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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 --THURSDAY, March 5, 1863.

Journal of the Congress of the Confederate States of America, 1861-1865 [Volume 3]
THURSDAY, March 5, 1863.

OPEN SESSION.

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

Mr. President: The House of Representatives have passed a joint resolution (H. R. 6) of thanks to Gen. John H. Morgan, officers and men of his command; in which they request the concurrence of the Senate.

The Senate resumed, as in Committee of the Whole, the consideration of the bill (S. 60) to authorize the appointment of a register and an additional clerk and a draftsman for the Navy Department.

The question being on agreeing to the amendment proposed to the bill by Mr. Henry, viz:

Add the following proviso:
Provided, They shall not be selected from persons who are within the ages of eighteen and forty-five, unless they are from disabled soldiers,

Mr. Henry (by leave) withdrew the same

No amendment being made, the bill 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. Sparrow,

Ordered, That the Committee on Military Affairs be discharged from the further consideration of the message of the President of the Confederate States transmitting an estimate of additional funds required for the service of the Ordnance Bureau for the period ending June 30, 1863, and that it be referred to the Committee on Finance.

Mr. Brown, from the Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom was referred the message of the President in relation to the subject, reported

A joint resolution (S. 7) tendering the thanks of Congress to Capt. Raphael Semmes, of the Confederate steam sloop Alabama, and the

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officers and crew under his command, for their good conduct in sinking the United States sloop Hatteras, on the 13th of January, 1863; which was read the first and second times and considered as in Committee of the Whole; and no amendment being proposed, the resolution was reported to the Senate.

Ordered, That it be engrossed and read a third time.

The said resolution was read the third time.

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

Richmond, Va., March 5, 1863.

To the Senate and House of Representatives:

I herewith communicate, for your information, a copy of an act of the legislature of South Carolina, offering a guaranty by that State of the bonds of the Confederate States; to which I invite your special attention.

JEFFERSON DAVIS.

The message was read.

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

The joint resolution (H. R. 6) of thanks to Gen. John H. Morgan, officers and men of his command, communicated this day from the House of Representatives for concurrence, was read the first and second times and referred to the Committee on Military Affairs.

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 he taken by a bonded quartermaster or commissary, 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 art 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

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  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 herein before 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 cannot 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 military law, as the court may direct,

On motion by Mr. Semmes, to amend the amendment proposed by Mr. Haynes by striking out, the third section thereof and inserting:

That three commissioners stroll he appointed by the President in each State, who shall be freeholders resident in the State for which they are appointed, and who shall hold their sessions at some place in that State, to be fixed by the Secretary of War, and who shall hold their offices for one year, and each of them shall receive an annual salary ofdollars, payable quarterly. It shall be the duty of these commissioners to divide the State into one or more appraisement districts at their discretion, and proceed to fix the price or value to be paid to the owners of the leading articles of subsistence and forage that may be impressed in said appraisement districts for the use of the Army, and the price or value thus fixed in such districts shall be uniformly given therein by the Government agents; and the price or value to be paid as aforesaid shall be fixed by said commissioners from time to time and as often as in their judgment such price or value may require revision: Provided, That such price or value shall be revised at least once in every sixty days. In case there shall be any difference of opinion between the person owning the property impressed and the impressing agent in regard to the price to be paid, the person believing himself to be aggrieved may appeal to said commissioners, who shall give judgment at once upon the case, and such judgment shall be final. And the said commissioners shall give public notice of the price fixed by them as aforesaid, and the expense of such publication shall be paid by the Confederate States. But in case of the appeal hereinbefore provided for, the Government agent may take and use the property impressed before the decision of said appeal,

After debate,

Mr. Semmes modified his amendment by inserting before the word "price," in the ninth line, the words "just and fair."

On the question to agree to the said amendment as modified,

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

The question being put,

It was determined in the affirmative,
• Yeas ... 12
• Nays ... 10

On motion by Mr. Orr,

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

Those who voted in the affirmative are,

Messrs. Barnwell, Clay, Davis, Hill, Hunter, Maxwell, Orr, Peyton, Phelan, Semmes, Sparrow, and Wigfall.

Those who voted in the negative are,

Messrs. Brown, Caperton, Clark, Haynes, Henry, Johnson of Georgia, Mitchel, Oldham, Simms, and Yancey.

So the amendment as modified was agreed to.

A further amendment having been proposed by Mr. Haynes,

Ordered, That it be printed.

On motion by Mr. Orr,

The Senate adjourned.

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