The Kalida venture. [volume] (Kalida, Ohio) 1841-1865, 1848-04-11

Hon. James B. Bowlin, &c.. for Con gi essional
documents.
EXTRACT FROM Mr.. CASS'S LATE
SPEECH ON THE WAR. ts
AS TO the internal question, relating to
the conduct of the President, it admits of
but one answer. That cases may occur in
which il is his duty; under his constitutional
power, to repel All actual or threatened in
VISION before Congress can act upon the
subjecr, no one can doubt; and, for myself,
| could never see any just constitutional or
legal objections TO the course lie pursued in
this whole aff,ir. But there is one other
consideration, which is decisive; and that is,
that the orders for the movement Of the
troops to the Rio Grandc were given by tho
President on the l3 h of January, 1916; and
thirteen days before that, an act Of Congle
b; d been plssedj recognizing dGr jurisd'c-
'li,n west Of fthe Nueces. 1t was the duty
of the Executive 10 carry it into effect, anil
thus consider The boundary Of Texas as ex-
tended Beyond that river.
As the "inhit,ive" was taken by our ad-
vcrsary; we took the defensive; and The at
tack being inevitable, it was for us 10 choose
where to receive it. Such, repeat il the
law ofnations, and such the practice Of na-
tions.
81 much for the commencement Of tbe
war.
1 had anticipated many modes of attack
up n The administration, and many avowel
causes of censnre; but, must confess, had
not anticipated the charge Of the honorable
Senator from Maryland, Mr.. JoHNsoN,l that
the administration had proved itself feeble
or inefficient, and that the war had not been
vigorously prosecuted. | am not going, sir,
to unde rake leiutaticn of this charge.
leave that to the people, who sent us here,
and the measure Of whose glory has been
filed by brilliant achievements, which Will
yield in their renown 10 few, ifany, Of the
martial fcais Of our age. "We have had an
osientaiious and asserted vigor," says tho
honorable Senator, ,"but we have had nothing
else, so far as the President is concerned"
An ostrnlatious and asserted vigor! Well,
this is strange world, and in my time have.
seen and heard many strange rhinss in il;
bat have heard few stranger things than
this. The act recognizing war was passed
on the 18th of May, 1915, twenty-five
months ago. AT that time we had an army
whose total ofrank and file consisted of ~
523 men. They occupied thrty-seven forts
aud positions in the interior of the United
Suites, and upon our inland and seaboard
frontier, comprehending a space almost e.
quail to halt. Europe. And the portion of
this force under General Taylor upon the
Nueces amounted TO 1900 men. This was
our preparation for meeting the war. All
else had TO be collected or created. Recol-
!leci, sir, that our situation is far different
from that Of tie martial powers of Europe -
War is there both u trade and science, and
its governments are always prepared TO meet
con ingcncies, which cannot, indeed, be
foresccn, but which,, moi provided for, bring
ruin and disaster in their train. AT ono
time the people of France were great army
1.-The country vast camp-ihe cities and
towns, arsenas and mag zines -ud The
fields, sources of supply for the immense liv-
ing rmrachire, whose movements. were always
80 tremendous, and often SO irresisliDie,-
Welb sir, we, had nothing Of all this. We
hadno army, for our Little force scarce de-
served the name. We had no conscription
by which to increase it. Aud all the nsateri-
al necessary for the subsistence and trans
portalon and operations of our troops, had
to be, collected through the country, and
conveyed to distant scene of Aarfare.-
This scene is 5000 miles off; and liule did
the government or tho country know Of the
condition of Mex;co--of its fortressvs, OF
their state of preparation-of lis armies, OF
their state Of efficiency or discipline the
rosds, the bridges, the means Of transporla-
tion and subsistence, and the thousand Other.
points essential to military operations, and
which, in the various countries of Europe,
are studied and known.
Now, s,r, in The face Of fallthese obsta-
ces, what have we done? We have sent
our troops 10 t6e shores ofthe Pacific, by
routes across The continent and around Cape
Horn; we have subdued Upper and Lowg
California and New Mexico; we have taken
possession Of the rich and pbplilods districts