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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 --WEDNESDAY, March 4, 1863.

Journal of the Congress of the Confederate States of America, 1861-1865 [Volume 3]
WEDNESDAY, March 4, 1863.

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OPEN SESSION.

Mr. Clay, from the Committee on Commerce, to whom was referred the bill (S. 47) making Columbia, S. C., a port of delivery for goods imported into Charleston, S. C., and Wilmington, N. C., reported it with the recommendation that it ought not to pass.

Mr. Clay, from the Committee on Commerce, reported

A bill (S. 68) to abolish all ports of delivery in the Confederate States;
which was read the first and second times and ordered to be placed upon the Calendar and printed.

Mr. Sparrow, from the Committee on Military Affairs, to whom was referred the joint resolution (H. R. 5) relative to general orders issued from the Adjutant-General's Office, reported it with the recommendation that it ought not to pass.

Mr. Oldham, from the Committee on Post-Offices and Post-Roads, to whom was referred the bill (S. 55) to vest in the Government, as a part of its postal system, all the rights of the American Telegraph Company in the telegraph lines within the Confederate States, and to provide for working the same, reported it without amendment.

On motion by Mr. Oldham,

Ordered, That it lie on the table.

Mr. Oldham, from the Committee on Post-Offices and Post-Roads, reported the following bills; which were severally read the first and second times and ordered to be placed upon the Calendar and printed:

• S. 69. A bill for the confiscation of the leasehold interest and shares of stock owned by the American Telegraph Company and other alien enemies in the lines of telegraph in the Confederate States; and
• S. 70. A bill declaring the telegraph a part of the postal system of the Confederate States, and to provide for working the same.

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

Richmond, Va., March 4, 1863.

To the Senate and House of Representatives:

I herewith transmit a communication from the Secretary of War, covering an estimate of additional funds required for the service of the Ordnance Bureau for the period ending June 30, 1863.

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

JEFFERSON DAVIS.

The message was read.

Ordered, That it be referred to the Committee on Military Affairs.

Mr. Caperton presented a memorial of citizens of Petersburg, Va., praying for relief from the forcible seizure of private property, without just compensation.

Ordered, That it lie upon the table.

The Senate resumed, as in Committee of the Whole, the consideration of the bill (H. R. 9) to authorize and regulate the impressment of private property for the use of the Army and other military purposes.

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

Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert:

That when by due diligence private property, essential for the use of the Army of the Confederate States, can not be procured or purchased by the persons hereinafter named, in cases of absolute necessity it may be taken in the following manner:

• Sec. 2. That said property shall be taken by a bonded quartermaster or commissary,

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  or some person duly authorized by him in writing, which writing shall be exhibited to the owner or person having control of said property at the time and before the said quartermaster or commissary, or the person authorized as aforesaid, shall take the same.

• Sec. 3. That the owner or person having control of said property, and the officer or person hereinbefore authorized to take the same, shall each select one disinterested citizen as appraisers from the neighborhood, district, or parish, unconnected with the Army, who shall take an oath that they are not interested in said property or appraisement, and that they will well and truly fix and determine the value thereof and the amount of compensation which may be just. And in case of disagreement between said appraisers, they shall choose a third citizen of said neighborhood, district, or parish, in like manner unconnected with the Army, as an umpire, to decide, under a like oath as aforesaid, the matters in dispute: Provided, That the said appraisers shall have the power, and it is hereby made their duty, to administer to each other all necessary oaths prescribed by this act to the same extent as belongs to any judge or justice of the peace in any State.
• Sec. 4. That the officer or person taking private property as aforesaid for public use shall, at the time of said taking, pay to the owner, his agent or attorney, the compensation fixed by said appraisers, and shall also give to the owner or person controlling said property a certificate, over his official signature, specifying the battalion, regiment, brigade, division, or corps to which he belongs, that said property is essential for the use of the Army, could not be otherwise procured, and was taken through absolute necessity; setting forth the time and place when and where taken, the amount of compensation fixed by said appraisers, and the sum, if any, paid for the same. Said certificate shall be evidence for the owner, as well of the taking of said property for the public use, as the right of the owner to the amount of compensation fixed as aforesaid. And in case said officer or person taking said property shall have failed to pay the owner, his agent or attorney, said compensation as hereinbefore required, then said owner shall be entitled to the speedy payment of the same by the proper disbursing officer, which, when so paid, shall be in full satisfaction of all claim against the Government of the Confederate States.
• Sec. 5. That before any officer or person authorized as aforesaid shall be entitled to take the private property of the owner for public use, under the provisions of this act, the said appraisers, upon their oaths to act faithfully and impartially between the owner and the Confederate Government, shall say that the said property is not essentially necessary for the support of the owner and his family and not absolutely required to carry on his ordinary agricultural and manufacturing business until the harvesting of the ensuing crop.
• Sec. 6. That no officer shall take for the public use, and use and occupy the lands of any citizen of any State, except for posts, depots, ordnance purposes, fortifications, encampments, and battlefields, without his consent; nor take for use and occupation the houses of any citizen, nor quarter officers or troops therein without the consent of the owner, nor take and use his household furniture, except when such houses and furniture shall be absolutely necessary for hospital purposes for the use of the sick and wounded, and when suitable houses and furniture can not be otherwise, in the exercise of due diligence, procured to meet the emergency; which houses and furniture, when taken as aforesaid, shall be protected from injury as much as practicable and delivered up to the owners as soon as the emergency will allow.
• Sec. 7. That a just compensation shall be paid to the owners, agents, or attorneys for the use and occupation of said houses and furniture by the proper disbursing officer, to be fixed by appraisers to be selected and sworn as aforesaid. The officer or surgeon taking said houses and furniture shall give the owner, his agent or attorney, a certificate, as hereinbefore required of quartermasters and commissaries, which shall be in like manner evidence for the owner of the taking of said houses and furniture for the public use, of the use and occupation of the same, and of his right to immediate compensation therefor.
• Sec. 8. That any commissioned or noncommissioned officer or private who shall violate the provisions of this act shall be tried before the military court of the corps to which he is attached, on complaint made by the owner or other person, and on conviction, if an officer, he shall be cashiered and put into the ranks as a private, and if a private he shall suffer such punishment, not inconsistent with the military law, as the court may direct,

On motion by Mr. Yancey, to amend the amendment proposed by Mr. Haynes by striking out all after the word "persons," in the fourth line of the first section, and inserting the words
charged by law with the procurement or purchase of supplies for the Army of the Confederate States, after said persons have notified the public by advertising of the

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necessities of the Army, and of the kind of supplies needed, and have offered to pay for the same the market price of said articles on delivery at the place named in said notice, or at the plantation or place where the seller may choose to deliver it; in that event the following property may be taken for public use in the manner hereto prescribed, viz: The facts constituting such failure to procure said property shall be duly reported in writing to the commander of the military district or department in which it shall occur, and in which such necessity exists, and such commanding officer shall then appoint an officer of the Provisional Army of the Confederate States, not below the rank of colonel, who shall be charged with the duty of impressing for public use such property, as may be allowed to be impressed by law, under a written order signed by the officer commanding said department, describing the kind and quantity of property needed by the Army, and the county or district in which said seizure is to be made, and which said order shall first be exhibited to the owner, agent, or person having said property in charge: Provided, That no provisions for man or beast shall be seized in the hands of the producer of the same, or of families who have purchased the same for private use, or of persons who have purchased the same for use of their employees, if said latter class shall make affidavit in writing that their stock of provisions is essential to the support of themselves and employees until the usual time for the incoming of the next crop of provisions. All the surplus in the hands of said latter class may be seized: And provided further, That no slaves, or horses, or mules, or wagons, or stock cattle, or hogs, owned on farms or plantations, shall be seized for public use.

• Sec. 2. That the owner or person having control of said property, and the officer or person hereinbefore authorized to take the same, shall each select one disinterested citizen as appraisers from the neighborhood, unconnected with the Army, who shall take an oath that they are not interested in said property or appraisement, and that they will well and truly fix and determine the just market value thereof at the market town nearest said place where the property is seized, and the amount of compensation which may be just. And in case of disagreement between said appraisers, they shall choose a third citizen of said neighborhood, in like manner unconnected with the Army, as an umpire, to decide, under a like oath as aforesaid, the matters in dispute: Provided, That the said appraisers shall have the power, and it is hereby made their duty, to administer to each other all necessary oaths prescribed by this act, which shall carry with them the same obligations and penalties as if administered by any judge or justice of the peace in any State.
• Sec. 3. That the officer taking private property as aforesaid for public use shall, at the time of said taking and before removal of the same, pay to the owner, his agent or attorney, the compensation fixed by said appraisers and shall also give to the owner or person controlling said property a certificate, over his official signature specifying the battalion regiment brigade, division, or corps to which he belongs, that said property is essential for the use of the Army, could not be otherwise procured, and was taken through absolute necessity; setting forth the time and place when and where taken, and specific description of the property seized, the amount of compensation fixed by said appraisers, and the sum paid for the same.
• Sec. 4. That in case any slaves, horses, mules, or wagons shall be seized for temporary public use, just compensation for the use of the same, to be determined at market prices, per day or month, according to the provisions of the second section of this act, shall be paid in advance to the owner, agent, or person having charge of the same, for the period for which they shall be impressed, which period shall be set forth in the order of the commander of the department aforesaid; and a certificate for the same shall be given to the owner, agent, or person aforesaid, as provided in third section of this act: Provided, That the appraisers aforesaid, in addition to fixing the market value for the use of said property, shall also fix the market value of each article of property so taken for public use, which shall also be set forth severally and specifically in the certificate aforesaid to be given by the officer to the owner, agent, or person aforesaid; and in the event any of said property shall be test or destroyed in the service of the Government, or shall not be returned by the Government at the expiration of the period for which said seizure was made, said certificate shall be evidence of the facts stated therein, and on proof of failure to return the property, or any part thereof, or of injury done to the same while in the service of the Government, the owner thereof shall be entitled to speedy payment for the same by the proper disbursing officer of the Government: Provided, however, That the Government shall not be responsible for loss of any of said property by death, unless produced by default or negligence of the Government or by act of the enemy.
• Sec. 5. No seizure of private property for public use shall he made by any military authority other than is provided for in this act: Provided, however, That when in

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  immediate presence of the enemy the commander in chief may direct such seizure within his lines as in his judgment may be demanded by military exigency, for which the owner thereof shall be entitled to receive just compensation.

• Sec. 6. That any commissioned or noncommissioned officer or private who shall violate the provisions of this act shall be tried before the military court of the corps to which he is attached, on complaint made by the owner or other person, and on conviction, if an officer, he shall be cashiered and put into the ranks as a private, and if a private he shall suffer such punishment, not inconsistent with military law, as the court may direct,

After debate,

Mr. Haynes demanded the question; which was seconded, and

The question being put,

It was determined in the negative.

An amendment having been proposed by Mr. Semmes to the amendment proposed by Mr. Haynes,

After debate,

On motion by Mr. Semmes,

Ordered, That it be printed.

On motion by Mr. Wigfall,

The Senate adjourned.

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