Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1845-1851, 1846-06-10
q wentp- Ninth Congress 6.
In Senate, Mmday, June ], 1916.
speech Of Cen. Cass,
On the bill to provide for the protection OF American
IL. Qxau ter .iary


10 the consideration Of the special order, being the
bill protect the rights of American citizens III the
Oregon territory, the pending question being, to refer
the bill to the committee the judiciary, with III
structIons.
Mr.. CAss addressed the Senate as fellows:
did not intend, Mr. President again to trouble
the Senate upon any question connected win our
claim to Oregon, or with the proper course oil Poiicy
TO adopt IN support Of it. And | avowed to 'hose
friends, with whom | in the habit of free consul
tGtlOn, this determination to remain silent, oeiieVing
had occupied my full share Of tie attention of the
Senate, and of the public, far as the public can be
interested in any views of mime. | am now, howey-
err compelled to break the silence had imposed upon
myself, and again to vindlcate the position IN which
/ am placed. The honorable Senator from Missouri
has referred 10 me by name and If would not seem
To abandon the ground have occupied, must defend
1t from this new and vigorous assault. | SHALL how
ever, be bret avoiding recapItulatlUn and confirming
myself almost exclusively TO two of~the propositions
submitted by the Senator. One entirely new; the
other presented in the previous discussion but again
brought forward though with new facts and iu,tra
tons, aud extending to more remote regions. The
former the assertion of the seTcc OF the line
of fftyfo forty. and the latter the assertion that
the parallel of forty-nlne deg. established
boundary between the British and French possessions
by commissaries under the treaty of Utrecht, and
that II ran to the northwest coast.
The Senator commenced by the work Of demolition
pulling down before he built up. Clearing off the
fair site preparatory the task of re-edIiication
And how has this system of destruction and of substi
tuition been effected The process and the result
propose TO examine.
In the first place, he announces that till we
have all been IN error, including the PRESIDENT and
Congress, and the country and that no such line
the parallel of -four forty has been establish
ed as the northern boundary of Oregon, and he con-
slders that this correction of great popular error
enough to quiet the excitement which has been got up
oh.flf n Mo do
ceives himself, and that this excitement, he terms
It. this conviction of the extent and justice of
title, as term 1t, Is far beyond the reach OF any new
reading of old documents, however gigantic may be
the intellect which puts itself TO the task OF giving
out and indicating system of national rights |
or any new evidence III support of them. The hon
orabe Senator Is competent to the performance of
this labor as any one among US. But, sir, when a
great question like this has occupied the attention of
enlightened country and government in some mode
other for almost half century, and more recently
has called into its service the heads and tongues and
pens of hosts of able in public and in private life
the discovery and promuga OF new views, giving
an unexpected direction to great controversy not
indeed impossible but ii is far improbable that he
who claims the title and the reward of discoverer
expect TO have his pretensons investigated with
much and admitted with much caution. The
honorable Senator, In the exultaton of anticipated
success speaks of the philosophy Of The ffy-four Sem
ators, and says 'there end of that question All
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. INTO Tie alr-anQ the
place where it not to be found" And then comes
the parurtion Of the mountain and the birth of the
mouse.
1t is good old fable, intended to convey useful
truth But it is somewhat dangerous in its applca-
ton, especially when he who appeals to 1t, in the
very act of decryng the labor of another
cr cathedra the value Of his own. Pulling down to
build up. annhiating line to establish another
There is such thing as putting the saddle on the
wrong horse.
The honorable Senator says "there is boundary
at fifty -four forty quote his very words and Join
issue with him. If there is not, shall then confess,
that for am liable to all the sneers he casts upon
the tyfour-fores he calls them, and upon their
cause; while if there is, shall leave the honorable
Senator the position he has assumed.
And whence this declared popular error, respecting
the boundary line of ifty-four forty 1t originates
says the Senator in the treaty with Russia, concluded
In 1874, the third article of which he quotes
art B. II is agreed, that hereafter there
shall not be formed by the citizens Of the United States
under the authority of the said States establishment
upon the northwest coast of America, any Of the is
lands adjacent to the north Of tyu degrees forty min
utes north latitude; and manner there shall
be formed by subjects authority
Of Russia, south Of the same parallel"
Now, Sir, this, would think, is clear enough.
Here IS fiftyfour forty established boundary
plainly as words and types establish it, beyond
which the claim of the United States extend.
1t Is the northern limit, across which We cannot 90
We may march up to 1t with that Russia has 10
concerns but the moment attempt to put foot ov
er IT, We shall be met by this convention ard our
pghted faith not to pass If this is not bounda-
~ to us, am sure do not know what boundary we
can have, there anywhere else. 1t is point to
be discussed. 1t gains strength BY argument. No
clearness by illustration. Ii as a boundary line and
when that Is sald all is said | am well aware ii is
line In posse, and not in eSSe established upon pa
per, and not actually marked upon the surface of the
globe. But so IS most of the boundary between us
and the British possessions and between and Mex
leo. And the Senator himself, in his argument,
where he undertakes to prove the establishment of
The parallel OF forty-nne the line fixed under the
treaty OF Utrecht, expressly says 1t was established
but not run. Ii nevertheless great line of de-
marcation whose effects said to be felt upon the
rights OF nations at this day. All boundaries bo
tween countries, which natural lines or marks
must be first fixed by diplomatic arrangement and
when this is DONE their establishment upon earth be-
question of fact and is usually committed TO
scieninc persons who give practical effect TO the Ia
bors of the dipomatsts If therefore the parallel Of
nIy-iour forty should remain paper instead o VS.
lble boundary till doomsday, it would nevertheless
be a barrier beyond which could not pass, and
might at any time be ascertaned by astronomical OBJ
servatons, and marked upon the ground, should such
measure become necessary 10 assert the jurisdiction
OF the one party, or to arrest that Of the other.
After quoting the third article of our treaty with
Russia, the honorable Senator proceeds quote the
third article OF the treaty between Russia and Eng
land, regulating their mutual pretensions to the
region. And he controls the construction of one !
treaty, by what Legitimate process know not, by the
provisions of the other. He says and strangely too
that "they are identical objects, and nearly in
terms Identical IN objects Whv sir one is a
treaty between the United States and Russia for the
adjustment of their mutual prctensions, and the
other is treaty between Englan and Russia for the
adjustment Of their prctensions Until it is shown
that American pretensons and English pretensions