HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.
SATURDAY, April 27, 1861.The CLERK took the chair at 9 o'clock. He announced the continued indisposition of the Speaker, and that the first thing in order will be the election of a Speaker pro tem.
On the motion of Mr. ORR, Mr. Fisher was again chosen.
On motion by Mr. HORTON the reading of the journal was dispensed with.
Mr. ORR submitted the following, which was adopted:
Resolved, That the Committee on the Judiciary inquire into the expediency of setting forth clearly and explicitly what treason is against the State and against the General Government, and report to this House.
DEFENSE OF THE STATE.
On motion by Mr. VEATCH it was -
Ordered, That a special committee of three be appointed to draft a bill which shall provide immediately for the defense of the State.
The SPEAKER pro tem, appointed under the order Messrs. Veatch, Collins of Whitley, an Edson.
Mr. LANE presented the following joint resolution:
Resolved, &c. That the Governor be requested to send 1,000 stand of arms (temporarily) to the counties of Clark, Floyd, Harrison, Perry, Stevens, Warrick, Vanderburg and Posey.
After debate - it was passed by a unanimous vote.
Ordered, That the Clerk acquaint the Senate thereof.
Mr. VEATCH, from the select committee this day appointed thereon, now reported a bill (12) providing that, for the purpose of putting the State in a condition of defense, supporting Government and maintaining the laws of the land the Governor is hereby authorized to procure immediately a supply of first class arms, (sufficient for arming 20,000 men,) consisting of artiller, cavalry and infantry equipments and munition of war; and that an agent or agents be sent in mediately to procure the same. That the sum o $500,000 be appropriated for this purpose, and that the Governor be authorized to borrow that amount of money and pledge the faith of the Stat for the payment therefor to go into immediate effect under the emergency announced.
The bill was passed to the first reading, and (under a dispensation) it was considered on the second reading.
Mr. FRASIER proposed to amend by making the amount of the appropriation $600,000.
After debate -
The amendments were agreed to, and the bill as amended, ordered to be engrossed. It wa then considered as engrossed and passed the final reading in the House - yeas 83, nays 0 - Mr, Packard voting in the affirmative, but protesting that $500,000 was enough.
On motion by Mr. EDSON, the title was amended so as to read: "An act to provide for the defense of the State of Indiana to procure first-class arms of artillery, calvary and infantry equipments; making the necessary appropriation therefor, and authorizing the Governor to borrow money;" and it was
Ordered, That this be the title of said bill.
SIX REGIMENTS MORE.
On motion by Mr. CRANE the Tarkington six regiment joint resolution, reported yesterday from the Senate, was taken up, and he move that the House concur. He said this resolution was for the purpose of organizing, the troops ready here. These troops had come here with the understanding that they were to be included in the requisition of the General Government. They were now here and much dissatistied. They were just as much on the State, as to their expenses, as though they were accepted and organized. It was right and proper that we should do what we can to satisfy them.
Mr. SHERMAN. Mr. Speaker: I cannot entirely consent to what is set forth in that resolution. We, upon the military committee, met last evening, and had under consideration this very question, and according to the recommendation page: 25[View Page 25] of military gentlemen advising with us, this resolution was not endorsed. These gentlemen proposed that some provision should be made whereby these companies may be returned to their own counties, and drilled there; that their names should be continued on the rolls, and that they should be first mustered into service upon the next requisition kept in the meantime perhaps on half pay. This course might not give entire satisfaction, but he was satisfied it was the best. It would give the troops experience, and wear off the childs-play of military service, and it would give assurance of a prompt mustering for the next requisition.
Mr. FRASIER thought this action had been deferred too long. It was not proposed to take the troops out of the control of the General Assembly, but to dispose of them so they shall not be laying round loose. He also had talked with military men, and they had urged him to have these men disposed of. He had been urged by some to vote for raising ten regiments. He knew also that the Governor had dispatched a messenger to Washington, and it was not at all improbable that in the next six days we shall get news of the acceptance of these six regiments proposed in the resolution. Suppose we do? What harm to have them organized into regiments?
Mr. EDSON had also attended the meeting of the Military Committee and military men last night, and he advised the House to wait for their report, and the benefit of the advice of those military men, who had been invited to advise with them.
The joint resolution was referred to the Committee on Military Affairs.
THE SOUTHERN PENITENTIARY.
The SPEAKER pro tem. laid before the House a communication from the Directors and Warden of the Penitentiary at Jeffersonville. They state that they have now 90 convicts working under contract at 40 cents a day, and a contract for working 40 more, which may not be carried out. The remainder of the 400 convicts being unprovided with employment, the Directors ask for an additional appropriation of $20,000 to procure materials and tools, and set them at work on account of the State and $10,000 for contingencies.
On motion of Mr. McLEAN, it was referred to the Committee on the Penitentiary.
Mr. CAMERON submitted the following concurrent resolution, which was also referred to Committee on the Penitentiary:
Resolved, &c., That the Directors of the Southern Prison, with the consent of the Governor, shall have the power to remove the convicts in the Southern Prison to the Northern Prison, at any time when in their judgment the Southern Prison is in danger of being thrown open by a mob, or a force of armed men from any other State.
PERSONAL EXPLANATION.
Mr. SMITH of Bartholomew. Mr. Speaker: I claim to be one of those humble individuals who think and act for themselves. I am not controlled by the excitement of the hour. I am not swayed by the popular current, or blinded by prejudice. I have not been prompted to say what I may say on this occasion from the impulse of the moment, nor will I speak simply for the purpose of pleasing any one. But, sir, what I shall say at this time will be said after calm and deliberate consideration, prompted by an honest heart and under peculiar circumstances - circumstances such as will cause those upon this floor to make proper allowances for any thing I may say that may not fully accord with their sentiments. I am peculiarly situated laboring under circumstances perhaps more embarrassing than any member upon this floor. Nearly all the relations I have on earth are in the Southern States. In the soil of that proud and gallant State, Old Kentucky, lie bleaching the bones of a dear father and mother, a brother and a sister - yea even nearer than that, sir there, sir, lie mouldering in the clay the bones of those dear little ones who are bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh. Then how can I dissipate from my mind the dread idea of going to war with that people. Then where is the heart so hard and callous as not to sympatize with me and give me credit for hoping that the last means may be resorted to, to avert the dread calamities of civil war with all its consequent horrors. I would be less than human if I were not willing to meet those brethren in a spirit of compromise and conciliation. There stand those proud spirits in Kentucky - a Prentice and a Harney - who issued their admonitions, warning the hotspurs, of the South, and the fanatics of the North, of the danger of the present existing state of things, and pleading for peace. There stand those sages and patriots, Grittenden and Guthrie, Dixon and Brown, and a host of others pleading for the preservation of peace and the maintenance of the Union of those Border States. Then, sir, I say as a loyal citizen to the State of Indiana, as a patriot and statesman, I should exhaust every peaceful means to remain as friends with those border States, Our hitherto social relations; our commerce; our interest in every sense forbid if possible a separation and the shedding of fraternal blood. Yet, sir, while I say this, I say the nag of my country has been assailed and attempted to he stricken down by the unwarranted hand of the usurper; and as a loyal citizen of the adopted State of my choice, I feel in honor bound to defend that flag, which has been regarded as the emblem of a free people. Under that flag we have lived in peace and happiness and prosperity, until we have grown to be the greatest nation on earth, honored and respected as it has been by every nation and wherever its folds have been unfurled and thrown to the breeze. It must be in the future as in the past respected, and to this end it becomes the duty of every Union-loving citizen, whether he tread Southern or Northern soil, to maintain its supremacy with their lives and their fortunes; for once struck down and we may say farewell to that freedom of which we have hitherto so justly and so proudly boasted. It would be a sad day to me to have to take up arms to imbrue my hands in the blood of Americans North or South; and especially against Kentuckians; and never would I do it without she invaded the soil of Indiana, towards whom she should have a maternal feeling. But should that dread hour ever come, which I trust the Supreme Being who rules the destinies of nations may avert; then will I have but one alternative left, to defend the rights and page: 26[View Page 26] maintain the honor of the State of my adoption; and this I will do until that Old flag with its stars and stripes unsullied shall wave triumphantly over a free people, or become my winding sheet. To the people of Indiana and Bartholomew county do I owe all that I have and am politically. I feel bound to them by the ties of social relations. I love them with a feeling of affection that I have for no other people; their fate shall be my fate; their destiny shall be mine. I can say truthfully, without fear of successful contradiction, that while acting in the humble capacity of their Representative, that I have endeavored to do that which would reflect their will and was calculated to promote their best interest. And I will not at this late day pursue such a course as to betray that confidence they have reposed in me by their manifestations on so many occasions.
Mr. RAGAN said he knew how to appreciate the feeling that had prompted the patriotic sentiments of the gentleman from Bartholomew. He also was a Kentuckian, and had relations there. His fathers and grandfathers on both sides were laid there, and he had brothers and sisters buried there. He could claim to be a Kentuckian as much as any body, and he claimed the protection of the American flag upon the soil of Kentucky. He respected loyal citizens everywhere, and would do nothing to take away the rights of the People of the South. But when the die is cast; when the issue is made up; when the flag of our country is assailed that flag, Mr. Speaker, which protects your interests and mine, and even the interests of its unreasoning assailants themselves the man that assails that flag, if he is my own brother, he forfeits my respect, he forfeits my affection, he becomes a traitor. But I hope to God the people of my native State will never take that position - that they will pause when they shall see the moral grandeur of the position of the men of the North rising up as one man to support the Constitution and rebuke this rebellion. But if they do not, they must take the consequences. It is painful to think of fighting against my brother, but there is no other alternative if they persist. They or we must go to the wall. The issue is liberty, or subserviency to an aristocracy that can not be endured in this country. * * * With him, it was the choice between liberty and slavery between the protection of the Government of the United States, and all the uncertainties and intangibilities of a military despotism.
Messrs Williams, Mutz, Prosser and Combs had leave of absence till Monday.
AFTERNOON SESSION.
Mr. JONES, of Vermillion, introduced a bill [13] entitled an act to authorize the Directors of the Indiana State Prison at Jeffersonville, to purchase tools and materials for the employment of the convicts, &c. [It appropriates $25,000 for tools and material, and $10,000 for contingents.] It was passed to the second reading.
On motion by Mr. BLACK, his Saline fund bill [9] was taken up, considered on the second reading, and referred to the Committee on County and Township Business.
Mr. VEATCH introduced a bill [14] supplemental to an act entitled an act to provide for a general system of common schools, the officers - thereof, and their respective powers and duties, and matters properly connected therewith, and for the establishment and regulation of township libraries, approved March, 1861.
Mr. V. said he had received this bill from the Trustees of Evansville. The school bill of last session made no provision for the cases of failure to elect trustees. We ask that amendment.
Mr. Frasier's Supreme Court Clerk bill [2] (which he explained as changing the law so as to live power to the Supreme Court to allow their Clerk, in addition to his allowance for the books of record, a reasonable allowance for extra service,) corning up on the second reading -
Mr. NEBEKER feared this "reasonable allowance" might mean $1,900 or $2,000 a year, as in some other cases he cited, and on his motion it was referred to the Committee on the Organization of Courts of Justice.
Mr. Veatch's volunteer relief bill [6] was referred to the Committee on County and Township Business. Mr. William's Common Pleas bill [10] was referred to the Committee on the Organization of Courts.
Mr. Stotsenberg's Judge compensation bill [11], on motion of Mr. Smith, of Bartholomew, was referred to a special committee viz: Messrs. Smith, of Bartholomew, Frasier, Grain, Edson and Woodhull.
Mr. DAVIS submitted the following, which was adopted:
Resolved, That the Committee on the State Prison inquire into the expediency of making arrangements for the manufacture of firearms for the State by the unemployed convicts of the State Prison.
NATIONAL CONCILIATION.
Mr. ROBBINS submitted the following:
WHEREAS, Our beloved country, with all its grandeur, its greatness, power and respect, amongst the nations of the civilized world, with all its political and religious liberty and freedom, with all its cherished free institutions, are all this day threatened and shaken to their foundations by civil discord, strife, hatred, yea, and even actual war amongst the people of the different sections of our once united, happy, prosperous and peaceful nation.
WHEREAS, We believe we express the earnest wish, sincere desire, and the real sentiments of a very large majority of the good, loyal and Union-loving citizens of Indiana in saying, we believe it to be our duty as the representatives of the people of a great, loyal, conservative and peace-loving State of the Union State that, greatly deprecates civil war and its ten thousand concommitent evils, to continue to make still further efforts consistant with justice and honor to ourselves, with patriotism and fidelity towards the Federal Government, and with proper Christian and fraternal forbearance towards the other States of the General Government, to peaceably and amicably adjust the threatening difficulties which overhang and environ our beloved though distracted country, which at this moment threaten its very existence; therefore,
Be it resolved by the General Assembly of the State of Indiana:
That we do most heartily coincide with and approve the recommendation of the Governor of our sister State, Kentucky, in the wish expressed by him to the Governor of the State of Ohio, that the Governors of all the Border States, both free and slave, should assemble in convention as soon as practicable for the purpose of acting in the capacity of conciliators and pacificators of the dufficulties which exist amongst the various sections of our common country which so terribly threaten our peace, our safety, yea, and even our very existence as a nation.
Mr. FRASIER moved to refer it to the Committee of Eleven.
Mr. ROBBINS urged the adoption of this joint resolution. He looked upon civil war as one of page: 27[View Page 27] the greatest calamities that can befall any people. Certainly in this country it must be direful and calamitous in the extreme. He would make any sacrifice consistent with honor to avoid it. He had hoped this resolution or a similar one would pass without a dissenting voice. Could it be that the gentleman from Kosciusko desired this peace proposition to go into the hands of a committee, where it might sleep till we go home? For himself, he expected to see a disposition amongst all conservative men to reconcile all these national difficulties without resorting to arms.
Mr. CASON. I hope the resolution will be referred in accordance with the motion of the gentleman from Kosciusko. I hope gentlemen will consider its tendencies before they allow a resolution of this kind to be discussed, so that we may not arouse those feelings here which we have hitherto avoided and suppressed. I tell the gentleman from Fulton, that his resolution can not be discussed here without arousing ill feeling, and for this reason: the resolution proposes to accept as one of the arbiters of these difficulties a man who is one of the most diabolical traitors in all the Government, &c.
Mr. SMITH of Bartholomew hoped the press would not report the gentleman from Boone's reference to the Governor of Kentucky
Mr. CAMERON demanded the previous question, and under its operation the joint resolution was referred to the special committee of one from each Congressional District.
ARMING THE STATE.
On motion by Mr. VEATCH, the concurrent resolution just reported from the Senate, requesting the Government of the United States to furnish this State with twenty thousand stand of first class fire-arms, was taken up.
Mr. FRAZIER could not concur. Was it not known that our Governor had just been to Washington? It was strange that Senators were willing to wait for information from this source, when they knew the Governor's demand could not be sent by telegraph; and if it could be sent, it was known that the answer would be adverse. If they were going to arm the State, let them say so, &c.
Mr. EDSON also spoke generally against the resolution, till,
On the motion of Mr. VEATCH, it was laid on the table.
CHAPLAINS FOR THE VOLUNTEER SERVICE.
Mr. CAMERON submitted the following:
Resolved, That the Governor be authorized to appoint a Chaplain to each regiment called into the service either of the General Government, or the State Government, who shall have the rank of Captain.
Our people, he said, go into this war as a holy war - a war for the protection of our country and its institutions, of our homes and fire-sides. But there is no provisions for chaplains. These vol unteers are chiefly young men - most all of them are either members of the church or of professing Christian families, desirous of religious services on the Sabbath, and the consolations of religion on all occasions.
The resolution was adopted.
Mr. JONES of Vermillion moved for a suspension of the rules and constitutional provision in order to the consideration of his prison bill [13] on the second reading.
Mr. SMITH of Bartholomew, said these Prison Directors were asking for $20,000 for tools and materials for working the convicts, at a time when he believed their work would not be worth the outlay for stock. And he did not know what they wanted with $10,000 for contingents beyond what had been already lately appropriated. He was opposed to spending any money in that direction, until we can have assurance that we shall get it back. He thought it better for the present to feed them, and keep them without work, if it must be so.
The Clerk reported no quorum voting on the yeas and nays,to suspend the rules: and then -
The House adjourned till Monday morning 9 o'clock.
