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Un des symboles suivants apparaitra sur la darniire image de cheque microfiche, selon le cas: le symbole -*• signifie "A SUIVRE ", le symbole V signifie "FIN". Maps, plates, charts, etc., may be filmed at different reduction ratios. Those too large to be entirely included in one exposure are filmed beginning in the upper left hand corner, left to right and top to bottom, as many frames as required. The following diagrams illustrate the method: Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent Atre filmAs A des taux de reduction difftrents. Lorsque la document est trop grand pour Atre reproduit en un seul clichA, il est film* * partir da I'angle supArieur gauche, de gauche A droite, et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'imagas nAcessaire. Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la mAthode. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 ?p SPEECH OF EOl^. SAMUEL GOUDON, OF NEW YORK, ON THE OREGON QUESTION. DELIVERED IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 14, 1846. WASHINGTON: BLAIR & RIVES, PRINTERS. 184G. Y, vWp i Hbe resolut Affairs, rf Britain of terminate abrojjate ticonsiderai Mr.GOR ^t tiiis lute i disposition I had been at Ijpd been s tte grave to ridiculous— anything ik Still, having tp address i say. He h for that voti The Pres Mr. G.) ha pation of th Sg of the I at conven Viendation, has iriforme to the Brit Resident hei Jiistory of tl to the date jfi, shall Coi ;I*resident? which he b the rights c ritory? Oi and carry o and prescn a great nat only amon Pemocratic |ind grave i J I will no Jaclonged 1 ment, and ister in the the cleares able, can J to fortify 1 I weaken ai that he wl , would not * to our res] THE OREGON QUESTION. Phe resolution from the Committee on Foreig:n Afinirs, requiring the President to notify Great Britain of the intention of the United States to ' terminate the joint occupancy of Oregon, and to i abrogate the convention of 1827, being under consideration in Committee of the Whole — Mr. GORDON obtahied the floor, and said that, aX tills late and protracted stage of tlie debate, liis disposition to take part in it was much less th.an it ■ had been at its commencement. Indeed, so much I Ijftd been said, in such a variety of forms — from | t^e grave to the gay, and from the sublime to the ndiculous — that it was almost impossible to say anything new, or anythhig old in a new form. Still, having manifested quae an early disposition tp address the committee, he Iiad a few words to Bay. He had a vote to give, and reasons to assign for that vote, for which he alone was responsible. The President of the United States (continued Mr. G.) has recommended to Congress the termi- nation of the joint convention of 1837, by the giv- uig of the twelve months' notice provided for by Uiat convention; and, in order to justify that recom- mendation, he has stated his reasons for it. He has informed us of the offer of compromise made to the British Governmeiu, through her Minister Resident here; and he has also reviewed the whole history of the negotiation, from the year 1818 down to the date of his Message ; and the question now 16, shall Conf:,ress adopt tlic recommendation of the president? Shall we direct that notice to be given which he believes necessary to be given, to secure the rights of the United States in the Oregon Ter- ritory? Or shall we decline, and refuse to execute and carry out the reconnnendation of the President, and present to the civilized world the sijcctacle of a great nation divided in its councils — divided not only among ourselves into parties, but even the Democratic party split up into factions on so great and grave a subject ? I will not discuss our title to Oregon. That duty belonged to anotiicr department of this Govern- pient, and most ably was it performed. Our min- ister in the late negotiation exhibited our claim in the clearest and strongest light. No one, however .able, can do it better; and whoever shall attempt „to fortify his positions will utterly fail, and only |Weaken and obscure that which now is so plain ^that he who runs may read and understand. I v_^ would not add or alter a syllable. He is entitled "tto our respect for the great ability with whicli he conducted the argument, and the skill and power with which he brushed away the cloud of mist in which previous negotiation had seemingly involved our rights. Gentlemen say that the notice is cause and ground of war, and that we are not prepared for war. I deny that the giving this notice is either a just cause of war, or any ground whatsoever of war. It is provided for in the convention itself. We have the same right to give the notice to terminate that convention that Great Britain herself has; and who will dare to say, here or elsewhere, in solemn and serious argument, that if Great Britain gives us notice, we have a right to declare war against that Power for the adoption of a measure provided for in the very treaty now under consideration ? Sir, it is not this notice which would lead to war, or that would be the cause of war. If war is to grow out of this controversy in the Oregon Territory, it will come of those measures which everybody avows himself ready to go for; which measures, in that distant region, would bring British subjects into conflict with American citizens, and the Amer- ican Government with the British Government. This it is that will enkindle the flame of war, if war is to grow out of the controversy between these two Powers. Gentlemen have painted the horrors of war in the most vivid colors and the most haggard fea- tures. But what have we ever lost by war that we should disparage it ? Nothing. On the contrary, we have gained everything by it. For what we are, and what we possess, wc are indebted to war. The old French war nursed in its tent the young Hercules of America, and trained him up for the Revqlution — a general the bravest of the brave, whose fame as a Marrior outfihincs that of Alex- ander, Ca-sar, or Napoleon. His deeds in aiTns arc the pride and boast and honor of the great na- tion he founded. The revolutionary war resulted in the establishment of these United States. The last war with Great Britain gave the freedom of the seas to the commerce of the world. The next war with that power will expel her from this conti- nent. Though a peace-loving people, wc are, when aroused in defensive war, the most warlike race ever clad in armor. Let war come, if it will come; boldly and fiimly we will meet its shock, and roll back its wave on the "fast-anchored isle of Britain," and dash its furious flood over those who raised the storir. but could not direct its course. i. >.J- • I Ours is the last pcoplr, in n craven spirit, to Iwis; for peace. In ii just v,ar, as this would he, on our part, the sound of tlie clnrion would lie llio sweet- «'St music tliiit could jrreet our ears. It will not do to attempt to intimidate the citizen soldiers of this Rreat Reiiuhlic with threats of airiri'essive war, if you mean to preserve the peace of nations. Should war be declared, New York would not i)e absent at the call of the roll. Her position, commercial and geoj^raphical, is sucii that she must sustain the brunt. From that responsilulity she would not shrink, but freely (»nd fearlessly assume it. She prefers peace to war, but war to dishonor. 13ut, sir, there will be no \\'ar — there will be no war, because oiu- rii.'-hts arc paramount to Great Rrit- nin's,and because Great Britain is awnre of our determination, our valor, niul our resources. The growin;; disposition of Eni^Iand for free trade is favorable to peace With the annexation of Texas we own nearly all the cotton lands in the world. She is dependant on us for cotton. One week's su[>ply of cotton warning in the factories of England, places the country o'l the verge of a revolution. The powerful bankers, the princely merchants, and the cotton lords, backed by the middling classes, whose daily gains de)iend on the prevalence of peace, are too strong for the English oligarchy to resist. The salvation of England de- pends upon uninterrupted relatioiis in commerce with the United States. The maintenance of these relations is of great importance to the United States; but it is not vitally so. The United States could sttuid the shock of a ruj)ture, but England would crumble under it. The United States, as the great cotton grower of the world, possesses a vast power. It is understood and felt by the civ- ilized world. With this power they control the commercial world, and by this power they can command peace, at least for themselves. She there- fore desires no war. She would hesitate long before she would declare war, even if her rights were invaded by the United States. The income tax, imposed to pay the interest on her vast national debt, is the last resource of revenue. Everything else had been taxed to the utmost. She would have to resort to forced loans for the means of war. She is not only dependant on us for cotton, but we are her best customer, at least would be, under a judicious and reciprocal adjustment of the respect- ive tariffs of the two countries, by which our breadstuff's and agricultural products would en- ter her ports, and her manufactures ours in ex- change. We, however, can live without her, ta- riff or no tariff, peace or war; but she cannot exist without us in relations of peace and commerce. We have the resources and internal trade of a con- tinent. She is limited to a small island, and her famishing millions live from hand to mouth, de- pendant on the cotton trade. Stop their looms, and you stop their daily bread. War with the United States would be the most suicidal policy she could pursue: and she is not so blind as not to see it. The whole of Oregon is of vastly less im- portance to her than a year's supply of raw cotton. The habits and business of her people are deeply and vitally identified with the manufacture of cot- ton, and the cottoti-goods market of the world. Our breadstuflfs are becoming quite important to her. Hence there will be no war declarca by Great Britain for this territory, even if we should take all east of the Russian line, and west of the! of the Rocky mounlnins, up to the polar on But we want only what belongs to us by clear, inir|uestionablc, title, and that we will liave. the United States have to do to preserve peace, to uphold their rights, and carry out the grand i! trine, that no part of the continent of North An ica, at least, is open to further colonization or, tiement by any foreign or monarchical govt ment. Bill it is said we are not prepared for war. f wo are as much ]ire|iared as we ever were, or ' I trust, we ever shall be, in time of peace. 1 are as much prepared now as we \vere when Revolution broke (uit; we are as much prepared we wore when war with Great Britain was last, clared. If love of country and a devotion to rep' lican institutions — if the right of citizens to li' arms in time of peace — is preparation for war, tl are we prepared. We have more than two millii of fighting men, with arms in their hands, and have eighteen millions of people, ready and able feed and clothe and sustain them in the conlli We have all the raw viatiriel of war; we have ' requisite skill, capital, and machinery to make t' niatcrkl useful, and to convert it into instrumt of defence. We are prepared for war — not, to sure, by a large expensive navy, nor by a stand: army. It is not our policy to suckle armies a dry-nurse the land; and until. I shall be satisf: that war is to come, and that we are to have aggressive war by Great Britain, I shall not be p fared much to enlarge either the army or the na\ repeat, then, we are as much prepared for v to-day as we ever shall be, or ever ought to be, time of peace. I would rather lose battles duri the first year of a war than I would consent, time of peace, to build up a large and expensi navy, or to establish a standing army, when war might come. The cost of the army and i navy, the injury to our free institutions, would greater far than any declaration of war, coming i expected upon us, even though for the first yc we might suflTer defeat. But, sir, I repeat, we c ready; we have two millions of brave men, reii' at the call of their country to march to the front the battle whenever and wherever the cloud of v might lower. In order to ascertain whether this notice shot be given or not, it is necessary to understand wl. are the rights of Great Britain, and what the rigl of the United States, under this joint conventi of 1818, indefinitely continued by the convent!- of 1827. By this convention it was provided tl; the citizens, subjects, and vessels of Great Britn and the United States should be free to enter tl territory, its bays, harbors, creeks, and rivers, the to trade with the natives. There is no pov given to Great Britain to exercise sovereign acts authority; but under this treaty, which gave certa privileges to British subjects, but none to the Br; ish Government, what has that Government dnii. In the first place, she has incorpcrated the Hii- son Bay Company — a second East India Comp ny — and s!ie has jjiven to it the monopoly of tl whole trade of this Northw.estern territory — tin denying to her own subjects those very ri|hts an priv'ileges which were ceded to them by this cnr vention. She has gone on, in violation and in de fiance of this treaty, to establish courts of civil an rrimiil sectiol over Greatl in al gave whii-e than two milli( tlieir hands, and le, ready and able lieni in tlie coniii 3f war; we luive i L'hincry to make t' it into instrunii for war — not, to y.nor by a stand: suckle armies a I shall ))e satisf we are to have 11,1 shall not be ]i e army or tlie na\ 1 ]ii-ej)ared for v pver ought to be, ■ lose l)attles duri would consent, u'ge and expensi ng army, when ' the army and i stitutions, would of war, coming \i \ for the first yc ir, I repeat, we c brave men, rca' arch to the front 3r the cloud of w this notice shot. understand wl, nd what the rig! ! joint conventi' by the conventii was provided tli s of Great Rriti '■ free to enter tl, 3, and rivers, thr lere is no pov 3 sovereign acts vhich gave certa ; none to the Br: Jovernment doiv ^crated the Hii- ist India Comp monopoly of ti ' 1 territory — tin: e verv rights an lem by this cnr )lation and in df ourts of civil an criminal jurisdiction, to build her forts in every section, and to establish a military government over the entire territf)ry. The Govcrmnent of Great Ihitiiin is at this moment firmly established in all that territory. Under thisjoint treaty, which gave to iter sui>jccfs certain trading privil(>ges, of which she has deprived them, and conferred iijion a corporation, Great Britain has gone on to estal)- lish a government — military, civil, and jjolitical. Her flag is erected on every fort — numbering some thirty — and she is now, by iier flag, proclaiming her right of dominion over this territory. And what, in the mean time, have we done? Nothing. While we have been sleeping, under the inlluetice of this " masterly inactivity," she, step by step, has been encroaching upon this territory, and claiming it as her own. Whilst we have had scru- ples al)out this treaty, she has violated it at every point; and instead of suffering her subjects to go there and trade, she, under the jiretcnce of taking care of them, and keeping in check the savage In- dian tribes, has established a government there as complete and as perfect as that existing under the East India Company cliarter. It may be said that this government is necessary to control these In- dian tribes, to regulate trade, and to protect her own subjects. If, in connection with these acts of sovereign power, she had not claimed the terri- tory itself, there might be some pretext for the ar- gument. But the quo animo cf these acts had lieen made manifest by her claim to the territory itself. She has exercised the highest sovereign power, and, at the same time, has claimed the territory and the soil, and refuses to acknowledge our rights ' within it. I believe that no gentleman who has spoken in tliis House, nor any one out of it, has pretended that we are to surrender any territory south of 49°. And yet, unless we give this notice, and extend our laws and jurisdiction over this territory, all the ter- ritory south of 49°, and north and west of the Co- lumbia river, is as certain to fall into the hands of Great Britain, as it is certain tliat she is now there asserting her claim. Until the notice is given, and suitable measures are adopted for their protection, I will venture to say that no American citizen will undertake to settle north of the Columbia. The territory nortii of tlie Columbia has been occupied by British forts, and settlements, and subjects; and not an American citizen has gone, or will dare to go, north of the Columltia for fet- tlenient. Whether they are to be bought up, or tomahawked , or to have the Indians set upon tliem, is immaterial. Go there they will not, until such time as this Governinent shall assert its just rights, and show the people there that they are to be pro- tected l)y all its power, under the just claim which we possi'ss. What will be the effect of continuing this con- vention > It will give all this territory soutli of 49° and north and west of the Columbia river, to Great Britain; and this is what is called " masterly inac- tivity." Oregon on time! the South Carolina poli- cy ! which would to-morrow fiercely wage war against the world for the conquest of Cuba or Cali- fornia, (I will not say Mexico, because I do not believe she wants it,) but would rather that the whole of Oregon down to 42° should belong to Great Britain than to the United States. Yes, sir; • this is the South Carolina policy ! — a policy identi- cal, in regard to that territory, with the British policy itself. Great Britain has numerous forts south of 49°, or in that part of the territory which lies north of the Ci please, I admire her armies and her navy. I like them for their bravery — for their love of lil)crty — their virtue — their industry. Why should I not? They are blood of our blood, bone of our bone, and llesh of our flesh; we speak the same language; we are descended from the same common ancestry. But 1 must hold tliem, as I hold the rest of the world, " Friends in peace, enemies in war." But I draw a distinction between the British pcojile and the Brit- ish Government. I. abhor and detest the Brit- ish Government. Would to God that the British people — the Irish, Scotch, Welch, and English — would rise up in rebellion, sponge out the national debt, confiscate the land, and divide it among the people. Never, in the world, will they reach the promised land of equal rights except through this Red sea of blood. Let Great Britani declare war, and I fervently hope that the British people — at least the Irish — will seize the .occasion to rise and assert their independence. Such are my sentiments in relation to the British Government and the British people. In a con- troversy between France and Great Britain, or Russia and Great Britain, I would rather that the British Government should triumph than that she should fall; I would rather see the British people the subjects of the British Government than the subjects of France or the serfs of Russia. I be- lieve they are better oft" under the British Govern- ment than they would be under a foreign yoke; but I again repeat that I abhor that Government; I abhor that purse-proud and pampered aristocracy, with its bloated pension list, which, for centuries past, has wrung its being from the toil, the sweat, and the blood of that people. This was the senti- ment of the illustrious Emmet, when, on his trial, he declared " if the French came as invaders, he ' would meet them on tlie beach with a s ivord in ' one hand and a torch in the other; he would razo ' every house, and burn every blaihi of glass, and ' the la.^t intrenchment of freedom should be his 'grave." We should have no controversy with the British people, separate; and apart from the aggressive and hostile action of their Government, and we should have and express no prejudice against them sim- ply because tlu'y are Englishmen, or sulijects of the British Government. It is not their fault that they are its subjects. They were born in allegiance to it, and are kept under by military force, and the power of wealth. For the Government, as it ex- ists and exercises its functions, we have, and can have, no respect whatever. If we manifest the feeling we ought lo possess towiU'ds them, they would have no special hatred towards us; and even in a war between the two Powers, one of the great obstacles to her vigorous prosecution of it would be the indisposition, if not the absulule re- pugnance, of our transatlantic brethren to fight us and spill fraternal blood, in a contest in which our Government would be in the right, and theirs in the wrong. The colonists in the Revolution had fearhiss defenders, even in Parliament ; and the mass of the British people were not half so inimi- cal to us as the king, \iis ministers, and the nobil- ity. Much of their prejudice is artfully engender- eel by the machinations of the nobility, to keep out of the minds of the people an infusie)n of the leaven of Democracy. We should have the saga- city to see, and the wit to counteract it, and not play into tlie hands of the enemies of self-govern- ment, in that respect, by an unnecessary exhibi- tion of senseless spleen. Ne)t that we should have cause to dread them, one and all, though actuated by the bitterest animosity. But their good opinion is just as well as their ill will, and quite as cheap- ly purclia.sed. In this friendly relation of good opinion, natural to a common ancestry, language, and religion, I would j)lace, as well the inhabitants of the island of Great Britain itself, as of all her colonies and dependencies, near and remote. Our symj)athics for the oppressed of all nations are so strong that we open our country to them as an asylum. Our naturalization laws arc extremely lenient; and the .shortness of the term of probation, before aliens can become citizens of the United States, is a proof of our friendship for every white man under the light of heaven, and not less for Englishmen than Frenchmen, Germans, or any otlier class of the human family. Should Canada, Ireland, or other portion of the British empire strike for liberty, our sympathies would be sure to be enlisted on their side, and our most fervent prayers would ascend to heaven for their safe deliverance from the galling chains of feudal bondage and military oppression. I would not guaranty that directly or indirectly our people, in tiie struggle, would not give them more sub- stantial aid and comfort than mere prayers and sympathy. Our controversy, then, if controversy we have, is with the Government per se, and not its subjects any farther than they are connected with the Government in the contest; and let them so understand it. Should a hostile army invade the enemy's country, it would be a stre>ke of poli- cy in the commanding general to promise and give protection to the people of the invaded district who would join bis stoiidard, or not oppose his march. It is no of the 1 their o\ by Hcni love th or prol tulioii, isliiug land, li I')rill^'ll and, t( FrenH tcncliii It i^' forevc tation news mutiia so sy necti'd gother. credit, I ■\u I KJ would raze of ii;ia.sH, and iliould Ijc Jiis til llic IJritish ^'^i^n.'.ssivcaiid lid we .sliould i«t tlioiii «iiu- ulijoc.tsor the unit timt tlicy iilitgiuiicc to >itf, und tlie i^iit, us it t'x- »ve, and can niaiiifttit tlie lliLni, they uda un; and N, one of the ccution of it absukite re- n to fl^ht us 111 wliidi our and tlieirs in volution had :nt ; and t)ie alf so inimi- nd the nobil- y enjLcender- ity, to keep usioii of the ive tlie saga- it, und not self-;!^overn- sary cxliibi- should have ish actuated jood opinion jtc as cheap- ion of good y, language, ! inhabitants s of all her emote. ' all nations r to them as c extremely f probation, the United 2very white not less for us, or any •tion of tlie sympatliies do, and our heaven for ; chains of . I would jur people, more sub- layers and ontroversy ie, and not connected id lot them my invade ke of poli- >e and give istrict who lis inarch. !l is no Ipss wisft in «« to roncilintc the good will of ilit^ l.ritiMli people, and weaken ilnir renpcct for their own (« by Hensrii'KH Niander, to hate our inptitutioiiH and love their own, whether with a view to a possible or probable ;y the full time allowed me, I have briefly glance(l at the leading considerations that have governed nic and brought me to the conclusion I have aftaiiied, tluit we are boutid — iioiind by the honor of this nation, and by that justic'j which is due to oiu- settlers in Oregon — to givv, this notice; to unfetter ourselves, and to extend luir laws and our jurisdiction over this people, that they may receive that encouragement whi' h is necessary for the occujiation and the peopling of this territory. It appears to me — and so I think the British Gov- ernment will regard it — that if we fail to give this notice, and to jmss those measures which are re- commended to us, and which gentlemen say they will j)ass, that the British Government will regard it as an indication on the part of Congress, tvt least, that the territory south of 4i)° as well as north or 40°, is a matter for negotiation, for compromise» and for division. Now, is there any gentleman on this floor v.ho is prepared to say that the terri- tory south of 4'.)° docs not belong to us .' And is there any one on thi^ floor prepared to intimate to the Executive or to Great Britain that the ter- ritory south of that parallel is open for negotia' tion.' 1 trust not; and, views, I yield the floor. having submitted these APPENDIX. Oonvcntion hctirecn the United Slates of Jtmcrica nnd (htnt Britain, sv^ncd at London, Oclohcr 20, 1818. Article 3. It is ■nprccrt that a line ilraWn Onin tlin most iKnttiwesterti point of tlic I.nltr of tlie Worlds, along the forty-ninth piirallcl of nnrtli latitude, or, if tin; said point shall not he in tlic fbrty-ninth pariillel of north latitutn,thcn that a line drawn from' the Knid point dne north or south, ns the ciise may be, Until the said line shall intersect the said .larallel of north latitude, and from the point of such inter- tri»- vJHioiiMOl'llir Niilil iirticli' wiTf liiTcIri uprcilli'iilly nciti'd. Akt. 'J. It hIiiiII he CDiiipi'li'iit, Iidwi'Vit, to ritlicr iif ttii' «()iitrnctiiil( purtK'^, in ('ii-.c cltin'r !- "Jillli Oetolicr. IH|H, lierehy rontJiMied in liiree, Nlinll be eonstriied to iiiipiiir, or in any inanner iiU'ect, tin; cliiiniH wliieli either ol' the coii- tnieliiiu (lartieit may have to my part or Ulu cuuiilry wuil- wiird of ihu tJtuny ur Ruvky uiouiiluliif. after tlio oxpird- I'litiiin. (ir In the ll Oi'Mlicr. IHIH, <'il to liiipitir, or Jirr 1)1' tlx' ciiii- lU COUIlU)' WVllt- I