The daily union. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1845-1857, 1845-12-16

~. ,.ason for what they did TO- their owl
no P"rnev. but, on tho contrary, that the senate
eon' s n act openly in the possible Contingency Q
W. and not leave their constituents ut'er'y upPrc
val intheir judgments and feelings, Tor inc oeinge
n, condition. They were the representatives, OF "a
l.ps sg,re parts OF the country, whose govern
msl , sTisted not in the city Of washington
lsi II The hearts Of millions Of people, extended
uu' " circumference Of eight thousand miles. II
"S' well said on that floor, that one methed oil
hJng war was to prepare for 1t; but the only, OF
',hsr most effectual preparation which eonia DC
Ss in the United States for this state OF Things
NAV The preparation Of the hearts of the people,
when il was understood that the enemy was SUM,
Wy" n,ore 10 be dreaded than congressional
Wns as or even votes When it was understood
he undivided heart Of this great nation had rea-
pna' ~ dread their policy, they would compel them
W. ..nse and examine the consequences oil their ar
p.nSv towards the people; but they (the Senate)
ps1,d I've doing manifest injustice to business, TO
NJ .orntry. ana the hearts of their constituency,
,bsv closed their doors, or otherwise resorted to
VIZ ~ concealing from them the true state OF the
hea" growing out Of foreign relations lfa war
Cpua 'id he brought about by members of Congress,
snVu srstem which stretched the veil between Con-
" IA the people, in what condition would the
gtess. hs thrown What would be the condition
ey ehaiy rorv commerce whose sails whiten every
.. a"' # he merchants of this country were to be
i'iIsd into false security by those on the other
Nd who commended that war was not tofollowf They
''auld condemn, and Justly, the government, which,
WV secrecy and STEALTH had brought about this very
~ of,bings. 1t was due to business men that
,hs truth should be told. If there was an improba-
h;,v Of war, it should be known to the full extent
~ ne country But there should be no false clam
=, or unnecessary alarm. According to his view,
The senator from Michigan had stated the truth with
regard TO the negotiation, and what would
mar
.nce on the part of Great Britain, against
rmr unlimited claim to the whole of the Oregon
,srr,ory. What harm was there in that Where
"a. The harm in the senator's expressing the opln-
i'm that, in his Judgment, this country oughtto hight
,aber than recede from their claim to a country
which covered fifteen hundred millions of land
on the Pacific belonging to the people OF the United
States The senator from Georgia Mr.: bEERlEN
thought that war for this little limb OF land, and
we've and a half degrees of latitude, was thing
which would call down on its authors the execra-
lion of all posterity; and inasmuch as the senator
would not deny the fact that man would be just-
fable in mourning the execration, he meant to be
understood if at ALL to say that, in his opinion, 1t
would be just and proper, and patriotic in the peo-
pie of the United States to surrender the whole coun.
try, rather than fight
Mr.. BERRlEN. The senator does not design
To msrepresent me. | said that for two nations so
Intimately connected as we are to go to war for SO
ineonsidcrable an object without first exhausting
every other means of amcable adjustment, would
subject themselves to the execration which he spoke
Of
MIR. ALLEN resumed. What other means
might be resorted TO for negotiation, he would not
undertake to say; but, with regard to war, he
dertook to repeat, that, rather than surrender the
territory he had doubt the people of the United
States would compel the government to fight for it,
even if it were unwilling to do so. And now, In
relation to the condition Of the negotiations the pos.
sibe state of fact might arise in which the forty
ninth degree Of latitude might be taken as the line
which the controversy claimed. He should, how
that idea either to the American or the British peo-
pie The President Of the United States submitted
that proposition as they learned from documents
municated TO Congress, under circumstances which
did not, in his judgment, give free and full scope
to his 1.-THE President's) own will on the subject.
He had found that a proposition of similar charac-
tcr-identca save and except the navigation of the
Columbia-had been made by his predecessors,
and had been repeated by his predecessors. He
came into power under the charge Of portion Of
the citizens of the United States with being dis
posed to play, with his party an aggrandizing part
unjust, but still charge;) to be disposed, at all
hazards, to grasp the contin6t, at the certain
consequence Of war that would follow. The Presi-
dent was man Of judgment, and gifted with all the
virtue which made men valuable. He felt the high
responsibility Of the high station--the highest sta
ton in the word--in which the voice Of the people
placed him. He felt as every true American must
fee and in his message he told Congress that, from
circumstances he felt himself constrained, to a
tain degree, he himself declared, to offer, in the
negotiation, the fory-nnth degree of latitude the
basis of compromise. The President knew full
well that, if the British proposition was rejected,
and war should result the British would hold the
vantage ground, and bring against US the
charge that we would not yield, and make an
effort to bring about settlement Of the con-
troversy. The President recommended a propo-
slton, save and except the navigation of the Co
lumbia river, against his own convictions, as he
himself said, not, however, involving claim; and
that very instant it was submitted il was rejected
under circumstances which seemed almost equva-
lent to inviting rupture between the two nations
The President had done all he could do, and more
than, under any other circumstances he would have
done. The proposition he had made had been
hurled back and reected and to this extent for the
time being, put an end to the negotiation. The
proposition having been rejected it was, of course,
withdrawn. And what followed the withdrawal
The President expressly asserted our claim to the
whole of Oregon. The Secretary of State in
stanlly addressed powerful and conclusive
argument to the British government, covering
the entirety of our claim, and the negative
claims Of England to single foot Of the ter
r'ory. This was the position in which the matter
stood The senator from Georgia Mr.. BERRIENl
seemed to suppose that the bare fact of making
compromise basis of negotiation, was concession
by this government of right on the part of the
British government. But he (Mr. ALIEN denied
thata proposition to compromise conceded rights on
either side. 1t abandoned, merely for the time be-
ing, material claims, not material rights. He there
lore said that the government of the United States,
BY an admission Of this proposition, had never ac-
knowedged the right of Great Britain to one inch of
this territory to $40 40'; beyond it we have no
claim. All we had done was to recognise the exist
snce of clam--we recognised no right. In the
treaty or convention STIMULATING for joint occupa-
lion, the idea of that was utterly excluded-nether
party acknowledging or denying that of either, but
agreeing for the sake of peace to an indefinite joint
occupation Of the country. The existence Of this
convention in itself contract between
The two countries, and did not acknowledge
either to the right of the territory. The first con-
Sention was made on its face to terminate in ten
years. it was confined to possession and not to the
right Of the parties. The other convention, by
which the first was renewed, stipulated all-exten-
SION as to time, but allowed either party, at years
nohce TO put ah end to the possession. He said,
hen, that the United States did not acknowledge to
nrea Britain a single inch Of territory on the
racine The Executive Of the United States