The Placer herald., 1863-11-21
EXTRACT FROM FRANK BLAIR,s
SPEECH,

SPEECH.
Gen. Blair, in his late speech at St. Louis,
in speaking of the great North West said:
The valiant hosts of the Northwest broke
through and destroyed all the Instructions
against the commerce of the Mississippi.
But, my friends, we found we were no better
off after we had broke down jeff Davis OBJ,
structions than we were before---that Chase
had taken jeff Davis place. Loud cheers
mingled with few hisses
My friends, if you will give me permission,
| wish to say that shall contend for the
free navigation of the Mississippi against the
embargo of Chase as strongly as | have
contended against jeff Davis embargo-
Loud cheers and cries of "go on, 90 on."1
And don't care what position or what
power he wields in this government. shall
discuss this simply as a measure deeply
affecting the interests of our people; and
don't believe any argument has been raised
on the other sile-I have not seen one
attempted to be raised-which will Justify
the restrictions which have been placed upon
the commerce of this great river
Our city of St Louis, whose great pros
perity was noted with marvel throughout
the country, prior to the war, has been tried
more than any other city by the vicissitudes
of war Our commerce has been almost
annihated, and yet, without counting the
cost, and without one moments hesitation,
| know that these merchants who have been
denounced here by one of Chase's organs
denounced as copperhead merchants of St.
Louis-l know that they were among the
first men to come forward and clohe aud
arm the troops which were called into the
service of the United States. Cheers.
Yet they are stigmatized, at tho bidding
of Mr.. Chase or some Of his minors, as cop
perhead merchants, because they have at
tempted, by fair representations to the gov
ernment, by nothing improper, through
committee of their own number, sent TO
Washington to expostulate with Mr.. Chase
about these restrictions, and he deems it
inadvisable to consider the wishes of the
great interests of the Northwest, but pref
ters rather to keep up their restrictions, and
keep in the field an army of his people who
do great deal of trade on the sly, but who
think it very improper for anybody else to
trade with the enemy, yet who have been
suspected Of having done great deal of it
themselves. Laughter and applause.
A LITTLE MAN BEYOND HIS DEPTH.
Gen. John A. Dix has been writing u
political letter to the "War Democracy
that is, to the class Of camp-followers who
stuck to the Democratic party only for the
loaves and fishes, and drifted off to the
Aboitionists at the sight of the piles of
greenbackS. Gen. Dix, from of old, was an
assiduous gatherer up of unconsdered trifles.
He gain ed what doubtful political reputation
he had in the day of small things. His
present letter turns on two points, each of
them a mistake First, be advocates the
Conscr ption, and strives to show that it is
"pre-eminently an Anglo Saxon METHOD"
because, at times, 'it has been enforced by
the Kings Prerogative, and by the Statute
laD." He has failed to learn that, in the
days of the early PlantaGenets, as in modern
| times, Parliament denied tho prerogative of
the King to compel military service, outside
of those that held lands, according to the
expressed tenure of military service, and that
the "statute law" enforcing it was equally
declared by English Parliament an invasion
and usurpaiion upon the law of tho land
the Common Law. Gen. Dix carries this
pretended use down to this country and,
once more harps on the proposition of Mr..
Monroe when Secretary of War under Mr..
Madison.
The answer to this is, that the freedom of
great people has never grown from the
dicta of masters, no matter of what party,
but is development of the peoples own
needs, instincts and purposes. Mr.. Monroe's
scheme of conscrption was rejected by the
people, and timely abandoned by himself
That is the end of that precedent. 1t never
met acceptance nor success.
Gen. Dix's other theme of comment is,
that because the Federalsts opposed the war
with England in 1912, and fell into oppro
brium, therefore whoever opposes this civil
war will likewise sink into popular disgarce.
This is arguing from a war of one kind, to
a war of very different kind. England
was hateful to all the States in l812-ex.
cept New England. The reproach of the
Federalists was not the State rights doctrines
they vndcaed--for the Yankees in the
Hartford Convention, only borrowed the ar
guments Virginia and Kentucky had brought
out sixteen years before. Their reproach
was the occasion of their resorting to State
resistance-that they did it while the coun-
try was at war with our hereditary foe
England.
The present war is waged upon the South,
against which States and their people, there
was no hostility on the part of any except the
New Eng Yankees. The rest of the
people have felt that it was a war with peo-
pie that are our own flesh and blood, and
with whom we ought to have continued
friends. The end of this war will astonish
those that expect the rule Of foreign wars to
be applied to its fautors.
NeW York Freeman's Journal.
Pr UTE MAsoNs. - The Austin ReveiAe
says there are four large adobe yards situated