The weekly Minnesotian. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. Territory) 1852-1858, 1857-09-12

by you for the office Of Governor OF the fu
ture State of Minnesota, is an honor any ma
might feel grateful for.
Should the people of Minnesota ratify tn
selection you have to-day made, l shall er
deavor to discharge the official duties whic
will then be imposed upon me to the best {
my ability. l have had some experience i
official life, and must say that that expert
ence has not created any desire for its renew
al. An official position here or elsewhere
and especially here, is not a perfect bed
roses; still, should your nomination be rati
fed by the people, be the consequences wha
they NAV, shall endeavOr to discharge M!
duty as | understand it, and as l can inform
myself-and l shall endeavor to discharg,
my whole duty without respect to men, with
out respect to nationality, and without re
spect to complexion, or religion, so far as m.
office is concerned. (Appause.) So far as thu
Executive position, which the people of Min
nesota NAV see fit to confer upon me, is in
volved, | shall see that all men living in tn,
State shall have their perfect rights as guar
anteed BY the Constitution Of the Unitct
States and by the Constitution of our new
State of Minnesota. Renewed applause.)
This, of course, gentlemen, is very new
and interesting engagement We are now en-
tering upon. 1t is not simply the commence
ment of such a campaign as you may witness
in the older States; it is not only that, but il
is the beginning of the organization of new
State Government. Our institutions and our
laws are yet to be shaped, and it is matter
of great interest, and it is a great epoch in
our history. And where do we find ourselves
to-day? Are these very respectable, very
o-I Ii m
mere fanatics Are they not part and par
eel, if not of the voters, certainly OF that
great army of l,5O0. 900 who voted for FIRE.
mont for President last Autumn, and is it
possible that in this government of ours, OF
freemen, dependent alone upon the will OF the
people. we have in the United States one
million five hundred thousand fanatics and
that Won, gentlemen-cool, deberative, kind
Iool,r-r" men-are the representatives of that
class in this Territory ? No, gentlemen, you
are the very best "en' L believe tins country
has, and that only in IT,. - working out oil the
sentiments and principles "" hoid! mas TINS
country a guarantee for the perpe. "'y o! us
institutions-(great applause. )-Thel~ is a
body of men | respect and have no dour.'
intensely devoted to the institutions Of this
country, but those men at all times, by night
and by day, cry peace, peace, when there
is no peace The fiat which has gone
forth, the doctrine enunciated by this
people, that there shall be no more extern
sion of slavery in the Territories, is prin-
cipe which addresses itself to the hearts
of our people, throughout the whole land.
Now it is as futile to attempt to stay
argument upon this question, as it would be
to dam up this great Mississippi and prevent
its waters from flowing into the ocean. This
discussion will go on, the people will under
stand it thoroughly, and they will give it the
shape and complexion, which they believe the
interests of this country demand, and it is
folly for any man or any set of men to at
tempt to divert the people from their pur-
pose. 1t is the great question. 1t is the
radical question. Slavery was admitted, by
our forefathers, in the formation of the gov
eminent, as a matter of compromise. They
believed ia Washington, q Jefferson,a Mad
ison, a Munroe-believed it great evil but a
necessary evil They could see, as well as
We can, the contradiction their course pre-
scented to the mind of the world. A free,
Democratic government engratting upon it
system of human slavery! They could rec
ognize, as we'll as we can, the great contra
diction, but they, in their circumstances and
in their day, for purposes we'll understood at
that time and appreciate now, tolerated it. But
they hoped, at no distant day, that this in
sttution might pass away. They believed
that in the development of time and the en-
lghtenment of the public mind, it would
pass away.
But what was a mere matter OF comprom-
Use and concession for the time being, and for
the purpose of establishing a Government,
has got to be a great and overwhelming pow
er in the Government, debating terms to all
Others. Instead of recognizing the States Of
the North, who now make up the corps, the
muscle, the body and the bones of this people,
as, at least, equal in the Government, they
are deprecated to that degree that must make
every Northern breast revolt at the present
state of things. Your Senator's are stricken
down in their seats in the Senate Chamber.
Men of distinction no matter to what party
they belong, are decapitated, politically, if
they are supposed not to be sound upon the
Slavery question. l have witnessed and you
have witnessed, the names of eminent men
sent into the Senate of the United States for
confirmation to Office, and rejected for no 9TH
er reason than that they were not sound upon
the Slavery question. You have seen church.
es eminent for their piety, their philanthro-
by, and their intelligence, wide spread all
over the Union, getting along in peace until
this new issue was raised, and you have seen
them cut in twain. We have seen almost
every link, almost the last link that bound the
distant parts of this Union together, severed
This means something. If we permit this to
go on. this generation will see the end of the
Constitution and of the institutions formed
NV WaShinpfOp Tnffarcop Madison
and all that class of great men and patriots
You then come up here and tell our friends
the errors of their ways; you tell them in all
kindness that you intend to secure to every
Individual the rights guaranteed to them I'M
that the institution of slavery shall 90 no
farther. Here is common plank in the
:, 'atfOrm upon which we can all stand Zap
MA, ,se.) You tell them that not only thcs /.
beau, 'iful and extensive praries here, but
free men, and intended by God himself, for
the reside nee of free men, shall not, in your
dav and Gel. 'eration, and by your consent, be
blistered with the curse of slavery. This, l
understand to I've the great Shibboleth of the
party, and the 81 eat dividing line.
Our friends opp 'sed..to US in politics, tell US
that We nave no rs III W Interfere WIFI the
srbiect of slavery, because there is no ap-
mr., ,Iension that it will be extended over our
Stoto- Now friends, look at the scandal the
dsgra, &c and the contumely heaped upon us
in conse quence of the existence oftbe base in
stitnt;on Of Mormonism in Utah. Will any
man tell rs that your reputation, that my
that the reputation of every man
does not sniff, ar more or less from the exist
ence of that !, ,stituton, though there is no
apprehension Of its invading our Territory
There it is; it is sustained by our govern
ment: it is mart a. I'd parcel of us and its
dirty and nasty sore affiict us. Soft is with
the institution of slav, FRY, ana we should con-
fine it where it belongs, and demand for Gods
sake, that it shall 90 no farther. AT least,
ask not our consent that t snail go any far
Their.
Again what interest have we IN this ques-
tion2 Have we not recently seen IN the
State of Missouri, a slave State from ITS ear
lest day-the people rise, and almost huee
and Herculean as was the task there, throw
off the Institution from their shoulders Al
t, n an exciting and thorough ca nvass IN tnat
st ate, from its fair borders in the SOUTH
We At to the extreme north, by the Iowa line,
wha do you find the result to be, as an EVIL
dencc of the Enlightenment of this age,
and as an evidence of what republica uism has
done ? You see that the difference b, etween
the pro slavery, and the emancipation o. free