by special act of Congress and conferred upon Ulysses S. Grant, on whose promotion to the grade of general, July 25, 1866, created in his behalf, William T. Sherman became lieutenant-general; and on his succession to the rank of general, March 4, 1869, Philip H. Sheridan was promoted to be lieutenant-general. On the retirement of Sherman, in 1884, the grade of lieutenant-general was discontinued and merged with that of general. By an act of Feb. 5, 1895, it was revived and John M. Schofield appointed, who held it until his retirement, Sept. 29th, of that year. On June 6, 1900, Congress provided that the senior major-general commanding the army should have the rank and pay of the lieutenant-general, the act affecting MajorGeneral Nelson A. Miles, who retired Aug. 8, 1903. On that date Samuel B. M. Young received the commission of lieutenant-general, and on Jan. 9. 1904, it was given to Adna R. Chaffee. He was succeeded by Major-General Arthur MacArthur, and with his retirement June 2, 1909, the rank became extinct. Life-Saving Medals, government grant of, 6896. Life-Saving Service.-The ocean and lake coasts of the United States are picketed with the stations of the Life-Saving Service attached to the United States Treasury Department, and there is a corps of inspectors, superintendents, station keepers and crews, extending over the entire coast line, together with a board on life-saving appliances, composed of experts selected from the Life-Saving Service, the Revenue Cutter Service, and the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey and the Army. At the close of last fiscal year the lifesaving establishment embraced 285 stations, 203 being on the Atlantic and Gulf coasts, 62 on the lakes, 19 on the Pacific coast, and 1 at the Falls of the Ohio, Louisville, Ky. In the following table are the important statistics of the service: In addition to the number of disasters shown for 1913, there occurred 1,191 casualties to small craft, such as launches, sailboats, rowboats, etc., on which were 3,254 persons, of whom 14 were lost. The cost of the maintenance of the service during the year was $2.204,074.50. In January, 1915, the Life-Saving Service was combined with the Revenue Cutter Service to form the Coast Guard. (See Coast Guard.) Life-Saving Service Discussed, 4931, 6158. Light-Houses: Abaco Island, negotiations with Bahamas for site on, 845. Act making appropriation for, rea- Cession of, to United States act of Designated by proclamation, 1221, Erection of, negotiations for ces- Permanent points for, on coasts of Soil and jurisdiction for, complete Light-House Service.-Formerly the management of the light-houses was intrusted to a light-house board, organized in conformity to the act of Congress of Aug. 31, 1852. It consisted of the head of the Treasury Department (later of the Department of Commerce and Labor), three officers of the army, two naval and a civilian member. The head of the department was ex-officio president of the board, and the ranking naval officer was chairman. There were two secretaries, one a naval officer and one an engineer officer of the army. That system involved divided responsibility, and resulted in much friction in administration. Congress, therefore, by an act approved June 17, 1910, recognized the service and abolished the board and created a Bureau of Light-Houses in the Department of Commerce and Labor, with a commissioner in charge directly responsible to the Secretary of Commerce and Labor. The Bureau is charged with the establishment and maintenance of light-houses, light-vessels, buoys and other aids to navigation on the coasts and rivers of the United States, as authorized by Congress, and with the direction of the officers, depots and tenders required in this work. of Under the old system there were sixteen light-house districts, each in charge an army or navy officer. The law of 1910 provided that nineteen districts should be created, each in charge of a civilian inspector, but the president was authorized for a period of three years, from July 1, 1910, to assign army and navy officers to act as district inspectors. In the fiscal year 1910-11 the light-house establishment maintained 2,200 lighted aids to navigation, including sixty-three lightvessels, and about 12,000 unlighted aids and post lights. For the care and maintenance of these aids there were employed 3,137 keepers, assistant keepers and laborers attending lights, 1,693 officers and seamen on board vessels, 318 employees for construction and repair, also fifty-one light-house tenders. The amount expended to maintain the light-house establishment in 1910-11 was $5,058,800. Commissioner, George R. Putnam; Deputy Commissioner, Arthur V. Conover; Chief Constructing Engineer, John S. Conway; Superintendent of Naval Construction, George Warrington. Light-House Service, transfer of, from Treasury to Navy Department recommended, 4727. Lillie, The, compensation to owners of, 6730, 6824. Lincoln, Abraham.-March 4, 1861April 15, 1865. (FIRST TERM, 1861-1865.) Nineteenth Administration-Republican. Vice-President-Hannibal Hamlin. Secretary of State William H. Seward. Secretary of the Treasury— Salmon P. Chase. William Pitt Fessenden. Secretary of War Simon Cameron. Edwin M. Stanton. Secretary of the Navy- Secretary of the Interior- Attorney-General- T. J. Coffey. James Speed. was Nomination and Election.-Lincoln first elected by the Republican party Nov. 6, 1860. The Republican National Convention met at Chicago, May 16, 1860, and on the third ballot nominated Lincoln over Seward, Cameron, and Chase. Platform. The platform condemned disunion; insisted on States Rights; denounced the Democratic administration; censured the reckless extravagance of the Democratic Government; proclaimed the dogma that the Constitution carries slavery Into any or all of the territories to be a dangerous heresy; asserted that the Constitution does not countenance slavery nor should Congress give a legal existence to it; insisted upon the admission of Kansas to statehood; recommended tariff for revenue, with encouragement of the industries; protested against selling public lands already occupied by settlers; opposed any change in the naturalization laws; declared river and barbor appropriations to be both desirable and constitutional; and demanded a transcontinental railroad. Opposition.-The Democratic National Convention met, for the first time in the far South, at Charleston. S. C. After many days of fruitless balloting, the convention divided into two sections. Eventually, the Northern half nominated Douglas and the Southern half declared for Breckinridge. The Constitutional Union Party met in national convention at Baltimore, May 19, 1860, and nominated John Bell, on a plat form the basis of which was the recognition of no other political principles than the Constitution, Union, and the enforcement of laws. Vote.-The popular vote as cast by thir ty-three States gave Lincoln, 1,865,913; Breckinridge, 848,404; Douglas, 1,374,664, and Bell, 591,900. The electoral vote, counted Feb. 13, 1861, gave Lincoln, 180; Breckinridge, 72; Bell, 39, and Douglas, 12. (SECOND TERM, MARCH 4, 1865-APRIL 15, 1865.) Twentieth Administration-Republican. Vice-President-Andrew Johnson. The only change in the cabinet at the beginning of Lincoln's second term was the substitution of Hugh McCulloch, of Indiana, for Secretary of the Treasury to sueceed Mr. Fessenden. SECOND TERM.-In the election of 1864, Lincoln was renominated by the (Regular) Republican National Convention, which met in Baltimore on June 7, 1864. Platform.-The Republican platform of 1864 pledged the party to preserve the Union opposed any compromise with the rebels; demanded the utter and complete extirpation of slavery; gratefully acknowledged the services of the Army and the Navy in the war; commended the administration of Lincoln; advocated full and ample protection of the members of the Army and the Navy; encouraged immigration; urged speedy construction of the transcontinental railroad; urged the practice of rigid economy in the expenditure of Government funds; and deprecated European interference or offensive sympathy. Opposition. - The Radical Republican party, opponents of Lincoln, met at Cleve land May 31 and nominated John C. Frémont; but, before the election, Frémont urged the support of Lincoln and withdrew. The Democratic National Convention at Chicago, Aug. 29, 1864, nominated George B. McClellan on a platform declaring that the Constitution had been violated during the Lincoln administration and urged the cessation of hostilities and the compromise of difficulties; condemned the military interference in some state elections; sympathized with prisoners of war; condemned the exercise of martial law; and expressed sympathy for the suffering soldiers and sailors, to whom future aid and reward was promised. Vote. The popular vote cast by twentyfour States gave Lincoln 2,216,067, and McClellan 1,808,725. The electoral vote. counted on Feb. 8, 1865, gave Lincoln 212 and McClellan 21. Party Affiliation.-After Lincoln's service in the State legislature and his single term in Congress (1846-1848), he became one of the most influential of the Whig leaders in Illinois. The repeal of the Missouri Compromise (1854) brought him back into politics with intense anti-slavery ardor. When the Republican party was formed, Lincoln took his place as the head of that party in his state. Before the Republican Convention in 1858 he said: "A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this Government cannot endure half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved; I do not expect the house to fall: but I do expect that it will cease to be divided. It will become all the one thing or all the other. Either the opponents of slavery will arrest the further spread of it and place it where the public mind shall rest in the belief that it is in course of ultimate extinction, or its advocates will push it forward until it shall become like lawful in all the states, old as well as new, North as well as South." Political Complexion of Congress.-In the thirty-seventh Congress (1861-1863), the Senate, of 50 members, was composed of 11 Democrats, 31 Republicans, 7 Americans, and 1 vacancy, and the House, of 178 members, was made up of 42 Democrats, 106 Republicans, 28 Americans, and 2 vacancies. In the Thirty-eighth Congress (1863-1865), the Senate, of 51 members, was composed of 12 Democrats and 39 Republicans; and the House, of 183 members, was made up of 80 Democrats and 103 Republicans. In the Thirty-ninth Congress (1865-1867), the Senate, of 52 members, was composed of 10 Democrats and 42 Republicans; and the House, of 191 members, was made up of 46 Democrats and 145 Republicans. In the Fortieth Congress (1867-1869), the Senate, of 53 members, was composed of 11 Democrats and 42 Republicans; and the House, of 193 members, was made up of 49 Democrats, 143 Republicans, and 1 vacancy. Foreign Policy.-In speaking of the atti tude of foreign nations toward the United States during the war, President Lincoln said in his Second Annual Message (page 3327) that the commercial and social conditions of other nations with whom we have had relations have been disturbed by the war, and adds: "We have attempted no propagandism and acknowledge no revolution. But we have left to every nation the exclusive conduct and management of its own affairs. Our struggle has been, of course, contemplated by foreign nations with reference less to its own merits than to its supposed and often exaggerated effects and consequences resulting to those nations themselves. Nevertheless, com. plaint on the part of this Government, even if it were just, would certainly be unwise. Public Debt.—The public debt of the United States during the administration of President Lincoln stood as follows: July 1, 1861, $90,580,873.72: 1862, $524,176,412.13: 1863. $1,119,772,138.63; 1864, $1,815,784,370.57; 1865, $2,680,647,869.74. Tariff. The principal tariff changes in President Lincoln's administration were made by the act of Aug. 5, 1861, "to provide increased revenue from imports, to pay interest on the public debt, and for other purposes.' This levied a direct tax on both states and territories and provided for what is believed to be the first income tax ever levied by the general government of the United States. This income tax amounted to three per cent per annum on all income in excess of eight hundred dollars. The act of Dec. 24, 1861, imposed increased duties on tea, coffee, and sugar. That of July 14, 1862, was an act "increasing, temporarily, the duties on imports and for other purposes.' The act of March 13, 1863, "to modify existing laws imposing duties on imports, and for other purposes," made slight increases. Duties were further increased by the act of June 30, 1864, and that of March 3, 1865. Slavery. In his Inaugural Address (page 3206), President Lincoln sought to assure the people of the Southern states that they had nothing to fear from a Republican administration. He quotes from one of his former speeches: "I have no purpose, directly or indirectly, to interfere with the institution of slavery in the states where it exists. I believe I have no law. ful right to do so, and I have no inclination to do so.' He holds the Constitution to be clear on the question of surrendering fugitive slaves and states that the difference of opinion rests only on whose authority and how the surrender shall be made. He insists upon the integrity of the Union; that no state has the power to secede lawfully and that the Union is not broken by such declaration of secession on the part of any one state. In urging upon the people not to plunge the country into civil war, he said: "You can have no conflict without being yourselves the aggressors. You have no oath registered in Heaven to destroy the Government, while I shall have the most solemn one to 'preserve, protect, and defend it.'" In the earlier stages of the war, the President was besought by both great parties in the country on the one hand to adopt radical measures to stop slavery and on the other to pursue conservative paths. It was well known that he entertained a deep-rooted hatred of domestic servitude; but so great was his reverence for the law, so careful was he of vested rights and interests, and so desirous of retaining the support and confidence of the people, as an aid for the solution of the great problem, that he followed thus far a moderate course between the two extremes. Emancipation.-In August, 1861, Congress passed the act confiscating the rights of slave-owners in slaves employed in hostile acts against the Union. Frémont followed with his order to emancipate the slaves in Missouri. Lincoln ordered this declaration to be modified to conform to the orders of Congress and by so doing angered the anti-slavery advocates in Missouri and displeased the more conservative advisers. On March 6, 1862, the President sent a special message to Congress (page 3269) recommending the passage of a joint resolution bringing about the gradual emancipation of slaves by states, in return for which the states should receive pecuniary ald from the Government. Congress passed the resolution, but public opinion in the states was not ready to grasp this means. In April, Congress freed the slaves in the District of Columbia with compensation to owners-a measure which Lincoln had years before earnestly advocated. The events of the war during 1862 forced upon Lincoln the conclusion that emancipation was the only means at his command. As early as July, 1862, he began to prepare the proclamation, and though urged by delegations to take the step, he waited until it would be possible to make the order effective and easily operative. Late in August, 1862, the President said: "My paramount object is to save the Union, and not either to save or destroy slavery. If I could save the Union without freeing any slave, I would do it; if I could save it by freeing all the slaves, I would do it; and if I could do it by freeing some and leaving others alone, I would also do that." The defeat of Lee at Antietam and his retreat into Maryland seemed to the President an opportune time to issue his proclamation of emancipation, and his preliminary proclamation was accordingly is sued on Sept. 22, 1862 (page 3358). In his Second Annual Message (page 3335), the President recommended to Congress the passage of a resolution offering "compensated emancipation." But Congress did not act promptly, and Jan. 1, 1863, saw the Proclamation of Emancipation issued (page 3358). There was much speculation as to the President's firmness of anti-slavery convictions, and some suggestions that under some circumstances he might withdraw this proclamation. But in his Fourth Annual Message (page 3456) he repeated his declaration of the previous Lincoln, Abraham: Amnesty proclamation of, 3414. Persons entitled to benefits of, de- Annual messages of, 3245, 3327, Assassination of. See Biography of, Biographical sketch of, 3204. Child of, death of, announced by amendment relative to gradual emancipation of slaves Condolence of Bey of Tunis on, Day of humiliation and mourning Funeral announcement and official Honors to be paid memory of, 3487. Public offices to be closed in com- Report of George H. Sharpe on Scene of, opposite 3485. Emancipation proclamation of, 3358. Fasting and prayer, day of, set apart Finances discussed by, 3248, 3330, Foreign policy discussed by, 3248, Authority given by, to suspend writ Suspension of writ of, by, 3299, Revoked as to certain States by Second, 3477. |