TUESDAY, JANUARY 13, 1863.
Prayer by Rev. Mr. Brockunier of the M. E. Church.
The following communication was received from the Senate.
"SENATE CHAMBER,
Jan. 12, 1863.
The Senate has this day passed,
No. 40, House Bill, entitled "An Act to authorize Charles H. Kimball trustee to construct and maintain a Tram or Rail Road from Franklin Furnace to the Baltimore and Ohio Rail Road in the County of Preston"
No. 42, House Bill, entitled "An Act changing the place of holding an election in the county of Jackson."
The Chairman of the Committee for Courts of Justice reported the following bill.
No. 58, "A Bill to legalize the appointment of Ferdinand Lewis, Administrator of the estate of Solomon Michael, Sr., late of Hardy County."
The Chairman of the Committee for Privileges and Elections reported the following bill.
No. 59, "A Bill giving the consent of the State of Virginia to the County of Berkeley being admitted into and becoming part of the State of West Virginia."
Mr. Patrick moved to take up the Senate joint resolution heretofore laid on the table, in reference to the election of a U.S. Senator, on which he demanded the yeas and nays, which demand being sustained, the vote was recorded as follows.
YEAS----Messrs. Porter (Speaker) Barker, Boreman, Bumgarner, Bowyer, Crothers, Davidson, Downey, Farnsworth, Fast, Hale, Hooton, Kramer, Keeney, Logan, Michael, Myers, Kitchen, Powell, Parsons, Patrick, Ruffner, Smith, Snider, Swan, Wilson, West, Wheat, Williamson of Wirt, Wright, Zinn----31.
NAYS---Messrs. Hawxhurst----1.
The question being on the pending amendment to insert the "20" in lieu of "13" Mr. Hooton asked leave to withdraw his motion to which objection being made, Mr. Patrick demanded the yeas and nays on the amendment, which demand being sustained, the vote was recorded as follows:
YEAS----Messrs. Porter (Speaker) Barker, Boreman, Bowyer, Myers, Ruffner, Williamson of Wirt----7.
NAYS----Messrs. Bumgarner, Crothers, Davidson, Downey, Farnsworth, Fast, Hawxhurst, Hale, Hooton, Kramer, Keeney, Logan, Michael, Kitchen, Powell Parsons, Patrick, Smith, Snider, Swan, West, Wheat, Wright, Zinn----24.
The question being on the adoption of the resolution, Mr. Patrick demanded the yeas and nays, which demand being sustained, the vote was recorded as follows:
YEAS----Messrs. Bowyer, Davis, Myers, Powell, Patrick, Wilson, Williamson of Wirt----7.
NAYS----Messrs. Porter, (Speaker) Boreman, Bumgarner, Crothers, Davidson, Downey, Farnsworth, Fast, Hawxhurst, Hale, Hooton, Kramer, Keeney, Logan, Michael, Kitchen, Parsons, Ruffner, Smith, Snider, Swan, West, Wheat, Wright, Zinn----26.
Mr. Patrick offered the following:
Resolved, That this House will, with the consent of the Senate, adjourn on Tuesday, the 20th inst., sine die.
Mr. Patrick demanded the yeas and nays on the adoption of the above resolution, which demand was sustained, and thereupon Mr. Logan moved to amend by inserting the "27" when on motion of Mr. Hooton, the resolution and amendment was laid on the table.
The following communication was received from the Senate, which on motion of Mr. Hooton was concurred in, and the Speaker appointed the following gentlemen additional members of that committee:
Messrs. Hale, Powell and Wright.
"SENATE CHAMBER,
Jan. 13, 1863.
The Senate this day passed the following joint resolution:
Resolved, That two members of the Senate (from the Eastern part of the State) and three members of the House of Delegates, with the consent of the House, be added to the committee on re-districting the State into Congressional Districts, in which they ask the concurrence of the House of Delegates.
The Chairman of the Committee on Banks reported the following bill which was read the first time.
No. 60, "A Bill amending the First, Second, Third and Eighth sections of an act incorporating the Bank of Guyandotte in the county of Cabell passed March 2d, 1854."
On motion of Mr. Logan the joint resolution heretofore offered by him and laid on the table, directing the Auditor to loan not less than Five thousand dollars to the West Liberty Academy was taken up, and thereupon on motion of Mr. Kramer the further consideration of the same was passed by for the present.
On motion of Mr. West,
House Bill No. 43, "A Bill for the relief of Elisha Morgan of the county of Wetzel from certain liabilities," was taken up, and the question being on the passage of the bill, Mr. Kramer demanded the yeas and nays, which demand was sustained, and thereupon on motion of Mr. Smith the further consideration of the bill was passed by for the present.
On motion of Mr. Bumgarner,
Resolved, That the Committee on Roads and Internal Navigation enquire into the expediency of amending and re-enacting section 4 of the act passed May 15th 1862, entitled an act to reorganize the Kanawha Board.
On motion of Mr. Kramer,
Resolved, That that Committee on Privileges and Elections be instructed to enquire into the expediency of reporting a bill changing the place of holding the election in district No. 5, in Monongalia County, from Cox's to the House of James Arnett at Arnettsville.
Mr. Kramer accompanied the said resolution with a petition of sundry citizens praying the change indicated.
House Bill No. 44, on its second reading, "A Bill changing the place of holding the election in the county of Hardy" was taken up, and thereupon Mr. Michael moved to fill the blank at the end of the 3d line with the words "the house now occupied by Jno W. Athey in Greenland" and the question being put it was determined in the affirmative. Mr. Kramer moved further to amend by inserting the following as an independent section, "Be it further enacted that the Election precinct held at Cox's house in the fifth magisterial district in the County of Monongalia, be discontinued and that in lieu thereof, the regular place of voting for said precinct shall hereafter be held at the house of James Arnett in the town of Arnetsville," and the question being put it was determined in the affirmative, and thereupon the bill was ordered to Engrossment.
On motion of Mr. Crothers the rules were suspended and House Bill No. 56, "A Bill to authorize the purchase on behalf the State of the branch of the Northwestern Bank of Virginia at Jeffersonville, in the county of Tazewell and to provide for the outstanding liabilities of said branch" was taken up, and thereupon the bill was ordered to engrossment.
House Bill No. 45, on its second reading "A Bill establishing a place of voting in the County of Harrison" was taken up, and thereupon Mr. Davis moved to amend by striking out all after the word "Virginia" in the first line and inserting the following: "that an election precinct be and the same is hereby established at Rockford School House in the third magisterial district of Harrison county, and that said School House shall hereafter be a regular place of voting in said county or all elections required by law to be held in the counties of this Commonwealth."
2d. This act shall be in force from its passage," and the question being put it was determined in the affirmative. Thereupon the bill was ordered to engrossment.
House Bill No. 46, on its second reading, "A Bill appropriating the capitation tax for the year 1862 for educational purposes" was taken up, and thereupon Mr. Kramer moved to amend in the second line after the word "Treasury," the following, "for the year 1862" which he subsequently withdrew and thereupon he moved to amend in the fourth line by striking out the words "for the year 1862," and thereupon on motion of Mr. Boreman, the further consideration of the bill was passed by for the present.
A communication was received from the Governor, which was read, laid on the table and ordered to be printed.
THE COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA,
EXECUTIVE CHAMBER.
To the General Assembly of Virginia:
GENTLEMEN:---I desire to call your attention to a subject, which would have been noticed in my message of December 4th, had the necessary reports been in my possession. I refer to that unfortunate class, to be found in almost every community, Lunatics. Persons with reason dethroned, have lived in all ages, and formed a class the most helpless. They demand our warmest sympathy, and modern civilization, directed by a benevolence prompted by christian philanthropy has conceived the noble idea of Asylums, in which, alone, that attention can be given them which their situation demands, and which has been eminently successful in their restoration.
Both of the Lunatic Asylums of the State were under the control of the rebels when the rebellion broke out. The General Assembly, in May last, made an appropriation of ten thousand dollars "to Lunatic and other Asylums," and in June, the Federal army obtained possession of Williamsburg, the seat of the Eastern Asylum. Immediately thereafter, I appointed Dr. G. F. Watson, of Accomac county, a commissioner, and directed him to proceed to that point and take possession of the Asylum, and require all the officers and employees to take the oath of allegiance to the government of the United States and the reorganized government of Virginia. Dr. Watson acted with great promptness and energy, took possession of the Asylum, and on the failure of the officers and employees to conform to the before- recited requisition, he discharged them. He found the Asylum in a deplorable condition, the inmates suffering for the necessaries of life. Many of them had been confined for months without being permitted to enjoy the healthful influence of fresh air, or even sufficient water to quench their thirst. Dr. Watson inaugurated many reforms, and brought joy to many minds blest with sufficient reason to realize that a kind hand had reached them to administer to their wants.
I learn from Dr. Watson that the books of the Asylum show an expenditure during the last year of seventy-one thousand dollars. The Doctor remained there about three months, and, since being driven away, has frequently visited the Asylum; and he assures me that the annual expenses of the Asylum, with the present number of inmates, should not exceed forty thousand dollars. Of the appropriation before referred to there have been expended thirty-seven hundred and twenty-two dollars and sixty-three cents, at Williamsburg.
There is a number of Lunatics in our midst for whom we have no home, and I did not, nor do I now, think it prudent to send to the Eastern Asylum. The authorities of the State of Ohio, kindly permitted us to place our female lunatics in their Asylum. I did not feel that we could receive this kindness without rendering a compensation, and I proposed paying the cost of boarding at least, which is about five dollars per week.
I have paid to the Superintendent of the Ohio Asylum, eleven hundred, seven dollars and forty-four cents, which includes transportation. Females, however, can only be received, and this leaves a number of males unprovided for. They are confined in the jails of the different counties, and they cannot be treated under such circumstances, as they should be.
I desire to call your attention to the Asylum in course of construction at Weston, in Lewis County. The building, I am informed, when completed, will accommodate from five to six hundred patients. By the aid of the appropriation you made at your May session, one wing of the building has been nearly completed, which will furnish room for at least fifty; and it requires only the floors, plastering, furniture and apparatus for heating, to make it ready for the reception of patients. The Trustees think that by the 1st of June it will be fully completed; and that one half of the building according to the original design, can be finished by the coming Autumn. That would afford accommodation for some three hundred, and can be done at a cost of not more than fifty thousand dollars. In view of the pressing demands for an institution of the kind in this locality, I respectfully urge a liberal appropriation to this Asylum.
I would also ask you to renew and enlarge your appropriation, made at the last session, "to Lunatic and other Asylums." The probabilities are, that the institutions at Staunton and Williamsburg will soon be under our charge, and we will have to provide for them.
The formation of the State of West Virginia will require some legislation in reference to the present capitol of the State of Virginia. This, as fixed by an ordinance of the Convention, is located in the City of Wheeling within the new State. It will be necessary to remove the seat of government to some point within the old State; and I would recommend that you pass an act authorising the removal to such place as may be deemed best adapted in every particular. This act should go into effect after the people shall have adopted the Constitution of the New State.
A large number of unoffending men, and in some instances women, have been seized by the rebels, for no other reason than that they are loyal to the government of the United States, and have been carried to distant prisons and there confined and ignominiously treated, and in some cases put to death. The rebel State government at Richmond has also engaged in these oppressive arrests. They have commenced seizing the officers of the re-organized government, and, with their property, are carrying them to Richmond for punishment.
Whenever the State demands allegiance, it should not only give protection, but should give the most ample assurances by those having the authority, that it would protect to the uttermost. My opinion is, that there should be some law passed authorizing the arrest of distinguished secessionists to be held as hostages for the release of union citizens that have been, or may hereafter be arrested. Rebel property should, also be made responsible for the robbery of Union men. Those who openly avow their attachment to the Southern Confederacy, and are living under the protection of the State and Federal government, should be made to use their influence with their secession friends to procure the safety of the persons and property of loyal men who are non-combatants, at least within the Federal lines. I am appealed to, almost daily, on this subject. I am powerless under the law as it now stands. There are hundreds of loyal Virginians, who, for no offence whatever, are languishing in loathsome Southern prisons. If you will enact a law providing for the establishment of a system by which loyal men can be protected by retaliation, I am confident it will have a most beneficial effect. There should also, be an appropriation made to assist in carrying it into effect.
I would advise, also, the re-enacting of the Ordinance of the Convention, entitled "An Ordinance to authorize the apprehending of suspicious persons in time of war," passed June 19th, 1861. The General Assembly virtually repealed that ordinance by abolishing the Council. Such an act is greatly needed. It should be carefully guarded to prevent oppression by abuse of power: but because the power may be abused, is no argument for taking steps to protect the loyal citizens.
The General Assembly at its session of 1860--61, before the breaking out of the rebellion, passed an act limiting the time for bringing actions to recover real estate, west of the Allegheny mountains to ten years. I am satisfied that period is too short, and especially while the rebellion is in existence. The time I think should be extended, at least the period during which the rebellion exists, should not be computed. The reasons for this must be obvious to every one.
JANUARY 13th, 1863.
F. H. PEIRPOINT.
House Bill No. 47, on its second reading, "A Bill repeal and re-enact section second of an act to authorize the Trustees of Brooke Academy to transfer their property to the Meade Collegiate Institute and to authorize said Institute to transfer the same property to the Trustees hereinafter appointed, passed Feb. 6, 1862" was taken up, and thereupon it was ordered to engrossment.
House Bill No. 48 on its second reading "A Bill authorizing Messrs. Smith & Williams to sell goods in Jackson county" was taken up, and thereupon the bill was ordered to engrossment.
House Bill No. 49, on its second reading "A Bill appropriating $ to the Lunatic Asylum West of the Allegheny mountains" was taken up, and thereupon Mr. Hale moved to fill the blank by inserting
"$50,000" when on motion of Mr. Ruffner, the bill was laid on the table.
The Chairman of the Committee of Finance reported the following bill, which was read the first time.
No. 61, "A Bill defining the duties of the public printer, and of the Senate."
Mr. Boreman presented three several petitions signed by sundry citizens of Tyler county opposing the extension of the stay law.
On motion of Mr. Boreman,
Resolved, That the Committee for Courts of Justice enquire into the propriety of reporting a bill for the relief of the heirs of William P. Rathbone."
Mr. Vance presented a petition signed by sundry citizens of Preston county opposing the extension of the stay law.
Mr. Kramer presented a petition of citizens of Monongalia county praying the extension of the stay law.
Mr. Crothers offered the following resolution which was laid on the table.
Resolved, That the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, will proceed on Tuesday, 20th inst, to the election of United State Senator.
On motion of Mr. Downey, the House adjourned.
Timeline of West Virginia: Civil War and Statehood: January 1863