Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1848-03-02


the weaker 10 yield. What, then, are the obi
cations of Mexico to US? Does she owe us any
thing for exciting an instruction in her most
importan. colony, and giving laid and comfort"
to her revolted subjects Any thing for appro-
pratng to ourselves territory once lndlsputa-
bly, hers, and TO which she had never sold or
surrendered her CLAMP ANY thing for invading
and ravaging with fire and sword, upon base
less pretenco of title, disputed region, of which
she was, and from the first hour OF her national
existence had been in quiet and undisturbed
possession? Any thing for the slaughter Of
thousands of her people, the storming OF Monte
rey, the inglorous rout Of Buena Vista, the re-
duction of her strongest fortress, the military &C.
cupation Of her farest provinces, the conquest of
her proud capital, and the destruction of the
venerol memorials Of her ancient civilization, the
humiliation, disgrace, and dissolution of her gov
eminent? What claim have we but the recog-
milton and payment Of her acknowledged labi.
ties TO private American citizens and who doubts
that she is now ready again 10 recognize them,
and to pay them whenever she has the means
But, OH the other hand, has 1t not been over and
over again admitted by this government that
Mexico ought to receive an indemnity for the
loss of Texas? Have not distinct lnimaiions
been given that the United States would make
her reasonable pecunOry allowance IN any ar
rangement by which she should cedo TO us her
innate the amount Of this compensation? Are
we to be judges in oar own cause, and to deter
mine that, upon the whole, the balance is upon
our side? Gentlemen who repudiatc acquisition
of territory by conquest and who have heretofore
admitted that we owed Mexico a compensation
for the REIMBURSEMENT of her right to Texas, still
insist that we must coercc the cession of Califor.
mia and other provinces by way of indemnity for
the claims Of our cltlzehs, and this upon the a.
vowed ground that balance may I've due to us
which Mexico can pay in no other way. The
cl1lms of our citizens are supposed to amount
to from three to seven millions If Mexico was
entitled to an indemnity for the loss of Texas,
would any man estimate the value of her claim
at less than seven millions? And had she no
such claim, can it be pretended that California,
and all the vast territory between that province
and Texas if worth any thing, are worth no more
than this? There is, then, no just, no honorable
ground for prosecuting this war as means of
coercing an indemnity to our citizens, or Of the
acquisition of territory; and any compulsory
treaty by which Mexico should yield US that
which she does not owe, will be humlliatng TO
her and douby shameful to us.
But such peace as the Administration hopes
now TO conquer, and now to buy, will be attend
ed with as little Of profit as honor, What has
this nation TO gain by further extension Of terri
tory? The prosperity Of people consists in the
aggregate individual prosperity of its citizens,
and is not measured by the number Of its armies
or its fleets, the extent OF lis territorial jursdic
tion or the spendor OF lis government. We are
apt to forget that splendid Government is not
one of the objects of our institutions, and to con-
found the power of rulers with the prosperity Of
their subjects; but who doubts that the citizens
of the little republic of San Marine, and Of the
duchy of Tuscany, are as happy and as prosper
Gus as if they were annexed 10 the Kingdom OF
Sardinia, or even enjoyed the paterna discipline
of the gentle Metternich Who has forgotten
that Norway, though one of the feeblest powers,
is yet the freest state of continental Europe
The increase of the power Of government by
territorial ACKNOWLEDGEMENT is not attended with
a corresponding increase of the power of the
people to resist its encroachnents upon the lib.
critics of the citizen. With enlargement Of tel
ritory comes increase of standing armies, of ma
vies, and especially, of that which Is more dan
gerous to liberty than either, of Executive pat
ronage. All these instruments OF power are
concentrated the means Of resistance scattered
and dispersed What, in small republics, is
the safeguard of their liberties-he distribution
of power through multitude of jurisdictions
and departments becomes in greater common
weallhs an engine for its overthrow, whenever
increased and widely diffused patronage enables
the Executive to control these Jurisdictions
The States have neither fleets nor armies and
though the ordinary militia Of single one of
them might set at defiance the whole military
force which 1t has hitherto been our policy 10
maintain, yet it does not follow that the ncrcas-
ed armies and navies which our contemplated
expansion will obge US to keep on foot may not
enable an ambitious President to establish mil
itary despotism; and, as in ancient Rome, the
soldiery raised to protect the frontier may sdper-
sede your electoral colleges, and impose upon
vou a Dictator who shall sunercelc VOur Con-
stituton and your laws. Even now tokens oil
evil aupury may be discerned. The leGions OF
Peunsy lvania have cast their sulfrages in Mex.
CO. The balot-box has become part of the
furniture of the camp, and the commander, whom
military law invests with tho power of life and
death, issues his orders for the " free" election
of the chief magistracy of a State, to whose ju-
risdction neither he nor his troops are amena-
ble
When the soil of an Independent country is
sufficiently wide, and its climate sufficiently
genial to supply its population with the cardinal
necessarios of human life, and reasonable means
of exchange with foreign lands when its physi-
cal power is adequate to its defence against in
vasion and aggression, and when its rights to an
equal position among civilized communities are
recognized, il possesses all the elements OF true
prosperity, and nothing is gained by further in
crease Of power or extension OF territory. This
point was reached long SINCE. lUuecu, our OIL
ginal limits fulfilled all the necessary conditions
of national prosperity, and much doubt whether
we should not at this moment have occupied a
higher place among the nations of the earth than
We now enjoy, if we had been content with the
Inheritance our wiser fathers devised to us. We
had territory, such, in position and confgura.
ton, that it was wholly invuinerable from with
out, and at the same time SO situated as to give
us the most enViable facilities for universal Com
merce, as well as for maratime power; We en-
| joyed boundless variety Of soil, climate and
natural productions an extent of surface ude-
quate TO the sustenence of larger population
:han any kingdom of Europe, and yielding
the most abundant materials for industrial eab-
ration the most plentiful means of commercial
exchange What more than this has earth to
offer to social man? | shall not dispute the
wisdom ofthe acquisition OF Florida and Eastern
Louisiana. The latter seemed necessary, as
means of providing an outlet for tie products of
the teeming West, especially in the day when
canals and railroads had not yet furnished a
better means of transport 10 the ocean than that
famous river which is frozen for three months
in the year, and dry the remaining nine !" or
even than that " inland sea-" whose snags and
sawyers are more formidable to navigators than
the Libyan Syrtes, or the rock and whirlpool OF
old ScyIla and Charybdis; but am not able to
see wherein the lot of any American has been
or is likely to be, improved by further extension