Weekly commercial herald. (Vicksburg, Miss.) 1884-18??, 1886-01-15

United States, IL is true, admitted the
justice Of the debt and the illegally Of
the set of claimed, and agreed to facil-
itate the early determination Of the
question involved In an action which
l had brought in the Court Of
Claims. 1t was discovered, however,
after Mr.. Watson had instituted the
suit, that this court was without ju-
risdictiOn, in that the State could not
sue the United States without author
ity Of Congress. Congress was then
in session, and Hon. E. Barksdale
promptly introduced a bill to adjust
and settle the account of any State
against the United States without re-
gard to the amount claimed to be due
by such State on account Of the direct
tax of 1861. This bill was reported
back to the House with a substitute
e~mbodying the same provision, but it
was not reached before adjournment.
After the adjournment Mr.. Watson
made application to the Supreme Court
of the District of Columbia for a man
damus to compel the Comptroller to
issue a warrant for the amount due the
State. The Comptroller admitted in
his return that the State was in no
manner indebted to the United States
on account of the direct tax or other
wise, but maintained that he was
bound 10 close his eyes to his clear
/ mn xriofiOnc thnt fhn 0nf Of 1QEl nnn11
not, constitutionally and did not and
never was designed to create a debt
against the States themselves, because
a certain Auditor, on the 18th of May,
1868, made a Certificate that he had
examined and adjusted an account and
found the precise sun Of $4l3,084.66
to be due by virtue of the act of 1861,
and afterwards so certified the same.
The court held that it was without
Jurisdiction to entertain the petition
for mandamus, and without authority
to pass upon the validity of the object
ion interposed by the Comptroller.
All legal remedies having failed, it is
now for Congress to say if tardy just
ice shall be done the State.
In addition to the $43 1851 due on
account of the two and three fund,
$57,77l.23 is due on other accounts and
its payment refused. My personal ex.
penses in visiting Washington and
detention there in making examina-
ton, etc, was $500.
Hon. John NJ. Smylie, Commissioner
Of Swamp Lands, having rendered his
resignation, H. d. Cameron, of Lau-
derdale, was appointed to gil the
vacancy on April 10, 1884. After.
wards it was discovered that Mr.,
Cameron was ineligible under the last
clause of Act w, Sec. 80 of the con-
stitution, and his resignation was
promptly rendered. Mr.. f. B, Com
fort discharged the duties of the office
until June Is, when Hon. 2. M.
Doherty, of Yazoo, was appointed to
fill the vacancy. Before his resigna-
ton, Mr.. Cameron was engaged in
examining the swamp and overlooked
lands selected under the act of March
16, 1852, and amendments thereto, and
in procuring necessary proofs that the
lands were of this description, and
after his resignation he continued in
this service as special agent Of the
department. This proof Vas exceed
ingly difficulty to obtain, as under the
regulations Of the U. S. Land Depart
ment, the State vas required to prove,
by the testimony of at least two wit
nesses who have personal and exact
knowledge of The lands as it existed on
September %, 1850, the date of the
swamp land grant, not only that each
forty acres or smallest legal sub divis-
ion was on September %, 1850, swamp
and overlooked, within the meaning of
the grant, but at what season and to
what extent this was its condition,
together with the cause of the over
flow, the name and description Of the
timber, shrubs and plants on the land,
and the character and extent of means
necessary for their reclamation, &c.
When this proof could be obtained at
all, it was at considerable expense,
delay and inconvenience. Mr.. Cameron
was not able to obtain the proof on
more than about 10000 acres in three
months and the expense, including his
salary, was $660.82. l had already
become convinced that some more
expeditions and less expensive method
of selecting and locating these
lands should be adopted, and while
in Washington had negotiated for
the adoption Of the field notes of the
original survey as the criterion for de-
termining the character of these lands.
whether swamp and o%verhowed or
not. After my return to the Capital,
the Board entered into a contract with
the general government to that effect,
and selected DR.. J. S. Crissey, a gentle
man of long experience in the U. S.
Land Office, as the agent OF the State
to select the lands and secure patents
or indemnity scrip for the same, as
the case might be, and agreed to pay
him at the rate of four and a half
cents per acre. Other States were
paying from twenty Ave to fifty per
cent. for the same service, and the
board regarded this compensation as
entirely reasonable and five times
less expensive than the former meth
cd. The service has been most salts
n