Page:Speeches, correspondence and political papers of Carl Schurz, Volume 2.djvu/218

198 Which document, Calhoun's dispatch or the message of the President?

Either.

The President's message is dated May 15, 1844.

Texas was annexed fully, completely, and represented in Congress before there was a particle of war with Mexico.

That point is settled then. There is one thing I forgot to read in another message of President Tyler. If the Senator from Nevada had not interrupted me, I should have kept the order of my remarks. It was this:

Since that time Mexico has, until recently, occupied an attitude of hostility toward the United States; has been marshaling and organizing armies, issuing proclamations and avowing the intention to make war on the United States, either by an open declaration or by invading Texas. Both the Congress and convention of the people of Texas invited this Government to send an army into that territory, to protect and defend them against the menaced attack. The moment the terms of annexation offered by the United States were accepted by Texas, the latter became so far a part of our own country as to make it our duty to afford such protection and defense.—Senate Documents, first session Twenty-ninth Congress, vol. 1, 1845-46.

That was after the passage of the joint resolution.

Does the Senator from Indiana see the difference? The joint resolution had passed both Houses; the republic of Texas had accepted and ratified the conditions of annexation; and then the President regarded it as the duty of the President of the United States to defend