Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1848-06-01
THURSDAY, JUNE 1, 1913.

d characterized as ION the part of the British
7 GovernmenD "an extraordinary and wholly
e lnadmlssible demand" And here | wish
to recur to very remarkable debate which
G occurred in the Senate of the United States
: Cat period considerably in advance of the
= final adjustment of that controversy be-
: tween an Hon. Senator from North Carroll
e ma, (Mr. Haywood and an Hon. Senator
: from Indiana, Mr.. Hannegan,) as to what
were the real purposes of the President in
Y that regard the former insisting strenuous
1 ly that he would compromise on 40 degrees
+ and the latter maintaining, with unexampled
vehemence, that he would not. An extract
! from the speech of the latter, which here
produce, will, as from polished mirror, re-
g fleet flood of light on this subject
: 1.-THE President" (said Mr.. Hannegan, J
+ =" has betrayed that standard which the Bal
tlmore Convention put into his hands and
2 whereby he committed himself to the coun-
! try, into the hands of the enemy, l will not
do as the Senator from North Carolina
: threatens--turn my back upon him. sup
: pose he cares little whether both of US do
that-but shall hold him recreant to the
: principles which he protested; recreant to
$ the trust which he accepted recreant to
the generous confidence which majority of
, the people reposed in him." -" What is
5 this, need | ask, but charging on the Presi-
: dent conduct the most vile and Infamous
} II the allegation be true, these intentions of
; the President must sooner or later come TO
light; and, when brought to light, what
; must follow, but nretrievabie DISGRACE so
, long as human eye remains TO Hnger on
: me page OF history, the story Of his abaSc-
me"t wiH be reaf, sending him and his name
together to a" miamy so prQfound, dam
nation SO deep, that the hand ofrcsurrection
: 'o'H nerer be able to drag him forth !"
Here is picture drawn with the hand of
master; and let every honorable member
OF this committee study it profoundly, and
: ne cannot fail to see in it the real motives
: which have actuated the Executive in Civ
ing most unnecessary aud ruinous direc-
ton to this war. | will not say that the IA
tai order of the 18th January was issued in
anticipation of betrayal of " the standard
which the Baltimore Convention put into
the hands" of the observation-disclosures
strongly suspect it; but [ will say, he de-
termlned, as L believe, to convert what
should have been only a war of defence in
TO war OF aggression and conquest, solely
to enable him TO escape from the infamy of
} his position on the Oregon question. Moth
ing would answer his purpose better than
splendid war" He knew that it would
rouse the military spirit of the country; put
at his disposal an inintude of patronage
unite cordially his political friends; embar-
rass the opposition; and enable him to set
at nought the evil vaccinations Of the hon
:. SpnDtDr In Al. 1
!, concluded that, if he could wrest from poor
lmbecle Mexico an cxpanse ofterritorv cor
responding with that which he had surren-
dered to Great Britain, his political resur-
rection would be complete, and he would
wihd up his administration in a "blaze of
glory. But IN escaping from one abyss,
the question is, whether he has not prepar-
ed another, into which he and his friends
: VIII be plunged headong at no remote day
Let the political Developments of the next
: few months answer.
But let us return to the avowed objects of
the war. What are they a.? In the first in
stance the President says, the object was to
defend our own territory But that being
: done, what were the objects sought in pros
ecuting 1t further? Now, it is quite impos-
sible Tor me to express my opinions on this
subject without making some reference to a
treaty which, it is understood. has been ne
gollaled In Mexico, either with or without
the authority of the Executive, which has
oeen brought to this city, and is now pend
: ing before the Senate, for the approval or
dlsappro'al of that body. As this is a subject
OF great delicacy, desire it may be under
stood that | shall speak on my own RESPONSE
bllity, and with moderation, caution, and re-
serve though | shall by no means concede
that question of such vast importance, and
/ SO deeply affecting the happiness and pros
1 Perlty OF the whole country, may not be
made topic of discussion here. The uues-
r ton is, how shall our country ne constitu-
} ted Shall an immense extent Of noun
tains, rocks, and arid deserts be brought
within our limitsl Shall hundreds of thou
t sands of the wild savages of North Ameri-
ca be subjected to our Jurisdiction Shall
foreign people, not speaking our language,
: knowing nothing of our institutions, and
| abhorring our alliance, be forced into our
Union Shall over twenty millions of mo-
/ ney, in addition to the prodigal expenditure
of treasure and of blood which has hither-
to attended the course of this Administra-
ton, be squandered on what, | believe. will
prove an unmtigated curse If the imme-
date representatives of the people may not
declare their sentiments on such subject.
they may as well be silent on all. Never
theless, 1t is not my purpose to express an
; opinion on the question: whether the treaty
should or should not be rat6ded The op-
ponents of the policy of this Administra-
| ton are thrown on a hard alternative of
, choosing between bad war, or a treaty
which may prove much worse than the war
ITSELF therefore cheeriuly refer the en-
tire subject to those who have before them
f all the materials necessary TO the formation
of proper opinion thereon and | trust
their decision will be such as to accord with
the real interest and the true glory of the
American People But, still, must be
permitted to refer to the treaty, with view
to enable us to form a proper estimate of
the objects of this war and, to that end,
shall assume, that the treaty cedes to us all
the territory this side of the Rio Grande, all
New Mexico, and SO much of Upper Cali
fornia as is situated north of the river Ga,