The Sun.
London, England, 1859-10-10 00:00:00

complete and exclusive sovereign rights within the
fairly disputed limits. The President of the United
States at the same time recorded the expression of
sincere hope that by following this reasonable course
" all differences will be avoided, until an adjustment
of the line (of boundary 'between the territories of
England and America) can be made in a manner
mutually satisfactory."
This friendly invitation of the United States Go-
vernment was accepted willingly as soon as made ;
and from that time—in the year 1855—t0 this day
neither the British Government nor the local (Co-
lonial) Government, nor any individual British sub-
ject has done, nor committed, nor allowed, nor in-
stigated, directly or by implication, a single act
contrary to this understanding, or in contravention
or evasion of the tacit arrangement then come to.
The state of affairs which existed on the Island of
San Juan in 1855 has been continued unaltered.
No land has been sold, donated, or promised, and no
further settlement than then existed has been made
or attempted. The understanding then established
between the two Governments has been scrupu-
lously observed by Great Britain and her subjects,
although their long-formed convictions of our inde-
feasible title to the island have been much strength-
ened in the interval, as the nature of the respective
claims to its sovereignty has been more closely exa-
mined.

I assert again that Great Britain and her sub-
jects kept the arrangement of neutrality strictly
and honourably, and it should be known, to their
credit, that they did so in the face of much provo-
cation, annoyance, and loss during the last year
from American squatters. To this assertion I
challenge contradiction. We observed the neu-
trality. Not so, however, our more impulsive and
less scrupulous neighbours.
Last winter an " excitement" was got up in our
very midst in Victoria among the American resi-
dents for " speculation" in land on San Juan, and
the machinery usually applied to the settlement of
new territory was set in motion to bolster the specu-
lation. A surveyor was despatched to the scene, a
full and complete survey of the best " locations" on
the island was promised, and " claims" were pre-
ferred to favourite spots for " homesteads," so as
to secure the pre-emption rights of American citi-
zens when the island should be taken possession
of by America—a consummation which the " specu-
lators" promised to be near at hand. All this was
done publicly and without disguise. Nor was this all.
During this present year American squatters on the
island began to act with so much boldness and ar-
rogance towards the English subjects as created a
suspicion in the minds of the latter that this high-
handed conduct received countenance from high
quarters. This suspicion was well-founded. A
squatter whose conduct was exceedingly ruffianly
told me on the island that the authorities of Wash-
ington territory had promised him before he left
that place that the United States' Government
would protect him and all other " citizens" in their
squatter rights in San Juan.
These breaches of neutrality and other unjusti-
fiable acts of American squatters the local Govern-
ment of Vancouver's Island endured in silence,
although requested to interfere to protect British
property, out of respect to the understanding come