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Chapter 8: Administrative Dysfunction, Congressional Displeasure
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82 James Mitchell’s unexpectedly deft political maneuvering in May and June 1863 almost single-handedly reversed the fortunes of the Honduras and Guiana colonization projects. With the British principals disposed to abandon their quest for labor to politics, the lowly emigration commissioner outflanked two hostile members of the cabinet, secured the blessings of a third, and delivered an order from the president’s desk giving sanction to the recruitment of black colonists from the United States. By the end of 1863 all signs suggested emigration would soon be under way. Furthermore, for the time being colonization remained the official policy of the Lincoln administration. President Lincoln established the Emigration Office in 1862 to administer the government’s colonization projects. Mitchell’s post entitled him to a salary equivalent to that of a “chief clerk” of the Interior Department at $1,800 annually. This compensation, along with his budget, came directly from the colonization fund, and his appointment existed at the president’s discretion.1 Mitchell operated his office according to this arrangement without incident at the Interior Department under Caleb Smith, seeking the secretary’s guidance in the formative stages of the colonization program. Mitchell initially favored funding emigration to Liberia through the established network of the American Colonization Society, though Smith urged him to wait for “other arrangements” being contemplated by the State Department, “which have not been consummated.” With the secretary’s approval, he assembled a staff of two assistant clerks, including Augustus A. Smith and Menard, the latter being the first African American ever hired for an administrative position in a federal agency. They were housed in a single room of the government’s Pension Office Building, furnished by the colonization fund.2 The British Honduras project is a testament to Mitchell’s occasional political acumen, seldom acknowledged by historical opinion. He is typically Chapter 8 Administrative Dysfunction, Congressional Displeasure Administrative Dysfunction, Congressional Displeasure 83 known for “provoking the ire of the successive secretaries of the Interior,” which “only weakened” the administration’s colonization efforts, to quote Gabor Boritt. In actuality, Mitchell enjoyed the favor of his first superior, Smith, and was personally friendly with several other members of the cabinet , including Blair and Attorney General Bates. 3 His quarrelsome reputation stems entirely from a single prolonged dispute with Smith’s successor, John Palmer Usher, catalyzed by the events of May and June 1863.4 The circumvention of Stanton and Usher showed Mitchell’s political talent at its finest. This ability inconsistently manifested itself. Even Mitchell’s letters meander from astute and focused insights, replete with eminently practical strategies to advance a specific policy, to the interminable harangues of a revivalist preacher who quite literally approached colonization as if it were the nation’s prophetic destiny. Mitchell’s personality encompassed numerous irritating traits. Opinionated, prying, quick to speak his mind, and desirous of immediate results, he had little patience for Washington’s bureaucratic hierarchy and procedure. Knowing these cavalier tendencies and habit of interspersing sermons with his policy writings, Lyons and Hodge often took great care to validate Mitchell’s proclamations with the cabinet before acting on his word alone.5 The summer 1863 victory proved a temporary one for the same reasons that enabled its successes. When Mitchell outmaneuvered his immediate superior on colonization he unwittingly instigated a feud that outlived Lincoln and spilled into the Andrew Johnson administration. The War Department was none too pleased to learn that Lincoln applied his pen to the order Mitchell drafted with Hodge and Dickson. Usher concurred. The meddlesome emigration commissioner needed to go. Usher had few options to rein in the cause of his annoyance directly. Mitchell’s salary came from an earmarked account, and a direct presidential appointment prevented his dismissal without Lincoln’s approval. The secretary’s position still gave him influence over colonization policy, and any expenditure from the colonization account required his stamp. On May 18, as Mitchell conferred with Hodge, Usher decided to test the president’s receptivity to eliminating the Emigration Office. Citing the “recent action of the War Department,” budgetary constraints, and a need for additional room in the Pension Office, he requested “that the further attention of Revd. Mr. Mitchell . . . be dispensed with.”6 Lincoln patiently ignored the secretary’s carefully worded request; he intended for Mitchell’s office to administer the impending projects with Hodge and Dickson. [3.230.128.106] Project MUSE (2024-03-19 13:28 GMT) 84 Colonization after Emancipation The summer of 1863 passed...