Henry Stanbery to Ulysses S. Grant, 12 December 1867

December 12, 1867. Gen. U. S. Grant, U. S.A. Secretary of War, ad interim. Sir: Your letter of October 31, 1867, addressed to the Secretary of the Treasury, requesting that none of the papers of G. B. Lamar, the legal custody of which was then a question before this office, should be delivered to him, was communicated by the Secretary of the Treasury in his letter to me of the 1st November 1867,— whereupon the whole matter was treated as having been withdrawn from my consideration, and all the papers relating to it, were, with my letter of 5th Nov. 1867, transmitted to the Secretary of the Treasury, conformably to your request. It appears, however, that among the papers so transmitted were some which did not belong to those which were in question, and which, having been duly filed here by Mr. Lamar, after the reference, were subject to the exclusive discretion of this office, and ought not to have been transmitted, as happened by inadvertence. These papers comprised certain copies of the originals in question, which copies had been regularly made and delivered to Mr. Lamar by the Secretary of the Treasury in the exercise of his competent authority— and were, therefore, not subject in any sense to the discretion of the Government, except for the purposes of this office in the business of Mr. Lamar, then before me, upon the reference aforesaid of the question. When the reference was retracted, it would have been necessary to determine what would be a fit disposition to make of the papers so filed here by Mr. Lamar. I subjoin a schedule of the papers herein referred to, and anticipate, upon this explanation, that you will be pleased to separate them from the other papers, the subject of your letter to the Secretary of the Treasury, of October 31, 1867, and return them to this office, for such disposition as may be found proper, after due consideration. Respectfully, Your obedient servant, Henry Stanbery, Attorney General.

• Schedule of papers:
• 1. Copy of the original warehouse Receipt for 28 bales of cotton, out of an invoice of 143.
• 2. Copy of the original warehouse receipt for SHH 38 bales.
• 3. Copies of the applications of Mr. Lamar to the Secretary of the Treasury, upon which No's 2 and 3 were furnished by the Secretary.
• 4. Copy of General Duncan's Report.