Sentinel of the valley. [volume] (Woodstock, Va) 1841-1848, 1847-12-16

civ commanding OlHNCl, Wiz NNS 1NSt az
I luainted with the circumstances by which
he was surrounded, the wants of the army,
and the practcability of enforcing the meas
IRE.
Gen. Tay Tor. on the twenty sixth Of Octo
Der. 1876, replied. from Monterey, that "'i
would have been impossible hitherto, and is
onow, to sustain the army to any extent b.
.orced contributions of money or supplies. -
| For the reasons assigned by him. he did not
adopt the policy of his Instructions, but de
clar. d his readiness to do SO ''shoud the ar
my, in its future operations. reach portion
of the country which may be made to supply
the troops with advantage" He continued
to pay for the articles Of supply which were
drawn from the enemy's country.
Similar instructions were issued to Ma ior
I General Scott on the third of April, 1S47,
who replied, from Jalapa, on the twentieth
of May, 1917, that if it be expected that 'the
army is to support itself by forced contr
buttons levied upon the country, we may ruin
| and exasperate the inhabitants, and starve our
selves +" The same Dir cre;ion was given to
him that had been to Gen. Taylor in this re
spect. Gen Scott, for the reasons ass gned
by HIM, also continued to pay for the articles
of supply for the army which were drawn
| from the enemy.
After the army had reached the
heart of the most wealthy portion of
Mexico, it was supposed that the OBJ
Stacles which had before tina: time pre-
vented it would not be such as to rem.
der imprac,icable the levy of forced
contributions for its support, and on
the first of September, and again
on the sixth of October. lS47. the or
der was repeated in dispatches adj
dressed by the Secretary of War to
Gen. Scott, and his attention was a.
gain called to the importance of ma
king the enemy bear the burdens of
the war by requiring them to furnish
the means of supporting our army;
and he was directed to adopt this pol
icy, unless, by doing so, there was
danger of depriving the army of the
necessary supplies. Copies of these
dispatches were forwarded to General
Taylor for his government.
On the thirty.frst of March last, |
caused an order to be issued to our
military and naval commanders to levy
and collect military contribution up
on all vessels and merchandise which
might enter any one of the ports of
Mexico in our military occupation,
and to apply such contribution towards
defraying the expenses of the war;
By virtue Of the right of conquest and
the laws of war, the conquerer,
consulting his own safety or
convenience, may either exclude for
elgn commerce altogether from such
ports, or permit it upon such terms
and conditions as he may prescribe.--
Before the principal ports of Mexico
were bIockaded by our navy, the rev.
enue derived from the impost duties,
under the laws of Mexico, was paid
into the Mexican treasury. After
these ports had fallen into our military
possession, the blockade was raised,
and commerce with them permitted
upon prescribed terms and conditions.
They were opened to the trade of all
nations upon the payment of duties
more moderate in their amount than
those which had been previously lev
led by Mexico; and the revenue which
was formerly PAID into the Next
can treasury, was directed 10 be col
lected by our military and naval Off
GERS, and applied to the use of our ar
my and navy. Care was taken that
the officers, soldiers, and sailors of our
army and navy should be exempted
from the operations of the order; and
as the merchandise imported upon
which the order operated must be con-
sumed by Mexican citizens, the con-
tributions exacted were, in effect, the
seizure of the puolic revenues Of Mex.
leo, and the application of them TO our
own use. In directing this measure,
the object was to compel the enemy ia
contribute, as far as practicable towards
the expenses of the war.
For the amount Of contributions
which have been levied in this form,
| refer you to the accompanying re-
ports of the Secretary of War and the
Secretary ofthe Navy, by which it ap-
pears that sum exceeding half a
million of dollars has been collected.
This amount would undoubtedly
have been much larger, but for the
difficulty of keeping open communica-
tions between the coast and the inte-
| rior. 80 as To enable the owners of the
merchandise imported, to transport
and vend it to the nhabitants of the
country. 1t is confidently expected
that this difficulty will, to great ex-
tent, be soon removed by our increased
forces which have been sent to the
field.
Measures have recently been adop-
ted by which the internal as well as
external revenues Of Mexico, in all
places in our military occupation, will
| be- seized and annronriated to the Use