William Barton Rogers to Henry Darwin Rogers, May 29, 1860

Boston, May 29, 1860.

. . . We go to Lunenburg on Friday. As soon as there I shall write out my observations on binocular vision, etc., in a form suited for presentation.

Our “Reservation Committees” are to continue their action until the next meeting of the Legislature, feeling strong hopes of obtaining the grant of land on the Back Bay through further efforts. They have urged me to accept the chairmanship, and I have conditionally agreed. Among our present purposes is that of framing a plan for a Technological department, with which some of our leading men, as Erastus Bigelow, Ignatius Sargent, etc., think they can secure a subscription of $100,000 from the manufacturers and merchants, and that being assured, we can come before the Legislature with an irresistible claim.

Now can you not, while in London, gather up all documents relating to the Kensington Museum, that in Jermyn Street, etc., which might be of assistance in digesting such a plan? You will do us a great service by sending me such as you collect....

The anti-Darwin review in the last “Edinburgh” is, I suppose, by Owen. It does not seem to me to be altogether fair or philosophic. I see a notice of his “Palaeontology “ in the small type of the "Westminster," which I ascribe to Huxley, and which certainly shows up the deficiencies and errors of that treatise very positively.

This morning's paper brought the sad announcement of the death of Theodore Parker. The news lately received from Florence led us to look for such a result. But now that it is certain, how deep will be the grief of the large circle of friends upon whom it will fall as one of the heaviest of bereavements. No one will be more sincerely mourned, or leave a more lasting memory in the affections and gratitude of liberal hearts everywhere, than our noble, self-sacrificing, gently loving and heroic friend. I feel that his name will be a power, and that the free and wise words that he has written, and the disciples he has reared, will continue the labours of humanity and freedom which he showed such unfaltering boldness in carrying on. You and I have lost a good friend, who knew how, better than almost any other, to appreciate the free thought that was in us. I shall never forget his kind words of you and to me, as with a tearful eye I last parted from him.

You have no doubt seen the action of the Chicago Convention. How decorous and manly and consistent their course, compared with the Democratic and the old-fogy conventions that preceded! There is good reason to expect the success of the Republican ticket; Lincoln and Hamlin are both men of superior endowments, are honest and patriotic, and sufficiently versed in affairs.

The Union-saving party is looked upon as a “dead thing” Some one lately said to one of these gentlemen, who had just been telling him that they had nominated “Bell and Everett,” “Why did you not choose?” “Why, he has been dead this twelvemonth!” was the reply. “Not so dead as either of your nominees,” was the rejoinder.

SOURCE: Emma Savage Rogers & William T. Sedgwick, Life and Letters of William Barton Rogers, Volume 2, p. 34

Diary of William Howard Russell: March 28, 1861

I was honored to-day by visits from a great number of Members of Congress, journalists, and others. Judging from the expressions of most of the Washington people, they would gladly see a Southern Cabinet installed in their city. The cold shoulder is given to Mr. Lincoln, and all kinds of stories and jokes are circulated at his expense. People take particular pleasure in telling how he came towards the seat of his Government disguised in a Scotch cap and cloak, whatever that may mean.

In the evening I repaired to the White House. The servant who took my hat and coat was particularly inquisitive as to my name and condition in life; and when he heard I was not a minister, he seemed inclined to question my right to be there at all: “for,” said he, “there are none but members of the cabinet, and their wives and daughters, dining here today.” Eventually he relaxed, — instructed me how to place my hat so that it would be exposed to no indignity, and informed me that I was about to participate in a prandial enjoyment of no ordinary character. There was no parade or display, no announcement, — no gilded staircase, with its liveried heralds, transmitting and translating one's name from landing to landing. From the unpretending ante-chamber, a walk across the lofty hall led us to the reception-room, which was the same as that in which the President held his interview yesterday.

Mrs. Lincoln was already seated to receive her guests. She is of the middle age and height, of a plumpness degenerating to the embonpoint natural to her years; her features are plain, her nose and mouth of an ordinary type, and her manners and appearance homely, stiffened, however, by the consciousness that her position requires her to be something more than plain Mrs. Lincoln, the wife of the Illinois lawyer; she is profuse in the introduction of the word “sir” in every sentence, which is now almost an Americanism confined to certain classes, although it was once as common in England. Her dress I shall not attempt to describe, though it was very gorgeous and highly colored. She handled a fan with much energy, displaying a round, well-proportioned arm, and was adorned with some simple jewelry. Mrs. Lincoln struck me as being desirous of making herself agreeable; and I own I was agreeably disappointed, as the Secessionist ladies at Washington had been amusing themselves by anecdotes which could scarcely have been founded on fact.

Several of the Ministers had already arrived; by and by all had come, and the party only waited for General Scott, who seemed to be the representative man in Washington of the monarchical idea, and to absorb some of the feeling which is lavished on the pictures and memory, if not on the monument, of Washington. Whilst we were waiting, Mr. Seward took me round, and introduced me to the Ministers, and to their wives and daughters, among the latter, Miss Chase, who is very attractive, agreeable, and sprightly. Her father, the Finance Minister, struck me as one of the most intelligent and distinguished persons in the whole assemblage, — tall, of a good presence, with a well-formed head, fine forehead, and a face indicating energy and power. There is a peculiar droop and motion of the lid of one eye, which seems to have suffered from some injury, that detracts from the agreeable effect of his face; but, on the whole, he is one who would not pass quite unnoticed in a European crowd of the same description.

In the whole assemblage there was not a scrap of lace or a piece of ribbon, except the gorgeous epaulettes of an old naval officer who had served against us in the last war, and who represented some branch of the naval department. Nor were the Ministers by any means remarkable for their personal appearance.

Mr. Cameron, the Secretary of War, a slight man, above the middle height, with gray hair, deep-set keen gray eyes, and a thin mouth, gave me the idea of a person of ability and adroitness. His colleague, the Secretary of the Navy, a small man, with a great long gray beard and spectacles, did not look like one of much originality or ability; but people who know Mr. Welles declare that he is possessed of administrative power, although they admit that he does not know the stem from the stern of a ship, and are in doubt whether he ever saw the sea in his life. Mr. Smith, the Minister of the Interior, is a bright-eyed, smart (I use the word in the English sense) gentleman, with the reputation of being one of the most conservative members of the cabinet. Mr. Blair, the Postmaster-General, is a person of much greater influence than his position would indicate. He has the reputation of being one of the most determined Republicans in the Ministry; but he held peculiar notions with reference to the black and the white races, which, if carried out, would not by any means conduce to the comfort or happiness of free negroes in the United States. He is a tall, lean man, with a hard, Scotch, practical-looking head — an anvil for ideas to be hammered on. His eyes are small and deeply set, and have a rat-like expression; and he speaks with caution, as though he weighed every word before he uttered it. The last of the Ministers is Mr. Bates, a stout, thick-set, common-looking man, with a large beard, who fills the office of Attorney-General. Some of the gentlemen were in evening dress; others wore black frock-coats, which it seems, as in Turkey, are considered to be en regle at a Republican Ministerial dinner.

In the conversation which occurred before dinner, I was amused to observe the manner in which Mr. Lincoln used the anecdotes for which he is famous. Where men bred in courts, accustomed to the world, or versed in diplomacy, would use some subterfuge, or would make a polite speech, or give a shrug of the shoulders as the means of getting out of an embarrassing position, Mr. Lincoln raises a laugh by some bold west-country anecdote, and moves off in the cloud of merriment produced by his joke. Thus, when Mr. Bates was remonstrating apparently against the appointment of some indifferent lawyer to a place of judicial importance, the President interposed with, “Come now, Bates, he's not half as bad as you think. Besides that, I must tell you, he did me a good turn long ago. When I took to the law, I was going to court one morning, with some ten or twelve miles of bad road before me, and I had no horse. The judge overtook me in his wagon. ‘Hollo, Lincoln! Are you not going to the court-house? Come in, and I'll give you a seat.’ Well, I got in, and the judge went on reading his papers. Presently the wagon struck a stump on one side of the road; then it hopped off to the other. I looked out, and I saw the driver was jerking from side to side in his seat; so says I, ‘Judge, I think your coachman has been taking a little drop too much this morning.’ ‘Well I declare, Lincoln,’ said he, ‘I should not wonder if you are right, for he has nearly upset me half a dozen of times since starting.’ So, putting his head out of the window, he shouted, ‘Why, you infernal scoundrel, you are drunk!’ Upon which, pulling up his horses, and turning round with great gravity, the coachman said, ‘By gorra! that's the first rightful decision you have given for the last twelvemonth.’” Whilst the company were laughing, the President beat a quiet retreat from the neighborhood of the Attorney-General.

It was at last announced that General Scott was unable to be present, and that, although actually in the house, he had been compelled to retire from indisposition, and we moved in to the banqueting-hall. The first “state dinner,” as it is called, of the President, was not remarkable for ostentation. No liveried servants, no Persic splendor of ancient plate, or chefs d'œuvre of art, glittered round the board. Vases of flowers decorated the table, combined with dishes in what may be called the “Gallo-American” style, with wines which owed their parentage to France, and their rearing and education to the United States, which abounds in cunning nurses for such productions. The conversation was suited to the state dinner of a cabinet at which women and strangers were present. I was seated next Mr. Bates, and the very agreeable and lively Secretary of the President, Mr. Hay, and except when there was an attentive silence caused by one of the President's stories, there was a Babel of small talk round the table, in which I was surprised to find a diversity of accent almost as great as if a number of foreigners had been speaking English. I omitted the name of Mr. Hamlin, the Vice-President, as well as those of less remarkable people who were present; but it would not be becoming to pass over a man distinguished for nothing so much as his persistent and unvarying adhesion to one political doctrine, which has made him, in combination with the belief in his honesty, the occupant of a post which leads to the Presidency, in event of any occurrence which may remove Mr. Lincoln.

After dinner the ladies and gentlemen retired to the drawingroom, and the circle was increased by the addition of several politicians. I had an opportunity of conversing with some of the Ministers, if not with all, from time to time, and I was struck by the uniform tendency of their remarks in reference to the policy of Great Britain. They seemed to think that England was bound by her anti-slavery antecedents to discourage to the utmost any attempts of the South to establish its independence on a basis of slavery, and to assume that they were the representatives of an active war of emancipation. As the veteran Commodore Stewart passed the chair of the young lady to whom I was speaking, she said, “I suppose, Mr. Russell, you do not admire that officer?” “On the contrary,” I said, “I think he is a very fine-looking old man.” “I don't mean that,” she replied; “but you know he can't be very much liked by you, because he fought so gallantly against you in the last war, as you must know.” I had not the courage to confess ignorance of the captain's antecedents. There is a delusion among more than the fair American who spoke to me, that we entertain in England the sort of feeling, morbid or wholesome as it may be, in reference to our reverses at New Orleans and elsewhere, that is attributed to Frenchmen respecting Waterloo.

On returning to Willard's Hotel, I was accosted by a gentleman who came out from the crowd in front of the office. “Sir,” he said, “you have been dining with our President tonight.” I bowed. “Was it an agreeable party?” said he. “What do you think of Mr. Lincoln?” “May I ask to whom I have the pleasure of speaking?” “My name is Mr. –––, and I am the correspondent of the New York ––––.” “Then, sir,” I replied, “it gives me satisfaction to tell you that I think a great deal of Mr. Lincoln, and that I am equally pleased with my dinner. I have the honor to bid you good evening.” The same gentleman informed me afterwards that he had created the office of Washington Correspondent to the New York papers. “At first,” said he, “I merely wrote news, and no one cared much; then I spiced it up, squibbed a little, and let off stories of my own. Congressmen contradicted me, — issued cards, — said they were not facts. The public attention was attracted, and I was told to go on; and so the Washington correspondence became a feature in all the New York papers by degrees.” The hum and bustle in the hotel to-night were wonderful. All the office-seekers were in the passages, hungering after senators and representatives, and the ladies in any way related to influential people, had an entourage of courtiers sedulously paying their respects. Miss Chase, indeed, laughingly told me that she was pestered by applicants for her father's good offices, and by persons seeking introduction to her as a means of making demands on “Uncle Sam.”

As I was visiting a book-shop to-day, a pert, smiling young fellow, of slight figure and boyish appearance came up and introduced himself to me as an artist who had contributed to an illustrated London paper during the Prince of Wales's tour, and who had become acquainted with some of my friends; and he requested permission to call on me, which I gave without difficulty or hesitation. He visited me this evening, poor lad! and told me a sad story of his struggles, and of the dependence of his family on his efforts, as a prelude to a request that I would allow him to go South when I was making the tour there, of which he had heard. He was under an engagement with the London paper, and had no doubt that if he was with me his sketches would all be received as illustrations of the places to which my letters were attracting public interest in England at the time. There was no reason why I should be averse to his travelling with me in the same train. He could certainly go if he pleased. At the same time I intimated that I was in no way to be connected with or responsible for him.

SOURCE: William Howard Russell, My Diary North and South, p. 41-6

Diary of Gideon Welles: Friday, August 15, 1862

Received yesterday a note from Chase that the President proposed to change two of the nominees under the new tax law in Connecticut. Called on the President, and stated to him I did it as a duty, that duty alone impelled me. He said he fully believed it, and was glad to do me the justice to say that in matters of appointments, patronage, I had never given him any trouble. Having an appointment this Friday morning at 9 with the President, I met there Babcock¹ and Platt² of Connecticut. They had called and stated their case, which was extremely unjust to Mr. Howard, and, turning to me, Mr. B. said H. claimed he had procured or secured my appointment. The President said he had a slight acquaintance with Mr. H. himself. Had met him in Illinois and knew him as a friend of mine. Had received letters from him expressing regard for me, and one signed jointly by H. and Senator Dixon. But these gentlemen did not originate his action in relation to my appointment. “The truth is,” said he, — “and I may as well state the facts to you, for others know them, — on the day of the Presidential election, the operator of the telegraph in Springfield placed his instrument at my disposal. I was there without leaving, after the returns began to come in, until we had enough to satisfy us how the election had gone. This was about two in the morning of Wednesday. I went home, but not to get much sleep, for I then felt, as I never had before, the responsibility that was upon me. I began at once to feel that I needed support, — others to share with me the burden. This was on Wednesday morning, and before the sun went down I had made up my Cabinet. It was almost the same that I finally appointed. One or two changes were made, and the particular position of one or two was unsettled. My mind was fixed on Mr. Welles as the member from New England on that Wednesday. Some other names passed through my thoughts, and some persons were afterwards pressed upon me, but the man and the place were fixed in my mind then, as it now is. My choice was confirmed by Mr. H., by Senator Dixon, Preston King, Vice-President Hamlin, Governor Morgan, and others, but the selection was my own, and not theirs, and Mr. H. is under a mistake in what he says.”

_______________

¹ James F. Babcock, editor of the New Haven Palladium. Lincoln appointed him Collector at New Haven.

² O. H. Platt, subsequently United States Senator.

SOURCE: Gideon Welles, Diary of Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy Under Lincoln and Johnson, Vol. 1: 1861 – March 30, 1864, p. 81-2

Hannibal Hamlin to George Ashmun, May 30, 1860

WASHINGTON, May 30, 1860.

Gentlemen, — Your official communication of the 18th inst., informing me that the representatives of the Republican party of the United States, assembled at Chicago on that day, had by unanimous vote selected me as their candidate for the office of Vice-President of the United States, has been received, together with the resolutions adopted by the convention as its declaration of principles. These resolutions enunciate clearly and forcibly the principles which unite us, and the objects proposed to be accomplished. They address themselves to all, and there is neither necessity nor propriety in entering upon a discussion of any of them. They have the approval of my judgment, and in any action of mine will be faithfully and cordially sustained. I am profoundly grateful to those with whom it is my pride to cooperate for the nomination so unexpectedly conferred. And I desire to tender through you to the members of the convention my sincere thanks for the confidence thus reposed in me. Should the nomination which I now accept be ratified by the people, and the duties devolved on me of presiding over the Senate of the United States, it will be my earnest endeavor faithfully to discharge them with a just regard for the rights of all.

It is to be observed in connection with the doings of the Republican convention, that the paramount object with us is to preserve the normal conditions of our territorial domains as homes for freemen. The able advocate and defender of Republican principles whom you have named for the highest place that can gratify the ambition of man comes from a State which has been made what it is by the special action in that respect by the wise and good men who founded our institutions. The rights of free labor have been there vindicated and maintained. The thrift and enterprise which so distinguish Illinois, one of the most flourishing States of the glorious West, we would see secured to all the territories of the Union, and restore peace and harmony to the whole country by bringing back the government to what it was under the wise and patriotic men who created it. If the Republicans shall succeed in that object, as they hope to, they will be held in grateful remembrance by the busy and teeming millions of the future ages.

I am, very truly yours,

H. Hamlin.

To the Hon. George Ashmun,

President of the Convention, and others of the Committee.

SOURCE: Charles Eugene Hamlin, The Life and Times of Hannibal Hamlin, p. 351; David W. Bartlett, The Life and Public Services of Hon. Abraham Lincoln, p. 356-7

Hannibal Hamlin to Abraham Lincoln, September 25, 1862

BANGOR, September 25, 1862.

MY DEAR SIR, — I do not know as in the multiplicity of the correspondence with which you are burdened this note will ever reach your eye; but I desire to express my undissembled and sincere thanks for your Emancipation Proclamation. It will stand as the great act of the age. It will prove to be wise in statesmanship as it is patriotic. It will be enthusiastically approved and sustained, and future generations will, as I do, say God bless you for this great and noble act.

Yours sincerely,

H. HAMLIN.

To the President.

SOURCE: Charles Eugene Hamlin, The Life and Times of Hannibal Hamlin, p. 439

Abraham Lincoln to Hannibal Hamlin, September 28, 1862

EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, September 28, 1862.

HON. HANNIBAL HAMLIN:

My dear Sir,—Your kind letter of the 25th is just received. It is known to some that while I hope some from the proclamation, my expectations are not as sanguine as those of some friends. The time for its effect Southward has not come; but Northward the effect should be instantaneous. It is six days old, and while commendation in newspapers and by distinguished individuals is all that a vain man could wish, the stocks have declined, and troops come forward more slowly than ever. This, looked soberly in the face, is not very satisfactory. We have fewer troops in the field at the end of the six days than we had at the beginning, — the attrition among the old outnumbering the addition by the new. The North responds to the proclamation sufficiently in breath, but breath alone kills no rebels.

I wish I could write more cheerfully; nor do I thank you the less for the kindness of your letter.

Yours very truly,

A. LINCOLN

SOURCE: Charles Eugene Hamlin, The Life and Times of Hannibal Hamlin, p. 440

From Fortress Monore

FORTRESS MONROE, March 30. – The weather here to-day is unpleasant and raining.

The King Phillip arrived from Washington this P. M. with Vice President Hamlin on board, the Senate Committee on Naval Affairs, and several other Senators, Representatives and invited guests.  The party will return to-morrow.

There is no news.

– Published in The Burlington Weekly Hawk-Eye, Burlington, Iowa, Saturday, April 5, 1862, p. 4

First Session -- 37th Congress

WASHINGTON, March 28. – HOUSE. – The House in Committee of the Whole, resumed the consideration of the Tax Bill.  Coal oil resulting from the manufacture of illuminating gas or its re-distillation to be exempt from duty.  The tax of 5 cents per gallon on crude coal oil and other bituminous substances, used in like purposes, and on crude petroleum and rock oil was stricken out.  Oil refined and produced by the distillation of coal exclusively is to be subject to a duty of 8 cents per gallon.

The next clause was modified so that spirits rectified and mixed with other materials or prepared in any way to be sold as whiskey, should pay a tax of 15 cents per gallon.  When sold as brandy, gin, wine, or any other name, it shall pay 20 cents per gallon, on the basis of first proof, and so on in proportion for greater strength.  The tax of 4 cents on vinegar from materials other than cider or wine were stricken out.  The tax on ground coffee and all preparations of which coffee forms a part, or which is prepared for sale as a substitute for coffee, is reduced from 1 cent to 3 mills per pound.  Ground mustard and sugar are exempt.  Sugar tax 1 cent per pound.  The Committee struck the tax of 3 cents per lb. on tobacco leaf or stem, manufactured, and increased the tax from 5 to 10 cents per pound of Cavendish tobacco, plug, twist and manufactured of all descriptions, not including snuff, cigars or prepared smoking tobacco.  The Committee increased the tax on prepared smoking tobacco to 5 cents and on snuff or tobacco ground, dry or damp, of all descriptions, except aromatic or medical snuff, to 8 cents per pound.  The tax on cigars remains as originally reported.  Gun powder and all explosive substances used for mining, blasting or shooting purposes, valued at exceeding 18 cents per pound, to pay a tax of 5 mills; not exceeding in value of 10 cents to pay a tax of 1 cent per pound, and when valued at over 30 cents to pay a tax of 6 cents per pound.  Oxide _____ and sulphate of basalt to pay a tax per pound, 25 cents on the former and 10 cents on the latter.

The clause in regard to printing ink and all other descriptions of ink, fixing the tax at 3 per cent ad valorem, was stricken out.  Corn brooms, wooden pails and buckets, straw and palm leaf, hats, caps and bonnets, hats and caps of fur, felt or wool, glossed Indian rubber, or silk, wholly or in part, steel hoops and skirts of metal or other material, all to pay a tax of 3 per cent ad valorem.

Amendments were made, fixing the tax on ready made clothing at 3 per cent. ad valorem and on umbrellas and parasols at 5 per cent.  The tax on iron was fixed at 50 cents to $1 per ton, excepting on condition of manufacture.

The Committee rose and the House adjourned.

WASHINGTON, March 31. – HOUSE. – The House passed the Senate bill removing the import duties on arms imported either by States or contractors.

Mr. BROWN, from the Committee on Elections, reported a resolution which was adopted declaring that S. F. Beach is not elected a member of the House from the Seventh Congressional District of Virginia.

The House then went into Committee of the Whole on the tax bill.

WASHINGTON, March 31. – HOUSE. – The leather clause of the bill was amended as follows: On patent or enameled leather 5 mills per lb.; on patent japanned strips for dash leather 4 mills per square foot; on patent or enameled skirting leather 1½ mills per square foot; on all rolled and rough or hammered leather, made from hides imported from east of Cape of Good Hope, and all damaged leather, 5 mills per lb.; on all other sole and rough leather, hemlock tanned, 8 mills per lb.,  on all sole or rough leather, tanned in whole or part, with oak, 1 cent per lb.; on all finished or cured upper leather, except calf skin, made from leather tanned in the interest of the parties finishing or cutting up leather not previously taxed in the rough, 1 cent per lb.; on band, bull and harness leather, 1½  cents per lb., on tanned calf skins 6 cents each; on morocco goat, kid or sheep skins, cured, manufactured or finished, 4 per cent. ad valorem, provided that the price at which such skins are usually sold shall determine the value; on buck skins, tanned or dressed, $2 per dozen; on doe skins, tanned or dressed, $1 per dozen; on deer skins, dressed and smoked, 6 cents a pound, on horse and hog skins, tanned and dressed, 4 per cent ad valorem; on American patent calf skins 5 per cent. ad valorem, on patent or enameled leather 3 per cent. ad valorem.

The following amendments were also agreed to:  On wine made of grapes 5 instead of 10 cents per gallon; on starch 5 per cent. ad valorem; on furs of all descriptions, not otherwise provided for, 5 per cent ad valorem.

Mr. SPAULDING offered the following:  Provided that no duty shall be contracted on furs until the expiration of the Reciprocity Treaty with Great Britain.  Mr. Spaulding took the occasion to say that we have lost thirteen millions of dollars by this treaty, owing to discriminating duties.

The Committee adopted Mr. Spaulding’s amendment.

The tax on diamonds, emeralds and other jewelry was put at 3 per cent ad valorem.

Mr. STEVENS opposed the tax on flour, which, after some debate relative to the bearing on the Tax bill that existed by the Reciprocity Treaty, was stricken out.

Mr. SPAULDING gave notice that he should introduce a resolution requesting the President to give the required notice for terminating the Reciprocity Treaty.  Cloth and all textile fabrics 3 per cent. ad valorem.

Mr. KELLOGG offered a new paragraph “on and after the 1st of May one cent per pound on all cotton held or owned by persons or corporations.”  Fourth clause relating to organs and melodeons altered, levying the tax from fifty cents to one dollar, according to value, and $6 to $70  for yachts.  Dogs taxed $1 each.

The section relating to slaughtered cattle was amended by adding, provided that commission of internal revenue may make other rules and regulations for ascertaining the accurate number of cattle held, shipped and slaughtered, and all cattle liable to taxation.  Committee rose and the House adjourned.

SENATE. – Vice President Hamlin absent. – Mr. Foster was chosen President pro tem.

Mr. WILLEY present a petition from the workmen in the late armory at Harper’s Ferry, asking for the re-establishment of the armory and for work.

Mr. KING presented several petitions for emancipating the slaves.

Mr. COLLAMER, from the Committee on Libraries, reported to the House a joint resolution to the House for the appointment of _____ Woolsey of Connecticut, Regent of the Smithsonian Institute, in place of Prof. Felton.  The resolution was passed.

Mr. NESMITH introduced a resolution asking for the Secretary of War to furnish the Senate a copy of the report of Brig. Gen. J. Mansfield in relation to the late engagement between the Monitor and the Merrimac.  The resolution was adopted.

Mr. LATHAM introduced a bill to create a bureau of transportation.  Referred.

On motion of Mr. CHANDLER, the bill for the appointment of Light House Inspectors was taken up.  The bill proposes to transfer the light house to the revenue service, putting them under the control of the Secretary of the Treasury.  After discussion the bill was postponed.

Mr. WADE introduced a bill to provide a territorial government for Arizona.

Mr. FESSENDEN presented a joint resolution from the Legislature of Main, in favor of extending pecuniary aid to the States for the emancipation of their slaves.  Also cordially approving the President’s message, declaring that Maine will cheerfully furnish her quota of the amount.  Also asking her Senators to vote for the abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia.

The bill for the abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia was then taken up, and Mr. SUMNER, of Mass., proceeded to speak in favor, after which the bill was postponed until to-morrow.

The Senate went into executive session and adjourned.

WASHINGTON, April 1. – HOUSE. – Mr. WASHBURNE, of Illinois, presented a memorial from the Illinois Constitutional Convention in favor of the early enlargement of the Illinois and Michigan Canal, and gave notice that he should ask for an early consideration of the bill to that end, it being a matter of great national and military importance.  The memorial was referenced to the Committee on Military Affairs.

The consideration of the Pacific Railroad bill was further postponed till Tuesday.

The House then went into committee of the whole on the tax bill.

An amendment was adopted exempting from taxation under the Railroad routes and steamboats section all foreign emigrants travelling at a reduced fare into the interior of the country, a distance of over 100 miles from the sea coast.

Several amendments were made to the above section, including a tax of one and a half per cent on the gross receipts of bridge company repairers.

An amendment was adopted that trust companies be included with banks, saving institutions, &c., and that they pay three per cent. on their income.

A new section was added, providing that on and after May next, there shall be paid for every insurance policy which may be made, renewed, continued, or endorsed, a duty of 10 cents for every one hundred dollars insured for one year, &c.

Mr. COLFAX moved to strike out the section leaving a duty on advertisements.

Mr. WRIGHT thought that the press out to come up to the work.

Mr. COLFAX was of the same opinion but by this bill, without taxing Administration publications were taxed more than they ought to be. – The pay more than their proportion on the articles used, and for paper, telegraphic messages, gas light, &c.  They might as well impose a tax on all boarders at a hotel, on lawyers for every criminal or civil case.  He said those engaged in every branch of business, merchants, as we, as mechanics, were taxed less than newspapers!

Mr. STEVENS replied that in England a large income was received from the tax on advertisements, as well as the tax on stamps.  The Committee, he thought, had already made large concessions by reducing the tax on printing paper, and striking out that on ink.

Mr. COLFAX said that experience has shown that the English tax on newspapers and books was a tax on knowledge, and that the people demanded and secured a reform in this particular.

The committee disagreed to the motion of Mr. Colfax to strike out the above in the section.  The section was finally amended as follows, and then retained in the bill:

The tax on advertisements shall be assessed on the amounts received for them and not the amounts charged, and is reduced from five to three per cent.  Newspapers with less than 2,000 circulation or whose receipts are less than one thousand dollars per annum are exempted from any advertising tax.

The committee rose and the House adjourned.

SENATE. – Mr. DOOLITTLE presented a communication from the Secretary of the Interior relative to the Indians of Northern Mississippi.  Ordered to be printed.

Mr. SUMNER asked leave to introduce the following:

Whereas, Brig. Gen. Hooker, commanding the army of the United States, on the lower Potomac, Maryland, on the 26th day of March 1862 issued an order of which the following is a copy:

Headquarters of the Division,

Camp Baker, Lower Potomac

March 26th 1862.

To the Brigade and Regimental Commanders of this Division:

Messrs. Mally, Gray, Dunlington, Speak, Pierce, Posey and Cobey, citizens of Maryland, owning negroes supposed to be with some of the regimental camps, the Brigadier Genral Commanding, directs that they be permitted to visit all the camps of his command in search of their property, and if found that they be allowed to take possession of the same without any interference whatever; should any obstacle be thrown in the way by any officer or soldier in the division, they will be at once reported to these headquarters.

By order of Brigadier General Hooker.

(Signed.)

JOSEPH DICKENSON, A. A. G.

Therefore,

Resolved, That the Joint Select Committee on the conduct of the War be requested to inquire whether said order of Gen. Hooker is not a violation of the recent article of war passed by Congress, and approved by the President, concerning the action of the army in the return of fugitive slaves, and to report such a way as in the judgment of the committee will prevent the issue of similar orders, which, while they outrage the feelings of loyal men, necessarily tend to demoralized the army.

Mr. WICKLIFFE, before the reading was completed, objected to the introduction of the resolution.

Mr. SUMNER offered a resolution that the Committee on the Conduct of the War be instructed to collect evidence in regard to the barbarous treatment by the rebels at Manassas of the officers and soldiers of the United States killed in the battle there.  He said we have been disgusted and shocked by the reported treatment of the remains of soldiers by the rebels.  The skull of a brave Massachusetts officer has been made into a drinking cup for a Georgia rebel. – It is evident that we are in conflict with a people lower in the scale of civilization than ourselves, and he wanted record made for history.

Mr. HOWARD moved to enlarge the resolution so as to include an inquiry whether the rebels enticed the Indians who committed unheard of atrocious acts, and how this savage warfare was conducted.  If he was a commanding general he would make no prisoners serving  side by side with Indians.  The resolution thus amended was adopted.

Mr. HALE, offered a resolution that the Secretary of war be instructed to transmit to the Senate the correspondence of Gen. Wool with the War Department, relative to the movements on the part thereof since he has been in command of Fortress Monroe.

The Senate then took up the bill for the abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia.

Mr. WRIGHT, said he had hoped when he came here he might have given his attention to putting down the rebe3llion, and that these embarrassing questions would be avoided.  He was not going to look into the past to see why certain things were done, there was evil enough in every section of the country to excite alarm but he thought it was the duty of the politician and statesman to look on the bright side.

– Published in The Burlington Weekly Hawk-Eye, Burlington, Iowa, Saturday, April 5, 1862, p. 4

Shipping Point Occupied

WASHINGTON, March 29. – Shipping Point was yesterday occupied by our troops.  As the steamer Mount Vernon passed that place, they had raised the flag of the Union, and the band was playing the Star Spangled Banner.  All the rebels who have been in that vicinity for some time past, had left, with the exception of two or three companies of cavalry.

The King Phillip left here this morning, on a trip to Fortress Monroe, having on board Vice President Hamlin, and other prominent gentlemen, and several ladies.

– Published in The Burlington Weekly Hawk-Eye, Burlington, Iowa, Saturday, April 5, 1862, p. 4

1860 Presidential Election: The Candidates

	Party	Home State	Running Mate
Abraham Lincoln	Republican	Illinois	Hannibal Hamlin
Stephen A. Douglas	Northern Democratic	Illinois	Joseph Lane
John C. Breckinridge	Southern Democratic	Kentucky	Edward Everett
John Bell	Constitutional Union	Tennessee	Herschel V. Johnson

Vice Presidents of the United States Living at the Outbreak of the Civil War

Martin Van Buren, died July 24, 1862.

John Tyler, died 18 January 1862.

George M. Dallas, died December 31, 1864.

Millard Fillmore, died March 8, 1874.

John C. Breckinridge, died May 17, 1875.

Hannibal Hamlin, died July 4, 1891.

Note:  Andrew Johnson, Lincoln’s 2nd Vice President and later the 17th President of the United States, did not assume the office of Vice President until March 4, 1865.

From Washington

Special to the Chicago Tribune.

WASHINGTON, March 23.

The States this evening says it is the impression in naval and military circles, that New Orleans is ours, the mortar fleet having probably attacked the rebel fort Rigolette on the 11^th inst.

Letters from Ship Island confirm the statements.  The fort referred to is Fort Pike commanding one entrance to Lake Ponchartrain.

Gen. Brown has been out in command of the forts in New York harbor.

Gen. Arnold takes his place at Fort Pickens, which illness obliged is abandoning.  He leaves his staff, mustered out of service by recent General Order.

The Roanoke and Vanderbilt are being iron-clad as rapidly as possible.  Ericsson is preparing specifications for a vessel over three hundred feet long.  The smoke stacks on the new vessels will be higher.

Capt. Buchanan’s family still believe him alive.

In spite of a belief in their uselessness the seven millions voted by congress for stone forts are being appropriated for that purpose.

Dr. John Evans of Chicago, Ill., is nominated Governor of Colorado Territory, and Hardin of Indiana, nominated Governor of Utah.

Van Cleve and Asboth were also confirmed Brigadier Generals.  Fremont, at the last moment, concluded not to leave Washington yesterday, his staff not being fully determined upon.

Advices from the Gulf state that the Sickles cut off on the Pensacola is a failure; as a consequence the Pensacola is a failure.

Gen. Wadsworth is authorized to issue passes to the loyal North Carolinians, of whom many desire to reclaim their property from which they have been driven by the rebellion.

For the first time, the President yesterday visited Alexandria.

The Arlington House, hitherto occupied as headquarters, has been converted into a hospital.  The Freedman’s Aid Association, for the assistance of fugitives, has been organized here, with Mr. Hamlin as President.

Lieut. Morris, who fought the Cumberland so gallantly against the Merrimac, has received thanks of Secretary Wells, in a letter which does justice to his heroism.

– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Tuesday Morning, March 25, 1862, p. 1

Hannibal Hamlin . . .

. . . the name of our worthy Vice President, is one that is not continually resounded throughout the land.  He is an unassuming man.  “But (Says a correspondent) his wise counsel is of great service to the Cabinet, and is highly valued by the president.  He is the power behind the throne – the chosen associate of President Lincoln.  Besides this, Mr. Hamlin is admired by all who know him for his kindliness of way and well-bred manners.”

– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Thursday Morning, March 6, 1862, p. 2