The daily union. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1845-1857, 1846-05-29

/ and he il was, Who coseted with the American sec
retary SOLITARY and alone" proceeded TO the nego
tiaton' Of this matter, which dismembered sove-
1 reign State without leaving protocol or memoran.
D dun TO tell what passed between them; and all the
public know concerning it is that the business pro-
ciple of equivalents"
But, sir, the senator says that Maine consented to
the arrangement, and seems 10 suppose that no 9th
or section has the right to complain IL was, how
ever, question Of national as well Ms State boun-
diary; in which every member OF the eonederscy
had an interest, and would have been none the
, less a concession, il Maine had been slleneed
and had consented But how did she consent
With the declaration of the secretary that no
more favorable terms could be obtained-the on
repeated cry that she about 10 involve two
great Christian nations in bloody war-with
threats OF future arbitration and the parade Of a
spurious map, her consent was finally wrung from
her. Read sir, the consent Of the commissioners OF
Maine 10 the ACKNOWLEDGMENT Of their State, and the
indignant and eloquent protest it contains, though
borne down and crushed by surrounding clrcum-
stances into acquieseence. Sir, the consent Of
n Maine to part with her soil and her sovereignty
was given with bleeding hesrt-t was like the con-
sent Of him who bares has own right arm TO the
surgeons knife, when advised that he life only
be preserved by ITS amputaion. She eonsentsd as
one consents commit to kindred dust the children
of his body; she consented as the red man consents
to be driven from his happy hunting grounds, the
graves Of his fathers and the banks OF the streams
where he sported in childhood; she consented, as
was said by another, Mr.. BEEros,l as "the victim
consents to execution, because he walks and is not
dragged" to the seaffod which has been erected to
receive him.
will now, Mr.. President, proceed to examine
this treaty somewhat in detail, and TO consld
It's concessions and enumerale its equivalents, and
leave II TO impartial public 10 Judge OF both Its
wisdom and its integrity.
BY reference TO that part OF my Oregon speech al
ready noticed, il will be seem that asserted that
the Dutch line, (Which took from an extensive
lterntory) was rejected; and that the Ashburton
treaty gave to Great Britain more territory than
a map in her Foreign Office showed she was en-
titled TO; in fact, about seven hundred thousand
acres more than the Dutch line gave her; and
that we paid for il to Maine and Massachusetts
$500, 900.
This | now repeat, and prove my assertion by
the authority Of Lord BrOugham, who, IN discussing
the Ashburon treaty in the British Parliament,
said:
The Dutch is far inferior the line Lord Ashburton
has got the Dutch line is better than the line had any
il removes the Americans much further from the St Law
than the Dutch line did which the other great
object"
In speaking of the map To which alluded, he
says:
custody OF George III and which there Is the American
line aud the English line and upon which there
me makes think it the handwriting OF George III
himself; This Is the line Of william oswad'' treaty oil
1888 written three four times across the face Of It,"
And after some further remarks, he adds:
But somehow or other that map gheh snrsb destroy,
contention aud girsS oil 10 the 4mTieanS has heen
we'd from the British museum George MS library was
presented to the museum and is now to be found at the
Foreign Office"
Lord Palmerst on, TO be sure, dssented from the
opinions Of Lord Brougham, but Lord Broughsm
was sustained by the House all but unanimously,
two Peers only dissenting; and besides, Lord Pal
merston had been dismissed from office, and felt the
ill-naured irrations which dismissed secretaries in
other countries sometimes exhibit.
RI By this it is conceded that the Dutch line gave TO
Great Britain much more than she was entitled to-
short, that she had no right to any portion Of the
disputed territory; and yet this treaty gvos 10 her
seven hundred thousand acres moro than the Dutch
line proposed to give. And we agree, with Great
Britain too (for il is provided in the treaty., to pay
to Maine and Massachusetts for the soil thus sur
rendered, $500, 900, and have paid and to pay
about 5000 900 for the expenses of Maine in defend
ing it, But, says the senator from Massachusetts,
the land was almost entirely worthless, and is prob
ably this time covered with five feet depth Of snow
Then why if valueless for any purpose, did the late
Secretary purchase 1t at an expense Of $500 900
And why, pray tell, was Great Britain 80 anxious
to obtain it and give for it the pretended valuable
and vast equivalents
i The senator does not deny the correctness of my
assertion but complains that the fundamental prin.
cple of his treaty being that of equivalents, did
not in stating the concessions made by it to Great
Britain, fairly enumerae and estimate the sguipa-
Tents received; and this is Of his principal
grounds of accusation Foremost in rank and
principal in value in the catalogue of equivalents,
the senator places Rouse's Point. This, he in
forms US, as though none knew its position but
himself is a valuable military post, commanding the
entrance to Lake Champlsin, ata point the line
between the British possessions in Canada in the
State of New York. This large of money,
the senator us, was not in effect paid for the
worthless seven hundred thousand acres ceded from
the acknowledged territory and jurisdiction of
Maine to that of Great Britain, but paid to OBJ.
tain Rouse's Point and its vast military advantages
, But if paid for Rouse's Point, why paid to Maine
| and Massachusetts, They asserted no claim what
ever to Rouse's Point, and their land the senator
pronounces to be almost worthless. Now, let us
examine for moment the argument Of the senator
and note the conclusions to which it brings u.s. The
line awarded by the King of the Netherlands, call.
: ed the Dutch line, gave us Rouse's Point and its
military advantages, and secured to Maine the sew
en- hundred thousand acres of land which this trea
} ty gave to Great Britain As a senator from Mas
sachusetts during the administration of Genera
Jackson, that senator opposed the Dutch line, 70
= the alleged reason that 1t was not sufficiently favor
able, and voted against every proposition which
, looked to its adoption; and he now boasts Of his
D prowess in diplomacy, and seeks to immediate every
one who shall question his profundity, because he
succeeded in paying $500, 900 in cash for the
8 hundred thousand acres of worthless land and ir
giving the same for Rouses Point, when the award
Of the Dutch King, which he resisted, gave both
the land and the Point for nothing; and Great Brit
ain urged US 10 accept them And yet the senator
insists, and some will doubtless concede, that he
had in the settlement of this line, strict regard tc
the principle of equivalents. Now, sir, ~ have sup
h posed that equivalent" meant something Of equa
G value though | have no, looked at Webster's Die
: tionary to see how he defines the word. The prac
teal construction gwen to it by the senator from
r Massachusetts in this case, at least between Grea
+ Britain and the United States, would seem to b,
$ as follows: A line was offered to government
! reserving to Maine the seven hundred thousand
d acres of territory, and also Rouse's Point. TIL,
opposes that line, and procures its rejection
! lie then proposes to give the seven hundred thou
! sand acres forsthe military point, pays to Main,
some $500 600 for her seven hundred thousand
acres, and then assures us that he negotiated upor
the basis of, and with eye to, the equivalents"
. On the first day of the senator's speech, while h,