The daily union. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1845-1857, 1846-05-18

A
have sat here for i've months the silent witnesses
ms bold aud direct violation Of the constitution, and
nave made no motion to impeach the President, MOI
nave ever given utteTance TO d hint Of dIsappTooa
ion OF his course. Are these the guardians upon
"hom The people can rely To protect their rights
| ana 10 defend that invaluable constitution Are
'hese men trustworthy, who, for five months have
| connlVed at such glarlng and dangerous violation,
am not uttered even whisper in its delencel The
people wall inquire, II such has been the case into
the conduct OF these faithless servants will hold
them TO strict accountability, will know why they
have thus remained IN their since the first OF
December last and have made no motion calling for
| information on this subject Why have not these
gentlemen raised their voice, and called the atten-
ton OF the country to the alarming violation Of the
constitution by the Chief Magistrate, and TO his
open invasion of Mexico, this friendly, loving sis
teri The army was stationed at Corpus Christi in
the month Of July or August last they were at all
events, there at the commencement OF the present
session Of Congress- with the knowledge Of the
whole country the fact icing communicated by the
President TO Congress IN his annual message, and
members Of this House cannot avail themselves OF
the plea at this time, that they had no knowledge OF
the fact. The country will look upon the charge
made against the President as an aherhought, IN
'roduced now for political and party purposes, I'M
worthy Vt the high character which representative
OF inc people should maintain on this floor. But,
sir, was not aggressive TO pass the Nueces, and TO
station our troops on the right banks Of that river
al corpus Christi. How far, then, could these
troops go beyond the Nueces and maintain a pa.
enc ana defensive character Can they 90 TO the
| halfway line, or shall they stop short Of IL de-
| sire to know, and the country will inquire of you,
when you return TO your homes, at what point oD
| The line OF march from Corpus Christi 10 the Rio
Grande It ceased to be pacific and for purposes OF
defence, and became aggressive and hostile in its
character IL will be well for gentlemen to consider
these questions, and be prepared with satisfactory
answer. Ii will not do to tell them that IL was az
gressye, because our army Of occupation under the
| direction Of the President, was stationed on the
| banks Of the Rio GTande opposite Matamoras and
that field works were erected and batteries raised
that enabled our army TO command the Mexican
| town Of MatamOras, on the opposite side Of the
| nyer. | contend that under all administrations
from Mr. Jefferson down to the present. our govern
| ment and almost every prominent man in II, have
maintained that Texas reached the banks OF the
lower Rio Grande; and that our troops could
be stationed, and our works Of defence could
be raised opposite to Matam,ras with as
| much prUpriety and justice the establish.
ment Of a fertilization, or other defensive work, OF
| our own soil opposite TO Canada. The extreme
border, on the line Of the enemy's boundary, is the
place for works of defence. They are not to be
placed in the heart Of our own country. They
| would be useless there. To my mind there is no
difference between the line of frontier toward Mexi-
co and that toward Canada, and If the President
had done less Than TO have prevented with all the
means at his command the Invasion of terri
tory by hostile band Of Mexican soldiers, he
would have been censurable for permitting the desc
| Grafton Of American soil by ruthless invaders, and
| the same gentlemen who now charge him with d
violation Of the constitution and win usurparion
OF power TO make an aggressive war upon friendly
sister republic, would have raised the cry long and
loud agans, his imbecIty, his cowardice, and his
want Of ability to discharge the duties of the Chief
Magistrate Of this Union. do not expect that the
President satisfy such individuals. Il would
be vain and worse than idle for him TO make the at.
| tempt But the great body of the enterprising in
dustrous people Of this country, of oil parties with
one accord will respect him for his prudence cherish
him for his wisdom and honor him for the bold and
| fearless manner in which he has discharged his
high and responsible constitutional obligations.
| Mr.. TOOMBS remarked that his colleague Mr.
LUMrKN had very properly placed this question or
| the ground Of the defence Of the President; and il
was little remarkable when the country was rep.
resented by the friends Of the administration TO bt
suffering from foreign INVASION and that the blood
American citizens shed, was commended or
American soil, was calling aloud for immediate ven.
geance, instead Of responding to those appeals to
patriotism which had been made, even this occasion
must be consecraed to party, and preamble
placed before the bill to the usurpations OF
the Executive preamble declaring what no man
could rise in his place and say he knew, that wal
had been made by Mexico. They could have vo-
ted supplies TO defend Texas well without this
preamble but II was too precious an opportunity 70
be lost appeal to the people sanction the wrongs
| and the usurpaons Of the Executive. And all those
who were unwilling TO subscribe to this declaration,
| the truth Of which they could not know and which
he believed to he false, to be branded enc
mics TO their country-as destitute of patriotism. Il
this were PATRIOTISM he hoped there were but few
patriots in the country.
The true question not whether we should
vote supplies for our army protect citizens in
Texas. These questions extraneous to tina
| which the subject of discussion-viz the de-
| fence Of the Executive. The question of the annex.
alton of Texas was also settled. He had opposed il
as long opposition availing; since it had be
come part of the country by the action of the con
| stuted authortles-regularly, legaIly-it had be-
come part of our duty to defend it as much as to
defend his native soil, and he as ready to do it
1t not question of dividing the country but
question: where is the boundary of the country
| And it fact that should be borne in mind
that out of fifteen or sixteen propositions
| for the annexation of Texas, there was bu
one that did not define its limits; and that one wa.
passed by the House Of Representatives and tn,
Senate, and became law. That left the question
of boundary an open question, expressly declaring
that $50 much of the territory as righfiy belong
| to Texas should be annexed to the United States.
| time or define precisely what the boundary il
left for the Executive to do, and this Congress,
was called upon to sanction that act.
| The opinions Of distinguished men, he said, haG
been cited to show that Texas, in 1919, extended tc
| the Rio del Norte. But it competent for Mexi
co to divide her departments she pleased but Mr.
T. proceeded briefly to refer to facts show that thu
| Texas which revoted from the Mexican government
became independent, and annexed, was bound
| ed westerly by the Neuces, might have extended
a little further; that it had no claim to the Rio
Grande; that Mexican jurisdiction had uniformly
been exercised the intermediate territory tina
Mexican custom-house remained there until thu
arrival of our army, &c. Hence, as long as our ar
my remained at Corpus Christi, nobody objected tc
1t; but he proclaimed in the face of this House anc
the country, that the marching our army to the Rie
Grande was contrary to the laws of this country
usurpation on the rights Of this House, and an ag
gression on the rights of Mexico. Gentlemen wer,
invited to make the most of this declaration.
His colleague asked where gentlemen would stor
the advance of our army Mr.. L. would stop wher,
the constituted authorities should determine the ter
minus; and in the time the laws of the countr,
required that the President should not mark it by