Red Wing sentinel. [volume] (Red Wing, M.T. [i.e. Minn.]) 1855-1861, 1859-10-08
VOLUME 4. NUMBER 10.
SPEECH OF HON. JOHN. B. BRIS-
BIN, AT ST. PAUL

lSFEECH OF HON. JOHN. b. BRlS
BIN, AT ST. PAUL.
The Democracy of St. Paul, hele
. most enthusiastic meeting on Mon
:: day last. The Hon. John B. Brisbin
: candidate for Attorney General, wa!
: introduced to the meeting, and in .
speech Of two hours, attracted tie
; close attention of the audience. Aftel
discussing at considerable length, ma
: tional politics, Mr.. Brisbiu referred al
follows to State policy
propose now, for a few moment.
to discuss questions of State policy, il
which l presume, the people Of this city
are much more interested than they
are in general questions Of national
policy. l need not-I shall not-my
fellow citizens, attempt to pass in re.
view all the charges which have been
made by our adversaries against the
present State administration. 1t has
been alleged by Gov. kamsey-and
the assertion has been mouthed thro
the State by other Republican orators
that the present State Administra'
ton is responsible for all the evils un'
der which the country now is suffer
ing. Gov. Ramsey, in his Hastings
speech (Which has been rehashed and
served up in all the Republican papers
in the Stat-) with all the simplicity OF
boyhood, states that two years ago,
We had good currency and plenty of it
and that now we have poor currency
and but little Oft; and he goes OIL to
charge the consequences of this state
Of things upon the Democratic party
generally, and more particularly upon
the Democratic administration. Now
Gov. Ramsey, ought in fairness to
have stated, that two years ago, in ls.
81, financial panic was imminent. He
should have stated that up to that time
Minnesota had been State Of cousum-
crs and not Of producers and that
her people bad hitherto been living ON
the capital flowing from the richer
States in the East; and that the indus.
try OF her citizens had not as yet dew
eloped her vast resources and that
| therefore the moment financial sto IN
burst over the East, distrust was felt
regarding Western enterprise aid
Western spccuI,tion<; that at that mo-
ment the influx Of torci gn capital ceas-
ed, and that the result was, that Min,
nes"t:. was for the time Frustrated, aud
was, by the very nature Of things,
driven u the exercise Of her energies,
the fruits of which will, in due time
be the tecming riches with which on,
fruitful prairies abound, and which on.
iy the toll of the hnsbandman is requir
cd to develop. [Applause. The
Hon. gentleman might also have given
4 resume Of his own connection with
this very currency question, and have
mentioned the resistance, the persis
tent resistance, offered by the State
Administration to the friends of the
Railway companies, with which Gov
Ramsey, was identified until las,
June, when he resigned the position
he had up to that time held in the
Minnesota and Pacific Railroad com
pany. With your permission, l vii
review briefly Alexander Ramsey,
connection with these Railroad com
panies. As soon As what is called thu
Five Million loan bill was passed, ant
when the first ten or twenty miles O
their road was graded, the Minnesot.
and Pacific Railroad Company mad,
r application to Gov. Sibley for the is
sue Of bonds, and for the reason tha
the trust deed Of the company provi
ded for the possible issue Of first mort
gage bonds, which the Governor con
: sidercd that the constitutional amend
= ment gives the State the first lien o.
}, the lands and franchises: That prc
vision reads as follows:
provided, tina: before releasing tn
interest OF the State to such land.
such sale shall be approved by tn
Governor, but the proceeds of ali sue
,. sales shall be applied to the paymen
!. case Of default Of a payment OF tn
. same, and sinking fund to meet an
further default III the payment of in
'terest and principal thereof, when due
and as further curity, an amount c
first mortgage bonds on the roads land
and trachises of the respective comps
y u es, corresponding to the State Bond
issued, shall be transferred to til
Treasurer Of the State at the time {
s the issue of State Bonds"
Gov. Sibley construed this provi.
ion Of the statute to require the Raj
road companies by their trust deed
= to give the State first lien upon a
their lands and franclisements an
the Minnesota and Pacific Railwa
Company Of which Coy. Ramsey wa
: a Director up to the 23rd of June las
resisted this construc, ion. Gov. Ran
sey insisted that the State was not e,
titled to the first lien, but was only e,
Titled to be put upon the same footin
with the other bondholders, for whol
provision was made iu the trust dee,
, Well, the Company refused to acceI
, Gov. Sibley's construction of the Ac
and they made an application to th
Supreme Court for mandamus, con
pelling Gov. Sibley to issue the bond
Z Upon this application, the Supreu
ID Court decided that the Governor ha