Weekly national intelligencer. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1841-1869, 1848-01-08

fered to accept the boundary and provinces quoted
by our correspondent from the Message: to make
no claim for the expenses Of the war to take upon
ourselves the payment of the indemnities'' TO our
citizens and to pay 10 her, as the excess Of the
value Of her territories taken as above, beyond
that of our claims, from fifteen to twenty millions
Of dollars.
Now, TO name, in case like this, a less and
greater price as that which you are willing to pay
is really, except the observation-disclosures of awkward
huckstering only offering the larger price-that is
twenty millions. Add some five millions for the
indemnities, and you have twenty -fve millions as
the Presidents own estimate of what we ought to
pay for California, New Mexico, and below it the
line Of the Rio Grande. So that it plainly appears
by the Executives own reckoning, that we are to
seize and keep, by war, as a fair equivalent for
our just demands" only some fce times as much
territory as zoe could take, even if we he'd right
to help ourselves to a nations soil and people at
our own estimate
Before the plainness and directness of this view
how looks that Presidential object for continuing
this war, indemnity 7" How sounds the talk of
/" fair equivalents I" What must every man Of
an atrocious claim as this! claim SO distinctly
used as nothing but fetch, in order to plumber
your neighbor of great territories, which; rich
as you are, you look with envious eyes.
Indemnities How many aggressions are these
to Justify or to atone? We have asserted, what is
too notorious for contradiction, that this Govern
ment has repeatedly offered to take upon itself
these indemnities by way of compromising Mexico
for some injury which our Presidents were bent
on doing her, andwhich they went on to com
NIT withoA compensation, when the compensation
arbitrarily fixed by the aggressor had been refused
Who does not know that the Tyler Administra-
tion-knowing full well that annexng Texas, while
at war with Mexico, scas assuming that war and
making ourselves principals in it-ofered to COM
pound with Mexico fright or wrong for peaceful
annexation, by assuming to pay for her these claims
OF our citizens Who is ignorant, that after an Of
fer so decisive against our own claim OF right the
same Administration proceeded to complete the an
nexation without providing any compensation I!
If fair, was it not still fair! Texas herself had, on
her own part, equally acknowledged an obligation
as little to be voided: she had offered TO Mexico as
the condition Of an acknowledgment of her ndepen-
dence by that Government, to assume her fair pro-
portion Of the public debt Of Mexico existing at the
time of her revot-thus confessng that in quitting
the Confederacy, she could not emancipate herself
from just proportion of its common Indebtedness.
But again, as to the justice Of this Government:
When subsequently to this offer by Mr.. TYLER, the
Chairman of the House Committee on Foreign AZ
fairs, and with a distinct intimation that he spoke
4 Ill r.. M N
quiet all further opposition and carry the measure
(then hanging on few votes, that he had the iber-
fy of assuring The House that Merico ,oo,ad accept
a compensation and be guieted WITH A SUM OF MO-
NEY, what did this mean! Did it not signify that
the indemnities, at least, if not some millions in
cash, would be given her, as fair sacrifice, an
equivalent" on our part But this was at the
moment when, Mr.. BENToN's remonstrances and
proofs prevailing, Congress had receded from the
idea of assuming the absurd claim of Texas to take
possession Of all Mexico or this side of the Rio
Grande: when Congress was, by the Resolution of
Annexation ITSELF instructing the President TO ac-
quire this further territory, if at all, by negotiation.
We /" annexed " TO the Union, however, the pro-
perty for which we had offered compensation, and
kept back that inexhaustble equivalent the indem-
mites, now to be used for bloodier purpose-that
of justifying an open attack upon Mexico, in order
that we might wrest from her California and Santa
Fe. For no sooner had the war been determined
on by the Executive than these battered claims
about which, for very shame, our rulers should
have said no but to tell Congress that we ought
10 assume and pay them ourselves, as part-con-
sideraiion, at least, for what we had taken from
Mexico-were once more brought into play. In
his Annual Message of December, s45, the Presi-
dent rang violently all the changes upon them, for
the purpose of making out that case Of declaration
of war which las we have heretofore shown he
had put into his Message, but afterwards found
himself forced, by Mexico's conserving TO receive
Commissioner and treat, TO omit leaving in il, how
ever, to bring about national irritation on both
sides, flaming exhibition Of wrongs about these
very claims, thus repeatedly, in all good faith, yield
ed up for what we had taken without any other equi-
valent. Nor is that all in subsequent negotia-
ton our Secretary Of State insisted that the question
OF boundaries even shall not be entered into, unless
along with that of these indemnites for that these
oere the cause Of The yar!t Now, Congress had,
by the Resolution Of Annexation instructed the Pre-