New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1856-06-17
Size the earliest moment to ssy a. much to the
Phisdelphis Convention which meets today

To the Peoples Convenvention which CON-
mences its labOrs TO- day at Philadelphia, is in
trusted duty Of the most solemn character. On
the issue Of its deliberations depends the question
Of the preservation Of the Constitution, the sup
preston Of civil war and the restoration of peace
to ills recklessly agitated and periled Union.
That end can only be achieved BY removing the
Government from the control of the so-caed
Democratic party, which, with no cause, and in
the midst of profound general tranquility, has
wsLtonly hurled upon the country the dangers
which now menace its existence, and the shames
which blacken its good name. To continue that
party in power s to rush forward to the con summa
tion at which the Nullifers and Border Ruffians
who now control it have always been aiming,
namely, the total subjugatiOn of the Union to
Slavery, or else is destruction and the erection of
q new slaveholdiDg and slavetrading government
out of the Southern States, the Territories, and
such parts Of the tropics as can be acquired for the
purpose. The question to be decided at this cleo
ton is thus the most momentOus and critical that
has been raised since the nation was first organ
led and it's decision one way or the other depends
as We have have said upon the action of the PDila-
dolphin Convention.
These unprecedented outrages and perIs for
which the so-called Democ ratio party are exclu-
sively responsible have had their natural effect in
breskir up old party ties and bringing of the
most opposite views on ordinary political
questions, into union ard cooperation. The
situation ia not unlike that when. with
universal consent, dictator was appointed at Rome
The People, by a general rising against the crimes
of tire Administration and its friends, have given
this Convention the weighy charge to see that the
Republic takes no detriment 1t is not party
movement. 1t is not q movement OF Democrats
or Wings, or Foreign born citizens, or Know-Noth-
iDgs. 1t is movement Of the People, putting
aside their former divisions, postponng all the dis
putes by which they had been sundered' and unit
irg as freemen as republicans, as Americans IN the
largest sense Of the word, for the preservation and
publication of the American system of government
against the reckless perversions and the audacous
attacks upon its very life which Franklin Pierce
has taken the lead in, and James Buchanan has In
dorsed and is pledged to continue.
Such being the nature Of this vast movement
which is one Of the moot cheering in our history,
because it inc cates sound heart in the people,
is manifest that the candidates selected to lead IL
in the coming struggle should be men whom all the
elements combined in this noble uprising can look
to as genuine aid unobjectionable exponents' not
of this or that minor postponed issue or interest
but Of the one VITAL predominant purpose for
which We are united. The two pivotal points on
which the electio is to turn are Free Territory
ard Free Speech; and as candidates, we must have
men who have not been involved in previous
psrty conflicts, or engaged even in the
honorable pursuit of political station in
such maj ner as to have provoked animosities
or prejudices that might repel even the moderate
and unenthusiastic adherents of either of the par
ties or sections of parties that have enlisted in the
general movement We must have candidates who
not offensive to Wings, Democrats or Know
Nothines Frees Sellers citizens Of foreign birth
candidates whom all car heartily support as Rep
resentative Men worthy to carry the common
cause through to a substantial and permanent
triumph.
As by q spontaneous instinct almost the People
in all quarters seem to have fixed upon Col FIRE.
MONT as their candidate for the Presidency. Not
a professional politician, Democrat originally,
but never q bitter or prOscriptive partisan, never
an Office sc eker, a man OF heroic hrmness and
courage as we'll as of mental resources tried in
in various fields of difficulty and danger, a
who has risen from the lowest ranks Of life and
who BY bis own experience of the deadly influence
of Slavery upon the poor whites of the South has
learned to hate it, and above all, as one
whose influence was powerful in settling the
question of Freedom in California be is
natural Representative of the great principle
of Free Territory. 1t is for this reason
that without any efforts on his part he has been
brought forward as the most fitting candidate for
the crisis. The nominee for Vice President should
be characterized by similar fitness for thi. supreme
emergency He should be man of undoubted
opinions and policy the vital questions at issue;
be should be one whose distinctions have bean
gained rather as statesman than as political par
tssp, of whatever pane Fremont, aswe have seen,
is the Representative of the principle of Free Ter.
ritory: need We ask who 10 the equally natural
Representa,ive Of FREE SPEECH VIII not every
ole apswer, CHARLES SUMNER of Massachusetts
And would not the entire People applaud hi. e,eya
ton TO the Office Of Presiden. of that Sen,te which
has witnessed with disgraceful Indifference the |
recent attempt TO suppress Free Speech BY the
assassin's bludgeon His psme upon the PEOPLES
ticket would greatly contribute to swell the tide
of enthusiasm which the prospect of Frenonts
NJ mination at Philadelphia (of which. to Judge by
our dispatches Of last evening, there is no longer