The daily union. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1845-1857, 1847-03-09
From the Pennsylvania.
MIR. Calhoun vs.. Mr.. Buchanan.

/
| MIR. Calhoun MIR. Buchanan.
We have to-day transferred to our columns, from tht
Washington Union, very able and conclusive nouce oil
that portion of Mr. Cahouns recent speech the Senate
in which he travelled out of his path arragn the d
pomacy of his in the State Department on the
Oregon and Mexican questions. We trust thai not one
king example of the folly to which grave senator
may be driven, when he vanly attempts to shut the re-
sponsbility OF his conduct upon another Ialleyrand
than whom no man better understood the philosophy OF
language characterized blunder the part OF states
man as ''worse than crime" We are far from assoca
ting the two personages-indeed we could not wllh3u
great injustice the French trmmerbu is PLAN that
Mr. Calhoun fully subscribes TO the remark, else he
would not betray such intense anxiety TO wrggle IRON
under the weight OF the plumbers which rise IN judgment
against him on almost every page OF history
We leave out of view the lndecacy-to call II by no
harsher phrase--of ex-secretary turning accuser
against his successor, although this surely cannot be
proof of the 'ohiuairy' hear SO much OF. But we
will not conceal our surprise that Mr. Calhoun with all
his vagares, should have choseR the ground OF his
impeachment OF the course o. Mr. Buchanan ram events events
he (Mr Calhoun) has, OF all men LIVING the least reason
to expect harvest OF renown.
1t would seem that Mr. Calhoun finds fault with the
instructions given in September 1915, by direction OF the
President, to Mr. Black, consul at Mexico to make
overures to treat with that government and contends
Gs U5y
on ,ras finally settled" This appears to be Mr.. Cal
houns bill of indictment reduced to single count But
how scathngy and how rumphaatly does the plain and
unyarnished statement of the Union IGNORE it. Not only
does it efectuay vindicate the correctness OF Mr. Folks
policy, but 1t exposes IN such garng coors the folly OF
the critic that he will hardly thank himself for having
provoked the comparison.
Mr. Calhoun has in this criticism literally plunged into
of blunders He, forsooth, had he been continued in
the Secetaryshp of State would not have proposed to
treat with Mexico, in September, 1915, when MIR. Buch
anan proposed to treat with her And why not! Sure
|y, the then existing circumstances were favorable to
it, The war with Mexico had not yet actually begun
but its ncipency not the less palpable and PLAIN
Our ambassador in Mexico had not for several months
received any instructions from his government to
which was added the double humiliation that he was
cut off from all diplomatic intercourse with the govern
ment TO which he addressed. The annexation
away General Almonte, the Mexican minister, who
left us emphatically in huff" The convention and
Congress of Texas had not accepted our conditions
of annexation, but had invoked the interpositon Of
army, protect and defend them from the perls OF
invasion. General Taylor had been despatched with a
military force to Corpus Christi instructed to repel inva
sion of the Texan territory Here crisis fraugh
with the highest national importance, and invoking the
exercise of the speediest and wses diplomacy We are
proud to refer TO the spirit in which the administration
met it. Its course was characterized by christian and
humane anxiety to avoid appeal to arms, il possible
Mr. Calhoun claims to be- par ercelence, the friend OF
peace And yet, at such Juncture, when bloody war
already casting her red shadows across our borders
he contends he would not have resorted to negotiation
IMPOSSIBLE
Negotiation then, however. was not only an OF i'm
peave necessity but there was every reason to trust IN
its complete success General Herrera then Presi-
dent of the Mexican republic, by virtue of the elective
franchise and with good reason believed to be the tend
OF peace That this expectation Of success was well found
ed abundany shown by the subsequent friendly ac
ceptance OF our proposition by Mexico and that would
inevitably have resulted in the speedy settlement OF dt-
hcuies, is matter of common hlstory-except tor the
revolution which placed Mexico under the dominion Of
Paroles. We marvel whether the sagacous South Caro-
inian, with all his versatility OF TALENT could have fore
this revolution IN country where they spring up
rapidly as the plants in dollhouse If he could, he
deserves to hold high rank among sybils and sooth-
savers
After this array Of facts we submit to every unpreudi
ced mind whether, when Mr.. Polk came into the presi
dency he would have been warranted by the then exist
ing circumstances to defer the offer to renew negotiations
with Mexico single day. Never TO this hour, has 1t
entered into the imagination Of living man, except MIR
Calhoun, find fault with the then pursued by
the administration and it certainly required all has inge
nuity to discover Its improprlety But if the Mexican
negotiation to be postponed at all, Mr. Calhoun sets
the cap sheaf his eccenrces, when he contends that
it should have been postponed until after The settlement
Herod
Why, if we have correct recollection of Mr.. Cal
houns Oregonana, he opposed TO the settlement OF
the question by negotiation altogether, and figured in
Washington as the hero OF ''nasteriy 1nactUty-that
sublime abstraction, which, in its day. excited the envy
of all mysterious metaphysicans and wonder working
transcendentasts Forgetting the pers of civil conflict,
to which population of divided allegiance would be
constantly exposed, he was willing to postpone the re-
sponsbllity OF settlement until the territory should be so
filled up by American emigrants that they could outnum
Der or ouwit the subjects of John Bull
Welded to this system, Mr. Calhoun violent op-
ponent of the notice to terminate the joint occupancy
that browning of this administration, which more
than all beside conduced to settlement of the contro-
versy The able article in the Union has, think,
cusvely established, that in many other particulars, the
previous concessions of Mr.. Calhoun huge
bling block in the path of his successor at its every step
retarding the negotiation Be this it may ii is ncor-
poated in the pages OF unconrovered history that both
Secretary of State and SENATOR he opposed to
the settlement of the Oregon question altogether and
willing to leave all its responsibilities to ludcrous
OF emigration that would mmeasurabIy increase the
difficulties each succeeding year
Well, therefore, might the Union ask when that in
terestng page in the future chronology of the world
should arrive, when Mr.. Calhoun would have consented
to renew negotiations with Mexico He has already
answered. "After the settlement of the Oregon question p
Ay, sir but you opposed to the settlement of that
question altogether except by the slow process of emga
ton--the Gle low and keep dark" policy-which might
last an hundred years. but most probably thousand
and fail in the end. Here, was some prospective pc
rod TO be sure, but would, opinion, have
CURED larger lens than yet astrologist in
vented, to discover the particular fourth of July
erred to.
"Whom the gods intend to destroy, they first make
mad" is trite but true adage We seriously fear that
the divines in conspiracy against the
from South Carolina, and it will require extraordinary
vigilance, on his part, if he hopes to escape them
DvA. GREEN, .2uctfomeer.
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