WASHINGTON, May 19.
WHEREAS, There appears in the public prints what purports to
be a
proclamation of Maj. Gen. Hunter; and whereas, the same is producing some
excitement and misunderstanding, therefore I, Abraham Lincoln, Prest. Of the U.
S., proclaim and declare that the Government of the United States had no
knowledge or belief of an intention on the part of Gen. Hunter to issue such a
proclamation, nor has it yet any authentic information that the document is
genuine; and, further, that Gen. Hunter, nor any other commander or person, has
been authorized by the government of the United States to make proclamation
declaring the slaves of any State free; and that the supposed proclamation now
in question, whether genuine or false, is altogether void, so far as respects
such declaration. – I further make known that whether it be competent for me,
as commander-in-chief of the army and navy, to declare the slaves of any State
or States free, and whether at any time, or in any case, it shall have been a
necessity, indispensable to the maintainance [sic] of the Government, to excise such supposed power, are
questions which, under my responsibility, I reserve to myself, and which I
cannot feel justified in leaving to the decision of commanders in the field.
– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette,
Davenport, Iowa, Tuesday Morning, May 20, 1862, p. 1
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