Iowa territorial gazette and advertiser. [volume] (Burlington, Iowa Territory [Iowa]) 1840-1846, 1845-03-01
BuRLINGToN, IOWA: SATURDAY. MARCH |, ls4s..

{
ss'~,si So eorit ese BtJRLIN
The OiesOa vaneya-Mr. Benton,
Alta time like the present, when III.
public mind is sensibly alive 10 the impor-
tancc Of asserting and maintaining the
.A,neiican title to the Oregon Territory, Il
has occurred 10 US that perhaps, ia dis.
charge Of our duties asa public Journalist
We could not perform more agreeable
task to our readers thsn to lay befare them
some of the views and predictions Of one
oFthe most sagacious and far seeing states
men Of the age-fnonas H. Bssrox-
spoken and written more than twenty, and
in some instances twenty FIVE years see.
On this subject, as, indeed, in relation Ia
many others, Col. Benton seems to have
shot far ahead Of all other public men, a.
we'll as the age itself; and the country has
just row reached the point at which he
stood in 1919. and is just beginning to APP.
preciate the Importance and vas,ness Of
the future trade to be carried on with the
Pacific States, as he clearly foresaw il
even before his entrance into the United
States Senate.
We purpose giving, in our next, if not
the whole, at least copious extracts from
very able article from the pen Of Col. B.,
written and published in the St. Louis En-
quirer as early as 1918, the object Of which
is to prove that eventually, and at no very
distant day, the trade If China, the East
Indies, and Asia-the richest in the world
Unjust fall to the United States, and must
be carried on by the route Of the Columbia,
Missouri, Mississippi, Ohio, Sc. to con-
meet with the Atlantic cities--the passage
Of the Rocky mountains not being deemed
barrier sufficient to prevent such a consun-
nation. AT present we content ourselves
with giving an extract from speech de-
livered by him in the Senate in 1925, on
a bill introduced by himself for taking mill
itary possession Of the Oregon country
Ed. Gazette.
But gentlemen have put some guess
tions, which feel myself bound to an
swer. They have asked, What are to be
the advantages Of this occupationp What
the effect upon this Union? What its ef-
feet upon the Asiatic powers?
| answer, the advantages will be-
/. In securing 70 us the fur trade Of the
Rocky mountsias, the Upper Missouri,
and the Columbia, worth, peradventurc, .
million Of dollars per annum, for centu-.
~ to come.
: =. In preventing tszs HsstsS,- - ! n -
slams from acquiring the control Of the In
dams on the waters Of the Columbia.
These Indians are estimated at l4O,O. O
souls, possess the finest horses and are
among the best horscmen in the world
The present age has seen the Cossacks Of
the Don and Ukraine, ravaging the hanks
Of the Seine and the Loire; the next may
see the Cossacks Of the Oregon issuing in
clouds from the gorges Of the Rocky
and sweeping, with the bosom
Of desolation, the hanks Of the Missouri
and Mississippi. ~
8. In giving us naval station on the
coast Of the Pacific. The want Of such
station was fully exemphfied in the cruise
Of Commodore Porter, during the late war.
In that cruise we had the extraordinary
spectacle ola naval commander traversing,
for three years, sea infested with enemies,
burning his prizes onthe ocean,
hiding them in distant islands,
seeking the enemy, and some
times flying from a superior force, and at
last sustaining murderous attack, and
losing his ship, in neutral port. The
loss sustained on that occasion, in prizes
and a frigate,. Ito say nothing Of lives,
above all price. was fifty or hundred
times the amount Of appropriation in this
bill. And this loss. We must expect to un-
dergo, in all subsequent wars, unless we
provide post of our own in the Pacific
Ocean. But 1t is not ships ofswar, alone,
and their prizes, which we are to lose for
want Of such post. Our merchant YES
sells need the same accommodation both
in peace and war. The numerous vessels
engaged in The whale fishery, in the COM
merce Of the northwest coast with the is
lands Of the Pacific ocean, and even with
China. and Japan, demand this accommo-
dalton; and not a government upon earth,
save these United States, would hesitate
10 grant it. To gain post in the same
sea, Russia has endeavored to open a
Larbor in the frozen region Of Kamschatka,
and among tho sand-bsnks Of Okotsky.
To gain Ibis very Columbia, England is
resorting to every trick Of diplomacy, to
the violation Of treaties, and to the audaci-
~ Of mepacing war; yet. the Congress Of
the Tinted States hesitates, delays 10 take
possession Of lis own, and endangers its
title by neglect to enforce i. In their
ljllnl and contradictory opposition, some
gentlemen represent the mouth of the Coz
lumbia as unfit for the purposes = q ma
tal station, but tie report Of Mr.. Provost,
and the anxiety Or The British 10 obtain it,
are conclusive rsfatations Of such ohjec.
tons. Mr.. Prevost says
s.The bay Is spacious, contains several
anchofing places Ii ! spiiicient depth Of
water, and i ~, na means 50 difficult Of