Lieutenant-General William T. Sherman to Senator John Sherman, January 6, 1869

HEADQUARTERS MILITARY DIVISION OF THE MISSOURI,        

ST. LOUIS, MO., Jan. 6, 1869.

Dear Brother:

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I doubt if you can do much this session in the way of financial legislation, and I hope Congress, on reorganizing after March 4, will follow the old custom of not doing anything till winter. I doubt if as much good will result from debates, as from observing the working of the present system of finance and reconstruction. Next winter you will have the advantage of the experience meanwhile, and Grant will be there, fairly installed, and better prepared to execute what is found to be best. If ever a country was too much governed, ours is. Congress ought to set the example of short sessions.

Yours affectionately,

W. T. SHERMAN.

SOURCE: Rachel Sherman Thorndike, Editor, The Sherman Letters: Correspondence Between General and Senator Sherman from 1837 to 1891, p. 326-7