[Dec. 9, 1863. cases stated, is explicit and full. But why tender the benefits of this provision only to a State government set up in this particular way? This section of the Constitution contemplates a case wherein the element within a State, favorable to republican government, in the Union, may be too feeble for an opposite and hostile element external to or even within the State; and such are precisely the cases with which we are now dealing.

An attempt to guarantee and protect a revived State government, constructed in whole, or in preponderating part, from the very element against whose hostility and violence it is to be protected, is simply absurd. There must be a test by which to separate the opposing elements, so as to build only from the sound; and that test is a sufficiently liberal one which accepts as sound whoever will make a sworn recantation of his former unsoundness. But if it be proper to require, as a test of admission to the political body, an oath of allegiance to the Constitution of the United States, and to the Union under it, why also to the laws and proclamations in regard to slavery? Those laws and proclamations were enacted and put forth for the purpose of aiding in the suppression of the rebellion. To give them their fullest effect, there had to be a pledge for their maintenance. In my judgment they have aided, and will further aid, the cause for which they were intended. To now abandon them would be not only to relinquish a lever of power, but would also be a cruel and an astounding breach of faith. I may add at this point, that while I remain in my present position I shall not attempt to retract or modify the emancipation proclamation; nor shall I return to slavery any person who is free by the terms of that proclamation, or by any of the acts of Congress. For these and other reasons it is thought best that support of these measures shall be included in the oath; and it is believed the Executive may lawfully claim it in return for pardon and restoration of forfeited rights, which he has clear constitutional power to withhold altogether, or grant upon the terms which he shall deem wisest for the public interest. It should be observed, also, that this part of the oath is subject to the modifying and abrogating power of legislation and supreme judicial decision.

The proposed acquiescence of the national Executive in any reasonable temporary State arrangement for the freed people is made with the view of possibly modifying the confusion and destitution which must, at best, attend all classes by a total revolution of labor throughout whole States. It is hoped that the already deeply afflicted people in those States may be somewhat more ready to give up the cause of their affliction, if, to this extent, this vital matter be left to themselves; while no power of the national Executive to prevent an abuse is abridged by the proposition.

The suggestion in the proclamation as to maintaining the political framework of the States on what is called reconstruction, is made in the hope that it may do good without danger of harm. It will save labor, and avoid great confusion.

But why any proclamation now upon this subject? This question is beset with the conflicting views that the step might be delayed too long or be taken to soon. In some States the elements for resumption seem ready for action, but remain inactive, apparently for want of a rallying point-a plan of action. Why shall A adopt the plan of B, rather than B that of A? And if A and B should agree, how can they know but that the general government here will reject their plan? By the proclamation a plan is presented which may be accepted by them as a rallying point, and which they are assured in advance will not be rejected here. This may bring them to act sooner than they otherwise would.

The objections to a premature presentation of a plan by the national Executive consists in the danger of committals on points which could be more safely left to further developments. Care has been taken to so shape the

document as to avoid embarrassments from this source. Saying that, on certain terms, certain classes will be pardoned, with rights restored, it is not said that other classes, or other terms, will never be included. Saying that reconstruction will be accepted if presented in a specified way, it is not said it will never be accepted in any other way.

The movements, by State action, for emancipation in several of the States, not included in the emancipation proclamation, are matters of profound gratulation. And while I do not repeat in detail what I have heretofore so earnestly urged upon this subject, my general views and feelings remain unchanged; and I trust that Congress will omit no fair opportunity of aiding these important steps to a great consummation.

In the midst of other cares, however important, we must not lose sight of the fact that the war power is still our main reliance. To that power alone can we look, yet for a time, to give confidence to the people in the contested regions, that the insurgent power will not again overrun them. Until that confidence shall be established, little can be done anywhere for what is called reconstruction. Hence our chiefest care must still be directed to the army and navy, who have thus far borne their harder part so nobly and well. And it may be esteemed fortunate that in giving the greatest efficiency to these indispensable arms, we do also honorably recognize the gallant men, from commander to sentinel, who compose them, and to whom, more than to others, the world must stand indebted for the home of freedom disenthralled, regenerated, enlarged, and perpetuated.

DECEMBER 8, 1863.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

66

PROCLAMATION.

Whereas, in and by the Constitution of the United States, it is provided that the President shall have power to grant reprieves and pardons for offences against the United States, except in cases of impeachment;" and Whereas a rebellion now exists whereby the loyal State governments of several States have for a long time been subverted, and many persons have committed and are now guilty of treason against the United States; and Whereas, with reference to said rebellion and treason, laws have been enacted by Congress, declaring forfeitures and confiscation of property and liberation of slaves, all upon terms and conditions therein stated, and also declaring that the President was thereby authorized at any time thereafter, by proclamation, to extend to persons who may have participated in the existing rebellion, in any State or part thereof, pardon and amnesty, with such exceptions and at such times and on such conditions as he may deem expedient for the public welfare; and

Whereas the congressional declaration for limited and conditional pardon accords with well-established judicial exposition of the pardoning power; and Whereas, with reference to said rebellion, the President of the United States has issued several proclamations, with provisions in regard to the liberation of slaves; and

Whereas it is now desired by some persons heretofore engaged in said rebellion to resume their allegiance to the United States, and to reinaugurate loyal State governments within and for their respective States: Therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, do proclaim, declare, and make known to all persons who have, directly or by implication, participated in the existing rebellion, except as hereinafter excepted, that a full pardon is hereby granted to them and each of them, with restoration of all rights of property, except as to slaves, and in property cases where rights

of third parties shall have intervened, and upon the condition that every such person shall take and subscribe an oath, and thenceforward keep and maintain said oath inviolate; and which oath shall be registered for permanent preservation, and shall be of the tenor and effect following, to wit: "I, do solemnly swear, in presence of Almighty God, that I will henceforth faithfully support, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States, and the union of the States thereunder; and that I will, in like manner, abide by and faithfully support all acts of Congress passed during the existing rebellion with reference to slaves, so long and so far as not repealed, modified, or held void by Congress, or by decision of the Supreme Court; and that I will, in like manner, abide by and faithfully support all proclamations of the President made during the existing rebellion having reference to slaves, so long and so far as not modified or declared void by decision of the Supreme Court. So help me God."

The persons excepted from the benefits of the foregoing provisions are all who are, or shall have been, civil or diplomatic officers or agents of the socalled 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 officers of said so-called confederate government above the rank of colonel in the army, or of lieutenant in the navy; all who left seats in the United States Congress to aid the rebellion; all who resigned commissions in the army or navy of the United States, and afterwards aided 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 capacity.

And I do further proclaim, declare, and make known, that whenever, in any of the States of Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, Virginia, Florida, South Carolina, and North Carolina, a number of persons, not less than one-tenth in number of the votes cast in such State at the presidential election of the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty, each having taken the oath aforesaid and not having since violated it, and being a qualified voter by the election law of the State existing immediately before the so-called act of secession, and excluding all others, shall re-establish a State government which shall be republican, and in nowise contravening said oath, such shall be recognized as the true government of the State, and the State shall receive thereunder the benefits of the constitutional provision which declares that "The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a republican form of government, and shall protect each of them against invasion; and, on application of the legislature, or the executive, (when the legislature cannot be convened,) against domestic violence."

And I do further proclaim, declare, and make known that any provision which may be adopted by such State government in relation to the freed people of such State, which shall recognize and declare their permanent freedom, provide for their education, and which may yet be consistent, as a temporary arrangement, with their present condition as a laboring, landless, and homeless class, will not be objected to by the national Executive. And it is suggested as not improper, that, in constructing a loyal State government in any State, the name of the State, the boundary, the subdivisions, the constitution, and the general code of laws, as before the rebellion, be maintained, subject only to the modifications made necessary by the conditions hereinbefore stated, and such others, if any, not contravening said conditions, and which may be deemed expedient by those framing the new State government.

To avoid misunderstanding, it may be proper to say that this proclamation,

so far as it relates to State governments, has no reference to States wherein loyal State governments have all the while been maintained. And for the same reason, it may be proper to further say, that whether members sent to Congress from any State shall be admitted to seats constitutionally, rests exclusively with the respective Houses, and not to any extent with the Executive. And still further, that this proclamation is intended to present the people of the States wherein the national authority has been suspended, and loyal State governments have been subverted, a mode in and by which the national authority and loyal State governments may be re-established within said States, or in any of them; and, while the mode presented is the best the Executive can suggest, with his present impressions, it must not be understood that no other possible mode would be acceptable. Given under my hand, at the city of Washington, the eighth day of December, A. D. one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of the independence of the United States of America the eightyeighth.

[L. s.]

By the President:

WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State.

On motion of Mr. Stevens,

ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

1

Ordered, That the message and accompanying documents be committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union and printed. Mr. Stevens moved that 50,000 copies extra of the message and documents be printed; which motion was referred to the Committee on Printing. And then,

On motion of Mr. Stevens, at 1 o'clock and 48 minutes p. m., the House adjourned.

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 10, 1863.

The Speaker, by unanimous consent, laid before the House executive communications as follows, viz:

I. A letter from the Secretary of the Interior, transmitting accounts of the superintendent and agent of Indians in the southern superintendency; which was referred to the Committee on Indian Affairs and ordered to be printed. II. A letter from the Secretary of the Interior, submitting his annual report on the state of the finances; which was referred to the Committee of Ways and Means and ordered to be printed.

On motion by Mr. Ellihu B. Washburne,

Ordered, That when the House adjourns, it adjourn until Monday next. Mr. Hall presented the memorial of Thomas L. Price, contesting the seat of Joseph W. McClurg as representative from the 5th congressional district of Missouri; which was referred to the Committee of Elections.

Mr. William H. Randall presented the memorial of John P. Bruce, contesting the seat of Benjamin F. Loan as representative from the 7th congressional district of Missouri; which was referred to the Committee of Elections. On motion of Mr. Stevens, the House proceeded viva voce to the election of a chaplain for the 38th Congress.

Nominations having been made as follows, viz:

Mr. John O'Neill ...

Mr. Cox...

Mr. Stevens.

Mr. Wilder

Rev. B. A. McGUIRE. Rt. Rev. J. H. HOPKINS. Rev. N. LORD.

Rev. W. H. CHANNING.

And Mr. William H. Miller, Mr. Spalding, Mr. Grinnell and Mr. Rogers having been appointed tellers,

The following named members voted for Rev. W. H. CHANNING, VİZ:

John B. Alley, William B. Allison, Oakes Ames, Lucien Anderson, Isaac N.* Arnold, James M. Ashley, John D. Baldwin, Portus Baxter, Fernando C. Beaman, James G. Blaine, Jacob B. Blair, Henry T. Blow, George S. Boutwell, Sempronius H. Boyd, Augustus Brandegee, John M. Broomall, Ambrose W. Clark, Amasa Cobb, Cornelius Cole, John A. J. Creswell, Thomas T. Davis, Henry L. Dawes, Henry C. Deming, Nathan F. Dixon, Ignatius Donnelly, Ebenezer Dumont, Ephraim R. Eckley, Thomas D. Eliot, John F. Farnsworth, James A. Garfield, Daniel W. Gooch, Josiah B. Grinnell, William Higby, Samuel Hooper, Asahel W. Hubbard, John H. Hubbard, Calvin T. Hulburd, Wells A Hutchins, Thomas A. Jenckes, George W. Julian, John A. Kasson, William D. Kelley, Orlando Kellogg, Benjamin F. Loan, John W. Longyear, Owen Lovejoy, James M. Marvin, John R. McBride, Joseph W. McClurg, Walter D. McIndoe, Samuel F. Miller, Justin S. Morrill, Daniel Morris, Amos Myers, Leonard Myers, Jesse O. Norton, Charles O'Neill, Godlove S. Orth, James W. Patterson, Sidney Perham, Frederick A. Pike, Theodore M. Pomeroy, Hiram Price, Alexander H. Rice, John H. Rice, Edward H. Rollins, Robert C. Schenck, Glenni W. Scofield, Thomas B. Shannon, Ithamar C. Sloan, Nathaniel B. Smithers, Rufus P. Spalding, M. Russell Thayer, Henry W. Tracy, Charles Upson, Robert B. Van Valkenburgh, Ellihu B. Washburne, William B. Washburn, Thomas Williams, A. Carter Wilder, James F. Wilson, William Windom, and Frederick E. Woodbridge.

The following named members voted for Right Reverend J. H. HOPKINS, Viz: James C. Allen, William J. Allen, Sydenham E. Ancona, George Bliss, James S. Brown, Alexander II. Coffroth, Samuel S. Cox, James A. Cravens, John L. Dawson, Charles Denison, John R. Eden, Joseph K. Edgerton, Charles A. Eldridge, James E. English, Henry Grider, William A. Hall, Aaron Harding, Henry W. Harrington, Benjamin G. Harris, Charles M. Harris, Anson Herrick, William S. Holman, William Johnson, Martin Kalbfleish, Austin A. King, Anthony L. Knapp, John Law, Jesse Lazear, Francis C. Le Blond, Robert Mallory, Daniel Marcy, Archibald McAllister, James F. McDowell, John F. McKinney, William H. Miller, James R. Morris, Homer A. Nelson, Warren P. Noble, George H. Pendleton, Samuel J. Randall, James C. Robinson, James S. Rollins, Lewis W. Ross, John G. Scott, Henry G. Stebbins, John B. Steele, Daniel W. Voorhees, William H. Wadsworth, Elijah Ward, Chilton A. White, Joseph W. White, Charles H. Winfield, Fernando Wood, and George H. Yeaman.

The following named members voted for Rev. Mr. STOCKTON, viz:

William G. Brown, Freeman Clarke, Brutus J. Clay, Reuben E. Fenton, Augustus Frank, James T. Hale, Wells A. Hutchins, James K. Moorhead, Moses F. Odell, William H. Randall, Thaddeus Stevens, John T. Stuart, Francis Thomas, and Edwin G. Webster.

The following named members voted for Rev. Mr. MCGUIRE, viz:

John W. Chanler, William E. Finck, Francis Kernan, Alexander Long, and John O'Neill.