Weekly national intelligencer. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1841-1869, 1846-05-23

ing place from Noahs ark This must seem little strange
TO British statesmen, who do not grow fast leave all
and his cabnehe President and cabinet who acquired the
Spanish title under which propose squeeze them
out OF the contnenacuay offered them degrees of a
ude IN that very place and they will certainly
Tor this much compression now where we offered them
much expansion then. These cannot BIO given.
There is no boundary $40 40 and far proposed
to make it for the British, and for ourselves,
and SO ends this redoubabe line up to which all pai
OTIS to march and marching fight and fighting die
If need be singing all the while, with Horace
" Dnice et decorm pro bat,ls no,i'
iSseeef and decent AZ IS 10 die TOR ones country.
And this is the end of that great line all gonevanish-
edevaporated into thin airand the place where
to be found Oh mountain that delivered Of mousse
thy name shall henceforh be- fifty -four forty And thus
Mr. President, trust have exploded one Of the errors into
which the public mind has been led and which
to get rid Of before find the right place for our
gon boundaries.
proceed to another Of the famythc dogma of the
unity and ndvsbily Of the Oregon title, and its resulting
coroary Of all II is assumed by the " friends of
Oregon to be all title all the way from 420 up $40
40no break in ii and consequently sailor none il the
only logical solution which claim to il receive Well
this may be brave and patriotic but is il wise and true And
can we, with clear conscences and without regard
quences pass law upon that principle, and send agents
there to execute 1t These the questions which present
themselves to my mind, and in answering which wish to
keep before my eyes the first half of the great axask
nothing but achGt right answer then that il is not
true that title to what is called all Oregon one but
several that 1t consists Of parts and good part and
bad for part and that nothing just be detenn
ed In relation to It without separating these parts into their
proper divisions and giving to each division the separate
sderaon and Judgment which belongs to it. Thus the title
to the Columbia river and its valley complete before the
claim to Frazers river and its valley began and the claim
to the islands and coasts rests upon different facts and
different principle of national law, from that which applies
the continent.
The title the Columbia river and its valley rests upon
discovery and settlement and complete before acqu
stion Of the Spanish title in 1919. The claim Frazers
river and its valley, and the and islands in front Of
IT. began 1872 and upon the discoveries of Spanish
navgators and of these discoveries the islands and the
unent have very different degrees of evidence exhibit
mention these differences Of title facts well known
require documents TO prove hem and the bare statement Of
which should be sufficient to explode the dogma of the unity
and indivisiblity of the Oregon title 1t is not sal one
title 1t Is not good for all or none" 1t unity
here are breaks and these breaks sufficiently large
to cover large geographical divisions of the couRy and re-
qure separate consideration and judgment That consdera
ton will be given at the proper place at present limit my
self to the correction Of the error widely spread over the
public mind, that the Oregon title all title from 400
to $40 40
the line of Utrecht the existence of which is de-
MED upon this floor by Senators whose fate
assert the existence of line that is not and to eny the ex
istence of one that is clerk in the Department of State
has compiled volume of voyages and Of treaties and under
taking to set the world right has denied that cossares
met under the treaty Of Utrecht and fixed boundaries
tween the British northern and French Canadian
In North America That denial has been produced and ac
credited this floor by Senator his place. (Mr CAss y
and this production Of laundering book with this Senatorial
of its assertion, lays under the necessity
correcting third error which the fyfour fortes hug
their bosom, and the correction of which becomes
for the vndcation of history the establishment of political
right and the protection Of the Senate from the suspicion of
ignorance.
affirm that the line was established; that the commssa
res met and did their work and that what they did has been
acquesced in by all the Powers interested year III
down to the present time This is my affirmation and in
If and
shall produce some proofs, and take posi-
tons, the first of which is that this line enforced by us
wihout any thing else but the treaty Of Utrecht stand
upon) for fifteen yearsfrom 1903 to lSIS-as the northern
boundary line OF Louisiana, and submitted such by
BRITISH Government and British traders thereby kept of
our territories west of the Mississippi while
let them into our territories this side Of the river In
word VIII show that this treaty Of Utrecht saved from
calamity for fifteen years. in our new territory of Louisiana
acquired from France which the treaty peace 1885, and
Mr. treaty Of 1854 exposed old territories
Oh the United States conquered for by fathers the
war Of the Revolution This my first position and this is
the which sustains il.
In the year 1903 the United States acquired Louisiana and
with became party to all the treaties which concerned the
boundaries of that province The treaty Utrecht was one
Of these and the parallel Of orynne Of the lines esta
shed by IT. and governing its northern boundary We soon
had occasion for the protection of that boundary Spanish
and weakness had suffered British traders
wade the whole northern flank Of Louisiana the Lake of
the Woods TO the Missouri river and on
acquisition Of that province found these traders in the
actual possession Of the Indian trade throughout all that ex
tensive region These traders doing immense mischief
among Indians this side of the Mississippi by poison
ing ther minds and preparing them for against the Unit
ed States The treaty of peace and Mr. jays treaty. under
the deusive idea OF reciprocity gave them this privilege Of
trade in the old territories Of the United States Experience
OF It's evil effects had taught lesson Of wisdom and, while
vainy striving To get rid of the treaty spuaons which adj
mtted these Indians this side Of the Mississippi river the
treaty OF Utrecht eagerly seized upon expel them from
the other Mr. Greenhows compilation not published at
that time, and Mr. jefferson and his Cabinet proceeding
cording to the lights Of their little arhng candles in the alb
sence OF that umnay just took the line Of
the northern boundary Of Louisiana and drove all the B
tish traders TO the north Of that line.
These traders complained loudly and appealed their Gov
eminent but the British Ministry, just much in the dark
as Mr. jefferson and his Cabinet refused take official notice
OF the complaint only presented it unociay United
States Ministers in London, and asked favor not as
right the privilege OF trading in Louisiana south of 49o OIL
course this favor not granted and thus British traders
were excluded from Louisiana by the treaty Of utrecht while
admitted into the old northwest territory OF the Union by vr
tue Of treaties with Great Britain The treaty Of Utrecht
did for US what treaties did And this was the
lana, until ss the year Of concluding the convention with
Great Britain which adopted the line of Utrecht as far as the
Rocky Mountains Them for the first time the northern line
Of Louisiana agreed upon treaty between the United
States and Great Britnin That
far followed the line Of Utrech-an act
OF deep injury 80 far as stopped it. The line Of 400
Just as well established and just well respected and obscrv
cd from the Lake Of the Woods the Rocky Mountains
fore that convention after it, Nay, the un-
derstood line beyond those the sea- and would
itself have settled the Oregon question and settled wisely