Chase sent to my house this evening a miffy letter. I had
written him freely and frankly my repugnance to the system of permits granted,
or proposed to be granted, for cutting and collecting ship-timber. Heaton, his
agent, proposed to stop granting more either from compunction or to give
favorites a monopoly. I expressed my opposition to the whole system as
demoralizing, and denied the right to give permits to commit waste. Chase takes
exception and perhaps offense; says my letter reads like a lecture and is very
unacceptable. Thinks I neither wrote nor read it.
I answered that I wrote it without suggestion from any one;
that I was unreserved, and perhaps unfortunate, in my expressions, but that the
opinions were honestly entertained and were my convictions, but I disclaimed
any intention to lecture or give him offense. The party and political movements
just at this time make Chase sensitive, and I award him due allowance.
SOURCE: Gideon Welles, Diary of Gideon Welles,
Secretary of the Navy Under Lincoln and Johnson, Vol. 1: 1861 – March 30,
1864, p. 527-8
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