unti 



MISSOUKI. 



653 



til the election in 1864. The suhject of Washington from each party to confer with 

 compensated emancipation was discussed in the President. Ex-Gov. King, a conservative, 

 that body without any decided action. A Leg- in a speech at Lexington on May 23d, thus 

 islature was elected in November of the same spoke of his interview with President Lincoln : 

 year and assembled in December. Although, 

 at this session, this body did not pass a joint 

 resolution or an act, making it the duty of the 

 governor to call the State Convention together 

 for the purpose of considering a plan of eman- 

 cipation of the slaves within the State, yet he 

 judged that their proceedings sufficiently indi- 

 cated a wish that the convention should be 

 convened for that purpose. He accordingly 

 called the convention to assemble on June 15th, 

 1863. 



After the adjournment of the Legislature in 

 the beginning of 1863, affairs remained quiet 

 until the election in the city of St. Louis. This 

 was carried by the unconditional Union men, 

 or radicals, by a large majority. This indica- 

 ted a change in the sentiment of the people on 



the subject of emancipation. It led to appre- due solely to a factious spirit which is exceedingly 

 hensions on the part of the conservatives lest r e P r , eh , ens *K The ^parties;' ought to have their 

 the change should extend to the interior of the 

 State, and thus give the radicals a controlling 

 voice and lead to speedy emancipation. To 

 prevent this result, not by open and decided 

 resistance, but by diversion, Governor Gam- 

 ble issued the call for the adjourned State Con- 

 vention to reassemble in June to consult and 

 act on the subject of slave emancipation, as it 

 was of the highest importance for the interest 

 of the State that some scheme should be 

 adopted. 



About the 1st of May Gen. Curtis, in command 



of the Department of Missouri, was removed 

 and Gen. J. M. Schofield appointed to his place. 

 The occasion for this removal was thus ex- 

 plained by President Lincoln : 



ExEotrnvE MANSION, ) 

 WASHINGTON, May 21th, 1S63. J 

 General J. M. ScTiqfteM : 



DEAR SIR : Having removed General Curtis and as- 

 signed you to the command of the Department of the 



The President said he could sum it all up in a few 

 words, which was : " That Governor Gamble was a 

 conservative man." He (the President) then related 

 an anecdote about killing a snake. He said that if he met 

 a rattlesnake in his path, and he had a stick in his 

 hand, his first impression would be to kill it ; but if he 

 found one in the oed between his children he would 

 pursue a different course, for by killing the snake he 

 may injure the children; therefore he would take a 

 more gentle way to get the snake out before he killed 

 it. The same with slavery ; he was satisfied that im- 

 mediate emancipation would be detrimental to the 

 interest of the State. 



Mr. James Taussig, a delegate from the Ger- 

 man radicals in St. Louis, later in the same 

 month, thus reports his interview with Presi- 

 dent Lincoln. The President said that 



The dissensions between Union men in Missouri are 

 i sp 

 D pa 



heads knocked together." Either would rather see 

 the defeat of their adversary than that of Jefferson 

 Davis." To this spirit of faction is to be ascribed the 

 failure of the Legislature to elect Senators, and the 

 defeat of the Missouri Aid Bill in Congress, the passage 

 of which the President strongly desired. 



The President said that the Union men in Missouri 

 who are in favor of gradual emancipation represented 

 his views better than those who are in favor of imme- 

 diate emancipation. In explanation of bis views on 

 this subject, the President said that in his speeches he 

 had frequently used as an illustration the case of a man 

 who had an excrescence on the back of his neck, the 

 removal of which, in one operation, would result in 

 the death of the patient, while " tinkering it off by de- 

 grees " would preserve life. Although sorely tempted, 

 I did not reply with the illustration of the dog whose 

 tail was amputated by inches, but confined myself to 

 arguments. 



The President announced clearly that, as far as he 

 was at present advised, the radicals in Missouri had 

 no right to consider themselves the exponents of his 

 views on the subject of emancipation in that State. 



During the month of May a considerable 

 number of disloyal persons were sent south. 



Missouri, I think it may be of some advantage for me to on,, w >, n >,;> f flrn ii;p q wprp fl ll nwp ;i to 

 state to you why I did it. I did not relieve General Curtis 1Jl se T n< ? J"? IamU1 ' 



state to you why I did it. I did not relieve General Curtis 

 because of my full conviction that he had done wrong 

 by commission or omission. I did it because of a con- 

 viction in my mind that the Union men of Missouri 

 constituting, when united, a vast majority of the whole 

 people, have entered into a pestilent factional quarrel 

 among themselves, General Curtis, perhaps not of 

 choice, being the head of one faction, and Governor 

 Gamble that of the other. After months of labor to 

 reconcile the difficulty, it seemed to grow worse and 

 worse, until I felt it my duty to break it up somehow ; 

 and as I could not remove Governor Gamble, I had to 

 remove General Curtis. Now that you are in the po- 

 sition, I wish you to undo nothing merely because 

 Gen. Curtis or Gov. Gamble did it, but to exercise 

 your own judgment and do right for the public interest. 

 Let your military measures be strong enough to repel 

 the invaders and keep the peace, and not so strong as 

 to unnecessarily harass and persecute the people. It 

 is a difficult rule, and so much greater will be the 

 honor if you perform it well. If both factions, or 

 neither, shall abuse you, you will probably be about 

 right. Beware of being assailed by one and praised 

 by the other. 



Yours, truly, A. LINCOLN. 



At this time delegations were sent on to 



a thousand dollars, and all others two hundred 

 dollars each. The property of these persons 

 was appropriated for the benefit of sick and 

 wounded soldiers. 



A respectable writer thus describes the state 

 of affairs in Missouri about the 1st of June : 



I had occasion to visit the southeastern, central and 

 extreme northwestern counties, passing on my return 

 along the fertile country of the Hannibal and St. Joseph 

 railroad. 



Everybody was talking of the emancipation ques- 

 tion. I was led to think that the convention would 

 probably adopt a gradual system. The difficulty 

 about immediate emancipation seemed to be that there 

 were no funds for compensating the loyal owners. If 

 these funds were at hand, I do not think there would 

 be any considerable hesitation about the matter. The 

 slaves are constantly escaping. It is felt as an act of 

 grace, for the most part, that any able-bodied male 

 slaves remain ; and the only question with the slave 

 owner is, whether he shall lose his slaves and get 

 nothing, or emancipate and be paid for them. The sub- 

 stantial dissolution of the tie between master and slave 

 is already accomplished ; there is no loyal slaveholder, 





