The daily union. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1845-1857, 1846-01-29

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tons Of the globe; and the claim was considered SO
monsrous, that even The Catholic kings Of England and
France refused al the time 10 recognise the authority
Of the Pope TO make any such grant But in view Of
the many difficulties and contentious between ma
tons at war with the objects OF society, growing
out of disputes about the navigation ofryers, where
they drain the country Of more than one peo
pie, il is contended, on principle, that a country
discovering and settling the mouth Of a river, i
entitled TO all the country watered by it, But i
must be borne in mind that this is a controverted
point.
England has attempted to annex, as a condition
necessary to give efficacy to a title by discover,
| and settlement, that il should be made by govern
ment authority. II admitted, il is not seen how i
could benefeally affect her claim. But il is cearI,
| nadmissible Il will not be disputed that, by tn,
recognised law of nations, the Jurisdiction anC
sovereignty Of nation extends over its vessels
both private and national, wherever they may BE-
found and either the or the other going into al
uninhabited country carries the laws and institu.
uons OF the nation TO which they belong with them
IL Is true, unauthorized citizens cannot 20 into an
| uninhabiied country and settle, and impose upon 1
their sovereign, without his consent, the duty o.
protecting il; but he may sanction the act, though
done without his authority, and claim the benef
| of il.
The next source of title is by eonhguiy. The title
by contiguity is the right which nation has Il
exclude all others from territory, the command o.
~
tion, is essential TO the convenience or security o
her real possessions. IL is upon this ground tina
| England refuses TO allow any other nation TO col
| onize the Chatham islands, discovered by her as
| long ago as TIA As she has never attempted to
occupy them, her title by discovery has been
forfeited; and by the lapse of time il is gone
But she maintains that their occupation by any other
would be injurious 10 her settlements in New Tea.
land though at the distance of many hundred miles
Indeed, she goes even further than this, and claims
the whole OF New Holland, simply because ii is
geographically connected with some Of her actual
settlements; and excludes all the other nations from
making others, even though at the distance OF
| thousands of miles off. The last mode is by
treaty This mode Of acquiring title is so generally
acquiesced in, and well defined, that no detail in
reference to It Is necessary. or course, title ac-
quired by this mode is perfect between the parties
Having thus seen what the law Of nations is upon
this subject, let US for moment turn to the facts
| and fortunately they pretty we'll agreed IL is
very clear that Spain first discovered the northwest
coast Of America; that she first entered and nayga-
ted the strait Of Fucs that Perez, Spanard, first
discovered and entered the Nootka sound. This is
the only material fact which is disputed in the late
negotiation. Mr.. Pakenham speaks Of his discove
ry as wanting authenticity; but the authority o
Humboldt establishes il beyond question. He, who
had access to manuscript documents, thus speaks
Perez and his pilot Estevan Martinez e the port Of ssr
Bias the oath January l77 On the 9Th Of August they
anchored the first Of all European naygators in Nootka
road which they called the port Of San Lorenzo and which
Georges sound In the following year q second expedition
from San Bias under the command of Heceta Aga
la and usdra Heeeta discovered the mouth Of the Rio
Columbia called the Entrada de Heceta the Pic OF San
Jscnto Mount Edgecumbe,) Norfolk bay, and the
mans engraved in iTss in the city Of Mexico which gvs
the hearings from Nth degree the 5sh degree
oflsude they were discovered in the expedition Of Qua
dn."
| And that Heceta, Spaniard, first discovered, il
/ l775 the Columbia river. All of these discoveries
were in government ships, and made for national
purposes. All this is admitted by the English.
Little reliance is placed even by the English up
on the discoveries by Drake in 1879, who coas,ed,
| but did not explore,
| In lT78, Captain Cooke, an Englishman, reds-
covered Cape Flattery, the southern entrance oil
the straits Of Fuca In 1883, Captain Berkeley, a
British subject, undr Austrian colors entered the
strait Of Fuca. In 1888, Meares, British subject
carrying Portuguese cotors, formed an establishment al
Nootka sound, erected hut and built vessel
This proceeding excited the jealousy of the viceroy
Of Mexico, who despatched three armed vessels tc
dispace the intruder. This expedition arrived a
Nootka sound on the, 9th of May, 1889; erected Q
fort and, soon after, seized Meares and vessels; sen
some Of his men to Europe by Captain Gray, IN The
Columbia, and the rest 10 San Bias prisoners
This gave rise to the controversy which resulted il
4 the famous Nootka Sound convention, which pro
vides, says our Secretary Of State
by its hr,, and second articles for the restoration
andS and Oh winch
had been dspossessed by the spanards and the pay
ment OF indemnity for the injuries sustained This in
demny paid by SPAIN but sufficient evidence ha
been sdduced that either Nooka sound any other spo
upon the actually surrendered by that
spain continued of Noots sound until 1895
when she voluntarily abandoned the place Since that peri
Cd no ai,smP, has been MADE unless ve,y @ o.
other part Of Vancouvers island II is thus manifest tina
she did not formerly attach much to the exsr
else Of the rights whatever they may have been which sh
had acquired under the Nootka Sound convention"
In 1899 Capt. Vancouver was sent out to the Pa
ciic for the purpose of Witnessing the fuflment o
the treaty, but he refused to receive the place tn
Spanards offered to surrender, he could not credi
that it was the place he had been sent far to re
ceive. (Mearcs had grossly exaggerated the exten
and character of his settlement to promote his owl
views.) Although he had NOT been sent out for tina
purpose yet, finding his mission abortive, he sur
veyed the whole coast up to the straits of Fuca; ant
entered and navgated the waters emptied by them
During the same year, Whitby, one OF Vancou
ver's officers surveyed Bulfnch's harbor, previous
lily entered by the American, Gray. In October o
the same year, Broughten, another Of Vancouver
officers surveyed the Columbia but being unable +
do so in his ship navigaed it for an hundred miles
from its mouth in his boat, which was rowed. 81
much for the English maritime DISCOVERIES.
ain 1887" says an English authority, much re
lied upon, "and the FIVE following years, Captain
Gray" Ia citizen Of the United States, in an Amer
lean vessel, fitted out at Boson) passed and repass
ed along the coast, generally wintering in Nootk
sound; and in 1889 advanced into the strait Of Fuc
further than Meares."
In 1891, Kendrick an American, discovered
second outlet from Nootka sound to the Pacific. Il
May, 1892, Capt Gray discovered Bulfnch's har
Dor; and on the 18th ofMay, 1892, being in scare
of harbor to do some repoirs, he ran into the En-
trada de Heceta--saw an opening in the bar, cross
ed it, and found himself in the river St. Rogue.
sailed up for fifteen miles, took in water, and CON
peted his REPAIRS and then, with much difficulty, 60
D back over the bar into the Pacific. He changed tn
/, name of this river from that of St. Rogue to thu
which it still bears, (the Columbia after his vesse
. As to overland discoveries, the facts are as we
! settled:
''The first who crossed the Rocky mountains s
Alexander Mackenzie then in the service Of the Mort
Company In the year 1898 he crossed them in eho
latitude 81 degrees Frases river descended
for about tw hundred and fifty miles then struck OF in
westerly direction, and reached the Pacific in latitude
degrees 30 minutes In August, $780, Lewis and Clar
for that purpose by the government Of the Unit
states reached the Rocky mountains in about latitude
degrees crossed them, discovered the southern head
er Of the Columbia foated down its stream for about
hundred miles and the 18th Of November, reached
month Hare they built huts remained in them duriT
The winter and in 1906 retuned to the United States
norna in their course many Of the tributaries Of the
sI.l.. 4. onlp ~