160 



CONGRESS, CONFEDERATE. 



lation therein, be discharged from such service or 

 labor, but shall be delivered up on claim of the party 

 to whom such slave belongs, or to whom such service 

 or labor may be due. 



The following is the provision in reference 

 to the admission of States into the new Con- 

 federacy : 



Other States may be admitted into this Confeder- 

 acy by a vote of two-thirds of the whole House of Rep- 

 resentatives and two-thirds of the Senate, the Senate 

 voting by States ; but no new State shall be formed 

 or erected within the jurisdiction of any other State, 

 nor any State be formed by the junction of two or 

 more States, or parts of States, without the consent of 

 the Legislatures of the States concerned as well as of 

 the Congress. 



The " Territorial question" is thus disposed of: 



The Congress shall have power to dispose of and 

 make all needful rules and regulations concerning the 

 property of the Confederate States, including the lands 

 thereof. 



The Confederate States may acquire new territory ; 

 and Congress shall have power to legislate and pro- 

 vide governments for the inhabitants of all territory 

 belonging to the Confederate States lying without the 

 limits of the several States ; and may permit them, at 

 such times and in such manner as it may by law pro- 

 vide, to form States to be admitted into the Confed- 

 eracy. In all such territory the institution of negro 

 slavery, as it now exists in the Confederate States, 

 shall be recognized and protected by Congress and by 

 the Territorial government ; and the inhabitants of the 

 several Confederate States and Territories shall have 

 the right to take to such Territory any slaves lawfully 

 held by them in any of the States or Territories of the 

 Confederate States. 



Amendments to the Constitution are to be 

 thus initiated and consummated : 



Upon the demand of any three States, legally as- 

 sembled in their several Conventions, the Congress 

 shall summon a Convention of all the States to take 

 into consideration such amendments to the Constitu- 

 tion as the said States shall concur in suggesting at 

 the time when the said demand is made ; and should 

 any of the proposed amendments to the Constitution 

 be agreed on by the said Convention voting by 

 States and the same be ratified by the Legislatures 

 of two-thirds of the several States, or by Conventions 

 in two-thirds thereof as the one or the other mode of 

 ratification may be proposed by the General Conven- 

 tion they shall thenceforward form a part of this Con- 

 stitution. 



The following temporary provisions are enu- 

 merated : 



The Government established by this Constitution 

 is the successor of the Provisional'Government of the 

 Confederate States of America, and all the laws passed 

 by the latter shall continue in force until the same 

 shall be repealed or modified ; and all the officers ap- 

 pointed by the same shall remain in office until their 

 successors are appointed and qualified, or the offices 

 abolished. 



All debts contracted and engagements entered into 

 before the adoption of this Constitution shall be as 

 valid against the Confederate States under this Con- 

 stitution as under the Provisional Government. 



The mode of ratification and the number of 

 States necessary to put the Constitution in 

 force are thus designated : 



The ratification of the Conventions of five States 

 shall be sufficient for the establishment of this Consti- 

 tution between the States so ratifying the same. 



When five States shall have ratified this Constitu- 

 tion, in the manner before specified, the Congress 

 under the Provisional Constitution shall prescribe the 



time for holding the election of President and Vice- 

 President, and for the meeting of the Electoral Col- 

 lege, and for counting the votes, and inaugurating the 

 President. They shall also prescribe the time for 

 holding the first election of members of Congress 

 under this Constitution, and the time for assembling 

 the same. Until the assembling of such Congress, the 

 Congress under the Provisional Constitution shall con- 

 tinue to exercise the legislative powers granted them ; 

 not extending beyond the time limited by the Consti- 

 tution of the Provisional Government. 



An act was also passed authorizing the issue 

 of one million dollars in Treasury notes, and an 

 appropriation bill to meet current expenses. 



The tariff bill reported to Congress was post- 

 poned to the 1st of May. As compared with 

 the tariff of the United States, most of the arti- 

 cles paying 30 per cent, were reduced to 25 per 

 cent. ; the larger portion of those paying 24 and 

 19 per cent, were reduced to 16. There was 

 also a large 10 per cent, schedule, and a very 

 small free list. , 



The Commissioners appointed to visit Europe 

 were Messrs. Yancey, A. Dudley Mann, and P. 

 A. Bost, of Louisiana. They immediately pro- 

 ceeded by way of New Orleans and Havana to 

 their place of destination. 



The Congress also passed an act to authorize 

 the transit of merchandise through the Confed- 

 erate States; also, a resolution requesting the 

 States to cede the forts, arsenals, navy-yards, 

 dock-yards, and other public establishments 

 within their limits to the Confederacy. 



The act passed to prohibit the African slave 

 trade was vetoed by President Davis on the 

 ground of a conflict in the details of one of the 

 sections with the provisions of the Constitution, 

 to wit: 



EXECUTIVE DEPASTMENT, ) 

 Feb. 28, 1861. j 



Gentlemen of Congress : With sincere deference to the 

 judgment of Congress, I have carefully considered the 

 bill in relation to the slave trade, and to punish per- 

 sons offending therein, but have not been able to ap- 

 prove it, and, therefore, do return it with a statement 

 of my objections. 



The Constitution section seven, article one pro- 

 vides that the importation of African negeoes from 

 any foreign country other than Slaveholding States of 

 the United States is hereby forbidden, and Congress 

 is required to pass such laws as shall effectually pre- 

 vent the same. The rule herein given is emphatic, 

 and distinctly directs the legislation which shall effect- 

 ually prevent the importation of African negroes. The 

 bill before me denounces as high misdemeanor the im- 

 portation of African negroes, or other persons of color, 

 either to be sold as slaves or to be held to service or 

 labor, affixing heavy, degrading penalties on the act if 

 done with such intent. To that extent it accords with 

 the requirements of the Constitution, but in the sixth 

 section of the bill provision is made for the transfer of 

 persons who may nave been illegally imported into the 

 Confederate States to the custody of foreign States or 

 societies, upon condition of deportation and future 

 freedom, and, if the proposition thus to surrender 

 them shall not be accepted, it is then made the duly 

 of the President to cause said negroes to be sold at 

 public outcry to the highest bidder in any one of the 

 States where such sale shall not be inconsistent with 

 the Taws thereof. This provision seems to me to be in 

 opposition to the policy declared in the Constitution 

 the prohibition of the importation of African negroes 

 and in derogation of its mandate to legislate for 

 the effectuation of that object. Wherefore the bill is 



