THIRTY-SEVENTH CONGRESS, 1ST SESSION.

is certainly a question of faith in relation to the acceptance of the service, pursue uniformly the practice on which we set out, of organizing this volunteer force upon the terms and conditions declared in the proclamation, and then there will be no mistake or misunderstanding about it. The chaplain is the only officer as to whom an exception has been made. I am decidedly in favor of the reconsideration, although the amount to be allowed is perhaps more than I would otherwise consent to allow.

Mr. BRECKINRIDGE. As I understand it, the provision in the bill at present is, that the chaplains of volunteers shall receive the same compensation as chaplains of the regular Army. It is proposed to amend it by giving them the compensation and allowances of a captain of cavalry.

Mr. WILSON. The bill, as originally reported by the committee, followed the proclamation of the President, and fixed the pay and allowances of a captain of cavalry as the compensation for a .chaplain. On the motion of the Senator from Minnesota, I think, without much reflection-at any rate I did not consider it much myself—the Senate changed it, and determined to give these chaplains the same compensation as those in the regular service. What is now proposed is to reconsider that vote, and restore the bill to the shape in which it was originally reported, allowing them the compensation of a captain of cavalry; and the reason given is mainly and chiefly that, in calling out these men, this was the compensation fixed in the proclamation.

Mr. BRECKINRIDGE. It is as I supposed. My only object in rising was to inquire of the chairman of the Committee on Military Affairs what becomes of the chaplains of the regular Army, and whether any discrimination is to be made between them and the chaplains of volunteers?

Mr. WILSON. In the regular Army, I understand the compensation to be about eleven hundred and fifty dollars a year. This will be three or four hundred dollars more.

Mr. BRECKINRIDGE. There is that difference, then, between the two classes of chaplains? The motion to reconsider was agreed to; there being, on a division-ayes 25, noes 11.

The VICE PRESIDENT. The question again recurs on adopting the amendment; and if it be rejected, the bill will be left, in this respect, as it was reported by the committee.

Mr. McDOUGALL. I would ask the chairman of the Committee on Military Affairs whether the chaplains belonging to the regular service and those of the volunteer corps ought not to be put on the same footing; and whether an amendment of that kind ought not to be made?

Mr. WILSON. I think not.

Mr. McDOUGALL. I have not considered the matter, but it strikes me that there should be no discrimination.

Mr. JOHNSON, of Tennessee. I desire to ask the Senator from Massachusetts how much the pay of these chaplains will amount to? Will it not be something like eighteen hundred dollars a year? Can he inform me what the aggregate sum will be?

Mr. WILSON. I think the pay in the regular Army is about eleven hundred and fifty dollars. It is not proposed to change that. This applies only to the volunteers.

Mr. JOHNSON, of Tennessee. But I understand this runs it up to about eighteen hundred dollars a year.

Mr. WILSON. I do not know precisely the sum, but it is the pay and allowances of a captain of cavalry. I have not gone into the calculation.

Mr. JOHNSON, of Tennessee. Will it not amount to something like $900,000 for the whole number of regiments?

Mr. WILSON. I do not know; but I should

think not.

Mr. SHERMAN. I dislike very much, on a matter of this kind, to interpose; but I look upon

SATURDAY, JULY 13, 1861.

this war rather in a financial than a physical point of view. In a physical point of view, I believe it will be soon determined. As a financial one, if we waste our treasure it will not be determined. It is proposed by the Senator from Massachusetts to pay at the rate of $900,000 a year for chaplains to these volunteers. There are five hundred regiments provided for by this bill-five hundred thousand men. Five hundred chaplains, at $1,800 a year, certainly approximates`an aggregate of $900,000.

I think it is an absurd proposition. If this money is to be given to clergymen, let us divide it among the clergymen of the country, and not give it merely to those who may be chaplains of regiments. I think, at any rate, that a chaplain to a regiment is out of place. I would not vote for a chaplain to a regiment. I think if they were left at home to carry on their duties, it would be much better for them. At any rate, there are enough who would be very glad to perform the duties for the pay of an Army chaplain. On the simple score of economy, therefore, I shall vote against the amendment of the Senator from Massachusetts.

Mr. TEN EYCK. I have no idea, sir, that there will be five hundred regiments called into the field; and I have no idea that $900,000 a year will be required to pay the salaries of these chaplains. But, sir, if there should be this number of regiments, and this number of men, and this amount of money required to the extent of $900,000, I am willing to vote it, although it may go into the pockets of clergymen. These men, upon the call of their country, have left their parishes and their churches, and they had a right to understand, as they were taught, that the "laborer is worthy of his hire;" and they had a right to suppose, and so understood, that their pay would be in accordance with what it had been heretofore in the Army. If the chaplains are to cost eight or nine hundred thousand dollars a year, I do not know what the cost of the regular Army is to be: it will run beyond all limit. But let it go to any extent necessary, I am ready to pledge all the means within the power of the people of the State that I have the honor in part to represent, to discharge this duty to the chaplain as well as to the common soldier. We are ready, sir, to go to the extent of all that we have, and all that we are, whether it be to maintain arms in the hands of our soldiers, or the Gospel in the hands of our chaplains; whether it be to pay those men who wield the sword, whether of steel or of the spiritthose who fight our battles or visit our camps and endeavor to restrain them from license, and call the attention of the troops to other duties than simply those of arms. We are ready and willing to pay those men who gladly seek and stand by the dying soldier who falls a victim to his country's quarrel, and soothes his spirit in the final hour. I think, sir, we ought not to regard the expense in this aggravated point of view. I have no idea that the amount will run up to the enormous sum that the Senator from Ohio thinks; but if it does, there must be a corresponding amount to defray the expenses of the Army, and that must be untold millions. Sir, the expense will be corresponding. I hope the bill, as reported, will pass.

Mr. BROWNING. Mr. President, I suppose the Army depends almost as much upon the moral condition of the soldiers as upon their physical condition and training; and for one, I do not hesitate to say that, in my opinion, whatever the amount may be that is paid to chaplains of the || Army, there will be a larger corresponding amount of service rendered and benefit derived from them than from any other given number of men receiving an equal amount of pay. I do think, sir, that the chaplains in the Army are among the most valuable of those who give their services to their country, in this time of its peril and danger; and I should be exceedingly reluctant to see a refusal on the part of Congress to make to them an allowance, not adequate to the services that they render-not at all adequate, I think, to

NEW SERIES.....No. 6.

the services that they render their country-but to some extent approximating a compensation. There is a very manifest reason why, even if the compensation that is proposed to the chaplains in the volunteer service does exceed that paid to the chaplains in the regular Army, it should be so. The chaplains in the volunteer service surrender eligible and desirable situations at home to go temporarily into the public service, and not permanently; whilst those who are in the regular Army are there permanently. They are appointed for life, receiving their pay continually year after year, and upon which they may rely during the whole period of their lives; but in the volunteer service, they may be disbanded in one year's time. The war we trust will be brought to a happy conclusion before the expiration of the three years for which they have tendered or will tender their services to the country, and then they are thrown out of employment; they are thrown back into the community to begin again the struggle of life for the subsistence of themselves and their families. If the chaplains are possessed of such qualifications as chaplains ought to have, I do not hesitate to repeat as my opinion, that they will render a greater proportion of efficient service, do the country more good, than any other equal number of men that there will be in the service, either of officers or soldiers, and I am decidedly in favor of the amendment proposed by the chairman of the Committee on Military Affairs. I think, sir, we ought not to hesitate to pay them, and pay them liberally. If they are fitted for the positions which they fill, they contribute more than all others united to the preservation of the moral condition of the Army, which is as necessary to the efficiency of the Army as its physical condition can be.

Mr. HOWE. This discussion was inaugurated by some objections that I started myself. I had got over my objections in consideration of what was said by the chairman of the Committee on Military Affairs, seconded by the Senator from Vermont, to the effect that the faith of the nation was pledged to this rate of compensation contemplated by the amendment offered by the chairman of the Committee on Military Affairs

Mr. COLLAMER. Allow me one moment? I meant to be understood that I considered it so in relation to those who have already come in. Hereafter you may make the pay as you please; but as to those to whom the proposition was made, who have accepted it, and who are actually doing the duty, the faith of the nation is pledged that they shall receive a certain amount of pay.

Mr. HOWE. I am not going to advocate the forfeiture of any part of the faith which the country has pledged to any class of persons engaged in this conflict; but I arose for the purpose of saying, in justice to myself, that I am not here to underrate the value of the services rendered, or which ought to be rendered, by this class of officers. I think I have as high an estimation of it as the Senator from Illinois, or any other Senator upon this floor; but I think the Senator from Illinois, and every other Senator, will admit that the services to be rendered by the chaplains appointed for these volunteer regiments are not more important than those rendered by the chaplains in the regular service; and so far as the value of the services are concerned, the rate of compensation should be no higher.

Now, sir, there is something in the argument urged here, that these chaplains are taken from parishes, taken from employments where they surrendered salaries for a temporary service, and that when this temporary service is concluded, they will be thrown back again to look for parishes. I presented the same argument yesterday to the Senate, when I asked that the compensation of your assistant surgeons-a laborious class of servitors in this contest, if it is to be a severe contest-should be raised from $53 33 a month. If they are fit for the places to which they are assigned, they are taken from a practice which they may have spent years to secure. They are employed for a short time, and under the bill as it now

.

stands, they are employed at $53 33 per month; and then they are sent back to look up another practice. The Senate did not agree to the force of that argument yesterday in reference to assistant surgeons, and it does not strike me as more forcible when urged in behalf of this class of officers than the other, for I think a practice is quite as difficult to secure by surgeons and physicians as parishes are to be secured by clergymen.

The VICE PRESIDENT. The question is on agreeing to the amendment.

keep the run of them. We have authorized the creation of a great many volunteer generals, both brigadier and division generals, and we are to authorize the creation of a great many similar officers in the regular Army. The Senator has had a bill passed through the Senate, and it has become a law, perhaps, allowing to each one of these division generals one additional aid. Now, each of these major generals is to have three aids, to be taken from the line. The Senator insists that it shall pass; and I suppose, as we are to pass everything that comes from the Committee on Military Affairs, it is destined to pass and become a law. He has given also to each brigadier gen

The amendment was rejected.

The VICE PRESIDENT. The bill is still open to amendment.

Mr. HOWE. I will propose a brief amendment. I do not see any objection to it, but if there is, the chairman can state it. I move to strike out of the fourth section all the words following "general," in the eighth line, so as to leave the generals at liberty to select their aids without being compelled to resort to the regular Army or to the volunteer corps.

Mr. WILSON. I hope the Senator from Wisconsin will not insist on the amendment which he has suggested. That provision was put in the bill for the purpose of preventing general officers from selecting favorites that would be imposed upon them, or who would impose themselves upon them, and require them to appoint their aids from the line of the Army, or from the officers already enrolled in the volunteers. And let me say, sir, that it is of vital importance that it should be so; that these militia generals, these civilians, should be required to go to the line of the Army to obtain the officers who have the ability to instruct them in the necessary details, or that they should go to the men who have enrolled themselves as officers in the volunteers, and are in the field. A general ought not to be allowed, the moment he is appointed, to cast about among some of his cousins, relations, and friends, and pick up some favorite, and carry him into the field utterly unqualified for the place. This provision is necessary, in my judgment, for the good of the || public service; and I therefore hope the Senator will not press his amendment.

Mr. HOWE. I will submit just one consideration, Mr. President, and then, if the chairman wishes, I will withdraw the amendment. I desire to suggest that the officers of the volunteer corps from whom, as the bill stands, the generals are authorized to select, have just received their commissions from the different Governors of the States; and if it is believed that there you are sure of getting effective aids, and that the generals will not get them if they go outside of that line, I shall not insist on my motion.

Mr. WILSON. If the general is a wise man, and looks to the public interest and his own reputation, he will undoubtedly take the officers from the line of the Army; but we have given him the privilege of taking the officer from the line of the Army, or from the line of the volunteers. I would not have gone that far, but it was thought to be rather hard to make a distinction between the volunteers and the Army. But I do hope these general officers will not have the privilege of picking up any newspaper reporter, or any favorite about them, and imposing him upon the country. I think we have had a few specimens of that, for I understand that in one case a general officer has been in the field and brought around him a staff dressed out in the finest manner, making the finest parade, who, when they heard the guns of the enemy, were swift in going from the field. I hope that the bill will stand as it is; and I hope further that general officers who may be appointed will have the good sense to go to the line of the Army and select men of experience and talent to have about them to aid them in their services.

Mr. HOWE. I withdraw the amendment. Mr. GRIMES. I renew it. I renew it merely to enable me to address an inquiry to the chairman of the Committee on Military Affairs. There are so many of these military bills that I cannot

|

two aids. Now, what I want to get at is this: how many aids is the Senator going to take from the regular line of the Army, from their legitimate duties, and give to these brigadier and division generals? And when he takes them away, how is he going to have his regular line officered? I wish to know whether the Senator has given any reflection to that aspect of the case?

Mr. WILSON. The bill to which the Senator from Iowa refers has not been acted upon. It is before us.

Mr. GRIMES. It has been reported from your committee.

any opinion upon the questions involved; and, without reading, I move their reference to the Committee on the Judiciary.

The VICE PRESIDENT. They will be so referred, if there be no objection.

Mr. LANE, of Kansas. The papers presented by the honorable Senator from Vermont look to me a good deal like an attempt to bury a man before he is dead. I desire to state, however, for the information of the Senate and of the country, that, under an order from the Secretary of War, I am now engaged, through my colonels, in organizing a brigade in the State of Kansas. A paper has been handed to me by the Secretary of War, evidencing his purpose to appoint me a brigadier general in the volunteer service. When the brigade that I design to command is full, I shall consider the question of accepting a commission from the General Government. I will not, however, even consider the subject until the question has been submitted to the brigade-to the men whom it is proposed I shall command -and they by their votes sanction the proposition; as I believe, with all due deference to the opinion of Senators, that no volunteer corps can be formed as a volunteer corps should be formed, unless the officers that are placed over them have their entire confidence, both as to their courage and their skill. When, I say, the brigade is full, and they have sanctioned the proposition of the General Government, I will accept the command of the Kansas brigade. When accepted, I will carry out the known wishes of the people of Kansas, and surrender the certificate by which I hold a seat upon this floor; not to a Governor, who is controlled alone by vindictive personal feelings, but to the Legislature of my State, that with great unanimity elected me to my position upon this floor. I want the people of Kansas, through their regularly elected representatives, to select my successor. When that is done, I venture the in my place, a man true to the Union, and true to the cause of human freedom.

Mr., WILSON. It has been reported from our committee. It is before the Senate; and when it is called up, I know the Senator from Iowa will criticise it sharply, and he can certainly make any motion he desires to make in regard to it. I am sure it will be criticised; for I believe if we introduced the Lord's Prayer here, there would be a large number of amendments proposed to it. [Laughter.] But, sir, in regard to this matter, I will simply say, that we have authorized in this bill the appointment of six major generals, and they are entitled to three aids cach; and eighteen brigadier generals, with two aids each. We give these major and these brigadier generals the priv-assertion that this Senate floor will have upon it ilege of going to the line of the Army, or to the line of the volunteers, or to both, to select their aids. For the interest of the country and for the reputaiton of the officers, I think they should go to the line of the Army; but they will probably go to both, and have a portion of Army officers and a portion of volunteer officers. I think we had better let the bill stand as it is, pass it, and when the other bill comes up, if the Senator thinks that a major general in the field ought not to have three aids, or a brigadier general two, let him move an amendment to carry out his views. I think if he were a brigadier general, (and I am sure he would make a very good one, certainly better than many who are likely to be appointed,) he would like to have about him two good aids, and to have men who had devoted years of their lives to the study of matters connected with the art of war.

PAY OF SENATOR DOUGLAS. Mr. BROWNING. I ask leave to offer a resolution, which I should like to have considered

now:

Resolved, That the Secretary of the Treasury be, and is hereby, required to pay to the widow of the late Stephen A. Douglas, late a Senator of the United States, the amount of compensation due to him up to the time of his death, being $1,834, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated.

Mr. HALE. I would suggest to the Senator from Illinois that he strike out the sum, and let it be computed by the Secretary, because the Senate will have to pass on it without knowing what it is. Let the proper officers settle the amount.

Mr. McDOUGALL. I will state that the amount named in the resolution is the amount of Mr. Douglas's mileage and per diem up to the day of his death, as computed in the office of the Secretary of the Senate. The whole matter is taken from the act of Congress, assuming mileage to be due.

Mr. HALE. I would suggest that this should be done according to precedent, by joint resolu

tion.

Mr. MCDOUGALL. This is a joint resolution.

Mr. HALE. I am not opposed to it at all; but I want it done in the usual form. I think, however, the sum had better be stricken out, and let it be computed by the proper officer.

Mr. BROWNING. I will state that I have no personal knowledge at all of the amount due, or of the basis on which to compute the amount. The friends of Senator Douglas took the pains to go to the Secretary of the Senate and have the amount computed, prepared the resolution, and requested me to present it for the consideration of the Senate, which I did with a great deal of pleasure; and I shall be very glad to see a resolution passed authorizing whatever amount is due to be paid to the widow of the deceased Senator. I have no personal knowledge of the amount that is due; and as the resolution was prepared by his friends, and placed in my hands with a request that I should offer it, I cannot consent that the amount be stricken out; but I shall submit to any order that the Senate choose to take.

Mr. HALE. Of course, I am not opposed to the resolution. I am in favor of it; but I want

If the Senate understand that, and think that is necessary to maintain the Union, I shall not oppose it; but I shall have discharged my duty when I bring it to the consideration of the Senate, and express the purpose, which I certainly must entertain with my present conviction, of voting against the bill if that provision is contained in it.

Mr. COLLAMER. The gentleman seems to me to be just in the position of a man who, having once taken a position, finds it difficult ever to see that it ought to be abandoned. When we undertake to stop intercourse with a rebellious people, most clearly it must be stopped entirely; but it is very obvious that we cannot distinguish between men who are loyal and men who are not loyal in the same State. That cannot be done if we mean to stop the intercourse. But every precaution was taken in the bill, as the gentleman will find by examination, that could practically be effected.

Although it is provided in this bill that intercourse shall cease between the proclaimed sections and the rest of the country, yet, after all, in modern international law it is holden that the power to make war is a power that may modify that war. By the international law, all the inhabitants of the two belligerent parties become personally the enemies of each other, and all intercourse between them becomes illegal. Now, this being part of the country, it needed a law to make that so here; and in that the gentleman says he agrees with me. But there may be parts of a State that are loyal to this country; there may be particular sections that are so; there may be particular branches of trade which it may be advisable to continue, and it may be advisable to continue them by particular people; and therefore the bill provides that, though intercourse shall cease, and the vessels and property owned in the rebellious States be confiscated, yet, after all, the President may issue a license to such persons and to such parts of that country, and in such articles as he, in his discretion, shall consider proper, that intercourse may be carried on under rules and regulations prescribed by the Secretary of the Treasury. As I before remarked, we cannot make provision for having their ships seized and confiscated unless you declare it so. There would be no use of declaring a stoppage of intercourse with them if they could carry it on with their ships where they pleased. Hence, a provision was made for arresting their ships in due time after the proclamation. It is true, there may be a case where some loyal men have a ship, or it may turn out that the ship itself was only employed in the intercourse between other harbors of the United States, and not with that part of the country, or that but a small share of it is owned there. It is apparent that all this must be left to the Secretary of the Treasury, as seizures under our revenue laws now are, and it is left so with a view of making provision for these things. We cannot provide for particulars in all respects in a bill. The only practicable method in such cases is to leave somebody with power to provide for them, and that is done in this bill. In short, sir, I do not see how it can be made any better.

Mr. HALE. I want to ask the Senator from Vermont, as he has looked at the subject, if it would be practicable to provide for the confiscation of the interest of the owners only, without confiscating the whole joint property?

Mr. COLLAMER. The question is new to I think it might be.

me.

Mr. HALE. It seems to me if it could, that would be the wiser course.

Mr. COLLAMER. That never was suggested to me; but I will say to the gentleman that there is no practical difficulty in the case.

Mr. HALE. There may not be.

Mr. COLLAMER. There is none at all, because there is a provision now in the bill leaving a discretion for all these very cases, which we may imagine or suppose, in the Secretary of the Treasury.

The bill was reported to the Senate without amendment.

Mr. LATHAM. I understood the Senator from New Hampshire to offer an amendment in regard to the sixth section of the bill.

The PRESIDING OFFICER, (Mr. BINGHAM in the chair.) He has offered no amendment at all. The Chair is informed by the Secretary that a slight amendment is necessary in the third line

of the sixth section. The word "bill" should be "act;" and, if there be no objection, it will be so modified.

Mr. SAULSBURY. Mr. President, if it is in order, I wish to make a motion to refer this bill to the Committee on the Judiciary. I am not opposed to the purposes of the bill at all, and I am not prepared to say that its provisions are not constitutional. I never saw it until this morning. Perhaps the Senator from Vermont-I was too far off to hear him distinctly before-will explain the fifth section of the bill to my satisfaction. That section reads:

SEC. 5. And be it further enacted, That whenever the President, in pursuance of the provisions of the second section of the act entitled "An act to provide for calling forth the militia to execute the laws of the Union, suppress insurrections, and repel invasions, and to repeal the act now in force for that purpose," approved February 28, 1795, shall have called forth the militia to suppress combinations against the laws of the United States, and to cause the laws to be duly executed, and the insurgents shall have failed to disperse by the time directed by the President, and when said insurgents claim to act under the authority of any State or States, and such claim is not disclaimed or repudiated by the persons exercising the functions of government in such State or States, or in the part or parts thereof in which said combination exists, nor such insurrection suppressed by said State or States, then, and in such case, it may and shall be lawful for the President, by proclamation, to declare that the inhabitants of such State, or any section or part thereof, where such insurrection exists, are in a state of insurrection against the United States; and thereupon all commercial intercourse by and between the same, and the citizens thereof, and the citizens of the rest of the United States, shall cease and be unlawful so long as such condition of hostility shall continue, &c.

I have not had an opportunity of investigating the matter, but the doubt I have is, whether you can, consistently with the Constitution of the United States, prohibit commerce between the loyal citizens of this country, although those loyal citizens may live in a community governed by persons who are disloyal.

Mr. COLLAMER. The gentleman has stated the point very well, and I think I understand it. I merely say that I see no objection to it. The that this Government never can suppress an inbill does profess to do that. I will only remark surrection where a State countenances and supports it, but by virtue of such a law as this; and if we cannot make such a law, we must give up the doctrine that the United States can suppress an insurrection which a State countenances.

Mr. SAULSBURY. Mr. President, I am one. of those who hold that this proceeding on the part of the southern States is rebellion against the laws and Constitution of the country. I admit that. It has now arrived at such proportions that it is revolutionary; but still, can you, in a case of that kind, even where a State is in rebellion, consistently with the provisions of the Constitution of the United States, deprive loyal citizens of a State, although that State may be in rebellion, of the benefit of trade and commerce with any other portion of the country? The Senator answers that if you cannot do that you cannot suppress the rebellion. I think the question is of such a grave character-the rights of the loyal citizens of this country who may be situated in disloyal States may be so greatly embarrassed by this provision in the bill, that we ought to take more time for its consideration, and not hurry it through on its passage this morning. Therefore, sir, I move that the bill be referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.

The motion was not agreed to. The bill was ordered to be engrossed for a third reading, and was read the third time.

Mr. LATHAM. Let us have the yeas and nays on the passage of the bill.

The yeas and nays were ordered; and being taken, resulted-yeas 36, nays 6; as follows:

YEAS-Messrs. Anthony, Bingham, Browning, Chandler, Clark, Collamer, Cowan, Dixon, Doolittle, Fessenden, Foot, Foster, Grimes, Hale, Harlan, Harris, Howe, Johnson of Tennessee, King, Lane of Indiana, Lane of Kansas, Latham, Morrill, Nesmith, Pomeroy, Rice, Saulsbury, Sherman, Simmons, Sumner, Ten Eyck, Trumbull, Wade, Wilkinson, Wilmot, and Wilson-36. NAYS-Messrs. Breckinridge, Bright, Johnson of Missouri, Kennedy, Polk, and Powell-6. So the bill was passed.

MESSAGE FROM THE HOUSE.

A message from the House of Representatives, by Mr. ETHERIDGE, its Clerk, announced that the House had passed the following bills, in which the concurrence of the Senate was requested:

A bill (No. 25) making additional appropria

tions for the legislative, executive, and judicial expenses of the Government for the year ending the 30th of June, 1862, and appropriations of arrearages for the year ending the 30th of June, 1861; and

A bill (No. 26) making additional appropriations for sundry civil expenses of the Government for the year ending the 30th of June, 1862, and appropriations of arrearages for the year ending the 30th of June, 1861.

ORGANIZATION OF THE ARMY.

Mr. WILSON. I move that the Senate now proceed to the consideration of the bill (S. No. 3) providing for the better organization of the military establishment.

The motion was agreed to; and the Senate, as in Committee of the Whole, proceeded to consider the bill, which authorizes the President to appoint, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, an officer in the War Department, to be called the Assistant Secretary of War, whose salary shall be $3,000 per annum, payable in the same manner as that of the Secretary of War, who shall perform all such duties in the office of the Secretary of War, belonging to that Department, as shall be prescribed by the Secretary of War, or as may be required by law. Hereafter the Adjutant General's department is to consist of the following officers, namely: one Adjutant General, with the rank, pay, and emoluments of a brigadier general; one assistant adjutant general, with the rank, pay, and emoluments of a colonel of cavalry; two assistant adjutants general, with the rank, pay, and emoluments each of a lieutenant-colonel of cavalry; four assistant adjutants general, with the rank, pay, and emoluments each of a major of cavalry; and twelve assistant adjutants general, with the rank, pay, and emoluments each of a captain of cavalry; and there is to be added to the Subsistence department two commissaries of subsistence, with the rank, pay, and emoluments of majors of cavalry.

To the Quartermaster's department there are to be added as many master wagoners, with the rank, pay, and allowances of sergeants of cavalry, and as many wagoners, with the pay and allowances of corporals of cavalry, as the military service, in the judgment of the President, may render necessary.

To the Ordnance department of the United States Army, as now organized, there are to be added one chief of ordnance, with the rank, pay, emoluments, and allowances of the Quartermaster General of the Army; one colonel, one lieutenant colonel, and six second lieutenants; the chief and the field officers to be appointed by selection from the officers of the ordnance corps, and the second lieutenants from the graduates of the United States Military Academy, by transfer from the engineers, or the topographical engineers, or the artillery.

To the corps of engineers there are to be added, by regular promotion of its present officers, one brigadier general, one colonel, two lieutenant colonels, and two majors; but, hereafter, all promotions in that corps are to be by senority, inclu sive of the highest grade; and all vacancies created by such promotions are to be filled by graduates of the Military Academy, recommended for such promotions by the academic board of that institution.

To the corps of engineers there are to be added three companies of engineer soldiers, to be commanded by appropriate officers of that corps, to have the same pay and rations, clothing, and other allowances, and to be entitled to the same benefits, in every respect, as the company created by the act for the organization of a company of sappers and miners and pontoniers, approved May 16, 1846. These three companies are to be subject to the rules and articles of war; they are to be recruited in the same manner, and with the same limitation, be instructed in and perform the same duties and be liable to serve in the same way, and are to have their vehicles, pontons, tools, implements, arms, and other supplies regulated in the same manner, as the existing engineer company; and each of the four companies of engineer soldiers is hereafter to be composed of ten sergeants, ten corporals, two musicians, sixty-four privates of the first class, or artificers, and sixty-four privates of the second class-in all, one hundred and fifty men each.

The President is also to be authorized to add to the Medical department of the Army such number of surgeons, not exceeding ten, and of assistant surgeons, not exceeding twenty, as, in his judgment, may be required by the wants of the service; there are also to be added to the Medical department of the Army, by regular promotion, two assistant surgeon generals, with the rank, pay, and emoluments of lieutenant colonels of cavalry, who shall be inspectors of military hospitals; the officers so added to be appointed in the same manner, and to be, in all respects, on the same footing, according to rank, as the officers of that corps now authorized by law. The Surgeon General of the Army is to have the same rank, pay, and emoluments as a colonel of cavalry.

There is also to be added to the medical staff of the Army a corps of medical cadets, whose duty is to be to act as dressers in the general hospitals and ambulance attendants in the field, under the direction and control of the medical officers alone. They are to have the same rank and pay as the military cadets at West Point. Their number is to be regulated by the exigencies of service, but at no time to exceed fifty. It is to be composed of young men of liberal education, students of medicine, between the ages of eighteen and twenty-three, who have been reading medicine for two years, and have attended at least one course of lectures in a medical college. They are to enlist for one year, and be subject to the rules and articles of war. On the 15th day of the last month of their service the near approach of their discharge is to be reported to the Surgeon General, in order, if desired, that they may be relieved by another detail of applicants.

In general or permanent hospitals female nurses

to retain their present relative rank, and to be promoted as of one arm of service, according to existing law and established usage and regulation. The Commissary General of Subsistence is to be authorized, under such regulations as the Secretary of War may prescribe, to vary the articles of subsistence whenever circumstances may render it advisable, by substituting fresh meats of any kind for salt meats; and also potatoes, or other fresh or desiccated vegetables, for those now constituting the regular ration; but the cost of the ration is not to be increased by such substitution. And there may be allowed in hospitals, to be provided under such rules as the Surgeon General of the Army, with the approval of the Secretary of War, may prescribe, such quantities of fresh or preserved fruits, milk or butter, and of eggs, as may be necessary for the proper diet of the sick.

The Committee on Military Affairs reported the bill back with several amendments. The first amendment of the committee was, in section two, line twelve, after the word "subsistence," to insert the word "each;" and in line thirteen of the same section, after the word "of," to insert the word "a;" so that the clause will read:

And that there shall be added to the Subsistence department two commissaries of subsistence, each with the rank, pay, and emoluments of a major of cavalry." The amendment was agreed to.

The next amendment of the committee was, to add, at the end of section two, the following:

And four commnissaries of subsistence, with the rank, pay, and emoluments each of a captain of cavalry, and to be taken from the line of the Army.

Mr. GRIMES. I move to amend that amendment by striking out all after the word "subsist

One chaplain is to be allowed to each regiment of the Army, to be selected and appointed as the President may direct; but none but regularly ordained ministers of some Christian denomination are to be eligible to selection or appointment. The pay and allowances of a chaplain are to be those of a captain of cavalry.

The President of the United States is to be authorized to fill any existing vacancies at the United States Military Academy from congressional districts for which no nominations are made by Representatives in Congress, by appointments from those districts, or from “at large;” and there is to be added to the number of cadets, as now authorized to be appointed from congressional districts and from "at large," two cadets from each State, to be appointed by nominations of Senators; but each of the additional cadets is to be an actual resident of the State from which nominated, and is to have the same qualifications for admission to the United States Military Academy as are now required for those appointed from congressional districts and from "at large."

The three months' extra pay allowed by the twenty-ninth section of the act of the 5th July, 1838, for reënlistments under certain conditions, the bounty granted by the third section of the act of the 17th June, 1850, for enlistments at remote and distant stations, and the premium now paid for bringing accepted recruits to the rendezvous, are to be abolished.

Hereafter two dollars per month are to be retained out of the monthly pay of each enlisted man in the regular Army, until the expiration of his time of service, instead of one dollar per month, as authorized by existing laws. The fifth section of the act approved September 28, 1850, requiring the Secretary of War to discharge from the Army all minors, is to be repealed.

In all cases of enlistment and reënlistment in the military service of the United States, the prescribed oath of allegiance is to be administered by any commissioned officer of the Army.

The two regiments of dragoons, the regiment of mounted riflemen, and the two regiments of cavalry, are hereafter to be known and recognized as the first, second, third, fourth, and fifth regiments of cavalry, respectively; the officers thereof

subsistence, if the Committee on Military Affairs think that is absolutely necessary, but will not increase their pay over the amount they are now receiving. My purpose is to follow this up by making another motion, that the words, "each with the rank, pay, and emoluments of a major of cavalry," in the twelfth and thirteenth lines, be also stricken out. The object is, to keep the pay of these officers where it now is as established by law. I do not think, sir, that this is a time when the country will justify us in attempting to raise the salaries of our military officers.

The VICE PRESIDENT. The question is on the amendment offered by the Senator from Iowa, to the amendment of the Committee on Military Affairs.

The amendment to the amendment was agreed to; and the amendment, as amended, was adopted. The VICE PRESIDENT. The Senator will now indicate his other amendment.

Mr. GRIMES. I move now to strike out in line three, of section two, the words, "one Adjutant General, with the rank, pay, and emoluments of a brigadier general;" and to insert the words, "one colonel."

For fourteen years, Mr. President, we have had at the head of the Adjutant General's bureau, in our Army, an officer, I believe, who discharged the duties of the position to the acceptance of the country, with no higher grade than that of colonel. He has resigned, and another gentleman has been substituted in his place. Now, I am not aware of any substantial reason why we should, at this particular juncture, reorganize this bureau, so as to put a brigadier general at the head of it, for the mere purpose, evidently, of conferring upon him emoluments that have never been enjoyed by his predecessors. At no time thus far, since the organization of the Government, has there been a brigadier general at the head of this bureau, and I hear no reason assigned by the Senator from Massachusetts, who represents the Committee on Military Affairs, why this change should now take place. It may be that we need more assistant adjutants general. I think we do. I am willing to agree and to vote for an addition to this bureau of certain lieutenants, who shall take the rank of captains in the Adjutant General's office; but I cannot conceive of any reason why, at this time, we should increase the superior officers in any of these bureaus.

The amendment was agreed to.

Mr. KING. I desire to offer an amendment. The VICE PRESIDENT. There are further amendments reported from the committee, the Chair understands, which the Secretary will read.

The next amendment of the committee was to add, at the end of section five, the following:

The superintendent of the Military Academy shall be an officer of the Army, a graduate of the United States Military Academy, and distinguished for his scientific attainments. He shall have the local rank, pay, and allowances of a colonel of engineers, and be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate.

Mr. GRIMES. Mr. President, the Military Academy has been established now nearly sixty years; and I believe it is the universal testimony of this country, and of foreign countries, or of the citizens of foreign countries who have been brought in contact with the officers who have been educated there, that some of the most accomplished officers the world has ever seen have been produced in that institution. I do not believe that there is any Army in the world that has, to-day, more accomplished officers than we have in the American Army, who have been educated at West Point. That institution, during this whole time, has been under the charge of the engineer corps of the Army, and under the charge of no other department. You know, sir, how that engineer corps is constituted. It is the elite of the service. Those who graduate at the head of their classes, are assigned to that particular department. They are men selected on account of their intellectual qualifications, on account of their application, and on account of the ability by which they have distinguished themselves while at the Academy. It is now proposed by this amendment to change this whole thing, and to open the West Point Academy to the superintendency of anybody who may, for the time being, be connected with our Army. I am opposed to it. I am opposed to it, because I have heard no substantial reason assigned why the change should take place; and we all know that the Academy has operated admirably thus far under the present system.

I fear, sir, that if we adopt this amendment, the Academy will become a sort of political institution; that we shall have men promoted who have been put into your ten regiments from civil life; who have no military qualifications, but who have been promoted to the distinguished positions which they are to occupy because they happen to have been favorite partisans of those who are in power; that they, after a while, will be placed in charge of your Military Academy for the purpose of influencing the political sentiments of the young men who may come into their hands as students. I think, Mr. President, that in regard to this Academy, we had better act upon the common sense principle of letting well enough alone; and therefore I hope the amendment will not be adopted.

Mr. WILSON. Mr. President, I think if the Senator from Iowa, who is usually so vigilant and careful in examining bills, had read this amendment, he would not have made the speech he has already made. He says that if this amendment is adopted, some of the civilians in the ten regiments may be appointed. Now, sir, they cannot be appointed under this amendment. It provides that the superintendent must be a graduate of the Military Academy. The amendment proposes that the superintendent of that Academy may be taken from the Army, but the person taken must be a graduate of that institution. This is the identical proposition reported in the bill of the Senate at the last session, assented to by the then chair. man of the Military Committee, and by the Senator from Vermont, [Mr. Foor,] and agreed to by the commission that sat there six weeks examining this subject.

The Senator says, why not leave well enough alone? What is the fact to-day, sir? The selection of superintendent is confined to the engineer corps. It does not include the topographical corps or the ordnance corps. I should not object to having it confined to those three scientific corps. If Senators desire that, I will most cheerfully assent to it; but to confine it to the engineer corps is to shut out from selection some of the most eminent scientific men of the country. There is, to-day, complaint against the government and superintendency of that institution; the wife of the superintendent being an avowed and open secessionist, and teaching secession there in social life. Sir, if you would cast your eyes over the engineer corps, it would puzzle you or any man to select from it, to-day, a proper man to be placed at the head of that institution. There are men outside