House committee assented to it. The House amendment was then modified so as to read, "That all ablebodied male colored persons between the ages of twenty and forty-five years, whether citizens or not, resident in the United States, shall be enrolled according to the provisions of this act, and of the act to which this is an amendment, and form part of the national forces; and, when a slave of a loyal master shall be drafted and mustered into the service of the United States, his master shall have a certificate thereof; and thereupon such slave shall be free; and the bounty of a hundred dollars, now payable by law for each drafted man, shall be paid to the person to whom such drafted person was owing service or labor at the time of his muster into the service of the United States. The Secretary of War shall appoint a commission in each of the slave States represented in Congress, charged to award, to each loyal person to whom a colored volunteer may Owe service, a just compensation, not exceeding three hundred dollars, for each such colored volunteer, payable out of the fund derived from commutation; and every such colored volunteer, on being mustered into the service, shall be free."

The report of the Conference Committee was agreed to; and it was enacted that every slave, whether a drafted man or a volunteer, shall be free on being mustered into the military service of the United States, not by the act of the master, but by the authority of the Federal Government.

224

CHAPTER XII.

AID TO THE STATES TO EMANCIPATE THEIR SLAVES.

MR. WILSON'S JOINT RESOLUTION. -HOUSE COMMITTEE ON EMANCIPATION. -MR. WHITE'S BILL. MR. WILSON'S RESOLUTION. MR. HENDERSON'S BILL.MR. NOELL'S BILL. — MR. WHITE'S REPORT. — REMARKS OF MR. CLEMENTS. MR. WICKLIFFE. MR. NOELL. PASSAGE OF THE BILL.HOUSE BILL REPORTED BY MR. TRUMBULL. REMARKS OF MR. HENDERSON. MR. WILSON'S AMENDMENT. REMARKS OF MR. FESSENDEN.— MR. TRUMBULL. - MR. FOSTER. MR. WILSON. MR. SHERMAN. MR. COWAN. MR. BAYARD. MR. CLARK. MR. LANE OF KANSAS. MR. MORRILL. — MR. WILSON'S AMENDMENT. — MR. GRIMES'S SPEECH. MR. KENNEDY'S SPEECH. MR. HARRIS'S REPORT. MR. WILSON OF MISSOURI. MR. WALL'S SPEECH.-MR. RICHARDSON'S AMENDMENT.MR. COLLAMER'S AMENDMENT. MR. SUMNER'S AMENDMENT. — REMARKS OF MR. POWELL. MR. SUMNER'S AMENDMENT. MR. SUMNER'S SPEECH. PASSAGE OF THE BILL AS AMENDED. MR. WHITE'S REPORT IN THE HOUSE. BILL REFERRED TO COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE.

IN

N the Senate, on the 7th of March, 1862, Mr. Wilson (Rep.) of Massachusetts asked leave to introduce a joint resolution to grant aid to the States of Maryland and Delaware to emancipate certain persons held to service or labor. It provided, that in case the States of Maryland and Delaware, within two years, shall enact that all persons held to service within those States shall be discharged from all claim to such service, and that neither slavery nor involuntary servitude shall thereafter exist in those States, the President may issue and deliver to those States the bonds of the United States, payable in twenty-five years, to an amount equal to two hundred and fifty dollars for each person so dis

charged and freed from service or labor. Mr. Saulsbury objected, and the resolution was not acted upon.

On the 10th, the Vice-President stated, that, "on Friday, the senator from Massachusetts (Mr. Wilson) sent to the chair a joint resolution, and it was objected to by the senator from Delaware (Mr. Saulsbury). It being a joint resolution, the objection of the senator from Delaware precluded its reception. It is now in order for the senator to renew it, if he chooses so to do." Mr. Wilson asked leave to introduce his joint resolution to grant aid to the States of Maryland and Delaware to emancipate their slaves. "I intend," said Mr. Saulsbury, "to object to the proposition in every stage, and fight it at every stage: I shall make all objections at all stages that I have a right to make." Mr. Wilson said he did not understand that it required unanimous consent, as he had given notice more than a week ago. The Vice-President stated that "the senator from Massachusetts did on Friday send to the chair the joint resolution, and the title was read. The chair rules that that was notice; and therefore the senator is entitled to ask leave to introduce his resolution to-day, under the notice already given." Leave was granted to Mr. Wilson to introduce his joint resolution; and it was read, and passed to a second reading.

In the House, on the 7th of April, 1862, Mr. White (Rep.) of Indiana introduced a resolution for the appointment of a select committee of nine members — the chairman and a majority of whom shall be members from the States of Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Missouri-to inquire and report whether any plan can be prepared and recommended for

the gradual emancipation of all the African slaves and the extinction of slavery in those States by the people or local authorities. Mr. Roscoe Conkling (Rep.) of New York suggested the modification of the resolution, so as not to restrict the chair in the appointment of the committee; and Mr. White so modified his resolution. Mr. Mallory (Dem.) of Kentucky denounced the resolution as "an unconstitutional absurdity," and moved that it be laid on the table. Mr. Cox (Dem.) of Ohio demanded the yeas and nays on Mr. Mallory's motion, and they were taken, yeas 51, nays 68. Mr. Vallandigham called for the yeas and nays on the passage of the resolution,-yeas 67, nays 52: so the resolution was passed. On the 14th of April, the Speaker announced as the select committee on the subject of gradual emancipation in the slaveholding States,Messrs. Albert S. White of Indiana, Francis P. Blair of Missouri, George P. Fisher of Delaware, William E. Lehman of Pennsylvania, C. L. L. Leary of Maryland, K. V. Whaley of Virginia, James F. Wilson of Iowa, Samuel L. Casey of Kentucky, and Andrew J. Clements of Tennessee.

On the 16th of July, Mr. White, from the Select Committee on Emancipation, reported a bill granting the aid of the United States to certain States, upon the adoption by them of a system of emancipation, and to provide for the colonization of free negroes, accompanied by a report. The bill provided, that whenever the President shall be satisfied that any one of the States of Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, or Missouri, shall have emancipated the slaves therein, it shall be the duty of the President

to deliver to such State an amount of bonds of the United States, payable at thirty years, equal to the aggregate value of all slaves within such State at the rate of three hundred dollars for each slave,the whole amount for any one State to be delivered at once if the emancipation shall be immediate, or in ratable instalments if it shall be gradual; that no State shall make any compensation to the owner of any slave who shall be proved to have willingly engaged in or in any manner aided the present Rebellion. Mr. White, by unanimous consent, explained the action of the committee. "I will only add," he said, that this measure has passed the committee with great unanimity; the slight dissent of any member being more to detail than to principle. It is addressed, not to the politician of an hour, but to historic men, conscious of the peril of their country, who know that great sacrifices must be made to save it, and look upon this as the most hopeful, as it will be the noblest, in its results." The bill was ordered to be printed, and referred to the Committee of the Whole on the State of the Union.

In the Senate, on the 8th of December, 1862, Mr. Wilson of Massachusetts introduced a resolution, instructing the Committee on Military Affairs to consider the expediency of providing by law for more effectually suppressing the Rebellion and securing domestic tranquillity in the State of Missouri. On the 19th, Mr. Henderson (Union) of Missouri introduced a bill granting aid to that State to emancipate the slaves therein; which was referred to the Judiciary Committee.

In the House, on the 15th, Mr. Noell (Union) of Missouri introduced a bill to secure the abolishment