Speech Of Mr. Corwin, Of Ohio, In Senate, Feb. 11, 1847

No I Imve saui but C woüld not state iiny disputable focT it is known to everr TOn who hvs foókcd tnlo this su'uject, that a revotattónary goverr.ncnt can cín-i-m no jarísdictiun any vhere whon it las not define J and osercis-ed its powcr wïih thesword. ít was ulierly indifferent to Mexico nnd the world what legislativo enactments Tcxns mnde. She extended her revolutionary dmifiion not ene inch beyond the power of Texas in èpposition to the powcr of Mexico. It is therefore a mere question of fact ; and how wül it ba pretended that thnl country,, lying be'.ween the Nueces and the Del Norte, to which your army was ordfered, and of which it took posspssion. was subject to Texnn law and not Mexicahlaw] What did your General find there ? What diii he write home 1 Do you hear of any trinl by jury on the east bank of the Rio Grande - of Anglo-Snxons making cot;on with the npgroes ? - No ! You hear of Mexicans residing peaoefully ihere, tut fleeing from their collón fiolds at the oppioaeh of your army - no slaves, because it had been a decree of ih Mexiean Government, veiirs ago that no slavrs should e.ist there. - I f there were n Texan popuiation on the eaot bank of the Rio Grande - why did not General Taylor hear someihing of thn.e Texans hailing tho advent of the American army, coming to pro'ect them from t!io ravages of tho Mexicans, nnc! the more murderous onslaughts of neighboring savjiges ? Do you liear anything nf that ? No ! On the contrar}-, the population fled at approach of your army. In God'anamè, 1 wish to know if it lns come to this, that when an American army goes to proteft American ci:izens on Arxerican trnitotv, they flee from it as i f from the mos! barbarous enemy 1 Yet such is :he ridiculous as-niniption of thoe, who pretend that on the east bank of Rio Grande, tvhere your arms took possession, there wo re Texnn popula? ion, Texan power, Texan laws, and American United States power and law! No, Mr. President, when 1 see that staied in an Executive document, wriiten hy the finger of a President of the United St-ites, and when you read in those document?, with which your ta'Jes groan, tho eraclous accouni of that noble oíd General Taylor - of his reception in that country, and of tliose men - to ue the language of one of hia officers - flteing before the invaders ; when you compare these two documenis tgether, is it not a biting sarcasm uj-.on the sincerky of public men - a bilter ftatire upon tho grayity of all public affairs ? Can it be, Mr. President, that the honest, genorous, Chriatian f.eople of the United States will give countenance to this egregious, palpable misrepreentation of foct - this bold falsificaron of history ? Shall it be wri'.ten down in your pub'.ic nnnals, when the world is looking on, ond you yoursehes know that Mexico and not Texas, possessed this terrilory to which your armies marched 1 As Mexico had never be?n dispossessed by Tcxnri power, neither Texas nor your Government haó any more claim to it than you have lo California, that other possession of Mexico over which your all-grasping avarice has al ready extended its remorceloss dominion. Mr. Presiden', there is absent to-day a Senator from the other side of the house, whose presence would afTrd me, as it olways does, but partícula rly on this occasion, a most singular gratifiention. - I allude to the Senator from Missouri, who sits the furthest from me, (Mr. Benton.) I rememíícr. Mr. President, he nrosp in this body and performed a great act o! justice to himself and to his country - oi justice to mankind, forall men aro inturested in the truths of history,_when he declared it to be his purpose, forthe sake of thetruth of hbtory, to set righJ some gentlemen on the other side of the house in respect to the territory of Oregon which then threaienci lo disturb the peac of this Rupublic with the kíngdom oí Great Britain. I wish it had pleased h:m to have performed the same good offices on ihijs occasion.I wísh il had boen so, if he could have found it consonant with his duty to hs country, that now, while engaged with nn enemy whom we have no reason (o fear, as being ever able to check our progrcss ordisturb our internnl peace, for the sake of justice, asthen-he did for the sake of justice and the interest and peace cf those two countries. England and America, he had come forward to setile the truth of hit tory in repecl to the territorial boundary of Texas which our President 6aid was Rio Bravo - the "Rio Del Norte," as it is sometimos called. I expres tliis wish for no purpnsO of taunting the gentleman from Missouri, orleading himto believethat l woulddraw his name into the discnssion for any ether than the most sacred purposes which ,cin nnïmate the huirán bosom - t'iat of having tru:h established ; for I really be iieve ihal ís true which the Senator from WkhijgKnsjVUíJ Viêrdav, .ihttU wor-iisoM n the Senate is ihat mucli might be 'aïd on both sidc ! I cannot vicvv it in that way. Much ma} be said, muehtalk mny be. nad on bth sides on any quesiion, 'jt thiiT this s .1 disputable mitter, about whicb a man could npply his mind for an hour, nnd slill be in doubt, is te me an inserutable mvstery. I wish to invoke tho nnthority of Ihe Senator from Missouri. Wlien nbout to receive 'l'cxas into the United States, le oOerod a resolu'.ion to ihis effect : " That the incorporaron of the left bnnk of the Rio del Norte filio Grande j into Ihe American Union, by vinue of a trea'y wiili Texas, compreliending na the said incorporation wou!d d , a part of the Mcxiean departments of New Mexico, Chihunhua, C-iahuü, and T.-mnaulipas, WOU LD BE AJf ACT OF DIRECT AGGRESSION ON MEXICO, for all theconseqi;encesof which the United Sietes woulJ stand responsible.11 1 heg, Mr. Preideni, to add to thi., another authority, which I om sure wüïnot be contradicted by any ea!l ng ihemsplves Dcmocrats. In the sumrner of 1844, Mr. Silas Wright, in an el.ibnnte aldres delivered at Watertown, New York, said : " There is nnothcr subject on which I feel bound lospenk a word ; I nllude t ihe proposition to annex Texns to the torritory of this Republic. I feit it mv duty to vote as Senator, nnd did vote ogninst the rnüfic-ition of the treaty for the anr.exation. I heüeve that the treaty. from ihe boundaries th.it must bc implied f rom it, if Mexico ivould not treat wiih U--, embraced a country to ichich Texas had no claim, orer which shc had nevcr asserted j'irisdiclion, ani which she had 7io righl to cede. On this point I shoulo give t brief explana! on. " The treaty csricd Texns, by name. without an eíTort to describe -i bounrftiry. The Cur.grcss of Tex.is lini p-iso I an net di'claring, by métes and bounds, whal was Texfw, wiihin iheir power and jursdiction. It appeired tu me, tíieñ, if Mexico flhould tel! us, " We do nut know vou - ud have no treaiy to m ike with you," and we were left to t ike possession by force, we must take the country as Texas had ce;1e 1 it to us ; and in doing that. or forfeiting our ourn honor, ice must do injustice In Mexico, and takc a large pnrlon of New Mexico, the people of which have never been under the jurisdtctinn of Texas. This to me was an insuanoun' abt'e barrier S' I could not -place the country in that posilion' How did your officers considrr this question ? While in camp npposice Ma:amoms, being theu on the lelt bank of the Rio (ïran'Je, between the lat er river and ihs Nueces, a moét re-pecta!jle officer writes thus to his friend in New York. "Camp opposite Matamoros, ? June 19, 1Ö4G S41 Our siruilion here fs an extraordmary one. Right in the enemy's country, 'iclually occupying their corn nndcr tion ñVlds, the people ol'the soil leaving t hei i lomes, and we, witli a smnll handful (f men, marching, with c'lors flying and Jrums bpating, right uuder the guns c.f one of their principal cities; display ing the star-pangled bmner, ns il' in defiancr, under iheir very nosp, and they with nn nrmy twice our size, at lenst, sit quietly (iown, and mnjke not the least reistance, not the firt efftt to drive the invaders off". There is no parallel t t. " Sir, dd this officer consider himself' in Texas ? Were they our own Texan citizens who, in the lungunge of the letier, " did not make the fir.t eíFrt to drive the invaders off? " IC it had hpen TVxa? there, would thnt State consider it inrasiun, or her people ñyfrom your standard ? " The people of the soil leaving Iheir homsf" Who were those ' pcc.pïe of the soil?" Sir, they were Mnxicaun, never conquercd by Texas, and nevei subject to her laws ; and, thercforc, ncver transferred by annexalim to your dominion ; ond, therefire, la-tly, your army, by order of the President, with-uit ihe consent or advice of Congre.s, madi war on Mexxo, by invadingher territory, in April, 184GThe Prpsident, in his message, asserts the boundary of Ttvxas to be the Rio Grande. The Senator from Missourierts the left bnnk of that river to be Mexican territory. Sir, it is not forme, who s'and here nn humble man, who pretend uoï to be ne of those Ph:uep. vho know all ihe law and obey it. bui lio, like I he pior Publican, wou!d slanH a"ar off and fcniite my breast, nnd soy, God be merci ful to me a pour Wliig- when the aimitiied Priests in the Temple of Democracy differ on n point qf fact, it is not for me to decide bei ween ihem. It is not for me to sny that the Senator from Missouri wns ignorant and the President omniscint ? Is it for me to sny that the President wns right nnd the Senator fro:n Missouri was wrong? If t were true that Texan laws had been in operation there since Iö3!3, na the Pre-ident's action seecnst declare - how happened it tint, when Gen. Taylor went m Point Isabel, l'e peop'e set firí to iheir houses and fle'1 tlie place ? And how dul it happen that there waa a custom-houe tber?, there ín Texas asyownow a1!ge.A Mexican custom-hou.-c in 'Lexus,wherr, ever since 1836, atid for onc year nftt r the Siaie of Texas becnmo yours, a Mexicnn oíTicer colleeted tnxes if al! who traócá ilipre, nnd paid these dmii-s nto the Me.xtc.-m treiiíury ! Sir, s it credible thñt this St:;e of Texasrtlhiwed Mexican laws and Me.xican power lo exist witliin her borders for seven ve:irs ofter her indepcndonce ? I should think a peopleso prompt to light for their rights, niight have humt sonie powler for the expulsión of Mexican usurpntlon from Texau territorv. Sir. the history of this country is full of anomalie nnd contradictions. Whut a patrintic, hnrmonious pco)!e ! - W on Tnyl-ir comes to proíect them, they fue their dwellings nnd fly ! VVhen yoj come in peacp, bristling n nrms for protecúon only, youreagle spreaJing its wiígs to hcld from hnrm all American ct:zen - what tlien hnppens ? Whv, u'.cordinc: toyourown nccount, ihe$e Anglo-Snxon Republicans are so terrified nt the sight of iheir country 's flng, that theyabanion their Immes. und retreatbeforo yournrmy as if some Nomad trihe íad wanderei thither to enslave their iamipe-t añil plunder their estates ! Al! this mnss of undeniable f ict, known even to the enreless reader of the public prints, is so utterlv at war, with the tudionsly contrived statements in yourctbinet ducuments, tliat I do not w-nder nt all that an atninble naiioua! pride, however misplaced here, has prevenled, hitherio a thorough and fenrlesa inve tgatin of their iruth. Nor, sir, would I pr"be tliis feou!e"t rnnss of mirepreentation had l n t bee:i c -mipplie.J to it in defencc of viies which 1 was o!)liged to record here witlijn the last ten dnys. Sir, with my opinions as to facts connected with this subject, nnd my dductions, unnvojdable from them, l shmld have ben unwor.hv the high-souled State l fepresent, had l vntpd men and monoy to proseeu'c fjriher a war commeneed, a t novv apppais, in ngre-sion, and cnrrird on by ie eliiion only of t' e original wrong. Am I mistaken in this? lf I bui, I sball hoJd him the drarost friend I can own in atiy rel-ttion of Jife wlio shall how me my error, lf I am wrong in his questiou f fnct, show me how I err, md gladly will 1 retrnce my steps ; ?atsfy me that my country was in peaceful ind rig'itful possession betwpen the Nueces and Rio (íninde, whpn Gen. Tnylor's anny was ordered there ; show me that Tt Pulp Alto ond Ue.-acn de In Palma, )!oid was shed on AmmVnn soil in Anericnn possessions, and tben for the d"fmce of that possession I will vhti iway the last dollar ih.it power can wring roïri the peo()le, an 1 send every man, able to bear n musk' t to tlie :-anks of war. ?ut, until I shall be thus convinced, duty myself. irulfa, to aènsciencc, and to lubüc jusiic, reqjiirea that l pprsi.st iti every lawful oppqsition to tliis war.Whi'le ihe Amencnn President cnn cointimnd the army ; thank Heaven, I can command the pnrse. VVhile the 'resident, under ihe penalty of death.can :ommand your oflicers lp proceed, I cm teil them to come back, or the President can snpply them ns he may. He shall have m funds f rom me in the prosecution of n war which l cnnnot aprove. That I conceive to be the duty (a Senator. I am nt mistaken in thnt. If it ba my duty to grant whatever the President demind?, for whnt nm I here? Have I no will upon the subject? Is t not plnced at my discretion, understandi)g, jiidgment'? Have an American Senntt. and House of Representa! ves nothng to do but to obey the bidding of the President, as the nrmy he ccmmands i f.oinplled in obey under pennlty of dea'h? N.! The representatives of the sovereign people and .-overeign Stntes were r.ever elected for such a purpose as ihat.Have Senators reflected on the grent power which the comrnnnd ofarmies in war conftirs upon ar.y one, bul especial Iv on him who is at the civil and military chef of the Government? It is vèrt well that we should Jook back tosee how the fne'ids of popular rights regnrded ihis subject n former times. Prior t ihe revulution in 168S of Englaní, lili" grants nf noney by Parlimen? wvre gen eral. Specific apprpriationt hefore that were unkuown. The King coull out of ths general rcvenues, appropriate any or all of them to any war or other s'ibject, as best suited hts own unrestrained wishes Henee, in the struggle wilh the first Chr.rles, tha Parliament insisted thnt he sliould yivild up ths command of the army raised :o quell the Irish rebelión, o such person as Parliament shu!d chooe. The men of thU d.iy saw that, wilh the unrestricted control qf revenue, and the power to name ihe commander of the army.the King was mas:er of the lib ertie of the people. W herefore, Charles, afier he had yielded up olmost every olher kinglv prerógativft, was 'n order to secure Parliament and the people against military ruK required to give Up the commnnd of the forces. It was bis refusal to do thi thnt brought h head to the block. "Give up the command of the nrmy!" was the last imperative demandofthe foes ofnrbitrary power then. What was the reply of that unhappy representativt of the doomed race ofStuails? "Nut for an Imur, by God," was the sieni answer. Wentworth had nlways advied his roynl mater ncver t yield up the right lo command tlie annv : súch, too, was ihe counsel of ihe Qmen, whoo ntons of kingly power were all fashionei nfter tlie most despotic models. This power over ihe army, by our constitution, is conceded to our King. Givo nina money at his will, ns we are told we tnust, and you have set up in this Repuhlicjustsuch a tyrnnt as himagainst whom the friendsof English Liberty were compel'ed to wnge war. It was n hard neeessity; but still it was demnnded ns the only i-ecurity for nny rcasonahle mensure of public liberty. Such men as Holt and Somers had not vet taught the pcople of England tho secret of c-ontrolling arbitrary power by specific appropriations of money, and wiiholding these wheri the King procl.iimed his inierition to uie the grant for any purpose not npproved by ihe Commons tlie true representatives of popular rights in Englnnd. When, in 1688, the doctrine of sppcific npproprintions l)ennme a part of the Brith Crnstitution, the King could be saloly trusteii with the Control of the army. - If wnr is made there by the Crown, and the Commrms do not approvc of i',refusa] to grant supplies is the easy remedy; one, too, whi h rendéis it impo.-sible fr a King ol England to carry forxvard any war which may bedisp'easing to the English pcople. Yes, sir, in England since 1G83, il hna mt been in ihe power of a British sovere'gn to do that which, in yowr boastd Uepublic, nn American President, under tlie nuspiers of whnt ou Cttll Dcmocracy, ' has dono - make war without consent of tho legislative power. In Englhn'd supplies are at once refused if Pailiament does not approvc the objecls of ihe war. Itere we are told w musl not look to the objects of tht war ; boing i?i ihe war, made by the President, we must help him to fight t out, shnuld it even pleae him io carry it to the ut:cr exterruinntion of ihe Mexicnn rac?. Sir, 1 beüeve it must proceed to this shocking extreme, if you are by war " to coiiqucr a peace." Here, then, is your con-iition. The President in vol vos you in war ivitliout your consent. BeiHg in such a war, it is demanded as a duty that we grant mon and money to carry it on. The President tells us that we shn!l prosecute this wartill Mexioo paya us, or agrees t-i pay us, all its e.'ienrs. 1 nrh not willing to scourge Mcxic thu-; and the only means eft me is to sny to the comnander-inclitéf: "C'ill home your army ; I will l'eou and cloihe it no longer, you have whipped Mexico iti three pitched bnttles; this is revengo enough; this is punishrnent enough." [Concluied wxl xceek ]