1862. Resolved, That Kentucky's neutrality has not been assumed from fear, but from love to all parts of the Union, and if she is forced into this combat, that with a brave heart and clear conscience, she will appeal fearlessly to the God of battles; and if that dread hour must come, Kentucky expects every son to do his duty; she appeals to them by all the cherished memories of the past; by the memory of Raisin, of New Orleans, of Buena Vista; by all the rich hopes of the future, she demands that they stand by her until the last armed invader is driven from her soil. Who will be so base as to desert her? Who will stand before history as both traitors and cowards to the State whose great heart throbs with undying love to the sisterhood of States, knowing no sectional limits, but in her love embracing a boundless continent? If there be such a one, may his name be branded with infamy to the remotest time. This joint resolution, not having been approved by the Governor, nor returned within the time prescribed by the constitution, became a law on the 2d day of December, A. D. 1861. NAT. GAITHER, Jr., Secretary of State. No. 40. RESOLUTION for the benefit of Robert G. Carter. Resolved by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky: That the Auditor of Public Accounts be, and he is hereby, directed to draw his warrant on the Treasurer in favor of Robert G. Carter, for the sum of thirty-one dollars and fifty cents, amount allowed said Carter for mileage and per diem, as witness before the committee on circuit courts of the House of Representatives, and that the Treasurer pay the same out of any money in the treasury not otherwise appropriated. Approved February 15, 1862. No. 41. RESOLUTION for the benefit of J. A. J. Lee, of Bath county. Resolved by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky: That the Auditor of Public Accounts be, and he is hereby, directed to draw his warrant on the Treasurer, in favor of J. A. J. Lee, of Bath county, for the sum of eighteen dollars and ten cents, the amount allowed said Lee for mileage and per diem as a witness before the committee on circuit courts of the House of Representatives, and that the Treasurer pay the same out of any money in the treasury not otherwise appropriated. Approved February 19, 1862. No. 42. RESOLUTION in relation to the distribution of public books. Resolved by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky: That the Public Printer be requested to furnish the Senate and House of Representatives with one hundred additional copies of the Public Acts of the State of Kentucky, passed at the regular session of 1861, for the use of the members of the Legislature: Provided, Said acts be furnished at the same price as those heretofore distributed. Approved February 26, 1862. No. 43. RESOLUTION of thanks to Federal soldiers. The nation has been compelled by every patriotic motive to call upon her true sons to arrest rebellion and preserve the government; military men must put down rebellious politicians, who have created the existing evils which threaten our destruction. Reason and entreaty having failed, the sword is now to settle our destiny. While we feel sentiments of the highest admiration for all the brave officers and soldiers engaged in the cause of the Union, wherever the field of operations may be, we entertain a peculiar gratitude to those whose operations are driving our invaders from the soil of Kentucky; therefore, Resolved by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky: That Gen. Albin Scheopf, Gen. William Nelson, Gen. Geo. H. Thomas, Col. J. A. Garfield, Gen. U. S. Grant, and Commodore A. H. Foote, together with the brave officers and men in their respective commands, deserve the thanks of Kentucky, and the same is hereby most cordially tendered to every man of them, for their brilliant victories achieved at Wild Cat, Ivy Mountain, Logan's Fields and Mill Spring, Prestonsburg, Fort Henry and Fort Donel son. While we thus offer our heartfelt tribute to the officers and soldiers who have exposed their lives on the field of battle, we cannot withhold the expression of our most grateful thanks to Generals Halleck and Buell, the commanders-in-chief of their respective departments, for the admirable arrangements which have resulted in these glorious and effective victories. Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions be forwarded by the Clerk to each of the officers herein named, with a request that they have the same read to their respective commands. Approved February 26, 1862. 1862. RESOLUTION in relation to firing a national salute. Resolved by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky: That the farewell address of the Father of his Country be read in the Hall of the House of Representatives at 11 o'clock, A. M., on the 22d day of February, instant, and that a national salute be fired. Approved February 22, 1862. No. 45. RESOLUTION relating to public books. WHEREAS, A large number of copies of the fourth volume of the Geological Survey were on hand in a damaging condition, and the Secretary of State recently distributed ten copies each to the several counties of this Commonwealth, to be distributed according to law: Resolved, therefore, by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky: That the distribution of said books to the several counties be, and is hereby, approved, and the clerks of the county courts are ordered to give two copies to the clerk of the same, to the clerks of the circuit courts two copies, two to the county judges, and two to the county attorneys, and to retain four copies, all to be held and kept as other public books. Resolved, further, That the Secretary of State distribute among the members of the Legislature, and officers of the State, whose offices are kept in Frankfort, each twenty. copies of said survey, and deposit the remainder, if any, of said surveys, in the State library. Approved March 1, 1862. No. 46. RESOLUTIONS in relation to the construction of a railroad. Resolved by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky: That this body has learned, with regret, that the House of Representatives of the Congress of the United States have taken steps to repeal a late act of Congress, authorizing the President, among other things, to repair and extend railroads for military purposes, with a view to prevent the extension of one of our railroad lines from central Kentucky to an intersection with the Southern system of railways in East Tennessee. Resolved, That the contemplated road was, and is, of the highest importance to the government of the United States for military purposes, and of the greatest moment to the States of Kentucky and Tennessee immediately, and more or less so to all the States of the Mississippi valley, supplying a means of rapid, safe, and certain communication between sections of the country closely allied in commercial interest and political sympathy, now separated for more than half the year by almost impassable roads and rivers. Resolved, That Kentucky will look with interest to the final disposition of the enterprise, so wisely and generously engaged in by the President, for the construction of such road, and we pledge to the general government the right of way, free of charge, through the State, from and to such points as may be selected; and we will hail the prosecution of the great projected work as a most gratifying indication of the purpose of the government to further bind together and cement into one, by indissoluble bonds, the two great sections of the Union. Approved March 3, 1862. 1862. No. 47. RESOLUTIONS in relation to national affairs. Resolved by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky: That Kentucky, standing almost in the geographical center of this great Confederacy, and cherishing alike toward her sister States, both north and south, the most cordial and fraternal relations, endeavored by her earnest entreaties to allay the sectional jealousies and animosities which so unhappily disturb the peace of the country, and. thus by peaceful means preserve the integrity of the Union; failing, however, in this patriotic purpose, she has taken up arms, not to destroy, but to maintain inviolate the national constitution, with the just rights of all the States unimpaired, imperiled as each has been by the sectional hate, discord, and strife, which base and selfish men have so wickedly and persistently engendered; the restoration of the national government to its former unity, grandeur, and power, more especially to its sublime mission of preserving to the people the enjoyment of life, liberty, and property. Such has been and still is the purpose of Kentucky; such she trusts is the patriotic purpose of the brave men who from every loyal State have, with such signal unanimity, gathered to the defense of their threatened liberties; such she hopes and believes is the secret but earnest prayer of a large body of loyal, oppressed, and down-trodden men in the insurrectionary States. 1862. Resolved, That it is the deliberate opinion of Kentucky that the only hope for the restoration of the National Union, is upon that great charter of our freedom, the Constitution of the United States. It cannot be accomplished in any other mode. The original State organizations, with all their just rights and powers under the Federal Constitution, must be preserved. Hence Kentucky deplores and condems, in this great struggle for constitutional liberty, all attempts to abolish or alter, in the least respect, the relative position of any of the States toward each other, or the Federal Government; and especially does she condemn, in unqualified terms, any effort to reduce any of the States to a collonial or territorial condition. Therefore, be it further resolved, That our Senators and Representatives in Congress be requested to use all their power and influence to defeat all measures which may be presented to that body to destroy any of the States, or to deprive them of any of their just powers or rights under the established form of the national government. Approved March 6, 1862. No. 48. RESOLUTION to elect keeper of the penitentiary. Resolved by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky: That on Wednesday next, at 11 o'clock, A. M., the General Assembly will proceed to the election of a keeper of the penitentiary. Approved March 11, 1862. No. 49. RESOLUTION to go into an election to fill a vacancy in the directory of the Eastern Lunatic Asylum. Resolved by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky: That the two Houses will, at 12 o'clock, M., this day, proceed to the election of a member of the board of managers of the Eastern Lunatic Asylum, to fill the vacancy occasioned by the death of Col. E. L. Dudley. Approved March 14, 1862. |