regard to the policy of imposing a tax upon cotton. It will be remembered, sir, at that time cotton was bringing in market from forty to fifty cents per pound, and had brought that price for at least a year prior to that time. It will be remembered further that it had then the command of the English market; that American cotton was consumed in England to an extent of not less than eighty per cent. of the whole consumption in Great Britain. It was regarded at that time, under all these circumstances, as an interest which could well stand the imposition of a tax of two and a half or three cents per pound. I took the ground upon the floor, differing from the distinguished gentleman from Massachusetts, and from what I considered the best authority, I claimed at a shilling sterling the American cotton would control the market in England and be the cotton of cheap consumption. Now, Mr. Speaker, the condition of things has changed entirely. Cotton, instead of being an exception to the products of the soil which could stand taxation, is really the one exception against imposition; that is to say, there is no product of the soil which to-day will not bear a direct tax better than the article of cotton. And now, sir, instead of supplying eighty per cent. of the whole consumption in England, it has been reduced to forty per cent. According to the able report of Mr. Wells, the special commissioner, it was reduced eight per cent. in 1864. It is evident, at the present rate, cotton cannot be produced except at a loss, and considering that fact and the fact of the importance of that product to this country, there can be no difference in this House, I think, as to the policy of removing that tax. I beg to assure my colleague (Mr. Brooks) that the motive at the time was not to punish the South. Congress was then engaged in searching out avenues by which it could fill its Treasury. As I said before, at the price cotton then brought it could well bear a tax of two and a half cents per pound. I believe there was no member of the Thirtyeighth or Thirty-ninth Congress who was animated at all by a desire to punish the South in imposing that tax." Mr. McCarthy, of New York, said: “The retention of this tax does in a measure protect the wool-growers; and, while furnishing $20,000,000 of revenue to the Government, also adds so much to the cost of manufacturing in Europe, and operates as a protection here at home. I am not prepared to criticise the motives of those who advocate this measure; but an examination will prove that it will benefit not so much the cotton-grower as the dealer, the shipper, and the British manufacturer. How far these interests are to have special favors time may tell. Before this $20,000,000 of revenue is taken off, I want to know how it is to be replaced. Is the remission of this tax to impose additional burdens upon other interests that are equally a necessity and are equally suffering (to which I object), or is the deficiency of revenue to be made up by economy and retrenchment? Common justice demands that all the necessary interests of our country should share the burdens of taxation equally. I claim that the Committee of Ways and Means should hold this question in abeyance until they can show how this deficit of $20,000,000 is to be made good." After a brief debate the bill was ordered to be engrossed, read the third time, and passed, by the following vote: YEAS-Messrs. Adams, Allison, Ames, Anderson, Archer, Arnell, Delos R. Ashley, James M. Ashley, Bailey, Baker, Baldwin, Barnes, Barnum, Beaman, Beck, Bingham, Blaine, Blair, Boutwell, Boyer, Bromwell, Brooks, Broomall, Buckland, Burr, Cake, Cary, Chanler, Churchill, Reader W. Clarke, Sidney Clarke, Cobb, Coburn, Cook, Cullom, Dawes, Dodge, Donnelly, Driggs, Eckley, Eggleston, Eldridge, Eliot, Farnsworth, Ferry, Fields, Garfield, Getz, Glossbrenner, Gravely, Griswold, Grover, Haight, Halsey, HamHotchkiss, Chester D. Hubbard, Richard D. Hubilton, Hawkins, Hill, Holman, Hooper, Hopkins, bard, Hulburd, Humphrey, Hunter, Ingersoll, Johnson, Jones, Judd, Julian, Kelley, Kerr, Ketcham, Knott, Koontz, Laflin, George V. Lawrence, William Lawrence, Lincoln, Logan, Loughridge, Mallory, Moore, Moorhead, Morgan, Morrell, Mullins, MunMarshall, Marvin, Maynard, McClurg, McCullough, gen, Myers, Newcomb, Niblack, Nicholson, Nunn, O'Neill, Orth, Payne, Perham, Peters, Phelps, Pile, Plants, Polsley, Price, Pruyn, Randall, Robertson, Smith, Spalding, Stewart, Stokes, Stone, Taber, TayRobinson, Ross, Sawyer, Schenck, Shanks, Sitgreaves, lor, Thomas, Trimble, Trowbridge, Upson, Van Aernam, Van Auken, Robert T. Van Horn, Van Trump, Van Wyck, Cadwalader C. Washburn, Elihu B. WashWelker, Thomas Williams, William Williams, James burne, Henry D. Washburn, William B. Washburn, F. Wilson, John T. Wilson, Stephen F. Wilson, Windom, and Woodward-146. NAYS-Messrs. Benjamin, Benton, Butler, Cornell, Covode, Ela, Ferriss, Harding, Higby, Jenckes, Kelsey, Lynch, McCarthy, Miller, Pike, Poland, Starkweather, Aaron F. Stevens, Thaddeus Stevens, and Ward-20. NOT VOTING-Messrs. Axtell, Banks, Dixon, Finney, Fox, Asahel W. Hubbard, Kitchen, Loan, Mercur, Morrissey, Pomeroy, Raum, Scofield, Selye, Shelbarger, Taffe, Twichell, Burt Van Horn, Wood, and Woodbridge-20. In the Senate, on December 13th, the bill was taken up. Mr. Sherman, of Ohio, said: "It is scarcely necessary for me to explain the necessity or the reasons for this bill, because those reasons are matters of public notoriety known to most Senators. We have an official report from the special commissioner of revenue, Mr. Wells, strongly urging it, and setting forth very cogently the reasons why the tax should be repealed. He recommends its repeal not only for the next year, but for the present year. The bill comes to us from the House of Representatives in its present form, and does not affect the tax on cotton grown during the present year, but only applies to the future crop. As preparations are now being made all over the South for the next year's crop, it is important that the action of Congress on this subject should be definitely fixed before any adjournment for the holidays. It is urged by many persons in the South, some of whom are here, that the planters should know now, before the holidays, whether or not it is advisable for them to proceed to raise cotton next year or other crops, as during the holidays, or at the beginning of the new year, they make their contracts with their hands with a view to the labor to be employed during the year. I hope, therefore, the subject will be acted upon. "If Senators desire any further information, I have official documents here, and quite a number of letters on the subject, showing the absolute importance of repealing this tax. The price of cotton has now gone so low, that it is said that even without the tax it will not pay the expense of raising it. I have letters from gentlemen for whom I can vouch, who removed from the State of Ohio and went South, and who have done all they could to develop that region of country by the raising of cotton, who say, that at present prices there is an actual loss of money with the utmost care on their part, and if they are compelled to pay the tax, even for the present year, they will be ruined in some cases. As, however, the House bill does not propose to relieve them from the tax for the present year, the Committee on Finance thought it was scarcely worth while to propose to amend the proposition, as there would probably be great division of opinion upon it here, and there had been a vote already taken on it in the other House. The committee, therefore, reported the bill without amendment." Mr. Morrill, of Vermont, said: "In this instance I do not coincide with the action either of the House of Representatives or of the Finance Committee. I think it would be much wiser, and it would be a greater relief to the South, to take the tax off manufactured cotton rather than off the raw material. There are quite a number of facts and statistics which, without occupying a great deal of time, I should like to submit to the Senate when the bill comes up for action." Mr. Pomeroy, of Kansas, said: "I am confident, as I have always been, that this tax discourages production. I have many acquaintances in the South, and I am sure that you cannot get Northern men to go down there and raise cotton while this tax is imposed, and if they cannot raise it I do not suppose any will be raised. I am anxious to come to a vote and strike off the tax. I think, however, it might act injuriously to strike it off from the present crop, because that has got out of the hands of the producers to a great extent, and is in the hands, if not of speculators, of merchants who did not produce it. They have bought it with the tax paid, and I do not think we should interfere with their arrangements. I do not like laws that are retrospective. Let this repeal be prospective and apply only to the crop raised hereafter. If applying it to this year's crop would relieve the producers, I should not object; but it is beyond that now, it is too late for them; we cannot relieve them. We cannot relieve the men who raised the cotton and lost money in doing it. It has got into other hands." On December 20th the bill was further considered. Mr. Sherman, of Ohio, said: "This is not, and cannot be considered, a political question, and it ought not to be affected by political considerations. We claim to be Senators of the United States of America, and we are bound to do that which we would do if all these States were represented by two Senators each on this floor. Would they possibly elect a Senator from any of these Southern States, whether white or black, loyal or rebel, who would not demand as the first act of his official life the repeal of this obnoxious cotton tax? We know that they would demand it, and we should feel a sense of justice that would impel us to grant, at least to a reasonable extent, some relief from this oppressive tax. There is no doubt that if these States were represented here by twenty Senators, this question could not rest in doubt for a moment. The House of Representatives felt the weight of this subject upon them, and promptly, by a very large vote-" Mr. Morton: "And without debate." Mr. Sherman: "And without debate felt bound to relieve this suffering interest by prompt and decided action. The same feeling prevailed in the Committee on Finance. We had representations made to us which, if I should read them to this Senate, would move them; it would be impossible for them not to feel the force of these statements as to the condition of the people of the Southern States. Look at it. Now, when their staple is brought into market, one-fourth of all their production is taken by the tax-gatherer; and not only that, but there are very severe and onerous regulations which require them to bring their cotton to one place in a congressional district, making difficulties and delay, and then one-fourth of their product is taken to pay the tax when the other three-fourths will not pay more than onehalf of the expense of raising the raw cotton. This was not foreseen when we laid this tax. I voted for the first cotton tax. Then it was a tax of five per cent. Last year the Senate, by a very decided vote, reduced the tax to one cent a pound; and, probably, if it had been left at that there would have been no serious complaint, no demand for immediate action, and we should have collected the one cent per pound without great suffering in the South. But when we impose a tax of two and a half cents per pound, thus taking from the producer of the cotton one-fourth of all his labor, and leaving the rest, totally insufficient to furnish him the necessaries of life, I say it makes a case of oppression which the Senate of the United States ought promptly to relieve." Mr. Morrill, of Vermont, said: "There is one point which has been referred to in the course of this debate, to which I desire to allude, and that is in regard to the injustice of allowing a drawback on the manufacture of cotton. If we could manufacture the whole of this cotton in this country, as it seems to me we could by the continuance of that policy, would there be any man in the United States unwilling to yield up the amount of the entire tax for the sake of the great gains, and profits, and benefits resulting to this country in employing so large a share of labor in turning that cotton into manufactures, and sending it abroad doubled in value? Is there any objection to doubling the value of the exports of the South? Why should we be unwilling to allow these people an opportunity to double their exports? I think it can be done. We allow the drawback on the manufactured article in order to find a foreign market and to keep our people at work. Do we not allow it in all other instances of manufacture? If foreigners thereby get our cotton manufactures at cheaper rates than our own people, do they not get whiskey, tobacco, and petroleum, also cheaper? ard, Howe, Morrill of Vermont, Pomeroy, Ramsey, The House having refused to assent to the amendments of the Senate, and the latter having declined to recede, a committee of conference was appointed on January 20th. In the Senate, on January 22d, Mr. Sherman, of Ohio, from the committee of conference on the cotton-tax bill, reported that they were unable to agree. He said: "The House of Representatives have asked for another committee of conference. The Senate conferees were not prepared to abandon the position taken by the Senate; and now, in order to relieve us from the difficulty in which we are placed, I will move that the Senate agree to the further conference asked by the House of Representatives, and that the Senate conferees be instructed to recede from the Senate amendments, with some provision allowing imported cotton to be admitted duty free. I will make this motion with a view to relieve the difficulty that exists between the two Houses on the cotton-tax bill. It should be remembered by Senators that the House passed a bill repealing or suspending indefinitely the cotton tax. The Senate amended the bill so as to suspend the tax for a year simply. The House conferees, in the free conference which we had, refused to agree to that amendment, and as things now stand the bill will be lost unless some arrangement is made by which a concurrence may be brought about. For the purpose of doing that I move that we agree to the new conference, and that the second committee of conference on the part of the Senate be instructed to recede from the Senate amendments, with some provision, which the House, I understand, are willing to agree to, that imported cotton shall be admitted duty free, so as to restore the state of the law to the precise I make that condition it was before the war. motion." Mr. Conkling, of New York, said: I think it On motion of Mr. Drake, of Missouri, the fair, before the Senate votes upon this propofollowing amendment was concurred in: "We had up early a kindred subject, about which, I think, we made a sad mistake, and that was the subject of petroleum. We first levied a duty on the crude petroleum and then on the refined; and we allowed a drawback in both instances. In my judgment it was a great, mistake. We have a monopoly of that article. If we had levied a duty upon the crude article, and also on the manufactured, and allowed a draw back on the manufactured article the same as we do upon cotton, we should have largely increased our revenues; and we should have benefited our own country, because we should have allowed our own people to refine all that is now consumed abroad, and the quantity is immense." Mr. Conkling, of New York, moved to amend, so that the bill should read as follows: That all raw cotton grown in the United States during the year 1868 shall be exempt from internal tax. This was agreed to-yeas 24, nays 20. sition, that it should know one fact in reference to the management of the question in the conference committee. I will venture to state so much of what transpired in committee as this: the managers on the part of the Senate did not stand simply upon the vote of the Senate in what they proposed, but the sense of the managers on the part of the House was taken upon a proposition suspending the tax, in accordance with the vote of the Senate, for a year, and reducing it largely for the future if it should continue. That proposition was rejected, and the managers on the part of the House stood simply, first and last, upon the bill as passed by the House. As the honorable Senator from Ohio (Mr. Sherman) has said, there was no contrariety of opinion in reference to the provision of the Senate amend ments touching the import duty upon foreign cotton; but, as to the subject-matter which the conference really met to dispose of, there was no proposition on the part of the managers of the House, except that we should accept the House bill precisely as it stood. In that view of the case, and regardless of the private convictions of the managers on the part of the Senate, it was thought that we were not at liberty to part with the whole question, and sacrifice the position which had been taken by the Senate twice, upon a vote by the yeas and nays, by a decided majority; and, indeed, a third time, by ordering the conference." The motion was agreed to. On the 23d the committee of conference reported, and recommended that the Senate recede from their amendment to the bill, and agree to the same with an amendment as follows: Add to the bill the words, "And cotton, imported from foreign countries, on and after July 1, 1868, shall be exempt from duty.” The report was concurred in by the Senate, but rejected by the House. The Senate, on January 28th, resolved to insist, and agreed to a further conference, to which the House also agreed. On January 30th, the committee made the same report as the previous one, excepting the date of importation, which was changed to November 1st. The report was concurred in by the Senate and House. Many measures of less importance than those discussed in the preceding pages, received the attention of Congress, among which were some that became laws. The reduction of the currency, by retiring or cancelling United States notes, was suspended. Eight hours was declared to constitute a day's work for all laborers, workmen, and mechanics, in the employ of the Government. By an opinion of Attorney - General Evarts, subsequently expressed, a correspondent reduction of wages was not inconsistent with the provision of the act. In case of a vacancy in the office of Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, the senior Associate Justice is directed to discharge the duties until the vacancy is filled. The Commissioner of the Freedmen's Bureau was requested, on January 1, 1869, to cause the Bureau to be withdrawn from the several States within which it has acted. The educational department of the Bureau, and the collection and payment of money due to soldiers, was continued. The right of expatriation was declared, and that all naturalized citizens while in foreign states shall receive from the Federal Government the same protection of person and property that is accorded to native-born citizens in like situations and circumstances; and that, when any citizen of the United States has been unjustly deprived of his liberty by any foreign government, it shall be the duty of the President to demand of that government the reasons for such imprisonment; and, if it appears to be wrongful and in violation of the rights of American citizenship, the President shall demand the release of such citizen, and, if the release is unreasonably delayed or refused, it shall be the duty of the President to use such means, not amounting to acts of war, as he may think necessary to obtain such release. It was provided that, whenever any person engaged in the late resistance to the authority of the United States, from whom all legal disabilities had been removed by an act of Congress, by a vote of two-thirds of each House, should be elected to any office under the Federal Government, he should take the following oath, or affirmation: "I, A. B., do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God." The session of Congress was concluded in August, so far as relates to the transaction of business, and that body adjourned subject to a call of a special committee, to meet, if it appeared to such committee to be expedient, either in September or November; otherwise the adjournment was to continue until the day of a new session in December. No subsequent session was held. CONNECTICUT. The movement of politi cal parties preparatory to the State election, which is held early in April, commenced soon after the beginning of the year. The Republican State Convention assembled in Hartford on January 15th, and nominated Marshall Jewell for Governor, and adopted the following series of resolutions: Resolved, That it is the highest duty of our Government to maintain the integrity of the Union, and izen; and we do cordially approve the determination to protect to the fullest extent the rights of the cit of Congress so to guard the interests of the nation in the reconstruction of the States recently in rebellion, as to secure permanent union and enduring peace on the basis of justice, freedom, and equal rights to every citizen of the Republic. Resolved, That in all public expenditures, both State and national, the most rigid economy should be observed, and that, in collecting the necessary revenue industry of the country, engaged in producing staple to meet the current expenses of the Government, the and necessary commodities, should be left unembarrassed, and all industrial products of prime necessity should, as far as practicable, be exempt, and all less burdensome to the people: and all the burdens taxes should be levied on luxuries and other sources and taxes, both State and national, should be so adjusted as to bear equally and justly on all. Resolved, That the national faith, pledged for the redemption of the public debt, must be kept inviolate, clare that the national debt, created to save the naand we denounce repudiation in every form; and detion, must be fully paid in good faith and according to its tenor. Resolved, That our Government, recognizing no distinction between native-born and adopted citizens, should demand of other nations the immediate and unconditional release of all citizens of the United States illegally held in military service, or in custody for pretended political offences not committed on their soil; and it is the duty of the Government to enforce that demand, if necessary, with all the power of the nation. Resolved, That the thanks of the American people are due to the Union soldiers who perilled their lives in defence of their country and in vindication of the honor of its flag; that the nation owes to them, and to the widows and orphan children of those who fell in battle, adequate aid and protection, and that the memories of those who have fallen in its defence shall be held in grateful and everlasting remembrance. Resolved, That, on behalf of the loyal people of Connecticut, we do hereby present as our and their first choice for next President of the United States, General Ulysses S. Grant; that we recognize in him not only the gallant soldier, who led our armies to victory and maintained the Union in its integrity, but also the wise statesman, true to the interests of the people, daily striving to reduce the public expenditure, more solicitous for the permanent prosperity of the country than for personal or party success, while at the same time he stands pledged, by his recorded sentiments and historic deeds, to secure and maintain on enduring foundations the principles of the loyal men of the nation who sustained the Government and honor of our flag against treason and armed rebellion. The Democratic State Convention assembled at New Haven on January 29th, and nominated James E. English for Governor; Ephraim H. Hyde, for Lieut.-Governor; Leverett E. Pease, for Secretary of State; Edward S. Mosely, Treasurer; and Jesse Olney, Comptroller. The following resolutions were then adopted as expressive of the views of the party : Resolved, That the present so-called Congress, consisting for the most part of men who have perverted the very objects of a Federal Legislature, by refusing representation to ten of the States of the Union, is, by reason of its existence in its present form, a revolutionary body, whose usurpation challenges the opposition of every constitution-loving citizen. Resolved, That this assemblage have usurped the authority of the Executive, and so have broken down the balance of power established by the fathers. They are now planning to rob the Judiciary of its powers, in order that it may be prevented from deciding in favor of the Constitution; they have deprived the legislative body of its own integrity, by so reducing its numbers as to enable the usurping remainder to carry out their destructive plans; they have denied the sovereign power of all the States, by placing a portion of them under military despotism; they have erected a number of new offices and sent to a portion of the republic a swarm of officers to harass the people, and they are now loading with taxes the citizens of the North for the purpose of enslaving their brethren of the South; they have in many instances abolished the right of trial by jury and the right of habeas corpus, and by military force have overthrown the civil power and deprived our people of their liberties; they have made war on the Constitution, on every department of the Government, on the States, and on the people, and have enslaved the white man in order to give the ballot to the negro. Resolved, That the continued and increasing wickedness and usurpation of this fractional Congress have aroused a popular indignation so just, so deep, and so universal, that the doom of the tyrants is already written, and the prophecy of their destruction is sure to be accomplished at the ballot-box. Resolved, That the unconstitutional legislation which we denounce, while it is established for the Resolved, That we are in favor of redeeming all our pecuniary obligations and of paying the public debt in the manner provided by law, and that we therefore feel the necessity of reducing a system of taxation more onerous than that of England or France, and organized in part for the destruction of State sovereignty. The Democratic party are not in favor of repudiating either the debt or the Constitution of the country, and would therefore reduce the taxes as well as restore the liberties of the people. Resolved, That the Democratic party are the friends of equal taxation, and will use all constitutional means to accomplish this desirable result. Resolved, That the rights of our naturalized citizens, while sojourning in foreign countries, should be defended and maintained against every violation with all the power of the Federal Government; and that, in the language of Governor English, "the Government should indicate in unmistakable terms its purpose to respect the rights of all citizens alike." Resolved, That we are opposed to forcing negro suffrage on other States, or to establishing it in our own. We are opposed to the first, because we have no right to interfere with the domestic affairs of other sovereignties; we are opposed to the second, because the introduction of this inferior clement would only lead to demoralization. Resolved, That all experience has shown the evil consequences and the futility of passing laws to abolish the social habits of the people; that such laws violate the liberty of private judgment, are essentially tyrannical, impossible to execute, and, so far as they are attempted to be enforced, increase the very evil they pretend to remove. Resolved, That, for his various vetoes and messages protesting against the illegal acts of a dismembered Congress, and nobly sustaining the organic law of the Republic, Andrew Johnson both merits and receives the sincere thanks of the American people. all true patriots should unite their votes and influResolved, That in this crisis of the country, when with us in upholding the rights of the States and the ence, we cordially invite all conservative men to act integrity of the Republic. The election was held on the first Monday in April, with the following result: The whole vote for Governor was 99,325, of which James E. English received 50,541, and Marshall Jewell 48,777. 1,765. The Legislature, which was elected at The majority for English was the same time, was composed of 12 Republicans and 9 Democrats in the Senate, and 129 Republicans and 118 Democrats in the House. dential electors were subsequently held, and at The conventions for the nomination of presithe election in November the Republicans had a majority of votes. The whole vote given was 98,241, of which the Republican electors received 50,641, and the Democratic electors 47,600-Republican majority, 3,041. / The interest in the public schools of the State has been rapidly increasing, as indicated by the amount contributed to their support. This had increased, during the year previous, from $704,986 to $983,806, being more than a quarter of a million of dollars. During the past three years, the amount raised in the State for school purposes has more than doubled. In consequence of the action of the Legislature in withholding any funds from the |
