THE ACTION OF CONGRESS.

27

in Richmond 'who did not only promise, but afforded all the aid in their power to the Union prisoners, at this time and ever afterwards.'

The prisoners in Richmond were soon convinced that the tobacco warehouse would be their home for some time. As the days wore wearily away, their sufferings increased, for their treatment became less humane. Yet they did not yield to melancholy. There were some irrepressibly buoyant spirits. among them, and every thing possible to be done to render their situation. endurable, was employed. They formed a club called The Richmond Prison Association, of which Mr. Ely was made President," and at their first meeting, held on the day of organization, they were enlivened by speeches, songs, and toasts. This was the more agreeable beginning of that terrible prison-life to which tens of thousands of the National troops were exposed during the war, of which more will be recorded hereafter.

3

a July 26, 1861.

The Thirty-seventh Congress had been in session more than a fortnight when the battle of Bull's Run was fought, and they had already made several enactments preparatory to the vigorous prosecution of the war. Yet they were not unmindful of their obligations to humanity, to endeavor to secure peace by any just and honorable means. As we have observed,' a resolution was introduced into the House of Representatives,' by Mr. Crittenden, declaring the sole object of the Government in waging war to be the preservation of the Union and the vindication of the National authority. It was "laid over until Monday," the 22d, and in the mean time the battle at Bull's Run was fought. Notwithstanding the National Capital was filled with fugitives from a shattered army, and it

July 19.

1 Distinguished among these benefactors were Mrs. John Van Lew and her daughter. Mrs. Van Lew was an aged and wealthy widow, who lived in a fine mansion on Church Hill. Warmly devoted to the Union, and animated by the most generous impulses of humanity, these women continued, throughout the war, merciful ministrations for the comfort of the National soldiers starving and freezing in Libby prison and on Belle Isle. They suffered the most withering social proscription, and received the most vulgar abuse from the politicians and the press of Richmond. They were branded as "Southern women with Northern sympathies ;" and one of the Richmond papers, with characteristic coarseness and ill-breeding, said: "If such people do not wish to be exposed and dealt with as alien enemies to their country, they would do well to cut stick while they can do so with safety to their worthless carcasses." In the same paper was a culo;; of Southern chivalry and refinement." On the lips of many a dying prisoner lingered a blessing for those "honorable women."

2 For a full account of prison-life in this Richmond tobacco warehouse, see Ely's Journal; Lieutenant Harris's Prison Life in Richmond; Five Months in Rebeldom, or Notes from the Diary of a Bull's Run Prisoner; and General Corcoran's Captivity. Among the early prisoners was Lieutenant Isaac W. Hart, of Indiana, whose praise was on the lips of all his fellow-captives, because of his overflowing spirits, vivacity, and wit. He told funny stories and sung good songs. One composed by himself, always provoked hopeful feelings when he sang it. It was entitled "The Prisoner's Song," and its burden was the prospect of a speedy exchange. Its concluding words were:-

"And when we arrive in the Land of the Free,

They will smile and welcome us joyfully;

And when we think of the Rebel band,

We'll repeat our motto-' Bite and be damned."

This motto was on the seal of the Prison Association, which was drawn with a pen, and attached to each certificate of membership. The annexed copy is from a book containing the autographs of a number of the officers who were captives at that time. It may here be mentioned that Mr. Huson, who experienced the kind hospitality of Mrs. Van Lew and her family, died while in prison. Mr. Ely was afterward exchanged for Charles James Faulkner, who was the resident Minister of the Republic at the French Court when Buchanan retired from office, and who, on his return to the United States, was arrested and imprisoned under a charge of complicity in the schemes of the conspirators.

* See chapter xxiv., volume I.

See volume 1., page 578.

28

VIGOROUS MEASURES PROPOSED IN CONGRESS.

was believed by many that the seat of Government was at the mercy of its enemies, Congress, on Monday, deliberated as calmly as if assured of perfect safety. Mr. Crittenden's resolution was adopted by a vote of 117 to 2; and

4 July 24, 1861.

two days afterwards," one identical with it passed the Senate by a vote almost as decisive. It was such a solemn declaration of the Government that the conspirators were speaking falsely when charging that Government with waging war for the subjugation of the Southern States, the emancipation of the slaves, and the confiscation of property, that it was not allowed to be published within the bounds of the Confederacy. The writer was so informed by Southern men of intelligence, and that they never heard of the resolution until the war had ceased; also that, had its declarations been known, multitudes would have paused in their rebellious career, and the terrible desolation of the South might have been prevented. This was what the conspirators, who had resolved on rule or ruin, justly feared.

July 22.

b

On the same day the House of Representatives, by an almost unanimous vote, anticipated the wishes of the loyal people by declaring that "the maintenance of the Constitution, the preservation of the Union, and the enforcement of the laws are sacred trusts which must be executed; that no disaster shall discourage us from the most ample performance of this high duty; and that we pledge to the country and the world the employment of every resource, national and individual, for the suppression, overthrow, and punishment of Rebels in arms."

On the same sad day a bill, reported by the Judiciary Committee on the 20th, providing for the confiscation of property used for insurrectionary purposes, was considered in the Senate, to which Mr. Trumbull, of Illinois, the chairman of that committee, offered an amendment, providing that the master of any slave who should employ him for such purpose should forfeit all right to his service or labor thereafter. It was adopted by a vote of 33 against 6. When this bill reached the Lower House, on the 2d of August, it met with strenuous opposition, especially Trumbull's amendment, from Crittenden and Burnet, of Kentucky, Vallandigham, Pendleton, and Cox, of Ohio, and Diven, of New York, chiefly on the ground that it would confirm the belief of the slaveholders that the war was waged for the emancipation of their slaves, and, as a consequence, would produce great exasperation, and increase the rigors of war without increasing the means for the success of the army. Mr. Crittenden was opposed to the passage of any penal laws. "Shall we send forward to the field," he asked, a whole catalogue of penal laws to fight this battle with? Arms more impotent were never resorted to. They are beneath the dignity of our great cause. They are outside of the policy which ought to control this Government, and lead us on to success in the war we are now fighting. If you hold up before your enemies this cloud of penal laws, they will say, 'War is better than peace:

war is comparative repose.' They will say when they are subdued, or if they choose now to submit, 'What next? Have we peace, or is this new army

1 The negatives were Breckinridge and Powell, of Kentucky; Johnson and Polk, of Missouri; and Trumbull, of Illinois. The latter opposed it because of the particular wording of the first clause, and said, “the revolt was occasioned, in my opinion, by people who are not here, nor in this vicinity. It was started in South Carolina. I think the resolution limits it to a class of persons [those 'in arms around the Capital'] who were not the originators of this Rebellion."

CONFISCATION, EMANCIPATION, AND PEACE.

29

of penal laws then to come into action? Are these penal laws to inflict upon us a long agony of prosecution and forfeiture?' No, gentlemen, it is not by such means that we are to achieve the great object of establishing our Union and reuniting the country. Sir, these laws will have no efficacy in war. Their only effect will be to stimulate your adversaries to still more desperate measures. That will be the effect of this army of penal laws."

....

Mr. Stevens, of Pennsylvania, strenuously advocated the bill, and especially Mr. Trumbull's amendment concerning the freedom of slaves employed for insurrectionary purposes; and, in reply to the assertions that the insurgents would never submit, that they could not be conquered, that they would suffer themselves to be slaughtered and their whole country to be laid waste," he said, "Sir, war is a grievous thing at best, and civil war more than any other; but if they hold this language, and the means which they have suggested must be resorted to, if their whole country must be laid waste and made a desert in order to save this Union from destruction, so let it be. I would rather, sir, reduce them to a condition where their whole country is to be peopled by a band of freemen than to see them perpetrate the destruction of this people through our agency. . . . . I warn Southern gentlemen that if this war is to continue, there will be a time when my friend from New York [Mr. Diven] will see it declared by this free nation that every bondsman in the South-belonging to a rebel, recollect; I confine it to them-shall be called upon to aid us in war against their masters, and to restore this Union." The bill was recommitted to the Committee on the Judiciary, and on the following day it was reported back with Trumbull's amendment so modified as to include only those slaves whose labor for insurrectionary purposes was employed in "any military or naval service against the Government and authority of the United States." With the amendment so modified, the bill was passed by a vote of 60 against 48. When it was returned to the Senate, it was concurred in, on motion of Mr. Trumbull, and was passed' by a vote of 24 ¿ Aug. 6. against 11. The President's signature to it made it law on the same day. This was the first act of Congress, after the beginning of the war, concerning the emancipation of slaves and the confiscation of property.

a Aug. 8, 1861.

We have already observed the peace propositions of Vallandigham, of Ohio, and Wood, of New York. These were followed, later in the session, after Clarke, of New Hampshire, had asked and obtained leave of the Senate to offer a joint resolution declaratory of the determination of Congress to maintain the supremacy of the Government and integrity of the Union, by propositions for securing peace and reconciliation by friendly measures. One of these, offered in the House of Representatives by S. S. Cox, of Ohio, proposed the appointment of a committee, composed of one member of Congress from each State, who should report to the House, at the next session, such amendments to the National Constitution as should "assuage all grievances and bring about a reconstruction of the national unity;" also the appointment of a committee for the purpose of preparing such adjustment, and a conference

1 Congressional Globe, Aug. 2, 1861; History of the Anti-slavery Measures of the Thirty-seventh and Thirty-eighth Congresses, by Senator Henry Wilson, chapter I.

2 Volume I., page 578.

30

FINANCIAL MEASURES OF THE GOVERNMENT.

requisite for that purpose, composed of seven citizens, whom he named,' who should request the appointment of a similar committee "from the so-called Confederate States," the two commissions to meet at Louisville, Kentucky, on the first Monday in September following. This was followed by a proposition from W. P. Johnson, of Missouri, to recommend the Governors of the several States to convene the respective legislatures for the purpose of calling an election to select two delegates from each Congressional district, to meet in convention at Louisville on the same day, "to devise measures for the restoration of peace to our country." These, and all other propositions of like nature, Congress refused to entertain, for they were satisfied that the conspirators, who had appealed to the arbitrament of the sword, would not listen to the voice of patriotism. The judgment of the majority was in consonance with a resolution which Mr. Diven, of New York, proposed to offer, namely: "That, at a time when an armed rebellion is threatening the integrity of the Union and the overthrow of the Government, any and all resolutions or recommendations designed to make terms with armed rebels are either cowardly or treasonable." They recognized war as existing in all its hideousness in the bosom of the nation, and legislated accordingly. Acting upon the recommendation of the Secretary of the Treasury (Mr. Chase), Congress authorized a loan of $250,000,000, for which bonds and Treasurynotes were to be issued. The bonds were to be irredeemable for twenty years, and to bear interest not exceeding seven per cent. per annum; while the Treasury notes of fifty dollars and upwards were to be payable three years after date, with annual interest at the rate of seven and three-tenths per cent. per annum. For greater convenience in the disbursements of the Government, and the payment of revenue, Treasury notes were authorized in denominations not less than five dollars, and to the extent of fifty millions of dollars. The Government was allowed to deposit its funds with solvent banks, instead of confining these deposits to the National Sub-treasury. This measure, together with the issue of the bills receivable for specie, relieved the financial pressure at a time when it' threatened serious embarrassments.

AMER

1861.

To provide for the payment of the interest on this debt, and August 5, to meet other demands, an act was passed for the increase of revenues from imports, by which new duties were imposed upon foreign articles of luxury and necessity. By a provision of the same act, a direct tax of twenty millions of dollars was to be laid upon the real estate of the country, in which the amount to be raised in each State was specified, not excepting those in which rebellion existed. Provision was also made for levying a tax on the excess of all incomes above eight hundred dollars; but

1 Edward Everett, of Massachusetts; Franklin Pierce, of New Hampshire; Millard Fillmore, of New York; Reverdy Johnson, of Maryland; Martin Van Buren, of New York; Thomas Ewing, of Ohio; and James Guthrie, of Kentucky.

2 See No. 40 of the Acts and Resolutions passed during the First Session of the Thirty-seventh Congress.

ADJOURNMENT OF CONGRESS.-CONFEDERATE CONGRESS. 31

Mr. Chase's suggestion concerning excise duties, and other taxes on special articles of personal property, legacies, &c., were not adopted at that time. Indeed, this system of taxation was not put in operation until after it was modified at the next session of Congress; for the President, who was invested with power to appoint officers to carry it out, was not allowed by the act to exercise it until the following February.'

In the month of September, Mr. Chase sent forth a patriotic appeal to the »people, in behalf of the subscription to the authorized loan. He called for purchasers at par of one hundred and fifty millions of Treasury notes, bearing seven and three-tenths per cent. interest, and met with a cordial response from individuals and banking institutions. The obvious advantages of the loan caused the first and second issues, of fifty millions each, to be generally absorbed for investment; and this mark of confidence in the Government and the financial system of the Secretary filled the hearts of the loyal people with gladness. We shall, as occasion offers, hereafter notice the working of the Treasury Department under the management of Mr. Chase.

When Congress had finished the business for which they were called together, they adjourned on the 6th of August, after a session of thirty-three days. They had worked earnestly and industriously, and the product of their labors consisted of the passage of sixty-one public and seven private acts, and five joint resolutions. They had made ample provisions for sustaining the contest against the enemies of the Republic; and, on the day before the adjournment, in a joint resolution, they requested the President to “recommend a day of public humiliaiton, prayer, and fasting, to be observed by the people of the United States with religious solemnity, and the offering of fervent supplications to Almighty God for the safety and welfare of these States, his blessings on their arms, and a speedy restoration of peace."

a May 21, 1861.

Whilst the National Congress was in session at Washington, and armies were contending along the borders of Bull's Run, the Third Session of the so-called "Provisional Congress" of the conspirators (who, as we have seen, had left the Senate-Chamber of the Capitol of Alabama, at Montgomery, wherein their Confederacy was formed) was commenced in the Capitol of Virginia, at Richmond, on the 20th of July.* There was a full attendance. The members assembled at noon, and were called to order by Howell Cobb, when the Rev. S. K. Tallmadge, of Georgia, made a prayer. At half-past twelve o'clock, Col. Josselyn, the private secretary of Jefferson Davis, appeared, and delivered to "Congress" a communi

It was estimated by the Secretary of the Treasury, that the real and personal values in the United States, at that time, reached the vast aggregate of $16,000,000,000, of which $11,000,000,000 were in the loyal States. It was also estimated that the yearly surplus earnings of the loyal people amounted to over $400,000,000.

The war," said Mr. Chase, “made necessary by insurrection, and reluctantly accepted by the Government, must be prosecuted with all possible vigor, until the restoration of the just authority of the Union shall insure permanent peace. The same Providence which conducted our fathers through the difficulties and dangers which beset the formation of the Union, has graciously strengthened our hands for the work of its preservation. The crops of the year are ample. Granaries and barns are everywhere full. The capitalists of the country come cheerfully forward to sustain the credit of the Government. Already, also, even in advance of this appeal, men of all occupations seek to share the honors and the advantages of the loan. Never, except because of the temporary depression caused by the rebellion, and the derangement of business occasioned by it, were the people of the United States in a better condition to sustain a great contest than now."

The President, by proclamation on the 12th of August, appointed the last Thursday in September to be observed as a day of fasting, humiliation, and prayer.

• Sce page 547, volume I.