The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1858-01-07

viii satisfy all reasonable people, who are con-
ceEped alone for fair dealing and the honor of
the country.
"The department being in possession of all
the facts in relation to Walkers escape with
his followers from the Unssed States, as we'll as
the letters of Captain Oh, tard and Walker to
me after he landed at Pur.a Arenas, the merits
of the whole question wilt presume, be fully
conprehended. P
81 could not regard W, lker and bis follow.
ert in any other light thaee as outlaws who bad
ca aped from the vigilance of the officers of the
G~ernment. and left our Jhores for the purpose
of rapine and murder an saw no other way
to vindicate the law, and ,edeem the honor of
our country, than by disrming and sending
them home. In doing 20, l am sensible OF
the responsibility / havtr incurred, and con-
I'D nty look to the Gov.rnment for my JUS
tif,ation. Regarded in its true light, the
Gaze appears to me to We clear one, ana
the points few and strotg. General Walker
ca.1e to Punta Arenas frem the United States,
ha ing, in violation of law, set on foot mill
tart organization to msks war upon people
wig whom we are at pesfe. He landed there
with armed men and mue,itions of var, In de-
fance of the guns of q shs of war placed there
to prevent his landing, with nothing to show
that he acted by authorit!. He form,d camp
an hoisted the Nicaragua flag, ant called 1t
the headquarters of thearmy OF Nicaragua,
and signed himself the commandsr chief.
With this pretension he Claimed the right of
laC'fal Government over i'll persons and things
wi bin sight of his flag.
Without right or authority he landed nifty
men at the mouth of the Colorado, end seized
the fort of Castillo, on the San Juan; captured
steamers and the goods o merchants in transit
to he interior; killed me and made prisoners
of the peaceful inhabitan ,, sending 70 the har-
boz of San Juan del Norts come thirty or forty
men, women, and chilsfe in the steamer
Morgan. In doing thess things without the
show of authority they Sere guilty OF rapine
and murder, and must b regarded "a outlaws
and pirates. They can ave no claisa to be
regarded in any other light. Humanity, as
well as law and JUSTICE and national honor,
demanded the dispersionkpf these lawlsss men.
The remnant of the miserable beangs 1ho sur
rendered at Rivas were conveyef In tSls ship
last summer to New York, and ts,eir ss,ferings
are yet fresh in the memGry of all on board.
Besides the suferings that mast necessarily
be Inflicted upon an ipnscent afa unofending
people, these lawless followers Of Gen.fW alker,
misguided and deceived Gpto a CT beer of crime,
would doubtless have perishe' in Central
America, or their mutilated md fostering
bodies have been brought back Z, their friends
at tbe expense of their country. Tor the above
reasons, which appear to my m nd quite SUIT
ficient, | have disarmed and sent TO she United
States Gen. William Walker and hiu outlawed
and piratical followers, fer trial O fog whatever
action the Government, in its Wis4om, may
think proper to pursue"
An additional consideration may be urged in
justification of the course of the Commodore.
By his letter of instructions, he vas bound to
use the force at his conn and for the purpose
of preventing the carrying on of any such ex-
petition or enterprise [as Walkers from the
Territories or jurisdictiono the United States
The party headed by Walker himself, which
had landed at Point Arenas, was only part of
an extensive Expedition organized within the
United States, the whole # which would finally
have embarked, had Walkers party succeeded
in establishing itself. TIE most effect al mode
" of preventing the carrying on of any such ex-
pedition" was, beyond all doubt, the v. ry mode
resorted to by Commodore Paulding- he cap
ture of the leader and his vanguard 80 that
that officer may allege thst fair inter rotation
even of the letter of his s ,tructions az horized
his decisive measure. And of tais No one has
a right to complain, except Nief>agus. whose
Government will hardly blame the United
States for relieving her SO uncefsmoA: ously of
the presence OF deadly enemy.
Meantime, what course will the Admins
tration pursue was the question il all cir
cles. The Union was silent. Fobods spoke
by authority for the Pres dent. The <igns of
the times must be consulted. Leter-w, tiers, as
usual, were positive. In the New Yor, Times,
December 18th, a CORRESPONDENT from Wash
ington announced that Secretary Cas- de-
nounces the arrest of Walker and his 1nen by
Commodore Paulding as illegal, ines1nsable,
and unauthorized" and added" Con ,modore
Paulding will doubtless be court martiEied i'm
mediately." Again, the same correspondent
says:
The Administration ia very emphatic in re-
pudiating the action of Commodore Pending,
and denouncing it as violation of the sover.
eighty of Nicaragua and of the American Con-
stitution. Our power over the fibusters, it is
held, ceased the moment they had entered
upon the jurisdiction of a foreign Power.
There is no doubt that Commodore Paul.
ding WILDE at once ordered home for trial."
We have no doubt that this correspondent
heard enough from particular members of the
Administration to authorize him to make such
announcements to the Public but the reporter
for the Associated Press must have received
from another quarter hints on the necessity Of
being cautious. His announcement, the same
date, is as follows
The instructions to Commodore Pauldinp
were necessarily general in their nature, it be-
ing impossible for the Government to anticipate
every state of circumstances and not until his
official dispatch shall have been received, will
it be determined whether or not he was justified
in arresting Gen. Walker"
Possibly, this caution may have originated in
the existence of certain "secret instructions u
to Commodore Paulding, which some Of Walk
er's friends charge upon the President.
But, whatever at first may have been the aston
ishment of the Administration, or the feelings
of particular members of the Cabinet, it was
inexpedient to maintain a position on the sub
ject entirely reserved. On the &c instsnt, there
accordingly appeared an article in the Union
evidently 6y authority, intimatipg that the AID
miustration was on the whole pleased with the
breaking up of Walkers expedition, salthougt
some doubt is expressed whether the Commo
dore's course was in harmony with his instruc
tons or the strict letter of international law
After quoting portion of the Presidents mes
sage on flibustering and Central American af
fairs, the article proceeds:
"The message represents the Administration
as seeking, successfully, by treaty stipulations
and amicabe, honorable, and legitimate means