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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 --THIRTEENTH DAY--MONDAY, September 1, 1862.
OPEN SESSION.
The House met pursuant to adjournment.
Mr. Crockett presented additional papers in the contested-election case of J. P. Johnson and A. H. Garland; which were referred to the Committee on Elections, without being read.
Mr. Dargan introduced joint resolutions in reference to retaliation; which were read the first and second times and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
Also, a bill further to protect the country, etc.; which was read the first and second times and referred to the Committee on Military Affairs.
Also, a bill to regulate the mode of examining sick soldiers; which was read the first and second times and referred to the Special Committee on Hospitals.
Mr. Clopton introduced
A bill to amend an act exempting certain persons from enrollment for service in the armies of the Confederate States;
which was read the first and second times and referred to the Committee on Military Affairs.
Also, a joint resolution to prevent the escape of persons guilty of treason, and to provide for the removal of disloyal persons; which was read the first and second times and referred to the Committee on Military Affairs.
Also, a resolution that the Committee on the Judiciary be instructed to inquire into the constitutionality and expediency of providing by legislation for the confiscation or other judicial disposition of the property of such citizens of the Confederate States as may be convicted of treason by a proper judicial tribunal, the proceeds thereof to be appropriated to the reimbursement of loyal citizens whose property has been injured or destroyed by the Northern armies; which was agreed to.
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Mr. Curry introduced joint, resolutions of thanks to Capt. Raphael Semmes, officers and crew of the steamer Stouter; which were read the first and second times, and the rules being suspended, the resolutions were taken up, engrossed, read a third time, and passed unanimously.
Mr. Hanly introduce?
A bill providing for the payment of mail contractors for services performed by them after their States had seceded and before the Government of the Confederate States took control of the service;
which was read the first and second times and referred to the Committee on Post-Offices and Post-Roads.
Mr. Royston presented a communication from Dr. A. P. Farriss, of Ouachita County, Ark., in relation to certain mail routes in the State of Arkansas; which was referred to the Committee on Post-Offices and Post-Roads, without being read.
Also, a resolution that the President be requested to communicate to the House of Representatives whether it be true that Maj. Gen. Thomas C. Hindman, the commanding general of the Trans-Mississippi District, has caused all cotton in said district to be seized, and the object for which said seizure was made, also whether said commanding general has refused to have substitutes received as soldiers in the Army of the Confederate States, also whether the commanding general has placed said military district under martial law, also whether said commanding general has caused to be organized into new companies and regiments the conscripts of said military district and appointed officers to command the same; and if said acts or any of them have been done by said commanding general, that the President be requested to communicate to this House the authority or instruction under which said commanding general has taken this action; which was read and agreed to.
Mr. Dawkins presented the petition of sundry citizens of Florida in relation to a post route; which was referred to the Committee on Post-Offices and Post-Roads.
Mr. Wright of Georgia presented the petition of John L. Griffin, asking a special exemption from conscription; which was referred to the Committee on Military Affairs, without being read.
Also, the petition of George W. Clemmons in relation to a pension; which was referred to the Committee on Claims, without bring read.
Mr. Hartridge presented the memorial of sundry citizens of Georgia, praying a mail route; which was referred to the Committee on Post-Offices and Post-Roads, without being read.
Mr. Gartrell offered
A resolution that the Committee on Military Affairs be instructed to inquire whether the officers and soldiers of the Army have been regularly and promptly paid, and if not, to inquire what further legislation, if any, is necessary on this subject, and report by bill or otherwise;
which was read and agreed to.
Also, a resolution that the Committee on Post-Offices and Post-Roads inquire into the propriety of so amending existing laws as to authorize the employment during the war of mail carriers and post-office clerks under the age of 16 years, and report by bill or otherwise; which was read and agreed to.
Mr. Trippe presented the memorial of Martha D. Morris and others
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in relation to the sequestration of property; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, without being read.
Also, a resolution that the Committee on Claims be instructed to inquire into the propriety of increasing the salaries of the clerks in the different Executive Departments, and report by bill or resolution for such increased compensation as they may deem proper: which was read and agreed to.
Mr. Moore offered
A resolution that the Military Committee be instructed to inquire into the necessity and expediency of increasing the Medical Corps of the Army;
which was read and agreed to.
Mr. H. W. Bruce offered
A resolution that the Committee on Ways and Means inquire into the expediency and propriety of employing a competent corps of reporters and printers to make and publish daily a substantial report of the proceedings and debates of the Congress of the Confederate States;
which was not agreed to.
Mr. Perkins offered
A resolution that the Secretary of War be requested to communicate to this House the result and finding of the court-martial convened in the case of Quartermaster Hesse, and whether he is still in the pay of the Confederate States, and if not, the date of his dismissal from the service:
which was read and agreed to.
Mr. Dupré introduced
A bill to amend the sequestration act:
which was read the first and second times and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
Mr. Clapp offered
A resolution that the Judiciary Committee be instructed to inquire what legislation, if any, is necessary in regard to persons residing within the limits of the Confederate States who have taken an oath of allegiance to the Government of the United States since the commencement of the pending war, and to report by bill or otherwise;
which was read and agreed to.
Mr. Chambers introduced
A bill for the relief of subscribers of cotton to the produce loan in certain cases;
which was read the first and second times and referred to the Committee on Commerce.
Mr. Vest introduced
A bill to provide for the payment of certain claims against the Confederate States in the State of Missouri; which was read the first and second times and referred to the Committee on Military Affairs.
Mr. Lander introduced
A bill to amend an act to exempt certain persons from enrollment in the armies of the Confederate States;
which was read the first and second times and referred to the Committee on Military Affairs.
Mr. Smith of North Carolina introduced
A bill in relation to the mode of filling vacancies in the offices of regiments organized under State authority;
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which was read the first and second times and referred to the Committee on Military Affairs.
Mr. Boyce presented the petition of the faculty of the Theological Seminary at Columbia, S. C., praying the exemption of students from military service; which was referred to the Committee on Military Affairs, without being read.
Mr. Ayer offered
A resolution that the Military Committee inquire and report on the expediency of authorizing the Secretary of War to appoint an adjutant for every independent battalion in the service of the Confederate States;
which was read and agreed to.
Also, a resolution that the President be requested to communicate to this House, at as early a day as convenient, whether the work is being prosecuted by the Government or in any other way on the railroad for connecting the Richmond and Danville and the North Carolina railroads, for which $1,000,000 was appropriated by the act approved February 10, 1862, and what has been accomplished, if anything, toward the completion of the same; which was read and agreed to.
Mr. Farrow presented the memorial of the grand jury of the Confederate court of South Carolina in relation to the sequestration acts; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, without being read.
Also, sundry communications of citizens of South Carolina on speculators and extortioners; which were referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, without being read.
Mr. Swan offered
A resolution that the Committee on the Judiciary be instructed to inquire and report whether it is competent for a military commander to declare or grant an amnesty to disloyal persons in the absence of legislation authorizing it, and that the committee report by bill or otherwise;
which was read and agreed to.
Also, a memorial praying that Treasury notes be made a legal tender; which was referred to the [Committee on the] Judiciary, without being read.
Mr. Foote, by the consent of the House, from the Committee on Foreign Affairs, to whom was referred a resolution in relation to our commissioners abroad and foreign consuls, made the following report, to wit:
The Committee on Foreign Affairs, to whom was referred the resolution of the gentleman from Georgia, Mr. Hartridge, directing them to inquire into the propriety of requesting the President of the Confederate States to recall the commissioners sent by this Government to certain European States, and to notify all foreign powers whose consuls reside in the Confederate States and are accredited to the Government of the United States, that such persons will not be recognized by the Government of the Confederate States as exercising any of the powers or having any of the functions of consuls within the limits of the Confederate States unless appointed by their respective governments as consuls to the Confederate States of America, have had the same under consideration, and beg leave to report that they appreciate the importance of the proposition submitted to them, but are without that information of our present relations with foreign nations, and the number and character of our agents abroad and of those foreign agents residing in our midst, necessary to enable the committee to act intelligently on the subject, and therefore ask the House to adopt the following resolution of inquiry:
Resolved, That the President be respectfully requested, if not incompatible with the
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public interest, to communicate to this House the number and names of all persons engaged in the service of the Confederate States; in foreign countries, either as diplomatic, consular, or commercial agents, or in any other capacity, stating the places to which they have been sent, the date of their appointments, the salaries they receive, the duties they are expected to discharge, and how far they have been officially or otherwise recognized by any foreign government. Also the number and character of foreign agents, whether consular, commercial, or other, known to our Government representing in any capacity foreign governments within the limits of the Confederate States, and whether communicating with this Government, they do so under an exequatur from our own Government or that of the United States, and whether they are subordinate or subject to the control and direction, in any way and to what degree, of the ministers of their respective countries accredited to and residing in the United States.
The President is further respectfully requested to communicate such instructions as may have been given to our foreign agents and such correspondence as may have been had with other governments, either through the Secretary of State or our commissioners abroad, as will aid Congress in its legislation regarding foreign nations, and their citizens residing in our midst.
The report was agreed to, and the resolution was adopted.
Mr. Foote also, from the same committee, to whom was referred sundry resolutions in relation to the policy of the war, reported as follows:
The Committee on Foreign Affairs, to whom was referred certain resolutions relating to the true policy of the war, and recommending to the President the issuance of a proclamation touching the free navigation of the Mississippi and its tributaries, and the opening of the market of the South to the inhabitants of the Northwestern States, upon certain terms and conditions, have had the same under consideration, and now report back said resolutions, with one or two slight amendments, and recommend that they be adopted. The expediency of conducting the war in which we are engaged with all possible activity, and of carrying that war into the enemy's country, so soon as the same shall be found practicable, is believed to be now universally admitted by all enlightened men who have given their attention to the subject. It is evident that we must rely alone upon our own energies for success in the struggle of arms which is now in progress. In the present condition of affairs it is quite manifest that in order to bring the sanguinary struggle in which we are engaged to an early termination it will be necessary that every portion of our Army should be kept in a state of constant readiness for active exertion, and that no opportunity should be neglected of striking the forces of the enemy, wherever to be found upon Southern soil, with that boldness and heroic energy which are so certain to secure to our arms the most signal success. It is equally manifest that the enemy will never be willing to desist from the unjust and ferocious war which they are now waging until the evils and inconveniences thereof shall have been brought home fully to themselves. When our valiant and disciplined armies (enhanced in numbers and in strength, as it is hoped they will shortly be) shall have once found their way to the heart of the enemy's country, and have inflicted a just retaliation upon those who have so ruthlessly ravaged our territories, pillaged our towns, and desolated our homes, it is to be reasonably expected that even they will at last be able to discern the rank injustice and brutal cruelty which they have compelled us to experience, and for the perpetration of which they have not been heretofore subjected to anything like adequate punishment.
Your committee are well satisfied that the issuing of some such proclamation by the President, as that described in the resolutions referred to them, at such time as he shall deem expedient, could not but be attended with the most salutary effects. It is an undoubted fact that the Government at Washington, aided by unscrupulous local demagogues in the Northwestern States, has succeeded to a considerable extent in deluding the people of that region into a general belief that, should we succeed in our struggle for independence, it is the intention of the Government and people of the Confederate States to shut them out from the free navigation of the Mississippi River and its great tributaries; and though the Provisional Congress of these States long ago emphatically negatived this idea by well-known acts of formal legislation, yet your committee is assured that the delusion on this subject still continues to exist among the people of the Northwest, and that the gross misapprehension in regard to the intentions and policy of the Confederate States of America, thus engendered and kept in existence by wicked and designing men, has operated most effectively in prompting the people of the Northwestern States (so closely connected with the South heretofore, both by geographical and political ties) to contribute freely both
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in men and money to the prosecution of a war which, if successful on the part of those with whom it has originated, would be eventually as disastrous in its effects to the people of the Northwestern States themselves as to those of the Confederate States of America It is gratifying to discover that high-spirited and intelligent public men in several of the Northwestern States have of late become exceedingly active in their endeavors to discourage and suppress the ferocious war spirit heretofore raging among their fellow-citizens, and that their honest and patriotic efforts have been already attended with the most marked success. Such a proclamation as that recommended in the resolutions referred to this committee, it is confidently believed, would have a tendency greatly to strengthen the efforts of the advocates of peace in the Northwestern States, be calculated to bring those States quickly into amicable relations with the States of the South, withdraw them ultimately altogether from their present injurious political connection with the States of the North and East, with which they have really so little in common, and thus enable us to dictate the terms of a just and honorable peace from the great commercial emporiums of that region through whose influence mainly has this wicked and unnatural war been thus far kept in progress.
All of which is most respectfully submitted.
H. S. FOOTE, Chairman.
"Resolved, That in the judgment of this House the true policy of the present war imperatively requires that the movements of our armies in the field should everywhere be as active and aggressive as would be at all consistent with a sound and enlightened discretion, striking at the forces of the enemy boldly and vigorously wherever they may be found on Southern soil, and delaying nowhere long enough to allow to our merciless foes an opportunity of devastating the most fertile districts of the South, and perchance of ultimately obtaining reenforcements which may make it difficult to drive them beyond our confines without such an expenditure of the precious blood of our patriot soldiery as would not be now necessary for their expulsion or capture."
Amended, as proposed, the second and third resolutions will read as follows, viz:
"Resolved, That should the deluded Government at Washington still obstinately continue to refuse us peace, it is the evident policy of the Confederate Government to invade the country of the enemy, with a view to obtaining complete 'indemnity for the past and security for the future.'
"Resolved, That the President be requested, if consistent with his own views of propriety, at such time as he shall deem most appropriate, to address a formal proclamation to the inhabitants of the Northwestern States, embodying the acts of the Provisional Congress relating to this subject, proposing to guarantee to the citizens of all said States resident upon the border of said (the Mississippi) river and its tributaries, as shall not be at war at the time with the Confederate States, in the most effectual and satisfactory mode, the peaceful navigation of the said river and its tributaries; and it is further requested of the President that he will also make known, in said proclamation, the willingness of the Government and people of the Confederate States to enter hereafter into a reciprocity commercial treaty or treaties with any one or more of them."
On motion, the report was laid upon the table and ordered to be printed.
Leave was granted Mr. Barksdale to present a report from the minority of the committee and that the same be printed and laid on the table.
The Chair presented the petition of sundry citizens of Lunenburg County, Va., asking that the benefit of a certain act of the legislature of Virginia be extended to them; which was referred to the Committee on Military Affairs, without being read.
On motion, leave was granted to the Military Committee to report at any time.
Mr. Baldwin offered the following resolution; which was read and agreed to, to wit:
Resolved, That the Committee on Military Affairs inquire into the expediency of exempting from military service cadets in attendance upon the Virginia Military Institute.
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Mr. Baldwin also presented the petition of the citizens of Rockingham County, praying the exemption of George W. White, a conscript, as a miller; which was referred to the Committee on Military Affairs, without being read.
Mr. Boteler presented the petition of Jonathan Harmison, of Hampshire County, Va., asking compensation for a horse, equipments, etc., unavoidably lost in the public service; which was referred to the Committee on Military Affairs, without being read.
Mr. Baldwin presented the petition of sundry citizens of Virginia, praying that Treasury notes be made a legal tender in the payment of debts; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, without being read.
Also, memorial from two religious societies, asking the benefit of a certain act of the Virginia legislature in relation to exemptions: which was referred to the Committee on Military Affairs, without being read.
Mr. Chambliss introduced
A bill to regulate the impressment of slaves by military commanders;
which was read first and second times and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
Mr. Holcombe presented the petition of sundry citizens of Virginia, praying the establishment of a post-office at Candler's Shop, 10 miles from the city of Lynchburg; which was refereed to the Committee on Post-Offices and Post-Roads, without being read.
Mr. Lyons presented the petition of the druggists of Richmond. asking exemption from the conscription act; which was referred to the Committee on Military Affairs, without being read.
Mr. Lyons offered the following resolution:
Resolved, That the following shall be the mode of drawing for seats in the hall, viz: Pieces of paper numbered from 1 to 106, inclusive, shall be placed in a hat by the Clerk of the House, who shall place the same on the Clerk's table, and he shall then call the roll of the members, and each member, as his name is called, shall advance to the Clerk's table and draw out one of those pieces of paper and hand it to the Clerk, who shall read aloud the number upon it; and the member drawing it shall take the seat corresponding with that number upon the plan of the seats. If any member be absent any other member may draw for him.
Mr. Curry moved to amend the resolution of Mr. Lyons by striking out the whole of the same and inserting in lieu thereof the following, to wit:
Resolved, That the names of all the members of this House be placed in a hat, and that one of the pages be directed to draw them out, one by one, and that as the name of each member is drawn, such member shall proceed to select such unoccupied seat in the new hall as he may prefer, and thereupon his name shall be marked and he shall continue to occupy said seat during the remainder of the drawing [session?]: Provided, That the drawing shall not take place until the House proceed to the new hall.
Mr. Chilton called the question; which was seconded, and the amendment of Mr. Curry was lost.
The resolution of Mr. Lyons was adopted.
Mr. Ralls introduced
A bill establishing a post route therein named;
which was read first and second times and referred to the Committee on Post-Offices and Post-Roads.
Mr. Miles, from the Committee on Military Affairs, reported
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A bill to provide for the filling up of existing companies, squadrons, battalions, and regiments, and to increase the Provisional Army; which was read the first and second times.
Mr. Miles moved that the same be printed and made the special order for Wednesday next, at 1 o'clock, and from day to day until the consideration of the same was completed.
Mr. Sexton moved to amend the motion of Mr. Miles by striking out "Wednesday" and inserting "Thursday" in lieu thereof.
Mr. Royston called the question; which was seconded, and the amendment of Mr. Sexton was lost.
And the question being upon the motion of Mr. Miles.
The same was agreed to.
Mr. Bonhan moved a suspension of the rules to offer an amendment to the bill, and that the same be printed.
The motion prevailed, and the amendment was received and ordered to be printed.
A message was received from the President, by the hands of his Private Secretary, Mr. Harrison.
Mr. Russell, from the Committee on the Judiciary, to whom was referred
A bill to amend the sequestration act,
reported the same back, with the recommendation that it pass with an amendment.
The question being upon the postponement of the consideration of the bill and placing it upon the Calendar,
The same was lost.
The bill was then taken up, and the first section of the same being under consideration; which is as follows:
The Congress of the Confederate Stories do enact, That in any case arising under or contemplated by the fourteenth section of said amendatory act of fifteenth of February, eighteen hundred and sixty-two, where the debtor shall be in doubt whether the creditor or owner of the debt is an alien enemy, the presumption shall be, in the absence of proof to the contrary, that there has been no transfer or assignment of such debt,
Mr. Russell, from the committee, moved to amend the same by striking out the words "that there has been no transfer or assignment of such debt" and to insert in lieu thereof the words "that such creditor or owner is an alien enemy."
Mr. Dupré moved to amend the amendment of the committee by striking out all of the bill after the enacting clause and inserting as follows, to wit:
That whenever the answers of any debtor, to whom interrogatories have been propounded by the receiver or Confederate Staten attorney, under the acts to which this is an amendment, shall disclose an indebtedness to an alien enemy upon a negotiable note or notes, the debtor shall be made a party to the proceedings for a recovery of the amounts of the notes and interest, and should he make, no defense, or having made a defense the same be not sustained by the court, then the judge shall render judgment in favor of the Confederate States and against the debtor, in the same manner as if the note or notes had been produced, reserving, however, to any faithful citizen of the Confederate States the right to show thereafter to the court or commissioners appointed under the fourteenth section of the act approved thirtieth August, eighteen hundred and sixty-one, that they were the bona fide transferee of such note or notes prior to the thirtieth August, eighteen hundred and sixty-one, as provided by section four of the act approved twenty-third December, eighteen hundred and sixty-one, and upon such judgment execution shall issue in favor of the Confederate States.
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Mr. Gartrell moved that the consideration of the bill and amendments be postponed and that the same be printed; which motion prevailed.
Mr. Foote moved that the House adjourn until 11 o'clock to-morrow.
The motion was lost.
The Chair laid before the House certain papers in the contested-election ease; which were referred to the Committee on Elections, without being read.
Mr. Chambers introduced
A bill for the relief of John Hunter, collector of customs, etc., at Natchez, Miss.;
which was read the first and second times and referred to the Committee on Claims.
The Chair laid before the House a communication from the President; which is as follows, to wit:
To the House of Representatives:
I herewith transmit communications from the Secretary of the Navy, containing the information sought in your resolutions of the 25th and 26th ultimo asking respectively for "copies of the instructions given to naval officers in reference to the evacuation of Norfolk and New Orleans," and for information upon certain matters pertaining to the construction of the war steamers Louisiana and Mississippi.
JEFFERSON DAVIS.
which, with its accompanying documents, was laid upon the table and ordered to be printed.
Mr. Lyons moved that 1,000 copies of the message and its accompanying documents be printed.
The motion was referred to the Committee on Printing, under the rules.
Mr. Lyons presented the petition of Thomas T. Duke, praying compensation for losses inflicted by our troops; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, without being read.
On motion of Mr. Gartrell.
The House adjourned until 12 o'clock to-morrow.
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