drawings of the public lands, sold and unsold. This officer is competent and bound to furnish copies whenever required to do so by either House of Congress, or any committee thereof, upon proper application. The committee, in order to furnish the House with the most satisfactory evidence upon this point, refer to the copy of a letter addressed by the chairman to the Secretary of the Treasury, No. 1; and the letter of the Secretary in reply, No. 2. By which it will appear that, so far as relates to the legislation of Congress upon the public lands, it is unnecessary to create the office of draughtsman to this House. 2dly. As to the representations of the various post roads within the United States, for the use of the Committee on the Post Office and Post Roads. The committee would remark, that the great leading post roads in the United States, as established by Congress, must be so well known as not to require the aid of a map to present the position, or manifest their importance, to the Committee on the Post Office or to Congress. The roads of minor importance are so frequently changed, that what might be a correct map at one session would not at the ensuing session truly represent all the post roads. In the General Post Office, measures have been taken to prepare a map of the United States upon such scale that the post roads as now established will be correctly represented, and those hereafter established will be delineated with accuracy, from which copies may be furnished by the Department upon the call of either House of Congress, or their respective committees, without much, if any, additional expense to the Government. If there were a draughtsman attached to Congress, and the Committee on the Post Office required a post road to be represented on a map, that draughtsman would go to the Post Office Department to copy from the map prepared for that office. Why not then require this to be done by the member of the Engineer Department detailed for this duty, and attached to the General Post Office? The information can be obtained in this mode perhaps with more accuracy, as much despatch, greater responsibility, and without any additional expense. In confirmation of this statement, the committee refer to the letters Nos. 3 and 4. The 3d object for which it has been supposed to be necessary to create this office of draughtsman, connects itself with the system of internal improvement; to prosecute which understandingly, copies of such maps, charts, drawings, &c. as have been made by the Topographical corps, when communicated to Congress, should be procured for the use of the Committee on Internal Improvements. Before the practice of ordering engravings of such maps by Congress had obtained, it would have required much labor to have taken copies of all the drawings, &c. made by the Engineer corps, and communicated to Congress. For the last three or four years, many, if not all, of the most important charts, &c. which have been made by the authority of Congress, have been directed to be engraved. The amount expended for this purpose alone, up to the present day, is $4,689 74. It would not be necessary to copy them after they had been engraved, for the use of the Committee on Internal Improvements, or for the use of the House of Representatives. It occurred to the committee, however, that, whenever a report, accompanied by a map or drawing, was made from the Department of War to Congress, a duplicate of such map could be furnished by the Topographical corps, without any additional, or with very littie, expense to the Government, for the use of the Committee on Internal Improvements. With a view to ascertain that fact, a letter, No. 5, was addressed to the Secretary of War. The Secretary of War, in his answer, No. 6, says that the copies of such maps as the Committee on Internal Improvements may require can be furnished by that Department. If the Engineer Department, as at present arranged, shall be insufficient for that purpose, in consequence of other duties, it will then be necessary to assign another officer to do duty with it. In which event, the increased expense would be the extra allowance of $1 25 per day to such officer, equal to $456 25 for the year. The committee are of opinion that the contingency will not likely occur to make even this additional expense necessary at any time; it will most. likely never occur, except during the sessions of Congress. The investigation of this subject has been more minute than its intrinsic importance demands; but such investigation was deemed essential in consequence of the opinion entertained by many members of Congress, who had not, perhaps, turned their attention to the subject, that such an office was necessary, if not indispensable; and in consequence of a disposition, manifested elsewhere, to misrepresent the motives of the committee on a former occasion, by charging them and the House, for party purposes, with a waste of thousands of the public money in an effort to abolish the office of draughtsman, to which was attached a factitious importance. A majority of the committee then believed the office, if one it should be so called, involving an annual expenditure of fifteen hundred dollars since 1824, was wholly useless, and that the expenditure ought to be discontinued. Upon the whole view of the subject which the committee have taken, they are of opinion that it is inexpedient to create the office of draughtsman, and that no additional legislation is necessary to "provide a mode by which the copies of maps, charts, and drawings [may be obtained,] when necessarily required for the use of the House of Representatives," or the committees thereof, and recommend the adoption of the following resolution: Resolved, That the resolutions of 23d February, referred to the Committee on Retrenchment on the 10th of March, ought not to be adopted. No. 1. WASHINGTON, 16th March, 1830. SIR: The Committee on Retrenchment, among other things, has been directed to inquire into the expediency of creating the office of draughtsman to the House of Representatives. It is stated by the Chairman of the Committee on Public Lands, that maps and charts of the land districts heretofore established, of the public lands, so far as they have been surveyed, have been copied by the person heretofore employed, from the maps, &c. as they have been returned to the General Land Office, and that it will be necessary, for the safe action of this committee, that the land districts, and surveys of public lands, as they progress, should be furnished the committee. The object of this letter is to inquire of you, whether this work could not be performed, whenever required by that committee, or the House of Representatives, without any additional charge to the Government, by the present draughtsman, now employed in the General Land Office. I am, respectfully, Your obedient servant, C. A. WICKLIFFE, Chairman. Hon. S. D. INGHAM No. 2. TREASURY DEPARTMENT, 22d March, 1830. you SIR: Having referred to the Commissioner of the General Land Office letter of the 16th instant, I have the honor to state, that it appears by a report just received from him, that, "with the force now employed in that office, such additions may be made to the maps of the several States and Territories within which the public lands lie, as will afford full information to the Committee on Public Lands, on such points as they require, without any further additional expense, except that of purchasing a few maps, which will not exceed fifty dollars. I have the honor to be, Hon. CA. WICKLIFFE,. Very respectfully, Your obedient servant, S. D. INGHAM, Secretary of the Treasury. Ch'n Com. on Retrenchment, Ho. Reps. U. S. No. 3.1 WASHINGTON, March 16th, 1830. SIR: The Committee on Retrenchment, among other things, has been directed by the House of Representatives to inquire into the expediency of creating the office of draughtsman to the House of Representatives. The Chairman of the Committee on the Post Office and Post Roads was understood to state that he considered the labors of the individual heretofore employed necessary to enable that committee to discharge the duties assigned it. Those labors heretofore performed are understood to be maps, or drawings from maps, of the various post roads established in the United States. The committee have been informed, that there is attached to the Post-Office Department, a draughtsman or clerk, whose duty it is to make, for the use of the Department, maps or draugths of the various post roads, as they may exist or be altered from time to time. The object of this letter is to ascertain whether, upon request of the Post Office Committee, or of Congress, copies of these maps or drawings in future could not be furnished the Committee on the Post Office and Post Roads by the Department, without any additional expense to the Government. March 24th, 1830. SIR: In answer to your inquiries, relative to the utility of the office of draughtsman, as connected with the Committee on the Post Office and Post Roads, I have the honor to state: That a gentleman attached to the Engineer Department has lately been assigned to the duties required by this Department, of giving such drawings of the topography of the country as shall exhibit the relative situation of the respective post offices, the roads on which the mails are carried, with the intersections and connexions of the several routes. He has not yet been employed for a sufficient time to have effected, in any considerable degree, the object; nor is it very important that the work should be completed in order to trace the general outlines of mail routes as established by law. When it shall be completed, it will be a matter of very little labor for the same person to mark the routes on any map or maps for the use of Congress, or of the committee. In the mean time, however imperfect the maps of the Department may be, it is doubtful whether the same information any where else can be obtained as that which is within the reach of the Department, in relation to this point; and it will, at all times, afford the Depart. ment pleasure to communicate, either verbally or otherwise, any information within its power to the committee, or to any member of the committee, or of Congress. Hon. C. A. WICKLIFFE, I am, very respectfully, W. T. BARRY. Chairman of the Committee on Retrenchment, House of Representatives. No. 5. WASHINGTON, March 16, 1830. SIR: The Committee on Retrenchment has been instructed by the House of Representatives to inquire into the expediency of creating the office of draughtsman to the House of Representatives. It has been stated that the labors of the individual heretofore employed in that business by the Clerk of the House of Representatives have been eminently useful to the Committee on Internal Improvements, in copying, for the use of the committee, the various maps, drawings, &c. which have been sent to Congress from the Department of War, and which copies have been usually suspended in the committee room. The object of this letter is to ascertain from your Department, whether, when reports are made to Congress, in obedience to calls for reports, surveys, &c. from the Engineer or Topographical Corps, one extra copy of each map, &c. for the use of the Committee on Internal Improvements, could not be furnished, and whether copies of all such drawings, maps, charts, &c. now on file, or which may hereafter be made, when required by the committee or Congress, could not be furnished by the Department of War, by the means now within the power of the Department, without further legislation or any additional expense. I am, with respect, &c., C. A. WICKLIFFE, Chairman. Hon. Joan H. EATON, No. 6. WAR DEPARTMENT, Washington, March 17, 1830. SIR: In reply to your letter of yesterday, on the subject of furnishing the Committee on Internal Improvements with copies of such maps as they may require, I have the honor to state, that the services referred to can be performed by having assigned to the Engineer Department an officer of the army when it may be found necessary. The expense of executing it in this manner would be, that of the stationery, &c. with an allowance to the officer employed, the extra compensation usual in such cases, of $1 25 per diem, which would amount to about $456 25 annually. If the Engineer Department, as at present arranged, shall be insufficient for what you propose, it will then become necessary to assign another officer to do duty with it, in which event the increased expense will be such as I have stated. I have the honor, sir, to be, To the Hon. C. A. WICKLIFFE, Your obedient servant, J. H. EATON. Chairman of Com. on Retrenchment, Ho. Reps. CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, February 23, 1830. Mr. Sterigere submitted the following amendment of the rules of the House: Resolved, That the following shall be added to the standing rules of this House: It shall be the duty of the Clerk of this House, upon the request of either of the standing or select committees, to procure, in such manner, and on such terms, as may be approved by the Speaker and Committee of Accounts, any map, chart, or drawing, or copy thereof, for the use of said committee, as, in the opinion of such committee, may be necessary for the proper discharge of its duties; the expenses thereof to be paid out of the contingent fund of the House. March 10, 1830. Ordered, That the foregoing resolution be referred to the Committee on Retrenchment. Attest: M. ST. CLAIR CLARKE, Clerk. Hon. C. A. WICKLIFFE, House of Reps. The whole amount paid, from 1824 inclusive, for the engraving March 27, 1830. $5,789 74 1,100 00 $4,689 74 M. ST. CLAIR CLARKE, Clerk. |