The weekly pioneer and Democrat. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. Territory) 1855-1865, 1861-08-16
The Position OF Wheeler H. Peck
ham, Esquire, On the War and
Party Question, Aug. II, 1861.

positively heavy.
Just twenty days ago, Mr.. PEcKHAM
felt himself impelled to write and publish a
long communication to controvert an ar
tce in which we ventured to state our
position !" wherein we considered it our
duty, in the present crisis of affairs, to sus-
tain the Government, and, by consequence,
the Federal Administration, as its only le-
gal representative. We did not attempt to
state any body elseS position" least of all
Mr.. PECKHAM's; and we failed at the time
to appreciate the propriety of Mr.. PECK
HAMS occupying long space in our col
ums to inform the public that our "posi-
ton" wasn't his position" We didn't
appreciate this, because we couldn't see that
our position was any OF MIR. PECKHAM's
special business nor that he was in any
degree responsible for it; nor that it was a
matter OF public Importance whether he
agreed with it. or not. But, it was evident
Mr.. PECKHAM thought differently; and so
we printed his paper, long as it was.
In that communication, MIR. PEcKHAM
was clearly in favor OF carrying on the war
on a Democratic basis-which, as nearly as
We could get at it, was, to secure peace by
compromise. MIR. PECKHAM even went so
far as to intimate to the President and bis
counsellors, that, if his curiosity was not
gratiiied on certain points connected with
their designs, he was 'for ousting the pres
ent administration, and for acquiring the
government, and carrying on the war on
proper principles" Mr.. PECKHAM-did not
inform the public what authority he had
for demanding information from the Presi.
dent nor what power he had for ousting
him from the White House, in case he
should be so uncivil as not to reply. But,
without desiring now to go over his cons
munication in detail, we wish simply to say
of it, that its whole spirit was that of op,
position to the war as conducted by the
Federal Administration. And SO, WHEELER
Ii. PEcKHAM. Esquire, was on the record,
in print, to the quieting of the public sus-
pense, and to his own satisfaction.
Just ten days ago, the name of WHEELER
II. PECKHAM, Esquire, was printed as the
double signer Of call in which it was stated
that 'the paramount need of the country,
at the present time, is the preservation of
the Government, in its complete integrity
that "the public servants who have the i'm
mediate care and responsibility for its pres
servation will be comparatively powerless
to secure it without the united support of
the loyal masses )" that "the revival of past
party names and dogmas, in the present
condition of public affairs, is calcu-
lated to distract and divide the coun-
ellis of the nation, by engendering strife
and dissentions among the patriotic people Of
all classes" and that, therefore, "the electors
OF the State, regardless of past party differ
ences, who are for maintaining the union
of all the States, at any sacrifice, and at
every hazard, and to that end are resolved
to sustain the Federal Government, in its
efforts to crush out and remove the last YES
tige of rebellion against its authority" are
invited to send delegates to State Con-
vention for the nomination of State officers,
&c. And following this appeal WHEELER
H. PECKHAM, Esquire, with the others, ex-
pressed the hope "that those persons who
have been instrumental in calling purely
party convention, as well as those who may
have contemplated such call for the future,
will feel disposed, in consideration of the
premises, to reconsider their views upon
the subject, and cooperate in this move
ment." And so, WHEELER II. PECKHAM,
Esquire, was on the record again, and in
print this time on the other side, to the
public surprise, though evidently still to bis
own satisfaction.
To-day, WHEELER H. PEcKHAM, Esquire,
puts himself on the record once more, in
print this time, we fear, to the public dis
gust, though we hope still to bis own sat,
isfaction. Of course, his record of to-day
varies greatly from his record of twenty
days ago, and completely knocks in the
head that of ten days back. We suppose
this to be the last of his communications to
the public for ten days to come. In what
special phase he will then appear, we are at
loss to conjecture. He seems to have run
through the entire gamut of positions on
the war question in an incredibly short
space of time. Were WHEELER II. PECK.
HAM not an Esquire by virtue of his profes.
sion, we should say that he had occupied
all the positions that the question would
admit of. But be is lawyer, and lawyers
have extraordinary parts in adroitness, in
genuity, and invention. And so Mr.. PECK