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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 --NINETY-SEVENTH DAY--FRIDAY, March 3, 1865.
OPEN SESSION.
The House met pursuant to adjournment, and was opened with prayer by the Rev. Mr. Teasdale.
Mr. Lyon, from the committee of conference on the disagreeing votes of the two Houses on a bill (H. R. 229) entitled "An act to provide more effectually for the reduction and redemption of the currency," made the following report; which was adopted, to wit:
The committee of conference appointed by the two Houses to consider and act upon the disagreeing votes of the two Houses growing out of the amendment made by the Senate to House bill 229, entitled "An act to provide more effectually for the reduction and redemption of the currency" (the House having disagreed to the several amendments made by the Senate to the bill), have had the subject under consideration, and report that they are unable to agree upon the subject-matter of disagreement referred to them, and they therefore ask to be discharged from the further consideration of the subject.
Mr. Smith of North Carolina offered the following resolution:
Resolved (the Senate concurring), That the President of the Senate and Speaker of the House of Representatives adjourn their respective Houses on Wednesday next, the eighth instant, at twelve o'clock meridian.
The question being on the passage of the resolution,
Mr. Goode demanded the yeas and nays thereon;
Which were ordered,
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Yeas: Barksdale, Batson, Blandford, Boyce, Carroll, Chambers, Chrisman, Clopton Conrow, Dupré, Ewing Farrow, Fuller, Gaither, Gilmer, Hilton, J. T. Leach, Logan, Machen; Murray, Pugh, Ramsay, Rogers, Sexton, Simpson, J. M. Smith, W. E. Smith, Smith of North Carolina, Turner, Villeré, and Witherspoon.
Nays: Baldwin, Bradley, Burnett, Clark, Colyar, De Jarnette, Gholson, Goode, Hartridge, Hatcher, Herbert, Holliday, Johnston, Keeble, Lyon, McCallum, McMullin, Menees, Miles, Perkins, Russell, Staples, Swan, Triplett, Wickham, and Mr. Speaker.
A message was received from the Senate, by Mr. Nash, their Secretary; which is as follows, to wit:
Mr. Speaker: The Senate have passed bills of the following titles; in which they request the concurrence of this House:
The Senate have concurred in the amendment of the House of Representatives to the bill (S. 208) to provide for returned prisoners of war.
And they have concurred in the amendment of the House to the bill (S. 191) to abolish the office of all officers engaged in discharging the duties of provost-marshals, except within the lines of an army in the field, with an amendment; in which they request the concurrence of this House.
The Senate insist on their amendments, disagreed to by the House of Representatives, to the bill (H. R. 350) to diminish the number of exemptions and details, agree to the conference asked by the House of Representatives on the disagreeing votes of the two Houses thereon, and have appointed Mr. Orr, Mr. Caperton, and Mr. Burnett managers at said conference on their part.
The President of the Confederate States has notified the Senate that on the 28th ultimo he approved and signed the following acts:
Mr. Turner presented the memorial of citizens of the Fifth Congressional district of North Carolina, praying an amendment of the tax laws; which was referred to the Committee on Claims.
Mr. Turner offered the following resolutions:
Resolved, That the report of General John S. Preston, Superintendent of Conscription, shows laxity and culpable neglect in the execution of the conscript law.
Resolved, That neither Congress nor the country looks to General Pillow for a faithful execution of the laws, and any failure, delay, or partiality in their execution must rest upon the President and not upon General Pillow.
Resolved, That General Preston is in error as to the number of conscripts furnished by the State of North Carolina, as well as in the number of his so-called quasi volunteers.
On the passage of the same, Mr. J. T. Leach demanded the yeas and nays;
Which were ordered,
Yeas: Anderson, Atkins, Baldwin, Barksdale, Batson, Baylor, Blandford, Bradley, Branch, Bridgers, Carroll, Chrisman, Clark, Clopton, Colyar, Conrow, De Jarnette, Dickinson, Dupré, Elliott, Ewing, Farrow, Funsten, Gaither, Gholson, Goode, Gray, Hanly, Hartridge, Hatcher, Herbert, Hilton, Holliday, Johnston, Keeble,
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Lyon, Machen, McCallum, McMullin, Menees, Miles, Perkins, Pugh, Rogers, Russell, Sexton, Simpson, J. M. Smith, W. E. Smith, Snead, Staples, Swan, Triplett, Villeré, Witherspoon, and Mr. Speaker.
Nays: Fuller, J. M. Leach, J. T. Leach, Logan, Ramsay, Smith of North Carolina, and Turner.
And the resolutions were adopted.
Mr. Lyon moved to suspend the rules, to enable him to report from the Committee on Ways and Means.
The motion did not prevail.
Mr. Turner offered the following resolutions:
Resolved, That the treatment of our late returned prisoners of war is a reproach to the Confederate Government; their rations have been short, their fuel scarce and indifferent (much of it green pine), their lodgings, in many instances, cold, wet, and uncomfortable, and their sufferings under such treatment unnecessarily prolonged by unnecessary delay in granting furloughs.
Resolved, That the Secretary of War be, and he is hereby, requested to see to it that the prisoners of war yet to come shall not be thus treated and thus delayed in obtaining furloughs.
Pending which,
The morning hour having expired,
Mr. Barksdale, under a suspension of the rules, introduced
A bill "for the relief of W. J. Williams;" which was read first and second times and referred to the Committee on Claims.
And a bill "to amend all act to authorize the appointment of quartermasters and assistant quartermasters in certain cases, approved June fourteenth, eighteen hundred and sixty-four;" which was read first and second times and referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.
On motion of Mr. Rogers, leave of absence was granted his colleague, Mr. Hilton, on account of the continued and dangerous illness of a member of his family.
Under a suspension of the rules, Mr. Perkins, from the Committee on Prisoners and the Exchange of Prisoners, made a report; which was laid on the table and ordered to be printed.
Mr. Lyon, from the Committee on Ways and Means, under a suspension of the rules, reported and recommended the passage of
A bill "making an appropriation for the construction and repair of railroads for military purposes for the year eighteen hundred and sixty-five;"
which was read first and second times.
The question being on postponing the bill and placing it on the Calendar,
It was decided in the negative.
The rule requiring the bill to be considered in Committee of the Whole was suspended, and the bill was engrossed, read a third time, and passed, and the title was read and agreed to.
Also, a bill "making an appropriation for the value of the schooner Isabel;" which was read first and second times.
The question being on postponing the bill and placing it on the Calendar,
It was decided in the negative, and on motion of Mr. Smith of North Carolina, the bill was referred to the Committee on Claims.
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Mr. Lyon, from the same committee, reported and recommended the passage of
A bill "regulating the compensation of Government officers, clerks, and employees in the city of Petersburg;"
which was read first and second times.
The question being on postponing the bill,
It was decided in the negative, and the bill was engrossed, read a third time, and passed, and the title was read and agreed to, and a motion to reconsider the vote on the passage of the same did not prevail.
Mr. Lyon, from the same committee, reported and recommended the passage of
A bill "to construe and declare more explicitly the meaning of an act to increase the compensation of the heads of the several Executive Departments;"
which was read first and second times.
The question being on postponing the bill and placing it on the Calendar,
It was decided in the negative.
Mr. Clopton moved to amend the bill by inserting after the word "Bureaus" the words "and including the Commissioner of Indian Affairs."
The amendment was agreed to, and the bill as amended was engrossed, read a third time, and passed, and the title was read and agreed to.
Mr. Baldwin, from the Committee on Ways and Means, reported and recommended the passage of
A bill "to amend the acts to regulate the assessment and collection of taxes in kind;"
which was read first and second times.
The question being on postponing the bill,
Mr. Wickham moved to amend the seventh section by adding thereto the words:
But when the taxpayer does not produce a sufficiency of food in any year for the supply of the persons and animals living and employed on the property on which the tax in kind is produced, he shall be entitled to commute the same by the payment of the money value thereof.
Upon which Mr. Fuller demanded the yeas and nays;
Which were ordered,
Yeas: Baylor, Blandford, Branch, Carroll, Clopton, Cruikshank, Darden, Farrow, Foster, Fuller, Gilmer, Herbert, J. T. Leach, Logan, McMullin, Murray, Ramsay, Rogers, Smith of North Carolina, Staples, Swan, Turner, and Wickham.
Nays: Baldwin, Batson, Boyce, Bridgers, Horatio W. Bruce, Burnett, Chambers, Colyar, Conrad, De Jarnette, Dupré, Ewing, Funsten, Gaither, Goode, Hatcher, Holliday, Johnston, Keeble, Lyon, McCallum, Miller, Pugh, Russell, Simpson, J. M. Smith, W. E. Smith, Triplett, Villeré, Witherspoon, and Mr. Speaker.
The amendment was not agreed to.
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Mr. Logan moved to amend the seventh section by adding thereto the following proviso:
Provided, That the families of soldiers in the Army and those soldiers discharged or retired from active service in the field on account of physical disability, and whose families are composed entirely of white members, whose farms are cultivated by their families, shall not be liable to any tax in kind.
Upon which Mr. J. T. Leach demanded the yeas and nays;
Which were ordered,
Yeas: Anderson, Barksdale, Batson, Baylor, Blandford, Carroll, Clopton, Conrad, Cruikshank, Darden, De Jarnette, Dickinson, Farrow, Fuller, Gaither, Gilmer, Goode, Hanly, Hartridge, Herbert, Holliday, Keeble, J. M. Leach, J. T. Leach, Logan, McCallum, McMullin, Menees, Miles, Murray, Ramsay, Rogers, Russell, Sexton, Simpson, J. M. Smith, W. E. Smith, Smith of North Carolina, Staples, Turner, Wickham, and Witherspoon.
Nays: Baldwin, Branch, Horatio W. Bruce, Chambers, Conrow, Dupré, Ewing, Funsten, Hatcher, Johnston, Lyon, Machen, Miller, Snead, Triplett, and Villeré.
Mr. Smith of North Carolina moved to amend by striking out section 7; which is as follows, to wit:
That the words "two hundred bushels of corn" and the words "and the forage derived from the corn plant shall also be exempt in all cases where the corn is not taxed in kind" and the words "and that producers shall be paid the expenses of transportation of their tithes from the place of production to the place of delivery at the usual rates of compensation paid by the Government in the State in which the delivery is made" be stricken from the fourth article of the tenth section of the act amending an act to levy taxes, etc., approved February seventeenth, eighteen hundred and sixty-four.
The amendment was agreed to.
Mr. Chambers moved to amend by striking out the last section; which is as follows, to wit:
It shall be the duty of the producer, in all cases, to gather and deliver to the Government the tithe due from him upon all his crops, whether the residue of the crops be gathered by him or not.
Mr. McMullin moved to amend by adding as an additional section the following, to wit:
That five pounds of wool for each member of the family shall be exempt from the tax in kind.
The amendment was not agreed to.
Mr. Logan moved to amend by adding as an additional section the following, to wit:
Families of soldiers in the Army and those soldiers discharged or retired from active service in the field on account of physical disability, and whose families are composed entirely of white members, whose farms are cultivated by their families, shall not be liable to any tax in kind.
The amendment was agreed to.
Mr. Chambers moved to amend by adding as an additional section the following, to wit:
That in districts declared by the Secretary of War impracticable for the collection of the tax in kind, where the money value thereof is required, the collector of the money tax shall receive in discharge thereof from any taxpayer
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the receipt of any officer or agent authorized to collect tax in kind, when such receipt shall show that said tax in kind, or any part thereof, has been delivered to such officer or agent, either before or after the district had been so declared impracticable, and in all cases in which taxpayers in such impracticable districts have been heretofore required to pay the money value of the tax in kind. after having delivered to an officer or agent duly authorized to collect tax in kind any portion of said tax, the collector of the money tax shall receive the receipt of such officer or agent in payment of said money tax for that or any subsequent year.
Mr. Smith of North Carolina moved to amend the second section of the bill by striking out the words
all produce subject to a tax in kind shall be valued in Confederate currency at the rates established by the assessor in valuing the tithe of the same in the neighborhood,
and inserting in lieu thereof the words
the agricultural products of his land grown during the year for which taxes are assessed shall not be included in the estimate.
The amendment was agreed to, and the bill as amended was engrossed, read a third time, and passed, and a motion to reconsider the vote on the passage of the bill did not prevail.
The Chair presented a bill (S. 213) "to provide for the organization of the Bureau of Inspection;" which was read first and second times and referred to the Committee on Military Affairs.
Also, a bill (S. 191) "to abolish the office of all officers engaged in discharging the duties of provost-marshals, except within the lines of an army in the field," which had been returned from the Senate with an amendment to the amendment of the House.
The question being on agreeing to the amendment of the Senate: which is as follows, to wit:
Add as additional section the following, to wit:
"That all provost guards shall be from the reserve forces or from men who have been disabled or found fit for light duty,"
The same was concurred in.
Also, a bill (S. 215) "to appropriate money to pay the expenses of the Joint Select Committee on the Subject of the Treatment and Exchange of Prisoners;" which was read first and second times and referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.
Mr. Sexton, under a suspension of the rules, reported and recommended the passage of
A bill "to establish certain post routes therein named;"
which was read first and second times.
The question being on postponing the bill and placing it on the Calendar,
It was decided in the negative.
Mr. Smith of North Carolina moved to amend the bill by adding thereto the following, to wit:
The bill as amended was engrossed, read a third time, and passed.
The title was read and agreed to, and a motion to reconsider the vote on the passage of the same did not prevail.
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Mr. Cruikshank, from the Committee on Enrolled Bills, reported as correctly enrolled
And the Speaker signed the same.
Mr. Sexton, from the Committee on Post-Offices and Post-Roads,under a suspension of the rules, reported back and recommended the passage of
A joint resolution "for the relief of postmasters in certain cases."
The question being on postponing the joint resolution and placing it on the Calendar,
It was decided in the negative, and the joint resolution was engrossed, read third time, and passed, and the title was read and agreed to.
Under a suspension of the rules, Mr. Herbert moved to take up for consideration from the table
A bill "for the relief of Senor Marco Radisch."
And the House went into Committee of the Whole, Mr. Smith of North Carolina in the Chair; and having spent some time therein, the committee rose and, through their Chairman, reported that they had, according to order, had the matter referred to them under consideration and had come to no conclusion thereon.
Mr. Chambers, under a suspension of the rules, introduced
A bill "in relation to the impressment of slaves;" which was read first and second times and referred to the Special Committee on Impressments.
Mr. Ramsay moved that the House do now adjourn.
Upon which motion Mr. Foster demanded the yeas and nays; which were not ordered, and the motion of Mr. Ramsay prevailed, and
The House adjourned until 11 o'clock a. m. to-morrow.
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