Year: 1861




under the laws thereof who, during the
present rebellion, shall take up arms a
gainst the United States, or in any manner
aid or abet said rebellion, shall thereby
forthwith forfeit all claim to such service
or labor; and the persons from whom it is
claimed to be due, commonly called slaves,
shall ipso tacto, on the commission of the
act of forfeiture by the party having claim
to the service or labor as aforesaid, be dis.
charged thcrefrom, and become forever
thereafter free persons, any law of any
state, or of the United States, to the con-
trary notwithstanding; and it shall be the
duty of the President Of the United States
to make provision for the transportation,
colonization and settlement in some trop-
ical country beyon the limits Of the L.
States, of such persons of the African race,
made free by the provisions Of this act, as
may be willing to emigrate, having first
obtained the consent of the government of
said country to their protection and settle
ment within the same, with all the rights
and privileges of freemen.


Sec. 3. And be it further enacted, That
it shall be the duty of the President of the
United States, as often as in his opinion
the military necessities of the army. or the
safety, interest and welfare Of the United
States in regard to the suppression of the
rebellion shall require, to order the seizure
and appropriation by such officers, military
or civil, as he may designate for the pur-
pose, of any and all Of the property, real
and personal, confscatcd and forfeited un-
der and by virtue of this act. situated and
being in any district of the United States,
beyond the reach of civil process in the or
dinary course of judicial proceedings by
reason Of such rebellion, and the sale or
other disposition Of said property, or SO
much OF it as he shall deem advisable


Sec. 1. And be it further enacted, That
it shall be the duty of the officers so des-
ignated to make to the President full re-
ports of their proceedings under such or
ders, which report shall be filed in the Of
flee of the Secretary of the Treasury; and
all moneys received on the sale of the con-
fiscated property Of any person as atorc-
, said, after the deduction Of the actual and
necessary expenses attendant thereon, and
the payment of the just claims of loyal
creditors Of such person, to be allowed by
said officers, of all of which a particular
account shall be rendered, shall be deposit
ed in the United States treasury, and a
separate account of such moneys shall be
+ kept under the name of the ''Rebellion
! Fund.- and a fall report thereof shall be
presented t" Congress at its next regular
sess 10" thereafter; and the said fund shall
be held for the benefit Of such loyal citizens
as may have been dispoilcd Of their prop
crtv by said rebellion, and shall be paid
ont to them upon proof of loss, and the
amoun, thereof being duly established in
snrh manner as Congress shall hereafter
provide; and the excess, if any, shall be
applied to extinguishins SO much of the
debt incurred by the United States in the
Suppression of said rebellion.


Sec ). And be it further enacted, That
in case any Of the property SO seized and
appropriated, or sold as belonging to reb-
els. SHALL in fact and in good faith, have
belonged at the time of the passage OF this
act, and ut the time of such seizure, to a
loyal citizen Of the United States, such 10y
al citizen may file in the Office of the Sec
rotary Of the Treasury, at Washington,
within sixty days from, the date OF such
seizure, such petition and proofs as he may
think proper, and on due allowance of his
claim tor restitution by such authority,
and in such manner as Congress may here
after direct, such loyal owner to his lawful
heirs shall be entitled to the restitution of
uch property, or of its value, in the dis
erection of the authority awarding the
same, which allowance shall not exceed five
per ccntum of the value of the property
so reclaimed, and the payment of such val
ne and allowance sha!! be made from the
said ''RebelIion Fund.-" in preference to its
appropriation to any other purpose.


Sec. g. And be it further enacted, That
for the purpose of enforcing the forfeiture
specified in the first section of this act, of
property situated and being in loyal states
or districts, in which case such proceed
ings shall conform, as near as may be, to
the proceedings in cases Of forfeiture ari>-
ing under the revenue laws; and, in all
cases, the property condemned. whether
real or personal, shall be sold, and the pro-
ceeds thereof shall be applied, and an ac-
count kept. as provided in the fourth sec
ton of this act; and any person discharged
from service or labor. and made free, as
specified in the second section of this act,
in any district Of the United States in which
the ordinary course of judicial proceedings
is not obstructcd by the rebellion, may in
stitute proceedings in said District court,
or in any other District court Of the |.
States where the person so discharged may
at this time be, for freedom, on giving such
notice as the court shall prescribe: and the
several District courts Of the L. States are
hereby invested with power to issue all
process, whether mesne or final, and to do
every other matter and thing necessary
and proper to carry out the purpose Of this
act.


Sec T. And be it further enacted, That
any person dcIy convicted of the crime of
treason, in addition to the punishment now
prescribed by law, shall forfeit to the L.
States all his personal property, of what
socver nature, within the United States,
and also the right to the possession, rents,
issues, and profits Of his real estate within
the United States, for and during his nat
ural life; the property forfeited by this
section to be disposed OF under the drec-
ton of the court before whom the convic-
ton for treason is had. in the same manner
and the proceeds to be applied in the same
w,y ,s nrovidpd in the sixth section of