I give it with no comment.
*****
Dr. Edward Wallace: Clinton, Oct. 11th. 1859
My dear Sir:
I am here, just now, attending court. Yesterday, before I left Springfield, your brother, Dr. William S. Wallace, showed me a letter of yours, in which you kindly mention my name, inquire for my tariff views; and suggest the propriety of my writing a letter upon the subject.
I was an old Henry Clay tariff whig. In old times I made more speeches on that subject, than on any other. I have not since changed my views. I believe yet, if we could have a moderate, carefully adjusted, protective tariff, so far acquiesed in, as to not be a perpetual subject of political strife, squabbles, charges, and uncertainties, it would be better for us.
Still, it is my opinion that, just now, the revival of that question, will not advance the cause itself, or the man who revives it.
I have not thought much upon the subject recently; but my general impression is, that the necessity for a protective tariff will, ere long, force it's old opponents to take it up; and then it's old friends can join in, and establish it on a more firm and durable basis.
We, the old whigs, have been entirely beaten out on the tariff question; and we shall not be able to re-establish the policy, until the absence of it, shall have demonstrated the necessity for it, in the minds of men heretofore opposed to it.
With this view, I should prefer, to not now, write a public letter upon the subject. I therefo[re] wish this to be considered confidential.
I shall be very glad to receive a letter from you.
Yours truly
A. LINCOLN---
******
There you have the evidence of the private letters of any consequence.
I'll get the Pittsburg speech, too, if you want to see it. That and a speech in New Haven are all that exist, containing any significant mention of tariffs, in the several years just before Lincoln's inauguration.
Regards,
Richard F.
Private & confidential
G. Yoke Tams, Esq Springfield, Ills--- Sep. 22. 1860
My dear Sir: Your letter asking me ``Are you in favor of a Tariff & Protection to American Industry?'' is received. The convention which nominated me, by the 12th. plank of their platform, selected their position on this question; and I have declared my approval of the platform, and accepted the nomination. Now, if I were to publicly shift this position, by adding or subtracting anything, the convention would have the right, and probably would be inclined, to displace me as their candidate. And I feel confident that you, on reflection, would not wish me to give private assurances to be seen by some, and kept secret from others.
I enjoin that this shall, by no means be made public. Yours Respectfully A. LINCOLN
-----------------
To James E. Harvey
(Private and confidential.)
October 2, 1860.
My dear Sir: To comply with your request to furnish extracts from my tariff speeches is simply impossible, because none of those speeches were published. It was not fashionable here in those days to report one's public speeches. In 1844 I was on the Clay electoral ticket in this State (i.e., Illinois) and, to the best of my ability, sustained, together, the tariff of 1842 and the tariff plank of the Clay platform. This could be proven by hundreds---perhaps thousands---of living witnesses; still it is not in print, except by inference. The Whig papers of those years all show that I was upon the electoral ticket; even though I made speeches, among other things about the tariff, but they do not show what I said about it. The papers show that I was one of a committee which reported, among others, a resolution in these words:
``That we are in favor of an adequate revenue on duties from imports so levied as to afford ample protection to American industry.''
But, after all, was it really any more than the tariff plank of our present platform? And does not my acceptance pledge me to that? And am I at liberty to do more, if I were inclined? Yours truly,
A. LINCOLN.
Actually, there are others where Lincoln uses terminology other than tariff. I've only had time to search briefly, but things like revenue collection, duties, and variations of the word protect are mentioned in other Lincoln works. A major theme with him was during the secession crisis, where Lincoln repeatedly spoke and wrote of the need to "collect the duties" or "collect the revenues" of seceding states. The theme continued into the war, where all of his blockade writings and speeches emphasized the same point over and over and over. The reason he kept giving was that secession had impeded the collection of duties on foreign imports. We can suppose that, in light of the fact that tariffs had just been hiked to the highest level in decades, this meant significant revenue. I'll have to spend some time, but can pull them and post them if you like.
I also find it interesting that the new haven speech is the only one I know of where Lincoln even comes close to the assertion that the tariff issue should be set aside to address the slavery issue.
All of the letters have him advocating the tariff in various degrees. Some are direct and open, others he stands behind the tariff plank of the platform. Some have him expressing hopes that he will be able to do so politically in the near future. Add the Pittsburgh speech, where he advocates in no less than direct terms the taking up of the issue as a major priority in congress, and it becomes clear that Lincoln was not willing to simply let the issue drop to address the slavery one.