Sioux City register. [volume] (Sioux City, Iowa) 1858-1871, 1864-06-04

ExEcUrIvE MANSION,
WASHINGTON, April "a, 1864.


WAsHlSsroS, April "a, 1864.
A. G. Hodges, Esq Frankfort, Ky:
MY DEAR SiK-You ask me to put in
writing the substance Of what verbally
said the other day in your presence 70
Governor Bramlet,e and Senator Dixon.
1t was abou. as follows:
am naturally anti.s'avery. If slavery
is not wrong, nothing is wrong. Icannot
remember, when did not so think and
feel. And yet, l have never understood
that the presidency conferred on me unre
stricted right to act officially upon this
judgment and feeling 1t was in the oath
| took, that l would to the very best Of
my ability, preserve, protect and defend
the Constitution Of the United States. |
could not take The Office without taking
the oath. Nor was it my view tha: might
take sr oath to get power, and break the
oath IN using the power. understood,
too, that in ordinary civil administration
this oath even forbade me to practically
indulge in primary. abstract judgment on
the moral question Of slavery. Ihad pub
licly declared this many times. and in
many ways. And I aver that, to this day,
have done no official act in mere defer
ence to my abstract judgment and feeling
on slavery.
l did not understand, however, that my
oath to preserve the Constitution to the
best Of my ability, imposed upon me the
duty Of preserving, by every indispensable
means, that Government-ths, nation, of
which that Constitution was the organic
law. Was it possible to lose tho nation,
and yet preserve the Constitution ?
By general law, life aud limb must be
protected; yet often limb must be am.
putated to save life, but life is never
wisely given to save q limb. felt that
measures, otherwise Constitutional, might
become lawful, by becoming indispensable
to preserve the Constitution, through the
preservation Of the nation. Righ. or
wrong, l assume this ground, and now
avow it. / could not feel, tha. to the bes.
of my ability had even tried to preserve
the Constitution. ii, to save slavery, or
any minor matter, I should permit the
wreck of Government, country and Con.
sti,ution altogether.
When early in the war, Gen. Fremont
attempted military emancipation, forbade
it, because did not then think it an TO-.
dispensab|e necessity. When, a little later,
Gen. Cameron, then Secretary Of War,
suggested the arming Of the blacks, I oh.
jected to it; because did not yet think
it an indispensable necessity. When,
stil! later, Gen. Hunter attempted military
emancipation, aeai'. forbade it; because
did no. yet think the indispensable ne
cessity had come.
When, in March, and May, and July,
1862, made earnest and successive 40.
peals to the border States to favor com.
pensated emancipation, AID arminp the
blacks would come unless averted by that
measure They declined the proposition;
and was, in my judgment, driven to the
alternative, Of either surrendering the
Union, and with it, the Constitution, or of
laying strong hands upon the colored ele-
meot. choose the latter. In chosing it.
hoped for greater gain than loss; but of
this | was not entirely confident. More
than year of trial now shows no loss by
it IN our foreign relations; none in our
home popular sentiment; none ia our
white military iorce-no loss BY it any
how, or any where. On the contrary, i,
shows u gain of quite 10000 soldiers,
seamen and laborers. These are palpable
facts, about which, as facts, there can be
no caviling. We have the men, and We
could not have had them without the
measure.
And now, let any Union man, who com.
plains Of he measures, test himself BY
writing down in one line, that he is for
subduing the rebellion by force of arms.
and the next. that he is for taking these
10000 men from the Union side, aud plsc.
ing them where they would be, but for the
measure he condemns. II he cannot face
his cause so stated, it il only because he
cannot face the truth.
adi . word. which was not in the yer.
bal conversation. In telling this tale. /
ATTEMPT no compliment to my own sapac.
i.y. 1claim not to have controlled events,
but confess plainly that events have con.
troIled me. Now, At the end of three
years struggle. the nations condition is
not what either party or any man devised
or expected. God alone can claim it,
Whittier it is tending seems plain. If
God now Wills tho removal Of a great
wrong, and wills also tha, We Of the North.
~ we'll as you Of the South, shall nav
fairly for our completely in that wrong,
impartial history will find therein new
causes to attest and review the Justice
and goodness Of God.
Yours trsly. 4 > LINCOLN.