The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1847-12-18

, he SAID Mexico had perpctrOted upon Nv ""cN
dicates that he meant this from the on,.as1 M
withstanding his repeated disclaimers w. mot
er it may have been with Congress- TT.Wer
not TO defend our own territory that ho y Wa
for men and money, but to conquer h ualtt
Mexico. That, too, was the impulse oU o.
urgent and repeated demand for "a oOo ni
to be expended in making Peace Win 'p"
And now, in informing Congress that III, HN
render by that Republic of all this side y" oSaE'
Rio Grande and North of the 32d deere" n,I n'
itude constitute the very best terms bo '@S
grant or assent to, he thinks il must bc NV, WY
fest not only TO Mexico but to all other n' ",aa
that he is "not disposed to take adcaatag,',oSH
feeble power" If demanding half ts tSo,.% WI
nv as the memorable condition ofmoking n,0
with the rest be not taking advantage, r yS
would be- wi"
But here Mr. Polk exposes and stultifes H.,
self He will not make peace without ~,
immense concession of territory; and va,
this territory might be estimated to be of g,,',
or value than fair equivalent for our iust ~
mands, our Commissioner was authorize5
stpuate FOR the payment Of such addition
pee uniary consideration as was deemed ro
enable" That's: Mr. Polk orders Tristtor.
to the MeXicans, awe will ravage your :,
les and kill you unless you will give us hP
your country-nothing Less But Mr. p
they demur, 'are you sure we really owe Van
so much as that comes to, even if the accor,
be reckoncd entirely in your way'-'O nor
says Polk, 'vcry likely that extent ofterrjto,.
is worth more than we can juslvclaim oryo,yy
and we are ready to pay the balance in cosS
but, Mr. Polk, they respond, 'by what c%
or ofrigM do you exact the surrender of mo,,
than will pay your just demand; ,How ,.,
you threaten to cut our Threats if we will nv,
sell you for cash territory which you cle,y.
confess you have no just claim to;'-Hog
will the passer of Santa Anna contrive to or
tricate himself from this quagmire;
The President tells Mexico that CoI;G,
MIA and New Mexico are frontier provncos
contiguous to the territories Of the United
States-therefore con venient to us and not
important to her. But, the moment these ara
surrendered, those next south and west oftbom
become frontier provinces in turn, and bo
same considerations will apply to them.-Cap
he imagine Mexico unconscious of this But
New Mexico is greatly afflicted with hostile
savages, he suggests,S' its transfer to US would
insure protection and security TO its peopla
OF course, that protection to a region 50 eE.
tensive can only be afforded by powerful
armed force, and at heavy annual cost, 10 be
taxed out of our own people. To what end
shall they be thus burthoned!
But by what right shall we constrain The
Santa Feans to submit to our sway after the
merous, pleads Nr Polk. Well, Sir, admilG
and does our immortal Declaration of Indcpep.
dence say that the right of self government .
sides in dense communities only, and notia
countries sparsely peopled as we'll: Suppose
them but $4,000 souls, and we compel Mexico
to surrender their department to our victorious
arms: But the people thus transferred say
I'VE protest against the assumption of Mexico
to mike us over TO you! We were Stateor
4 bn A.w;,a, EaIarnt,nn. &c than
very we'll; but we do not choose to 90 to you
What republican can say tnat we have an
right TO constrain them TO become part NJ
parcel of ourselves, or that victories can g1
US any, Who cannot realize that States lla
roped into the Union would be elements not
of strength but of weaknessi-How can our
People be expected to guard jealousy then
own liberties while they are recklessly tram.
ping on the liberties of others'
From War TO Debt the transition is eay
and natural. We mus: have more troops,
more expenditure, more feFocity, more debt,
in Shorthand 'more vigorous prosecution ofhe
war. Our Generals don't seem savage E.
nough, rnpacious enough, to meet the eSpec.
tations of the Palace. Reiterated orders to
them to support their armies by levying cOntr
buttons on the enemy appear to have had very
little effect. 1t is not SO easy nor so safe to
do what is required in Me xico as TO order it in
the White House. Gen. Taylor has thus far
found no country where Mr. Folks scheme
could be made to operate, and Gen Scott pith
ily ans wers that "if the army is to be support.
ed by forced contributions levied upon the
we may ruin and cEasperate the in
habitants and starve ourselves And, though
the orders to compel the MeXcOns to stand
and deliver in every possible mode have heen
itcrated and reiterated from month to month,
we are not told that the first levy has yet been
made. And after Mr. Walkers Mexican
Tariff has been several months in operation,
we are gravely told that nearly ha.t million
dollars have been collected under it. That Is
the sum total of our collections from Mexicoto
meet an expenditure of more than Sixty Mill
ions And, in the face of this result we are
told of the millions which probably cW be
raised there, and the reliefthey will afford to
our People, as if all of us did not know better
The Ways and Means.
The President puts on an aspect OF despef
ate cheerfulness when compelled to lace nS
empty money bags. First he tells us that ne
has collected some Eight Millions more Of
Customs during the last year under the lana
of 46 than during the preceding under ina!
of AZ. But surely he does not need to betos
that the Country quite we'll understands W'
cause of this difference. The failure OF EuM
pean harvests in 1916, causing an enormous
portation of Food from our ports at high r
ces, inevitably melted corresponding incTenM
of Imports, and hence of Revenue. Had 1 n
duties been higher, the importation Wou4
have been less, and the Revenue corespona'
ingly affected; but, no matter under what ".,
if, the Imports and Revenue of AZ could Nv
have failed to be much heavier than those W
'46, Then why seek to conceaIthe true cau''
of the increase and suggest another ,,,
Mr. Polk estimates his Revenue for the n "nd
fiscal year at nearly Thirty Five Millions rTS
his Expenditures at not quite Fifty Nine "I II
ions deficiency Twenty Four Millions sec.
the Thirteen Millions deicitrepoHed y Tho
rotary Walker in the Appropriations ,ue not
current year are to be added, (and We Wa "' Se6cit
sure on this point,) the total esuma''Sn Millions.
up to June, 1S4S, is Thirty Sere9 '.ht" NH.
This will make the total Debt over h'gay such
ions of Dollars. Ought we to authoi' .me of
an increase ofo National Debt Ste o s,