Confederate Congress.
Senate.
Mr. Watson, of Mississippi, offered a resolution that one thousand extra copies of the report of the joint select committee appointed to investigate the condition and treatment of prisoners of war be printed; three hundred copies to be given to the Commissioner of Exchange, three hundred to the Secretary of War and the remainder to the Senate, for distribution. Agreed to.
Bill for the relief of the Exchange Bank was considered and passed.
House joint resolution for the relief of Alexander F. Kennedy, Confederate Depository at Staunton, Virginia, was considered and passed.
Mr. Wigfall offered the following joint resolution, which was agreed to:
"Resolved by the Congress of the Confederate States of America, That the thanks of Congress and the whole country are due, and are hereby tendered, to Lieutenant-General Wade Hampton for his manly letter of the 27th February, 1865, addressed to General W. T. Sherman; and that, in the opinion of Congress, the Executive Department should sustain General Hampton in carrying out the policy indicated in his letter."
House bill to amend the sequestration laws was reported back from the Judiciary Committee with amendments, which were concurred in, and the bill passed.
The Senate resolved into secret session.
House of Representatives.
The House met at 11 o'clock and went into secret session.The doors being opened, the Chair laid before the House the following bills, resolutions, etc., viz:
House joint resolution "in regard to the Cotton Bureau in the Trans-Mississippi Department," with a Senate amendment, which was concurred in.
House bill "to make rules concerning captures on land," with a Senate amendment to strike out the word "ensue" and insert "inure," and an amendment to insert the words "such property," both of which were concurred in.
House bill for the relief of tax payers in certain cases, with a Senate amendment to strike out the whole of the second section, authorizing the Secretary of War to suspend the taxes due by certain persons, which was concurred in.
Senate bill to change the time for the assembling of Congress for its next regular session to the first Monday in November instead of the first Monday in December, 1865.
Mr. Russell moved to amend by striking out November and inserting October, which was agreed to.
The bill, as amended, was then passed by a vote of yeas, 36; nays, 32.
House bill authorizing the Secretary of the Treasury to borrow specie, to be applied to the redemption and reduction of the currency, with a Senate amendment changing the time of payment to "two years," instead of "one year," after the ratification of a treaty of peace. The amendment was concurred in.
Senate joint resolution asking leave for the Committee on the Treatment and Exchange of Prisoners and the Conduct of the War have leave to sit during the recess of Congress and to report at its next session.
Mr. Marshall moved to amend by striking out the words "and the conduct of the war, " which was concurred in, and the resolution passed.
A communication from the Secretary of the Treasury relative to the issue of coupon bonds. Referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.
Senate bill appropriating fifty thousand dollars to pay the Missouri State Guard, which was passed by a vote of yeas, 55; nays, 0.
Senate bill supplemental of the act approved March 4, 1865, entitled "an act authorizing the commanders of reserves in each State to order general courts martial and to revise the proceedings of courts martial and military courts," which was passed.
Mr. Anderson, of Georgia, from the conference committee on the bill "for the relief of bonded agriculturists in certain cases," made a report of the decision of the committee.
Mr. Perkins, from the Committee on the Exchange of Prisoners, reported favorably on a bill to provide for the payment of arrears now due to the army and navy, which was considered and passed.
The special order being the bill "to amend the act to regulate the destruction of property under military necessity, and to provide for the indemnity thereof," was taken up.
The bill was lost by a vote of yeas, 26; nays, 33.
The next special order was then taken up, viz: The bill to increase the military force of the Confederate States, with an amendment by the Senate to strike out of the fourth section the following proviso:
"Provided, That not more than twenty-five percent, of the male slaves between the ages of eighteen and forty-five, in any State, shall be called for under the provisions of this act."
The amendment was concurred in by the following vote:
Ayes.--Messrs. Anderson, Barksdale, Batson, Baylor, Blandford, Bradley, H. W. Bruce, Carroll, Clark, Clopton, Conrad, Darden, De Janette, Dickinson, Dupre, Elliott, Ewing, Funsten, Garther, Goode, Gray, Hanly, Johnston, Keeble, Lyon, Marchen, Marshall, McMullin, Menees, Miller, Moore, Murray, Perkins, Read, Simpson, Snead, Staples, Triplett, Villere.
Nays--Messrs. Atkins, Baldwin, Branch, Chambers, Colyar, Cruikshank, Fuller, Gholson, Gilmer, Hartridge, Hatcher, Herbert, Holliday, J. M. Leach, J. T. Leach, Logan, McCallum, Ramsay, Rogers, Sexton, J. M. Smith, Smith of North Carolina, Turner, Wickham, Wilkes, Witherspoon, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Lyon, from the Committee on Ways and Means, reported a bill for the relief of the Exchange Bank at Norfolk, which was considered and passed.
Mr. Chrisman, of Kentucky, offered a bill "to authorize prisoners of war to fund treasury notes," which was amended and passed. [The bill provides that one hundred dollar notes in the hands of prisoners of war on the 1st day of July, 1864, may be funded within ninety days after exchange in four per cent. bonds.]
Mr. Marshall reported from the Committee on Military Affairs a bill "to prevent the improper communication of intelligence to the enemy" in lieu of the bill referred to that committee. The bill was considered and passed.
On motion of Mr. Rogers, of Florida, the House took a recess till half-past 7 o'clock this evening.
