The Papers And Writings Of Abraham Lincoln
Chapter 261 : I am always for the man who wishes to work; and I shall be glad for this man to get su

I am always for the man who wishes to work; and I shall be glad for this man to get suitable employment at Cavalry Depot, or elsewhere.

A. LINCOLN.

TO H. J. RAYMOND.

EXECUTIVE MANSION WAs.h.i.+NGTON, August 15, 1864

HON. HENRY J. RAYMOND.

MY DEAR SIR:--I have proposed to Mr. Greeley that the Niagara correspondence be published, suppressing only the parts of his letters over which the red pencil is drawn in the copy which I herewith send. He declines giving his consent to the publication of his letters unless these parts be published with the rest. I have concluded that it is better for me to submit, for the time, to the consequences of the false position in which I consider he has placed me, than to subject the country to the consequences of publis.h.i.+ng these discouraging and injurious parts. I send you this, and the accompanying copy, not for publication, but merely to explain to you, and that you may preserve them until their proper time shall come.

Yours truly,

A. LINCOLN.

TELEGRAM TO GENERAL U. S. GRANT.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, WAs.h.i.+NGTON, August 17, 1864.

LIEUTENANT-GENERAL GRANT, City Point, Va.:

I have seen your despatch expressing your unwillingness to break your hold where you are. Neither am I willing. Hold on with a bulldog grip, and chew and choke as much as possible.

A. LINCOLN.

PROCLAMATION CONCERNING COMMERCIAL REGULATIONS, AUGUST 18, 1864.

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA:

A Proclamation.

Whereas the act of Congress of the 28th of September, 1850, ent.i.tled "An act to create additional collection districts in the State of California, and to change the existing districts therein, and to modify the existing collection districts in the United States," extends to merchandise warehoused under bond the privilege of being exported to the British North American provinces adjoining the United States, in the manner prescribed in the act of Congress of the 3d of March, 1845, which designates certain frontier ports through which merchandise may be exported, and further provides "that such other ports, situated on the frontiers of the United States adjoining the British North American provinces, as may hereafter be found expedient, may have extended to them the like privileges, on the recommendation of the Secretary of the Treasury, and proclamation duly made by the President of the United States, specially designating the ports to which the aforesaid privileges are to be extended."

Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States of America, in accordance with the recommendation of the Secretary of the Treasury, do hereby declare and proclaim that the port of Newport, in the State of Vermont, is and shall be ent.i.tled to all the privileges in regard to the exportation of merchandise in bond to the British North American provinces adjoining the United States, which are extended to the ports enumerated in the seventh section of the act of Congress of the 3d of March, 1845, aforesaid, from and after the date of this proclamation.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed. Done at the city of Was.h.i.+ngton, this eighteenth day of August, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, and of the independence of the United States of America, the eighty-ninth.

A. LINCOLN.

By the President: WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State.

INDORs.e.m.e.nT CONCERNING AN EXCHANGE OF PRISONERS, AUGUST 18, 1864.

If General Hitchc.o.c.k can effect a special exchange of Thomas D. Armesy, now under conviction as a spy, or something of the sort, and in prison at for Major Nathan Goff, made a prisoner of war, and now in prison at Richmond, let it be done.

A. LINCOLN.

ADDRESS TO THE 164TH OHIO REGIMENT,

AUGUST 18, 1864.

SOLDIERS:--You are about to return to your homes and your friends, after having, as I learn, performed in camp a comparatively short term of duty in this great contest. I am greatly obliged to you, and to all who have come forward at the call of their country. I wish it might be more generally and universally understood what the country is now engaged in.

We have, as all will agree, a free government, where every man has a right to be equal with every other man. In this great struggle, this form of government and every form of human right is endangered if our enemies succeed. There is more involved in this contest than is realized by every one. There is involved in this struggle, the question whether your children and my children shall enjoy the privileges we have enjoyed. I say this, in order to impress upon you, if you are not already so impressed, that no small matter should divert us from our great purpose.

There may be some inequalities in the practical application of our system.

It is fair that each man shall pay taxes in exact proportion to the value of his property; but if we should wait, before collecting a tax, to adjust the taxes upon each man in exact proportion with every other man, we should never collect any tax at all. There may be mistakes made sometimes; and things may be done wrong, while the officers of the Government do all they can to prevent mistakes. But I beg of you, as citizens of this great Republic, not to let your minds be carried off from the great work we have before us. This struggle is too large for you to be diverted from it by any small matter. When you return to your homes, rise up to the height of a generation of men worthy of a free government, and we will carry out the great work we have commenced. I return to you my sincere thanks, soldiers, for the honor you have done me this afternoon.

TELEGRAM TO GENERAL BUTLER. EXECUTIVE MANSION, WAs.h.i.+NGTON, D. C., August 20, 1864.

MAJOR-GENERAL BUTLER, Bermuda Hundred, Va.:

Please allow Judge Snead to go to his family on Eastern Sh.o.r.e, or give me some good reason why not.

A. LINCOLN.

ADDRESS TO THE 166TH OHIO REGIMENT,

AUGUST 22, 1864.

SOLDIERS--I suppose you are going home to see your families and friends.

For the services you have done in this great struggle in which we are engaged, I present you sincere thanks for myself and the country.