shall be preserved among the files of the court, House of Congress, or Department to which the said office may appertain. And any person who shall falsely take the said oath shall be guilty of perjury, and on conviction, in addition to the penalties now prescribed for that offence, shall be deprived of his office and rendered incapable forever after of holding any office or place under the United States.

APPROVED, July 2, 1862.

No. 23. Election of Representatives by Districts

July 14, 1862

A BILL to provide for the election of Representatives to Congress by single districts was introduced in the House, June 16, 1862, by Henry L. Dawes of Massachusetts, with the object, it was stated, of making permanent the provisions of a temporary act of 1842. On the 24th, by a vote of 59 to 46, an amendment excepting California was agreed to, the legislature of California having adjourned without districting the State; and by a vote of 69 to 36 the bill was passed. The Senate, July 12, added as an amendment the proviso relating to Illinois, in which the House concurred.

REFERENCES. Text in U.S. Statutes at Large, XII, 572. For the proceedings see the House and Senate Journals, 37th Cong., 2d Sess., and the Cong. Globe.

An Act in relation to the Election of Representatives to Congress by single Districts.

Be it enacted . . That in each State entitled in the next and any succeeding Congress to more than one representative, the number to which such State is or may be hereafter entitled shall be elected by districts composed of contiguous territory, equal in number to the number of representatives to which said State may be entitled in the Congress for which said election is held, no one district electing more than one`representative: Provided, That the provisions of this act shall not apply to the State of California so far as it may affect the election of representatives to the thirty-eighth Congress And provided, further, That in the election of repre

sentatives to the thirty-eighth Congress from the State of Illinois, the additional representative allowed to said State by an act entitled "An act fixing the number of the House of Representatives from and after the third day of March, eighteen hundred and sixtythree," approved March fourth, eighteen hundred and sixty-two, may be elected by the State at large, and the other thirteen representatives to which the State is entitled by the districts as now prescribed by law in said State, unless the legislature of said State should otherwise provide before the time fixed by law for the election of representatives therein. APPROVED, July 14, 1862.

A BILL "to confiscate the property of rebels for the payment of the expenses of the present rebellion" was reported in the House, May 14, 1862, by Thomas D. Eliot of Massachusetts, from the select committee on the confiscation of rebel property, together with a bill to free the slaves of rebels. On the 26th a substitute for the two bills, offered by Morrill of Vermont on the 20th, was rejected by a vote of 25 to 122, and the bill passed, the vote being 82 to 68. The House bill was more stringent than the act finally passed, but a substitute agreed to by the Senate, June 28, by a vote of 28 to 13, was thought by the House too lenient, and by a vote of 8 to 123 the amendment of the Senate was disagreed to. The report of the conference committee, being the Senate substitute with amendments, was agreed to by the House, July II, by a vote of 82 to 42, and by the Senate, July 12, by a vote of 28 to 13. President Lincoln had intended to veto the bill on the ground that under it offenders would be forever divested of title to their real estate, and punishment would thus be made to extend beyond the life of the guilty party. To obviate this objection, a joint resolution explanatory of the act was hurried through both houses July 17. Lincoln, in communicating to Congress his approval of the act and the resolution, transmitted also the veto message which he had already prepared. A proclamation under section 6 of the act was issued the same day that the act was approved, and December 8, 1863, a proclamation of amnesty [No. 35] under section 13. The latter section was repealed, with the purpose of restricting the pardoning power of the President, July 17, 1867.

REFERENCES. Text in U.S. Statutes at Large, XII, 589–592. For the

proceedings see the House and Senate Journals, 37th Cong., 2d Sess., and the Cong. Globe. The texts of all amendments and substitutes are in the Globe. The debates called out numerous formal speeches. On the seizure of lands under the act see a report by O. O. Howard, House Exec. Doc. 19, 39th Cong., 1st Sess.; see also Senate Exec. Doc. 58, 40th Cong., 2d Sess. On the general subject see Pierce, Sumner, IV, chap. 45; Blaine, Twenty Years of Congress, I, 373-377; Cox, Three Decades, chap. 12; Dunning, Essays, 28-37.

An Act to suppress Insurrection, to punish Treason and Rebellion, to seize and confiscate the Property of Rebels, and for other Purposes.

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

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

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

SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That this act shall not be construed in any way to affect or alter the prosecution, conviction,

E

or punishment of any person or persons guilty of treason against the United States before the passage of this act, unless such person is convicted under this act.

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

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

Secondly. Of any person hereafter acting as President, VicePresident, member of Congress, judge of any court, cabinet officer, foreign minister, commissioner or consul of the so-called confederate states of America.

Thirdly. Of any person acting as governor of a state, member of a convention or legislature, or judge of any court of any of the so-called confederate states of America.1

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

Fifthly. Of any person hereafter holding any office or agency under the government of the so-called confederate states of America, or under any of the several states of the said confederacy, or the laws thereof, whether such office or agency be national, state, or municipal in its name or character: Provided, That the persons, thirdly, fourthly, and fifthly above described shall have accepted

1 By a joint resolution of July 17 it was provided "that the provisions of the third clause of the fifth section of 'An act to suppress insurrection, to punish treason and rebellion, to seize and confiscate the property of rebels, and for other purposes,' shall be so construed as not to apply to any act or acts done prior to the passage thereof; nor to include any member of a State legislature, or judge of any State court, who has not in accepting or entering upon his office, taken an oath to support the constitution of the so-called 'Confederate States of America'; nor shall any punishment or proceedings under said act be so construed as to work a forfeiture of the real estate of the offender beyond his natural life."

their appointment or election since the date of the pretended ordinance of cesession of the state, or shall have taken an oath of allegiance to, or to support the constitution of the so-called confederate states.

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

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

SEC. 7. [Proceedings to secure condemnation, &c., of such property.]

SEC. 8. [Powers of courts in such cases.]

SEC. 9. And be it further enacted, That all slaves of persons who shall hereafter be engaged in rebellion against the government of the United States, or who shall in any way give aid f comfort thereto, escaping from such persons and taking refuge