CONGRESS, CONFEDERATE. 



cause it is not for their interest. Rather than 

 make war with the United States she would 

 convert her Government into an eleemosynary 

 for the maintenance of her hordes of starving 

 operatives. She would do this because it would 

 be cheaper, and because the darling projects 

 of her statesmen could be fostered and cotton 

 be produced in her colonies. He voted for the 

 resolution for the reason that warning should 

 be given the people to prepare for the contin- 

 uance of a lengthy war, and that produce must 

 be raised for our subsistence. 



Mr. Wigfall acknowledged that cotton was 

 not king, but merely the badge of royalty to 

 him who possessed it. This was the reason 

 England abstained from raising our blockade. 

 She wished to see us destroyed as cotton pro- 

 ducers, so that she could become raiser as well 

 as spinner, and thus command the world. She 

 abandoned her own West Indies to abolition in 

 order to foster cotton-raising in India. 



The resolution was finally put to vote on its 

 adoption, and lost, as follows : 



YEAS. Messrs. Clay, Clark, Davis, Dorch, Henry, 

 Mitchell, Sparrow, and Semmes 8. 



NAYS. Messrs. Barnwell, Baker, Horner, Hill, Hun- 

 ter, Johnson, Oldham, Phelan, Peyton, Preston, and 

 Wigfall 11. 



The surrender of Roanoke Island was investi- 

 gated by a committee of the House, who pre- 

 sented a voluminous report concluding as fol- 

 lows : " Whatever blame or responsibility is 

 justly attributable to any one for the defeat of 

 our troops at Roanoke Island, on the 8th of 

 February last, should attach to Maj.-Gen. 

 Huger and Mr. Benjamin, the late Secretary of 

 War." 



In the Senate a resolution was offered to ap- 

 propriate a sum of money to pay the persons 

 engaged in taking the census of 1860 in the 

 State of Louisiana, for which services the 

 United States had not paid. 



Mr. Semmes, of Louisiana, who urged the 

 matter, proposed to disburse the balance (about 

 $6,000) from moneys seized by the State of 

 Louisiana and transferred to the Confederate 

 States Government, a part of which was origi- 

 nally intended by the United States Govern- 

 ment for that purpose. 



Mr. Burnett, of Kentucky, opposed the bill 

 on the ground that it would open the door to 

 any number of claims (perhaps amounting to 

 millions of dollars) of a similar nature, all of 

 which would most properly be attended to 

 after a treaty of peace. 



Mr. Semmes made the following exhibit of 

 money transferred to the Confederate States 

 Government by the several States named : 



North Carolina $26,200 in bullion. 



" " 1,175 in customs. 



Louisiana 457,859 in bullion. 



" 147,875 in customs. 



Alabama 18,731 in customs. 



Georgia 23,763 in bullion. 



" (Savannah) 3,483 in customs. 



The resolution was rejected. 



The sum of $4,275,000 was appropriated for 



the use of the Navy Department, of which 

 $2,100,000 was for the equipment and repair 

 of vessels, for ordnance and ordnance stores, 

 and for the purchase and building of steamers, 

 and $500,000 for gunboats for coast defences. 



Propositions were considered for a new flag 

 and a new seal, which finally failed to pass. 



A resolution was offered in the House to re- 

 quest the Executive to recall at once the Com- 

 missioners sent to Great Britain, and to aban- 

 don all further attempts to conciliate the favor 

 and secure the recognition of that Government. 

 It failed to pass. Another bill was passed in 

 the House to repeal the tariff and throw open 

 the Confederate ports to the commerce of the 

 world except the United States. It failed in 

 the other House. 



The following resolutions were offered in the 

 House on the report of the battle on the first 

 day at Shiloh : 



Resolved, That Congress have learned, with feelings 

 of deep joy and gratitude to the Divine Ruler of na- 

 tions, the news of the recent glorious victory of our 

 arms in Tennessee. 



Resolved, That the death of Gen. Albert Sidney 

 Johnston, the commander of our forces, while leading 

 his troops to victory, cannot but temper our exulta- 

 tion with a shade of sadness at the loss of so able, skil- 

 ful, and gallant an officer. 



Resolved, That, in respect to the memory of Gen. 

 Johnston the Senate concurring Congress do now 

 adjourn until twelve o'clock to-morrow. 



In the Senate on the same day Mr. Haynes, 

 of Tennessee, moved that the resolutions touch- 

 ing the victory near Corinth, and lamenting 

 the death of Albert Sidney Johnston, be taken 

 up, so that he could offer resolutions in lieu. 

 Resolutions were then presented by the Sena- 

 tor, expressive of the joy of Congress on hear- 

 ing of the great victory of our army in Tennes- 

 see, paying a glowing tribute of respect to the 

 memory of the coramander-in-chief, and con- 

 veying the thanks of Congress to Gen. Beau- 

 regard and the officers under his command for 

 their services on that memorable day. 



Mr. Haynes stated that he was one of the 

 Tennessee delegation who requested the Presi- 

 dent to transfer Gen. Johnston's command to 

 some other officer after the retreat from Nash- 

 ville. Subsequent information had caused him 

 to alter his opinion, and he therefore felt it his 

 duty to offer the resolutions named. 



Mr. Yancey, of Alabama, moved that the 

 resolutions be so amended as to designate the 

 place of the battle as indicated by Gen. Beau- 

 regard viz. : the battle field of Shiloh. He 

 moved, also, that the resolutions be so amend- 

 ed as to tender the thanks of Congress to Gen. 

 Beauregard and the surviving officers and sol- 

 diers for their gallantry and skill on that mem- 

 orable field. 



On a subsequent day Mr. Barnwell, from the 

 Finance Committee, reported back favorably 

 the bill to authorize the issuance of Treasury 

 notes of a denomination less than five dollars. 

 As before explained, the bill authorizes the 

 utterance of one, two, three, and four-dollar 



