The Congress of the Confederate States of America do enact, That the following amounts be paid out of any money not otherwise appropriated, to-wit:

For deficiency in appropriation for compensation of the Secretary of the Treasury, Assistant Secretary, Comptroller, Auditors, Treasurer and Register, and clerks and messengers in the Treasury Department, from the thirteenth of October, eighteen hundred and sixty-two, to January the thirty-first, eighteen hundred and sixty-three, to-wit: For increase of pay of clerks, &c., under the act aforesaid, sixty-eight thousand dollars.

For deficiency in appropriation for compensation of the Secretary of War, Assistant Secretary, Chief of Bureaus, clerks, messengers, &c., from the thirteenth October, eighteen hundred and sixty-two, to January the thirty-first, eighteen hundred and sixty-three, to-wit: For increase of pay of clerks, &c., under the act aforesaid, twenty-one thousand, eight hundred and eighty-eight dollars and twenty-three cents.

For deficiency in appropriation for compensation of the clerks, messengers and laborers in the Post-Office Department, from the thirteenth October, eighteen hundred and sixty-two, to January the thirty-first, eighteen hundred and sixty-three, seven thousand, seven hundred and fifteen dollars and twenty-four cents.

For deficiency in appropriation for compensation of the clerks and employees in the Navy Department, from the thirteenth October, eighteen hundred and sixty-two, to January the thirty-first, eighteen hundred and sixty-three, nine hundred and seventy-three dollars and fifteen cents.

The Congress of the Confederate States of America do enact, That non-commissioned officers and privates who have been mustered into service for the war, and to whom furloughs may be granted for not more than sixty days, shall be entitled to transportation home and back: Provided, That this allowance shall only be made once during the term of enlistment of such non-commissioned officers and privates.

The Congress of the Confederate States of America do enact, That there be appropriated and paid out of any money in the treasury, not otherwise appropriated, the following sums of money, and for the following purposes, viz:

Legislative.—For compensation and mileage of members and delegates of the House of Representatives, one hundred and seventy-four thousand, two hundred dollars.

For compensation of officers, clerks, &c., of the House of Representatives, five thousand, five hundred dollars.

For contingent expenses of the House of Representatives, ten thousand dollars.

For compensation and mileage of members of the Senate, twenty-nine thousand, nine hundred dollars.

For compensation of officers, clerks, &c., of the Senate, six thousand dollars.

For contingent expenses of the Senate, six thousand dollars.

Executive.—For compensation of the President of the Confederate States, six thousand, two hundred and fifty dollars.

For compensation of the Vice President of the Confederate States, one thousand, five hundred dollars.

For compensation of the private secretary and messenger of the President, one thousand and seven dollars and thirteen cents.

For compensation of the private secretary of the Vice President, seven hundred and fourteen dollars and forty cents.

For contingent and telegraphic expenses of the Executive office, four thousand dollars.

Treasury Department.—For compensation of the Secretary of the Treasury, Assistant Secretary, Comptroller, Auditors, Treasurer and Register, and clerks and messengers in said department, three hundred and fifty-seven thousand, eight hundred and ninety-seven dollars and ten cents.

The Congress of the Confederate States of America do enact, That the Secretary of the Treasury is hereby authorized to appoint two clerks, if so many be necessary, to assist the Register in signing bonds and certificates of stock, with the salary of principal clerks in the department; and every bond and certificate signed by one of the said clerks for the Resister, shall be as valid and effectual, to all intents and purposes, as though the same were actually signed by the Register in his proper hand writing.

The Congress of the Confederate States of America do enact, That the Secretary of the Treasury be, and he is hereby authorized to issue coupon bonds and certificates of stock, with interest, payable semi-annually, at the yearly rate of eight per cent., for such amount as may be required in exchange for all treasury notes which are now fundable in eight per cent. bonds, and also to pay for any subscription to the Produce Loan which may remain unpaid after exhausting the one hundred million loan.

SEC. 2. That the said Secretary is also authorized to issue coupon bonds, and certificates of stock, with interest at the yearly rate of seven per cent., payable semi-annually, for such amount as may be required, in exchange for all treasury notes which are now fundable in seven per cent. bonds.

SEC. 3. That all bonds issued under this act shall be made redeemable at the pleasure of the government, after the expiration of five years from their respective dates, but the faith of the government shall be pledged to redeem the same at the expiration of thirty years from such dates.

SEC. 4. That until the bonds authorized by this act can be prepared, the Secretary may issue in their stead certificates showing the right of the holders to demand bonds of like date and amount, as soon as the same can be prepared.

The Congress of the Confederate States of America do enact, That the Secretary of the Treasury shall have power to adjust and ascertain the true amount of tax due from the State of Alabama, under the “Act to authorize the issue of treasury notes, and to provide a war tax for their redemption,” and the acts supplementary thereto; and upon such accounting, said Secretary of the Treasury shall refund to the said State whatever sum may have been overpaid by the authorities thereof, under said act.

The Congress of the Confederate States of America do enact, That there shall be selected, in such manner as the Secretary of War may direct, from each division of infantry in service, one company of engineer troops, to consist of one hundred men, chosen with a view to their mechanical skill and physical fitness, and that the men assigned to such company shall be required to serve in the same only during the balance of their term of service, respectively.

SEC. 2. That each company shall consist of eight sergeants, seven corporals, forty artificers, and forty-five laborers, and that two musicians may be added.

SEC. 3. That the commissioned officers of each company shall consist of one captain, one first lieutenant, and two second lieutenants; and that the original vacancies in these companies shall be filled by the transfer of officers of corresponding grade from the engineer corps, if practicable, and where not, then from the other corps, or from the line or staff of the army, reference being always had to their qualification as engineers, or by selection; but no one shall be selected who is not now serving in or with the army, unless he is a military or civil engineer.

SEC. 4. That the companies shall be organized into regiments of ten companies each, and that the field and staff officers shall consist of one colonel, one lieutenant colonel, one major, one adjutant with the rank of first lieutenant, one quartermaster sergeant, and one sergeant major; and that the original vacancies in the regiments shall be filled in the manner provided for filling the same in the companies, by the third section of this act; and that the sergeant major and the quartermaster sergeant shall be selected from the enlisted men of the army.

SEC. 5. That in each regiment two of the companies shall be assigned to duty as pontoniers, and each be furnished with a bridge train complete.

SEC. 6. That the officer in charge of the engineer bureau, subject to the approval of the Secretary of War, shall prescribe the number, form and dimensions of the wagons, pontoons, treastles, tools, implements, arms and other necessaries for all the troops organized by this act.

SEC. 7. That vacancies in the established regiments to, and including the rank of colonel, shall be filled by promotion, regimentally, according to seniority, except in case of disablity or other incompetency.

SEC. 8. That the monthly pay of the engineer troops shall be as follows: Of a colonel, two hundred and ten dollars; of a lieutenant colonel, one hundred and eighty-five dollars; of a major, one hundred and sixty-two dollars; of a captain, one hundred and forty dollars; of a first lieutenant, one hundred dollars; of a second lieutenant, ninety dollars; and the adjutant shall receive ten dollars per month in addition to his pay as lieutenant.

SEC. 9. That the pay of the enlisted men, per month, shall be as follows: The sergeant major and quartermaster sergeant, each, twenty-one dollars; sergeants, thirty-four dollars; corporals, twenty dollars; artificers, seventeen dollars; laborers and musicians, thirteen dollars.

SEC. 10. That mounted engineer troops may be selected from the cavalry, and be organized according to the provisions of this act, for engineer troops, as hereinbefore specified.

The Congress of the Confederate States of America do enact, That from and after the passage of this act, the rank, pay and allowances attached to the office of Quartermaster General of the army of the Confederate States, shall be those of a Brigadier General in the Provisional Army.

The Congress of the Confederate States of America do enact, That all treasury notes not bearing interest, issued previous to the first day of December, eighteen hundred and sixty-two, shall be fundable in eight per cent. bonds or stock, until the twenty-second day of April, eighteen hundred and sixty-three; that from that date until the first day of August, eighteen hundred and sixty-three, they shall be fundable in seven per cent, bonds or stocks, and after the said first day of August, they shall no longer be fundable at the pleasure of the holder, but shall be receivable in payment of public dues, except the export duty on cotton, and payable six months after the ratification of a treaty of peace, as specified on their face. All treasury notes not bearing interest, issued after the first day of December, eighteen hundred and sixty-two, and within ten days after the passage of this act, shall be fundable in seven per cent. bonds or stock until the first day of August next; and after the said first day of August, shall be fundable only in bonds bearing interest at the rate of four per cent. per annum, and payable at any time not exceeding thirty years from the date thereof; and all such notes not funded, shall be receivable in payment of all public dues except the export duty on cotton, and shall be payable six months after the ratification of a treaty of peace between the Confederate Government and the United States. All call certificates, bearing eight per cent. interest, shall, with the accrued interest, be fundable on or before the first day of July, eighteen hundred and sixty-three, into bonds of the Confederate States, bearing interest at the rate of eight per cent. per annum, and payable at any time not exceeding thirty years after their date: Provided, That the accrued interest aforesaid, may, at the option of the holder, be paid instead of being funded. All call certificates of every description, outstanding on the first day of July, eighteen hundred and sixty-three, shall, after that date, be deemed to be bonds bearing an annual interest of six per cent., and payable at a date not exceeding thirty years from the said first day of July, eighteen hundred and sixty-three.

SEC. 2. In lieu of the power heretofore given by law to the Secretary of the Treasury, to issue treasury notes, he shall be authorized to issue monthly, an amount of such notes, bearing no interest, not exceeding fifty millions of dollars, which shall be receivable in payment of all public dues, except the export duty on cotton, and payable within two years after the ratification of a treaty of peace between the Confederate States and the United States, and fundable at the pleasure of the holder, during twelve months from the first day of the month of their issue, in bonds of the Confederate States, payable at any time not exceeding thirty years after date, and bearing rates of interest as follows: If funded within twelve months from the first day of the month of their issue, the bonds shall bear six per cent. interest per annum; if funded after that period they shall be fundable into bonds bearing four per cent interest per annum. These notes shall bear upon their face the month and year of their issue, and if not funded, shall be paid at the time specified on the face, without interest.

SEC. 3. After the passage of this act the authority heretofore given to issue call certificates shall cease, but the notes fundable into six per cent. bonds may be converted at the pleasure of the holder, into call certificates, bearing interest at the rate of five per cent. per annum, from the date of their issue. That every such certificate shall bear upon its face the monthly date of the oldest of the notes which it represents, and be convertible into like notes at any time within six months from the first day of the month of its monthly date aforesaid. But every certificate not reconverted within six months from the first day of its monthly date, shall be exchanged for a bond payable at any time not exceeding thirty years from the expiration of the said six months, and bearing interest at the rate of six per centum per annum. Treasury notes which, by the operation of this act, become fundable into bonds, bearing a yearly interest of four per cent., may be converted, at the pleasure of the holder, into call certificates, bearing interest at the rate of four per cent. per annum from their date, until reconverted or paid; the said certificates beings reconvertible at any time by the holder, into notes fundable in four per cent. bonds, and payable and receivable as heretofore prescribed; but the said certificates may be redeemed by the government, after six months from the ratification of a treaty of peace between the Confederate States and the United States.

SEC. 4. That all bonds or registered stock authorized to be issued by this act, shall be payable not less than thirty years after date; but shall be redeemable five years after date, at the pleasure of the government, and shall in other respects conform to existing laws.

SEC. 5. The Secretary of the Treasury shall use any disposable means in the treasury, which can be applied to that purpose without injury to the public service, to the purchase of treasury notes bearing no interest, and issued after the passage of this act, until the whole amount of treasury notes in circulation, shall not exceed one hundred and seventy-five millions of dollars.

SEC. 6. The treasury notes hereby allowed to be issued, shall be of any denomination of not less than five dollars, which is now authorized by law, that the Secretary of the Treasury may direct. The authority hereby given shall cease at the expiration of the first session of Congress, after the ratification of a treaty of peace, or at the end of two years, should the war continue so long.

SEC. 7. In addition to the authority hereinbefore given to the Secretary of the Treasury to issue treasury notes, he shall be allowed to issue notes of the denominations of one dollar, and of two dollars, and of fifty cents, to such an amount as, in addition to the notes of the denomination of one dollar, heretofore issued, shall not exceed the sum of fifteen millions of dollars; and said notes shall be payable six months after the ratification of a treaty of peace between the Confederate States and the United States, and receivable in payment of all public dues except the export duty on cotton, but shall not be fundable.

SEC. 8. That the Secretary of the Treasury be authorized to sell bonds bearing six per cent. interest per annum, and payable as hereinbefore directed, at par for treasury notes issued since the first of December, eighteen hundred and sixty-two, to such of the Confederate States as may desire to purchase the same; or he may sell such bonds, when guaranteed by any of the States of the Confederacy, upon such plan as may be determined by the Secretary of the Treasury, for treasury notes, on such terms as he may deem advisable, to the highest bidder, and not below par: Provided, however, That the whole amount of such bonds shall not exceed two hundred millions of dollars: And provided further, That the treasury notes thus purchased shall not be reissued, if the effect of such reissue would be to increase the whole amount of treasury notes, bearing no interest, which are in circulation, to a sum greater than one hundred and seventy-five millions of dollars. And the Secretary of the Treasury is also authorized, at his option, after the first of July, eighteen hundred and sixty-three, to issue and sell, at not less than par, as estimated in treasury notes, coupon bonds of the Confederate States, bearing six per cent. interest per annum, and payable as hereinbefore directed. The said coupons to be paid at the pleasure of the owner, either in the currency in which interest is paid on other bonds of the Confederate States, or else in cotton certificates which pledge the government to pay the same in cotton of the quality of New Orleans middlings. The said cotton to be paid at the rate of eight pence sterling per pound, and to be delivered at any time within six months after the ratification of a treaty of peace between the Confederate States and the United States, at any or all of the ports of New Orleans, Mobile, Savannah, Charleston or Wilmington, as the Secretary of the Treasury may direct: Provided, however, That the bonds hereby authorized, shall not exceed one hundred millions of dollars, and shall be applied only to the absorption of treasury notes, as prescribed in this act.

SEC. 9. That it shall be the duty of the Secretary of the Treasury, immediately after the passage of this act, to make publication of a copy thereof in each State, in at least two newspapers published in the State, and to have said publication continued until the first day of August, eighteen hundred and sixty-three.

The Congress of the Confederate States of America do enact, That whenever the exigencies of any army in the field are such as to make impressments of forage, articles of subsistence or other property absolutely necessary, then such impressments may be made by the officer or officers whose duty it is to furnish such forage, articles of subsistence or other property for such army. In cases where the owner of such property and the impressing officer cannot agree upon the value therof, it shall be the duty of such impressing officer, upon an affidavit in writing of the owner of such property, or his agent, that such property was grown, raised or produced by said owner, or is held or has been purchased by him, not for sale or speculation, but for his own use or consumption, to cause the same to be ascertained and determined by the judgement of two loyal and disinterested citizens of the city, county or parish in which such impressments may be made; one to be selected by the owner; one by the impressing officer; and in the event of their disagreement, these two shall choose an umpire of like qualifications, whose decision shall be final. The persons thus selected, after an oath to appraise the property impressed, fairly and impartially, (which oath, as well as the affidavit provided for in this section, the impressing officer is hereby authorized to administer and certify,) shall proceed to assess just compensation for the property so impressed, whether the absolute ownership, or the temporary use therof, only is required.

SEC. 2. That the officer or person impressing property, as aforesaid, shall, at the time of said taking, pay to the owner, his agent or attorney, the compensation fixed by said appraisers; and shall also give to the owner, or person controlling said property, a certificate, over his official signature, specifying the battalion, regiment, brigade, division or corps to which he belongs; that said property is essential for the use of the army, could not be otherwise procured, and was taken through absolute necessity; setting forth the time and place, when and where taken, the the amount of compensation fixed by said appraisers, and the sum, if any, paid for the same. Said certificate shall be evidence for the owner, as well of the taking of said property for the public use, as the right of the owner to the amount of compensation fixed as aforesaid. And in case said officer or person taking said property shall have failed to pay the owner or his agent, said compensation as hereinbefore required, then said owner shall be entitled to the speedy payment of the same by the proper disbursing officer; which, when so paid, shall be in full satisfaction of all claims against the government of the Confederate States.

SEC. 3. Whenever the appraisement provided for in the first section of this act, shall, for any reason, be impracticable at the time of said impressment, then and in that case the value of the property impressed shall be assessed as soon as possible, by two loyal and disinterested citizens of the city, county or parish, wherein the property was taken, chosen as follows: One by the owner, and one by the Commissary or Quartermaster General, or his agent, who, in case of disagreement, shall choose a third citizen, of like qualifications, as an umpire, to decide the matters in dispute; who shall be sworn as aforesaid, who shall hear the proofs adduced by the parties, as to the value of said property, and assess a just compensation therefor, according to the testimony.

SEC. 4. That whenever the Secretary of war shall be of opinion that it is necessary to take private property for public use, by reason of the impracticability of procuring the same by purchase, so as to accumulate necessary supplies for the army, or the good of the service, in any locality, he may, by general order, through the proper subordinate officers, authorize such property to be taken for the public use; the compensation due the owner for the same to be determined, and the value fixed as provided for in the first and second sections of this act.

SEC. 5. That it shall be the duty of the President, as early as practicable after the passage of this act, to appoint a commissioner in each State where property shall be taken for the public use, and request the Governor of such of the States in which the President shall appoint said commissioner, to appoint another commissioner, to act in conjunction with the commissioner appointed by the President, who shall receive the compensation or eight dollars per day, and ten cents per mile as mileage, to be paid by the Confederate Government. Said commissioners shall constitute a board, whose duty it shall be to fix upon the prices to be paid by the government, for all property impressed or taken for the public use as aforesaid, so as to afford just compensation to the owners thereof. Said commisssoners shall agree upon and publish a schedule of prices every two months, or oftner if they shall deem it proper; and in the event they shall not be able to agree in any matter confided to them in this act, they shall have power to appoint an umpire to decide the matter in dispute, whose decision shall be the decision of the board; and said umpire shall receive the same rate of compensation for the time he shall serve, allowed to said commissioners respectively: Provided, That said commissioners shall be residents of the State for which they shall be appointed; and if the Governor of any State shall refuse or neglect to appoint said commissioner within ten days after a request to do so by the President, then the President shall appoint both commissioners, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate.

SEC. 6. That all property impressed or taken for the public use, as aforesaid, in the hands of any person other than the persons who have raised, grown or produced the same, or persons holding the same for their own use or consumption, and who shall make the affidavit as hereinbefore required, shall be paid for according to the schedule of prices fixed by the commissioners as aforesaid. But if the officer impressing or taking for the public use such property, and the owner shall differ as to the quality of the article or property impressed or taken, as aforesaid, thereby making it fall within a higher or lower price named in the schedule, then the owner or agent, and the officer impressing or taking, as aforesaid, may select each a loyal and disinterested citizen, of the qualifications as aforesaid, to determine the quality of said article or property, who shall, in case of disagreement, appoint an umpire of like qualifications, and his decision, if approved by the officer impressing, shall be final; but if not approved, the impressing officer shall send the award to the commissioners of the State where the property is impressed, with his reasons for disapproving the same, and said commissioners may hear such proofs as the parties may respectively adduce, and their decision shall be final: Provided, That the owner may receive the price offered by the impressing officer, without prejudice to his claim to receive the higher compensation.

SEC. 7. That the property necessary for the support of the owner and his family, and to carry on his ordinary agricultural and mechanical business, to be ascertained by the appraisers, to be appointed as provided in the first section of this act, under oath, shall not be taken or impressed for the public use; and when the impressing officer and the owner cannot agree as to the quantity of property necessary, as aforesaid, then the decision of the said appraisers shall be binding on the officer and all other persons.

SEC. 8. Where property has been impressed for temporary use, and is lost or destroyed without the default of the owner, the Government of the Confederate States shall pay a just compensation therefor; to be ascertained by appraisers appointed and qualified as provided in the first section of this act. If such property when returned has, in the opinion of the owner, been injured whilst in the public use, the amount of damage thereby sustained, shall be determined in the manner described in the third section of this act, the officer returning the property being authorized to act on behalf of the government; and upon such inquiry, the certificate of the value of the property, when originally impressed, shall be received as prima facie evidence of the value thereof.

SEC. 9. Where slaves are impressed by the Confederate Government to labor on fortifications or other public works, the impressment shall be made by said government according to the rules and regulations provided in the laws of the State wherein they are impressed; and in the absence of such law, in accordance with such rules and regulations not inconsistent with the provisions of this act, as the Secretary of War shall from time to time prescribe: Provided, That no impressment of slaves shall be made when they can be hired or procured by the consent of the owner or agent.

SEC. 10. That previous to the first day of December next, no slave laboring on a farm or plantation, exclusively devoted to the production of grain and provisions, shall be taken for the public use without the consent of the owner, except in case of urgent necessity.

SEC. 11. That any commissioned or non-commissioned officer or private who shall violate the provisions of this act, shall be tried before the military court of the corps to which he is attached, on complaint made by the owner or other person, and on conviction, if an officer, he shall be cashiered and put into the ranks as a private; and if a noncommissioned officer or private, he shall suffer such punishment, not inconsistent with military law, as the court may direct.

The Congress of the Confederate States of America do enact, That any district court of the Confederate States may, in its discretion, direct any of its receivers to lease out any sequestered land within his district, on which are any mines or beds of copper, lead, iron, coal, saltpetre or other minerals, for a period not exceeding three years, and in such manner, and upon such terms as the court may prescribe, and such orders may be made, either by the court, or by the judge thereof, in vacation.

The Congress of the Confederate States of America do enact, That all seamen and ordinary seamen now in the service of the Confederate States, between the ages of eighteen and forty-five, and whose term of service will expire before the end of the war, shall be continued in the service for three years from the date of their original enlistment, unless the war shall have sooner ended.

The Congress of the Confederate States of America do enact, That the Secretary of the Navy be authorized to appoint a register, at a salary of one thousand, eight hundred dollars per annum; a draughtsman, at a salary of one thousand, two hundred dollars per annum; and an additional clerk, at a salary of one thousand, two hundred dollars per annum.

The Congress of the Confederate States of America do enact, That the Secretary of the Navy be, and is hereby authorized, to employ for service on board of vessels, used or owned by the Confederate States for purpose of running the blockade of any of the ports of the Confederacy, the most skillful pilots, on such terms as, to him, shall seem best and requisite to secure their services, either by the month, or the single or round voyage.

The Congress of the Confederate States of America do enact, That the Secretary of the Navy cause to be paid to those officers of the Navy and Marine Corps, who resigned from the Navy and Marine Corps of the United States, in consequence of secession, and who were arrested and imprisoned in consequence of such resignation, and who subsequently joined the Navy and Marine Corps of the Confederate States, leave of absence pay for and during the term of such imprisonment, and up to the time of their appointment in the Navy and Marine Corps of the Confederate States.

The Congress of the Confederate States of America do enact, That the above entitled act be so amended as to authorize the Secretary of the Navy, in case he should deem it advisable, to contract for all supplies required for the navy, without advertising for proposals as required by law: Provided, [That] this act shall expire at the end of the present war.

The Congress of the Confederate States of America do enact, That from and after the passage of this act, it shall not be lawful for any court martial or military court to cause any soldier in the service of the Confederate States to be punished by whipping, or the infliction of stripes upon his person; and that all laws and customs contravening the provisions of this act, be, and the same are hereby, repealed.

SEC. 2. That article twenty of the Articles of War, be so amended as to read as follows: “All officers and soldiers who have received pay, or have been duly enlisted in the service of the Confederate States, and shall be convicted of having deserted the same, shall suffer death or confinement in a penitentiary, with or without hard labor, for a period not less than one year, or more than five, or such other punishment, not inconsistent with the provisions of this act, as the court martial or military court may determine.”

WHEREAS, The Brunswick and Albany railroad, in the State of Georgia, has been run and used as a military necessity, from the month of September, eighteen hundred and sixty-one, to the present time, and no charge for the use of the said road has been made by the proprietors thereof, against the government: Therefore, to preserve the said railroad from being broken up or destroyed,

The Congress of the Confederate States of America do enact, That the stock and bonds of the Brunswick and Albany railroad company, returned, or which may be returned to the receiver at Savanah, as property of alien enemies, and sequestered, or which may be sequestered by decree of the proper courts, shall not be sold at public auction, nor otherwise disposed of during the continuance of the war, but shall, after the ratification of peace between the Confederate States and the United States, be appraised in the following manner: One appraiser shall be appointed by the judge of the district court of the Confederate States for the district of Georgia; another shall be appointed by the board of directors of said company; and these two shall appoint a third, and their appraisement shall be made under oath and in writing, and filed with the clerk of the said district court. When the said appraisement shall be made, the said company shall have the privilege of paying, within ninety days thereafter, to the receiver at Savannah, the amount of said appraised value; and upon such payment, the possession and title to the said stock and bonds, shall vest in, and be transferred to the said company: Provided, however, That by accepting the relief hereby granted, and upon payment of the said appraised value, the said company shall be held and taken to have relinquished all claim against the Confederate States, for compensation for the use of their said railroad.

The Congress of the Confederate States of America do enact, That from and after the passage of this act, commissions in the Army of the Confederate States, and in the Provisional Army of the Confederate States, may be issued to persons under twenty-one years of age, except in the case of officers who are required by law to give bond.

The Congress of the Confederate States of America do enact, That from and after the passage of this act, the maximum compensation to be paid to route agents in the service of the Post-Office Department, shall not exceed twelve hundred dollars per annum.

SEC. 2. That from and after the passage of this act, the annual compensation of special agents of the Post-Office Department shall be sixteen hundred dollars per annum; and they shall also be allowed the sum of three dollars per day for their travelling and incidental expenses while actually engaged in travelling on the business of the Department.

The Congress of the Confederate States of America do enact, That the Postmaster General of the Confederate States is authorized to establish a mail route for the more speedy transmission of letters and dispatches, only, between the States lying east and those lying west of the Mississippi River. Postage on mail matter to be sent by said route shall be prepaid at the rate of fifty cents for each half ounce; but in calculating the weight of such mail matter, any fraction of an ounce less than a half shall be regarded as a half ounce.

SEC. 2. Letters and dispatches for the route hereby authorized shall have preference over all other mail matter in the transmission of the mails across the Mississippi River.

SEC. 3. The Postmaster General is authorized to establish regulations for the prompt mailing, forwarding, and distributing of mail matter on said route, and he may apply the money arising, from time to time, from the postage thereon in the employment of couriers, or other means, for the safer, more frequent, and more rapid transmission of said preferred mails.

The Congress of the Confederate States of America do enact, That no officer or soldier of the army shall receive pay for any period during which he may be absent without leave, or beyond the leave granted, from competent authority, according to the regulations of the army: Provided, That this restriction shall not affect the sick and wounded in hospitals.

SEC. 2. In order to enforce the requirements of the foregoing section, it is hereby made the duty of commanding officers of companies to stat