The weekly Minnesotian. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. Territory) 1852-1858, 1856-07-19
COL. FREMoNT'S REPLY.

NEW YORK, July 3.
! Gentlemen You call me to high re-
sponsibility by placing me in the van of a
great movement Of the People Of the United
States, who, without regard to past differ
ences, are uniting i'll a common effort to
bring back the action Of the Federal Govern
ment to the principles of Washington and
Jefferson.
Comprehenling the magnitude of the
trust which they have declared themselves
willing to place in my hands, and deeply
sensible of the honor which their unreserved
confidence, in til is threatening position of
the ,l5ii: affairs implies, feel that can
II 3 better respond than by sincere declara-
ton that, in the event of my election to the
Presidency, should enter upon the cxecu-
! ton of its duties with single hearted deter
mina;ion to promote the good of the whole
| country, and to direct solely to this end all
the power of the government, irrespective
of party issues and regardless of sectional
strifes. :.
The declaration Of principles embodied in
the sentiments in which have been etlu-
Gated, and which have been ripened into con-
victions by personal Observable rs and expe-
rience. With this declaration and avowal
J think it necessary to revert to only two of
the subjects embraced in those resolutions,
and to these only because events haye sur
rounded them with grave and critical cir
cumstances, and given to them especial i'm
| portance.
| concur in the views of the Convention
deprecating the foreign policy to which it
adverts. The assumption that we have the
| right to take from another nation its do
mains because we want them, is an aban-
dOnment of the honest character which our
country has acquired. To provoke hostili-
ties by unjust assumptions, would be to sa-
crfce the peace and character of the coun-
I try, when all its interests might be more
| certainly secured and it's objects attained by
just and healing counsels, involving no less
Of reputation.
International embarTassments are mainly
the results of secret diplomacy, which
aims to keep from the knowledge of the peo-
pie the operations of the government. This
system is inconsistent with the character of
our Institutions, and. is itself gradually
yielding to mere enlightened public opin-
ion, and to the power of free. press, which
by its broad dissemination of political intel
ligence secures in advance to the side of
Justice the judgment of the civilized world
An honest, firm and open policy in our for
eign relations, would command the united
support of the nation, whose deliberate
opinions it would necessarily reflect.
! Nothing is clearer in the history of our
institutions than the design of the nation,
in asserting its own independence and free
dom, to avoid giving countenance to the ex-
tension of Slavery The influence of the
small but compact and powerful class of men
4 interested in slavery, who command one
section'of the country and WELD a vast po-
I litical control as consequence in the other,
is now directed to turn back this impulse of
the Revolution and reverse its principles
I The extension of slavery across the CONT
nent is the object of the power which now
rules the Government; and from this spirit
has sprung those kindred wrongs in Kansas
so truly portrayed in one of your resolutions,
which proves that the elements of the most
arbitrary governments have not been van
pushed by the just theory of our own.
/ 1t would be out of place here to pledge
myself to any part cular policy that has been
suggested to terminate the controversy en-
) gendered by political animosities, operating
on a powerful class banded together by a
common interest. A practical remedy is the
admission of Kansas into the Union as a Free
State. The South should, in my Judgment,
earnestly desire such consummation. 1t
| would vindcate its good faith. 1t would COR
rect the mistake of the repeal of the Mis-
souri, Compromise; and the North, hav-
ing practically the benefit of the agreement
between the two sections, would be satisfied
and good feeling be restored. The measure
is perfectly consistent with the honor of the
South and vital to its interests The fatal
act which gave birth to this purely sectional
j.. strife, originating in the scheme to take from
Free Labor the country secured to 1T by a
common covenant, cannot be too soon dis
; armed Of its pernicious force. The only ge-
NAL region of the middle ATTITUDES left to the
emigrants of the Northern States for homes
cannot be conquered from the Free Laborers
t, who have long considered it as set apart fol
them in our inheritance, without provoking
desperate struggle. Whatever may be the
persistence Of the particular class which