The northern galaxy. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1844-1848, 1847-01-12

| the war-making power. and thereby trenching
upon the prerOgative Of Congress; and thai,
too, while they we're in session, and could
have been cons ulied al any moment.
This is just statement Ofthe case. will.
| however, give the President the full benefit oil
| all the arguments he employs and all Tue stale
menis he makes in support Of his position.
10 the first place. however, ] wish to say
that Texas, whatever we're her boundaries
held by the right ofrevolution. As my friend
from Tennessee. mr.. Gentry observed. just
as far as she sustained her authority by the
sw ord, and was able TO maintain her jurisdic-
ton, there her boundaries are TO he sought.
Ii matters not whether she was originally houn
ded by the Nueces or the Rio Graude he
question as TO her original boundary is entire
ly superseded. She rebeled against the pa
cut country and just so far as she extended
her arms and maintained her authority, just
so far are her boundaries extended. She held
her territory by the title by which size held
hersef-the right Of revolution but while hen
boundary was formerly the Nueces, ! admit
she did extend her authority over that river
so as TO include Corpus Christi. and few
small settlements on the western bank Of that
river. | make this statement in advance. be-
shall have occasion TO netce hereafter, re-
quir, that this fact be kept distinctly in
| view.
| say, then. that the boundary Of Texas. III
this part of her dominion, v as confined within
The immediate valley of the Nueces She
made several attempts TO extend her auIhori-
~ beyond, hui she was unsuccessful; her for
ces did, in some instances. penetrate INTO the
con ntr, beyond that valley, but they were
utterly destroyed. captured. Or put to death.
and in every expedition beyond that point Tex
as utterly tailed.
But now Tor the Presidents arguments in
support o { his position. And what are they
Texas (he says) was included originally in The
Louisiana grant. Well, suppose that true
what ihenl Why. it has nothing to do with
the question. IfTexas once belonged to the
United States, il was coded 10 Spain, ard
hence we have no claim to il on that account.
Then, the President speaks of the treaty with
| Santa Anna. shall not. Mr. Chairman
dwell upon this subject. My first remark is
| that there was no treaty made with Santa
Anna-noihmg that deserves the name OffTra-
ty. In The second place, he was prisoner
| and not competent 10 treat; aud, third, If a
| treaty had been made aud ratified, that treaty
| had been violated by Texas herself; for one Of
| the principal reasons " ny Santa Anna was in
tuced to enter into that treaty, arrangement,
or whatever it may be called, was. that he
should he liberated and sent under the proiec-
ton ofTexas TO Vera Cruz. He did embark
| for that city, hut the populace demanded lis
detention. and he " as taken from the vessel;
he was brought back into Texas and kept'
prisoner in clLse confnemenr and he Himself
makes this charge against the Texan Govern
men,, and the President of Texas admits Il 10
be Il ue, and regrets the occurrence So that,
| If treaty had been entered into, the violation
Of treaty by Texas is a good reason why il
should he Of no binding force. But there
never was treaty there was an arrangement
no doubt. between Gen. Houston and Santa
Anna there was inoihing that deserves the
the name of treaty, nothing that was ever rat
fled by the Mexican Government.
But The President says that he Texan
Congress, in 1886. when fixing their bounda-
ries, declared that the Rio Grande. from its
mouth to its source, was their western bOun-
Diary. And he spreads it before the country
and before the world as an argument 10 lnstl-
| ~ us in our Calm TO the Rio Grande. Now,
| Mr.. Chairman. If the President of the United
States, lawyer in his own country, should
be called upon by one Of his own clients, and
asked whether he could prosecute claim
successfully against neis hhOrt portion Of
land, and at the same time should Inform him
that he had no other title to it than the decla-
ration OF the indivit uaI of whom he received
his quitclaim deed. do you suppose he could
hesitate single moment i'll telling him thai
| he had no cause whareverl do not believe
there is peIIifogger in the country who
would hesitate 10 declare that there was M
| foundation for the claim. Aud sill The Pres
| dent Of the United States the head Of a great
nation, in a public document. spread before
The country and the world, as justification
| of an act OF war. brings forward thai consider
alton as evidence that The country To tie Rio
Cfande is onrsl Who does not blush lo'
the honor Of his country under circumstances
| like these
But the President says this was claimed
nv Texas-ihat Texas declared the RiOGrandt
| TO he her western boundary Well, Mexico
declared the Sabine to he her eastern bonn
dary And what does that prove! As mncl
| in one case as in the olLer. The declaration
| of Mexico is as conclusive as that Of TeIas
neither of them deserve one moments cOnsId
Grafton, and the President himself, by admit
ting that New Mexico was Il department ol
Mexico, and Santa Fe It's Capitol. and that II
was conquered by our arms, virtually admits
that this argument is deserving OF no con>Id-
Grafton. He knows that BOUNDARIES can be
established only BY treaty or by The sword,
and that neither Of these can be alleged IN Ia
vor of the claim Of Texas to the Rio Grande.
But there is another argument ofihc Pres
| dent which deserves consideration. and II Is
This: Texas. says he, had extended her an
horiiy beyond fhe Neuces, and, 10 sum up all
his declarations. because they all fall under
The same general rInciplc. they amount TO
this Texas had extended her jurisdiction
| beyond the Neuces; she mad custom house
at Corpus Christi. on the immediate west
ern bank of that river; the people living OH
that river. in the immediate valley Of ihr
Neuces. had been represented in the Texan
| Congress, and had assenied 10 annexation
10 The United States; the United States by
act Of her Congress, had established Gus
tom house at Corpus Christi; all these things
were true over the river, on The west bank:
in the immediate valley Of The river, anu
therefore-rherefore what! Therefore we
had title TO the country some one hundred
or hundred and fifty miles further, to the Rio
1 hoo not ono of tho Iarl "a inns