Today in History:

116 Series IV Volume I- Serial 127 - Correspondence, Orders, Reports and Returns of the Confederate Authorities, December 20, 1860 – June 30, 1862

Page 116 CORRESPONDENCE, ETC.

and if the proposition thus to surrender them shall not be accepted, it is then made the duty of the President to cause said negroes to be sold at public outcry to the highest bidder in any one of the States where such sale shall not be inconsistent with the laws thereof. This provision seems to me to be in opposition to the policy declared in the Constitution-the prohibition of the importation of African negroes- and in derogation of its mandate to legislate for the effectuation of that object. Wherefore the bill is returned to you for your further consideration, and, together with the objections, most respectfully submitted. *

JEFF'N DAVIS.

AN ACT to raise money for the support of the Government and to provide for the defense of the Confederate States of America.

The Congress of the Confederate States of America do enact, That the President of the Confederate States be, and he is hereby, authorized, at any time within twelve months after the passage of this act, to borrow, on the credit of the Confederate States, a sum not exceeding $15,000,000, or so much thereof as in his opinion the exigencies of the public service may require, to be applied to the payment of appropriations made by law for the support of the Government and for the defenses of the Confederate States.

SEC. 2. The Secretary of the Treasury is hereby authorized, by the consent of the President of the Confederate States, to cause to be prepared certificates of stock or bonds, in such sums as are hereinafter mentioned, for the amount to be borrowed as aforesaid, to be signed by the Register of the Treasury and sealed with the seal of the Treasury; and the said certificates of stock or bonds shall be made payable at the expiration of ten years from the first day of September next; and the interest thereon shall be paid semi-annually a the rate of 8 per cent. per annum at the Treasury and such other place as the Secretary of the Treasury may designate. And to the bonds which shall be issued as aforesaid shall be attached coupons for the semi-annual interest which shall accrue, which coupons may be signed by officers to be appointed for the purpose by the Secretary of the Treasury. And the faith of the Confederate States is hereby pledged for the due payment of the principal and interest of the said stock and bonds.

SEC. 3. At the expiration of five years from the first day of September next the Confederate States may pay up any portion of the bonds or stocks, upon giving three months' previous public notice, at the seat of government, of the particular stocks or bonds to be paid, and the time and place of payment; and from and after the time so appointed no further interest shall be paid on said stock or bonds.

SEC. 4. The certificates of stock and bonds shall be issued in such form and for such amounts as may be determined by the Secretary of

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*The Journal of the Confederate Congress shows that this veto was sustained. The question was, Shall the bill pass, notwithstanding the President's objections?

Yeas-Messrs. Curry and Chilton, of Alabama; Morton and Owens, of Florida; Toombs, H. Cobb, T. R. R. Cobb, Bartow, Nisbet, and Kenan, of Georgia; Rhett, Barnwell, Keitt, and Miles, of South Carolina; Ochiltree, of Texas-15.

Nays-Messrs, Smith, Hales, Shorter, and Fearn, of Alabama; Wright and Stephens, of Georgia; De Clouet, Conrad, Kenner, Sparrow, and Marshall, of Louisiana; Harris, Brooke, Wilson, Clayton, Barry, and Harrison, of Mississippi; Chesnut; Withers, and Boyce, of South Carolina; Reagan, Waul, Gregg, and Oldham, of Texas-24.

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Page 116 CORRESPONDENCE, ETC.