The daily union. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1845-1857, 1845-11-17
ORR COURSE AS TO OREGON.

r,,at interest the recePuo" VI w" ieeS"' "aees VI
=. question of Oregon. In writing those articles
t,o, steadily in view the present position Of thu
I.moeratic party on the subject. We found tina
-,.,oo defined by the 9th Of the resolutions Of tn,
baltimore convention, and by the language in re
..or., 10 il of the Presidents inaugural address
IT,. BALTIMORE resolution is asfollows:
- Thai our ME 10 N, WHOLE gf the territory o.
Oregon clear and naq".si'1ssss INA. NO PORTION Of IN,
sans r,occupaon of Oregon and the remuneration
.aa Ts a the earliest practicable period are great Amer
o. measures which this convention recommends to ths
'fsh ,i a'u ,npor Of the democracy Of the Union.
To his, the President replied, in his first oficia
.ou,munication, "our right to Oregon is clear and
unquesiionable'"
The sense of these declarations we have ex
,ooOded and commented upon TO the following cf
feet
l., We have said, that the only issue before the
,,o,e of the United States, as question Of terrific
.;,l ,;phi is, THE WHOLE OF OREGON OR NONE. We
,;,b,6llv own it all, or we do not own any of it
Our lille, good or bad, is one title, and has no break
il !, AT the 49h parallel. The Baltimore convention
..a we own the whole Of Oregon; the President
aid in reply, "unquestionably we do" And now
IL these two propositions we say, not only are they
hath true; but further, every ground of title which
,yes us any of Oregon, gives US, MS matter OF
;,h, the ,ehok of il. This proposition we main
tain after careful examination of all the published
O,poiaions which have taken place on the subject
If our northwest territory, coateraly or directly
from 1852 up to 1897 inclusive, the date of the last
cub,sbed negotiation on the matter.
adly We have maintained, and we still main
,,n. that the government of the United States while
repeatedly offering to compromise its dispute with
Great Britain by division of Oregon along the 49th
mrall,l, has yet from the first, steadily claimed to
he the righfu owner of the whole, as against
Great Britain And further, that since the Florida
treaty in 1919, which gave US the rights Of Spain,
our government has, upon all occasioS, claimed to
n the riehtful owner of the whole Of Oregon, as
against all nations whatsoever. We now add TO
this, that on the Gath of May, 1927, after the reec-
zion by the British government of the proposed line
Of compromise along The 49th parallel, the Ameri-
can minister at London, under instructions from
Mr. Clay, then Secretary Of State, solemnly and
in due form declared that the American govern
meu "does not hold itself bound hereafter, in con-
sequence of any proposal which it has heretofore
made to agree to the line which has been proposed
and rejected, but ciH consider Itself al liberty 10 con-
|kndJor the full ertent Of the claims Of the Uniied
Sals." We have already quoted Mr.. Clay as say
linz, in those Instructions, under date Of June 10,
1926
hs,".Nor is it conceded that GreatBritain
|ns, or can, make out euen colorado title to
|my portion of the northwest coast." ~
And we ask especial attention to all these state
m.ns, as fully showing that neither the Baltimore
resolution, nor Mr.. Folks inaugural, nor our own
articles upon the subject Took in relation to our title
10 Oregon, any ground but the old |eil-esiablished
amsricaa ground upon the matter. This fact is i'm
porant in view Of the efforts recently made by Mr..
Webster and some other leaders Of the wing party,
EVIDENTLY in pursuance of British interests, to cloud
land confuse the perceptions Of the country as to the
|due state Of the Oregon question.
aly With reference to the existing stipulation
for the joint occupancy" of that country by Amc-
rcan citizens and British subjects, we have said and
I'VE still say, that the practical working of that spu-
|aton since 1918 has been through the agency of
|ths Hudson Bay Company, and the statutes of ju-
fisdiciion in relation to it, to place the territory
binder British law to drive its American inhab-
an's gu, of the most profitable pursuits Of the re-
flon to restrict American settlements to the south
de of the Columbia river; to dot the northern por-
lion Of the country with British forts; to give over
% British occupancy most of its commanding sites;
p put into the hands of England complete and
Unchecked control of the Indian tribes, whose fell
passions she has, in two wars already, to her
Everlasting shame, welded against US without scru-
pc and without mercy, to the most bloody and bar
aous issues And, lastly, the effect Of that join,
uancy has been to give to British policy all that j,
'ans-tms, namely, to hedge around its aggressive
md bascless claim to Oregon with all the immense
Orce and all the imposing formaics of possession.
lhapossession, accruing as il has accrued under
M solemn protest of our rights, of course does not
nmldate our title. But who shall say, that if left
nchecked and unregardcd by our Legislation, it will
'o' make the assumption and exercise of our title
very day more perous and difficult
Against the continuance Of this state Of things as
'@hds' leaving our citizens in Oregon wholly with
p.me protection OF our laws we have protested,
no est'll protest We believe that neither the
ADMINISTRATION nor Congress, nor the country, will
oe'a'e or ought to tolerate, its continuance under
"'" circumstances. In view OF the ground taken
me Baltimore convention, and by the President
IN view OF what we believe to be the almost uni
''''' sentiment Of the democratic party and of large
,''''s Of the wing party--in view, above all, of
~ nehs and the duties and the true interests Of the
"'ea states, we predict (though little given to pc
'''' P'ed'ction) batbefore the coming session Of
,V's'es' expires, the democracy of Congress, and
"e considerable patriots Of the country (bc they
sna' political party they may,) will be found
''O'ng shoulder to shoulder with the administra.
"" 70 demand that this joint occupation, saddlcd
MS with British legislation, shall take new
''"' and plant itsclfupon new basis, and so work
"~ results, or else that it shall wholly cease
'n'' all this may be done--that, indeed, the whole
'''0n may be satisfactorily settled, without dis
s"ns The peace ofthe world, we trust and believe
o"e hingwe can say to all the friends Of pence in
~a"try-'hatis is, as we suppose, to all the coun-
"ere Is one course for our government TO
hlrl ,...t n