New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1857-12-30

III tull reliance il W Dc pIdccu oH INC dCCOunts
from Washington, furnished in the journals of the
day. Mr. Buchanan is, according to the negro
proverb about white men generally, "mighty I'M
sartin." 1t seems that the failure of Captain
Chatard of the Saratoga to prevent Walker from
landing on the Central American coast, or to seize
the Fashion and send her and her "emigrAnt pas
sengers" home again, excited the Presidents We.
hement Indignation, and orders were forthwith sent
out to deprive Captain Chatard of his command.
Well Commodore Paulding has done what Captain
Chatard did not do. He has seized Walker and
his desperadoes, and sent them home again-where-
at, we are told, the President and his venerable
Secretary of State in great rage, and threaten
to have Commodore Paulding cOurt-mortialed
Captain Chatard because he did not cut short
Walkers operations, is to be deprived of his COM
mand, and Commodore Paulding, because he did
do it, is to be put on trial.
The only difference that we can see between the
cases Of the Captain and Commodore is this: The
Captain as it is alleged by those who have stepped
forward to apologize for his nactiOn had no orders
at ALL whereas the Commodore had express Or
ders "to use all due diligence, and to avail himself
"Of all the legitimate means at his command, for
"preyenting the carrying on, from the territories
"and jurisdiction of the United States any mill
"tary expedition" like that in which Walker was
engaged Between seizing Walker and his forces
while on board the Fashion in the harbOr of San
Juan or preventing him from landing, and the
seizing him after he had landed, there can be no
difference in the world. If one would have been
violation of neutral rights so would the other. A
harbor belonging to foreign power is just as much
part of the territory of that foreign power as the
shore which surrounds it, More than all that,
can ANYTHING be more absurd than to pretend that
when Walker, in defiance of our laws and
our policy and our treaty with Great Britain
as well as our duty to Nicaragua, had succeeded IN
landing on the Nicaraguan coast, that overt act OF
wsging war upon q friendly nation was to protect
him against arrest1 Had the Nicaraguans been at
hand to siege and hang him, and had they claimed
that as he was now in their territory they had the
prior right to deal with him, that would have been
another matter. But, under the actual circum-
stances, the best fulflment of our duty to Near
aqua aud to Ourselves next to preventing the expe-
ultlOu al I'LL, was W DItdh ~ ii""
Paulding hesitatcd to do so, there can be little
doubt that British men-of.war would have taken
the matter in hand.
Commodore Paulding has evidently acted on the
presumption that the Administration was sincere in
its professed wish to put stop to fllibustering.
He has taken the President at his word, and has
acted in the spirit of the Presidents Message. He
evidently supposed that the Government, in for
warding to him the same circular which it sent to
the District.Attorneys and the Marshas, intended
that if they did not cut short the expedition he
should If the Government fail to sustain him in
this operation, and to sustain him heartily-if they
adopt in his case the ptiful policy pursued toward
Captain Davis, they will not only strike deadly
blow at the effectual execution of any orders, but
they will expose themselves to charge of insin-
certy and doube-deaGng fatal to their hold on the
public respect.