Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1886-09-09
Was a War Of Conquest Intended,

There is n growing suspicion that
Bayard' s repeated and apparently un-
| accountable blunders IN dealing with
Mexico were not without a plan. A
Washington dispatch from a trust
worthy source cites prominent army
officer as declaring of his own knowl-
edge that the Administration intended
to force war of conquest with Mexico
with view of annexing the seven
northern states of the Republic to this
country to increase permanently the
power of the solid South in the United
States. In recent magazine article
Judge Tourgee alludes TO the acquisi-
ton of Mexican territory as great
temptation now before the Democratic
party, and adds:
The present Administration may not attempt
it but il its head has the to unde rtake or
even tacitly to encourage such a movement, he
has in his Cabinet and his party the backing
which would go far toward insuring its success
His party at the South would not only be solid
but enthusiastic in support OF such policy, and
no considerable element of it at the North would
be heard to object. Both himself and his cabinet
need the sctdt Of at least prospect of hostities
made or failed to make in the last War
Judge Tourgee might have added
ern states of Mexico, with their popula-
ton, would add immensely to Demo
cratic strength, augment the power of
the solid South, and offset the admission
of Dakota and other Republican States
in the West and Northwest. Certainly
the Democratic party has motive enough
for an attempt at Mexican conquest,
provided only it would consent to levy
a cruel, unjustifable war against a
weaker power-a supposition by no
means beyond belief. Viewing the ex-
traordnary course of the Administra-
ton in the light of these considerations,
| it seems reasonable to conclude that
the point of declaring war against
| Mexico was almost reached few weeks
ago. At the time the "backing-upn
resolutions were reported To the House,
with the approval OF the Secretary of
State and the unanimous Endorsement
of the Foreign Affairs Committee, it
seemed that the House could do nothing
less than adopt them; and as Congress
was within few hours of adjournment
there was no time for inquiry or investi-
CATION. To all appearance the resolu-
tons would have gone through by a
substantially unanimous vote had not
| Congressman Hit taken the floor at
the eleventh hour and showed that they
were based on false statements of fact
and presented an unfounded and un-
justifiable charge against the Mexican
Republic. Suppose for a moment that
Mr.. Hit. like the other members of the
committee, had accepted Mr.. Bayard' s
statement as correct and made no ex-
animation of the official correspondence
In all probability the Bayaid resolu-
tons would have passed Just before
adjournment, and the Administration
could have proceeded to extreme meas
ures against Mexico and asserted that
it was only executing the declared will
of the House. Had Congress approved
the course of the Administration war
feeling might have been quickly aroused
and the country plunged into a most
unjustitiable assault on a weaker power
Was this the plan and purpose of the
Administration?
MIR. HITS eXertlOns, rendered in the
very nick of time, averted national
calamity, and perhaps also blocked a
distardly Democratic scheme. He ex-
posed the first mistakes or misstate-
ments and aroused a feeling of mistrust
which caused the public to comprehend
quickly the thick-coming blunderswhich
followed. Aiming possibly to provoke
3 war with Mexico, Mr. Bayard has
succeeded only in making himself and
his department ridiculous, the Sedg-
wick episode being the inebriated and
roaring aftGrpiece which concludes fifty
a performance beginning with portent-
Gus mutterings and threats of an inter
national struggle of arms. 1t only re-
mains to be determined whether Bay
ards so-called Mexican policy results
from phenomenal capacity tor blum
dering or whether back of it all there
was deep-laid scheme for forcing a
war of conquest in the interest of the
Democratic party. Chicago Tribune.