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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 --THIRTIETH DAY--MONDAY, September 22, 1862.
OPEN SESSION.
The House met pursuant to adjournment, and was opened with prayer by the Rev. Mr. Nalley.
Mr. Bell, by consent, introduced
A bill to provide for the temporary organization of forces for the Provisional Army of the Confederate States in the States and parts of States invaded and occupied by the forces of the enemy; which was read the first and second times and was referred to the Committee on Military Affairs.
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Mr. Foster, by consent, offered a resolution; which is as follows, to wit:
Resolved, That the Secretary of War be instructed to send, at the earliest day he may deem advisable, a competent corps of engineers, with orders to make a thorough reconnoissance of the Cumberland and Tennessee rivers and country adjacent thereto, with the view of selecting the most eligible site for the erection of permanent fortifications on and placing obstructions in said rivers;
which was read and agreed to.
Mr. Curry, by consent, presented a memorial of sundry citizens of Alabama for a mail route in St. Clair County; which was referred to the Committee on Post-Offices and Post-Roads, without being read.
Mr. Kenner, by consent, introduced
A resolution that inasmuch as Congress has postponed the day of the next regular meeting of Congress to the second Monday in January, 1863, the President be requested to direct the heads of the Departments to make the estimates of the necessary expenses of their respective Departments for the month of January and submit the same to this House;
which was read and agreed to.
Mr. Boyce presented the memorial of sundry citizens of South Carolina, praying that Columbia, S. C., be made a port of entry; which was referred to the Committee on Commerce, without being read.
Mr. Moore offered
A resolution that it be referred to the Committee on Post-Offices and Post-Roads to inquire into the expediency of establishing a mail route from Knoxville, Tenn., to Lexington, Ky.;
which was read and agreed to.
Mr. Chambliss presented sundry designs for a Confederate flag; which were referred to the Committee on the Flag and Seal.
Mr. Miles presented a design for a Confederate seal; which was referred to the same committee.
Mr. Garland introduced
A bill to establish certain post routes therein named;
which was read the first and second times and referred to the Committee on Post-Offices and Post-Roads.
Mr. Conrad, from the Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom was referred a joint resolution from the Senate of thanks to Commander Eben. Farrand and the officers and men under his command for gallant conduct at Drewry's Bluff, reported the same back, asked to be discharged from the further consideration of the same, and that it lie upon the table; which was agreed to.
A message was received from the Senate, by their Secretary, Mr. Nash; which is as follows, to wit:
Mr. Speaker: The Senate have passed a bill of the following title, viz:
In which I am directed to ask the concurrence of this House.
Mr. Conrad, from the Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom was referred a bill of the Senate to determine the annual pay of the engineer in chief and passed assistant surgeons of the Navy, reported the same back, with the recommendation that it pass.
The rules were suspended;
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The bill was taken up, and the first section of the same, which is as follows:
That the annual pay of the engineer of the Navy and passed assistant surgeons shall be as follows: Engineer in chief, three thousand dollars: passed assistant surgeons, for service afloat, seventeen hundred dollars; for shore or other duty, fifteen hundred dollars; when on leave or waiting orders, twelve hundred dollars,
being under consideration,
Mr. Conrad moved to amend the same by inserting after the word "engineer" the words "in chief;" which was agreed to, and the bill as amended was read a third time and passed.
Mr. Conrad, also from the same committee, to whom was referred a bill from the Senate amendatory of an act to reorganize the Marine Corps, reported the same back, with the recommendation that it pass.
The rules were suspended;
The bill was then taken up, read a third time, and passed.
Mr. Conrad, also from the same committee, to whom was referred
A resolution in relation to the blockade of the Cumberland and Tennessee rivers, together with a resolution to provide for the defense of the same,
reported the same back, asked to be discharged from their further consideration, and that they lie upon the table; which was agreed to.
Mr. Conrad, from the same committee, to whom was referred a communication from Richard M. Harvey in relation to river navigation, etc., reported the same back, asked to be discharged from its further consideration, and that it lie upon the table; agreed to.
Mr. Conrad, also from the same committee, to whom was referred a resolution in relation to promotions in the Navy, made the following report:
The Committee on Naval Affairs have had under consideration the following resolution, referred to them by this House:
Whereas the recent action under the late law of Congress of promoting officers "out of turn" has resulted in creating great discontent among many gallant and meritorious officers in the Navy, and is considered injurious to the best interests of the service: Be it therefore
Resolved, That the Committee on Naval Affairs be instructed to inquire into the necessity or expediency of repealing, or in some suitable manner modifying, the law passed at the last session of Congress in regard to "promotions in the Navy," and beg leave respectfully to report:
That the law referred to (that of 21st April, 1862, ch. 68) creates one new grade (that of admiral) and several additional officers in each of the grades heretofore existing in the service. It further provides that "all the admirals, four of the captains, five of the commanders, twenty of the first lieutenants, and five of the second lieutenants shall be appointed 'solely for gallant or meritorious conduct during the war.'"
Although the resolution does not specify the precise nature of the complaints referred to, the committee are warranted in assuming that they were caused by this last clause in the law; in other words, that many officers object that promotions in the Navy should be made "for gallant or meritorious conduct."
The committee can not perceive the justice of this complaint.
A navy is designed as a means of public defense. In examining the expediency of a law which relates to it, therefore, the first question to be asked is, not when it will affect individuals, but how it will operate on the public service. Now, it will be admitted on all hands that the strongest incentive that can be held out to "gallant or meritorious conduct in an officer" is the hope of promotion; yet, strange to say, prior to the enactment of the law referred to, no such incentive was held out to the officers of the Navy, and if it were repealed none would now be held out. While, in the Army, talent, energy, courage, and good conduct are sure, ultimately, to lead to promotion, no such avenue to distinction was open in the naval service. There but one pathway to promotion was to be found, viz: the death or resignation of a superior officer. All others were closed by the inexorable rule of seniority. The rarest
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talent--the most gallant exploits--the most distinguished services, could not advance him one step in his professional career, and a grateful country could confer on him no other reward than the expression of its gratitude.
A system better calculated to extinguish every spark of emulation, and to repress the aspirations of generous ambition, could scarcely be conceived.
Nor was it less injurious to the public service than it was unjust to the meritorious officer When the rule of promotion by seniority alone is rigidly adhered to it must often happen that officers of the least merit have the highest rank, and on the other hand that officers of the most exalted merit may be low down on the ladder. Now, as by another rule of the service not less inflexible, every command must be proportioned to the rank of the commanding officer, it follows that the most important commands may often devolve on the most incapable officer.
Such a system might be tolerated in a time of peace, or in a country whose naval supremacy might enable it to get along with any system, however defective, but it is ill adapted to a country like ours, struggling to create a navy in the midst of a war with a great naval power. On the contrary, the system we should adopt is that which enables the Government to place every man in the position he is best qualified to fill.
This was the object of the law of April 21. It seems to the committee that a law which opens the door of promotion equally to all, affords no just ground of complaint to any, and that the only persons who ought to complain of a law which proposes to reward merit are those who have no merit to reward.
If, as is alleged in the resolution, the execution of the law had given just ground of complaint, this would be the fault not of the law itself, but of those whose duty it is to carry it into effect. With a view of ascertaining what the action of the Executive had been, the committee, through its chairman, addressed a note to the honorable Secretary of the Navy--the answer to this note is hereto appended. It shows the action of the Executive under the act; whether that action affords any just cause of complaint it is for the House to determine.
The committee will only add, that so far from thinking the promotions under the law of 21st of April have been too numerous, they are of opinion that the just claims of several officers have been overlooked.
For these reasons the committee are of opinion that the law of 21st April, 1862, ought not to be repealed.
No modification of the law has been suggested, and the committee have none to recommend, and beg to be discharged from the further consideration of the resolution referred to them.
On motion of Mr. Chilton, the report was laid upon the table and ordered to be printed.
Mr. Conrad, also from the same committee, reported
A joint resolution tendering the thanks of Congress to Lieut. Commanding A. F. Warley and the officers and men under his command.
The resolution was read the first and second times, the rules were suspended, the resolution was taken up, engrossed, read a third time, and passed.
Mr. Conrad, from the same committee, reported
A joint resolution of thanks to Lieut. Commanding C. W. Read and the officers and men under his command.
The resolution was read the first and second times, the rules were suspended, the resolution was taken up, engrossed, read a third time, and passed.
Mr. Conrad, also from the same committee, reported
A joint resolution of thanks to Beverly Kennon, commander of steam gunboat Governor Moore and the officers and men under his command.
The resolution was read the first and second times, the rules were suspended, and the resolution was taken up, engrossed, read a third time, and passed.
Mr. Conrad, from the same committee, to which was referred
A resolution in relation to the law of privateering,
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reported the same back and asked to be discharged from its further consideration; which was agreed to, and on motion of Mr. Perkins, the resolution was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs.
Mr. Chilton, from the Committee on Post-Offices and Post-Roads, to which were referred sundry memorials in relation to Sunday mails, reported the same back, asked to be discharged from their further consideration, and that the same lie upon the table; which was agreed to.
Mr. Chilton, also from the same committee, to which was referred the petition of M. T. Kostar in relation to a mail line from New Orleans to Tampico, etc., reported the same back, asked to be discharged from its further consideration, and that it lie upon the table; which was agreed to.
Mr. Chilton, from the same committee, to which was referred
A bill to provide for the adjustment of claims for postal service, etc., reported the same back, asked to be discharged from its further consideration, and that it lie upon the table; which was agreed to.
Mr. Chilton, also from the same committee, to whom was referred
A resolution relative to mail contractors,
reported a bill to provide for the payment of sums ascertained to be due for postal service to citizens of the Confederate States by the Postmaster-General; which was read the first and second times, the rules were suspended, the bill was taken up, engrossed, read a third time, and passed.
Mr. Chilton, also from the same committee, to which was referred
A bill to tax telegrams with letter postage,
reported the same back, asked to be discharged from its further consideration, and that it lie upon the table; which was agreed to.
Mr. Chilton, also from the same committee, to which was referred
A resolution in relation to Sunday mails and drills on the Sabbath, reported the same back, asked to be discharged from its further consideration, and that so much as referred to drills on the Sabbath be referred to the Committee on Military Affairs; which was agreed to.
Mr. Chilton, from the same committee, to which was referred
A bill in relation to the rates of postage,
reported the same back, asked to be discharged from its further consideration, and that it lie upon the table; which was agreed to.
Mr. Chilton, from the same committee, to which was referred the letter of Mr. McCoy in relation to receiving proposals for carrying the mails, reported the same back, asked to be discharged from its further consideration, and that it lie upon the table; which was agreed to.
On motion of Mr. Baldwin; the rules were suspended and Mr. Baldwin offered the following resolution:
Resolved, That the President he respectfully requested to inform this House,
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Resolved also, That the President be requested to communicate to this House copies of any orders or other papers relating to the case of the said Charles K. Hyde, with a statement of any testimony taken in the case.
The rules were suspended, and the resolution was taken up.
Mr. Baldwin demanded the question on agreeing to the resolution; which was ordered, and called for the yeas and nays.
The call was seconded,
Yeas: Arrington, Atkins, Baldwin, Batson, Bonham, Boyce, Breckinridge, Eli M. Bruce, Chambliss, Chilton, Chrisman, Clapp, Clopton, Crockett, Curry, Dargan, Davidson, Dawkins, De Jarnette, Dupré, Farrow, Foote, Foster, Garland, Gartrell, Gentry, Goode, Graham, Hanly, Harris, Hartridge, Heiskell, Hodge, Holt, Johnston, Jones, Kenner, Lyon, Marshall, McDowell, McQueen, Menees, Miles, Munnerlyn, Perkins, Preston, Ralls, Read, Royston, Sexton, Smith of North Carolina, Trippe, Vest, Wilcox, Wright of Georgia, Wright of Texas, Wright of Tennessee, and Mr. Speaker.
Nays: Ewing, Freeman, Gardenhire, Gray, Holcombe, Kenan of Georgia, Lauder, McRae, Pugh, Smith of Alabama, Strickland, Swan, and Welsh.
So the resolution was agreed to.
The House then proceeded to the consideration of the special order, which was the resolutions offered by the Committee on Elections in the case of J. P. Johnson and A. H. Garland.
Mr. Trippe moved to amend the amendment offered by Mr. Crockett, front the minority of the committee, by striking out all thereof and inserting in lieu thereof the following, to wit:
Resolved, That a vacancy be, and is hereby, declared in the Third Congressional district of the State of Arkansas.
Resolved, That the Clerk of this House do transmit a certified copy of the foregoing resolution to the governor of Arkansas.
Mr. Boyce moved that the House proceed to take the vote on the resolutions at 1 o'clock to-morrow; which was agreed to.
On motion of Mr. Miles,
The House took up a bill from the Senate to make certain exemptions from military duty; which was read the first and second times and ordered to be printed.
Mr. Chambers, from the Committee on Military Affairs, to which was referred
A bill authorizing and regulating substitutes,
reported the same back with an amendment.
On motion of Mr. Chambers, the bill was placed on the Calendar and, together with the amendment, ordered to be printed.
Mr. Chambers, from the Committee on Enrolled Bills, reported as correctly enrolled, and ready for the signature of the Speaker, a bill (No. 5) to be entitled "An act to provide for the further issue of Treasury notes;" also, a bill (No. 7) to be entitled "An act in relation to the transfer of troops;" also, a bill (No. 10) to be entitled "An act to regulate the rank of officers of the Provisional Corps of Engineers;" also, a bill (No. 11) to be entitled "An act to provide for the payment of certain claims against the Confederate States in the State of Missouri;"
And the Speaker signed the same.
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A message was received from the Senate; which is as follows, to wit:
Mr. Speaker: The Senate have passed a bill of the following title, viz:
In which I am directed to ask the concurrence of this House.
On motion of Mr. Foote, the House resolved itself into secret session; and having spent some time therein, again resolved itself into open session.
Mr. Menees, by consent, introduced
A bill to amend an act to further provide for the public defense; which was read the first and second times and referred to the Committee on Military Affairs.
Mr. Gray, by consent, introduced
A bill to authorize the judges of the district courts to change the place of holding courts in certain cases;
which was read the first and second times and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
Mr. Kenan of Georgia, by consent, introduced
A bill to authorize the Secretary of War to have mustered out of service the First Regiment of Georgia Regulars and any other regiments in similar condition;
which was read the first and second times and referred to the Committee on Military Affairs.
The Chair laid before the House a message from the President; which is as follows, to wit:
I herewith transmit for your information a communication from the Secretary of the Navy in response to your resolution of the 16th instant, asking the amount required to meet claims upon the Government for vessels and other property seized by the naval and military authorities for the use of the Government.
I recommend an appropriation of the amount, and for the purpose specified.
JEFFERSON DAVIS.
which was read and referred, with accompanying documents, to the Committee on Ways and Means.
The Chair also laid before the House a message from the President; which is as follows, to wit:
I herewith transmit for your consideration a communication from the Secretary of the Treasury, covering certain estimates. I recommend an appropriation of the amounts, and for the purposes specified.
JEFFERSON DAVIS.
which was read and referred, with accompanying documents, to the Committee on Brays and Means.
On motion,
The House adjourned until 11 o'clock to-morrow.
SECRET SESSION.
The House being in secret session, a message was received from the President, by his Private Secretary, Mr. Harrison, informing the House that on the 19th instant the President had approved and signed an act to authorize an issue of Confederate States bonds to meet a contract made by the Secretary of the Navy for six ironclad vessels of war, and steam engines and boilers.
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Mr. Perkins, from the Committee on Foreign Affairs, to whom was referred a resolution relating to the recall of foreign ministers, etc., made the following report:
The Committee on Foreign Affairs, to whom was referred the following resolution:
"Resolved, That the Committee on Foreign Affairs be instructed 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," beg leave to report:
That in the absence of any reference to foreign affairs in the message of the President on the opening of Congress, and without access to the archives of the State Department, your committee deemed it due the importance of the subject submitted to them, and respect for the House, by whom they were charged with its examination, to report that they were uninformed on the matter before them, and to request the Executive by a resolution of the House to communicate to Congress such facts regarding the number and character of our foreign agents as could be made known without detriment to the public service.
The House accordingly adopted the following resolution of inquiry:
"Resolved, That the President be respectfully requested to communicate to this House, if not incompatible with the public interest, 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 appointment, the salaries they receive, the duties they are expected to discharge, and how far such agents have been officially or otherwise recognized by any foreign government. Also what are 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 in communicating with this Government, they do so under an exequatur from our Government or that of the United States; also whether said agents 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, and the President be further 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."
To this resolution the following response was received on the 16th instant from the State Department, and was referred to this committee:
"Confederate States of America, Department of State,
"Richmond, September 15, 1862.
"The Secretary of State, to whom was referred a certain resolution of the House of Representatives adopted on the 1st instant, has the honor to report, to the President: "That it would be impossible to communicate to the House, without very grave detriment to the public interest, 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 appointment, the salaries they receive, the duties they are expected to discharge.' It is presumed that the House is acquainted with the particulars called for in the foregoing extract from the resolution, so far as diplomatic agents are concerned, but a tabular statement marked 'A' hereto annexed may prove convenient for reference. During the pendency of hostilities the very objects for which other than diplomatic agents have been sent abroad would be exposed to defeat by divulging the details called for in the resolution; and these objects are of great national importance.
"The resolution further inquires how far the agents aforesaid 'have been officially or otherwise recognized by any foreign government.'
"The extracts of the correspondence of the Department hereto annexed marked 'B' furnish the only information on this subject contained in official communications.
"The resolution further inquires as to '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
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whether in communicating with this Government, they do so under an exequatur from our own Government or that of the United States.'
"The annexed list marked 'C' shows the names of the only agents of foreign governments known by the Department within the limits of the Confederate States.
"All of these agents but one had been recognized by the Government of the United States by exequatur as the duly authorized agents of the foreign governments by which they were respectively appointed, at a period antecedent to that when the several Confederate States revoked the powers previously delegated to the United States, and under which the Government of the United States controlled the relations, whether diplomatic or commercial, which grew up between those States and foreign countries.
"According to well-recognized principles, both of public and private law, these agents of foreign governments having been recognized as such by the agent of the several Confederate States prior to the revocation of the powers delegated to that agent, remained so recognized after the revocation, It was and is undoubtedly within the power of this Government, as it is within the power of all governments, to decline permitting the above-mentioned agents to remain within our limits, but for obvious reasons the exercise of such a power has been deemed unwise and impolitic. The one agent who is excepted from these remarks is Ernst Raven esq., who was appointed consul for the State of Texas by his highness the Duke of SaxeCoburg and Gotha, and wire applied to this Government for an exequatur on the 30th of July, 1861.
"It is proper to add that a short time ago it came accidentally to the knowledge of the Department that a certain Baron de Saint Andre had assumed the functions of consul or consular agent for the French Government at the port of Charleston since the establishment of the Confederate Government and without applying for an exequatur to this Department. But just at a time this information was received intelligence was also received that Baron Saint Andre had left Charleston with his family for the United States with the probable intention of returning in the autumn. In the event of such return, proper action will be promptly taken by the Department to repress the offensive assumption of consular functions by a foreign agent without the sanction of this Government.
"The resolution further inquires 'whether said agents 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 Department has no information on this subject, but it is thought not improbable that the instructions sent by foreign governments to their consular agents within the Confederacy are transmitted through diplomatic agents residing in Washington. It is not thought probable that the foreign consuls within the Confederacy are under the control and direction of foreign ministers accredited to the United States in any other manner than is above indicated, but no positive information on the subject has reached the Department.
"It is known to the Department that the foreign consuls within the Confederacy communicate with their governments in Europe by sending dispatches to the care of the ministers of their respective governments residing in Washington and the Department has thus been enabled on different occasions to cause correct information to reach foreign countries on matters which it was highly important to the public interest should be widely disseminated and properly understood.
"The resolution of the House further requests the President '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 accompanying document marked 'B' contains all the communications called for not hitherto submitted to Congress except such as can not for the present be divulged without injury to the public service.
"Respectfully submitted.
'J. P. BENJAMIN,
"Secretary of State.
"To the President."
Your committee have examined this letter of the Secretary of State with the documents accompanying it, and are not prepared upon the data furnished to recommend either the adoption or rejection of the original proposition submitted to them, and without entering at length into the reasons which have induced this conclusion, state briefly that the facts communicated are so limited and of such a character as to have aided them but little in their investigation. They consist simply in a statement already known to the country of the names of our commissioners and their secretaries
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abroad, with some extracts from their correspondence and instructions from the State Department, accompanied by all incomplete list of the agents of foreign government residing in our midst.
Your committee feel well assured that it was not the desire of the House to trench in any manner upon the province of the Senate as the constitutional adviser of the Executive in matters relating to foreign affairs by the adoption of its resolution of inquiry; nor is there any disposition to complain of the Executive exercising a just discretion in withholding the communication of such facts in relation to foreign affairs and our secret agents abroad as he may deem detrimental to the public interest, to make. Your committee feel, however, that as the recognition of our independence by foreign powers has not yet been secured, nor our foreign relations established with other governments, and an it is by virtue of direct legislation on the subject and not merely of a constitutional provision, the President has felt himself authorized to send commissioners and commercial agents abroad, and as Congress has before it for legislation matters affecting our commercial relations with other governments and the security of the rights of our citizens abroad and those of foreigners in our midst, this House in no way transcends its powers when it seeks of the Executive, through the proper channel, a knowledge not only of the number and names of our diplomatic agents, but also a statement of the fact whether consular or commercial agents have been sent abroad, and if so, to what countries; and whether they have been permitted by the governments to which they have been sent to exercise the customary powers of such agents, or have been forced to forego entirely the discharge of the very important duties pertaining to such appointments, and made to occupy the character of extraordinary or special or secret agents.
The necessity of such information is apparent to the discussion of the resolution before the House in its twofold character: first, whether it would be politic to recall our commissioners sent to European States; and second, whether it would be wise to refuse to recognize the consular agents of other governments openly exercising their privileges in our midst under an exequatur from a government with which we are at war.
Without further remark upon the reserve of the State Department on this subject your committee will merely add they are not allowed to be ignorant of the fact made known by the published official correspondence of foreign governments and the debates in the British Parliament, that some such agents of our Government in some capacity, either consular or commercial, do exist abroad; but of their number, or the countries to which they have been sent, or the powers they are permitted to exercise your committee are ignorant, and the communication of the Secretary of State gives no information on the subject. We are, however, made incidentally aware of the fact that a regular correspondence in carried on between the consuls of foreign powers residing on our midst and the ministers of those powers accredited and residing at Washington, through a regular established channel of communication which the United States Government has succeeded in inducing those governments, notwithstanding the remonstrance of our Secretary of State, to close effectually against all correspondence of our Government with its agents abroad.
It is also made known by the communication from the State Department that one of our commissioners, Mr. Rost, has resigned his position, and that before doing so he submitted to the President whether it was consistent with our self-respect and the dignity of the country "to keep longer abroad commissioners who are under no circumstances to be received or listened to."
Another, Mr. Mason, dated June 23, writes: "I have conferred frequently and freely with Mr. Slidell on the expediency of making a renewed request to the Governments of France and England, or to either for recognition of our independence and I am happy to say that a cordial understanding exists between us to act independently or simultaneously as our joint judgments may approve. May own strong conviction is that it will be unwise if not unbecoming in the attitude of the ministry here to make such a request now unless it were presented as a demand of right, and if refused, as I little doubt it would be, to follow the refusal by a note stating that I did not consider it compatible with the dignity of my Government and perhaps with my own self-respect to remain any longer in England, but should retire to the Continent to await, the further instructions of the Government there. I do not mean to say that I contemplate such an immediate step, but only if the demand be made and refused, to remain longer in England as the representative of the Government, would seem to acknowledge the position of a suppliant, and therefore the step is not to be taken without the most grave and mature deliberation.
"I have earnestly consulted the judicious and enlightened friends here among the public men who are earnestly with us, and they advise against a renewed demand at present, while they admit it might place me under such necessity."
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Our other commissioners express themselves less decidedly, but no one of them seems to anticipate our early recognition, though all unite in the expression of the confident belief that had it not been for the fall of New Orleans, with the consequent loss of the Mississippi River, we would have been before this recognized by foreign powers.
Your committee, in conclusion, repeat that, without recommending either the adoption or rejection of the resolution submitted to them, are of the opinion that it would be, under present circumstances, unwise for this House to advise the immediate recall of our commissioners, uninformed as it is what other agents of communication with foreign powers would remain to us abroad, as what may be the possible result of recent events upon the disposition or policy of foreign governments, nor would they recommend the dismissal from our midst of the consuls of foreign nations, except in the event of their persisting to discharge their duties under exequaturs from the Government of the United States, without any reciprocal right of consular protection being extended to our citizens visiting or residing and owning property in the countries they represent.
On motion, leave was granted Mr. Smith of Alabama to make a minority report on the same subject.
And on motion of Mr. Foote,
The House resolved itself into open session.
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