The daily union., 1852-02-15

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them lhat he prohibited settlers going there and loea-
tng without his authory that he established martial
law tha he punished individuals that he ine red as
TO vessels that stranded there in The iusdclon of
one oi these pafies-John Whitehead-who was notary
public and who, being notary public under lhe laws OF
FONDA pronounced judgment for salvers and made sa
wage 10 be allowed and IN order TO carry out his own
decree, ne beng entitled to per cent commission
this is one ground Of the clsimmade order for the
condemnation OF vessel the plea Of salvage There
was no other jurisdiction do it, He was allowed un.
der the laws, per cent commission To carry his Or
der into effect he put into the hands of p Green Co.
firm OF which he was member. and directed that they
should receive the commission OF five per To ths
Commodore Porter objected. and SAID that regarded
the share TO which the officers entitled he would
pensation. Whether this was wright or wrong, /
cannot determine. nor need l mention il a. one
OF the series OF acts complained or But all Tie acts
complained of, if they took place. arose from the
unauthorized conduct of Commodore pasas. Ac-
cording TO The orders received from the Navy Depart
meni, he TO establish barracks and depot there
They did not require the whole island 70 b. tass pos
law be established. II be established h, - q q
his peril They did not require that indvs1ssl
property without the permission OF Commodore Porter
he required that, he did Il at his own peril These
The M claims for damages The property occupied BY the
was paid for in 1916 The Navy Department. having
amned officers, and the proof being indefinite. averaged
the quantity of wood for the number OF vessels there and
the probable consumption, and allowed $500 fos the
wood consumed In the case of the hogs It s very clea
that Commodore Porter had no right to give the order 70
pen them up and the not responsible Tor
it. II was illegal. Iffhe hogs were destroyed unless
they for the Of the government. certainly
ton ii senators feel any doubt on the prncpls involved
here, lei them read the opinion Of Mr. Legare in the Sib
bald case They will see that the ground for damages In
down the rule for damages 1t is found in the second
volume OF the Opinions of Attorneys General. II dis
s of o opna .
item the claim here that has not been paid for.
Whether the price OF s.! 900 for the land on which the
land before. exavagant does not appear in the
papers. Il does appear that the parties were willing to
take it, nothing of liberay their part towards
the do not see that they charged less than
the value Of the land unless they supposed that additional
advantages would be gained to them arising from the
erection of the custom house near their property and that
they would receive benefits in that way At all events,
was matter OF agreement and they were paid Tor The
ground So too, as the barracks. can no good
claim for damages upon the government the part OF
| the claimants here.
There is one other fact which will mention There
show that Saas the Spanish grantee in 1915. The
communication which made by Smonton to the de-
partmen inviting attention to this sland Is dated Decem-
Mi DAWSON Will the senator read that
| Mr.. BAYARD: will The Senate will understand
that al the time this communication written SmOnton
was not the owner Of the isand but whether he was
then in negotiation for its purchase we cannot tell
think that probably he was; and that was one Of the
reasons why gave ii the name OF speculative claim:
''Key West is a small island, Immediately the edge
Of the Florida situated in latitude -. seventy
miles from Matanzas, and quite contiguous to most Of
the ou.os'' On the north e side Be-. on Honda
Sc &c, which all places Of considerable trade sad
depend almost entirely Havana f., their supplies +
war. with any draugh of water, enter and lie with
us the fhafbos bs and in great
abundance An establishment this island would be of
great importance 70 the government as well TO tho
chants OF the United Satcs ha arbo and rendezvous for
our vessels oil being OF the commanding
places tho whole coast OF Florida.
The revenue would arise from the importation Of
places Bay Mexico the distance
being short that an immense deal Of property would bo
o s Of ana n. 80
the productions OF the United States, which trade would be
pd M y, and from The Raw Of Menca TO ,hn iJns.d S,.s
In of Distress which frequently happen when they
have other place touch al except port in the island
OF Cuba where they subject to heavy expenses.
I'll IS the only eligible slaa,on for depot Of wrecked
property the whole coast OF Florida We this time
wholly dependent the wreckers of New Pfovdencs for
the protection property the of
when thar it is carried to New Providence, which
poys fy sixty vessels and produces large revenue to
ihe and great nn.y benefit 70 the h,a ms
of from fifty TO sevcny-hve per cent
probsbi,y become place Of depot for The production. Of
other countries, particularly those OF Great Britain and
of Mexico and the north side of the island Of Cuba Ar
angements now making and in the event Of th: place
/ a W.
be efeced under the direction OF merchants regulay s'
tablished there. j. W. SIMONTON.
HAVANA December 7, Is2in
Ii appears by the papers that Slmonton did not pur
chase from Salas, in Havana until December &C. 1871,
within thirty days after the date Of this lettsr have
said He not the the date of the letter but,
Judging from its character and from the subsequent pur
chase he negotiating for it, and endeavored TO OBJ
tain The location OF the naval depot there for the i'm.
provemen, OF the property and in that way he expected
TO make valuable purchase. He paid ~ 900 to Salas;
what his other expenses have been since, we have no
evidence here The senator from Florida may be nght
in his estimate of what ii has cost him. But we have
nothing to do with that spoke OF what the property
cost at the time OF the purchase. IL cost $1oeo toe
value of the properly antecsdeni to the time when The
United States established the depot there. 6nonton,
when he was moi the of the island, called the at
tenton of the government 10 the establishment OF that
depot probably with view to that purchase do not say
that he is not entitled TO receive full compensation Tor all
the property which the government took from him. But
the government has paid for all IT took and he
here and asks Congress to pass bill to pay him fof
damages grounded upon acts OF officers which, true
point of fact transcribed the orders under which they
were directed to establish naval depot there, and for
which they were responsible, and for which they would
have been made individually responsible il the claimants
had appeared in court of justice and established nef
liability, with the evidence on both sides
This island had not exactly the extraordinary GnAlactet
which Smonton attributed to il in his letter lhe gov
ernmen first sent Captain Perry there, and ne maoe
report. Then there a subsequent survey maoe oy
Commodore Patterson That report is raner sdvesss 70
permanent location there, and gives strong ana good
reasons why il would not do IL contains tne sntesasnt
OF one fact about water which dieseni irom Oimoa
L of