Martinsburg gazette. [volume] (Martinsburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1833-1855, 1847-10-14


IN tins mater Ut boundary, MIR. BeDton's bl
proposed, as Won have seen, that we should
negotiate for a boundary IN the desert ,rilch fie
imnisdiateig scest of The ssieces. OF course ht
was satisfied, before be made his proposition
that Texas had no actual right beyond the
Nueces. A vast desert lies between that flvel
and the Rio del Norie. which Mr.. Benton
thought good national boundary, and worth
negotiating for Nth .Herico.
Atthe same time, or the next day after Mr.
Benton offered this proposition in the Senate,
the Committee Of Foreign Relations IN the
House, By Mr. Charles j. Ingersoll, then
Chairman. reported Joint Resolutions for the
annexation. These were followed by mum
Der of propositions for the same purpose,
which were offered almost daily for several
days, BY different members. A long debate
took place. in the course ofwhich Mr.. Charles
]. Ingersoll, speaking on this subject Of the
boundary which have shown you produc.
ed so much objection 10 this treaty, took oc.
easlon TO explain the views OF the Committee
Of Foreign Relations and OF the Executive on
that point. He said ''lhe territorial limits are
marked IN the coniguratIon Of this continent
by an Almighty hand. The Platte, the Ar
kansas, the Red, and the Mississippi rivers
are naturally our waters with Their esluaries
in the Bay Of Mexico. TIE sttpendoals deserts
betceen The .Nileces and Tie RIO Brdro, (the
Rio Grande) are the natural boundaries be-
tween the Anglo Saxon and the Mauritaaian
races. There ends tie raitey Of the Vest
There .lleaic0 begins" In the same speech,
he apprises the House that he has authority
for saying that there will be no difficulty with
Mexico--that we should be able 10 bUy her
consent TO the cesslon we desired
81 am bappy"--is his language Ito be au-
Morised 10 assure Hsis House that those best nc
quinted wtA Tie true state Of things apprehend
ttle or no danger of war. The main snqelo Of
,cdr, Money, ,oal hed the break and end the con-
tropersy omaeabiy.o ~
This quotation from the speech Of the
Chairman OF the Committee on Foreign Rela-
tons, will enable you 10 understand precisely
what Mr.. Calhoun meant when on the 10Th
of September previous, he wrote this Ian
guage 10 Mr.. Shannon, our Minister in Mex
CO." Y GU are instructed TO renew the deelar-
alton made to the Mexican Secretary by our
Charge d'A flares, in announcing the conclu-
sion Of the treaty, that Tie measure acds adopted
IN no spirit Of hostility to .Nerico, and that, if
annexation should be consummaled, the Uni
ted STATES wiA be prepared 10 adjust all questions
growiHg out Of IL, INCLUDING THAT OF BOUND
AIRY, on The most liberal terms"
Can any one doubt, after reviewing these
facts that our Government had pledged itself
to abstain from claiming any boundary that
would be offensive TO Mexico-and particular
10 m axe no claim bounded on the limits set
forth in the Texan act OK Congress? Can "a
ny one doubt that Congress was unwilling TO
Il L.. (xr l,1 ,aA
a righlfuI boundary
We shall see the determination ofCongress
in reference to this question, more fully de-
veloped in what eventually took place.
OF the several propositions for annexation
which were offered in the House of Represen-
tatiyes, that of Mr.. Brown of Tennessee was
finally adopted on the 18th of January, lS45.
Mir. Brown offered his resolutions. as substi-
tute for those of the Committee. They began
in this way
Resolved THAT Congress doth consent
that the territory properly included acithin and
righgally belonging TO The Republic Of Teas
may be created INTO new State" &C.. and
"that the foregoing consent is given on the
following condition"-lo wit:
''Said State shall be formed subject 10 the ad-
j,tst,,eJst BIZ this Government Of all questions Of
boundary that may arise acith other Gore,1l-
menus" SC.
On the 25th of January these resolutions
were passed in the House Of Representatives,
by vote of 10 10 90. and on the next day
passed the Senate without alteration in airy
material point. r.f
Now pause here in my narrative TO ask
you to remark the very guarded phraseology
of these Joint resolutions by which it was "a
greed TO annex Texas. They say, ''the terri
tory pSoprly included within, and rightully
belonging to, the Republic Of Texas" Why
was this language inserted Several osthe
resolutions proposed by others in the House
do not contain it, Congress would not agree
to those other resolutions, but adopted those
only which contained this language. Why
did Congress insist upon condition that the
State Of Texas should be formed "subject TO
the adjustment by this Government Of all ques
lions of boundary that might arise with other
Governments What other Government was
there2 None but Mexico with whom we
could have any difficulty. What was that
difficulty ?-The pretention set up by Texas
10 extend her boundary 10 the Rio GTande. If
Texas had right 10 that boundary, what had
we to adjust with Mexico2 Nothing. IfTex-
as had this right, what do those resolutions
mean by laying such stress upon the words
TERRITORY properly included within and right
fidly belonged to, the Republic of Texas
Manifestly they mean that the Republic of
Texas had made pretentlons TO territory not
''properly included Within" nor "righJaLy
belongiag to" it.
But, as if the Congress Of the United States
was determined TO express the most unequiv-
ocal dissent from the pretentons ofTexas-as
made known in her act of Congress of 1856
and to repudiate the notion that Texas, by that
act had any claim to the boundary Of the Rio
Grande, they passed law, at the very same
session, in which they agreed TO annex Texas,
of which the title was, "An act allowing a
drawback upon foreign merchandise exported
in the original packages to chihuahua and
Santa F'e IN .ueric0." This bill was passed
in the House Of Representatives on the Dist
Of February-nearly month after the pas
sage of the resolutions for annexation land
was amended with view TO include another
foreign country by adding the words, "and
the British North American provinces, adjoin-
ing 10 the United States" ..
Now, the object of this bill was TO entille
any merchant who should import goods into
the United States, to have refunded 10 him il
he exported them in the original packages to
Santa Fe IN Me1ic0--thereby recognising San
Ia Fe to be foreign country, as itundoubted
ly was. Yet Congress had, just a month be
fore they passed this bill. agreed to annex
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