Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 23.djvu/344

 338 Southern Historical Society Papers.

Otey, of the Sixth Congressional District of Virginia, was about to introduce in the United States House of Representatives a bill to make abandoned property, captured from the people of the Con- federate States, and covered into the Treasury of the United States, available for the benefit of disabled Confederate soldiers, have had those questions under earnest consideration, and now report that a bill for the purpose named, and numbered H. R. 1678, has been in- troduced in the House of Representatives, together with a bill, which is alternative in its character, and numbered H. R. 1677, by the Hon. Peter J. Otey. These bills, copies of which are attached to this report, were offered on the i6th ultimo, and referred to the Com- mittee on War Claims. At the time of their reference the committee named had not been constituted, and was not organized until the first week of the present month, owing to the prevalence of the Christ- mas holidays, and the absence of members of the House from their seats in the chamber. For these reasons the bill named did not get into the hands of your committee until very recently, and for other reasons, well known to you, this report could not be made before the present meeting of this camp.

WAS A GALLANT CONFEDERATE.

Since H. R. 1677 is only intended to be considered in the House in the event of the failure of H. R. 1678, and since the latter is the one which is peculiarly interesting to you, the latter will be exclu- sively commented upon in this report.

We want to say at the outset that the patron of these bills was a gallant Confederate soldier, who, in the opinion of your commit- tee, and doubtless of all who know him, worthily wears the honors of a representative of Virginia in Congress; that it is unquestionably his intent in the offer of this bill to endeavor to have a boon con- ferred upon that class of our comrades who deserve the highest, simplest consideration from every quarter; and therefore it does not lie in our hearts, and that it is not our desire, or our purpose to reflect upon Major Otey in any way or to any extent in this report. We do not approve, however, to any degree of the methods of this bill, and will state our objections to it frankly, respectfully, and kindly.

The title of the bill is "To Restore a Part of Captured and Aban- doned Property." The title of the bill is objectionable, because the