| 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 --TUESDAY, December 20 1864.
OPEN SESSION.
On motion by Mr. Barnwell,
Ordered, That the Hon. James L. Orr have leave of absence front the sessions of the Senate until Tuesday, the 10th day of January next.
Mr. Barnwell, from the Committee on Finance, to whom was referred a communication from the Secretary of the Treasury on the subject, reported
A bill (S. 148) in relation to the accounts to be kept at the Treasury of sequestrated estates;
which 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 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. Sparrow, from the Committee on Military Affairs, to whom was referred the bill (S. 112) to repeal an act approved June 14, 1864,
Page 384 | Page image
entitled "An act 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 ninth, eighteen hundred and sixty-two," and for other purposes, reported it with an amendment.
On motion by Mr. Hill,
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 House of Representatives have passed the bill of the Senate (S. 110) to amend the twelfth section of the act entitled "An act to reduce the currency and to authorize a new issue of notes and bonds," approved February 17, 1864, with amendments; in which they request the concurrence of the Senate.
On motion by Mr. Simms,
Ordered, That Mr. Baker be excused from further service on the select committee appointed to inquire into the adequacy of the compensation allowed to persons employed in making clothing for the Army, and to females in the Ordnance Department, and that Mr Garland be appointed in his stead.
On motion by Mr. Hill,
Ordered, That the Hon. Herschel V. Johnson have leave of absence from the sessions of the Senate until Monday, the 16th day of January next.
On motion by Mr. Graham,
The Senate adjourned.
SECRET SESSION.
The Senate resumed, as in Committee of the Whole, the consideration of the bill (H. R. 267) to suspend the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus in certain cases for a limited time.
On motion by Mr. Hill, to amend the bill by striking out, section 3, lines 12, 13, 14, and 15, the words
unless the writ shall have been issued by a court or judge of the Confederate States, in the case of a person seeking to avoid or to be discharged from military service, as mentioned in the fifteenth clause of the first section of this act,
It was determined in the affirmative.
On motion by Mr. Graham, to amend the bill by striking out of the sixth section the words "for ninety days after" and inserting "until,"
On motion by Mr. Graham,
The yeas and nays being desired by one-fifth of the Senators present,
Those who voted in the affirmative are,
Messrs. Garland, Graham, Johnson of Georgia, Orr, and Walker.
Those who voted in the negative are,
Messrs. Baker, Barnwell, Brown, Burnett, Caperton, Dortch, Henry, Hill, Hunter, Johnson of Missouri, Maxwell, Semmes, Simms, Sparrow, and Watson.
On motion by Mr. Orr, to amend the bill by striking out "ninety," section 6, line 1, and inserting "thirty,"
Page 385 | Page image
On motion by Mr. Graham,
The yeas and nays being desired by one-fifth of the Senators present,
Those who voted in the affirmative are,
Messrs. Baker, Brown, Garland, Graham, Johnson of Georgia, Orr, Semmes, and Walker.
Those who voted in the negative are,
Messrs. Barnwell, Burnett, Caperton, Dortch, Henry, Hill, Hunter, Johnson of Missouri, Maxwell, Simms, Sparrow, and Watson.
A motion having been made by Mr. Sparrow, to reconsider the vote on agreeing to the following amendment proposed by Mr. Orr, as amended, to wit: Strike out all of the first section of the bill after line 15 and insert:
Of combining to assist the enemy, or of communicating intelligence to the enemy, or giving him aid and comfort.
Of treasonable designs to impair the military power of the Government by destroying, or attempting to destroy, the vessels, or arms, or munitions of war, or arsenals, foundries, workshops, or other property of the Confederate States.
Of being a spy or other emissary of the enemy.
Of exciting, or attempting to excite, insurrection among slaves, or promoting conspiracy among them, or enticing them to join the enemy.
Of burning, destroying, or injuring, or attempting to destroy, burn, or injure, any bridge or railroad, or telegraphic line of communication, with the view of aiding the enemy.
Of exciting, or attempting to excite, mutiny among the troops of the Confederate States.
Of harboring deserters or encouraging desertion.
On the question to agree thereto,
The yeas were 10 and the nays were 10.
On motion by Mr. Semmes,
The yeas and nays being desired by one-fifth of the Senators present,
Those who voted in the affirmative are,
Messrs. Burnett, Caperton, Dortch, Henry, Hunter, Johnson of Missouri, Semmes, Simms, Sparrow, and Watson.
Those who voted in the negative are,
Messrs. Baker, Barnwell, Brown, Garland, Graham, Hill, Johnson of Georgia, Maxwell, Orr, and Walker.
The Senate being equally divided,
The President announced the result of the vote, and stated that, the vote being a tie, the motion to reconsider did not prevail; that, under the Constitution, the Senate being equally divided, it was his right to vote on the question. This right he would exercise if the Senate would indulge him in giving his reasons for the vote he should give.
To which Mr. Henry objected.
Whereupon,
The President said he would, under the sixth standing rule, take the sense of the Senate thereon, and proceeded to put the question,
Is it the sense of the Senate that the Chair, in exercising his constitutional right to vote on a question on which Senators are equally divided, has the right to give the reasons for the vote he shall give?
Pending which,
Mr. Dortch rose and announced his wish to change his vote from the affirmative to the negative side of the question;
When,
The President stated that, under the rules, he could not then change his vote unless by unanimous consent.
Page 386 | Page image
To this ruling of the Chair Mr. Burnett objected, and raised the question whether Mr. Dortch had not the right, at this stage of the proceedings, to change his vote.
After considerable debate,
The President rose and addressed the Senate at some length on the points of order, referring to the twenty-eighth and twenty-ninth rules of the Senate, to wit:
Concluding with this statement of the question: The Senate being equally divided on the decision of the question on the motion to reconsider submitted by the Senator from Louisiana [Mr. Sparrow], the Chair announced that result to the Senate, stating that, the vote being a tie, the motion to reconsider did not prevail; that, by the Constitution, it then became the privilege and right of the incumbent, as Vice-President, to vote; that his vote in this case, if given, would not change the result; still he wished to exercise this right if the Senate would indulge him in giving the reasons for voting as he should. At this stage of the proceedings the Senator from Tennessee [Mr. Henry] rose and protested against the right of the Chair to assign his reasons for the vote he should or might give. The Chair then stated he would take the sense of the Senate upon that question, and the question was put: Is it the sense of the Senate that the Chair, in exercising his constitutional right to vote on a question on which Senators are equally divided, has the right to give the reasons for the vote he shall give? When the yeas and nays were called for on this question, the Senator from North Carolina [Mr. Dortch] rose and stated that he would change his vote on the question on which the Senate was equally divided. The Chair stated, that under the rules the Senator could not then vote or change his vote after it had been announced from the chair that the Senate was equally divided, the result of which was the loss of the motion to reconsider, unless by the unanimous consent of the Senate; and that the question of privilege then before the Senate would take precedence over the motion of the Senator from North Carolina to be allowed to change his vote; that this question must be first put and first decided. To this ruling of the Chair the Senator from Kentucky [Mr. Burnett] raised his question of order, and upon which the Chair will take the sense of the Senate. The question, therefore, now, upon this point of order submitted to the Senate, is, Shall the ruling of the Chair, that the Senator from North Carolina [Mr. Dortch] can not at this stage of the proceedings, under the rules, change his vote after the result of the vote of Senators was announced, unless by unanimous consent, stand as the judgment of the Senate?
And the said question being put,
On motion by Mr. Semmes,
The yeas and nays being desired by one-fifth of the Senators present,
Page 387 | Page image
Those who voted in the affirmative are,
Messrs. Garland, Graham, and Johnson of Georgia.
Those who voted in the negative are,
Messrs. Barnwell, Brown, Burnett, Caperton, Dortch, Henry, Hill, Hunter, Johnson of Missouri, Maxwell, Orr, Semmes, Simms, Sparrow, Walker, and Watson.
So the ruling of the Chair was not sustained by the Senate, and Mr. Dortch (by leave) having changed his vote from the affirmative to the negative side of the question,
Those who voted in the affirmative being,
Messrs. Burnett, Caperton, Henry, Hunter, Johnson of Missouri, Semmes, Simms, Sparrow, and Watson.
And those who voted in the negative are,
Messrs. Baker, Barnwell, Brown, Dortch, Garland, Graham, Hill, Johnson of Georgia, Maxwell, Orr, and Walker.
So the question was determined in the negative, and the Senate refused to reconsider the vote on agreeing to the said amendment proposed by Mr. Orr, as amended.
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 now pass?
On motion by Mr. Graham,
The yeas and nays being desired by one-fifth of the Senators present,
Those who voted in the affirmative are,
Messrs. Baker, Barnwell, Burnett, Caperton, Dortch, Henry, Hill, Hunter, Johnson of Missouri, Maxwell, Semmes, Simms, Sparrow, and Watson.
Those who voted in the negative are,
Messrs. Brown, Garland, Graham, Johnson of Georgia, Orr, and Walker.
So it was
Resolved, That this bill pass with amendments.
Ordered, That the Secretary request the concurrence of the House of Representatives in the amendments.
The following message was received from the President of the Confederate States, by Mr. B. N. Harrison, his Secretary:
Richmond, Va., December 19, 1864.
To the Senate and House of Representatives:
I herewith transmit a communication from the Secretary of the Treasury relative to a further foreign loan, and recommend his proposition to your favorable consideration in secret session.
JEFFERSON DAVIS.
The message was read.
Ordered, That it be referred to the Committee on Finance.
Page 388 | Page image
Mr. Brown submitted the following resolution; which was considered and agreed to:
Resolved, That the Committee on Finance be instructed to inquire into the expediency of so amending the laws in regard to the exportation of cotton as to allow the Secretary of the Treasury to deliver cotton at any point within the Confederate States to the holders of Confederate States bonds, the interest on which is to be paid in specie or cotton, at home or abroad, and to authorize the holders of such bonds, or their agents, to take such cotton through the Confederate military lines.
On motion by Mr. Sparrow,
The Senate resolved into executive session.
EXECUTIVE SESSION.
The following message was received from the President of the Confederate States, by Mr. B. N. Harrison, his Secretary:
Executive Department, Confederate States of America,
Richmond, December 20, 1864.
To the Senate of the Confederate States:
Agreeably to the recommendation of the Secretary of War, I nominate Maj. Heros von Borcke, of Prussia, to be lieutenant-colonel in the Adjutant-General's Department in the Provisional Army of the Confederate States of America.
JEFFERSON DAVIS.
No. 104.]War Department, Confederate States of America,
Richmond, December 20, 1864.
Sir: I have the honor to recommend the nomination of Maj. Heros von Borcke, of Prussia, to be lieutenant-colonel in the Adjutant-General's Department in the Provisional Army of the Confederate States of America, to rank from December 20, 1864.
I am, sir, respectfully, your obedient servant,
JAMES A. SEDDON,
Secretary of War.
To His Excellency Jefferson Davis,
President, etc.
The message was read.
The Senate proceeded to consider the nomination contained therein; and
Resolved, That the Senate do advise and consent to the appointment of Heros von Borcke, to be lieutenant-colonel in the Adjutant-General's Department, agreeably to the nomination of the President.
The following message was received from the President of the Confederate States, by Mr. B. N. Harrison, his Secretary:
Executive Department, Confederate States of America,
Richmond, December 15, 1864.
To the Senate of the Confederate States:
Agreeably to the recommendation of the Secretary of War, I nominate the officers on the accompanying list to the grades affixed to their names, respectively.
JEFFERSON DAVIS.
No. 70.]War Department, Confederate States of America,
Richmond, December 12, 1864.
Sir: I have the honor to recommend the following nominations for appointment in the Provisional Army of the Confederate States of America:
Page 389 | Page image
I am, sir, respectfully, your obedient servant,
JAMES A. SEDDON,
Secretary of War.
To His Excellency Jefferson Davis,
President, etc.
The message was read.
Ordered, That it be referred to the Committee on Military Affairs.
On motion by Mr. Sparrow,
The Senate resolved into open legislative session.
PREVIOUS SECTION .. NEXT SECTION .. NAVIGATOR
| PREVIOUS | NEXT | NEW SEARCH |