A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents: Lincoln
by
Compiled by James D. Richardson
Part 5 out of 10
I beg indulgence to discuss these proposed articles at some length.
Without slavery the rebellion could never have existed; without slavery
it could not continue.
Among the friends of the Union there is great diversity of sentiment and
of policy in regard to slavery and the African race amongst us. Some
would perpetuate slavery; some would abolish it suddenly and without
compensation; some would abolish it gradually and with compensation;
some would remove the freed people from us, and some would retain them
with us; and there are yet other minor diversities. Because of these
diversities we waste much strength in struggles among ourselves. By
mutual concession we should harmonize and act together. This would be
compromise, but it would be compromise among the friends and not with
the enemies of the Union. These articles are intended to embody a plan
of such mutual concessions. If the plan shall be adopted, it is assumed
that emancipation will follow, at least in several of the States.
As to the first article, the main points are, first, the emancipation;
secondly, the length of time for consummating it (thirty-seven years);
and, thirdly, the compensation.
The emancipation will be unsatisfactory to the advocates of perpetual
slavery, but the length of time should greatly mitigate their
dissatisfaction. The time spares both races from the evils of sudden
derangement-- in fact, from the necessity of any derangement--while most
of those whose habitual course of thought will be disturbed by the
measure will have passed away before its consummation. They will never
see it. Another class will hail the prospect of emancipation, but will
deprecate the length of time. They will feel that it gives too little to
the now living slaves. But it really gives them much. It saves them from
the vagrant destitution which must largely attend immediate emancipation
in localities where their numbers are very great, and it gives the
inspiring assurance that their posterity shall be free forever. The plan
leaves to each State choosing to act under it to abolish slavery now or
at the end of the century, or at any intermediate time, or by degrees
extending over the whole or any part of the period, and it obliges no
two States to proceed alike. It also provides for compensation, and
generally the mode of making it. This, it would seem, must further
mitigate the dissatisfaction of those who favor perpetual slavery, and
especially of those who are to receive the compensation. Doubtless some
of those who are to pay and not to receive will object. Yet the measure
is both just and economical. In a certain sense the liberation of slaves
is the destruction of property--property acquired by descent or by
purchase, the same as any other property. It is no less true for having
been often said that the people of the South are not more responsible
for the original introduction of this property than are the people of
the North; and when it is remembered how unhesitatingly we all use
cotton and sugar and share the profits of dealing in them, it may not be
quite safe to say that the South has been more responsible than the
North for its continuance. If, then, for a common object this property
is to be sacrificed, is it not just that it be done at a common charge?
And if with less money, or money more easily paid, we can preserve the
benefits of the Union by this means than we can by the war alone, is it
not also economical to do it? Let us consider it, then. Let us ascertain
the sum we have expended in the war since compensated emancipation was
proposed last March, and consider whether if that measure had been
promptly accepted by even some of the slave States the same sum would
not have done more to close the war than has been otherwise done. If so,
the measure would save money, and in that view would be a prudent and
economical measure. Certainly it is not so easy to pay _something_ as it
is to pay _nothing_, but it is easier to pay a _large_ sum than it is to
pay a _larger_ one. And it is easier to pay any sum _when_ we are able
than it is to pay it _before_ we are able. The war requires large sums,
and requires them at once. The aggregate sum necessary for compensated
emancipation of course would be large. But it would require no ready
cash, nor the bonds even any faster than the emancipation progresses.
This might not, and probably would not, close before the end of the
thirty-seven years. At that time we shall probably have a hundred
millions of people to share the burden, instead of thirty-one millions
as now. And not only so, but the increase of our population may be
expected to continue for a long time after that period as rapidly as
before, because our territory will not have become full. I do not state
this inconsiderately. At the same ratio of increase which we have
maintained, on an average, from our first national census, in 1790,
until that of 1860, we should in 1900 have a population of 103,208,415.
And why may we not continue that ratio far beyond that period? Our
abundant room, our broad national homestead, is our ample resource. Were
our territory as limited as are the British Isles, very certainly our
population could not expand as stated. Instead of receiving the foreign
born as now, we should be compelled to send part of the native born
away. But such is not our condition. We have 2,963,000 square miles.
Europe has 3,800,000, with a population averaging 73-1/3 persons to the
square mile. Why may not our country at some time average as many? Is it
less fertile? Has it more waste surface by mountains, rivers, lakes,
deserts, or other causes? Is it inferior to Europe in any natural
advantage? If, then, we are at some time to be as populous as Europe,
how soon? As to when this _may_ be, we can judge by the past and the
present; as to when it _will_ be, if ever, depends much on whether we
maintain the Union. Several of our States are already above the average
of Europe--73-1/3 to the square mile. Massachusetts has 157; Rhode
Island, 133; Connecticut, 99; New York and New Jersey, each 80. Also two
other great States, Pennsylvania and Ohio, are not far below, the former
having 63 and the latter 59. The States already above the European
average, except New York, have increased in as rapid a ratio since
passing that point as ever before, while no one of them is equal to some
other parts of our country in natural capacity for sustaining a dense
population.
Taking the nation in the aggregate, and we find its population and ratio
of increase for the several decennial periods to be as follows:
Year. Population. Ratio of increase.
_Per cent._
1790 3,929,827 .....
1800 5,305,937 35.02
1810 7,239,814 36.45
1820 9,638,131 33.13
1830 12,866,020 33.49
1840 17,069,453 32.67
1850 23,191,876 35.87
1860 31,443,790 35.58
This shows an average decennial increase of 34.60 per cent in population
through the seventy years from our first to our last census yet taken.
It is seen that the ratio of increase at no one of these seven periods
is either 2 per cent below or 2 per cent above the average, thus showing
how inflexible, and consequently how reliable, the law of increase in
our case is. Assuming that it will continue, it gives the following
results:
Year. Population.
1870 42,323,341
1880 56,967,216
1890 76,677,872
1900 103,208,415
1910 138,918,526
1920 186,984,335
1930 251,680,914
These figures show that our country _may_ be as populous as Europe now
is at some point between 1920 and 1930--say about 1925--our territory,
at 73-1/3 persons to the square mile, being of capacity to contain
217,186,000.
And we _will_ reach this, too, if we do not ourselves relinquish the
chance by the folly and evils of disunion or by long and exhausting war
springing from the only great element of national discord among us.
While it can not be foreseen exactly how much one huge example of
secession, breeding lesser ones indefinitely, would retard population,
civilization, and prosperity, no one can doubt that the extent of it
would be very great and injurious.
The proposed emancipation would shorten the war, perpetuate peace,
insure this increase of population, and proportionately the wealth of
the country. With these we should pay all the emancipation would cost,
together with our other debt, easier than we should pay our other debt
without it. If we had allowed our old national debt to run at 6 per cent
per annum, simple interest, from the end of our revolutionary struggle
until to-day, without paying anything on either principal or interest,
each man of us would owe less upon that debt now than each man owed upon
it then; and this because our increase of men through the whole period
has been greater than 6 per cent--has run faster than the interest upon
the debt. Thus time alone relieves a debtor nation, so long as its
population increases faster than unpaid interest accumulates on its
debt.
This fact would be no excuse for delaying payment of what is justly due,
but it shows the great importance of time in this connection--the great
advantage of a policy by which we shall not have to pay until we number
100,000,000 what by a different policy we would have to pay now, when we
number but 31,000,000. In a word, it shows that a dollar will be much
harder to pay for the war than will be a dollar for emancipation on the
proposed plan. And then the latter will cost no blood, no precious life.
It will be a saving of both.
As to the second article, I think it would be impracticable to return to
bondage the class of persons therein contemplated. Some of them
doubtless, in the property sense belong to loyal owners, and hence
provision is made in this article for compensating such.
The third article relates to the future of the freed people. It does not
oblige, but merely authorizes Congress to aid in colonizing such as may
consent. This ought not to be regarded as objectionable on the one hand
or on the other, insomuch as it comes to nothing unless by the mutual
consent of the people to be deported and the American voters, through
their representatives in Congress.
I can not make it better known than it already is that I strongly favor
colonization; and yet I wish to say there is an objection urged against
free colored persons remaining in the country which is largely
imaginary, if not sometimes malicious.
It is insisted that their presence would injure and displace white labor
and white laborers. If there ever could be a proper time for mere catch
arguments, that time surely is not now. In times like the present men
should utter nothing for which they would not willingly be responsible
through time and in eternity. Is it true, then, that colored people can
displace any more white labor by being free than by remaining slaves? If
they stay in their old places, they jostle no white laborers; if they
leave their old places, they leave them open to white laborers.
Logically, there is neither more nor less of it. Emancipation, even
without deportation, would probably enhance the wages of white labor,
and very surely would not reduce them. Thus the customary amount of
labor would still have to be performed--the freed people would surely
not do more than their old proportion of it, and very probably for a
time would do less, leaving an increased part to white laborers,
bringing their labor into greater demand, and consequently enhancing the
wages of it. With deportation, even to a limited extent, enhanced wages
to white labor is mathematically certain. Labor is like any other
commodity in the market--increase the demand for it and you increase the
price of it. Reduce the supply of black labor by colonizing the black
laborer out of the country, and by precisely so much you increase the
demand for and wages of white labor.
But it is dreaded that the freed people will swarm forth and cover the
whole land. Are they not already in the land? Will liberation make them
any more numerous? Equally distributed among the whites of the whole
country; and there would be but one colored to seven whites. Could the
one in any way greatly disturb the seven? There are many communities now
having more than one free colored person to seven whites and this
without any apparent consciousness of evil from it. The District of
Columbia and the States of Maryland and Delaware are all in this
condition. The District has more than one free colored to six whites,
and yet in its frequent petitions to Congress I believe it has never
presented the presence of free colored persons as one of its grievances.
But why should emancipation South send the free people North? People of
any color seldom run unless there be something to run from. _Heretofore_
colored people to some extent have fled North from bondage, and _now_,
perhaps, from both bondage and destitution. But if gradual emancipation
and deportation be adopted, they will have neither to flee from. Their
old masters will give them wages at least until new laborers can be
procured, and the freedmen in turn will gladly give their labor for the
wages till new homes can be found for them in congenial climes and with
people of their own blood and race. This proposition can be trusted on
the mutual interests involved. And in any event, can not the North
decide for itself whether to receive them?
Again, as practice proves more than theory in any case, has there been
any irruption of colored people northward because of the abolishment of
slavery in this District last spring?
What I have said of the proportion of free colored persons to the whites
in the District is from the census of 1860, having no reference to
persons called contrabands nor to those made free by the act of Congress
abolishing slavery here.
The plan consisting of these articles is recommended, not but that a
restoration of the national authority would be accepted without its
adoption.
Nor will the war nor proceedings under the proclamation of September 22,
1862, be stayed because of the _recommendation_ of this plan. Its timely
_adoption_, I doubt not, would bring restoration, and thereby stay both.
And notwithstanding this plan, the recommendation that Congress provide
by law for compensating any State which may adopt emancipation before
this plan shall have been acted upon is hereby earnestly renewed. Such
would be only an advance part of the plan, and the same arguments apply
to both.
This plan is recommended as a means, not in exclusion of, but additional
to, all others for restoring and preserving the national authority
throughout the Union. The subject is presented exclusively in its
economical aspect. The plan would, I am confident, secure peace more
speedily and maintain it more permanently than can be done by force
alone, while all it would cost, considering amounts and manner of
payment and times of payment, would be easier paid than will be the
additional cost of the war if we rely solely upon force. It is much,
very much, that it would cost no blood at all.
The plan is proposed as permanent constitutional law. It can not become
such without the concurrence of, first, two-thirds of Congress, and
afterwards three-fourths of the States. The requisite three-fourths of
the States will necessarily include seven of the slave States. Their
concurrence, if obtained, will give assurance of their severally
adopting emancipation at no very distant day upon the new constitutional
terms. This assurance would end the struggle now and save the Union
forever.
I do not forget the gravity which should characterize a paper addressed
to the Congress of the nation by the Chief Magistrate of the nation, nor
do I forget that some of you are my seniors, nor that many of you have
more experience than I in the conduct of public affairs. Yet I trust
that in view of the great responsibility resting upon me you will
perceive no want of respect to yourselves in any undue earnestness I may
seem to display.
Is it doubted, then, that the plan I propose, if adopted, would shorten
the war, and thus lessen its expenditure of money and of blood? Is it
doubted that it would restore the national authority and national
prosperity and perpetuate both indefinitely? Is it doubted that we
here--Congress and Executive--can secure its adoption? Will not the good
people respond to a united and earnest appeal from us? Can we, can they,
by any other means so certainly or so speedily assure these vital
objects? We can succeed only by concert. It is not "Can _any_ of us
_imagine_ better?" but "Can we _all_ do better?" Object whatsoever is
possible, still the question recurs, "Can we do better?" The dogmas of
the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present. The occasion is
piled high with difficulty, and we must rise with the occasion. As our
case is new, so we must think anew and act anew. We must disenthrall
ourselves, and then we shall save our country.
Fellow-citizens, _we_ can not escape history. We of this Congress and
this Administration will be remembered in spite of ourselves. No
personal significance or insignificance can spare one or another of us.
The fiery trial through which we pass will light us down in honor or
dishonor to the latest generation. We _say_ we are for the Union. The
world will not forget that we say this. We know how to save the Union.
The world knows we do know how to save it. We, even _we here_, hold the
power and bear the responsibility. In _giving_ freedom to the _slave_ we
_assure_ freedom to the _free_--honorable alike in what we give and what
we preserve. We shall nobly save or meanly lose the last best hope of
earth. Other means may succeed; this could not fail. The way is plain,
peaceful, generous, just--a way which if followed the world will forever
applaud and God must forever bless.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
SPECIAL MESSAGES.
WASHINGTON, _December 3, 1862_.
_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:
On the 3d of November, 1861, a collision took place off the coast of
Cuba between the United States war steamer _San Jacinto_ and the French
brig _Jules et Marie_, resulting in serious damage to the latter. The
obligation of this Government to make amends therefor could not be
questioned if the injury resulted from any fault on the part of the
_San Jacinto_.
With a view to ascertain this, the subject was referred to a commission
of the United States and French naval officers at New York, with a naval
officer of Italy as an arbiter. The conclusion arrived at was that the
collision was occasioned by the failure of the _San Jacinto_ seasonably
to reverse her engine. It then became necessary to ascertain the amount
of indemnification due to the injured party. The United States
consul-general at Havana was consequently instructed to confer with the
consul of France on this point, and they have determined that the sum of
$9,500 is an equitable allowance under the circumstances.
I recommend an appropriation of this sum for the benefit of the owners
of the _Jules et Marie_.
A copy of the letter of Mr. Shufeldt, the consul-general of the United
States at Havana, to the Secretary of State on the subject is herewith
transmitted.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
WASHINGTON, D.C., _December 8, 1862_.
_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:
In conformity to the law of July 16, 1862, I most cordially recommend
that Commander John L. Worden, United States Navy, receive a vote of
thanks of Congress for the eminent skill and gallantry exhibited by him
in the late remarkable battle between the United States ironclad steamer
_Monitor_, under his command, and the rebel ironclad steamer _Merrimac_,
in March last.
The thanks of Congress for his services on the occasion referred to were
tendered by a resolution approved July 11, 1862, but the recommendation
is now specially made in order to comply with the requirements of the
ninth section of the act of July 16, 1862, which is in the following
words, viz:
That any line officer of the Navy or Marine Corps may be advanced one
grade if upon recommendation of the President by name he receives the
thanks of Congress for highly distinguished conduct in conflict with the
enemy or for extraordinary heroism in the line of his profession.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
WASHINGTON, D.C., _December 9, 1862_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
In compliance with the resolution of the Senate of the United States of
the 13th of March last, requesting a copy of the correspondence relative
to the attempted seizure of Mr. Fauchet by the commander of the _Africa_
within the waters of the United States, I transmit a report from the
Secretary of State and the documents by which it was accompanied.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
WASHINGTON, D.C., _December 10, 1862_.
_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:
In conformity to the law of July 16, 1862, I most cordially recommend
that Lieutenant-Commander George U. Morris, United States Navy, receive
a vote of thanks of Congress for the determined valor and heroism
displayed in his defense of the United States ship of war _Cumberland_,
temporarily under his command, in the naval engagement at Hampton Roads
on the 8th March, 1862, with the rebel ironclad steam frigate
_Merrimac_.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
WASHINGTON, _December 10, 1862_.
_To the House of Representatives_:
In answer to the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 17th
of July last, requesting the communication of correspondence relating to
the arrest of a part of the crew of the brig _Sumter_ at Tangier,
Morocco, I herewith transmit a report from the Secretary of State.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
In compliance with your resolution of December 5, 1862, requesting the
President "to furnish the Senate with all information in his possession
touching the late Indian barbarities in the State of Minnesota, and also
the evidence in his possession upon which some of the principal actors
and headmen were tried and condemned to death," I have the honor to
state that on receipt of said resolution I transmitted the same to the
Secretary of the Interior, accompanied by a note a copy of which is
herewith inclosed, marked A, and in response to which I received through
that Department a letter of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, a copy
of which is herewith inclosed, marked B.
I further state that on the 8th day of November last I received a
long telegraphic dispatch from Major-General Pope, at St. Paul, Minn.,
simply announcing the names of the persons sentenced to be hanged. I
immediately telegraphed to have transcripts of the records in all the
cases forwarded to me, which transcripts, however, did not reach me
until two or three days before the present meeting of Congress. Meantime
I received, through telegraphic dispatches and otherwise, appeals in
behalf of the condemned, appeals for their execution, and expressions
of opinion as to proper policy in regard to them and to the Indians
generally in that vicinity, none of which, as I understand, falls within
the scope of your inquiry. After the arrival of the transcripts of
records, but before I had sufficient opportunity to examine them,
I received a joint letter from one of the Senators and two of the
Representatives from Minnesota, which contains some statements of fact
not found in the records of the trials, and for which reason I herewith
transmit a copy, marked C. I also, for the same reason, inclose a
printed memorial of the citizens of St. Paul addressed to me and
forwarded with the letter aforesaid.
Anxious to not act with so much clemency as to encourage another
outbreak on the one hand, nor with so much severity as to be real
cruelty on the other, I caused a careful examination of the records
of trials to be made, in view of first ordering the execution of
such as had been proved guilty of violating females. Contrary to my
expectations, only two of this class were found. I then directed a
further examination, and a classification of all who were proven to have
participated in _massacres_, as distinguished from participation in
_battles_. This class numbered forty, and included the two convicted
of female violation. One of the number is strongly recommended by the
commission which tried them for commutation to ten years' imprisonment.
I have ordered the other thirty-nine to be executed on Friday, the 19th
instant. The order was dispatched from here on Monday, the 8th instant,
by a messenger to General Sibley, and a copy of which order is herewith
transmitted, marked D.
An abstract of the evidence as to the forty is herewith inclosed,
marked E.
To avoid the immense amount of copying, I lay before the Senate the
original transcripts of the records of trials as received by me.
This is as full and complete a response to the resolution as it is in my
power to make.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
DECEMBER 11, 1862.
WASHINGTON, _December 11, 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 the Republic of
Liberia, signed at London by the plenipotentiaries of the parties on the
21st of October last.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
DECEMBER 12, 1862.
_Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives_:
I have in my possession three valuable swords, formerly the property of
General David E. Twiggs, which I now place at the disposal of Congress.
They are forwarded to me from New Orleans by Major-General Benjamin F.
Butler. If they or any of them shall be by Congress disposed of in
reward or compliment of military service, I think General Butler is
entitled to the first consideration. A copy of the General's letter to
me accompanying the swords is herewith transmitted.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
WASHINGTON, D.C., _December 13, 1862_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
In the list of nominations transmitted to the Senate under date of the
1st instant Captain William M. Glendy, United States Navy, was included
therein for promotion to the grade of commodore.
Since submitting this nomination it appears that this officer was
ineligible for the advancement to which he had been nominated in
consequence of his age, being 62 on the 23d of May, 1862, and under the
law of 21st December, 1861, should, had this fact been known to the Navy
Department, have been transferred to the retired list on the day when he
completed sixty-two years.
The nomination of Captain Glendy is accordingly withdrawn.
It is due to this officer to state that at the period of the passage of
the law of December, 1861, he was and still is absent on duty on a
foreign station, and the certificate of his age required by the Navy
Department was only received a few days since.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
WASHINGTON, _December 18, 1862_.
_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:
I transmit a copy of a dispatch to the Secretary of State from Mr.
Adams, United States minister at London, and of the correspondence to
which it refers between that gentleman and Mr. Panizzi, the principal
librarian of the British Museum, relative to certain valuable
publications presented to the Library of Congress.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
WASHINGTON, _December 22, 1862_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
In compliance with the resolution of the Senate of the 15th instant,
requesting a copy of the report of the Hon. Reverdy Johnson,[6] I
transmit a communication from the Secretary of State and the documents
by which it was accompanied.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
[Footnote 6: United States commissioner at New Orleans.]
WASHINGTON, _December 24, 1862_.
_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:
I transmit, for the consideration of Congress, a report from the
Secretary of State on the subject of consular pupils.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
WASHINGTON, _January 2, 1863_.
_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:
I submit to Congress the expediency of extending to other Departments of
the Government the authority conferred on the President by the eighth
section of the act of the 8th of May, 1792, to appoint a person to
temporarily discharge the duties of Secretary of State, Secretary of the
Treasury, and Secretary of War in case of the death, absence from the
seat of Government, or sickness of either of those officers.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
WASHINGTON, _January 3, 1863_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
I transmit to the Senate, for consideration with a view to ratification,
a convention for the mutual adjustment of claims between the United
States and Ecuador, signed by the respective plenipotentiaries of the
two Governments in Guayaquil on the 25th November ultimo.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
WASHINGTON, _January 5, 1863_.
_To the House of Representatives_:
In compliance with the resolution of the House of Representatives of the
22d ultimo, in relation to the alleged interference of our minister to
Mexico in favor of the French, I transmit a report from the Secretary of
State and the papers with which it is accompanied.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
WASHINGTON, _January 6, 1863_.
_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:
I transmit for the consideration of Congress, and with a view to the
adoption of such measures in relation to the subject of it as may be
deemed expedient, a copy of a note of the 8th instant addressed to the
Secretary of State by the minister resident of the Hanseatic Republics
accredited to this Government, concerning an international agricultural
exhibition to be held next summer in the city of Hamburg.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
WASHINGTON, _January 14, 1863_.
_To the House of Representatives_:
The Secretary of State has submitted to me a resolution of the House of
Representatives of the 5th instant, which has been delivered to him, and
which is in the following words:
_Resolved_, That the Secretary of State be requested to communicate
to this House, if not in his judgment incompatible with the public
interest, why our minister in New Granada has not presented his
credentials to the actual Government of that country; also the reasons
for which Senor Murillo is not recognized by the United States as the
diplomatic representative of the Mosquera Government of that country;
also what negotiations have been had, if any, with General Herran, as
the representative of Ospina's Government in New Granada, since it
went into existence.
On the 12th day of December, 1846, a treaty of amity, peace, and concord
was concluded between the United States of America and the Republic of
New Granada, which is still in force. On the 7th day of December, 1847,
General Pedro Alcantara Herran, who had been duly accredited, was
received here as the envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary of
that Republic. On the 30th day of August, 1849, Senor Don Rafael Rivas
was received by this Government as charge d'affaires of the same
Republic. On the 5th day of December, 1851, a consular convention was
concluded between that Republic and the United States, which treaty was
signed on behalf of the Republic of Granada by the same Senor Rivas.
This treaty is still in force. On the 27th of April, 1852, Senor Don
Victoriano de Diego Paredes was received as charge d'affaires of the
Republic of New Granada. On the 20th of June, 1855, General Pedro
Alcantara Herran was again received as envoy extraordinary and minister
plenipotentiary, duly accredited by the Republic of New Granada, and he
has ever since remained, under the same credentials, as the
representative of that Republic near the Government of the United
States. On the 10th of September, 1857, a claims convention was
concluded between the United States and the Republic of Granada. This
convention is still in force, and has in part been executed. In May,
1858, the constitution of the Republic was remodeled, and the nation
assumed the political title of "The Granadian Confederacy." This fact
was formally announced to this Government, but without any change in
their representative here. Previously to the 4th day of March, 1861, a
revolutionary war against the Republic of New Granada, which had thus
been recognized and treated with by the United States, broke out in New
Granada, assuming to set up a new government under the name of "The
United States of Colombia." This war has had various vicissitudes,
sometimes favorable, sometimes adverse, to the revolutionary movements.
The revolutionary organization has hitherto been simply a military
provisionary power, and no definitive constitution of government has yet
been established in New Granada in place of that organized by the
constitution of 1858. The minister of the United States to the Granadian
Confederacy, who was appointed on the 29th day of May, 1861, was
directed, in view of the occupation of the capital by the revolutionary
party and of the uncertainty of the civil war, not to present his
credentials to either the Government of the Granadian Confederacy or to
the provisional military Government, but to conduct his affairs
informally, as is customary in such cases, and to report the progress of
events and await the instructions of this Government. The advices which
have been received from him have not hitherto been sufficiently
conclusive to determine me to recognize the revolutionary Government.
General Herran being here, with full authority from the Government of
New Granada, which had been so long recognized by the United States, I
have not received any representative from the revolutionary Government,
which has not yet been recognized, because such a proceeding would in
itself be an act of recognition.
Official communications have been had on various incidental and
occasional questions with General Herran as the minister plenipotentiary
and envoy extraordinary of the Granadian Confederacy, but in no other
character. No definitive measure or proceeding has resulted from these
communications, and a communication of them at present would not, in my
judgment, be compatible with the public interest.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
JANUARY 17, 1863.
_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:
I have signed the joint resolution to provide for the immediate payment
of the Army and Navy of the United States, passed by the House of
Representatives on the 14th and by the Senate on the 15th instant.
The joint resolution is a simple authority, amounting, however, under
existing circumstances, to a direction, to the Secretary of the Treasury
to make an additional issue of $100,000,000 in United States notes, if
so much money is needed, for the payment of the Army and Navy.
My approval is given in order that every possible facility may be
afforded for the prompt discharge of all arrears of pay due to our
soldiers and our sailors.
While giving this approval, however, I think it my duty to express my
sincere regret that it has been found necessary to authorize so large an
additional issue of United States notes, when this circulation and that
of the suspended banks together have become already so redundant as to
increase prices beyond real values, thereby augmenting the cost of
living to the injury of labor, and the cost of supplies to the injury of
the whole country.
It seems very plain that continued issues of United States notes without
any check to the issues of suspended banks and without adequate
provision for the raising of money by loans and for funding the issues
so as to keep them within due limits must soon produce disastrous
consequences; and this matter appears to me so important that I feel
bound to avail myself of this occasion to ask the special attention of
Congress to it.
That Congress has power to regulate the currency of the country can
hardly admit of doubt, and that a judicious measure to prevent the
deterioration of this currency, by a seasonable taxation of bank
circulation or otherwise, is needed seems equally clear. Independently
of this general consideration, it would be unjust to the people at large
to exempt banks enjoying the special privilege of circulation from their
just proportion of the public burdens.
In order to raise money by way of loans most easily and cheaply, it is
clearly necessary to give every possible support to the public credit.
To that end a uniform currency, in which taxes, subscriptions to loans,
and all other ordinary public dues, as well as all private dues, may be
paid, is almost, if not quite, indispensable. Such a currency can be
furnished by banking associations, organized under a general act of
Congress, as suggested in my message at the beginning of the present
session. The securing of this circulation by the pledge of United States
bonds, as therein suggested, would still further facilitate loans by
increasing the present and causing a future demand for such bonds.
In view of the actual financial embarrassments of the Government and of
the greater embarrassments sure to come if the necessary means of relief
be not afforded, I feel that I should not perform my duty by a simple
announcement of my approval of the joint resolution, which proposes
relief only by increasing circulation, without expressing my earnest
desire that measures such in substance as those I have just referred to
may receive the early sanction of Congress.
By such measures, in my opinion, will payment be most certainly secured,
not only to the Army and Navy, but to all honest creditors of the
Government, and satisfactory provision made for future demands on the
Treasury.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
WASHINGTON, _January 20, 1863_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of State, in answer to
the resolution of the Senate relative to the correspondence between this
Government and the Mexican minister in relation to the exportation of
articles contraband of war for the use of the French army in Mexico.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
EXECUTIVE MANSION,
_Washington, January 21, 1863_.
_Gentlemen of the Senate and House of Representatives_:
I submit herewith, for your consideration, the joint resolutions of the
corporate authorities of the city of Washington adopted September 27,
1862, and a memorial of the same under date of October 28, 1862, both
relating to and urging the construction of certain railroads
concentrating upon the city of Washington.
In presenting this memorial and the joint resolutions to you I am not
prepared to say more than that the subject is one of great practical
importance and that I hope it will receive the attention of Congress.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
WASHINGTON, _January 23, 1863_.
_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:
I transmit, for the consideration of Congress, a report from the
Secretary of State, transmitting the regulations, decrees, and orders
for the government of the United States consular courts in Turkey.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
WASHINGTON, _January 26, 1863_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
In compliance with the resolution of the Senate of the 13th instant,
requesting a copy of certain correspondence respecting the capture of
British vessels sailing from one British port to another having on board
contraband of war intended for the use of the insurgents, I have the
honor to transmit a report from the Secretary of State and the documents
by which it was accompanied.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
WASHINGTON CITY, _January 28, 1863_.
_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:
In conformity to the law of July 16, 1862, I most cordially recommend
that Commander David D. Porter, United States Navy, acting rear-admiral,
commanding the Mississippi Squadron, receive a vote of thanks of
Congress for the bravery and skill displayed in the attack on the post
of Arkansas, which surrendered to the combined military and naval forces
on the 10th instant.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
WASHINGTON, _February 4, 1863_.
_To the House of Representatives_:
In compliance with the resolution of the House of Representatives of the
5th December last, requesting information upon the present condition of
Mexico, I transmit a report from the Secretary of State and the papers
by which it was accompanied.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
WASHINGTON, D.C., _February 4, 1863_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
In pursuance of the joint resolution of Congress approved 3d February,
1863, tendering its thanks to Commander John L. Worden, United States
Navy, I nominate that officer to be a captain in the Navy on the active
list from the 3d February, 1863.
It may be proper to state that the number of captains authorized by the
second section of the act of 16th July, 1862, is now full, but presuming
that the meaning of the ninth section of the same act is that the
officer receiving the vote of thanks shall immediately be advanced one
grade I have made the nomination.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
WASHINGTON, _February 5, 1863_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
I submit to the Senate, for consideration with a view to ratification, a
"convention between the United States of America and the Republic of
Peru for the settlement of the pending claims of the citizens of either
country against the other," signed at Lima on the 12th January ultimo,
with the following amendment:
Article 1, strike out the words "the claims of the American citizens Dr.
Charles Easton, Edmund Sartori, and the owners of the whale ship
_William Lee_ against the Government of Peru, and the Peruvian citizen
Stephen Montano against the Government of the United States," and
insert: _all claims of citizens of the United States against the
Government of Peru and of citizens of Peru against the Government of the
United States which have not been embraced in conventional or diplomatic
agreement between the two Governments or their plenipotentiaries, and
statements of which soliciting the interposition of either Government
may previously to the exchange of the ratifications of this convention
have been filed in the Department of State at Washington or the
department for foreign affairs at Lima_, etc.
This amendment is considered desirable, as there are believed to be
other claims proper for the consideration of the commission which are
not among those specified in the original article, and because it is at
least questionable whether either Government would be justified in
incurring the expense of a commission for the sole purpose of disposing
of the claims mentioned in that article.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
WASHINGTON, _February 5, 1863_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
I submit to the Senate, for consideration with a view to ratification,
a "convention between the United States of America and the Republic of
Peru, providing for the reference to the King of Belgium of the claims
arising out of the capture and confiscation of the ships _Lizzie
Thompson_ and _Georgiana_," signed at Lima on the 20th December, 1862.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
WASHINGTON, _February 6, 1863_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
In compliance with the resolution of the Senate of the United States of
yesterday, requesting information in regard to the death of General
Ward, a citizen of the United States in the military service of the
Chinese Government, I transmit a copy of a dispatch of the 27th of
October last, its accompaniment, from the minister of the United States
in China.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
WASHINGTON, _February 6, 1863_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
I transmit herewith a report[7] from the Secretary of State, with
accompanying documents, in answer to the resolution of the Senate of the
30th ultimo.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
[Footnote 7: Relating to the building of ships of war for the Japanese
Government.]
WASHINGTON, _February 10, 1863_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
In answer to the resolution of the Senate of yesterday, requesting
information touching the visit of Mr. Mercier to Richmond in April last,
I transmit a report from the Secretary of State, to whom the resolution
was referred.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
WASHINGTON, D.C., _February 12, 1863_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
On the 4th of September, 1862, Commander George Henry Preble, United
States Navy, then senior officer in command of the naval force off the
harbor of Mobile, was guilty of inexcusable neglect in permitting the
armed steamer _Oreto_ in open daylight to run the blockade. For his
omission to perform his whole duty on that occasion and the injury
thereby inflicted on the service and the country, his name was stricken
from the list of naval officers and he was dismissed the service.
Since his dismissal earnest application has been made for his
restoration to his former position by Senators and naval officers, on
the ground that his fault was an error of judgment, and that the example
in his case has already had its effect in preventing a repetition of
similar neglect.
I therefore, on this application and representation, and in
consideration of his previous fair record, do hereby nominate George
Henry Preble to be a commander in the Navy from the 16th July, 1862, to
take rank on the active list next after Commander Edward Donaldson, and
to fill a vacancy occasioned by the death of Commander J.M. Wainwright.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
WASHINGTON, D.C., _February 12, 1863_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
On the 24th August, 1861, Commander Roger Perry, United States Navy,
was dismissed from the service under a misapprehension in regard to his
loyalty to the Government, from the circumstance that several oaths
were transmitted to him and the Navy Department failed to receive any
recognition of them. After his dismissal, and upon his assurance that
the oath failed to reach him and his readiness to execute it, he was
recommissioned to his original position on the 4th September following.
On the same day, 4th September, he was ordered to command the sloop of
war _Vandalia_; on the 22d this order was revoked and he was ordered to
duty in the Mississippi Squadron, and on the 23d January, 1862, was
detached sick, and has since remained unemployed. The advisory board
under the act of 16th July, 1862, did not recommend him for further
promotion.
This last commission, having been issued during the recess of the
Senate, expired at the end of the succeeding session, 17th July, 1862,
from which date, not having been nominated to the Senate, he ceased to
be a commander in the Navy.
To correct the omission to nominate this officer to the Senate at its
last session, I now nominate Commander Roger Perry to be a commander in
the Navy from the 14th September, 1855, to take his relative position on
the list of commanders not recommended for further promotion.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
WASHINGTON, _February 12, 1863_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
In answer to the resolution of the Senate of the 10th instant,
requesting information on the subjects of mediation, arbitration,
or other measures looking to the termination of the existing civil
war, I transmit a report from the Secretary of State and the documents
by which it was accompanied.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
WASHINGTON, _February 13, 1863_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
I transmit to the Senate, in answer to their resolution of the 12th
instant, the accompanying report[8] from the Secretary of State.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
[Footnote 8: Relating to the use of negroes by the French army in Mexico.]
WASHINGTON, _February 13, 1863_.
Hon. GALUSHA A. GROW,
_Speaker of the House of Representatives_.
SIR: I herewith communicate to the House of Representatives, in answer
to their resolution of the 18th of December last, a report from the
Secretary of the Interior, containing all the information in the
possession of the Department respecting the causes of the recent
outbreaks of the Indian tribes in the Northwest which has not
heretofore been transmitted to Congress.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
EXECUTIVE OFFICE, _February 17, 1863_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
I transmit herewith, for the constitutional action of the Senate
thereon, a treaty made and concluded on the 3d day of February, 1863,
between W.W. Ross, commissioner on the part of the United States, and
the chiefs and headmen of the Pottawatomie Nation of Indians of Kansas,
which, it appears from the accompanying letter from the Secretary of the
Interior of the 17th instant, is intended to be amendatory of the treaty
concluded with said Indians on the 15th November, 1862.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
WASHINGTON, _February 18, 1863_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
I transmit to the Senate, for consideration with a view to its
ratification, an additional article to the treaty between the United
States and Great Britain of the 7th of April, 1862, for the suppression
of the African slave trade, which was concluded and signed at Washington
on the 17th instant by the Secretary of State and Her Britannic
Majesty's minister accredited to this Government.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
WASHINGTON, D.C., _February 19, 1863_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
Congress on my recommendation passed a resolution, approved 7th
February, 1863, tendering its thanks to Commodore Charles Henry Davis
for "distinguished service in conflict with the enemy at Fort Pillow, at
Memphis, and for successful operations at other points in the waters of
the Mississippi River."
I therefore, in conformity with the seventh section of the act approved
16th July, 1862, nominate Commodore Charles Henry Davis to be a
rear-admiral in the Navy on the active list from the 7th February, 1863.
Captain John A. Dahlgren having in said resolution of the 7th February
in like manner received the thanks of Congress "for distinguished
service in the line of his profession, improvements in ordnance, and
zealous and efficient labors in the ordnance branch of the service," I
therefore, in conformity with the seventh section of the act of 16th
July, 1862, nominate Captain John A. Dahlgren to be a rear-admiral in
the Navy on the active list from the 7th February, 1863.
The ninth section of the act of July, 1862, authorizes "any line officer
of the Navy or Marine Corps to be advanced one grade if upon
recommendation of the President by name he receives the thanks of
Congress for highly distinguished conduct in conflict with the enemy or
for extraordinary heroism in the line of his profession," and Captain
Stephen C. Rowan and Commander David D. Porter having each on my
recommendation received the thanks of Congress for distinguished
service, by resolution or the 7th February, 1863, I do therefore
nominate Captain Stephen C. Rowan to be a commodore in the Navy on the
active list from the 7th February, 1863. Commander David D. Porter to be
a captain in the Navy on the active list from the 7th February, 1863.
If this nomination should be confirmed, there will be vacancies in the
several grades to which these officers are nominated for promotion.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
WAR DEPARTMENT,
_Washington City, February 25, 1863_.
THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES SENATE.
SIR: In answer to the Senate resolution of the 21st instant, I have
the honor to inclose herewith a letter of the 24th instant from the
Secretary of War, by which it appears that there are 438 assistant
quartermasters, 387 commissaries of subsistence, and 343 additional
paymasters now in the volunteer service, including those before the
Senate for confirmation.
I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
WASHINGTON, D.C., _February 25, 1863_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
I nominate Passed Midshipmen Samuel Pearce and Nathaniel T. West, now on
the retired list, to be ensigns in the Navy on the retired list.
These nominations are made in conformity with the fourth section of the
act to amend an act entitled "An act to promote the efficiency of the
Navy," approved 16th January, 1857, and are induced by the following
considerations:
The pay of a passed midshipman on the retired list as fixed by the "Act
for the better organization of the military establishment," approved 3d
August, 1861, amounted, including rations, to $788 per annum. By the
"Act to establish and equalize the grade of line officers of the United
States Navy," approved 16th July, 1862, the grade or rank of passed
midshipman, which was the next below that of master, was discontinued
and that of ensign was established, being now the next grade below that
of master and the only grade in the line list between those of master
and midshipman. The same act fixes the pay of officers on the retired
list, omitting the grade of passed midshipman, and prohibits the
allowance of rations to retired officers. The effect of this was to
reduce the pay of a passed midshipman on the retired list from $788 to
$350 per annum, or less than half of previous rate.
This was no doubt an unintended result of the law, operating exclusively
on the two passed midshipmen then on the retired list, and their
promotion or transfer to the equivalent grade of ensign would not
completely indemnify them, the pay of an ensign on the retired list
being only $500 per annum. It is the only relief, however, which is
deemed within the intention of the existing laws, and it is the more
willingly recommended in this case, as there is nothing in the character
of the officers to be relieved which would make it objectionable. These
are the only cases of the kind.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
WASHINGTON, _February 28, 1863_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
In compliance with the resolution of the Senate of the 26th instant,
requesting a copy of any correspondence which may have taken place
between me and workingmen in England, I transmit the papers mentioned in
the subjoined list.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
WASHINGTON, _February 28, 1863_.
_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:
I transmit, for the consideration of Congress, a dispatch to the
Secretary of State from the United States consul at Liverpool, and the
address to which it refers, of the distressed operatives of Blackburn,
in England, to the New York relief committee and to the inhabitants of
the United States generally.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
WASHINGTON, _March 2, 1863_.
_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:
I transmit to Congress a copy of a preamble and joint resolution of the
legislative assembly of the Territory of New Mexico, accepting the
benefits of the act of Congress approved the 2d of July last, entitled
"An act donating public lands to the several States and Territories
which may provide colleges for the benefit of agriculture and the
mechanic arts."
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
PROCLAMATION.
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
A PROCLAMATION.
Whereas on the 22d day of September, A.D. 1862, a proclamation was
issued by the President of the United States, containing, among other
things, the following, to wit:
That on the 1st day of January, A.D. 1863, all persons held as slaves
within any State or designated part of a State the people whereof
shall then be in rebellion against the United States shall be then,
thenceforward, and forever free; and the executive government of the
United States, including the military and naval authority thereof,
will recognize and maintain the freedom of such persons and will do
no act or acts to repress such persons, or any of them, in any efforts
they may make for their actual freedom.
That the Executive will on the 1st day of January aforesaid, by
proclamation, designate the States and parts of States, if any, in
which the people thereof, respectively, shall then be in rebellion
against the United States; and the fact that any State or the people
thereof shall on that day be in good faith represented in the Congress
of the United States by members chosen thereto at elections wherein a
majority of the qualified voters of such States shall have participated
shall, in the absence of strong countervailing testimony, be deemed
conclusive evidence that such State and the people thereof are not then
in rebellion against the United States.
Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, by
virtue of the power in me vested as Commander in Chief of the Army and
Navy of the United States in time of actual armed rebellion against the
authority and Government of the United States, and as a fit and
necessary war measure for suppressing said rebellion, do, on this 1st
day of January, A.D. 1863, and in accordance with my purpose so to do,
publicly proclaimed for the full period of one hundred days from the day
first above mentioned, order and designate as the States and parts of
States wherein the people thereof, respectively, are this day in
rebellion against the United States the following, to wit:
Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana (except the parishes of St. Bernard,
Plaquemines, Jefferson, St. John, St. Charles, St. James, Ascension,
Assumption, Terrebonne, Lafourche, St. Mary, St. Martin, and Orleans,
including the city of New Orleans), Mississippi, Alabama, Florida,
Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia (except the
forty-eight counties designated as West Virginia, and also the counties
of Berkeley, Accomac, Northampton, Elizabeth City, York, Princess Anne,
and Norfolk, including the cities of Norfolk and Portsmouth), and which
excepted parts are for the present left precisely as if this
proclamation were not issued.
And by virtue of the power and for the purpose aforesaid, I do order and
declare that all persons held as slaves within said designated States
and parts of States are and henceforward shall be free, and that the
executive government of the United States, including the military and
naval authorities thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of
said persons.
And I hereby enjoin upon the people so declared to be free to abstain
from all violence, unless in necessary self-defense; and I recommend to
them that in all cases when allowed they labor faithfully for reasonable
wages.
And I further declare and make known that such persons of suitable
condition will be received into the armed service of the United States
to garrison forts, positions, stations, and other places and to man
vessels of all sorts in said service.
And upon this act, sincerely believed to be an act of justice, warranted
by the Constitution upon military necessity, I invoke the considerate
judgment of mankind and the gracious favor of Almighty God.
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 1st day of January, A.D. 1863, and
of the Independence of the United States of America the eighty-seventh.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
By the President:
WILLIAM H. SEWARD,
_Secretary of State_.
EXECUTIVE ORDERS.
EXECUTIVE MANSION,
_Washington, December 22, 1862_.
_To the Army of the Potomac_:
I have just read your commanding general's preliminary report of the
battle of Fredericksburg. Although you were not successful, the attempt
was not an error nor the failure other than an accident. The courage
with which you in an open field maintained the contest against an
intrenched foe and the consummate skill and success with which you
crossed and recrossed the river in face of the enemy show that you
possess all the qualities of a great army, which will yet give victory
to the cause of the country and of popular government. Condoling with
the mourners for the dead and sympathizing with the severely wounded, I
congratulate you that the number of both is comparatively so small.
I tender to you, officers and soldiers, the thanks of the nation.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
EXECUTIVE MANSION,
_Washington, January 4, 1863_.
Hon. GIDEON WELLES,
_Secretary of the Navy_.
DEAR SIR: As many persons who come well recommended for loyalty and
service to the Union cause, and who are refugees from rebel oppression
in the State of Virginia, make application to me for authority and
permission to remove their families and property to protection within
the Union lines by means of our armed gunboats on the Potomac River and
Chesapeake Bay, you are hereby requested to hear and consider all such
applications and to grant such assistance to this class of persons as in
your judgment their merits may render proper and as may in each case be
consistent with the perfect and complete efficiency of the naval service
and with military expediency.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 8, 1863_.
_Ordered by the President_:
Whereas on the 13th day of November, 1862, it was ordered that the
Attorney-General be charged with the superintendence and direction of
all proceedings to be had under the act of Congress of the 17th of July,
entitled "An act to suppress insurrection, to punish treason and
rebellion, and to seize and confiscate the property of rebels, and for
other purposes," in so far as may concern the seizure, prosecution,
and condemnation of the estate, property, and effects of rebels and
traitors, as mentioned and provided for in the fifth, sixth, and
seventh sections of the said act of Congress; and
Whereas since that time it has been ascertained that divers prosecutions
have been instituted in the courts of the United States for the
condemnation of property of rebels and traitors under the act of
Congress of August 6, 1861, entitled "An act to confiscate property used
for insurrectionary purposes," which equally require the superintending
care of the Government: Therefore
_It is now further ordered by the President_, That the Attorney-General
be charged with superintendence and direction of all proceedings to be
had under the said last-mentioned act (the act of 1861) as fully in all
respects as under the first-mentioned act (the act of 1862).
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
By the President:
EDW. BATES,
_Attorney-General_.
Whereas by the twelfth section of an act of Congress entitled "An act
to aid in the construction of a railroad and telegraph line from the
Missouri River to the Pacific Ocean, and to secure to the Government the
use of the same for postal, military, and other purposes," approved July
1, 1862, it is made the duty of the President of the United States to
determine the uniform width of the track of the entire line of the said
railroad and the branches of the same; and
Whereas application has been made to me by the Leavenworth, Pawnee and
Western Railroad Company, a company authorized by the act of Congress
above mentioned to construct a branch of said railroad, to fix the gauge
thereof:
Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States of
America, do determine that the uniform width of the track of said
railroad and all its branches which are provided for in the aforesaid
act of Congress shall be 5 feet, and that this order be filed in the
office of the Secretary of the Interior for the information and guidance
of all concerned.
Done at the city of Washington, this 21st day of January, A.D. 1863.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
PROCLAMATION.
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
A PROCLAMATION.
Whereas objects of interest to the United States require that the Senate
should be convened at 12 o'clock on the 4th of March next to receive and
act upon such communications as may be made to it on the part of the
Executive:
Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, have
considered it to be my duty to issue this my proclamation, declaring
that an extraordinary occasion requires the Senate of the United States
to convene for the transaction of business at the Capitol, in the city
of Washington, on the 4th day of March next, at 12 o'clock at noon on
that day, of which all who shall at that time be entitled to act as
members of that body are hereby required to take notice.
Given under my hand and the seal of the United States, at Washington,
the 28th day of February, A.D. 1863, and of the Independence of the
United States of America the eighty-seventh.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
By the President:
WILLIAM H. SEWARD,
_Secretary of State_.
SPECIAL MESSAGES.
WASHINGTON, _March 5, 1863_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
For the reasons stated by the Secretary of War, I present the nomination
of the persons named in the accompanying communication for confirmation
of the rank which they held at the time they fell in the service of
their country.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
WAR DEPARTMENT,
_Washington, March 5, 1863_.
The PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.
SIR: The following-named persons having fallen in battle after having
received appointments to the grades for which they are herein nominated,
I have the honor to propose that their names be submitted to the Senate
for confirmation of their rank, as a token of this Government's
approbation of their distinguished merit. This has been the practice of
the Department in similar cases, brevet nominations and confirmations
having been made after the decease of gallant officers.
_To be major-generals_.
Brigadier-General Philip Kearny, of the United States Volunteers, July
14, 1862. (Killed in the battle of Chantilly.)
Brigadier-General Israel B. Richardson, of the United States Volunteers,
July 4, 1862. (Died of wounds received at the battle of Antietam.)
Brigadier-General Jesse L. Reno, of the United States Volunteers, July
18, 1862. (Killed in the battle of South Mountain.)
_To be brigadier-general_.
Captain William R. Terrill, of the Fifth United States Artillery,
September 9, 1862. (Killed in the battle of Perryville.)
I am, sir, with great respect, your obedient servant,
EDWIN M. STANTON,
_Secretary of War_.
WASHINGTON, _March 5, 1863_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
For the reasons stated by the Secretary of War, I present the nomination
of the persons named in the accompanying communication for confirmation
of the rank of major-general, in which capacity they were acting at the
time they fell in battle.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
WAR DEPARTMENT,
_Washington, March 5, 1863_.
The PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.
SIR: The following-named persons having fallen in battle while
performing the duty and exercising command as major-generals, a rank
which they had earned in the service of their country, I have the honor
to propose that their names be submitted to the Senate for confirmation,
as a token of the Government's appreciation of their distinguished
merit. This is in accordance with the practice in similar cases, brevet
nominations and confirmations having been made after the decease of
gallant officers.
_To be major-generals of volunteers_.
Brigadier-General Joseph K.F. Mansfield, of the United States Army, July
18, 1862. (Died of wounds received in the battle of Antietam, Md.)
Brigadier-General Isaac I. Stevens, of the United States Volunteers,
July 18, 1862. (Killed in the battle of Chantilly, Va.)
I am, sir, with great respect, your obedient servant,
EDWIN M. STANTON,
_Secretary of War_.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, _March 12, 1863_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
I herewith transmit to the Senate, for its consideration and
ratification, a treaty with the chiefs and headmen of the Chippewas of
the Mississippi and the Pillagers and Lake Winnibigoshish bands of
Chippewa Indians.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
PROCLAMATIONS.
[From Final Report of the Provost-Marshal-General (March 17, 1866),
p. 218.]
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.
A PROCLAMATION.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, _March 10 1863_.
In pursuance of the twenty-sixth section of the act of Congress entitled
"An act for enrolling and calling out the national forces, and for other
purposes," approved on the 3d day of March, 1863, I, Abraham Lincoln,
President and Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United
States, do hereby order and command that all soldiers enlisted or
drafted in the service of the United States now absent from their
regiments without leave shall forthwith return to their respective
regiments.
And I do hereby declare and proclaim that all soldiers now absent from
their respective regiments without leave who shall, on or before the 1st
day of April, 1863, report themselves at any rendezvous designated by
the general orders of the War Department No. 58, hereto annexed, may be
restored to their respective regiments without punishment, except the
forfeiture of pay and allowances during their absence; and all who do
not return within the time above specified shall be arrested as
deserters and punished as the law provides; and
Whereas evil-disposed and disloyal persons at sundry places have enticed
and procured soldiers to desert and absent themselves from their
regiments, thereby weakening the strength of the armies and prolonging
the war, giving aid and comfort to the enemy, and cruelly exposing the
gallant and faithful soldiers remaining in the ranks to increased
hardships and danger:
I do therefore call upon all patriotic and faithful citizens to oppose
and resist the aforementioned dangerous and treasonable crimes, and to
aid in restoring to their regiments all soldiers absent without leave,
and to assist in the execution of the act of Congress "for enrolling and
calling out the national forces, and for other purposes," and to support
the proper authorities in the prosecution and punishment of offenders
against said act and in suppressing the insurrection and rebellion.
In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand.
Done at the city of Washington, this 10th day of March, A.D. 1863,
and of the Independence of the United States the eighty-seventh.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
By the President:
EDWIN M. STANTON,
_Secretary of War_.
GENERAL ORDERS, No. 58.
WAR DEPARTMENT,
ADJUTANT-GENERAL'S OFFICE,
_Washington, March 10, 1863_.
I. The following is the twenty-sixth section of the act "for enrolling
and calling out the national forces, and for other purposes," approved
March 3, 1863:
"SEC. 26. _And be it further enacted_, That immediately after the
passage of this act the President shall issue his proclamation declaring
that all soldiers now absent from their regiments without leave may
return, within a time specified, to such place or places as he may
indicate in his proclamation, and be restored to their respective
regiments without punishment, except the forfeiture of their pay and
allowances during their absence; and all deserters who shall not return
within the time so specified by the President shall, upon being
arrested, be punished as the law provides."
II. The following places[9] are designated as rendezvous to which
soldiers absent without leave may report themselves to the officers
named on or before the 1st day of April next under the proclamation of
the President of this date.
III. Commanding officers at the above-named places of rendezvous, or, in
the absence of commanding officers, superintendents of recruiting
service, recruiting officers, and mustering and disbursing officers,
will take charge of all soldiers presenting themselves as above directed
and cause their names to be enrolled, and copy of said roll will, on or
before the 10th day of April, be sent to the Adjutant-General of the
Army.
The soldiers so reporting themselves will be sent without delay to their
several regiments, a list of those sent being furnished to the
commanding officer of the regiment and a duplicate to the
Adjutant-General of the Army. The commanding officer of the regiment
will immediately report to the Adjutant-General of the Army the receipt
of any soldiers so sent to him.
By order of the Secretary of War:
L. THOMAS,
_Adjutant-General_.
[Footnote 9: Omitted.]
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
A PROCLAMATION.
Whereas the Senate of the United States, devoutly recognizing the
supreme authority and just government of Almighty God in all the affairs
of men and of nations, has by a resolution requested the President to
designate and set apart a day for national prayer and humiliation; and
Whereas it is the duty of nations as well as of men to own their
dependence upon the overruling power of God, to confess their sins and
transgressions in humble sorrow, yet with assured hope that genuine
repentance will lead to mercy and pardon, and to recognize the sublime
truth, announced in the Holy Scriptures and proven by all history, that
those nations only are blessed whose God is the Lord;
And, insomuch as we know that by His divine law nations, like
individuals, are subjected to punishments and chastisements in this
world, may we not justly fear that the awful calamity of civil war which
now desolates the land may be but a punishment inflicted upon us for our
presumptuous sins, to the needful end of our national reformation as a
whole people? We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of
Heaven; we have been preserved these many years in peace and prosperity;
we have grown in numbers, wealth, and power as no other nation has ever
grown. But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand
which preserved us in peace and multiplied and enriched and strengthened
us, and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts,
that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and
virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too
self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace,
too proud to pray to the God that made us.
It behooves us, then, to humble ourselves before the offended Power, to
confess our national sins, and to pray for clemency and forgiveness.
Now, therefore, in compliance with the request, and fully concurring in
the views of the Senate, I do by this my proclamation designate and set
apart Thursday, the 30th day of April, 1863, as a day of national
humiliation, fasting, and prayer. And I do hereby request all the people
to abstain on that day from their ordinary secular pursuits, and to
unite at their several places of public worship and their respective
homes in keeping the day holy to the Lord and devoted to the humble
discharge of the religious duties proper to that solemn occasion.
All this being done in sincerity and truth, let us then rest humbly in
the hope authorized by the divine teachings that the united cry of the
nation will be heard on high and answered with blessings no less than
the pardon of our national sins and the restoration of our now divided
and suffering country to its former happy condition of unity and peace.
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 30th day of March, A.D. 1863,
and of the Independence of the United States the eighty-seventh.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
By the President:
WILLIAM H. SEWARD,
_Secretary of State_.
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
A PROCLAMATION.
Whereas, in pursuance of the act of Congress approved July 13, 1861, I
did, by proclamation dated August 16, 1861, declare that the inhabitants
of the States of Georgia, South Carolina, Virginia, North Carolina,
Tennessee, Alabama, Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Florida
(except the inhabitants of that part of Virginia lying west of the
Alleghany Mountains and of such other parts of that State and the other
States hereinbefore named as might maintain a legal adhesion to the
Union and the Constitution or might be from time to time occupied and
controlled by forces of the United States engaged in the dispersion of
said insurgents) were 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 was unlawful and would
remain unlawful until such insurrection should cease or be suppressed,
and 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 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 to or from said States, with
the exceptions aforesaid, would be forfeited to the United States; and
Whereas experience has shown that the exceptions made in and by said
proclamation embarrass the due enforcement of said act of July 13, 1861,
and the proper regulation of the commercial intercourse authorized by
said act with the loyal citizens of said States:
Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, do
hereby revoke the said exceptions, and declare that the inhabitants of
the States of Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee,
Alabama, Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, Mississippi, Florida, and Virginia
(except the forty-eight counties of Virginia designated as West
Virginia, and except also the ports of New Orleans, Key West, Port
Royal, and Beaufort, in North Carolina) are in a state of insurrection
against the United States, and that all commercial intercourse not
licensed and conducted as provided in said act between the said States
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 and notice thereof has been duly given by
proclamation; and all cotton, tobacco, and other products, and all other
goods and chattels, wares and merchandise, coming from any of said
States, with the exceptions aforesaid, into other parts of the United
States, or proceeding to any of said States, with the exceptions
aforesaid, without the license and permission of the President, through
the Secretary of the Treasury, will, together with the vessel or vehicle
conveying the same, be forfeited to the United States.
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 2d day of April, A.D. 1863, and
of the Independence of the United States of America the eighty-seventh.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
By the President:
WILLIAM H. SEWARD,
_Secretary of State_.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
_To all to whom these presents shall come, greeting_:
Know ye that, whereas a paper bearing date the 31st day of December
last, purporting to be an agreement between the United States and one
Bernard Kock for immigration of persons of African extraction to a
dependency of the Republic of Hayti, was signed by me on behalf of the
party of the first part; but whereas the said instrument was and has
since remained incomplete in consequence of the seal of the United
States not having been thereunto affixed; and whereas I have been moved
by considerations by me deemed sufficient to withhold my authority for
affixing the said seal:
Now, therefore, be it known that I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the
United States, do hereby authorize the Secretary of State to cancel my
signature to the instrument aforesaid.
Done at Washington, this 16th day of April, A.D. 1863.
[SEAL.]
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
By the President:
WILLIAM H. SEWARD,
_Secretary of State_.
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
A PROCLAMATION.
Whereas by the act of Congress approved the 31st day of December last
the State of West Virginia was declared to be one of the United States
of America, and was admitted into the Union on an equal footing with the
original States in all respects whatever, upon the condition that
certain changes should be duly made in the proposed constitution for
that State; and
Whereas proof of a compliance with that condition, as required by the
second section of the act aforesaid has been submitted to me:
Now, therefore, be it known that I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the
United States, do hereby, in pursuance of the act of Congress aforesaid,
declare and proclaim that the said act shall take effect and be in force
from and after sixty days from the date hereof.
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 20th day of April, A.D. 1863,
and of the Independence of the United States the eighty-seventh.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
By the President:
WILLIAM H. SEWARD,
_Secretary of State_.
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
A PROCLAMATION.
Whereas the Congress of the United States at its last session enacted a
law entitled "An act for enrolling and calling out the national forces
and for other purposes," which was approved on the 3d day of March last;
and
Whereas it is recited in the said act that there now exists in the
United States an insurrection and rebellion against the authority
thereof, and it is, under the Constitution of the United States, the
duty of the Government to suppress insurrection and rebellion, to
guarantee to each State a republican form of government, and to preserve
the public tranquillity; and
Whereas for these high purposes a military force is indispensable, to
raise and support which all persons ought willingly to contribute; and
Whereas no service can be more praiseworthy and honorable than that
which is rendered for the maintenance of the Constitution and Union and
the consequent preservation of free government; and
Whereas, for the reasons thus recited, it was enacted by the said
statute that all able-bodied male citizens of the United States and
persons of foreign birth who shall have declared on oath their intention
to become citizens under and in pursuance of the laws thereof, between
the ages of 20 and 45 years (with certain exceptions not necessary to be
here mentioned), are declared to constitute the national forces, and
shall be liable to perform military duty in the service of the United
States when called out by the President for that purpose; and
Whereas it is claimed by and in behalf of persons of foreign birth
within the ages specified in said act who have heretofore declared on
oath their intentions to become citizens under and in pursuance of the
laws of the United States, and who have not exercised the right of
suffrage or any other political franchise under the laws of the United
States or of any of the States thereof, that they are not absolutely
concluded by their aforesaid declaration of intention from renouncing
their purpose to become citizens, and that, on the contrary, such
persons, under treaties or the law of nations, retain a right to
renounce that purpose and to forego the privileges of citizenship and
residence within the United States under the obligations imposed by the
aforesaid act of Congress:
Now, therefore, to avoid all misapprehensions concerning the liability
of persons concerned to perform the service required by such enactment,
and to give it full effect, I do hereby order and proclaim that no plea
of alienage will be received or allowed to exempt from the obligations
imposed by the aforesaid act of Congress any person of foreign birth who
shall have declared on oath his intention to become a citizen of the
United States under the laws thereof, and who shall be found within the
United States at any time during the continuance of the present
insurrection and rebellion or after the expiration of the period of
sixty-five days from the date of this proclamation, nor shall any such
plea of alienage be allowed in favor of any such person who has so as
aforesaid declared his intention to become a citizen of the United
States and shall have exercised at any time the right of suffrage or
any other political franchise within the United States under the laws
thereof or under the laws of any of the several States.
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 8th day of May, A.D. 1863, and
of the Independence of the United States the eighty-seventh.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
By the President:
WILLIAM H. SEWARD,
_Secretary of State_.
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
A PROCLAMATION.
Whereas the armed insurrectionary combinations now existing in several
of the States are threatening to make inroads into the States of
Maryland, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Ohio, requiring immediately
an additional military force for the service of the United States:
Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States and
Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy thereof and of the militia of
the several States when called into actual service, do hereby call into
the service of the United States 100,000 militia from the States
following, namely: From the State of Maryland, 10,000; from the State of
Back to Full Books
|