Chapter L: Thomas, (3)

It is also provided that the slaves of persons convicted under these
sections shall be free. I think there is an unfortunate form of
expression rather than a substantial objection in this. It is startling
to say that Congress can free a slave within a State, and yet if it were
said the ownership of the slave had first been transferred to the nation
and that Congress had then liberated him the difficulty would at once
vanish. And this is the real case. The traitor against the General
Government forfeits his slave at least as justly as he does any other
property, and he forfeits both to the Government against which he
offends. The Government, so far as there can be ownership, thus owns the
forfeited slaves, and the question for Congress in regard to them is,
"Shall they be made free or be sold to new masters?" I perceive no
objection to Congress deciding in advance that they shall be free. To
the high honor of Kentucky, as I am informed, she has been the owner of
some slaves by escheat and has sold none, but liberated all. I hope the
same is true of some other States. Indeed I do not believe it would be
physically possible for the General Government to return persons so
circumstanced to actual slavery. I believe there would be physical
resistance to it which could neither be turned aside by argument nor
driven away by force. In this view I have no objection to this feature
of the bill. Another matter involved in these two sections, and running
through other parts of the act, will be noticed hereafter.

I perceive no objection to the third and fourth sections.

So far as I wish to notice the fifth and sixth sections, they may be
considered together. That the enforcement of these sections would do no
injustice to the persons embraced within them is clear. That those who
make a causeless war should be compelled to pay the cost of it is too
obviously just to be called in question. To give governmental protection
to the property of persons who have abandoned it and gone on a crusade
to overthrow that same government is absurd if considered in the mere
light of justice. The severest justice may not always be the best
policy. The principle of seizing and appropriating the property of the
persons embraced within these sections is certainly not very
objectionable, but a justly discriminating application of it would be
very difficult, and to a great extent impossible. And would it not be
wise to place a power of remission somewhere, so that these persons may
know they have something to lose by persisting and something to save by
desisting? I am not sure whether such power of remission is or is not
within section 13.

Without any special act of Congress, I think our military commanders,
when, in military phrase, "they are within the enemy's country," should
in an orderly manner seize and use whatever of real or personal property
may be necessary or convenient for their commands, at the same time
preserving in some way the evidence of what they do.

What I have said in regard to slaves while commenting on the first and
second sections is applicable to the ninth, with the difference that no
provision is made in the whole act for determining whether a particular
individual slave does or does not fall within the classes defined in
that section. He is to be free upon certain conditions, but whether
those conditions do or do not pertain to him no mode of ascertaining is
provided. This could be easily supplied.

To the tenth section I make no objection. The oath therein required
seems to be proper, and the remainder of the section is substantially
identical with a law already existing.

The eleventh section simply assumes to confer discretionary powers upon
the Executive. Without the law I have no hesitation to go as far in the
direction indicated as I may at any time deem expedient. And I am ready
to say now, I think it is proper for our military commanders to employ
as laborers as many persons of African descent as can be used to
advantage.

The twelfth and thirteenth sections are somewhat better than
objectionable, and the fourteenth is entirely proper if all other parts
of the act shall stand.

That to which I chiefly object pervades most parts of the act, but more
distinctly appears in the first, second, seventh, and eighth sections.
It is the sum of those provisions which results in the divesting of
title forever. For the causes of treason and the ingredients of treason
not amounting to the full crime it declares forfeiture extending beyond
the lives of the guilty parties, whereas the Constitution of the United
States declares that "no attainder of treason shall work corruption of
blood, or forfeiture except during the life of the person attainted."
True, there seems to be no formal attainder in this case; still, I think
the greater punishment can not be constitutionally inflicted in a
different form for the same offense. With great respect I am constrained
to say I think this feature of the act is unconstitutional. It would not
be difficult to modify it.

I may remark that this provision of the Constitution, put in language
borrowed from Great Britain, applies only in this country to real or
landed estate.

Again, this act, by proceedings _in rem_, forfeits property for the
ingredients of treason without a conviction of the supposed criminal or
a personal hearing given him in any proceeding. That we may not touch
property lying within our reach because we can not give personal notice
to an owner who is absent endeavoring to destroy the Government is
certainly not very satisfactory. Still, the owner may not be thus
engaged; and I think a reasonable time should be provided for such
parties to appear and have personal hearings. Similar provisions are not
uncommon in connection with proceedings _in rem_.

For the reasons stated, I return the bill to the House, in which it
originated.

JULY 17, 1862.

_Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives_:

I have inadvertently omitted so long to inform you that in March last Mr. Cornelius Vanderbilt, of New York, gratuitously presented to the United States the ocean steamer _Vanderbilt_, by many esteemed the finest merchant ship in the world. She has ever since been and still is doing valuable service to the Government. For the patriotic act in making this magnificent and valuable present to the country, I recommend that some suitable acknowledgment be made.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

VETO MESSAGES.

JUNE 23, 1862.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

The bill which has passed the House of Representatives and the Senate entitled "An act to repeal that part of an act of Congress which prohibits the circulation of bank notes of a less denomination than $5 in the District of Columbia" has received my attentive consideration, and I now return it to the Senate, in which it originated, with the following objections:

1. The bill proposes to repeal the existing legislation prohibiting the circulation of bank notes of a less denomination than $5 within the District of Columbia without permitting the issuing of such bills by banks not now legally authorized to issue them. In my judgment it will be found impracticable in the present condition of the currency to make such a discrimination. The banks have generally suspended specie payments, and a legal sanction given to the circulation of the irredeemable notes of one class of them will almost certainly be so extended in practical operation as to include those of all classes, whether authorized or unauthorized. If this view be correct, the currency of the District, should this act become a law, will certainly and greatly deteriorate, to the serious injury of honest trade and honest labor.

2. This bill seems to contemplate no end which can not be otherwise more certainly and beneficially attained. During the existing war it is peculiarly the duty of the National Government to secure to the people a sound circulating medium. This duty has been under existing circumstances satisfactorily performed, in part at least, by authorizing the issue of United States notes, receivable for all Government dues except customs, and made a legal tender for all debts, public and private, except interest on public debt. The object of the bill submitted to me, namely, that of providing a small-note currency during the present suspension, can be fully accomplished by authorizing the issue, as part of any new emission of United States notes made necessary by the circumstances of the country, of notes of a similar character but of less denomination than $5. Such an issue would answer all the beneficial purposes of the bill, would save a considerable amount to the Treasury in interest, would greatly facilitate payments to soldiers and other creditors of small sums, and would furnish to the people a currency as safe as their own Government.

Entertaining these objections to the bill, I feel myself constrained to withhold from it my approval and return it for the further consideration and action of Congress.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

EXECUTIVE MANSION,

_July 2, 1862_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I herewith return to your honorable body, in which it originated, an act entitled "An act to provide for additional medical officers of the volunteer service," without my approval.

My reason for so doing is that I have approved an act of the same title passed by Congress after the passage of the one first mentioned for the express purpose of correcting errors in and superseding the same, as I am informed.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

PROCLAMATIONS.

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

A PROCLAMATION.

It is recommended to the people of the United States that they assemble in their customary places of meeting for public solemnities on the 22d day of February instant and celebrate the anniversary of the birth of the Father of his Country by causing to be read to them his immortal Farewell Address.

Given under my hand and the seal of the United States, at Washington, the 19th day of February, A.D. 1862, and of the Independence of the United States of America the eighty-sixth.

[SEAL.]

ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

By the President:
WILLIAM H. SEWARD,
_Secretary of State_.

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

A PROCLAMATION.

It has pleased Almighty God to vouchsafe signal victories to the land and naval forces engaged in suppressing an internal rebellion, and at the same time to avert from our country the dangers of foreign intervention and invasion.

It is therefore recommended to the people of the United States that at their next weekly assemblages in their accustomed places of public worship which shall occur after notice of this proclamation shall have been received they especially acknowledge and render thanks to our Heavenly Father for these inestimable blessings, that they then and there implore spiritual consolation in behalf of all who have been brought into affliction by the casualties and calamities of sedition and civil war, and that they reverently invoke the divine guidance for our national counsels, to the end that they may speedily result in the restoration of peace, harmony, and unity throughout our borders and hasten the establishment of fraternal relations among all the countries of the earth.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.

[SEAL.]

Done at the city of Washington, this 10th day of April, A.D. 1862, and of the Independence of the United States the eighty sixth.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

By the President:
WILLIAM H. SEWARD,
_Secretary of State_.

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

A PROCLAMATION.

Whereas by my proclamation of the 19th of April, 1861, it was declared that the ports of certain States, including those of Beaufort, in the State of North Carolina; Port Royal, in the State of South Carolina; and New Orleans, in the State of Louisiana, were, for reasons therein set forth, intended to be placed under blockade; and

Whereas the said ports of Beaufort, Port Royal, and New Orleans have since been blockaded; but as the blockade of the same ports may now be safely relaxed with advantage to the interests of commerce:

Now, therefore, be it known that I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, pursuant to the authority in me vested by the fifth section of the act of Congress approved on the 13th of July last, entitled "An act further to provide for the collection of duties on imports, and for other purposes," do hereby declare that the blockade of the said ports of Beaufort, Port Royal, and New Orleans shall so far cease and determine, from and after the 1st day of June next, that commercial intercourse with those ports, except as to persons, things, and information contraband of war, may from that time be carried on subject to the laws of the United States and to the limitations and in pursuance of the regulations which are prescribed by the Secretary of the Treasury in his order of this date, which is appended to this proclamation.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.

[SEAL.]

Done at the city of Washington, this 12th day of May, A.D. 1862, and of the Independence of the United States the eighty-sixth.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

By the President:
WILLIAM H. SEWARD,
_Secretary of State_.

REGULATIONS RELATING TO TRADE WITH PORTS OPENED BY PROCLAMATION.

Treasury Department, _May 12, 1862_.

1. To vessels clearing from foreign ports and destined to ports opened by the proclamation of the President of the United States of this date, namely, Beaufort, in North Carolina; Port Royal, in South Carolina, and New Orleans, in Louisiana, licenses will be granted by consuls of the United States upon satisfactory evidence that the vessels so licensed will convey no persons, property, or information contraband of war either to or from the said ports, which licenses shall be exhibited to the collector of the port to which said vessels may be respectively bound immediately on arrival, and, if required, to any officer in charge of the blockade; and on leaving either of said ports every vessel will be required to have a clearance from the collector of the customs, according to law, showing no violation of the conditions of the license. Any violation of said conditions will involve the forfeiture and condemnation of the vessel and cargo and the exclusion of all parties concerned from any further privilege of entering the United States during the war for any purpose whatever.

2. To vessels of the United States clearing coastwise for the ports aforesaid licenses can only be obtained from the Treasury Department.

3. In all other respects the existing blockade remains in full force and effect as hitherto established and maintained, nor is it relaxed by the proclamation except in regard to the ports to which the relaxation is by that instrument expressly applied.

S.P. CHASE,

_Secretary of the Treasury_.

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

A PROCLAMATION.

Whereas there appears in the public prints what purports to be a proclamation of Major-General Hunter, in the words and figures following, to wit:

HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF THE SOUTH,
_Hilton Head, S.C., May 9, 1862_.

_General Orders, No. 11_.--The three States of Georgia, Florida, and
South Carolina, comprising the Military Department of the South, having
deliberately declared themselves no longer under the protection of the
United States of America, and having taken up arms against the said
United States, it becomes a military necessity to declare them under
martial law. This was accordingly done on the 25th day of April, 1862.
Slavery and martial law in a free country are altogether incompatible;
the persons in these three States--Georgia, Florida, and South
Carolina--heretofore held as slaves are therefore declared forever free.

DAVID HUNTER,
_Major-General Commanding_.

Official:

ED. W. SMITH,
_Acting Assistant Adjutant-General_.

And whereas the same is producing some excitement and misunderstanding:

Therefore I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, proclaim and declare that the Government of the United States had no knowledge, information, or belief of an intention on the part of General Hunter to issue such a proclamation, nor has it yet any authentic information that the document is genuine; and, further, that neither General Hunter nor any other commander or person has been authorized by the Government of the United States to make proclamations declaring the slaves of any State free, and that the supposed proclamation now in question, whether genuine or false, is altogether void so far as respects such declaration.

I further make known that whether it be competent for me, as Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy, to declare the slaves of any State or States free, and whether at any time, in any case, it shall have become a necessity indispensable to the maintenance of the Government to exercise such supposed power, are questions which, under my responsibility, I reserve to myself, and which I can not feel justified in leaving to the decision of commanders in the field. These are totally different questions from those of police regulations in armies and camps.

On the 6th day of March last, by a special message, I recommended to Congress the adoption of a joint resolution to be substantially as follows:

_Resolved_, That the United States ought to cooperate with any State which may adopt a 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.

The resolution, in the language above quoted, was adopted by large majorities in both branches of Congress, and now stands an authentic, definite, and solemn proposal of the nation to the States and people most immediately interested in the subject-matter. To the people of those States I now earnestly appeal--I do not argue; I beseech you to make the arguments for yourselves; you can not, if you would, be blind to the signs of the times. I beg of you a calm and enlarged consideration of them, ranging, if it may be, far above personal and partisan politics. This proposal makes common cause for a common object, casting no reproaches upon any. It acts not the Pharisee. The change it contemplates would come gently as the dews of heaven, not rending or wrecking anything. Will you not embrace it? So much good has not been done by one effort in all past time as, in the providence of God, it is now your high privilege to do. May the vast future not have to lament that you have neglected it.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.

[SEAL.]

Done at the city of Washington, this 19th day of May, A.D. 1862, and of the Independence of the United States the eighty-sixth.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

By the President:
WILLIAM H. SEWARD,
_Secretary of State_.

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

A PROCLAMATION.

Whereas in and by the second section of an act of Congress passed on the 7th day of June, A.D. 1862, entitled "An act for the collection of direct taxes in insurrectionary districts within the United States, and for other purposes," it is made the duty of the President to declare, on or before the 1st day of July then next following, by his proclamation, in what States and parts of States insurrection exists:

Now, therefore, be it known that I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States of America, do hereby declare and proclaim that the States of South Carolina, Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi, Arkansas, Tennessee, North Carolina, and the State of Virginia except the following counties--Hancock, Brooke, Ohio, Marshall, Wetzel, Marion, Monongalia, Preston, Taylor, Pleasants, Tyler, Ritchie, Doddridge, Harrison, Wood, Jackson, Wirt, Roane, Calhoun, Gilmer, Barbour, Tucker, Lewis, Braxton, Upshur, Randolph, Mason, Putnam, Kanawha, Clay, Nicholas, Cabell, Wayne, Boone, Logan, Wyoming, Webster, Fayette, and Raleigh--are now in insurrection and rebellion, and by reason thereof the civil authority of the United States is obstructed so that the provisions of the "Act to provide increased revenue from imports, to pay the interest on the public debt, and for other purposes," approved August 5, 1861, can not be peaceably executed; and that the taxes legally chargeable upon real estate under the act last aforesaid lying within the States and parts of States as aforesaid, together with a penalty of 50 _per centum_ of said taxes, shall be a lien upon the tracts or lots of the same, severally charged, till paid.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.

[SEAL.]

Done at the city of Washington, this 1st day of July, A.D. 1862, and of the Independence of the United States of America the eighty-sixth.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

By the President:
F.W. SEWARD,
_Acting Secretary of State_.

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

A PROCLAMATION.

In pursuance of the sixth section of the act of Congress entitled "An act to suppress insurrection and to punish treason and rebellion, to seize and confiscate property of rebels, and for other purposes," approved July 17, 1862, and which act and the joint resolution explanatory thereof are herewith published, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, do hereby proclaim to and warn all persons within the contemplation of said sixth section to cease participating in, aiding, countenancing, or abetting the existing rebellion or any rebellion against the Government of the United States and to return to their proper allegiance to the United States on pain of the forfeitures and seizures as within and by said sixth section provided.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.

[SEAL.]

Done at the city of Washington, this 25th day of July, A.D. 1862, and of the Independence of the United States the eighty-seventh.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

By the President:
WILLIAM H. SEWARD,
_Secretary of State_.

[From Statutes at Large (Little, Brown & Co.), Vol. XII, p. 589.]

AN ACT to suppress insurrection, to punish treason and rebellion, to seize and confiscate the property of rebels, and for other purposes.

_Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled_, That every person who shall hereafter commit the crime of treason against the United States, and shall be adjudged guilty thereof, shall suffer death, and all his slaves, if any, shall be declared and made free; or, at the discretion of the court, he shall be imprisoned for not less than five years and fined not less than $10,000, and all his slaves, if any, shall be declared and made free; said fine shall be levied and collected on any or all of the property, real and personal, excluding slaves, of which the said person so convicted was the owner at the time of committing the said crime, any sale or conveyance to the contrary notwithstanding.

SEC. 2. _And be it further enacted_, That if any person shall hereafter incite, set on foot, assist, or engage in any rebellion or insurrection against the authority of the United States or the laws thereof, or shall give aid or comfort thereto, or shall engage in or give aid and comfort to any such existing rebellion or insurrection, and be convicted thereof, such person shall be punished by imprisonment for a period not exceeding ten years, or by a fine not exceeding $10,000, and by the liberation of all his slaves, if any he have; or by both of said punishments, at the discretion of the court.

SEC. 3. _And be it further enacted_, That every person guilty of either of the offenses described in this act shall be forever incapable and disqualified to hold any office under the United States.

SEC. 4. _And be it further enacted_, That this act shall not be construed in any way to affect or alter the prosecution, conviction, or punishment of any person or persons guilty of treason against the United States before the passage of this act, unless such person is convicted under this act.

SEC. 5. _And be it further enacted_, That to insure the speedy termination of the present rebellion it shall be the duty of the President of the United States to cause the seizure of all the estate and property, money, stocks, credits, and effects of the persons hereinafter named in this section, and to apply and use the same and the proceeds thereof for the support of the Army of the United States; that is to say:

First. Of any person hereafter acting as an officer of the army or navy of the rebels in arms against the Government of the United States.

Secondly. Of any person hereafter acting as president, vice-president, member of congress, judge of any court, cabinet officer, foreign minister, commissioner, or consul of the so-called Confederate States of America.

Thirdly. Of any person acting as governor of a State, member of a convention or legislature, or judge of any court of any of the so-called Confederate States of America.

Fourthly. Of any person who, having held an office of honor, trust, or profit in the United States, shall hereafter hold an office in the so-called Confederate States of America.

Fifthly. Of any person hereafter holding any office or agency under the government of the so-called Confederate States of America, or under any of the several States of the said Confederacy, or the laws thereof, whether such office or agency be national, State, or municipal in its name or character: _Provided_, That the persons thirdly, fourthly, and fifthly above described shall have accepted their appointment or election since the date of the pretended ordinance of secession of the State, or shall have taken an oath of allegiance to or to support the constitution of the so-called Confederate States.

Sixthly. Of any person who, owning property in any loyal State or Territory of the United States, or in the District of Columbia, shall hereafter assist and give aid and comfort to such rebellion; and all sales, transfers, or conveyances of any such property shall be null and void; and it shall be a sufficient bar to any suit brought by such person for the possession or the use of such property, or any of it, to allege and prove that he is one of the persons described in this section.

SEC. 6. _And be it further enacted_, That if any person within any State or Territory of the United States, other than those named as aforesaid, after the passage of this act, being engaged in armed rebellion against the Government of the United States, or aiding or abetting such rebellion, shall not, within sixty days after public warning and proclamation duly given and made by the President of the United States, cease to aid, countenance, and abet such rebellion, and return to his allegiance to the United States, all the estate and property, moneys, stocks, and credits of such person shall be liable to seizure as aforesaid, and it shall be the duty of the President to seize and use them as aforesaid, or the proceeds thereof. And all sales, transfers, or conveyances of any such property after the expiration of the said sixty days from the date of such warning and proclamation shall be null and void; and it shall be a sufficient bar to any suit brought by such person for the possession or the use of such property, or any of it, to allege and prove that he is one of the persons described in this section.

SEC. 7. _And be it further enacted_, That to secure the condemnation and sale of any of such property, after the same shall have been seized, so that it may be made available for the purpose aforesaid, proceedings _in rem_ shall be instituted in the name of the United States in any district court thereof, or in any Territorial court, or in the United States district court for the District of Columbia, within which the property above described, or any part thereof, may be found, or into which the same, if movable, may first be brought, which proceedings shall conform as nearly as may be to proceedings in admiralty or revenue cases; and if said property, whether real or personal, shall be found to have belonged to a person engaged in rebellion, or who has given aid or comfort thereto, the same shall be condemned as enemies' property and become the property of the United States, and may be disposed of as the court shall decree and the proceeds thereof paid into the Treasury of the United States for the purposes aforesaid.

SEC. 8. _And be it further enacted_, That the several courts aforesaid shall have power to make such orders, establish such forms of decree and sale, and direct such deeds and conveyances to be executed and delivered by the marshals thereof where real estate shall be the subject of sale as shall fitly and efficiently effect the purposes of this act, and vest in the purchasers of such property good and valid titles thereto. And the said courts shall have power to allow such fees and charges of their officers as shall be reasonable and proper in the premises.

SEC. 9. _And be it further enacted_, That all slaves of persons who shall hereafter be engaged in rebellion against the Government of the United States, or who shall in any way give aid or comfort thereto, escaping from such persons and taking refuge within the lines of the army, and all slaves captured from such persons or deserted by them and coming under the control of the Government of the United States, and all slaves of such persons found on [or] being within any place occupied by rebel forces and afterwards occupied by the forces of the United States, shall be deemed captives of war, and shall be forever free of their servitude, and not again held as slaves.

SEC. 10. _And be it further enacted_, That no slave escaping into any State, Territory, or the District of Columbia from any other State shall be delivered up or in any way impeded or hindered of his liberty except for crime or some offense against the laws, unless the person claiming said fugitive shall first make oath that the person to whom the labor or service of such fugitive is alleged to be due is his lawful owner and has not borne arms against the United States in the present rebellion nor in any way given aid and comfort thereto; and no person engaged in the military or naval service of the United States shall, under any pretense whatever, assume to decide on the validity of the claim of any person to the service or labor of any other person, or surrender up any such person to the claimant, on pain of being dismissed from the service.

SEC. 11. _And be it further enacted_, That the President of the United States is authorized to employ as many persons of African descent as he may deem necessary and proper for the suppression of this rebellion, and for this purpose he may organize and use them in such manner as he may judge best for the public welfare.

SEC. 12. _And be it further enacted_, That the President of the United States is hereby authorized to make provision for the transportation, colonization, and settlement, in some tropical country beyond the limits of the United States, of such persons of the African race, made free by the provisions of this act, as may be willing to emigrate, having first obtained the consent of the Government of said country to their protection and settlement within the same, with all the rights and privileges of freemen.

SEC. 13. _And be it further enacted_, That the President is hereby authorized, at any time hereafter, by proclamation, to extend to persons who may have participated in the existing rebellion in any State or part thereof pardon and amnesty, with such exceptions and at such time and on such conditions as he may deem expedient for the public welfare.

SEC. 14. _And be it further enacted_, That the courts of the United States shall have full power to institute proceedings, make orders and decrees, issue process, and do all other things necessary to carry this act into effect.

Approved, July 17, 1862.

[From Statutes at Large (Little, Brown & Co.), Vol. XII, p. 627.]

JOINT RESOLUTION explanatory of "An act to suppress insurrection, to punish treason and rebellion, to seize and confiscate the property of rebels, and for other purposes."

_Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled_, That the provisions of the third clause of the fifth section of "An act to suppress insurrection, to punish treason and rebellion, to seize and confiscate the property of rebels, and for other purposes" shall be so construed as not to apply to any act or acts done prior to the passage thereof, nor to include any member of a State legislature or judge of any State court who has not in accepting or entering upon his office taken an oath to support the constitution of the so-called "Confederate States of America;" nor shall any punishment or proceedings under said act be so construed as to work a forfeiture of the real estate of the offender beyond his natural life.

Approved, July 17, 1862.

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

A PROCLAMATION.

I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States of America and Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy thereof, do hereby proclaim and declare that hereafter, as heretofore, the war will be prosecuted for the object of practically restoring the constitutional relation between the United States and each of the States and the people thereof in which States that relation is or may be suspended or disturbed.

That it is my purpose, upon the next meeting of Congress, to again recommend the adoption of a practical measure tendering pecuniary aid to the free acceptance or rejection of all slave States, so called, the people whereof may not then be in rebellion against the United States, and which States may then have voluntarily adopted, or thereafter may voluntarily adopt, immediate or gradual abolishment of slavery within their respective limits; and that the effort to colonize persons of African descent with their consent upon this continent or elsewhere, with the previously obtained consent of the governments existing there, will be continued.

That on the 1st day of January, A.D. 1863, all persons held as slaves within any State or designated part of a State the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free; and the executive government of the United States, including the military and naval authority thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of such persons and will do no act or acts to repress such persons, or any of them, in any efforts they may make for their actual freedom.

That the Executive will on the 1st day of January aforesaid, by proclamation, designate the States and parts of States, if any, in which the people thereof, respectively, shall then be in rebellion against the United States; and the fact that any State or the people thereof shall on that day be in good faith represented in the Congress of the United States by members chosen thereto at elections wherein a majority of the qualified voters of such State shall have participated shall, in the absence of strong countervailing testimony, be deemed conclusive evidence that such State and the people thereof are not then in rebellion against the United States.

That attention is hereby called to an act of Congress entitled "An act to make an additional article of war," approved March 13, 1862, and which act is in the words and figure following:

_Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United
States of America in Congress assembled_, That hereafter the following
shall be promulgated as an additional article of war for the government
of the Army of the United States, and shall be obeyed and observed as
such:

ART.--. 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 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.

SEC. 2. _And be it further enacted_, That this act shall take effect
from and after its passage.

Also to the ninth and tenth sections of an act entitled "An act to suppress insurrection, to punish treason and rebellion, to seize and confiscate the property of rebels, and for other purposes," approved July 17, 1862, and which sections are in the words and figures following:

SEC. 9. _And be it further enacted_, That all slaves of persons who
shall hereafter be engaged in rebellion against the Government of the
United States, or who shall in any way give aid or comfort thereto,
escaping from such persons and taking refuge within the lines of the
army, and all slaves captured from such persons or deserted by them and
coming under the control of the Government of the United States, and all
slaves of such persons found on [or] being within any place occupied by
rebel forces and afterwards occupied by the forces of the United States,
shall be deemed captives of war and shall be forever free of their
servitude and not again held as slaves.

SEC. 10. _And be it further enacted_, That no slave escaping into any
State, Territory, or the District of Columbia from any other State shall
be delivered up or in any way impeded or hindered of his liberty except
for crime or some offense against the laws, unless the person claiming
said fugitive shall first make oath that the person to whom the labor or
service of such fugitive is alleged to be due is his lawful owner and
has not borne arms against the United States in the present rebellion
nor in any way given aid and comfort thereto; and no person engaged in
the military or naval service of the United States shall, under any
pretense whatever, assume to decide on the validity of the claim of any
person to the service or labor of any other person or surrender up any
such person to the claimant on pain of being dismissed from the service.

And I do hereby enjoin upon and order all persons engaged in the military and naval service of the United States to observe, obey, and enforce within their respective spheres of service the act and sections above recited.

And the Executive will in due time recommend that all citizens of the United States who shall have remained loyal thereto throughout the rebellion shall, upon the restoration of the constitutional relation between the United States and their respective States and people, if that relation shall have been suspended or disturbed, be compensated for all losses by acts of the United States; including the loss of slaves.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.

[SEAL.]

Done at the city of Washington, this 22d day of September, A.D. 1862, and of the Independence of the United States the eighty-seventh.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

By the President:
WILLIAM H. SEWARD,
_Secretary of State_.

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

A PROCLAMATION.

Whereas it has become necessary to call into service not only volunteers, but also portions of the militia of the States by draft in order to suppress the insurrection existing in the United States, and disloyal persons are not adequately restrained by the ordinary processes of law from hindering this measure and from giving aid and comfort in various ways to the insurrection:

Now, therefore, be it ordered, first, that during the existing insurrection, and as a necessary measure for suppressing the same, all rebels and insurgents, their aiders and abettors, within the United States, and all persons discouraging volunteer enlistments, resisting militia drafts, or guilty of any disloyal practice affording aid and comfort to rebels against the authority of the United States, shall be subject to martial law and liable to trial and punishment by courts-martial or military commissions; second, that the writ of _habeas corpus_ is suspended in respect to all persons arrested, or who are now or hereafter during the rebellion shall be imprisoned in any fort, camp, arsenal, military prison, or other place of confinement by any military authority or by the sentence of any court-martial or military commission.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.

[SEAL.]

Done at the city of Washington, this 24th day of September, A.D. 1862, and of the Independence of the United States the eighty-seventh.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

By the President:
WILLIAM H. SEWARD,
_Secretary of State_.

EXECUTIVE ORDERS.

Major-General H.W. HALLECK

_Commanding in the Department of Missouri_.

GENERAL: As an insurrection exists in the United States and is in arms in the State of Missouri, you are hereby authorized and empowered to suspend the writ of _habeas corpus_ within the limits of the military division under your command and to exercise martial law as you find it necessary, in your discretion, to secure the public safety and the authority of the United States.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed, at Washington, this 2d day of December, A.D. 1861.

[SEAL.]

ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

By the President:
WILLIAM H. SEWARD,
_Secretary of State_.

GENERAL ORDERS, NO. III.

HEADQUARTERS OF THE ARMY,

ADJUTANT-GENERAL'S OFFICE,

_Washington, December 30, 1861_.

* * * * *

Joint Resolution expressive of the recognition by Congress of the gallant and patriotic services of the late Brigadier-General Nathaniel Lyon and the officers and soldiers under his command at the battle of Springfield, Mo.

_Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United
States of America in Congress assembled_, 1. That Congress deems it just
and proper to enter upon its records a recognition of the eminent and
patriotic services of the late Brigadier-General Nathaniel Lyon. The
country to whose service he devoted his life will guard and preserve his
fame as a part of its own glory.

2. That the thanks of Congress are hereby given to the brave officers
and soldiers who, under the command of the late General Lyon, sustained
the honor of the flag and achieved victory against overwhelming numbers
at the battle of Springfield, in Missouri; and that, in order to
commemorate an event so honorable to the country and to themselves, it
is ordered that each regiment engaged shall be authorized to bear upon
its colors the word "Springfield," embroidered in letters of gold. And
the President of the United States is hereby requested to cause these
resolutions to be read at the head of every regiment in the Army of the
United States.

The President of the United States directs that the foregoing joint resolution be read at the head of every regiment in the Army of the United States.

By command of Major General McClellan: