238 



CONGRESS, UNITED STATES. 



many men, very many honest men, very many 

 true citizens have been required to subscribe 

 oaths to protect their persons and their prop- 

 erty. The Senator by this resolution intimates 

 that that is all wrong and illegal. I grant that 

 it is. It is a shame that without authority of 

 law any man has been required to take an oath 

 which is not required of the rest of the people." 



Mr. Harlan, of Iowa, further said: "The 

 Senator desired me to state whether I knew of 

 any facts that would justify the passage of any 

 such law as the resolution contemplates. I am 

 amazed that any one could ask such a question 

 as that who has lived in this District for a single 

 month. We all know that there are people 

 living in this District who are not only in sym- 

 pathy with the rebellion, hut who embrace every 

 available opportunity to aid the rebels in arms 

 against their Government, who carry goods 

 through the lines on every occasion that they 

 can make available, and who send the proceeds 

 of their trades and of their professions to their 

 sons, and brothers, and husbands in the rebel 

 army, so that we are, in harboring them in our 

 midst, indirectly supporting the rebellion. In 

 my opinion, we have a right to drive them from 

 this community." 



The resolution was adopted by the following 

 vote: 



YEAS Messrs. Anthony, Clark, Collamer, Conness, 

 Dixoii, Farwell, Foot, Fdfeter, Grimes, Hale, Harlan, 

 Howard, Lane of Indiana, Lane of Kansas, Morgan, 

 Pomeroy, Sherman, Sprague, Sumner, Ten Eyck, 

 Trumbull, Van Winkle, Wilkinson, and Willey 24. 



NATS Messrs. Brown, Buckalew, Cowan, Davis, 

 Henderson, Hendricks, Johnson, Powell, Richardson, 

 and Saulsbury 10. 



ABSENT -Messrs. Carlile, Chandler, Doolittle, Hard- 

 ing, Harris, Hicks, Howe, McDougall, Morrill, Nes- 

 mith, Ramsey, Riddle, Wade, Wilson, and Wright 

 15. 



On December 22d, on motion of Mr. Sumner, 

 of Massachusetts, the Senate took up the bill 

 supplementary to the act " prescribing an oath 

 of office," &c., which had been reported upon 

 adversely by the Committee on the Judiciary. 

 It provided that no person, after the 4th of 

 March next, should be admitted to the bar of 

 the Supreme Court of the United States, or of 

 any circuit or district court of the United States, 

 or of the Court of Claims, as an attorney or 

 counsellor of such court, or be allowed to ap- 

 pear and be heard in any such court, by virtue 

 of any previous admission or any special power 

 of attorney, unless he have first taken and sub- 

 scribed the oath prescribed in " An act to pre- 

 scribe an oath of office, and for other purposes," 

 approved July 2, 1862, according to the forms 

 and in the manner provided in that act ; which 

 oath so taken and subscribed is to be preserved 

 among the files of such court; and any person 

 who should falsely take the oath should be 

 guilty of perjury, and, on conviction, be liable 

 to the pains and penalties of perjury, and the 

 additional pains and penalties in that act pro- 

 vided. 

 The bill was passed by the following vote : 



YEAS Messrs. Anthony, Brown, Clark, CoLamer, 

 Conness, Dixon, Doolittle, Farwell, Foot, Foster, 

 Grimes, Harlan, Harris, Henderson, Johnson, Lane 

 of Indiana, Lane of Kansas, Morgan, Pomeroy, 

 Ramsey, Sherman, Sprague, Sumner, Ten Eyck, 

 Van Winkle, Willey, and Wilson 27. 



NATS Messrs. B'uckalew, Davis, Richardson, and 

 Saulsbury 4. 



ABSENT Messrs. Carlile, Chandler, Cowan, Hale, 

 Harding, Hendricks, Hicks, Howard, Howe, McDou- 

 gall, Morrill, Nesmith, Powell, Riddle, Trumbull, 

 Wade, Wilkinson, and Wright 18. 



This bill subsequently passed the House of 

 Representatives. 



In the House, on January 10th, Mr. Kern an, 

 of New York, by unanimous consent, introduced 

 the following resolution; which was read, con- 

 sidered, and agreed to : 



Resolved, That the Committee on Military Affairs 

 be, and the same is, directed to inquire and report to 

 the House what legislation or action, if any, is neces- 

 sary to secure to persons arrested and imprisoned by 

 military Authority a prompt examination into the 

 cause of their arrest, and their discharge if there be 

 no adequate cause for their detention, and a speedy 

 trial where there is such cause. 



In the House, on January 18th, Mr. Ganson, 

 of New York, offered the following resolution, 

 which was agreed to : 



Resolved, That the Military Committee be, and 

 they are hereby, directed to ascertain and report to 

 this House as soon as possible the number of persona 

 now confined in the Old Capitol and Carroll prisons ; 

 when such persons were respectively arrested and 

 confined, and upon what charges their arrests were 

 made ; whether any of such persons are officers of 

 the army, and have been confined without a trial be- 

 yond the time in that respect prescribed by law or by 

 the regulations in the military service ; and whether 

 any persons so in prison are confined without any 

 written charges made against them ; and whether 

 there are any persons now in said prisons who havo 

 not had any trial ; if so, to report the names of such 

 persons, the time when they were arrested, and the 

 alleged cause of their arrest respectively ; and that 

 the said committee be, and they are hereby, author- 

 ized to send for persons and papers. 



Mr. Stevens, of Pennsylvania, subsequently 

 moved to reconsider the vote by which the reso- 

 lution was agreed to. He said: "I thought 

 that it was a resolution of inquiry, and I now 

 find that it is absolute and directory." 



Mr. Ganson, of New York, replied : " I know 

 the case of one of my constituents, a captain, 

 who has been confined in prison since the 27th 

 of October last without charges being preferred 

 against him, and after he had served three years 

 and a half in the army. I called upon him on 

 Saturday and was permitted to inqnire into his 

 case in the presence of a turnkey, who insisted 

 upon sitting between him and myself and listen- 

 ing to our conversation. I felt it to be a per- 

 sonal indignity, and I am determined that the 

 position of this prisoner shall be investigated if 

 there is any power in this House to have it 

 done." 



Mr. Davis, of Maryland, followed, saying: 

 " Mr. Speaker, I do not see why that resolutio^ 

 should not stand. I suppose it is the right of 

 the House of Representatives, and more than 



