immediately upon the duties of the offices to which they shall have been respectively elected. You will please order an election to take place on the 28th of March, 1864, and returns to be made in fifteen days thereafter. A. LINCOLN. MESSAGE TO CONGRESS, JANUARY 20, 1864. GENTLEMEN OF THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRE SENTATIVES: In accordance with a letter addressed by the Secretary of State, with my approval, to the Hon. Joseph A. Wright, of Indiana, that patriotic and distinguished gentleman repaired to Europe and attended the International Agricultural Exhibition, held at Hamburg last year, and has since his return made a report to me, which, it is believed, can not fail to be of general interest, and especially so to the agricultural community. I transmit for your consideration copies of the letters and report. While it appears by the letter that no reimbursement of expenses or compensation was promised him, I submit whether reasonable allowance should not be made him for them. ABRAHAM LINCOLN. ORDER APPROVING TRADE REGULATIONS. EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, January 26, 1864. I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States having seen and considered the additional regulations of trade prescribed by the Secretary of the Treasury, and numbered LI, LII, LIII, LIV, LV, and LVI, do hereby approve the same; and I further declare and order that all property brought in for sale in good faith, and actually sold in pursuance of said Regulations LII, LIII, LIV, LV, and LVI, after the same shall have taken effect and come in force as provided in Regulation LVI, shall be exempt from confiscation or forfeiture to the United States. ABRAHAM LINCOLN. TELEGRAM TO GENERAL FOSTER. WAR DEPARTment, WASHINGTON, D. C., January 27, 1864. MAJOR-GENERAL Foster, Knoxville, Tenn.: Is a supposed correspondence between General Longstreet and yourself about the amnesty proclamation, which is now in the newspapers, genuine? A. LINCOLN. TELEGRAM TO E. STANLEY. EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, January 28, 1864. HON. EDWARD STANLEY, San Francisco, Cal.: Yours of yesterday received. We have rumors similar to the dispatch received by you, but nothing very definite from North Carolina. Knowing Mr. Stanley to be an able man, and not doubting that he is a patriot, I should be glad for him to be with his old acquaintances south of Virginia, but I am unable to suggest anything definite upon the subject. A. LINCOLN. TO GENERAL H. W. HALLECK. EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, January 28, 1864. MAJOR-GENERAL HALLECK: Some citizens of Missouri, vicinity of Kansas City, are apprehensive that there is special danger of renewed troubles in that neighborhood, and thence on the route toward New Mexico. I am not impressed that the danger is very great or imminent, but I will thank you to give Generals Rosecrans and Curtis, respectively, such orders as may turn their attention thereto and prevent as far as possible the apprehended disturbance. Yours truly, A. LINCOLN. TELEGRAM TO GENERAL SICKLES. EXECUTIVE Mansion, MAJOR-GENERAL SICKLES, New York: Could you, without it being inconvenient or disagreeable to yourself, immediately take a trip to Arkansas for me? A. LINCOLN. TELEGRAM TO GOVERNOR BRAMLETTE. EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, D. C., January 31, 1864. GOVERNOR BRAMLETTE, Frankfort, Ky.: General Boyle's resignation is accepted, so that your Excellency can give him the appointment proposed. A. LINCOLN. ORDER TO SECRETARY STANTON. EXECUTIVE MANSION, February 1, 1864. HON. EDWIN M. STANTON, Secretary of War. SIR: You are directed to have a transport (either a steam or sailing vessel, as may be deemed proper by the Quartermaster-General) sent to the colored colony established by the United States at the island of Vache, on the coast of San Domingo, to bring back to this country such of the colonists there as desire to return. You will have the transport furnished with suitable supplies for that purpose, and detail an officer of the Quartermaster's Department, who, under special instructions to be given, shall have charge of the business. The colonists will be brought to Washington, unless otherwise hereafter directed, and be employed and provided for at the camps for colored persons around that city. Those only will be brought from the island who desire to return, and their effects will be brought with them. ABRAHAM LINCOLN. ORDER FOR A DRAFT OF FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND MEN. EXECUTIVE MANSION, February 1, 1864. Ordered, That a draft of five hundred thousand (500,000) men, to serve for three years or during the war, be made on the tenth (10th) day of March next, for the military service of the United States, crediting and deducting therefrom so many as may have been enlisted or drafted into the service prior to the first (1st) day of March, and not before credited. ABRAHAM LINCOLN. TELEGRAM TO GOVERNOR YATES. EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, February 3, 1864. GOVERNOR YATES, Springfield, Ill.: The United States Government lot in Springfield can be used for a soldiers' home, with the understanding that the Government does not incur any expense in the case. A. LINCOLN. TELEGRAM TO GOVERNOR MURPHY. GOVERNOR J. MURPHY: WASHINGTON, February 6, 1864. My order to General Steele about an election was made in ignorance of the action your convention had taken or would take. A subsequent letter directs General Steele to aid you on your own plan, and not to thwart or hinder you. Show this to him. A. LINCOLN. |