Gold Hill daily news. [volume] (Gold Hill, N.T. [Nev.]) 1863-1882, 1865-12-14
MEXICO ONCE REJECTED.

Mexico came very near being ours, en-
tire, so long ago as the conclusion OF the
Mexican war. General Scott was offered
the rule Of that country, and the necessary
and speedy consequence Of his acceptance
OF the proposition would have been the
annexation of Mexico to the United States.
The General has given an account Of this
affair in some remarks he made at a pub
lie dinner at Sandusky, in the year 1852.
The Generals Of most countries would
proably charge thevictorious general with
niai,eris for declining so tempting an offer.
We delight in the dutiful and plain citi-
zen who did not hesitate, and as the &C.
curfence possesses historical Importance,
the entire statement of the General is here
given .. .~snra.8Irr -E.a
My friend" said General Scott, "has
adverted to the proposition seen floating
about in the newspapers. l have no.
where seen it correctly stated that an offer
was made to me to remain in that country
and govern it. The impression which
generally prevails, that the proposition
emanated from Congress, is an erroneous
one. The overture was made to mi pri-
vately, by men in and out of Office, Of
great inhuence-6ve Of whom, Of enor-
nous wealth, offered to place the bonus Of
one million of dollars (mentioned below
to my credit in any bank l might name,
either in New York or London. On TAX
ing possession Of the city of Mexico, our
system Of government and police was
established, which. as the inhabitants
themselves confessed, gave security-for
the Arst time perfect and absolute security
to person and property. About two
ffths of all the branches Of Government,
including nearly q majority Of the mem
bers of Congress and the Executive, were
quite desirous Of having that country an
nexed to ours. They knew that, upon the
ratification Of the treaty Of peace, nineteen
out Of twenty Of the persons belonging to
the American army would stand dis
banded, and would be absolutely free
from all obligations to remain in the army
another moment. It was entirely true Of
all the new regiments called regulars, of
| all the volunteers. and eight out of ten Of
the rank and file of the old regiments.
Thirty-t three and q third per cent. were to
be added to the pay of the American
officers and men retained as the nucleus OF
| the Mexican army. When the war was
| over, the Government overwhelmed me
| with reinforcements, after there was no
possibility Of fighting another battle.
When the war commenced. we had but
| one-fourth of the force which we needed.
The Mexicans knew that the men in my
army would be entitled to their discharge.
They supposed, if they could obtain my
services, I would retain these twelve or
fifteen thousand men, and that / could
easily obtain l00,0 900 men from home.
The hope was, that it would Immediately
cause annexation. They offered me one
million of dollars as a bonus, with a SAL
airy of S250,o00 per annum, and five re-
sponsible individuals to become security.
They expected that annexation would be
brought in u few years, or, If not, that l
could organize the finances, and straighten
the complex affairs of that government.
1t was understood that nearly a majority
| Of Congress was in favor Of annexation,
and that it was only necessary to publish
O pronunciamento to secure the object.
We possessed all the fortresses, all the
arms of the country, their cannon foun-
dries and power manufactures, and had
possession of their ports Of entry, and
might easily have held them in our posses
sion if this arrangement had gone into
effect. A published pronunciamento
would have brought Congress right over
to US, and, with these fifteen thousand
Americans holding the fortresses Of the
country, all Mexico could not have dis
turbed US. We might have been there to
this day, If it had been necessary. 1loyed
my distant home. I was not in favor Of
the annexation Of Mexico to my own
country. Mexico has about eight millions
of inhabitants, and out Of these eight mil
lions there are not more than n million
who are Of pure European blood. The
| Indians and mixed races constitute about
seven millions. They are exceedingly in
| ferior to our own. AS a lover of my
country, I was opposed to mixing up that
with our own. This was the first objec-
| ton, on my part, to this proposition.
May I plead some little love Of home,
which gave me the preference for the soil
| Of my own country and its institutions :
I came back to die under those institu-
tons. and here I AM. I believe I have no
more to add in reply"