Weekly national intelligencer. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1841-1869, 1846-04-11
EPIroME OF PROCEEDINGS IN THE SENATE.


Mr.. WEBSTER occupied nearly three hours on
Monday in submitting to the Senate review OF the
history of the Northeastern Boundary Question,
from its origin down to the year lS40 the numerous
aborve attempts to settle it during fifty years, and
the circumstances which led finally to the negotia
ton of the Washington Treaty.
He said that he had expected not to be called upon
TO speak again upon this measures but that the pro-
visions of the treaty had been attacked both in that
and the other House of Congress- and that the ale
cations which had been brought forward would
probably be regarded as unanswerable, unless they
were answered. He was willing to take the entire
responsibility of the measure, and Of every part
thereof to which he had set his hand or given his
concurrence. Mr.. WEBSTER then observed that the
proper point Of view from which to examine the
subject wond be the condition in which it existed
at the time of the accession Of General HARRISON
to the Presidency. He took full survey of the
Northeastern Boundary Question, from the signing
Of the Treaty of Peace Of l763 in which not one
single step had been made towards its adjustment
during more than half century, and the various
projects and contemporaries, &c. which had arisen
during Mr.. VAN BuREN's Presidency had only serv-
ed to further entangle the question with nricacies,
and to render its settlement far more difficult than
it would have been had it been an entirely new
question. He then detailed the proceedings which
led to the appointment Of Lord AsHBuRToN as a
Special Minister from Great Britain. He showed that
the State of Maine so far from having been coerced
into the terms Of the treaty, party to it by her
own Commissioners, and that, instead of being
loser by its negotiation, she was most materially
benefited thereby. The navigation of the st. John,
which Maine acquired by this treaty, he said, was
of the first importance to her. Much had been
said in the Senate lately with reference to the value
the st. John was hundred-fold greater in value as
commercial channel. Mr.. WEBSTER mentioned
incidentally the value of the fur trade of the Hud-
son Bay Company, the entire amount of which, he
said, according to the statement of Mr.. McGREGoR,
Secretary of the English Board of Trade, was only
about one hundred and thirtyeght thousand dollars.
The value of goods received at Vancouver's Fort
was stated to be only twenty thousand dollars.
Mr.. WEBSTER denied that Great Britain had ac-
quired any advantages in military point of view
by the Washington Treaty, and replied to Mr.. DIxs
citation of opinions expressed in the British House
of Commons, by counter opinions of members of
that body, which called the treaty the "Ashburton
capitalization. Great Britain occupied no military
road in consequence of this treaty. the right Of road
granted to her was one which could be only useful
in time of peace; in war it would belong to the
strongest party.
Rouse's Point. which was coded to the United
c. L
than any thing Great Britain had acquired by it
next to the entrance of the Narrows, it was the
most important point Of defence in the State of
New York. commanding as it did, the entrance
into Lake Champlain, of which it was the key. 1t
known that the cession OF this point was charg
edupon Lord AsHBuRToN by the British Opposition as
being great error in judgment on his part, and one
in which he had overlooked the real interests of his
country.
Mr.. WEBSTER enumerated the advantages secur-
ed by this treaty to the States Of Vermont New
Hampshire, and New York, and concluded this
part of his argument by rapid summing up of the
principal objects attained by it. and of its value and
importance to the country. He then gave way to
motion for adjournment.
The floor and the Hobbies of the Senate were
crowded with members Of Congress and other pri-
vieged persons, and the galleries filled to their
utmost limits by deeply attentive auditory chief
ly Of ladies'
On Tuesday Mr.. WEBSTER continued the remarks
which he commenced the day before upon the va
rious subjects embraced in this treaty.
He had on Monday read numerous official papers
to show that the settlement Of the Northeastern
Boundary question had been inextricably embar-
rassed by the various projects and contemporaries
for its arrangement whis I'D bAea brought forward
during the Administration ofsSf. VAN buren,.
Mr.. WEBSTER then detailed the history of the
affair of the Caroline, which took place in 1887,
the first year of Mr.. VAN BuREN's administration.
The destruction of this vessel was acknowledged
by Mr. Fox as an act executed under the authority
Of the British Government for which il was re-
sponsible but the matter remained undsturbed by
our Government, without any demand of repara-
ton, until McI,eods arrest in 184l. When Gen.
HARRISON succeeded to the Presidency in lS4l, he
found the subject embarrassed with these two mat
ters the destruction of the Caroline and the arrest
Of Mcleod. He contended that both of them had
been attended to and settled properly by General
HARRIsoN's administration. Reparaton and apology
for the invasion of the territory of the United States
IN the destruction of the Caroline should have been
demanded from Great Britain long before that pc