, 1863-10-26
THE MISSOURI QUESTION.
Reply Of President Lincoln to the
Missouri Delegation.
INSTRUCTIONS TO GEN,
SCRoFlELpx

INSTRUCTIONS TO CEN. |
ScRoFlELp.
Address Of G. D. Drake, Chairman Of |
the Delegation.
THE PRESIDENTS LETTER.
EXECUTIVE MAKs1oA.
WAsHuo7ox, Oct. s, 1903.
Hon- Charles D. Drake aud others, Committee:
eented on the 30th ultimo, aud the four sup- |
pit mentary oneB presented on the Sd instant, |
have been carefully considered. / hope ron |
Will regard the other duties c1aiming my at |
tention, together with the great length and |
importance Of these documents, as coustttu. |
ting sufficient apology for my not having
These papers, framed for common object,
consist Of the things demanded, and the rea-
sons far demanding ttem.
The tbfrgs demanded are
Fi1st. That Gen Scnofeld shall be reliev-
ed, and General Butler be appointed as Com
mapder Of The Military Department Of Mis-.
eou1i.
second. That the system Of Enrolled Nj
utia In Missouri may be broken up, aud na~
tiopal forces be subsuted for t; and
Third. That at elections. persons NAV not
be allowed to vote who arenot entitled bylsT
to do so.
Among the reaeons giyen, enough Of suffer-
Ing md wrong to Uaion men, il certainly,
6uppoee, truly stated. Yet the whole case as
presented, tails to convince me that General
Schofle}d, or the Enrolled Militia, IL respoasi-
ble for that suffering ard wrong. The whole
can be explained on more charitable, and as
think, more rational hypothesis
eare In civil war. In such Cases there
alKays is nlain question; but In this case
that question Is perple1tng compound
Union aud slavery. It thus becomes ques-
lion not of two sides merely, but Of at least
four sides, even among those who arc for The
against it. Thus, thote who are for tho Union
with, but not without slaVery-thoee for 1t
without but net with-those for 1t with or
without, but prefer 1t with, and those for It
with or without, but prefer It without.
Among these again Is a subdivision Of those
who are for gradual, but not for Immediate,
and those who are for immediate, but not for
gradual extinction Of slavery.
It is easy the conceive that Ill these shades
Of opinion and even more, may he sincerely
entertained by honest and truthful men. Tet,
all being for the Union, by reason Of these
sustaining, the Union. At once. sincerity is
questioned, and motives are assailed Actual
war coming, blood grows hot, and blood is
spilled. Thought Is forced from old channels
Confidence dies, and universal suspicion
reigns. Each man feels an impulse to Kill
his neighbor, lest he be killed By him. Re-
verge and retaliation will follow. And all
this, as before said, may be among honest
men only. But this Is not all. Every foul
These add crime to confusion. Strong mea-
hu1es deemed Indispensable, but harsh at
best. such men make worse, By mnl -admfnie.
traticn. Murders for old .grutges. and mur-
ders tor pef proceed under any cloak that
will best cover for the occasion.
These causes amply account for what has
occurred in Missouri, without aecribing it to
the Weakness OF w1ckedness Of any General
The newspaper files, those chronicles Of cur.
rent events, viii skor that the evils now
complained Of were quite as prevalent under
Fremont, Hunter, Halleck and Curtis, as un-
der Schofe1d. II fthe former had greater force
opposed to them they had also greater force
with which to meet it. When the organized
rebel army LETT the state, the main Federal
force had to 60 also, leaving the Department
commander at home relatively no stronger
than before. Without disparagtug any at.
firm with confidence that no Commander Of
that Department has, according to his means,
done better than General Scho1eld.
The fret specific charge against General
| Schofeld fe, that the enrolled militia WAS
| placed under his command, whereas It had not
| been placed under the command Of General
Curtis. The hct I believe Is true, but you do
| not point ont, nor can conceive hoT that
did or could ipju1e loyal men, or tha Union
cause.
Yon charge that upon General Curtis being
superseded By General schodeld, franklin A
| Dick was superseded By James Q. Broadhead,
MS Provost Marahal General. No very spe
cjflc showing Is made as to hox this did o.
could Inju1e the Union cause. It treca1s how.
ever the condition Of thinge, a. presented to
me. which led to a change ofCommauder 70,
that Department.
10 restrain contraband intelligence and
trade, system Of searches. seizures, permits
and passes had been introduced. I thlok. By
General Fremont. When General Hallecs
came, he found and continued this system
ond added an orner applicable to some partt
from noted rebels, to compensate losses, and
relieve destitution caused BY the rebellion
The aciiou of General Fremont and General
Halleck, as stated, constituted . sort Of sys
TEN which General Curtis found In fall oper
alton when he took command Of the Depart
ment. That there vas necessity for some
thing Of the sort WIS clear; but that it wat
liable to great abuse In administration VIZ
equally clear Ag:nt5 to execute It, contrar.
. | to the great Prayer, we're led into tempta
ticn. Some might, while others would no
resist the temptation. It was not possible te
. /
those yielding to the temptation would Sci
permits and p1sees to those who would pa,
most, and most tadily for them; and woult
seize property md collect levies IN the aptes
war to fill their 0 o~n pockets. Money beln{
The 9bject, he man hsSieg money, "heths I29
practice doubtless existed to some extent
and it WAS real additional evil, that It coul.
be, and Was plautiblY charged to exist II
greater extent than 1t did
When Gen. Curtis took command Of the De
!. partment, Mr. Dick, against whom I neye
knew anything to alleee, had general charg
Of this system. A controversy In regard to /
| rapId!Y grew into almost unulAnageAble pro
portions. One side IGNORED the necessity, an,
mognified the evils Of the system; while tn
other ignored the evils and magnifed th
necessity; and each bitterly. assalled tn
motives Of the other. could not fail to se
that the controversy enlarged in the same Pre-
portions as the prote6sed UEion men the1
distinctly toek Sides In two opposing politics
PARTIES. exhausted my wits, and very nearl
ny patience, also, In efforts to convince bot
that the evils they charged on each other wer
inherent In the case, and could not be cure
by giving geither party victory over the othe1
Plainly the ir1itatlng system was not to
J perl etuated; and it was p1susibly urged tha
, It could be modified at once with advantage
it could be made better could only be detel
| m}ced by a trial. In this view and not to b.
Tor brand General Curtis, or to give q victor
to any party, made the change Of Con
mander for the Department. I learn tbs
toon after this chsnge Mr.. Dick was removed
and that Mr. Broadhead, = gentleman Of n
lees good character, WAS put 10 the place. III
: mere tact Of this change Ia mo:e distinct
complained OF Than IN any conduct Of th
new officer, or other consequence Of til
change. ...-
Igaye the new commander no instruction
1 r{1,3e 4rnffn Inn nf "a m
| yAte Letter, afterwards sur1eptit0usly pot
lashed, in which directed him to act sole.
, | for tie public good, and independently {
both ra1ftes. Neither anything you have pre
se1ted me, nor anything hare otaerwls
haired, has convinced me that he has bee
urfalihfu1 to this charge.
: Imbecility Is urged as one cause for reno
: irg Gen. Schofeld, and the late massacre,
Lawrence, Kansas, ia pressed IS evidence {
: that imbecility. TO my mind, that fat
scarcely tends to prove the proposition. Th
massacre Is only an example Of Whist Grie
Eop, John Morgan, and many others, m1gt
haye repeatedly done on their respsctlE
I raids, had they choee to incur the person.
: haza1d, and possessed the fendish hearts
! do 1t.
y purpose toprotect the. Lawrence murderer
. would not allow them to be pursued int
Missouri While no punishment conld b
too euddtn, or too severe for theze murder
: ers, I am well satisfied that the pEeTeatinE {
A the threatened remedial raid into Missout
was the only safe nay to avoid an indiscrIu
iuate massacre there, including probab!
, more innocent than guilty. Instead Of col
demning, I therefore approve what nnde