The North-Carolina standard., 1844-03-27

, Fossthe North Carolina Standard.
pREGON ..-.. -

]iag statemes pHt concerning this 4er1it0ry,
land respective rights Of Great Britain aad the
United States 10 dt that itsvedh puzzle any one,
inet dtiHnately acquainted with the facts, to- dis
lreverlhe true state Of the case. It time that
3eEerv one should become acquainted with the ma
ftIreofs oar oiaimsson this territory. and wHh the
nature Of those set up by Great Britain. for an
ambassador ahas snet s1ong since5 arrived in this
leountEy, with full authority from the Eaglish gov
4ernnent to@settle all disputes arising freHl this
question, and to determine, if possibte the. bound
5afy line between. the American and British por-
ton of the land under discussion: and tits mpor,
tant-tha we should all Know whether the questien
lis settled in manner SO as not TO deprive Us Of
ouriust rights, and 50, as not to bring disgrace on
1.-The Unien.s More. especially, as it was rumored,
land generally believed, among certain portion
of she inhabitants ofthe uated States, at theiime
lof the settlement of the Northeastern boundary
4question shat the negotiateFs part allowed
themselves to Be Heightened. by the threats and
tbravadees of John Ball. y inte yielding part Of
our rights and giving up part of our Northeastern
1territeTy to, British euPidAy.< Now, whether this
was sosor not we do not pretend to say The de.
jcision then made is irreVocable, and the less we
SAY about the lnafeF the better for us for if we
Faifowed ourselves 10 be 7bqlied out Of part of
OUR terri itory-oE rather, if the -mens.to whom we
entrusted the affair.", betrayed their sus in yield
ting to England more than her just ghts-Why,
it is adisgrace to US and blot upon OH. national
iescutcheen. Is on, the other hand I'VE gained
what was our due. there Is no reason that we
should plume oursefges upon it !: nor is any extra
ordinary praise due to negotiators for the aE
fair should have been adjusted some time before il
wasi and the delay indicated fear on oof part lest
we should be involved in saaeentest> with Great
fBrltain-a contest for our Just rights. : -
f. Now, if we acerecheated of a paftof our rights
| it is deubly important that we shoudnet again be
cheated And it. we were not, it is proper that
there should not be much aegotiatien and delay
cohcerning the Oregon question as there was
concerning the Northeastern boundary question.
fAhhough "J Jonathan u" is a shrewd and cunning
fellow, in his way, yet wheniI comes 70 pegotia-
tion and particularly when there is large stake
on the board, as there is in this case, John Bull"
! is far superior 10 higa. -s.-.5. - - = r.
1 - Although we are not one of those who are inti-
mately acquainted with this subject yet, as very
little has been said OF written about il, except IN
the congressional debates, the records of which
few have an opportunity of examining, we have
endeavofed to collect as much correct Information
as possible, in order that might lay the subject
in its true hight before those who have not the
same means: of obtaining knowledge of It. that
we have. = Our, right to every lRch of Oregon
that we claim is as clear and ndisputable~ as the
right of Great Britain, to- the British Isles And
this We will endeavor to prove. =. ~, - =
! First: The Southern boundary is determined
by two treaties In the Florida treaty, formed ia
i18l9, Spain declared that the boundary line. be-
tween our aerfitery and hers, "shall follow the
course of the southern bank ofdhe arkansas to its
source.in Lat AZ N; and thence by that parallel
Of latitude to the South Sea. In our treaty with
Mexico 1928, tbe same boundary Wass agreed
upon = -. ,s..;e. J,s - -
Secondly: Our Northern boundary is fixed
by our treaty with Russia, formed in 1924. which
establishes the parallel of 545deg. DO mia d. as
her southern boundary, and consequently as eour
northern. All the space, therefore, between these
two parallels AZ deg. and 54 deg 4om, Is rightly
ours: So Ill = --.--- r.. .--,
Independent of these treaties, which are 'sufi
cieiit to establish our right to 0fegons beyond
doubt 1t is ours by priority of discovery, Of ecca
fpatior, and ofexpioraton- The law on this point
| is, sAh mankind have an. equal right to,things
that have not yet fallen into the possession Of aR9
one; and these things belong to the person who
FIRST takes pessession of; thena. When therefore
| a nation fnds-a country uninhahiled. and without
an ewner,1 it may lawfully teke possession offi,
land after it has saffcienftt made known Its will
in this respect 1t cannot be deprived OF by an
Iothef nation" And il is principle that has al
| fways been acknowledged among nations, that the
discovery and oCcapateh Of the mouth of "A river
}entties the disceperer to all the land watered by
that river and its tributaries Captain Gray In an
American ship discovered aud gave nanae1te the
Ceiunabia rver and to lhesepnesise poiDts Of land
at IFS mouth, ~insthe year, 1992, which was one
Evear previous to the pretended discovery Of Cap
Eain- Mctensie. Possession was taken of Oregon
kby Lewis and Clarke, on the part Of the United
States in the year 1904, while the preeended pos
session of Great Britain, under sME Thompson,
was not until 1906. Now what better right and
tdtte to the,.elritory, would ask, eonld wehaEe
First, as we have shoWn, eurzEight is conffHaed
Eby three treaties secondly, il is ours priority
fof discovery; occupation, and exploration -as we
have also shown. And nows what right. has
lGreat Brffain- to- this tetEitery.4 s4MOHe at ai
&she claims the right of priority and Of discovery,
but we see that iRes dscepeEed h1One year before
tshe even bretends9 ohaYediseeEered il She, pre-
tends 10 say that she occupied and expIereh il ffst
Ebuth was not until ltwo years alter lheyoceapatioh
land exploration by Lewis and aEafke, That she
tpretehdss TO- have occupied and explored IT. Blu
i another. circumstance has made England mess
ftdsser1nined in claiming part of Oregens hich =
twill be necessary to explain. In the year I626s
negotiation was commenced between England ana
Ethe United Ssatea with respect to 0Fegon=iefrito
elfy. Mr.. Clay ~as.then Secretarysof Slate In
his first letter to oHr Minister yiR Engiands Mr.
1aflatal he states positively, that Great Britafr
D. has not a colorado title to Any portion Of th
s Northwest coast that every inch eE Dragon be
5 longs aahe; UHited States. Yet. aher makiDl
= this bold and true assertion, Henry Clay, eihe
, oE7 e-