The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1847-12-25

public squire Of Mammoras, the object Of
which, rs he very truly reports 10 Mr. Marcy
could not he mistaken
Aud by this invasion Of MeXican territory
under peretnptory orders from Washington
10 the Commanding General was the wal
begun By The President Of The United States
without the knowledge oi Congress, though
ahen in session. Nor then nor since has
there been Il drop ofAmericnu(U United States
blood shed by Mexico on American soiE nor
~ then nor since has Mexican soldier or arm
cd man set his foot upon American soil, TEX
p ny proper inclu1ed)
Tho foundation ortho Presidents first sec
ond, aud last War Manifestocs against MeXi-
go bengthus Withdrawn from under them,
what is thereAieit 10 sustain any part of the
recommendation in the Message before us,
of o farther and more vndic;Wc prosecution
q: the war?
But to proceed: The ground upon which
the President placed the War, when, having
got into il, he was obliged to call upon Con-
igress to sustain him in it, is, as we have
shown, so far from being solid or true, that it
Is directly the reverse. So far from Mexico
having invaded the United States, our Prcs-
deEt invaded MeXico and so far from the
war having "eXisted" by the act Of Mexico il
existed so far as il is possible for the Uni
nited States to be at iOar without the consent
of the war making poverty the net of Mr.
Polk alone. Nor, in our opinion, did il exist
Wiihout reconciliation. Ii had been contem-
plated MS possible, at least, from the moment
of his coming to the Presidency. Tho Gov
erument paper, as we have already remarked
had not been in existence more than week
before, in that mirror ofthe Presidential SELL
Iiment, the invasion, and even the conquest
of Mexico, were forcshadowed-we may say
predicted-in the event of Mexico venturing
gsYo exercise any authority OH the east bank of
1he'Rio Grande. As eurlyas June, 1915
tmark the date the Commander the Ma
val force of tho United States in the Pacific
was directed TO look out for "A war with Mex
leo, and, on receipt of the news of it, TO pos
sess himsefoftho port of San Francisco, on
she coast of California, and such other ports
rs his force would permit He had been so
instructed even earlier thnn this: for the let
Ger 20 him begins: ''Your attention Is still
particularly directed" sc. to the contingent
,cv Of war Congress was 10 meet in the De- !
Aen4Ier following. Early in November, the
Message of The President 10 Congress being |
III state ofpreparatoa, already contained;
rs we had every reason 10 believe, recon- |
mendaliuu Of hostitics against Mexico, in ,
some form or other,on the ground ofuusals- ,
fled claims ofour citizens, Of unpaid ndcm- .
nifty money, aud other alleged grievances. On
the 9th OF November, however, jus, three
weeks before the session began, information !
having been received from our Consul at
Mexico that the Mexican Government was
willing TO receive Commissioner 10 nego-
Intc concerning the Texas boundary, the
Message wns pertorce changed. The body
of The Indictment against that Government
->yas indeed retained, as the reader will per-
ceivc ifhe will take the trouble TO refer TO the
Message ITSELF the recommendation Of repri-
eals, or ofwar in some form, being the only
thing omitted. A Minister Plenpolentiary
was sent instead ola CommiSsioner-our
Government refusing 20 treat on the bounda-
ry,quesIon without mixing it up with mat
tiers with which it had no sort Of couneXion
arid the correspondence between our Min
lister and the Mexican authorities was still
going on wheu,,thc army Of General Taylor
was, as if for the purpose ofprccipiIating O.
vents, marched from Corpus Christi TO the
Rio Grande. About the same time, as we
know from the Presidents Message of last |
year, he was himself in secret negotiation .
with the eXiled military C!lielluin, Santa Anna .
for what precise purpose can only be Inferred |
from the fact that the day after TIE ,cw was
declared to exist directions were given to
our vessels Of war 70 allow him 10 pass into |
Mexico. All these concurrng circumstances
show that war was premeditutcd by The Pres |
ident.
,sed by MeXico's agreeing 10 surrender TO the
United States California and a boundary on
~ahe Rio Grande, we do not doubt; nor do we
doubt that the President and his Cabinet have
been willing, ever since the war began, to
end it, whenever Mexico would agree 10 sur
render 10 their demand all of her territory
that they have set their hearts om and that
ihis is what the President means when lie
eDesks of 'conquering n peace" But we
ali III no iri, al,
-ofihis war, and the sole true cause and mo-
tive of it, was CONQUEST, or in other words,
the coercion of Mexico to surrender territory
which MIR Polk aulbitioned the ecldt of '!an-
nexng" to the United States. Mr. Secretary
BANCROFT, in letter constructions TO Com
modore SLoAT, then commanding in the Pa
ciic,) on the 18th of July, lSi6--two months
after the war was legaliZed by Congress
very frankly disclosed this fact. "Ihe OBJ
JECr ofhe United IStateS," said he, sis, ,tndcr
its rights as a beligerenl nation, TO POSSESS
ITSELF ENTIRELY Of Upper California" And,
farther, said Mr. BANCROFT, 1.-THE object Of tue
United States has reference TO ultimate peace
with Mexico; ultimate, observe; possession of
her coveted territory being the penulimute
-object:1-and if, at the peace, the basis of the
1hi possidetis shall be established, the Govern
inent expects. through your forces; to be
FOUND IN ACTUAL POSSESSION Of Upper Cali
,fornia."
The President declared to Congress, it is
true, in his Message of last year, that this war
with Mexico had not been waged in a spirit
ofconquest. Would any one suppose, with
those instructions to our Naval Commander,
and corresponding Instructions to or Militia
~ Commanders, that he understood the inn
port of this, disclaimer? No one can at last
misunderstood the purport of his present
Message, breathing, as it does, nothing but
war, "a Conqueror's peace, or the alternative
IL L. Hit. &C.