to overthrow, or to put down, or to destroy by force, the Government of the United States, or to levy war against the United States, or to oppose by force the authority of the Government of the United States; or by force to prevent, hinder, or delay the execution of any law of the United States; or by force to seize, take, or possess any property of the United States against the will or contrary to the authority of the United States; or by force, or intimidation, or threat to prevent any person from accepting or holding any office, or trust, or place of confidence, under the United States; each and every person so offending shall be guilty of a high crime, and upon conviction thereof in any district or circuit court of the United States, having jurisdiction thereof, or district or supreme court of any Territory of the United States having jurisdiction thereof, shall be punished by a fine not less than five hundred dollars and not more than five thousand dollars; or by imprisonment, with or without hard labor, as the court shall determine, for a period not less than six months nor greater than six years, or by both such fine and imprisonment.

No. 124. Confiscation Act

August 6, 1861

A BILL "to confiscate property used for insurrectionary purposes" was introduced in the Senate, July 15, by Lyman Trumbull of Illinois. When the bill was reported by the Committee on the Judiciary, on the 25th, Trumbull proposed an additional section, embodying in a shorter form the provisions of section four of the act. The amended bill passed the Senate July 22. The proposed forfeiture of the claims of owners to such of their slaves as had been compelled to work in aid of the rebellion aroused strong opposition in the House, but an amendment in the form of a substitute for the final section of the Senate bill, being section four of the act as passed, was agreed to, August 3, by a vote of 60 to 48. By a vote of 24 to 11 the Senate concurred in the amendment of the House, and on the 6th the act was approved. The Confiscation Act was the first legislative step towards emancipation. REFERENCES. Text in U.S. Statutes at Large, XII., 319. For the proceedings see the House and Senate Journals, 37th Cong., 1st Sess., and the Cong. Globe. For the retaliatory act of the Confederate Congress, August 30, see Confederate Statutes at Large, 201. On Butler's course see Butler's Book, 256 seq., and War Records, Series I., Vol. I., 53.

An Act to confiscate Property used for Insurrectionary Purposes.

Be it enacted. That if, during the present or any future insurrection against the Government of the United States, after the President of the United States shall have declared, by proclamation, that the laws of the United States are opposed, and the execution thereof obstructed, by combinations too powerful to be suppressed by the ordinary course of judicial proceedings, or by the power vested in the marshals by law, any person or persons, his, her, or their agent, attorney, or employé, shall purchase or acquire, sell or give, any property of whatsoever kind or description, with intent to use or employ the same, or suffer the same to be used or employed, in aiding, abetting, or promoting such insurrection or resistance to the laws, or any person or persons engaged therein; or if any person or persons, being the owner or owners of any such property, shall knowingly use or employ, or consent to the use or employment of the same as aforesaid, all such property is hereby declared to be lawful subject of prize and capture wherever found; and it shall be the duty of the President of the United States to cause the same to be seized, confiscated, and condemned.

SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That such prizes and capture shall be condemned in the district or circuit court of the United States having jurisdiction of the amount, or in admiralty in any district in which the same may be seized, or into which they may be taken and proceedings first instituted.

SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That the Attorney-General, or any district attorney of the United States in which said property may at the time be, may institute the proceedings of condemnation, and in such case they shall be wholly for the benefit of the United States; or any person may file an information with such attorney, in which case the proceedings shall be for the use of such informer and the United States in equal parts.

SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That whenever hereafter, during the present insurrection against the Government of the United States, any person claimed to be held to labor or service under the law of any State, shall be required or permitted by the person to whom such labor or service is claimed to be due, or by

the lawful agent of such person, to take up arms against the United States, or shall be required or permitted by the person to whom such labor or service is claimed to be due, or his lawful agent, to work or to be employed in or upon any fort, navy yard, dock, armory, ship, entrenchment, or in any military or naval service whatsoever, against the Government and lawful authority of the United States, then, and in every such case, the person to whom such labor or service is claimed to be due shall forfeit his claim to such labor, any law of the State or of the United States to the contrary notwithstanding. And whenever thereafter the person claiming such labor or service shall seek to enforce his claim, it shall be a full and sufficient answer to such claim that the person whose service or labor is claimed had been employed in hostile service against the Government of the United States, contrary to the provisions of this act.

No. 125.

Act authorizing the Seizure of Railroad and Telegraph Lines

January 31, 1862

In his report of July 1, 1861, the Secretary of War, Cameron, stated that the resistance to the passage of troops through Baltimore, the destruction of bridges on certain railroads, and the refusal of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company to transport government forces and supplies, had made it necessary "to take possession of so much of the railway lines as was required to form a connection with the States from which troops and supplies were expected;" and an appropriation for the construction and operation, when necessary, of railroad and telegraph lines was recommended. Further specific recommendations for construction were made in the annual report of December 1. A bill in accordance with the earlier recommendation was reported to the Senate, January 22, by Benjamin F. Wade of Ohio, from the Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War, and passed with amendments on the 28th by a vote of 23 to 12. The next day, by a vote of 113 to 28, the bill passed the House, and on the 31st the act was approved. An order taking military possession of all railroads was issued May 25.

REFERENCES. Text in U.S. Statutes at Large, XII., 334, 335. For the proceedings see the House and Senate Journals, 37th Cong., 2d Sess., and the Cong. Globe. The debate in the Senate is of most importance. Cameron's report of 1861 is in the Globe, Appendix.

An Act to authorize the President of the United States in certain Cases to take Possession of Railroad and Telegraph Lines, and for other Purposes.

Be it enacted. That the President of the United States, when in his judgment the public safety may require it, be, and he is hereby authorized to take possession of any or all the telegraph lines in the United States, their offices and appurtenances; to take possession of any or all the railroad lines in the United States, their rolling-stock, their offices, shops, buildings, and all their appendages and appurtenances; to prescribe rules and regulations for the holding, using, and maintaining of the aforesaid telegraph and railroad lines, and to extend, repair, and complete the same,' in the manner most conducive to the safety and interest of the Government; to place under military control all the officers, agents, and employés belonging to the telegraph and railroad lines thus taken possession of by the President, so that they shall be considered as a post road and a part of the military establishment of the United States, subject to all the restrictions imposed by the rules and articles of war.

SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That any attempt by any party or parties whomsoever, in any State or District in which the laws of the United States are opposed, or the execution thereof obstructed by insurgents and rebels against the United States, too powerful to be suppressed by the ordinary course of judicial proceedings, to resist or interfere with the unrestrained use by Government of the property described in the preceding section, or any attempt to injure or destroy the property aforesaid, shall be punished as a military offence, by death, or such other penalty as a court-martial may impose.

SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That the transportation of troops, munitions of war, equipments, military property and stores, throughout the United States, shall be under the immediate control and supervision of the Secretary of War and such agents as he may appoint; and all rules, regulations, articles, usages, and laws in conflict with this provision are hereby annulled.

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* By a joint resolution of July 14, 1862, so much of the act as authorized the construction, extension, or completion of any railroad was repealed. — ED.

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No. 126. 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 7The 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. The report of this committee was accepted by the houses, and on the 25th the act was approved. A further issue of legal tender notes, to the amount of $150,000,000, was authorized by an act of July 11, a third, to the amount of $100,000,000, by a joint resolution of January 17, 1863, and a fourth, of $150,000,000, March 3, 1863.

REFERENCES. - Text in U.S. Statutes at Large, XII., 345-348. For the proceedings see the House and Senate Journals, 37th Cong., 2d Sess., and the Cong. Globe, where are also the texts of the numerous amendments offered. Morrill's substitute, embodying the recommendations of business men and bankers in consultation with Chase, and without the legal tender clause, is summarized in the Globe for February 4. On the constitutionality of the legal tender provision see Hepburn v. Griswold, 8 Wallace, 603; Legal Tender Cases, 12 ibid., 457; Juillard v. Greenman, 110 U.S. Reports, 421.

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.

Be it enacted. That the Secretary of the Treasury is hereby authorized to issue, on the credit of the United States,