The Sun.
London, England, 1846-01-05 00:00:00

THE OREGON QUESTION.
(From the Morning Herald.)
It is remarkable that so few writers, either in Eng-
land or America, rest the dispute about the Oregon
territory upon the just ground, viz., superiority of title.
Yet this is, after all, the real question at issue. It is a
simple case of right or wrong, without the possible in-
tervention of what Lord Eldon used to call a grey case.
America, as Mr. Polk has truly said, is entitled either
to tile whole or to no part of the territory in dispute.
[here is no via media in establishing, whatever there may
be in enforcing the claim. We echo Mr. f'olk's decla-
ration—Great Britain is either entitled to the whole or
to no defined part of the Oregon, though she would sti:l
possess the right to a joint occupancy, under the provi-
sions of the Nootka convention. But England and
America, assuming the question of title to admit
of doubt, are not in the same position, and do not
urge the same pretensions. If we had originally
no valid title to Oregon, we disclaim any that
might be supposed to arise on the construction of
the treaty of 1827, and accordingly are bound to
concede the whole to America. Let America, if the
right be on her side, possess every acre of land and
water in the disputed region. But if, on the con-
trary, the British title be clear as the noon-day sun,
which is our conscientious conviction, we yet do not
claim to monopolise the whole benefit of the western
shore. England has no desire to act the part of the
dog in the fable, depriving her kinsmen in America of
advantages which she cannot use herself ; but, on the
contrary, is content to share them with the Common-
wealth. Oregon's chief importance springs from the trade,
yet in its infancy, with China. England, moreover,
has expressed her entire readiness to open to American
enterprise ports to which her title is beyond question.
The navigation of the Columbia, affording a very easy
communicatian from the interior to the sea, is the next
matter of importance to which the conflicting claims
are directed. But England does not seek to engross the
sole use of the river, but offers to share it yvith the
United States. The pretensions put forward by Ame-
rica reach to a monopolisation of everything worth
caring for westward of the Rocky Mountains ; and
this distinction between the claims of the compet-
ing nations raises, in the absence of direct and con
elusive testimony of title, a presumption in favour of
Great Britain. But the question of title is not a doubt-
ful one—no, not for a moment. Great Britain is, in-
contestably, proprietrix of every acre of land or water
that lies within the disputed boundaries. To confirm
her title, precedent, fact, and every known law of the
civilised world have harmoniously and irresistibly com-
bined, and we offer the following gene.-al observations in
supp.rt of this ViPW, Tee American title to Oregon is
resolvable into three distinct branches,—first, that ac-
quired by the purchase of Louisiana in 1803, from the
French Government ; secondly, the right derived from
Spain, by the convention of Florida in 1820 ; and, lastly,
the rights acquired from the discoveries and exploration
of American citizens subsequently to 1782. With re-
spect to the title dependent on the cession of Louisiana
by the French, we would observe that France never pre-
tended to any dominion westward of the Rocky _Moun-
tains, and in support of this statement we quote the lan-
guage of Mr. President Jefferson, employed by him in a
letter bearing date 1803. Ile says :
"The boundaries (of Louisiana), which I deem not admit-
ting question, are the high lands on the western side of the
Mississippi. enclosing all its waters (the Missouri, of course),
and terminating in the line drawn from the north-west point
of the Lake of the Woods to the nearest source of the Mis-
sissippi, as lately settled between Great Britain and the
United States."
This admission of its chief magistrate disposes of the
title of America in as far as it rests upon the purchase of
Louisiana, and, to use Mr. Cushing 's own words, it is
now too late to attempt impeaching a title so admitted,
even were the pretended discoveries in France of the
hon. gentleman better authenticated than they are. Mr.
President Jefferson, then, having relieved us from
arguing on the right derived through France, we come
to the Spanish American claim, and we may preface our
arguments by remarking that the alleged title of Spain
depends entirely upon discovery and settlement, which
we shall hereafter consider. The Spanish American
claim rests upon the treaty of Florida ratified in 1820,
by which Spain ceded to America such rights over the
western coasts as she herself possessed. If at that period,
1820, Spain had a valid title to Oregon, without im-
peaching the original title of Spain, Great Britain
is precluded from disputing the American claim;
but if, prior to 1820, Spain had already parted with her
interest in the subject matter of the dispute, the American
claim, so ra- as it depends on Spain, at once falls to the
ground. But is a valid title in Spain at the date of the
treaty of Florida compatible with the received construc-
tion of the Nootka convention of thirty years previously
—viz., of 1790? We think not. For, consider the cir-
cumstances that led to the ratification of the latter treaty.
In the year 1788, Esteban, a Spanish officer, proceeded
to Nootka Sound for the purpose of founding a settle-
ment. It happened that about the same time Captain
Meares, and other British subjects, arrived in the Fe-
lice on the same coast on a trading expedition, and in the
course of the following year were seized by the Spanish
authorities. The result of this aggression of the Spanish
Government was a remonstrance, and subsequent nego.
tiations between England and Spain, which termi-
nated by Spain submitting without reserve (we cite Mr.
Cushing) to the claims of the British Government. By
the convention which succeeded, the free commerce of
the north- western shores, and the right of found-
ing settlements, were guaranteed to both countries.
There cannot, therefore, be a doubt of the right of this
country to found settlements in, and trade with, the
north-west shores of the Pacific, even under the title of
Spain, which America has so earnestly laboured to es-
tablish. We next arrive at the question of priority of
discovery and settlement, and we shall confine ourselves
to a comparison of the titles of England and America in
their own right, because the derivative title of America
we have already disposed of by the confession of Pre-
sident Jefferson, and, secondly, by the Nootka conven •
lion. If the discoveries of Spain established a title to
Oregon, Great Britain has succeeded to it by the treaty
of 1790. But to proceed. By the law of nations, the
navigator who first lands on an unappropriated shore
conveys a presumptive title to his native country,
not only to ports, bays, and rivers, but also to
the interior. On this principle alone did Spain make
title to her once vast trans-Atlantic possessions, and un-
less the principle be disputed, which we cannot suppose
possible, the title of Great Britain to the whole of
Oregon, river, plain, and mountain, is complete. The
first known circumnavigator was Drake, who, in 1581,
sailed along the entire length of the north-western coast
of America, and on several occasions planted a European
standard on the then supposed fabulous western shores.
Drake was followed by Cook in 1777, who visited every
bay and creek of the long line of coast, of course many
years previous to the establishment of the American
Republic. In 1786 Captain Meares actually
entered the mouth of the Columbia River, and
bestowed the name it now bears upon the
northern promontory. These acts, performed by
British subjects, all occurred prior to any attempt
on the part of the States to explore or settle the
region lying to the westward of the Rocky Mountains.
To combat these cogent claims, the American Plenipo-
tentiary resorts to aisubtle and untenable distinctions
between landing on the shores and penetrating a few
miles into the interior. Though Captain Meares, argues
Mr. Buchanan, was the first to anchor at the mouth of
the river, Captain Gray it was who acquired for his
country a right to the navigation and to the surrounding
territories by ascending a few miles towards the source.
And the SCRIC kind of argument is employed against
Captain Vancouver's discovery in 1792. But what if
e were to admit the validity of this distinction, savour-
ing as it does of special pleading ? Why, the American
Chargé d'Affaires himself abandons it in attempting to
make out the claims of the Spanish adventurer, Perez.
We quote the following :
"It is unnecessary to detail the discoveries of the
Spaniards, as they regularly advanced to the north from
their settlements on the western coasts of North Ame-
rica, until we reach the voyage of Captain Juan Perez,
in 1774. That navigator was commissioned by the Vice-
roy of Mexico to proceed in the corvette Santiago to the
60th degree of north latitude, and from that point to
examine the coast down to Mexico. He eailed from San
Bias on the 25th of January, 1774. In the performance
of this commission, he landed first on the north-west
coast of Queen Charlotte's Island, near the 54th degree
of north latitude, and thence proceeded south along the
shore of that i land, and of the great islands of Qeadra
and Vancouver, and then along the coast of the conti-
nent Loom he reached Monterey. He went on shore and
held intercourse with the natives at several places, and
especially at the entrance of a bay in latitude 49A de-
grees, which he called Port San Lorenzo, the same now
known by the name of Nootka Sound. In addition to
journals of this Voyage, which render the fact incontes-
tible, we have the high authority of Baron Humboldt in
its favour. That distinguished traveller, who had access
to the manuscript documents in the city of Mexico,
state that ' Perez and his pilot Estevan Martinez, left
the port of San Bias on the 24th of January, 1774. On
the 9th of August they anchored (the first of all
European navigators) in Nootka Road, which they
called the Port of San Lorenzo, and which the illustrious
Cook, four years afterwards, called King George's
Sound."

In this passage the coasting and landing are the founda-
tion of the claims ; but we do not seek to invalidate the
Spanish title, which runs up, as we have proved, into
our own. W e shall merely point out the inconsistency
of the American Plenipotentiary, and the absurd argu-
ments he adduces in support of his demands. If any-
thing turned, which it does not, on the mere number of
square miles discovered and explored, Alexander Mac-
kenzie, a British subject, carried his discoveries in 1789
farther than any who
preceded him ; but, in truth, no
claim can be based on such a circumstance only. At
this day many hundreds of square miles within the
a lrnitted boundaries of the United States, have never
been visited by civilised man ; but the States, never-
thel:ss, claim these unknown regions as part of their
dominion, and would naturally and with reason repel
any intrusion. The rule of national law must prevail—
that he who first discovers the shore acquires a title to
the adjacent lands, and on this principle of law the
title of Great Britain to the whole of Oregon seems
incontestible. We have trespassed too long already on
the patience of our readers, but we cannot forbear call-
attention to the most extraordinary argument ever
embodied in a state paper. Mr. Buchanan, in order to
prove that the American title is generally admitted in
England, writes thus :
"Even British geographers have not doubted our
title to the territory in dispute. There is a large and
splendid globe now in the Department of the State re-
cently received from London, and published by Maltby
and Co., ' manufacturers and publishers to the Society
for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge,' which assigns
this territory to the United States."
We have not seen the globe to which the American
Plenipotentiary refers ; but if his argument is worth
anything, we would direct his attention to the maps by
Mr. Wyld, one of the first geographers of the age, in
which Oregon is not assigned to the United States, as,

indeed, pending the provisions of the eonvention of 1827,
it could not tie. Vie think. re is
evidence of our title to the entire district ; but whether
we ought now to insist on the strict right is another and
distinct question. The convention of 1827 seems now
to preclude either country from setticg up a claim to
the whole ; the natural termination of a joint te-
nancy is a partition, not conducted on the principle of
dividing the superficial art:a in equal parts, but on a divi-
sion of the real advantage which the country affords.
What need England care for the addition of a few
thousand acres, more or less, to her countle,s thousands
of square miles in Canada, in India, Australia. and the
innumerable islands under her dominion ? The real ad-
vantages of the north-western coasts are the facilities of
establishing trade with China, and the colonies of the
Pacific Ocean. Any arrangement securing to Great
Britain this source of future wealth, together with the
free navigation of the Columbia River, she may fairly
accept without any compromise of the national honour.
These things being conceded, it matters little how the
boundaries are drawn from the Rocky Mountains,
whether by followi,g the 49th parallel to the sea, or ly
making the Columbia River, which seems the more
natural and convenient, the line of d,marcation. Less
than this Great Britain cannot, and oueht not, to accept,
especially when menaces accompany the advancement of
a rival claim. Woe be to the country that stoops to
buy off an unprovoked war by concession. We
should sincerely rejoice to see an amicable adjustment of
the dispute, nor are we without hope that such a happy
measure will terminate the affair. Despite all Mr. Polk's
frothy denunciations, America will not relinquish her
extensive and profitable commerce with Great Britain
for no higher object than bolstering up the credit of Mr.
Polk. The subjoined extract from Mr. Cushing's lecture
does not betoken any disposition for war :
" Time is the great regulator of all things in this world.
If nothing else occur to dispose of the Oregon question,
in time, the backwoodsman of the west will do it with
their axes, cattle, and ploughs, and if need be, their
rifles. Emigrants from the United States have a land
journey to Oregon, which is, comparatively speaking,
easy ; for their horses and cattle feed themselves on the
road, carry or furnish provisions for the emigrants, and
carry the utensils, and constitute the capital with which
the settlers are to begin life in Oregon. Emigrants from
Great Britain have a much longer land journey to make,
besides a sea voyage of 3,000 miles ; or in the whole, a
sea voyage of enormous length and expense, if they go
by the Cape of Good Hope or Cape Horn. Besides
which, all British emigrants in America have a greet
tendency to cease to be Britons and to become Ameri-
cans."

Be it so—the day will probably arrive when Mr. Web-
ster's prediction will be ♦erified to the letter, and these
immense wilds, occupied by a thriving population, will
not submit to a dependency either on Great Britain or
the United States.

REVIEW of the COTTON TRADE.
(From Haywood and Viccar's Circular.)
The review of the year 1845 is simple. The fluctua-
tions in fair qualities of Upland and Orleans cotton from
the highest to the lowest have exceeded 12 per cent.,
and the import, generally, has been profitable. The
season opened under favourable auspices. The stock on
hand was large, but prices were so low as to inspire con-
fidence. All expectation of an overwhelming import,
which had operated so prejudicially in the month of
November and in the beginning or' December of 1844,
had disappeared before the month of January of the
present year, and the result now proves the American
crop to have been 2,394,500 bales, exclusive of 25,900
bales from Texas. It is true that there are many who
in January last believed this to be an over-calculation,
and, under the conviction that the growth would not ex-
ceed 2,100,000 to 2,200,000 bales, prices rather advanced
in that and the following month. In additi n to this
motive for action, common both to the speculators and
the trade, the announcement of the intended repeal of the
duty on cotton furnished fresh stimulus, and the sales
were very extensive. But, in spite of this, the month of
March, by a combination of circumstances, proved to be
unsatisfactory, since, instead of advancing, the market
declined per lb. The duty of 5-16 d. per lb. on cotton
wool, however, being then taken off, the real difference
in money to holders was not important, but as many of
them in the first instance expected to gain that amount,
the disappointment seemed almost equivalent to a loss.
In the early part of April, the statements as to crop,
which had, as just stated, been gradually diminishing,
uow began again to increase, and the receipts into the
ports seemed to justify the new anticipations. It was
for a time in vain that the buying here continued large,
and that the probability of dissension between the United
States and this country respecting the Oregon territory
was again brought more prominently forward by the
declaration of both parties in the House of Commons as
to the general determination of the Legislature not to
surrender our early rights to the disputed country. All
was unavailing, under the pressure of the heavy stock and
increasing supply, to raise prices. On the contrary,
they again receded. This state of things, it is true,
was only of short duration, for the profits realised by
spinners being at least 2d. to 31. per lb., at the end of
April and in the beginning of May, the decline was
again recovered, and the excitement upon the American
question seemed to gain fresh force. It is certain that
neither then nor at any time since has it been generally
believed that the discussion would terminate seriously ;
yet a certain degree of fear has existed that, previously
to any final arrangement, so angry a feeling might be
raised as to interpose increased difficulties. The negotia-
tions were now rendered more delicate and critical
from the decided manner in which each party had
asserted its claim, and with every wish to avoid
actual hostilities ; yet in discussions between nations
the slightest untoward incident may lead to open
rupture. It is this same sentiment which still pre-
vails, and which has always more or less entered
into the views of holders throughout the year. The
message of the President is of a nature to confirm
this impression. Returning, however, to the question
more immediately before us, June was a month of large
business, though without any advance in price. The
only new feature which manifested itself was that of ad-
vises as to the appearances of the coming crop of 1845-
1846, which were not propitious. Though the period
of the year was far too early to form any correct judg-
ment, yet the plant germinated it was said so unfavour-
ably, as in the opinion of many to furnish a reasonable
motive for steadiness in prices. In July the intelli-
gence continued to be of the same description, and it
was then also supposed that the crop would be later
than usual. Speculators, encouraged by the facilities of
the money-market, as well as by the continued prosper-
ous state of trade, and the lowness of prices, pur-
chased largely on the one hand, whilst the spinners on
the other deemed it prudent to keep up their stocks to a
point beyond their usual quantity. It was the large
supply in the port alone which tended to keep the
market in check. The weather might have had
some little effect at that period, but this was
only slightly regarded, though circumstances have
since proved of what immense importance was its then
character. Before the end of August all apprehensions
as to the harvest, if any were ever seriously entertained,
seemed for a time to subside, and the market again im-
proved. The stock of American cotton had reached its
maximum of 832,000 bales. This amount now began
sensibly to diminish, and the month of September was
one in which the business transacted was of vast extent.
In the beginning of October, in consequence of the
alleged deficiency of yield in the wheat crop, and of the
injury done to the potato crop in this and other countries,
a settled dull and anxious feeling began to prevail, and
this continued unabated throughout the remainder of
the month. November was still more discouraging, and
a second advance in the rate of interest to 3f per cent.
by the Bank of England (the rate of interest had already
been raised on the 16th of October from 2f to 3 per
cent.), effectually destroyed all hope of change for the
better in the money-market, and with this all prospect
of amendment in cotton seemed for the moment to
he annihilated. During the present month of
December there has been a regular and steady de- ,
mend daily ; but a tighter state of the money-market,
coming too at a period of the year when there is always
rather a desire than otherwise to liquidate existing en-
gagements and to diminish the amount of responsi-
bility, both on the part of merchants and brokers, had,
until counteracted by the advices of the last packet
bringing reduced estimates of crop, operated still fur-
ther to depress prices and to throw a gloom over com-
mercial transactions generally. The projected changes
in the Ministry, and the uncertainty of. the immediate
effect of the measures to be proposed with reference to
the opening of the ports for the admission of grain,
and the abolition of the corn-laws, have contributed
still more to unsettle the public mind, and in the doubt
that has been raised and the hopes and fears which have
alternately predominated, trade has suffered, and con-
fidence has been considerably shaken. The railway
deposit question also, which belongs to another part
cit
our subject, has likewise been one of the principal
causes of the distrust which has pervaded the monied
interest, and through this influence essential injury
has been done to the holders of cotton.
Having now alluded more especially to the fluctua-
tions in the article itself, other events of the year as
they are more or less indirectly connected with it call
for a few observations. The first one of these in the
order of time, and probably in importance, as it refers
to cotton itself, is the abrogation of the whole import
duty, which is one of the most remarkable events in the
history of commercial policy. It is a measure fraught
with wisdom, not only as being in itself of vital im-
portance to the country, but as a precedent for other
changes of a like nature. It will tend to give a still
greater development to the manufacturing energies of
Great Britain, and will better enable us to compete, in
common and heavy fabrics, with that very country, the
United States, where the raw material itself is pro-
duced. It had been a growing complaint that the duty,
which constitutes in coarse goods so heavy a per cent-
age upon the cost, was causing our manufactures to be
superseded in the South American markets, and it was
its
extension correct the evil in that hemisphere, and to prevent
extension to India, upon which so much of our future
prosperity depended, that, seeing the financial state of
the country would bear the abstraction, the Government
wisely abandoned this branch •of revenue, though it is
certain that, for immediate popularity, other reductions
might have been selected, and other taxes taken off, which
would have been more acceptable to the multitude. This
act of the Government cannot be too much commended.
The next point which calls for comment is the mania
in railway speculation during the greater part of the
year. The words of the historian of 1720 describe in
so accurate a spirit the folly of 1845, that it can hardly
be out of place to quote them. Speaking of the South
" All dis
Sea and other schemes. .of that day, he says,
tinctions of party, religion,. vex,. character, and circum-
stances, were swallowed. up in this universal concern, or
in some such pecuniary project. Exchange-alley ;vas
tilled with a strange concourse of statesmen and clergy-
men, Churchmen and Dissenters, Whig, and Torik
physicians, lawyers, tradesmen, atal even with multi-
tudes. of women; All other professions and employments
were utterly neglected, and the people's attention wholly