New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1843-10-28

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have been guilty of no laches, to the former, who
have been guilty Of. lqches So then were it ad-
United that England had made the discovery oil
Oregon prior to Spain, (Which is dened,l yet H.
asmuch as Great Britain admitted the prior dis
coverv set forth by Spain in their manifesto, and
not denied at the time the United States, as
as assignee Of SPAIN may now claim the SOW
ereirnty of that territory by more perfect title.
The principle Of the law OF nations, upon which
this is founded, Will not and cannot be denied.
Having thus shown that Great Britain has no
title TO the sovereignty Of Oregon Territory, let
us examine more particularly what was advanced
BY her in regard to Nootka Sound.
The British government might have had night
Of sovereignty to Nootka Sound, in particular,
without having any right of sovereignty to Ore
con Territory, in general; but had that been the
case. it would have been distinctly stated, mas
much as that partial right Of sovereignty would
have been an answer to the claim Of sovereignty
to the uhole territory by Spain, and also, that
RIGHT of partial sovereignty would have been
preater than the right Of trade and traffic which
was complained of being invaded, and which
would therefore have been merged therein. But
Mr. Pitts complaints are of the ships having
been taken, not the :, land In calling In cues
ton Spain's erclusire claims he denies those
only which relate to the trade " claims says
NJ Pitt which are totally inconsistent with the
rights Of dependent narigators to lands which,
being before unGpprOpriated. they should make
their olrn by occHpancy and labor
The rights of Independent nayigators
Who are, F." independent navigators 2" Neither
Mr. Pitt nor his historian has condescendcd to
inform US OF what are they independent OF
the law of nations If that was the minister's
meaning, the idea might have been suggested to
his mind by recollecting the claims to be knghted,
of his countryman Drake" Z" Independent
johnson SAYS is snot supported by any other
-"not controlled South" not relating to
any superior power" Bentley. "lndepcndcnt
navigators' must then be those " gentlemen OF
the sea-" who roam about the world uncontrolled,
holding themselves responsible to no superior pow
cr; the same who, Blackstone tells US us, arc
Hostess human generis;" in vulgar language,
"pirates" We had goodly number OF these
gentlemen lowering about our seaboard during
our late struggle with England. But 1t seems
that these " independent naUgators'' have
"riehts." Indeed The law teaches that there
is no right without corresponding duty; hence
those who acknowledge no duties can clam no
rights To enjoy rights and perform duties I'M
plies responsibilities '' dependence but he who
is " INDEPENDENT Grrcsponsbc,) can know
neither the one nor the other. But the "rght'
Of these "ndependent navigatorS" Is to lands!
How were they acquired By prior discovery?
No. By cession No. By conquest No.
The rig hit of these independent navi gators was
" to land Mey could make their onn by occu-
pdncv and labor" Occupancy is the taking
possession of those things which before belonged
to nobody" (Blackstone.) But the occupancy
of these independent navigators was the SEEING
upon what before belonged to somebody Quod
nu!liuS est, id ratione naturah occupant conce
ditur," (says the law of nations y but it would be
impossible so to translate this maxim as to justify
the Englishman who trespassed on the soil and
right of sovereignty which the Spanyards had
gained by thcr prior discovery of Oregon
No such subordinate or inteTocutory right of
trade and traffic upon ground to which another
has right Of soverel eighty is known to the law.
If the land before belonged to nobody, the dlscov
cry and taking possession conferred the night of
sovereignty; but if they previously belonged to
any body, the entry upon them to trade or traffic
was tortious, and no right of any kind was there.
by acquired
Nor is the condition Of such trespassers at all
improved by any labor they may perform upon
the lands as Mr.. Pitts language would seem to
imply. On the contrary, each new act performed
on the soil is continuation OF the trcspass, and
is by the law referred back to the tortous entry,
SO that these English intruders were not only tres
passcrs alb initio but ad metas. But perhaps 1t
may be said Mr.. Pitt qualified the rights of these
independent nayigators to lands heretofore unaP-
propriated. If so, it becomes necessary to IN
ouirc what was meant by unappropriated.'
1t not being legal term, its meaning must be
sought for in ordinary dictionaries. To 'appro-
pirate is to claim, Milton } ',o consign to
some USE (Hookcr.) Now, the Spaniards had
claimed Nootka Sound it was not, therefore,
unappropriated.' They had also assigned 1t TO
some use, viz: to the use Of themselves and their
countrymen. If Mr.. Pitt meant by it being un-
appropriated that no settlement had been made
thereon, then the question recurs, whether title
to sovereignty, by virtue OF prior discovery, can
be lost by any delay of settlement, short of pre-
sumption that the title was abandoned. And
upon this question, the conduct Of England in
gard 10 the Falkland Islands and the Province Of
New Y ork would seem 10 preclude the necessity
OF present discussion.
When Mr.. Fitzherbert arrived at Madrid and
the Spaniards insisted upon their right to Moot
da Sound, as part of Oregon, which they had first
discovered and taken possession of, he reiterated
the sophistry Of Mr.. Pitt. Whatever is COM
mon said this ambassador belongs to the first
occupier.'' The Span!ards answered, that was
once common, ceased to be so, and became er-
clusire property by prior discovery and taking of
possession. g Every nation said the ambassa-
DOR has right to appropriate whatever it can
acquire, without trespassng upon the previous ap-
preparations Of Others" Ergo, the British had
right 10 seize upon Nootka Sound, which had
been previously appropriated. This vas the d.
plomatic logic. 1t is marvellous how such a con.
clusion could ever have been allowed but the
English historian, Bisse:, explains it. This
language, Che says Of British justice demand