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WASHINGTON: FRINTED AT THE OFFICE OF THE DAILT TIMES. 1846. fo the House 7 I Convention ^obtained ih Mr. Chaip he (•omiuiite( ifeelis siuee, ' '• Rcsnli-cd »1 opinion w w treaty, or md its perpe spirit of aurnri irbitrary }i;ov the America! Resolmd, is the source and maintain af tliis Gove their system! Bales from t ■Och poUtica resisted by l Resolved, Unents tlie 1 h*inffine henceforth not to be considered as sulyects of future colonization by any European power,' and tfeat ■• it should be distinctly announced to the world as our settled policy, that no European colony or dominion shall, with our consent, he planted or established on any part of these continents.' ' Resolved, That the principle thtis avi wed, whilst it does not pretend to create or perfect title, has an immediate application to the Oreiron Territory, where 'our title is clear and unquestionable,' and has arisei, and its declaration and maintenance become necessary since the pro])osition was submit- ted to the British minister to adjust the boundary at the 49th degree of north latitude, and now pre- cludes the Executive from accepting any prop(>sition. or entering into any treaty, whereby any por- tion of the coimtry westward of the Stony or Rocky Mountains shall he ceded to Great Btitain." In what I say in committee, nor by these resolutions, do I mean to forestall or to outstrip the Executive; and iiere, as I have ever done elsewhere, I shall studiously avoid all sectional or local feeling, or any allusion to the North or the South, the East or the West, when a great national , question is involved, such as 1 conceived the present to be. The President, in his annual message, presents three principal questions for the oonsiderat^n tnd action of Congress: / il. That it is the settled policy of this Government to resist all attempts to establish on th« Ame- can continents a political balance of power, and to prevent any European Government from planting colonies or establishing any dominion on the North American continent. , 2. A reduction of the tariff to the revenue standard, or indirect taxation to meet the expenses of jflie Government, and no more. ' I 1. t O i i'» 3. The establishini; a constitutional Treasury, for the collection, keeping, and disbursing of thi« Government's money sepanile and distinct from all corporatp (ir private iitterests. All these arc Kxeculivf measures, but lliR Uvo last, whilst iliey arecif deep import to the whoK . American peopio, eflt-ct us most in our internal and dojiifstir; n-lalions, and on which we have In ;* gislated and aclwl until they have l)ecoiue essttitially parli/.iu. Mdt s) with the first; it addresses * itself more to our relations with Kiiropeaii (juvcnitnonls. and rspecially with great Britain This is the only issue presented hy this Administration to tlie country, li finds its immediate ani: unavoidable application to the Orejron (juestion, or ••'Aw. cDiinlry westward of the Stony or R'lck} Mountains." On this subject the President recommends : 1. 'I'he givinjj of the notice now under '| consideration. 2. The extension of our laws and jurisiliction over the country. 3. The establish ■ raent of agencies and in'.ercourse with iht- Indians. A. A cordon of posts, with sullicient military • force to protect our (.migration there. And o. Tlie establisliinij mail facilities luiween that couti- i try and the Stales. | These recommendations, like the principle that includes tliem, I admit, have not assumed parti zan casts, but they are not less the measures of the Adiniuislration than those of the Tariff' and the Cotsiilutional Treasury; nor are they the less iiiiportan*, in my judirment, and I can most cordially give to the Adraiuistratiou my sincere support in ail its recommendations. Even further, if it should be thought necessary, I ain willing to grant pro emption to settlers on the soil west of the Stony or Rocky Mountains. I use this latter expression, Mr. Ch.airman, because it is the lan- guage of the treaty, and is most consonant with the principle of the Executive in regard to coloni- zation and dominion by a foreign power on this continent; and because i believe, sir, that no good reason can he assigned for limiting our title to 54^^ 40'. I do not intend to enter into an oxaraiiiation of title, but avail myself of tiie declaration that it is " sustained by irrefraguble fads and urgwncnt.and is clear and niKjucslioniible,'' not only to 54° 40', '■ but beyond. I concur with the gcnlleinan from Illinois, (Mr. Doculass,) that our treaty with Rudsia is like that with England, for fisliing, hunting, and settllement by her people, not by the Government; but of one thing I am not mistaken, that by the express terms ol" the treaty, Russia - was.<;onfined to the ''coast and the adjacent islands,'' and has not occupied or claimed beyond this. Leaving to Russia, then, her treaty, with her possessions, (which I would not interrupt,) there re- ' mains between the Rocky Mountains, north of 54^^ 40', ati area of more than 500,000 square miles, which is included in our acpiisition from Spain, and in our conventions with England, to which our title, as I believe, is as g )od as that portion of the country which lies between 495-^ and 540 40', And if any adjustment shall be made, by which tho exclusive right of Great Britain shall be acknowledged 10 any part of this country, even north of 5P 40', in less than a quarter of a century, it will bs matter of astonishment to American statesimen and the American people that, with the avowal of the I'lxeoutive, and the evidence of title wliieli exist, Great Britain should have been permitted to colonire or aeqnire domain in any pnrt of this territory. I therelbre go for giving this notice, iu the Ian ruage of the treaty, for '• ihe cjunlry westward of the Stony or Rocky Mountains," and raaintaiuing our right to the whole, and nothing less than the whole, as agalfist Great Britain. • . But it is urged by tho-se opposed to the notice, that if it should pass in tlie unqualilied form re- ported by the committee, it is equivalent to declaration of war, and that it should be amended so as to leave the subject discretionary with the Preswlent. I would -not put it iu the power of ihe Executive to do that indirectly which the Constitution ithibits directly, to declare war, or to do any act not clearly conferred by the Constitution, which wotJt*ineces.sarily lead to war. Neither would least the responsibility on the Executive when the fiubjecidoes not belong to him, but let Congress, where the matter properly belongs, decide and act upoii it, tnd leave the President to carry out their legislation. To the proposed amendment I am opposed, aid if it prevails I will vote against the notice. But, Mr. v^hairman, I do not believe there is any war in this subject. I admit that the issue of war or of peacQ is with Great Britain. If she desires war with us, she will act want a pretext ; and tl find h the 001 of thi» with I shall give, tl in the be an a Engl a I this Ad on our Out thi; gro taken ? one, wi Ido offered ever thf has aris' opposed the grou to two Passir in relati rida. D poises jif Great B formally what we tii'es," " identical : maintami ': Florida i; Again ' pres'^nted r.ilely as.s included States ai : tory thtis Governm and a thi ministers .Insisted nisters al •Vite a cot lihus abar v These phent, b; ilined; a .DAMS,) & irsing of thi \ u :o ihe whol* . we havo lo it addresses e:it Britain iniediat« ani; ;iy or R'lckj 'e now under he ealablish lent military an that coun- , jsumed parti i Tariff" and d I can most *iven further, 5 soil west of ! it is the lan- ard lo coloni- ihat no good lion that it is ilyto54O40', treaty with , not by the reaty, Russia ..; beyond this. |)t,) there re- ' 1,000 square i England, to ; len 491^ and . Jrcat IJritaia i a quarter of '' people that, itain should [refore go for he Stony or le whole, as led form re- amc tided so IConstitution lution, which re when the 3ide and act Idment I am Ithe issue of [t a pretext ; and though we give her the whole of Oregon, yet, through Mexico, orsotno other means, she will find her occasion. If she desires peace, «h»! will yield tho question, and give you the whole of the cou"ti 7. What hnr policy is I do not know, and 1 have but little confidnnn3 in tho speculations iif those here wlio assumn ti point ii (»iit. My liumblf opiniuii is, thai sho does not desire war with us: but if, after rejeeling the mHitiiiid inorcelearly justified in the eyes of the civilized wnrlil than on this ground. It will be her war, not ours. It will not bean attempt lu coiKpier Kngiaiid on our pari, as is strungoly asserted by those hen; who parade England's wealth, England's power, and P'ngland's navy, in opposing this notice, and as I Iwlicvo this Administration, but a cunscious and delerminod m:iintain»nee of our principles and our rights on our own suil, against her agnrssions and encroachments. But it is asked if w;i adhere to our rights, what r^an England do ? How can she esi-apn from the ground sh" has assume! ? And when has she bisLMi kn')wn to yioM a position which she has taken .? To these in jiiiries 1 ans' er, she can du as she has before done on mitro occasions thaa one, with this country : yield her interference and pretensions unjustly put forward. I do not mean to say that Kngland is not powerful, that slie is not ii.inghty, or thai she has not offered us insult and injury, lor wliich she lias not atoned : but I mean to say distinctly, that when- ever the principle now involved, of the extension a;id mtiintenance of our territory and jurisdiction, has arisen, that England, in her own right, or in behalf of some ally, oillier civilized or savage, has iippjsed ; and in every instance wlie.re she has been met with firmness, she has invariably yielded the ground. I'' or this I appeal to the diplomatic history of the country, etmtent with referring you to two or three instances. Passing without comment the position that England occupied in 1803, 1804, and 1805, in relation to the actpiisation of Louisiana — I refer more especially to the subject of Flo- rida. During the administrat'on of Mr. Madison, when this Government was seeking to obtain po^sesjion, vindicating our title, and abi»ut to extend our jurisdiction and laws over that country. Great Britain, in 0:*t(iher and Dv>eem!)er, 1S!0, and July and September, 181 1, interposed, and formally announced to this Government tiiat she could not, and would not, permit us to accomplish what we desired ; and if wep?rsisle,d, we subjected ourselves to the imputation nl' "' uinlitious mo- tives," "a disposition for foreign conquest," and for "territorial ag-gran)vernment was treating with Great Britain. in the protocol presented by her coruaiissiiinvrs, the s?eond ar:iele ri'ijoirtid the United States to mark out and defi- ii'iely assign boundaries to the territory of the different Indian tribes, (which, as I understand it, included as well those in alliance with us as with England, and as well those tribes within our Stales and Territories as those on other parts of the ./Yoif) ^linerican continent,) and that the terri- tory thus marked out and defined, should never afterwards be acquired by treaty or otherwise to this Government. This, it was positively announced, was a sine qua non. It was put forward a second and a third lime, in the same solemn and imposing manner, and as decidedly met by tlie American ministers; and the last time the British commissioners were told decidedly, that if this article was .insisted on the convention would adjourn without oming to any understanding. The British mi- nisters abandoned their ground, and a treaty was made, without embracing any snch principle. I in- -Vite a consideration of the manner, the ocjasion, and the nature of the position thus assumed, and tVins abandoned by the British Government. ,> These are not the only instances. During the administration of Mr. Monroe, after tiie treaty of Iphent, by which England wus bound to deliver Astoria, in the country now in dispute, she de- flined; a diplomatic correspondence was had, and the venerable member from Massachusettd, (Mr. Adams,) then Secretary of State, in maintaining our rights and the obligations of the treaty of Ghent, on the 20lh May, 1818, instrurfed Mr. Rush, our minister, to say to the British Govern- ment: " If the United Slates leave her (Kniriand) in undisputed cnjoyujcnt of all her holds upon " B'iUrope. Asia, and Africa, with all her actual possessions in this iieinisphere, we may very fairly " expect that she will not think it consi-^tent either with a wise or friendly p(dicy Id watch with " eyes of jealousy and alarm every possibility of extension to our natural dominion in JNWf/i ,1nie- " riea, wiiieli she ean liavf no solid int'^nst to prevent, until all poxsiliiUlii of Iser preventing it •' shall have vanished." Mere you have the very principh , laid duwii It)' the Kxecutive, in rela- tion to eolotiizaliun ami dominion in North America, and Inire it is as hioad ai.d as clear as it is in the President's Messaife, and hero you have its application to this very sidyect under consideration. After this annouiieement, in the face of Ihm' own pretensiitn^t, Enjiland yielded ; and on the 6th Octoher. 1818, foni ally delivered possession of Astoria lothis (lovernment. And I lielieve, if she is sincere in her desire Utr peace, she will yield now to u; our rin'lils, and aliamlon the entire country west of th,^ Rocky Mountains. But it is urfijed hy those opposed to lfected without compromisinfr the A U^ whicii t!u^ exclusive rijrbl of Great liritain is acknowledged to any portion of the territ -^st of the Rocky Mountains, even north of .51*^ 10', between the Rocky Mountains and the Russian ii^rrilory, you allow hev to ciduni/e, and especially do you irive her do- minion. The moment you compromise at IIP. yon rccojrnize her riy;lil to cidonize, and jjrant her dominion in the most essential ]»art of the Oregon Territory, iioiwiths!andin«T the decdaration of the proposition, " that it should be dislincily announced to ihe world as our settled jiolicy, that no such thing, " vvith our consent," should be permitted, ('oiiipiouds;) iliis ijuesiion and pass, if you can, with the present Congress, your TariiT and eonstiiutiunal Treasury laws, and INI r. Polk will ho compelled, before he leaves the Presidential chair, to sign or veto hills for their repeal; more than this, the majority that are in power with him will bo scailered to the winds. In my humble judg- ment, he will be driven to sii_rn or veto bills lor internal improvements of the most latitudinarian character. And he will leave llie Presidential chair with less reirret, and more reproach from his countrymen and odium from abroad, than any man who has ever iilled it. On the other hand, if the President stands firm, as I believe he will, and maintains inflexibly the principle he has avowed as to foreign interference, foreign colonization, and foreign dominion, all is well — it is his country's cause — the people are with him ; and though he is witbuut a party in Congress, and although this House and the Senate, and evaii a Cahinel be against him. lie has iiolbing to fear. The whole of Oregon, like the whole of Texas, will be ours, and the President will lally around him a party, not by the (dd org-anization, but of the Democratic elements of the country, in the country's cause, more formidable than any President since the days of NV^ishinglon. But it is urged tiiat the President is bound to accept the 49^ if offered by Great Rrtain. This is denied ; and those who should sustain the a/firmative, and show sufficient reason, evade it by asking, "what ean the President do if England refuses to approve? the act of her minister in re- " jecdng the proposal of the President and agrees i(» accept it ?'• This ingenious question they " answer themselves, by asserting : *' Ke cannot avoid settling at the iOth deg. without dishonor. He is " bound to do it." This is more specious than sound. It assumes, first, either that by such re- fusal of Great Britain, the proposition of the President would be reinstated, or he would be bound to renew it. Not so, the proposition has been made— it has been rejected ; and it has been un- qualifiedly withdrawn. The matter now stands as though no such proposal had been made, and no Goveni- ds upon ry fairly li with Oi Ame lllilior it ill rela- it. is ill dnration. \\w Oth e, if she country iity, and -makinir ) not sen run wore ry. And Icclpd un It seems oad (iiies- The ini>- edored to lio Uocky i» hor do- jrant lier I ion of tlie It no sucli ' you can, k will bo nioro than inblejndg- tudinarian 1 from iiis land, if the ivowed as country's lough this ! whuhi of n a party. ry's cause, lin. This rade it by iter in re- istion they t dishonor. by such re- be bound been nn- le, and no act of the British fiovermnrnt, or her minister, can change the aspect so as to reinstate the propo- sal, or rrqnirn the Presidrnl lo renew it. There is nothing for England to accept, nor is there any thing from which the President would liave to recede : or, secondly, it assumes that Great Bri- tain will propose the same line, the I'J^, that has been once submitted to her. What England will propose I do not know, but if she should jiroposi^ the 49°, it becomes now her original propo- sition, and the Pree'dent is no more liouiid to accept it, than he would be any other pro|H>sition she might submit. I maintain there is no riilent' liDiiur for a nation that is not applicable to tiie citizen, and there is no rule, of honor for the individual thai conflicts witli the rule of law, of right, and of sound morals. Tliis rule between ailversjiries allows one of the parlies ma^nanimovsly to offer terms by which ho would yield his own rights — yea, even to buy jieaco : and it shall not bo eon- verted into an acknowledgment of right, nor .shall it create obligation. And if the offer is reject- ed, no prejudice shall arise. And even peiidinir '^"^ offer, if any circum.staiice shall arise af- fecting the right or the principle, it may l»c withdrawn j and after it has been rejected, the same, or a similar offer made, need not be uccepl.od. No right is admitted — no honorable, legal, or moral obligation is incurred or violated in any such case. Neither the offer nor the refusal can even be given as evidence, is the universal language of law amongst civilized men. How, then, stands the question? The President has given his rensons, and they are neither those of avarice nor of /e«r, but in his own true chaTaeler mid that tf his countrymen, he offered the 49°, be- lieving, as he well might, that a great and a mighty nation like Kngland would appreciate the magmmimity and the generosity witli wiiich the offer was made, and respond to it from the same high motives. In this the President was mistaken. The aspect is now most materially changed. An important circumstance has arisen which interposes. The offer was made on the 12th of July, 1845 — it was rejected on the : Mississippi, to Atnliinta, oti the Atlantic cast, is denomi- nated a tfrcallHifliiemj, and the pre3idin;r ofliccr says : " This is not a matter to !>" left to indivi- dual Stales. It is one of hijjh national impt>rtancc." In speaking nf the Mississippi and its tribu- taries, which are denomiUited inland seas, the same otficcr adrls : '• I believe the free and uninter- rupted navijration (if these inUind scax (ai» U\ speak) is within the pePHlinr province of the (ienoral Government." In conchidinfj, ho adds : ** I have now pas:iied slightly over all the subjects " befttre this body, and now h)t mj say <'» you that, if there is any imttle lo be fcuitjht upon " the adjustment of these impcjrtant matters, lei it be done in, Compress, not here — this is not the " place ! Our position here is a remarkable one ! It will not be twenty years bofc)re we shall be ** called up(m to unite, by a solid and indissoluble link, the Atlantic and the Pacific." Comment is unnecessary. He that runs may read. Already, in accordance wiih the suwestion, the subject has been introduced into this Mouse and the Senate, and thos(< who are the most prominent and iintirin|r in their opposition to the Orcfron notice, if they shall not bj ftund e(|ually prominent and untiring in opposing the position taken by the President ag.iinst foreisru interference, are the undoubted advocates of the measure here prop