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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 --SECOND DAY--TUESDAY, January 13, 1863.
OPEN SESSION.
The House met pursuant to adjournment, and was opened with prayer by the Rev. Mr. Reed.
The Clerk proceeded to call the roll, and the following members answered to their names, viz:
Arrington, Baldwin, Barksdale, Boteler, Boyce, Breckinridge, Bridgers, Horatio W. Bruce, Burnett, Chambliss, Chilton, Clapp, Clark,
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Clopton, Collier, Conrow, Cooke, Crockett, Currin, Curry, Dargan, Davis, Farrow, Foote, Garnett, Gartrell, Goode, Graham, Hanly, Harris, Heiskell, Hilton, Hodge, Holt, Johnston, Jones, Kenner, Lewis, Lyons, McLean, McRae, Menees, Miles, Moore, Perkins, Preston, Read, Russell, Sexton, Staples, Swan, Trippe, Vest, and Villé.
Present, 54.
A quorum being present, Mr. Boteler offered the following resolution, viz:
Resolved, That the Honorable J. L. M. Curry, of Alabama, be, and is hereby, appointed Speaker pro tempore of the House of Representatives, to serve in that capacity during the absence of the Speaker;
which was read and agreed to unanimously.
Mr. Boteler moved that a committee of three be appointed to inform Mr. Curry of his appointment as Speaker pro tempore.
The motion was agreed to.
The Clerk appointed as said committee Messrs. Boteler of Virginia, Clark of Georgia, and Swan of Tennessee.
Mr. Holt offered the following resolution, viz:
Resolved, That the Clerk inform the Senate that the House of Representatives, in the absence of the Speaker, the Honorable Thomas S. Bocock, has elected the Honorable J. L. M. Curry, a Representative from Alabama, Speaker pro tempore and is now ready to proceed to business;
which was read and agreed to.
Mr. Holt also offered the following resolution, viz:
Resolved, That a committee of three be appointed, to join such committee as may be appointed by the Senate, to wait on the President and inform im that the Congress of the Confederate States is in session, pursuant to adjournment, and ready to receive any communication he may be pleased to submit;
which was read and agreed to.
The Chair appointed as the committee on the part of the House Messrs. Holt of Georgia, Sexton of Texas, and Goode of Virginia.
The Chair laid before the House a communication from the Surgeon-General, proposing to vaccinate members; which was read and laid upon the table.
The Chair also laid before the House depositions in relation to the contested-election case of J. P. Johnson vs. A. H. Garland; which were referred to the Committee on Elections.
Mr. Garnett offered the following resolution, viz:
Resolved, That the House will now proceed to an allotment of seats according to the mode prescribed at the last session;
which was read and, on motion of Mr. Foote, was laid upon the table.
On motion, leave of absence was granted to Messrs. De Jarnette, Wright of Georgia, Welsh, Bocock, and Freeman, and to Messrs. Lander and Ashe, until Tuesday next.
Mr. Lyons offered the following resolution, viz:
Resolved, That the Committee on Public Buildings ascertain and report to the House whether the Exchange Building can be obtained for the use of Congress, and upon what terms, and whether it will afford suitable accommodation for the two Houses, their officers, and committees;
which was read and agreed to.
Mr. Gartrell moved that the House adjourn.
The motion was lost.
Mr. Curry introduced
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A bill to be entitled "An act to repeal so much of an act to exempt certain persons from military duty, approved October eleventh, eighteen hundred and sixty-two, as released from military service certain owners, agents, or overseers on plantations;"
which was read the first and second times and referred to the Committee on Military Affairs.
Mr. Curry also introduced
A bill to be entitled "An act to increase the monthly pay of non-commissioned officers and privates in the Army;"
which was read the first and second times and referred to the Committee on Military Affairs.
Mr. Hanly presented the claim of John A. Simpson for taking the Federal census in Fulton County, Ark.; which was referred to the Committee on Claims, without being read.
Mr. Gartrell introduced
A bill to be entitled "An act to continue in force an act authorizing the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus, approved October thirteenth, eighteen hundred and sixty-two;"
which was read the first and second times and was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
Mr. Gartrell introduced
A bill to be entitled "An act to increase the pay of each noncommissioned officer and private in the Army of the Confederate States;"
which was read the first and second times and referred to the Committee on Military Affairs.
Mr. Holt introduced
A bill to be entitled "An act to exempt certain persons from military service in the armies of the Confederate States of America, and to repeal an act to exempt certain persons from enrollment for service in the Army of the Confederate States, approved April twenty first, eighteen hundred and sixty-tow, and an act to exempt certain persons from military duty, approved October eleventh, eighteen hundred and sixty-two;"
which was read the first and second times.
Mr. Holt moved that the rules be suspended and the bill be made the special order of business for Friday next.
The motion was lost, and the bill was referred to the Committee on Military Affairs.
Mr. Crockett offered the following resolution, viz:
Resolved, That the President be, and he is hereby, respectfully requested to furnish to this House at an early day all official reports and correspondence, etc., touching the military operations of General Bragg and the officers and army under his command in his recent campaign in Kentucky, if, in the opinion of the President, a compliance with this resolution will not be incompatible with the public welfare;
which was read and laid on the table.
Mr. H. W. Bruce presented the claim of M. H. Cofer for horses killed; which was referred to the Committee on Claims, without being read.
Mr. H. W. Bruce also presented the claim of G. W. Maxson for clothes lost; which was referred to the Committee on Claims, without being read.
Mr. Moore presented the claim of William Cardwell for the loss of slaves; which was referred to the Committee on Claims, without being read.
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Mr. Read presented the petition of sundry clerks, praying an increase of pay; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, without being read.
Mr. Kenner introduced
A bill to be entitled "An act to raise a war tax;"
which was read the first and second times and referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.
Mr. Kenner also introduced
A bill to be entitled "An act for the assessment and collection of direct taxes and internal duties;"
which was read the first and second times and referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.
Mr. Perkins introduced
A joint resolution expressive of the opinion of Congress in relation to the conduct of certain citizens of Louisiana within the lines and in the presence of the enemy;
which was read the first and second times.
On motion of Mr. Villeré, the same was ordered to be printed, and on motion of Mr. Perkins, was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
Mr. Barksdale introduced
A bill to be entitled "An act to repeal certain parts of an act entitled 'An act to exempt persons from military duty;'"
which was read the first and second times and referred to the Committee on Military Affairs.
Mr. Vest introduced
A bill to be entitled "An act to provide for placing in the military service of the Confederate States citizens of the State of Maryland residing or sojourning within the limits of the Confederacy;"
which was read the first and second times.
Mr. Burnett moved that the House adjourn.
The motion was lost.
Mr. Vest moved that the bill be referred to the Committee on the Judiciary; which was agreed to.
Mr. Vest also introduced joint resolutions indorsing the recent proclamation and order of the President on the subject of retaliation; which were read the first and second times, laid upon the table, and ordered to be printed.
Mr. Foote introduced joint resolutions on the pending war and matters appertaining thereto; which were read the first and second times, referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and ordered to be printed.
Mr. Foote also offered the following resolution, viz:
Resolved, That the Committee on Military Affairs be instructed to inquire into the expediency of bringing in a bill repealing, or at least greatly modifying, the provisions of the existing laws relating to the employment of military substitutes, with a view to preventing the occurrence of such abuses as are now being experienced on this subject;
which was read and agreed to.
Mr. Foote also offered the following resolution, viz:
Resolved, That the Committee on Ways and Means be instructed to inquire into the expediency of purchasing, on account of the Government, all the cotton and tobacco now remaining in private hands, at a fair price, payable in notes and bonds of the Confederate Government, and imposing an export duty upon all that can not be thus purchased, of twenty per cent ad valorem, with a view to recompensing, in part, those
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who have heretofore suffered, or who may hereafter suffer, from the destruction of their crops of tobacco and cotton under the authority of the Government in order to keep the same out of the hands of the enemy;
which was read and agreed to.
Mr. Foote introduced
A bill to be entitled "An act to sustain the present currency of the Government and prevent the future depreciation of the same;"
which was read the first and second times, ordered to be printed, and referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.
Mr. Foote also introduced
A bill to be entitled "An act providing for the punishment of pecuniary fraud in public officers, their aiders and abettors; and to punish the fraudulent reception or retention of public money by public officers, beyond what they may be entitled to receive;"
which was read the first and second times and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
Mr. Foote offered the following resolution, viz:
Resolved, That the painful rumors now prevalent in regard to certain contracts recently entered into between the Commissary-General and various individuals, and especially the one alleged to have been entered into by the Commissary Department with Messrs. Haxall, Crenshaw & Co., for a large quantity of flour (supposed to be some five hundred thousand barrels), are of a nature to demand the promptest and most rigid scrutiny, with a view to the detection and punishment of fraudulent conduct on the part of certain official functionaries and other individuals if such practices have actually occurred, and the prevention of similar practices hereafter. The committee heretofore appointed for the purpose of looking into abuses of the description herein specified, known as the Committee on the Quartermaster's and Commissary Departments, is hereby instructed to lose no time in looking into the contracts referred to and in reporting the true facts of the case to this House.
Pending the consideration of which,
On motion of Mr. Kenner,
The House adjourned until 12 o'clock to-morrow.
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