Viewing page 16 of 53
This transcription has been completed. Contact us with corrections.
THE ARMY BILL. The House proceeded to the consideration of the Army bill, beginning at the 27th sections. On motion of Mr. SCHENCK, (rep.) of Ohio, that section was annulled by a substitute as follows:- SECTION27. In all staff corps, and among the officers of the line above the grade of captain, one-third of the promotions may be made on the ground of merit alone, and without regard to seniority in the date of appointment of commission. On motion of Mr. WILSON, (rep.) of Iowa, the following proviso was added to the twenty-seventh section:- Provided that in applying the rule of promotion, no distinction shall be made between officers of regiments composed of colored men and those composed of white men, but the promotion shall be by interchange, equally open to all said officers. The twenty-eighth section was passed over informally in order to have a substitute for it prepared. Subsequently the following was agreed to as a substitute:- SECTION 28. That whenever an officer of the staff is of the line shall be deemed better fitted for of likely to be more efficient in the performance of his duties in some other corps or arm of the military service than the particular corps or arm in which he may be, the President is authorized to transfer him to some other staff, corps, or arm of the military service; but an officer on being so transferred shall only take such rank in the staff or corps in which he is placed as he held by commission in the staff or line before his transfer. Very few, and those immaterial, amendments were made to the succeeding sections of the bill which, as agreed to, are as follows:- SECTION 29. That the Superintendent of the United States Military Academy may hereafter be selected and the officers on duty at that institution detailed from any arm of the service; and the supervision and charge of the academy shall be in the War Department under such officer or officers as the Secretary of War may assign to that duty. The chaplain at the United States Military Academy shall no longer be required to act also as a professor; but a professor of English literature, geography, history and ethics shall be appointed for that institution to be on the same footing and to be paid the same compensation as other professors of the Academy. SEC. 30. That no officer of the army, in time of peace, shall be dismissed the service unless in accordance with the provisions of this or by sentence of a court martial duly approved. SEC 31. That immediately after the passage of this act the President of the United States shall convene a council of officers, to assemble at Washington city, which council shall be composed of three general officers of the army, three officers of infantry, two officers of artillery, two officers of the cavalry, two officers of the Medical Department, one officer of the Adjutant General's Department, one officer of the engineers, one officer of ordinance, one officer of the Quartermaster's Department, one officer of the Subsistence Department, one officer of the Inspector General's Department and on officer of the Pay Department, all to be selected for their high character for intelligence, discretion, justice, patriotism and professional ability, and who, being thus selected, shall be retained on the army list. It shall be the duty of this council to inquire into and consider the capacity, character, record of services and fitness to be continued in the military service of every officer below the grade of brigadier general who may be in the army at the time of the passage of this bill; and with a view to this they shall be furnished with all information, papers, records and other documentary evidence they may require from the War Department. As they proceed with this investigation, they shall from time to time make written report of their conclusion in each case to the Secretary of War. When the report of a majority of the council is not adverse in the case of any officer, he shall thereupon be immediately marked on the army list to be retained in the service in the position or rank which he is then holding, of which due notice shall be given in general orders; but if the majority of the council report that in their opinion and for reasons which they shall assign, the case of any officer ought to be inquired into, he shall thereupon be summoned by order to appear before a board, to consist of three general officers or officers of his corps and arm of the service senior to him in rank, to undergo further examination on such investigations besides other inquiry as to his capacity and qualifications, mental, moral and physical; the officer shall be allowed, if the case requires it, full and reasonable opportunity for explanation and defence, and may produce witnesses and other testimony meet any objections or charges made against him. If the Board thereupon report that he is not qualified to remain in the army for reasons other than any which involve bad moral character, he shall be placed on the retired list as is provided in other cases for the retirement of army officers and on the same conditions; but if he is found unfit for service on account of moral disqualifications, he shall at once be dropped from the rolls of the army; and in making such investigations into the fitness of officers to be retained in the service, the said military council and such boards as may at any time be appointed and organized under the provisions of this section shall take into account the cases of any who may have been employed in no active duty in the field during any part of the late war, and shall inquire specially into their reasons for not being so employed. Any officer whose absence from active field service during the war shall be decided by a board of examiners, after full hearing, to have been on account of his sympathy with the rebellion, or his unwillingness to serve actively against the so-called Confederate State, or any particular State or the people of any State engaged in rebellion, shall be reported the same as if found morally disqualified for service. SEC. 32. That no officer of the army below the rank of colonel shall hereafter be promoted to a higher grade before having passed a satisfactory examination as to his fitness for promotion, and record of past services, before a board of three general officers, or officers of his corps or arm of service who served in grades at least equal to his own during the late war for the suppression of the rebellion; and should the officer fail at said examination he shall be suspended from promotion for one year, when, if he still desires promotion, he shall, upon application, be re-examined, and upon a second failure shall be dropped from the rolls of the army. Provided, that if any officer be found unfit for promotion on account of moral disqualifications, he shall not be entitled to a re-examination. SEC. 33. That no person shall be appointed in the line or in any staff corps of the army until he shall have passed a satisfactory examination before a board to be convened under direction of the Secretary of War, which shall inquire into and take account of the services rendered during the late war, as well as the capacity and qualifications otherwise of the applicant; and such appointment when made shall be without regard to previous rank, but with sole regard to qualifications and meritorious services. SEC. 34. That for the purpose of promoting knowledge of military science among the young men of the United States, the President, upon the application of an established college or university within the United States, with sufficient capacity to educate at one time not less than one hundred and fifty male students, shall detail an officer of the army to act as president, superintendent, or professor of such college or university; that number of officers so detailed shall not exceed twenty at any time, and shall be appointed through the United States, as nearly as practicable, according to population, and shall be governed by general rules, to be prescribed from time to time by the President. SEC.35. That whenever troops are serving at any post, garrison or permanent camp, there shall be established a school where all enlisted men may be provided with instruction in the common English branches of education, and especially in the history of the United States; and the Secretary of War is authorized and directed to detail such commissioned and non-commissioned officers as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of this section. SEC 36. That any person applying for a commission under the authority of this act, and having permission to appear before a board of examiners, shall be entitles, in case of passing the examination, and being appointed or commissioned, to receive mileage from the place of his residence to the place of examination, or such portion of that distance as he may actually travel the same to be paid to officers traveling under orders, but shall be paid no other compensation. SEC. 37. That, in [?] this bill, officers who have [?] been appointed and commissioned to serve with the United States colored troops shall be deemed and held to be officers of volunteers. SEC. 38. That officers of the regular army who have also held commissions as officers of volunteers shall not on that account be held to be volunteers under the provisions of this act. SEC. 39. That nothing in this act shall be construed to authorize or permit the appointment to any position or office in the army of the United States of any person who has served in any capacity in the civil, military or naval service of the so-called Confederate States, or of either of the States in insurrection during the late rebellion, or otherwise in aid of the rebellion; but any such appointment shall be held illegal and void. SEC. 40. That all leaders of bands of music in the United States army, who now have the pay of second lieutenants, shall be styled "bandmasters," with the privilege of wearing the shoulder straps of a second lieutenant with a lyre thereon to indicate their position; provided, that nothing herein contained shall add to the rank, pay, or emoluments of such bandmasters. SEC. 41. That nothing herein contained shall be construed as affecting existing laws respecting the rank, pay and allowances of chaplains of the army. SEC. 42. That nothing in this act shall be construed to affect in any way the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands as now established by law. SEC. 43. That the Secretary of War be and he is hereby directed to have prepared and report to Congress, at its next session, a code of regulations for the government of the army and the militia in actual service, which shall embrace all necessary orders and forms of a general character for the performance of all duties incumbent on officers and men in the military service, including rules for the government of courts martial, the existing regulations to remain in force until Congress shall have acted on said report. SEC. 44. That all laws and parts of laws inconsistent with the provision of this act be and the same are hereby repealed. On motion of MR. BLAINE, (rep.) of Me., the following was added as a new section, to come in after section thirty-nine:- That in all cases where a volunteer officer has been appointed in the regular army to the same rank or grade which he may have held in the volunteer forces, or to any lower rank or grade, his name shall be borne on the army register with the date of his volunteer appointment, and he shall take rank as with continuous service from such date. On motion of Mr. PAINE, the following was added as a new section, to come in after section forty-three:- That one chaplain may be appointed for each regiment of the colored troops at the discretion of the President, whose duties shall include the instruction of the enlisted men in the common branches of English education. On motion of Mr. BLAINE, the following was added as a new section:- That chaplains, when ordered from one field of duty to another, shall be entitled to transportation at the same rate as other officers. The bill was read the third time, and passed-yeas 72, nays 41. PAY OF THE MILITARY. The House then proceeded to the consideration of the bill to reduce and establish the pay of officers and to regulate the pay of soldiers in the army. Mr. DAVIS (N.Y.) addressed the House in opposition to the bill, and was followed on the same side by Mr. ROGERS (N.J.) Mr. ROUSSEAU (Ky.) took exception to some remarks of Mr. Rogers, which he considered too highly eulogistic of the officers of the Regular Army and correspondingly disparaging of the officers of the volunteer service. He denounced this as slander and misrepresentation which he could not hear anywhere without repelling. Mr. ROGERS asked the gentleman from Kentucky whether he was a graduate of West Point? Mr. ROUSSEAU replied that he was not. Mr. ROGERS intimated that that accounted for the position the gentleman took. Mr. ROUSSEAU said it was not necessary for him to have ever seen West Point to know the efficiency of the volunteer army. That volunteer army had put down the Rebellion, and would have done it if there had not been a West Pointer in the country. It would have done so as well without West Point as with it. Mr. ROGERS said, in an undertone, that he did not believe it. Mr. ROUSSEAU protested that it was not of the least importance to him what the gentleman from New-Jersey did or did not believe. He did not think that he (Rogers) knew enough to have any belief about it, or if he did, he certainly could not inform the House on the subject. Who were the officers who had drilled and trained the volunteer force? Not Regular officers, but officers of Volunteers. He had hoped that the gentleman from New-Jersey could have assailed the bill without assailing the volunteer force of the nation. As one of the volunteers he repelled the assault upon them, and if he was a West Pointer, he would repel it all the more strongly. Mr. SCHENCK (Ohio) took the floor. Mr. ROGERS asked leave to reply to Mr. Rousseau, but Mr. Schenck absolutely declined to yield. Mr. ROGERS, however, succeeded in making himself heard in a declaration that the gentleman (Rousseau) totally misrepresented him, and that the object was to place him (Rogers) before the country in a false position. Mr. SCHENCK insisted that he would not yield the floor to the gentleman from New-Jersey, and the speaker pro tempore (Orth) hammering lustily in order to induce Mr. Rogers to resume his seat. Mr. ROGERS appealed to Mr. Schenck to allow him three minutes for explanation. Mr. SCHENCK utterly refused to do so. Mr. ROGERS then declared in a loud voice, which the Speaker's hammer was unable to drown, that all he had got to say was that the charges against him were false. The discussion of the bill was continued by Messrs. Thayer, Dumont, and Schenck. The House then seconded the previous question, and proceeded to vote by yeas and nays on the passage of the bill. The bill was passed-Yeas 86, nays 39. The following are provisions of the bill as amended as passed: Be it enacted, That, from and after the 30th day of September next, instead of pay, allowances and emoluments of every kind, except as hereinafter provided, the following shall be the yearly compensation of all officers of the army of the United States, of the several grades respectively: Of a General, $15,000; of a Lieutenant-General, $10,000; of a Major-General, when commanding a geographical military division, embracing two or more departments, or of a separate army actually in the field and engaged in military operations, $7,000; when commanding a geographical military department or division in the field, $6,500; when on other duty, $6,000; or a Brigadier-General, when commanding a military department, army or division in the field, or on service as Chief of a Bureau, $5,500; when commanding a brigade, or on other duty, $5,000; of a Colonel, when commanding a brigade or military post, $3,500; when commanding a regiment, or on other duty, $3,000; of a Lieutenant-Colonel, when commanding a regiment or military post, $2,800; when on other duty, $2,600; of a major, $2,500; of a Captain, $2,000; of a First Lieutenant, $1,800. SEC. 2. That whenever an officer is on furlough, or on leave of absence for a period of more than 60 days, his pay shall be reduced 30 per centum below ordinary duty pay for such time as in excess over 60 days, except when such absence from duty is occasioned by sickness or wounds received while in the line of duty. SEC. 3. That in lieu of the additional ration which was al- JULY 10, 1866 THE ARMY BILL. Mr. WILSON desired to call up the Army bill. Mr. HOWS, (rep.) of Wis., hoped the Niagara Ship Canal bill could be taken up/ The Army bill was taken up. Mr. Saulsbury, (dem.) of Del., opposed the proposition to have a certain proportion of the army composed of colored soldiers. It would lead to strife, collision, and bloodshed. If the Secretary of War sent negro troops to Delaware to control the elections there, every man worth the name of a Delawarian would assist in driving them from the polls. He (Mr. Saulsbury) wished for peace and tranquillity [[tranquility]], and hence he urged that negroes should not be incorporated in the army. Mr. WADE, (rep.) of Ohio, moved to amend the amendment of the military committee by providing for four colored regiments instead of two. He said that experience had shown that colored troops made good soldiers and that they never deserted. In the late war the colored troops fought just as well as the white troops, and both fought well. Since the close of the war the white troops had deserted in large numbers, but the colored troops had stood faithfully by their posts. As to the prejudice against negro troops he did not believe in consulting the tastes of insurrectionists on that point. When the people needed troops among them, he (Mr. Wade) believed in sending just such troops as the government saw fit to send. Mr. LANE, (rep.) of Ind., favored the proposition to introduce colored troops. If it was a burden to serve in the army, the colored people ought to bear their share of it. If it was a privilege to do so the colored people ought not to be denied their share of it. Mr. WILSON suggested that Mr. Wade modify his amendment by making it three instead of four regiments of colored cavalry. Mr. WADE accepted the modification, and his amendment was agreed to by yeas 20, nays 9. Mr. HOWARD offered an amendment, which was agreed to, that officer of the regular army, entitled to be retired on account of disability occasioned by wounds received in battle, may be retired by the rank held by them, whether in the regular or volunteer service at the time such wounds were received. Mr. WILSON offered an amendment, to add to the seventeenth section a provision that the Secretary of War be authorized to appoint from enlisted men and cause to be enlisted as many hospital stewards as the service may require, to be permanently attached to the Medical Department of the army, &c. This was disagreed to. Mr. SAULSBURY moved to strike out from the fourth section of the bill, after the words, "five regiments of ten companies each," the words "of colored men, to be designated as United States Colored Troops." This was disagreed to. Mr. WILSON moved to strike out the words "forty paymasters" and insert "fifty paymasters," which was agreed to. Mr. HARRIS, (rep.) of N.Y., offered an amendment as a new section, that in the selection of officers to be appointed under the provisions of this act, officers of the regular army who have commanded volunteer troops may be counted as officers of the volunteer service or as officers of the regular army, which was adopted. Mr. CONNESS, (rep.) of Cal., offered a proviso to the fifth section, that the provision requiring the distribution of the appointments from the volunteer service among the States and Territories, according to the number of troops furnished, shall not apply to the States of California, Nevada, or Oregon. Mr. Conness explained that during the rebellion the Secretary of War refused to receive troops tendered by California. The amendment was agreed to. Mr. SAULSBURY moved to amend by striking out the following section:- SECTION 12. That the Bureau of Military Justice shall hereafter consist of one judge-advocate general, with the rank, pay and emoluments of a brigadier general, and one assistant judge advocate general, with the rank, pay and emoluments of a colonel of cavalry; and the said judge-advocate general shall receive, revise and have recorded the proceeding of all courts martial, courts of inquiry and military commissions, and shall perform such other duties as have heretofore been perform by the Judge-Advocate General of the Army, and of the judge advocates now in offices there may be a number retained not exceeding ten, to be selected by the Secretary of War, who shall perform their duties under the direction of the Judge-Advocate General until otherwise provided by law, or until the Secretary of War shall decide that their services can be dispensed with. Mr. SAULSBURY spoke in favor of his amendment and against military tribunals and their acts and decisions. Mr. LANE replied to the argument of Mr. Saulsbury. Mr. HENDRICKS, (dem.) of Ind., moved to amend the amendment of Mr. Saulsbury by striking out the words "and military commissions" from the above section. Subsequently Mr. Hendricks withdrew his amendment, and the amendment of Mr. Saulsbury was agreed to. Mr. HARRIS offered an amendment that the commutation price of the army rations shall continue for one year to be fifty cents, as now, instead of thirty cents, as formerly. In the course of the debate on the above, Mr. WILSON said it was the intention of the Military Committee to postpone until December next the bill recently passed by the House fixing the pay of officers of the army. The amendment of Mr. Harris was agreed to. Mr. DAVIS, (dem.) of Ky., offered an amendment that courts martial shall have no jurisdictions of cases not arising in the land or naval service, or in the militia when in active service. This was disagreed to. Mr. HENDERSON offered an amendment, which was adopted, that assistant surgeons for the regular army shall be selected from those who have served in that capacity during the late war. Mr. HENDERSON moved to strike out all provisions for the retention of the Veteran Reserve corps, and on this the yeas and nays were demanded:- YEAS-Messrs. Brown, Clark, Conness, Fessendan, Grimes, Guthrie, Harris, Henderson, Johnson, Nesmith, Norton, Riddle, Saulsbury, Sprague, Stewart, Sumner, Trumbull, Wade and Yates-19. NAYS-Messrs. Davis, Doolittle, Edmunds, Howard, Howe, Lane of Ind., Morgan, Nye, Poland, Ramsay, Willey, Williams and Wilson-13. So the bill was amended by striking out the provision for retaining three regiments of the Veteran Reserve corps. Mr. NESMITH, (dem.) of Oregon, offered the following as an amendment:- That all officers who have served as volunteers during the rebellion in the armies of the United States, and who have been or may hereafter be honorably mustered out of the volunteer service, shall be entitled to bear the official title, and upon occasions of ceremony to wear the uniform of the highest grades they have held by brevet by other commission in the volunteer service. In the case of officers of the regular army, the volunteer rank shall be entered upon the official registers; provided, that this privilege shall not entitle officers to any pay or emoluments. Mr. RAMSAY, (rep.) of Minn., offered an amendment to the amendment of Mr. Nesmith, that privates of the regular and volunteer army who have served three years and been honorably mustered out may wear the uniform of lieutenants on occasion of ceremony. This amendment was also disagree to, and the amend- PASSAGE OF THE ARMY BILL. Mr. SCHENCK renewed the proposition which he had made last Saturday in reference to the army bill, and there being no objection, he reported back the Senate bill, and moved as a substitute therefore the House bill. The substitute was agreed to by 93 to 30, and the bill as amended was passed. The title was amended so as to read, "A bill to reorganize and establish the army of the United States Mr. THAYER, (rep.) of Pa., suggested that the title should be "to disorganize the army of the United States." THE TARIFF BILL.
Transcription Notes:
the the last two lines of the first column were pretty much illegible to me but i tried my best, you just might want to review that section more closely.
