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tion as shall be argeed upon, and if a suitable site or sites cannot otherwise be obtained, the governor, with the consent of the council, may cause sufficient land for such camp or camps to be taken into the possession of the Commonwealth, and occupied for the purposes of a camp or camps, and may enter upon and occupy the same, either with or without the consent of the owner of the same, and the county commissioners of the county in which such lands shall be, shall fix and determine the value of the occupation of such lands per month, and at the end of each month of such occupation, the amount of such allowance shall be paid to the owners of such lands respectively. Notice shall be given by the county commissioners of the time and place, when and where they will proceed to adjust the said value, and from their judgment an appeal may be taken in the same manner as appeals from the judgment of said commissioners fixing damages for lands taken for highways.

SECT. 3. No such companies or regiments shall be placed in said camp or camps until all the members thereof shall have agreed by articles in writing that if they shall be detailed at any time, to be mustered into the service of the United States by the governor, upon the requisition of the president, they will enter into and remain in said service three years, unless sooner discharged by order of the president; or that if at any time the president of the United States shall call for volunteers for the service of the United States, and any portion of said volunteers are allotted to Massachusetts as her quota of the same, then that the governor may detail them, or any portion of them, that he may select to answer such call, and that they thereupon will enter and remain in such service for such time as said call may require, not exceeding three years, and that they will sign such papers and do such acts as may be necessary to make such enlistment effectual and binding; and that whilst in the service of the United States, they will be subject to all the laws of the United States, and all the rules and regulations of said service.

SECT. 4. The formation, organization, drill, and tactics, of the military force while in camp, by virtue of this act, shall in all respects conform to the provisions of the laws of the United States, or to any order which may be made by the commander-in-chief; and the men shall conform, so far as practicable, to the standard established for enlistment in the regular service of the United States; and the governor may make such changes in the men and officers in the several companies to be placed in camp, or detailed to be ordered into the service of the United States, as may be necessary to produce conformity to the regulations of the United States.

SECT. 5. The military force while in the camp or camps established by this act for discipline and instruction, shall be subject to the rules and articles for governing the militia in actual service.

SECT. 6. The governor, with the consent of the council, may appoint a suitable person, removable at his pleasure, to have the command of each camp established by virtue of this act, who shall be subordinate only to the commander-in-chief, with such rank and such powers and duties as the governor may, from time to time, prescribe; and such person so appointed for such command may, with the approval of the governor and council, appoint one or more suitable persons for the instruction, under his orders, of the officers and men in the camp under his command; and the officers and instructors who may be appointed under the provisons of this section shall be commissioned by the governor, with such rank and pay as shall be determined by the governor and

council.

SECT. 7. The authority of the officer or officers in command of the camps respect. ively, may be extended by order of the commander-in-chief to a distance of one-fourth of a mile around such camps, and upon such external space no persons other than the owners of the same with their servants, for the purpose of occupying and improving the same in the same manner and way they occupied and improved the same at the time such camps shall be established, shall be allowed to enter, except under such rules as shall be established by the commanding officers of the camps respectively, with the approval of the governor, or by special permission of the officer in command for the time being, or some officer by him designated, and if any person shall so enter he may be immediately expelled.

SECT. 8. The privates while in said camp shall be entitled to the same pay, clothing, and subsistence as privates in the army of the United States; and the officers, except those whose pay is specially provided for in this act, shall receive such pay as shall be fixed by the governor and council, but in no case higher pay than that of a captain in the army of the United States. Such payment shall be made monthly, unless such troops or a portion of them shall be mustered into the army of the United States, in which case the portion so detailed shall be entitled to be paid up to the day when they are mustered into the service of the United States.

SECT. 9. The governor, with the consent of the council, may appoint, commission, and fix the pay of a suitable person, removable at pleasure, as paymaster for the camps established by virtue of this act, whose duty it shall be to receive from the treasurer, upon the order of the governor, and pay over, all moneys which shall become due to the officers, instructors, and men in such camp under the provisions of this act; and such paymaster, before entering upon the duties of his office, shall enter into bond to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, in such sum as the governor shall direct, with such sureties as he shall approve, to be evidenced by his indorsing approval on such bond, conditioned for the faithful application, according to law, of all moneys he shall receive by virtue of his office, and which bond shall be filed in the office of the treasurer; and in case of breach of conditions of said bond, such paymaster shall be prosecuted by the attorney-general, under the direction of the treasurer.

SECT. 10. The commanding officers of the several companies in camp shall make monthly returns of the service of the several members thereof to the commanding officers of their regiments, respectively, and such commanding officers shall make returns of their regiments to the commanding officer of said camps, respectively, which returns, with a return of the services of all officers and instructors in said camps respectively, shall be transmitted to the adjutant-general, and the governor shall draw his warrant monthly, upon the treasurer, in favor of the paymaster for the pay for the same, according to a pay-roll, which shall be furnished by the adjutant-general, based upon the returns made as above provided.

SECT. 11. Companies, battalions, and regiments of the volunteer militia, who shall volunteer to go into the service of the United States, shall, upon the expiration of such service, hold the position in the volunteer militia which they held when they volunteered into such service, unless otherwise provided by law.

SECT. 12. Any suitable person may be elected or appointed as an officer in the volunteer militia, and the fact that any such person elected or appointed is not a citizen of this Commonwealth shall not disqualify him from receiving his commission or

warrant.

SECT. 13. If at any time any person shall be elected or appointed as a commissioned officer, who in the opinion of the commander-in-chief is unfit for actual service, the commander-in-chief shall withhold his commission, and order a new election or appointment.

SECT. 14. The commanding officer of any regiment or battalion in service without the Commonwealth may order an election of any commissioned officer to fill any vacancy which may occur in his regiment or battalion, or the companies attached thereto; and such officer may enter forthwith upon his duties.

SECT. 15. The commander-in-chief may appoint and commission, and determine the rank and compensation of a quartermaster-general, commissary-general, surgeongeneral, and such other staff officers, in addition to those now by law existing, as in his judgment the exigencies of the service may require. These officers shall be removable at will, and the office may be suspended at any time by the commander-in-chief, who may likewise prescribe the duties of all such officers, and the limitations of their respective powers, anything in existing laws to the contrary notwithstanding. Any of the officers so appointed may, with the approval of the commander-in-chief, appoint such assistants as their departments shall require, who shall be commissioned and their compensation determined by the commander-in-chief.

SECT. 16. Whenever a requisition or call shall be made by the president of the United States for a portion of the militia of this Commonwealth, the governor may answer such requisition or call by detailing the whole or such part of the force disciplined under the provisions of this act as may be needed to satisfy such requisition or call, and the same may be marched without the limits of this Commonwealth.

SECT. 17. The governor, with the consent of the council, is hereby authorized to appoint and commission any officers, or employ the services of any men in addition to those now authorized by law, and determine the rank and compensation for the same, to carry into effect the provisions of this act, or to supply any emergency which may hereafter arise; and he is authorized to furnish such companies or regiments as may go into the service of the United States with such arms, ammunition, clothing, and supplies of any kind as he may deem necessary for their proper equipment, support, and comfort.

SECT. 18. The provisions of sections twenty-three, ninety-nine, one hundred, one hundred and one, one hundred and two, one hundred and three, one hundred and four, one hundred and five, one hundred and six, one hundred and seven, and one hundred and eight of chapter thirteen of the General Statutes, are hereby suspended, and shall not be enforced for one year from the passage of this act.

SECT. 19. Section twenty-three of chapter two of the General Statutes shall not apply to any officer to be appointed under the provisions of this act.

SECT. 20. When any requisition is received from the general government, the governor shall proceed to fill the same from troops which are or may have been in garrison or camp, until their numbers are exhausted, and may for that purpose reorganize any companies or regiments, so as to comply in all respects with the terms of such requisition, and may detail men or companies from companies or regiments to other companies or regiments, as the public interest may seem to require.

SECT. 21. This act shall take effect upon its passage. [Approved May 23, 1861.

The families of those fighting the battles of their country were not forgotten. They were not to be left to suffer, or to the insufficient charities of neighborhoods and individuals. This act will be studied by the families of all the soldiers. We give it entire. An Act in aid of the Families of Volunteers, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted, &c., as follows:

SECT. 1. Any town or city may raise money by taxation, and if necessary apply the same, under the direction of their selectmen or mayor and aldermen or city council, for the aid of the wife, and of the children under sixteen years of age, of any one of their inhabitants, who, as a member of the volunteer militia of this State, may have been mustered into or enlisted in the service of the United States, and for each parent, brother, or sister, or child, who at the time of his enlistment was dependent on him for support.

SECT. 2. Any city or town may by vote raise money to defray any expense already incurred, or to carry out and fulfil any contract heretofore made with, or in behalf of any of its inhabitants who may have enlisted as members of the volunteer militia, or who have been, or may be called into the service of the United States; but all contracts now subsisting between any town and city and any member of the volunteer militia as such, shall terminate in ninety days from the date of such contract, or the date of enlistment, if subsequent to such contract and previous to the passage of this act.

SECT. 3. No compensation, in addition to the regular pay of the army or navy of the United States, other than that mentioned in this act, shall be given by any town or city to any of their inhabitants, who, as volunteers, or otherwise, shall enlist in the service of the United States; but all contracts made with any members of the volunteer militia who have been mustered into the service of the United States for the term of three months, shall be valid during such term, and no pay shall hereafter be allowed by any town or city for the expense of drilling.

SECT. 4. Any city or town, when danger from attack from the sea is apprehended, is authorized to organize an armed police to guard against such an attack, and may provide, by taxation, to maintain the same. Such force may for this purpose act in any part of the county within which such city or town may be situated.

SECT. 5. Of the sum so paid or applied by any city or town for the support of the family of any inhabitant who may be actually engaged in the service of the United States, as provided in the first section, there shall be annually reimbursed from the state treasury to such town or city a sum not exceeding one dollar per week for the wife, and one dollar per week for each child or parent of such inhabitant, who, at the time of his being called into the service of the United States, was dependent upon him for support: provided, that the whole sum so reimbursed shall not exceed twelve dollars per month for all the persons named in this section so dependent upon any such inhabitant. SECT. 6. No reimbursement shall be allowed from the state treasury to any town or city, as provided in the previous section, until a full report, certified and sworn to by a majority of the board of selectmen of any town, or of the mayor and a majority of the aldermen of any city, containing a statement of the inhabitants of such town or city whose families have been assisted, as provided in the first section, and of the persons who have been assisted, and the relations which such persons severally bear to such inhabitants, and the sums paid to each person, has been made to the auditor of the Commonwealth, and carefully examined and approved by him.

SECT. 7. A statement certified and sworn to by a majority of the board of selectmen of any town, or of the mayor and a majority of the aldermen of any city, shall be made to the auditor of the Commonwealth on or before the fifth day of January in each year, of the full amount due such city or town for aid furnished in accordance with this act. SECT. 8. This act shall take effect upon its passage. [Approved May 23, 1861.

The foregoing is the substance of the legislative action at the extra session, upon the momentous issue of the hour. For once in the history of Masssachusetts legislation, party spirit and party lines were laid aside. Men forgot their variances and mere party interests in the great and common danger. The sound of the cannon of Sumter aroused all the nobler passions of their natures, and legislators thought of and legislated for their country. The necessity for action was not questioned. They did not ask, shall we have a war? shall we assist this domestic contest? is the safety of the Union worth the sacrifice of war? can we succeed if war is attempted? It was enough that the Union was threatened, that is worth all of life, and of fortune and of honor to preserve; there can be no question between action and inaction. The Governor and the Legislature knew that they could rely upon the firm support of the people in all constitutional measures, hence legislated fearlessly. Relying upon these, they sent commissioners to the Peace Convention; empowered the Governor and Council to pledge the faith of the State for money; to organize camps of instruction at great expense, that men might be carefully trained for the duties of war; legalized acts that had been done without full statute authority to do them, because they were demanded by the hour; provided for taking United States scrip for their own, thus giving the faith of Massachusetts to help the finances of the Union; and provided ample aid for the families of volunteers. The Governor's message, recommendations, and the action of the Legislature were both alike honorable to the State, and placed her in a position of efficiency and honor.

The Jackson Club.

On the evening of April 15th, the Jackson Club, a Democratic organization, held a meeting at its head quarters. They discussed the present political aspect of the time. Supposed to sympathize with the South, with those who were in rebellion against the government, in political principle, they soon showed that they were capable of rising above party, and standing upon the plane of their country. They did not assemble as a political party, but as citizens who were loyal to the Union, to meet startling facts, to sustain the sacred flag, to put themselves on the record for, and not against the government. The hopes of the world were centred in this republic, and now is not the time to permit it to be destroyed. The resolutions passed had the Jacksonian ring in them. They looked upon the present crisis as one in which the existence of the government was at stake; upon this civil war as forced upon the North. They resolved to stand by the Union, to sustain the President and his administration by all the constitutional means in their power.

Adopted Citizens.

The evening of the 16th in Boston was distinguished, among other things, by the meeting and expression of the sentiment of the adopted citizens of the State and country. Ireland, in America, could not be quiet in such a time. She, always renowned for her talk, would talk now. The spirit of Emmett, of Burke, of O'Connell, was burning in their veins, and they sprang to the rescue the moment that they saw treason to the flag arming itself for war. The history of the Old World taught them that the greatest sufferings of nations had been caused by internal strife and division, and it was our duty to profit by their example. Here we have a free press, religious toleration for all, educational advantages without a parallel in the Old World, and selfgovernment; and, if these failed, there would be no more an asylum for the oppressed of Europe. Andrew Jackson and Richard Montgomery, with Irish blood in their veins, had fought upon American battle-fields, and in those battle-fields the sons of Ireland held an inheritance, which was sacred to them, and to the children of the Pilgrims. Though Democrats, in their resolutions they condemned the late President for his inaction, and all the acts of those traitors who had been long at work for the disruption of the Union. Every peaceful offer of President Lincoln had been interpreted into imbecility; and now was the time to teach such traitors that the Union was capable of the virtue of self-perservation, and of the virtue of defence, when forbearance was no longer a virtue. They believed it the duty of every adopted citizen of Irish birth or parentage, who enjoyed the inestimable privileges of our free government, to cast aside all past distinctions, and unite as one man for the support of the national administration. They called upon all of Irish birth to stand true to the country which had become the home of so many millions of their race, and of the oppressed people of the Old World, and not to permit the liberties, for which Washington fought and Montgomery died, to be trampled under foot by the slave oligarchy of the South. This was the feeling of Ireland in America. She came here to find liberty, law, bread, education, life, and she was enamored of our State, and that State she would defend to the last.

Bank Action.

The State must have means; it must have money; and no sooner had the sound of the guns of Sumter reached the merchants and brokers of Boston, than they felt that they had been attacked in their pockets, in their bank-vaults, in their granite warehouses, in their mercantile career and prosperity. They replied in columbiads of gold, which sent their heavy shot and calibre into the very heart of rebellion, and made it tremble. On the 17th of April the Directors of the Suffolk Bank held a meeting and voted an advance to the Governor of the Commonwealth-a loan of $100,000 to be used in the present emergency, and subject to the future approval of the Legislature. They also voted to take the treasury notes of the Secretary of the Treasury of the United States, at 6 per cent., to the amount of $100,000, at par. These gentlemen knew what peace was worth, what law was worth, and they intended to pay for it. The Webster Bank also upon the same day voted a loan of $50,000 to the State.

This was not sufficient; a call was issued to the managers of the Boston banks, and a meeting was held in answer to that call, at the Clearing House, on the 18th of April, with Daniel Dewey, President of the Hamilton Bank, in the chair. The object of the meeting was stated to be such tender of money to the State Government as the public exigencies may require. A resolution was immediately presented that the banks of Boston loan to the State Government ten per cent. on their capital, in such sums as might be demanded by the Commonwealth. They deemed that the quickest way to suppress this rebellion was to assure the government of the hearty support of the monied interest. This resolution, after an opportunity for the expression of such patriotic sentiments as the members entertained, passed unanimously. This placed nearly the sum of $4,000,000 at the disposal of the State. The following is a list of the banks, with their presidents, and the note they sent to the Governor, and their capital.

The Boston Banks unite to aid the Commonwealth.

To his Excellency, John A. Andrew, Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts:

Sir, The present emergency may require of the Treasury of Massachusetts sum or sums of money beyond its cash means. To meet such requirements, the following named banks in this city will answer the call of the Treasurer, under your authority, for any sum or sums of money, to the extent of ten per centum of the amount of their capitals, respectively:

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This patriotism of the banks was not monopolized by those of Boston. There was other virtue in Massachusetts. Among those reported as tendering loans to the State at the same time, was the Randolph Bank, $25,000; the Massasoit Bank, of Fall River, $30,000; Columbian Bank, $50,000; Revere Bank, $50,000; Mount Wollaston Bank, $25,000; and the banks of Worcester, $300,000. $850,000 had been tendered to the State, for meeting the exigencies of war, almost before the President's proclamation had been read by the people; and this, too, exclusive of the amount tendered by the Boston Association of Banks. In addition to these, the Lynn Mechanics' Bank voted $25,000; the Bunker Hill Bank, Charlestown, $30,000; the Newton Bank, $25,000; and the New England Mutual Life Insurance Company unanimously voted a loan of $100,000 to the State.

And so the capital flowed into the hands of the authorities from all parts of the State. The Western counties were not behind in their substantial testimonials of patriotism and confidence. Money was not a want of the authorities. The enterprise and thrift of the State had not laid up its store in vain; the day of trial came, and it was used.

The Boston Board of Trade.

On the 18th, the Boston Board of Trade met at the Merchants' Exchange, to express their sentiments upon the crisis. In their opinion, in the present crisis of the national affairs, all good citizens and all associations, especially those connected with commercial affairs, should let their views be known to the government in some public manner. As members of the Board of Trade in the City of Boston, individually and collectively, they tendered the government of the United States their entire sympathy in the measures now being taken for the suppression of the rebellion, and they also recommended the most vigorous and effective means to restore authority where the standard of revolt had been raised. They looked upon the recent proclamation of Jefferson Davis, inviting persons to fit out vessels to cruise against the peaceful commerce of the citizens of the United States, as inviting to piracy, and meriting the stern rebuke of every honest man, and invited the government to protect commerce by most vigorous means. They believed that the prompt response of the citizen soldiers of this and other States, and the patriotic action of the banks, merit the thanks of the whole country, and showed that the community had entire confidence in the ability and power of both the State and national governments. These views were unanimously adopted. The merchants of Boston were found where honor and justice commended the cause.

Nineteenth of April in Boston.

The 19th of April, 1861, will not soon be forgotten. It has become one of the sacred days of American history, we may say of the history of liberty, and of the race. It was celebrated here as the anniversary of the memorable battle of Lexington, by salutes, the display of flags, ring.ng of bells, and speeches. There was a drill upon the Common of one of the light artillery companies; and, at 12 o'clock, 100 guns were fired as a salute. They subsequently were received by speeches, &c., at the State House, from the Governor. At Lexington appropriate recognition was made of the day. At

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