eighteen years of age, it is very proper; but as I understand this section, all these persons are to be convicted of these offenses or misfortunes, whichever they may be called, because it goes on to say that Such persons shall be committed by the courts in which conviction shall be had to said house of industry, with an alternate sentence to the jail or penitentiary of the District of Columbia. I submit that all after the first description, that is the class of persons "under eighteen years of age who shall be convicted of any crime other than such as are capital or punishable by imprisonment for life," is enough, perhaps, to cover all that is comprised in what follows that is sufficiently definite to amount to a crime; and I would submit to the chairman whether it is not better to strike out all except the first description which I have read down to the word "life," in the ninth line. The section will then read: That they may, at their discretion, receive into a house of industry, provided by said society, any minors, under the age of eighteen years, who shall be convicted of any crime other than such as are capital or punishable by imprisonment for life, and such persons shall be committed by the courts, &c. It seems to me that would be an improvement. It may be desirable that this class of persons may be provided for by this institution-not on the ground that they are first to be committed as criminals, to be taken as persons who are without support; but as a humane and preventive measure placed in the institution, and not require them to be first convicted by the courts, as the section now does. Mr. GRIMES. I am not going to put myself here in competition with the astute lawyers by whom I am surrounded on all sides. But it occurred to me that nobody could be committed under this bill. It was designed only to furnish a receptacle to which should be sent youths who had been convicted under the laws in force in the District of Columbia; and not only such as were convicted by the courts under other laws, whether of a municipal or of a national character, but that they might, at their discretion, receive such youths as might be sent there by their parents or guardjans, on account of their insubordination. That was my construction of the bill. I apprehend that the person who drew it never contemplated that anybody was going to be sent to this house of correction, because he should be convicted of being a vicious person, whose parents or guarddians were unable to control him. Under this bill these trustees may, in their discretion, "receive into the house of industry, provided by said society, any minors, under the age of eighteen years, who shall be convicted of any crime other than such as are capital or punishable by imprisonment for life;" or they may, at their discretion, receive such "vicious persons, whose parents or guardians are unable or unwilling to exercise proper care and discipline" over them; or they may-that is the way I read it-in their discretion receive such persons as are "destitute of suitable homes and adequate means of obtaining an honest living, and in danger of leading an idle and immoral life.' Mr. MORRILL. Then it reads "and such persons shall be committed by the courts." Mr. GRIMES. The latter part of that clause is what ought to be stricken out, if you strike out anything. Mr. WADE. I believe the object of this bill is a very laudable one and is approved by all, but I suggest whether it would not be as well to refer the bill to the Committee on the Judiciary, to see if it accomplishes the object for which it was designed. Mr. FOSTER. I think it had better be in the hands of the District Committee. Mr. WADE. I will not make the motion, but I suggest it. The PRESIDENT pro tempore. If there be no objection, the amendment suggested will be The PROSIDENT pro tempore. By common consent it will be passed over for the present. ADJOURNMENT OF CONGRESS. Mr. SAULSBURY. I move that the Senate now proceed to the consideration of the joint resolution that I introduced yesterday, for the adjournment of the two Houses of Congress on the 30th instant. Mr. SUMNER. I hope the resolution will not be taken up. Mr. SAULSBURY. I ask for the yeas and nays on the motion. The yeas and nays were ordered; and being taken, resulted-yeas 14, nays 23; as follows: YEAS-Messrs. Carlile, Davis, Dixon, Henderson, Kennedy, Lane of Indiana, Latham, Nesmith, Powell, Saulsbury, Sherman, Stark, Wilson of Missouri, and Wright 14. NAYS-Messrs. Anthony, Browning, Chandler, Clark, Collamer, Doolittle, Fessenden, Foot, Foster, Grimes, Harris, Howard, King, Lane of Kansas, McDougall, Morrill, Pomeroy, Sumner, Trumbull, Wade, Wilkinson, Willey, and Wilson of Massachusetts-23. So the motion to take up the resolution was not agreed to. MEMORIAL. Mr. HALE presented the memorial of Pierce & Bacon, of Boston, Massachusetts, praying that provision may be made for the payment of certain drafts held by them, drawn by Russell, Majors & Waddell on the War Department, and accepted by John B. Floyd, late Secretary of War; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. MESSENGERS IN SECRETARY'S OFFICE. Mr. WADE submitted the following resolution; which was considered by unanimous consent, and referred to the Committee to Audit and Control the Contingent Expenses of the Senate: Resolved, That the compensation of messengers in the office of the Secretary of the Senate shall be the same as that now received by the messengers of the Senate acting as assistant doorkeepers, to commence with the present fiscal year; and that the difference between their present pay and that to which they will be entitled under this resolution, for the present fiscal year, be paid out of the contingent fund of the Senate. PAY OF ARMY OFFICERS. to; and the amendment, as amended, was concurred in, so as to read as follows: Add at the end of section ten: Chaplains employed at the military posts called "chaplain's post" shall be required to reside at the posts, and all chaplains shall be subject to such rules in relation to leave of absence from duty as are prescribed for commissioned officers of the United States Army stationed at such posts. The SECRETARY. The committee recommend that the Senate concur in the fifteenth amendment of the House, with an amendment, in line eight, after the word "or," to strike out the word "infidelity," and insert "willful neglect of duty;" so that the clause will read: And whenever any contractor for any such supplies for either the Army or Navy shall be found guilty by a courtmartial of fraud or willful neglect of duty, he shall be punished by fine, imprisonment, or such other punishment as the court-martial shall adjudge. Mr. GRIMES. I should like to know whether this vote adopts the whole amendment of the House. Mr. LATHAM. All, with the exception of that change of words. Mr. GRIMES. Then I should like to know what the amendment of the House is. The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The whole amendment of the House will be read. The Secretary read the fifteenth amendment of the House of Representatives, which is to insert as a new section: SEC.. And be it further enacted, That hereafter every contractor for subsistence, clothing, arms, ammunition, munitions of war, and for every description of supplies for the Army or Navy of the United States, shall be subjected to the rules and articles of war, as far as the same are applicable; and whenever any contractor for any such supplies for either the Army or Navy shall be found guilty by a court-martial of fraud or infidelity, he shall be punished by fine, imprisonment, or such other punishment as the courtmartial shall adjudge; and any person who shall contract to furnish supplies of any kind or description for the Army or Navy shall be deemed and taken as a part of the land or naval forces of the United States, for which be shall contract to furnish said supplies, and be subject to the rules and regulations for the government of the land and naval forces of the United States. The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Committee on Military Affairs propose to amend this amendment of the House by striking out in the eighth line the word "infidelity," and inserting "willful neglect of duty." The amendment to the amendment was agreed to; and the amendment, as amended, was concurred in. Mr. GRIMES. There are eight new sections proposed to be inserted by the House of Representatives. I suppose we are to take them up seriatim, cach section by itself. The PRESIDENT pro tempore. They will be read in turn. The SECRETARY. The committee recommend that the Senate concur in the fifth, sixth, seventh, The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Committee on Military Affairs, to whom the bill was referred, have reported certain amendments to the amendments which have been made by the House ninth, twelfth, thirteenth, fourteenth, and six of Representatives, and they will be read. The Secretary proceeded to read them. The first amendment of the House of Representatives was to add to the second section of the bill the following provisoes: Provided, however, That when forage in kind cannot be furnished by the proper department, then, and in all such cases, officers entitled to forage shall be entitled to commute the same, according to existing regulations: And provided further, That officers of the Army and of volunteers, assigned to duty which requires them to be mounted, shall, during the time they are employed on such duty, receive the pay, emoluments, and allowances of cavalry officers of the same grade respectively. The committee proposes to amend the amendment by striking out the following words: And provided further, That officers of the Army and of volunteers, assigned to duty which requires them to be mounted, shall, during the time they are employed on such duty, receive the pay, emoluments, and allowances of cavalry officers of the same grade respectively. The amendment to the amendment was agreed to; and the amendment, as amended, was concurred in. The committee recommend that the Senate con adopted by unanimous consent, or by reconsider-resentatives, with an amendment, to add after the cur in the third amendment of the House of Reping the vote ordering the bill to a third reading. Mr. CLARK. I suggest that it be passed by informally, and that we take up some other bill, and by that time we can have it amended so as to make no trouble. The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The question is on postponing the bill. Mr. GRIMES. Let it be passed over informally. word "and," in the second line, the words "all chaplains." The House amendment is to insert at the end of section ten: Chaplains employed at the inflitary posts called "chaplain's post" shall be required to reside at the posts, and shall be subject to such rules in relation to leave of absence from duty as are prescribed for commissioned officers of the United States Army stationed at such posts. The amendment to the amendment was agreed teenth amendments of the House. The fifth amendment is to insert at the end of the first proviso of the thirteenth section: But said officers so discharged from arrest may be tried whenever the exigencies of the service will permit, within twelve months after such release from arrest. The amendment was concurred in. The sixth amendment of the House was to strike out section sixteen, in the following words: SEC. 16. And be it further enacted, That hereafter the rate of mileage of members of Congress shall be reduced fifty per cent., to be computed by the most direct traveled route from their places of residence to the seat of Congress, respectively. A statement of the mileage of each Senator shall be certified to the Secretary of the Senate, and of each Representative and Delegate to the Sergeant-at-Arms of the House of Representatives by the Postmaster General, within thirty days after the commencement of the first session of each Congress: Provided, That until a railroad is constructed to the Pacific coast, the mileage of Senators and Representatives from beyond the Rocky mountains shall be computed by the usually traveled route. The PRESIDENT pro tempore. Will the Senate agree to the amendment? Mr. SHERMAN. What is the amendment? of Representatives propose to amend the bill by The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The House striking out the section which has been read, and the Committee on Military Affairs recommend that the Senate concur in the amendment of the House. Mr. SHERMAN. I hope the Senate will not concur in the amendment of the House. I am prepared to state that the House struck this section out by a misapprehension. The history of it is this, if I gathered it correctly: a member from THE OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS OF CONGRESS, PUBLISHED BY JOHN C. RIVES, WASHINGTON, D. C. THIRTY-SEVENTH CONGRESS, 2D SESSION. the State of New York moved to amend this section by confining the mileage to the simple expenses; that was adopted by a vote; and then the whole was stricken out. I am satisfied that a majority of the House of Representatives approve the section as it stands, and I hope the Senate will adhere to it, and in that way we shall get rid of this mileage question, I think forever. The section allows Senators and members half the present mileage, a sum more than sufficient to pay their expenses in coming here; and I am satisfied the House will agree to that; but when the amendment was adopted reducing the mileage to the mere expenses of travel, leaving it indefinite, so that each member would be at liberty to charge as he chose, so that there would be no fixed standard, the whole section was rejected by the House. I hope the Senate will adhere to the section, and I have no doubt the House will assent. The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Chair will state the question, that all may understand it. The words which have been read were part of the bill of the Senate. The House of Representatives amend the bill by striking out the words which have been read relating to the question of mileage. The Committee on Military Affairs report in favor of concurring in the House amendment; and if the Senate concur in that proposition, the words are stricken out; otherwise, they remain. Mr. WILSON, of Massachusetts. The Chair has stated the question precisely; and I will simply say that, on a thorough examination, it was thought that this proposition was not germane to the bill exactly; but as the Senate had expressed its opinion strongly in favor of it, and rumor said that the House would be in favor of it if it was understood properly, we thought it better to put it on some other bill, and not peril this bill with it. I am for the proposition; but I think we had better not risk this bill with it. Mr. SHERMAN. There has been some misapprehension-and I am very sorry to see it-in regard to these measures. At the commencement of the session I reported several bills embracing many of the provisions contained in this bill, and contemplating a reduction of various civil officers of the Government. At the suggestion of the Senator from Massachusetts, and other Senators who desired to accomplish the same purpose, I withheld my bills, or rather I did not press action on them, on the ground that by this bill we had reduced the compensation of all civil officers of the Government ten per cent.; had cut down mileage, and lopped off many other excrescences; and on that ground alone, as the Senate had already attached these propositions to a bill which was important in character and which could undoubtedly pass, I waived all action on my bills. Now, it is proposed to strike out all these reforms, all these measures of economy, and allow this Congress to adjourn without passing upon any of them. If the Senate shall concur in the House amendments, I give due notice that, not at this but at the next session of Congress, I will propose these measures of reform. I believe it will be more creditable to the Senate and better for the country if the Senate insist upon these propositions to reduce the compensation of all the officers of the Government ten per cent., to reduce the mileage one half, and to adopt various reforms in the incidental expenses of the Army. If that is done, I for one shall be perfectly satisfied, and will not press the other measures; but if that is not done, I believe the public necessities will be so great, the demand upon us for these reforms will be so urgent, and the reforms are so much needed, that I should not do my duty if I did not press the other bills. If we now insist on what is clearly right, by reducing the mileage one half, by making a general reduction of ten per cent. on the salaries of all the officers of the Government in this time of peril, confining it simply to the present rebellion, if we will cut off these various excrescences in the pay and emoluments of the Army, I believe our duty will have been accomplished, and the public will be satisfied. I hope, therefore, the Senate will insist on these propo FRIDAY, JUNE 20, 1862. sitions in this bill. The idea that they are not pertinent to this bill is simply ridiculous. This bill affects the pay of the Army and various incidental expenses. The reduction of ten per cent. is general, and applies to the Army and Navy and all other officers. The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Ohio will suspend his remarks. The morning hour having expired, the unfinished business of yesterday-the Pacific railroad bill-is the special order at this time. The Chair is advised that that bill, having been ordered to be printed with the amendments that have been agreed to, has not yet been returned from the printer. It will therefore be impracticable to proceed with that business, and the present bill will continue under consideration. The question still is on concurring in the amendment of the House of Representatives, and the Senator from Ohio has the floor upon it. Mr. ANTHONY. Allow me to make an explanation in justice to the Superintendent of Printing. The bill would have been here at the usual hour, but we have changed the hour of meeting, and he was not aware of it. It will be here at one o'clock. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Ohio has the floor on the question of concurring in the House amendment. Mr. SHERMAN. I have stated nearly all that I desire to state. The proposition is a very plain one. It needs no argument. The present mileage, as we all know, was framed upon a state of facts that does not now exist. It was designed to give members of Congress forty cents a mile at a time when they could travel but twenty miles a day, and when a day's travel would be equivalent to eight dollars. The whole reason for the old system of mileage has passed away; and I think we ought to recognize that fact, and reduce our mileage now to a reasonable compensation for our expenses in coming here. We have already increased the salary, placed our salary upon a different position; and this mileage will always be a source of annoyance and trouble. I should like to have the two or three hundred dollars additional pay that the increased mileage would give me, but I am perfectly willing to give it up, though I am no more able to do it than other Senators. I am willing to forego it in accordance with what I conceive to be the just and reasonable demand of the people, that we should economize as far as we can. I do not know in this Government anything that is more exorbitant or more unjust than the present rate of mileage. It was intended simply as a means of compensating and paying the expenses of members of Congress from their residences to this point. It is grossly exorbitant. It is indefensible in principle. If there is a desire to increase the compensation of Senators and Representatives, do it directly. I know Senators receive but very little pay in proportion to the ability required for the office; but the present system is unequal; because a Senator who lives so remote as California gets $6,000 a year for mileage, and a Senator who lives in Maryland gets perhaps $100. It is grossly unequal. A Senator living in Iowa, whose expenses are probably thirty or forty dollars in coming here, gets two or three thousand dollars mileage in the course of a year; while a Senator living near by gets very little. I think, therefore, we ought to correct, to a reasonable extent, these abuses, and do it now. If we do not do it now, we keep this question before us a constant source of annoyance and trouble; and we shall never get so reasonable and fair a proposi tion as we have now in the bill; and I am satisfied by the statements of different members ofthe House that the thing was disposed of there under a misapprehension that the amendment proposing to reduce the mileage still more was adopted; and then, after a little reflection, it was found that that amendment was totally impracticable and was unjust, and therefore the whole proposition was defeated; but a majority of the House would be very willing to compromise and agree to this proposi tion. I hope, therefore, it will be adhered to. Mr. WILSON, of Massachusetts. I agree NEW SERIES.....No. 176. with the Senator from Ohio that this is a just provision, and I voted for it originally most cheerfully. We have a provision in the ninth section of the bill making a deduction of ten per cent. on the compensation of all persons employed in the civil, military, and naval service of the country. When it was first introduced it received the gen. eral support of the Senate; but before it left the Senate it barely passed by a very small majority. It was stricken out in the House of Representatives, I am told, by general consent. The House also struck out this section in regard to mileage. I do not like to risk this bill upon a provision, which, however important in itself, is of very little consequence in comparison with the bill. This bill has more than twenty sections, and in nearly every section money will be saved to the Government by its passage. It is a reformatory bill, and if carried out faithfully and honestly will save several million dollars a year. We are told that the House of Representatives may stand by this section, if it goes back there. I do not feel confident of that. I think that if the Senate and the House are in favor of the principle of the provision itself, it is the easiest thing to put it upon some bill where it will surely pass. We can put it in some of the appropriation bills or some of these bills where it will come up fairly, and be tested, and where nothing will be risked by it. Therefore, I think the committee right in recommending that we concur with the House in this amendment. The bill is a very important one; it was passed by the Senate months ago. I regret that it did not become a law of the land three or four months ago, for it would have saved a great deal of money, and corrected a great many abuses that exist in the Army and in some of the Departments of the Government. Mr. SHERMAN. I call for the yeas and nays. The yeas and nays were ordered; and being taken, resulted-yeas 29, nays 12; as follows: YEAS-Messrs. Browning, Carlile, Clark, Collamer, Cowan, Davis, Dixon, Foster, Grimes, Hale, Harlan, Henderson, Howard, Howe,Kennedy, Lane of Kansas, Latham, McDougall, Morrill, Nesmith, Pomeroy, Powell, Stark, Sumner, Trumbull, Wilkinson, Wilmot, Wilson of Massachusetts, and Wilson of Missouri-29. NAYS-Messrs. Anthony, Chandler, Doolittle, Foot, King, Lane of Indiana, Saulsbury, Sherman, Ten Eyck, Wade, Willey, and Wright-12. So the amendment was concurred in. The PRESIDENT pro tempore. amendment will be read. The next Mr. LATHAM. I understand the Pacific railroad bill is now on the Secretary's table. I call for its consideration. The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The bill has not yet been returned, the Chair understands. Mr. SHERMAN. This bill will not take long. The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The next amendment will be read. The Secretary read the seventh amendment of the House of Representatives, which is to strike out the eighteenth section of the bill, in the following words: SEC. 18. And be it further enacted, That no allowance in commutation shall be made to officers for fuel and quarters. The number of offices now allowed to certain officers of the Army in the transaction of business shall be furnished, and no more. No allowance shall be made to officers, when entitled to receive mileage, for transportation of baggage or servants. This section shall not affect the present regulations for quarters and fuel actually furnished or assigned to officers on duty in the field, or to quarters assigned in public buildings belonging to the Government. The amendment was concurred in. The Secretary read the ninth amendment, which is to add to the bill as a new section: SEC.. And be it further enacted, That the different reglments and independent companies heretofore mustered into the service of the United States, as volunteer engineers, pioneers, and sappers and miners, under the orders of the President or Secretary of War, or by authority of the commanding general of any military department of the United States, or which, having been mustered into the service as infantry, shall have been reorganized and employed as engineers, pioneers, or sappers and miners, shall be, and the same are hereby, recognized and accepted as volunteer engineers, on the same footing, in all respects, in regard to their organization, pay, and emoluments, as the corps of engineers of the regular Army of the United States, and they shall be paid for their services, already performed, as is now provided by law for the payment of officers and non-commissioned officers and privates of the engineer corps of the regular Army. The amendment was concurred in. The Secretary read the twelfth amendment of the House of Representatives, which is to insert as an additional section: SEC.. And be it further enacted, That hereafter all volunteers, before being mustered and received into the service of the United States, shall be examined as to their physical condition and other qualifications, in the same imanner and subject to the same rules and regulations as men enlisted in the regular Army of the United States. The amendment was concurred in. The thirteenth amendment of the House was read, to insert as an additional section: SEC.. And be it further enacted, That, in order to promote discipline and increase the efficiency of the volunteers, it shall be lawful for the President to assign any officer of the regular Army to do duty with any volunteer regiment, upon the occurrence of a vacancy, as a field officer of said regiment, upon application of the Governor of the State in which said regiment was organized; and the officer so assigned shall have all the pay and allowances and emoluments of the rank to which he is assigned in the volunteers, and shall retain his rank in the regular Army, and be entitled to promotion in the same manner as if he had been on duty in the regular service; whenever the Governor of the State in which said regiment was organized shall apply for the appointment of any non-commissioned officer, now in the regular Army, as a company officer in said regiment, it shall be the duty of the President of the United States, with the consent of said non-commissioned officer, to discharge said non-commissioned officer from the Army, and commission him as a company officer for the regiment making application for his appointment, as above recited: Provided, however, That not more than one officer of the regular Army shall be assigned to duty with any regiment of volunteer infantry or cavalry, and not more than one non-commissioned officer with any company of volunteer infantry or cavalry, and that not more than three officers of the regular Ariny shall be assigned to do duty with any regiment of volunteer artillery, and not more than three noncommissioned officers of the regular Army shall be assigned to duty with any company of volunteer artillery. will recollect the provision to which I have re- Mr. WILSON, of Massachusetts. If the Sen- Mr. GRIMES. There is not the slightest necessity for this section. It says, "it shall be lawful for the President to assign any officer of the regular Army" to command a volunteer regiment or a volunteer company. He has a right to do that now; he has done it; he is doing it daily. Mr. MORRILL. He cannot discharge him from his enlistment. Mr. GRIMES. Yes he can. He has entire control over every officer and every man. There is no necessity for the section. Mr. TRUMBULL. I have not had time to examine it to see exactly what should be stricken out, if anything, and I hope the Senate will disagree to this section for the moment, or else pass it over informally and take up the next. If the Senator from Massachusetts has no objection, we may as well pass over this amendment informally and take up the next one. Mr. WILSON, of Massachusetts. Very well. The PRESIDENT pro tempore. By common consent the consideration of this amendment will be passed over for the present. Mr. SHERMAN. Before that is done, I wish to ask the chairman of the committee whether section nineteen of this bill stands. If so, it will create a conflict between two laws which are inconsistent. Mr. WILSON, of Massachusetts. The section stands as the Senate passed it. Mr. SHERMAN. I am upon a committee of conference on a bill which has led to discussions here, making appropriations for the payment of volunteers' bounty, and if section nineteen of this bill passes it will be inconsistent with that bill which a committee of conference is now sitting upon; inconsistent in some very important respects, and so much so as to create great embar rassments. The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Chair is Mr. SHERMAN. Is it amendable? Mr. TRUMBULL. It seems to me there is a principle involved in this section that ought not to be passed without consideration. I notice that in a certain contingency the President of the United States is authorized to discharge a regular soldier from the Army, and commission him as a company officer of volunteers for the regiment making application for his appointment in that capacity. I doubt whether that is proper, considering the way in which our volunteers are raised. It has been the policy of the Government in raising volunteers, to have all the regimental officers appointeding section nineteen of this bill. by the State Executives. This provides that the President is to commission a company officer in the volunteer service. There is some trouble about this question, and I confess that I hardly know how we are to get along constitutionally with the system which we have adopted. The Constitution declares in so many words that the officers of the militia shall be commissioned by the Executive of the State. That power was reserved in the Constitution, as was supposed, for a valuable purpose, so that the militia of the country should not be entirely under the control of the President. We have kept up this distinction between the regular Army and the volunteers which are called out in the States and commissioned by the Executives of the States, to some extent. If all these volunteers are to be considered regular soldiers in the regular Army, like the old regular Army, undoubtedly they should be commissioned by the President of the United States; and really the regular Army isa volunteer enlistment; all the soldiers in the regular Army enter it voluntarily; and the officers of that organization are appointed, and properly appointed, by the President of the United States; but in raising the great Army we now have in the field, Congress has thought proper to raise it through the States, and they are regarded in one sense as State troops; the calls have been made on the Governors of the States, and the act of Congress recognizes the commissioning of all the regi-eration of the Senate is now confined by rule to mental officers by the Governors of States. A part of this section reads: Whenever the Governor of the State in which said regiment was organized shall apply for the appointment of any non-commissioned officer, now in the regular Army, as a company officer in said regiment, it shall be the duty of the President of the United States, with the consent of said non-commissioned officer, to discharge said non-commissioned officer from the Army and commnission him as a company officer for the regiment making application for his appointment, as above recited: Provided, however, That not tnore than one officer of the regular Army shall be assigned to duty with any regiment of volunteer infantry or cavalry. I have not the Constitution before me, but all Mr. WILSON, of Massachusetts. I am constrained to confess that there are two or three errors in the text of the bill as it was passed by the Senate some months ago. We inserted provisions in it on recommendations from Departments which circumstances have since changed, and we must get them out of the bill. For instance: the Paymaster General was very anxious to have the number of paymasters reduced from one hundred and forty-nine to one hundred and twenty-five; since that, by the working of the law allowing soldiers to allot part of their pay to be sent home to their families, so much labor has been devolved upon the paymasters that instead of reducing them twenty-four we have now to add twenty-five to their number. We have a section in this bill reducing them, and we cannot amend it. The plan of the committee is to settle on these amendments to fix the principles, and then let this bill lie on the table, and introduce an entirely new bill, embodying all these modifications, and send it to the House of Representatives. We have consulted with the House committee in regard to this mode of getting over the difficulty, and we can fix this section in that way so as to make it harmonious. The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The consid the amendments made to the bill by the House of now. Then it authorizes him to take a private and do the same thing, let him hold an office in a volunteer regiment. That he can do now. It authorizes him further, if he sees fit, to discharge the private from the regular Army. That he can do now; the Secretary of War is doing it every day. But here is the objection to the section: the last clause of it says: That not more than one officer of the regular Army shall be assigned to duty with any regiment of volunteer infantry or cavalry, and not more than one non-commissioned officer with any company of volunteer infantry or cavalry, and that not more than three officers of the regular Army shall be assigned to duty with any regiment of volunteer artillery. In our present troubles and considering the magnitude of our volunteer service, that would be as much as could safely be assigned to any one of these volunteer regiments; but we ought not to tie ourselves up, so that under another state of facts the President shall not have the permission to do what he can now do. We all know that there will not be a great many more regular officers assigned to volunteer regiments that ought to be assigned, if we are to judge of the future by the past; but the limit here of three regular officers to a regiment of artillery is rather a small one. There are ten batteries in a regiment. If the regular officers are worth anything, if they ought to be assigned at all, there ought to be one of them to every battery, and I do not think it is wise for us to tie the hands of the War Department or of the President in this regard. Leave it as it now is; let the President exercise his own judgment, and let the country hold him responsible. The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The question is on concurring in the amendment. Mr. WILSON, of Massachusetts. This section was put in by the House of Representatives. I saw no particular harm that would be brought about by adopting it. I supposed it would simply regulate what is already done by the President. The President is doing all that the section provides for, with the exception, probably, of appointing noncommissioned officers in the Army to places as commissioned officers in the volunteers; but I suppose he can let any man go out of the Army if he chooses to do it. If the Governor of a State desires to make a soldier in the Army an officer, there is no trouble in giving him a discharge for that purpose. Therefore, I am willing to agree with the Senator from Iowa to let this section go out of the bill. Mr. TRUMBULL. I hope that course will be adopted, and that gets rid of the difficulty. The amendment was non-concurred in. The Secretary read the fourteenth amendment of the House of Representatives, to insert as a new section: SEC.. And be it further enacted, That any alien of the age of twenty-one years and upwards, who has enlisted or shall enlist in the armies of the United States, either the regular or volunteer forces, and has been or shall be hereafter honorably discharged, may be admitted to become a citizen of the United States, upon his petition, without any previous declaration of his intention to become a citizen of the United States, and that he shall not be required to prove more than one year's residence within the United States previous to his application to become such citizen; and that the court admitting such alien shall, in addition to such proof of residence and good moral character as is now provided by law, be satisfied by competent proof of such person having been honorably discharged from the service of the United States as aforsesaid. The amendment was concurred in. The Secretary read the sixteenth amendment of the House of Representatives, to insert as a new section: SEC.. And be it further enacted, That there shall be added to the Adjutant General's department, by regular promotion of its present officers, one colonel, two lieutenant colonels, and nine majors; and that the grade of captain in said department shall thereafter be abolished, and all vacancies occurring in the grade of major shall be filled by selection from among the captains of the Army. Mr. NESMITH. I move to amend the section by striking out all after the word "majors" in the fourth line. The words which I propose to strike out are: And that the grade of captain in said department shall thereafter be abolished, and all vacancies occurring in the grade of majors shall be filled by selection from among the captains of the Army. Mr. GRIMES. I move that the Senate nonconcur in the section just read about these officers. The first part of this section provides that the President of the United States may, for the purpose of promoting discipline among the volun- This section proposes an innovation on the teers, authorize the transfer or detail of an officer organization of the Army which I am not prepared of the regular Army to a volunteer regiment. That to sanction. It proposes to abolish the grade of authority he has now. It says further that he shall captain in the Adjutant General's department, a give the officer the rank and emoluments of the grade which runs through all the other departoffice to which he is transferred. That is the casements, and all the corps of the Army. I think it is important that it should be retained in the Adjutant General's department and in all the other departments. We know that the men who are promoted to the rank of captain, which is the lowest grade at present in the Adjutant General's department, are taken from the first lieutenants in the line of the Army. They generally get that promotion a long while before they would be entitled to it in the line. Practically, by transfer from the line of the Army to the Adjutant General's department, they obtain at once one grade of advancement-from first lieutenant to captain. This section now proposes to abolish the rank of captain in the Adjutant General's department, and to provide that there shall be nothing below the grade of major in that department. I think it is doing manifest injustice to all the other departments of the Army. These Adjutant Generals are mere clerks to commanding officers. They assume no responsibility. They are always acting with their commanding officer, and under his direction and according to his dictation. Officers with the rank of captain in other departments of the Army are compelled to assume large responsibilities. For instance, in the quartermaster's and commissary's departments they are compelled to act upon their own judgment, and frequently to assume responsibilities which are of a nature to be very embarrassing to almost any officer. I think that an officer who is in a position where he assumes none of these responsibilities, where he is acting under the direction of the commanding officer as a mere clerk, ought not to have so much promotion; he ought not to hold so much rank. I dare say there are many meritorious instances in the Adjutant General's department where the officers should be promoted, but I do not believe that the adoption of this section as it is will do justice to the rest of the Army and to the other corps. I think it would be manifest injustice to them. I do not think any of the gentlemen who are serving as adjutant generals with the rank of captain have been more than eight or ten years in the service. They have attained that grade with a shorter period of service than the officers in any other corps in the Army. There are officers in the quartermaster's and commissary's departments and in the line of the Army who have been serving twenty years, and have now only attained the grade of captain, while these gentlemen, who have served but eight or ten years, have already attained the grade of captain, and it is now proposed at a single jump, at one swoop, to make them majors, and hereafter to provide that there shall be no captains in the Adjutant General's department. I am in favor of the first part of the section, increasing the number and the grade of the officers in this department, but I am not in favor of abolishing the rank of captain and making every gentleman who happens to attain a position in the Adjutant General's department a major. Mr. LANE, of Kansas. The young men employed in the Adjutant General's office, to my knowledge, have refused opportunities of promotion in the volunteer service, and I should like to have this section adopted as an act of justice to them. By discharging their duties in the Adjutant General's office, they have missed opportunities of promotion. So far as the discharge of their duty has come within my observation, they have been faithful and prompt, and are worthy of the consideration of Congress. The other House having inserted this section in the bill, I hope the Senate will adopt it. Mr. GRIMES. Is it in order to move to nonconcur in this section? The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The question pending now is on an amendment to the amendment of the House of Representatives. It is in order to amend an amendment before any question is put which shall strike out the whole of it. tant General's office, except.two, to a grade higher than they now possess, although they are mere clerical officers, performing duties of a clerical character in the department, or attached to the staffs of general officers. The Senator from Oregon proposes to amend the section by striking off the latter part of it, the effect of which will be to create twelve new officers with the rank of captain. I do not think we are prepared to do that, and I do not think we are prepared to pass the section in this shape. Let it come up as an independent proposition, with the other propositions we have pending to consolidate the engineer corps, create bureaus of transportation, &c. Mr. NESMITH. The first part of the section, to which I have no objection, and for the passage of which I am very anxious, provides that "there shall be added to the Adjutant General's department, by regular promotion of its present officers, one colonel, two lieutenant colonels, and nine majors. I believe there is a necessity for these officers on account of the accumulation of business growing out of the war, and the increase of the Army. There is another consideration why I should be in favor of it. It grants promotion to these gentlemen who, as the Senator from Kansas says, have served so well in the Adjutant General's department. I concur in all he says in relation to that matter, for I believe they have discharged their duties efficiently. But it is not true, as the Senator from Kansas alleges, that they have all missed opportunities of promotion. Some of them I know have been promoted. Some of them have been made brigadier generals in the volunteer service. They have all been promoted from first lieutenants to captains on going into this department; as I stated before, one grade of promotion more than they would have had in the line of the Army. Some of them have been appointed brigadier generals of volunteers. The first part of this section provides ample reward for their meritorious conduct by giving the President an opportunity to promote them. Mr. LANE, of Kansas. I should like to ask the Senator from Oregon a question. Does he mean to say that the statement I made that the young men in the Adjutant General's office had refused pro motion was not true? Mr. NESMITH. I do not say so. Mr. LANE, of Kansas. That was my statement, and I understood the Senator from Oregon to say it was not true. Mr. NESMITH. I understood the Senator from Kansas to say they were not promoted. I said that was not correct. I may, perhaps, have used a harsher term than the Senator thought proper, but I know some of them have been appointed brigadier generals of volunteers. Mr. LANE, of Kansas. The statement I made was, that these young men in the Adjutant General's office had lost opportunities of promotion in the volunteer service. Does the Senator mean to say that is not correct? Mr. NESMITH. I mean to say that some of them have been promoted in the volunteer service. Mr. LANE, of Kansas. This is the statement I made: that these young men, Captain Ruggles, Captain Vincent, Captain Townsend, Captain Garesche, &c., have missed opportunities of promotion in the volunteer service. Mr. NESMITH. If I did, I did not, of course, intend to use it in any offensive sense. Perhaps in the hurry of debate I may have used a word that was too strong, but it was without the intention of giving offense. I may have said the statement was not true when I merely meant to say that the Senator was mistaken. Of course I would not undertake to question the veracity of the Senator from Kansas, or any other Senator. All I meant was that there was a mistake about it, that if the Senator intended to convey the idea that the gentlemen serving in the Adjutant General's department had not received promotion, he was mistaken, because the facts did not correspond with that statement. Mr. WILSON, of Massachusetts. I hope the amendment proposed by the Senator from Oregon will not be adopted if we are to retain this provision. As was stated by the Senator from Iowa, it will simply create so many additional officers. Now, the section itself is a simple proposition. The House of Representatives have put it upon this bill. We have it as an independent measure before the Senate; and if the House had not put it upon this bill, I certainly should not have desired to do so. This bill, as stated by the Senator from Iowa, is a reformatory bill, intended to correct errors and reduce expenditures; but this section is upon the bill by the action of the House of Representatives, and on reflection the committee voted, I think with general consent, to concur in the amendment. I believe that we ought to do something for the Adjutant General's department. That the officers are rapidly promoted when they commence in this department is true; but it is not true, taking a series of years, that they are promoted so rapidly as their associates. This section will make Lieutenant Colonel Buell, who is now a major general of volunteers, and who has been twenty-one years in the Army, a colonel; and it will make Major Williams, who has been twenty years in the service, a lieutenant colonel; and Major Garesche, who has been twenty-one years in the Army, a lieutenant colonel. It is certain, if the section should be adopted, that hereafter in selecting persons to go into the Adjutant General's department, instead of selecting them from first lieutenants, they will be selected from captains. We have had rapid promotion during the war. The duties imposed upon the officers in the Adjutant General's department have been very great. Major Garesché, Captain Ruggles, and many of these officers, have toiled with great fidelity, laboring night and day, and have received no promotion by it. This section will give them some promotion. I have no doubt if these officers had been in the regular line of the Army, they would generally have received more promotion than they have received during the war. The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senate will now proceed to the consideration of the spe printed bill being on the tables of Senators. That being the special order of the hour, it supersedes the question before the Senate. INDIAN APPROPRIATION BILL. Mr. DOOLITTLE. There is a report from a committee of conference lying upon the table that will occupy but little time. I desire to move that the Senate disagree to the report of the committee of conference, and ask that another conference be had. It is the report of the committee of conference on the Indian appropriation bill. That bill went to a committee of conference on the disagree Mr. NESMITH. I do not know what Captaincial order of the day, the Pacific railroad bill, the Vincent or Captain Ruggles has done, or what young men or what old men have done. I know the fact that some of the officers of the Adjutant General's department have been made brigadier generals of volunteers. I suppose they all could not be spared, or perhaps more would have been made brigadier generals. The Senator from Iowa suggests to me that some of them have been promoted to major generals. I know some who have been made brigadier generals; I cannot name all of them now; but I know General Hartsuff. Fourteen months ago he was a first lieutenant of artillery. He was appointed to the Adjutant General's department in February, 1861, with the ranking votes of the two Houses; and there is one of of captain, a rank which he would not have attained in the line, under ordinary circumstances, in less than eight or ten years. He is a captain in the Adjutant General's department and a brigadier general in the volunteers. This section proposes to make him a major in that department. Mr. GRIMES. Whenever the motion shall be in order, I shall move to strike the section out, because it is not germane to the bill, and has no business there. We have pending in both Houses an independent proposition on the same subject in these identical terms, and I am willing, when the proper time comes, to take up that Bill and act upon it. But this bill purported to be an economical bill, it was intended to curtail a good many of the expenses of the Government growing out of the operations of the Army departments; but now, Mr. LANE, of Kansas. I know the Senator as it comes back to us from the House of Repre- from Oregon does not intend to do me injustice. sentatives, it raises up all the persons in the Adju- | I ask him, categorically and plainly, if he means the amendments agreed to by the committee of conference to which I do not agree. Besides, the committee of conference incorporated into the bill an amendment which had not been passed upon by either House, and according to the ruling of the Senate the other day it will be necessary that it be referred again to a committee of conference. I move, therefore, that the Senate disagree to the report of the committee of conference, and that we ask for another conference on the disagreeing votes of the two Houses. Mr. LATHAM. I hope that will not be done now. I have something to say to the Senate when it is done, because I expect to make a speech upon a subject involved in the report, and I would prefer doing it at that time rather than any other. I am in favor of the motion of the Senator from Wisconsin, but I wish to give the Senate my reasons for being in favor of it. I was on the committee of conference and refused to sign the report. I wish to state to the Senate why I refused to sign it. The PRESIDENT pro tempore. A report from a committee of conference is a highly privileged question, and takes precedence of all ordinary questions before the Senate; and if the Senator from Wisconsin insists upon the consideration of that report, according to the practice and the parliamentary rule it is before the Senate, and will be read. Mr. DOOLITTLE. I do not know that I understand the Senator from California. Does he request that it be postponed ? Mr. LATHAM. I prefer that it be laid over for the present. I do not wish it to interfere with the Pacific railroad bill. Mr. DOOLITTLE. Then I will call it up tomorrow morning. ains at twenty-five per cent., and on that portion Mr. CLARK. That has been expressly Mr. LANE, of Kansas. I give that notice. The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The question now is on the amendment of the Senator from Kansas to the amendment of the Senator from Vermont to strike out" fifty" and insert "twentyfive;" and to strike out "twenty-five" and insert "fifteen." Mr. COLLAMER. Mr. President, in making my proposition for this reservation, I do not wish to be understood as being tenacious of the particular percentage that I have inserted. I think there should be a difference in the different parts of the road, undoubtedly. In fixing the amount, I was governed in a great measure by the expressed opinion of the Senate when they had this subject before them three years ago. They then reserved thirty per cent. on the whole line. My reservation on the whole line does not amount to so much as that. Still, sir, I can conceive-nay, I distinctly understand-that this reservation may be so heavy as to embarrass the operations of the The PRESIDENT pro tempore. By common consent it will lie on the table subject to be called up at a future time. The Chair hears no objec-bill, or it may be so light as to furnish no confition. MESSAGE FROM THE HOUSE. A message from the House of Representatives, by Mr. ETHERIDGE, its Clerk, announced that the House had passed a joint resolution (No. 83) relative to a certain grant of land for railroad purposes, made to the State of Michigan in 1856; in which the concurrence of the Senate was requested. The message also announced that the House had agreed to the amendment of the Senate to the bill (H. R. No. 432) for the relief of Commodore Hiram Paulding. The message further announced that the House of Representatives had passed a resolution for closing the present session of Congress, by an adjournment, on the 30th day of June, 1862, at twelve o'clock, m.; in which the concurrence of the Senate was requested. PACIFIC RAILROAD. The Senate resumed the consideration of the bill (H. R. No. 364) to aid in the construction of a railroad and telegraph line from the Missouri river to the Pacific ocean, and to secure to the Government the use of the same for postal, military, and other purposes; the pending question being on the amendment of Mr. LANE, of Kansas, to the amendment of Mr. COLLAMER. The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The amendment offered by the Senator from Vermont and the amendment to that amendment will be read, that the Senate may be fully in possession of the question before it. The Secretary read the amendment of Mr. COLLAMER to insert the following proviso at the end of the seventeenth section of the bill: Provided, That of the bonds of the United States in this act provided to be delivered for any and all parts of the road, to be constructed east of the one hundredth meridian of west longitude from Greenwich, and for any part of the road west of the west foot of the Sierra Nevada mountain, there shall be reserved of each part and installinent fifty per cent., to be and remain in the United States Treasury, undelivered, until said road and all parts thereof provided for in this act are entirely completed; and of all the bonds provided to be delivered for the said road between the two points aforesaid, there shall be reserved out of each installment twenty-five per cent., to be and remain in the Treasury until the whole of the road provided for in this act is fully completed; and if the said road or any part thereof shall fail of completion at the time limited therefor in this act, then and in that case the said part of said bonds so reserved shall be forfeited to the United States. The amendment of Mr. LANE, of Kansas, to the amendment is to strike out "fifty," in the sixth line, and insert "twenty;" and in the eleventh line to strike out "twenty-five," and insert "fifteen." Mr. LANE, of Kansas. I propose, with the consent of the Senate-and I desire the ear of the Senator from Vermont-to modify the amendment by inserting" twenty-five" instead of" twenty.' The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator can modify his own proposition. Mr. LANE, of Kansas. That will leave the reservation on the line east and west of the mount dence in the security at all. Those extremes should those who really desire to effect the purpose to shall be obliged to vote against the amendment within a certain time it forfeits the reservation on the main branch. I suppose the mover did not intend that the amendment should have that construction. Mr. COLLAMER. I will say to the gentleman that that is a question which would arise after we have passed upon the amendment to the amendment. The question then would be, whether we would adopt the amendment. The question now is on the amendment to the amendment. When we have settled that point, if my amendment needs any amending before it is adopted, it will be time enough to talk about it. Mr. HENDERSON. The honorable Senator will see that my question is an appropriate one; for if it be intended to forfeit upon all the lines of the road, or to detain the amount upon any one of the lines of the road, although complete, provided another is not complete, and then forfeit in case one shall fail, I want the reservation to be small. If it is intended merely that each road shall forfeit in case of its own failure, I will go for a larger amount; and I really ask the question in good faith in order to determine how I shall vote. Mr. COLLAMER. I may not have perfected the idea that I entertain so as to have it presented in this manifestation of the idea, as contained in the amendment. I intended that all the parts of this road should have some unity of purpose, and that each should be interested in the other, at least so far as this reservation was concerned; because I understand by the bill that either of them, if any one fails, may take their piece and finish it, and of course take the money. That was my intention. If there is an impracticability, which I do not understand, in it, it should receive amendment; but that is the purpose and design I entertain in the proposition. I still retain that idea, because it is provided in the bill that if either of them fails the others may go on and complete their part, and when they had completed their part they should have this reserve money. I intended it should have the effect of making a unity of ultimate purpose and interest in the whole. That was my design; and I think now, for aught I have yet heard, that that should be carried out. At any rate, when this question of the amount of the percentage is settled, the question of amendment, to avoid any practical difficulty, may be heard. The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The question is on the amendment of the Senator from Kansas to the amendment of the Senator from Vermont, to strike out "fifty" and insert "twenty-five" in one place, and to strike out "twenty-five" and insert The amendment to the amendment was agreed to. The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The question recurs on the amendment of the Senator from Vermont as amended. Mr. McDOUGALL. When the amendment Mr. HENDERSON. Before voting on this cannot be drawn for the main trunk road until that Mr. HARLAN. I will call the attention of the Senator from Vermont to the phraseology of the amendment in the second line. It now reads, "that of the bonds of the United States in this act provided to be delivered, for any and all parts of the road," &c. This bill provides for the incorporation of one company to build a road from the one hundredth meridian of west longitude to the eastern boundary of California; and then it recognizes the existence of a corporation in Cali fornia. Mr. COLLAMER. Would the difficulty be avoided by making it plural? Mr. HÁRLAN. I think it would. Mr. COLLAMER. Let it be "roads," then, instead of "road." The PRESIDING OFFICER. That modification will be made if there be no objection; it is a mere verbal amendment. The question recurs on the amendment of the Senator from Vermont, as amended by the Senator from Kansas. The amendment, as amended, was agreed to. Mr. CLARK. I now move in the thirteenth section of the bill to strike out all after the word "Kansas," in the tenth line of that section, on the 20th page of the bill as printed this morning. The words to be stricken out are as follows: Within fifty miles of the Missouri river upon the same terms and conditions, in all respects, as are provided in this act for the construction of the railroad and telegraph line first mentioned. Mr. LANE, of Kansas. I suppose Mr. CLARK. I had not yielded the floor; but if the Senator desires to say anything now, I can occupy it afterwards. |