The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1848-02-20
WASHINGTON, Feb. IL, 1913.
Brief Repieic of the Var Debate in the Senate

and Of the Debaters.
1t is said that in the States bordering on the
Gulf of Mexico, there.is plant peculiar to the
marshes in that region, which absorbs for It's
support the mephtic gases that rise with the
nightly exhalations over all the lowlands, thus
arresting to some extent the fatality of the scky
season. Our armies in Mexico, in the midst of
| a state OF war, seem to act on the converse OF
this principle, for in the heart of region most
sickly in its moral atmosphere, instead OF absorb
ing the contagion, they diffuse around them
heathful oxygen, marked and immediate in its
benign influences, and for which the leperos of
the National Plaza are utterly at loss to account
1t is gratifying to know that the horrors of war
are thus converted by the contact of superior
people into the agency Of the amelioraton of an
inferior, oppressed, and misgoverned race. 1t Is
very agreeable to have the evidences that have
been afforded us since the occupation Of the city
of Mexico by The invincible Macedonians of Gen.
Scott, that an invasion of freemsn is an invasion
of freedom ITSELF and though nation may be
extingushed, oppressed people will be olsen
thralled. The only danger is, that in giving too
enlarged an Interpretation to the divinity of the
enterprise, we may carry it into an assumption
of rights which belong to others,-lnto disputes
upon the booty acquired, and the costs of its ac-
QUESTION, into quarrels of sectional jurisdiction,
and into severance of the federal organiza-
| ton.
The question of the further prosecution of this
first Punc war in which we find ourselves in
volved, embraces all these momentous conside-
| ratiOns.
The ten regiment bill in the Senate, which has
been some two months before that body, has eli
cited the most ample discussion upon the origin,
causes, and results OF the war, and also upon the
| probable consequences to us, if we should push
| II tn the Of ahaOrntIOn
cupatlon and assoc citation with the existing sover
eighties of the Union.
We purpose rapidly to follow this discussion
through down to the adjournment of yesterday,
with passing observation or two upon the seve-
| raj speakers.
Mr.. Cass, as the head of the military commit
mendatons of the Presidents message for the
| vigorous prosecution of the war. He undertook
this duty of pressing the bill upon the Senate
with singular confidence, and Enthusiasm
There was little pride, too, betrayed in the evil
dent delight with which he assumed the exercises
| of his important position. he was surrounded
with the glory. OF ;hs American arms-he was
transported with the plaudits of the American
people--he had heard of tho cry of anne RATION
| he was bold to give it an echo in the Senate-he
dreaded not the result, it would not kill us -
Give us the regiments, let us prosecute the war
If it leads to annexation, so be 1t, | am ready,
defy you to the tournament 1t was precisely
the way in which he opened upon the Oregon
question in 1916. Where he found himself, we
leave IL 10 Co DcutOH 10 Tell, dS Hefnay yet, per-
haps, tell US, on this very question. The impress
sion from Mr.. Cass's first Speech and its accom-
panying explanations, was that he had received
his cue-that he must "hurry up those cakes"
Convention. 1t would appear that the admins
tration had arrived at the same conclusion, and
that the chairman on military affairs was travel
ling out of the record, and must be taken in
button or two; which having been done, the
sequel will show the Senator from Michigan be-
came correspondlngly tractable and reasonable,
and patient of delay.
Mr.. Cass, in appearance. is heavy and obtuse,
suporiflc and phlegmatic. In debate, he is quick,
pointed, diffuse, little too frank, and, wthal,
50 rapid in his manner, as to be constantly run
compelled to pause in the midst Of sentence
for an inhalation upon his exhausted lungs. He
is always listened to with attention, however.
| and seldom without instruction.
| Mr.. Calhoun's speech upon his resolutions)
| which we had the pleasure of communicating
to the Herald, in advance of all competitors, ex-
plains his policy and his position, his fears of
| approaching dangers, and the reasons upon which
| they are founded. He is a man who
I" Fears nothing mortal, blu. to be unjust;
Who is not blown up with the fsttering Pues
| or spepgy sycophsnts who stands unmoved,
| Despite the jostling Of opinion"
His policy is the policy of Cen Taylor, as de-
| fined in the letter to Cen Gaines for the pub
licatlon of which Old Buena Vista was so Sc
verely rePrimanded by the Secretary of War,
| Marcy, not hasty plate of SOUP but the old
dish Of the "wof and the lamb" done up in
| cayenne pepper. But as principles, apart from
the ",spoils," are unavailable capital in the po-
| ltical market, Mr., Calhoun finds himself in the
Senate, standing almost as solitary, as Old
| Bullion, when he set the expunging ball in mo-
| ton. And yet his position and his speech have
not been lost even upon the Senate, where every
mans mind is understood to be made up in ad-
vance, and where speeches, as a rule, are made
not for the conviction of the unconvnced, but
for home consumption, and for the latitude of
| IL. 49, ,haa
may be. But although Mr.. Calhoun has but
two or three disciples, his opinions upon this
| question, as upon the Oregon question, are
gathering strength and reflection. as the Juror of
| enthusiasm subsidies into dispassionate reason
| ing:
| Mr. Critenden wiclds the spear of Ithuriel.
| Whatever he touches, however plausible its dis
guises, assumes its proper identity, and comes
out with an explanation. IF not satisfactory, he
touches his victim again and again, till tortured
into full confession. Mr.. Cass has had some
thing of this experience; but his frankness in
the outset in telling all that he knew, has saved
him the dangers OF the searching cross-exami-
nations to which he has been subjected. Mr..
Crittenden denies the necessity OF the bill.
MIR. Mangum, bold and emphatic, strong, fresh,
and sonorous as a summer wind in mountain
gorge, takes the same position /; but that which
Crittenden EFFORTS by his searching ingenuity,
Mangum demands from the tenure of his position
and the rights OF his place.
Mr.. Clayton holds the same views. The troops
are not wanted. The war should be stopped. As
a speaker, the man, the manner, and the matter
of Mr.. Clayton are unwieldy and heavy. His
style is monotonous, though compact and argu-
mentative-his indignation is without wrath,
and his humor without briliancy.
Mr.. Badger takes the broadcast wing view OF
the case. He collates, he dilates, he collects
and compares. Though not so pungent, his sa--
tire is scarcely less keen than that of Crittenden
though not so emphatic, his denunciatlons are
scarcely less bold than those OF Maugum though
not so dliuse his style of analysis is even more
torcible than that OF CLAYTON.
Mr. Reyerdy Johnson has been remarkably UNI
fortunate in this discussion, IN taking both sides
of the question; and yet no man in the Senate
could have made out better case in legal ar
gument than did Mr.. Johnson n his special
pleading upon the causes Of the war. He de-
nounces Mexico he denounces the President