Burlington hawk-eye. [volume] (Burlington, Iowa) 1845-185?, 1846-02-26

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g"n questinn to arbitration. Under the
presen, proposition, The powers of the ar.
hitrator would mol. as in his last be lin.
lied in terms 10 The division of The terrific.
~ b.iwren the parties. but would extend
10 the question al their conflicting ti,les.
To this off r which exposes II 10 lhe same
objection. in point Of fact. If no, in firm,
which w,s prominently presented in the
answer of lie undersigned to Mr. Paken-
haM'. last proposal. This condition Is.
~sha. # neither party should be found.
complete llile To tie whole territory.
there should, in ila, case, be assigned to
each that portion Of territory which would.
in The npinion OF the arhilra,iny power. be
called Tor by jus, appreciation Of the re-
specuve claims ts each" IL the govern
men, of the United States should consent
To an arbitration uron such condition,
This might, and probably would be con.
strutd INTO an iMi,ns.inn, if no, 1irec,
invitation. 10 the arbitrator To divide. the
territory between The parties. Were il
possible fsr The President. under, any cir.
cumsisnces. To consent to refer HE subject
10 aiMWa,lon, the tile. and The tile alone,
de,;sc4sed from every other consideration.
is the only question which could be sub
mi,ted. II not confined 10 single point.
50 strong is the natural disposition of ar.
hltraiors To please both parties, that in
almos, every instance. whether Of nation
al or individual controversies. they make
a compromising award. We have mem.
orable example of this in eur last arbitra-
ton with Great Britain. Notwithstanding
that the arbitrator. under ,ae terms of the
SUBMISSION. was clearly and explicitly
confined 10 the decision of which was the
line Ut highlands described in The treaty
OF peace of 1888, yet. instead of pursuing
any range Of highlands whatever. lie adj
vised ,a-: !hc line should run along the
urui vi river, and actually divided the
territory in dispute between the parties BY
",hc middle Of the deepest channel of the
81, Johas."
The undersigned might content himself
in answer TO the presen, proposition, with
a reference To the observations contained
in his last note To Mr. Pakenham, Of the
81 uli. In that, il was plainly intima,ed
not only that there are "oiber conclusive
reasons for declining the proposition"
independently Of one which had been
prominently stated, but i, WAS expressly
asserted as the belief Of the President,
''iha, any attempt 10 refer this question To
IA 'hrd power would only involve it in
new difficulties"
The undersigned will, however, pro-
coed TO slate a single reason. which. apart
from the intrinsic difficulty Of selecting a
suitable arbitrator, as well as other con-
sideralinns that might be adduced. is con.
elusive on the mind of the President.
agaiDs. reference of this question to ar
blra'ion, in any form which can be de-
vised, no matter whalmay be the charac.
ter Of the arbi,ra,or-w whether snver. ign,
citizen, or subject. This reason is, thai,
he does no, believe the territorial rights of
This nation TO be proper subject for srbi-
tration. Ii may be true. that. under pc
culiar circumstances, if the interests at
stake were comparatively small, and if
both parties stood upon an equal footing.
there might be no insnperable objection
10 such course. Blu, what is the extent
Of territory in dispute on the present &C.
casion! |, embraces nearly thirteen de.
grees Of latitude along the north west
coast of the Pa .ihc,and stretches eastward
TO the summit Of the Rocky Mountains.
Within its limits several powerful and
prosperous States of the Union may be
embraced 1t lies contiguous, on this
continent, TO the acknowledged territory
OF IN, United States, and is destined a, no
dis.an, day. to DC reoplrd by cur citizens.
This territory presents the avenue through
which The commerce Of our western
States can be proftably conducted with
Asia and ihe western coasts Of this CONT
nen'; and its ports, the only harbors be.
longing 10 the United States to which our
numerous whalers and other vessels in
that region can resort. And yet. vas, as
are its dimensions, il contains not a single
safe commodinus harbor from its southern
extremity until we approach the 49lh
parallel Of latitude.
Ii is far from the intention Of the un-
dersigned again to open The discussion of
the conflicting claims Of the two powers
to the Oregon territory. 1t is sufficient
Tor him to state the continued conviction
of the President, that the United States
hold the best title in existence to the
whole of This territory. Under this con-
vlciion. he cannot consent TO leopard for
his country all the great interests involved
and by any possibility, however remote.
10 deprive the republic of all the good
harbors on ile coast, by referring the
question 10 arbitration
Neither is the territory in dispute of
equal, or nearly equal valne to the Two
powers. Whilst il is invaluable TO the
Uniled States il is Of comparatively SIN all
importance to Great Britain. TO her,
Oregon would be but distant colonial
possession of doubtful value; and which
from the natural progress Of human events
she would not probably long enough en-.
Joy To derive from i, essential benefits:
whilst To the United States it would be
come an integral and essential portion of
lie republic. The gain to Grea, Britain
H. ,youll never xepsiblv fool. ,chts, H.