( No. 32. )

Testimony of William F.Havermeyer.

William F. Havermeyer sworn. Is President of the board of Commissioners of Emigration; has been mayor of New-York.

The law creating the commission also created a fund for the support of the emigrants; if that fund is more than sufficient for the support of the emigrant, and the surplus could go to the city treasury, then the city would be benefitted to the amount of the excess. I have no doubt that the present arrangement is much better than the old one, for the emigrant, from the fact that they are likely to receive more prompt attention now than if they were included in the great mass of city paupers.

I have no doubt the office of Health Commissioner, as far as the collection of hospital money is concerned, may be abolished. The Commissioners of Emigration can perform the duties of the office as well as the Health Commissioner, and the commission now paid that officer be saved.

The general agent of the Commissioners of Emigration does not make all the purchases for this establishment; the Commissioners employed a Mr. Green to attend to the purchasing of supplies, who was so employed until within six weeks, since which time Messrs. Craig & Lane, of No. 190 Front-street, have been employed for that purpose, for which they receive a commission of 5 per cent. on all supplies purchased.

We had most of the beds and bedding bought before Craig & Lane were employed. Mr. Green was paid a salary for his services. Craig & Lane are in the grocery business. The arrangement with them is this: for some time subsequent to our entering upon the discharge of our duties, the supplies for the marine hospital were purchased by the Health Commissioners, the duties of Mr. Green being confined to the purchases for Ward's Island. A requisition having been made by the Commissioners of Health for some tea, among other things, without specifying the quality of the tea. I instructed Mr. Green not to purchase the tea, till he had obtained a sample of the article wanted from Quarantine. A sample was procured from

there, and the tea purchased at 68 cents per lb., in accordance with the requisition, by the sample furnished. My reason for pursuing that course was, that I had observed in a bill rendered us from quarantine, that there was an item of tea charged at $1 per pound, and I wished to give them as good tea as they had before, in order to see whether Green had bought as good an article as the sample furnished by the health officer. I requested Mr. Lane to call at the office of the Commissioners of Emigration and examine the quality of the two samples of tea, one furnished by the health officer, and the sample purchased by Mr. Green. Mr. Lane reported the value of one sample to be worth 50 cents per pound, and the other 43 cents per pound.

The sample furnished by the health officer being worth 50 cents, in Mr. James' estimation, I deemed it my duty to report these facts to the executive committee, who upon consultation concluded that some other mode of purchasing should be adopted, by which commissioners might obtain the goods they required at wholesale prices. It was proposed that Messrs. Craig and Lane be employed to do that business; and Mr. Lane was seen in reference to it, who agreed to purchase supplies for a short time, without any definite arrangement being entered into in regard to compensation, as they did not know how much time and labor would be required in making the purchases, nor the commissioners whether after experience they would be satisfied with the plan. Mr. Craig is a brother-in-law of mine. Mr. Lane did go on and purchase the goods until about the 13th of October last, when the executive committee reported that Messrs. Craig and Lane were unwilling to continue their agency for a less sum than five per cent on their purchases. The committee expressed their opinion that the interests of the commission was promoted by the employment of the house in question, as the services of the agent formerly employed in making purchases may now be dispensed with, and his salary saved, and recommended that the terms proposed be accepted, which was done. The sample of the tea furnished from the quarantine was shown to the gentleman from whom the bill was purchased, in which the tea was charged at one dollar per pound, who after examining it stated that it was not a sample of that tea. Messrs. Craig and Lane still continue to purchase the supplies for the Commissioners of Emigration. As the president of the board, I attend daily at the office of the Commissioners, and during such attendance do not recollect of having heard any person complain of any improper conduct on the part of any of the subordinates of the establishment towards emigrants.

In relation to medicines purchased for the Marine Hospital, the purchases previous to August were made by the health commission. In that month a bill was presented to the Commissioners of Emigration, from the Commissioners of Health, amounting to about $850, for medicine furnished during the month of June. Many of the items appearing to the Commissioners of Emigration to be overcharged, one of their number selected from the bill rendered some of the most important items, and instituted an enquiry as to the price such articles could be procured at, who called upon Messrs. Lawrence and Keys for that purpose, who named the prices at which they would furnish such articles. The prices named by them were from 20 to 50 per cent less than they were charged in the bill furnished by the Commissioners of Health. When the druggist applied for the payment of his bill I refused to audit it, on the ground of overcharge; and upon remonstrating with him about it, he subsequently rendered another bill, making a difference of about $150 in our favor, from the bill first presented, which was paid. There has been no formal complaint made to the Commissioners of Emigration by the health officer, in relation to the quality of the provisions or the quantity of the medicines furnished for the Marine Hospital. I know it to be the disposition, as far as I am concerned, and I believe it to be the disposition of the rest of the Commissioners of Emigration, to meet the wishes of the Commissioners of Health, in every respect, and I am satisfied that every thing has been done to furnish the supplies for the Marine Hospital promptly.

( No 33. )

Testimony of David C. Colden.

David C. Colden, sworn; says he is one of the Commissioners of Emigration, has been in the habit of calling at the office of the commissioners at least once a day, and sometimes oftener; has been in attendance as late as twelve o'clock; generally attended the weekly meetings of the board; complaints has been made at those meetings of the conduct of some of the officers; the nature of the complaints was, injudicious discharge of the duties of the office, and incompetency; in one case, a committee of investigation was appointed, who enquired into the matter. Dr. Hasbrook is the officer refer

red to in relation to the other complaint, action was taken and the party was discharged; is also president of the St. David's Society, and believe as far as my experience can inform me, the operation of the law appointing the Commissioners of Emigration has been conducive to the benefit of the emigrant, and of incalculable benefit to the city.

(No. 34. )

Testimony of Wm. V. Brady.

Wm. V. Brady, sworn; says he is Mayor of the city of NewYork; complaints are made at my office daily by emigrants, that they are defrauded by boarding house keepers, runners, &c. Has had occasion as Mayor of the city, to send emigrants applying for assistance to the office of the Commissioners of Emigration, after they had been refused aid and ejected from that office; in such cases generally sent his messenger with them, who reported that the clerks of the Commissioners had stated that the persons were insolent and abusive, and not entitled to be taken charge of by them; in some instances he thinks the persons were entitled to the protection of the law, but in consequence of the insolence of the persons making application for relief, the clerks of the Commissioners of Emigration refused them aid under such circumstances; the persons generally were coming and going from my office to the office of the Commissioners of Emigration; does not know what became of them, but consider that they were taken charge of by the Commissioners of Emigration; does not know whether the expenses of the city for the support of the poor has increased or diminished since the passage of the emigrant law; but believes they have not diminished. From my knowledge as Mayor of the city of New-York, I consider the city would be benefitted, and the emigrant as well taken care of if the city received the commutation fee now received by the Commissioners of Emigration, and the State would be just as well off if the city authorities were compelled to carry out the provisions of the law of May 5, 1847; considers the sanatory laws should be kept distinct from the emigration laws; considers it necessary that some person should discharge the duties of Health Commissioner; but as far as the collection of moneys is concerned, any other person can

perform that duty; should it be performed by the Commissioners of Emigration, it would be a saving to the State. The resident Physician and the Health Commissioner is seldom present together when permits are granted for discharging the cargoes of vessels; blank permits are sometimes left signed by the Health Commissioner, which are afterwards filled up by the clerk and issued in his absence. Is one of the Commissioners of Emigration, and while the board met at my office, I generally attended their meetings; since their removal, in consequence of my official duties as Mayor, I have been prevented from attending so regularly; on one occasion I spoke at the meeting of the board, and complained of the manner in which emi grants were treated by the clerks in the office; the clerks in the Mayor's office do often complain to me of unkind treatment of emigrants by those employed by the Commissioners of Emigration. At the time I called the attention of the board to the case above referred to, it was in the month of July, when the office of the Commissioners was in confusion; from complaints made to me, have spoken to the clerks personally; they excused themselves on the ground of insolence of the applicants.

( No. 35. )

Testimony of Gregory Dillon.

Gregory Dillon, sworn: Says he is President of the Irish Emigrant Society, and ex-officio, a Com'r of Emigration.—I attend at the office of the Irish Emigrant Society every day, and spend most of the time there. The society is a benevolent one; we have agents who we send on board vessels, to give all necessary information to immigrants, as they arrive. When they are defrauded they come in great numbers to our office for assistance and advice: we rectify errors and redress grievances, as far we are able to do so. I have frequently gone and got abuses corrected; our interference has, in many instances, been found more efficacious than the interference of the constituted authorities. I cannot say that I have heard complaints preferred against the Commissioners of Emigration. I have myself complained of the bad treatment of some of the officers, or clerks, of the Commission, to an individual, who had been at the marine hospital, had been discharged, I think prematurely, from quarantine, and came to the office of the Commissioners of Emigration; the gener a