Lincoln was able, although with no little difficulty, to hold back the
pressure of Northern sentiment in regard to anti-slavery action until
the course of the War had finally committed the loyalists of the Border
States to the support of the Union. For the support of this policy, it
became necessary to restrain certain of the leaders in the field who
were mixing up civil and constitutional matters with their military
responsibilities. Proclamations issued by Fremont in Missouri and later
by Hunter in South Carolina, giving freedom to the slaves within the
territory of their departments, were promptly and properly disavowed.
Said Lincoln: "A general cannot be permitted to make laws for the
district in which he happens to have an army."
The difficulties in regard to the matter of slavery during the war
brought Lincoln into active correspondence with men like Beecher and
Greeley, anti-slavery leaders who enjoyed a large share of popular
confidence and support. In November, 1861, Lincoln says of Greeley: "His
backing is as good as that of an army of one hundred thousand men."
There could be no question of the earnest loyalty of Horace Greeley.
Under his management, the New York _Tribune_ had become a great force in
the community. The paper represented perhaps more nearly than any paper
in the country the purpose and the policy of the new Republican party.
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