CB— B3'3 QcnrtL *3// Duke University Libraries D03209775X R E 1= O Pt T OF THE ^TTOENEY G-E^TERAL. CoNFEDERATt: StaTES OF A.MERICA, ^ Department of Justi<:e, \ Richmond, January 1, 1863. ) Tojthe President : SiRj — I have the honor to submit, for your consideration, the fol- lowing Report from this Department : The Patent Officc, "which by law is under the control and Supervision of this department, has not received the piitronage and revenues from' its operations, within the last twelve months, the preceding year's operations promised. The number of applications for patents filed, since the first of January, 1862, is one hundred and forty-nine, and the number of caveats, sixty-four. Seventy-five patents have been issued, during the year 1862. Owing to the incidents of the war, especially in the South-west, and along our seaboard, the receipts of the office began rapidly to decline during the month of May ; and, in consequence thereof, and of diminished business, it became necessary shortly thereafter, to reduce the number of clerks employed. The law requires the office to be self-sustaining. The expenses were re- quired to be retrenched, in order to prevent the speedy exhaustion of the surplus fund? accumulated by previous operations. Since the middle of November, the Commissioner of Patents, and one Assistant Examiner have constituted the whole force of the office. As the sur- plus funds of this office, now placed to its credit in the Treasury, amount to more than two thousand dollars, it is confidently believed the office will conicinue to be self-sustaining, whilst the war continues. For the past men* u the receipts have been greater than for several months, and, I thi 'k, the business and consequent revenue will much increase with the ; Ivancing prospects of peace. For a more detailed statement of the c erations of the office, during the year, and of its present condition, . refer to the report of the efficient Commissioner of Patents. • The rapid increase in the cost of materials, has caused some troubl& in the Bureau of Public Printing. But the skill, industry, and cir- cumspection of Mr. George E. W. Nelson, the Superintendent, and of" Mr. Ed. G. Dill, his admirable Clerk, have saved many thousands of dollars to the Treasury. I call your attention to the Report of the Superintendent, and recommend the alterations in the laws therein suggested. The hnvs of each session of Congress have not been pulilished -with that promptness which is desirable. But this delay has been occasion- ed by difficulties growing out of the disturbed state of the country, rendering it almost impracticable to procure promptly and regularly the materials neces.sary to printing establishments. The law requires the prompt publication of the acts of Congress in some newspaper published at the seat of government of each state of the Confederate States. It has happened, during the present year, that several of the state capitals have been in possession of the energy. I suggest that the law ought to be so amended as to meet such emer- genc'ies, by authorizing the Attorney Gen.cral to have the acts pub- lished in other places, whenever it is impracticable to publish them at the seat of government, I must not omit to remind your Excellency, that the organization of the Indian Territories has not yet been completed. After the re- ception of official notice that the treaties with the Indians had been ratified, nominations for Judges,«District Attorneys and Marshals, were made, but I am informed of no action of the Senate thereon. The constitution of the Confederate States declares, that " every Uaw, or resolution having the forge of law, shall relate to but one sub- ject, and that shall be expressed in the title." I cannot suppose, that -any clause of the constitution, couched in such terms, is merely direc- ■tory, and that Congress can be at liberty to disregard, in enactments, so plain an injunction of the fundamental law. What are to be the •consequences of a plain departure from this clause of the constitution, in framing laws, will present serious questions for the adjudication of courts. If the law passed embraces more subjects than one, or, if the subject of it be not expressed in the title, what is^to be the conse- quence? Is the whole law thereby to become void? Is the enact- ment on the first subject named, to be alone held valid, or is the last, or any other named ? If more than one. subject be embraced, and but one is expressed in the title, which part of the law is then to be con- sidered valid? Many such questions might be asked, and satisfactory answers might be difficult to find. I am induced to call attention, specially, to this clause of the constitution, because one law, relating ito officers over whom this department has control, has been the sub- ject of discussion, and may become the subject of litigation. I allude to the act of April 19th, 1862, entitled " An act regulating the fees ■of marshals, and for other purposes." This act not only regulates the fees of marshals, but provides for the appointment of criers for 'the courts, and their compensation ; it also regulates the compensa- tion of jurors and witnesses. Another act, passed on the same day, entitled "An act regulating the fees of clerks, and for other purposes," is liable to similar objections. I name these two acts alone, not be- cause they alone are subject to the objections indicated, but because they are sufficient to excite the attention of Congress to the subject. #3/ The constitution enjoins on Congress the duty of establishing "a tribunal for the investigation of claims against the Confederate States." The numerous claims which have already arisen, and others likely to arise in the prosecution of the war, make it of great importance to the claimants and to the Government, that such tribunal should be established without unnecessary delay. The laws now provide, that some of these claims shall be tiled in this department, whilst others are required to be filed in the Department of State. Investigations into their validity and amount, and the perpetuation of testimony, are required of the Attorney General, or of the Secretary of State, ac- cording to the character of the claim. It must be obvious to the most careless observer, that the other duties required of the Attorney Gen- eral, and of the Secretary of State, render it almost impossible for either to investigate properly the justice of these claims, or to give personal attention to the taking of testimony bearing on their validity or amount. Thus, the testimony would be almost wholly ex parte. In many cases, the absence of a rigid cross examination, so essential to elicit the whole truth, will result in imposition and frauds on the government. Under the present laws, the delay, frequently unavoid- able, to honest and needy claimants, is an evil to be deprecated. Many of the persons who have filed claims in this office, have been impover- ished by the improvident, not to say grossly negligent or oppressive action of our own troops. To such claimants, tardy justice becomes almost oppression. The establishment of the court contemplated in the constitution, would remedy all the evils from delay and imperfect examination of these claims, and afford safeguards against injustice and fraud on the government. When the framers of our constitution divided all the delegated pow- ers into the three great departments. Legislative, Executive and Judi- cial, they never contemplated the systeij^ully organized until each of these departments should be provided with a head. The constitution has now been in operation nearly one year, and yet no Supreme Court has been established. The many conflicting decisions, under the con- fiscation, conscription, and other laws, from which appeals have l)cen taken, show, but too plainly, the necessity for prompt action on the part of Congress. Uniformity in the construction of statutes, the preservation of constitutional landmarks, and justice to the property and person of the citizen, all call for the establishment of the Supreme Court, the head of the Judicial department of the Government. As the law now stands, no appeals are allowed from the decisions of Judges of the District courts, in cases arising under the habeas corpus writ. I respectfully suggest, that in such cases, appeals, or writs of ^rror should be authorized. I have the honor to be, very respectfully, Your obedient servant, (Signed,) T. H. WATTS, Attorney General. // // <~ / Q Q Digitized by tine Internet Archive in 2010 witii funding from Duke University Libraries littp://www.archive.org/details/reportofattorneyOOconf R, E F o n rr ' OF THE SPPERINTEPENT OF PIBLIC PRINTIM, FROM FEBRUARY 22d, TO DECEMBER 3l3T, 1862. Department of Justice, \ Bureau of Public Printing, \ Richmond, January 5th, 1863. ) Hon. Thomas Watts, Attorney General : Sir : — I have the honor to report the transactions of this Bureau from. February 22d to December 31st, 1862. The bills for the printing of Congress and the several Executive Departments, examined, approved and passed for payment, during this period, foot up twenty-nine thousand eight hundred and forty-four dollars and five cents ($29,844,05) of which the following is a state- ment in detail : * BILLS APPROVED AND PAID. For Congress, $3,134 79 For the Department of State, 112 52 For the Department of Justice, 84 23 For the Treasury Department, 2,311 71 For the War Department, 20,691 51 For the Navy Department, 1,126 87 For the Post Office Department, 2,382 42 Total, S29,844 05 ^V-5/83 OUTSTANDING BILL9. There are outstanding bills to a considerable amount, which will shortly be presented for settlement. From the data before me, I am enabled to furnish an approximate result as follows : For Congress, For the Department of State, For the Department of Justice, For the Treasury Department, For the War Department, For the Navy De})artment, For the Post Office Department^ Total, ^2.250 00 '300 00 50 00 6,000 00 74,974 68 800 00 12,000 00 $96,374 68 TOTAL COST OF PRINTING. From the statements above given it will be perceived that the print- ing of the Government for this period will probably cost one hundred and twenty-six thousand two hundred and eighteen dollars and seventy- three cents ($126,218 73). For Congress, For the Department of State, For the Department of Justice, For the Treasury Department, For the War Department, For the Navy Department, For the Post Office Department, Total, $5,384 79 412 52 134 23 8,311 71 95,666 19 1,926 87 14,382 42 $126,218 73 QUANTITY OF BLANKS PRINTED. I have prepared the folloAving table, for the purpose of exhibiting the quantity of printing executed for the different Departments of the Government : Department. No. of Reams. No. of Blanks. State, Justice, Treasury, War, Navy, Post Office, 7 16 198 9,127 80 1,417 3,360 7,680 95,040 4,470,960 38,400 680,560 Total, 10,845 5,296,000 One thousand and fifty-six (1,056) blank books were printed, of wliicli one hundred and fifty-two (152) were for the War Department, eight hundred and eighty-four (884) for the Treasury Department, five (5) for the Navy Department, nine (9) for the Department of Justice, and seven (7) for the Department of State. There were also printed for the War Department one hundred and four (104) "General Orders," of from one to thirty pages each in size, and of which the whole number of copies amounted to one hundred and fifty-one thou- sand ( 151,000). Three hundred anth forty-five thousand (345,000) passports were also printed for the Provost Marshal, and one hundred and fifteen thousand (115,000) railroad tickets for the Transportation Bureau of the War Department. For the Ordnance Bureau there were two thousand (2,000) pamphlets printed, and for the Surgeon General two thousand (2,000) surgical note books. THK COST FOR THE PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT. The totfil cost of the printing for the Provisional Government, as supervised by this ofiicc, amounts to one hundred and three thousand eight hundred and fourteen dollars and seventy-nine cents ($103,814 79) as follows : For Congress, For the Department of State, For the Department of Justice, For the Treasury Department, For the War Department, For the Navy Department, For the Post Office Department, Total, $5,907 43 465 44 754 43 3,953 92 63,247 60 1,391 58 28,094 39 $103,814 79 INCREASE OF PRINTING. Thus it will be observed that there has been an increase in the cost of printing from the 22d February to the 31st December last, as com- pared with that for the corresponding period of ten months under the Provisional Government, of twenty -two thousand four hundred and three dollars. and ninety-four cents, ($22,403 94) as follows: Department. Decrease, Increase. Congress, State, $522 64 52 92 Justice, 620 20 Treasury, War, $4,357 79 32,418 59 Navy, 535 29 Post Office, 13,711 97 Total, ,$14,907 73 $37,311 67 The increase has been the largest for the "War Department, and the greatest falling off is noticed in the printing of the Post Office De- partment. The cause of the large increase for the former may be attributed mainly to the large accessions to the army under the last conscription act. In the month of August, nearly -two millions of blank muster rolls, pay rolls, &c., &c., Avere ordered for this depart- ment alone, and this large order is but just filled. The decrease for the latter is due to the fact that the officers of that Department before the close of the Provisional Government, and -with tlic exception of signature post bills and circular letters, ordered blanks sufficient for the consumption of six mouths. THE APPROPRIATIONS. By reference to the books of the Treasury, I find that there will be a surplus of forty-one thousand seven hundred and eighty-five dollars and four cents (^41,786 04), of which eight thousand three hundr:d and fifty-seven dollars and thirty cents ($8,357 30) may be expended for the printing of Congress, and thirty-three thousand four hundred and twenty-seven dollars and seventy-four cents ($33,427 74) for the printing of the several Executive Departments, as follows : Amount to the credit of the Executive Departments, Dec. 31st, 1862, $127,552 42 Deduct amount of outstanding bills, less the item for Congress, 94,124 68 $33,427 74 Amount to the credit of Congress, Dec. 31st, 1862, $10,607 30 Deduct amount of outstmd no; bills, 2,250 GO $8,357 30 Add for the Executive Departments, 33,427 74 Total surplus, $41.785 04 f I can only account for this large surplus on the ground that two appropriations for thirty-seven thousand dollars, ($37,000,) one ap- proved 24th December, 18G1, and the other, a special Act, Dec. 31st, 186 I, were made by Congress upon one estimate from this office, that of the 26th November, 1861. The estimates for six months from the 3 1st January next, required by law, have already been transmitted to THE ADVERTISING. I have ascertained that seventy-two dollars and sixty-two cents, ($72 62,) have been paid out of the appropriations for the printing of the Executive Departments for advertising. I would respectfully submit that advertising does not come "within the object aimed at in these appropriations, and that as it is not under the control or direc- tion of this office, it is not includtd in the estimates for the printing of the several Executive Departments. PURCHASE OF PAPER, AND COMPENSATION OF CONTRACTORS. On the 19th August last I addressed a le'ter to you, requesting an amendment in the fourth section of the Act of the Provisional Con- gress, approved May 14th, 1861, entitled "An Act to organize fur- ther the Bureau of Superintendent of Public Printing," by confer- ring upon me additional authority to purchase, without advertising for sealed proposals, paper necessary to do all the printing of Congress, or either one of the Executive Departments, and writing paper and envelopes used by Congress or the Executive Departments. The scarcity of paper, and the high prices which it commands, has been the chief source of embarrassment. Paper manufactured with- in the limi'S of the Confederacy has advanced more than one hundred per cent., and that of foreign manufacture, suitable for blank books, and the finer description of printing, from two hundred and fifty to five hundred per cent. So steady has been the advance in price, and so great the demand for it, that I have found it impossible to secure a single contract. Nor is there a probability that I will be able to make a single contract until peace is established. The manufacturers are well aware that they can find a ready sale for all the paper they can make, and prefer rather to risk the market than fix the price, as they would be compelled to do if they made a contract under the Act of May 14th, 1861. The law as it now stands gives me authority to con- tract, but does not authorize me to make purchases. You will recol- lect that several months ago I consulted you upon this subject. Your reply was to the cftectthat I could lawfully purchase paper needed for immediate use, provided I could not secure a contract for it. I have done so on several occasions, when circumstances imperatively de- manded it, but it would be more economical to keep a large supply on hand, so that all the paper required for the printing could be sup- plied by this Bureau. As I stated in the letter above referred to, a large portion of the paper now used is purchased by the several contractors of the paper dealers of this city, who obtain it from vessels running the blockade or in distant parts of the Confederacy. Of course it is held at a high figure, "and the government not only pays what it costs in the first instance, but also the advance demanded here for it. I would add that the law of February 27th, 1861, fixes the per cent, allowed to the contractor at not more than twenty per cent, on the actual cost of the paper. Under the several contracts, this per cent, ranges from five to ten per cent. Consequently it makes no difference how much the contractor pays for paper, as he is sure of his five or ten per cent., which is a handsome profit on the amount invested. You will ob- serve, therefore, that if 1 am authorized to purchase the paper, this per cent, will also be saved to the Government. 10 I have included writing paper and envelopes, because I am very fre- quently requested by the several Departments to furnish these arti- cles, and because I believe it would result in a considerable saving- to the Government. In the letter of August 19th last, I also recommended the repeal of the first, second, and third clauses in the seventh section of tht Act of Feb. 27th, 18G1, and the passage of a bill fixini^ the price for all descriptions of work as follows: For composition, plain, per 1,000 ems, seventy cents ; composition, rule, and rule and figure, per 1,000 cms, one dollar and twenty cents ; press work, per token, including folding and stitching, seventy cents. I have made this recommeiidation for the purpose of simplifying the rates of compensation allowed contractors, and for the further reason that at the firs-t session of the Permanent Congress a resolu- tion for the preservation of public documents, approved April 19th, 1862, was adopted, by which it is made my duty to deliver to you two hundred copies of all documents printed, by order of cither House of Congress, for the purpose of being indexed and bound in volumes. In order to secure uniformity, it became necessary to print all docu- ments in pages of equal size, and to make a change in the compensa- tion allowed to the Congressional printer. These recommendations were laid before Congress at its last ses- sion, and I understand that the House Committee on Printing framed a bill in accordance therewith, but were unable to report it for the action of the House, in consequence of the heavy pressure of other important measures. In this bill a third section in relation to ruling and binding was introduced. Under the Act approved February 27th, 1861, the chief officers of the Government are authorized to contract for all necessary printing in connection with their several offices. Heretofore when proposals were invited f jr printing, no bids were made for rulinn; or for bindino;. As a large number of blank books, (1,056 for the current year), which are both ruled and bound, and hundreds of thousands of blank pay-rolls, muster-rolls, requisi- tions, kc, (10,845 reams for the current Tear), which require ruling are used by the Government, you will at once perceive the importance of adopting a uniform rate for ruling and for binding, or leaving it to the competition of bidders. I have again called your attention to these subjects, in the hope that you may be able to obtain early action on the part of Congress. THE printer's certificates. In my last annual report I called the attention of the then Attor- ney General (Mr. Bragg) to the fact that the tenth section of the Act of 27th Feb., 1861, requires the "public printer or contractor to pro- duce a voucher, showing the cost of the paper used and the quantity thereof, to swear to the correctness of his account, and procure the certificate of two disinterested practical printers, not connected with his office, that it has been made out correctly under the law." The contractors have complained that this section has put them to unne- 11 cessary trouble, ami caused a delay in the settlement of their ac- counts, which is injurious to their interests. They have also com- plained that even after the examination has been made and the cer- tificate given by these parties, this bureau has refused to approve the account, and in some cases, made material alterations and deductions. This can be obviated, and the object of the Government attained, by simply doing away with the certificate of the two disinterested prac- tical printers, and continuing to require the voucher for paper and the oath of the public printer or contractor to the correctness of his account. All bills for printing are subjected to a rigid examination by this Bureau. Not only are the rates fixed bj the contracts and the laws adhered to, but the closest scrutiny is made as to the actual quantity of composition, presswork, binding and ruling. In fact the investi- gation is made without the slightest reference to any of these certifi- cates, although no bill has been approved without them, because they are required by the law. printers' usages. It is the almost universal practice of printers, when a large order for blanks is received, to put in type two or more forms, but to charge composition upon one only. Presswork is then charged as if one blank oi ly were worked oif at a single impression, when the fact is, that two or more are produced. To make the matter morq^)lain, let us suppose that the composition upon a single form be 2,000 ems. At seventy cents per 1,000 ems (the price fixed by the law) it vould only amount to one dollar and forty cents, whilst the presswork on ten thousand copies (if that many were ordered) at seventy cents per token, would amount to twenty-eight dollars. Now, if composition on two forms were charged, (and in the case to which I allude two forms would be set up), is it not palpable that tAvo blanks are printed at one impression, and that instead of the presswork footing up twen- ty-eight dollars, it would be but fourteen — a clear saving of twelve dollars and sixty cents. I give the above as one of the regulations which govern the pro- prietors of printing establishments. There are others quite as im- portaijt, but in all instances I have felt it my duty, with a proper ap- preciation of the responsibilities resting upon me, to disregard them. After a careful consideration of the 1 iw, I am convinced that it is the intention simply to pay for the work actually performed, and for that only ; and, consequently, I have refused to approve any bills that were not made out in accordance with this construction of the law. THE CONTRACTORS. During the Provisional Government the contract of the Depart- ment of Justice was awarded to Messrs. Tyler, Wise & Allegre ; that of the State Department to Messrs. Ritchie & Dunnavant ; that of the 12 Treasury Department to Messrs. Tyler, Wise & Allegro ; that of the War Department to Messrs. Ritchie & Dunnavant ; that of the Navy Department to Messrs. Macfarlane & Fergusson, and that of the Post- office Department to Messrs. Ritchie & Dunnavant. On the first of April last a contract for four years was made hy the Postmaster Gen- eral with Mr. John II. Seals, of Atlanta, Georgia, but on the 5th of November last it was annulled by that officer, in consequence of a non-fulfillment of its conditions. Since then a second contract has been made with Messrs. Ritchie & Dunnavant, who are now perform- ing the work for that department. THE LAWS. The laws passed at the last session of Congress, printed in a style equal to that of Little & Brown's edition of the laws of the United States, are ready for distribution. The printing of the laws of the Provisional Congress, in the same form, is not completed, owing chiefly to the scarcity of printing material. The body of the laws is set in long primer type, of which the Con- gressional printer, until very recently, could only procure sufficient to set up one form of sixteen pages. Proof-reading, comparing with the original rolls, and the presswork occupy an entire week, making it impossible to print more than one form per week. Delays have also been occasioned by the pressure of other work during the sittings of Congress. However, with the increased facilities which Mr. R. M. Smith, tire Congressional printer, now has at his command, I hope shortly to be able to deliver to you the entire number for distribu- tion. CONGRESSIONAL DOCUMENTS. In compliance with the resolution approved April 19th, 1862, I de- livered to you two hundred copies of each public document ordered to be printed at the last session of Congress, for the purpose of being indexed and bound in volumes of convenient size. I perceive serious obstacles to the preparation of a complete index, from the fact that the documents cannot be paged with reference to the use contemplated in this resolution. Frequently several documents are printed at the same time, and it is impossible to page them so that they may form separate portions of the same bo )k. However, I would suggest, as a partial remedy, that these documents be severally numbered by the Secretary of the Senate and the Clerk of the House, (Senate docu- ment No. 1, House document No. 1, and so on,) and that these numbers be printed in an appropriate head line on the first page of each document respectively. THE HOUSE JOURNAL. I was informed by the Clerk of the House, after its adjournment, that the Journal of that body had been ordered to be printed, and I 13 made arrangements to have the work executed expeditiously Up to this writing I have not received the manuscript copy. I have the honor, sir, to be. Very respectfully. Your obedient servant, GEO. E. W. NELSON, Supt. Public Printing. P6Rmall(!6« pH8.5