The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1854-01-26


More about Gen. PieIce's Free Soil Letter -
Righly Interesting COMMUNE alton from
John Cochrane The Nail Clinched.
We have received the following letter from
John Cochrane Esq, Surveyor of this Port
NEW YORK Jan. % 1854.
Dstr SRI zee by this mnrnirg's HERALD th.t = n
referred to authority for octtsiu state mens Haeh
pear in your editorial article upon President Pisrcss
pain the extent ot the authority you possess from
aud tbs circumstances which warranted comauni,a
ton This propose that tae statement made b, II
may appear have been vyul teareG, and that
you have mi.sed may b. the easily
ted II is eight or ten days since that gentleman calls
your b.bkH, with isqui.ies for istsr Yhi,h
you tsd pr of froR other General Fieros ha
written TO Van BufeD ratification meeting he'd 10 tbs
Pa p ia cur Gig in 1913 Ny repy vas, thst Irensm
bsred tGst Eueh Letter rec.vsi End th.t thoash
l. "as sill among ny papsrs, and tnst wouli l'oE for
T. uEcn his Expressing 10 ostalon nat ts would De
found TO have favored the ossct of th.. meeting toll
tiGl YER! dtotinsu! that though notlhsl hal "a
tpct recollection OF SIS contents, but that u
preston that tue litter expressed kindly psrsons
remriscttcs- q tie gthtlener, lin iYiduAdzog no
one) Understood TO have acted with the rsacsl depoc
rscy Of oar STATE, hut dissppEoyed of corfs.
position refersd JGsee Waterbury IA D r.
who wouli pre- bly, reocret distinctly the
tents Of the i.tsr suppose! TIA. sho nd su:,asd
in my ss-oh .cr the letter ! said ts.t woso toaa
ula tugecy oouee it. My impression of the char
ac;er of the letter eyeS;ed 10 hi, I,ni,uha SAB
stsntisny as have stated at tn several time, Wien he
expressed my belief In the socurs.y OF his memory, |
nore acned to reis upon nis 1880 lection tan
M fnp,ttsic
the meeting to which the snswsr Of General Pa CO
Was sddretssd meeting he'll in the .ers tbs 1872
day &C Ju 1S4S 10 coma 10 the 81 Mas
tin Van Burep Presi6 ani H.rrs Do g Woe Pre-
sdent Of the United States, INSIDE g. ca the 2st DIV
OF yuns Is4s The Buffalo Convention vas held subse
qu.Lty. the 9TH August 1878. The nmlttse ~
which WIS chairman aad to Which the letor OF g sns
Psrss addressed, did not nate from the .ioi
y .l,a -
mtee o. the city Of New York. Youtr your io,onants
must have been strangely nistssaa II unttr standiIg
from M; - you 'av thn tee Yep o. General Ps'ee
Of Van Baron ard his free soil psTsisaas " have no
such recollection, ara could no. have exprssssa mr.
se for only impression OF the character Of tbs letter
vs., (uLiil MY Conversation with Jadse Waterbury al
have always answered whea q1sstnnsd, that Geo 4ai
Pierce expressed kindly personal rer,uibrsnces of psr
tops enrolled among The radical democrscy, but dllo
proved of hsir objscts and Ectiln should add that
exclusion from the LET OF IL tiers from prominent and d
uuguish~d gentlemen when any the least favorable
included hss slwS,s ccrhrmed my npesson tia, Can
Pitrce's letter was decidedly against 81
address mJfet TO you in couaa n. RELIANCE tbs you
will correct the trrors OF your tgcs Of to-day; aad fer
that purpose perhaps the better ~oald Be
this uocation in % rs HgsAD Please 3oss
ne by ctipS so. Ioare respectfully,
We have now the statement, under Mr.. Coch-
rane's own sign-manual that letter was writ
ten by Franklin Pierce to the free soil commit
tee in this city in ls4S. That fact is now estab
lished beyond all possible question or doubt
Mr. Cochrane cannot recollect what the contents
of that letter were. And we submit that to ex.
pect him to recollect them under the circum-
stances, would be altogether unreasonable; nay,
more, to disturb his ease aud enjoyment in tho
lucrative office which. as Surveyor of this Port
he holds under President Pierce, by so severely
taxing his memory, and for purpose so On.
pleasant to his patron, would be downright
cruelty.
But, fortunately, there is no occasion for Mr.
Cochrane to recolect the contents Of that letter.
With the facts now before them the public will
lie at no loss to conclude what the letter con
tanned. The letter was written to o free soil
committee here in 1913, at q time when the
Concord Patriot, which uniformly reaec ii Ge-
neral Pierce's political sentiments, was vche-
mently advocating the Wilnot proviso. Three
leading free soilers who happened to be
cognizant Of that letter-John Cochrane, Isaac
V, Fowler, and Nelson J. Waterbury-uow hold
important and lucrative offices under General
Pierce The letter itself is not forthcoming.
while it is perfectly well understood and ad-
mitted 10y leading free soil men in this city that
General Pierce was with them in lS4s. How
happens it that while there is no difficulty in
finding the other letters addressed to the COM
mttee this one from Gen. Pierce alone is
wanting? Had the letter legs, that it has
walked away? We have no doubt that Mr..
Cochrane has looked Tor it; he may continue
his search, and yet he will not find it, unless,
forsooth, he looks in the right place. The
Non mi ricordo Of the italian witnesses
ia the famous case OF Queen Caroline will long
be remembered; but no failure of memory on
the part Of his officials will save General
Pierce now.
As to Mr.. Cochrane's statement OF his i'm
pressions about the contents of the letter, after
be has plainly asserted that be does not recol-