Holmes County Republican. [volume] (Millersburg, Holmes County, Ohio) 1856-1865, 1857-11-26

GEN. cALHoUN's SPEECH TO THE MINOR
1TY CONVENTION"
Gentlemen of tie Convention:
1 feel very grateful to you for the honor
you have been pleased to confer upon me,
but / rise at this time, not SO much to ex-
press my feelings of gratitude, as to assure
YOU of the high respect in which l hold
the members of this Convention.
You have, gentlemen of this Convention,
met under most embarrassing c;rtamstan-
ces. Elected in the first place, by a small
minority of thepsopie of the territory, you
have since assembling, been menaced by a
lawless mob, which threatened to disperse
the Convention, and even to take your
lives. But needing neither their threats
nor their menaces. you have gone onward
upon the path of duty. (AppIause.)
You have turned neither to the right
nor to the left, but have proceeded man
fully with your labors in the Convention.
Let me again thank you, gentlemen, for
the honor conferred upon me and assure
you of the high esteem which | entertain
for you as a member of the Convention.
Cheers and hearty applause followed
the close of the speech.
THE CLOSING SCENE.
The vote for final adjournment was tax
en- on Sunday morning at one o'clock. Be-
fore it was decided by the Chair, Hender-
son, of Leavenworth, rose and cried, "Now,
boys, let's have a drink all roundm which
was received with such vociferous applause,
that, it is presumed the President declared
the Convention adjourned, nothing of the
kind was heard.
The rest of the hours of darkness, till
Sabbath morniug's sun, were passed in TAX
ing that drink, and some more and the
daylight revealed terrible strewing about
of the wreck of the Constitutional Conven-
tion.
We Judge from the published dispatches
of Col. Alexander and Col. Johnson to the
War Department that no attempt will be
made during the present season by the
Utah expedition to penetrate to Salt Lake
City. Col. johnson, who is the command
er-in-chief, writes that if he could commu-
nicate with Col. Alexander Tin command
of the advance, which includes the main
force of the expeeition), he should order
him to take up good position for the
Winter on Hams Fork, that is, to remain
where he was at the time of the Mormon
attack on the wagons, thirty miles this side
of Fort Bridger, and more than hundred
and fifty miles from Salt Lake City. Col.
Alexander in his dispatches intimates an
intention to advance not directly on Salt
Lake City, but northwardly to Soda
Springs, distance of a hundred miles or
SO, but no nearer Salt Lake City than the
position which he then occupied. At So
da Springs, two courses would be open to
him. He might, if he found the Mormons
to strong for him, move off north east, still
further from Great Salt Lake toward the
Wind River Mountains, where are good
valleys for wintering, well supplied with
grass for the stock. Or, if able to over
come the opposition which he anticipates
at Soda Springs, he might then move
down the valley, under the expectation that
the Mormons, after defeat, would be
willing to treat, and would bring in provi-
sions. 1t will thus be seen that neither
Col. johnson nor Col. Alexander contem-
plates an advance this Winter against Salt
Lake City, and most likely Col Johnson's
plan will be carried out of wintering on
Hams Fork. Col. Alexander writes that
he has already supplies for six months,
beside those with the trains which have
not yet come up. The great difficulty
in wintering the expedition would seem
likely to be not so much in feeding the
men as in feeding the stock. If the Nor
mons are diligent in destroying the grass,
they might put the.army to great distress.
Not much further light is thrown beyond
what can be gathered from Brigham
Youngs proclamation upon the intentions
of the Mormons. Young had assured
Capt. Van Vliet that if the troops did not
advance beyond Fort Bridger no armed re-
sistance would be attempted, and that such
was Young's intention would seem to be
confirmed by the fact that previous to the
removal of the troops at Hams Fork more
than hundred contractors wagons had
been packed there, which, though unde-
Tended, had not been molested by the
Mormons, though containing provisions
and supplies. As no further communica-
tions had been received from Brigham
Young, the officers in command did not
know whether or not he took the response
bility of the destruction of the wagons
A Mr.. Lander, the Chief Engineer of Ma
graw's wagon-Road Survey, who recently
passed through St. Louis on his way to
Washington, states, according to the st.
Louis Republican, that Brigham Young
has already disclaimed any knowledge or
participation in the overt act of burning
the trains. But it is not stated to whom
this disclaimer was made, and, as the of
fcers make no mention of it, the statement
is doubles merely conjcctural. 1t is not
very likely that the destruction of the wa
gons would have been attempted without
Youngs orders. 1t is stated that the ad- |
vance party of this wagon survey have
made explorations and discoveries in the
Wahsatch mountain chain which may prove
of great use to the further operations of
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