The daily union. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1845-1857, 1846-11-10
THE ISSUES


which they think they may venture 10 make Known
10 the country the real issues between themselves
and the democrats. Accordingly their leaders
without loss OF time, are giving tho "cues'
to their friends, now about to assemble IN Con
gress. The last evenings mail brings US two
documents, both important in this point OF
view One is the speech Of Mr.. Webster TO the fed
craiss Of Boston, the other Ia the letter Of Mr. Clay
ton TO the federasts Of Delaware, assembled al
Wilmington. Taken together, these two nantes
toes show that the fedsraliss now preparing to
rally for .
LIST. The unconditional and complete restoration o
The tariff Of 1912; and
ID Fur such an ab,olats condemnation cfhs Jhsri-
can war in is WAos origin, character, and purpose
involving, as such condemnation must inevitably IN
volye az the only alternative, continued and unre
sistng submission OF our part, to further Mexican
perkdy and insult.
The democratic party will see, in the distinct pre-.
sentiment Of these two issues by their opponents an
ample Offset to our late temporary and accidental
reverses. We shall quote, therefore, the views o.
these two leading statesmen in their own words
and first, here is Mr.. Webster's view Of the war;
"Tbe Mexican war is universally odious through.
out the United States, and we have yet 10 lind any
Sempronius who raises his voice for il.
[aIIere some one in the gallery asked Mr. Web
ster who voted for the war. Hs replied nobody a,
all The President made it without any vote what.
ever Tremendous applause.
"And that leads me TO say that the war, IN Its
origin, was presidential war. But the constitu-
ton declares that Congress alone shall have the
power OF declaring war; and beg TO know where,
when, and how they declared IT, Every one
does know that our army was ordered by the Pres
ident 10 advance from the Nueces 10 Rio Grande,
thereby invading foreign territory. And because
the Mexicans resisted this enoroachment on their
SOIL have next the proclamation of the President,
that war exists between Mexico and the United
States. The proclamation Of the President stated
that explicitly.
"But, gentlemen, there ia another question here.
Texas had become part Of this Union. We had
received her a State, and had ASSUMED her boun-
dary--the Nueces. Why should we not treat with
Mexico for that Why, when all new territory Of
the United States was bounded by the Nueces, and
everything beyond that was claimed by Mexico, and
in the actual possession Of Mexico-why, then, |
say, should the President Of the United States have
ordered the army south Of Nueces, 10 take posses
sion Of the Mexican land1 That was the origin OF
the war, and that against the spirit OF the con-
stitution OF the United States. Vehement ap-
plause.l Congress alone has power to declare war,
and yetitis obvious under the present construction,
tHut 10 rcsONou lnsOlfc inc Couil-
try in war, he may do it. This, say, is great
msjudgment on the part Of the President; il is a
clear violation Of his duty; in my judgment it is an
Improbable offence. tGreat cheering T..
"rhe great objection Of this war is, that il is e-
gal in its character. There has been great viola
ton of duty on the part Of the President He has
plunged the country into war, whereas, unless in
Of invasion of our actual limits, he has right
so to do In that case of such invasion, the power
does exist in the President to take measures to
repel aggression. But to go out Of our limits and
declare war for foreign occupation of what does
not belong to u.s. Is no part Of the power invested in
our President by our constitution. -.
$50 much for the origin of the war" s
As spoken by Mr.. Webster, and as received by
deserves attentive perusal 1t will be recollected
b that this Mexican war is not the first war in oul
country's history which Mr.. Webster has felt him
self called upon by his ideas of patriotic duty to de-
nounce, and embarrass, and oppose. 1t is not the
first time, moreover that h,s party in Massachusetts,
have vehemently applauded-and, we think, even
in Faneuil Hall-the speeches, which in his per-
formancc Of such part, Mr.. Webster has seen fit
to make, and the reports and resolutions which he
that in 1912, 1913, and 1914, our armes
were from time to time in peril that supple.
were needed to rescue them and to prosecute
the war in which they were then engaged, and
that Mr.. Webster, upon those occasions, saw
fit to 60 a little beyond denunciation of the war
and, in more than one instance, to exert himself
against the grant of men money to carry it on
1t will DO remembered too, that in those same years
the war with England was denounced-probably
~ A.. A.
with Mexico is now denounced, as being presiden
tia war; "Mr. Madisons war, I'VE believe, was ther
the phrase,) and the inference then drawn by the
federalis,s in Mr.. Webster's State was, that Gas Mr.
Madison had made the war, he should be left to
fight il through" H.
These facts should be borne in mind in the read.
ing of the above passage, because they throw a
strong light upon the spirit in which it wa,
manifestly conceived and spoken. Yet is tn,
passage in other respects remarkable one
That at this time of day, Mr.. Webster SHOULD
permit himself to say that the advance o
our army to the Rio Grsnde was ian encroachmen
on Mexican soil''--that in admitting Texas to ou
Union, we ''had assumed the Nueces for her boun
dary"that call new territory Of the United States
was bounded by the Nueces, and everything beyond
that was in the actual possession of Mexico"--all
this is very remarkable; not because it showl
(what was known before) that Mr.. Webster
for party purposes, can 60 any length in op
posing his country's war, but because it shows
that Mr. Webster is willing to stand up in Faneu
Hall and make assertions which half the school.
boys in the country well know to be destitute Of an,
foundation in truth! , tr. wE
"1he Naeces the boundary Of the Terr, reptbiier
Everybody knows that, by her organic law of 1886
coeval with her declaration Of Independence, Texas
fixed for her boundary, not the Nueces but the Rio
0rnnde. II is just as well known that among our
own statesmen, Mr.. Jefferson, Mr.. Madison, Mr..
Monroe, Mr.. Adams, and Mr.. Clay, in state papers
over their own signatures, proclaimed the Rio
Grande, and not the Nueces, to be the boundary Of
Texas. II is just as well known that Santa Anna,
the Mexican dictator, stipulated by treaty with the
Texan government in 1887, that the Rio Grnnde,
and not the Nueces should be the boundary Of the