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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 --EIGHTY-FIFTH DAY--FRIDAY, February 17, 1865.

Journal of the Congress of the Confederate States of America, 1861-1865 [Volume 7]
EIGHTY-FIFTH DAY--FRIDAY, February 17, 1865.

OPEN SESSION.

The House met pursuant to adjournment, and was opened with prayer by Rev. Mr. Shaver.

The Chair laid before the House a message from the President; which was read as follows, viz:

Richmond, Va., February 15. 1865.

To the Senate and House of Representatives:

I herewith transmit for your consideration a communication from the Secretary of the Treasury, covering an estimate for an additional appropriation required by the Department of Justice.

JEFFERSON DAVIS.

The message and accompanying documents were referred to the Committee on Ways and Means and ordered to be printed.

The Chair laid before the House a message from the President; which was read as follows, viz:

Richmond, Va., February 15. 1865.

To the House of Representatives:

In further response to your resolution of the 25th ultimo, I herewith transmit for your information a communication from the Secretary of the Navy, covering copies of the remainder of his correspondence with the governor of North Carolina relative to coals belonging to the steamer Advance.

JEFFERSON DAVIS.

The message and accompanying documents were referred to the Committee on Naval Affairs and ordered to be printed.

The Chair laid before the House a message from the President; which was read as follows, viz:

Richmond, Va., February 15, 1865.

To the House of Representatives:

In response to your resolution of the 24th December last, I herewith transmit a communication from the Secretary of War, which conveys the information requested relative to the number of iron furnaces and forges worked by agents of the Government, or by contractors, during the year 1864, and to the cost per ton of the several kinds of iron furnished by them.

JEFFERSON DAVIS.

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The communication and accompanying documents were laid upon the table and ordered to be printed.

The Chair laid before the House a Senate bill (S. 198) "to increase the pay of assistant paymasters in the Provisional Navy;" which was read a first and second time and referred to the Committee on Naval Affairs.

Also, a Senate bill (S. 187) "to regulate the business of conscription;" which was read a first and second time.

Mr. Goode moved that the rule be suspended requiring the bill to be referred to a committee, and demanded the yeas and nays thereon;

Which were ordered,

And recorded as follows, viz:
• Yeas ... 50
• Nays ... 10

Yeas: Akin, Atkins, Barksdale, Batson, Baylor, Bell, Bradley, Branch, Eli M. Bruce, Horatio W. Bruce, Burnett, Carroll, Chrisman, Clopton, Cluskey, Cruikshank, Dickinson, Dupré, Elliott, Ewing, Farrow, Foster, Fuller, Gaither, Garland, Gholson, Geede, Gray, Hanly, Hartridge, Hatcher, Herbert, Holliday, Johnston, J. T. Leach, Lyon, Machen, McCallum, McMullin, Moore, Pugh, Read, Sexton, Simpson, J. M. Smith, W. E. Smith, Snead, Triplett, Villeré, and Witherspoon.

Nays: Baldwin, Blandford, Clark, Colyar, Conrad, Hilton, Logan, Miles, Ramsay, and Rogers.

Two-thirds having voted in the affirmative, the rule was suspended.

Mr. Foster moved the previous question; which was not ordered.

Mr. Rogers submitted the following amendment to the bill:

Strike out all after the enacting clause, which reads as follows, viz:

"That the general officers commanding the reserves in each State shall be charged with the duty of directing and controlling the enforcement of the laws relating to conscription, exemptions, and details therein. That the said officers shall report to the Secretary of War through the Adjutant and Inspector General, who shall assign an assistant adjutant-general in his office to the special duty of receiving and arranging all returns, and discharging such other duties as may be necessary in the enforcement of the conscription acts.

• "Sec. 2. All applications for exemption and detail, except as hereinafter provided, shall be decided by the general officers having charge of the business of conscription in the several States. Appeals may be taken from their decisions to the Secretary of War, but during the pendency of such appeals the appellants shall be liable to military service.
• "Sec. 3. There shall be assigned, from the Invalid Corps or from officers certified by the proper medical boards to be unfit for active service in the field, a sufficient number of enrolling officers who shall report to and be under the immediate direction and control of the general officers conducting the business of conscription in the several States.
• "Sec. 4. All conscripts shall be examined by the medical hoards of the Army after joining the commands in the field to which they may be respectively assigned, and every discharge granted by an army medical board shall be final and stroll relieve the party from all military service in the future when the disability is permanent and the cause of it is set forth in the certificate of discharge.
• "Sec. 5. If any conscript shall furnish to the enrolling officer of his county a certificate, under oath, from a respectable physician or from an army surgeon, that he is unable to travel to the command to which he may be assigned without serious prejudice to his health, or that he is seriously maimed or manifestly unfit for field service, or shall present to such enrolling officer a certificate of discharge on account of permanent disability heretofore granted, a furlough shall be granted to him until the next meeting of the medical board hereinafter provided for.
• "Sec. 6. There shall be assigned to each Congressional district a medical board, consisting of three surgeons, two of whom shall he army surgeons, who,

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  after due notice of the time and place of their meeting, shall visit each county of the district at least once in three months, and shall examine, for discharge or recommendation for light duty, all conscripts who have been furloughed under the provisions of the preceding section. Every discharge granted by the said medical board shall be final and shall relieve the party from all military service in the future, when the disability is permanent and the cause of it is set forth in the certificate.

• "Sec. 7. It shall be the duty of all officers and others employed in the military service of the Confederate States and not actually in the field nor attached to any army in the field, including quartermasters and commissaries, commanders of posts, provost-marshals, officers of the ordnance, after and lathing and medical bureaus, and others, to make certified returns, under oath, every two months, to the nearest conscript officer, of the names, ages, and physical condition of all persons employed in their service, which returns shall be forwarded to the general officer controlling conscription in the State.
• "Sec. 8. For the enforcement of the duties imposed by this act upon the general officers controlling conscription in the several States, they may employ such detachments of the reserve forces as they may deem necessary.
• "Sec. 9. The Bureau of Conscription, the camps of instruction, are hereby abolished, and all rules and regulations of the War Department inconsistent with this act are hereby abrogated,"
  and insert in lieu thereof the following, viz:

"That there shall be established at the city of Richmond, under the orders of the President and Secretary of War, a bureau of conscription for the purpose of supervising, controlling, and directing all matters concerning the administration of conscription, and of performing such other duties in relation thereto as, by regulations, the Secretary of War may charge on said bureau: and the President is authorized to assign to the superintendence and management of said bureau such officer as he may select: Provided, Such officer shall not be of rank below that of brigadier-general: And provided, Said officer shall not, during such time as he is exercising the office of superintendent, hold or exercise any actual military command in the field nor in the reserve forces, nor in any other military organization. And, with like limitations, the President shall assign to duty in said bureau one officer with the rank of colonel, one officer with the rank of lieutenant-colonel, one officer with the rank of major, one officer with the rank of captain, three officers with the rank of first lieutenant, and such clerks as may be found necessary: Provided, All such officers, except the superintendent, shall be selected from the classes hereafter indicated in the sections of this act.

• "Sec. 2. There shall be assigned from the general staff or Invalid Corps, or from officers certified by the proper medical boards to be unfit for service in the field, and from drillmasters now employed in the enrolling service, a sufficient number of officers to perform the duties herein prescribed, in the several States, with the temporary rank of colonel, lieutenant-colonel, major, captain, or lieutenant, according to the nature and importance of the duties prescribed.
• "Sec. 3. Be it further enacted, That the President may appoint, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, for duty in the conscript service, with the temporary rank aforesaid, persons from civil life: Provided, The said persons so appointed be otherwise exempt from military service, or found by medical examination [sic] for light duty, or are over the age of forty-five years.
• "Sec. 4. Nothing in this act shall be construed to prevent the President from assigning to conscript service officers now engaged in that service, or officers in the Army of any rank.
• "Sec. 5. Be it further enacted, That it shall be the duty of the officers of conscription, under the control and direction of the bureau, to make and keep records of the condition of the various branches of the military service within their respective districts, and to make monthly returns of the same to the bureau, through the commandant of conscripts of the State, and in furtherance of this purpose it shall be the duty of all officers and others employed in the service of the Confederate States, and not actually in the field nor attached to any army in the field, including quartermasters and commissaries and their agents, commanders of posts; provost-marshals, officers of the ordnance, after and mining and medical bureaus; and others, to make certified monthly returns, to the nearest conscript officer, of the nature and exact condition of their service, which returns shall be forwarded as above directed.
• "Sec. 6. Generals commanding the reserve forces shall be required, on the demand of the commandant of conscripts for the State, to place at his disposal

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  and for the enforcement of the duties imposed upon him such detachments of the reserve forces as may be deemed necessary.

• "Sec. 7. For the purpose of facilitating the granting of details and exemptions under the act of the seventeenth day of February, eighteen hundred and sixty-four, to persons Who may be more useful to the country in agricultural and mechanical pursuits than in the military service, there shall be appointed by the President in each county, district, or parish an agricultural board, consisting of three farmers or planters over the age of fifty years, to whom shall be referred by the county, district, or parish enrolling officers every application for a detail in their respective counties, districts, or parishes, and whose duty it shall be to Inquire and report upon the merits of such applications, which report, with the application, shall be forwarded to the commandant of conscripts for the State; and if he approve such application the detail shall be allowed. If the commandant of conscripts disapproves such application, the adjutant shall have the right of appeal to the Superintendent of the Bureau of Conscription, whose decision shall be final.
• "Sec. 8. There shall be assigned to each Congressional district a medical board, consisting of three surgeons, at least one of whom shall be an army surgeon, who, after due notice of the time and place of their meeting, shall, under the direction of the commandant of conscripts, visit each county of the district at least once in every two months, and shall examine for discharge or recommendation for light duty all conscripts who may be brought before them. Every discharge granted by the said medical board shall be final and shall relieve the party so discharged from all military service in the future, when the disability is permanent and the cause of it is set forth in the certificate.
• "Sec. 9. The power to order general courts-martial, assigned in the sixty-fifth article of war to general officers commanding armies, or colonels commanding separate departments, is hereby extended to the general or field officer acting as superintendent of conscription, in all cases of persons attached to the conscript service or under his orders, other than general officers, He shall also have power to order courts of inquiry in like cases, under the condition of the ninety-second article of war. The general court-martial hereby authorized to be ordered shall not be composed of less than three nor more than seven members, who shall be selected from among any officers of the Invalid Corps, or drillmasters, or officers of the general staff or line of the Army who may be at the time attached to the conscript service, whether by transfer or temporary assignment, including the detachments of reserve forces hereinbefore provided for in section sixth of this act."

Pending which,

The morning hour having expired,

On motion of Mr. Russell, the Calendar was postponed to enable him to move a suspension of the rules.

The rules having been suspended,

Mr. Russell, from the select committee on the bill "to levy additional taxes for the year eighteen hundred and sixty-five for the support of the Government," reported

A bill "to provide for the immediate payment of arrears due to the Army and Navy;"
which was read a first and second time.

On motion of Mr. Russell, the bill was postponed, made the special order for Monday next and from day to day after the morning hour, and ordered to be printed.

Mr. Russell, from the same committee, reported

A bill "to provide means to support the Government and carry on the war;"
which was read a first and second time, postponed, made the continuing special order immediately after that just assigned for Monday next, and ordered to be printed.

Mr. Hilton, from the same committee, offered the views of a minority of the committee in the shape of a bill; which was ordered to be printed.

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

Mr. Speaker: The Senate have passed, without amendment, a joint resolution of this House of the following title, viz:

• H. R. 28. Joint resolution authorizing the transfer of funds in the Quartermaster-General's Department.

The President of the Confederate States has notified the Senate that he did. on the 14th instant, approve and sign a joint resolution (S. 26) entitled "Joint resolution of thanks to Mr. John Lancaster, of England, for his friendly conduct toward the commander, officers, and crew of the Alabama."

Mr. Cruikshank, from the Committee on Enrolled Bills, reported as correctly enrolled

• S. 28. Joint resolution of thanks to the officers and soldiers of Gen. Bushrod Johnson's old brigade of Tennessee troops and the brigade of the late General Archer, composed of Tennessee and Maryland troops, now in the Army of Northern Virginia;
• S. 20. Joint resolution relating to the manufacture of railroad iron and to new lines of railroad;
• S. 29. Joint resolution extending the provisions of the joint resolution to allow sick and wounded officers of the Army transportation to their homes, and hospital accommodations, approved June 10, 1864;
• S. 179. An act to amend an act to provide for holding elections for Representatives in the Congress of the Confederate States from the State of Missouri, approved January 19, 1864; and
• S. 86. An act fixing the salaries of certain civil officers in the Trans-Mississippi Department.

And the Speaker signed the same.

On motion of Mr. Horatio W. Bruce, the House resolved itself into secret session; and having spent some time therein, resolved itself into open session.

On motion of Mr. Russell,

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

SECRET SESSION.

The House being in secret session,

Mr. Snead moved that the rules be suspended to enable him to offer a resolution.

The motion was lost.

The House resumed the consideration of the unfinished special order, viz:

The bill "to increase the military force of the Confederate States."

Mr. Sexton moved that the House resolve itself into open session.

The motion was lost.

On motion of Mr. Cluskey,

The House took a recess until 7 o'clock.

Having reassembled,

Mr. Cruikshank, from the Committee on Enrolled Bills, reported as correctly enrolled

• S. 102. An act to authorize the exportation of produce and merchandise bought from the Government.

And the Speaker signed the same.

On motion of Mr. Russell,

The House resolved itself into open session.

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