The Committee on Foreign Relations, to whom was referred the petition of Joseph Balestier, has had the same under consideration, and now report: That the petitioner, having resided for many years at Singapore, in the East Indies, as consul of the United States, returned home in the year 1549, and tendered a resignation of his office, on the ground that its emoluments were not adequate to the expenses it involved. Whilst thus in communication with the Department of State, it was determined by the President to send a special agent to the East Indies, and to various parts of southern Asia, for purposes fully set forth in a letter from the Secretary of State to Mr. Balestier, dated August 16, 1849, accompanying the petition, and the latter gentleman was selected for that service. The peculiar qualifications of Mr. Balestier for these duties, resulting from an intimate acquaintance with the countries he was to visit, and the fidelity and ability with which he had served the government whilst consul at Singapore, are fully admitted in the correspondence of the Department; and it would appear that Mr. Balestier was induced to accept this new serrice upon a representation that it would be recommended to Congress to place the consulate at Singapore on such footing, in regard to salary, as would enable him to remain there as consul when his special mission should be ended. By his letter of appointment, above referred to, Mr. Balestier was to be paid at the rate of four thousand five hundred dollars per annum whilst so employed, and in addition his "travelling and other necessary expenses" were to be allowed him. Whilst on this special mission the agent was to be conveyed to the various points indicated in his letter of instructions in some of the public vessels in those seas. It appears further from the correspondence of the Department that, after concluding a convention of "friendship and trade" with the Sultan of Borneo, Mr. Balestier was landed in China from the Plymouth, under an arrangement with Commodore Voorhees that after replenishing his supplies be would acain nut to sea with him with a view to the completion of his mission. But before being ready to do so, that ship was unexpectedly recailed home. By letter of May 16, 1850, Mr. Balestier was informed by the Department of State (the Plymouth having returned home,) that the steamer Jamestown would be ordered to receive him on board, and to proceed with him to the completion of his mission; and whilst waiting at Batavia her arrival, he received a letter from the Department terminating his mission, and informing him that his salary would cease after a reasonable time (fixed by the letter at little more than sixty days,) allowed for the despatch to reach him. Thus his salary was made to cease on the 20th April, 1851, and he claims that it should be paid him from that date until his arrival in the United States, together with his travelling expenses home. It appears to the committee that, although at the time of Mr. Balestier's departure on this special mission it was intended that at its close he should remain at Singapore and resume his duties as consul, yet that such intention was based upon the expectation, on both sides, that the consulate would in mean time be made a salaried office. Such not being done, he returned home as speedily as circumstances would admit. The committee are satisfied that all the duties required of the agent were discharged by him with zeal and fidelity, and entirely to the satisfaction of the government, and they recommend, therefore, that he be allowed the continuance of his salary as claimed, and his travelling expenses back to the United States, and report a bill accordingly. 1st Session. No. 219. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES. MAY 14, 1852. Mr. JONES, of Iowa, made the following REPORT: [To accompany bill S. No. 421.] The Committee on Pensions, to whom was referred the petition of John Williams, report: That the petitioner was a private marine, and it is shown by satisfactory testimony that while in the line of his duty, on board of the frigate Cumberland, he was disabled by a blow from a hawser, and in consequence of said disability was discharged on the 5th of April, 1848, "under a surgeon's certificate." A letter from the Commissioner of Pensions to the chairman of the committee, replying to an inquiry for information relative to the case, says: "But the degree of his disability is not proven until the report of the board of survey, appointed to examine him and report his degree of disability, which is dated April 17, 1852, a copy of which is found among the papers forwarded by you to this office; which was the completion of the testimony in his case, and from the date of which his pension by law is required to commence; and although there is no law authorizing the Commissioner of Pensions to allow him a pension commencing at an earlier date than that at which his pension certificate authorizes him to receive it, or at a higher rate per month, yet I have no hesitation in recommending that his pension commence at the date of his discharge, April 5, 1848, and such additional sum per month, as in the sound discretion of Congress may be deemed proper." The board of survey" alluded to by the commissioner of pensions, consisted of Surgeon B. Washington and Assistant Surgeon F. M. Gunnel, of the Navy, who state that they made a careful examination of the petitioner, and certify "that in consequence of loss of power of the right hand, disease of the heart, and rupture of the left side, all of which we attribute to the injury certified to, have been received while in the line of his duty in the year 1846, we are of opinion that the said John Williams is disabled permanently to the extent of a whole disability." The committee entertain the opinion that the omission by the navy surgeon, on whose certificate the petitioner was discharged, to state the amount of disability, was a neglect of duty by that officer, which should not operate to the disadvantage of the petitioner; they have therefore reported a bill for his relief. 1st Session. No. 220. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES. MAY 17, 1852. Mr. JAMES made the following REPORT: [To accompany bill S. No. 423.] Juliana Watts and Juliana W. Campbell, heirs at law of General Henry Miller, petition Congress for compensation for the military services of said Miller in the war of the Revolution. From the memorial of the petitioners and the papers which accompany it, it appears that General Miller entered the service on the 1st of June, 1775, as a lieutenant of a rifle company, under the command of Captain Doudel, attached to the regiment of Colonel Thompson; that he immediately marched to Cambridge, Mass., and was the first company on the ground from any place south of Rhode Island; that the second day after his arrival he formed a plan to surprise the British advance guard at Bunker Hill, which was prevented only by the failure of his captain to advance to his support. He did not relinquish his purpose, however, until several of the enemy were killed and a number taker prisoners. In October, 1775, he was promoted to the captaincy of his company, Captain Doudel having resigned. On the 12th of November, 1777, he was commissioned by Congress as a major, to take rank from the 26th of September, 1776. He was afterwards promoted to a lieutenant colonel, and sometime about the 1st of January, 1779, in consequence of the state of his private affairs, he was compelled to resign his commission, much to the regret of General Washington, as expressed to him in a letter dated 13th December, 1778, a copy of which is now with this memorial, having been in active service more than three years. During his service in the army Colonel Miller was engaged in seventeen battles, besides many skirmishes. Among them were the battles of Long Island, York Island, White Plains, Princeton, Trenton, Head of Elk, Brandywine, Germantown, Monmouth, &c. In this last battle he had two horses shot under him. This did not deter him, but mounting a third, he rushed in the midst of the fight. The attempt on the part of Lieutenant Miller to surprise the British at Bunker Hill, the second day after having marched over five hundred miles, won the confidence and esteem of General Washington, which he ever afterwards enjoyed, as testified by his private correspondence, as well as the history of the times. For his gallant conduct and skill in an engagement A 1777, whilst in the command of a detachment of ninety-five men, as |