, 1863-10-25
THE MISSOURI QUESTION.
Reply Of President Lincoln to the
Missouri Delegation.
INSTRUCTIONS TO GEN.
SCHOFtEL0.
Address Of C. D. Drake, Chairman Of
the Delegation.
TIE PRESIDENTS LETTER.
EXECUTIVE MANsI0N. |
WAsr1tE1Tng Oct f. 13{f3

WILL regard tle olutr QutI@a ClAlku% 43 d..
tentiep, together With the great length and
Importance Of these documents, as constttu.
ting q: sufficient apology for my not having
responded sooner. L..
The Sc papers, framed for a common object,
eoneist of the things demanded. md the res
sops far demanding them.
The th1rgb demanded are
Fret. T1st Gen. schof1eld shall be reliev-
ed. and Geueral Bn,ler be appolnted as Com
mender Of the Military Department Of Mis-
tour1.
Utia In Missouri nay ba broken up, and Il.
tIoral forces be substited for t; and
Third. That at elections, persons may not
be allowed to vote who are not entitled bylaw
TO do 30.
Amcng the reasons given, enough Of suffer.
irg and wrong to Union men, IL certainly,
PRESENTED, fails to convince me that General
Scbofleld, or the Enrolled Militia, is resroosl-
BILE for that suffering and wrong. Tho whole
can be explained on n more charitable, aud Us
Ttbink, more rational hypotheaia.
We are in civil war. In such cascs tha.c
that question ts u perpleSing co:apuuA3-
Union ard slavery. It thus becomes ques-,
ton not Of two ki1es merely, bnE Of at lesst
four sidcs, even among thoso who ere for the
Union, saying nothing Of those who are
against 1t. Thus, tho1e who arc for The Union
u. ~
without but not wilh-thosa for it with or
without, brit prefer 1t with, and those faT It
with or without, bnt prefer itwithons.-
Among these again fs d subdivision OF those
who are Tor gradual, but rot for Immediate,
and thofe uhoare for immediate, but not for
gradrsl extinction Of slavery.
It Is easy the conceive that Ill these Strides
of opinion aud eyen more, may be- sincerely
entertained By hoDeat and truthful men. fet,
all being for the Union. by reason Of these
differences, each will prefer different way Of
sustaining the Urion. At ones, s{ncerity Is
questioned, and motives ore atRatied Actual
WAT coniIg. blood grows lot, and blood u
spilled. Thought il forced from old channels
into confusion. Deception breede pnd thriyss.
Confidence dies, and universal suspicion
1eigns. Each man feels m impulse 10 kill
his reighbor, lest he be Killed By hiul. Rc,
yerEs and re1aliaticn Will tollow. And all
this, as btfors said, may be among honest
men only. But this is not all. Every foul
bird comes abroad, and every reptile rises up.
The6o add crime TO confusion. Strong n.ea-
6ureE deemed Indispensable, but harsh at
best euch men make worse, by mal-adntnis-
traslcn. Murders for old ,gfutses. ana mar.
dtrs tor pelf proceed undor. aay cloak that
will best cover for the occasion.
Tbcsc causes amply account for What has
occurred in Aizeour5, without ascribiuE 1t to
the Weakness or wickcdness Of any General
The newspaper tiles, those chronicles fear.
complained Of we're quite IS prevalent under
Fremont, Hunter, Haileck and Curtis, as un-
der SchGtleld. II the former had greater force
opposed to them they had also greater force
with which to meet 1t. When the organized
rebel army lett tht state, the main Federal
CT mnander at home relatively no stronger
than before. Without dlsFaragtng any af.
firm with confidence that no commander Of
that Department has, ACCORDING. to his means,
done better than General schotleld.
The flrst specific charge against General
EchoGeld 8F, fhst the enrolled militia was
placed under lila command, whereas 1t had not
! bten placed under the command Of General
Curtis. The fact believe true, but You do
| net point out, nor can conceive hoW that
did or could ilju1e loyal men, Or the Union
| Cause
You charge that upon General Curtis being
superseded by General Schotield, Franklin a.
Dick wae superseded By James O Bfoadhead,
! as Provost Marshal General. No very spa.
| clflc showing is made as to how this did or
con'd infure the uuion cauee, It recalts how
ever the condition Of things, as presented to
me,'xhieh led 70 change ofcommander fur
that Department.
To restrain contraband intelligence and
trade, 4 syttem Of feearches, seizures, permits,
| and passes bad been introduced; I thick, By
General Fremont. When General Halleck
came, he found and continued this system,
l
| of the State, 10 levyaad collect contributions
| frcm noted rebels, to compensate losses, and
| re1ieye de6tttution caused BY the rebellion.
| The action of General Fremont and General
H11lgck, IS stated, constituted sort Of sys.
TEN which General Curtis found in full opar.
| alton ~hen he took command Of the Depart
| mcnt. That there was 4 necessity for some.
thing ofthe sort vas clear; but that 1t was
liable to great abuse In aa1niulssration was
equally clear: Ag .nts to execute It, contrary
10 the great Prayer, were led into tempta
ton. Some might, while others would moi
resist the temptation. It was not possible TO
told any to very strict accountability ani
those yielding to the temptation would so;
permits and paEses to those who would pay
r4cst, and n: ost RI adiIy for theu,; and wonle
way to fiji their own pockets. Money being
the object, the man having money, whethe
loyal or GIsloJal, wouid be victim. Thi
practice doubtltss existed to some extent
uud it was real additional evil, that It coult
be, ald vas plausibly charged to exist Il
grrster extent than 1t did.
When Gen. CnrtIs took command Of the DE-
partnent, Mr. Dick. against whom neye
knew anything to alleEe, had general chang
of this SYSTEM A controversy in regard to i
rapidly grew into sla1oat numanageAb1e pro
portions. One side ignored the necessity, ant
mogn!fed the evils Of the System; while tn
other ignored the evils and magnifed th
necessity; and each bitterly assatled tn
motives Of the other. I could not fail to Sc
that the controversy enlarged In the same pro
portions as the professed Union men :her
distinctly took Eioes in two opposing po>itica
parties. I 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, aud could not be cure
by giving either party victory over the othe,
perretusted; and Il was rllnsibl5 urged ths
It could be modified at oncc with advantage
The case could scarcely be worse, aud Hhethe
!! It could be made better could only be detel
. mined by . trial: In this view aud not to ba
or brand General Curtis, or to give victor
to any psry, made the change Of Coz
! mander for the Department. / now learn tha
; eoon after this change 1fr. Dick was remover
and that Mr. B-oadhead, gentleman Of n
} lees good character, was put Ia tha place. TIL
mere TACT Of this change is'more distinctl
complained OF than in any conduct of til
| new officer, or other consequence OF th
change.
1gaEe the new commander 10 Instruction
| as to tie administration Of the System meI
TONED, btyord what is contained in the pt
vate letter, afterwards surreptItiously pull
lislcd, in which directed hin to &c. so1e'
both Ea11iee. Neither anything you have pr
eented me, nor auytht: have otherWis
learned, has convinced me that he has bee
i npfai:lfal to this charge.
, Iubecl1ity is urged IS one cause for rem1I
irg Gen. scbofe1d, and the late massacre, :
, that imbeci1ity. 10 my mind, that fat
scarcely tends to prove the proposition. Thz
: masasc1e is only an example Of what Grie
: eop, John Morgan, and many others, u1igt
have repeatedly done Oh their respec.tV
raids. had :hey chose 70 incur tho persont
:, The charge Is made that Gen. schoaeld, o
purpoee to protect the Lawrence murderer
: would not allow them to be pursued Int
Missouri. While no punfshment could b
t too eudden, or too severe for these murder
. ers, I am we'll satisfied THAT the preventing Q
. the Threatened remedial raid into Missouri
, was the only safe way to avoid IN indiscsim
irate massacre there, including probabl
more innocent than guilty. Instead Of cor
! stand Gen. Schofe1d did In that respect.
{ The charges that General Schndeld has pu!
: | pceelT withheld protection from loyal peOpl'
3 md purpoEely facilitated the objects Of Il
) disloyal, are altogether beyond my power {
af S % 1Sa 1St cs ssfg1 ias ys51ety Of e
/ more ttan question the Judgment Whlc
! would Infer that those facts occurred In a
c co1dance with the purposes Of General s HI
; field.
/ remove General schotield- In this | dectd
e nothing against General Bntler. sincerel
wish It 1ere convenient to assign him
6 | suitable command.
, In order to meet some existing evils. hay
) addressed a letter Of instructions to Gener
: schofeld. copy OF which enclose yon. 4
: to the IS Enrolled Militia," shall endcayt
: to asce1tain better than now know, what
/ it, exact value. Let me say now, howeTe
!, | -that your proposal to substitute nation
!. force for the s' Enrolled Milltia,'' implies tn
e in your Judgment the LATTER Is doing som
q thing which needs to be done; and II SO, Il
$ proposition to throw that force away, and
1 supply its place BY bringing other forces fso