compelled to work in aid of the rebellion aroused strong opposition in the House, but an amendment in the form of a substitute for the final section of the Senate bill, being section four of the act as passed, was agreed to, August 3, by a vote of 60 to 48. By a vote of 24 to II the Senate concurred in the amendment of the House, and on the 6th the act was approved. The Confiscation Act was the first legislative step towards emancipation.

REFERENCES. - Text in U.S. Statutes at Large, XII, 319. For the proceedings see the House and Senate Journals, 37th Cong., 1st Sess., and the Cong. Globe. For the retaliatory act of the Confederate Congress, August 30, see Confederate Statutes at Large, 201; on this act see Rhodes, United States, III, 465, note 2. On Butler's course see Butler's Book, 256 seq., and War Records, Series I, Vol. I, 53; see also Nicolay and Hay, Lincoln, IV, 389 seq. An Act to confiscate Property used for Insurrectionary Purposes. Be it enacted. That if, during the present or any future insurrection against the Government of the United States, after the President of the United States shall have declared, by proclamation, that the laws of the United States are opposed, and the execution thereof obstructed, by combinations too powerful to be suppressed by the ordinary course of judicial proceedings, or by the power vested in the marshals by law, any person or persons, his, her, or their agent, attorney, or employé, shall purchase or acquire, sell or give, any property of whatsoever kind or description, with intent to use or employ the same, or suffer the same to be used or employed, in aiding, abetting, or promoting such insurrection or resistance to the laws, or any person or persons engaged therein; or if any person or persons, being the owner or owners of any such property, shall knowingly use or employ, or consent to the use or employment of the same as aforesaid, all such property is hereby declared to be lawful subject of prize and capture wherever found; and it shall be the duty of the President of the United States to cause the same to be seized, confiscated, and condemned.

SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That such prizes and capture shall be condemned in the district or circuit court of the United States having jurisdiction of the amount, or in admiralty in any district in which the same may be seized, or into which they may be taken and proceedings first instituted.

SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That the Attorney-General, or any district attorney of the United States in which said property may at the time be, may institute the proceedings of condemnation, and in such case they shall be wholly for the benefit of the United States; or any person may file an information with such attorney, in which case the proceedings shall be for the use of such informer and the United States in equal parts. SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That whenever hereafter, during the present insurrection against the Government of the United States, any person claimed to be held to labor or service under the law of any State, shall be required or permitted by the person to whom such labor or service is claimed to be due, or by the lawful agent of such person, to take up arms against the United States, or shall be required or permitted by the person to whom such labor or service is claimed to be due, or his lawful agent, to work or to be employed in or upon any fort, navy yard, dock, armory, ship, entrenchment, or in any military or naval service whatsoever, against the Government and lawful authority of the United States, then, and in every such case, the person to whom such labor or service is claimed to be due shall forfeit his claim to such labor, any law of the State or of the United States to the contrary notwithstanding. And whenever thereafter the person claiming such labor or service shall seek to enforce his claim, it shall be a full and sufficient answer to such claim that the person whose service or labor is claimed had been employed in hostile service against the Government of the United States, contrary to the provisions of this act.

APPROVED, August 6, 1861.

No. 12.

Act authorizing the Seizure of Railroad and Telegraph Lines

January 31, 1862

In his report of July 1, 1861, the Secretary of War, Cameron, stated that the resistance to the passage of troops through Baltimore, the destruction of

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bridges on certain railroads, and the refusal of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company to transport government forces and supplies, had made it necessary to take possession of so much of the railway lines as was required to form a connection with the States from which troops and supplies were expected ;" and an appropriation for the construction and operation, when necessary, of railroad and telegraph lines was recommended. Further specific recommendations for construction were made in the annual report of December 1. A bill in accordance with the earlier recommendation was reported to the Senate, January 22, by Benjamin F. Wade of Ohio, from the Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War, and passed with amendments on the 28th by a vote of 23 to 12. The next day, by a vote of 113 to 28, the bill passed the House, and on the 31st the act was approved. An order taking military possession of all railroads was issued May 25.

REFERENCES. - Text in U.S. Statutes at Large, XII, 334, 335. For the proceedings see the House and Senate Journals, 37th Cong., 2d Sess., and the Cong. Globe. The debate in the Senate is of most importance. Cameron's report of 1861 is in the Globe, Appendix.

An Act to authorize the President of the United States in certain Cases to take Possession of Railroad and Telegraph Lines, and for other Purposes.

Be it enacted . . ., That the President of the United States, when in his judgment the public safety may require it, be, and he is hereby authorized to take possession of any or all the telegraph lines in the United States, their offices and appurtenances; to take possession of any or all the railroad lines in the United States, their rolling-stock, their offices, shops, buildings, and all their appendages and appurtenances; to prescribe rules and regulations for the holding, using, and maintaining of the aforesaid telegraph and railroad lines, and to extend, repair, and complete the same,1 in the manner most conducive to the safety and interest of the Government; to place under military control all the officers, agents, and employés belonging to the telegraph and railroad lines thus taken possession of by the President, so that they shall be considered as a post road and a part of the military establishment of the United States, subject to all the restrictions imposed by the rules and articles of war.

1 By a joint resolution of July 14, 1862, so much of the act as authorized the construction, extension, or completion of any railroad was repealed.

SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That any attempt by any party or parties whomsoever, in any State or District in which the laws of the United States are opposed, or the execution thereof obstructed by insurgents and rebels against the United States, too powerful to be suppressed by the ordinary.course of judicial proceedings, to resist or interfere with the unrestrained use by Government of the property described in the preceding section, or any attempt to injure or destroy the property aforesaid, shall be punished as a military offence, by death, or such other penalty as a court-martial may impose.

SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That three commissioners shall be appointed by the President of the United States, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, to assess and determine the damages suffered, or the compensation to which any railroad or telegraph company may be entitled by reason of the railroad or telegraph line being seized and used under the authority conferred by this act, and their award shall be submitted to Congress for their action.

SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That the transportation of troops, munitions of war, equipments, military property and stores, throughout the United States, shall be under the immediate control and supervision of the Secretary of War and such agents as he may appoint; and all rules, regulations, articles, usages, and laws in conflict with this provision are hereby annulled.

SEC. 5. And be it further enacted, . . . that the provisions of this act, so far as it relates to the operating and using said railroads and telegraphs, shall not be in force any longer than is necessary for the suppression of this rebellion.

APPROVED, January 31, 1862.

No. 13.

Act prohibiting the Coolie Trade

February 19, 1862

A BILL to prohibit the coolie trade by American citizens was introduced in the House, December 5, 1861, by Thomas D. Eliot of Massachusetts, and

passed the House with amendments January 15. January 31, with further amendments, it passed the Senate. The House concurred in the Senate amendments February 14, and on the 19th the act was approved. The provisions of the act were extended to Japanese and other oriental coolies by act of February 9, 1869. An act of March 3, 1875, chap. 141, sec. 4, imposed penalties for contracting to import coolies, etc.

REFERENCES.

Text in U.S. Statutes at Large, XII, 340, 341. For the proceedings see the House and Senate Journals, 37th Cong., 2d Sess., and the Cong. Globe.

An Act to prohibit the "Coolie Trade" by American Citizens in American Vessels.

Be it enacted .. That no citizen or citizens of the United States, or foreigner coming into or residing within the same, shall, for himself or for any other person whatsoever, either as master, factor, owner, or otherwise, build, equip, load, or otherwise prepare, any ship or vessel, or any steamship or steam-vessel, registered, enrolled, or licensed, in the United States, or any port within the same, for the purpose of procuring from China, or from any port or place therein, or from any other port or place the inhabitants or subjects of China, known as "coolies," to be transported to any foreign country, port, or place whatever, to be disposed of, or sold, or transferred, for any term of years or for any time whatever, as servants or apprentices, or to be held to service or labor. And if any ship or vessel, steamship, or steam-vessel, belonging in whole or in part to citizens of the United States, and registered, enrolled, or otherwise licensed as aforesaid, shall be employed for the said purposes, or in the "coolie trade," so called, or shall be caused to procure or carry from China or elsewhere, as aforesaid, any subjects of the Government of China for the purpose of transporting or disposing of them as aforesaid, every such ship or vessel, steamship, or steam-vessel, her tackle, apparel, furniture, and other appurtenances, shall be forfeited to the United States, and shall be liable to be seized, prosecuted, and condemned in any of the circuit courts or district courts of the United States for the district where the said ship or vessel, steamship, or steam-vessel, may be found, seized, or carried.