The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1849-07-17
MTELlIGENCE ~ rHE MAILS,
Our Washington Correspondence.


4 Quesfion or Itco-7 The Lat Naturalization
and Cuba-H uabugging- The Democratic Plat
form for 1852 Stoien- Ihe Secretary Of STATE, &c.
The Union Of this morning for once,
TO harp upon the threadbare subject Of "proscrp-
tion"-contains furious attack upon the admlns-
traton, and especially the Secretary of State upon
the subject of annexation They are accused Of q
"nefarious and dscreditabl-" design /" in reference
to one of the leading nations of the world, with
whom we are at peace" by " avowedly adoptlnga
system Of policy designed to force the separation OF
the British American colonies from the British
crown" The charge is a serious enc, and, al
though parallel for such a course might be found
in the history OF the administrations which pre-
ceeded this, would, if true, be no less dshonorable.
And how does the Union endeavor to substsntiate
III BY asserting that " Omega" of the New York
Herald, is " evidently in the confidence of the
Secretary of State" and that writer in the
Boston Courier, evidently writing in concert with
the aforesaid "Omega," has written letter
taking the ground that this country should re-
| fuse 10 enter into any rec,procity with Canada.
so as 10 force her, by her poverty, into annexa-
uon Tins is certainly the most roundabout
way OF substantiatlng charge we ever heard
of; and its perfect absurdy will at once be
seen, when we state, that 80 la from the Cogisrs
correspondent "acIlng IN concert' with us, that
We entertain wholly dlsslmllar views and IN let
ter OF the llth INST, aciu ally referred TO the
very letter the UntOu has copied from the Courier,
and took precisely opposite ground AS 10 thu en-
deavor OF the Cnion 10 unplicdte the Secretary OF
state IN the matter, or IN anything we may see hit
10 write, II is Iidlcuously absurd. If the Union,
however, wishes 10 make capital against the Secre-
taIy upon anything we have written why does it
not copy our letter upon the subject instead OF pub
lishmg communication written by another per-
son, OF entirely different views, and dishonesty
pretending we have taken the same ground 1t is
scarcely necessary Tor Us to say however, that In
our letters we merely express our own oplalons,
and We are fully prepared to defend them.
In abiding 10 Mr.. Merrtt's VISIT we stated that
II he made any proposition 10 the administration
upon the subject OF commercial reciprocity, 1t was
more than probable II was not entertained, and
SIMPLY Tor the reason that Mr. Merritt came TO
washington merely IN private capacity, armed with
no rn'houty TO enter INTO any arrangement Does
me C0h blame the administration tor declining TO
enter into negotiation under such circumstances
Does he wish the public to understand that the
last administration was IN the habit of entering
into negotiations with the private citizens OF
foreign countries, who happened To visit this city.
! 1t that was the case-aud what other inference
| can be drawn from the Uni0n's attack I've think
| II was high time for the exhibition OF a different
| policy. And in this connection would also beg
| 10 ask the Onion II he considers, even su1posing
| Mr.. Merritt 70 have been invested with fu au-
thority by the Canadian government, that the adj
mnstlat0n would BE- In error ia declining TO enter
into negotiation with him upon the subject of
commercial reciprocity with the British North
American colonies
But to return to the subject Of annexation Will
the Union be pleased 10 point out what is "nefa-
nous and dlscred table"in the "system Of policy"
as he elegantly expresses IT, which we stated we
believed the administration was prepared TO re-
commend-namey, an enlarged commercial inter-
course between the whole OF the North American
colonies and ourselves, it, upon mutual investiga-
ton, il was found we could do so without disadvan-
tage 10 our INTERESTS Does he desire that we
should not avail ourselves Of the advantages Of
an unrestricted commerce with those provinces,
unless IT can be demonstrated they will suffer
by II! In other words, Is It an axiom OF his
party, that In every transaction we must
overreach the countries we negotiate with In
speaking Of the effect Of an enlarged system OF
ciprocity, we stated our belief that ''if such a
measure should be recommended and carried out,
the provinces would virtually be portion OF this
Union, and but lew months would elapse before
| they would be entirely So" The colonial system
| OF government cannot stand alongside OF ours a
moment, when viewed by an unprejudiced eye;
and the colonlst, feeling that he has been deserted
| by England, having no communication with her,
and being IN hourly intercourse with us, would
rapidly learn that the cloak Of Ignorance and pre-
Iudce within which he wraps himself, but excludes
| HIM from the bright and genial influences Of our
institutions. and the glory and greatness they pro-
duce." Will the Union, with all its show OF pa
tiotism, assert its belief that institutions are
| not superior to these Of the British cooniesl
But the Unio~ also touches upon another sub
jeci--the anne xation Of Cuba. One would have
imagined that i, would have let that island alone.
We can well remember, when the New York
Herald first charged Mr.. Polk's administration
with "nefsnous and discreditsbls" intrigue with
reference 10 Cuba, the loud denuncIatlons, the
| fierce lnveciive, and the indignant tone, which
marked the U~is~'s denial Of the truth Of the
charge. We can remember when the Herald
repeated IePes..dd the charge, and the london Times
| the "organ" still repudiafed II, with louder de-
nunciations than before He called Allah to wit
ness the truth OF his asseverations-nay he swore by
| his beard that the whole statement was base and
basele.s fabrication. And yet, Notwithstanding
| that the editor was "evidcntly in the confidence
OF the Secretary Of State,' It has been dis
| covered that The whole charge WAS strictly true.
| We are unwilling TO believe that the venerable
| editor knew al the time br wrote 30 iercey, that
| this was the casej we will more charltaby think
he was merely huTbugged. But. even putting
this benevolent construction upon it, IL should be
The last subject he ought To feel any desire to dis
cuss now.
The ground taken that the present admini.tra-
ton would do nothing To oppose the annexation OF
Canada or Cuba, whenever either or both Of those
countries should come properly forward and desire
II, has evidently alarmed the Union IL. doubtless,
intended that that should be the great de nocratic
platform tor i52 and he waxrth wrath at tho
thought that the administration will not take a
different view Of the matter lie was reserving IL
for his own private use It WIS to be his thun-
der. Pshawl Cannot the man, for IN his
life, rise above party, and give the admInistra-
ton credit for ITS liberalityl
The Unio~'s attacks upon Mr.. Clayton, 50 far,
have been rather unfortunate. I. first abused hum
because he did not see ~, merely to prevent an
sJpost Of the mistakes ot the last administration,
70 continue gross violation &c our neutrality laws,
and especially where the effect Of doing 30 was to
facilitate the King Of Prussia IN obtaining power
ful engine Tor the suppression Of German liberty.
IL now trumps up smother charge, still more ridi-
cuous, having no foundation IN truth whatever, Of
his wishing TO force Canada into annexation. How
far the accusation has succeeded. leave tho
public 20 Judge. There is one point we wish TO bs
distinctly understood-thsf when we state our be-
lief that the present administration will do nothing
TO prevent events taking their own course, We
merely give u credit for heightened honor and good
statesrnanship and believe u possesses both ia
an eminent degree. But IL the administration is
not opposed to annexation, IL will never take any
undefhand means 10 bring IL about IL will never
be implicated In nefsrious secret negotiations or
wars 81 conquest; nor will II ever be compelled,
in order to hide lite " dscreditable (" conduct,
either to humbug or pay an "orgin" to swear an