CONGRESS, U. S. 



273 



may be prescribed by the President : Provided, That 

 nothing herein contained, or in the rules and articles 

 of war, shall be so construed as to authorize or permit 

 any officer of African descent to be appointed to rank, 

 or to exercise military or naval authority over white 

 officers, soldiers, or men in the military or naval ser- 

 vice of the United States ; nor shall any greater pay 

 than ten dollars per month, with the usual allowance 

 of clothing and rations, be allowed or paid to pri- 

 vates or laborers of African descent which are, or may 

 be, in the military or naval service of the United 

 States : Provided further, That the slaves of loyal citi- 

 zens in the States exempt by the President's procla- 

 mation of January 1, 1863, shall not be received into 

 the armed service of the United States, nor shall there 

 be recruiting offices opened in either of the States of 

 Delaware, Maryland, Western Virginia, Kentucky, 

 Tennessee, or Missouri, without the consent of the 

 Governor of said State having been first obtained. 



The vote was as follows : 



YEAS Messrs. Aldrich, Alley, Arnold, Ashley, Bab- 

 bitt, Baxter, Beaman, Bingham, Samuel S. Blair, Blake, 

 William G. Brown, Buffinton, Campbell, Casey, Cham- 

 berlain, Clark, Colfax, Frederick A. Conkling, Roscoe 

 Conkling, Conway, Cutler, Davis, Dawes, Dunn, Edger- 

 ton, Edwards, Eliot, Ely, Fenton, Samuel C. Fessen- 

 den, Thomas A. D. Fessendeu, Fisher, Frank, Gooch, 

 Gurley, Hooper, Hutchins, Julian, Kelley, Francis W. 

 Kellogg, Lansing, Loomis, Lovejoy, Low, Mclndoe, 

 McKean, McKnight, McPherson, Marston, Mitchell, 

 Justin S. Morriir, Nixon, Noell, Olin, Timothy G. 

 Phelps, Pike, Pomeroy, Porter, John H. Rice, Riddle, 

 Edward H. Rollins, Sargeant, Sedgwick, Shanks, Shef- 

 field, Shellarbager, Sherman, Sloan, Spaulding, Ste- 

 vens, Train, Trimble, Trowbridge, Van Horn, Walker, 

 Wall, Wallace, Washburne, Wheeler, Albert S. White, 

 Wilson, Windom, and Worcester 83. 



NAYS Messrs. William Allen, William J. Allen, 

 Ancona, Bailey, Biddle, Jacob B. Blair, Clements, Cobb, 

 Cox, Cravens, Crisfield, Crittenden, Delaplaine, Gran- 

 ger, Grider, Hale, Hall, Harding, Harrison, Holman, 

 Horton, Johnson, William Kellogg, Kerrigan, Law, 

 Lazear, Leary, Mallory, May, Maynard, Menzies, Mor- 

 ris, Noble, Norton, Odell, Pendleton, Price, Robin- 

 son, James S. Rollins, Shiel, Stiles, Benjamin F. 

 Thomas, Francis Thomas, Vallandigham, Vibbard, 

 Wadsworth, Webster, Whaley, Chifton A. White, 

 Wickliff, Wood, Woodruff, Wright, and Teaman 54. 



On the 3d of February the bill came up in 

 the Senate, and was referred to the Committee 

 on Military Affairs. 



On the 12th of February, the Committee re- 

 ported the bill back to the Senate, with a re- 

 commendation "that it do not pass, because 

 the authority intended to be given by it is suf- 

 ficiently granted in the twelfth and fifteenth sec- 

 tions of the act approved July 17, 1862, chapter 

 101." The following are the sections referred to : 



SEC. 12. And be it further enacted, That the Presi- 

 dent be, and is hereby authorized to receive into the 

 service of the United States, for the purpose of con- 

 structing intrenchments, or performing camp service, 

 or any other labor, or any military or naval service for 

 which they may be found competent, persons of African 

 descent, and such persons shall be enrolled and organ- 

 ized under such regulations, not inconsistent with 

 the Constitution and laws, as the President may pre- 

 scribe. 



SEC. 15. And be it further enacted, That all persons 

 who have been or shall be hereafter enrolled in the 

 service of the United States under this act shall receive 

 the pay and rations now allowed by law to soldiers, 

 according to their respective grades : Provided, That 

 persons of African descent, who under this law shall 

 be employed, shall receive ten dollars per month and 

 one ration, three dollars of which monthly pay may be 

 in clothing. 



VOL. in. 18 A 



In the Senate, on the 5th of February, the 

 bill for enrolling and drafting the militia, &c., 

 was considered with the amendments reported 

 by the Committee on Military Affairs. 



Mr : Carlile, of Western Virginia, stated that 

 some provisions of the bill appeared to be 

 of doubtful propriety, and of very doubtful 

 constitutionality. He therefore moved to strike 

 out the second section, as proposing " to put 

 the entire militia of the States under the con- 

 trol of the President, and subject to certain 

 rules and regulations for drafting them as he 

 may prescribe." If this motion succeeded, it 

 was his intention also to move to strike out the 

 fourth, seventh, and tenth sections of the bill, 

 of which he said : " Those sections strike down 

 everything like the rights of the States to take 

 care of their own militia, and they take from 

 the States really all control over them. The 

 Constitution of the United States authorizes 

 Congress 



To provide for calling forth the militia to execute 

 the laws of the Union, suppress insurrections, and re- 

 pel invasions. 



To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplin- 

 ing the militia, and for governing such part of them 

 as may be employed in the service of the United 

 States. 



"This is a general conscript law, asserting 

 the power on the part of the Congress of the 

 United States, without reference at all to the 

 States of the Union, to give to the President 

 the right to call the entire military force of the 

 several States into the service of the United 

 States, to provide how they shall be called in, 

 to provide for enrolling and drafting them, and 

 to' make rules for their government, ignoring 

 entirely the governments of the States. If this 

 were a despotic Government, or if the people 

 belonged to this Government, there might be 

 some such assertion of power on the part of 

 Congress; but, as I understand it, the Govern- 

 ment belongs to the people, and the present 

 war is an effort to preserve that Government. 

 If the people do not feel interest enough in 

 their own Government to preserve it, I doubt 

 very much whether you can place power 

 enough in the hands of their agents to make 

 them do it." 



Mr. Richardson, of Illinois, in opposition to 

 the bill, said : " Mr. President, no bill has ever 

 been introduced into Congress of such fearful 

 import as the one now under consideration. It 

 confers upon the President of the United States 

 power to make all rules and regulations for the 

 enrollment of the militia ; and when they are 

 enrolled, it places the entire militia of the 

 United States at his absolute command. 



" It is the enrollment that puts him into the 

 service. As soon as he is enrolled, no matter 

 what his disabilities may be, he is subject to 

 the order of the President of the United States 

 and the rules and articles of war. There is no 

 exemption. I object to the bill on that ac- 

 count. 



"But, Mr. President, I object to the bill still 

 more on another ground. Heretofore, in our 



