The North-Carolina standard., 1844-04-24


/ the history of her former intercourse with us
shows that she is always disposed to act reason
ably and according to the laws of nations, if we
IrecoIIect Alright. Oh4he contrary, the history OF
her former intercourse, not only with us, but with
ALI other nations, shows that when her 'intefests
demand it, she entire " disregards all laws, ,whep
it can be done with impunity andsinstead Of act,
Ting reasonably, has always sxeeededa all rcason-in
her demands upon such nations ss were inferior
to her in strength aad incapable of resistance.
Did she recognize the faw of nations when, IN q
neutral port, she suffered her ships 70 attack and
capture an, American vessel Of war & Examine
her conduct towasds the United States few years
previous to 1s12,-hsr seizure of American YES
sels-dttatks upon cur ships Of wat-her impress
ment of. American seametr; which causes. led 70
our declaration of war in that year laek At her
conduct towards Spain, in relation to this same
terftory OF. Oregon !; look al her wars in China
and Aft ghaniStan, and the napner in which she
Imposed upon these narien., because they were
weaker and entirely within heF power, and then
tell US whether or net she has always been dis
posed tonet reasonably and according to the taw
Of nations.
!. Again, he says we must no. occupy Oregon
now; we must wait until our last increasing popu-
iaton rolls westward and peaceabty gaihs possess
sion How1ong we ask, would it be before this
comes to pass, under the present crcumstancesP
when nearly every party of srrigEanls who ven
tpEe into this ceuatryare etheEHlurdered or plum
dered,by the Indians, or are arrested, under
Gus pretences, by the English trading eompanyy
and sent off to be tried by English laws for Of
fences WHICH they never committed. It cannot be
in less than ten or fifteen years, ever ); our west
ern States must first become densefy populated
aud ii will be many years before they become SO,
the rapid increase of four poppla-
ton. .And what will England have done during
ahis ten or fifteen years2 She wi4not have been
idle She will have established herself firmly in
Oregon; she will have erected forts and fortifca
tions in every spot where an enemy could aP-
eroach instead Of, few trading establishments,
her settlements will have increased to Towns and
cities; ia fine, she will have gained firm posses
sion Of. all this territory; the red cross Of Saint
George will be waving proudly over the plains Of
Oregon; our West will be in possession of the
enemy !; and England. will ridicu1e us for our
weakness and supineness, and scoff at any claims
set up by fha United States to any portion Of qhe
country She is already erecting forts; she has
nineteen OF twenty south Of the Columbia river,
in a part Of the country to which she asserts NO
claim at all And is It probable: that England
weuld permit our inhabitants peateably to take
possession of the territory claimed by herr even
Il a.. .. =
few years., 1t is absurd to suppose it, when she
refuses to give it up now, and threatens 10 60 to
war rather than yield her pretended claims.
The writer, in his remarks, is disposed to de-
fend Daniel Webster. and seems to attack with a
good deal Of spirit, the censnre vi hich we would
cast upon him for giving up too much of our
north-easterh territory: Nevertheless, we have
good authority for saying that such was the case
He is, as nearly every one will admit, an uRprn
cipled politician Even the wings themselves
place very little confidence in his integrity But
enough of him. !
He calls US q stauqch democrat, and dsays it is !
astonishing that we will degrade ourself' by bow
ing at the shrine Of democracy Now, we would
ask, how does he know us to be democrat Q
Did we support any party doctrine in ,our, com
Certainly not; We mentioned Clay
in relationto the suhjec: bu. not because he is the
vhig candidate he was spoken Of merely as the
negotjataf of treaty. We advocated Van Blu
reps claims TO the presidency, in our article, not
because we are of the same party with him, but
because we believe him 10 be the man who would
most probably urge the occupation Of Oregon.
He must have recognized US as democrat from
his circumstance aoHe,--hecause we took 50 de- I
:ided> stand in favor of American rights, and /
against British injustice and British cupidty.
We do not, know what he means BY saying that
we degrade ourself by bewing a, the shrine Of de-
nocracy we do not 50U at4he shrine of aay
man or any party; bat we gsoryin being COZ
sidered as member, however humble, of such
party as the demoeratic, He also says that we
last foul aspersions upon Clay. This we emphat {
calfy deny, and tepeat all that we said, again
yes. and more too, since thefew remarks we made /
about him have been construed into foul aSper-
lions. We say that, in offering to surrehder part
of our territory to England, after he had positive
y asserted it was ours beyond dout, As either
betrayed weakness or etotal want Of regard for ;
helriterests and honor of his country. eve would
ike for this champion Of Mr. Clay to intotm us
VhN in 1906: he kMr. CLAW xioIated his oath