Daily American organ. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1856, 1856-06-21

Hon. 8. A. Smith.
We observe in the Union Of the 18th instant
letter from Hon. s. A. Smith, of Tennessee,
to Hon. H. NJ. Shaw, in which this gentleman
assumes that he has found certain "facts,n
which we incline 10. the opinion should be
characterized by different name Mr.. Smith
processes to have made his investigation after
much labor, and has devoted much time to the
subject, and of course he can, If he chooses,
give the public the benefit of the detais,-the
names of the appointees, both under Mr.. Fill
more and under Mr. Pierce, and enable the
public to judge Of the correctness of his con-
illusions, instead of asking the country to take
has opinions in the place Of facts Mr. Smith
says, in concluding his array Of assumed facts,
as follows, to wit:
seth The difference therefore, in this respect,
between the two Presidents, Ia this: that while
General Pierce may have appointed some Free
sellers to office without knowledge of the fact
that they were such at the time Mr.. Fillmore's
appointees in the Northern States were all Free
soilers and known to be such at the time Of their
appointment"
We deny totally and unhesitatingly that
any such difference" as Mr.. Smith has stated,
can result from an examination such as Mr..
Smith says he has made, and we demand proof
Of the correctness Of his conclusions Give
the public the ndmes--the details-the dis
cooe'ies assumed to have resulted from this
investigation. 1t is very possible Mr. Smith
may himself have been deceived by the repre-
sensations made to him of the political char
acter Of the appointees, under both Fillmore
and Pierce, but it is not true, and we challenge
proof of the assertion, made by him, that ''Mr.
Fillmore's appointees in the Northern States
were all Free-solers and known to be such at
the time of their appointment" On the other
hand it is not true, that General Pierce has
confined his appointments since 1852 to those
who denied to Congress the power to legislate
upon slavery in the Territories"
Such statement is more than ridiculous in
the face of the removal of Bronson from the
New York custom-house, and the appointment
of such rabid Free-soilers as Redfield, Coch-
ran, Fowler, and hundreds of others, to high
positions in New York cityl Mr.. Smith holds
the affirmative in making his statements, and
it is alike has business and has duty to main
tain his statements, when peremptorily denied,
as we now peremptorily and deliberately deny
them. We do not assume that Mr.. Smith
knowingly misrepresents the truth of the mat
tiers, which he has ta6oriously investigated, Gas
he states,) and which he has published, but he
has not found to be ".tacts" what he processes
to consider as " facts and publishes for
" facts" We challenge the proof-gipe as
ndnesl
Why, 1t is notorious, that Mr.. Fillmore has
eoer had the most violent opposition, and still
has it, from the Free-soil party of the North,
because ne refused to appoint that class of pol
iticians to office. If he had appointed Sew
ardites to office, at the North, does any man be-
lieve, for one moment, that Seward and his
Free-soil associates would now. oppose him SO
furiouslyp Would the Free-soil Wings at the
North support Fremont, South Carolina born,
and California raised Democrat, in preference
to man who, like Fillmore, has Whig ante
cedents if the latter would cater to their fanat-
icismY The idea is simply absurd AS to
the appointments made by Pierce, at the North.
we may be permitted to say, that the pholc
press of the Hard Democracy, at the North,
have lied continuously for two years past if
Pierce has not uniformly selected Free-soilers
in that region for public office!
If the statements made by Mr.. Smith are
true, then have the Dickinsons, the Bronsons,
the Beardsleys, and the whole phalanx of Hard
Shell Democrats at the North, uttered more
calumnies upon Frank Pierce than they could
atone for in whole lifetime Of repentance
No, no, Mr.. Smith, though you may be your
self imposed upon as to the political complex
ion of Pierces appointments. at the North,
there are so many damning proofs of his
treachery to sound principles, and sound men,
on record, in the files of the Nortern Hard
Shell Democratic press, your opinions can
gain no credence "Facts "--if you should
venture to present what you call facts n--in
detail, the public would examine but il is too
late to attempt to galvanize the defunct reputa-
ton Of Frank Pierce into life, as that of Ma
tional Democrat, by mere opinion give us the
faots-give us the names-give us something
tangible-let us look at the men TO whose an
pointmcnts you refer
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