Weekly national intelligencer. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1841-1869, 1853-03-12
THE NEW ADMINISTRATION


,,;n;s.-at;on under our new President, are more
s,, disclosed hy its acts, we must be content with
the general light thrown upon the subject by his
Inaugural Address pronounced in the presence OF
the assembled multitude Of his fellowcitizens, on the
occasion Of his taking upon himself the responsible
ties Of the great Office which the People have con-
ferrcd upon him. That Address, our readers uni
versally win, by the time they receive this paper,
have had the opportunity, of which we have availed
ourselves, to read over, once and again.
We can now say Of it, with confidence
which at the first glance at its contents we were
unable to do that, as whole, it is production in
high degree creditable to the ability swell
as the patriotism Of its author and generally to the
principles which he avows and indicates in regard
TO the domestic institutions and policy of coun
try, and to the clearly expressed, and, we believe
sincere determination on his part, that in regard to
our relations with foreign nations, no advantage
shall be sought that is inconsistent with the laws
and usages Of the civilized world.
That there arc one or two passages Of the Address
which somewhat startled us upon the fret perusal
Of IT, ms heretofore intimatcdand the first impress
sion Of which is not yet altogether dissipated-
does not dctract from the general merit which we
have attributed to it, There is not, probably, one
Of the regular readers Of this paper who has not al
ready taken the same view of those passages as we
have done. II is nevertheless due to them, and to
our public responsibilities, that should consider
these points by themselves with some care and we
now proceed, in part, to fulfil that duty.
The trait in the Address which took us most by
surprise is the affirmation, by the President, of the
policy, as one to be carried out under his Admins
traton, "cf he acquisition Of certain possessions,
not scitia our Jurisdiction, emiacatly important
q for oar protection, If not, in the future, essen
tal for the preservation of the rights of commerce
g and the peace of the world"
OF the possessions of other Powers, thus to be
transferred to the United States, nothing more
definite is stated than what is included in the pre-
ceding quotation The general opinion of the press,
however, and the exuberant JOY Of those persons in
the great cities who have heretofore taken very
particular interest in enterprises against that Island
indicate in a manner not TO be mistaken, the
Spanish possession" Of Cuba one of the leading
objects to be brought within the scope Of this
policy There Is no reason, that we know of, that
can be given for the acquisition Of this particular
dependency Of Spain that may not be brought
forward with quite equal force for the acquisition of
any and every other Of the West India Islands, or
Of any or all of the Territories bordering on the
Gulf Of Mexico. Nay, we have just seen it limited
in journals, far from Flibusterian in their pro-
pensities that the Republics Of Central America
would be very convenient, and the British North
American Provinces very t subjects Of annexation
and California and the Sandwich Islands are also
included by some in the enumeration of "posses-
sions o. other countries TO be acquired !"
Whatever may be the order Of the acquisitions
proposed BY the President, il cannot be doubted
that he has particular possessions in view, and
that the Island Of Cuba may, without undue pre-
sumption, be set down a. one Of them The period
at which this acquisition and others (snce the plu-
raj term il cmployed) are contemplated must be
near at hand; the President speaking Of them as
measures Of which the accomplishment is to be the
work Of has Administration.
The "policy" Of the proposed acquisitions says
the President, is one which evil not be controlled
by any tinsid foreJodmys Of era from expansion"
We give no credenOC to the suggestion that this
cpithet Of timid," applied to the forebodings of
evil from expansion, is intended as reflection
upon the Presidents predecessor, who, in his last
Annual Message to Congress, declared to the world,
as he had already directed the Ministers Of England
and France to be assured, that he should regard
the incorporation Of Cuba into the Union at the pre-
sent time as " fraught with serious peril"
We have, we repeat, too good an opinion Of the
Presidents head and heart to listen to that sugges-
ton. The alusion to tinid forebodings" is sufi-
GENTLY out Of place in the Address without such
construction) when considered applied to the Wing
party, and to the CONSERVATIVES generally, of whom
there are numbers in the Democratic party itself
The presentiment Of evil to arise from particular
course Of policy may be the evidence Of any thing
else than timidity. II may be wisdom. He who
is not endowed with the faculty Of forcsecng evil
from the pursuit Of any policy, especially Of
one that is new and uniried, Is deficient in an in
dispcnsable element Of statesmanship For want Of
this faculty, the most eminent man, placed in the
high position Of Chief Magistrate 81 his country,
might, in marching blindy onward 70 some
favoritc object, plunge bis country into a sea
Of difficulties, from which all his courage and all
his skill In government would not be able 70 ex-
tricate J, without damage, II without mos, inn
minent danger % total wreck u viii not hc .
sufficient answer 90 ~ 10 say, that fhs suggestion
on our part u either sinid'' CO irrasicnal No
one eugf.artal az. 4. PA -. - A. 60. -. -