Daily evening star. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1852-1854, 1854-01-12
WASHINGTON NEWS AND GOSSIP.

WASHINGTON NEWS AND GOSSIP. b
The ABLE SPEECH OF GESERAL CAss was
istened to yesterday By crowded and de- /
lighted auditory. We, however, confess, that 9
70 fail to appreciate the correctness of his
easoning. We do not see either the patriot
SIN or wisdom Of Insisting that our public
'unctionaries have done wrong in the dis
,hargs Of their official duties merely because
hey areidentihsd with another political par
IT, It is clearly the interest of this Govern
ment to maintain the correctness Of Mr.. Clay
toms views Of his treaty. They certainly
cover the intention Of the late Administration
in making it, as we'll as the interests Of the
United States as involved in it. 1t by no
means strikes US as an act Of craftsmanship, to |
seek to weaken our national cause SO involv-
ed, by voluntarily coming forward to fight the
battles of the other (national) side, in the coun-
ellis of this nation-claiming for that side. as
the result of treaty. even more than it claims
for itself. As to the points Of the speech Of
General G.. which strike US as most glaringly
untenable, we have to say that the treaty,
while it did not extinguish the protectOrate
60 nonline, lit being evidently Judged prudent
TO let Britain out Of it without wounding her
national pride,) did so effectively. For it en-
braces full aud entire REIMBURSEMENT of all
her claims to substantial rights there, with
out which her protectorate" is q mere sha-
dow-not something substantial. The evidence
of this may be found in the words Of the trea-
ty. for bidding Great Britain to g occupy, for
tify, colonixe, assume, or exercise jurisdiction
over the Mosquito coast, or any part OF Central
America" s@' 80
l, AoI
| fully to admit the correctness of this view of
| ours, it will be seen. He also complained
| that the treaty was not sufficiently full and
| comprehensive. Yet, when he came to the
| clause we quote above, he declared that it was
so very full, to render it possible that some
thing not seen on its face may have been in
tended in it; this clause, by-the-by, being
the gist Of the whole treaty, conveying, as it
does a sweeping REIMBURSEMENT of Britain's
right to do anything there. His remarks
concerning the enterprise of the American
| citizens who have. recently purchased terri
| tory of the Mosquito King. struck US forcibly
rs having been put into his mouth by Mr..
Marcoletta, the Nicaragua Charge, being in
capital keeping with that gentlemans pre-
viOus course in connection with the affairs of
Americans who have interests in that uarter.
Now, it is we'll known that more than three
years ago, this Government practically ex-
tinguished the British protectorate by the
! treaty in question, in the hope that Nicaragua
would then repossess herself of the Musquito
| territory. Yet she has not taken one step to-
wards this restoration, and the Musquito Gov
ernmeut continues to exercise jurisdiction over
the entire coast as it did before the treaty
was made. The Government (Musquito,) as
it exists now, has existed since the year lS4S
Is it to be said that because Nicaragua
fails to attempt the repOssessiOn of this terri
tory, that therefore the land ON the Nose ute
coast is never to be occupied. The truth is,
] titles given by governments de fncto are,
on well settled principles Of international
law, universally recognized a. good Ac
According to the doctrine Of General Cass, il
for the next fifty years Nicaragua fails to
/ avail herself Of ths H:ence given by the Clay
ton and Bulwcr treaty. 10 retake this terrific
~, no government can exit there and no title
can be conveyed, This reasoning is simply
preposterous. The United States, it is true
have claimed the title to a part of the Mos
quito coast to be in Nicaragua. Nicaragua
occasionally and simply claims title, but does
nothing whatever to possess the soil, nor does
she attempt to convey it to others.
If the Mosquit0 government exists as q gov
eminent. de factO. without opposition on the
part of Nicaragua, and conveys titles to lands
to our citizens, we cannot understand why
such titles are not good, and We think Gen
Cass went much too far in declaring that this
citizens Of the United States in their enjoy
ment.
The PRESENT House OF REPRESENTATIVE
We have waited until the present moment
before expressing All opinion or commenting
upon that Of our contemporaries upon the char
acter of the present House of Representatives
because, until yesterday, they had not con
cluded their action upon any one question OF
Importance. wherein they could develope their
! touc and the ealibre Of any number of new
members. 1t will be rccollected, too, that
there are more new members in this Congress
| than ever before. These facts rendered il
extremely difficult to judge Of the present
House upon reliable data We may now,
however, write that it is generally thought by
experienced public Isen in Washington of
both great parties, that there is more personal
character, talents, and attainments, in the
present House, than the body have been pre-
viously blessed with for some years past In
the consideration of the 1ngraham resolutions
IA subject Of n clIss heretofore generally Civ
ing rise to the expenditure Ct no little fIoth
and aemag0gueism in the uaID calmness and
reason have pre-emincntly been the distin.
| gushing features Of the debate. Not speech
long or Short has been delivered upon it,
which failed to be marked with acute reason
ing and sound discretion, however widely
gentlemen may have differed as to the partic-
ular path Of the duty of Congress on the
matter in hand
1t is very certain, that in no previous dc
bate occurring in the last ten years, have 80
many new members distinguished themselves
by the practical ability with which they came
to the consideration of the questions involved
The entire absence of froth and demagogueism
from this debate us before remarked. is q
capital sign indeed. 1t tells Of an important
change in the character Of portion of the
public men OF the country, which can hardly
fail to work most advantageously in shaping
the results of the future labors Of the present
Congress. This is truly fortunate, in view of
the fact that many important changes in our
system must be initiated this winter among
them being very extensive revision of the
present rates Of duties on imports. The large
surplus in the treasury will also be directly
or indirectly voted away ere the session closes; |
and it is we'll, indeed, that that duty is 10 be |
performed by gentlemen who, with very few
exceptions, seem bent on disposing Of it with |
due deliberation and caution, and after care
full investigation only. We rest under firm |
impression that they will do actual business |
in more business-like way than we have |
seen 1t done, in the aggregate, in the House |
hall f'f many years past.