Lynchburg Virginian. [volume] (Lynchburg [Va.]) 1829-185?, 1836-01-25
Monday. January as. 1896.
TIE SPECIAL MESSAGE.

- o,prexs our fcgiet tlat ne tIe>1.enf, al this
TN Of he con,ro,crs, between the Unitcd
State and France, when tie hopes of the friends
,,,o,ce were chcc,sd by the complexion nf the
counts trou, abroad, and when buta single oh
.a.,o IA ,s final adjustment existed which all par.
-. .omcJ 10 concur in the belief onld be removed
oo,bc reception Of his Annual Message mp arts, =
-. cay we must express our regret, that, at this
.,,,c of the controversy, Gen. Jackson has deem
ed il necessary 10 recommend to Congress the es-
,,.s;on of French vessels and products from our
nor,s. He should, at least in our humble opinion,
3aye waited to see the encct produced tie
French government by his last Messare, before hc
.opscucd measure, which, though i, stop >hcrt
Of liar, will Inevitably, if sanctioned b, Con-
sre,s. lead to that fatal s,cp-ata', il III nothing
.>e. 10 the great agricultural interests otlle South
If indeed. Congress had been on tie exc Of adj
;onInmcn, or were it not certain that should
learn, before its adjournment, whether tic French
Government, did or did not REGARD his Me,sae, as
conveying a satisfactory explanation Of tLc OBJ
,rctonabe language in lis predccesso scr, there might
have been scmc apology fer this precipitation.
But. under tie circumstances, ,Ltlc is none. And
il does seem to HAT it was int'nd1d, - tie Pre-
s,cnt, 10 ccuneiacr tie pacific tendencies of
his last Message, and 10 prc>en, tic rcaccablc ad-
instEcnt of this ridcu|t US affair, Should thst re-
suit Lave been fortunately tie conse qrencc of thai
Message. Can any cctd reason, urdor hca, en-
be assgl cd, Why tie Itccnnti daton Ola non
int recourse law should ncao be recommended or
. Il 4
necessary, should not al least Lave been DELAYED
until its necessity was rrndcs.d apparent and pal
pable Why, when there rcdsunatl. ploL-
ability, that, On the reception Of the last Message
in Paris, measures wou|i have been taken to car
~ into effect The treaty ofindomnity, was this act
ofncpcnt hostility recommended, if il were not 10
raise up new obstacles 10 the uGlment of the trca-
" of indematy, and to force War, IN DIES ptc OF
fate, and in utter disregard of all the great inter
e,,s that must he involved in ruin by that sulci-
dial measured War is an evil Of such magnitude,
thar, ahuu.h We should not wait to be =" kicked
into it, We should certainly not hcc,!lcsslv and
unnecessarily conr its nanclcss oalami,ics.- Our
hope is, however, that Congress will not in
this recon,mcndation, as, on former occasion, it
refused, undcr tie same high counsel, 10 authorize
rcprisas upon French propcrty-and rhar if Con-
ercss withhold it, assent, France will take no no.
tice of this new cbution Of Executive wrath and
indscrclion.
That France ought to pay the money, which
she has b. treaty acknowledged to be due to us,
there can be no doubt--and We have Just rs little
that she acW pay it, when the causes oil irritation
which have heretofore prevented the discharge Of
the debt shall be removed. Ii cannot at lca>t do
many great harm to exhaust conciliatory measures,
before We resort to the last and worst argument Of
nations Probably while VIC write these lines, she
may hare paid he FIRST mstolment, or dceiarcd
her readiness To do So.-and yet, when such
superstition is rendered plausible by our last
French advices, the President throws another me-
mace into her teeth, calculated TO prevent the
eonsnmmation of the ,rcaty--for, II France would
not pay, because Of supposed threat 10 resort to
rcprisas, is it natural suppose that she will DO
under the menace of a non-ncr,ours,!
That the President and his influential advisers
are eager for war, is, we think, manifest, also, from
the character of the CORE, pondcnce between Mr.,
FORSYTH and NJ Papcot WHY, if this re not the
fact, WAS not the Duke dc BroeEc's Unofficial COM
muncaion received and considered by MI. For
syih--not, indeed, direct proposition, but
the basis Of future negotiations, out of which direct
propositions might have grown Tie only rea-
son assigned for lis refusal, is tina, il would not
have been according to etiquette. To etiquette !
And So two great nations, qnarrclling about ideal
wrongs, must settle tic important fcud according TO
approved torms, or il cannot be settled without
war hg for statesmen, who are so much more
nice than wsc
IN another recommendation Of the Special
Message, we heartily concur--i,nd that is, that
VIC shoudaugmeut our mean. both Of defence ana
ataek. 1t is now at least probable that shall
snail have War-and we are favorcrs otlhat may
I'm, which, while it bids us p" beware of entrance IN
70 quarrel yet counScls us, when in, To bear
ourselves with becoming yaor and ENERGY. If We
must fight let us present an undivided front to the
enemy. But, solongas there is any hope of the pre-
"''a'on OF peace. on honorable terms let us
'''ns TO it-or War is no cld's play, and should
"o' ot encountered for " light or transient causes"
certainly not to crafty the caprice of amy one
man. even though he DC the President Of the ma
ton
ltn,..-