Portland gazette and Maine advertiser., 1806-09-08

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they had given.
fecr Ayfr zv5ieb joilexvs TIE yrmsris as5is5 ss0s
fsSl;l2sd in the isa GAzsr1z,
The committee now Attended, and
infruCecd their chairman to write TO
the Secretary of War for his opinion
as to the force which II would be
rcquifite to raise for the defence of
the southern frontier, and requefting,
at the fame time TO be informed
what number Of troops were already
ftationcc in that quarter. In his an
fwer, the minister ftated the force
which the u. 5. had on the Mi1iEp-
pi and its branches, ready 70 defend
the river at fhort notice, to be
fonc what lefs than a thoufard men /.
that he had intelligence that Spain
was collecting an army on tho from
tiers Of New Mexico, & transporting
troops from the HAVANA to Penfacc-
la, and that the force requilite on
our part, would depend upon that
which would be oppofed to US,
which he sfimated (vaguely) to be
hyperion TO our own.
About this period the news of,the
fea-6ght off Trafalgar reached Amer
lea, the event of which alarming the
SpanifA minifiry for the fafety Of
their w. India colonies, forbade the
weakening of the important pot of
the Havana, and fufpeuded the hof-
tile movements on the part of Spain
againtt the u. S. And to this circum-
lance we have been probably indebt-
ed for the undilturbed poHefion
of N. Orleans and Its dependencies.
When the Secretary Of Wars let
tiers was laid before the committee,
Mr. Bidwell moved the same gropo-
iition which the Secretary of the
Treasury had fome days before put
into the hands Of the chairman, and
which he (Mr. b. afterwards intro
duced into the houic viz. a vote Of
two millions and a continuance Of
theduties, the proceeds of which con-
ftitutsd the Mediterranean fund. IL
was rejected, and the chairman direa-
ed to draft the report which has
been printed with the fecret journal,
and publifhed in all the newspapers.
The committee Jaw, in the multiplied
aggreGons of Spain ample caufe of
war, ON the part Of government
with which the welfare of ITS citi1em
was NOT paramount to every other
confederation But conceiving that
the true iuterefts Of the American
people (which alone 1t beloved them
to confult) required peace, they fore
bore to recommend ofenlve meas
ures. They believed it to be our po-
licy to reap the neutral harvet, and
ieize the favourable occa6on of ex-
tinguiihing the publiok debs-at once
the price of our liberties, and the
badge of our ancient fervitude. So
long as this debt remains unpaid we
can fcarcely be confdercd asa truly
independent people. The fenfe of
the committee was, neither TO make
war nor purchafe peace, but TO pro-
vide for the defence of our actual
territory, which the highelt authority
had announced to have been violated
and to be meraced with frefh inva-
fion. On this point they conceived
there could be but one fentiment,
whatever difference Of opinion might
EXIT as to the wifdom of pledging he
nation to protea its flag in remote
feas or its ability to afford freh pro-
,e6tion. A poor attempt has been
made to reproach the committee with
want of reliance on the militia, and
preference for the ftanding army.
When it is confdered that all the
protection then and finoe extended
to the country in queltion eonhts Of
regular troops, and that the nesreit
itates from which the militia could
be marched for its defence, are fep-
arated from it by many hundred
miles of intervening Indian country
(not to mention that these itates
themfelves are amonglt the weakeit
in the union) the inconpetency Of
the militia to the fervice in quef-
ftion and the futility of the objec.