The daily union., 1846-09-26
NEGOTIATION WITH MEXICO.

version Of the transaction; the precise form Of the
correspondence which has taken place between the
two republics, we presume will be made known al
no distant day. The gst of the matter is, that the
Mexican government has not positively declined our
overIure--nor has she accepted it upon conditions
she las neither refused accepted II; but has
referred our proposition to the constituent Congress
of December, to decide the whole question.
We are unable to say how far Santa Ana par
tieipated in this answer. We understand this re-
ply was transmitted by General R,jon, the secre-
tary of foreign affairs, and that only four days
elapsed between the receipt Of the letter Of Sec
relary Of State and the reply Of the Mexican minis
ter. But though Santa Ana might not have been
consulted about the form OF the reply, yet the
character Of it seems TO correspond to the general
principle which he Processes to have laid down for
himself-of throwing himself upon the wishes Of
the people and Of the constituent Congress.
We had right to expect frank and prompt an
swer to our liberal and gratuitous proposition for
negotiation. But the acting Mexican government
declines to act without the advice and concurrence
Ofthe Congress Of December Thus three months will
eapse between their letter and the meeting OF
Congress. How long they may spin out their de-
elsions, before they advise the executive govern.
ment, no man can conjecture. Another month per-
haps might pass by. And thus we should have four
months consumed in idle and unavailIng procrssti-
nation. This is surely in the usual dIlatory style
OF Mexican negotiation. But, in the time,
what sSgacous politician Can hesitate as to the
course which We ought TO pursue.
We are aware, in the first place, that though
Santa Ana may defer negotiation, he will not fold
his arms, and adopt system Of inactivity. SO
far from this, we see him declaring To General
Salas and his counrymen that he is determined To
throw succors into California, and TO despatch
troops TO meet advancing armies. He even
promises to gather laures on the Sabine-that is to
say, to drive General Taylor and his associate gen
erals out OF Mexico, beyond the Rio Grande, and
then to puIsue them through the whole terrtoty OF
Texas, until his advancing arms gather their
victorious laurels on the banks of the Sabine We
ought to thank him for stopping at these confines,
and not pushing on TO Washington, he is said TO
nave threatened some years since
Santa Ana had better boast less and act more
This swaggering has been too long the charac-
on them. La his long manifesto of the 10th August,
proclaimed at Vera Cruz, he speaks with unusual
moderation Of the United States. But in Il few
days after in his interview with General Salas, he
drops the character of the man Of sense, and re-
sumes the rhodomontade of the boaster. He prom
Uses to lay the laurels which he is to reap on the
banks Of the Sabine, the feet OF his country men
One would have supposed that the aurals which
he had lost at San Jacinto would have been suff-
cient to subdue any wild hopes of reaping laurea on
the banks Of the Sabine Texas, single handed, de-
fed all his chivalry. He knows the catastrophe
which befel him. Why, then, does he boast OF
gathering military honors i'll opposition to Texas
combined with the United States!
All this, Of course, is ridiculous bombast Yet
we have no wish to dsparase or abuse the character
of the present ruler Of Mexico. But we take it for
granted that he will employ all the means he can
command in carrying on the war against u.s.
Shall we ask, then, what is our own duty! Can
any man of hesitate to advise the most spirit
ed and vigorous prosecution Of the war on our part
We stand in this predicament: We have incurred
great expenses in sending our troops into Mexico
They are advancing westwardly in three lines
There ia every reason to believe that General
Kearney is already in possession of San-
Ia Fe; that General Taylor is now, or will
be in few days, at Monterey, and perhaps at Sal
lilo and that General Wool will be a, Chihuahua
by the 10th or 18th of October. Shall we then fold
our arms, and reinquish one of the advantages
which we may have obtained' On the contrary,
shall we not prosecute our Victories and make addl-
tonal conquests-towards California and towards
the capital of Mexico itself BY the time that this
dIlatory diplomacy can be assumed by the cons,itn.
ent Congress, we ought to be in possession of
large portion of the whole country. So far from
rittering away the which are in our hands, we
should turn them to the best account, and open the
negotiation with all the advantages we can command.
This is according to the true tactics Of war, and
according to the wisest maxims of legitimate policy
Grant an armstice to the procrasnatng petitions
of Mexico-admit any cessation of arms--and the
means by which we are to wage the war will mel, away
like the SHOWS Of winter under the beams of the
sun. The more than 10000 troops which General
Taylor has under his immediate orders, independ-
emily of the collected lines of Wool and of Kearnev
consist of large proportion of volunteers whose
services expire in twelve months from their enlist
ment. Cease to prosecute the war with the utmost
vigor of which it is susceptible, we scatter their
ranks, parayze their energies, and demoralize their
character. No reasonable man can ask il. Eyerv
patriotic man will reprobate the suggestion. The
more we see Of Mexican diplomacy, the more il is
marked by procrastination; the stronger we see
the necessity Of prosecuting the war with all
our energies. Such we cannot doubt will be the
course of the admi inistration.
We have expressed these views freely for several
days past. We are happy to see them con-
hrmed in part by three of the opposition papers.
The Baltimore American concludes an article in last
Thursdays paper, with the following advice, viz =,
that Gin the meantime strict enforcement of the
blockade of the Mexican coast, and vigorous
prosecution Of war, are the means to be main.
ly relied on. Adventurous aid may be used,
t can be made available; yet no dependence on such
collateral msa should be alioosd 10 sntssbk the enerpu
I...