The Burlington weekly hawk-eye. [volume] (Burlington [Iowa]) 1860-1876, 1863-07-11
to impossible to repel Che inference that he

to impossible to repel the inference that he
has counseled directly in favor of it.
With all this before their eyes, the Con-
vention you represent have nominated Mr..
Vallandigham for Governor of Ohio; and
both they and you have declared the pur-
pose to sustain the National Union by all
constitutional means. But of course they
and you, in common, reserve to yourselves
10 decide what are constitutional means,
and, unlike the Albany meeting, you omit
to state or intimate that in your opinion an
army is constitutional means of saving
the Union against rebellion. or even to
intimate that you are conscious of an ex-
lsting rebellion being in progress with the
avowed object of destroying that very
Union. At the same time your nominee
for Governor, in whose behalf you appear,
is known to you and to the world to declare
against the use of an army to suppress the
rebellion. Your own attitude, therefore,
encourages desertion, resistance to the
draft, and the like, because it teaches
those who incline to desert and escape the
draft, to believe it is your purpose to pro-
| tect them, and to hope that you will become
strong enough to do so. After personal
intercourse, with you, gentlemen OF the
| committee, l cannot say l think you de-
sire this effect to follow your attitude; but
| assure you that both friends and enemies
of the Union look upon it in this light. IL
4
a real strength to the enemy. 1t is false
hope, and one which you would willingly
dispel. will make the way exceedingly
easy. ! send you duplicates of this letter.
in order that you, or majority OF you, may,
| if you choose, indorse your names upon
one of them, and return it thus Endorsed to
me, with the understanding that those
signing are thereby committed to the fol-
lowing propositions, and nothing else:
| l. That there is now a rebellion in the
United States, the object and tendency of
which is to destroy the national Union; and
that in your opinion an army and navy
are constitutional means of suppressing the
| rebellion.
| 2. That no one of you will do anything
which, in his own Judgment, will tend to
hinder the increase or favor the decrease,
or lessen the efficiency of the army or navy
while engaged in the effort to suppress that
rebellion; and,
8. That each of you will, in his sphere,
do all he can to have the officers, soldiers
and seamen of the army and navy, while
engaged in the effort to suppress the rebel
lion, paid, fed, clad, and otherwise well
| provided and supported.
And with the further understanding that
upon receiving the letters and names thus
endorsed, will cause them to be publish
ed, which publication shall be, within itself,
! a revocation Of the order in relation to Mr..
Vallandigham.
1t will not escape observation that con-
sent to the release of Mr.. Vallandigham
upon terms not embracing any pledge from
him or from others, as to what he will or
| will not do. do this because he is not
present to speak for himself, or to authorize
| others to speak for him; and hence, shall
expect that, on returning, he would not
put himself practically in antagonism with
the position Of his friends. But 1 do it
chiefly because I thereby prevail on other
influential men Of Ohio to SO define their
position as to be of immense value to the
army-thus more than compensating for
the consequences of any mistake in allow
ing Mr.. Vallandigham to return, so that
on the whole the public safety will not have
suffered by it. Still, in regard to Mr.. Val
landigham and all others, mast hereaf-
ter, as heretofore, do so much as the public
service may seem to require.
/ have the honor to be respectfully yours,
etc., A. LINCOLN.