EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, D. C., November 20, 1863.
MAJOR-GENERAL MEADE, Army of Potomac:
If there is a man by the name of King under sentence to be shot, please
suspend execution till further order, and send record.
A. LINCOLN.
TELEGRAM TO GENERAL MEADE.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON. November 20, 1863.
MAJOR-GENERAL MEADE, Army of Potomac:
An intelligent woman in deep distress, called this morning, saying her
husband, a lieutenant in the Army of Potomac, was to be shot next Monday
for desertion, and putting a letter in my hand, upon which I relied for
particulars, she left without mentioning a name or other particular by
which to identify the case. On opening the letter I found it equally
vague, having nothing to identify by, except her own signature, which
seems to be "Mrs. Anna S. King." I could not again find her. If you have
a case which you shall think is probably the one intended, please apply my
dispatch of this morning to it.
A. LINCOLN.
TELEGRAM TO E. P. EVANS.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, D. C., November 23, 1863.
E. P. EVANS, West Union, Adams County, Ohio:
Yours to Governor Chase in behalf of John A Welch is before me. Can there
be a worse case than to desert and with letters persuading others to
desert? I cannot interpose without a better showing than you make. When
did he desert? when did he write the letters?
A. LINCOLN.
TO SECRETARY SEWARD.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, D. C., November 23, 1863.
MY DEAR SIR:--Two despatches since I saw you; one not quite so late on
firing as we had before, but giving the points that Burnside thinks he
can hold the place, that he is not closely invested, and that he forages
across the river. The other brings the firing up to 11 A.M. yesterday,
being twenty-three hours later than we had before.
Yours truly,
A. LINCOLN.
TELEGRAM TO GENERAL GRANT.
WASHINGTON, November 25, 1863. 8.40 A.M.
MAJOR-GENERAL U.S. GRANT:
Your despatches as to fighting on Monday and Tuesday are here. Well done!
Many thanks to all. Remember Burnside.
A. LINCOLN.
TO C. P. KIRKLAND.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, December 7, 1863.
CHARLES P. KIRKLAND, ESQ., New York:
I have just received and have read your published letter to the HON.
Benjamin R. Curtis. Under the circumstances I may not be the most
competent judge, but it appears to me to be a paper of great ability, and
for the country's sake more than for my own I thank you for it.
Yours very truly,
A. LINCOLN.
ANNOUNCEMENT OF UNION SUCCESS IN EAST TENNESSEE.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, D. C., December 7, 1863.
Reliable information being received that the insurgent force is retreating
from East Tennessee, under circumstances rendering it probable that the
Union forces cannot hereafter be dislodged from that important position;
and esteeming this to be of high national consequence, I recommend that
all loyal people do, on receipt of this information, assemble at their
places of worship, and render special homage and gratitude to Almighty God
for this great advancement of the national cause.
A. LINCOLN.
PROCLAMATION OF AMNESTY AND RECONSTRUCTION. DECEMBER 8, 1863.
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA:
A Proclamation.
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
offenses 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 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
afterwards 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 A.D. 1860, each having taken 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 reestablish 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 can not 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 co 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 8th day of December,
A. D. 1863, and of the Independence of the United States of America the
eighty-eighth.
A. LINCOLN.
By the President: WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State.
ANNUAL MESSAGE TO CONGRESS, DECEMBER 8, 1863.
FELLOW-CITIZENS OF THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES:--
Another year of health, and of sufficiently abundant harvests, has passed.
For these, and especially for the improved condition cf 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 supplemental treaty between the United States and Great Britain
for the suppression of the African slave-trade, made on the 17th day 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.
I shall submit, for the consideration of the Senate, a convention for the
adjustment of possessory claims in Washington Territory, arising out of
the treaty of the 15th of June, 1846, between the United States and
Great Britain, and which have been the source of some disquiet among the
citizens of that now rapidly improving part of the country.
A novel and important question, involving the extent of the maritime
jurisdiction of Spain in the waters which surround the island of Cuba,
has been debated without reaching an agreement, and it is proposed, in
an amicable spirit, to refer it to the arbitrament of a friendly power. A
convention for that purpose will be submitted to the Senate.
I have thought it proper, subject to the approval of the Senate, to
concur with the interested commercial powers in an arrangement for the
liquidation of the Scheldt dues upon the principles which have been
heretofore adopted in regard to the imposts upon navigation in the waters
of Denmark.
The long-pending controversy between this government and that of Chile
touching the seizure at Sitana, in Peru, by Chilean officers, of a large
amount in treasure belonging to citizens of the United States has been
brought to a close by the award of His Majesty the King of the Belgians,
to whose arbitration the question was referred by the parties. The subject
was thoroughly and patiently examined by that justly respected magistrate,
and although the sum awarded to the claimants may not have been as
large as they expected there is no reason to distrust the wisdom of His
Majesty's decision. That decision was promptly complied with by Chile when
intelligence in regard to it reached that country.
The joint commission under the act of the last session of carrying
into effect the convention with Peru on the subject of claims has been
organized at Lima, and is engaged in the business intrusted to it.
Difficulties concerning interoceanic transit through Nicaragua are in
course of amicable adjustment.
In conformity with principles set forth in my last annual message, I have
received a representative from the United States of Colombia, and have
accredited a minister to that Republic.
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 war 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
pretenses 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 estoppe against any plea of
exemption from military service or other civil obligation on the ground of
alienage.
In common with other Western powers, our relations with Japan have been
brought into serious jeopardy through the perverse opposition of the
hereditary aristocracy of the Empire to the enlightened and liberal policy
of the Tycoon, designed to bring the country into the society of nations.
It is hoped, although not with entire confidence, that these difficulties
may be peacefully overcome. I ask your attention to the claim of the
minister residing there for the damages he sustained in the destruction by
fire of the residence of the legation at Yedo.
Satisfactory arrangements have been made with the Emperor of Russia,
which, it is believed, will result in effecting a continuous line of
telegraph through that Empire from our Pacific coast.
I recommend to your favorable consideration the subject of an
international telegraph across the Atlantic Ocean, and also of a telegraph
between this capital and the national forts along the Atlantic seaboard
and the Gulf of Mexico. Such communications, established with any
reasonable outlay, would be economical as well as effective aids to the
diplomatic, military, and naval service.
The consular system of the United States, under the enactments of the last
Congress, begins to be self-sustaining, and there is reason to hope that
it may become entirely so with the increase of trade which will ensue
whenever peace is restored. Our ministers abroad have been faithful in
defending American rights. In protecting commercial interests our consuls
have necessarily had to encounter increased labors and responsibilities
growing out of the war. These they have for the most part met and
discharged with zeal and efficiency. This acknowledgment justly includes
those consuls who, residing in Morocco, Egypt, Turkey, Japan, China,
and other Oriental countries, are charged with complex functions and
extraordinary powers.
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 much 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 definitive answer to the proposition
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 a 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.