The North-Carolina standard., 1846-03-04

Nor can the consideration lnaL one ol lneSe tel-
ritorics is to be the abode of freemsn only, whilst
the other is to be pcopled in part by slaves, be
allowed to have any influence whatever on my
mind in bringing it to conclusion as TO the course
ought to pursue on great question OF national
rights Nor do look TO that balance Of power
which has been too frequently adverted to in this
House and throughout the country, between the
slaveholdng and non-slaveholding States OF this
republic, as necessary for the protection and Sc
curity of the peculiar institutions OF the South
These depend for their present support upon the
concessions on that subject which are to be found
in the constitution of the United States, and with
out which that instrument could not have been "a
lhfed and they depend for their future support
upon the of justice on that subject which can
alone preserve and perpetuate that instrument.
When these shall cease to operate, little is to be
expected from it. 1t is worse than idle to place
any reliance whatever mere abstract balance
| of power founded on numbers, on whichsoeVer
i side the preponderance may be. When they
shall cease to operate, the balance of power by
which those institutions are to be supported Will
be one not founded on numbers, but on might
the success of which will depend much more on
the Justice of the cause in which 1t is to be exer
ted-lo wit the maintenance of our just rights
than on any mere seeming superiority based on
maiorities This is the view in which the two
cases present themselves to my mind; and view
ing them in that light, 1 cannot but say that my
zeal for Oregon is at least equal 10 what II was for
Texas 1 repeat it, therefore, what seeming fick-
leness at one time 10 peril the peace of the country
in order to acquire territory, and at another time
hesitate for fear of encountering the dreaded pow
er of another nation assert and prepare to vim
dictate our Just and manifest rights-our clear and
indisputable title to the Oregon territory! But
the gentleman from Tennessee MIR. Ewingl de-
nies that our right TO any portion of that territory
can, with any propriety whatever, be pronounced
clear and indsputabe. The title to any OF II IS,
lin his estimation, doubtful and this doubt he at
tributes to the e2uncertanty-not to say unsound-
ness-of the principles by which we lay claim to
the country, when tested by any known and ac-
knowIedged principles of International law The
gentleman alleges for instance, thai
l. 1t is doubtful, under the law of nations,
whether the discovery of the mouth of a river
gives a right TO the territory drained by It.
g. Il is doubtful under tie same laws, whether
discoverya vail anything without speedy settlement.
g. 1t is doubtful whether both discovery and
E settlement give title to nation, unless made un
. der government authority.
He also asserts that it is doubtful, under the
law of nations, whether war extinguishes or puts
, an end TO treaty of the nature of the Noolka
convention.
It NAV perhaps be true, sir, that not only the
;, PRINCIPLES Ilaid down by the honorable member
but that all other questions which require for hei
. solution a reference to the law of nations, may
without any very great improperly OF language
be set down as doubtful and uncertain. And this
doubt is owing to the various interpretations and
applications which those laws have received by
ldiferent nations, and even by the same nation a
. different times, and also to the absence of some
: thing in the nature of judicial tribunal to adju
: idicate and settle them. 1t must however, bt
J borne in mind that this present controversy i:
! with Great Britain; and if she by her past con
duct has given special Interpretation to certain
principles of international law, 1t is but fair anc
. proper that we hold her to that construction anc
if that Interpretation when PROPERLY applied 10 th
case shall give the Oregon territory, it certain
Iy cannot be Regarded as very great departure
. from proprictv of language if when speaking tC
her we should assert that our title to that country
] is "clcar and unquestionable" Now, 1 woult
q ask. if her manner of acquiring territorial rights
ON the Atlantic side of this continent has not giver
certainty if not existence to the doctrine that th
, discovery of the mouth of a river, followed vi
;, within a reasonable time by settlement, gave he
title not only 10 the whole country watered BY
1.-The principal river, but also that which was wa
TERED by lis various tributaries? And by the skill
fuI con- junction of the right by continuity 10 tha
conferred by dcovery and settlement, would asl
y the honorable gentleman if she did not extend he
- possessions far beyond the most distant sources
+ both of the principal rivers and their ributarics
r if she did not push them even beyond the ALLIE
obanv mountains and limit them only in thei
western extension by the great Mississippi river
n The sincerity of Great Britain in giving this in
terpretation 10 the laws of nations cannot be ques
:, toned, because in 1850 she went TO war witt
, France to maintain IT, She was not only willing
. 10 risk her character before the world as fai
and lust Interpreter Of those laws, but for the main
, ltenance of her construction she was willing AM
- did expcnd millions of money, and sacri6ce
r. thousands Of the lives of her subjects Give US
~ then as respects the Oregon territory. the right
:, to the same extent which discovery and settlement
- have conferred upon Great Britain in the easter
> part of this North American continent-and t
- This let us add the lights which continuity woul
e give US, regulated by her owE practice-and ou
~ title is complete Discovery and settlement woul
"A give US title to the whole country watered by tn
- Columbia and its tributaries, extending from tn
42d degree of north latitude, and bounded on tn
., east throughout its whole extent by the Rock
10 mountains and on the west by the Pacific until
- reached the mouth of Frazer's liver in latitude
N 40 deg, when it would run along the highland
4 which separate the waters of the Columbia an
A. Frazer river valleys up to Sd deg 40 min. Civ
~ ~, MS then, the benefit of conlnuty-let it opera
~ in our behalf with only half the vitality and
~ fciencv with which it worked out territory f
~ ~ Great Britain on this our own continent, and W
- take in Frazer river valley, and become at ont
n united to the Pacific And, sir, if there W;
~ ~ q country in which the doctrine of contnu
10 would operate in the extension OF territorial ighl
= the upper part of this Oregon valley is plain
"e 1 and emphaticalIy one The very reason and o
Vi L.. IL hat ne0nIe II