House of Representatives.
Tuesday, Aug. 26, 1862.
The
House met at 12 o'clock, and was opened with prayer by
Rev. Dr. Sexley, Journal of yesterday read.
Mr. Curry, of
Ala., presented a petition for the exemption of tanners from the operations of the Conscript act; which, without reading, was referred to the
Committee on Military Affairs.
Mr. Foster offered a resolution to instruct the Military Committee to inquire into the expediency of exempting millers from conscription.
Agreed to. Also, the following:
‘
Resolved, by the Congress of the Confederate States of America, That the Military Committee be requested to inquire, and report to this House at a day as early as practicable, as to the expediency and policy of authorizing the
President to call out and place in the service of the
Confederate States, during the war, all the male negroes who are resident or owned in the
Confederate States, between the ages of twenty and thirty years, at the time the saidecal shall be made, for the purposes hereinafter mentioned — that is to say, as teamsters, cooks, nurses in the various hospitals, and laborers or mechanics in the arsenals, on railroads, in workshops, forget, furnaces, foundries, and manufactories of the
Confederate States, or which may hereafter be under their control, engaged in the production of salt, saltpetre, lead, iron, leather, and such other articles necessary and proper for the efficient and successful conduct of military operations against the public enemy, under such legal limitations and restrictions as should secure the owner of the property a just and reasonable compensation for the labor of said negroes, on the one hand, and the
Confederate States their services on the other, during this momentous crisis.
Mr. Boyston, of
Arkansas, presented a bill to be entitled "An act for the support of the families of certain soldiers, and widows whose sons are soldiers in the army of the
Confederate States." Referred to the Military Committee.
Mr. Batson, of
Arkansas, introduced an act to provide for the pay of certain volunteer troops in the
State of Arkansas.
Referred.
Mr. Gartrell, of
Georgia, offered a resolution that it be referred to the
Committee on Military Affairs to inquire and report to this
House what legislation, if any, may be necessary to authorize the
Government of the
Confederate States to take control, during the war, of the various establishments within the limits of said
Confederate States engaged in the manufacture of woolen and cotton goods, and so to regulate the prices of such goods as to enable the soldiers to clothe themselves and families at reasonable rates.
Referred to the Military Committee.
’
Mr. Hartridge, of
Georgia, offered the following resolution:
‘
Resolved, That the
Committee on Foreign Affairs be instructed to inquire into the propriety of requesting the
President of the
Confederate States to recall the
Commissioners sent by this Government to certain European States, and to notify all foreign Powers whose Consuls reside in the
Confederate States, and are accredited to the
Government of the
United States, that such persons will not be recognized by the
Government of the
Confederate States as exercising any of the powers or having any of the functions of Consuls within the limits of the
Confederate States, unless appointed by their respective Governments as Consuls to the
Confederate States.
Mr. Clarke, of Ga, presented a bill entitled an act to compensate the marshals and their assistants, for taking the census in 1860, in those States which now form the
Confederate States.
Referred to Judiciary Committee.
Also, that the
Select Committee on Hospitals in the Department of Henrico inquire into any abuses in the medical and surgical department of the
Confederate States, and to report accordingly.
Agreed to.
Mr. Moore, of
Ky., offered a resolution that it be referred to the
Committee on Military Affairs to inquire and report to this
House what legislation, if any, may be necessary to authorize the
Government of the
Confederate States to take control of the various salt works within the limits of said
Confederate States, or make such arrangements with the owners of said salt works, in order that the price of salt may be so regulated as to secure a more general distribution thereof, and at such rates as the people are able to pay. Agreed to.
Mr. E. M.
Bruce, of
Ky., presented a bill entitled an act to provide for the raising of troops in
Kentucky.
Referred to Military Committee.
Mr. Perkins, of
La., offered a resolution that the
Committee on Military Affairs be instructed to inquire into the propriety of so amending the Conscript law as to rest in the
Commanding General west of the
Mississippi river the power of relieving particular localities from its operation, when in his judgment the military protection of any region or district will be best promoted by specially detailing the subjects of that act in such region or district for home defences.
Referred to Military Committee.
Also, a resolution that the
Committee on Military Affairs be instructed to take into immediate consideration, and report upon, the propriety of completing the railroad connection between
Monroe and
Shreveport, La., Agreed to.
Mr. Barksdale, of
Miss., introduced a bill to repeal an act in relation to the
habeas corpus.
Mr. Garrett offered a resolution to refer the bill to the Judiciary Committee, with instructions to inquire what is the law established in various paris of this Confederacy under the name of "martial law," and how far such law is authorized by the statute authorizing the suspension of the writ of
habeas corpus in certain cases; and that the committee report what legislation is necessary to define "martial law," and to protect the constitutional rights of the citizens, and at the same time give to the
Executive the power necessary for the military police of invaded districts.
Mr. Crockett, of
Ky., submitted a proposition that the bill be referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary, with instructions to report a bill clearly defining under what circumstances the writ of
habeas corpus may be suspended by the
President; and under what circumstances he may declare martial law, and providing for the punishment of all who may presume to declare martial law without authority from the
President.
The vote was taken on this latter proposition, and it was rejected.
The resolution of
Mr. Garnett then came up, and, on the vote being taken, it was adopted, by yeas 47, nays 21.
The Chair laid before the
House a communication from the
President, submitting two reports from the
Secretary of the Treasury--one requesting an appropriation of $2,000 to defray the expenses of printing the proceedings of the Provisional Congress; the other, in relation to the evils arising from the introduction of counterfeit notes by the enemy in sections of the
Confederacy invaded by them, Both were appropriately referred.
On motion of
Mr. Foote, the
House adjourned.
’
