e cabinet his purpose to issue the proclamation
already quoted. What he did, he said, was after full deliberation
and under a heavy and solemn sense of responsibility.

The effect of this proclamation upon the pending elections in Ohio
was very injurious. I was then actively engaged in the canvass
and noticed that when I expressed my approbation of the proclamation,
it was met with coldness and silence. This was especially so at
Zanesville. The result was the election in Ohio of a majority of
Democratic Members of Congress. This, following the overwhelming
Republican victory in 1861, when Tod was elected governor by a
majority of 55,203, was a revolution which could only be ascribed
to the events of the war and to the issue of the proclamation. It
may be also partially ascribed to the discontent growing out of
the appointments, by Governor Tod, of officers in the volunteers.
The same discontent defeated the renomination of Governor Dennison
in 1861. Such is the usual result of the power of appointment,
however prudently exercised.

The House of Representatives was promptly organized on the 7th of
December, 1863, by the election of Schuyler Colfax as speaker.
The session of Congress that followed was perhaps the busiest and
most important one in the history of our government. The number
of measures to be considered, the gravity of the subject-matter,
and the condition of the country, demanded and received the most
careful attention. The acts relating to the organization of the
army and the one increasing the pay of soldiers, made imperative
by the depreciation of our currency, as well as the draft and
conscription laws, received prompt attention. The enrollment act,
approved February 24, 1864, proved to be the most effective measure
to increase and strengthen the army. The bounty laws were continued
and the amount to be paid enlarged. The laws relating to loans,
currency, customs duties and internal taxes required more time and
occupied a great portion of the session. The revenue bill enacted
at that session was far more comprehensive and the rates much higher
than in any previous or subsequent law. It provided for an increase
of all internal taxes contained in previous laws, and added many
new objects of taxation, so as to embrace nearly every source of
revenue provided for by American or English laws, including stamp
duties upon deeds, conveyances, legal documents of all kinds,
certificates, receipts,