THE THIRTY-EIGHTH CONGRESS.
Organization of the House--Different Opinions as to
Reconstruction--Provisions for Pardon of Rebels--President’s
Proclamation of Pardon--Annual Message--Explanatory Proclamation.
Upon the assembling of the Thirty-eighth Congress, December 7th,
1863--that Congress, in the lower branch of which the Opposition had
counted upon a majority--the supporters of the Government found no
difficulty in electing their candidates for Speaker by a majority of
twenty, nor a radical anti-slavery man as Chaplain, albeit against the
latter was offered as candidate an Episcopalian Bishop, nameless here,
who had had the effrontery since the outbreak of the war to appear
before the public as a defender of the institution upon Christian
principles.
With the success of our arms--movements toward an organization of the
local governments in the States of Tennessee, Louisiana, and Arkansas
being in progress--the difficult question as to the principles upon
which such reorganization should be effected presented itself for
settlement.
Some took the ground that, by virtue of their rebellion, the disloyal
States had lapsed into mere territorial organizations, and should
remain in that condition until again admitted into the Union.
Others contended that this would be, in effect, to recognise
secession, and maintained that, whatever might have been the acts of
the inhabitants of any State, the State as such still constituted an
integral member of the Union, entitled to all privileges as such,
whenever a sufficient number of loyal citizens chose to exercise the
right of suffrage--the General Government seeing to it, as was its
duty under the Constitution, that a republican form was guarantied. As
to what number of loyal inhabitants should suffice, opinions differed.
Congress had provided, by an act approved July 17, 1862:
That the President is hereby authorized, at any time hereafter, by
proclamation, to extend to persons who may have participated in the
existing rebellion in any State or part thereof, pardon and amnesty,
with such exceptions, and at such time, and on such conditions, as he
may deem expedient for the public welfare.
In accordance with this authority, the following proclamation was
issued by Mr. Lincoln, by which it appeared he held himself pledged,
before the world and to the persons immediately affected by it, to
make an adherence to the policy of emancipation, inaugurated by him, a
condition precedent to any act of clemency to be exercised by himself:
“WHEREAS, In and by the Constitution of the United States, it is
provided that the President ‘shall have power to grant reprieves
and pardons for offences against the United States, except in cases
of impeachment;’ and whereas, a rebellion now exists whereby the
loyal State Governments of several States have for a long time
been subverted, and many persons have committed and are now guilty
of treason against the United States; and whereas, with reference
to said rebellion and treason, laws have been enacted by Congress
declaring forfeitures and confiscation of property and liberation
of slaves, all upon terms and conditions therein stated; and also
declaring that the President was thereby authorized at any time
thereafter, by proclamation, to extend to persons who may have
participated in the existing rebellion, in any State or part
thereof, pardon and amnesty, with such exceptions and at such times
and on such conditions as he may deem expedient for the public
welfare; and whereas, the Congressional declaration for limited
and conditional pardon accords with well-established judicial
exposition of the pardoning power; and whereas, with reference
to said rebellion, the President of the United States has issued
several proclamations, with provisions in regard to the liberation
of slaves; and whereas, it is now desired by some persons
heretofore engaged in said rebellion, to resume their allegiance
to the United States, and to reinaugurate loyal State Governments
within and for their respective States; therefore,
“I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, do proclaim,
declare, and make known to all persons who have, directly or by
implication, participated in the existing rebellion, except as
hereinafter excepted, that a full pardon is hereby granted to them
and each of them, with restoration of all rights of property,
except as to slaves, and in property cases where rights of third
parties shall have intervened, and upon the condition that every
such person shall take and subscribe an oath, and thenceforward
keep and maintain said oath inviolate; and which oath shall be
registered for permanent preservation, and shall be of the tenor
and effect following, to wit:
“‘I, ---- ----, do solemnly swear, in presence of Almighty God,
that I will henceforth faithfully support, protect and defend
the Constitution of the United States, and the Union of the
States thereunder; and that I will, in like manner, abide by and
faithfully support all acts of Congress passed during the existing
rebellion with reference to slaves, so long and so far as not
repealed, modified, or held void by Congress, or by decision of
the Supreme Court; and that I will, in like manner, abide by and
faithfully support all proclamations of the President made during
the existing rebellion having reference to slaves, so long and so
far as not modified or declared void by decision of the Supreme
Court. So help me God.’
“The persons excepted from the benefits of the foregoing
provisions are all who are, or shall have been, civil or diplomatic
officers or agents of the so-called Confederate Government; all
who have left judicial stations under the United States to aid
the rebellion; all who are, or shall have been, military or naval
officers of the said so-called Confederate Government, above the
rank of colonel in the army, or of lieutenant in the navy; all who
left seats in the United States Congress to aid the rebellion; all
who resigned commissions in the Army or Navy of the United States,
and afterward aided the rebellion; and all who have engaged in
any way in treating colored persons, or white persons in charge
of such, otherwise than lawfully as prisoners of war, and which
persons may have been found in the United States service as
soldiers, seamen, or in any other capacity.
“And I do further proclaim, declare, and make known, that whenever,
in any of the States of Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi,
Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, and North
Carolina, a number of persons, not less than one-tenth in number
of the votes cast in such State at the Presidential election of
the year of our Lord 1860, each having taken the oath aforesaid,
and not having since violated it, and being a qualified voter
by the election law of the State existing immediately before
the so-called act of secession, and excluding all others, shall
re-establish a State Government which shall be republican, and in
nowise contravening said oath, such shall be recognized as the true
Government of the State, and the State shall receive thereunder
the benefits of the constitutional provision which declares that
‘the United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union
a republican form of government, and shall protect each of them
against invasion; and on application of the Legislature, or the
Executive, (when the Legislature cannot be convened) against
domestic violence.’
“And I do further proclaim, declare, and make known that any
provision which may be adopted by such State Government in
relation to the freed people of such State, which shall recognize
and declare their permanent freedom, provide for their education,
and which may yet be consistent, as a temporary arrangement, with
their present condition as a laboring, landless, and homeless
class, will not be objected to by the National Executive. And it
is suggested as not improper, that, in constructing a loyal State
Government in any State, the name of the State, the boundary,
the subdivisions, the Constitution, and the general code of
laws, as before the rebellion, be maintained, subject only to
the modifications made necessary by the conditions hereinbefore
stated, and such others, if any, not contravening said conditions,
and which may be deemed expedient by those framing the new State
Government.
“To avoid misunderstanding, it may be proper to say that this
proclamation, so far as it relates to State Governments, has no
reference to States wherein loyal State Governments have all the
while been maintained. And for the same reason, it may be proper to
further say that whether members sent to Congress from any State
shall be admitted to seats constitutionally, rests exclusively with
the respective Houses, and not to any extent with the Executive.
And still further, that this proclamation is intended to present
the people of the States wherein the National authority has been
suspended, and loyal State Governments have been subverted, a mode
in and by which the National authority and loyal State Governments
may be re-established within said States, or in any of them; and,
while the mode presented is the best the Executive can suggest,
with his present impressions, it must not be understood that no
other possible mode would be acceptable.
“Given under my hand at the city of Washington, the eighth day of
December, A. D. 1863, and of the Independence of the United States
of America the eighty-eighth.
“ABRAHAM LINCOLN.”
The Annual Message sent in to Congress on the 9th day of December,
omitting matters of but temporary interest--is as follows:
“FELLOW-CITIZENS OF THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF
REPRESENTATIVES:--Another year of health and sufficiently abundant
harvests, has passed. For these, and especially for the improved
condition of our National affairs, our renewed and profoundest
gratitude to God is due.
“We remain in peace and friendship with foreign powers.
“The efforts of disloyal citizens of the United States to involve
us in foreign wars, to aid an inexcusable insurrection, have been
unavailing. Her Britannic Majesty’s Government, as was justly
expected, have exercised their authority to prevent the departure
of new hostile expeditions from British ports. The Emperor
of France has, by a like proceeding, promptly vindicated the
neutrality which he proclaimed at the beginning of the contest.
Questions of great intricacy and importance have arisen, out of the
blockade and other belligerent operations, between the Government
and several of the maritime powers, but they have been discussed,
and, as far as was possible, accommodated in a spirit of frankness,
justice, and mutual good will. It is especially gratifying that
our prize courts, by the impartiality of their adjudications, have
commanded the respect and confidence of maritime powers.
“The supplementary treaty between the United States and Great
Britain for the suppression of the African slave-trade, made on
the 17th of February last, has been duly ratified, and carried
into execution. It is believed that, so far as American ports and
American citizens are concerned, that inhuman and odious traffic
has been brought to an end....
“Incidents occurring in the progress of our civil war have forced
upon my attention the uncertain state of international questions
touching the rights of foreigners in this country and of United
States citizens abroad. In regard to some Governments, these
rights are at least partially defined by treaties. In no instance,
however, is it expressly stipulated that, in the event of civil
law, a foreigner residing in this country, within the lines of the
insurgents, is to be exempted from the rule which classes him as a
belligerent, in whose behalf the Government of his country can not
expect any privileges or immunities distinct from that character.
I regret to say, however, that such claims have been put forward,
and, in some instances, in behalf of foreigners who have lived in
the United States the greater part of their lives.
“There is reason to believe that many persons born in foreign
countries, who have declared their intention to become citizens,
or who have been fully naturalized, have evaded the military duty
required of them by denying the fact, and thereby throwing upon
the Government the burden of proof. It has been found difficult or
impracticable to obtain this proof, from the want of guides to the
proper sources of information. These might be supplied by requiring
clerks of courts, where declarations of intention may be made or
naturalizations effected, to send, periodically, lists of the names
of the persons naturalized, or declaring their intention to become
citizens, to the Secretary of the Interior, in whose Department
those names might be arranged and printed for general information.
“There is also reason to believe that foreigners frequently
become citizens of the United States for the sole purpose of
evading duties imposed by the laws of their native countries, to
which, on becoming naturalized here, they at once repair, and,
though never returning to the United States, they still claim the
interposition of this Government as citizens. Many altercations
and great prejudices have heretofore arisen out of this abuse. It
is, therefore, submitted to your serious consideration. It might
be advisable to fix a limit, beyond which no citizen of the
United States residing abroad may claim the interposition of his
Government.
“The right of suffrage has often been assumed and exercised
by aliens, under pretences of naturalization, which they have
disavowed when drafted into the military service. I submit the
expediency of such an amendment of the law as will make the fact
of voting an estoppel against any plea of exemption from military
service, or other civil obligation, on the ground of alienage....
“The condition of the several organized Territories is generally
satisfactory, although Indian disturbances in New Mexico have
not been entirely suppressed. The mineral resources of Colorado,
Nevada, Idaho, New Mexico, and Arizona, are proving far richer than
has been heretofore understood. I lay before you a communication
on this subject from the Governor of New Mexico. I again submit
to your consideration the expediency of establishing a system for
the encouragement of immigration. Although this source of national
wealth and strength is again flowing with greater freedom than for
several years before the insurrection occurred, there is still a
great deficiency of laborers in every field of industry, especially
in agriculture and in our mines, as well of iron and coal as of the
precious metals. While the demand for labor is thus increased here,
tens of thousands of persons, destitute of remunerative occupation,
are thronging our foreign consulates, and offering to emigrate to
the United States if essential, but very cheap, assistance can be
afforded them. It is easy to see that, under the sharp discipline
of civil war, the nation is beginning a new life. This noble effort
demands the aid, and ought to receive the attention and support, of
the Government.
“Injuries, unforeseen by the Government and unintended, may, in
some cases, have been inflicted on the subjects or citizens of
foreign countries, both at sea and on land, by persons in the
service of the United States. As this Government expects redress
from other powers when similar injuries are inflicted by persons
in their service upon citizens of the United States, we must be
prepared to do justice to foreigners. If the existing judicial
tribunals are inadequate to this purpose, a special court may
be authorized, with power to hear and decide such claims of the
character referred to as may have arisen under treaties and
the public law. Conventions for adjusting the claims by joint
commission, have been proposed to some Governments, but no definite
answer to the propositions has yet been received from any.
“In the course of the session, I shall probably have occasion
to request you to provide indemnification to claimants where
decrees of restitution have been rendered, and damages awarded by
admiralty courts, and in other cases, where this Government may be
acknowledged to be liable in principle, and where the amount of
that liability has been ascertained by an informal arbitration.
“The proper officers of the Treasury have deemed themselves
required, by the law of the United States upon the subject, to
demand a tax upon the incomes of foreign consuls in this country.
While such demand may not, in strictness, be in derogation of
public law, or perhaps of any existing treaty between the United
States and a foreign country, the expediency of so far modifying
the act as to exempt from tax the income of such consuls as are
not citizens of the United States, derived from the emoluments of
their office, or from property not situated in the United States,
is submitted to your serious consideration. I make this suggestion
upon the ground that a comity which ought to be reciprocated
exempts our consuls, in all other countries, from taxation to the
extent thus indicated. The United States, I think, ought not to be
exceptionally illiberal to international trade and commerce.
“The operations of the Treasury during the last year have been
successfully conducted. The enactment by Congress of a National
Banking Law has proved a valuable support of the public credit; and
the general legislation in relation to loans has fully answered the
expectations of its favorers. Some amendments may be required to
perfect existing laws; but no change in their principles or general
scope is believed to be needed.
“Since these measures have been in operation, all demands on
the Treasury, including the pay of the Army and Navy, have been
promptly met and fully satisfied. No considerable body of troops,
it is believed, were ever more amply provided and more liberally
and punctually paid; and it may be added that by no people were the
burdens incident to a great war ever more cheerfully borne.
“The receipts during the year from all sources, including loans and
the balance in the Treasury at its commencement, were $901,125,674
86, and the aggregate disbursements, $895,796,630 65, leaving a
balance on the 1st of July, 1863, of $5,329,044 21. Of the receipts
there were derived from customs, $69,059,642 40; from internal
revenue, $37,640,787 95; from direct tax, $1,485,103 61; from
lands, $167,617 17; from miscellaneous sources, $3,046,615 35; and
from loans, $776,682,361 57; making the aggregate, $901,125,674
86. Of the disbursements, there were, for the civil service,
$23,253,922 08; for pensions and Indians, $4,216,520 79; for
interest on public debt, $24,729,846 51; for the War Department,
$599,298,600 83; for the Navy department, $63,211,105 27; for
payment of funded and temporary debt, $181,086,635 07; making the
aggregate, $895,796,630 65; and leaving the balance of $5,329,044
21. But the payment of funded and temporary debt, having been made
from moneys borrowed during the year, must be regarded as merely
nominal payments, and the moneys borrowed to make them as merely
nominal receipts; and their amount, $181,086,635 07, should
therefore be deducted both from receipts and disbursements. This
being done, there remain as actual receipts, $720,039,039 79; and
the actual disbursements, $714,709,995 58, leaving the balance as
already stated.
“The actual receipts and disbursements for the first quarter,
and the estimated receipts and disbursements for the remaining
three-quarters, of the current fiscal year 1864, will be shown in
detail by the report of the Secretary of the Treasury, to which I
invite your attention. It is sufficient to say here that it is not
believed that actual results will exhibit a state of the finances
less favorable to the country than the estimates of that officer
heretofore submitted; while it is confidently expected that at the
close of the year both disbursements and debt will be found very
considerably less than has been anticipated.
“The report of the Secretary of War is a document of great
interest. It consists of--
“1. The military operations of the year, detailed in the report of
the General-in-Chief.
“2. The organization of colored persons into the war service.
“3. The exchange of prisoners, fully set forth in the letter of
General Hitchcock.
“4. The operations under the act for enrolling and calling out the
National forces, detailed in the report of the Provost Marshal
General.
“5. The organization of the Invalid Corps; and,
“6. The operation of the several departments of the Quartermaster
General, Commissary General, Paymaster General, Chief of Engineers,
Chief of Ordnance, and Surgeon General.
“It has appeared impossible to make a valuable summary of this
report, except such as would be too extended for this place, and
hence I content myself by asking your careful attention to the
report itself.
“The duties devolving on the Naval branch of the service during
the year, and throughout the whole of this unhappy contest, have
been discharged with fidelity and eminent success. The extensive
blockade has been constantly increasing in efficiency, and the Navy
has expanded; yet on so long a line it has so far been impossible
to entirely suppress illicit trade. From returns received at the
Navy Department, it appears that more than one thousand vessels
have been captured since the blockade was instituted, and that the
value of prizes already sent in for adjudication, amounts to over
thirteen million dollars.
“The naval force of the United States consists, at this time, of
five hundred and eighty-eight vessels, completed and in the course
of completion, and of these seventy-five are iron-clad or armored
steamers. The events of the war give an increased interest and
importance to the Navy, which will probably extend beyond the war
itself.
“The armored vessels in our Navy, completed and in service, or
which are under contract and approaching completion, are believed
to exceed in number those of any other Power. But while these
may be relied upon for harbor defence and coast service, others,
of greater strength and capacity, will be necessary for cruising
purposes, and to maintain our rightful position on the ocean.
“The change that has taken place in naval vessels and naval warfare
since the introduction of steam as a motive power for ships-of-war,
demands either a corresponding change in some of our existing
navy-yards, or the establishment of new ones, for the construction
and necessary repairs of modern naval vessels. No inconsiderable
embarrassment, delay, and public injury have been experienced
from the want of such Governmental establishments. The necessity
of such a navy-yard, so furnished, at some suitable place upon
the Atlantic seaboard, has, on repeated occasions, been brought
to the attention of Congress by the Navy Department, and is again
presented in the report of the Secretary which accompanies this
communication. I think it my duty to invite your special attention
to this subject, and also to that of establishing a yard and
depot for naval purposes upon one of the Western rivers. A naval
force has been created on those interior waters, and under many
disadvantages, within little more than two years, exceeding in
numbers the whole naval force of the country at the commencement of
the present Administration. Satisfactory and important as have been
the performances of the heroic men of the Navy at this interesting
period, they are scarcely more wonderful than the success of our
mechanics and artisans in the production of war vessels, which has
created a new form of naval power.
“Our country has advantages superior to any other nation in our
resources of iron and timber, with inexhaustible quantities of fuel
in the immediate vicinity of both, and all available and in close
proximity to navigable waters. Without the advantage of public
works, the resources of the nation have been developed, and its
power displayed, in the construction of a navy of such magnitude,
which has, at the very period of its creation, rendered signal
service to the Union.
“The increase of the number of seamen in the public service, from
seven thousand five hundred men in the spring of 1861, to about
thirty-four thousand at the present time, has been accomplished
without special legislation or extraordinary bounties to promote
that increase. It has been found, however, that the operation
of the draft, with the high bounties paid for army recruits, is
beginning to affect injuriously the naval service, and will, if not
corrected, be likely to impair its efficiency, by detaching seamen
from their proper vocation and inducing them to enter the army. I
therefore respectfully suggest that Congress might aid both the
army and naval services by a definite provision on this subject,
which would at the same time be equitable to the communities more
especially interested.
“I commend to your consideration the suggestions of the Secretary
of the Navy in regard to the policy of fostering and training
seamen, and also the education of officers and engineers for the
naval service. The Naval Academy is rendering signal service in
preparing midshipmen for the highly responsible duties which in
after-life they will be required to perform. In order that the
country should not be deprived of the proper quota of educated
officers for which legal provision has been made at the Naval
School, the vacancies caused by the neglect or omission to make
nominations from the States in insurrection have been filled by the
Secretary of the Navy. The school is now more full and complete
than at any former period, and in every respect entitled to the
favorable consideration of Congress.
“During the past fiscal year the financial condition of the Post
Office Department has been one of increasing prosperity, and I am
gratified in being able to state that the actual postal revenue
has nearly equaled the entire expenditures; the latter amounting
to $11,314,206 84, and the former to $11,163,789 59, leaving a
deficiency of but $150,411 25. In 1860, the year immediately
preceding the rebellion, the deficiency amounted to $5,656,705
49, the postal receipts of that year being $2,645,722 19 less
than those of 1863. The decrease since 1860 in the annual amount
of transportation has been only about twenty-five per cent., but
the annual expenditure on account of the same has been reduced
thirty-five per cent. It is manifest, therefore, that the Post
Office Department may become self-sustaining in a few years, even
with the restoration of the whole service.
“The quantity of land disposed of during the last and the first
quarter of the present fiscal years was 3,841,549 acres, of which
161,911 acres were sold for cash, 1,456,514 acres were taken up
under the homestead law, and the residue disposed of under laws
granting lands for military bounties, for railroad and other
purposes. It also appears that the sale of public lands is largely
on the increase.
“It has long been a cherished opinion of some of our wisest
statesmen that the people of the United States had a higher and
more enduring interest in the early settlement and substantial
cultivation of the public lands than in the amount of direct
revenue to be derived from the sale of them. This opinion has
had a controlling influence in shaping legislation upon the
subject of our National domain. I may cite, as evidence of this,
the liberal measures adopted in reference to actual settlers;
the grants to the States of the overflowed lands within their
limits; in order to their being reclaimed and rendered fit for
cultivation; the grants to railway companies of alternate sections
of land upon the contemplated lines of their roads, which, when
completed, will so largely multiply the facilities for reaching
our distant possessions. This policy has received its most signal
and beneficent illustration in the recent enactment granting
homesteads to actual settlers. Since the 1st day of January last,
the before-mentioned quantity of 1,456,514 acres of land have
been taken up under its provisions. This fact and the amount of
sales furnish gratifying evidence of increasing settlement upon
the public lands, notwithstanding the great struggle in which the
energies of the Nation have been engaged, and which has required so
large a withdrawal of our citizens from their accustomed pursuits.
“The measures provided at your last session for the removal of
certain Indian tribes, have been carried into effect. Sundry
treaties have been negotiated which will, in due time, be submitted
for the constitutional action of the Senate. They contain
stipulations for extinguishing the possessory rights of the
Indians to large and valuable tracts of lands. It is hoped that
the effect of these treaties will result in the establishment of
permanent friendly relations with such of these tribes as have
been brought into frequent and bloody collision with our outlying
settlements and emigrants. Sound policy and our imperative duty
to these wards of the Government demand our anxious and constant
attention to their material well-being, to their progress in the
arts of civilization, and above all, to that moral training which,
under the blessing of Divine Providence, will confer upon them the
elevated and sanctifying influences, the hopes and consolations of
the Christian faith.
“When Congress assembled a year ago, the war had already lasted
nearly twenty months; and there had been many conflicts on both
land and sea, with varying results. The rebellion had been pressed
back into reduced limits; yet the tone of public feeling and
opinion, at home and abroad, was not satisfactory. With other
signs, the popular elections, then just past, indicated uneasiness
among ourselves, while, amid much that was cold and menacing,
the kindest words coming from Europe were uttered in accents of
pity that we were too blind to surrender a hopeless cause. Our
commerce was suffering greatly by a few armed vessels built upon
and furnished from foreign shores; and we were threatened with such
additions from the same quarter as would sweep our trade from the
sea and raise our blockade. We had failed to elicit from European
Governments any thing hopeful upon this subject. The preliminary
Emancipation Proclamation, issued in September, was running its
assigned period to the beginning of the new year. A month later the
final proclamation came, including the announcement that colored
men of suitable condition would be received into the war service.
The policy of emancipation, and of employing black soldiers, gave
to the future a new aspect, about which hope, and fear, and doubt
contended in uncertain conflict. According to our political system,
as a matter of civil administration, the General Government had
no lawful power to effect emancipation in any State; and for a
long time it had been hoped that the rebellion could be suppressed
without resorting to it as a military measure. It was all the while
deemed possible that the necessity for it might come, and that,
if it should, the crisis of the contest would then be presented.
It came, and as was anticipated, it was followed by dark and
doubtful days. Eleven months having now passed, we are permitted to
take another review. The rebel borders are pressed still further
back, and by the complete opening of the Mississippi the country
dominated by the rebellion is divided into distinct parts, with no
practical communication between them. Tennessee and Arkansas have
been substantially cleared of insurgent control, and influential
citizens in each, owners of slaves and advocates of slavery at the
beginning of the rebellion, now declare openly for emancipation
in their respective States. Of those States not included in the
Emancipation Proclamation, Maryland and Missouri, neither of which,
three years ago, would tolerate any restraint upon the extension of
slavery into new Territories, only dispute now as to the best mode
of removing it within their own limits.
“Of those who were slaves at the beginning of the rebellion, full
one hundred thousand are now in the United States military service,
about one-half of which number actually bear arms in the ranks;
thus giving the double advantage of taking so much labor from the
insurgent cause, and supplying the places which otherwise must be
filled with so many white men. So far as tested, it is difficult to
say they are not as good soldiers as any. No servile insurrection,
or tendency to violence or cruelty, has marked the measures of
emancipation and arming the blacks. These measures have been
much discussed in foreign countries, and contemporary with such
discussion the tone of public sentiment there is much improved.
At home the same measures have been fully discussed, supported,
criticised, and denounced, and the annual elections following are
highly encouraging to those whose official duty it is to bear the
country through this great trial. Thus we have the new reckoning.
The crisis which threatened to divide the friends of the Union is
past.
“Looking now to the present and future, and with reference to a
resumption of the National authority within the States wherein
that authority has been suspended, I have thought fit to issue
a proclamation, a copy of which is herewith transmitted. On
examination of this proclamation it will appear, as is believed,
that nothing is attempted beyond what is amply justified by the
Constitution. True, the form of an oath is given, but no man is
coerced to take it. The man is only promised a pardon in case
he voluntarily takes the oath. The Constitution authorizes the
Executive to grant or withhold the pardon at his own absolute
discretion; and this includes the power to grant on terms, as is
fully established by judicial and other authorities.
“It is also proffered that if, in any of the States named, a
State Government shall be, in the mode prescribed, set up, such
Government shall be recognized and guarantied by the United
States, and that under it the State shall, on the constitutional
conditions, be protected against invasion and domestic violence.
The constitutional obligation of the United States to guarantee
to every State in the Union a republican form of government, and
to protect the State, in the cases stated, is explicit and full.
But why tender the benefits of this provision only to a State
Government set up in this particular way? This section of the
Constitution contemplates a case wherein the element within a State
favorable to republican government, in the Union, may be too feeble
for an opposite and hostile element external to or even within
the State; and such are precisely the cases with which we are now
dealing.
“An attempt to guarantee and protect a revived State Government,
constructed in whole, or in preponderating part, from the very
element against whose hostility and violence it is to be protected,
is simply absurd. There must be a test by which to separate the
opposing element, so as to build only from the sound; and that test
is a sufficiently liberal one, which accepts as sound whoever will
make a sworn recantation of his former unsoundness.
“But if it be proper to require, as a test of admission to the
political body, an oath of allegiance to the Constitution of the
United States, and to the Union under it, why also to the laws and
proclamations in regard to slavery? Those laws and proclamations
were enacted and put forth for the purpose of aiding in the
suppression of the rebellion. To give them their fullest effect,
there had to be a pledge for their maintenance. In my judgment
they have aided, and will further aid, the cause for which they
were intended. To now abandon them would be not only to relinquish
a lever of power, but would also be a cruel and an astounding
breach of faith. I may add at this point that, while I remain in
my present position, I shall not attempt to retract or modify the
Emancipation Proclamation; nor shall I return to slavery any person
who is free by the terms of that proclamation, or by any of the
acts of Congress. For these and other reasons, it is thought best
that support of these measures shall be included in the oath; and
it is believed the Executive may lawfully claim it in return for
pardon and restoration of forfeited rights, which he has clear
constitutional power to withhold altogether, or grant upon the
terms which he shall deem wisest for the public interest. It should
be observed, also, that this part of the oath is subject to the
modifying and abrogating power of legislation and supreme judicial
decision.
“The proposed acquiescence of the National Executive in any
reasonable temporary State arrangement for the freed people,
is made with the view of possibly modifying the confusion and
destitution which must, at best, attend all classes by a total
revolution of labor throughout whole States. It is hoped that the
already deeply afflicted people in those States may be somewhat
more ready to give up the cause of their affliction, if, to this
extent, this vital matter be left to themselves; while no power
of the National Executive to prevent an abuse, is abridged by the
proposition.
“The suggestion in the proclamation as to maintaining the political
framework of the States on what is called reconstruction, is made
in the hope that it may do good without danger of harm. It will
save labor, and avoid great confusion.
“But why any proclamation now upon this subject? This question is
beset with the conflicting views that the step might be delayed
too long or be taken too soon. In some States the elements for
resumption seem ready for action, but remain inactive, apparently
for want of a rallying point--a plan of action. Why shall A adopt
the plan of B, rather than B that of A? And if A and B should
agree, how can they know but that the General Government here will
reject their plan? By the proclamation a plan is presented which
may be accepted by them as a rallying point, and which they are
assured in advance will not be rejected here. This may bring them
to act sooner than they otherwise would.
“The objection to a premature presentation of a plan by the
National Executive consists in the danger of committals on points
which could be more safely left to further developments. Care has
been taken to so shape the document as to avoid embarrassment from
this source. Saying that, on certain terms, certain classes will be
pardoned, with rights restored, it is not said that other classes
or other terms will never be included. Saying that reconstruction
will be accepted, if presented in a specific way, it is not said it
will never be accepted in any other way.
“The movements, by State action, for emancipation in several of
the States, not included in the Emancipation Proclamation, are
matters of profound congratulation. And while I do not repeat in
detail what I have heretofore so earnestly urged upon this subject,
my general views and feelings remain unchanged; and I trust that
Congress will omit no fair opportunity of aiding these important
steps to a great consummation.
“In the midst of other cares, however important, we must not lose
sight of the fact that the war power is still our main reliance. To
that power alone can we look, yet for a time, to give confidence
to the people in the contested regions that the insurgent power
will not again overrun them. Until that confidence shall be
established, little can be done anywhere for what is called
reconstruction. Hence our chiefest care must still be directed to
the Army and Navy, who have thus far borne their harder part so
nobly and well. And it may be esteemed fortunate that in giving
the greatest efficiency to these indispensable arms, we do also
honorably recognize the gallant men, from commander to sentinel,
who compose them, and, to whom, more than to others, the world must
stand indebted for the home of freedom disenthralled, regenerated,
enlarged, and perpetuated.
Dec. 8, 1863.
“Abraham Lincoln.”
On the twenty-sixth of March, 1864, the following proclamation,
explanatory of the one issued on the eighth of December, 1863, was
published:
“WHEREAS, It has become necessary to define the cases in which
insurgent enemies are entitled to the benefits of the Proclamation
of the President of the United States, which was made on the 8th
day of December, 1863, and the manner in which they shall proceed
to avail themselves of these benefits;
“AND WHEREAS, The objects of that proclamation were to suppress the
insurrection and to restore the authority of the United States;
“AND WHEREAS, The amnesty therein proposed by the President was
offered with reference to these objects alone;
“Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United
States, do hereby proclaim and declare that the said proclamation
does not apply to the cases of persons who, at the time when they
seek to obtain the benefits thereof, by taking the oath thereby
prescribed, are in military, naval or civil confinement or custody,
or under bonds or on parole of the civil, military or naval
authorities or agents of the United States, as prisoners of war, or
persons detained for offences of any kind, either before or after
conviction; and that on the contrary, it does apply only to those
persons who, being at large and free from any arrest, confinement
or duress, shall voluntarily come forward and take the said oath,
with the purpose of restoring peace and establishing the national
authority.
“Prisoners excluded from the amnesty offered in the said
proclamation may apply to the President for clemency, like
all other offenders, and their application will receive due
consideration.
“I do further declare and proclaim that the oath prescribed in the
aforesaid proclamation of the 8th of December, 1863, may be taken
and subscribed to before any commanding officer, civil, military
or naval, in the service of the United States, or any civil or
military officer of a State or Territory not in insurrection, who,
by the laws thereof, may be qualified for administering oaths.
“All officers who receive such oaths are hereby authorized to
give certificates thereon to the persons respectively by whom
they are made, and such officers are hereby required to transmit
the original records of such oaths at as early a day as may be
convenient to the Department of State, where they will be deposited
and remain in the archives of the Government.
“The Secretary of State will keep a register thereof, and will, on
application, in proper cases, issue certificates of such records in
the customary form of official certificates.
“In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the
seal of the United States to be affixed.
“Done at the city of Washington, this twenty-sixth day of March, in
the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, and
of the Independence of the United States the eighty-eighth.
“By the President: ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
“W. H. SEWARD, Secretary of State.”