MISSISSIPPI. 



475 



to confederate only with States having similar domes- 

 tic institutions to uer own. 



It was laid on the table by a vote of ayes 45, 

 noes 20. 



To prepare for any emergency, the Legisla- 

 ture, which had re-assembled to provide for 

 the execution of the secession ordinance, levied 

 an additional tax of fifty per cent, upon the 

 amount of the then existing State tax, and also 

 authorized the Governor to borrow two millions 

 of dollars at ten per cent., payable in one, two, 

 and three years, out of the State revenues. 



At this time there existed much dissatisfac- 

 tion among the wealthy and substantial citizens 

 of the State. There was before them a pros- 

 pect of heavy taxation, and of no benefits under 

 the new order of affairs which they could not 

 expect under the Union. 



The State Convention, after an adjournment, 

 now re-assembled on the 25th of March. On 

 the same day the Permanent Constitution of the 

 Confederate States was taken up and referred 

 to a special committee. A resolution was also 

 offered, as a test question, to instruct that com- 

 mittee to report an ordinance referring the 

 Constitution directly to the people at the bal- 

 lot-box for ratification or rejection. On the 

 next day a motion to lay this resolution on the 

 table was rejected by ayes 37, noes 40. An 

 ordinance was then offered, as a substitute, 

 providing for the election of delegates by the 

 people to ratify in Convention the Permanent 

 Constitution ; a motion to lay this substitute on 

 the table was adopted ayes 45, noes 30. 



The committee then submitted an ordinance 

 that the Constitution be ratified by the Con- 

 vention. 



Mr. Yerger submitted an ordinance which, 

 after stating that any imperfections ought to 'oe 

 amended in the mode prescribed in the Consti- 

 tution rather than bring the Confederacy into 

 danger by delay, provided that the Convention 

 adopts, assents to, and ratifies the Constitution, 

 upon condition that the people of Mississippi 

 reserve to themselves the right of peaceful se- 

 cession, and that the Constitution shall not be 

 held to bind the people of the State until it and 

 the ordinance be submitted to them for ratifi- 

 cation or rejection. 



Mr. Wood next submitted an ordinance to 

 submit the Constitution to the people of the 

 State for ratification or rejection. 



Mr. Fontaine introduced a substitute to pro- 

 vide for the assembling of another convention 

 to ratify the Constitution. 



The debate on the ratification of the Consti- 

 tution was very spirited and able on the part 

 of the advocates of the power of the Conven- 

 tion to ratify, as well as of those who contend- 

 ed for the right of the people to pass judgment 

 on the Constitution under which they were to 

 live. The vote on these various propositions 

 was as follows : 



Mr. Fontaine's ordinance, calling another 

 convention to consider the Constitution, was 

 rejected yeas 28, nays 57. 



Mr. Gholson offered a substitute for Mr. 

 Wood's ordinance submitting the Constitution 

 to a vote of the people ; lost yeas 32, nays 53. 



Mr. Yerger's minority report, reserving to 

 the State the right of secession, was lost ; yeas 

 13, nays 68. 



Mr. Rogers offered a substitute for the ma- 

 jority report, which was laid on the table; yeas 

 53, nays 28. 



The majority of the committee had reported 

 this ordinance : 



He it ordained by the people of Mississippi, in Con- 

 vention assembled, and it is hereby ordained by the au- 

 thority of the same, That the Constitution adopted by 

 the Congress at Montgomery, in the State of Alabama, 

 in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred 

 and sixty-one, for the Permanent Federal Government 

 of the Confederate States of America be, and the same 

 is hereby adopted and ratified by the State of Missis- 

 sippi, acting in its sovereign and its independent char- 

 acter ; and the State of Mississippi hereby accedes to 

 and becomes a member of the Confederacy provided 

 for by said Constitution. 



The vote on this ordinance was ayes 78, noes 

 7. The large minority of thirty-two voted per- 

 sistently in favor of referring the Constitution 

 to the people for ratification until it was evi- 

 dent that their policy could not prevail ; and, 

 with the exception of the seven members re- 

 ferred to above, they then voted with the ma- 

 jority to give to the action of the State, as it 

 appears, all the moral influence of a united 

 vote. 



On the next day an ordinance was adopted 

 so amending the State Constitution as to make 

 it consistent with the connection between the 

 State and the Confederacy. 



A resolution was also adopted, transferring 

 the marine hospital at Vicksburg to the Con- 

 federate States. 



The chairman of the Committee on the Coat 

 of Arms and Flag of the State, who had previ- 

 ously made a report on the subject, having 

 stated that the seal had been the subject of 

 much criticism, pro and con, suggested that the 

 " eagle's nest and serpent " be omitted there- 

 from. An ordinance was adopted, changing 

 the seal in accordance with this suggestion. 



The Convention soon after adjourned sine 

 die. 



The entire State seemed to take up arms 

 upon the call for troops by the Confederate 

 Government. That ardent and fiery people en- 

 tered into the first movements of the struggle 

 against the North with their whole soul. 

 Women, even, urged their husbands, sons, and 

 brothers, to volunteer, and they were almost 

 unanimous for resistance. As early as the 14th 

 of May notice was given that a sufficient num- 

 ber of companies to fill any probable requisi- 

 tion for troops by the Government of the Con- 

 federate States on the State of Mississippi had 

 been tendered, and no more companies would 

 be received until a further call should be made. 

 One requisition for five regiments was filled in 

 six days. 



On the 25th of June the Legislature assem- 



