The daily union. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1845-1857, 1846-03-21


.istsnt with previous recognition OF her indepen
dsnoe by the United States.
The rule that treaties are annuled by war Is
therefore, ono that admits Of no exceptions. II the
Nootks Sound convention were, as IL Is not, recog
milton Of existing rights, and general principles o.
public law, it would not DO the less what IT, en-
trely null and void. Its shor-lived existence
which commenced in 1870, terminated at the open
ing of the war in 1876. Il was not renewed by the
treaty Of 1914, and is now dead letter. WIN u
expired, as we remarked before, the only presnSio"
upon which Great Britain has been aoie 70
maintain seven a colorado title" TO any part OF
Oregon.
The Spanish tito to tho whole OF oregon up :"
$40 &O being thus relieved from tho only quaihes-
ton nv which il had ever been encumbered, became
.~.in what IL was before tho conclusion OF the
Noo,k. nyenlion--eomplete and perfect. In the
mean time, however, Spain was going through the
process of national dissolution, Of which the con-
elu,ion Of this convention was OF the premoni-
tory symptoms. The peninsula had fallen INTO
stale Of revolution. The most important Of the
colonies had declared, and were accomplishing, their
iodspendenee. Under these circumstances, the
spanish title TO Oregon, had it remained In posses
sion of Span would have been to her Of very little
practical Importance. Among nations, the value OF
rights depends upon the power Of putting them IN
force. By the act Of Spain, subsequently confirmed
bv Mexico, the Spanish title to Oregon passed into
the possession Of the United States. In our
hands, as in those Of SPAIN it is, as title, perfect
and impregnable; and we possess the element that
Spain wanted to make il efectual-the power OF On
forcing it, We have thus far shown, throughout our
national history, even at periods Of much less do
vslopmsnt and vigor, the ability to maintain our
rights against every aggression from abroad Ii
cannot be doubted that we shall do so now.
Il has been said that, by proposing to the British
government, in 1918, and at several subsequent pc
RODS, to adopt the 49th parallel of latitude as the
boundary between the possessions Of the two coun-
tries, we in fact admitted that the Spanish title was
not complete up to $40 49, The plain answer to
this is, that in lsls we did not possess the Spanish
title. At that time we had good claim under the
Louisiana purchase, and by virtue Of our own dis
eovenes and explorations up to about ago. This
claim was met by adverse pretsnsions OF similar
kind on the part Of Great Britain; and although
our claim was undoubtedly the better one, II had not
the completeness and perfection which it has since
obtained by the acquisition of the Spanish title
Having proposed the 49th parallel in 1918, it was
very natural that our government should feel them
selves in some degree committed to it and, though
the circumstances had subsequently been materially
changed in our favor, should still, in the spirit Of
forbesrsnee which has always characterized our for
,ign policy, have repeatedly renewed the samo pro-
posal This il the reason assigned by the President
in hs message fe. making fresh overture. We
shall not pretend to draw the veil which hangs over
the future. We shall not presume to anticipate the
course which the President Of the United States may
pursue in the event Of the rsopsning Of the negotis
ton. But whatever this may be-, it is certain that,
". intend to cause our rights to be respected must
know, in the first place, what they are. tits not by
depreciatng the extent Of our claims, or by dwell
ling forever on the acknowledged caamites Of war,
that we can hope to bring the controversy to salts.
factory termination. In any new negotiation, we
are willing to trust the discretion Of the President,
who has shown throughout the whole affair the
union Of frmness and moderation which, is alone
necessary to bring it TO a successful issue.
p. g. In our preceding article on this subject, the
word Fonianeblsau was substituted, by an error of
the press, for Tordesillashe place where the trea
ty Of limits bstwssn Spain and Portugal, which
grew out Of the papsl bull, was finally concluded.