164 



CONGRESS, CONFEDERATE. 



was first communicated to Gen. Beauregard, by 

 President Davis, in the following letter : 



MANASSAS, July 21, 1861. 



SIR : Appreciating your services in the battle of 

 Manassas, and on several other occasions during the 

 existing war, as affording the highest evidence of your 

 skill as a commander, your gallantry as a soldier, and 

 your zeal as a patriot, you are promoted to be a Gen- 

 eral in the army of the Confederate States of America, 

 and with the consent of Congress will be duly com- 

 missioned accordingly. Yours, &c., 



JEFF. DAVIS. 



On the 21st of August, President Davis ap- 

 proved an act empowering him to appoint two 

 other Commissioners to Europe. The act em- 

 powered the President to determine to what na- 

 tions the Commissioners now in Europe should 

 be accredited, and to prescribe their duties. 

 The two additional Commissioners would re- 

 ceive the same pay as those now in Europe. 



The President also approved an act for the 

 aid of the State of Missouri in repelling the 

 invasion, and to authorize her admission into 

 the Confederacy. The preamble set forth that 

 the people of Missouri had been prevented by 

 the unconstitutional interference of the Federal 

 Government . from expressing their will in re- 

 gard to union with the Confederate States, and 

 that Missouri was engaged in repelling the law- 

 less invasion of her territory by armed forces. 

 The Confederate Government considered it 

 their right and duty to aid the Government 

 and people of Missouri in resisting this invasion, 

 and securing the means and opportunity of ex- 

 pressing their will upon all questions affecting 

 their rights and liberties. 



The President was authorized to cooperate, 

 through the military power of the Govern- 

 ment, with the authorities of Missouri in de- 

 fending that State against the lawless invasion 

 of their soil by the United States, in maintain- 

 ing the liberty and independence of Missouri, 

 with power to accept the services of troops 

 sufficient to suit the purpose. The act pro- 

 vided for the admission of Missouri to the Con- 

 federacy, on an equal footing with the other 

 States, when the Provisional Constitution 

 should be ratified by the legally constituted 

 authorities of Missouri, and an authenticated 

 copy be communicated to the President. 



The President would then, in accordance 

 with the provisions of the act, issue his procla- 

 mation announcing the admission of Missouri 

 into the Confederacy. She recognized the 

 Government in Missouri of which Claiborne F. 

 Jackson was Chief Magistrate. 



A bill was passed providing for the seques- 

 tration of the property of alien enemies. This 

 bill was framed as a retaliatory measure, to 

 offset the confiscation act of the United States 

 Congress. 



Congress called upon the Navy Department 

 for an estimate of the amount required to con- 

 struct two gunboats for the defence of the city 

 of Memphis and the Mississippi River in that 

 neighborhood, upon a special plan which had 

 been submitted to the Department. 



The measure adopted to furnish funds to the 

 Government authorized the issue of Treasury 

 notes and funds, and provided for a war tax. 



Section one authorized the issue of Treasury notes, 

 payable to bearer at the expiration of six months after 

 the ratification of a treaty of peace between the Con- 

 federate States and the United States. The notes 

 were not to be of a less denomination than five dol- 

 lars, to be re-issued at pleasure, to be received in pay- 

 ment of all public dues, except the export duty on 

 cotton ; and the whole issue outstanding at one time, 

 including the amount issued under former acts, was 

 not to exceed one hundred millions of dollars. 



the sa 

 or military 



not more than twenty years after date, to the amount 

 of one hundred millions of dollars, and bearing an in- 

 terest of eight per cent, per annum. This amount in- 

 cluded the thirty millions heretofore authorized to be 

 issued. The bonds were not to be issued in less 

 amounts than $100, except when the subscription was 

 for a less amount, when they might be issued as low 

 as $50. 



Section three provided that holders of Treasury 

 notes might at any time exchange them for bonds. 



Section four provided that, for the special purpose 

 of paying the principal and interest of the public debt, 

 and of supporting the Government, a war tax should 

 be assessed and levied of fifty cents upon each one 

 hundred dollars in value of the following property in 

 the Confederate States, namely : Keal estate of all 

 kinds ; slaves ; merchandise ; bank stocks ; railroad 

 and other corporation stocks ; money at interest or 

 invested by individuals in the purchase of bills, notes, 

 and other securities for money, except the bonds of 

 the Confederate States of America, and cash on hand 

 or on deposit in bank or elsewhere ; cattle, horses, and 

 mules, gold watches, gold and silver plate ; pianos 

 and pleasure carriages ; provided, however, that when 

 the taxable property, herein above enumerated, of any 

 head of a family was of value less than five hundred 

 dollars, such taxable property should be exempt from 

 taxation under the act. It provided further, that the 

 property of colleges, schools, and religious associa- 

 tions should be exempt. 



The remaining sections provided for the collection 

 of the tax. 



A resolution was adopted as early as the 8th 

 of August, the object of which was to place 

 the Confederacy in a favorable position at the 

 Courts of Great Britain and France, on the 

 rights of neutrals and belligerents. This was 

 no less than an expression of adhesion to the 

 declaration made at the Congress of Paris, ex- 

 cepting the first clause. (See DIPLOMATIC COR- 

 RESPONDENCE OF THE UNITED STATES.) The 

 resolution adopted was in these words : 



Whereas it has been found that the tincertainty of 

 maritime law in time of war has given rise to differ- 

 ences of opinion between neutrals and belligerents, 

 which may occasion serious misunderstandings, and 

 even conflicts ; and whereas the Plenipotentiaries of 

 Great Britain, France, Austria, Prussia, Sardinia, and 

 Russia, at the Congress of Paris of 1856, established 

 a uniform doctrine on this subject, to which they in- 

 vited the adherence of the nations of the world, which 

 is as follows : 



1. That privateering is and remains abolished. 



2. That the neutral flag covers the enemy's goods, 

 with the exception of contraband of war. 



3. That neutral goods, with the exception of con- 

 traband of war, are not liable to capture under the 

 enemy's flag ; and 



4. That blockades, in order to be binding, must be 

 effective ; that is to say, maintained by a force sutli- 

 cient really to prevent access to the coast of the enemy. 



