Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1849-07-25
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The very meaning ol treaty IS Il com.
pact between Independent states founded
on negotiation, aud if treaty las il clearly
would bc) it must be submitted to lhc
Senate for its approval, AM run ihe hnz.
ard of receiving lhc votes Of TWO l'ilrds OF
The members present (which could ha. ID.
" be expected; il we are to judge from
recent experience. This Of itself. is CON
sidcred by tho President rs a conclusive
reason for proposing the resolution oil the
House, instead Of the amendment OF Inc
Senate, as The basis Of anncXati"II.
The above extract will place you IN
possession of the leading reasons for max
ing the selection. Events pr"vc that the
selection was udicious. Texas was an
nexed against every ellurt Of epen enemies
and iEeachcrous friends, both here and
there, aud the most strenuous cil1Its 10
defeat it by England and France. and by
it, your weak and most exposed flank vas
projected against danger from without, and
the Vaccinations Of abollioniss and their
abe,lors at home. Ii WAS great victory.
both for your cause aud the country, and
was felt 10 be so at The Time. That i, was
due 10 The selection made, have the high
est authority. MIR. Donaldson, in his letter
to me. after annexation was achieved. said
that any other course, but that pursued,
would have defeated it.
But Col. Benton now objects, that the
House resolution contained IA provision 10
extend the Missouri Compromise line 10
the western boundary of Texas, and as.
serts, that This extension abolished slavery
in The State; meaning, as ! suppose, that
il prevented the Introduction of slaves in
tho portion north of the line, when al the
time there were no settlements or slaves.
1t was not, il seems, the resolution of those
who voted for it, and passed it and among
them himself, whose vote could have de-
fealcd it, that abolished slavery, as he
calls il, but |, who made the selection Of
the House resolution, in preference to his
amendment. The slightest agency il
seoms on my part, in reference TO any
measure, makes me solely responsible for
the whole. 1t would be better al once for
him to take the ground, that ! only am
responsible for all tho misdeeds Of the
government. since | came into public life,
whether of commission or omission. But
what could | do The President had to
act, aud 10 select one or the other resolu-
tions,-llis or tho House, Tile selection
was left to him. II that Of The House WAS
tainted by the Missouri Compromise with
aboltionism, as he states, his resolution
was much moro deeply infected. have
bis own words for the assertion. lie de.
clared, this amendment, as adopted by The
Senate, was the samo with The string OF
resolutions he had introduced at the pre-
ceding session; and removed at tho then
session. lie also declared, that they were
generalized aud comprised in one, to avoid
objections TO details. One Of this string OF
resolutions thus covered under general
terms, was to divide Texas into Two equal
parts, by line drawn North and South,
of which The western part was to DO SUBJ
jecl 10 the ordinance Of ~. A measure,
coming from quarter so hostile aud ac-
companied by such declaration, was just
ly suspected. as intending mischief. 1t
was so considered. generally, by The friends
OF annexation in the Senate, and was as.
sen,ed TO reluctantly aud only because he
had few supporters, wh no with him held
the balance, and refused to vote for the
resolution ofthe House without the amend
ment. Among Them, If my memory
serves me, was his friend Hayward, who
was for the covering all Texas aud the
whole region, North of $50 81 with the
ordinance Of ~. IImco DoaaaoS et iona
.ferentes.
come now to the last OF his charges;
that abandoned The South, and left him
and few others alone by tho side Of tho
ill-fated owners Of the Comet, Encomium,
Enterprise, and Creole. lie does not
state by what act, abandoned you. but
leaves il to be inferred from his remarks,
that it was by voting in favor Of The Ash
burton treaty, which contained no sripula>
ton in favor Of the owners oflhose vessels
1t is trick Of his to make his charges very
vaguely, so as 10 make il difficult 10 detect
his errors aud repel his slandcrous attacks.
l admit that l voted for the Ashburton
treaty. did more, delivered speech
in its favor, which, in the opinion of its
friends saved it from rejection. Its fate
was doubtful. The opposition headed by
Col. Benton was violent, and it required
TWO thirds to confirm the treaty. am
willing 10 take whatever share Of RESPONSE.
bilhy he may think proper 10 aIlot TO me
for voting for it. Hook with no little salis-
faction to my course on The occasion, from
the belief that rendered then great and
permanent service to the country. For its
adoption was the first link, in Iha. series
Of causes, by which war between Great
Bratain and US was avenel. Who is there
now so blind, as no, 10 sec, that if the
treaty had been rejected, war could not
have been avoided Tie Two countries,
were in truth, on The very eve of rup.
lure, the way events were moving al the
time, without either being aware of it. Al
the very next session the Oregon question
for The first time assumed dangerous and
rnenacins aspect. y bill was in,rodn-
ced Immediately after its opening, which
covered the whole of that territory, the
object Of which was to commence systems
a,ically, the work Of colonization aud sell
'lement on our part. louk my scat in
tho Senate two or three weeks after the
commencement Of HE session, and found
The bill on its passage, without opposition,
aud apparently without division ofopinion.