The pilot and transcript. [volume] (Baltimore, Md.) 1840-1841, 1840-07-30
H., -

ldffg IN the west. - Vo11f as ttssaA s0ktouu
at the scat 81 govefsshent hat the President was
obliged either to Weld to fsEttatGs, tohetire
from Office Tbs choice in this alternative was
easily made by a man, whe preferred his private
interest 10 the public good. We were, thercfore,
tlrIrriediut9.the var~utterly anpTePared '-----a.
What has been ITS result Exactly what cy-
ery reasonable man expected at its commence
ment We declared our intention of conquering
| Canada; whether for the purpose of anneXing'it
! to the Unitnd States, of compelling our enemy
to Weld the doctrine of impressment, it is inma-
teFial te the present Instead OF cons,
quering it, we have, ourselves been invaded in
every quarter, and the best blood of the country
has streamcd in defence of onr own soil. The
very capitol Of the United States, the lofty tenn
ple of liberty, which was reared and consecrated
! by Washington, has been abandoned to its fate
bv his degenerate successor, who ought to have
shed his last drop of blood n-it5 defence.
After the administration had entered upon the
war, instead of coming forward with manly con-
fdence, and taxing the people for its support,
they basely shrunk from their duty, IN order to
maintain their popularity, and adopted the ruin
Gus system of carrying on the contest by borrow
ing money. What were the effects oIthis policy?
Does not every. man in the country know, was
it even disguised by tho administration, that the
United States would in short time, have be
come bankrupt, had not peace been concluded
Thanks to Heaven, that we have obtained peace,
bad and disgraceful it is; otherwise, the beau
tiful structure of the federal government, supper
ted by the same feeble hands, might have sunk,
like the capitol, into ruins.
This:system of anticipating our revenue, has
left an immense load of debt upon the country,
the payment of which will be grevious burden,
not only upon the present generation, but upon
posterity. This burden has fallen more heavily
upon our county than upon any other part of the
Union, on account of our numerous and extern
sive distileries. The late dddt ional dutysim
1 a. "a.
manufacture. In its Consequences it has notonly
affected the distillcrs, but it has given severe
blow upon the prosperity Of this country gener-
ally. Whilst the distilleries were in active OPP
Grafton, the cattle and the grain found a good
and ready market at home, The balance OF
trade was rapidly diffusing itself throughout our
country. But Congress, by imposing tax upon
the article more greyious than was able to
bear, have destroyed the very revenue which they
intended to raise; This instance, among many
others of similar nature, shows how totally
destitute are our present rulers Of wisdom and
foresight, even upon subjects Immediately
garding the pecuniary interest of the government.
These are not the only evils consequent upon
that timid and timeserying policy. II has en-
barrassed the government SO much, that 1T must
be long time indeed, before we dare again
to go to war with any powerful nation, even for
the maintenance Of our dearest rights All these
evils would, in great measure, have been pre-
istration, to have imposed moderate taxes at the
commencement of the contest, The credit Of the
nation would have continued good, and we might
have avoided the painful. speeta Gle of seeing the
public stock sold in the market, at enormous
discount, and greedy spectators enrichjng them
selves by its purchase, at the expense of the toll
and sweat of the honest yeomanry of our country.
Instead cf'exempting seamen sailing under our
flag from irhpressment by the war, we have al
together relnquished that principle; because it
is we'll established truth in the law of nations,
that if war be waged by one country against an
other for specified claim, and the treaty which
terminates the contest is silent upon that sub
ject, it is forever aba nAoned Thus the govern
ment have at least yielded the very point for the
maintenance of which they protested to go to
war, after having expended nearly 500, 900 900.
80 We have not only not obtained by the war any
thing which we were taught to expect, but We
have lost many valuable privileges. All the
numerous rights and advantages guaranteed to
us by jays treaty have been relnquished Nay,
we have not only been compelled to conclude a
treaty which does not contain ore solitary stipu-
lation in our favor, except that there shall be
peace; butwhich unsettles the bounda ries of our
country, and leaves to the decision of commits |
siSDers, whether we shall longer retain part of
our own territory, which we have held in quiet
possession for more than twenty years. m
q But notwithstanding our immense national
debt, which, If the war had continued, would |
soon have resulted in national bankruptcy y not
all our property, even the very ne
cessaries of life, have been taxed heavily; not
have not obtained single OBJ
ject which we had in view at the commencement
Of the contest, but have lost many valuable priv
ileges; Notwithstanding our country has been in
yaded in cvesy quarter, and the capitol of the
United Ssates has been laid in ashes by marau-
ding party OF the eneray; this has been called a
glorious war Glorious it has been, in the high
est degree, to the american character; but dis
graceful in the extreme. to the administration
When the individual States discovered that they
were abandoned by the general government
whose duty it was to protect them, the iortitude
of their citizens arose with their mistortunes.-
The moment we were invaded, the genius Of
freedom inspired their souls. They rushed upon
their enemies with hallowed fury, which the
hireling soldiers Of Britain could never feel.
They taught our foe, that! the soil Of freedom
would always be the graxesof its invaders.
But do the administration, who involved us in
the unnecessary war deriye arycredit from their
exertionss Certainly not. they were the spon-
taneous efforts of The country, tfdifected by the
Mt. RI 'rhe.mili tia who 5vere chiefly en-
gagged in these glorious cont cts, were oftan with
out pay and without comfortable clothing. The
dreadful situation Of the countr compelled them
to abandon their families and the sweets Of do
nestle life, without any previous warning, to de-
fend places which wsfe LIFT utterly unprotected
by their proper guardians-Places which ought /
to have been ready for a serge, at the commence
ment of the Contest, As well might Ferdinand
the 7th, Of Spaii, asio was not IN his kingdom,
but who was nominal Az king claim the glory OF
rescsling his country from the arppies Of kfanpe,
our government take TO itself the credit ofex-
tpelling ourFinvaders. En- - = ,ee1S- gs.,r,
When,fw we turn our attention to the regular
army, which were peculiarly under the direction
Of the national government, what do we diseo-
YER? During the first year Of the w II, that year
in which it was to have closed with glory, That /
Canada was to have been ours, the year in +
which that province was left unprotected, and /
the forces Of our enemy were employed in ,Eu- I
rope, Inexperienced nothing but a continuation
Of degradation and defeat, Is there Ameri-
can on the floor Of this house, who has not