146 



CONGRESS, UNITED STATES. 



Captain Hugh N. Page, the sum of $136.85, being the 

 balance of pay due the said Hugh N. Page, as captain 

 in the United States Navy : l+ovided } Said payment 

 shall not be made until the said Elizabeth P. Page 

 files with the Secretary of the Treasury copies of her 

 letters of administration, showing that she is the law- 

 ful representative of the said Hugh N. Page. 



Mr. Brewer, of Michigan : " Mr. Chairman, 

 I do not wish to take any great length of time 

 in discussing the question involved in this case. 

 It is simply this, that the husband of the claim- 

 ant in 1811 entered the naval service of the 

 United States. He served as a faithful officer 

 until 1861, when the State of Virginia with- 

 drew her allegiance from the General Govern- 

 ment. He sent in his resignation, setting forth 

 those facts to the Secretary of the Navy. The 

 resignation was accepted soon after. After 

 the resignation had been forwarded to the 

 Secretary of the Navy he immediately entered 

 the Confederate service. How long he served 

 in the Confederate Navy I am unable to state. 

 Whether he was killed in the service of the 

 Confederacy or not I am wholly unable to state. 

 But we find that he died at some time after- 

 ward, and that the widow now comes to Con- 

 gress and presents her bill, asking that the 

 sum due him when he sent in his resignation 

 to the Secretary of the Navy shall be paid. 

 There is no question between the majority and 

 the minority of the committee but what there 

 was due to Captain Page, at the time he re- 

 signed, the sum of $136.85. 



"In 1867 Congress sought to cut off and 

 prevent the payment of all such claims, and 

 passed an act which prohibited any depart- 

 ment of the Government to pay any account, 

 claim, or demand against the United States 

 which accrued prior to the 13th day of April, 

 1861, in favor of any person who promoted, 

 encouraged, or in any manner sustained the 

 rebellion, or who during such rebellion was 

 not known to be opposed thereto and distinctly 

 in favor of its suppression. 



" Now, Mr. Chairman, it may be stated by 

 the gentleman who made the majority report, 

 that the time has come for ordering otherwise. 

 These claims were not to be paid ' until other- 

 wise ordered,' and the gentleman sets forth in 

 his report that the time has now come, in the 

 judgment of the committee, when it should be 

 otherwise ordered. 



"I should like to know why it should be or- 

 dered now, any more than at the time the act 

 was passed, that these claims should be paid. 

 If it was right that these claims should be 

 paid, then it was wrong to enact the law. If 

 it was right they should not be paid, then it 

 is no less right now. 



" Our friends who make this report may 

 come and say this is but a small sum, $136.85. 

 They may say that this lady who now presents 

 this claim as the widow of Captain Page is 

 poor and needy. They may seek to play upon 

 the sympathies of this committee and of the 

 Honse, so as to secure the passage of this 

 claim. I know how easy it is to raise a sym- 



pathetic feeling in the minds and hearts of 

 members of this House. We saw it illustrated 

 here in the passage of a bill, which but a little 

 while ago was before the committee. And it 

 is the fact that claimants come here before the 

 House and before the Committee of the Whole 

 and present but one side of the case, and ap- 

 peal to the sympathies and hearts of the mem- 

 bers for relief. 



"Now, I say the widow of Captain Page 

 could acquire no higher rights against the Gov- 

 ernment than those possessed by her late hus- 

 band ; and if it had been right to have paid 

 this claim, then it should have been and would 

 have been paid to Captain Page years ago, in- 

 stead of its being claimed for the widow now. 

 The same principles are involved upon this 

 claim, and in this case, as would be involved 

 if there was a million dollars concerned; no 

 more and no less. 



" We are establishing a precedent to-day, 

 and if we pass this bill then we ought immedi- 

 ately to repeal the act by which the payment 

 of this claim and those of others like it is pre- 

 vented. If this claim is right, which is pre- 

 sented by Mrs. Page, then I say there are a 

 thousand others who have equally meritorious 

 claims, and they should be paid as well as this 

 widow. I insist we ought not to attempt to 

 do here in part, what we in my judgment, in 

 this Committee of the Whole or in this House, 

 will not do in whole, and what the country 

 would not approve of our doing." 



Mr. Goode, of Virginia: "Mr. Chairman, I 

 regret that the gentleman from Michigan [Mr. 

 Brewer] seems disposed to make such strenu- 

 ous opposition to this little bill. What is it? 

 If I can get the attention of the committee for 

 a moment, I am sure that gentlemen on both 

 sides of the Chamber will agree with the ma- 

 jority of the Committee on Naval Affairs that 

 the bill ought to be favorably considered. 



"And I want to say, Mr. Chairman, for the 

 information of gentlemen on the other side of 

 the House surrounding the gentleman from 

 Michigan who has just spoken, that this is a 

 unanimous report from the Committee on 

 Naval Affairs, with two exceptions. 



"It appears from the report that Captain 

 Hugh N. Page entered the United States Navy 

 as a midshipman in 1811. He was present at 

 the battle of Lake Erie under Commodore 

 Perry, and exhibited such conspicuous gal- 

 lantry on that occasion that the Government 

 voted him a sword. He remained in the ser- 

 vice of the United States until the breaking 

 out of the civil war in 1861, when he tendered 

 his resignation for the reason stated by him, 

 because his native State had adopted her ordi- 

 nance of secession. 



"Now just here let me say that the report 

 of the committee is slightly inaccurate. I do 

 not attach any blame to the gentleman from 

 Michigan [Mr. Brewer]. Ho was misled by 

 the report of the majority of the committee. 

 Since that report was submitted I have been 



