The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1858-03-18
POLITICAL SUMMARY,

position On the Minnesota and Kansas cues.
tons, expresses feelings of friendship for the
President, and of regret from his Utmost soul
that he has permitted his own honest judgment
to be biased by the suggestions of selfish men,
OF inferior pats and questionable integrity
The General closes thus emphatically:
"We have fallen on strange times. cannot
venture q prediction of the future. The people
of Minnesota will do well to fortify their minds
against any undue excitement You may de-
pend upon one thing, let what will happen; 1
mean, to the best of my poor abilities, to main
tain the honor and dignity of Minnesota. /
mean to resist Wrong, let 1t come from sohat
quarter II may; ,orong to- the people of Kan
sds, Wrong to the people of Minnesota, scrong to
the people Of the North, or aurong to the South,
actU resist, either in the Senate or out of the
Senate, toith all my heart and all my strength,
so Tong as God is pleased to spare my life to
my country. Your friend,
GAMES SHIELDS"
John Jacob Astor, jr., writes note to the
New York Erening Post, saying that his name
was used as one of the Vice Presidents of the
Tammany meeting, without his knowledge or
consent. Mr.. Arthur Leary states that the use
OF his name as one of the Secretaries was unau.
thorized.
A great State Convention was held of the
Ohio Anti.Lecompton Democrats at Columbus
on the 10th instant. A member of Congress
received the subjoined dispatches
"There are at least FIVE thousand Democrats
here, from different sections of the State, to
attend our great State Convention. Ohio was
never 30 ably represented. The enthusiasm of
the Democracy is very great, and the feeling
against Lecompton intense.
Thousands OF persons assembled at the de.
pot this morning to receive the Cincinnati del.
egation, and a number of eloquent speeches
were made on the occasion.
There was an immense m Getting in the thea.
tire In the afternoon; and in the evening
another was held in the concert room.
Stanton made great speech, which was list
ened to with intense interest,""
An old fashioned Democrat in Southwest
ern State, writes as follows to the Ohio States
man.:
Where will this Lecompton movemen,
end?" aft you in the North" he adds, "wil
be true to your celors, will make q proper
struggle, whether long or short, for the great
principle of selfgovernment, if the Lecompton
outrage is consummated in Congress- you
will stand fast, you will find the Democracy
and many who have not heretofore been with
us in this State, Missouri three to one with
you. II the next Presidential canvass is fought
on this issue of principle, Missouri will throw
her electoral vote triumphantly for that nom.
inee-only let him be Democrat-who is
selected by the opponents of the Lecomp ton
w. IL
score OF principle or expediency, to give up the
doctrine of popular sovereignty, or to expose
the peace and welfare of the people to that
righteous, but to us dangerous, agitation Ger.
tain to flow from forcing the Lecompto swim.
die upon Kansas-an agitation which we foresee
must endure for years, if this act is DONE The
people of the border slave States will be dam.
aged beyond reparation, by this impolitic and
and unwise attempt to extend their institutions
by open, undisguised, and admitted fraud"
The election in New Hampshire has resulted,
as was expected, in a noble Republican tri.
umph. The majority is much increased from
that of one year ago. The majority for Halle,
for Governor, is over 5,O0O-the Council is en-.
tirely Republican-and the Senate is composed
of nine Republicans and three Democrats.
The majority of the Republicans in the House
of Representatives will not be far from 1901
An Administration Lecompton meeting was
held in Baltimore on Friday evening last.
Speeches were made by Senator Toombs, II.
Clay Pate, of Kansas notoriety, and ether gen.
tlemen.
We make the subjoined extract from the let.
ter of Gov. Mix to the general Ohio State Anti.
Lecompton Convention:
IL have much to add to my Tammany and
Philadelphia letters but 1 have not the time
and opportunity now to show that the fraud of
the elections in Kansas was nothing in com.
parison to the Lecompton Constitution itself.
The question is: Shall pretended Constitu.
ton, which was not adopted by that Conven.
tion-for, on the contrary, it was submitted for
adoption by the people, and which was not
adopted by the people, for they were not allow.
ed to vote against it-be forced, by the inter.
vention of Congress, on a majority of the peo.
pie, against their sovereign will? Shall this be
done, too, on the Bourbon doctrine of legiti.
macy? And, if done, are the people to be
driven to the extremity of the Dorr doctrine of
the Rhode Island case? Is it Democratic to
bow to lawful authority? 1t is autocratic, arts.
tocratic, oligarchy, and despotic, thus to con.
strain popular sovereignty by the onus of le-
gitimscy."
Governor Walker also writes as follows:
"For the first time in our history, an effort
is now made to force Constitution and Govern.
ment upon an inchoate State, against the well.
known will of large majority of it's people.
Nothing can be more clear or conclusive than
the evidence demonstrating the fact, that an
overwhelming majority of the people of Kansas
are opposed to the Lecompton Constitution.
This is indicated by the Acknowledgement of
half the counties of Kansas in the election of
delegates to the Constitutional Convention by
the skeleton vote given to those delegates, aver.
aging not more than thirty for each; by the
Withholding of the Constitution by the Conven.
ton, against their wellknown pledges, from the
people; by the result of the election of the Ter.
ritorial Legislature in October last when both
parties participated; by the miserable frauds
and forgeries perpetrated by the minority, to
supply the place of real electors; AMI, finally,
rendered certain by majority of ten thousand
against the Constitution, in the election holden
on the 4th of January last"
At meeting of number persons, said to be
Democrats, in Milwaukee, last week, Hon.
James Buchanan, President of the United
States, was unanimously read out of the Demo
cratic party.
The Virginia Senate has passed bill for
running the boundary line between that State
and Maryland, and bill to issue State bonds
in payment of claims on the internal improve
ment fund. The House has passed bill to
issue 500, 000 State bonds to John A. Wash
ington, to pay for Mount Vernon, the State to
be reimbursed by the Ladies' Association, which
has now on hand, in cash, $4,000.