Very little before the Cabinet. The President, when I entered the room,
was reading with much enjoyment certain portions of Petroleum V. Nasby to
Dennison and Speed. The book is a broad burlesque on modern Democratic party
men. Fessenden, who came in just after me, evidently thought it hardly a proper
subject for the occasion, and the President hastily dropped it.
Great efforts continue to be made to get the release of Smith brothers.
Quite a number of persons are here in their interest, and Members of Congress
are enlisted for them.
Efforts are being made to aid a set of bad men who have been cheating and
stealing from the government in Philadelphia. Strange how men in prominent
positions will, for mere party, stoop to help the erring and the guilty. It is
a species of moral treason.
J. P. Hale is, as usual, loud-mouthed and insolent in the Senate, —
belying, perverting, misstating, and misrepresenting the Navy Department. The
poor fellow has but few more days in the Senate, and is making the most of them
for his hate.
SOURCE: Gideon Welles, Diary of Gideon Welles, Secretary of the
Navy Under Lincoln and Johnson, Vol. 2: April 1, 1864 — December 31, 1866,
p. 238
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