Mr. Cutler offered the following Resolution: Resolved, That so many of the old officers of the last Session now present as are necessary, be and they are hereby declared elected officers for the present Session and that a Committee of five be appointed by the Chair to report such other officers as they may deem necessary, and also name the proper persone to fill the same. Mr. Eaton offered the following substitute for the resolution: Resolved, That the Speaker be and he is hereby authorized to appoint all officers necessary for the present Session. The motion to adopt the substitute prevailed. The Speaker then appointed the following officers: Mr. Pendleton moved that the Rules of the last House be adopted for the present Session. The motion prevailed.wangel hafa feast Mr. Williams of Mahaska moved that a Committee of three be appointed to inform the Senate that the House is organized and ready to proceed to business. The motion prevailed and the Speaker appointed Messrs. Williams of Mahaska, McLennan and Shipman as such Committee.. The Committee reported that they had performed the duty assigned them and were discharged.dend poled arou Messrs. Brown and Pollard, a Committee from the Senate, informed the House that the Senate had perfected its organization and was ready to proceed to business.depoffunt, Mr. Rothrock moved that a Committee of three be appointed to wait upon his Excellency the Governor and inform him that the House had completed its organization.j The motion prevailed and the Chair appointed Messrs. Rothrock, Dunlavy and Hollingsworth as such Committee. The Committee having returned, reported that they had performed the duty assigned them, and that his Excellency would presently report to the House a communication in writing. Mr. Bracewell moved that wait upon City and make arrangements as may be necessary for the postage of members. the Post MasterCommittee of three be appointed to Mr. Shipman moved that the motion be laid upon the table. Carried. de yn The following message was received from his Excellency the Governor, by his Private Secretary, Mr. Thomas Shepard: EXECUTIVE OFFICE, IOWANI Gentlemen of the Senate and House of Representatives: You have been convened in extraordinary session to consider some questions vitally affecting the public welfare, which, in my judgment, require your immediate action. When you closed your last regular session, the belief prevailed very generally that the strength of the rebellion against the General Government had been broken, and your legislation upon some questions of great public interest was controlled by that belief.The lapse of time has shown that belief to be erroneous, and a change of legislation on those questions has therefore become nec essary. The provision made for our sick and wounded soldiers, and for their return to their homes on furlough, will, under existing circumstances, prove wholly inadequate. The largely increased number of our soldiers that will be shortly in the field, and the great length of time they will be exposed to the danger of disease and the casualties of battle, will render absolutely necessary a large increase of the fund provided for their care and comfort. The extraordinary expenses of my office have also been and will probably continue to be largely increased, in consequence of the new demands that have been and may be made upon the State. I therefore recommend to your favorable consideration such increase of the contingent fund for extraordinary expenses of this office, as will be sufficient to enable me to do for the gallent men who so nobly represent our State in the Army of the Union, when suffering from wounds and disease, that which every loyal heart so anxiously desires should be done, and also to enable me to carry on successfully the many new and arduous labors imposed upon this office, in promptly responding to all the demands made upon the State for the support of the Gov ernment.free The labors of the office of the Adjutant General have been largely increased, and must continue to be very great as long as the war lasts and for some time after its close. This State will soon have in the field nearly or quite fifty thousand men, and the interest and welfare of our soldiers and their friends require that the records of that office should be fully and carefully kept. The Adjutant General now discharges in addition to the proper duties of his office, the duties of Quartermaster General and Paymaster General. It is in my judgment impossible for one officer properly to superintend the labor of these three Departments. The amount of labor and attention required is more than one person can give, and the necessary work cannot be so promptly done, or so well done, as if there was a proper division of labor. I recommend that I should be authorzed to appoint an Assistant Adjutant General, who shall act as Paymaster General. A Quartermaster General can be appointed under the existing law, and then the duties now imposed upon the Adjutant General can be so divided and arranged, as in my judg ment greatly to benefit the public service.island In my judgment the compensation of the Adjutant General is not adequate either to the labor or the responsibility of his position, and I recommend an addition thereto, either by allowing him a contingent fund for his traveling expenses, or by an increase of his salary. Congress has provided by law an allotment system by which our soldies can set aside a portion of their monthly pay, and have the same paid at their homes to such persons as they may designate without risk or expense. The benefits of this system are obvious and great. Commissioners have been appointed by the President but under the law, the compensation of these Commissioners must be paid by the State, and as no appropriation has been made for that purpose, our soldiers and their friends have not as yet enjoyed the benefits of the system. One of the Commissioners is now engaged in procuring the allotments of our new regiments before they leave the State, and I earnestly recommend such appropriation as will secure the advantages of this system to all our soldiers. Since your adjournment Congress has passed a law donating pubfic lands to the several States and Territories which may provide Colleges for the benefit of Agriculture and the Mechanic Arts. Under this law this State is entitled to a donation of two hundred and forty thousand [240,000] acres of land. It is a most munificent donation, and for a most worthy purpose. It is of great importance that immediate action be had by you touching this grant. By taking such action the State can secure the entire amount of the lands within her own limits, and consequently control their management and disposition. Should action in this matter be postponed until the next regular session other States may select their lands within the limits of this State, and manage and dispose of them in a manner very undesirable to us. I recommend the subject to your careful consideration. The regiments we have sent and are sending to the field contain a very large portion of our population required by law to perform abor on the highways. Only those between the ages of twentyone and forty-five years are now required to perform such labor. Yet our highways must be kept in repair, and we can only supply the deficiency of labor created by enlistments, by requiring labor from those now exempt. I therefore recommend that the law be so amended that all able bodied male residents of the State between the ages of eighteen and sixty be made liable to perform labor on our highways. It is of the highest importance that the numerical strength of the regiments from this State be maintained in the field. Many of our old regiments have been much reduced in numbers, and thus the expense of maintaining them, in proportion to their number, is much increased, while their efficiency is much diminished. Our new regiments will go out full, and the old ones will soon be filled, but in a short time their numbers will be again reduced. edy this evil I recommend that, with the approval of the proper Federal authorities, a Camp of Instruction be established at some To rem. suitable point in this State, sufficient to accommodate one thousand men-that the several counties be required to furnish their equitable proportion of that number of men to place in camp under instruction-that when men are needed to fill the ranks of any of our regiments requisitions be made for the proper number-which shall be filled as nearly as may be from the men in camp, from the counties in which the companies composing the regiment were organized, and their places in camp immediately be supplied by new men from the same counties. This is entirely just to all the counties-will send the men into companies composed of their neighbors and friends, and will keep up our regiments to their effective strength. On the 17th day of August last I issued a proclamation urging upon our people the strong necessity of filling up the ranks of our old regiments, and as an inducement to enlistments for that purpose declared my intention of recommending to you the payment of bounties by the State, to all who should enlist for the old regiments, between the date of proclamation and the first day of the present month. I have not yet learned the number of men who have thus enlisted between the dates named, but I recommend to you that an appropriation be made for the purpose of paying to each of them such bounty as you may deem advisable. The theory of our Government is that the people rule. This theory can be carried into practical effect only through the ballot box. Thereby the people mould and direct the operations of the Government, and settle all questions affecting the public welfare. The right of suffrage is therefore highly prized by all good citizens, and should be exercised by them at all times and especially at times when questions of grave importance are presented for solution. There never has been, perhaps there will never again be a time when questions so important, interests so vital as those now demanding action at the hands of our people, were or will be submitted to them. The very life of the Nation is at stake, and may be as fatally lost at the ballot box as on the battle field. Under such circumstances it is not only the right but the duty of all good citizens to exercise the right of suffrage, and to see to it that the principles for the preservation of which our people are so freely offering treasure and life, are not jeopardized or lost in the Halls of Legislation, State or National. A very large number of the electors of the State are in the army. We say but little when we say that these men are as good citizens, as intelligent, as patriotic, as devoted to their country, as those who remain at home. Under existing laws these citizens cannot vote, and unless these laws can be changed it may be that the cause they are periling life in the field to maintain, may be lost at home through supineness or treachery. I therefore recommend that the laws be so modified that all members of Iowa regiments who would be entitled to vote if at home on the day of election, be allowed to vote wherever they may be stationed in the United States, and that provision be made for receiving and canvassing their votes. There are in this State some religious bodies who entertain peculiar views upon the subject of bearing arms, and whose religious opinions conscientiously entertained, preclude their so doing. Their members are generally among our most quiet, orderly, industrious and peaceful citizens, and their sympathies are wholly with the Government in this struggle now going on for its preservation, yet they cannot conscientiously bear arms in its support. It appears to me it would be unjust and wholly useless to force such men into the army as soldiers, and yet it would not be just to the Government or to other citizens that they should be wholly relieved from the burdens that others have to bear. I suggest, therefore, that these persons who cannot conscientiously render military duty, be exempted therefrom in case of draft, upon the payment of a fixed sum of money to be paid to the State. Startling rumors have recently reached me of danger to our people on the North-Western Frontier, from hostile Indians. I immediately despatched Schuyler R. Ingham, Esq., of Des Moines City, to the scene of danger, with arms and ammunition, and full authority to act as circumstances might require. I have not yet had a report from him, but will immediately, upon receipt of such report, communicate with you by special message, should the emergency require your attention. The condition of the country is such as justly to cause anxiety and distrust, but not despondency to the patriot. It is true the rebellion against the Government has assumed a magnitude and shown a strength we did not anticipate, but it is also true the Government has exhibited a degree of power for its suppression that the most sanguine did not dream of. Our rulers and our people at last have realized the extent of the task before them and have girded themselves to the work like men. We have all, rulers and people, at last learned on a page all blotted with tears and blood that in this war conciliation and kindness are more than useless and that the enemy, whose whole social fabric is based upon force, respects only force and can be subdued by force alone." We are learning if we have not yet learned that it is wise to strike the enemy where he is weakest, and to strike him there continually and with all our power, that God's blessing upon our cause will most surely bring its triumph and that we cannot with confidence claim that blessing until our cause by being made in all things like Him, pure and holy, fully deserves it. If we have fully learned these lessons and shall fairly act upon them, we will soon triumph. If we have not learned them, we will yet do so, and we will then triumph. SAMUEL J. KIRKWOOD. Mr. Curtiss moved that the Message be laid upon the table and that 2,000 copies of the same be printed for the use of the House. |