The Committee on Pensions, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 1616) granting a pension to John G. Parr, of Kittanning, Penn., report:

The bill gives to Lieutenant-Colonel Parr, of the One Hundred and Thirty-ninth Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteers, a pension of $50 per month from June, 1865, deducting the pension already paid, which is $20 per month, from that time.

The soldier's military history is thus certified by the Adjutant-General: Enrolled 25th July, 1862, in Company C of same regiment, to serve three years; mustered into service as captain, 1st day of September, 1862, same company and regiment. On the muster-out roll of the company, dated June 21, 1865, he is reported, mustered out, severely wounded in action at Cold Harbor, Va., June 3, 1864. Promoted to lieutenant-colonel July 6, 1864, and wounded March 25, 1865. On the 4th day of September, 1865, he made his declaration for an invalid pension, in which he declared that, while in the service and in the line of his duty, he received a wound in the right arm, below the elbow, by a shot from the enemy's' artillery, severing the hand, in the battle of Cold Harbor, on the 3d day of June, 1864, while he was captain of said company, and also that he received a contusion or shellWound in the left hip, on the 25th of March, 1865, in battle near Petersburgh, while he was lieutenant-colonel, and in command of said regi

ment.

Dr. Otto, an examining surgeon, certified, on the 24th day of November, 1865, that the soldier was wholly incapacitated; that his disability was permanent and was the result of a wound caused by a spherical shot striking his right-wrist joint, requiring amputation of the fore-arm near the middle.

On the evidence submitted, Lieutenant-Colonel Parr was admitted to the invalid-pension roll, and a certificate, No. 37428, at $20 per month, was issued to him in accordance with the rank he held at the time he received the injury for which he was pensioned. Although he alleged the additional injury received while holding the rank of lieutenant-colonel, no evidence in support thereof was filed, nor was it shown by the certificate of the examining surgeon that he was disabled from any other injury than that received as captain. It is proper to add that, in his present application to Congress, no such additional injury is shown except by the memorial.

The application was made while Colonel Parr was in the service. On the 1st of February, 1865, he made application for leave of absence for the purpose of having a second amputation performed, and produced to

his commading officer the certificate of the assistant surgeon in charge of the regiment, as follows:

I do hereby certify that I have carefully examined the officer, and find that he received a wound in battle at Cold Harbor, for which amputation of the lower third of the fore-arm was performed. Spasmodic action of the muscles supervening, another operation was performed, January 24, 1865, to remedy the trouble, and that in consequence thereof he is, in my opinion, unfit for duty, &c.

On the 18th day of January, 1871, T. H. Allison, M. D., of the town above named, certifies that he found Colonel Parr's right arm off a short distance above the wrist; that a very annoying feature was the leaping of the muscles of the stump, causing the whole arm or stump to spring quickly from a quiet state into a horizontal or erect position, and there oscillate or tremble till it gradually fell down into its former state of temporary repose. In a few moments this spasmodic leaping of the muscles would be repeated. He adds:

"I have sat beside the colonel when he was not aware that he was being observed, and was astonished at the effect upon his whole body which this leaping of the muscles of the stump had, causing his whole frame to vibrate and tremble as though laboring under spasm."

The petitioner sets out in his memorial, very feelingly, the sufferings and annoyance he has endured from the loss of his hand and the spasmodic action of the muscles described by the surgeons, and prays for an increase of pension.

It is to be remembered that he is pensioned now for a total disability. He is pensioned according to the rank he held when he received the wound. He draws the highest rate of pension allowed by law for disabilities of that class; he has so drawn it from the time of his discharge What he desires and what the House bill gives him is something more," nay, more than double what other officers of equal grade receive for similar injuries. To vote him $30, $40, or $50 a month, is to exalt him above his fellow-sufferers, and not only that, but to declare in effect that the general provision of law is an inadequate one in such cases. We cannot deny equal liberality to others who are sufferers like Colonel Parr. How could we, when his case is pointed to us as a precedent? No; we must make up our minds to repeal the rule, and give every of ficer of his rank at the time, instead of $20 per month, $50 for like injuries. He claims that at all events his pension should be that of a lieutenant-colonel. Why? He did not hold that rank when wounded. Suppose he had been killed outright-a greater misfortune, certainly, than the loss of a hand-his widow would have drawn no higher pension than he does. Suppose he had gone out of the service then ou account of his disability; it will not be pretended, he does not pretend, that he could have obtained any higher pension. By what kind of logic can it be demanded, then, that, because he chose to remain in the service, and was promoted, his pension should relate to the date of his promotion rather than the date of his wound?

The general rule, as expressed in the pension-law of March 3, 1873, embodied the sentiment of Congress at that time upon this question. It was designed to meet and govern all cases. It was adopted when there was no individual hardship pressing, so well calculated, by its appeal to the sympathies of legislators, to swerve their judgment. The rule is a philosophic and just one, which all men must acknowledge, when it can be separated from the hardships of individual cases.

The committee, therefore, recommend that the bill be indefinitely postponed.

The Committee on Commerce, to whom was referred the resolution of the legis lature of California, remonstrating against granting additional subsidy to the Pacific Mail Steamship Company, have had the same under consideration, and make the following report :

The legislature of the State of California, remonstrating against granting an additional subsidy to the Pacific Mail Steamship Company, represents that there is now ample communication with China by other lines of steamers which find the trade sufficiently remunerative without subsidy. That such subsidy, if granted, will be used (as is the present one) to attempt to crush out fair competition on the Pacific coast, and to further the interest of Wall-street stock-jobbers and speculators. That the Pacific Mail Company steamers are engaged in importing Chinese coolies to the State of California, and are almost wholly manned by Mongolians to the almost entire exclusion of free white labor. That the said steamship company are now enjoying a subsidy of $500,000 per annum, by which they are given an unjust advantage over other persons engaged in the same business, who are tax-paying citizens of California. And that granting subsidies to corporations, if not vicious, is of doubtful policy; and that therefore the legislature instructs the Senators and requests the Representatives from that State in the Congress of the United States to use their influence to defeat granting said subsidy, urging that the same is an unjust and improper appropriation of the public money.

By the act of February 17, 1865, providing for the establishment of ocean mail-steamship service between the United States and China, the Postmaster-General was authorized to contract for monthly mail-steamship service for the term of not less than ten years, between the port of San Francisco and some port or ports in China, touching at Honolulu, Sandwich Islands, and at one or more ports in Japan, at a rate not exceeding $500,000 per annum, the service to be performed by a monthly line of first-class American sea-going steamships, not less than 3,000 tons burden, and of sufficient number to perform twelve round trips per annum. The law further provided that, in addition to the usual stipu lations of ocean mail-steamship contracts, the steamships provided for this service should be constructed of the best material, after approved models, with all modern improvements adapted to sea-going steamships of the first class, to be subject to inspection and survey under the direction of the Secretary of the Navy, by a naval constructor, and that a mail-agent should be transported in them free of charge.

Under authority of this act a contract was ordered with the Pacific Mail Steamship Company by Postmaster General Randall in October, 1866, the service put into operation early in 1867, and the said company has been paid annually the sum of $500,000 for the same, which by limitation runs to the year 1877, and hence will be continued until that time, unless previously discontinued for cause or by operation of law.

By the operations of sections 3 and 6 of the act making appropriations for the year ending June 30, 1873, approved June 1, 1872, the Postmaster-General is authorized to contract, at the rate of not more than $500,000 per annum, for an additional trip or semi-monthly service between San Francisco, Japan and China, for the term of ten years, with certain provisoes and restrictions more fully described, and to be understood by quoting this act, as follows:

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SEC. 3.

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And the Postmaster-General is hereby authorized to contract with the lowest bidder, within three months after the passage of this act, after sixty days' public notice, for a term of ten years from and after the first day of October, eighteen hundred and seventy-three, for the conveyance of an additional monthly mail on the said route, at a compensation not to exceed the rate per voyage now paid under the existing contracts, and upon the same conditions and limitations as prescribed by existing acts of Congress in ref rence thereto, and the respective contracts made in pursuance thereof; and the contractors under the provisions of this section shall be required to carry the United States mails during the existence of their contracts, without additional charge, on all the steamers they may run upon said line, or any part of it or any branch or extension thereof: Provided, That all steamships hereafter accepted for said service shall be of not less than four thousand tons register each, and shall be built of iron, and with their engines and machinery shall be wholly of American construction, and shall be so constructed as to be readily adapted to the armed naval service of the United States in case of war, and before acceptance the officer by whom they are inspected shall report to the Secretary of the Navy and the Postmaster-General whether this condition has been complied with: Provided, That in all cases the officers of the ships employed in the service herein provided for shall be citizens of the United States, and that persons of foreign birth, who have according to law declared their intention to become citizens of the United States, may be employed as though they were citizens within the meaning of this section, or of any act or acts specified in the act of June twenty-eight, eighteen hundred and sixty-four. And the Government of the United States shall have the right, in case of war, to take for the use of the United States any of the steamers of said line, and in such case pay a reasonable compensation thereof: Provided, The price paid shall in no case exceed the original cost of the vessel so taken; and this provision shall extend to and be applicable to the steamers of the Brazilian line here nafier provided for.

SEC. 6. That if the contract for the increase of the mail service between San Francisco and China and Japan to a semi-monthly service shall be made with the Pacific Mail Stean ship Company, or shall be performed in the said company's ships, or the ships of its successors in interest, the moneys payable under such contract shall be paid while the said company, or its successors in interest, shall maintain and run the line of steamships for the transportation of freight and passengers, at present run between New York and San Francisco, via the Isthmus of Panama, by the said Pacific Mail Steamship Company, and no longer: Provided, That said requirement shall in all respects apply to any party contracting for the mail service between San Francisco and China and Japan, as well as to the Pacific Mail Steamship Company.

Accordingly, on the 23d of August, 1873, after due advertisement, a contract was entered into by Postmaster General Creswell with the Pacific Mail Steamship Company for the additional monthly mail between San Francisco and Hong Kong, China, via Yokohama, Japan, as authorized and directed by the terms and provisions of the law, at the rate of $500,000 per annum, for the term of ten years, making in all a total subsidy of $1,000,000 per annum for semi-monthly steamship service between San Francisco, China, and Japan. The contract is as follows:

Contract for additional mail-service between the United States and Japan and China. This article of contract, made the twenty-third day of August, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, between the United States of America (acting in this behalf by their Postmaster-General) and the Pacific Mail

Steamship Company, with George H. Bradbury aud Rufus Hatch, esquires, as sureties, witnesseth:

That whereas the said Pacific Mail Steamship Company were heretofore accepted in accordance with the stipulations and provisions of sections 3 and 5 of the act of Congress approved June 1, 1872, entitled "An act making appropriations for the service of the Post-Office Department for the year ending June 30, 1-73,” and in conformity with the advertisement inviting proposals for said service issued by the PostmasterGeneral of the United States on the 5th day of June, 1972, as contractors for the conveyance of an additional monthly mail on the mail-steamship route between the port of San Francisco and the port of Hong-Kong, China, via Yokohama, Japan, with a regular branch line, running in connection with the main line, between Yokohama and Shanghai, China, at the sum of $500,000 for the performance of twelve round trips per annum for a term of ten years, from and after the first day of October, eighteen hundred and seventy-three, and upon the same conditions and limitations as prescribed by existing acts of Congress in reference thereto, and the respective contracts made in pursuance thereof;

And whereas the said Pacific Mail Steamship Company on the 29th day of August, 1572, entered into articles of contract with the United States of America, acting in that behalf by their Postmaster-General, for the conveyance of the said mails, in conformity with the provisions and stipulations of the said act of Congress, with Alden B. Stockwell and Henry Clews, esquires, as its sureties in the said contract:

And whereas the said Pacific Mail Steamship Company have desired to procure the discharge and release of the said Stockwell and Clews as the sureties for the company under said contracts, and have offered to substitute therefor George H. Bradbury, of Englewood, N. J., and Rufus Hatch, of the city of New York, esquires, as sureties in their stead;

And whereas the United States, acting by their Postmaster-General in this behalf, have consented and agreed with the said company to accept and receive the said George H. Bradbury and Rufus Hatch as sureties for the performance and service to be rendered by the said steamship company under said contracts, in lieu of said Stockwell and Clews as sureties therefor and thereunder, and to that end to accept and receive a new contract upon the part of said steamship company, with the said George H. Bradbury and Rufus Hatch as sureties, for the performance of the service provided for by said first-named contracts, respectively, and with the like stipulations and conditions:

Now, therefore, these presents witness that the said Pacific Mail Steamship Company, contractors, and the said George H. Bradbury and Rufus Hatch as sureties, do jointly and severally undertake, covenant, and agree with the United States, and do bind themselves to transport the mails of the United States between the ports of San Francisco and Hong-Koug, in China, touching at Yokohama, Japan, both on the outward and inward passages, to land and receive mails, with a regular connecting branch line of steamers between Yokohama and Shanghai, China, twelve round trips per annum, by an additional monthly line of first-class American steamships, to conform in all respects to the requirements and provisions of the third section of the act of Congress above cited, approved June 1, 1872, and the advertisement of the PostmasterGeneral, issued in accordance therewith, dated June 5, 1872, and of sufficient nu aber to perform the required additional monthly service for and during the term of ten years, commencing on the first of October, eighteen hundred and seventy-three. And the said contractors do further covenant and agree with the United States, and do bind themselves, that the steamships hereafter offered for the service shall be of not less than four thousand tons register each, and shall be built of iron, and with their engines and machinery shall be wholly of American construction, of the best materials, and after approved models, and shall be so constructed as to be readily adapted to the armed naval service of the United States in case of war; and before acceptance the officers by whom they are inspected shall report to the Secretary of the Navy and the Postmaster-General whether t is condition has been complied with; and further, that the said steamships, after acceptance by the Postmaster-General, and during the period they may be employed in conveying the mails, shall be kept up by alterations, repairs, and additions, as the exigency may require, fully equal to the best state of steamship improvement attained, and if not so kept up and maintained they may be rejected by the Postmaster-General of the United States as not meeting the requireTents of the act of Congress authorizing the additional monthly service, and other satisfactory steamships required in their place. And the said contractors do further Covenant and agree, and do bind themselves, to carry the United States mails during the existence of their contracts, without additional charge, on all the steamers they may run upon said line, or any part of it, or any branch or extension thereof; and they do further covenant and agree to transport, free of expense, on each and every steamer, a mail-agent of the United States, to take charge of and arrange the mail-matter, and to assign to such agent a separate state-room on the upper or main deck, with suitable