The daily union. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1845-1857, 1846-05-16

necessarily NC GACluSNe, Placing III ilS oS'No'
sovereignty OF the country. That we can maintain
that position IL very certain There need be no APP
prehenslon, sir, If notice be given, and the meas
ures recommended by the President carried out ana
emigration encouraged that any act Of violence on
the part OF Great Britain will take place; because,
IN addition TO other considerations, we have her un-
qualified admission that we have the right of pos
session, and any act Of encroachment on her part
would be entirely unauthorized and unlusuhabIe,
and which she would not hazard, as It would be an
act of war She cannot now galnsay that admls-
SION She cannot abrldge It, and while 1t remains,
she would have no right To interfere with our eXclu-
sye possession. The question then will be, sir,
shall we maintain this right, fortified by the admIs
SION Of Great Britain herself and reposlng upon d
ute 50 clear and unquestionabe ours is shown TO
be- by force Of principles which she has herself
established or shall we abandon ~ J cannot think
Of for a moment SIR as It would be wIIful and
wicked abandonment "of our own sef-respecl and
our national honor" All we have to do sir, IN this
and every other emergency ls TO pursue the path Of
duty and honor, lead where It may. After all we
have said and done, sir, 1t would IN my judgment,
he highly derOgatory TO our national character to
recede a single inch from the position we have as
sumed, fortified Is by the clear right of the case
sanctioned by the common Judgment Of the whole
country, and taken with deIlberaton.
But it is said, sir, Great Britain will not recede-
she will not yield her prelensIons and may
come; and this seems to be the opinion Of the
tor of Michigan, Mr. CAss.l | cannot undertake
70 say, MIR. President what England will do when
the comes; but thus think can say, that her
history shows that IN almost every case threatening
a controversy with US, in which she has been firm
" met and resolutely opposed, she has never per
sisted. To instance no other examples: at the time
acquired Louisiana, did she not object, and pro-
test, and threaten She was then at war with
France, and might, by beIgerent capture have
added that rich province TO her crown, but we pur-
HttaHt he a lapY OH
steadily IN view, and In spite, OF enemies at home
and ABROAD, cOnsummdted the act. and what was
the result So ~ regard TO our proceedings towards
Srain, before the Florida treaty She charged MS
with IA desire for territorial ACKNOWLEDGEMENT; she
protested against our right TO take possession Of
that part Of 1t we clamed yet pursued the course
policy and justice to ourselves dctated-placed al
the disposal of the Executive means adequate TO the
eNigency Of the case, and we heard more of Brit
ish interference or opposition. So IN regard 10 the
surrender Of this very territory under the first
Gle OF the treaty Of Client For three years she
raised difficulties coined objections, and postponed
the execution of POSITIVE treaty stipulation; but
were firm and mportunate and were renstated IN
our possession. And uIs only necessary for US,
SIR, IN this case, TO be firm, calm, and prudent de-
handing nothing but what IL exactly ryht and
disposition 10 do full Justice, and there
Is no danger of a controversy.
But, sir, # we adopt tmId policy # we be,ray
q wan anu NaN'Ho'lHb iOSt, II We Hthllhlt, we
run the hazard Of bringing upon as the very calam
lty we seek 10 avoid. Great Britain understands
thus well. She knows our history She knows
we are as firm and unyeIdng any nation toe
with the right on our side, and that we have never
persisted in the assertion or maintenance of wrong
All we have To do, then, IN this CRISIS, is, to main
tam this firm and decided position; and my life on
Il, she will not involve her country and this IN the
,damIues of war tor Oregon. Sir, Great Britain
IS not prepared Tor "A war with us. She never was
IN a more precarous cOnduOn than she IS at this
not from internal decay pcrhaps sur, but
from the circumstances Of her position and without
friend IN any one OF the nations Of the earth She
\, too, at this moment embarking IN a bold and
% her dangerous, eXperment-no less, SIR, than a |
RADICAL change IN a policy to which she has ad. |
lered, with such pertlnaclty, since the revolution
IF loss. Her success, sir, in this experiment, she
must know and feel, depends in a very great degree
lpon the maintenance of amcabe relations with
his country. We have been, and now are her
pest customer, and 1t Is not to be presumed she !
would attempt such change, with her best Gus
Toner IN arms against her. That would be fatal |
suicidal.
The controversy will never be prosecuted to a |
war by Great Britain, under the circumstances in |
which she is placed, unless we manifest timidity |
and indeclsion; and if it should sir cannot think
she could do us any very great injury. have re- |
iected good deal upon this subject, and cannot
or my life, sir, see how she nAct upon us
my permanent injury, while she is exposed to
hat hazard from us by the very nature of her sys-
EN-. We might lose some merchant ships, and |
'eSseI of war So but her own commerce would |
We more crippled than ours. We could carry on a |
war of ten years with less nuryto US than to her
Dur condition Is vastly different now from what II
was when the war of 1912 was declared Then
our population small our internal commerce
nothing. Now we have facilities of approach from |
The seaboard into every part of the country, near
20,OO 900 of people, and an internal commerce
httecn times as great our foreign, which we |
could fall back upon, and verify the fact that we |
can live and flourish without any foreign COM
merce. These make our position more favorable |
Tor war than that of Great Britain; besides so |
far as the great staple of her manufactures cotton
IS concerned, she is almost wholly dependant on
US. She cannot procure from India and Egypt |
enough to keep her spindes employed three |
months; and unless she draws her supply from us
through neutral ports she must be broken up |
Taking this single consideration into the account
The prospect OF inevitable ruin to her, keeping |
her condition in other respects in view is alarm |
ing indeed. This great staple contributes so much |
o the support of her population and is so import
ant element Of her commercial and internal |
prosperity, that 1t will always operate whilst we
control It's production, as bond and security from
her that she will keep the peace 1t is most manifest
" sir, her interest not to go to war and she will
make great sacrifices to avoid lteverv sacrifice short
)f national honor, which, so far she concerned
s not involved in this question. Seeing as she |
Toes, this territory filling up by own citizens that
It Is contiguous territory, and the only outlet west
ward for the great valley of the Mississippi to the
markets of Asia, and entirely detached from all her
colonies IN either hemisphere, and that it can be to
her but barren possession the sacrifice in Welding
her pretenslons to any part Of it, accom-
panied by those friendly arrangements TO which | |
have alluded, will bear no comparison to that we
should encounter by an abandonment on our part
And, sir, 1t will not be England alone which will
DC engaged IN this war, should one befall US The
people of Europe have the spirit Of revolution
and reform raging within them, only suppressed by
he strong arm of power. 1t is the policy of thrones
and dynasties to prevent with us. If a war
Toes come 1t will be Of systems-not for
Oregon; and IN such war, sure the red
man fades away before the advance Of civilization
so sure will those thrones and dynastes fall before
he advance of republican principles. No, sir; Eu.
rope will not suffer England war for Oregon with
as. The great free-trnde interest alone, now prom
sing to be in the ascendant in England, will have
oower sufficient to prevent war, and will prevent
il at every sacrifice
| have not been ebIe to see air how n netien so