The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1866-01-13

t' N'N 49, >'h' '''' =" -
Committee uu Appropriations will have the otteneSt
occasion 70 take the floor, aud that to him, if TO any
body. belongs that honor-so that Stevens retains it.
Most OF the Southern members Of Congress have
gone home, the charges at the hotel being more than
they could stand. Nearly all the Northern members
have gone aiso.
wAsurxGroN. Dec. 20-Gen. Howard of the
Freedmen's Bureau has published his report. Con-
gress when it created this Bureau, made no appro-
priatiOn TO defray its expenses. Ii has however re-
ceivei funds from miscellaneous sources 10 the
amount Of S9O7 ,396- Total amounts expended.
S4TS,363- Deducting the amount held as retained
bounties Sll5, 1886. and the balance on hand. Octo-
Der 81, 1850, available 10 meet liabilities Is S3I3, ISo.
The amount held as claimed bounties is merely held
in trust for colored soldiers or their families.
The breaking up OF the old plantation system has
necessarily left the sick with little or no medical
provision. As soon Us they earn money, and become
better versed than now in the ordinary means of
selfsupport, they will doubtless secure the necessary
aid.
From information derived from various reports Of
military officers, Inspectors and Assistant Commits
saries, Gen. Howard arrives at the general couclu-
sion that free labor, notwithstanding the sudden
emancipation and thousand causes Of disturbance
incident to the war, will prove successful; that the
Freedmen's Bureau, or some substitute for it OF a
national character, will have to be continued; and
that the present organization of the Freedmen's
Bureau. with the understanding that it is not to be
permanent, IS rs good as he could suggest except as to
the subject of the F~reedmen's Court and the employ
ment OF civil agencies. 1t is estimated that the
amount required for the expenditure of the Bureau
for the fiscal year commencing January, 1866, will
be Sll, $4,000.
y bill was introduced in the Senate on Monday for
the incorporation of the Southern Pacific Railway,
with a capital Of 500, 600, 900. The route selected
is from Springfield (Mo) to Albuquerque, New
Mexico, thence near the thirty-ftth parallel to San
Diego, and by the TETON Pass to San Francisco.
General Butler, it is said, proposes TO write Gen
eral Grants history from the time he entered West
Point up to this hour.
Considerable excitement is manifested at the re-
ceipt OF = letter from Governor Pierpont, Of Virginia,
addressed to the President Of the Senate and the
Speaker Of the House, irclosing a copy of an Act
passed by the General Assembly of Virginia, repeal
ing the assent heretofore given to the division of the
State by the formation Of the State of West Virginia.
WILSON'S PLAN-Following is a synopsis of viii
sons bill, introduced today, to maintain and enforce
freedom. The preamble recites that Congress sub
mitted au amendment to the Constitution providing
for the abolition of slavery, and official proclamation
has been made that such amendment has been rati-
fed by three fourths of the States. The bill then
provides that all laws. ordinances and regulations in
any State or Territory, recognizing inequality Of
civil rights or immunities among its Inhabitants, i'll
consequence Of race or color, shall be null and void;
and rendering it illegal to make or force such law
hereafter. Section second provides that the inhabi-
tunts Of any State without distinction of color, will
be entitled to make contracts, sue and be sued, testi-
fy in courts, purchase or sell real estate, and have
an equal benefit of all laws for the security of person
and property. Section three provides that any pei
son violating the provisions of this act shall be guilty
of m~isdemeanor, and punished by 4 fine and impris-
onmeut. Proceedings under this section III lnsur
rectiouary States, may be made in military courts
till civil courts are reestablished Section four pro-
YideS that the defendant, III any action IN any court,
who shall claim any rights under this act, by way Of
defence may remove, by petition. such suit into any
proper District or Circuit Court.
REDUCTION o. TIE ARMY.-lt has been deemed
prudent to stop the reduction of the volunteer force,
as the entire military strength of the country is now
reduced to less than 100000 men, although were
the regiments all full there would be an aggre-
gate strength of one hundred and eighty thousand
men.
PRESIDENT JoHNsoN's Observation-Disclosures, Dec.
I0.-The following message from the President was
received and read
To the Senate of the United States In reply to
the resolution adopted by the Senate on December
18th, l have the honor to state that the rebellion
waged by a portion of the people against the properly
continued authority Of the Government of the United
States has been suppressed, and the United States Is
in possession of every State in which instruction
existed and that as far as could be done, the Courts
of the United States have been restored, the Post
Offices re-established, and steps taken to put into
effective operation the revenue laws Of the country.
As the result of measures instituted by the Executive,
with a view to inducing the resumption of the func-
tons of States, comprehended in the inquiry of the
Senate, the people Of North Carolina, South Carolina,
Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas
and Tennessee, have recognized their respective
State Governments, and are yielding obedience TO
the laws and the Government of the United States
with more willingness and greater promptitude than
under the circumstances could have been reasonably
anticipated. The proposed amendment to the Con-
stitution, providing for the abolition of slavery forever
within the limits of the country, has been ratified in
each of these States, with the exception of Mississippi,
from which no official information has been received.
In nearly all Of them measures have been adopted,
or are now pending, to confer upon the freedmen
privileges which are essential TO their comfort, pro-
lection and security.
In Florida and Texas the people are making COM
mendable progress in restoring State Governments.
No doubt is entertained but that they will at an early
period be in a condition to renew all practical
relations with the Federal Government. In that
portion Of the Union lately in rebellion, the aspect of
affairs is more promising than, in view Of all the
circumstances, could well be expected. True that
in some States the demoralizing effects of war are to
be seen in occasional disorders, but these are of a
local character, and rapidly disappearing, as the
authority Of the civil power is extended and sustained.
Perplexing questions were naturally expected, from
the great and sudden change in the relations between
the races, but systems are generally developing
themselves under which The freedmen will receive
the protection to which he is justly entitled, and by
means of his labor he will make himself a useful and
independent II ember of the Commonwealth in which
he has his home. The people throughout the entire
South evince o loyal desire to renew their allegiance
to the Government and repair the devastatiOns Of
war by a prompt and cheerful return TO peaceful
pursuits. An abiding faith is entertained that their
actions will conform 10 their professions, and that
in acknowledging the supremacy Of the Constitution
and laws of the United States their loyalty will be
unreservedly given to the Government, whose leniency
they cannot fail to appreciate, and whose fostering
care will soon restore them to q condition of prosper
ity. From all the information in my possession,
and from that which was recently derived from the
most reliable authorities, | am induced to cherish
the belief that personal luminosity is surely and rap
idly merging itself into q spirit Of nationality, and
that when the question of reconstruction shall be
properly adjusted, the result will be the harmnious