The daily union. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1845-1857, 1845-11-11

subject are sgreed this point But OF course,
we do not make these statements without being pre-
pared to present the proofs of what we assert These
proofs, amounting 10 complete demonstration, we
will present in detail whenever they may be want
ed TO sustain our position. IL is enough now to
state on the high authority of Mr. Greenhow, in
his most accurate and exhaustive work upon Ore
gon, that the archives Of the Department of Foreign
Affairs in France have been searched for any evil
dence Of the adoption Of any such boundary line
under the treaty of Utrecht, and that no trace Of
such evidence has been found. To this we may
add, that the various English and French publica-
tons, written since Mr.. Greenhow's work,
and in reply to it, and some Of them written
under the eye OF the British government, produce
no evidence from the British archives Of any such
lne;-a conclusive proof that such evidence is to
be found there. And, lastly, we may say that the
only author who makes mention Of the appoint
msnf Of any such commissioners under the treaty
of Utrecht states that their negotiations ceased pre-
matursiy in l72s-they having been appointed in
l7l9. Ii may be proper to add, that Mr.. Monroe,
when our minister at the court of ST. James, in
1904, seems to have been the first American states
man who brought into our negotiations with Eng
land this imaginary boundary line Of the 49th degree
supposed by him to have been run under the treaty
Of Utrecht There seems to be no doubt that Mr..
Monroe was misled by an old map in his possession,
to which reference is made in his correspondence.
Meantime, II any Of our readers opponents en-
terrain any doubt on the whole view we have given
of this Utrecht line, we refer them to Mr.. Green
hows learned and able work, and the large list of
contemporary authorities cited by him on this point
| We have gone thus infinitely into the history of
this line ofthe 4gth parallel with the view of showing
how entirely imaginary, how ,choiy baselsss 10 the
| idea that II has any connection whatever with our
title to the soil Of Oregon. OF course il is unneces-
sary for to say that this line is in no way rela-
ted, in the slightest degree, the history of discov
cry, Of exploration, Of settlement, or of occu-
patton, in the soil of Oregon. No discoverer, or
explorer, or inhabant started from u, or stopped
at IL, or settled upon il, a line Of den,meation.
We have shown that, as treaty line it was
though often quoted and referred to- and even ar
gued upon-wholly imaginary and without any
real existence, till lsls Then il was run as far west
as the Rocky mountains, with the express provso
in the negotiation that it should, in no way, affect
rights ofterritory beyond those mountains. The
very stipulation Of 1918, which runs this line in its
first article contains in its second article the agree
ment of joint occupancy, and makes no allusion
whatever to the line of AGO.
1 We observe that the "Intelligencer" of this morn
ing again cites speech Of Colonel Benton in l843,
in which that distinguished gentleman refers to the
line of 400 settled; and beeau. settled by the
treaty Of Utrecht, as being probably, the limit of
our title, as deriued from France. Certainly il such
line had been under the treaty of Utrecht, Gas
was the general belief of dpoma,ists, when Colonel
Benton made his specify the argument would have
been very strong that our French title did stop there.
But why does the "Intelligencer' conine its cita-
tons to Colonel Bentoni Why does it not cite sim
liar references to the line from the instructions
to Mr.. Gallatin, and from Mr.. Galatians official
statement and argument Of our claim against the
British commissioners in ls28-'7i We assure the
''ntelligehcer' that these references are made We
assure that Journal further that all such references
are put by all the negotiators, as Colonel Benton
puts his reference, distinctly OIL the ground that
the line Of 49o pas run by the treaty Of Utrecht
as the British and French boundary line. The
fact is o,herwisehas been, by recent investigation,
proved to be otherwise and therefore all such refer
matter of argument, Snoring the erient Of our
title, fall to the ground. This is exactly what we
meant when we said that there was no argument
carrying our title up to 49o and there stopping Ar
guments, which may have been urged for a COM
promise at 49o are not at all to the point. We OBJ
jected from the first, and we now object, that any
argument for such compromise shall be drawn from
an alleged failure Of our title at 49o. Our title, as
maintained on any one Of it's very many grounds,
does not fail there. The disappearance from diplo-
macy Of the imaginary line Of the Utrecht treaty,
does bear upon the question of our title derived
from Hance That upon the whole it impairs or
weakens that portion of title, we are not yet,
from the best investigation we have been able to
give the subject, prepared to admit. But this we
will say, French title may be wholly left out Of
the question, and yet claim to the whole Of Ore
gon will be clear and impregnable against all the
| world.
We have now done all that we proposed to do in
this article. We have shown how the parallel OF
49o came to be adopted as boundary line
between us and Great Britain ON this side of the
Rocky mountains. We have shown that that line
has no connection whatever with our rights in Ore
BoH' IL here shnh DC ipuhu qisPosiiion III tnis
country to gire ncay any of our rights there to
Great Britain-if the course Of Great Britain in past
negotiations has made it fl, that we should continue
to urge this compromise upon her, in matter where
she has no rights to compromise in return--if her
course under the stipulation Of joint occupancy has
been open and fair and justand, finally, If the pub
lie sentiment Of this nation shall be found willing to
sanction aacrfce Of about one.haif of our territory
of Oregon extending, as it does, from 400 to $40 So
why, then, We admit that the 49th parallel will
be about Convenient line Of sacrifice can be
dracn.
And now, since the "Intelligencer" has been so
kind as to quote Colonel Benton against the sound
ness ofour claim above 49oand ho,o fairly this has
been done, we shall sec in moment--let us return
the compliment by the citation of an authority