[740] Roane then estimated that by April 1, 1865, the Confederacy owned in all no more than 150,000 bales. Dr. Curry, a member of the Confederate Congress, stated that only 250,000 bales were ever owned by the Confederate government. “Civil History,” pp. 115, 128. F. S. Lyon, when a member of the Confederate Congress in 1864, found that the Confederacy had a claim on about 150,000 bales scattered over ten states. Ku Klux Rept., Ala. Test., 1426.
[741] J. Barr Robertson, “The Confederate Debt and Private Southern Debts,” p. 25.
[742] Ho. Ex. Doc., No. 78, 38th Cong., 1st Sess. (Chase).
[743] Circular, Sept. 9, 1865.
[744] Act, March 12, 1863.
[745] Ho. Ex. Doc., No. 114, 39th Cong., 2d Sess.; Treasury Department Doc., No. 2261. According to a decision of the Supreme Court in case of Klein vs. United States (13 Wallace, 128), “disloyal” owners might become “loyal” by pardon and thus have all rights of property restored. This was the effect of proclamations of the President. “The restoration of the proceeds [then] became the absolute right of persons pardoned.” See Ho. Repts., No. 784, 51st Cong., 1st Sess., and No. 1377; 52d Cong., 1st Sess. The Attorney-General stated that “Congress took notice of the fact that captures of private property on land had been made and would continue to be made by the armies as a necessary and proper means of diminishing the wealth and thus reducing the powers of the insurgent rulers,” and that after a seizure had been made there could be no question of whether the usages of war were observed or violated, except through the courts; the President and the Secretary of the Treasury had no discretion in the matter. Ho. Ex. Doc., No. 114, 39th Cong., 1st Sess. According to the opinion of the United States law officers, “No one who submitted to the Confederate States, obeyed their laws, and contributed to support their government ought to recover under the statute” of March 12, 1863, See Sen. Ex. Doc., No. 22, 40th Cong., 2d Sess.
[746] Secretary McCulloch to President of the Senate, Jan. 16, 1869. Sen. Ex. Doc., No. 22, 40th Cong., 2d Sess., No. 37, 39th Cong., 25th Sess.
[747] Department Circular, No. 4, Jan. 9, 1900; 15 Stats.-at-Large, p. 251.
[748] See Ho. Mis. Doc., No. 16, 42d Cong., 2d Sess.; No. 12, 42d Cong., 3d Sess.; No. 23, 43d Cong., 1st Sess.; No. 18, 43d Cong., 2d Sess.; No. 30, 44th Cong., 1st Sess.; No. 4, 45th Cong., 2d Sess.; Nos. 10 and 30, 46th Cong., 2d Sess.; also Treasury Department Doc., No. 2261 (1901); Department Circular, No. 4. Jan. 9, 1900.
[749] Sen. Rept., No. 41, Pt. I, pp. 442, 445, 42d Cong., 2d Sess.