The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 43, July 1939 - April, 1940 Page: 299
576 p. : ill., maps ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Administration of Sequestration Act of Confederacy 299
erty. This fact was entirely overlooked by the southerners in
commenting on the passage of the measure. To them it was a
means of taking their property, and they cried out loudly for
retaliation.12
A veiled suggestion for the passage of a confiscation act by
the Confederate Congress is to be found in the correspondence
between Governor Thomas O. Moore of Louisiana and Attorney
General Thomas J. Semmes of the same state, in June, 1861.
On June 10, Moore wrote to Semmes, citing the case of S. Plassan,
a citizen of New Orleans, and asking for a legal opinion on the
case. Plassan as owner of the brig, Hope, left New Orleans in
January, 1861, for Martinique, flying the United States flag.
Returning under the same flag, his ship was seized while attempt-
ing to enter the Mississippi River below New Orleans in May,
1861, by the blockading squadron and claimed as a prize. The
United States government refused to pay Plassan for his ship
and cargo on the contention that he was a citizen of Louisiana
and was using the United States flag as a means of escaping
the blockade. After failure to secure redress from the United
States of an indemnity for the loss of the Hope, Moore asked
Semmes if the chief executive of a state had the power to order
reprisals. Semmes replied to Moore in the negative, citing the
fact that the Confederate constitution bestowed upon the general
government the power to confiscate enemy property and ended
by saying:
Your Excellency has no lawful authority to make reprisals
on the enemy by a seizure of property within the state,
belonging to the citizens of the United States."s
While Moore received no encouragement from the opinion of
the Attorney General, it is interesting to note that Representative
D. F. Kenner of Louisiana introduced a resolution in the Con-
federate Congress on July 25, 1861, calling upon the Judiciary
Committee "to inquire into the expediency of reporting a general
Confiscation Bill."14 Whether or not Kenner's action was based
upon an understanding with Moore we do not know, but we do
know that he supported the bill when it came up for considera-
l2W. M. Glenn, The Army and the Law, 111. Boston.
1sDaily Joaminer, July 2, 1861.
lJournal Confederate Congress, I, 280, Washington, 1904.
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 43, July 1939 - April, 1940, periodical, 1940; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101111/m1/323/: accessed April 26, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.