The western Democrat. [volume] (Charlotte, N.C.) 1852-1870, 1866-05-15

MESSAGE AND DOCUMENTS IN RELATION TO
PARDoNs AND CoNFIsCATED PRoPERTY.-At
Washington on Friday, the Speaker laid before
the House a message from the President In re-
ply to resolution of the House requesting In
formation as to she names of persons worth
more than twenty thousand dollars to whom
pardons have been issued, and also, as to the
amount of property which, as abandoned land,
had come into possession of U. s. Government,
and which has been returned to the original
owners. The President transmits, in response
to these inquiries, reports on the subject from
the Secretary of War, the Secretary of State,
the Secretary of the Treasury, and the Attorney
General, together with copy of the amnesty
proclamation, and other documents relating to
the subject of the inquiries.
The leading facts embraced in the reports
transmitted by the President are these Over
100 pardons have been granted under the am
nesty proclamation, Of which between six and
seven hundred have not yet been issued. As
to property seized under the act of Congress of
1862, all such property has been restored in the
cases of persons pardoned, except in the cases
where legal proceedings instituted for the con-
demnation of such property have been brought
to conclusion. The Secretary of the Treasury,
the Secretary of State and the Attorney Gener-
al state that they have no record in their respec-
tive departments showing the amount of proper
ty, real, personal and mixed, which has been
restored; but the first named says that the lands
which have been seized were transferred to the
Freedmen's Bureau fo-,the use of the freedmen
The Commissioner of Freedmen's Affairs, in
the documents submitted, estimates the num-
Der Of acres which have been restored to the
original claimants at over four hundred thou
sand. QuartermasterG General Meigs says that
= fhn rasir oh hoI
necessity have been restored on the condition
that their affairs be placed in the hands of loyal
directors. The reports are volumiuous, cover
ing upwards of FIVE hundred pages of manu-
script.
The list of pardons granted under the amnes-
ty proclamation of the President under the 18th
exception (S2O, 900 clause) is as follows GeoI-
ga .22S; North Carolina 1872; Texas 269; New
Mexico l; Mississippi T65; Louisiana l42; Ala
bama ,361; South Carolina 639; Arkansas Al;
Missouri 10; Kentucky II; Florida 3S; West
Virginia 49,
THE OPERATION OF THE Proposed
AMENDMENT-In speculating upon the results
of the proposed amendment to the Constitution
providing that Congressional representation shall
be founded upon the population, deducting
proportion for citizens above the age of twenty
one years VINO are not entitled to vote, the New
York Tribune, taking the census returns Of
1860, makes table in v hich it is shown that
from seventy-fve members of Congress, the
number before the war sent from the States 10
which the blacks are the most numerous, the
representatives would be reduced to So Ala
bama would lose three members; Georgia, three;
Louisiana, two; Maryland, one; Mississippi
three; Missouri, one; North Carolina, three;
South Carolina, four; Tennessee, two; Texas,
one, and Virginia, two. Arkansas; Delaware
and Florida would return their present represen-
tation. There might be some difference in the
Northern States in which colored people abound,
but these are not computed.