February 26.
This day, in the Maryland House of Delegates, Reverdy Johnson, of Baltimore County, submitted the following: Preamble and Resolution on the subject of the course the State will pursue in the present rebellion. Whereas, Jefferson Davis, a pretended president of a pretended confederacy, in a paper styled an inaugural, delivered by him in Richmond, Va., on the twenty-second inst., has repeated an assertion often recklessly uttered in public bodies of the so-called Confederate States, that “Maryland, already united to us by hallowed memories and material interests, will, when able to speak with unstifled voice, unite her destiny to the South;” And whereas, it is due to the intelligence, patriotism and good name of our people that such assertion be at once repudiated by their Representatives here assembled; therefore be it Resolved, by the General Assembly of Maryland, That such assertion is an unfounded and gross calumny upon the people of the State, who, sincerely lamenting the madness and self-inflicted misfortunes of our brethren of the South, acting under a delusion caused by the arts of the aspiring and criminal ambition of a few designing men, are but admonished by the sad condition of such brethren, of the fatal results sure to follow from the course which they have pursued, and are more and more convinced of the obligation, alike of interest and of duty, to abide, with undying attachment, to the Union devised for us by our fathers, as absolutely necessary to our social and political happiness, and the preservation of the very liberty which they fought and bled to achieve for us.
This night Capt. Montgomery, of Wright's battalion, with his company, was surprised at Keittsville, Barry Co., Mo., by eight hundred and fifty rebels, supposed to belong to McBride's division, but who represented themselves as Texas Rangers. They fired into the house occupied by the National troops, killing two and wounding one. One of the rebels was killed, the rest fled, taking with them about seventy horses. Two wagons, loaded with sutler's stores, were [41] burned at Major Harbine's farm, two miles beyond Keittsville.
The Fifteenth regiment of Maine volunteers arrived from Augusta at Portland, and embarked on board the ship Great Republic.
In the Confederate Congress at Richmond, Va., Senator Simms, of Kentucky, offered resolutions, declaring that the people of the Confederate States will, to the last extremity, maintain and defend their right to self-government and the government established by them, and to this end do pledge their last man and their last dollar for the prosecution of the war, until their independence is acknowledged; and also, that they will submit to any sacrifice, and endure any trial, however severe, and firmly relying upon the justice of their cause, and humbly trusting in the providence of God, will maintain their position before the world and high Heaven, while they have a voice to raise, or an arm to defend. The resolutions were referred to the Committee on Military Affairs.--(Doc. 65.)
The President of the United States approved the Loan and Treasury Bill, and the measure became the law of the land. It creates a national currency of United States notes, of the denominations of five dollars and upwards, made lawful money, and a legal tender for all debts, public and private, and in all payments to and from the Government, other than for customs duties to the United States, and interest on the public debt by the United States. The total amount of this currency authorized is not to exceed one hundred and fifty million dollars, including the sixty million dollars of United States notes issued under the Act of July seventeenth. These being made receivable by that act, for all public dues, are now authorized to be accepted in place of gold, for customs duties; but the whole issue is to be withdrawn and cancelled, and regular legal tender United States notes substituted, as soon as practicable. The customs duties, whether in gold or United States notes, are specifically pledged for the interest on the public debt, which is to be invariably paid in gold. The loan authorized by this act is limited to five hundred million dollars, on the estimate of the Secretary of the Treasury, for the service of the remaining four months of the present fiscal year, and the succeeding fiscal year. Only one form of loan is prescribed — a twenty year six per cent stock, coupon or registered, which may be redeemed, at the pleasure of the Government, at any time after five years, at the par value thereof. Into this stock the United States notes of circulation are made convertible, the conversion not to affect the sum total of United States notes, legal tender, which the Treasury is authorized to keep in circulation.
The National gunboat R. B. Forbes, having run ashore near Nag's Head, N. C., was set on fire this morning, and totally destroyed. The rebels threatened to take her, but the captain by his great coolness prevented.
A meeting of cotton and tobacco-planters, was held in Richmond, Va., to take into consideration the voluntary destruction of the cotton and tobacco crop, in view of the fact that the enemy's efforts were mainly directed toward robbing the South of the accumulation of those two great staples:
On motion of Col. C. M. F. Garnett, Gen. Thomas J. Green, of North-Carolina, was called to the chair, and R. R. Rhodes, Esq., Commissioner of Patents, appointed Secretary. The Chairman explained the objects of the meeting, saying that as cotton was king and tobacco viceregal, it was proposed to ascertain how far they could be made to subserve the cause of our independence. An eloquent address was delivered by Dr. C. K. Marshall, of Mississippi, in which he advocated the purchase of the cotton and tobacco crop by the government, and its destruction, if necessary. He deprecated reliance on foreign intervention, saying that we must fight out the battle ourselves. Gov. Brown, of Mississippi, being called upon, responded in a few spirited remarks, in the course of which the extortioners and the Yankee acquisitiveness of the shopkeepers and moneymakers who have selected Richmond as the theatre of their exploits, were alluded to in terms of withering contempt. The Mayor responded, defending the resident population from any charge tending to impugn their devotion to the cause of Southern rights. Thomas H. Wynne, Esq., of the House of Delegates, spoke effectively in vindication of his fellow-citizens from the charge of want of appreciation or patriotism, showing that those entitled to be called citizens of the metropolis had, since the commencement of the war, met the requirements of the crisis. The city, he said, had sent to the field a soldier for every voter. [42] Gov. Brown briefly responded, again excoriating the extortioners and cheating shopkeepers now domiciled in our midst.--(Doc. 66.)
The Raleigh (N. C.) Register of this date, has an editorial which begins by saying that “it would be criminal as well as idle to deny that the present is the most gloomy period that the South has witnessed since the commencement of the war,” and the editor in the most earnest manner calls upon the people to remain by their colors and fight to the last.
