Carolina Watchman

              tt . ri „, c the watchman j riplion . per year two do,.lar,-p a yab.e.n bui f not paid in advance two dollars | ! ... will be charged v - inserted at 1 forthe first and 25 cts i | iise-iuent insertion court orders charged in these rates a liberal deduc • j .. ■ u . advertise by the year i ,- e litters iini-t be postpaid ijggu == emclean and the war lowing letter has been furnished to j cincinnati gazette by the gentleman to i ".,,'. was addressed for publication the , j position of judge mclean as well as character and ihe uniform moderation ical course imparls interest and will ght to his opinions .* washington jan 7 184s | vv dear sir t all human appearance ieraiinatiori of ihe miserable war with mote remote than when the first _, was slruck in my judgment it was unne aad unconstitutionally commenced . tithing our army into disputed territory i ,. possession of mexico and i think lhat i , tr,.*s unquestionably have the power : put an end lo ihe war on just and hon principles l ,.[• agreeing upon the terms on which a iy should he made they should call upon the | r pcutin by resolution in nfier a peace fo mex i 01j mfllbai basis and during ihe negotiation lgju'/itics should be suspended if ihe pres . [ vf hali refuse to do this in the military ap i nriaiioii bills the arm should be required take such positions as shall carry out the , lf ji of congress these bills the president rvmld not veto and he would be bound by iheir i ri'iiiremenls this may lie done by the house : ] hope congress will refuse to issue any : pure treasury notes the notes demanded in i tfnoo to shose already in circulation would j (•.„*) the country wilh lhat description of paper j stekan emission would constitute a govern ■ ikstbank controlled and managed by a parly j dtninislration we have now fifteen millions ot ireasum notes in eirculation and authority j n issue five millions more i would not in i vase this circulation a dollar but reduce it as i i'lidlv as possible such a system would be j jmsaparauly more dangerous lo the public j lis and the public liberty than any other tem of banking that could be devised to meet anv deficiency ofthe revenue lo pay e current expenses of the war i would au j orise loans at par paying not more than six [ rcent interest and il loans cannot be made i ; his raie let the administration resort to a i \ intem ol taxation which shall cause the peo j ir to feel the expense of the war all wars j | wd be accompanied by a system of direct ! i wi internal taxation nothing short of ihis j j tin show in addition to the sacrifice of life i ntut we pay for military glory this was the • licj in the better days ofthe republic the late war wilh england was nobly sus iied by the people not only in the field but f»j the payment of taxes and they will stis lin every just war in which our country shall - involved but i risk nothing in saying that attempt to adopt such a system of taxation - ■ n id wind up ihis mexican war in 60 days uid this shows i/iat ihe war should be put an i ad lo this may be done by congress in 90 lys and i pray god that they may do it very truly yours john mclean the rumors of peace—govern 0rsof california and new mexico ac correspondence of the courier dr enquirer washington jan 26th 1648 the news contained in my last letter is con firmed to-day ; and you may rest assured that mr trist has agreed upon a treaty running up the rio grande to the pacific the ques tion i will this line secure ihe harbor ol san eg ■ 7 1 cannot speak of this with certainty htkaving be precise language used bv mr list in the treaty but i think san diego . be included the question is on every . i will mr polk submit the treaty lo the ic-ralioii ofthe senate ? yes he certainly - mow that the existence of the treay is • aii he cannot get another dollar or another 1 an from either house of congress if he iihulcjs the treaty this is now an ascer lined fact a large majority of both houses of congress 1 lid have preferred gen taylor's line run ig lo the sierra madre ; but they will take if flip's rather lhan continue the war but tow look out for a probable explosion in the cabioet ; for there are some ot its members could more easily digest tenpenny nails ua&mr trist's boundary but after all one half of mexico is something n ike way of annexation and those who go with itor dickinson of your state for his more petfcet union embracing the whole ' north a in continent having just obtained by •'•'• trist's treaty a region larger than france wooding in li-ie harbors and rich in precious als may wail for another slice until a more fnvenieiit occasion \^. by the bye ihere are already several appl - j ns lor the post of governor of california and •' new york has a regiment there it is thought i citizen of the empire state ought to b se 4 g ov maurcy it is said is for col ste vc-nson mr buchanan for col forney mr walker f..r i u . mcfarren of mississippi and care johnson fur \\' m . j brown of the post office the choice 0 f lhe secretary of ihe na-4 j and attorney general is not known ; but i president is said to be hesitating between v brown of mississippi aod g pillo*v ihere must be a governotehip of ne w mex ■ too which some of the disappointed appli * 5 i's may take for no one wants to go to san re if they can snufl'lhe breezes ofthe reat * wic there are two parties that are in ah ' despair — the advocates of the calhoun jm wilmot provisos for all chances now of faying the game of shuttle cock with the slave . v question between the abolition agitators on hand and the ultra calhoun slaveocra ?<* the other is now ended and california new mexico will become free stales be c iu e it is so willed by their inhabitants crailyoyant ■ _ * washington correspondent of the new ji * louner says : great excitement exists among naval men ' ihis morning in consequence of a prevail j port that the officers of the gulf squad \ n reply t a c i rc i ar f rom , he commodore i j esiing on the subject have re ; w a l nswer ' at the conduct of a post j 4conv batleries bt,fore vera cruz was j tiny 1 "'-' a '" officer •'• he presence of an \ bbuner & james > r r . o „ . . \ " kter a i^-ck upon all yocr editors 4 proprietors \ rllers j new series do tnis and libfrty is sarr < gen i harrison ( number 41 of volume iv salisbury n c thursday february 10 1848 mr badger's speech in the senate january 18th concluded thus it seems to me that not only did the president bring on ihe war by an un lawful and unconstitutional act but that he prosecuted it for the purpose of con quest and of conquest alone but this purpose the president did not make known to congress he did not submit as he should have done to the judgment of con gress whether they were willing to pros ecute the war for the purpose of making a permanent conquest of the territory of a neighboring republic on the contrary he seems carefully to have concealed his design from congress in his special mes sage of the 4th of august 184c^to the senate he says expressly : the chief difficulty to be anticipated in the negotiation is the adjustment of the boundary between the parties by a line which shall at once be satisfactory and convenient to both and such as neither i will hereafter be inclined to disturb this j is the best mode of securing perpetual i peace and good neighborhood between | the two republics should the mexican government in order to accomplish these i objects be willing to cede any portion of ; their territory to the united states we '. ought to pay them a fair equivalent ; a just and honorable peace and not conquest : being our purpose in the prosecution of the war now what notion the president attach [ es to the term " conquest i do not know ! ! to me it seems plain that what had been 1 directed to be done before this message j was written and what was afterwards j done by the military and naval officers of ! the government not only without rebuke but with the express recognition of the | president of the united states is direct | clear and unquestionable conquest i un ! derstand conquest in this connexion as meaning the seizure of the territory of an other nation by force ; whether it is to be held by force or whether a consent to our retaining it is to be extorted by the power of our arms again sir the president's message at the last session of congress expressly de clares that " the war has not been wag ed with a view to conquest ;" that " the war will continue to be prosecuted wilh vigor as the best meansof securing peace and that " it is deemed proper to hold mil \ itary possession of all the provinces which have been taken until a definitive treaty j of peace shall have been concluded and j ratified by the two countries and i re ! collect well sir at the last session when a resolution was moved by a member of i this body mr westcott directing the ! committee of territories to consider as ; to the propriety of establishing some spe ; cies of legislative authority over the ter ; ritories of the enemy which had been ta ken into our possession the honorable se nator from missouri mr benton who is not now in his seat in his strong man i ner denounced in his place the proposition on the ground that it attributed to the president of the united states the assump tion that those portions of mexico were territories of the united states this the honorable senator characterized as an absurdity mr westcott monstrosity mr badger yes monstrosity but sir this year the tone of the message is materially changed the president has got a new phrase he now says lhat he is not carrying on the war forthe pur pose of conquest but " it has never been contemplated by me as an object of the war to make a permanent conquest of the republic of mexico or to annihilate her separate existence as an independent na^on.sfttl^iu is quite consistent w ith a design c^tmworarily conquering the ichole and permanently conquering a part in deed he'e^pcessly informs us that new mexictwtntuhe californias " should never be sufi-endta^d to mexico now it seems to me tfyujtwas the duty of the presi dent of tneunited states to have explain ed to congress from the first what his re al purpose was if he intended at the last session to actually conquer and retain hy force — to retain under all circumstan ces the territory then acquired from mex ico—he should have so told congress — but he told us no such thing on the con traryi h leaves us to suppose that though these proceedings seem to look like con quest yet still in the presidential mind the conquest of any part of mexico was not his purpose now sir we are dis fcincjyvnformed that the president is of opinifn that we should retain at all haz ards new mexicoand the two californias the next proposition which strikes me as being material to a just determination of the course to be pursued in reference to the bill now under the consideration of : the senate is this : that the present plan | of the war as announced by the secreta : ry of the war department in his commu nication to the president if carried out must irresistibly lead to the conquest of the whole of mexico ; and i think we may reasonably conclude judging of the fu ture by the past that if at this session congress shall place in the hands of the president all the means he has asked we shall the next session find the whole of mexico entirely overrun and at the mercy of our troops and we shall then have a message informing us that the president is opinion that congress should not con sent under any circumstances to surren der any portion ofthe mexican republic the secretary of war in his report speaks of three plans why sir there arc but two in fact if i arn capable of understanding what seems to be tolerably plain language human ingenuity can not make of it more than two plans al though he has numerically divided it into three what are they ? our further operations must in my opinion be conducted in one of the three iol lowing modes : first to take and hold ; an indemnity line ; to recede from all places and positions now occupied in ad vance of it and cease from all aggressive operations beyond that line second to overrun the'whole country and hold all the principal places iu it by permanent ! garrisons ; and third lo retain what we now possess open the lines of communi cation into the interior and extend our ! operations to other important places as < our means and the prospect of advanta ges shall indicate keeping a disposable force always read within approachable limits to annoy the enemy to seize sup plies enforce contributions and frustrate | his efforts to collect means and assemble troops for the purpose of protracting the j war well now sir is it not strange that numbers two and three shall be consider j ed separate and distinct plans ? the se i cond is to overrun the whole country and ; hold all the principal places in it by es ! tablishing garrisons therein what is the third ? it is to retain what we possess to i open a communication with the interior j and to take other places according as our i means may enable us does he mean un j der the second plan to take more than our ! means will enable us to take ? under the ; first of the two latter of the secretary's i plans he proposes to take all the princi ; pal places in mexico and under the se i cond of them he proposes to keep what | we have got and get all we can weli | now the president has adopted the third j of the plans reported by the secretary as enumerated by him upon which the war ; is to he carried on and it is upon that ba j sis that supplies are asked and particu ! larly the ten regiments proposed to be i raised by the bill to assist in carrying out | the operations of this war in accordance with the views of the secretary well sir believing as 1 do that the ne | cessary consequence of furnishing the ; means which are required by this bill will i be to enable the secretary of war under ; the direction of the president to make a . permanent conquest of the whole of mex ' ico 1 cannot vote for it i am opposed to ; augmenting the forces for such a purpose how is the conquest of mexico to be j effected ? how is a peace to be brought | about under this mode of prosecuting a war except by the seizure and subjuga tion of the whole country ? 1 cannot vote ! sir for any plan by which mexico is to be conquered and annexed because in the first place it would be grossly unjust it would in my judgment according to my ! convictions of right be a high and fla grant wrong for us to seize upon and in corporate the territories of that republic into our own 1 believe it would fix a stig j ma upon the character of this people : which all successive ages would not be ; able to wipe out no oblivion that thousands of years could throw over it no darkness with which the lapse of ages could surround it i would prevent the flagrant enormity of ■ such a measure from being apparent to ' posterity how could our future histori ; ans and poets be able to relate the tale of this country's doings in regard to this fee ble unfortunate degraded republic ? in j vain would the attempt be made to close the eyes of mankind against the gross in justice of this procedure by throwing a round it the flimsy pretences which pat riotism might suggest sir now we have the dazzling blaze of military glory cast : over these operations and behold them in a light which may mislead and deceive ! us but when the excitement of the pre ; sent day shall have passed away and they shall be looked at in the clear light of history and their character pronounc ed by the voice of truth there will be a universal verdict of condemnation given by mankind my deliberate conviction i.s that in the judgment of posterity if we should consummate such a wrong as this the crimson guilt of the partition of poland would pale into absolute white ness in the comparison the one it would be said was an act perpetrated by monarchs hereditary rulers men born to govern and who had been taught to re gard others merely as the ministers of their power in whose behalf it might be urged that they only followed the example of their predecessors in seeking by what ever means to increase their power ; but in the other case it would be declared that the act was committed by a republican government based on principles of equal rights and pofessing friendship ar.d good will to all mankind seeking for national happiness and national glory in the pur suit ofthe peaceful arts engaged in the establishment of justice and tranquility and regarding the whole human race as brethren in blood entitled to their human ity and consideration the writers of that distant age would find that then as ever " nor florid prose nor honeyed lies of rhyme can blazon evil deeds or consecrate a crime i am not willing that my country should now commit this irreparable wrong and ; soil herself with this ineffaceable stain 1 am opposed to the seizure and annex . [ ation of mexico because it is as unwise as unjust i know there are some who ' entertain a different opinion but it does seem clear to me that the accomplishment ! of such a measure as the incorporation of mexico — whether her people are to be introduced into a community of rights with us or to be held as a degraded and i : conquered province — whether they are to ; sustain towards us the relation of the ter : ritories we have heretofore had or to re | main in a state of perpetual pupilage — j whether the mode and form in which their . ! future condition and character are lo be : established — must inevitably in the hour i of its completion doom the union to cer i lain destruction i was glad to hear the senator from s carolina farthest from me mr calhoun take strong and decided ground against j the absorption of mexico and the destine i tion of her nationality 1 was glad to j hear his voice raised against what in my view would be one of the greatest of : crimes one of the greatest of political j blunders but i wonder mr president that it did not strike the honorable sena : tor that the injustice of seizing upon the i whole by force was an injustice but in de ! gree superior to seizing upon any part by i force ; that though the enormity of ab j sorbing the whole of the mexican terri i tory strikes us with astonishment and hor j ror it is but because the human mind is i more strongly affected and impressed by , j subjects which appear large yet that in | truth the seizure of one foot of mexican j i soil is just as much an invasion of the j j eternal principles of right as much a sf ! ! crifice of the claims of justice and the ob : j ligations which we owe our fellow-men ' ! as the seizure of the whole i am opposed i ! to the conquest by arms of mexico i ; am opposed to wresting from her one inch ! | of her domain by the exertion of any force i : which shall control her will and compel i j an apparently voluntary surrender while . i in reality the soul of the country tenacious , i ly adheres to that with which it parts i ; i am opposed to the commission by this i country of such an act of injustice forthe ' ; attainment of any object be it great or | small believing as i fully do that a pure | unsullied reputation amongst the nations , j of the earth is of more importance to us | than any acquisition that the wide world : can furnish it has been said — it was said on this i floor at the time when the resolutions of i the honorable senator from south caro , lina were before the senate — that the , ! proposition contained in them which con demns the conquest of mexico and the destruction of her nationality was a pro ' '. position the assertion of which would be ' ; idle and fruitless because the destruction of the nationality of mexico is contem ; i plated by no one at the time when i ; heard the statement made i entertained the same opinion and expressed thatopin ; ion to the senator himself mr calhoun here nodded assent but an attentive consideration of the report of the secre i tary of war and the means demanded by ' the president — a consideration of the im ; portant fact disclosed this day that the , president has refused upon this subject to communicate his views and plans in the further prosecution of the war — the fact that he lias proceeded from a disavowal ot all intended conquest to a simple inti : mation that he has never desired to con | quer mexico or destroy her nationality — j these things sir have convinced me of ! the probability that the government is now thinking at some no distant day ac 1 1 tually to make the movement which the '. resolution of the senator from south car olina denounces i was struck sir with i the account of a recent celebration in this city of the anniversary of the battle of new orleans it was held here on the 11th instant and i noticed that an honor able and distinguished member of this body mr dickinson made an address on , the occasion to the company then assem bled concluding with a sentiment which goes far ahead of the annexation of the whole of mexico he gave as a toast u a more perfect union embracing the > whole ofthe north american continent i did not observe that the sentiment was received with disapprobation i saw no mention of any qualification of the senti ment by him or others but there it stands as the declared opinion of a representa tive of the great " empire state upon this floor — a state which of all others is able to succeed by physical force in the accomplishment of such a design — a de sign looking to a more '* perfect union not in the closer association of the mem bers of this republic — not in a strength ening of our social relations not in an increase of mutual attachment — but a more perfect union which is to embrace in one with us the whole of the american continent including mexico on the south and the entire british provinces on the north when i see propositions of that sort coming from gentlemen of such high character known intelligence and dis tinguished position before the country i cannot resist the conclusion that such sen timents may bave an echo in the hearts i ol thousands but there are other difficulties in my mind i consider the further prosecution of this war upon the plan proposed by the president of the united states as danger ous to the liberties of the country 1 was struck by the remark made by the honor able senator from south carolina mr calhoun that no one now hears as in the early days of the republic the ques tion •• how will this measure affect onr liberty ?" now we sit down and calcu late calmly what amount of military force or means it is necessary to put into the hands of the president to accomplish a certain object we ask whether we shall send him further into mexico at the head of an hundred thousand men withal the means of this country at his command hy our voluntary vote and all the means of mexico by military and violent seizure : and yet as the honorable senator said there is no inquiry as to the effect of all this upon our liberties that remark excited in my mind a train of thought which led me to the conclusion that there is great and just ground of apprehension if this measure is adopted that the liberties of the countrv will be seriously endanger ed recollect what the presidtmit claim ed on this subjrct in his messaged last session all that has been done hereto fore in mexico in the prosecution of this war the president claims the right of do ing because we are the conqueror but where i ask does he find any authority tor exercising the rights of a conqueror ? it he has them it must be irrespective and independent ofthe constitution of the united states the conqueror has cer tain rights and the president claims that these rights belong to him for one i do not admit that proposition it is the go vernment of the united states and the people of ihe united states represented in that government who are conquerors in every war in which we are successful therefore the rights which belong to the conqueror according to the law of nations belong no more to the president than they do to the lowest officer who leads a band of men against the enemy these rights belong to the country — to those who rep resent the sovereignty of the nation — who hold the war-power of the nation — to the congress of the united states the pre sident has no other power than as he is by the constitution the chief military com mander whose duty it is to carry on war for the purpose ami to the ends declared by those who represent the sovereignty of the nation but the president claims that he has a right to take possession and that having taken possession he has a right to require from persons within the territory the oath of allegiance ; submission to the regulations of his military officers ; sus pension of all resistance to his military authority under pain of being treated as traitors and made liable to punishment iti their persons and in the confiscation of their goods and to seize all the public pro perty and revenues of the country all this he claims as a conqueror and wholly irrespective of any responsibility to con gress i protest against any such doc trine having now stated my views of the commencement of this war — the manner and purposes of its prosecution and the dangerous tendency of the executive claims of power and projects of conquest — i come to the proposition before us — we are called upon to place at the com mand of the president ten regiments of regulars in addition to the present milita ry force for what purpose ? to carry on the war with mexico upon what plan ? sir the president declines to in form us upon what plan mr mangum in his seat his friends here decline mr badger a few days ago when this subject was under consideration by tbe senate and my friend from kentucky mr crittenden stated in his strong and forcible manner the present condition of mexico and the utter and absolute want of any necessity tor this additional milita ry force a part of a communication from general scott was read by the honorable chairman of the committee on military affairs as to the amount of force that would be required gen scott express ed the opinion that if certain purposes were contemplated it would be necessary to raise his force to fifty thousand men i mvself asked the honorable senator on what plan system or basis of operation for conducting the war that estimate was made the senator declined to answer resolutions have been proposed in the other house making inquiries and to these the president has declined giving any an swer a re-olution was introduced in this body asking the president to commu nicate to us information on this subject such as he might deem it consistent with the public interest to communicate to us either confidentially or in open session the president was asked lo communicate to us information which would enable us to understand this monster project for the war which requires this great addition to our military means ; and this morning bv a vote of the majority of this body it was determined that the question should not be put to the president whether he has in his possession any information on this subject which he could consistently with the public interests communicate to us either in open session or confidential ly ? thus by the action of the president in the one case and his friends in the oth er all information is denied us and the war-making power of the countrv exeln ded from all knowledge of ihe plans for the prosecution of the war '. well sir what is he amount of our military force in mexico to which it is proposed to make this formidable addition without going into detail i may safely say thai that force at present amounts in round numbers to forty-five thousand men under existing laws twenty thousand may be raised to complete the comple ment of regulars and volunteers making an aggregate of sixty-five thousand men deduct from lhat fifteen thousand 0:1 ac count of the easu lilies to which the sen ator from michigan so often refers and you have an army uf fifty thousand men i et it is now proposed lo add to lhat force ; ten regiments of regulars with a bill be hind it to put at the disposal ot the presi dent twenty thousand volunteers a force including the sailors and marines co-ope rating with the troops ol not less than seventy-five thousand to eighty thousand effective men what is it to be occom plished by that force ! are there battles to be fought ■ that is distinctly disa vowed there is no expectation sir of any more battles to be fought for what then sir do you ask these men i why the honorable gentleman from michigan ays that he wishes by the exhibition of a large force there to produce " a great moral effect how p why he means to convince ihe mexicans th;tt they are unable to resist us ! well sir if they are able to resist the logic of such fields as buena vista churubusco con treras and cerro gordo think you sir that their in credulity will yield to the mere sight of a large body of men 7 what then do you intend to do with this immense mili tary force ? they are to take possession and occupy the country it is said and when they tire there what great object is it intended that they should accomplish which this country desires to see accom plished ? do we want peace ? is it not obvious to every one that peace can . * in this way be obtained ? if peace count be coerced we have done every thing that genius can com rive and skill and gallantry execute to accomplish it i be lieve it may be said without exaggera tion that the history ot no country has pre sented such a succession of brilliant mil tary achievement as we have gained in mexico as a single battle nothing can be produced equal to the last battle of taylor : and as a succession of military operations where can you find a parallel to the advance of scott from vera cruz to the city of mexico ■ if chastisement defeat — overpowering overwhelming de feat — were sufficient lo bring mexico to a disposition for peace she would have been brought to that disposition long ago how then do you propose to accomplish it by our troops ? why they are to take possession and occupy the whole country ; or as the secretary of war says to keep that portion of it which we have got and occupy all the rest of which onr means will allow us to take possession well when you have got possession what dis position ol it do you propose to make .' posts and fortification 1 suppose are to be established every where vou are to maintain all the strongholds ot mexico and her valleys are to be every where marked by the signs of military occupa tion how long is this state of things to continue ' until mexico makes peace but i pray you i this the way in which the gentle sentiments of benevolence and peace are to be instilled into the mex ican bosom ' true you may compel ber to submit ; you may prevent ber from ut tering a word of complaint : you may force her to feign compliance with your w isbefl ; her active resentment may disappear ; and yet a dogged spirit ol revenge and the in tensest hate will rankle and lurk beneath the latin poet has said with great pro priety and force — — referring to a well-known quality of our nature in virtue ol which that superiori ty which demands our admiration inclines us to withhold our love if this be the tendency ol that moral coercion what may we expect from awe and terror ? do we reallv expect hy renewed con quest by devasted fields by captured vil lages by stormed fortresses by occupy ing such positions that no mexican can look forth without be hoi ling ihe evidence ofthe fall of his country and the presence of her conqueror that a true peace is to be rc-fored ? sir no man should expect if what is the situation of mexico at this moment 1 t lies at your feet blee ding exhaus'ed panting do you wish to tiample upon this enemy already in the dust ? do you wish to crush the last re mains of her vitality 7 i hope not sir but even if you do you do not need this additional force we received yesterday the copy of a general order of the i5th december is sued by general scott the first article of which proceeded to inform the army that it would spread itself over the republic of mexico ; and which goes on to estab lish a sy-tem of internal regulation for the government of the countrv and the collection and disbursement ofthe reven ue if then it be right and manly in the present crippled condition of mexico to destrov her nationality you have ample means to do so but ere you proceed to the accomplishment of such a purpose will vou not pause for a moment and re flect upon the consequences which must inevitably follow ! if such a design bo carried out the destruction of our liber ties is certain vou send lorlh the presi dent with his eighty thousand men he is told that he can support these men and meet the other expenses of the war by levying contributions in mexico he is thus clothed with such authority left in a foreign country to form his plans and carry them into execution is be not thus invested with ail the power and dignity ot a prince free to obey the dictates of his own arbitrary will at the head of seventy