Mr. HOTCHKISS. The evidence before the War Dept, begging the entle man's pardon, gives the entire credit to GeneralBar or for having planned, originated, and executed this enterprise; and I say, as a lawyer, that if you take the evidence set forth in the report of the commission of the War Dept, lake the reward offered and the terms of it, it will give every cent of it to General Baker. The report of the commission says: “ The expeditionwhich resultedin this arrestwas erignated planned and generallydirected by Colo ncl L. C. baker.who. though not accompanyingit is regardedashaving occupied the position of supe rior and commandingeflicer of thoseby whom it was immediatelyconducted.' lle is thereforedeemedto be entitled to the same shareof the reward which. under the statutoryrule referredto. would be pay able to the commander of a squadron.by a separate ship of which a prize had been taken, to wit: one 20th of the whole amount to bedistributed. or in this instance.$3.750.", ia. Wherein the report before the House differl from the report oi3 the commission is not in the service perormed, but the'principle upon which the reward is distributed. the report before the House is that it should be distributed upon the ground of service actually performed and merit in this particular case, and not with ref erence to the rule governing a seizure in a prize case. I will rea further from the report of the commission:.1. Li. " “The services of Messrs.Congerand Baker upon this expeditionwere.no doubt. of great value; an inasmuch as these parties immediatelyrepresen the viewsand intentfousof ColonelBaker.th eir part in carryinir out the original plan was particularly important.”, i, These are the persons to whom the War Dept give the credit of havmg performed the service; and they say, in short, that the shall not be paid for it, but somebody else shal If it were a prize ease the law in prize cases would not give them the reward. Now, this reward was offered for the apprehension. The sum is fixed by the statute, and the parties who up rehended these men are entitled to it. ow, in deference to this commission, in deference to what seemsto be the popular wish, this sum has been divided up as the evidence seemed to require it to be done. Now, whether General Baker gets one dollar or one penn is wholly immaterial to me. When I shall have presented the case here I shall have discharged my duty. If the House chooses to deprive him of what belongs to him upon the ground suggested by the Gentfrom Michigan, [Mr. BIGGS, ]then upon them will rest the responsibility. He is no friend of mine. In fact, all these men are strangers to me. If Ihad had the giving of the reward after the services had been performed I might not have given so much to any of them. But that is not the duty I was called upon to perform. Now, in regard to the capture of Booth and Herold the circumstances are these: General Baker had that matter in charge as chief detective in Washin ton. He procured the evidence of where these men were; he mapped out the count to be searched; he calledp to him his aids, rLieutenant Colonel Conger and Lieutenant Baker, and gave them their orders. He procured a military force, and furnished the men who were in command of them with guides, with their charts, and with their directions. He did the brain work; he was responsible for the execution of the plan. It was his own plan, and if it had been unsuccessful the consequences would have fallen upon him, as they would have fallen upon GenlGrant, had he been unsuccessful in taking Petersburg and Richmond. General Baker committed the execution of his plan to Lieutenant Colonel Conger, as brave and gallant a soldier as any who fought in our Army. He was a young man who enlisted from. the town of Fremont, in the State of Ohio, on. the 17th of April, 1861, and fought his way through from that time until the end of the war Be was twice shot through the hips, and he is now here with a withered limb, and unable to perform any manual labor. In God’s providence he had this trust committed to him, and nobly did he discharge it. If personal sympathy was to be allowed to have anything to do with this matter, I should say that Lieutenant Colonel Conger was the most meritorious man who had an ht to do with this whole affair. He performe his duty as well as any man has performed any service during the war. And he accomplished his object. And with my consent he shall never be ignored in this matter with the paltry sum given to him under the rule prevailing in prize cases. You might just as well undertake to apply the rule whichwas observed in marching the beasts into Noah’s ark as to under ta e to aply that rule iji this case. It is a perfect absurity, and will strike every loyal mind in that way. It does manifest injustice to that brave soldier, and perpetrates an outrage upon him. There are persons in this House who fought with Lieutenant Colonel Conger, and who know whether what I say is true. I only speak from the evidence produced before me. Now, sir, Lieutenant Colonel Conger and Lieutenant Baker started on their quest of Booth and Herold. I do not wish to say anything about the 25 men who were sent with them; I do not wish to have that issue forced upon me. I do not wish to discrimi nate one way or the other; but I will say that the evidence proves that the sum that is recommended to be given to them is all that they deserve to receive. That is the evidence; and if any gentleman in this House has any evidence to the contrary, I will yield to give him an opportunity to produce it. Finally, afterlaborious services, they reached the tobacco warehouse where Booth and Her old were secreted. And I say here that to Lieutenant Colonel Conger and Lieutenant aker is due the entire credit of capturing those men in that tobacco warehouse. It was Withgreat difficulty that they were able to obtain 6 men out of the whole 25 to assist them there. Finally, Lieutenant Colonel conger went and laid down rails in the vicinity of 3 sides of the tobacco warehouse, and took 6 men and placed them upon the rails, telling them that he would shoot the 1st man who should leave his lacc. And this man Corbett, who performe such great services to the country, was one of the 6 men. Lieutenant Baker stood alone at the front door where Herold was captured. Herold came out and surrendered to Lieutenant Ba ker, and he was taken and bound and tied securely to an apple tree. Then Lieutenant Colonel Conger went to the warehouse and set it on fire. Then as Booth was walking to the front door, with his arms trailing, evidently with the intention of surrenderin, after having refused to do so for half an hour as he was walking to the front door, Corbett, who was then an insane man, thrust his istol in through a crack and fired it without nowing where the ball was going. By a singular circumstance he hit Booth in the neck and Booth was killed. This Corbett had been placed on a rail, and told that if he left his place he would be shot. Now, mark another fact. In the mean time Lieutenant Colonel Conger had to go, and with his own hands, with the aid of young Garrett, one of these rebels, and get rails to be propped a inst the doors. Now, if you could see this Lieutenant Colonel Conger here, see his cri led condition, on would understand why it is proposed to a low him what is called here an “enormous sum, ” $17, 600, for performing the part which he did. The cave men, to whom the War Dept proposest at large sums shall be given, were ying around under the apple trees and elsewhere. Corbett’s version of the affair is that he for ‘ sook his place and fired this shot because Providence directed him to do so. I am told that Corbett has since died in a lunatic asy lum, and he was then evidently an insane man. Yet he is given the same sum as the other soldiers receive. For a 2 days’ ride I think that is an ample compensation. These soldiers had no care, no responsibility. If they had been unsuccessful they would have lost nothing. It was those who had charge of the expedition who had all to gain or all to lose. And the idea that the legislation of this country is to be based upon any such paltry consideration as to whether General Baker keeps a hotel or dram shop, or is engaged in any other employment, is wholly foreign to the subject.