Mr. J. Randolph said this was a new sort of political arithmetic. The gentleman from Vermont (Mr. Fisk) had said that three roads were discontinued in that State, and four only established, so that the gain was only one. In Virginia you discontinue four established roads, and give us no new one, though we have claimed several. We must work negative quantities; we are minus four. He wished to know how the equation was to be adjusted and managed. Mr. R. concluded a long speech by proposing a new section which went to forbid the carriers of the mail deviating from the old established routes, under penalty of twenty dollars for each offence.
This motion was intended to coerce the mail carriers to go through Colchester, and not through Occoquan, Virginia.
Thursday, February 26.
Claim of M. Beaumarchais.
Mr. Holmes, from the Committee of Claims, to whom was referred the Message of the President of the United States, transmitting a memorial of the French Minister, on the subject of the claim of Amelie Eugenie de Beaumarchais, heir and representative of the late Caron de Beaumarchais, made the following report:
This claim was presented to Congress at their last session by the agent of the representative of the late Caron de Beaumarchais, and a report was made thereon by the Committee of Claims, which was not finally acted upon by the House. The documents presented with that report, and the memorial of the French Minister, transmitted with the President’s Message, contain a full statement of all the material facts and principles involved in the consideration of the case. As the papers accompany the present report, your committee do not deem it necessary to detail particularly the circumstances attending the charge of one million of livres, made of the United States, in their account with Caron de Beaumarchais, (which is the foundation of the present application.) The claimants have uniformly contested the correctness of this charge, declaring that Mr. Beaumarchais has settled with the French Government for the same, conformably to the tenor of his receipt. The substance of this declaration is now confirmed by the French Government, through their Minister, in the following words:
“That the million given on the 10th of June, 1776, to M. de Beaumarchais, was employed in a secret service; that an account of it has been rendered to the King, and approved by him; and that it was not given on account of supplies furnished by the said Beaumarchais to the United States.”
The source whence this declaration proceeds renders it unnecessary to allude to any corroborative circumstances in support of the fact; but, as questions of law may arise in investigating the case, your committee think the course most consistent with the principles of justice, to which the United States have always adhered, would be to submit the claim generally to the consideration of the Secretary of State, with instructions to report to Congress at their next session; that he might consult the Attorney-General upon any questions of law arising in the course of the investigation, and furnish Congress with any other information that would tend to elucidate the subject. They therefore submit the following resolution:
Resolved, That the Message of the President of the United States, transmitting a memorial of the French Minister on the subject of the claim of Amelie Eugenie de Beaumarchais, legal representative of the late Caron de Beaumarchais, be referred to the Secretary of State, and that he be directed to report thereon to Congress at their next session.
The report was agreed to.