Lynchburg daily Virginian. [volume] (Lynchburg [Va.]) 1852-1861, 1860-03-13
A Strange Blunder


A Strange Blunder.
Every b.dy knows thar the Mexican Treaty ne
c,.tia,ed BY Minister wcLana. has been before the
eountsy Tor several weeks. and pending in the Sc
nate even iaager. Alter many days oil discussion.
participated in BY those learned and astute old
senslsnea comprising the United States Senate.
it was At length di-couered that there lay hidden
snnier load Of vsFbiage, condition that would.
in the event Of its acceptance by our government
have thrown cur pyrts open to the Unrestricted
commerce of the world; and inaugurated,
forth WITH the elerions adven, ot free trade. Con-
ridering the highly prosperous condition Of the
country in financial aud industrial point Of
view, and its ability. when the expenses If Ad-
ministration nppr ,ximate n hundred millions Of
dollars,-to get along withcu, The revenue dcriv-
cd from imports; this new feature OF Democratic
policy must commend itself To the favorable con-
e,ieration Of the whole country. It capital
plan To get rid altogether, Of the troublesome
qaestion Of tariff. The gist Of the whole mat
ter is this lit was provided in Mr.. McLane's
treaty with Mexico that free trade should be es-
tablished between all the ports of that country
and those Of the United STATES and yet the con-
dltion was artfully disguised; 80 ingeniously
covered by sort Of Aim which none but gentle
men who have been in the habit Of working on
Democratic Presidential platforms. can spread,
that it was not discovered until the eleventh
hour. when n shrewd Free Sol. but not Free
Trade, Yankee from Rhode Island called atten-
ton to it.
1t appears thai our commercial treaties with
England. France, Germany, and other nations
with whom we have treaties and guarantees afhx-
ed stirulate, in diplomatic phrase that they
shall be placed the same footing with "tho
most favored nations :" aud OF course they would
have claimed the right of sending their products
free Of duty, If this privilege had been accorded
to Mexico in pursuance Of the terms of the trea-
ty negotiated by Mr.. McLane. Aud now, what
is the moral of oil thiss Doesn't it show that
the contagon which 10 engendercd by those quad
rennial gatherings Of Democrats ut Presidential
nominating conventions is fatal to everything
like honesty and fair dealing in politics. There
il O moral obliquity burn OF those deceiuu convo-
cations that will manifest itself upon all occasions;
a., for example in the Presidents California and
Fort DeQuesne letters; and the shifts. ovasions.
and conccalments Of Mexican treaty.
man, We believe; but il is only the system undor
which he has been trained that has .de bauched
him. 1t would certainly have required less skill
and adrotness in Mr.. McLane to have presented
THE free trade clause Of the treaty in terms open
to the comprehension Of everybody Mt glance;
though it would not have been, we ndmit, a Ia
Democratic, and in strict harmony with tho Balti-
and Cincinnati platforms.
1t is credi,ale TO the Senate that, 80 soon az the
concealed feature was pointed out, 1t tabled the
treaty; but it is not ercdtabe to it's character
fer discernment and penetration Especially to the
Democratic portion. which should have understood
the abstruse arts praoticed Mt Baltimore and Gin.
cinnati better,) that they were no many days in
detectiag the disguise.
This exploit Of tho Senate. ia only cquaod by
another exhibition scarcely less prominent the
atre. a few days since. We nllude 10 the Mary
land Legislature. 80 numerically caricaurcd by
Winter Davis, and as the public must believe,
justly. --whcn it appears that the Democratic
leader in that Democratic body, that essayed to
do everything and left nothing untouched, was n
mere pretende. rhaying .o right to ,hc position he
occupied member Of the body and WAS Grim
inally ignorant Of the very provision Of the con-
stiiution Of his State touching the eligibility Of
members! Ignorance and mpudence seemed to
make up the lack of other essential requisites in
u legislator. With these examples the public
may well conclude that Legislative bodies are not
constituted now as they were and that even
the highest known TO our country, has sndly detc
riorated since the days of the great triumvirate.