Mississippi Democrat. (Carrollton, Miss.) 1844-18??, 1845-12-31

condition with Massachusetts before IN
discovery Of America that II is unapprt
prlalod savage lands, and that as such sh
mas right To come and take it,--she III
general conqneror, she the universal nsur
per, she the exclusive appropriation Of al
paris OF me terraqueous globe which ma
seem convenient to her commerce, or do
slrabIe TO her ambition. She pretends b
He 10 no part of il; she claims the rich
to tnradc and occupy any part Of il al 10
discretion. The United States saw. on N,
other hand, that we have good and yaIie
title 10 the whole Of it, as we think ana
believe; we are sure we have perfectly
indisputable title 10 all that part Of il
which adIoins the United States, namely,
from The AID TO the 49lh parallel of lati.
tude Great Britain admits, we know. tha,
she has no title TO any part Of IL; and il
there be the shadow Of any ground or
claim OF right, under which she can instIy
invade and possess any part Of, (Which
we constantly deny,l still such claim must
apply only to so much Of II. and no more.
as, being north of the 49ih parallel, adj.
JOINS her existing possessions 10 America.
Such u plain and unyarnished state.
ment of the general nature Of the preten.
sion to this territory put forth by the Bri.
tlsh and American governments respnc.
lively No government except the Unit.
ed States alledges OF prelends any lille to
the terrltoryi and no government, excepl
Great Britain, sets itself up MS The occu.
per and master b, right of these land of
al the other) unappropaled parts Of The
earth
Rejecting on this statement Of the case.
You may say the case is a very extraordi
nary one. How is i. possible lhat Great
Britain should advance such cxlravapant
Drelensions, and should obsfnIatelv refuse.
1t the same lime all fair tender Of compro.
mise from The United States repeal,
he statement of the case IL nevertheless
TRUE ! assure you that in making this
statement, do
Nothing extenuate nor aught
Set down in malice"
And this proceed to show you by briefI
analysis of The voIuminous official docu.
nenls IN the case, ms they have been pub.
lshed by our Congress, though suppressed
y the British government. -
When this continent first became known
Europeans, and in proportion as the SO
eral powers Of Europe Proceeded %
make settlements here, il was necessary 10
staollsh certain rules by which their con.
IciIng pretensions 10 territory should be
dlnsied. These rules were not fixed all
| once; bu, in the course Of colonization
discussion, and Of treaty, they came at
myth to he fully and universally admit.
d, both IN Europe and America. These ,
lies lie at the basis Of the Oregon ques. I
on, and are as follows
l.. First, the European title is in no !
use considered as desired from the says. /
- OF America, and is regulated by con. /
deratIons wholly irrespective of them
ur own government has indeed uniform. d
acted on the principle Of paying to the i
dIans tar, nav, a very large compen- b
ton Tor their hunting rights, or tempo. c
~ occupancy of the lands; but neither n
g government nor any citizen Of the Uni. q
States does or can derive tile from the o
dams. ] must not stop TO discuss The n
ounhs OF this doctrine; suffice il % say y
It such is The public iaw Of all The Chris. b
N nations Of Europe and America, and j
ch is the municipal lap and the practice e.
der i,as well Of our own colony, pro. s
nee, and state Of Massachusetts, as Of B
, federal government. :
y. Secondly, one European government d,
y acquire territory from another by con re
est, as England did the Canadas, or by 10
aty, as the United States did Louisiana ri
q every American government, in tho ID
'gress Of an emancipation from the CO. ed
Ial state, succeeds to the rights Of It's l.,
mer European sovereign M q
). ThIrdly,a European Cor Amer,can) tr,
'erDment may acquire tile 10 unoccu 10
d lands 10 America, by prior discovery. ",
owed BY settlement occupation, or con. sh
~, and IFS sovereignty may be extend. sir
over any contiguous unoccupied Terri.
', unill IT meets the bounds of some III
or powor m
such are the principles, as admitted on ~
hands, BY which the Oregon question is a
'e determined. of
VOW, there are 6pe governments, and
Y i've, which have at one time or ano- AZ
had, OF been supposed to have, some no
OF rights in or 10 Oregon, namely,
in. Franco Ruaata Graat R,;,a.s - IL,