The daily union. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1845-1857, 1846-01-06
co M NJ UNIC ATIONS.
SENATOR HANNEGAN.
Forthe Union
IMPORTANT TO BIZ UNDERSTOOD.

i ADORE The 49ih parallel"
This was the independent and unqualified asser
lion oftbe honorable Mr.. flanagan, of Indiana, am
bodied, among many other intellectual gems in tn,
able and eloquent speech which was made by hin
In the United States Senate, in connexion with tn
Oregon debate, and published in your paper o
Tuesday last. IL Is as true as Holy Writ and pre-
sents for consideration most important fact-on,
that should be much more generally known than i
appears tobe by our countrymen And Il Is k1,Orr
10 oil, who have taken the pains 10 examine the
subject thoroughly, and have thereby informed
themselves correctly and fully Of the features and To-
ealities Of that reg on. fGreat Britain ever hadthe
senlblance ola just claim any portion of Oregon
under the laws of nn'ions, or any other rishtfu
principle, il was located than three degrees
north OF that parallel, and confined To Frasere river
and the territory drained byit and its tributary
streams, The Diplomatic correspondence Of this
government heretofore has shown, under the HIGH
authority above referred 10, that even there cur
right was paramount TO hers. South Of that lie the
great inland waters so Indispensable 10 U.S. ~ Gu
paclous and safe hafbors for our shipping; and
around and above them are dense and extensive
forests OF timber best fitted for its construction and
supply. The honorable Mr. Rush. when our min
lister 10 England, IN generous spirit Of Cancellation
and compromise proposed by the direction of the
then President with view TO avoid further diff.
Guilty and delay, and for the amieable settlement
ola controNerted question, the fhy-frst parallel,
recognising thereby the claim connected with
the above mentioned river. The proposition not
being accepted, was Withdrawn. Is there a law
| yer IN this country, worthy Of the name, who
will hazard his character as such by assert
Ing that the rights of a party are forfeited COM
promtted, or in any degree affected or diminished
by the proposition Of a compromise which has been
rejected and withdrawn Not one il is confidently
believed. The same destiny has attended the sub.
sequent propositions for the parallel Of 400. Greal
Britain, IN all her correspondence on The subject
has not been able to show Just or equitable title IN
foot ofterritOry in Oregon. All the rights she now
possesses there are the offspring of artfll and in
sidIous diplomacy and management, such have
uniformly, for centuries, marked the course Of her
towering ambition, and her Unsuitable lust of acqu-
sition IN every quarter Of the globe
The con yentional arrangements of 1918 and 1927
which gave them to her, would be regarded by en-
lightened statesmen, knowing the character and
disposition OF John Bull Of political insanity
and suicide. Brother Jonathan never before went
10 work at the time with his eyes so completely
blindfolded. And what are he consequencesi Our
national rights, and the great interests connected
herewith in Oregon, have been wantonly prostra-
ted, and insutngly trampled on, thus far with
lmpunity, not by the lion, cher selected and
auogated national emblem,) for to that animal
belong some noble, humane, generous, and mag
unanimous qualities, but by one of the more ruth
less beasts Of the forest Has the spirit of 76 desert
ed tne American DOSomE w Ill the INDUSTRIOUS
pie of our gallant and patriotic forefahers who so
nobly achieved Independence, be lost upon their
descendants, and arouse no kindred feeling that ,cH
inpei Them 10 maintain a3 No, it cannot be. We
have evidence conclusive that there is one at least
have not the honor to know him personally } in the
public councils of the nation who dares speak and 10
act like genuine American. The late signal effort
in the Senate Of the talented and fearless flanagan
will endear him. more than ever, to the hearts of his
grateful and admiring countrymen.
~. - PHocIoN.
WAsHNGTos CITY, Jan. /, l845. ..- 30
1.-THE editors of the Union will publish the above,
will furnish two or three others-wth the facts as
much condensed as possible-havng been intimate
y acquainted with all the details pertaining thereto
for more than quarter of century.
POSTSCRIPT
Pass in the Rocky mountains.
The great South Pass, or Frtmon,'s Pass as it is
now called, not discovered by that gentleman as
many seem TO infer, but by Major Henry, some
thirty years ago more, and subsequently part
ner with the late Gen. VIM H. Ashley, in The Mis-
souri, Fur Company Ever from the time of its dis
covery, as above mentioned, 1t was known to be
used by some of the hunters in that past rilderness
though its latitude not located and published to
the world, until short time previously 10 the publ
cation Of Lieut. Fremont, in 1923, giving an ac-
count of its astronomical determination by him
at latitude AZ degrees % minutes north. Heaven
forbid that | should undertake to depreciae the
merits or in any wise detract from the character of
that gallant, adventurous, and most deserving Off
Ger. would not, if could, abstract one sprig of
laurel that justly adorns his brow. His public SER
vices, as | appreciate them, above all praise
But the credit of discovering that now celebrated
pass, does not of right belong him; and he has
quite merit enough to satisfy any human ambition
e1rctusirety his 1t can be shown that Baron
Humboldt greatly mistook when he stated as he
did in his work on "New SPAIN" that there were
nine points Of practicable communication through the
range of mountains that pervades this continent
from one end to the other. He had been grossly
misnformed. The three which were known TO that
distinguished and philosophical traveller by per-
sonal observation, (having himself carefully sur
veyed some twenty degrees NORTH and about the
same distance south of the equator, namely, the
isthmus of Darien, or Panama, 80 49,; the lake of
Nicaragua, llo; and the bay aud port of Tehuan-
tepec, l6O north latitue-were the only ones which
present anything like favorable aspect in regard
to the great object of opening communication
between the two oceans. To these the attention of
several nations has been drawn for many years
past; and various surveys Of them have been made
under their direction, by the skilful and scen-
tifc engineers. The publication Of their labors ex-
hibits the discouraging result that the fornda-
BILE, II not entirely insurmountable obstacles exist,
(some Of the most prominent ones will be noticed in
another number,) TO prevent the construction of
ship canal, or q railroad, through any of
and much-desired object. the great work, as they
represent if it could be accomplished at all would
be attended with a vast expense and outlay--Dot
less than forty to fifty millions of dollars. But of
what advantage would it he to US, if such
gigantic work were undertaken and completed 7 Ill
would he under foreign jurisdiction; and we should
be compelled TO pay high duties--perhaps exor-
Infant and extortonaefor the transit through il Of
our great and increasing commerce on the Pacific;
so much so, possibly, that We might still find it our
interest to continue round to our eastern seaports
in circuitous and dangerous navigation, by doub.
ling Cape Horn in Sc degrees south latitude. But
"why quit our to stand on foreign ground ~
We have in our own borders, within the territorial
limits Of the United States, a work already nearly
complete, which will, if it lie finished, rs i should
be without delay, supersede the necessity or use by
MS (perhaps, also, by European nations having
commerce on the Pacifc) of any one that may be
projected or contemplated at Tehuautepec lake
Nicaragua, or Panama; and which, il embraced
speedily by our government, and improved as il
can be, will prove TO be worth in lime many
thousand millions to the people of this country.
The work | refer to is the Grtai Taiiey, alias the
south, or FIemont's pass, which bisecls the Rocky
mountains in lat. 400 %, north, extending quite
fkr tko,, a n ~