The New era. [volume] ([Portsmouth, Va.]) 1845-1847, 1847-02-18
CONGRESSIONAL.
SENATE
SENATE
Tuesday. February 10. lSi7.
SPEECH OF HON. j. G.. CAI.HOUN
ON THE THREE MILLION RftI
L THREE MII.LIoN BILL


Mr.. President have nav stated the reason.
why am IN tavor ut taking a defensive p,siii,n
have. trust. successfully shown that we can
or'ng the war Ia certain trrmina ii,,s, without
great expens" ut men and monev--withont hazard
of any description whatever. II now remains To
be shown what are tho gr"nnds Of my opposition
I" the Continuance of an offensive war: and if
am mt greatly mistaken. the Arguments against it
are ~ string as imagination almost can conceive.
l atn ''pp'sed TO 1t. in word, Mr. President
ir w." verv first reason that am in favor of the
other: there is M certainty tina, il viii bring the
war I" a termination. And. in the next place, if
u should bring II I" termination, even in the
must favorable circumstances il would ke with
vast expense at men and in,npy and with no in.
considerable hazard of disastrous consequences
and l'ss at national reputation In DISCUSSING
Tins branch OF the subject. the first hing tn he
d"ne is To Keep definitely in "ur mind W hat is the
real aud true object of carrying on an offensive
war. for until that is understood we shall no, be
able 10 c'ne Ia any decisive cnprlnsun
And here may premise that its nhJect is nut
conqnest-the acquisition of additional territory
tor that ia disavowet. may premise further,
that II is not SD. because have already. as +
have shown, ample terriinry in nnr hands and
more than su fficrnt effect all the oiiec,s of the
war. u. then. II is for neither one ar the other
of these objects. ask WHY shall offensive opera
iions he carried on +? There is but one answer
|
langnage most c"mnonly employed. To conquer
war. SENATOR. Conquer ppace1 have
expressed it differently. That is the proposition
Ito conquer peace. How is pence ts be obtain
ed. or peace to he conquered? IL can only be by
treaty. War may he made by one nation
Peace is alv avs made ny two. The ohjpct, then.
! is I" get a treaty. What kind of a tTpa,y7 A
treaty thai will suit Mexico? Yon can get that
al any time. No You want trea,y,tu snit us.
And what is that? Why sir. a treaty That we
shall dictate. compel Mexe, TO sign. and which
shall secure To the ends for which Ibis war
was declared. And what were these ends
have already enumerated them. 'Fhe establish
'nent of the Del Norte The boundary and am
pie acquisition fnr indemnity. The object of the
whole war then. is ths--io cnmpel Mexico To
acknow ledge that To be ours which we already
h"Id in possession. and which can huld despite
of her with almost sacrifice Thai ia H. twist
II and turn it as you please neither mure nur less
can he made of il (; that is the whole object of
what they call vigorous war of offence re-
| peat it. Ii is not compel Mexico To acknowB
edge that I" he ours which we hold aud hold
in spite Of her.
! Now, In this aspect Of the question, p1t il
home 10 the Senate. is it worth while To pursue
war OF that description vigorously? Suppose il
malt"r.of perfect certainty that you could reach
the city of Mexico This very campaign. and beat
them into a treaty of peace in the city of Mexico
what would he yonr sacrifice The army you
propose 10 raise is 10000 men; the expense thir.
! " mlIinns of dnlIars-much more likely thirty
five or forty millions. Suppose you have $4,000
men in the field. Suppose the campaign is as
successful as possible What is the stale of The
! things Mt lis close ? You have sacrificed in the
hrst place thirty millions of dollars to get nos
Session of the city of Mexcn in hich To- dictate
this peace. and you have LOST how many lives of
our people Sir. based upon the calculation of
the last campaign, which was comparatively in a
healthy country, one third is to be put down as
| falling by sword. than the sword-ihe
Peslilence of the Country. Something like six
teen thousand men to be set down as sacrificed
! in this campaign.
put 1t home To senator's, is il worth
while 10 sacrifice even thirty millions of dollars
ar fifteen thousand men for The purpose of getting
1 Mexico to acknowledges that To he orr which il
already ours? pu, graver question. and APP
peal To the conscience of every man here. can we
with any regard to The opinions and Judgment Of
Christian people. pursue that war which must
end in such result? Is there any man here
who will give for California the lives of sixteen
thonSand OF our people. thirty millions of dol
| laTss No. SRI There is not one and vet we
propose To pursue war which if il terminate IN
one campaign will produce that result. in all
| probability. Bot am but touching the shell Of
I this case Is there any certainty yon will reach
Mexico by the end OF this campaign? Or if yOu
reach Mexico. is there any certainty that you can
dlcaie then These are the questions which
next demand our consideration. MIR. President,
this question involves very large considerations
! An offensive war looks ultimately To subduing the
country. and, taking that 10 be The object we
have scarcely commenced the Mexican war IL
| Is true. we have acquired two thirds of her terri
tory. already in our occupation hui let us re-
| member these two thirds were adjacent TO US
| Let us remember further. that. 10 these two
| lhir0s Of her territory whicb--io present vivid
| picture tn the mind--comprise an rea larger than
The whole magnificent valley Of The Mississippi,
I by about one hundred thousand square miles
There s IN hls immense space not more Than six
hundred fh0Usand inhabitants. We have over
run The adjacent country. Of This vast extent with
such population. hardly man of whom Joined
the regular forces OF the enemy. and we have got
| possession. What has been The Iesolt2 Have
we conclliateh The Mexicans in this vast region
Not at all. On the contrary. If accounts are To
! be believed, they more HUSTLE IU us than at
/ frst-mOre ready to take advantage of any mis-
fortune which may befall u.s. Can We hold the
country without large force7 No. We mus,
+! take of several thousands Of our best troops to
! hold and defend The country. Well, now what
! have donel We have scarcely approached
Mexico proper These are her exterior provinces
hardly called Mexico-scarcely belonging to
! MexIcU a State.
Mexco proper CONSISTS Of those remarkable
highlands Of which the city may b. said To be the
centre, and HE hill region, extending along the
| Galt Of Mexico, quite down To Yucatan, and the
same region extending slopg the Pacific, aud
eastern side OF the Gulf Of California Sir, within
this narrow Hmi-one. bird Of all Mexico-lhere
are about seven million Of people, fully ten times
as numerous as the whole country we occupy
| Here is the heart Of her wealth and power.
What sort Of country IL il IL is a mountainous
! region, as difficult almost any 10 The world It
may be well compared To Mount Atlas, in Africa.