Carroll free press. [volume] (Carrollton [Ohio]) 1834-1861, 1846-02-27


although they may irilate Great Britain,
they cannot control the acts Of her Gov.
ernment. The British Government will
do whatever il may think proper; hut FOR
thr consequences that may ensue it viii te
alone responsible. Should TIE abroeaiion
Of the convention on her par, be followed
5y aggressive measures; should she as
sumo exclusive possession over Oregon or
any part OF il, as it is now propo-ed that the
United States should do, America will
then be placed in defensive position; the
war, II any should ensue, will be one un-
provoked by her, war purely of defence,
which will he no! only sustained, but sup
ported by the unanimous voice of the ma.
tion. We may, however, lie permitted to
examine what motive could impeI Eng.
land, whatinteresl she might have, either
in annuIiing the convention or in adopt.
ing aggressive measures.
When it is recommended that the Uni-
ted States should give notice Of the ahro-
cation Of the convention, it is with the a.
vowed object of adopting measures forbid
den by the convention, md which Great
ir,,in has uniformly declared she would
resist. But, according to the view of the
subject uniformly taken by her, from the
first time she asserted the rights she claims
u this day, the simple abrogaiion Of her
convention with the United States will
produce no effects whatever on the rights,
relations, and position Of the two Powers
Great Eritain, from the date at least OF
Cooks third voyage, and prior to the Moot.
ka convention, did deny the exclusive
claim OF Spain, and assert that her su jects
had, in common with those of other States
the right freely to trade with the natives
and to settle in any part Of the Northwes-
tern coast of America, not already occu-
pied by the subjects Of Spain. The Nootka
convention was nothing more than the ac.
quiescence, on the part of Spain, in the
claims thus asserted by Great Britain, lcav,
ting the sovereignty in aheyance. Al,
the convention between the United Statet
and Great Britain is nothing more or less
than temporary recognition of the sane
principle, so far as the two parties are con.
cerned. England bad, prior to that cor.
vention, fully admitted that the United
States possessed the same rights as were
claimed by her. The abrogation of the
convention by her will leave those rights
precisely in the samc situation as they now
stand, and as they stood prior to the con-
vention. 1t cannot therefore he perceived
what possible benefit could accrue to Great
Britain from her abrogation Of that nstru-
ment; unless discarding all her former de.
cIarations, denying all that she has asser-
ted for more than sixty years, reuacing
her admission Of the equal rights of the
United States to trade, to occupy, and to
make settlements in any part of the conn
try she should, without cause or pretext,
assume, as is now threatened on the part
Of The United States, exclusive sovereign
ty over the whole or part of the territory.
1t may be permitted to believe that the
British Government entertains no such in
tenton.
1t may also be observed that England
has heretofore pvinced no disposition
whatever to coIonlze the territory in ques-
ton. She has, indeed, declared most ex-
pllcitly her determination to protect the
British interests that had been created by
British enterprise and capital III that quar-.
ter But, by giving monopoly OF the fur
trade to the Hudson Bay Company, she has
virtually arrested private efforts on the part
OF British subjects. Her Government has
been in every other respect altogether in
active, and apparently careless about the
ultimate fate of Oregon. The country has
been open to her enterprise at least fifty
years; and there are no other British settle
ments or interests within its limits than
those vested in or connected with the Hud-
son Bay Company. Whether the British
Government will hereafter make any effort
towards that object cannot be known; but
rs long as this right to colonize Oregon
'haII remain common TO both Powers. the
United States have nothing to apprehend
rom the competition.
The negotiations on that subject between
he two Governments have been carried
IN, on both sides, with perfect candor
The views and intentions Of both parties
we're mutually communicated without re-
serve. The conviction on the part of A.
nerica that the country must ultimately