of all the States, to take into consideration such amendments to the Constitution as the said States shall concur in suggesting at the time when the said demand is made; and should any of the proposed amendments to the Constitution be agreed on by the said convention voting by States — and the same be ratified by the legislatures of two-thirds of the several States, or by conventions in two-thirds thereof as the one or the other mode of ratification may be proposed by the general convention they shall thenceforward form a part of this Constitution. But no State shall, without its consent, be deprived of its equal representation in the Senate.1 ARTICLE VI. 1. The Government established by this Constitution is the successor of the Provisional Government of the Confederate States of America, and all the laws passed by the latter shall continue in force until the same shall be repealed or modified: and all the officers appointed by the same shall remain in office until their successors are appointed and qualified, or the offices abolished. 5. The enumeration, in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people of the Several States.2 6. The powers not delegated to the Confederate States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States, respectively, or to the people thereof.3 ARTICLE VII. 1. The ratification of the conventions of five States shall be sufficient for the establishment of this Constitution between the States so ratifying the same.' 2. When five States shall have ratified this Constitution, in the manner before specified, the Congress under the Provisional Constitution shall prescribe the time for holding the election of Presi 1 [Cf. Const. U. S., Art. V.] 2 [Cf. Const. U. S., Amend., Art. IX.] dent and Vice President; and for the meeting of the Electoral College; and for counting the votes, and inaugurating the President. They shall, also, prescribe the time for holding the first election of members of Congress under this Constitution, and the time for assembling the same. Until the assembling of such Congress, the Congress under the Provisional Constitution shall continue to exercise the legislative powers granted them; not extending beyond the time limited by the Constitution of the Provisional Government. No. 117. Call for 75,000 Volunteers April 15, 1861 THE proclamation of April 15 was issued, under authority of the act of February 28, 1795, the day after the fall of Fort Sumter. The call on the governors of the States was made through the War Department. May 3 a further call for 42,034 volunteers to serve for three years, together with an order for the increase of the regular army and the enlistment of seamen, was issued, the action of the President being legalized by an act of August 6. An act of February 24, 1864, authorized the President to call whenever necessary for such number of volunteers as might be required. REFERENCES. - Text in U. S. Statutes at Large, XII, 1258. Correspondence with the governors is in the War Records, Series III., Vol. I., pp. 68 seq. For comments of the press see Moore, Rebellion Record, I., 64-69 of docu ments. WHEREAS the laws of the United States have been, for some time past, and now are opposed, and the execution thereof obstructed, in the States of South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas, by combinations too powerful to be suppressed by the ordinary course of judicial proceedings, or by the powers vested in the marshals by law: Now, therefore, I, ABRAHAM LINCOLN, President of the United States, in virtue of the power in me vested by the Constitution and the laws, have thought fit to call forth, and hereby do call forth, the militia of the several States of the Union, to the aggregate number of seventy-five thousand, in order to suppress said combinations, and to cause the laws to be duly executed. The details for this object will be immediately communicated to the State authorities through the War Department. I appeal to all loyal citizens to favor, facilitate, and aid this effort to maintain the honor, the integrity, and the existence of our National Union, and the perpetuity of popular government; and to redress wrongs already long enough endured. I deem it proper to say that the first service assigned to the forces hereby called forth will probably be to repossess the forts, places, and property which have been seized from the Union; and in every event, the utmost care will be observed, consistently with the objects aforesaid, to avoid any devastation, any destruction of, or interference with, property, or any disturbance of peaceful citizens in any part of the country. And I hereby command the persons composing the combinations aforesaid to disperse, and retire peaceably to their respective abodes within twenty days from this date. Deeming that the present condition of public affairs presents an extraordinary occasion, I do hereby, in virtue of the power in me vested by the Constitution, convene both Houses of Congress. Senators and Representatives are therefore summoned to assemble at their respective chambers, at twelve o'clock, noon, on Thursday, the fourth day of July next, then and there to consider and determine such measures as, in their wisdom, the public safety and interest may seem to demand. * No. 118. Proclamation declaring a Blockade of Southern Ports April 19, 1861 In response to the proclamation of April 15, calling for 75,000 volunteers, Jefferson Davis, as president of the Confederate States, issued on April 17 a proclamation inviting applications for letters of marque and reprisal. The proclamation declaring a blockade of Southern ports was issued in rejoinder. By a further proclamation of April 27, the blockade was extended to the ports of Virignia and North Carolina. REFERENCES. Text in U.S. Statutes at Large, XII., 1258, 1259. Davis's proclamation is in Moore, Rebellion Record, I., 71 of documents. The proclamation was upheld in the Prize Cases, 2 Black, 635. WHEREAS an insurrection against the Government of the United States has broken out in the States of South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas, and the laws of the United States for the collection of the revenue cannot be effectually executed therein conformably to that provision of the Constitution which requires duties to be uniform throughout the United States: And whereas a combination of persons, engaged in such insurrection, have threatened to grant pretended letters of marque to authorize the bearers thereof to commit assaults on the lives, vessels, and property of good citizens of the country lawfully engaged in commerce on the high seas, and in waters of the United States: And whereas an Executive Proclamation has been already issued, requiring the persons engaged in these disorderly proceedings to desist therefrom, calling out a militia force for the purpose of repressing the same, and convening Congress in extraordinary session to deliberate and determine thereon: Now, therefore, I, ABRAHAM LINCOLN, President of the United States, with a view to the same purposes before mentioned, and to the protection of the public peace, and the lives and property of quiet and orderly citizens pursuing their lawful occupations, until Congress shall have assembled and deliberated on the said unlawful proceedings, or until the same shall have ceased, have further deemed it advisable to set on foot a blockade of the ports within the States aforesaid, in pursuance of the laws of the United States and of the law of nations in such case provided. For this purpose a competent force will be posted so as to prevent entrance and exit of vessels from the ports aforesaid. If, therefore, with a view to violate such blockade, a vessel shall approach, or shall attempt to leave either of the said ports, she will be-duly warned by the commander of one of the blockading vessels, who will indorse on her register the fact and date of such warning, and if the same vessel shall again attempt to enter or leave the blockaded port, she will be captured and sent to the nearest convenient port, for such proceedings against her and her cargo as prize, as may be deemed advisable. And I hereby proclaim and declare that if any person, under the pretended authority of the said States, or under any other pretence, shall molest a vessel of the United States, or the persons or cargo on board of her, such person will be held amenable to the laws of the United States for the prevention and punishment of piracy. No. 119. Act for a National Loan July 17, 1861 In his message of July 4, 1861, Lincoln asked Congress for "at least" 400,000 men and $400,000,000 as "the legal means for making this contest a short and a decisive one." The Secretary of the Treasury, Chase, in his report of the same date, recommended loans to the aggregate amount of $250,000,000, and submitted the draft of a bill for that purpose. A bill to authorize a national loan was introduced in the House by Thaddeus Stevens of Pennsylvania, from the Committee of Ways and Means, July 9, and on the following day passed by a vote of 153 to 5. The Senate made a number of amendments, all of which were concurred in by the House, and on the 17th the act was approved. The act was amended by act of August 5. REFERENCES. Text in U.S. Statutes at Large, XII., 259-261. For the proceedings see the House and Senate Journals and the Cong. Globe, 37th Cong., 1st Sess. Chase's report of July 4 is in the Globe, Appendix. On the condition of the treasury see House Misc. Doc. 20, 36th Cong., 2d Sess. The supplementary act of August 5 is in MacDonald, Select Statutes, No. 10. An Act to authorize a National Loan and for other Purposes. Be it enacted. That the Secretary of the Treasury be, and he is hereby, authorized to borrow on the credit of the United States, within twelve months from the passage of this act, a sum not exceeding two hundred and fifty millions of dollars, or so much thereof as he may deem necessary for the public service, for which he is authorized to issue coupon bonds, or registered bonds, or treasury notes, in such proportions of each as he may deem advisable; the bonds to bear interest not exceeding seven per centum per annum, payable semi-annually, irredeemable for twenty years, and after that period redeemable at the pleasure of the United States; and the treasury notes to be of any denomination fixed by the Secretary of the Treasury, not less than fifty dollars, and to be payable three years after date, with interest at the rate of seven and three tenths per centum per annum, payable semi-annually. And the Secretary of the Treasury may also issue in exchange for coin, and as part of the above loan, or may pay for salaries or other dues from the United States, treasury notes of a less denomination than fifty dollars, not bearing interest, but payable on demand by the |