Page:A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Confederacy, Including the Diplomatic Correspondence, 1861-1865, Volume I.djvu/246

216 ; that command is totally inconsistent with the existence of an officer authorized, at his own discretion, to take command of armies assigned by the President to other generals. The Executive could in no just sense be said to be Commander in Chief if without the power to control the discretion of the general created by this act. As it cannot have been the intention of Congress to create the office of a general not bound to obey orders of the Chief Magistrate, and as this seems to be the effect of the act, I can but anticipate the concurrence of the Congress in my opinion that it should not become a law.

 April 19, 1862. To the Senate of the Confederate States. I herewith return, without my approval, to the Senate, the "joint resolution directing how prize money shall be paid in certain cases."

This resolution declares that the share of prize money awarded, or which may be awarded, to any seaman or marine who is or may be a prisoner in the hands of the enemy, shall, under the direction of the Secretary of the Navy, be paid to the wife of such seaman or marine during his captivity.

However praiseworthy the motive which prompts to provide for the wives of our seamen or marines now held in captivity by the enemy, I do not believe that Congress can, constitutionally, without the consent of the husband, direct the payment to his wife of any money now due him. The husband's right to the control and disposition of prize money already awarded him is as absolute as that to any other property owned by him. Congress has no greater power over the prize money due him than over any other property which he owns. Vested rights cannot be disturbed or impaired by legislative authority, except in the very special cases named in the Constitution.

 April 19, 1862. To the Senate of the Confederate States.

I am constrained by the view which I take of the constitutional 