Abbeville press. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1860-1869, 1863-12-18
IMPRESSMENT ACT,
IMPREssMENT ACT.
ADJ'r AND INSPECTOR GESERA1's OFFICE.
Richmond -1prH 6, 1868.
GENERAL ORDERS,

GENERAL ORDERS, !
No. 81.
| J.. The following Act of Congress, con>
cerring impressnteuts, aud the instruc-
tons of ths War Department respecting it
are published for the nrormstion anI di-
rection Of all concerned:
"Wheuever the oxigeueics Of any army
IN the field arc such ~ TO mako impross-
! ments OF forage. articles of Subsistence or
other property absolutely necessary, then
such 'npressmens may bc made hy the
Ollie or officers whose duty IL is TO furnish
such forage, articles OF subsistence or other
property for such army. In c,scs where
the owner Of such proper'y aaI the I'LL
pressing officer cannot agree upon tie
value thereof, it shall BE- tho duty Of such
impressing officer, upon an affidavit in
writing OF the owner of such property, or
his as'nt, that such property was grown,
ra'sel or produced by said owner, or is
held or has been purchased by him, not
for sale or speculation, Lut for his own
u$e or consumption, 10 cause the same to
be asccrta;Eed and determined by the iudr.
nent OF two loyal ami disin,crcs,e,l citizens
! "t the city, county or parish in which such
lmprcss.ncuts may be made orc to be
selected by tho owncr; one by the i'm
pressing oi;iscr; and in .!le event of their
disagreement, these twi, shall Choose IN
! umpire Of Ike qualifications, whose lccis
ion s'iall be final. The persons thus selec.
ted, after taking IN oath to appraisc The
property impressed fairly and inparlally,
(Which oath, as well as the affidavit pro
vided for in this section, the imnrc,sinr
officer is hereby authorized TO administer
and certify.) shall proceed to assess lust
compensation for tho property so impress
e", whether the absolute ownership or the
temporary use thereof only is required.
SEC. 2. That the officer or person im.
pressing property as aforesaid, shall, At the
time of sa'I taking, pay 10 the owner, his
agent or attorney, the compensation fixed
by SAID appraisers; and shall also give to
TIC owner, or person controlling said prop.
erty, certificate, over his official sigma
ture, specifying 'le battalion, regiment,
brigade, division q. corps to Which he be-
longs, that said property is essential for
the use OF the army, coul not be otlor-
wise procured, and was taken through
absolute necessity; setting forth the time
and place when anal where taken, the
amount OF compensation fixed bv said ap-
praIsers, and the sum, if any, pail for the
same. Said certificate shall be eviJr .....
,ior the OWNER, as we'll or tho Liking ii ....,
property :"r tAe public use, as the .i.ht Of
the owaer 10 The a'il"uni OF comnen.a,iK
liked as aforesaid. And in case sai.! Iii
ger or prson taking said property shall
"ave failed to pay the owner or his agcn,
said Compensation as herein before rrnn;r
ed, then said owner shall he en,i;l.1 to Tie
speedy payment Of the same by the proper
discussing "Gieer; which, when so paid,
shall be in full satisfaction Of al! claim
against the government of the Confederate
States.
"sEc. 8. Whenever The appraisemeat
provided Tor in the first section OF this act
sa"ll, for ary reason, be i,npractiosbls at
the time Of said impressnent, then and in
that case The value of the property i'm
pressed shall he assessed as soon AS possible
by two loyal ard disin,crestel citizens of
thoclty, county or parish, wherein the
property was taken, chosen rs follows
One by the owner, and one by the Com
missary or Qrarlermaster General, or his
agent, who, in case Of disagreement shall
chooseSa third CITIZEN Of like qualifications,
as an umpire, to decide the matters in dis
pu!e, who shall be sworn as aforesaid, who
shall hear the proofs adduced by the par
tles,as tothc value Of said property, aud
assess apst compensation therefor; accor-
ding 70 the testimony;
"sEc. 4. That whenever.the Secretary of
War,shall be ofopiniep thatit is necessary
to;take private property.ior public use, by
reason ofthe impfactieability Of procuring
the same by purchase. SO as to accumulate
necessary supplies. for the army, zor tho
good of the service, in any locality. he
may, by general ORDER through tie proper
subordinate officers, authorize sucb prop
erty to be taken for the puo!ic use; the
compensation due the owner for. the same
to be determined and the:~salue efxedsas
provided for in lhe first and second: sec
tions Of thissac
"sEc: 5. Thai, il shall ba.ihedutgsof the
President, aszearly practicable after: tho
'ats!ge of this act, to appoint a sc9,nmis-
nerin: each State where property shall
zbe taken forsttie public use,- and rennest