The Council Bluffs nonpareil. [volume] (Council Bluffs [Iowa]) 1857-1867, 1858-02-20

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~ sns !emarks Wn,cn maae last evenln&.
nll' Cnsarnaens unoeftook 70 SNOW spas as y
my Deon tne Po!cy q snls 0ovslnMsn.'
l!om iN earhess me.ory = so ende:vo5, ie w
noas n Hays sad y different sections g .ns e,
.niVns s0Festrain its eitzens iest tney snoglu
lnvelve us n dlmcaity ana Har witn otner
nauons OF tne eartn. .g.'t
nas Ieen py the RESTRAINT wnicn tne
ueusrs1ity laws naye put upon ou! ci.i.ens,
tna! our country mas Deen sussalnea N y,
Positlon among tne nations o. tne ear.n, ano
, ,na,, our cisize1s nave Decn Pte!sn'eo from
iawiess assauts upon neignDollng nAnons'
ri.n Wnom our country mas mainsalneG re-
laalons OF iriendsniP ana peace. ~ 'nete
Any cause now oo recent essn.s-.upss sno
aiatofy OF our country toftne last lsW yssts'
lmPoss new necessltles Ior me isPeai - snsse
neutralsy laws argue tnas 'nere are none =
10 .ne past history oI sne country anu !. !.
gentlemen WIZ col.empia'e tns PonSy VI
oul uovetnmens curing 'As lss. aour u !. W s
Xo.ls, tlcy VIII see nov untol1u 1una'o y =
.r.;n.t ,..;a,,. .anS..ad d;.tu,h.nce ~
neiphboriac Republics. So far from recent
events presenting an argument for repeating
these laws. the misfortune q that, either in
their form, or because Of negligence ON the
part Of the late Administration, these laws
have not saved our neighbors from deyasta-
ton, and our; national honor from unfortun-
ate reproach.
Mr.. Chairman, the expedition Of this man,
Walker, which has given occasion to the
present debate, is the strongest possible
evidence Of tho necessity of vigifant exc
cution of the neutrality laws, and their
maintenance, or enlargement of their power
to restrain wrong. ii these laws had been
better executed-if the Administration
had not, to some extent, permitted these
expeditions to have gone on, we would now
have no occasion to discuss this matter in
this Hall. There would then have been no
controversy as to the relative merits of this
General Walker and one Of the commvnders
of our NAVY. who took md sent him home
as q criminal escaped from Justice due him !:
and the question would not be before us as
to which of them was the better mamie
who led the expedition. or the man who
checked and concluded it.
,sruxrs ,orr, ..u
s No'AA.
Wns' sH, IL 'nis country lhduceo 70 take Q
up tnis question OF Centrai american anairss
why nus our attenuoh ioi years past oeen
called 10 that particular theatre instead OF
the eyes Of the nation being turned to the
Development OF the interior OF our own coun-
try. think there Is fundamental error in
the assumption upon which all this Central
American sympathy is based; that is, that
Central America is the especial or only route
for the highway of nations; and being such
a peculiar locality, it should be controlled
BY US. Where is Central America You
who live upon the sea-board, aud are in the
habit OF contemplating distances as inmate
rial when you have connections by sea-ytu
may regard the distance of trihing impor-
tance; and because your vessels often float
that way, you feel that the distance to Gen.
trail America is comparatively short; but
we who live in the central part of this Union
look at the long line of travel before that
territory can be reached. We have to pass
all the Mexican States; we have to pass a
thousand miles through or round Republic
that ID always political antagonism to our
own; we have to pass dominion where the
Inhabitants speak different language, adopt
| a different religion, and different institu-
tions. Eight millions of Mexican inhabi-
tants lay between this country and Central
America: Central America is, therefore,
not contiguous; is very remote; and there are
'-s:,"s.i"s eli the States Of Mexico, all OF
wnich are IN poiitlcai antagonism TO Us. why
.hen, 40 gentlemen turn their eyes so far
away ironl our own country 70 seek TOT an
opportunity w. 70 olSpiay our patronage ana
power : "ny 10 .ney 90 oeyend the mo
uranee iol tne purpose OF exercising the
functions OF tnis hepuoiic1 why are our
cl'l1ens r e1imuiateo, py frequent reference to
'nese Cen.raI americ"a states, 20 60 70
seek Ior themselves fortunes ana lame tar
peyono !neir own couhtrys II Is because
Oh th,s iunoam ental error wnicn exists IN
.n:s eoun'rs IN resaro 70 oen'rai !, america
uelns 'ne l1o'e iol commerce' anu 'nereIofe,
inc KY ~ .n's Son'lnen''
lnis, Mr' Unalrman, orngs me 70 the
se.onu P1upos!lon ~ VIEW oi 'nls particular
pont Wua. - Oentrai nuellca! ~ IS an
,.on Nr i'seanen. connecting tne t"ln sisters OF
I,o.1n anu oou'n nnel'o:. Insee"a OF oeing
sns'e Polh', "s many imagine looking a.
INC AaPs IN elleu,asion' Ii ~ iong range OF
ienprh. having therefore, on hotb s;des a.
least two thousand miies Of sea.shore.
equally accessible to all the nations of the
earth. 1t is mountainous, and a wilderness
inhabited only by semi sayages, although
people of all nations, for years past, have
had full knowledge of it's advantages. and
utmost facilities to settle and become per-
manent citizens 1t is a sultry and sieckly
region of the earth, and therefore stunned
BY all who are not compelled to remain there
from demands of most importan business
or public duty. 1t was not inhabited BY
the Spaniards who first conquered it; and,
sir, it will not be inhabited by the people Of
this country as loug as our broad savannas,
rich prairies, and fertile fields of the West,
are open to cultivation. In the face Of these
physical and local objections to this narrow,
inhospitable shore, this Government has
been directing its power and it's patronage
to the settlement and control of these Gem .
trsl American States, to the great neglect
and the diversion of settlement and travel
from the interior of our own country. The.
whole effort has been directed to the accu-
mutation Of power, and, IS the treaty says,
to the protection Of the neutrality Of these
Central American routes of commerce. =,
. -t5sHa.-5, aEsrfIf Est1-g~s &.nsFg