulations (chap. 1) required the artisans and scientific men to make certain kinds of reports, not only upon their

specialties, but also upon the exhibition as a whole, and upon the American department. The honorary commissioners were also required to make reports, if designated by the artisan and scientific committee.

All commissioners were also required, both by the notification of appointment (par. 2) and the regulations (art. 11), to cooperate with the commissioner in charge of the American department, advising and assisting him in his special duties. Owing to the confusion prevalent in the American department at the opening of the exposition, caused by the suspension of the executive commission, many exhibitors were threatening to withdraw their goods and return to America. At this juncture the temporary executive commissioner was compelled to call upon the members of the reporting and honorary commissions, which had not been suspended, to take charge of certain groups in the exhibition and assist in arranging them, which they did. It is claimed that these services of technically skilled men were of the greatest benefit not only in presenting the department in the best shape possible with the limited number of articles sent over for exhibition, but also in allaying the bad feeling existing among exhibitors at that time. This extraordinary duty occupied most of those who were called upon to perform it until the end of May at least. The American department was not formally opened until the 10th of June.

The artisans and scientific men were also required by the regulations (articles 1, 2, and 3), in addition to making the individual reports provided for in the law and regulations, to constitute themselves into a committee, and to take charge of the whole matter of reports, designating the subjects and the persons to write upon them. This duty, as shown by the records of the committee, took up considerable time.

By the fifth article of the regulations they were required to select the American jurors, a work of much difficulty, considering the disinclination of competent and disinterested Americans to come to Vienna and to perform nearly two months' service in the hot season without pay. The records of the committee show, also, the time and labor involved in this service. By the fifth and sixth articles they, as well as the honorary commissioners, were themselves required to serve on juries, if necessary, and for this service, the most important and delicate of all connected with the exhibition, and on the proper performance of which its entire success depended, which was performed by all those affected by this bill, they received nothing, while the English jurymen, it is claimed, with a department not much larger or more important, were paid £300 a piece for jury duty alone, and the Swiss, French, German, and Italian jurymen in proportion. The catalogue of awards made on the 18th of August shows a list of between 500 and 600 prizes obtained by the exertions of the American jurors, certainly as large number, in proportion to the number of exhibits, as was given to other countries.

The extra duties above enumerated occupied the time of those who performed them all until the middle of July at least, to the exclusion of their reports. Where, as was frequently the case, the preparation of reports necessitated an extra expense, in the way of visiting factories where articles exhibited were produced, or other sources of information away from Vienna, no extra allowance was made by the Department.

The facts above stated are of record in the State Department, and the services performed and extra expenses incurred in the preparation of reports have been fully shown to the committee.

S. Doc. 231, pt 3—49

If it be said, as it may, perhaps, with justice, that the allowance made the artisans and scientific men would have enabled them to visit the exhibition, gather material for a report, and return immediately home, or that, as regards the honorary commissioners, the honor of writing a report should be considered an equivalent for the labor which it involved, these extraordinary services and sacrifices would still remain uncompensated. A moment's reflection will satisfy any one that the amount limited in the bill (even in addition to the $1,000 already paid the artisans and scientific men) will not cover the "actual and reasonable expenses" of one person during a voyage of 4,000 miles each way and a six-months' stay at the most expensive city in Europe during the most expensive time in its history. It appears from the debates of last session of Congress that the Senate twice increased the allowance for expenses to $2,000, but the House refused to concur.

The scientific commissioners to the Paris Exposition of 1867 were paid $1,000 each, which, taking into consideration the relative distance, cost of living, and other circumstances, was equal to at least $2,000 at Vienna. In addition, the ten scientific commissioners at Paris had placed at their disposal a fund of $10,000 on which to draw in making up their reports.

The committee deemed it proper to request the opinion of the Secretary of State upon the merits of the bill. The Secretary replied, in a letter to the committee, that, after careful examination of the subject, he found that the extra services enumerated had been faithfully and patiently perfermed, and that, in his opinion, the gentleman performing them were entitled to compensation. The amount remaining unexpended from the appropriation is not stated by the Secretary. For fear, however, that contingencies which may yet have to be met will not authorize the payment of the full amount limited in the original bill, viz, $1,000 apiece, he suggests that it be reduced to $500, which suggestion the committee have adopted.

APPENDIX A.

[Not of general nature--No. 124.]

AN ACT to authorize the President of the United States to appoint one or more commissioners to represent the Government of the United States at the international exposition of agriculture, industry, and fine arts, to be held at Vienna in eighteen hundred and seventy-three.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the President of the United States be, and he hereby is, authorized, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, to appoint one or more agents to represent the Government of the United States at the international exposition of agriculture, industry, and fine arts, to be held at Vienna in eighteen hundred and seventy-three: Provided. That such appointments shall not impose on this Government any liability for the expense which they may occasion.

Approved June 10, 1872.

APPENDIX B.

JOINT RESOLUTION to enable the people of the United States to participate in the advantages of the international exposition to be held at Vienna in eighteen hundred and seventy

three.

Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That in order to enable the people of the United States to participate in the advantages of the international exhibition of the products of agriculture, manufactures, and fine arts, to be held at Vienna in the year

eighteen hundred and seventy-three, there be, and hereby is, appropriated, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, the sum of two hundred thousand dollars, or so much thereof as may be necessary for the purpose herein specified, which sum shall be expended under the direction of the Secretary of State: Provided, That the President be authorized to appoint a number of practical artisans, not exceeding eight, and of scientific men not exceeding seven, who shall attend said exhibition and report their doings and observations to him, and whose actual and reasonable expenses, not to exceed one thousand dollars each, shall be paid from such fund; and that the President be further authorized to appoint a number of honorary commissioners, not to exceed one hundred, who shall receive no pay for their expenses or otherwise: And provided further, That no person so appointed shall be interested, directly or indirectly, in any article exhibited for competition: And provided, That not more than fifty thousand dollars shall be expended for salaries and expenses of all persons receiving appointments to places authorized in this resolution, and not more than five thousand dollars shall be paid for salary and expenses to any one person.

SEC. 2. That the governors of the several States be, and they are hereby, requested to invite the patriotic people of their respective States to assist in the proper representation of the handiwork of our artisans, and the prolific sources of material wealth with which our land is blessed; and to take such further measures as may be necessary to diffuse a knowledge of the proposed exhibition, and to secure to their respective States the advantages which it promises.

SEC. 3. That it shall be the duty of the Secretary of State to transmit to Congress a detailed statement of the expenditures which may have been incurred under the provisions of this esolution.

Approved February 14, 1873.

FORTY-SIXTH CONGRESS, SECOND SESSION.

April 6, 1880.

[Senate Report No. 449.]

Mr. Hill, of Georgia, from the Committee on Foreign Relations, submitted the following report:

The Committee on Foreign Relations, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 270) for the relief of Charles Dougherty, beg leave to report as follows:

Charles Dougherty, a resident of the State of Pennsylvania, was duly appointed consul to Londonderry, Ireland, and received his commission from the State Department, signed by William H. Seward, Secretary of State, on the 17th day of November, 1866. Having filed the necessary bond, which was duly approved, he received the necessary instructions as to his duty as consul, passport, and all the necessary papers pertaining to the office. On the 12th of December following he sailed with his family from the port of New York, and in due time reached Londonderry. On the 23d of November 1866, the Department of State notified the legation at London, requesting an exequatur to be issued for him. After his arrival at Londonderry, and before the exequatur was issued, the Senate rejected the nomination of the said Dougherty.

All the foregoing facts appear from official papers of the State Department. There is no salary attached to the consulate at Londonderry-the only pay of the consul are the fees incident to the appointSo Mr. Dougherty was informed by the Secretary of State. He claims allowance for his expenses in going to and returning from Londonderry, loss of time, etc.

ment.

There being no default on the part of Mr. Dougherty, the committee are inclined to allow him $1,000. He was duly appointed and commissioned to the office of consul to Londonderry, and he was ordered by