The New era. [volume] ([Portsmouth, Va.]) 1845-1847, 1845-11-04

SttIulalInH. tIiS fdnO. WIN all IT'S navlOahIe wa
tiers. has heen. since 1918. open TO the free and
nnd,s'nrhed use aud enjoyment of the subjects of
England and The citizens uf the United States =
To terminate this state If things, at the will of
either oi The parties, only one years notice is
necessary.
This common enjoyment by the two nations of
all The advantages of a territory more than twice
as large as France, hping the somewhat singular
theory and stimulated iu,c Of its condition. stands
IN vet more Singular contrast 10 the state uf things
which has, TN .fnct. grown up there within the
last twenty years. Laying out uf view the In.
dian tribes which make This territory a part of
their range, we find its present civilized popula-
ton 10 consist at about eight m nine hundred
British subjects. and about haifas many fhonsnnd
citizens of the United States. The bulk uf this
population. both British and American. is concpn.
trated around the lower waters of the Columbia
river. Occupying. IN lis mass. n region not much
'inre than "na hundred miles in length, from east
To west, and ~rrnhahly not much more than fciy
miles in breadth. from North Ia south. The pigh,
or nine hundred men who compose the British
portion of his people. are all nf them understand
Ia he IN the service of the Hudson BAY Company.
and are engaged as hunters. rrappers. or factors.
IN the fur trade. These men have their principal
station at once a trading post and a fnri, called
Fort panr"nver-on the river Columbia. about
eighty miles IN a straight line from its mouth
There may he two nr three farms in the posses
sion of these British subjects hut, as a General
rule, they live nv the fur trade. and do not IN
The soil al NIL. Besides Fort Vancouver, the Bay
Company has some twenty other stations in vari-
aus parts ot The territory. But these are merely
fortified stopping places for hunters and traders.
and have each around Them 4 little nHrlems of a
community of from three or four To about fty
SonlS.
The American population of Oregon. on the other
hand, numbering probably some fnnr thousand. is
collected in the valley uf the WaIlamet!e river.
which flows from the south into the Columbia
near Fort Vancouver. These Americans are FAR
mers. graziers. and mechanics They are n fixed
population. They Hre by filling The soil. These
men. having waited fur years in vain for sumo
aclinn in Congress-, which should give them n
government as American citizens. were, at the
date of the last advices from them. spttinU mn a
provisional government fur themselves, after the
American fashion. and dividing out their new
homestead into towns and counties, such as thew
had lpfI in the United States.
Such being practically The present political Gun
dltiun of the American farmers in Oregon. under
the treaty Stipulation of 1918, how is it with the
British hunters and irapprrS of the same reuinn d?
The answer NAV hr given in a few words
These few hundred British subjects in the service
nf the Hudson Bay Company goreru by their
lars. enforced either ia The conriS of Cnnndn.
UT ny J"'C"t nUiceTS ~ me company on The
Sp0f, erery IHch If The rh0ie f~erriforD oC Ore
gon. SAFE the fem squ IRE miles nciuaITu under
H"ge bg The Americnns Nor Is this all
These servants of the company have entirely mo.
noPohePd. frr some twenty years past. the whnlp
ni The most lucrative nccupatinns in Oregon-fur
hunting and fur trading. They have driven en-.
ry american citizen nut of the business. Let
an American tTapp"r or hunter appear anywhere
IN the territory, and Instantly two or three agents
e H.. 80. T. Il -. '.
furnished amply with specie and merchandise. Ia
oulhid him for furs. to call in Indian or white
competition. aud so break mp his business. The
individual cannot stand against the organized and
powerful company. His business is broken IN.
and he goes 10 farming in the valley of Walla-
Inetie. This is nnw the regular course of thinps.
This is practically the common use and cuiou.
ment of Oregon stipulated by the treaIy-Ihis.
VIZ: The entire monopoly of the great fur trade
there by one of the parties, added TO the exclusive
government by the same party Of the whole nf the
soil of that vast territory, save only The farms
which some four thnusand Americans are rilIjno
with their own hands. As early as 1923 The
Hudson Bay Company had fund their trade I'M
der these circumstances quite thriving. The pro-
cPedS of their trade for that year were, in round
numbers, 100000 dollars. Their shares then
stood 40 per cent. above par.
Our readers will remember that when the bill
10 rSlPnH z TERRITORIAL government over Oregon
was before Congress last session, its opponents
protested against IL. because, as they alleged, il
violated the stipulation Of 1918. How comes il,
then. that the other party to that stipulation
admitting itself To he as Great Britain has. time
after tine, admitted. and now admits herself to
he. the party ont IF possession. pending tue ne
g0'IatInn-hUw comes it, then. that this other dis.
seized party. at this moment. has extended it's
laws ia full force over The whole unuceupipd terri
try2 The mechanism by which This trick of
political legPrdemaln has bPen played off. is at onre
very ingenious and thoroughly English. The
British cabinet has practised the manevvre in Asia
TIL now it has become wonderfully adroit. II is
simply the Great East Indian Jugple tried over
again in the West. The appsraius-machinery
and hXtureS-are inst alike in The two. cases. a
great trading corporation, welding millions Of
capital-wrh power TO pass laws: To maintain a
civil establishment 10 maintain A military Psiab
%lishment; To r"lleci revenue To hoist a fac If IFS
own-nOt the Green's hag-iO build fnris; Ia keen
six or eight atmeG vessels on The coast To possess
teftltory-alI ~ the way Of trade, Of course and
to do all This under the eye Of The British Parlia-
mPni, acting ipr itself when Parliament choosps In
diSavow the responsibility Of lis acts; actinu for
Parliament just when Parliament chn,sps TO ac
cep' that rPsponsibilifv-in one word, a great
Empire Corporation in fact. with power 10 chanoe
liSeIt. at The waving Of the minister's wand
G. presto rs the juQglprs have il INTO a mnsi