Portage sentinel. [volume] (Ravenna, Ohio) 1845-1854, 1847-08-11
From the Washington Union.
Gen. CasS and the Chicago Convention.

/ From the Washington Union
Gen. Cass and the Chicago Convention.
In the accounts ofihe proceedings of the
| Chicago convention, as furnished by the
partisan writer's for the federal press, there
appears to be an attempt to create the i'm
preston that the brief and consise letter Of
General Cass, in reply to an invitation to-
be present at the convention, was received
with coarse marks of disaDprobation.-
Whether there were present some malig-
nant partisans oflederalism, imported for
the purpose of making political capital for
the federal party, who disgraced their body
by futile attempt to insult one far above
the reach Of the shafts of their malice, or
whether the indiscretion of the letter wri-
ters has led them to perpetrate base libel
upon the good sense Of the convention, in
declaring them guilty Of SO gross an act OF
disrespect, it matters but little.
With those who have read the history of
the wEsT-and especially those who have
been reared in its wilds, and suffered its
priyations and toils-such articles will on
iy excite indignation, where they are not
treated with contempt and scorn. Long
before these men were born. Gen Cass
was THE FATHER OF THEsWEsT. HepHr.
chased from the Indians the ground on
which the late convention was held. He
explored those rivers, trayersed the prai-
ries, surveyed the harbors, and in his birch
canoe boldly navigated the great lakes,
| where the voice of the white man was un-
| heard and unknown in their borders.
Gen. Cass defended that country in war,
and governed it in peace. He issued ra-
tions to the starving settlers in the time of
their privations and peril. He was the
friend of the migrant, the pioneer, and the
poor man. He purchased from the Indi-
ans, and added to the great agricultural
purposes of the country all that vast terri
tory. He founded their cities, laid out
works Of internal improvement, instituted
colleges and schools, and built up the COM
merce of the vast region now forming SOW
ereign States and teeming with populous
| cities.
! There are many incidents connected
with his early explorations Of that country,
which form thrilling passages in its history,
and strangely illustrate the excitement and
danger of frontier life. I have in my
mind one which occurred at the then will
age Of Chicago <the seat Of the late Con-
vention) and which was related to me by
IN actor in the scene. 1t occurred soon
after the last war with Great Britain,
when Gen. Cass was the Governor of the
Territory Of Michigan, and Agent of the
Government with the Indian tribes, in that
region. Chicago was then settled by
! few whites, consisting mostly of traders
and their families. The settlers had suf:
fered severely from the hostility Of the
Indians Their village had been burned
| and many of their people tomahawked.
Gen. Cass was on an exploring voyage
| upon the Upper Mississippi. Numerous
reports were in circulation of the hostili-
ties of the savoges, and the destruction of
himself and his party. The apprehension
ofthe people Of Chicago was excited to the
utmost for their own safety. At the close
Of a beautiful day, just as the evening had
set in, they were alarmed by the distant
sound Of human voices. Supposing them
to be Indians, the terrified inhabitants seiz-
ed their arms and prepared for defence.
The sounds grew upon the evening air as
they approached nearer and nearer. In
terror the citizens awaited their coming.
A bend in the river brought them to view,
and, in place of the fierce war whoop of
the blood thirsty savages, they recognized
the cheerful strains Of the uoyageus
chanting their evening songs as they
padded their bark canoe, bearing back in
safety the beloved Governor Of their Ter
ritory. The transition from terror to ioy
can be imagined only by those who have
witnessed the burning cabin and heard the
appalling war-cry Of the savage.
Then it was, long before Col. Benton
even had written upon the subject, that
Gen. Cass traversed the route and marked
out the great project Of uniting the waters
Of the lakes with the Mississippi-a meas
ure since undertaken by the State of Hi
nois, in her magnificent canal, which will,
ere long become great national avenue
to commerce and wealth.
The position Of Gen. Cass upon all
questions relating to western interests is
we'll known. He has ever been identified
with then. The West is emphatically
his child. No parent nbandons his own
offspring. Neither will he, nor ever has
he. When western rights were at stake,
and others faltered, from whom better
things were expected, he stood firm.
His opinions were not asked upon the
ouDJOSto W w caouSAiI AoA " dIu Wy llFG COl.
vention. When they are asked, they will
be given; and they will be given not for
the purpose of conciliating sectional inhu-
ence, or subserying political purposes, but
they will be the enlarged and liberal views
of a great statesmen upon great national
question, and which the friends of q sound
constitutional policy throughout the Union
will sustain. This is all that they ex-
pect to be advocated by him who has ever
been the champion of tho West, as we'll as
the champion of the constitution and the
rights of the ,rhoie Union.
Let me add aa important historical fact
bearing on the improvement Of the western
harbors. During the session of the twenty
seventh Congress, when the federal party
were in full power, with President and
Cabinet Of their own, and with overwhelm-
ing majorities in both houses of Congress,
in time of profound peace, and with no
heavy drain upon the treasury, not one
dollar was appropriated for the improve.