St. Louis (MO) Daily Missouri Democrat, "Address of Henry B. Bouton," October 27, 1862

    ADDRESS OF HENRY B. BOUTON. 

To the Voters of the Sixth Congressional District for the State of Missouri.

   FELLOW-CITIZENS: I propose to represent you in the next Congress of the United States. This proposition is offered in some confidence, that my political antecedents, which run through a period of twenty-one years residence in this State; as also the relations I sustain to the present administration, and the dominant party in Congress, may afford me, to some extent, superior facilities for efficient service in that department. In times like these, the Representative should occupy no equivocal position. 

   As respects my antecedents, it is known to my acquaintances that politics is not my trade; but that I have been, from the inception of this rebellion, an unconditional Union man; not of recent conversion, but for the Union in those dark days of the republic when those black clouds of secession obscured our political horizon, and also for a time obscured the mental and moral vision of some pseudo Union men, who now desire to be regarded as models of loyalty. 

   While I have never been an Abolitionists, I have always believed with such men as Clay, Webster and benton, that Congress possessed the power under the Constitution to abolish slavery in the District of Columbia, and in the Territories, and in fact in very [every] place where the Federal Government has exclusive jurisdiction, and I heartily approve the action of the last Congress in the exercise of such power. I think it sets us right with the millions in Europe, who are struggling for free government; at the same time that ti deprives monarchists of an argument against the sincerity of our professions. 

   I approve the war policy of the President, to wit:  The restoration of old relations, and of the Federal authority over every square foot of territory within the United States. I indorse the policy of strengthening ourselves and weakening our adversary; a policy which no longer presents the anomaly, of making war on the enemy, and at the same time protecting him. 

   Slaves hereafter coming within our lines, are to be employed by us; ad not as heretofore, returned to make war on us, and furnish subsistence to the rebels. And this action of the President, as Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy, is, in my opinion, the exercise merely, of a belligerent right, that no nation has heretofore hesitated to enforce, under similar circumstances. As a citizen of Missouri, whose interests are identified with yours in every particular, I am free to say that I am in favor of the plan of emancipation proposed by the President to the Border States, regarding it a generous offer on the part of the Government, and one which every consideration of self interest on our part, prompts us to accept. I am, therefore, in favor of gradual emancipation, with compensation to owners of the few slaves remaining in this State, and will, if elected, instead of throwing cold water on the proposition, as some of our former representatives have done––endeavor to procure such tangible and permanent legislation the subject, as shall deprive cavaliers of all pretexts for objection thereto. 

   The true policy of Missouri is, to take such action as will most speedily enable her to recover from the shock of this civil war, which has robbed her of a large portion of her population. In order to do this, she should invite immigration, to supply the deficit occasioned by the exodus––I may say stampede of laborers from the State. Otherwise our fertile fields will continue to produce weeds, bushes and "bushwhackers." We can hope for no immigration except from the free States, and all that is necessary to stimulate their emigration is to furnish some guaranty of the ultimate extinction of slavery within our borders. An additional reason urges our prompt acceptance of this proposition: Slavery is doomed in Missouri! Its fate is written in "the stern logic of events;" and he is blind who cannot see it. The President saw it, and hence the munificent offer which we should make haste to accept, for the time will come when owners of slaves will not have the privilege of putting them in their pockets. Why then persist in clinging to the dregs of a system, which, while it repels immigration, invites raids, exposes us to be plundered, and our country laid waste. I am not aware that either of my competitors profess to support the administration of President Lincoln; I believe they have not the temerity to do so. I have the hardihood, and whatever may be the result of the election, the time if fast approaching when these principles will not go begging from door to door, but will be universally approved; and the owner will be that any one hesitated to adopt them. I expect to be subjected to abusive epithets, the usual weapons employed in a bad cause, but the mad dog cry of Abolition has no terrors for me. I will, however, simply suggest that men who are so stupid that they cannot perceive the difference between an Abolitionist and a "State Emancipationist," do not deserve to be represented in Congress, but, perhaps, in the Lunatic Asylum, if we had one. 

   Now that a Pacific railroad bill has been passed by Congress, designating the points of its commencement and intersection, but little remains for your representative to do, other than the continued and persistent support of measures for the completion of one of the most grand and stupendous civil enterprises known in the annals of any age, or any country. It may be justly denominated the "Mammoth Railroad," which, emerging from the bed of the Mississippi, starts toward the setting sun, and scorning all intermediate points, looks for a terminus on the Pacific Coast. It proposes to traverse the vast plains on our west, to the consternation of the primitive inhabitants, (Indians and Buffalo,) bring into close proximity the great valley of the Mississippi and the great States of California and Oregon; and enable the cities of St. Louis and San Francisco to exchange daily salutations. It proposes more. It proposes to revolutionize the commerce of the world! Let not even the din of arms nor the discordant notes of civil war divert our attention form the noblest enterprise of the age––an enterprise the conception of American genius––as bold and as free as our mountains and rivers––a genius the offspring of liberty, and which, like its author, seeks in an enlarged, generous and sublime philanthropy to encompass the world with its munificence. 

   In conclusion, fellow-citizens, I will promise that your local interests shall at all times secure my prompt attention, and especially the hard-earned claims of our citizen soldiers, whose services in this war cannot be compensated in dollars and cents.            HENRY B. BOUTON. 

   KANSAS CITY, Sept. 30, 1862.