The Arkansas banner., 1846-02-18

us challhet for twenty five miles, and remains (" ,, m the rtVes nine days, trading with the he British plenipotentiary attempts 10 oeprecn;e the value 10 the United States of gray r discovery, because his ship the Co., .unloia' was trading, and not a national V. Ie9ssi' As ne furnishes no reason for this Diss'helioh, the undersigned will confine him.. |t se'' 1p 'He remark that merchant vessel bears lhe flag oi her country at her masthead, and z pohuhues under It's Jurisdiction and protec- U '-in the same manner as though she had oeen commissioned for the exprrss nurnose 9i making discoveries. Besides. bevond .u p"9pss' p,.1 lh's discovery was made by Gray; i'''u 'o what nation could the benefit of it be- ioiig' unless Il be 10 the United States Ger 'alhiy ,. not b Great Britain And ito spain,. ''io o"ilea s'ates are now her representative.
 N or does the undersigned perceive in wha. manner the value of this great discovery can t,e iessehed by the fact that il was first pub- ilshea T, ne fo the world through the journal of :. Gapialn Vancouver, n British authority. On the contrary, it's authenticity being shus ac- Nlno~ieaeed.by the party having an adverse interest, E more dTpiiy established than if it haa been fire. published iii fhs United S.ases
 r rom careful examination and review of she subject the undersigned ventures the as- ser'teh, tllat to Spain and the United States oelehg all the merit of the discovery of the Aorthwesi coast of America South of the hllss,an line,. not q spot of which, unless it may have been the shores of some of the in- terror bays and iniels, after the entrance to tnetn had been known, was ever behel,i by | ., I 2r tnhehed bv SpaHiard or an American.
 2P9iH proceeded in lhs work of discovery, not as ameans q acquiring title, but for the purpose yol examining and surveying territory { le when. she bclleved she had an nceniesta- bie arBht This tnle had been sanctioned Ter eeatRresby llp acknowledgment or uc- q,iiescehee ofall lhe European powers. The United states alone could have disputed this
 tlsle, and thal only te lhe extent of the regon .wsteredsbystha' Golnnhin The Spanish and
 AneFiean titles, now united by the Florida
 treaty cannoth he justly resisted by Great Br- lam. Considered together, they constitute EpWlect title 10 tlie whole territory in dispute, EeyaF since Lka 1lh May, l792, when Cap-.
 lam Gray passed The bar attie mouth of tAs Colanibia, which ho had observed in Au.
 gust, l7S8,
 The undersigned will now proceed to
 show thas this title of,the United States, a.
 least to thespossessiQn of the territory at the
 mouth of1he Columbia, has been acknow-a fledgcdsby the most solemn and uneqniyocal acts of the British Government.
 After ilIe purchase of Louisiana. from f France, the Government of the United States
 fi'ted eat m expedition un1er Messrs Lewis Eanl Glarke3 who, ia 1905, first explored the Co!nmhtl, from is source 10 it's mouth, pre-
 paFatof} to the occupation olthc territory by tho uaited States.
 h l8ll, the settlement at Astoria was made by tie Americana near the mouth of the river, end several other posts were es- ty1lished m the interior along ils banks.--E
 Inc War ol isl2, between Great Britain and
 tle United States, thus fona!l the latter in
 FeacpaA.e possession.of iilatrsgia Astoria
 was captured hy Grea. Bflain during this war. The Treaty soit Peace concluded at Ghent in December, l3i4, provided that aalls territory phees, slli possassions wliatspever,s tahea by either party frorh elhe odier during the war,' S.c.s Sse,. s.shall he restored with
 out deltyf' Iaphatllance to ihr provisions tef this 3're%ty, Great Britain restored Astoriul tostle Gniled sates; aud thus admitted insthe most sllemu nianner3 not only thatit had been qi aineritiln territory or possession at the collineliceise3to oithe war, batllat had. been, captured by British alilis during it's con- linaanee. Itisnow too late to gsinsay or exglai a',!way t!tgseseacls. Both the Treaty .Qf Ghent, and hdects of the British Goyerr- nieat antlerii, Gsproae tAo allegations oftheF sbrillSts Pleiiipoishtiary, that Astoria passed
 sipto 3gtisu hands by the voluntary act of the persons in charge of ii,n and sthat it 1 WAS restored 10 sihe Ufnitefi States in 1S18 l withsoeftaiH wei authenticated resefvations.s
 InAery tot..e first olihesc allegations, it 5is frnes that tho agents ol. the ..merican) Pa- cilif; Eur Companv, before the capture of Astoria, op the lGth October, 1913, had
 transferred. al that they could transfer--thes priggie properly of the .cenpany ito the lBgiiislI Northwest Company, but it will scarcely De cenienlcd that such sn arrange ment could impair the sovereign rights ol the United States to tic terraory. Accordingly, -lle Ameriean flag was slill kept lyingsover the .lort mifil the lst December, lSl3, whens it WIS captured by bis Maiesly's sloop-of- war Raefoon, and the British flag was then substituted
 'Thatit wasnotresosed to the U. S. s.withs cerfain well authenticated reseryation's" :"
 nlly appears from tie act oi restoration itselc, bearing tatcGi, Ocioher, ISIS This is as ab- s3lute and uneondtioaa; as the English .lan- suage eanmahe it. That lis,swas according .o the intfutiona of Lord G'asleroagh, clearly appears from his previous admission to Mr. Rush of the right If the Americans to be re- lnstated, and to be the party in possession whiletrea,fng Oh the title. If British minis tsgs ailer@ards,s ia despatches 10 their own agents, the conielis of which were not com-' manicated io he Government of. the United States, thought prnper 10 protest against oirr1 title, tt ese were, in elect, but mere mental're- servaions, which could not affect the validity of their. own solemn and unconditional act of restoration.
 Bnt the British Plenipo.entiary, no.witA~ standing the American discovery of the Co.,
 lnnibia by Capt. Gray. and the exploration
 by Lewis and Clarke of several of its branch- es, 'llon tileir sources in the Rocky moun-s
 lalns, as well as it's main channel to the ocean, contends fiBqt because Thompson, a