• President Polk has vouchsafed a very lengthy message to
Congress ; half of it being an apology for what his fellow Repub- licans have done or are going to do in Mexico. No composition ever more thoroughly deserved the epithet of" cool." Beginning with the assertion that the United States were forced into the war with Mexico, Mr. Polk comes by easy staoes to the con- clusion that it will be a blessing to the conquered country! To get rid of the provinces which the United States "proposes to acquire," will be exceedingly convenient to Mexico, and their transfer to the United States will be beneficial to all the world : Mr. Polk avers that conquest has never been his intention, only "territorial indemnity" for the war; although the Model Republic has, within so few years, absorbed such large slices of Mexico, it was done quite unintentionally. At that rate, we do not see where the devourer would necessarily stop. Mr. Polk's message, tnutatis ntutandis, would serve as well for justifying the absorp- tion of all Mexico, or indeed anything else.
Previous page
