The daily union. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1845-1857, 1846-01-30


ter all her acts OF bad faith, refuse to act until tn
provision in il providing for notice shall have beef
complied with Sir, Insist that her bad faith, Il
relation to the treaty, has released this goserumen
from oil obligation 10 observe the provisions Of tina
convention, and that II Is vrtusy sbrogaied by III,
course Of that government; and that having, on H.
part Of this government, no means OF enforcing IL
provisions peaceably, liberty 10 proceed /.
the full occupation Of the whole country now
1 AT the last session Of Congress, whom the ques
iion Of notice came up in connexon with this sub
| lect, the democratic members, including myself
from the West and South, with scarcely an excep
tion voted against the notice, for reasons that wer
then satisfactory. My opinion has undergone n,
change. But as am here 10 represent the opinions
OF my constituents which TO some extent hay,
been recently expressedj and az the President (fo
whose opinion have high regard) has recon
fnended Il in his message as necessary 70 dscharg,
what he eoheslSes ID Be conventional obligations
and as such course may better answer pubic ezpec
tauon, and the expectations of other nations thar
the policy believe TO be right, shall waive my
individual opinion, and sustain the notice by my
Vote, believing that Il cannot be objected TO by
Great Britain, having assented, she did, TO the
provision IN the convention that requires il.
The notice IL not per Sc, declaration OF war; but
on the contrary, was designed, when provided for
as a means Of preventing IT, And if the British gov.
eminent shall think proper, after the time provided
for by the notice expires TO hold on, through her
4
ing on our rights in violation Of the spirit and terms
Of the convention Of 1918, she by that course will
be the aggressor and the consequences that may re-
suit from this course on her patt mdst rest Upon
her. IL she reaists our taking possession at the
expiration Of twelve months she would now, UNI
less i would be such seryile possession as would
be Of no use TO Us. As | remarked before, I am
willing TO take the responsibility now Of taking pos
session. or at the expiration Of twelve months; but
possession will and must be taken Of the country,
regardless Of all consequences, at the time
that shall be fixed upon by this government If rea-
son fails, then the strongest OF All arguments
must snsue-physeal power. cannot, however,
with due reference to the opinions Of Others, see
what there could be in any phase this question
might assume, that could justify Great Britain in
embroiling herself in war, that would begin with
US, but end in one with all her neighbors What
can she expect to gain in territory on this continent,
or In commereeS She must lose in both. Why,
If she could even hold Oregon by il, il would be a
short lease, for which to surrender Canada. In
deed, she cannot hold Oregon causes both moral
and physical forbid H. separated as 1t Is by twenty
thousand lrs Of ocean from the centfe of her pow
err and strong though that power be, yet the gov.
eminent cannot impart its vigor through line of
such vast extent, to any colonial form Of govern
ient that she might create give il power or
resPectabity OF energy enough TO resist the popu-
lar, moral, and political influences that now exist
there, and which the proximity Of the territory to
ours would facilitate and increase.
Sir, England has only to cast her phlosophic
eye back half a century upon the history Of the
progress Of population here, to satisfy her. il
seems TO me, that any hope Of permanent foot
hold in Oregon is chmerieal. In 1900, our popu-
ation was about four and half millions, and Il is
now I'm l646) about twenty MISUNDERSTANDING
an increase Of upwards of three per cent per an
mum, compounded, upon the population Of 1900.
This ratio Of increase applied to the twenty mil
lions Tor the next twenty years, will give US more
than thiry-hve millions of people. This ratio up
on the population of 1900 has filed the country
east of the Aleghanies, and thrown from six to
eight millions Of people beyond it into the valley
Of the Mississippi in forty-fve years. Now, what
power on earth can stay the tide of increase upon
twenty millions from sweeping over the Rocky
mountains and on to the shores of the Pacific !
Its current is daily increasing and spreading itself
over greater and greater surface, and such will be
the momentum impaired to il by few years of
tte that 1t must spread itself over the whole coun.
try within the geographical limits of North Amcri-
ca. 10 this view of the subject, can it be possible
that England, to attain an object against the proba-
bilities of which there so many unconquerable rea-
sons, will sacrifice the large profits her citizens de-
rive from the manufacture Of cotton and dry I'D one
OF the most active and extensive sources of her COM
merce, as well as of employment and of support to
| thousands Of her subccts' Will she leopard her
commerce, from which she derives all her wealth.
And more: will she hazard the existence of her
monarchy, whose foundations have beneath them
elements of combustion that will ignite and explode
upon the falling of the first spark that is stricken by
the blow of her sword from the helmet or shield Of
her antagonist, and entomb her greatness beneath the
RUNS Of the catastrophe? Sir, may be the destiny
that fate has assigned her. but nothing less could
account for her folly and her weakness But sup
pose she determines on war, as her naughty spirit
may dictate after our course shall have been taken
on this subject are her circumstances such as place
her in condition that should inspire us with fear
hat N aho haas ne Il
ty-three regiments, containing $4,000 men, LAS
her Army Register of 1874 shows;) of that number
sixty-three regiments are required to keep in sub
lection her starving people at home; thy-three to
watch OConnell and his 1000 repealers in Ire
land twentythree to protect the patriots from over
throwing her power in the Canadas; thirteen are
stationed at Gibraltar, nine in the Ionian Islands,
two in lnda--and they the only regiments that have
ever been in battle of the whole of her present ar
my; the balance in Bermuda, Jamaica, Australia,
and Chusan These regiments are all needed at
those points, indeed their presence is indispensab
to the security of her possessions at each and all of
them, and she could not without great hazard with
draw at any time more than five of them to add to
her strength in Canada. II is true that our army is
small-perhsps eight thousand men in service; but
what are our resources in citizen soldiers2 SIR if
an exigency should arise, have three millions of
citizen soldiers that would be ready to defend the
honor Of the country and rights from the attack
Of an enemy. We would be stationed upon our
own soil amid plenty, whilst she would have to
transport her men and provisions here at an enor-
nous expense TO meet in battle array. Her
navy, too, that would be available to her in such
a contest, would not exceed eighty ships, and
many of them of an inferior grade. On the other
hand, with the vessels now complete and those that
are nearly so, we could in short time put to sea
war-vesscs equal in number, superior in size, and
carrying more guns. The large and splendid
merchant vessels and whale ships, amounting to
hive or SIX hundred, could be procured at once
by this government, mounted with guns, and
many Of them with steam-engines, and put
into effective service in few weeks; and be-
sides these, there at least fourteen hundred
steamboats,, of various dimensions, that could be
most effectively employed in our horbors, bays, and
at the mouths Of rivers. The British feet like
her army, is parcellcd out around the globe to pro-
tect her interests, and cannot be withdrawn without
imminent hazard Of loss at the points from which
taken. see no cause in all this for trepidaon; we
have met her before on sea and on land, under cir
cumstances much less suspicious, and cut out with
our swords an undying fame. Our gallant navy,
though SMALL carried the American eagle in triumph
through the seas to battle his wing in ibertys sun
light while he, in his inward fljght bore awev the