Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1864-06-04
A Letter by the President.

We publish below a letter Of President
Lincoln TO Col. Hodges, editor of the Ken
lucky Commonwealth, giving the substance of
a conversation had with Governor Bra.nlett,
of Kentucky, explaining the difficulties that
surrounded him in his efforts 10 PIT down the
rebellion. We hope all who are disposed to
blame the President for the course he has pur-
sued, will give the letter a careful perusal.
The magnanimous and chivalric Kcntuckians
have no doubt read it with great attention
md interest, and they are now giving unmis.
taxable evidence that they are convinced
they have done Mr.. Lincoln injustice, in
consequence of not properly approaching the
cmbarrassmcnts that surrounded him upon
the slavery question.
We would commend the letter to the
special att .ntion of democrats" in this
country, who arc now engaged in denouncing
the President for the course he has. pursued,
more especially upon the Slavery question.
Still it matters but little what interested poll
%ticians may say in depreciation of his course,
SO long as the great body of honest yeoman-
ry of the country stand by him, as they mani
testify are now doing every where else, if they
are not doing it there in Washington Territory.
But we believe the result of tho election now
pending in this Territory will show that a
majority of the people approve his course.
and are disposed to rally to the support ofhis
Administration. Nothing has yet occurred to
shake our confidence in the honesty of pur-
pose Of the masses of the people; and although
they may be led astray by artful. designing
demagogues, their keen perception of right
and wrong never fails to bring them into the
right path, from which in an unguarded mo-
mcnt they may have siraycd.
EXECUTIVE MANSION.
WASHINGTON, -. c., April 4.
A. G. HODGES, ESD, Ea1hfort, Ken
tncky-M Dear Sir: You ask me to put in
writing the substance of what | verbally said.
the other day, in your presence, to Governor
Bramlctte and Senator Dixon. 1t was about
as follows:
l am naturally anti-s!avcry. If slavery is
not wrong, nothing is wrong. l cannot re-
member when | did not so think and feel.
And yet, l have never understood that the
Presidency conferred upon me an unrcstrict.
cd light to act officially upon this judgement
and feeling. 1t was in the oath I took, that
l would to the best of my ability preserve,
protect and defend the Constitution of the
United States. / coull not take the office
without taking the oath. Nor was it my
view, that l might take an oath to get power,
and break the oath in using the power. l
understood, too, that, in ordinary civil adj
ministration this oath even forbade me to
practically indulge my primary, abstract
Judgment on the moral question of slavery.
| had publicly declared this many times, and
in many ways. And l aver that, to this day,
| have lone no official act in mere Difference
to my abstract Judgment and feeling on slave.
ry.
I understand, however, that my oath of
office to preserve the Constitution to the
best of my ability, imposed upon me the duty
of preserving, by every indispensable means,
that Govcrnment-that nation, of which that
Constitution was the organic law. Was it
possible to lose the nation, and yet preserve
the Constitution
By a general law, lite and limb must be
protected; yet often a limb must be ampu-
tatcd to save a life: but Il life is never wisely
given to save a limb. | feel that measures,
otherwise unconstitutional, might become
lawful, by becoming indispensable TO the pre-
servation of the Nation. Right or wrong, l
assume this ground, and now avow it. !
could not feel that to the best of my ability l
had even tried to preserve the Constitution, it
to save slavery or my minor matter, l should
permit the wreck of the Government, Coun-
try and Constitution. altogether. When ear
" in the war, Gen. Fremont attempted mill
tary emancipation, l forbade it because | did
not then think it an Indispensable necessity.
When, a little later, Gen. Cameron, then
Secretary Of War, suggested the arming of
the blacks, l objected because l did not yet
think it an indispensable necessity. When,
still later, Gen. Hunter attempted military
emancipation, l again forbade it, because I
did not yet think tho indispensable necessity
had come.
Whom, in March, and May, and July, 1862,
I made earnest and successive appeals to the
border States to favor compensated enamel
lation, l believed the indispensable necessity
for military emancipation, and arming the
blacks would come, unless averted by that
measure. They DECLINED the proposition,
and I was, in my best Judgment, driven to
the alternative of either surrendering the
Union, and with it the Constitution, or Of
laying strong hands upon the colored element.
I choose tho latter. In choosing it l hoped
for greater gain than loss but of this / was
not entirely confident. More than a year Of
trial shows no loss by it. in our foreign rela-
tons none in our homo popular sentiment
none in our white military force-no loss by