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the following: that the said assessors of each collection district, respectively, shall, immediately after the expiration of the time for hearing appeals concerning taxes returned in the annual list, and from time to time, as duties or taxes become liable to be assessed, make out lists containing the sums payable according to law upon every object of duty or taxation for each collection district: which list shall contain the name of each person residing within the said district, or owning or having the care or superintendence of property lying within the said district, or engaged in any business or pursuit which is liable to any tax or duty, when such person or persons are known, together with the sums payable by each; and where there is any property within any collection district liable to the payment of the said duty or tax, not owned or occupied by or under the superintendence of any person resident therein, there shall be a separate list of such property, specifying the sum payable, and the names of the respective proprietors when known. And the assessor making out any such separate list shall transmit to the assessor of the district where the persons liable to pay such tax reside, or shall have their principal place of business, copies of the list of property held by persons so liable to pay such tax, to the end that the taxes assessed under the provisions of this act may be paid within the collection district where the persons liable to pay the same reside, or may have their principal place of business. And in all other cases the said assessor shall furnish to the collectors of the several collection districts, respectively, within ten days after the time of hearing appeals concerning taxes returned in the annual list, and from time to time thereafter as required, a certified copy of such list or lists for their proper collection districts. And in case it shall be ascertained that the annual list, or any other list, which may have been, or which shall hereafter be delivered to any collector, is imperfect or incomplete in consequence of the omission of the names of any persons or parties liable to tax or duty, or in consequence of any omission, or understatement, or undervaluation, or false or fraudulent statement contained in any return or returns made by any persons or parties liable to tax or duty, the said assessor may, from time to time, or at any time within one year, enter on any monthly or special list the names of such persons or parties so omitted, together with the amount of tax for which they may have been or shall become liable, and also the names of the persons or parties in respect to whose returns, as aforesaid, there has been or shall be any omission, undervaluation, understatement, or false or fraudulent statement, together with the amounts for which such persons or parties may be liable, over and above the amount for which they may have been, or shall be, assessed upon any return or returns made as aforesaid. And all or any proceedings authorized by law for the ascertainment, assessment, or collection of any tax or duty, shall be held to apply, as far as may be deemed necessary, to the proceedings herein authorized and directed.

Mr. GARFIELD. I am authorized by the Committee of Ways and Means to offer a few amendments to this paragraph, some being mere verbal amendments.

The CHAIRMAN. If there be no objection the amendments will be considered en masse. Mr. GARFIELD. I move to amend in the one hundred and eighty-sixth line by striking out the words "every object of duty and" and insert" subject of;" so it will read, "subject of taxation."

In line one hundred and ninety-four strike out the words "payment of the said duty or;" so it will read, "liable to the tax."

After the word "year," in line two hundred and twenty-one, insert the following, in order to render the meaning more definite:

Commencing from the time of the passage of this act or from the time of the delivery of the list to the collector as aforesaid.

In line two hundred and thirty-one, after the word "aforesaid," insert the following:

And shall certify and return said list to the collector as required by law.

Strike out the last sentence of the paragraph, beginning with the word "and" in line two hundred and thirty-one, and insert the following; it is a mere recasting of the sentence to make it more clear:

And all or any proceedings authorized by law for the ascertainment of the liability to any tax or duty, the assessment or collection thereof shall be held to apply as far as may be necessary to the proceedings herein authorized and directed.

The amendments were agreed to.

Mr. WARNER. I move the following amendment:

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and the great number of articles put upon the free list, that in a great many districts where this small allowance on the first $100,000 is received, the compensation of these officers, upon whom devolves the practical labor of the revenue department of the Government will be inadequate. I have made a calculation which shows what will be the result on the compensation to be received by these officers, which is only one half of one per cent. They receive now for collecting $200,000, $2,000. That includes the $1,500 salary they receive. They receive, where the receipts are $300,000, $2,500, and where the receipts are $400,000, $3,000. The effect of the proposed modifica tion, which allows one half of one per cent. on the first $100,000 as well as on the excess up to $400,000, is simply to alter that, and where the receipts are $200,000, to make it $2,500 per annum, including the salary of $1,500 allotted to them by law; where the receipts are $300,000, they will receive a salary of $3,000; and where the receipts are $400,000, they will receive $3,500. It seems to me these are not inadequate rates of compensation for a proper class of men to discharge these important

The Clerk read the next clause, as follows: That section twenty-two be amended by striking out all after the enacting clause, and inserting in lieu thereof the following: that there shall be allowed and paid to the several assessors a salary of $1,500 per annum, payable quarterly; and, in addition thereto, where the receipts of the collection district shall exceed the sum of $100,000 and shall not exceed the sum of $400,000 annually, one half of one per cent. upon the excess of receipts over $100,000. Where the receipts of a collection district shall exceed $400,000, and shall not exceed $600,000, one fifth of one per cent. upon the excess of receipts over $400,000. Where the receipts shall exceed $600,000, one tenth of one per cent. upon such excess; but the salary of no assessor shall in any case exceed the sum of $4,000. And the several assessors shall be allowed and paid the sums actually and necessarily expended, with the approval of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, for office rent; but no account for such rent shall be allowed or paid until it shall have been verified in such manner as the Commissioner shall require, and shall have been audited and approved by the proper officer of the Treasury Department. And the several assessors shall be paid, after the account thereof shall have been rendered to and approved by the proper officers of the Treasury, their necessary and reasonable charges for clerk Eire; but no such account shall be approved unless it shall state the name or names of the clerk or clerks employed and the precise periods of time for which they were respectively employed, and the rate of compensation agreed upon, and shall be accompanied by an affidavit of the assessor stating that such service was actually required by the necessities of his office, and was actually rendered, and also by the affidavit of each clerk, stating that he has rendered the service charged in such account on his behalf, the compensation agreed upon, and that he has not paid, deposited, or assigned, or contracted to pay, deposit, or assign any part of such compensation to the use of any other person, or in any way, directly or indirectly, paid or given, or contracted to pay or give, any reward or compensation for his office or employment, or the emoluments thereof; and the chief clerk of any such assessor is hereby authorized to administer, in the absence of the assessor, such oaths or affirmations as are required by this act. And there shall be allowed and paid to each assistant assessor four dollars for every day actually employed in collecting lists and making valuations, the number of days necessary for that purpose to be certified by the assessor, and three dollars for receipts which your bill will occasion, and to

every hundred persons assessed contained in the tax list, as completed and delivered by him to the assessor, and twenty-five cents for each permit granted to any tobacco, snuff, or cigar manufacturer; and the several assistant assessors in cities of more than ten thousand inhabitants shall be allowed, in the settlement of their accounts, a sum not exceeding $300 per annum for office rent; but no account for such rent shall be allowed or paid until it shall have been verified in such manner as the Commissioner of Internal Revenue shall require, and shall have been audited and approved by the proper officer of the Treasury Department; and other assistant assessors, when employed outside of the town in which they reside, in addition to the compensation now allowed by law, shall, during such time so employed, receive one dollar per day; and the said assessors and assistant assessors, respectively, shall be paid, after the account thereof shall have been rendered to and approved by the proper officers of the Treasury, their necessary and reasonable charges for stationery and blank books used in the discharge of their duties, and for postage actually paid on letters and documents received or sent, and relating exclusively to official business: Provided, That no such account shall be approved unless it shall state the date and the particular item of every such expenditure, and shall be verified by the oath or affirmation of such assessor or assistant assessor; and the compensation herein specified shall be in full for all expenses not otherwise particularly authorized: Provided, further, That the Secretary of the Treasury shall be, and he is hereby, authorized to fix such additional rates of compensation to be made to assessors and assistant assessors in cases where a collection district embraces more than a single congressional district, and to assessors and assistant assessors, revenue agents, and inspectors in Louisiana, Georgia, South Carolina, Alabama, Florida, Texas, Arkansas, North Carolina, Mississippi, Tennessee, Missouri, California, and Oregon, and the Territories, as may appear to him to be just and equitable, in consequence of the greater cost of living and traveling in those States and Territories, and as may, in his judgment, be necessary to secure the services of competent officers; but the rates of compensation thus allowed shall not exceed the rates paid to similar officers in such States and Territories respectively.

Mr. THAYER. I move to amend on page 19, lines two hundred and forty and two hundred and forty-one, by striking out the words "shall exceed the sum of $100,000 and," and by striking out in the two hundred and forty-third line the words "excess of," and the words 66 over $100,000."

Mr. Chairman, the effect of the amendment is to allow the assessor the commission of a half cent. on the first $100,000 received, per which, by the terms of the existing act, is not allowed. I always thought it a niggardly provision which deprived those officers of that small commission on the first $100,000. I am satisfied from the great reduction in this bill

duties.

Mr. MORRILL. I believe we have hardly tolerated the raising of any salaries. I live in a rural district, and there is no complaint of the salaries there.

Mr. THAYER. It is easy to kill any proposition of this kind by saying you propose the raising of salaries. The gentleman knows perfectly well the effect of that cry in this House. and therefore it is he makes that answer to my proposition. Now, sir, that is not the object of the proposition. It is to prevent this compensation from being reduced by reduction of make the compensation adequate to the men who have to discharge these duties.

The amendment was rejected.

Mr. MORRILL. In line three hundred and twenty-five, after the word "respectively," I move to insert the following:

The collectors of internal revenue acting as disbursing officers shall be allowed all bills of assistant assessors heretofore paid by them in pursuance of directions of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, notwithstanding the assistant assessor did not certify to hours therein, or that two dollars per diem was deducted from the salary or compensation before the computation of tax thereon.

Mr. JENCKES. I rise to oppose the amend ment. I oppose it because it is a rider on the proviso. My intention was to move that the proviso be stricken out. I see no reason why the Secretary of the Treasury should have power to make or provide for these excep tional cases. If we are to pass a law, it should be uniform throughout the United States, and we should not leave it to any executive officer to suspend the operation of it so as to provide a different compensation than that provided by law. The irregularity suggested in the amendment is one of that character. It would leave it to the executive officer to do away with a penalty. I hope it will not be adopted, and then I will follow it by a motion to strike out the whole proviso.

The amendment proposed by Mr. MORRILL was agreed to.

Mr. JENCKES. I move to strike out the following proviso:

Provided further, That the Secretary of the Treas ury shall be, and he is hereby, authorized to fix such additional rates of compensation to be made to assessors and assistant assessors in cases where a collection district embraces more than a single congressional district, and to assessors and assistant assessors, revenue agents, and inspectors in Louisiana, Georgia, South Carolina, Alabama, Florida, Texas, Arkansas, North Carolina, Mississippi, Tennessee, Missouri, California, and Oregon, and the Territories, as may appear to him to be just and equitable, in conse quence of the greater cost of living and traveling those States and Territories, and as may, in his judgment, be necessary to secure the services of competent officers; but the rates of compensation thus allowed shall not exceed the rates paid to similar officers in such States and Territories respectively.

This act affects the compensation of assess ors, assistant assessors, revenue agents, and inspectors throughout the United States. This proviso enables the Secretary of the Treasury

to increase the compensation within the districts named. Unless that power is given to him throughout the United States, so that it may be uniform, I object to the exception. I ask members of the House to look at it and see the effect it will have.

Mr. HIGBY. I do not know whether collections could be made in other States or not under a uniform law, but I do know that they cannot be made in the State of California. It has been tried and proved disastrous. I give members notice that the amount that will pay assessors in the eastern States will not pay them in California.

Mr. JENCKES. I have no objection to having a provision applicable to California.

Mr. MORRILL. I wish to say that the provisions here are precisely what they are in the existing law with the exception of some half a dozen other States in which the Commissioner informed us it was impossible to obtain a revenue unless we provided for the payment of the officers in this way.

Mr. WILSON, of Iowa. I find the States of Louisiana, Georgia, South Carolina, Alabama, Florida, Texas, Arkansas, North Carolina, Mississippi, and Tennessee, are provided

for here.

Mr. MORRILL. There are many districts where there is no difficulty, but in others there is difficulty.

Mr. WILSON, of Iowa. The difficulty is, the proviso applies to all the districts in all those States. Now, I have no objection to applying it to some where it is impossible to get officers unless you give them additional compensation. I know some officers have been appointed there who are not now receiving the compensation because they cannot qualify. But I have a statement of one of these officers from South Carolina, made before the Committee on the Judiciary, that any number can be found, residents of South Carolina, who can discharge the duties and who can qualify according to law.

The CHAIRMAN. Debate is exhausted on the amendment.

Mr. RANDALL, of Pennsylvania. I give notice to the chairman of the committee that it is now five minutes to ten o'clock.

Mr. MORRILL. We shall adjourn at ten. The question being taken on the amendment of Mr. JENCKES, there were-ayes 37, noes 25; no quorum voting.

Mr. GARFIELD. I move that the committee rise.

The motion was agreed to.

So the committee rose; and the Speaker having resumed the chair, Mr. WASHBURNE, of Illinois, reported that the Committee of the Whole on the state of the Union had had under consideration the special order, being bill of the House No. 513, to amend an act entitled "An act to provide internal revenue to support the Government, to pay interest on the public debt, and for other purposes," approved June 30, 1864, and acts amendatory thereof, and had come to no conclusion thereon.

And then, on motion of Mr. DEFREES, (at five minutes before ten o'clock p. m.,) the House adjourned.

PETITIONS, ETC.

The following petitions, &c., were presented under the rule and referred to the appropriate committees:

By Mr. BEAMAN: The petition of A. J. Sutherland, and others, of Washtenaw county, Michigan, praying that Congress will pass laws regulating interState insurances of all kinds.

By Mr. DAWSON: The petition of 80 citizens of Fayette county, Pennsylvania, asking increased protection for American wool.

By Mr. KERR: The memorial of Leonard Smith, late lieutenant, &c., for compensation for ten months and twenty-six days' service as lieutenant and regimental quartermaster of the twenty-second regiment Indiana volunteers.

By Mr. LAWRENCE, of Pennsylvania: Apetition, numerously signed by citizens of Fayette county. Pennsylvania, for increase of duties on foreign wool. By Mr. MOORHEAD: The petition of John Woods, and others, citizens of the county of Montgomery, Pennsylvania, praying for an increase of duty on foreign imports to protect American labor.

Also, the petition of Hon. II. W. Williams, Hon. Thomas M. Howe, Alexander Gordon, and others,

of Alleghany county, Pennsylvania, praying for the establishment of a Bureau of Education, and that provision be made for the education of all.

By Mr. WOODBRIDGE: The petition of Erastus Kelley, and 39 others, citizens of Clarendon Springs, Vermont, praying for an increased duty on foreign wools.

Also, the petition of Dr. W. C. Fox, and others, of Wallingford, Vermont, praying that medicines used by physicians may be placed on the free list.

IN SENATE.
THURSDAY, May 10, 1866.

Prayer by Rev. WILLIAM BROCK, D. D., of London, England.

The Journal of yesterday was read and approved.

PETITIONS AND MEMORIALS.

Mr. MORGAN presented the petition of the Commercial Navigation Company, a corporation formed under the laws of the State of New York, praying for the passage of a law regulating the apprenticing of boys to be trained as seamen upon merchant vessels, uniform in its operation within the United States; which was referred to the Committee on Commerce.

He also presented the petition of James S. Hendrickson, and one hundred and thirty-four other soldiers, residents of Cleveland, Ohio, praying to be relieved from the tax on their pensions and urging the appointment of disabled soldiers in the civil service of the Government; which was referred to the Committee on Finance.

Mr. POLAND presented the petition of Simcon Farnsworth, praying for a pension; which was referred to the Committee on Pensions.

Mr. DIXON presented the memorial of Marshall O. Roberts, and others, trustees of A. G. Sloo, who was a contractor for carrying the mails between New York, New Orleans, Havana, and Chagres, praying for the passage of an act authorizing the Postmaster General to settle for compensation du ethem for mail transportation which has not been paid for; which was referred to the Committee on Post Offices and Post Roads.

Mr. HARRIS presented a memorial of a convention of iron founders and manufacturers held at Syracuse, New York, in favor of exempting detached portions of their manufactures from taxation; which was referred to the Committee on Finance.

Mr. MORRILL presented the petition of Harriet B. Crocker, of Bath, Maine, praying for a pension; which was referred to the Committee on Pensions.

REPORTS OF COMMITTEES.

Mr. WILLIAMS, from the Committee on Claims, to whom was referred the petition of C. F. Johnson, praying for compensation for the alleged seizure of tobacco belonging to him by the United States forces at Lakeport, Louisiana, submitted an adverse report thereon; which was ordered to be printed.

REMOVAL OF INDIANS.

Mr. WADE submitted the following resolution; which was considered by unanimous consent, and agreed to:

Whereas it is understood that the Commissioner of Indians Affairs is now engaged in removing to and locating in one of the settled counties of Nebraska and contiguous to the settled portions of Dakota, the Indians who were engaged in the Minnesota massacre in the year 1862, by which nearly a thousand defenseless men, women, and children were murdered in cold blood; and whereas said Indians were driven from the State of Minnesota by the outraged people of that State in order to secure the future safety of the lives and property of its citizens; and whereas the removal and location of said Indians within our white settlements has been made without the consent and in direct opposition to the will of the citizens of northwestern Nebraska and Dakota, many of whom have purchased their lands from the Government and improved the same; and whereas it is apprehended that this act of the Government will destroy the value of private property and retard the settlement of the Territory of Dakota and northwestern Nebraska: Therefore,

Resolved, That the Committee on Indian Affairs be instructed to inquire into the facts, and report to this House whether and to what extent the interests and safety of the people who have purchased the public lands and migrated with their families to those Territories on the assurance of the protection of the Government, as well as the interest of the Government

itself in the settlement and growth of the said Territories, are likely to be compromised by this act, and if so whether the same is necessitated by any considerations connected with the pubic interests; with leave to report such measures of relief as the circumstances of the case may in their judgment require.

BILL INTRODUCED.

Mr HENDERSON asked, and by unanimous consent obtained, leave to introduce a bill (S. No. 317) to amend an act entitled "An act to amend an act entitled 'An act to aid in the construction of a railroad and telegraph line from the Missouri river to the Pacific ocean, and to secure to the Government the use of the same for postal, military, and other purposes,' approved July 1, 1862," approved July 2, 1864; which was read twice by its title, referred to the Committee on the Pacific Railroad, and ordered to be printed.

APPROVAL OF A BILL.

A message from the President of the United States, by Mr. COOPER, his Secretary, announced that the President had approved and signed on the 9th instant an act (S. No. 90) enlarging the powers of the levy court of the county of Washington, in the District of Columbia.

ENROLLED BILL SIGNED.

A message from the House of Representatives, by Mr. MCPHERSON, its Clerk, announced that the Speaker of the House of Representatives had signed an enrolled bill (H. R. No. 352) to incorporate the National Theological Institute; and it was thereupon signed by the President pro tempore.

HOUSE BILL REFERRED.

The bill (H. R. No 568) to repeal section twenty-three of chapter seventy-nine of the acts of the third session of the Thirty-Seventh Congress, relating to passports, was read twice by its title, and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.

SECRETARY TO THE VICE ADMIRAL.

The bill (H. R. No. 567) to amend an act to establish the grade of vice admiral in the United States Navy, was read twice by its title.

Mr. GRIMES. I move that the Senate proceed to the consideration of the bill at once. The PRESIDENT pro tempore. It requires unanimous consent.

Mr. SUMNER. Before the Senate proceeds with the consideration of that bill, I desire to say that I have some notes on that subject which are at my room. I did not expect it to come up to-day.

Mr. GRIMES. What bill is it?

Mr. SUMNER. I understand that it is a bill in regard to the Vice Admiral.

Mr. GRIMES. It simply authorizes the ap pointment of a secretary to the Vice Admiral. Mr. SUMNER. Then it is a different bill from what I apprehended it was from the reading of the title. I have no objection to it. Mr. JOHNSON. I ask for the reading of the bill.

The Secretary read the bill, which proposes to amend the second section of the act to establish the grade of vice admiral in the Unifed States Navy, approved December 21, 1864, by adding to it these words: "and he shall be allowed a secretary, with the rank and sea pay and allowances of a lieutenant in the Navy.

The bill was considered as in Committee of the Whole, by unanimous consent, reported to the Senate, ordered to a third reading, read the third time, and passed.

MAIL CONTRACTORS.

Mr. RAMSEY submitted the following resolution; which was considered by unanimous consent, and agreed to:

Resolved, That the Postmaster General be, and is hereby, requested to furnish to the Senate a copy of a letter addressed to his Department by D. L. Yulee, formerly chairman of the Committee on Post Offices and Post Roads, dated in January, 1860, inquiring as to the effect of legislative action in increasing the pay of mail contractors, &c., also the answer of the Postmaster General thereto.

PUBLIC WORKS AT HARPER'S FERRY.

Mr. WILLEY submitted the following resolution; which was considered by unanimous consent, and agreed to:

Resolved, That the Secretary of War be requested to inform the Senate what is the present condition of the public works belonging to the United States at Harper's Ferry, in West Virginia; whether the Department is now using the same for any purpose, and, if so, for what purpose and to what extent; whether it is the purpose of the Department to have said works repaired and to resume the manufacture of arms there, and if not, whether in the opinion of the Secretary of War the property of the United States at Harper's Ferry is any longer necessary or advantageous to the public interest, and might not be sold or otherwise disposed of without detriment to the public good.

COINAGE OF FIVE-CENT PIECES.

Mr. SHERMAN. I move to postpone all prior orders and take up the bill (H. R. No. 397) to authorize the coinage of five-cent pieces. It will take only the time occupied in reading it, I think. I do not suppose there will be any objection to it.

The motion was agreed to; and the Senate, as in Committee of the Whole, proceeded to consider the bill. It provides that so soon as practicable after its passage there shall be coined at the Mint of the United States a fivecent piece, composed of copper and nickel, in such proportions, not exceeding twenty-five per cent. of nickel, as shall be determined by the Director of the Mint, the standard weight of which is to be sixty grains, with no greater deviation than four grains to each piece; and the shape, mottoes, and devices are to be determined by the Director of the Mint, with the approval of the Secretary of the Treasury; and the law now in force relating to the coinage of cents, and providing for the purchase of material, and prescribing the appropriate duties of the officers of the Mint and the Secretary of the Treasury is extended to the coinage herein provided for.

This coin is to be a legal tender in any payment to the amount of one dollar. It may be paid out in exchange for the lawful currency of the United States, (except cents, or half cents, or two-cent pieces, issued under former acts of Congress,) in suitable sums, by the treasurer of the Mint, and by such other depositaries as the Secretary of the Treasury may designate, and under general regulations approved by the Secretary of the Treasury.

From and after the passage of this act no issue of fractional notes of the United States is to be of a less denomination than ten cents; and all such issues at that time outstanding shall, when paid into the Treasury or any designated depositary of the United States, or redeemed or exchanged as now provided by law, be retained and canceled.

If any person or persons not lawfully authorized shall knowingly make, issue, or pass, or cause to he made, issued, or passed, or aid in the making, issuing, or passing of any coin, card, token, or device whatsoever, in metal or its compound, intended to pass or be passed as money for the coin authorized by this act, or for coin of equal value, such person or persons are to be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and on conviction thereof to be punished by a fine not exceeding $1,000, and by imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years, at the discretion of the court.

It is to be lawful for the Treasurer and the several Assistant Treasurers of the United States to redeem in national currency, under such rules and regulations as may be prescribed by the Secretary of the Treasury, the coin herein authorized to be issued, when presented in sums of not less than $100.

Mr. SHERMAN. Imove to amend the bill in section one, line eight, by striking out the word "sixty" and inserting "77.16," and in line nine to strike out "four" and insert "two" so that the clause will read:

The standard weight of which shall be 77.16 grains, with no greater deviation than two grains to each piece.

This amendment is moved after conference between the Secretary of the Treasury, the

head of the Mint at Philadelphia, and the special committee having charge of this subject in the House.

The amendment was agreed to.

The bill was reported to the Senate as amended, and the amendment was concurred in. The amendment was ordered to be engrossed, and the bill to be read a third time. The bill was read the third time and passed.

DUTY ON LIVE ANIMALS.

Mr. CHANDLER. I move to take up House joint resolution No. 116.

Mr. FESSENDEN. I wish my friend from Michigan would give me a chance to pass a little bill which they say will save us a thousand dollars a day, and to which there can be no objection. It is a bill reported from the Committee on Finance, and it will cause no debate whatever. It is House bill No. 511, imposing a duty on live animals.

Mr. CHANDLER. Let my bill come up and then I will give away. I move to take up House joint resolution No. 116, to prevent the introduction of the cholera into the ports of the United States, and then it can be laid aside informally.

The motion was agreed to.

Mr. CHANDLER. Now I give way. Mr. FESSENDEN. Now, if the Senator gives way, I should like to take up House bill No. 511, imposing a duty on live animals.

There being no objection, the Senate, as in Committee of the Whole, proceeded to consider the bill. It provides that on and after its passage there shall be levied, collected, and paid, on all horses, mules, cattle, sheep, hogs, and other live animals imported from foreign countries, a duty of twenty per cent. ad valorem.

Mr. EDMUNDS. Since this bill was reported I have received information, which I believe to be true, that a good many persons, cattle dealers and others in the northern States along the frontier, have purchased cattle in Canada during the winter with the provision with the seller that they should remain in Canada until the spring, and that there are now in Canada a considerable number of cattle which are actually owned by citizens of the United States, and have been paid for under the law as it now stands admitting their importation free of duty. In order, as an act of justice, to authorize those people within a very limited period of time to withdraw their cattle upon the same terms they might have withdrawn them before, I offer the following amendment

as a proviso:

Provided, That any such animals now bona fide owned by resident citizens of the United States, and now in any of the Provinces of British America, may be imported into the United States free of duty until the expiration of ten days next after the passage of this act.

That, I think, will do justice to that class of persons without doing any injustice to the

revenue.

The amendment was agreed to.

The bill was reported to the Senate as amended, and the amendment was concurred in. The amendment was ordered to be engrossed and the bill to be read a third time. The bill was read the third time and passed.

ASIATIC CHOLERA.

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The joint resolution (H. R. No. 116) to prevent the introduction of the cholera into the ports of the United States, is now before the Senate, as in Committee of the Whole, the question being on the amendment reported by the Committee on Commerce.

Mr. GRIMES. When this measure was under consideration yesterday and the day before, the Senate was assured that its passage was asked for by the medical profession, and especially by the Medical Association that recently assembled in the city of Baltimore. I believe we were told that the doctors for once failed to disagree, and that they appeared before the Committee on Commerce unitedly in favor of this proposition. I apprehend that

there is some mistake about this. I hold in my hand a letter written by Dr. M. L. Linton, of St. Louis, and addressed to the Baltimore American, in reply to an article which appeared in that paper containing substantially the same statement which was made here yesterday and the day before. I need not tell any person who is acquainted in the valley of the Mississippi river who Dr. Linton is, for he has a reputation coextensive with the limits of that valley as a gentleman of high professional attainments and great excellence of personal character. In this letter he says, addressing himself to the editor:

MR. EDITOR: I notice in your report of the proceedings of the American Medical Association on the fourth and last day of its sessions some glaring mistakes.

It is well known to all who have attended to the proceedings of the association that it refused not only to memorialize Congress in favor of the system of quarantine, but that it refused even to ask Congress to test the utility of quarantine regulations. The majority of the association thought that quarantines had already been tested and found wanting often enough. At any rate, the vote was as I have stated; nevertheless, there was a minority in favor of petitioning Congress in favor of quarantine. This minority met at No. 47 Calvert street on the night of the 4th, and passed a resolution in favor of rigid quarantine measures; and appointed a committee of five to present and urge the petition.

The account in your journal goes on to say that the meeting consisted of some seventy-five members of the association," and mentions Dr. Davis, of Illinois, as among them. Now, Dr. Davis was not there at all, nor can I find, after some hours of inquiry, any member of the association who was there. There were evidently not seventy-five present; nor did the few who may have met at No. 47 Calvert street meet at eight o'clock, for they did not arrive from Annapolis until about nine o'clock.

The main error, however, which I wish to correct is this: speaking of the Calvert-street meeting, your report concludes in these words:

The meeting then adjourned, thus terminating the nineteenth annual meeting of the American Medical Association." Now, all the members of the association know that the final adjournment took place on the morning of the 4th, and that the little meeting at 47 Calvert strect consisted only of one portion of the discontented minority that had been defeated in full convention. I hope you will make this correction, so that when the committee of five shall appear before the authorities with their petition, said authorities may know that said committee has been delegated and empowered and sent by a little outside meeting held at eight o'clock at No. 47 Calvert street, and not by the American Medical Association, which held its meeting in Concordia Hall, and adjourned on the morning of the 4th, to meet again at Cincinnati, May, 1867.

M. L. LINTON, M. D., Delegate from St. Louis, Missouri. To the same effect I have a letter from one of my own constituents, Dr. M. K. Taylor, professor in the Iowa Medical College, also a physician of most excellent attainments, who

attended the medical convention last week in Baltimore as a delegate from the Medical Association of the State of Iowa, which I will read:

NATIONAL HOTEL, WASHINGTON, D. C., May 9, 1866.

Hon. J. W. GRIMES;

I see by the reports of the proceedings of the Senate yesterday that you opposed the establishment of a uniform system of quarantine for the United States, as asked for by certain medical gentlemen claiming to represent the American Medical Association, recently in session at Baltimore.

I am very glad that you have taken ground against such an impractical measure. We may just as well attempt to establish a cordon around the wind that blows. It will go over the country as it has done before, despite any and all quarantine regulations. The memorial which has been presented to the Senate did not emanate from the American Medical Association, but only from a few disaffected persons who were not satisfied with its action and got up a supplemental meeting after the association had adjourned. The principal leader in the affair was Dr. Sayre, of New York, and from the pertinacity manifested by him and a few of his friends I suspect there is an ax to grind.

The communication presented to the Senate does not represent the sentiment of the American Medical Association as a body in any sense.

I make this statement this morning as I shall leave for Keokuk this evening, and may not see you before I go, and I feel it necessary to apprise you of the facts before leaving the city. Dr. Hughes and family are here also. He leaves for New York this evening. He goes to Europe on Saturday.

I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant, M. K. TAYLOR. Mr. JOHNSON. Who is the writer of that letter?

Mr. GRIMES. Dr. Taylor, of Keokuk, Iowa, one of the delegates from that State to

the late medical convention in Baltimore, and a professor in the Iowa Medical College. So much, sir, in regard to the sentiment of the medical convention recently assembled in Baltimore.

Both of these gentlemen have had great experience in the treatment of cholera cases, and their opinions are entitled to great consideration.

As to the imputation that might perhaps be considered as being conveyed in this letter, that some of these parties at Baltimore may have an ax to grind, I of course do not adopt any such statement as that; still it is quite possible that it may be so. I am aware that in the State of New York there has recently been a very exciting controversy over the question of appointing health officers. I believe the Governor of that State has appointed certain officers who are not agreeable to the parties who are opposed to them; and if I am not misinformed this Dr. Sayre was one of those proposed for the position now held by Dr. William Parker. I will not undertake to say that Dr. Sayre could be influenced by any such consideration, but it is possible that men might be found who would be influenced by a consideration like this; that they would desire that Congress should pass a measure similar to the one which now lies on your table, and which we are asked to pass, for the purpose of dispensing with the whole quarantine organization established by the State of New York, and installing another set of officers under Federal authority in the places which they occupy; for, sir, that is the effect of this resolution, if it shall be adopted.

Now, Mr. President, could these doctors believe that it was possible for any central government at Washington to adopt such steps as might be necessary, even if quarantines are of benefit, to establish a quarantine at Galveston, at New Orleans, at Key West, at Mobile, at Eastport in Maine, at the mouth of the Sacramento river or at the mouth of the Columbia, at Rouse's Point in Vermont, or at Pembina in the State of Minnesota? Would it not be safer for the country, as well as for the Treasury of the country, to allow these various quarantines, if we are going to have|| such a system, to be established by the local and police governments of the respective States? Is it possible for the Secretary of War, even with all the power that is conferred upon him by this measure, to properly direct when a quarantine shall be established at Galveston, and when it shall be removed, and to designate the officers who shall have charge of it?

I confess, Mr. President, that this is about the greatest machine that I have ever seen proposed to be created or that I have ever known attempted to be run by any Government on the face of the earth.

Another great objection to this system is that it is going to break up all your present quarantines. The Secretary of War-mind you, this joint resolution is all in the singular number; the second clause reads, "he shall also" -the Secretary of War-"enforce the establishment of sanitary cordons, to prevent the spread of said disease from infected districts adjacent to or within the limits of the United States." He can go within the territorial jurisWhen this resolution was under considera- diction of any State, he can dispense with all of tion before, I misconstrued the first section of the quarantine and police regulations that he the substitute. I supposed that it provided for may find already established there, and establish a commission, to be composed of the Secre- such as he chooses to establish instead of them. taries of War, of the Navy, and of the Treasury. You thus accustom the people to rely on the From a more careful examination of the word- central Government to protect their lives and ing of this section, I do not understand that it their health, instead of relying, as they hitherto does that. I understand that it puts the whole have done, upon the local authorities to protect control of this quarantine measure in the hands them; and in the future, when a disease shall of the Secretary of War, and then directs that be anticipated, when it shall be reported that the Secretary of the Navy and the Secretary of we are to be visited by the yellow fever or the the Treasury shall coöperate with the Secretary plague, we shall have importunities after imof War, under the direction of the Commander-portunities from the different sections of the in-Chief of the Army and Navy; that is, under the command of the President. The phraseology is very singular. I have never seen a bill or resolution submitted to the Senate before in such phrase as this:

"That it shall be the duty of the Secretary of War, with the cooperation of the Secretary of the Navy and the Secretary of the Treasury, whose concurrent action shall be directed by the Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy."

Whose concurrent action? The concurrent action of the Secretary of the Navy and the Secretary of the Treasury. The President, as Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy, is required to direct the concurrent action of the Secretaries of the Navy and of the Treasury to cooperate with the Secretary of War, the Secretary of War being, in effect, virtually and legally, as I understand it, placed in command of this whole organization. It would be sufficiently objectionable to me even if the resolution were drawn as I supposed it was drawn when it was under consideration before; but it is still more objectionable under the construction which I am compelled to place upon this phraseology. What does it mean if it does not mean that? If they wanted to create a board of the three Cabinet officers having control of the Army, the Navy, and the Treasury, it would have been very easy to have said so. I apprehend from the fact that they have not said so, but have directed that the Secretary of War, "with the coöperation of the Secretary of the Navy and the Secretary of the Treasury, whose concurrent action shall be directed by the Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy," to "adopt an efficient and uniform system of quarantine against the introduction into this country of the Asiatic cholera, through its ports of entry whenever the same may be threatened by the prevalence of said disease in countries having direct commercial intercourse with the United States."

country upon the Federal Government to interpose to protect the lives and the health of the citizens at the various points. The people at these distant points will cease to be self-reliant. It will establish a precedent which in the end will in every respect be disastrous.

This bill is not satisfied with accepting the agents of quarantine that have been deputed by the various States. If it did that I should have less objection to it; but it authorizes all of them to be abolished and a new organization to be created, new officers to be appointed, the salaries to be fixed, as I understand it, by the Secretary of War. It virtually places the whole Army and Navy and Treasury of the United States in the keeping of one man, and that is the Secretary of War. If you have any doubt as to what was the intention of this bill you have only to read it though. You will see that it everywhere says this power shall be conferred upon the Secretary of War. He is the sole one, and he can command the obedience and is put into the control both of the Navy Department and the Treasury Department; and the President is required-"shall direct' them to act with him. "Whose concurrent action shall be directed by the Commander-inChief of the Army and Navy," is the language.

Mr. HOWE. The Secretary of War is not Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy. Mr. GRIMES. No, sir.

Mr. SUMNER. The President.

Mr. GRIMES. Certainly. Perhaps the Senator from Wisconsin has not understood me. I say that this bill confers all this authority upon the Secretary of War. It says "that it shall be the duty of the Secretary of War, with the cooperation of the Secretary of the Navy and the Secretary of the Treasury, whose concurrent action"-to whom does that refer? The Secretary of the Navy and the Secretary of the Treasury, "whose concurrent action

shall be directed by the Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy." The President of the United States is required, it is imperative on him, to direct the cooperation of the Secretary of the Navy and the Secretary of the Treasury to carry out any of the views which the Secretary of War may entertain.

Mr. HARRIS. Mr. President, this bill contains very extraordinary provisions

Mr. EDMUNDS. If the Senator from New York will allow me a moment, I desire to state that I was about to propose an amendment which would meet the objections of my friend the Senator from Iowa as he has stated them, or some of them at least, and which may possibly meet the objections of the Senator from New York. If the Senator from New York will give way for that purpose, I move to amend the amendment reported by the committee by striking out lines three, four, and five, and inserting in lieu of them the words, "That the Secretary of War, the Secretary of the Navy, and the Secretary of the Treasury shall constitute a board whose duty it shall be to cause,' &c., and by striking out in line twelve the words "he shall" and inserting "they may.'

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Mr. HARRIS. Mr. President, I have sought to find the authority under which the framer of the proposition reported by the Committee on Commerce proceeded. It certainly is very extraordinary in its provisions. Coming as it does from the Committee on Commerce, I imagined that it might possibly be justified under the provision of the Constitution which authorizes Congress to regulate commerce, but I could not see that it had much to do with commerce. Then I went to that other elastic provision in the Constitution under which much of the doubtful legislation of the present day is sought to be sustained, that provision which requires Congress to guaranty to every State a republican form of government. I did not know but that it might be justified under that. [Laughter.] But finally, looking a little further, examining the bill a little closer, I came to the conclusion, inasmuch as this bill puts in requisition the Secretary of War, the Secretary of the Navy, and the Secretary of the Treas ury, and over all these the Commander-inChief of the Army and the Navy, that it must be under the war power; and I believe that if this bill can be sustained at all it must be sustained under the war power.

Mr. CLARK. War on the cholera! Mr. HARRIS. War on the cholera, as the Senator from New Hampshire says. I think that is it. I think that is the idea; I think that is the principle, if there is any principle about it, on which this bill is framed. Now, sir, it will not do at all. This bill is unconstitutional obviously. There is no power in Congress to pass a law like this.

Look at it, Mr. President. What are we attempting to do? Take my own State. We have in New York, I think, a very efficient, if it is not a uniform, system of quarantine regulation. We have within the last year established there a Board of Health, and upon that board there are some of the most eminent physicians in the State, able and efficient men, who are doing their duty with great fidelity. It happens that this board does not provide for all the doctors that are in New York. There are some who do not happen to be employed in carrying on this great work of quarantine, and of course they can suggest a better mode of doing the thing, and we have it in this resolution. We have there also a board of officers called commissioners of quarantine, who are actively engaged in the performance of their duty, for whose service a very large appropriation was made by our Legislature, with which we were able, in November last, to grapple with the cholera. A ship came from Havre freighted with cholera, with a large number of cases on board; but they were able to take care of it, and to keep it out of the city. We had a pretty rigid quarantine there, we thought. Then we have an efficient health officer with a sufficient number of assistants. On the whole, we have got a pretty fair system of quarantinė.

Now, what does this resolution propose to do? To set aside the whole of that system, and take the whole power into the hands of the General Government, and to set the Secretary of War, with the cooperation of the Secretary of the Navy and the Secretary of the Treasury and the Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy, guarding the harbor of New York, and all the other harbors of the country. If it was not so serious a matter, I should regard it as very ridiculous. It is a thing utterly impracticable; it cannot be done.

It is said by those medical gentlemen who are endeavoring to frame this thing that it is very important to have it uniform. I apprehend that that is in itself entirely impracticable. You cannot adopt a uniform system of quarantine. Each harbor must take care of its own quarantine. I am entirely opposed to the measure.

Mr. EDMUNDS. The objections which the Senator from Iowa has made, mainly, are answered, I think, by the amendment which I have had the honor to submit. I have no knowledge of the origin of this resolution, and therefore I cannot explain the motives under which the precise phraseology was originally adopted. But all that the resolution now proposes to do, if my amendment be adopted, is simply to create a board composed of the Secretaries of War, of the Navy, and of the Treasury, who shall have authority over this subject; and the only question to which I propose to address myself now is that of the power of Congress to pass this resolution. It was objected yesterday by the honorable Senator from Maine, [Mr. MORRILL,] and is again objected to-day by the learned Senator from New York, [Mr. HARRIS,] that this exceeds our constitutional power. If it does, then we certainly ought not to pass it. If it does not, then in my judgment we ought to pass it. Now, what is quarantine? What is the precise thing which this resolution has in contemplation to be done? Is it not the regulation of the admission from foreign countries into the United States of persons and property? It is nothing more; it is nothing less. We are not undertaking to prescribe specifics for a pestilence or disease. The threatened existence of pestilence and disease is that which furnishes the motive for us to regulate the introduction of persons who may be infected with it within our borders.

Then, if I have correctly stated the proposition, the question is, have we authority to prescribe the terms and limitations under which persons and property may be received into the United States? And that is the whole question.

Upon this subject, rather than express my own feeble opinions, I beg leave to call the attention of the learned Senator from New York and the honorable Senator from Maine to the language of the Supreme Court of the United States, speaking in the passenger cases, decided in the January term, 1849, where the precise point in judgment was the constitutional question whether it was lawful or not for a State to impose regulations and limitations upon the introduction of persons into the United States; and it was held, without dissension, by an able and unanimous court that the right to regulate the introduction of persons and property into the United States was clearly a regulation of commerce. Mr. Justice McLean, in pronouncing the leading opinion in that case, said:

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Commerce is defined to be an exchange of commodities' But this definition does not convey the full meaning of the term. It includes navigation and intercourse.' That the transportation of passengers is a part of commerce is not now an open question. In Gibbons vs. Ogden, this court say, 'No clear distinction is perceived between the powers to regulate vessels in transporting men for hire and property for hire.' The provision of the Constitution, that the migration or importation of such persons as any of the States now existing shall think proper to admit shall not be prohibited by Congress prior to the year 1808,' is a restriction on the general power of Congress to regulate commerce. In reference to this clause, this court say, in the above case, This section proves that the power to regulate commerce applies equally to the regulation of vessels employed in transporting men who pass from place to

place voluntarily, and to those who pass involuntarily.'

To encourage foreign emigration was a cherished policy of this country at the time the Constitution was adopted. As a branch of commerce the transportation of passengers has always given a profitable employment to our ships, and within a few years past has required an amount of tonnage nearly equal to that of imported merchandise."

And then they proceed to pronounce the judgment of the court that these State regulations imposing a tax upon the introduction of passengers, which implies the power of course, and with it the exercise of it, to regulate the terms of their admission into the country, are unconstitutional and void. Therefore, if the subject upon which this resolution is to operate is the regulation of the introduction of persons and property, although the motive to it may be the prevention of the spread of pestilence and disease, is it not clearly within the very letter of the definition which I have read, the regulation of commerce? I do not appeal, as was intimated by the Senator from Maine yesterday, to the "general welfare" clause, although I think if we all in legislation looked a little to the general welfare in the exercise of our duties we should not be the worse for it. I do not appeal, as is supposed by my honorable friend from New York, to the war-making power merely because the power of the Secretary of War is invoked to execute this law. I appeal to that clear grant of constitutional power which is given to Congress to regulate the terms upon which persons and property may be imported into the United States.

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The morning hour having expired, it becomes the duty of the Chair to call up the unfinished business of yesterday, which is House bill No. 280.

Mr. EDMUNDS. I will ask unanimous consent that that order may be temporarily laid aside until we finish this resolution. I have but a word more to say upon it.

Mr. SHERMAN. I have no objection to the bill being laid aside until the Senator conclude his remarks, but there are other Senators who want to speak on this resolution, and I presume it would be debated all day. I have no objection to the Senator completing his remarks.

Mr. EDMUNDS. Then I shall not insist upon disposing of the resolution now.

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Vermont asks the unanimous consent of the Senate to lay aside the unfinished business of yesterday until he concludes his remarks. The Chair hears no objection.

Mr. EDMUNDS. I have only to add a word to what I have said, and I shall have done. It has been objected that this is an extraordinary grant of power to the Secretaries who have been named, to employ the resources of the United States, as they have been described, its armies, its navies, and its Treasury, to repel this pestilence. It may be extraordinary, but that is no objection to its exercise if the exigency of the occasion requires it. Now, in the case of ordinary legislation, as for customs, for instance, the law is executed by providing penalties for its infraction and forfeiture of the goods which may be introduced into the country in violation of law; but in the case of a pestilence, which is the object to be excluded, he who undertakes to legislate by way of punishment against persons who violate the law and bring in the pestilence, fails to do his duty to the country, because the pestilence once introduced, punishment to the person who introduces it is a very inadequate remedy indeed. Therefore, in a case of this description, as in the case of the bill which has already been passed excluding cattle on account of the catthe plague, it is absolutely indispensable that the executive force of the law should go along with the enactment, and that so much of the power of the country as is necessary should be exercised at the time of the prohibition by way of prevention and exclusion, instead of by way of punishment and penalty afterward. Therefore this is one of those classes of cases where, if it is right to act at all, it is indispen

sable that the executive force of the Govern

ment should be brought to bear at the very moment of its execution by way of prevention rather than by punishment afterward.

POST OFFICE APPROPRIATION BILL. The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The bill (H. R. No. 280) making appropriations for the service of the Post Office Department during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1867, and for other purposes, is now before the Senate, the pending question being on the amendment proposed by the Senator from Illinois, [Mr. TRUMBULL, upon which the Senator from Nevada [Mr. NYE] is entitled to the floor.

Mr. NYE. Mr. President, when the Senate adjourned last evening I was paying a passing respect to a remark made by the Senator from Delaware [Mr. SAULSBURY] in a speech on this question some days ago. But, sir, I propose now to return to the Senator from Wisconsin [Mr. DOOLITTLE] and the Senator from Pennsylvania [Mr. CowAN] for the purpose of determining whether they or others stand upon this Baltimore platform. The honorable Senator from Wisconsin says that no power on earth shall drive him from it; whether besieged by Radicals on the one side or by Demstand forever; and I understand the Senator ocrats on the other, there he is to stand, and from Pennsylvania to occupy the same attitude upon that platform. If that platform is large enough, if there is any room for others, I propose to stand there with them for awhile, until they push me off or they leave it. This Baltimore platform was the political direction, the scriptural direction-if such a term is applicable to politics-upon which the last battle was fought and won, and I propose to hang to it. It was said by a distinguished member of the Cabinet not long ago that in these flurries and gales some few would be washed overboard and some left. I propose to weather this gale by standing upon the deck of the Baltimore platform. In examining this platform, sir, you will find that it contains only two very important provisions, and the first is the most important:

"Resolved, That it is the highest duty of every American citizen to maintain, against all their enemies, the integrity of the Union and the permanent authority of the Constitution and the laws of the United States;"

I understood the distinguished Senator from Pennsylvania to say that the Democrats had got on to that portion of the platform. I trust that no power on this side will be exercised to drive one of them off. If they have been converted by the distinguished Senators from Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, so that they are con tent to stand upon that, it is a new era in their political history, one that will be noted with great favor as an instance of the wonderful power of the two Senators who have wrought the change

"and that, laying aside all differences and political opinions, we pledge ourselves as Union men, animated by a common sentiment and aiming at a common object, to do everything in our power to aid the Government in quelling, by force of arms, the rebellion now raging against its authority, and in bringing to the punishment due to their crimes the rebels and traitors arrayed against it."

That, sir, is the great cardinal principle of the Baltimore platform, and to every line and word of it I most heartily assent. It declared it to be our duty to maintain the Union, the Constitution, and the laws against all their enemies; but our Democratic friends did not see it in that light; they did not agree-and I refer to that portion of them who are now acting with the two distinguished Senators with whom I am holding this controversy--they did not agree then to that sentiment. If they did, that other convention which they now, with me. wish had never been held, at Chicago, would never have taken place. This platform, by the cogency of its reasoning and the potency of its argument, commanded the support of a large majority of the Union-loving men of this coun try. They had ascertained-and I congrat ulate the members of that convention, for I understand my friend claims to have taken a distinguished part in it-that the rebellion had reached that point where nothing but the force

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