Martinsburg gazette. [volume] (Martinsburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1833-1855, 1847-10-21

DENT 10 settle, ana giNts bis a1f'es' - MN
tsry uan "a 10 what should BE- done u the
Presidents determination should be TO occupy
the country 10 dispute. -
The ls,ter or Nir Marcy--30sh July. 1916
above referred TO. Is important IN this nara
tive as establishing one fact-nsmely, that The
I Government knew, al the time they were IS
suing these orders. that the country on the
Rio Gfande. aud between that and the Nueces
was-as fag % u was capable Of occupation
in the actual occupancy u .NezicGn forces,
and .ifeJicca bilabaGnfs or settlers, and that II
was not pretended that these settlers were un-
der the jurisdiction u Texas. or ever had been
under H. They were inhabitants who belong
ID 10 the State Of Tamaulipas. and exclusive
Is under the jurisdiction q Mexico. Tbs was
known 90 our government
Gen. Taylor remained Al Corpus Christi all
through the autumn VI 1915, and fhe winter
Of 1876. There was no INVASION attempted
hy Mexico. and general belief prevailed that
We should soon have \ settlement Of al Diff
cuiies between the two countries. Our gov
eminent had made application 70 Mexico 10
know Il she would open negotiations for the
settlement ofihe disputed questions. She an
swered iavorahly % The proposition.
Mr.. Slidel was appointed minister plenipO-
Tertiary 10 60 10 Mexico. Mexico objected to
receiving a minister. on the ground that the
question of Texas and the boundary must be
settled before she could acknowledge the exis-
enee oefull relations Of amiiy with US; she
offered therefore 60 receive a commissioner. 60
treat specially on those questions and nc others.
Our government would not consent 70 indulge
her in this demand. although il has since that
time, sent a commissioner for pretty much the
same purpose. IN the person u NJ. inst. ]
DO not excuse Mexico for this refusal TO receive
our Minister. Ii was very frivolous piece Of
false pride, but yeiy much 10 character with
all her other iollies connected with this quarrel.
But certainly this refusal to receive minister
was not war.
On the 18th Of January. 1876, whilst this
question Of the reception Of the minister was
yet pending. and before II was known wheth-
err Mexico would receive him or not, and at
time when there was no expectation OF an in
vasion from Meyieo--and, more 10 be noted
than anything else--di time rien The Con
gress fHe United States uas ia session, the
President, privately, without communicating
one syllable 10 Congress, or giving any hint
Of the event TO either branch of the national
legislature, TO whom alone the Constitution
has confided the great and momenous power
of making warm these circumstance, and
to write 10 Gen Taylor-.'I am directed by the
President 10 instructyou to advance and occu
Ply, with the troops under your command, po-
sitions on or near the east bank Of the Rio del
Noue, as soon as il can conveniently be done,
with reference TO the season and routes by
which your movements must be made. From
the views heretofore presented TO this depart,
ment, il is presumed Point Isabel will be con
sdered by you an eligible position this point,
or some one near it, and points opposite .uata-
Blo,as, aud .uier and IN The riciaity Of Loredo,
are suggested TO your consideration"
Can any friend of MIR. Polk's answer the
question, why Congress was not consulted
when the decisive step was taken Here was
clear, unequivocal reputation of all our pre-
vious pledges III regard to the question OF the
boundary 10 the Rio del Norte. Here was an
order to occupy country which ii was adj
mitied was under the jurisdiction oil Mexico,
and in which a Mexican town, on the left or
eastern bank of the Rio del Norte-the town
OF Loredo, containing fifteen hundred inhabl
tants--was specially designated as one OF the
positions for the army here was, IN short, an
invasion of Mexlco-lust such an invasion as
every civilized nation would regard as an act
of war. Suppose the case reversed, and Mex.
leo had directed her troops TO advance to the
Nueces, and TO occupy position which should
command one of the villages of Texas-what
would this country have thought of ii? Need
| ask The declaration would have been u
Universal, that Mexico had began the war, by
an act OF fragrant aggression. And yet GER
tainly Mexico had quite as much right TO seize
upon the disputed territory as we had-if MIR.
Benton's opinion is worth any thing-a much
better right
On the 10Th OF March, 1876, Gen. Taylor,
in obedience to these orders, commenced his
march from Corpus Christi TO the Rio Grande.
He arrived at that river on the 2S,h, and en-
camped opposite Matamoras. What he did
when he arrived there, you will read in his
official dispatches. On the 9th of April the
General wrItes-"On our side battery for
four eighteen FOUNDERS will be completed, and
the guns placed in the battery, TO day. These
guns bear directly upon the public square Of Ma
tdmOras, and lcithm good range for demoilstling
The t0lce. THEIR OBJECT CANNOT BE MISTAKEN
BY THE ENEMY" Remember that when that
letter was written there had been no collision
not a shot had en- fired, not man made
prisoner.
And yet we are told that this act was not
an act of warl-tha, this marching of an ar
my into what we are pleased to call disputed
territory" but which coniessedly was, and al
ways had been, in the actual occupation OF
the people of Mexico and under the jurisdic-
lion of that country this marching OF an
army there this pointing Of cmuioa into The
rerg homesterds d The inhabitants Of .natamO-
ras, the capital of Tamauhpas was not an
act OF warli Collisions ensued. How could
il be otherwise, with these guns pointing into
the windows Of Matamoras Armies were
in motion; and it was not long until blood was
spit. What piliful and unmanly equivo-
cation was it, for the President 10 say after
this aggression on his part, that war exists by
The act Of .Mericoi lie had failed in his duty
when he tailed TO submit the question Of inva.
sion, pl,ieh tcGs question Of ,cdr, to Congress-
And when he found that he had brought our
lutte army INTO peril by it, it was mere trick
to rid himself OF the responsibility he had SO
rashly assumed, to throw the blame of the war
upon Mexico.
These letters have grown too long 10 allow
me much space for comment on these iransac-
tons, aud as | prefer democratic authority in
this matter to any other, | shall close this mar
rative of the events which belong TO the origin
OF the war, by few extracts from a dlstin
guished writer on the democratic side, who
was once the editor ola democratic magazine,
and who, as these extracts will show, was
friend and supporter Of Mr.. Folks election.
quote some passages from an article, in
Brownson's Quarterly Review, on the Mexi-
can war, published in July last and written