| Title: | Letter to the Editor on American Foreign and Domestic Policy |
|---|---|
| ID | 2466 |
| Collection | Irish Emigration Database |
| File | Sigma/16 |
| Year | 1845 |
| Sender | Sigma |
| Sender Gender | male |
| Sender Occupation | unknown |
| Sender Religion | unknown |
| Origin | Washington, D.C., USA |
| Destination | Armagh, N.Ireland |
| Recipient | the Editor of The Armagh Guardian |
| Recipient Gender | male |
| Relationship | the author writes to a newspaper |
| Source | The Armagh Guardian, Tuesday, September 16, 1845 |
| Archive | The Central Library, Belfast. |
| Doc. No. | 9407149 |
| Date | 28/08/1845 |
| Partial Date | |
| Doc. Type | EMG |
| Log | Document added by LT, 02:06:1994. |
| Word Count | 1218 |
| Genre | |
| Note | |
| Transcript | Mexico and The United States, To the Editor of the Guardian, Washington City, District of Columbia, U.S. America, August 28, 1845. The Editor, I, through the kindness of a friend of your spirited and independent paper, had the pleasure of perusing two copies of it. It is almost needless to state that a sight of a newspaper published in the "ould counthry" [country?] afforded much novelty and delight. Thinking that an occasional letter from this city, the metropolis of this extensive republic, whose political and civil policy is at this time engrossing so much of the attention of the civilised world, would not be entirely without interest to you,- particularly at this time, when the priviledge is held out to your countrymen of revelling unharmed through our broad valleys and over our lofty mountains, carrying back with them the riches of our land, (if England only grant O'Connell the Repeal of the Union).- I have concluded to send you a few items of matters and things in general by the steamer which sails on the day after to-morrow from New York. Washington is at this time in the utmost degree dull; Congress will not resume its session till the first Monday in December, and then will commence one of the mostimportant sessions of legislation that has ever been known in this country. In the first place, we are in daily expectation of the intelligence that Mexico has declared war against the United States. This war, as there is now no political capital to be made out of its horrors, will be a popular one; volunteers - particularly from the Western States, where the unerring rifle is the constant companion of all classes - are in fact pouring their forces into the Southern ports, preparatory to embarking for Texas. A large body of United States troops are now in Texas, marching to the Mexican boundary, there to defend the soil and its inhabitants which has so recently been annexed to our nation. The first blow struck, if any be at all, will be the signal for the whole of the hardy sons of the South-West to fly to texas; nor will they confine themselves to that territory alone - they will never stop till they have traversed Mexico, which at this time is in no situation to defend itself from the machinations of the secret enemies within her own limits, much less the combined forces of the United States and Texas. The next Congress will have the settling of the Oregon Question, which bids fair to cause much trouble to the nation. The opinion of Preident Polk upon this question you are acquainted with, and ther has been elected to Congress a large majority of his political friends; in the House of Representatives, - the popular branch - the Democratic majority will exceed sixty; in the Senate, exclusive of those to be elected for Texas and Iowa - both of which will send Democrats - the Democratic majority will be six or eight. So you will see that the President has been sustained by the people in his declaration of our title to Oregon. It is true that negociations [negotiations?] are pending between England and the United States; yet, as a member of Congress stated in debate last winter, the people of this country understand "negotiation" to mean acquisition not dividing, surrendering, or compromising by mutual concession. This being the spirit at present, it can hardly be doubted that Congress will take the matter into consideration, and settle it by passing a law for the armed occupation of Florida. The present Chairman of the Committee of Foreign Relations in the Senate, where a similar bill was rejected last year by the Whigs, is a western man, and was one of its foremost advocates at the last session. If this bill pass, (sic) it will, I think, close "negotiation" entirely, and England will have "to grin and bear it", or send Daniel O'Connell and his millions to thrash the Yankees and strike the arms from their "blood- stained hands!" As I have the pleasure of being acquainted with several persons from the neighbourhood of Armagh and Dungannon, I would state that, should any emigrate to this country from those places, let them go into the country and avoid the cities. Let them settle in the Western States - say, Michigan. Iowa, Illenoes [Illinois?], Ohio or Missouri; there farms may be obtained at comparatively low prices which require for several years but little labour to cultivate and produce the most abundant crops; half of the labour that in Ireland is bestowed upon "a half-acre" would work twenty-five acres in any of those states. A great deal of excitement was gotten up immediately preceeding the Presidential election concerning the naturalization of foreignres by a party who style themselves "native Americans" but they failed to have that effect upon that election which they desired, and James K. Polk, the descendant of an Irishman, and friend of the poor and distressed of all nations, and in favour of extendeing the privileges of citizenship to all, was triumphantly chosen. I would simply remark by was [way?] of conclusion, that much of the odium and reproach cast upon Irishmen in this country during the political contest of last year, was engendered by the unwarrantable attacks of Mr. O'Connell upon the institution of slavery in America. I am fully aware that I write to a paper opposed to slavery in every form - one that denies the possibility of a necessity for such an institution; but permit me to state, in justice to the thousands of Irish citizens who would not obey the mandate of Mr. O'Connell "to come out" of a land where man sold and trafficked in the blood of his fellow man, that they who are here, and have every oppurtunity to witness the "horrors" of slavery are firmly convinced that there is no other efficacious mode of destroying the hideous monster than that now pursued viz., the gradual - slow but sure - abolition of it by the slave-holders themselves. The number of slaves in comparison to the free population is not interesting, and were it not for the incendiary hirelings of hypocritical fanatics upon this side of the Atlantic, many of the States would have followed New York in her plan of manumission, that is, by enactin that all born after a certain period shall be free; and those born after a lesser date should serve for a term of years only. This is the only way in which slavery can be abolished without bloodshed in this country. Let Mr O'Connell then not "lay the flattering unction to his soul", that if England would grant him a parliament in College-green he could by the magic of his "tail", induce a single naturalised citizen of this country to lend his hand against the proud eagle of America. They would pour forth their blood in defence of that wing which has sheltered them from political oppression by their rulers and pharasaical pilferings from friends loud in promises of relief (i.e. repeal) at home in their own native land. If this should be accepted and by so doing you will not adopt the sentiments contained herein as your own, but merely those of a friend of Ireland, and an American in feeling, I will take the liberty of sending you another epistle by the next steamer. Yours, with respect etc., Sigma |
