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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-FOURTH DAY--TUESDAY, January 5, 1864.

Journal of the Congress of the Confederate States of America, 1861-1865 [Volume 6]
TWENTY-FOURTH DAY--TUESDAY, January 5, 1864.

OPEN SESSION.

Mr. Miles, from the Committee on Military Affairs, reported

A bill to increase the efficiency of the Army, by the employment of free negroes and slaves in certain capacities;
which was read a first and second time, postponed, placed upon the Calendar, and ordered to be printed.

The House then resumed the consideration of unfinished business; which was the bill reported from the Military Committee to provide

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for placing in military service persons claiming to be citizens of the United States.

The question being put,

Shall the question on the passage of the bill be now taken?

Was decided in the negative.

Mr. Clapp moved to recommit the bill to the Committee on Military Affairs.

Mr. Chilton submitted the following amendment to the motion to recommit:
And that the said committee be instructed to report a bill allowing those who claim foreign residence, or to be aliens, ample time to leave the country, and on failure to leave, to be brought into the military service of the country, in the Army.

Mr. Vest gave notice that he would submit the following amendment; which he desired should accompany the bill if it were recommitted:
Provided, That any person subject to the operation of this act, and claiming an exemption by reason of alienage, shall be exempt from military duty upon such person paying into the Treasury two thousand dollars in coin, or its equivalent in foreign exchange.

Pending which,

Mr. Goode, by unanimous consent, offered the following resolution; which was adopted unanimously:

Resolved, That Major-General J. E. B. Stuart be, and is hereby, invited to a privileged seat upon this floor during his stay in the city.

Mr. Conrad moved that the Speaker be authorized to appoint a temporary member of the Committee on Naval Affairs.

The motion was agreed to.

The Chair announced the appointment of the select committee to which was referred the joint resolution in relation to the war, as follows, viz:

Messrs. Clapp of Mississippi, Goode of Virginia, Curry of Alabama, Hartridge of Georgia, and Smith of North Carolina.

Mr. Wright of Texas moved that the House resolve itself into secret session.

Mr. Lyons demanded the yeas and nays;

Which were ordered,

And recorded as follows, viz:
• Yeas ... 50
• Nays ... 23

Yeas: Arrington, Ashe, Atkins, Baldwin, Bell, Boteler, Eli M. Bruce, Burnett, Chambliss, Chilton, Chrisman, Clapp, Conrad, Conrow, Currin, Dargan, De Jarnette, Dupré, Ewing, Foster, Freeman, Funsten, Gardenhire, Garland, Graham, Hanly, Hartridge, Holcombe, Johnston, Jones, Kenan of Georgia, Kenan of North Carolina, Lewis, Lyon, Machen, Martin, McLean, Menees, Miller, Moore, Munnerlyn, Pugh, Sexton, Smith of Alabama, Swan, Trippe, Vest, Villeré, Wilcox, and Wright of Texas.

Nays: Boyce, Bridgers, Clopton, Collier, Curry, Davidson, Farrow, Foote, Gaither, Goode, Gray, Hilton, Lyons, McQueen, Miles, Perkins, Preston, Read, Simpson, Smith of North Carolina, Staples, Strickland, and Welsh.

So the motion prevailed.

The House then resolved itself into secret session; and having spent some time therein, again resolved itself into open session.

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A message was received from the Senate, by Mr. Nash, their Secretary; which is as follows, viz:

Mr. Speaker: The Senate have passed a bill and joint resolution of the following titles, viz:

• S. 173. An act to declare the meaning and intent of the eleventh section of an act entitled "An act to lay taxes for the common defense and carry on the Government of the Confederate States," approved April 24, 1863; and
• S. 20. Joint resolution of thanks to Major Von Borcke;

In which I am directed to ask the concurrence of this House.

And on motion of Mr. Garland,

The House adjourned until 11 o'clock a. m. to-morrow.

SECRET SESSION.

The House being in secret session, resumed the consideration of the special order; which was the bill reported by Mr. Baldwin, from the Special Committee on the Currency, to tax, fund, and limit the currency, and is as follows, viz:

• Section 1. The Congress of the Confederate States of America do enact, All Treasury notes above the denomination of five dollars, not bearing interest, issued before the passage of this act, shall, until the first day of March, eighteen hundred and sixty-four, be fundable in six per cent bonds of the Confederate States.
• Sec. 2. On and after the first day of March, eighteen hundred and sixty-four, all such Treasury notes shall be fundable only in four per cent bonds of the Confederate States, and at the following rates, viz: Until the first day of May, eighteen hundred and sixty-four, at par; until the first day of June, eighteen hundred and sixty-four, at seventy-five cents in the dollar; until the first day of July, eighteen hundred and sixty-four, at fifty cents in the dollar; and until the first day of August, eighteen hundred and sixty-four, at twenty-five cents in the dollar. All such Treasury notes outstanding on or after the first day of August, eighteen hundred and sixty-four, shall be deemed to be satisfied and discharged.
• Sec. 3. Until the first day of May, eighteen hundred and sixty-four, all such Treasury notes shall be receivable at par for all Government dues, except export duties; but on and after that day they shall be receivable only at the rates herein provided for the funding thereof. At these rates any person may pay into the Treasury, or to any depository thereof, any sum he may choose on account of taxes, to accrue and become payable before the first day of January, eighteen hundred and sixty-five, and upon such payment shall be entitled to a certificate which shall be receivable in payment of such taxes; but these certificates shall not be transferred, except by special assignment.
• Sec. 4. All Treasury notes of the denomination of five dollars and under, issued before the passage of this act, shall continue to be receivable in payment of all public dues, except export duties, but shall not hereafter be fundable. All call loan certificates shall be fundable and receivable upon such terms only as are herein provided for the notes into which they are convertible.
• Sec. 5. The Secretary of the Treasury is hereby authorized to make a new issue of Treasury notes to an amount not exceeding two hundred millions of dollars, payable two years after a definitive treaty of peace with the United States, and in such form, of such denominations, and with such authentication as the Secretary of the Treasury shall prescribe. When these notes shall be in any manner received into the Treasury they may be reissued, or be substituted by others of like amount, so as not at any time to increase the whole amount in circulation beyond the said sum of two hundred millions of dollars.
• Sec. 6. The Treasury notes authorized by the preceding section shall be receivable in payment of all public dues, except such as shall be specially declared to be payable in specie only. They shall be exempt from all taxation; and the faith of the Government is hereby pledged that the entire amount of such notes to be issued under this or any future act shall not exceed the sum of two hundred and fifty millions of dollars at any time.
• Sec. 7. To defray the expenses of the Government not otherwise provided for, the Secretary of the Treasury is hereby authorized to issue six per cent bonds of the Confederate States to an amount not exceeding five hundred millions of dollars, the principal and interest whereof shall be forever free from all taxation, and for the

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  payment whereof, principal and interest, the entire net receipts into the Treasury of all duties on imports are hereby specially pledged.

• Sec. 8. The Secretary of the Treasury is hereby authorized to sell these bonds, or such portion of them as may be necessary for Treasury notes of the new issue, at par; and it shall be lawful for any person desiring to purchase such bonds to pay into the Treasury, or to any depository thereof, in Treasury notes of the new issue, the amount he wishes to invest, and to receive therefor a certificate which shall entitle him to demand a bond for the amount with interest from the time of such payment.
• Sec. 9. If any deficiency in supplying the demands upon the Treasury shall occur after the first day of April, eighteen hundred and sixty-four, and sales of these bonds can not be made at par, the Secretary of the Treasury is hereby authorized to make sales, at such prices as he can obtain, of an amount sufficient to supply such deficiency.
• Sec. 10. The bonds authorized by this act may be either registered or coupon bonds, as the parties taking them may elect, and they may be exchanged for each other under such regulations as the Secretary of the Treasury may prescribe. They shall be for one hundred dollars or for some multiple of one hundred, and shall be in such form and with such authentication as the Secretary of the Treasury may prescribe. The interest shall be payable half yearly on the first day of January and July in each year; the principal shall be payable not less than thirty years from their date, but the Government may, at any time after five years from their date, pay them at its pleasure.
• Sec. 11. After the fifteenth day of February, eighteen hundred and sixty-four, it shall be lawful for any bank or other party having on deposit or in custody any Treasury notes of the property of another, and subject to the provisions of the first, second, and third sections of this act, to fund the same on account and for the use of the owner.
• Sec. 12. Wherever in this act a time is limited for the doing of anything relative to the funding or receiving of Treasury notes under the first, second, third, and fourth sections, two months additional time shall be allowed therefor in those parts of the Confederacy west of the Mississippi River, but the certificates mentioned in the third section shall not in any case be received for taxes becoming payable after the thirty-first of December, eighteen hundred and sixty-four.
• Sec. 13. The Secretary of the Treasury is authorized to increase the number of depositories so as to meet the requirements of this act, and with that view to employ such of the banks in the several States as he may deem expedient.
• Sec. 14. The Secretary of the Treasury shall forth with advertise this act in such newspapers published in the several States as will secure immediate and extended publicity, and the Secretary of War and the Secretary of the Navy will each cause it to be published in general orders for the information of the Army and Navy.
• Sec. 15. The issue of Treasury notes, except as herein provided for, is hereby prohibited; and the forty-second section of the act for the assessment and collection of taxes, approved May first, eighteen hundred and sixty-three, is hereby repealed.

The question being on the amendment of Mr. Boyce, which is as follows, viz:

• Section 1. The Congress of the Confederate States of America do enact, That the taxes falling due after the first day of January, anno Domini one thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, except the duties on exports, be, and the same are hereby, made payable in specie, or in tax certificates hereafter to be issued, or in the outstanding Treasury notes, at their specie value.
• Sec. 2. That the Secretary of the Treasury is authorized to issue tax certificates, in anticipation of the taxes for two years.
• Sec. 3. That the Secretary of the Treasury is authorized to issue bonds, bearing six per cent interest, payable semiannually, their redemption to be secured by a pledge of specific taxes, the interest to be paid in tax certificates at their specie value, said bonds to be free from taxation, which bonds the Secretary of the Treasury may, from time to time, as the public exigencies may require, sell for what they will bring in tax certificates, or use for the liquidation of any indebtedness by the Government, when the same may be practicable.
• Sec. 4. That the authority heretofore granted to the Secretary of the Treasury to issue Treasury notes is withdrawn.
• Sec. 5. That the outstanding Treasury notes are no longer fundable except at their specie value.
• Sec. 6. That the Secretary of the Treasury is authorized, whenever he may think expedient, to sell, from time to time, for tax certificates, any cotton, tobacco, or naval stores belonging to the Government, which may not otherwise be required for the public service,

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Mr. Swan submitted the following amendment to the amendment; which, on motion of Mr. Garland, was ordered to be printed:

• Section 1. The Congress of the Confederate States of America do enact, That for the year eighteen hundred and sixty-four, and twenty-nine years thereafter, there shall be levied an annual tax of five-sixths of one per centum.
• Sec. 2. Be it further enacted, That the value of real estate shall be assessed under this act as follows: If within five years from the date of the passage of this act real estate has been sold, then its assessed value shall be the price paid by the last purchaser; if it has not been so sold, then it shall be assessed at its market value on first day of July, eighteen hundred and sixty.
• Sec. 3. Be it further enacted, That the owner of real estate may, on or before the first day of July, eighteen hundred and sixty-four, pay to the tax collector for his county, parish, or district the tax hereby levied, or at his option execute a bond, in such form as the Secretary of the Treasury may direct, for the amount of said tax, in which bond it shall be stipulated that it shall be payable on the first day of January, eighteen hundred and ninety-five; that it shall bear interest at the rate of six per centum per annum, payable semiannually, on first days of January and July of each year, and further, that on the first day of January of each year there shall be paid one per centum as a sinking fund, which sinking fund, so paid, shall be held and deemed, when said bond shall become due and payable, to have fully paid and discharged the same.
• Sec. 4. Be it further enacted, That for securing the payment of the tax herein levied, or of the bond which, under this act, may be executed for its payment, there is, by virtue of this act, created a lien upon all real estate herein taxed, in favor of the Confederate States of America, superior to all other liens, mortgages, or incumbrances of any kind whatever.
• Sec. 5. Be it further enacted, That if there be a failure on the part of the owner until the first day of July, eighteen hundred and sixty-four, to report to the proper assessor or collector his real estate for taxation, or to pay said tax, or failing in that to execute the bond hereinbefore in such cases required to be given, or when given to pay the interest and sinking fund required by this act to be paid, at the time payable, then said real estate, or so much thereof as may be necessary to pay said bond and the interest and sinking fund shall be sold at public sale to the highest bidder, after such notice of the time and place of sale as is directed in such cases by the laws of the State in which the real estate may be. The title conveyed to the purchaser by the tax collector under any such sale shall be held by all courts to be valid and indefensible.
• Sec. 6. Be it further enacted, That bonds executed by owners of real estate, as directed by this act, shall be deposited with the Secretary of the Treasury, to be held or sold by him as he, in his discretion, may deem best. If sold, he shall indorse thereon the guaranty of the Confederate States that said bonds, together with the accruing interest and sinking fund, shall be promptly paid: Provided, Said bonds shall not be sold for less than their par value.
• Sec. 7. Be it further enacted, That whether the bonds remain in the Treasury or be sold, still the payment thereof, in whole or in part, together with interest and sinking fund, shall be made to the Treasury, and the option is given to the obligor of the bond to pay the bond, in whole or in part, at any time before the same is due. If such payment be made, it shall stop after accruing interest and sinking fund upon the amount so paid. The sum so paid shall be credited to the holder of the bond, and notice thereof shall be published in two newspapers printed at the capital.
• Sec. 8. Be it further enacted, That real estate taxed under and by virtue of this act shall not again be taxed for the payment of any portion of the public debt now existing.
• Sec. 9. The following exemptions from taxations, under this act, shall be allowed, to wit:
  • I. Real estate of each head of a family to the value of five hundred dollars, and for each minor child living in the family to the further value of one hundred dollars, and for each son actually engaged in the Army or Navy, or who has died or been killed in the military or naval service, and who was a member of the family when he entered the service, to the further value of five hundred dollars.
  • II. Real estate of the widow of any officer, soldier, sailor, or marine who may have died or been killed in the military or naval service, or where there is no widow, then of the family, being minor children, to the value of two thousand dollars.
  • III. Real estate of every officer, soldier, sailor, or marine actually engaged in the military or naval service, to the value of two thousand dollars.

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  • IV. The real estate of the States of the Confederacy, and of municipal corporations held for public purposes, and the real estate of hospitals, asylums, churches, and schools.

Mr. Hilton called the question; which was not ordered.

Mr. Lyon moved to amend the first section of the bill as follows, viz:

In third line, strike out the words "not bearing interest."

The House,

On motion of Mr. Garland,

Resolved itself into open session.

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