The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1866-05-07

The following message from the Presi-
dent, with accompanying documents there
In specified, was received on Friday after
noon in the House of Representatives, and
ordered to be printed:
"7o the House Of Representatives:
"In answer to the resolution Of the
House of Representatives of the 9th of
March, 1866, requesting the names Of per-
\ sons worth more than twenty thousand dol
lars to whom special pardons have been
/ issued, and n statement of the amount Of
property which has been seized as belong
ing to the enemies of the Government, or
as abandoned property, and returned to
! those who claimed to be the original own
crs, transmit herewith reports from the
! Secretary of State, the Secretary of the
! Treasury, the Secretary of War, and the
| Attorney General, together with a copy of
! the Amnesty Proclamation Of May %, 1868,
and copy of the warrants issued in cases
| in which special pardons are granted. The
second, third, and fourth conditions of the
warrants prescribe the terms, so far as pro-
/ pcrty is concerned, upon which all snch
pardonS are granted and accepted. =.
"ANDREw JOHNSON.
"WAsHINGToN, D. c., May 4, 1861.
The report from the Secretary of State
shows that the number ofperSOns excepted
from the benefit of the amnesty proclama-
ton under the twenty Thousand dollar
clause to whom special pardons have been
| granted is seven thousand four hundred
and ninety. Seven hundred and seven
additional cases have been passed upon by
the Attorney General, but not yet acted
upon in the State Department, and con-
scqucntly are not included in the list OF
names furnished.
The Secretary of War transmits the re-
ports of Major General Howard, the Chief
of Engineers, the Chief of Ordnance, and
QuartcrmaSter- General MeigS.. The most
important is that of General Howard. 1t
states that the property held by the Freed
mems Bureau was seized either under
the act of Congress of July 18th,
1862, or as abandoned property. OF this
the greater portion was in the State of
Virginia, where a large amount of land
had been allotted among the freedmen.
: Owing to the large number of applications
for the restoration of property, circular
originally drawn up by the Commissioner
for the State of Virginia was issued from
the headquarters Of the Bureau in Sep
TENDER, 1868, for the guidance of its agents
in dealing with such applications. Much Of
the property held under the act of 1862
had been merely libcllcd, and no proceed
ingS instituted for the coniiScation, and i'll
all cases where this class of property had
not been actually sold, and when proceed
ingS against it were not pending III the
!, United States courts, it was restored.
Several estates held under General
| Sherman'S field order No. Is were re-
stored under instructions from the Prcsi-
dent in War Department order of October
8, 1865, some Of these having but few freed
men located upon them, who could be us
advantagcouSly located elsewhere, or other
special reasons existing for the restoration.
Among the estates restored was that OF
Ex-Governor Aiken, which was restored on
the recommendation of General d. f..
: SickcS.
The report goes on to state that 1t had
been understood by the officers of the Blu
rcau that abandoned property which had
been seized for It's uses under the act of
Congress could he held until the purposes
OF the Bureau were accomplished, ire
Spcctive OF the question whether or not the
owner had received pardon; and acting
upon that understanding, all applications
for the restoration Of that class ofproperty
had been refused. But the case of b. B.
Lcakc, of Tennessee, being brought to the
notice of the President, his application
was referred back to the Bureau on the
10th of August, Is65, with an endorsement
by the President directing that his estate
be restored to him on the ground that his
To
Under this decision Il large amount off pro
pcrty had been restored. and the tenure
of the Bureau in property held by it had
since that time been 50 uncertain, except in
the case Of land held under General Shcr
mans field order No. -, that it had not
been warranted in making allotmcnts to
freedmen.
The amount of land held under the act
of July II, 1862, which the report shows
to have been restored, is 1852 acres,
comprising about SiXty-fvc estates; Of
land OF which allotmcnts had been made
to freedmen, there has been restored
II, G52 acres, comprising over thirty estates.
The Chief of Engineers states in his re-
port that lands had been seized as a mill
tary necessity for the purpose Of fortilica-
tons, &C., both in rebel and loyal States,
but the war being over, such lands had
been restored, and in some cases the build
ingS erected thereon given to the owners
of the land as entire or partial indemnity
for damages.
The Chief of Ordnance states the only
seizure made by that department was that
of the foundry at Macon, Ga, which had
been restored TO the original owners on the
recommendation OF General Grant, proper
conditions being cxacted as a preliminary
to the transfer.
QuartermaStcr- General Mcigs states that
the railroads seized in the Southern States
have been restored to the directors on con-
dition that they will elect loyal officers to
conduct them.
The Secretary of the Treasury reports
that all lands had been transferred to the
Freedmen's Bureau, and that all informal
tion as to property restored was in possess
sion Of that Bureau.
STRANGE STORY.-A HOUSE RISES FROM
ITS FoUNDATION.-Thc Alabama COahOnO-
milan of the 18th ult. has the following:
GAS several of our citizens were stand