LETTER TO GENERAL E. R. S. CANBY M EXECUTIVE MANSION, December 12, 1864. AJOR-GENERAL CANBY: I think it is probable that you are laboring under some misapprehension as to the purpose, or rather the motive, of the government on two points-cotton, and the new Louisiana State government. It is conceded that the military operations are the first in importance; and as to what is indispensable to these operations, the department commander must be judge and master. But the other matters mentioned I suppose to be of public importance also; and what I have attempted in regard to them is not merely a concession to private interest and pecuniary greed. was. As to cotton. By the external blockade, the price is made certainly six times as great as it And yet the enemy gets through at least one-sixth part as much in a given period, say a year, as if there were no blockade, and receives as much for it as he would for a full crop in time of peace. The effect, in substance, is, that we give him six ordinary crops without the trouble of producing any but the first; and at the same time leave his fields and his laborers free to produce provisions. You know how this keeps up his armies at home and procures supplies from abroad. For other reasons we cannot give up the blockade, and hence it becomes immensely important to us to get the cotton away from him. Better give him guns for it than let him, as now, get both guns and ammunition for it. But even this only presents part of the public interest to get out cotton. Our finances are greatly involved in the matter. The way cotton goes now carries so much gold out of the country as to leave us paper currency only, and that so far depreciated as that for every hard dollar's worth of supplies we obtain, we contract to pay two and a half hard dollars hereafter. This is much to be regretted; and, while I believe we can live through it, at all events it demands an earnest effort on the part of all to correct it. And if pecuniary greed can be made to aid us in such effort, let us be thankful that so much good can be got out of pecuniary greed. As to the new State government of Louisiana. Most certainly there is no worthy object in getting up a piece of machinery merely to pay salaries and give political consideration to certain men. But it is a worthy object to again get Louisiana into proper practical relations with the nation, and we can never finish this if we never begin it. Much good work is already done, and surely nothing can be gained by throwing it away. I do not wish either cotton or the new State government to take precedence of the military while the necessity for the military remains; but there is a strong public reason for treating each with so much favor as may not be substantially detrimental to the military. Allow me a word of explanation in regard to the telegram which you kindly forwarded to Admiral Farragut for me. That telegram was prompted by a piece of secret information inducing me to suspect that the use of a forged paper might be attempted on the admiral, in order to base a claim that we had raised our own blockade. I am happy in the hope that you are almost well of your late and severe wound. Yours very truly, A. LINCOLN. TELEGRAM TO GENERAL LEW WALLACE EXECUTIVE MANSION, December 13, 1864. Major-General Wallace, Baltimore, Md.: Do not send Levin L. Waters and the judges away until further order; and send me at once a statement of the cause or causes for which they are dealt with A. LINCOLN. TELEGRAM TO GENERAL G. M. DODGE EXECUTIVE MANSION, December 13, 1864. Major-General Dodge, St. Louis, Mo.: Please suspend the sending South of Mrs. Nancy H. Thompson, wife of Gideon H. Thompson, of Platte County, Missouri, but now in the rebel army, until further order; and in the mean time ascertain and report to me whether there is anything, and what, against her, except that her husband is a rebel. A. LINCOLN. *TELEGRAM CONCERNING H. WALTERS EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, D. C., Officer in Command at Chattanooga, Tenn.. It is said that Harry Walters, a private in the Anderson cavalry, is now and for a long time has been in prison at Chattanooga. Please report to me what is his condition, and for what he is imprisoned. A. LINCOLN. TELEGRAM TO GENERAL G. H. THOMAS WAR DEPARTMENT, WASHINGTON, D. C., December 16, 1864. 11:30 A. M. Major-General Thomas, Nashville, Tenn.: Please accept for yourself, officers, and men, the nation's thanks for your good work of yesterday. You made a magnificent beginning; a grand consummation is within your easy reach. Do not let it slip. A. LINCOLN. CALL FOR 300,000 VOLUNTEERS, December 19, 1864 BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A Proclamation. Whereas, by the act approved July 4, 1864, entitled "An act further to regulate and provide for the enrolling and calling out the national forces, and for other purposes," it is provided that the President of the United States may, "at his discretion, at any time hereafter, call for any number of men as volunteers for the respective terms of one, two, and three years, for military service," and "that in case the quota, or any part thereof, of any town, township, ward of a city, precinct, or election district, or of any county not so subdivided, shall not be filled within the space of fifty days after such call, then the President shall immediately order a draft for one year to fill such quota, or any part thereof which may be unfilled." And whereas, by the credits allowed in accordance with the act of Congress, on the call for |