New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1874-03-20
WASHINGTON.
Admiral Porter Improvip3,

Admiral Porter Improving.
WASHINGTON, March l9.-Admiral Porter
is much better.
Hopelessiy Ill.
Judge Dent is still hopelessly Ill.
Tariff Collections.
The Committee on Reform and Civil Ser
vice propose a commission of three to ar
range details of tariff collections. their sal
aries to be $4,000 each, and clerk.
Nominations, Combinations and Rejec-
tions.
No Southern nominations.
Observation-Disclosures as postmaster at
Americus, Georgia, and Mcdonald at Char.
lotte, North Carolina.
Kaw Indians. This is the first absolute re-
lection this session. Other nominations
which failed were withdrawn.
The President Appoints a Lady to Office,
and the Senate Confirms the Appoint.
ment.
Miss Ada c. Sweet. who was nominated
by the President and confirmed by the Sem
ate to-day as pension agent at Chicago,
vice Blakely, resigned, is a daughter of the
late General B. j. Sweet first deputy COM
missioner of internal revenue. The nomi-
nation was confirmed by the Senate without
the usual reference to the committee.
Louisianians LunchinR Mt the White
House.
The company at lunch at the White
House upon the presentation of the picture
of General Grant on horseback, which, by
the way is much admired as work of art,
consisted, aside from the Presidents tam
lily and the Cabinet of General BabcOck
and the following Louisianians: ExGover-
nor Wells, Colonel Johnson, Marshal Pack
ard, Hon. A. w. Faulkner and Mr.. Spearing
The New Southern Claims Bill.
The last section of the bill as passed the
House provides that all claims of citizens,
who remained loyal during the war, for
stores or supplies taken or furnished during
the rebellion for the use of the army of the
United States: including any such claims
now pending and undetermined in any de-
partment OF the government, shall be pre-.
sented to the Southern Claims Commission
before November l, 1875, which court
shall have exclusive jurisdiction to
vided that all such claims now pending and
undetermined in the department Of the
Quartermaster General or the Commissary
General, shall, on the passage of the act,
be transferred to the Southern Claims Com
mission, together with the evidence there
on. The House further provided that there
should be two additional members of that
commission to devote their time exclusively
to the claims transferred. The Senate COM
mittee reported in favor of striking out
that section and inserting the following:
"And the Quartermaster General and third
auditor OF the treasury shall continue to
receive, examine and consider the justice
and validity of such claims as shall be
brought before them under the act
of July 4, 1864 and the Secretary of the
Treasury shall make report of each claim
allowed by them, at the commencement of
each session of Congress. to the Speaker of
also lay the same before Congress for its
consideration"
Mr.. Scott, of Pennsylvania, favored the
adoption OF the amendment, and said the
Southern Claims Commission had IL 900
claims now pending before it. During the
three years it had been in existence 5000
claims only had been decided, and it would
take the commission ten years to dispose
of the claims already before it, The
Quartermaster and Commissary Generals
aud third auditor were more accustomed to
the claims mentioned, and better qualified
to decide them, than any new officers could
be. He believed there should be some more
tribunal for the purpose of ad-
justing the claims, and that the government
might we'll afford to employ and pay the
best counsel in the land to represent it be-
fore such tribunal, and thus save much
money. The government, he remarked,
should have counsel before the Southern
Claims Commission.
At the conclusion of the amendments
made by the committee, all of which were
adopted, Mr.. Stevenson, of Kentucky,
moved, as further amendment, the entire
claims bill which was offered by Mr.. West,
of Louisiana, short time ago, and is now
awaiting the action of the Committee on
Claims.
This provoked an earnest debate. The
friends of the measure contending for the
rights of loyal claimants, while its oppo-
nents resisted making the government 1ia-
BILE for any property in the lines of the enc
my which had been converted to its use.
The question seems to turn upon the point
- to what constitutes m enemy's territory
in rebellion.
II 10 not probable that 0tevenson's pro
position viii carry ~ the Senate IL averso