Newspaper Page Text
have disregarded and trampled upon her Couatitu tion and forms of law ; who have put down all order and legal accountability ; and in their stead have introduced universal confusion and military anarchy. So far from having auy regular and ac countable Government, the social system of the Mexicans has for years exhibited a continued series of almost entire disorganization. This sad destiny j has been brought upon them by the delinquency,^ the violence* and the crimes of their rulers. Admit ( that the injuries which we have received at the^ hands of Mexico have been sufficient to excite a desire lor redress, or, if you will, even for ven geance ; yet, when we look at things as they exist in that unhappy country, and reflect that her down trodden masses, upon whom chiefly the calamities of war fqjl, are innocent of our wrongs, and have not the power to rigjit them, pity and humanity arrest the purpose that would inflict upon them the direful scourge of war* Our arms might carry desolation and mourning into alt the hovels of the miserable masses of Mexico, whilst the real delin quents would be well nigh as secure from harm as the true author of this war, almost enthroned as he is in the palace in this Metropolis. But had the President recommended war instead of declaring that he forbore to do so, Congress might or might not have declared it. Probably not, as the Presi dent admitted that an existing Government in Mex ico was disposed to receive a Minister from us to setde existing difficulties, and also that the country was on the verge of one of its frequent revolutions. If disposed to take a remedy into our own hands, Congress might have authorized reprisals upon Mexico; a measure short of war, which President Jackson had recommended, and which was then and at all times amply sufficient for redress, and for every purpose except to despoil Mexico of a portion of her territory. But, to return to the material question between President Polk and the American People : IIow and by whom was thi? war begun ? If by Mexico, he stands absolved ; if by himself, he has far sur passed all his predecessors in bold abuse of power. No threats on the part of Mexico amounted to. War. In August, 1845, the American army, by orders of the President, took post at Corpus Christi, on the west bank of the Nueces, and within the line of the Texan settlements. It remained in that position, unmolested by the Mexicans, until March 1840, when, under orders of the War Department, it moved forward to occupy a position on the Rio Grande. In the execution of the orders of the President, the Commanding General overthrew by military force and expelled the Mexican authorities from Santiago, took post on the Rio Grande, for tified his camp, mounted his cannon so as to com mand the town of Matamoros, and cut off all com munication with it by blockading the mouth of the river on which it stands. Up to that time Mexico had sent no forces across the Rio Grande. The Texans had no settlements or posts (nor ever have had any) on the Rio Grande, upon any of its tribu taries, or within its long valley, from its sources to its mouth. Texan officers, laws, or jurisdiction had never been seen or existed any where on the bor ders of the Rio Grande, from the Green Moun tains to the Gulf. On the contrary, the whole length of the country had been discovered by the Mexicans, and their uninterrupted possession had continued up to that day. Beginning with the city of Taos, more than one thousand miles up the Rio Grande, the Mexicans had east of that river towns and cities, Santa Cruz, Santa F6 (the capital of New Mexico,) San Miguel, San Domingo, Albuquerque, Torreon, Totillas, Tajiqua, Nutreas, Tabira, Val verde, Fra Cristobal, Old Presidio, Dolores, Laredo, and Point Isabel, stretching the whole length of the river, from its sources to the Gulf. From the time that Mexico became independent of old Spain, her jurisdiction, her laws, and her officers had swayed over all these cities and towns, and the entire rural population of the country. Texas never had had a foothold in the. country of the Rio Grande. Sucli was the state of things until it was first interrupted, and has Bince been subverted, by our army ; and all this was as well known to the President as to any other man. Both Mexico and President Polk have declared to the world that the United Stales and Mexico were at peace before Gen. Taylor was ordered to march from the Nueces to the Rio Grande. Certainly Mexico had not made war upon the United States. No person will deny that a warlike act is war. Are not the marching of an army of one nation into territory that has ever been in the unbroken possession of another with which it is at peace, and where the jurisdiction, laws, and authorities of the country thus assaulted have been daily enforced, and the overthrow of the$e laws and authorities by the invading army, and the substitu tion of its military rule, warlike acts ? If these acts necessarily lead to war, it is not competent for the President to authorize them, because the Constitu tion vests the whole war-power of the Government in Congress. But such acts are War, and in a most offensive form. Our armies have taken pos session of a good part of New Mexico and Chihua hua, without any actual conflict of arms ; and who will not say that we have not made war upon those Mexican States ? No, the President has no more right or constitutional power of himself to undertake such acts than he has to appropriate money in the Treasury, or to decide causes in the Supreme Court. But the Message assumes boldly that the Rio Grande, from its mouth to its source, is the western bonndary of Texas. It predicates this conclusion, mainly, npon the grounds that Texas had always claimed to that boundary ; that her Congress, by the act of 183?, declared it to be so ; that44 in her treaty with Santa Anna, in May, 1830, he recognis ed it as such;" and that " Texas, as ceded to the United States by France in 1803, has been always claimed as extending west to the Rio Grande, or Rio Bravo." His proposition, then, is, that as Texas by annexation became a State of the Union, and her western boundary was the Rio Grande, the United States extended to that line, and it was his duty to " see that her laws were faithfully execut ed " up to it. Let us rapidly examine these various points. By the resolution annexing Texas, Congress did not recognise the Rio Grande, or any other line, as the western boundary of Texas. There has been at no time a controversy or doubt upon the true posi tion of any other than the western boundary of Texas; and, in reference to this line, the resolution of annexation expressly included only " the terri tory properly included within, and rightfully be longing to the Republic of Texas cautiously pro-| viding, in addition, that said State (of Texas) was " to be formed subject to the adjustment by this Government of all questions of boundary that may arise with other Governments." Here is a distinct recognition that this western boundary was unsei zed, and a condition imposed which, in terms, was acceded to by Texas, that its adjustment with Mex ico should be made by the Government of the Uui ted States. Will any one maintain that the Presi dent ol himself can adjust and determine the un settled boundaries of the United States ? That can be done only by the treaty-making power, the Pre sident and the Senate acting by two-thirds ; and this true and constitutional mods of settling the question is provided for by the articles of annexa tion. lo the extent of the dispute in relation to the true locality of the western boundary line of! Texas it was the duty of the President of the Uni ted States to await the action of the treaty-making power with Mexico. But such constitutional de lay did not suit his purposes. He was resolved to I have what he then thought would be an easy, speedy, and triumphant brush with Mexico; and, as his occupation of Texas to the utmost verge of! her settlements west of the Nueces for six months would not extract the first fire from her, he was re-1 solved to make the war himself, although Congress was then in session. He therefore ordered the! army to march in hostile array to the Rio Grande. If this position ol his, that the western boundary of the United States extended along that river from its mouth to its source, and it was his duty to main tain the jurisdiction and to execute the laws of the United States up to it, was not an after-thought, why did he not immediately upon annexation march our army upon Santiago, break up the Mexican customhouse there, and drive her officers, laws, and authority from the soil of the United States ? Why should he delay this work for months, if he was so urgently impelled by his oath and duty ? Santa l e, too, the capital of New Mexico, was some miles within the United States, according to his present position. . It was the seat of a foreign conflicting Government, which was then maintain- i ing an adversary rule over about as many Mexican towns, cities, and people east of the Rio Grande as there were in the entire country between that river and the Sabine which acknowledged the juris diction of Texas. If the lower part of that stream was the boundary of the United States, on the an nexation of Texas, according to his own position the river was a continuation of the same boundary line to its source. It lie was bound as President to assert the jurisdiction of the United States, and execute their laws at Santiago, was he not under a stronger obligation to expel a foreign Government from Santa Fe, and to reduce that capital and all its dependencies under our laws and authority ? Vet tliis he never attempted or dreamed of until Congress recognised the unconstitutional war which he had commenced. In such difficulties does a departure from principle involve men. " Texas, as ceded to the United States by France ? in 1803, has been always claimed as extending 4 west to the Rio Grande or Rio" Bravo," says the Message. Now France never ceded Texas to the United States at all; she ceded T^ouisiana, which the United States contended included all the coun try between the Mississippi river and the Rocky Mountains, from the sources of that river to the Rio Grande. The statement that France ceded to the United States Texas eo nomine can have no other effect than to produce a false impressiou upon the public mind. Spain always controverted the posi tion that Louisiana extended to the Rio Grande. But that is neither the main nor p collateral ques tion in this matter; it is only thrown in lo distract and to lead the mind from the true points. Louisi ana and 1 exas once had a common recognised boun dary, and that was the river Nueces. The query, however, is as to the boundary of Texas. Spain owned and was possessed of Louisiana, which she ceded to France by the treaty of October, 1800. Before this cession she was undisputed sovereign of Louisiana, of Texas, New Mexico, and all the other provinces of Mexico. She held and possess ed them all by certain and definite boundary, and the western line of Texas, in which she made set tlements more than a century ago, was the river Nueces. Her ancient, first, and only capital of New Mexico continued to be Santa Fe, which it could not have been had the province of Louisiana extended to the Rio Grande. After she ceded Louisiana to Franee, during the whole period of its possession by that Power, and after its transfer by her to the United Slates, Santa F? continued to be the undisputed capital of New Mexico, where its government was fully and uninterruptedly adminis tered. The right of the United States to Texas was ceded to Spain by the treaty of 1810; and from that time until Mexico revolted she held and governed Texas by the Nueces as its Western boundary; and Tamaulipas, another province, as running across the Rio Grande to the Nueces for its Eastern boundary. In 1824, Mexico, having achieved her independence, established a Federal Republic, constituted of several States, upon the model of our Union and Constitution. Under this system New Mexico was one of the States, Coa huila was another, and Texas a third. The two latter did not unite and form one State of the Re public, as the Message states. They were estab lished and existed as separate and distinct political ' geographical divisions, but were united under one [common Legislature and one common State Gov ernment. They existed as separate territories, hav ^ ing distinct and separate boundaries, and each by its known and mutually recognised boundary, and by the name of Coahuila and Texas respectively. The same river Nueces was a common boundary be tween them, being the western line of Texas and the eastern line of Coahuila. Texas did not in fact, nor did she then claim to, extend further west (than the Nueces; and as to the reaching afar up, I and comprehending all of New Mexico east of the ^ Rio Grande, including her capital of Santa F?, such an extravagance had not then entered into any man s imagination. Things remained in this state until Texas, hi 1835, declared her independence; but Coahuila remained a State of Mexico. Texas declared herself independent by name, and did not define her boundary. She ineffectually endeavored lo prevail with Coahuila to take ihe same step, and then left her in undisputed possession and in the exer cise of her separate jurisdiction and authority up to the Nueces. No question of boundary had then arisen between them. What, then, becomes of the Presi dent's position, 44 Texas, as ceded to the United ? Stales by France in 1803, has been always claim. 4 ed as extending west to the Rio Grande?" In April, 1836, Santa Anna was captured by the Texan army, and whilst a prisoner of war he en tered into and signed certain articles with some of the principal officers of the Texan army. It was provided expressly in one of the articles that the whole arrangement should be submitted respective ly to die Governments of Texas and Mexico; and the latter rejected it. Santa Anna had, from the1 time of marching to invade Texas, ceased to be the' President of Mexico, and a President ad interim had been appointed, and was invested with, and was then exercising,'5 the powers of that office. Santa Anna was only General-iu-chief, and also a piisoner of war. One of the articles of this ar rangement stipulated that "the Mexican army1 should retire west of the Rio Grande," and this is the only provision bearing upon the point of ces-' sion of territory or boundary. It neither attempts, nor, by any terms which might have been adopted, could it have settled boundary, or ceded any of the territory of Mexico. Because, first, Santa Anna was but a military commander before he was taken captive, and could not as such make a treaty to bind Mexico. Secondly, if he was clothed with such a power, its total suspension ensued immedi ately upon his daptivity, and reverted to Mexico. Thirdly, the arrangement itself provided for its ra tification or rejection by Mexico and Texas, and Mexico rejected it. This is what President Polk terms a " treaty made with Santa Anna in May, 1830," by Texas, in which "he recognised" the Rio Grande as her western boundary. It is diffi cult to decide whether the President blunders most in his idea of a treaty, or in the statement of the facts of the case. This compact between the pri soner Santa Anna and his captors had no effect to divest Mexico of the country between the Nueces and the Rio Grande, or to invest Texas with it; and yet it is the first beginning and the only foun dation of her claim ! Never before had she set up any claim for any portion of the country between the two rivers. In December following, indeed, her Congress passed an act to define the boundaries' of the Republic of Texas, in which the Rio Grande, I from its mouth to its source, was declared to be her western boundary. All the while, the whole country on both sides of that river continued to be studded by Mexican towns and cities, to be held and inhabited by Mexican people, to be governed by Mexican laws and officers, and to know no others ; and mat ters so remained until they were subverted by the invasion of the American army. It is the extreme of absurdity to say that this act of the Texan Con gress expanded her boundary to the Rio Grande. Conquest and Treaty are the only modes by which territory can be transferred from one nation to an other. If it could be done by the mode adopted by Texas, all her territory would now belong to Mexi co, because Mexico has claimed a thousand times, in every possible form, and still does, the whole country known as Texas. ' These observations are equally applicable to our acts of Congress, passed since annexation, estab lishing a port of delivery at Corpus Christi, and a post route or two west of the Nueces. This legis lation did not interfere with the Mexican people and authorities seated east of the Rio Grande. But, il our Congress had passed an act in the words of the previous act of Texas declaring the Rio Grande to be the western boundary of Texas, it would nei ther have strengthened the right of the United States nor have weakened that of Mexico. The question of right would have been left just where it was, and as it stood before. Such is another of the broken reeds upon which President Polk leans in this his great strait. Hut die President is so hard pressed that he ra dier unwittingly, it would seem, quotes this lan guage in reference to Texas, from the despatch of our Secretary of State in 1842 to our Minister in Mexico : ? Practically free and independent, ac ? knowledged as a political sovereignty by the prin ' cipal Powers of tlie world.no hostilefool resting 4 within hcr[Texas~\ territory for nix or seven years, 4 and Mexico herself refraining for all that period from ? any further attempt to re-establish her own audio ' rity over that territory," Ac. This is testimony adduced by the President himself; and, although it may prove that Texas was independent, it estab lishes conclusively that, in the judgment of the then Administration, Texas did not extend to the Rio Grande, or include all the Mexican towns and peo ple east of it, from Santiago along its whole course to the cities of Santa Fe, Taos, and upward. But the President in this Message protests that he could not assume " the responsibility of yielding 4 up the territory west of the Nueces to Mexico, or 1 4 refusing to protect and defend this territory and 4 its inhabitants, including Corpus Christi, as well ' as the remainder of Texas, against the threatened 4 invasion. I o which it is enough to reply that General Taylor's post at Corpus Christi protected amply every Texan settler west of the Nueces, and the President will not say to the contrary. Mexico made no military movementon that border until Gen. Taylor was in full march to the Rio Grande. It was not until her own people and authority on the Rio Grande were invaded by the army under his com mand that she prepared for resistance and to defend them. The President was not required even by Mexico to yield up any territory; but, of his own will, and whilst Congress was in session, he march ed our army into a country where the military force of Texas never had been but to be defeated ; he, upon his own mere authority, invaded a country that was and ever had been in the full possession of Mexico,and expelled her officers and laws from it! by force of arms. Thus began the War. The true issue, therefore, between the President' and the People is not whether there existed,1 prior to the year 1H45, as the President now ar gues, justifiable cause of war,* but whether he, the President, had constitutional power to determine that question, much less to act as he did upon that determination. The question of the sufficiency of canse for war was one for Congress, and not for the I resident, to decide. Congress was in session when the order was expedited for the march of the Army to the Rio Grande, and upon that decisive and conclusive step the President failed in his duty to ask the sanction of the Constitutional authority. To the Government of Mexico, and as between that Government and the United States, it is of little consequence how the war was brought on. The war now exists, and must be fought out, unless the Almighty shall breathe into the councils of both countries at once the spirit of peace. But, as be tween the President and the People of the United States, it is of infinile consequence to know for what purpose, and with what Ulterior objects, this war is to be further prosecuted. < ? See tlte Note at the foot of the next column. u 'f he war has not been waged in the spirit of conquest." So says the Message; and, if the de claration of the Message were not contradicted by notorious facts, we should mottt sincerely rejoice in it. But, have we not before us the rescripts of our Military and Naval Commanders, opeidy and offi cially proclaiming the contrary ? Did not General Kf.arnby, on taking possession oi Santa te, pub licly announce his 44 intention to hold the Depart ment of New Mexico an a part of the United tStates, and under the name of the Territory <>J New Mexico ?" Did he not also issue another ukase, in which, 44 by authority ol the President ol the United States," he announced the establishment of a Civil Government for 44 the Territory" thus annexed by proclamation, including an entire judi cial system, as well as a Governor, Secretary, <fcc. dating the same " at Santa Fe, the capital of the Territory of New Mcxico, in the seventy-first year of the Independence of the United States ?" 11 this be no! acquisition, political and territorial an nexation, as well as conquest, what can constitute it ? And so, in the case of California and Commodore Stockton, from whose first proclamation, signed by him as 44 Commander-in-chief and Governor of the Territory of California," and dated "City of the Angels, California, August 17, 1846," we extract the following entire paragraphs : 44 The flag of the United States is now flying 4 from every commanding position in the Territory, 4 and California is entirely free from Mexican do ? minion. ? The Territory of California now belongs to 4 the United States, and will be governed, as 4 soon as circumstances may permit, by officers 4 and laws similar to those by which the other ter 4 ritories of the United Staten are regulated and 4 protected." It may not be amiss, in the same connection, to remind the reader of the letter ol authority and in structions given by the Secretary of War to Colonel J. D. Stevenson, of the city of New York, when authorizing him to raise a regiment of Volunteers to be employed in Upper California, showing that they were intended to be of the character ol colo nists and settlers ol a conquered territory, rather than soldiers to take part in the strife of war. By this letter the volunteers were required, as far as practicable, to be men 44 of various pursuits, and j such as would be likely to remain al the end of the I war either in Oregon or any territory that may be then a part of the United State i;" exhibiting a remarkable coincidence of views between the dis tinguished Naval Commander and the Chief of the War Department. Though the gallan lCommodore sailed for the Northwest Coast about the 1st of November, 1845, it is evident enough that he knewi before he embarked, what was in the wind. In deed, in his address to'his crew, on the deck of his ship, before leaving the port of Norfolk, he seems to have hinted at his ultimate destination when he said: 44 We now sail for California and Oregon, and, then, what Heaven pleases." These are acts of sovereignty, such as no one would suspect either General Kearney or Captain Stockton of undertaking to exercise without other authority than their own, though they had not ex pressly declared that in what they have done they have acted by authority of the President of the United States. Do not these acts of theirs, so sanc tioned, constitute sufficient proof that44 the spirit ol conquest" has had something to do with this war ? When wb Jftok. too, at contemporaneous indica tions of tlfcw^isposition of the Executive and his official advisers, supplied by the columns of the government paper?the most ultra and most odious doctrine of which against public liberty the P?esi dent has just endorsed in his Message?we cannot doubt but44 the spirit of conquest" entered into the motives of this war. We find in that paper of the Igth of May last, immediately after the receipt ol the first news of the conflict of arms on the Rio Grande, exhortations to 44 throw volunteers at once 4 across the Rio Grande, march into Mexico, and 4 terminate the war with Mexico, if necessary, in 4 the Halls of Montezuma /" Nor was this hanker ing after the halls of Montezuma a new idea with the Administration, thrown out in the heat of pur suit of a retreating army. The same idea was broajhed by the organ of the present Administration in cold blood within the first three months after its establishment in office, and within one week after the Editor of the new government paper took his post. In the 44 Union" of the 8th of May, 1845, referring to some speculations of a London news paper upon the supposed designs of the United States upon Mexico, our government Editor took occasion to say that not 25,000 men nor 20,000 would be necessary, but that 10,000 men would be enough, to march upon Mexico, adding as follows : 44 Sound the bugle through the West and South ? west let the United States raise the standard to 4 morrow, and in this proclaimed crusade to the 4 Halls of Montezuma and the Mines of Mexico, 4 twenty thousand volunteers would appear," <fcc. And, on the 22d of the same month, replying to the Cincinnati Gazette's exception to the spirit and temper of the above intimation, the 44 Union" said? 44 Was it wrong in us to tell the London Times 4 that, though we might not have regular troops 4 enough, ye1 volunteers would start up at the first 4 sound of the bugle by the Government of the * The President, in justification of the order of the 13th January for the march of our army to the Rio Grande, Mate*, | an circumstances existing when it was deemed proper to issue | that order, the following : ?4 Before these orders were issued, the despatch of our Min-, inter in Mexico, transmitting the decision of the Council of Government of Mexico, advising that ho should not he receiv- I cd, and also the despatch of our Consul residing in the city of Mexico? the former hearing date on the 17th, and the latter on the lBth of December, 1845?were received at the Depart ment of State. These communications rendered it highly pro bable, if not absolutely certain, that our Minister would not be received by the Government," Ac. This may be true, and, whether true or not, ia not mate rial to the iiwue ; it being sufficiently obvious that the refusal of Mexico to receive our Minister was no reason for war with Mexico, or for marching the army to the Rio Grande. But it is curious to see how differently tilings were represented here by the government paper on the day of the date of the marching order to Gen. Taylor. On that very day (the 13th January, 1846) the 44 Union" contained an extract of a letter received at the Navy Department from Vera Craa, stating that Mr. SLinRLi. bad been flatteringly received there, &C, and on the 10th of the following month (February) the 41 Union" published the following yiMMi official information : 44 From Mkxico.?Letters were received last night in this city by special conveyance from Mexico and Vera Crui. The letters fiom the city of Mexico are to Uie 14tl? January, at which time Mr. Hlidxll was in the city, but was expected to arrive at Jalapa on the 17th. He had obtained an escort to that place. Not the slightest insult had been offered to him, as has been reported ; but he had been received with much courtesy, and he had been welcomed in the society of the me tropolis as an elegant and accomplished gentleman. He had not yet been received by the Government in his official capa city neither had they declined his reception .? and, in fact, judging by appearances, there was no reason to Itelieve that he would not be as acceptable to the Government ol Parcdes as to that of Herrera." * United States sufficient to overrun Mexico, occupy I 4 the Holla of Montezuma, and conquer the valleys 4 of California ?" What thoughts were running in the head ol this Administration on its very first accession to power, is sufficiently shown by these indications. Nor, r?y the way, was the thought of bringing on a war by the advance of Gen. Taylor's lorces to the Rio Grande entirely out of the mind ot the Administra tion long before that march was actually ordered , for, on the lltli of September, 1845, many of 0111 readers must well remember, the "Union held the following language : "If Arista dares to carry out his braggirt 4 threats?if ho ventures to cross the Rio Grande 4 with reinforcements to any little armed post which 4 Mexico may occupy on the east side of that 4 river, Gen. Taylor will attempt to prevent him? 4 blood must flow?War must enstte." Arista did not crous the Rio Grande; and bo, after waiting four months in vain for such a god send, the Administration ordered Gen. Taylor to march his force to the Rio Grande. With what object ? For what purpose ? These are questions which the reader will answer for himself, if he be not satisfied with the view which, in the preceding columns, has been already taken of that matter. As early as the Oth of June last, the " Union inadvertently disclosed the fact that our squadron was instructed, long before the breaking out ol this war, to be in the way to take possession of Cali fornia, in the shape of a supposition that 44 an Ame rican force may possibly at this moment be in pos session of the principal harbors of California. ' And before the news of our occupation of those harbors or of the capital of New Mexico reached this country (that is to say, on the 20th September) the 44 Union" discoursed as lollows : 44 There is every reason to believe that General 4 Kearney is already in possession of Santa to; 4 that Gen. Taylor is now or will be in a lew days 4 at Monterey, and perhaps at Saltillo; and that 4 Gen. Wool will be at Chihuahua by the 10th or 4 15th of October. Shall we then fold our arms 4 and relinquish one of the advantages which we 4 may have obtained ? On the contrary, shall we 4 not prosecute our victories and make additional 4 conquests?towards California and towards the 4 capital of Mexico itself r' And a few days afterwards, the news of the oc cupation of Santa Fe having arrived, the 44 Union" expressed the views of the Administration thus : 44 The discretion which marked his [Gen. Kear 4 ney's] proceedings after he had reached Santa Fe, 4 and the subsequent steps which he is about to 4 take, will make this acquisition one of the most j 4 remarkable and important events of the war. 4 He has located our victorious eagles at this point, ? and Mexico has to ask herself if we have thus 4 acquired one of her finest provinces, what is to 4 stop us in our career, or why will she persevere 4 in the war amid so many difficulties?" We have neither time nor space to multiply proofs, which might be adduced, of the intention of the Administration to consider New Mexico and California at least, when overrun, as having been acquired by conquest for the United States. The President himself almost avows the design in his recommendation to provide for the security of these important conquests, by making appropriations for fortifications?permanent, of course ; field fortifica tions or other operations proper to a state of war not requiring such specific appropriations?and lor defraying the expenses of the civil government which our officers have, by order ol the President, established in these 44 Territories of the United States.? This recommendation by the Executive is a full recognition of what his officers have said and done. The President refers to the Law of Nations as authorizing what he has done, and proposes to do, in California and New Mexico. Leaving him to settle with Congress the question how far a state of war erects an Executive authority supreme over boUi Congress and the Constitution, we will content ourselves with saying that, in what the President asserts to be 44 the right and duty ol the conqueror," he and his advisers have evidently-suf fered themselves to be misled by the antiquated maxims of writers upon national law who fiourished ! at a time when such a thing as a written Constitu ' tion was as unknown as the Magnetic Telegraph ; at a time when all power was deemed the preroga tive of the ruler, and all rights of the people re garded as gracious or coerced concessions by him in their favor. These maxims, therefore, so far as they concern the relations between our Executive and his constituents or their Representatives in Congress, have in many cases no application at all ; and certainly have none when they are resort ed to for the purpose of deriving from them for the President powers which are denied to him by the Constitution. The President has of himself no lawful authority to annex or acquire Territory, or to establish civil governments over Territories either within or without the United States. All such acts are foreign to his office, and, in the absence of any authority derived from Congress, cannot but be re garded as usurpations of power. The whole idea of acquisition of foreign territo ry by casual conquest, or temporary possession obtained by force, is a delusion. Not only has not the President no power to go forth with arms in his hands and wrest territories from a foreign Power, but Congress cannot law full/ authorize him to do it. The law on that point is not only well under stood by civilians of the present day all over the world, but in our own country it has been long ago adjudicated and settled by its highest Judicial tribu nal. ;In Peters's Digest of the Decisions of the Supreme Cou^t, which we have taken occasion to consult, we find, at page 535 of volume I, the law on this subject very clearly laid down as lollows : 44 By a conquest, the conqueror acquires nothing 4 but a temporary right of possession and govern 4 ment over the territory conquered, until a pacifi 4 cation, and cannot, in the mean time, impair, by 4 anv transfer, the rights of the former sovereign." [Clark v*. The V. State*, 3 WtuA. C. V. R. 101. (i jj territory, conquered by an enemy, is not to 4 be considered as incorporated into the dominions 4 of that enemy, without a renunciation in a treaty 4 of peace, or a long and permanent possession." [I/. State* r*. Hayioood, 2 Gallin. C. C. K. 501. To the same effect we find the following passage in Judge Story's Commentaries : 44 In cases of conquest, the usage of the world is, 4 if a nation is not wholly subdued, to consider the 4 conquered territory as merely held by military oc 4 cupation, until its fate shall be determined by a 4 treaty of peace." Hut, further, the President says, in his Mes sage, 44 By the laws of nations a conquered territo 1 ry is subject to be governed by the conqueror," 1 ?&?-.,44 the old civil government being necessarily 1 supersededAc, The Supreme Court has decided otherwise: ( 4 By *he ^aw of nations the rights of property are protected, even in the case of a conquered 4 country, and held sacred and inviolable when it is cedq) byJreaty, with or without any stipulation to such effect; and the laws, whether in writing or evidenced by the mage and customs of the conquered or ceded country, continue in force until altered by the new sovereign [Strothervs. Lucax, 12 Peters, 410. It is very clear, therefore, that the United States acquires, by the conquest of the chief ports of Cali fornia and of the capital of Santa Fe, no rights but those which pertain to it as the military tenant of the territory during the continuance of the war, and that the claim of title set up under that occupation will count for nothing when the two Governments come to a reckoning at the end of the war. Upon the explanation which the President has made of his purpose in allowing, and indeed encou raging, the return of Santa Anna to Mexico, we have but a single remark to make. We are perfectly willing to give credit to the President for good in tentions in pursuing this course, but we cannot shut our eyes to the fact that the Military Chieftain thus permitted to return to his country is the very indi vidual under whose Presidency were perpetrated those delays and denials of justice for alleged out rages against our citizens, out of which our Presi dent has in his Message compiled so formidable a list of grievances as to constitute in his opinion just cause of war. There is an apparent incongruity in these facts which it is for those to reconcile who can."* We had intended to follow the view which we have taken of the Mexican war with some observa tions of the danger to the Republic of indulging in a spirit of conquest and lust of dominion, the pro pensity to which has been abundantly revealed within the last few years, not in the acts and de signs of the Executive merely, but in the debates which have within that period taken place in Con gress. We find, however, that what we have to say on that head would cover too much space for to-day ; and we reserve it for another paper. In the same manner, and for the same reason, we defer also our consideration of the remaining topics of the Message. * It would be a refinement of cruelty to hold the President responsible for all the discrepancies between the statements of his Message and those which have from time to time appeared on the same subjects in the government paper. But some of them are too glaring not to have attracted our involuntary no tice. On the subject of Santa Anna's return, for example, the Message informs us that, under a distinct understanding of professions by him of "an entire change of policy," and with the belief that " the intestine divisions, "of which his return to Mexico would be certainly the fruit, would lead to a favor able peace with this country, instructions were given to the Commander of our naval forces in the Gulf, on the thirteenth day of May, "not to obstruct the passage of Santa Anna to Mexico, should he Bttempt to return." Notwithstanding all which, now avowed by the President himself, the " Union" ol tht sixth day of July put forth the following contradiction ot a statement which turns out to have been substantially true : We deem it our duty to state, in the moat positive terms, that our Government has no sort of connexion with any scheme of Santa Amna for the revolution of Mexico, or for any sort ofpurjHHte. Some three months ago some adventurer was in W ashington who wished to obtain their countenance and aid in some scheme or other connected with Santa Anna. They declined all sort of connexion, co-operation, or participation in any effort for the purpose. The Government of this country declines all such itdriguea or bargains. They have made war openly ln the face of the world. They mean to prose cute it with all their vigor. They mean to force Mexico to do us justice at the point of the sword. This, then, is their design?this is their plan ; and it is worthy of a hold, high minded, and energetic people." CONGRESSIONAL INTELLIGENCER. Sufficient inducement not having been offered by the demand of last Session of Congress to con- * tinut the publication of the Congressional Intelli gencer, it has been discontinued. A number of orders for that paper for the pre \sent Session of Congress having been received, (without being sufficient to cover the cost of resum ing it,) the. Weekly National Intelligencer has been directed to be sent during the session in place of it in ebch case, believing that it would be quite as acceptable, at the same price, as the other. FIFTEEN DAYS LATER FROM EUROPE. The accounts from Liverpool by the steamer Ca ledonia, which arrived at Boston on Saturday last, are to the 19th ultimo ; but, except the commercial news, there appears to be little that is of importance. I he grain markets, both in England and on the Continent, are depressed. United States free flour was worth 32s. a 33s. in London, and in Liverpool 31s Od. Duty on Wheat 4s. Cotton has declined id. Mobile was selling at Ojd. Bowed Georgia at 6d. The Hon. Gsoaoi BtNcaorr on the 12th dined with the Queen ft Windsor Castle, and on the following Saturday was, with his lady, at the select party at Lord Palmeraton'a, the Minister for Foreign Affairs. The Prussian Chargt d'Affrires to the United States, Baron Osbolt, had arrived at Berlin to receive in person instruc tions from his Government relative <o a treaty of commerce and navigation, to be concluded between the Zall-Verein and the North American Stataa. The misunderstanding between England and France rela tive to the Montppnsier marriage continued to afford a vent for angry patriotism on both sidea of the Straits of Dover. The steamship Great Britain was still ashore. She has received but little injury, and will not be got off before next season. In Portugal two battles have taken place between the Queen's adherents and the insurgents, in both of Which the lat ter were delieated. One thousand were killed, wounded, and tsken prisoners in the first action. Daa Antas, the insurgent General, was at the head of 14,000 men. Gen. Schwalbach had commenced the Iwmbardmrnt of Elborah, occupied by the insurgents. The General Assembly of the State of Ohio con vened at Columbus on Monday last, and was or irnnized by the election of Mr. E. B. Olds as Speaker of the Senate, and of W*. p. Cutler, as Speaker of the House of Representatives. Tiii! Delink i* BaKAnsTrrra ?-The New York Ex press says : ?? The decline in the price ot breadstuff* in Eng. land has put quite a damper on the feelings of holders here. *uch a falling off in pricas was not anticipated. The news has reached here when oar own market ia in quite a sensitive ?tsti. There are at present large reeeiptn. The navigation fcing about to close, an unusual quantity is in the market, ?nd some portion of it is forced to a sale. Even without any ieclino in Europe, prices have been of late falling off here in consequence of sales being forced. Many of our holders (lave withdrawn their lots from the market, while others will he compelled to sell at the highest prices ollered. If freights ?hould come down materially, of which there are some indi ra lions, 4t will tend to strengthen the market; but, without a fall in freights, breadstuff-) nm-t decline." Col. Balis Pittow, being recently on a visit to Tenncs ?ee, his former resilience, several gentlemen of Nashville (among whom were Hon. John Bell, Ephraim H. Foster. Washington Barrow, Allen A. Hall. <Src ) invited him to ac ept of a public dinner, in complimcnt to his gallant services ?hile with the army in Mexico. Col. Pktton, however, vus prevented from accepting the invitation by a pressure of ?rofessional business,