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Eleven months having now passed, we are permitted to take another view. The rebel borders are pressed still further back, and by the complete opening of the Mississippi the country dominated by the rebellion is divided into distinct parts, with no practical communication between them. Tennessee and Arkansas have been substantially cleared of insurgent control, and influential citizens in each, owners of slaves and advocates of slavery at the beginning of the rebellion, now declare openly for emancipation in their respective States. Of those States not included in the emancipation proclamation, Maryland and Missouri, neither of which three years ago would tolerate any restraint upon the extension of slavery into new territories, only dispute now as to the best mode of removing it within their own limits.

full. But why tender the benefits of this provision only to a State government set up in this particular way? This section of the Constitution contemplates a case wherein the element within a State, favorable to republican government, in the Union, may be too feeble for an opposite and hostile element external to or even within the State; ad such are precisely the cases with which we are now dealing. An attempt to guaranty and protect a revived State government, constructed in whole, or in preponderating part, from the very element against whose hostility and violence it is to be protected, is simply absurd. There must be a test by which to separate the opposing elements so as to build only from the sound; and that test is a sufficiently liberal one which accepts as sound whoever will make a swoin recantation of his former unsoundness.

Of those who were slaves at the beginning of the rebellion, full one hundred thousand are But if it be proper to require, as a test of now in the United States military service, about admission to the political body, an oath of alone half of which number actually bear arms legiance to the Constitution of the United States, in the ranks; thus giving the double advantage and to the Union under it, why also to the laws of taking so much labor from the insurgent and proclamations in regard to slavery? Those cause, and supplying the places which other-laws and proclamations were enacted and put wise must be filled with so many white men. So far as tested, it is difficult to say they are not as good soldiers as any. No servile insurrection, or tendency to violence or cruelty, has marked the measures of emancipation and arming the blacks. These measures have been much discussed in foreign countries, and contemporary with such discussion the tone of public sentiment there is much improved. At home the same measures have been fully discussed, supported, criticised, and denounced, and the annual elections following are highly encouraging to those whose official duty it is to bear the country through this great trial. Thus we have the new reckoning. The crisis which threatened to divide the friends of the Union is past.

Looking now to the present and future, and with reference to a resumption of the national authority within the States wherein that authority has been suspended, I have thought fit to issue a proclamation, a copy of which is herewith transmitted. On examination of this proclamation it will appear, as is believed, that nothing will be attempted beyond what is amply justified by the Constitution. True, the form of an oath is given, but no man is coerced to take it. The man is only promised a pardon in case he voluntarily takes the oath. The Constitution authorizes the Executive to grant or withhold the pardon at his own absolute discretion; and this includes the power to grant on terms, as is fully established by judicial and other authorities.

forth for the purpose of aiding in the suppression of the rebellion. To give them their fullest effect, there had to be a pledge for their maintenance. In my judgment they have aided, and will further aid, the cause for which they were intended. To now abandon them would be not only to relinquish a lever of power, but would also be a cruel and an astounding breach of faith. I may add at this point, that while I remain in my present position I shall not attempt to retract or modify the emancipation proclamation; nor shall I return to slavery any person who is free by the terms of that proclamation, or by any of the acts of Congress. For these and other reasons it is thought best that support of these measures shall be included in the oath; and it is believed the Executive may lawfully claim it in return for pardon and restoration of forfeited rights, which he has clear constitutional power to withhold altogether, or grant upon the terms which he shall deem wisest for the public interest It should be observed, also, that this part of the oath is subject to the modifying and abrogating power of legislation and supreme judicial decision.

The proposed acquiescence of the national Executive in any reasonable temporary State arrangement for the freed people is made with the view of possibly modifying the confusion and destitution which must at best, attend all classes by a total revolution of labor throughout whole States. It is hoped that the already deeply afflicted people in those States may be somewhat more ready to give up the cause of It is also proffered that if, in any of the their affliction, if, to this extent, this vital matStates named, a State government shall be, inter be left to themselves; while no power of the mode prescribed, set up, such government the national Executive to prevent an abuse is shall be recognized and guarantied by the abridged by the proposition. United States, and that under it the State shall, on constitutional conditions, be protected against invasion and domestic violence. The constitutional obligation of the United States to guaranty to every State in the Union a republican form of government, and to protect the State, in the cases stated, is explicit and

The suggestion in the proclamation as to maintaining the political frame-work of the States on what is called reconstruction, is made in the hope that it may do good without danger of harm. It will save labor, and avoid great confusion.

But why any proclamation now upon the sub

ject? This question is beset with the conflicting views that the step might be delayed too long or be aken too soon. In some States the elements for resumption seem ready for action, but remain inactive, apparently for want of a rallying point-a plan of action. Why shall A adopt the plan of B, rather than B that of A? And if A and B should agree, how can they know but that the General Government here will reject their plan? By the proclamation a plan is presented which may be accepted by them as a rallying point, and which they are assured in advance will not be rejected here. This may bring them to act sooner than they otherwise would.

The objection to a premature presentation of a plan by the national Executive consists in the danger of committals on points which could be more safely left to further developments. Care has been taken to so shape the document as to avoid embarrassments from this source. Say. ing that, on certain terms, certain classes will be pardoned, with rights restored, it is not said that other classes, or other terms, will never be included. Saying that reconstruction will be accepted if presented in a specified way, it is not said it will never be accepted in any other way.

The movements, by State action, for emancipation in several of the States, not included in the emancipation proclamation, are matters of profound gratulation. And while I do not repeat in detail what I have heretofore so earnestly urged upon this subject, my general views and feelings remain unchanged; and I trust that Congress will omit no fair opportunity of aiding these important steps to a great consummation.

any time thereafter, by proclamation, to extend to persons
State or part thereof, pardon and amnesty, with such excep
who may have participated in the existing rebellion, in any
tions and at such times and on such conditions as he may
deem expedient for the public welfare; and whereas the con-
cords with well established judicial exposition of the pardon-
gressional declaration for limited and conditional pardon ac-
ing power; and whereas, with reference to said rebellion, the
President of the United States has issued several proclama-
and whereas it is now desired by some persons heretofore
tions, with provisions in regard to the liberation of slaves;
engaged in said rebellion to resume their allegiance to the
United States, and to reinaugurate loyal State governments
within and for their respective States:
Therefore, I, ABRAHAM LINCOLN, President of the United
States, do proclaim, declare, and make known to all persons
who have directly, or by implication, participated in the ex-
isting rebellion, except as hereinafter excepted, that a full
pardon is hereby granted to them and each of them, with
restoration of all rights of property, except as to slaves, and
in property cases where rights of third parties shall have in-
tervened, and upon the condition that every such person
shall take and subscribe an oath, and thenceforward keep
and maintain said oath inviolate; and which oath shall be
registered for permanent preservation, and shall be of the
tenor and effect following, to wit:
"I.
do solemnly swear, in presence of Al-
mighty God, that I will henceforth faithfully support, pro-
tect, and defend the Constitution of the United States, and
the union of the States thereunder; and that I will, in like
manner, abide by and faithfully support all acts of Congress
passed during the existing rebellion with reference to
slaves, so long and so far as not repealed, modified, or held
void by Congress, or by decision of the Supreme Court; and
that I will, in like manner, abide by and faithfully support
all proclamations of the President made during the existing
rebellion having reference to slaves, so long and so far as
not modified or declared void by decision of the Supreme
Court. So help me God."

The persons excepted from the benefits of the foregoing provisions are all who are, or shall have been, civil or diplomatic officers or agents of the so-called Confederate Government; all who have left judicial stations under the United States to aid the rebellion; all who are, or shall have been, ernment above the rank of colonel in the Army, or of lieumilitary or naval officers of said so-called Confederate Govtenant in the Navy; all who left seats in the United States Congress to aid the rebellion; all who resigned commissions in the Army or Navy of the United States, and afterwards aided the rebellion; and all who have engaged in any way in treating colored persons, or white persons in charge of

In the midst of other cares, however import- such, otherwise than lawfully as prisoners of war, and which ant, we must not lose sight of the fact that the persons may have been found in the United States service as soldiers, seamen, or in any other capacity. war power is still our main reliance. To that And I do further proclaim, declare, and make known that power alone we can look, yet for a time, to give whenever in any of the States of Arkansas, Texas, Louisi confidence to the people in the contested re- Florida, South Carolina, and North Carolina, a number of ana, Mississippi, Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, Virginia, gions, that the insurgent power will not again persons, not less than one tenth in number of the votes cast overrun them. Until that confidence shall be in such State at the presidential election of the year of our established, little can be done anywhere for taken the oath aforesaid and not having since violated it, Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty, each having what is called reconstruction. Hence our chief- and being a qualified voter by the election law of the State est care must still be directed to the army and existing immediately before the so-called act of secession, navy, who have thus far borne their harder ment which shall be republican, and in nowise contravening and excluding all others, shall re-establish a State governpart so nobly and well. And it may be esteemed said oath, such shall be recognized as the true government fortunate that in giving the greatest efficiency of the State, and the State shall receive thereunder the benefits of the constitutional provision which declares that to these indispensable arms, we do also honor-"the United States shall guaranty to every State in this ably recognize the gallant men, from command- Union a republican form of government, and shall protect er to sentinel, who compose them, and to whom, each of them against invasion; and, on application of the more than to others, the world must stand in Legislature, or the Executive, (when the Legislature cannot be convened,) against domestic violence." debted for the home of freedom disenthralled, regenerated, enlarged, and perpetuated. ABRAHAM LINCOLN. December 8, 1863.

PROCLAMATION OF AMNESTY. Whereas, in and by the Constitution of the United States, it is provided that the President "shall have power to grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the United States, except in cases of impeachment;" and whereas a rebellion now exists whereby the loyal State governments of several States have for a long time been subverted, and many persuns have committed and are now guilty of treason against the United States; and whereas, with reference to said rebellion and treason, laws have been enacted by Congress declaring forfeitures and confiscation of property and liberation of slaves, all upon terms and conditions therein stated, and also declaring that the President was thereby authorized at

And I do further proclaim, declare, and make known that any provision which may be adopted by such State government in relation to the freed people of such State, which shall recognize and declare their permanent freedom, provide for their education, and which may yet be consistent, as a temporary arrangement, with their present condition as a laboring, landless, and homeless class, will not be objected to by the national Executive. And it is suggested as not improper, that, in constructing a loyal State government in any State, the name of the State, the boundary, the subdivisions, the constitution, and the general code of laws, as before the rebellion, be maintained, subject only to the modifications made necessary by the conditions hereinbefore stated, and such others, if any, not contravening said conditions, and which may be deemed expedient by those framing the new State government.

To avoid misunderstanding, it may be proper to say that this proclamation, so far as it relates to State governments, has no reference to States wherein loyal State governments

to slaves and where rights of third parties have intervened, which that proclamation offers and secures.

The President's pardon of a person guilty of acts of rebellion will of course relieve that person from the penalties incurred by his crime, and, where an indictment is pending against him therefor, the production of the pardon signed by the President, or of satisfactory evidence that he has complied with the conditions on which the pardon is offered, (if he be not of the class excepted from the benefits of the proclamation.) will be a sufficient reason for discontinuing such criminal proceedings, and discharging him from cus

have all the while been maintained. And for the same
reason, it may be proper to further say, that whether
members sent to Congress from any State shall be ad-
mitted to seats constitutionally, rests exclusively with the
respective Houses, and not to any extent with the Execu-
tive. And still further, that this proclamation is intended
to present the people of the States wherein the national
authority has been suspended, and loyal State governments
have been subverted, a mode in and by which the national
and loyal State governments may be re-established within
said States, or in any of them; and, while the mode pre-
sented is the best the Executive can suggest, with his pres-tody therein.
ent impressions, it must not be understood that no other
possible mode would be acceptable.

Given under my hand, at the City of Washington, the
eighth day of December, A. D. one thousand eight hun-
dred and sixty-three, and of the independence of the
United States of America the eighty-eighth.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
By the President:

WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State.

AMNESTY DEFINED.

By the President of the United States-A Proclamation. Whereas it has become necessary to define the cases in which insurgent enemies are entitled to the benefits of the Proclamation of the President of the United States, which was made on the 8th day of December, 1863, and the manner in which they shall proceed to avail themselves of those benefits: and whereas the objects of that proclamation were to suppress the insurrection, and to restore the authority of the United States: and whereas the amnesty therein provided by the President was offered with reference to these objects alone:

Now, therefore, I, ABRAHAM LINCOLN, President of the United States, do hereby proclaim and declare that the said proclamation does not apply to the cases of persons who, at the time when they seek to obtain the benefits thereof by taking the oath thereby prescribed, are in military, naval, or civil confinement or custody, or under bonds or on parole of the civil, military, or naval authorities, or agents of the United States as prisoners of war, or persons detained for offences of any kind, either before or after conviction; and that, on the contrary, it does apply only to persons who, being yet at large and free from any arrest, confinement, or duress, shall voluntarily come forward and take the said oath with the purpose of restoring peace and establishing the national authority.

Prisoners excluded from the amnesty offered in the said proclamation may apply to the President for clemency, like all other offenders, and their application will receive due consideration.

I do further declare and proclaim that the oath prescribed in the aforesaid proclamation of the 8th of December, 1863, may be taken and subscribed to before any commissioned officer, civil, military, or naval, in the service of the United States, or any civil or military officer of a State or Territory, not in insurrection, who by the law thereof may be qualified for administering oaths.

Nor is it less doubtful that a bona fide acceptance of the terms of the President's Proclamation, by persons guilty of acts of rebellion, and not of the excepted class, will secure to such persons a restoration of all the rights of property, except as to slaves and where the rights of third parties shall have intervened, notwithstanding such property may, by reason of those acts of rebellion, have been subject to confiscation under the provisions of the Confiscation act of of 6th August, 1861, chap. 60, and 17th July, 1802, chap. 195. For, without adverting to any other source of power in the President to restore or protect their rights of property, the 13th section of the act of 17th of July, 1862, authorizes the President at any time thereafter, 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. It will hardly be questioned, I suppose, that the purpose of this section, inserted in a law mainly intended to reach the property of persons engaged in rebellion, was to vest the President with power to relieve such persons, on such conditions as he should prescribe, from the penalty of loss of their property by confiscation. Although the proceedings for confiscation under the acts of Aug. 6, 1861, and July 17, 1862, are in rem, against the property seized, yet, under both acts, the ground of condemnation is the personal guilt of the owner in aiding the rebellion. By the pardon and amnesty, not only is the punishment of that personal guilt remitted, but the offence itself is effaced, that being the special effect of an act of amnesty by the Government. Of course it arrests and puts an end to all penal proceedings founded thereon, whether they touch the persons or the property of the offender.

There is, therefore, no case of judicial proceedings to enforce the penalties of acts of rebellion which cannot be reached and cured by the constitutional or statutory power of the President to grant pardon and amnesty, whether those proceedings be against the person of the offender by criminal indictment or against his property under the confiscation acts referred to.

The President has accordingly directed me to instruct you that, in any case where proceedings have been commenced and are pending and undetermined in the District or Circuit Court of the United States for your district against a person charged with acts of rebellion, and not of the excepted class, whether they be by indictment or by seizure and libel of his property for confiscation, (the rights of other parties not having intervened,) you will discontinue and put an end to those proceedings, whenever the person so charged shall produce evidence satisfactory to you that he has, in good faith, taken the oath and complied with the conditions pre1963. Nor is it necessary that the evidence which he produces should be a deed of pardon signed by the President.

All officers who receive such oaths are hereby authorized to give certificates thereon to the persons respectively by whom they are made. And such officers are hereby required to transmit the original records of such oaths at as early ascribed by the President's proclamation of the 8th December, day as may be convenient to the Department of State, where they will be deposited and remain in the archives of the Government.

The Secretary of State will keep a register thereof, and will, on application in proper cases, issue certificates of such records in the customary form of such certificates.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand, and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.

Done at the city of Washington, the 26th day of March, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixtyfour, and of the independence of the United States the eightyeighth. ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

By the President:

WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State.

CIRCULAR OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL.

It would be quite impossible for the President to furnish the multitudes who are now availing themselves of the benefits of the Proclamation, and who are likely to do so hereafter, with his formal evidence of pardon. It will be suffi cient to justify your action if the party seeking to be relieved from further proceedings shall prove to your full satisfaction that he has, in good faith, taken the oath and brought himself within the conditions of pardon and amnesty set forth in the Proclamation.

WASHINGTON, February 19, 1864-The follow-the proceedings or restoring such property to the possession ing important circular letter has been addressed to United States District Attorneys:

If, in any case, you have good reason to believe that the oath has been taken for the mere purpose of obtaining the possession of personal property seized under the Confisca tion acts, with intent to remove it from the subsequent reach of the officers of the law, you will make report of the facts and reasons for your belief to this office before discontinuing of the owner. Forfeitures under the fifth section of the act of 15th July, 1861, chapter 3, are not of the class reached by the President's Proclamation, for, under that act, the question whether the property seized is subject to forfeiture depends upon the predicament of the property itself, and not upon the general guilt or innocence of its owner. In this respect, forfeitures under that act have more resem property than to proceedings under the acts of August, 1861, and July, 1862. Such forfeitures are enforced not so much to punish the owner for disloyal acts as to prohibit commercial intercourse, and to weaken the public enemy, which

SIR: Many persons, against whom criminal indictments, or against whose property proceedings under the confiscation laws are pending in the courts of the United States, growing out of the participation of such persons in the ex-blance to cases of prize of war, captured at sea as enemy's isting rebellion, have, in good faith, taken the oath prescribed by the proclamation of the President of 8th December, 1863, and have therefore entitled themselves to the full pardon and restoration of all rights of property, except as

are always efficient instruments and legitimate effects of public war.

But although the remission of forfeitures ander the act of July, 1861, are thus not within the scope of the Proclamation of pardon, still ample power is conferred on the Secretary of the Treasury by the cighth section of that act to mitigate or remit all forfeitures and penalties incurred under the act. And it is not to be doubted that in all proper cases under

that act, where the owner of the property, residing in the
territory in rebellion, complies with the conditions of the
Proclamation, the Secretary of the Treasury will exer-
cise the power of remission of such forfeitures in the same
spirit of generous forbearance and liberality which inspired
and characterizes the Proclamation.
Very respectfully, &c.,

TITIAN J. COFFEY,
Acting Attorney General.
To, United States District Attorney at

Done at the city of Washington, this 27th day of April, in
the year of our Lord 1861, and of the independence of the
United States the eighty-fifth.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

By the President:

WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State.

1862, May 12-The PRESIDENT issued a proclamation opening the ports of Beaufort, Port Royal, and New Orleans. 1863, September 24-The PRESIDENT issued a proclamation opening the port of Alexandria, Virginia.

1864, February 18-The PRESIDENT issued a proclamation opening the port of Brownsville, Texas.

1864, November 19-Norfolk, Fernandina, and Pensacola opened after December 1.

Other Proclamations of the Presi- COMMERCIAL INTERCOURSE WITH THE REBELLIOUS

dent.

THE BLOCKADE.

Whereas an insurrection against the Government of the United States has broken out in the States of South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas, and the laws of the United States for the collection of the revenue cannot be effectually executed therein conformably to that provision of the Constitution which requires duties to be uniform throughout the United States: And whereas a combination of persons engaged in such insurrection have threatened to grant pretended letters of marque to authorize the bearers thereof to commit assaults on the lives, vessels, and property of good citizens of the country lawfully engaged in commerce on the high seas, and in waters of the United States:

And whereas an executive proclamation has been already issued, requiring the persons engaged in these disorderly proceedings to desist therefrom, calling out a militia force for the purpose of repressing the same, and convening Congress in extraordinary session to deliberate and determine

thereon:

Now, therefore, I, ABRAHAM LINCOLN, President of the United States, with a view to the same purposes before mentoned, and to the protection of the public peace, and the lives and property of quiet and orderly citizens pursuing their lawful occupations, until Congress shall havo assembled and deliberated on the said unlawful proceedings, or until the same shall have ceased, have further deemed it advisable to set on foot a blockade of the ports within the States aforesaid, in pursuance of the laws of the United States and of the law of nations in such case provided. For this purpose a competent force will be posted so as to prevent entrance and exit of vessels from the ports aforesaid. If, therefore, with a view to violate such blockade, a vessel shall approach, or shall attempt to leave either of the said ports, she will be duly warned by the commander of one of the blockading vessels, who will indorse on her register the fact and date of such warning; and if the same Vessel shall again attempt to enter or leave the blockaded port, she will Le captured and sent to the nearest convenient port, for such proceedings against her and her cargo as prize as may be deemed advisable.

And I hereby proclaim and declare that if any person, under the pretended authority of the said States, or under any other pretence, shall molest a vessel of the United States, or the persons or cargo on board of her, such person will be held amenable to the laws of the United States for the prevention and punishment of piracy. ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

By the President:

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Whereas, for the reasons assigned in my proclamation of the 19th instant, a blockade of the ports of the States of Bouth Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Louisiana, MissisEppi, and Texas, was ordered to be established: and whereas, since that date, public property of the United States has been seized, the collection of the revenue obstructed, and duly commissioned officers of the United States, while engaged in Executing the orders of their superiors, have been arrested and held in custody as prisoners, or have been impeded in the discharge of their official duties, without due legal procom, by persons claiming to act under authority of the States of Virginia and North Carolina: An efficient blockade of the ports of those States will also be established.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.

STATES PROHIBITED.

Whereas, on the 15th day of April, 1861, the President of the United States, in view of an insurrection against the laws, Constitution, and Government of the United States, which had broken out within the States of South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas, and in pursuance of the provisions of the act entitled "An act to provide for calling forth the militia to execute the laws of the Union, suppress insurrections, and repel invasions, and to repeal the act now in force for that purpose," approved February 28, 1795, did call forth the militia to suppress said insurrection and to cause the laws of the Union to be duly executed, and the insurgents have failed to disperse by the time directed by the President; and whereas such insurrec tion has since broken out and yet exists within the States of Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Arkansas; and whereas the insurgents in all the said States claim to act under the authority thereof, and such claim is not disclaimed or repudiated by the persons exercising the functions of gov ernment in such State or States, or in the part or parts thereof, in which such combinations exist, nor has such insurrection been suppressed by said States:

Now, therefore, I, ABRAHAM LINCOLN, President of the United States, in pursuance of the act of Congress approved July 13, 1861, do hereby declare that the inhabitants of the said States of Georgia, South Carolina, Virginia, North Caro lina, Tennessee, Alabama, Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Florida, (except the inhabitants of that part of the State of Virginia lying west of the Alleghany Mountains, and of such other parts of that State and the other States hereinbefore named as may maintain a loyal adhesion to the Union and the Constitution, or may be from time to time occupied and controlled by the forces of the United States engaged in the dispersion of said insurgents) are in a state of insurrection against the United States, and that all commercial intercourse between the same and the inhabitants thereof, with the exceptions aforesaid, and the citizens of other States and other parts of the United States, is unlawful and will remain unlawful until such insurrec tion shall cease or has been suppressed; that all goods and chattels, wares and merchandise, coming from any of said States, with the exceptions aforesaid, into other parts of the United States, without the sial license and permission of the President, through thecretary of the Treasury, or proceeding to any of said States, with the exceptions aforesaid, by land or water, together with the vessel or vehicle conveying the same or conveying persons to or from the said States, with said exceptions, will be forfeited to the United States; and that, from and after fifteen days from the issuing of this proclamation, all ships and vessels belonging, in whole or in part, to any citizen or inhabitant of any of said States, with said exceptions, found at sea or in any port of the United States, will be forfeited to the United States; and I hereby enjoin upon all district attorneys, marshals, and officers of the revenue and of the military and naval forces of the United States, to be vigilant in the exe cution of said act, and in the enforcement of the penalties and forfeitures imposed or declared by it; leaving any party who may think himself aggrieved thereby to his application to the Secretary of the Treasury for the remission of any penalty or forfeiture, which the said Secretary is authorized by law to grant, if, in his judgment, the special circumstances of any case shall require such remission. In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand, and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.

Done at the city of Washington, this sixteenth day of August, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, and of the independence of the United States of America the eighty-sixth. ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

By the President:

WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State. 1863, April 2―The PRESIDENT issued a proc

lamation modifying the above, and reciting his | Chandler, Collamer, Cowan, Dixon, Doolittle, Fessenden, reasons therefor:

And whereas experience has shown that the exceptions made in and by said proclamation embarrass the due enforcement of said act of July 13, 1861, and the proper regulation of the commercial intercourse authorized by said act with the loyal citizens of said States:

Now, therefore, I, ABRAHAM LINCOLN, President of the United States, do hereby revoke the said exceptions, and declare that the inhabitants of the States of Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama, Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, Mississippi, Florida, and Virginia, (except the forty-eight counties of Virginia designated as West Virginia, and except, also, the ports of New Orleans, Key West, Port Royal, and Beaufort, in North Carolina,) are in a state of insurrection against the United States, and that all commercial intercourse, not licensed and conducted as provided in said act, between the said States and the inhabitants thereof, with the exceptions aforesaid, and the citizens of other States and other parts of the United States, is unlawful, and will remain unlawful until such insurrection shall cease or has been suppressed, and notice thereof has been duly given by proclamation; and all cotton, tobacco, and other products, and all other goods and chattels, wares, and merchandise coming from any of said States, with the exceptions aforesaid, into other parts of the United States, or proceeding to any of said States, with the exceptions aforesaid, without the license and permission of the President, through the Secretary of the Treasury, will, together with the vessel or vehicle conveying the same, be forfeited to the United States.

DECLARING BOUNDARIES OF THE INSURRECTION. Whereas, in and by the second section of an act of Congress passed on the 7th day of June, A. D. 1862, entitled An act for the collection of direct taxes in insurrectionary districts within the United States, and for other purposes," it is made the duty of the President to declare, on or before the 1st day of July then next following, by his proclamation, in what States and parts of States insurrection exists:

Now, therefore, be it known that I, ABRAHAM LINCOLN, President of the United States of America, do hereby declare and proclaim that the States of South Carolina, Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi, Arkansas, Tennessee, North Carolina, and the State of Virginia, except the following counties: Hancock, Brooke, Ohio, Marshall, Wetzel, Marion, Monongalia, Preston, Taylor, Pleasants, Tyler, Ritchie, Doddridge, Harrison, Wood, Jackson, Wirt, Roane, Calhoun, Gilmer, Barbour, Tucker, Lewis, Braxton, Upshur, Randolph, Mason, Putnam, Kanawha, Clay, Nicholas, Cabell, Wayne, Boone, Logan, Wyoming, Webster, Fayette, and Raleigh, are now in insurrection and rebellion, and by reason thereof the civil authority of the United States is obstructed so that the provisions of the "Act to provide increased revenue from imports, to pay the interest on the public debt, and for other purposes," approved August 5, 1861, cannot be peaceably executed, and that the taxes legally chargeable upon real estate under the act last aforesaid, lying within the States and parts of States as aforesaid, together with a penalty of fifty per centum of said taxes, shall be a lien upon the tracts or lots of the same, severally charged, till paid.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.

Done at the city of Washington, this 1st day of July, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, and of the independence of the United States of America the eighty-sixth. ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

By the President:

F. W. SEWARD, Acting Secretary of State.

PROCEEDINGS OF CONGRESS.

ACTS OF THE PRESIDENT APPROVED FIRST
SESSION, THIRTY-SEVENTH CONGRESS.

Foot, Foster, Grimes, Hale. Harlan, Harris, Howe, John
son of Tennessee, King, Lane of Indiana, Lane of Kansas,
Latham, McDougall, Morrill, Rice, Sherman, Simmons,
Sumner, Ten Eyck, Trumbull, Wade, Wilkinson, Wilson-
33.
NAYS-Messrs. Breckinridge, Kennedy, Polk, Powell,
Saulsbury-5.

In HOUSE, the motion to strike from the bill the ratifying section, was lost—yeas 19, nays 74; as follows;

YEAS-Messrs. Allen, Ancona, George H. Browne, Cal-
vert, Cor, Crisfield, Jackson, Johnson, May, Noble, Pendleton,
James S. Rollins, Shiel, Smith, Vallandigham, Voorhees,
Wadsworth, Ward, Webster-19.
NAYS-Messrs. Aldrich, Alley, Arnold, Ashley, Gold.
smith F. Bailey, Baxter, Beaman, Francis P. Blair, Samuel
S. Blair, Blake, Buffinton, Cobb, Colfax, Frederick A.
Conkling, Conway, Covode, Diven, Duell, Dunn, Edwards,
Eliot, Fenton, Fessenden, Frank, Goodwin, Granger, Gur-
ley, Haight, Hale, Hanchett, Harrison, Horton, Hutchins,
Julian, Kelley, Francis W. Kellogg, William Kellogg, Lan-
sing, Leary, Loomis, Lovejoy, McKean, McKnight, Mc-
Pherson, Mitchell, Moorhead, Anson P. Morrill, Justin 8.
Morrill, Olin, Pike, Porter, Alexander H. Rice, John H.
Rice, Riddle, Edward H. Rollins, Sedgwick, Shanks,
Sheffield, Shellabarger, Sherman, Stevens, Benjamin F.
Thomas, Francis Thomas, Train, Trowbridge, Van Horn,
Verree, Wall, Charles W. Walton, E. P. Walton, Albert 8.
White, Windom, Worcester-74.

The bill then passed without a division.

African Slave Trade.

1862, April 7-A treaty was made between William H. Seward and Lord Lyons for the suppression of the African Slave Trade, which was ratified by the Senate, and announced by proclamation of the President, June 7, 1862, Article 1 of which is as follows:

those ships of their respective navies which shall be proThe two high contracting parties mutually consent that vided with special instructions for that purpose, as hereinafter mentioned, may visit such merchant vessels of the two nations as may, upon reasonable grounds, be suspected of being engaged in the African slave trade, or of having been fitted out for that purpose; or of having, during the voyage on which they are met by the said cruisers, been engaged in the African slave trade, contrary to the provi sion of this treaty; and that such cruisers may detain, and send or carry away, such vessels, in order that they may be brought to trial in the manner hereinafter agreed upon.

In order to fix the reciprocal right of search in such a manner as shall be adapted to the attainment of the object of this treaty, and at the same time avoid doubts, disputes, and complaints, the said right of search shall be understood in the manner and according to the rules following:

First. It shall never be exercised except by vessels of war, authorized expressly for that object, according to the stipulations of this treaty.

Secondly. The right of search shall in no case be exercised with respect to a vessel of the navy of either of the two Powers, but shall be exercised only as regards merchant vessels; and it shall not be exercised by a vessel of war of either contracting party within the limits of a settlement or port, nor within the territorial waters of the other party.

Thirdly. Whenever a merchant vessel is searched by a ship of war, the commander of the said ship shall, in the act of so doing, exhibit to the commander of the merchant vessel the special instructions by which he is duly authorized to search; and shall deliver to such commander a certificate, signed by himself, stating his rank in the naval

1861, August 5-Congress passed a bill, the service of his country, and the name of the vessel he com third section of which was as follows:

That all the acts, proclamations, and orders of the President of the United States after the 4th of March, 1861, respecting the army and navy of the United States, and calling out or relating to the militia or volunteers from the States, are hereby approved and in all respects legalized and made valid, to the same intent and with the same effect, as if they had been issued and done under the previous express authority and direction of the Congress of the United States.

mands, and also declaring that the only object of the search is to ascertain whether the vessel is employed in the African slave trade, or is fitted up for the said trade. When the search is made by an officer of the cruiser who is not the commander, such officer shall exhibit to the captain of the merchant vessel a copy of the before-mentioned special instructions, signed by the commander of the cruiser; and he shall in like manner deliver a certificate signed by himself, stating his rank in the navy, the name of the commander by whose orders he proceeds to make the search, that of the cruiser in which he sails, and the object of the In SENATE, the bill passed-yeas 33, nays 5, search, as above described. If it appears from the search that the papers of the vessel are in regular order, and that as follows: it is employed on lawful objects, the officer shall enter in YEAS-Messrs. Anthony, Baker, Browning, Carlile, the log-book of the vessel that the search has been made in

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