Viscount Monck to J. Hume Burnley, January 18, 1865
Viscount Monck to Mr. Burnley
Sir: With reference to the cases of Miller and Fisher, who were illegally imprisoned at Detroit last May, and whose claims to compensation Mr. Seward informed you in his note of the 7th October, 1864, would be taken into consideration when they were definitely presented, I have the honor to transmit to you a paper setting forth the amount of Miller’s claim, which I beg that you will be so good as to lay before the Secretary of State of the United States.
It should be borne in mind, in deciding upon the compensation due to Miller, that though Mr. Seward, on the 7th October, pronounced his detention to be illegal, he was not released till the 6th December.
The delay was owing, I was informed, to a question arising as to whether the proper person to grant the warrant of deliverance in the case was the governor or the attorney general of the State of Michigan.
If this is correct, Miller’s imprisonment was unnecessarily prolonged for nearly two months after its injustice had been acknowledged, and I think that this fact should weigh strongly in procuring a liberal consideration of his claims by the government of the United States.
I have, &c.
J. Hume Burnley, Esq., &c., &c., &c.
The government of the United States to Thomas J. Miller, Dr.
For compensation for being taken by violence—he being a British subject—from Sandwich, in the county of Essex, in the province of Canada, by United States officials, on May 1, 1864, and afterwards committed to the common jail, in the city of Detroit, and there detained until delivered by the warrant of his excellency Governor Blair, of Michigan, on December 6, 1864—
| 1. | For loss of earnings during the period of seven calendar months and six days, from date of arrest to date of release, at $50, Halifax currency, per month | $360 00 |
| 2. | For expenses incurred during confinement in jail, $250 in United States currency, equivalent to, in Halifax currency | 120 00 |
| 3. | For indemnity for loss of health and strength, by reason of close confinement in jail for the above period | 500 00 |
| Total, in Canadian currency | 980 00 |