CONGRESS, CONFEDERATE. 



165 



And whereas it is desirable that the Confederate 

 States of America shall assume a definite position on 

 so important a point ; now, therefore, be it 



Resolved, That the Congress of the Confederate 

 States of America accept the second, third, and fourth 

 clauses of the above-cited declaration, and decline to 

 assent to the first clause thereof. 



The prohibition of the exportation of cotton, 

 except through Confederate ports, was extended 

 by Congress to embrace rice, sugar, molasses, 

 and sirups. 



An act was also passed for the sequestration 

 of all Northern property found in the State. 

 The principal clause of the act was as follows : 



Be it enacted ly the Congress of the Confederate 

 States, That all and every the lands, tenements, and 

 hereditaments, goods and chattels, rights and credits 

 within these Confederate States, and every right and 

 interest therein held, owned, possessed, or enjoyed by 

 or for any alien enemy since the twenty-first day of 

 May, 1861, except such debts due to an alien enemy 

 as may have been paid into the Treasury of any one of 

 the Confederate States prior to the passage of this 

 law, be and the same are hereby sequestrated by the 

 Confederate States of America, and shall be held for 

 the full indemnity of any true and loyal citizen, a 

 resident of these 'Confederate States, or other person 

 aiding said Confederate States in the prosecution of 

 the present war between said Confederate States and 

 the United States of America, and for which he may 

 suffer any loss or injury under the act of the United 

 States to which this act is retaliatory, or under any 

 othe act of the United States, or of any State thereof, 

 authorizing the seizure or confiscation of the property 

 of citizens or residents of the Confederate States, or 

 other person aiding said Confederate States, and the 

 same shall be seized and disposed of as provided for in 

 this act: Provided, however, When the estate, prop- 

 erty, or rights to be affected by this act were or are 

 within some State of this Confederacy, which has be- 

 come such since said twenty-first day of May, then this 

 act shall operate upon and as to such estate, property, 

 or rights, and all persons claiming the same from and 

 after the day such State became a member of this Con- 

 federacy, and not before: Provided, further, That the 

 provisions of this act shall not extend to the stocks or 

 other public securities of the Confederate Government, 

 or of any of the States of this Confederacy, held or 

 owned by an alien enemy, or to any debt, obligation, 

 or sum due from the Confederate Government or any 

 of the States to such alien enemy. And provided, also, 

 That the provisions of this act shall not embrace the 

 property of citizens or residents of either of the States 

 of Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky, Missouri, or the 

 District of Columbia, or the Territories of New Mexico, 

 Arizona, or the Indian Territory south of Kansas, ex- 

 cept such of said citizens or residents as shall commit 

 actual hostilities against the Confederate States, or aid 

 or abet the United 'States in the existing war against 

 Confederate States. 



Sections 2 to 13 provide for the appointment 

 of receivers in each county, and impose a pen- 

 alty of $2,000 on all who may endeavor to con- 

 ceal the ownership of property belonging to 

 alien enemies. Section 14 provides for the ap- 

 pointment of three commissioners to take charge 

 of the sequestration fund, and to hear and de- 

 cide on all claims against it. 



This session was short, and devoted almost 

 exclusively to military and financial subjects, 

 (see CONFEDERATE STATES, also FINANCES, U. S.,) 

 and closed by an adjournment to the 18th of 

 November. On that day Congress again reas- 

 sembled at Richmond. The members present 

 from Virginia were Messrs. W. B. Preston, Tyler, 



and Macfarland. The aspect of affairs had some- 

 what changed since its adjournment. It was 

 now manifest that serious dangers were begin- 

 ning to threaten. The Northern force had 

 gathered, and was organized and disciplined for 

 desperate work. South Carolina had been in- 

 vaded. North Carolina and Louisiana would 

 soon be threatened. Still there were no fears 

 of the ultimate ability of the Confederacy to 

 repel all invaders. The number of acts of gen- 

 eral importance passed at this session was lim- 

 ited. One was adopted admitting Kentucky 

 into the Union of Confederate States. 



A Message from President Davis was also 

 laid before Congress, relative to the secession 

 of Missouri. It was accompanied by a letter 

 from Governor Jackson, and also by an act dis- 

 solving the Union with the United States, and 

 an act ratifying the Constitution of the Provi- 

 sional Government of the Confederate States ; 

 also, the Convention between the Commission- 

 ers of Missouri and the Commissioners of the 

 Confederate States. This Convention was 

 made on the part of the Confederate States, by 

 R. M. T. Hunter, Secretary of State, and was 

 unanimously ratified by Congress. On the next 

 day an act was passed, admitting Missouri as 

 a member of the Confederacy. At the same 

 time a resolution was adopted, refusing to make 

 any advance to, or to purchase the produce of 

 planters, and surprise was expressed that such 

 applications should be made. 



An act was also passed to increase the naval 

 force and to enlist not more than two thousand 

 seamen. A resolution was passed appropriat- 

 ing $250,000 as an advance, on account of any 

 claims of the State of South Carolina upon the 

 Confederate States. A large number of nomi- 

 nations, as major and brigadier-generals, was 

 also confirmed. 



About $60,000,000 were appropriated for the 

 army, and about $4,000,000 for the navy. The 

 provisions of the naturalization act were ex- 

 tended to all persons not citizens of the Con- 

 federate States, who were engaged in the naval 

 service of the Confederate States during the 

 war. Postmasters were required to receive 

 Treasury notes in the sums of five dollars and 

 upwards, in payment of postage stamps and 

 stamped envelopes. 



On the appointment of Attorney-General Ben- 

 jamin, as Secretary of War, Thomas Bragg, of 

 North Carolina, was appointed to the vacancy. 



Ah 1 important matters relating to the war, 

 finance, foreign relations, and many domestic 

 measures were discussed in secret sessions, at 

 which no persons were admitted but the regu- 

 lar members of that body and its officers. 



It presented to the world the first example 

 of a public body, which claimed to represent 

 the people of a country, and to be acting by 

 their authority and in their behalf, sitting with 

 closed doors and withholding all its important 

 transactions from their knowledge. Such a 

 flagrant outage upon representative institutions 

 can find no justification with freemen. 



