DOWNFALL OF SANTA ANNA: NEW GOVERNMENT IN MEXICO: PEACE
NEGOTIATIONS: TREATY OF PEACE.
The war was declared May 13th, 1846, upon a belief, grounded on the
projected restoration of Santa Anna (then in exile in Havana), that
it would be finished in ninety to one hundred and twenty days, and
that, in the mean time, no fighting would take place. Santa Anna did
not get back until the month of August; and, simultaneously with his
return, was the President's overture for peace, and application to
Congress for two millions of dollars--with leave to pay the money
in the city of Mexico on the conclusion of peace there, without
waiting for the ratification of the treaty by the United States.
Such an overture, and such an application, and the novelty of paying
money upon a treaty before it was ratified by our own authorities,
bespoke a great desire to obtain peace, even by extraordinary means.
And such was the fact. The desire was great--the means unusual; but
the event baffled all the calculations. Santa Anna repulsed the
peace overture, put himself at the head of armies, inflamed the war
spirit of the country, and fought desperately. It was found that a
mistake had been made--that the sword, and not the olive branch had
been returned to Mexico; and that, before peace could be made, it
became the part of brave soldiers to conquer by arms the man whom
intrigue had brought back to grant it. Brought back by politicians,
he had to be driven out by victorious generals before the peace he
was to give could be obtained. The victories before the city of
Mexico, and the capture of the city, put an end to his career. The
republican party, which abhorred him, seized upon those defeats to
depose him. He fled the country, and a new administration being
organized, peaceful negotiations were resumed, and soon terminated
in the desired pacification. Mr. Trist had remained at his post,
though recalled, and went on with his negotiations. In three months
after his downfall, and without further operation of arms, the
treaty was signed, and all the desired stipulations obtained. New
Mexico and Upper California were ceded to the United States, and the
lower Rio Grande, from its mouth to El Paso, taken for the boundary
of Texas. These were the acquisitions. On the other hand, the United
States agreed to pay to Mexico fifteen millions of dollars in five
instalments, annual after the first; which first instalment, true to
the original idea of the efficacy of money in terminating the war,
was to be paid down in the city of Mexico as soon as the articles
of pacification were signed, and ratified there. The claims of
American citizens against Mexico were all assumed, limited to three
and a quarter millions of dollars, which, considering that the war
ostensibly originated in these claims, was a very small sum. But
the largest gratified interest was one which did not appear on the
face of the treaty, but had the full benefit of being included in
it. They were the speculators in Texas lands and scrip, now allowed
to calculate largely upon their increased value as coming under the
flag of the American Union. They were among the original promoters
of the Texas annexation, among the most clamorous for war, and among
the gratified at the peace. General provisions only were admitted
into the treaty in favor of claims and land titles. Upright and
disinterested himself, the negotiator sternly repulsed all attempts
to get special, or personal provisions to be inserted in behalf of
any individuals or companies. The treaty was a singular conclusion
of the war. Undertaken to get indemnity for claims, the United
States paid those claims herself. Fifteen millions of dollars were
the full price of New Mexico and California--the same that was paid
for all Louisiana; so that, with the claims assumed, the amount paid
for the territories, and the expenses of the war, the acquisitions
were made at a dear rate. The same amount paid to Mexico without
the war, and by treating her respectfully in treating with her for
a boundary which would include Texas, might have obtained the same
cessions; for every Mexican knew that Texas was gone, and that New
Mexico and Upper California were going the same way, both inhabited
and dominated by American citizens, and the latter actually severed
from Mexico by a successful revolution before the war was known of,
and for the purpose of being transferred to the United States.
The treaty was a fortunate event for the United States, and for
the administration which had made it. The war had disappointed
the calculation on which it began. Instead of brief, cheap, and
bloodless, it had become long, costly, and sanguinary: instead
of getting a peace through the restoration of Santa Anna, that
formidable chieftain had to be vanquished and expelled, before
negotiations could be commenced with those who would always have
treated fairly, if their national feelings had not been outraged
by the aggressive and defiant manner in which Texas had been
incorporated. Great discontent was breaking out at home. The
Congress elections were going against the administration, and the
aspirants for the presidency in the cabinet were struck with terror
at the view of the great military reputations which were growing
up. Peace was the only escape from so many dangers, and it was
gladly seized upon to terminate a war which had disappointed all
calculations, and the very successes of which were becoming alarming
to them.
Mr. Trist signed his treaty in the beginning of February, and it
stands on the statute-book, as it was in fact, the sole work on the
American side, of that negotiator. Two ministers plenipotentiary
and envoys extraordinary were sent out to treat after he had been
recalled. They arrived after the work was done, and only brought
home what he had finished. His name alone is signed to the treaty on
the American side, against three on the Mexican side: his name alone
appears on the American side in the enumeration of the ministers in
the preamble to the treaty. In that preamble he is characterized
as the "_plenipotentiary_" of the United States, and by that title
he was described in the commission given him by the President. His
work was accepted, communicated to the Senate, ratified; and became
a supreme law of the land: yet he himself was rejected! recalled
and dismissed, without the emoluments of plenipotentiary; while two
others received those emoluments in full for bringing home a treaty
in which their names do not appear. Certainly those who served
the government well in that war with Mexico, fared badly with the
administration. Taylor, who had vanquished at Palo Alto, Resaca de
la Palma, Monterey, and Buena Vista, was quarrelled with: Scott,
who removed the obstacles to peace, and subdued the Mexican mind to
peace, was superseded in the command of the army: Frémont, who had
snatched California out of the hands of the British, and handed it
over to the United States, was court-martialled: and Trist, who made
the treaty which secured the objects of the war, and released the
administration from its dangers, was recalled and dismissed.