Confederate Congress.
Senate.
Monday, January 30, 1865.
Prayer by
the Rev. Mr. Minnegerode, of the Episcopal Church.
Mr. Graham, of
North Carolina, called the Senate to order, stating that he had been requested by the
President of the Senate, during his temporary absence, to preside until the Senate should organize.
The forty-eighth rule of the Senate being suspended, an amendment was offered to the rules of the Senate, that in cases of the temporary absence of the
President and
President pro tempore of the Senate, the Senate may, by order, appoint any
Senator, who, as
President pro tempore ad interim, shall provide over the body during the absence of the
President and
President pro tempore, and while he shall thus preside, his powers and duties shall be the same as those of the
President or
President pro tempore.
The amendment was agreed to, and under it,
Mr. Graham, of
North Carolina, was appointed
President pro tempore ad interim of the Senate.
On motion, by
Mr. Semmes, this action of the Senate was ordered to be communicated to the House of Representatives.
Mr. Dortch, of
North Carolina, offered a resolution, which was agreed to, that the
Committee on the Judiciary inquire into the expediency of making reputation
prima facie evidence of the fact of desertion in all prosecutions under the act to prevent the procuring, aiding and assisting persons to desert.
Mr. Henry, of
Tennessee, introduced a bill, which was referred to the Military Committee, to provide for receiving volunteer troops for the war. It provides that, within three months east of the
Mississippi river, and within six months west of that river, persons not now in the service of the
Confederate States, or absent without leave, may organize into companies and offer themselves to the
President as volunteers for the war, and be organized into battalions and regiments, subject to the laws and regulations now in force.
Mr. Henry said such a law would add thousands of men to the service who would never enter it as conscripts.
Mr. Oldham, of
Texas, presented resolutions of the Legislature of
Texas concerning peace, reconstruction and independence which, after remarks by
Messrs. Graham,
Brown and
Wigfall, were ordered to be printed.
House bill to provide for sequestrating the property of persons liable to military service who have departed, or shall depart, from the
Confederate States without permission, the same having been reported adversely upon by the Judiciary Committee.
Mr. Garland rose to address the Senate, but gave way to
Mr. Wigfall, who introduced the following bills:
‘
A bill to encourage the cultivation of cotton in the Trans-Mississippi Department.
Referred to the
Committee on Finance.
’
A bill providing for the auditing and payment of properly-authenticated claims against the
Cotton Bureau in the Trans-Mississippi Department.
Referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary.
A bill providing for the auditing and payment of properly-authenticated claims.
Referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary.
Mr. Hill presented the memorial of the mechanics and artizans of the city of
Columbus, Georgia, praying to be relieved from the hardships laid upon them by their present organization into reserved corps.
Referred to the
Committee on Military Affairs.
On motion of
Mr. Hill, of
Georgia, the Senate resolved into secret legislative session, and, when the doors were opened, adjourned.
House of Representatives.
The
House met at 11 A. M. Prayer by
the Rev. Dr. Hoge, of the Presbyterian Church.
Senate bill "to increase the number of acting midshipmen in the navy, and to prescribe the mode of their appointment," was referred to the
Committee on Naval Affairs.
Senate amendments to
House bill to increase the efficiency of the cavalry were referred to the
Committee on Military Affairs.
Mr. Smith, of
North Carolina, offered a resolution requesting the
President to communicate to the
House: firstly, the number of soldiers from each State added to the army since the passage of the conscript act; secondly, the number of soldiers within the conscript age exempted or detailed in each State, and the grounds of such detail or exemption, discriminating between each class; and thirdly, the number between eighteen and forty-five not unfit for active service employed in executing the conscript laws and detailed on post duty.
Mr. Smith said that a tabular statement from the
Bureau of Conscription had been referred to on the floor of the
House, sometime since, to show that
North Carolina had more than 13,000 State officers exempted from military duty as such, and that there were upwards of 29,000 men exempted in that State on the ground of physical disability.
He had then disputed the correctness of the tables quoted, and had now in his possession revised tables, made after minute and thorough examination, going to show that 5,153 and 7,185 were the correct numbers exempted under these heads, instead of 18,000 and 29,000, respectively, as stated.
The resolution was offered with a view to correct the previous official tables.
The resolution was adopted.
Mr. Farrow, of
South Carolina, offered a resolution instructing the
Committee on Claims to inquire into the expediency of establishing a court of claims.
Adopted.
Mr. Herbert, of
Texas, presented a bill "to furnish bagging and rope for baling tithe cotton." Referred to the
Committee on Quartermaster and Commissary Departments.
Mr. DeJarnette, of
Virginia, offered the following resolution:
‘
"Whereas, all nations have seen with alarm the establishment of any formidable Power in their vicinity; and whereas, the people of the
Confederate States, as well as the people of the
United States, have ever cherished the resolve that any further acquisition of territory in
North America by any foreign power would be inconsistent with their prosperity and development; and whereas, the invasion of
Mexico by
France has resulted, as is alleged, in the establishment of a government founded on the consent of the governed; nevertheless we have reasons to believe that ulterior designs are entertained against
California and the
Pacific States, which we do not regard as parties to the war now waged against us, as they have neither furnished men nor money for its prosecution: Therefore.
"
The Congress of the Confederate States of America do resolve, That the time may not be distant when we will be prepared to unite
(on the basis of the independence of the Confederate States） with those most interested in the vindication of the principles of the
Monroe doctrine, for their vindication, to the exclusion of all seeming violation of those principles on the continent of
North America."
’
Mr. DeJarnette supported the resolution in a comprehensive speech of about an hour in duration; and, at the conclusion of his remarks, it was referred to the
Committee on Foreign Affairs.
The Committee on Military Affairs reported back the Senate amendments to the consolidation bill with the recommendation that the
House refuse to concur therein.
The motion to disagree prevailing, a conference was asked for; and the
House, on motion of
Mr. Lyon, of
Alabama, resolved into secret session on the finance matters before it in secret session.
When the doors were re-opened, the
House adjourned.
