PROCEEDINGS OF THE MONTGOMERY CONGRESS. 418 Proceedings of the meet any emergency that may arise, and are daily purchasing and receiving cannons, mortars, shells, and other engines of destruction, with which to overwhelm the dastard adversary. Organized armies now exist in all the States, commanded by officers brave, accmplished and experienced; and even should war occur in twenty days, I feel confident that they have both the valor and the arms to successfully resist any force whatever. Let the issue come, I fear not the result. "An Act to authorize the Secretary of the Treasury to establish additional ports and places of entry and delivery, and to appoint officers therefor. "An Act for the establishment and organization of a Central Staff for the Army of the Confederate States of America. "An Act to raise money for the support of the Government, and to provide for the defence of the Mr. Davis (February 21st) named his Confederate States of America. Cabinet as follows: Secretary of State: Robert Toombs, of Georgia; Treasury: C. G. Memminger, of North "War: L. Pope Walker, of Alabama; "An Act to raise the provisional forces of the Confederate States of America, and for other purposes. "An Act to define the jurisdiction of the Federal Courts in certain cases. "An Act to provide for the registration of vessels Mr. Elet, of Mississippi, was named Post-owned in whole or in part by citizens of the Con master-General, but he declined the appointment, when John H. Reagan, of Texas, was named. Wm. L. Yancey, of Alabama, was tendered a Cabinet appointment, but declined it, preferring the post of Minister Extraordinary to the Courts of England and France. federate States. "An Act guaranteeing the free navigation of the Mississippi River." Several of these Acts threw a flood of light upon the policy of the new Government. The Slave-Trade act President Davis vetoed-for the first time exercising that nullifying Mr. Benjamin, of Louisiana, was also, at a later day, named Attorney-General. Mr. Sli-power. The grounds of the veto did not dell, for his share, preferred a European Mis- transpire, but it was understood that the Consion, which was given him. So of Rust, of gress had so modified the Federal law as to strip the slave-trade of the penalties for piraArkansas, and Mason, of Virginia.* The Proceedings after this date were so exclu-cy, and to modify the penalties for misde sively debarred to the public, that nothing is known of them further than such as transpired when it became necessary to publish the acts for their enforcement. The list of those acts which went into force, at an early moment after their signature, comprises, among others, the following: "An Act to prescribe the rates of postage in the Confederate States, and for other purposes. Also, a supplemental act to the same subject. "An Act to modify the Navigation Laws, and to repeal all discriminating duties on ships or vessels. "An Act in relation to the Slave-trade, and to punish persons offending therein. * And thus the disinterested agitators found themselves all repaid for their arduous services in behalf of "Southern Independence." Not one of them, except the "irrepressible Wigfall," but was handsomely provided for in the new order of things. The people had not a word to say in the whole matter. The Government and offices were farmed out just as spoils-gatherers would distribute their plunder. meanor. The veto left the Federal law in force, since the Congress had adopted, by special provision, all Federal laws until repealed or otherwise modified by the Congress. The Postal law will prove statements already the outrageous imposition to which the Fedmade in the pages of this History respecting eral Government was forced to submit, for many years, in the matter of mails over hundreds of routes in the Southern States whose postages scarcely paid for the locks on the mail-bags used. We quote the exhibit made by the Committee as the basis of their law : "The Committee have mainly directed their inquiries to the question whether, without material inconvenience to the public, the Post-Office Department of this Confederacy can be made self-sustaining. "The Committee find, from the latest and most reliable means of information of which they have been able to avail themselves, that the excess of expenditure over the receipts of this department in the six States composing this Confederacy, for the "They believe that a saving can be effected by a change in the mode of letting out mail contracts, adopting what is usually called the star-bid system,' providing for all our safeguards for the celerity, certainty, and security of the mails, but without restrictions as to the mode of transportation. In this way your Committee are satisfied that the ex pense of mail transportation may be reduced-say 33 per cent. upon the present cost-say $619,033. They are further of opinion that there should be a discontinuance of numerous routes, the cost of which is greatly disproportioned to their convenience, and the receipts of the post-offices supplied by them. In this way they believe a saving of onetenth of the present cost of transportation may be attained-say $206,344. "The service upon many of the routes may, without material detriment, be changed, daily routes reduced to tri-weekly, &c., at an estimated reduction of say $206,344. "They would also recommend the abolishing a number of minor post-offices, which occasion considerable expense, without corresponding profit or convenience. In this way a saving to the Department might be readily reduced to the amount of say $50,000. "Present excess of expenditures over receipts.. $1,060,595 83 "Your Committee are of opinion that steps should be immediately taken to preserve the postage stamps of the denomination of ten, five, and twenty cents; that these stamps will be sufficient to meet the wants of the Department for the present." Texas, the most expensive of all the States, from its long non-paying routes, was not included in this exhibit, or the deficit of receipts would have been increased by the sum of nearly six hundred thousand dollars annually That little paragraph, last quoted, is Proceedings of the Congress. | modestly worded, considering that it proposed to preserve the postage stamps belonging to the Federal Government. Several hundred thousand dollars worth of stamps of the United States Government were in the hands of postmasters in the Seceded States, on sale. To render these profitably available, it was only necessary to preserve them, just as the mint at New Orleans was preserved, with its five hundred thousand dol lars of coin. The non-use of the word steal, doubtless, was owing to the chivalrous sense of honor" which animated the bosoms of those remarkable men. 66 The Act for the organization of the Confederate Army Staff reproduced, with slight change, the Army Regulations and pay of the United States service. The Act to provide money for carrying on the Government would deserve but passing notice, were it not for the fact that the proposed loan, after the most extraordinary exertions on the part of the "friends of the South," was never, we believe, entirely taken, although its amount was but fifteen millions of dollars.* We give the Act: SEC. 1-The Congress of the Confederate States do enact, That the President of the Confederate States be and he is hereby authorized, at any time within *A letter found its way into print, purporting to have been written by a Charleston banker to a London house, proposing for it to assist in placing the loan, and stating the securities to be offered to Foreign takers, as follows: First: A mortgage on the property seized from the United States, of forts, arsenals, customhouses, &c. Second: A pledge to pay off the delayed debts of Mississippi and Florida. The State of Florida to be transferred to trustees in security for the payment of its debt, while Mississippi should pledge its own honor and good faith to pay the new bonds to be issued for those repudiated. Third: A pledge of the revenues of the CustomHouse and Post-Offices, after current expenses were paid. Fourth: A mortgage on all territory to be "ac quired," and usufruct thereof. If this was not a canard, (as it doubtless was) then it only proves what a miserable state the finances of the country must have been in, that any such pledge should have been even thought of. 1 PROCEEDINGS OF THE MONTGOMERY CONGRESS. 415 Proceedings of the Proceedings of the twelve months after the passage a sinking fund to carry into of this act, to borrow, on the effect the provisions of this sec Congress. credit of the Confederate tion: Provided, however, That States, a sum not exceeding $15,000,000, or so much the interest coupons, issued under the second thereof as, in his opinion, the exigencies of the pub-section of this act, when due, shall be receivable in lic service may require to be applied to the payment of appropriations mdea by law for the support of the Government, and for the defence of the Confederate States. "SEC. 2. That the Secretary of the Treasury is hereby authorized, by the consent of the President of the Confederate States, to cause to be prepared certificates of stock or bonds, in such sums as are hereafter to be mentioned, for the amount to be borrowed as aforesaid, to be signed by the Register of the Treasury, and sealed with the seal of the Treasury; and the said certificates of stock or bonds shall be made payable at the expiration of ten years from the 1st day of September next; and the interest thereon shall be paid semi-annually, at the rate of three per cent. per annum, at the Treasury, and such other place as the Secretary of the Treasury may designate. And to the bonds which shall be issued as aforesaid shall be attached coupons for the semi-annual interest which shall accrue, which coupons may be signed by officers to be appointed for the purpose by the Secretary of the Treasury. And the faith of the Confederate States is hereby pledged for the due payment of the principal and in terest of the said stock and bonds. "SEC. 3. At the expiration of five years from the 1st day of September next, the Confederate States may pay up any portion of the bonds or stock, upon giving three months previous public notice at the seat of Government of the particular stock or bonds to be paid, and the time and place of payment; and from and after the time so appointed, no furher interest shall be paid on said stock or bonds. "SKc. 4. The certificates of stock and bonds shall be issued in such form and for such amounts as may be determined by the Secretary of the Treasury, and may be assigned or delivered under such regulations as he may establish. But most of them shall be for a less sum than $50; and he shall report to Congress, at its next session, a statement in detail of his proceedings, and the rate at which the loans may have been made, and all expenses attending the same. payment of the export duty on cotton: Provided, also, That when the debt and interest thereon, herein au thorized to be contracted, shall be extinguished, or the sinking fund provided for that purpose shall be adequate to that end, the said export duty shall cease and determine." It was announced by the Southern press quite generally that, so patriotic were the masses, the loan was eagerly absorbed by the people; that every man who could muster one hundred dollars was investing in a bond. This story served the purpose designed-of inspiriting the Secessionists, and of dispiriting the Unionists in the States of Tennessee, Virginia, and North Carolina. To have confessed the truth-that the credit of the new Government was so low as to be unable to obtain its first loan-would have been fatal to the further progress of the revolution to the North; hence, the usual resort was had to deception. The loan went begging at the banks, at the doors of planters, on the street; and, up to July, it had been but about half taken. Does the reader ask, How was it possible for the Government to progress without money? The curiosity-gatherer will be able to answer when he collects a specimen of each issue of Treasury notes, certificates, cotton-deposit acknowledgments, &c., &c., by the Government, and of the utterly illimitable issue of notes of every denomination, by banks, corporate and stock companies, cities, railways, individuals, and churches. flood of promises-to-pay was only paralleled by an Autumnal fall of leaves. As it was dangerous for a person to demand the specie on any of these issues, there was no want of currency," although there was a great want of coin. The history of these paper issues will form an amusing record, if it ever is written. The The Act to provide for the "provisional" army of the Confederate States was as fol SEC. 5. From and after the 1st day of August, 1861, there shall be levied, collected, and paid, a duty of one-eighth of one per cent. per pound on all cotton in the raw state exported from the Confed-lows: erate States, which duty is hereby specially pledged to the due payment of interest and principal of the loan provided for in this act; and the Secretary of the Treasury is authorized and required to establish "SECTION 1. The Congress of the Confederate States of America do enact, That to enable the Government of the Confederate States to maintain its jurisdiction over all questions of peace and war, and to provide Paoceedings of the Proceedings of the for the public defence, the Pres | their newly-assumed titles ident be, and is hereby, author of Commander-in-Chief, ized and directed to assume which they had freely sportcontrol of all military operations in every State, hav-ed. It was a short-lived "supremacy" the ing reference to a connection with questions between State enjoyed. The tyranny closing around the said States, or any of them, and powers foreign them like an overgrowth, was as sure to overto them. run their "palmetto" independence as the moss which trailed over their forests to festoon them with darkness. Under this act, Peter G. Beauregard, soon made BrigadierGeneral by commission of Mr. Davis, was sent to Charleston to assume ommand of the forces "SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That the President is hereby authorized to receive from the several States the arms and munitions of war which have been acquired from the United States, and which are now in the forts, arsenals, and navyyards of the said States, and all other arms and munitions which they may desire to turn over and there, while General Bragg was placed in make chargeable to this Government. "SEC. 3. Be it further enacted, That the President be authorized to receive into the service of this Government such forces now in the service of said States as may be tendered, or who may volunteer by consent of their State, in such numbers as he may require, for any time not less than twelve months, unless sooner discharged. “SEC. 4. Be it further enacted, That such forces may be received, with their officers, by companies, battalions, or regiments, and, when so received, shall form a part of the provisional army of the Con federate States, according to the terms of their en listment, and the President shall appoint, by and with the advice and consent of Congress, such general officer or officers, for said forces, as may be necessary for the service. "SEC. 5. Be it further enacted, That said forces, when received into the service of the Government, shall have the same pay and allowances as may be provided by law for volunteers entering the service, or for the army of the Confederate States, and shall be subject to the same rules and government." This act stripped the State Governors of command at Pensacola. The Act for the free navigation of the Mississippi, although it conceded the river a common highway, still assumed a jurisdiction which the States drained by the great river would resist to the last. Their rights to that highway was incontestible; to restrict their rights, by giving up the river to a foreign jurisdiction, was to injure the property and commerce of the great North-west to an incalculable degree. The fact that a battery had been placed on the banks of the river, at Memphis, to challenge all craft, and thus to obstruct navigation, showed to the twelve States, tributary to the stream, what might exist, at any moment, to their great detri ment; and the Act for the navigation of the stream only served to call most especial attention to the matter. It soon became one of the things evident, that that highway never would be allowed to pass through the terri tory of a foreign power. CHAPTER XXXII. RESISTANCE TO TYRANNY IN THE SECEDED STATES. SOUTH CARO LINA DISSATISFIED. EVIDENCES OF DISSATISFACTION GEORGIA, ALABAMA, AND MISSISSIPPI. THE UNION IN FEELING South Carolina Re pudiates the Confederacy. THE Voice of the Cotton States, seemingly, the future Permanent Southern was unanimous for the new order of things. Constitution. For South CaroBut, so many evidences came of a stifled lina is about to be saddled with opinion which repelled the revolution and almost every grievance except Abolition, for which she long struggled, and just withdrawn from the late hoped for reaction, that we advert to the subject briefly. As preliminary, it may United States Government. Surely McDuffie lived be said that even the Secessionists did not content. harmonize in their views, Evidence of Dis- now that the hour had come to embody them. The element of revolution was not one to be calmed into peace at any voice. To say to South Carolina, "Peace! be still!" was hopeless for peace as to bid the overcharged steam-chest from foaming. She must have vent, apparently, or an explosion would ensue. as in vain, and Calhoun taught for naught, if we are "The three-fifths rule of representation for slaves was one of the many Yankee swindles put upon us in the formation of the old Constitution. It is a radical wrong. It most unfairly dwarfs the power of some of the States in any Federal representation. The proportion of her black to the white popula tion is very much larger than that of any other Slave State. By the old swindle, her fair popula The class of chronic mal-contents, in that State, was large-the class of well-contents small. The philosophy of Calhoun, and the "glittering generalities" of McDuffie, had resulted in a mental disorder, whose only tion of representation was cut down upon all her proper expression seemed to find embodiment slaves in proportion as three to five. The black in the word nullification. This became ap- population, being in a majority in our State, twoparent at an early stage of the proceedings fifths of more than one-half of the people of the of the Confederate Congress, notwithstand-State are entirely unrepresented. And in just the ing the seal of secrecy. A correspondent of degree that the proportion of the black population the Charleston Mercury at Montgomery, writ-in South Carolina predominates over the proportion ing under date of February 14th-evidently of the blacks to the whites in any other State, is the a member of the Congress uttered this swindle auginented and aggravated. South Carolina strong and distinctive protest to the too Fed- is small enough without again flinging away what eral nature of the new Government: legitimate power she possesses. That power is in her slaves-socially, politically, economically. The proposition of the three-fifths rule calls upon her not only to stultify herself, but to dwarf her powers. diates the Confed cracy. 66 South Carolina Repu- Upon one point there appears to be a fixed determination and straightforward action here. Reconstruction is dead. A Southern Confederation is established; and the Southern Confederacy is a fixed thing. But what sort of a Confederacy? Here the Convention is at sea, and vague dreads of the future and terrors of the people, and in some degree a want of statesmanship, paralyze all useful and essential reform, and weaken men into inaction. Let your people prepare their minds for a failure in "Is this all? It is not. She is probably to be called upon to brand herself and her institutions. "The old Constitution of the United States merely grants to the Congress the power to prohibit by law the further introduction of slaves from Africa or else where outside of the United States. Terrorism here is about to make its perpetual prohibition a fundamental provision of the Constitution itself. A stigma |