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A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation: U.S. Congressional Documents and Debates, 1774-1875
Journal of the Confederate Congress --SIXTY-FOURTH DAY--FRIDAY, February 7, 1862.
OPEN SESSION.
Congress met pursuant to adjournment, and was opened with prayer by the Rev. Dr. Daggett.
Congress then resolved itself into secret session.
SECRET SESSION.
Congress being in secret session,
Proceeded to the consideration of the unfinished business of the morning hour; which was the consideration of the amendment of Mr. Wigfall to
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A bill to amend an act to provide for local defense and special service.
Mr. Avery moved to amend by striking out all of the bill after the enacting clause and inserting in lieu thereof the following, to wit:
That the act entitled "An act to provide for local defense and special service," approved August twenty-first, eighteen hundred and sixty-one, be, and the same is hereby, repealed, provided that the troops already enlisted under and by virtue of said act shall be required to perform military service according to the terms of their enlistment in the same manner and to the same extent as if said act had not been passed.
Pending the consideration of which, the morning hour having expired,
A message was received from the President, by the hands of his Private Secretary, Mr. Josselyn.
Mr. Barnwell, from the Committee on Finance, by unanimous consent, reported
A bill to make appropriation for the expenses of Government in the legislative, executive, and judicial departments from the 18th of February to the 1st of April, 1862;
which was read first and second times, placed on the Calendar, and ordered to be printed.
Mr. Harris of Mississippi, by general consent, introduced
A bill to fix the rank of certain officers;
which was read first and second times and referred to the Committee on Military Affairs.
Mr. Macfarland offered the following resolution; which was read and agreed to, to wit:
Resolved, That a committee of one from each State be appointed by the President of this body, to make such preliminary arrangements as may be necessary for the inauguration of the President and Vice-President elect, and to inquire if any and what legislation is necessary for the accommodation of the two Houses of the permanent Congress and to report thereupon.
The Chair announced the following as the committee under the foregoing resolution:
Messrs. Macfarland of Virginia; McRae of Alabama; Watkins, Arkansas; Morton, Florida; Foreman, Georgia; Ford, Kentucky; Kenner, Louisiana; Harrison, Mississippi; Vest, Missouri; Smith, North Carolina; Boyce, South Carolina; Currin, Tennessee; and Ochiltree, Texas.
Mr. Rhett offered the following resolution; which was read and agreed to, to wit:
Resolved, That the Committee on Military Affairs do inquire and report to this House whether the office of brigadier-general is abolished by the withdrawal of a regiment or regiments from his command, whereby his command is reduced to fewer regiments than shall constitute a full brigade; and also whether, there being four regiments under his command, the departure of one of them, on account of its term of service having expired, the brigade is dissolved, and the office of brigadier-general is abolished with it; and also, whether upon the transfer of a brigadier-general who is in command of a brigade of twelve months' men to regiments enlisted for the war, the commission of such brigadier is thereby extended for the war.
Mr. House, from the special committee to inquire into abuses in the Quartermaster's and Commissary Departments, by unanimous consent, introduced
A bill to create an officer styled an auditor of contracts;
which was read first and second times, placed on the Calendar, and ordered to be printed.
Mr. Garland, by unanimous consent, introduced
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A bill appropriating $1,000,000 in bonds of the Confederate States, to be used by the President in supplying railroads with iron and rolling stock;
which was read first and second times and referred to the Committee on Military Affairs.
Congress then resolved itself into executive session; and having spent some time therein, again resolved itself into legislative session.
The Chair presented certain estimates from the Secretary of the Treasury; which were read and referred to the Committee on Finance.
Congress then proceeded to the consideration of the unfinished business of yesterday; which was the consideration of the motion of Mr. Ochiltree to lay on the table the amendment of Mr. Smith of Alabama to
A bill to provide for the connection of the Richmond and Danville Railroad with the railroads of the State of North Carolina.
Mr. Chilton moved to postpone indefinitely the consideration of the bill and all pending amendments.
Upon which motion Mr. Crawford called the question; which was seconded, and
Mr. Rhett, at the instance of the State of South Carolina, demanded that the yeas and nays of the whole body be recorded thereon; which are as follows, to wit:
Yea: Alabama, Florida, and Georgia, 3.
Nay: Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, tennessee, Texas, and Virginia, 9.
Divided: South Carolina, 1.
So the motion did not prevail.
Upon motion of Mr. Harris of Mississippi, leave was granted to the Secretary of War to withdraw the reports of the various battles, for the purpose of correcting the same.
And the question recurring upon the motion of Mr. Ochiltree to lay the amendment of Mr. Smith of Alabama on the table,
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Mr. Curry, at the instance of the State of Alabama, demanded that the yeas and nays of the whole body be recorded thereon; which are as follows, to wit:
Yea: Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia, 10.
Nay: Florida and Georgia, 2.
Divided: Alabama, 1.
So the motion prevailed.
Mr. Ochiltree called the question.
And the question being,
Shall the call for the question be sustained?
Mr. Kenan, at the instance of the State of Georgia, demanded that the yeas and nays of the whole body be recorded thereon; which are as follows, to wit:
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Yea: Arkansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia, 9.
Nay: Alabama, Florida, and Georgia, 3.
Divided: Louisiana, 1.
So the demand for the question was sustained.
And the question being upon ordering the bill to be engrossed for third reading,
Mr. Curry, at the instance of the State of Alabama, demanded that the yeas and nays of the whole body be recorded thereon; which are as follows, to wit:
Yea: Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia, 9.
Nay: Alabama, Florida, and Georgia, 3.
Divided: South Carolina, 1.
So the bill was ordered to be engrossed for a third reading.
And Mr. Avery called the question; which was seconded;
When,
Mr. Curry called for the reading of the engrossed copy of the bill.
Mr. Kenan moved that the Congress do now adjourn.
Upon which Mr. Avery, at the instance of the State of North Carolina, demanded that the yeas and nays of the whole body be recorded thereon; which are as follows, to wit:
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Yea: Florida and Georgia, 2.
Nay: Arkansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia, 9.
Divided: Alabama and Louisiana, 2.
So the motion did not prevail.
Mr. Kenan again moved that the Congress do now adjourn.
Upon which Mr. Thomas, at the instance of the State of Tennessee, demanded that the yeas and nays of the whole body be recorded thereon; which are as follows, to wit:
Yea: Georgia, 1.
Nay: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia, 12.
So the motion did not prevail.
Mr. Macfarland offered the following resolution; which was read and agreed to, to wit:
Resolved, That the Committee on Pay and Mileage inquire what provision should be made to equalize the allowance to the members of this Congress to provide for their traveling expenses, with leave to report by bill or otherwise.
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Mr. Curry withdrew his demand for the reading of the engrossed copy of the bill.
And the bill was engrossed, read a third time, and the question being upon the passage of the same,
Mr. Curry, at the instance of the State of Alabama, demanded that the yeas and nays of the whole body be recorded thereon; which are as follows, to wit:
Yea: Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia, 9.
Nay: Alabama, Florida, an Georgia, 3.
Divided: North Carolina, 1.
So the bill was passed.
And on motion of Mr. Elliott,
Congress adjourned until 12 o'clock m. to-morrow.
EXECUTIVE SESSION.
Congress being in executive session,
The Chair laid before Congress the following communication from the President:
Richmond, February 6, 1862.
To the President of the Congress of the Confederate States of America:
I nominate the officers named in the annexed list as recommended by the Secretary of the Navy.
JEFFERSON DAVIS.
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The nominations were referred to the Committee on Naval Affairs.
The Chair laid before Congress another communication from the President; which is as follows, viz:
Richmond, Va., February 6, 1862.
To the President of the Congress of the Confederate States of America:
I nominate the officers named in the annexed list, agreeably to the recommendation of the Secretary of the Navy.
JEFFERSON DAVIS.
On motion of Mr. Watkins.
The nominations were referred to the Committee on Naval Affairs.
The Chair laid before Congress a communication from the President, submitting for the action of Congress a list of nominations recommended by the Secretary of War for confirmation as officers in the Army of the Confederate States; which was referred to the Committee on Military Affairs.
Mr. Conrad, from Committee on Naval Affairs, to which had been referred the nominations of the President, December 24, reported the same back, with the recommendation that the said nominations be confirmed.
On motion, the consideration of the appointment of Algernon S. Taylor, of Virginia, as captain in the Marine Corps, was postponed.
The nomination of Nicholas H. Van Zandt, of the District of Columbia, late a lieutenant in the United States Navy, to be a lieutenant in the Navy of the Confederate States, was confirmed.
Congress then resolved itself into legislative session.
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