The daily union., 1846-09-25

4
emn response to his constituents, his conviction
unqueslonabe." The word reached England and
forthwith the English government answered through
its prime minister, "we too, have rights In Oregon,
and are resolved and prepared to maintain them!'
But the American administration held on It's course.
In the following July, came its proposition
ayowedly made solely in Difference to the past action
Of the government for partition of the territory on
the line Of forty-nine, without concedng the naviga-
ton of the Columbia. As Of old, and according to
it's wont, the British government stsrnly and sum
mary repulsed the offer And then, just when the
question was Fastening to its crisis, when the eye
Of all Europe fixed upon it, when the tone of
England was at its very highest, and the American
proposition was proclaimed 6ythe British minister to
be inconsistent "with fairness and equity, and with
the reasonable expectations Of the British govern
ment"-just at that critical moment, freightei with
solemn responsibilities, the attitude of the American
diplomacy became yet more sternly resolved and
firm The President formally withdrew his prop
osition declared that he would neither it nor
submit any other; threw himself back upon the va
lidy of our title to the whole; proclaimed that the
next step the negotiation must proceed from Eng
land; that arbitration out Of the question; that,
for himself, he would accept no proposition from
England which did not concede the whole territory;
that upon any other British proposal he would, for
himself, decide only its submssbility to the Senate,
and that meantime he would lay the whole matter
before Congress and the people, with reeommen-
daion that our rights in Oregon should be main
al hat. d,,. 4.
given to the British government for the termination
of the joint occupancy. And when Congress met,
the message redeemed to the letter the pledge thus
given, and urged the termination Of the convention
with the whole series OF measures fitted to main-
tain rights and protect citizens in Oregon.
All this was language on the subject new
to the ear Of England and Of Europe. In
stanuy it took effect. The message arrived in
England in the third week of December. -Four
days afterwards the London Times, in two articles
manestly sem-oficia, stated the reasona bleness
and the fairness of settlement on the old American
proposition Of 1927. Nor was this all The subject
came up in Parliament, and then the British minis
| ter made his most memorable declaration ''that he
could not say that the American offer ought have
been reieced"-an Official declaration in Parliament
plainly in the face Of the whole unbroken British
diplomacy for thirty years. In France the effect ofthe
message was just as remarkable Four weeks after
its reception, the royaIist Bsrryer and the repub-
Iican, Theirs, rose in the French Chamber of Depu-
ties to proclaim, in terms, "America ,oA not con-
esdsj England oiH eonesde; and the question uiH BE-
settled on the parallel QfJorty-nins!"
How was this impression Of the coming settle
ment Of the controversy on the old American posi-
tion produced at this moment upon the minds OF
these veteran European statesmen? The Senate
had not yet adopted its "amicable" preamble
| There no new fact in the case save only the
| frmness of the administration, and the new meas
ures it had recommended. Yet even then, disinter.
ested observers, enjoying all facilities of information
saw that the close Of the controversy was at
| hand.
Two or three months pa ssed on. Public anxiety
and apprehension rose higher and higher. But the
Presden, stood firm. Through Mr.. McLane he
again and again Informed the British governmen n,
that his position wns unchanged. In April, he re-
| commended precautionary measures Of arrnamen nj
and defence to sustain his attitude, and avowed that
| his opinions were unaltered. This was not tn,
was surely fitted to show that our government wa
in earnest and 1t could not fail to operate upon the
prudence of the British statesmen The House of
Representatives had passed the ''noce" Finally tn,
Senate passed it in an impaired and weakened form
yet still, in form adequate to put an end to tn,
| convention. Meantime, the Senate, in debate, hat
clearly enough indicated that its support of the Pres
| ident did not go beyond the forty-ninth parallel
| Up to that line the Senate seconded the frmnes'
| Of the administration and of the House; and ir
May, 1916, the British government conceded the pro
posal of the existing treaty to settle the question
that line Of forty nine
In view of this plain and faithful statement of tn
case, can there yet remain doubt that the irmnes
and prudent boldness Of the administration were the
real motive influences which brought the question
to solution? Can it be doubted that the Executive
policy, iffuily and promptly sustained by both
houses Of Congress, would have gained from Eng
land an adjustment yet more satisfactory
In the negotiation, shaped by the Presiden,
England gave US all that the Senate could be brough
10 insist upon. This fact speaks volumes. No in
genuty can reason it away. 1t is idle now to spec
uIa'e upon what might have been. Yet we canno
refrain from expressing deep-founied conviction
that if the Senate of the United States had, with tn
House Of Representatives, taken its stand, as thu
President took his, upon the line of fftyfour forty
had promptly passed the "notice" in the spri
which recommended it, and had offered to guarant
the possessory rights of the servants of the Hudson
Bay Company, in the terms specified in Mr.. Hanne
gan's resolution, Of the 18th Of June, 1876 If ou
national legislature had thus stood by the Execu
tve--even better terms could have been acquired
We have thus concluded what we proposed tc
say Of the Presidents throughout the Oregon
negotiation. BY "a review Of the undisputed fact
of the case and by the citation Of the records of tn
negotiation, we have shown, as we proposed b
| show:
lst. That the President adhered inAexib
throughout the whole controversy, to his origina
convictions to the validity of our title up to fifty
four-forty;
| 3D. That he repeated the ancient American prop