HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.
THURSDAY, January 8, 1863.This being the day required by the Constitution for the biennial meeting of the Legislature, at 10 o'clock, the members elect of the House of Representatives of the forty-second General Assembly of the State of Indiana were in their places in the Hall, and Henry Crawford, Esq., Clerk of the former House of Representatives, called to order.
Members of the House of Representatives came forward to the area in front of the table & received the oath to "support the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of this State, and to discharge their duties faithfully as members of the General Assembly of the State of Indiana," presenting their certificates of election, as follows:
- From the county of Adams--P. N. Collins.
- From the county of Allen--Ochmig Bird, John P. Shoaff.
- From the county of Bartholomew--O. H. P. Abbett.
- From the county of Boone--Sherman Hostetter.
- From the counties of Boone and Hendricks--Thos. J. Cason.
- From the county of Brown--Stephen V. Cook.
- From the county of Carroll--John B. Milroy.
- From the county of Cass--Charles B. Lasselle.
- From the county of Clark--Jonas G. Howard.
- From the county of Clinton--Cornelius J. Miller.
- From the county of Clay--Adam C. Veach.
- From the county of Crawford--absent.
- From the county of Daviess--N. S. Given.
- From the county of Dearborn--O. F. Roberts, Alf. Bregan.
- From the county of Decatur--David R. Van Buskirk.
- From the county of Delaware--Alf. Kilgore.
- From the county of DeKalb--Miles Waterman.
- From the county of Dubois--B. R. Kemp.
- From the county of Elkhart--Matthew Rippey.
- From the counties of Elkhart and Lagrange--Amos Davis.
- From the counties of Fayette and Union--Russell B. Perry.
- From the county of Fountain--Samuel Hatfield.
- From the county of Floyd--Geo. V. Howk.
- From the county of Franklin--Redin Osborn.
- From the county of Fulton--N. G. Shaffer.
- From the county of Gibson--Silas M. Holcomb.
- From the county of Grant--Henley James.
- From the county of Greene--John Humphreys.
- From the county of Harrison--John Lemmon.
- From the county of Hancock--Geo. Y. Atkison.
- From the counties of Hancock and Shelby--James L. Mason.
- From the counties of Hamilton and Tipton--James O'Brien.
- From the county of Henry--Charles D. Morgan.
- From the county of Hendricks--James M. Gregg.
- From the county of Howard--J. M. Leeds.
- From the counties of Huntington and Whitley--Samuel McGauchey.
- From the county of Jackson--Jason B. Brown.
- From the counties of Jasper and Pulaski--Paris Robinson.
- From the county of Jennings--J. W. Hutchings.
- From the county of Jefferson--David C. Branh, J.L. Roe.
- From the county of Johnson--A. V. Pendleton.
- From the county of Jay--Samuel A. Shoaff.
- From the counties of Johnson and Morgan--Thos.W. Woolen.
- From the county of Kosciusko--Henry J. Byerle.
- From the counties of Kosciusko and Wabash--Jos. Marshall.
- From the county of Knox--William E. Niblack.
- From the county of Lagrange--Francis P Griffith.
- From the county of Lake--D. K. Pettibone.
- From the county of Laporte--James Forrester, W.W. Higgins.
- From the county of Lawrence--Nathaniel Williams.
- From the county of Madison--Richard Lake.
- From the county of Marion--John S. Tarkington, W. H. Kendrick (contested.)
- From the counties of Marshall and Starke--M..A O. Packard.
- From the county of Monroe--Samuel H. Buskirk.
- From the county of Montgomery--James F. Harney.
- From the county of Morgan--J. J. Johnson.
- From the county of Martin--John R. O'Brien.
- From the county of Miami--R. F. Donaldson.
- From the county of Noble--Timothy Baker.
- From the counties of Ohio and Switzerland--R.N. Lamb.
- From the county of Orange--George H. Hon.
- From the county of Owen--Jacob V. Wolfe.
- From the county of Parke--Casper Budd.
- From the county of Pike--Win. H. De Bruler.
- From the county of Perry--James Harden.
- From the county of Porter L. A. Cass.
- From the county of Posey E. M. Spencer.
- From the county of Putnam--Austin M. Puett, Geo.W. Priest.
- From the county of Ripley--Edwin P. Ferris.
- From the county of Randolph--John H. Moorman.
- From the county of Rush--Win. S Hall.
- From the county of Scott--Daniel Blocher.
- From the county of Spencer--James W. Lemmon.
- From the county of Sullivan--Stephen G. Burton.
- From the county of Shelby--Jacob Mutz.
- From the county of Steuben--Enos B. Noyes.
- From the county of St. Joseph--Andrew Anderson.
- From the county of Tippecanoe--Joseph M. Hersheyand Samuel Mustard.
- From the counties of Vanderburg and Posey--John A. Reitz.
- From the county of Vanderburg--Thos. E. Garvin.
- From the county of Vermillion--absent.
- From the county of Vigo--Bayless W. Hanna, John Kemp.
- From the county of Wabash--John L. Stone.
- From the county of Warren--Benjamin F. Gregory.
- From the county of Washington--Jamison Lee.
- From the counties of Washington and Harrison--Aaron L. Hardin.
- From the county of Wayne--Israel Woodruff, Oliver T. Jones, E. B. Newman.
- From the counties of Wells and Blackford--Geo. S. Howell.
- From the counties of White and Benton--John T. Richardson.
- From the county of Warrick--Abram Chambers.
ORGANIZATION.
On motion of Mr. NIBLACK, the House proceeded to the election of Speaker.
Mr. NIBLACK nominated Samuel H. Buskirk, of Monroe.
Mr. WOODRUFF nominated D. C. Branham, of Jefferson.
The ballot resulted as follows:
Those who voted for Mr. Buskirk. were--
Messrs. Abbett, Bird, Blocher, Bregan, Brown, Burton, Collins, Cook,De Bruler, Donaldson, Ferris, Garvin, Given, Hall, Hanna, Harden, of Washington, Hardin, of Perry, Harney, Hatfield, Holcomb, Hon, Howard, Howell, Howk, Humphreys, Kemp, of Dubois, Kemp, of Vigo, Lake, Lasselle,Lee, Lemmon, of Harrison, Lemmon, of Spencer, Mason, McGauchey, Miller, Milroy, Mutz, Niblack, O'Brien, of Martin, Osborn, Packard, Pendleton, Priest, Puett, Reitz, Richardson, Rippey, Roberts, Shaffer, Shoaff, of Allen, Shoaff, of Jay, Spencer Veach, Waterman, Williams, Wolf and Woolen--57.
Those who voted for Mr. Branham were--
Messrs. Anderson, Atkison, Baker, Budd, Byerle, Cason, Cass, Chambers, Davis, Forester, Gregg, Gregory, Griffith, Hershey, Higgins, Hostetter, Hutchings, James, Johnson, Jones, Kendrick, Kilgore, Lamb, Leeds, Marshall,Moorman, Morgan, Mustard, Newman, Noyes, O'Brien, of Hamilton, Perry, Pettibone, Robinson, Roe, Stone, Tarkington, Van Buskirk and Woodruff--39.
Mr. Buskirk was declared elected, and was conducted to the chair by Messrs. Niblack and Branham.
The SPEAKER said:
Gentlemen--I shall endeavor, by a prompt, faithful and impartial discharge of the varied, arduous and responsible duties of the Chair, to make to you some slight return for the high and distinguished honor that you have conferred upon me, by selecting me to preside over your deliberations. I fully appreciate the responsibility that you have imposed upon me, and I earnestly solicit your support and co-operation.
I confidently trust, that at a time like the present, when our once united,happy, peaceful and prosperous country is distracted, divided and involved in civil war--when the Constitution, the Union of the States and the liberties of the people are imperilled--when the land is filled with mourning--when a hundred thousand of the brave and patriotic sons of our beloved State are exposed to the dangers, hardships and privations of the tented field--when the people are embarrassed with individual indebtedness and oppressed with taxation--when our financial, commercial, agricultural and industrial pursuits are deranged--and when our country demands our wisest, best and most patriotic efforts, that we, the honored and trusted Representatives of the sovereign people, will not be influenced and controlled by local, personal, selfish and partizan considerations, but that we will act the part of statesmen and patriots, and will take an enlarged, comprehensive and national view of all questions, affecting the interest, honor and prosperity of our common country.
Gentlemen, the House is now ready for further business.
On motion by Mr. BIRD, the House proceeded to the election of Principal Clerk.
Mr. HOLCOMB, nominated A. T. Whittlesey, of Vanderburg.
Mr. VAN BUSKIRK nominated Henry Crawford, of Floyd.
The whole number of votes cast was 98; Mr. Whittlesey received 59 votes; Mr. Crawford, 39 votes. Mr. Whittlesey was declared elected.
A message from the Senate was received by the hand of W. H. DRAPIER, Esq., Assistant Secretary of the last session. announcing that the Senate had completed its organization and was ready to proceed to legislative business.
On motion by Mr. FERRIS the House proceeded to the election of Assistant Clerk.
Mr. HOLCOMB nominated J. J. Davis, of Fulton.
Mr. BYERLE nominated Oliver Musselman, of Kosciusko.
Whole number of votes, 97; Mr. Davis received 59; Mr. Musselman, 38. Mr. Davis was declared duly elected.
On motion by Mr. OSBORN, the House proceeded to the election of Doorkeeper.
Mr. HALL, nominated Benedict Burns, of Rush.
Mr. GRIFFITH nominated Elisha B. Spellman, of Lagrange.
Whole number of votes, 96; Burns received 61 votes; Spellman 35. Mr. Burns received a majority of the votes cast, and was declared duly elected,
On motion by Mr. NIBLACK, the House proceeded to the election of Sergeant-at-Arms.
Mr. HANNA nominated Michael Griffith of Vigo, who was elected without opposition--receiving 62 votes, blank 24.
The Doorkeeper received his oath of office at the hand of the Speaker; the other officers received their oath at the hand of Solomon Claypool, Judge of the sixth Judicial District.
On motion by Mr. NIBLACK, it was--
Ordered, That the Senate be informed ot the organization of the House.
PARTIZAN DECLARATION.
Mr. JONES offered a resolution identical with the one offered by Mr. Clay- page: 12[View Page 12] pool in the Senate the same hour. (See pages 8 and 9 of these Reports.)
Mr. ROBERTS urged the reference of the resolution to the Committee on Federal Relations. He endorsed the resolution, but this was not the proper time for its introduction.
Mr. ATKISON hoped a square vote would be taken on the resolution, and that it would pass.
Mr. MILLER demanded the previous question, which was sustained, and under Its operation the resolution was referred by yeas 58, nays 38--a strict party vote.
ARBITRARY ARRESTS.
Mr. HANNA offered the following resolution which was adopted:
WHEREAS, The Secretary of War of the United States, in his late official report has declared that the political arrests that have been made in the various States were made by the advice, and with the consent of the several Governors thereof, therefore,
Resolved, That his Excellency, Governor Oliver P. Morton, be requested at an early day, to furnish this House with the facts in relation to the political arrests that have been made throughout the State of Indiana.
Mr. BROWN. If not out of order I desire to give notice that I will at an early day, or as soon as an opportunity affords Introduce a resolution or resolutions asking that a special committee be raised with power to send for persons and papers and compel attendance, whose duty it will be to ascertain the number of political arrests that have been made in the State of Indiana, and report the character of the same to this House, and also to report by bill, or otherwise, the proper and necessary legislation to prevent such outrages, as in my opinion they are, from being committed in the future.
SOLDIERS VOTE.
Mr. GRIFFITH offered a resolution directing the Judiciary Committee to enquire as to the expediency of amending the election law so as to allow soldiers serving in the field the privilege of voting, which was adopted.
TO WAIT ON THE GOVERNOR.
Mr. MOORMAN offered a resolution which was adopted, appointing a joint committee of the House and Senate to in-form the Governor of the organization of the Assembly.
Messrs. Moorman, Branham and Hanna were appointed such committee on the part of the House.
ELECTION OF U. S. SENATORS.
Mr. MILLER offered a resolution providing for a joint convention for the election of United States Senators at 2 p.m. to-morrow.
Mr. BRANHAM objected. He wanted a little time to look around. Already had an important resolution bearing on this question been introduced and referred to the Committee on Federal Relations. He hoped the resolution would be withdrawn.
Mr. PACKARD thought that the election of Senators was a matt r most important, and he was in favor of attending to important business first. He urged therefore the adoption of the resolution.
Mr. BRANHAM made an ineffectual motion to adjourn.
The resolution was adopted without a division.
AFTERNOON SESSION.
The House met at 2 p.m.
Mr. ABDILL, of Vermilion, presented his credentials and took the oath office.
OUR SOLDIERS.
Mr. MORGAN offered a resolution tendering the thanks of the House to Major Gen. Rosecrans and the officers and privates who served under him for their heroic conduct at the late terrible battle Murfreesboro, and that we sincerely sympathize with the friends and relatives of the many patriots who there sacrificed their lives on behalf of their country and that the Clerk transmit a copy of tin resolution to the commander of each regiment engaged in that battle.
The resolution was adopted by yeas 92, nays 0.
Mr. HOLCOMB offered a joint resolution instructing our Representatives in Congress to pass a law reducing the pay of all commissioned officers in the service. of the United States at least 25 per cent. and raising the pay of privates at least $4 per month.
Mr. BRANHAM moved to amend by striking out all that part relating officers.
Mr. BROWN moved to table the amendment.
The motion was agreed to by yeas 65, nays 29.
The resolution was adopted by yeas 78 nays 15.
THE EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION.
Mr. BURTON offered a joint resolution instructing our Senators and representatives in Congress to oppose by all honorable means the passage of every bill or proposition which endorses the President of the United States in his infamous abolition proclamation, and which may look directly or indirectly to its faithful execution.
Mr. HARNEY oppose the adoption of the resolution at present, as both parties would prefer to make a more mature and deliberate record. He favored its reference to the Committee on Federal Relations.
Mr. NOYES made that motion and it was agreed to by yeas 61, nays 35.
