The Cadiz sentinel. [volume] (Cadiz, Ohio) 184?-1851, 1846-01-14
OREGON QUESTION.
CORRESPONDENCE WITH THE DE-
PARTMENT OF STATE.
u. b. 2.)
DEPARTMENT OF STATE,
WAsnINeroN. Ang. 30. ls45.


sIer pIenipotentiary, marked R. P, and dated
9th July, lS45.
Preliminary TO the discussion, it is necessary
to fix our attention upon the precise question
under consideration. in the present stage of the
negotiation. This question simply is, were the
titles Of Spain and the United States when uni
ted by the Florida treaty on the 22d of Febru-
ary, 1919, good as against Great Britain, to the
Oregon territory as far north as the Russian line,
in the latitude of 81 deg. 40 min.? If they were,
it will be admitted this this whole territory now
belongs to the United States
The undersigned again remarks that it is not
| his purpose TO repeat the argument by which his
predecessor, Mr.. Calhoun, has demonstrated the
American title $50 The entire reg on drained by
the Columbia river aud IFS branches." He will
not thus impair IFS force.
Ii is contended, on the part of Great Britain
that the United States acquired and hold the
Spanish title subject to the terms and conditions
of the Nooka Sound convention, concluded be-
tween Great Britain and Spain, at the EscuriaI,
on the 2Sth October, 1890.
In opposition to the argument of the under
| lslgned contained in his statement marked j, B.,
maintaining that this convention had been annnl-
led by the war between Spain and Great Britain,
| in 1896, and has never since been revived by the
parties, the British penpotentory, in his state
ment marked r. P, has taken the following po-
stons
l. "That when Spain concluded with the
United States the treaty of 1919, commonly call
cd the Florida treaty, the convention concluded
between the former power and Great Britain in
1870, was considered by the parties to it be all
in force"
And g "But that, even if no such treaty had
ever existed, Great Britain would stand, with re-
ference TO a claim 10 The Oregon territory, in a
position at least as favorable as the United
States"
The undersigned will follow, step by step,the
argument ofthe British pIenipotentiary in support
of these propositions.
The British plenipotentiary states ''that the
treaty of 1890 is not appealed to by the British
government, as The American penipotentiary
seems to suppose, rs their 'main reliance in the
present discussion" but TO show that, by the
Florida treaty of 1919, the United States acqui-
red no right to exclusive dominion over any part
of the Oregon territory.
The undersigned had believed that ever since
1926, the Nootka convention had been regarded
by the British government as lhei main, if not
Iiarilv of their claim identified il with the con-
sruction which they have imposed upon this con-
venon, and necessarily excludes every other
basis of title. What, but 10 accord with this
construction, could have caused Messrs. Huskin-
son and Addngton, the British commissioners,
| in specifying their title, on the 18th December,
1886, TO declare "that Great Bitain claims no
exclusive sovereignty over any portion of that
territory. Her present clam, not in respect TO
any art, but to the whole, is limited TO right of
Ilont occupancy in common with other states.
eaving the right Of exclusive dominion in abev-
ance." And again. "Bv that convention (ofI
Nootka) it was agreed that all parts ofthe North
western const of America, not already occupied
at that time by either of the contracting parties,
should thenceforward he equally open to the sub
jects of both for all purposes of commerce and
Isettlement-the sovereignty remaining in abey-
ance." But on this subject we are not left to
mere inferences, however clear. The British
commissioners, in their statement from which the
Undersigned has Just quoted, have virtually aban
doned any other title which great Britain may
nave previously asserted to the territory in dis
pute, and expressly declare "that whatsoever that
title may have been, however, either on the part
of Great Britain or on the part of Spain, prior 10
the convention Of 1890, it was MenceforWnrd to
be traced no longer in pague narratives of dis
coreries, seperal Of them admitted to be apocry
phal, but in the tert and StipulGtons of that con.
uention ITSELF"
And again, in summing up their whole case,
they say:
"Admiting that the United States have acqu-
red all the rights which Spain possessed up to
the treaty of Florida, either in virtue of dscOve-
y,or, as is pretended, in right of louisiana
Great Britain maintains that the extent of these
rights, as well as the rights of Great Britain, are
fixed and defined by the convention of Nootka,"
&c. &c, &c,
The undersigned, after a careful examination,
can discover nothing in the note of the present
British plenpolentiary TO Mr.. Calhoun, of the
18th September last, to impair the force of these
declarations and admissions of his predecessors.
On the contrary, its general tone is in perfect
accordance with them.
Whatever may be the consequences then, ,whe-
ther for good or for evil-whelher to strengthen
or to destroy the British claim-it is now too late
for the British government 10 vary their position.
If the Nootka convention confers upon them no
such rights as they claim, they cannot at this late
hour go behind its provisions, and set up claims
which in 1926, they admitted had been merged
Sin the text and stipulalions of that convention
ITSELF"
The undersigned regrets that the British pIen-
ipotentiary has not noticed his exposition Of the
true construction of the Nooika convention. He
had endeavored, and he believes successfully, to
prove that this treaty was transient in its very
ture; that il conferred upon Great Britain no right
but that of merely trading with the Indians whilsl
the country should remain unsettled, and making
the necessary establishments for this purpose; and
that it did not interfere with the ultimate sover-
eighty of Spain over the territory. The British