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THE CONSTITUTIONALIST. '
J A IVIES GARDNER, JR.
T E II M S . ~
iMlly, per annum, $3 00
Tn-vVeekly, per annum,. 6 00
If paid in advance,.... 5 00
Weekly, per annum, 3 00
If paid in advance, 2 30
Kr All new subscriptions must be paid in advance.
dprLbwtage must be paid on all Communicate ns
and Letters of business.
Ilcpor* of ihe Finances.
(CONTINUED.)
The labor employed in agriculture, com
merce, and navigation is as much American
labor as that engaged in manufactures, with
less of machinery as a substitute. As you
depress three great interests, the de
mand for workmen in those pursuits is di- -
roinished. The labor thus deprived of em
ployment is thrown into the power of the
manufacturers, and must enable the in to
bring down wages to the lowest point. Which
will afford a scanty subsistence; whereas, if j
agriculture, commerce, and navigation arc j
improved, as the result of low duties, there
must be increased competition and demand
for labor, and its wages must be enhanced.
The home market never can be sufficient i
for our rapidly increasing agriculfural pro- i
ducts, but it is for all our manufactures, and j
fur a vast amount besides, Which is imported
yearly from abroad. ns enlarge the mar
ket *or our own manufactures at home, by |
removing taxation and restrictions from ag- •
ficulture, commerce, and navigation, and |
with augmented means, those engaged in '
these pursuits will furnish a larger and better
home market for our manufactures, than i
they can ever derive in a series of years hy
diminishing the profits of oilier pursuits by
high duties and onerous restrictions. The
great body of American consumers, not en
gaged in manufactures, are the customers of
the manufacturer, and to affect injuriously
the means of those who purchase must even
tually diminish the profits of those who sell
the manufactures. By extending our own
commerce, agriculture, and navigation; by
increasing ihe profits of those engaged in
those pursuits; bv relieving them from heavy
taxes, and opening to them unrestricted ex
changes with all the world, a far larger and :
better and more permanent, and eventually
more profitable home market, will be secured
to the manufacturers, than any they can ever
derive from diminishing the means of their
customers engaged in other pursuits. When
the fanner and planter, the merchant and
navigator are most prosperous, they will pur
chase more of American as well as foreign
manufactures. In this manner, labor un- j
taxed and unrestricted by legislation, will i
find its way into the most natural channels :
and prosperous pursuits, and the aggregate 1
wealth of the whole nation will advance most
rapidly. Thus, whilst a large and profitable
market, not dependant on legislative boon- j
ties, or restrictions, or taxes, will be built up j
at home for our own maim fad tires, the for- i
eign market for them will be extended by I
free exchanges. The export of our mu nutac- |
lures last year amounted in value t059.569,-
349, which must go on rapidly augmenting j
under a more liberal commercial*policy.—
Such of our manufactures as, from their inte- \
rior location, or other causes, do not require
high duties, constituting far the largest por- t
lion of the whole, are especially greatly in- j
jured by the protective system, and the high- ’
er the duties the greater the resulting inju- j
rious effects. They are injured both in the
home and foreign market. The injury arises
in the home market by diminishing the means
of their customers here to purchase their
fabrics; and they are injured in the foreign i
market by restrictions upon the exchanges ;
there of their exports of home manufactures
for foreign imports. Under a system of low
duties all our exports would be greatly aug
mented, and we should export largely, not
only breadstuff’s, provisions, cotton, rice, and
tobacco, but also, in lime, sugar and molasses,
and ultimately large quantities of wool and
hemp, as well as manufactures of wool,
he np, and cotton. Already Indian corn has
become a new article of export, and in time,
by a system of liberal exchanges with ail the
world, iron would take Us place on our list
of exports to foreign countries.
It is an unwise and unjust as it is repug- 1
Want to equal rights and republican princi
ples, to force, by legislation, any class of the
rornmonity to buy from or sell only to ano
ther. High duties are equivalent to a legis- ;
iative resolve that the farmer shall buy and
•ell only in the home market, and not to any
extent in any of the other markets of the ;
world: Such a system necessarily brings
into conflict the interests of the various I
classes composing the Union, and one class 1
is depressed for the benefit of another. Cut,
by opening all the markets at home and
abroad to all our people engaged in every
pursuit, agriculture, commerce, manufac
tures, and navigation, instead of being antag- j
onist interests, would soon all be united and I
harmonized in advancing together the public
welfare. Such a tariff must soon satisfy all
Classes and all branches of industry, placing |
this great queslion on a permanent basis, j
taking it, as well as all the pursuits of busi- |
ness, out of the arena of politics, and out of ;
the struggle to advance or depress rival po- 1
litical parties or aspirants. »So long as it is
•ought to advance particular branches of in
dustry at the expense of others at iiigh du
ties, the tariff will be a source of uever-end
. ing political agitation; rendering uncertain ail
the pursuits of business; defying all calcula
tion as to the investment of capital; fluctua
ting with every election; and rising or fall- i
tag with the successive elevation or down- I
fall of political parlies. No tariff ever can
be permanent which forces the American peo
ple, for the benefit of any class or portion of
them, to buy or sell only in such markets as
may be prescribed by law. Such a system,
although it might for a time obtain a tran
sient victory, cannot ultimately and perma
nently be sustained by tiie American people.
The British corn laws and our Tariff of |
1842 were identical in principle,although ap
plicable to different imports. In England
the effects was by the corn laws to build up
a home market for agricultural products at
the expense of manufactures. Here the ef
fect was, by protective duties in favor of
manufactures, to mpair the market abroad
for our surplus agricultural products. In
England it was called the protection of agri
culture; here the protection of manufactures. I
In England the blow was aimed at manu
factures; iiere the injury was inflicted on ag
riculture, commerce and navigation. To
build up an adequate home market here for
njir vast and rapidly augmenting agricului- ;
iat products by taxes on the exchange of our j
exports in foreign markets, was a» impossi- I
ble as it would be to establish a sufficient j
home market for British manufactures by ;
the corn laws. Manufactures are the great I i
British exports, and agricultural products, | i
the chief American exports, and any restric- I
tion upon the exchanges of either in the for
eign market, to which exporters must al
ways look fora purchaser, must be disastr
ous in its effects. The ruinous consequen- }
ces of the protective system having been pro- •
ved in England by her own most enlighten
ed statesmen, and demonstrated hy experi
ence, it has been surrendered there by most
of those who sustained it heretofore under the
lead of its own former most able and distin
guished advocate; and now when it lias lad
ed abroad,after reducing millions to want, and
misery, we are asked after its overthrow j
there and here to re-establish at home the
condemned and abandoned British protective
policy. At* the very time when the markets
of Great Britiainare opened to onr products
by I lie repeal of her corn laws, we are desired
to prevent their operation in favor of those i
products by high or prohibitory duties on the ;
only fabrics for which they can beexhanged. j
There yet remains tobacco, one (of onr I
important staples, on which heavy duties, |
not lor protection, but. for revenue only, are i
stdl imposed in England; but if our present |
commercial policy is maintained here, it is 1
not doubled that even on this article the pre- !
sent high duties will be reduced, with the
progressive advance there and thoughout the ]
world of the more liberal and euJiglKened j
system of unrestricted exchanges.
it is believed that the Tariff* of IS4G will |
vindicate itself by its results; that it will fur- j
nisii more revenue than the act it superseded i
and more rapidly advance the business and |
prosperity of the whole country. The duties j
are imposed only for revenue to support the ;
government, to bring money into the Trea
sury, and not toenhance pr.ces or to Advance !
particular clases or pursuits at the expense
of others. The duties are assessed on all
imports in exact proportion to their value, :
and not according to the system of specific |
duties and minimum?, by which the per ceut
age of taxation invariably rises as the value I
of the article is depressed, and sinks as it
rises in value, thus uniformly discriminating ,
in favor of the wealthy few, and against the j
toiling millions. No adequate reason has
ever been advanced why all duties should not
be imposed on all articles in proportion to
their real value. As to frauds, our merchants
and public officers are as familiar with the
foreign as with the home price current. The j
duly being assessed on each cargo in propor- i
tion toils value at the port of exportation,
that va ue being governed by the price at the ;
one port from which the shipment was made, i
is much more easily ascertainable than the
home value, which is different in nearly all
our principal cities. No apprehensions are j
entertained by tiffs Department of imposition ;
by fraudulent invoices or false valuations. !
It is fiiffy believed that a system of fair and
honest valuation can and will bo established 1
by increased vigilance at home and abroad I
by making one custom-house and one set of |
appraisers, a check upon the other, thus es- j
| tablishing uniformity throughout the Union, j
i and finally subjecting the whole to supervi
| sion here under Iheimmediate direction and j
i superintendence of this. Department, it is
j believed that the aggregate revenue Under
j the new Tariff, exceeding that under the old,
■ will demonstrate that the government lias
| not lost by fraudulent invoices or false val
| nations under the system of duties ndvalo-
I rem. and that the duties will ba collected ac
j 7
j cording to the actual valuation of the imports,
j which is not pretended, nor was it designed
1 that they should be under a system ofmini
; mum or specific duties. It is respectfully
submitted that the new system so just and
equal in all its purposes, should have a fair
trial. Even those who oppose it as erroneous
ought to desire that it should be fairly tried.
| If it fails, as they believe, it can then be
| abandoned, and the old system restored; but
i if the new Tariffsucceeds, as is the confident
belief of tiffs Department, it will be a triumph
of justice and of equal rights reflecting the
highest honor on our free institutions.
It is remarkable that all the able and philo
sophical writers on this great question* both
in Europe and America, unconnected with
parly or politics, and influenced only by a
regard for truth and the best interest ol all
nations, have long and faithfully advocated
: the great doctrine of free exchanges, even
! when the practice ofGovernmentswasopposed
i to their views; and they now enjoy the high ■
I satisfaction of seeing what they regarded as
! axiomatic truths incorporated into the policy i
| of the two greatest Powers of the world, and !
moving onward to the great and final victory
of universal peace aud unfestneted com
merce.
A copy of the instructions for carry ing into :
effect the new tariff is hereto annexed, mar
ked J.
In connexion with the finances, the sug
gestion made in my last annual report in
regard to the reduction and graduation of the
prices of the public lands in favor of settlers i
and cultivators, are again respectfully submit
ted to the consideration of Congress as a I
certain means of augmenting the revenue, i
The public lauds now subject tosale at private
entry exceed one hundred and forty millions
of acres, a vast portion of which, long in
market, is wholly unsaleable at existing
rates, but would, if reduced and graduated,
find many purchasers at lower rales. The
sales in the Chickasaw cession in the Stales j
of Alabama, Missisippi, and Tennessee estab- !
lish the fact that the appplication of the I
principle of reduction and graduation rapidly 1
augments the proceeds of the sales. The ad- i
dition to the wealth of the nation in the •
augmented value of these lands, as well as
the crops that have been already raised up n
them, cannot be less than thirty millions of
dollars This district, having been sold for
the benefit of the Chickasaws, is the only
one of the land districts in the new Slates to
which the principle of reduction and gradua
tion has been applied, and the result has
proved the beneficial effects of this great
measure, both as a means of augmenting the
revenue and increasing the public welfare.
By a communication from the General
Land Office (hereto annexed, marked K) it
appears that the quantity of public lands in
that cession is 4,316,925 acres, of which 3.-
681,309 have been sold. The average price
realized in less than nine years, up to the
30th of June, 1842, was ninety-one cents per
acre: the lands being subject to sale by the
treaty the first year at $1,25 per acre; the
second year at $1 per acre: the third year at
50 cents per acre; the fourth year at 25 cents
per acre; and the fifth and all succeeding
years at 12£ cents per acre. This is a lower |
price and a much more rapid reduction than |
was proposed in regard to the public lauds;
and yet this district, in which the sales were
made in the same manner (except the gradua
tion) by tiie Lmted States as other public
lands, has commanded a larger proportional
sum in ttie same period than any other land
district in the United States. It also appears,
by the official report from the Commissioner
of the General Land Office, that if the whole
of the public lands in each of the land dis
tricts oi the several new Slates of the Union
had been sold with in the same period, at the
same rates, there would have been a saving
to this Government, including interest at six
percent on its revenue fr< m public lands, the
sum of s6l 990, 657. But few of these lands
were purchased for speculation,bul(as the en
tries show)chiefly by settlers and cultivators,
distinguished for enterprise and industry us
well as for moral worth and intelligence; and
whilst contributing largely in money from
the sales, have added many millions of dollars
to the aggegate wealth o? the nation in the
improvement and cultivation of ihese lands.
Ii a graduation bill, in the form in which it
passed the Senate on its return from the
House during the last session, should become
a law, it would increase the revenue from
the public lands from half a miiiion to a
million of dollars per annum; and, if adopted,
together with the proposed duly on tea and
coffee, the loan might he safely reduced to
eighteen millions of dollars. If, however, the
principle of graduation applied to the Chick
asaw Cession were adopted as regards all the
public lands, it would increase for many
years the revenue from that source, as proved
by the data pre.-enled in lire table before
referred to several millions of dollars per
annum.
It is believed that the sales at the prices
reduced and graduated should be con
fined to limited quantities sold only for
settlement and cultivation. In this manner,
whilst (he aggregate wealth of the nation and
revenue of the Government are rapidly aug
tnenied, the wager of labor must be enhanced
by affording to our working classes and the
industrious poor certain means, whenever a
reduction of their wages shall be proposed,
of purchasing homes for themselves and fam
ilies, at the reduced rates to bo established in
relation to the public lands by the graduation
bill.
(Concluded to morroit.)
[From the N. O. Delta.]
Thfl War MaisiUisjcjl by Gic Peace Party.
*’ His remarks were far from being intended to
justify Mexico, oo to show upour own Government
as in the wrong.”— Webster's Speech in Phil a.
The above extract follows a labored, so
phistical and inconclusive argument, extend
ing through two long columns of Hie mam
moth piper, the Inquirer, to prove what the
speaker, in the one JiUl? sentence we quote,
says he does not intend to do, viz: to “show
up our own Government as in the Wrong.”
This public tribute tu his own and the patri
otism of his aud'ence convicts Mr, Webster
either of tergiversation, a moral offence, or of
an inability properly to express his inten
tions, and ill is is a weakness, the last Mr.
Webster would ever be accused|>f. To what
purport is ail ihe foregoing argument; but to
prove that the Administration lias provoked
the war by the invasion of .Mexican territory
—by acts oi aggression against a weak an
j unoffending enemy? that in every act, Mr.
Hoik has been in the wrung ? that we had
C 5
j no right to annex I exas—no right to occupy
• the country between the Nueces and Rio
Grande—no right to repel I lie hostile forces
of the enemy? that all these acts were un
justifiable and wrong, and but for them there
would have been no war? Truly la Mr.
Webster like the unfortunate Mrs, Candor,
whose intentions were perfectly good, but a
prattling propensity invariably thwarted her
amiable impulses, by giving currency to sto
ries about her best friends, v hich produced
the greatest mischief. Or, perhaps this de
claration, that he did not intend to “show up
oar Government as in the wrong,” was a
j frank admission of the fallacy of the argu
; merit made for that purpose, Or, perhaps
the argument did not suit the latitude of
i Philadelphia; as it had been prepared in the
: bleak atmosphere of Boston; and unequivo
: cal indications, such as a great heartiness of
! applause of all allusions to our victories, or
: to General'Paylor, in the audience, induced
' him, with oratorical skill, to give his labored
I argument against the war, a patriotic back
: set.
Curran once appeared in a suit after din
| ner, and having listened to the testimony,
proceeded to open, in a mest eloquent argu-
I ment, for the plaintiff. The defendant rushed
! up, and whispered to him, “Why, Mr. Curran,
| you are retained for rno.” Tne astute advo
i cate saw his error, and escaped from it by
1 quietly remarking, that the argument, he had
I just urged for the plaintiff’, was a hypolhel
i ical statement of what he expected would he
advanced by the learned counsel for the
j plaintiff; and he then proceeded, with great
| effect, to refute and overthrow his own argu-
I ment. So, perhaps, Mr. Webster, seeing
himself on the wrong side, took the back track
in time to save his patriotism.
We ate sorry, however, that, whilst Mr.
Webster could give two whole columns to
the task of traducing and misrepresenting
i his own Government in its contest with a
foreign power, he had but one poor, little,
; equivocal sentence to offer on I lie altar of
: patriotism and public duty. ‘-What an in
■ tolerable deal of sack to but one half-penny
j worth of bread.”
But it was not to criticise the speech of
i Mr. Webster that vve look up our pen. It j
was to prove the truth of our text, that the ■
war with Mexico is now maintained and con
tinued by the peace party of the North, of j
which Mr. Webster is one of the mouth- !
pieces. But fur. their traitorous opposition; |
their continual croaking and outcry against j
the Government; their gloomy prognostics- |
lions; their illconcealed satisfaction at every |
obstacle our arms meet; their exulting exag
geration of the difficulties and expensiveuess |
of the war; and their wild romances about i
Mexican patriotism—but for these acts of the !
Northern peace party, the war, in our opin- |
ion, would have terminated ere this. It has j
been an up-hill task for the Mexican papers
to sustain the drooping courage and desper
ate fortunes of the Mexican people. Argu
ments for this purpose were hard to find.—
Their pride was effectually crushed by their
inglorious defeats. The safety of the govern
ment and country seemed deeply imperilled.
To what hope, then, could they cling in such
emergencies? A volatile and sanguine peo
ple would easily grasp at the feeblest ray of
hope—at a straw, at a shadow. But fortu
nate, indeed, are those, upon whom devolve
the severe task of upho’ding the spirits and
confidence of the Mexicans, when they are
supplied with such pregnant evidence of tho
unpopularity of the war in the United States
—of the opposition of a large ond influen
tial protion of the Union, as are afforded
in the speeches of Mr. Webster and his
compeers, and in the editorials of so large
a portion of the Northern press.
Here is some substantial encouragement |
for the Mexicans. “W'ith such sturdy op- |
position (they argue) to the Government, on j
a question upon which it is not prrmitted, in j
most countries, that there should be any '
open discussion, or difference of opinion* pro-
ceeding from such respectable and powerful
individuals and sections of the country, sure
ly the Government of the United States will
not be permitted to continue this war any
longer, and we shall be saved from eternal
infamy and destruction.” In proof of this
position, we give the following extract from
a letter from Vera Cruz, which only con
firms the statements previously made by us,
respecting the public sentiment in Mexico :
~Extracts of lerters from I lie United States are
published, in which it is represented that our peo
ple, especially in the Northern Slates, have be
come thoroughly disgusted wi.h the war on ac
count of its enormous expenses, amounting to half
a million dollars per diem ! ami that it has become
so odious that it will be impracticable lor oi r Gov
ernment to raise the required number of troops!—
that the Senate will refuse any further appropria
tions for the war!—that the Ilritish Governm nt
lias insisted on its mediation being accepted,” &c.
We conclude then, as we began, by assert
ing, that “the Mexican war is maintained by
the peace treaty.”
Aid In Volunteers' Families. —A project is [
on foot in New York to raise a fund to assist j
the families of those who have volunteered j
for the war, during their absence. A com
munication in the N. Y. »Sun M signed “A j
Merchant’s Wife,” proposes that every lady, j
whose circumstances will allow her to do so, !
shall subscribe fifty dollars towards a fund for ,
the support of the wives and children of the 1
volunteers going from that city.
“My fifty dollars are ready at any time, I
and 1 would advise that a committee be ap- ,
pointed to look after them once a week at ’
least, and let a place be appointed where each |
man who lias a wife and family shall send I
their names, and the number of the family, 1
and the number of Hie house, and number of I
the street, and the company he belongs to. — |
And let each lady consider that her husband i
has as much right to go to Mexico as those
now going,and 1 should like to see the woman ;
j who would not soonet give fifty dollars than !
j pari with her husband.”
[From the New Orleans Picayune.]
SAN JUAN DE ULUA..
The preparations for an undertaking ;
of vast importance, visible in the Navy j
Yards of the United Siate.s, leave little i
j
room to doubt that San Juan de Ulna is |
shortly to be attacked. From the decks |
of the Gulf squadron, both officers and |
crews have gazed upon the sullen batte- |
i ries of that proud structure till thecas- ;
■ tie has became an eye sore to our Navy, j
Its frowning ernbrazures insult the spirit
i of our gallant tars, who begin to think its
continued impunity a slur upon the ser
| vice. Already the chafed courage of
our seamen lias vented itself in an ex- •
pldit of daring chivalry—the burning of ;
the Creole, by a boat’s crew of the Sum- j
ers, whilst moored w ithin pistol shot of i
the castle’s moat. That was an act of !
■ intrepid defiance, indicating how galling |
j has been the restraint that lias fettered j
the right arm of the national defence.— I
Appearances betoken a brighter day for 1
the service, when the prowess of the j
Navy will be tested against the massive i
walls of the castle itself.
The circumstances which lead us to j
suppose that the assault of San Juan de
Ulna is the object contemplated bythear- |
rangemenls going forward at our navy
n n j
yards, are the appointment of Com.
Stew art to the command of the squadron, i
and the uselessness of the ships at war
about to join the fleet in attacking any
! other place upon the Mexican coast. —
j Two expeditions against Alvarado have j
: already failed in consequence of the !
heavy draught of the ves-els composing |
| the strength of the squadron. Now the
Ohio and Pennsylvania are under orders
i for the Mexican coast —both line of buttle
; ships of the first class, which can scarce
ly approach the enemy’s shore hut at
j Vera Cruz. These vessels would nt tbe
despatched upon a service which the
| smaller frigates of tite Navy were found
too cumbrous to execute, and the conclu- j
j sion is irresistible, 11 tat their destination
I is the Castle of San Juan de Ulua.
It may he that a simultaneous attack
1 will bo made upon the fort by land and !
sea. Perhaps Gen. Scott will dehatk ;
: with a different force upon the adjacent ■
j coast, and invest the castle from the land- (
ward, whilst Com. Stewart conducts the |
• naval operations against it. Be this as it j
| may, whatever latitude there may be for :
: speculation in regard to the destination of j
; Gen. Seoit, there can be hut little in res- |
pect to Corn. Stewart.
The oldest officers of the Navv, we i
I learn, have volunteered to go down to the
Gulf under Com. Stewart, in whatever
command may he assigned them. The ;
I anxiety to participate in the events of the j
: next few months seems to he universal in
: the service, and confirms the opinion that
; an expedition is on the tapis, which, if |
I successful, will redound to the glory of j
i the country, and replace the navy in the i
! affections of the people. It is an enter- :
! prise of peril that now exacts the patriotic |
| daring of our gallant seamen, and it is j
i encouraging to the hopes of a happy and 1
I brilliant issue, to witness the eagerness )
; with which all concerned are striving to i
I , . O i
lake a part in it.
I Judge Marlin's Will. —The will of this
! learned jurist was proved yesterday in the
Second District Court. The document is '
extremely laconic, and written in an almost !
illegible manner. His infirmities and ad- |
vanced age will account for the imperfection j
in the hand-writing. It roads as follows:
I constitute my brother Paul Bartbelemy Mar
tin, heir to my whole estate, real ami personal, aiui
my testamentary executor and detainer of my es
tate.
In case of his death, absence or disability, I i
name my friend and colleague, Edward Simon, my
testamentary executor and detainer of my estate.
New-Orleans, this twenty-first day of May,
eighteen hundred and forty-six.
[Signed,] F. X. MARTIN.
The very economical and almost penurious
manner in which the deceased lived, enabled
him to amass a considerable fortune, and it
is supposed that the amount of the inventory I
of his succession will not fall far short of j
five hundred thousand dollars.— N. O. Pica - j
| yune.
An Affray. —A seamen, named Michael
Grace, recently discharged from the barque
Canton, arrived on Monday last from Frank- !
fort, Maine, was shot yesterday afternoon in
Elliott, near Church-street. The ball, which j
♦mm the appearance of the wound was from !
a rife barrelled pistol; entered his left side i
a little below the heart, and is supposed to
be mortal, Grace was, after an examina- !
tion of the wound, taken to the Marine Hos- j
pital. Several persons were secured bv the
officers of the police, who w ? ere supposed to
be engaged in the affray, but wo have not
learned that the person who inflicted the ;
wound has been arrested. — Charleston Cou
rier.
AUGUSTA. GEU..
SATURDAY MORNING, DEC’R. 19, 1816.
O'The current of popular opinion seems
to i-et strongly in favor of the President and !
his whole policy in reference to the Mexican
war. His Message is eliciting from every '
section of the country expressions of the •
conviction entertained by the impartial mind,
that he has been throughout grossly misre- ;
presented, his motives maligned and his acts j
misconstrued by the leaders and the : r ;
echoes of the Whig party. The mass of
that party we believe, and have ever main
tained,is trneto the core, —true to the rights
and the honor of their country, and that it
will not countenance the unscrupulous ef
forts that have systematically been made to ■
prejudice the cause of our country in the ;
eyes of the world, and to fix upon ns the |
stigma of having been actuated by a spirit of |
wrong, of injustice, of unholy aggression.
The rebuke will come and is coming fast '
and fearful enough upon the heads of these I
misguided partizans. Deep as was the ds- |
grace to which the opponents ol the late j
war sunk in public execration, there is a
lower deep for those who have done so much !
to place their country in a disgraceful afli- ;
lude before the world, in the face of over- ;
whelming facts in onr justification.
We have published recently several edito- |
rials from neutial papers—unfailing crite- 1
rions by which to judge the popular senli- I
ment. We shall Irorn time to time do so as !
they appear,with an occasional editorial from i
Wing papers, to show not only that not all
the people, or even all the Whigs are against i
the government in this war, but that even
some of the leading Whig papers sustain it. !
To-day we publish the comments of the j
New Orleans Delia, an influential neutral '
paper, upon Lite speech of Mr. Webster and
Lite conduct of the Whig leaders.
Mr. Webster makes statements in his
after dinner speeches however, which his
friends find discreet afterwards to explain
away, or attempt to do so. This was the
case with his late Boston speech, but the ef
fort was a lame one. There may be some
palliation for what may be said by a man un
der such circumstances, but Ins ca.-e illus- !
trates that Lite maxim may not at ways be re- {
lied on, in vino venlas.
But be who would deliberately assert as
Mr. Webster did last summer, that the ex
penses of the Mexican war were half a mil
lion per day, wneii he must have known bel
ter, cannot be relied on as a sate counsellor
or leader. He should have been more care
ful 100 in his denunciations of the President
for inarching the Army to the Rio Grande,
when the archives of the iSiate Deparment
showed that he had, while Secretary of 1
Stale declared to the Mexican government !
that the boundaries of Texas extended to that j
river, and had been so considered ever since j
1819, the period of the cession to Spain.
Mr. Webster’s course has been so ultra i
on this war question as to threaten a schism I
between his wing of the Whig party, and I
that portion under the lead of M r. Clay.
o=our latest dates from New York are I
of the 14th, and of Biltimore the 15th insl. i
We should have received last evening, dates ;
one day later. There will be two mails be
yond Charleston, due this evening.
(D*Mr. Hardy, the Ventriloquist, will ap
pear this evening before a Hamburg audi
ence. \\ e attended one of his exhibitions
and were pleased with the performance. He
is a very superior Ventriloquist. His auto
maton dancers are very amusing and will be
a novelty in Hamburg.
HIT We perceive, by the Columbus Times
that the complaints and comments which had
been very freely made in more places than
one of the indifference of the City of Charles- 1
tm, to the calamity which had befallen Co- i
lambus in the late disastrous fire, which de
stroyed so large a portion of that fair city,
were precipitate and unjust. The Mayor
of Columbus iias received from (he Mayor
of the City of Charleston, a Check under
date of the 10th inst., for two thousand do!- i
lars, being a contribution from the City
Council of Charleston, to aid the sufferers
by that conflagration. The cause of the
tardiness of this generous contribution is not
explained.
(FT Great complaint is made bv citizens !
of Jefferson and Washington Counties, that
their papers and letters passing through
Davisboro, B. 0., in Washington county are
unnecessarily delayed. Some of our sub
scribers have requested us to notice these i
irregularities and delays. We do not know i
who is to blame, but hope the fault will be
corrected in some way.
O’We are not at all surprized at the con»
tradiclion to the statement contained in the
following letter which we published in our I
paper of the 14th instant. We expected it I
would be contradicted and are pleased that it
has been. But we repeat what we stated j
that it was from a member of the “Old ’96 !
Boys,” to a tnend in Hamburg. We do not
know the writer, but are well acquainted
with the friend to whom the letter was ad
dressed, and state that he is a prominent and
popular citizen of Hamburg. If he was im- j
posed on, it is not our fault. He handed os |
the letter and requested ua to publish thw j
extract which we did publish. We are
pleased at the vindication of the hospitality
of the city of Charleston coming from the
very company from which the imputation
issued;
‘‘The following, from the Georgia Consti
tutionalist, is an extract from a letter written
by one of the ’96 Boys to a friend of his in
this place from Charleston. It seems that
the volunteers are experiencing some of the
beauties of camp service even before they
leave their own Slate. They certainly de
serve better treatment from those, for whom
they have gallantly volunteered to fight Ilian
io be compelled to lie upon the cold ground
without covering, in a city where patriotism
is almost a mania, as in Charleston. This
certainly does not speak well, even for the
common hospitality of the place, which we
always, had an idea was a particular charac
teristic of a Charlestonian.
Charleston. Dec. 13th, 1846.
My Dear Friend;—l take this must favora
ble opportunity of writing to you. We ar
rived safe and sound in the city and itmnedi
ately took up our quarters near the Citadel,
The people in Charleston did hy no means
show their generosity as did the people of
Hamburg. They did not even cheer us with
a glass of grog, and the first night we lay or
the cold ground, without even a blanket on
i even straw.
I*. S. Since the above was in type, and
just as our paper was going to press, we had
the privilege of seeing a live volunteer, al
though a rejected one, returned Tom Charles
ton and the pleasure of hearing the above
statements flatly contradicted, lie (J. W.
Nobles) says that the volunteers since they
have been in Charleston, have received every
attention from the citizens that could be ex
pected and that the story of their “sleeping
upon the cold ground without blankets or
even straw” is unfounded. Every thing that
could conduce to the comforts of volunteers
has been furnished them, ami his only regret
was that he had not been enabled to continue
with them.” —Hamburg Republican, 18 ih.
I Reported fur the Ba'timore Sun.]
TW£i\TYiMNTH CONGRESS.
Washington, Dec. 14. 1840.
SENATE.
The lion. J. M. Clayton appeared in hi*
seat to-day.
Mr. Mangnm presen'ed the credentials of
tne lion. Geo. E Badger, senator from North
Carolina, vice, William H. Haywood, resign
ed.
Mr. Badger took the oath of office and hi*
seat
The Vice President laid before the Sonata
the annual report of the Commissioner* of
Pensions. Ordered to be printed.
Also, a report from the Treasury Depart
ment, showing the number of vessels employ
ed in the coasting trade, Cidered to bo
printed.
Also,the annual reports from the treasury
department upon commerce and navigation.
Ordered to be printed, together with 2000
extra copies.
Also, a communication from the depart
ment of State, relative to i fie disbursement*
from tlie funds of that department. Ordered
; to be printed.
A number of messages, in writing, were
received from f lie President of the L. Slate*.
Various petitions were presented; among
them one from Le-lie Combs, of Ivy. praying
payment for $65,000 of Texas bond-, on the
ground that Ute revenues pledged fo.r their
payment, is no longer available since the ad
mission of i’exas into the Union.
Mr. Benton submitted a resolution of in
struction to the cummitieeon military affaii*,
I to inquire into the expediency of allowing
| three month-, extra pay to all officers, uon
' commissioned officers and privates, regulars
i and volunteers, who may serve in the war
! with Mexico, and also of placing them upon
| the same looting as officers, petty officers and
i seamen of the navy, in regard to pensions.
Mr. Crittenden's resolution, «tiered on
j Thur-day, instructing the committee «u mil
itary aflkirs to bring in a bill to increase the
| pay of non-commissioned officers, musicians
i and privates of the army, including volun
teers, and also lor granting certificates of
merit to such as might distinguish them
selves. came up in order.
Mr. Benton snggesied that the resolution
be so inodili- d a* to instruct the Committee
i to inquire into the expediency of bringing in
! such a bib, which after a spirited debate, in
i w hich Messrs. Archer, Benton, Crittenden
i and VVescott, took part, was agreed to by a
i vote of 24 to 20, and in ibis shape the reso
: lution was adopted.
The Senate then proceeded to ballot for the
standing committees. The following are the
chairmen of the respective commit lees :
Foreign He I a t ions—Sevier.
Commerce—D x.
Agriculture—St urgeon.
Naval Affairs—Fairfield.
Public Lands—Breese.
Private Lands Claims—Vulee.
Revolutionary Claims—Semple.
Post Office ami Post Roads—Nile*.
Pensions—Johnson, of Louisiana.
Patents—Colquitt.
Territories VVescott.
Contingent Expenses—Speight.
Engrossed Bills—Chalmers.
Finance—Lewis,
M anufacf lire.-—Dickinson,
Mll ita ry A fla i rs—Ben ion.
Militia—Atchison.
Indian Affairs—Baifhv.
Claims—Penny hacker.
Judiciary—Ashley.
Roads and Canals—lJanegan.
D.s r ct of Columbia—Cameron.
Retrenchment—Turney.
Public Buildings—Bright,
Printing—Atherton.
Library—Pearce.
On motion of Mr. Lewis, the committee on
finance was authorized to employ a clerk,
and pay him the usual compensation.
Alter a short executive session, the Senate
adj timed.
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.
Mel at 12 o’clock. Journal of Thursday
read. The speaker announced the following
committees. The only changes of impor
tance, you will perceive, are, Mr. James
McDowell,of Virginia, as chairman of the
committee on the Disirict of Columbia, in
place of Mr. R. M. P. Hunter; Mr. Joseph
\ ance, of Ohio, chairman of committee on
manufactures, in place of Mr. John Quincy
Adams; Mr. Janies J. Faran, of Ohio, chair
man of the committee on public buildings
and public grounds, in place of Mr. Orlando
D. 4 icklin. J here was no change in chair
man of any other committee—all others re
main as they were at the last session.
Air. Bowden, of Ala., in a few eloquent
and appropriate remarks, announced the
deadi of the Ilou. IVlix Grundy McConnell,