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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 --TWENTY-THIRD DAY--SATURDAY, March 15, 1862.
OPEN SESSION.
The House met pursuant to adjournment, and was opened with prayer by the Rev. Mr. Hoge.
A message was received from the President, by his Private Secretary, Mr. Josselyn, informing the House that the President had approved and signed an act to amend an act entitled "An act in relation to public printing," approved February 27, 1861.
Mr. Curry introduced
A bill to authorize the appointment of drillmasters;
which was read the first and second times and referred to the Committee on Military Affairs.
Mr. Davis moved to suspend the rules, in order to take up for consideration a bill to provide for the defense of the Confederacy.
The motion was lost.
Mr. Lyon presented the proceedings of a public meeting of citizens of Greene County, Ala., in relation to the production of cotton, tobacco, etc.; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, without being read.
Mr. Hanley presented the memorial of John H. Ward, of Arkansas, in relation to an improvement in railroads; which was referred to the Committee on Patents, without being read.
Mr. Munnerlyn presented a design for a flag from Lieutenant-Colonel Matthews, of the Fourth Georgia Regiment; which was referred to the Committee on the Flag and Seal.
Mr. Conrad offered
A resolution that a committee of five members be appointed whose duty it shall be to inquire and report to this House whether or not there has been, on the part of any of our military commanders, a wan of proper economy in the expenditure of money or an unnecessary waste or destruction of public property;
which was agreed to.
Mr. Barksdale presented the claim of S. Leighman for damages done him by Confederate troops; which was referred to the Committee on Claims, without being read.
Mr. Davidson offered
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A resolution that the Committee on Indian Affairs be instructed to report a bill to provide for taking the census of the Cherokee Indians east of the Mississippi, according to the census of John C. Malay, taken by virtue of an act of the Congress of the United States of July, 1848, so as to provide for the payment of the removal and subsistence set apart by the treaty of New Echola, of 1835 and 1836, with said tribe; which was read and agreed to.
Upon motion, leave of absence was granted to Mr. Arrington.
Mr. Swan presented two designs for a flag from H. T. Dick, of Newmarket, Tenn.; which were referred to the Committee on Flag and Seal.
Mr. Foote offered
A resolution that the Committee on the Judiciary be instructed to inquire and report to this House, as soon as practicable, whether or not the true spirit, intent, and meaning of the Constitution of the Confederate States be not such as to demand an early organization, under the Permanent Constitution, of the Executive Departments of said Government, under the joint action of the President and Senate, with a view to giving full assurance to foreign powers, as well as to our own citizens, that a permanent Government, both de facto and de jure, is now in existence, acting under the authority of said Permanent Constitution, and prepared to carry into successful and effective operation said Constitution;
which was read and agreed to.
Mr. Herbert presented the memorial of A. H. Canedo in relation to the transportation of the remains of Mr. Hemphill; which was referred to the Committee on Accounts, without being read.
Mr. Chambliss presented a letter from Dr. Williamson, of Portsmouth, Va., in relation to naval pensions; which was referred to the Committee on Claims, without being read.
Mr. Baldwin presented the memorial of Nancy Griffin, of Rockbridge County, Va., asking that the interest of an alien enemy be given her; which was referred to the Committee on Claims, without being read.
Mr. Wright of Georgia moved that the House reconsider the vote by which the resolution offered by Mr. Foote was agreed to.
Mr. Barksdale, from the Committee on Printing, by the unanimous consent of the House, reported
A bill to provide for the election of a printer to both Houses of Congress,
with the recommendation that it pass.
The bill was read the first and second times.
The rules were suspended;
The bill was taken up, engrossed, read a third time, and passed.
Upon motion of Mr. Foote, which was seconded,
The House resolved itself into secret session.
SECRET SESSION.
The House being in secret session, resumed the consideration of the unfinished business of yesterday, which was the consideration of the amendment of Mr. Conrad to a joint resolution authorizing the President to send additional commissioners to foreign powers, and for other purposes.
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The amendment was not agreed to.
Mr. Foote called the question, which was upon ordering the bill be engrossed for a third reading; and
The call being sustained.
The resolution was engrossed and read a third time.
Mr. Swan moved to reconsider the vote just taken.
Mr. Foote called the question; which was seconded;
When,
Mr. Conrad demanded the yeas and nays.
The demand was not sustained; and the motion to reconsider did not prevail.
Mr. Foote called the question, which was upon the passage of the resolution;
When,
Mr. Smith of Virginia demanded the yeas and nays; and
The demand being sustained,
Yeas: Atkins, Bell, Bocock, Boteler, Boyce, Horatio W. Bruce, Chambers, Chambliss, Chilton, Chrisman, Conrow, Cooke, Curry, Davis, Dawkins, De Jarnette, Dupré, Foote, Foster, Garnett, Gartrell, Goode, Graham, Hartridge, Heiskell, Hilton, Holcombe, Johnston, Kenan of North Carolina, Lander, Lewis, Lyon, Menees, Miles, Perkins, Preston, Pugh, Read, Russell, Sexton, Strickland, Tibbs, Trippe, Vest, Wilcox, and Wright of Texas.
Nays: Ashe, Ayer, Baldwin, Batson, Bonham, Burnett, Clapp, Clopton, Conrad Crockett, Currin, Davidson, Elliott, Ewing, Farrow, Gaither, Garland, Hanly, Harris, Herbert, Holt, Jenkins, Jones, Lyons, Machen, Marshall, McRae, Ralls, Royston, Singleton, Smith of Alabama, Smith of North Carolina, Smith of Virginia, Villeré, Welsh, and Wright of Georgia.
So the resolution was passed.
A message was received from the Senate, by the hands of Mr. Nash, the Secretary of that body; which is as follows, to wit:
Mr. Speaker: The Senate have passed a bill of this House of the following title, viz:
A bill to be entitled "An act to provide for the further defense of the Bay Mobile and the Alabama River."
Mr. Garnett offered the following resolution; which was read and agreed to, to wit:
Resolved, That the President be requested to communicate to this House the instructions given to the officers who, according to the report of the Secretary of War, of March fourth, eighteen hundred and sixty-two, were dispatched, on April fifteenth, eighteen hundred and sixty-one, abroad, on a general mission for the procurement of arms, and the proceedings and letters of such officers; also the instructions given to the agents sent on naval service; and to communicate the same in secret session.
Mr. Conrad, from the Committee on Naval Affairs, offered the following resolutions; which were read and agreed to, to wit:
Resolved, That in the opinion of this House, it is of the utmost importance that the Government should construct, with the least possible delay, as many small ironclad steam rams as practicable, and particularly one or more at each of our seaports.
Second. That if the building of said plated vessels is seriously retarded by the building or preparing to build the gunboats authorized by the act entitled "An act to authorize the President to cause to be constructed a certain number of gunboats," approved December twenty-fourth, eighteen hundred and sixty-one, the President is authorized to suspend, wholly or in part, the execution of said act.
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Also the following resolution; which was read and agreed to, to wit:
That the President be requested to report to this House, as soon as practicable, what arrangements have been or are being made, by contract or otherwise, to obtain a supply of iron plates for the construction of iron-plated vessels.
The House then proceeded to the consideration of the special order of the day, which was
A bill to provide for the increase of the Army, and to provide for the pay of officers and privates;
which was reported from the Committee on Military Affairs, with the recommendation that the same pass with an amendment.
By unanimous consent, the bill and amendment was laid on the table; and
Mr. Davis, from the Committee on Military Affairs, reported and recommended the passage of
A bill to provide further for the public defense;
which was read first and second times; and
The first section of the same being under consideration, which refers to the number of troops to be raised,
Mr. Chilton moved to amend the same by striking out therefrom the words "twenty regiments of."
The amendments was agreed to.
A message was received from the Senate, by the hands of Mr. Nash, the Secretary of that body; which is as follows, to wit:
Mr. Speaker: The Senate have passed a bill of the following title, viz:
The Senate have also passed a resolution of this House of the following title, viz:
Joint resolution recommending the planters of the Confederate States to refrain from the cultivation of cotton and tobacco, and devote their energies to raising provisions.
And the second section of the same being under consideration, which relates to the pay of noncommissioned officers and privates,
Mr. Harris of Missouri moved to amend by adding at the end thereof the following words, to wit:
to be paid to the families of the soldiers during the war, under such regulations as may be established by the Secretary of War, or at the termination of the war to such as have no families.
Mr. Elliott called the question; which was seconded, and the amendment was lost.
Mr. Curry moved to amend by striking out the word "hereafter" and inserting in lieu thereof the words "after the expiration of one year from the time the bounty of fifty dollars is payable."
Mr. Atkins called the question; which was seconded;
When,
Mr. Jones demanded the yeas and nays.
The demand was not sustained; and the amendment was lost.
Mr. Garnett moved to amend by inserting after the word "privates" the words "who may have enlisted, or shall enlist, for two or three years, or for the war."
Mr. Elliott called the question; which was seconded;
When,
Mr. Jones demanded the yeas and nays.
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The demand was not sustained; and the amendment was agreed to.
Mr. Smith of North Carolina moved to amend by adding at the end of the section the following words, to wit:
except the orderly sergeant, whose pay shall hereafter be thirty dollars per month instead of that now allowed by law.
The amendment was not agreed to.
A message was received from the President, by the hands of his Private Secretary, Mr. Josselyn.
Mr. Davis moved to reconsider the vote by which the amendment of Mr. Garnett was adopted, and called the question; which was seconded, and the motion to reconsider prevailed.
And the question recurring upon agreeing to the amendment,
The same was lost.
Mr. Jones called the previous question; and
The call being sustained,
The bill as amended was engrossed, read a third time, and passed.
Mr. Conrad moved to reconsider the vote by which the joint resolution authorizing the President to send additional commissioners foreign powers, and for other purposes, [was passed].
On motion of Mr. H. W. Bruce, leave of absence was granted to Mr. Moore, on account of sickness.
The Chair presented a message from the President; which was read as follows:
Executive Department, March 15, 1862.
To the Speaker of the House of Representatives:
I transmit herewith the official report of the engagement at Coosaw River, January 1, 1862.
JEFFERSON DAVIS.
On motion, the message and accompanying documents were laid on the table and ordered to be printed.
The Chair presented a message from the President; which was read as follows:
Executive Department, March 14, 1862.
To the Speaker of the House of Representatives:
Not being able to approve, I return, with my objections, in accordance with the duty imposed by the Constitution, an act entitled "An act to create the office of commanding general of the armies of the Confederate States."
The act creates an office which is to continue during the pleasure of the President, but the tenure of office of the general to be appointed is without any other limitation than that of the office itself. The purpose of the act, so far as it creates a military bureau, the head of which, at the seat of government, under direction of the President, shall be charged with the movement of troops, the supply and discipline of the Army, I fully approve. But by what I can not regard otherwise than as an inadvertence on the part of Congress, the officer so appointed is authorized to take the field at his own discretion and command any army or armies he may choose, not only without the direction, but even against the will of the President, who could not, consistently with this act, prevent such conduct of the general otherwise than by abolishing his office.
To show that this act would be highly detrimental to the Army, it might be enough to say that no general would be content to prepare troops for battle, conduct their movements, and share their privations during a whole campaign, find himself superseded at the very moment of action.
But there is another ground, which to my mind is conclusive. The Constitution vests in the Executive the command in chief of the armies of the Confederacy.
That command is totally inconsistent with the existence of an officer authorized, at his own discretion, to take command of armies assigned by the President to other
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generals. The Executive could in no just sense be said to be commander in chief, if without the power to control the discretion of the general created by this act.
As it can not have been the intention of Congress to create the office of a general not bound to obey the orders of the Chief Magistrate, and as this seems to be the effect of the act, I can but anticipate the concurrence of the Congress in my opinion that it should not become a law.
JEFFERSON DAVIS.
On motion of Mr. Smith of Virginia,
The House then adjourned until 12 o'clock m. to-morrow [Monday].
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