The daily union. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1845-1857, 1846-03-12
THE DAILY UNION.

at least as Englishmen were concerned, an un-
PeoPled wilderness The French, then in posses-
sion Of Canada and Louisiana, were not SO indAer-
ent as their negobors TO the beauties Of this earthly
paradise, They explored the lakes and the rivers
that fall into them, descended the Ohio aad Missis
sippi and gradually formed settlements upon their
borders and in other portions Oft the country. How
did the British government regard these proceed
ingS' Did they say to France "You are quite right
IN all this. We aware that the establishment Of
line of colonies along the coast gives title TO
the UNEMPLOYED and unoccupisd regions beyond the
mountains. The principle Of conuguity cannot fair
ly be applied to this immense territory. Go on,
then, as fast as you will, and do your best to make
the wilderness blossom like rose" Was this the
language Of Great Britain Quite the contrary.
Great Britain, IN the first place. in granting the char
ters already alluded to- claimed the whole breadth of
the continent as AN appendage TO nothing before
she had subject or a sentinel, even, on the coast
Whether she was serious or not in this pretension,
is mmaterial to the present purpose; but when the
French began TO form settlements in the valley Of
the Mississippi, 1t is certain that she put forward
very serious claim to that valley, an appendage
TO her colonies on the coast and finding other argu
ments Of no avail, sustained, and finally enforced
this claim by the fatal ultima ratio the discussion
being managed by the great Chatham, who showed
himself master in this kind Of logic. The eele-
brated struggle, commonly called in this country
the old French war, and the war of 1856, which
desolated Eurspe and America for seven years in
succession, grew entirely out OF this affair It ter.
minated, as we need not say, in the complete esab-
llshment Of the British claim and the expulsion of
the French, not only from the valley Of the Misss-
slppi, but from tho whole American continent By
tho treaties concluded at Paris twenty years after
wards, which closed the war or revelation. and
in which all the powers Of Europe took part, the
same application Of the principle Of contiguity was
again allowed and the valley Of ths Mississippi was
recognised portion of the territory Of the United
States, although then, as before, there was not
single permanent English settlement beyond the
mountains.
Now we beg leave to ask in good faith, and with
an anxious desire to receive satisfactory answer
from anybody who is able to give one, in what re-
spect the we have now described, and that
of the original Spanish title to jurisdiction over the
vacant territory stretching indefinitely to the north
and west of the kingdoms of New Spain and New
Mexico, and including the present Oregon, essen
TALLY differ Is the valley of the Mississippi less
extensive than this territory We know that it is
far more extensive, and for the purposes Of cultiva-
ton and settlement, far more valuable. Were the
Spanish colonies-to which the vacant northwestern
territory was claimed as an appendage-less impor-
tant than those which gave TO England the right of
stretching her domain a still unbroken wilder
ness from the mountains .to the Mississippi We
know again, that at that period all the British set
dement's, taken together, scarcely equal in pop
uation, wealth, or political importance to the single
city of Mexico. Is there any other circumstance
that does or ought create difference between the
two cases. We are not aware that any one has
ever been mentioned.
Why, then, should England, by denying the
right Of Spain to the unoccupied territory northwest
OF New Spain and New Mexico, repudiate the glo-
ries Of Wofe and Chatham, and load her conscience
with the unnecessary responsibility for seven long
years Of carnage and plumber Why should
our own statesmen, by treating the Spanish title as
an "absurd and ridiculous" pretension, invalidate
the rights nobly asserted by their forefahers, in
connexion win those OF our British klnsmen, left
them century ago, and which lie at the foundation
of the whole fabric of national greatness' If the
view which have taken of the Spanish title be
correct, 1t must be regarded perfect i.np-ss
nable, excepting SO far as it may have been preju-
diced by the act Of Spain herself. Any title, however
clear, may undoubtedly be qualified entirely de-
stroyed by voluntary concession and it is commended
by the advocates Of the British pretensions in Ore
gon, that the claim Of Spain exclusive sovereignty
over that region, abandoned and lost forever by
the effect Of the Nootka convention. We shall sub
nit few remarks upon this branch Of the subject
in another paper.