from any persons to whom such service or labor is claimed to be due, and any officer who shall be found guilty by a court-martial of violating this article shall be dismissed from the service. And be it further enacted, That this act shall take effect from and after its passage.

SEC. 2.

APPROVED, March 13, 1862.

No. 16.

Act authorizing further Purchase of

Coin

March 17, 1862

THE immediate occasion for so much of the act of March 17 as relates to the purchase of coin was the inability of the treasury to obtain, under existing laws, enough coin to pay the interest on the public debt. The bill, in substance as suggested by the Treasury Department, was introduced in the House, March 6, by Thaddeus Stevens, from the Committee of Ways and Means, and passed the next day. The Senate added the provisions contained in section three of the act, the bill receiving its final form from a conference committee. REFERENCES. Text in U.S. Statutes at Large, XII, 370. For the proceedings see the House and Senate Journals, 37th Cong., 2d Sess., and the Cong. Globe.

An Act to authorize the Purchase of Coin, and for other Purposes.

Be it enacted. That the Secretary of the Treasury may purchase coin with any of the bonds or notes of the United States, authorized by law, at such rates and upon such terms as he may deem most advantageous to the public interest; and may issue, under such rules and regulations as he may prescribe, certificates of indebtedness, such as are authorized by an act entitled "An act to authorize the Secretary of the Treasury to issue certificates of indebtedness to public creditors," approved March first, eighteen hundred and sixty-two,1 to such

1 The act provided that the Secretary of the Treasury be, and he is hereby authorized, to cause to be issued to any public creditor who may be desirous to receive the same, upon requisition of the Head of the proper Department in satis

creditors as may desire to receive the same, in discharge of checks drawn by disbursing officers upon sums placed to their credit on the books of the Treasurer, upon requisitions of the proper departments, as well as in discharge of audited and settled accounts, as provided by said act.

SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That the demand notes authorized by the act of July seventeenth, eighteen hundred and sixtyone, and by the act of February twelfth, eighteen hundred and sixty-two, shall, in addition to being receivable in payment of duties on imports, be receivable, and shall be lawful money and a legal tender, in like manner, and for the same purposes, and to the same extent, as the notes authorized by an act entitled "An act to authorize the issue of United States notes, and for the redemption or funding thereof, and for funding the floating debt of the United States," approved February twenty-fifth, eighteen hundred and sixty-two.

SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That the limitation upon temporary deposits of United States notes with any assistant treasurers or designated depositaries, authorized by the Secretary of the Treasury to receive such deposits, at five per cent. interest, to twenty-five millions of dollars, shall be so far modified as to authorize the Secretary of the Treasury to receive such deposits to an amount not exceeding fifty millions of dollars, and that the rates of interest shall be prescribed by the Secretary of the Treasury not exceeding the annual rate of five per centum.

SEC. 4. [The Secretary of the Treasury in reissuing notes may replace mutilated ones.]

APPROVED, March 17,

1862.

faction of audited and settled demands against the United States, certificates for the whole amount due or parts thereof not less than one thousand dollars, signed by the Treasurer of the United States, and countersigned as may be directed by the Secretary of the Treasury; which certificate shall be payable in one year from date or earlier, at the option of the Government, and shall bear interest at the rate of six per centum per annum."

D

No. 17. Joint Resolution on Compensated Emancipation

April 10, 1862

THE first proposition for compensated emancipation seems to have been brought forward by James B. McKean of New York, who introduced in the House, February 11, 1861, a resolution for the appointment of a select committee to inquire into the practicability of emancipating the slaves in the border States. No action was taken on the resolution. In a special message to Congress, March 6, 1862, Lincoln recommended the adoption of a resolution in the identical terms of the resolution following. The resolution was introduced in the House, March 10, by Roscoe Conkling of New York, under suspension of the rules, and the next day passed by a vote of 97 to 36. The Senate passed the resolution April 2, the vote being 32 to 10. April 7, by a vote of 67 to 52, the House adopted a resolution, submitted by Albert S. White of Indiana, for the appointment of a select committee of nine on compensated emancipation in the border States. On March 10, and again on July 12, Lincoln had interviews with representatives of the border States, but the conferences were fruitless. In his proclamation of May 19, setting aside General Hunter's proclamation declaring free the slaves in Georgia, Florida, and South Carolina, Lincoln made an earnest plea for the acceptance of the offer proposed by the resolution, while in his annual message of December 1, 1862, he discussed the subject at length, and proposed an amendment to the Constitution to carry the plan into effect. Bills providing for compensated emancipation in Missouri and Maryland were introduced in the House in January, 1863, but failed to pass.

REFERENCES. Text in U.S. Statutes at Large, XII, 617. For the proceedings see the House and Senate Journals, 37th Cong., Ist Sess., and the Cong. Globe. Papers relating to Lincoln's interviews with representatives of the border States are in McPherson, Rebellion, 213-220. See also Senate Report 12 and House Report 148, 37th Cong., 2d Sess.; House Report 33, 39th Cong., Ist Sess.; Rhodes, United States, III, 630-636; Nicolay and Hay, Lincoln, V, chap. 12.

Joint Resolution declaring that the United States ought to coöperate with, affording pecuniary Aid to any State which may adopt the gradual Abolishment of Slavery.

Be it resolved That the United States ought to coöperate with any State which may adopt gradual abolishment of

slavery, giving to such State pecuniary aid, to be used by such State in its discretion, to compensate for the inconveniences, public and private, produced by such change of system. APPROVED, April 10, 1862.

No. 18. Act abolishing Slavery in the District of Columbia

April 16, 1862

A BILL "for the release of certain persons held to service or labor in the District of Columbia" was introduced in the Senate, December 16, 1861, by Henry Wilson of Massachusetts. The debate on the bill began March 12 and developed much opposition, but April 3, by a vote of 29 to 14, the bill passed. In the House a motion to reject the bill was lost, 45 to 93, and on the 11th the bill passed, the final vote being 85 to 40. In his message of approval Lincoln suggested that further time be allowed for the presentation of claims, and that provision be made for “ minors, femmes covert, insane, or absent persons"; and a supplementary act was passed July 12 embodying these changes. The civil appropriation act of July 16 made an appropriation of $500,000 for the removal and colonization of the emancipated negroes, but this, as to the unexpended balance, together with section eleven of the act of April 16, was repealed by the civil appropriation act of July 2, 1864. Acts of May 20 and 21 provided for the education of colored children in the District.

REFERENCES.

Text in U.S. Statutes at Large, XII, 376-378. For the proceedings see the House and Senate Journals, 37th Cong., 2d Sess., and the Cong. Globe. Calvert's minority report, March 12, is House Report 58. For a report of the commissioners see House Exec. Doc. 42, 38th Cong., Ist Sess.

An Act for the Release of certain Persons held to Service or Labor in the District of Columbia.

Be it enacted . That all persons held to service or labor within the District of Columbia by reason of African descent are hereby discharged and freed of and from all claim to such service or labor; and from and after the passage of this act neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except for crime, whereof the party shall be duly convicted, shall hereafter exist in said District.

SEC 2

And be it further enacted That all persons loval to the

United States, holding claims to service or labor against persons discharged therefrom by this act, may, within ninety days from the passage thereof, but not thereafter, present to the commissioners hereinafter mentioned their respective statements or petitions in writing, verified by oath or affirmation, setting forth the names, ages, and personal description of such persons, the manner in which said petitioners acquired such claim, and any facts touching the value thereof, and declaring his allegiance to the Government of the United States, and that he has not borne arms against the United States during the present rebellion, nor in any way given aid or comfort thereto : Provided, That the oath of the party to the petition shall not be evidence of the facts therein stated.

SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That the President of the United States, with the advice and consent of the Senate, shall appoint three commissioners, residents of the District of Columbia, any two of whom shall have power to act, who shall receive the petitions above mentioned, and who shall investigate and determine the validity and value of the claims therein presented, as aforesaid, and appraise and apportion, under the proviso hereto annexed, the value in money of the several claims by them found to be valid: Provided, however, That the entire sum so appraised and apportioned shall not exceed in the aggregate an amount equal to three hundred dollars for each person shown to have been so held by lawful claim: And provided, further, That no claim shall be allowed for any slave or slaves brought into said District after the passage of this act, nor for any slave claimed by any person who has borne arms against the Government of the United States in the present rebellion, or in any way given aid or comfort thereto, or which originates in or by virtue of any transfer heretofore made, or which shall hereafter be made by any person who has in any manner aided or sustained the rebellion against the Government of the United States.

SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That said commissioners shall, within nine months from the passage of this act, make a full and final report of their proceedings, findings, and appraisement, and shall deliver the same to the Secretary of the Treasury, which report