In a letter to Thomas Corwin, a Republican congressman from Ohio, Lincoln clarifies his stance on slavery and expresses his thoughts on the political platform that should be adopted by Republican candidates running for office in Illinois. Lincoln writes, "Do you understand me as saying Illinois must have an extreme antislavery candidate? I do not so mean. We must have, though, a man who recognizes the Slavery issue as being the living issue of the day; who does not hesitate to declare slavery a wrong, nor to deal with it as such; who believes in the power, and duty of Congress to prevent the spread of it." Abraham Lincoln to Thomas Corwin, 9 October 1859, Private Collection.