ses, had been introduced, I think, by General
Fremont. When General Halleck came, he found and continued the system, and
added an order, applicable to some parts of the State, to levy and
collect contributions from noted rebels, to compensate losses and relieve
destitution caused by the rebellion. The action of General Fremont and
General Halleck, as stated, constituted a sort of system which General
Curtis found in full operation when he took command of the department.
That there was a necessity for something of the sort was clear; but that
it could only be justified by stern necessity, and that it was liable to
great abuse in administration, was equally clear. Agents to execute it,
contrary to the great prayer, were led into temptation. Some might, while
others would not, resist that temptation. It was not possible to hold
any to a very strict accountability; and those yielding to the temptation
would sell permits and passes to those who would pay most and most readily
for them, and would seize property and collect levies in the aptest way
to fill their own pockets. Money being the object, the man having money,
whether loyal or disloyal, would be a victim. This practice doubtless
existed to some extent, and it was, a real additional evil that it could
be, and was, plausibly charged to exist in greater extent than it did.

When General Curtis took command of the department, Mr. Dick, against
whom I never knew anything to allege, had general charge of this system.
A controversy in regard to it rapidly grew into almost unmanageable
proportions. One side ignored the necessity and magnified the evils of the
system, while the other ignored the evils and magnified the necessity;
and each bitterly assailed the other. I could not fail to see that the
controversy enlarged in the same proportion as the professed Union men
there distinctly took sides in two opposing political parties. I exhausted
my wits, and very nearly my patience also, in efforts to convince both
that the evils they charged on each other were inherent in the case, and
could not be cured by giving either party a victory over the other.

Plainly, the irritating system was not to be perpetual; and it was
plausibly urged that it could be modified at once with advantage. The case
could scarcely be worse, and whether it could be made better could only
be determined by a trial. In this view, and not to ban or brand General
Curtis, or to give a victory to any party, I