SPEAKERS OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. The following is a complete list of the Speakers of the House of Representatives from the organization of the 1st Congress until the close of the 51st Congress, in 1891, giving the State which the Speaker represented, and the length of time of his services as Speaker. The names of the Speakers pro tem are not included.

Name.

Pa..

1st

Conn. 2d Pa 3d N. J... 4th 5th

Md.... 5th Mass 6th N. C... 7th

66

Mass

Ky.

js. C

Ky.

66

66

Term of Service.

Apr. 1, 1789, to Mar. 3, 1791 Oct. 24, '91, to Mar. 2, '93 Dec. 2, '93, to Mar. 3, '95 Dec. 7, '95, to Mar. 3, '97 May 15, '97, to July 16, '98 Dec. 3, '98, to Mar. 3, '99 Dec. 2, '99, to Mar. 3, 1801 Dec. 7, 1801, to Mar. 3, '03 8th Oct. 17, '03, to Mar. 3, '05 9th Dec. 2, '05, to Mar. 3, '07 10th Oct. 26, '07, to Mar. 3, '09 11th May 22, '09, to Mar. 3, '11 12th Nov. 4, '11, to Mar. 3, '13 13th May 24, '13, to Jan. 19, '14 13th Jan. 19, '14, to Mar. 3, '15 14th Dec. 4, '15, to Mar. 3, '17 15th Dec. 1, '17, to Mar. 3, '19 16th Dec. 6, '19, to May 15, 20 N. Y... 16th Nov. 15, '20, to Mar. 3, '21 Va. 17th Dec. 4, '21, to Mar. 3, '23 Ky.. 18th Dec. 1, '23, to Mar. 3, '25 N.Y... 19th Dec. 5, '25, to Mar. 3, '27 Va. 20th Dec. 3, '27, to Mar. 3, '29 21st Dec. 7, '29, to Mar. 3, '31 22d Dec. 5, '31, to Mar. 3, '33 23d Dec. 2, '33, to June 2, '34 Tenn.. 23d June 2, '34, to Mar. 3, '35 24th Dec. 7, '35, to Mar. 3, '37 25th Sept. 5, 37, to Mar. 3, '39 26th Dec. 16, '39, to Mar. 3, 41 27th May 31, '41, to Mar. 3, '43 28th Dec. 4, '43, to Mar. 3, '45 29th Dec. 1, '45, to Mar. 3, '47 30th Dec. 6, '47, to Mar. 3, '49 31st Dec. 22, '49, to Mar. 3, '51 32d Dec. 1, '51, to Mar. 3, '53 33d Dec. 5, '53, to Mar. 3, '55 34th Feb. 2, '56, to Mar. 3, '57 S. C...35th Dec. 7, '57, to Mar. 3, '59 N. J... 36th Feb. 1, '60, to Mar. 2, '61 Pa..... 37th July 4, '61, to Mar. 3, '63 Ind..

64

64

66

John Bell

James K. Polk.

46

38th Dec. 7, '63, to Mar. 3, '65 39th Dec. 4, '65, to Mar. 2, '67 40th Mar. 4, '67, to Mar. 3, '69 41st Mar. 4, '69, to Mar. 3, '71 42d Mar. 4, '71, to Mar. 3, '73 43d Dec. 1, '73, to Mar. 3, '75 Ind.... 44th Dec. 6, '75, to Aug 20, '76 N. Y... 44th Feb. 17, '76, to May 12, 76 Ohio.. 44th June 19, '76, to June 24, '76 Pa... 44th Dec. 4, '76, to Mar. 3, '77 45th Oct. 15, 77, to Mar. 3, '79 46th Mar. 18, '79, to Mar. 3, '81 Ohio.. 47th Dec. 5, '81, to Mar. 3, '82 Ky 48th Dec. 3, '83, to Mar. 3, '85 49th Dec. 7, '85, to Mar. 3, '87 50th Dec. 5, '87, to Mar. 3, '89 51st Dec. 2, '89, to Mar. 3, '91

66

66

Me.

Resigned, Jan. 19, 1814.
Resigned, Oct. 20, 1820.

↑ Resigned, June 2, 1834.

THE UNITED STATES COURT OF CLAIMS. The Court of Claims of the United States was established by Congressional Act of Feb. 24, 1855. Members of Congress are not allowed to practice in the Court of Claims. The Act of Congress, approved March 3, 1887, enacted that "the Court of Claims shall have jurisdiction to hear and determine" the following matters:

First. All claims founded upon the Constitution of the United States or any law of Congress, except for pensions, or upon any regulation of any Executive Department, or upon any contract, expressed or implied, with the Government of the United States, or for damages, liquidated, or unliquidated, in cases not sounding in tort, in respect of which

claims the party would be entitled to redress against the United States either in a court of law, equity, or admiralty if the United States were suable: Provided, however, That nothing in this section shall be construed as given to either of the courts herein mentioned jurisdiction to hear and determine claims growing out of the late civil war, and commonly known as "war claims," or to hear and determine other claims which have heretofore been rejected or reported on adversely by any court, department, or commission authorized to hear and determine the same.

Second. All set-offs, counter-claims, claims for damages, whether liquidated or unliquidated, or other demands what soever on the part of the Government of the United States against any claimant against the Government in said court: Provided, that no suit against the Government of the United States shall be allowed under this act unless the same shall have been brought within six years after the right accrued for which the claim is made.

SEC. 2. That the district courts of the United States shall have concurred jurisdiction with the Court of Claims as to all matters named in the preceeding section where the amount of the claim does not exceed one thousand dollars, and the circuit courts of the United States shall have such concurrent jurisdiction in all cases where the amount of such claim exceeds one thousand dollars and does not exceed ten thousand dollars. All causes brought and tried under the provision of this act shall be tried by the court without a jury.

SEC. 3. That whenever any person shall present his petition to the Court of Claims alleging that he is or has been indebted to the United States as an officer or agent thereof, or by virtue of any contract therewith, or that he is the guarantor, or surety, or personal representative of any officer, or agent, or contractor so indebted, or that he or the person for whom he is such surety, guarantor, or personal representative has held any office or agency under the United States, or entered into any contract therewith, under which it may be or has been claimed that an indebtedness to the United States has arisen and exists, and that he or the person he represents has applied to the proper Department of the Government requesting that the account of such office, agency, or indebtedness may be adjusted and settled, and that three years have elapsed from the date of such application and said account still remains unsettled and unadjusted, nnd that no suit upon the same has been brought by the United States, said court shall, due notice first being given to the head of said department and to the Attorney-General of the United States, proceed to hear the parties and to ascertain the amount, if any, due the United States on said account. The Attorney-General shall represent the United States at the hearing of said cause. The court may postpone the same from time to time whenever justice shall require. The judgment of said court or of the Supreme Court of the United States, to which an appeal shall lie, as in other cases, as to the amount due, shall be binding and conclusive npon the parties. The payment of such amount so found due by the court shall discharge such obligation. An action shall accrue to the United States against such principal, or surety, or representative to recover the amount so found due, which may be brought at any time within three years after the final judgment of said court. Unless suit shall be brought within said time, such claim and the claim on the original indebtness shall be forever barred.

SEC. 4. That the jurisdiction of the respective courts of the United States proceeding under this act, including the right of exception and appeal, shall be governed by the law now in force, in so far as the same is applicable and not inconsistent with the provisions of this act; and the course of procedure shall be in accordance with the established rules of said respective courts, and of, such additions and modifications thereof as said courts may adopt.

SEC. 5. That the plaintiff in any suit brought under the provisions of the second section of this act shall file a petition, duly verified, with the clerk of the respective court having jurisdiction of the case, and in the district where the plaintiff resides. Such petition shall set forth the full name and residence of the plaintiff, the nature of his claim, and a succinct statement of the facts upon which the claim is based, the money or any other thing claimed, or the damages sought to be recovered, and praying the court for a judgment or decree upon the facts and law.

SEC. 6. That the plaintiff shall cause a copy of his petition filed under the preceding section to be served upon the district attorney of the United States in the district wherein suit is brought, and shall mail a copy of the same, by registered letter, to the Attorney-General of the United States, and shall thereupon cause to be filed with the clerk of the court wherein suit is instituted an affidavit of such service and the mailing of such letter. It shall be the duty of the district attorney upon whom service of petition is made as aforesaid to appear and defend the interests of the Govern ment in the suit, and within sixty days after the service of the petition upon him, unless the time should be extended by order of the court made in the case, to file a plea, answer, or demurrer on the part of the Government, and to file a notice of any counter-claim, set-off, claim for damages, or other demand or defense whatsoever of the Government in the premises: Provided, That, should the district attorney neglect or refuse to file the plea, answer, demurrer, or defense as required, the plaintiff may proceed with the case

under such rules as the court may adopt in the premises; but the plaintiff shall not have judgment or decree for his claim, or any part thereof, unless he shall establish the same by proof satisfactory to the court.

SEC. 7. That it shall be the duty of the court to cause a written opinion to be filed in the cause, setting forth the specific findings by the court of the facts therein and the conclusions of the court upon all questions of law involved in the case, and to render judgment thereon. If the suit be in equity or admiralty, the court shall proceed with the same according to the rules of such courts.

SEC. 8. That in the trial of any suit brought under any of the provisions of this act, no person shall be excluded as a witness because he is a party to or interested in said suit; and any plaintiff or party in interest may be examined as a witness on the part of the Government.

Section ten hundred and seventy-nine of the Revised Statutes is hereby repealed. The provisions of section ten hundred and eighty of the Revised Statutes shall apply to cases under this act.

SEC. 9. That the plaintiff or the United States in any suit brought under the provisions of this act, shall have the same rights of appeal or writ of error as are now reserved in the Statutes of the United States in that behalf made, and upon the conditions and limitations therein contained. The modes of procedure in claiming and perfecting an appeal or writ of error shall conform in all respects, and as near as may be, to the statutes and rules of court governing appeals and writs of error in like causes.

SEC. 10. That when the findings of facts and the law applicable thereto have been filed in any case as provided in section six of this act, and the judgment of decree is adverse to the Government, it shall be the duty of the district attorney to transmit to the Attorney-General of the United States certified copies of all the papers filed in the cause, with a transcript of the testimony taken, the written findings of the court, and his written opinion as to the same; whereupon the Attorney-General shall determine and direct whether an appeal or writ of error shall be taken or not; and when so directed the district attorney shall cause an appeal or writ of error to be perfected in accordance with the terms of the statutes and rules of practice governing the same: Provided, That no appeal or writ of error shall be allowed after six months from the judgment of decree in such suit. From the date of such final judgment or decree interest shall be computed thereon, at the rate of four per centum per annum, until the time when an appropriation is made for the payment of the judgment or decree.

SEC. 11. That the Attorney-General shall report to Congress, and at the beginning of each session of Congress, the suits under this act in which a final judgment or decree has been rendered, giving the date of each, and a statement of the costs taxed in each case.

SEC. 12. That when any claim or matter may be pending in any of the Executive Departments which involves controverted questions of fact or law, the head of such Department, with the consent of the claimant, may transmit the same, with the vouchers, papers, proofs and documents pertaining thereto, to said Court of Claims, and the same shall be there proceeded in under such rules as the court may adopt. When the facts and conclusions of law shall have been found, the court shall reports its findings to the Department by which it was transmitted.

SEC. 13. That in every case which shall come before the Court of Claims, or is now pending therein, under the provisions of an act entitled "An act to afford assistance and relief to Congress and the Executive Departments in the investigation of claims and demands against the Government," approved March third, eighteen hundred and eightythree, if it shall appear to the satisfaction of the court, upon the facts established, that it has jurisdiction to render judgment or decree thereon under existing laws or under the provisions of this act it shall proceed to do so, giving to either party such further opportunity for hearing as in its judgment justice shall require, and report its proceedings therein to either house of Congress or to the Department by which the same was referred to said court.

SEC. 14. That whenever any bill, except for a pension, shall be pending in either house of Congress providing for the payment of a claim against the United States, legal or equitable, or for a grant, gift, or bounty to any person, the house in which such bill is pending may refer the same to the Court of Claims, who shall proceed with the same in accordance with the provisions of the act approved March third, eighteen hundred and eighty-three, entitled "An act to afford assistance and relief to Congress and the Executive Departments in the investigation of claims and demands against the Government." and report to such house the facts in the case and the amount, where the same can be liquidated, including any facts bearing upon the question whether there has been delay or laches in presenting such claim or apply. ing for such grant, gift, or bounty, and any facts bearing upon the question whether the bar of any statute of limitation should be removed or which shall be claimed to excuse the claimant for not having resorted to any established legal remedy.

SEC. 15. If the Government of the United States shall put in issue the right of the plaintiff to recover the court may, in its discretion, allow costs to the prevailing party from the time of joining such issue. Such costs, however, shall include only what is actually incurred for witnesses, and for

court.

summoning the same, and fees paid to the clerk of the SEC. 16. That all laws and parts of laws inconsistent with this act are hereby repealed.

THE CAPITAL OF THE UNITED STATES.

As stated elsewhere, the first Continental Congress met in Carpenter's Hall, Philadelphia, Sept. 5, 1774. The hall was a plain edifice (still standing) and provided fairly well in respect of accommodations for a small deliberative body.

The second Continental Congress also met in Philadelphia, and adjourned Dec. 12, 1776, to Baltimore, where its third session began Dec. 20, 1776. On Nov. 1, 1784, the Confederative Congress assembled in Trenton, N. J. On Jan. 11, 1885, it assembled in New York City. The first National Congress was also held in New York, commencing March 4, 1789.

In 1789 Maryland ceded to the United States the territory now known as the District of Columbia, for its use by the Government as the National headquarters. This gift was supplemented in 1789 by the Virginia Legislature, by the cession, for the same purpose, of 40 square miles (including Alexandria), on the opposite side of the Potomac River. These two tracts, selected by President Washington, and having jointly an area of 100 square miles (10 miles square), were accepted by the Government and designated "The District of Columbia."

This selection was made by Congress in 1790 after a spirited controversy, in which the most vigorous effort was made to locate the National Capital in some other portion of the country. Indeed, the contest was only settled by a compromise in which the Northern Congressmen consented to vote for the new Capital, and the Southern members consented to vote for the Federal assumption of the debts of the two States ceding the territory. [In 1846 Congress receded to Virginia that por. tion of the district which she had transferred to the Federal Government.]

The Act of Congress, locating the Federal district, passed June 28, 1790, contained the following clause: "That a district of territory, on the river Potomac, at some place between the mouths of the Eastern Branch of the Connegacheague, be, and the same is hereby accepted for the permanent seat for the Government of the United States."

The same act provided also that Congress should meet in Philadelphia until the first Monday in November, 1800, when the Government should be removed to the District of Columbia.

In 1791, under Washington's supervision, the National Capital was planned and laid out on its present site. The President desired it to be called Federal City, but on Sept. 9 of that year, it was named Washington.

On Sept. 18, 1793, President Washington laid the cornerstone of the Capitol building with Masonic ceremonies.

In 1800 the seat of Government was transferred to_Washington. The north wing of the Capitol only was completed, but it was fitted up for both Houses. The President's residence was completed externally. The city of Washington at that date was described as having "one good tavern and very few houses in any one place, most of them being very small huts, and the War Office and Treasury Building burned down."

A bill for a monument to President Washington passed the House of Representatives in 1800, but after being amended in the Senate, was postponed. Fifty years later it was commenced by funds raised by private subscriptions.

The Capitol Building.-The Capitol fronts the east, and stands on a plateau ninety feet above the level of the Potomac, in latitude 38° 53′ 20.4" north and longitude 77° 00' 35.7" west from Greenwich.

The southeast corner-stone of the original building was laid on Sept. 18, 1793, by President Washington, aided by the Freemasons of Maryland. It was constructed of sandstone, painted white, from an island in Aquia Creek, Virginia, under the direction of Stephen H. Hallett, James Hoban, George Hadfield, and afterward of B. H. Latrobe, architects. The north wing was finished in 1800 and the south wing in 1811, a wooden passage-way connecting them. On August 24, 1814, the interior of both wings was destroyed by British incendiaries, but they were immediately rebuilt. In 1818 the central portion of the building was commenced under the architectural superintendence of Charles

deep, with porticos of 22 columns each on their eastern fronts, and with porticos of 10 columns on their ends and on their western fronts. The entire length of the building is 751 feet 4 inches, and the greatest depth, including porticos and steps, is 324 feet. The area covered by the entire building is 153,112 square feet.

The dome is crowned by a bronze statue of Freedom, modeled by Crawford, which is 19 feet 6 inches high, and weighs 14,985 pounds. The height of the dome above the base-line of the east front is 287 feet 11 inches; the height from the top of the balustrade of the building is 217 feet 11 inches: and the greatest diameter at the base is 135 feet inches.

The rotunda is 95 feet 6 inches in diameter, and its height from the floor to the top of the canopy is 180 feet 3 inches.

Bulfinch, and the original building was finally completed in 1827. Its cost, including the grading of the grounds, alterations and repairs, up to 1827, was $2,433,844.13.

The corner-stone to the extensions of the Capitol was laid on July 4, 1851, by President Fillmore, Daniel Webster officiating as orator of the day. Thomas U. Walter was architect, and subsequently Edward Clark, under whose direction the work was completed in November, 1867. The material used for the extensions is white marble from the quarries at Lee, Mass., with white marble columns from the quarries at Cockeysville, Md.

The doine of the original central building was constructed of wood, but was removed in 1856 to be replaced by the present stupendous structure of cast iron, which was completed in 1865. The entire weight of iron used is 8,909,200 pounds.

The main building is 352 feet 4 inches long in front and 121 feet 6 inches deep, with a portico 160 feet wide, of 24 columns on the east and a projection of 83 feet on the west, embracing a recessed portico of 10 coupled columns. The extensions are placed at the north and south ends of the main building, with connecting corridors 44 feet long by 56 feet wide, flanked by columns. Each extension is 142 feet 8 inches in front, by 238 feet 10 inches

The Senate Chamber is 112 feet in length, by 8 feet in width, and thirty feet in height. Its galleries will accommodate 1,000 persons.

The Representatives' Hall is 130 feet in length, by 93 feet in width, and 30 feet in height.

The Supreme Court room was occupied by the Senate until December, 1859, the court having previously occupied the room beneath, now used as a law library.

[The Library of Congress was burned by the British ir 1814, and was partially destroyed by an accidental fire in 1851 The present center hall was finished in 1853, and the wing halls were finished in 1867. The Library of Congress occu pies the entire western projection of the central Capito! building. The original Library was commenced in 1800, but was destroyed with the Capitol in 1814, during the war with England. It was afterward replenished by the purchase of the library belonging to ex-President Jefferson, by Congress embracing about 7,000 volumes. In 1851 it contained 55,00 volumes, and by an accidental fire in that year the whole collection was destroyed, except 20,000 volumes. It was re built in 1852, when $75,000 was appropriated in one sum to replenish the collection. The library is recruited by regula: appropriations made by Congress, which average about $11. 000 per annum; also by additions received by copyright, b exchanges, and from the Smithsonian Institution.] A nev edifice of ample dimensions, and of beautiful architectura design, is now in process of erection near the Capitol, inte which the Congressional Library will be early transferred.

The basement story of the Capitol contains 73 rooms, of which 24 are in the "House Wing," 26 in