Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1845-07-25
From the NJ Y. Courier & Enquirer.
THE OREGON QUESTIONABLE CO.
LUMBIA AND ST. LAWRENCE.

THE OREGON QUESTION-THE CO.
LUMBIA AND ST. LAWRENCE.
When people who have never known the re.
atty of war, nor its horrors and therefore think
of It only as national songs Of triumph present
it, as the path 10 glory-the highest career Of
patriotism-and leading TO the laurel crown
bo'd.bought though i; be-of victory; when
people, thus inexperienced, accustom them.
selves to pronounce the awful word WAR with.
out shudder, and to treat of it as an alternative
to be embraced or rejected merely on grounds
Of expediency or calculation, and not as one in.
volving tremendous responsibilities both now
and hereafter already one of the greatest Sc
curities for the pres ervaton Of Peace is gone.
This we apprehend to be too nearly true of
the state Of opinion now in the United States.
In the newspapers, in general conversation, the
possibility Of war is alluded to in tone of such
careless Ievty, as really to become criminal.
Nay, we have heard grave merchants, religious
men, hazard the proposition that a war might
purify us; that with long peace and much
prosperity the people had "waxed fat and wick.
ed !" and that little of the sterner teachings
Of war might be advantageous to correct nation.
al presumption and check national and individ-
ual corruption!
Dreadful to US is this mode Of reasoning, this
resulting good this assumption that we, falli-
BILE creatures, may read the ways of Providence,
and with our feeble faculties assay to aid, il not
to forestall them, in the moral government of
the world. Far other is our view of duty, and
as journalists we know no duty more urgent, no
obligation OF greater force, than to strive by all
sRa%s ee is 'S cr resort
war in any of the embarrassing national ques
tons which now besct us. Esp ,cially is this
true in respect to the Oregon question, than
which no contested point ever existed between
two nations more perfectly susceptible Of ami.
cable arrangement. Unhappy the West seems
intent upon pushing our claim to the EXTREMIST
limit, and will hear of no compromise But the
west great and important as il confessedlv is,
Is not the whole country; and perhaps, there
fore, by proving to other parts of the Union that
there 10 an Obvious mode of compromising this
dispute in way honorable 10 both parties, and
advantageous too-especiay to certain States
"a counter influence may be created to the war
influence Of the West.
1t is with this lew we have heretofore sup
gesfed that possibly by asking from the British
Government The concession to US of the free
navigation of the 81. Lawrence, as a condition of
nnr concession to them of the north bank OF the
Columbia, and the free navigation of that river,
aud immediate benefits result especially to those
States bordering on the great lakes and their
tributaries.
There are some eight or ten States and Ter.
rltorles including New York, Pennsylvania and
Ohio, bordering on these lakes, that have a
clear, direct and growing interest in the free
navigation OF the st. Lawrence. Both by nat.
ural law and the modern practice OF Europe, our
right to said navigation lie indispuabe for it is
an admitted right that all dNellers upon the
navlgable course Of a river are entitled to pur
sue that river to the ocean, which is the com
mon highway of all. The possession indeed, by
one people, OF both shores, or the mouth of a
river, has been held to give the right to that
people OF contes,ng its navigation, but unsound.
~, Tor II this be true of the mouth it would on
principle be equally true of any part OF its nav.
igaDie course, and the very government owning
belt, however narrow, on both sides Of river,
might control the commerce and transit on its
whole course. A famous controversy on this
point, orc rrcd in 1854, relative TO The Schelh,
over the navigation OF which The Dutch exer-
cised jurisdiction on the ground that they own.
ed the territory at the mouth of the river but
they fortified The general claim on this head, bv
proof that the banks of the river throughout its
whole course through Holland were artificial
raised by the skill and kept up at the expense
and constant vIgllant supervision of Holland
and on this ground probably, and because of long
usage, the treaty OF Munster acknowledged the
exclusive right Of Holland to control the navi.
CATION of the Schedt.
But at the general pac fica,on of Europe, af.
ter the storms OF the French Revolution, and in
harmony with the general progress which that
revolution gave such Impuse-this whole sub.
ject was considered and definitely settled at the
Congress of Vienna. In virtue of an article
there arranged, and TO which the European Sow
eregns and States acceded, the navigation of
the Rhine, the Scheldi, the Moselle, the Meuse,
the Ncckar, the Maine, and other rivers, was
declared Tree to AL nations residing on their
banks-subject all alike to the dues or tolls ne.
cessary to keep up the police of the river. Eu.
rope thus rendered solemn judgment that river
courses should be free, and incorporated that
judgment into her public law. Why should not
The same law obtain here
As regards the ST. lawrence, the argument
seems irresistible. That river is, as il were, a
long strait between the great inland seas of our
Continent and the Ocean. These inland seas,
this ocean, both the United States and England
navigate in equal freedom For a hundred
miles from Lake Ontario this strait is in like
manner navlgated alike by both nations but
then ceasing from that point to its mouth TO
: u
Eng claims that as she owns on both sides at
the mouth, she alone can rghtfully navigate il.
As well might we claim that because opposite
Barabarts Island, the only channel of the ST.
Lawrence passes within our acknowledged ter.
rltorlal lines, we have the right to exclude all
others from the navigation. Nor is this alto
gether fancliul Illustration for in the year
1928 the Legislature Of New York having rea.
son, as It thought, to complain Of the policy pur-
sued IN Canada respecting trade on the river
and the lakes, appointed a committee to look in.
to the matter: and on the 25th March they
made report, in the course If which they re.
commend to the General Government, that, as
a measure of retaliation for what we're deemed
uniriendly commercial restrictions in Canada,
they should exercise exclusive and counteryail.
ing jurisdiction over the channel of the 81. Law.
renee when falling within our lines.
During The administration of John @. Adams
than which no administration more honest,
more far-seeinS and more wise, has ever gov-
erned this country-this subject was warmly
pressed upon the British Government but thew
would not then listen to the claim as one OF
right, though avowing willingness to discuss it
as a question Of expedency. On either ground,
as we have the Columbia to YIELD as well as the
ST. Lawrence TO ask, it would seem both practi-
cable and desirable to attempt the arrangement
now.
We propose here to present brief notice of
the past neg rotations on this subject.
In letter from Mr.. Clay to Mr.. Gallatin, of
10 June. 1896, the right Of the United States
is thus asserted.
1.-THE North American Lakes are among the largest
inland seas IN the world. They extend from about Al
10 40 N. Lat and stretch 6 degrees
thus presenting surface altogether of more than
$4,000 square miles, Eight States OF this Union, three