The weekly pioneer and Democrat. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. Territory) 1855-1865, 1859-09-23
Letter from stearns County.
Grow Slavery-Urges the People to 60 IN for Free
Labor-IIow he Rides his Homestead Hobby-His
Mistakes of Facts-Oh. for a Genuine Abolitionist
of the Pioneer and Dem0crGt


Correspondence of the Pioneer and Democrat
ST. CLOUD, September Is, 1859.
MIR. Grow, of Pennsylvania, addressed
full house last night for two hours. There
were many Democrats present, and he was
listened to with close attention. He began
with panegyric on Minnesota, her enter
prise and growth. He next gave sketch
of his own life, in the course of which it
came out that he was native of Connecti-
cut. Here the Pennsylvanians who had
gathered from all quarters to hear their ovm
hero, looked quite chop-fallen.) He next
spent few minutes on what be termed "the
great vital issue-slavery." 1t was the
question, he said, which came up every
where. It had come up in the American
Tract Society. Here he went into an in
vective against that society in the old aboli.
ton style, for ignoring the slavery question.
He next spent nearly an hour on the
Homestead Bill. He admitted with mani
fest embarrassment, that if there were no
lands in Minnesota subject to private entry,
then his bill Vo,ld not haze applied to this
State. He slipped over this point as quick
ly as possible, and charged that Senator's
RICE and SHIELDS were so ruled by the
slave power" that they deserted the
Homestead Bill, and went in for " the gig
gers for the giggerless measure" He went
into labored argument against the pur-
chase or annexation of Cuba. There was
vile population there; any body could be
assassinated for money there. A reciprocity
treaty with Cuba, (!) he said, such as
we had with Canada, would answer
all purposes of commerce. This re-
mark of Mr.. GROW, was unworthy of
a man who has been in Congress eight
years. He knows or ought to know that
one of the main reasons for acquiring
Cuba is because our commerce with her is
restricted to suit the selfish purpose of Spain.
These restrictions compel Cuba to take her
-four among other things from Spain, much
to the prejudice of American farmers. There
is no possibility of having a reciprocity
treaty with Cuba while she is dependency
of Spain. Does Mr.. GROW take the people
of Minnesota to be fools, or was he really
ignorant of the subject he undertook to dis
cuss
Mr.. Grow thought there were good
grounds for supposing the President wanted
the thirty million appropriation to carry the
next Presidential election.
He next read postofice statistics to show
that the mail service in some of the South
ern States exceeded in expense the proceeds
of their postage. In this respect he drew a
comparison favorable to New England
Some of his Republican hearers appeared
gratifed with that piece of sectional argu-
ment. He failed to tell them however that
the cost of mail service in Minnesota was
about tw,ce the amount of the proceeds, 9th
erwise be might have excited sheer at the
expense of their own State. He also omit.
ted to explain that the merchant of Boston
is as much interested in having mail facili-
ties in Texas and Alabama as the people
of those States themselves.
He next cited statistics to show that large
proportion Of the people Of the slave States
compared with those of the free States could
not read or write. His remarks on this
head were rehash of stale abolition argu-
ments, tending to dapreciate and belittle the
South. He went on in strain of this kind
for some time, the effect Of which was to
excite pity and contempt in every patriotic
breast. He knew very we'll the people of
Minnesota do not uphold slavery, and that
as they were disposed to concede to the
South the RICH, to regulate and enjoy their
own institutions, his remarks were irrelevant
and offensive. He showed clearly, in this,
that the main policy of the Republican
party was slavery agitation and war on the
South. He appeared to be fully committed
to Stewards irrepressible conflict " doc
trine. The great question, however, in
volvlng the practical difficulty of exercising
the power by Congress of making anti
slavery codes while denying the right to
make pro-slavery codes, was silently passed
over.
Mr.. Grow made one important admission,
that slavery could not 60 where the pre-
emption law extended. He said slavery
could not possibly exist on 160 acres OF
land. He might have added, but did not,
that the presumption system was the result
Of Democratic policy. This law, so wisely
designed to foster free labor, applies to the
public lands in all territories, and according
to his own theory it is difficult to see how
slavery can get foothold in any new terri
tory. The pre- emption law has done more
for free labor than all the slavery agitation
of his party ever did or ever will accom-
plish.
In saying that President Polk sane
toned the Wilmot Proviso doctrine, Mr..
Grow probably forgot that in signing the
Oregon bill, MIR. Polk expressly excepted to
the constitutionality of that proviso, but
waived bis objections because the provso
could have no practical effect as applied to
Oregon
Mr.. GROW next attacked Minnesota cur
rency. He said our State had a bad credit
abroad, but he would not say whose fault it
Was. His remarks on this point formed
striking contrast to his opening panegyric
on Minnesota enterprise and greatness. Per.
haps, as Mr.. Grow was addr ssing the peo-
pie of Minnesota, it would have been more
pertinent if he had said more about the de-
nestle institutions of this State. and less
about the domestic institutions of Southern
States. He made climax on this point
by pulling from his pocket and reading a
State warrant drawn for the payment of
services in the expedition to Wright county.
He then returned to the slavery question
Mr.. Niger" is his own phrase-and
treated his hearers to written and COM
mitted defamation of half an hour on free
and slave labor. There were some, we
thought, who doubted whether he was suffi.
| cientlv acuuainted with LnbOr of anv Kind to