Department; which was read a first and second time, and ordered to be referred to the Committee on the Post Office and Post Roads, when appointed. Mr. Maynard moved, at 3 o'clock and 35 minutes p. m., that the House adjourn; which motion was disagreed to. By unanimous consent, a joint resolution and bill were introduced, read a first and second time, and referred as follows, viz: By Mr. Potter: A joint resolution (H. Res. 1) proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States, to the Committee on the Judiciary, when appointed, and ordered to be printed. By Mr. Conger: A bill (H. R. 2) making an appropriation for a Government building to be used for a custom-house, post office, and bonded warehouse, at Port Huron, in the State of Michigan, to the Committee on Appropriations, when appointed. Mr. Wheeler submitted the following resolution, viz: Resolved, That the Clerk of the House forthwith place in a box the name of each member and Delegate of the House of Representatives, written on a separate slip of paper; that he then proceed in the presence of the House to draw from said box, one at a time, the said slips of paper, and as each is drawn he shall announce the name of the member or Delegate upon it, who shall choose his seat for the present Congress: Provided, That before said drawing shall commence the Speaker shall cause each seat to be vacated, and shall see that every seat continues vacant until it is vacated under this order, and that every seat after having been selected shall be deemed vacant if left unoccupied before the calling of the roll is finished. Pending which, On motion of Mr. Garfield, the said resolution was amended by adding thereto, "and that before the drawing takes place, the oldest consecutive member of the House, Mr. Dawes, be permitted to make his selection." The resolution as amended was then agreed to. The said resolution having been executed, and seats selected under it, On motion of Mr. Randall, Ordered, That when the House adjourns, it adjourn until Tuesday next at 12 o'clock m. Mr. Getz, by unanimous consent, introduced a bill (H. R. 3) to encourage maritime commerce under the American flag; which was read a first and second time, referred to the Committee on Commerce and ordered to be printed. And then, On motion of Mr. Scofield, at 4 o'clock and 20 minutes p. m., the House adjourned. TUESDAY, MARCH 7, 1871. Daniel W. Voorhees, a member-elect from the State of Indiana, and Freeman Clarke, a member-elect from the State of New York, appeared, and having taken the oath required by the Constitution and the act of July 2, 1862, took their seats in the House. Mr. Samuel Hooper, from the committee appointed to wait upon the President of the United States to inform him that a quorum of the two Houses of Congress had assembled and that Congress is ready to receive any communication he may make, reported that the committee had performed their duty, and that the President stated that he had no communication to make at present to Congress, but that he may have some communication to make in the course of a week. Mr. Burdett submitted the following resolution; which was read, considered, and agreed to, viz: -Resolved, That the papers and credentials of Hon. John Edwards, and the certified papers and returns presented to the House of Representatives by Hon. Thomas Boles, each claiming to be elected to the Forty-second Congress from the third district of Arkansas, be referred to the Committee of Elections, to be hereafter appointed, with instructions to report to the House which, if either, of said claimants, is entitled to a seat in the House of Representatives from the said third district of Arkansas. Mr. Duke, by unanimous consent, presented the certificate of the secretary of the State of Virginia, certifying to the election of Raleigh T. Daniel as a Representative-at-large from the said State; which was referred to the Committee of Elections and ordered to be printed. Mr. Niblack, by unanimous consent, submitted the following resolution, which was read, viz: Resolved, That the Speaker be, and he is hereby, requested to proceed at once to appoint the standing committees of this House, reserving such vacancies as in his judgment may be proper for Representatives not yet elected. After debate, On motion of Mr. Wheeler, Ordered, That the said resolution be laid upon the table. Mr. Poland, by unanimous consent, submitted the following resolution; which was read, considered, and agreed to, viz: Resolved, That the time allowed by law for taking testimony in the contested election of Delegate to the Forty-second Congress from the Territory of Dakota, between M. K. Armstrong, the sitting Delegate, and W. A. Burleigh, contestant, is hereby extended for thirty days. Mr. Maynard, by unanimous consent, submitted the following resolution; which was read and referred to the Committee on the Rules, when appointed, viz: Resolved, That hereafter all memorials, petitions, and other papers relating to claims arising and growing out of the late war for the sup pression of the rebellion shall be referred to the Committee on Revolutionary Claims, which shall be known and styled as the Committee on Revolutionary and Civil War Claims. Mr. Marshall, by unanimous consent, introduced a bill (H. R. 4) to remove the political disabilities of John W. Halley, of Jasper County, Illinois; which was read a first and second time. Ordered, That it be engrossed and read a third time. Being engrossed, it was accordingly read the third time and passed. Ordered, That the Clerk request the concurrence of the Senate therein. A message from the Senate, by Mr. Sympson, one of its clerks: Mr. Speaker: The Senate has passed a joint resolution of the following title, viz: S. R. 1. Joint resolution authorizing the appointment of a commissioner to an international congress on penitentiary and reformatory discipline; in which I am directed to ask the concurrence of the House. Subsequently, On motion of Mr. Austin Blair, by unanimous consent, the said joint resolution was taken from the Speaker's table and read a first and seeond time. Ordered, That it be read a third time. It was accordingly read the third time and passed, (two-thirds voting in favor thereof.) Ordered. That the Clerk acquaint the Senate therewith. The Speaker, by unanimous consent, laid before the House the evidence taken in the contested election case of Cessna vs. Meyers, from the State of Pennsylvania; which was referred to the Committee of Elections and ordered to be printed. The Speaker, also, by unanimous consent, laid before the House testimony in the following contested election cases; which was referred to the Committee of Elections, viz: Gooding vs. Wilson, from the State of Indiana. Burleigh vs. Armstrong, from the Territory of Dakota. By unanimous consent, leave was granted for the withdrawal from the files of the House of papers as follows, viz: To Mr. Beatty: In the case of Emily C. Bryant. To Mr. Ritchie: In the case of Jerome E. Pampell. To Mr. Upson: In the case of Isaac W. Lake. By unanimous consent, leave of absence was granted as follows, viz: To Mr. Barry, for one week; to Mr. McKee, for ten days; to Mr. Winchester, for one week. Notices were given, under the rule of motions, to introduce bills and joint resolutions as follows, viz: By Mr. Farnsworth: A joint resolution to repeal the duty on coal. By Mr. Critcher: A bill to remove the legal and political disabilities imposed by the fourteenth amendment to the Constitution. By Mr. Coburn: A bill to encourage immigration, to regulate the carriage of immigrants on ships, and for their protection on their arrival in the United States. Also, a bill to provide for the apportionment of Representatives for the Forty-second Congress. Also, a bill to reduce the duty on salt. Also, a bill to provide for homesteads for soldiers on the public lands. Mr. Dickey moved that when the House adjourns to-day, it adjourn to meet on Thursday next; which motion was agreed to. Mr. Perce moved, at 1 o'clock and 10 minutes p. m., that the House adjourn; And the question being put, Not voting. 125 73 24 The yeas and nays being desired by one-fifth of the members present, Those who voted in the affirmative are— Mr. Ephraim L. Acker George M. Adams Mr. Robert P. Caldwell Freeman Clarke Clinton L. Cobb Abram Comingo Mr. Robert B. Elliott Mr. Charles W. Kendall John H. Ketcham The following memorials, petitions, and other papers were laid on the Clerk's desk, under the rule, and referred as follows: By Mr. Hoar: The petition of citizens of Alabama, praying for aid to establish common schools, to the Committee on Education and Labor. By Mr. Myers: The memorial of Albert Grant, praying for relief; By Mr. W. B. Washburn: The petition of John S. Harper, for officers and crew of United States gunboats Kines and Chocura, for prize money; By Mr. Wells: The petition of Mrs. Rebecca B. Spence, praying for relief: By Mr. Archer: The petition of William Quinn, praying for relief; By Mr. Moore: The petition of Mrs. Elizabeth Steen, praying for relief; to the Committee of Claims. By Mr. Lynch: The resolves of the legislature of Maine, relative to wrongs practiced on Indians, to the Committee on Indian Affairs. Also, the resolves of the said legislature in favor of Mrs. Isabella Fogg. By Mr. Banks: The memorial of Captain John W. Quin, praying for a pension; By Mr. Hoar: The petition of Mary Harty, praying for arrears of pension; By Mr. Eli Perry: The resolutions of the Albany County (New York) Medical Society, sustaining the action of Commissioner Van Aernam; By Mr. Slocum: The petition of B. J. O'Driscoll, praying for a pension; By Mr. George M. Brooks: The petition of Margaret Gannon, praying for relief; Also, the petition of Margaret Coggins, praying for relief; By Mr. Hill: The petition of Amy Halsey, who lost three sons in the war, praying for additional pension; Also, the petition of Mary A. Miller, praying for relief; to the Committee on Invalid Pensions. By Mr. Benjamin F. Butler: The petition of Louis Goldstone, praying that the lease given to the Alaska Commercial Company be canceled ; By Mr. A letter from the governor of South Carolina, inclosing a report of the chief constable of the State concerning outrages committed; to the Committee on the Judiciary. By Mr. Peck: The petition of one hundred and thirty soldiers and citizens of Ohio, praying for bounties in money and land; By Mr. Lynch: The resolves of the legislature of Maine, in favor of a system of "storm warnings;" By Mr. Scofield: The petition of Noah W. Louell, praying for relief; By Mr. Peck: The petition of officers and soldiers of Ohio, crippled or disabled in the war, praying that homesteads be given to such without settlement; By Mr. Slocum: The petition of B. J. O'Driscoll, praying to be commissioned as captain of the Eighty-eighth New York Volunteers, to date July 12, 1864; to the Committee on Military Affairs. By unanimous consent, bills were introduced, read a first and second time, and referred as follows, viz: By Mr. Kelley: A bill (H. R. 5) revising the laws relative to the mints, assay offices, and coinage of the United States, to the Committee on Coinage, Weights, and Measures, and ordered to be printed. By Mr. Beck: Á bill (H. R. 6) for the removal of all legal and political disabilities imposed by the third section of the fourteenth article of amendment to the Constitution of the United States, to the Committee on the Judiciary and ordered to be printed. Mr. Austin Blair presented the memorial of George R. Maxwell, contesting the seat of William H. Hooper, delegate from the Territory of Utah; which was referred to the Committee of Elections and ordered to be printed. The Speaker having proceeded, as the regular order of business, to call the States and Territories for resolutions, Mr. Hale, on leave, introduced a bill and joint resolution of the fol lowing titles, viz: H. R. 9. A bill to repeal the duty on salt; H. Res. 2. A joint resolution to repeal the duty on coal; which were severally read a first and second time, and referred to the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union. Mr. Cox moved that the House resolve itself into the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union. Pending which, |