Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1846-01-16

| having taken pOSSCsS'oh
49, nnr.hase Won thereby evinced that you uo
oot regard such title as valid. And yel suen ;.
Tho mode Inv which The British PleniPoeh''a.y
has ATTEMPTED 10 DESTROY both The American an'
Soanish titles. On the contrary, in the case ue .I
,;oned The possession and the Outstanding 'lue
being united in The same individual, these con
Joined would be as perfect as II DOM hau 80
vested in him from the beginning ho,h
THE undersigned, whilst strongly asserting oo,n
,baea ,;,les and believing each OF Them separately
10 be good as against Great Britain, has stnaious.
lv avoided insIiiutng any comparison oct"een
Them But admitting, for The sake oil Inc alsu-
ment merely, that the discovery by Captain GRAY
Of the mouth OF the Columbia, It's exploration oy
Lewis and Clarke, and the settlement upon 10
banks al Astoria. were encroachmenls on op"'"
she and she alone, had right 10 conP'anl.I
Gre.I Rritaio was third parly and, as such, had
no right 10 interfere in The question between oPa'n
and The United States. But Spain, instead o.
compIainine of these acts as encroaohmenls, on
The 32d February, 1919 BY The Florida treaty,
transferred The whole lille TO the United States
From thai moment all possible conflict between
the two titles was ended both being unnen 10 inc
same party. Two titles which might nave con co,
ficied therefore, were thus blended tuSeiher. NC
title now vested in The United States IS just as
strong as though every act Of discovery, explora-
ton. and settlement the part OF both powers had
been periDr,ned By Spain alone, before she had
transferred all her rights 10 the United States. The
two powers arc one in this respect; The two titles
are one and, as The undersigned will show here
alter they serve to confirm and strengthen each
other. II Great Britain instead OF The Unlled
States, had acquired The title OF Spain, she might
have commended that those aclS OF The United States
were entertainments; but, standing in The altitude
OF stranger 10 both titles, she mas no rlShl 10 IN
terere in the matter
The undersigned deems il unnecessary 10 pur-
sue this branch of the subject further than 10 state,
that the United States, before they had acquired
The lille ofSpain ALWAYS treated that title with re-
spcc,. In the negotiation OF 1873 The American
Plenipoienliaries "did not assert that The Uniieo
States had perfect right to that country; Du'
insisted that their claim was al least good against
Great Britain" and The Convention ofOcloter ~,
1918. unlike that OF Noolka Sonnd, reserved The
claims of any other power or State 10 any part OF
The said couhlry. This reservation could have
been intended Tor Spain alone. But ever since
The United States acquired the Spanish title, they
have always asserted and maintained their right
in the strongest terms up TO The Russian line, even
whilst offering, for The sake Of harmony and
peace 10 divide the territory in dispute 81 The 4.ih
parallel of latitude
The British plcnipoentiary, then, ha. entirely
ia lied 10 sustain his position, that The pniied
States can found no claim on discovery, explora-
| pies Of the Nooka convention. That convention
died on the commencement OF The war between
Spain and England, in 1856, and has never since
| been revived.
The British parliamentary next "endeavors 10
prove that, even il the Nooka Sound convention
| had never existed, the position OF Great Britain
| in regard 10 her claim whether to The whole or
To any particular portion OF The Oregon territory,
is al least as good as that of The United STATES"
/ .h -, hat hoy
that The British claim is equal in validity 10 the
titles both Of Spain and the United States
These can never now be separated. They are
one and the same Different and dive!ging as
| they may have been before I Florida treaty,
| they are now blended together and Identified
! The separate discoveries, explorations and set
Elements ot The TWO powers previous TO that date
must now be considered as il they had all been
| made BY The United States alone. Under this
| palpabe view of The subject, The undersigned was
surprised TO find that in the comparison and con-
rast Instituted by The British penipotenliary he
tween The claim of Great Britain and that OF the
| United States he had entirely omitted 10 refer 10
the discoveries, explorations and settlements made
by Spain. The Undersigned will endeavor 10 sup
ply the omission.
Bui, before he proceeds to the main argument
on this point he leels himself constrained 10 ex-
press his surprise that The British plenipoenliarY
should again have invoked in support Of the
British title the inconsistency between The Spa
nsh and American branches OF The title of the
United States The undersigned cannot torbear
to congratulate hrseli upon the fact, that gen.
leman Of Mr.. Pakenhams acknowledged ability
has been reduced to The necessity OF relying Chief
| " upon such 4 support for sustaining the Bri.
fish pretensions. Stated in brief, The argument
is this: the American title is not good against
| Great Britain because inconsistent with that oil
| Spain; and The Spanish lille u not good against
| Great Britain, because inconsistent with that OF
| the United States. The undersigned had expect
| ed something lar different from such an argu-
ment in a circle. He had anticipated that the
British penipoieniary would have attempted 10
prove that Spain had no right TO the Northwest
| ern coast Of America that il was vacant and I'M
| appropriated; and hence, under the law OF ma
tons, was open 10 discovery, exploration and sci
| Element By all nations But no such thing. On
his vital point of his case, he rests his arsu-
| ment solely on the declaration made by the nm
dersigned, that the tile OF the U. States 10 The
| valley Of the Columbia was perfect and complete
before the treaties Of joint occupation OF October,
1918, and August, 1927, and before The date Of
The Florida treaty. in 1919. But the British PIE
nipo,enliary ought TO recoect that this title was
asserted 10 be complete, not against Spain, but
against Great Britain; that the argument was
| conducted not against Spanish, but a British,
Plenpote ntiary; and that the United States, and
not Great Britain, represent the Spanish tile
And, further, that The statement from which he
extracts these declaration was almost excn-
sively devoted to prove, in the language quoted
by the British Plenipoteniafy himself, hat"Spain
had good title, as against Great Britain, 10 the
whole OF the Oregon territory" The undersign-
ed has never as he before Observed instituted any
comDarsun between The American and the Spa
nish titles, Holding both-having perfect right
10 rely upon both, whether jointly or separately,
he has strongly asserted each OF them in their turn,
fully persuaded that either The one or The other
is good against Great Britain; and that no human
ingenuity can make The Spanish title, now vested
, in The United States, worse than II would have
been, had il remained in the hands Of Spain.
Briefly 10 illustrate and enforce this title, shall
be The remaining TASK Of The undersigned.
,, And in the first place, he cannot but commend
The irankness and candor Of the British penipo-
liary in departing from the course Of his predc-
cessors, and rejecting all discoveries previous 10
those OF Captain Cook, in the year 77S, as foun-
/ dations Of British title. Commencing with dis
covery at a period so lale the Spanish tile, on
2 the score Of antiquity, presents strong contrast
10 thai Of Grea, Britain. The undersigned had
0 stated as historical and "siriking fact, which
/ must have an important bearing against the claim
Of G. Britain, that this Convention, (lhe Nootka, ]
which was dictated by her TO Spain, contains 10
!, provision impairng the ultimate sovereignty
: which that power had asserted for nearly three
centuries over the whole Western side of North
America as far North as the els, degree of lali-
tude, and which had never been seriously qIes.
toned by any European nation. This had
|, been maintained By Spain with The most vean
> jealousy, ever since the discovery OF The Ameri.
can continent, and had been acquesced in by all
European governments II had been admitted
even beyond the latitude of 81 deg. 40 min. North
= = BY Russia then the only power having claims
which could come in collision with Spain; and
!, that, too, under a sovereign peculiarly tenacious
Of the territorial rights of her empire" These his
lorcal facts had moi been they could not be, con
troverled BY the British plenipotentiary, although
/ they were brought under his particular observa
= ton, and were even quoted by him with approba
ton, for the purpose OF showing the Inconsistency
: Of The several titles held by The United States
In the language OF Coun, Fernan de Nunez, tht
! Spanish ambassador al Paris, 10 Nj. de Mont
vi