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for the opening of the bids, and unless the sale is postponed our people will have had no opportunity whatever of competing for the lands. The sales were postponed on the last day of the session of 1862, and this is an exact copy of that resolution. To-morrow is the termination of the period when the bids are to be opened, and unless this resolution is passed, the lands will all go into the hands of speculators, our people not having had an opportunity of bidding for them.

The joint resolution was reported to the Senate without amendment.

Mr. HARLAN. I prefer that the resolution should be passed over for a few moments until we can look into it a little.

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. It will be laid aside informally, if there be no objection..

Mr. LANE, of Kansas. I have no objection to its being passed over for a few moments, but I am very anxious that it should be passed to-day. Mr. HARLAN. It is not my purpose to defer action to-day, but I learn from the chairman of the Committee on Indian Affairs that he has not been consulted in relation to it, and I have not, as chairman of the Committee on Public Lands, and I would prefer to look into it.

Mr. LANE, of Kansas. In explanation, I will state that I have just this moment returned from the Interior Department, and have just learned that to-morrow is the last day. The former resolution to which I have referred, and of which this is an exact copy, was referred to the Committee on Indian Affairs, and reported by that committee. You will find it the very last act of the second session of the former Congress. I have just sent for the statute. The sales were then postponed for the same reason: the people of Kansas had had no opportunity to bid; and I ask a postponement now for the same reason. They were advertised for three weeks.

Mr. DOOLITTLE. I will ask the honorable Senator from Kansas whether the Department of the Interior recommends the suspension.

Mr. LANE, of Kansas. I copied this resolution in Judge Usher's room.

Mr. DOOLITTLE. We will look into it. Mr. LANE, of Kansas. Do I understand the Senator to object to it?

Mr. DOOLITTLE. Let it lie over for a short time. The other Senator from Kansas [Mr. POMEROY] has just taken his seat, and I should like to consult with him.

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The resolution will be laid aside informally.

DELAWARE VOLUNTEERS.

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

Resolved, That the Secretary of War be directed to inform the Senate whether volunteers for thirty days and for one hundred days were called for by order of his Department, at any time preceding the last two drafts in the State of Delaware, from that State, and if so, for what purpose, and under what authority of law; whether such volunteers were promised as an inducement to volunteer exemption from said drafts; whether said volunteers were exempted from said drafts when they volunteered; whether they were kept within the limits of said State, and whether they were promised as a further inducement to volunteer that they should not be sent without the limits of said State, or that they should not be employed in active service in the field.

OATH FOR LAWYERS.

Mr. SUMNER. 1 move that the Senate proceed to the consideration of Senate bill No. 72. The motion was agreed to; and the Senate, as in Committee of the Whole, proceeded to consider the bill (S. No. 72) supplementary to an act entitled "An act to prescribe an oath of office, and for other purposes,” approved July 2, 1862, which had been reported upon adversely by the Committee on the Judiciary. It provides that no person, after the date of this act, shall be admitted to the bar of the Supreme Court of the United States, or of any circuit or district court of the United States, or of the Court of Claims, as an attorney or counselor of such court, or shall be allowed to appear and be heard in any such court, by virtue of any previous admission or any special power of attorney, unless he shall have first taken and subscribed the oath prescribed in "An act to prescribe an oath of office, and for other purposes," approved July 2, 1862, according to the forms and in the manner provided in that act; which oath so taken and subscribed is to be preserved among the files of such court, and any per

son who shall falsely take the oath shall be guilty of perjury, and, on conviction, shall be liable to the pains and penalties of perjury, and the additional pains and penalties in that act provided. The bill was reported to the Senate without amendment.

Mr. JOHNSON. I do not rise to oppose the passage of the bill, but to suggest to the honorable member from Massachusetts, that perhaps it would be as well to make it operate at some future day. It applies to all circuit and district courts of the United States; and between now and the time when the courts will know of the existence of such a law, there will be hundreds, perhaps, of lawyers admitted. It does not require those who have been admitted to take the oath. I think the bill had better be limited to some future day.

Mr. SUMNER. What day would the Senator propose?

Mr. JOHNSON. Any day that would give sufficient time to enable the courts to have a knowledge of the existence of this law.

Mr. SUMNER. How would it do to say, "so soon as the law shall reach them?"

Mr. JOHNSON. Then you would make it a matter of fact, you know. I suggest the 1st of February. That will be time enough.

Mr. SUMNER. By the telegraph the knowledge can come to any court now in twenty-four

hours.

Mr. JOHNSON. If I were the court I would not be governed by telegraphic dispatches in these times; you cannot rely upon them; and some of these courts are situated where there is no telegraph.

Mr. SUMNER. Not United States courts. Mr. JOHNSON. Oh yes. There are all the United States courts in the Territories. I suggest the 1st of February.

Mr. SUMNER. I should like to have it act immediately in this capital.

Mr. JOHNSON. You can say it shall act in the Supreme Court now, and in the other courts of the United States on and after the 1st of February or the 4th of March.

The honorable member from Massachusetts yesterday I did not hear him at the time very distinctly-referring to the bill which is now before the Senate, and which he said was at that time on the table, stated that he understood some lawyers had refused to take a similar oath prescribed by the local courts. I know of but one member of the bar who is in that situation; and it is due to him to say, (and I am sure the honorable member from Massachusetts will agree that the reason assigned was sufficient,) that he had no objection at all to take the oath if it was legally exacted, but he objected to its being administered by the mere order of the supreme court for this District, he thinking (whether he was right or not, I am not prepared to say) that as the law creating the court as it now exists transferred all the causes to the new court from the old, the lawyers who were concerned in the old court, and entitled to try those causes, were necessarily also entitled to appear in the new court without taking the oath, as Congress had provided no law to the contrary. I am satisfied from what I heard him say long before the bill was introduced by the honorable member from Massachusetts, and what I have heard him say still more recently, that he never had or would have the slightest objection to take the oath when the oath should be prescribed by any law passed by Congress. And, as far as I am advised, speaking for the profession generally, I do not know that there is a member of the bar in the United States who will hesitate to take this oath after Congress shall have passed the law.

But my principal object in rising was to suggest to the honorable member the propriety of extending the operation of this bill, at least in relation to the other courts, to some distant day when all the courts can have knowledge of its existence, so that the rule upon the subject may be

uniform.

Mr. SUMNER. I accept the suggestion of the Senator, and move to insert after the word "or," in the fourth line, the words "at any time after the 4th of March next shall be admitted to the bar;" so that the whole clause will read:

That no person, after the date of this act, shall be admitted to the bar of the Supreme Court of the United

States, or at any time after the 4th of March next shall be admitted to the bar of any circuit or district court of the United States, &c.

Mr. JOHNSON. That satisfies me.
The amendment was agreed to.

Mr. DAVIS. I feel a very great indifference about this matter, whether it passes or fails; but I suppose it will pass as a matter of course. My own experience is that official oaths are of very little value; and I do not think they are of any more value upon the parties who propose them than they are upon those whom it is intended should take them. This seems to be the day of imposing oaths. We have test oaths and special oaths and general oaths connected with office and official duty without number. For myself, with some experience in relation to the value of oaths, I would not give a fig for all that could be imposed in connection with the performance of official duties. I think it is trifling with and bringing into contempt, if not derision, what was intended to be a very sacred and solemn obligation, and that one effect will be to deprive it of all of its moral power, in a great degree at least.

But there is one special objection which I would suggest to this measure. I care not whether it passes or not. I understand that lawyers and practitioners in the courts of the British provinces are permitted to practice in the courts of some of the adjacent States and in some of the United States courts held in those States, and that'this is a matter of mutual comity. I do not know personally that such is the fact, but from all the information I have received on that point, I believe it to be so; and I think this comity would be unnecessarily and without the least profit in any consideration whatever interfered with by the passage of this bill.

The bill was ordered to be engrossed for a third reading, and was read the third time.

Mr. SAULSBURY. I was one of the members of this body who thought the Congress of the United States had not the authority constitutionally to pass the act indicated in this bill. I thought it was ex post facto in some, and in my judgment objectionable in all, of its provisions. I believe if there is one evil more than another in this country, it is the administering of these oaths so freely. Go back a few years ago, and you find that political societies were organized throughout the length and breadth of this land bound together by secret oaths taken at midnight, in out-of-the-way places sometimes. I think you can trace from the experience of that day some of the evil consequences which afflict us now. I believe that a measure of this kind can be attended with no possible good. I will not, however, Mr. President, discuss the question. My purpose in rising was simply to call for the yeas and nays on the passage of the bill, so that I might record my vote against a measure of this character, I ask for the yeas and nays upon it.

The yeas and nays were ordered; and the Secretary proceeded to call the roll.

Mr. JOHNSON (when his name was called) said: I suppose I am at liberty to say a word before voting.

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. By unanimous consent. The Chair hears no objection.

Mr. JOHNSON. This bill was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary at the last session, and it was, I think, the almost unanimous opinion of the committee that it was not at all necessary to the security of the country that this oath should be required to be prescribed, and they therefore failed to recommend the passage of the bill. We were under the impression, as well as I remember, that if it was necessary to prescribe such an oath to members of the bar, it was equally necessary, and perhaps more necessary, (because the members of the bar, comparatively, in numbers, are very small with reference to the whole population of the United States who are concerned in business of various descriptions,) that it should be prescribed to every man in the United States; not only to any man who pursues any other profession, but any man who pursues any calling. The doctor should not be permitted to practice unless he took an oath of this description; the clergyman should not be permitted to preach unless he took an oath of this description; the merchant should not be permitted to carry on his particular business; and so in reference to all the relations in which men may be placed in society. But as the

honorable member seems to think that it may in some measure serve to render the condition of the country more safe or less perilous than it would be without this oath being taken by the members of the bar, I for one am willing to let him silence his own fears on that subject and let the law be passed. I say, "Yea."

The call of the roll was concluded, and the result announced-yeas 27, nays 4; as follows:

YEAS-Messrs. Anthony, Brown, Clark, Collamer, Conness, Dixon, Doolittle, Farwell, Foot, Foster, Grimes, Harlan, Harris, Henderson, Johnson, Lane of Indiana, Lane of Kansas, Morgan, Pomeroy, Ramsey, Sherman, Sprague, Sumner, Ten Eyck, Van Winkle, Willey, and Wilson-27. NAYS-Messrs. Buckalew, Davis, Richardson, and Saulsbury-4.

ABSENT-Messrs. Carlile, Chandler, Cowan, Hale, Harding, Hendricks, Hicks, Howard, Howe, McDougall, Morrill, Nesmith, Powell, Riddle, Trumbull, Wade, Wilkinson, and Wright-18.

So the bill was passed.

LAND SALES IN KANSAS.

Mr. POMEROY. I move to proceed to the consideration of the joint resolution offered by my colleague, that was laid aside informally so that we might examine the treaty.

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senate will resume the consideration of that joint resolution, (S. No. 88,) it having been laid aside informally.

Mr. POMEROY. I move to amend the resolution by striking out" 14th day of December" and inserting "1st day of July.' 59

Mr. LANE, of Kansas. L'accept that amend

ment.

Mr. POMEROY. I will only remark to the Senate that I have had my attention called to the treaty this morning, and I do not see that the lands can be sold at less than $1 25 an acre; but being informed that there is an effort to get the lands into the hands of speculators and not settlers, I desire to have the matter postponed for six months, so as to give every body a fair opportunity. I do not think that can work any injury, but it may work some good to our citizens. I do not think it is good policy to prevent the people getting their titles at an early day, because until the titles are perfected the people will not improve, and the country will not settle up. I want the titles perfected at an early day, and that is the reason why I propose a postponement of six months instead of a year. I think a delay of six months will give any contesting parties time enough to prove their claims and perfect their titles. I cannot see, however, that any injury could result if the provisions of the treaty were adhered to strictly; but to prevent anything of that kind I am willing to vote for the passage of the resolution with this amendment.

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Kansas [Mr. LANE] accepts the amendment of his colleague, [Mr. POMEROY,] and the resolution will be regarded as so modified.

Mr. DOOLITTLE. This question in 1862 was before the Committee on Indian Affairs, and at that time we recommended the passage of a similar resolution. I do not from any knowledge which has come to me know that it can in any way prejudice the interests of the tribe of Indians;

and as both the Senators from Kansas concur in the resolution and desire its passage, and I suppose as a matter of course they represent, and properly represent, the interests of the people of Kansas, and I do not know of any objection to the passage of the resolution, I shall vote for it. It came up suddenly, and being asked to be passed immediately without reference to a committee, I was cautious upon that subject and desired some little examination of it. With my present information, unless in the course of the day some further information should come to me, I shall consent now that the resolution may be taken up and passed; but if any further information shall come to me showing that, in my judgment, the resolution ought not to have been passed, I shall reserve to myself the right to move a reconsideration.

The joint resolution was ordered to be engrossed for a third realing, and was read the third time, and passed.

EXTRA COMPENSATION TO EMPLOYÉS. The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The hour has arrived for the special order, which is the Senate joint resolution No. 82.

Mr. HENDERSON. I move to postpone all

prior orders and take up the House joint resolution No. 121.

Mr. GRIMES. What is that?

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The resolution proposed to be taken up is a joint resolution (H. R. No. 121) granting additional compensation to the employés of the two Houses of Congress.

Mr. HENDERSON. The resolution that I desire now to call up is only in reference to the employés of the two Houses of Congress. I will state for the information of the Senator from lowa that I do not desire now to press the consideration of the resolution against the views of the Senate, but I am very well satisfied that something in some cases ought to be done. I am very well satisfied that additional compensation in some cases ought to be allowed, and the Senator, I apprehend, will agree with me in that. If, when the resolution is called up, as I believe it has not ever been sent to a committee, if it be desired by the that course, and to send it to a committee for exSenator from lowa or any other Senator to take amination, and to include other employés of the Government in regard to whom it is absolutely essential that something should be done, I shall have no objection to that course. I am satisfied that additional compensation in some cases, not only here but in the Departments, will have to be allowed. The Secretary of the Treasury calls attention to the fact, and I think the time has come when we must all admit that some additional compensation should be allowed in some cases, and therefore we had better either take up the resolution and perfect it here, or else send it to a committee and let it be examined. I have no objection to either course.

Mr. GRIMES. I have no objection to the joint resolution being taken up if the purpose the Senator desires to accomplish is to refer it to a committee for examination, but I am opposed to taking it up for consideration by the Senate with a view to pass it at this time. If the purpose of the Senator is to refer it to a committee, I have no objection to its being taken up; but this question of increasing compensation is a very broad one; and if we begin it in one Department, or with one man, it will have to run through all the employés of the Government. It ought to begin with the men in the field, with the soldiers and the sailors, and not with the men who are here receiving ten times their compensation as employés about the Capitol; and I prefer to see this subject, if it is to be touched at all, brought to the attention of the Senate from the committees representing the Army and Navy rather than from those that represent the personal friends of the Senators.

Mr. COLLAMER. I desire to know whether it is proposed to take up the resolution for action by the body, or merely for the purpose of refer

ence.

Mr. HENDERSON. I desire to call up the resolution for consideration now, but if the Senator from Iowa, or any other Senator, desires to refer it to a committee I shall make no opposition to that course being taken.

taking up the resolution for the purpose indicated Mr. COLLAMER. I have no objection to by the Senator from Iowa, but I am opposed to direct action on it at this time.

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The question is on postponing the special order of the day, with a view of taking up the joint resolution indicated by the Senator from Missouri.

The House

The motion was agreed to. The PRESIDENT pro tempore. joint resolution is now before the Senate as in

Committee of the Whole.

Mr. SHERMAN. I move that it be referred to the Committee on Finance. The motion was agreed to.

DEFICIENCY BILL.

A message from the House of Representatives, by Mr. MCPHERSON, its Clerk, announced that the House had passed a bill (H. R. No. 620) to supply deficiencies in the appropriations for the service of the fiscal year ending the 30th of June, 1865.

The bill was read twice by its title, and referred to the Committee on Finance.

FREEDOM OF SOLDIERS' FAMILIES. Mr. TRUMBULL, (after a pause.) There seems to be no business before the Senate, and I

believe there was a sort of tacit understanding that no business of importance should be done today. I move that the Senate adjourn.

Mr. WILSON. Will the Senator withdraw that motion to allow a joint resolution to be taken up, which was just now laid aside, so that it may not lose its place?

Mr. TRUMBULL. Certainly. If there is any business that we can properly do now, let it be done.

Mr. WILSON. I move to take up the unfinished business of yesterday.

The motion was agreed to; and the consideration of the joint resolution (S. R. No. 82) to encourage enlistments and to promote the efficiency of the military forces of the United States, was resumed us in Committee of the Whole.

Mr. TRUMBULL. I move that the Senate adjourn.

The motion was agreed to.

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senate stands adjourned to meet on Thursday, the 5th day of January next, at twelve o'clock, m.

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. THURSDAY, December 22, 1864. The House met at twelve o'clock, m. Prayer by the Chaplain, Rev. W. H. CHANNING. The Journal of yesterday was read and approved.

COAST SURVEY.

The SPEAKER, by unanimous consent, laid before the House a letter from the Secretary of the Treasury, transmitting the number and names of persons employed in the coast survey during the last fiscal year; which was laid on the table, and ordered to be printed.

EUROPEAN IRON-CLAD VESSELS.

The SPEAKER also, by unanimous consent, laid before the House a letter of the Secretary of the Navy, transmitting, in compliance with a resolution of the House of the 20th instant, the report made by Chief Engineer J. W. King, in relation to the iron-clad vessels and dock-yards of Europe; which was referred to the Committee on Naval Affairs, and ordered to be printed.

LAWS OF DAKOTA TERRITORY.

The Speaker also, by unanimous consent, laid before the House the laws of the Territory of Dakota; which were referred to the Committee on the Territories.

TRADE WITH INSURRECTIONARY STATES.

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

Resolved, That the Secretary of War be directed to communicate to this House, if not inconsistent with the public interest, the report of Major General E. R. C. Canby, commanding the military division of Western Mississippi, concerning the purchase by the United States of products of States declared to be in insurrection.

BOARD OF ADMIRALTY.

Mr. DAVIS, of Maryland, obtained the floor. Mr. FARNSWORTH. I rise to a privileged question. I move a call of the House.

The SPEAKER. The gentleman from Illinois [Mr. FARNSWORTH] cannot move a call of the House while the gentleman from Maryland [Mr. DAVIS] is on the floor.

Mr. DAVIS, of Maryland. I move that the bill for the creation of a Board of Admiralty, which has been referred to the Committee on Naval Affairs, be printed for the information of the House. The motion was agreed to.

ADJOURNMENT.

Mr. LAW. I ask unanimous consent to offer a resolution

Mr. FARNSWORTH. I must object until it be ascertained whether aquorum is present. When the House determined to adjourn to-day for two weeks, it did not mean that it should adjourn yesterday. I insist that we shall not do business here without a quorum.

The SPEAKER. The gentleman from Illinois objects; therefore the resolution of the gentleman from Indiana [Mr. Law] cannot be received.

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. Speaker, unless there is a motion pending, I ask leave to offer the following resolution

Mr. FARNSWORTH. I object.

Mr. COX. I move that the House do now adjourn.

Mr. MORRILL. I understand that the gentleman from Pennsylvania [Mr. STEVENS] desires to submit some remarks. I hope that my friend from Illinois will not press his objection.

Mr. STEVENS. I do not ask any action upon the resolution.

The SPEAKER. The gentleman from Illinois objects.

Mr. FARNSWORTH. I do. We have no right to do business without a quorum.

Mr. ÇOX. I move that the House adjourn.

MESSAGE EROM THE SENATE.

A message from the Senate, by Mr. FORNEY, its Secretary, announced that the Senate had passed a bill of the following title, in which they requested the concurrence of the House:

An act (S. No. 367) to repeal the provision of the law requiring certain regents in the Smithsonian Institution to be members of the National Institute.

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The SPEAKER. The gentleman from Ohio [Mr. Cox] moves to adjourn.

Mr. FARNSWORTH. On that motion I demand the yeas and nays.

The yeas and nays were ordered.
Mr. COX. I withdraw the motion.
Mr. FARNSWORTH.

I move a call of the House, and on that motion I demand the yeas and nays.

The yeas and nays were ordered.

The question was taken; and it was decided in the negative-yeas 13, nays 70, not voting 99; as follows:

YEAS-Messrs. Ancona, Cole, Eckley, Farnsworth, John II. Hubbard, Amos Myers, Orth, Pike, Scofield, Spalding, Stevens, Williams, and Worthington-13.

NAYS-Messrs. William J. Allen, Ames, Anderson, Ashley, Baily, Augustus C. Baldwin, John D. Baldwin, Baxter, 'Beaman, Blair, Boyd, Brooks, Broomall, William G. Brown, Chanler, Cobb, Cox, Cravens, Henry Winter Davis, Thomas T. Davis, Dawes, Dixon, Donnelly, Eden, Eldridge, Eliot, Frank, Grider, Hale, Harding, Charles M. Harris, Higby, Hooper, Asahel W. Hubbard, Kasson, Francis W. Kellogg, Orlando Kellogg, King, Law, Le Blond, Longyear, McBride, McClurg, Samuel F. Miller, Morrill, Daniel Morris, Nelson, Noble, Charles O'Neill, Pendleton, Pruyn, Samuel J. Randall, William H. Randall, John H. Rice, Shannon, Smithers, Starr, John B. Steele, Strouse, Stuart, Sweat, Thomas, Townsend, Van Valkenburgh, Webster, Whaley, Wilson, Windom, Winfield, and Yeaman-70.

NOT VOTING-Messrs. James C. Allen, Alley, Allison, Arnold, Blaine, Bliss, Blow, Boutwell, Brandegee, James S. Brown, Ambrose W. Clark, Freeman Clarke, Clay, Coffroth, Creswell, Dawson, Deming, Denison, Driggs, Dumont, Edgerton, English, Finck, Ganson, Garfield, Gooch, Grinnell, Griswold, Hall, Harrington, Benjamin G. Harris, Herrick, Holman, Hotchkiss, Hulburd, Hutchins, Ingersoll, Jenckes, Philip Johnson, William Johnson, Julian, Kalbfleisch, Kelley, Kernan, Knapp, Knox, Lazear, Littlejohn, Loan, Long, Mallory, Marcy, Marvin, McAllister, McDowell, McIndoe, Mckinney, Middleton, William H. Miller, Moorhead, James R. Morris, Morrison, Leonard Myers, Norton, Odell, John O'Neill, Patterson, Perham, Perry, Pomeroy, Price, Radford, Alexander H. Rice, Robinson, Rogers, Edward II. Rollins, James S. Rollins, Ross, Schenck, Scott, Sloan, Smith, William G. Steele, Stiles, Thayer, Tracy, Upson, Voorhees, Wadsworth, Ward, Elihu B. Washburne, William B. Washburn, Wheeler, Chilton A. White, Joseph W. White, Wilder, Benjamin Wood, Fernando Wood, and Woodbridge-99.

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The House refused to adjourn, there being, on a division-ayes 37, noes 39.

The SPEAKER. The motion to reconsider the vote by which the House refused to order a call of the House has not been received generally, although under the strict language of the rule it may be; for under the rules a motion for a call of the House may be renewed, like a motion to adjourn, after other business has transpired. Mr. WILSON. I withdraw my motion, and move that there be a call of the House. The motion was agreed to.

Mr. ELDRIDGE. It is apparent that we can do no business, and I therefore move that the House do now adjourn.

The motion was disagreed to.

The Clerk proceeded to call the roll, and the following members failed to answer to their names:

Messrs. James C. Allen, Allison, Arnold, Blaine, Bliss, Boutwell, Brandegee, James S. Brown, Ambrose W. Clark, Freeman Clarke, Clay, Coffroth, Creswell, Dawson, Deming, Driggs, Dumont, Edgerton, English, Fenton, Finck, Ganson, Gooch, Grinnell, Griswold, Hall, Harrington, Benjamin G. Harris, Herrick, Holman, Hotchkiss, IIniburd, Hutchins, Ingersoll, Jenckes, Philip Johnson, William Johnson, Julian, Kalbfleisch, Kelley, Kernan, Knapp, Knox, Lazear, Littlejohn, Loan, Long, Mallory, Marey, Marvin, McAllister, McDowell, McIndoe, McKinney, Middleton, William H. Miller, Moorhead, James R. Morris, Morrison, Leonard Myers, Norton, Odell, Patterson, Pendleton, Perham, Perry, Pomeroy, Price, Radford, Alexander H. Rice, Robinson, Rogers, Edward H. Rollins, James S. Rollins, Ross, Scott. Sloan, Smith, William G. Steele, Stiles, Thayer, Upson, Voorhees, Wadsworth, Ward, Elihu B. Washburne, William B. Washburn, Wheeler, Chilton A. White, Joseph W. White, Wilder, Benjamin Wood, Fernando Wood, and Woodbridge.

Samuel J.Randall, William H. Randall, John H. Rice, James S. Rollins, Schenck, Scofield, Smith, Smithers, Spalding, John B. Steele, Stevens, Strouse, Stuart, Thomas, Tracy, Van Valkenburgh, Williams, Wilson, Windom, Worthington, and Yeaman-64.

NOT VOTING-Messrs. James C. Allen, Alley, Allison, Blaine, Bliss, Boutwell, Brandegee, James S. Brown, Ambrose W. Clark, Freeman Clarke, Clay, Coffroth, Creswell, Dawson, Deming, Dumont, Edgerton, English, Finck, Ganson, Gooch, Grinnell, Griswold, Hale, Hall, Harrington, Benjamin G. Harris, Herrick, Holman, Hooper, Hotchkiss, Hulburd, Hutchins, Ingersoll, Jenckes, Philip Johnson, William Johnson, Julian, Kalbfleisch, Kelley, Kernan, Knapp, Knox, Lazear, Littlejohn, Loan, Long, Mallory, Marcy, Marvin, McAllister, McDowell, McIndoe, McKinney, Middleton, William H. Miller, Moorhead, James, R. Morris, Morrison, Leonard Myers, Norton, Odell, John O'Neill, Patterson, Pendleton, Perham, Perry, Pomeroy, Price, Radford, Alexander H. Rice, Robinson, Rogers, Edward H. Rollins, Ross, Scott, Sloan, Starr, William G. Steele, Stiles, Thayer, Upson, Voorhees, Wadsworth, Ward, Elihu B. Washburne, William B. Washburn, Webster, Whaley, Wheeler, Chilton A. White, Joseph W. White, Wilder, Benjamin Wood, Fernando Wood, and Woodbridge-96.

So the House refused to adjourn.

The question recurring upon the motion of Mr. BEAMAN, that all further proceedings under the call be dispensed with, it was put and decided in

the affirmative.

Mr. NOBLE. I move that the House do now adjourn.

The motion was not agreed to.

Mr. RANDALL, of Pennsylvania. By way of compromise, I have a suggestion to make. I would like to inquire of the Speaker whether it is not possible that we can go into the Committee of the Whole on the state of the Union, so as to give to any gentleman who desires to speak the oppor

Mr. BEAMAN moved that all further proceed-tunity to do so, with an understanding that after ings under the call be dispensed with..

Mr. HUBBARD, of lowa, stated that his colleague, Mr. ALLISON, was detained from the House by illness.

The SPEAKER announced that eighty-nine members had answered to their names, three less than a quorum.

Mr. STEVENS. Probably we shall not be able to get a quorum to-day. It does seem unkind, after we have granted so liberal an adjournment of two weeks for the holidays, that gentlemen should not stay here, and that we should thus lose one more day. But I do not see any remedy for it, and I therefore move that the House do now adjourn.

Mr. FARNSWORTH. I make no point of order, and I trust the House will not adjourn. I understand the gentleman from Pennsylvania is desirous to speak to-day.

Mr. STEVENS. I do not wish to speak unless a quorum be present.

The SPEAKER. The Chair is not aware how, after a call of the House and no quorum appearing, the matter can be waived by unanimous consent. The House is in that dilemma that it must send for the absentees or adjourn.

Mr. FARNSWORTH. I desire to say a word in explanation of the motion I made. The House was liberal when it agreed to an adjournment of two weeks for the Christmas holidays. Yesterday unanimous consent was asked by some member of the House that no business should be transacted to-day, and it was refused. We came here supposing there would be a quorum present for the transaction of business, and find that members have left. I think that the practice growing up is a bad one, that when we adjourn to a particular day members regard it as an adjournment from the day before and go off leaving the House without a quorum. It is unfair to the members who remain. It is unfair to the country.

Mr. WILSON. I insist on the motion that the House do now adjourn.

Mr. SPALDING demanded the yeas and nays. The yeas and nays were ordered.

The question was taken; and it was decided in the negative-yeas 22, nays 64, not voting 96; as follows:

YEAS-Messrs. William J. Allen, Anderson, Cobb, Cox, Cravens, Denison, Dixon, Eden, Eldridge, Harding, King, Law, Le Blond, McBride, Nelson, Noble, Pike, Pruyn, Shannon, Sweat, Townsend, and Winfield-22.

NAYS-Messrs. Ames, Ancona, Arnold, Ashley, Baily, Augustus C. Baldwin, John D. Baldwin, Baxter, Beaman, Blair, Blow, Boyd, Brooks, Broomall, William G. Brown, Chanler, Cole, Henry Winter Davis, Thomas T. Davis, Dawes, Donnelly, Driggs, Eckley, Eliot, Farnsworth, Frank, Garfield, Grider, Charles M. Harris, Higby, Asahe! W. Hubbard, John H. Hubbard, Kasson, Francis W. Kellogg, Orlando Kellogg, Longyear, McClurg, Samuel F. Miller, Morrill, Daniel Morris, Amos Myers, Charles O'Neill, Orth,

we come out of the Committee of the Whole no further proceedings of a business character shall be had in the House.

The SPEAKER. The Chair will state that he

is unaware of any mode by which the House, in its present dilemma, can proceed to do any business provision that a quorum shall be present to do unless a quorum is present. It is a constitutional

business.

Mr. RANDALL, of Pennsylvania. Cannot we suspend the Constitution a moment or two? [Laughter.]

Mr. WILSON. I move there be a call of the House, and upon it demand the yeas and nays. The yeas and nays were ordered.

Mr. MORRILL. I move that the House do now adjourn.

Mr. SPALDING. Upon that I demand the yeas and nays.

The yeas and nays were ordered.

MESSAGE FROM THE SENATE.

A message from the Senate, by Mr. FORNEY, their Secretary, announced that the Senate had passed a joint resolution (S. No. 88) suspending the sale, by sealed bids, of the lands of the Kansas and Sac and Fox Indians, in which the concurrence of the House was requested.

ADJOURNMENT AGAIN.

The question was then put on the motion to adjourn; and it was decided in the affirmativeyeas 45, nays 43, not voting 94; as follows:

YEAS-Messrs. William J. Allen, Anderson, Baily, Beaman, Broomall, William G. Brown, Chanler, Cobb, Cox, Cravens, Thomas T. Davis, Denison, Dixon, Driggs, Eden, Eldridge, Farnsworth, Grider, Harding, Hooper, Jenckes, Kasson, Law, Le Blond, Longyear, McAllister, McBride, Samuel F. Miller, Morrill, Daniel Morris, Nelson, Noble, Pike, Pruyn, William H. Randall, John H. Rice, Smith, Stevens, Strouse, Townsend, Tracy, Webster, Wilson, Windom, and Winfield-45.

NAYS-Messrs. Ames, Ancona, Ashley, Augustus C. Baldwin, John D. Baldwin, Baxter, Blow, Boyd, Brooks, Cole, Henry Winter Davis, Dawes, Donnelly, Eckley, Eliot, Frank, Garfield, Hale, Charles M. Harris, Higby, Asahel W. Hubbard, John H. Hubbard, Francis W. Kellogg, Orlando Kellogg, King, McClurg, Amos Myers, Charles O'Neill, Orth, Samuel J. Randall, James S. Rollins, Schenck, Seofield, Smithers, Spalding, Starr, John B. Steele, Stuart, Thomas, Van Valkenburgli, Whaley, Williams, and Worthington-43.

NOT VOTING-Messrs. James C. Allen, Alley, Allison, Arnold, Blaine, Blair, Bliss, Boutwell, Brandegee, James S. Brown, Ambrose W. Clark, Freeman Clarke, Clay, Coffroth, Creswell, Dawson, Deming, Dumont, Edgerton, English, Finck, Ganson, Gooch, Grinnell, Griswold, Hall, Harrington, Benjamin G. flarris, Herrick, Holman, Hotchkiss, Hulburd, Hutchins, Ingersoll, Philip Johnson, William Johnson, Julian,Kalbfleisch, Kelley, Kernan, Knapp, Knox, Lazear, Littlejohn, Loan. Long, Mallory, Marey, Marvin, McDowell, McIndoe, McKinney, Middleton, William H. Miller, Moorhead, James R. Morris, Morrison, Leonard Myers, Norton, Odell, John O'Neill, Patterson, Pendleton, Perham, Perry, Pomeroy, Price, Radford, Alexander H.

Rice, Robinson, Rogers, Edward H. Rollins, Ross, Scott, Shannon, Sloan, William G. Steele, Stiles, Sweat, Thayer, Upson, Voorhees, Wadsworth, Ward, Elihu B. Washburne, William B. Washburn, Wheeler, Chilton A. White, Joseph W. White, Wilder, Benjamin Wood, Fernando Wood, Woodbridge, and Yeaman-94.

So the motion was agreed to; and the House accordingly, in pursuance to a concurrent resolution of the two Houses, adjourned until the 5th day of January next.

IN SENATE.

THURSDAY, January 5, 1865. Prayer by Rev. B. H. NADAL, D. D., of Washington, District of Columbia.

The VICE PRESIDENT (Hon. H. HAMLIN) resumed the chair.

The Journal of Thursday, the 22d ultimo, was read and approved.

EXECUTIVE COMMUNICATION.

The VICE PRESIDENT laid before the Senate a communication from the Secretary of War, in response to a resolution of the Senate of the 19th of December, 1864, calling for the report of Major General Herron relative to the military department of Arkansas, stating that the report had not yet been received. The communication was ordered to lie on the table, and be printed.

He also laid before the Senate a letter of the Secretary of the Treasury transmitting, in obedience to law, the report of Professor A. D. Bache, Superintendent of the Coast Survey, showing the progress of that work during the year ending November 1, 1864.

Mr. WILSON submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Printing:

Resolved, That there be printed of the report of the Superintendent of the Coast Survey for the year 1864 twelve dred extra copies for the use of the Senate, and three thousand copies for distribution from the office of the Const Survey.

TERRITORIAL LAWS.

The VICE PRESIDENT laid before the Senate a letter of the Secretary of the Territory of New Mexico, transmitting two copies of the laws passed by the Legislative Assembly of New Mexico at its last session. One copy was referred to the Committee on Territories, and the other ordered to be filed.

PETITIONS AND MEMORIALS.

The VICE PRESIDENT presented the petition of Mrs. P. J. Howard, praying that her husband, John Howard, a soldier, who enlisted, as she alleges, for two years, and is now held for three, contrary to the representation of the recruiting officers, may be discharged; which was referred to the Committee on Pensions.

He also presented a telegraphic dispatch from the Governor of the State of Nevada, transmitting a resolution of the Legislature of that State, asking for the postponement of any action in reference to the taxation and disposal of mineral lands or taxation of the mines, or the proceeds thereof, until the Senators-elect from that State [Messrs. W. M. Stewart and J. W. Nye] shall take their seats in the Senate; which was ordered to lie on the table.

Mr. WADE presented several petitions of citizens of Geauga and Lake counties, Ohio, praying for the passage of the preamble and resolution offered by Mr. Chandler in the United States Senate, December 14, 1864, directing inquiry into the expediency of enlisting an Army corps to watch and defend our territory bordering on the Canadian frontier; which were referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations.

Mr. FOSTER presented a petition of Acting Assistant Surgeons in the United States Army, praying that they may be placed on the same footing as Assistant Surgeons of Volunteers, so far at least as regards pay and allowances; which was referred to the Committee on Military Affairs and the Militia.

Mr. SUMNER presented a petition of George B. Cheever and others, citizens of New York, praying for the passage of a law to secure a republican form of government, and abolish and forever prohibit slavery in the United States; which was referred to the select committee on slavery and freedmen.

Mr. POMEROY presented a petition of George J. Stubblefield praying payment for chewing to

bacco delivered by him to the United States at Atlanta, Georgia, and issued to the army under General Sherman; which was referred to the Committee on Claims.

Mr. WILSON presented a petition of Major General E. O. C. Ord and others, officers in the service of the United States with the army of the James, praying for an increase of pay to Army officers; which was referred to the Committee on Military Affairs and the Militia.

He also presented a petition of ordnance sergeants stationed at the various fortifications within and around the city of Washington, praying for an increase of the pay of ordnance sergeants; which was referred to the Committee on Military Affairs and the Militia.

He also presented fifteen petitions of officers in the service of the United States in the army of the James, praying for an increase of the pay of Army officers; which were referred to the Committee on Military Affairs and the Militia.

Mr. DAVIS presented the petition of James Guthrie, president of the Louisville and Nashville Railroad Company, and D. Ricketts, president of the Jeffersonville Railroad Company, praying for an amendment of the law authorizing the construction of bridges across the Ohio river so that their companies may be allowed to construct a railroad bridge at the head of the falls of the Ohio fifty-four or fifty-six feet above low-water mark, without the required span of three hundred feet, and that it be made a postal route for the United States mail; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.

Mr. MORGAN presented a memorial of the commissioned officers of the fourth brigade, first division, twenty-fourth Army corps, praying for an increase of the pay of Army officers; which was referred to the Committee on Military Affairs and the Militia.

Mr. HENDRICKS presented a memorial of a committee appointed at a meeting of the clerks representing the several bureaus of the Treasury Department, praying for an increase of salary; which was referred to the Committee on Finance. BILLS INTRODUCED.

Mr. CONNESS asked, and by unanimous consent obtained, leave to introduce a bill (S. No. 369) for the relief of the occupants of the lands of the mission of San José, in the State of California; which was read twice by its title, referred to the Committee on Public Lands, and ordered to be printed.

form the Senate the number of men enlisted into the naval service of the United States that have been credited upon the military quotas of the respective States, and upon what principles, in what manner, and upon what evidence such credits were made.

COTTON CAPTURED AT SAVANNAH.

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

Resolved, That the Committee on Military Affairs and the Militia be instructed to inquire into the expediency of appropriating the avails of the sales of such cotton captured at Savannah as may be confiscated to the United States among the officers and men composing the army of General Sherman, on principles analagous to those adopted in the distribution of prize money in the naval service.

PENSION APPROPRIATION BILL.

Mr. SHERMAN. I move that the prior orders, if there are any, be postponed with a view that the pension appropriation bill may be now considered.

The motion was agreed to; and the bill (H. R. No. 597) making appropriation for the payment of invalid and other pensions of the United States for the year ending the 30th of June, 1866, was considered as in Committee of the Whole. It proposes to appropriate the following sums for the payment of pensions for the year ending June 30, 1866: for invalid pensions under various acts, $4,000,000; for revolutionary pensions, per acts of March 18, 1818, May 15, 1828, June 7, 1832, third section of act of July 7, 1838, March 3, 1843, June 17, 1844, February 2, and July 29, 1848, and second section act of February 3, 1853, $230,000; for pensions to widows, mothers, children, and sisters, under the first section of the act of July 4, 1836, act of July 21, 1848, first section of the act of February 3, 1853, June 3, 1858, and July 14, 1862, $7,000,000.

Mr. SHERMAN. I I am directed by the Committee on Finance to offer the following amendment as a new section:

And be it further enacted, That the following sums be, and the same are hereby, appropriated to supply deficiencies in the appropriations for the present fiscal year:

For the payment of pensions under the acts of March 18, 1818, May 15, 1828, June 7, 1832, the third section of the act of July 4, 1836, July 7, 1838, June 17, 1844, March 3, 1843, February 2, and July 29, 1848, and the second section of the aet of February 3, 1853, $65,000.

For the payment of pensions under the first section of the act of July 4, 1835, act of July 20, 1848, the first section of the act of February 3, 1853, June 3, 1858, and July 14, 1862, $3,500,000.

sions.

Before action is had upon this amendment I will ask the Secretary to read two letters explainMr. CONNESS also asked, and by unanimousing the reason of this very large deficiency in penconsent obtained, leave to introduce a bill (S. No. 370) to amend an act entitled "An act to provide for the better organization of Indian affairs in California;" which was read twice by its title, referred to the Committee on Indian Affairs, and ordered to be printed.

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Mr. CONNESS also asked, and by unanimous consent obtained, leave to introduce a bill (S. No. 371) to regulate the salaries of steamboat inspectors on the Pacific coast of the United States, and for other purposes; which was read twice by its title, referred to the Committee on Commerce, and ordered to be printed.

Mr. NESMITH asked, and by unanimous consent obtained, leave to introduce a bill (S. No. 372) allowing mileage to the Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States; which was read twice by its title, and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.

Mr. RAMSEY asked, and by unanimous consent obtained, leave to introduce a bill (S. No. 373) to aid in the construction of a telegraphic line from St. Cloud, in Minnesota, to the British possessions; which was read twice by its title, and referred to the Committee on Public Lands.

Mr. FOSTER asked, and by unanimous consent obtained, leave to introduce a bill (S. No. 374) supplemental to an act entitled "An act to enable the people of Nevada to form a constitution and State government, and for the admission of such State into the Union on an equal footing with the original States;" which was read twice by its title, and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.

CREDITS FOR NAVAL ENLISTMENTS.

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

Resolved, That the Secretary of War be directed to in

The Secretary read, as follows:

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, WASHINGTON, December 10, 1864. SIR: I have the honor to transmit to you, herewith, a copy of a communication addressed to the Department on the 6th instant, by the Commissioner of Pensions, relative to the state of the appropriations for the payment of invalid and other pensions during the present fiscal year; from which it will be perceived that a large deficiency exists, which it is very desirable should be provided for at as early a day in the session as may be practicable.

I have, therefore, the honor to recommend the following additional appropriations for the service of the present fiscal year, namely:

To supply a deficiency in the appropriations for the payment of pensions under the acts of March 18, 1818, May 15, 1828, June 7, 1832, third section act July 4, 1836, July 7, 1838, June 17, 1844, March 3, 1843, February 2 and July 29, 1848, and second seetion act February 3, 1853, $65,000.

Under acts first section July 4, 1836, July 21, 1848, first section February 3, 1853, and the acts of June 3, 1858, and July 14, 1862, $3,500,000.

I have the honor to be, with great respect, your obedient servant, J. P. USHER, Secretary. Hon. JOHN SHERMAN, Chairman of the Committee on Finance, Senate of the United States.

'DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR,

PENSION OFFICE, December 6, 1864. SIR: I have the honor to state that the additional compensation to agents for paying pensions provided by the act of June 30, 1864, (page 325,) is payable out of the appropriation for paying pensions allowed to soldiers in the revolutionary war, and to their widows.

The amount of appropriations under those acts remaining unexpended on the 30th day of June, 1864, was $171,432 31. The amount that has been already drawn from the Treasury to December 1, 1864, is $109,300, leaving for the service of the succeeding seven months $62,132 31.

It is estimated that there will be required for this fiscal year $230,000; making a deficiency under these acts the sum of say $65,000.

The amount of unexpended appropriation to pay pensions, under the various acts, for widows, children, mothers, and sisters in the wars subsequent to the Revolution was, on the 30th day of June, 1864, $891,622 31. Add

THE OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS OF CONGRESS, PUBLISHED BY F. & J. RIVES, WASHINGTON, D. C.

THIRTY-EIGHTH CONGRESS, 2D SESSION.

appropriation for the current year, $2,200,000. Total for service of the present year, $3,091,622 31. During the five months to December 1, 1864, there has been drawn from the Treasury $2,927.165 23, leaving on hand $164,457 08, which will probably be exhausted by the middle of January

next.

The estimates of this class of pensioners for the fiscal year 1863-64 were based on the 4,820 already on the rolls and 11,000 to be added during the year, amounting to $3,700,000. On the 30th June, 1864, there were actually on the rolls 25,433 pensioners, making the addition of new pensioners nearly double the estimates. The estimates for new pensioners for 1864-65 were 10,000, but the actual number for five months to December 1, 1864, is 9,208, showing that there will be a large deficiency in the appropriation, and not less probably than $3,500,000.

In view of these facts I have respectfully to ask that an additional appropriation may be requested of Congress for the service of the present fiscal year, as follows:

Under acts March 18, 1818, May 15, 1828, June 7, 1832, third section July 4, 1836, July 7, 1838, June 17, 1844, March 3, 1843, February 2, and July 29, 1848, and second section February 3, 1853, $65,000. Under acts first section July 4, 1836, July 21, 1848, first section February 3, 1833, June 3, 1858, and July 14, 1862, $3,500,000.

In order to give time to the agents to make their arrangements and to remit the money from the Treasury, the requisitions are made during the first week in February for the payments due on the 4th of March following. As there will be no appropriation from which to pay widows' pensions at that semi-annual payment, it is desirable that this deficiency be provided for at an early period of the session of Congress.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

JOSEPH H. BARRETT, Commissioner. Hon. J. P. USHER, Secretary of the Interior. The amendment was agreed to. The bill was reported to the Senate as amended, and the amendment was concurred in, and ordered to be engrossed, and the bill to be read a third time. It was read the third time, and passed.

FREEDOM OF SOLDIERS' FAMILIES.

The VICE PRESIDENT. If there be no other business of the morning hour, the unfinished business of the Senate at its last adjournment was Senate joint resolution No. 82, to encourage enlistments and to promote the efficiency of the military forces of the United States, which is now before the Senate as in Committee of the Whole; the pending question being on the motion of the Senator from Kentucky, [Mr. DAVIS,] to refer the resolution to the Committee on the Judiciary.

Mr. WILSON. I hope it will not be referred. I ask for the yeas and nays on that motion. The yeas and nays were ordered.

Mr. FOOT. Let the resolution be read at length to give the Senate an understanding of what it is.

The Secretary read it.

Mr. WILSON. I desire simply to say that this resolution in substance has been three times reported, has been debated in the Senate, and was debated at the last session. I hope it will be referred to no committee, but that we shall pass it at the earliest possible moment. Since its introduction here, I have received letters from officers in the Army, and persons who are engaged in recruiting, all approving and indorsing the idea embodied in it. I do not wish to detain the Senate by discussing the question at this time. If Senators will refer to the Globe, they will find that it was debated for hours at the last session of Congress, and fully debated. I hope now for action instead of words.

Mr. DAVIS. If I recollect aright, when this subject was last before the Senate, one of the Senators from Delaware took the floor and occupied it, when the Senate adjourned, on that subject. That is my recollection. I do not feel confident that such is the state of facts. I will thank the Clerk to inform the Chair whether I am right or not. If I am right in my recollection, I would suggest that this resolution be laid over until tomorrow, to enable that Senator to get into his

seat.

I know he wishes to be heard on the subject, and has made preparation to make a speech. 1 hope, if that be the fact, that the courtesy will be extended to him of continuing the subject over until to-morrow.

Mr. WILSON. I do not know whether that be the fact or not. If it be so, I certainly do not desire to take the floor from the Senator from Delaware. A motion has been made, however, to

SATURDAY, JANUARY 7, 1865.

commit the resolution to the Committee on the Judiciary; the yeas and nays have been ordered, and I hope we shall take the vote and have that matter out of the way. Let us decide that motion one way or the other.

Mr. DOOLITTLE. I shall vote to refer this joint resolution to the Committee on the Judiciary, and my reasons are very simple and very direct. The Senate has already passed a proposition to amend the Constitution of the United States, so as to put an end to the slavery question, in all its forms, by an amendment of the fundamental law of the land, which is above Congress, above the Supreme Court, and above the President; and which when once established, no change of Presidents, no change of the decisions of the Supreme Court, and no change of the legislation of Congress can affect at all. That measure, sir, which passed the Senate at the last session, is now pending in the House of Representatives; and, as I am informed-and I believe the Journals of the House show it to be so-next Monday is fixed as the day upon which that House is to act. Of course I do not know what will be the decision of that House; but I have strong hopes, and, I think, good reasons to believe, that the House of Representatives will adopt that proposition. It will at once, if adopted by the House, be submitted to the Legislatures of the several States, and passed upon undoubtedly during the present winter, before the adjournment of the Legislatures in the Spring; and thus the vexed question, and the whole of it, will be disposed of and put outside of Congress, and outside of its power or control, and there will be an end to the agitation of the question.

Why, Mr. President, although perhaps at the last session some of the members of the Democratic party in the House of Representatives were disposed to resist the adoption of this constitutional amendment, I have good reason to believe that some of them, at least, will favor it now, for when Jefferson Davis himself, with his cabinet and the press at Richmond, recommend the abandonment of the institution of slavery in the southern confederacy, why should the Democracy in the northern States have any reason to hold on to it any longer? Sir, they will have no reason for it and no excuse for it, and I believe that the proposition will triumph, and when it triumphs here in Congress I have just as little doubt that it will receive the sanction of three fourths of the States; and when that is done, this great question, the cause of all our troubles, the question which, like sin, has brought into this our paradise" death and all our woe," covering the land with blood and ashes, will be finally settled, and settled forever, by the supreme judgment of the great American people, expressed in the constitutional form, by an amendment to the Constitution itself.

I therefore hope that my honorable friend will consent to allow this resolution to be referred to the Judiciary Committee, that the House of Representatives may pass on the main question, and let us not be all the while disturbing ourselves with the mere incident, but let the whole question pass from Congress and go to the Legislatures and to the people of the country, and be settled at once and forever. Hence I shall vote for the motion to refer.

Mr. President, there is one other suggestion I wish to make. There are those who seriously doubt whether we have the constitutional power to do what is now proposed by this measure. Among our friends-just as earnest friends of our cause, and opposed to slavery as much as my friend from Massachusetts-there are those who seriously doubt whether you have the constitutional power to pass this resolution in the form in which it is placed; but no one can have any doubt that it is constitutional to amend the Constitution. All can agree in that, when perhaps this, pressed to a vote, might produce a division among the real friends of freedom in the country.

Mr. WILSON. Mr. President, I certainly cannot consent to have this resolution referred to the

NEW SERIES.....No. 8.

Committee on the Judiciary without the vote of the Senate to do so; I cannot agree to it. The Senator from Wisconsin tells us that there is an amendment to the Constitution pending; that he has strong hopes that it will pass the House of Representatives on Monday next or next week. Well, sir, I had hoped that that measure would pass next week; I have more doubt about it now; but whether it passes or not the Senator from Wisconsin knows, and we all know, that it cannot and will not become a part of the Constitution for many months; I think not for about two years, at least, and it may be three or four years; certainly not within the next eighteen months.

Mr. DOOLITTLE. During the next spring. Mr. WILSON. The Senator is very much mistaken. The fact is, sir, that the Congress of the United States, at the last session, did decide that the man who would enlist in the armies of the United States should be free, free forever, free by the fiat of the Government of the United States. If anybody doubts the constitutionality of that law, let him test it. Now, sir, the wife and the children of the men we have made free are held as slaves. We had the evidence, at the last session of Congress, how they were treated in Missouri, from Army officers. The facts were presented to the Senate, and shocked the sense of humanity of every man who heard the recital, or who read what was going on there. What we had then in Missouri has been doubled and trebled since, and the wrongs and the outrages that have been perpetrated during the last year upon the wives and children of the soldiers who are fighting the battles of the country, if known to the people of the country, would shock their humanity and their sense of justice.

Of the power to do this I do not entertain a doubt, and the most eminent lawyers of this country concur in this opinion. We may and probably shall have to pay for them. The masters may have a claim against the Government. They will no doubt come here with the claim, and it may be that the claim will be fully allowed, though of course I cannot say how that will be; the claim is an open one; but I have no doubt of our power to pass this resolution, and I think we should not hesitate a moment in doing so at a time when we want soldiers, when we are calling for men to join the Army, when we are pressing the want of men upon the country. We read already-the Senator has referred to it-what is taking place in the rebel States, what Jefferson Davis proposes, what the Richmond papers propose, to give freedom to the slaves, and to give them an interest in lands. They who commenced this revolution for the purpose of making slavery eternal now in their necessities are talking about making slaves freemen to fight the battles of the rebellion! I think that we owe it to the country, we owe it to the cause of the country, to liberty, to justice, and to patriotism, to offer every inducement to every black man who can fight the battles of the country to join our armies. You have offered him his freedom, and he is to go and leave his wife and children to the tender mercy of others. Wife and children appeal now to him not to go and abandon them. Make that wife and those children free and they will appeal to him to enroll his name among the defenders of the country to win his own liberty and theirs.

Now, sir, this is a simple, plain proposition. It is before the Senate; it has been considered many days in this Congress, and I hope it will not now be again referred to a committee, but that we shall consider it and pass it promptly.

Mr. DAVIS. I am happy to see my friend from Delaware in his place, and as he is now in his place, I withdraw the suggestion which I made a short time since that the resolution should be laid over, in courtesy to him.

Mr. SAULSBURY. Mr. President, when this resolution of the honorable Senator from Massachusetts was presented to the Senate it was my intention to address the body on the subject; and it is still my intention to do so, not to-day, however. I understand that the pending proposition

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