The daily union. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1845-1857, 1846-03-09


repeal and liberty and il SO, will not our enemy ie,
the necessity OF exerting his greatest strength a
home ! would avert war by every proper pre
caution--by every honorable means but IL II mus
come as the consequence of lawful assertion O
our rights, then let II come. In the language Of
great figure of the French revolution | will say 1,
Americans, az he said to Frenehmen: Gus, mes
sleurs, one cry BELTS; TO arms Let -7msrieaas, a
with the throat Of the whirlwind, sound only {,
arms 7"
| | regret, Mr. Chairman, that a spirit ofc rimins
lion has grown IN the progress Of this debate. Upoi
this, az upon all other great questions of state, mel
are prone, and have right, 10 differ. The ofic'
Of craftsmanship is not TO aggrayate these difference
but TO remedy them. In the legitimate field o
debate, the conflict of mind may correct error anS
elicit truth but in the Of political gladiaton
Il can scarcely achieve any other reward than ID,
selai Of the bravo and tho raneOr Of an enemy. Le
the opponents Of this measure, therefore, forbeai
unkind illusions and especially let its friends con
hne themselves TO the use Of that weapon which Is
mighty and will Prsv-iI-s...sh as,nipote,f ruth
As member OF this body coming from TIE
Great West, l voted for the anne xation of Texas
the MODIFICATION OF the present oppressive and un-
just tariff, and fol the rule Of the House which ex.
| ciuded petitions praying an unlawful interference
with the institutions Of the slave-holding States
voted for these measures upon their merits and
from conviction Of duty. If now there are gen
temen, from the South or elsewhere, who cannot 20
|
because they feel themselves restrained by sense
fduty. IL we cannot agree upon the measure
under consideration, let US agree TO disagree When
the hrs blast Of the war-trumpet shall be heard re-
sounding over the broad face Of our country, then
there viii be no longer disagreement. The North
| and the South, the East and the West, will crowd
TO the field Of danger the knights Of the tourna
ment, proud and emulous Of each others achieve.
ments and glory.
am utterly and inexorably opposed, Mr.. Chair
man, 10 any compromise which surrenders in any
way or TO any foreign people, territory the south
OF 81 4V. have arisen 10 resist this project OF
session at 49o, pontedly and especially. oppose
II, first, because II would be weak surrender Of
clearly-ascertained right and a bad compromise
Of honor--a double blunder, which clips our ma
uonhl power, and taints our national fame because
II casts from one.hnlf-that half which gives TO
Oregon all its great yalue because it emasculates
Oregon in the sight and for the benefit of our rival
pulls us down to build up our arrogant adversary;
because II discovers from US, in incon sderate evity
the great islands of Vancouver and Washington,
(the latter worthy Of its name,) the very keys Of
the Pacific, CASTS them away with their grand for
ests their Vulnerable harbors, their unparalleled
fisheries, and commanding position. And with all
these advantages, do we voluntarily bedeck our
rival; with these, too, 60 the innumerable islands
which mask the coast and the bays, harbors, and
lnlets, which indent it. Thus, too, with browning
folly, do we leave ourselves shorn Of every harbor
h OitSOHp saNHk OptHlis VI inc SOlumDId,
itself rendered valueless by the surrender Of the
maritime region which commands it.
Commercially, indeed, by such concession, we
voluntarily decapitate ourselves upon the Pacific
sesboard; we lose that portion Of Oregon which
bears the relation TO the Pacific, in furnishing
a commercial marine upon that ocean, which New
England now bears upon the Atlantic. The Amer
lean marine which traverses the Atlantic to and
fro, is owned and navigated by the people of New
England. The American or British marine, which
will whiten the Pacific, and carry direct trade to
Asia, Polynesia, and south to the Atlantic capes
will be built owned, and navigated by a similar
people. who shall dwell north or the 49th parallel
This must naturally come to pass because the har-
bors, bays, timber, and material, to give existence
to marine, exist there in combination; and there,
too, are the fisheries which nurse seamen. More
over, II Is upon this line Of coast that the natural
passes and avenues from the interior valleys Of the
continent, descending by the great branches Of the
Columbia, debouche upon the western seaboard.
Thus do the geographical positions, topography Of
the country the climate, the concentration there Of
the various elements. of maritime DEVELOPMENT,
unite to eXat the significant value of Tho northern
half Of Oregon. The contest for the possession of
this territory by the two great commercial rivals
OF the age is again the struggle for the "golden
fleece" commenced in Argonautic times transferred
in our day from the Bosphorus and Euxine to that
belt of territory which links together the valley of
the Mississippi and the Pacific ocean-the western
world with the golden Orient. To the nautical peo-
pie, whose flag floats maritime Oregon and
wings its way thence over every wave in innumera-
BILE ships, must caent, agricultural California and
Mexico pay the Cochian tribute which pours from
a rural people into the lap of commerce. Why
then, disintegrate this budding Of vine
yard1 Have we nursed it so long only to throw its
ripening fruit to domneering ste mother But
the peace OF the nation 1t is alleged, is in danger
How? Does the tame surrender of Vuncouver's
island, which commands the Columbia; of Wash
ngton island and the intermediate coasts which en-
velop Vancouver itself; of the controlling keys to
western America, to England Does the planting of
the lion in the very Thermopyle Of our empire to
choke path and stop short our destiny; How
Is it by such degrading acts Of concession that we
to release the republic from jeopardy and insure
permanent peace' No, sir; on the contrary, such
sicky submission, such degrading concessions, will
provoke war-will be likely to plunge US into the
Jaws of defeat, and set an arbitrary, Jealous,
and rapacious rival; for is this character of
Great Britain Such some of the prodigious ad-
vantages which this debated captuaton at 49o sur
render to rival; and such the contingent, if not
the probable, catastrophe in which it would leave
our republic and people.
But 1t is not by thus establishing rival power
in impregnable control of our western seaboard--
by throwing away from our people the INFINITE
markets of the Pacific and its extensive commerce
that the series of disasters is closed; these foes
will generate new dangers which must follow them.
Great Britain already owns eight provinces upon
this continent, containing 2S00,0 900 square miles.
The area of the United States including Texas
and all Oregon, does not exceed 2,3ls,0OO square
miles, $4,000 less than the present British terri
tory upon this continent! The provinces of New
Brunswick and the two Canadas, coterminous with
the territory of the United States, envelop us
from the Gulf of ST. Lawrence to the north western
lakes and thence onward, in part by the 49th par
allel, to the Rocky mountains. Through this ex-
tent of country Great Britain has pushed cordons
of posts, fortified in strength and equipped for de-
fensive or aggressive measures. Over the residue
is planted the systematic military corporation of
the Hudson Bay, whose trading positions, loca-
ted with fautess judgment, dot the whole with
military stations, close ii from the rest Of mankind
and draw from it immense revenues by the strin-
gent discipline and admirable economy and silence
of their operations. Such is our present geo.
graphical relations upon the north and west. Is il
not fatal blunder thus to weaken ourselves and
strengthen and embolden our enemy The dan
gers which impend over us upon this immense
front have been demonstrated in the events Of the
last war In that war, without ship canals to adj
NIT her war-sesmers into our inland seas, England
destroyed Oswego, burned Buffalo, by her savage
I'M 81 h., De- "A