Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1862-03-12
Special Messase Of The President 10 Congress.


Fellou Citizens Of The Senate and House
Of Representatives:
/ | recommend the adoption Of joint
resolution by your honorable bodies which
shall be substantially rs follows:
Resolgea, That the United States ought
to cooperate with any State which may
adopt 4 gradual adjustment of slavery,
hggigiugsto such State pecnniary aid to be
u.s. by such State in its discretion to
compensate for the Inconvenience, pnblic
and private, produced by such change Of
system.
If the proposition contained in the reso
luton does not meet tne approval Of Con-
gress aud the country, there is the end !;
BUT if it does command such approval,
deem ii of Importance that the States and
people Immediately interested should be at
once distinctly notified Of the fact, SO that
they may begin to consider whether to ac-
cept or reject it. The Federal Govern
ment would find its highest interest in
such measure as one of the most efficient
measures of seIfpreseryation. The lead
ers Of existing Instruction entertain the
hope that the Government viii ultimately
be forced to acknowledge the independence
of some part of the disaffected region, and
that all the slave States north Of such
points viii then say the Union for which
we have struggled being already gone, we
now choose to 90 with them. To deprive
them of this hope, substantially ends the
rebellion, and the initiating Of emaacifa-
ton completely depriyes them of it as to
all the Stftes initiating. The point is net
that all the States tolerating slavery would
very soon, if at all, initiate emancipation,
but that while the offer is equally made to
all, the more northern shall by such inilia-
tine, make it certain to the more Southern
that in no event shall the former join the
latter in their proposed Confederacy.
say "initiating." because in my judg-
ment gradual, and not sudden, emancipa-
ton is better for all. In the mere fina1-
cial or pecuniary view, any member of
Congress, with the census tables and the
Treasury reports before him, can readily
see for himself how very soon the current
expenditures Of the war would purchase, at
fair valuation, all the slaves in any named
State.
Such a proposition on the part Of the
general Government acts upon CLAIM or
right by Federal authority To intelfsre with
slavery within State limits, referring, as it
does, the absolute control Of the subject in
each case to the State and its people inn
mediately interested. II is proposed as
matter Of perfectly free choice with them.
In the annual message last December, |
thought fit to say the Union must be pre-
served, and hence all indisr ensible means
must be employed. | said this not hasti-
", but deliberately. War bias been, and
continues to be, an indispensable means to
this end. A practical ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Of the national authority would render tue
war unnecessary. and it would al once
cease. If, however, resistance continues,
the war must also continue; and it is inn
possible to foresee all the incidents which
may attend, and all the ruin which may
follow. Such &c may seem indispensable,
or may obviously premise greater efficiency
towards ending the struggle, must and will
come.
The proposition now made is an cifer
only, hope it may be esteemed no offense
to ask whether the pecuniary consideration
rendered would not be of more value to
The States and private persons concerned
than are the institution and property in it,
in the present aspect Of affairs ! While it
is true that adoption Of the proposed res
olution would be merely initiatory, and
not within itself practical measure, it is
recommended in the hope that it would
sooner lead to important results.
In full view of my great responsibility
% my God and to my country | earnestly
beg the attention of Congress and the PEG
l,ie TO the subject
Signed ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
Washington, March 6.