Litchfield enquirer., 1846-02-26

been tie purpose OF the Administering ~
crooked and disingenuons diplomacy, 70
break OF the negotiation, and thus involve
the two countries in imminent danger OfwaT.
I cannot suspect gentlemen, Tor whom per-
soDallv cherish Sentiments Of high respect,
ofso base a purpose; and yet IL is diticult
M see hovv they could have Adopted q course
better adapted to that end than the one in
fact pursued. ..,..f- IA.
And this would seem TO me to be the pro-
per place to inquire into the cause OF all
these difficulties. How comes u about That
our relations with Great Britain were, i'm
mediasely AFTER the accession OF the present
Administration to Office and power, invOlv-
ed in so much embarraSment2 why has
there gone forth, throughout the country, so
much agitation and alarm7 and Why have
our public councils, and the whole American
people, been so entirely engrossed, for many
weeks, in anticipating all the revolving
scenes Of direful war; The germ of all
the evils, present and anticipated, date from
the 3Oth Of May, A. ID. 1874, and had its
origin in political assemblage which was
then in session in the city'nof Ball.
timore, and engaged in nominating, for ore
of he great parties of the Tnion, a candidate
for the Presidency. This aSsemblage usurp-
ed jurisdiction ever the question Of Oregon
they entered upon new experiment in
diplomacy, and undertook to make political
capital out of a question which had been
pending over quarter of a century, which
had occupied the attention Of several Ad-
ministrations, and engrossed a large share'
ofthe best talents Of the country, This pre-
sumptuous body, after passing through
scenes of turbulence and violence, such as
was never before witnessed in the country,
plunged headlong into this dispute, and
undertook, by an inlammatofy appeal, to cs-
tablish title in our people to the whole of
Oregon. What a humiliatins spectacle!
and how adapted TO make our country and
It's institutions the laughing-stock and de-
rsion of the world! We had long seen the
naalignity Of party pervading all branches Of
our domestic relations, dcbauching public
and private morals, and oyerthrdwing near
ly all the great interests of the country. At
last this fell spirit has invaded the sanctua-
ry of our foreign relations, and upon its foot
steps will come, ere long. should any mira.
Gle enable us to escape now, Ruthless war,
with our coast ravaged, our commerce swept,
our cities burnt, myriads Of treasure squan-
dered, and oceans Of blood poured forth. Such
are the legitimate fruits Of permitting party
AMI mosity 10 dabble in foreign affairs. In
the mean time, the Baltimore resolution has
fulfilled its mission, and j. X. Polk, In ac-
cOrdance with the forms of the Constitution,
is proclaimed duly elected President Of the
United States. lie leaves his aboic in the
State of Tennessee, where he had been in
retirement several years, to take his place at
the head Of the Government. We find him
on the eastern front of our capital to assume
fearful responsibilities. He was about TO
occupy station which had been hlied by
Washington One would suppose he would
feel above responding to q caucus. II he
had no respect for his immediate Ipredeces-
sor, he must at least be disposed TO treat the
distinguished statesman, who had Just retir-
ed from the Department of State, with or
binary decency-hc, must have some regard
for the cause Of peace, identified as II is with
the best interests of the country; but not SO;
political capital was to, be made, and there
fore he throws fre-brand by re-echoing the
Baltimore sentiment, that "our title to the
whole OF Oregon is clear and unquestiona-
BILE ~ and then to n,e.ye the embodiment the
more certain, he added i,:enacc 70 Great
Britain, that it would be his, duty to main
tain, by all constitutional means, the, right o.
the United States to the territory in dispute,
This was understood on the other side Of the
Atlantic to be a menace |; it was palpably so.
1t will be observed thai at the time MI. =.
made this summary disposition Of the Ore
coa question, he had not been duly constitu-,
ted President of the United States, he. had
not taken the oath Of Office. HoYever well
informed he may have then been about Ore
gon generally, it is certain he was not famil-7
lar with the negotiations on the subject; and,
at any rate, he could not have understood the
existing state of such negotiations. In his
message he uses language which sufficiently
indicates that such was the fact. In tina.
document he says, 10 effect, "my attention
was early directed to the subject;" and then,
after giving the details, he adds, Hwhen.I
came into Office, found this to be the state
of the negotiation" He finally informs,
Congress that he had offered to divide the, terri
ritory on the parallel of 40, " in Difference TO
what had been done by his predecessors"
Why did he not feel that Difference at the.
time he delivered his inaugural address r.
Win it be said he did not then know what,
they had done? Ii so, how came he to COM
nit himselfso rashlyon a subject of so much
delicacy? Why act in the dark Why,
not wait till he was surrounded by his cab
met, and had had time to look at the subject
in all its bearings. ,rar, .sa.t..,-i.. 4
But the words g clear and indisputable,'
had gone out from Baltimore, and he must
to them--he must. assume gallant
before the American people--and
therefore the pregnant all0sion TO SAL the
means with which he was to
be invested, to be used in asserting our right
to the whole of Oregon. This, notwith-
standing my respect forthe President, i deem
the hight of impudence; it was prc-eminent-
" adapted TO embroil as with Great Britain,
and il is believed TO be the principal source
Of existing difficulties The President soon
found that treating ;sith a great power like
Great Britain was an affair quite unlike res
ponding to the sentiments Of a psr.y caucus,
Or making appeals with view To- popular
Impression. He found it would not quite
do to come mp to the scratch of 81 40 lie
began TO feel an nj once a profound difference
for his predecessors, and ineontinently offers