1862.

THE CONGRESSIONAL GLOBE.

sin, asked to be discharged from its further consideration; which was agreed to.

BATTLE OF PITTSBURG LANDING.

Mr. SHERMAN. I submit the following resolution:

Resolved, That the Secretary of War be directed to communicate to the Senate copies of all official reports from all officers in command, relating to the recent battles at Pittsburg Landing, on the 6th, 7th, and 8th days of April last. I ask that it lie on the table for a day or two, and I will call it up.

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. It will lie on the table.

BILL INTRODUCED.

Mr. WILKINSON asked, and by unanimous consent obtained, leave to introduce a bill (S. No. 302) to protect the property of Indians who have adopted the habits of civilized life; which was read twice by its title, referred to the Committee on Indian Affairs, and ordered to be printed.

MESSAGE FROM THE HOUSE.

A message from the House of Representatives, by Mr. ETHERIDGE, its Clerk, announced that the House had passed the bill of the Senate (No. 225) for the relief of the owners, officers, and crew of the Spanish bark Providencia.

BILL BECOME A LAW.

The message further announced that the President of the United States had approved and signed, on the 1st instant, an act (H. R. No. 406) for the relief of Francis Hüttmann.

MAJOR AND BRIGADIER GENERALS.

Mr. WILSON, of Massachusetts. I desire to call up the bill we had under consideration yesterday, limiting the number of major and brigadier generals in the Army and volunteers. It is important that it should be passed. I move that it be taken up.

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Chair is advised that that bill has not been returned from the printer.

Mr. GRIMES. There must be some mistake about it. It has not been sent to the printer. We had it under consideration yesterday, and it was laid over as the unfinished business.

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Chair is informed that it was sent to the printer, as all bills reported from committees, under the general rule of the Senate, have to be printed.

Mr. GRIMES. After the Senate takes them up to act upon them?

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The proper business in order would be the unfinished business of yesterday morning, which was the homestead bill.

ROSE M. HARTE.

Mr. SAULSBURY. I ask the Senate to take up and consider a little bill which I reported yesterday from the Committee on Patents and the Patent Office, for the relief of Rose M. Harte, widow of Edward Harte. It will take but a moment. It is a private bill that passed the Senate at a former session, and it was only prevented from becoming a law because of the adjournment of Congress before the House of Representatives could act upon it. The committee were very much in favor of it.

Mr. WADE. I will inquire what that bill is, and whether it will lead to any debate?

Mr. SAULSBURY. Not a particle. If any gentleman wishes to understand it, there is a report accompanying the bill which may be read. It was once before reported unanimously from the Committee on Patents and the Patent Office by the Senator from Maine, [Mr. FESSENDEN,] and has been again reported.

Mr. WADE. I think we had better adhere to the homestead bill. I apprehend this bill will lead to debate.

Mr. SAULSBURY. Not at all.

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Chair is informed that that bill also is in the hands of the printer. Having been reported yesterday, it was sent to the printer, and has not yet been returned. The bill before the Senate is the unfinished business of the morning hour of yesterday, the homestead bill.

HOMESTEAD BILL.

The Senate, as in Committee of the Whole, resumed the consideration of the bill (H. R. No.

125) to secure homesteads to actual settlers on the public domain, and to provide a bounty for soldiers in lieu of grants of public lands, the pending question being on the amendment of Mr. CARLILE to strike out all of the original bill after the enacting clause, and to insert the following:

That all commissioned and non-commissioned officers, musicians, or privates, who have performed or who shall hereafter perform military service under the proclamation of the President, of the 15th of April, 1861, or any of the acts of the first session of the Thirty-Seventh Congress, or under any acts which may hereafter be passed by Congress during the present war with States in rebellion against the Federal Government, or war with any foreign nation during the same; and all militia, volunteers, or State troops of any description, of any State or Territory, who have performed or who shall hereafter perform any military service in aid of the Federal Government, or in defense of their own State or Territory, against armed foes in rebellion against the Federal Government; and also every officer, commissioned and non-commissioned, seaman, ordinary seaman, flotilla-man, marine, clerk, and landsinan, who have performed or shall hereafter perform service in the Navy of the United States, in the present war, or in any foreign war during the same, shall be entitled, in lieu of the bounty of $100 authorized by law, to enter one hundred and sixty acres of any unappropriated public lands, which may at the time the application for said entry is made, be subject to preemption at $1 25 or less per acre; or eighty acres of such unappropriated lands, at $2 50 per acre; to be located in a body, in conformity to the legal subdivision of the public lands, and after the same shall have been surveyed.

Mr. CARLILE. I hope the Senate will indulge me with the yeas and nays on that proposition, and I shall not trouble the Senate with any remarks upon it.

The yeas and nays were ordered.

Mr. WADE. hope that amendment will not prevail. I do not want to enter into any argument upon it; but I will say that the bill now before the Senate is one that has been acted upon here a great many times; it is a bill that has been approved by both branches of Congress several times, although it never happened to get passed into a law. The proposition of the Senator is entirely different from that. All I want is for the Senate to vote understandingly upon it.

The question being taken by yeas and nays, resulted-yeas 11, nays 28; as follows:

YEAS-Messrs. Carlile, Davis, Henderson, Kennedy, McDougall, Powell, Saulsbury, Stark, Willey, Wilson of Missouri, and Wright-11.

NAYS-Messrs. Anthony, Bayard, Browning, Chandler, Clark, Collamer, Cowan, Dixon, Doolittle, Fessenden, Foot, Foster, Grimes, Hale, Harris, King, Lane of Indiana, Lane of Kansas, Morrill, Pomeroy, Sherman, Simmons, Sumner, Ten Eyck, Trumbull, Wade, Wilkinson, and Wilson of Massachusetts-28.

So the amendment was rejected.

The bill was reported to the Senate as amended, and the amendments were concurred in. The amendments were ordered to be engrossed, and the bill to be read the third time. The bill was read the third time.

Mr. POWELL. I ask for the yeas and nays on the passage of the bill.

The yeas and nays were ordered.

Mr. COLLAMER. I wish to make an inquiry, which I do in consequence of the form of the title as read at the desk. Does it provide for soldiers' land? Is that in it at all?

Mr. WADE. No, sir; that is all struck out. The question being taken by yeas and nays, resulted-yeas 33, nays 7; as follows:

YEAS-Messrs. Anthony, Browning, Chandler, Clark, Collamer, Cowan, Dixon, Doolittle, Fessenden, Foot, Foster, Grimes, Hale, Harris, Henderson, Howe, Kennedy, King, Lane of Indiana, Lane of Kansas, McDougall, Morrill, Pomeroy, Sherman, Simmons, Sumner, Ten Eyck, Trumbull, Wade, Wilkinson, Wilson of Massachusetts, Wilson of Missouri, and Wright-33.

NAYS-Messrs. Bayard, Carlile, Davis, Powell, Saulsbury, Stark, and Willey-7.

So the bill was passed.

It

Mr. HALE. Before that amendment is concurred in, it strikes me that it should be made more definite. I have before me a bill to incorporate a railroad company for a road to the Pacific, and there is something put in to indicate who the individuals are that are named; but I see here that there are a certain number of names picked up and put in the bill, in the first place, by the House of Representatives, without telling anything about who they are or where they belong to, and then the committee of the Senate have put in another set of names of whom we know nothing. strikes me that the least which should be done is that this thing should be made so definite that we should know who it is that we are incorporating, and then we might possibly be able to judge of the reason why these franchises are given to some twenty-six or twenty-seven persons picked up all over the United States, to the exclusion of the "rest of mankind." I think the very least the Senate should know before they adopt this amendment is where these gentlemen are from, and who they are. If they do not do that, I think I know at least three or four people whose name is Thomas Berry; it is a very common name in the State of New Hampshire, and it is common in the city of New York. I think I know a gentleman, a merchant, in the city of New York, of some considerable standing, of the name of Thomas Berry. A good many of these gentlemen are from New York. I am told there is a Thomas Berry living in the city of Washington, a very respectable gentleman. I know there are several in the county of Stafford, State of New Hampshire, of that name; and it strikes me it would be improper to incor

porate in such an indefinite and vague way a set of men without our knowing something about who they are and where they live.

Mr. MORRILL. I would say in reply to the suggestions of the Senator from New Hampshire, that the personal fitness of these persons for the place was somewhat considered by the committee; in other words, that the committee adopted these names upon the idea that they were suitable persons to be corporators in this bill. But the question of personal fitness is not a very important consideration. If the Senator will examine the bill in connection with the powers conferred upon these corporators, he will see that they do not constitute the corporation; their powers all cease as soon as the corporation is organized. All the powers conferred upon the corporators are simply to advertise, to open books of subscription, and to receive the subscriptions and call the first meeting for the choice of directors. When that has been performed, the whole powers of the corporation vest in the directors, so that before money is expended, before any of the essential powers of the corporation are to be exercised, they are vested absolutely in a board of directors.

Mr. COLLAMER. These men are mere commissioners then?

Mr. MORRILL. That is substantially true, so that I think the objection of the honorable Senator from New Hampshire perhaps is not very important. If, however, there is any person's name here who is unfit, on suggestion he will be stricken out, I dare say. It does not occur to me that the objection is a very important one. There are one or two of them to which I will call the attention of the Senate by and by.

Mr. HALE. I do not know that I shall insist on this objection, but there is more in it than my friend from Maine thinks. These corporators have very important powers conferred upon them in reference to the organization of the company, and the subscription to the stock, and, in point of fact, they will control it, and they and their friends will be the company. It has been so in other cases, and it will be so here. The objection I have to it is, simply that it is loose and indefinite. But, sir, I do not wish to thow obstructions in the way. If the committee are satisfied that they have described sufficiently these individuals, I shall not interpose the objection.

Mr. GRIMES. I did not intend to say anything about these corporations, and I should not do so but for the remark of my colleague on the committee that the fitness of the persons named in the House bill had been considered by the committee. I am unwilling that it should be understood that I have examined into the fitness of these persons. I do not know the reputation, I do not know the place of residence of some of them; and I for one, as a member of the committee, did not agree to their names being placed here. As I look upon it, I think that when I, as a member of the committee, or when I, as a member of this body, or when this body itself consents to the incorporation of the names of any individuals in an act of this kind, it says to every person who is willing or anxious to embark his capital in the enterprise and to the whole world," these are reputable, honest men; if you put your money into their keeping, they will take good care of it until such time as under the provisions of this act you are authorized to act for yourself." Now, looking at my duty in that regard, I have thought from the time this bill was introduced up to the present moment that it was my duty to inquire particularly into the character of the proposed corporators; and hence it was that in the bill which I originally introduced I selected as commissioners men of this city who were known to everybody, and if their reputations were bad it would immediately be known to the members of the Senate, and their names would be stricken out.

Now, sir, I do not know, it depends somewhat upon circumstances, whether these men are to be mere commissioners or not. It depends very much upon how you shall amend this bill before we get through with it. I understand that a proposition is to be incorporated into the bill, or will be proposed, to require twenty per cent. of the subscriptions to be paid in. That money, of course, will be paid into the hands of these men. Now, am 1 called upon to say that all of these men, or that even a majority of them, are the right men to hold that money and to dispose of it? I cannot, be

cause they are residents of remote States, of whom I know nothing, of whom indeed I have heard but very little, and of some of them not so favorably as I would desire.

Mr. CLARK. I think the remark that these men are to be commissioners, is calculated to give the Senate a wrong idea. They are declared here, in the very first section of the bill, to be a body corporate. It can only be by limitation afterwards that they are to be considered commissioners. They may be so; but you start with a body corporate, and they are to have control of the corporation.

Mr. MORRILL. What I meant to say was, that while these persons are corporators, and so represent the corporation in the outstart, they have no powers beyond the power to organize the corporation. That is all; and if Senators will examine this bill, they will find that all their powers are exhausted and they cease to exist as corporators as soon as the corporation is in a condition to proceed with the work of the corporation. Specifically they are authorized to open books of subscription; they are authorized to administer an oath to subscribers that they are bona fide subscribers. The subscription being full, they are authorized to call the first meeting for the choice of directors. The directors being elected, their powers cease, and the whole power of the corporation is in the board of directors. That is the whole thing; and when the Senator from Vermont said they were simply commissioners, I accepted the designation. They are simply to set this corporation in motion; they are not to exercise the powers that are granted to the corporation. All these powers are confided to seven directors, to be chosen, not by the corporators, but by the stockholders. Therefore, I submit that the persons named as corporators are somewhat immaterial, although I am the last man who would desire to have any improper persons here as corporators. There are none of them personally known to me, except casually; and when I said that the question of their personal fitness was the subject of consideration, meant nothing more than that, from the slight acquaintance the committee had with them, beyond what I will state hereafter, there was no question of personal unfitness in regard to them.

Mr. GRIMES. We did not know anything about it.

Mr. MORRILL. Oh, yes; the committee knew most of these corporators. There is Richard Wallach.

Mr. GRIMES. Hasbrouck; who is he?

Mr. MORRILL. I do not know. William A. Darling is one of the most reputable men in New York; and I might go on to specify, but I do not feel called upon to specify in regard to the persons. All I mean to say in regard to this point is, that it seems to me no objection lies against these persons on the score of the power they are supposed to exercise, for it is nominal, and all ceases the moment your corporation is organized.

Mr. POMEROY. I agree with the Senator from Maine that as the bill now stands these corporators are not directors; but there is a proposition to make the corporators directors, and the bill, as it came from the House of Representatives,' did make them directors for one year; and before this bill shall have passed the Senate that provision may be in it, and hence it is a matter of some importance who the corporators are. It occurs to me that this bill when it passed the Senate some time ago, had but a few corporators in it-I think seven citizens of the District. That commended itself to the Senate, and it passed without debate. It came back from the House of Representatives with some thirteen, and a large share of them I do not know, but a majority non-residents of the District. Now, the committee have run it up to twenty-six, and if it stays in this body and the other much longer, I think it will embrace half a hundred, for every time the bill moves it doubles its corporators. That very fact convinces me that there is something in the corporators; that there is some importance attached to who the corporators are. I know nothing about these men; but the fact that they increase in number and change every time the bill moves, and the fact that I see men running after this committee inquiring where they live and when they are going to meet, convinces me that there is some interest attached to this question of who the corporators are, and I

believe there is. It occurs to me-with a great deal of deference I make the suggestion-that the committee had better return to their original proposition, and, I do not care who you select, give us seven residents of this District, and have them commissioners simply; but the idea of having twenty-six men scattered over half the States in the Union, to be in the first instance corporators of a road along Pennsylvania avenue in the city of Washington, strikes me as very strange. In the first place it is an unwieldy body; you are likely never to get them together. It will retard the progress of the work of organizing the company to have these men scattered all over creation; and then the fact that they have been selected with so much care convinces me that there is something in it that I do not understand. I would suggest that the chairman of the committee himself move to amend so as to give us the original bill.

Mr. MORRILL. I will say a word of explanation in regard to these corporators. As unimportant as they are, I am fearful that some importance will be attached to them to obstruct the passage of this bill. It is true the Senate passed a bill in which there were some six or seven corporators, I believe principally residents of this city. I think it was a good bill. It went to the House of Representatives, and the House struck out all the bill except the enacting clause, and sent back to the Senate another bill-the one now before us. It was referred by the Senate to the Committee on the District of Columbia. The question was whether we would send back the Senate bill to the House of Representatives, and so get interlocked between the two Houses, or whether we would make the most of this bill, with the view of getting some act under which we could build the road, and thus avoid a controversy between the two branches. With this view, the committee concluded to take the bill as it came from the House of Representatives, take no exception to their corporators any further than we found they were objectionable, take their bill so far as we could, amend it so as to be fair to the public interests, insert such names as any member of the committee saw fit to suggest as suitable men, upon the idea that the number of corporators was immaterial to a great extent, and thus avoid the difficulty of getting interlocked between the two Houses, and that accounts for the number of these corporators.

Now, I say to the Senator from Kansas if he is disposed to legislate with the view of getting a road, he had better accept this bill. The committee had no object in the world in putting in or accepting these corporators in preference to the corporators sent to the House of Representatives in the Senate bill, than simply to accommodate the matter between the two branches and get the road built. With that view, all these amendments to the House bill were proposed. I think the House bill, as sent to the Senate, was very nearly a close corporation, shutting out all except the corporators named. The committee have amended it, or have attempted to amend it, at any rate, so as to be fair to the public and to open it to a fair competition. I think the provisions of the bill, as amended, will be found so.

Mr. POMEROY. I want to ask the Senator a question, if he will allow me.

Mr. MORRILL. Certainly.

Mr. POMEROY. If the committee have simply in view the object of building the road, why was it necessary to double the corporators? Will doubling the number of corporators facilitate the building of the road?

Mr. MORRILL. I have endeavored to explain that, Mr. President. The object was to get rid of the difficulty of a conflict between the two branches. We accepted the corporators as sent from the House of Representatives, adding only such names as any gentleman saw fit to suggest. Mr. POMEROY. The point with me is simply this: why add any?

Mr. MORRILL. They were added simply because their names were proposed. I hardly think that an inference of an ulterior purpose should be drawn from it. If the Senator will examine the bill, he will see that no injurious consequences can come from it.

Mr.SHERMAN. A bill for building a railroad in the District of Columbia is one that everybody is in favor of, and I believe the Senate is anxious to get a good bill. The bill we passed at an early

THIRTY-SEVENTH CONGRESS, 2D SESSION.

stage of the session was unobjectionable in character. It gave every man an opportunity to subscribe for a little stock, and if any more was needed it provided for it afterwards. The persons selected for corporators were persons of intelligence, well known in the District. I read the bill and was very much pleased with it. When it was sent to the House of Representatives, the Committee for the District of Columbia in the House introduced a different bill, a bill that my friend from Maine has called a close corporation, and very properly so. They introduced an entire new substitute which made a close corporation of persons not living in the city of Washington, and so framed it that no one could subscribe stock except the corporators named if they chose to exclude others. I am satisfied from a free conversation with members of the House, that their attention was not particularly called to the features of the bill, and that it would not have passed if it had been understood; and my opinion is now that if the Senate will adhere to its original bill, disagreeing to the House amendment, and send the original Senate bill back to the House, the House will agree to that bill, and then you will have the road built speedily by persons who are competent and proper. At any rate, if that course is pursued, the bill will go to a committee of conference where representatives from both Houses can agree on the terms of a bill and the whole matter will be open. I shall, therefore, in order to carry out my views, vote for all the amendments reported from the District Committee, and then I shall vote against the House amendment, as amended, and let the Senate bill go back to the House. They understand the question better now, and I believe the House will without a reference agree to the Senate bill. If not, the question of conference at once comes up, and a committee of conference will be appointed and we shall have a road. I think this body ought not to adjourn until in some way or other a concurrence between the two Houses is effected so as to make this road. The loss to the Government, the inconvenience to individuals, is very great indeed, and I regard it as a very important measure for the Government as well as for the individual citizens of Washington and strangers who come here.

The amendment to the House amendment was agreed to.

The next amendment of the committee to the amendment of the House of Representatives, was in the description of the route of the proposed railway, after it reaches the foot of the Capitol grounds, to strike out:

Thence around the northern boundary of the Capitol grounds to the northern gate thereof; through the same to the southern gate; thence along their southern boundary easterly to Pennsylvania avenue; along said avenue to Eighth street east, or Garrison street, and along said street south to the navy-yard gate, with a lateral road connecting said main road with New Jersey avenue, at its intersection with the depot of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company, And in lieu of these words to insert:

Southern boundary of the Capitol grounds; and along their southern boundary easterly to Pennsylvania avenue; along said Pennsylvania avenue to Eighth street east, or Garrison street; and along said street south to the navy-yard gate, with a lateral road running along the eastern front of the Capitol from the southern to the northern gate, and thence by street to the depot of the Baltimore and Ohio railroad; and thence from said depot through First street west to Pennsylvania avenue, so as to intersect with said main road

The amendment to the amendment was agreed to. The next amendment to the amendment was in the forty-third line of the first section, to insert the word "branch" before "railway," so as to make the clause read:

Also, a double or single track branch railway commeneing at Boundary street north, and running down Seventh street west to Pennsylvania avenue and to the Potomac. The amendment to the amendment was agreed to. The next amendment was in the forty-seventh and forty-eighth lines of the first section, after the word "west," to insert, "and New York avenue, ,”and after “Pennsylvania avenue" to strike outor to the Potomac," and insert" to a point of intersection with said first-mentioned railway," so as to make the clause read:

Also, a railway commencing at Rhode Island avenue,

WEDNESDAY, MAY 7, 1862.

and running down Fourteenth street west and New York avenue to Pennsylvania avenue, to a point of intersection with said first-mentioned railway.

Mr. DOOLITTLE. I desire to amend the section at that point, so as to require them to commence at Boundary and Fourteenth streets, and then run down Fourteenth street to New York and Pennsylvania avenues. We have some hospitals, and there is a college near Fourteenth and Boundary streets.

Mr. MORRILL. Will the Senator allow us first to act on the amendments of the committee? Mr. DOOLITTLE. Certainly.

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. It is first in order to go through with the amendments of the committee. The Chair will here take occasion to state that the amendments of the committee, being amendments to an amendment, are in the second stage, and therefore not amendable.

The amendment to the amendment was agreed to. The next amendment of the committee was in line fifty-three of the first section of the House amendment, in the clause, "a rate of fare not exceeding five cents a passenger for any distance between the termini of either of the said railways," to strike out the word "railways," and insert "main railway, or between the termini of either of said branch railways, or between either terminus of said main railway and the terminus of either of said branch railways."

Mr. HALE. I want to ask the Senator from Maine if there is not a mistake in the printing of that amendment. Should it not be "between either of the termini of said branch railways,'

instead of the termini of either of said branch railways."

Mr. MORRILL. I think the language is correct as it is, as the committee have amended it. The amendment to the amendment was agreed to. The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Chair is called upon to arrest further proceeding on this bill for the consideration of the special order of the day at this hour, which is the unfinished business of yesterday. The unfinished business, under the 15th rule of the Senate, takes priority of all special orders, and that unfinished business is the Senate bill No. 151.

Mr. MORRILL. I hope we may proceed further now with this railway bill.

Mr. TRUMBULL. I hope we shall go on with the confiscation bill. We can take this up again. The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The confiscation bill is before the Senate, and it can be laid aside only by motion.

Mr. MORRILL. Will this come up as the unfinished business to-morrow?

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. It will come up as the unfinished business of the morning hour, provided the morning hour should not be otherwise occupied.

Mr. ANTHONY. I think we can dispose of this bill in fifteen minutes or half an hour.

NEW SERIES.....No. 123.

The yeas and nays were ordered; and being taken, resulted-yeas 14, nays 23; as follows: YEAS-Messrs. Anthony, Browning, Collamer, Cowan, Davis, Doolittle, Henderson, Kennedy, Powell, Saulsbury, Sherman, Simmons, Willey, and Wilson of Missouri-14. NAYS-Messrs. Chandler, Clark, Dixon, Fessenden, Foot, Foster, Grimes, Hale, Harris, Howe, King, Lane of Indiana, Lane of Kansas, Morrill, Pomeroy, Stark, Sumner, Ten Eyck, Trumbull, Wade, Wilkinson, Wilson of Massachusetts, and Wright-23.

So the motion to postpone the special order was not agreed to.

Mr. ANTHONY. With the permission of the Senate, I wish to inquire whether this railroad bill will come up to-morrow morning in the morning hour?

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Chair is unable to answer that question.

Mr. ANTHONY. Will it not come up as the unfinished business?

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. It would, after the ordinary business of the morning hour, in case no special motion was interposed to take up some other business out of its order, which, if it should carry, would displace the railroad bill. If, however, it were left to the Chair, as soon as the ordinary morning business was disposed of, the Chair, as next in order, would call up the business of the morning hour of to-day.

Mr. ANTHONY. Nothing would be gained, then, by making it the special order for to-morrow at half past twelve.

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. Nothing at all.

CONFISCATION OF PROPERTY.

The Senate resumed the consideration of the bill (S. No. 151) to confiscate the property and free the slaves of rebels; the pending question being on the amendment of Mr. WILSON, of Massachusetts, to strike out the sixth section of the substitute proposed by Mr. COLLAMER, and in lieu thereof to insert the following:

SEC. 6. And be it further enacted, That in any State or part thereof in which the inhabitants have by the President been heretofore declared in a state of insurrection, the President is hereby authorized and required, for the speedy and more effectual suppression of said insurrection, within

thirty days after the passage of this act, by proclamation to fix and appoint a day when all persons holden to service or labor in any such State or part thereof whose service or labor is by the law or custom of said State due to one who after the passage of this act shall levy war or participate in insurrection against the United States, or give aid to the same, shall be free and discharged from all such claim to labor or service; and thereupon said person shall be forever free and discharged from said labor and service, any law or custom of said State to the contrary notwithstanding.

Mr. WILSON, of Massachusetts. I propose to withdraw that amendment to the sixth section of the amendment offered by the Senator from Vermont, and to substitute therefor another amendment, to strike out all after the first section of the amendment proposed by the Senator from Vermont, and substitute what I send to the Chair.

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. That proposition is in order. The Senator withdraws his ori

twenty minutes.

Mr. ANTHONY. I move that the consideration of the special order be postponed, for the purpose of allowing us to finish this bill.

Mr. TRUMBULL. I hope not. The hour has arrived for the special order. Let us go on

with it.

Mr. DOOLITTLE. I suggest that instead of making a motion to postpone the special order, it be laid aside, by unanimous consent, say for an hour, and let us see if we cannot finish this bill. If we cannot do it, if it leads to debate, the special order can be called up.

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The confiscation bill can only be laid aside in the mode suggested by the Senator from Wisconsin, by unani

mous consent.

Mr. TRUMBULL. I object.

Mr. ANTHONY. Then I insist on the motion to postpone the consideration of the special order, for the purpose of disposing of this bill.

Mr. TRUMBULL. On that motion I call for the yeas and nays.

The Secretary read it, as follows:

SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That this act shall not be construed in any way to affect or alter the prosecution, conviction, or punishment of any person or persons guilty of treason against the United States before the passage of this act, unless such person is convicted under this act.

SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That the President is hereby authorized and required, by such commissioners as he shall appoint, to seize the property, real and personal, of every kind whatsoever, belonging to persons hereafter acting as officers of the ariny or navy of the rebels now or hereafter in arms against the United States; persons hereafter acting as president, vice president, member of congress, head of department, civil officer, judge, foreign minister, consul, or commissioner of the so-called confederate States; persons hereafter acting as an officer, whether civil, military, or naval, of any State or Territory, who, by the constitution of the so-called confederate States, is required to take an oath to support that constitution; persons who, having held an office of honor, trust, or profit under the United States, shall hereafter take up arms against the United States; persons who, owning property in the loyal States or Territories, or the loyal portions of the disloyal States, shall hereafter assist or give aid and comfort to the present rebellion; and if within any part of the United States the inhabitants whereof have been proclaimed to be in a state of insurrection, to hold, occupy, rent, and control for the

United States until the ordinary course of judicial proceedings shall be restored in the State or district where the same is situated, and in all cases until the owners of said property can be proceeded against by legal prosecution; but no persons holden to service, commonly called slaves, shall be taken under this section; and all such personal property as shall be so taken, which is perishable or expensive in keeping, may be sold by said commissioners, who shall keep and render full accounts of all the avails and receipts from said property so sold, let, or occupied, and pay over the avails to the Treasury of the United States.

SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That whenever it shall be deemed necessary to the speedy and successful termination of the existing rebellion against the authority of the Federal Government by the President, he is hereby authorized, by such commissioners as he shall appoint, to sequester and seize the property, real and personal, of such persons not included in the preceding section as shall bear arms against the United States, or give aid and comfort to such persons, wherever situated, and hold, occupy, rent, and control said property for the United States, according to the provisions of the preceding section of this act.

SEC. 5. And be it further enacted, That if the owner of any property which may be seized, as aforesaid, shall flee from justice, so that he cannot be brought to trial, upon indictment found, and a return upon the capias issued thereon of non est inventus, an order shall be made by the court where such indictment is pending, requiring such person to appear before said court, at such time as may be fixed therein, and take his trial; which said order shall be published in such newspapers and for such time as the court may determine; and if such person shall not return and take his trial as required, such person shall be taken and deemed to have renounced all claim to any property which may have been seized as aforesaid, and he and his heirs shall be forever barred from making any claim or maintaining any action for the recovery thereof, but the same shall be confiscated and become the property of the United States.

SEC. 6. And be it further enacted, That in any State or part thereof, in which the inhabitants have by the President been heretofore declared in a state of insurrection, the President is hereby authorized and required, immediately after the passage of this act, by proclamation, to fix and appoint a day, not more than thirty days after the passage of this act, when all persons holden to service or labor in any such State or part thereof, whose service or labor is by the law or custom of said State due to one who, after the passage of this act, shall levy war or participate in insurrection against the United States, or give aid to the same, shall be free, and discharged from such claim to labor or service; and thereupon said person shall be forever free and discharged from said labor or service, any law or custom of said State to the contrary notwithstanding. And whenever any person claiming to be entitled to the service or labor of any other person shall seek to enforce such claim, he shall, in the first instance and before proceeding with the trial of his claim, satisfactorily prove that he is and has been, during the existing rebellion, loyal to the Government of the United States; and no person engaged in the military or naval service of the United States shall, under any pretense whatever, assume to decide on the validity of the claim of any person to the service or labor of any other person, or to shrrender up any such person to the claimant.

SEC. 7. And be it further enacted, That it shall be the duty of the President of the United States to make provision for the transportation, colonization, and settlement in some tropical country, beyond the limits of the United States, of such persons of the African race, made free by the provisions of this act, as may be willing to emigrate, having first obtained the consent of the Government of said country to their protection and settlement within the same, with all the rights and privileges of freemen.

SEC. 8. And be it further enacted, That the President is hereby authorized, at any time hereafter, by proclamation, to extend to persons who may have participated in the existing rebellion in any State or part thereof pardon and amnesty, with such exceptions and at such time and on such conditions as he shall declare and proclaim.

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The question is on agreeing to this amendment to the amendment offered by the Senator from Vermont.

Mr. CLARK. I suggest to the Senator from Massachusetts who moves this amendment that the fifth section as proposed by him may be amended; and if he will allow me, I will read what I think should be added to it, to see if he will adopt it. It is the fifth section, in regard to the confiscation of the property of those persons who flee from justice. I suggest that there should be added at the close of that section these words:

And all persons to whose service or labor, he, by any law or custom, had any title, commonly called slaves, shall forever thereafter be free.

So that a person who flees from justice shall lose his slaves as well as his property. I have it written, if the Senator will adopt it as a part of his amendment.

Mr. WILSON, of Massachusetts. Certainly; I accept it.

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Massachusetts modifies his proposed amendment by adding at the end of the fifth section the following:

And all persons to whose service or labor, he, by any law or custom, had any title, commonly called slaves, shall forever thereafter be free.

Mr. WILSON, of Massachusetts. It is not my purpose to detain the Senate but for a moment to make a brief explanation of the amendment. The Senator from Vermont has moved to amend the

original bill. Since that amendment was offered there have been evidences that it has met favor, or certain provisions of it have met with favor in certain quarters of the Senate. I propose to strike out all after the first section of that amendment, || which is a section for punishment for treason, and substitute the amendment which has just been read. The second section of this amendment to the amendment of the Senator from Vermont is the third section of his amendment. I should have moved to strike out all after that section, but I desired to get rid of his second section, which freed simply the slaves of those who might be convicted under the bill.

Then, sir, I propose, in the third section of my amendment to amend substantially the fourth section of the amendment of the Senator from Vermont, so as to make it imperative upon the President, that he shall not only be authorized but required to seize the property of certain classes that are specified in the section, and that have been already specified by the Senate by an amendment incorporated into the original bill of the Senator from Illinois. This amendment makes it imperative upon the President to seize the property of these classes of persons, these leaders of the insurrection, and to hold and use this property as provided for in the fourth section of the amendment proposed by the Senator from Vermont. All there is, then, in this section is this: it authorizes and requires the President to seize the property of these leading rebels, and to deal with the property as proposed by the Senator from Vermont. 'T'hen, the fourth section of this amendment to the amendment of the Senator from Vermont provides that whenever the President shall deem it necessary for the speedy and successful termination of this rebellion, he is authorized to seize the property of other persons engaged in the insurrection not specified in the third section, and to use it according to the same provisions provided for in the amendment proposed by the Senator from Vermont. In other words, if the President thinks it necessary, in order to suppress the insurrection, he may seize the property of other persons besides those mentioned in the bill, and use it in precisely the same way.

Mr. CLARK. If the Senator will pardon me a moment, I want to suggest to him at this point an amendment that I have drawn which will cover those two classes of cases. There may be in the five classes mentioned in the bill some persons whose property we do not want to take. I will either read it now or when the Senator gets through. Mr. WILSON, of Massachusetts. I will hear it read now.

Mr. CLARK. It is this:

SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That for the speedy and successful termination of the rebellion, and the punishment of those engaged therein, the President of the United States is hereby authorized, and it shall be his duty, by the marshals of the respective districts, or such commissioners or other persons as he may appoint for that purpose, to seize the property, real and personal, wherever found, of all such persons as shall have, after the passage of this act, prominently engaged in said rebellion, or notoriously incited, carried forward, or aided therein, bearing arms against the United States, or giving aid and comfort to such persons as have done so.

It includes all the prominent rebels without classifying them. There may be persons in the classes mentioned whose property we do not want to take. My amendment goes further, but I only suggest the amendment so far.

Mr. WILSON, of Massachusetts. I am not sure that the proposition of the Senator from New Hampshire is better than this section. I will read it, and if it be, I will adopt it as part of my amend

I come now to the proposed change in the sixth section. The amendment of the Senator from Vermont provides for discharging the slaves of persons under certain conditions; that is, that the President may do it if he deems it necessary for the suppression of the rebellion. He puts it in the discretion of the President. That provision in my amendment is in these words:

That in any State or part thereof, in which the inhabitants have by the President been heretofore declared in a state of insurrection, the President is hereby authorized and required, immediately after the passage of this act, by proclamation, to fix aud appoint a day, not more than thirty days after the passage of this act, when all persons holden to service or labor in any such State or part thereof, whose service or labor is by the law or custom of said State due to one who, after the passage of this act, shall levy war or participate u insurrection against the United States, or give aid to the same, shall be free, and discharged from such

claim to labor or service.

This makes it imperative upon the President to issue his proclamation, immediately after the passage of the act, to fix a day, not more than thirty days after the act is passed, and the slaves of all persons who engage in insurrection or rebellion after they have had the warning of thirty days, after the time is fixed, are made free. As I said the other day, this is the chief concern I have with the bill. I want to punish the rebels; I do not want to punish them cruelly. I want to punish them by taking from them the very cause that made them rebels; not only to punish them, but to take security for the future, to take a bond for the peace and repose of the country hereafter. This amendment makes it imperative on the President to issue a proclamation, to issue it immediately, and to fix a day not more than thirty days distant, and give notice to these rebels that the slaves of all those who are in rebellion against this Government after that day shall be free. I think this a reasonable proposition. I believe if it were submitted to the country, it would receive a vote approaching unanimity. I do not believe there is a loyal free State in this Union to-day in which, if this section, as it stands, were put to the people at the polls there would be a vote worth recording against it. I believe it is the sentiment of ninety-nine out of every hundred men who are in the ranks fighting the battles of our country.

The seventh section of my amendment to the amendment is in the bill reported by the Senator from Illinois, and makes provision for voluntary colonization. The last section of the amendment to the amendment is substantially in the amend ment proposed by the Senator from Vermont, with some modifications made necessary by the change made in the body of the bill.

I have offered this amendment in the hope to do something towards the perfection of a bill that will be effective, that will tend to the suppression of the rebellion, that will punish those engaged in it, and that will secure the future peace and welfare of the country.

Mr. CLARK. The amendment proposed by the Senator from Massachusetts, it strikes me, is an important one. I think it goes a good way towards harmonizing some of the differences in the minds of Senators. If there could be time for considering it further, or for maturing it, or if it were sent to a committee to perfect it, it seems to me the Senate might readily come to some conclusion that would be satisfactory. I do not wish to throw this measure into the hands of its enemies, but I desire that a measure shall be perfected which shall meet the general approbation. I do not desire to be upon that committee. I voted against one some days ago; but further experience in the Senate has shown me that there is some necessity of a committee for this purpose, and unless it should be strenuously objected to by the friends of the measure, and they may have fear that it would be casting it into the hands of its enemies, I will move that the whole subject, this amendment and all the other bills, be committed to a select committee of five for the purpose of being perfected.

Mr. SUMNER. I think the Senator had better say seven.

Mr. CLARK. I have no objection to seven, if my friends prefer it. I think seven will answer well enough, and we may have more consideration given to it.

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senate having once rejected a precise proposition of that character it would not strictly be in order, but as to the number, if it be the pleasure of the Senate that seven rather than any other number should