Southport telegraph. [volume] (Southport, W.T. [i.e. Kenosha, Wis.]) 1840-1850, 1845-12-30

How lar the Claim or continuity may eX.
tend in other cases. is less perfectly de-
fined ,and can be settled only by reference
to the circumstances attending each -
When this continent was first discovered,
Spain claimed The whole, in virtue of the
grant of the Pope: but claim SO exirava-
CANT aad unreasonable was not acquiesced
in BY other countries, and could not be
long maintained O;her nations, espc-
cially, England ard France, at on early
period, contested her claim. They fitted
out voyages Of discovery, and made set
elements on the eastern coasts Of North
America. They claimed for their settle
merts, usually, specific limits along the
coasts or bays on which they were formed
extend ng across the entire continent 10
the Pacific ocean. Such was the ciiarac-
ter of the limi S assigned by England in
the which she granted 10 her former colo
MES, now the United States, when there
were no specia! reasons for varying from
IT,
How strong she regarded her claim to
the region conveyed by these charters,
and extendingwestward of her settlements,
The war between her and France, which
was terminatedby the treaty ofParis, 1863,
furnishes striking illustration. That
grea, contest, which ended so gloriously
for England, and effected so great aud du-
rable change en- this continent, COM
menced in conflict between her claims
and those of France, resting on her side
Oh this very right Of continuity, extend
ing westward from her statements TO the
Pacific ocean. and on the part of France
On the same right, but extending to the
region drained by the Mississippi and its
waters, on the ground-of settlement and
exploration. the respective claims,
which led the war, first ciashed on the
Ohio river, the waters Of which the colo
DiIl charters, in their western extension,
covered, but which France had been ul-
qnestionably the first to settle and explore.
If the relative strength o.! these different
claims may be tested by the result of tibet
remarkable contest, that Of continuity
westward must be pronounced 10 be the
stronger Of the two England has had at
least the advantage Of the result, and
woGfdseem to be loreclosed against contest
ing the prncipe-par,cularly as against
US. who contributed so mnch TO that result,
and on whom that contest, and her exam
pie and pretensions, from the first settle
ment of our country, have contributed to
impress it so deeply and indeliby.
But the treaty of 1868, which termina
ted that memorable and eventful struggle,
yielded, as has been stated, the claims and
all the chartered right OF the colonies be.
yond the Mississippi. The seventh article
establishes that river as the permanent
boundary between the possessions Of Great
Britain and France on this continent. So
much as relates to the subject is in the fol-
lowing words 1.-The confines between the
domnlons of his Britannia Majesty in that
part Of the world (lhe continent of Anne
rio y shall be fixed irrevocably by line
drawn along the middle Of the Mississippi,
from its source 10 the river lbervile and
from thence, by a line drawn along the
middle Of this river and the lakes Murpas
and Pontchastrain, to the sea-" &c.
This important stipulation, which thus
establishes the Mississippi as the line "fx-
ed irrevocably" between the dominions
of the two countries on this continent, in
effect extingushes in favor of France
whatever CAIN Great Britain may have
had to The region lying west Of Mississippi
1t Of course could no, affect the rights Of
Spain-:he only other nation which had
any presence Of claim west OF that river;
but prevented the right of continuity
previously claimed by Great Britain from
extending beyond it and transferred it TO
France. The treaty Of louisiana restored
and vested in the United States all the
claims acquired by France and surrendered
by Great Britain, under the provisions Of
that freely, TO the country west ofthe Miss
issippi, and, among others, the one in ques-
ton Certain it is that France had the
same right OF continuity, in virtue Of her
possessions Of Louisiana, and the extinguish
ment Of the right Of England, by the ,trea-
Il Of 1863, to the whole country west Of
the Rocky Mountains, and lying west Of
louisiana, as agains! Spain, which England
had to the country westward Of the Ale
ghany Mountains, as against France with
This difference, that Spain had nothing 10
oppose to the claim of France at the time
bat the right of discovery; and even that,
England has since denied; while France
had opposed TO the right Of England. in
her case, that of discovery, exploration,
and settlement. 1t is, therefore, not at all
surprising that France should claim The
country west of the Rocky Mountains, las
may be inferred from her maps, Jon the
same principle that Great Britain had
claimed and dispossessed her of the regions
west Of the Allegheny; or TINT the United
States. as soon as they had acquired the
rights Of France, should assert the same
claim. and take measures Immediately af-
ter to explore it, with view to occupa-
ton and settlement. But since then we
have strengthened our title, by adding TO
our own proper claims and those Of France
the claims also of Spain, by the treaty of
FlorRa, as has been stated
The claims which we have acquired from
her between the Rocky Mountains and the
Pacific rest on her priority of discovery.
Numerous voyages Of discovery, commen-
chg with that o! Maldonado in 1928, and
ending with that under Galiano and Valdes
in 1892, were undertaken by her auihor-
Is, along the northwestern coast OF North
America. That they discovered and ex-
plored not only the entire coast. of what is
now called the Oregon Territory, but still
further north.is a fac, too well established