Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1863-04-30
CONDENSATION BoR Property.

fte1a0TkS oJ = BdTtSadtes ~ M4SS5sStppBi IN N
HoEse Of Representatives., upon a motion q
compensate olcnsrs Of property destroyed B!
order Of the G0reTameEt
Pending the consideration of the bill to pro
, . vide compensation in cases of past impress
ment, on the 8tb of April, 1868, Mr. Chambers
of Mississippi moved to amend BY inserting:
"And for property destroyed by the military
authorities, on the ground, that if captured, i
would aid the enemy in the prosecution Of th'
war"
In favor Of which Mr.. Barksdale spoke a.
follows:
Mr.. SPEAKER-My support Of this amend
ment is due to my convictions Of the justice oi
the principle involved. While affirm that in
this struggle all private property in the country
should bs held ct the service of the Government
l maintain that its burthens should be equally
borne by all classes
OAe Of the recommendations which the Pfesi-
dent submitted to Congress in his message, st the
commencement Of the present session, WAS the
deVising Of "a proper mode Of relief to those Of
our citizsBs whose property has been destroyed
BY the Government, in pursuance Of policy
adopted IS 3 means Of national defense
This recommendation was made with an eye
to the obligations of the Government and the
rights Of its citizsns. Protection to persons and
property is the paramount duty Of Government
Writers on the lay Of nations, however, make
distinction in regard 10 its liability for prop
erty which Is destroyed By the enemy, and that
which is destroyed to prevent its use by ths
enemy Ia the latter case all bold that it is the
duty of the Government to acknowledge its in
/ debtedness and to make compensation. VaLtel,
q writer of approved orthodoxy, says:
90 Is the State bound to indemnify individuals
/ for the damages they have sustained in war
1 We learn from Grotius that authors are divided
I on this question The damages under consid-
| Grafton are to be distinguished into two kinds
those done by the State itself as the sovereign,
and those done by the enemy. OF the first kind,
some are done deliberately, and By way Of pre-
cautiou-as when a field, house, a garden,
/ belonging to d private person, is taken for the
! purpose Of erecting on thu spot town, ram
part, or other piece of fortiiession, or whea his
standing corn or his storobouses are destroyed to
pTeve & their bsing of use to the ensmy. Such
damages are TO be made good to the individual,
which should bear only his quota Of the loss"
Page 402
But if the public law contained no Injunction
Whatever on this subject, still there is authority
which we cannot disregard. The " mau of our
c0unseP' is the Constitution. It is the guiding
PAar0s streaming across the sea of these trOnb-
l0u3 times, showing the path Of safety. The
primal law of seEpressrvstion is the only jus!i-
fcstion which can be offered for tbs slightest
| deviation from its teachings. The Constitution
! declares that 4" private property shall not be
taken for public use without lust compensation" ="
| Congress cannot disregard this provision. Take,
for instance, the article of Gotten belonging to
citizens, which the military authorities, acting
I By lew of Congress, destroyed to prevent its
/ falling into the haads of the enemy, and which,
as the President correctly observes in his mess
| age, "the Government, in eff1ct took for its
use" The owners Of " property" thus taken,
DO not present petition for a mere grstuity,
therefore, but for constitutional right.
It was but the other day that the mind Of
! Congress was absorbed in the consideration of
another bill regulating the matter of Impress
Insnt The seizure Of property aad its sppro-
priation by officers of the Government for pub
lie use, was a subject of earnest comment
/ Honorable members spoke eloquently of enor-
nous outrages which the agents of the Govern
ment ksd perpeirated when they invaded the
storehouses Of -four dealers and produce specu-
| stOrs to take share for the support Of the pa
tTiotc soldiers who are interpreting their breasts
1 between the bayonets of the enemy and his de-
I signs to desolste the country They complained
not that those owuess were not paid, but, that
they were rot paid the "Jasrkst price," which
they themselves bad fixed by the creation of
/ monopoly to crafty their own cupidity. No
body charged that the Government had ever
taken a barrel Of -four or a pound of bacon
without paying the owner bat its agents had
not encouraged the idea that its own currency
had deprecated, and, therefore, it had not, in
! the estimation Of soms, rendered Just com
parxation." This was the extent of their Of
| Tending.
Thus the Government psys promptly, as it
| ought to do. for all its supplies, whether pur-
chased or impressed. If it takes "for public
uses your corn, your -four, your bacon, or your
| beef cattle, payment is made; and, if not at
the market price" 8 loud elamor is heard,
which is caught up ard re.echoed in these
| halls Why shall It discriminate between the
owners of property which it takes for its pur-
poses
The propriety Of immediate indemnity in
some form to the unfortunate people whose cot
ton hes been destroyed by its orders, is the
more apparent by the fact that the Government
is now buying cotton end paying for in it s per
/ cent. bonds Why should it make 50 unjust
discrimination in favor of the planter whose
cotton 1t purchases, and the planter whose
Gotten it has destroyed It buys cotton for
one purpose and psys for it, it takes cotton for
another purpose and refuses to psy for it Is
this fair and even-hsnded Justice
If the owners of cotton which has been taken
by the Government for the purposes indicated,
have not clsims superior to any class Of credi-
tors, unquestionsbly they are such as to eRtitle
them to equal consideration. Oa his cotton,
which WAS destroyed, the planter depended for
subsistance-for means Of feeding and clothing
family sni his slsves-snd carrying on his
plantation operations. Moreover, he is required
to pay his taxes, Confederate and State. Ia
most instances, to meet these obligations, he
has had to depend upon his cotton.
The failure Of the Government to perform its
constitutional obligation to indemnify the OWL
ers of the cotton it has thus destroyed, bears
with peculiar hardship upon the people of Mis-
sissippi. Many Of the sufferers in that State
had pledged their cotton as q security for the
redemption OF notes, which its Legislature had
caused to be issued and which is serving the
purpose of local currency.
But it has been ssid in the progress of this
debate that the Government is unable to meet
all its obligations at the present time. If this
be true. it IS right to demand Of the Government
that its creditors should be placed upon equal
footing. Let al recsive their pro rata share. 1t
is rot Just to pay one class the market price"
and another class. no price at ell
The question arises in this connection, when
is The debt to be psid7 Is il to be done now,
or is it to be left unacknowlsdged and unsettled
till the close of the war, whsn it will have be-
come odious, by reason of the dust of years that
win have accumulated upon i'll So far as the
Government is concerned, it is clear thst it will
owe no more at the close Of the war by making
immediate payment, in whole or in part (if it be
not possible TO pay the entire sum) than 1t
would by postponing the debt. In the one case
it will owe only the notes or certificates of in
debtedness which il may give for the cotton; in
the other it viii owe for the cotton itself.
No class Of the community has contributed
moro freely to the support Of the government
than those to whom these remarks have special
reference: nor have any experienced heavier
calemitiss. The producers, for whose protee
ton the inpTessuaent bill was passed, under the
provisions Of which they viii receive ''just
compensation - for their property, are, for the
most part, beyond the reach Of the enemy.
Their homes have not been invaded, and their
/ fields have not bssn laid waste. Not 50 with
the cotton planter. In many instances his
| family have been driven with remnant OF