Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1845-1851, 1846-06-17
q tp-Nintb Congress.

In N,maic, NM -, l-,6.

SdV, III.
ate is not the recommended by the President Of
the United States. He rccOrnut ndcd that The sOvcr
cgnty and jurisdiction Of the United States be cxtcn
dcd To- Oregon territory To the extent That
Great Britain had extended her sovereignty and Juri>
d,ction 10 the country. w this rccoh'ncnda-
tIun fully concur; and venture 10 say. that II such
bill was brought 1t might pass the Senate (eav-
Ing out unnecessary speeches. IN n litc 'hc "s 4"
would require To- read 1t three times Ivy i's te. but
the Ball before the Senate - not oil that character.
goes far beyond the Presidents recommendation. IL
proposes many things not found IN the British act o
lS5l-thinps implying exclusive jurisdiction ana
sovereignty w., aud that To an underlined extent o
country aud under circumstances which must ininc-
d.atcIy produce hostile collisions between Our agents
and the British agents the other side OF the Rocky
Mountains | am opposed to all this; but am not
in favor o. the indefinite postponcmcnt OF the BILL
" ish To il amended and made comfortable to the
Presidents recommendation. II gentlemen who have
the conduct of the measure here will bring IN such
an amendment, and put IT on lis passage without
speeches, Will stop my speech until 1t has passed
will now proceed To show, a. well rs | can, the
degree and of just claims beyond the Rocky
Mountains
10 understand what | man to say. it is necessary
TO recoect the geography oi the country IN question,
aud II presenting, "a II does, three distinct geo.
graphical divisions, To each OF which different Claim
and n different degree Of Ella IN attaches, and which
cannot be confoundcd under any one general view,
without general mystIilcation anu total confusion o
the whole subject lhc Columbia river ana us valley
of these divisions; the islands along the coast
is another; Frazcrs river aud It's valley (caled by
tho British, New CalcdonIa) ~ the third. Under
these three divisions propose To speak OF the
country under these divisions have always spoken
of it; aud what | have sad of one part had no
application 10 another. When | spoke of the
great river of the West and lis valley, either
by its American name Of Columbia or Indian name
OF Oregon, | never Intended Frazers river aud
It's valley. or Vancouvcrs island, or the Gulf OF
Georgia. or Desolation Sound, or BrOughons Arch.
When | speak of the aud the islands,
do not mean the continent and the mountlnS; and
when | speak of Frazcrs river or New Caledonia.
do not the Columbia river. rcpudiae all such
loose and sloyeuly yerbage; and, desiring 10 be un
dcrstood according To my words go ON 10 speak OF
the country beyond the Rocky Mountains under The
three great geographical divisions into which nature
has formed and 10 which political events have so
naturally adapted themselves
| begin with the islands.
From the Straits of Fuca On fact from Pugct's
Sound) the peninsula of Alaska distance of
thousand mes-ihere Is network of Islands-an
archIpclag o-some large, some small, chequered III
together and covering the coast To the extent OF
two, and even three hundred miles IN front Of the
continent They most OF them OF volcanic I'M
preston, and separated from each other and the
tnent by deep bays CULTS and straits, and by long
deep chasms, to which naygators have given the
name of canals This long chequerboard of islands,
and the which contain them, have been the
theatre OF maritime discovery TO many nations, and
especially Spanish, British, and Russian; but except
the Russians, no nation made permanent settlements
OH any OF these Islands; and they only low down
rs latitude %. The British and SpanlardS both aban-
doned Vancouver's island after the Nootka Sound
controversy and from that time had settlement of
any kind the coast islands, north OF Cape Men,
docino, latitude Al /; and the British had any,
where. In this state of the case the question came
on between Russia, Great Britain and the United
States, in which the distinction between the islands
and the continent acknowledged by all the powers
and Russia excluded from the continent and confined
To the islands, because her discoveries and settlements
were not continental. but insular. The conventions
with Russia British and Amercan) of lS2I-5 were
framed upon that principle; and now | proceed to
read the instructions from our government under
which this distinction between the islands and the
continent asserted and maintained. | read from
Mr.. Adamss despatch to Mr. Middleton, July 22d,
iS23
has been admitted by the various European
ti0ns which have formed settlements this hemisphere
that occupation island gave claim
TO territorial possessions the continent TO which il
adjoining The recognized principle has rather been the
verse; a. by the law Of nature islands must rather be
considered appuItenant continents than continents
islands,
And again. in Mr.. 1TidIleton's communications to
the Russian government
1.-THE Russians establishment upon the island of
Sitka, latitude 81 degrees 80 minutes This fort built in
799 destroyed three after by the natives of the
county, and reestablshcd in 1904 BY Mr. L~anki who
III
herself Of the Circumstance Of that possession form
foundation for rights the continent the usage Of nations
having established that the occupation of island
could give right upon neishbOrng continent The prin
cpIe IS rather, that the islands considered
appendant the continent than the Of the PROPOSE
tion."
These were the instructions to minister, under
which treated with Russia in 1921, and upon
which the conventions of that period formed.
They establish the fact that these island front of
the northwest coast were considered separate geo.
graphical division of the country governed by national
law applicable TO islands and that discoveries among
Them even perfected by settlement, gave claims
upon the continent. This is the way the two powers
settled with Russia. Applying the principle to
themselves, and no discovery of Vancouvers island,
or any of the thousand islands along that coast can
give any territorial claims the continent. have
considered il cardinal error, IN all the recent discus
sIons Oregon. to bottom continental claims upon
these Insular discoveries The Spanlard>, well
shown III the speech of the senator from New York
Mr.. DIX, the predecessors of the British
these discoveries; but did not understand him as
claiming the continent out to the Rocky Mountains,
and up to 5l deg. 40 min., by virtue of these mari
time discoveries and | very that | limited
my sanction of his views to the tracks of the
ships which made the discoveries. consider Spanish
discoveries along that coast dominant the
British both for priority Of date and for the spirit Of
ownership IN which they were made. The Spania rds
explored masters Of the country, looking after
their own extended and contiguous possessions and
which no limit had ever been placed the British
explored in the character Of advenurcrs seeking new
lands in a distant region. Neither made perna nent
settlements both abandoned; and now. nothing.
either in the value tile of these islands, for the
two nations TO fight about. The principle of convc-
nence and mutual good WILL magnanmou,ly pro-
posed by the Emperor Alexander in 1928 seems to
be properly applicable to these desolac island,