No. 386.
Mr. Fish to General Sickles.
So soon as the republican government is fully established and in possession of the power of the nation you will recognize it. You will not fail to urge upon a government already committed to the principles and the expediency of emancipation and of political reforms the immediate enforcement of practical and efficient reforms and the abolition of slavery in the colonies. The present seems to be the moment when the government can accomplish great results. Endeavor to have the decrees self-acting, and not dependent upon future regulations, which have always proved inoperative and reactionary.