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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-FIFTH DAY--SATURDAY, February 8, 1862.
OPEN SESSION.
Congress met pursuant to adjournment, and was opened with prayer by the Right Rev. Bishop Early.
Congress then resolved itself into secret session.
SECRET SESSION.
Congress being in secret session,
The Chair presented a design for a flag; which was referred to the Committee on the Flag and Seal.
Congress then proceeded to the consideration of the unfinished business of the morning hour; which was the consideration of the proviso offered by Mr. Wigfall to
A bill to amend an act to provide for local defense and special service.
Upon which Mr. Avery called the question; which was seconded, and the vote having been taken thereon, the amendment was not agreed to.
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The question then recurring upon agreeing to the amendment of Mr. Avery as a substitute for the whole bill,
Mr. Wigfall, at the instance of the State of Texas, demanded that the yeas and nays of the whole body be recorded thereon; which are as follows, to wit:
Yea: Alabama, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas, 5.
Nay: Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, and Virginia, 7.
Divided: Mississippi, 1.
So the amendment was not agreed to.
Mr. Oldham, from the Committee on Engrossment, reported as correctly engrossed and enrolled
An act to provide for connecting the Richmond and Danville and the North Carolina Railroads, for military purposes.
Mr. Avery moved to reconsider the vote by which his amendment was rejected.
Mr. Kenan moved to postpone the further consideration of the bill until Monday.
Upon which Mr. Seddon demanded the question; and the vote having been taken thereon, the motion prevailed.
On motion of Mr. Conrad, Congress then resolved itself into executive session; and having spent some time therein, again resolved itself into legislative session.
The Chair presented a communication from the president of the railroad convention now assembled in the city of Richmond; which was read and laid on the table for the present.
Mr. Harris of Mississippi moved that Congress proceed to the consideration of the bill to amend the sequestration act, etc.; which was agreed to.
And the question being upon agreeing to the amendment of Mr. Russell to the amendment of Mr. Smith of Alabama to the second section of the bill,
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Mr. Smith, 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: Florida, Missouri, and Virginia, 3.
Nay: Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas, 10.
So the amendment to the amendment was not agreed to.
The question then recurred upon agreeing to the amendment of Mr. Smith.
And the vote having been taken thereon, the same was agreed to.
And the section as amended is as follows, to wit:
Mr. Conrad moved to amend by inserting as section 3 in the bill the following, to wit:
Said fund shall also be applied to the indemnity of all persons who may sustain damage by the abduction or harboring of slaves, the seizure of cotton, rice, tobacco, sugar, or military or naval supplies, or by the destruction of the same to prevent their being taken by the enemy.
Upon which, at the instance of the State of Louisiana, he demanded that the yeas and nays of the whole body be recorded thereon; which are as follows, to wit:
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Yea: Missouri, South Carolina, and Virginia, 3.
Nay: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, and Tennessee, 9.
Divided: Texas, 1.
So the amendment was not agreed to.
And the third section of the bill being under consideration; which is as follows, to wit:
Mr. Memminger moved to amend by inserting after the word ["person"] the word "actually."
The amendment was agreed to.
Mr. De Witt moved to amend by adding at the end of the section the following proviso, to wit:
Provided, That when the person having the possession or control of any money of an alien enemy asserts a debt or claim against such alien in his own favor, he may file it in writing, swearing that he believes himself justly entitled to the same, in the court in the district whore he resides, he shall not be compelled, in the first instance, to pay over to the receiver the amount thus propounded and claimed by him. But the court shall then proceed to examine and try the validity of the said debt or claim and decree according to the facts found and the right and justice of the case. And if the court decides against the debt or claim, the party setting up the same shall forthwith pay over the sum so retained by him. And if the court should decree in favor of the debt or claim thus propounded, and it exceeds the entire amount originally in possession of such debtor or claimant, he shall pay no costs; otherwise he shall pay all costs incident to the proceedings.
The amendment was agreed to.
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Mr. Russell moved to amend by adding at the end of the section the following, to wit:
If any garnishee shall allege and prove that the consideration of the debt claimed from him was property which has been wholly or partly taken from him, or destroyed by the enemy or returned to the creditor, the value of the property so taken, destroyed, or returned shall be deducted from said debt.
The amendment was not agreed to, and the section as amended reads as follows, to wit:
And the fourth section of the bill being under consideration; which is as follows, to wit:
Mr. De Witt moved to amend the same by inserting after the word "transferred" the words "or conveyed."
The amendment was agreed to, and the section as amended reads as follows, to wit:
And the fifth section of the bill being under consideration; which is as follows, to wit:
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voluntarily contributed to the enemy's cause; and all persons aforesaid who bona fide have commenced to remove as aforesaid themselves and effects from the enemy's country, and who have been and still are prevented from completing such acts, by the actual force or power of the enemy.
Mr. Harris moved to amend by striking out the following words, to wit:
And inserting in lieu thereof the following words, to wit:
All persons born within any State of this Confederacy who, since the breaking out of the war, have abandoned their domicile and ceased their business in the enemy's country, and all persons aforesaid who have bona fide commenced or attempted to remove themselves and effects from the enemy's country, and who have been and are still prevented from completing said removal by the force or power of the enemy.
All subjects or citizens, natives of neutral countries, whether naturalized or not, who have not voluntarily contributed to the cause of the enemy, and all persons who, though citizens of the enemy's country, have abandoned that country on account of their opposition to the war or sympathy for the people of the Confederate States.
All married women, natives of any State of this Confederacy, who or whose husbands shall not be shown to have contributed to the cause of the enemy.
All persons non compos mentis and all minors whose father or mother were or are natives of this Confederacy and whose property and persons are controlled by guardians resident in the Confederate States, and who have not voluntarily contributed to the enemy's cause, and all minors under the age of fourteen years.
On motion of Mr. Scott, the further consideration of the bill was postponed until Monday at 12 o'clock m.
And the bill as far as perfected and all amendments to the same were ordered to be printed.
Mr. Waul moved that the sessions of Congress shall hereafter commence at 11 o'clock a. m.
The motion was agreed to.
Mr. Ochiltree, from the Committee on Pay and Mileage, to whom was referred
A bill supplemental to an act to fix the pay of members of Congress of the Confederate States of America,
reported the same back, with the recommendation that it pass with an amendment.
And the question being upon agreeing to the amendment, which was to strike out the whole of the original bill and to insert in lieu thereof the following, to wit:
A bill to be entitled "An act to provide for the compensation of G. H. Oury, Delegate from Arizona, for his attendance at this session of Congress".
Section 1. The Congress of the Confederate States of America do enact, That G. H. Oury be entitled to ten cents a mile for coming to the city of Richmond, Virginia, and
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returning home, to be estimated by the usual route of travel, and to eight dollars a day during this session of Congress, from the date of the approval of an act to organize the Territory of Arizona. to be paid in the same manner provided by law for the compensation of members of Congress.
The vote was taken thereon, and the amendment was agreed to.
And the bill was engrossed, read third time, and passed.
Mr. Ochiltree, from the same committee, reported
A bill to amend an act to fix the pay of members of Congress of the Confederate States of America, approved March 11, 1861;
which was read first and second times and laid on the table.
Mr. Thomas of Tennessee offered the following resolution; which was read and agreed to, to wit:
Resolved, That five hundred copies of the reports of Brigadier-Generals Pillow and Cheatham, of the battle of Belmont. and General A. S. Johnston's General Order, No. 5, in relation to said battle, be published for the use of Congress.
Mr. Chilton offered the following resolution; which was read and agreed to, to wit:
Resolved, That the Secretary of the Treasury cause to be paid, out of the contingent fund of Congress, the expenses incurred by the Committee on Public Buildings for the furniture and furnishing of committee rooms, and for the rent of said rooms, at the rate of two hundred dollars per month, from the fifth of December, eighteen hundred and sixty-one, to the eighteenth of February, eighteen hundred and sixty-two: Provided, That the acting chairman of said committee shall first approve each account for said expenses.
On motion of Mr. Hale,
Congress adjourned until 11 o'clock a. m. on Monday.
EXECUTIVE SESSION.
Congress being in executive session,
Mr. Conrad, from Committee on Naval Affairs, to which had been referred a communication of the President of January 97, nominating lieutenants for the war in the Navy of the Confederate States of America, reported the same back, with a recommendation that they be confirmed; which was agreed to, Congress advising and consenting to the same.
Mr. Conrad, from the same committee, to whom was referred the communication of the President. withdrawing the name of Joseph E. Lindsay and nominating James E. Lindsay as assistant surgeon in the Navy of the Confederate States, reported the same back and recommended that he be confirmed.
Congress advised and consented to the Same.
Mr. Conrad, from the same committee, to whom had been referred a message of the President, making sundry nominations in the Navy of the Confederate States, reported the same back, with a recommendation that Congress advise and consent to the same; which was agreed to.
Congress then resolved itself into legislative session.
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