The south-western. [volume] (Shreveport, La.) 1852-1870, 1855-10-17
If the Washington and New York papers are

a er to drive general Scott out OF the America
| army. Washington letters, of the 2lst, stat
that a sharp and bitter controversy is going o.
: between the war department and general Scott
and that developments may be expected at tn
meeting of congress, which willputthe famou
Marcy and SCOTS .'hot-plate of hasty soup
e contest entirely in the background. The afai
# is thought to have originated in the question Q
allowing Scott back pay, under the law %creatin!
t him a acknowledgement, which the presiden
( refused to do. It also seems that some month
since, general Scott gave general Hitchcock
who has long been an intimate personal friene
| and companion in arms, leave of absence 70
six months. Secretary Davis immediately
wrote to general Scott, demanding his reasons
for this act of fayoritism to general Hitchcock
and at the same time countermanded Scott.
order, granting leave of absence. Davis let
ter was quite as sharp in its tone as it was in.
!, sulting in its tenor. Scott replied that he hac
) granted the leave of absence because he had the
right to do so, and was convinced of its pro.
priety; that he was not responsible to the Sc.
cretary of war for his actions in such cases, and
that he would be obliged to him if he would
hereafter, in any official communications lie
might have occasion to address him, dispatch
them through the office of the ad jutant-general
and write in the name and by authority Of the
president of the United States, as he was the
only official superior whom the law made him
acknowledge. Secretary Davis, in reply, en-
tered into a very elaborate and detailed expo
sition of all the alleged breaches of order and
violations ofetiquette and propriety committed
by general Scott during his whole military ca
reer. His letter is very long and filled with the
~severest criticism of SCOTS whole life. 1t is
intended, the ofice-holders say, to annihilate
the conqueror of Mexico completely in the con-
fidence and respect Of the American people
which may prove to be a more serious under
taking than Jefferson Davis, though aided by
the entire batch Of Pierce's ofice-holders and
their organs, imagines. The correspondence
already voluminous, and has not as yet been
brought to a close. Ii is said that the letters
will be communicated to congress early in the
session, as SCOTS Virginia friends intendto call
for the correspondence by a special resolution.
In this matter, the writers say, as in other pet
ty squabbles, secretary Davis is the autocrat of
the cabinet. He rules the president as COM
pletely ss he rules his colleagues. In this af-
fair he is rampant, and will undoubtedly carry
the whole cabinet with him. So the people
may prepare for a merciless crusade against the
war-worn old soldier. He has always triumph
ed over the enemies of his country, and will
triumph over all who assail his personal char
acter or fame.
The hon. John NJ. Berrien, of Georgia-one
of the few remaining statesmen of the days in
which there were giants-has written a lumi-
nous and u~nanswerabIe letter in favor of the
principles of the American sarty. In the
course Of his communication, FIR. Berrien dis
tInctly sSates that prior to the year 1900, the
annual foreign immigration was not over five
In 1887, when the federal consti-
tuition was formed, the sages who assisted in
that instrument deemed it their duty to
introduce therein certain native American fea-
lures. They provided, for instance:
lst.'That the president of the United States
should be a native born citizen.
End. That the army Of the United States
should be IN his native born American hands.
3rd. That the navy of the U. S. should be
under native born American control.
4th. That treaties should be organized and
made by a native born citizen.
5th. That federal appointments and patron
age should come from this native born Ameri-
can source. {
9Th. That the militia of the several States.
called into the service of the. U. States,
be under the presidents native born ,
command. G
It'll. That only a native born citizen should t
rave the federal veto power. . t
9th. That the vice president of the United a
States should be a native. r /
9th. That thus thatbranch of governmental
he three branches Of the legislature-which C
makes treaties and confirms federal appoint G
nents, should have a native to preside over it. b
10Th. That, in case of a tie vote in the SEN V
ate, native only should have the casting vote. S
11th. That congress and the president Should a
make uniform naturalization laws-that presi- b
lent a native. .-.. X
18th. That to be a senator in congress one n
must have been naturalized 9 years. b
18th. That to be a representative one must Il
ave been raturalised 7 years. ..4 o
The. restrictive clauses were placed in the "
constitution at a time when foreign influence W
light have appeared a mere chimera-when tt
he annual immigration to the q. S. was not "
ne-hundredth part of what it now is, and fe
Vhen, in the eyes of thousands of rejecting k
nd intelligent citizens, it was thought utterly II
impossible that the increase of the alien popu- O
alton could ever become a source of real ap- =
rehension. And yet our fathers, with that O.
lmost superhuman prescience which marked tt
hem, beheld the danger looming from afar, Il
ndeavored in some degree to avertit by vest o.
lg in the natives of the soil exclusively the NJ
lghest and most august ~prerogatlves of politi VI
al power. II, in 1887, such restraints were b.
eemed necessary, are they not a hundred b.
more necessary now, that immigration has 81
wollen from an annual increase of 5000 toI
n annual increase of 500, 600. -r.r~. al
Our fathers thought it wise and prudent to ell
west foreigners of certain high and impor- 81
attributes, and to confer others less i'm D