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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 --THIRTY-SECOND DAY--TUESDAY, June 7, 1864.

Journal of the Congress of the Confederate States of America, 1861-1865 [Volume 7]
THIRTY-SECOND DAY--TUESDAY, June 7, 1864.

OPEN SESSION.

The House met pursuant to adjournment, and was opened with prayer by Rev. Dr. Read.

Mr. McMullin moved that when the House adjourn to-day it adjourn to meet to-morrow at 10 o'clock.

Mr. Hilton moved to lay the motion on the table; which latter motion was lost, and the motion of Mr. McMullin prevailed.

The Chair laid before the House a Senate joint resolution (S. 12) "for the relief of Wellington Goddin;" which was read a first and second time and referred to the Committee on Claims.

Also, a Senate joint resolution (S. 9) "of thanks to General E. Kirby Smith and the officers and soldiers of his command:" which was read a first and second time and referred to the Committee on Military Affairs.

Also, a Senate joint resolution (S. 11) "relating to the exchange of the daily newspapers of the Confederate States with those of England and France;" which was read a first and second time and referred to the Committee on Post-Offices and Post-Roads.

Also, a Senate bill (S. 69) "to retire or drop field and company officers from the Army in certain cases;" which was read a first, and second time and referred to the Committee on Military Affairs.

Also, a Senate bill (S. 43) "to regulate the pay of a general assigned to duty at the seat of government under the provisions of the act approved March twenty-fifth, eighteen hundred and sixty-two;" which had been returned from the Senate with the following amendments to the amendment of the House, viz:

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• 1. Strike out, in line 1, the word "six" and insert "five."
• 2. Strike our, in lines 2 and 3, the words "five hundred" and insert "four hundred and fifty."
• 3. Strike out, in line 4, the words "four hundred" and insert "three hundred and fifty."
• 4. Strike out all after the word "month," in line 4, and insert the words "That a general commanding an army in the field shall receive, in addition to the said sum of five hundred dollars per month, one hundred dollars, and a lieutenant-general, a major-general, and a brigadier-general shall, whilst serving in the field, each receive fifty dollars per month in addition to the sum herein allowed, whilst so serving, and all laws allowing additional compensation for commanding a separate army in the field be, and they are hereby, repealed except as herein provided, and that this act shall be in force for one year, and no longer."

The amendments of the Senate were concurred in.

The Chair also laid before the House a bill (H. R. 106) "to increase the compensation of the noncommissioned officers and privates of the Army of the Confederate States;" which had been returned from the Senate with the following amendments:

• 1. Strike out, in line 4, the word "permanently."
• 2. Add at the end of bill the words "for the period of one year from the passage of this act."

The amendments of the Senate were concurred in.

The Chair also laid before the House

A bill (H. R. 134) "to amend an act entitled 'An act to establish a niter and mining bureau,' approved April twenty-second, eighteen hundred and sixty-three;"
which had been returned from the Senate with the following amendment:

Add the following section:

• "Sec. 3. That this act shall continue in force only during the present war."

The amendment of the Senate was concurred in.

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

• H. R. 98. An act to amend an act entitled "An act to reduce the currency and to authorize a new issue of notes and bonds," approved February 17, 1864;
• S. 13. An act to extend to the Navy and Marine Corps the provisions of the third section of an act to organize forces to serve during the war, approved February 17, 1864;
• S. 14. An act to amend an act entitled "An act to provide an invalid corps," approved February 17, 1864;
• S. 8. Joint resolution directing the settlement of the claim of Zedekiah McDaniel and Francis M. Ewing for destroying the Federal gunboat Cairo by means of a torpedo;
• S. 31. An act to promote the efficiency of the cavalry of the Provisional Army, and to punish lawlessness and irregularities of any portions thereof;
• H. R. 147. An act to amend an act entitled "An act to impose regulations upon the foreign commerce of the Confederate States to provide for the public defense," approved February 6, 1864;
• H. R. 119. An act to amend so much of an act entitled "An act to organize forces to serve during the war," approved February 17, 1864, as relates to the exemption of certain religious denominations;

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• H. R. 149. An act to amend an act entitled "An act to regulate the supplies of clothing to enlisted men of the Navy during the war," approved April 30, 1863; and
• H. R. 92. An act to amend the act approved February 17, 1864, entitled "An act to allow commissioned officers of the Army rations and the privilege of purchasing clothing from the Quartermaster's Department."

And the Speaker signed the same.

Mr. Lyon, from the Committee on Ways and Means, to whom had been referred a Senate bill (S. 59) "to authorize the owners of the registered eight per cent ten-year convertible bonds issued under the provisions of the act approved May sixteenth, eighteen hundred and sixty-one, to exchange the same for coupon bonds," reported back the same with the recommendation that it do pass with the following amendment:

After the word "bonds," in the twelfth line, insert the words "which bonds."

The question being on postponing the bill and placing it on the Calendar,

It was decided in the negative.

The amendment of the committee was agreed to.

The bill was read the third time and passed, and the title was read and agreed to.

Mr. Lyon, from the same committee, reported a bill "concerning the salary of the Treasurer;" which was read a first and second time.

The question being on postponing the bill and placing it on the Calendar,

It was decided in the negative.

The bill was engrossed, read a third time, and passed, and the title was read and agreed to.

Mr. Lyon, from the same committee, reported the following resolution:

Resolved, That the compensation of the pages of this House and of the clerks of the committees authorized by the House be fixed for the present session and for the next session at double the rates which were paid to the same officers of the last Congress:
which was adopted.

Mr. Sexton, from the same committee, reported

A bill to be entitled "An act to amend an act entitled 'An act to reduce the currency and to authorize a new issue of bonds and Treasury notes,' approved February seventeenth, eighteen hundred and sixty-four;"
which was read a first and second time.

The question being on postponing the bill and placing it on the Calendar,

It was decided in the negative.

The bill was engrossed, read a third time, and passed, and the title was read and agreed to.

Mr. Conrad, from the same committee, reported

A bill "to amend an act entitled 'An act for the relief of taxpayers,' approved February thirteenth, eighteen hundred and sixty-four;"
which was read a first and second time.

The question being on postponing the bill and placing it on the Calendar,

It was decided in the negative.

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The bill was engrossed, read a third time, and passed, and the title was read and agreed to.

Mr. Conrad, from the same committee, to whom had been referred

A bill "to amend the first section of an act entitled 'An act to organize the clerical force of the Treasury Department,' approved February thirteenth, eighteen hundred and sixty-two," reported back the same with the recommendation that the committee be discharged from its further consideration, and that it do lie upon the table; which was agreed to.

Mr. Conrad, from the same committee, reported a bill with the same title with the recommendation that it do pass.

The bill was read a first and second time.

And the question being on postponing the bill and placing it on the Calendar,

It was decided in the negative.

The bill was engrossed, read a third time, and passed, and the title was read and agreed to.

Mr. Hanly, from the Committee on Military Affairs, to whom had been referred

A bill "to amend an act entitled 'An act to organize forces to serve during the war,' approved February seventeenth, eighteen hundred and sixty-four,"
reported back the same with the recommendation that it do pass with the following amendment (in the nature of a substitute):

That the "Act to organize forces to serve during the war," approved February seventeenth, eighteen hundred and sixty-four, be, and the same is hereby, so amended as to allow all white residents between the ages of seventeen and eighteen and forty-five and fifty years who are prevented from enrolling themselves within the time prescribed by the said act by the occupation of the localities or country by the public enemy, and whose homes are and have been since the passage of said act beyond the lines of the Confederate armies, to organize themselves in pursuance of the sixth section of said act after their homes or localities are brought within the lines of the Confederate armies; and this privilege shall continue for the space of thirty days after the reoccupation is announced by an order issued by the Secretary of War and published in the military department in which said reoccupation may occur.

The question being on postponing the bill and placing it on the Calendar,

It was decided in the negative.

The bill was engrossed, read a third time, and passed, and the title was read and agreed to.

Mr. Staples, from the same committee, reported

A bill "to amend an act entitled 'An act to organize forces to serve during the war.' approved seventeenth February, eighteen hundred and sixty-four, so as to exempt from military service such State officers as may be exempted by State law,"
with the recommendation that it do pass.

The bill was read a first and second time.

And the question being on postponing the bill and placing it on the Calendar,

It was decided in the negative.

The morning hour having expired,

On motion of Mr. Chambers, the first special order was postponed.

Mr. Miles moved to postpone the second special order.

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The motion was lost, and special order, viz:

The bill to provide supplies for the Army and to prescribe the mode of making impressments,
was taken up for consideration.

Mr. McMullin moved to postpone the consideration of the bill until to-morrow.

The motion was lost.

Mr. Simpson submitted the following amendment to the bill (in the nature of a substitute); which was ordered to be printed:

• Section 1. The Congress of the Confederate States of America do enact, That private property shall not be impressed for the public use, except as hereinafter provided, and in all other cases the Government shall be furnished with all necessary supplies by purchase; and for this purpose there shall be established in each State a department known as the purchasing department. This department in each State shall consist of one chief officer, with the pay and allowances of a major of infantry, with as many subordinate officers as may be necessary, not, however, exceeding one for each county or district, with the pay and allowances of a captain of infantry, and as many clerks and agents as the necessities of the department may require, with the pay and allowances of privates of infantry, with commutation of quarters.
• Sec. 2. The officers in this department shall be over the age of forty-five years; shall be resident freeholders of the district or county for which they may be appointed, with the exception of the chief officer, who shall be a resident freeholder of the State, and they shall be appointed by the Secretary of War. The clerks and agents shall be appointed by the subordinate officers. with the concurrence of the chief officer in each State, and shall he appointed from those who are either over conscript age or have been declared by a medical board as unfit for field service.
• Sec. 3. These departments shall be authorized and charged with the duty of purchasing at the gold value thereof, from producers, the entire surplus in each State of all such articles as may be needed by the Government, under instructions from the Quartermaster and Commissary Generals, to be paid for in certificates which, upon their face, the Government shall promise to redeem in gold, six months after the ratification of peace; and which certificates shall be receivable in payment of all public dues, at a gold standard, compared with Treasury notes; and these departments shall be authorized, under rules to be prescribed by the Secretary of War, to resell to the families of soldiers, and to all other persons desiring to purchase for their own consumption, so much of the produce purchased by them as the Government may not need for its own use, at original cost, with a sufficient per cent added to cover waste, to be paid for in the certificates aforesaid, or in Treasury notes, at the market value of the property therein.
• Sec. 4. That each officer appointed under this act shall, before entering upon his duties, give bend with good and sufficient security, conditioned for the faithful performance of his duty, and that he will not, directly or indirectly, be engaged in the purchase or sale, on private account, either for himself or any other person, of any articles of the character to be purchased by him on Government account.
• Sec. 5. That any officer or agent connected with said department who shall be guilty of violating the requirements set forth in the previous section, except such as may be authorized to purchase for their own consumption, as other citizens, in addition re being liable on their bond shall, upon conviction before any court of the Confederate States having competent jurisdiction, be fined by said court in a sum not exceeding ... dollars, and be imprisoned for a term of years not less than ... years, nor more than ... years.
• Sec. 6. These departments shall be authorized to impress all supplies of food or forage, or other products which the Government may require, in the following cases, viz:
  • First. In all cases where such articles are in second hands and held for resale and not for consumption. Second. In all cases of surplus in the hands of producers where the holder and the Government agent or officers can not agree as to the gold price, or where from any other course, the holders refuse to sell to the Government, and in such cases the question of surplus and price, which shall be estimated at the gold standard, shall be determined by three disinterested freeholders of the vicinage, to be chosen one by the producer,

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    one by the officer, and the third by these two, who shall act under oath to do justice both to the Government and to the producer. And, thirdly. In all cases where the necessities of the Army, or any portion of it, may require a more prompt and speedy supply than can be furnished by purchase--which necessity shall be determined by the general commanding the department--and when so required under special orders from the general commanding the department, particularly describing what articles are urgently needed. The chief officer in each State, either through himself or by his county and district officers, may impress such articles as may thus be required, but in every such case a sufficient supply for the support of the holder and his family and to carry on his ordinary avocation shall be left, and the gold value shall be paid in the certificates aforesaid; said price, and what is Sufficient for family support, to be determined by the appraisers aforesaid, as in section above.

• Sec. 7. The Secretary of the Treasury shall be authorized to issue certificates herein required to be used in the purchase of property to the amount of millions, of such denominations and with such authentications as may be necessary, and he shall not be authorized to issue Treasury notes except to the amount of one hundred millions until the meeting of the next Congress.

Mr. J. T. Leach moved to amend the bill by striking out the word "assessed," in line 14, section 1, and inserting in lieu thereof the word "market."

The amendment was not agreed to.

Mr. McCallum submitted the following amendment:

After the word "kind," in line 12, section 1, strike out the words "shall be paid for on delivery by the post quartermasters in the several districts at the assessed value thereof" and insert in lieu thereof the words "and one-half the value thereof shall be paid for at the time of delivery by the post quartermasters in the several districts at the assessed value thereof, and for the other half certificates of indebtedness shall be delivered to the party entitled to the same in such form and under such instructions as the Secretary of the Treasury may prescribe, payable at the end of the war and bearing six per cent interest."

Mr. Conrad submitted the following amendment to the amendment:

Strike out all after the words "the other half" and insert the following: "he shall be entitled to receive certificates of debt as authorized by section fourteen of the act entitled 'An act to reduce the currency and to authorize a new issue of notes and bonds,' approved seventeenth of February, eighteen hundred and sixty-four, or if the owner of the property prefer it, said property shall be valued at the average prices of similar property in the same neighborhood in the year eighteen hundred and sixty, with twenty-five per cent added thereto, and in case the latter valuation be adopted the interest on the certificate shall be paid in specie or its equivalent in Treasury notes."

A message was received from the President, by Mr. Harrison, his Private Secretary, as follows, viz:

Mr. Speaker: On the 4th instant the President approved and signed the following acts and joint resolution:

• H. R. 8. An act to authorize the judges of the district courts of the Confederate States to appoint and change the times and places of holding the courts in their respective districts;
• H. R. 125. An act to establish certain post routes therein named; and
• H. R. 10. A joint resolution of thanks to the Ninth Regiment of Texas Infantry.

BURTON N. HARRISON,
Private Secretary.

Richmond, Va., June 7, 1864.

Mr. E. M. Bruce moved to recommit the bill and amendments to a special committee, with instructions to bring in a bill repealing that part of the existing tax law which credits the value of the tax in kind on the tax levied and levy additional money taxes on all other business property and interests to equalize all taxes with that of the agricultural interests; further, that said committee be, and is hereby, instructed

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to levy an export duty on all articles of export to meet the interest on the five hundred millions of bonds as now provided by law; and, further, consider the propriety of changing the basis of valuation from that of 1860 to that of 1864.

Mr. Montague moved to amend the instructions by striking out the whole thereof and inserting the following:
with instructions to inquire into the expediency of regulating impressments according to the valuation of eighteen hundred and sixty.

The hour of 3 having arrived,

The House took a recess until 8 o'clock.

Having reassembled,

Mr. McMullin moved a call of the House.

The motion prevailed.

Upon the call of the roll the following gentlemen answered to their names:

Messrs. Atkins, Baylor, Boyce, Branch, Eli M. Bruce, Chambers, Colyar, Conrad, Dupré, Ewing, Farrow, Foote, Funsten, A. H. Garland, R. K. Garland, Gholson, Goode, Hartridge, Heiskell, Holliday, Johnston, Keeble, Kenner, Lamkin, J. T. Leach, Logan, Machen, McCallum, McMullin, Montague, Morgan, Perkins, Pugh, Ramsay, Russell, Simpson, Singleton, Smith of North Carolina, Swan, Triplett, Witherspoon, Wright, and Mr. Speaker.

Upon a call of the absentees the following gentlemen were excused:

Mr. Barksdale, Mr. Rives, Mr. Orr, Mr. Baldwin, Mr. Welsh, Mr. Whitfield, Mr. Sexton, Mr. J. M. Smith, Mr. Villeré, Mr. Holder, Mr. Read, Mr. Hodge, Mr. Akin, Mr. Menees, Mr. Murray, and Mr. Lester.

On motion of Mr. McMullin, all further proceedings under the call were dispensed with.

On motion of Mr. Garland, the House resolved itself into secret session; and having spent some time therein, resumed business in open session.

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

Mr. Speaker: The Senate have passed, without amendment, a bill of this House (H. R. 124) making appropriations for the postal service of the Confederate States for the year 1862 and 1863.

They have passed, with amendments, a bill of this House (H. R. 108) to amend the laws relating to the tax in kind; in which amendments I am directed to ask the concurrence of this House.

Mr. Lyon, from the Committee on Ways and Means, under a suspension of the rules, reported a bill "making additional appropriations for the support of the Government;" which was read a first and second time.

The question being on postponing the bill and placing it on the Calendar,

It was decided in the negative.

The House then resolved itself into Committee of the Whole to Consider the bill just reported, Mr. Garland in the chair; and having spent some time therein, the committee rose and reported, through their Chairman, that they had had the subject referred to them trader consideration and had come to no conclusion thereon.

On motion of Mr. Atkins,

The House adjourned.

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SECRET SESSION

The House being in secret session,

The following messages were received from the Senate, by Mr. Nash, their Secretary:

Mr. Speaker: The Senate have passed, without amendment, a bill of this House (H. R. 133) making appropriations for the redemption of the seven per cent foreign loan authorized by act of Congress approved January 29, 1863.

Mr. Speaker: The Senate have passed a bill (S. 67) to organize a corps of scouts and guards to facilitate communication with the Trans-Mississippi Department; in which they request the concurrence of this House.

Mr. Speaker: The Senate have passed a bill (S. 65) to aid in the construction of ironclad gunboats for the defense of western and southern rivers; in which I am directed to ask the concurrence of this House.

The Chair laid before the House a bill of the Senate (S. 67) "to organize a corps of scouts and guards to facilitate communication with the Trans-Mississippi Department;" which was read a first and second time.

The rule having been suspended requiring it to be referred to a committee, the bill was read a third time and passed, and the title was read and agreed to.

The Chair also laid before the House a Senate bill (S. 65) "to aid in the construction of ironclad gunboats for the defense of western and southern rivers;" which was read a first and second time.

The rule having been suspended requiring it to be referred to a committee,

Mr. McMullin moved that the bill be referred to the Committee on Naval Affairs.

Pending which,

The House, on motion of Mr. Lyon,

Resolved itself into open session.

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