CONGRESS, CONFEDERATE. 



263 



notes, and notes for the fractions of these 

 sums, provided the whole amount issued does 

 not exceed five millions of dollars in the aggre- 

 gate. 



Mr. Brown, of Mississippi, offered an amend- 

 ment to the last clause of the bill to increase 

 the clerical force of the Treasury Department, 

 requiring the Secretary of the Treasury to give 

 preference to applicants for clerkships under 

 the bill to those who have served in the army, 

 and have been discharged on account of physi- 

 cal inability, or from wounds received in battle. 



Mr. Barnwell, of South Carolina, opposed 

 the amendment because he looked upon it as 

 an indirect mode of pensioning disabled sol- 

 diers. He was of the opinion that other modes 

 could be provided for taking care of this class 

 of the population. 



The amendment was adopted and the bill 

 was passed. 



The joint resolution passed by the House, 

 voting the thanks of Congress to the patriotic 

 women of the country for their voluntary con- 

 tributions to the army, and in aid of the cause 

 in every conceivable way, was taken up and 

 unanimously passed. 



Mr. Sparrow offered a resolution authorizing 

 the Senate to furnish the Senators from North 

 Carolina with copies of all reports. &c., receiv- 

 ed by the Senate from the President, in rela- 

 tion to the Roanoke Island affair, for the use of 

 the Convention of North Carolina upon the 

 consideration of which the Senate went into 

 secret session. 



The conscription act passed on the 9th of 

 April and was approved on the 16th. (See CON- 

 FEDERATE STATES.) A bill was also passed to 

 organize a battalion of sharpshooters, and an- 

 other appropriating $1,500,000 to construct a 

 railroad between Galveston and New Orleans. 



On the 21st of April Congress adjourned to 

 meet on the third Monday of August. Its im- 

 portant business was entirely transacted in se- 

 cret session. 



On the 18th of August the second session of 

 the Confederate Congress under the Perma- 

 nent Constitution commenced. A quorum was 

 present in both Houses, and the President's 

 Message was delivered. (See PUBLIC DOCU- 

 MENTS.) 



The seat of Roger A. Pryor, of Virginia, re- 

 signed, was taken by Mr. Collier. Mr. A. G. 

 Jenkins, of Virginia, also resigned his seat in 

 the House. As his district was mainly within 

 the lines of the Federal army, there was no 

 legal mode by which to fill the vacancy. In 

 the House a number of bills were submitted, 

 which indicate to some extent the nature of its 

 business. 



By Mr. Gartrell. of Georgia : A bill making 

 Treasury notes a legal tender in payment of 

 debts. This bill was made the special order 

 for the 26th of August. 



Also, a resolution instructing the Committee 

 on Military Affairs to inquire into the expedien- 



cy of compelling the Commissary Department 

 to furnish the soldiers with more and better 

 food. Agreed to. 



By Mr. Miles, of South Carolina: A bill to 

 amend the conscription act. It extended the 

 application of the law to all citizens under 

 forty-five years of age. Referred. 



Also, a bill to punish slaves taken in arms, 

 and the white men assuming to be their offi- 

 cers. It provided that the slaves so taken 

 should be delivered up to the authorities of the 

 State in which captured, to be disposed of by 

 its laws; and the white officers either to be 

 hung or also delivered up to the State authori- 

 ties. Referred. 



By Mr. Foote, of Tennessee, a bill for retalia- 

 tory purposes. It recited that the enemy re- 

 fused to treat the partisan soldiers as prisoners, 

 and had also punished innocent private citizens 

 for their acts. It provided that an officer who 

 may have ordered such atrocities be put to 

 death if captured. An equal number of pris- 

 oners' (officers to be preferred) taken from the 

 enemy to suffer the fate inflicted on the captur- 

 ed soldiers or citizens. Referred. 



Also, a bill for the treatment of captives. It 

 provided that any officer or private captured 

 by the army, who should have committed any 

 offence pronounced felonious by the laws of 

 the Confederacy or any State, should be deliv- 

 ered up for trial. Referred. 



Also, a bill to punish negroes in arms. It 

 provided that Federal armies incongruously 

 composed of white and black should not be 

 held entitled to the privileges of war, or to be 

 taken prisoners. Of such as may be captured, 

 the negroes shall be returned to their masters 

 or publicly sold, and their commanders to be 

 hung or shot, as may be most convenient. Re- 

 ferred. 



Also, a bill to retaliate for the seizure of 

 citizens by the enemy. It provided that of the 

 prisoners held by us a number equal to that of 

 the citizens should be retained as hostages for 

 their safety, and subjected to like treatment ; 

 any officers, civil or military, concerned in 

 their seizure should be imprisoned during the 

 war. Referred. 



Also, a bill to provide for raising an addition- 

 al force of 250,000 men. Laid on the table. 



Also, a bill providing an export duty of 

 twenty per cent, on cotton and tobacco, to aid 

 in indemnifying the losses of citizens by the 

 enemy. 



A vote of thanks was tendered to Col. For- 

 rest, the partisan leader, "for his recent victo- 

 ries in Tennessee." 



That portion of the President's Message re- 

 lating to the increase of the army was taken 

 up. Mr. Foote of Tennessee referred to the 

 manner in which the conscription act had been 

 passed. Its constitutionality at the time of 

 passage was doubted, and if the plan prescribed 

 in it should be allowed to grow into a sys- 

 tem, it would be subversive of State sovereign- 

 ty and popular freedom. The necessity which 



