The Sun.
London, England, 1845-12-30 00:00:00

IV7 Ny DECEMBER 30, 1845.

1 by the United States in their diplomatic transactions
with Great Britain, previously to the conclusion of the
!Florida treaty ? The claim advanced for the restitution
of Fort George under the first article of the treaty of
Ghent ; the arrangement concluded for the joint occu-
pation of the Oregon territory by Great Britain and the
United States; and, above all, the proposal actually made
on the part of the United States for a partition of the
Oregon territory ; all which transactions took place in
the year 1818, when, as yet, Spain had made no transfer
or cession of her rights—appear to be as little reconcil-
able with any rtgard for those rights while still vested
in Spain, as the claim founded on discovery, explora-
tion, and settlement accomplished previously to the trans-
' fer of those rights to the United States.
' Supposing the arrangement proposed in the year 1818,
or any other arrangement for the partition of the Oregon
territory, to have been concluded in those days, between
Great Britain and this country, what would, in that case,
______ have become of the exclusive rights of Spain ?
OFFICIAL CORRESPONDENCE__
tiThere would have been no refuge for the United States
ON THE OREGON QUESTION. but in an appeal to the principles of the Nootka conven-
The following are the two concluding letters of Mr. To deny this, then, the validity of the Nootka eon vets.
Pakenham and Mr. Buchanan, and contain all the im- tion, is to proclaim the illegality of any title founded on
portant points of the questions at issue : discovery, exploration, or settlement, previous to the
conclusion of the Florida treaty.
THE NEGOTIATION. To appeal to the Florida treaty as conveying to the
Washington, July 29, 1845. United States any exclusive rights, is to attach a cha-
Notwithstanding the prolix discussion which the sub- meter of encroachment and of violation of the rights of
ject has already undergone, the undersigned, her Bri- Spain to every act to which the United States appealed
tannic Majesty's Envoy Extraordinary and Minister in the negotiation of 1818, as giving them a claim to
Plenipotentiary, feels obliged to place on record a few territory on the north-west coast.
observations in reply to the statement marked J. 8., These conclusions appear to the undersigned to be
which he had the honour to receive, on the 16th of this irresistible.
month, from the hands of the Secretary of State of the The United States can found no claim on discovery,
United States, terminating with a proposition on the part exploration, and settlement, effected previously to the
of the United States for the settlement of the Oregon Florida treaty, without admitting the principles of the
question. Nootka convention, and with the consequent validity of 1
In this paper it is stated that " the title of the United the parallel claims of Great Britain founded on like acts;
States to that portion of the Oregon territory between nor can they appeal to any exclusive right as acquired
the valley of the Columbia andjale Russian line, in 54 by the Florida treaty without upsetting all claims ad-
deg. 40 north latitude, is reedrded in the Florida -treaty. diked in theernwn.propeerightslsrieluteeThf dikovery,
Under this treaty, dated on the 22d February, 1519, exploration, and settlement, antecedent to that arrange-
Spain ceded to the United States all her rights, claims, ment.
and pretensions to any territories west of the Rocky The undersigned trusts that he has now shown that the
Mountains, and north of the 42d parallel of latitude." convention of 1790 (the Nootka Sound convention), has
"We contend," says the Secretary of State, " that at continued in full and complete force up to the present
the date of this ccnvention, Spain had a good title, as moment :
against Great Britain, to the whole Oregon territory; By reason, in the first place, of the commercial cha- i
and, if this be established, the question is then decided meter of some of its provisions, as such expressly re-
in favour of the United States," the convention between newed by the convention of August, 1814,between Great
Great Britain and-Spain, signed at the Escurial, on the Britain and Spain :
28th of October, 1790, notwithstanding. By reason, in the next place, of the acquiescence of
" If," says the American Plenipotentiary, "it should Spain in various transactions to which it is not to be
appear that this treaty was transient in its very nature; supposed that that power would have assented, had she
that it conferred upon Great Britain no right but that of not felt bound by the provisions of the convention in
merely trading with the Indians whilst the country question :
should remain unsettled, and making the necessary esta- And, thirdly, by reason of repeated acts of the Go-
blishments for this purpose; that it did not interfere vernment of the United States, previous to the conclu-
with the ultimate sovereignty of Spain over the tern- sion of the Florida treaty, manifesting adherence to
tory; and, above all, that it was annulled by the war the principles of the Nootka convention, or at least dis-
between Spain and Great Britain in 1796, and has never sent from the exclusive pretensions of Spain.
since been renewed by the parties, then the British claim Having thus replied, and he hopes satisfactorily, to
to any portion of the territory will prove to be destitute the observations of the American Plenipotentiary with
of foundation." respect to the Nootka Sound convention and the Florida
The undersigned will endeavour to show, not only that treaty, as bearing upon the subject of the present dis-
when Spain concluded with the United States the treaty cussion, the undersigned must endeavour to show that
of 1819, commonly called the Florida treaty, the con- even if the Nootka Sound convention had never existed,
vention concluded between the former power and Great the position of Great Britain in regard to her claim,
Britain in 1790 was considered by the parties to it to whether to the whole or to any particular portion of the
be still in force ; but even that, if no such treaty had Oregon territory, is at least as good as that of the
ever existed, Great Britain would stand, with reference United States.
to a claim to the Oregon territory, in a position at least This branch of the subject must be considered, first,
as favourable as the United States. with reference to principle—to the right of either party,
The treaty of 1790 is not appealed to by the British Great Britain or the United States, to explore or make
Government, as the American Plenipotentiary seems to settlements in the Oregon territory without violation of
suppose, as their " main reliance" in the present discus- the rights of Spain ; and next, supposing the first to be
sion ;it is appealed to to show that, by the treaty of 1819, decided affirmatively, with reference to the relative value
by which " Spain ceded to the United States all her and importance of the acts of discovery, exploration, and
rights, claims, and pretensions to any territories west of settlements effected by each.
the Rocky Mountains, and north of the 42d parallel of As relates to the question of principle, the undersigned
latitude," the United States acquired no right to exclu- thinks he can furnish no batter argument than that con-
sive dominion over any part of the Oregon territory. tained in the following words, which he has already once
The treaty of 1790 embraced, in fact, a variety of ob- quoted, from the statement of the American L'lenipoten-
jects. It partook in some of its stipulations of the na- tiary :
ture of a commercial convention ;in other respects, it " The title of the United States to the valley of the
might be considered as an acknowledgment of existing Columbia is older than the Florida treaty of February,
rights—an admission of certain principles of interne- 1819, under which the United States acquired all the
tional law, not to be revoked at the pleasure of either rights of Spain to the north-west coast of America, and
party, or to be set aside by a cessation of friendly rela- exists independently of its provisions." And again :
Lions between them. " The title of the United States to the entire region
Viewed in the former light. its stipulations might have drained by the Columbia river and its branches, was
been considered as cancelled in consequence of the war perfect and complete before the date of the treaties of joint
which subsequently took place between the contracting occupancy of October, 1818, and August, 1827."
parties, were it not that by the treaty concluded at The title thus referred to must be that resting on dis-
Madrid on the 28th August, 1814, it was declared that covery, exploration, and settlement.
all the treaties of commerce which subsisted between the If this title, then, is good, or rather was good, as
two nations (Great Britain and Spain) in 1790 were against the exclusive pretensions of Spain, previously to
thereby ratified and confirmed. the conclusion of the Florida treaty, so must the claims
In the latter point of view, the restoration of a state of of Great Britain, resting on the same grounds, be good
peace was of itself sufficient to restore the admissions also.
contained in the convention of 1798 to their full original Thus, then, it seems manifest that, with or without the
force and vigour. aid of the Nootka Sound convention, the claims of Great
There are, besides, very positive reasons for concluding Britain, resting on discovery, exploration, and settle-
that Spain did not consider the stipulations of the Nootka ment, are, in point of principle, equally valid with those
convention to have been revoked by the war of 1796, so as of the United States.
to require, in order to be binding on her, that they should Let us now see how the comparison will stand when
have been expressly revived or renewed on the restoration tried by the relative value, importance, and authenticity
of peace between the two countries. Had Spain considered of each.
that convention totave been annulled by the war; in other Rejecting previous dicoveries north of the 42d parallel
words, had she considered herself restored to her former of latitude as not sufficiently authenticated, it will be
position and pretensions with respect to the exclusive seen on the side of Great Britain that, in 1778, Captain
dominion over the unoccupied parts of the North Ame- Cook discovered Cape Flattery, the southern entry of
rican continent, it is not to be imagined that she would the Straits of Fuca. Cook must also be considered the
have passively submitted to see the contending claims of discoverer of Nootka Sound, in consequence of the want
Great Britain and the United States to a portion of that of authenticity in the alleged previous discovery of that
territory the subject of negotiation and formal diplomatic port by Perez.
transactions between the two countries. In 1787, Capt. Berkeley, a British subject, in a vessel
It is, on the contrary, from her silence with respect to under Austrian colours, discovered the Straits of Fuca.
the continued occupation, by the British, of their settle- In the same year, Captain Duncan, in the ship Princess
tents in the Columbia territory subsequently to the con- Royal, entered the straits, and traded at the village of
vention of 1814, and when as yet there had been no Classet.
transfer of her rights, claims, or pretensions to the In 1788, Meares, a British subject, formed the este-
United States ; and from her silence also while im- blishment at Nootka, which gave rise to the memorable
portant negotiations respecting the Columbia territory, discussion with the Spanish Government, ending in the
incompatible altogether with her ancient claim to exclu- recognition, by that power, of the rght of Great Britain
sive dominion, were in progress between Great Britain to form settlements in the unoccupied parts of the north-
and the United States, fairly to be inferred that Spain west portion of the American continent, and in an en-
considered the stipulations of the Nootka convention, and gagement, on the part of Spain, to reinstate Meares in
the principles therein laid down, to be still in force. the possession from which he had been ejected by the
But the American Plenipotentiary goes so far as to Spanish commanders.
say that the British Government itself had no idea, in In 1792, Vancouver, who had been sent from England
1818, that the Nootka Sound convention was then in to witness the fulfilment of the above-mentioned engage-
force, because no reference was made to it on the part of meat, and to effect a survey of the north-west coast de-
England during the negotiation of that year on the parting from Nootka Sound, entered the Straits of Fuca ;
Oregon question. and, after an accurate survey of the coasts and inlets on
In reply to this argument, it will be sufficient for the both sides, discovered a passage northwards into the
undersigned to remind the American Plenipotentiary Pacific by which he returned to Nootka—having thus
that in the year 1818 no claim, as derived from Spain, circumnavigated the island which now bears his name.
was or could be put forth by the United States, seeing And here we have, as)far as relates to Vancouver's Island,
that it was not until the following year (the year 1819) as complete a case of discovery, exploration, and settle-
that the treaty was concluded by which Spain trans • ment as can well be presented, giving to Great Britain,
fhe
ar
dr e
arisend t o
orthfeUnited States her rights, claims, and pre- in any arrangement that may be made with regard to
tensions to any territories west of the Rocky Mountains, the territory in dispute, the strongest possible claim to
and north of the 42d parallel of latitude. the exclusive possession of that island.
Hence, it is obvious that in the year 1818 no occasion While Vancouver was prosecuting discovery and ex-
appealing to the qualified nature of the ploration by sea, Sir Alexander Mackenzie, a partner
rights, claims, and pretensions so transferred—a qualifi- in the North-West Company, crossed the Rocky Moun-
cation imposed, or at least recognised, by the convention tains, discovered the head waters of the river since
of Nootka. called Frazer's River, and following for some time the
The title of the United States to the valley of the course of that river, effected a passage to the sea—
Columbia, the American Plenipotentiary observes is being the first civilised man who traversed the continent
older than the Florida treaty of February, 1819, and of America from sea to sea in those latitudes. Ott the
exists independently of its provisions. Even sup- return of Mackenzie to Canada, the North-West Com-
posing, then, that the British construction of the Nootka pang established trading posts to the country to the
Sound convention was correct, it could not apply to this westward of the Rocky Mountains.
portion of the territory in dispute. In 1806 and 1811, respectively, the same company
The undersigned must be permitted respectfully to in- established posts on the Tacoutche, Tease, and the Co-
quire, upon what principle, unless it be upon the prin- lumbia.
el •ple which forms the foundation of the Nootka con- In the year 1811, Thompson, the astronomer of the
vention, could the United States have acquired a title to North-West Company, discovered the northern bead
any part of the Oregon territory previously to the treaty waters of the Columbia, and following its course till
of 1819, and independently of its provisions? By dis- joined by the rivers previously discovered by Lewis and
Clarke, he continued his journey to the Pacific.
But,' says
explotrhaetioAn;nseertitclaenmerntle,
nwipiloltbeenttih::ya,nsinwearn.
another From that time until the year 1811, when the ar-
part of his statement, the rights of Spain to the west rangement for the joint occupancy of the territory was
coast of America, as far north as the 61st degree of concluded, the North-West Company continued to ex-
latitude, were so complete as never to have been seri- tend their operations throughout the Oregon territory,
ously questioned by any European nation. and to " occupy," it may be said, as far as occupation
They had been maintained by Spain with the most can be effected in regions so inaccessible and destitute
vigilant jealousy, ever since the discovery of the of resources.
American continent, and had been acquiesced in by ell While all this was passing the following events occur-
Europeanpowers. They had been admitted even by red, which constitute the American claim in their own
that, too, under a sovereign peculiarly proper right.
tenaciouswhne Russia
;and
ofthe territorial rights of her empire, who, In 1792 Gray entered the mouth of the Columbia river.
complaints had been made to the Court of Russia In 1805 Lewis and Clarke effected a passage across
against Russian subjects for violating the Spanish tern- the Rocky Mountains, and discovering a branch of the
tory on the north-west coast of America, did not hesi- Columbia river, followed it until they reached the ocean.
tale to assure the King of Spain that she was extremely In 1811 the trading post or; settlement of Astoria was
sorry that the repeated orders issued to prevent the established at the mouth of the Columbia, on the northern
subjects of Russia from violating in the smallest degree side of that river.
the territory belonging to another power, should have This post or settlement passed during the last war into
been disobeyed. British hands by the voluntary act of the persons in
In what did this alleged violation of territory consist? charge of it—a fact most clearly established. It was
Assuredly, in some attempted acts of discovery, explore- restored to the United States in 1818, with certain well-
tion, or settlement. authenticated reservations; but it was never actually
At that time Russia stood in precisely the same posi- re-occupied by American citizens, having from the
tion with reference to the exclusive risshts of Spain as moment of the original transfer or sale continued to be
the United States, and any acts in contravention of those occupied by British subjects.
rights, whether emanating from Russia or from the These are the acts of discovery' exploration, and settle-
Uuited States, would necessarily be judged by one and meat referred to by the United States as giving them a
the same rule. claim to the valley of the Columbia, in their own
How, then, can it be pretended that acts which, in the proper right.
case of Russia, were considered as criminal violations of The British Government are disposed to view them in
the Spanish territory, should, in the case of citizens of the most liberal sense, and to give to them the utmost
the United States, be appealed to as constituting a valid value to which they can in fairness be entitled; but there
title to the territory affected by them ? and yet from are circumstances attending each and all of them which
this inconsistency the American Plenipotentiary cannot must, in the opinion of any impartial investigator of
escape, if he persists in considering the American title the subject, take from them a great deal of the effect
to have been perfected by discovery, exploration, and which the American negotiators assign to them as
settlement, when. as yet Spain had made no transfer of giving to this country a claim to the entire region
her rights, if, to use his own words, " that title is drained by the Columbia and its branches.
older than the Florida treaty, and exists independently In the first place, as relates to the discovery of Gray,
of its provisions." it must be remarked that he was a private navigator,
According to the doctrine of exclusive dominion, the sailing principally for the purposes of trade, which fact
exploration of Lewis and Clarke, and the establishment establishes a wide difference, in a national point of view,
founded at the mouth of the Columbia, must be cote between the discoveries accomplished by him and those
detnned as encroachments on the territorial rights of effected by Cook and Vancouver, who sailed in ships of
Spain. the royal navy of Great Britain, and who were sent to
According to the opposite principle, by which disco- the north-west coast for the express purpose of explore-
very, exploration, and settlement are considered as giving tion and discovery.
a valid claim to territory, those very acts are referred to In the next place, it is a circumstance not to be lost
in the course of the same paper as constituting a cot- sight of, that it was not for several years followed up
I
plete title in favour of the United States. by any act which could give it value in a national point
Besides, how shall we reconcile the high estimation of of view ; it was not, in truth, made known to the world
the territorial rights of Spain, considered independently of either by the discoverer himself or by his Government.
. i the Nootka Sound convention, with the course observed So recently' as the year 1826, the American Plenipoten-

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tiaries in London, remarked with great correctness, in
one of their reports, that "respecting the mouth of the
Columbia river, we know nothing of Gray's discoveries
but through British aceounts."
In the next place, the connexion of Gray's discovery
with that of Lewis and Clarke, is interrupted by the in-
tervening exploration of Lieutenant Broughton, of the
British surveying ship Chatham.
With respect to the expedition of Lewis and Clarke
it must, on a close examination of the route pursued by
them, be confessed that, neither on their outward
journey to the Pacific, nor on their homeward journey
to the United States, did they touch upon the head
aters of the principal branch of the Columbia river,
which lie far to the north of the parts of the country tra-
versed and explored by them.
Thompson, of the British North-West Company, was
the first civilised person who navigated the northern, in
reality the main branch of the Columbia, or traversed
any part of the country drained by it.
It was by a tributary of the Columbia that Lewis and
Clarke made their way to the main stream of that river,
which they reached at a point distant, it is believed. not
more than 200 miles from the point to which the river
had already been explored by Broughton.
These facts, the undersigned conceives, will be found
sufficient to reduce the value of Lewis and Clarke's ex-
ploration on the Columbia to limits which would by no
means justify a claim to the whole valley drained by that
river and its branches.

As to settlement, the qualified nature of the rights de-
volved to the United States by virtue of the restitution
of Fort Astoria has already been pointed out.
It will thus be seen, the undersigned confidently be-
lieves, that on the grounds of discovery, exploration,
and settlement, Great Britain has nothing to fear from
a comparison of her claims to the Oregon territory, taken
as a whole, with those of the United States.

That reduced to the valley drained by the Columbia,
the facts on which the United States rest their case are
far from being of that complete and exclusive character
which would justify a claim to the whole valley of the
Columbia ; and
That, especially as relates to Vancouver's Island,
taken by itself, the preferable claim of Great Britain in
every point of view, seems to have been clearly demon-
strated.

After this exposition of the ♦iews entertained by the
British Government respecting the relative value and
importance of the British and American claims, the
American Plenipotentiary will not be surprised to hear
that the undersigned does not feel at liberty to accep
theproppsal offered by the American Plenipotentiary for
the settlement of the question.
This proposal, in fact, offers less than that tendered by
the American Plenipotentiaries in the negotiation of
1826, and declined by the British Government.
On that occasion it was proposed that the navigation
of the Columbia should be made free to both parties.
On this nothing is said in the proposal to which the
undersigned has now the honour to reply ; while, with
respect to the proposed freedom of the ports on Van-
eouver's Island south of let. 49 degs., the facts which
have been appealed to in this paper, as giving to Great
Britain the strongest claim to the possession of the
whole island, would seem to deprive such a proposal of
any value.
The undersigned, therefore, trusts that the American
Plenipotentiary with be prepared to offer some further
proposal for the settlement of the Oregon question more
consistent with fairness and equity, and with the reason-
able expectations of the British Government, as defined
iu the statement (marked D) which the undersigned had
the honour to present to the American Plenipotentiary at
the early part of the present negotiation.
The undersigned, British Plenipotentiary, has the
honour to renew to the Hon. James Buchanan, Secretary
of State and Plenipotentiary of the United States, the
assurance of his high consideration.
R. PAKENHAM.
Hon. James Buchanan, &c.

(J. B. 2.)
Department of State, Washington, Aug. 30,1845.
The undersigned, Secretary of State of the United
States, deems it his duty to make some observations in
reply to the statement of her Britannic Majesty's Envoy
Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, marked
R. P., and dated 29th July, 1845.
Preliminary to the discussion, it is necessary to fix
our attention upon the precise question under considera-
tion, i❑ the present stage of the negotiation. The ques-
tion simply is, were the titles of Spain and the United
States, when united by the Florida treaty on the 22d of
February, 1819, good as against Great Britain, to the
Oregon territory as fur north as the Russian line, in the
latitude of 54 degrees 40 minutes ? If they were, it will
be admitted that this whole territory now belongs to the
thated States.

The undersigned again remarks that it is not his pur-
pose to repeat the argument by which hie predecessor,
Mr. Calhoun, has demonstrated the American title " to
the entire region drained by the Columbia river an 1 its
branches." He will not thus impair its force.
It is contended, on the part of Great Britain, that the
United States acquired and hold the Spanish title, sub-
ject to the terms and conditions of the Nootka Sound
convention, concluded between Great Britain and Spain,
at the Escurial, on the 28th of October, 1790.
In opposition to the argument of the undersigned con-
tained in his statement, marked J. 8., maintaining that
this convention had been annulled by the war between
Spain and Great Britain, in 1796, and has never since
.been revived by the parties, the British Plenipotentiary,
in his statement marked R. P., has taken the following
positions :-
1. " That when Spain concluded with the United States
the treaty of 1819, commonly called the Florida treaty,
the convention concluded between the former power and
Great Britain, in 1790, was considered by the parties to
it to be still in force."
And 2. " But that, even if no such treaty had ever ex-
isted, Great Britain would stand, with reference to a
claim to the Oregon territory, in a position at least as
favourable as the United States."
The undersigned will follow, step by step, the argu-
ment of the British Plenipotentiary in support of these
propositions.
The British Plenipotentiary states, " that the treaty of
1790 is not appealed to by the British Government, as
the American Plenipotentiary seems to suppose, as their
' main reliance' in the present discussion ; but to show
that, by the Florida treaty of 1819, the United States ac-
quired no right to exclusive dominion over any part of
that Oregon territory."
The undersigned had believed that ever since 1826
the Nootka convention had been regarded by the British
Government as their main, if not their only, reliance.
The very nature and peculiarity of their claim identified
it with the construction which they have imposed upon
this convention, and necessarily excludes every other
basis of title. What but to accord with this construction
could have caused Messrs. Huskisson and Addington,
the British Commissioners, in specifying their title, on
the 16th of December, 1826, to declare " that Great
Britain claims no exclusive sovereignty over any porton
of that territory. Her present claim, not in respect to
any part, but to the whole, is limited to a right of joint
occupancy in common with other states, leaving the
right of exclusive dominion in abeyance." And again:
" By that convention (of Nootka) it was agreed that all
parts of the north-western coast of America, not al-
ready occupied at the time by either of the contracting
parties, should thenceforward be equally open to the
subjects of both for all purposes of commerce andsettle-
ment—the sovereignty remaining in abeyance." But
on this subject, we are not left to mere inferences, how-
ever clear. The British Commissioners, in their state-
ment from which the undersigned has just quoted, have
virtually abandoned any other title which Great Britain
may have previously asserted to the territory in dispute,
and expressly declare " that whatever that title may
have been, however, either on the part of Great Britain
or on that of Spain, prior to the convention of 1790, it
was thenceforward no longer to be traced in vague nar-
ratives of discoveries, several of them admitted to be
apocryphal, but in the text and stipulations of that con-
vention itself."
And again, in summing up their whole case, they say:
—" Admitting that the United States have acquired all
the rights which Spain possessed up to the treaty of
Florida, either in virtue of discovery, or, as it is pre.
tended, in right of Louisiana, Great Britain maintains
that the nature and extent of these rights, as well as the
rights of Great Britain, are fixed and defined by the con-
vention of Nootka, &c.
The undersigned, after a careful examination, can dis-
cover nothing in the note of the present British Plenipol's
tentiary to Mr. Calhoun, of the 12th of September last,
to impair the force of these declarations and admissions
of his predecessors. On the contrary, its general tone
is in perfect accordance with them.
Whatever may be the consequences, theta, whether for
good or evil—whether to strengthen or to destroy the
British claim—it is now too late for the British Govern-
ment to vary their position. If the Nootka convention
confers upon them no such rights as they claim, they
cannot at this late hour go behind its provisions, and set
up claims which, in 1826, they admitted had been mergedt
"in the text and stipulations of that convention itself."
The undersigned regrets that the British Plenipoten-
tiary has not noticed his exposition of the true construc-
tion of the Nootka convention. He had endeavoured,
and he believes successfully, to prove that this treaty
was transient in its very nature; that it conferred
upon Great Britain no right but that of merely trad-
ing with the Indians whilst the country should remain
unsettled, and making the necessary establishments
for this purpose; and that it did not inter-
fere with the ultimate sovereignty of Spain over the ter-
ritory. The British Plenipotentiary has not attempted
to resist these conclusions. If they be fair and legitimate,
then it would not avail Great Britain, even if she should
prove the Nootka convention to be still in force. On
the contrary, this convention, if the construction placed
upon it by the undersigned be correct, contains a clear
virtual admission on the part of Great Britain that Spain
held the eventual right of sovereignty over the whole
disputed territory, and consequently that it now belongs
to the United States.
The value of this admission, made in 1799, is the. same
whether or not the convention has continued to exist until
the present day. But he is willing to
leave this point on
the uncontroverted argument contained in his former
statement.
But is the Nootka Sound convention still in force ?
The British Plenipotentiary does not contest the clear
general principle of public law," that war terminates all