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(title page) Journal of the Senate of the State of Georgia, at the Annual Session of the General Assembly, Commenced at Milledgeville, November 3, 1864
Georgia. General Assembly. Senate.
104 p.
Milledgeville, Ga.
Boughton, Nisbet & Barnes, State Printers
1864
Call Number 1539 Conf. (Rare Book Collection, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)
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[Title Page Image]
MILLEDGEVILLE, GEORGIA, The Senate in accordance with the laws of the State convened
this day in its annual Session, and being called to order
by its President the Hon. A. R. Wright, was opened
with prayer, by the Rev. Mr. Flynn. The roll being called the following Senators answered to
their names, to-wit: Bacon, Baker, Barr, Bennett, Blackwell, Chambers, Cone,
Ezzard, Grice, Groover, Lloyd, Mabry, McCutchen, McDonald, McRae, Pate, Pafford,
Polk, Pottle, Ramsay, Walker, Walton,
Wells, Whitaker, White, Wright. Mr. Cone offered the following resolution, which was taken
up read and agreed to: Resolved, That the governing rules of the last Session be
established as the rules of the present Session until altered
or changed. The following Message was received from the House of
Representatives, by Mr. Carrington, their Clerk: Mr. President:--The House of Representatives having a
quorum are ready for the transaction of business: Mr. Cone offered the following resolution which was taken
up, read and agreed to: Resolved, That the Secretary inform the House of Representatives
that the Senate has convened in annual Session,
and a quorum being present the Senate is now ready to proceed
to business.
The following Message was received from the House of
Representatives, by Mr. Carrington their Clerk: Mr. President: The House of Representatives have
appointed Messrs. Gartrell, Ezzard and Dobbs, to join such
committee as the Senate may appoint, to wait upon His
Excellency the Governor and inform him that both branches
of the General Assembly are organized and will be pleased
to receive any communication he may think proper to make. Mr. Cone offered the following resolution which was taken
up, read and agreed to: Resolved, That the President appoint a committee of three
to join a similar committee on the part of the House of
Representatives, to wait on His Excellency the Governor
and inform him that both branches of the General Assembly
have convened and are ready to receive any communication
he may desire to make.
The President appointed Messrs. Cone, Chambers and
Whitaker, as such committee on the part of the Senate. The Hon. B. M. Ledford the newly elected Senator from
the fortieth Senatorial District, appeared, presented his credentials
and having taken the oath prescribed by the Constitution
of the State took his seat. Mr. Cone, Chairman of the committee appointed to wait
on His Excellency the Governor, reported that they had
discharged the duty assigned them and that His Excellency
the Governor, would this day communicate a Message to
both branches of the General Assembly. The following Message was received from His Excellency
the Governor, by Mr. Waters his Secretary, to-wit: Mr. President: -- I am directed by the Governor to lay
before this branch of the General Assembly his annual Message
with accompanying documents. Leave of absence was granted Mr. Johnson on account of
indisposition. Leave of absence was granted Mr. Griffin on account of
sickness of his family. Leave of absence was granted Messrs. Cook, Price,
Simmons and Gaulden for a few days. On motion of Mr. Walker the following communication
from His Excellency the Governor, was taken up and read as
follows, to-wit:
EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT, Senators and Representatives: The period for your annual meeting in General Assembly
having arrived, it affords me great pleasure to welcome you
to the Capitol, and to assure you of my earnest desire to
unite with you harmoniously and cordially in all practical
measures which may promote the general welfare, and
redound to the glory and honor of our beloved State. We are passing through a trying ordeal, having staked
upon the issues of war all that can be valuable or dear to a
people. If we are subjugated, we lose home, property,
liberty, reputation, and all, so far as this world is concerned,
that makes life desirable or its burdens tolerable. Our enemies have repudiated and trampled under foot
the great principles of constitutional liberty, and have
attempted to rear, upon the ruins of our republican institutions,
a consolidated empire, under the popular name of a
union of the States. We have taken up arms to resist this,
and to maintain republicanism in its purity, with the
sovereignty of the States and the personal riots and liberties
of the people. No people ever accepted the alternative of
war in a nobler cause, or exhibited to the world a more
sublime spectacle of moral grandeur and heroic valor. Our
gallant armies have won for these States a name which will
stand upon a bright page in history, when pyramids have
decayed, and marble monuments have crumbled into dust.
It should be the pleasure of the patriot and pride of the
hero to contribute his property, his energies, and, if need
be, his life, for the success of so noble a cause. Upon our
success depends the last hope of republican institutions and
civil liberty, with constitutional guarantees. He who
would prove recreant to so sacred a cause, or from a desire
of personal aggrandizement or the gratification of personal
ambition, would trample under his feet and sacrifice these
great principles which underlie the very foundations of our
federative system, and upon the success of which the happiness
of unborn millions depends, deserves an eternity of
infamy with the everlasting execrations of mankind upon
his head.
As a band of patriots, let us unite all our energies and
exert all our influence for the success of our glorious cause,
and for the maintenance in their original purity of the great
principles of civil and religious liberty, which form the very
pillars upon which the temple of our republicanism rests.
The war is still waged against the people of the Confederate
States, by the Government of the United States, with
a vindictiveness and cruelty which has few parallels in history.
For nearly four years we have met the mighty assaults
of the Federal armies, and have repulsed and driven
them back on many a hard-fought field. We have lost
important points, but none which we can not temporarily
surrender to the enemy, and, with good management, finally
succeed. Atlanta was probably the most vital point to our
success that has been won by the superior numbers of the
enemy. Its fall was a severe blow, and for a time caused
great despondency among our people. I am happy to see,
however, that they are fast recovering from depression,
and confidence is being restored. At the time of General Sherman's march from Dalton to
Atlanta, we had a large force west of the Mississippi of as
gallant troops as ever faced an enemy, which had been
almost in a state of inactivity, since our splendid victories in
Louisiana last spring had driven the enemy, except a few
garrisons, from that department. Major General Early is
said to have had a force of 20,000 men, of the very best of
the Army in Virginia, with which he drove the Federal
General out of the valley of that State, and pressed forward
into Maryland and Pennsylvania, and remained there
till his presence provoked those and the adjoining States to
organize a force sufficient to drive him back and to threaten
Richmond in the rear. General Forrest, with a large cavalry
force, was operating in North Mississippi, repelling
raids from a country that had been overrun till there was
but little public property for the enemy to destroy; and
General Morgan was raiding in Kentucky. While our forces
were thus scattered from Pennsylvania to Texas, Gen'l
Sherman, strengthened by a concentration of the enemy's
forces from different departments, was steadily pressing
forward to Atlanta, the very heart and railroad centre of the
Confederacy, with a force sufficient by reason of its superior
numbers, to continually flank and drive back the gallant
Army of Tennessee. During this whole campaign, General
Sherman's base of supplies at Nashville and Louisville was
hundreds of miles in his rear, and he was dependent for
transportation upon a railroad constructed through an
exceedingly rough country, with bridges, culverts and curves
along its entire line. In this condition, more than three
hundred miles from the border of Kentucky, in the midst
of an enemy's country, he was permitted to go forward
without serious interruption in his rear, and to accomplish
his grand design. Georgians, whose homes have been overrun, property
destroyed, and fields laid waste, have naturally inquired, as
doubtless the future historians will, why part of the large
force unemployed west of the Mississippi were not brought
to aid the Army of Tennessee during the summer months?
And why, when the enemy were driven from the Valley of
Virginia, the key points were not garrisoned and held by
part of Early's force, and the balance sent to Georgia, instead
of the whole being sent upon the campaign into Maryland
and Pennsylvania, which only served to stir up and unite
Northern sentiment against us, and to enable the Federal
Government to raise an additional force sufficient to drive
back the expedition with disaster to our arms. If this
whole force could be spared from Richmond to invade
Pennsylvania, might not part of it have held the Valley of Virginia,
and the balance been sent to Georgia? And could not Forrest,
even at the expense of temporary loss in Mississippi,
have been sent to destroy the railroads in the rear, and stop
the supplies of the Federal army? If we had adopted the
rule by which most great Generals in such emergencies
have succeeded, of the evacuation for the time of all points
not absolutely vital, and the rapid and vigorous concentration
of every soldier in the Confederacy not necessary to hold
Richmond and probably one or two other key points,
and had hastened the whole to Atlanta and to Sherman's
rear, and hurled them upon him in his exposed and critical
condition, the repulse and rout, if not the destruction or
capture, of his army could scarcely have been doubtful.
And as his army was the only defence provided by the
Federal Government for the Western States, such a
consummation would not only have relieved Georgia, Tennessee,
North Alabama and North Mississippi from the presence of
the enemy, but it would have thrown open the "green
fields" of Kentucky which have been more than once
promised to our troops, and would probably have opened
the way for an early peace. The powers that be determined
upon a different line of policy. The world knows
the results, and we must acquiesce. But the misfortunes
following the misguided judgment of our rulers must not
have the effect of relaxing our zeal, or chilling our love for
the cause. We may, as we have a right to do, differ among ourselves
as to the wisdom of a certain line of policy, and of certain
acts of the Confederate administration; and some of us
may deplore its errors and mismanagement, while others
may attempt to justify all its mistakes and defend all its
errors, and may be ready in advance to approve everything it
may do, and still we may all, as one man, remain true to
our sacred cause, and be prepared, if necessary, to expend
our last dollar and shed our last drop of blood in its defence. While I am satisfied a large majority of the people of this
State disapprove many of the acts and much of the policy
of the Confederate administration, I am of opinion there
are but a very small number of the people of Georgia who
are disloyal to the cause, or who would consent to close the
war without the achievement of the great ends for which
we took up arms-- the independence of the Confederate
States and the vindication and establishment of the sovereignty
of the several States. Confederate independence with centralized power,
without sovereignty and constitutional and religious liberty,
would be very little better than subjugation, as it matters
little who out master is, if we are to have one. We should
therefore keep constantly in view the great principles upon
which we entered into this unequal contest, and should
rebuke every encroachment made upon them by our own
government, while we resist, with arms in our hands, like
assaults made upon them by our enemies. While our gallant
troops in the field are sacrificing the comforts of home,
property, health and even life itself, and are enduring all
the privations, hardships, perils and dangers of the service,
they should never once lose sight of the great principles of
equality, liberty, and constitutional republicanism, for
which they unfurled freedom's banners in the face of the
enemy. Nor should they ever consent to lay down their
arms till these principles are recognized by our foe, and
faithfully carried out in practice by our own government.
In other words, we should never be content till we have
established upon a firm basis the good old republican
institutions of our fathers in all their purity, and should never,
under any circumstances, consent to accept in their place
strong centralized government with military despotism. I
do not see how it can be denied by any candid man that we
have, in practice, made fearful strides, since the war began,
towards a centralized government with unlimited powers. The constant tendencies of the war seem to have been to
the subordination of the civil authorities and laws to the
military, and the concentration of the supreme power in the
hands of the Commander-in-Chief of the armies. The
longer the war lasts, the greater the tendency to this result,
and the less probability at its termination of a return to
the constitutional forms and republican simplicity which
existed at its commencement. But it may be asked, when is this bloody struggle to
terminate? No human forecast can so far penetrate the
future as to give a satisfactory reply to this question. The
Northern States have resources and men enough to enable
them to continue the war for years to come, and we have
sufficient power of resistance and endurance to enable us
to continue to baffle all their schemes of subjugation. The
sword can never make peace between the two contending
parties. When this is done, it will be by negotiation. The
prospect seems to indicate that the war may probably last
till both sections are exhausted, before the passions of the
people will subside, and reason so far resume her sway as
to prepare the people of both countries for negotiation, as
the only means of adjustment which can terminate the
bloody strife. This may not take place till we have accumulated
a debt on both sides greater than we or our posterity
can ever pay -- till hundreds of thousands more men
have been slain, and millions of women and children
have been reduced to widowhood, orphanage and poverty
--till our taxes have become so burdensome, that endurance
is no longer possible-- till the civil laws cease to be respected,
and highway robbery and murder are the daily business
of predatory bands and till the Federal and Confederate
governments have usurped and exercise all the powers
claimed by the most absolute despots, each pleading in
extenuation of its usurpations the necessity growing out of
the like usurpations by the other. There is reason to fear that President Lincoln, if re-elected,
and President Davis, whose passions are inflamed
against each other, may never be able to agree upon terms
for the commencement of negotiations, and that the war
must continue to rage in all its fury till there is a change of
administration, unless the people of both countries, in their
aggregate capacity as sovereign States, bring their powerful
influence to bear, requiring both governments to stop the
war, and leave the question to be settled upon the principles
of 1776, as laid down in the Georgia resolutions,
passed at your late session. These resolutions, in substance, propose that the treaty
making powers in both governments agree to stop the war,
and leave each or any one of the sovereign States, by a
convention of its own people, fairly chosen by the legal and
duly qualified voters, to determine for itself whether it will
unite its destinies with the one or the other Confederacy.
There may be doubts whether Missouri, Kentucky, or
Maryland wish to remain component parts of the government of
the United States, or to unite with the Confederate States.
If either one of those States shall refuse to unite with us,
we have no just right to demand such union, as we have
neither the right to coerce a sovereign State, nor to govern
her without her consent. And, if we had the right, we
certainly have not the power, as we can only govern a State
without her consent by subjugation; and we have no power
to subjugate any one of those States, with the whole power
of the United States at her back, prepared to defend her
against our attacks. We should stand ready therefore at all times to settle the
difficulty by a reference of the question of future alliance,
to the States whose positions may be doubtful for determination
by them in their sovereign capacity. Our Congress in its manifesto has virtually indorsed the
great principles of the Georgia Resolutions, and the President
has said in his messages that he desires peace upon the
principles to defend which we entered into the struggle. I
am not aware however, of any direct tender of adjustment,
upon these principles having been recently made
by the treaty making power of our Government
to the same power in the Federal Government. I regret
that the wish of Georgia as expressed through her
legislature has not been respected in this particular. Such
a direct tender made through commissioners by President
Davis to President Lincoln would place the question fairly
and properly before the States and people of the North for
discussion and action. Had it been done months since it
could not have failed to have had a powerful influence upon
the Presidential election in the North, which may have
much to do with the future course and conduct of the
war.
It may be said however, that the proposition to settle our
difficulties upon these terms made by President Davis to
President Lincoln; would be a letting down of the dignity
of our government, and might be construed as an evidence
of conscious weakness on our part. I confess my inability
to see how the direct tender of settlement upon these great
and correct principles by the treaty making power in our
Government, to the like power in the United States
Government, could compromit the dignity of our Government,
any more than an indirect tender of the same proposition
through the irregular channel of an Executive message or a
Congressional manifesto. There is certainly more true dignity in a direct open
manly tender through the constituted channel. But nice
questions of official etiquette and false notions of personal
dignity should be laid aside, when they intervene to prevent
action upon which the blood of thousands and the happiness
of millions may depend. The democratic party of the North which is the only
party there claiming to maintain State right principles and
which has great strength and power whatever may be its
fortunes in the coming election, has declared in favor of a
suspension of hostilities, and a convention of all the States
as the best means of adjustment. And I see no good reason
why the treaty making power in our Government
should not tender this proposition to the Government of the
United States. There can certainly be nothing like humiliation
or degradation in a proposition to leave the settlement
of a question, which the General Governments, which are
the creatures of the States, cannot agree upon, to their
creators-- the sovereign States themselves. However much the idea may be ridiculed to prejudice
the popular mind by the enemies of state sovereignty, the
convention if called would no doubt be one of the most
able and dignified assemblages that ever met upon the
continent. In so trying an emergency, involving issues of such
immense magnitude, the States would doubtless select
their wisest ablest and best men to represent them, men
whose passions have been subdued by age and reflection,
and who are alike, distinguished for love of justice, balance
of mind and dignity of character. Such a convention composed
of the greatest and best men of the country, of mature
age and large experience, with the scenes of blood, carnage
and desolation through which we have passed fresh in their
recollection, and the present and prospective condition of
the country well known to them, could hardly be expected
to decide in favor of a continuation of the war, with all its
blighting effects upon both the North and the South, or to
adjourn without submitting a plan of settlement honorable
and just to the people of both Confederacies, and to all the
States.
All questions of boundary, and inland navigation, and all
treaties of amity, commerce, and alliance, and all agreements
necessary to preserve in future the just balance of
power upon the Continent, could be properly shaped in
such a convention and proposed to the treaty making
powers as the result of its deliberations. Or it might be
agreed in advance by the treaty making powers that the
convention settle the whole question and that its action be
final and conclusive when submitted back to the people of
the several States and ratified by them respectively. In that event it must of course be understood that each
State would enter the convention as a separate independent
Sovereign--the equal of every other State,-- and that the
action of the body, as in case of the conventions which
formed the constitutions of the United States and of the
Confederate States would only be binding upon each State,
when submitted back to and freely ratified by the people
thereof in their sovereign capacity. The propriety of submitting the question by the treaty
making powers to a convention of the Sovereign States is
the more obvious, in view of the want of power in the
Presidents and Senates of the two Governments to make a
treaty of peace without the consent of the sovereign States
to be affected by it. No permanent treaty of peace can be
made which does not contain an article fixing the boundaries
of the two Governments, when the whole country is
inhabited as ours is, and one or the other Government
must exercise immediate jurisdiction over the inhabitants
of each State and each county. In other words we can
have no treaty of peace that does not define the States or
parts of States that are to be embraced in each Government.
And this can only be done by the consent of the
States themselves. The action of separate States is
therefore an indispensable preliminary to the validity of any
treaty of peace that can be made. This action may by
agreement of the treaty making powers take place prior or
subsequent to the date of the treaty, but in either case the
effect is the same, as the validity of the treaty is dependent
upon the action of separate States. Suppose for instance it is agreed by the treat making
powers that the State of Ohio shall become part of the
Confederate States, when an overwhelming majority of her
people in convention called by the proper State authority,
decide by solemn ordinance to remain with the United States.
Or suppose it is agreed by the treaty making powers that
Kentucky shall remain part of the United States, when two
thirds of her people decide to go with the Confederate
States. Will any one contend that the treaty making
power has the right thus to dispose of States, and assign
them their future positions without their consent? And
will any body say that a treaty of peace can be made without
defining the Government with which Ohio or Kentucky
shall be associated in future? Suppose again that the treaty making powers in fixing
the boundaries of the two Confederacies should agree to a
division of Virginia, and that the territory embraced in the
pretended new State formed of part of Virginia, shall
become part of the United States, and that the balance shall
go with the Confederate States. Will any southern man
contend that she can be thus dismembered and part of her
territory ceded by the President and Senate to the Government
of the United States without her consent? He who
so contends denies the very fundamental principles upon
which the Government of the Confederate States was
organized. What would the old Virginians of the
Jeffersonian School say to this sort of State Sovereignty? What
would Washington, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, Henry, Lee,
Mason, Randolph, and other Statesmen of their day have
said, if they had been told that the constitution of the
United States conferred upon the treaty making power, the
right to cede one half the territory of Virginia to a foreign
State, without consulting her or obtaining her consent? If President Davis and the Senate have the power to
cede part of Virginia to the United States in fixing the
boundaries of the two Confederacies without her consent,
they have as much power to cede the whole State to Great
Britain or France for commercial advantages. Or to cede
Georgia to the United States in consideration that the other
States shall be recognized and the war cease. Such a
proposition is too preposterous for serious argument. He who claims such powers for the President and Senate,
would not only degrade the States, to the position of provinces,
but would clothe the treaty making power of the Confederacy
with imperial dignity greater than the most enlightened
monarchs of the present day assume to themselves.
It has been claimed as one of the prerogatives of
sovereigns that they could cede to each other their provinces
at will. But in the late treaty between the Emperors of
France and Austria the former refused to accept a province
ceded by the latter, and incorporate it into his Empire, and
govern it till the question was submitted to the people of
the Province and they gave their consent. It is certainly too clear to be successfully questioned that
the Governments of the two Confederacies have no power
to make a treaty of peace and fix the boundaries of the two
countries, which, situated as we are is a necessary part of
the treaty, without the concurrence and consent of the
individual States to be affected by it. If this can not done
without the consent of the States, where is the objection to
a convention of the States to settle in advance the necessary
preliminaries to which their consent is indispensable before
the treaty can be valid and binding? In the convention
it could be agreed which States would go with the
North and which with the South, and the ratification of the
action of the convention by the treaty making powers, and
by the people of the several States to be affected by it, when
of a character to require their separate action, would fix
the future status of the different States, and the proper
boundaries of the two Confederacies. While I am satisfied that separate State action may and
most probably will be a necessary preliminary to a treaty of
peace, I do not wish to be misunderstood upon this point.
The sovereign States of the Confederacy each seceded from
the old union. This they had a perfect right to do. And
each is as sovereign in the present Confederacy as she was
in the old, and has the same right under the like
circumstances which she then exercised. But when these states
seceded and formed the present Confederacy, and entered
into the present defensive war together, they at least by strong
implication, pledged themselves to stand by and aid each
other against the common enemy till the end of the struggle.
Thus situated I deny that any one of the States can
honorably withdraw from the contest, without the consent
of her sister states and make a separate treaty of peace with
the enemy.
The people of the States can meet in convention and
abolish the Confederate Government whenever its usurpations
and abuses of power have reached a point, where the
sovereignty of the States and the rights and liberties of the
people are no longer secure under it. The people of the
Northern Government have a right to do the same by a like
convention, and to establish a new Government in place of
the present tyranny by which they are controlled. If the people of the two Confederacies have this power
which will not I presume be denied by any one professing
the State rights doctrines of 1776, why may they not meet
together in convention, and agree upon the boundaries and
treaties necessarily growing out of a separation which is
already an accomplished fact? I am well aware that the advocates of strong central
power both in the United States and the Confederate States,
including many of the office holders of both governments,
and the place hunters and large government contractors
who have made millions of dollars out of the government,
without once exposing their persons to danger in battle,
and the secret spies in the employment of the governments
who are supported out of the large secret service funds at
the command of the two Presidents, to do their bidding,
and such officials as wear gold lace in cities and drive fine
horses and carriages supported out of the public crib, while
all around them is misery and want; and the large provost
and passport corps, scattered among our country villages
and upon our Railroads, jealous of the prerogatives of the
central power, and anxious to maintain and extend them
are ready by their action to deny that the States have
anything left but the name, or that they can have any agency
in negotiating a treaty of peace, or that they can meet in
convention to consider of this subject without being guilty
as "traitorous States." Those minions of power protected
from the dangers of the battle field, never fail to impugn
the motives and question the loyalty of every one
who denies the legality of any act of the government, or
questions the wisdom of any part of its policy. They very cordially adopt the maxim "the King can do
no wrong." Of course all such are loud and clamorous in
their denunciations of those who advocate a convention of
States to agree upon the terms of separation and stop the
effusion of blood. If the war should cease they must sink
to their natural level, for then, "Othello's occupation's
gone." But the advocates of free government may safely appeal
from all such to the sober sound judgment of the great mass
of the American people, North and South, who bear the
heavy burdens of the war, without the offices or patronage
of either government, whose sons have been conscribed and
torn from them and slaughtered, many of whose homes have
been destroyed, and their farms and cities laid waste, who
are daily robbed of their property by impressment agents
or other government officials, without paying them anything
for it, who bear the burdens of the enormous taxation
necessary to carry on the war, and support all the large
classes above mentioned in extravagant indulgences, and
whose posterity and property must pay the immense public
debt which is constantly augmented. And the appeal
may be made with still greater force to the gallant soldier
in the storms of winter and in the weary march, while amid
the perils that surround him his thoughts recur to the sufferings
of loved ones at home; as well as to all true christians
in both countries. Shall this bloodshed, carnage and
desolation continue, to gratify the ambition and obstinacy
of those in power? Or shall the people of both countries
demand of their rulers that the War shall cease, and as it is
impossible that the people of the two sections can again
live together in harmony, that a convention of all the States
be held to agree upon terms of separation, and upon the
treaties necessary to the happiness and prosperity of
neighboring governments at peace with each other. We may be told that the Northern Government will not
agree to such a convention. I very readily admit that neither
the Lincoln Government nor our own will probably agree
to it, till a stronger pressure of the people is brought to bear
upon both, and that the advocates of this policy in the
North cannot control it so long as our presses and officials,
State and Confederate, denounce the movement and thereby
put weapons in the hands of the Government at Washington
with which to crush out this growing sentiment
in the North, and more especially in the North Western
States. But I think recent developments have shown that
this doctrine will soon bear down every thing before it in
the North, if met by demonstrations of approval in the
South. Stop the War and call a convention of the States
to negotiate, and the people of the North who are as tired
of it as we are, will agree to a proper adjustment upon the
terms above indicated sooner than resume hostilities. In the mean time till proper arrangements can be made
to adjust our difficulties and stop the effusion of blood by
negotiation, it is the duty of every man in the Confederacy
to do everything possibly in his power to strengthen and
sustain the gallant and glorious armies of States and the
Confederacy. Every man able to bear arms who can be
spared from home, should be sent to the Front either in the
armies of the Confederacy or as part of the Militia of the
States and everything possible be done to provide for the
wants and comfort of our troops in the field and their loved
ones at home. To enable us to conduct negotiations successfully
we must renew our efforts to strengthen our armies
and maintain our cause with ability and energy in the
field, cost what it may in blood or treasure. We must not,
however, expect the troops to do all by hard fighting,
bloodshed and the sacrifice of life. The Statesman and the
people at home have an important part to act, as well as
the General and the troops in the field in terminating the
struggle. If the troops falter and fail to do their part in
the hour of battle, the Statesman is ready to cast censure
upon them. If the Statesman neglects his part in conducting
wise negotiations to stop the war, the troops have greater
cause to censure and condemn him, as he has no right to
trifle with their lives, and continue to expose them in
battle, if the object can be attained by negotiation without
the shedding of blood. In a crisis like the present Statesmanship
is even more important than Generalship. Generals
can never stop a war, though it may last twenty
years till one has been able to conquer the other.
Statesmen terminate wars by negotiation. After the appropriation made by the General Assembly
for the exportation of cotton and the importation of such
supplies of clothing for troops, cotton cards, &c.,, as the
State might need I sent Col. Wm. Schley of Augusta to
England to purchase an interest in a Steamer. Finding that
he was not successful by reason of the non-compliance of the
other party in getting the vessel for half interest, in which
I had contracted at $185,000 in Confederate States 8 percent
bonds, I made a contract with the Exporting and
Importing Company of which Col. C. A. L. Lamar, was agent,
for the charter of three vessals, with the privilege of adding
two others which the company expected to have ready in a
few months. This contract I considered advantageous to the State, and
if left free to carry it out I could have exported cotton
enough to have purchased all the supplies the State might
need, and could have imported them upon reasonable
terms. At this point I was interrupted by the interposition
of the Secretary of the Treasury, who under the order of the
President refused to permit any vessel to clear unless she
carried out one half the cargo for the Confederate Government
upon terms which were below what the State was to
pay for the use of the vessels. This restriction was placed
upon the vessels of the States as it was said, by authority
vested in the President by act of Congress of 6th, Feby.
1864 which prohibits the exportation of Cotton, &c., except
under such uniform regulations as shall be made by the
President of the Confederate States. This construction
could not be sustained however, upon any known rule as
the 5th section of the act declares explicitly "that nothing
in this act shall be construed to prohibit the Confederate
States or any of them from exporting any of the articles herein
enumerated of their own account." This provision in the
act therefore leaves the States as free to export on their own
account either upon vessels owned or chartered by them, as
they were before the act was passed. But as the proviso in
the act had been virtually repealed by an Executive order, I
in common with the Governors of Mississippi, Alabama and
North Carolina, (the Governor of South Carolina concurring
as shown by his letter) appealed to Congress to take up the
question and make such provisions as would enable the
States to exercise their just rights. After mature consideration
Congress passed a bill for that purpose which the
President vetoed. Congress then as I am informed by one
of the Representatives of this State passed a resolution
unanimously in the House, and with almost unanimity in
the Senate, declaring in substance that the States should be
permitted to export and import without interruption, upon
vessels chartered by them prior to the date of the resolution,
which would have left the vessels chartered by this State
free. This resolution was passed near the close of the
session, and the President refused, as the member informs
me either to sign it or to return it, that Congress might be
permitted to vote to overrule his veto. Thus by the order
of the Executive alone, notwithstanding the action of Congress
and the provision in the 5th Section of the act above
referred to, the States were prohibited from exporting cotton
and importing blankets and clothing for their troops,
and other necessary supplies, unless they would conform to
such rules as the President thought proper to prescribe.
These rules I could not conform to under the provisions of
the contract made with the exporting and importing company
without heavy loss to the State. As I was thus prohibited
by act of the Confederate Government from carrying
out the contract, I could not insist upon the exclusive
use and control of the vessel. Finding the Exportations
of the State forbidden by the Lincoln Blockade, and placed
under a partial blockade by our own Executive, I encountered
great embarrassment in carrying out the instructions
of the legislature in this particular. If the Company were
to submit to the terms prescribed by the President
and give up one half the storage room of the steamers
chartered by the State, to the Confederacy, they were
unwilling to divide the remaining half allowed them by the
President with the State. By allowing the company to use
the name of the State in their business which under the
circumstances I felt justified in doing, and by undertaking to
aid them when necessary in the transportation of cotton to
the coast, I was enabled to get them, after submitting to
the terms imposed by the Confederate Government, to
carry out occasional lots for the State, upon the vessels
owned by them. I have also through the agency of Col. A.
Wilbur, exported some upon small vessels from the coast of
this State. I have given one half to the vessels for carrying
out the other. Owing to the difficulties in getting letters
from the other side, I have not yet received statements of
the sales with the net amount of gold on deposit to the
credit of the State in England. Should the sale bills and
accounts current be received prior to your adjournment
I will immediately lay them before the General Assembly. About three hundred bales of cotton were shipped upon
the Little Ada, (a steamer chartered by the State,) upon
the coast of South Carolina. This vessel after she had
been loaded with State cotton, was detained in Port
between two and three months by order of the Secretary of
the Treasury, supported as I am informed by a military order
from the office of the Adjutant General in Richmond, to
the commandant of the Post, not to permit her to clear.
Thus this State vessel was doubly blockaded and threatened
by Confederate guns in the harbor and by Federal guns
out side, if she attempted to go to sea with State cotton to
pay for blankets to be imported for Georgia troops in service
who have great need of them. A complete statement of the amount expended by the
State for the purchase of cotton, with the quantity
purchased under the appropriations, and the average cost per
pound, together with the number of bales exported on
account of the State, and the number now in store, with account
of expenditure for storage, freight, insurance, lighterage,
bagging, rope, compressing, &c., &c., will be laid before
the finance committee during the session. They are not
transmitted herewith because reports of the agents with
accounts current have not all been received.
I have purchased and had stored on one of the Islands
30,000 pairs of cotton cards, and 30.000 soldiers blankets. I
have also made contracts for soldiers clothing, enough I trust
with what are on hand to carry the troops through the
winter without suffering. Part of our goods were lost a few
days since near Charleston with the Florie, but I hope soon
to be able to import the balance. I have lately been informed by Mr. Trenholm the present
liberal minded practical Secretary of the Treasury, that
vessels owned by the State, will be permitted to clear without
interruption by the Confederate Government. Were
the question an original one, I can not doubt that Mr. Trenholm
with the act of Congress, before him would decide,
that a vessel chartered by a State has the same right to a
clearance, as no substantial distinction can be drawn
between the right of a State to export upon a vessel owned,
and one chartered by her, which is a temporary ownership.
Nor can I suppose that this financial officer would willingly
throw obstacles in the way of the States in making all
the importations in their power. Take the case of Georgia
as an instance. Her sons are in the field. They need
blankets, shoes, clothing and other necessaries. The
Confederate Government is often unable to furnish these, and
they suffer for them. The State by her legislature says
her sons shall not suffer, and if the Confederate Government
can not supply these necessary articles, she will. She
appropriates money for that purpose, and directs part of
her surplus productions exported to pay for these articles,
which she directs to be imported. She charters her vessels,
purchases cotton with her own money, and places it on
board, to be carried abroad at her own risk and expense, to
purchase that she may import, at her own risk, and cost,
the articles necessary to the comfort of her own gallant sons
who are under arms for her defence. She asks not a dollar
from the Confederate Government, and even offers to pay
export and import duties, (which the Confederacy has no
right to demand) on all she sends out and brings in. At this
point she is met with a refusal to permit her vessels to clear
unless she will submit to such onerous terms as the Confederate
Executive may choose to dictate. Can this action be
sustained under any law of Congress, or upon any principle
of enlightened or sound policy? Is it not a palpable
assumption of power, and an utter disregard of every principle
of State Rights and State Sovereignty? I trust Congress when it again assembles, acting upon
principles of enlightened statesmanship, will not only
remove these obstacles by enactments too plain and stringent
to be disregarded, but that they will invite and encourage
the several States, free of hindrance or duty, to import all
the army supplies and articles of absolute necessity, which
the means at their command may enable them to do. Should this expectation be disappointed I am satisfied it
would be sound policy on the part of this State to purchase
several vessels, and to import upon them such supplies as
may be needed by our troops, and for State use. The State
should also export a sufficient quantity of cotton, to place
gold enough upon the other side, to enable her to again
equip the State Road at the end of the war. In common with
other Southern Roads, its iron will be much worn, and its
rolling stock nearly run down, and if some forecast is not
exercised, the State will not have the means at her command
to put it in running order. This may be provided for in the
manner above indicated with but little cost. If the legislature will appropriate $2,000,000 in currency,
and authorize me to purchase vessels and cotton, and to
draw upon the cotton on the other side when necessary to
pay for them or to purchase more cotton for shipment, if the
blockade does not become more stringent, with the State's
usual good luck when her affairs are well managed, I am
firmly impressed with the belief that I can put gold enough
to her credit in Europe in one year to repair the Road
within six months after a treaty of peace, or to pay a large
proportion of the appropriations of the current year. To
accomplish this the State must not be interrupted by Confederate
interference. The exchange which the cotton exported
this year under all the embarrassments of a double
blockade places, to the credit of the State, with the cotton
now in store, is worth nearly double the whole sum expended
by the State in the purchase of the cotton. As will be seen by the Reports of the Treasurer and
Comptroller General, the public debt of Georgia, independent
of the appropriations of the past year for the payment
of which a sufficient tax has been assessed, and of the change
bills issued which are payable in Confederate States Treasury
notes, amounts to $14,474,270. Of this the bonded
debt is $6,086,250 of which $216,000 being part due is
drawing no interest. The remaining debt consists of
$6,993,000 in Treasury notes, and $1,395,000 in Treasury
Certificates of Deposit. These notes and certificates bear
no interest and the State will not be called on to redeem
them in specie or bonds till six months after a treaty of
peace. Of the above $2,670,750 is the old bonded debt which
existed at the commencement of the war, incurred chiefly
on account of the construction of the Western and Atlantic
Railroad which is the property of the State, and for
stock in the Atlantic and Gulf Road. To meet her liabilities the State has public property
consisting of the Western and Atlantic Railroad, Bank
stock, and Railroad stock, valued before the depreciation of
the currency at $8,840,124.69. And her whole taxable
property worth over $700,000,000 upon a specie basis. The debt to be paid in Confederate Treasury notes is
$1,411,442 of change bills, and $8,095,000 payable in new
issue of Confederate Treasury notes 25th December next,
which by the terms of the contract are to be presented for
payment by 25th March next, or the State is not bound to
redeem them. but they are to be receivable in payment of
public dues at any future time. To redeem these notes and the undrawn appropriations
of the past year, there is now in the Treasury $2,146,087
and a balance still due on the tax digest, about sufficient to
cover the whole amount. But as some of the counties
whose digests have been returned have since been thrown
within the enemy's lines, it may not be possible if the enemy
is not driven back, to collect a sufficient sum within
the time to pay all these notes when presented. In that event I respectfully recommend that provisions be
made for the issue and sale of seven per cent bonds running
20 years with semi-annual coupons, to raise the Confederate
rate currency necessary to pay the debt, which it is believed
would command a high premium, or that new State notes
be issued upon the same terms as the notes to be redeemed
payable in new issue of Confederate notes one year, after
date, which could be exchanged it is believed for Confederate
notes with which to make the payment. This would
enable the State to pay the debt in Confederate notes as
soon as the taxes can be collected. I also recommend that the appropriations of the present
fiscal year be provided for by the issue of similar notes payable
in Confederate Treasury notes, so as to enable the
State to pay the appropriations out of the taxes of each
year when collected, and that sufficient tax be assessed to
meet all the appropriation made. As the money must be
used during the year and the taxes of each year are paid
during the latter part of the year, it becomes necessary to
issue these notes to meet the demands of the Treasury till
the taxes can be collected: As I stated in a former message no prudent man will
now give his note for property at present rates payable in
specie after the war; nor will he borrow the present
currency if he is obliged to use it, and give his note for it at
par payable in lawful money after the war; but he will sell
property even if it exposes him to much inconvenience and
raise the currency which he is obliged to use. If no member
of the General Assembly and no prudent coustituent of
any member will raise currency for his own uses and give
for it his obligation for specie after the war, no legislator
should do it for the State, which is composed of the members
and their constituents. If it becomes necessary to
sell some portion of our property to raise the currency
necessary to meet the demands upon the Treasury we should
do it without hesitation, rather than incur an enormous
debt in currency to be paid out of our property and that of
our posterity in future at specie rates. In imposing the
necessary taxes the law should make provision for the
exemption of the property of the poor who cannot sell property
to pay a heavy tax and live; and should place the
burden mainly upon the wealth of the State where it can
be borne without causing suffering or want. As the poor
have generally paid their part of the cost of this war in
military service, exposure, fatigue and blood, the rich who
have been in a much greater degree exempt from these
should meet the money demands of the Government. As will be seen by the Report of the Superintendent of
the Western & Atlantic Railroad the net earnings of the
road have been $1,117,522.48 for the fiscal year. In addition to this about half a million of dollars have
been made to this date, by the use of the rolling stock
since the road was given up to the enemy, by the purchase
of cotton mostly in localities threatened by the enemy,
which was carried to points of greater safety and sold
for a profit. The sales had not been made nor had that
sum been realized at the date of the superintendant's report.
Part of the cotton now stored will soon be sold and
the money paid into the Treasury and accounted for in the
next report of the Superintendent. When we had rolling stock which could be spared from
Government transportation I thought this a legitimate business.
When the road was taken possession of by the enemy
and our engines and cars sent to the interior of the
State, I found it necessary to keep the most of the employees
of the Road with the stock, that we might have them
at command in case we recovered the road. As they were
generally dependent upon their wages for the support of
their families it was necessary to keep them upon such pay
as would accomplish this object. The loss of our engines and cars has been heavy. The
raid under General Stoneman destroyed at Gordon and near
Griswoldville seventeen passenger cars and thirty freight
and seriously injured four engines. At the evacuation
of Atlanta three of our engines and eighteen cars which
were in the employment of the Government transporting
ordnance and commissary stores were destroyed by order
of General Hood, to prevent them falling into the hands of the
enemy. The families of part of the employees who have
been driven out without shelter have been permitted to
occupy a portion of the freight cars. The balance of the
rolling stock when not engaged carrying cotton has been
used on other roads to carry government freights for the
supply of the army. The Confederate Government owes the road, as will be
seen by the Superintendent's report the sum of $975,774.60,
I have made every effort in my power to collect this but
have not been successful. I trust the Government will not
much longer delay payment, which has been withheld from
time to time under various pretexts. As the act of the last regular session imposed a tax upon
both the assets and capital stock of the different Banks of
this State, which amounts to a double tax, and as these
corporations have not the advantages over the other pursuits
in the State which they had before the war, on account of
the suspension of their regular business which has been
absorbed by the Confederate Treasury; and as they exchanged
large amounts of their own bills with the Government
at the commencement of the war for its notes as an
accommodation, which have greatly depreciated in their hands; I
doubted whether it was the intention of the legislature to
make this discrimination against them. I therefore directed
the Comptroller General to suspend the collection of the
tax upon their Capital Stock and collect only upon their
assets till your pleasure shall be known. As the law now stands cotton in the hands of all persons
other than producers is taxable, but the cotton held by the
producer in his gin-house from year to year as investment
pays no tax. I can see no just reason for this discrimination.
If the planter sells his cotton and invests the proceeds
in bonds or other property they are taxable, as are almost
every other species of property, but if he considers the cotton
a better investment than currency bonds or other property,
and holds it from year to year, it is exempt in his hands
from taxation, while all other things of like value are taxed.
If A purchases cotton which he holds as investment and
B raises cotton which he holds from year to year for the
same purpose, I confess my inability to see any just reason
why the one should pay tax and the other be exempt. I call, your special attention to that part of the Report of
the Comptroller General which points out the inequality of
the tax returns from the different counties under the present
law, and respectfully recommend the passage of the Bill
suggested, by him, or one of like character, to remedy this
evil and prevent future inequality and injustice between
the people of the different counties. Each should bear its
just part of the public burdens, which is not and will not be
the case under the present law. As our State is invaded by a powerful enemy and it is
impossible to foresee the exigencies which may arise within
the ensuing year to require the use of our military force, or
the extremities to which we may be driven, I recommend
the appropriation of ten millions of dollars as a military
fund for the political year. I recommend the appropriation of six millions of dollars
as a fund for the relief of indigent soldiers' families and sick
and wounded soldiers, and indigent exiles. While hundreds and thousands of our patriotic fellow
citizens who are poor and without means to support their
families in their absence are standing as a bulwark between
the enemy and the safety and property of the whole people
whose homes have not been overrun, it is the imperative
duty of the people at home to see that their families do
not suffer for the necessaries of life. I have constantly
advocated this policy and feel the importance of it the more
as the sufferings consequent upon the scarcity of provisions
are increased in the State. The wealth and property of the
State must be taxed to any extent necessary to prevent
suffering among the families of our brave defenders. They
have freely shed their blood in their country's service, and
those who have money must be compelled to part with as
much of it as may be required to cheer the hearts of the
widows and orphans of the slain, and the distressed families
of those still upon the field. Let our soldiers know that
their loved ones at home are provided for, and you stimulate
them to greater exertions and nerve them to nobler
deeds. The law should be so amended as to make it the duty of
the Inferior Courts of the respective counties to make
quarterly reports to the Comptroller General of the
disbursement of the funds received by them, with a statement
of the names of the indigent persons to whom the fund is
distributed and the amount received by each. It is
believed that the courts are not held by the present law to
sufficient accountability. The law should provide for the prompt dismissal of the
courts from the trust, and the appointment of other agents
to disburse the fund, when they fail to make legal and
satisfactory returns, or to discharge any other of the duties
imposed upon them by the statute. Provision should also be made to enable the courts of
counties containing refugees to draw enough of the funds of
counties behind the enemy's lines to afford relief to such
refugees when entitled, without the certificate of the court
of the county of their former residence upon other satisfactory
evidence when the certificate of the court can not be
obtained. I recommend the appropriation of two millions of dollars
as a clothing fund to be used for the supply of clothing
to Georgia troops in service when they cannot get what is
necessary to their comfort from the Confederate Government.
While it is the duty of that Government to supply
all its troops with comfortable clothing, if it fails to
discharge that duty from inability or otherwise, Georgia
should see that her sons do not suffer by such neglect. This
fund should be used for the purchase of the necessary supply
either in the Confederacy or in foreign markets as circumstances
may show the one or the other to be the most
practical with the least cost. The conscript law having been extended to 50 years of
age, embraces much the greater portion of the planters of
this State. Most of these men who make surplus supplies
of provisions have received details from military service on
condition that they sell to the Confederate Government all
their surplus at schedule prices, which are now so far below
market value as to afford not even the appearance of just
compensation. In this way the Confederate Government
prohibits the citizens of Georgia from selling their surplus
productions to their own State, when the State needs these
productions and is ready to pay just compensation for them.
This makes it exceedingly difficult for the Quartermasters
and Commissaries of the State to procure the supplies
absolutely necessary for the State troops, indigent exiles, and
others supported by the State. Under the order of Confederate
officers that detailed men should sell only to Confederate
Agents, the officers of the State during the past summer
were driven out of her own markets, and were obliged to go
to our sister state Alabama, and purchase corn and import it
at a very heavy expense to the Treasury to save the suffering
poor from starvation. For a more detailed statement of the difficulties growing
out of this prohibition you are respectfully referred to the
official Reports of the Quartermaster General and the
Commissary General. Some of the other States have enacted laws which
authorize the State officers to impress when in the hands of
producers such supplies as are needed for State use. This
in my opinion is the only mode of obviating the difficulty.
Such a law should make ample provision to secure just
compensation to the owners whose property may be taken.
A confederate regulation cannot be defended upon any
principle of reason or justice which drives a State out of
her own markets for the purchase of her necessary
supplies. Your attention is invited to the deplorable condition of
the unfortunate exiles, who have been driven from their
homes in Atlanta, and other parts of the State, by the savage
cruelty of the enemy. The inhumanity of the treatment
to which these unfortunate sufferers have been
subjected, has probably no parallel in modern warfare, and but
few in the history of the world. Thousands of helpless
women and children, many of them widows and orphans of
brave men, who have sacrificed their lives in the defence of
the liberties of their country, have been driven from their
homes, with but little of their clothing and furniture, and
thrown out and exposed upon the ground to all sorts of
weather, without food, house, or shelter. I have had the best means in my power provided for
their protection, and have ordered provisions issued to those
who were entirely destitute. As I had no special appropriation
for this purpose, I have used the Military fund, or so
much of it as could be spared, not doubting that my course
would meet your approval. Tents have been furnished to
such as could not get shelter, and I have directed that log
cabins be constructed at a suitable locality, by the Quartermaster
General, who has taken great interest in their behalf,
for their comfort during the winter. The Quartermaster
and Commissary General have done all in their power,
with the means at their command, to mitigate the sufferings
of this most unfortunate class of our fellow-citizens.
I recommend that proper provision be made by law to supply
those who are destitute, with shelter, and the necessaries
of life, till they can provide for themselves. Your attention is invited to the Annual Report of the
Board of Superintendents of the Georgia Hospital and
Relief Association. This association is composed of gentlemen
of the highest character who have labored faithfully and
successfully to alleviate the suffering of our sick and wounded
soldiers. Their efforts merit the thanks of our whole
people. It is doubted whether any other association with
the same amount of means at command has accomplished as
much good. I respectfully recommend an appropriation of $500,000 to
be expended by the association as heretofore, during the
ensuing year. As our schools cannot be conducted with success, till we
have a change in the condition of the country, I recommend
that the school fund, for the future, be applied to the support
of the widows and orphans of our soldiers, till we can
again revive our educational interests, with reasonable
prospects of the accomplishment of good, by the distribution
of the fund among the counties, for educational
purposes. It is a fact that requires no effort at concealment since the
late announcement of the President in his speech at Macon,
that our armies have been weakened to an alarming extent
by desertion and straggling. The success of our cause, and
the safety of our people, require prompt action to remedy
this evil. Many of these men have fought gallantly, and
have left their commands, under circumstances the most
trying, to which human nature can be exposed. As our
armies have retreated and left large sections of country in
possession of the enemy, they have found their homes and
their families thrown behind the enemy's lines, where the
latter are subject, not only to insult and injury, but to
great suffering, for the necessaries of life. Under these
circumstances, their sympathy and care, for their families,
triumphed over their patriotism and sense of duty, and in an
unfortunate hour they yielded to their feelings, laid down
their arms and abandoned their colors.
A strong appeal should be made to these men to return to
their companies, and a free pardon should be extended to
each one who will do so. This is already offered to them by
Gen. Beauregard, and Gen. Hood and I have reason to believe
would be granted by the General in command of each of the
Military Departments. All who refuse to accept the pardon
and return, should be arrested, and sent forward with
the least possible delay. The civil officers of the State, in their respective counties,
with the aid of the Military officers, when at home, and
the patrol of each county, is believed to be the most
effective, for the arrest and return, of deserters and stragglers,
if placed by the laws of the respective States, under proper
legal obligations, to act in this capacity. These officers, by
the Constitution of the country and laws of the States, and
of the Confederate States, are exempt from Confederate
conscription, and should be required in consideration of the
exemption extended to them, to keep all deserters and stragglers
out of their counties, when not overrun by the enemy. To compel the civil officers to act, as many of them are
not inclined to do so, I recommend the passage of a law,
authorizing the Governor to turn over the civil officers of any
county, or any portion of them to conscription, when they
refuse to act or to obey orders, for the apprehension of
stragglers and deserters, from State or Confederate service, and
if they cannot be turned over to conscription from age or
otherwise, that they be subject to Militia duty, and to trial
by court martial, for neglect of duty or refusal to obey
orders. And that all necessary penal sanctions be added, to
compel the discharge of this duty. Proper provision should
be made, by the Confederate authorities, to receive the
deserters at convenient points, not too remote from any part
of the State, and to pay jail fees and other necessary expenses
promptly. The want of proper regulations, in this
particular, deters many Civil officers, who would be willing to
act, from making arrests, as they have not money to spare,
to pay the expenses, and do not know to whom or where
they should deliver the persons arrested While it is the duty of the States to make provision to
compel deserters and persons absent without leave, to
return to their commands, an imperative obligation rests
upon them to make such provision for the families of the needy
as will secure them from want of the necessaries of life, in
the absence of their husbands and fathers. Whatever tax
upon the wealth of each State, may be necessary for this
purpose, should be assessed by legislators without hesitation,
and paid by property holders without complaint. It is a lamentable fact that bands of deserters
from our armies, and small bodies of cavalry belonging
to the Confederate service, are constantly robbing and
plundering our people of their stock, provisions and other
property. This is generally done by these robber bands
under pretext of exercising the power of impressment, in
the name of the Government or of some General, who not
only knows nothing of their conduct but disapproves and
condemns it. They go armed and take what they please
by intimidation and force, having regard to neither age,
sex nor condition. They are not amenable to any civil
process as there is not generally sufficient force at home to
arrest them, and they pass on and cannot in future be
identified. If arrested and committed to prison they will aid
each other to escape by force if necessary. They are
lawless banditti and should be so treated. I therefore recommend the passage of an act declaring
all such outlaws, and authoring any citizen or association
of citizens, whom they may attempt to rob, to shoot them
down or slay them in any other way in their power, and to
band together and follow them when they have committed
a robbery in any neigborhood and slay them wherever
found. This is the only protection left our people at home
against the depredation of these incorrigible thieves. The gentlemen who fill these positions have labored
incessantly and faithfully to serve the State and promote the
public interest. I feel quite sure no two better officers
fill similar places in any State in the Confederacy. The Code only gives them the rank of Lieut. Colonel and
allows the Governor no discretion in raising their rank no
matter how deserving they may be of promotion. As I
know of no other State which has failed to give higher
rank to officers in these positions, I respectfully recommend
as an act of justice that their rank be raised to that of
Brigadier General. Upon the advance of the enemy, in the direction of Marietta,
I directed the Superintendent, Professors commanding,
and Cadets of the Georgia Military Institute, to report to
the Military commander for orders, and to aid in the
defence of Atlanta, or such other points as they might be
assigned to. The order was obeyed with promptness and
cheerfulness, and they were, for a time, placed at the bridge
at West Point, then at a position on the River in front of
Atlanta, and finally in the trenches. In every position, they
acted with coolness and courage, and won, the respect and
confidence of their commanders. Finally, when it became
necessary to place troops at Milledgeville, for the defence
of the Capitol, against the raids of the enemy, I ordered
them to this place, where they are covered with tents, engaged
in study part of each day, and the balance of the time
attending to their duties as a battalion of troops. I have
ordered them supplied with provisions by the Commissary,
while engaged in this service, and it will be necessary to pay
the Professors out of the Military fund, or to make a special
appropriation for that purpose. The two Regiments of the State Line have greatly distinguished
themselves for cool courage and intrepid valor upon
the battle-field, and have rendered important service in the
defence of the State. The ranks of these gallant Regiments
have been decimated, and they are now greatly reduced. In
the short period from the time they reported to General
Johnston at the front, till the fall of Atlanta, they lost upon
the battle-field nearly 500 men, many of them as gallant as
any who have bled in freedom's cause. For a more detailed
account of their services and losses, you are referred to
the able report of the Adjutant and Inspector General of the
State. The report of the Adjutant and Inspector General will
afford all necessary information, connected with the
organization of the Militia, which would have been a most
thorough and efficient one, but for the interruption growing out
of the Conscript Acts since their organization, and would
have enabled the State to bring into the field, for her own
defence, when Atlanta was threatened, a force of some
30,000 men, after making all reasonable allowance for
disability, &c. Notwithstanding the difficulties with which the State
authorities have had to contend, abut 10,000 of the reserve
Militia were armed and sent to the front, to aid in the
defence of Atlanta, and other important points in the State.
No troops in the service discharged their duty more nobly
and faithfully. They received the commendation of General
Johnston, General Hood, and their immediate commander,
Major General Smith, for their gallantry and good conduct
upon the battle-field. When Atlanta fell they held
the post of honor, constituting the rear guard, which brought
off the reserve artillery of General Hood's army. After
they had been ordered back to Griffin they were furloughed
for 30 days, and have again assembled under their gallant
leader, and are in the right place nobly defending the soil
of their State. In the Constitution of the Confederate States each State
has reserved the right to keep troops in time of War, when
actually invaded, as Georgia now is. Our fathers, who formed
the Constitution of the United States, from which we
have taken this provision of our present Constitution, foresaw
that no State could part with this right without an
unconditional surrender of her sovereignty, which they were
careful to provide against. The right of the Confederate
States, if we admit the power of conscription, and of the
State to raise troops, is mutual and concurrent. Each, in
that case, has the same right in war when the State is invaded,
to enlist troops into its service, and neither has the
right to take them out of the custody of the other, when
regularly received into its military service. This does not
of course admit the right of the Confederate Government
to enrol or interfere with the officers, or necessary agents,
of the State government. As the present organization of reserve Militia is the only
remaining force left to the State, she should, under no
circumstances, turn them over to the unlimited control of the
Confederate Government, or any other power. But she
should retain the control over them that she may send them
to the field, when the military exigencies require it, and
withdraw them at proper intervals, when her agricultural,
and other material interests, imperatively demand it. I turned over the organization first to General Johnston,
then to General Hood, and now to General Beauregard,
giving each the absolute command and control of the force,
reserving only the right to withdraw it from their command,
when, in my judgement, the safety of the State no
longer required it in the field. This right will, of course,
be exercised with due caution, after free conference with the
commanding General, as was the case when I granted the
thirty days furlough, after the fall of Atlanta. This enabled
the troops to save a very important crop of the State, much
of which would otherwise have been lost, and caused no
embarrassment to General Hood, in the execution of his
plans. I transmit, herewith, a copy of Resolutions, adopted by
the Governors of Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina,
Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi, convened in Augusta,
on Monday, the 17th of October last, and respectfully
recommend the enactment of such laws as are necessary to
carry these resolutions into practical effect, so far as they
contemplate action by the Legislatures of the respective
States. I also request the exercise of your legislative influence
to induce Congress to carry out such portions of the
recommendations as are addressed to that body. It is proper,
in this connection, for me to remark, that I do not wish
to be understood by either of said resolutions, that I advocate
the policy, in the present condition of our affairs, of
arming our slaves. I do however advocate the use of them
as teamsters, cooks, hospital servants, and in every other
menial capacity, in which their services can be made useful,
or in which they can relieve freemen from such pursuits that
they may take up arms. In conclusion I earnestly invoke the blessings of Almighty
God upon your deliberations; and humbly pray that He
will endow you with wisdom from above, and will guide
and direct all your councils, till they result in the adoption
of measures, and the enactment of laws, which, while they
strengthen our forces, and give victory to our arms, will
lead to wise and just negotiations, which may stop the war,
with all its horrors, and secure the independence of the
Confederacy, with the rights and sovereignty of the States
unimpaired, thereby enabling us to maintain, to the latest
generation, the inestimable blessings of civil and religious
liberty, protected by adequate Constitutional guarantees. JOSEPH E. BROWN. At a meeting of the Governors of the States of Virginia,
North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama and
Mississippi, held in Augusta, Ga., on Monday the 17th inst, Gov.
Wm. Smith presiding, after a full, free and harmonious
consultation and interchange of council, the following among
other views were expressed: Resolved, That there is nothing in the present aspect of
public affairs to cause any abatement of our zeal in the
prosecution of the war to the accomplishment of a peace, based
on the independence of the Confederate States. And to give
encouragement to our brave soldiers in the field, and to
strengthen the Confederate authorities in the pursuit of this
desirable end, we will use our best exertions to increase the
effective force of our armies. Resolved, That the interests of each of our States are identical
in the present struggle for self-government, and wisdom
and true patriotism dictate that the military forces of each
should aid the others against invasion and subjugation, and
for this purpose we will recommend to our several legislatures
to repeal all such laws as prohibit the Executives from
sending their forces beyond their respective limits, in order
that they may render temporary service wherever most
urgently required. Resolved, That whilst it is our purpose to use every
exertion to increase the strength and efficiency of our State and
Confederate forces, we respectfully and earnestly request
that the Confederate authorities will send to the field every
able bodied man without exception, in any of its various
departments whose place can be filled by either disabled
officers and soldiers, senior reserves or negroes, and dispense
with the use of all provost and post guard, except in important
cities, or localities. where the presence of large bodies
of troops make them necessary, and with all passport agents
upon railroads not in the immediate vicinity of the armies,
as we consider these agents an unnecessary annoyance to
good citizens and of no possible benefit to the country. Resolved, That we recommend our respective legislatures
to pass stringent laws for the arrest and return to their
commands of all deserters and stragglers from the Confederate
armies or State troops, and that it be made the special duty
under appropriate penalties, of all civil and military officers
to arrest and deliver to the proper authorities all such
delinquents. And whereas, the public enemy having proclaimed the
freedom of our slaves, are forcing into their armies the
able-bodied portion thereof, the more effectually to wage their
cruel and bloody war against us, therefore be it Resolved, That it is the true policy and obvious duty of
all slave owners timely to remove their slaves from the line
of the enemy's approach, and especially those able to bear
arms; and when they shall fail to do so that it should be
made the duty of the proper authorities to enforce the
performance of this duty and to give to such owners all
necessary assistance as far as practicable. Resolved, That the course of the enemy in appropriating
our slaves who happen to fall into their hands to purposes of
war seems to justify a change of policy on our part; and
whilst owners of slaves under the circumstances should
freely yield them to their country, we recommend to our
authorities, under proper regulations to appropriate such
part of them to the public service as may be required. Resolved, That the States have the right to export such
productions and to import such supplies as may be necessary
for State use, or for the comfort or support of their troops
in service, upon any vessel or vessels owned or chartered by
them and that we request Congress at its next session to
pass laws removing all restrictions which have been imposed
by Confederate authority upon such exports or imports
by the States. And lastly, we deem it not inappropriate to declare our
firm and unalterable purpose, as we believe it to be that of
our fellow-citizens, to maintain our right of self-government,
to establish our independence, and to uphold the
rights and sovereignty of the States or to perish in the
attempt. Resolved, That the Chairman be requested to send a copy
of these resolutions to his Excellency President Davis, and
also one each to the President of the Senate, and the Speaker
of the House of Representatives to be laid before the
respective bodies. On motion of Mr. Blackwell five hundred copies of the
Governor's Message were ordered to be printed for the use
of the Senate. On motion of Mr. Bacon five hundred copies of the
Comptroller General's Report were ordered to be printed for the
use of the Senate. On motion of Mr. Lloyd fifty copies of the rules of the
Senate were ordered to be printed for the use of the Senate. Mr. Walker offered the following resolution which was
taken up read and agreed to: Resolved, That so much of the Governor's Message as
relates to the currency and taxes, be referred to the committee
on Finance: that so much of it as relates to Confederate relations
be referred to the committee on Confederate relations;
that so much of it as relates to the Military be referred to
the committee on the Military; that so much of it as relates
to the Exiles from home, by the invasion of our enemies, be
referred to a special committee of five; and that so much of
it as relates to the resolutions adopted by the Convention of
Governors be referred to a special committee of five. Mr. Pottle offered the following resolution which was
taken up read and agreed to: Resolved, That a committee of three be appointed to procure
the services of Ministers to open the morning Sessions
of the Senate with prayer. The President appointed Messrs. Pottle, Chambers and
Bacon as such committee. On motion the Senate adjourned until ten o'clock
to-morrow morning.
Senate met according to adjournment and was opened
with prayer by Rev. Mr. Flynn. The Hon. R. B. Nisbet, the newly elected Senator from
the twenty-eighth Senatorial District, appeared, presented
his credentials and having taken the oath prescribed by the
Constitution of the State took his seat. Mr. Whitaker offered the following resolution which was
taken up read and agreed to: Resolved, That a committee of five be appointed to examine
into the unfinished business of the last Session and present
such business as may properly claim the attention of
the Senate. The President appointed Messrs. Whitaker, West, Pottle,
Guery and Ramsay as such committee. Mr. West introduced "a bill to extend the time allowed
Tax Collectors of this State to make their final settlements
with the Comptroller General", which was read the first
time. Mr. West offered the following resolutions which was
read: Whereas, at a Session of the General Assembly of the
State of Georgia in the year 1863, the following resolutions
passed by the General Assembly in the year 1861, were
readopted; Resolved, That it is the sense of this General Assembly
that the separation of those States now forming the
Confederate States of America from the United States, is, and
ought to be final and irrevocable; and that Georgia will
under no circumstances entertain any proposition from any
quarter, which may have for its object a restoration or
reconstruction of the late Union, on any terms or conditions
whatever. Resolved, That the war which the United States are
waging upon the Confederate States, should be met on our
part with the utmost vigor and energy until our independence
and nationality are unconditionally acknowledged by
the United States. Resolved, That Georgia pledges herself to her sister States
of the Confederacy that she will stand by them throughout
the struggle. She will contribute all the means which her
resources will supply so far as the same may be necessary to
the support of the common cause, and will not consent to
lay down arms until peace is established on the basis of the
foregoing resolutions. Whereas, The enunciation of said resolutions is as truly
expressive of the position of Georgia to-day as at the time
of their adoption and re-adoption; And whereas, the
re-assembly of the General Assembly of the State after a lapse
of another year of the struggle for independence, presents
an occasion peculiarly appropriate to the renewal of these
declarations, and that the world may know that Georgia
does not tire of the war until her purpose is accomplished,
nor abate anything of the spirit and determination manifested
by said resolutions; therefore, Resolved, That this Senate and House of Representatives,
in General Assembly met, with a fixed and unalterable purpose
to stand by them, do re-affirm and re-adopt said resolutions
in their letter and spirit. Resolved further, That the Governor cause copies of these
resolutions to be transmitted to the President of the
Confederate States, and the Governors of the several States of the
Confederacy; And also, to the President of the Senate and
Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Confederate
Congress, with the request that they cause said resolutions
to be read before their respective bodies. Mr. Lloyd offered the following resolution which was
taken up read and agreed to: Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate be authorized
to procure a sufficiency of stationery for the use of the
members of the Senate. Mr. Lloyd offered a memorial from the Banks of Savannah,
relative to taxation, which was read and referred to
the committee on Finance. The President appointed Messrs. Chambers, Walker,
Groover, Barr and Nisbet, as the select committee to whom
was referred so much of the Governor's message as relates
to the convention of Governors. The President appointed Messrs. Whitaker, McCutchen,
Mabry, Pottle and Guery, as the select committee to whom
was referred so much of the Governor's message as relates to
exiles from home. Mr. Pottle introduced "a bill for the pardon of Richard
Raines of Washington county, confined in the Penitentiary
for life, for the crime of murder", which was read the first
time. Also, "a bill to give force and effect to the laws of this
State, respecting writs of certeorari, and writs of error in
certain cases, and for other purposes", which was read the
first time. Mr. Walker introduced"a bill to relieve the tax-payers
of this State from the payment of taxes on property, taken
or destroyed by the public enemy", which was read the first
time. Mr. West introduced "a bill for the relief of Edward
James and Joel Forrester, tax-payers of Lee county", which
was read the first time. Mr. Chambers offered the following resolution which was
taken up read and agreed to: Resolved, That fifty copies of the resolutions adopted by
the Governors of Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, Alabama
and Mississippi, convened in Augusta Georgia, on the
19th October last, be printed for the use of the Senate. On motion the Senate adjourned until ten o'clock
to-morrow morning. Senate met according to adjournment and was opened
with prayer by Rev. Mr. Flinn. Mr. Pottle moved to reconsider so much of the Journal
of yesterday as relates to the vote by which a resolution
relative to furnishing stationery by the Secretary was agreed
to, which was agreed to. Mr. Chambers offered a resolution relative to the existence
and danger of Small Pox in this city, which was agreed to. Mr. Lloyd introduced a bill to alter and amend an act
entitled an act to repeal section 4,459 of the revised Code
of Georgia and to substitute another in lieu thereof, passed
Dec'r 5th, 1863, which was read the first time. Mr. Walker introduced a bill to continue in force an act
to grant relief to the people and Banks of this State, and to
provide against the forfeiture of the several Bank charters
of this State, on account of non-specie payments for a given
time and for other purposes, passed over the Governor's veto
on 30th day of Nov. 1860, which was read the first time. Senate took up the following bills which were severally
read the second time and referred to the committee of the
whole: A bill to extend the time allowed tax-collectors of this
State to make their final settlements with the Comptroller
General. Also, a bill for the pardon of Richard Raines of
Washington county, confined in the Penitentiary for the crime of
murder. Senate took up the following bills, which were severally
read the second time and referred to the committee on the
Judiciary:
A bill to give force and effect to the laws of this State,
respecting writs of certiorari and writs of error in certain
cases and for other purposes. Also, a bill for the relief of Joel Forrester and Edward
James tax-payers of Lee county, and for other purposes. Senate took up the following bill which was read the
second time and referred to the committee on Finance: A bill to relieve the tax-payers of this State from the
payment of taxes on property taken or destroyed by the
public enemy. The following Message was received from the House of
Representatives by Mr. Carrington their Clerk: Mr. President: The House of Representatives have adopted
a resolution appointing a joint committee to investigate
to what extent the Small Pox is prevailing in this
place, and have appointed as such committee on part of
the House, Messrs. Long, Manson, Mathews of Scriven,
Hawkins of Baldwin, and Lawson. And I am instructed to
transmit the same to the Senate forthwith. Senate took up and concurred in a resolution of the
House of Representatives appointing a committee to make
inquiry relative to the existence and danger of Small Pox in
this city. The President appointed Messrs. Chambers, Baker and
Walker as such committee, on the part of the Senate. Leave of absence was granted Mr. Anthony for a few
days on account of indisposition. Mr. Whitaker, chairman of the select committee to whom
was referred the unfinished business of the last Session,
reported that they have had the same under consideration and
recommend that the bills and resolutions not disposed of be
indefinitely postponed. On motion the report was taken up and agreed to. Leave of absence was granted Mr. Whitaker for a few
days on special business. On motion the Senate adjourned until 2 and 1/2 o'clock P. M. Senate met according to adjournment. Mr. Chambers, chairman of the committee to make inquiry
relative to the number of cases of Small Pox in the City,
reported that they had discharged the duty assigned them,
and declined making any recommendation. Mr. Pottle offered the following resolution: Resolved, by the Senate and House of Representatives in
view of the prevalence of Small Pox at the Capital, that the
General Assembly adjourn from its Session to--and
that a committee of both Houses be appointed for the
purpose of making arrangements for the convenience of the
members. Mr. Pottle moved to amend the same by inserting the
word Augusta, which was lost. Mr. Bacon moved further to amend by inserting the word
Macon, which was lost. Mr. Cone moved further to amend by inserting the word
Savannah which was agreed to. The resolution as amended was lost. On motion the Seuate adjourned until 10 o'clock Monday
morning. Senate met according to adjournment and was opened
with prayer by Rev. Mr. Flinn. Mr. Cone moved to reconsider so much of the Journal of
Saturday as relates to the vote by which a resolution
adjourning the General Assembly to the city of Savannah, on
account of the prevalence of the Small Pox at the Capital
was lost, which motion was agreed to. Senate took up as the report of the committee of the
whole: "A bill for the pardon of Richard Raines, of Washington
conty, confined in the Penitentiary for life, for the crime of
murder". On motion of Mr. Pottle the same was made the special
order for Friday next. Senate took up as the report of the committee of the
whole: "A bill to extend the time allowed tax-collectors, of this
State to make their final settlements with the Comptroller
General". The report was agreed to. The bill was read the third time and passed. Senate took up the following bills which were severally
read the second time and referred to the Committee on the
Judiciary: "A bill to continue in force an act to grant relief to the
people and banks of this State and for other purposes". Also, "a bill to alter and amend an act entitled an act to
repeal Section 4459 of the revised Code of Georgia, and to
substitute another in lieu thereof, passed Dec'r 5th, 1863".
Mr. Chambers introduced "a bill to amend the charter of
the city of Columbus, and to change the place of holding the
election for certain city officers in that City", which was
read the first time. Mr. Pottle introduced "a bill to change the line between
and Glasscock counties", which was read the first
time. Also, "a bill declaring of full force all the acts of the
General Assembly prior to the time the Code took effect,
and not conflicting therewith or any subsequent law", which
was read the first time. Mr. Bacon introduced "a bill to amend an act entitled an
act supplementary to an act entitled an act to incorporate
the Planters Insurance Trust and Loan company, and to
confer certain powers and privileges thereon", which was
read the first time. Mr. McCutchen introduced "a bill to compel all
Inn-Keepers, Hotel-Keepers and others, who keep houses of
public entertainment for compensation, to give checks or
receipts for the baggage of guests, and to impose a penalty
for a refusal so to do", which was read the first time. Mr. Mabry introduced "a bill to protect the citizens of
this State from acts of violence, robbery and plunder,
committed by Soldiers, or those pretending to be Soldiers, in the
Confederate or State service, to prescribe penalties and
punishment for the same, and for other purposes therein
named", which was read the first time. Mr. Gaulden introduced "a bill to suppress monopoly
and extortion in this State", which was read the first time. On motion of Mr. Gaulden the rules were suspended and
the bill was referred to the committee on the Judiciary. Mr. Grice offered"a resolution relative to the exemption of
Deputy Clerks and other officers, from Military service",
which was taken up read and referred to the committee on
the Military. Mr. Lloyd offered a memorial from Seaborn Goodall, Tax
Collector of Chatham county, which was read and referred
to the committee on Finance. Mr. Gaulden offered the following resolution: Resolved, That a committee of three, be appointed by the
Senate to join such committee as may be appointed by the
House of Representatives, whose duty it shall be to enquire
into the condition of the Small Pox now prevailing in this
City, and report the facts and recommend what action they
deem necessary in the premises, at three o'clock this
after-noon. Mr. McCutchen moved to amend the resolution by striking
out the words "by three o'clock this afternoon", which
was agreed to. Mr. Pottle moved further to amend by inserting the
words as soon as practicable, which was agreed to. The resolution as amended was then agreed to. The President appointed Messrs. Gaulden, Bacon and
Spear as such committee, on the part of the Senate. On motion the resolution was ordered to be transmitted
forthwith to the House of Representatives. The following Message was received from the House of
Representatives, by Mr. Carrington their Clerk: Mr. President:--The House of Representatives have
concurred in the Resolution of the Senate appointing a joint
committee to enquire into the prevalence of Small Pox in
this City, and have appointed as a committee on part of the
House, Messrs. Hill, Overstreet of Pierce, Warren, Rawls
and Burney, and I am instructed to transmit this action of
the House to the Senate forthwith. On motion the Senate adjourned until three o'clock P. M. Senate met according to adjournment. Mr. Gaulden, chairman of the joint committee appointed
to investigate the condition of the Small Pox cases in the city
of Milledgeville, made the following report: The joint committee of the Senate and House of
Representatives having had under consideration the condition of
the Small Pox in the city of Milledgeville, beg leave to
report that they have carefully examined the same and find
that there are sixteen cases of Small Pox in the city, and a
number of cases in the surrounding country near the city.
That these cases are situated in various parts of the city and
very imperfectly quarantined. The committee are
unanimously of the opinion that it is unsafe for the Legislature
to remain in Session at this place and a majority recommend
that the Legislature adjourn to the city of Savannah.
Mr. Pottle offered the following resolution: Resolved, by the Senate and House of Representatives, in
view of the prevalence of the Small Pox at the Capital, that
the General Assembly adjourn its Session to meet on Thursday
next at noon, in the city of Augusta, and that a committee
of both Houses be appointed for the purpose of making
arrangements for the convenience of the members. Mr. West offered the following as a substitute in lieu of
the original resolution:
"Resolved, that the Senate and House of Representatives
in view of the prevalence of Small Pox at the Capital, the
General Assembly will adjourn its Session to meet in the
city of Macon at noon, on Thursday next, and that a committee
of both branches of the General Assembly be appointed
to make arrangements for the convenience of the members",
which was lost. The question recurring upon agreeing to the original
resolution, the yeas and nays were required to be recorded
and were yeas 14 nays 21. Those who voted in the affirmative were Messrs: Bacon, Blackwell, Chambers, Gaulden, Groover, Guery,
Pate, Polk, Pottle, Speer, Walton, West,
White. Those who voted in the negative were Messrs: Baker, Barr, Bennett, Cone, Ezzard, Grice, Griffin,
Hubbard, Ledford, Lloyd, Mabry, McDonald, McRae, Nisbet,
Pafford, Ramsay, Simmons, Sprayberry, Underwood,
Walker, Wells. Yeays 14, Nays 21; So the resolution was lost. On motion the Senate adjourned until ten o'clock to-morrow
morning. Senate met according to adjournment and was opened
with prayer by Rev. Mr. Flinn. Mr. Pottle offered the following resolution which was
taken up read and agreed to: WHEREAS, the President of the Confederate States has
issued his proclamation setting apart Wednesday the 16th
of November inst., as a day of general religious observance; And whereas, it is proper that this General Assembly
should respond publicky to the same; therefore be it, Resolved, by the Senate and House of Representatives that
a committee of both Houses of the General Assembly be
appointed by their respective branches to make suitable
arrangements for the solemn observance of said day, in
accordance with the request of the President. The President appointed Messrs. Pottle, Nisbet and Polk
as such committee on the part of the Senate. On motion the same was ordered to be transmitted
forthwith to the House of Representatives.
Leave of absence was granted Mr. Simmons for the
balance of the Session on special business. Mr. Polk introduced "a bill to exempt property of refugees
in certain cases from taxation", which was read the
first time. Senate took up the following bills which were severally
read the second time and referred to the committee on the
Judiciary: "A bill declaring of full force all the acts of the General
Assembly prior to the time the Code took effect, and not
conflicting therewith or any subsequent law". Also, "a bill to protect the citizens of this State from acts
of violence, robbery and plunder, committed by Soldiers, or
those pretending to be Soldiers, in the Confederate or State
service, and for other purposes". Also,"a bill to compel all Inn-Keepers, Hotel Keepers,
and others who keep houses of public entertainment for
compensation, to give checks or receipts for the baggage of
guests, and to impose a penalty for a refusal so to do." Senate took up the following bill which was read the
second time and referred to the committee on Banks: "A bill to amend an act entitled an act supplementary
to an act entitled an act to incorporate the Planters Insurance
Trust and Loan company, and to confer powers and
privileges thereon". Senate took up the following bill which was read the
second time and referred to the committee on new counties
and county lines: "A bill to change the lines between Warren and
Glasscock counties". Senate took up the following bill which was read the
second time and referred to the committee of the whole: "A bill to amend the charter of the city of Columbus and
to change the place of holding the elections for certain city
officers in that city". The following Message was received from the House of
Representatives, by Mr. Carrington their Clerk: Mr. President: --The House of Representatives have passed
the following bills and resolutions, to-wit: A bill to be entitled an act to repeal an act to alter and
amend the Road laws of this State in reference to the time
of assembling, the road commissioners to hear and determine
upon excuses rendered by defaulters and return of defaulters
by overseers, so far as respects the county of Lincoln. Also, a bill to be entitled an act to amend an act entitled
an act to alter and amend an act to prevent the unnecessary
consumption of grain by distillers and manufacturers of
spirituous liquors in this State, approved Nov. 22d, 1862, and
amended April, 11th 1863, and to suspend and dismiss all
prosecutions for brewing lager beer under and by virtue of said
acts. Also, a bill to be entitled an act to repeal so much of an
act to re-organize the Militia of Georgia and for other
purposes, assented to Dec. 14th, 1863, as authorizes His Excellency
the Governor to call into active service that portion
of the Militia between the ages of 50 and 60 years of age. Also, a resolution in relation to charges for freight and
transportation on the Savannah, Albany and Gulf Rail
Road. Also, Resolutions relative to four per cent certificates and
the certificates of indebtedness of the Confederate States. Also, Resolutions to provide supplies for refugees and their
families. Also, a resolution requesting our Senators and Representatives
in Congress to use their influence to have a semi-weekly
mail line established between Hamilton, Harris
county, and Quito in Talbot county, in this State. Also, a resolution providing for an advance to Public
Printers. Senate took up a resolution of the House of Representatives
relative to charges for freight and transportation on
the Atlantic and Gulf Rail Road, which was read and
referred to the committee on the Judiciary. Senate took up the following bills of the House of
Representatives which were severally read the first time: A bill to repeal so much of an act entitled an act to
re-organize the Militia of the State of Georgia and for other
purposes, assented to Dec. 14th, 1863, as authorizes His
Excellency the Governor to call into active service that portion
of the Militia between the ages of fifty and sixty years. Also, a bill to amend an act entitled an act to alter and
amend an act to prevent the unnecessary consumption of
grain by distillers and manufacturers of spirituous liquors
in this State, approved Nov. 22d, 1862, and amended April
11th, 1863, and to suspend and dismiss all prosecutions for
brewing lager beer under, and by virtue of said acts. Also, a bill to repeal an act entitled an act to alter and
amend the Road Laws of this State in reference to the time
of assembling of Road commissioners to hear and determine
excuses rendered by defaulters, and return of defaulters by
overseers, so far as respects the county of Lincoln. Senate took up a resolution of the House of Representatives
providing for an advance to the Public Printers. Mr. West moved to amend the same by inserting after the
word "dollars" the words "already appropriated",
which was agreed to. The resolution as amended was concurred in.
On motion of Mr. West the Senate took up a resolution
previously offered by him relative to the vigorous prosecution
of the war by the State of Georgia. Mr. Ezzard offered the following as a substitute in lieu of
the original resolution: Resolved, that the General Assembly earnestly recommend
that our Government make to the Government of the United
States, official offers of peace on the basis of the great
principles declared by our common fathers in 1776. Resolved further, that our Senators and Representatives in
Congress be requested to use their influence to stop this
unnatural strife, looking forward to the time when peace
may be obtained upon just and honorable terms; which was
lost. Upon agreeing to the original resolution the yeas and
nays were required to be recorded, and were yeas 32, nays 0. Those who voted in the affirmative were Messrs: Bacon, Baker, Barr, Bennett, Blackwell, Chambers, Cone,
Ezzard, Gaulden, Grice, Griffin, Groover, Guerry, Hubbard,
Ledford, Lloyd, Mabry, McCutchen, McDonald, McRae,
Nisbet, Pate, Pafford, Polk, Pottle, Ramsay, Speer, Sprayberry,
Underwood, Walker, Walton, Wells, West, White,
Wright. Yeas 32, Nays 0; So the resolution was unanimously
agreed to. Mr. Walker offered the following resolution which was
taken up read and agreed to: WHEREAS, it has been announced that the Hon. Simpson
Reid departed this life on the-- day of May 1864, The Senate do Resolve, that it is with heartfelt sorrow we
have learned of the death of the Hon. Simpson Reid, Senator
from the 40th Senatorial District; that we tender our
warmest sympathies to the family of the deceased, in their
sad bereavement. Be it further Resolved, That in the death of the Hon.
Simpson Reid the Senate has lost a most useful and valuable
member, his District a noble representative, and the State a
good and patriotic citizen. Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions be sent to the
family of the deceased by the Secretary of the Senate. Mr. Pottle offered the following resolutions, which were
taken up read and agreed to: WHEREAS, since the last Session of the General Assembly
the Hon. Jefferson Adams, late Senator from the 28th
District, has been called away from time to experience the
solemn realities of the future state; and whereas, it is due
to his memory that this body should give expression to the
sorrow it feels over this sad bereavement, therefore be it,
Resolved, by the Senate, that we have heard with profound
regret of the death of the Hon. Jefferson Adams, late
Senator from the 28th District, and heartily sympathize
with his sorrowing family over their sad bereavement. Resolved, That in the death of the Hon. Jefferson Adams,
this body is deeply impressed with the loss of his valuable
counsels as a Legislator, and his companionship as an honorable
and courteous christian gentleman. Resolved, That a copy of the foregoing resolutions be
signed by the President and Secretary of the Senate, and be
transmitted to the family of the deceased. On motion the Senate adjourned until ten o'clock to-morrow
morning. Senate met according to adjournment and was opened
with prayer by Rev. Mr. Flinn. Leave of absence was granted Mr. Polk for a few days on
account of indisposition. Mr. Hubbard introduced a bill for the relief of the counties
of Polk, Paulding and Haralson, and for other purposes,
which was read the first time. Mr. Groover introduced a bill to provide for the impressment
and taking of private property for public use and upon
just compensation, which was read the first time. Senate took up as the report of the committee of the
whole: A bill to amend the charter of the City of Columbus and
to change the place of holding the election for certain city
officers in that city. The report was agreed to. The bill was read the third time and passed. Senate took up the following bill which was read the
second time and referred to the committee on Finance: A bill to exempt the property of refugees from taxation
in certain cases. Senate took up the following bill of the House of
Representatives, which was read the second time and referred to
the committee on the Military: A bill to repeal so much of an act entitled an act to
reorganize the Militia of Georgia, assented to Dec'r 14th 1863,
as authorizes His Excellency the Governor to call into active
service that portion of the Militia between the ages of
fifty and sixty years.
Senate took up the following bills of the House of
Representatives which were severally read the second time and
referred to the committee of the whole: A bill to amend an act entitled an act to alter and amend
an act to prevent the unnecessary consumption of grain
by distillers and manufacturers of spirituous liquors in this
State, approved Nov. 22d, 1862, and amended April 11th
1863, and to suspend and dismiss all prosecutions for
brewing lager beer under and by virtue of said acts. Also, a bill to repeal an act entitled an act to alter and
amend the Road Laws of this State in reference to the time
of assembling of road commissioners to hear and determine
excuses rendered by defaulters and return of defaulters by
overseers, so far as respects the county of Lincoln. Mr. Pafford offered a resolution requesting the Secretary of War
to send the 4th Georgia cavalry to the coast of Georgia,
which was taken up and referred to the committee on
the Military. Mr. Cone offered the following resolution which was taken
up read and agreed to: Resolved, That His Excellency the Governor be requested
to furnish the Senate with copies of the annual report of the
Adjutant & Inspector General, Principal Keeper of the
Penitentiary, Superintendent of the Lunatic Asylum, and the
Principal of the Institute for the Blind. Mr. Chambers presented a memorial from the Mayor of
the City of Milledgeville relative to the prevalence of Small
Pox in the City, which was read for the information of the
Senate. The following Message was received from the House of
Representatives, by Mr. Carrington their Clerk: Mr. President:-- The House of Representatives have
concurred in the Resolution of the Senate providing for the
appointment of a joint committee to make arrangements for
the observance of a national day of Prayer, and have appointed
as such committee on part of the House, Messrs. Horsely,
Manson and Tomlinson, and I am instructed to transmit this
action of the House to the Senate forthwith. The House of Representatives have also passed the following
Bills to-wit: A bill to be entitled an act to extend the time for the
collection of Taxes due by the citizens of this State, and for
other purposes. Also, a bill to be entitled an act to authorize and require
the Treasurer of this State to make certain advances and
for other purposes.
Mr. Lloyd, Chairman of the committee on the Judiciary
made the following report: Mr. President:--The Committee on the Judiciary to
which were referred sundry bills have had the same under
consideration and direct me to make the following report: A bill to be entitled an act to continue in force an act to
grant relief to the Bank and people of this State, and to
provide against the forfeiture of the several Bank charters in
this State, on account of non-specie payments for a given
time, and for other purposes, passed over the Governor's
veto, on the 30th day of November 1860. Also, an act to add a proviso to the fourth section of an
act entitled an act for the relief of the people and banks of
this State, and for other purposes, passed on the 30th of
November 1860, assented to December 20th, 1860. And to
add an additional proviso to said fourth section, and for other
purposes, which the committee amends by striking out
all the words in the first section after the word "force",
down to the Proviso, and inserting in lieu thereof the words
"for and during the present war", and by striking out the
proviso in said first section, and as amended recommend
its passage. Also, the bill to be entitled an act for the relief of Joel
Forrester and Edward James, of Lee county, and for other
purposes, which they recommend do pass. Also, the bill to be entitled an act declaring of full force
all the acts of the General Assembly prior to the time the
Code took effect, and not conflicting therewith or any
subsequent law; which the committee amends by striking out
in the first section after the word "effect" the word "are"
and insert in lieu thereof the words "shall be", and as
amended, recommend its passage. Also, a bill to be entitled an act to compel all Inn-Keepers,
Hotel-Keepers, and others who keep houses of public
entertainment for compensation, to give checks or receipts
for the baggage of their guests, and to impose a penalty for
a refusal so to do; which the committee amends by adding
after the word "entertainment" in the ninth line of the first
section, the words, "for and during the time such guest or
guests remain at said Inn, Hotel or House of entertainment";
and as amended recommend its passage. THOS. E. LLOYD, Chairman. Senate took up as the report of the committee of the
whole: A bill for the relief of Joel Towers and Edward James
Tax-payers of Lee county. The committee on the Judiciary
to whom the same was referred recommend its passage. The report was agreed to. On motion the bill was re-committed and referred to the
committee on the Judiciary, with instructions to report a
general bill. Senate took up as the report of the committee of the
whole: A bill entitled an act to continue in force an act to grant
relief to the people and Banks of this State, and for other
purposes. The committee on the Judiciary to whom this bill was
referred moved to amend the report by striking out in the
first section after the word "force" all the words down to
the proviso, and insert in lieu thereof the words "for and
during the present war". Also, by striking out the proviso,
which was agreed to. The report as amended was agreed to. The bill was read the third time and passed: Senate took up as the report of the committee of the
whole: A bill to compel all Inn-Keepers, Hotel-Keepers, and
others, who keep houses of public entertainment for
compensation, to give checks or receipts for the baggage of
guests, and to impose a penalty for a refusal so to do. The committee on the Judiciary to whom this bill was
referred moved to amend the report by inserting in the first
section after the word "entertainment" the words "for and
during the time such guest or guests remain at such Inn,
Hotel, or House of entertainment", which was agreed to. The report as amended was agreed to. The bill was read the third time and passed. On motion the Senate adjourned until three o'clock P.M. Senate met according to adjournment. Senate took up the following bills of the House of
Representatives which were read the first time: A bill to authorize and require the Treasurer of this State
to make certain advances and for other purposes. Also,"a bill to extend the time for the collection of Taxes
due by the citizens of this State and for other purposes". Senate took up a resolution of the House of Representatives
relative to four per cent certificates of indebtedness of
the Confederate States. Mr. West moved to amend the same by striking out the
words "four per cent", which was lost. On the motion to concur in said resolution the yeas and
nays were required to be recorded, and were yeas 19, nays 5.
Those who voted in the affirmative were Messrs: Bacon, Baker, Barr, Bennett, Blackwell, Chambers, Cone,
Ezzard, Gaulden, Groover, Ledford, Mabry, McDonald,
McRae, Nisbet, Polk, Underwood, Walton, White. Those who voted in the negative were Messrs: Guerry, Lloyd, Pate, Ramsay, West. Yeas 19, Nays 5; So the resolution was concurred in. Senate took up and concurred in a resolution of the House
of Representatives requesting the establishing of a semiweekly
mail route between Hamilton, Harris county, and
Quito, in Talbot county in this State. Senate took up a resolution of the House of Representatives
to provide supplies for refugees and their families. Mr. Bacon moved to amend the preamble of said resolution,
which was agreed to. Mr. West moved further to amend by striking out all after
the words "an order" and inserting the following words,
"authorizing the purchase by such refugees, of provisions
at schedule prices from citizens of this State, who have given
bond to sell their surplus provisions to the Government
and families of soldiers". On motion the resolution and amendments were referred
to the committee on the Judiciary. The following Message was received from the House of
Representatives, by Mr. Carrington their Clerk: Mr. President:-- The House of Representatives have
adopted the following Resolutions, in which they ask the
concurrence of the Senate, to-wit: A Resolution requesting the discontinuance of the present
tri-weekly Mail Route from Cedartown in Polk county
to Rome, Floyd county, and the establishment in lieu there-of
of a daily Mail Route from Cedartown to Cave Springs. Also, Resolution relative to the establishment of a weekly
mail route between the town of Quitman, Brooks county,
by the way of Tallokas in the said county, and James Robinson's
Colquitt county, to the town of Moultrie in
Colquit county. Mr. Polk offered the following resolution: Resolved, by the Senate, in view of the Small Pox prevailing
in the City of Milledgeville, to an alarming extent, that
this body take a recess from next Saturday until the second
Thursday in January next, and that a committee of three
from the Senate be appointed to confer with a like committee
from the House of Representatives, whose duty it shall be to
confer with the Governor and make such arrangements
as will secure the public interests during the recess. Mr. West moved to amend the same by striking out the
words "second Thursday in January", and inserting in lieu
thereof the words "first Monday in February", which was
lost.
Upon agreeing to the resolution the yeas and nays were
required to be recorded, and were yeas 18, nays 14. Those who voted in the affirmative were Messrs: Baker, Bennett, Blackwell, Chambers, Ezzard, Gaulden,
Grice, Guerry, Hubbard, Ledford, McDonald, McRae,
Pafford, Polk, Speer, Underwood, Walton, White. Those who voted in the negative were Messrs: Bacon, Barr, Cone, Griffin, Groover, Lloyd, Mabry,
Nisbet, Pate, Price, Ramsay, Sprayberry, Wells, West. Yeas 18, Nays 14; So the resolution was agreed to. Leave of absence was granted the Secretary of the Senate
for the evening on account of indisposition. On motion the Senate adjourned until ten o'clock
to-morrow morning. Senate met according to adjournment and was opened
with prayer by Rev. Mr. Flinn. Mr. Ramsay moved to reconsider so much of the Journal
of yesterday as relates to the vote by which a resolution of
the House of Representative requesting the establishing of
a semi-weekly mail route between Hamilton Harris county,
and Quito in Talbot county, was concurred in, which was agreed
to. Mr. Ramsay moved to reconsider so much of the Journal
of yesterday as relates to the vote by which a resolution
taking a recess by the Senate was agreed to, which was agreed
to. Mr. Ezzard introduced a bill for the relief of the counties
of Cherokee, Milton and Forsyth, which was read the first
time. Mr. Nisbet introduced a bill to authorize the Governor to
furnish all soldiers from the State of Georgia now held by
the enemy as prisoners of war, with blankets, shoes, clothing
and tobacco, and to make an appropriation of money for
said purpose, which was read the first
time. Mr. Pafford offered a resolution requesting the Secretary
of the Treasury to allow the citizens of this State to retain
a portion of their tythes, which was read.
The following Message was received from the House of
Representatives, by Mr. Carrington their Clerk: Mr. President:--The House of Representatives have passed
the following bills: A bill to be entitled an act to repeal an act entitled an act to
amend the oath of Tax-payers for the year 1865, and for
other purposes. Also, a bill to be entitled an act to add certain lots of
land therein named, in the county of Paulding, to the county
of Carroll, and for other purposes. Also, a bill to be entitled an act to define the line between
the counties of Muscogee and Chattahoochee, and to change
the line between the counties of Stewart and Chattahoochee. Also, a bill to be entitled an act to repeal an act entitled
an "act to change and alter the oath of Tax-payers of this
State, assented to December the 14th, 1863". Also, a bill to incorporate an Insurance company in the
City of Columbus, to be called the "Merchants Insurance
company of Columbus Georgia". Senate took up the following bill which was read the
second time and referred to the committee on the Judiciary: A bill to provide for the impressment and taking of
private property for public use and upon just compensation. Senate took up the following bill which was read the
second time and referred to the committee on Finance: A bill for the relief of the counties of Polk, Paulding and
Haralson, and for other purposes. On motion the Senate took up a resolution which had
been reconsidered, relative to a recess by the Senate. Mr. West moved to amend the same by striking out the
words "this body" and inserting in lieu thereof the words
"General Assembly" which was agreed to. Mr. West moved further to amend by striking out the
words "second Thursday in January" and insert in lieu
thereof the words "first Wednesday in February." Mr. Wright offered the following, as a substitute in lieu
of the original resolution and amendments: Resolved, That in view of the prevalence of the Small
Pox at the Capital; and the great danger that a continuation
of the General Assembly at this place would probably spread
this loathsome disease all over the State, the General
Assembly do adjourn to-morrow at noon, to assemble at the
City of Augusta on Monday next, 14th inst., at twelve M.,
and that a joint committee of the Senate and House of
Representaves be appointed to make the necessary arrangements
for such change and setting at Augusta.
Mr. Bacon moved the indefinite postponement of the original
resolution with its amendments and substitute offered in
lieu thereof, upon agreeing to which motion the yeas and
nays were required to be recorded, and were yeas :21, nays
14. Those who voted in the affirmative were Messrs: Bacon, Barr, Bennett, Cone, Ezzard, Grice, Griffin, Groover,
Hubbard, Ledford, Lloyd, Alabry, McCutchen, Nisbet,
Pate, Pottle, Price, Ramsay, Sprayberry, Walker, Wells. Those who voted in the negative were Messrs: Baker, Blackwell, Chambers, Gaulden, Guerry, McDonald,
McRae, Pafford, Polk, Speer, Underwood, Walton, West,
White. Yeas 21, nays 14; So the motion to indefinitely postpone
was agreed to.
Mr. Bacon from the Committee on Enrollment, reported
as duly enrolled and ready for the signature of the President
of the Senate and Speaker of the House of Representatives
the following resolution to-wit: A resolution providing for the appointment of a joint
committee to make arrangements for the observance of a
national day of Prayer. Also, as duly enrolled and ready for the signature of the
President of the Senate, A resolution in relation to the death of the Hon. Simpson Reid,
late Senator from the 40th District. Also, a resolution in relation to the death of the Hon. Jefferson
Adams, late Senator from the 28th District. Mr. Cone offered the following resolution which was
taken up read and agreed to: Resolved, That the Secretary have printed for the use of
the Senate fifty copies of the report of the Adj't & Inspector
General, fifty copies of the report of the Superintendent
and Treasurer of the Western and Atlantic Rail road, fifty
copies of the report of the Principal Keeper of the Penitentiary,
fifty copies of the report of the Superintendent of the
Lunatic Asylum, fifty copies of the report of the Principal
of the institute for the Blind. Senate took up the following bills of the House of
Representatives which were read the first time; A bill to incorporate an Insurance company in the City of
Columbus, to be called the "Merchants Insurance company
of Columbus Georgia". Also, a bill to define the line between the Counties of
Muscogee and Chattahoochee, and to change the line
between the counties of Stewart and Chattahoochee.
Also, a bill to repeal an act entitled an act to amend the
oath of Tax-payers for the year 1865 and for other
purposes. Also, a bill to add certain lots of land therein named in
the county of Paulding to the county of Carroll and for other
purposes. Also, a bill to repeal an act entitled an act to change and
alter the oath of Tax-payers of this State, assented to Dec'r
14th, 1863. Senate took up the following bills of the House of
Representatives which were severally read the second time and
referred to the committee of the whole: A bill to extend the time for the collection of Taxes due
by the citizens of this State and for other purposes. Also, a bill to authorize and require the Treasurer of this
State to make certain advances, and for other purposes. Senate took up and concurred in a resolution of the House
of Representatives requesting our Senators and Representatives
in Congress to have established a weekly mail route
between the town of Quitman in Brooks county, and the
town of Moultrie in Colquitt county. Senate took up and concurred in a resolution of the House
of Representatives requesting the discontinuance of the
present tri-weekly mail route from Cedar Town in Polk
county, to Rome, Floyd county, and the establishment in lieu
thereof of a daily mail route from Cedar Town to Cave
Springs. On motion the Senate adjourned until ten o'clock
to-morrow morning. Senate met according to adjournment and was opened
with prayer by Rev. Mr. Flinn.
Mr. Bacon offered the following resolution which was
taken up read and agreed to: Resolved, by the Senate and House of Representatives,
that His Excellency the Governor be requested to furnish
the General Assembly with any report which may have
been made by the Quartermaster of the State in relation to
the Atlanta Exiles, and with any other information he may
have in regard to them. On motion the same was ordered to be transmitted
forth-with to the House of Representatives.
Senate took up the following bills which were severally
read the second time and referred to the committee on
Finance: A bill for the relief of the counties of Cherokee, Milton
and Forsyth. Also, a bill to authorize the Governor to furnish all soldiers
from the State of Georgia, now held by the enemy as
prisoners of war, with blankets, shoes; clothing and tobacco,
and to make an appropriation of money for said purpose. Senate took up as the report of the committee of the
whole, the following bill of the House of Representatives: A bill to amend an act entitled an act to alter and amend
an act to prevent the unnecessary consumption of grain by
distillers and manufacturers of spirituous liquors in this
State, approved Nov. 22d, 1862, and amended April 11
1863, and to suspend and dismiss all prosecutions for
brewing lager beer under and by virtue of said acts. The report was agreed to. The bill was read the third time and upon the question
shall this bill now pass, the yeas and nays were required to
be recorded, and were yeas 19, nays 15. Those who voted in the affirmative were Messrs: Bacon, Barr, Bennett, Blackwell, Chambers, Cone,
Ezzard, Griffin, Guery, Ledford, Lloyd, Nisbet, Polk, Ramsay,
Speer, Sprayberry, Walker, West, White. Those who voted in the negative were Messrs: Baker, Grice, Groover, Hubbard, Mabry, McCutchen,
McDonald, McRae, Pate, Pafford, Pottle, Price, Underwood,
Walton, Wells. Yeas 19, nays 15; So the bill was passed. Senate took up as the report of the committee of the
whole, the following bill of the House of Representatives: A bill to authorize and require the Treasurer of this State
to make certain advances, and for other purposes. On motion the same was made the special order for
Monday next. Leave of absence was granted the Door-Keeper of the
Senate for to-day on account of indisposition. The following Message was received from the House of
Representatives, by Mr. Carrington their Clerk: Mr. President: -- The House of Representatives have passed
the following bills to-wit: A bill to be entitled an act to alter and amend the first
section of an act entitled an act to change the second section
of an act entitled an act to alter and amend the road laws
of this State, approved December the 19th 1818, so as to
extend and define the ages to which persons shall be liable
to work upon the public roads, assented to December the
4th, 1862.
Also, a bill to be entitled an act to change the line
between the counties of Union and Fannin. Also, a bill to be entitled an act to amend section 437
of the Code of Georgia, relating to assisting prisoners in
escaping or attempting to escape. Also, a bill to be entitled an act to amend section 4726
of the Code of Georgia, relating to costs of criminal
proceedings against slaves and free persons of color. Also, a bill entitled an act to authorize the Mayor and
council of the city of Columbus, to erect a market house in
one of the streets of said City, and to pass ordinances to
establish and regulate a public market in said City. Also, a bill to be entitled an act to amend section 4250
of the Code of Georgia, relating to the punishment for an
assault with intent to commit a rape. Also, a bill to be entitled an act to amend sections 3332
and 3238 of the Code of Georgia, relating to attachments
and claim bonds. Also, a bill to be entitled an act to repeal section 2729 of
the Code of Georgia relating to the effect of acceptances of
bills and orders. Also, a bill to be entitled an act to amend section 3869 of
the Code of Georgia relating to the persons who may make
defence against the foreclosure of mortgages. Also, a bill to be entitled an act to amend the law now
in force with regard to the sale of fugitive slaves in certain cases. Also, a bill to be entitled an act to amend section 4488
of the Code of Georgia, relating to the removal of slaves
from the State or county without the consent of the owner. Also, a bill to be entitled an act to continue in force the
fourth section of an act passed over the Governor's veto on
the 30th day of November 1860, entitled an act to provide
against the forfeiture of the several bank charters of this
State, on account of non-specie payments for a given time
and for other purposes, passed in the year 1857, and to
suspend the pains and penalties imposed, upon the several
banks and their officers in this State for the non-payment of
specie and for other purposes, and also an act to add a
proviso to the fourth section of an act entitled an act for the
relief of the people and banks of this State, and for other
purposes, passed on the 30th November 1860, and to add an
additional section to said act, assented to December the 20th
1860, by a constitutional majority of ayes 122 and nays 1.
Also, a bill to be entitled an act to amend section 3573
of the Code of Georgia, relating to notice of levy in cases
of levies on land.
Also, a bill to be entitled an act to amend sections 1775
and 1776 of the Code of Georgia, relating to orphans. Also, a bill to be entitled an act to amend section 3880 of
the Code of Georgia, relating to the mode of trying issues of
illegality. Also, a bill to be entitled an act to alter and repeal certain
sections of the Code of Georgia relating to Masters in
chancery and Auditors. Also, a bill to be entitled an act to repeal section 4510
of the Code of Georgia, relating to the punishment for
furnishing poisonous drugs to slaves and free persons of color. Also, a bill to be entitled an act to amend sections 2134
and 3147 of the Code of Georgia, relating to the remedy
favor of sureties. Also, a bill to be entitled an act to equailize the Tax on
slaves in the several counties of this State. Senate took up as the report of the committee of the
whole, the following bill of the House of Representatives: A bill to extend the time for the collection of Taxes due
by the citizens of this State, and for other purposes. Mr. Speer moved to amend the report by adding the
following as an additional section: "Be it further enacted, that, in the future collection of
Taxes no Tax collector shall be required to receive more
than five dollars in change, of the State change bills or any
other change bills, from any one Tax payer, on account of
his State and county Taxes"; which was lost. Mr. Speer moved further to amend the report by adding
the following as an additional section: "Be it further enacted, that the Tax collectors be required
to pay into the State Treasury on the first of each month
until the day of final settlement, all money they may have
on hand, collected on account of the State Tax". Mr. Mabry moved to amend the same by striking out the
words "on the first of each month", and inserting in lieu
thereof, the words "at least once in two months", which
was agreed to. The amendment as amended was lost. The report was agreed to. The bill was read the third time and passed. Senate took up as the report of the committee of the
whole, the following bill of the House of Representatives: A bill to repeal an act entitled an act to alter and amend
the road laws of this State, so far as respects the county of
Lincoln. The report was agreed to The bill was read the third time and passed. The following Message was received from His Excellency
the Governor by Mr. Waters, his Secretary, to-wit:
Mr. President:-- I am directed by the Governor to lay
before this branch of the General Assembly, a special
Message in writing-- The Governor has approved and signed the Resolution
providing for the appointment of a joint committee, to make
arrangements for the observance of a national day of Prayer. Senate took up the following bill of the House of
Representatives, which was read the second time and referred to
the committee on the Judiciary: A bill to repeal an act entitled an act to amend the oath
of Tax payers for the year 1865, and for other purposes. Senate took up the following bill of the House of
Representatives which was read the second time and referred to
the committee on new counties and county lines: A bill to add certain lots of land therein named in the
county of Paulding, to the county of Carroll. Senate took up the following bills of the House of
Representatives, which were severally read the second time and
referred to the committee of the whole: A bill to incorporate an Insurance company in the City
of Columbus, to be called the "Merchants Insurance company
of Columbus Georgia". Also, a bill to define the line between the counties of
Muscogee and Chattahoochee, and to change the line
between the counties of Stewart and Chattahoochee. Also,"a bill to repeal an act entitled an act to change and
alter the oath of Tax payers of this State, assented to Dec'r
14th, 1862". Mr. Lloyd Chairman of the Committee on the Judiciary,
made the following report: Mr. President:-- The committee on the Judicary, to
which were referred sundry bills, have had the same under
consideration and direct me to report as follows: A bill to be entitled an act for the relief of Joel Forrester
and Edward James of Lee county, and for other purposes;
for which they report a substitute, which is, a bill
to be entitled an act, declaratory of the true intent and
meaning of an act entitled an act to levy and collect a tax
on net incomes and profits, assented to 14th December
1863; which they recommend do pass. Chairman. Mr. Bacon from the committee on Enrollment, reported
as duly enrolled and ready for the signature of the President
of the Senate and Speaker of the House of Representatives,
the following resolution, to-wit: A resolution requesting His Excellency the Governor to
furnish the General Assembly certain information.
Mr. Bacon of the committee on Enrollment reports as
duly enrolled and signed by the Speaker of the House of
Representatives, and ready for the signature of the President of
the Senate, the following resolution, to-wit: Resolution relative to four per cent certificates and the
certificates of indebtedness of the Confederate States. The following Message was received from the House of
Representatives, by Mr. Carrington their Clerk: Mr. President:-- The House of Representatives have concurred
in a resolution of the Senate, requesting His Excellency
the Governor to furnish the General Assembly certain
information, with an amendment, in which they ask the
concurrence of the Senate, and I am instructed to transmit
the same to the Senate forthwith. Senate took up the resolution, and on motion the amendment
of the House of Representatives was concurred in. The following communication in writing, from His Excellency
the Governor, was taken up, read, and referred to
the committee on the Judiciary: EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT, To the General Assembly:
THURSDAY, Nov. 3d, 1864.
10 o'clock, A. M.
Page 4
Page 5MESSAGE.
MILLEDGEVILLE, GA., Nov. 3d, 1864.
Page 6CONFEDERATE RELATIONS.
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Page 8
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Page 16BLOCKADE RUNNING.
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Page 20OUR FINANCIAL CONDITION.
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Page 22WESTERN & ATLANTIC RAILROAD.
TAX ON BANKS.
Page 23TAX ON COTTON.
INEQUALITY OF TAX RETURNS.
MILITARY APPROPRIATION.
RELIEF OF SOLDIERS' FAMILIES.
Page 24CLOTHING FUND.
Page 25PURCHASE OF PROVISIONS.
THE EXILES DRIVEN OUT BY THE ENEMY.
Page 26GEORGIA HOSPITAL AND RELIEF ASSOCIATION.
SCHOOL FUND.
DESERTERS AND STRAGGLERS FROM THE ARMY.
Page 27
Page 28ROBBER BANDS OF DESERTERS AND STRAGGLING CAVALRY.
RANK OF THE QUARTERMASTER AND COMMISSARY GENERAL.
GEORGIA MILITARY INSTITUTE.
Page 29STATE LINE.
THE MILITIA.
Page 30CONVENTION OF GOVERNORS.
Page 31CONCLUSION.
THE MEETING OF THE GOVERNORS.
Page 32
Page 33FRIDAY, NOV. 4TH, 1864.
10 O'CLOCK, A. M.
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Page 36SATURDAY, NOV. 5TH, 1864.
10 O'CLOCK, A. M.
Page 372 and 1/2 O'CLOCK, P. M.
Page 38MONDAY, NOV. 7TH 1864.
10 O'CLOCK, A. M.
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Page 403 O'CLOCK, P. M.
Page 41TUESDAY, NOV. 8TH, 1864.
10 O'CLOCK, A. M.
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Page 45WEDNESDAY, NOV. 9TH, 1864.
10 O'CLOCK, A. M.
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Page 483 O'CLOCK, P.M.
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Page 50THURSDAY, NOV. 10TH, 1864.
10 O'CLOCK, A. M.
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Page 53FRIDAY, NOV. 11TH, 1864.
10 O'CLOCK, A.M.
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MILLEDGEVILLE, GA., NOV. 10, 1864.
I respectfully call your attention to the fact that a very considerable class of able-bodied men in this State, who should do Military service, are now under bond for various violations of the penal Code, and are held by some of the Inferior Courts in habeas corpus cases to be exempt on that account from State Militia service.
Under this ruling it is only necessary for a person who does not wish to enter the service to commit an assault and battery, or any other act declared penal, and give bond and security for his appearance at Court, and so manage as to get the case continued from time to time, and he has a permanent exemption from service.
This, I think, an evil which calls for legislation. No man should be excused by law from his part of the service, necessary to defend the State, because he has violated the laws of the State.
I respectfully recommend that a law or resolution be passed, declaring that all such are subject to Military duty, and releasing their sureties on their bonds, from liability, during the time they are in actual service.
JOSEPH E. BROWN.
Senate took up the following bills of the House of Representatives, which were read the first time:
A bill to amend section 3880 of the Code of Georgia.
Also, a bill to amend section 4726 of the Code of Georgia.
Also, a bill to amend section 4377 of the Code of Georgia.
Also, a bill to change the line between the counties of Union and Fannin.
Also, a bill to alter and amend the first section of an act entitled an act to change the second section of an act entitled an act to alter and amend the road laws of this State, approved Dec'r 19th, 1818, so as to extend and define the ages to which persons shall be liable to work on public roads, assented to Dec'r 4th, 1862.
Also, a bill to continue in force the 4th section of an act, passed over the Governor's veto on the 30th day of Nov. 1860, entitled an act to provide against the forfeiture of the several Bank's charters of this State, and for other purposes.
Also, a bill to equalize the Tax on slaves in the several counties in this State.
Also, a bill to repeal section 4510 of the Code of Georgia.
Also, a bill to amend section 4488 of the Code of Georgia.
Also, a bill to amend section 3573 of the Code of Georgia.
Also, a bill to alter and repeal certain sections of the Code of Georgia, relating to masters in chancery and auditors.
Also, a bill to amend sections 3232 and 3238 of the Code of Georgia.
Also, a bill to amend section 4250 of the Code of Georgia.
Also, a bill to repeal section 2729 of the Code of Georgia.
Also, a bill to authorize the Mayor and Council of the City of Columbus, to erect a market house in one of the streets of said City, and to pass ordinances to establish and regulate a public market in said City.
Also, a bill to amend the law now in force with regard to the sale of fugitive slaves in certain cases.
Also, a bill to amend sections 2134 and 3147 of the Code of Georgia.
Also, a bill to amend section 3869 of the Code of Georgia.
Also, a bill to amend sections 1775 and 1776 of the Code of Georgia.
Mr. Guery offered the following resolution, which was read:
Resolved, That both branches of the General Assembly do adjourn sine die on Friday next, the 18th. inst., at 12 o'clock M.
Mr. Chambers presented a communication from the Mayor of the City of Milledgeville relative to the prevalence of the Small Pox, which was read for the information of the Senate.
On motion of Mr. West Mr. McCutchen was added to the committee on the Judiciary.
Leave of absence was granted Mr. McCutchen for a few days on special business.
Senate took up as the report of the committee of the whole:
A bill for the relief of Edward James and Joel Forrester Tax-payers of Lee county.
The committee on the Judiciary, to whom the same was referred, reported a substitute in lieu of the original bill, which was agreed to.
The report was agreed to.
The bill was read the third time and passed.
Mr. Mabry introduced a bill to make duly audited and certified accounts for the pay of members of the General Assembly, transferable by assignment, and for other purposes; which was read the first time.
On motion the Senate adjourned until ten o'clock to-morrow morning.
Senate met according to adjournment and was opened with prayer by Rev. Wm. Flinn.
On motion of Mr. Guerry, the rules were suspended and the Senate took up the following resolution.
Resolved, That both branches of the General Assembly do adjourn sine die on Friday next, the 18th inst at 12 o'clock M. Mr. Walker moved that the same be postponed indefinitely.
Upon agreeing to which motion, the yeas and nays were required to be recorded, and were yeas 15 nays 18.
Those who voted in the affirmative were Messrs.
Bacon, Barr, Bennett, Chambers, Ezzard, Grice, Groover, Ledford, Lloyd, Pottle, Price, Ramsay, Sprayberry, Walker, Wells.
Those who voted in the negative were Messrs.
Baker, Blackwell, Cone, Gaulden, Guerry, Hubbard, Mabry, McDonald, McRae, Nisbet, Pate, Pafford, Polk, Speer, Underwood, Walton, West, White.
Yeas 15; nays 18. So the motion to postpone indefinitely was lost.
Mr. Gaulden offered the following as a substitute in lieu of the original resolution.
Resolved, "That this General Assembly do adjourn on next Tuesday, until the third Thursday in January next."
Mr. Coup moved that the original resolution and substitute lie on the table for the present, which was agreed to.
The following message was received from the House of Representatives, by Mr. Carrington their Clerk:
Mr. President:-- The House of Representatives have passed the following bills to-wit:
A bill to be entitled an act to allow heads of families or their representatives, to distill certain quantities of spirituous liquors in this State.
Also, a bill to be entitled an act to alter section 2335 of the code of Georgia, relating to the presumption of grants.
Also, a bill to be entitled an act for the relief of tax payers on property lost, destroyed, or rendered valueless by the public enemy.
Also, a bill to be entitled an act to authorize the Governor to have discharged or retired all officers and soldiers, in the military service of the State, who are or have become permanently disabled.
Also, a bill for the relief of ware house men in this State and for other purposes.
Also, a bill to alter and amend the 1208 section of the code of Georgia.
Also, a bill to be entitled an act to alter and amend an act entitled an act to amend an act entitled an act to point out the mode of ascertaining the relief and support to which widows and orphans, are entitled to out of the estates their deceased husbands and parents, when letters testamentary or of administration shall have been granted and for other purposes, approved 19th February 1856, and to repeal the fifth section of said act and to render administration unnecessary in certain cases, assented to December 9th 1862.
The House of Representatives, have also adopted the following resolutions, in which they ask the concurrence of the Senate to-wit:
Resolutions relative to impressing breeding stock and work oxen.
The following Message was received from His Excellency the Governor, by Mr. Campbell, his Secretary, to-wit:
Mr. President: -- I am directed by the Governor to lay before this branch of the General Assembly, a special Message in writing, in response to a resolution of inquiry.
Mr. West from the Committee on new counties and county lines, made the following report:
Mr. President:-- The Committee on new counties and county lines, have had the following bill under consideration to-wit:
A bill to be entitled an act to change the line between Warren and Glasscock counties, so as to include the residence of Samuel Hart of Glasscock in Warren county, and direct me to report the same back with the recommendation that it do not pass.
FRED H. WEST, Chairman.
The undersigned a monority of the committee on new counties and county lines, to whom was referred a bill to change the county lines between the counties of Warren and Glasscock counties, so as to include the residence and premises of Samuel Hart in Glasscock, in Warren county, beg leave to submit a monority.
Your committee descent from the Report of the majority on the ground that it appeared from evidence before the committee, that the new county of Glasscock was made against the wishes of the memorialist, that he lives about equal distance from the two court houses, that no one else is affected by the change, and that all of his family connexions are in Warren county, The request seems to be reasonable and we recommend the passage of the bill--Respectfully submitted.
A. F. UNDERWOOD, D. M. McRAE, Minority Committee.
Leave was granted Mr. Bacon to withdraw "a bill supplementary to an act entitled an act to incorporate the Planters Insurance Trust Company, and to confer certain powers and privileges thereon."
Mr. West introduced "a bill to amend an act to prevent and punish the planting and cultivating in the State of Georgia, over a certain quantity of land in cotton, during the war with the abolitionists, approved December 11th, 1862," which was read the first time.
Leave of absence was granted the President of the Senate for three days, on important business.
Mr. Cone offerred the following resolutions, which were taken up read and agreed to.
Whereas, the character of the war waged against us during the past year, has been marked by a fierceness and cruelty well calculated to try the courage of our people, and test the wisdom and ability of our Government, and whereas under Divine Providence, the conduct of our enemies in the field no less than the general management of our civil affairs has given the country renewed confidence in the wisdom, patriotism and virtue of our chief Executive, Jefferson
Davis; and whereas an expression of the sense of our people on this subject is becoming and proper on the part of their Representatives.
Be it therefore resolved, that the thanks of the people of Georgia, are eminently due and are hereby tendered to Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederate States, for his able, fearless and impartial conduct of our Government during the past year, and that our confidence in his wisdom, purity and patriotism is unshaken and without abatement.
Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions be forwarded by the Governor to the President, and also to the President of the Senate and Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Confederate Congress, with the request that they be laid before their respective bodies.
On motion the following communication in writing from His Excellency the Governor, was taken up and read.
EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT,
MILLEDGEVILLE, Nov. 1
11th, 1864.
To the General Assembly:
In response to your resolutions of inquiry, I herewith transmit copies of the Report of the Quartermaster General, in reference to the Exiles under his charge.
JOSEPH E. BROWN.
On motion fifty copies of the report of the Quartermaster General with the accompanying documents in reference to the exiles, under his charge, were ordered to be printed for the use of the Senate.
Senate took up the following bill which was read the second time and referred to the committee on the Judiciary.
A bill to make duly audited and certified accounts for the pay of members of the General Assembly transferable by assignment, and for other purposes.
Senate took up as the report of the committee of the whole the following bill of the House of Representatives:
A bill to repeal an act entitled an act, to change and alter the oath of tax payers of this State, assented to December 14th, 1863.
On motion, the same was referred to the committee on finance.
Senate took up as the report of the committee of the whole, the following bill of the House of Representatives.
A bill to define the line between the counties of Muscogee and Chattahoochee, and to change the line between the counties of Stewart and Chattahoochee.
On motion the same was referred to the committee on new counties and county lines.
Senate took up as the report of the committee of the whole, the following bill of the House of Representatives.
A bill to incorporate an Insurance Company in the city of Columbus, to be called the "Merchants Insurance Company of Columbus Georgia."
The report was agreed to.
The bill was read the third time and passed.
Senate took up as the report of the committee of the whole,
A bill to change the line between Warren and Glasscock counties, so as to include the residence of Samuel Hart of Glasscock in Warren County,
The committee on new counties and county lines to whom this bill was referred, reported adversely to its passage.
The report was disagreed to.
The bill was read the third time and passed.
Mr. Bacon introduced a bill to repeal the following words of section five of an act to prevent the unnecessary consumption of grain, by distillers and manufacturers of spirituous liquors in Georgia, approved November 22 1861 to-wit: and provided further, that the same shall be distilled at the distance of at least twenty miles from any railroad or stream usually navigated by steam boats. Which was read the first time.
The following message was received from the House of Representatives, by Mr. Carrington their Clerk.
Mr. President: --The House of Representatives have passed the following bill of the Senate to-wit:
A bill to be entitled an act to extend the time allowed Tax Collectors of this State, to make their final settlements with the Comptroller General, with an amendment in which they ask the concurrence of the Senate.
The House of Representatives, have also adopted the following resolutions, in which they ask the concurrence of the Senate to-wit:
A Resolution to bring on the election of State Printer.
Resolutions asking for the retention of corn and other products collected as tax in kind, in destitute counties.
Resolutions requesting the establishment of a mail route from Elberton to Hartwell. All of which actions of the House of Representatives, I am instructed to transmit forth-with to the Senate.
Senate took up the following bills of the House of Representatives, which were severally read the second time and referred to the committee on the Judiciary.
A bill to amend the law now in force with regard to the sale of fugitive slaves in certain cases.
Also, a bill to continue in force the 4th section of an act passed over the Governor's veto on the 30th day of November 1860, entitled an act to provide against the forfeiture of the several Bank charters of this State, and for other purposes.
Also, a bill to amend section 3880 of the code of Georgia.
Also, a bill to amend section 4726 of the code of Georgia.
Also, a bill to amend section 4377 of the code of Georgia.
Also, a bill to equalize the tax on slaves in the several counties in this State.
Also, a bill to repeal section 4510 of the code of Georgia.
Also, a bill to amend section 4488 of the code of Georgia.
Also, a bill to amend section 3573 of the code of Georgia.
Also, a bill to alter and repeal certain sections of the code of Georgia relating to masters in chancery and auditors.
Also, a bill to amend section 3869 of the code of Georgia.
Also, a bill to amend sections 3232 and 3238 of the code of Georgia.
Also, a bill to amend sections 1775 and 1776 of the code of Georgia.
Also, a bill to amend section 4250 of the code of Georgia.
Also, a bill to amend sections 2134 and 3147 of the code of Georgia.
Also, a bill to repeal section 2729 of the code of Georgia.
Also, a bill to amend the first section of an act entitled an act to change the second section of an act entitled an act to alter and amend the road laws of this State, approved December 19th, 1818, so as to extend and define the ages to which persons shall be liable to work on public roads, to December 4th, 1862.
Senate took up the following bill of the House of Representatives, which was read the second time and referred to the committee on new counties and county lines.
A bill to change the lines between the counties of Union and Fannin.
Senate took up the following bill of the House of Representatives, which was read the second time and referred to the committee of the whole.
A bill to authorize the Mayor and Council of the city of Columbus, to erect a market house in one of the streets of said city, and to pass ordinances to establish and regulate a public market in said city.
Senate took up the following bills of the House of Representatives, which were read the first time.
A bill for the relief of tax payers on property lost, destroyed or rendered valueless by the public enemy.
Also, a bill to alter section 2335 of the code of Georgia.
Also, a bill to authorize the Governor to have discharged or retired all officers and soldiers in the military service of this State, who are or have become permanently disabled.
Also, a bill to allow heads of families or their representatives to distill certain quantities of spirituous liquors in this State.
Also, a bill for the relief of ware house men in this State and for other purposes.
Also, a bill to alter and amend the 1208th section of the code of Georgia.
Also, a bill to alter and amend an act entitled an act to amend an act entitled an act to point out the mode of ascertaining the relief and support to which widows and orphans are entitled out of the estates of their deceased husbands and parents, where letters testementary or of administration shall have been granted and for ther purposes, approved 19th of February 1856 and to repeal the 5th section of said act and to render administration unnecessary in certain cases, assented to December 9th, 1862.
On motion, the Senate adjourned until ten o'clock, Monday morning.
Senate met according to adjournment and was opened with prayer by Rev. Mr. Flinn.
Mr. Barr offered the following resolution which was read.
Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives, That this General Assembly will adjourn Thursday 24th inst. at 12, o'clock, M.
Leave of absence was granted Mr. Speer for two days on important business.
Senate took up the following bill which was read the second time and referred to the committee on agriculture.
A bill to amend an act to prevent and punish the planting and cultivating in the State of Georgia over a certain quantity of land in cotton during the war with the abolitionists, approved Dec. 11th, 1862.
Mr. Bacon, from the committee on enrollment reports as duly enrolled and signed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and ready for the signature of the President of the Senate, the following resolutions to-wit:
A resolution requesting the discontinuance of the present tri-weekly mail route from Cedar town in Polk county to Rome, Floyd county, and the establishment in lieu thereof, of a daily mail route from Cedartown to Cave Springs.
Also a resolution relative to the establishment of a weekly mail route between the town of Quitman, Brooks county, by the way of Tallokas in said county, and James Robinson's in Colquit county, to the town of Moultrie in the latter county.
Senate took up the following bill which was read the second time and referred to the committee on the Judiciary:
A bill to repeal the following words of section five of an act to prevent the unneccessary consumption of grain by distillers and manufacturers of spirituous liquors in Georgia, approved Nov. 22nd, 1862, to-wit: "and provided further that the same shall be distilled at the distance of at least twenty miles from any railroad or stream usually navigated by steam boats."
Senate took up as the report of the committee of the whole, the following bill of the House of Representatives:
A bill to authorize the Mayor and council of the city of Columbus to erect a market house in one of the streets of said city; and to pass ordinances to establish and regulate a public market in said city.
The report was agreed to, the bill was read the 3d time and passed.
Senate took up the following bill of the House of Representatives, which was read the second time and referred to the committee of the whole:
A bill for the relief of ware-house men in this State, and for other purposes.
Mr. Bacon, of the committee on enrollment reports as duly enrolled and signed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and ready for the signature of the President of the Senate, the following acts, to-wit:
An act to extend the time for the collection of taxes due by the citizens of this State, and for other purposes.
Also an act to alter and amend the road laws of this State in reference to the time of assembling of Road
Commissioners to hear and determine excuses rendered by defaulters, by overseers so far as respects the County of Lincoln.
Also an act to amend an act entitled an act to alter and amend an act to prevent the unnecessary consumption of grain by distillers and manufacturers of spirituous liquors in this State, approved Nov. 22nd, 1862, and amended April 11th, 1863, and to suspend and dismiss all prosecutions for brewing Lager Beer under and by virtue of said act.
Senate took up the following bills of the House of Representatives which were severally read the second time and referred to the committee on the judiciary:
A bill to alter section 2335 of the code of Georgia.
Also a bill to allow heads of families or their representatives to distill certain quantities of spirituous liquors in this State.
Also a bill to alter and amend the 1208th section of the code of Georgia.
Also a bill to alter and amend an act entitled an act to amend an act entitled an act to point out the mode of ascertaining the relief and support to which widows and orphans are entitled out of the estates of their deceased husbands and parents, where letters testamentary or of administration shall have been granted, and for other purposes, approved 19th day of Feb. 1856, and to repeal the 5th section of said act and to render administration unnecessary in certain cases, assented to Dec. 9th, 1862.
Senate took up a resolution of the House of Representatives relative to impressing breeding stock and work oxen.
On motion the same was referred to the committee on the Judiciary.
Senate took up the following bill of the House of Representatives, which was read the second time and referred to the committee on the military:
A bill to authorize the Governor to have discharged or retired all officers and soldiers in the military service of this State who are or have become permanently disabled.
Senate took up the following bill of the House of Representatives, which was read the second time and referred to the committee on finance:
A bill for the relief of tax payers on property lost, destroyed or rendered valueless by the public enemy.
Senate took up and concurred in a resolution of the House of Representatives, requesting the establishing of a mail route from Elberton to Hartwell.
Senate took up and concurred in a resolution of the
House of Representatives relative to the election of State Printer.
Mr. Lloyd, Chairman of the committee on the Judiciary made the following report:
Mr. President:-- The committee on the judiciary to which were referred sundry bills and resolutions, have had the same under consideration and direct me to report as follows:
The bill of the House to be entitled an act to repeal section 2729 of the code of Georgia, relating to the effect of acceptance of bills and orders, which they recommend do pass.
Also a bill of the House to be entitled an act to amend sections 2134 and 3147 of the Code of Georgia relating to the remedies of sureties, which they recommend do pass.
Also [a] bill of the House to be entitled an act to amend sect on 4250 of the Code of Georgia, relating to the punishment for an assault with intent to commit a rape, which they recommend do pass.
Also a resolution of the House to provide supplies for refugees and their families, for which the committee report a substitute herewith submitted, and recommend its adoption.
THOS. E. LLOYD, Chairman.
Senate took up a resolution of the House of Representatives asking for the retention of corn and other products collected as tax in kind in destitute counties.
On motion the same was referred to a select committee of five.
The President appointed Messrs. Mabry, Walker, West, Groover and Ramsay as such committee.
Mr. Guerry offered the following resolution, which was taken up read and agreed to:
Resolved, That the military committee be instructed to inquire into the expediency of disbanding or transferring to the Confederate service the two State regiments known as the State Line, with instructions to report by bill or otherwise.
Senate took up a resolution, relative to payment of tithes by the citizens of this State.
On motion the same was referred to a select committee.
The President appointed Messrs. Pafford, Guerry, Blackwell; Walton and McRae as such committee.
Senate took up as the report of the committee of the whole, the following bill of the House of Representatives:
A bill to amend sections 2134 and 3147 of the code of Georgia.
The report was agreed to, the bill was read the third time and passed.
Senate took up as the report of the committee of the whole, the following bill of the House of Representatives:
A bill to repeal section 2729 of the code of Georgia.
The report was agreed to, the bill was read the third time and passed.
Senate took up as the report of the committee of the whole, the following bill of the House of Representatives:
A bill to amend section 4250 of the code of Georgia.
The report was agreed to, the bill was read the third time and passed.
Mr. Bacon, from the committee on enrollment reports as duly enrolled, signed by the Speaker pro tem of the House of Representatives and ready for the signature of the President of the Senate, the following act to-wit:
An act to incorporate an Insurance company in the city of Columbus, to be called the Merchants Insurance Company of Columbus, Georgia.
Senate took up a resolution of the House of Representatives to provide supplies for refugees and their families.
The committee on the Judiciary to whom the same was referred, offered a substitute in lieu thereof, which was agreed to.
The resolution as amended was concurred in.
Senate took up the following resolution:
Resolved, that both branches of the General Assembly do adjourn sine die on Friday next, the 18th Instant, at 12 o'clock, M.
Mr. Guerry moved to amend the same by striking out the words "Friday next 18th inst." which was agreed to.
Mr. Walker moved to insert the words "1st Dec. next" which was lost.
Mr. Guerry moved further to amend by inserting the words "Thursday 24th inst" which was agreed to.
Mr. Gaulden offered the following as a substitute in lieu of the original resolution:
Resolved, That this General Assembly do adjourn on next Tuesday until the third Thursday in January next.
Mr. Lloyd, moved that the resolution and amendments be indefinitely postponed; upon agreeing to which motion the yeas and nays were required to be recorded, and were yeas 12, nays 18.
Those who voted in the affirmative, were Messrs,
Bacon, Chambers, Cook, Ezzard, Grice, Groover, Ledford, Lloyd, Pottle, Ramsay, Sprayberry, Walker.
Those who voted in the negative were Messrs.
Baker, Barr, Bennett, Blackwell, Cone, Gaulden, Guerry, Hubbard, Mabry, McRae, Pate, Pafford, Polk, Price, Walton, Wells, West, White.
So the motion to postpone indefinitely was lost.
The question recurring on agreeing to the substitute, the same was lost.
On agreeing to the original resolution as amended, the yeas and nays were required to be recorded, and were yeas 17, nays 14.
Those who voted in the affirmative were Messrs.
Baker, Barr, Bennett, Blackwell, Cone, Guerry, Hubbard, Mabry, McRae, Pate, Pafford, Polk, Price, Walton, Wells, West, White.
Those who voted in the negative were Messrs.
Bacon, Chambers, Ezzard, Gaulden, Grice, Groover, Ledford, Lloyd, Pottle, Ramsay, Sprayberry, Underwood, Walker.
So the motion as amended was agreed to.
On motion the Senate adjourned until ten o'clock tomorrow morning.
Senate met according to adjournment, and was opened with prayer by Rev. Mr. Flinn.
Mr. Polk introduced a bill for the relief of the Gwinnett Manufacturing Company, of the county of Gwinnett, which was read the first time.
Mr. Sprayberry introduced a bill to makethe members of the Legislature, including the clerks of both Houses, subject to conscription, which was read the first time.
Senate took up as the report of the committee of the whole the following bill of the House of Representatives.
A bill to add certain lots of land therein named in the county of Paulding to the county of Carroll, and for other purposes.
The report was agreed to.
The bill was read the third time and passed.
Mr. Mabry introduced a bill to amend the 841st and 852 sections of the code, which was read the first time.
Senate took up as the report of the committee of the whole the following bill of the House of Representatives:
A bill to authorize and require the Treasurer of this State to make certain advances and for other purposes.
The report was agreed to.
The bill was read the third time and passed.
Senate took up as the report of the committee of the whole the following bill of the House of Representatives:
A bill for the relief of ware house men of this State and for other purposes.
The report was disagreed to and the bill was lost.
Mr. West from the committee on new counties and county lines made the following report.
Mr. President:--The committee on new counties and county lines have had the following bills under consideration and direct to report as follows:
A bill of the House to be entitled an act to define the line between the counties of Muscogee and Chattagoochee, and to change the line between the counties of Stewart and Chattagoochee, which the committee amends by striking out the 2d section and as amended, recommend its passage.
Also, House bill to be entitled an act to add certain lots of land therein named in the county of Paulding, to the county of Carrol, and for other purposes, which they recommend do pass.
FRED H. WEST, Chairman.
Senate took up as the report of the committee of the whole the following bill of the House of Representatives.
A bill to define the line between the countries of Muscogee and Chattahoochee and to change the line between the counties of Stewart and Chattahoochee.
The committee on new counties and county lines to whom this bill was referred moved to amend the same by striking out the 2d section, which was agreed to.
The report as amended was agreed to.
The bill was read the third time and passed.
Leave of absence was granted Mr. Pate for a few days on important business.
On motion of Mr. Ezzard, Mr. Price was added to the committee on Finance.
The following message was received from the House of Representatives by Mr. Carrington, their Clerk:
Mr. President:--The House of Representatives have passed the following bills to-wit:
A bill to be entitled an act to change the line between the counties of Pulaski and Telfair.
Also, a bill to be entitled an act to alter and amend 1052 section of the code of Georgia.
Also, a bill to be entitled an act to alter, and repeal certain sections of the code of Georgia, relating to the order of
payment for claims against the estates of deceased persons.
Also, a bill to be entitled an act to change the line between the counties of Randolph and Clay.
Also, a bill to be entitled an act to amend sections 1751 and 1752 of the code of Georgia, defining the heirs of intestate bastards.
Also, a bill to be entitled an act to increase the fees of the Sheriffs, Clerks, of the Supreme, Superior, Inferior, City Courts, Ordinaries, Coroners, Justices of the Peace, Constables, county Surveyors and Jailors of this State.
Also, a bill to be entitled an act to amend the laws in relation to Habeas Corpus.
Also, a bill to be entitled an act to repeal an act assented to December 22d, 1857 and to change the line between the counties of Heard and Coweta.
The House of Representatives have also adopted the following resolution; in which they ask the concurrence of the Senate to-wit:
A resolution relative to adjournment.
Senate took up the following bills of the House of Representatives which were read the first time.
A bill to repeal an act assented to December 22d 1857, and to change the line between the counties of Heard and Coweta.
Also, a bill to amend the laws relative to Habeus Corpus.
Also, a bill to amend sections 1751 and 1752 of the code of Georgia.
Also, a bill to alter and repeal certain sections of the code of Georgia, relating to the order for the payment of claims against the estate of deceased persons.
Also, a bill to change the line between the counties of Randoph, and Clay.
Also, a bill to change the line between the counties of Pulaski and Telfair.
Also, a bill to alter and amend the 1052d section of the code of Georgia.
Also, a bill to increase the fees of the Sheriffs, Clerks, of the Supreme, Superior, Inferior, City Courts, Ordinaries, Coroners, Justices of the Peace, Constables, county Surveyors and Jailors of this State.
Mr. Sprayberry introduced a bill to define and make plain what kind of currency certain contracts shall be paid in, which was read the first time.
Senate took up as the report of the committee of the whole, a bill to repeal the following words of section five of an act to prevent the unnecessary consumption of grain
by distillers and manufactures of spirituous liquors in Georgia, approved November 22d 1862 to-wit: and provided further that the same shall be distilled at the distance of at least twenty miles from any rail road or stream usually navigated by steam boats.
The report was agreed to.
The bill was read the third time and passed.
Senate took up as the report of the committee of the whole, the following bill of the House of Representatives.
A bill to alter and amend an act entitled an act to amend an act entitled an act to point out the mode of ascertaining the relief and support to which widows and orphans are entitled out of the estates of their deceased husbands and parents, where letters testamentary or of administration shall have been granted, and for other purposes, approved 19th February 1856, and to repeal the 5th section of said act, and to render administration unnecessary in certain cases, assented to December 9th 1862.
The committee on the Judiciary to whom the same was referred, reported adversely to its passage.
The report was agreed to and the bill was lost.
Senate took up a resolution of the House of Representatives, relative to impressing breeding stock and work oxen.
The committee on the Judiciary to whom this resolution was referred, reported against concurring in the same.
The report was agreed to and the resolution was lost.
Senate took up as the report of the committee of the whole, a bill to amend an act to prevent and punish the planting and cultivating in the State of Georgia over a certain quantity of land in cotton during the war with the abolitionists, approved December 11th 1862.
The report was agreed to upon the question shall this bill now pass? The yeas and nays were required to be recorded and were yeas 11, nays 21.
Those who voted in the affirmative, were Messrs:
Bacon, Barr, Cook, Hubbard, Ledford, Lloyd, Nisbet, Polk, Wells, West, White.
Those who voted in the negative, were Messrs.
Baker, Bennett, Blackwell, Chambers, Ezzard, Gaulden, Grice, Griffin, Groover, Guerry, Mabray, McDonald, McRae, Pate, Pafford, Pottle, Price, Sprayberry, Underwood, Walker, Walton.
So the bill was lost.
On motion the resolution of the House of Representatives, relative to the day of adjournment, was ordered to be transmitted forthwith to the House of Representatives.
On motion the Senate adjourned until ten o'clock Thursday morning.
Senate met according to adjournment, and was opened with prayer by Rev. Mr. Brooks.
Mr. Speer moved to reconsider so much of the Journal of Tuesday as relates to the vote by which, a bill for the relief of Ware-House men in this State and for other purposes, was lost, which was agreed to.
Mr. Walker moved to reconsider so much of the Journal of Tuesday as relates to the vote by which a resolution of the House of Representatives relative to the impressment of breeding stock and work oxen was lost, which was agreed to.
Mr. Pottle offered the following resolution, which was taken up, read and agreed to:
WHEREAS, The General Assembly has learned of the advance of the in the direction of Macon, therefore be it
Resolved, by the Senate and House of Representatives that a joint committee from each branch of the General Assembly be appointed to confer with His Excellency the Governor, as to the policy and necessity of an early adjournment.
On motion the same was ordered to be transmitted forthwith to the House of Representatives.
Senate took up the following bill, which was read the second time and referred to the committee on the Military:
A bill to make the members of the Legislature, including the Clerks of both Houses, subject to conscription.
Senate took up the following bill which was read the second time and referred to the committee on Finance:
A bill for the relief of the Gwinnett manufacturing company, of Gwinnett county.
Senate took up the following bills which were severally read the second time and referred to the committee of the whole:
A bill to define and make plain what kind of currency certain contracts shall be paid in.
Also, a bill to amend the 841st and 852d sections of the Code.
Senate took up the following bills of the House of Representatives, which were severally read the second time and referred to the committee on the Judiciary:
A bill to amend sections 1751 and 1752 of the Code of Georgia.
Also, a bill to amend the laws in relation to habeas corpus.
Also, a bill to alter and repeal certain sections of the Code of Georgia, relating to the order of payment for claims against the estates of deceased persons.
Senate took up the following bills of the House of Representatives, which were severally read the second time and referred to the committee on new counties and county lines:
A bill to change the line between the counties of Pulaski and Telfair Also, a bill to change the line between the counties of Randolph and Clay.
Also, a bill to repeal an act assented to Dec'r 22d 1857, and to change the line between the counties of Heard and Coweta.
Senate took up the following bill of the House of Representatives, which was read the second time and referred to the committee on the Military:
A bill to alter and amend 1052d section of the Code of Georgia.
Senate took up the following bill of the House of Representatives, which was read the second time and referred to the committee of Finance:
A bill to increase the fees of Sheriffs and other county officers.
The following Message was received from the House of Representatives, by Mr. Carrington their Clerk:
Mr. President:--The House of Representatives have passed the following bills, to-wit:
A bill to be entitled an not to exempt from taxation the property of Soldiers and Widows, and orphans of Soldiers, in certain cases, and for other purposes.
Also a bill to be entitled an act to change the line between the counties of Wilcox and Irwin, and to include lot of land number 80, in the fifth district of Pulaski, in the county of Wilcox.
Also, a bill to be entitled an act to repeal the 183d section of the Code of Georgia.
Also, a bill for the relief of M. C. Few of the county of Jackson, and to appropriate money for the same.
Also, a bill to be entitled an act authorizing Nancy Crockett to settle with, and turn over to her ward John A. Crockett, his property and effects as if he had arrived at maturity.
Also, a bill to be entitled an act to amend an act incorporating the town of Perry in the county of Houston.
Also, a bill to be entitled an act for the relief of trustees.
Also, a bill to be entitled an act prescribing the manner of distributing the funds appropriated for the support of the indigent families of Soldiers, and permitting certain persons therein mentioned to become participants thereof.
Also, a bill to be entitled an act to amend an act entitled an act to appropriate money to procure and furnish clothing, shoes, hats and blankets, for the Soldiers from Georgia.
Also, a bill to be entitled an act to add the county of Worth to the South-Western Judicial circuit.
Also, a bill to be entitled an act to change the line between the counties of Elbert and Hart, so as to include the residence of William C. Garey, now of the county of Elbert, into the county of Hart.
Also, a bill to be entitled an act to empower the Governor to impress a portion of the negro slaves, in the county of Baldwin, to labor on, and erect fortifications, and other defences, in the City of Milledgeville and its vicinity, and to compensate owners and employees for the same, and for other purposes.
Also, a bill to be entitled an act to relieve all blind persons in this State, not worth more than two thousand dollars in Confederate Treasury Notes, from taxation.
Also, a bill to be entitled an act to change the line between the counties of Pierce and Wayne, so as to add to the county of Pierce the residence of James S. Yeomans, and lots of land number 277 and 322, in the 1217th district of Wayne county.
Also, a bill to limit the levying and collection of Taxes in the City of Marietta, in said State, during the present War with the United States.
Also, a bill to be entitled an act to prescribe the mode of electing county Treasurers in this State, and their term of office, and for other purposes.
The House of Representatives have also added the following resolution, in which they ask the concurrence of the Senate, to-wit:
A Resolution, authorizing John Jones, Treasurer, to remove public money, and important papers, to a place of safety, and, I am instructed to transmit the same to the Senate forthwith.
Senate took up as the report of the committee of the whole, the following bill of the House of Representatives:
A bill for the relief of Tax-payers on property lost, destroyed, or rendered valueless by the public enemy.
Mr Mabry moved to amend the report by inserting in the first section after the word "enemy" the words "or by
order of the commanding General of the Confederate army", which was agreed to.
The report as amended was agreed to.
The bill was read the third time and passed.
Senate took up a resolution relative to the payment of tithes by citizens of this State.
The select committee to whom the same was referred offered a substitute in lieu of the original resolution, which was agreed to.
On motion the same was ordered to be transmitted forthwith to the House of Representatives.
The following Message was received from the House of Representatives, by Mr. Carrington, their Clerk:
Mr. President:--The House of Representatives have passed the following bill, and have also adopted the following resolution, in which they ask the concurrence of the Senate, to-wit:
A bill to be entitled an act for the relief of the Bank of the Empire State, established at Rome Georgia.
A Resolution to have a tri-weekly Mail line established from Dublin in Laurens county, to Mount Vernon in Montgomery county.
All of which action of the House I am directed to transmit forthwith to the Senate.
Senate took up and concurred in a resolution of the House of Representatives, authorizing John Jones, State Treasurer, to remove the public money to some place of safety.
Mr. Sprayberry offered the following resolution, which was read and referred to the committee on the Military:
WHEREAS, It is known to the General Assembly that the enemy are marching in force in the direction of Macon, therefore be it
Resolved, by the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Georgia; in General Assembly met, that the Governor is hereby requested to call out all able-bodied men not now in actual service, including both branches of the General Assembly, to serve for thirty days if not longer needed.
Mr. Grice, from the committee on the Judiciary, made the following report:
Mr. President:--The committee on the Judiciary have had the following bill under consideration, to-wit:
A bill of the House to be entitled an act to equalize the Tax on Slaves in the several counties of this State, which they recommend do pass.
Mr. Bacon, the Chairman of the committee on Enrollment, of the Senate, reports as duly enrolled and signed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and ready for the signature of the President of the Senate, the following acts, to-wit:
An act to alter and repeal section 2729 of the Code of Georgia, relating to the effect of acceptances of Bills and Orders.
Also, an act to amend sections 2134 and 3147 of the Code of Georgia, relating to the remedies in favor of sureties.
Also, an act to authorize the Mayor and Council of the City of Columbus, to erect a Market House in one of the streets of said City, and to pass ordinances to establish and regulate a public Market in said City.
Also, the following Resolutions:
Resolutions requesting the establishment of a tri-weekly Mail route from Elberton to Hartwell.
Mr. Cone, from the committee on the Penitentiary, made the following report from the joint committee of both houses:
The joint committee on the Penitentiary have carefully examined the different departments of this Institution, through sub-committees.
The said sub-committees, report in good condition and prosperous working order, the tanyard and shoe-shop Also, the Blacksmith shop. The sub-committee on the wagon and wood-shops, report them in prosperous working order, except that there is some lack of material, which, however, has been engaged, and will soon be delivered.
The sub-committee appointed to examine the books, report them neatly and correctly kept.
The joint committee recommend that the salary of the Principal Keeper of the Penitentiary, be raised two hundred and fifty dollars. That the salary of the Assistant Keeper be raised four hundred and forty dollars. That the salary of the overseer of the tanyard, be raised one thousand dollars. That the salary of the Overseer of the shoe shop, be raised six hundred dollars. And that the salaries of the other four Overseers, be raised each, four hundred dollars.
The joint committee also recommend that the sum of thirty-four thousand dollars be advanced to the Penitentiary, for the purpose of purchasing provisions, before there be made further advance in the price of the same.
All of which is respectfully submitted.
PETER CONE, Chairman.
Senate took up as the report of the committee of the whole, the following bill of the House of Representatives, which had been reconsidered:
A bill for the relief of Ware-House men in this State, and for other purposes.
The report was agreed to.
The bill was read the third time and passed:
Senate took up as the report of the committee of the whole, the following bill of the House of Representatives:
A bill to equalize the Tax on slaves in the several counties in this State.
Mr. Wright moved to amend the report by striking out the "3d section", and by striking out in the 4th section the words "Comptroller General", and inserting in lieu thereof the words "Inferior Court of his county", and by striking out in the 7th section the words "return to the Comptroller General's office", and insert the words "furnished to the Tax-Receivers of their respective counties".
The following Message was received from the House of Representatives, by Mr. Carrington their Clerk:
Mr. President:--The House of Representatives have instructed me to inform the Senate, that they are now ready to receive the Senate in the Hall of the House of Representatives, for the purpose of going into the election of a State Printer, which election has been ordered for 11 o'clock, A. M. this day.
On motion the Senate repaired to the Hall of the House of Representatives, and the General Assembly then proceeded to the election of a State Printer, for the year 1865.
On taking the vote viva voce the Senators who voted for S. N. Boughton, were Messrs.
Baker, Barr, Bennett, Blackwell, Cone, Ezzard, Gaulden, Griffin, Groover, Hammond, Hubbard, Ledford, McDonald, Nisbet, Pafford, Polk, Sprayberry, Walkler, Walton, White.
Those who voted for R. M. Orme, were Messrs:
Bacon, Chambers, Cook, Grice, Guerry, Mabry, Pottle, Wells, West.
Including the vote of the Senate, and House of Representatives, S. N. Boughton received 95 votes, R. M. Orme received 53 votes.
Mr. Boughton having received a majority of the whole number of votes given, was declared duly elected.
The Senate then returned to the Senate chamber.
On motion the Senate adjourned until three o'clock P. M.
Senate met according to adjournment.
Leave of absence was granted the committee on the Military for a short time during the evening.
Mr. Bacon, from the committee on enrollment, reports as duly enrolled, and signed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and ready for the signature of the President of the Senate, the following acts and resolution, to-wit:
An act to authorize and require the Treasurer of this State to make certain advances, and for other purposes.
Also, a resolution authorizing John Jones, Treasurer, to remove public money and important papers, to a place of safety.
Also, an act to add certain lots of land therein named, in the county of Paulding, to the county of Carroll, and for other purposes.
Mr. Pottle, Chairman of the committee on part of the Senate, to confer with His Excellency the Governor, in relation to an early adjournment, made the following report:
Mr. President:--The joint committee of both branches, appointed under a resolution to confer with His Excellency, upon the subject of an early adjournment, beg leave to report that they have discharged that duty, and are instructed to inform the Senate that His Excellency will communicate his views, in special Message, during the day.
E. H. POTTLE, Chairman.
The following Message was received from His Excellency the Governor, by Mr. Waters, his Secretary, to-wit:
Mr. President:--I am directed by the Governor to lay before the General Assembly, a special Message, in reference to the defence of the State.
Senate took up the following communication in writing, from His Excellency the Governor, which was read and referred to the committee on the Military:
EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT,
MILLEDGEVILLE, NOV. 17TH, 1864.
To the General Assembly
:I have received, what I consider to be reliable information, that the enemy has burnt and laid waste a large part of Atlanta, and of several other Towns in upper Georgia, and has destroyed the State Road back to Allatoona, and burnt the
Rail Road bridge over the Chattahoochee River, and is now advancing in heavy force in the direction of Macon, and probably of this City, laying waste the country and towns in the line of his march.
The emergency requires prompt energetic action. If the whole manhood of the State will rally to the front, we can check his march and capture or destroy his force. There are now in the State large numbers of men not under arms, in either State or Confederate service. The class of State officers not subject to Militia duty, such as Judges, Justices of the Inferior Court, Sheriffs, &c., will amount to a fine Regiment.
There are numerous others with Confederate details, not connected with the present active operations of the front, probably amounting to several Regiments. All these, and every other person in the State, able to bear arms, no matter what his position may be, should rally to the standard in the field, till the emergency is passed.
The present Militia laws are not adequate to the occasion, and I respectfully ask the passage of a law with the least possible delay, authorizing the Governor to make a levy en masse, of the whole male population, including every man able to do Military duty, during the emergency, and to accept for such length of time as may be agreed upon, the services of any companies, battalions, regiments, brigades or divisions, of Volunteers, which may tender their services, with any number of men which he may consider effective. Plenary power should be given to compel all to report, who fail or refuse to do so.
I respectfully suggest that the appropriation bill be taken up and passed without delay, and that a Military bill, of the character indicated, be also passed, and that the Governor and Legislature then adjourn to the front, to aid in the struggle, till the enemy is repulsed, and to meet again if we should live, at such place as the Governor may designate.
JOSEPH E. BROWN.
Senate resumed the unfinished business of the morning, which was the consideration of a bill of the House of Representatives to equalize the Tax on slaves in the several counties in this State, and the amendment pending thereto; which amendment was lost.
Mr. Wright moved further to amend the report by inserting the following words: "all body-servants, coachmen and seamstresses"; which was agreed to.
The report as amended was agreed to.
Upon the question, "shall this bill now pass?" the yeas and nays were required to be recorded, and were yeas 20, nays 11.
Those who voted in the affirmative were Messrs:
Bacon, Baker, Chambers, Cook, Gaulden, Grice, Griffin, Groover, Guery, Hammond, Mabry, McDonald, Nisbet, Price, Speer, Walker, Wells, White.
Those who voted in the negative were Messrs:
Barr, Bennett, Blackwell, Cone, Ezzard, Hubbard, Ledford, Polk, Pottle, Underwood, Walton, Wright.
Yeas 20, nays 11; So the bill was passed.
The following Message was received from the House of Representatives by Mr. Carrington their Clerk:
Mr. President: The House of Representatives have passed the following bills, to-wit:
A bill to be entitled an act to change the county line between the Counties of Union and Towns.
Mr. Mabry from the joint committee on the Penitentiary, made the following report for the minority of said committee:
Mr. President:--A minority of the joint committee on the Penitentiary, have duly discharged their duty, and direct me to report as follows:
We do not find any difference between ourselves and the majority of the committee in their report, except the recommendation to increase the salaries of the Principal-Keeper, Assistant-Keeper, Overseer of the tanyard; Overseer of the shoe shop, and the other four Overseers, all of which we report against, and recommend that their salaries remain as now fixed.
C. W. MABRY. D. H. WALKER. WM. HUBBARD. J. B. McDANIEL. LEROY SUTTON.
Senate took up a resolution of the House of Representatives, asking for the retention of corn and other products collected as Tax in kind in destitute counties.
The select committee to whom the same was referred offered a substitute in lieu of the original resolution, which was agreed to.
The resolution as amended was then agreed to.
Mr. Sprayberry offered a resolution relative to the execution of the conscript laws by disabled Soldiers, which was read and referred to the committee on the Military.
Senate took up the following bill of the House of Representatives, which was read the first time:
A bill for the relief of the Bank of the Empire State, established at Rome, Georgia.
Mr. Mabry offered a resolution relative to the death of Hon. John H. Johnson, which was taken up, read and agreed to.
On motion the Senate adjourned until nine o'clock to-morrow morning.
Senate met according to adjournment and was opened with prayer by Rev. Mr. Flinn.
The roll being called the following Senators answered to their names.
Bacon, Barr, Bennett, Blackwell, Chambers, Cone, Cook, Grice, Griffin, Groover, Guerry, Hammond, Nisbet, Pafford, Pottle, Price, Ramsay, Underwood, Walker, Walton, West, White, Wright.
Leave of absence was granted Mr. Speer, on special business.
Mr. Ramsay, Chairman of the Committee on Military affairs, made the following report:
Mr.President:--The committee on military affairs to whom was referred a bill to be entitled an act to alter and amend the 1052nd section of the code of Georgia, have had the same under consideration and report it back to the Senate with the recommendation that it do not pass.
Also a bill to be entitled an act to make the members of the Legislature, including the clerks of both Houses, liable to conscription, and report it back with the recommendation that it do not pass.
The committee have also had under consideration resolutions relative to the removal of the commandant of the Conscripts in this State and to the appointment of disabled soldiers to enforcement of the conscript laws, and report them back to the Senate, with the recommendation that they do not pass.
The joint standing committee, on military affairs to whom was referred the special message of His Excellency the Governor, relating to the defence of the State, have had the same under consideration and report a bill to be entitled an act to authorize a levy en masse of the population
of Georgia, for the protection of its liberty and independence, and recommend that it do pass.
JAMES N. RAMSAY, Chairman of Committee on Military Affairs
.Mr. Pottle, introduced a bill for State defence, which was read the first time.
Mr. Ramsay, chairman of the committee on the military, introduced a bill to authorize a levy en masse of the population of Georgia for the protection of its liberty and independence.
Senate took up as the report of the committee of the whole, the foregoing bill, on account of the invasion of the State.
Mr. Bacon moved to amend the report by striking out the word "sixteen" and inserting in lieu thereof the word "seventeen," which was lost.
Mr. Guerry moved further to amend the report by striking out the word "fifty" and inserting the word "sixty," which was lost.
Mr. Pottle moved further to amend the report by striking out the word "fifty-five" and inserting the word "fifty," which was lost.
Mr. Gaulden moved further to amend the report by adding the following as an additional section:
Be it enacted that the counties of Camden, Charlton, Glynn, McIntosh, Liberty, Bryan, Charlton, Thomas, Brooks, Lowndes, Clinch, Ware, Coffee, Appling, Tatnall, Telfair, Emanuel and Glynn be organized, under the direction of the Governor and retained on the coast for the defence of the same, which was lost.
Mr. Walker moved further to amend the report by adding an additional section, which was lost.
The report was agreed to: upon the question "shall this bill now pass?" the yeas and nays were required to be recorded, and were yeas 28, nays 5.
Those who voted in the affirmative were Messrs.
Bacon, Barr, Bennett, Blackwell, Chambers, Cone, Cook, Ezzard, Gaulden, Grice, Griffin, Groover, Guerry, Hammond, Hubbard, Ledford, Mabry, Nisbet, Polk, Pottle, Price, Ramsay, Walker, Walton, Wells, West, White, President, Wright.
Those who voted in the negative, were Messrs.
Baker, McDonald, McRae, Pafford, Underwood.
So the bill was passed.
The following message was received from the House of Representatives by Mr. Carrington, their Clerk:
Mr. President:--The House of Representatives have adopted the following resolutions in which they ask the concurrence of the Senate, to-wit:
A resolution to facilitate the business of the present General Assembly.
A resolution authorizing the State Treasurer to burn certain funds.
The House of Representatives have passed the following bill of the Senate, to-Wit:
A bill to be entitled an act to amend the charter of the city of Columbus and to change the place of holding the election for certain city officers in said city.
The House has also concurred in the substitute of the Senate for a resolution of the House, to-wit:
A resolution requesting his Excellency the Governor and our Senators and Representatives in Congress to use their influence to procure an order from the Secretary of War, to allow the Inferior courts in destitute counties in this State to commute and purchase the corn and other provisions collected as tax in kind for the use of soldiers families, refugees, exiles and the indigent poor of their respective counties.
The House of Representatives have concurred in the amendment of the Senate to the bill of the House of Representatives, to be entitled an act to equalize the tax on slaves in the several counties in this State.
Mr. Bacon, from the committee on enrollment, reports as duly enrolled, signed by the Speaker of the House and President of the Senate, the following resolution, to-wit:
Resolution requesting His Excellency the Governor, and our Senators and Representatives in Congress to use their influence to procure an order from Secretary of War to allow the Inferior Courts in this State to commute and purchase the corn and other provisions collected as tax in kind for the use of soldiers families, refugees, exiles and the indigent poor of their respective counties.
Mr. Bacon from the committee on enrollment reported as duly enrolled and ready for the signature of the President of the Senate and Speaker of the House of Representatives,
An act to amend the charter of the city of Columbus, and to change the place of holding the election for certain officers in said city.
Also as dully enrolled and ready for the signature of the President of the Senate, a series of resolutions in relation to the death of the Hon. John H. Johnson, late Senator from the 36th Senatorial district.
The following message was received from the House of Representatives by Mr. Carrington, their Clerk.
Mr. President:--The House of Representatives have adopted the following resolutions, which I am instructed to transmit forthwith to the Senate, to-wit:
A resolution relative to adjournment.
A resolution relative to the defence of the State.
Mr. Ramsay offered the following resolution, which was taken up read and agreed to:
Resolved, That in the judgment of the General Assembly, in view of the invasion of the State, the emergency has arisen in which the General Assembly may pass bills upon the first reading under the Constitution.
Senate took up and concurred in a resolution of the House of Representatives, relative to the day of adjournment.
On motion the same was ordered to be transmitted forthwith to the House of Representatives.
Senate took up and concurred in a resolution of the House of Representatives authorizing the Treasurer to burn certain funds.
On motion the same was ordered to be transmitted forthwith to the House of Representatives.
Senate took up as the report of the committee of the whole, a bill for State defence.
Mr. Grice moved to amend the report by striking out in the first section the words "the Governor is authorized to grant them full pardon," which was lost.
The report was agreed to, the bill was read and passed.
Mr. Ezzard offered a resolution relative to the suspension of the collection of taxes in certain counties, which was agreed to.
Senate took up as the report of the committee of the whole, the following bill of the House of Representatives:
A bill for the relief of the Bank of the Empire State, established at Rome, Georgia.
The report was agreed to, the bill was read and passed.
Mr. Bacon, Chairman of the committee on enrollment, reports as duly enrolled and signed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives and now ready for the signature of the President of the Senate, the following act and resolution, to-wit:
A resolution authorizing the State Treasurer to burn certain funds, and reports the following act also.
An act to equalize the tax on slaves in the several counties in this State.
The following message was received from the House of Representatives by Mr. Carrington, their Clerk:
Mr. President:--The House of Representatives have concurred in the following resolution of the Senate, which I am instructed to transmit forthwith to the Senate, to-wit:
A resolution in relation to the invasion of this State.
The House has adopted the following resolution in which they ask the concurrence of the Senate:
A resolution approving the course of the Governor in the purchase and sale of cotton.
The House of Representatives have also passed the following Bill of the Senate with an amendment, to-wit:
A bill to be entitled an act to authorize a levy en masse of the population of Georgia for the protection of its liberty and independence.
Senate took up the following bill which had been amended in the House of Representatives:
A bill to authorize a levy en masse of the population of Georgia for the protection of its liberty and independence.
On the motion to disagree to said amendment the yeas and nays were required to be recorded, and were yeas 19, nays 6.
Those who voted in the affirmative were Messrs.
Bacon, Bennett, Chambers, Cone, Cook, Ezzard, Gaulden, Grice, Griffin, Groover, Guerry, Hammond, Hubbard, Mabry, Nisbet, Price, West, White.
Those who voted in the negative were Messrs.
Blackwell, Ledford, Pafford, Pottle, Walker, Walton.
So the amendment was disagreed to.
Mr. Pottle from the committee on the Judiciary made the following report:
Mr. President:--The committee on the judiciary to which were referred sundry bills and resolutions, have protracted their session and have considered many of the measures committed to them as the pressing demands upon other committees of which they are members, and the regular sessions of the Senate would allow, and hence the committee beg leave to return a number of bills and resolutions upon which they have been unable to act, owing to the heavy pressure of other public duties, and recommend that their action in the premises be approved.
E. H. POTTLE, Chairman.
Mr. Bacon offered the following resolution, which was taken up read and agreed to:
Resolved by the General Assembly, That the joint resolution to adjourn sine die at 2 o'clock, be rescinded and that this General Assembly adjourn at 3 1-2 o'clock, P. M., subject to the call of the Governor as to time and place.
The following message was received from the House of Representatives by Mr. Carrington, their Clerk:
Mr. President:--The House of Representatives have passed the following bills, to-wit:
A bill to be entitled an act to provide for raising revenue for the political year 1865, and to appropriate money for the support of the Government during said year, and to make certain special appropriations therein mentioned.
The House have adopted the following resolution rescinding resolution to adjourn, in which they ask the concurrence of the Senate.
The House insists upon their amendment to the bill of the Senate to be entitled an act to authorize a levy en masse of the population of Georgia for the protection of its liberty and independence.
The House has passed the following bill of the Senate, to-Wit:
A bill to be entitled an act for State defence, with amendments, in which they ask the concurrence of the Senate.
The House of Representatives have concurred in the amendments of the Senate to the bill of the House of Representatives, to be entitled an act for the relief of the tax payers on property lost, destroyed or rendered valueless by the public enemy.
The House of Representatives have also passed the following bill, to-wit:
A bill to be entitled an act for raising revenue for the political year 1865, and for other purposes.
Senate took up a resolution of the House of Representatives relative to the time of adjournment.
On motion the same was concurred in.
On motion the resolution of the Senate relative to the adjournment of the General Assembly this day at 3 1-2 o'clock was rescinded, and ordered to be transmitted forthwith to the House of Representatives.
Senate took up as the report of the committee of the whole, the following bill of the House of Representatives:
A bill to provide for raising revenue for the political year 1865 and to appropriate money for the support of the Government during said year, and to make certain special approprtations therein named.
Mr. Cone moved to amend the report by adding an additional section, which was agreed to.
The report as amended was agreed to.
In accordance with the constitution on account of invasion, the bill was read the first time and passed.
The following message was received from the House of Representatives by Mr. Carrington, their Clerk.
Mr. President:--The House of Representatives have concurred in the amendment of the Senate to the bill of the House to be entitled an act to define the line between the counties of Muscogee and Chattahoochee, and to change the line between the counties of Stewart and Chattahoochee.
The following message was received from the House of Representatives by Mr. Carrington, their Clerk:
Mr. President:--The House of Representatives have concurred in the resolution of the Senate in relation to the adjournment of this General Assembly.
The House of Representatives have passed the following bill of the Senate, to-wit:
A bill to be entitled an act to regulate the sessions of the Supreme Court, during the present invasion by the public enemy.
Senate took up the following bill which had been amended in the House of Representatives:
A bill to authorize a levy en masse of the population of Georgia, for the protection of its liberty and independence.
On the motion to concur in said amendment, the yeas and nays were required to be recorded, and were yeas 14, nays 12.
Those who voted in the affirmative were Messrs.
Bennett, Blackwell, Grice, Groover, Hubbard, Ledford, Mabry, McDonald, Pafford, Pottle, Price, Walker, Walton, White.
Those who voted in the negative were Messrs.
Bacon, Chambers, Cone, Cook, Gaulden, Griffin, Guerry, Hammond Nisbet, Ramsay, Wells, West.
So the amendment was concurred in.
Mr. West offered a preamble and resolutions relative to the difference of opinion existing between Senate and House of Representatives, relative to levying en masse of the population of' Georgia for the defence of liberty and independence of the State, and pledging the Legislature to join their fellow citizens in front of the public enemy, and to endure with them the dangers and privations of military service, upon agreeing to which the yeas and nays were required to be recorded, and were yeas 8, nays 15.
Those who voted in the affirmative were Messrs.
Bacon, Cone, Grice, Griffin, Ledford, Pafford, Walker, West.
Those who voted in the negative were Messrs.
Bennett, Blackwell, Chambers, Cook, Gaulden, Groover, Guerry, Hammond, Hubbard, Mabry, McDonald, Price, Walton, Wells, White.
So the resolution was lost.
The following message was received from the House of Representatives by Mr. Carrington, their Clerk:
Mr. President:--The House of Representatives have adopted the following resolution in which they ask the concurrence of the Senate, to-wit:
A resolution to appoint a joint committee to wait on his Excellency the Governor, &c., and have appointed as such committee on part of the House, Messrs, Russell of Muscogee, McDonald of Thomas, and Smith of Laurens.
Senate took up as the report of the committee of the whole, the following bill of the House of Representatives:
A bill for raising revenue for the political year 1865, and for other purposes.
The report was agreed to.
In accordance with the Constitution, the bill was read and passed.
Senate took up and concurred in a resolution of the House relative to the appointment of a committee to wait on His Excellency the Governor, in accordance with which the President appointed Messrs. Gaulden and Cone, as such committee on the part of the Senate.
Senate took up the following bill which had been amended in the House of Representatives:
A bill for State defence.
On motion the amendment was concurred in.
The following message was received from the House of Representatives by Mr. Carrington, their Clerk:
Mr. President:--The House of Representatives have adopted the following resolution in which they ask the concurrence of the Senate:
A resolution that the General Assembly will adjourn sine die this day at 6 o'clock; P. M.
The following message was received from the House of Representatives by Mr. Carrington, their Clerk:
Mr. President:--The House of Representatives have passed the following bill of the Senate, to-wit:
A bill to be entitled an act declaratory of the true intent and meaning of an act entitled an act to levy and collect a tax on nett incomes and profits, assented to 14th of December, 1863.
The House of Representatives have concurred in the following resolution of the Senate, to-wit,
Resolution to suspend the collection of taxes in certain cases.
Senate took up a resolution of the House of Representatives relative to the adjournment sine die of the General Assembly, at 6 o'clock.
On motion the same was concurred in.
Mr. Bacon, Chairman of the committee of enrollment reports as duly enrolled and signed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and now ready for the signature of the President of the Senate, the following acts, to-wit:
An act to provide for raising a revenue for the political year 1865, to appropriate money for the support of the Government during said year, and to make certain special appropriations, and for other purposes therein mentioned.
An act to provide for raising revenue for the political year 1865, and for other purposes.
An act to define the line between the counties of Muscogee and Chattahoochee.
The following message was received from the House of Representatives by Mr. Carrington their Clerk:
Mr. President:--The House of Representatives have instructed me to inform the Senate, that they are now ready to adjourn sine die.
Mr. Bacon from the committee on enrollment reported as duly enrolled for the signature of the President of the Senate and Speaker of the House of Representatives, the following acts and resolutions, to-wit:
An act to regulate the sessions of the Supreme Court during the present invasion by the public enemy.
Also an act declaratory of the true intent and meaning of an act entitled an act to levy and collect a tax on net incomes and profits, assented to 14th, December 1863.
Also an act to authorize a levy en masse of the population of Georgia for the protection of its liberty and independence.
Also a resolution to facilitate the business of the present session.
Also a resolution to suspend the collection of taxes in certain cases.
Also an act for State defence.
Mr. West offered the following resolution, which was taken up read and unanimously agreed to:
Resolved, that the thanks of the Senate are due and are hereby tendered to the President of the Senate for the able, dignified and impartial manner in which he has provided over the deliberations of this body.
Mr. Walker offered the following resolution, which was taken up read and agreed to:
Resolved, That the thanks of the Senate are due and are hereby tendered to the President pro tem, for the able, impartial and dignified manner in which he has presided over the deliberations of the Senate.
Mr. Guerry offered the following resolution, which was taken up read and agreed to:
Resolved, That the thanks of the Senate are due and are hereby tendered to Lewis H. Kenan, and Cary W. Styles, Secretary and Assistant Secretary of the Senate, for the ability, politeness and fidelity with which they have discharged their duties.
Mr. Bacon, Chairman of the committee on enrollment, reports as duly enrolled and signed by the Speaker of the House and ready for the signature of the President of the Senate, the following acts to-wit:
An act for the relief of tax payers on property lost, destroyed or rendered valueless by the public enemy, or by order of the commanding Generals of the Confederate States.
Also an act for the relief of the Bank of the Empire State, established at Rome, Georgia.
Also an act for the relief of warehouse men in this State, and for other purposes.
Mr. Grice offered the following resolution, which was taken up and agreed to.
Resolved, that the thanks of the Senate are hereby tendered to Messsrs. James S. Walker, T. W. J. Hill, and John R. Hudson, for their faithful and efficient services as officers of the Senate.
On motion the Senate adjourned sine die.
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