The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1864-01-16

% may Be- hscssssry for the comfort and
we'll being Of our soldiers.
very earnestly recommend that some
systematic mode Of furnishing aid to the
needy families Of our soldiers be adopt
ed. Whether this can be best done BY
moneys furnished By the State and distrib-
uted by persons appointed hy the State
or through the instrnmentality Of local
Aid Societies, the work should be done ia
some way, and have no doubt your wis
dom win ascertain and adopt the proper
mode.
The Office of the Adjutant General has,
since the commencement of TIKI war, been,
and still is, very Important one. The
labor and responsibility Of III L Adjutant
General have been very great The la
Dor has always been we'll an i PROMPTLY
performed and the responsibility cheer
fully borne. The books of the Office are
well systemized and kept in most excel
lent condition. They embodt a mass of
information in a neat and accessible form
tina: will, in the future, be highly useful
to our soldiers and their friends and to
the State. Itaffords me great pleasure to
say that much of whatever success has
attended the raising and organization Of
troops in this State is due to the efficient
services of the present incumbent of that
Office. The compensation now allowed
BY law is, in my judgment, wholly mad
equats, and recommend the increase Of
/ salary to the sum of two thp usand dol
lars per annum, with m allowance for
travelling and other extraordinary ex-
peDses.
NATIONAL AFFAIRS.
| cannot close this communication, and
with it my official connection with the
people Of our State, without adverting to
the condition Of national affairs in which
We are SO deeply and so vitality interested.
The war for the destruction of the
Union ON the one hand, and for its pres
eryation on the other, still goes on. Dur
| ing the present year the successes of the
Union armies have been so numerous and
so important that the public mind appears
to have settled down into the belief that
our ultimate suceese is certain and moi
far distant and is now, to some extent,
occupied with the question of reconstruc-
ton, so called-the question as to the
manner in which. and the terms and con-
ditions upon which, the people within The
territory composing the rebel States can
again take part with the people OF the
loyal States. in administering the affairs
of the General Government
The President has recently issued a
Proclamation to the people of the rebel
States, in which he proposes to them
such terms aud conditions as, in hifjudg-
ment, are right and proper. He proposes
in substance, that as soon alb 4 number
Of the voting population OF any one oil
those States, equal to one-tensh of the
entire voting population of the State, az
shown at the last Presidential election,
shall take an oath. the form of which is
prescribed. aud shall establish new gov
eminent, Republican in form, and consis-
tent with the terms of the prescribed oath,
such government shall be recognized as
the true government Of thes Slate, and
protected as such.
The terms Of the prescribed oath are.
that the party taking it Evil heneeforlh
faithfully support, protect an 4 defend the
Constitution of the United States and the
union of the States thereundd r and will
10 like manner. abide BY and faith full,
support all acts of Congress passed du.
ring the existing rebellion with reference
to slaves, so long and SO far as not re.
pealed. mosifed, or held bid by Con-
gress, or by decision Of the Supreme
Court; and will, in like manner, abide
| BY and faithfully support all proclama-
tions OF the President made during the
existing rebellion having reference to
slaves, so long and so far as bot modified
or declared void By decision of the su-
preme Court.
Certain persons, that is DO say, cal
who are or shall have been civil or dplo.
matte officers or agents of the so-called
Confederate Government; all who have
| left judicial stations under the United
States to aid the rebellion all who are
or shall have been military Or naval off
GERS of said so-calied Confederate Gov
eminent, above the rank of Colonel in
the army, or of Lieutenant in the navy ;
all who left seats in the U nited States
Congress to aid the rebellion; all who
resigned commissions in the army and
navy of the T. States, and afterwards
aided in the rebellion and all who have
engaged in any way, in treating colored
persons, or white persons in charge of
such, otherwise than lawfully as prisoners
Of war, and which persons may have
been found in the United States service
as soldiers, seamen, or in any other ca
pacHy," are excepted from the benefits
Of the Proclamation; all others, comply
ing with the terms and conditions, have
extended to them full pardon with
restoration of all rights of property except
as to slaves and in property cases where
rights of third parties shall have inter-
vened."
The President, in his Proclamation,
| further declares 'sthat any provision
which may be adopted By such State Gov
ernmeut in relation to the freed people
of such State, which shall recognize and
declare their permanent freedom, provide
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