The Kalida venture. [volume] (Kalida, Ohio) 1841-1865, 1846-03-19
The Oregon Question.

The oregon question.
New incidents are daily trunspiring TO give
interest to the surmses made as to the DISPOSE
ton of this question. Mr.. Haywood, of North
Carolina, in speech delivered in tho Senate,
in which he advocated compromise by the sur.
render of our territory north of 40 deg, 10 tho
claims set up by England, was understood to as.
sert that he spoke the views of the President on
the subject, and that the declarations of Mr.. Polk
in his message and other public documents were
only parenthetcally inserted to cajole the utras'
When afterwards solicited to state explicitly
whether such was the fact, he quibbled and
equvocated; and as he has thus far prevented
the publication of his speech in the Washington
papers, it is difficult to form any certain idea of
what he meant to state His remarks however
called forth the reply of Mr.. Hannegan, which we
publish from the Union in to days paper. The
Union denies that Haywood was authorized by the
President in the assertions which he has made.
Nevertheless the impression is general at WASH
ington that amendments will be attached by tho
Senate to the resolutions passed by the House, in
which the House will not concur; and that nego-
tiations will be opened and the compromise Of
49 deg, with some slight variations, acceded to.
We cannot better express our view of the con-
sequences of this state of things than by adop-
ting the Language of the Ohio Statesman:
What assurance have we, that England
will settle on the doth parallel, even if our
!, government shall prove so recreant to its
duty, to its pledges, and 10 the future glory
and interests of the republic, as to give it
to be understood that it needs only to bs
pressed by factious Legislature, to abandon
the ground which it assumed on the first day
of its existence, and assumed it because it
i was one Of the issues in that contest, the
:, result of which gave it existence? England
. reverses, in her conduct, that maxim by
y which the Romans claimed to govern their
J action. She tramples on the weak, and
!. spares the proud. When did she ever give
70 70 up any thing to timid antagonist? and what
- greater proof Of timidity can nation give,
- than to permit its policy to be changed by
i ;s the conduct of few calculating politiciansa
- Oar opinion is, that if we hare to fight on
. this Oregon question, it auiU be because Eng
+. land ,DiH be encouraged by our irresolution
-. -. to ask more than she ,Dould, had ,oe main
rs n tanned q bold 'front.'; to ask more than we can
- grant-more than any administration dare
-, grant; and thus ,De shall be dripen into ,vdr
II, NJ in support of rights that 'oe had offered to
10 abandon, and aDithom that moral ,Deight
40 40 ,uhick arises from the practice Of firm and
ad energetic craftsmanship. But even if Eng
Id Id land should offer, and we should accept, the
,;s 49th parallel, infinite mischief will be done.
aII siI No matter what may be our motives, s,-bs
va va they high or low, lofty or degrading,-the
10 world will attribute our previous language &c
h. h boasting cowardice, and our final action tc
r. fear that was ashamed of no disgrace
il, Nations, like the mass of individuals which
s@s' @ give them formation, Judge by results, ant
do not GO deeply into an examination o
,te those details, by an acquaintance with which
alone, can the exact truth be ascertained
~ Friendly powers will be discouraged, ant
~ adverse powers be encouraged TO bear hare
upon us. To show the white feather now
ON is literally asking of every envious nation ii
re. Europe, to interfere in our concerns, to con
NJ ms tend against our progress. We shall hav
r;g the balance-of-power theory reduced to prac
os. tice, on this continent, with vengeance
is Never shall we be allowed to make anotho
md step towards territorial acquisition, withou
NV having all the wasps and hornets of Europ
res about our ears, even if we escape from call
mt to return territory which we already have
N. sagacious writer says, the only way II
rns maintain liberty, is to increase It. The onl.
Am way by which we can maintain our terrtoria
ry acquisitions, is by adding 10 them. This i
- the principle which England acts upon i'll tn
East, and she never will go to war to preven
us from initiating it on The western cont
nent, If iue are true to ourselves.
The administration is bound TO persever
The in the course VIII ich it has thus far pursued
re- bound, because it came into power, on tn
Of condition of maintaining our right to Oregon
nh because it commenced its career, by declal
sb. ing that our right was " clear and unques
to tionable," and thus pledged itself not I
the abandon it; because, subsequently to il
rn, Inauguration, it has more than once repeate
,nr. that declaration, and refused TO listen, t
tho overtures from the British Government, ca
Ihe culated to prejudice our claim; and becaus
'es m any other course would be sacrificing tn
.es honor and the rights of the nation, by til
,th very hands to whom the charge of upholdin
the them was solemnly ommitted by grei
in people, in the full assurance that it woul
,,v not be thus committed in vain.
I,pp A FAIR ExcHANGE.-The Whig papers are e
~ d.ovor;rr to moke some Of the smallest possb|