The southern press. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1850-1852, 1850-06-27

tsouetIob VI &OVcIuu10ub e&S - ~ -
bonds1 Who will answer this grave in
quiryi How many agents Of these bond
holders are lobby members, and who throng
the purlieus Of the Capitol, ready to grasp
the promised spells Tons Of slvsr and
gold are at stake upon the issue made by
Mr.. .Clsy's writ in partition Of the public
treasury All of sudden the productions
of numerous list of letter-writers crowd
the pages Of the "Union,". who discourse
about the proposed plan Of capt.
ulation, and the South are, in effect, gravely
told that, inasmuch as defeat is certain, they
had better accept Mr.. Clay's plan OF settle
ment, as it is framed to enable the South to
surrender with the best possible grace
They, in effect, admit that il is an undis-
guised capitulation but Mr.. Clay, who 10
now the great Free-Soil leader, magnani-
mously comedies to US the honor Of march,
ing from the field, with our swords drawn,
our drums beating, and our colors flying.
"To Massena, the marshal Of France, q
similar concession was made at the seige OF
Genoa. When his soldiers marched out Of
the city, they were covered with rags and
vermin. They looked like spectres Of men,
to such deplorable condition were they re-
Iuced by famine and pestilence. They stag
gered under the weight Of the arms they had
50 nobly used in defence Of their country's
honor They deserved better fate But
were to accept in your name the terms OF
capituiation now offered by Mr.. Clay, !
should, in my Judgment, deserve a Uorse
fate"
shall in some degree reverse the order
If this category Of ills, if am compelled by
the continuity Of the narrative to end with
the seige Of Genoa and Massena's raga-
mullins
Mr.. Wallace says that when Texas was
admitted into the Union /" she owed a debt
of ten millions'' This is small mistake
immaterial, however, to the issue. She in
point Of fact owed a debt Of fifteen millions.
He says proposition to pay this debt by the
Government of the United States, as an
equivalent for cession of territory, would
involve, lst, design Of bribery and corrap-
.tion, L presume Of Texas to sell her land;)
IDLY, to bride every Texas bondholder to
support the whole scheme Of adjustment as
i unit; 3dly, that the provision in Mr.. Clay's
bill, that the bonds for which the Govern
..nent Of the United States is considered re-
sponsible should be first paid, is, in fact, ga
gross insult to Texas" 4tnly, that these
5opdholders are :" lobby members, who have
bought up the securities they hold at great
sacrifice below their par value, and who
thIong the purlieus Of the Capitol, ready to
grasp the promised spoils''-yes, "tons OF
Jod and silper;" 5thly, that the purchase Of
10000, 900 acres Of slave territory is to make
three free States, that they may be brought
INTO the Union; for they can get in, in no
Jther way.
1st Of the design Of bribing and cor
cupting Texas. Itcertainly involves ] should
think, very small portion ofmoral obliquity
TO afford an inducement to people to pay
their just debts. 1t is pity that the world
vas not little more open to this species Of
corruption. We should have more honest
men and fewer rogues.
But Mr.. Wallace happens to forget that
for large portion Of this debt Of Texas
yes, fully three-fourths oft, the Government
Of the United States is responsible, not only
on every principle of national faith, public
and municipal law, but on certain canons Of
common honesty, which Don Fabricio him.
self, in that amusing history ofhuman nature,
known under the title of Gil Bias de San
tillane, would not be inclined entirely to re-
pudiate.
For the payment of this portion Of the
public debt of Texas, the then republic
solemnly pledged her revenues arising from
custom-house duties By the articles of an
nexation, the Government of the United
States very quietly appropriated in perpetui-
Ity the whole OF this ample and Immediately
productive fund to itself, and by compact
between Texas and herself, RENTED without
their consent, the creditors Of the latter to
the public lands for their payment.
had the honor, under the appointment
Of the revenue bondholders, to prepare and
present the memorial to both houses Of Con-
gress at the commencement Of the present
session Of Congress. / beg leave to submit
a brief summary Of the argument comprised
in that memorial, which, in my humble
Judgment, establishes the liability Of the
Government Of the United States to the
revenue debt Of Texas beyond the possibili-
ty Of retutation:
aYour memorialists do not think it necessa-
ry, at this moment, to discuss, how far, under
the law Of nations, the Government Of the
United States had right to stipulate against
a general liability for that portion Of the
public debt of Texas for which her public
lands and her public faith and credit were
alone pledged. 1t is quite sufficient for our
purpose to affirm that our security for the
payment Of her debt to US is not to be inn
peached by any such stipulation. We held
specific pledge Of her revenues arising
from her custom-house duties, and contend
that that security has neither been annulled,
defeated, Eor impaired, by the act Of an
nexation, nor by any stipulation between
Texas and the United States, that the lat
ter was in no event to be called upon to pay
the public debt Of the former"
"This assumption is founded on the fact
that we held lien on all the revenues Of
Texas, prior to her annexation to the Union,