Carroll free press. [volume] (Carrollton [Ohio]) 1834-1861, 1847-04-16
WHCIE KUMBER@L

] Dull UefDts Nc Fi1leeas lNs - aAH-it " t4s n
state Of things al the tire Of the assembling Of .
Congress in December, ig45. when President
Polk for The FIRST time met them. Congress itself .
had, 10 is resolution Of the annexation, express
ly directed that the question Of the true bO1nda-
ry between Texas and Mexico should Be settled .
by negotiation. The Annual Message oi the /
President suggested no fear Whatever Of an aP- .
preaching conflict. No ons could, On the clo-
sssi scrutiny Of that paper, have discovered any \
rssson 10 apprsheud il. We had despatched = .
Minister Pienipoleniiary instead Of the SPecia .
Envoy which alone Mexico had expressed Il viii .
lingne5s to receive. The President gave Con- /
.grsss 10 understand, besides, that 10 step which
could produce anychaDgs in the existing slate Of
things would be rssoned 10 without the sense ui
Congress being previously taken uPonIr.
In few months, however, the country was
surprised 10 find itself actually al war w,,h MexI-
|. co. although Congress was then in sassiUn, and
had been from the day oithe Message 10 which
the President had promised - commitments 10 1t
! whatever might occur worthy Of note Ia ry!cr-
ence u our relations with that Government
+ With this preface We proceed 10 consider the
several grounds and objects Of this war, as they
have from lime 10 time been claimed or acknow..
= edged by the Executive, by is recognised Or
gdnS, or Uy us COH-LeNlld. iI4tu-1s
p The motives and objects ofthe var, according
Z TO these authorities, have b;en-
FIRST. To repeI Invasion.
The cause Of the war, when its existence was
. first announced by the President 90 Congress.
!. was according 10 the statement in his Nsssag: oI
). the lllh OF Nav 1916, "ihe act Of Mexico" she
having spassed the boundary Of the United States
/. invaded our lerrltoty, and shed American blood
e upon American soil" The first avowed object
K Of the war, then, was 10 rePcI invasion.
:. To the conviction Of our readers IL has, We pre-
II sume, been demonstrated that the war was be-
n gun, not BY the act Of Mexico, buI by the act Of
:. our own Executive; in marching formidable
:, army into territory, which, if denied 10 b. Mcxl-
can, cannot be denied 10 be- through express and
particular recognition by our own law, disputed
territory. But we do not ask OF them 10 rely
even upon such demonstration. W. will sustain
the position BY no less authority than ,ha! OF the
y chairman of the Committee ofFor-iga Relations
= in the last and preceding House Of Representa-
tyes, always the champion Of the administration
n one of the few real friends otlhs Mexican war
! in either House Of Congress-we cannot be sus-
:, pected by any one Of giving testimony or pro-
i! Inouncng Judgment in this matter under the IN
= huence Of disaf:cuon to either the "aancxa,i1n"
! or the war which has ensucd. On the 81 day
-. Of January, 1915, that gentleman Mr.. G. J. H.
:, GERsoLL) pronounced a discourse IL The House o.
- Representatives, (Which may be found in the
= i"Globe" of the same night IN which, advocating
the Joint resolution for the annexation OF Texas iC
~ the United States, he spoke precisely as follows
:, The stupendous deserts between the Nuece
- and the Bravo rivers are the natural boundaries
al between the angIo-Saxon and Maurimnlan races
l. There ends the valley ofihe West. There Mex
\ leo begins Thence, beyond the Bravo, begir
:, the Moorish people and their Indian associates, 10
- whom Mexico properly belongs; who should no
=, cross that vast desert itthey could, as on our
: side we, too, oughtto stop there, because inter
~ minabe conflicts must ensue either our going
-, south or their coming north OF that gigantic boun
Diary. While peace is cherished. that boundar!
will be sacred. Not till the spirit Of conques
oI RACES will the people of either side modest O
ef mix with each other; and whenever they do, one
O. or the other race must be conquered if not cxlin
"a guished."
I'd Tothis let us add the testimony Of Mr.. CAL
Ul HouN, in the Senate, on the 12h of last month
Ok "He was of the opinion" he said, "that if th
Ire annexation Of Texas had not taken place, there
S' would have been no war with Mexico, but tha
h' annexation was notthe cause of the war. Ih
ef immediate cause of the war was the marching o
'u' our troops from Corpus Christi to the Rio de
no Norte. If Gen. Taylor had remained with hi
II forces where he was, there would have been n
10 invusion-there would have been no conflict"
'ii How can it be pretended, in the face Of admis
M sions such as these, from such sources, that tn
I" marching Of an army in hostile array throug
this very territory, west of the line beyond whic
49, conflict was inevitable, was not an act Of Wilt
-n war. or that the soil on which blood thus cam
IA 10 be shed was American soil! "Not till tn
''.o w spirit of conquest ragcd.' overpowcrrg the sp
o il of peace, was the fatal step taken, the const
P"In ouence ofwhch the Chairman ofihe Commiue
oii o of ofForeign Affairs so truly prophesied.
in. SECONDLY: For reporation for alledged rePea
st. ed wrongs and injuries 10 our citlzens, as we
its those which had been adjusted by treaty as thos
ich which have since been got up.
or 1t is true that. as we have said, the war vii
are Mexico the thunder of which broke upon II
OBJ ears of an astounded people on the 11th Of Ma
last was then asserted by the President in h
III. Message announcing i,-anG declaration to Il
md same effect was extorted from Congress-to ha,
ilv been caused by the act of Mexico, IN invading OF
50 territory and shedding the blood Of our citizen
ent This "cause" was assigned when men and MOI
two ey were asked to carry on the war; and all IN
,or, men and all the money asked for were granted
ing But hardly two months had elapsed before, as
shall show, the executive took other ground
.ess A letter addressed TO the Minister of Foreie
lion Relations of Mexico, by Secretary Buchanan, {
re- the 9Th of July. 1916, says: alt is deemed us
und less and it mil ght prove injurious to discuss ii
e at causes of the existing war;" Mr.. REJoN, in r
her py to this letter, on The 3st August, l846, say
the "His Excellency on being made acquaintt
ON. with the terms of the said note. could not but
just his attention strongly on the circumstance tht
ess, discussion upon the causes of the war existing
ent. tween the two Republics it is desired at Prcse
ose to consider those causes merely as a thing that