_RESOLVED_, That the reconstruction of the Rebel States would be
hastened, and the best interest of the country promoted, if the
President of the United States, in the exercise of the pardoning power,
would require that every landed proprietor who has been engaged in
the Rebellion, before receiving pardon therefor, should convey to the
freedmen, his former slaves, a certain portion of the land on which
they have worked, so that they may have a homestead in which their own
labor has mingled, and that the disloyal master may not continue to
appropriate to himself the fruits of their toil.
On motion of Mr. Sumner, this was printed and laid on the
table. The rule limiting business during the present session
prevented him from calling it up.