| 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 --MONDAY, January 19, 1863.
OPEN SESSION.
The Hon. Landon C. Haynes, from the State of Tennessee; the Hon. Charles B. Mitchel, from the State of Arkansas, and the Hon. James L. Orr, from the State of South Carolina, severally attended.
Mr. Hill presented the credentials of the Hon. Herschel V. Johnson, elected a Senator by the legislature of the State of Georgia, to fill the vacancy occasioned by the nonacceptance of the Hon. Robert Toombs; which were read, and the oath prescribed by the Constitution was administered to Mr. Johnson, and he took his seat in the Senate.
The President pro tempore laid before the Senate a communication from the Commissioner of Patents, showing a list of patents granted during the year 1862.
Page 20 | Page image
On motion by Mr. Maxwell,
Ordered, That it be referred to the Committee on Patents.
Mr. Mitchel presented the credentials of the Hon. Robert W. Johnson, elected a Senator by the legislature of the State of Arkansas for the term of six years from the 18th day of February, 1864; which were read.
On motion by Mr. Barnwell, from the special committee appointed to organize and report the regular standing committees of the Senate,
Ordered, That the following standing committees be appointed:
Mr. Hill (by leave) introduced a bill (S. 3) to organize the Supreme Court of the Confederate States; which was read the first and second times; and
On motion by Mr. Hill,
Ordered, That it lie on the table and be printed.
Mr. Simms submitted the following resolution; which was considered and agreed to:
Resolved, That the President be respectfully requested to communicate to the Senate, if not incompatible with the public interests, whether the military authorities in the cities of Petersburg and Lynchburg, Virginia, have been authorized to seize and impress for public use flour, and other articles of value, the property of private citizens of these Confederate States, and whether or not Such seizure and impressments have been made by the said military authorities in said cities.
Page 21 | Page image
Mr. Simms submitted the following resolution for consideration:
Resolved, That the right of protection to life, liberty, and property is the right inviolable of every citizen of the Confederate States, and that this right is made sacred by the highest guarantees of the Constitution, and that neither Congress nor the Executive, nor any officer or agent of any of the Departments of this Government have power, in any manner or under any pretense whatsoever, to impair, interfere with, or destroy this inherent and inviolable right.
Second. That the right to hold and possess property is a right guaranteed to every citizen of the Confederate States by the Constitution thereof, and the right to defend the same and his domicile from unlawful invasion, seizure, or conversion shall not be impaired or questioned, and that all seizures or impressments of any such property, by any officer or agent of this Government, are in violation of the plainest provisions of the Constitution, are destructive of the most sacred rights of the citizen, and an unwarranted breach of the plighted faith of the Government to the citizens thereof, and are therefore void.
The Senate proceeded to consider the said resolution; and
On motion by Mr. Simms,
Ordered, That it be laid upon the table and printed.
On motion by Mr. Barnwell, from the Committee on Finance,
Ordered, That the report of the Secretary of the Treasury be printed for the use of the Senate.
Mr. Barnwell, from the Committee on Finance, to whom was referred the bill (S. 1) to authorize the appointment of assistants to the Register in signing bonds and certificates, reported it without amendment.
The Senate proceeded, as in Committee of the Whole, to consider the bill last mentioned; and no amendment being proposed, it was reported to the Senate.
Ordered, That it be engrossed and read a third time.
The said bill was read the third time.
Resolved, That it pass, and that the title thereof be as aforesaid.
Ordered, That the Secretary request the concurrence of the House of Representatives therein.
On motion by Mr. Semmes,
Ordered, That the President pro tempore appoint a member to fill the vacancy in the Committee on Flag and Seal occasioned by the death of the Hon. William Ballard Preston; and
Mr. Wigfall was appointed.
The President pro tempore appointed Edwin D. Starke as page to the Senate.
On motion by Mr. Sparrow,
The Senate resolved into secret legislative session.
The doors having been opened,
The following message was received from the President of the Confederate States, by Mr. B. N. Harrison, his Secretary:
Richmond, Va., January 15, 1863.
To the Senate and House of Representatives:
I herewith transmit a communication from the Secretary of the Treasury, covering certain estimates.
I recommend that an appropriation be made of the amount and for the purpose specified.
JEFFERSON DAVIS.
The message was read.
On motion by Mr. Hill,
Ordered, That it be referred to the Committee on Finance.
Page 22 | Page image
The following message was received from the President of the Confederate States, by Mr. B. N. Harrison, his Secretary:
Richmond, Va., January 15, 1863.
To the Senate of the Confederate States:
I herewith transmit a communication from the Secretary of the Navy, forwarding copies of a naval register asked for by the Senate in a resolution adopted September 22, 1862.
JEFFERSON DAVIS.
The message was read.
On motion by Mr. Sparrow,
The Senate adjourned.
SECRET SESSION.
The Senate proceeded to consider the resolution submitted by Mr. Sparrow on the 16th instant, instructing the Committee on Military Affairs to inquire into the expediency of amending the act entitled "An act to exempt certain persons from military duty, and to repeal an act entitled 'An act to exempt certain persons from enrollment for service in the Army of the Confederate States,' approved twenty-first April, eighteen hundred and sixty-two;" and
After debate,
On motion by Mr. Sparrow,
Ordered, Their the further consideration thereof be postponed until to-morrow.
The following message was received from the President of the Confederate States, by Mr. B. N. Harrison, his Secretary:
Richmond, Va., January 15, 1863.
To the Senate and House of Representatives:
I herewith transmit a communication from the Secretary of the Treasury in reference to a matter which I commend to your special attention and early decision, in executive session.
JEFFERSON DAVIS.
The message was read.
On motion by Mr. Barnwell,
Ordered, That it be referred to the Committee on Finance.
The following message was received from the President of the Confederate States, by Mr. B. N. Harrison, his Secretary:
Richmond, Va., January 19, 1863.
To the Senate of the Confederate States:
I herewith transmit a communication from the Secretary of War, covering copies of the reports of Maj. Gen. G. W. Smith and his subordinates of recent military operations in North Carolina, in response to a resolution of the Senate of the 14th instant.
JEFFERSON DAVIS.
The message was read.
On motion by Mr. Sparrow,
Ordered, That it be referred to the Committee on Military Affairs.
On motion by Mr. Sparrow,
The Senate resolved into executive session.
EXECUTIVE SESSION.
The following message was received from the President of the Confederate States, by Mr. B. N. Harrison, his Secretary:
Richmond, January 15, 1863.
To the Senate of the Confederate States:
I hereby nominate James A. Seddon, to be Secretary of War, in place of George W. Randolph, resigned.
JEFFERSON DAVIS.
Page 23 | Page image
The message was read.
On motion by Mr. Sparrow,
The Senate proceeded to consider the nomination of James A. Seddon, to be Secretary of War; and it was
Resolved, That the Senate advise and consent to the appointment of James A. Seddon, to be Secretary of War, agreeably to the nomination of the President.
On motion by Mr. Sparrow,
The Senate resolved into open legislative session.
PREVIOUS SECTION .. NEXT SECTION .. NAVIGATOR
| PREVIOUS | NEXT | NEW SEARCH |