CONGRESS, CONFEDERATE. 



209 



increase its numbers in the field. The insuffi- 

 ciency existed because there were so many of 

 the enemy within our borders, and we had not 

 sufficient numbers to drive them out. Some 

 had attributed the scarcity to corruption in the 

 Commissary Department, and though unpre- 

 pared for an opinion as to the truth of that 

 charge, he still believed that that department 

 was inefficient; others attributed it to want 

 of transportation, and want of transportation 

 had certainly much to do with it. "We had now 

 but one line of railroad; the Rnoxville and 

 Chattanooga being in the possession of the 

 enemy, left us with a vast auxiliary cut off. 

 He believed that there was no deficiency in the 

 country, and that if we could drive the enemy 

 back, we could feed the army, no matter what 

 its numbers. 



After further desultory debate the bill was 

 passed by yeas 41, nays 31. 



The bill provided that each person exempted 

 shall devote himself and the labor he controls 

 to the production of provisions and family sup- 

 plies ; that there shall be contributed for the 

 use of the army from every farm, besides the 

 tithes required by tax, 1 an additional tenth 

 of all the pork or bacon produced ; and that 

 if required, the persons exempted shall sell all 

 their surplus provisions for the use of soldiers' 

 families, or the army, at prices fixed by com- 

 missioners. 



On February 1, the House discussed the bill 

 reported from the Committee on Military Af- 

 fairs, to increase the efficiency of the army by 

 the employment of free negroes and slaves un- 

 der certain circumstances. 



An unsuccessful attempt to go into secret 

 session was made, the pending question being 

 upon an amendment offered by Mr. Baldwin, 

 of Virginia, to add to the first section the 

 words: "And no free negro engaged in the 

 production of food and forage shall be taken 

 under this act." 



Mr. Barksdale, of Mississippi, said that it 

 was no harm to say that we needed troops, 

 and it was the duty of Congress to place men 

 in the army, and fill up those serried ranks now 

 so gallantly maintaining our cause in the field. 

 The chairman of the Military Committee had 

 informed the House that the proposed measure 

 would bring forty thousand troops into the 

 field more than had been engaged in any 

 great battle without materially diminishing 

 our resources, and yet we were met at the 

 threshold by a question relative to exchange. 

 Suppose these free negroes were taken prison- 

 ers ; the free negro is not a useful ingredient 

 of our society. He was astonished, a few days 

 ago, at the assertion of the gentleman from 

 Virginia (Mr. Baldwin) that this class was a 

 useful one in his State. He would leave it to 

 the gentleman's colleagues to answer that, but 

 would say that, according to his observation, 

 the free negro was a blot upon our escutcheon, 

 and pernicious to our slave population. Nei- 

 ther were they engaged in agricultural pursuits. 

 VOL. iv. 14 A 



The amendment of the gentleman from Vir- 

 ginia proposed to make a most unjust discrimi- 

 nation against the poorer white classes. Ho 

 says to the free negro, You shall not bear the 

 burdens of this war while he goes to the 

 dwelling of the humble white citizen, and says 

 to him, You must take your place in the army. 

 It was contrary to the usages of Government 

 to regard a negro as a citizen, and yet the gen- 

 tleman proposed to discriminate between them 

 and the poorer white classes. 



Mr. Baldwin : Does the gentleman wish to 

 place the negroes and whites on an equality ? 



Mr. Barksdale said that he was in favor of 

 the bill just as it came from the committee. 

 He would employ negroes in menial service in 

 the army, and thus increase its efficiency by 

 placing able-bodied white men, now perform- 

 ing those services, in the ranks. 



Mr. Atkins, of Tennessee, called the ques- 

 tion ; which was ordered, and Mr. Baldwin's 

 amendment was rejected. 



Mr. Wright, of Texas, said he would like to 

 vote for the bill, but a constitutional difficulty 

 suggested itself to his mind. He would inquire 

 of the chairman of the Military Committee if 

 the proposition to pay negroes eleven dollars 

 per month was not unconstitutional ? 



Mr. Miles thought the objection not a very 

 subtle one. When the constitution provided 

 that no private property should be taken with- 

 out just compensation to the owner, it did not 

 deprive Congress of the privilege of fixing the 

 compensation. It did not make it obligatory 

 that it should be fixed by a jury. If Congress 

 determined to employ negroes in menial opera- 

 tions in the army, it was perfectly competent 

 to determine the compensation to be paid to 

 the owner. While we were paying soldiers 

 but eleven dollars per month, he thought the 

 compensation ample for the services of negroes. 



Mr. Smith, of Alabama, moved to strike out 

 the first section of the bill. It was proposed 

 to put into the fortifications and in the army, 

 in the capacity of teamsters, free negroes a 

 class who were inimical to our cause. Many 

 of them could read, write, and draw, and being 

 introduced into our fortifications, and becom- 

 ing acquainted with their details, had only to 

 communicate them to the enemy. So with re- 

 gard to teamsters. They might, by carrying 

 devices, clog the movements of a whole army. 



Mr. Elliott, of Kentucky : Does the gentle- 

 man suppose free negroes are more inimical to 

 our cause than slaves? 



Mr. Smith had never heard that free negroes 

 had done any thing good to our cause. He was 

 willing to pass the second section, which pro- 

 vides for the employment of slaves, but opposed 

 the free negro feature in toto. 



Mr. Chambliss, of Virginia, said that he rep- 

 resented a district that was overwhelmed with 

 free negroes, and since the departure of the 

 slaves, they were the only laborers that could 

 be procured. There were many dependent 

 females, who had no other means of procuring 



