A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents: Lincoln
by
Compiled by James D. Richardson
Part 2 out of 10
Whereas the insurgents in all the said States claim to act under the
authority thereof, and such claim is not disclaimed or repudiated by the
persons exercising the functions of government in such State or States
or in the part or parts thereof in which such combinations exist, nor
has such insurrection been suppressed by said States:
Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, in
pursuance of an act of Congress approved July 13, 1861, do hereby
declare that the inhabitants of the said States of Georgia, South
Carolina, Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama, Louisiana,
Texas, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Florida (except the inhabitants of
that part of the State of Virginia lying west of the Alleghany Mountains
and of such other parts of that State and the other States hereinbefore
named as may maintain a loyal adhesion to the Union and the Constitution
or may be from time to time occupied and controlled by forces of the
United States engaged in the dispersion of said insurgents) are in a
state of insurrection against the United States, and that all commercial
intercourse between the same and the inhabitants thereof, with the
exceptions aforesaid, and the citizens of other States and other parts
of the United States is unlawful, and will remain unlawful until such
insurrection shall cease or has been suppressed; that all goods and
chattels, wares and merchandise, coming from any of said States, with
the exceptions aforesaid, into other parts of the United States without
the special license and permission of the President, through the
Secretary of the Treasury, or proceeding to any of said States, with the
exceptions aforesaid, by land or water, together with the vessel or
vehicle conveying the same or conveying persons to or from said States,
with said exceptions, will be forfeited to the United States; and that
from and after fifteen days from the issuing of this proclamation all
ships and vessels belonging in whole or in part to any citizen or
inhabitant of any of said States, with said exceptions, found at sea or
in any port of the United States will be forfeited to the United States;
and I hereby enjoin upon all district attorneys, marshals, and officers
of the revenue and of the military and naval forces of the United States
to be vigilant in the execution of said act and in the enforcement of
the penalties and forfeitures imposed or declared by it, leaving any
party who may think himself aggrieved thereby to his application to the
Secretary of the Treasury for the remission of any penalty or
forfeiture, which the said Secretary is authorized by law to grant if in
his judgment the special circumstances of any case shall require such
remission.
In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of
the United States to be affixed.
[SEAL.]
Done at the city of Washington, this 16th day of August, A.D. 1861, and
of the Independence of the United States the eighty-sixth.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
By the President:
WILLIAM H. SEWARD,
_Secretary of State_.
EXECUTIVE ORDERS.
JULY 31, 1861.
The marshal of the United States in the vicinity of forts where
political prisoners are held will supply decent lodging and subsistence
for such prisoners, unless they shall prefer to provide in those
respects for themselves, in which cases they will be allowed to do so by
the commanding officers in charge.
Approved, and the Secretary of State will transmit the order to
marshals, the Lieutenant-General, and Secretary of the Interior.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
AUGUST 7, 1861.
By the fifty-seventh article of the act of Congress entitled "An act for
establishing rules and articles for the government of the armies of the
United States," approved April 10, 1806, holding correspondence with or
giving intelligence to the enemy, either directly or indirectly, is made
punishable by death, or such other punishment as shall be ordered by the
sentence of a court-martial. Public safety requires strict enforcement
of this article.
_It is therefore ordered_, That all correspondence and communication,
verbally or by writing, printing, or telegraphing, respecting operations
of the Army or military movements on land or water, or respecting the
troops, camps, arsenals, intrenchments, or military affairs within the
several military districts, by which intelligence shall be, directly or
indirectly, given to the enemy, without the authority and sanction of
the major-general in command, be, and the same are, absolutely
prohibited, and from and after the date of this order persons violating
the same will be proceeded against under the fifty-seventh article of
war.
SIMON CAMERON.
Approved:
A. LINCOLN.
GENERAL ORDER.
EXECUTIVE OF THE UNITED STATES, _October 4, 1861_
Flag-officers of the United States Navy authorized to wear a square flag
at the mizzenmast head will take rank with major-generals of the United
States Army.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
WASHINGTON, _October 14, 1861_.
Lieutenant-General WINFIELD SCOTT:
The military line of the United States for the suppression of the
insurrection may be extended so far as Bangor, in Maine. You and any
officer acting under your authority are hereby authorized to suspend the
writ of _habeas corpus_ in any place between that place and the city of
Washington.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
By the President:
WILLIAM H. SEWARD,
_Secretary of State_.
GENERAL ORDERS, NO. 94.
WAR DEPARTMENT,
ADJUTANT-GENERAL'S OFFICE,
_Washington, November 1, 1861_.
The following order from the President of the United States, announcing
the retirement from active command of the honored veteran
Lieutenant-General Winfield Scott, will be read by the Army with
profound regret:
EXECUTIVE MANSION,
_Washington, November 1, 1861_.
On the 1st day of November, A.D. 1861, upon his own application to the
President of the United States, Brevet Lieutenant-General Winfield Scott
is ordered to be placed, and hereby is placed, upon the list of retired
officers of the Army of the United States, without reduction in his
current pay, subsistence, or allowances.
The American people will hear with sadness and deep emotion that General
Scott has withdrawn from the active control of the Army, while the
President and a unanimous Cabinet express their own and the nation's
sympathy in his personal affliction and their profound sense of the
important public services rendered by him to his country during his long
and brilliant career, among which will ever be gratefully distinguished
his faithful devotion to the Constitution, the Union, and the flag when
assailed by parricidal rebellion.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
The President is pleased to direct that Major-General George B.
McClellan assume the command of the Army of the United States. The
headquarters of the Army will be established in the city of Washington.
All communications intended for the Commanding General will hereafter be
addressed direct to the Adjutant-General. The duplicate returns, orders,
and other papers heretofore sent to the Assistant Adjutant-General,
Headquarters of the Army, will be discontinued.
By order of the Secretary of War:
L. THOMAS,
_Adjutant-General_.
EXECUTIVE MANSION,
_Washington, November 5, 1861_.
The governor of the State of Missouri, acting under the direction of the
convention of that State, proposes to the Government of the United
States that he will raise a military force, to serve within the State as
State militia during the war there, to cooperate with the troops in the
service of the United States in repelling the invasion of the State and
suppressing rebellion therein; the said State militia to be embodied and
to be held in the camp and in the field, drilled, disciplined, and
governed according to the Army Regulations and subject to the Articles
of War; the said State militia not to be ordered out of the State except
for the immediate defense of the State of Missouri, but to cooperate
with the troops in the service of the United States in military
operations within the State or necessary to its defense, and when
officers of the State militia act with officers in the service of the
United States of the same grade the officers of the United States
service shall command the combined force; the State militia to be armed,
equipped, clothed, subsisted, transported, and paid by the United States
during such time as they shall be actually engaged as an embodied
military force in service in accordance with Regulations of the United
States Army or general orders as issued from time to time.
In order that the Treasury of the United States may not be burdened
with the pay of unnecessary officers, the governor proposes that,
although the State law requires him to appoint upon the general staff
an adjutant-general, a commissary-general, an inspector-general,
a quartermaster-general, a paymaster-general, and a surgeon-general,
each with the rank of colonel of cavalry, yet he proposes that the
Government of the United States pay only the adjutant-general, the
quartermaster-general, and inspect or-general, their services being
necessary in the relations which would exist between the State militia
and the United States. The governor further proposes that, while he is
allowed by the State law to appoint aids-de-camp to the governor at his
discretion, with the rank of colonel, three only shall be reported to
the United States for payment. He also proposes that the State militia
shall be commanded by a single major-general and by such number of
brigadier-generals as shall allow one for a brigade of not less than
four regiments, and that no greater number of staff officers shall be
appointed for regimental, brigade, and division duties than as provided
for in the act of Congress of the 22d July, 1861; and that, whatever
be the rank of such officers as fixed by the law of the State, the
compensation that they shall receive from the United States shall only
be that which belongs to the rank given by said act of Congress to
officers in the United States service performing the same duties.
The field officers of a regiment in the State militia are one colonel,
one lieutenant-colonel, and one major, and the company officers are a
captain, a first lieutenant, and a second lieutenant.
The governor proposes that, as the money to be disbursed is the money of
the United States, such staff officers in the service of the United
States as may be necessary to act as disbursing officers for the State
militia shall be assigned by the War Department for that duty; or, if
such can not be spared from their present duty, he will appoint such
persons disbursing officers for the State militia as the President of
the United States may designate. Such regulations as may be required, in
the judgment of the President, to insure regularity of returns and to
protect the United States from any fraudulent practices shall be
observed and obeyed by all in office in the State militia.
The above propositions are accepted on the part of the United States,
and the Secretary of War is directed to make the necessary orders upon
the Ordnance, Quartermaster's, Commissary, Pay, and Medical departments
to carry this agreement into effect. He will cause the necessary staff
officers in the United States service to be detailed for duty in
connection with the Missouri State militia, and will order them to make
the necessary provision in their respective offices for fulfilling this
agreement. All requisitions upon the different officers of the United
States under this agreement to be made in substance in the same mode for
the Missouri State militia as similar requisitions are made for troops
in the service of the United States; and the Secretary of War will cause
any additional regulations that may be necessary to insure regularity
and economy in carrying this agreement into effect to be adopted and
communicated to the governor of Missouri for the government of the
Missouri State militia.
[Indorsement.]
NOVEMBER 6, 1861.
This plan approved, with the modification that the governor stipulates
that when he commissions a major-general of militia it shall be the same
person at the time in command of the United States Department of the
West; and in case the United States shall change such commander of the
department, he (the governor) will revoke the State commission given to
the person relieved and give one to the person substituted to the United
States command of said department.
A. LINCOLN.
GENERAL ORDERS, No. 96.
WAR DEPARTMENT,
ADJUTANT-GENERAL'S OFFICE,
_Washington, November 7, 1861_.
Authority to raise a force of State militia, to serve during the war, is
granted, by direction of the President, to the governor of Missouri.
This force is to cooperate with the troops in the service of the United
States in repelling the invasion of the State of Missouri and in
suppressing rebellion therein. It is to be held, in camp and in the
field, drilled, disciplined, and governed according to the Regulations
of the United States Army and subject to the Articles of War; but it is
not to be ordered out of the State of Missouri except for the immediate
defense of the said State.
The State forces thus authorized will be, during such time as they shall
be actually engaged as an embodied military force in active service,
armed, equipped, clothed, subsisted, transported, and paid by the United
States in accordance with the Regulations of the United States Army and
such orders as may from time to time be issued from the War Department,
and in no other manner; and they shall be considered as disbanded from
the service of the United States whenever the President may so direct.
In connection with this force the governor is authorized to appoint the
following officers, who will be recognized and paid by the United
States, to wit: One major-general, to command the whole of the State
forces brought into service, who shall be the same person appointed by
the President to command the United States Military Department of the
West, and shall retain his commission as major-general of the State
forces only during his command of the said department; one
adjutant-general, one inspector-general, and one quartermaster-general,
each with the rank and pay of a colonel of cavalry; three aids-de-camp
to the governor, each with the rank and pay of a colonel of infantry;
brigadier-generals at the rate of one to a brigade of not less than four
regiments; and division, brigade, and regimental staff officers not to
exceed in numbers those provided for in the organization prescribed by
the act approved July 22, 1861, "for the employment of volunteers," nor
to be more highly compensated by the United States, whatever their
nominal rank in the State service, than officers performing the same
duties under that act.
The field officers of a regiment to be one colonel, one
lieutenant-colonel, and one major, and the officers of a company to be
one captain, one first and one second lieutenant.
When officers of the said State forces shall act in conjunction with
officers of the United States Army of the same grade, the latter shall
command the combined force.
All disbursements of money made to these troops or in consequence of
their employment by the United States shall be made by disbursing
officers of the United States Army, assigned by the War Department, or
specially appointed by the President for that purpose, who will make
their requisitions upon the different supply departments in the same
manner for the Missouri State forces as similar requisitions are made
for other volunteer troops in the service of the United States.
The Secretary of War will cause any additional regulations that may be
necessary for the purpose of promoting economy, insuring regularity of
returns, and protecting the United States from fraudulent practices to
be adopted and published for the government of the said State forces,
and the same will be obeyed and observed by all in office under the
authority of the State of Missouri.
By order:
JULIUS P. GARESCHE,
_Assistant Adjutant-General_.
GENERAL ORDERS, No. 100.
HEADQUARTERS OF THE ARMY,
ADJUTANT-GENERAL'S OFFICE,
_Washington, November 16, 1861_.
Complaint has been made to the President of the United States that
certain persons within the State of Virginia, in places occupied by the
forces of the United States, claim to be incumbents of civil
offices--State, county, and municipal--by alleged authority from the
Commonwealth of Virginia, in disregard and violation of the "declaration
of the people of Virginia represented in convention at the city of
Wheeling, Thursday, June 13, 1861," and of the ordinances of said
convention, and of the acts of the general assembly held by authority of
said convention.
It is therefore ordered, by direction of the President, that if any
person shall hereafter attempt within the State of Virginia, under the
alleged authority of said Commonwealth, to exercise any official powers
of a civil nature within the limits of any of the commands of the
occupying forces of the United States, unless in pursuance of the
declaration and ordinances of the convention assembled at Wheeling on
the 13th day of June, 1861, and the acts of the general assembly held by
authority of said convention, such attempt shall be treated as an act of
hostility against the United States, and such person shall be taken into
military custody.
Commanding officers are directed to enforce this order within their
respective commands.
* * * * *
By command of Major-General McClellan:
L. THOMAS,
_Adjutant-General_
EXECUTIVE MANSION,
_Washington, November 27, 1861_.
The municipal authorities of Washington and Georgetown, in this
District, having appointed to-morrow, the 28th instant, as a day of
thanksgiving, the several Departments will on that occasion be closed,
in order that the officers of the Government may partake in the
ceremonies.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE.
WASHINGTON, _December 3, 1861_.
_Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives_:
In the midst of unprecedented political troubles we have cause of great
gratitude to God for unusual good health and most abundant harvests.
You will not be surprised to learn that in the peculiar exigencies of
the times our intercourse with foreign nations has been attended with
profound solicitude, chiefly turning upon our own domestic affairs.
A disloyal portion of the American people have during the whole year
been engaged in an attempt to divide and destroy the Union. A nation
which endures factious domestic division is exposed to disrespect
abroad, and one party, if not both, is sure sooner or later to invoke
foreign intervention.
Nations thus tempted to interfere are not always able to resist the
counsels of seeming expediency and ungenerous ambition, although
measures adopted under such influences seldom fail to be unfortunate and
injurious to those adopting them.
The disloyal citizens of the United States who have offered the ruin of
our country in return for the aid and comfort which they have invoked
abroad have received less patronage and encouragement than they probably
expected. If it were just to suppose, as the insurgents have seemed to
assume, that foreign nations in this case, discarding all moral, social,
and treaty obligations, would act solely and selfishly for the most
speedy restoration of commerce, including especially the acquisition of
cotton, those nations appear as yet not to have seen their way to their
object more directly or clearly through the destruction than through the
preservation of the Union. If we could dare to believe that foreign
nations are actuated by no higher principle than this, I am quite sure a
sound argument could be made to show them that they can reach their aim
more readily and easily by aiding to crush this rebellion than by giving
encouragement to it.
The principal lever relied on by the insurgents for exciting foreign
nations to hostility against us, as already intimated, is the
embarrassment of commerce. Those nations, however, not improbably saw
from the first that it was the Union which made as well our foreign as
our domestic commerce. They can scarcely have failed to perceive that
the effort for disunion produces the existing difficulty, and that one
strong nation promises more durable peace and a more extensive,
valuable, and reliable commerce than can the same nation broken into
hostile fragments.
It is not my purpose to review our discussions with foreign states,
because, whatever might be their wishes or dispositions, the integrity
of our country and the stability of our Government mainly depend not
upon them, but on the loyalty, virtue, patriotism, and intelligence of
the American people. The correspondence itself, with the usual
reservations, is herewith submitted.
I venture to hope it will appear that we have practiced prudence and
liberality toward foreign powers, averting causes of irritation and with
firmness maintaining our own rights and honor.
Since, however, it is apparent that here, as in every other state,
foreign dangers necessarily attend domestic difficulties, I recommend
that adequate and ample measures be adopted for maintaining the public
defenses on every side. While under this general recommendation
provision for defending our seacoast line readily occurs to the mind, I
also in the same connection ask the attention of Congress to our great
lakes and rivers. It is believed that some fortifications and depots of
arms and munitions, with harbor and navigation improvements, all at
well-selected points upon these, would be of great importance to the
national defense and preservation. I ask attention to the views of the
Secretary of War, expressed in his report, upon the same general
subject.
I deem it of importance that the loyal regions of east Tennessee and
western North Carolina should be connected with Kentucky and other
faithful parts of the Union by railroad. I therefore recommend, as a
military measure, that Congress provide for the construction of such
road as speedily as possible. Kentucky no doubt will cooperate, and
through her legislature make the most judicious selection of a line. The
northern terminus must connect with some existing railroad, and whether
the route shall be from Lexington or Nicholasville to the Cumberland
Gap, or from Lebanon to the Tennessee line, in the direction of
Knoxville, or on some still different line, can easily be determined.
Kentucky and the General Government cooperating, the work can be
completed in a very short time, and when done it will be not only of
vast present usefulness, but also a valuable permanent improvement,
worth its cost in all the future.
Some treaties, designed chiefly for the interests of commerce, and
having no grave political importance, have been negotiated, and will be
submitted to the Senate for their consideration.
Although we have failed to induce some of the commercial powers to adopt
a desirable melioration of the rigor of maritime war, we have removed
all obstructions from the way of this humane reform except such as are
merely of temporary and accidental occurrence.
I invite your attention to the correspondence between Her Britannic
Majesty's minister accredited to this Government and the Secretary of
State relative to the detention of the British ship _Perthshire_ in June
last by the United States steamer _Massachusetts_ for a supposed breach
of the blockade. As this detention was occasioned by an obvious
misapprehension of the facts, and as justice requires that we should
commit no belligerent act not founded in strict right as sanctioned by
public law, I recommend that an appropriation be made to satisfy the
reasonable demand of the owners of the vessel for her detention.
I repeat the recommendation of my predecessor in his annual message to
Congress in December last in regard to the disposition of the surplus
which will probably remain after satisfying the claims of American
citizens against China, pursuant to the awards of the commissioners
under the act of the 3d of March, 1859. If, however, it should not be
deemed advisable to carry that recommendation into effect, I would
suggest that authority be given for investing the principal, over the
proceeds of the surplus referred to, in good securities, with a view to
the satisfaction of such other just claims of our citizens against China
as are not unlikely to arise hereafter in the course of our extensive
trade with that Empire.
By the act of the 5th of August last Congress authorized the President
to instruct the commanders of suitable vessels to defend themselves
against and to capture pirates. This authority has been exercised in a
single instance only. For the more effectual protection of our extensive
and valuable commerce in the Eastern seas especially, it seems to me
that it would also be advisable to authorize the commanders of sailing
vessels to recapture any prizes which pirates may make of United States
vessels and their cargoes, and the consular courts now established by
law in Eastern countries to adjudicate the cases in the event that this
should not be objected to by the local authorities.
If any good reason exists why we should persevere longer in withholding
our recognition of the independence and sovereignty of Hayti and
Liberia, I am unable to discern it. Unwilling, however, to inaugurate a
novel policy in regard to them without the approbation of Congress, I
submit for your consideration the expediency of an appropriation for
maintaining a charge d'affaires near each of those new States. It does
not admit of doubt that important commercial advantages might be secured
by favorable treaties with them.
The operations of the Treasury during the period which has elapsed since
your adjournment have been conducted with signal success. The patriotism
of the people has placed at the disposal of the Government the large
means demanded by the public exigencies; Much of the national loan has
been taken by citizens of the industrial classes, whose confidence in
their country's faith and zeal for their country's deliverance from
present peril have induced them to contribute to the support of the
Government the whole of their limited acquisitions. This fact imposes
peculiar obligations to economy in disbursement and energy in action.
The revenue from all sources, including loans, for the financial year
ending on the 30th of June, 1861, was $86,835,900.27, and the
expenditures for the same period, including payments on account of the
public debt, were $84,578,834.47, leaving a balance in the Treasury on
the 1st of July of $2,257,065.80. For the first quarter of the financial
year ending on the 30th of September, 1861, the receipts from all
sources, including the balance of the 1st of July, were $102,532,509.27,
and the expenses $98,239,733.09, leaving a balance on the 1st of
October, 1861, of $4,292,776.18.
Estimates for the remaining three quarters of the year and for the
financial year 1863, together with his views of ways and means for
meeting the demands contemplated by them, will be submitted to Congress
by the Secretary of the Treasury. It is gratifying to know that the
expenditures made necessary by the rebellion are not beyond the
resources of the loyal people, and to believe that the same patriotism
which has thus far sustained the Government will continue to sustain it
till peace and union shall again bless the land.
I respectfully refer to the report of the Secretary of War for
information respecting the numerical strength of the Army and for
recommendations having in view an increase of its efficiency and the
well-being of the various branches of the service intrusted to his care.
It is gratifying to know that the patriotism of the people has proved
equal to the occasion, and that the number of troops tendered greatly
exceeds the force which Congress authorized me to call into the field.
I refer with pleasure to those portions of his report which make
allusion to the creditable degree of discipline already attained by our
troops and to the excellent sanitary condition of the entire Army.
The recommendation of the Secretary for an organization of the militia
upon a uniform basis is a subject of vital importance to the future
safety of the country, arid is commended to the serious attention of
Congress.
The large addition to the Regular Army, in connection with the defection
that has so considerably diminished the number of its officers, gives
peculiar importance to his recommendation for increasing the corps of
cadets to the greatest capacity of the Military Academy.
By mere omission, I presume, Congress has failed to provide chaplains
for hospitals occupied by volunteers. This subject was brought to my
notice, and I was induced to draw up the form of a letter, one copy of
which, properly addressed, has been delivered to each of the persons,
and at the dates respectively named and stated in a schedule, containing
also the form of the letter marked A, and herewith transmitted.
These gentlemen, I understand, entered upon the duties designated at the
times respectively stated in the schedule, and have labored faithfully
therein ever since. I therefore recommend that they be compensated at
the same rate as chaplains in the Army. I further suggest that general
provision be made for chaplains to serve at hospitals, as well as with
regiments.
The report of the Secretary of the Navy presents in detail the
operations of that branch of the service, the activity and energy which
have characterized its administration, and the results of measures to
increase its efficiency and power. Such have been the additions, by
construction and purchase, that it may almost be said a navy has been
created and brought into service since our difficulties commenced.
Besides blockading our extensive coast, squadrons larger than ever
before assembled under our flag have been put afloat and performed deeds
which have increased our naval renown.
I would invite special attention to the recommendation of the Secretary
for a more perfect organization of the Navy by introducing additional
grades in the service.
The present organization is defective and unsatisfactory, and the
suggestions submitted by the Department will, it is believed, if
adopted, obviate the difficulties alluded to, promote harmony, and
increase the efficiency of the Navy.
There are three vacancies on the bench of the Supreme Court--two by the
decease of Justices Daniel and McLean and one by the resignation of
Justice Campbell. I have so far forborne making nominations to fill
these vacancies for reasons which I will now state. Two of the out-going
judges resided within the States now overrun by revolt, so that if
successors were appointed in the same localities they could not now
serve upon their circuits; and many of the most competent men there
probably would not take the personal hazard of accepting to serve, even
here, upon the Supreme bench. I have been unwilling to throw all the
appointments northward, thus disabling myself from doing justice to the
South on the return of peace; although I may remark that to transfer to
the North one which has heretofore been in the South would not, with
reference to territory and population, be unjust.
During the long and brilliant judicial career of Judge McLean his
circuit grew into an empire--altogether too large for any one judge to
give the courts therein more than a nominal attendance--rising in
population from 1,470,018 in 1830 to 6,151,405 in 1860.
Besides this, the country generally has outgrown our present judicial
system. If uniformity was at all intended, the system requires that all
the States shall be accommodated with circuit courts, attended by
Supreme judges, while, in fact, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Kansas,
Florida, Texas, California, and Oregon have never had any such courts.
Nor can this well be remedied without a change in the system, because
the adding of judges to the Supreme Court, enough for the accommodation
of all parts of the country with circuit courts, would create a court
altogether too numerous for a judicial body of any sort. And the evil,
if it be one, will increase as new States come into the Union. Circuit
courts are useful or they are not useful. If useful, no State should be
denied them; if not useful, no State should have them. Let them be
provided for all or abolished as to all.
Three modifications occur to me, either of which, I think, would be an
improvement upon our present system. Let the Supreme Court be of
convenient number in every event; then, first, let the whole country be
divided into circuits of convenient size, the Supreme judges to serve in
a number of them corresponding to their own number, and independent
circuit judges be provided for all the rest; or, secondly, let the
Supreme judges be relieved from circuit duties and circuit judges
provided for all the circuits; or, thirdly, dispense with circuit courts
altogether, leaving the judicial functions wholly to the district courts
and an independent Supreme Court.
I respectfully recommend to the consideration of Congress the present
condition of the statute laws, with the hope that Congress will be able
to find an easy remedy for many of the inconveniences and evils which
constantly embarrass those engaged in the practical administration of
them. Since the organization of the Government Congress has enacted some
5,000 acts and joint resolutions, which fill more than 6,000 closely
printed pages and are scattered through many volumes. Many of these acts
have been drawn in haste and without sufficient caution, so that their
provisions are often obscure in themselves or in conflict with each
other, or at least so doubtful as to render it very difficult for even
the best-informed persons to ascertain precisely what the statute law
really is.
It seems to me very important that the statute laws should be made as
plain and intelligible as possible, and be reduced to as small a compass
as may consist with the fullness and precision of the will of the
Legislature and the perspicuity of its language. This well done would, I
think, greatly facilitate the labors of those whose duty it is to assist
in the administration of the laws, and would be a lasting benefit to the
people, by placing before them in a more accessible and intelligible
form the laws which so deeply concern their interests and their duties.
I am informed by some whose opinions I respect that all the acts of
Congress now in force and of a permanent and general nature might be
revised and rewritten so as to be embraced in one volume (or at most two
volumes) of ordinary and convenient size; and I respectfully recommend
to Congress to consider of the subject, and if my suggestion be approved
to devise such plan as to their wisdom shall seem most proper for the
attainment of the end proposed.
One of the unavoidable consequences of the present insurrection is the
entire suppression in many places of all the ordinary means of
administering civil justice by the officers and in the forms of existing
law. This is the case, in whole or in part, in all the insurgent States;
and as our armies advance upon and take possession of parts of those
States the practical evil becomes more apparent. There are no courts nor
officers to whom the citizens of other States may apply for the
enforcement of their lawful claims against citizens of the insurgent
States, and there is a vast amount of debt constituting such claims.
Some have estimated it as high as $200,000,000, due in large part from
insurgents in open rebellion to loyal citizens who are even now making
great sacrifices in the discharge of their patriotic duty to support the
Government.
Under these circumstances I have been urgently solicited to establish by
military power courts to administer summary justice in such cases. I
have thus far declined to do it, not because I had any doubt that the
end proposed--the collection of the debts--was just and right in itself,
but because I have been unwilling to go beyond the pressure of necessity
in the unusual exercise of power. But the powers of Congress, I suppose,
are equal to the anomalous occasion, and therefore I refer the whole
matter to Congress, with the hope that a plan may be devised for the
administration of justice in all such parts of the insurgent States and
Territories as may be under the control of this Government, whether by a
voluntary return to allegiance and order or by the power of our arms;
this, however, not to be a permanent institution, but a temporary
substitute, and to cease as soon as the ordinary courts can be
reestablished in peace.
It is important that some more convenient means should be provided, if
possible, for the adjustment of claims against the Government,
especially in view of their increased number by reason of the war. It is
as much the duty of Government to render prompt justice against itself
in favor of citizens as it is to administer the same between private
individuals. The investigation and adjudication of claims in their
nature belong to the judicial department. Besides, it is apparent that
the attention of Congress will be more than usually engaged for some
time to come with great national questions. It was intended by the
organization of the Court of Claims mainly to remove this branch of
business from the halls of Congress; but while the court has proved to
be an effective and valuable means of investigation, it in great degree
fails to effect the object of its creation for want of power to make its
judgments final.
Fully aware of the delicacy, not to say the danger, of the subject, I
commend to your careful consideration whether this power of making
judgments final may not properly be given to the court, reserving the
right of appeal on questions of law to the Supreme Court, with such
other provisions as experience may have shown to be necessary.
I ask attention to the report of the Postmaster-General, the following
being a summary statement of the condition of the Department:
The revenue from all sources during the fiscal year ending June 30,
1861, including the annual permanent appropriation of $700,000 for the
transportation of "free mail matter," was $9,049,296.40, being about 2
per cent less than the revenue for 1860.
The expenditures were $13,606,759.11, showing a decrease of more than 8
per cent as compared with those of the previous year and leaving an
excess of expenditure over the revenue for the last fiscal year of
$4,557,462.71.
The gross revenue for the year ending June 30, 1863, is estimated at an
increase of 4 per cent on that of 1861, making $8,683,000, to which
should be added the earnings of the Department in carrying free matter,
viz, $700,000, making $9,383,000.
The total expenditures for 1863 are estimated at $12,528,000, leaving an
estimated deficiency of $3,145,000 to be supplied from the Treasury in
addition to the permanent appropriation.
The present insurrection shows, I think, that the extension of this
District across the Potomac River at the time of establishing the
capital here was eminently wise, and consequently that the
relinquishment of that portion of it which lies within the State of
Virginia was unwise and dangerous. I submit for your consideration the
expediency of regaining that part of the District and the restoration of
the original boundaries thereof through negotiations with the State of
Virginia.
The report of the Secretary of the Interior, with the accompanying
documents, exhibits the condition of the several branches of the public
business pertaining to that Department. The depressing influences of the
insurrection have been specially felt in the operations of the Patent
and General Land Offices. The cash receipts from the sales of public
lands during the past year have exceeded the expenses of our land system
only about $200,000. The sales have been entirely suspended in the
Southern States, while the interruptions to the business of the country
and the diversion of large numbers of men from labor to military service
have obstructed settlements in the new States and Territories of the
Northwest.
The receipts of the Patent Office have declined in nine months about
$100,000, rendering a large reduction of the force employed necessary to
make it self-sustaining.
The demands upon the Pension Office will be largely increased by the
insurrection. Numerous applications for pensions, based upon the
casualties of the existing war, have already been made. There is reason
to believe that many who are now upon the pension rolls and in receipt
of the bounty of the Government are in the ranks of the insurgent army
or giving them aid and comfort. The Secretary of the Interior has
directed a suspension of the payment of the pensions of such persons
upon proof of their disloyalty. I recommend that Congress authorize that
officer to cause the names of such persons to be stricken from the
pension rolls.
The relations of the Government with the Indian tribes have been greatly
disturbed by the insurrection, especially in the southern
superintendency and in that of New Mexico. The Indian country south of
Kansas is in the possession of insurgents from Texas and Arkansas. The
agents of the United States appointed since the 4th of March for this
superintendency have been unable to reach their posts, while the most of
those who were in office before that time have espoused the
insurrectionary cause, and assume to exercise the powers of agents by
virtue of commissions from the insurrectionists. It has been stated in
the public press that a portion of those Indians have been organized as
a military force and are attached to the army of the insurgents.
Although the Government has no official information upon this subject,
letters have been written to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs by
several prominent chiefs giving assurance of their loyalty to the United
States and expressing a wish for the presence of Federal troops to
protect them. It is believed that upon the repossession of the country
by the Federal forces the Indians will readily cease all hostile
demonstrations and resume their former relations to the Government.
Agriculture, confessedly the largest interest of the nation, has not a
department nor a bureau, but a clerkship only, assigned to it in the
Government. While it is fortunate that this great interest is so
independent in its nature as to not have demanded and extorted more from
the Government, I respectfully ask Congress to consider whether
something more can not be given voluntarily with general advantage.
Annual reports exhibiting the condition of our agriculture, commerce,
and manufactures would present a fund of information of great practical
value to the country. While I make no suggestion as to details, I
venture the opinion that an agricultural and statistical bureau might
profitably be organized.
The execution of the laws for the suppression of the African slave trade
has been confided to the Department of the Interior. It is a subject of
gratulation that the efforts which have been made for the suppression of
this inhuman traffic have been recently attended with unusual success.
Five vessels being fitted out for the slave trade have been seized and
condemned. Two mates of vessels engaged in the trade and one person in
equipping a vessel as a slaver have been convicted and subjected to the
penalty of fine and imprisonment, and one captain, taken with a cargo of
Africans on board his vessel, has been convicted of the highest grade of
offense under our laws, the punishment of which is death.
The Territories of Colorado, Dakota, and Nevada, created by the last
Congress, have been organized, and civil administration has been
inaugurated therein under auspices especially gratifying when it is
considered that the leaven of treason was found existing in some of
these new countries when the Federal officers arrived there.
The abundant natural resources of these Territories, with the security
and protection afforded by organized government, will doubtless invite
to them a large immigration when peace shall restore the business of the
country to its accustomed channels. I submit the resolutions of the
legislature of Colorado, which evidence the patriotic spirit of the
people of the Territory. So far the authority of the United States has
been upheld in all the Territories, as it is hoped it will be in the
future. I commend their interests and defense to the enlightened and
generous care of Congress.
I recommend to the favorable consideration of Congress the interests of
the District of Columbia. The insurrection has been the cause of much
suffering and sacrifice to its inhabitants, and as they have no
representative in Congress that body should not overlook their just
claims upon the Government.
At your late session a joint resolution was adopted authorizing the
President to take measures for facilitating a proper representation of
the industrial interests of the United States at the exhibition of the
industry of all nations to be holden at London in the year 1862. I
regret to say I have been unable to give personal attention to this
subject--a subject at once so interesting in itself and so extensively
and intimately connected with the material prosperity of the world.
Through the Secretaries of State and of the Interior a plan or system
has been devised and partly matured, and which will be laid before you.
Under and by virtue of the act of Congress entitled "An act to
confiscate property used for insurrectionary purposes," approved August
6, 1861, the legal claims of certain persons to the labor and service of
certain other persons have become forfeited, and numbers of the latter
thus liberated are already dependent on the United States and must be
provided for in some way. Besides this, it is not impossible that some
of the States will pass similar enactments for their own benefit
respectively, and by operation of which persons of the same class will
be thrown upon them for disposal. In such case I recommend that Congress
provide for accepting such persons from such States, according to some
mode of valuation, in lieu, _pro tanto_, of direct taxes, or upon some
other plan to be agreed on with such States respectively; that such
persons, on such acceptance by the General Government, be at once deemed
free, and that in any event steps be taken for colonizing both classes
(or the one first mentioned if the other shall not be brought into
existence) at some place or places in a climate congenial to them. It
might be well to consider, too, whether the free colored people already
in the United States could not, so far as individuals may desire, be
included in such colonization.
To carry out the plan of colonization may involve the acquiring of
territory, and also the appropriation of money beyond that to be
expended in the territorial acquisition. Having practiced the
acquisition of territory for nearly sixty years, the question of
constitutional power to do so is no longer an open one with us. The
power was questioned at first by Mr. Jefferson, who, however, in the
purchase of Louisiana, yielded his scruples on the plea of great
expediency. If it be said that the only legitimate object of acquiring
territory is to furnish homes for white men, this measure effects that
object, for the emigration of colored men leaves additional room for
white men remaining or coming here. Mr. Jefferson, however, placed the
importance of procuring Louisiana more on political and commercial
grounds than on providing room for population.
On this whole proposition, including the appropriation of money with the
acquisition of territory, does not the expediency amount to absolute
necessity--that without which the Government itself can not be
perpetuated?
The war continues. In considering the policy to be adopted for
suppressing the insurrection I have been anxious and careful that the
inevitable conflict for this purpose shall not degenerate into a
violent and remorseless revolutionary struggle. I have therefore in
every case thought it proper to keep the integrity of the Union
prominent as the primary object of the contest on our part, leaving all
questions which are not of vital military importance to the more
deliberate action of the Legislature.
In the exercise of my best discretion I have adhered to the blockade of
the ports held by the insurgents, instead of putting in force by
proclamation the law of Congress enacted at the late session for closing
those ports.
So also, obeying the dictates of prudence, as well as the obligations of
law, instead of transcending I have adhered to the act of Congress to
confiscate property used for insurrectionary purposes. If a new law
upon the same subject shall be proposed, its propriety will be duly
considered The Union must be preserved, and hence all indispensable
means must be employed. We should not be in haste to determine that
radical and extreme measures, which may reach the loyal as well as the
disloyal, are indispensable.
The inaugural address at the beginning of the Administration and the
message to Congress at the late special session were both mainly devoted
to the domestic controversy out of which the insurrection and consequent
war have sprung. Nothing now occurs to add or subtract to or from the
principles or general purposes stated and expressed in those documents.
The last ray of hope for preserving the Union peaceably expired at the
assault upon Fort Sumter, and a general review of what has occurred
since may not be unprofitable. What was painfully uncertain then is much
better defined and more distinct now, and the progress of events is
plainly in the right direction. The insurgents confidently claimed a
strong support from north of Mason and Dixon's line, and the friends of
the Union were not free from apprehension on the point. This, however,
was soon settled definitely, and on the right side. South of the line
noble little Delaware led off right from the first. Maryland was made to
_seem_ against the Union. Our soldiers were assaulted, bridges were
burned, and railroads torn up within her limits, and we were many days
at one time without the ability to bring a single regiment over her soil
to the capital. Now her bridges and railroads are repaired and open to
the Government; she already gives seven regiments to the cause of the
Union, and none to the enemy; and her people, at a regular election,
have sustained the Union by a larger majority and a larger aggregate
vote than they ever before gave to any candidate or any question.
Kentucky, too, for some time in doubt, is now decidedly and, I think,
unchangeably ranged on the side of the Union, Missouri is comparatively
quiet, and, I believe, can not again be overrun by the insurrectionists.
These three States of Maryland, Kentucky, and Missouri, neither of which
would promise a single soldier at first, have now an aggregate of not
less than 40,000 in the field for the Union, while of their citizens
certainly not more than a third of that number, and they of doubtful
whereabouts and doubtful existence, are in arms against us. After a
somewhat bloody struggle of months, winter closes on the Union people of
western Virginia, leaving them masters of their own country.
An insurgent force of about 1,500, for months dominating the narrow
peninsular region constituting the counties of Accomac and Northampton,
and known as Eastern Shore of Virginia, together with some contiguous
parts of Maryland, have laid down their arms, and the people there have
renewed their allegiance to and accepted the protection of the old flag.
This leaves no armed insurrectionist north of the Potomac or east of the
Chesapeake.
Also we have obtained a footing at each of the isolated points on the
southern coast of Hatteras, Port Royal, Tybee Island (near Savannah),
and Ship Island; and we likewise have some general accounts of popular
movements in behalf of the Union in North Carolina and Tennessee.
These things demonstrate that the cause of the Union is advancing
steadily and certainly southward.
Since your last adjournment Lieutenant-General Scott has retired from
the head of the Army. During his long life the nation has not been
unmindful of his merit; yet on calling to mind how faithfully, ably, and
brilliantly he has served the country, from a time far back in our
history, when few of the now living had been born, and thenceforward
continually, I can not but think we are still his debtors. I submit,
therefore, for your consideration what further mark of recognition is
due to him, and to ourselves as a grateful people.
With the retirement of General Scott came the Executive duty of
appointing in his stead a General in Chief of the Army. It is a
fortunate circumstance that neither in council nor country was there, so
far as I know, any difference of opinion as to the proper person to be
selected. The retiring chief repeatedly expressed his judgment in favor
of General McClellan for the position, and in this the nation seemed to
give a unanimous concurrence. The designation of General McClellan is
therefore in considerable degree the selection of the country as well as
of the Executive, and hence there is better reason to hope there will be
given him the confidence and cordial support thus by fair implication
promised, and without which he can not with so full efficiency serve the
country.
It has been said that one bad general is better than two good ones, and
the saying is true if taken to mean no more than that an army is better
directed by a single mind, though inferior, than by two superior ones at
variance and cross-purposes with each other.
And the same is true in all joint operations wherein those engaged _can_
have none but a common end in view and _can_ differ only as to the
choice of means. In a storm at sea no one on board _can_ wish the ship
to sink, and yet not unfrequently all go down together because too many
will direct and no single mind can be allowed to control.
It continues to develop that the insurrection is largely, if not
exclusively, a war upon the first principle of popular government--the
rights of the people. Conclusive evidence of this is found in the most
grave and maturely considered public documents, as well as in the
general tone of the insurgents. In those documents we find the
abridgment of the existing right of suffrage and the denial to the
people of all right to participate in the selection of public officers
except the legislative boldly advocated, with labored arguments to prove
that large control of the people in government is the source of all
political evil. Monarchy itself is sometimes hinted at as a possible
refuge from the power of the people.
In my present position I could scarcely be justified were I to omit
raising a warning voice against this approach of returning despotism.
It is not needed nor fitting here that a general argument should be made
in favor of popular institutions, but there is one point, with its
connections, not so hackneyed as most others, to which I ask a brief
attention. It is the effort to place _capital_ on an equal footing with,
if not above, _labor_ in the structure of government. It is assumed that
labor is available only in connection with capital; that nobody labors
unless some-body else, owning capital, somehow by the use of it induces
him to labor. This assumed, it is next considered whether it is best
that capital shall _hire_ laborers, and thus induce them to work by
their own consent, or _buy_ them and drive them to it without their
consent. Having proceeded so far, it is naturally concluded that all
laborers are either _hired_ laborers or what we call slaves. And
further, it is assumed that whoever is once a hired laborer is fixed in
that condition for life.
Now there is no such relation between capital and labor as assumed, nor
is there any such thing as a free man being fixed for life in the
condition of a hired laborer. Both these assumptions are false, and all
inferences from them are groundless.
Labor is prior to and independent of capital. Capital is only the fruit
of labor, and could never have existed if labor had not first existed.
Labor is the superior of capital, and deserves much the higher
consideration. Capital has its rights, which are as worthy of protection
as any other rights. Nor is it denied that there is, and probably always
will be, a relation between labor and capital producing mutual benefits.
The error is in assuming that the whole labor of community exists within
that; relation. A few men own capital, and that few avoid labor
themselves, and with their capital hire or buy another few to labor for
them. A large majority belong to neither class--neither work for others
nor have others working for them. In most of the Southern States a
majority of the whole people of all colors are neither slaves nor
masters, while in the Northern a large majority are neither hirers nor
hired. Men, with their families-wives, sons, and daughters--work for
themselves on their farms, in their houses, and in their shops, taking
the whole product to themselves, and asking no favors of capital on the
one hand nor of hired laborers or slaves on the other. It is not
forgotten that a considerable number of persons mingle their own labor
with capital; that is, they labor with their own hands and also buy or
hire others to labor for them; but this is only a mixed and not a
distinct class. No principle stated is disturbed by the existence of
this mixed class.
Again, as has already been said, there is not of necessity any such
thing as the free hired laborer being fixed to that condition for life.
Many independent men everywhere in these States a few years back in
their lives were hired laborers. The prudent, penniless beginner in the
world labors for wages awhile, saves a surplus with which to buy tools
or land for himself, then labors on his own account another while, and
at length hires another new beginner to help him. This is the just and
generous and prosperous system which opens the way to all, gives hope to
all, and consequent energy and progress and improvement of condition to
all. No men living are more worthy to be trusted than those who toil up
from poverty; none less inclined to take or touch aught which they have
not honestly earned. Let them beware of surrendering a political power
which they already possess, and which if surrendered will surely be used
to close the door of advancement against such as they and to fix new
disabilities and burdens upon them till all of liberty shall be lost.
From the first taking of our national census to the last are seventy
years, and we find our population at the end of the period eight times
as great as it was at the beginning. The increase of those other things
which men deem desirable has been even greater. We thus have at one view
what the popular principle, applied to Government through the machinery
of the States and the Union, has produced in a given time, and also what
if firmly maintained it promises for the future. There are already among
us those who if the Union be preserved will live to see it contain
250,000,000. The struggle _of_ to-day is not altogether _for_ to-day; it
is for a vast future also. With a reliance on Providence all the more
firm and earnest, let us proceed in the great task which events have
devolved upon us.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
SPECIAL MESSAGES.
WASHINGTON, _December 4, 1861_.
_To the House of Representatives_:
I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of State, in reply to
the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 31st July last,
upon the subject of increasing and extending trade and commerce of the
United States with foreign countries.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
WASHINGTON, _December 4, 1861_.
_To the House of Representatives_:
I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of State, in reply to
the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 13th July last, in
relation to the correspondence between this Government and foreign
nations respecting the rights of blockade, privateering, and the
recognition of the so-called Confederate States.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
WASHINGTON, _December 5, 1861_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
I transmit to the Senate, for its consideration with a view to
ratification, a treaty between the United States of America and His
Majesty the King of Hanover, concerning the abolition of the Stade or
Brunshausen dues, signed at Berlin on the 6th November, 1861.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
WASHINGTON, _December 9, 1861_.
_To the House of Representatives_:
I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of State, in reply to
the resolution of the House of the 4th instant, relative to the
intervention of certain European powers in the affairs of Mexico.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
EXECUTIVE MANSION,
_Washington, December 14, 1861_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
In compliance with the resolution of your honorable body "that the
President be requested to furnish to the Senate copies of the charges,
testimony, and finding of the recent court of inquiry in the case of
Colonel Dixon S. Miles, of the United States Army," I have the honor to
transmit herewith the copies desired, which have been procured from the
War Department.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
WASHINGTON, _December 16, 1861_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
I submit to the Senate, for consideration with a view to ratification,
the amendments introduced by the Constituent National Assembly of
Bolivia in its decree of ratification into the treaty of peace,
friendship, commerce, and navigation concluded with that Republic on the
13th of May, 1858, an official translation of which decree accompanies
this message, with the original treaty. As the time within which the
exchange of ratifications should be effected is limited, I recommend, in
view of the delay which must necessarily occur and the difficulty of
reaching the seat of Government of that Republic, that the time within
which such exchange shall take place be extended in the following terms:
"Within such period as may be mutually convenient to both Governments."
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
WASHINGTON, _December 17, 1861_.
_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:
I transmit to the Senate and House of Representatives copies of the
correspondence between the Secretary of State, Secretary of War, and the
governor of the State of Maine on the subject of the fortification of
the seacoast and Lakes.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
WASHINGTON, _December 17, 1861_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
I transmit to the Senate, for its advice, a copy of a draft for a
convention with the Republic of Mexico, proposed to the Government of
that Republic by Mr. Corwin, the minister of the United States
accredited to that Government, together with the correspondence relating
to it.
As the subject is of momentous interest to the two Governments at this
juncture, the early consideration of it by the Senate is very desirable.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
WASHINGTON, _December 20, 1861_.
_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:
I transmit to Congress a letter from the secretary of the executive
committee of the commission appointed to represent the interests of
those American citizens who may desire to become exhibitors at the
industrial exhibition to be held in London in 1862, and a memorial of
that commission, with a report of the executive committee thereof and
copies of circulars announcing the decisions of Her Majesty's
commissioners in London, giving directions to be observed in regard to
articles intended for exhibition, and also of circular forms of
application, demands for space, approvals, etc., according to the rules
prescribed by the British commissioners.
As these papers fully set forth the requirements necessary to enable
those citizens of the United States who may wish to become exhibitors to
avail themselves of the privileges of the exhibition, I commend them to
your early consideration, especially in view of the near approach of the
time when the exhibition will begin.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
WASHINGTON, _December 23, 1861_.
_To the House of Representatives_:
In compliance with the resolution of the House of Representatives of the
13th July last, requesting information respecting the Asiatic cooly
trade, I transmit a report from the Secretary of State, with the
documents which accompanied it.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
WASHINGTON, _December 30, 1861_.
_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:
I transmit to Congress a correspondence which has taken place between
the Secretary of State and authorities of Great Britain and France on
the subject of the recent removal of certain citizens[3] of the United
States from the British mail steamer _Trent_ by order of Captain Wilkes,
in command of the United States war steamer _San Jacinto_.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
[Footnote 3: James M. Mason and John Slidell, Confederate envoys to
England and France, respectively, and two others.]
WASHINGTON, _January 2, 1862_.
_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:
I transmit to Congress a copy of a letter to the Secretary of State from
James R. Partridge, secretary to the executive committee to the
industrial exhibition to be held in London in the course of the present
year, and a copy of the correspondence to which it refers, relative to a
vessel for the purpose of taking such articles as persons in this
country may wish to exhibit on that occasion. As it appears that no
naval vessel can be spared for the purpose, I recommend that authority
be given to charter a suitable merchant vessel, in order that facilities
similar to those afforded by the Government for the exhibition of 1851
may also be extended to those citizens of the United States who may
desire to contribute to the exhibition of this year.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
WASHINGTON, D.C., _January 2, 1862_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
I transmit to the Senate, for its constitutional action thereon, a
treaty concluded on the 15th November, 1861, between William W. Ross,
agent on the part of the United States, and the chiefs and headmen of
the tribe of Pottawatomie Indians, with accompanying communications from
the Secretary of the Interior and Commissioner of Indian Affairs, the
latter of which proposes certain modifications of said treaty, which are
also referred for the consideration of the Senate.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
WASHINGTON, _January 10, 1862_.
_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:
I transmit to Congress a translation of an instruction to the minister
of His Majesty the Emperor of Austria accredited to this Government, and
a copy of a note to that minister from the Secretary of State, relative
to the questions involved in the taking from the British steamer _Trent_
of certain citizens of the United States by order of Captain Wilkes,
of the United States Navy. This correspondence may be considered as a
sequel to that previously communicated to Congress relating to the same
subject.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
WASHINGTON, _January 17, 1862_.
_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:
I transmit to Congress a translation of an instruction to the minister
of His Majesty the King of Prussia accredited to this Government, and a
copy of a note to that minister from the Secretary of State, relating to
the capture and detention of certain citizens of the United States,
passengers on board the British steamer _Trent_ by order of Captain
Wilkes, of the United States Navy.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
WASHINGTON, D.C., _January 17, 1862_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
I transmit herewith, for the consideration of the Senate, a petition of
certain members of the Pottawatomie tribe of Indians, complaining of the
treaty made by W. W. Ross on the 15th November last with that tribe,
which treaty was laid before the Senate for its constitutional action in
my communication to that body dated the 6th [3d] instant.
A letter of the 16th instant from the Secretary of the Interior,
inclosing a report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs dated the 15th
instant, in relation to the subject, is also herewith transmitted.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
WASHINGTON, D.C., _January, 1862_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
I transmit herewith, for the constitutional action of the Senate,
articles of agreement and convention concluded at Niobrara, Nebraska
Territory, on the 14th day of November, 1860, between J. Shaw Gregory,
agent on the part of the United States, and the chiefs and headmen of
the Poncas tribe of Indians, being supplementary to the treaty with said
tribe made on the 12th day of March, 1858.
I also transmit a letter, dated the 4th instant, from the Secretary of
the Interior, inclosing a copy of a report of the Commissioner of Indian
Affairs of the 20th September, 1861, in relation to the subject.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
WASHINGTON, _January 24, 1862_.
_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:
I submit to Congress the accompanying copy of a correspondence between
the Secretary of State, the Spanish minister, and the Secretary of the
Navy, concerning the case of the bark _Providencia_, a Spanish vessel
seized on her voyage from Havana to New York by a steamer of the United
States Blockading Squadron and subsequently released. I recommend the
appropriation of the amount of the award of the referee.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
WASHINGTON, _January 24, 1862_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
I lay before the Senate a dispatch which has just been received from Mr.
Corwin, our minister to Mexico. It communicates important information
concerning the war which is waged against Mexico by the combined powers
of Spain, France, and Great Britain.
Mr. Corwin asks instructions by which to regulate his proceedings so as
to save our national interests in the case of an adjustment of the
difficulties between the belligerents. I have heretofore submitted to
the Senate a request for its advice upon the question pending by treaty
for making a loan to Mexico, which Mr. Corwin thinks will in any case be
expedient. It seems to be my duty now to solicit an early action of the
Senate upon the subject, to the end that I may cause such instructions
to be given to Mr. Corwin as will enable him to act in the manner which,
while it will most carefully guard the interests of our country, will at
the same time be most beneficial to Mexico.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
WASHINGTON, _January 28, 1862_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
I submit to the Senate, for its consideration with a view to
ratification, a treaty of extradition concluded by Mr. Corwin with the
Mexican Government on the 11th of December last.
I also submit a postal convention concluded by that gentleman at the
same time, and a copy of his dispatch of the 24th of the same month
explanatory of the provisions of both these instruments, and the reasons
for the nonratification by Mexico of the postal convention concluded in
this city on the 31st of July last and approved by the Senate on the 6th
of August.
A copy of a letter from the Postmaster-General to the Secretary of State
in relation to Mr. Corwin's postal convention is also herewith
communicated. The advice of the Senate as to the expediency of accepting
that convention as a substitute for the one of the 31st of July last is
requested.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
WASHINGTON, _January 31, 1862_.
_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:
As a sequel to the correspondence on the subject previously
communicated, I transmit to Congress extracts from a dispatch of the
20th ultimo from Mr. Adams, United States minister at London, to the
Secretary of State, and a copy of an instruction from Earl Russell to
Lord Lyons of the 10th instant, relative to the removal of certain
citizens of the United States from the British mail steamer _Trent_ by
order of the commander of the United States war steamer _San Jacinto_.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
WASHINGTON CITY, _February 4, 1862_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
The third section of the "Act further to promote the efficiency of the
Navy," approved December 21, 1861, provides--
That the President of the United States, by and with the advice and
consent of the Senate, shall have the authority to detail from the
retired list of the Navy for the command of squadrons and single ships
such officers as he may believe that the good of the service requires
to be thus placed in command; and such officers may, if upon the
recommendation of the President of the United States they shall receive
a vote of thanks of Congress for their services and gallantry in action
against an enemy, be restored to the active list, and not otherwise.
In conformity with this law, Captain Samuel F. Du Pont, of the Navy, was
nominated to the Senate for continuance as the flag-officer in command
of the squadron which recently rendered such important service to the
Union in the expedition to the coast of South Carolina.
Believing that no occasion could arise which would more fully correspond
with the intention of the law or be more pregnant with happy influence
as an example, I cordially recommend that Captain Samuel F. Du Pont
receive a vote of thanks of Congress for his services and gallantry
displayed in the capture of Forts Walker and Beauregard, commanding the
entrance of Port Royal Harbor, on the 7th of November, 1861.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
WASHINGTON, _February 7, 1862_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
In answer to the resolution of the Senate of the 5th instant, requesting
a communication of any recent correspondence relating to the
presentation of American citizens to the Court of France, I transmit a
copy of a dispatch of the 14th ultimo from the United States minister at
Paris to the Secretary of State and of an instruction of Mr. Seward to
Mr. Dayton of the 3d instant.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
WASHINGTON, _February 12, 1862_.
_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:
I transmit to Congress a copy of a special treaty between the United
States and His Majesty the King of Hanover for the abolition of the
Stade dues, which was signed at Berlin on the 6th of November last. In
this treaty, already approved by the Senate and ratified on the part of
the United States, it is stipulated that the sums specified in Articles
III and IV to be paid to the Hanoverian Government shall be paid at
Berlin on the day of the exchange of ratifications. I therefore
recommend that seasonable provision be made to enable the Executive to
carry this stipulation into effect.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
WASHINGTON CITY, _February 15, 1862_.
_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_:
The third section of the "Act further to promote the efficiency of the
Navy," approved December 21, 1861, provides--
That the President of the United States, by and with the advice and
consent of the Senate, shall have the authority to detail from the
retired list of the Navy for the command of squadrons and single ships
such officers as he may believe that the good of the service requires to
be thus placed in command; and such officers may, if upon the
recommendation of the President of the United States they shall receive
a vote of thanks of Congress for their services and gallantry in action
against an enemy, be restored to the active list, and not otherwise.
In conformity with this law, Captain Louis M. Goldsborough, of the Navy,
was nominated to the Senate for continuance as the flag-officer in
command of the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron, which recently
rendered such important service to the Union in the expedition to the
coast of North Carolina.
Believing that no occasion could arise which would more fully correspond
with the intention of the law or be more pregnant with happy influence
as an example, I cordially recommend that Captain Louis M. Goldsborough
receive a vote of thanks of Congress for his services and gallantry
displayed in the combined attack of the forces commanded by him and
Brigadier-General Burnside in the capture of Roanoke Island and the
destruction of rebel gunboats on the 7th, 8th, and 10th of February,
1862.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
WASHINGTON, _February 21, 1862_.
_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:
The President of the United States was last evening plunged into
affliction by the death of a beloved child. The heads of the
Departments, in consideration of this distressing event, have thought it
would be agreeable to Congress and to the American people that the
official and private buildings occupied by them should not be
illuminated in the evening of the 22d instant.
WILLIAM H. SEWARD.
S.P. CHASE.
EDWIN M. STANTON.
GIDEON WELLES.
CALEB B. SMITH.
M. BLAIR.
EDWARD BATES.
WASHINGTON, _February 25, 1862_.
_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:
I transmit to Congress a copy of an instruction from Prince Gortchakoff
to Mr. De Stoeckl, the minister of His Imperial Majesty the Emperor of
Russia accredited to this Government, and of a note of the Secretary of
State to the latter, relative to the adjustment of the question between
the United States and Great Britain growing out of the removal of
certain of our citizens from the British mail steamer _Trent_ by order
of the commander of the United States war steamer _San Jacinto_.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
WASHINGTON, _February 26, 1862_.
_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:
In transmitting to Congress the accompanying copy of two letters,
bearing date the 14th of February, 1861, from His Majesty the Major King
of Siam to the President of the United States, and of the President's
answer thereto, I submit for their consideration the question as to the
proper place of deposit of the gifts received with the royal letters
referred to.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
WASHINGTON, _February 27, 1862_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
Lieutenant-General Scott has advised me that while he would cheerfully
accept a commission as additional minister to Mexico, with a view to
promote the interests of the United States and of peace, yet his
infirmities are such that he could not be able to reach the capital of
that country by any existing mode of travel, and he therefore deems it
his duty to decline the important mission I had proposed for him. For
this reason I withdraw the nomination in this respect heretofore
submitted to the Senate. It is hardly necessary to add that the
nomination was made without any knowledge of it on his part.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
WASHINGTON, _March 3, 1862_.
_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:
I transmit to Congress a copy of a dispatch to the Secretary of State
from the minister resident of the United States at Lisbon, concerning
recent measures which have been adopted by the Government of Portugal
intended to encourage the growth and to enlarge the area of the culture
of cotton in its African possessions.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
WASHINGTON, _March 3, 1862_.
_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:
I transmit to Congress a translation of an instruction to the minister
of His Majesty the King of Italy accredited to this Government, and a
copy of a note to that minister from the Secretary of State, relating to
the settlement of the question arising out of the capture and detention
of certain citizens of the United States, passengers on board the
British steamer _Trent_, by order of Captain Wilkes, of the United
States Navy.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
WASHINGTON, _March 3, 1862_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
I transmit to the Senate a translation of a note addressed to the
Secretary of State on the 1st instant by General P. A. Herran, envoy
extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary of the Granadian
Confederation, with a translation of the communication accompanying that
note from the special commissioner of that Republic, together with a
copy of a letter from the special commissioner of the United States of
the 26th ultimo, under the convention of the 10th September, 1857,
setting forth the impracticability of disposing of the cases submitted
to the joint commission now in session under the convention within the
period prescribed therein.
I recommend, therefore, that the Senate consent to the extension of time
for ---- days from and after the expiration of the time limited by the
convention.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
WASHINGTON, _March 3, 1862_.
_To the House of Representatives of the United States_:
I transmit herewith a communication[4] of the Secretary of War,
inclosing a report of the Adjutant-General, in answer to a resolution of
the House of Representatives of the 22d of January, 1862.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
[Footnote 4: Relating to assignment of officers of the Army to duty.]
WASHINGTON, _March 5, 1862_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
I submit to the Senate, for its consideration, a copy of a message
addressed to that body by my immediate predecessor on the 12th February,
1861, relating to the award made by the joint commission under the
convention between the United States and Paraguay of the 4th February,
1859, together with the original "journal of the proceedings" of the
commission and a printed copy of the "statements and arguments--and for
the Republic," and request the advice of the Senate as to the final
acquiescence in or rejection of the award of the commissioner by the
Government of the United States. As the "journal" is an original
document, pertaining to the archives of the Department of State, it
is proper, when the Senate shall have arrived at a conclusion on the
subject, that the volume be returned to the custody of the Secretary
of State.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
MARCH 6, 1862.
_Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives_:
I recommend the adoption of a joint resolution by your honorable bodies,
which shall be substantially as follows:
_Resolved_, That the United States ought to cooperate with any State
which may adopt gradual abolishment of slavery, giving to such State
pecuniary aid, to be used by such State, in its discretion, to
compensate for the inconveniences, public and private, produced by such
change of system.
If the proposition contained in the resolution does not meet the
approval of Congress and the country, there is the end; but if it does
command such approval, I deem it of importance that the States and
people immediately interested should be at once distinctly notified of
the fact, so that they may begin to consider whether to accept or reject
it. The Federal Government would find its highest interest in such a
measure, as one of the most efficient means of self-preservation. The
leaders of the existing insurrection entertain the hope that this
Government will ultimately be forced to acknowledge the independence of
some part of the disaffected region, and that all the slave States north
of such part will then say, "The Union for which we have struggled being
already gone, we now choose to go with the Southern section." To deprive
them of this hope substantially ends the rebellion, and the initiation
of emancipation completely deprives them of it as to all the States
initiating it. The point is not that _all_ the States tolerating slavery
would very soon, if at all, initiate emancipation; but that while the
offer is equally made to all, the more northern shall by such initiation
make it certain to the more southern that in no event will the former
ever join the latter in their proposed confederacy. I say "initiation"
because, in my judgment, gradual and not sudden emancipation is better
for all. In the mere financial or pecuniary view any member of Congress
with the census tables and Treasury reports before him can readily see
for himself how very soon the current expenditures of this war would
purchase, at fair valuation, all the slaves in any named State. Such a
proposition on the part of the General Government sets up no claim of a
right by Federal authority to interfere with slavery within State
limits, referring, as it does, the absolute control of the subject in
each case to the State and its people immediately interested. It is
proposed as a matter of perfectly free choice with them.
In the annual message last December I thought fit to say "the Union must
be preserved, and hence all indispensable means must be employed." I
said this not hastily, but deliberately. War has been made and continues
to be an indispensable means to this end. A practical reacknowledgment
of the national authority would render the war unnecessary, and it would
at once cease. If, however, resistance continues, the war must also
continue; and it is impossible to foresee all the incidents which may
attend and all the ruin which may follow it. Such as may seem
indispensable or may obviously promise great efficiency toward ending
the struggle must and will come.
The proposition now made (though an offer only), I hope it may be
esteemed no offense to ask whether the pecuniary consideration tendered
would not be of more value to the States and private persons concerned
than are the institution and property in it in the present aspect of
affairs.
While it is true that the adoption of the proposed resolution would be
merely initiatory, and not within itself a practical measure, it is
recommended in the hope that it would soon lead to important practical
results. In full view of my great responsibility to my God and to my
country, I earnestly beg the attention of Congress and the people to the
subject.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
WASHINGTON, D.C., _March 7, 1862_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
I transmit herewith, for the constitutional action of the Senate
thereon, a treaty concluded at Paola, Kans., on the 18th day of August,
between Seth Clover, commissioner on the part of the United States, and
the delegates of the united tribes of Kaskaskia and Peoria, Piankeshaw,
and Wea Indians.
I also transmit a communication of the Secretary of the Interior of the
6th instant and accompanying papers from the Acting Commissioner of
Indian Affairs, in relation to the subject.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
WASHINGTON, _March 12, 1862_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
In compliance with the resolution of the Senate of the 11th instant,
requesting "a copy of any correspondence on the records or files of the
Department of State in regard to railway systems in Europe," I transmit
a report from the Secretary of State and the papers by which it was
accompanied.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
WASHINGTON, _March 14, 1862_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
With reference to my recent message on the subject of claims of citizens
of the United States on the Government of Paraguay, I transmit a copy of
three memorials of the claimants and of their closing arguments in the
case, together with extracts from a dispatch from Mr. Bowlin, the late
commissioner of the United States to that country. These extracts show
that President Lopez offered and expected to pay a large sum of money as
a compromise of the claims.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
WASHINGTON, _March 14, 1862_.
_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:
I submit to Congress the accompanying copy of a correspondence between
the Secretary of State, the Danish charge d'affaires, and the Secretary
of the Navy, concerning the case of the bark _Jorgen Lorentzen_, a
Danish vessel seized on her voyage from Rio Janeiro to Havana by the
United States ship _Morning Light_ and subsequently released. I recommend
the appropriation of the amount of the award of the referees.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
WASHINGTON CITY, _March 20, 1862_.
_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:
The third section of the "Act further to promote the efficiency of the
Navy," approved December 21, 1861, provides--
That the President of the United States, by and with the advice and
consent of the Senate, shall have the authority to detail from the
retired list of the Navy for the command of squadrons and single ships
such officers as he may believe that the good of the service requires to
be thus placed in command; and such officers may, if upon the
recommendation of the President of the United States they shall receive
a vote of thanks of Congress for their services and gallantry in action
against an enemy, be restored to the active list, and not otherwise.
In conformity with this law, Captain Samuel F. Du Pont, of the Navy, was
nominated to the Senate for continuance as the flag-officer in command
of the squadron which recently rendered such important service to the
Union in the expedition to the coasts of South Carolina, Georgia, and
Florida.
Believing that no occasion could arise which would more fully correspond
with the intention of the law or be more pregnant with happy influence
as an example, I cordially recommend that Captain Samuel F. Du Pont
receive a vote of thanks of Congress for his service and gallantry
displayed in the capture since the 21st December, 1861, of various
points on the coasts of Georgia and Florida, particularly Brunswick,
Cumberland Island and Sound, Amelia Island, the towns of St. Marys, St.
Augustine, and Jacksonville and Fernandina.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
WASHINGTON, _March 26, 1862_.
_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:
I transmit a copy of a communication[5] of the 21st of December last
addressed to the Secretary of State by the governor of the Territory of
Nevada, and commend to the particular attention of Congress those parts
of it which show that further legislation is desirable for the public
welfare in that quarter.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
[Footnote 5: Containing a narrative of incidents pertaining to the
government of the Territory of Nevada.]
WASHINGTON, _March 31, 1862_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
I transmit to the Senate, for its consideration with a view to
ratification, a treaty of commerce and navigation between the United
States and the Ottoman Empire, signed at Constantinople on the 25th of
last month. Extracts from a dispatch of the same date, upon the subject
of the treaty, from Mr. Morris, the United States minister at
Constantinople, to the Secretary of State, are also herewith
communicated.
It will be noticed that the exchange of ratifications is to take place
within three months from the date of the instrument. This renders it
desirable that the Senate should decide in regard to it as soon as this
may be convenient, for if that decision be favorable the ratifications
of this Government must reach Constantinople prior to the expiration of
the three months adverted to.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
WASHINGTON, _April 5, 1862_.
_To the House of Representatives_:
In compliance with the resolution of the House of Representatives of
yesterday, requesting any information which may have been received at
the Department of State showing the system of revenue and finance now
existing in any foreign country, I transmit a copy of a recent dispatch
from Mr. Pike, the United States minister at The Hague. This is
understood to be the only information on the subject of the resolution
recently received which has not been made public.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
WASHINGTON, _April 10, 1862_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
I transmit to the Senate, for its consideration with a view to
ratification, a treaty between the United States and Her Britannic
Majesty for the suppression of the slave trade. A copy of the
correspondence between the Secretary of State and Lord Lyons on the
subject of the treaty is also herewith transmitted.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
WASHINGTON, _April 14, 1862_.
_To the House of Representatives_:
In compliance with the resolution of the House of Representatives of the
3d ultimo, requesting information in regard to the present condition of
Mexico, I transmit a report from the Secretary of State and the
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