800 



SEYMOUR, HORATIO. 



speech that was designed mainly to show the 

 peculiar dangers of civil war. 



When the war broke out, in the spring of 



1861, Mr. Seymour was at Madison, Wis., and 

 the Democratic members of the Legislature, 

 which was then in session, called him into con- 

 sultation as to the proper course of political 

 action. He counseled the simple duty of 

 loyalty to obey the laws and maintain the 

 national authority. He was active in raising 

 one of the first companies of Wisconsin volun- 

 teers. When he returned home in the autumn, 

 he spoke at a Democratic ratification meet- 

 ing held in Utica, Oct. 28, 1861, saying : " In 

 common with a majority of the American peo- 

 ple, I deplored the election of Mr. Lincoln as 

 a great calamity ; yet he was chosen in a con- 

 stitutional manner, and we wish, as a defeated 

 organization, to show our loyalty by giving 

 him a just and generous support. 1 ' He denied 

 that slavery was the cause of the war, and de- 

 nied that the war should be waged for its 

 abolition. To the fund for the volunteers he 

 contributed liberally. In the winter he deliv- 

 ered an address at Albany on the State and 

 national defenses, for which Gov. Morgan 

 moved a resolution of thanks. At a meeting 

 of representative Democrats held in the State 

 capital in the disastrous summer of 1862, he 

 introduced a resolution that u we were bound 

 in honor and patriotism to send immediate re- 

 lief to our brethren in the field." 



The Democratic State Convention, Sept. 10, 



1862, nominated him for Governor. In his 

 address to that body accepting the nomination, 

 he alluded to the convention held in the same 

 hall nearly two years before to urge compro- 

 mise measures to prevent war. He said : 

 " That prayer for the rights of our people was 

 derided and denounced, and false assurances 

 were given that there was no danger. The 

 storm came upon us with all its fury, and the 

 war so constantly and clearly foretold deso- 

 lated our land. It is said no compromises 

 would have satisfied the South. If we had 

 tried them, it would not now be a matter of 

 discordant opinion." The main part of his 

 speech was devoted to demonstrating that the 

 Republican party could not, in the nature of 

 things, save the Government. He was elected, 

 defeating Gen. James S. Wadsworth by a ma- 

 jority of 10.752 votes. Perhaps the fairest 

 statement of his position in regard to the war 

 at that era is to be found in the following pas 

 sage of his inaugural message of Jan. 7, 1863 : 



The assertion that this war was the unavoidable re- 

 sult of slavery is not only erroneous, but it has led to 

 a disastrous policy in its prosecution. The opinion 

 that slavery must be abolished to restore our Union 

 creates an antagonism between the free and the slave 

 States which ought not to exist. If it is true that 

 slavery must be abolished by the force of the Federal 

 Government ; that the South must be held in mili- 

 tary subjection ; that four million negroes must, for 

 many years, be under the direct management of the 

 authorities at Washington at the public expense ; 

 then, indeed, we must endure the waste of our armies 

 in the field, further drains upon our population, and 



still greater burdens of debt. We must convert our 

 Government into a military despotism. 



This argument against the probability of 

 success along the path that finally led to it was 

 of course supplemented by an unequivocal** 

 declaration in favor of the restoration of the 

 Union and the supremacy of the Constitution. 



On April 13, 1863, Gov. Seymour sent a spe- 

 cial message to the Legislature, suggesting a 

 constitutional amendment as a necessary pre- 

 liminary to a law allowing soldiers in the field 

 to vote; and on April 24 he vetoed a bill to se- 

 cure "the elective franchise to qualified voters 

 of the army and navy of the State of New 

 York," on the ground that it was unconstitu- 

 tional. The amendment that he had recom- 

 mended was afterward adopted. In everything 

 pertaining to the raising of troops, Gov. Sey- 

 mour's administration showed conspicuous en- 

 ergy and ability ; but especially in the effort 

 made to meet Lee's invasion of the North in 

 the early summer of 1863. For his prompt 

 forwarding of troops on this occasion he re- 

 ceived the thanks of the President and the 

 Secretary of War. 



On July 4, Gov. Seymour, though exhausted 

 with his labors in forwarding troops, delivered 

 an address in the Academy of Musi:-, New 

 York, criticising sharply the conduct of the 

 Administration in regard to arbitrary arrests, 

 and urging the necessity of preserving har- 

 monious sentiment in the North ; but, on the 

 whole, speaking hopefully of the prospects of 

 the nation. Close on this season of glory and 

 usefulness, grim disaster followed. During the 

 absence of the New York militia regiments in 

 Pennsylvania, the draft-riots broke out. On no 

 part of Mr. Seymour's career has bitterer de- 

 nunciation been based than on his action in this 

 matter. The draft-riots arose out of two al- 

 leged grievances, which were afterward abol- 

 ished. One was the commutation clause in the 

 draft law, which provided that any drafted 

 man who should pay $300 should be exempt 

 from service. The poor regarded this as a 

 fraud upon them in the desperate lottery of 

 life and death, and the policy of commutation 

 had to be abandoned. The other was a dis- 

 crimination against New York State and New 

 York city in the allotment of quotas. Two 

 congressional districts in the city were required 

 to furnish more men than New Hampshire and 

 Vermont, and one congressional district in the 

 city was required to furnish twice as many 

 men as a congressional district of the same 

 population in the country. The first warning 

 of danger came from Gen. John E. Wool, in 

 command of the Department of the East, who 

 wrote, under date of June 30, to the Governor 

 that New York city was defenseless. On the 

 same day, Mayor Opdyke asked that thirty or 

 forty regiments be organized in the city ; and 

 the Governor answered that he would take 

 steps to raise thirty regiments. The draft be- 

 gan in the metropolis on Saturday, July 11. 

 On Sunday the names of those drawn were pub- 



