Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1847-01-21
The Prospect.

The following extracts are from an article in
the National Intelligencer, written by General
WApDY THOMPSON, late Minister to Mcxico-a
man eminently qualified 10 judge correctly Of the
probable progress and end of this war with Mex
leo:
"It is greatly 10 be feared that, with the most
united and energetic eXertlons to prosecute the
war, we are yet far, very far, from the end Of it,
That which is generally meant for an energetic
prosecution of the war, is the advance Of our ar
mics TO the city of Mexico. That believe to
be possible, but by no means so easy and unex-
penslve movement as many suppose. But, if
we had possession Of this city, and had an army
there of fifty thousand men, should we then have
conquered peace" as the phrase is Are
we in truth, any nearer the conclusion of the
war? Have we not IN fact thereby indefinitely
protracted it? | could only answer the last one
of these questions affirmatlyely.
Mexico is not city empire like France, where
when an enemy has conquered Paris, he has con-
Quered France. Would the English have Grip
pied or gwen strength to this country if when
they captured it an age ago, they had kept pos
session of this city for twelve months? We
have already taken two of the Mexican towns
Have these towns been injured thereby? Ger
tainly not, but in every way benefited. Why
should it be otherwise with any other of the
Mexican cities? There are fifty other towns and
cities to which the government can remove
Shall we chase them through all these towns,
and garrison them to prevent their return? II
would be madness to attempt the expedition to
the city of Mexico with less than fifty thousand
men. Suppose that we have succeeded; the A.
merican army is in possession Of the city, and the
President and Cabinet, following an illustrious
example, have fed The first solicitude of the
I 4 4 L..
as soon as possible He would soon find that
the possession of the capital gave him no more
power than the possession Of any other city, and
that his army could not be subsisted there. If
we pan for The provisions supplied us. we shall
not injure, but benefit the McXcans by furnish
ing them with a market. The drain OF specie
from this cause must seriously effect our curren-
CIV; for Treasury notes, with or without interest
will not answer the purpose. Is our currency in
a condition to bear this abstraction of specie, or
even that which will be required for the pay of
so large an army? Let it be remembered that it
was precisely the same cause.-the large dis
bursements for foreign wars which caused the
suspension of the Bank of England, and continu-
ed it for twenty-five years. If we do not pay tor
these supplies, we shall not get them. The
MeXicans will destroy them, rather than let us
have them without compensation. But the truth
49, the supplies are not there, either for US TO buy
or to take without paying for them. lfthey were,
how could we get them? The valley of Mexico
produces literally nothing. That valley is wall
ed in, not with mountains, but with lodges of
mountains, piled upon each other for two or three
hundred miles In small and disconnected val
legs in these mountains, their grain Is cultivated
and carried on the backs of mules TO the city,
Could any army supply itself by ioraging parties
in such country, even il the supplies are ade'
quate, which they are not? Our army, therefore,
must be supplied from home; aud the only point
from which those supplies can be transported is
the city OF Vera Cruz. do not say this lightly
or without full information. The city of Vera
Cruz, then, must be taken. From this time to
the first OF April is about eighty days. Does any
one believe that our army can De concentrated
Ithere before that time? And then the yellow
fever is raging with the most destructive vlo-
l.uce, and the chief use we shall make OF the
city when taken, shall be as a graveyar
have heard it said, tina. of twenty -four thousand
troops which we have had for the last elgh.
months on the Mo Grande, eight thousand have
died or been disabled by disease aud wounds,
and have been sent home; and the climate 10
which they have been exposed is by no means SO