Letterhead: Chicago Tribune (envelope)Includes envelopeText includes the following: "Gen. Seward speaks tomorrow, & the anxiety to hear him is intense. ... Whether what he shall say is inspired by Mr. Lincoln or not, it will be regarded here by all parties. Two things I think are very evident by the remarks, in public & private, of the Secessionists since I wrote you last, first, that the Cotton States are all as good as gone, & secondly, that having taken the plunge, they regret it ... Without further detail, it is evident that the cloud is far darker than was supposed possible when Congress met ... We cannot shut our eyes to the fact that the Mo. Comp. [Missouri Compromise] is popular in the North with the masses ... And hence I have believed that we, not they, should proffer the extension of the Mo. Comp. line through the existing territory of the U.S. to California, with Slavery prohibited north & the people south left to do as they please (not a protection of slavery there as Crittenden proposes, nor extending to any future acquisitions). This would leave New Mexico as a territory to be gently led towards freedom by the influence & patronage of the incoming admn. [administration], & is no worse for us than her present condition under the Compromise of 1850. ... Had Mr. Lincoln been here, consulting with those who are to assist in the Congressional branch of the government, he would have found ... over 100 out of our 112 Republicans in the House recommending me [for a cabinet position]. ... You have heard of the complaints here by Republican Congressmen about not being consulted by Mr. Lincoln. I think they are unjust, for I believe in a President selecting his own Constitutional advisers ..."Inscribed by Joseph Medill: "To Gov. O[liver] P. Morton [of Indiana] - probably". The envelope preserve with this letter (postmarked 1893?-06-19, to Medill in California) does not belong with it
