University of South Carolina Libraries
-F. 7 - - - "We wilA cling to the Allars of e Tmpe of our Libery n al we wi Prsh anids he Ruzns - - VOLUME XIV.% MalI PBULISHED EVERY WEDNESDAY. B Y W1. F. DURISOE. PROPRIETOR. NEW TERMS %'f oLYtg *kfnd PIFTV CENTS, peratntimn ifpaid in advance--$3 irnot paid within six inonths from the date of sobscription, and $4 if not paid before the expiration of the 'year. All subscriptions will be continned, sntless otherwise ordered before the bxpira 'tion of the year; but no paper will be dis continued infil all arrearages are paid, un less at the option of the Publisher. Any person procuring five responsible Sub scribers, stall receive the paper for one year, "rats. AnVrSN-Ts conspleuousyinsertedat75 cents per square, (12 lines, or less,) for the firstinsertion. and 37j for each continuance. Those published monthly or quarterly, will be chfrge,i $1 per square. Advertisements nthaving the nnmber of ingertions markPd onthem, Will bh,conitinued uutil otdered dut and charged accordingly. Commnications, posApat,will-be:prompt ly and strictly attended te. *1AW Notice. T F. Firm of GRIFFIN & B6NI'lAI1. is Idissolved by mutuil consent. The infin ished business of the firm will be 'transacted *with Ntr. Griffin. The tersigned will still piactice "h the -Courts.of Law & Equity. Office 'near the Court House. Mb. L. BONHAM. January 10. 1849, 2m 51 JOSEPH ABINEY-, ATTURNEY AT LAW. . ILL be fonna -in his office at Edgefhe! Court House, adjoinitig Bryan's Brick Store, oa Saturdays, Saledays, itud Cotrt weeks. - He will attend promptly andstrictly to busi nes in his profession. ' . January 10. 51 G. D. TILLNIAN, ATTORNEY AT LAW A ND SOLICITOR IN EQUiTY. 0FFICE next door to Mr. Compty's -o tel, Edgelield C. H. . January 24 1849, A CAR R. ELBERT BIGAND vage sad vicin Office at Burt & Doby's Aug 16 C ANDIDA. FOR SHERIFF. gThe friends of WESLEY BODIE, 8sqr. announce him as a candidate for the Office ol Sheriff of this District at the ensitg tlection, We are auhoriled to announce Capt HUMPHREY BOULWARE,asa Can: didate for Sheriff, at the ensuing election IETThe friends of Col. THUS. W. LAN , HA%1 announce him as a caudidate for th< office of Shetiff at the next electiont 1T'The friends of Col. JOHN ILL an nounce him as a candidate for Sheriff of Edg field District at the next election. 11 We are autnorited to announce T. J WHITAKER, as a candidate for the Offic4 of Sheriff, at the en;ning election. 07The Friends of ALFRED MAY announce him as a Candidate for Sheriff at the ensuing election. FOR ORDINARY. I The Friends of VIRGIL M. WHIIT9 annoutice him as a Candidate for the office of Ordinary at the ensuing electinii. We are authorized to announce EDWARD PRESLEY, as a Candidate for the Ollice ol Ordinary at the ensuing election. We are authorized to announce Col. WILLIAM H. MOSS, as-a Candidaite for the ofEice of Ordinary at the ensuin~ electiotn. * 1The fliends ofIIENRY T. W RIGI Esqr., announce htitn as a candidate for the of .fice of Ordiniary of this District, at the ensuinu election. We are 'authorized to announce Maj W. L. COLEMAN. as a candidate foi Ordinary at the ensuing election. The friends of HUG H A. NiXON. Esq. ~respeetfally annonnee hitm as a Candidam for the office of Orditiary, at the ne.t Election. FOR CLERK. SWe are authiorised to announc< WM. M. JOHNSON, Esq., a candida' for Clerk of the District Court of Edgefieh at the ensuing electint. 11 The friends of PETER QUATTLE BUM. Esqi.. ..nrountce himt as a candidate fo the Office of Clerk of the Court of Conianoi Pleas, of this District, at the enstning electnn We are authorized to atnounce TH OS 0. BACON, a candidate for re-electioni a Clerk.of the Court, fur lEdgefield District The friends.sof E. PENN, announci b im as a Candidate for the Office of Clerl at the ensuing election. FOR .TAX COLLECTOR. - The Friends of Maj. ISA AC BOLES annlounce him as a Candidate for the oflic of Tax Collector, at -the ensning election We are authorized to announce Capt B. F. GOUEDY, as a candidate for ib Office of Tax Collector, at the ensuin election. . Jan, 2 *The Friends of Maj. F. W. BURT, ar nounce him as a candidate for Tax Collec tor, at the ensuing election. SThe friends of Col. J. QUA T TLE BUM announce him as a candidate for Tax Col lcir, at the ensuing election. IWe are authorized to announce WM. I PA RKS, de a Candidate for Tas Collec ni tr,a the next ele;tion. From the Waslnztan Uniou, 9h inst THE PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE, ON THE PROTOCOL. To tIhe louse of Representatives of the United States: In reply to the resolutions of the Hoise of Represent,tives of the.ifihi instat, I communicate herewith a report from the Secretary of State, accomipa nied with all the documents and corres pondence relating to the treaty of peace concluded between the United States and Mexico at Gauddlupe Hid;algo, on the 2d of February, 1848, and to the amendments of the Senate thereto, .s requested by the House in the said reso lutions. Amongst the documents transmitted will be found a copy of the instructions given to the commissioners of the United States who took to Mexico the treaty as amended by the Senate, and ratified by the President of the United States. In my message to the House of Represen tati-es of the twenty ninth of July, 1848, I gave as my reason for declining to Turnish these instructions, in compian'ce with a resoluiol of -the House, that "in my opinion it would bt irconsistent With the public interest to giye publicity to them ait te hrrsent time." Although'it may still bb d-ubted, tihrether giving them pubticiiy in our own country, and as a necessary consequence, in .Mexico, may not have a irejtndicial influence on our public hrerests, yet, as they. have been again cafled ftr by the House, and caled for in connexion with other docu nent.,'to the cotreet understanding of which they are indispensable, I have. deemed it my -duty io transmit them. I still ebteriain the opinion, expriessed in The Yessage rferred to, "that, as a geneial tole, applicable to all our im portant negotiations with foreign powers, it 'nild not fail to be prejudicial to the iaihic interests to peiblish the instructions t ud%rpe-lrrlunig, un ~ second day of February last, between the United States and the Mexican re# public; and whith on the tenth of March last, was ratified by the Senate with amendments." They were informed "that this brief statement will indicate to you clearly the line of your duty, You are not sent to Mexico for the purpose of nego tiating any new treaty, or of changing in any particular the ratified treaty which you will bear with you-. None of the Ofmeidments adopted by the Senate can be rejected or modified, except by the authority of that body. Your whole daty, will, consist in using every lono. rable effort to obtain from the Mexican government a ratification of the treaty in the form in which it has been ratified by the Senate, and this with the least prac ticable deay.'' "For this purpose, it may, and most probably will, become necessaty that you should explain to the Mexican Minister for Foreign Affairs, or to the authorized agents cf the Mexi can government, the reasons which have influenced the Senate in adopting thiese several arnendments to the treaty. This duty' you will perform, as much as pos sibie,~by personal conferences1 Diplo matic not's are to be avoided, unless in case' of necessity. These tmittlt lead to endless discussi'ns and indt.fin,ite debla Besides, they coull notat have any prac tical result, as your nmission is ennfned Jo procuring a ratilcation fromt the Mexi can governnment of the treaty as it came from the Senate, and does rnot extend to the slightest miodification in any of its provitsions." SThe enmmissinners ' ere sent to Mexi ico to procure the ratification ol' the treaty as amended by the Senate. Their instructions confined them to this point. It wvas proper that the amendments to the treaty adopted by the United States shnuld be explained to the Mexican gov, ernent, and explanations were made by the Secretary of State, in his letter of ithie 18th of Mar ch, 1848, to the Mexi can Minister of Foreign AfTairs, under my direction. This despatch was comi, municated to Congiess wvith my message of the 6th of July last, commaunicatin~ the treaty of peace, and published by their order. This dlespatch was trans nitted by our comniissiouner from the city of Mexico to the Mexican govern' ment, then at Queretaro, on the 17ih of A pril, 1848, and its receipt was ack nowledged on the 19th of the month. During the whole time that the treaty, as amended, was before the Congress of Mexico, these explanations of the Sec retary of State, and -these alone, were before them. The President of Mexico, on these 1848, submitted the amended treaty to the Mexican Congress, and on the 2511h of May that Congress, approved the treaty as amended, without modification or aheration. The final action- of the Mexican Congress had taken place be fore the conmissioners of the U. States had been officially received by the Mexi can authorities, or held any conference with them, ot had any other communica tion on the subject of the treaty, except. to transmit the letter of the Secretary of State. In their despatch transmitted to Con gress with my messag- of the 6th of July last, communicating the ti eaty of, peace, daced "City of Queretaro, May 25th, 1848, 9 o'clock p. m.," the commis sioners say- "We have the satisfaction to inform you that we reached this .city this afternoon at about 5 o'clock, and that the treaty, as amtnded by the Sen ate of the United States, passed the Mexican Senate about. the hour of our arrival by a vote, of 38 to 5. 1t having previously passed the Hoiuse of Depu ties, nothing now remains but to ex change the ratifications of the treaty." On the next day,'(tie 27th of May,) the :conmissioners were for the first time presented * to 'the President of the republic and their credentials placed in his hands. On this occasion the com missioners delivered an address to the President of Mexico, and lie replied. In their despatch of the 30th (-" .My, the conniissinner say': "We en -, a copy of our address to the President, and also a copy of his reply. Several conferren tes afterwards took place between Mes, srs. Rosa, Cuevas, Couto, and ourselves, which it is not thought necessary to re capitulate, as we enclose a copy of the Protocol which contain?the substance of the conversations. We have now the satisfaction to announce that the ex change of ratifications was effected to. A-- k" (lie desoatch was- communica mediately p,roaaa,,.u .. . .., law of the land. On the 6th of July, I communicated to Congress the ratified treaty, with such 4ccompnnying dodu ments as were deemed material to a full understandinguf the subject, to the end that Congress might adopt the lejisla tion necessaty and proper to carry the treaty into effect. Neither the address of the Commissioners, nor the reply of the President of Mexico on the occasion of their presentation, nor the niemoran dum of convesations embraced in the paper called a Protocol, nor the corres pondence now sent, were communicated, because, they were not regarded as in any way material; and in this I con formed to the practice of our govein ment. It rarey, if ever, hippens that all the correspondence, and especially the instructions to our ministers, is com municated. Copies of these papcrs are now transmitted as being within the resolutions of the House, calling for all such "correspondence as appettains to said treaty." WVhen these papers were reibeived at Washington, peace had been restored, the first instalment of three millions paid to Mexico, the blockades were sitisod, the city of Mexico evaicuated, and our troops on their return homes The war was at an end, and the treaty as ratified by the United States was binding on both parties, and already e.ecuted in a great deigree. Tn this condition of things, It was not competent for the PresiHent alone, for the P'resident and Senate ot for the President, Senate, and H-ouse of Representatives combined, to abrogate the treaty, to annul the peace, and res tore a state of wvar, except by a solemn declaration nf war. Had the Protocol varied the treaty as amended by the Senato of the Untited States, it would have had no binding effect. It was obvious that the commissioners of the United States did not regard the Protocol as in any degree a part of the treaty, nor as modifying or altering the treaty as amended by. the Senate. They commiunicated it as the substance of conversations held. after the Mexican Congress had ratified the treaty, anid they knew that the approval of the Mexican Congress wvas as essential to the validity of a treaty in all its parts, as the advice and consent of the Senate o1 th'e United States. They knew; too; that they had no authority to alter or 'modify the treaty in the form itn which it had been ratified by the United Staies, but that if failing to procure the ratifica. tion of the Mexican government, other wvise than with: amendments, their duty, imposed by express instructions, was tc ask of Mexico to send wvithoutt d.elay a commissioner. to: Washington to ex change jalions here, if the amend ments T4aty proposed by Mexico, on be#n Jtted, should be adopted by e f the United States. . a lj well satisfied Vth the govern W Mexico had agreed to the tr6i mended by tho Senate of the Unit Iiates, and did not regard the ,.r .s modifying, enlargiig, or diinisis s terms of effect. .hT ident of that rebuplic, in submittl amended treaty to the Mei.i rgress, in his message on the 8t !F%ay 1848, said : "If the treay. have been submitted to your dill tion precisely as. it came from t of the plenipotentiaries, ny satInfe at seeing the war at last brought nd tould not have been lessenfs .-this day is,'in conse que,ne, iodifications introduced into i,: b iSenate of the United Staieg. S -7 iiclih have received the suiiciion,o i -e President." "At pres ent it is,s ient for us to say to you, thatif-Jni p.inion of the government, j been evinced on the part f the.S e.and government of the U. Stae 'introducing such modifica. tions,.i isumed, on the other hand, that the iiot of such importance that the i dset aside the treaty.' I believe, . e"contriry, that it ought to be raia -,upon the same terms in whih-ii. bready received the sanc tion ofr1 erican government.-My opinionis greatly strengthened by the fC.t new negotiation is neither expected 6onsidered possible; much less could her be brought forward upon a bai re favorable for the re publich~;i Thedel' atfon of the Mexican Con gress,*fti txpianation before that body fron Alnited States, except the letter ofi 'eetary of Stite,iresulted in'the, i ion of the treaty as re garded it as inany sense anee. nego tiation, or as operating any modification or change of 1he amended treaty. If such had been its effect, it was a nullity until approved" by the Mexican Con gress; and suib approval was never made or intimnaed -to the United States. In the final consummation of the ratifi. cation of the t4ity by th6 President of Mexico. no reference is made to it. On the conirary, this ratification, which was delivered to the. commissiuners of the United States, ind'is now in the State Department, contains a full and exp!icit recognition of the amendments of the Senate just as they had been communi cated to that government by the Secre tary of State, anti been afterwards ap proved by the Mexican Congress. It deelares that, "having seen and examin ed the said treatyi and the modifications made by the'Senate of the United States of Anierica, and having given an account thereof to the general Congiess, confor niab!y to th1e iequirem'nt ;n the 14th paragraph of the~ States, that body has thought -proper tb approve of the said treaty with the niodifications thereto, in all their parts; and in consequence there of, exerting the power granted to me by the 'constitutionl accept, ratify, and conflrm the said treaty 'With its modifi cations, and promise, in the name of the M~exican republic, to fulfil and ob serve it, and cause it to be fuffilled and observed." Upon the exaination of thiis Pmoto~ cot, whent it. was-received withI the ra'i fed treaty, I didynotregard it as mate rial, or as in any way attempting tc modify or'thange the treaty, as it had been 'amende.d by the Senate of the Uinited States. The first expilanation. *hich it coni tains is "that the Ainerican government, by stippressinlg thie.ninth article of the treaty of Gauadtupe, and substiiuting the tIbird i'rticle tf the treaty of Louisi ana, did not inteind to. diminish in any 'way, what wvas agreed upon by the afore said article (ninti):'in:favor of ilir in habitants of. the territories ceded by Mexico.. Its unaertanding is, thiat atl of that agreemet is contained in the thud article of thei treaty of Louisiana. In consequence all the privileges and guarantees, civil,"political, and religious which would hiave been possesried by the inhabitants .ofe ceded-.teiritories, i the ninth article ofi'he treaty had beei retained,.will be enjoyed by them with ont any difference under the article which has been subsitituted.;" The ninth artic.lef the original treat) stipulated for ihw incorporation of thn Mexican inhabitauits o the ceded territo ries, and the admission into the-ioo. 'as soous posible accordin5- to the princi pies of the federal constitution or the Uni ted States, to the enjoyment or all the rights of the citizens of the United States.' It provided, also, that in the mcan iime they should be maintained i-in the enjoy ment of their liberty their property, and the civil rights now vested in them, ac, cording to the MeXican laws." It secured to them similar political rights with the inhabitants of the other territories of the United States. ntd at least equal to the inhabitants of Louisiana and Florida, when they were in the territorial condition. It tien proceeded to guarantee that ecclesias tics and religious corprrationus should be protected in the dischargd of the oflices of their ministry, and the enjoyment of their proper!y of every kind, whether individual or corporate; and, finally, that there should tie a fee communication between the Catholics of the ceded territories ar.d the eclesiastical authorities, "even although such authorities should reside within the limits of the Mexican Republic, as defined by this treaty.i - The nintih article of the treaty. as adopt ed by the Senate, is much more compre hensive in its terms, and explicit in its meaning, and it clearly embraces, in com, paritively few words all the guarantees inserted in the original article. It is, as follows: "Mexicans who, in the territo ries aforesaid, shall not preserve the char ;.cter of citizens of the Mexican Republic, conformably'with what is stipulated in the preceding article, shall be incorporated into the U4ion of the United States. and be admitted, at the proper time, (to be udged of by the Congress of the United States,) to the enjoy-nent of all the rights of6itizens of the United States, according to the principles of the constitution, and in the mean time shall be maitntpined and protected in the free enjoyment of their liberty and property, and secured in the free exercise of their religion without res riction." This article, which was sub siantially copied from the Louisiana treaty, provides, equally with the original articlei for the admission of these inhabitants into the,:Unio; and, in tihe rhean time, whilst they shall remain in a territorial state, by ona awponina Drovision declares that they itual authority of pastors resident within the Mexican tepublic O- the ceded territo. rics. It was, it is presumed, to place this construction beyond all question, ithat the Senate superadded the words -without restriction" to the religious guarantee con tained in the corresponiling article of the Louisiana treaty. Congress itself does not possess the powe'r, under the constitu tion, to make any law.prohibiting the f'ree exercise ofreligion. If the ninth article of the treaty, whether in its original or amended form, had heen entirely omitted in the treaty, all the rights and privileges whicb either of them confers, would have been secured to the inhabitants of the ceded territories by the constitution and laws of the United States. The Protocol asserts that "the -Ameri can government by suppressing the tenith article of the tieaty of Gaudalupe, did not, in any way, intend to annul the grants made by Mexico in the ceded territories;" that "these grants, tnotwithstanding the .4uppression of the article of the trenty. preserve the legal value which they may possess; and the grantees tnay cause their legitimate titles to bte ackrnwledgd beftor the American tribuntals;" and thten pro ceeds to state, that "cotnformably to thte law of the United Stattes, legititmate titles to every description of property, personal and real, existing -it, the ceded territorie, are those which were legitimate titles tun der the Mexican law itn Califortlia atnd New Mexico up to the thirteenth of May, 146; and ill Texas, up to the second of March. 1836." The former wvas the (late of the declaratiotn of war against Mexico, andi the latter that of thte declaration of in depetndencee by Texas. The objection to the tenth article of the origital treaty wvats, not that it protected legitimate titles which our lows wotuld have equally protec:ed withou'. it, but that it tmost unjttstly attempted to resuscitate grants which had become a mere nullity. by allowing Ithe grantees tne same petnod after the exchange of the ratifications of the treaty to which they haJ heeni origi nally entitled after the tdate of their grants, for ihte purpose of performing the condi tions on which they had been made. In submitting the treaty to the Senate, I had recommended thd rejection of this article. That portiont of It itt regard to lands itn Texas did ttot receive a single vote itn the Seale. This information was cotmmumi cated bty the letter of ite Secretory of State to the Minister for Forcignt Aff'airst of Mexico, anid was in possession of the N exi cat governmenit during~ the whiole period the treaty was before the Mexican Cons grss, and the article itself was reptohated in that letter in the stronigest terms. esides, our commissioners to Mexico had been instructed that "neither the Presi dent nor the Senate of the Untited States can tnever consenit to ratify arty treatty con taining the 10th article of the treaty of Gaudalupe.Hidalgo in favor of granotees of land' in Texas or elsewvhere." And again t"Shouldi the Mexican gov'ernmett persist itn retaining this article, then all prospect ofimmnediate peace is ended ; and of this you may give them an absolute as surance.' On this point the language of the Proto col.is free from ambignity; but if it Were otherwise, is there any individual, Amrer ican r,r Mexican, who would place such a construction upon it as to convert it into a vain attempt tn. revive this article which had been so orien-. and so solemnly con demned ? Surely to person could for otle moment suppose that either the commis sioners of the United States,or the Mexi ican Minister for Fureign Alfairs, ever en tertained the purpose of thus setting at naught the deliberate decision of the Pres- - ident and Senate, which had been comriu* nicated to the Mexican governtent with the assurance that their abandonment of' this obnoxious article was essential to the restoration of peace. But the meaning of the Protocol is plain. It is simply that the nullification of this article was not intended to*destroV valid, legitimate titles to land which exis led and were in full force-independentlyof tite provisions and without ibe aid of this article. Notwithstanding it has been ex punged from the treaty, these grants were to - preserve the legal value which they may possess." The refusal to revive grants which had become extinct was not to ini Talidale those which were in full force and vigor. That such was the clear under- . standing of the Senate of the United States, and this in perfect accordotce widi the Protocol, is tnanifest rrom the fact, that -hilst they siruck from the treaty this kne jinst article. they at the same time sanction- . ed and ratified the last paragraph of theTh ' eighth article of the treaty, which declares that, " In the saiO territories, property of every kind, now belonging to Mexicans not established there, shall be inviolably respected. The present owners, the heirs of these,' and all Mexicans who may ac quire said property by contract, shall ein joy with respect to it guarantees eually ample as if the same belonged to citizens of the United States." Without any stipulation in the;treary to this efflect, all such valid titles under the lexican government would have- beet pro'teltad untider the constiutin anti Jtwa.7 *ed-:the-Rey,' States is to deliver in the places designa; ed by the amended article." The concluding paragraph, or'athet sentence, of the original twelfth article thus suppressed by the Senate, is in the following language: " Certificates, in prop- g er form, forthe said instalments iespeca tively, in such sums as shall be desired by the Mlexican government, and transferra- - ble by it, shall be delivered to the govern inent by itat of tle United States." From this bare statement of faes, the meaning of the Protocol is obvious. Al thought the Senate had declined to :rei"te A government stock for the twelve millions of doll.ars, and issue transferable certificates for the amount, in such suns as the Mexi can governnetl might desire, yet they could not have intended thereby to deprive that government of the faculty which evez. ry creditor possesses of transferring fot their own benefit the obligation of his debz tor, whatever this may be worth, according to his will and pleasure. It cnanot be doubted that the twelfth a, - tidcle of tha treaty, as it now stands, con- -A tainis a positive- obligation, " in considera tion of the extension nequired by the botan datrics of the United States," to pay the Mexican republic twelve millions of del- -' b.ars in four eqnal at2nual inastalments of three millions each. This obligation may be assigned by thte Mexican government to any person whatever ; but the assignee, in such case, wvould statnd in no better con-4, dlitiotn than thtat government. The atnend- . ment of thte Senate, prohibiting the issue oif a governmtent tr.mnsferable stock for thte amnount, produces this effect, and no more. The Protocol contains .nothing fromn which it can be inferred that thte assignee coul!d rightfully demand the paytnena of the money in case thte consideration should fail which is stated on the face of the obli gation. WVith this view of the whole Protocol. -. and considerittg that the explanations . which it contained wvere in accordancee withlt the treaty. I did not deem it necessary to take any action upon the subject. H-ad it varied from the terms of the treaty, as arsended hv the Sen-ate, although it would 4 even then Itave been a nullity in itself, yet ley might have required that I should - - make this fact-known to the Mexican gov' ernent. Thtis not being the case. I trea ted int the saeite manner I would have done had these explanntions been tmade vet bally by the cotmissiuners tot ihe'Mex-e ican Minister for Foreign Affatirs, and communaicated ins a daspatch to the State Departmitent. - JA MES K. POLK. WVasstsoros, Feb. 8, 1849 - Duua.--A rogue -asked chtarity no pretence of being dumb~. A lady hay ing asked him withI equal simplicity and " humanity, how long he htad been dumb, Ite was thrown of his gntard,-and anwer-. ed, "From birth adam." "Poor fel low." said the lady, and give him a dol-' lar.