SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON SLAVERY AND

FREEDMEN.

RESOLUTION IN THE SENATE, JANUARY 13, 1864.

MR. SUMNER Submitted the following resolution, which was considered by unanimous consent and adopted.

RE

ESOLVED, That a Special Committee of seven be appointed by the Chair to take into consideration all propositions and papers concerning Slavery and the treatment of Freedmen, with leave to report by bill or otherwise.

January 14th, the Vice-President appointed on this Special Committee, Mr. Sumner, Mr. Howard of Michigan, Mr. Carlile of Virginia, Mr. Pomeroy of Kansas, Mr. Buckalew of Pennsylvania, Mr. Brown of Missouri, and Mr. Conness of California. Reports from this Committee will appear in subsequent pages.

FOUNDATION OF THE FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY IN BOSTON.

LETTER TO A COMMITTEE IN BOSTON, JANUARY 20, 1864.

IN 1850, Hon. John P. Bigelow, Mayor of Boston, declined to receive a costly vase as a tribute to the faithful discharge of official duty, and suggested that the funds obtained for that purpose be devoted to founding a Free Public Library in Boston. Accordingly, one thousand dollars was paid to the city in the name of Mr. Bigelow, and this was the first contribution to this important object. There was a dinner at the Tremont House to commemorate this benefaction, with speeches and letters. Among the latter was the following.

SENATE CHAMBER, January 20, 1864.

Y DEAR SIR,- It is too late for me to send

MY

anything for your meeting to-morrow evening; but it is not too late for me to express the gratitude and admiration with which at the time I witnessed the appropriation of that first thousand dollars to a Free Public Library in Boston. The money collected as a testimony to a favorite mayor became the corner-stone of a favorite institution, destined to be cherished with pride so long as our beloved city endures.

Believe me, dear Sir, faithfully yours,

CHARLES SUMNER.

DR. DAVID K. HITCHCOCK.

LOYALTY IN THE SENATE: THE IRON-CLAD

OATH FOR SENATORS.

SPEECH IN THE SENATE, ON A NEW RULE REQUIRING THE OATH OF LOYALTY FOR SENATORS, JANUARY 25, 1864.

By an Act of Congress of July 2, 1862, a new oath of office was prescribed in the following terms :

"That hereafter every person elected or appointed to any office of honor or profit under the Government of the United States, either in the civil, military, or naval departments of the public service, excepting the President of the United States, shall, before entering upon the duties of such office, and before being entitled to any of the salary or other emoluments thereof, take and subscribe the following oath or affirmation."

Then follows the oath or affirmation, as follows:

"I, A. B., do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I have never voluntarily borne arms against the United States since I have been a citizen thereof; that I have voluntarily given no aid, countenance, counsel, or encouragement to persons engaged in armed hostility thereto; that I have neither sought nor accepted nor attempted to exercise the functions of any office whatever, under any authority or pretended authority in hostility to the United States; that I have not yielded a voluntary support to any pretended government, authority, power, or constitution, within the United States, hostile or inimical thereto. And I do further swear (or affirm) that to the best of my knowledge and ability 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 Act then provides :

"Which said oath, so taken and signed, shall be preserved among the files

of the Court, House of Congress, or Department to which the said office may appertain."1

This oath was popularly known as "the Iron-Clad Oath."

On the organization of the Senate, March 4, 1863, being the first organization after the statute requiring the oath, it became necessary to consider its applicability to the Senate. Debate ensued, which can be understood only by a preliminary explanation.

The Senate was organized, in the absence of the Vice-President, by the choice of Hon. Solomon Foot, of Vermont, as President pro tempore. The oath to support the Constitution was administered to him by Mr. Foster, of Connecticut, but the additional oath was omitted. The President pro tempore then proceeded to say :

"Senators elect and Senators whose term commences under a reëlection at this time will receive the oath of office in the order in which their names will be called by the Secretary"

The Secretary then called the names of a long list of Senators, who came forward and took the customary oath. But the President pro tempore did not offer to administer the additional oath; nor, at the time of qualification, was anything said with regard to it. After the conclusion of the ceremony, Mr. Trumbull, of Illinois, said :—

"I desire to call the attention of the President of the Senate, and of the Senate itself, to an Act of Congress approved 2d July, 1862."

Then, reading the Act, he added:

"I do not know that any motion in regard to it is necessary, further than calling the attention of the presiding officer and of the Senate to the law."

"The Chair presumes it is sufficient to call the attention of Senators to that duty, and that that duty will be performed as required by law."

Nothing, however, was done by the Chair or by Senators.

The next day, 5th March, two other Senators, Mr. Hendricks and Mr. Sprague, came forward to be qualified. The Chair proceeded to administer to these Senators the usual oath to support the Constitution, but did not administer the additional oath, and these Senators took their seats. Shortly afterwards, during the session of that day, on a call of the yeas and nays, all these Senators were called, and answered to their names.

1 Statutes at Large, Vol. XII. p. 502.

Immediately after this call, Mr. Sumner moved an additional rule of the Senate, requiring that the oath or affirmation prescribed by Act of Congress of July 2, 1862, should be taken and subscribed by every Senator in open Senate before entering upon his duties.

On the next day, 6th of March, Mr. Bayard, of Delaware, who had been absent before, came forward to be qualified. The Chair, as in the other cases, administered the oath to support the Constitution, but omitted the additional oath, and Mr. Bayard took his seat. Afterwards, on this day, Mr. Sumner called up the proposed rule for consideration, and objected to an executive session until the question of the rule was settled, as follows.

"Here is a statute of Congress, and the question is, whether the Senate is going to set an example of obedience to it or of disobedience; that is all. . . . . If the Senate now choose to go into executive session, they choose to enter upon most important duties in disregard of an Act of Congress which they have assisted in putting upon the statute-book."

On coming out of executive session, which was ordered, the Senate proceeded with the consideration of the proposed rule, when Mr. Sumner spoke in vindication of it, concluding as follows.

"And now, Sir, as I conclude, let me say that I desire to take and subscribe the new oath in open Senate, that I may in all respects qualify myself for the discharge of my duties as a Senator. Others will do as they please, or as the Senate shall require. But I hope that I may appeal to the Chair to administer that oath to myself, or to direct that it shall be administered. With the expression of this desire I take my seat."

The President pro tempore made no offer to administer the oath, but said simply :

"The subject is under debate."

The debate was continued until the Senator from Illinois [Mr. TRUMBULL] proposed that the Chair should proceed to administer the oath, while Mr. Sumner expressed a hope that the Chair would consent to administer the oath to him.

Shortly afterwards the President pro tempore said :—

"The Chair proposes now to take and subscribe this oath, in pursuance of the law of 2d July last, and, that being done, the Chair will administer the oath to such members as will voluntarily take it."

The oath was then administered to Mr. Foot by Mr. Foster. Resuming the chair, the President pro tempore then said : —

"The Chair will now direct the Clerk to call, in alphabetical order, the names of all Senators who have been elected or reëlected since the 2d July,