That the petitioner claims compensation for a stud-horse, known by the name of Romulus, taken from her husband, David Dardin, in the year 1781, for the use of the army of the United States. It appears that the said horse was impressed from David Dardin for the public service by Lieutenant Rudder, a Continental officer, on the 26th of February, in the year aforesaid, and was then valued at the sum of £750 specie. The horse was taken to the army in North Carolina, then commanded by General Greene, who, upon hearing of the valuation, ordered the said horse to be valued again, which valuation was still higher than the first; whereupon General Greene ordered the horse to be returned to his former owner, who called upon three persons to ascertain the damages sustained by the use of his horse, and they estimated the damages at £100. The said Dardin then received the horse as his property, and continued to use him as such until the 18th July, 1781, when another Continental officer again took the horse and gave a receipt for him, wherein the sum of £750 is mentioned as having been before stated as the appraised value. This procedure attracted the attention of the Executive of Virginia, and in December, 1782, Benjamin Harrison, then Governor, made a representation to General Greene respecting this subject; but the horse being by this time in the State of Georgia, and applied to the public service, was continued therein, finally disposed of, and never thereafter returned to the said owner. It also appears that this claim of Dardin was referred to the Virginia Assembly in 1782 by the court of Mecklenburg county; and, in a former report it is stated, and believed to be true, that Dardin accordingly petitioned the Legislature of that State; but his claim being considered as coming more properly against the Union than against any particular State, he did not succeed. He, or the present petitioner, was then advised that redress might be obtained against the officers who took the horse, and a suit was instituted in the High Court of Chancery of Virginia for that purpose, which suit was depending therein until the month of June 1793, when it appears to have been abandoned and was dismissed. With the exception of the fact which the committee have extracted from a former report in this case, that this claim was once presented to and rejected by the Virginia Legislature, (which is deemed a circumstance of no particular importance,) all the foregoing statement is supported by written documents, which appear to be genuine and authentic.
On the merits of this claim, your committee consider it almost superfluous to comment. The facts are conclusive in its favor, and no obstacle to its discharge can be conceived, except the lapse of time on this subject. The committee beg leave to state, that on the 23d July, 1787, Congress passed a resolution providing that all persons having unliquidated claims against the United States shall exhibit a particular abstract thereof to the Comptroller of the Treasury of the United States within one year. This was the first limitation that was adopted in respect to any class of claims, except those for personal services, which had been barred by the resolution of 2d November, 1785. The committee are of opinion that this claim was not included in the resolution of 23d July, 1787, because that resolution mentions only unliquidated claims; and the present claim was always liquidated and certain. The certificate granted by the Continental officer states the appraisement of the horse, made pursuant to the usage of the army, at the specific sum of £750 specie.
The next limitation to claims against the United States, and which it is believed by the committee embraces the claim of the petitioner, is contained in the act of the 12th February, 1793, which took effect on the 1st of May, 1794. On the 28th of February, 1794, the petitioner, instead of presenting her claim to the Treasury, according to the requisition of the statute of the 12th of February, 1793, presented it to Congress, who took cognizance of it, and ordered it to lie on their table. Her petition, and the only documents on which she could have succeeded at the Treasury, were retained in the possession of the House of Representatives until, and for some time after, the statute of limitations began to operate. Your committee have no hesitation in hazarding the opinion that in a case like this, between A and B, before an intelligent and upright, and equitable judge, the claim would be most undoubtedly sanctioned, as not coming within the spirit, although it may fall within the strict letter of the act of limitation.
Placing, however, this question out of view, the committee are still of opinion that the claim of the petitioner ought to be allowed. They believe that when a claim, founded in a fair consideration, and supported by indisputable evidence, is presented for payment, a proper self-respect on the part of the Government, as well as justice to the claimant, requires its discharge. They therefore submit the following resolution:
Resolved, That the prayer of the petitioner ought to be granted.
Friday, March 2.
Mrs. Hamilton's Claim.
The House resolved itself into a Committee of the Whole on the following resolution reported by the Committee of Claims on the petition of Elizabeth Hamilton:
Resolved, That the prayer of the petitioner ought not to be granted.
Messrs. Nelson and Taylor opposed, and Messrs. Root, Boyd, and Montgomery, supported the report—each at considerable extent.