diate; which was disagreed to-yeas 11, nays 27, as follows: YEAS-Messrs. Carlile, Collamer, Cowan, Fessenden, Grimes, Harlan, Lane of Kansas, Pomeroy, Sumner, Wade, Wilson of Massachusetts-11. NAYS-Messrs. Anthony, Arnold, Chandler, Clark, Davis, Dixon, Doolittle, Foster, Harris, Henderson, Hicks, Howard, Howe, King, Latham, McDougall, Morrill, Nesmith, Powell, Rice, Richardson, Sherman, Ten Eyck, Trumbull, Wilkinson, Wilmot, Wilson of Missouri-27. The bill, as amended, then passed the Senate -yeas 23, nays 18, as follows: YEAS-Messrs. Anthony, Arnold, Chandler, Clark, Collamer, Doolittle, Foot, Foster, Harlan, Harris, Henderson, Howard, Howe, King, Lane of Kansas, Morrill, Pomeroy, Sumner, Trumbull, Wade, Wilkinson, Wilmot, Wilson of Massachusetts-23. NAYS-Messrs. Carlile, Cowan, Davis, Fessenden, Grimes, Harding, Kennedy, Lane of Indiana, Latham, McDougall, Nesmith, Powell, Richardson, Saulsbury, Ten Eyck, Turpie, Wall, Wilson of Missouri-18. February 18-The bill was considered in the House of Representatives, and recommitted to the Select Committee-yeas 81, nays 51. February 25-The committee reported back the bill, but it was not again considered by the House. March 3-Mr. WHITE, of Indiana, moved to suspend the rules to take it up, but the motion was lost-yeas 62, nays 57, (two thirds being required.) COMPENSATED EMANCIPATION IN MARYLAND. 1863, January 12-Mr. FRANCIS THOMAS of fered the following resolution, which was agreed to: EMANCIPATION IN MARYLAND-ITS DAWNING. At the meeting of the Union Convention of Baltimore city, May 28, 1862, Mr. P. G. Sauerwein, from the Business Committee, reported these resolutions, which were adopted, seriatim, unanimously: Whereas, the Union men of the city of Baltimore have recently, by large meetings in their respective wards, chosen this City Convention to represent their political interest for the ensuing year, and it is proper that amid the rapid progress of events, and in these times of emergency and peril, we should more definitely settle and deûne our position and principles in the face of the country: Therefore, Resolved, By the Union City Convention of Baltimore, that we reaffirm our unconditional adhesion to the Constitulon and Government of the United States. 2. That the National Government ought not to lay down its arms until its authority shall be acknowledged and obeyed in every portion of the national territory. der the leadership of men who have, by their votes and 3. That the attempt to revive a political organization unspeeches, encouraged the rebellion, or carped at the neces sary measures of the Government in its hour of trial, or failed to sympathize in the great uprising of the people to defend the Union, ought to be discouraged by every true patriot as a selfish and disloyal effort to obtain power in the future by conciliating those who are now in flagrant rebellion. forts of the Administration to maintain the integrity and 4. That we cordially approve the firm and vigorous ef honor of our country, to crush rebellion, and to anticipate and defeat the acts of traitors; and we are fully persuaded that, so long as the insurrection is raging, leniency is wasted alike upon the rebels in arms, and upon their malignant sympathizers at home; and that all efforts at conciliation will prove unavailing till the Government shall have fully demonstrated its power. 5. That we approve the wise and conservative policy proResolved, That the Committee on Emancipation and Colo-posed by the President in his message of the 6th March, nization be instructed to inquire into the expediency of to such States as may choose to adopt a system of gradual 1862, and sanctioned by Congress, tendering pecuniary aid making an appropriation to aid the State of Maryland in a emancipation; and that it is not only the duty of the loyal system of emancipation and colonization of persons of color, people of Maryland to meet the Government in this endeavor to relieve them, in the only practical way, from the evils which armed insurrection has brought upon the land, thus sustaining the Government as well against the treason inhabitants of said State. January 19-Mr. BINGHAM, of Ohio, introduced a bill giving aid to the State of Maryland, for the purpose of securing the abolish-fanatical abolitionists, but that it is likewise for the interest ment of slavery in said State. February 25-Mr. WHITE, of Indiana, reported back the bill with amendments. The bill appropriated $10,000,000, upon the passage of an emancipation bill, to take effect within two years from Jan. 1, 1863, upon substantially the terms set forth in the Missouri bill, as passed by the House. After some debate, the bill was re-committed to the Select Committee by a vote of-yeas 75, nays 55, as follows: YEAS-Messrs. Aldrich, Alley, Arnold, Ashley, Babbitt, Baker, Beaman, Bingham, Jacob B. Blair, Samuel S. Blair, Blake, William G. Brown, Buffinton, Campbell, Casey, Chamberlain, Clark, Clements, Colfax, Frederick A. Conkling, Roscoe Conkling, Cutler, Davis, Dawes, Diven, Edgerton, Edwards, Eliot, Ely, Fenton, Samuel C. Fessenden, Thomas A. D. Fessenden, Fisher, Flanders, Frank, Gooch, Gurley, Hahn, Hutchins, Kelley, Lansing, Leary, Lehman, Loomis, Lovejoy, Low, McIndoe, McKean, McKnight, Maynard, Mitchell, Moorhead, Justin S. Morrill, Nixon, Pendletm, Timothy G. Phelps, Pomeroy, Alexander H. Rice, John H. Rice, Riddle, Edward H. Rollins, Sargent, Sedgwick, Sheffield, Shellabarger, Sherman, Stevens, Francis Thomas, Troworidge, Verree, Walker, Wallace, Albert S. White, Wilson, Windom-75. NAYS-Messrs. William Allen, William J. Allen, Ancona, Biddle, Calvert, Conway, Cor, Cravens, Crisfield, Delano, Dunlap, Dunn, Fouke, Granger, Haight, Hale, Hall, Harding, Harrison, Holman, Johnson, Kerrigan, Knapp, Law, Lazear, McPherson, Mallory, May, Menzies, Morris, Noble, Norton, Nugen, Perry, Porter, Price, Robinson, James S. Rollins, Segar, Smith, John B. Steele, William G. Sterle, Stiles, Benjamin F. Thomas, Train, Trimble, Vallandigham, Wadsworth, Ward, Webster, Wickliffe, Wood, Woodruff, Worcester, Feaman-55. It was not again reached. of secession as against the radical and violent projects of of all the people of this State, more especially of the save owners, promptly to accept the aid thus tendered, and remove from our midst au institution which has ceased to be profitable, and is now injurious to our political and material interests, and dangerous to our peace and safety, by inaugurating such a plan of emancipation and colonization as will be equitable to those interested, and as will tend to secure the industry of the State to the white labor of the State. 6. That the Legislature, at its late session, in failing to failing to make adequate provision for the families of our adopt stringent measures for the suppression of treason; in volunteers; in failing to organize the military of the State; in putting forth unnecessary protests calculated to embar rass the action of the Government and throw doubt upon the position of the State; and, in neglecting to comply with its constitutional duty, to provide for a vote on the question of a Constitutional Convention, did not meet the demands of the crisis, or answer the just expectations of the loyal people of Maryland. tion of republican institutions; and whereas notwithstand Whereas, the principle of equal rights underlies the foundaing the eight counties (this city included) lying north of the Sassafras and Patapsco rivers contain about three fourths of the white population and wealth of this State, and pay more than three fourths of the taxes, yet, according to the southern counties, containing one fourth of the population basis of representation under the present constitution, the and wealth, and paying less than one fourth of the taxes, thirty-four out of the seventy four delegates, and fourteen possess the virtual control of the whole State, sending out of twenty-two senators, to the Legislature, being an average of one delegate to 3,831 white persons in the southern counties, against one delegate to 9,641 in the northern, and one senator to 9,205 in the former against one senator to 48,205 free white persons in the latter; and whereas, in which Baltimore city has no more voice in the Senate than the present arrangement of representation, according to counties containing hardly more voters than one of her wards, and was deprived of fifteen delegates to which she was entitled, which were distributed among the southern counties exclusively, the object was to secure the power of | States of America, and Commander-in-Chief of the State to the slave-owners, constituting less thansixteen the army and navy thereof, do hereby proclaim thousand individuals, as is apparent from the fact that the number of slaves in the city is less than one per cent. of the and declare that hereafter, as heretofore, the whole population, and that the proportion of slaves to the whites throughout the northern part of the State is less than tically restoring the constitutional relation bewar will be prosecuted for the object of pracfour of the former to one hundred of the latter, whilst the proportion in the favored counties is fitty six slaves to one hun- tween the United States and each of the States dred white people; and whereas, the Governor, the judges of and the people thereof, in which States that rethe court of appeals, and the United States Senators are elect-lation is or may be suspended or disturbed. ed according to a similar unjust arrangement, for the same purpose of confirming and perpetuating this domination of the slaveholding counties; and whereas, in pursuance of the same partial and iniquitous scheme, the owners of slave property are exempted from equal taxation, while they are compensated to its full value in the case of convict slaves all of which is an intolerable burden to the majority of our people, who are, nevertheless, without a remedy under the present constitution; Therefore Resolved, That the State constitution ought to be changed, so as to correct the present unequal representation of the people in the Legislature, and to secure the right of representation in proportion to white population to all parts of the State. ARCHIBALD STIRLING, JR., Pres't. JOHN H. LLOYD, Secretary. IN CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION. 1864, June 24-The question recurred on the twenty-third article of the Bill of Rights: Hereafter, in this State, there shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except in punishment of crime, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, and all persons held to labor as slaves are hereby declared free. An amendment was pending, offered by Mr. Brown, of Queen Anne's, as follows: And the Legislature shall make provision from the treastry of the State for the comfortable support and maintenance of the helpless and paupers hereby emancipated. The amendment was rejected-yeas 27, nays 53: YEAS-Messrs. Berry of Baltimore county, Berry of Prince George's, Billingsley, Blackiston, Briscoe, Brown, Chambers, Clarke, Crawford, Dail, Dennis, Duvall, Edelen, Gale, Harwood, Hollyday, Horsey, Johnson, Lansdale, Lee, Marbury, Mitchell, Miller, Parran, Peter, Smith of Dorchester, Turner-27. NAYS-Messrs. President (H. H. Goldsborough), Abbott, The article was then adopted-yeas 53, nays 27: W. S. Wooden-53. NAYS-Messrs. S. H. Berry, C. Billingsley, D. G. Blackiston, J. T. Briscoe, J. Brown, E. F. Chambers, D. Clarke, A. J. Crawford, T. I. Dail, Peregrine Davis, J. U. Dennis, E. P. Duvall, R. H. Edelen, W. H. Gale, S. Harwood, G. S. Hollyday, C. Horsey, A. Johnson, Thomas Lansdale, J. Lee, F. Marbury, J. W. Mitchell, O. Miller, C. S. Parran, G. Peter, W. A. Smith, J. Turner-27. Emancipation. PROCLAMATIONS OF THE PRESIDENT. September 22, 1862.* That it is my purpose, upon the next meeting of Congress, to again recommend the adoption of a practical measure tendering pecuniary aid to the free acceptance or rejection of all slave States, so called, the people wh reof may not then be in rebellion against the United States, and which States may then have voluntarily adopted, or thereafter may voluntarily adopt, immediate or gradual abolishment of slavery within their respective limits; and that the effort to colonize persons of African descent with their consent upon this continent or elsewhere, with the previously obtained consent of the Governments existing there, will be contin ued. That on the first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, all persons held as slaves within any whereof shall then be in rebellion against the State or designated part of a State, the people United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free; and the Executive Government of the United States, including the military and the Potomac is called to General Order No. 139, War Department, September 24th, 1862, publishing to the army the President's prociamation of September 22d. cially communicated to the army, affords to the General A proclamation of such grave moment to the nation, offiCommanding an opportunity of defining specifically to the officers and soldiers under his command the relation borne by all persons in the military service of the United States towards the civil authorities of the Government. tive, judicial, and executive-the power and duty of The Constitution confides to the civil authorities-legisiamaking, expounding, and executing the Federal laws. Armed forces are raised and supported simply to sustain the civil authorities, and are to be held in strict subordi nation thereto in ail respects. This fundamental law of our political system is essential to the security of our republican institutions, and should be thoroughly understood and observed by every soldier. The principle upon which and the objects for which armies shall be employed in suppressing rebellion must be determined and declared by the authorities, and the Chief Executive, who is charged with the administration of the national affairs, is the proper and only source through which the views and orders of the Government can be made known to the armies of the nation. Discussion by officers and soldiers concerning public measures determined upon and declared by the Government, when carried beyond the ordinary, temperate, and respectful expression of opinion, tend greatly to impair and destroy the discipline and efficiency of the troops, by substituting the spirit of political faction for the firm, steady, and earnest support of the authority of the Government, which is the highest duty of the American soldier. The remedy for political errors, if any are committed, is to be found only in the action of the people at the polis. In thus calling the attention of this army to the true relation between the soldiers and the Government, the General Commanding merely adverts to an evil against which it has been thought advisable during our whole history to guard the armies of the Republic, and in so doing he will not be considered, by any right minded person, as casting any reflection upon that loyalty and good conduct which has been so fully illustrated upon so many battlefields. In carrying out all measures of public policy this army I, ABRAHAM LINCOLN, President of the United will, of course, be guided by the same rules of mercy and Christianity that have ever controlled its conduct towards the defenceless. By command of Maj. Gen. McClellan : JAMES A. HARDIE, Lieut. Col. Aid-de-Camp and Act'g Ass't Adjt. General. naval authority thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of such persons, and will do no act or acts to repress such persons, or any of them, in any efforts they may make for their actual freedom. That the Executive will, on the first day of January aforesaid, by proclamation, designate the States and parts of States, if any, in which the people thereof respectively, shall then be in rebellion against the United States; and the fact that any State, or the people thereof, shall on that day be, in good faith, represented in the Congress of the United States by members chosen thereto at elections wherein a majority of the qualified voters of such State shall have participated, shall, in the absence of strong countervailing testimony, be deemed conclusive evidence that such State, and the people thereof, are not in rebellion against the United States. That attention is hereby called to an act of Congress entitled "An act to make an additional article of war," approved March 3, 1862, and which act is in the words and figures following: "Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That hereafter the following shall be promulgated as an additional article of war, for the government of the army of the United States, and shall be obeyed and observed as such. "ARTICLE. All officers or persons in the military or naval service of the United States are prohibited from employing any of the forces under their respective commands for the purpose of returning fugitives from service or labor who may have escaped from any persons to whom such service or labor is claimed to be due, and any officer who shall be found guilty by a court-martial of violating this article shall be dismissed from the service. "SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That this act shall take effect from and after its passage.' Also to the ninth and tenth sections of an act entitled "An act to suppress insurrection, to punish treason and rebellion, to seize and confiscate property of rebels, and for other purposes," approved July 17, 1862, and which sections are in the words and figures following: "SEC. 9. And be it further enacted, That all slaves of persons who shall hereafter be engaged in rebellion against the Government of the United States or who shall in any way give aid or comfort thereto, escaping from such persons and taking refuge within the lines of the army; and all slaves captured from such persons or deserted by them, and coming under the control of the Government of the United States; and all slaves of such persons found on [or] being within any place occupied by rebel forces and afterwards occupied by the forces of the United States, shall be deemed captives of war, and shall be forever free of their servitude, and not again held as slaves. shall have remained loyal thereto throughout the rebellion shall (upon the restoration of the constitutional relation between the United States and their respective States and people, if that relation shall have been suspended or disturbed) be compensated for all losses by acts of the United States, including the loss of slaves. In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed. Done at the city of Washington this twentysecond day of September, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixtytwo, and of the Independence of the United States the eighty-seventh. ABRAHAM LINCOLN. By the President: WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State. - January 1, 1863. WHEREAS, on the twenty-second day of September, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, a proclamation was issued by the President of the United States, containing, among other things, the following, to wit: "That on the first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, all persons held as slaves within any State or designated part of a State, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and forever, free; and the Executive Government of the United States, including the military and naval authority thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of such persons, and will do no act or acts to repress such persons, or any of them, in any efforts they may make for their ac tual freedom. "That the Executive will, on the first day of January aforesaid, by proclamation, designate the States and parts of States, if any, in which the people thereof, respectively, the fact that any State, or the people thereof, shall on that shall then be in rebellion against the United States; and day be in good faith represented in the Congress of the wherein a majority of the qualified voters of such States United States, by members chosen thereto at elections shall have participated, shall, in the absence of strong countervailing testimony, be deemed conclusive evidence that such State, and the people thereof, are not then in rebellion against the United States." Now, therefore, I, ABRAHAM LINCOLN, President of the United States, by virtue of the power in me vested as Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, in time of actual armed rebellion against the authority and Government of the United States, and as a fit and necessary war measure for sup January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and in accordance with my purpose so to do, publicly proclaimed for the full period of one hundred days from the day first above mentioned, order and designate as the States and parts of States wherein the people thereof, respectively, are this day in rebellion against the United States, the following, to wit: "SEC. 10. And be it further enacted, That no slave escap-pressing said rebellion, do, on this first day of ing into any State, Territory, or the District of Columbia, from any other State, shall be delivered up, or in any way impeded or hindered of his liberty, except for crime, or some offence against the laws, unless the person claiming said fugitive shall first make oath that the person to whom the labor or service of such fugitive is alleged to be due is his lawful owner, and has not borne arms against the United States in the present rebellion, nor in any way given aid and comfort thereto; and no person engaged in the military or naval service of the United States shall, under any pretence whatever, assume to decide on the validity of the claim of any person to the service or labor of any other person, or surrender up any such person to the claimant, on pain of being dismissed from the service." And I do hereby enjoin upon and order all persons engaged in the military and naval service of the United States to observe, obey, and enforce, within their respective spheres of service, the act and sections above recited. And the Executive will in due time recommend that all citizens of the United States who Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana, (except the parishes of St. Bernard, Plaquemines, Jefferson, St. John, St. Charles, St. James, Ascension, Assumption, Terre Bonne, Lafourche, St. Mary, St. Martin, and Orleans, including the city of New Orleans, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia, (except the forty-eight counties designated as West Virginia, and also the counties of Berkeley, Accomac, Northampton, Elizabeth NAYS-Messrs. William J. Allen, Ancona, Baily, Biddle, City, York, Princess Ann, and Norfolk, includ-Clements, Cobb, Cox, Crisfield, Crittenden, Delaplaine, Dun rison, Holman, Knapp, Law, Lazear, Mallory, May, May lap, English, Fouke, Granger, Grider, Hall, Harding, Har nard, Menzies, Morris, Noble, Norton, Odell, Pendleton, Price, Robinson, Shefield, Shiel, Smith, John B. Steele, William G. Steele, Stiles, Benjamin F. Thomas, Vallandigham, Voorhees, Wadsworth, Chilton A. While, Wickliffe, Woodruff, Yea-. ing the cities of Norfolk and Portsmouth,) and which excepted parts are for the present left precisely as if this proclamation were not issued. 1862, December 15-Mr. S. C. FESSENDEN, of Maine, offered the following resolutions : Resolved, That the proclamation of the President of the United States, of the date of 22d September, 1862, is warranted by the Constitution. And by virtue of the power and for the pur-man-47. pose aforesaid, I do order and declare that all persons held as slaves within said designated States and parts of States are, and henceforward shall be, free; and that the Executive Government of the United States, including the military and naval authorities thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of said persons. And I hereby enjoin upon the people so declared to be free to abstain from all violence, unless in necessary self-defence; and I recommend to them that, in all cases when allowed, they labor faithfully for reasonable wages. And I further declare and make known that such persons, of suitable condition, will be received into the armed service of the United States to garrison forts, positions, stations, and other places, and to man vessels of all sorts in said service. in that proclamation, is well adapted to hasten the restora Resolved, That the policy of emancipation, as indicated tion of peace, was well chosen as a war measure, and is an exercise of power with proper regard for the rights of the States, and the perpetuity of free government. Which were adopted-yeas 78, nays 52, as follows: YEAS-Messrs. Aldrich, Alley, Arnold, Babbitt, Baker, ham, Chamberlain, Clark, Colfax, Frederick A. Conkling, Beaman, Bingham, Samuel S. Blair, Blake, Buffinton, BurnRoscoe Conkling, Cutler, Dawes, Delano, Duell, Edgerton, A. D. Fessenden, Fisher, Franchot, Frank, Gooch, GoodEdwards, Eliot, Ely, Fenton, Samuel C. Fessenden, Thomas win, Gurley, Haight, Hickman, Hooper, Hutchins, Julian, Kelley, Francis W. Kellogg, William Kellogg, Killinger, Lansing, Loomis, Lovejoy, Low, McPherson, Mitchell, And upon this act, sincerely believed to be ton, Pike, Pomeroy, Porter, Potter, Alexander H. Rice, Moorhead, Auson P. Morrill, Justin S. Morrill, Noell, Patan act of justice, warranted by the Constitution John H. Rice, Riddle, Edward H. Rollins, Sargent, Sedgupon military necessity, I invoke the consid-wick, Shellabarger, Sloan, Spaulding, Train, Trowbridge, erate judgment of mankind and the gracious Washburne, Albert S. White, Wilson, Windom, Worces Van Valkenburgh, Van Wyck, Verree, Walker, Wall, favor of Almighty God. In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed. Done at the city of Washington this first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thouand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of the independence of the United States of America the eighty-seventh. By the President: ABRAHAM LINCOLN. WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State. VOTE ON THE EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION. IN HOUSE. ter-78. Cobb, Cox, Cravens, Crisfield, Crittenden, Delaplaine, Dunlap, First Session, Thirty-Eighth Congress. 1864, Feb. 10-Mr. CLARK introduced to the Senate a bill ratifying the emancipation proclamation and giving it the force of statute; which was referred to the Committee on Slavery and Freedmen. (See Reconstruction bill 1862, December 11-Mr. YEAMAN, of Ky., for a vote of the Senate, page 318.) offered the following resolutions: Resolved by the House of Representatives, (the Senate' concurring.) That the proclamation of the President of the United States, of date the 22d of September, 1862, is not warranted by the Constitution. Releed, That the policy of emancipation, as indicated in that proclamation, is not calculated to hasten the restoration of peace, was not well chosen as a war measure, and is an assumption of power dangerous to the rights of citizens and to the perpetuity of a free people. Which were laid on the table-yeas 95, nays 47, as follows: IN HOUSE. 1863, Dec. 14-Mr. ARNOLD introduced this bill: A bill to aid the President of the United States in carrying into more immediate execution the proclamation of emancipation issued by him on the first day of January, A. D. 1863, prohibiting the holding of certain persons as slaves in all that portion of the United States designated therein. Whereas the President of the United States, by his proclamation issued on the 1st day of January, in the year YEAS-Messrs. Aldrich, Alley, Arnold, Ashley, Babbitt, 1863, a Commander-in-Chief of the Army thereof, did, as Baker, Baxter, Beaman, Bingham, Samuel S. Blair, Blake, a fit and lawful means of suppressing the rebellion, in acBufinton, Burnham, Campbell, Casey, Chamberlain, Clark, cordance with the laws of war and with the dictates of Colfax Frederick A. Conkling, Roscoe Conkling, Conway, justice and humanity, order, proclaim, and declare that Covore, Cutler, Davis, Dawes, Duell, Dunn, Edgerton, Ed- all persons held as slaves within the limits of certain States wards, Eliot, Ely, Fenton, S. C. Fessenden, Thomas A. D. and parts of States therein designated were, and should Fessenden, Franchot, Frank, Gooch, Goodwin, Gurley, thereafter and forever be, free; and that the executive, Haight, Hale, Hickman, Horton, Hutchins, Julian, Kelley, military, and naval authorities would and should thencefor Francis W. Kellogg, William Kellogg, Killinger, Lansing, ward recognize and maintain the freedom of all such perLeary, Lehman, Loomis, Lovejoy, Low, McKnight, McPhersons; and whereas by said proclamation and order the Bon, Mitchell, Moorhead, Anson P. Morrill, Justin S. Morrill, President has guarantied to all such persons their freedom, Noell, Olin, Patton, Timothy G. Phelps, Pike, Pomeroy, and has pledged the faith and honor of the country that Porter, Potter, Alexander H. Rice, John H. Rice, Riddle, their freedom shall be recognized and forever maintained; Edward H. Rollins, Sargent, Sedgwick, Shanks, Bhella- and whereas it is the right and the duty of Congress to barger, Sloan, Spaulding, Stevens, Stratton, Train, Trim- make all laws which may be necessary and proper for carble, Trowbridge, Vandever, Van Horn, Verree, Walker, Wall, rying into execution all the powers, whether civil or miliWallace, Washburne, Albert S. White, Wilson, Windom, tary, vested by the Constitution in the President as ComWorcester-95. mander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy; and among such military powers is that of making and executing the proclamation aforesaid; and whereas all persons heretofore held as slaves, as aforesaid, within said designated States or parts of States are now of right free, and ought to be hereafter forever unmolested in the enjoyment of that freedom which the Government of the United States is bound to" recognize and maintain :" Now, therefore, for the purpose of carrying into more complete and immediate execution the aforesaid proclamation, and to secure forever the recognition and maintenance of the freedom of all persons designated therein, and thereby to provide more effectually for the suppression of the rebellion, the securing of domestic tranquillity, the maintaining of the common defence, and the preservation of the liberties of the people: Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That in all States and parts of States designated in said proclamation as in rebellion, the re-enslaving or holding, or attempting to hold, in slavery or in involuntary servitude of any person who shall have been made or declared to be free by said proclamation, or any of their descendants, from and after the date of said proclamation, otherwise than in punishment of crime whereof the accused shall have been duly convicted, is and shall be forever prohibited, any law or regulation of either of such States to the contrary notwithstanding. Which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. RESOLUTIONS OFFERED. Second Session, Thirty-Seventh Congress. IN HOUSE. 1861, December 3-Mr. SHELLABARGER offered these resolutions: Whereas the Constitution has wisely withdrawn from Congress the command of the armies of the United States; and, after they have been called forth, organized, and disciplined, under the rules which it is competent for Congress to make, and which it has made for the government of the land and naval forces, has placed that supreme command exclusively in the President of the United States: Therefore, Resolved, That it is neither within the province of this House, nor would it be wise, to lay down any rules whatever regulating or attempting to control any part of that chief command of our armies in the field, either in the matter as to what "military necessities" do or do not exist as to the treatment or use of slaves within any of the States, nor in any other matter whatever affecting the supreme command of the President. Resolved, That whilst this House refrains from all attempts to assume any of the functions of the Commanderin-Chief of the Army, and hereby expresses its confidence in the wisdom, prudence, and patriotism of the President, as indicated in the discharge of the most responsible and arduous duties of the present Executive term, and its willingness to continue to him the untrammelled exercise of his powers as the Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy, yet the House deems it appropriate to express its earnest sense and conviction that in the prosecution of this war no resort, on the one hand, should be had to a plea of "military necessity" as a cover for any violation of any constitutional right of any citizen of the United States, either in slaves or any other right of the citizen; nor, on the other hand, should any privileges or protections whatever be extended by our armies either to the title in slaves or in any property whatever which is incompatible with the safety of the Government itself or with the success of our arms in suppressing the rebellion; but all individual rights of property, when necessary, should, in the prosecution of the war, be made to yield to the paramount right of the Government to re-establish the authority of the Constitution over all the people and States of the Union. Which were postponed, and not voted upon. December 4-Mr. CONWAY, on leave, introduced the following joint resolution: Joint resolution in relation to persons claimed as slaves in the States now in rebellion. Whereas the belligerent character acquired by the States now in rebellion confers upon them a recognized status among nations, in contravention of their Federal status, and arising from incompatible relations, which, though not implying nationality, is, nevertheless, one from which they derive important advantage in making war upon the United States; and whereas the Federal Government is by this fact fully exonerated from respecting, in any manner whatso ever, the constitutional obligations it would otherwise be under to said States: Therefore Be it resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the President be requested not to permit the enforcement of any law or usage under which persons may be claimed as slaves within any of said States into which the authority of the United States may be extended, and that he be requested to declare, by proclamation, all persons so claimed to be free, and to employ them in the service of the United States in any capacity to which they may be suited, and in such numbers as the public service may require. Resolved, further, That the faith of the nation be pledged to all persons sustaining loss through the operation of this measure who are now and shall remain loyal to the United States. The resolutions were postponed. Third Session, Thirty-Seventh Congress. 1863, January 12-Mr. WILSON introduced joint resolution to approve, ratify, and confirm the proclamation issued by the President, as Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, dated January 1, 1863. Mr. Cox moved that it be tabled; which was lost-yeas 50, nays 85. It was then referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. First Session, Thirty-Eighth Congress. 1863, December 17-Mr. EDGERTON offered this resolution: Whereas the proclamations of the President of January 1, 1863, and December 8, 1863, in relation to emancipation, impose conditions of pardon and amnesty to the persons who have participated in the existing rebellion, as well as conditions precedent to the establishment and recognition of State government in the States to which said proclama tions apply, which, in the judgment of a large number of faithful citizens, have a tendency to give to the rebellion "the advantage of a changed issue," and "to reinvigorate the otherwise declining insurrection in the South," and to prolong the war: and whereas this House cannot but regard with anxiety the unprecedented and extraordinary claims and assumption of high prerogative by the President in said proclamations, especially in view of the fact that the President, in his inaugural address of the 4th day of March, 1861, declared, “I have no purpose directly or indirectly to interfere with the institution of slavery in the States where it exists; I believe I have no right to do 80, and I have no inclination to do so:" Therefore, Resolved, As the judgment of this House, that the maintenance inviolate of the constitutional powers of Congress, and the rights of the States, and especially the right of each State to order and control its own domestic institutions according to its own judgment exclusively, is essential to the balance of power on which the perfection and endurance of our political fabric of federal union depends; and we denounce, as among the gravest of crimes, the invasion or occupation, by armed force, of any State, under the pretext or for the purpose of coercing the people thereof to modify or abrogate any of their laws or domestic institutions that are consistent with the Constitution of the United States; and we affirm the principle declared in this resolution to be a law, alike to the President and the people of the United States. Mr. GRINNELL moved to table the resolution; which was agreed to-yeas 90, nays 65, as follows: YEAS-Messrs. Alley, Allison, Ames, Anderson, Arnold, Ashley, John D. Baldwin, Beaman, Blaine, Blow, Boutwell, Boyd, Brandegee, Broomall, William G. Brown, Ambrose W. Clark, Freeman Clarke, Cobb, Cole, Creswell, Henry Winter Davis, Thomas T. Davis, Dawes, Deming, Dixon, Driggs, Dumont, Eliot, Farnsworth, Fenton, Frank, Gar field, Gooch, Grinnell, Hale, Higby, Hooper, Hotchkiss, Asahel W. Hubbard, John H. Hubbard, Hulburd, Julian, Kasson, Kelley, Francis W. Kellogg, Orlando Kellogg, Loan, Longyear, Lovejoy, Marvin, McBride, McClurg, McIndoe, S. F. Miller, Moorhead, Morrill, Daniel Morris, Amos Myers, Leonard Myers, Norton, Charles O'Neill, Orth, Patterson, Perham, Pike, Pomeroy, Price, William H. Randall, Alexander H. Rice, John H. Rice, Edward H. Rollins, Schenck, Scofield, Shannon, Sloan, Smith, Smithers, Spalding, Stevens, Thayer, Tracy, Van Valkenburgh, Ellihu B. Washburne, William B. Washburn, Whaley, Williams, Wilder, Wilson, Windom, Woodbridge-90. |