Wisconsin herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1846-1849, 1846-12-19

Il,
hand declared that it would look upon such an 90, =
cdsus bet6, and, as consequence fthis decIarat
negotiation was, by its very nature at an end 81.
was the only recourse of the Mexican government.
appears also, that on the 4th of April follor;,,
zen. Paredes, through his Minister of War ;ssnSs
orders to the general in command on the Texan iron
'ier 70 "attack' our army shy every means which
war pefmts.' To this Gen. Paroles had been plea
" 'he army and people of Mexico during the mil;
tary revolution which had brought him inta .i
on me ioth OF April 1916, Gen. pareses aadrosa. :
49,, ~ e oommahoer on that frontier in which ha
~ mn, az me present date suppose Won :,
e Heao oi llat valiant army, either fighting a,rsas
or preparing for the operations of camna;s, :,
"Supposlng you already on the theatre OF onera; aa
ana with all the forces assembled, ii is indispensa
tiatire against the enemy" ~ '"''
The movement of our army To The R;o c,s, =
iiaoe oy TIE commanding general under positive or
aers 10 abstain from all aggre ssive acts towards Ma
- VI mexican cltizens, and to regard the relations
tne TWO countries as peaceful, unless Mexico
SHOULD declare war, or commit acts of hostility indica
i've OF state ofwar; and these orders he faithfnn
eAe9uea. whist occupying his position on the east
n1hk OF the Rio Grande, within the limits of Tex,s
'neh recently admitted as one of the States of the u
iioi, the commanding general of the Mexican forceo
VINO, IN pursuance ofthe orders of his rovernmant
au collected alarge army the opposite shore ofthe
no 1fande, crossed the river, invaded our territorr
anu commenced hostilites by attacking our forces
mus, after all the injuries which we had received
ana borne rom Mexico and after she had in suIt;p
IeJecteda Minister sent to her on mission of peaco
ana whom she had solenlnly agreed to receive She
conSummated her long course Of outrage against on,
country, by commencing an offensive war and shas
uhg the blood OF our citizens on our own soil.
The United States never ATTEMPTED 10 acop;rs
Texas by conquest. On The contrary, at ar earlype
riod, after the people Of Texas had achieved their in
dependence, they sought to be annexed to the Uni
ted States At a general election in September 1895
they decided with great unanimity, in favor of Gan
neXation,' and in November following, the Congress
ofthe Republic authorized the appointment of min
iSter 10 bear their request 10 this Government This
government, however, having remained neutral be-
tween Texas and Mexico, during the war between
them, and considering due to the honor of our coun
uy and our iair fame among the nations of the earth
at we should not at this early period consent to an
neXaon nor until 1t should be manifest to the whole
word mat the reconquest of Texas by Mexico was
impossible, refused TO accede to the oyertures made
by Texas On the 18th of April, 1874 and after mora
than years elapsed -i,.ud Tesss ss.s . eo
lishedher Independence, treaty was concluded for
the annexation of that Republic to the United States
which was rejected by the Senate. Finally, on the lst
OF March, 1S45, Congress passed Joint resolution for
annexing her to the Omitted States, upon certain pre-
iminary conditions to which her assent was required
The solemnty which characterized the deliberations
and conduct of the government and people of Texas,
on the deeply interesting questions presented by these
resolutions is known to the world. The Congress-
the Executive, the People of Texas in convention
chosen for thadpupose accepted with great unanim-
ty the proposed terms of annexation; and thus con.
summaed on her part the great act Questioning to our
federal Union vast territory, which had been ceded
to Spain by the Florida treaty. more than oaarter oa
century before.
After the joint resolution for the annexton OF Texa,
10 the United States had been passed by Congress-
the Mexican minister at Washington addressed nota
to the Secretary of Statc bearing date the 9th March,
1885, protesting against san act of the
most unjust that can be found recorded in the annals
OF modern history, namely: that of despoiling a
inendly nation, like Mexico, of considerable por.
ton other tertoy and protesting against the reso
luton of annexation, being an act sswhereby the
province OF Texas, i,tcgral portion of the Mexican
territory, is agreed and admitted into the American
Unon;' and he announced that, consequence, his
mission to the United States had terminated and de-
manded his passports, which were granted. II was
upon the absurd pretext made by Mexico erself in
debted for her independence to successful revou-
on) that the republic of Texas still continued to be-
Notwithstanding all that had taken place, province of
Mexico, that this step taken by the Mexican Min
lister.
Every honorable effort has been made by me %
avoid the war which followed, but all have proved
vain All our attempts to preserve peace have been
met by insult and resistance the part of Mexico.
My efforts to this end commenced in my note to tha
Secretary of State he 10th of March, 1915, in an
swer to that ofthe Mexican Minister. There gave as
surance that our s'most strenuous efforts should be
devoted to the amicable adjustment of every cause Of
complaint between he Two governments, and TO the
cultivation ofthe kndest and most friendly relations
between the sister republics"
That have acted in the spirit of this assurance will
appearfro the events which have since occurred
Notwithstanding Mexico had abruptly terminated all
diplomatic intercourse with the United States and
ought, therefore, to have been the first to ask FOR its
assumptions yet, waving all ceremony embraced the
earliest favorable opportunity so ascertain from the
Mexican government whether they would receive IN
envoy from the United Staes entrusted with full pow
or to adjust the questions in dispute between the two
govemments.'' On the 9Th day OF October the Min
lister of Foreign Affairs of the Mexican government in
note addressed to Consul, gave favorable res
pcnse, requesting, at the time, that cur naval
force might be withdrawn from Vera Cruz while nego
tiations should be pending Upon the receipt Of this
note, our naval force was promptly withdrawn from
Vera Cruz. A minister Immediately despatched
| to Mexico. Every thing bore promising aspectfora
speedy and peaceful adjustment of all diculuo3
At the date of my annual message 10 congress
| in December last, no doubt was entertained but
that he would be received by the Mexican gov.
and the hope was cherished that all cause OF
misunderstanding between the two countries
would be speedily removed. In the confident
hope that such would be the result of his mis-.
sion, Informed Congress that / forebore at
that time to ''recommend such Interior meas
ures of redress for the wrongs and injuries we
had so long borne as it would have been
proper to make had no such negotiation been
instituted" To my surprise and regret, the
Mexican government, though solemny pledged
10 do so, upon the arrival of Minister in
Mexico, refused to receive and accredit him.
When he reached Vera Cruz, on the Both day Of
Nov, 1845, he found that the aspect Of affairs
had undergone an unhappy change. The gov
eminent of Gen. Herrera, who was at that
time President o. the Republic was totterng 10
its fall Gen. Paroles Ga military leader) had
manifested his determination to overthrow the
government of Gen. Herrera, by military
revolution and one of the principal means
he employed to effect his purpose, and render
the government of Herrera odious to the army
and people OF Mexico, was by loudly condemn,
ing its determination to receive minister OF
peace from the United States, alledging that II
was the intention of Herrera, by treaty win
the United States, to dismember the territory OF
Mexico, by ceding away the department oil Tex
as The government of Herrera is benevea 70
have been we'll disposed to sPeclhc aoJustnehts
of existing difficulties; but probably aiarihegg
for its own security, and In order 10 Waro Oh
the danger of the revolution led by PareGes'
violated its solemn agreement, ana reused 10
receive or accredit our minister; and tnls, al
though informed that he had been invested WIN
full power to adjust all questions IN dispute pc
tween the two governments. Among the NV
olous pretexts for this refusal, the principal one
was, that our minister had not gone upon spe-
cial mission, confined to the question OF Texas
alone leaving all the outrages on our nag ana
our citizens unredressed. The Mexican gov
eminent well knew that both our national honor
and the protection due to our citizens, imPei"'
tlveIy required that the two>Suestions OF ooun-
dairy and indemnity should be tyeted OF 'ogemI
Had