, 1859-10-07

aration for that insult was the point Of the
quarrel and that being obtained in a
treaty of restoration and indemnity, both
parties abandoned the island, and neither
has since occupied it, 1t is now vacant
and desert, and l want none of it.
would not accept 4 as q present, nor
would the poorest lord of the isles that
ever lived upon the western coast of Scot.
land. The fictitious Importance lately at
trbuted to this island, upon the disparage.
ment of the mouth Of the Columbia, has
vanished upon the revelation of the true
character Of that river The estuary oi
the Columbia is now shown to be good
port and, with the advantage of lights,
buoys, beacons, pilots, and steam towboats,
ready to become one of the best in the
world. This knowledge Of the true char
aCter of TIE Columbia puts an end to all
pretexts Of necessity to go north three hun
dred miles, to hunt substitute port in the
remote and desolate coasts of Vancouvers
Island That island is not wanted by the
United States for any purpose whatever.
Above all, the south end of it is not wanted
to command the Straits of Fuca. 1t so
happens that these Straits are not liable to
be commanded, either in fact or in law.
They ore from Is to 80 miles wide-rather
too wide for batteries to cross their shot,
and wide enough, like all other great straits
of the world, to constitute a part of the
high seas, and to be incapable Of appro-
priation by any nation. We want nothing
of that Strait but as bondary, and that
the treaty gives us. With that boundary
comes all that we want in that quarter,
namely, all the waters of Puget's Sound
and the fertile Olympic district which bor-
ders upon them.
When the line reaches the channel which
separates Vancouver's Island from the
continent, (Which it does within sight Of
the mouth Of Frazer's river,) it proceeds
to the middle of the channel, and thence
turning south, through the channel De
Haro, (wrongly written Arc on the maps)
to the Straits of Fuca aud then west to
the middle Of that Strait to the Sea. This
is fair portion of those waters, and gives
US everything that we want, namely, all
the waters of -Puget's Sound, Hoods Ca
nal, Admiralty Inlet, Bellingham's Bay,
Birch Bay, and with them the cluster of
islands probably Of no value, between De
Haro's Channel and the continent Nei-
ther the Spanish discoverers nor our own
discovery and settlement of the Columbia,
would have given us these waters Their
British names indicate their discoveries,
and the line Of 40 degrees gives them to
US.
The proviso to the article strikes some
Senators as being unequal to the prejudice
of the United States but it is not so the
proViso is perfectly fair and equal, and so
will appear from the slightest examination
of any map which shows the Straits Of
Fuca and the waters connected with that
Strait Any map will show that the Straits
open from the sea and penetrate the conti-
nent about due east for one hundred miles,
and then branches south and north. The
branch, or rather branches, for they are
in many channels which go south, also
extend about one hundred miles, making
Pugets Sound, Hoods Canal, Admiralty
Inlet, and so on; and these waters being oil
narrow aud inland, become our own private
waters, and are subject to our municipal
Jurisdiction. So of the waters Of the Strait
which go north. At first they open out
largely behind Vancouver's Island and
make the Gulf of Georgia; there they con-
tract into narrow and intricate channels,
iusomuch that the island and continent
were for long time supposed to be united.
These narrow waters, like those of Puget's
Sound, &c, are private property, subject
to the municipal Jurisdiction Of the Brit
ish, to whom they belong. hold the pro-
vsO to be conformabe to the law of ma
tions aud fair and equal in itself, aud fully
approve of it.
am in favor of the FIRST article as it
stands, and it is the main article and in
fact almost the whole treaty. 1t settles
the great point of controversy between the
two nations it quets. the territorial con-
test which has continued since 1907, and
which at the commencement Of this session
of Congress. was supposed to be pregnant
with inevitable war. The first article qui-
cts that contest ; the remaining three are
subordinate and incidental, mere accesSo-
Ilco W SuC nlsIJ uuu uOSibuVu W bNO ~
convenient execution. Each Of these may
require few words of explanation, to avoid
uniounded apprehensions.
The first of these remaining articles, be-
ing the second of the treaty, is the most
material Of the three it relates to the
free navigation of the Columbia, and fails
so far short of what the British have here
tofore demanded, and of what we ourselves
have heretofore offered, that it looks to be
like a REIMBURSEMENT Of the whole preten-
sion. The British have heretofore deman-
ded not merely the navigation OF the river,
but its sovereignty-the sovereignty Of its
right bank in its whole extent, and the
joint use of the stream. We offered the
free navigation Of the river, in perpetuity,
to all the subjects of the British crown.
This offer, made by Mr.. Gallatin in 1926,
and repeated since, has been steadily re-
fused by the British. Instead of perpetual
navigation to all British subjects, the pres
ent treaty brings down the privilege to a
a. Z g lrtN Nf,l,