/z 
 
 /»o 
 
 #5/ 
 

 *"^l . / 
 
 sc-z- 
 
 [House Bill,* Xo. 5.] 
 
 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, /October 13, 1862. JRead 
 
 first and second times, referred to Judiciary Committee^and^ordered 
 to be printed. 
 
 [By Mi^ Foster.] 
 
 J± JBILL 
 
 To be entitled An Act making Confederate Notes a legal 
 lender and to prevent and punish extortion. 
 
 1 Whereas, owing to the present depreciation of the 
 
 2 money in circulation, occasioning, as a natural conse- 
 
 3 quence, an enormous price for every article of consump- 
 
 4 tion within the limits of the jConfederate States, and the 
 
 5 utter inability of the families of a very large number of 
 G our gallant troops to procure the commonest necessaries 
 7 of life ; therefore, 
 
 1 Sec. 1. The Congress of the Confederate States of 
 
 2 America do enact, That justice and good policy alike 
 
 3 require that our soldiers be paid in gold and silver or 
 
 4 their equivalent, and for this purpose it is hereby de- 
 
2 
 
 5 clared that, from and after the passage of this act, trr 
 
 6 notes of the Confederate States be, and they are hereby 
 
 7 made a legal tender. 
 
 1 Sec. 2. Be it further enacted, That any person or per- 
 
 2 sons who shall refuse to receive Confederate notes in 
 
 payment of any debt or debts, claim or claims to which 
 4 he or they may be legally entitled, and of which he or 
 6 they shall demand payment, or who shall refuse to take 
 
 6 such notes in payment for all or any article or articles 
 
 7 he or they may offer for sale, shall be deemed guilty of 
 
 8 extortion, and, on conviction thereof before any court 
 i) of competent jurisdiction, shall suffer imprisonment in 
 
 LO the county jail for a period of not less than three and 
 
 11 not exceeding twelve months, and be fined not less than 
 
 12 fifty and not exceeding five hundred dollars. 
 
 1 Sec. 3. And any person or persons known to have for 
 
 2 sale any article or articles indispensably necessary for 
 
 3 the support of human life, and who shall refuse to dis- 
 
 4 pose of the same to any one, either soldier or citizen, 
 
 5 for Confederate notes shall, on conviction thereof, be 
 
 6 liable to the same penalties as are provided for in the 
 
 7 foregoing section. 
 
 CP./?. 
 
peRrmliPe® 
 
 pH 8.5