The daily union. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1845-1857, 1846-09-23
THE PRESIDENTS COURSE ON THE ORE
CON QUESTION

WEDNESDAY NIGHT, SEPT, Is, 1886.
THE PRESIDENTS COURSE ON THE ORE.
CON QUESTION. !,
Defeated and exposed trickery 10 always humii
ang; and the Intellgencers article Of this morning
tho Oregon negotiation, fully entilIes that Jour
nal 10 all the eommissrsfiow which such predica-
ment is fitted to inspire. But pity itself turns to
Indignation and eoaia"p in view Of Hypocrisy rank
and nsuseous as that Of the following paragraph
which concludes the Intelligencer's article:
"Ws regret 10 haze had occasion 10 say 90 much on
subject which the Union has made personal 20 the
Chief Magistrate. We regret, also, that the Union
u unable 10 assign 10 soundsr reason than doub, Of
tho facts We have submitted, sr sbssiains from
coarse charges sgsiasf The Prssidsna. We are TOO
thankful TO him for sltimatey yielding his extreme
assumptions and opinions, and conserving to M
amicabe settlement Of dispute which those as
symptoms had made so porentous, bat certainly,
Al We desired to bring home 10 thar high officer a
case OF signal Inconsistency that very subject OF
Oregon, might confidently write under the stste-
ment Of the facts above. q. <. d.
This is too much. Lot the InielIigeneer go on in
the course il has pursued 80 long Let Il continue
resoluiely and unblushingy to defams its own gov
eminent and country--let il advocate in success
sion, as il has done, the interests Of France, Of
England, Of Mexico, and Of any other foreign
power through all our International eontroyer
sizes, and even i~ lime u open wsr--let ID pa
rsde this It's open political prostitution, and
haunt before the oslhins public eye in the colors
OF its trade"-et even approach the very verge Of
ouert treason, and invoke "ANY INTERVIEW
TON" on tho part Of England to put an end to the
Mexican war-let the In,sIligencer persist in all
this. The country has come at,ast to expect moth
ing better Bot, in doing, lie, at least solitary
remaining throb Of public deoency or prudence save
this unquestioned, il not avowed organ Of foreign
interests and designs, from any odous pretensions
to 'rssrsf'' In its course Let it affect no scruplss
restraining il from '.oosrss charges" against the
Chief Magistrate ofiu country. Lot Il "chargen il
worst, and insinuste its meanest. Such course is
at least in keeping-and such course is respecta-
bic, IL comparison with that sancimonious afecta-
ton, which clasps its hands, and turns up the
whites ofits eyes, even while pouring out the foul
est aspersions on its own government, seeking even
to assai the consistency ofi,s Executive in bis most
solemn Official declarations, and exerting It's whole
ingenuity to hold up its native land as prey to the
designs and to the reproaches Of the stranger.
But all this in passing. We refer to the Intelli-
gencers article Of this morning, merely to note one
Of its own avowals, substantiated as il is by the
citation OF documents, and TO make that avowal
part Of our otcn case in this matter Of the Oregon
question. Here is the Intelligencer's language:
"The first point to be established is the Prssi-
DENTS true position IN relation 10 our rights Ia Oregon
To do this, we will take four periods In which his
sentiments were deliberately and formally ayowed
h. frat will hal N, h.. .nd
for the last come down to June, 1916, comprehend
ing space enough, we hope, to satisfy any body.
First In 1874, then, on the 23d of April, Mr..
Polk wrote a letter to tho Cincinnati committee,
which contained this explicit declaration:
"'Let Texas be annexed. and the authority and
laws of the United States be established and main
tanned within her limits, as also in the Oregon Ter
riiory, and let the fixed policy Of our government
be, not TO permit GREAT BRITAIN, or any other
foreign power, TO PLANT COLONY on HOLD DoMIs-
ION ovrs ANY PORTION or THr PEOPLE on RIA
RIroRY or EITHER.' FF s.t
Ascend. On the 9TH Of March, IsAs, in his in
sugural addfess to his courrymsn, he spoke as fol-
lows: %
"sNor will il become in less degree my duty to
assert and maintain, by all constitutional means the
right of the United States TO that portion Of our ter
ritory which lies beyond the Rocky mountains
Our title TO The country Of tie Oregon is cear and un.
questionable and already are our people prepared
to perfect that title by occupying It with their wives
and children
"7hird. In his message to Congress, in Deem
Der, l645, President Polk held the following Lam
guage: j7ta .4s Egg
1.-THE extraordinary and wholly inadmssble de-
mands Of the British government and the rejection
fthe proposition made in Difference alone to what
had been done by my predscsssors and the i'm
afford satisfactory evidence that no compromise
which tho United States ought to accept can be
effected. With this conviction the proposition Of
compromise which had been made and rejected was
by my direction, subsequently, withdrawn, and our
title to the ,ohoIe Oregon territory asserted and, Is
osheped, n'a''sained oy irTsfagabL facts and Ggu-
menis' 6lf a tIe.f 80
Fourth. In submitting to the Senate the British
projet of treaty, on the 10th of June, 1876, the
President reiterated his opinion on the subject In this
brief but emphatic passage:
My opinions and my action on the Oregon
question were fully made known to Congress in
my annual message of the second of December last;
andM opinions therein expressed renain unchanged
Here are four different and distinct periods in
which the Presidents sentiments have been ex.
pressed touching the Oregon question. In what po-
sition, regarding that question, does the uniform
tenor of these quoted declarations place the Presi-
dent Can there be difference Of opinion on this
point Do thoy not place him unchangeably and in
hcxibly on ftfytow Joriy'
Here we have quoted the Presidents first pord in
1874, and his last Oord in 1916, on our title to the
Oregon territory; and even in the view Of an oppo-
nent, they both agree in placing his conviction
"unchangeably and inAexiby or dJtyJor forty"
part Of the little which remains for US to do to
vindcate the President against tho charge Of incon-
sstency on this subject, which has been raked up
against him, we have already done. We have re-
ferrsd 10 spery document containing the Presidents
opinions upon Oregon tile chch bears date be,oeen
the An Of March, l845, ,ohsn the ixaagural address,
'ras spoken, and the % Of December, 1s45, ,chen the
annual message Was submitted to Congress And these
documents--thc instructions to Mr.. McLane under
dates of 18th July, l845, and November 5th, 1645,
and the notes to Mr.. Pakenham under dates of 18th
July, 1s45, and both August, ls45, submitting and
Withdrawing after its rejection the
Presidents Offer of partition the line of forynine
all these documents we have quoted and referred