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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 --MONDAY, February 1, 1864.
OPEN SESSION.
Mr. Sparrow (by leave) introduced
A joint resolution (S. 28) of thanks to the troops from the State of Louisiana in the Army of Tennessee;
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which was read the first and second times and considered as in Committee of the Whole; and no amendment being made, it was reported to the Senate.
Ordered, That it be engrossed and read a third time.
The said resolution 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.
Mr. Baker, from the Committee on Claims. to whom was referred the joint resolution (S. 19) for the relief of Capt. Walker Anderson, reported it without amendment.
The Senate proceeded, as in Committee of the Whole, to the consideration of the joint resolution last mentioned: and no amendment being made, it was reported to the Senate.
Ordered, That it be engrossed and read a third time.
The said resolution 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.
The Senate proceeded, as in Committee of the Whole, to the consideration of the bill (H. R. 94) to provide for wounded and disabled officers, soldiers, and seamen an asylum, to be called "The Veteran Soldiers' Home;" and no amendment being proposed, it was reported to the Senate.
Ordered, That it pass to a third reading.
The said bill was read the third time.
Resolved, That it pass.
Ordered, That the Secretary inform the House of Representatives thereof.
On motion by Mr. Semmes,
The Senate resolved into secret legislative session.
The doors having been opened,
The following message was received from the House of Representatives, by Mr. Dalton:
Mr. President: The President of the Confederate States has notified the House of Representatives that on the 27th ultimo he approved and signed an act (H. R. 84) to authorize the appointment of an agent of the Treasury Department west of the Mississippi.
The House of Representatives have passed bills and a joint resolution of the following titles; in which they request the concurrence of the Senate:
A message from the President of the Confederate States, by Mr. B. N. Harrison, his Secretary:
Mr. President: The President of the Confederate Slates, on the 30th ultimo, approved and signed the following acts and joint resolutions:
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Ordered, That the Secretary inform the House of Representatives thereof.
The bill (H. R. 102) to amend an act entitled "An act to organize military courts to attend the Army of the Confederate States in the field, and to define the powers of said courts," was read the first and second times and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
The bill (H. R. 104) amendatory of an act entitled "An act to put an end to the exemption from military service of those who have heretofore furnished substitutes," approved January 5, 1864, was read the first and second times and referred to the Committee on Military Affairs.
The joint resolution (H. R. 24) of thanks to the Alabama troops who have reenlisted for the war was read the first and second times and considered as in Committee of the Whole; and no amendment being proposed, it was reported to the Senate.
Ordered, That it pass to a third reading.
The said resolution was read the third time.
Resolved, That it pass.
Ordered, That the Secretary inform the House of Representatives thereof.
On motion by Mr. Clark,
The Senate adjourned.
SECRET SESSION.
A message from the House of Representatives, by Mr. Dalton:
Mr. President: The House of Representatives have passed a bill (H. R. 103) to authorize the issue of certain cotton certificates; in which they request the concurrence of the Senate.
The bill (H. R. 103) last mentioned was read the first and second times and referred to the Committee on Finance.
The Senate resumed, as in Committee of the Whole, the consideration of the bill (H. R. 92) to tax, fund, and limit the currency.
On motion of Mr. Semmes, the vote on agreeing to the first amendment reported from the Committee on Finance, as amended, was reconsidered.
On motion by Mr. Semmes, the vote was also reconsidered on agreeing to the following amendment proposed thereto by Mr. Phelan, viz:
Strike out of the seventh section the words "That Treasury notes of the old issue, bearing no interest, when received by the Government, shall not be reissued, nor shall any new notes, in lieu of such old notes received as aforesaid, be issued, unless the total amount outstanding of new notes, and of old notes not bearing interest," and insert in lieu thereof the words "That the new notes authorized by this act shall not be issued until the amount of old notes not bearing interest,"
The Senate proceeded to consider the said amendment proposed by Mr. Phelan; and
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On the question to agree thereto,
It was determined in the negative.
On motion by Mr. Semmes, to amend the first reported amendment by striking out the words "in lieu of such old notes received as aforesaid," section 7, lines 3 and 4,
It was determined in the affirmative.
On motion by Mr. Semmes, to amend the said amendment by inserting after "same," section 9, line 4, the words
other than Treasury note holders and contractors whose contracts were entered into between the fifteenth of July, eighteen hundred and sixty-three, and the date of the passage of this act,
It was determined in the affirmative.
On motion by Mr. Semmes, to amend the said amendment by inserting at the end of the ninth section thereof the words "and said certificate shall be exempt from taxation in principal and interest,"
It was determined in the affirmative.
The first reported amendment as amended was then agreed to.
On the question to agree to the second amendment reported from the Committee on Finance, viz:
Strike out the eighth section of the bill and insert the following:
To defray the expenses of the Government not otherwise provided for, the Secretary of the Treasury is hereby authorized to issue six per cent bonds to an amount not exceeding five hundred millions of dollars, the principal and interest whereof shall be free from taxation during the war, and for the payment of the interest thereon, the entire net receipts of any export duty hereafter laid on the value of all cotton, tobacco, and naval stores which shall he exported from the Confederate States, and the net proceeds of the import duties now laid, or so much thereof as may be necessary to pay annually the interest, are hereby specially pledged: Provided, That, the duties now laid upon imports and hereby pledged shall hereafter be paid in specie, or in sterling exchange, or in the coupons attached to said bonds as they become due, or in Treasury notes at their market value in specie: Provided further, That during the war the coupons on said bonds may be received in payment of said import duties six months in advance of the maturity of said coupons: And provided further, That the said duties on imports shall be payable in Treasury notes of the new issue, at par, or in Treasury notes of the old issue, not bearing interest, at the rate of three dollars for one, until the Secretary of the Treasury shall publish that fifteen millions of said bonds have been sold,
On motion by Mr. Phelan, to amend the amendment by inserting at the end thereof the words "but said Treasury notes of the old issue shall not be so received after the first day of January, eighteen hundred and sixty-five,"
It was determined in the affirmative.
The amendment as amended was then agreed to.
The residue of the amendments reported from the Committee on Finance were then agreed to.
On motion by Mr. Johnson of Georgia, to amend the bill by striking out, section 10, line 3, the words "and they may be exchanged for each other,"
It was determined in the negative.
On motion by Mr. Johnson of Georgia, to amend the bill by inserting after "for," section 10, line 5, the words "fifty or,"
It was determined in the negative.
On motion by Mr. Reade, to amend the bill by inserting the following independent section:
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the first of April, eighteen hundred and sixty-four, shall be deemed and taken as a tax on the amount of said notes as the property of the depositor,
On motion by Mr. Sparrow, to amend the proposed amendment by adding thereto the following proviso:
Provided, That this provision shall not apply to any bank which refuses to accept, between now and the first day of April next, Treasury notes at par for all debts contracted subsequently to the fifteenth of July, eighteen hundred and sixty-three, and prior to the passage of this act,
On motion by Mr. Phelan, that the amendment proposed by Mr. Reade, together with the amendment proposed thereto by Mr. Sparrow, lie upon the table,
It was determined in the negative.
On the question to agree to the amendment proposed by Mr. Sparrow to the amendment proposed by Mr. Reade,
On motion by Mr. Phelan,
The yeas and nays being desired by one-fifth of the Senators present,
Those who voted in the affirmative are,
Messrs. Clark, Haynes, Henry, Johnson of Georgia, Orr, Reade, Semmes, Sparrow, and Wigfall.
Those who voted in the negative are,
Messrs. Baker, Caperton, Clay, Dortch, Maxwell, and Phelan.
On the question to agree to the amendment proposed by Mr. Reade, as amended,
It was determined in the affirmative.
On motion by Mr. Jemison, to amend the bill by striking out all after the enacting clause and inserting:
That in lieu of moneyed taxes imposed by existing laws, there shall be levied and collected from the various items of property and other subjects of taxation hereinafter mentioned, as nearly as practicable, an annual tax ofmillions of dollars at the rates hereinafter specified.
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is hereby pledged that the notes, bonds, and interest-bearing scrip, issued under the provisions of this act, shall never be taxed, either directly or indirectly, and that the entire amount of notes issued for circulation under this act, and outstanding at any one time, shall never exceed ... millions of dollars; and the faith of the Government is further pledged that the notes, bonds, stocks, call certificates, or other credits of the Government heretofore issued, or that may hereafter be issued by authority of law, shall never be taxed so as to reduce the interest thereon below five per centum per annum.
On motion by Mr. Jemison,
The yeas and nays being desired by one-fifth of the Senators present,
Those who voted in the affirmative are,
Messrs. Baker, Clark, and Jemison.
Those who voted in the negative are,
Messrs. Caperton, Clay, Dortch, Haynes, Henry, Hill, Hunter, Johnson of Georgia, Johnson of Missouri, Maxwell, Orr, Phelan, Reade, Semmes, Sparrow, and Wigfall.
On motion by Mr. Johnson of Georgia, to amend the bill by striking out all after the enacting clause and inserting:
That all outstanding Treasury notes not bearing interest, of and above the denomination of five dollars, shall be retired from circulation by the first day of October next, in the manner hereinafter prescribed, and that the Secretary of the Treasury is hereby authorized to issue new Treasury notes to an amount not exceeding the sum of two hundred and fifty millions of dollars in such form and of such denominations of and above the denomination of five dollars, as he may prescribe, payable two years after the ratification of a treaty of peace with the United States, and fundable in stocks or bonds of the Confederate States, and receivable for all public dues except such as are required to be paid in specie only, and that said new notes shall be substituted for the old in the manner prescribed by this act.
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cent interest per annum, which certificates of indebtedness shall be transferable by will or inheritance only.
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to pay annually the interest, are hereby specially pledged: Provided, That the duties now laid upon imports and hereby pledged shall hereafter be paid in specie, or in sterling exchange, or in the coupons attached to said bonds as they become due, or in Treasury notes at their market value in specie: Provided further, That during the war the coupons on said bonds may be received in payment of said import duties six months in advance of the maturity of said coupons: And provided further, That the said duties on imports shall be payable in Treasury notes of the new issue, at par, until the Secretary of the Treasury shall publish that fifteen millions of said bonds have been sold.
On motion by Mr. Johnson of Georgia, that the bill, together with the proposed amendment, be recommitted to the Committee on Finance,
On motion by Mr. Johnson of Georgia,
The yeas and nays being desired by one-fifth of the Senators present,
Those who voted in the affirmative are,
Messrs. Baker, Clay, Haynes, Hill, Jemison, Johnson of Georgia, Oldham, and Orr.
Those who voted in the negative are,
Messrs. Caperton, Dortch, Henry, Hunter, Maxwell, Phelan, Reade, Semmes, Sparrow, and Wigfall.
On the question to agree to the amendment proposed by Mr. Johnson of Georgia,
It was determined in the negative.
Pending the further consideration of the bill,
On motion by Mr. Sparrow,
The Senate resolved into executive session.
EXECUTIVE SESSION.
Mr. Sparrow, from the Committee on Military Affairs, to whom were referred the nominations of R. L. Gibson and C. H. Stevens, to be brigadier-generals; L. W. Hastings, to be major; W. M. Price, Albert Hyer, Charles T. Holmes, Thomas Gibson, Samuel Hunter,
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John A. Cheatham, E. Miltenberger, Celsus Price, Henry S. Puryear, W. W. Old, and C. A. Williams, to be aids-de-camp, with the rank of first lieutenant, reported, with the recommendation that all of said nominations be confirmed.
The Senate proceeded to consider said report; and in concurrence therewith, it was
Resolved, That the Senate advise and consent to their appointment, agreeably to the nomination of the President.
Mr. Sparrow, from the Committee on Military Affairs, to whom was referred the nomination of Richard S. Ewell, to be lieutenant-general, reported, with the recommendation that said nomination be confirmed.
The Senate proceeded to consider said report; and
On motion by Mr. Sparrow,
Ordered, That the further consideration of said nomination be postponed till to-morrow.
On motion by Mr. Sparrow,
The Senate resolved into open legislative session.
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