DES MOINES, Feb. 10, 1862.
The patter of the rain and the whistling of the wind fall upon my ear as I write. The snow is settling, but it is too early to lose it, and hence we are in hopes the thaw will not last long.
The Senate has to-day passed the revenue bill by a vote of 24 to 10. It provides for a levy of two mills on the dollar in addition to the amount levied for State purposes. It is thought this will enable the State to liquidate the Federal tax after deducting our claim upon the general government.
No appropriation bill has yet been introduced. This is withheld until after the action of the Senate upon the bank note bill.
A resolution was introduced in the House provided for the adjournment on the 11th of March. It was tabled. The members thought it would do no good to pass it. If a day is set for adjournment then the business is crowded into the last few days and rushed through with indiscriminate haste. It was thought best to work on steadily and faithfully until the business is ended, and then adjourn. A good deal of heavy business is to be transacted this session, and it will take time.
The bill for the exemption of the soldiers’ property from execution was under consideration. Also a bill to amend the law of the extra session in relation to the continuance of suits against soldiers. Both were sent to the Military Committee, and will doubtless be combined in one. The act of the Extra session is said by those who have seen its workings to be a complete failure. Some law will be enacted now, that lawyers can’t interpret to the disadvantage of the soldier. The main discussion on the bills is on the question of extending their provisions to commissioned officers. I think field officers will be excluded, while company officers will reap the full benefit of the proposed act.
Some of the members who voted “No” on the question of striking out “free white” from a certain resolution the other day, are not feeling very comfortable over it. After the point at issue was explained in the Register, and which is essential, as I represented it in my letter of Friday, some of those gentlemen found they were placed on record in a false position. They say they should not vote “no” on such a question. (Your correspondent thought at the time they ought not to vote in the negative.) They say they did not understand the question in that light. I suppose they are honest, but the author of the resolution in explaining his vote, placed the question on precisely that ground. Hence it don’t look very well for them to come up at this time and pretend they did not understand the question. It was their place to understand it before voting.
The discussion on the resolutions relating to Federal politics has been changed from Tuesday to Wednesday evening.
J. R. C.
– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Thursday Morning, February 13, 1862, p. 1
The patter of the rain and the whistling of the wind fall upon my ear as I write. The snow is settling, but it is too early to lose it, and hence we are in hopes the thaw will not last long.
The Senate has to-day passed the revenue bill by a vote of 24 to 10. It provides for a levy of two mills on the dollar in addition to the amount levied for State purposes. It is thought this will enable the State to liquidate the Federal tax after deducting our claim upon the general government.
No appropriation bill has yet been introduced. This is withheld until after the action of the Senate upon the bank note bill.
A resolution was introduced in the House provided for the adjournment on the 11th of March. It was tabled. The members thought it would do no good to pass it. If a day is set for adjournment then the business is crowded into the last few days and rushed through with indiscriminate haste. It was thought best to work on steadily and faithfully until the business is ended, and then adjourn. A good deal of heavy business is to be transacted this session, and it will take time.
The bill for the exemption of the soldiers’ property from execution was under consideration. Also a bill to amend the law of the extra session in relation to the continuance of suits against soldiers. Both were sent to the Military Committee, and will doubtless be combined in one. The act of the Extra session is said by those who have seen its workings to be a complete failure. Some law will be enacted now, that lawyers can’t interpret to the disadvantage of the soldier. The main discussion on the bills is on the question of extending their provisions to commissioned officers. I think field officers will be excluded, while company officers will reap the full benefit of the proposed act.
Some of the members who voted “No” on the question of striking out “free white” from a certain resolution the other day, are not feeling very comfortable over it. After the point at issue was explained in the Register, and which is essential, as I represented it in my letter of Friday, some of those gentlemen found they were placed on record in a false position. They say they should not vote “no” on such a question. (Your correspondent thought at the time they ought not to vote in the negative.) They say they did not understand the question in that light. I suppose they are honest, but the author of the resolution in explaining his vote, placed the question on precisely that ground. Hence it don’t look very well for them to come up at this time and pretend they did not understand the question. It was their place to understand it before voting.
The discussion on the resolutions relating to Federal politics has been changed from Tuesday to Wednesday evening.
J. R. C.
– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Thursday Morning, February 13, 1862, p. 1
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