The chief difficulty to be anticipated in the negotiation is the
adjustment of the boundary between the parties by a line which shall at
once be satisfactory to both, and such as neither will hereafter be
inclined to disturb. This is the best mode of securing perpetual peace
and good neighborhood between the two Republics. Should the Mexican
Government, in order to accomplish these objects, be willing to cede any
portion of their territory to the United States, we ought to pay them a
fair equivalent--a just and honorable peace, and not conquest, being our
purpose in the prosecution of the war.
Under these circumstances, and considering the exhausted and distracted
condition of the Mexican Republic, it might become necessary in order to
restore peace that I should have it in my power to advance a portion of
the consideration money for any cession of territory which may be made.
The Mexican Government might not be willing to wait for the payment of
the whole until the treaty could be ratified by the Senate and an
appropriation to carry it into effect be made by Congress, and the
necessity for such a delay might defeat the object altogether.
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