IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) // :/u 1.0 1^121 |25 I.I ir ^ 18 IL25 1 1.4 1.6 V] vi > /] '> > /A '/ Photographic Sciences Corporation m % V ^ • ver8y,and being impelled to it by excess of opposition to the Administration, f be thrown at me, I will not shrink from my task, but will alike scorn it and its authors. No such denunciation will deter me from doing what I under- stand to be my duty. So long as the question is what shall be the mea- sures and relations of our country with others, I will support such as I deem to be just, wise, and politic ; when those measures and relations are determined upon, I stand by my country, and those vv^ho are charged \yith its government, be they right or be they wrong. The President, in his message at the beginning of the session, gives a rapid but clear history of the diplomacy of the United States and Great Britain in relation to Oregon ; upon which he comes to this conclusion : *' All attempts at compromise having failed, it becomes the duty of Con- Mgress to consider what measures it may be proper to adopt for the security nd protection of our citizens now inhabiting, or who may hereafter inhabit, >egon, and for the maintenance of our just title to that territory." He hen refers to the treaty between the two countries which secures to the ople of both the temporary right of free access to all Oregon, and 5 I. rr-v particularly to the article which provides that either party may termi- nate it by giving the other twelve months' notice. The President adds, " this notice it would in my judgment be proper to give ;" and he recom- mends that " provision may be made by law for giving it accordingly, and terminating the convention of the 6th of August, 1827." He states and admits the inhibition which this convention creates to the full and proper legislation of Congress for the assertion and maintenance of our rights to Oregon , as he seta them forth ; and then clearly indicates his future policy in this significant paragraph: ''At the end of the year's notice, should Congress think it proper to make provision for giving that notice, we shall have reached a period when the national rights in Oregon must either be abandoned or firmly maintained. That they cannot be abandoned without a sacrifice of both national honor and interest, is too clear to admit of doubt." He recommends at once the extension of the laws of the United States over American citizens in Oregon. The language of the President upon this subject is explicit. His position is, that our title to the whole of Oregon is clear and indisputable, and that he has demonstrated it so to be ; that all eflbrts to negotiate a compromise of the controversy have failed, and it was manifest that the British Govern- ment would not concede any terms which ours ought to accept ; that the subsisting convention between the two countries was the obstacle to mea- sures necessary to the assertion and maintenance of our rights, and ought therefore to be terminated ; and that, at the termination of the twelve months, when the consummation of this notice would have abrogated the convention, unless Congress should then firmly maintain the right of the United States to all Oregon, it would undoubtedly be guilty of a sacrifice of national interest and honor. England claims to have as much right to all Oregon as she concedes to the United States ; that it is a vacant unappropriated country, and open to the people of all the world. Her Government has repeatedly refused the proposition of ours to divide Oregon between them substantially by the 49th parallel. From the mouth of the Columbia, in 46° 16', to the line 54° 41', to which we claim as our northern boundary, there is not an American emigrant ; and within that area there are twenty-three armed British posts, belonging to the Hudson Bay Company. This fact is well known to Mr. Polk. The English Government has contended inflexibly, in all its nego- tiations with previous Administrations, as well as with Mr. Polk, that their rights in part of Oregon are superior to those of the United States ; and he has seen the solemn annunciation of that Government to the world that it is prepared and determined to maintain them. In view of the failure of all attempts to adjust the dispute by negotiation, of the rejection by our Gov- ernment of the British proposition to refer it to arbitration, and of the notice being given, he means, and in substance recommends, that we then proceed to assert our right to the whole of Oregon, and establish our jurisdiction and laws over it. This can only be eff*ected by the expulsion or subjugation of the British power in Oregon, and then comes the shock of arms. Now, understanding the President's purposes and line of policy, it seems to me that every gentleman who supports the resolution for this notice adopts his position, that our title to all Oregon is clear and perfect; acquiesces in his conclusion that all aUempts to settle the controversy by compromise have failed ; and pledges himself to go with the President at the termination of ing ay termi- ]ent adds, le recom- ngly,and states and nd proper r rights to ure policy :e, should , we shall t either be id without I admit of he United is position ! , and that )mpronii8e h Govern- , ; that the e to mea- and ought he twelve ogated the ight of the sacrifice of )ncedes to id open to efused the y the 49th line 540 American tish posts, wn to Mr. I its nego- that their s ; and he d that it is lure of all ' our Gov- the notice sn proceed iction and ugation of it seems ice adopts uiesces in mise have nation of the notice, to assert our indisputable right to all Oregon at the point of the sword. Such is what the President contemplates, judging from the lan- guage of his message ; and, unless he bo a niere political trickster, he means nothing short of it. Jf this notice be so formally given by the concurrence of the legislative and executive branches of the Government, after this explicit declaration by the President of what he intends it to lead to, and tlie dispute should not be amicably settled before the expiration of the twelve months, national honor would forbid Congress then to remain passive. The solemnity of such a notice would l)e an annunciation to England, and to the world, that it was to be followed up by other and viijorous measures; and when the crisis comes, to pause would justly sul»ject us to universal derision and contempt. The President would revolt at his administration and the country being placed in any such humiliating position, and would unquestionably prefer that the notice should not be given. He and the public will regard, and will have the right to regard, the support of this, the first in his series of measures, as a committal to the whole. He recommends a particular course of policy, which cannot be adopted unless this first measure succeeds. Gen- tlemen who condenm what is to follow ought to make their opposition to it certain and etfective, by the defeat of the initiatory measure. They should pause and carefully examine the ground which the President occupies, and the probable consequences, before they link themselves to him on it. Be- yond all question they ought to be satisfied that it is both just and wise. At the threshold, we ask ourselves why has the President appealed to Con- gress to pass a law authorizing him to give this notice? What is the proper au- thority to give it? With the exception of declaring war and regulating com- merce with foreign nations. Congress is vested only with the power of in- ternal legislation. The operation of this notice will be external, interna- tional, and its subject an existing treaty between our Government and a for- eign country. That treaty itself provides for this notice, and without such provision it could not be given. The power to give it is the joint creation of the treaty-making authorities of two sovereign and independent nations. It was necessary that both England and the United States should concur in constituting the right to give this notice; because, acting upon and binding both, all the authority of either would have been insufficient to that end. To give the notice is not an act of legislation , but the exercise of the treaty- making function. The President and the Senate could, with the consent of England, add a provision to this treaty declaring the clause that autho- rizes this notice to be given void and inoperative ; and the Jiame authority could, when it was negotiated , and can at any time, add a provision making it a treaty to continue twelve months. Now, it is a treaty of indefinite con- tinuance , with a clause that either party may so far alter it aS to make it a treaty to exist from the time of such change for twelve months; and to this provision, thus authorizing it to be modified, both nations have consented, as they have to all its other stipulations. Instead of being the complete and final action of the treaty-making power of the two nations at the time it was signed, it is there agreed that each reserves the right, and is to have the power, at any future time, to modify the treaty as it was then drawn up in a single feature; and that is, to provide that the treaty, instead of continu- ing for an indefinite time,f?hould exist but for twelvemonths. How is Congress clothed with authority to execute this suspended will of the treaty- I I ■making power? Where is our warrant for adding: substantially a new article to this treaty to change the effect of an existing one? Tlie office of Con- gress is to enact laws, not to make or modify treaties with foreign nations. It does not and cannot act in concert and covenant with any foreign autho- rity. All die validity and effect of its action results from its own properly published will. The operation of the treaty-making power is different, for It proceeds in conjunction with the (iovernmenis of other countries, and can produce nothing without them. It is made and constituted to act with them, and cannot act without them. If Congress could authorize and re- quire this notice to be given by its law, it could do so of its own unaided will. The giving of it is the enianation of two wills — of the treaty-making power of both England and the United States. The will of each has in part acted beforehand, and been expressed. Each has stipulated that this notice shall be given and be obligatory upon her on the happening of a con- dition; which is, that the other shall decide to give it. The efficiency of the notice, if our authorities should decide to give it , will result as much from the (jJovernment of England as of the United States. If the notice '«hould come from that Power, its force will emanate equally from our Pre- isident and Senate as from her King. The concurrence of both will have been indispensable. It will not be contended that both the law-making and treaty -making powers in our Government can decide that this notice e^hall be given. It is the business ot one and not the other, and cannot belong to both. If the President and the Senate were to niake a formal treaty with England that this notice should be given, the validity of such a stipulation could not be doubted. If the same authority were to make an arrangement to expunge the article providing for the notice from the treaty, all will concede that the treaty would become absolute. A like modification to postpone the notice for twenty years, or any length of time, would be of the same unequivocal authority. The treaty-making power provided originally for this notice, and it alone was competent to that purix)se. It may give the notice, may eradicate it entirely from the treaty, may postpone it or modify it in any possible form. It has all power over the subject; Congress, in truth, has none. To give the notice would be, in substance and effect, and notliing more, than to modify the existing convention, to make it continue twelve months instead of an indefinite time. That proposition alone refutes the jurisdiction of Congress over the subject. I do not intend to controvert the position that Congress might abrogate this treaty by a«declaration of war. I concede also, that when one nation violates or disregards its treaty obligations in a substantial point, the treaty becomes forfeited, and the other party may declare herself absolved from the further observance of it. These are undeniable principles of national law, but they do not touch the present question. The position of the gen- tleman from Illinois, (Mr. McClernand,) that Congress can abrogate a treaty, is unsupported both by authority and morality. One nation has no more right or power to renounce its treaty than an individual has to repu- diate his contract. I can come to no other conclusion, Mr. Speaker, than that the giving of this notice is not a legislative act, but purely executive; and, under our Constitution, is referrible to the President and the Senate, as the sole depo- itttaries of the treaty-making power. If the President had made a coufi- I a new article Hce of Con- ign nations, reign aiulio- wn properly ililFerenl, for [intriesi, and 1 to act witli rize and re- vvn unaided L'aty-making each l:as in ed that this ing of a con- eflicicncy of It as much f tlie notice 3ni our Pre- li will liave eatvniaking jiven. It is )th. If the Ingland that ;ouId not be to expunge ede that the e the notice inequivocal this notice, notice, may it in any truth, has nd notiiing nue twelve refutes the It abrogate one nation , the treaty olved from of national of the gen- abrogate a tion has no as to repu- e giving of under our sole depo- le a coufi- y dential executive communication to the Senate, and had recommended to that body to concur with him in giving the notice, and two-thirds had so advised him , it will not be controverted that he might constitutionally and properly have given it without even communicating with the House upon tlie subject. It is fit, as well as constitutional, that it should be so. The Senate are the constitutional advisers of the President about all such mat- ters. Not so the House. He has secret confidential relations with them in all transactions relating to subjects of this character; not with us. He may properly go to the Senate for counsel upon this subject of notice. To give an enlightened and just dccis^ion upon it, the authentic and exact state of the negotiations and diplomatic correspondence between the two countries sho\dd be known. The whole of this the President woidd be required to send up to the Senate. All protocols, papers, and notes exchanged, all propositions pending and rejected, verbal or wriuen,ihe entire budget of ijiformation relating to this subject which the President possessed, he would l>e and ought to be required to lay before the Senate, that they, being co- ordinate constitutional powers, might enter upon the solution of a question over which they held concurrent jurisdiction, each possessed of the same amplitude of information. How stands the case with this House? Until within the last few hours, the only information upon the subject which we have possessed is what was communicated in the documents accompanying the President's message at the beginning of the session , and what was pre- viously before the world. We have been considering this great subject, in- volving, as most persons think, the issues of peace and war, upon the invi- tation of the President for more than a month. We have no communica- tion from him during the greater part of this period. About a week since, nte fibers of this House heard, by rumor, that diplomatic intercourse be- tween the two Governments had been resumed. A call is made upon the President for this correspondence; and only to-day, a few hours before we are to vote upon this important measure, it is sent to us. We are not told by him, in his note to the Speaker accompanying it, that what he transmits is not the whole correspondence, and that he has suppressed and withheld a part. The House, in its eagerness to know the contents, directs it to be immediately read; and, as it is read by the Clerk, it appears to be the whole. The impression is made that it is complete, and continues until after it is printed; and then it appears, by a great number of asterisks, that parts, and doubtless important parts, have been suppressed and withheld by the Presia«jnt. This was the time, and the mode, and the only mode, in Avhich the House was informed that it had been furnished with garbled in- formation. Surely, this course of the President reflects as much upon him as it is unjust and uncourteous to the House. But that it has been done, is another argument in support of the position , that to give this notice is no part of the business of the House. This important executive communica- tion reveals to us the fact that the British Government had twice renewed the offer, before made to Mr. Tyler's administration, to arbitrate this whole controversy; and that both renewed offers were promptly and decidedly re- jected, notwithstanding the last was m'^ ' -n a mode eminently suitable to conciliate the favor of our Governmetit and people. This information the President was not bound to impart to us, and he has done so only upon the suggestion of his own high pleasure. He has, in the exercise of this •same pleasure, reserved other parts of the correspondence, which, for aught 8> we know, may he still more imporlanlnnd necessary to enli4?hten us. Awny with ihe pioposiiion lliut it is our alFuir and our duly to direct this notice ! Suppose Congress wero to provide for it, and die President, as the medium of communication with foreign States, wouUl not give it? Suppose that the House were to resolve that the notice ought not to he given; hut the President and the Senate, having a different judgment; would give it? They could act independently of the House; the notice would be valid; and we woidd have no redress but to be ridicided. It may be pointedly asked, why has the President withdrawn from the decision of the Senate in appropriate Executive session this great subject, and thrust it upon Congress? The answer is plain. There is some cause and fitness for it, produced by his termination of all negotiations for the settlement of the controversy; but still he is not fully satisfied of its pro- priety, and especia''y that it will receive the popular favor. To give the notice would be a bold, hazardous, and experimental move. He is re- solved, if jiossible, to get up a great and popular American question, whicli will result in his own glorification, and he thinks this is the right subject and the right time. But he shrinks from breasting the storm which he hirnself is conjuring up; and he calls upon Congress to assume its respon- sibility, to leap into its perils, and ^ aid him to ride it grandly. He thinks, by making an issue with a foreign nation, and particularly wiUi England, jnembei*8 of (Jongress will be deterred from opposing his course, evea though it violate 'ruth and justice, and put in peril the peace and charac- ter of the country. He wants the impetuous weight of his great maj vity in the House to beat down the sober sense and calm purposes of the Senate. He wants the arena of both Houses to be irregularly Hung open in the face of the nation, that perverted facts and phrenzied declamation, sweeping wide in thunder-tones from these halls, may lash a quiet people up to the war fury. He is determined this notice shall be given , and knowing that it could not command the votes of two-thirds of the Senate, he surreptitious- ly withdraws the decision of the question from the quiet and constitutional judgment of that co-ordinate branch of the treaty-making power, and throws it into the stormy debates of Congress. Here is another instance of the triumphant march of faction, headed by the Chief Executive offi- cer of the Government, upon the checks and partition of power established by the Constitution. The House take part in the atlair of a treaty, assist in modifying one of its stipulations; the House " authorize," '' empower," the President to give this notice ! Preposterous ! That power exists sep- arate from and independent of the House, in the President and two-thirds of the Senate. We may aid him in doing violence to the Constitution, by dispensing widi this unattainable majority of two-'hirds of the co-ordinate branch of the treaty-making power, but that is all we can effect. The no- lice could be properly given in defiance of all the opposition we can make.. It has occurred often that the House has expressed its judgment oa grea^ public questions in the form of. its separate resolution. This is pro- per, and often salutary. But unless the subject be legislative, and come within the scope of its powers, it arrogates no jurisdiction over it; and es- pecially it pretends to delegate none to^ any other branch of the Govern- ment. On such occasions it professes only to utter its own opinion, and to- claim for it no authority but its moral power. If I now believed it was^ wise and timely for the House to give utterance to :■. opinion upon this. ■i X. i i I i i c i c i X i X. I us. Awny this notice ! he medium jppose that Ml; but the lUI give il? 1 be vaUd; n from tlie 2at subject, some cause ons for the of its pro- Po give the He is re- tion, which ight subject ) which he its respoii- He thinks, 1 England 7 urse, even ind charac- it maj rity he Senate, in the face , sweeping up to the awing that rreptitious- istitutional ower, and !r instance utive offi- established eaty, assist mpower," exists sep- two- thirds itution , by ;o-ord)nate The no- can make.. gment oa lis is pro- and come It; and es- J Govern- on , and to ed it was^ upon this. momentous question , I never could or would support any of the numerous forms proposed ; all of which assume that we have jurisdiction over the notice, and propose to empower and direct the President with the execution of our will m relation to il. He wants neither out authority or advice; he only requests our endorsement of what he has done, and what he proposes to do. He wishes to make instruments of us to overllirow the constitu- tional and impassable barrier of two-thirds of the Senate to his further ad- vance; and, for one, I shall not consent to be so used. But this subject has other interesting relations, and among the most im- portant is the question of the title to Oregon. It would certainly be better that this branch of it should not be discu.'^ed in Congress; but when the President has improperly obtruded this subject upon us, and his palpable purpose is to bring Congress and the country to tUe decision to fight for all Oregon, ihere is no escape from an examitmtion of the point whether the whole of that country belongs to us. This debate may produce niischief in our relations with a foreign nalic^ • U has already produced vast mischief in disturbing the business of the coiiuUy. It was unnecessary and im- proper in its origin; it can do no good and all its fruits will be evil. The President and his advisers only are responsible for it. Until the last few days of the debate there has bee ». but one fair and elaboiale examination of the question of title. The able gentlemai? from Georgia (Mr. Toombs) was the firdt to cast a broad light upon it. All the gentlemen who have advo- cated the notice, except him, have not demonstrated, but have only assumed boldly, our title to the whole country. He admits that our title to a large portion of it is liable to be seriously questioned. I propose to examine this point somewhat in detail, as I deem it to be one of the most imporuint in- volved in the debate. We acquired the Spanish title cf Oregon by the treaty of Florida in 1819, so that we combine that with our own previous right. The world concedes that the Spaniards were the first European discoverers of the northwest coast of America. Discovery of itself does not give title to a country; but, if fol- lowed up with certain acts by the discoverers, it does. The principle of national law applicable to such cases is concisely but perspicuously stated by Vattel,page *)9: " All mankind have an equal right to things that have not yet fallen into ^ the possession of any one; and those things belong to the person who first ^ takes possession of them. When, therefore, a nation finds a country un- ■' inhabited, and without an owner, it may lawfully take possession of it; * and, after it has sufficiently made known its will in this respect, it cannot * be deprived by another nation. Thus, navigators going on voyages of dis- ^ covery, furnished with a commission from their sovereign , and meeting ^ with islands or other lands in a desert slate, have taken possession in the ' name of their nation; and this title has been usually respected, provided it ' was soon after folloued by a real possession. But it is questionable ' whether a nation can, by the bare act of taking possession, appropriate to * itself countries which it does not really occupy, and thus engross a much ' greater extent of territory than it is able to people or cultivate. It is not ' difficult to determine that such a pretension would be an absolute infringe- ^ ment of the natural rights of man, and repugnant to the views of Nature. ^ which, having destined the whole earth to supply the wants of mankind ^ in general, gives no nation a right to a^^propriaie to itself a country, except ^0 for the purpose of making use of it, and not of hindering others from de- riving advantages from it. The laws of nations will, therefore, not ac- knowledge the property and sovereignty of a nation over any uninhabited! countries, except those of which it has really taken actual possession, in uiiich it has formed settlements, or of which it makes actual use. In * effect, when navigators have met with desert countries, in which those of * other nations had, in their transient visits, erected some monument to show * their having taken possession of them, they have paid as little regard to ' that empty ceremony as to the regulation of the Popes, who divided a great ' part of tlie world between the crowns of Castile and Portugal." Discovery is the first inception of title, but it lapses unless followed up within a reasonable time by possession. Grotius and some of the earlier writers required culiivatjpn in addition. Occupancy, and the exercise of dominion, are indispensable; and if, after discovery, the country has re- mained a long time without them, it is again open to all mankind. This is the law both of God's providence and man's reason. Spain was unques- tionably the first European Power to make settlements upon the northern as well as the southern division of this continent, and at many distant points. That Power, in conjunction with Portugal, took formal possession of the entire new world — continent, oceans, and islands; and, in perpetuation of it, erected monuments in numerous places. Those two nations afterwards divided this vast dominion l)y an imaginary line drawn from pole to pole^ and procured Pope Alexander VI. to confirm it. Spain, particularly, in- sisted upon this extravagant claim for ages, but the rest of the world regard- ed it with contempt , and treated the vast unsettled regions of the entire western lieniisphere as open to their colonization and settlements. In 1535, the Spaniards, under Cortez, sailed into the bay of California,- and anchored in a port now called La Paz, in about the 24th degree of north latitude. In 1543 Ferrello explored the coast as far north as^ 44°. In 1596 there are some traditionary accounts that Fuca, a Greek sailor^ under Spanish colors, sailed through the strait now bearing his name, and which is situated between Vancouver's Island and the continent, and ex- lends from about 4S° to 51° of latitude. Vizcaino, in 1603, explored the coast as far north as 43°, and then returned to Mexico. From that time until 176S, the entire western shore of America, north of Acapulco, was al- most totally neglected by the Spaniards. Their settlements upon it were all below the 20ih degree of latitude until 1770. In 1702 the Jesuits had formed missionary establishments on the eastern shore of California bay, up to about the head of the peninsula, in latitude 32°; and in 1767 they were expelled from the dominions of Spain, even from those distant possessions. In 1769, their jealousy being then stimulated by the frequent voyages of English and DiUch ship^ into those seas, the Spaniards again turned an active attention to this coast, and, between that year and 1774, sent out several expeditions of exploration and setdement, and successively founded San Diego, Monterey, and San Francisco. The last mentioned town, be- ing in latitude 38° 40', is the most northern settlement which the Spaniards ever made. In 1774 Perez, at the head of one of their expedition*, disco- vered and anchored in Nootka Sound, on the Island of Vancouver, in 40 ' 30' north, having previously explored the coast as high as 54°. The Spaniards commanded by Heceta, whilst coiisting along in 1775, dis- covered the mouth of the Columbia river. He lay by a day to enter it^ 11 lers from de- fore, not ac- uninhabited ossession, in lal use. In lich those of nent to show ie regard to I'ided a great n followed up the earher exercise of ntrv has re- ind. This vas unques- norlhern as being in . Their between ready to St century- ted atten- 3xpedilion ited to its )e of Good w Albion, thither he >art of the enterprise (.evolution le should the coast h for the which he setting up " Cook the most )n the 7th ', and re- :inued his iking pos- of Great rs,moun- :an shore to Eng- his voy- 5volution. lish trade ied on by the East India Company, the South Sea Company, and private traders with Portuguese licenses, to evaderthe monopoly of those corporations; and it was prosecuted from Nootka Sound and other points with great activity. Meares made his first adventure to those regions, with three others, all under the tljig of the East India Company, in 1786. His second voyage he made in 1788, with Portuguese papers, to escape the exactions and forfeitures of the two great associations which claimed an exclusive monopoly of this trade; and it was during his absence with a cargo of furs in China that the Spanish authorities seized his remaining sliips and his establishment at Nootka Sound, ' • When the news of this seizure reached England it greatly aroused the Government and the people. The most active and powerful preparations were immediately made for war, and Pitt uemanded of the Spanish Gov- ernment ample indemnity for the property, and immediate restitution of the place seized, and threatened, if they were withheld, to obtain immediate redress by the sword. The consequence was, the formation by the two Governments of the fambus Nootka Sound treaty. By its terms the Span- iards stipulated to restore the buildings and tracts of land of which Meares had been dispossessed by their authority , to make just reparation for the acts of violence and hostility committed upon his ships, his other property, and establishment, and upon the persons of those who had charge of it. The parties furlher mutually "agreed that their respective subjects should not be disturbed or molested, either in navigating or carrying or. their fisheries in the Pacific ocean or in the South seas, or in landing on the coast of those seas in places not already occupied, for the purpose of carrying on their commerce with the natives of the country, or of making settlements there." At the time of this treaty the most northern Spanish settlement was still, as it continued ever afterwards to be, at San Francisco, in latitude 37^ 48'; and by its terms Spain acknowledged, in effect, that she had no exclusive rights north of this point; that the British establishment at Nootka was rightfully formed, and the seizure hjy the Spanish authorities wrongful; and that the entire coast northward was open to the English subjects, as well as to her own, for navigation, fishing, landing, trading with the natives, and forming settleiiients. These are the mutual rights which those powers re- •cognised each other to possess in the country of Oregon. They are such rights as are universally incident to all uninhabited vacant countries, where there are neither settlements, nor people, nor laws, nor officers, nor domin- ion; and, in relation to Oregon at that time, and all countries in its then •condition, these rights belonged not to England and Spain only, bui to all the nations of the world. The earth is the common heritage of mankind, the imiversal gift of a bounteous God . It is alike the law of reason and of nations, that such portions of it as are not occupied may be appropriated by any people; and Oregon, in 1790, when this Nootka treaty was made, hav- ing no people, no government, no laws, no political authority of any kind, but being in a state of unbroken, unsubiugated, primeval solitude, except the occasional landing of traders upon the coast to traffic with the savages, and having so continued for more than two centuries since it was first visited by civilized man from Europe, was open to any race who might seek it for a home and subsistence, to establish their hearths and their altai's. Vancouver, on the part of the English, and Q,uadraga , for the Spaniards, were appointed commissioners to superintend the execution of this conven- 14 tion; and the Spanish authorities either formally surrendered Nootka to a British officer, who was commissioned to receive it, or they informally aban- doned it in fulfilment of their stipulations. They also paid Meares a most ample pecuniary indemnity for the confiscation of his ships and property. Vancouver made the coast of America in April , 1792, near Cape Mendecino, He met Gray in tliose seas, and received from him an account of his dis- covery of the mouth of the Columbia, but did not credit it. He struck into Fuca Strait, and there came across Galiano and Valdez, who led the last Spanish exploring expedition into that region. Vancouver united with the Spanish navigators, and they conjointly conducted the further examina- tion of the strait through a considerable part of it, when the Spaniards de- sisted . He continued and completed a suivey of the whole strait, with all its principal sinuosities, and made charts thereof with a degree of care and accu- racy remarkable for that day. He gave English names to most of the objects of interest noted in his work. On his return from the more northern coast ^ learning certainly that Gray had discovered the Columbia river, Vancouver dispatched Broughton to examine it. He entered the Columbia, and ex- plored it about one hundred miles up, and named the highest point which he reached Vancouver. He took possession formally of both shores for the crown of Great Britain . In 1792, Sir Alexander Mackenzie, the superintending proprietor of the British Northwest Company, ascended Peace river, from Athabasca lake, east of the Rocky Mountains, to the head springs on their summit. Within a half mile of one of them, and just across the apex of the mountain, and near the fifty-fourth parallel, he embarked on one of the head branches of a river, which has since been called Eraser's river, and floated down it in canoes about two hundred and fifty miles. He then left this river, and proceeded about two hundred miles over land, and struck the Pacific at the mouth of an inlet, in latitude 52° 20', which had been surveyed a few weeks before by Vancouver, and named by him Cascade Canal. The most northern sources of Frazer's river are about under the parallel of 56°, and it disembogues into Fuca Strait in or near 49°. Its general and very di- rect course is from noith to south, and it divides the portion of Oregon nor'Ii of 49° into something like equal parts. The expedition of Lewis and Clarke, which started for the Pacific m 1805, attracted the attention of the British Northwest Company , and stimu- lated it to attempt settlements west of the Rocky Mountains; and •'^ that year M. Laroque was dispatched by it to establish trading posts on tne Co- lumbia river. He failed; and in the year following, 1806, Fraser was sent on an expedition for the same purpose. He followed the general route which had been pioneered previously by Mackenzie, and established a trading post above latitude 54° on a small lake, which now bears his name, and which communicates with one of the head branches of Fraser's river. Other settlements were formed in the same country, and the inhab- itants and traders in 1808 named it new Caledonia. From time to time these settlements were extended down this river to near its mouth , where Fort Langly was established. They spread wide over the country, until they numbered- tweniy-three, and dotted, at distant but consecutive points^ even the northern margin of the Columbia. They have been uninterrupt- edly maintained to this day; and no civilized people, except the English,, have ever had a post or settlement north of that great river. The laws of Canada 1820, a another Let Oregon graham ,1788. up to tl ' lunibia * ed the ' Fuca S made i i 15 I^ootka to a nally aban- ares a most I propert)^ VIendecino. of his dis- He struck ho led the mited with r exaniina- uijards de- with all its e and accu- le objects of lern coast ^ Vancouver a, and ex- loint which ores for the etor of the )asca lake, it. Within intain, and )ranches of pown it in river, and icific at the y^ed a few The most f 56°, and id very di- of Oregon Pacific in md stimu- id -n that n tne Co- ^aser was le general Jstablished bears his if Eraser's Lhe inhab- e to time th , where Ury, until ve points^ linterrupt- English,, e laws of . Canada were extended over the British settlement of Oregon in the year 1820, and man, in that remote and still untamed land, has never known J another code. Let us now take a view of the title which the United States set up to Oregon previous to the acquisition rf the rights of Spain. Gray and In- grabam sailed from Boston on a trading expedition to the northwest coast in 1788. Gray spent the following summer at Nootka Sound, and in running [ up to that port saw an opening which was probably the mouth of the Co- lumbia river, and which he attempted unsuccessfully to enter. He explor- ^ ed the coast east of Q,ueen Charlotte's Sound , penetrated some distance into Fuca Strait, and then returned to the United States. In 1791 he left Bos- ton on a second trafficking voyage for this shore of the Pacific, in the ship Columbia, and having met with Vancouver on the coast informed him of his discovery of the Columbia during his previous voyage; and in May,. ■ 1792, Ue again discovered the mouth of that river, was the first white man to enter it, and called it by the name of his ship. He sailed up the Colum- bia twenty-five miles, and remained some days in it, during which tim6 he made several attempts to get back into the ocean liefore he succeeded. He proceeded to Nootka Sound, gave information of his discovery to the Span- ish commandant, and returned to the United States. ' Mr. JeflTorson originated the expedition of Lewis and Clarke before our acquisition of Louisiana. On the 18th of January, 1803, he brought th«5 subject to the attention of Congress in a confidential message, and the two^ Houses having approved of his enterprise, he commissioned Lewis and Clarke to explore the river Missouri and its branches to their sources, and then to seek and trace to its termination in the Pacific some river, ''whether the Columbia, the Oregon, the Colorado, or any other which might offer the most direct and practicable water communication across the continent for the purposes of commerce." It is true that, when Mr. Jefierson conceived and undertook this project, he was negotiating the " Louisiana treaty with Bonaparte with every prospect of success; but he never, nor any person,, seriously contended that the western boundary of Louisiana extended be- yond the summit of the Rocky Mountains. The expedition of Lewis and Clarke crossed the Mississippi in May, 1804, and encamped in the Mandan country, up the Missouri, the ensuing winter. In the spring of 1805 it re- sumed its explorations of the head branches of that river, and traced some of tliem to their springs in the Rocky Mountains. Lewis apd Clark passed over, and at the beginning of their western slope fell in with the sources of Clarke river, the great southern branch of the Columbia. They pursued it down to its confluence with Lewis river, or the northern branch, and thence to where their united streams disembogue into the Pacific, and close to its beach they passed the winter of 1805-'6. In the spring of 1806 they commenced their return to the United Slates. They ascended this mighty river of the Far West to the Great Rapids, and from thence crossed over elevated plains, and struck. into and passed the Rocky Mountains. The two- chiefs here separated, each with a division of their company, and severally explored some of the tributaries of Clarke river. They reunited east of the Rocky Mountains, anjj brought this mn?t arduous and important ex- ploring expedition to a riosc. From this epoch the Government and people of the United Slates have claimed to have rights in Oregon, and have never for a moment abandoned the purpose of making permanent settlements in. 16 ■V 1 rivev CO it. In 1808 the Missouri Fur Company was fonned, and, soon after, it es- course tablished a trading post, under the superintendence of Henry, on a branch issue wi of Lewis river. In 1810 the Pacific Fur Company was constituted in New Englan York, under the auspices of John Jacob Astor, and by it Astoria was found- first ent ed in October, 1811 , at the mouth of the Columbia. That place was cap- tlement tured by the English in the war which immediately ensued, and its restitu- to these tion was insisted upon by our Government, and made by the English in this, on October, 1818, as an American possession , under a general provision in the bia in 1 treaty of Ghent. A short time before, and in the progress of the negotia- of ilsco tion which resulted in the treaty concerning Oregon, in 1818, between the pacific United States and Great Britain, Mr. Monroe solemnly offered to terminate tence w the controversy by dividing the whole of Oregon between the two Powers formatii •on the forty-ninth parallel , Great Britain to have in addition a common right crease, to navigate the Columbia. By the Florida treaty, in 1819, we acquired not to the o the territory of Oregon, but only such right, title, und interest as Sfffiin had. ken cor There was no transfer of fortifications and other public property; there was possessi no exchange of authorities j no delivery of possession consequent upon that Oregon treaty. facts mi I have given a rapid, but, I think, a fair and just view of the Spanish, ernmen English, and American title to Oregon, as it is to be deduced from discovery, and pos exploration, and settlement. The Spanish title has stood exploded for gen Americ ^rations, by the laws of nations and the unalienable rights of mankind. The English disregarded it uniformly for more than two centuries. Russia made successive and large encroachments upon it, and never definitely re- cognised it any where. The United States, from the time of Mr. Jefier- «on's elevation to the Presidency down to the period of the Florida treaty, always treated the Spanish title as shadowy, unsubstantial, obsolete, of no validity ; and even offered to divide the country with England without any reference to it. Our exploration of Oregon with an armed body of men, continuing through two years; our seulements on its ea.stern and western lions of Is there the wh( title ove Buch a 1 an abse But ( eert tha Gray di the wh whom demons had dig to enie noted ( had of( ■confines; the capture of one of these settlements by our public enemy with by an e "whom we were at war; our demand of its restitution under an article of the of a riv treaty of peace, and its public and formal re-delivery Horn , t gon woi and we quate t< points, gon. 1 man ey parallel Alth erthele British distrus history at the languB as 8001 ufactu objecti crural her sc t 21 presumed mtl Why (lid he do [r was clear Ivere of too The right of hroiigh the tede;" and 'ourse of a )f Ohio. k(|iiestion'. Id not have linds of the li deference led obliga- Jnce thai no ^ted. With made and 3ur title ta Uained by e this pro- el uctance, ortered by important )f our per- lave been ry. Why ected such d less snr duction of le Colum- said in a fj that no 3 been ac- h the ex- ong-Iy cor- •osition it- of it. It offering a e making •pie. If^ must feel Govern - led; and he can^ ent to so Monroe^ Lmericaa that the in doubt and uncertainty, if it was not even inferior to that of England, can justify them. It may be safely assumed, that they were as wise and patriotic as Messrs. Polk and Buchanan; but upon tliis great subject, the present Ad- miniHtration must think and act for itself, especially as it is now fairly re- lieved of all obligation resulting from the fruitless effort of its predecessors to settle this controversy. If I come to the conclusion that the President is acting in singleness of heart and purpose ; that his mind is satisfied beyond doubt of our perfect title to all Oregon; that this title to the tchole cannot, Wthout question , be abandoned short of the sacriffce both of national honor and interest; that this notice ought to be given to clear the way for meas- ures which cannot otherwise be adopted to enable him to assert our perfect right to the whole of Oregon , and which will inevitably and speedily bring •on a bloody and terrible war with England, I could not nor I would not, even in a proper form, vole for a resolution advising the notice to be given. I should be totally unwilling to plunge the country into a war for Oregon above the 49th parallel , because I believe it would be a war of territorial aggression and without right. To that line, substantially, I think we have a clear and unquestionable title, and it would be ine continuation, in a direct course, of the boundary line between the United States and the British possessions east of the Rocky Mountains. Our Government has planted itself so long and so tenaciously upon it as to have made it a matter of honor as well as right; and whenever war becomes necessary to maintain us upon it, I am ready to unsheath the sword. But there are other considerations opposed to this notice, which, in my judgment, ought to have great weight. If it be given , a peaceable setderaent of the controversy, or war about the time of the expiration of the notice, will be unavoidable. Things could not long continue wiUioutone or the other. If the result be war, we could not possibly send military supplies through an unsetded country of two thousand miles in extent, one-half consisting of lofty and steril mountains; and the English having command of the ocean, would cut us off* from the only water communication around Cape Horn, the sailing distance by which is about eighteen thousand miles. Ore- gon would be certainly and early subjugated and held by a British army, and we could neither send nor maintain a force on so distant a theatre ade- quate to its reconquest. We would have to strike the British power at other points, and mighi be forced to come out of the struggle stripped of all Ore- gon. But if war could be averted by a settlement of the dispute, no sane man expects more favorable terms than a division of the country by the 49th parallel, and thus we should unquestionably lose near one-half of it. Although I do not believe that we have a perfect tide to all Oregon, nev- ertheless I want all of it. Especially I do not desire to see it continue a British possession . I cherish no feelings of hatred for England , yet I am distrustful of her grasping selfishness and her dominating propensity. Her history proves that she never foregoes an opportunity to aggrandize herself at the expense of any people; and though we are so closely allied to her by language, by history, and by blood, her onward and relentless spirit would as soon make a victim of the United States as any more alien nation. Man- ufacturing, colonial, naval, and commercial supremacy have been the great objects of her ambition and her policy for centuries. Her throne has once crumbled and been reconstructed; a new dynasty has oftentimes grasped her sceptre; she has experienced all the vicissitudes of peace and war; hec 9$i I contending political parties have met in the fiercest contests and overthrown each other without number; antagonist ministers have encountered witii war- ring systems, and in the deadliest enmity; her constitution , her laws, her pol- icy , in all else , has been subjected to mutability ; but in relation to those great objects it has known *'no variableness, neither shadow of turning." What- ever was the nature or extent of the revohilion, just where they were bft did the succeeding power or influence take them up, and with the same trueness and constancy press them forward. Whoever or whatever has as- pired to rule England, has found that devoted service to those great national ends was the law of their being; and they illustrate the story of all her wars and all her statesmanship. Look at the mighty results of a long course based upon a practical knowledge of the relations of tilings, both internally and externally, and a sleepless, never-ending exertion of the Government and the people to make the most of them, in promoting the manufacturing, colonial, naval, and commercial supremacy of England — a policy almost as firmly fixed as the sea-girt isle itself. From this small spot, almost unknown to the ancient world, and which now, but for the extraordinary achieve- ments of her mind and her courage, would hardly be observed by the rest of the world, in the midst, as she is, of the surf of the northern seas, has sprung the most wonderful fabric of political empire that man has ever rear- ed. In the annals of the world there is but one instance of a nation exer- cising a great and controlling influence in all the important movements of the affairs of every race and country of people, savage and civilized, inhab- iting the globe. That nation is England, and she directs the destinies of mankind. Her great people have won this pre-eminence by the most per- severing exercise of the highest physical, moral, and intellectual faculties for ages; and when I hear my countrymen exulting in the superiority of the Anglo-Saxon race, I turn to the parent stock, and, with mingled senti- ments of pride, gratitude, and wonder, contemplate the glorious manner in which it has vindicated its just title to that distinction. 1 observe the wise, far-seeing, noble constancy with which she adheres to a system that has made her so great and so renowned , and then contrast it with our fickleness and crudities. What a valuable lesson does the teeming experience and the ripe wisdom of the mother, in this respect, read to the daughter, if she would but hearken to it. Let us be true to ourselves, and move steadily on to that greatness which destiny opens before us in the future. An American policy, wisely founded upon our peculiar condition and circumstances, comprehend- ing the proper protection of all our great industrial interests, the general im- provement of our physical condition, and the perfect evolvement of our vast and still slumbering resources, ought to be the one great object of our peo- ple and our statesmen. Whoever sets himself against such a system should "fall, like Lucifer, to rise no more." This North America is our own world , and time will enable the Anglo- American race to occupy it, and to outstrip far that older one which our an- cestors left behind , if ihr* race be but true to itself. Our system is one of peace and progress. There will be no restriction to our conquests and achieve- ments, whilst they continue to be bloodless. On the defence , too, we would have resources equal to the assault of the combined Powers of the earth. The greatness of the exterior pressure would act upon our union as upon an arch, adding to it compactness and strength. Military aggression on our part would result in dismemberment aud ruin. Ic is to our injury and in- ■ecunty coniinci -possess i bide thf jmarked we niui inactivi <'wiae a 'declariti near thi 4n that «ettlem( ©f sever «nd dur iward. ierable . the swe e able to met 'e unsheath th in my lime, e her from tli t of war, and Lion of her col 1 would go fc Lgogues are th se are the mi; ion, to jeopar national inte jnsue from th England and i a law of man sport with til r own crimin; lughter of wa scaped! Sue I the ravages i \