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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 9, 1863.

Journal of the Congress of the Confederate States of America, 1861-1865 [Volume 3]
MONDAY, February 9, 1863.

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OPEN SESSION.

Mr. Hill (by leave) introduced

A bill (S. 37) to amend the fortieth section of an act to establish the judicial courts of the Confederate States of America, approved March 16, 1861;
which was read the first and second times and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.

Mr. Barnwell, from the Committee on Finance, to whom was referred the joint resolution (S. 3) proposing an exchange with the several States of the bonds of the Confederate States for the bonds of said States, reported it with the recommendation that it ought not to pass.

On motion by Mr. Phelan,

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Ordered, That it lie on the table.

Mr. Sparrow, from the Committee on Military Affairs, to whom was referred the bill (S. 26) granting furloughs to wounded officers and soldiers, reported it with the recommendation that it ought not to pass.

On motion by Mr. Sparrow,

Ordered, That it lie on the table.

Mr. Haynes, from the Committee on the Judiciary, to whom were referred the following bills:

• S. 29. A bill to take private property for public use by paying to the owner or owners a just compensation for the same;
• S. 30. A bill to regulate impressments by officers of the Army; and
• S. 31. A bill to regulate the taking of private property for public use by military authority, and prescribe the mode of determining what shall be just compensation therefor during the existence of war;
  reported them severally, with the recommendation that they ought not to pass.

On motion by Mr. Haynes,

Ordered, That they lie on the table.

Mr. Haynes, from the Committee on the Judiciary, who had been instructed by a resolution of the Senate to inquire into the subject, reported

A bill (S. 38) to regulate the taking of private property for the public use, and the assessment of compensation therefor;
which was read the first and second times and ordered to be placed upon the Calendar and printed.

The Senate resumed, as in Committee of the Whole, the consideration of the bill (S. 3) to organize the Supreme Court of the Confederate States.

On the question to agree to the amendment proposed by Mr. Clay, viz:

Add the following independent section:

• Sec. 6. That sections forty-five and forty-six of an act of the Provisional Congress entitled "An act to establish the judicial courts of the Confederate States of America," approved sixteenth March, eighteen hundred and sixty-one, be, and the same are hereby, repealed,

On motion by Mr. Barnwell,

Ordered, That the further consideration of the bill be postponed until to-morrow.

The Senate proceeded, as in Committee of the Whole, to the consideration of the bill (S. 11) to provide for the further issue of Treasury notes, and for other purposes; and

On motion by Mr. Barnwell,

Ordered, That the bill be transferred to the Secret Legislative Calendar.

On motion by Mr. Barnwell,

The Senate resolved into secret legislative session.

The doors having been opened,

The following message was received from the House of Representatives, by Mr. Lamar:

Mr. President: The Speaker of the House of Representatives having signed an enrolled bill, I am directed to bring it to the Senate for the signature of their President.

Mr. Dortch, from the committee, reported that they had examined and found truly enrolled the bill (H. R. 6) making appropriations for

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the support of the Government for the period from February 1 to June 30, 1863, inclusive, and to supply deficiencies arising prior thereto.

The President pro tempore having signed the enrolled bill last reported to have been examined, it was delivered to the Secretary of the Senate and by him forthwith presented to the President of the Confederate States for his approval.

On motion by Mr. Johnson of Arkansas,

Ordered, That the Committee on Indian Affairs be discharged from the further consideration of the message of the President of the Confederate States, communicating estimates for the Indian service to June 30, 1863, and 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., February 7, 1863.

To the Senate and House of Representatives:

I herewith transmit a communication from the Secretary of War, covering an estimate of the amount required for the remuneration of additional clerks in the War Department.

I recommend an appropriation of the amount and for the purpose specified.

JEFFERSON DAVIS.

The message was read.

Ordered, That it be referred to the Committee on Finance.

On motion by Mr. Hill,

The Senate adjourned.

SECRET SESSION.

A message from the House of Representatives, by Mr. Lamar:

Mr. President: The President of the Confederate States has notified the House of Representatives that he did, on the 7th instant, approve and sign the following act:

• H. R. 5. An act to provide for transportation of persons who have been mustered into the service for the war.

The following message was received from the President of the Confederate States, by Mr. B. N. Harrison, his Secretary:

Richmond, Va., February 7, 1863.

To the Senate and House of Representatives:

I herewith transmit for your consideration in secret session a communication from file Secretary of the Treasury, submitting an estimate of the amount required to carry into effect the act entitled "An act to authorize a foreign loan."

I recommend an appropriation of the amount and for the purpose specified.

JEFFERSON DAVIS.

The message was read.

Ordered, That it, be referred to the Committee on Finance.

The Senate resumed, as in Committee of the Whole, the consideration of the bill (S. 11) to provide for the further issue of Treasury notes, and for other purposes.

On the question to agree to the amendment reported by the Committee on Finance, viz:

Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the following:

That all Treasury notes not bearing interest, issued previous to the first day of December, eighteen hundred and sixty-two, shall be fundable in eight per cent bonds or stock, until the twenty-second day of April, eighteen hundred and sixty-three; that from that date until the first day of July, eighteen hundred and sixty-three, they shall be fundable in seven per cent bonds or stocks, and after the said first day of July they shall no longer be fundable at the pleasure of the holder, or receivable

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in payment of public dues, but shall be payable six months after the ratification of a treaty of peace as specified on their face. All Treasury notes not bearing interest, issued after the first day of December, eighteen hundred and sixty-two, and within ten days after the passage of this act, shall be fundable in seven per cent bonds or stocks until the first day of July next; and after the said first day of July shall be fundable only in bonds bearing interest at the rate of four per cent per annum and payable inyears from the date thereof, and all such notes not funded shall be receivable in payment of all public dues, except the export duty on cotton, and shall be payable six months after the ratification of a treaty of peace between the Confederate Government and the United States. All Treasury notes bearing interest at the rate of seven and thirty hundredths per cent per annum, and all call certificates bearing eight per cent interest shall, with the accrued interest, be fundable on or before the first day of July, eighteen hundred and sixty-three, into bonds of the Confederate States, bearing interest at the rate of eight per cent per annum, and payableyears after their date, provided that the accrued interest aforesaid may, at the option of the holder, be paid instead of being funded. All call certificates of every description, and all notes hearing interest at the rate of seven and thirty hundredths per cent per annum, outstanding on the first day of July, eighteen hundred and sixty-three, shall, after that date, be deemed to be bonds bearing an annual interest of six per cent and payable at the end ofyears from the said first day of July, eighteen hundred and sixty-three.

• Sec. 2. In lieu of the power heretofore given by law to the Secretary of the Treasury to issue Treasury notes bearing no interest, he shall be authorized to issue monthly an amount of such notes not exceeding fifty millions of dollars, which shall be receivable in payment of all public dues, except the export duty on cotton, payable within six months after the ratification of a treaty of peace between the Confederate States and the United States and fundable, at the pleasure of the holder, in bonds of the Confederate States, payable ... years after date, and bearing rates of interest as follows: If funded within six months from the first day of the month of their issue, the bonds shall bear six per cent interest per annum; if funded after that period, they shall be fundable into bonds bearing four per cent interest per annum. These notes shall bear upon their face the month and year of their issue, and if not funded shall be paid at the time specified on the face, without interest.
• Sec. 3. After the passage of this act the authority heretofore given to issue call certificates shall cease, but the notes fundable into six per cent bonds may be converted, at the pleasure of the holder, into call certificates bearing interest at the rate of six per cent per annum from the date of their issue. That every such certificate shall bear upon its face the monthly date of the oldest of the notes which it represents and be convertible into like notes at any time within six months from the first day of the month of its monthly date aforesaid; but every certificate not reconverted within six months from the first day of its monthly date shall be deemed and taken to be a bond payable at the end of ... years from the expiration of said six months, and bearing interest at the rate of six per cent per annum. Treasury notes, which by the operation of this act become fundable into bonds bearing a yearly interest of four per cent, may be converted, at the pleasure of the holder, into call certificates bearing interest at the rate of four per cent per annum from their date until reconverted or paid, the said certificates being reconvertible at any time by the holder into notes fundable in four per cent bonds, and payable and receivable as heretofore prescribed. But the said certificates may be redeemed by the Government after six months from the ratification of a treaty of peace between the Confederate States and the United States.
• Sec. 4. The Secretary of the Treasury shall use any disposable means in the Treasury which can be applied to that purpose without injury to the public service to the purchase of Treasury notes bearing no interest, and issued after the passage of this act, until the whole amount of Treasury notes in circulation shall not exceed one hundred and seventy-five millions of dollars.
• Sec. 5. The Treasury notes hereby allowed to be issued shall be of any denomination of not less than five dollars, which is now authorized by law that the Secretary of the Treasury may direct. The authority hereby given shall cease at the expiration of the first session of Congress after the ratification of a treaty of peace, or at the end of two years, should the war continue so long.
• Sec. 6. In addition to the authority hereinbefore given to the Secretary of the Treasury to issue Treasury notes, he shall be allowed to issue notes of the denomination of one dollar, and of fifty cents, to such an amount as, in addition to the notes of the denomination of one dollar heretofore issued, shall not exceed the sum of fifteen millions of dollars, and said notes shall be payable six months after the ratification of a treaty of peace between the Confederate States and the United States, and

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  receivable in payment of all public dues, except the export duty on cotton; but shall not be fundable.

• Sec. 7. That the Secretary of the Treasury be authorized to sell bonds bearing six per cent interest per annum and payable at the end of twenty years, at par for Treasury notes issued since the first of December, eighteen hundred and sixty-two, to such of the Confederate States as may desire to purchase the same; or he may sell such bonds, when guaranteed by the States of the Confederacy, for Treasury notes on such terms as he may deem advisable: Provided, however, That the whole amount of such bonds shall not exceed ... millions of dollars: And provided further, That the Treasury notes thus purchased shall not be reissued if the effect of such reissue would be to increase the whole amount of Treasury notes bearing no interest, which are in circulation, to a sum greater than one hundred and seventy-five millions of dollars. And the Secretary of the Treasury is also authorized, at his option, to issue coupon bonds of the Confederate States, bearing six per cent interest per annum and payable at the end of ... years from their date. The said coupons to be paid at the pleasure of the owner, either in the currency in which interest is paid on other bonds of the Confederate States, or else in cotton certificates which pledge the Government to pay the same in cotton of the quality of New Orleans middlings. The said cotton to be paid at the rate of ... pence sterling per pound, and to be delivered at any or all of the ports of New Orleans, Mobile, Savannah, Charleston, or Wilmington, as the Secretary of the Treasury may direct: Provided, however, That the bonds hereby authorized shall not exceed one hundred millions of dollars, and shall be applied only to the absorption of Treasury notes as prescribed in this act.

On motion by Mr. Barnwell, from the Committee on Finance, to amend the reported amendment by striking out the word "or," section 1, line 7, and inserting in hen thereof the words "but shall be," and by striking out, line 8, the words "but shall be" and inserting the word "and,"

It was determined in the affirmative.

On motion by Mr. Phelan, to amend the reported amendment by striking out, section 1, line 5, the word "seven" and inserting in lieu thereof the word "four,"

It was determined in the negative,
• Yeas ... 3
• Nays ... 17

On motion by Mr. Johnson of Arkansas,

The yeas and nays being desired by one-fifth of the Senators present,

Those who voted in the affirmative are,

Messrs. Johnson of Arkansas, Orr, and Phelan.

Those who voted in the negative are,

Messrs. Baker, Barnwell, Caperton, Clark, Clay, Davis, Haynes, Henry, Hill, Hunter, Johnson of Georgia, Maxwell, Mitchel, Peyton, Semmes, Sparrow, and Yancey.

On motion by Mr. Sparrow, to amend the reported amendment by striking out, section 1, lines 7, 8, and 9, the words
but shall be receivable in payment of public dues, and payable six months after the ratification of a treaty of peace as specified on their face,

After debate,

On motion by Mr. Sparrow,

The Senate resolved into executive session.

EXECUTIVE SESSION.

Mr. Sparrow, from the Committee on Military Affairs, to whom was referred (on the 26th ultimo) the nomination of John Taylor Wood, to be aid-de-camp on the staff of the President, with the rank, pay, etc., of a colonel of cavalry, reported, with the recommendation that said nomination be confirmed.

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The Senate proceeded to consider said report; and in concurrence therewith, it was

Resolved, That the Senate advise and consent to the appointment of John Taylor Wood, to be aid-de-camp on the staff of the President, with the rank, pay, etc., of a colonel of cavalry, agreeably to the nomination of the President.

On motion by Mr. Maxwell,

The Senate resolved into open legislative session.

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