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Now, I wish to say a single word on the merits of this question. It is true in my opinion, as my honorable friend from Maryland [Mr. JOHNSON] says, that we are simply in these cases of seizure reenacting what the law now is. I agree to what he states about that. We are also ten lines above reenacting what the law is as to the forfeiture of the goods. That is the law now in both cases. The difficulty we shall get into in the courts where those who are engaged in smuggling retain the astutest counsel they can find, will be this: if we reenact the law as to forfeiture and do not reenact the law as to the burden of proof, it will be immediately contended that we intended to drop it, that we have created a new code, that we have provided a fresh forfeiture, and have failed to provide for the old rule of evidence, and therefore that rule no longer applies; and half the judges of the country will decide so. It is, however, my opinion that the law is the other way; but at all events if we have the cause of forfeiture in we had better have the law of evidence in.

Mr. JOHNSON. It will do no harm. Mr. EDMUNDS. Certainly not. Mr. MORRILL. I will settle this question then. We are in the Senate now, and I move to strike out the amendment proposed in committee.

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. An amendment to the amendment is in order.

Mr. MORRILL. I maintain that the clause as it stands is obviously useless, for this reason: the section does not provide nor propose any remedy for goods forfeited; that is provided for by the act of 1799, which also provides the rule upon which the trial of the proceeding shall be had, and therefore it is not necessary in this bill. Now, the only reason for stating the rule of evidence in this bill is because, contrary to all the other acts, we propose to pro ceed against the person by a prosecution, and in proceeding against the person by a prosecution we say the burden of proof shall be on him in certain conditions. Now, it would be perfectly incongruous to say that in a proceeding, which is the only one provided for by this bill, against the person, cases of seizure shall be proceeded with in a certain way; that is, in a proceeding, the only one provided, which is against the person, you are to make your evidence apply to cases of seizure. That raises the question, and it is the only question raised.

Mr. EDMUNDS. I should like to inquire, in this precise connection, what was the purpose of the Committee on Commerce in introducing into this section the amendment in the eighth line reenacting the law as to the forfeiture of goods. Why did the committee amend by inserting that clause? It is the law already.

Mr. MORRILL. No, I do not say it is the law already; but I say if you proceed against the goods as for forfeiture the remedy is that provided for by the act of 1799.

Mr. EDMUNDS. Yes; but what is the object of introducing into the section this fresh clause relative to the forfeiture of the goods?

Mr. MORRILL. Because the forfeiture of the goods depends on the manner in which they shall be introduced into the country.

Mr. EDMUNDS. It always has, has it not? Mr. MORRILL. No, sir; not as provided for in this section.

Mr. HENDERSON. This permits a seizure in such cases as were not provided for before. Mr. MORRILL. That is what I say. It adds additional circumstances under which goods shall be forfeited.

Mr. EDMUNDS. If that be true, then most certainly there is a new forfeiture here, not already provided for, and we must in that case apply the new onus probandi or we shall lose it. Mr. MORRILL. That does not follow by any means. All I mean to say, and all that it is necessary to say for this argument, is that there is no provision in this section for a procedure against the goods; there is no provision in this bill to proceed against the goods; and therefore the idea of providing for the

39TH CONG. 1ST SESS.--No. 163.

burden of proof against goods is not pertinent. because existing statutes were insufficent in that
It should be against the person. So the ques-respect, or was it for some other purpose?
tion is simply whether it is the sense of the
Senate that we ought to change the rule in the
case of a prosecution against the person. On
that I submit that there are two sides.

Mr. EDMUNDS. One word more. My friend from Maine says that there is no provision in this section for a proceeding against goods, and therefore there is no occasion for a provision regulating the rule of evidence in such cases; but there ought to be a provision regulating the rule of evidence in a proceeding against the person, because such a proceeding is here contemplated. Now, I undertake to declare, without the fear of successful contradiction, that there is exactly the same provision for a proceeding against goods forfeited in this section as there is against the person who has incurred the penalty-exactly as much and no more. But it appears to me to be perfectly plain that there is no provision for a proceeding, in the proper sense of the term, against either. The section is merely penal. As applied to goods, the necessary penalty must be forfeiture, because that is the only way you can punish the thing. As to the person, it is fine. The section, therefore, declares that goods brought in under the prohibited circumstances shall be forfeited, and that the person who brings them in shall suffer a fine. That is all. It does not organize the court which is to condemn the goods; it does not organize any admiralty or maritime or seizure court, and provide for libels and answers and claims and proofs and decrees. It does not organize any common-law court, with a jury, to hear, try, and determine an indictment against the defendant for a violation of this law; but it simply, as applied to each class of the objects, provides for imposing a penalty. The penalty against goods is forfeiture necessarily; the penalty against the person is fine. Now, then, as applied to goods, the committee thought it necessary to introduce an amendment to the original bill which declares a forfeiture of goods; and they have thought it necessary to introduce as against the person a clause which provides for a penalty. Then they thought it necessary as to both classes of cases, because, as the amendment originally stood, it applied to both, that the onus probandi should be upon the defendant where probable cause was shown. I thought it wise, upon the argument of my friend from Maryland, who demonstrated, as it appears to me, the propriety of such a rule in an ordinary criminal cause, to limit the application of that rule to those cases which were analogous to the old limitation as applied to that description of proceeding. That amendment has been agreed to, and I hope it will not be stricken out.

Mr. CONNESS. I desire to ask the honorable Senator from Maine, who has reported this bill and prepared this section particularly, if it has been found that without this section, which proposes a penalty as against the person and proposes to put the burden of proof upon the person charged with the offense, the existing law is insufficient. Is the reason for paring and introducing this section that it has been found that the existing laws providing for a penalty against the person are insufficient?

pre

Mr. MORRILL. In the judgment of the Treasury Department, that was so. The bill was framed at the Treasury Department as originally expressed.

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Mr. MORRILL. It was simply to enable the Government to prosecute more successfully guilty persons. That was the object, and that alone.

Mr. CONNESS. So they are of opinion, then, at the Treasury Department that guilty persons mostly have escaped.

Mr. MORRILL. That was the opinion.

Mr. CONNESS. To that point I desire to call the attention of the Senate. The existing revenue laws provide for giving one half, believe, of the amount of the value of seized goods to the customs officers-to the collector, to the naval officer, and to the surveyor of the port.

My experience is (and I have had a little light upon what I am going to say) that the customs officers of the United States have but in rare instances ever instituted prosecutions against persons, when they could seize the goods, and then the persons would fail to claim them, would abandon them, and thus allow a division of the goods that would be profitable to the officers. I can state in reference to the port of San Francisco alone, that in proportion to the amount of business done, which is very great, as many attempts have been made at smuggling or fraudulent importation as, perhaps, at any other port in the Union; and the cases are few and far between (perhaps there never have been half a dozen all told) where prosecutions have been instituted and carried out against the persons engaged in perpetrating the crime. On the contrary, my opinion isand I have filed at the Treasury Department before this time, official evidence going to show upon the sworn affidavits of subaltern officers of the customs at that port, that again and again information was presented to the collectors, naval officers, and surveyors that fraudulent importations were being made, that the laws were being violated, and the criminals pointed out, but those officers in place of causing arrests to be made and stopping the crime there, refused to do anything of the kind, but bided their time until such a period as they could seize the largest amount of goods, and then upon an abandonment of the goods by the parties who perpetrated the crime, where there could be a division of the goods with them, they abandoned the prosecution and the prosecution was never pressed.

Now, I undertake to say-I cannot speak with certainty, for I am not sufficiently acquainted with the law-that it will be found upon an investigation that the existing laws, without this portion of the act before us, are sufficient already for the punishment of persons engaged in infracting and violating the law; and that the better remedy to compel that to be done would be to take away this immense incentive that exists under the present law in the profits which are given to customs officers by the seizure and confiscation of goods. I have heretofore suggested to the Treasury Department that the law be changed in that respect, and one of the Secretaries, I believe, was in favor of it; indeed, he told me on one occasion that he would recommend such a change as would give a reasonable per centage to the officer, and make it not so much his duty to compromise with crime and get the goods as it was under the existing law. If really the difficulty is in what I point out, if the reason why persons have not been prosecuted and convicted is that this great incentive exists, the incentive should be removed and the law allowed to remain as it is in this respect and officers com

Mr. CONNESS. I would sooner take the
opinion of some of the gentlemen of the Sen-
ate who are practitioners of the law, members
of the bar, than the opinion of the Treasurypelled to do their duty under the law.
Department on such a point. I think I can
throw some light on this case.

Mr. MORRILL. I thought the honorable
Senator asked as to the fact, not as to the law.
Mr. CONNESS. I desire to be understood,
because I think I understand something about
the difficulty that lies behind this section. My
question was, did those who prepared this sec-
tion prepare the provisions that are made here
as against the person who commits the offense

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I apprehend that the Treasury Department are entirely in the fog, entirely in error in this respect. They have arrived at their conclusions by the Commissioner of Customs, and other officers in that Department. They saw that there were a great many seizures and but few criminal prosecutions; and the disparity between the fraudulent importations and the consequent seizures and the number of prosecutions, led them to the erroneous conclusion

that some additional statutory enactments were necessary to prevent that condition of things.

I have no doubt, from the knowledge I have of these affairs that has come to me now for a series of years, that what I state is really the condition of the case, that the law is sufficient. already for the punishment of the crime; but that as long as the reward is so great for compromising crime you cannot punish any person. Now, the question is whether you shall make your laws unnecessarily vindictive and throw the burden of proof, in the trial of a person, upon him, when under the law, as it exists, no sufficient effort has ever been made to convict.

Mr. MORRILL. I move to amend the amendment by striking out the words "in cases of seizure" from the words which the amendment proposes to insert.

The amendment to the amendment was agreed to; there being, on a division-ayes 18, noes 9.

Mr. EDMUNDS. I now move to strike out the whole.

Mr. FESSENDEN. That is the very question now.

Mr. EDMUNDS. If it is proper to amend the amendment reported by the Committee of the Whole, in one respect it is in all. Now, I move to amend the pending amendment by striking out the words "and the guilty knowledge of the defendant, when convicted of the fact, shall be presumed unless he or she shall prove the contrary;" and also the provision that the burden of proof shall lie upon the defendant where probable cause is shown.

If

Mr. FESSENDEN. I suggest to the Senator that he will meet it more simply by just taking the vote on concurrence with the amendment made in Committee of the Whole. that be rejected, if we do not concur, then he can move to strike out the words which may remain.

Mr. EDMUNDS. If that is the whole of the proposition it is the same question.

Mr. FESSENDEN. If we reject the amendment a motion can be made to strike out the original words, and in that way he can put all out.

Mr. EDMUNDS. If I correctly understand the present question it is on agreeing to the amendments reported by the Committee of the Whole, and one of those amendments reported by the Committee of the Whole has just been amended by striking therefrom the words which the Senator from Maine [Mr. MORRILL] proposed to strike out. Now, having agreed to that, the amendment reported by the committee or what remains of it meets my, disapproval decidedly. I entirely agree with the Senator from Maryland that it ought not to be adopted as it now stands. If that is the whole of the amendment we can take the question just as well upon agreeing or disagreeing to the amendment. Is that the whole of the amendment now pending?

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Chair understands it to be the whole of the amendment.

Mr. EDMUNDS. Then I ask for the yeas and nays on the adoption of the amendment.

Mr. HENDERSON. Is it in order to amend that portion by moving to strike out the same matter and insert other matter?

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator will state his amendment.

Mr. HENDERSON. I desire to strike out the whole of the matter in this section after the word "and," in line thirteen, and to in

sert:

In all cases where it is proved that any person has imported or brought into the United States, or assisted in so doing, any goods, wares, or merchandise contrary to law, and in cases where any person shall receive, conceal, buy, or sell any such goods, wares, or merchandise contrary to law, it shall be presumed that such person had guilty knowledge of such violation of law, and the burden of showing the contrary shall be upon the party so offending.

Mr. MORRILL. I do not suppose it is in order to move that at this time. The question, I think, must be on concurrence in the amendment made as in Committee of the Whole, as

amended; but if I understand the amendment of the Senator from Missouri, it does not differ materially from the amendment proposed by

the committee.

I hope it will be stricken out. I did not so understand it at first.

from the Executive.

The amendment was non-concurred in. Mr. McDOUGALL. I ask the permission Mr. HENDERSON. The difference is this: of the Senate to call up, with a view to its readmy amendment declares that upon the estab-ing, the veto message received some time since lishment of a fact a presumption shall arise; whereas as it now stands it leaves to the court at any stage of the proceedings to declare that the defendant is guilty and that it devolves on him to show his innocence. My amendment establishes a rule, instead of leaving it entirely in the breast of the court.

Mr. MORRILL. I understand it to be substantially this, that provided the Government shall establish the fact of the illegal importation or the fact that aid and assistance were given to facilitate the transportation, then upon the proof of those facts the inference of guilt shall follow.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Chair thinks the amendment of the Senator from Missouri is not in order at this time, as it proposes to strike out that which has been partly concurred in and partly not concurred in, and the very question is whether the Senate will concur in that portion.

Mr. HENDERSON, I withdraw it for the present.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is, Will the Senate concur in the amendment made as in Committee of the Whole, as amended?

Mr. HOWE called for the yeas and nays, and they were ordered; and being taken, resulted-yeas 25, nays 15; as follows:

YEAS-Messrs. Chandler, Cragin, Creswell, Fessenden, Foster, Grimes, Guthrie, Howard, Kirkwood, Lane of Kansas, Morgan, Morrill, Nye, Pomeroy, Ramsey, Sherman, Sprague, Stewart, Sumner, Van Winkle, Wade, Willey, Williams, Wilson, and Yates-25.

NAYS-Messrs. Buckalew, Conness, Davis, Dixon, Doolittle, Edmunds, Harris, Henderson. Hendricks, Howe, Johnson, McDougall, Norton, Poland, and Trumbull-15.

ABSENT-Messrs. Anthony, Brown, Clark, Cowan, Lane of Indiana, Nesmith, Riddle, Saulsbury, and Wright-9.

So the amendment as amended was concurred in.

The next excepted amendment was in section seven, line three, after the word "days," to insert "after the facts shall come to their

knowledge;" so that the section shall read:

That it shall be the duty of the several collectors of customs to report, within ten days after the facts shall come to their knowledge, to the district attorney of the district in which any fine, or personal penalty may be incurred for the violation of any law of the United States relating to the revenue, a statement of all the facts and circumstances, &c.

Mr. EDMUNDS. As the law now stands, if I correctly understand it, it is the duty of the collector of customs or other customs officer making a seizure to report that seizure to the district attorney within ten days after the seizure in order that proceedings may be instituted against the property, when the claimant may, by giving bail or other security, receive his property from the officer, and a trial may be had. This amendment proposes to change that law, and to only make it the duty of the collector to report to the district attorney after the facts come to his knowledge. That means all the facts, I take it; and he may therefore postpone making a report to the district attorney as long as in his discretion it may seem to be desirable. The consequence will be that the district attorney cannot take any proceedings against the property until he gets this report, and the claimant cannot take any proceedings or steps whatever to recover the possession of the property until that is done. In my judgment, it is giving too large a discretion to the collector of customs to effect a purpose of that description. I hope, therefore, that this amendment will not be concurred in, in order that it may be made the duty of the collector or the informing officer to report to the district attorney within a definite time after the seizure,

as the law is now.

Mr. MORRILL. I am satisfied that the Senator is right, and that the amendment is obnoxious to the difficulties he suggests, and

Mr. CHANDLER. Let us finish this bill first. We can dispose of it in five minutes.

Mr. McDOUGALL. I only desire to have the message read, which should be done at once out of respect to the Executive, and then it can be ordered to be printed and go over until to

morrow.

Mr. MORRILL. Let us dispose of this bill before taking that up. We shall be through in

a very short time.

Mr. McDOUGALL. Very well. The next excepted amendment was to strike out the nineteenth section of the bill in the following words:

SEC. 19. And be it further enacted, That nothing in this act contained shall be taken to abridge or limit any forfeiture, penalty, fine, liability, or remedy provided for or existing under any law now in force.

Mr. MORRILL. That section, I am inclined to think, on further reflection, ought to remain. It was stricken out after the bill was sent to the committee, and the committee gave their assent to striking it out; but since action was taken on striking it out yesterday, I have been to the Treasury Department, and I am afraid that if that section is stricken out certain rights of the Government in forfeitures and penalties which have been provided for in former acts will be impaired. No harm can arise from its being in the bill, and it is safest, on the whole, I think, to allow the section to stand. I therefore hope that the Senate will not concur in the amendment striking out that section.

Mr. EDMUNDS. I agree with my friend from Maine that the section ought not to be stricken out, but I suggest to him whether it would not be well to add "except as herein otherwise specially provided," so as to guard against any double forfeitures or double penalties.

Mr. FESSENDEN. That can be done afterward. Let us non-concur first in the amendment to strike out the section, and then the Senator can amend it.

The amendment was non-concurred in.

Mr. EDMUNDS. I now move to amend this nineteenth section by adding the words, "except as herein otherwise specially provided."

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The amendment was agreed to.

The next excepted amendment was in section thirty-three, line seventeen, after the word "when" to insert the word "any;" and also to strike out the letter "s" in the word 'officers;" in line nineteen to strike out the word "make" and insert "furnish information to he collector leading to a" in line twenty to strike out the final "s" in the word "seizures;" and also to strike out the word "they" and insert the word "he;" and in line twenty-one after the word "distribution" to insert the words "with such collector, naval officer, or surveyor;" so that the proviso will read:

Provided, That when any officer of the customs, other than the collector, naval officer, or surveyor, shall furnish information to the collector leading to a seizure he shall be entitled to an equal share of the distribution with such collector, naval officer, or

surveyor.

Mr. MORRILL. I desire to make a single statement about that provision and the effect of it. As the law now is, one half the money arising from seizures is distributed among the collector, surveyor, and naval officer. Mr. JOHNSON. Equally? Mr. MORRILL. Yes, sir; one half of the whole seizure is distributed among those offiAs it has been amended, this proviso is that the one half shall be divided between the collector, naval officer, or surveyor, and any other officer of the customs furnishing the infor include appraisers, measurers, &c., which is mation leading to the seizure, and that would said to be against the policy of the law. On

cers.

account of the peculiar duties attached to those officers they have always been excluded. There is no necessity for any change of the law so far as informers are concerned. The committee were under a misapprehension when they amended this proviso, thinking it ought to be extended to all persons who gave information. That is the law now. We have only, therefore, added a further division between another class of officers, which I am told at the Treasury Department is against the policy of the law, on the ground of the peculiar duties that they perform. They are measurers and appraisers, whose duty it is to fix the value of the goods, and therefore they ought not to be subject to this temptation. I hope, therefore, the amendment will be non-concurred in and then I propose to strike out the whole of that proviso. The amendment was non-concurred in.

Mr. MORRILL. I now move to amend that section by striking out the proviso at the end of it, in the following words:

Provided, That when officers of the customs other than the collector, naval officer, or surveyor shall make seizures, they shall be entitled to an equal share of the distribution.

The amendment was agreed to.

The next excepted amendment was to strike out the thirty-fifth section of the bill, in the following words:

SEC. 35. And be it further enacted, That in all cases in which the fees and emoluments received by any collector or other principal officer of the customs are, in the opinion of the Secretary of the Treasury, insufficient to afford a reasonable compensation for the services of such officer, after payment out of the same of reasonable incidental expenses of the office, the said Secretary may direct that so much of the said incidental expenses as shall seem to him to be just shall be paid out of the appropriation for paying the expenses of collecting the revenue; and the said Secretary shall have the same power in regard to incidental expenses which have heretofore been incurred and which have not been settled and paid into the Treasury; and all fees paid into the Treasury by customs officers shall be placed to the credit of the fund for defraying expenses of collecting the revenue from customs.

Mr. JOHNSON. I should like to know of the Senator from Maine the reasons for striking out that section.

Mr. MORRILL. I will state all I know in regard to it. It will be seen that this section gives the Secretary of the Treasury authority to pay the expenses at places where the revenue does not produce sufficient to meet the expenses in certain ports. It confers additional power to meet such cases. The necessity for it, it is said, has arisen in the southern ports. The committee had no evidence when it struck out this section of any such case, and had no information of the necessity for it. The information that I have obtained at the Treasury Department this morning is that it is necessary to meet a certain class of cases that have arisen in the insurrectionary States. In opening ports there the business is light, the expenses are large, and this additional authority is deemed by the Secretary of the Treasury to be necessary to meet the new state of circum

stances.

Mr. JOHNSON. Why do you propose to strike it out?

Mr. MORRILL. We struck it out before we knew these facts, and the question now is on concurring in the amendment to strike it out.

Mr. FESSENDEN. I will inquire of my colleague whether the object sought to be obtained cannot be accomplished substantially by retaining the last part of the section. Heretofore in the disturbed condition of things in the southern States it may have been necessary to incur additional expense in this way; but now that there is no such trouble down there, I am a little averse, unless very good reasons can be given for it, to clothing the Secretary of the Treasury with the power to increase, according to his own judgment, the compensation of officers. I think, from a casual glance I had of it, we might make a distinction between the two classes of cases.

Mr. MORRILL. Very well. I hope the Senate will non-concur in the amendment to strike out the section, and then I will move to amend it by striking out all after the enacting

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Mr. JOHNSON. That will not do. You will have to change it further. Mr. MORRILL. Why?

Mr. JOHNSON. Because the subsequent part of the section refers to what you propose to strike out. It reads, "and the said Secretary shall have the same power." What power?

Mr. MORRILL. Then I will strike out the word "same"

Mr. JOHNSON. Then what "power" is referred to?

Mr. FESSENDEN. My impression was, after reading the section, that it could not be amended; that it had better be redrawn.

Mr. MORRILL. There is no difficulty in the particular referred to by the Senator from Maryland, because the Secretary has the power now to pay the incidental expenses that have been incurred.

Mr. FESSENDEN. If he has the power now there is no need of the section, and you had better strike it all out.

Mr. JOHNSON. I think it had better be kept in, because they get nothing down there now. I suggest to my friend from Maine [Mr. MORRILL] that the section had better remain as it was originally drafted.

Mr. McDOUGALL. I desire now to renew the suggestion I made a short time since, as there seems to be some misunderstanding and difficulty about this bill, that we take up some other business that belongs to the business of the day. I therefore move to postpone everything else and take up the message of the President of the United States returning with his objections the bill for the admission of Colorado into the Union.

Mr. FESSENDEN. I hope that will not be taken up to-night. It is very late.

Mr. WILSON. Has the bill to prevent smuggling been disposed of?

The PRESIDING OFFICER. still before the Senate.

That bill is

Mr. McDOUGALL. I have possession of the floor and have not yielded it.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from California is entitled to the floor.

Mr. McDOUGALL. I insist on my motion that all other business be suspended, and that the Senate proceed to the reading of the message of the President of the United States returning the Colorado bill to this body.

Mr. MORRILL. I am very desirous of disposing of the bill before the Senate. I think we can pass it in five or ten minutes more.

Mr. McDOUGALL. Oh, no; it cannot be done.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. Does the Senator from California withdraw his motion?

Mr. McDOUGALL. I only want to have the message read and ordered to be printed; that is all.

Mr. MORRILL. You had better withdraw it for the present.

Mr. McDOUGALL. Very well.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The motion is withdrawn, and the question is on the amendment of the Senator from Maine to the thirtyfifth section of the bill.

Mr. MORRILL. I withdraw that amendment. It has been suggested to me that the section had better stand as it is in the bill.

I will inquire how the question stands in regard to that section.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senate did not concur in the amendment made as in Committee of the Whole, and therefore the section now stands in the bill.

Mr. MORRILL. Very well; then I will

make no motion in regard to it. I move further to amend the bill in section thirty-one, line twelve, after the word "naval officer," to strike out the words "surveyor of customs;" so that it will read:

That the Secretary of the Treasury be, and he hereby is, authorized, whenever he shall think it advantageous to the public service or revenue, to abolish or suspend the office of naval officer, or any subordinate office, in any collection district of the United States, &c.

The amendment was agreed to.

Mr. EDMUNDS. I wish to move an amendment to the third section of the bill. It is to add the following proviso:

Provided, That no railway car or engine shall be subject to forfeiture by force of the provisions of this act, unless it shall appear that the owner, or agent of the owner in charge thereof at the time of such unlawful importation or transportation thereon or thereby, was a consenting party, or privy to such illegal importation or transportation.

It is well known to everybody on the northern frontier that it is perfectly impossible for railway companies to guard against the introduction of contraband goods, to some extent or other, in their trains. They take, like a carrier by the sea, the manifests and invoices of the owner, and the contents of the packages are stated, and they put them in their trains and bring them along. Now, by the force of this section as it stands, while in the same case a steamboat on Lake Champlain or Lake Michigan, for instance, would not be forfeited by bringing in a contraband package, a railroad train from Montreal to St. Albans, in Vermont, or from Montreal to Portland, in Maine, would be subject to forfeiture. That I believe to be unjust; and therefore my object is to limit these cases of forfeiture on railway trains doing an immense business, and which cannot get information about all these things, to cases where the conductor in charge, the agent of the owners, had guilty knowledge of the fact.

Mr. FESSENDEN. I wish to ask the Senator from Vermont if he has looked at that section; I have not; but I have got the impression that it gives extraordinary powers with reference to stopping railroad trains.

Mr. MORRILL. No, sir; it does not mention railroad trains.

Mr. FESSENDEN. But it speaks of all sorts of vehicles. Now, if the officer, because he finds two or three contraband packages, is to take the whole train into his possession, it would create a confusion with regard to transportation that would be very onerous indeed, and that ought to be guarded against. That kind of transportation does not stand like anything else. A train is a vehicle, according to the definition given here, and if the officer finds that there are smuggled goods on board he is to take possession of the vehicle, the car, the engine, &c. Now, where these trains are coming from another section the consequence would be that if an officer found any contraband packages on board he would stop the train and take possession of it. That would create infinite difficulties, because a railroad train is so unlike any other kind of transportation; and that ought to be carefully guarded against. If Senators have examined the section carefully, so as to be sure that that consequence would not follow, and it would create no particular difficulty, I will not object. I have not examined it myself sufficiently to determine that question.

Mr. EDMUNDS. I think we shall be obliged to submit to the inconvenience which has been mentioned by the Senator from Maine. It will be impossible to have the inspection laws vigorously and faithfully executed unless the offi cer has power to stop a train for the purpose of inspection, if he thinks it necessary and proper to do so, just as he may stop a vessel or anything else. Of course, it is a large power, and may be abused; but I am satisfied, from the means of observation I have had, that it is a power which it is necessary for the protection of the revenue should be confided to these officers. There is not much danger of their abusing this power of inspection. They

must have the power to stop the train for the purpose of inspection. That is about the substance of it.

Mr. FESSENDEN. I know that; but if the train is to be forfeited then, of course, they take possession of the train.

Mr. EDMUNDS. I propose to provide for that in the amendment which I have offered. Mr. MORRILL. I should like to have the amendment read at the desk.

The Secretary read it.

Mr. MORRILL. The difficulty that occurs to me is about establishing the ownership. The language of the amendment is "the owner or agent of the owner." Ought it not to be so broad as to include any of the agents of the company, the conductor or any officer?

Mr. HENDRICKS. I do not think a train ought to be forfeited for the act of the conductor.

Mr. EDMUNDS. That part of the amendment provides that if the responsible party, the manager in charge of the train, has the guilty knowledge, then the train or car is subject to forfeiture; but if the responsible manager, or the conductor, is not guilty of any impropriety, then I think it would be too hard, if the enginedriver, or stoker, or brakesman should happen to be smuggling in a small keg of brandy, that the owner should be subjected to the forfeiture of the train for that reason. I think that is going too far.

Mr. CHANDLER. Then say the agent of the company.

Mr. EDMUNDS. I have said the owner, and that must be the company or the private person who owns the car or engine. Many of the northern roads are not owned by companies, but by private persons, who are trustees. Hence the term "owner, or agent of the owner in charge," it appears to me, covers both classes of controlling parties, the proprietor or the agent of the proprietor who has control of the train. If any language can be found to express the idea better, I shall certainly be very glad to accept it.

Mr. MORRILL. I do not know but that that answers the purpose; but it seems to me it will not be possible to bring a guilty knowledge of the fact to the owner.

Mr. EDMUNDS. It is in the alternative. Mr. CHANDLER. Say "owner or agent." Mr. EDMUNDS. That is exactly the language of my amendment.

Mr. FESSENDEN. Had you not better put in the word "superintendent?" All these companies have superintendents.

Mr. EDMUNDS. Very well; I have no objection to inserting the word "superintendent" after the word "owner," or in place of it, as may be most agreeable.

Mr. CLARK. Let the amendment be read

with that word in.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The amendment will be read as modified.

The Secretary read it, as follows: Provided, That no railway car or engine shall be subject to forfeiture by force of the provisions of this act unless it shall appear that the owner, superintendent, or agent of the owner in charge thereof at the time of such unlawful importation or transportation thereon or thereby was a consenting party, or privy to such illegal importation or transportation.

The amendment, as modified, was agreed to. Mr. HOWE. The second and third sections of this bill speak of the seizure, search, and examination of all trunks, packages, and envelopes. It seems to me that language is broad enough to cover the United States mails. I suppose it is not the purpose of the bill to authorize the examination of the United States mails.

Mr. MORRILL. Of course not.

Mr. HOWE. I propose to offer an amendment to prevent such a construction.

Mr. EDMUNDS. There is no danger of such a construction being placed upon this language. It is the language usually employed in these bills.

Mr. HOWE. If gentlemen are perfectly confident that it will bear no such construction,

and will receive no such construction, I do not care to press it.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Wisconsin withdraws his amendment. Mr. HOWE. I will suggest another amendment, in section three, line thirty-nine, to strike out the word "appoint," and insert the words "for the employment of;" so that the clause will read:

And the Secretary of the Treasury may from time to time prescribe regulations for the search of persons and baggage, and for the employment of female inspectors for the examination and search of persons of their own sex.

The amendment was agreed to.

The amendments were ordered to be engrossed and the bill to be read a third time. It was read the third time and passed.

HOUSE BILL REFERRED.

The joint resolution (H. R. No. 134) relative to appointments in the Military Academy of the United States was read twice by its title, and referred to the Committee on Military Affairs and the Militia.

CONSULAR AND DIPLOMATIC BILL.

Mr. FESSENDEN. For the purpose of having the bill which I wish to take up in the morning left as the unfinished business, I move that the Senate proceed to the consideration of the consular and diplomatic appropriation bill.

Mr. SUMNER. There is House bill No. 11, on which the Senate has been engaged for several days, and on which we are just on the verge of a vote, which I think had better be

taken up.

Mr. FESSENDEN. What bill is that? Mr. SUMNER. road bill.

call for the yeas and nays. I want to see whether

Mr. SUMNER. Order!

Mr. McDOUGALL. Mr. President, I address you, and I have the floor. When a message comes to this body from the President of the United States, without regard to the individual, but out of regard to his high office, it is, as a matter of courtesy, the duty of the Senate on the first opportunity to hear what he may have to say why he did not indorse the proceedings of the two Houses of Congress. That is a courtesy that has always been observed, and never unobserved, I think, until this day; at least, this will be the first time when it has been refused.

Mr. FESSENDEN. I will simply say in answer to that

Mr. McDOUGALL. I am speaking to the question, sir. It is in the course and order of proceeding that a message of the President of the United States should be read to the House to which he sends the message on the first opportunity, not interfering with the pending business; and that would be the pending business of the moment. It should have been read some hours since. It has not been read as yet. I do not know what it is. I want to see what advice is contained in the counsel he may convey to me as a Senator of the United States and to other Senators of the United States; for under the system of Government under which we live, when the tribune of the people says, "I forbid" for "I have cause; I think you are in error; I think passion may have been uppermost and reason may have been overthrown;" we should receive his mes

sage It is the New Jersey rail

Mr. FESSENDEN. We shall not get through with that for six weeks to come. Mr. SUMNER. We have got to the end of the discussion upon it.

Mr. FESSENDEN. I shall not withdraw my motion for that.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Maine moves to take up the bill (H. R. No. 261) making appropriations for the consular and diplomatic expenses of the Government for the year ending June 30, 1867, and for other

purposes.

Mr. SUMNER. I should like to interpose

the other bill.

Mr. FESSENDEN. The Senator can try a vote upon it. You cannot interpose it unless you vote my motion down.

Mr. SUMNER. Then I hope the Senate will not take up the appropriation bill until the other bill is disposed of.

Mr. TRUMBULL. Let us adjourn.

better adjourn. Mr. SUMNER. Very well; I think we had

Mr. FESSENDEN. Oh, no; let us have a vote on this question first.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is on the motion of the Senator from Maine. The motion was agreed to-ayes twenty, noes not counted.

EXECUTIVE SESSION.

Mr. FESSENDEN. I new move that the Senate proceed to the consideration of executive business.

Mr. McDOUGALL. I have twice before asked, and now again ask. for the reading of the veto message of the President. I merely desire to have it read and printed. I want to see what it is. I am not informed. It is a matter of importance, and it should be read. That is all I desire.

Mr. STEWART. Take an order to print without reading it.

Mr. MCDOUGALL. No; it should be read and printed.

Mr. FESSENDEN. I insist on my motion. Mr. McDOUGALL. This can be done in five minutes.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is on the motion of the Senator from Maine.

Mr. McDOUGALL. On that question, I

l

with all the consideration which belongs to a high body of which he is an equivalent, not a superior. It has come here, and has been on our desk, now, for hours. There is, it seems to me, a perverse, adverse spirit not disposed to extend to his statement of his objections the courtesy that always has been extended to men who occupied his high place in years gone by. We are not happy in wandering from our former paths. We are wandering, and wan dering into the wilderness. How soon we may get lost, none but Him alone knoweth. I say it is our bounden duty to hear that message read now, and have it printed for the advice of the Senate. I ask that it may now be read

and printed; and that is the motion which I made some time ago, when I had the floor, but I make that motion that the message be read waived it. It is my right to move it now, and and printed.

Mr. FESSENDEN. The question now is simply on the call for the yeas and nays, as I understand it, on the motion to go into execu tive session.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. On the motion to go into executive session the Senator from California asks for the yeas and nays.

Mr. FESSENDEN. That is the motion before the Senate, and the only one that can be in order. They have not yet been ordered,

Mr. McDOUGALL. Very well: I trust they will not be ordered until this thing be done.

Mr. FESSENDEN. I wish simply to say that if by any possibility the motion I have made could be construed into any disrespect of the Chief Magistrate, that at this late hour we let his message go over until the morning before having it read, in order that we may have a full Senate, I certainly would withdraw it for that purpose; but as I have no such intention, and as the idea of disrespect to the President is entirely imaginary. I shall insist on my motion and let the veas and nays be taken upon it if Senators call for them. That is the motion before the Senate.

Mr. McDOUGALL. I do not charge the Senator from Maine

The PRESIDING OFFICER. It is the duty of the Chair to suggest that on the question of going into executive session extended debate is not allowed in the Senate.

Mr. McDOUGALL. I shall not go beyond the question of going into executive session. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Upon that

=

question a mere expression of opinion is allowed

Mr. McDOUGALL. I will confine myself to that, and all my remarks have relation to that.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. But the question of going into executive session is not debatable.

diers' and Sailors' Orphan Home, was taken from the Speaker's table, and read a first and second time.

It proposes to authorize the Secretary of War to grant the use of lumber, not demanded by the Department for immediate use, for the erection of temporary buildings in the city of Washington for the national fair for the benefit Mr. McDOUGALL. Very well. Allow me of the Soldiers' and Sailors' Orphan Home. to remark, then, to the Senator from Maine- The joint resolution was ordered to be and I want it marked down with exact periods-engrossed for a third reading; and being enthis is the first time that for hours a message grossed, it was accordingly read the third time from the President upon an important public and passed. question, a brief message, requiring no time to read it, has been denied a hearing in the Senate of the United States, when this was the body to whom the bill was returned; and I hold it to be a vindictive assault upon the Chief Executive.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. Upon the motion to go into executive session the Senator from California asks for the yeas and nays. The yeas and nays were not ordered. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question now is on the motion of the Senator from Maine to proceed to the consideration of executive business.

The motion was agreed to; and after some time spent in executive session, the doors were reopened, and the Senate adjourned.

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.
TUESDAY, May 15, 1866.

The House met at twelve o'clock m. The Journal of yesterday was read and approved.

ADDRESS FROM SWISS CANTONS.

The SPEAKER, by unanimous consent, laid before the House an address from Swiss Cantons in favor of emancipation, &c.; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and ordered to be printed.

RECONSTRUCTION.

Mr. WILSON, of Iowa. I ask unanimous consent to present, that it may be printed, an amendment which I intend to offer to House bill No. 543, to provide for restoring to the States lately in insurrection their full political rights.

The SPEAKER. If there be no objection, the proposed amendment will be ordered to be printed.

There was no objection.

The amendment proposes to strike out all after the enacting clause in the first section of the bill, and insert the following:

That whenever the above-recited amendment shall have become part of the Constitution of the United States, and any State lately in insurrection shall have ratified the same, and shall have modified its constitution and laws in conformity therewith, the Senators and Representatives from such State, if found duly elected and qualified, may, after having taken the required oaths of office, be admitted into Congress as such: Provided, That if any State after ratifying said amendment, and conforming its constitution and laws therewith, shall establish an equal and just system of suffrage for all male citizens within its jurisdiction who are not less than twenty-one years of age, the Senators and Representatives from such State shall be admitted as aforesaid, without being required to await the action of other States on such amendment: And provided further, That nothing in this section contained shall be so construed as to require the disfranchisement of any loyal person who is now entitled

to vote.

LEAVE OF ABSENCE.

Mr. LYNCH moved to reconsider the vote by which the joint resolution was passed; and also moved that the motion to reconsider be laid on the table.

The latter motion was agreed to.

DUNDAS PATENT.

I ask

Mr. WASHBURNE, of Illinois. unanimous consent to submit the following resolution:

Resolved, That the Secretary of the Interior be directed to communicate to this House whether any application has been made for the reissue of the Dundas patent for cultivator, and if so, by whom, and at what time, and upon what grounds, and to transmit to this House copies of all the papers and documents connected with the application; and also to state what effect it will have upon the agricultural interest to reissue said patent and have the same relate back and cover the essential improvements made since the year 1851. And also further to communicate what further legislation is necessary to protect the interests of the public in regard to such reissues of patents.

Mr. JENCKES. I object to the resolution. Mr. WASHBURNE, of Illinois. It is a matter which strikes at the interest of every agriculturist of the country. It is only for information.

Mr. JENCKES. I do not object to its introduction for reference to the Committee on Patents.

Mr. WASHBURNE, of Illinois. I desire to get the information for reference to the Committee on Patents.

Mr. JENCKES. It should come from the committee.

REIMBURSEMENT TO WEST VIRGINIA.

On motion of Mr. HUBBARD, of West Virginia, Senate bill No. 230, to reimburse the State of West Virginia for moneys expended for the United States in enrolling, equipping, and paying military forces to aid in suppressing the rebellion, was taken from the Speaker's table, read a first and second time, and referred to the Committee of Claims.

Mr. WASHBURNE, of Illinois. I move to reconsider the vote just taken; and also move that the motion to reconsider be laid on the table.

The latter motion was agreed to.

Mr. HUBBARD, of West Virginia, also presented joint resolutions of the Legislature of West Virginia on the same subject; which were referred to the Committee of Claims, and ordered to be printed.

MEMPHIS RIOT.

Mr. BOUTWELL asked to be excused from service on the select committee on the Memphis riot.

It was ordered accordingly.

POST OFFICE APPROPRIATION BILL. Mr. KASSON, from the Committee on

Mr. BROMWELL asked leave of absence Appropriations, reported back Senate amend

for Mr. MOULTON for ten days. Leave was granted.

AMERICAN COTTON COMPANY.

Mr. ASHLEY, of Ohio, by unanimous consent, introduced a bill to incorporate the American Cotton Company of the District of Columbia; which was read a first and second time, and referred to the Committee for the District of Columbia.

SOLDIERS' AND SAILORS' ORPHANS' FAIR.

On motion of Mr. LYNCH, by unanimous consent, a joint resolution (S. R. No. 88) authorizing the Secretary of War to grant the use of certain lumber for the fair for the Sol

ments to House bill No. 280, making appropriations for the service of the Post Office Department during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1867, and for other purposes.

First amendment:

Insert at the end of the first section of the bill the following:

To enable the Superintendent of the Naval Observatory to carry out the object of Senate resolution of March 19, 1866, for report of Isthmus routes to the Pacific occan, $1,500.

Mr. KASSON. The committee recommend concurrence.

The amendment was concurred in.
Second amendment:

Strike out the following words: "To take effect so

soon as Brazil shall have performed the condition on her part provided in the law authorizing said service;" so it will read:

SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That the following sums, or so much thereof as may be necessary, be, and the same are hereby, appropriated for the year ending June 30, 1867, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated.

Mr. KASSON. The committee recommend concurrence.

The amendment was concurred in.

Third amendment:

Add the words just stricken out, so that the paragraph will read:

For the mail steamship service between the United States and Brazil, $150,000: Provided, That this appropriation shall take effect only when Brazil shall have performed the condition on her part provided in the law authorizing said service.

Mr. KASSON. The committee recommend

concurrence.

The amendment was concurred in. Fourth amendment:

Add:

SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That the Postmaster General be, and is hereby, required to report to the Secretary of the Treasury annually, prior to the 1st day of November of each year, his estimate of the money required for the service of the Post Office Department for the ensuing fiscal year; which estimate shall be reported to Congress with the printed estimates of appropriations required by the joint resolution of the 7th of January, 1846.

Mr. KASSON. The committee recommend

concurrence.

The amendment was concurred in. Fifth amendment:

Add:

SEC. 5. And be it further enacted, That the balance of the appropriation of $100,000 under the thirteenth section of an act to establish a postal money-order system, approved May 17, 1864, which may remain unexpended at the close of the present fiscal year, may be used as far as necessary to supply deficiencies in the proceeds of the money-order system during the fiscal year commencing July 1, 1866.

Mr. KASSON. The committee recommend

concurrence.

The amendment was concurred in. Sixth amendment:

Add:

SEC. 6. And be it further enacted, That all advertising notices for proposals for contracts for the Post Office Department, and all advertising notices for proposals for contracts for the Executive Departments of the Government required by law to be published in the city of Washington, shall be hereafter advertised by publication in two daily newspapers in the city of Washington having the largest circulation; and to no others: Provided, That the charges for such publications shall not be higher than what is paid individuals for advertising in such papers: Provided also, The publications shall be made in each of said papers equally as to frequency; and that the circulation of such papers shall be determined upon the 10th day of June annually; and the publishers of all papers competing for such advertising shall furnish a sworn statement of their bona fide paid circulation of each regular issue for the preceding three months; and shall in like manner certify under oath that such circulation has not, during the said three months, been increased by any gratuitous circulation, by a reduction in price below the ordinary and usual price of such papers, or by any other means, for the purpose of obtaining the official advertising: Provided, That the charge for such advertising shall not be greater than is paid for the same publications in other cities, or at a higher rate than is paid by individuals for like advertising.

Mr. KASSON. The committee recommend concurrence in this amendment. There are one or two repetitions in it, but it is not worth while to send it back to the Senate.

The amendment was concurred in.

Mr. KASSON moved to reconsider the vote by which the amendments were concurred in; and also moved that the motion to reconsider be laid on the table.

The latter motion was agreed to.

BREVET PROMOTIONS IN THE ARMY.

Mr. SCHENCK, by unanimous consent, introduced the following resolution; which was read, considered, and agreed to:

Resolved, That the Secretary of War be directed to communicate to this House, at as early a day as prac ticable, a statement of every promotion by brevet of officers in the regular Army made since the 12th day of April, 1861, and that he indicate, in the list furnished, the absolute or full rank in the line or staff of each officer so brevetted, the date of his brevet appointment or nomination, the time from which such brevet rank takes effect, whether the appointment or nomination has been confirmed by the Senate, and if so, at what date; specifying and setting forth, also, in each case the particular "gallant ac

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