The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1859-11-12

anotler place Coffee was firm, while sales limited
Freight engagements were moderate, white rates were
| sustained.
Important Political Observation-Disclosures
| Bates, OF Missouri, In tho RcpubiiSa n
i Camp.
We publish to-day, from one 81 our St Louis
exchanges, an "authoritatise exposition Of the
position of Edward Bates (of MissourD on the
slavery question, i" from which it Will be seen
that he is fairly in the field for the sutfrages OF
the republican party as Presidential candi-
date. His position is thus clearly defined, be-
cause. as it Is urged in his behalf, while Mr..
Bates sic not . candidate for the Presidency,
and win not seem, by publishing letters I'm
asked, to he courting attention to his views"
| Jet SHOULD he be-A candidate he will stand
! upon no jnggle, like the Cincinnati platform,
! with its ambiguous and double readings."
| Accordingly, we find the opinions of Mr.
Bairs on slavery thus broadly classided:-He
relieves that slavery is not beneficial. socially
politically or reigiously;" that ''its extension
is unconstitutional, except by affirmative legls-
iaiicn;" that "tbe distinction between slave
: and other property is coevsl with the govern
mept;" that slavery is not established by the
, federal constitution. but only by the local
law" that ''the principle of the Kansas Ne
braska bill renders the introduction Of slavery
into the Territories IMPOSSIBLE" that "the ques-
ton of slavery extension is no longer before
the peoples" that the Fugitive Slave law should
be respected, &C., and that the free blacks hav.
inn hoc go 70 Itata
Of the Union" should be colonized in some
other country under the auspices of the gene
raj government
Such is the present Presidential platform Of
Dir. Bates. The reader who remembers his
'.old line whig" letter of last summer to Hiram
Ketcbum, Of the sold Line Wing" Correspond
ing Committee of this city, will perceive that
upon the main question Mr. Bates has been
wonderfully illuminated since the late North
ern and Southern elections. And having given
| up the 'sold line whigs," as fossils laid upon
the shelf among the relics Of past age, and
having witnessed the late "dissolving views"
of the rump of the American party, the ques-
ton arises, what are the prospects of Mr.. Bates
in the republican camp.
The great drawback to the republican party
in Presidential movement is its sectional
character, and its greatest difficulty, in
view Of the campaign Of 1860, is the
selection Of such candidate as will meet
the anti-slavery demands of the party,
and servo, at the same time, to give it what
Mr.. Webster denominated "an odor Of ma
tionality." To this end the peculiar claims
Of such conservative old line wings as Mr..
Bates, John Bell, and Mr.. Crittenden, have
been heretofore urged upon the republican
party. But they have been at once discarded,
on the plea that not one Of these men could
bring solitary Southern State to his support,
while every one of them, from his convenient,
compromising notions on slavery, would be
| apt to swamp the republican party in half the
Northern States. But now, Mr.. Bates having
made this discovery. upon the basis of the late
Northern and Southern elections and having
come over into the republican camp, he be-
comes, from his geographical position as
| citizen Of Missouri, Southern slaveholdiRg
| State, the most available republican candidate
on this important ground Of nationality.
The nomination by the republicans of Ed
ward Bates, of Missouri an "old line whig," as
their Presidential standard bearer, would, how
ever, have Htwofold operation" While, upon
its face, such ticket would show that it was
not a sectional affair and while it would bring
over to its support, perhaps, host of cold
line whies'' and conservative antSeward
Know Nothings, Mr. Bates has been fore.
warned that, having aided and Allotted
the Fillmore movement of 1856, which
defeated the republican party, he cannot ex-
pect, in 1860, to take the precedence Of such
faithful republicans as Seward, Chase Banks
and others. The Chevaier Webb, of the C5u-
rier, whose special duty it is to look after the
interests Of Seward, fatty says that if the re-
publican convention Of 1860 should nominate
any such Fillmore disorganizer as Bates he
will be defeated by the republican party, and
will deserve defeat
This st. Louis manifesto in behalf Of Mr..
Bates, however, must first be ventilated by our
republican organs before we can undertake to
predict the consequences. We regard it as
another proof of the approaching "irrepressible
conflict" between the North and South for the
TIeslCeuIai succcesioii, anu PROOF, toO OF tne
final dissolution Of the late scattered fragments
Of the "old line whig" and American parties
Mr.. Bates may be regarded as thorn in the
side Of Seward but, if we mistake not his ac-
cession will be windfall to the republican
party greater than the loss of sold Brown
THE QUESTION OF BUTToSs.--A short time ago
we printed communication from lieutenant
in the Navy Of the United States, complaining