| PREVIOUS | NEXT | NEW SEARCH |
A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation: U.S. Congressional Documents and Debates, 1774-1875
Journal of the Confederate Congress --WEDNESDAY, March 13, 1861.
OPEN SESSION.
Congress met pursuant to adjournment.
After prayer, the Journal of yesterday was read and approved.
Mr. Curry laid before Congress certain expense accounts against the Confederate States; which were referred to the Committee on Accounts.
On motion of Mr. Sparrow, Mr. De Clouet was excused from service on the Committees on Accounts and Commercial Affairs.
Mr. Clayton presented a letter; which was ordered to be spread on the Journal, and is its follows:
Salem, Miss., March 9, 1861.
Judge Clayton: I notice that the Montgomery Congress has authorized a loan, but have seen nothing further on the subject. I have just tendered Governor Pettus
Page 131 | Page image
$5,000 for the use of our State, and have about the same amount in the hands of E. M. Apperson & Co., of Memphis, which is at the service of the Confederate States of America.
Yours, truly,F. S. LEAK.
Congress, on motion of Mr. Perkins, went into secret session; after remaining some time therein, adjourned till 10 o'clock to-morrow.
SECRET SESSION.
Congress having gone into secret session,
The Journal of yesterday was read and approved.
On motion of Mr. Barnwell, Congress proceeded to the consideration of the resolution relative to the adjournment of Congress.
Mr. Sparrow moved to amend the resolution so that the adjournment would extend to the first Monday of June next.
Mr. Clayton demanded the question; which was seconded, and the motion was lost.
Mr. Hale moved to amend the same by striking out "Thursday, the fourteenth instant," and inserting in lieu thereof "Saturday, sixteenth instant;" which was agreed to.
The question recurring on agreeing to the resolution as amended, at the instance of the State of Louisiana, the yeas and nays of the entire body were ordered to be recorded, and are as follows:
On motion of Mr. Wright, Mr. Crawford was excused from further service on the Committee on Accounts.
Mr. Wilson, from the Committee on Engrossment, reported as correctly engrossed and enrolled
An act amendatory of an act fox the organization of the Army, and an act for the establishment and organization of the Army of the Confederate States; and
A resolution to authorize the employment of a special messenger to Texas to carry a copy of the Constitution.
On motion of Mr. Barnwell, the injunction of secrecy was removed from the provisions of the bill reported from the Committee on Finance relative to tariff.
Congress then proceeded to the consideration of the unfinished business; which was the
Bill to establish the judicial courts of the Confederate States of America.
Mr. Morton, at the instance of the State of Florida, moved to reconsider the vote by which Congress refused to strike out the words "three thousand" and insert in lieu thereof the words "five thousand."
Mr. Morton demanded the question; which was seconded, and at the instance of the State of Florida the yeas and nays of the whole body were recorded, and are as follows:
Page 132 | Page image
Yea: Florida and Texas, 2.
Nay: Georgia, Louisiana, and South Carolina, 3.
Divided: Alabama and Mississippi, 2.
By consent Mr. Conrad, from the Committee on Naval Affairs, reported a bill to authorize the purchase or construction of ten gunboats; which was read the first and second times, put on the Calendar, and ordered to be printed.
Congress resumed consideration of the bill to establish the judicial courts of the Confederate States of America.
The eighteenth section being as follows:
Mr. Clayton moved to amend the same by inserting between the words "other" and "district" the words "division or," and by adding after the words "in which he resides" the words "and when his attendance can not be procured, his depositions may be taken;" which was agreed to.
Mr. Clayton moved further to amend by adding to the end of the section the F words, to wit:
And the said district courts may, also, on application thereto as a court of equity, direct depositions to be taken to perpetuate testimony relating to matters cognizable in any court of the Confederate States; such depositions to be taken according to the law and practice in the State in which the order is made.
The motion prevailed.
Mr. Conrad moved further to amend the section as amended by adding thereto the following proviso:
Provided, That in Louisiana and Texas depositions may in all cases be taken according to the laws regulating the practice of the highest courts of original jurisdiction in those States;
which was agreed to.
The last clause of the eighteenth section, on motion of Mr. Sparrow, was amended by adding after the word "conferred" the words "on commissioner's," and by striking out the word "section" and inserting in lieu thereof the word "clause."
On motion of Mr. Waul, the clause was further amended by striking out the words "or any of the United States."
Page 133 | Page image
The clause as amended reads as follows:
All the powers and authority conferred on commissioners in and by the preceding clause are hereby vested in, and may be exercised by, any legally appointed notary public in shy of the Confederate States.
Section 19 being as follows:
In all the courts of the Confederate States the parties shall be heard either by themselves or counsel.
On motion of Mr. Sparrow, the same was amended by inserting after the words "the parties shall" the words "have the right to."
Section 20 having been read as follows:
Mr. Clayton moved to amend the same by inserting after the first words "when judgments are a" the words "mortgage or," and after the words "they shall have the same" the words "effect or," and after the words "rules as to enrollment or recording" the words "of judgments or abstracts of judgments;" which was agreed to.
On motion of Mr. Smith, the section was further amended by adding thereto the following words:
But in all cases of conflict between levies of process from the State and Federal courts, the first levy shall have priority.
The section as amended reads as follows:
Where judgments are a mortgage or lien upon the property of the defendant in any of the States, they shall have the same effect or lien when rendered in one of the district courts of the Confederate States as if rendered in a State court, and be subject to the same rules as to or recording of judgments or abstracts of judgments. And the lien of executions shall be the same as in the courts of the State where such district court sits. But in all cases of conflict between levies of process from the State and Federal courts, the first levy shall have priority.
The second and last clause of the twenty-first section being as follows:
In all suits in equity the testimony shall be taken in conformity to the law of the State for courts of the highest original jurisdiction in equity in such State. And the district courts may also, on application made thereto as a court of equity, direct depositions to be taken to perpetuate testimony relating to matters cognizable in any court of the Confederate States, such depositions to be taken according to the law and practice in the State where taken.
Mr. Clayton moved to strike the same from the bill; which was agreed to.
The twenty-second section being as follows, to wit:
On motion of Mr. Chilton, the same was stricken out.
The twenty-eighth section being as follows:
On motion of Mr. Waul, the same was amended by inserting after the words "at the instance of either party," as they occur, the words,
Page 134 | Page image
viz: "according to the several statutes of amendments or jeofails in the State in which the court sits."
The thirtieth section being as follows, to wit:
On motion of Mr. Clayton, the same was amended by adding thereto the following, viz:
but no execution shall issue in less than ten days from the rendition of the judgment or decree unless upon affidavit made showing a necessity therefor.
The thirty-second section being as follows:
On motion of Mr. Clayton, the words "the judge thereof," where they first occur, were, stricken out.
On motion of Mr. Hale, the section was further amended by adding thereto the following, to wit:
and in the case of the absence of such attorney from any term of the court, the presiding judge may appoint a fit person to act for him for the term.
Mr. Conrad moved to further amend the section by adding thereto the words, to wit:
Provided, That the annual salary of the district attorney of Louisiana shall be two thousand dollars, with the above per diem.
Mr. Harrison moved to lay the stunt on the table; which was agreed to, the States voting:
Yea: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, and South Carolina.
Nay: Louisiana and Texas.
Mr. Hemphill moved to amend the same section by inserting after the words "attending said court," as they occur, the words "together with such fees as shall hereafter be provided by law;" which was agreed to.
The section as amended is as follows:
Page 135 | Page image
from his place of residence, to be computed upon the most usual line of travel; and in case of the absence of such attorney from any term of the court, the presiding judge may appoint a fit person to act for him for the term.
Mr. Memminger offered the following as a separate section, to be the thirty-fifth section, to wit:
The--section being read, Mr. Smith moved to amend the same by inserting after the words "execution of the sentence or judgment," where they occur, the words, viz: "upon the execution of such bond as may be required by the State law in similar cases;" which was agreed to.
Mr. Memminger moved to amend the section by striking therefrom the words, as they occur, viz: "or imprisonment in the jail or penitentiary, or fine of one thousand dollars or upwards;" which was lost.
Mr. Conrad moved to strike out the words "the jail or" and also the words "or fine of one thousand dollars or upwards."
The motion prevailed.
The forty-first section being as follows, viz:
On motion of Mr. Clayton, the same was amended by adding thereto the following:
whose fees shall be the same as those now allowed to the clerk of the Supreme Court of the United States.
Mr. Sparrow moved to amend the section by striking therefrom the following words, viz:
or in case the person entitled to such writ of error be an infant, femme covert, non compos mentis, or imprisoned, then within two years, as aforesaid, exclusive of the time of such disability.
The motion was lost, the States voting:
Yea: Louisiana.
Nay: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, and Texas.
Not voting: South Carolina.
Mr. Hemphill moved to further amend the section by striking there-from the words as they first occur, to wit, "and final decrees in equity."
The motion was lost.
Mr. Sparrow moved to insert immediately after the words which he moved to strike out the following, to wit: "Provided, That the exception shall not apply to the State of Louisiana;" which was disagreed to,
Page 136 | Page image
The forty-second section being as follows:
Mr. Waul moved to amend the same by adding, after the word "delay," where it first occurs, the following, viz: "not exceeding ten per cent per annum."
The motion was agreed to.
Mr. Chilton moved to add to the words offered by Mr. Waul the following, to wit:
but such damages shall only be given when it is manifest to the court that the appeal or writ of error was taken for delay;
which was also agreed to.
On motion of Mr. Smith, the section was further amended by adding thereto the following words: "including lawful costs accruing upon such appeal."
The section as amended is as follows:
The forty-third section being as follows, to wit:
On motion of Mr. Chilton, the words "rendered or," where they first occur, were stricken out.
On motion of Mr. Chilton, the section was further amended by adding thereto the following:
Provided always, That appeals or writs of error in any case to the Supreme Court of this Confederacy, from existing judgments or decrees may be taken under the same rules and regulations required by the laws of the United States for appeals or writs of error to the Supreme Court of the United States, existing at the time the said judgments or decrees were rendered.
The forty-sixth section being as follows:
Page 137 | Page image
decision may be reexamined and reversed or affirmed in the Supreme Court of the Confederate States, upon a writ of error, the citation being signed by any judge of the said Supreme Court in the same manner and under the same regulations and with the like effect as if the judgment or decree complained of had been rendered or passed in a district court of the Confederate States; and the proceeding upon reversal shall be the same, except that the Supreme Court, instead of remanding the cause for a final decision may, at their discretion, if the cause shall have once been remanded before, proceed to a final decision of the same and award execution. But no other error shall be assigned or regarded as a ground of reversal in any such case as aforesaid than such as appears in the face of the record, and immediately respects the before-mentioned questions of validity or construction of the said Constitution treaties. statutes, commissions, or authorities in dispute.
Mr. Chesnut being in the chair, Mr. Memminger submitted the point of order that the sense of Congress could be taken on the adoption of one section of a bill and that it could be ordered to be engrossed disconnected with the other sections of the bill. The Chair decided to the contrary.
Mr. Withers appealed from the decision of the Chair.
The decision of the Chair was sustained, the States voting as follows:
Yea: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas.
Nay: South Carolina.
Mr. Harrison moved to strike out the section.
Mr. Waul thereon demanded the question; which was seconded, and the motion was lost.
At the instance of the State of South Carolina, the yeas and nays of the entire body were taken and recorded as follows:
Mr. Withers moved to amend the section by adding thereto the following:
Provided, That the writ of error provided for in this section shall not lie in any case where the judgment of the State court denies that the power in question has been delegated by the States.
Mr. Toombs demanded the question; which was seconded, and the motion was lost.
The yeas and nays were required, and are as follows:
The forty-seventh section being as follows:
Page 138 | Page image
and district in which the same was pending; and the late clerk of said circuit or district courts, or other person in whose custody said records, papers, dockets, depositions, and judicial proceedings may be, shall deliver the same to the clerk of the district court to which they may be transferred under the provisions of this act, and the same shall stand in the same plight and condition in which they were in said circuit and district courts, respectively, and all previous orders therein made shall have the same effect; and the court to which said causes are hereby transferred shall proceed to hear and determine the same according to law.
And the judgments in all civil cases heretofore rendered in said circuit and district courts of the United States remaining unsatisfied shall have the same force and effect. which they had before the secession of the State in which said court is situated; and the same proceedings may be had thereon in the district court of the Confederate States, by execution or otherwise, which might have been taken in the court in which they were rendered at the time of their rendition. And where, under any such judgment of the circuit and district courts of the United States, any execution may have been in part executed by levy on property or otherwise, it shall be the duty of the marshal or officer in whose hands such execution and property may be to turn over the same to the marshal of the Confederate States for the district in which such judgment was rendered, and to take his receipt therefor, and thereupon the said marshal shall proceed to dispose of the same according to the laws in force at the time such judgment was rendered, and pay over the proceeds to the party entitled; and new process shall be issuable in such district courts when requisite.
On motion of Mr. Clayton, the first clause of the section was amended by adding thereto the words:
Provided, That all suits which shall have been pending in any of the courts for the space of five years without prosecution shall be considered as abandoned, unless prosecuted within six months from the time of such transfer.
On motion of Mr. Clayton, the section was further amended by inserting, after the words "appertaining to," the words "any suit now pending in."
On motion of Mr. Clayton, the section was amended by adding at the end of the first clause the following, viz:
and all dockets, books, records, documents, and papers of every kind pertaining to judicial proceedings in any of said courts and to suits heretofore decided therein; and all patents, deeds, records, books, and papers pertaining to any land office which may by law have been deposited with the clerk of any of said courts or transferred to his office for safe-keeping, shall be delivered to the clerk of the district court for the district in which such court is situated, and the same shall be safely kept and preserved by said clerk until otherwise provided by law. And copies of any such records or other papers made out by said clerk of the district court and authenticated according to law shall have the force and effect given to copies of other instruments of like character in such State, and be admissible in evidence in all cases in which copies are admitted as evidence in the courts of the Confederate States.
On motion of Mr. Clayton, the section was also amended by adding at the end of the same the following, to wit:
but all suits pending in said courts in which the United States are plaintiffs shall remain suspended, and no further proceedings shall be had therein until the independence, of this Confederacy shall be recognized by the United States; and execution of all judgments rendered in favor of said United States is hereby suspended, and all seizures on executions heretofore made in behalf of the said United States are here, by declared to be inoperative and void, and shall not be renewed until recognition be male of the independence of this Confederacy as aforesaid.
On motion of Mr. Smith, the following was added to the end of the section as amended, viz:
But this section shall be subject to such disposition of the causes therein provided for as has been made by the several States before the adoption of the Provisional Constitution, unless said States shall conform their legislation to the provisions in this act contained.
Page 139 | Page image
Mr. Memminger moved that the following be an additional section, to be numbered section 48, viz:
The motion was agreed to.
The forty-ninth section being as follows:
On motion of Mr. Clayton, the same was amended by adding thereto the following:
and in cases where the transcripts of records have already been printed in the Supreme Court of the United States under the rules thereof, such printed copy, duly certified by the clerk of that court, may be filed in the Supreme Court of these Confederate States, and it shall not be necessary to have a new transcript made by the clerk of the court from which the appeal or writ of error is prosecuted.
The proviso of the fiftieth section being in the following words, to wit:
Provided, That such judgment or decree was rendered before the secession of the State from which such cause went to the Supreme Court.
Mr. Toombs moved to strike out the same and insert in lieu thereof the following:
Provided, That no plea to the jurisdiction arising out of the secession of the State from which such cause or causes may have been carried up, was pleaded before judgment, and where the party against whom judgment was rendered appeared and answered.
The States voted thereon as follows:
Yea: Georgia.
Nay: Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Texas.
The motion was lost.
Mr. Clayton offered the following as an additional section, to be section fifty-third:
The motion prevailed.
Page 140 | Page image
On motion of Mr. Smith, the following was agreed to as an additional section, to be section 54, viz:
Congress then recurred to the consideration of the eighth section; being as follows:
Mr. Sparrow moved to amend the same by inserting after the words "November, eighteen hundred and sixty," the following:
But in Louisiana he shall only be required to hold his court out of New Orleans at such time or times as he may consider the public interest requires him to do so.
The motion prevailed.
On motion of Mr. Wright, the first sentence of the fourth section was amended by adding thereto the following words, to wit: "and said clerks shall not be connected with the said judge by blood or marriage."
Mr. Hemphill moved to amend the twelfth section; which is as follows, viz:
By adding to it the words:
And in any State in which there is no distinction between law and equity, the district court shall administer and decide the matters in suit, whether legal or equitable, according to the course of practice in the courts of such State.
Mr. Toombs demanded the question; which was seconded, and the motion was lost, the States voting as follows:
Yea: Louisiana and Texas.
Nay: Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, and South Carolina.
Florida being divided.
Mr. Chilton offered the following as an additional section, to wit:
The laws of the several States which have been passed since the secession of such States respectively providing for staying executions and the collection of judgments shall not apply to judgments or decrees rendered in the district courts respectively in said States before such secession: Provided, That this section shall not apply to such laws as may have been passed appertaining to executions on judgments or decrees of such district courts between the period of the withdrawal of such State and the formation of the Provisional Government for the Confederate States.
Mr. Waul thereon demanded the question; which was seconded, and the motion was lost.
Mr. Smith demanded the question on the engrossment of the bill as amended for a third reading. The demand was sustained and the bill as amended was ordered to be engrossed.
Page 141 | Page image
The bill was then read a third time, and on the passage of the bill, Mr. Morton, at the instance of the State of Florida, called for the yeas and nays of the entire body; which were taken and recorded as follows:
The bill passed.
A message was received from the President that he had approved and signed
A resolution to authorize the employment of a special messenger to Texas to carry a copy of the Constitution.
Mr. Chilton, from the Committee on Postal Affairs, reported
A bill vesting certain powers in the Postmaster-General;
which was read a first and second time and ordered to be placed on the Calendar.
Mr. Anderson introduced
A bill to be entitled "An act to amend an act entitled 'An act to establish a court of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction at Key West, in the State of Florida:'"
which was also read twice and placed on the Calendar.
Mr. Memminger introduced a bill relative to the port of Augusta, Ga.; which, on motion of Mr. Curry, was referred to the Committee on Commercial Affairs.
Mr. Hemphill offered the following resolution:
Resolved, That the Judiciary Committee be instructed to report, as early as possible, a bill establishing the fees to be allowed to district attorneys of the Confederate States;
which was agreed to.
On motion of Mr. Clayton, the President was authorized to appoint two members to serve on the Committee on Judiciary during the absence of the regular members belonging to the committee.
Whereupon, the President appointed Mr. Hemphill and Mr. Smith.
On motion of Mr. Sparrow,
Congress adjourned till 10 o'clock to-morrow.
PREVIOUS SECTION .. NEXT SECTION .. NAVIGATOR
| PREVIOUS | NEXT | NEW SEARCH |