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

APPROVED, February 19, 1862.

No. 14.

Act authorizing the Issue of Legal
Tender Notes

February 25, 1862

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

the Senate was reconsidered and a second conference asked for. T of this committee was accepted by the houses, and on the 25th th approved. A further issue of legal tender notes, to the amount of $15 was authorized by an act of July 11, a third, to the amount of $10 by a joint resolution of January 17, 1863, and a fourth, of $15 March 3, 1863.

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

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

de

Be it enacted That the Secretary of the Trea hereby authorized to issue, on the credit of the United one hundred and fifty millions of dollars of United State not bearing interest, payable to bearer, at the Treasury United States, and of such denominations as he may pedient, not less than five dollars each: Provided, howeve fifty millions of said notes shall be in lieu of the demand ury notes authorized to be issued by the act of July sev eighteen hundred and sixty-one; which said demand not be taken up as rapidly as practicable, and the notes provided for substituted for them: And provided furthe the amount of the two kinds of notes together shall at exceed the sum of one hundred and fifty millions of and such notes herein authorized shall be receivable ment of all taxes, internal duties, excises, debts, and de of every kind due to the United States, except duties on in

and of all claims and demands against the United States of every kind whatsoever, except for interest upon bonds and notes, which shall be paid in coin, and shall also be lawful money and a legal tender in payment of all debts, public and private, within the United States, except duties on imports and interest as aforesaid. And any holders of said United States notes depositing any sum not less than fifty dollars, or some multiple of fifty dollars, with the Treasurer of the United States, or either of the Assistant Treasurers, shall receive in exchange therefor duplicate certificates of deposit, one of which may be transmitted to the Secretary of the Treasury, who shall thereupon issue to the holder an equal amount of bonds of the United States, coupon or registered, as may by said holder be desired, bearing interest at the rate of six per centum per annum, payable semi-annually, and redeemable at the pleasure of the United States after five years, and payable twenty years from the date thereof. And such United States notes shall be received the same as coin, at their par value, in payment for any loans that may be hereafter sold or negotiated by the Secretary of the Treasury, and may be re-issued from time to time as the exigencies of the public interests shall require.

SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That to enable the Secretary of the Treasury to fund the Treasury notes and floating debt of the United States, he is hereby authorized to issue, on the credit of the United States, coupon bonds, or registered bonds, to an amount not exceeding five hundred millions of dollars, redeemable at the pleasure of the United States after five years, and payable twenty years from date, and bearing interest at the rate of six per centum per annum, payable semiannually. And the bonds herein authorized shall be of such denominations, not less than fifty dollars, as may be determined upon by the Secretary of the Treasury. And the Secretary of the Treasury may dispose of such bonds at any time, at the market value thereof, for the coin of the United States, or for any of the Treasury notes that have been or may hereafter be issued under any former act of Congress, or for United States

notes that may be issued under the provisions of this act; and all stocks, bonds, and other securities of the United States held by individuals, corporations, or associations, within the United States, shall be exempt from taxation by or under State authority.

SEC. 3. [Form of treasury notes and coupon or registered bonds; how signed, countersigned, and sealed. Provisions of act of December 23, 1857, revived. Appropriation of $300,000 to carry the act into effect.]

SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That the Secretary of the Treasury may receive from any person or persons, or any corporation, United States notes on deposit for not less than thirty days, in sums of not less than one hundred dollars, with any of the Assistant Treasurers or designated depositaries of the United States authorized by the Secretary of the Treasury to receive them, who shall issue therefor certificates of deposit, made in such form as the Secretary of the Treasury shall prescribe, and said certificates of deposit shall bear interest at the rate of five per centum per annum; and any amount of United States notes so deposited may be withdrawn from deposit at any time after ten days' notice on the return of said certificates: Provided, That the interest on all such deposits shall cease and determine at the pleasure of the Secretary of the Treasury: And provided further, That the aggregate of such deposit shall at no time exceed the amount of twenty-five millions of dollars.

SEC. 5. And be it further enacted, That all duties on imported goods shall be paid in coin, or in notes payable on demand heretofore authorized to be issued and by law receivable in payment of public dues, and the coin so paid shall be set apart as a special fund, and shall be applied as follows:

First. To the payment in coin of the interest on the bonds and notes of the United States.

Second. To the purchase or payment of one per centum of the entire debt of the United States, to be made within each fiscal year after the first day of July, eighteen hundred and sixty-two, which is to be set apart as a sinking fund, and the

interest of which shall in like manner be applied to the purchase or payment of the public debt as the Secretary of the Treasury shall from time to time direct.

Third. The residue thereof to be paid into the Treasury of the United States.

[Sections 6 and 7 provide for the punishment of counterfeiting or altering treasury notes.]

APPROVED, February 25, 1862.

No. 15.

Act for an Additional Article of War
March 13, 1862

JULY 9, 1861, the House of Representatives, by a vote of 92 to 55, resolved that "it is no part of the duty of the soldiers of the United States to capture and return fugitive slaves." December 23 the House Committee on Military Affairs was instructed to report a bill to make an additional article of war forbidding the use of the United States troops to return fugitives from service or labor. A bill to that effect was reported February 25, and passed, after much obstructive opposition, by a vote of 95 to 51. March 10, in the Senate, an amendment "that this article shall not apply in the States of Delaware, Maryland, Missouri, and Kentucky, nor elsewhere where the federal authority is recognized or can be enforced," was rejected, and the bill, by a vote of 29 to 9, passed.

REFERENCES. Text in U.S. Statutes at Large, XII, 354. For the debates see the House and Senate Journals, 37th Cong., 2d Sess., and the Cong. Globe. Various military orders and reports relating to the subject are collected in McPherson, Rebellion, 244 seq.

An Act to make an additional Article of War.

Be it enacted.

That hereafter the following shall be promulgated as an additional article of war for the government of army of the United States, and shall be obeyed and observed as such :

the

Article -. All officers or persons in the military or naval service of the United States are prohibited from employing any of the forces under their respective commands for the purpose of returning fugitives from service or labor, who may have escaped