quarters will cost more than the erection of new ones of stone, that will last with credit to the country for ages. I shall be pleased to receive your orders upon these subjects as soon as may be convenient; for, if you should authorize the erection of a work and barracks at Sackett's Harbor, the troops should at once be ordered to collect the necessary stone, that we may be sure of completing our quarters before winter." Hon. W. H. CRAWFORD. JACOB BROWN. HEAD QUARTERS, BROWNVILLE, 14th July, 1818. SIR About the time you left Washington for the south, Captain Tupper handed me a letter addressed to him from the Department of War, on the subject of the barracks at Sackett's Harbor. It appeared to me, at the time, to be due to Capt. Tupper that I should notice this letter, but have delayed it, expecting your return. It is stated in the letter to which I refer, that when the expenditures for 1816 were recognized, any disbursements for 1817 were expressly forbidden. I do not know what orders may have been given to the quartermaster's department, but I do know that, in the winter of 1816-17, Mr. Graham, then acting Secretary of War, did advise me so far to finish the barracks as to fit them for the reception of the troops at Sackett's Harbor. As I knew that some feeling had been excited by the expenses already incurred, I was particularly anxious to effect this object with the least possible expense; and, in complying with the wishes of the acting Secretary, directed that as much of the work as possible should be done by the troops themselves, so that there should be no expense to the government but for the materials, and the indispensable superintendence of one or two principal mechanics. As it has always appeared to me that Tupper was disposed, with zeal and good faith, to execute the trust reposed in him, and as the difficulties in which he is involved were occasioned by my instructions, I feel, as I hope I should feel, towards him; but the regard of his friends can avail him but little, unless the government pay for what it has received. The work executed speaks for itself; it will remain for ages to bear inspection, and, in my judgment, to reflect credit upon the country. During my short knowledge of our military concerns, six times the value of the barracks at Sackett's Harbor has been expended for quarters along this frontier, for which we have little to shew but the vouchers taken. They, it will be admitted, can reflect no honor upon the country, aud they will do as little towards preserving our soldiers from disease and death. With great respect, your obedient servant, Hon. J. C. CALHOUN. [EXTRACT.] JACOB BROWN. PLATTSBURG, 12th August, 1818. "Under the same authority I shall seek employment for the 2d regiment; but as it would seem injudicious that they be engaged in a distant work, while one of more importance is left unfinished at home, I sincerely regret that the terms of your letter do not admit of their being employed in the most necessary and appropriate labor that could be assigned to them; I mean the finishing of their own barracks. All the work that can be done by the army" alone, has already been performed. To complete it, and admit of the farther labors of the army, it is requisite that funds be supplied in sufficient amount to furnish timber for the centre building, and to pay the wages of a few directing tradesmen. In the existing state of the appropriations for the quartermaster general's department, I do not expect such a supply; but so important is the labor, both to save from destruction what has already been done, and to give the finishing stroke to a valuable national work, that I will myself raise the necessary funds, provided I can receive from the Department satisfactory assurances of being reimbursed in the ensuing spring. So important to secure our past labors do I consider the completion of the barracks, now that they are so near it, that I beg you to receive the foregoing proposition, and favor me with an answer to it, directed to New York. I will reserve my order to the quartermaster until I receive it. Should you assent to my suggestion, the troops shall be employed, and the buildings, for all I at present see, finished this season. Should you deem it inexpedient, other employment shall be found for them. "The amount which will probably be required to enclose the buildings, and completely secure them from injury, will be fifteen hundred dollars, or, at the farthest calculation, two thousand. "I shall be in New York, so as to receive your answer, on some day between the 5th and 10th of September. I am, respectfully, your obedient servant, Hon. J. C. CALHOUN. JACOB BROWN. C TREASURY DEPARTMENT, Second Auditor's Office, 20th February, 1821. SIR: In conformity to a resolution of the Senate of the United States, of the 16th instant, I have the honor to state, that upon the examination of the accounts in this office, it appears, the sum of $92,586 5 has been expended on the barracks at Sackett's Harbor. I am, very respectfully, Your obedient servant, Hon. J. C. CALHOUN, WM. LEE. D TREASURY DEPARTMENT, Third Auditor's Office, February 20th, 1821. SIR: I have the honor to hand you enclosed statement of public moneys expended on the barracks at Sackett's Harbor, as far as the accounts have referred themselves to this office for settlement; furnished in pursuance of the resolution of the honorable the Senate of the United States, dated 16th inst. With great respect, Hon. J. C. CALHOUN, Your most obedient servant, PETER HAGNER, Auditor. Statement of public moneys expended on the Barracks at Sackett's Harbor, as far as the accounts have referred themselves to this office for settlement; furnished in pursuance of the resolution of the honorable the Senate of the United States, dated 16th February, 1821. Cost of 22 acres of Land, on which the barracks are NOTE.-Prior to the passage of the act of the 3d March 1817, to provide for the more prompt settlement of public accounts, &c. it was the duty of the Second Auditor to adjust the accounts of the Quartermaster Department, subsequent to the 1st of July, 1815; after the passage of that act it became the duty of the Third Auditor, and the expenses above enumerated are those settled in this office pursuant to that arrangement. TREASURY Department, Third Auditor's Office, February 20, 1821. PETER HAGNER, Auditor. IN SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES. FEBRUARY 26, 1821. MR. ROBERTS, from the Committee of Claims, to whom was referred the report from the Treasury Department in relation to the claim of John H. Piatt, REPORTED: That, on an examination of the statements made by the Second Comptroller and Third Auditor of the Treasury, of the settlement of John H. Piatt's account, by them respectively made under an act of last session, the Committee are of opinion that neither of them have given that act a correct construction. The Third Auditor finds the sum of $34,705 due from the petitioner to the government, and the Second Comptroller finds $63,620 due to the petitioner, making a difference of $98,325. The object of the act was simply to give the claimant relief in addition to that obtained in the settlement of his account, theretofore had, to the extent of the sum which he stood debited with on the books of the Treasury. This was explicitly the object of the bill reported by the Committee of Claims. The recommitment of the bill was not had with a view to extend the relief therein proposed, but from a distrust of the propriety of it. The Committee, for their own parts, were under the impression, at the time the bill passed, it was exactly equivalent to that they had reported. Neither of the accounting officers so construe it. It must be admitted the law is not in terms so explicit as it is at all times desirable a law should be. The Committee believe the word assurances covers the whole ground of the petitioner's claim. He had had a settlement according to the rules of the Treasury; and his application to Congress was for further allowances, on the ground that when his contract was void by fault of the government, assurances of additional allowances from the Secretary of War had induced him to continue to execute it. These were claimed on various grounds, that could not be ascertained satisfactorily, and the Committee of Claims, in the bill they reported, assumed the amount of his debit on the books of the Treasury, as a liberal allowance in full of all demands; and they have no hesitation in giving it as their opinion, that the act of the last session, by fair construction, cannot be made to cover a larger sum. is always a safe rule in settling accounts under special statutes, to It |