Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1859-09-16
LETTER FROM NEW YORK.
Correspondence Of The Richmond EaqHIrsr.
.NEw YORK, Sept. -, 1859.

4 Democratic convention, to assemble to-
morrow at Syracuse is looked forward to by
politicians generally with much interest. 1t is
foresecn that there is to be n fierce struggle,
headed by Fernando Wood and his hard shell
friends on one side, and by the leaders of the
Albany Regency and their soft shell friends on
the other. From this city two full sets oil
dclccatcs have been sent. The II TaInlnany
! Hall delegates will claim to be regular, when
thc II Mozart Hall delegates will contest IL
< estimated that IL the whole number oil con-
tcstants in the interior should prove favorable
IN the hards. or to the interest OF WOOD, that
,hcy will with the city Mozart Hall delegation
come within few votes Of balancing the kc-
ccncy delegation, il they 10 not surpass it
The trcaclery Of the Regency leaders towards
Gov. Wise has greatly damaged the reputation
or Cassidy Il Co.. as leaders, whose party Is
E.r weaker now than it was at the time inc
breach of confidence was committed. Ana, II
longer time was allowed to canvass the State
AGAINST them, they wonld he placed in dis.
creditabe minority As it is, 10y the help OF
canal and Central Railroad influences, superad.
dcd to other machinery. it is likely they Will
urcscnt majority on the assembling OF the
Convention and he able 10 force through their
rlans of iutnrc action Anon. these will be the
nrnointmcnt bv convention of delegates to the
charleston Convention. Should they come to
this conclusion, we MAJ expect 10 hear oil a
separate organization. so far as the Hard Shells
are concerned, and resolutions passed by them
in favor of clccting delegates to the Charleston
Convention by the people Of Congressional
Districts. As regards the selection of candl.
date, for State Offices it is probable that should
the controlling power in the Convention noml-
nate able and well known men whose political
opinions can be trusted, the Hard Shell
delegates may endorse them, and thus recon-
| mend them to the undivided support OF the
party.
The friends of Douglas in the Convention
! will likely cooperate with the Soft Shells gene
! rally in their attempts to coniine the selection
of delegates to Charleston by the Convention,
and thus send packed representation from this
State. When at Charleston, should they fail Of
! full admission, or otherwise secure the nomlna-
ton of Judge Douglas. they may, with others,
Withdraw. and nominate him as an Independent
candidate The Judge has said, in advance,
that unlcS. the resolutions at Charleston sus-
tam his views Of squattcr sovereignty and nom
intervention, he could not or would not accept
! its nomination. That the Convention will
adopt such doglnaS is impossible. unless it de-
sircs the destruction Of the Democratic party as
Il national organization.
We cannot conclude that Judge Douglas
himself can possibly believe that the Conven-
ton will 10 anything of the kind If he should
control 4 sufficient number of votes in the Con-
vcntion to enable him to obtain the nomination
on the platform Of squattcr sovereignty and
non.interycntion, it would likely drive the
Southern and other Democratic delegates from
the Convcntlon, and induce them TO nominate
some man whose views would fully coincide
with their own. In this case. there would
likely be three candidates in the lield-lst, the
Democratic nominee, in opposition to Douglas;
I'd, Judge Douglas; Sd. the Black Republican
candidate and probably fourth put up by
the Know Nothings and Wings. In such a
contest, the election would likely 20 to the
House where it, final result would be qlcs-
ton of very great uncertainty, but not, proba-
bly,, as to Judge Douglas, who would certainly
fail of success. One thing is quite clear, that
the Judge has determined to be n candidate
nol,ns rolens. If nominated at Charleston
good; if not, he will run anyhow. This he
and his friends, it is understood, have pretty
much made up their minds to do. They are
active vigilaut and untring, with money Mt
command and they will leave no stone unturn-
ed. The Indications arc that Judge Douglas
and his friends have succeeded in securing the
influence of the Times Of this city as their
organ, which will. if.the signs are correct, ere
long become manifest. His long speech, made
at Cincinnati. appeared in the Times, ac-
coriing 10 It's story, as duly received by tclc-
graph. Now, there must have been some pc
culiar DouglasSm at work which could have
induced the Times" to have spent so much
money, as it alleges it has done. to spread two
long-windcd speeches. covering whole pages of
its paper. before the public, merely for the
sake of showing its enterprise, when. had the
aforesaid speeches been OF such importance or
novelty AZ to have justified their receipt by
telegraph in % to 80 hours advance Of the
mails, its tclegraphic associates could each have
had 4 copy at one.siXth TO onc-seventh Of the
expense. The Times also speaks Of Mr..
Douglas as "a bold man." and as playing "a
bold game These declarations, taken with
other facts, show which way the wind blows.
rs We previously stated in former letter,
under a previous understanding existing be-
tween the Grand Trunk Railway Of Canada.
and the Stockholders, and Directors Of the
steamship Great Eastern, she is coming to Port
land, Maine. And should she sail as proposed
on the 18th Of September. and should her
speed be equal TO seven days across the Atlantic,
She may be expected to reach Portland by the
18th inst, or probably at farthest, by the oSth.
Extensive preparations are in progress by
the authorities and people Of Portland, to give
her grand reception. Plans are also on foot
in this city for running steamers to Portland
with passengers, to sec the monster.
There is also n movement talked Of for the
purpose of getting up inducements for the
comptrollcrs Of the Great Eastern to send
her around and to make her accessible to
the people Of New York and vicinity. This
she could DO by casting anchor in the middle
Of Long Island Sound, il not elsewhere. There
she could be surrounded by floating wharvcs,
which could he reached by any number of
boats, steamers and other crafts running be-
tween this city and her moorings. Portland.
at best, is but small town, and with limited
accommodations for travellers. While New
York and her suburbs, contains over million
Of souls, with any amount of hotel and board
ing house accommodations Besides, New
York is central to the great commercial inter
course of the country, and has verging towards
it 4 vast net work Of railways with Southern
and West India steamship lines, &C., by which
millions of persons could be brought together,
to see the greatest mechanical and engineering
wonder of the world, and such as has never
been seen before in this or any other age. If
they were to run her regularly to this country,
there is but one port suitable for a permanent
Western harhrr, and that is the Chesapeake
bay. The snow storms and ice in Winter
would 20 far to dSqualify Portland, as per-
mamcnt port for her, to say nothing Of other
disadvantages.
As we predicted in n former letter, from
having seen the attitude attained in this local.
ty, by the aurora on the night of the 2Sth Of
September, its appearance was witnessed at
Key West, ut Havana, and at Galveston, Tex
as. \ rare sight in those ATTITUDES Mr..
Merriam, the Philosopher Of Brooklyn heights,
has certainly been little cracked, by some