THE WAR BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES AND MEXICO.

New Zealander, Volume 3, Issue 194, 8 April 1848, Page 4

THE WAR BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES AND MEXICO.

SPEECH OP THE HOJJ'iVRABLr. DANirL WEBSTER, AT Sl'BIN&l IT 1,8 MASSACHUSETTS. The Preside it muoduced the Hon. DauH Webster, who commenced an able, augmentative, and unsually important speech. After some comments upon tie character of governments, the duty of allegiance, the constitution so far as it relates to the war-mukmg power, and the call for « firm discharge of his uuty, ■which the present nomination of our national officers males upon every patii«t, he proceeded directly to the war topic. The crisis now at lniut needs ron-nl-erate, energetic and constitutional action. But lie deprecated violent movements. Violent counsels are weak counsels. Violent lan R ui«e is weak language. Our boldest resoluton? must recommend themselves by their strength, decorum, dignify, and respect^ It is not the noisiest waters that aie the deepest, nor is it the spirit which is inclined to overpower dangers at their distance the moie certain to withstand tbe-n « hen they appioadi Mr. WoVtcr hehl this Me^ca-, w,u to be unconstitutional in Us on»in, and tovulecl on pretext. Th>> laws of na'iors divide motives (or wir into those whicli aie and those which are vicious. Ihose which aie commenced and caniud on ior renown, conquest, ami iwnular objects are vicious. The chaiacter of the war a-u^t Mcmco is vicious ; it is a war of pretextt. '\ he real motive of it is not distinctly avowed. There are Ihoic p»et< xU— all of them unfounded—on which this war is souuh* to he placed by its originators and delt-nders- The Prudent, in his message to Cone ress, May 11, 184 C, puts it en the fort that the Mexicans have invaded Auioii< an teritory and shed American blond. In my oj-ini'Hi this is not < 01rect. As earlyas J.miwr,, IS if), ou> :i'iny via* ar\anced beyond the Mex-can bouudaiies ot Texas, and upon the leltbankofthe RioGiandeoccuiicd the firs' hostilities, and the fitstshedchn- of American and M>mcan blood. Was this theinvahion of Ameucan tenuoiy, and the spilling of American blood on such ten Itory? It w as soil chinned by the United butcb exeeutifte, not by Congress; and also clanned l)y the Me> ican government, tor as much a part ot her tcmtory as the lapital itself, and was moieover in htr actual possession. Our troops, vse.e mnrched into a country claimed and occupied bv the Mtxicans. Is not thib war on our pan ? '1 he Pre'ideufs statement was not correct in point ot Tact, and cmnot be made so. This is a pipiext. Other causes were brought forwoid after the war commenced. One was, that Mixico would not receive our Minister Plempofuuaiy. In that cause of war—for an executive war ? Congress would not declare war on such grounds. At any rate, it was not a circumstance that wiled for such speedy action that the. executive could not lay it before Congress than before li.m. It is but another ot lie unfounded pietexts on which the wi r 13 sought to be defsnded. Still .uiothci— and a tmrd— of these pretexts is, that Mexico had d-d n-d to p.iy her debts due to citi2ens of this country. This wan not put foith in the act of Congress declaring war to exist. It is an after-thought. Tins matter of debt was one ot loiijj standing ; many sessions of Congress had been held during tlw existence of the debt. Yet no war wus declared on th.s ground. It is a preUxt, and nothing but a pretext. \\ hat, then, was the ol^ect ot the wai . 1 do not piofess to prosucss more sagacity than other men ; but to me the answer to this question is as plain as a turnpike— as visahle as the sun that now shi&cs tipon us. Mr. Calhoun declared at the last sess'on in Congress, that if there had been no bimexamn ot Texas there would have been no war; and that the immediate cause of the war was the oidering, by the executive, be it remembeied, ot our troops to advance from Corpus Chiutito the Rio Grande. Hence thu question is settled— no annexation, no war. lam no apologist for Mexico. I pity the people ot the country, and should pity them the more ifthry knew the htatc they nere in. It is the worst governed of any countij in the world that pretends to be civilised. It has beer for twenty years the t .rey of tveiy military upbtait. ■who had money enough to get up a mretable at my. Trom '36, when was the battle ot San JdciuUi, to ii, Mexico had no authority over Texas, no just clam upon her territory. In 1841-2-3 Texas was an unit. pendent government, so nominally, so practically, uc reco-nised by her own a^d other governments. Mexico had no K routid of complaint m the annexation o Texas— we are the party tsCompUin— we did not warn Texas. But she d-d take cfteii(w ; she persisted ir: claiming Texas as her province, long as it hud beet an independent terutory, and broke off terms o amity with one government, calling home her minis ters, and refuting to rec ive her own. Hut this was not war— v, r y far fcom it. (all • Webster then enter ed into a long statement of the various acts of tin American executive, which had resulted iv producing the present state of things between the Uvo countnea He then proceeded:—) With equal mortification ant regret did I read, in the last message of the President the admiesion that his object in assisting Santa Aunt to return to Mexico was to overthrow ihe ex sting go--vemu.ent, and rise up another more favourable to om purposes. Ho hoped to get out of the difficulty growin"- ouil of annexation by fomenting a revolution ii Mexico ! How undignified does tins appear to such j nation as ours— a nation of 20 mMions of peopleprofessing to be governed by tto noblest and purest o motives— setting ourselves up as models for the woild a general understanding- between Santa Ama and tin president is evident from the facts I have stated Santa Anna put himself at the head of the armies, bul instead of moving towardi peace, moved towards w_r The President can buve the sa'.s action of knowing that in the many severe and bloody buttles in Mexico he has had the choosing of the commanders on botl: bides. TLe piccise object ot the war. then, was U establish a government in Mexico, by the restoratioi of Santa Anna, whi'h iliould yieid to us the annex, tion of Texas. How far this has been accomplished i; already too wel' kiown. urn o.'tunately. That was tl c precne object and origin of the war, and all the rest are pretexts. It is a war in which M xico has tin grievance, and we strike the fust blow, she has tin prominent complaint, and we commence hostilities. In this unhappy and unfortunate course uf action am i s sad result , I have the satisfaction of knowing lha from the first intimation ot the proposition ior th annexation of Texas I have opposed it. Mr. Webstei then made this declaration, •• I never have, I nevei will vote for any further annexation to this country witl a slave representative upon it or in it." We now linve i large extent of territory. Ido not know that we cai pr serve our identity it we extend it irom the Penob scot to Rio Grande— to California— may be to tin Sub Pole. Republican Governments must have ai identity of laws, characters, usages, tor selt-preserva tion. No*, so with monaichies or despotisms — the Cza of Rl fisia can gv. m on 4 poi tioiV ot his sul jjetsj u cts by om code ol laws, and another, who are difi«iemly located andpcßstsa a d.fleient lan^ua^e, with another code Ii is a very dai ge ous < xpefimcnt, to add a territory u Un- Union tquol in 815J3 to the original thirteen stages >iii pose tbii U'l'iti xj m.kt'B Lut ten. ot even (We v*s Btalfß these bcu q s.mely stlUed, and their repre M r.aiion in pa t, or nor, as, may be, a slave one, the will he enutl <l to but five lepreientatives u Congress wl il- they will have ten senators. D< e^ nuc this otea «p the ihcoks, the balance, iliercal spun <.i our cm

stitution ? There arc some I know who consider it our duty to sptead our institutions over the whole world, if possible. They consider that by so doing we confer a blessing on mankind. While I sincerely trust that hu man and civil liberty, and free institutions may extend over all nations, I do not think we should be desirous to impose upon them our distinctive forms. Let them be prepared for liberty, fur leuublicun government, and they will seek and pun thfii, perhnps much different, and it is possible, improved forms from ouis. We cannot make a (tea citizon out of a ] erson not acrustomed to self-ROYeinment. lie mint befitted lo Le free before he can become a just fireman— a citizen of a republic