Weekly national intelligencer. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1841-1869, 1846-02-14

4s NORTH and thence by that parallel Of aude the Pacific
ocean, contains CLAUSE Of renuncisoh IN which his
Catholic Majesty on hist renounces and ceto the United
States ahs rights. claims, and % g territories
east and north Of the above described line" II isse vague
srghts claims and preteisons, deryedfom Spain 1919,
which, Mr. Buchanas argument asserts, give good c
to the ohol Of Oregon He therefore, magnes and exats
the Spanish title with all the force Of language he employ,
without seeming be all conscious in the zeal of he
ment Of the suicidal effect Of his argument the Ane-
rcan title derived from the attesed achievements Of
own citizens But people the country take these things a
little more cooy They could help saying to themselves
if the Spanish title were that high absolute, and imposing
character which Mr. Buchanan represents TO have been,
then all the Of countymen and Government on which
have hitherto confidently relied constituting an i'm
pregnabe title for us-he hardy and successful adventure of
Capt Grayhe noble expedition of Lewis and Clarke, set ON
foot by Gosenment-the settlements made in the
territory by enterprisng cizensall these were but law
violations the rights Of another Power which could not
give the slightest semblance Of claim, but exhibit to the
world in the odious character Of land pirates.
Thinking men, too became curious to know what foun-
daon this exclusive and overshadowng title to vast unsettled
regions, which much dwelt upon by Mr. Buchanan,
could repose They turned with eagerness therefore to his
second letter. in which he undertakes the origin and
vndcate the legitimacy Of the Spanish title He gives long
oScoss " uc voyages HdViShlois pcBnphB
and three hundred years ago. some Of them Of disputed
hentciy, and Of Them, Of leading Importance treated
fabulous by negotato in 1885,. and tells that
navigator landed and ,0e shore at such place, another
anchored in certain habo and finally, that others went
through the prescribed ceremony of taking possession,
called of the country the Of their sovereign by
celebrating and erecting with Inscriptions
And here the story ends No actual occupancy, settle
ents made any where. real permanent bona tide appro
paton Of the country, such has always been held
sary consumnate the nchoate title derived from discovery
In the absence of all such acts the people, who appreciate
substance than FORM have been able comprehend
how the saying Of and setting up Of crosses, and
then abandoning the country, form eectual taking
possession of any than the celebrated achievement of
the Spanish navigator who first discovered the Pacific Ocean,
and who, Robertson states, advancing up to the middle
the waves with his sword and bucke took possession of
watery domain the Of the king his MASTER and
vowed to defend with his against all his enemies,
could be valid appropriation Of that highway Of nations
The rule settled by the law and usage of nations all such
clearly laid down the of the American
claim submitted to the British commissioners by Mr. Galan
in 1896 follows g Prior discovery gives rghto occupy
provided that occupancy taxes place within reasonable
time, and is ultimately followed by permanent settlements
and by the cultivation of the SOIL"
But much as Mr.. Buchanan makes of the Spanish title
he fails apprehend to do full justice to its history He
does up its original in the bull of Pope
Alexander W.; by which that pontf sacrilegousy claiming
vicar and representative Of Christ right of dominion
all the kingdoms Of the earh granted to Spain in 1893 he
year after the discovery Of Amencai all the countries nhab
ed by nfdes which she had discovered should discover
and drawing meridian line from pole pole hundred
leagues the westward of the Azores bestowed in the pon
tude of his power and bounty all to the of this imaginary
SDau md all tn The cas- Of uDon
This doubtless the real foundation of all the absurd and
ridiculous pretensons of Spain in the New World She
claimed the whole continent Of America, its Atlantic well
as Pacific side How this title regarded by the sober
of the of mankind the successive settlements made
and maintained BY England France, and Holland all along
the Atlantic coast thai which naturally first attracted the
tenton Of European enterprise have sufficiently proclaimed
to posterity.
Mr. Buchanan however, that the rights of sovereignty
which Spain had asserted for three centuries (cor
responding with the date of the Papa grant just referred
opey the tcoe yesen side Of North Ameca, far north
the sxrst degree Of latitude had been seriously
questioned by any European nation before the Nootka
venion" Mr. Gaatn the able letters recently written by
him and published Washington, states very appotey that
these exclusive pretensions of Spain practically ques
toned and wholly disregarded in all the British colonial char
tiers Of the seventeenth century, the limits of which
pressy described extending from But,
down later times, it is remarkable and instructive crcum
stance when Spain appealed France, virtue of the
family compact for aid and support in the Nootka
sy her own ally and friend denied her claim of sovereignty
on the northwest of America In report OF the dpo
matte committee Of the constituent assembly the subject Of
which the celebrated Mabeau rapporcur chairman,
expressly declared that the territory in dispute between
the two Powers truth belongs neither it is the property
of the inhabitants whom Nature originally placed there
And then the committee adds This line Of distinction APP
pears little more consonan justice than that marked out
INV nd thaeeDe from
if they oppressed, are they not our allies I"
Mr. Buchanan expends great deal of ingenious labor upon
the terms the Nooka convention show that Spain did
expressly her claim Of exclusive sovereignty upon
the northwest Of America by the letter OF that
ton and be also contends that the convention nuled
by the subsequent which occurred between the
ing parties in 1896, has since been revived and is
therefore longer force With great Difference, these
be nmaerial questions. The important in
quiry the operation and effect of facts words
Span claiming be the absolute sovereign Of the northwest
Of America captured certain British vessels which she
found at Nooka and took possession of trading establish
and buildings erected there by British SUBJECTS expressly
the ground that her rights sovereignty had been violated
by what she considered Of foreign and unauthorized
truson upon her territory England directly denied the Spanish
claim Of sovereignty alleged that the country still open TO
the first occupant that her ghuy made settle
to the individual sufferers for the of force committed
against them, and restoration qf bulldogs and tracts Of
land Of which they had been dsposscssed The whole con-
tovcrsy turned the sovereign territorial rights claimed by
Spain upon the northwest In agreeing, she did, TO
make the eparaon demanded and especially In agreeing to
restore British subjects the buildings and tracts Of had of
which she had dposscssed Them being tresssers upon