Weekly miners' express. (DuBuque, Iowa) 184?-1849, 1847-12-01
MR.. WEBSTER'S SPEECH.

at Springfield, in our number of Novem
Der II, and should have deemed that su(
hc'ent for all present and legitimate pur
poses' had not our neighbor, by full
publication of the speech, induced a sec
ond and more cautious perusal Of it. II
lis second perusal we find inconsistence.
OF more Objectionable character thar
we noted in the first, and trus. we shall
be excused for giving them a passing no.
tlce. In eiscoursing upon the duty which
the subject owes to his government, Mr..
Webster says:--
"Sir, there is not one of US here who
mas had the honor Of bearing any office,
h'9h or low, IN the United States govern.
ment, or any State government, who has
not sworn that he will support the constl-
tuition OF the United States: and no man
+, Is ignorant Of the fact that The Constitu-
ton of the United States confers on Con-
gress the power Of making war. And
therefore, there is no man so ignorant as
not to know, when that power is exercised
according to the forms Of the Consti,u-
ton, that the expressed zcW of CONGRESS-
IS the loac Of the land, and is The rule of
ereTy ce(ssen's cirH obligations. We may
oppose: and are often in duty bound to op-
pose, counsels which we think lead TO
war, or other disastrous consequences.
nope, 'ho: for one, have not been al
together negligent ofthis duty; but, when
the deliberations Of government result in
a"' them that lar is Of course TO be re-
gardcd
In May 1916, Congress declared by res
o'ution, that war existed by the act Of
Mexico, and appropriated ten millions Of
dollars and authorized the President TO
call out fifty thousand volunteers for its
prosecution. This was, in every lcgiti-
mate sense, a law Of the land as soon as il
was passed upon, and according to the
declaration Of Mr.. Webster, in the above
quoted paragraph, must have established
'the rule Of erery citi2en's ciru obligations
and should 'of course be re gardcd" Then
follows in the same speech, what he
cIa'mes produced the declaration of war.
lie lays down three propositions which
he terms ''pretcSts" on the part orlhe Tx
2cutlvc. lst. "IHatM Meaacan Gorcru-
men' had inradsd tie territory Of tie Uni :
'ed States, and she'd american blood upou
american SOIL" Cd. "7He refusal of Mer-
co TO r"ceirc orr minister" Am Mird,
Thai Alerico lad dcc7ined and refused TO
'ay the debts due from herself to citizens
i the United States.' These three pre-
exts as Mr. Webster terms them. he as
'umes was the cause of the declaration Of
war. Well, suppose we should admit
HIS and follow him title farther-he
says IN relation to the cause of the war:
"Slr, | have before alluded 10 the dec
arat!un Of Mr.. Calhoun, that if there had
cen no annexation Of Texas, there would
ave been no war. Now, choose to saw
hat concur in your own declaration,
ir, (meanlng the Chairman Of the Con-
'ent'on) so !orcibly expressed by you, in
'our place in the House of Representa-
ives, that ''the direct consciousness of
his act of inquiry, is the present var
IS TOO plain that annexation was the
primary cause Of the war"
Here is plain, bare faced contradic
ION. First, it is the three above quoted
pretexts," upon which he POUNDS the dec
aration OF war, in which the annexation
u Texas is no: even named, and in all
probability was not thought Of at the
Inc; and i'll the second place, we have it !
rom his own lips, that it was the annex
ton Of Texas which produced the war.
not satisfied with contradictipg himself
y pronouncing annexation as the cause !
the war, he takes the liberty Of dcsig- {
a''ns it, as an act Of ''iniquity" Let us !
&C how this compares with another ey-
'act in the same famous spcach. In re a
'rr'ng to the independence of Texas, he I
lys:-
"Thls country acknowledged that gov y
foreign. States acknowledge Il
'at government; and think in all fair ft
ess and honesty, we must admit, that in n
$40, Al, '42, and '43, Texas was an y
dependent State among the States ofthe
or|d | do not admit, therefore, that it 9
as any just ground Of complaint on the te
'rt of Mexico, that the United States an /!
sXed Texas to themselves. H.
After SO broad and paIpablc dec1ara- Il
On in support of the Independence Of C.,
exas, and therefore, the right Of that O
'vernment to treat with a neighboring c,
'verEment for additional territory. or "
e barter Of their own, whenever in their II
lsdom they might think proper; how 81
n he torture voluntary act Of their o
vereign will, into an act Of ''iniquity,n is
the receiving Of Texas by our gov s.