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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

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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.

SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That every person who shall so build, fit out, equip, load, or otherwise prepare, or who shall send to sea, or navigate, as owner, master, factor, agent, or otherwise, any ship or vessel, steamship, or steam-vessel, belonging in whole or in part to citizens of the United States, or registered, enrolled, or licensed within the same, or at any port thereof, knowing or intending that the same shall be employed in that trade or business aforesaid, contrary to the true intent and meaning of this act, or in anywise aiding or abetting therein, shall be severally liable to be indicted therefor, and, on conviction thereof, shall be liable to a fine not exceeding two thousand dollars and be imprisoned not exceeding one year.

SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That if any citizen or citizens of the United States shall, contrary to the true intent and meaning of this act, take on board of any vessel, or receive or transport any such persons as are above described in this act, for the purpose of disposing of them as aforesaid, he or they shall be liable to be indicted therefor, and, on conviction thereof, shall be liable to a fine not exceeding two thousand dollars and be imprisoned not exceeding one year.

SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That nothing in this act herein before contained shall be deemed or construed to apply to or affect any free and voluntary emigration of any Chinese subject, or to any vessel carrying such person as passenger on board the same: [but a consular certificate to be required in such case].

SEC. 5. [Provisions of acts of February 22, 1847, and March 3, 1849, relating to passengers in merchant vessels, to apply to such vessels carrying passengers between foreign ports.]

SEC. 6. And be it further enacted, That the President of the United States shall be, and he is hereby, authorized and empowered, in such way and at such time as he shall judge proper to the end that the provisions of this act may be enforced according to the true intent and meaning thereof, to direct and order the vessels of the United States, and the masters and commanders thereof, to examine all vessels navigated or owned in whole or in part by citizens of the United States, and registered, enrolled,

or licensed under the laws of the United States, wherever they may be, whenever, in the judgment of such master or commanding officer thereof, reasonable cause shall exist to believe that such vessel has on board, in violation of the provisions of this act, any subjects of China known as "coolies," for the purpose of transportation; and upon sufficient proof that such vessel is employed in violation of the provisions of this act, to cause such vessel to be carried, with her officers and crew, into any port or district within the United States, and delivered to the marshal of such district, to be held and disposed of according to the provisions of this act. SEC. 7. And be it further enacted, That this act shall take effect from and after six months from the day of its passage.

APPROVED, February 19, 1862.

No. 14.

Act authorizing the Issue of Legal
Tender Notes

February 25, 1862

In his annual report of December 9, 1861, Secretary Chase stated that loans to the amount of $200,000,000 would be required to meet the estimated expenditures for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1862. He proposed the establishment of a national banking system, but did not recommend the further issue of treasury notes. December 28 the New York banks suspended specie payment. By a joint resolution of January 21, 1862, Congress announced its intention of raising $150,000,000 by taxes and duties. January 22 Elbridge G. Spaulding of New York reported to the House, from the Committee of Ways and Means, a bill to authorize the issue of legal tender notes, etc., being a substitute for a bill for the issue of $100,000,000 demand notes, but without the legal tender provision, reported by Spaulding January 7. The bill encountered strong opposition both in and out of Congress, but on February 6 it passed the House, with various amendments, by a vote of 93 to 59. On the 13th the Senate, by a vote of 17 to 22, rejected an amendment striking out the legal tender clause, and passed the bill with amendments by a vote of 30 to 7. The House refusing to concur in the amendments of the Senate, the bill went to a conference committee, whose report was accepted on the 24th by the House by a vote of 98 to 22, and by the Senate without a division. The next day, however, on the motion of Fessenden, the action of

the Senate was reconsidered and a second conference asked for. The report of this committee was accepted by the houses, and on the 25th the act was approved. A further issue of legal tender notes, to the amount of $150,000,000, was authorized by an act of July 11, a third, to the amount of $100,000,000, by a joint resolution of January 17, 1863, and a fourth, of $150,000,000, March 3, 1863.

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REFERENCES. Text in U.S. Statutes at Large, XII, 345-348. For the proceedings see the House and Senate Journals, 37th Cong., 2d Sess., and the Cong. Globe, where are also the texts of the numerous amendments offered. Morrill's substitute, embodying the recommendations of business men and bankers in consultation with Chase, and without the legal tender clause, is summarized in the Globe for February 4. On the constitutionality of the legal tender provision see Hepburn v. Griswold, 8 Wallace, 603; Legal Tender Cases, 12 ibid., 457; Juillard v. Greenman, 110 U.S. Reports, 421. On the general subject see Hart, Salmon P. Chase, chaps. 9, 11; McCall, Thaddeus Stevens, chaps. 9, 10; Rhodes, United States, III, 558-572; Dewey, Financial History, chap. 12; E. J. James in Publ. Amer. Econ. Assoc., Vol. III; Bancroft, Plea for the Constitution; John Sherman, Recollections, I, chap. 12; Blaine, Twenty Years of Congress, I, chap. 18.

An Act to authorize the Issue of United States Notes, and for the Redemption or Funding thereof, and for Funding the Floating Debt of the United States.

Be it enacted. . ., That the Secretary of the Treasury is hereby authorized to issue, on the credit of the United States, one hundred and fifty millions of dollars of United States notes, not bearing interest, payable to bearer, at the Treasury of the United States, and of such denominations as he may deem expedient, not less than five dollars each: Provided, however, That fifty millions of said notes shall be in lieu of the demand Treasury notes authorized to be issued by the act of July seventeen, eighteen hundred and sixty-one; which said demand notes shall be taken up as rapidly as practicable, and the notes herein provided for substituted for them: And provided further, That the amount of the two kinds of notes together shall at no time exceed the sum of one hundred and fifty millions of dollars, and such notes herein authorized shall be receivable in payment of all taxes, internal duties, excises, debts, and demands of every kind due to the United States, except duties on imports,

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