The daily union. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1845-1857, 1846-02-09

|
sorted to by thu. government, but that was misiak,
The question submitted to the King of Holland wa,
question OF construction not Of territory and M,
government refused TO abide by the award Tbi,
power, IN fact, was never exercised by any Pres.
ident Here Mr.. J. begged leave To say, with ma,
feet respect for the gtndemas who represep,d
that part of Massachusetts, in which Boston wa,
! situated, that there remarkable resemblance
between the "cviiisn and iuriss and other phrase,
which occurred in Mr., Pakenham's letter Of lhs
10th January and the phrases in the speech Of
that honorable member delivered ten days before
He mir. H. meant no harm when he suggested hsl
the British minister might have been indebted 10
the honorable gentleman for his opinions and yieys
He would now speak Of the subject in regard to
It's aspect towards our foreign relations. Il was b
be remarked, that in all free Sta,essnd most of N
| In thls-ihere were other powers than the govern.
rnent itself This had been remarked in regard 10
this country by De Tocqueville, the lest Of The
foreign writers on the subject Of our nstltu.
| lions, our own sovereignty consisted Of ASSOCIATED
individuals, of minor gorernments-iH Ia imy,.
'to-of States, corporations, and parties 1t WIS
vain 10 dispute that party had great mauenc,
upon public affairs in this country; and II va,
true, no doubt, that parry had been influential in
bringing about the present state Of things. In ali
| representative governments there pRrtics-
| parties which had powerful influence In Eng
land, Sir Robert Peel was at the head Of one parw
and Lord John Russell OF another and in France,
parties also existed. When the gentleman from
| Georgia spoke Of the party influence brought 10
bear on this subject by the Baltimore convention,
he said what was partly true. Our chief n.ags
Tracy was created by parry and therefore the asssr.
lion of our indisputable title 10 Oregon dictated
by party. But there were two conventions at Bal.
nmore, and one Of them nominated Mr. Clay for the
Presidency. II Mr.. Clay had succeeded in the eleU.
ton, he would probably have been forced by pubic
sentiment 10 put in the same claim for Oregon, and
IA doing So, he would have acted consistently with
| hIg r.. L..
hand writing Of MIR. Clay, instructions given to Mr.
Gsllatln, claiming the whole territory, long ago
There must always be parties in a free country
He did not refer TO domestic aud local factions but
he meant to say that the influence Of party resulted
from the establishment Of popular institutions.
lie had been much edited by the discussion
which had taken place here, on this subject and he
eoncurred with the gentleman from Massaehusetts
| MR. ADAMS, that every Argument had been pre-
sented IN regard TO IL, and he did not intend
TO repeat the views which had already been taken
| He meant offence or party elimination when
he said that the present aspect Of the Oregon
question resulted entirely from the gross mismsn-
agemeDt of the party, 10 which the gentleman
| from Massachusetts Mr.. WMrHRoPl was at
tached. But he would state facts, which for years
had been undisputed, which would show thai this
was true. The posture of the present admnistra-
ton would hardly be intrlgible. and could much
less be INDICATED, without recurrence to party nhu-
ence, and to the relation of parties towards Great
Britain. The Oregon controversy, as IL now exist
ed was the fruit of the false policy of the whig par
tyi and II war should result from it, IT would not be
produced by Mr.. Polk, but IL would be inherited
from Mr. Webster. In the first place, the Cana.
dian revolution and controversy took place under
the administration Of MIR. Van Buren, and he would
say no more in regard to that matter now, than he
had said formerly to Mr. Van Burcn's face--thoush
an sdmirer Of that genteman's general pocy--thst
! he acted extremely wrong on that occasion, in no,
resisting the Illegal exacops Of Great Britain. And
he viewed that matter d considerable item amorg
the causes which led to the overthrow of the party
which had supported Mr.. Van Buren,, of which he
himself was one Out of this controversy arose ,h.
arrest Of Alex. Mcleod What he intended to state
now consisted of facts yet generally known but
which would soon be made known, for they were In
| progress Of publication, and he had received them In
no confidence, from the best authority. When Me-,
Leod wes arrestd, Gen. Harrison had just died,
and Mr.. Tyler not yet at home az his successor
Mr.. Webster--who was de Jaeto the administrations
MIR. Webster wrote to the governor of N. York, with
his own hand, letter, and sent IL by express
marked "privaie," in which the governor was told
that he must release Mcleod, see the magnificent
commercial emporium laid in ashes. The brilliant
description given by the gentleman from Virginia Of
the prospective destruction of that city in the Of
war, was, in measure, anticipated on this occa-
| sion. Mcleod must be released, said the Secretary
| Of State, or New York must be laid in ashes The
governor asked when this would be done' The
|
the waves Of the sea the Paixhan gunsl--and if Nc.
Leod be not released, New York will be destroyed
But, said the governor, the power of pardon is vest
ed in me, and even If he be convicted, he may be
pardoned. Oh no, said the secretary, il you even
try him you will bring destruction upon yourselves
The governor was not entirely driven from his
course by this representation. The next step
taken by the administration was to appoint
district attorney who was to be charged with
the defence of Alexander McLeod-the gentle
man who was lately removed from Office
and a fee of FIVE thousand dollars was put into
his hands for this purpose. Application was after
wards made to the chief justice of the State of New
York-who was now sitting justice in neigh
boring hall Justice Nelson for the release of Nc
Leod. The Judge did not think proper to grant the
application. The marshal was about to let him go,
when he was told that he must do it at his peril and
that if Mcleod went out of prison, he should go in.
Some here would recollect that Lord Ashburton
rived in this country soon after, and was charged
with the ad ustment of all the difficulties pending be-
| tween the two countries He would not now dwell
upon what he would unhesitatingly call the enormi.
ties Of the Washington treaty. He had often ex.
pressed his mind upon that subject here. But that
| treaty now n law--the supreme law Of the land
--and the matter was settled. He would remark,
however, that by that treaty gave up the right Of
search, gave up the power of extraditon, in
sequence of which poor woman was not long ago
dragged across the Atlantic from this country an
| swer for some charge mae against her there. We
gave up the northeastern boundary after Mr. Buchan.
an had, under resolution of the Senate drawn un-
unswerable argument, which concluded by the asser
ton ofe validity of our title in the disputed terrific
ry, and after the Senate had adopted that
conclusion. By this treaty, the good old Bay State
| which he loved with fal reverence, dislne-
grated, torn asunder. And even this was not all;
for the British minister who negotiated that treaty.
stated on the floor of the House Of Commons that
England had no right whatever TO the territory
| thus taken from ua. Lord RrOuphaDl also stated
that the British claim had not single leg 10 stand
upon, and that certain map marked, which was
in possession Of George Ill, and which mark
ed by his majesty's own hand, showed concIo-
sively that the disputed territory did not belong to
Great Britain; and he further stated that this map
had disappeared from The public archives.
| These professions and aunts of the British gov.
ernment had so much exaspemted the people ofths
county, that they were determined 10 submit 10
them no longer; it WINS thus that the Oregon que'-
ton became connected with the proceedings Of the
| baltimore convention.
| MIR. |. adverted to q statutory enactment which