Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1845-05-06
THE ENQUIRER.
Richmond, Way :.
THE OREGON QUESTION.

into a war with England, V'a
and incapacity Of Mr.. Polk-'ha' VT ro'N : -
utterly ignorant in matters .. STAG "esoI ~''e"
90 reckless in his positions, 20 weak-inlhucu anu
;not,osr, ,ha, war ,vpS ensuc, and with II tram
,,f horrors Now wha, is The henous offence
comm;,,ed h.. AIR Polk, which has cal!ea ioi'h
the bullying menaces Of John bun a''' i,"" ~,
Mr.. Polk the target Of Federal a''ac"S ~ e'-
ruary The House Of Representatives 's'''''' ~.
,clear and unoue,tionable title 10 Oregon nc
news rcacbes ENGLAND ana we hear Of no I'M
,s,ol exc;,amsn, produced in the British court
But when MI. Polk, in his lnausutai On "'' i''
March. re.echoes The sentiments Of an o'ei"nc''ii-
ing majority OF the peoples hep'ese,'"''e'
and indeed reneats The very words clear and
Notwithstanding lille" employed by the lowe
unnSe of CONGRESS. al once the British Lion utf
tore roar Of defiance and thinks 10 lriShieh us
from orr rights. DO We not see IN this s''udeh
etfor, 10 shake our lnnnesS, an lhuied'oh VI hic
effects produced on he British niihd py ,'e cou'>e
OF the Wing press a>! summer! Diu not 'ha'
press lavish every depreciaiins cpl'he' upon 'he
head OF Mr.. Polk! Was ne MOI uu''eiS"n. Wy
nounced as a coward, cypheF, uisslIcI " ~,
Presidential hopors. Is il not material ;hat ,he
pr;,isb ministry. who look 10 the Wing press oi
his conn,rv as their authority, should be inlen-
cd he ,he incessanl misrepresentation OIL lhal
mess and should. a, the very outset OF Inc new
administration, attempt 20 take advantage ol tiie
snnnosed weakness and vacillaton OF the fIeSi-
deni m alarm him into 4 recognition OIL BRITISH
claims or al lsast TO less JEALOUS advocacy oil
The rlebts Of the u. States2 We doubt mol that The
course of the Federal press in The laie canvass,
induced the learned yet unprincpled Brongham
10 represent Mr.. Polk as an "obscure individual,
whom this country had the folly 10 elevate !" inc
Presidency, though he was The popular cholce.-,
This same chanseing Lord, further denounced
The United States, because portion OF mem 10,
lera,e domestic slavery" and have not paid
their debts" Upon these considerations, ne bases
his violent and insolent philippe, and bravely
anppals 10 British patriotism 10 stand more taxes,
and 10 add new millions 10 the navy estimates
Rut Mr. Polk will disappoint all these deiuded
gentlemen. He will prove himself worthy OF
me confidence of nation OF twenty millions OF
freemen. lie will act upon the wise and saving
principle-"Ask nothing but what is rlshi, suomil
10 nothing that is wrong" We look TO ms cool
ness saeacity, hrmness and sound sense, TO con-
duclthis troublesome question IN The proper man
ner While he will leave nothing undone 10
secnre an honorable settlement of the dill
cultv we feel satisfied that he will. in no event,
sacrifice The rights or The honor OF The Union
II Great Britain, in her unquenchable thirst Tor
new territory and unlimited power, should lorcc
ms into a war in which, according to The London
Times ono usages however bar5arous, are 10 he
deemed unwarrantable; which is 10 expose our
commerce 10 the privateers and advenurers OF
ali nationsn in which great Britain IS 10 raise
the standard OF freedom among population OF
slaves and TO subsdize the savage Indians and
the cruel Mexicans, however "repuSnant II may
be to the interests Of civilization trust mat
our whole people, Of every shade OF party, VIII
be prepared 10 defend orr rights, ana however
"obscure" The Presiien, may be, 10 sustain him
in his support of the counlry's honor. Such war
will be reprobated By all civilized nations and
we confidently hope that their frowns may cause
England 10 hesitate, and may avert the calamlticS
of bloody struggle We most anxionsly pray
for a continued peace-but il hoStilles are forced
upun us. the people will be as Jealous ard united
in resisting foreign insolence as IN our past glor-
Gus struggles.
But suppose Mr. Clay were now President
would he not pursue e similar course 10 The "uo-
scure" Mr.. Folks? Would his friends or The conn
lry expect or desire different one2 He could not
do so without violation ofhis public pledges, with
out a dsgraceful surrender OF American rights and
independence Of action. Let our Wing friends
read The following extracts from letter OF inc
intelligent Washington correspondent OF Inc Jour-
nal of Commerce, and then, in their consciences
condemn, if they can, the conduct OF Mr.. Polk,
or desire that the declaration o! the Inaugural
had been withheld, or, in The slightest degree, mo-
difed:
"His (Mr. Claws course during the late war,
ne The old FederalistS well remember, did no, sa-
vor much Of the ani-American spiri, OF the pre-
sent day; and, were he now President il is my
opinion that he would disappoint his friends on
This subject, and become almos, as odious 10 John
Bull as this terrible James h. Polk.
"But Mr., Polk has nere7 yet gone Qniis 50 far
as M Cavhas IN opposition 10 British prcfcnf'onS
10 Oregon /, Mr. Clay, in 1888, declared in the
Senate that he considered The occupation OF The
mouth Of Columbia river BY the British as con-
travention oflhe Treaty Of Ghenti This decla-
ration appeared eXlIava9ant al The time, because,
in virtue of the convention made afterwards, a
ioin, occupancy was stipulated for, and The coun-
iry was open TO the enterprise of both nations
But the assertions lately made nihe British Par
lament prove that Mr.. Clay was correci, and
that the llinl occupancy was one-sided affair
II was MIR Clay himself who introduced, in The
Treaty OF Ghent the apt word Possession" which,
as Won have seen now so much embarrasses the
pretensons OF Great Britain. He introduced that
word as properly desert ptive otthe sort OF hold we
had upon the mouth OF Columbia river, prior 10
the laie war The mutual restoration Of all pos
sessions held befor the war, stipulated for by The
Treaty, was mol affected BY the sale and transfer
othe British Company ofthe private establish
ment Of Astoria
@The manner in which Great Britain has occu.
pied The Territory Of Oregon, whether in contra
vention Of the Treaty OF Client and the Conven-
ton of 1927 or not has given much anxiety 10
our statesmen, and not without reason, as il now
appeara, for as it was predicted in 1888 il is
made prclex, Of title 10 Tho territory.
an 1888 DR.. Linn declared thai, unless we as
serted our title TO the territory, The right TO il
would. in FIVE years, pass tom MS forever and he
more than once gave ltd> his opinion that Great
Britain would never surrender it, without strug-
Gle. 1t now seems that she never will"
Ano,acr Nail in the C:fis cf A'ai-Anncration /.
The news by the Southern mail of yesterday is
highly important. II contains the proclamation
Of President Jones for special session of The
Texan Congress on The 10Th June, TO consider The
propriety Of annexation, on the terms Of The Joint
Resolution. We rejoice that The President Of
Texas has at length yielded 10 popular sentiment.
Had he DELAYED much longer the iernent among
The people would, VIC feared, have given rise 10
violent and revolutionary measures. All will now
sorisht-and though the late day oflhe 10th June is
obviously fixed upon, 10 allow the Texas Govern
mcnt 10 receive full overnres from Great Britain,
France and Mexico, (Ashbel Smith having just
sailed for England and France we have no doubt
tina, all their inlrgues will utterly fail, and thai
the people Of Texas, animated BY an American
spirit, will force their Government 10 a union
with US. The Galveston News OF the 18th April,
has the following conclusive intelligence:
ave have information from various parts Of
the country, announcing everywhere The highest
enthusiasm in favor OF The propositions Tor an
nexation. The dissenting voices are 50 lew
throughout the country, that there IS no show oil
onnosition at all. We have seen a gentleman
from the upper Colorado, who says The people
are unanimous throughout The West as far as he
has heard, and that mass meetings and barbe-
cues are the order Of The day According 10 pnb-