The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1850-06-11
From the Washington Republic.
The President and Mr.. Clay.

From the Washington Republic.
The President and Mr.. Clay.
1t is now more than six months since tho
| President of the United States in message
10 Congress transmitting information in an
swer 10 resolution OF the House of Repre-
sentatives on the subject of California and
New Mexico, pursuant to the provision Of
the Constitution which makes it the duty Of
the Executive from time to lime TO recon-
mend to Congress such measures as he may
deem necessary and evpedicnt, pointed out
the course Of policy which, in his opinion,
under all the circumstances of the case, it
would be most wise to pursue in reference
to the government of the territory acquired
from Mexico by the treaty Of Guadalupe
| llidalgo. To that subject, and that subject
alone, did the recommendations contained in
hi. message refer. TO none other did he
conceive it to be his duty, on that occasion
TO call the attention of Congress. That the
line of policy then recommended by him was,
at the time, most favoraby received by the
people Of the United States, and was gener-
ally accepted by them as satisfactory and as
probably the best which existing circum.
stances rendered practicable. we presume no
one will pretend to deny.
after the President had recommended to
Congress the plan of proceeding which he
deemed best, various other plans were offer
ed hv individual members Of the Senate.
and more recently another has cmanatcd
from committee of thirteen member. Of tie
Senate, to whom the subject had been re-
ferred. This il known us the Compromise
| During the discussions which from dav to
| day sprung up and were continued in the
| Senate. with regard to the relative merits of
these plans and to the best mode of lispos
ing of the subject, it began to be rumored
that the President had changed his opinicn
in regard to the policy originally recon.
mended by him. and he thought better of
some other plan. Positive statements to
that effect were made in the public prints,
and began TO obtain very general crcdencc
Under these circumstances, it was alike due
to The President TO .be public, and, in n par
ticular manner, TO those members of Con-
gress who preferred the line of policy rec
commended by him 10 any other, and who had
from the beginning stood ready to support it,
that the misapprchension should be corrected
He accordingly authorized US TO say that no
such change of opinion as that attributed 10
him had taken place, and that he was still
firm in the belief that the policy recommend.
ed by him was, under all the circumstances
Of the case, the best that was practicable.
This simple correction of current misappre.
tensions and misrepresentation, in relation
to an alleged change of opinion by the Pres
ident on the subject of great measure Of
public policy which he had, on his official re
sponsibity, recommended to Congress, and
which had numerous supporters in that body
this mere enunciation of truth which it
was due to himself, to Congress, and to the
people of the United States should be made
known, has, it appears, been singularly mis-
conceived as to its Object, and a. strangely
received in certain quarters The Union
newspaper, the sole organ, in this ciiv. oI
the Democratic party, consirues it into an
indication that the President is opposed to
"the Compromise - which mears the Com.
promise in all its parts and provisions and
tina. he is against the settlement Of the sla.
very question"
The enunciation was also received, it an.
pears, " with profound surprise and regret
by distinguished Wing Senator, Mr.. CLAY
who, the day after The enuncation, on Tue.
day, the 2lst instant, in the discharge of " &
painful duty" felt himself called upon tc
contrast the plan proposed by the Pnrsr-
DENT with the Compromise plan. This h,
did by a =" simile." Here" said he arc
five wounds-one, two, three, four, and fiv,
bleeding and threatening the well,beinc
it not the existence of the body polite
What is The plan Of the President |
il to heal all these wounds? No such thing
1t is only to heal one of the five, and (,
leave the others to bleed more profuse,
than ever, by the sole admission of Califor
MIA, even if it should produce death itself
Those five wounds the Senator then pro
ceeded TO describe. First, A" said he, ":her
is California there are the territories, sec
ond there is the question of the boundar-
of Texas, the third; there is the fugitiv
slave bill, the fourth and there is the ques
ton of the slave trade in the District O
columbia, the fifth. The PREsIDENr, in
stead of proposing a plan comprehendir
all the diseases Of the country, looks onl
at one" Further on the Senator saws
81 The recommendation Of the PREsIDEN'
proposes the simple introduction of Califor
mia as a State into the Union and it " pro
poses to leave all else untouched and unpro
vided for"
In this contrast, which fhe Senator pre-
ceeds to carry out at considerable length,
appears TO US, and we doubt not il will so az
pear TO the public, that he has done tn
President very great injustice. With a
proper respect for the distinguished Sena tor
we think he has not fairly presented tn
Presidents plan. To point out that inju,
tice and unfarness, and TO set the policy re
commended by the President fairly and tru
" before our readers, is the Object of ihes