| 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 --WEDNESDAY, April 1, 1863.
OPEN SESSION.
Mr. Oldham presented a joint resolution of the legislature of the State of Texas, requesting their Senators and Representatives in Congress to procure the passage of an act to pay deputy marshals the balance due them for taking the census of 1860; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
On motion by Mr. Oldham,
Ordered, That it be printed.
Mr. Clay, from the Committee on Military Affairs, to whom was referred the bill (S. 89) to abolish supernumerary offices in the Commissary's and Quartermaster's Departments, reported it with amendments.
On motion by Mr. Clay,
Ordered, That the bill and amendments be printed.
Mr. Sparrow, from the Committee on Military Affairs, to whom was referred the joint resolution (S. 9) for the relief of the clerks and employees in the Confederate States Arsenal at Richmond, reported it with the recommendation that it ought not to pass.
On motion by Mr. Sparrow,
Ordered, That it lie on the table.
Mr. Brown, from the Committee on Naval Affairs, reported
A bill (S. 104) to authorize the Secretary of the Navy to appoint clerks to the commandant and quartermaster of the Marine Corps;
which was read the first and second times and considered as in Committee of the Whole; and 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.
Mr. Hill, from the Committee on the Judiciary, to whom was referred the bill (S. 101) regulating the fees and compensation of district attorneys, reported it with the recommendation that it ought not to pass.
On motion by Mr. Hill,
Ordered, That it lie upon the table.
On motion by Mr. Hill,
Ordered, That the Committee on the Judiciary be discharged from the further consideration of a resolution inquiring into the expediency of so amending the law relating to the mileage of district attorneys of the Confederate States as to allow mileage for all necessary travel in going to and returning from the courts on the route most usually traveled.
On motion by Mr. Yancey, that the vote on passing the bill (S. 14) to authorize newspapers to be mailed to soldiers free of postage be reconsidered,
it was determined in the negative.
The Senate resumed, as in Committee of the Whole, the consideration of the bill (H. R. 15) for the establishment and equalization of the grade of officers of the Navy of the Confederate States, and for other purposes.
Page 225 | Page image
On motion by Mr. Maxwell, that it be recommitted to the Committee on Naval Affairs,
It was determined in the negative.
No further amendment being proposed, the bill was reported to the Senate and the amendments made as in Committee of the Whole were concurred in.
Ordered, That the amendments be engrossed and the bill read a third time.
The said bill as amended was read the third time.
On the question,
Shall the bill as amended now pass?
On motion by Mr. Oldham,
The yeas and nays being desired by one-fifth of the Senators present,
Those who voted in the affirmative are,
Messrs. Baker, Brown, Caperton, Clark, Dortch, Peyton, Phelan, Simms, Wigfall, and Yancey.
Those who voted in the negative are,
Messrs. Burnett, Clay, Haynes, Henry, Hill, Maxwell, Mitchel, Oldham, and Sparrow.
So it was
Resolved, That this bill pass with amendments.
Ordered, at the Secretary request the concurrence of the House of Representatives in the amendments.
The Senate resumed the consideration of the bill (H. R. 7) to prohibit the punishment of soldiers by whipping; and
Resolved, That this bill pass with amendments.
Ordered, That the Secretary request the concurrence of the House of Representatives in the amendments.
The Senate resumed, as in Committee of the Whole, the consideration of the bill (S. 42) to amend the tenth section of an act to establish the judicial courts of the Confederate States of America, approved March 16, 1861; and
On motion by Mr. Baker,
Ordered, That it lie upon the table.
The Senate resumed, as in Committee of the Whole, the consideration of the bill (S. 22) allowing the Comptroller of the Treasury the privilege of obtaining the legal advice of the Attorney-General; and
On motion by Mr. Hill,
Ordered, That it be postponed indefinitely.
The Senate proceeded, as in Committee of the Whole, to the consideration of the bill (S. 45) to amend an act entitled "An act for the establishment and organization of the Army of the Confederate Staten of America;" and the reported amendment having been agreed to, the bill was reported to the Senate and the amendment was concurred in.
Ordered, That the bill 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.
The Senate proceeded, as in Committee of the Whole, to the consideration of the bill (S. 34) to amend an act entitled "An act to alter and amend an act for the sequestration of estates, property, and effects
Page 226 | Page image
of alien enemies, and for indemnity of citizens of the Confederate States and persons aiding the same in the existing war with the United States," approved February 15, 1862.
On motion by Mr. Baker, to amend the bill by striking out all of the first section after "That," in the second line, and inserting:
in all cases where execution shall be issued for interest, as authorized by the fourteenth section of said act, the defendant shall be liable for costs accruing on such execution: Provided, That execution shall not issue within thirty days after the interest becomes due,
It was determined in the affirmative.
On the question to agree to the following reported amendment:
Strike out the first section of the bill,
It was determined in the negative.
The residue of the amendments reported by the Committee on the Judiciary were then agreed to.
No further amendment being made, the bill was reported to the Senate and the amendments were concurred in.
Ordered, That the bill 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.
The Senate proceeded, as in Committee of the Whole, to the consideration of the bill (S. 46) to amend an act entitled "An act to provide for transportation of persons who have been mustered into the service for the war;" and
On motion by Mr. Sparrow,
Ordered, That it be postponed indefinitely.
The Senate proceeded, as in Committee of the Whole, to the consideration of the bill (S. 56) 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," approved October 9, 1862.
On motion by Mr. Caperton, to amend the bill by inserting the following independent section:
It was determined in the negative.
On motion by Mr. Caperton, that the last-mentioned vote be reconsidered,
It was determined in the negative.
On motion by Mr. Clay, that the bill be postponed indefinitely,
It was determined in the negative.
On motion by Mr. Haynes, to amend the bill by striking out, in the sixth and seventh lines, the words "the President be, and he is, authorized to organize;" by inserting after "court," line 7, the words "shall be organized;" by striking out "his," line 8, and inserting "the;" by inserting after "judgment," line 8, the words "of the President," and by inserting after "require," line 8, the words "to be organized in the manner, and with powers prescribed in the act of which this is amendatory,"
On motion by Mr. Henry, that the bill, with the proposed amendment, be recommitted to the Committee on the Judiciary,
It was determined in the negative.
Page 227 | Page image
On motion by Mr. Wigfall, that the bill, with the proposed amendment, be referred to the Committee on Military Affairs,
It was determined in the negative.
On the question to agree to the amendment proposed by Mr. Haynes,
It was determined in the affirmative.
No further amendment being made, the bill was reported to the Senate and the amendment was concurred in.
Ordered, That the bill be engrossed and read a third time.
The said bill was read the third time.
On the question,
Shall the bill now pass?
On motion by Mr. Clay,
The yeas and nays being desired by one-fifth of the Senators present,
Those who voted in the affirmative are,
Messrs. Caperton, Clark, Haynes, Henry, Hill, Mitchel, Phelan, and Sparrow.
Those who voted in the negative are,
Messrs. Baker, Brown, Burnett, Clay, Oldham, Wigfall, and Yancey.
So it was
Resolved, That this bill pass, and that the title thereof be as aforesaid.
Ordered, That the Secretary request the concurrence of the House of Representatives therein.
Mr. Wigfall submitted the following motion for consideration:
Ordered, That the vote on rejecting the bill (S. 7) to place hospitals under military control be reconsidered.
The following message was received from the President of the Confederate States, by Mr. B. N. Harrison, his Secretary:
To the Senate of the Confederate States:
I regret that a sense of duty compels me to return to you, with my objections, an act which originated in the Senate, entitled "An act to increase the strength and efficiency of heavy artillery for seacoast defense."
This act selects from the Provisional Army a particular regiment, known as the First Regiment of South Carolina Infantry, and directs that it shall hereafter be known as the Second Regiment of South Carolina Artillery, and shall have the same organization as is now allowed by law to the First Regiment of South Carolina Artillery.
It next directs that the First and Second regiments of South Carolina Artillery shall be increased to twelve companies each, and that the complement of a company shall be one hundred and twenty-five enlisted men.
The objections entertained to these provisions are grave, and I submit them as succinctly as possible.
I. The organization of artillery into regiments is subject to great inconvenience, and impairs the efficiency of that important arm of the service.
Both in the Regular and the Provisional Army the organization of the artillery is a corps composed of batteries, the commander of a battery being a captain and the men being formed into companies. This organization applies to both heavy or siege and field artillery, and experience has shown it to be more efficient than the organization into regiments. Under the law as it now exists the exact number of batteries required at any point can be ordered there, and an officer of such rank as is appropriate to the number of guns is assigned to their command. It is thus in the power of commanders to assign officers to the duties for which they are most competent, some having greater merit in heavy and others in light artillery. The system has worked exceedingly well, and I should greatly regret to see it changed or impaired by exceptions. It the organization by regiments be better it ought to be adopted for the whole artillery service. If not, why should the exceptions to a good system be increased in number?
Where the organization is uniform throughout the service, the troops are better satisfied and the administration of the Army is much more easy and efficient. Where
Page 228 | Page image
there are exceptions, there is constant effort on the part of the men to change from one organization to another, discontent is engendered, and embarrassments arise in administration.
It rarely occurs that the service of artillery is required at one point to the number of ten or twelve companies. The exigencies of the service will require that these regiments (if organized as contemplated in the bill now returned to you) shall be broken into detachments, and the field officers, in such event, would be in command of fractions not proportional to their rank.
The First Regiment of South Carolina Artillery was organized by the State before the formation of the Confederacy, and when it was transferred to this Government it was necessarily accepted with the existing organization; but that organization was exceptional and objectionable for the reasons already stated. It has been retained in Fort Sumter, which is one of the points where such an organization is least detrimental to the service, but no satisfactory reason is perceived for augmenting the number of companies of which it is composed or for the organization of another regiment.
The First Regiment of South Carolina Infantry, or a part of it, I am informed, has been assigned to duty and has received instruction in the artillery service, and can be so employed without the passage of the act in question as long as the exigencies of the service may require. It still remains, however, infantry, and could in case of necessity be used as such in the field. If the act should become a law, this advantage would be lost without any apparent compensating benefit.
II. The act seems to me objectionable as being special legislation.
It is well known that the artillery service is very generally preferred by our troops to infantry service. It is believed that there would be little difficulty now in raising a regiment of artillerists from citizens exempt from conscription, while such is not the case with infantry. If the example be once set of converting regiments of infantry into artillery, it needs little foresight to predict that Congress will be beset with applications for such change from regiments now serving as infantry, and claims will be put forward for equal favors in each of the States. Wherever siege artillery is required the delegations from the different States will naturally expect and apply for a grant of the same favor to some infantry regiment from their State, and this result would be far from conducive to the discipline of the Army and the good of the service.
There are now numbers of our citizens who, after having volunteered in the infantry, have been found too feeble in constitution to withstand the fatigue and exhaustion of the rapid movements on which the success of our military operations depends. Such soldiers would deem it a great favor to be transferred to the service of heavy artillery, for which they would be well fitted, and their claims for this favorite service appear to me better founded than those of the enlisted men of the infantry regiment designated in the act.
If the purpose of the act be, as it apparently is, to provide for twenty-four companies of artillerists to serve together, the command of these companies would be of sufficient importance to require the appointment of a brigadier-general to command them; and it is feared that such special legislation, without apparent necessity, for one State would be made the precedent for similar demands from other States, thus leading to consequences which did not perhaps suggest themselves to Congress when the bill received its assent.
III. It is finally suggested for the consideration of Congress whether some of the provisions of this bill are not equivalent to the exercise of Executive functions by the legislative department of the Government, and therefore an infringement of the principles of the Constitution which so carefully separate the duties of these different departments.
Congress has power to "make rules for the government and regulation of the land and naval forces," as well as to "raise armies."
Under these powers Congress could undoubtedly order the raising of regiments of artillery for seacoast defense, and by change of organization direct that a certain number of regiments of infantry be converted into artillery. But such is not the bill under discussion. Congress in that bill orders a specified regiment to be employed for seacoast defense. If this be a legitimate exercise of legislative power, Congress can of course select other regiments and order them to the defense of the Indian country, and select, again, other regiments and order them to be sent to the Tennessee, the Virginia, or the Texan frontier.
Such orders seem to me purely executive. They have hitherto been made through the Adjutant-General of the Army, and it requires but little reflection to perceive that the exercise of such powers by Congress withdraws from the Executive the authority indispensable to the fulfillment of his functions as Commander in Chief.
Page 229 | Page image
These reasons have appeared to my mind decisive of the question, and I therefore respectfully return them to the Senate as those which have prevented my approval of the act, which is also herewith returned.
JEFFERSON DAVIS.
Richmond, Va., March 31, 1863.
The message was read.
On motion by Mr. Yancey,
Ordered, That it be printed.
The Senate proceeded to reconsider the bill (S. 36) entitled "An act to increase the strength and efficiency of heavy artillery for seacoast defense," returned to the Senate by the President of the Confederate States with his objections; which bill is in the following words:
An act to increase the strength and efficiency of heavy artillery for seacoast defense.
The Congress of the Confederate States of America do enact, That the regiment of enlisted soldiers known as the First Regiment of South Carolina Infantry, now serving in the Provisional Army of the Confederate States, shall hereafter be known as the Second Regiment of South Carolina Artillery, and shall have the same organization as is now allowed by law to the First Regiment of South Carolina Artillery.
I certify that this act originated in the Senate.
JAMES H. NASH, Secretary.
On motion by Mr. Yancey,
Ordered, That the further consideration of the bill be postponed until to-morrow.
On motion by Mr. Sparrow,
The Senate resolved into executive session.
The doors having been opened,
On motion by Mr. Clay,
The Senate adjourned.
EXECUTIVE SESSION.
The following message was received from the President of the Confederate States, by Mr. B. N. Harrison, his Secretary:
Richmond, April 1, 1863.
To the Senate of the Confederate States:
I nominate the persons named in the annexed letter of the Secretary of the Navy, agreeably to his recommendation.
JEFFERSON DAVIS.
Navy Department, Richmond, March 31, 1863.
The President.
Sir: I have the honor to recommend the following nominations for appointment in the Marine Corps:
With much respect, your obedient servant,
S. R. MALLORY,
Secretary of the Navy.
Page 230 | Page image
The message was read.
Ordered, That it be referred to the Committee on Naval Affairs.
On motion by Mr. Haynes, that the vote referring the nomination of J. Campbell Murdoch as second lieutenant to the Committee on Naval Affairs be reconsidered,
It was determined in the negative.
On motion by Mr. Clay,
The Senate resolved into open legislative session.
PREVIOUS SECTION .. NEXT SECTION .. NAVIGATOR
| PREVIOUS | NEXT | NEW SEARCH |