The emigrant aid journal of Minnesota. [volume] (Nininger City, Minn. Terr. [i.e. Minn.]) 1856-1858, 1858-03-03
NUMBER a..

Or the following extract from a letter received from
BY this tim I think you must b. sa'i fed with your
experience in MINI sofia. and be ready t." return We
learn here that twen,y-,hree children have frozen to
death in Mimi sofa during the present ~in'er'
VIII" is there can believe such r. ports originate IN
anything but the m,st fraudulent and corrupt motives.
Our wiuter has been remarkably mild md "pt"-there
has been no continuous ~sleighi"g, the snow barely COW
er ny the grnuni for IL day or Nv" at a time, aud the
Mississippi river so lit lie frozen as t." int rfere material.
ly with wooi cutting an other pursuits that r q Tired =
solid ice surface for hauling-ani yet in the face OF all
these facts, trinmphintly trump'ted through tue
columns Of every ] 'urnal in the Territory, the Eastern
press continues freezing and starving us with wonderful
pertiuarity. Can We believe otherwise than that the
wish is t father t., the thought.
Or does any nm here un lei. rate the p,tent influence
of the sovereign instrument, the Press, NV welded
against US? Does any man doubt that the universal
diffusion brt adcast over the land of their sanders will
turn thousands and tens Of thousands from our doors!
Az Shakespeare said of the playes, Better that thou
have a bad epitaph after thy death, than their i'll
repute while living We all know how sanguine we
were last winter of an immense increase in population
during the spring of 1857, and during the winter
months certainly nothing could have Promised fairer.
But at the very turn If the season, the Eastern press
alarmed at the immense exodus which Threatened to
d~tp"pulate their country, joined in one tumult"us torrent
Of abuse of the West, eliminating in prophecies Ut Its
immediate downfall need not advert to the subsc.
an, ut history of that downfall where it commenced
nor how instrumental the prophets were in bringing
about their own fortbod. Dg> it i sufficient for my
purpose that the Eastern press stayed at once the ex-
pecsed food an that insteai Of the lrsest emigration
hat ever visited our shores as was expecte !. we received
.. rhaps the smallest. After such a sson we should
not un,letrate the power Of the ;ublic ,urnals, potent
- they are for good or tvil How much we would
reflect upon ourselves if from \ want Of correct inf"rma-
ton, widely disseminated, next sprin. the tide OF empire
.weeps past us to find a resting place in oth'r localities
possessing not half our advantages.
The necessity for some action at this time Is generally
.onceded. The discussions in our Legislature on the
exemption Law show the prevalence of the feel ns 1t
! still more >tr,kingly exhibited in the proposition OF
Nr r h6eld Of til. House to publish thirty thousand
. pies Of n pamphlet setting forth the advantages Of
Minnesota, to BE- distributed by a committee There is
4. question as to the necessity Of some steps to counter
.t The false and injurious Influences at work against Us.
rhe only question is as to the best means of getting =
he proposed enl A, a citizen Of Minnesota, with all
my interests conferred within her Dor lers, I have thought
go"d deal on this SUI ject, aud 70 one | see the great
folly Of sitting idly waiting for the food Of fortune to
come to our feet while other an rival localities are
in lustriously and unfairly at work dyking and damlng
it up to keep i. from US. W. must be aroused and
LONG.
The means already discussed. | would resp ctfully
s.y, seem. in my judgment. insult lent to the end pro-
posed. A. t" the justnrss an expeditncy OF a properly
modified exemption law there can be n" questions. but 1t
loss not reach the heart Of the disease. II IL very de-
sir"ble to those now here. but it canno' offer sufficient
'emptati y L" overcome the impressions already produced
II the mi IDS 1T the Eastern p nplc. IN" x "p''o" law
c.nn't greatly i"daence a III n o EN- 'g'ate i't" . c.'nn'
fry where he has been taught t" h"l"v, b, would have
nuthins to ex .mpt Entir~ immuniy I, III deb. " 'uld
a"r people namschatka The Exemption law may be
>et forth al one Of the many advant ges our Territory
possesses, but a one it can do but little
Mr.. Rehfell's prop 'sition is right i'll its purp sc, but
there is one ma q objection t" it. Its efficacy would
iepeai s'lely on the distribution Of tie $4,000 p.mph
let's. AMI as to this the Legislature would have to trust
agents who might in turn trust other agents, and the
result would probably he, that many Of them would he
sent t. useless localities, an still mnre be left in piles
in the corners Of dusty Offices. VIII" 10 III re- oe ne
chief-agent or ~sub-agenf, who VII take the trouble "r
even pussess the data on which t" form n list of 3O.OOO
persons :" whom to SEMI these pamphlets BY mail-"r
even if euch list was prepared, what guerd"n have we
that one-tenth Of the persons 80 named would have tha
81. ghtest inclination towards en- grafton ut amy k'sd.
an consequently woull Mt trouble th,mselv.st t. read
IA v"lumin u, pamphlet o" u subj ct which shey hal n,
interest. 1t may be said. in answer. that these 5V'OoV
pamphlets could be sent to IN iivid"als in the East who
were known BY citix"ns here to b. already inclined to-
%emigratc Lither but here Mr.. Balc"mbe's argunsae
cones IL, that saoh pers ms can be much better sup
plied with information on the sub ect from their fri"n Is
here who have interest enough in them TO furnish their
names 10 Tue k"'eTu'ueuC agent Tue STeat aFkut"tucb
however, ag inst tho pamphlet > y-tem i {" be fan in
the ipsuhi,'sncy Of 30 ouO pamphlets I" ~euIighsen the
25, OOO, 900 If people in these United States, t" say
nothing If the inhabitants Of E .r"p., IN the advantages
Of Minnesota. They would ut l., ad'op in the bucket.
even if distributed With the greatest care, aud this, as
we think We have shown, is u M ,tter Of much doubt
The plain aud the direct mode of controver,ing the
81 .nders Of the press il to use the columns Of The PRESS
in our defence the ~refutation will thea 60 wherever
the assault has gone. We woult be AS the aiag. bus
it, taking a hair off the dog that bit U.S. But h'w IS
this to be doae There are but two ways, the 6rst is
by 10 iiviiuals ; the second, BY the State itself. Let
u take up these modes. =
The 6rst. by Individuals. To this there are two OBJ
iections. First, there are few or no individuals who
could. as times now are, take upon themselves the ex-
pense Of such advertising, OF wh" If able would feel
called upon t" assume the burden Of the defens' 1T the
Commonwealth. And secon lily, could any such indi-
viiaals be found, their statements would be locked upon
hy Eastern ~enigrants with suspicion aud disfrast, and
he would BE- regarded as a quack or a sh ,rper, who was
practicing up'n the credulity Of the public.
What then remains? Here is n gr,a community,
blessed in a th"usanl natural advantages snd resources,
vet traduced and borne down by a combination of
"eighboring AMI rival States. Here is a commun y
whose cool name Is baadied about to the four winds OF
haven ut a time when she mort imperatively needs
every intelligent e~n.igrsnt whose natural proclivities
would incline. him towards her. She cannot .dtptud