Appropriation to complete the capitol and penitentiary in that Territory. FEBRUARY 14, 1867.-Referred to the Committee on Territories and ordered to be printed. To the honorable the Senate and House of Representatives of the Congress of the United States: Your memorialists, the legislative assembly of the Territory of New Mexico, very respectfully represent that the last legislative assembly of this Territory unanimously addressed a memorial to your honorable bodies in regard to an appropriation being made to complete the capitol and penitentiary, which buildings have been commenced in Santa Fé, New Mexico, but not completed. We do now sincerely indorse said memorial, and pray your honorable bodies to make the necessary appropriation to complete said buildings, which, if not finished at an early day, the materials and work already done on said buildings will soon go to ruin. Criminals go unpunished for the reason that the criminal laws cannot be executed, and public peace and security cannot be secured without a penitentiary. The federal officers of the government, as also the legislative assembly, are not able to procure suitable rooms for their officers, and the last for their meetings, without paying an exorbitant rent therefor, which in a few years will amount to a greater sum than that required for the completion of the capitol buildings. Your memorialists further represent that the honorable secretary of the Territory and superintendent of public buildings have made an estimate of nine thousand five hundred dollars for the repair of the palace building belonging to the government, which estimate has been forwarded to the honorable Secretary of the Treasury and the Register of that department. This building is one of the oldest in the United States, and with the sum required it could be put in a good state of repair, and thereby save considerable rents which are now paid, and which would increase the value of the building much more than the sum asked for to repair it. Your memorialists pray the favorable consideration of your honorable bodies in this matter, and, as in duty bound, will ever pray. RESOLUTION. Resolved by the council of the legislative assembly, (the house of representatives concurring therein,) That the honorable secretary of the Territory be, and is hereby, required to forward certified copies of the memorials adopted by the last legislature to his excellency the President of the United States, to the honorable Secretary of the Treasury, to the President of the Senate, and to the Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Congress of the United States, to the chairmen of the Committees on Territories of the Senate and House of Representatives, and to the honorable J. Francisco Chaves, our delegate in Congress. Approved January 18, 1867. MIGUEL E. PINO, President of the Council. R. M. STEPHENS, Speaker of the House of Representatives. W. F. M. ARNY, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Territory of New Mexico: Acting Governor. I, W. F. M. Arny, secretary and acting governor of New Mexico, do hereby certify that the foregoing is a true copy of the original which is on file in my office, as passed by the legislative assembly of the Territory of New Mexico at its present session. In testimony whereof, I have hereunto signed my name and affixed my official seal this 21st day of January, A. D. 1867. [SEAL.] W. F. M. ARNY, Secretary and Acting Governor, New Mexico. To the honorable Congress of the United States : Your memorialists, the legislative assembly of the Territory of New Mexico, would respectfully represent: That by an act of Congress approved March 3, 1863, the sum of $20,000 was appropriated for the purchase of a site and the erection of a penitentiary in the Territory of New Mexico. David Merriwether, governor of the Territory, and, by appointment of the Secretary of the Treasury, commissioner and disbursing agent for the public buildings of New Mexico, proceeded, in the winter of 1854 and the spring of 1855, to select a site and commence the erection of a penitentiary. Plans and drawings were forwarded from the Treasury Department, upon which Governor Merriwether, as commissioner, directed the superintendent to proceed to construct the work. It was evident to all the least conversant with such work, that in New Mexico, where so many difficulties are met with in such class of constructions, the appropriations would not half complete the structure called for by the plans, elevations, and specifications forwarded by the Treasury Department; and, furthermore, that, could the buildings have been completed. they would not have been adequate to the necessities of the Territory. The work was carried on according to the plan until the appropriation was exhausted, when the work ceased, in April, 1857. The heavy stone foundations of the outer wall of the prison yard, laid in cement, eighteen cells completed-this, with the delivery of a large amount of massive stone ground, is all that the $20,000 accomplished. on the Your memorialists have repeatedly brought this matter to the attention of Congress, but as yet with no favorable result. But in view of the known generosity and justice of the United States toward the Territories, and being fully impressed with the belief that the importance of carrying out the laws, and the suppression of crime, and insuring the common peace and safety of the Territory, are appreciated by Congress, that you will not permit this building to stand unfinished and useless, decaying by exposure, a reproach upon the liberality and justice of the government: Therefore, Your memorialists would further represent that, for want of this penitentiary, criminals convicted of the highest crines and misdemeanors roam the Territory with impunity and go unpunished, there being no jails or prisons in any part of the Territory adequate for their safe detention, or to enable the officers of justice to enforce the sentence of the law. The administration of the criminal law has, in consequence, in many parts of the Territory, become almost a mockery; so murderers often escape punishment, and thieves go at large to renew their depredations, and the law cannot be enforced against them, nor can they be restrained from the further commission of crime unless a place of secure confinement be provided. Your memorialists would, therefore, ask your honorable bodies to make an appropriation of $75,000 and machinery necessary, for the purchase of a site at or near some stream where water can be obtained, so as to run machinery, and where the convicts can be made to work, and thus support themselves at less expense to the government of the United States and this Territory. Your memorialists would also ask that authority be given to the honorable Secretary of the United States Treasury to have the stone and material in the present penitentiary used in finishing the capitol building, and the site sold and the proceeds appropriated to the purchase of a new site where there is a sufficiency of water. Your memorialists respectfully refer to Hon. J. Francisco Chavez, our delegate in Congress, for further particulars and explanations in regard to the urgent necessity for a penitentiary in New Mexico. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Territory of New Mexico: I, W. F. M. Arny, secretary and acting governor of New Mexico, do hereby certify that the foregoing is a true copy of the original as it unanimously passed by the legislative assembly of the Territory at their sessions held in 1865 and 1866. In testimony whereof, I have hereunto signed my name and affixed the great seal of the Territory, this 25th day of January, 1867. [SEAL.] W. F. M. ARNY, Secretary and Acting Governor of New Mexico. To the honorable Congress of the United States of America: The memorial of the legislative assembly of the Territory of New Mexico respectfully showeth, that the amounts appropriated by Congress for the completion of a territorial capitol at Santa Fé having been expended previous to the month of April, 1857, and the subsequent appropriation not being sufficient to complete the work, the building has remained in an unfinished condition, exposed to the vicissitudes of the weather for several years past, from which unavoidable exposure much damage and loss has naturally resulted to the wood-work and material on hand, and the building is in such a condition that it cannot be used until completed. All the details in respect to this most important work are contained in the reports of the various officers in charge of the works, and which are on file in the Treasury Department. An estimate was made by competent workmen and forwarded to the Treasury Department by the Hon. W. F. M. Arny, secretary of the Territory, who was appointed last year by the Hon. Secretary of the Treasury to look after the public buildings and report. In consequence of the losses and damages sustained by this building in its unfinished condition for several years, and the further exposure before work can again commence on it, the estimate of the work for the completion is stated at one hundred and twenty thousand dollars. The Hon. Secretary of the Territory, after a thorough investigation, reports that an appropriation of seventy thousand dollars in addition to what has been appropriated will be sufficient to complete the building, and furnish it for the use of the legislature and the offices of the government. Your memorialists, therefore, respectfully urge that an additional appropriation of seventy thousand dollars be made by Congress for that purpose. And, as in duty bound, your petitioners will ever pray, &c. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Territory of New Mexico: I, W. F. M. Arny, secretary and acting governor of New Mexico, do hereby certify that the foregoing is a true copy of the original, as it passed unanimously by the legislative assembly of the Territory, at their sessions held in 1865 and 1866. In testimony whereof, I have hereunto signed my name, and affixed the great seal of the Territory, this 25th day of January, 1867. [SEAL.] W. F. M. ARNY, Secretary and Acting Governor, New Mexico. 2d Session. No. 61. ROADS AND BRIDGES. RESOLUTION OF THE LEGISLATURE OF WEST VIRGINIA, ASKING An appropriation by Congress to aid in rebuilding certain roads and bridges destroyed during the late war. FEBRUARY 18, 1867.-Referred to Committee on Appropriations and ordered to be printed. Resolved by the legislature of West Virginia, 1. That our senators and representatives in Congress be requested to ask for an appropriation of five hundred thousand dollars for the purpose of assisting in the reconstruction of the roads and bridges destroyed in this State by the United States troops during the late rebellion. 2. That a copy of the foregoing resolution, duly certified by the clerk of the house of delegates, be forwarded to each of our senators and representatives in Congress. Adopted January 30, 1867. STATE OF WEst Virginia, I, William P. Hubbard, clerk of the house of delegates and keeper of the rolls of West Virginia, certify that the foregoing is a true transcript from the record in this office. WILLIAM P. HUBBARD, C. H. D. & K. of R. of West Virginia. STATE OF WEst Virginia, Office of the Secretary of State. I, Granville D. Hall, secretary of the State aforesaid, hereby certify that the foregoing is a copy of the original filed in this office; and further, that William P. Hubbard, whose genuine signature is annexed to said original, is, as keeper of the rolls of this State, authorized to certify copies from the records of the legislature of this State. Given under my hand and the great seal of said State, this 11th day of February, 1867. [SEAL.] GRANVILLE D. HALL, |