The Chicago Convention

There were severa] thing-s about l his Convention on whieh we were prevented from coirmenling last week by our illness. A few words may not be inappropriate now. It appears thot there wns great unanimity nmm.g the members present) in lavor of the principie of appropriations far Rivera and Harbors. The Citizen says, " lrilernal mprovement men, and anti-inlerna! mprovement men, were harmonieus and determine ion this one '.hing, - that the great national commerce on these inland channcls of tradp, should be protectcd equally with the commerce on the ocean. VVhigsand Democrats plfdged their vestes in Congro-s,nnd the vveight I of their influence out of Congress, for the object." But the cause that led to the evüs they had met to remed was not mentionec1. Mr. Polk's veto was not referred to, nor was his name mentioned ir. ihe debates. - So also, the Citizen says, Slavery was not mentioned. It was an assemblage of greut nnd honorable men of all sorts, far t o courleous an I poliie to ortend each other's pars with uaplpasont truths. When the Northwest will be ablc to find one of its own citiznns not a sl.-iveholder, qualified to preside over its own meetings, we cannot say. Perhaps in a quarterof a centurv or so. Some of ihe fiee people of Norih the feit the ndignily ofhaving aslarehelder for ihat situation, but were overruled, as usual, by their more comulaisant brethren. The correspondent of the Cleveland Democrat tell-s thfi following story about ! the appointment of President : '; When tlie committep, appointed to select officers for ihe oonvention, pres-n'pd thfiir report, Mr. Kingof the New York Courier & Enquirer, arose and sta!ed that he wns a meniber of iliat Cornmiliee, and hle they were in se-sion he propnsed the name of Hon. Thomas Corwin - a name inlimnlel v issociated wilh ihë wholc weslern country - as President of the convention, but that he wr s overrulfid ; " and now," said he, " I here move in open convention that ihe name of Hon. Thomas Corvvin, of Ohio, be subslituted for tli.il of Hon. Edward 3;itcs, of Missouri." Upmi this, the immense Ehrong raised a sliout thnt scemed to rend the very henvuns, " Concin ! Corwin ! ! C0RW1N ! ! ! we'll have none but Torn Corwin." Thpriuipon some of the Southern members staitpd Coi the stand, and Mr. Allen, of St. Louis, with flflshing eyesand a countennnee disturted bv raga, leappd over the bench, in front of him, upon the s'and, and atiempted to rnise his feeble voice ahove the deaiening roar. - It wns with much difficulty tint Mr. Chnmber, of the St. Louis Republican, pulled him back into hisseal, and quieted his angry passions. Mr. Corwin then arose and said that he thanked Mr. King for the compliment paid him, but, as the convention had appointed a committee to select officers, and nslliat committee had made their selection, on no consideraron would he bpcome cliairman of the convention. Mr. K. then wiihdrew his motion. When tlie convention assenibled yesterday, and the proceedings werebeing read, it wns discovered that one of the Soulhem secretarias so falsified the procredings as to hivc it appear upon the journal that .Mr. King's motion was rejectcd by the convention. Mr. Rorkwell, of Connecticut, mmadiately arose nfter the reading of the jonrnal and pointed out the mistake, nnd m;idc a tnotion (hal it be corrected. Some of the Southern memhr-rs moved to strike out all in relation to Mr. Corwin - which motion was lost,nlmost unanimously. The original motion of Mr. Rockwell wjs then cailed for, and passod with one tnumphant shouf. Not even a. "peep" wos henrd when the npgaiive was cailed, so indignant was the nudienoe at this contemptible eflbrt to do njiktice toa noble souled statesman." Most of the letlors from distinguished men expressod symputhy to a greater or less exlent with the objects of the meeting, But the letter of Gen, Cass was so perfectly and briefly non-oommittal that it wasreceived with n sion and shoute of laughter, and was read twice for the gratification of the audience. It was as follows : "DkahSir: - lam ïnuch obligèd lo you for your kind attentions in transmitting to mean invitation to attend the Convention at Chicago. Circumttances will aut it out of my power to be present at that time. 1 ara, dear iir, &c." Corwin bc cailed oa lor a speech, threw ofl'n quanlity ofhia mual wilicism, mi.vct! u), however, witll sorne important trutlis. ilcro k a pMí'grnpb fioro bis remarki : " If nny of the empires on ear'k injurs ov assail us, we are ready to arm ourselvcs io ilio leeth, &n1 go forth to do batllc ; to spend immense treasures, and draw upon all resources ; but here, on tiles lakes, and on our western rivers, tliousands of lives are lost : more than have fallen in tho Me.xican war, for want of a small appropriotion. A single ship of the liiif, dcsiined to prolect our foreign commercc, costs us more than a million of dollars. That same gallnnt ship wliicli bore the name of his own native state Ohio, cost a million and a half of dollar. Four of these sliips have cost us moro than hs heen expended for our western harbors since the formation of our governmeut. Kvery gun ihat you will find on the board lliese sliips casts you f ur - leon thousand dollars. VVould it not be better to mke some of thes fourteen tbousands and improve our harbors at Chicago, Milwaukia ar.d other places, or to remove snags and sawyers from the Ohio and Missibsijipi 1 It is a curious fact that 82 per cent. of our revenues have gone to supply our l'orls, and our ships, Ipaving 18 per cent, to be invested fur ihe purpose of peace. - Hethought this state of things had better by reverse! - There is no fear that this country will be nvaded. He did not think there was a country in God's creation mhich would invade a land that the Yankees had al ready invaded."