The Congress of the Confederate States of America do enact, That the provisions of an act entitled “An act to increase the compensation of certain civil officers and employees in the President's office, and in Executive and Legislative Departments, at Richmond, for a limited period,” approved January thirtieth, eighteen hundred and sixty-four, be, and the same are hereby, continued in force until the first day of January, eighteen hundred and sixty-five, and that the benefits of the said act be, for the time aforesaid, continued to such clerks of the Treasury Department as have recently been removed from Richmond to Columbia, South Carolina, and such other clerks as may be there employed.

The Congress of the Confederate States of America do enact, That the sum of thirty thousand dollars be, and the same is hereby, appropriated, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, to be expended, under the direction of the Secretary of the Navy, in the construction of iron-clad vessels at Charleston, South Carolina, this amount having been contributed by the ladies of South Carolina for this object, and paid into the Treasury.

The Congress of the Confederate States of America do enact, That it shall be the duty of the Secretary of State of the Confederate States to furnish, without application, each Senator and Representative in Congress, delegate and officer of each House, with a certificate under seal, setting forth the official character of such Senator or Representative, delegate or officer; and such certificate, when exhibited, shall entitle the person to whom it is issued to travel without other evidence, of any kind, in all parts of the Confederate States, except that it shall not entitle him to visit an army or vessel of war against the orders of the commanding officer thereof.

The Congress of the Confederate States of America do enact, That the provisions of the first proviso of the fifth section of the act entitled “An act to prescribe the rates of postage in the Confederate States of America, and for other purposes,” approved twenty-third February, eighteen hundred and sixty-one, be extended to the agent of the Post-Office Department west of the Mississippi, and to the Auditor for the trans-Mississippi Department, upon all matter connected with the adjustment and settlement of postal accounts.

The Congress of the Confederate States of America do enact, That from and after the passage of this act, there shall be allowed to each regiment of cavalry in the army of the Confederate States, one commissary, with the same rank, pay and allowances as are now allowed by law to the quartermaster of such regiment.

The Congress of the Confederate States of America do enact, That all machinery and materials in any wise necessary for the construction, equipment and operation of railroads, imported by any railroad company for its own use, and all engines, cars, and other rolling stock, for use upon any railroad, be admitted free of duty during the existing war.

The Congress of the Confederate States of America do enact, That the Secretary of the Treasury be, and he is hereby, authorized to issue to the treasurers or other authorized agents of the several nations of Indians, connected with or friendly to the Confederate States, in exchange for any of the treasury notes held by the said nations, or by individuals thereof, on the first day of July next, new notes of the issue provided for by the act entitled “An act to reduce the currency and to authorize a new issue of notes and bonds,” approved February seventeenth, eighteen hundred and sixty-four, without any deduction: Provided however, That not more than one hundred and fifty thousand dollars shall be so exchanged: And provided further, That the redemption of the notes held by the said nations, or by such individual Indians, shall be under the direction of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, who shall ascertain the amounts of notes bona fide held by the same, and take care that no frauds be committed in the execution of this act.

The Congress of the Confederate States of America do enact, That the President be, and he is hereby authorized, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, to appoint temporary officers of the rank of brigadier general, major general, lieutenant general or general for the provisional army, and assign them to any appropriate command.

SEC. 2. That the said officers, so appointed, shall only hold their said rank and their said command, for such time as the temporary exigency may require, at the expiration of which time they shall resume their previous permanent rank and command.

The Congress of the Confederate States of America do enact, That the above named act be, and the same is hereby, amended so as to allow to the State officer therein named, the right to purchase forage for one horse in addition to the right granted thereby to purchase one ration, said purchases to be made upon the same terms and conditions, and under the same circumstances under which officers of the provisional army may be allowed to purchase rations or forage.

The Congress of the Confederate States of America do enact, That the President be, and he is hereby, authorized, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, to appoint, when in his judgment it may be proper to do so, chaplains to battalions and to general hospitals, who shall receive the same pay and allowances now authorized by law to chaplains appointed to regiments and posts.

The Congress of the Confederate States of America do enact, That there shall be appointed by the Secretary of War, a clerk, with a salary of twenty-five hundred dollars per annum, who shall be charged with making the disbursements for the said department, and who shall give a bond, with sureties, for the faithful performance of the duties of his office, in such sum as the Secretary of War shall prescribe. And all acts and parts of acts now providing for the appointment and salary of disbursing clerk for said department be, and the same are hereby, repealed: Provided, said salary shall not continue for a period beyond the duration of the war with the United States.

The Congress of the Confederate States of America do enact, That the compensation and mileage of members of Congress, the first year of the second Congress, shall be double the amount now allowed by law.

SEC. 2. That the compensation of the officers of Congress for one year from the passage of this act shall be double the amount allowed in the act entitled “An act to regulate the compensation of the officers of the Senate and of the House of Representatives,” approved March twenty-fourth, eighteen hundred and sixty-two; and officers whose appointment has been authorized since the passage of said act, shall be entitled to the same compensation as officers of like grade named therein; but the provisions of this act shall not operate to reduce the compensation now allowed by law to any officer of the Senate or of the House of Representatives.

The Congress of the Confederate States of America do enact, That the Attorney General be, and he is hereby, authorized to employ, from time to time, such additional clerical force as he may deem necessary to aid the law clerk to prepare promptly for publication, immediately after the adjournment of each session of Congress, the acts, resolutions and treaties of the Confederate States, adopted during the session.

SEC. 2. That the Attorney General be, and he is hereby, authorized to contract for the printing, publishing and binding of the acts, resolutions and treaties adopted at each session of Congress, conformably to the provisions of an act entitled “An act to privide for the safe custody, printing, publication and distribution of the laws, and to provide for the appointment of an additional clerk in the Department of Justice,” approved fifth of August, eighteen hundred and sixty-one, whenever, in his judgment, they may not be promptly executed by the public printer.

SEC. 3. That all the printing required by the heads of the several executive departments (the Post-Office Department excepted,) shall be executed under the direction of the Superintendent of Public Printing; and such compensation shall be paid as may be agreed upon between the heads of the departments, respectively, and the contractor or contractors doing the work. The Superintendent of Public Printing shall have authority to apportion the work of said departments among any number of contractors and printing establishments that may be necessary to secure the prompt execution thereof, and he may have the same done by job or otherwise.

SEC. 4. In addition to the copy of the laws which the members of Congress are now entitled to receive by law, there shall be delivered to them by the Attorney General one copy of the acts of each session of Congress, and one copy of the laws of the provisional Congress now in course of publication, and hereafter every new member of Congress shall be entitled to two copies of said laws.

The Congress of the Confederate States of America do enact, That the act entitled “An act to provide for holding elections for Representatives in the Congress of the Confederate States in the State of Tennessee,” approved May first, eighteen hundred and sixty-three, be amended so that the person voted for as representative of any specified district, receiving the highest number of votes of the whole vote of the State, shall be commissioned as representative of the district for which he is voted for.

SEC. 2. That in all elections held under said act, polls shall be opened in the camps of the army, as well out of as in the State, and the election shall be conducted otherwise as provided in said act as amended by this act.

SEC. 3. That in such elections all persons entitled to vote under said act out of the county of their residence, shall be allowed to vote at any of the places of voting out of the State.

The Congress of the Confederate States of America do enact, That officers of the army and navy while traveling under orders of the War or Navy Department, shall be allowed transportation in kind for themselves and their personal baggage, and ten dollars per day for expenses while necessarily traveling in the execution of their orders.

The Congress of the Confederate States of America do enact, That the President be authorized to appoint ten military storekeepers of ordnance in the provisional army of the Confederate States, in addition to those authorized by act of May first, eighteen hundred and sixty-three, entitled “An act to provide for the appointment of military storekeepers in the provisional army of the Confederate States,” five with the pay and allowances of a captain of infantry, and five with the pay and allowances of a first lieutenant of infantry.

SEC. 2. That military storekeepers of the first class, so appointed, shall be required to give the usual bonds in the sum of twenty thousand dollars, and those of the second class in the sum of ten thousand dollars. This act shall be in force from and after its passage: Provided, That no one shall be appointed under its provisions except persons who were performing the duties of acting military storekeepers prior to January first, eighteen hundred and sixty-four, or have become incapacitated by wounds or sickness for active service.

The Congress of the Confederate States of America do enact, That the judges of the district courts of the Confederate States have power and authority to appoint and change the times and places of holding the courts in their respective districts, whenever, in their judgment, the public exigences may require; and they shall have power in term time or at chambers, to pass all necessary orders to effect such appointment or change of time or place, and to provide for the removal of the records and files of the court.

The Congress of the Confederate States of America do enact, That the following post routes be, and the same are hereby, established, namely: From the town of Americus, in Sumter county, Georgia, by way of Ellaville, in Schley county, and Buena Vista, in Marion county, to Geneva, in Talbot county, Georgia. Also from Black Mingo Post-Office, in Williamsburg district, South Carolina, to Cantley's, in the same district and State. Also from Manchester, in Cumberland county, North Carolina, to Reedy Branch, in the same county. Also from Rutherford Court House, North Carolina, by William Huntley's, McDaniel's Mills, near Poor's Ford, E. G. Steadman's, Big Island, on Broad river, Ford Mills, North Carolina, Arrowood Post-Office, South Carolina, Buck Creek Post-Office, South Carolina, to Spartanburg Court House, South Carolina. Also from the town of Jefferson, Jackson county, to Gainsville, in Hall county, Georgia. Also from Athens, in Clark county, to Lawrenceville, Guinnet county, Georgia. Also from Dahlonega, in Lumpkin county, by way of Cleveland, in White county, to Clarksville, in Habersham county, Georgia. Also from Independence, Grayson county, Virginia, by way of Noah Long's, John L. Harrington's and Samuel Perkins' to Big Meadows, in the said county of Grayson. Also from Rye Valley, in Smyth county, Virginia, by way of Esquire Ross's, in Grayson county, and Bridle Creek, to Independence, in said county of Grayson. Also from Big Lick, in Roanoke county, Virginia, to Rocky Mount, Franklin county, by way of Benbrook. Also from Warwick Post-Office, in Worth county, Georgia, to Vienna, Dooly county, Georgia. Also from Isabella, Worth county, Georgia, to Irwinville, Irwin county, Georgia. Also from Riedsville, in Rockingham county, North Carolina, via Wentworth and Leaksville, in said county, to Ridgway, in Henry county, Virginia. Amend route No. twenty-one hundred and seventy-three so as to read “from Fayetteville, by Lumber Bridge, Dundarrach, Malta, Gilopolis, Lawrenburg, Springfield, Gibson's Store, and Brightsville, South Carolina, to Cheraw, South Carolina.”

The Congress of the Confederate States of America do enact, That the provisions of the third section of the act entitled “An act to organize forces to serve during the war,” approved February seventeenth, eighteen hundred and sixty-four, be, and the same are hereby, extended to the warrant officers, pilots, seamen, ordinary seamen, landsmen and boys of the navy, and to the non-commissioned officers, musicians and privates of the marine corps.

The Congress of the Confederate States of America do enact, That the commanding general of any army in the field shall have the power to direct the dismounting of any non-commissioned officer or officers, soldier or soldiers, in the cavalry service in his command, and to place him or them in the infantry, who shall misbehave before the enemy, or shall be guilty of illegally wasting, spoliating or appropriating to his own any private property, or of doing any violence to any citizen.

SEC. 2. That the horses belonging to persons so dismounted, and which they may have had in the service, may be taken for the use of the army, and the appraised value thereof shall be paid to the owner.

The Congress of the Confederate States of America do enact, That all commissioned officers in the army and navy shall be entitled to one ration, and all commissioned officers in the field and afloat, in addition thereto, shall be allowed to purchase from any commissary or other officer required to issue subsistence to soldiers, marines, or seamen, at the prime cost thereof, including transportation, as follows: One ration each for officers of and below the rank of colonel; two rations each for officers of the rank of brigadier general, major general, and lieutenant general; and three rations each for a general; one ration each for commissioned officers of the navy of and below the rank of commander, and two rations each for officers above that rank.

SEC. 2. That an officer shall not draw or purchase, at any time, more of the component part of a ration than is issued to the private soldier at the same time.

SEC. 3. That nothing contained in this act or the act to which this is an amendment, shall be construed as allowing commutation for rations or as authorizing an officer to receive or purchase rations, except when he requires them for his own use.

SEC. 4. That this act shall continue in force only during the war.

The Congress of the Confederate States of America do enact, That the act entitled “An act to regulate the supplies of clothing to enlisted men of the navy during the war,” approved April thirtieth, eighteen hundred and sixty-three, be, and the same is hereby, amended so as to authorize the Secretary of the Navy to issue supplies of small stores to the enlisted men of the navy, upon the same terms as provided for the clothing authorized by said act.

The Congress of the Confederate States of America do enact, That whenever the usually traveled routes between the homes of members of Congress and the capital are interfered with by the enemy, it shall be the duty of military commanders to facilitate the passage of members and delegates going to or returning from Congress, by furnishing transportation in kind for any distances over which they may state in writing they cannot provide themselves with transportation; and such written application, endorsed “furnished,” by the party receiving the transportation, shall be accepted as a sufficient voucher for the expenditure of the officer in furnishing the same.

The Congress of the Confederate States of America do enact, That all persons detailed from the army or after enrollment for military service, or from the navy or marine corps, for special duty or extra duty, shall be allowed to receive their regular pay, rations and allowances, as if they were performing service in the field.

SEC. 2. That all such detached or detailed men shall be allowed, in addition, not exceeding two dollars per day, and compensation for all extra work, or for any uncommon skill or industry displayed in the performance of duties to which they may be assigned, in proportion to the value of such extra labor or uncommon skill or industry, whether it be in performing an unusual amount of work within the usual hours of labor, or work performed beyond the usual hours, or extraordinary skill and superior workmanship displayed in the execution of such duties, the value of said extra labor or uncommon skill or industry, to be determined by the officer or superintendent under whose immediate direction said detached or detailed service may be performed, subject to the approval of the Secretary of War or Navy. The additional compensation provided in this section shall be the same for both the War and Navy Departments, under certain rules to be prescribed by the President.

SEC. 3. That all non-commissioned officers, musicians, privates, sailors or marines, detailed to government contractors, shall be so detailed without pay and allowances, but shall be compensated for their services by wages received from said contractors, under rules to be prescribed by the Secretary of War or of the Navy.

The Congress of the Confederate States of America do enact, That the commissioners appointed under the said act shall be entitled to receive the compensation of two hundred and fifty dollars each per month, from the date of their respective appointments, until the expiration of their service; and that their assistants shall be allowed one hundred and fifty dollars per month, from the date of their appointments, respectively, until the expiration of their service.

SEC. 2. That the said commissioners shall have the powers conferred upon commissioners appointed by the district courts by the act of the provisional Congress, approved thirtieth of August, eighteen hundred and sixty-one, and numbered two hundred and seventy-three, in the acts of the said Congress.

The Congress of the Confederate States of America do enact, That from and after the passage of this act, the pay of the non-commissioned officers, privates and musicians of the army of the Confederate States be, and the same is hereby, increased seven dollars per month for the period of one year from the passage of this act.

WHEREAS, in the administration of the affairs of the Post-Office Department, in the year eighteen hundred and sixty-two and eighteen hundred and sixty-three, current expenses for mail service were met by drafts on postmasters, for accruing postage and revenue under regulations providing for subsequent adjustment of such transactions at the treasury; And, whereas, it appears that estimates were submitted from time to time by the Postmaster General, for appropriations by Congress, of the revenues of the Department towards the necessary expenses thereof, but from some cause certain appropriations estimated for in eighteen hundred and sixty-two and eighteen hundred and sixty-three were omitted. To remedy this omission,

The Congress of the Confederate States of America do enact, That the following sums be, and the same are hereby, appropriated, out of any money in the treasury, being the revenues arising from postage, sales of postage stamps and emoluments from box rents for the years eighteen hundred and sixty-two and eighteen hundred and sixty-three, no appropriations having been heretofore made for those years, viz:

For transportation of the mails, compensation of postmasters and clerks, ship, steamboat and way letters, advertising, mail bags, office furniture, blanks and printing, wrapping paper, mail locks, keys and stamps, mail depredations and special agents, postage stamps and miscellaneous payments for the year ending June thirtieth, eighteen hundred and sixty-two, two hundred and seventy-six thousand three hundred and fifty-five dollars and twenty-three cents.

For transportation of the mails, compensation of postmasters and clerks, ship, steamboat and way letters, advertising, mail bags, office furniture, blanks and printing, wrapping paper, mail locks, keys and stamps, mail depredations and special agents, postage stamps and miscellaneous payments, for the year ending June thirtieth, eighteen hundred and sixty-three, two million seven hundred and thirty-seven thousand three hundred and two dollars and thirty cents.

The Congress of the Confederate States of America do enact, That the act entitled “An act to organize forces to serve during the war,” approved seventeenth February, eighteen hundred and sixty-four, be, and the same is hereby, so amended as to allow all white male residents, between the ages of seventeen and eighteen and forty-five and fifty years, who were prevented from enrolling themselves within the time prescribed by the said act, by the occupation of their localities or country by the public enemy, and whose homes are, and have been since the passage of said act, beyond the lines of the Confederate armies, to organize themselves in pursuance of the sixth section of said act, after their homes or localities are brought within the lines of the Confederate armies; and this privilege shall continue for the space of thirty days after the reoccupation is announced by an order issued by the general commanding the department, and published in the military department in which such reoccupation may occur.

The Congress of the Confederate States of America do enact, That upon all subjects of taxation under existing tax laws, there shall be assessed and levied a tax equal to one-fifth of the amount of the present tax on the same subjects for the year eighteen hundred and sixty-four, which tax shall be payable only in Confederate treasury notes of the new issue, and shall be collected at the same times with the other taxes on the same subjects, under the laws now in force.

SEC. 2. The money arising from the tax hereby imposed shall be appropriated, first, to the payment of the increased compensation of the soldiers under the act passed at the present session.

The Congress of the Confederate States of America do enact, That in estimating and ascertaining the increase of the salary of the Treasurer under the several acts heretofore passed on the subject of salaries of public officers at Richmond, the permanent salary of the Treasurer shall be taken to be four thousand dollars, as fixed by the act approved February sixteenth, eighteen hundred and sixty-four, and the increase shall be estimated on that basis.

The Congress of the Confederate States of America do enact, That whenever slaves shall have been assessed, but between the time of the assessment and the time fixed by law for the payment of the tax thereon, such slaves shall be lost to the owner, by the act of the enemy, the said tax may be remitted in the manner pointed out by the second section of the act entitled “An act for the relief of tax-payers in certain cases,” approved February thirteenth, eighteen hundred and sixty-four.

The Congress of the Confederate States of America do enact, That the pay of a general shall be five hundred dollars per month; that of a lieutenant general, four hundred and fifty dollars per month, and that of a major general, three hundred and fifty [dollars] per month; that a general commanding an army in the field shall receive in addition to the said sum of five hundred dollars per month, one hundred dollars; and a lieutenant general, a major general and a brigadier general shall, whilst serving in the field, each receive fifty dollars per month, in addition to the sum herein allowed, whilst so serving; and all laws allowing additional compensation for commanding a separate army in the field be, and they are hereby, repealed, except as herein provided; and that this act shall be in force for one year and no longer.

The Congress of the Confederate States of America do enact, That the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, may appoint fifty officers of artillery in the provisional army for the performance of ordnance duties, in addition to those authorized by the act entitled “An act to authorize the appointment of officers of artillery in the provisional army,” approved April twenty-first, eighteen hundred and sixty-two, and “An act to authorize the appointment of additional officers of artillery for ordnance duties,” approved September sixteenth, eighteen hundred and sixty-two, and that the rank of said officers shall be as provided in said last named act.

The Congress of the Confederate States of America do enact, That the following sums be, and the same are hereby, appropriated, out of any money in the treasury not otherwise appropriated, for the support of the Government, from July first to December thirty-first, eighteen hundred and sixty-four:

LEGISLATIVE.—For compensation and mileage of members and delegates of the House of Representatives, two hundred thousand dollars.

For compensation of officers and others employed in the House of Representatives, five thousand six hundred and twenty-five dollars.

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

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

For compensation of officers and clerks of the Senate, ten thousand dollars.

For incidental and contingent expenses of the Senate, ten thousand dollars.

EXECUTIVE.—For compensation of the President of the Confederate States, twelve thousand five hundred dollars.

For compensation of the Vice President of the Confederate States, three thousand dollars.

For compensation of the private secretary and messenger of the President of the Confederate States, one thousand three hundred and fifty dollars.