Ordered, That the Secretary notify the House of Representatives thereof.

A message from the House of Representatives, by Mr. Forney, its Clerk:

Mr. President: The House of Representatives agrees to the amendment of the Senate to the bill of the House (H. R. 299) for the payment of expenses incurred in the suppression of Indian hostilities in the State of California.

The House of Representatives agrees to the amendments of the Senate to the bill of the House of Representatives (H. R. 950) in relation to the postal service; and

The House of Representatives has agreed to the report of the committee of conference on the disagreeing votes of the two houses on the bill (S. 11) to provide for the payment of expenses incurred by the Territories of Washington and Oregon, in the suppression of Indian hostilities therein in the years 1855 and 1856.

The Speaker of the House of Representatives having signed three enrolled bills, (H. R. 909,) (H. R. 950,) and (H. R. 999,) I am directed to bring them to the Senate for the signature of its President.

The Vice-President signed the following enrolled bills, and they were delivered to the committee to be presented to the President of the United States:

H. R. 338. An act to provide for the payment of outstanding treasury notes, to authorize a loan, to regulate and fix the duties on imports, and for other purposes.

H. R. 909. An act for the relief of Thomas Chittenden.

H. R. 950. An act in relation to the postal service.

H. R. 999. An act to amend an act supplementary to an act approved March 3, 1855, "to organize an institution for the insane of the Army and Navy and of the District of Columbia, in the said District," approved February 7, 1857.

A message from the House of Representatives, by Mr. Forney, its Clerk:

Mr. President: The House of Representatives has passed a joint resolution (H. R. 80) to amend the Constitution of the United States, in which it requests the concurrence of the Senate.

The Senate proceeded to consider, as in Committee of the Whole, the bill (H. R. 971) making appropriations for the service of the Post Office Department during the fiscal year ending the 30th of June, 1862; and the amendments reported by the Committee on Finance having been agreed to, and the bill further amended,

Mr. Gwin, from the Committee on Post Offices and Post Roads having proposed an amendment to the bill; and

An amendment to the amendment being proposed by Mr. Wilson, Pending debate thereon,

The President (Mr. Fitch in the chair) announced that the hour of one o'clock had arrived, and that it was the duty of the Chair to call up the special order of the day for that hour, which was the report of the select committee to whom was referred the communication from

the president of the convention of commissioners from twenty-one States, assembled for the purpose of adopting some plan for the adjustment of the questions which now agitate the country and threaten the Union.

A question of order was raised by Mr. Hale, to wit: Was it in order to proceed now to the consideration of the report, under the 26th rule of the Senate, which requires all reports of committees to lie one day for consideration?

The President (Mr. Fitch in the chair) submitted the question of order to the decision of the Senate; and

It was determined in the affirmative, Yeas....

On motion by Mr. Hale,

Nays..

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The yeas and nays being desired by one fifth of the senators present, Those who voted in the affirmative are,

Messrs. Baker, Bayard, Bigler, Bragg, Bright, Clingman, Crittenden, Dixon, Douglas, Fitch, Gwin, Hunter, Johnson, of Arkansas, Johnson, of Tennessee, Kennedy, Lane, Mason, Nicholson, Pearce, Polk, Powell, Pugh, Rice, Sebastian, Thomson, Wigfall.

Those who voted in the negative are,

Messrs. Anthony, Bingham, Chandler, Clark, Collamer, Doolittle, Durkee, Fessenden, Foot, Foster, Grimes, Hale, Harlan, King, Morrill, Seward, Simmons, Sumner, Ten Eyck, Trumbull, Wade, Wilkinson, Wilson.

So the Senate decided that the consideration of the report of the select committee was now in order; and

The joint resolution (S. 70) proposing certain amendments to the Constitution of the United States, reported by the select committee; was read and passed to a second reading.

On the question, Shall the resolution be read a second time to-day? It was objected to as against the rule; and

On motion by Mr. Crittenden,

Ordered, That the resolution be postponed to and made the special order of the day for to-morrow, at half past twelve o'clock.

The Senate resumed, as in Committee of the Whole, the consideration of the bill (H. R. 971) making appropriations for the service of the Post Office Department during the fiscal year ending the 30th of June, 1862; and

On the question to agree to the amendment proposed by Mr. Gwin, to wit: insert the following additional section:

SEC. And be it further enacted, That so much of section - of House bill No. 714 establishing certain post routes, which passed the Senate on the 26th day of February, 1861, as allows the Postmaster General to discontinue the steamship service between New York and San Francisco at sixty days notice, is hereby modified so far as to require that he shall not give the said notice until the weight of the overland mail shall fall below one thousand pounds per day: Provided, The cost of transporting the mails from New York to San Francisco by sea, and daily on the central route shall not exceed one million of dollars per annum, and the Postmaster General shall contract for the transportation

of the letter and way mail on the central route before the first of July, if the service can be procured.

On motion by Mr. Wilson, to amend the amendment by striking out all after the enacting clause and inserting:

SEC.. And be it further enacted, That, in lieu of the daily service on the central route, provided by the act entitled "An act for the establishment of post routes," approved February twenty-seven, eighteen hundred and sixty-one, the Postmaster General is hereby directed to discontinue the mail service on route No. 12578, from St. Louis and Memphis to San Francisco, California, and to modify the contract on said route, subject to the same terms and conditions only as hereinafter provided, said discontinuance to take effect on or before July one, eighteen hundred and sixty-one; the contractors on said route shall be required to transport the entire letter mail six times a week on the central route, said letter mail to be carried through in twenty days' time, eight months in the year, and in twenty-three days the remaining four months of the year, from some point on the Missouri river connected with the East, to Placerville, California, and also to deliver the entire mails tri-weekly to Denver City and Great Salt Lake City; said contractors shall also be required to carry the residue of all mail matter in a period not exceeding thirty-five days, with the privilege of sending the latter semi-monthly from New York to San Francisco in twenty-five days by sea, and the public documents in thirty-five days. They shall also be required, during the continuance of their contract, or until the completion of the overland telegraph, to run a pony express semi-weekly, at a schedule time of ten days, eight months, and twelve days, four months, carrying for the government, free of charge, five pounds of mail matter, with the liberty of charging the public for transportation of letters by said express not exceeding one dollar per half ounce. For the above service said contractors shall receive the sum of eleven hundred and fifty thousand dollars per annum; the contract for such service to be thus modified before the twenty-fifth day of March next, and expire July one, eighteen hundred and sixty-four. SEC. And be it further enacted, That the contractors on route No. 12578 shall be entitled to their present mail pay during the necessary time required to change their stock from their present route to the central route, without performing the service, and shall be entitled also to two months' pay on their present contract as liquidated damages for such change of service, if made by them in accordance with the terms of the preceeding section.

SEC.. And be it further enacted, That should the contractors on route No. 12578 fail to accept the above modification of their present contract, on or before the twenty-fifth day of March, as before stated, then the Postmaster General is directed to annul said contract, and advertise for thirty days for carrying the mail in the manner herein provided; the service to commence July one, eighteen hundred and sixty-one, or as soon thereafter as possible, and to expire July one, eighteen hundred and sixty-four, and to let the same to the lowest responsible bidder, having due regard to their ability to perform the service; and the sum of eleven hundred and fifty thousand dollars is hereby appropriated, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, to carry into execution the provisions of so much of this act as provides for the establishment

of a daily mail on the central route: Provided nevertheless, That the Postmaster General or Congress shall have power, from time to time, as the same may be deemed necessary, to alter or modify the contract hereby authorized, or to put an end to the same entirely, should the public interest demand a discontinuance of the service; but in either case the contractors shall be entitled to receive all such reasonable damages as they may sustain, because of any such alteration or annullment of their contract.

SEC.. And be it further enacted, That the above provision shall not apply to a discontinuance of any routes or contracts connected with said route No. 12578, and the Postmaster General is authorized to replace any local service affected by the discontinuance of said route, now performed by the contractors on said route, by good and sufficient mail service to take effect upon such discontinuance.

SEC. And be it further enacted, That any of the provisions of the act entitled "An act for the establishment of post routes," approved the twenty-seventh of February, eighteen hundred and sixty-one, before referred to, which conflict with the provisions of this act, are hereby repealed,

It was determined in the affirmative, Yeas. affirmative,.....

On motion by Mr. Hale,

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The yeas and nays being desired by one fifth of the senators present, Those who voted in the affirmative are,

Messrs. Baker, Bigler, Bragg, Clark, Collamer, Dixon, Doolittle, Douglas, Fitch, Foot, Foster, Grimes, Johnson, of Tennessee, Latham, Morrill, Powell, Seward, Simmons, Sumner, Ten Eyck, Wilson.

Those who voted in the negative are,

Messrs. Bayard, Bright, Chandler, Clingman, Green, Gwin, Hale, Harlan, Hemphill, Johnson, of Arkansas, Lane, Nicholson, Polk, Sebastian, Thomson, Trumbull, Wade, Wigfall, Wilkinson.

On motion by Mr. Gwin, to further amend the amendment by striking out on page 2, line 33, the words "eleven hundred and fifty thousand," and inserting one million; and by striking out on page 3, line 12, the words "eleven hundred and fifty thousand," and inserting one million, Yeas

It was determined in the affirmative, {ey....

On motion by Mr. Latham,

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The yeas and nays being desired by one fifth of the senators present, Those who voted in the affirmative are,

Messrs. Anthony, Baker, Bayard, Bigler, Bingham, Bragg, Bright, Clark, Clingman, Crittenden, Fitch, Grimes, Gwin, Hale, Harlan, Hunter, Johnson, of Arkansas, King, Morrill, Nicholson, Pearce, Polk, Powell, Seward, Sumner, Ten Eyck, Thomson, Wigfall, Wilkinson.

Those who voted in the negative are,

Messrs. Dixon, Doolittle, Douglas, Foot, Foster, Green, Johnson, of Tennessee, Kennedy, Lane, Latham, Rice, Simmons, Wade, Wilson. On the question to agree to the amendment, as amended,

It was determined the affirmative.

An amendment being proposed by Mr. Hale, from the Committee on Post Offices and Post Roads,

On motion by Mr. Bright, that the Senate proceed to the consideration of executive business,

It was determined in the affirmative,

On motion by Mr. Hale,

Yeas.....
Nays....

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The yeas and nays being desired by one fifth of the senators present, Those who voted in the affirmative are,

Messrs. Bayard, Bigler, Bragg, Bright, Clingman, Crittenden, Fitch, Green, Gwin, Hemphill, Hunter, Johnson, of Arkansas, Johnson, of Tennessee, Kennedy, Lane, Latham, Mason, Nicholson, Pearce, Polk, Powell, Pugh, Rice, Sebastian, Wigfall.

Those who voted in the negative are,

Messrs. Anthony, Baker, Bingham, Chandler, Clark, Collamer, Dixon, Doolittle, Durkee, Fessenden, Foster, Grimes, Hale, Harlan, King, Morrill, Seward, Simmons, Sumner, Ten Eyck, Trumbull, Wade, Wilkinson, Wilson.

Whereupon,

The Senate proceeded to the consideration of executive business; and

After the consideration of executive business,

The Senate resumed, as in Committee of the Whole, the consideration of the bill (H. R. 971) making appropriations for the service of the Post Office Department during the fiscal year ending the 30th of June, 1862; and

On motion by Mr. Hale, to amend the bill by inserting the following as an additional section:

-

SEC. And be it further enacted, That the Postmaster General be, and he is hereby, authorized and instructed to audit and adjust the account for additional mail service between New York and Chagres direct, and between New Orleans and Chagres direct, performed during the term of the contract between the United States and A. G. Sloo, under the act of March three, eighteen hundred and forty-seven, and pay, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, such compensation for such additional mail service as may, in his opinion, be just and equitable: Provided, That no more shall be allowed than a sum equal to one fourth of the pro rata contract pay.

A question of order was raised by Mr. Pearce, whether the proposed amendment was in order under the 30th rule.

The Vice-President decided that the proposed amendment was not in order.

The bill having been further amended, was reported to the Senate; and the amendments, made as in Committee of the Whole, were concurred in.

Ordered, That the amendments be engrossed, and the bill read a third time.

The said bill, as amended, was read the third time.

Resolved, That it pass.

Ordered, That the Secretary request the concurrence of the House of Representatives in the amendments.