[House Bill, No. 229.]
HOUSE ot REPRESENTATIVES, Nov, lfc64^--Postponed,
made the orde^ of the day-for Tubsdajt bext, and Ordered to be printed.
To be entitled " An Act to provide more effectually for the reduction
and redemption of the currency."
2 and the reassurance of the public of its ultimate payment in full,
3 would be an inestimable benefit to both Government and citizens ;
4 and as a means for accomplishing this end it is expedient to ex-
5 empt the same from taxation, and to pledge the public faith, not
6 only against any addition to the amount of the currency now
7 authorized by law, but also to the reduction of it, by cancelling,
8 annually, a material part thereof, and to the dedication of an
9 ample fund for redeeming the residue, to be applied to tba*t
10 purpose from and after the close of the existing war; there-
11 fore—
1 Section. 1. The Congress of the Confederate States of America do
2 enact, Hereafter, and until the full redemption of the Confederate
8 States treasury notes, now outstanding, and of such as are
4 authorized by existing laws to be issued, the said notes, except
5 those issued prior to the seventeenth day of February, eighteen
[By Mr. Lyon.] \
X
. s.
<- H 1
A. 33XCU
1 Whereas, the recovery of the currency from its depreciation,
6 hundred and sixty-four, shall be free from all taxation what-
7 ever.
1 Sec, 2. Pending the war, one-fifth of the treasury notes an-
2 nually received into the Treasury in payment of taxes, shall be
3 thereupon cancelled until the amount outstanding shall have been
4 reduced to one hundred and fifty millions of dollars.
1 Sec. 3. Upon a declaration of peace between the Confederate
2 States and the United States of America, the tithe received bJ
3 the Government of the annual crops or produce of cotton, (other
4 than Sea Island cotton,) wheat and corn, in the ratio of four-
5 ninths of cotton, four-ninths of corn and one-ninth of wheat,
6 shall be applied to the redemption of the treasury notes in cir-
7 culation, until the whole shall have been redeemed; the tithe of
8 cotton being valued at fifty cents a pound, of eorn at two ddl-
9 lars a bushel, and of wheat at four dollars a bushel, and being
10 deliverable by the Government at one or more shipping ports in
11 each of the Confederate States, to be selected by the Secretary
12 of the Treasury : Provided, however, That the tithes aforesaid, or
13 any part thereof may, by consent of the parties entitled to
14 receive the same, be delivered elsewhere than at a shipping port:
15 Provided, further, That tjjc cotton to be delivered under the
16 authority of this act shall be equal to cotton classed and held
17 as "middling cotton" in the ports where such cotton mayd>e
18 delivered.
3
1 Sec. 4. That all acts an4 parts of acts now in force, providing
2 for the assessment and collection of the tax in kind of cotton,
3 corn, and wheat, be, and the same are hereby, re-enacted and shall
4 continue in force until all treasury notes issued, or authorized
5 to be issued by "An act to reduce the currency and to authorize-
6 a new issue of notes and bonds," approved February 17th, 1864,
7 shall have been redeemed in full; and the persons paying taxes
8 in kind under this act from and after a ratification of a treaty of
9 peace shall receive credit for the then market value of any
10 cotton, corn, and wheat, delivered after the termination of the
11 war, so as to equalize their taxes with other tax payers, the
12 value to be ascertained at the time of delivery in the mode pre-
13 scribed by law.
1 Sec. 5. The holders of treasury notes desiring to receive the
2 tithes aforesaid in payment thereof, shall convert the same infc®
3 treasury certificates, bearing an interest of six per cent, per
4 annum, which shall be issued by the Secretary of the Treasury
5 in exchange for said notes, and shall express on their face the
6 object for which they are intended ; the holders of which said
7 certificates shall be entitled to receive payment therefor, in the
8 tithes aforesaid, at the rate of one-fifth of the amount annually;
9 Provided, however, That more than one-fifth of the amount of
10 tithe due upon any s,uch certificate, or the whole of such amount,
4
11 may be paid in any year at the election of the Secretary of the
12 Treasury.
1 Sec. 6. All planters or farmers liable to the tax in kind shall
2 be permitted to satisfy the same by payment of such certificates
3 as aforesaid.
1 Sec. 7. Certificates issued under the authority of this act
2 shall be in the following proportions, to "Wit: four-ninths in a
3 separate certificate, payable in cotton ; four-ninths payable in
4 corn, and one-ninth payable in wheat; but the amount to be
5 made payable on the face of each certificate shall be such as the
6 Secretary of the Treasury shall judge to be most suitable and
7 convenient for the purposes of this act, which said certificates
8 shall be assignable in writing in such form and with such
9 authentication as the Secretary of the Treasury may prescribe.
1 Sec. 8. The public faith is hereby pledged to the immutableP
2 observance of the provisions herein above contained, and to the
3 collection of the tax on wheat, corn, and cotton in kind, and the
4 application thereof as aforesaid, until the redemption of the cur-
5 rency as above provided shall have been completed.
1 Sec. 9. This act shall be in force from the passing thereof.