230 



CONGRESS, CONFEDERATE. 



where they could not go themselves, had writ- 

 ten communications, notifying all producers 

 that their whole surplus was impressed, and 

 forbidding them to move it. The question was, 

 what are all the non-producers the large 

 number of persons residing in cities the me- 

 chanics, the wives and children of our soldiers, 

 the vast number of refugees who were driven 

 from their homes by the enemy what were 

 these to do ? As an instance of the great in- 

 justice of the system, he stated that he knew 

 of a mill in which all the toll corn had been 

 impressed by the commissary agent at the 

 depot, who knew at the time that twenty or 

 thirty families were supplied by that mill, and 

 he impressed it, simply because it was con- 

 venient to the depot, and he was too lazy to 

 go some distance further and obtain supplies 

 from a place which could afford to give them. 

 Mr. Goode represented, as a part of his dis- 

 trict, the little county of Carroll, which had 

 sent into the field eleven hundred volunteers 

 out of twelve hundred voters. It had not fur- 

 nished a single conscript, and but three substi- 

 tutes, and contained only one hundred and fifty 

 slaves. Almost all of the laboring population, 

 therefore, consisted of the old men, the wo- 

 men and boys ; -and if the producer was not 

 allowed to furnish his poor neighbor with 

 bread and meat, what was he to do? He knew 

 and admitted the necessity of feeding the army ; 

 but by so doing he could not admit the neces- 

 sity of starving the country. He had been told 

 that there were " oceans of corn " in the State 

 of Georgia; if so, why was it not brought 

 here ? Could not the Government regulate its 

 own transportation ? He could not say that 

 he knew the remedy for the evil, but it was 

 his opinion that a change in the commissary 

 department would be very beneficial. 



On the 21st, Mr. Miles, of S. C., offered the 

 following bill, which was referred to the Com- 

 mittee on Military Affairs : 



A bill to be entitled an Act to continue in the service all 

 troops now in the service of the Confederate States. 

 SEC. 1. The Congress of the Confederate States 

 of America do enact, that all musicians, privates, 

 and non-commissioned officers now in the armies of 

 the Confederate States, by virtue of volunteering, 

 enlistment, or conscription into the military service 

 of the Confederate States, be and the same are hereby 

 retained in said service for and during the existing 

 war with the United States, and no longer. 



SEC. 2. Be it further enacted, That all troops so re- 

 tained in service shall continue to serve in the com- 

 panies, battalions, squadrons, batteries, and regiments 

 in which they now are, until transferred, detailed, ex- 

 empted or discharged in accordance with existing laws 

 and regulations, or such laws and regulations as may 

 hereafter be passed and adopted with reference to 

 transfers, details, exemptions, or discharges in the 

 armies of the Confederacy. 



Mr. Gartrell, of Ga., offered an amendment 

 to allow the troops so retained in service to 

 elect their company and field officers. 



Mr. Read, of Ky., offered an amendment to 

 allow the troops from Kentucky to mount 

 themselves and become part of the cavalry. 



The amendments were ordered to be sent to 

 the committee with the original bill. 



Mr. Foote, of Tennessee, rose to a personal 

 explanation. He had seen in the papers ex- 

 tracts from Northern papers, reporting him as 

 having said that our Government officials were 

 trying to starve Federal prisoners. He had 

 made no such statement, but had merely offer- 

 ed a resolution looking to an inquiry into the 

 subject, and had presented papers to show 

 that there had been some irregularity in feed- 

 ing them, and the Committee on Quartermas- 

 ter and Commissary Departments were now 

 engaged in a strict investigation of the sub- 

 ject. 



Mr. Hilton, of Fla., from the Committee on 

 Military Affairs, presented the following bill 

 which was ordered to be printed : 



Whereas, Through frauds perpetrated on the Gov- 

 ernment under the clause of the act approved April 

 16th, 1862, which granted the privilege that persons not 

 liable to military duty might be received for those who 

 were, our armies have been deprived of the services of 

 men necessary for the public defence, therefore, 



SEC. 1. The Congress of the Confederate States do 

 enact, That, in all cases where substitutes received 

 under the provision of the above (or any other) law 

 have deserted, or shall hereafter desert, the obligation 

 of the principal shall revive upon the desertion of 

 the substitute being established under regulations 

 to be prescribed by the Secretary of War. 



SEC. 2. In all cases where a substitute has proved 

 unfit for the discharge of the ordinary duties of a sol- 

 dier, by reason of physical or mental incapacity exist- 

 ing at the time he was received as a substitute, the ob- 

 ligation of the principal shall revive upon such in- 

 capacity being established and attested under regula- 

 tions to be prescribed by the Secretary of War. 



SEC. 3. In all cases where a man who is a substi- 

 tute would be liable to enrolment for military service 

 under existing or future laws, if he were not already in 

 the army, the principal is hereby declared to be sub- 

 ject to such enrolment. 



On the 24th, a bill was unanimously passed 

 in the House prohibiting every person from 

 dealing in the paper currency of the United 

 States. 



The following bill was passed by a vote of 

 62 ayes to 13 noes : 



Whereas, In the present circumstances of the coun- 

 try, it requires the aid of all who are able to bear arms ; 



The Congress of the Confederate States do therefore 

 enact, That no person shall be exempted from mili- 

 tary service by reason of having furnished a substi- 

 tute. Provided, That nothing in the foregoing clause 

 shall be so construed as to relieve a substitute from 

 any obligation or liability contracted or assumed by 

 him as such substitute. But this act shall not be con- 

 strued so as to atfect persons who, though not liable 

 to military service, have, nevertheless, put in substi- 

 tutes. 



In the Senate, on the 30th, Mr. Phelan, of 

 Miss., presented joint resolutions of the Gen- 

 eral Assembly of Mississippi, which were 

 ferred to the Military Committee. 



The resolutions severally provide that Con- 

 gress be requested to repeal that portion of the 

 Conscript act authorizing substitution in the 

 army, to take into consideration the practica- 

 bility of using negro men in the service as 

 teamsters, &c., and to appoint an agent, or 



