The daily union. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1845-1857, 1846-01-22
pELiRIUM TREMENs.

Evils ana the horrors OF war. lhey Iorce themselves
bpOn every mind. But they pross nothing, though
sy be depicted ever 90 hideously, and Haired in the
bee OF tho people as il they the glare OF doom.
War is not therefore, in some cases less stern ne
esssiiy Than plain duty. And that public journal
most false 10 its trust, which, when great cues
bon Of lional duty, and honor, and right, invoy-
kng the destiny Of realm Is under discussion, la
bOrs day after day, with might and main, to scare
he Imagination ola people, at once patriotic and
peaceful, from the contemplation Of the course
(which duty demands, by an overeharged and hys-
terical exhibition Of the dreadful atrocities which
the unproVokcd and unrghteous hostility Of grasp
! ng antagonist power may seek to visit on the firm
and fearless discharge Of that duty.
Yet this, we charge, Is just the action ofthe lead
Ing ~hig presses of the country on the Oregon
question. And to what end What can be gained
by il Hardly any wing, even, is rsLd and reckless
,sough to say in a whg caucus, that this admins
ration or its friends want war with England about
Iongon Faction in its utmost frenzy cannot so
blind any man, that he shall fail to soc that the
peaceful settlement Of this qu,siiOn, hrus u justice
and honor, would be to the President and the adj
mlnistaton, crown of glory in the eyes Of all the
world. The gratitude of the whole country would
follow that deed to the very graves Of the statesmen
who did it.
lfthsre ever party whose policy Is the poll
cy Of peace, SO long as peace can he maintained
without disgracefa sacrifices, that party the dem
ocratic party Of this country at this moment To
peace with England its policy, the democracy Of
the South is pledged by It's alleged exposure to at
tack, and by its paramount and vital cotton interest
To peace with England, the democracy Of the West
is Pledged, by its paramount interest in the great
question of the Tariff. To peace with England, the
democracy of the East is pledged, by its paramount
shipping interest To peace with all the world the de-
mocncy ofthe whole country is pledged by the con-
victon that peace to the democracy the true
of,riumph and of success in its battle against false
principles of govemment-agains. the consolidated
powers which is apt to bring, and the large ex-
penditures which it must bring. The democratic
party is always the party Of peace, SO long as peace
does not involve sacrifice, and humiliation, and dis
honor. The party of the few, the party of privi-
lege the party of arisocracy is the party in which
spirit needessly belgerent is alone 10 be feared.
When in modera times did A PEOPLE, having
control Of government, ever rush into a war; save
surd, and without any color Of plausibility, that
there is in the democratic party Of this country,
in the administration created by it, a spirit to
fight down. Defamation against such spirit only
beats the air. The spirit which stands up firm y
for Justice American citizens and the integrity Of
American soil, is no spirit.
But there is another spirit in this country born Of
federalism and faction in unholy conjunction, which,
when momentous crisis OF national duty and char
acier is upon US, can see nothing, and can clamor
of nothing but the terror of British arms What
if they are fearful They hare been met But what
if they were enfold more fearful than they are,
are pretended to be' TO ,ohat end should that fact
DO dnned every morning into the ear of this nation
How does that touch the question now before the
country That question is simply, ought toe TO pro-
ect our opn citizens o,cn soil, and keep our
ocn soil for o,cn citizens 10 lire on? What have
the ahorrors Of war" to do with that question: Is
/, the mission of these same "horrors" to scare us
away from doing what our duty demands, and our
right fully justi6cs and makes imperative in the
premises' If not, why are they insisted on, and
reiterated from one weeks end to another, in every
possible variety Of fancy and of form Does the
recital ofthem advance one step in the dscussion'
Does it abate one iot of our duty towards ourselves,
and towards Oregon and it's population Does any
man stand up to say that, because England is
strong nation, and because war with her would be
full of "horrors,n therefore we ought to give up to
her a realm that is ours for the sake of avoiding
war Yet that Is the meaning, the very meaning,
Of that "horror" cry which some Of the wing jour
mails keep up if that cry has the very least pertnen
" to the question in hand We say "our title TO
oregon. is demonstrated and the answer is that
England has some two hundred steamers built for
VAR We urge the duty Of giving our citizens in
Oregon government and the reply is that Eng
lard has some thousand cannons at Woolwich!
We say that the Convention" puts us in false pc
siton, battles negotiation prevents peaceful recog-
nidcn of our right, and should cease; and the
answer is tina, England is monstrous deal stronger
than she was in 1919, and that even then Congress
was obliged TO levy direct taxes And such babble
as this il is that some journals call prudence and
craftsmanship, and wise regard Cor peace
Some twenty-one years ago, President Monroe,
in great crisis Of American affairs, when the eyes
Of all Europe were turned anxiously to this CONT.
nent, in view of the then infant South American re.
pubhcs, laid down in his message the principle that
this continent was no longer open to colonization
from Europe. The Congress Of The United States
torthpih, in joint resolution rea6rmsd the doctrine.
In view Of another crisis directly pertinent to
the principle, Mr. Polk, in his late message, stated
the same doctrine again, almost in the same words,
save that he---in view Of the occasion, we may inn
agine-limited its application to North .9msriea.
senator, acting ovowedy upon his own responsible
i,y, drew and offered a resolution embodying hi,
view Of the old principle so laid down. The SEN
ate, seeing, rs we may suppose, no special reason
to discuss the matter just now, laid the resolution
on the table without passing at all on its merits.
Some Of the whig presses leaped ard shouted for
JOY, as il an earthquake had passed and left them
unframed. They could not help proclsiming to all
their friends that an American ship might yet 90
safely to sea! t......,
Now, if all these tremors and ague-shakings were