The daily union., 1846-09-30
into contempt" This text requires no com

Il hr President, the general quesuon ol our u,o " ~
| Oregon has been discussed and exhausted ~ pou
| houses of Congress- recently and formerly. 10 m
| troduce II upon this occasion would be equaliy uh'
| necessary and Improbable. | shall undertake no
such work of supeferogation. did not intend even
| 10 allude 10 what passed in this body, during he
progress Of this subject, and shall do SO now, no
farther than is necessary, borrowing an expression
from the senator from Missouri, 10 Tttnops from Hly
path certain hs bits e Rubbish iehieh haze been hrot5
there. l shall do that, as gently as may he.
| said sometime since sir, and repeat the sentl-
ment now, that The terms of the settlement OF this
/ question with England was subject upon which
we might reasonably differ without elimination or
recrimination. Those who believe that our title To
all Oregon is so "clear and unique sonabe" that no
portion of il ought to be renquished may well con-
lend for its whole extent and risk the consequences
Those, on the contrary, who consider our claim in
yoved in reasonable doubt may well consent TO re-
| strict il within narrower bounds, and TO establish a
line Of compromise between the two nations. All
this is fair and reasonable. But there is another
view pressed with great peIlinacity, and with which
cannot concur. IL, in the first place, exhibits the
parallel Of ago the line OF right and of fight giy-
ing all that any administration ever asked before,
and all we ought TO have; and then assumes that
the terms Of this treaty secure 10 us this parallel,
and that htreuih us ought not ont 10 be content but
proud Of our These 10 Pedns the httis
bis Of rubbish which, though they do not obstrueI
my PATH sull annoy me, and which | must TsmOrs
of 49o, and Was offered a compromise, the result
| II mutual concession, though could not concur m
| the sentiment, still should discharge my duty by
silent negative vote. But, la my opinion, there II
10 occasion for graduation or national laudatnD,
though we had achieved a conquest; and lhlnkine
| 90, | shall say so, and shall say Il plainy.
The senator from Missouri is highly content with
this arrangement and says The first article, :" lha
which establishes the boundary, lis in the very
words, which myself would have used, # The two
governments had left II to me to draw the boundary
between them" "Fory-nine is the line OF nghI
and Of mutual convenience between the two powers,
| offered by US since the time of Mr.. Jefferson and
wonderfully adapted TO the natural divisions OF the
country and the actual possessions of the two par
ues" "Mr. Jefferson offered this line in its whole
extent in 1907; MIR. Monroe made The same offer In
1918; Mr. Adams offered il in 1926 Mr.. Tyler in
l642, and Mr.. Polk in l6i5 and by oil except the
line Of right" at Is a maTyeously prop
n line, and does great honor To the dseernment or
illustrates the good fortune Of the French and British
commissioners under the treaty of Utrecht, by whom
It was 30 long ago established"
am not gong To dig up the treaty Of Utrecht
from its quiet archaeological grave. leave il
alone with it's glory" It's day has passed by. Il
s an obsolete idea. Not even the senator from Mis-
'ouri, with his great powers, can breathe into that
y-gone work, the breath of life. But it oIher-
wise, and the parallel of 49o established by the
reaty Of Utrecht, what justification could we have
for entertaining this PROFIT for receiving III
" England and the Unred States, through France,
whose title we hold fixed that parallel as the boun-
larry Of their possessions, extending TO the Western
ocean, what is this government negotiating about,
and what is this Senate discussing The demand
by England Of Zone inch acre" south Of that line
would be dishonest, as il would be arrogant not
| to say impudentj and our submission would brand
| us with everlasting disgrace We have got her
bond assigned TO US by France, and her bond is all
shall have, If we yield to her present pretensrons
i haiti, .T
Of Utrecht with its ''marrslIOusiy proper line" II
| this assumption be true, the two governments have
| been playing most unworthy part before the world
| for half century. Unworthy of the one, which in
effect denies its own solemn compact and disregards
II; coolly demanding large slice Of the territory, i,
has acknowledged to be ours; and of the other
which receives the demand with equal coolness, and
prepares TO yield to il.
But, sir, bad this claim is, is not so bad as
| that. The country now knows, that no line west
of the Rocky mountains established under the
treaty of Utrecht, and that in fact, no such line
could have been established.
1t knows, that the stpuations of that treaty ex-
tended only to the French and English colonies.
Ii knows, that the country on the northwest
coast was then in effect, unknown and unclaimed
or if claimed at all, it was by Spain.
| 1t knows, that in the statemen. of the British
| claim by the British negotators, this treaty OF
Utrecht was never once alluded to, and that the
| voyage Of Capt. Cook, in l77S was urged by them
| as the origin Of their title.
1t knows, that the recognition of the Spanish
| title in 1870, by Great Britain, under the Nootka
Sound convention, was utterly inconsistent with the
notion Of division of that region between France
| and England, three-fourhs of century before
1t knows, that if such line had been thus estab-
lished, better evidence Of the fact ought to be pro-
| duced than loose and contradictory assertions OF
obscure authors; not one Of whom wrote contempo-
rancously with the alleged Transaction and not ont
| efphom when carefully examined, asserts that O
line was established, under the treaty of Utrecht as
la boundary between the English and French DOS.
| sessions from the Atlantic to the northwest ocean
upon the parallel Of 49o. Better evidence than Is
| furnished by the collections of Mr.. Kennedy the
recollectons of Mr.. Pitkin, the communications O.
Col. Pickering, or post prandium conversations a
the table of Mr.. Jefferson.
| 1t knows and feels that the task of proving III,
establishment Of this line devolves upon those who
would limit their country's claims by it; and tha
nothing but an authenticated copy of the proceed
| iDgs of the commissioners, from the archives a
London or Paris should be received as evidence o,
entitled even to the slightest consideration.
So much for the treaty of Utrecht and for the
line, which was not established under it,
But unfortunately the terms of this treaty do not
give us the parallel of ago for a boundary And
therefore it cannot give what the senator from
Missouri says was line of right; offered by all pre-
ceding administrations. A line Of right offered as sucI
by all preceding administrations! ln its whole ex
tent by Mr.. Jefferson Ofthis fact, as no proof is
furnished, may be permitted to remove it out OF
the way. know of no document or even conpersa
tton, which shows, that such an offer was ever
made But we have an authentic paper which
proves that Mr.. Jefferson did not and would moi
make such an offer, and that he rejected conven.
ton formed with England, because it alluded to
rights ofthe United States and of that country wes
of the Rocky mountains, and seemed to assert thei,
existence by necessary implication "Howeve,
reasonable" said Mr. Madison in a despatch tc
Messrs. Monroe and Pinckney, dated July, 1907
'our claims may be-" that is, "our'' claims aor
the continent of America, beyond the Stony
mountains, in the words of the rejected convention
compared with those Of Others" (evdently mean
ing England) ait is impotc, especially at the pres
ent moment, to strengthen Spanish jealousy of tn,
United Stotes, which il is probably an object O
England to excite by the clause in question:
So much for The offer c this line in lis ,chos eaten
by Mr. Jtftrson. a
But whatever offer was made, it was not only ar
offer east of the Rocky mountains, but il was made
as il now perfectly understood, when some obscur,
authorities had induced the presumption, not the be
lief, for Mr. Madison clearly expressed his doubt,
nf, ha;r hat ,.J