The daily union. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1845-1857, 1846-06-16

llue Is claimed TO be valid, inhabited by the
iree eitiZens Of the United States, entitled
10 me benefit and protection Of their laws lands
anu people about TO be transferred TO foreign juris
uie.oh from no other osensble cause than the fear
OF war which may be necessary to preserve them.
or, the secrecy despatch and IMMUNITY with which
''s ael Is about TO be contaminated proves degree
OF practical lrresponslbiy on the part of public au-
'hoii'ies IN THIS country republic as il s-whIch
aPper'ains TO none other in the civilized world A
senate elected not by the people, but by limited lie.
glslallye bodies, boasts power which The Honss os
Lords IN England would not dare To exercise, For
one, Mr. MEG. felt 1t to be his duty TO raise his
! N9lce IN proestatlon against the deed which wa,
about TO be performed. He would proclaim its mi
qulty even II he should be impaled upon the altar of
political sacrifice. He would stand now where 9th.
ers had stood with him at the commencement Of the
present Congress; and he would continue TO stand
there even II he should be abandoned to the lone-
ness oil individual solitude. Neither the gold nor
the elephants OF Pynhus, should seduce or intm-
date him. II he could not wheel and cut about az a
shuttle-cock, II was his misfortune. God had made
hum OF sierner stuff and he would rebel against the
will of Heaven.
Events are crowdng upon the attention Of the
nation, which should alarm and arouse the States of
the West to proper perception of their situation
and dangers.
| Millions have been expended TO secure southern
territorial extension. Florida and Louisiana have
been acquired. This was right. Texas has been
annexed. This Is right. war is waging 10
maintain, and probably to extend, southern extern.
sion. This also is right. He approved Of all this
But the West has been hedged by the transfer Of
Indian tribes from the South to It's borders The
army Of pioneers have compassed this barrier on ell
ther side, and closed upon the rear seeking scope
Tor genius, daring and enterprise upon the distant
shores Of the Pacific; and here again they are met
not by savage barrier but by the arm oftheir own
government, upihed to ceave our territories asun-
der, and to thrust II from them. This is all wrong
Unto governments as unto men, a time is appoint
ed TO die. Whsn this unhappy catastrophe shall
beial our goyemment-and may God avert iti-whaI
will be the condition Of the free States Of the West
| cut of from the Atantc-cut of from the maritime
| power Of the Pacihc-insuated and isolated in the
interior, they will be reduced TO the condition Of a
pastoral people paying tribute for egress and in.
gress through the ports Of both oceans The events
which have occurred TO this con nexion may not be
The result Of deep, stratngetic, and systematic
policy but they may produce as fatal consequences
as II they were. Let the young Samson of the
West beware that he IS not shorn Of his strength
while he rePOses in the lap of Delsh; that he is not
delivered into the hands Of the PhIlistines and his
eyes jobbed out.
! The West may mourn in the desoation Of deser.
ton, but neither would she, nor would Mr.. Nee
halt in the discharge Of their public duties; she will
adhere the constitution; she will respect and de-
! ~
SEES; she will contribute her voice and her influence
TO restrict federal power safe and constitutional
| Imltsi she will adhere TO hard-money, equal and on
y necessary taXation she will strive TO administer
the public lands so as TO secure every man, who de
serves 1t, homestead; TO prevent monopoles and to
elevate the masses to the dignity and independence
OF freemen, in fact well in name. She will nei-
Their swerve shrink from the obligations Of duty
and patriotism, but will press in the faithful dis
charge Of public duty, hoping better things for the
future.
An apprehension seems to have prevailed that, to
insist upon our rights, both in regard to Oregon and
Texas, would be to provoke the interference Of for
eign nations against us. NJ Guizot's theory of the
balance Of power has been held up in trrorem But
why should they interfere There is nothing in
the moderation Of their examples to Justify it, In
India the red fields of battle are still smoking
with the blood of British aggression. The capitu-
atlon of the Punaub has just added another empire
| to those she now holds in the east. In Africa
France is pushing her conquess to the limits of an
extended empire. Neither is there anything in the
condition Of Europe which would Justify crowned
heads TO venture upon such an experiment The
masses of Europe have been laboring for centuries
under the pressure Of feuda tyranny, but new
era has arrived-the era OF thought intelligence
and action. In Prussia the progress of education
has called for freer constitution Of government
The revolution in France has laid the axe at the
root OF privilege, and nobility is dwindlng to mere
name. In England the corn-law agitation has forced
mitigation Of the iniquities of the restrictive sys-
tenn, and Irish repeal and coercion are still left to
complete the great popular triumph.
The time has now arrived when, by the recess
sion of arstocracy and the advance Of the democra
| cy, these influences are held in nice balance A
war between the United States and any of the Eu-
roPean monarchies, especially England would pro-
baby spread the flame all over Europe ItwouId
| be war not of force only but also of svstems-
md .liuia,
war calling into action the impulse of civil and re-
liglous liberty, the triumph of which would only be
the more certainly secured by resistance.
To-day (said Mr.. McC.) has exhibited grand
and sublime spectacle in the history of the world.
We have witnessed the representatives from remote
Texas-the far West-the ST John and the tlantc
seaboard, all mingled in council. 1t is a spectacle
exhibiting the moral of civil and religious liberty
In the first one hundred and fifty years our settle
ments advanced five hundred miles from the eas,.
ern seaboard-in the next seventy. five wears one
thousand miles; and, more recently, the tide of emf
grafton has mingled with the placid waters of the
PacIhc and has beat against the mountain range
which skirts the Rio Grande; it is destined to over
flow the continent, irrgating it for the growth and
predomnance of liberty.
Mr.. Nice. thought the present war agains, Mex.
co should be prosecuted vigorously and effectuaIIv
Our invading columns should advance upon Santa Fe
Upper California, and the Bay of San Francisco
Ian, near the entrance of California Gulf-and
against Monterey, Zacatecas, and upon the city OF
Mexico ITSELF Thus we would ENCOMPASS the enc
my, cut off his communication, and bring him to
such terms as would afford indemnity for the past,
including the cost of the war. and security for the
future.
The gentleman from New York, [Mr. CULVER
IN the course of his reply to my colleague, INF,
DOUGLASS took occasion TO mpute to the State of
Illinois disposition to repudia,e her public debt
Now, this lmputauon either proceeds from ignorance
or a misrepresentation of facts-perhaps uninten-
tonal.
Illinois has not paid off the debt she contracted for
the purposes OF internal improvement in an unlucky
moment But why has she not' Because she has
been unable. But she has uniformly declared her
willingness and obligation to do So In ls42-43
she compassed every means in her power to do so
one cancelled the charter of her banks and appropr
ated the stock she owned in them to the amount of
more than 900, to take up her bonds to the
same amount; and thus by this act accomplished
the double purpose of freeing herself from
the evils of the banking system and of re-
ducing her public debt She was the first State