Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1846-03-13

Il IL.
| na, otherwise A nation cannot exclude oiher
| from occupying a territory which she uoes no
| ,ccuny herself. But the question SUI arises Y
| AHA, cxlen, of country does the discovery ah'
| settlement, O.. particular point oil a i"iSe lde'
country give the nation making II. ms - W.
lion Of rational Law. originating win me CISCO
varr of his continent which is mol suscepsipie
n-cc;sn definition. Bul with nations, as win IA
dyiduals. they could not appropriate exclusively
n themselves, more territory than ihey couid uS'
and occupy. As an individual could not appro
n,;a,e more than was enough for his individual
use and occupation, so nation could nor more
than was necessary for 4 national establishment
of convenient boundaries and size Tor naiiona
purposes. Hence the claim Of Span 10 Inc Wnol'
Of this part Of The American continent, was le
pudiatel by Chrislendom and u IS ue'ieVeo ma
even Spain relied less upon the right acquired pl
mere discovery, than upon the Duli OF 'ne reps
OF Rome, hv which he granted 10 SPAN ana Foi
tusal exclusive sovereignty over all the uisc"Ve
ries made. or 10 be made, IN all the healhen pof
tons of the globe; and the claim was CONSIDERED
50 monslrous. that even ne Cato0''c h'"sS
England and France refused al me time 70 re
cognise The authority OF the POPE 10 MAKE any
snch grant. But in view oi he many uiiiicu" =,
and contentious ta.Teca nations al war win 'iis
objects Of society, growing out OF disputes apUu
The rayra,iun Of rivers, whete 'hty ufa'h 'ii y
country OF more than one peope, II IS con'elcea
on principle, that country discovering IN ~
ding the mouth OF rlyer, is entitled 10 al INC
country walcrcd bv il. But il must be horne IL
mind that this is a con,rovefled point
England has attempted 10 annex, as cohui''oi
necessary to give efficacy to title by disco'efy
an! sertlemert that il should be made by Go
vernmen authority. ii admitted, II IS mol soel
how i, would benefcially affect her clam. hu
il is clearly inadmissihle. II w'li rot be diSpules
that. By The recognised law ol nations, t"e lu
risiicton and sovereignty oil a nation eSleheS
over It's vessels, both private and nationai, "he,e'
ever thew nav be iounu; aud ei'hcr!ae one or Tue
other, going iao an urnhabiied country, ca,iies
the laws and institutions OF The natloh 10 WHICH
they belong with them. Ii is true, rnanihotizeu
citizens canau. 80 into an unnhabiled count
and settle, ard impose rpon their sovereign
without his consent, The duly oil protecting u;
bat re may sanction the act though done WIN
Oh, his authority, ard claim the benefit OF it.
The next source Of title is by romfgnav. The
tile by contiguily is Tie ish! which one nation
has Ia exclude all others from territory, me
command oil which, though il be not actually
within her occpna,ion, is essential 10 ne cChSt-
niencc 81 security OF her real possessions. II Is
upon this ground that England refuses IL aiio"
anv o,hcr nation TO colonise the Chatham ISLANDS,
discovered b. her rs long ago rs ll'L As she
mas never attempted 10 orcnfy them, her Tile oy
discovery has been forfeited; ANA BY The lapse OF
time il is gone But she MAINTAINS that iheif
occupation by any ether would te lnluIicnS 10
her settlements in New Zealand, though al Inc
distance of many hundred miles Indeed, she
Goes even further than This and claims The whole
Of New Holland, simply because il IS geographic
calIy connected with some OF her actual s.iiie-
ments: and excludes ali the other nations from
making others, even though al The distance OF
thousands oil miles Oft Tre last mode IS by
trcqtv. This mode Of acquiring tile is so &C.
neray acqGiesced in, and so vel! defined, thai no
detail in reference 10 il is necessary Oi course,
title acquired by this mode is perfect between The
parties.
Having thus seen what The law OF nations 10
upon this subject, le. IS FOR moment turn 10 me
facts and fortunately they are pretty well agreed.
[, is very clear that Spain FIRST discovered The
northwest coast o! America; that she ilrst entered
and navigatcd the s,raii 0. Fuca; thai Perez, 4
Spaniard first discovered and entered the NooiSa
Sound. This is line only ma,eria TACT which is
disputed in the late negotiation Mr. Pakeniam
speaks of his discovery as wanting authenticity,
but The authority OF Humboldt establishes il te-
yond question. He who had access 10 manu-
Grip, documents, ,hus speaks:
"Perez and his pilot, Estevan Martinez lett the
port OF San Bias on the 9th January, ia. On
Inc 9th Of August they anchored, the first OF all
European navigaors, in Nootka road, which they
called the port OF San Lorenzo, and which he IL
lus;rious Cook, four years afterwards, called
King Georges sound. In The following year a
second expedition set out from san Bias, under
The command OF Heceia, Ayaa, and Quadra.-
Hecela discovered The mouth Of The Rio Colum-
bia called il the Entrada dc Heceia, The Pic OF San
Jacinto Mount Edgecumbc) near Norfolk bay,
and The fine port Of Bucareli. Ipossess two very
curious small maps, engraved 10 1888 in the city
of Mexico, which give the bearings of he coast
from 9Th degree 10 the 5sh degree of latitude as
they were discovered in the expedition OF Quadra
And that Hecea, Spauiard, first discovered,
in l775 The Columbia river. All OF these dis
coyeres were in government ships, and made for
national purposes. All this is admitted BY he En-
gish.
Little reliance is placed, even by The English,
upon The discoveries Of Drake in 1879, who coast
ed, but did not explore.
In ITS Capt. Cooke, an Enslishman, redisco-
vered Cape tlal,ery, The southern entrance Of the
straits OF Fuca. In l7s9, Capt Berkeley, BIZ
fish subjcc. uRdeT Aastr,01 co'orS, entered The
strait OF Fuca. In 1888, Nlcares, British sub
Jecl carrying Portuguese eoiors formed an esla-
blishmen, al Nooka Sound, erected hut, and
built vessel This proceeding excited The jca'-
ousy ofihe viceroy Of Mexico, who despatched
three armed vessels TO dispace the intruder This
expedition arrived al Nootka sound on the 9th OF
May, 1859, erected a fort and, soon alter, seized
Meares aud vessels; sent some of his men TO Eu-
rope by Capt Gray, in The Columbia, and The
rest 10 San Bias as prisoners. This gave rise 10
the controversy which resulted in the famous
Noolka Sound convention, which provides, says
our Secretary of State
"By its FIRST and second articles, for the restora-
ton OF the lands and buildings Of which the SUBJ
ects of Great Britain had been dispossessed by
the Spaniards and the payment OF an indemnify
for The injuries sustained. This indemnity was
paid by Spain, but no suiicient evidence has been
adduccd, that either Nco,ka Sound, orsany other
spot uuon the rO2si, was ever actually surrender
ed b. lba, power to Great Britain. All we know
with certainty is, that Spain continued in posses
sion OF Nooil;a Sound until 1885, when she vol.
unlaIily abandoned the place Since that period
no attempt has been made (nnless very recently.
b. Great Britain, or her subjects, 10 occupy either
this or AM other part of Yancouvers island. "
In 1892 Car'ain Vancouver was sent out tc
the Pacific Tor The purpose OF witnessing the in
ti!msnl Of the Treaty, bur he refused 10 receive
The place the Spaniards offered 10 surrender, a.
he could not credit Ina, j, was the place he hac
been sent SO lar 10 receive (hIeares had grossly
exaggerated the psttnl ana character ol us SET
,lemcn to promote his own views.) Although he
had no, been sent FOR that nurpose, yet, finding
his mission abol;vc. d. surveyed the whole coas
up 10 the straits Of Fuca; and entered and navi
gated lhc waters emplied By them. During The
same wear, Whi,by, me d Vancouvel's officers
surveyed Bulficch's harbor, previously entered by
the American, Graz. IN October Of the same
year, Bropghten, another Of Vancouver's off
GERS, surveyed The Coluinb..; but being unable il
do SO in his sip, navisaed it To-. an hundred
miles from lis mouth in his boat, which va:
rowed So much fol he English maritime dis
coverers.
ain l7s7," saws an English authority, much re
lied upon, land the five following years, Captain
Gray Ca citizen OF the United States, in AT
American vessel, flied out at Boston, "passcc
and repassed along he coasl, generally wn'cFin.
in Nootsa Sound; and in l7s9 advanced ihio tht
strait OF Fuca further than Meares"
In 1891, Kendrick an American, discovered {
second outlet from Nootka Sound 10 The Pacific
In May, 1892, Capt. Gray discovered Bulfinch'
harbor; aud on ,ne lith of May, 1892, being il
search OF harbor 10 do some repairs, he ran int