Herald of the times. [volume] (Newport, R.I.) 1830-1846, 1846-02-19

tres, II would leaye the United Siaies with
out single port, and giye to Grcoi BnlnlI
/ the lndlsputsbe aud exclusive captlyI Ove
laose seas and their comipeTce.
Il The first and indispensah hle step towards al
amicabe arrangement, consists In the lnves'
litigation, nat so much OF the SUPERIORITY o
one claim over the other, as Of the question
whether there be sufficient gyourds 10 sus'
tam the exclusive pretenslonaof cither Gov
lernment
II the claim Of tie Un,ed Se...f to. the
whole Of the contested ,crri.ory caf be sus
tanned against Great Britain. ar II the pre-.
tensions of :hls Power eau 20 their full ex-
+ tent be maintained against The pnl'ed States,
II must be. by either party assuming that The
either has no opposite CLAIM OF any kind what
ever. that there are no doubtful and debatn-
bic questions pending between the two
countries. This, II Is true, # maintained,
mret necessarily lead TO war unless one ct
the Two Powers should yield what il copsd-
ers as its absolute right. But, # there be
any such debatnhle questions, the way Is
still open for negotiation: and both Powers
may recede from their extreme pretensans,
without any abandonment Of positive rights
without Disgrace, without lmpclring nat!ono
honor aud dignity.
| II has been asserted that the title pG the
| United States to the whole Oregon territory
was maintained by irreiragable facts and ur-
gumcnts. TbeSe pnst be sought tny 10 the
correspondent lately published. They con-
slst- first, Of the assertion Of the anclent
claim Of SPAN TO the absolute sovereignty
over the whole Northwest coast of America
al fur north as the 6lst degree Of north atl-
,tnde. Secondly, OF the Cumuated proofs
Which sustain the clalms OF The United States
10 The various PORTIONS Of The territory wheth
er IN their own right, or as derived from the
acquisition Of Louisiana aud the Spanish dis.
coyeres) aud Of the refntailOn Of the argu-
ments adducc0 by the other party. The first
mentioned position would II it could be sus
tained, be sufficient to prove, ard IS, as
think, The only one that could proye, the ab-
solute and complete night OF the United
States TO the whole contested territory.
Ii is undoubtedly true that Span consd.
cred the northwest coast Of America us eX
clusively her own:' that this claim +" had
been asserted 10y her, end maintained with
the most yigiant jealousy, ever since the Cls
covery Of the American continent, or nearly
three centuries, as far north az her settle
men,s or missions extended" There were
two ways Of examining the soundness of that
claim an investigation of the principles on
which It was founded, aud an appeal to pre-.
crdents. The Secretary OF Suite has alb
stained from discussing the principle but he
has said that the claims Of Spain TO sove
reignty chad never been seriously question
Ell by any European nation that !, had
been sclulesced in by all European Govern
ments." This appears to me Inc most vul-
nerabe part Of his arguments.
The early charters OF the British monarchs
TO The colonies bordering on the Atlantic ex-
tended from sea 10 sea, from the Atlantic 10
the Pacl6c Ocean, with the single exception
which excluded from the grants the places
actually occupied by the subjects o! any
nation. The right OF PRIOR occupan-
cy was recognized; but The general claim Of
Spain TO Tie sovereignty OF the whole coast
bordering on the Pacific was utterly dIsre-
garded. Had that claim been considered as
had II been acquesced IN, It
never could have been supposed that IN any
case whatever, England could have a right to
Destow to her subjects single foot Of land .
on the Pacific. /
Coming down to modern times, the only |
iatlons which have set up any claims or al.
enplcd any settlements on the Pacific north
If The country actually occupied by the Span.
ards, are RussIn, Great Britain, and the
United States. Al three have asserted
lalms To The northwestern Coast of America,
rrcconcila6lG ".tn The universal sovereignty
lalmcd by Spain Russia and England from
he time when their flags first tloa'ed along
he coast and their subjects landed on It's
hores /; the United States from similar
ate, or at least from the tine when they &C.
ured Louisiana.
II the right Of Spain was absolute and OK
luslve to the whole, there was no reason why 4
should not have extended beyond The sixty L
rst degree of latitude. The right Of RUSSIA
'as founded upon her discoveries gnd the es-
Ibshmeut OF some trading factories. She
rspccted the right OF Spain only as far as 1t
ID not interfere with her own claim. She
as, IN fact, extended this more than SIX de-
rees furiher,acquired oil the rights of Spain,
nd assentcd by a solemn treaty. Whatever
right be the boundary acqulesced IN by
pnIn; it was Spain which recognised that
er cslm was not unlimited. And, let It be
bserved, that, since SPAN still claimed as
,r north r. the sixty first degree Of north
Itllude ithe southern limit OF the Russian
lciorles when first visited by Spanish navl
Htors, the United States, II they believed
ne Spanish right absolute and exclusive,
ught not 10 have cedcd TO Russia country
Xtendug more than SIX degrees OF latitude
ong the shores OF the Pacific. Il
Great Britain contested The exclusive claim .
Spain lru;a The yeor I71S, The date OF !
ook's third voyage and he was the frs, !,
rIIlsh navigator that had for more than two '
'nuries appeared on those coasts. This
,ctrinc she has maintained ever since. She ,
ID not resist The exclusive claln OF Spain by
rtuc Of tho Noolka Convention, but prior To
1t was on that ground that she Imperious.
demanded indemnity and restoration for
q property and factory OF one of her sub
cts. winch had been iorclbly taken by The
Dansh Government She even threatened ~
or and The Nootka Convention was the m
suit Of those transactions. Whatever con- "
ructlon may ut this time be given 10 that
sirumeni, IT ~ certain NJ least that Spain
II conceded n portion ui the absolute and
vercign right she had tlll then asserted
a, sho yielded the right OF trade with the
lvcs on all that pat of the coast lying
nth Of hcsactunl settlements; and that, by
ll1rlng the ultimate right OF sovereignty 10
main ~ aboyance, she made that pr,ien- =
~ questionable which she had contended
nld not be called ~ question. .,
With respect 10 the Unled States, without "