Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln. Volume 6 [Dec. 13, 1862-Nov. 3, 1863].

About this Item

Title: Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln. Volume 6 [Dec. 13, 1862-Nov. 3, 1863].
Author: Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865.
Publication: New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press; 1953.
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Link to this Item: http://name.umdl.umich.edu/lincoln6
Cite this Item: "Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln. Volume 6 [Dec. 13, 1862-Nov. 3, 1863]." In the digital collection Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln. https://name.umdl.umich.edu/lincoln6. University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. Accessed June 18, 2024.

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To the Senate1Jump to section

To the Senate of the United States: February 25, 1863

I nominate Passed Midshipman Samuel Pearce and Nathaniel T. West, now on the retired list, to be ensigns in the Navy on the retired list.

These nominations are made in conformity with the 4th section of the act to amend an act entitled ``An act to promote the efficiency of the Navy,'' approved 16 January, 1857, and are induced by the following considerations:

The pay of a passed midshipman on the retired list as fixed by the ``Act for the better organization of the military establishment,'' approved 3d August, 1861, amounted, including rations, to $788 per annum. By the ``Act to establish and equalize the grade of line officers of the U.S. Navy,'' approved 16 July, 1862, the grade or rank of passed midshipman, which was the next below that of master, was discontinued and that of ensign was established, being now the next grade below that of master and the only grade in the line list between those of master and midshipman. The same act fixes the pay of officers on the retired list, omitting the grade of

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passed midshipman, and prohibits the allowance of rations to retired officers. The effect of this was to reduce the pay of a passed midshipman on the retired-list from $788 to $350 per annum, or less than half of previous rate.

This was no doubt an unintended result of the law, operating exclusively on the two passed midshipmen then on the retired-list, and their promotion or transfer to the equivalent grade of ensign would not completely indemnify them, the pay of an ensign on the retired-list being only $500 per annum. It is the only relief however which is deemed within the intention of the existing laws, and it is the more willingly recommended in this case as there is nothing in the character of the officers to be relieved which would make it objectionable. These are the only cases of the kind.

Washington, D.C., February 25, 1863. ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

Annotation

[1] Executive Journal, XIII, 194-95. The nominations of Samuel Pearce and Nathaniel T. West were confirmed by the Senate on March 10, 1863.

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