within the lines of the army; and all slaves captured from such persons or deserted by them and coming under the control of the government of the United States; and all slaves of such persons found on [or] being within any place occupied by rebel forces and afterwards occupied by the forces of the United States, shall be deemed captives of war, and shall be forever free of their servitude, and not again held as slaves. SEC. 10. And be it further enacted, That no slave escaping into any State, Territory, or the District of Columbia, from any other State, shall be delivered up, or in any way impeded or hindered of his liberty, except for crime, or some offence against the laws, unless the person claiming said fugitive shall first make oath that the person to whom the labor or service of such fugitive is alleged to be due is his lawful owner, and has not borne arms against the United States in the present rebellion, nor in any way given aid and comfort thereto; and no person engaged in the military or naval service of the United States shall, under any pretence whatever, assume to decide on the validity of the claim of any person to the service or labor of any other person, or surrender up any such person to the claimant, on pain of being dismissed from the service. SEC. 11. And be it further enacted, That the President of the United States is authorized to employ as many persons of African descent as he may deem necessary and proper for the suppression of this rebellion, and for this purpose he may organize and use them in such manner as he may judge best for the public welfare. SEC. 12. And be it further enacted, That the President of the United States is hereby authorized to make provision for the transportation, colonization, and settlement, in some tropical country beyond the limits of the United States, of such persons of the African race, made free by the provisions of this act, as may be willing to emigrate, having first obtained the consent of the government of said country to their protection and settlement within the same, with all the rights and privileges of freemen. SEC. 13. And be it further enacted, That the President is hereby authorized, at any time hereafter, by proclamation, to extend to persons who may have participated in the existing rebellion in any State or part thereof, pardon and amnesty, with such exceptions and at such time and on such conditions as he may deem expedient for the public welfare. SEC. 14. And be it further enacted, That the courts of the United States shall have full power to institute proceedings, make orders and decrees, issue process, and do all other things necessary to carry this act into effect. APPROVED, July 17, 1862. No. 25. Act to authorize Payments in Stamps July 17, 1862 IN a letter of July 14, 1862, to Thaddeus Stevens, Secretary Chase stated that the depreciation of the currency had led to the issue of coins, checks, and tokens, of denominations less than one dollar, by hotels and business houses. A draft of a bill to prohibit such issues and allow the use of stamps as currency was submitted. A bill to carry the recommendation into effect was introduced in the House, July 17, by Samuel Hooper of Massachusetts, and passed by a vote of 62 to 40. The Senate passed the bill the same day without a division. REFERENCES. Text in U.S. Statutes at Large, XII, 592. For the proceedings see the House and Senate Journals, 37th Cong., 2d Sess., and the Cong. Globe. The Senate proceedings were unimportant. An Act to authorize Payments in Stamps, and to prohibit Circulation of Notes of less Denomination than One Dollar. Be it enacted. . ., That the Secretary of the Treasury be, and he is hereby directed to furnish to the Assistant Treasurers, and such designated depositaries of the United States as may be by him selected, in such sums as he may deem expedient, the postage and other stamps of the United States, to be exchanged by them, on application, for United States notes; and from and after the first day of August next such stamps shall be receivable in payment of all dues to the United States less than five dollars, and shall be received in exchange for United States notes when presented to any Assistant Treasurer or any desig nated depositary selected as aforesaid in sums not less than five dollars. SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That from and after the first day of August, eighteen hundred and sixty-two, no private corporation, banking association, firm, or individual shall make, issue, circulate, or pay any note, check, memorandum, token, or other obligation, for a less sum than one dollar, intended to circulate as money or to be received or used in lieu of lawful money of the United States; and every person so offending shall, on conviction thereof in any district or circuit court of the United States, be punished by fine not exceeding five hundred dollars, or by imprisonment not exceeding six months, or by both, at the option of the court. APPROVED, July 17, 1862. No. 26. Militia Act A BILL to amend the laws relating to the militia was introduced in the Senate, July 14, 1862, by Wilson of Massachusetts, from the Committee on Military Affairs and Militia, and passed the next day by a vote of 28 to 9. In the House, July 16, a motion to lay the bill on the table was rejected, the vote being 30 to 77, and the bill passed without a division. REFERENCES. Text in U.S. Statutes at Large, XII, 597–600. For the proceedings see the House and Senate Journals, 37th Cong., 2d Sess., and the Cong. Globe. On the use of negroes as soldiers see Rhodes, United States, IV, 333-336. An Act to amend the Act calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections, and repel Invasions, approved February twenty-eight, seventeen hundred and ninetyfive, and the Acts amendatory thereof, and for other Purposes. Be it enacted That whenever the President of the United States shall call forth the militia of the States, to be employed in the service of the United States, he may specify in his call the period for which such service will be required, not exceed ing nine months; and the militia so called shall be mustered in and continue to serve for and during the term so specified, unless sooner discharged by command of the President. If by reason of defects in existing laws, or in the execution of them, in the several States, or any of them, it shall be found necessary to provide for enrolling the militia and otherwise putting this act into execution, the President is authorized in such cases to make all necessary rules and regulations; and the enrolment of the militia shall in all cases include all able-bodied male citizens between the ages of eighteen and forty-five, and shall be apportioned among the States according to representative population. SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That the militia, when so called into service, shall be organized in the mode prescribed by law for volunteers. SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That the President be, and he is hereby, authorized, in addition to the volunteer forces which he is now authorized by law to raise, to accept the services of any number of volunteers, not exceeding one hundred thousand, as infantry, for a period of nine months, unless sooner discharged. And every soldier who shall enlist under the provisions of this section shall receive his first month's pay, and also twenty-five dollars as bounty, upon the mustering of his company or regiment into the service of the United States. . . SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That, for the purpose of filling up the regiments of infantry now in the United States service, the President be, and he hereby is, authorized to accept the services of volunteers in such numbers as may be presented for that purpose, for twelve months, if not sooner discharged. And such volunteers, when mustered into the service, shall be in all respects upon a footing with similar troops in the United States service, except as to service bounty, which shall be fifty dollars, one half of which to be paid upon their joining their regiments, and the other half at the expiration of their enlist ment. SEC. 12. And be it further enacted, That the President be, and he is hereby, authorized to receive into the service of the United States, for the purpose of constructing intrenchments, or performing camp service, or any other labor, or any military or naval service for which they may be found competent, persons of African descent, and such persons shall be enrolled and organized under such regulations, not inconsistent with the Constitution and laws, as the President may prescribe. SEC. 13. And be it further enacted, That when any man or boy of African descent, who by the laws of any State shall owe service or labor to any person who, during the present rebellion, has levied war or has borne arms against the United States, or adhered to their enemies by giving them aid and comfort, shall render any such service as is provided for in this act, he, his mother and his wife and children, shall forever thereafter be free, any law, usage, or custom whatsoever to the contrary notwithstanding: Provided, That the mother, wife and children of such man or boy of African descent shall not be made free by the operation of this act except where such mother, wife or children owe service or labor to some person who, during the present rebellion, has borne arms against the United States or adhered to their enemies by giving them aid and comfort. * APPROVED, July 17, 1862. [The omitted sections deal with details of organization, trial by court-martial, &c.] No. 27. Act admitting West Virginia December 31, 1862 A MEMORIAL from the commissioners of West Virginia, setting forth the history of the formation of the State and praying for admission to the Union, was presented in the Senate May 31, 1862, and referred to the Committee on the Territories, who reported, June 23, a bill for the admission of West Virginia as a State. July 14, by a vote of 11 to 24, an amendment offered by Sumner, prohibiting slavery in the State, was rejected, and the bill, with further amend |