The Hillsborough recorder. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1820-1879, 1845-02-27

OrR RIGHT 10 OREGON.

esulls which may l0ll0w nom uac pr
- agisailcn On that snbjeri, make i high
\ desirahle lhai he larls in relation 70 =
'hoUld be EsmliaEiy known.
Whsi ere our claims % The Ongon Ter
isoryl What i he extent q them
How are they subsiannAiedE
The main strength 81 our claim rests
upon the ression made By Spain n 1919.
lie FLORIDA treaty Of that year--a ireaiy |
which has been 20 siolcnly denounced
81 lie ara declared by Texan paIiissns
% Be = n0llily-translened 10 The uniied
States al The claims Of Spain 10 ne eonn.
try of tle Oregon lying Moth 81 NE AzG
degree Norh latitude.
Tie region in question has 6osn CLAIM
ed al one time or another By SPAN, tifeai
Bniain, Russia. and the Uniied States.
The claims of Russia have been settled
by treaty, and her possessions in that quar-
Ter limited 10 lsi. So deg. 30 IS The South
ern boundary. The claims Of SPsin have
been transferred 10 The United States, 20
lhai the only question now II issue e be-
tween our Government and that Of Great
Britain; and the territory in dispute ex-
tends from Tie line ~ deg. North lailiELe
10 thai OF 81 deg. 40. II stretches along
the Pacific about seven hundred and six-
" miles from North 10 South, il is about
i've hundred miles wide, and contains
some 900. 600 square miles. The Rocky
Mountains border il on the East, and Sc
parale Il iiom the country waiered by the
Missouri; on the West il Is bounded by
the Pacific ocean.
With respect TO the fertility Of this re-
gion there are conflicting accounts. Mi.
VIM. SluTgis, Of Boston, in . lecture re-
Gently delivered BY him before the Mer-
camille Association Of that city, gave II A.
his opinion from personal observation that
the soil of the Oregon was no better Than
that Of millions Of acres Of unsettled land
within our territorial limits. The climate,
however, is milder. During seven win
tiers passed by Mr.. Siurgis on that coast,
between tie fliy-frst and 6fiy-seventh
degrees Of latitude, he but once saw ice 81
sufficient thickness 10 bear a man.
We have remarked that the main
strength Of our claim TO the Oregon rests
upon the cession made by Spain in 1919
The Spanish claim was based upon the
right Of discovery and there seems to bs
no doubt that the ships Of Spain were The
| first to visit and explore the Oregon COAST
The Spaniards, however, made no at
tempt TO settle the country. But Spain
had her colonies in California and Next
co; and as the ships had coasled along
the continent as far North as latitude tiily'
five, and that as early as 1892, she re-
garded the whole expanse OF country al
one territory and claimed it accordingly
British vessels also visited the coast; I'll;
not pretended that they were the first dis
covercrs. But finding the country unoc
esied REliEhh saiieWen,t .na ,rsdiEp Z,
Lieut.. Meares sometime within the las
century. This was regarded by Spain a
an invasion of her rights, and the pos
was attacked and captured by the Span
iards in 1890.
Here was the beginning Of that conlic
of claims which has come down 10 thi
day for adjustment. We have succeeds
10 the rights of Spain, while Great Britail
holds her ancient pre,ensions. And W
may here observe that all questions of pri
or discovery, and in fact all other ques
tons of right 10 Oregon, between the con
tending parties, are merged into one def
mite issue Which forms the starting poin
Of all discussions connected with the pre-
sent controversy. That definite issu
was made up by the treaty Of the Escur
al, ratified by Spain and Great Britain il
1900; and the stipulation on the point i
question was the result Of the capture c
the post at Nootka Sound by the Span
iarls. England demanded restitution an
compensation for this alleged aggression
Spain yielded both; and then was forme
the agreement respecting their mutu;
claims which constitutes the basis of tn
very agreement now existing between GU
Government and that Of Great Britain o
this identical point.
ain order to strengthen the bonds {
friendship, and TO preserve in future pc
feet harmony and good understanding b.
tween the two contracting parties, it
agreed" gays the treaty, {" that their r,
.pective subjects shall not be disturbed {
molested, either in navigation or on tie
fisheries in the Pacific Ocean, or in tn
) South Seas, or i'll landing on the coasts
those seas in places not already occupie,
fer the purpose of carrying on their con
merce with the natives of the country, {
Of making settlements there"
> Upon the basis, then, stood the riv;
claims of SPAN and Great Britain 10 Ii
,, Oregon. The question was left opeI
each party admitting that the other ha
: claims, but neither assuming TO define Il
exact extent of Its pretension. Upon IL
same basis stands the question now--tl
,, United States occupying the positio
which Spain held, and succeeding to a
; her rights.
Our Government, indeed. advance
claims to the Oregon prior to 1919. Thes