Mr. ANTHONY. What is the date of it? Mr. WADE. It is testimony that we have taken this morning.

The Secretary read, as follows:

"Question. It is stated, upon what authority I do not know, that you are charged entirely with the exchange of prisoners.

"Answer. That is correct; and what is more, I have effected an arrangement for the exchange of prisoners, man for man, and officer for officer, or his equivalent, according to the old cartels, until one or the other party has exhausted the number they now hold. I get a great many letters daily from friends of prisoners in the South, every one of which I cause to be answered, telling them that this arrangement has been made, and that I suppose exchanges can be made at the rate of about three thousand a week, and just as fast as they can deliver prisoners to us I will receive them and deliver their prisoners to them. And the Salisbury prisoners will be coming right on. I myself saw Colonel Hatch, the assistant commissioner of exchange on the part of the South, and he told me that the Salisbury and Danville prisoners would be coming on at once. He said that he could bring them on at the rate of five or six thousand a week. "Question. There is now no impediment in the way? "Answer. There is no impediment on our side. I could deliver and receive every one of them in a very short time if they will deliver those they hold. We have lost some two weeks lately on account of the ice in the river."

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The report will be printed.

METROPOLITAN INSURANCE COMPANY.

Mr. DIXON. I now move to take up Senate bill No. 167.

The motion was agreed to; and the Senate, as in Committee of the Whole, proceeded to consider the bill (S. No. 167) to incorporate an insurance company in the city of Washington. It proposes to declare William L. Hodge, Samuel Bacon, Augustus E. Perry, Edward Hall, George W. Utermehle, William H. Morrison, Peter F. Bacon, William R. Riley, Benjamin Beall, A. C. Richards, Henry A. Scheets, and John H. McCutchen, and their associates and successors, a body politic and corporate by the name and style of the Metropolitan Insurance Company.

The Committee on the District of Columbia reported the bill with various amendments. The first amendment of the committee was in section two, line seven, after the word "for," to insert the words "and within ninety days the further sum of fifteen dollars on each share subscribed for;" in line nine to insert the words "payment of the" before the word "remainder;" and in line fourteen to strike out the word "three" and insert "one;" so that the section will read:

SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That the persons named in the foregoing section, or a majority of them, are hereby authorized to open a subscription in the city of Washington for raising a capital stock of $500,000 in shares of fifty dollars each; and that each person, on subscribing, shall pay to the persons above mentioned ten dollars on each share subscribed for, and within ninety days the further sum of fifteen dollars on each share subscribed for; and that the payment of the remainder of the said fifty dolJars shall be secured by negotiable notes, signed and indorsed to the satisfaction of said persons, or a majority of them; and payment thereof may be demanded at such times and in such proportions as the president and directors hereafter mentioned shall judge advisable, giving one week's notice in two papers printed in the District of Columbia. The amendment was agreed to.

The next amendment of the committee was in section four, line one, to strike out the word "one" and insert "two;" so that it will read:

That as soon as two thousand shares shall be subscribed the persons hereby authorized to receive subscriptions shall call a meeting of the subscribers, giving one week's notice in two of the papers printed within the District, &c. The amendment was agreed to.

The next amendment of the committee was in section five, line one, after the word "that" to strike out the following words:

The members of the company shall not be liable for any Joss, damage, or responsibility arising from any contract of insurance, other than the property they have in the capital or funds of the company to the amount of the shares respectively held by them and any profits arising therefrom not divided: Provided.

So that the section will read:

That the said corporation shall deposit with the Register of the Treasury of the United States, or other officer to be designated by him, bonds or other securities of the United States, in amount equal to one fourth of the capital stock

paid in, to be held by said officer to secure and indemnify parties who shall insure with said company.

The amendment was agreed to.

The next amendment of the committee was to insert, at the end of the sixth section, the following proviso:

Provided, That no loan shall be made to the stockholders of said company, or any of them.

The amendment was agreed to.

Mr. DIXON. I move to strike out the first name on the list of corporators, that of Mr. William L. Hodge, at his request.

The amendment was agreed to.

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

NATIONAL UNION INSURANCE COMPANY.

On motion of Mr. DIXON, the bill (H. R. No. 517) to incorporate the National Union Insurance Company of Washington, was considered as in Committee of the Whole.

It proposes to empower James Harper, Thomas Patton, C. H. Moody, John W. Magill, John M. Reilly, B. F. Guy, Valentine Blanchard, Thomas J. Fisher, Hudson Taylor, Augustus F. Perry, D. Walker, James Montgomery, Joseph J. May, or any five of them, to receive subscriptions to the capital stock of a company to be denominated the National Union Insurance Company of Washington, who shall open a book for that purpose in the city of Washington, at the time and place to be by them designated, of which they || shall give ten days' notice in two or more of the daily papers of the city, and shall keep it open until twenty thousand shares of fifty dollars a share each shall have been subscribed. The usual powers of a corporation are granted. The company is to make insurance against losses by fire on any house, building, tenement, manufactories, mills, or other buildings; on goods, wares, chattels, and effects of all kinds therein, or otherwise; upon grain, produce, and implements, and upon vessels building on the stocks, in port or at moorings; and, generally, upon all and every sort and description of property, of whatever kind soever, on land or water.

The bill was reported to the Senate without amendment, ordered to a third reading, read the third time, and passed.

SISTERS OF MERCY.

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The hour has arrived for the consideration of the unfinished business of yesterday.

Mr. HALE. The bills for the District of Columbia are all through except one, and we do not want another day for that. I therefore ask the consent of the Senator from Ohio to allow me to move to take up Senate bill No. 368.

Mr. SHERMAN. Let it be done by unanimous consent, so as not to displace the regular order.

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. That course will be taken, and the bill (S. No. 368) to incorporate the Association of the Sisters of Mercy in the city of Washington in the District of Columbia will be regarded as before the Senate as in Committee of the Whole.

the rules, regulations, and by-laws that they may establish from time to time, for the management of the concerns of the said society or corporation, any lands, tenements, rents, legacies, annuities, rights, property, and privileges, or any goods, chattels, or other effects of what kind or nature soever, which shall or may have been or may hereafter be given, granted, sold, bequeathed, or devised unto the said association or corporation, by any person or persons, bodies politic or corporate, capable of making such grant, sale, or bequest, and that the said association or corporation of the Sisters of Mercy, in the District of Columbia, may dispose of and convey the same as they may deem proper: Provided, That the said association or corporation shall not, at any one time, hold, use, possess, and enjoy, within the District of Columbia, either by legal seizure, or trust, for its use and benefit, more than three hundred and twenty acres of land, nor shall the said association or corporation hold, in its own right, or by any other person in trust, or for its benefit, real estate the annual net income of which, after discharging all its expenses, debts, and liabilities, shall exceed the sum of $50,000.

SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That the said corporation, by the name of the Sisters of Mercy, in the District of Columbia, be, and shall be hereafter, capable in law and in equity to sue and be sued, within the District of Columbia and elsewhere, in as effectual a manner as other persons or corporations can sue or be sued, and that the said corporation, or a majority of the persons composing the same, shall adopt and use a common seal, and the same to use, alter, or change at pleasure, and from time to time make such by-laws, not inconsistent with the Constitution of the United States or any law of Congress, as they may deem expedient and proper for carrying into effect the objects of the said association or corporation, including the care, control, and education of children; the care, protection, instruction, and employment of destitute females; the care, nursing, and alleviation of the sufferings of sick or wounded persons, and such other objects of literature and charity as may be determined upon by their by-laws, as aforesaid, and which their means and net income may enable them to effect and support.

SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That if, at any time hereafter, any of the persons hereinbefore named, or any of their successors, as Sisters of Mercy, in the District of Columbia, shall cease to belong to the said association or corporation, according to the said by-laws, such persons shall thereafter have no part or control in the proceedings of the said association or corporation under or in pursuance of the provisions of this act.

SEC. 5. And be it further enacted, That the said association or corporation shall have power to appoint such officers, agents, and persons as may be necessary, and to construct or purchase such buildings or to create such establishments as may be required to effect and carry out the humane and charitable objects of its institution, in accordance with its by-laws and regulations, as aforesaid, under this act.

SEC. 6. And be it further enacted, That the schools and all other institutions of instruction, education, or employment, established by the Sisters of Mercy in the District of Columbia, shall at all times be subject to the visitation and inspection of the justices of the supreme court of the District of Columbia, or any one of them, or the Committees on the District of Columbia in either House of Congress, or any other committee of Congress that either House may appoint, and the books, records, and proceedings of said Sisters of Mercy shall at all times be subject to the examinntion and inspection of said justices or any such committee. SEC. 7. And be it further enacted, That this act may, at any time hereafter, be amended, altered, or repealed, in whole or in part, according to the pleasure of Congress.

Mr. JOHNSON. I would ask the honorable member who has the bill in charge if any such provision as is contained in the sixth section is to be found in any other act of incorporation in this District?

Mr. GRIMES. What is in the sixth section? Mr. JOHNSON. Let the sixth section be read again.

The Secretary read the sixth section of the amendment.

Mr. JOHNSON. Unless that has been done in other cases, I would suggest to the honorable member and to the Senate that it would be rather invid

The Secretary read the amendment reported by the Committee on the District of Columbia, which was to strike out all after the enacting clause of the bill and insert the following:

That Isabel Atkinson, Elizabeth Medcalf, Teresa Byrne, Ellen Mathews, Mary Duffy, Teresa Moran, and Ellen Wynne, and their successors, hereafter to become Sisters of Mercy, and to be appointed according to the rules and regulations that have been or may hereafter be established by their association, be, and they are hereby, made, declared, and constituted, a corporation or body-politic, in law and in fact, to have continuance forever, by the name, style, and title of the "Sisters of Mercy in the District of Columbia."

SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That all and singular the lands, houses, tenements, rents, legacies, annuities, rights, property, privileges, goods, and chattels, heretofore given, granted, devised, or bequeathed to the said Sisters of Mercy, in the District of Columbia, or to any individual of the said corporation, or to any person or persons for the use of said corporation, or that have been purchased for or on account of the same, be, and they are hereby, vested in, and confirmed to, the said corporation; and that the said corporation may purchase, take, receive, hold, and apply to the uses and purposes of the same, according to

first time. If there are any classes of people who are engaged in acts of mercy, and whose conduct is worthy of man's honor, and who would seem to be entitled especially to the mercy of Heaven hereafter, it is the very persons whom you are about to incorporate. They are ladies who devote their time exclusively to the charitable object of educating the poor and the helpless, and of nourishing and nursing and consoling the sick and the wounded; and you are about now to throw open their institution by this provision to any committee that Congress may suggest, or to the District judges. I see no necessity for it, for if there shall be any abuse we shall be sure to know it, and under the authority to modify or repeal the charter any abuse can be prevented in the future. I do not know how it may be received by these ladies, but it seems to me if it never has been done before it would be considered by them as exceedingly invidious; and as I do not think it is at all necessary to accomplish any public good, I should hope that such a provision would not be incorporated in this bill. There is no class of

the community who have been of more service to us during this war than the very people whom you are now about to subject to this particular examination. They have traveled everywhere, risked life, put themselves to every sort of inconvenience and trouble, subjected themselves to almost every variety of peril, and they have never charged anything or got anything except the reward consequent upon the performance of acts of that description; and I think it would be rather unkind that you should subject them to a supervision to which you have not subjected and do not propose to subject any other institution of learning or any other institution which you have heretofore incorporated.

sort, worthy as I think its object to be, without a provision in it for the visitation by the proper officers, whose duty it should be at all times to be vigilant in inquiry after the children who are themselves absolutely committed to the care and disa cretion of these persons.

Mr. JOHNSON. The right of visitation which every Government possesses over institutions of this description is one thing; whether it should be exercised in the way proposed in this section is quite a different thing. This section is not only a reservation of a right in Congress at any time to visit the institution, but it reserves the right to visit it to the judges of the superior court here in the District of Columbia, or any one of them, and to the committees of the District of Columbia in either House, or any other committee of Congress, and the books and records of proceedings of these Sisters of Mercy are at all times to be subject "to the examination and inspection of such justices or of any such committee." I can readily imagine that from time to time, from week to week, some one will go up to the justices of the supreme court

and then there is to be a full inspection of the whole establishment!

Congress by reserving to itself the right to repeal the charter can guard against any mischief; or if Congress think proper to preserve the right on visitation over it, they can do so without subjecting this institution to a daily inspection and to all the annoyance certain to be the result of a daily inspection. These Sisters are not nuns; they are not excluded from the world by their religious vows; they mix with the world, as I understand, but have devoted themselves exclusively to these charitable objects.

Mr. HALE. It will be within the recollection of most of the Senators who now hear me that although members of Congress are made by law visitors of all institutions in the District of Columbia, within four years the marshal of this District issued an order forbidding Senators to visit the jail in this District, and the chairman of the Committee on the District of Columbia, in one of his official visits to the jail, was refused admis-here and suggest that something is going wrong, sion under that order. Inasmuch as we are the official and legal visitors, it occurred to the committee that it would be well to put this clause in. I am sure that the Senator from Maryland does not appreciate more highly than I do the merits and virtues and self-sacrificing devotion of these Sisters of Mercy and Sisters of Charity to the sick and wounded of the Army. But this is a corporation which is created with powers that may make it a pretty extensive concern. They are authorized by the bill to hold real estate to the amount of three hundred and twenty acres of land, and to have an annual income of $50,000. It is perfectly clear that there ought to be some power of visitation somewhere, and the committee thought that it might well enough be vested in the supreme court of this District and in the committees of each House, that it would not be liable to abuse; that there is no disposition to infringe on any of their privileges or rights, and that the public safety requires that some such provision as this should be made either by a general or special law. I have no feeling on it. These are the motives that governed the committee, and if the Senate see fit to strike out the section I am content; but I think it is well enough as it is.

Now, why is it (provided I am right in saying this is the first time a provision of this sort has found its way into such a bill) that you select these people for this provision? Is it because of their particular religion? I am sure it is not so. It is not because they are Roman Catholics, nor because they think it their duty to appropriate their lives to these purposes. Then it is simply from an apprehension that some wrong may be done to some of the children who may get under their charge. There are plenty of people who will know that that wrong will be done; and the children are not placed entirely by this charter under the control of these corporators; the courts are all open. These children will have just as sure a protection through the courts as any one who goes to any boarding-school is sure of being protected against any misconduct on the part of the teacher by going to the courts. But I repeat, it seems to me rather to be an invidious matter as against these

Mr. MORRILL. This is the ordinary provision for visitation to an institution which is in every essential sense secret in its character. The bill contemplates committing children of tender age, infants so to speak, under the years of discretion, to the care and custody of these females, and they have the absolute control over the persons and over the education of these children.people, whose lives are devoted to these very charThis section is the exercise of the ordinary power of Government to reserve to itself the right of visitation. I do not think there is a charitable institution in this country

Mr. HALE. Outside of the District of Columbia.

Mr. MORRILL. Not one outside of the District of Columbia that undertakes to assert a right to absolute control over the persons of tender years, without the right of visitation on the part of the Government; and with the highest regard for the motives and purposes of these females, and with a disposition to deal with them liberally in every way, I would never consent to grant to any set of persons, male or female, the absolute control of such children as they may take into this institution by the authority we grant, and shut them up from the world with no right in the Government to visit that institution and to inquire after the welfare of those children. It is therefore precisely this case: we authorize these persons to take into this institution such children as they can induce, from various considerations, to enter the institution; we give them absolute control over the person and over the education of those children; that is all right; I do not object to it, and I think every presumption, from the character of these females, is on their side, that this authority will not be improperly used; but it seems to me to be the grant of an authority so absolute, that I doubt if the Government have a right, so to speak, to part with the power to supervise the conduct of others that is implied in this section. I am so very decided upon a question of this kind that I do not think my consent could be obtained on any consideration whatever to an institution of this

itable objects, and who are now, I believe, in charge of four or five of our hospitals, to insert a provision nowhere else to be found. I move to

strike out the section.

Mr. MORRILL. I submit that there is little occasion for the criticism which my honorable friend makes on the remarks that I have made. There is no suspicion, I understand, growing out of the peculiar religion of these people; it did not occur to me that that question could possibly arise; but it is the principle of allowing anybody anywhere to have the absolute control over persons without the right of visitation. That is the principle. This bill authorizes these people to take control of children, and during their minority to maintain an absolute control over the persons and over the education of those children, nobody on earth having the right to interfere or the right to inquire. Now, I put the question to my honorable friend whether it is to be regarded as invidious when it is known that the general principle everywhere is the right of visitation? The right of visitation is a principle which almost every where obtains in all Governments. Then, sir, why an exception in this case? Why is it supposed that these persons who ask for this particular privilege should be exempt from this general principle? I submit that the inference is not at all favorable to the purposes of this institution. I have gone upon the ground that it is all very laudable, all very charitable, all very well. I wish to maintain good faith toward these parties, but I insist upon it that the general principle which pervades all legislation and which all Governments hold as to the right and the duty of the Government, should be expressed in this bill, and I shall cer

tainly oppose its passage if this section is stricken out of it.

Mr. POMEROY. It occurs to me that this feature of the bill is unobjectionable, and I have never known any provision of this kind to be resisted.

Mr. JOHNSON. It has never been in any other bill.

Mr. POMEROY. I do not know that I have ever seen it specifically in any bill; but when an institution of this kind refuses to allow by legislation the judges of the courts and the committees of Congress to visit it, it creates the impression of a desire to secrete the institution from the public observation. I certainly would not vote to strike out a provision of this kind after it has once been reported, because it looks as if there was some design in striking it out, which I trust there is not. I hope nobody is afraid to organize an institution of this kind and have it inspected by members of Congress and judges of the courts. I certainly shall not.give my vote for the thing if it is to have any secresy about it.

Mr. CONNESS. It seems to me that the criticism of the honorable Senator from Maryland is hardly fair or well-founded. It can hardly be assumed that the judges of the supreme court of the District of Columbia would needlessly and wantonly go to these institutions every day at the instance of irresponsible parties. I really cannot see anything objectionable in the section, and I shall vote to keep it in.

The amendment to the amendment was rejected.

The amendment of the committee was agreed to. The bill was reported to the Senate as amended, and the amendment was concurred in. The bill was ordered to be engrossed for a third reading, and was read the third time, and passed. Its title was amended to read, "A bill to incorporato the Sisters of Mercy in the District of Columbia."

EVENING EXECUTIVE SESSIONS.

Mr. WILSON. I offer the following resolution:

Resolved, That the Senate meet on the evenings of Tuesday and Wednesday of next week for the consideration of executive business.

Mr. GRIMES. I move to amend the resolution by adding the word "exclusively.”

Mr. WILSON. I accept that amendment. I will simply say that we have before us fourteen or fifteen hundred nominations, and it is very important to act on some of them.

Mr. GRIMES. The resolution does not fix the hour.

Mr. WILSON. I propose to fix it at seven o'clock.

Several SENATORS. Say half past seven. Mr. WILSON. Well, say half past seven. The resolution, as modified, was agreed to, as follows:

Resolved, That the Senate meet on the evenings of Tuesday and Wednesday of next week, at half past seven o'clock, for the consideration of executive business exclusively.

LEGISLATIVE, ETC., APPROPRIATION BILL. The Senate, as in Committee of the Whole, resumed the consideration of the bill (H. R. No. 649) making appropriations for the legislative, executive, and judicial expenses of the Government for the year ending 30th June, 1866, the pending question being on the amendment of Mr. JOHNSON, to strike out in line eight hundred and seventy the word "one" and insert "three;" so as to make the clause read:

For traveling expenses of the judge assigned to the tenth circuit, for attending session of the Supreme Court of the United States, $3,000.

The amendment was rejected.

Mr. SHERMAN. I now move to amend that clause by striking out "one" and inserting "two," so as to make the allowance $2,000. I think as we have put additional duties on this judge we ought to increase somewhat his allowance for traveling expenses.

The amendment was agreed to.

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

And be it further enacted, That the first or sole assistant in each of the Executive Departments, whose duty it is to act as the head of the Department, in the absence of that officer, shall hereafter receive an annual salary equal to

sion that this ought to be done, and we finally agreed to a compromise, allowing $3,500 to all, but the other House would not consent to reduce those who were getting $4,000 down to $3,500. This proposition is to let the first assistants have $4,000; it is a fair thing.

Now about the comparison between the officers of the Army in the field and the Assistant Secretaries. I understand that there is a proposition likely to be presented to this body by the Committee on Military Affairs to provide for the officers in the field by commuting their rations at fifty cents instead of thirty cents, and also by relieving them from the Federal income tax. I do not know whether that will be brought before the body, or whether it has already been presented. The chairman of that committee nods to me that that is so. That, then, is to be provided for, and when that proposition comes before this body it shall receive my support. I think it is right. Then I answer the Senator from New Hampshire that a provision is to be made by the Committee on Military Affairs for those men for whom he drops a tear but introduces no measure. If they are not paid enough, why does not that Senator, from his responsible position, provide for them and let them be paid now? We are not so poor that we must make men fight at starving rates. We are not so poor as a country that we must make the clerks in the Departments here serve the public at a compensation that will not support them and educate their children. It ought not to be asked, and I do not think the people of the country require it. As far as I know, they pay their taxes cheerfully. If more taxes are necessary I suppose they will pay them, though I think they are quite as high as the business of the country will allow. The two comparisons I do not think justify the argument of the Senator.

Mr. CLARK. I was not aware that I started any such argument, or any such line of argument, as the Senator from Indiana attributes to me. did not inquire why we paid a Secretary $8,000, or why we paid an Assistant Secretary $4,000 or $3,000. The tendency of my remarks was, as I intended they should be, to show that if we began to raise salaries we should begin with the men who needed the increase most, among the persons who had the smallest salaries, and who found the greatest difficulty to live, and not among those who received the largest sum, and could live upon that sum. I know very well that we pay a large salary to the head of a Department for the amount (if the Senator pleases so to say) of brains he brings to it; but I have sometimes thought that in some minor places of the Departments we gave the most money for the least brains. We do not always graduate our pay according to what we get; and I am not by any means sure that we do not get as much brains in some smaller offices as we get in some that are larger. I, of course, have no reference to anybody in the world. But the pay should be somewhat in proportion to the services rendered as well as to the state maintained. A man can better forego the state and equipage than he can get rid of the gnawings of hunger. I insist that this increase should not be made among the higher salaries, and the lower ones be neglected; that is all I mean to say. I shall vote cheerfully, as the Senator from Indiana, I have no doubt, will do, for the increase of the pay of the smaller officers. I shall vote for the increase of the pay of the officers of the Army when it comes properly before the Senate. The Senator puts to me the question why I have not introduced such a measure. For two or three reasons, and the Senator knows what they are. He well knows that the question answers itself when it is propounded. He knows that measure should come from the Military Committee where it was properly put, and he well knows that I am not upon that committee. I am told that the Military Committee are about to propose something for the increase of the officers' pay. I certainly shall vote for it in any reasonable shape or to any reasonable amount; and I desire, when we take hold of the question of salaries, that we take hold in that direction; and if the objection is that the salaries are unequal-and that seems to bear upon the Senator's mind-I will very much more readily go for the proposition of the last session to bring all these officers to a level at $3,500, rather than to put them all up to $4,000.

Mr. SAULSBURY. I do not exactly know

soldiers of the Army, I, for one, am prepared to vote for it. I know that their pay is not sufficient now; but I know, too, that no man can live and support his family in this city in that kind of style which is expected from the Assistant Secretary of a Department for a sum of money less than $2,000 a year. I know that $4,000 sounds like a

Mr. HENDRICKS. I ask for the yeas and nays on the pending amendment.

The yeas and nays were ordered.

Mr. HOWE. I am going to vote for the amendment. I believe it is as true of the Government of the United States as it is of any corporation or of private individuals, that if they want good service they must pay for it. They are not sure of getting good service if they do pay for it, but they are pretty sure not to get good service if they do not pay for it. I believe the pay of the officers referred to in this amendment is quite inadequate. I therefore propose to vote for the amendment, because I think its tendency is to make it nearer adequate. I do not think it is a good answer to say that there are other officers in our service who need or deserve an increase of salary more. It is a sufficient reason, in my judgment, to vote for this measure of justice because it is now proposed to us, and it will be a sufficient reason to vote for any other measure of justice when it shall be proposed to us. I do not see the propriety of ignoring a measure the justice of which we all admit out of any mere apprehension that by and by a similar measure may be proposed in reference to another class of officers, and will not be assented to. Let us take these measures as they are proposed to us, and vote upon them as they are proposed to us. I vote for this now because it is now before us.

Mr. POWELL. I shall vote most cheerfully for this amendment. I very fully concur with the Senator from Wisconsin, that you cannot get good service unless you pay for it. I think there is no economy in half paying your officials. If you expect to get the services of competent and faithful men, you must give them a remunerative salary.

Now, sir, what will be the pay of the Assistant Secretaries, who do not now receive $4,000, when it shall be raised to that sum? It will be a good deal less than $2,000, for the greenback money in which they are now paid is not worth fifty cents on the dollar; it is to-day worth between forty and forty-five cents, perhaps; so they will really get less than $2,000 a year. For the abil. ity required of the Assistant Secretary of one of the Departments, that is very poor remuneration. It will not compensate them for their labor, and, moreover, they cannot live and maintain their families properly in this city on that sum.

The Senator from New Hampshire talks about raising the pay of the soldiers and the officers of the Army. I regret very much that that was not done last year. I proposed an amendment to a bill under consideration at that time providing | that officers and soldiers of the Army should be paid in gold, or its equivalent when they could not receive gold. That would have raised their pay very much, but I could not get the Senate to adopt the proposition. I am to-day prepared to increase the pay of the officers and soldiers of the Army.

I am in favor of this amendment for another reason. I can see no reason for discriminating between these Assistant Secretaries. Some of them now get $4,000, some $3,500, and some $3,000. It is no auswer to tell us that there are other offcers who are not paid a sufficient compensation. I will say to Senators that whenever they bring forward a bill to increase the pay of officers and

paid in money, but in the depreciated paper currency of this Government, so that it is less than $2,000 in gold. From the adjournment of this Congress until the next session it will not average probably more than fifteen or sixteen hundred dollars in gold, and you paid that much money to large numbers of clerks before the depreciation of the currency.

Mr. HALE. The suggestions which have been made by the enator from Kentucky in regard to the depreciation of the currency and the cost of living apply to every employé of this Government, from the President down to the humblest messenger; and every argument of that sort which can be suggested for raising these salaries will apply to everybody who is paid any salary by the Government of the United States, because all our employés are paid in depreciated currency; and unless we are willing to advance all salaries at least one hundred per cent., it seems to me that argument can be of no weight.

may possibly be supposed not to speak with great partiality for the Assistant Secretary of the Navy. I thought at the time his office was created that it was unjust to pay him a higher salary than other Assistant Secretaries, and upon my motion I think-at least if I did not make the motion I advocated it-the Senate agreed at the last session to fix the salary of these Assistant Secretaries at $3,500. That was taking off $500 from the Assistant Secretary of the Navy and the Assistant Secretary of the Treasury, and putting $500 on the salaries of the others. Thereupon a howl was made by all those newspapers that are specially devoted to the interests of the actual Secretary of the Navy that Mr. HALE, from selfish and other bad motives, had made an attack upon the Assistant Secretary of the Navy, merely because I wanted to put him on the same footing with the other Assistant Secretaries. I am of the same opinion now. I think the provision which gives the Assistant Secretary of the Navy $4,000 and other Assistant Secretaries $3,000, is unjust and invidious, and it ought not to stand upon the statute-book. I am opposed, however, to raising any of these salaries. I voted against raising the salary of members of Congress, and I have voted and shall vote against raising the pay of any officer except where I think an increase is absolutely necessary. I believe I did vote once to raise the salary of the consul at Halifax because I thought it ought to be raised. But unless we are prepared to enter upon a general increase of all salaries to an extent equivalent to the depreciation of the currency of the Government, we ought not to venture upon an experiment of this kind. I shall vote in favor of reducing the salary of the Assistant Secretary of the Navy to that of the other Assistant Secretaries, not that I am governed by any motives of peculiar hostility to that officer, but I think as a matter of justice to them all this provision ought to be done away with. If it is in order to do so, I will move to amend the amendment by striking it all out after the enacting clause, and providing that from and after the commencement of the next fiscal year the salaries of all the Assistant Secretaries shall be $3,000, or if the Senate prefer to put it at $3,500 I shall be satisfied. Several SENATORS. Say $3,500. Mr. HALE. Well, I will say $3,500. The PRESIDING OFFICER, (Mr. ANTHONY in the chair.) The amendment of the Senator from New Hampshire will be read.

The Secretary read the amendment to the amendment, which was to strike out all after the enacting clause of the amendment proposed by Mr. HENDERSON, and to insert the following:

That from and after the commencement of the next fiscal year, the salaries of all the Assistant Secretaries of the Executive Departments shall be $3,500 per annum.

Mr. COLLAMER. Why should so much pains be taken to pass over the Post Office Department? Why should not the Assistant Postmasters General have the same pay as the Assistant Secretaries?

Mr. CONNESS. This will include them.

Mr. COLLAMER. No, they are not "Assistant Secretaries.'

Mr. CONNESS. We can add them. Mr. HALE. I am willing to include them. Mr. HENDERSON. The amendment, as I proposed it, included the First Assistant Postmaster General.

Mr. COLLAMER. It included the one who has the least to do, but carefully left out the two who have the most to do.

Mr. HENDERSON. Do I understand the amendment of the Senator from New Hampshire now to be to allow $3,500 to all Assistant Secretaries?

Mr. HALE. Yes; and the Assistant Postmaster General.

Mr. COLLAMER. And "the Assistant Attorney General" ought to be added.

Mr. HALE. Very well.

Mr. HENDERSON. I think the Assistant Attorney General gets $3,500 now.

Mr. COWAN. No, only $3,000.

Mr. HENDRICKS. If it is the pleasure of the Senate to adopt the proposition of the Senator from New Hampshire, I have no objection. I want to see equality among the officers of this grade. The proposition of the Senator from Missouri affects the Treasury just $4,500. If the Senate thinks that is a matter of such consequence as to go away from it and adopt another proposition, very well. I want to see them equalized. The proposition of the Senator from New Hampshire, I understand, will take more money out of the Treasury than that of the Senator from Missouri. I think the First Assistants in the various Departments ought to be provided with a salary equal to half that of the head of the Department.

Now, as to the Second and Third Assistant Postmasters General, they are simply the heads of bureaus. The First Assistant Postmaster General, in the absence of the head of that Department, represents him and has the responsibility of that position. I do not know whether he does more work or less work than the Second and Third Assistants, but the one is over the whole Department, and the others are but bureau officers, corresponding with the Commissioner of the General Land Office and the Commissioner of Pensions. I think the proposition of the Senator from Missouri, coming from the Committee on Finance, is the right one, to make all who are the First Assistants, and who represent the head of the Department in his absence, equal at $4,000, just half the pay of the Secretaries; and it will affect the Treasury just $4,500, as I understand from the chairman of the Committee on Finance.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The amendment of the Senator from New Hampshire will be now read as it has been modified.

The Secretary read the amendment, which was to strike out all after the enacting clause of the section proposed by Mr. HENDERSON, and to insert the following:

That from and after the commencement of the next fiscal year the salary of each of the Assistant Secretaries of the Executive Departments, the Assistant Attorney General, and the First Assistant Postmaster General, shall be $3,500 per annum.

Mr. COLLAMER. I object to saying" First Assistant Postmaster General." I want to say

"the Assistant Postmasters General."

Mr. HALE. I have not the slightest feeling or judgment on that point. The Senator from Indiana, on whose judgment in these matters I rely with great confidence, though I do not have so much respect for his political opinions generally, thinks it would be unjust to include the other Assistant Postmasters General, because they are mere heads of bureaus. But the honorable chairman of the Committee on Post Offices and Post Roads makes the suggestion that the three Assistant Postmasters General should be included, and of course I shall not set myself up in opposition to him, but will accept his modification.

The amendment to the amendment, as modified, was agreed to.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is on the amendment as amended.

Mr. COLLAMER. I am opposed to this proposition. If we are to begin this system it seems to me we are beginning at the wrong end, with those who get the large salaries; and I do not know where it is to end. Are we to go on scaling ||

and raising the pay of all the employés of the Government, civil and military, pro rata, if you please? Are we to issue more greenbacks for that purpose?-for there is no other way to pay them. If we do, the increased number of greenbacks they will get will not, in six months more, buy as much as the greenbacks they now get will buy. I do not want to visit them with such a calamity as that.

Mr. STEWART. Let the amendment be read as it now stands.

The Secretary read the amendment, as follows: insert as a new section:

And be it further enacted, That from and after the commencement of the next fiscal year, the salary of each of the Assistant Secretaries of the Executive Departments, the Assistant Attorney General, and the three Assistant Postmasters General, shall be $3,500 per annum.

Mr. CONNESS. I shall vote for this amend

ment as now proposed. I see in it, or hope I see in it, a final adjustment of this difficult question. It will be remembered that it occupied our time a great deal during the last session. There is also an apparent injustice in paying the Assistant Secretary of one Department $4,000, while the Assistant Secretary of another Department, certainly equally occupied and with equally important duties and liabilities, is paid but $3,000. If you undertake to equalize these assistants, as suggested by the honorable Senator from Vermont, increase that is made to the Second and Third there is the greatest justice in extending the slight Assistant Postmasters General, who really perform the most important duties in their Department, and, in my opinion, rank among their best public officers. I did not look on this as an increase of salary, but as an adjustment of a question that comes up every session and occupies the time and attention of Congress. I shall therefore vote for the amendment.

The question being taken by yeas and nays, resulted-yeas 21, nays 17; as follows:

YEAS-Messrs. Buckalew, Chandler,. Conness, Cowan, Doolittle, Foster, Hale, Harlan, Hendricks, Howe, Johnson, Lane of Indiana, Nesmith, Nye, Powell, Ramsey, Riddle, Stewart, Trumbull, Wilkinson, and Willey-21.

NAYS-Messrs. Anthony, Brown, Clark, Collamer, Davis, Dixon, Farwell, Grimes, Henderson, Morgan, Morrill, Pomeroy, Saulsbury, Sprague, Sumner, Ten Eyck, and Wilson-17.

ABSENT-Messrs. Carlile, Foot, Harding, Harris, Hicks, Howard, Lane of Kansas, McDougall, Richardson, Sherman, Van Winkle, Wade, and Wright-13.

So the amendment was agreed to.

Mr. WILLEY. I desire to state that my colleague [Mr. VAN WINKLE] is detained from his seat by indisposition.

Mr. WILSON. I offer this amendment as ad

ditional sections:

And be it further enacted, That from and after the 1st day of March, 1865, and during the continuance of the present rebellion, the commutation price of officers' subsistence shall be fifty cents per ration: Provided, That said increase shall not apply to the conmutation price of the rations of any officer above the rank of brevet brigadier general, or of any officer entitled to commutation for fuel or quarters. And be it further enacted, That hereafter, during the continuance of the present rebellion, there shall be no deductions made from, or income tax levied upon, the salary of any officer in the military or naval service; and all acts or parts of acts inconsistent herewith are hereby repealed. And be it further enacted, That all officers of volunteers, who shall continue in the military service to the close of the war, shall be entitled to receive, upon being mustered out of said service, three months' pay proper: Provided, That the provisions of this section shall not apply to officers not on duty, or to officers entitled to commutation of fuel and quarters.

I will simply say that the first section of this amendment provides for increasing the ration from thirty to fifty cents to officers below the rank of brevet brigadier general. It does not apply to brigadier or major generals, and it does not apply to officers who receive commutation for fuel or quarters. It applies to officers in the field.

The second section of the amendment relieves the officers of the Army and Navy from the income tax that we have put upon them since they went into the service, which is a great burden upon them, especially the extra tax of five per cent. imposed by the act of July 4 last.

The third section gives three months' pay proper to volunteer officers who shall continue in the service till the close of the war; not officers who have fuel and quarters at the rear, but officers who are in the field; and not to officers off duty, but to officers at the front doing their duty. I hope this amendment will prevail.

Mr. COLLAMER. I wish to call the Senator's attention to one point in connection with the

last section of his amendment. The provision is that the allowances there made shall not apply to officers not on duty. A man at that time may have been off duty perhaps a week, and he should not be excluded.

Mr. GRIMES. I suggest to the Senator from Massachusetts that we take the vote separately on the first two sections, and then on the third section.

Mr. WILSON. I am willing to agree to that. Mr. HALE. I want to inquire if this amendment comes from a committee.

Mr. WILSON. Yes, sir; from the Committee on Military Affairs.

Mr. COLLÁMER. Do they recommend that it be put on this bill?

Mr. WILSON. I will say that the bill of which this amendment is a copy was reported by the authority of the Committee on Military Affairs, and I have obtained the assent of a majority of the committee, those who are present to-day, to move it as an amendment to this bill. It is proper, I think, that it should go on this bill. Action ought to be had in the matter, especially for the reason that we ought to give some assurance to the men who are about entering on the spring campaign that we are to do something for their benefit; for I tell you, sir, that the information from all our armies is that the line officers are

applies to the officers in the field who get no comreally suffering for some aid. This amendment mutation for fuel or quarters. That makes a great difference. The difference between the allowances of a captain in the front and a captain on duty in Washington receiving commutation for fuel and quarters is about six hundred dollars a year. This provision does not apply to those who get this commutation, but is for the benefit of the men who are fighting the battles of the country. I it will be better made in this form, increasing the think we ought to make this allowance. I think value of the ration, and will do more justice than we can in any other form. I hope the amendment will be adopted.

Mr. SHERMAN. I am disappointed that the Senator from Massachusetts should offer this amendment at this time on this appropriation bill. This bill makes appropriation for legislative, executive, and judicial expenses; it does not affect the pay of the Army; there is nothing in the bill about the pay of the Army. Within a week we shall have before us the bill which does make appropriations for the support of the Army. If it be at all proper to put a legislative measure on an appropriation bill, this provision certainly should not be put on this bill. We ought to have some little sense of the propriety of things and the proper place to put our legislation, and it seems to me, therefore, we ought not to put it upon this legislative appropriation bill. I am not prepared to say whether I shall vote for or against this provision at some proper place, but I shall certainly oppose its being put on this bill. There is nothing in this bill in regard to the pay of the Army. It is true we have attached the deficiency bill to this bill, but it was under peculiar circumstances, and it is sufficient to put that on this bill without loading it with measures that will be controverted between the two Houses. I hope the Senator will withdraw this proposition, and I can tell him that early next week we shall probably report the Army appropriation bill, and it will be before the Senate within a week or ten days.

Mr. WILSON. In accordance with the suggestions of the chairman of the Committee on Finance, I withdraw the amendment now, with the understanding that it is to be moved on the Army appropriation bill whenever it comes up.

Mr. ANTHONY. I wish to make a suggestion in connection with the amendment of the Senator from Massachusetts, which is now withdrawn. I agree with the object of it, but I hope the Committee on Military Affairs will propose to raise the pay of the officers of the Army in some other way than by taking off the income tax. prefer that the amount should be added to their pay either pro rata or by a percentage, for I think that if we begin to make exemptions from the income tax we are liable to go a great deal further than we intend to go when we make the provision.

I

Mr. COLLAMER. I have been charged with some amendments by the Committee on the Library. I move in line one hundred and eighty-nine, on page 9, to strike out “five” and insert "eight,”