The Sun.
London, England, 1846-12-31 00:00:00

.

011

LNi TED 6TA rEs.

THE

COMMERCIAL MARKETS, Drc. 8.

PRESID ENTS MESSAG E

LIYERPOOL, TUESDAY N IGIIT,
HALF-PAST EIGHT.
The New York packet-ship Ashburton, Captain
Howland, entered the river at a late hour to-night,
bringing New York papers of the 10th, and with
them the Mesage of Mr. President Polk, which, as
usual, is a very lengthy document, occupying nearly
nine columns.

The news from the army is to the effect that the
American forces had taken Monclova and Chihua-
hun, without bloodshed ; the taking of the latter place,
however, has since been doubted.
An expedition had set out against Victoria.
General Wool was under orders for Saltillo.
It was reported that Santa Anna had collected up-
wards of 30,000, with whom he intended to march
against the American forces. _ _

A letter from Camargo, Mexico, dated November
7, says—
" There is rumour (which Ido not vouch for, but which
Is not only possible but probable) that another revolution
has broken out in Mexico. The Santa Anna party de-
clared him Dictator—anti• Santa Anna (headed by Va-
lencia) demurred, turned their arms against the Dic-
tator, and drove hiss and his party from San Luis
Potosi; and that the Dictator was falling back in the
direction of the city of Mexico. This was a very na-
tural route for him to take, were he driven from his
lines at San Luis, considering the position of affairs in
this section.

" American settlers are already commencing to locate
on the Texas side of the Rio Grande. Several tracts of
land below Camargo have been purchased from Mexican
claimants, and the new owners have commenced im-
proving.
" The steamer Major Brown, which went up the Rio
Grande on an exploring expedition, has arrived at
Loredo, from which Lieutenant Tilden, 2d Infantry, in
charge of expedition, makes report. He reports favour-
ably generally of the depth of water for boats drawing
four or five feet ; but the channel in many places
crooked, in others filled with limestone rocks which
stick right straight up' (easily removed), and frequent
rapids—all of which the Brown passed over, and arrived
safe at Loredo."

The sickness along the whole line of the Rio Grande
this summer and fall has been represented as very
severe. Not less than 1,500 men has it made its
victims. Colonel Gates, who commands at Tampico,
keeps the place under strict martial law.
Reports had reached Monterey that General Am-
podia had been arrested by the Mexican authorities,
for hiving made the capitulation at Monterey, and is
in gaol at Hadalagara.
It is now declared that Santa Anna, Almonte, and
,the other Mexican officers who were passed through
Our squadron gave their parole not to engage in the
War against the United States—which was the cause
And condition of their being passed.
Accounts from Santa Fe state, that great fears
were entertained that the stock of provisions would
be altogether inadequate to supply the army during
'§e winter. The American soldiers were in a state
of insubordination, and were daily committing out-
rages upon the Mexicans. The consequence was
.That assassinations were becoming very frequent.
General Kearney had left Santa Fe for California,
but it is doubted if he will reach it. The last accounts
Slated that he was at Fra Cristo, 20.5 miles south of
Zanta Fe, having abandoned his waggons, and packed
provisions and baggage on mules.
The Mormons, under Captain Cook, had also left
for California.
Royal mail steamer Caledonia had arrived at
Etonl3os.

Another steam-boat explosion had taken place; a
44111ber of the crew were killed.

; Stock-market opened today rather heavy, but
LlnProved before the adjournment of the first board;
7etween the boards a further advance in prices was
alleedf but at the second board a slight decline was
,
!Perienced, caus-d partially by the reception of the
'vrelident's Message.
Among the exports to Great Britain for the month,
there were 296,713 bushels of wheat, 78,962 barrels of
380,528 bushels of corn, 6,351 barrels of corn
11!eal, and 4,148,394 lbs. of cheese. The value of the
1411, article of cheese exported for the month was more
than 300,000 dolls.

The shipments of produce from this country to Great
Britain comprise a very large portion of our export
trade, and the demand for our breadstuffs and provisions
in Europe will, no doubt,continue sufficiently large to give
us annually a very large trade in them. The demand
for corn, cheese, and provisions of all kinds, will, doubt-
less, steadily increase, while that for flour and wheat
will fluctuate according to the harvests of the various
countries.

The price of flour had declined at all the corn depots
14.consequpnee of the news per Caledonia.
Our advices from Washington of the 7th state that
the second session of the Twenty-eighth Congress
°Pened this day at noon.
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.

In the House of Representatives the Speaker took
the chair at twelve o'clock, and called the House to
order.

The following Message was then delivered :
THE PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE.
Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and of the House of
Representatives,—In resuming your labours in the ser
vice of the people, it is a subject of congratulation that
there has been no period in our past history when all
the elements of national prosperity have been so fully
developed. Since your last session no aillicting dispen-
aation has visited our country; general good health has
Prevailed; abundance has crowned the toil of the hus-
bandman; and labour in all its branches is receiving an
ample reward, while education, science, and the arts are
raPidly enlarging the means of social happiness. The
PrVess of our country in her career of greatness, not
only in the vast extension of our territorial limits, and
the rapid increase of our population, but in resources and
I?..ealtht and in the happy condition of our people, is
,
""nut example in the history of nations.
As the wisdom, strength, and beneficence of our free
Institutions are unfolded, every day adds fresh motives
t4.anntentment and fresh incentives to patriotism.
Our devout and sincere acknowledgments are due to
the gracious Giver of all good for the numberless bless-
it ga which our beloved country enjoys.
It its a Source of high satisfaction to know that the
ba atinns of the United States with all other nations,
Withr a single exception, are of the most amicable cha
CP"- Sincerely attached to the policy of peace, early
h °Pted and steadily pursued by this Government, I
811 Ye anxionsly desired to cultivate and cherish friend
stpirPitl4ll4 "mtnerce with every foreign Power. The
and habits of the American people are favourable
ad tae maintenance of such international harmony. In
mooring to this wise policy, a preliminary and para•
tau" du
interests
obviously consists in the protection of our
our °nal nterests from encroachment or sacrifice, and
tai national honour from reproach. These must be main-
giete,cl at any hazard. They admit of no compromise or ne-
"and roust be scrupulously and constantly guarded. In
re.he `r vigilant vindication, collision and conflict with fo-
h2gn Powers may sometimes become unavoidable. Such
jiZbeen our scrupulous adherence to the dictates of
dilice, in all our foreign intercourse, that, though stea-
hj and rapidly advancing in prosperity and power, we
up,: given no just cause of complaint to any nation,
,e
have enjoyed the blessings of peace for more than
ilolrtY Years.. From a policy so sacred to humanity, and
salutary in its effects upon our political system, we
should never be induced voluntarily to depart.
The existing war with Mexico was neither desired
nor,, provoked by the United States. On the contrary,
all honourable means were resorted to to avert it. After
Years of endurance of aggravated and unredressed
Wrongs on our part, Mexico, in violation of solemn
treaty stipulations, and of every principle of justice re-
cognised by civilised nati.ms, commenced hostilities ;
and thus by her own act forced the war upon us. Long
before the advance of our army to the left bank of the
Rio Grande we had ample cause of war against Mexico;
and had the United States resorted to this extremity,
vie might have appealed to the whole civilised world for
t4* justice of our course.
I deem it to be my duty to present to you on the pre-
seat occasion a condensed review of the injuries we
have sustained, of the causes which led to the war, and
of its progress since its commencement. This is ren-
dered the more necessary because of the misapprehen-
aimti which have to some extent prevailed as to its
--6111 and true character. The war has been repre-
sented as unjust and unnecessary, and as one of aggres-
si°4 On our part upon weak and injured enemy. Such
frroneous views though entertained by but few, have
been widely and extensively circulated, not only at home,
"wut have been spread throughout Mexico and the whole
,vised 1.14- A more effectual means could not have been
me
th to encourage the enemy and protract the war
to advocate and adhere to their cause, and thus gtve
• In aid and comfort."
It is 4 source of national pride and exultation that the

r great body of our people have thrown no such obstacles
in th," way of the Government in prosecuting the war
• suceessfull3, but have shown themselve, to be emin,; ntly
patriotic, and ready to vind can their country's honour
and interest at any sacrifice. The alacrity and prompt-
ness with which our volunteer forces rushed to the field
on their country's call, prove not only their patriotism,
but their deep conviction that our cause is just.
The wrongs which we have :uttered from Mexico al-
most ever since she became an independent power, and
the patient endurance with which we have borne them,
are without a parallel in the history of modern civilised

nations. There is reason to believe that if these wrongs

had been resented and resisted in the first instance, the
present war might have been avoided. One outrage,
however, permitted to pass with impunity, almost neces-
sarily encouraged the perpetration of another, until at
last Mexico seemed to attribute to weakness and inde-
cision on our part a forbearance which was the offspring
of magnanimity, and of a si►acere desire to preserve
friendly relvtions ti•ith a sister republic.
Scarcely had Mexico achieved her independence,
which the United Scates were first among the nations to
acknowledge, when she commenced the s)stetn of insult
and spoliation which she has ever since pursued. Our
citizens ent4agel in lawful commerce were imprisoned,
their vessels seized, and our flag insulted in her ports.
If money was wanted, the lawless seizure and contisca-

Lion of o-ur merchant vessels and their cargoes was a
ready resource, and if to accomplish their purposes it
became necessary to imprison the owners, captains, and
crews, it was done. Rulers superseded rulers in Mexico
in rapid succession, but still there was no change in this
system of depreciation. The Government of the United
States made repeated reclamations on behalf of its citi-
zms, but these were answered by the perpetration of
new outrages. Promises of redress made by Mexico in
the most solemn forms were postponed or evaded. The
files and records of the department of State contain con-
clusive proofs of numerous lawless acts perpe!rated upon
the property and persons of our citizens by 11.1t4tieo and
of wanton insults to our national flag. The interposi-
tion of our Government to obtain redress was again and

again invoked, under circumstances which no nation

ought to disregard.
It was hoped that these outrages would cease, and
that Mexico would be restrained by the laws which
regulate the conduct of civilised nations in their inter-
course with each other, after the treaty of amity, com-
merce, and navigation, of the sth of April, 1831, was
concluded between the two republics, but this hope soon
proved to be vain. The course of seizure and confisea
tion of the property of our citizens, the violation of their
persons, and the insults to our flag pursued by Mexico
previous to that time were scarcely susrended for even a
brief period, although the treaty so clearly defined
the rights and duties of the respective parties, that it
is impossible to misunderstand or mistake them.
In less then seven years after the conclu,ton
of that treaty, our grievances had 13, come so
intolerable that, in the opinion of President
Jackson, they should no longer be endured. In his
message to Congress in February, 1837, he presented
them to the consideration of that body, and declared
that " The length of time since some of the injuries
have been committed, the repeated and unavailing
applications for redress, the wanton character of
some of the outrages upon the property and persons of
our citizens, upon the officers and flag of the United
States, independent of recent insults to this Govern-
ment and people by the late extraordinary Mexican
Minister, would justify in the eyes of all nations imme-
diate war." In a spirit of kindness and forbearance,
however, he recommended reprisals as a milder mode of
redress. He declared that war should not be used as a
remedy "by just and generous nations, confiding in
their strength for injuries committed, if it can be ho-
nourably avoided," and added, "it has occurred to me
that, considering the present embarrassed condition of
that country, we should act with both VI isdom and mode-
ration by giving to Mexico one more opportunity to
atone for the past before we take redress into
our hands. To avoid all misconception on the part of
Mexico, as well as to protect our own national character
from reproach, this opportunity should be given with
the avowed design and full preparation to take imme-
diate satisfaction, if it should not be obtained on a repe-
tition of the demand for it. To this end I recommend
that an Act be passed authorising reprisals, and the use
of the naval force of the United States by the Executire
against Mexico to enforce them, in the event of a refusal
by the Mexican Government to come to an amicable ad-
justment of the matters in controversy between us, upon
another demand thereof, made from on board one of our
vessels of war on the coast of Mexico."

Committees of both houses of Congress, to which this
message of this President was refs rred, fully sustained
his views of the character of the wrongs which we had
suffered from Mexico, and recommended that another
demand for redress should be made before authorising
war or reprisals. The Committee on foreign relations
of the Senate, in their report say—" After such a de-
mand, should prompt justice be refused by the Mexican
Government, we may appeal to all nations, not only for
the equity and moderation with which we shall have
acted towards a sister republic, but for the necessity
which will then compel us to seek redress for our wrongs,
either by actual war or by reprisals. The subject will
then be presented before Congress, at the commencement
of the next session, in a clear and distinct form, and the
Comm itte cannot doubt but that such measures will be
immediately adopted as may be necessary to vindicate
the honour of the country, and insure ample reparation
to our injured citizens."
The Committee on Foreign Affairs of the house of
Representatives made a similar recommendation. In
their report they say that they " fully concur with the
President that ample cause exists for taking redress into
our own hands, and believe that we should be justified
in the opinion of other nations for taking such a step.
But they are willing to try the experiment of another
demand, made in the most solemn form, unpon the jug.
lice of the Mexican Government, before any further
proceedings are adopted."
No difference of opinion upon the subject is believed
to have existed in Congress at that time ; the Executive
aid Legislative departments concurred; and yet such
have been our forbearance and desire to preserve peace
with Mexico, that the wrongs of which we then com-
plained, and which gave rise to these solemn proceed-
ings, not only remain unr( dressed to this day, but addi-
tional causes of complaint, of an aggravated character,
have ever since been accumulating.
Shortly after these proceedings a special messenger
was dispatched to Mexico, to make a final demand for
redress, and on thp, 22d of July, 1837, the demand was
made. The reply of the Mexican Government bears date
on the 29th of the same month, and contains assurances
of the " anxious wish" of the Mexican Government

‘riot to delay the moment of that final and equitable
adjustment which is to tei urinate the existing difficulties ,
between the two Governments ;" that " nothing should
be left undone which may contribute to the most speedy
and equitable determination of the subjects which have
so seriously engaged the attention of the American Go-
vernment;" that the " Mexican Government would
adopt, as the only guides for its conduct, the plainest
principles of public right, the sacred obligations imposed
by the international law, and the religious faith of
treaties;" and that " whatever reason and justice may
dictate respecting each case will be done." The assur-
ance was further given that the decision of the Mexican
Government upon each cause of complaint, for which re-
dress had been demanded, should tie communicated to
the Government of the United States by the Mexican
:Nlitaister at Washington.
These solemn assurances, in answer to our demand
for redress, were disregarded. By making them, how-
ever, blexico obtained further delay. President Van
Buren, in his annual message to Congress of the sth of
December, 1837, states that "although the large number
of our demands for redress, and many of them aggra-
vated cases of personal wrongs, have been now for
years before the Mexican Government, and some of the
causes of national complaint, and those of the most
offensive character, admitted of immediate, simple, and
satisfactory replies, it is only within a few days past
that any
the Mexican Mini t r " and that
demand, made five months ago, has been received from
specific communication in answer to our last
public complaints haseei"fur not one of our
satisfaction been given or offered;
that but one of the
consideredasf
putilic wrong has been fa-
vourablyscriptions, out of all those formally presented and
earnestly pressed, have a
, andes °that but four cases of both de-
Mexican Government." President Van Buren, believing
that; it would be vain to
obtain redress by the ordinarymake any further...n
the
as yet been decidedupsotntembyptthtoe
s with power
of the Executive, communicated this opinionl to Con-
gress, in the message referred
"On a careful and drelibvrate examination of
to, ins which he said—
the contents" (of the correspondence with the Mexican
Government), "and considering the spirit manifested by
the Mexican Government, it has become my painful
duty to return the subject as it now stan-is to Congress,
to whom it belongs, to decide upon the time, the mode,
and the measure of redress." had the United States at
that time adopted compulsory measures, and taken re-
......

dress into ;.heir own bands, all our difficulties with Mexico
would probably have been long since adjusted, and the
existing war have been averted. Magnanimity and
mot eration on our part only had the effect to complicate
these difficultie-, and render an amicable settlement of
them the more embarrassing. That such measures of
redress, under similar provocations, committed by any of
the powerful nations of Europe, would have been
promptly resorted to by the United States, cannot be
doubted. The national honour, and the preservation of the
national character throughout the world, as well as our
own self-respect and the protection due to our own
citizens, would have rendered such a resort indispensable.
The history of no civilised nation in modern times has
presented within so brief a period so many wanton
attacks upon the honour of its flag and upon the pro-
perty and persons of its citizens as had at that time been
borne by the United States from the Mexican authorities
and people. But Mexico was a sister republ.c on the
North American continent, occupying a territory con-
tiguous to our own, and was in a feeble and distracted
condition ; and these considerations, it is presumed, in-
duced Congress to forbear still longer.
' Instead of taking redress into our own hands, a new
negotiation was entered upon with fair promises on the
part of Mexico, but with the real purpose, as the event
has proved, of indefinitely postponing the reparation
which we demanded, and which was so justly doe. This
negotiation, after more than a year's ilelity, resulted in
the convention of th- 11th of April, 1839, " for the ad-
justment of claims -1 eitiz ns of the United State s of
America upon the Governm, lit i if the M,,xican Republic."
The joint board of corn •.:ission.-rs created by this con-
vention to ex :mine iti,d ,l, tide op in these claims was
not organized until the m nth of August, 1840, and
under the terms of the convention they were to termi-
nate their daties within eighteen months from that thee.
Four of the eighteen months were consumed in prelimi-
nary discussions on frivolous and dilatory points raised
by the M xie4n comm' -•l.,riers ; and it was hot until the
mooch of 1)-eeo.he:, 1840, that they emnin,need the
examinatiog of the claims of our citizens upon Mexico.
i Fourteen moth* only retrained to eNanzine and decide

I upon these numerous and complicated cases. In the
month of February, 1842, the term of the commission
expired, leaving many claims unchsposed of for want
of thee. The claims which were allowed by the board,
and by the umpire authorised by the convention
to decide in case of disagreement between the
Mexican and American commissioners, amounted to two
million twenty-six thousand one hundred and thirty-
nine dollars and sixty-eight cents. There were pending
before the empire, when the commission expired, adds- I
Lona' claims which had been examined and awarded by
the American commissioners, and had not been allowed
by the Mexican commissioners, amounting to nine
hundred and twenty-eight thousand six hundred and
twenty-seven dollars and eighty-eight cents, upon which
he did not decide, alleging that his authority had ceased
with the termination of the joint commission. Besides
these claims, there were others of American citizens,
amounting to three million three hundred and thirty six
thous ind eight hundred and thirty-seven dollars and
five cents, which had bren submitted to the board, and
upon which they bad not time to decide before their final
adj,:urntnent. . .

lhe sum of two million twenty-six thousand one
hundred and thirty-nine dollars and sixty-eight cents,
which had teen awarded to the claimants, was a liqui-
dated and ascertained debt due by Mexico, about which
there could be no dispute, and which she was bound to
pay according to the terms of the convention. Soon
after the final awards for this amount had been made,
the Mexican Government asked for a postponement of
the time of making payment, all, ging that it would be
inconvenient to make the payment at the time stipu-
lated. In the spirit of forbearing kindness towards
a sister republic, which Mexico has so long abused, the
United States promptly complied with her request. A
second convention was accordingly concluded between
the two Governments on the 30th of January, 1843,
which upon its face declares that "this new
arratigetnent is entered into for the accommoda-
tion ot• Mexico." By the terms of this convention, all
the interest due on the awards which have been made
in favour of the claimants under the convention of the

11th of April, 1839, was to be paid to them on the 30th
of April, 1843, and " the principal of the said awards,
and the interest accruing thereon," was stipulated to
"be paid in five years, in equal instalments every three
months." Notwithstanding this new convention was en-
tered into at the request of Mexico, and for the purpose
of relieving her trom embarrassment, the claimants have
only received the interest due on the 30th of April,lB43
and three of the 20 instalments. Although the pay-
ment of the sum thus liquidated and confessedly due by
Mexico to our citizens as ind,innity for acknowledged
acts of outrage and wrung was secured by treaty, the
obligations of which are ever held sacred by all just na-
tions, yet Mexico has violated this solemn engagement
by failing and refusing to make the payment. The two
instalments due in April and July, 1844, under the pe
culiar circumstances connected with them, have been
assumed by the United States and discharged to the
claimants, but they are still due by Mexico. But this
is not all of which we have just cause for complaint. To
provide a remedy for the claimants whose cases were
not decided by the joint commission under the conven-
tion of April the 11th, 1839, it was expressly stipulated
by the sixth article of th,e convention of the 30th of
January, 1843, that a " new convention shall be entered
into for the settlement of all claims of the Government
and citizens of the United States against the Republic of
Mexico, which were not finally decided by the late com-
mission, which met iu the city of Washington, and of all
claims of the Government and citizens of Mexico against
the United States.'
In conformity with this stipulation a third convention
was concluded and signed at the city of Mexico on the
20th of November, 1843, by the plenipotentiaries of
the two Governments, by which provision was made for
ascertaining and paying these claims. In January, 1844,
this convention was ratified by the Senate of the United
States with two amendments, which were manifestly
reasonable in their character. Upon a reference of the
amendments proposed to the Government of Mexico,
the same evasions, difficulties, and delays were inter-
posed which have so long marked the policy of that
Government towards the United States. It has not oven
yet decided whether it would or would not accede to
them, although the subject has been repeatedly pressed
upon its consideration.
Mexico has thus violated a second time the faith of
treaties, by failing or refusing to carry into effect the
sixth article of the convention of January, 1843.
Such is the history of the wrongs which we have suf-
fered and patiently endured from Mexico through a long
series of years. So far from affording reasonable satis-
faction for the injuries and insults we have borne, a great
aegravation of them consists in the fact, that while the
United States, anxious to preserve a good understanding
with Mexico, have been constantly, but vainly, employed
in seeking redress for past wrings, new outrages were
constantly occurring, which have continued to increase
our causes of complaint, and to swell the amount of
our demands. While the citizens of the United States
were conducting a lawful commerce with Mexico under
the guaranty of a treaty of " amity, commerce, and
navigation," many of them have suffered all the injuries
which would have resulted from open war. This treaty,
instead of affording protection to our citizens, has been
the means of inviting them into the ports of Mexico,
that they might be, as they have been in numerous in-
stances, plundered of their property and deprived of their
personal liberty, if they dared insist on their rights.
Had the unlawful seizures of American property, and
the violation of personal liberty of our citizens, to say
nothing of the insults to our flag which have occurred in
the ports of Mexico, taken place on the high seas, they
would themselves long since have constituted a state of
actual war between the two countries. In so long suf-
fering Mexico to violate her mast solemn treaty obliga-
tions, plunder our citizens of their property, and impri-
son their persons without offering them any redress, we
have failed to perform one of the first and highest duties
which every government owes to its citizens; and the
consequence has been, that many of them have been re-
duced from a state of affluence to bankruptcy. The
proud name of American cit zen, which ought to protect
all who bear it from insult and injury throughout the
ise.rl.l, has afforded no such protection to our citizens in
Mexico. We had ample cause of war against Mexico
lung before the breaking out of hostilities. But even
then we forebore to take redress into our own bands,
until Mexico herself became the aggressor by invading
our soil in hostile array and she.dding the blood of our
cit izens.

Such are the grave causes of complaint cn the part of
the United States against Mexico—causes which existed
long before the annexation of Texas to the American
Union, and yet, animated by the love of peace and a
magnanimous moderation, we did not adopt those mea-
sures of redress which, under such circumstances, are the
justified resort of injured nations.

The annexation of Texas to the United States consti-
tuted no just cause of offence to Mexico. The pretext
that it did so is aholl inconsistent and irreconcilable
with well authenticated facts connected with the revolu-
tion by which Texas became independent of Mexico.
That this may be the more manifest it may be proper to
advert to the causes and to the history of the principal
events of that revolution.

Texas constituted a portion of the ancient province of
Louisiana, ceded to the United States by France in the
year 1803. In the year 1819 the United States by the
Florida treaty ceded to ,ipain all that part of Louisiana
within the present limits of Texas, and Mexico, by the
revolution which separated her from Spain, and rendered
her an independent nation, succeeded to the rights of the
mother country over this territory. In the year 1824
Mexico established a federal constitution, under which
the Mexican republic was composed of a number of
sovereign states, confederated together in a federal union
similar to our own. Each of these states bad its own
executive, legislature, and judiciary, and, for all except
federal purposes, was as independent of the general go-
vernment, and that of the other states, as is Pennsylvania
or Virginia under our constitution. Texas and Coahuila
united and formed one of tht se Mexican states. The
state constitution which they adopted, and which was
approved by the Mexican confederacy, asserted that they
were " free and independent of the other Mexican United
States, and of every other power and dominion what-
soever;" and proclaimed the preat principle of human
liberty, that " the sovereignty of the state resides on •
ginally and essentially in the general mass of the indivi-
duals who compose it." To the government under this
constitution, as well as to that under the federal consti-
tution, the people of Texas owed allegiance.
Emigrants from foreign countries, including the
United States, were invited by the colonization laws of the
state and of the federal government to settle in Texas.
Advantageous terms were offered to induce them to leave
their own country and become Mexican citizens. This
invitation was accepted by many of our citizens, in the
full faith that in their new home they would be governed
by laws enacted by representatives
propertyelected wouldby h
themselves,e
and that their lives, liberty, and
pro-
tected by constitutionalwhich existed
eguaranteesublicthe had
dillaer to
left. Under
a military revolution brok- out in the
year 1835, v!
a Government
eitnnhust organizedrep they ycontinued until the
h eanntdireplylascuebdveartmedilittharey
dictator
Government.
; decree of a congress subservient to the
By a sweeping
the several state constitutions were
will of the dictator,
states themselves converted into mere
abolished, and the
tral Government. The people of
Atcityn the
so: head M eclto es( t en
,
at the of the
departments of the central
Re-
sistance to such tyranny to tah hsiugth y
mtordpuatth e
ti. Texas
°D.
was fully absolved bm
from all allegiance
the moment the Govern-
ment had abolished her state constitution,submit and in its
t
place substituted an arbitrary and
Go-
vernment.
of the Texan revo-
Such were the principal causes
despotic central
st of these Im-
portantdid not omit
lution. The people of Texas at once determined upon
resistance, and flew to arms. In the midst
and exciting events, however, they
to place their liberties upon a secure and permanent
foundation. They elected members to a convention,
who, in the month of March, 1836, issued a formal de-
claration that their " political connexion with the
Mexican nation had for ever ended, and that the people
of Texas do now constitute a free, sovereign, and inde-
pendent republic, and are fully invested with all the
rights and attributes which properly belong to inde-
pendent nations." They also adopted for their govern-
ment a liberal republican constitution. About the same
time Santa Anna, then the dictator of Mexico, invaded
Texas with a numerous army, for the purpose of sub
cluing her people, and entorcing ohtdience to hi 3 arbi-
trary and despotic government. lin the 21st of April,
1836, he w:.s met by the Texan citizen soldiers and on
that day was achieved by them the memorable victory
of San Jacinto, by which thy conquered their inde-
pendence. Considering the numbers engaged on the
respective sides, history does not record a more brilliant
achievement. Santa Anna himself was among the
clptives.

In the month of May, 1836, Santa Anna aeltnuw-
ledg •d, by a treaty with th, Texan authorities, in the
most solemn form, " the full, entire, and perfect inde-

pendence of the republic of Texas." It is true ho was
' then a prisoner of war, but it is equally true that be
had failed to reconquer Texas, and had met with signal
defeat; that his authority hal not been revoked, and
that by virtue of this treaty he obtained his personal
! release. B) it h. q;tiiities were suspended, and the army
which had invaded Texas under his command, re-
; turned, in pursuance of this arrangement, unmolested to
Mexico.

From the day that the battle of San Jacinto was
fought till the present hour, Mexico has never possessed
the power to reconquer Texas. In the language of the
Secretary of State of the United States, in a dispatch to
our Minister in Mexico, under date of the Bth of July,
1842, " Mexico may have chosen to consider, and may
still choose to consider, Texas as having been at all
times since 1835, and as still continuing, a rebellious
province, but the world has been obliged to take a very
different view of the matter. From the time of the
battle of San Jacinto, in April, 1836, to the present
moment, Texas has exhibited the same external signs
of national independence as Mexico herself, and with
quite as much stability o, government. Practically free
and independent, acknowledged as a political sove-
reignty by the principal Powers of the world, no hostile
foot finding rest wi:hin her territory for six or seven
years, and Mexico herself refraining for all that peeled
from any further attempt to re-establish her own autho•
rity over that territory, it cannot but be surprising to
find Mr. de Bocanegra ' (the Secretary of Foreign Af-
fairs of Mexico) " complaining that tor that whole period
citizens of the United States, or its Government, have
been favouring the rebels of Texas, and supplying them
with vessels, ammunition, and money, as if the war for
the reduction of the province of Texas had been con-
stantly prosecuted by Mexico, and her success pre-
vented by these influences from abroad." In the same
dispatch the Secretary of State affirms that " since
1837 the United States have regarded Texas as an in-
dependent sovereignty as much as alexico ; and that
trade and commerce with citizens of a Government at
war with Mexico cannot, on that account, be regarded
as an intercourse by which assistance and succour are
given to Mexicau rebels. The whole current of Mr.
de Bocanegra's remarks runs in the same di-
rection as if the independence of Texas had
not been acknowledged. It has been acknowledged
—it was acknowledged in 1e37, against the remon-
strance and protest of Mexico; and most of the acts of
any importance, of which Mr. de Bocanegra complains,
tl ew necessarily from that recognition. He speaks of
texas as still being an ' integral part of the territory of
the Mexican Republic;' but he cannot but understand
that the United States do not so regard it. The real
complaint of Mexico. therefore, is, in substance, neither
more nor less than a complaint a•eainst the recognition
of Texan independence. It may be thought rather late
to repeat that complaint, and not quite Just to confine
it to the United States, to the ex••uiption of England,
France and Belgium, unless the United States, having
been the first to acknowledge the independence of
Mexico herself, are to be blamed for setting an example
for the recognition of that of Texas." And he added,
that "the constitution, public treaties, and the laws
oblige the President to regard Texas as an independent
state, and its territory as no part of the territory of
Mexico." Texas had been an independent state,
with an organised government, defying the power
of Mexico to overthrow or reconquer her, for more
than ten years before Mexico commenced the present
war against the United States. Texas had given
such evidence to the world of her ability to main-
tam her separate existence as an independent nation,
that she had been formally recognised as such, not only
by the United States, but by several of the principal
Powers of Europe. These Powers had entered into
treaties of amity, commerce, and navigation with her.
They had received and accredited her Ministers and
other diplomatic agents at their respective courts, and
they had commissioned Ministers and diplomatic agents
on their part to the Government of Texas. If Mexico,
notwithstanding all this, and her utter inability to sub-
due or reconquer Texas, still stubbornly refused to re-
cognise her as an independent nation, she was none the
le-s so on that account. Mexico herself had been recog-
nised as an independent flatlet) b) the United States and
by other Powers many years before Spain, of which,
before her revolution, she had been a colony, would agree
to recognise her as such ; and yet Mexico was at that
time, in the estimation of the civilised world, and in
fact, none the less an independent Power because Spain
still claimed her as a colony. If Spain had continued
until the present period to assert that Mexico was
one of her colonies in rebellion against her, this
would not have made her so, or changed the fact of
her independent existence. Texas, at the period of
her annexation to the United States, bore the
same relation to Mexico that Mexico had borne to Spain
for many years before Spain acknowledged her inde-
pendence, with this important difference, that before the
annexation of Texas to the United States was consum-
mated, Mexico herself, by a formal act of her Govern-
ment, had acknowledged the independence of Texas as
a nation. It is true that, in the act of recognition, she
prescribed a condition, which she had no power or
authority to impose, that Texas should not annex herself
to any other power; but this could not detract in any de-
gree from the recognition which Mexico then made of
her actual independence. Upon this plain statement of
facts, it is absurd for Mexico to allege, as a pretext for
commencing hostilities against the United States, that
Texas is still a part of her territory.
But there are those who, conceding all this to be true,
assume the ground that the true western boundary of
Texas is the Nueces, instead of the Rio Grande; and that,
therefore, in marching our army to the east bank of the
latter river, we passed the Texan line, and invaded the
territories of Mexico. A simple statement of facts, known
to exist, will conclusively refute such an assumption.
Texas, as ceded to the United States by France in
1803 has been always claimed as extending west to the
Rio Grande, or Rio Bravo. This fact is established by
the authority of our most eminent statesmen at a period
when the question was as well, if not better, understood
than it is at present. During Mr. Jefferson's adminis-
tration, Messrs. Monroe and l'inkney, who had been sent
on a special mission to Madrid, charged, among other
things, with the adjustment of boundary between the
two countries, in a note addressed to the Spanish Minis-
ter of Foreign Affairs, under date of the 28th ofJanuary,
1305, assert that the boundatees of Louisiana, as erd,d
to the United States by France, "are the river Perdido
on the east, and the river Bravo on the west ;" and
they add, that " the facts anti principles which justify
this conclusion are so satisfactory to our Government as
to convince it that the United States have not a better
right to the island of New Orleans, under the cession
referred to, than they have to the whole district of terri-
tory which is above described."
Down to the conclusion of the Florida treaty, in
February, 1819, by which this territory was ceded to
Spain, the United States asserted and maintained their
territorial rights to this extent. In the month of June,
1818, during Mr. Monroe's administration, information
having been received that a number of foreign adventurers
had landed at Galveston, with the avowed purpose of form-
ing a settlement in that vicinity, a special messenger was
dispatched by the Government of the United States, with
instructions from the Secretary of State to warn them to
desist should they be found there "or any other place
north of the Rio Bravo, and within the territory claimed
,by the United States." He was instructed, should they
be found in the country north of that river, to make
known to them " the surprise with which the President
had seen possession thus taken, without authority from
' the United States, of a place within their territorial
limits, and upon which no lawful settlement can be made
without their sanction." He was instructed to call upon
them to " avow under what national authority they pro-
fess to act," and to give them due warning "that the
place is within the United States, who will suffer no per-
manent settlement to be made there, under any authority
other than their own." As late as the Bth of July, 1842,
the Secretary of State of the United States, in a note
addressed to oar Minister in Mexico, maintains that, by
the Florida treaty of 1819, the territory as far west as
the Rio Grande, was confirmed to Spain. In that note
he states that " by the Treaty of the 22d of February,
1819, between the United States and Spain, the Sabine
was adopted as the line of boundary between the two
Powers. Up to that period, no considerable colonization
had been effected in Texas ; but the territory between
the Sabine and the Rio Grande being confirmed to Spain
by the treaty, applications were made to that power for
grants of land, and such grants, or permissions of settle-
ment were in fact made by the authorities of citizens of
the United States, proposing to emigrate to Texas in
numerous families before the declaration of independence
by Mexico."

- The Texas, which was ceded to Spain by the Florida
treaty of 1819, embraced all the country now claimed by
the state of Texas between the Nueces and the Rio
Grande. The republic of Texas always clained the
riverppassedb l as
fisaidAmT,ff heri
en:
A:mwuoAacteovhs:scer western
tohetr
inhoy(i
a.
whichtcnsedosenu boundary, and in her treaty made
with Santa Anna, in May, 1836, he recognised it as
ic
d
such. By the constitution which Texas adopted in
March, 1836, senatorial and representative districts
were organised, extending west of the Nueces. The
Congress of Texas, on the 19th of December, 1836,
otfii
teuninnt
reredtcyhee3edt.
ueyhtpateohrt
years,
o:rohutah,hnt,
declared
ecdcb
iihoary therui ibilnenodsatußaenonrrdfi
boundary.
intervened
Gnrphoyeerl
During
a rt Rani
ienndeedga-1
jurisdiction"
mietshrdieiioet
be-
tweens
the adoption of her constitution and her annexa-
tion as one of the United States of our Union, Texas
asserted and exercised many acts of sovereignty and ju-
risdiction over the territory and inhabitants west of the
Nueces. She organised and defended the limits of coun-
tries extending to the Rio Grande. She established
courts of justica, and extended her judicial system over
the territory. She established a custom-house, and col-
lected duties, and also post-offices and post-roads in it.
She established a land office, and issued numerous grants
for land, within its limits. A senator and a representa-
tive residing in it were elected to the Congress of the re-
public, and served as such before the Act of annexation
took place. In both the ongressand Convention of Texas,
which gave their assent to the terms of annexation to
the United States, proposed by our Congress, were re-
presentatives residing west of the Nueces, who took part
in the act of annexation itself. This was the Texas
which, by the act of our Congress of the 29th of Decem-
ber, 1E45, was admitted as one of the States of our
Union. That Congress of the United States under-
stood the state of Texas which they admitted into the
union to extend beyond the Nueces, is apparent from
district
ia the
eeys
state of
arelxaaws:Atiyo
the fact that on the 31st of acember, 1845, only two
establishcreated port of delivery at Corpus Christi,
wnich they a
situated west of the Nueces, and being the same point
a t which the Texas custom-house, under the laws of
sur-
veyor to co
the
collectionaa t o admission,dist
days af te ra
that port by the Pre , President, by and with the advice
that republicl,leheatdthbeeenrevloecaaateeda,haenadlddibreectaedpptehiantteadft
aSndenca,t)en.firtnAetisubr;eytohre vvsaesralictp.co;dingly ,d
of his duties.
All these acts of the republic of Texas and of our
beene"nn(s) consent
tneaor tfsi the Senate.
in the performance

Congress preceded the orders for the advance of
our army to the east bank of the Rio Grande. Sub-
sequently Congress passed an Act " establishing certain
post routes," extending west of theNueces. The country
west of that river now constitutes a part of one of the
congressional districts of Texas, and is represented in
the House of Representatives. The Senators from that
state were chosen by a Legislature in which the country
west of that river was represented. In view of all
these fabis, it is difficult to conceive upon what ground
it can be maintained that, in occupying the country west
of the Nueces with our army, with a view solely to its
security and defence, we invaded the territory of Mexico.
But it would have been still more difficult to justify the
Executive, whose duty it is to see that the laws be faith-
fully executed, if, in the face of all these proceedings,
both of the Congress of Texas and of the United States,
he had assumed the responsibility of yielding up the ter-
ritory west of Nueces to Mexico, or of refusing to pro-
tect and defend this territory and its inhabitants, includ-
ing Corpus Christi, as well as the remainder of Texas,
against the threatened Mexican invasion.
But Mexico herself has never placed the war which
she has waged upon the ground that our army occupied
the intermediate territory between the Nueces and the
Rio Grande. Her refuted pretension that Texas was
not in fact an independent state, but a rebellious pro-
vince, was obstinately persevered in ; and her avowed
purpose in commencing a war with the United States was
to reconquer Texas, and to restore Mexican authority
over the whole territory—not to the Nueces only, but to
the Sabine. In view of the proclaimed menaces f
Mexico to this effect, I deemed it my duty, as a measure
of precaution and defence, to order our army to occupy
a position on our frontier as a military post, from which
our troops could best resist and repel any attempted in-
vasion which Mexico might make.
Our army had occupied a position at Corpus Christi,
west of the Nueces, as early as August, 1845, without
complaint from any quarter. 1-lad the Nueces been re
garded as the true western boundary of Texas, that
boundary had been passed by our army many months
before it advanced to the eastern bank of the Rio Grande.
In my annual message of December last, I informed
Congress that, upon the invitation of both the Congress
and Convention of Texas, I bad deemed it proper to
order a strong squadron to the coasts of Mexico, and to
concentrate an efficient military force on the western
frontier of Texas to protect and defend the inhabitants
against the menaced invasion of Mexico. In that mes-
sage I informed Congress that the moment the terms
of annexation offered by the United States were ac-
cepted by Texas, the latter became so far a part of our
own country as to make it our duty to afford to such pro-
tection and defence; and that for that purpose our
squadron had been ordered to the Gulf, and our army
to " take a position between the Nueces and the Del
Norte," or the Rio Grande, and " to repel any invasion
of the Texan territory which might be attempted by the
Mexican forces."

It was deemed proper to issue this order, because,
soon after the President of Texas, in April, 1845, had
issued his proclaimation, convening the Congress of that
republic, for the purpose of submitting to that body the
terms of annexation proposed by the United States, the
Government of Mexico made serious threats of invading
the Texan territory.
These threats became more imposing as it became
more apparent, in the progress of the question, that the
people of Texas would decide in favour of accepting the
terms of annexation; and, finally, they had assumed
such a formidable character, as induced both the Con-
gress and Convention of Texas to request that a military
force should be sent by the United States into her terri-
tory for the purpose of protecting and defending her
against the threatened invasion. It would have been a
violation of good faith towards the people of Texas to
have refused to afford the aid which they desired against
a threatened invasion to which they had been exposed
by their free determination to annex themselves to our
Union, in compliance with the overture made to thorn by
the joint resolution cf our Congress.
Accordingly, a portion of the army was ordered to ad-
vance into Texas. Corpus Christi was the position se-
lected by General Taylor. He encamped at that place
in August, 1845, and the army remained in that position
until the 11th of March, 1846, when it moved west-
ward, and on the 2Sth day of that month reached the
east bank of the Rio Grande opposite to Matamoras.
This movement was made in pursuance of orders from
the War Department, issued on the 13th of January,
1846. Before these orders were issued, the dispatch of
our Minister in Mexico, transmitting the decision of the
Council of Government of Mexico, advising that he
should not be received, and also the dispatch of our
Consul residing in the city of Mexico—the former bear
ing date on the 17th, and the latter on the 18th of De-
cember, 1845, copies of both of which accompanied my
message to Congress of the 11th of May last—were re-
ceivedat the Department of State. These communica-
tions rendered it highly probable, if not absolutely cer
tain, that our Minister would not be received by the
Government of General Ilerrera. It was also well
known that but little hope could be entertained of a
different result from General Paredes, in case the revo-
lutionary movement which he was prosecuting should
prove successful, as was highly probable. The partisans
of Paredes, as our Minister, in the dispatch referred to,
states, breathed the fiercest hostility against the United
States, denounced the proposed negotiation as treason,
and openly called upon the troops and the people to put
down the government of Herrera by force. The re-
conquest of Texas and war with the United States were
openly threatened. These were the circumstances cx-

isting, when it was deemed proper to order the arm)
under the command of General Taylor to advance t,.
the western frontier of Texas, and occupy a psition on
or near the Rio Grande.

The apprehensions of a contemplated Mexican invasion
have been since fully justified by the event. The deter-
mination of Mexico to rush into hostilities with the
United States was afterwards manifested from the whole
tenour of the note of the Mexican Minister of Foreign
Affairs to our Minister, bearing data on the 12th of
\larch, 1846. Paredes had then revolutionised the Go-
vernment, and his Minister, after referring to !ha reso-
lution for the annexation of Texas, which had been
adopted by our Congress in March, 1845, proceeds to
declare that " a fact such as this, or, to speak with
greater exactness, so notable an act of usurpation,
created an imperious necessity that Mexico, for her own
honour, should repel it with proper firmness and dignity.
The Supreme Government had beforehand declared that
it would look upon such an act as a cants bell ; and, as
a consequence of this declaration, negotiation was, by its
very nature, at an end, and war was the only resource of
the Mexican Government."

It appears, also, that on the 4th of April following,
General .Paredes, through his Minister of War, issued
orders to the Mexican general in command on the
Texan frontier to " attack" our army " by every means
which war permits." To this General Paretles had been
pledged to the army and people of Mexico during the
military revolution which had brought him into power.
On the 18th of April, 1846, General Paredes addressed
a letter to the commander on that frontier, in which he
stated to him, " at the present date I suppose you at the
head of that valiant army, either fighting already, or
preparing for the operations of a campaign ;" and
" supposing you already on the theatre of operations,
and with all the forces assembled, it is indispensable
that hostilities be commenced, yourself taking the initia-
tive against the enemy."
The movement of our army to the Rio Grande was
made by the commanding general under positive orders
to abstain from all aggressive acts towards Mexico, or
Mexican citizens, and to regard the_ relations between
the two countries as peaceful, unless Mexico should de-
clare war, or commit acts of hostility indicative of a
state of war ; and these orders he faithfully executed.
Whilst occupying his position on the east bank of the
Rio Grande, within the limits of Texas, then recently
admitted as one of the states of our Union, the com-
manding general of the Mexican forces, who, in
pursuance of the orders of his Government, had col-
lected a large army on the opposite shore of the
Rio Grande, crossed the river, invaded our territory,
and commenced hostilities by attacking our forces.
Thus, after all the injuries which we had received and
borne from Mexico, and after she had insultingly re-
jected a minister sent to her on a mission of peace, and
whom she had solemnly agreed to receive, she consum-
mated her long course of outrage against our country by
commencing an offensive war and shedding the blood of
our citizens on our olvn soil.
The United States never attempted to acquire Texas
by conquest. On the contrary, at an early period after
tha people of Texas had aehieued their independence,
they sought to be annexed to the United States. At a
general election in September, 1836, they decided with
great unanimity in favour of " annexation ;" and in
November following the Congress of the republic autbo
rised the appointment of a minister to bear their
request to this Government. This Government, how-
ever, having remained neutral between Texas and
Mexico during the war between them, and considering
it due to the honour of our country, and our fair fame
among the nations of the earth, that we should not at
this early period consent to annexation, nor until it
should be manifest to the whole world that the re-con-
quest of Texas by Mexico was impossible, refused to
accede to the overtures made by Texas. On the 12th
of April, 1844, and after more than seven years had
elapsed since Texas had established her independence, a
treaty was concluded for the annexation of that republic
to the United States, which was rejected by the Senate.
Finally, on the Ist of March, 1845, Congress passed a
joint resolution for annexing her to the United States,
upon certain preliminary conditions to which her assent
was required.. The solemnities which characterised the
deliberations and conduct of the Government and people
of Texas, on the deeply interesting questions presented
by these resolutions, are known to the world. The
Congress, the Executive, and the people of Texas, in a
convention elected for that purpose, accepted with great
unanimity the proposed terms of annexation; and thus
consummated on her part the great act of restoring to
our federal Union a vast territory which had been ceded
to Spain by the Florida treaty more than a quarter of a
century before.
After the joint resolution for the annexation of Texas
to the United States had been passed by our Congress,
the Mexican Minister at Washington addressed a note
to the Secretary of State, bearing date on the 6th of
March, 1845, protesting against it as " an act of aggres.:
sion, the most unusual which can be found recorded in the
annals of modern history; namely, that of despOiling a
friendly nation, like Mexico, of a considerable portion
of her territory;" and protesting against the resolution
of annexation, as being an act " whereby the province of
Texas, an integral portion of the Mexican territory, is
agreed and admitted into the American Union;" and he
announced that, as a consequence, his mission to the
United States had terminated, and demanded his pass-
ports, which were granted. It was upon the absurd pre-
text, made by Mexico (herself indebted for her inde-
pendence to a successful revolution), that the republic
of Texas still continued to be, notwithstanding all that
had passed, a province of Mexico, that this step was
tak..n by the Mexican Minister.

Every. honourable effort has been used by me to avoid

the war which followed, but all have proved vain. All
our attempts to preserve peace have been met by insult
and resistance on the
.part of Mexico. My efforts to
this end commenced in the note of the Secretary of
State of the 10th of March, 1845, in answer to that of
the Mexican Minister. Whilst declining to re-open a
discussion which had already been exhausted, and
proving again what was known to the whole world, that
Texas has long since achieved her independence, the
Secretary of State expressed the regret of this Govern-
ment that Mexico should have taken offence at the reso-
lution of annexation passed by Congress, and gave
assurance that our "most strenuous efforts shall be de-
voted to the amicable adjustment of every cause of com-
plaint between the two Governments, and to the cultiva-
tion of the kindest and most friendly relations -between
the sister republics."
rnaL I have acted in the spirit of this assurance will
appear from the events which have since occurred. Not-
withstanding Mexico had abruptly terminated all d:plo-
antic intercourse with the United States, and ought,
therefore, to have been the first to ask for its resumption,
yet, waiving all ceremony, I embraced the earliest fa-
vourable opportunity " to ascertain from the Mexican
Government whether they would receive an envoy from
he United States entrusted with full power to adjust all
le questions in dispute between the two Governments."
In September, 1845, I believed the propitious moment
fur such an overture had arrived. Texas, by the enthu-
siast:c and almost unanimous will of her people, had pro-
nounced in favour of annexation. Mexico herself had
~greed to acknowledge the independence of Texas, sub-
ject to a condition, it is true, e hich she had no right to
impose, and no power to enforce. The last lingering
hope of Mexico, if she still could have retained any,
that Texas a ould ever again become one of her pro-
vinces, must have been abandoned.
The Consul of the United States at the city of Mexico
was, therefore, instructed by the Secretary of State on
the 15th of September, 1845, to make the inquiry of
the Mexican Government. The inquiry was made,
and on the 15th of October, 1845, the Minister
of Foreign Affairs of the Mexican Government,
in a note addressed to our Consul, gave a favour-
able response, requesting, at the same time, that
our naval force might be withdrawn from Vera Cruz
while negotiations should be pending. Upon the re-
ceipt of this note our naval force was promptly with-
drawn from Vera Cruz. A minister was immediately
appointed, and departed to Mexico. Everything bore a
promising aspect for a speedy and peaceful adjustment
of all our difficulties. At the date of my annual Mes-
sage to Congress, in December last, no doubt was enter-
,ained but that he would be received by the Mexican
government, and the hope was cherished that all cause
of misunderstanding between the two countries would be
-peedily removed. In the confident hope that such would be
the result of _his mission, I informed Congress that I
forebore at that time to " recommend such ulterior mea-
sures of redress for the wrongs and injuries we had so
long borne, as it would have been proper to make had no
such negotiati,m been instituted." To my surprise and
regret, the Mexican Gouernment, though solemnly
pledged to do so upon the arrival of our minister in
Mexico, refused to receive and accredit him. When he
reached Vera Cruz, on the 30th of November, 1845,
he found that the aspect of affairs had undergone an un-
happy change. The Government of General. Herrera,
who was at that time President of the republic, was tot-
tering to its fall. General Paredes (a military leader)
had manifested his determination to overthrow the
Government of Herrera by a military revolution; and
one of the principal means which he employed to
effect his purpose, and render the government of Her-
rera odious to the army and
.people of Mexico, was by
loudly condemning its determination to receive a minister
of peace from the United States, alleging that it was the
intention of Herrera, by a treaty with the United States,
to dismember the territory of Mexico, by ceding away
the department of Texas. The Government of Herrera
is believed to have been well disposed to a pacific adjust-
ment of existing difficulties, but, probably alarmed for
its own security, and in order to ward off the danger ofthe
revouton led by Paredes, violated its solemn agreement,
and refused' to receive or accredit our Minister ; and this,
although informed that he had been invested with full
power to adjust all questions in dispute between the two
Governments. Among the frivolous pretexts for this
refusal, the principal one was that our Minister had not
gone on a special mission, confined to the question of
Texas alone, leaving all the outrages upon our flag and
our citiaens unredressed. The Mexican Government
well knew that both our national honour and the protec-
tion due to our citizens imperatiiely required that the
two questions of boundary and indemnity should be
treated of together, as naturally and inseparably blended,
and they ought to have seen that this course was best
calculated to enable the United States to extend to them
the most liberal justice, On the 30th of December, 1845,
General Herrera resigned the presidency, and yielded
up the government to Gen. Paredes without a struggle. '
Thus a revolution was accomplished solely by the army
commanded by Paredes, and the supreme power in
Mexico passed into the hands of a military usurper, who
was known to be bitterly hostile to the United States.
Although the prospect of a pacific adjustment with
the new Government was unpromising, from the known
hostility of its head to the United States, yet, deter-
mined that nothing should be left undone on our part
to restcre friendly relations between the two countries,
our Minister was instructed to present his credentials
to the new Government, and ask to be accredited by it
in the diplomatic character in which he had been com-
missioned. These instructions he executed by his note
of the Ist March, 1846, addressed to the Mexican Mi-
nister of Foreign Affairs, but his /request was insult-
ngly refused by that Minister, in his answer of the
12th of the same month. No alternative remained for
our Minister but to demand his passport, and return to
'he United States.
Thus was the extraordinary spectacle presented to
(he civilised world, of a Government, in violation of its
awn express agreement, having twice rejected a minis-
ur of peace, invested with full poyvers to adjust all the
xisting differences between the two countries in a
manner just and honourable to both. I am not aware that
modern nistory presents a parallel case, in which, in time
of peace, one nation has refused even to hear proposi-
tions from another for terminating existing difficulties be-
tween them. Scarcely a bcpe of adjusting our difficul-
ties, even at a remote day, or of preserving peace with
Mexico, could be cherished while Paredes remained at
the head of the Government. He had acquired the
supreme power by a military revolution, and upon the
moat solemn pledges to wage war against the United
States, and to reconquer Texas, which he claimed as a
revolted province of Mexico. He had denounced as
guilty of treason all those Mexicans who considered
Texas as no longer constituting a part of the territory
of Mexico, and who were friendly to the cause of peace.
The duration of the war which he waged against the
United States was indefinite, because the end which he
proposed, of the reconquest of Texas, was hopeless.
Besides, there was good reason to believe, from all his
conduct, that it was his intention to convert the republic
of Mexico into a monarchy, and to call a foreign
European prince to the throne. Preparatory to this
end, he had, during his short rule destroyed the liberty
of the press, tolerating that portion of it only which
openly advocated the establishment of a monarchy.
The better to secure the success of his ultimate de-
signs, he had, by an arbitrary decree, convoked a Con-
gress—not to be elected by the free voice of the people,
but to be chosen in a manner to make them subservient
to his will, and to give him absolute control over their
ieliberations.
Under all these circumstances, it was believed that
my revolution in Mexico, founded upon opposition to the
ambitious projects of Paredes, would tend to promote
the cause of peace as , well as prevent any at-
tempted European interference in the affairs of the
North American continent—both objects of deep interest
ki the United States. Any such foreign interference,
if attempted, must have been resisted by the United
States. My views upon that subject were fully commu-
nicated to Congress in my last annual message. In any
event it was certain that no change whatever in the go-
vernment of Mexico, which would deprive Paredes of
power, could be for the worse, so far as the United States
were concerned, while it was highly probable that any
change must be for the better. This was the state of
affairs existing when Congress, on the 13th of May last,
recognised the existence of the war which had been
commenced by the Government of Paredes, and it be-
came an object of much importance, with a view to a
speedy settlement of our difficulties and the restoration
of an honourable peace, that Paredes should not retain
power in Mexico.
Before that time there were symptoms of a revolution
in Mexico, favoured, as it was understood to be, by the
more liberal party, and especially by those who were
opposed to foreign interference and to the
monarchical form of Government. Santa Anna was then
in exile in Havannah, having been expelled from power
and banished from his country by a revolution which
occurred in December, 1844; but it was known he had
still a considerable party in his favour in Mexico. It was
also equally well known that no vigilance which could
be exerted by our squadron would, in all probability,
Wave prevented him from effecting a landing somewhere
on the extensive gulf coast of Mexico, if he desired to
return to his country. He had openly professed an en-
tire change of policy, had expressed his regret that he
had subverted the federal constitution of 1824, and
avowed that he was now in favour of its restoration. He
had publicly declared his hostility, in the strongest
terms, to the establishment of a monarchy, and to Euro-
pean interference in the affairs of his country.
Information to this effect had been received from
sources believed to be reliable, at the date of the recog-
nition of the existence of the war by Congress, and was
afterwards fully confirmed by the receipt of the dispatch
of our consul in the city of Mexico with the accom-
panying documents, which aro herewith transmitted.
Besides, it was reasonable to suppose that he must see
the ruinous consequences to Mexico of a war with the
United States, and that it would be his interest to favour
peace.
It was under these circumstances, and upon these
considerations, that it was deemed expedient not to oh-
struct his return to Mexico, should he attempt to do so.
Our object was the restoration of peace ; and with that
view no reason was perceived why we should take part
with Paredes, and aid him, by means of our blockade, in
preventing the return of his rival to Mexico. On the
contrary, it was believed that the intestine divisions
which ordinary sagac'ty could not but iinticipate as the
fruit of Santa Anna's return to Mexico, and his contest
with Paredes, might strongly tend to produce a disposi-
tion with both parties to restore and preserve peace with
the United States. 'Paredes was a soldier by profession,
and a monarchist in principle. He had but recently be-
fore been successful in a military revolution by which he
bad obtained power. He was the sworn enemy of the
United States, with which ho had involved his country
in the existing war. Santa Anna had been expelled
from power by the army. was known to be in open hos-
tility to Paredes, and publicly pledged against foreign
intervention, and the restoration of monarchy in Mexico.
In view of these facts and circumstances it was that,
when orders were issued to the commander of our

naval forces in the Gulf, on the 15th day of May las t,
only two days after the existence of the war had been
recognised by Congres,,, to place the coasts of Mexico
under blockade, he was directed not to obstruct the
passage of Santa Anna to Mexico, sLould he attempt to
return.

A revolution took pace in• Mexico in the early part of
August following, by which the power of Paredes was
overthrown, and he has since been banished from the
country, and is now in exile. Shortly afterwards Santa
Anna returned. It remains to be seen whether his re-
turn may not yet prove to be favourable to a pacific ad-
justment of the existing difficulties, it being manifestly
his interest not to persevere in the prosecution of a war
commenced by Paredes, to accomplish a purpose so
absurd as the reconquest of Texas to the Sabine. Had
Paredes remained in power, it is morally certain that
any pacific adjustment would have been hopeless.
Upon the commencement of hostilities by Mexico
against the United States the indignant spirit of the
nation was at once aroused. Congress promptly re-
sponded to the expectations of the country, and, by the
act of the 13th May last, recognised the fact that war
existed, by the act of Mexico, between the United States
and that republic, and granted the means necessary for
its vigorous prosecution. Being involved in a war thus
commenced by Mexico, and for the justice of which, on
our part, we may confidently appeal to the whole world,
I resolved to prosecute it with the utmost vigour.
Accordingly, the ports of Mex!co on the Gulf and on
Vie Pacific have been placed under blockade, and her
territory invaded at several important points. The re •
ports from the Departments of War and the Navy will
inform you more in detail of the measures adopted in
the emergency in which our country was placed, and of
the gratifying results which have been accomplished.
The various columns of the army have performed
their duty under great disadvantages, with the most
distinguished skill and courage. The victories of Palo
Alto and Resaca de la Palma, and of Monterey, won
aeainst greatly superior numbers and against most de-
cided anvantages in other respects on the part of the
enemy, were brilliant in their execution, and entitle our
brave officers and soldiers to the grateful thanks of their
country. The nation deplores the loss of the brave
officers and men who have gallantly fallen while vindi-
cating and defending their country's rights and honour.
It is a subject of pride and satisfaction that our volun-
teer citizen soldiers, who so promptly responded to their
country's call, with an experience of the discipline of a
camp of only a few weeks, have borne their part in the
hard-fought battle of Monterey with a constancy and
courage equal to that of veteran troops, and worthy of
the highest admiration. The privations of long marches
through the enemy's country, and through a wilderness,
have been borne without a murmur. By rapid move-
ments, the province of New Mexico, with Santa Fe, its
capital, has been captured without bloodshed. The
navy has co-perated with the army, and rendered im-
portant services; if not so brilliant, it is because the
enemy had no force to meet them on their own element,
and because of the defences which nature has interposed,
in the difficulties of the navigation on the Mexican coast.
Our squadron in the Pacific, with the co-operation of a
gallant officer of the army, and a small force hastily
collected in that distant country, have acquired bloodless
possession of the Californias, and the American flag
has been raised at every important point of that pro-
vince.

I congratulate you on the succesit which has thus at-
tended our military and naval operations. In less than
seven months after Mexico commenced hostilities, at a
time selected by herself, we have taken possession of
many of her principal ports, driven back and pursued
her invading army, and acquired military possession of
the Mexican provinces of New Mexico, New Leon,
Coahuila, Tamaulipas, and the Californias—a territory
larger in extent than that embraced in the original thir-
teen states of the Union, inhabited by a considerable
population, and much of it more than a thousand miles
from the points at which we had to collect our forces
and commence our movements. By the blockade the
import and export trade of the enemy has been cut off.
Well may the American people be proud of the energy
and gallantry of our regular and volunteer officers and
soldiers. - The events of these few months afford a grati-
fying proof that our country can, under any emergency,
confidently rely for the maintenance of her honour, and
the defence of her rights, on an effective force, ready at
all times voluntarily to relinquish the comforts of home
for the perils and privations of the camp. And though
such a force may be for the time expensive, it is in the
end economical, as the ability to command it removes the
necessity of employing a large standing army in the
time of peace, and proves that our people love their
institutions, and are ever ready to defend and protect
them.

Whilst the war was in course of vigorous and success-
ful prosecution, being still anxious to arrest its evils,
and considering that after the brilliant victories of our
arms on the Bth and 9th of May last the nati mal honour
could not be compromised by it, another overture was
made to Mexico by my direction on the 27th of July
last, to terminate hostilities by a peace just and honour-
able to both countries. On the 31st of August follow-
ing the Mexican Government declined to accept this
friendly overture, but I referred it to the decision of a
Mexican Congress to be asiembled in the early part of
the present month. I communicate to you herewith a
copy of the letter of the Secretary of State, proposing to
re-open negotiations of the answer of the Mexican Go-
vernment, and of the reply thereto of the Secretary of
State.

The war will continue to be prosecuted with vigour, as
the best means of securing peace. It is hoped that the
decision of the Mexictn Congress, to which our last
overture has been termed, may result in a speedy and
houourable peace. With our experience, however, of
the unreasonable course of the Mexican authorities, it is
the part of wisdom not to relax in the energy of our
military operations until the result is made known. In
this view it is deemed important to hold military posses-
s'on of all the provinces which have been taken until a
definitive treaty of peace shall• have teen concluded and
ratified by the two countries.

The war has not lren waged with a view to convest;
but having been commencid try Mexico, it has been
carried into the enemy's ci entry, and will be vigorously
prosecuted there, with a view to obtain an honourab!e
peace, and thereby secure an ample indemnity for the
expenses of the war, as well as to our much•irjured
citizens, hho hold large pecuniary demands against
Mexico.

By the laws of nations a conquered territory is sub-
ject to be governed by the conquered during his mili-
tary possession, and until there is either a treaty of
.peace, or he shall voluntarily withdraw from it. The old
civil government being necessarily superseded, it is the
right and duty of the conqueror to secure his conquest,
and provide for the maintenance of civil order and the
rights of the inhabitants. This right has been exercised,
and this duty performed, by our military and naval
commanders, by the establishment of temporary govern-
, ments in some of the conquered provinces in Mexico, assi-
milating them as far as practicable to the free institutions of
our own country. In the provinces of New Mexico, and of
the Californias, little, if any, further resistance is appre-
hended from the inhabitants to the temporary govern-
ments which have thus, from the necessity of the case
and accor.ling to the laws of war, beet► established. It
may be proper to provide for the security of these im-
portant conquests by making an adequate api..rt.p.iation
for the purpose of erecting fortifications and defray lug
the expenses necessarily incident to the maintenance of
our possession and authority over them.
Near the close of your last session, for reasons com-
municated to Congress, I deemed it important, as a
measure for securing a speedy peace with Mexico, that
a sum of money should he appr epriated, and placed in
the power of the executive, similar to that. which had
been made upon two former occasions, during the ad-
ministration of President Jefferson.

On the 26th of February, 1803, an appropriation of
two millions of dollars wit., made, and placed at the dis-
posal of the President. Its object is well known. It was
at that time in contemplation to acquire Louisiana from
France, and it was intended to be applied as a part of
the consideration which might be paid for that territory.
on the 13th of February, 1806, the same sum was in
1 ke manner appropriated with a view to the purchase of
the Floridas from Spain. These appropriations were
made to facilitate negotiations, and as a means to enable
the President to accomplish the important objects in
view. Though it did not become necessary for the Pre-
sidt-nt to use these appropriations, yet a state of things
might have arisen in which it would have been highly
important for him to do so, and the wisdom of making
them cannot be doubted. It is believed that the
measures recommended at your last session met
with the approbation of decided majorities in both
houses of Congress. lndeed, in different forms, a Bill
making an appropriation of two millions of dollars passed
each house, and it is much to be regretted that it did
not become a law. The reas-ns which induced me to
recommend the measure at that time still exist ; and I
again submit the subject for your consideration, and
suggest the importance of early action upon it. Should
the appropriation be made, and be not needed, it will
remain in the Treasury : should it be deemed proper to
apply it, in the whole or in part, it will be accounted for
as other public expenditures.
Immediately after Congress had recognised the exist-
ence of the war with Mexico, my attention was directed
to the danger that privateers might be fitted out in the
ports of Cuba and Porto Rico to prey upon the com-
merce of the United States ; and I invited the special
attention of the Spanish Government to the 14th article
of our treaty with that power of the 20th of October,
1795, under which the . citizens and subjects of either
nation who shall take commissions or letter of marque
to act as privateers against the other "shall be pucished
as pirates."
It affords me pleasure to inform yon that I have re-
ceived assurances from the Spanish Government that
this article of the treaty shall be faithfully observed on
its part. Orders for this purpose were immediately
transmitted from that Government to the authorities of
Cuba and Porto Rico to exert their utmost vigilance in pre-
venting any attempts to fit out privateers in those islands
against the United States. From the good faith of Spain
I am fully satisfied that this treaty will be executed
in its spirit as well as its letter ; whilst the United
States will on their part faithfully perform all the obli-
gations which it imposes on them.
Information has been recently received at the derart-
ment of state that the Mexican Government has sent to
iI a vannah blank commissions to privateers, and blank
certificates of naturalisation, signed by General Salas,
the present head of the Mexican Government. There
is also reason to apprehend that similar documents have
been transmitted to other parts of the world. Copies of
these papers in translation are herewith transmitted.
As the preliminaries required by the practice of civi-
lised nations for commis,ioning privateers and regu-
lating their conduct appear not to have been observed,
and as these commissions are in blank, to be filled up
with the names of citizens and subjects of all nations
who may be willing to purchase them, the whole pro-
re freebootersprivilege
to upon
crui
ceeding can only be construed as an invitation to all
t
o are willing to pay for
i
American
commerce. It
cruise agathin st

will be for our courts of justice to decide whether, under
such circumstances, these Mexican letters of marque and
reprisal shall protect those who accept them, and commit
robberies upon the high seas nnder their authority, from
the pains and penalties of piracy.
If the certificates of naturalisation thus granted be in-
tended by Mexico to shield Spanish subjects from the
guilt and punishment of pirates, under our treaty with
Spain they will certainly prove unavailing. Such a sub-
terfuge would be but a weak device to defeat the provi-
sions of a solemn treaty.
I recommend that Congress should immediately pro-
vide by law for the trial and punishment as pirates of
Spanish snbjects who, escaping the vigilance of their
Government, shall be found guilty of privateering
against the United States. Ido not apprehend serious
danger from these privateers. Our nary will be con-
stantly on the alert to protect our commerce. Besides,
in case prizes should be made of American vessels, the
utmost vigilance will be exerted by our blockading
squadron to prevent the captors from taking them in to
Mexican ports, and it is rot apprehended that any nation
will violate its nutrality by suffering such prizes to be
condemned and sold within its jurisdiction.
I recommend that Congress should immediately pro-
vide by law for granting letters of marque and reprisal
against vessels under the Mexican flag. It is true that
there are but few, if any, commercial vessels of Mexico
upon the high seas; and it is therefore not probable that
many American privateers would be fitted out, in case a
law should pass authorising this mode of warfare. It is,
notwithstanding, certain that such privateers may render
good service to the commercial interest of the country
by recapturing our merchant ships, should any be taken
by armed vessels under the Mexican flag, as well as by
capturing these vessels themselves. Every means within
our power should be rendered available for the protection
of our commerce.
The annual report of the Secretary of the Treasury
will exhibit a detailed statement of the condition of the
finances. The imports for the fiscal year ending on the
13th of June last, were of the value of one hundred and
twenty-one million six hundred and ninety-one thousand
seven hundred and ninety. seven dollars ; of which the
amount exported was eleven million three hundred and
forty-six thousand six hundred and twenty-three dol-
lars, leaving the amount retained in the country for
domestic consumption one hundred and ten million three
hundred and forty-five thousand one hundred and
seventy -four dollars. The value of the exports for the
same period was one hundred and thirteen million four
hundred and eighty-eight thousand five hundred and
sixteen dollars; of which one hundred and two million
one hundred and forty-one thousand eight hundred and
ninety-three dollars consisted of domestic productions,
and eleven million three hundred and forty-six thou-
sand six hundred and twenty-three dollars of foreign
articles.
The receipts into the Treasury for the same year were
twenty-nine million four hundred and ninety-nine thou-
sand two hundred and forty-seven dollars and six cents.,
of which there was derived from customs twenty-six
millions :even hundred and twelve thousand six hundred
and sixty-seven dollars and eighty-seven cents, from
sales of public lands two million six hundred and ninety
five thousand four hundred and fifty-two dollars and
forty-eight cents, and from incidental and miscellaneous
sources ninety-two thousand one hundred and twenty-
six dollars and seventy-one cents. The expenditure
for the same period were twenty-eight million thirty-
one thousand one hundred and fourteen dollars and
twenty cents, and the balance in the treasury on the first
day of July last was nine million one hundred and
twenty-six thousand four hundred and thirty-nine dol-
lars and eight cents.
The amount of the public debt, including treasury
notes, on the Ist of the present month, was twenty-four
million two hundred and fifty-six thousand four hundred
and ninety-four dollars and sixty cents ; of which the
sum of seventeen million seven hundred and eighty-
eight thousand seven hundred and ninety-nine dollars
and sixty-two cents was outstanding on the 4th of
March, 1845, leaving the amount since that time six
million four hundred and sixty seven thousand six hun-
dred and ninety-four dollars and ninety-eight cents.
In order to prosecute the war with Mexico with
lig-Our and energy, as the best means of bringing it to a
speedy and honourable termination, a further loan will
be necessary to meet the expenditures for the present
and the next fiscal years. if the war should be conti-
nued until the 30th of June, 1348—being the end of the
next fiscal year—it is estimated that an additional loan
of twenty-three million of dollars will be required.
This estimate is made upon the assumption that it will
be necessary to retain constantly in the treasury four
million of dollars, to guard against contingencies. It'
such surplus ware not required to be retained, then a
loan of nineteen roillion of dollars would be sufficient.
If, however, Congress should, at the present ses,,ion,
impose a revenue duty on the principal artic:es now em-
braced in the free list, it is estimated that an additional
annual zevonue of about tivo million and a-halt,
amounting, it is estimated, on the 30th of June, 1848,
to four wil'ion of dollars, would be derived from that
source ; and the loan required would be reduced
b. that amount. It is estimated also, that should
Congress gra,dunte and reduce the price of such
of the public lands as have been long in the
market, the additional revenue derived from that
source would be annually, for several years to come
between half a million awl a million of dollars, and the
loan required may be reduced by that amount also.
Should these measures be adopted, the loan required
would not probably exceed eigh.een or nineteen milli( n
of dollars—teaving in the treasury a constant surplus
of four intliion of dollars. The loan proposed, it is
estimated, will 1)1 sufficient to cover the necessary
ex-
pet,dimres, both for the war arid for all other pu7p‘ses
up to the 30th of June, 1843 ; and an amount ,it thiy
not exceeding one-halt, may be required diving
the presexit fiseel year, and the greater part of the
remainder during the first halt of the fiscal year suc-
ceeding-.
In order that timely notice may be given, and proper
meassures taken to effect the loan, or such portion of it as
may be le qeired, it is iinrortant that the authority of
Congress to make it be given at an early period of }our
present session. It is suggested that the loan should be
contracted for a period of twenty years, with authority-
to purcha,e the stock and pay it off, at an earlier
period, at its market value, out of any 'urplus which
may at any time be in the treasury applicable to that par
pose. After the establishment of peace with M-xico, it
supposed that a considerable surplus will exist, and
t-iat the debt may be extinguished in a much shorter p-rind
than that. for which i' may be contracted. The period.
of 20 years, as that for which the proposed loan may be.
contracted, in preference to a shorter period, is sug-
gested, because all experience, both at borne and abroad,
has shown that loans are effected upon much better terms
upon long time titan when they are reimbursable at short
dates.

Necesary as this nv.asure i to sustain the honour
and the interests of the country, engaged in a foreign
war, it i 3 not doubted but that Congress will pr, mptly
authorise it.
The balance in the treasury on the IA of July last ex-
ceeded nine trillion ut dollars, notwithstanding consi-
derable expenditures, had been mad:, for the war during
the months of May and June preceding. But for the
war, the whole public debt could and would have been
extinguished within a short period; and it was a part of
my sewed p they to do a r, and thus relieve the people
from its burden, and piece the Government in a position
which would enable it to reduce the public expenditure
to that economicd stsndard v.hich is mist consistent
with the grrp,rA welfare, arid the pure and wholesome
progress of our institutions.
Among our just can ,es for complaint against Mexico,
arising out of her refusal to treat for peace, as well
before as since the war so unjustly commenced on her
part, are the extraordinary expenditures in which we
have been involved. Justice to our own people will make
it proper thit Mexico should be held responsible for
the 3? expt:s.nditore.
Economy in the public experditures is at all times a
high duty which all public functionaries of the Govern-
ment owe to the pe4.)ple. This duty becomes the more
imperative in a period of war, when large and extraor-
dinary expenditures become unavoidable. During the
existence of the war with Mexico all our resources should
be husb,,nded, and no appropriations made except such
as are absolutely necessary for i,s vigorous prosecution
and the due administration of the Government. Objects
of appropriation which in peace may be deemed useful
and proper, but which are not indispensable for the public
service, may, when the country is engaged in a foreign
war, t • well postponed to a future period By the ob-
servance of this policy at your present session, large
amounts may be saved to the treasury, and be applied
to objects of pressii,g and urgent necessity, and thus the
creation of a corresponding amount of public debt may
be avoided.
It is not meant to recommend that the ordinary and
necessary appropriations for the support of Government
should be withheld, but it is well known that at every
session of C. ingress appropriations are proposed for
numerous objects which may or may not be made, wt.h-
out tea e: ialiy affect;ng the public interests; and these it
is recommended should not be granted.
The Act passed at your last session " reducing the
euties On imports" not having gone into operation until
the Ist of the present month, there has not been time for
its practical effect upon the revenue, and the business of
the country, to be developed. It is not doubted, how-
ever, that the just policy which it adopts will add largely
to our foreign trade, and promote the general pros-
perity. Although it cannot be certainly foreseen what.
amount of revenue it will yield, it is estimated that it
will exceed that produced by the Act of 1842, which it
superseded. The leading principles established by it
are, to levy the taxes with a view to raise revenue, and
to impose them upon the articles imported according to
their actual value.

The Act of by the excessive rates of duty which
it imposed on many articles, either totally excluded them
from importation, or greatly reduced the amount im-
ported, and thus diminished instead of producing revenue.
By it the taxes were imposed not for the legitimate pur
poses of revenue, but to afford advantages to favoured
classes, at the expense of a large majority of
their fellow-citizens. Those employed in agriculture,
mechanical pursuits, commerce and navigation, were
compelled to contribute from their substance to s sell the
profits and overgrown wealth of the comparat:vely few
who had invested their capital in manteactures. The
arti
taxescles u were not levieii in proportion to the value of the
upon which they were imposed ; but widely de-
parting from this just rule, the lighter taxes were, in
many cases, levied upon articles of luxury and high
price, and the heavier taxes on those of necessity and
low price, consumed by the great mass of the eople. It Was a system the inevitable effect of which was to relieve
favoured classes and the wealthy few from contributing
their just proportion for
likelsPort of Government, and
to lay the burden on the labour of the many engaged in
other pursuits than manufactures.
A system so unequal and so unjust has been super-
seded by the existing law, which imposes duties, not for
the benefit or injury of
classes or pursuits, but distrt-
butte, and, as far as practicable, equalises the publie