CONGKESS, UNITED STATES. 



299 



ferent from either the provisions of the House 

 bill or of the Senate bill. In ray opinion they had 

 no earthly power to do so. Is not the whole 

 character of the bill changed? The bill as it 

 passed the Senate provided simply for a Bureau 

 of Freedmen ; this provides for all the machin- 

 ery of a great national Department of the Gov- 

 ernment, looking to no temporary duration or 

 consequences, but a permanent system by which 

 four million freed Africans are to be billeted 

 upon the Treasury for all time to come. "We 

 make them free upon the theory that they de- 

 serve freedom, that they can take care of them- 

 selves. If I had believed these four million 

 people were as helpless and as unable to take 

 care of themselves as the Senator from Massa- 

 chusetts seems to believe by his proposition, I 

 should have cared little about their emancipa- 

 tion from one master to place them in the hands 

 of another task-master under the forms of law." 



The Senate refused to concur in the report of 

 the Conference Committee by the following vote : 



YEAS Messrs. Anthony, Brown, Chandler, Foot, 

 Howard, Morgan, Morrill, Pomeroy, Ramsey, 

 Sprague, Stewart, Sumner, Wade, and Wilson 14. 



NAYS Messrs. Buckalew, Carlile, Cowan, Davis, 

 Dixon, Doolittle, Grimes, Hale, Harjan, Harris, Hen- 

 derson, Howe, Johnson, Lane of Indiana, McDougall, 

 Nesmith, Powell, Richardson, Riddle, Ten Eyck, 

 Trurnbull, Van Winkle, Willey, and Wright 24. 



ABSENT Messrs. Clark, Collamer, Conness, Far- 

 well, Foster, Harding, Hendricks, Lane of Kansas, 

 Nye, Saulsbury, Sherman, and Wilkinson 12. 



A new Committee of Conference was then ap- 

 pointed, .consisting of Messrs. Wilson, Harlan, 

 and Willey. 



In the Senate, on February 28, Mr. Wilson, 

 of Massachusetts, made another report from tho 

 Conference Committee, on the bill to establish 

 a Bureau of Freedinen's Affairs, as follows : 



The Committee of Conference on the disagreeing 

 rotes of the two Houses on the bill (H. R. No. 51) 

 entitled "An act to establish a Bureau of Freedmen' s 



Affairs," having met, after full and free conference 

 have agreed to recommend to their respective Houses 

 as follows: "That the Senate recede from their 

 amendment to the said bill, and the committee 



;ree to the following as a substitute " : 



ACT TO ESTABLISH A BUREAU FOR THE BELIEF OF 

 FREEDMEN AND REFUGEES. 



Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Represent- 

 atives of the United States of America in Congress as- 

 tembled, That there is hereby established in the War 

 Department, to continue during the present war of 

 rebellion, and for one year thereafter, a Bureau of 

 Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, to which 

 shall be committed, as hereinafter provided, the su- 

 pervision and management of all abandoned lands, and 

 the control of all subjects relating to refugees and 

 freedmen from rebel States, or from any district of 

 country within the territory embraced in the opera- 

 tions of the army, under such rules and regulations 

 as may be prescribed by the head of the bureau and 

 approved by the President. The said bureau shall 

 be under the management and control of a Commis- 

 sioner, to be appointed by the President, by and with 

 the advice and consent of the Senate, whose compen- 

 sation shall be $3,000 per annum, and such number 

 of clerks as may be assigned to him by the Secretary 

 of War, not exceeding one chief clerk, two of the 

 fourth class, two of the third class, three of the sec- 

 ond class, and five of the first class. And the Com- 



missioncr and all persons appointed under this act 

 shall, before entering upon their duties, take the oath 

 of office prescribed in an act entitled "An act to 

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

 approved July 2, 1862. And the Commissioner and 

 the chief clerk shall, before entering upon their du- 

 ties, give bonds to the Treasurer of the United States, 

 the former in the sum of $50,000 and the latter in the 

 sum of $10,000, conditioned for the faithful discharge 

 of their duties respectively, with securities to be ap- 

 proved as sufficient by the Attorney-General, which 

 bonds shall be filed in the office of the First Comp- 

 troller of the Treasury, to be by him put in suit for 

 the benefit of any injured party, upon any breach of 

 the conditions thereof. 



SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That the Secre- 

 tary of War may dir-ect such issues of provisions, 

 clothing, and fuel as he may deem needful for tho 

 immediate and temporary shelter and supply of des- 

 titute and suffering refugees and freedmen, and their 

 wives and children, under such rules and regulations 

 as he may direct. 



SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That the Presi- 

 dent may, by and with the advice and consent of the 

 Senate, appoint an assistant commissioner for each 

 of the States declared to be in insurrection, not ex- 

 ceeding ten in number, who shall, under the direction 

 of the Commissioner, aid in the execution of the pro- 

 visions of this act ; and he shall give a bond to the 

 Treasurer of the United States in the sum of $20,000, 

 in the form and manner prescribed in the first section 

 of this act. Each of said assistant commissioners 

 shall receive an annual salary of $2,500, in full com- 

 pensation for all his services. And any military offi- 

 cer may be detailed and assigned to duty under this 

 act without increase of pay or allowance. The Com- 

 sioner shall, before the commencement of each regu- 

 lar session of Congress, make full report of his pro- 

 ceedings, with exhibits of the state of his accounts, 

 to the President, who shall communicate the same 

 to Congress, and shall also make special reports 

 whenever required to do so by the President or 

 either House of Congress. And the assistant com- 

 missioners shall make quarterly reports of their pro- 

 ceedings to the Commissioner, and also such other 

 special reports as from time to time may be required. 

 SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That the Com- 

 missioner, under the direction of the President, shall 

 have authority to set apart for the use of loyal refu- 

 gees and freedmen such tracts of land within the in- 

 surrectionary States as shall have been abandoned, 

 or to which the United States shall have acquired 

 title by confiscation, or sale, or otherwise. And to 

 every male citizen, whether refugee or freedman, as 

 aforesaid, there shall be assigned not more than forty 

 acres of such land, and the person to whom it is so 

 assigned shall be protected in the use and enjoyment 

 of the land for the term of three years, at an annual 

 rent not exceeding six per cent, upon the value of 

 said land as it was appraised by the State authorities 

 in 1860, for the purpose of taxation; and in case no 

 such appraisal can be found, then the rental shall be 

 based upon the estimated value of the land in said 

 year, to be ascertained in such manner as the Com- 

 missioner may, by regulation, prescribe. At the end 

 of said term or at any time during said term, the oc- 

 cupants of any parcels so assigned may purchase the 

 land and receive such title thereto as the United 

 States can convey upon paying therefor the value of 

 the land, as ascertained and fixed for the purpose of 

 determining the annual rent as aforesaid. 



SEC. 5. And be it further enacted, That all acts and 

 parts of acts inconsistent with the provisions of this 

 act are hereby repealed. 



HENRY WILSON, 



JAMES HARLAN, 



W. T. WILLEY, 



ROBERT C. SCHENCK, 



GEORGE S. BOUT WELL, >, 



JAMES S. ROLLINS, ) J 



