[19] act “for the relief of the Ohio and other volunteers” to all volunteers, no matter for what term of service they might have been accepted. Mr. Wilson moved to amend the bill by adding as an additional section, “That all the acts, proclamations, and orders of the President of the United States after the fourth of March, 1861, respecting the army and navy of the United States, and calling out or relating to the militia or volunteers from the States, are hereby approved and in all respects legalized and made valid to the same intent and with the same effect as if they had been issued and done under the previous express authority and direction of the Congress of the United States.” Mr. Breckenridge called for the yeas and nays, and they were ordered; and being taken, resulted — yeas, thirty-seven; nays, five; as follows: Yeas--Messrs. Anthony, Bingham, Browning, Carlisle, Chandler, Clark, Collamer, Cowan, Dixon, Doolittle, Fessenden, Foot, Foster, Grimes, Hale, Harlan, Harris, Howe, Johnson of Tennessee, King, Lane of Indiana, Lane of Kansas, Latham, McDougall, Morrill, Pomeroy, Rice, Sherman, Simmons, Sumner, Ten Eyck, Trumbull, Wade, Wilkinson, Wiley, Wilmot, and Wilson--thirty-seven. Nays--Messrs. Breckenridge, Bright, Kennedy, Pearce, and Powell--five. So the amendment was agreed to, and the bill passed. In the House, Mr. Stevens moved to take up the bill for consideration; but Mr. Crisfield, of Maryland, objected. Mr. Stevens appealed to him to withdraw his objection. He thought if Congress should adjourn without passing the bill, it would cause very great inconveniences and perhaps create the necessity for an extra session. Mr. Crisfield withdrew his objection; Mr. Johnson renewed it. Mr. Stevens then moved a suspension of the rules, and two thirds having voted for it, they were suspended, and the bill passed. It was approved by the President, on the sixth of August, 1861. No. Xiv.--A Resolution expressing the Sympathy of Congress for the Bereaved Families and Friends of our Soldiers who have fallen in Defence of the Republic. In the House, on the second of August, 1861, Mr. Cox, of Ohio, by unanimous consent introduced a joint resolution expressing the sympathy of Congress, for the bereaved families and friends of our soldiers who have fallen in defence of the republic. The resolution declared “that we acknowledge the faithful services and loyal devotion of our soldiers, who have fought and fallen in defending our flag and in vindicating the supremacy and majesty of the republic. Whether successful, or compelled, by the overwhelming numbers of the enemy, to resign a victory already won, their graves are honored, and history invests their names with unfading renown. And while the national Legislature expresses the sympathy of the nation for their bereaved families and friends, we commend to a generous people and the army, which is now eager to renew the con test, the imperishable honor of their example.” It was unanimously passed. In the Senate, on motion of Mr. Latham, of California, it was considered and unanimously passed. No. Xv.--The Bill to provide for Allotment Certificates among the Volunteer Forces. In the Senate, on the ninth of December, 1861, Mr. Wilson, of Massachusetts, introduced a bill to provide for allotments of pay in the army. It was read twice, and referred to the Military Committee. On the seventeenth, Mr. Wilson reported it back from the committee, with an amendment in the nature of a substitute. The amendment proposed to strike out all after the enacting clause, and insert:
That the President shall appoint for each Stab having volunteers in the service not exceeding three persons, who shall be authorized by the President's commission to visit the several departments of the army in which volunteers from their respective States may be, and there procure from said volunteers, from time to time, their respective allotments of pay to their families or friends. That the persons appointed as commissioners to carry into effect the preceding section of this act shall receive no pay or emoluments whatever from the Treasury of the United States. That the fifth section of the act of twelfth June, 1858, giving sutlers a lien upon the soldiers' pay, be repealed; and all regulations giving sutlers rights and privileges beyond the rules and articles of war be abrogated.Mr. Grimes moved to amend the amendment of the Military Committee, so as to pay to each of the commissioners two thousand dollars per annum without mileage. Mr. Wilson thought the amendment would endanger the passage of the bill, and Mr. Rice declared he should vote against it, if it were proposed to induce men to take a charitable office for money. Mr. Grimes's amendment was rejected, the amendment of the committee agreed to, and the bill as amended passed without a division. In the House, on the twentieth of December, Mr. Olin, of New-York, from the Military Committee, reported back the bill without amendment, and it was passed without a division; and approved by the President, on the twenty-fourth of December, 1861. No. Xvi.--The Bill relating to Courts-Martial in the Army. In the Senate, on the ninth of December, 1861, Mr. Wilson, of Massachusetts, introduced a bill relative to courts-martial, which was read twice, and referred to the Committee on Military Affairs. On the twelfth, Mr. Wilson reported it back with an amendment. The bill provided that in time of war the commander of a division or separate brigade might appoint general courts-martial, and confirm, execute, pardon, and mitigate their sentences, as allowed and restrained in the sixty-fifth and eighty-ninth articles of war to commanders of armies and departments; but sentences
