Virginia free press. (Charlestown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1832-1916, 1846-02-05
By X JOHN $. 81 II. N. GALLAnER

snouid say g her. awe cannot agree, and Wc wa
20 compromise; twenty-five wears 81 neootiati,
have ihied We shall try hat no lot,,er; Ne H.,
J, demonstrated our title, ana We are determined
MAINTAIN - but we choese to bide onr time. r
what next sir? Mastery Inactivity" On o,
patti 20, slr no inactivity, mastery or othe
WISE. bus action, actiop9 action, prompt, read
snergeuc, immediate, and Continued action, d
. NE part OF this government Every possible /.
docement should be heldout toour have r.rsr,
g go forth and possess the land. which we shoul
: give them ~ an inheritance. A Territorial n
sernment shoald be formed there, and Il governc
appointed a once. Where the cross ar ST. Geora
waves over one fertilization in that territory. III
stars and stripes should float over ftrc. Forts an
olock-houses sinuld dot the whole Of the 20 rego
tiAh arnaetftfocps should cnara our citizens i
tneir emigratons thither; the flag Of their coun
w Should float over them; the countenance q
/ tneir country should be upon them the arm Q
tneir country should be stretched out 10 protec
mem, and the American eagle should ay befor,
mem, neIaiding them on the rich lands of Ore
their country negieets Or deserts them. nm
oyerland mail recommended by the Executive
should be established at once. Every barrie,
winch might impede the tide of emigration should
ee Drosen down; every inducement which mirht
increase It should BID offered. The tribes 81 In.
dams NOW disposed ~ be hostile to is, should be
concIllated, and duteted by Indian are,ts who
should be appointed, and who should have purses.
winch they inightiIse to some purpose. Sir, il
does seem to ME, ii this policy were pursued. am
piIiled and improved as il might be BY the conere
gated wisdom OF this nation, it does seem to me
tnat all The powers upon earth could not rend from
our grasp the rich prize for which we are contend
ing See, sir, i haze not some tolerable anthori
y ior The course have recommended | find in
the Union 81 the 9Th instant a very able article
upon ths question, froili hich Ibeg leave to read
the following extract
The posture Of our INTERESTS IN ORraox n AZ sr,v
as TINS new aspeetof our title. Our citizens have now
gone and are going forth III MASSES to possess
= tnsr nfoad patmohy there. Before C9ngresa rises
yen Thousand American citizens ting the soil of thai
,erroIy VIII stretch OF, their 10 u.s. fr the protec
yen winch IS their most manifest right &c
20 y seems, that before this Congress shall rise
ten thousand hardy settlers will have established
themselves in Oregon. When this Congresscom-
session there were but seven tkousands
when = shall rise, there will be ten thousand -
ana THIS too, without any positive guaranteeupon
me part Of their government Of its conntenance
and protection. Sir,H there shall be ten thousand
settlers in that territory when Congress shall rise
how many may we lairly infer there will be there
q the expiration Of iige, or even three brief years
ne calculation Is easily made, sir; beg eentle-
men to pause and make il. We shall have aEsuf-
lclent number to bid defiance to the Hudsoii BAY
company and all its agents; enough oG themselyes
Q maintain and defend the whole territory Or. Al
east, enough TO raise provisions to maintainany
army we may send there To aid and defend them.
And cannot gentlemen wait five short wears Il Can
.ney not wait three Can they not even tarry
VI ic iBab KiaH Sir teaW tAsiselr
at Jericho till our boards shall grow out, Oregon
shall be ours when ollr faces shall be covered with
hair! Am to be answered in the words Of the
honorable gentleman from Indiana, Mr. KENNE-l
DY; that this would be "saealing the country
that Il would be- creeping and crawling into the
country, and acting inbad fhith. 10 such thing
sir. All this should le done in the broad face Of
heaven and the world. We have said to Great
Britain, |" Oregon is ours;p and, We should add,
1--WE mean to maintain eur rights to every portion
Of il; we do not chooseto g for il at this moment,
but we are getting ready, and we mean 10 get
ready" Would this be acting in bad faith 2
Shall again be answered, that unless this no
lice il given immediately emigration will cease
That G reat Britain is estabfishnghe herself moraand
inoreirfnly every day, and that IN short time our
citizens will be afraid toeventure there Ii is too
late to urge this objection, when they have already
even without the c0untenance and protection of
our government, poured on in one continued stream
to that country, Itwoud be utterly impossible for
the Hudson Bay Company % resist or check this
tide Of western emigration il thus encouraged
Thatcompany, with all the1hunters andtrappers
it could muster, would present no strcngerbarrier
to this tidezof emigration, tim would muaswall
10 the swelling waters of the2broad Potomac.
Shall il be said, that in tho meantime the Hud-
son Bay Company will exhausting the fur trade,
and reaping all the profits 70 be derived from it ?
Sir, if we claim Oregon only for the sake Of its
beaver skins, it occurs TO me that we have been
shameEully negligent heretofore. For the fur
trade is diminishing rapidly, and hitherto Great
Britain has derived almost exclusively the benefit
from It, But, sir, we desire Oregon for purposes
far more important. Meanwhile, as the fur trade
diminishes, as the buffalo recedes and the beaver
is hunted out, so will the servants and agents o.
the Hudson Bay Company gradually retire, and
leave US in possession Of the territory Or shall
| this policy, which Ihave had the temerity to pro
| pose, meet with the objection urged Hith muci
plausibilitg and force by another gentleman from
4 Indiana, Mr.. OWEN. nanely-that our emi
grafton wouIdnot extend itselfnorth Of the Colum
! bia river, OF north Of latitude 49d? admit, sir
that there is great deal Of FEASIBILITY and som,
strength in that objection; for althoughit is fan
ciful and chmerical to suppose with that gentle
| MANI that the Hudson Bay Company can affor'
1 to buy up our citizens like cattle in the mrrkei
1 at the high price Of eight hundred dollars pc
head, yet il is quite probable that, under the exist
4 ing state Of things, our settlers will in grea
measure confine themselves to that portion of III
territory south of 49d. But, sir with all due Dc
ference to the gentleman from Indiana, MI
OWEN, DO not care if they do. tits, for all pul
poses offuture action and defence, better that the
i should. They will be more concentrated, an
consequently stronger. There is land enoug
heaven knows: and from any years to come ther
n viii be no crowding And it is certainly MOI
i desirable that our citizens should for the preseI
J. be as compact and concentrated as possible, tina
that they should be scattered over the whole te
ritorY But, sir, we are triumphantiy asked
the gentleman from Georgia Mr. CoBB " WIFI
shall we gain by delay-what have we ever game
. by delay7" Sir, we shall gain time Time, to !
, more precious than great riches or many jewels
Time, tie tonlb-builder and the oserturner
: thrones Time, who strikes the old with decreI
: ltude and lends vigor and strength to the you1
q Sir, there il another automatic fact which m,
! tbe gathered from records Of history il
!. this: that nations ike individuals pass thruu|
! the stages Of infancy, manhood, and old age:
( lseet them springing up from small beginnings
4 mere germs as it were-growing up BY degree
increasing daily and hourly in strength and pow,
until they reach the very summit of earthly gre;
+ ness, and play fantastic tricks before high he